Announcements
SCRIPTed conference deadline
The hard-working organisers of the excellent and much awaited SCRIPTed conference have written to let me know that there are only a small number of places left, so get thee to the registration page ASAP! The programme is looking extremely Read more…
Popular Culture
UN-star Galactica
For the last weeks I have been glued to my torrents watching the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica (two episodes to go!). In case anyone objects to the downloading, I own the entire series on DVD, save for the unaired Read more…
Governance
UK public sector websites to contain user comments
One of the most useful features of the participatory web and the user-generated revolution is that it allows interaction from consumers (gosh, how do I hate it when I start using journalistic commonplace terms such as revolution, debacle or meltdown). Read more…
Governance
New report on the state of global Cyber-censorship released
Yesterday was World Day Against Cyber-censorship [insert snarky comment about the abundance of “Days against X” here]. To celebrate (is “celebrate” the right word?), Reporters Without Borders has released a report on the state of internet control and surveillance. The Read more…
Copyright
YouTube starts blocking music videos in the UK
This news item has been covered everywhere, but it is worth highlighting. YouTube has decided to blackout all of its official music videos as of yesterday in the UK due to a negotiating failure with the British Performing Right Society Read more…
Feeling silly
Why seeding is good for you
xkcd’s take on the PirateBay trial. So kids, fire up your torrent clients and start seeding.
Litigation
Open source, file systems and patents
Do you ever wonder how things work? Here at TechnoLlama we spend an obscene amount of time wondering precisely how applications and gadgets work. How does a media server allow me to watch downloaded TV shows in my PS3? How Read more…
Networks
Book Review: Rainbows End
Before being attacked by the Lynne Trusses of the world, the title of Vernor Vinge’s Rainbows End is not missing an apostrophe. The book is named after a retirement community which was chosen by either “an everyday illiterate or someone Read more…
Copyright
Amazon to restrict read-aloud functions
The Guardian has an excellent post on the Amazon Kindle controversy. The Author’s Guild threatened legal action against Amazon because the Kindle’s read-aloud function “is not paying anyone for audio rights”. Neither does my sister when she reads books to Read more…