nyhende

Print on demand and book innovation

2011-06-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

With todays technology there is not significant cost saving with printing books in bulk compared to print on demand. It is computers and robots that is doing most of the work anyway.

I believe that eventually open digital books with innovative business models will win over the proprietary offerings that we have today.
"10 innovative digital books you should know about
A look at 10 envelope-pushing digital books."

Climate change and open source

2011-01-03T08:27:00.000-08:00

THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF ‘OPEN SCIENCE’ An Essay on Patronage, Reputation and Common Agency Contracting in the Scientific Revolution Higly recommended!!
http://www-siepr.stanford.edu/workp/swp06008.pdf

Could climate science become open source?
http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/could-climate-science-become-open-source/

Mitigating “Anticommons” Harms to Research In Science and Technology New Moves in “Legal Jujitsu” against Adverse Consequences of the Exploitation of IPR on Publicly and Privately Funded Research Results (oktober 2010)
http://siepr.stanford.edu/system/files/shared/pubs/10-009_v2.pdf

Collaborative Research in e-Science and Open Access to Information
http://www-siepr.stanford.edu/papers/pdf/08-21.pdf

Preparing for the Next, Very Long Crisis: Towards a ‘Cool’ Science and Technology Policy Agenda For a Globally Warming Economy
http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2009/wp2009-031.pdf

Kjell Lars Berge sin argumentasjon mot Huitfeldt

2010-10-20T02:56:00.000-07:00

Kjell Lars Berge og hans mange støttespelarar ser ut til å ta i bruk "målet heilagar midlet"-tankegang for tida. No er det ikkje berre barneporno og terror ein vil til livs med Datalagringsdirektiver. No skal bevaring av språket verte det som legitimerar forlaga sine ynskjemål om privilegier og økonomisk støtte, for å bevare demokratiet og yttringsfridomen.

Det er tydelegvis ikkje grenser for kor viktig det er å bevare privilegiane til det gamle kulturfinansieringssystemet. Eg er ikkje overraska over at dei same folka har null problemer med å ofre yttringsfridomen med Datalagringsdirektivet, Acta, Ipred etc.

Me har altså med ein kulturelite som jamt over har eit veldig lite gjennomtenkt praktisk og etisk nivå, syner tydeleg at dei manglar evna til å tenkje i proporsjonar og nyansert.

I artikkelen i Dagbladet 19.10 "Vil kneble Språkrådet" http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/10/19/kultur/debatt/debattinnlegg/sprakradet/13904103/ visar Kjell Lars Berge at han eigentleg er interessert i å vidareføre gamleg forretningsmodellar og privilegier i kulturlivet, under dekkje av at språket er grunnlaget for demokrati og yttringsfridom. Ok, språk er viktig, men det får vere måte på. Å blåse opp Språkrådet si rolle som nærmast ein garantist for kunnskap, yttringsfridom, levande språk og demokrati er heilt ute av proporsjonar.

At til dømes den norske Wikipediaen sansynlegvis er langt meir effektiv for å bevare det norske språket enn dei fleste av privilegia som Berge foreslår er nok eit døme på kor einauga og unyansert han er på norsk språkpolitikk.

Då Per Egil Hegge måtte forklare han skilnaden på å skulde folk for lygn og seie at dei tøvar, så viste han at me eigentleg har å gjere med ein person som er oppteken av å overtyde framføre å stå for det han eigentleg driv med.

I diagogen Gorgias, så avkledde Platon retorikarane (talekunstnarane) og viste at dei eigentleg ikkje kunne stå for det dei sa. Filosofane vant. I går på Aktuelt vant Per Egil Hegge over talekunstnaren Berge som måtte fossro etter å ikkje ha nytta sjansa han fekk av Hegge til å koma med ei orsaking.

Det er forøvrig deprimerande at store delar av kulturnoreg er så lotteleg prinsipplause at dei kritiserar Huitfeldt for å undergrave yttringsfridom på grunn av at ho ikkje støttar Store Norske Leksikon, medan dei sjølve går inn for totalovervaking av vanlege borgarar og ein totalfjerning av pressa sin bruk av løynde kjelder. At det går an?!

If we listened to the the anti-technologists...

