WATCHING the music and film industries get into a muddle over new technology can be a lot more fun than the entertainment they are selling.
Sony recently released a CD of 鈥渕usic from and inspired by鈥� sister company Columbia鈥檚 Spider-Man movie. The CD carries the now familiar warning that it 鈥渨ill not play on PC/Mac鈥� because it is copy-protected using Sony鈥檚 Key2audio system.
But as a promotion for the film, the CD also promises that 鈥渨ith your copy of the Spider-Man CD and a connection to the Internet you will have access to exclusive behind-the-scenes video footage, music videos and more鈥�. The instructions are: 鈥�1. Place the Spider-Man CD in your computer鈥檚 CD-ROM drive. 2. Log on to 3. Click on Get Connected.鈥�
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Intrigued by the idea of a CD that is intended to work on a computer while simultaneously being designed not to work on a computer, we ran some tests. We found that the CD鈥檚 music not only played perfectly well on a Windows PC, it also copied perfectly to a blank CD and happily ripped to a computer hard disc.
We then tried to follow Sony鈥檚 instructions for getting connected. After a while, up came the hopeful invitation to 鈥淚nsert鈥� the CD and press 鈥淪tart鈥�. But all this brought was the error message 鈥渨e were unable to find Spider-Man鈥�.
So Spider-Man鈥檚 copy-protection does not stop people copying but it does prevent them from accessing Sony鈥檚 promotion for the movie. Cool.
DOES Microsoft really exist? We only ask because of a statement in the manual for the Microsoft Natural Pro keyboard. It says: 鈥淭he names of companies, products, people, characters and/or data mentioned herein are fictitious and are in no way intended to represent any real individual, company, product or event, unless otherwise noted.鈥�
The only company mentioned in the manual is Microsoft Corporation.
THIS WEEK鈥橲 鈥渞apid response鈥� award goes to the screening section of the South East London Shared Services Partnership (SELSSP), whose motto is 鈥淪upporting the delivery of health care in South East London鈥�.
Some time ago, a colleague who was staying temporarily at a house in south London went to have a routine smear test under the auspices of the SELSSP. Shortly afterwards she moved into a flat of her own. Mail addressed to her continued to arrive at the house for a while, but eventually dried up. Then, last week, another letter addressed to her came through the door.
The letter was from the SELSSP screening section. It said: 鈥淲e understand the laboratory was unable to report on your recent smear test. The smear sample was not sufficient for diagnosis. About 7 per cent are inadequate in this way and have to be repeated.鈥� It went on to say that our colleague should arrange to have another test if she had not already done so.
All of which seems very commendable. Except that the failed test in question took place in May 1997 鈥� five years and two months ago.
FEEDBACK sympathises with those who have to try to get journalists interested in science. But it鈥檚 possible to go a tad too far. With hindsight, press officer Peter Dunn may feel that he did so on 13 May when he announced: 鈥淩esearchers in the University of Warwick鈥檚 Molecular Medicine Research Centre have found the 鈥楤in Laden鈥� of cancer-causing faulty proteins.鈥�
So that鈥檒l be a protein that gets blamed for everything, but no one can isolate it or tell what it鈥檚 up to?
MOST computer error messages are just annoying, though we may find dark humour in them to help us stumble on to the next one. Some, though, shake the foundations of our understanding of the Universe. Reader Stephen Mollett encountered one such, while running the GCC C compiler program on the source code for a video editing suite called Cinelerra: 鈥淲arning: 鈥業nfinity鈥� redefined鈥�.
To what?
IN SPAIN, as in many parts of Europe, small shops are fighting to survive because of the competition from big supermarkets. Reader Lu铆s F茅 Santos tells us that he was recently in a small Spanish town called Valencia de Alc谩ntara, near the Portuguese border, where he found a store with this notice in the door:
鈥淪upport local commerce! You鈥檝e come to the perfect place to do your shopping. Closed.鈥�
SURPRISE, surprise. Here鈥檚 how the open-minded and enquiring creationists at users.bigpond.com/rdoolan/FAQ.html deal with the questions they receive: 鈥淲e are happy to get emails asking questions鈥e classify emails that need a response into four categories: from four-star replies to one-star replies. Four-star replies are usually to creationists who agree with our position: they get answered first. One-star replies are to rude evolutionists and sceptics. They usually go to the bottom of the pile and we answer them when and if we have time.鈥�
READER Mike Taylor was installing a new cat flap. With it came a document entitled 鈥淪taywell Pet Door 鈥� the user鈥檚 guide鈥�. It was, he says, no doubt very informative, but unfortunately his cat can鈥檛 read.
FINALLY, can anyone help Ivor Watts with a linguistic enquiry? In the sentence, 鈥淧ure cranberry juice drink 鈥� ingredients: water, cranberry juice (16 per cent), sugar, colour (anthocyanincs), malic acid, citric acid, flavourings鈥�, what is the sense of the word 鈥減ure鈥�?
The advertisement for the Solar Magic garden lamp promises that 鈥渄uring the day it converts both sunlight and daylight into electricity鈥