I have always had a love/hate relationship with email… I love to hate it. This always comes as a surprise to people, who assume that techies are all in love with messaging and gadgetry. The truth is that I have always had bad Inbox practices, and after a sabbatical year Read more
I have been following with growing interest the online debate between Lily Allen and Techdirt with regards to file-sharing and three-strikes. If you are unfamiliar with the debate, here is a brief introduction. You may have heard that Lord Mandelson has put forward proposals to have our own version of Read more
For quite a while the knives have been out for the Google Book Settlement (a brief introduction to the agreement by yours truly can be found here). The European Union for example has been particularly interested in the implications of the settlement this side of the Atlantic, and has hinted Read more
The British press has been involved in a sickening exercise of collective leering and sneering prompted by the conviction of 26-year-old teacher Helen Goddard for having an affair with a 15 year-old female student; if you have a strong stomach, take a trip down Daily-Mail-land, the same paragon of women’s Read more
It’s mid-September, and that means Gikii! The geeks packed their gadgets and flew, walked, bicycled, sailed and slithered into Amsterdam for this year’s collection of law and geeky stuff. Gikii is earning a well-deserved reputation as one of the most fun-yet-thought-provoking conferences in the IP and IT circuit thanks to Read more
To quickly answer my own question, no. But sometimes I really wonder about the sanity of current copyright legislation. I enjoy PostSecret, there is something in the anonymous confession of sins that appeals to the lapsed Catholic side of my personality. I have often wondered about the legal issues surrounding Read more
This is a very interesting article on Wired about networks. Two American social scientists found old notes relating to a long-running heart disease study started in 1948 in the Massachusetts town of Farmingham. What was invaluable about this particular study was that it contained notes about who was friends with Read more
As with any good xkcd, this one has a serious point behind it. Spambots and other autonomous agents are becoming increasingly sophisticated. There may be a time soon when captchas and Turing tests may be a requirement for any sort of online interaction.
In Costa Rica the phrase “full extras” is a popular Anglicism that is used to describe a car that comes with all added extra features, and has evolved as anexpression that refers to any product loaded with perks and extras. “Full extras” was the first thought that crossed my mind Read more
I have been spending perhaps too much time recently engaged in what one could call the war between old media and the Internet. As an avid cybernaut and proud card-carrying member of the social media revolution, I am often puzzled by the level of vitriol directed against the blogosphere, Twitter, Read more