2010-09-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

We would have banned:
Hollywood, recording industry, cabel TV, copy machine, radio, VCR, MP3, Cassette player etc.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100925/12401911168/a-look-at-the-technologies-industries-senators-leahy-hatch-would-have-banned-in-the-past.shtml

See also:

More People Think about Smart Copyright Reform
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100926/23314311178/more-people-thinking-about-smart-copyright-reform.shtml

The worlds biggest research community is...

2010-09-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

Zotero!

"Downloaded millions of times since 2006 and used by hundreds of thousands of researchers daily, Zotero has grown to the world’s largest and most diverse online research community, with nearly 50 million library items presently synced to zotero.org."

http://www.zotero.org/blog/zoteros-next-big-step/

American Economic Association swimming in money

2010-09-22T14:11:00.000-07:00

"This is a society with a sound financial basis that could set an example for the rest of the publishers by showing that good research should not be gated. Would this be a money losing proposition? I do not think so, first because the AEA will always have good income from its meeting registrations, and second because it would not need to maintain anymore a whole infrastructure to keep outsiders away from its journals. The AEA could probably cancel membership fees altogether and still make it work."

http://economiclogic.blogspot.com/2010/08/aea-is-missing-golden-opportunity.html

Nature golden open access fees

2010-09-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

I wonder if these estimates can be real:

"1. Estimates of $10,000 – $30,000 in author charges for one OA article? You heard it here first. That’s the entire journals budget for some small libraries. They’d be able to get one article for the year – for all the faculty. I wouldn’t call that a viable OA option."

http://scientopia.org/blogs/bookoftrogool/2010/09/20/nature-the-response/

Barnes and Nobles without a buyer

2010-08-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

The future don't looks to bright for Barnes and Nobles at the moment. Founder and Chairman of Barnes and Nobles look at the digitization as a major challenge:

"According to Riggio: “Digital publishing and digital book-selling will soon become the most explosive development in the history of our industry and will sweep aside those who aren’t participating.”"

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article22100.html

Does the internet make experts dumb?

2010-08-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

Most people think that the Internet makes us smarter (65 % vs. 34 percent of Wall Stret Journals readers), but Andrew Keen seems to disagree in his book "The Cult of the Amateur". Now JP Rangaswami make a wonderful analysis which he states that the internet just makes experts looks dumber :-)

http://online.wsj.com/community/groups/online-services-398/topics/internet-making-us-smarter-dumber

http://www.amazon.com/Cult-Amateur-Internet-Killing-Culture/dp/0385520808

http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2010/08/22/does-the-web-make-experts-dumb/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ConfusedOfCalcutta+%28Confused+of+Calcutta%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

New important book

2010-08-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

Barbara van Schewick has written a book that deserve attention:

http://ammori.org/2010/08/11/vanschewic/

More than 100 cubic feet archive goes open access

2010-08-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

The Irving Louis Horowitz-Transaction Publishers Archives, 1939-2009 are now open access documenting development of the social sciences.

http://live.psu.edu/story/47470/rss13

Bill Gates with some good predictions

2010-08-09T11:28:00.001-07:00

Bill Gates ask this question at Techonomy 2010 conference: "Who Needs a College Education When You Have the Web?" A good question, but the paradox is that the most important forces behind this opportunity is what he himself has spent most of his life to fight :-)

For background information behind that claim, I suggest Yochai Benkler "Wealth of Networks" that you can find here:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/wealth_of_networks/Table_of_Contents

This one is specifically good to explain the theory:
http://www.yale.edu/yalelj/112/BenklerWEB.pdf

http://www.dailytech.com/Bill+Gates+Who+Needs+a+College+Education+When+You+Have+the+Web/article19294.htm

Economics loosing focus on important things?

2010-08-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

According to the blog "Economic Logic", Economics are not focusing enought on improving global welfare, but rather on academic "pissing contest".

http://economiclogic.blogspot.com/2010/08/business-research-is-as-out-of-focus-as.html

Study molecules cheap

2010-05-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

For a while ago a read about the Nokia phone microscope that saved tens of thousand dollars. Now this open hardware is useful to study molecules and can save universities for hundreds of thousand dollars:

http://www.biophysik.physik.uni-muenchen.de/projects/plastic-afm

Why use R statistical program?

