I don't actually play very many video games anymore, because as I found out during college, I get addicted pretty easily when I do find one that I like, and I am apt to lose weeks and sometimes months at a time because of this. It really hasn't been that much of a problem for me during the last few years. Until now....

Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo (with Bonus!)

"Wallace & Gromit is an arcade platform adventure where the player has to liberate the zoo from the evil clutches of the maniacal Feathers. Feathers wants to make diamonds. Lots of diamonds. And he'll stop at nothing to achieve his dream.

*Charge through the game as the resourceful and adventurous Gromit, with Wallace never far behind to offer hilarious if sometimes dubious hints.

* Race through five enormous action packed levels (with 24 sub levels and mini arcade games) covering eight different 'animal houses' in the zoo.

* Bursting with inventions designed to challenge the mind and fill every level with fast paced fun including: the Porridge Gun, Coal Flinger, Banana Launcher and Knitting Machine.

* Build contraptions invented by Wallace to aid your journey such as 'Springy Boots', 'Mine Cart', 'Toboggan' and 'Gyrocopter'.

* Spot the parodies; dozens of scenes containing well known adaptations of movie/game elements to addto the humor.

* Master tons of special moves from Gromit, including head spins, back flips and the hysterical 'sneaking' moves." [GameStop]

ETA: Tuesday! If you order from GameStop, you get a free DVD as "the bonus," and the game is even rated the coveted (in my household) "E"! So if I suddenly stop blogging without any notice, now you'll know why....

Benjamin Franklin True Patriot Act

"Rich writes 'Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has introduced the Bejamin Franklin True Patriot Act HR 3171 'To provide for an appropriate review of recently enacted legislation relating to terrorism to assure that powers granted in it do not inappropriately undermine civil liberties,' which will repeal sections of the Patriot Act, restoring attorney-client privilege and revoking FOIA secrecy orders. The bill has 20 other co-sponsors and support from the ACLU, NAACP, and CAIR. You can contact Congress at visi.com." [LISNews.com]

Why?

California Survey Reveals FBI Visited 16 Libraries

"Fang-Face writes 'Somebody needs to get his story straight. Another article challenges Ashcrofts assertions, and this time offers hard evidence. From American Libraries Online: 'A statewide survey conducted this summer by the California Library Association reveals that since September 11, 2001, FBI agents have formally contacted 14 libraries with requests for patron-record information. The September 22 disclosure of the survey data in the Sacramento Bee came four days after U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft asserted to police officers and prosecutors in Memphis, Tennessee, that the Department of Justice has never invoked Section 215 of the Patriot Act to access records of patrons’ library use, citing a just-released memo he had written to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III.' " [LISNews.com]

I hate to find myself in the position of defending OCLC, but it seems that word is NOT getting out that their lawsuit against The Library Hotel ISN'T completely frivolous. (Emphasis below is mine.)

OCLC Takes Legal Action to Protect Dewey Decimal Classification® (DDC®) Trademark

"OCLC is disappointed that legal action had to be taken against The Library Hotel. This is an unusual event for OCLC. However, trademark law imposes affirmative obligations on trademark owners to protect their trademarks, or risk losing all rights in those marks through legal abandonment. We felt that abandoning our rights in the Dewey trademarks was an unacceptable result for the OCLC membership. OCLC attempted to avoid litigation by repeatedly requesting attribution of our ownership of the Dewey marks from The Library Hotel. They have refused to do so. Unfortunately, that refusal left us with no other recourse than to file a legal complaint....

Accordingly, between October 2000 and October 2002, OCLC made three written requests to The Library Hotel asking the Hotel to acknowledge and attribute ownership of the Dewey trademarks to OCLC. The Library Hotel refused to do so....

The Dewey Decimal Classification exists to help libraries and other organizations and companies organize their information materials so that users may find information easily. The DDC is the world’s most widely used library materials classification system. Over 200,000 libraries in 135 countries use the DDC to organize their collections. The DDC has been translated into over 30 languages. OCLC sells thousands of print and electronic editions of the DDC each year. These funds are used to continue the development of the DDC.

The DDC is a general knowledge organization tool that is continuously updated and revised to keep pace with knowledge. For example, recent additions to DDC include: 'extreme sports,' DDC classification number 796.046; 'Web publications,' classification number 070.57973; 'laser surgery,' classification number 617.058; and “digital television,” classification number 621.38807. Over the past decade, OCLC has invested more than $6 million to continually update and maintain the effectiveness and relevance of the Dewey Decimal Classification in a modern world. It is important work. OCLC has seven full-time staff dedicated to the creation and management of the DDC." [OCLC News & Events]

Like I said, I hate being forced to defend OCLC and I think the request for three times the profits of the Hotel is rather excessive, but I do understand trying to protect the DDC from commercial entities that might re-sell it or even porn companies that want to use it for... "inappropriate" purposes. And if you got three letters from a lawyer about trademark infringement, wouldn't you start paying attention - at least after the second one?

Unfortunately, the New York Times buried these facts at the bottom of their article, so maybe most people missed this (including the fact that the third letter was sent certified). I hope the blogosphere corrects itself on this one.

Update: OCLC Sues New York Library-Themed Hotel

"Dreitler, however, said OCLC attempted to get the Library Hotel to simply sign some form of agreement acknowledging that the hotel's use of the Dewey Decimal System was granted by permission of OCLC. For the first two years they heard nothing, said Dreitler. Last year, however, The Library Hotel's owner, Henry Kallan finally responded. 'He basically told OCLC to get lost,' Dreitler said. 'All OCLC needed was a piece of paper they could put in their file.' Dreitler says the OCLC has no objection to the hotel's use of the Dewey Decimal system, and was never seeking payment."

WiFi Speed Spray

" 'It's an amazing product, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who has a computer or would like to have a computer.' [via Michael's So-Called Life]" [MetaFilter]