In March 2014, the funk band Vulfpeck released Sleepify — ten tracks of silence, each just over 30 seconds long. The band encouraged fans to stream it on a loop overnight. Every play earned about $0.007 in Spotify royalties; The Guardian estimated that seven hours of overnight streaming per device would accumulate $5.88. — Read the rest

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"Weird Al" Yankovic pulled out of his participation in a commercial for a business software company when he found out it is an artificial intelligence company.

In Syracuse, NY for his "Bigger and Weirder" tour, he told Geoff Herbert of Syracuse.com — Read the rest

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An Idaho court dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by businessman Michael Boren, now a top federal official, against a retired conservation officer who criticized his private airstrip.

Seventh Judicial District Judge Darren Simpson threw out Boren's suit against Gary Gadwa on June 26, ruling that Boren "failed to show good cause" to keep it alive. — Read the rest

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When troops from Ohio's National Guard were deployed to Washington D.C. to menace locals as part of President Trump's crime "emergency" there, Sam O'Hara followed them around playing The Imperial March from John Williams' score to The Empire Strikes Back. He was detained by local police, and now he has won what the American Civil Liberties Union describe as a "substantial" financial settlement. — Read the rest

The post Man detained after playing Imperial March to troops in D.C. wins "substantial" settlement appeared first on Boing Boing.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced plans to buy nationwide access to a network of license plate readers, saying it will award contracts to one or more vendors that can offer "near real time" information from cameras across the US. The proposed contract is for the FBI Directorate of Intelligence.

"To evaluate and manage threats to personal safety, property, and law enforcement, the FBI requires professional service firms that can provide License Plate Readers (LPRs) for tracking subjects on roads and highways over the US and its territories," the FBI said in a Request for Proposals (RFP) published on May 14. The FBI said the winning bidder or bidders "must provide law enforcement and/or commercial license plate reader data provided through the Contractor’s existing platform." The system must cover 75 percent of locations, the FBI said.

The system must offer the ability to search for license plate information "and other descriptive data such as vehicle description information, time/date criteria, and geo-location criteria," the FBI said. "Additionally, the system must provide search result notifications. The Contractor system must have the ability to access and/or query cameras across the United States and its territories. The Contractor system must be capable of providing this data in near real time."

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Comments

“He died at the hand of the Coca-Cola Company” has a fitting ring to it, doesn’t it.

(Spoiler: I survived. Bearly.)

— JS