2010-05-08T15:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some good points:

"The quants at financial services companies have taken a particular shining to R, and not just because they are cheap."

"Jeff Erhardt, who was a heavy R user when he worked at chip makers Advanced Micro Devices and Spansion and who is chief operating officer at Revolution, says that universities are not teaching SAS and SPSS any more. They are using R, just like proprietary and Unix operating systems have been displaced by Linux in computer science programs."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/06/revolution_commercial_r/

Open source scales better

2010-04-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

Interesting point:

"Open Source Scales Better Than Proprietary, The Cloud Needs Massive Scale to Succeed, Therefore the Cloud Needs Open Source...

Think about it. Would Microsoft and Oracle or Microsoft and Sun before Oracle, both work on the same software project knowing it would help the other? Not likely to happen. So for me what is fueling the great scalability of open source software is not an inherent advantage in the process or the amount of developers working it. It is the fact that it has given companies that otherwise would not collaborate on code together the chance to do so. I think that is the secret sauce of open source."

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/60636

State-wide Google deployment i Oregon Schools

2010-04-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

This is the future for schools in my opinion. This is an example on using the real power of technology for collaboration purposes.

"Oregon Public Schools Go Google

By moving to Google's cloud infrastructure, Oregon expects to save $1.5 million annually for e-mail alone. "

http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224600691

Fundamental disruption in research and education happens now

2010-04-18T00:02:00.000-07:00

For everyone that want to learn more about the fundamentals of change in research and education that happens right now, I will recommend the article written by Richard N. Katz. If you still want more perspectives continue with Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams.

Lawrence Lessig has also written an valuable article in Educause where he says that educators has to take more responsibility for what they are doing.

My own experience is: In Norway many people think that corruption is something that only resides in developing countries and that the educators should be the last to be corrupt. The more I learn about systemic failures in our own part of the world the more I feel that corruption is the same everywhere, it is just the expression that is different. Upton Sinclair wrote one time: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

A good friend of mine Junior Maih said this to me one time: solve your own problems before you try to solve ours. He is from Cameroon and he quoted the Bible and said: "And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own?" The truth in this is more than I thought.

Getting Our Values around Copyright Right
Lawrence Lessig
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/GettingOurValuesaroundCopyrigh/202337

Scholars, Scholarship, and the Scholarly Enterprise in the Digital Age
Richard N. Katz
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/ScholarsScholarshipandtheSchol/202341

Innovating the 21st-Century University: It’s Time!
Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/Innovatingthe21stCenturyUniver/195370

The Economist Editorial goes for 14 years copyright

2010-04-12T13:39:00.000-07:00

A really good idea! The Economist also says that the digital revolution also has lowered the cost on production.

"Over the past 50 years, however, that balance has shifted. Largely thanks to the entertainment industry’s lawyers and lobbyists, copyright’s scope and duration have vastly increased. In America, copyright holders get 95 years’ protection as a result of an extension granted in 1998, derided by critics as the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act”. They are now calling for even greater protection, and there have been efforts to introduce similar terms in Europe. Such arguments should be resisted: it is time to tip the balance back."

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15868004

iPad the Kindle killer

2010-04-11T14:47:00.001-07:00

http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/11/who-needs-catch-22-when-you-have-flight-control/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

Why I don't want an iPad

2010-04-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

Cory Doctorow explain it for me very good in his blogpost:

"Why I won't buy an iPad (and think you shouldn't, either)"

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/04/02/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-you-shouldnt-either.html

So far it seems to me that Android and MeGoo are the best choice for my future device.

Open Standards attacked by Business Software Alliance again

2010-03-31T04:22:00.000-07:00

They never give up these unfair business proponents. Microsoft is a key member in this alliance by the way.

"Back on the block and worse than ever: EIFv2

The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) is back from the dark corners of the European Commission, and it’s worse than ever.

