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Filed under: Internet, Video, Web

IMDb celebrates its 19th birthday

IMDb 19The Internet Movie Database turned 19 yesterday. If you're scratching your head wondering how the IMDb can be older than the web, you'll notice that the first initial is I, not W. That's because the iconic destination for information about films and TV shows actually predates the web.

In fact, the earliest version of the technology behind the IMDb was a set of scripts for searching the USENET group rec.arts.movies. The IMDb wasn't even named yet, but it was already a work in progress on October 17, 1990.

The web site today is a bit more full featured. Not only can you get biographies for actors, directors, writers, and producers, as well as biographies, filmographies, and brief descriptions of movies, but you can also get TV listings, movie rankings, entertainment news, message boards, and the ability to watch some movies and TV shows from the site.

[via TechCrunch]

Filed under: Internet

RIAA sues Usenet: Wait, you can do that?

GrabIt
The RIAA certainly knows how to keep on top of the latest trends in piracy. Wired is reporting that the Recording Industry Association of America is suing Usenet.com, claiming that the internet platform that predates the web is the next big thing in illegal file sharing.

Never mind the fact that people have been sharing files on Usenet for decades. And never mind the fact that Usenet.com is just one company that provides access to Usenet feeds.

In other words, RIAA could sue Usenet.com into oblivion with absolutely no impact on the number of illegal music, movie, and other files you could download from Usenet. This is sort of like suing internet service providers because subscribers used their internet access to fire up web browser, BitTorrent clients, and Gnutella-style file sharing applications to download copyrighted music.

Oh yeah, and in case you've forgotten how to access Usenet feeds (you know, for the engaging conversations, not the file downloads), Wired has written up a nice little tutorial to get you (re)started.

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The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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