Keep it tasteless 1984. I've no idea what fine publication this appeared in, but it looks like the sales came out of Mission, Kansas. And no, the 1800 number no longer works.

How much would this ultimate conversation piece have set you back? Just $75, including 3-6 week shipping. That's an insane $150 bucks today. I wonder how many they sold... [Paco Camino and LiveJournal via CopyRanter]

So, while he's probably not a household name with the Apple faithful like Steve Jobs, or even Jonathan Ive, Clow left an indelible stamp on the company.

From its "1984" TV ad to the current Mac vs. PC ads, Clow has played a huge part in shaping the public perception of Apple.

Of all his big branding campaigns, it appears Clow thinks the most highly of the Apple store, saying, "The Apple Store was probably the best ad we ever did.... Everything a brand does is advertising," according to Print Mag. (via HuffPo).

Here's a look at some of his work.

Yep, remember the kid who had his notes from George Orwell's 1984 deleted along with Amazon's mass eradication of the work from all Kindles? That little mofo just won in court, splitting a $150,000 settlement with a co-plaintiff and the law firm, which will be donating its portion to charity.

As much as this sounds like a Disney live action film from the 1990s (you can just see Jeff Bezos portrayed caricature-like by Paul Giamatti, can't you?), the real outcome is that Amazon no longer can just do what it wants to content on Kindles, just because it owns that content. According to the settlement:

Amazon will not remotely delete or modify such Works from Devices purchased and being used in the United States unless (a) the user consents to such deletion or modification; (b) the user requests a refund for the Work or otherwise fails to pay for the Work (e.g., if a credit or debit card issuer declines to remit payment); (c) a judicial or regulatory order requires such deletion or modification; or (d) deletion or modification is reasonably necessary to protect the consumer or the operation of a Device or network through which the Device communicates (e.g., to remove harmful code embedded within a copy of a Work downloaded to a Device).

TechFlash has more details and links to a ton of bonus legal mumbo jumbo, so check it out. [TechFlash]

At least, that's what DoubleTwist—a company that makes software to use iTunes with any media device—thinks. That's why they turned the famous "1984" SuperBowl commercial against Apple and Steve Jobs himself.

The original Apple "1984" ad was commissioned by Steve Jobs to agency Chiat/Day. The ad was written by Steve Hayden and art directed by Brent Thomas, with creative direction by Jobs' pal Lee Clow. The Apple board didn't want to air "1984", but at the end Jobs got it in the SuperBowl, becoming the most famous and cost-effective commercial in the history of TV advertisement. It featured a nameless heroine sporting a t-shirt with the Macintosh Picasso icon, being chased by policemen who are unable to stop her as she throws a hammer against a screen that has a large number of people idiotized.

Of course, in the original ad, the man in the screen is a representation of IBM, and the Mac manages to break the Big Brother brain washing. In the DoubleTwist ad, however, the man in the screen is Steve Jobs. And, supposedly, this October 6 they will get all of the hypnotized fanboys out of the Kool-Aid loop. Good luck with that, people. [TechCrunch]

Courtesy of MAKE, we have this interesting "hack" that provides step-by-step instructions for getting 1984 back on your Kindle—timid publishers frightened of New Media be damned.

It's not too complicated a process, other than that expensive plane ticket of course, but there are a few instructions and tools you'll need, so head over to MAKE when you're ready.

If you're already in Australia and care to embark on this completely free-of-charge literary journey, send us some interesting shots of you giving Big Brother the picture while reading 1984, won't you? [MAKE]

The production values of this ad, created by Steve Hayden and Lee Clow at advertising agency Chiat/Day—Apple's current ad agency—and directed by Ridley Scott—director of Alien and Blade Runner—, are simply amazing. At the time, the narrative and the cinematography were a complete breakthrough, to the point of TV commentators exclaiming "What the hell was that?" after the commercial cut, which ran during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII, January 22, 1984.

Apple spent 1.5 million on it, even while the board didn't want to run it and Steve Jobs—who obviously believed the ad was genius and was present at the moment of the filming—had to use all his Reality Distortion Field powers alongside John Sculley to get them to approve the spot. Reportedly, Steve Wozniak liked it so much that he offered to pay for it with his own money.

At the end, Steve's vision—as some times, spot on—prevailed and the 1984 commercial became the biggest hit ever in the history of advertising, setting the bar for every Super Bowl commercial since then. With one single emission, it generated millions of dollars in free coverage and re-runs in TV stations through the nation and abroad, and became a historical landmark to advertisers, companies, and public alike.

