In a federal hearing that could help determine the future availability of art and literature to the public, a Wal-Mart rep named Joe Lisuzzo called on Congress to rewrite copyright law so that more creative works can enter the public domain.

Proponents of an 800-space parking garage underneath the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park got their way July 24 when the San Francisco Planning Commission reversed its position and voted 6-1 to certify an environmental-impact report on the project.

Ten years ago grunge musicians and college-age Cassandras who had never held a day job preached that corporate America would crush their generation's soul and leave them without a pension plan. Films like Singles and Reality Bites chronicled their transition from college graduate to Gap salesclerk.

A few years later the core of Generation X--the 40 million Americans born between 1966 and 1975--found themselves riding the wildest economic bull ever. Salesclerks became programmers; coffee slingers morphed into experts in Java (computerese, that is)--all flush with stock options and eye-popping salaries. Now that the thrill ride is over, Gen X's plight seems particularly bruising. No generation since the Depression has been set up for failure like this. Everything the dot-com boom delivered has been taken away--and then some. Real wages are falling, wealth continues to shift from younger to older, and education costs are surging. Worse yet, for some Gen Xers, their peak earning years are behind them. Buried in college and credit card debt, a lot of them won't be able to catch up as they approach their prime spending years.

WHERE DID THE Squid List go? And what about all the other subculture e-mail lists hosted on the Laughing Squid servers, such as the one for Burning Man barflies and the one for fans of exploitation movies? Scott Beale, owner of San Francisco Web-hosting company Laughing Squid and "primary tentacle" of underground event bulletin Squid List, started hearing those questions from users who weren't getting their daily doses of Squid. "At first I thought it was nothing – just a few e-mails that didn't get through," he said.