Freeing Culture
Watch it, listen to it, then pass it along. Lawrence Lessig puts it in terms we understand with his Freeing Culture speech from the 2002 O'Reilly Open Source Convention.
KDE Usability
Sebastien Biot does a good job through observational testing where KDE stands from a usability point of view in KDE Usability - First Steps.
Old mglenn.com's
What did mglenn.com look like in the past?
entropy
1: (thermodynamics) a measure of the amount of energy in a system that is available for doing work; entropy increases as matter and energy in the universe degrade to an ultimate state of inert uniformity [ant: ectropy] 2: (communication theory) a numerical measure of the uncertainty of an outcome; "the signal contained thousands of bits of information" [syn: information, selective information] Source: WordNet ? 1.6, ? 1997 Princeton University
Unit 301 5 Pictures
The pictures from the party are up. Please forward any additional photos so I can add them.
Unit 301 - 5 - Thank You!
Thanks to everyone who came out to the party on Saturday. It was perfect weather and I think we had at least eighty people turn out. The pictures will be up just as soon as I find time to develop the rolls. If you have any photos from the night please pass them on. Special thanks to Kathleen, Jeremy, Jonathan, Andy, Andrew, Christie, Alicia, and Richard for set-up, DJing and clean-up. To those that couldn't make it, stay tuned for the next one!
DRM Debates
Recently the U.S. Commerce Department held a roundtable discussion on Digital Rights Management or DRM. Slashdot posted a submission pointing to articles by Declan McCullagh, Tech activists protest anti-copying, and a personal synopsis by Grant Gross, Fair use advocates silenced at DRM "public" meeting.
I point to U.S. meetings because Canada is frequently a single step away from U.S. digital law. Arguably ahead or behind at times, but lets face it, their economy directly affects ours.
It is unfortunate that the Commerce Department failed to include a representative for the activists at the table. It may have avoided the unpleasant outbursts during the roundtable. Declan describes the activist's comments as disruptive, whereas Grants states the activists "were basically told to sit down and shut up". Knowing the typical behaviour of self confessed "geeks" I can well imagine their inability to take their comments seriously.
The points raised by activists are valid, simply delivered poorly. Photographs taken by Declan show the division without having to read the story. At the table, we have Commerce Department's Phillip Bond and Motion Picture Association of America's Jack Valenti dressed suits and ties. The image of corporate America. Crammed at the door observing the roundtable with have people such as Richard Stallman and "Vincenzo", looking like the prototypical opponents to corporate America. Perhaps these advocates are not the best choice for the activist's lobby. Then again, they don't appear to have been given the opportunity like AOL Time Warner's Elizabeth Frazee.
Goods points raised though. Philip Bond is quoted as saying to Jack Valenti, "Jack, you say we've got to deal with peer to peer, but I think that's what consumers want." Is anyone listening to consumers? Do consumers really care? As I've said before, most consumers don't care. The majority will just take what's easiest for them.
GM's Billion-Dollar Bet
A Wired articles on GM's new hydrogen car via Slashdot. As with all Wired articles it sounds very optimistic, though incredible if it ends up making it to market.
Strike's Over
The Toronto public works stike is finally over. Just in time too. When I was down on Queen St. at Tortilla Flats yesterday afternoon someone lit a pile of garbage on fire destroying someone's car in the process and ruining quite a few people's mood at dinner.
Sites bow to Microsoft's browser king
Only an AOL client using Mozilla's Gecko engine will prevent a further browser monopoly. Sites bow to Microsoft's browser king. We must remember that building a better mousetrap won't have the world beating a path to your door. Good marketing does that.
Cable Modems: Less Boon Than Beast
Good points by Andy Oram on the negative effects of cable modems.
Celebrate Toronto Street Festival Cancelled
I knew it would happen sooner or later to a major summer event. The Celebrate Toronto Street Festival was cancelled today.
Do the Math, Mel
My father's letter to the editor was published in The Toronto Star last Friday.
Hot Town, Smeller in the City
The Toronto Star has summed up recent days quite nicely today. They cover all the important city issues including weather, garbage, pending inside workers strike, and power shortages.
The Madness of King George
Money issues are all a matter of scale. "You can be just fabulously flush one moment, and then the next, you can't make that last million-dollar payment to your partners, and there's suddenly a lien on your house," - The Madness of King George, Wired
Beyond DVD - holographic storage
InPhase Technologies seeks to be the first real commercial player in an industry that some think will eventually replace DVD--and that many others think is probably a pipe dream. - Beyond DVD - holographic storage @ CNet
Rogers Digital Cable
I just got my Rogers Digital Cable box and set it up within 5 minutes. First impressions? The selection of additional channels doesn't peak my interest. The only additional channel that I'm interested in so far is TechTV. The only additional features that I like are the on-screen guide and the fact that it's a universal remote, which is cool since my Sony remote is almost dead.
The digital box costs $8.95 per month, and the single TechTV channel would cost $2.50 per month. I can justify the cost of the channel but the box doesn't give me enough redeeming features for $9.00 a month. If the box had video on demand (PVR, Tivo, ReplayTV) then I could totally justify it, but VOD when it arrives will be extra. For now, no thanks. After my preview I think I'll shut it off unless the VOD is a great deal.
Back into the Fray
So I've been sick for over four weeks. This website has seen sporadic postings as I've wrestled with a cold, flu, and throat infection and lined my doctors pockets with a visit every Friday. Thank god all the symptoms are gone. I had an ultrasound yesterday and will be briefed by my doctor on the results and blood test results on Friday just to be sure I'm all better. Hopefully I can get back to a usual routine and start biking again. I feel so unhealthy.
To those that have been wondering where I am, and why I'm so off the grid, I'll be catching up on work and bills then I should be returning to a regular routine.