Wild Webmink

• Canada still in copyright “hall of shame” according to the US
  The US interference in the copyright policies of other countries – in order to create a benefit for US businesses – would be considered scandalous if it was, say, China demanding the US change.
• The Apache Software Foundation Subpoenaed to Produce Documents in Oracle America vs. Google
  Sigh.

Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Interference

• 13 reasons why the Infringing File Sharing Act is bad for you
  This is an excellent list of reasons why internet disconnection laws are such a bad idea. Although it’s got plenty of specifics of the (very bad) New Zealand law that was created when their government sold out to the US (presumably to avoid appearing in the Special 301 report), it’s full of ideas that are applicable globally.
• Attachmate lays off Mono employees
  This is an unexpected development and bad news for Mono on multiple levels. There are some exceptional developers working on this (not least Miguel) and I hope they all find great places to land.
• Court approves Google’s bid for Nortel patents
  This surely has to signal a rich auction for Nortel’s patent portfolio. The Android patent war is hotting up.
• Amazing Camouflage Job From WWII
  I’ve read plenty of books about the cunning diversionary and alternative intelligence tactics used in the Second World War but these photographs show just how remarkable some of the efforts were.

Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Bad For You

• If You’re Going To Kill It, Open Source It!
  Of course, that’s not the only reason! This is a fine sentiment, but having been involved in end-of-life cases for products I know that it’s often not possible. While it seems to an outsider that all that’s needed is publication of the details, it’s not that simple.

  The company has to make sure it has the rights to do so; has to invest in preparing the details for publication; has to identify an negotiate a home for them; has to explain to executives and/or investors why an asset is being discarded. But I would certainly encourage companies to at least consider it and not just discard the idea before it’s been thought through.

• Summary of the Amazon EC2 and Amazon RDS Service Disruption
  Amazingly detailed explanation of Amazon’s cloud outage incident, along with the steps they are taking to prevent it recurring and compensation for affected users. Bravo.

Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Reasons to be Open

• The Parser that Cracked the MediaWiki Code
  As many of us have been commenting for many years, the optimum freedom comes from neither open standards nor from open source alone but from the combination of the two. The wiki markup language used by MediaWiki is expressed only as open source code; this notable and valuable effort seeks to codify it in a way that makes it possible to repurpose wiki content in the future programatically. This kind of activity is enormously important culturally.
• Samsung continues barrage against Apple with new lawsuit in the US
  Has Apple picked the wrong target here in its war against Android? Samsung are not only wealthy, they also have a formidable patent arsenal.
• Misery
  “My object all sublime | I shall achieve in time | to make the punishment fit the crime | the punishment fit the crime.”
• Google’s WebM patent pals agree to share
  Excellent idea – a sort of OIN for video codecs.
• SpeakerRate
  Interesting web site for rating speakers. No indication that it has any capacity to compute results contextually though. A speaker with lousy ratings at one event may be perfect for another of a different character (and vice versa). That’s exactly the class of probably WOT suffers from too.
• Repelling Bugs With The Essence Of Grapefruit
  This insect repellent sounds too good to be true – looking forward to hearing much more about it as DEET scares me.

Filed under: Links | 2 Comments »

• 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 »