Posted on June 14, 2010 by Simon Phipps
-
The speech by Neelie Kroes last week in Brussels was very carefully constructed and avoided almost all mention of free and open source software. In the spirit of rewarding the good and ignoring the bad, several commentators (such as Karsten here) have been loud in their congratulations but there's still a strong sense that the political cost of even mentioning open source is too high for Europe's politicians.
I see this as a sign of the strength of the concept. The corporate forces that bear down upon the European Commission (even those apparently supporting open source when they speak from the side of their mouth facing the FOSS communities) do so out of fear that they will be forced to act transparently and openly, and we need to keep up the pressure. So I welcome the tiny concessions Kroes made in this speech, and as a concerned and expert citizen I demand more.
-
Adobe has actually created a security-related update for Flash on OpenSolaris. Of course, if it was open source we could all help them, but the community is still grateful for the work they've done to fix the serious security hole this time.
-
Both ForgeRock and OSSTech in Japan are developing the OpenAM codebase and it makes sense for them to cooperate. I'm very pleased to be able to announce this agreement, hopefully the first of many as we build a truly open ecosystem around the OpenAM open source project.
Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Political Costs Prevent Actual Savings
Posted on June 13, 2010 by Simon Phipps
-
Since the World Cup seems to be as inescapable as death and taxes, here’s a vital guide to understanding its esoterica.
-
Wow, this was a use for my photo I never imagined. Maybe I can get a shirt made from this fabric!
-
This seems to be using a non-technical IRC as its home, but the technique looks workable anywhere.
Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Random Weekend Links
Posted on June 10, 2010 by Simon Phipps
-
Well worth reading this article. The TV programme 'Glee' features a singing club as the backdrop for a situational drama. Despite the fact that the music industry would sue a club like this off the face of the earth if they ever actually did the things in the story lines, the series never ever confronts either the insurmountable challenge of obtaining copyright clearance or the heartache of being victimised by the music industry as punishment for unauthorised creativity and glee. One can only hope that the next victim of the music industry will cite Fox as a co-defendant for incitement…
-
Creative Commons Australia report that the Australian Parliament will be releasing all web content under their new CC v3 licenses. Good, clear step that would be great to copy.
-
Useful round-up that I know I'll come back looking for.
Filed under: Copyright, Links | Comments Off on ☞ Copyright Reality
Posted on June 9, 2010 by Simon Phipps
Rajan Anketell, one of the signatories calling the BCS EGM, said in a broadcast e-mail:
“You will already be aware of the EGM call, of which I am a signatory. You will also be aware of all propaganda (much of it inaccurate) put out by the Chief Executive and President. You may not be aware that our request for equal access to the BCS IT resources and the membership has been denied. This denial of equal opportunity is in contrast to that adopted by the IET at the EGM a few years ago. So this email is an attempt to put our case to you and respectfully ask that whatever your own views are on the EGM you forward it in the spirit of fair play. This will give members the opportunity to see the real reasons why the EGM was called and make up their own minds on how to vote.”
He then pointed to the following sites, which I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to read:
-
Well worth reading – a rational set of issues from rational and experienced people. The fact the BCS leadership has sought to frame these people as Luddites merely amplifies the authority with which they speak. The BCS press office and leadership are doing there best to keep this all quiet and represent none of these views on the “official” web site – let’s make sure they get heard.
-
The EGM rebels have finally been able to put together a web site responding to the well-funded attacks their own professional society has been making against them. Tell everyone, becuase I doubt the BCS will do so.
Filed under: Links | Tagged: BCS | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 9, 2010 by Simon Phipps
On Monday I wrote about the crisis facing the British Computer Society (BCS) as its current leadership tries to jettison the old name. I found out about the move in an expensively-produced glossy mailing I received on the subject. Just a few days later, the actual voting papers arrived. They contain an ill-considered Quick Vote option that BCS Professional Members need to carefully avoid.
