text:
Anonymous Threatens to Take Down Violent Mexican Drug Cartel
The Zetas—a Mexican drug cartel believed to be responsible for numerous beheadings, murders, and acts of mayhem—got on the wrong side of the hacker collective Anonymous after allegedly kidnapping one of their members in Veracruz. Now Anonymous has issued an ultimatum: Release our man by November 5, or we'll expose your identities, addresses, and allies.
In the above video, an Anonymous member warns the Zetas that "You made a huge mistake by taking one of us. Release him. And if anything happens to him, you (expletive) will always remember this upcoming November 5th." In addition to exposing the cartel's secrets, the collective also says it will out "journalists, taxi drivers, and police who allegedly cooperate with the cartel," as CNET reports. Releasing the cartel's secret info "won't be difficult. We all know who they are and where they are."
Should the Zetas take Anonymous's threat seriously? Absolutely, says Mike Vigil, who once upon a time headed international operations at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. "It is a gutsy move," Vigil told the Houston Chronicle. "By publishing the names, they identify them to rivals, and trust me, they will go after them." Cyberwarfare expert Jeffrey Carr believes that any info released by Anonymous "would almost certainly" be used by the Zetas' enemies and authorities, and possibly lead to a movement that could overthrow the cartel. With gangs turning to the Internet to post video warnings and communicate via social media, it's possible that the Zetas have already built up enough of a digital footprint that Anonymous can exploit to their ends, he suggests.


text:
Conservatives claimed NY Times alerted terrorists, ignored Bush administration's prior promotion of its bank-tracking efforts
Numerous conservative commentators joined the Bush administration in arguing that, in detailing a secret Treasury Department program designed to monitor terrorists' international financial transactions, a June 23 New York Times article tipped off terrorists to the U.S. government's ability to track their financial activities -- some going so far as to accuse the newspaper of treason. But the Times report was hardly the first indication of U.S. efforts to monitor terrorists' financial transactions: President Bush himself repeatedly touted the government's capability to track and shut down terrorists' international financial networks.
Following the publication of a June 23 New York Times article detailing a secret Treasury Department program designed to monitor terrorists' international financial transactions, President Bush and other senior administration officials accused the newspaper of tipping off America's enemies and jeopardizing national security. Numerous conservative commentators joined the White House in arguing that the Times had informed terrorists of the U.S. government's ability to track their financial activities -- some going so far as to accuse the newspaper of treason, as Media Matters for America noted. But the June 23 report was hardly the first indication of U.S. efforts to monitor terrorists' financial transactions: President Bush himself touted the government's capability to track and shut down terrorists' international financial networks, presumably signaling long before June 23, 2006, that they had reason to suspect their banking activities were being monitored. Moreover, the administration itself acknowledged nearly two years ago having "witnessed an increasing reliance by Al Qaida and terrorist groups on cash couriers."
The Times article reported that shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Treasury Department tapped into the "nerve center of the global banking industry" -- a huge database of international financial transactions maintained by a banking consortium known as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). According to the Times, the administration limited its use of SWIFT to "tracing transactions of people suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda." The article appeared on the Times website on June 22, the same day that the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) posted their own articles on the subject.
Despite the fact that two other print outlets had also reported on the program, the Bush administration and Republican lawmakers largely singled out the Times for criticism:
- Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that the article "made it more difficult for us to prevent attacks in the future" and "will enable the terrorists to look for ways to defeat our efforts."
- President Bush commented, "If you want to figure out what the terrorists are doing, you try to follow their money. And that's exactly what we're doing. And the fact that a newspaper disclosed it makes it harder to win this war on terror."
- White House press secretary Tony Snow said the newspaper "ought to think long and hard about whether a public's right to know in some cases might override somebody's right to live" and suggested that the article "could place in jeopardy the safety of fellow Americans."
- Rep. Peter King (R-NY) argued that the Times had "compromised" the program and "violated the Espionage Act." King urged the attorney general to prosecute the "reporters, the editors who worked on this, and the publisher."
A chorus of conservative media figures also accused the Times and other outlets of having alerted the terrorists to this capability. Following are several examples:
- Michelle Malkin, syndicated columnist: "The New York Times (proudly publishing all the secrets unfit to spill since 9/11) and their reckless anonymous sources (come out, come out, you cowards) tipped off terrorists to America's efforts to track their financial activities." ["The terrorist-tipping Times," 6/28/06]
- Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist and Fox News host: "If our enemies now see the way we are going after them on the front page of The New York Times, the L.A. Times, The Washington Post, all they have to do is wait a little bit and counteract our counteracting measures. ... [W]hen you give too information to the other side, you're simply setting yourself up for another attack or defeat." [Fox News Watch, 6/24/06]
- Editors of National Review: "The terrorists will now adapt. They will find new ways of transferring funds, and precious lines of intelligence will be lost. Murderers will get the resources they need to carry out their grisly business. As for the real public interest, it lies primarily in safety -- and what the Times has ensured is that the public today is less safe." ["Stop the Leaks," 6/26/06]
- Brit Hume, Fox News Washington managing editor: "[N]ow they [the terrorists] know it. That's the problem. Now they know it. ... The objective is to find out what channels they are using, who's got the money and where it's coming from. ... You don't want to drive this stuff further underground because it undermines your ability to track it and to stop it." [Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, 6/25/06]
- William Kristol, editor, The Weekly Standard: Asked how the program's disclosure damaged national security, Kristol responded, "Because this has broken up plots that now they may be able to go around the international banking system." [Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, 6/25/06]
- NewsMax, conservative news website: "That newspaper, of course, is the New York Times, now rapidly taking on the role of Osama bin Laden's reliable informant." ["Reminder to the N.Y. Times: We Are At War," 6/27/06]
But while the details of the U.S. government's tracking of terrorist finances may not have been known, the Bush administration itself has signaled repeatedly its implementation of efforts to follow terrorists' money. Beginning fewer than two weeks after September 11, 2001, the Bush administration has "been very public about its efforts to track the overseas banking transactions of Americans and other foreign nationals," as a June 28 Boston Globe article noted. Times editor Bill Keller addressed this issue in a June 25 letter to his readers, noting that the administration had voiced concerns prior to the article's publication that it "would lead terrorists to change tactics." Keller noted in response, "It has been widely reported -- indeed, trumpeted by the Treasury Department -- that the U.S. makes every effort to track international financing of terror." Following are numerous examples:
- In a September 24, 2001, speech, Bush announced the establishment of a "foreign terrorist asset tracking center at the Department of the Treasury to identify and investigate the financial infrastructure of the international terrorist networks." He added, "It will bring together representatives of the intelligence, law enforcement and financial regulatory agencies to accomplish two goals: to follow the money as a trail to the terrorists, to follow their money so we can find out where they are; and to freeze the money to disrupt their actions."
- In a September 24, 2001, letter to Congress, Bush noted, "Terrorists and terrorist networks operate across international borders and derive their financing from sources in many nations. Often, terrorist property and financial assets lie outside the jurisdiction of the United States." He affirmed his commitment to working with international agencies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) "to build momentum and practical cooperation in the fight to stop the flow of resources to support terrorism."
- A White House fact sheet published on September 24, 2001, noted the launch of the Treasury Department's Foreign Terrorist Asset Tracking Center (FTAT): "The FTAT is a multi-agency task force that will identify the network of terrorist funding and freeze assets before new acts of terrorism take place."
