Copy Protection Is a Crime…against humanity
Having heard more than I would have liked about human rights abuses, I think using this expression may be a bit insensitive. Yet, the point that David Weinberger is trying to make is interesting: perfect enforcement of rules is by its nature unfair.
[via Furdlog]
Pour les curieux, voici la Loi modifiant la Loi sur les contraventions et la Loi réglementant certaines drogues et autres substances, projet de loi C-38, (1ère lecture), 2e session, 37e législature (Can.).
C’est pas exactement la tolérance ce truc là…
Anticipating a post-Web, post-PC world is Kevin Werbach latest article on CNet News.com.
[via his weblog]
Ce paquet de cigarettes taiwanais que j’ai ramassé l’été dernier traîne sur mon bureau depuis des mois. Je trouve que c’est une merveille de marketing.
Trouvé «What Do I Know», un blog qui a l’air sympa, sur lequel je suis tombé via Memepool, qui en parlait à cause de ses commentaires sur des logiciels pour OS X.
Dans ces archives, j’ai trouvé un lien vers un programme pour faire un truc pour le boulot. Joie. D’autant plus que quelqu’un (mais j’ai oublié qui) me demandait l’autre jour (mais pourquoi on me demande ça à moi!) s’il existait une façon d’indiquer une hiérarchie horizontale (précédent, suivant, etc) dans le code HTML.
Ben j’ai eu ma réponse à partir de ce billet: l’attribut rel. L’article comme tel porte sur une façon valide de remplacer l’argument target pour faire apparaître un lien dans une nouvelle fenêtre.
J’essaye de trouver des questions que des gens pourraient se poser à propos du droit et des technologies.
Je ne pense pas ici nécessairement à des trucs tordus comme ceux dont je vous parle tout le temps mais des trucs plus normaux, issus de tranches de vies, d’expériences, si possible.
Il n’y a de sotte question que celle qui n’est jamais posée, alors j’attends vos suggestions en commentaire.
My screen saver effect used to be Snowsaver: nice flurries slowly falling behind your screen and all. But, due to the current weather conditions, I felt it was no longer appropriate.
I saw RedPill, a Matrix code theme screen saver, on VT and decided to give it a try. Indeed, it look great and it’s dans l’air du temps
It turns out they are made by the same guy… Talk about artistic compatibility
This was supposed to brings me to my main topic (yeah, it does not work as well as expected… the joys of live programming): I love software made by small developers.
Since I have a job now, I’m actually registering shareware like NetNewsWire, my news aggregator, and Kung-Log, the software I use to post this (ok, I didn’t actually register, but I did send Adriaan something off his Amazon wish list). Why do I like them so much? Well, for example, in the current version of Kung-Log, you can now use « and ». Previously they were not encoded properly. Apparently no one pointed that out before I did. Turnaround from initial email to new version with problem fixed and new features? Less than 2 days.
Oh, and I’ve found little badges for both too: 
I’m tempted to put them at the bottom of the right column. But I think they’ll move there the day something convinces me it would be worth your bandwidth.
I’ll think about it though: there is an argument to be made for pushing the free advertising, since it may mean more brand awareness of the product, more registered users, more developer time on the app and ultimately more features at no (or almost no) cost for me . I did feel more of a moral incentive to talk positively about great-yet-unregistered-software than great and registered products though, as I feel that by registering I’ve fully paid my due.
Now if I could get paid for endorsing a product… In the meantime, I’ll just keep talking about tools I appreciate.
On dirait que c’est manqué pour l’éclipse de lune: nuageux…
Mais ca m’a permis de découvrir ce truc qu’offre le planétarium de Montréal, le « ciel du mois » (PDF). Je suis pas un fan d’astronomie, mais ca peut être sympa de savoir où chercher pour voir une constellation. Et c’est tellement romantique au printemps de spotter Venus qui se lève quand on rentre vraiment trop tard!
Quizz: qui a déjà vu la voie lactée?
I received (Hi Fizzz!) this link to a story about a BMW limousine trapping it’s occupants inside due to a computer malfunction with the comment « Does BMW bug check? »
They only got out when someone outside the vehicle broke the (bulletproof) windows with a sledgehammer. The AC was also disabled and apparently the Thai sun was making the sealed interior very hot.
Funny thing, it appears it’s not necessarily BWM that didn’t bug check since the car apparently relies on Windows CE to enable easy operation of, and convenient access to, the myriad of features at the driver’s disposal, including the navigation, telephone, climate control and entertainment systems.
Doh.
Le Canada a remporté la coupe du monde de hockey en battant la Suède par un poil hier.
Tranche de vie: Jamie Heward, défenseur des champions, jouait pour Servette-HC, le club de hockey de Genève. Jamie est, entre autres, un ancien des Leafs. Incidemment, le coach de Servette est Chris McSorley, le frère de Marty, un autre canadien. Et je sais tout ca parce que mon pote Laurent est photographe de l’équipe et un grand fan de Jamie.
In the Financial Times.
Donna Wentworth points to this excellent article by Arnold Kling on the balanced copyright approach, the « middle ground between the technology-hostile position of the recording industry and Hollywood on the one hand and communist nihilism on the other« .
Dr. Dre has lost a sampling case, as reported by Billboard and Slashdot.
It reminds me I I forgot to mention that I read Siva Vaidhyanathan Copyrights and Copywrongs, which has an interesting take on the impact of sampling in modern copyright law. This book also has an historical overview of the evolution of copyright law in the UK and the US that is the most thorough I’ve seen. Great book, rich in facts and perspective and a very easy read on the legal theory side of things.
(yes Sniters, I’ll have to give you back the book now…)
[via Furdlog]
A RSS feed for the « Just Added » section of the Apple music store.
Apparently, this is made possible by some forensic XML process and redigestion that I can’t fully appreciate. But it’s cool enough on it’s face value.
[via A Frog in the Valley]