imnotbored.net

Communication that offers more information than hyperbole:
John Taplin, John Taplin, and John Taplin.

For Code Geeks:
Wrangler update

Shock and Horror!! Lied to by a greedy corporation:
How to lie & litigate for fun and profit.

..and I feel fine. Actually, I feel GREAT!!

I had this theory that I would cut my hair, play nice and bring the system down from the inside. Seems like my efforts won’t be all that necessary, as the system is collapsing under it’s own weight. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - the 20th century is over. Your business models don’t work here.

: Douglas Rushkoff - Weblog ::

Michael Giest

CBC Coverage

The creative class are more than just serfs to the MBA empire. The Cold War is over - this generation won’t be duped by selective math, big words, and a firm handshake. This video, via Underwire suitably sarcasticizes the issue:

In lieu of such an event actually occuring, I recommend:

I’m not that big of a movie fan. I prefer books - I control the casting, camera angles, and lighting. Control freak? Maybe.

The ripping and storing of DVDs is just above wall papering the waiting room in hell on my list of things to do, but I get the revolt that is going on. Some clips that highlight the issues:

From Freedom to Tinker:

…the fact that the content in question is an integer — an ordinary number, in other words. The number is often written in geeky alphanumeric format, but it can be written equivalently in a more user-friendly form like 790,815,794,162,126,871,771,506,399,625. Giving a private party ownership of a number seems deeply wrong to people versed in mathematics and computer science. Letting a private group pick out many millions of numbers (like the AACS secret keys), and then simply declare ownership of them, seems even worse.

From EFF;

What is the AACS-LA’s argument? In its takedown letters, the AACS-LA claims that hosting the key violates the DMCA’s ban on trafficking in circumvention devices. The DMCA provides that:

No person shall … offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof that that -

(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title;

(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title; or

(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that person with that person’s knowledge for use in circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.

and PC World:

The brouhaha erupted when executives at Digg began removing posts that contained a software key needed to crack the encryption used to limit copying of HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs. Digg, which began removing the posts after it got a cease-and-desist letter from another company asserting that the posts violated its intellectual property rights, also began deleting user accounts of those posting the key.

That move outraged many Digg users, who repeatedly posted the key until founder Kevin Rose relented last night and stopped the deletions. Stories about the key received tens of thousands of “Diggs,” or online approvals from the community and by this afternoon, Digg’s top two stories — both about the keys and user response to them — had received approximately 35,000 Diggs.

The revolt marks a test case for social networking sites that accept user-generated content, said Dianne Lynch, dean of the communications school at Ithaca College. Lynch, who also writes regularly about Web 2.0 issues such as alternate worlds, noted that she couldn’t access Digg last night because of the high traffic.

“The situation tests the validity and integrity of a social communities,” she said. “The social community won.”

My take is that companies that gained their prominence and power in the 20th century did so by exploiting hierarchies of specialized skills knowledge. In the 21st century, that model crumbles. The infrastructure is too large and inflexible to keep pace with change, so the typical response is to use existing resources to fight, or at least control the change. This leads to something I refer to as ” The Committee To Keep Things Exactly The Same As They Are.” I don’t like these people.

Well, here is the tipping point: Those in power are now becoming outnumbered by those with knowledge, resources, and access.The desire to capture market share drove prices down and available memory and power (thank you, Moores Law!) up, creating a situation where independent users had access to the tools to harvest, create, and host their own media.

We are not consumers, we are users. This, to steal from Zappa, is the crux of the biscuit.

Technorati Tags: computers, drm free, education, geek, Media, political, Security

This post (and comments) over at Schneier on Security on this article doesn’t really surprise me. From the Yale Daily News:

In the wake of Monday’s massacre at Virginia Tech in which a student killed 32 people, Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg has limited the use of stage weapons in theatrical productions.