- In a September 26, 2001, statement, Bush said, "We're fighting them on a financial front. We're choking off their money. We're seizing their assets. We will be relentless as we pursue their sources of financing. And I want to thank the Secretary of Treasury for leading that effort."
- On October 10, 2001, Bush stated that the "nations of NATO are sharing intelligence, coordinating law enforcement and cracking down on the financing of terrorist organizations."
- During remarks at FTAT, then-Treasury Seceretary Paul O'Neill said, "[W]e have begun to act - to block assets, to seize books, records and evidence, and to follow audit trails to track terrorist cells poised to do violence to our common interests. " O'Neill added, "We have built an international coalition to deny terrorists access to the world financial system."
- A December 2001 report on the steps the administration had taken to combat terrorism noted that the FATF "-- a 29-nation group promoting policies to combat money laundering -- adopted strict new standards to deny terrorist access to the world financial system."
- A September 10, 2004, Treasury Department statement read: "The targeting of terrorist financing continues to play an important role in the war on terror. Freezing assets, terminating cash flows, and following money trails to previously unknown terrorist cells are some of the many weapons used against terrorist networks."
Moreover, SWIFT's cooperation in international efforts to monitor terrorists' banking activities was a matter of public knowledge long before the Times detailed the Treasury Department program. As former Bush administration counterterrorism official Roger Cressey noted in the June 28 Globe article, "There have been public references to SWIFT before. ... It has been in the public domain before." Indeed, in his June 28 column, WashingtonPost.com columnist Dan Froomkin noted that according to SWIFT's website, the consortium has a "history of cooperating in good faith with authorities such as central banks, treasury departments, law enforcement agencies and appropriate international organisations, such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in their efforts to combat abuse of the financial system for illegal activities." And as former State Department official Victor Comras noted in a June 23 Counterterrorism Blog post, the United Nations Al Qaeda and Taliban Monitoring Group learned of the SWIFT program years ago -- a fact the group incorporated into its December 2002 report to the U.N. Security Council:
The settlement of international transactions is usually handled through correspondent banking relationships or large-value message and payment systems, such as the SWIFT, Fedwire or CHIPS systems in the United States of America. Such international clearance centres are critical to processing international banking transactions and are rich with payment information. The United States has begun to apply new monitoring techniques to spot and verify suspicious transactions. The Group recommends the adoption of similar mechanisms by other countries.
Nonetheless, Tony Snow asserted during his June 27 press briefing, "I am absolutely sure they [the terrorists] didn't know about SWIFT."
The claim that the Times notified terrorists that their financial transactions might be under surveillance also overlooks numerous reports that Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations shifted to nontraditional money flows shortly after 9-11. For instance, Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Stuart A. Levey testified before Congress on September 22, 2004, that the government had begun "working closely" with FATF to interdict terrorist organizations' increased use of cash. Levey said, "As the formal and informal financial sectors become increasingly inhospitable to financiers of terrorism, we have witnessed an increasing reliance by Al Qaida and terrorist groups on cash couriers. The movement of money via cash couriers is now one of the principal methods that terrorists use to move funds."
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has repeatedly highlighted the terrorists' new financial methods as well. In a December 6, 2002, report, CRS noted that "al Qaeda is relying increasingly on non-bank mechanisms to move and store funds, such as converting assets to untraceable commodities, including gold and diamonds, or moving funds via informal value transfer ['hawala'] systems that leave virtually no paper trail." In a November 2003 report, CRS further documented these "alternative financing mechanisms" and noted the failure on the part of the government to produce corresponding strategies.
A December 14, 2003, Washington Post article quoted Comras making a similar point:
Victor Comras, a former State Department official who helped write the U.N. report, said that, in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist strikes, the United States and other countries effectively froze some terrorist assets, but that the success was largely limited to halting money in the banking system.
Once al Qaeda understood the weaknesses and loopholes in the sanctions regime, Comras said, "money was quickly moved out of harm's way" by taking it out of banks and putting it into commodities, such as diamonds and gold, or into front companies.
"Al Qaeda had assets, and those assets are still around," Comras said. "They had a number of different ways to handle the problem, and they are using all of them."
An October 14, 2005, Economist article also noted the ongoing adaptation on the part of terrorist organizations:
Indeed, the terrorists have shown an ability to keep changing their money flows. "The bad guys are definitely getting smarter," says a European expert on financial crime. "The banking system is so well patrolled they're resorting to more primitive means." Counter-terror experts say some groups have simply switched to using more cash, slipping across borders undetected. Authorities say they recognise the changing money flows, but cutting them off is no simple matter, particularly in cash-based economies with loose border controls.
Further, an April 4, 2006, backgrounder on terrorist financing produced by the Council of Foreign Relations highlighted terrorists' efforts to leave "less of a paper trail":
The greatest difficulty is that terrorist networks have stayed aware of governments' efforts to stymie their activities and adjust their operations accordingly. [Terrorism expert Loretta] Napoleoni says "terrorist financing mutates continuously," which generally keeps terrorists a step ahead of the authorities.
Terrorists have increasingly relied on illegal activities, like smuggling or counterfeiting, to generate revenue that is difficult to track through the financial system. Terrorists have also begun to rely more on cash, leaving less of a paper trail. According to Napoleoni, much of the funding for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaeda organization in Iraq is brought into the country by couriers carrying cash. The July 2005 attacks in London were also funded entirely by cash, which Napoleoni says is untraceable.
From the June 24 edition of Fox News Watch:
THOMAS: Well, I think the White House is right in complaining about this. Up until recently, we had more reticence and more withholding of sensitive information if the White House, if the administration -- whatever administration -- could make its case that this was injurious. If our -- if our enemies now see the way we are going after them on the front page of The New York Times, the L.A. Times, The Washington Post, all they have to do is wait a little bit and counteract our counteracting measures.
ERIC BURNS (host): So you feel that way about the story about the phone records, too? That that information shouldn't be out there.
THOMAS: Yeah. Well, look, I think there are some things that can be reported, and others not. But -- but when you give too much information to the other side, you're simply setting yourself up for another attack or defeat.
From the June 25 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday:
JUAN WILLIAMS (National Public Radio senior correspondent): Well, the question is, how long does a time of war last for? This is a program that was put in place right after 9-11, never has really has come before the Congress for any kind of long-term authorization saying this is an effective plan. I do think that the plan has lots of merit. I think it works effectively. I think there have been specifics cited where you have had terrorist cells exposed as a result of this plan. So I don't understand even why The New York Times revelation undercuts it. What we're doing is essentially taking away this SWIFT international banking program as a mechanism for terrorists shifting money around.
HUME: And now they know it. That's the problem. Now they know it.
WILLIAMS: So then they won't use it. So we've taken it away, Brit. They don't have --
HUME: The objective is not to take it away from them and allow them to make their transactions through some secret channel. The objective is to find out what channels they are using, who's got the money, and where it's coming from.
WILLIAMS: Correct.
HUME: You don't want to drive this stuff further underground because it undermines your ability to track it and to stop it.
KRISTOL: I do not have a right to damage U.S. national security willfully when there's no evidence this --
WILLIAMS: Oh, come on. Damage?
KRISTOL: Yes, damage U.S. national security.
WILLIAMS: How did it damage national security, Bill?
KRISTOL: Because this has broken up plots that now they may be able to go around the international banking system.