Read more on my ComputerWorldUK Blog…
[Also in this thread: BCS EGM, BCS Faces No-Confidence Vote Crisis, this post, BCS Rebels Finally Get A Voice]
Filed under: Links | Tagged: BCS, Governance | Comments Off on ☞ BCS Leadership Targets Member Rights
Posted on June 7, 2010 by Simon Phipps
-
Here’s a view I’d not considered: “Just less than 3 years ago, Microsoft was still perceived as part of the “evil” empire. … But in a reversal of fortune, customers now worry about Google lock-in, fret over Oracle’s quest to dominate IT through M&A, wonder how hardware vendors will become software providers and vice versa, and remain in shock as Apple’s proprietary and closed approach over takes Microsoft’s market cap. … more than 74.6% (53/71) see Microsoft as the neutral and trusted supplier.”
-
Written by Lawrence Livermore Laboratories.
-
Can’t say this is a huge surprise. It co-incides with the final legal entity combination of many subsidiaries that have been left to wait for months to get integrated. Even now there are some Sun subsidiaries that aren’t actually legally combined into Oracle.
-
Lovely historical footage.
Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Open Source and Muppets
Posted on June 6, 2010 by Simon Phipps
-
To be clear, MPEG-LA is a parasite using standards bodies as its host, whether they want it or not. This page makes it clear that the parasite is looking for new hosts. Patent reform is now way overdue.
-
It’s my birthday and I want one of these to play to people who said I was crazy to fuss about stuff like ODF or the WebM license…
-
The story of a hilarious and hard-hitting satirical account on Twitter which a massive number of people are now following.
Filed under: Links | 3 Comments »
Posted on June 4, 2010 by Simon Phipps
-
There are some very worrying phrases in this legislative push, suggesting that the lobbying by big corporations to get rules that favour them is working. Most worrying is the complaint in connection with the digital agenda that “getting patents is too hard”. No! It’s far, far too easy to get patents on digital technologies and the public commons suffers each time one is issued due to the extreme imbalance that allows them to ve treated as property instead of as responsibility. I smell advance work to clear the path for ACTA ratification…
-
Once again “protecting children” is being used as the pretext to introduce a badly-considered stream of legislation that would result in web searches being retained and analysed – yes, more surveillance. Apparently MEPs are being told just that it’s for the children, without having the consequence that every search by every citizen will be archived and retained. Write to your MEP and ask them not to sign or to withdraw their signature.
-
This is a very worrying development that looks like an abuse of power. It’s extending the law surely beyond where it was ever intended by lawmakers and then being supported by courts. One of these cases will need to make its way to the Supreme Counrt. There’s just as worrying a trend in the UK, of police using massively heavy photographic activity against the public while unjustly restricting photography by the publoc.
Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Mission Creep
Posted on June 2, 2010 by Simon Phipps
-
“The VP8 patent situation is no different from the patent challenges that face any computing innovation, from search to social networking to user interfaces to browsers” — CNet adds little beyond my initial report.
-
Not to mention putting on weight. More bad lifestyle news for geeks.
Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ FUD and Teeth
Posted on June 1, 2010 by Simon Phipps
-
Perry sums up what I have been wanting to say for days about the BP oil disaster. “There but for the grace of God go I”.
-
“On 1 May this year a ruptured ExxonMobil pipeline in the state of Akwa Ibom spilled more than a million gallons into the delta over seven days before the leak was stopped. Local people demonstrated against the company but say they were attacked by security guards.”
-
Good article about the value of open source in Africa.
-
fMRI is a technique some people are suggesting can be used to read people’s minds. This article suggests it’s as accurate as a polygraph test (lie detector).
-
I’m not sure I go along with this particular public beating of Google. In this example, if the author logged the output of kismet he may well have “inadvertently gathered personal data” if the names of the networks reflected information about the owner (as, for example, several of the networks on my street do). It’s quite possible to interpret Google’s confession as over-caution by lawyers rather than an admission of extreme guilt.
Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Where Justice Applies, And Elsewhere
Wild Webmink 