Not so evil

I've installed the latest RealPlayer software (now called RealOne Player) and I'm pleasantly surprised to find that it doesn't appear to be nearly as evil as it used to be, although I still had to go through the twenty or so Preferences screens: 'No, do not check for updates...or for new messages...don't play CDs or DVDs on insertion...don't send data to RealServers...' And RealPlayer 8 was even worse!

The speed of gravity has been measured - gravity has been shown to travel at the speed of light. I know what you're thinking[1] - 'the speed of gravity?' The standard explanation is the same as that of the speed of light; ie. that if the Sun instantly vanished, we wouldn't notice for over eight minutes because there would still be light travelling towards us. Since the speed of gravity is the same as the speed of light, the Earth would continue travelling in its orbit for over eight minutes after the Sun went kaplooie and would then fly off in a straight line once it finally stopped feeling the effect of the Sun's gravity.

Another reason not to arm policemen:

COOKEVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Police video released Wednesday showed a North Carolina family kneeling and handcuffed, who shrieked as officers killed their dog -- which appeared to be playfully wagging its tail -- with a shotgun during a traffic stop.

CNN story, via Tom Tomorrow.

And Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing has just released his first novel - and has it freely available to download in lotsa different formats (although I think he'd really like you to buy it as well). Why?