subset: commoncrawl


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- Security News
- Virtualization & Cloud
- Security 101: Protecting Serverless and Container Applications with RASP (Runtime Application Self-Protection)
The demand for container and serverless technologies has increased in recent years. According to a market research and consulting firm, the global market size for containers is expected to grow from US$ 1.2 billion in 2018 to US$4.98 billion by 2023, while serverless architecture is projected to grow from US$7.6 billion in 2020 to US$21.1 billion by 2025. The increased demand for container and serverless technologies is due to the fact that enterprises can rely on them for scalability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness when developing and deploying applications.
However, as with any burgeoning technology, container-based and serverless applications are not immune to risks and threats. It is only a matter of time before malicious actors, who are always casting wider nets to reach more potential victims, start targeting them frequently for various schemes. In this light, how can enterprises strengthen the security of such applications against potential attacks?
This article zeroes in on certain security considerations that developers need to know and the ways that they can build the best defense for container-based and serverless applications through runtime application self-protection (also known as RASP), a tool that incorporates security into an application at runtime.
RASP is a security tool that runs on a server and begins functioning every time that an application runs. Simply put, RASP is designed to detect malicious behavior in real time. RASP is capable of protecting applications from attacks by analyzing both an application's behavior as well as the context of that behavior.
In essence, RASP provides real-time protection to applications. RASP can intercept all kinds of traffic that indicate malicious behavior like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), vulnerabilities, bots, and attacks deployed through email, Slack, and other message types.
Because RASP is built directly into an application, it is innately capable of monitoring application behavior. Thus, RASP can prevent attacks with high accuracy as it can discern between attacks and legitimate requests, thereby reducing false positives and allowing security engineers to focus on combatting more serious problems.
In addition, RASP also offers better protection from zero-day exploits. RASP offers a short-term fix if a patch for an application is not readily available for an extended period. To add, RASP is not dependent on any type of signature for an exploit because the baseline for proper operation is the application itself.
To illustrate how RASP secures serverless applications, we demonstrate how a function of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Lambda — a serverless service that allows enterprises to run code without server provisioning and maintenance — can be secured using Trend Micro Cloud One™ – Application Security.
In the Trend Micro research paper "Securing Weak Points in Serverless Architectures: Risks and Recommendations," Alfredo de Oliveira, a Trend Micro Senior Security Researcher, created a proof of concept that involves an AWS Lambda function granted with high permissions to highlight the risks of implementing bad code on a serverless system. Under such a condition, threat actors could alter the Lambda function timeout and subsequently perform attacks such as privilege escalation and data exfiltration. It should be noted that for this proof of concept, we have configured the Lambda administrative privileges. By default, Lambdas have no permissions aside from those defined by the customer. In this light, customers should always follow the principles of least privilege when defining an execution role.
Figure 1 illustrates the attack chain involving an AWS Lambda function granted with high permissions, as described in the above paragraph. It should be noted that Cloud One – Application Security libraries are already preinstalled in the system.
Figure 1. An attack chain involving an AWS Lambda function with high permissions
As shown in Figure 2, the Cloud One – Application Security console blocks the command injection attack.
Figure 2. The Cloud One – Application Security console is able to detect the command injection attack.
Figure 3. The Cloud One – Application Security console also provides a description of the suspected attack, the associated CVEs, and payload information.
The aforementioned Trend Micro research paper also highlights the need to secure different cloud services involved in developing serverless applications. As shown in Figure 4, Trend Micro Cloud One™ Conformity blocks IAM roles that are too permissive from being executed within the system.
Figure 4. IAM roles that are too permissive are blocked by Cloud One – Conformity from being executed within the system.
In this section, we demonstrate how to secure a running container-based application on Azure Container Instances against SQL injection, as detailed in a LinkedIn article by Chuck Losh, a Trend Micro Solutions Architect.
First, a new deployment needs to be run and a purposely vulnerable PHP-based container of a DVWA image from a private Azure Container Registry needs to be pulled. In this test, Cloud One – Application Security libraries are already preinstalled in the system, as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Cloud One – Application Security libraries that are added into the container image code
Once the deployment is executed through the Azure portal shown in Figure 6, we will see if everything works as intended. The end result should have the application calling to the Cloud One – Application Security dashboard for real-time protection.
Figure 6. The container image that is executed through the Azure Portal
Upon configuring the setting requirements, the container instance should already start running. This can also be verified in the Azure Portal output, as shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7. The Azure portal shows that the container deployment is already underway.
Figure 8. To further check if the container instance is running, the Azure CLI output can also be viewed.
The test web application can now be accessed. After logging in to the DVWA container-based web application, we will send an SQL injection attack, as shown in Figure 9. We can check the Cloud One – Application Security console later on if it can detect such malicious behavior.
Figure 9. The SQL Injection attack submitted to the container-based application
As shown in Figure 10, the submitted request was blocked and detected by the Cloud One –Application Security console in real time.
Figure 10. The Cloud One – Application Security is able to detect the SQL injection attack.
Automating RASP is an even more effective approach to securing serverless applications. An AWS Lambda function template (for example, CloudFormation) contains the necessary RASP components to integrate Cloud One – Application Security into the AWS Lambda.
By providing these pieces of information in a CFN template, development teams can be empowered to launch an AWS Lambda function with the assurance that security is already a part of the application itself. This also limits the numerous manual steps that were mentioned previously.
RASP is a tool that enables organizations to "shift left," which is an important direction that allows developers to use secure, well-understood patterns for secrets management and resilient coding practices.
On another note, while some might champion the benefits brought about by new security technologies like RASP, it is also possible that some skeptics who work under traditional processes might resist these changes. Still, these skeptics could be enlightened if organizations were to hold inclusive discussions about how each team or department can bridge the gap and work together toward building a strong DevSecOps culture. This culture, in turn, could be fostered by having development and security teams conduct proper software testing, integrated security, and operational visibility at all times.
While cloud service providers (CSPs) provide guidance and security features for their services, enterprises should still ensure that they improve the security of the services that are connected to their computing environment.
Adopting the shared responsibility model is key to securing these services as it requires both the CSP and the user to maintain areas of responsibility to keep their computing environment protected. In the case of AWS Lambda, it should be noted that the execution role only launches with permissions defined by the user. Therefore, customers should follow the principle of least privilege when defining an execution role.
Enterprises can also rely on the Trend Micro Cloud One security services platform. Cloud One provides enterprises centralized visibility over their hybrid cloud environments and real-time security with the following automated and flexible services:
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Why Cruise Here
Portland, Maine, is all About Lobster…
It's hard to imagine this crustacean was once deemed poor man's food, but it's true — lobsters would wash up on Portland's shores after a storm and be used primarily as fertilizer and bait. But with the advent of land transportation, lobsters were brought inland by the mid-1800's, and as the demand for lobsters increased so did the price. Today, the city boasts numerous restaurants — all of which feature lobster (in some form) on their menus.
Or is it?
But Portland has more to offer than a bunch of crustaceans. The coastal New England port boasts a vibrant working waterfront, an abundance of Victorian-era architecture and numerous historic lighthouses. Nestled on a picturesque seascape, the city is perched on a peninsula jutting out into the island-studded Casco Bay, protected from the Atlantic Ocean. The romantic movie "Message in a Bottle" was filmed in this seaside town and even the famous Portland-born poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called Portland a "Jewel by the Sea" in one of his poems. The city welcomes close to 50,000 cruise ship passengers annually.
The historic port was once a major shipbuilding center, as well as one of the busiest fishing ports on the Atlantic as far back as the 18th century. Its success as a port made it a prime target for the British during the War of 1812 and also for the Confederates during the Civil War. The coastline and islands are still dotted with forts that were built to protect the city. Ironically, during an Independence Day celebration in 1866, a firecracker ignited a fire that quickly spread across the city's east end, destroying 1,800 buildings.
The city quickly rebuilt, resulting in lovely Victorian-era architecture, and today the Old Port (sometimes referred to as the Old Port Exchange) is a bustling seaport with a high concentration of quality eating and drinking establishments. With less than 65,000 residents, Portland is compact enough for visitors to explore the town thoroughly — tourists can stroll along the working waterfront of Commercial Street, walk the cobblestone streets of the restored Old Port district, or visit a historic building or two.
What will you remember most from a visit to Portland?
Will it be the lobster traps piled on the wharf, the smell of sea air combined with the chatter of seagulls or a visit to a historic attraction? If you're like the majority of visitors, a succulent lobster lunch may be your most savory memory of this New England port.


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Went to the Design London STIR Lecture by Peter Molyneux this evening, and came away disappointed.
Actually, I didn't have very high hopes in the first place, as I've seen Molyneux before, and although he's certainly passionate, found his charm ran out pretty quickly – but worse, he had little insight to offer.
But the over-riding thought I kept having was that he didn't have the critical language to describe what he (or more correctly, his teams) had created. He isn't nearly as literate in why his own games work as the current generation playing his games.
Based on events like EIGF, this seems to be the case, at least amongst Molyneux's generation of industry veterans. Bedroom-programmers-done-good, pioneers to be sure, but not able to form a critical appreciation of what they are doing or have done beyond the commercial impact.
This is something that reoccurs with every new medium, of course.
The next generation on from them – e.g. Jonathan Smith, Doug Church and of course Greg Costikyan (from whose classic essay on developing such a critical language the title of this post is lifted) are always eloquent, passionate and insightful speakers and spokespeople for their medium.
Unlike Molyneux.
peter molyneux / lionhead / stir lecture
i think i might have heard him do this talk before… this will be far from a transcript…
the constraints of his programming skill led to some of the core mechanics
some of sound effects for populous were created by throwing wet sponges into baths
what did people enjoy? the graphics were not good, the sound effects were awful, and the game play was repetitive: people believed there was more in the game than there was.
"there are only about 8 million gamers tops, and there are 6 billion of everybody, so games for everybody are better to make"
people got obsessed by the "AI" but it is 'soft, simulational AI, not real AI' – a sufficently-complex feedback system is seen as an AI.
again people believed there was more in the game (theme park) than there really was.
B&W: the creature -> initially made it humanoid, but realised that the first thing that anyone did was fiddle with the creature's genitalia… the more humanoid you make something, the less-believable it is (uncanny valley) the closer we got to realism in B&W, the less believable the world became
the creature was prototyped to have desires, which could be satisfied by actions… creates a 'real' illusion of mind. Internal needs, wants, motivations – first one we gave the creature was to satisfy it's hunger.
11pm one night… developer (richard) said "we're ready to turn on the brain"
allowed the player to play with the mind of the creature – teach…
fable 2: dog (avatar, daemon) learnt from mistakes of B&W creature. Dog has a set of rules in it's head, much like the asimov robot rules. prime directive: 'i must not aggravate the player'


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text:
You may know Chris Hunter from the N's cool show "South of Nowhere" - Chris plays "Glen" the new kid at school who quickly becomes the campus heartthrob and star of the basketball team. Here's what he had to say for himself in response to our goofy Qs.
Age: 18
Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Olympia, WA.
More From Seventeen
You may know me because: You have seen me on "South of Nowhere," or on the Disney Channel movie "Buffalo Dreams"
My house is: the best place to sleep over.
The first thing I do every morning is: Brush my teeth, I'm like way anal about fresh breath
My cell phone brand is: Nextel the phone is a Motorola
About my pets: I have a dog named CoCo and two cats, Captain Midnight and Princess( My mom's cat)
I exercise: When i surf and play basketball
Lately I've been surprised by: How many angry people are in Malibu
The cereals in my cupboard are: Fruity Pebbles and Lucky Charms
Heaven on earth is: in the ocean standing on a surf board cruisin'
For dinner, I like to make: whatever is easiest
I'll eat sushi, but not... Vegetables
My coolest article of clothing: is all my sweatshirts and hoodies...i have like 10
My most prized possession: Is my Brand new 9'8" single fin Longboard
My TV screen is: big and Sony
When friends come over, we: Sit back chill and listen to music
My favorite TV channel is: The N! Ha-Ha! No, I don't know...
My first financial splurge was... on my first Laptop
Wackiest fan encounter: was the first one...it was like 10 little kids
TV show I never miss: Family Guy
Before I die, I want to: See the world and experience all its gifts
The best perk of being a celebrity is: Free stuff?
Celebrity whom I'd ask for an autograph: Um i don't know...i don't really do that i would just feel honored to meet them.
Dream car: Range Rover
When I fly I have to have... Music
People would be surprised that I: Surf with all the free time i have
Book I'm reading: The Alchemist
Magazines I subscribe to: Surfer
Favorite cartoon: Family Guy
I was so excited when ___ came out on DVD The lord of the rings...all three of them
My iPod play list: Mostly alternative rock with some indie mixed in...i like anything you can chill to
I can't start my day without... Brushing my teeth
If I had to spend $10 at my favorite fast food joint, I'd order: I would have to go to Chic-flic-A and order ten dollars worth of chicken nuggets, for sure!


