Wild Webmink

• Barnes & Noble Charges Microsoft with Misusing Patents to Further an Anticompetitive Scheme Against Android
  Barnes and Noble’s strongly-worded response to Microsoft’s patent suit makes great reading, albeit rather depressing. They allege Microsoft is abusing patent complaints to engage in anti-competitive behaviour. Now where have I heard that fear expressed elsewhere…?
• CRS Report Withheld By USTR Confirms That ACTA Language Is Quite Questionable
  Now the ACTA appraisal document is out in the open it’s clear that USTR’s concerns were with people realising they are abusing process. The fact they appear to have abused the FOIA process in order to conceal their failure is all the more offensive.
• State Dept. proposes “Biographical Questionnaire” for passport applicants
  It’s possible this document is a reasonable fallback in extreme cases, but as it stands it looks intrusive and open to arbitrary abuse and I think Americans should be concerned about it.

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• Here’s The Real Reason Apple Is Suing Samsung
  I think the point in this article – which echoes the central idea in Chris Anderson’s book “Free” – is much more insightful than it appears superficially. Apple and Microsoft are indeed tangling directly with Google’s “less than free” model that Bill Gurley has written about with these patent suits.
• Who’s Suing Who? A Cheat Sheet to the Mobile Patent Mess
  Patents promote litigation, not innovation.
• iPhoneTracker
  Did you know that your iPhone (or iPad with 3G) is constantly tracking your position without asking you? It’s been doing it ever since you bought the thing. Assuming you’re backing up your device to your computer, this application will show you on a map where you have been. Amazingly useful tool for police forces who believe they have the right to search your devices as if they were your pockets when they stop you, too. Probably also being backed up to Mobile Me if you use that, so also subject to search under terms of use.

Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Mobile Issues

• Is Sugar Toxic?

  “I have eliminated refined sugar from my diet and eat as little as I possibly can,” Thompson told me, “because I believe ultimately it’s something I can do to decrease my risk of cancer.” Cantley put it this way: “Sugar scares me.”

  The Lustig video first alerted me to this issue, and the more I hear about it, the harder I try to eliminate sugar from my diet. This article is very long but I think it’s very important and I urge you to take the time to read it.

• What we strive for – The Document Foundation Blog
  The Document Foundation points out the one glaring omission from Oracle’s statement about OpenOffice.org – there is already a community actively taking the project forward. Donations would clearly be more than welcome, though, and TDF is now open for membership applications.
• Speakers – fisl12 – Software Livre Brasil
  I’m confirmed as a speaker at FISL this year. FISL is one of the world’s largest software freedom events and certainly the most important in South America. If you can make it, do so!

Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Sweetness and Strength

• A Government Plan for IDs to Replace Online Passwords
  Presumably this is the simplified version and there’s a security professional who truly understands the nature of multi-factor authentication behind this development. Two things I expected to see mentioned and didn’t: open standards (it would be a massive mistake to select a proprietary approach) and national identity cards.
• The Role of Participation Architecture in Growing Sponsored Open Source
  A helpful SEO spammer used text from this paper in a comment on my blog and drew my attention to it. Very interesting explanation of why control detracts from community. Remember, trade control for influence!

Filed under: Links | 1 Comment »

• A Legacy at Risk: How the new Ministry of Culture in Brazil reversed its digital agenda
  

  a new generation that has risen for the first time to debate the future of culture and technology policies in Brazil. Inadvertently, the new Minister Ana de Hollanda is contributing to the emergence of new generation of voices online. One now can only hope that she will eventually listen to them.

  A sad betrayal – by the same political party that originally cultivated it – of the hard work and enthusiasm so many creative and generous people have invested to date. I hope Ana de Hollanda has the courage to attend FISL this summer and hear first-hand how Brazil’s digital natives feel about her sell-out to the recording industry. I for one would love to speak with her.

• Oracle Announces Its Intention to Move OpenOffice.org to a Community-Based Project
  Rather surprised to see Oracle pulling out of OpenOffice so soon (because that’s what this press release says once you’ve decrypted it).  I had assumed they would give it at least 18 months to prove itself under their leadership. Let’s hope they do the right thing and work with The Document Foundation to re-unite the project into a single community.

Filed under: Links | 3 Comments »