Analysis: this government is open to scrutiny Noble words that, if truly implemented, take Britain down a path to open governmnet and citizen scrutiny. But only if “transparency” actually means “open data”. We don’t need summaries, PDF, printouts and other indigestible publication. We need the data in machine-readable, current form so that citizens can process [...]
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The SEC and The Python What does open source have to do with open data? This extremely insightful move by the SEC demonstrates that the syntax of open data is not enough to provide transparency. We also need an implementation of the semantics of that syntax, provided openly, freely and as the basis for reimplementation, [...]
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The EGM debate: BCS v Len Keighley This FAQ/debate article with an anonymous BCS spokesbeing make it clear what the issue at the BCS is all about, both directly and through tone. (tags: BCS EGM UK) Tell Your Lawmakers: “Anti-Counterfeiting” Treaty Is a Sham This EFF campaign makes a great point: that ACTA is ironically [...]
BCS EGM The British Computer Society is in the process of being transformed into The Chartered Institute of IT. This is the wrong direction – it’s becoming a club for the Pointy Haired Boss instead of an association to support Dilbert and Alice. The consequence? It’s full of talk of outsourcing real computer jobs abroad [...]
Filed under: Links | Tagged: BCS, UK | 17 Comments »
An analysis of WebM and its patent risk Carlo demonstrates that On2 must clearly have analysed the patent context for VP8 since so many of the “sub-optimal choices” called out by H.264 partisans reflect avoidance of patented ideas. This lends weight to Google’s confidence over WebM, as well as highlighting the way software patents hinder [...]
Filed under: Links | Tagged: WebM | 4 Comments »
To Microsoft, Open Source means “Windows Encumbered” Just because Microsoft is busily embracing open source, that doesn’t mean they have any interest in software freedom, as Andy Oliver points out. (tags: Microsoft OpenSource FOSS freedom) Separating Fact from Fiction: My Fair Copyright Proposals Excellent and balanced set of proposals from Michael Geist for copyright reform [...]
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The announcement last week at Google IO of the creation of the WebM project and the release of the VP8 codec was a positive and welcome development, finally offering an alternative to the royalty-liable H.264 and to Theora. WebM arises from Google’s purchase of ON2 last year and had been widely anticipated. Google did their [...]
Filed under: Links | Tagged: ComputerWorldUK, WebM | 1 Comment »
Microsoft costs cut CSIRO IT jobs $3 million extra in licensing costs that clearly no-one had budgeted for, and lock-in that means there’s no alternative but to pay up and then cut staff to make up the budget difference. Had they used open source software, CSIRO would be free to cut their subscriptions and handle [...]
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xkcd: Infrastructures I’ve lost count of how many people sent me today’s XKCD, complete with a bearded figure advocating use of open document formats… (tags: XKCD Humour ODF activism) Organizations Switching from Microsoft Office Choose OpenOffice Over Google Docs New survey by Info-Tech Research Group seems pretty obvious if you have used both. OpenOffice.org is [...]
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How to hide OpenOffice.org lines if a field is empty I have been looking for the way to do this for ages and ages, thanks to Solveig for the tip. (tags: OpenOffice.org howto)
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