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Seamus Heaney was born in April 1939, the eldest member of a family which would eventually contain nine children. His father owned and worked a small farm of some fifty acres in County Derry in Northern Ireland, but the father's real commitment was to cattle-dealing. There was something very congenial to Patrick Heaney about the cattle-dealer's way of life to which he was introduced by the uncles who had cared for him after the early death of his own parents. The poet's mother came from a family called McCann whose connections were more with the modern world than with the traditional rural economy; her uncles and relations were employed in the local linen mill and an aunt had worked "in service" to the mill owners' family. The poet has commented on the fact that his parentage thus contains both the Ireland of the cattle-herding Gaelic past and the Ulster of the Industrial Revolution; indeed, he considers this to have been a significant tension in his background, something which corresponds to another inner tension also inherited from his parents, namely that between speech and silence. His father was notably sparing of talk and his mother notably ready to speak out, a circumstance which Seamus Heaney believes to have been fundamental to the "quarrel with himself" out of which his poetry arises.
Heaney grew up as a country boy and attended the local primary school. As a very young child, he watched American soldiers on manoeuvres in the local fields, in preparation for the Normandy invasion of 1944. They were stationed at an aerodrome which had been built a mile or so from his home and once again Heaney has taken this image of himself as a consciousness poised between "history and ignorance" as representative of the nature of his poetic life and development. Even though his family left the farm where he was reared (it was called Mossbawn) in 1953, and even though his life since then has been a series of moves farther and farther away from his birthplace, the departures have been more geographical than psychological: rural County Derry is the "country of the mind" where much of Heaney's poetry is still grounded.
When he was twelve years of age, Seamus Heaney won a scholarship to St. Columb's College, a Catholic boarding school situated in the city of Derry, forty miles away from the home farm, and this first departure from Mossbawn was the decisive one. It would be followed in years to come by a transfer to Belfast where he lived between 1957 and 1972, and by another move from Belfast to the Irish Republic where Heaney has made his home, and then, since 1982, by regular, annual periods of teaching in America. All of these subsequent shifts and developments were dependent, however, upon that original journey from Mossbawn which the poet has described as a removal from "the earth of farm labour to the heaven of education." It is not surprising, then, that this move has turned out to be a recurrent theme in his work, from "Digging", the first poem in his first book, through the much more orchestrated treatment of it in "Alphabets"(The Haw Lantern, 1987), to its most recent appearance in "A Sofa in the Forties" which was published this year in The Spirit Level.
At St. Columb's College, Heaney was taught Latin and Irish, and these languages, together with the Anglo-Saxon which he would study while a student of Queen's University, Belfast, were determining factors in many of the developments and retrenchments which have marked his progress as a poet. The first verses he wrote when he was a young teacher in Belfast in the early 1960s and many of the best known poems in North, his important volume published in 1975, are linguistically tuned to the Anglo-Saxon note in English. His poetic line was much more resolutely stressed and packed during this period than it would be in the eighties and nineties when the "Mediterranean" elements in the literary and linguistic heritage of English became more pronounced. Station Island (1984) reveals Dante, for example, as a crucial influence, and echoes of Virgil - as well as a translation from Book VI of The Aeneid - are to be found in Seeing Things (1991). Heaney's early study of Irish bore fruit in the translation of the Middle Irish story of Suibhne Gealt in Sweeney Astray (1982) and in several other translations and echoes and allusions: the Gaelic heritage has always has been part of his larger keyboard of reference and remains culturally and politically central to the poet and his work.
Heaney's poems first came to public attention in the mid-1960s when he was active as one of a group of poets who were subsequently recognized as constituting something of a "Northern School" within Irish writing. Although Heaney is stylistically and temperamentally different from such writers as Michael Longley and Derek Mahon (his contemporaries), and Paul Muldoon, Medbh McGuckian and Ciaran Carson (members of a younger Northern Irish generation), he does share with all of them the fate of having be en born into a society deeply divided along religious and political lines, one which was doomed moreover to suffer a quarter-century of violence, polarization and inner distrust. This had the effect not only of darkening the mood of Heaney's work in the 1970s, but also of giving him a deep preoccupation with the question of poetry's responsibilities and prerogatives in the world, since poetry is poised between a need for creative freedom within itself and a pressure to express the sense of social obligation felt by the poet as citizen. The essays in Heaney's three main prose collections, but especially those in The Government of the Tongue (1988) and The Redress of Poetry (1995), bear witness to the seriousness which this question assumed for him as he was coming into his own as a writer.
These concerns also lie behind Heaney's involvement for a decade and a half with Field Day, a theatre company founded in 1980 by the playwright Brian Friel and the actor Stephen Real. Here, he was also associated with the poets Seamus Deane and Tom Paul in, and the singer David Hammond in a project which sought to bring the artistic and intellectual focus of its members into productive relation with the crisis that was ongoing in Irish political life. Through a series of plays and pamphlets (culminating in Heaney's case in his version of Sophocles' Philoctetes which the company produced and toured in 1990 under the title, The Cure at Troy), Field Day contributed greatly to the vigour of the cultural debate which flourished throughout the 1980s and 1990s in Ireland.
Heaney's beginnings as a poet coincided with his meeting the woman whom he was to marry and who was to be the mother of his three children. Marie Devlin, like her husband, came from a large family, several of whom are themselves writers and artists, including the poet's wife who has recently published an important collection of retellings of the classic Irish myths and legends (Over Nine Waves, 1994). Marie Heaney has been central to the poet's life, both professionally and imaginatively, appearing directly and indirectly in individual poems from all periods of his oeuvre right down to the most recent, and making it possible for him to travel annually to Harvard by staying on in Dublin as custodian of the growing family and the family home.
The Heaneys had spent a very liberating year abroad in 1970/71 when Seamus was a visiting lecturer at the Berkeley campus of the University of California. It was the sense of self-challenge and new scope which he experienced in the American context that encouraged him to resign his lectureship at Queen's University (1966-72) not long after he returned to Ireland, and to move to a cottage in County Wicklow in order to work full time as a poet and free-lance writer. A few years later, the family moved to Dublin and Seamus worked as a lecturer in Carysfort College, a teacher training college, where he functioned as Head of the English Department until 1982, when his present arrangement with Harvard University came into existence. This allows the poet to spend eight months at home without teaching in exchange for one semester's work at Harvard. In 1984, Heaney was named Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, one of the university's most prestigious offices. In 1989, he was elected for a five-year period to be Professor of Poetry at Oxford University, a post which requires the incumbent to deliver three public lectures every year but which does not require him to reside in Oxford.
In the course of his career, Seamus Heaney has always contributed to the promotion of artistic and educational causes, both in Ireland and abroad. While a young lecturer at Queen's University, he was active in the publication of pamphlets of poetry by the rising generation and took over the running of an influential poetry workshop which had been established there by the English poet, Philip Hobsbaum, when Hobsbaum left Belfast in 1966. He also served for five years on The Arts Council in the Republic of Ireland (1973-1978) and over the years has acted as judge and lecturer for countless poetry competitions and literary conferences, establishing a special relationship with the annual W.B. Yeats International Summer School in Sligo. In recent years, he has been the recipient of several honorary degrees; he is a member of Aosdana, the Irish academy of artists and writers, and a Foreign Member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1996, subsequent to his winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995, he was made a Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.
From Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 1995, Editor Tore Frängsmyr, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1996
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The Aran Sweater takes it's name from the small cluster off islands off the west coast of Ireland at the mouth of the Galway Bay. The islanders were mostly fishermen and farmers, with relentless weather and harsh winters, the heavy handknitted Arans evolved to cope with the these harsh conditions, keeping them warm and dry (originally some Aran sweaters would be made using oiled wool, where the natural oils were left in the wool, producing a waterproof effect). Alongside this, saw the evolution of the individual family stitches that would identify different clans or families.
There were no knitting patterns in these times, everything was done from memory, but as individual family patterns evolved these were passed down from generation to generation and kept as closely guarded secrets.
As time went on, and patterns began to become recorded and written, individual stitches evolved such as the : The Trinity or Blackberry stitch is said to represent the Holy Trinity, which is done by making 3 stitches from one and one to three across the panel hence it's name.
The Cable Stitch is a depiction of the fisherman's ropes, and represents a wish for a fruitful day at sea.
The Diamond Stitch reflects the small fields of the islands. These diamonds are sometimes filled with Irish moss stitch, depicting the seaweed that was used to fertilise the barren fields and produce a good harvest. Hence the diamond stitch is a wish for success and wealth.
The Zig Zag Stitch, a half diamond, is often used in the Aran Sweaters, and popularly represents the twisting cliff paths on the islands. The Tree of Life is one of the original stitches, and is unique to the earliest examples of the Aran knitwear. It again reflects the importance of the clan, and is an expression of a desire for clan unity, with the continuation of life through the generations, with a wish of longevity for family members.The honeycomb represents the humble hardworking bee, fishermen believed if they saw a swarm of bees before going to sea that this was a great omen.
The Aran Today
While the Aran takes it's name from the islanders, in reality they were made all over the country, particularly in coastal areas. This is still the case today, The Donegal Shop stock Aran sweaters that are made in Donegal, Mayo, Kildare, we even have some made in Dublin!
Today there are a large range of aran sweaters. We like to put them into 3 categories. Machine made, handloomed and handknit Arans. The staple everyday aran is machine made, using 100% wool, generally combining the honeycomb, diamond and basket stitch, these can start at €49.99.
Next are our handloomed arans, which are made in Donegal, made on a hand operated loom, which are of a heavier weight, have a chunkier feel and look like a handknit but without the price! They start at €89.99.
Finally our handknits, made by traditional knitters in Donegal, in the old fashioned way where women are sent wool at home and knit up an aran in 3-4 weeks By a company called Magee. We are biased but believe these are the closest you can get to the traditional Handknit that started in the Aran island, Donegal shares a very similiar history of fishing, farming and harsh climates . Priced from €250, so the knitters are giving a fair wage (at 3-4 weeks work we wish it were more) and to cover the wool. Handknit sweaters have a distinctive look and often have very unusal stitch combinations that make them very unique.
A Classic
We have been selling arans for close to 20 years, and they have been through a lot! They've been in fashion, out of fashion, provided heat and comfort when people are reaching out for their heritage having emigrated. They've been seen on ski slopes, in Vogue, The Farmers Journal, catwalks, popstars, farmers, fisherman, The Clancy Brothers and they are still going strong thankfully. They are a classic garment and hopefully always will be.


