Wild Webmink

• Chatting with Eucalyptus Co-founder about OpenStack
  Great to see Eucalyptus exploring ways to engage with OpenStack – very positive trend. It’s the sign of a mind that has embraced open source and is looking for ways to make it work. There’s got to be something in OpenStack over which Eucalyptus can collaborate, given their close origins, and I sincerely hope they find it and flourish. Contrast with approaches to competition that prefer to bully and litigate.

Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Leverage, Don’t Fight

• Four Reasons To Pay Extra For Open Source
  My slides from today’s presentation in Bolzano, Italy. The core of the talk asserts that software freedom opens additional options for businesses which, if we weren’t pre-programmed by the price meaning of the word “free”, we would expect to pay a premium to obtain.
• Google Files Sizzling Answer to Oracle’s Amended Complaint and its Opposition to Motion to Dismiss
  Finally the filings are getting to the real heart of the issues. This Groklaw analysis is well worth reading.

Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Heart Of The Matter

• Belgian Court recognises CC licences
  Important progress here for Creative Commons. The more case law that upholds CC licences the better.
• iFixit: The free repair manual
  Just love this site, full of good stuff. And what’s more: “We fund our mission of helping people fix things by selling useful service parts and tools.”
• Symbian Foundation to Transition to a Licensing Operation
  Even the “so long and thanks for all the fish” press release is spinworthy.
• Risk Reduction Strategies on Facebook
  A look by danah boyd at “super-logoff” and “Facebook as inbox” strategies for managing reputation on Facebook by teens. Very interesting indeed.
• The Walking Dead: Tips for Survival After the Smartphone Zombie Apocalypse
  Look around you. The Undead are already everywhere.

Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Wednesday Tab Sweep

• EC lobs grenades at copyright’s Ancien Régime

  Kroes said she thought “the system has ended up giving a more prominent role to intermediaries than to artists”. She continued: “It irritates the public, who often cannot access what artists want to offer and leaves a vacuum which is served by illegal content, depriving the artists of their well-deserved remuneration.”

  Excellent summary here by Neelie Kroes of the actual problem with copyright law that needs root-and-branch reform – I hope Cameron’s advisers are listening to her rather than the industry lobbyists.

• BPI making misleading claims

  “This is very serious. We feel the BPI may have deliberately misled politicians and Ofcom when discussing how useful their evidence really is.”

• Open Core By The Numbers
  Interesting and useful statistics that deserve some closer study.

Apologies for the delay in posting links today – it was a problem at Delicious.

Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Making Claims

• EPIC – EPIC v. DHS (Suspension of Body Scanner Program)
  EPIC (the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a US group) has challenged the US government over the new body scanners in use over there. The combination of scanners irradiating and exposing travellers, the abusive and humiliating alternatives and the lack of any humanity on the party of the authorities means this is a symbol that the American public may finally have had enough. Let’s hope – looks like the immoral murdering scum they think they are targeting think it’s a good enough development that they are increasing their activity so as to give the TSA extra reasons for removing more dignity and liberty from travellers unchallenged.
• Java/DevJam 2011 at Fosdem – Call For Participation
  The CfP is open for the Free Java DevRoom at FOSDEM. Get some good quality submissions in there, space will be in great demand.

Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Challenging Intrusion

• Lessig Calls For WIPO To Lead Overhaul Of Copyright System
  Excellent move from a very wise and capable scholar – I have huge respect for him. He is completely right.

  The copyright system was never designed for a world where every act of use involved a copy, and the consequence has been a huge swing of undeserved power towards the middle-men of every media industry. If we truly want to encourage the creative arts we should rebalance copyrights so that they are fair to the modern analogues of readers and writers and printers, rather than only the latter.

• 10 Reasons Open Source Is Good for Business
  Simple enough, but useful.

Filed under: Links | Comments Off on ☞ Overhaul