This marvel of 8-bit technology could hook up into your Atari home computer and digitally manipulate shapes and lines with the Atari paint software—an early precursor to the tablets we enjoy today. It was actually a pretty impressive piece of equipment back in the day, and the cool thing is that it looks brand new out of the box. It even fired up without a hitch. Check out Technologizer for the complete set of images. [Technologizer]

The plans for the new database are currently being drafted up and may be proposed for inclusion in the draft Communications Bill later this year. While many of the types of politicians you'd expect are behind it, a number of others are, thankfully, vehemently against it. They're against it not because of the basic violation of citizens' privacy that would come from such an action, however. Instead, they point to the UK government's lousy track record with data security as a security threat great than whatever threats they'd be stopping by being able to look up those emails of you flirting with the girl you met at the office Christmas party. It's another really strong argument against giving governments overreaching powers to spy on their citizens.

Hopefully, the people of England will get properly angry and vocal against this plan, keeping it from ever becoming a reality. The next step, after all, will be the thought police, and at that point it's really too late. [BBC via Boing Boing]

This will inevitably come over here to the States, and lawmakers could have them set up to do everything from identifying you at toll booths to busting you for talking on your cellphone while driving. If the tech gets even more advanced, we could see this sort of thing in airports, on streets, in the mall and set up in the cameras that are already all over the place in metropolitan areas. Basically, if the government has your face on file, which is certainly possible with the National ID card that some lawmakers are trying to push through, you could be tracked almost everywhere without them having to implant you with some RFID tag or something. It's kind of paranoid, I know, but it's not all too far-fetched.

And while I don't break the law all too often and don't think I'm on any terrorist watchlists, the idea of the government having the ability to find me and know what I've been doing at any given time really gives me the creeps. What do you guys think? Am I overreacting, or is this the type of technology that will make it so easy for the government to track us that they won't be able to say no? [NEC via Pink Tentacle]

DoJ's logic for throwing an "attempted" copyright infringer in the slammer for 1-10 years? "It is a general tenet of the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so." Other "intent" clauses are strewn throughout the bill. Hit the jump to make your eyes pop out of your head.

The new legislation gives more teeth to the DMCA as well, adding forfeiture penalties on top of the 10-year sentence and $1 million fine for criminal violations of its anti-circumvention clauses.

It gets better. The Department of Homeland Security will directly notify the RIAA when pirated CDs are imported and intercepted by the government. Your computer, or anything else "intended to be used in any manner" for criminal copyright infringement is subject to forfeiture, on top of fines and jail time.

And CNET says it best here: "Wiretaps would be authorized for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to infringe copyrights." I'm glad it's not super easy now or anything. Oh wait.

The DoJ press release's highlights:

• Provide stronger penalties for repeat-offenders of the copyright laws;
• Implement broad forfeiture reforms to ensure the ability to forfeit property derived from or used in the commission of criminal intellectual property offenses;
• Strengthen restitution provisions for certain intellectual property crimes (e.g., criminal copyright and DMCA offenses);
• Ensure that the exportation and transhipment of copyright-infringing goods is a crime, just as the exportation of counterfeit goods is now criminal.

Gonzales proposes new crime: 'Attempted' copyright infringement [CNET via Consumerist]
Press Release [DoJ]
Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 [Politechbot]

The CALEA was originally written to make digital phone lines easier to wiretap. In the case of cellphones, where the tech has "100% penetration, it's credited with boosting the number of court-approved wiretaps a carrier can handle simultaneously, and greatly shortening the time it takes to get a wiretap going," according to Threat Level.

For the low, low price of $164, you can check out the official specs ISPs will use to route over pretty much any "information sent or received through a user's broadband connection, including on-line banking activity" should the FBI be granted a court order to see what's flowing through their (or your) Intertubes.

So, happy surfing tomorrow! And be sure to use emoticons! FBI agents are people too, and I bet a smiling face would really brighten their day. — Matt Buchanan

Reminder: Monday is Wiretap the Internet Day [Threat Level]

Gaze as people's heads are shaven, makeup is painted on, and everyone's all smiles as they get set to make the most known Super Bowl ad ever. Make sure to turn down the music if you're at work or else that weird immigrant guy will come up and ask you what kind of rad music that is. Go away, Sanjay! – Jason Chen

Behind the Scenes: Apple's 1984 Super Bowl Commercial [TechEBlog]

Sorry Mac. Happy belated bday. (And sorry Mom.)–Brian Lam

Mac [Wikipedia]

Computer Rock iPod Cover [Outblush]