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There are already a bunch of articles on how to get your indie game out there. Kieron Gillen banged on about it. Rob Fearon put a sarcastic twist on it. Rodain Joubert 4-paged the sucker. Yet while each is giving it to the masses straight, it would appear that's just not straight enough.
I'm one of the editors at Indiegames.com, a sister site of Gamasutra and one dedicated to covering all the latest independent gaming news. I receive roughly between ten and twenty emails a day, ranging from indie press releases to reminders about games to follow-ups on past correspondence. The misconception that gaming sites won't want to cover your game because it's 'not important enough' is slowly being lifted, and independent developers in general are beginning to realize that PR is actually a huge factor in selling your product.
This, however, doesn't mean that developers are marketing their games correctly. I receive a good number of emails a day which, quite frankly, go straight in the virtual bin, bouncing off the rim in the process. It's all well and good throwing me some information regarding your latest venture, but there are right ways to go about it, and then there are not-so-right ways. Which got me thinking - while all the previously mentioned guides do a great job of pointing developers in the right direction, none of them really get right down to the nitty gritty and just simply spell it out.
Hence! Nitty gritty time it is. In this guide, I'll be explaining exactly what it is you, the budding games developer, should be providing me, the eager games journalist, with. Before I start, however, please be very much aware that certain aspects of this are going to be personal preference. Clearly I cannot vouch for the entire games journalism industry, however I do believe that following these rules will at least give you a basis for which to build on. And if all else fails, at least you'll know how to contact IndieGames.com in future!
1: The essentials
Before you even begin to think about spreading your news, there are certain bases you need covered. The following may sound painfully obvious to some, yet I still constantly come across developers who haven't laid the foundations properly. Said foundations are:
A website - either a developer site containing all your projects in one place, or a dedicated site for a single game. Regarding whether or not it's worth purchasing a real .com address or simply opting for a Blogger or Wordpress, my advice is get the .com. It costs $15 a year and gives your outfit a sense of professionalism. Of course, you can then go ahead and link a Wordpress blog to it.
A development blog - having a place where I can keep track of all the latest work on your title makes all the difference. Provide screenshots, WIP videos, insights - it's all good. Just make sure it has a working RSS feed!
A trailer - once your game is good to go, you need a quality trailer to show it off in motion. If you think you have the skills to do this yourself, by all means go ahead. Just please, for the sake of everyone, follow these simple guidelines:
a. Do not accompany the action with generic dance/house/metal/screech music. Find something which creates a satisfying atmosphere for what the viewee is witnessing. You may even want to find someone to create an original soundtrack for your trailer. For example, if 8-bit sound and chiptune is your port of call, the 8-bit Collective community are more than willing to help out games developers.
b. Do not spam the trailer with inane titles and movie-style narration. I'm watching your trailer to see the game, not a story about 'ONE MAN, ONE MISSION, THOSE HE LOVES ALWAYS LEAVE HIM'.
c. Give it some style. Don't just record yourself running around one room in the game for three minutes - that is bound to be incredibly boring. Show off the game's best features, best puzzles, best effects.
d. Do not make it too long (or too short, for that matter). My personal attention span begins to wane around the two minute mark, so you may want to aim round about there.
(Optional) A Twitter account - this one isn't exactly an essential, but it definitely can't hurt matters. Many indie developers have taken to announcing big news about their various games on Twitter even before posting to their website, and Twitter has really come into its own as the source of independent gaming news over the last six months.
2: Locate your points of attack
It's time to storm the media battlefield. There are a plethora of sites out there that cover indie games, including the likes of:
Play This Thing
Pixel Prospector
XNPlay (for Xbox Live Indie Games)
Your best plan of attack? Be prepared to contact everyone. If your game really is 'all that', then someone is bound to bite, right?
3: Write the email
Many developers get to this hurdle and end up with their face in the mud. Writing a good email is the most tricky aspect of marketing your indie game. It's a minefield, and you will most definitely trip some of those explosives. Hopefully, however, you can also cause some good explosions.
This is the part at which I have to humbly remind you again - what I'm about to detail is, to my knowledge, personal preference. I'm going to give it to you straight regarding the format of your press release, and what I would like to receive. This may or may not be what, say, John Walker at RockPaperShotgun wants, or Derek Yu at TIG deems suitable reading. Yet I'm going to go out on a limb and state that it really can't be that far from what others expect.
Let's get started.
a. The subject line - Make this plain and simple, containing exactly what I need to know. You can go for 'New Indie Game: MyGame' or 'Indie Game Submission: MyGame' or 'MyGame: a physics-based puzzler'. Do NOT, however, use lines like 'FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AN INCREDIBLE NEW INDIE GAMING EXPERIENCE' or 'Badass Entertainment Press Release: MyGame Is Here'. You are not a robot, stop acting like one.
b. Say hi - some may say it's not essential, but I beg to differ. If I open up an email and it begins with 'Yada Interactive have teamed up with Blabla to bring you a gaming experience...', I'm immediately put off. Yet, if a message begins with a friendly 'Hey Mike, my name is Name Here and I just recently released MyGame', I'm much more likely to take an interest. Again, be a real human being!
c. Say your piece - now that you've got the reader's attention, tell them what it is you came to say quickly and to the point. There are a number of different methods that work for me. Some send a single paragraph which simply explains the point of the game. Others opt for writing a few paragraphs and going into a little more details. Both are perfectly reasonable as long as you explain exactly what kind of game you're promoting, what the general idea behind the experience is and how exactly I can go about playing it, be it a link to a flash game or an Xbox redeem code. When it comes to the question 'Should I ask whether they'd like to receive my game or just send it straight away?', a quote from Rob Fearon will do nicely here: 'Don't hold off on review copies. Don't ask "would you like one?" just bloody send it.'
d. Plant your links - it sounds so simple, but you'd be surprised by the number of developers who don't provide links to their games in promotional emails. The fact is, if I've read what you have to say and feel interested in exploring more, I'm going to go trigger-happy with my mouse on whatever you provide. Links to your developer/company website, the game's website, your development blog and the Xbox Marketplace page (if it's an XBLIG/XBLA title) are all essentials. Of course, it goes without saying that you should make sure that all links are relevant!
e. Video and screenshots - as a general rule, I would always go with embedded images over attached. It means the reader definitely sees them, and also adds a little colour to the email. Another 'well duh' moment, but make sure all screenies are hi-res! Regarding your trailer, make sure you provide a link to either a page containing your video, or a direct link to it on Youtube/Vimeo etc.
Just to make this even easier to understand, I'm now going to use the above guidelines to create a mock email. Let's say my name is Hank Scorpio, and I've created a game called 'Be the Villain' under the developer name Globex. My email may go something like this:
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Indie Game Submission: Be the Villain
Hey Tim and Mike,
my name is Hank Scorpio and I create independent games under the name Globex. I've just released my latest indie title and I'd love if you'd check it out and consider featuring it on the IndieGames Blog.
The game is called 'Be the Villain' and it's a spy vs spy real time strategy. Featuring a single player campaign with over 50 missions, it's set in a world similar to that of James Bond, but with a twist - for you control the enemy, plotting to take over the world! The game is solely developed by myself, and features a full musical score and a unique 16-bit graphical style.
A trailer can be found via Youtube here. If you're interested, the game can be found on my website under the Games tab.
Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!
Hank Scorpio
Simple, no?
4: Don't give up, but don't be a broken record either
So you've sent your email off to various sites, and after a week no-one has responded. Clearly they all hate your game, right? Unfortunately, your game may be well worth promoting, but for reasons unknown to you, the recipients just didn't spend the time checking it out enough. That's right - you may have done absolutely nothing wrong whatsoever, yet you've STILL been given the cold shoulder.
The problem is this - real life. Everyone is part of it. Sometimes it makes you happy, and other times not so. The truth is that the reader's mood has quite a part in determining whether or not they'll receive your gaming news in good spirits or not. Catch them on a good day, and they may just want to take your game and put it on their site. Contact them while they're hungover, feeling irritated or just in a general bad mood and your chances become more slim. It's a horrible fact, and one which is completely out of your control. Or is it?
The key is to brush yourself off and give it one more try. Don't just resend the original email again, though. Rewrite it ever so slightly, change the subject line, then power it back out there. Maybe, just maybe, this time someone will be feeling good about life and give you a look-in.
Of course, if you hear nothing back a second time, it's probably fair to say that people simply are not interested. At this point you're going to need different assistance. Good luck with that.
Hopefully this guide has given you ideas on how to propel your project into the limelight. A final note - never be disheartened. Assuming you're making games because it's a passion of yours, it really shouldn't matter to you whether your game is received with praise or not, as long as you're creating exactly what you want to create. After all, that's the point of being 'indie', right?


