A rare draw in International go

GoGameWorldand the AGA eJournal report on a rare professional go match that ended in a draw by mutual agreement. However, it turns out that it did not need to be a tie! Here is the AGA story.

"A very unusual result was achieved in a game between Lee Changho 9P and Chang Hao 9P in the Southern Great Wall Cup special match between China and Korea on September 11th. The game concluded with a quadruple ko that was mutually accepted as a tie. Lee and Chang split the combined first and second prize money, but pros later determined that Lee had really won the game. Playing Black, Lee could simply connect one ko and give two others to Chang. Then he would win by 3.5 points. The agreement on the tie was probably prompted by the fact that both players had only one minute of time left at that point and Lee couldn't be sure of his calculation."

You can view or download the game record here.

Live giant squid caught on film

The New York Times reports that a pair of Japanese researchers have made the first recorded observations of a giant squid in the wild. Having been fond of these elusive giants for years, my first comment is, I want to see the footage! I hope they post it online soon.

"Working some 600 miles south of Tokyo off the Bonin Islands, known in Japan as the Ogasawara Islands, they managed to photograph the creature with a robotic camera at a depth of 3,000 feet. During a struggle lasting more than four hours, the 26-foot-long animal took the proffered bait and eventually broke free, leaving behind an 18-foot length of tentacle.">First Giant Squid Captured in Wild (on Film, That Is) - New York Times: "Working some 600 miles south of Tokyo off the Bonin Islands, known in Japan as the Ogasawara Islands, they managed to photograph the creature with a robotic camera at a depth of 3,000 feet. During a struggle lasting more than four hours, the 26-foot-long animal took the proffered bait and eventually broke free, leaving behind an 18-foot length of tentacle."

Fair use put to the test

In what will be one of the most important copyright cases to hit US courts - if it goes to trial at all - The Author's Guild is calling the Google Print initiative on its apparently liberal interpretation of fair use. It is important to note when asking the question, "has Google gone to far?", that both Google Print and Google News, both of which search, aggregate, and excerpt from intellectual property not owned by Google, lack any Google adds and thus do not directly generate any revenue for Google. Maybe that does constitute fair use?

From el reg:

"Google operates two programs intended to incorporate print material into its search index, one of which, the Google Print for Libraries program, is targeted by the suit. Google has been scanning the collections at five libraries, bypassing the authors - who of course hold the copyright on their works - and including selections in search results. 'This is a plain and brazen violation of copyright law. It's not up to Google or anyone other than the authors, the rightful owners of these copyrights, to decide whether and how their works will be copied,' Authors Guild president Nick Taylor said in a statement."

UPDATE: The EFF has a quick review of the legalities of the case and sides with Google. There is also a detailed review of the legalities of Google Print here.