What do they hope to achieve by banning obviously fake weapons in a play when there is real violence on front pages every morning, and featured heavily in every newscast? I grew up in the 70’s, and was encouraged to be involved, to be a good citizen, to be aware. This meant watching the news and seeing violence everyday for most of my formative years. Footage of the Vietnam war is a childhood memory. Likewise tanks rolling over hilltops in Afghanistan. I grew up with images of international conflict being resolved by violence. Serial killers like Son of Sam and Clifford Robert Olsen made headlines and their images joined us after dinner every night on the TV news.

I really don’t think realistic swords in a stage play will push someone over the edge. This isn’t about security, it is about limiting liability should a post grad student go ballistic. Is there a word for the unreasonable fear of lawsuits?

How did we develop a culture of fear and lawyers? Who thought that would be a good idea? Probably the marketing department.

Technorati Tags: Media, political, Public Relations, puppy, Security

Links and quotes from elsewhere, Italics are my two bits worth. Happy Friday!!

My TV Blew Up - I Think the Universe is Telling me Something

Well I have been asking for a few things like getting better organised, making more money, getting fitter and losing weight - all of which cannot be achieved lying on the sofa watching TV! It’s funny how in the past few days, even over Christmas, I have got so much more done because there is no TV - So I have resolved not to replace the TV and tomorrow I cancel the Sky (satellite) contract. Perhaps 2007 is going to be a really successful year at last.

I’ve long felt TV sucks the life out of people - nice to see evidence that I’m more likely correct than paranoid.

Six Reasons You Should Be A Freak!

Here’s Tom Peters’ six reasons he loves Freaks, from one of his speaking engagements:

1. Because when Anything Interesting happens…it was a freak who did it. (Period.)

2. Freaks are fun. (Freaks are also a pain.) (Freaks are never boring.)

3. We need freaks. Especially in freaky times. (Hint: These are freaky times, for you & me & the CIA & the Army & Avon.)

4. A critical mass of freaks-in-our-midst automatically make us-who-are-not-so-freaky at least somewhat more freaky. (Which is a Good Thing in freaky times—see immediately above.)

5. Freaks are the only (ONLY) ones who succeed—-as in, make it into the history books.

6. Freaks keep us from falling into ruts. (If we listen to them.) (We seldom listen to them.) (Which is why most of us—-and our organizations—-are in ruts. Make that chasms.)

So, be a Freak! Be a revolutionary! Work on your personal brand. Never stop self-teaching. Go out and sell your expertise. Go out and start something. A business, a blog, an initiative, a foundation, a scholarship…ANYTHING. Just do it. And Make a Difference.

I once had a prof in music school who encouraged us to sing along with the muzak in the supermarket as an ear training exercise.When someone asked “Won’t people think we’re weird?” He replied with what has become a classic line:

” Do the math - there are already way too many normal people in the world.”

Old media vs new media

It is understandable that some will hark back to another era in the media. But we cannot pretend that the media is not changing. As with all change, some things are better, some things are worse. I, for one, are encouraged by the possibilities of new media. It all depends on what we do with it.

STOP using it like new version of old media. Old media forms opinions and mass markets. New media creates niches. New media allows information to flow like water, taking the path of least resistance. New media is powered by irony - editorial decisions and distribution become less powerful as they become de-centralized and commonly available.

Technorati Tags: education, geek, Media, entrepreneur, TV

While global warming may be an issue in natural disasters and freak storms, it can be difficult to relate the phrase to the actual events you see out your window.
Sitting here in what is a usually mild and wet Southwest corner of Canada and look at the snow on the ground, there is nothing ‘warming’ about it. Let’s consider a term that more accurately reflects the results, rather than the cause of anomalous or erratic weather events. How about some of these:

• Disruptive weather pattern - nah, too long and sciencey sounding.
• Meteorological Malfeasance - oh yeah, right! Everyone who watches the news keeps a dictionary handy.
• Skyfuck - maybe. Can’t you just hear your local weather person saying:

” A thorough skyfucking has dropped 4 centimeters of snow, slowing the morning commute to a crawl.”

So far, skyfuck wins. Got an opinion, or a suggestion? Leave a comment.

Technorati Tags: Global Warming, humour, political, Weather