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Tag Archives: Alternative Rock
A Riot of Color with the Post-Neo-Classic Hippie Generation
First City Alternative Music Festival was a parade of performance art. Check out the gallery by clicking the photo of the walking parade of creativity in Monterey, CA last weekend! Enjoy
Posted in Art Tagged Accidential Art, Alternative Rock, Art, book, California, creativity, Faith, First City Festival, Friendship, Fun, hippie, hippies, iPhone, Jane Pinsof, lemonade, lemons, Monterey, music, neko case, Photography, Pocket Pictures, punk, rock, Sally Aderton, Wisdom Leave a comment


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Hopkins worker claims first jackpot prize on Double Take scratch-off
A 40-year lunchtime routine of walking and playing Maryland Lottery scratch-offs has led to better health and, this month, wealth and happiness for a Johns Hopkins Hospital employee.
The records clerk scratched off a winning $5 Double Take instant ticket during a recent lunch break to become the game's first $100,000 top-prize winner. Following her routine, the 64-year-old walked to a nearby Lottery retailer, bought her tickets and headed back to work. She walked and scratched as she went. This lunch break was anything but routine, however. She stopped in her tracks when she got to the last spot on her final Double Take scratch-off. That last spot held the number three, which matched a lucky number! Then, she did a double take of her own as she scratched the rest of the spot to reveal the $100,000 win.
No one passing by suspected anything unusual was happening because our lucky winner remained calm. "I quietly tucked the ticket in my pocketbook and, when I returned home, hid it in a safe place," she said.
The Baltimore resident plans to share her prize with her husband, children and grandchildren. She will also remodel her basement and put a chunk of the winnings into savings. She bought the jackpot ticket at YNS Check Cashing on 2101 East Monument St. in Baltimore.


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Boston Red Sox win fifth straight
Their minds more at ease after two harrowing days, the Red Sox won again.
Converted closer Alfredo Aceves coasted through five innings, Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava drove in two runs apiece and the Red Sox, bonded by the tragedy in Boston, struck quickly against Justin Masterson and beat the Cleveland Indians 6-3 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight win.
After Boston's bullpen closed the game with four perfect innings, there was music again in the clubhouse and players gobbled down their postgame meals while watching NBA and MLB games on TVs. Finally, the horrific images aren't everywhere.
And in the middle of the room, the "617 Boston Strong" jersey hung for all to see.
"A good all-around game," manager John Farrell said. "A very good game."
Aceves (1-0), who began the season as a reliever after serving as Boston's primary closer in 2012, took a shutout into the sixth before giving up three runs. Andrew Bailey, filling in for injured closer Joel Hanrahan, worked the ninth for his first save.
Napoli had an RBI single in the first when the Red Sox scored three off Masterson (3-1), who has already beaten two Cy Young Award winners this season and came in without allowing a run in 19 straight innings.
Nick Swisher and Jason Giambi homered for the Indians, who dropped their third in a row.
The Red Sox hung the gray "617" jersey in their dugout, just as they did for Tuesday's emotional series opener – one day after the deadly marathon bombings back home. The jersey, featuring Boston's area code, has become a symbol of unity for the club, which will be back at Fenway Park on Friday to open a 10-game homestand.
Shane Victorino, Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Carp had three hits apiece as the Red Sox built Aceves a 5-0 lead.
Boston's bullpen did its job, retiring all 12 Cleveland batters in a row with eight strikeouts. Junichi Tazawa struck out four in two innings, Koji Uehara worked a perfect eighth and Bailey had a 1-2-3 ninth.
"The two innings by Taz were probably the difference in the ballgame," said Farrell, who couldn't have asked for more from his relievers. "Good stuff, a lot of strikes."
The Indians weren't at full speed. Center fielder Michael Bourn went on the disabled list and second baseman Jason Kipnis missed his fourth game in a row with a sore elbow.
Aceves coasted through four innings before Cleveland loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth. Asdrubal Cabrera then hit a liner to deep right that appeared as if it might clear Victorino's head and the bases, but the former center fielder who signed as a free agent with Boston in December, ran it down and made the catch.
Cabrera ripped off his helmet and slammed it down with two hands in frustration.
Blanked for five innings, the Indians finally got to Aceves and chased him with three runs in the sixth.
Carlos Santana walked leading off and Swisher followed with his second homer, a shot into the bullpen in center. Giambi then hit his 430th career homer – his first hit since signing with the Indians – to bring Cleveland to 5-3. Mark Reynolds hit a double and Aceves was lifted for Tazawa, who got three outs to end the inning.
The Red Sox added an unearned run in the eighth to make it 6-3. Ellsbury led off with a single, moved up on a wild pitch and scored from second when reliever Joe Smith fielded Victorino's bunt and threw wildly to first for an error.
The mood was much looser in Boston's clubhouse before the game than on Tuesday, when players solemnly went about their business with the tragedy so fresh on their minds.
Several players sat on a large leather sectional couch in the middle of the room and watched news developments from Washington and Boston on a large-screen TV. Others stayed closer to their cubicles and spent the time leading up to pregame batting practice reading and talking.
A close group to begin with, the Red Sox have become even tighter since the bombings. After they arrived Monday from Boston, just hours after the explosions near the marathon finish line, Farrell said 22 players went out to an impromptu dinner together in downtown Cleveland.
"I don't want to downplay the events that we just left in Boston, but I think what we've quickly come to see is a group that likes to be around one another," Farrell said. "Those are encouraging signs."
Masterson came in riding his career-best scoreless streak, which came to an abrupt halt as the Red Sox scored three runs in their first at-bat.
Boston loaded the bases on opposite-field singles by Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia sandwiched around Masterson hitting Victorino with a pitch.
Napoli, who drove in three runs on Tuesday, hit a two-run single – also the other way – and the Red Sox went up 3-0 on Nava's single.
Masterson was able to keep the damage to a minimum thanks to a nice barehanded play by Cabrera at shortstop, and first baseman Reynolds cut down Napoli at the plate.
Masterson pitched his way out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the second to keep the Indians within three. It was the same story in the fourth, but Masterson struck out Napoli and retired Nava on a grounder with the bags full.
"It wasn't as fun as the last three I pitched, but over a season when you have 30-plus starts you're going to have some like this," Masterson said. "I kept it close as much as I could."
Carp came in as the only Boston position player without a start in the first 13 games, and Farrell said he was "looking forward to getting him some at-bats."
Carp made the most of them. He doubled his first two times up and then hit an RBI triple in the fifth to make it 4-0. Nava's RBI single put Boston up 5-0 in the sixth.
Infield Chatter
Farrell would not commit to Hanrahan resuming his closer duties once he comes off the DL from a strained right hamstring. Hanrahan went on the disabled list Tuesday and can't be activated until April 29. "I don't think we're sitting here today ready to make that claim," Farrell said. "We've got to get through some things first, particularly how he responds with the hamstring." ... Red Sox DH David Ortiz (sore right Achilles) went 0 for 4 with a strikeout at Triple-A as he continues tuning up for his expected activation from the DL on Friday.


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Teens try to change the world, one purchase at a time
Youths 'vote' for fair trade, conservation, and natural foods with their dollars - but convenience is also a consideration
When classes adjourn here at the Fayerweather Street School, eighth-graders ignore the mall down the street and go straight to the place they consider much cooler: the local natural-foods grocer.
There they gather in groups of 10 or more sometimes, smitten by a marketing atmosphere that links attractiveness to eating well. And when time comes to buy something even as small as a chocolate treat, they feel good knowing a farmer somewhere probably received a good price.
"Food is something you need to stay alive," says eighth-grader Emma Lewis. "Paying farmers well is really important because if we didn't have any [unprocessed] food, we'd all be living on Twinkies."
Eating morally, as some describe it, is becoming a priority for teenagers as well as adults in their early 20s. What began a decade ago as a concern on college campuses to shun clothing made in overseas sweatshops has given birth to a parallel phenomenon in the food and beverage industries. Here, youthful shoppers are leveraging their dollars in a bid to reduce pesticide usage, limit deforestation, and make sure farmers aren't left with a pittance on payday.
Once again, college campuses are setting the pace. Students at 30 colleges have helped persuade administrators to make sure all cafeteria coffee comes with a "Fair Trade" label, which means bean pickers in Latin America and Africa were paid higher than the going rates. Their peers on another 300 campuses are pushing to follow suit, according to Students United for Fair Trade in Washington, D.C.
Coffee is just the beginning. Bon Appétit, an institutional food-service provider based in Palo Alto, Calif., relies on organic and locally grown produce. In each year since 2001, more than 25 colleges have asked the company to bid on their food-service contracts. Though Bon Appétit intentionally limits its growth, its collegiate client list has grown from 58 to 71 in that period.
"It's really just been in the last five years that we've seen students become concerned with where their food was coming from," says Maisie Ganzler, Bon Appétit's director of strategic initiatives. "Prior to that, students were excited to be getting sugared cereal."
To reach a younger set that often doesn't drink coffee, Fair Trade importer Equal Exchange rolled out a line of cocoa in 2003 and chocolate bars in 2004. Profits in both sectors have justified the project, says Equal Exchange co-president Rob Everts. What's more, dozens of schools have contacted the firm to use its products in fundraisers and as classroom teaching tools.
"Kids often are the ones who agitate in the family" for recycling and other eco-friendly practices, Mr. Everts says. "So it's a ripe audience."
Concerns of today's youthful food shoppers seem to reflect in some ways the idealism that inspired prior generations to join boycotts in solidarity with farm workers. But today's efforts are distinct in that youthful consumers say they don't want to make sacrifices. They want high-quality, competitively priced goods that don't require exploitation of workers or the environment. They'll gladly reward companies that deliver.
One activist who shares this sentiment and hears it repeatedly from her peers is Summer Rayne Oakes, a recent college graduate and fashion model who promotes stylish Fair Trade clothing.
"I'm not going to buy something that can't stand on its own or looks bad just because it's socially responsible," Ms. Oakes says. "My generation has come to terms with the fact that we're all consumers, and we all buy something.... So if I do have to buy [food], what are the consequences? Who am I affecting on the planet? What am I affecting on the planet?"
Wanting to ameliorate the world's big problems can be frustrating, especially for those who feel ineffective because they're young. Marketers are figuring out that teenagers resent this feeling of powerlessness and are pushing products that make young buyers feel as though they're making a difference, says Michael Wood, vice president of Teenage Research Unlimited, a market-research firm in Northbrook, Ill. His example: Ethos Water from Starbucks, which contributes five cents from every bottle sold to water-purification centers in developing countries.
"This is a very easy way for young people to contribute.... All they have to do is buy a bottled water," Mr. Wood says. "Buying products or supporting companies that give them ways to support global issues is one way for them to get involved, and they really appreciate that."
Convenience is also driving consumer activism. Joe Curnow, national coordinator of United Students for Fair Trade, says she first got involved about five years ago as a high schooler when she spent time hanging out in cafes. Buying coffee with an eco-friendly label "was a very easy way for me to express what I believed in," she says.
For young teens, consumption is their first foray into activism. At the Fayerweather Street School, Emma Lewis teamed up with classmates Kayla Kleinman and Therese LaRue to sell Fair Trade chocolate, cocoa, and other products at a school fundraiser in November. When the tally reached $8,000, they realized they were striking a chord.
"It's maybe not making as much of a difference as it would if we were adults," Kayla says. "But it is doing something."
Some adults hasten to point out the limitations of ethical consumption as a tool for doing good deeds and personal growth. Gary Lindsay, director of Children's Ministries at Grace Baptist Church in Hudson, Mass., encourages Fair Trade purchases, but he also organizes children to collect toys for foster children and save coins for a playground-construction project in Tanzania. He says it helps them learn to enjoy helping others even when they're not getting anything tangible in return.
"When we're benefiting, how much are we really giving? Is it really sacrifice?" Mr. Lindsay asks. Of Fair Trade products, he says: "Those things are great when we're given opportunities like that once in a while. But I think for us to expect that we should get something out of everything we do is a very selfish attitude to have."
Others say that the Millennial generation was destined to bring their concerns to bear on food products as a result of the way they grew up. And justice in the fields isn't always the foremost concern.
Through child safety seats and other protective products, "this generation has been made to feel so special and so important that they are very concerned with themselves and what goes into their bodies," Bon Appétit's Ms. Ganzler says. "They believe, 'I'm unique, and I deserve to have food that is good for me.' ... I'd venture to guess [concerns about farm workers are] lower on the priority list than what actually impacts themselves."
Although Equal Exchange prices its products competitively with other premium brands, the ethical consumption trend is most visible among the financially comfortable. Bon Appétit doesn't serve public college campuses, she says, because they don't provide enough latitude for the firm's teaching mission. Even on private campuses, many students don't seem motivated to advance a cause.
"The number of students who care about these issues is certainly growing, but it does remain a vocal minority," Ganzler says. "It is not the majority of students that are engaged in related issues.... Most students are going about their business worrying about finals."
Apathy and finances aside, image still matters in junior high and beyond. And in some circles, food is a big part of it.
"If I were to come into school with a Coke, I wouldn't feel as cool as if I came in with a mango-tango smoothie," Emma says. "Looking healthy and being healthy makes you, like, feel good and feel like you look good."


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Comfortable organic fiber coats, tops, skirts, dresses, sweaters, and accessories. Can it get better? Yes, because the clothes offered by Indigenous are also absolutely stunning.
This company has been a pioneer in the organic clothing field for 18 years. They use fibers like silk, alpaca, cotton, and merino wool and have strict environmental standards to avoid toxins commonly used to dye and process fabrics. They were the first clothing company to blend organic cotton with Tencel, a breakthrough fiber made of sustainably harvested tree pulp. They insist on living wages and employ over 1,500 highly skilled fair wage artisans. You'd think their clothes would be outrageously priced, yet we're talking department stores prices for far better quality. Better ethics too.
I got the chance to try out their Portrait Coat, shown at right. It's made of 100% organic cotton fleece with surprising warmth. The wide collar looks great, but can also button right up to the chin to protect the wearer from brisk winds. It looks great with leggings, jeans, or a skirt. Oh, and nicely roomy pockets. Your phone will not fall out.
The wonderful people at Indigenous have come up with an exclusive offer for GeekMom readers that's good until December 25th. Get 30% off your entire eco fashion order using the code GEEK22. And as always, free shipping. Give yourself a gift and do something good for the indigenous artisans who make these beautiful clothes too!


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Monthly review: September 2013| monthly, review
I'm back to consulting on Tuesdays and Thursdays in September, with
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for my experiment with
semi-retirement. Let's see if I can keep the momentum!
To accommodate some of the priorities and my clients' plans, I ended up increasing my consulting to the equivalent of three days a week (two full days and two half-days for best responsiveness). I'll keep the same pace in October, and then I'll probably take off for some vacation in December. I don't mind scaling my personal projects back a little to squeeze in some more consulting over a short period of time – I can see the value of the work I do, and I can still make time to write and draw.
September 30 was my second fiscal year end, so I spent some time thinking about how I wanted to reinvest in my business. Consulting is going well, and I want to get even better at drawing and writing. I bought a Fujitsu ScanSnap and have started using it to support a daily drawing habit, and I've been getting a lot of positive feedback.
In October, I'll focus on consulting. In my discretionary time, I'll focus on lots of drawing and thinking. I want to build that habit of daily visual thinking, and then I'll use that to learn even more.
Here's what I wrote about in September:
- Tech
- How to learn Emacs keyboard shortcuts (a visual tutorial for newbies)
- Using Emacs to figure out where I need to improve in order to type faster
- When I blog with Emacs and when I blog with other tools
- Reorganizing WordPress categories with Term Management Tools and other tweaks
- Dealing with SIGSEGV in php5-fpm and Nginx
- Setting up dynamic DNS with Tomato and Namecheap, and limiting SSH
- Sketchnotes and drawing
- Sketchnote: Managing Oneself (Peter Drucker)
- Sketchnotes: Conversations About Social Business (Jennifer Okimoto, IBM)
- Sketchnote: Reboot Your Business, Reboot Your Life: Your Future Depends On It – Mitch Joel (Third Tuesday Toronto)
- Sketchnote Lessons: Stick figures
- Sketchnote Lessons: Adding color
- Sketchnote Lessons: Having fun with words
- Sketchnote Lessons: Adding Emphasis
- How I prepare for professional digital sketchnoting
- Writing
- 4 steps to a better blog by planning your goals and post types
- What keeps you from taking notes? 9 excuses and how to get past them
- Balancing writing with other things
- The learning machine: How I turn what I learn into blog posts
- Poll: Planning a weekly topic-focused blog – what would you like to read more about?
- Reviews
- Life
- Business


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T his column is definitely not a movie review
column. The editors rightly expect me to be more creative than simply reviewing events, and anyway, most of the movies in my life have to be suitable for a 7 year old.
Add to that the fact that, when I run into regular readers, which is with some frequency, they almost never want to talk to me about movies, and you have a list of reasons.
That being said, I hope you have a chance to take a small child, or a child-like adult, and view "The Lorax" before it leaves the local moviehouse. This screen adapted version of Dr. Seuss' ecology classic, written for children of all ages, is well worth you time and the social statement that it makes.
The statement is not political, not right wing nor left wing, as some fringe claims a few weeks ago were trying to maintain. It is simply the choice presented: Will we live in a world made of plastic, or will we reverse the trend toward destroying our natural world, before it's too late?
Since this is not a movie review, and since I don't want to ruin the plot for you, I am going to avoid telling you what the actual plot is, or many details thereof. The ecology drum, though, is one the readers of this column know I beat with some frequency, primarily because it matters a whole lot.
Four voices with which I grew up, meaning they were active when I was a child,seem to still maintain a lot of respect and validity as "voices"to children today. Dr. Seuss is one of these, the other three being Mr. Rogers, Charles Schultz, and Walt Kelly {though Kelly's "Pogo" requires a slightly higher level of sophistication.}
In each case, of course, the underlying messages are really geared to include and address adults.
The ecology theme which underlies The Lorax is not a Republican/Democrat idea. I personally have friends on both sides who "get" this message. Some of them are lifetime NRA members, and some of them are vegan tree huggers.
They are bound by a common love of the outdoors, meaning a true appreciation of all that dwells there, and by the desire to pass a world on to our children and grandchildren that allows them the freedom to: swim in an unpolluted lake, spot a deer in its natural habitat, see the stars
and planets unimpeded by clouds of noxious gas- you get the picture.
In my world view, the creation around us is a gift from God, and not to be taken lightly. Maintaining and caring for it is an aspect of stewardship, and one that addresses the quality of life enjoyed by all of God's created beings.
Do yourself a favor. Go see The Lorax, with open senses.


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It was the worst kind of text message to get late at night.
"Call me back as soon as you get this," my friend wrote a couple of weeks ago.
I typically freak out when people send these sort of ominous messages—who knows exactly what the other person is about to tell me? My mind immediately assumes someone is seriously hurt or dying.
More From Cosmopolitan
So, I called her back right away.
"What's wrong? Did someone get hurt?" I asked her.
"No! Did you see what Andy posted on Facebook earlier today?" she replied, referring to her boyfriend.
I hadn't. I typically ignore Andy's posts because all he posts are weirdo conspiracy theories about the government.
"Well, some girl I don't know liked his status," she replied. "Do you think they're talking?"
Seriously? How old are we?
Yeah, my friend is a bit of a drama queen. But, she's not alone: A new study finds that we ladies are more likely to get jealous when our S.O.s don't do enough on their Facebook profiles to show that they're in a relationship.
To be fair, my friend's BF doesn't exactly interact with her much on FB. My friend—on the other hand—is always posting tidbits about their relationship.
Does the "like" on his status mean he's cheating on her? I seriously doubt it, but that's probably not going to stop her from being jealous.
So, I'll just get used to the late-night text messages. That's what friends are for, right?
Want more from Meagan? Follow her on Twitter.


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New England Home Show adds entertainment to its attractions
Taste crab cakes prepared with instructions by award-winning chef Joseph Armstrong of Captain Fishbones in Quincy. Watch the skill of Canton furniture maker Thomas MacDonald, the star of a woodworking show in development with WGBH-TV.
These demonstrations – part of a Chef Fest and Woodworking Expo – are two reasons to go to the New England Home Show. So too are the craft pavilion and the magic performances. In its 60 years, this is the first time the show has added so many elements to attract people who may have no plans for home improvements.
"It's value added," said Rich Castiglione, director of the show, which runs today through Sunday at Seaport World Trade Center. "In this economy, people are digging down deeper, so we have things to amuse adults and kids. They don't just get to see the home stuff."
Of course, the core of the show is the 350 exhibitors who showcase products for projects ranging from modest to ambitious. Many goods and services are for improvements that increase or maintain a home's value and reduce energy costs – such as upgraded or new kitchens and baths, energy-efficient windows, appliances and heating equipment, and high-end insulation.
The trend away from luxury and toward necessity can be seen in the decrease in the number of hot tub exhibitors and increase in the number of window companies at the show.
"People know that their home is their biggest investment, and they need to protect that," Castiglione said.
Compared to recent years, companies have hopes that consumers are looking to buy, if not now then in the next few years.
"For the first time in two years, we've completely sold out our exhibit space," said Castiglione, who expects 20,000 to 25,000 people to attend. "I don't think the economy has turned around, but it's starting to come back."
If you're essentially just browsing, you still can bring home something to enhance your house. The crafts and specialty foods pavilion has 90 booths, up from 30 last year.
During the Chef Fest, Armstrong, executive chef at Captain Fishbones of Quincy, will make crab cakes topped with tangy remoulade and a red pepper coulis, served with veggie slaw. Other chefs who will participate are Marc Vierbickas, executive chef at Siros in Quincy, Jose Duarte of Taranta in Boston, as well as chefs from Legal Test Kitchen, Aura, Suffolk Grille and Corey's.
You can sample their fare, pick up a cup of free coffee and sit down to enjoy magicians and balloon artists from Urban Circus.
In the Woodworking Expo, MacDonald will be joined by professional furniture makers from across the country, as well as graduates and students of the North Bennet Street School in Boston. They will demonstrate various aspects of wood craft and offer tips.
"It's a (furniture) show within a show," said MacDonald, who makes reproductions of 18th century furniture and will showcase his new line of baseball-theme furniture made of solid ash and wooden baseball bats. He recently signed an agreement with WGBH to create a woodworking show.
"My challenge (with the baseball furniture) was 'can I make something that is of superior quality, but still competitive price wise,'" said MacDonald, whose Past Time Collection features beds, dressers and bar stools.
That emphasis on value and quality also is the approach of Avalon Building Systems of Stoughton, which will exhibit its modular homes. The custom -designed homes are built in units at a factory and assembled onsite, a process that is less costly than traditional construction because it usually takes only four to six months and uses materials bought in large volumes directly from manufacturers.
Like many builders, owner Paul Oliveiri has seen an increase in customers who want to lessen the impact their homes have on the environment.
"Most want some type of green, but it can go from barely anything to the end of rainbow," said Oliveiri of Sharon. "We can go anywhere up the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) ladder."
Steps can include orienting the home's windows to taking advantage of passive solar, using cabinets, countertops and flooring made from recycled or easily renewable materials, selecting paints and carpeting without emissions, and installing energy-efficient boilers, water heaters, windows and doors.
Oliveiri also has noticed that many baby boomers want products that require little or no maintenance, such as non-wood decks, fiber cement siding, bamboo flooring and cultured stone countertops.
Although the show does not feature vendors who define themselves as "green" companies, just about all companies have green offerings, although these may cost more, Castiglione said.
"Building people are all starting to think along the lines of green products, so if you want that you should ask them specifically," Castiglione said.
Reach Jody Feinberg firstname.lastname@example.com.
WHAT: The New England Home Show
WHEN: Noon to 9 p.m. today and Friday, p.m. today and Friday, from tomorrow Feb. 25 and 26, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, from Feb. 27 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Feb. 28 at
WHERE: Seaport World Trade Center, Seaport Boulevard, Boston
ADMISSION: Admission is free for those 17 and under, $12 for adults. Get $3 off if tickets are purchased online. For more information, call 508-823-0389 or go to www.newenglandhomeshows.com.


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We have received a tip that we cannot confirm, hence our "RUMOR" designation, that nonetheless has at least an air of credibility about it that says, "Apple is planning to make MobileMe free."
MobileMe is Apple's $99 per year service (it can be purchased for less) that keeps your email, contacts, and calendar information in the "cloud" and uses push technology to keep everything in sync across your iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC, and the web automatically. MobileMe also offers MobileMe Gallery for sharing your photos, Find My iPhone and Find my iPad, which helps you locate your lost (or stolen) device, Remote Wipe, which allows you to remotely delete your personal information and restore devices to their to the factory settings, iDisk, for storing, accessing, and sharing files online (starts at 20GB), Me.com, a suite of ad-free web applications — Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Gallery, iDisk, and Find My iPhone — all accessible from a browser on any Mac or PC, Back to My Mac puts any Mac OS X Leopard- or Snow Leopard-based Mac you use within easy reach from anywhere, Secure iChat, which lets you protect your chats with robust, 128-bit encryption, the free iDisk app which lets you view files on your iDisk right on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, share content from iPhoto, iMovie, QuickTime, and Aperture, seamless iWeb integration, personal domain name hosting, and more.
MobileMe was originally launched on January 5, 2000, as "iTools," a free collection of Internet-based services for users of Mac OS 9. iTools was relaunched as ".Mac" on July 17, 2002, when it became a $99 per year subscription service. .Mac was relaunched as "MobileMe" at WWDC 2008 on July 9, 2008.
No timeframe was given for MobileMe to go free, other than: "sooner than later… depends on certain facilities going operational."
That's all we have at this time.
Again, this is an unconfirmed RUMOR.


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Ok, now you've got me confused. Whas this over Volvo going after the Volo Auto Museum for volocars.com or was the museum holding out a volvocars.com url?
Volo Car Museum Nets A Win In Volvo Web Fight
from the domain-name-non-squatting dept
A few months back we had the news about the domain name fight between the Volo, Illinois based Volo Auto Museum (which is a museum of "antique, classic, and muscle cars") and Volvo (the big automaker) over the domain name VoloCars.com since Volvo uses VolvoCars.com for their domain. I had pretty forgotten about the whole thing until someone from Volvo contacted me earlier this week to give me his side of the story. I was a bit surprised that (a) he tracked me down and (b) that a story from a few months ago mattered so much to them. I spoke to him this morning, and he says that he went out to the Volo Auto Museum (which he claims is "pretty cool") and talked with them. At first, he claims, the museum wanted to sell Volvo the domain, for a price that Volvo considered to be too high. Then, the two sides actually came to an agreement to let the museum keep the domain name – with some sort of assurance that they wouldn't turn around and sell it to another carmaker or use it to advertise cars that compete with Volvo. The next day, he says, the folks from the Auto Museum suddenly changed their minds and specifically said that they were going to do their best to squeeze some publicity out of the story. The part that I'm still confused by, though, is why Volvo then went to WIPO to try to take the domain. The guy at Volvo says they did it just to get a ruling on whether or not they had a right to the domain name. As for why he was suddenly interested in talking to me? Well, it turns out that the WIPO ruling just came out and the Volo Auto Museum gets to keep the name. My guess is that there's a bit of truth to everyone's side of this. If you look at their press releases, it's pretty clear the Volo Auto Museum was looking to get some free publicity out of this. At the same time, Volvo could have handled everything better and not gone to WIPO (which would have made this story a non-starter from the beginning).