This is a key document, helping public bodies across Europe to make their IT systems work together. The EC originally issued this as a recommendation in 2004. This original EIF put a lot of emphasis on Open Standards and Free Software. Now FSFE has seen the latest draft of the document, which still has not been published."

http://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/?p=324

Goverment spying

2010-03-31T03:04:00.001-07:00

"Until now, it had been broadly assumed that the CAs were honest and wouldn't give certificates to people they shouldn't, thereby keeping the entire system trustworthy"

Congratulation LINUX, GROKLAW, PJ and NOVELL: NOVELL WINS AGAINST SCO :-)

2010-03-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Now after 7 years the SCO vs. Novell case is practically over with a clear WIN FOR LINUX :-)

I am thankful for the tireless effort from PJ and the rest of the Groklaw team, Novell and IBM to stand up for Linux. This case has showed how meaningless and stupid some of the proprietary business practice business. Unbelievable.

From the Novell website:

"Today, the jury in the District Court of Utah trial between SCO Group and Novell issued a verdict.

Novell is very pleased with the jury’s decision confirming Novell’s ownership of the Unix copyrights, which SCO had asserted to own in its attack on Linux. Novell remains committed to promoting Linux, including by defending Linux on the intellectual property front.

This decision is good news for Novell, for Linux, and for the open source community."

http://www.novell.com/prblogs/?p=2153

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends
upon his not understanding it!" -- Upton Sinclair

Harald Eia og vitskap

2010-03-30T00:48:00.000-07:00

David Shenk har tydelegvis eit anna syn på gener enn Harald Eia. Sjekk David Shenk sin versjon.

http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/natureedcast

Australian Research Online

2010-03-29T04:35:00.000-07:00

The National Library of Australia is hosting this service. This service host all kind of Gold and Green open access sources in a very smart way. They have now started to index Open Journal Systems Gold Open Access too:

http://research.nla.gov.au/

http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/gateways/issues/103/story05.html

Dan Coen at TEDxNYED: The Last Digit of Pi

2010-03-22T02:01:00.000-07:00

Dan Cohen participated in the TEDxNYED, and here is the transcript of the presentation. Well worth reading:

http://www.dancohen.org/2010/03/08/the-last-digit-of-pi/

Filosofane (wikipedia) mot sofistane (Store Norske Leksikon)

2010-03-12T16:19:00.000-08:00

Store Norske Leksikon har fått nei til statstilskott for vidare drift. Her er utdrag frå pressemeldinga:

"Pressemelding. Store norske leksikon avvikles 1. juli som en forlagseid tjeneste - Vil et norsk nasjonalt leksikon få leve videre som stiftelse med offentlig finansiering?"

http://snl.no/Pressemelding

På meg så verkar det som ein kamp mellom sofistane og filosofane i Platons Gorgias. Denne boka satte ord på kampen mellom sofistane, som meinte at å overtyde var viktigare enn å søkje sanninga, og filosofane som meinte at å søkje sanninga var det viktigaste. Store Norske Leksikon støttar seg på at dei er veldig "autoritære", og er difor veldig vitskaplege.

Undervisning i sokratisk metode har vore eit grunntema for all vitskapleg aktivitet sidan Platon. "Science" tydar å studere, og i alle gode vitskapelege miljøer så er det ein føresetnad å fylgje desse metodene for å verte teke seriøst.

Då eg var inne LeMonde Diplomatique i dag og leste artikkelen "Massenes visdom eller ekspertisens endelikt?" av Mathieu O’Neil, så vart eg difor veldig overraska over at ein tydelegvis oppegåande forskar skreiv dette: "På Wikipedia erstatter «verifiserbarheten» sannheten." og at "Målet med et leksikon er sannhet. Det har ikke et politisk, men et vitenskapelig mål."
http://lmd.no/index.php?article=11871

(Le Monde Diplomatiqe er forøvrig ei knallbra avis. Noregs definitivt beste kafeavis, kvar einaste artikkel omtrent er super, og den har ein kul miks av fritt innhald, abonnement og direktekjøp. Denne avisa passar perfekt å ha på dei komande tablet-dingsane fordi kvaliteten på artiklane er ekstremt høg i forhold til vanlege aviser.)

Det verkar også som at dei som står bak pressemeldinga frå Store Norske Leksikon ovanfor ser på seg sjølve som forvaltarar av "den store sanninga" når dei skriv implisitt at SNL "oppfyller grunnleggende krav til en nasjonal kultur- og kunnskapsinstitusjon.", eller at dei implisitt kan tilby "kvalitetssikrede autoritative kilder" eller at dei er siterbare med "grunnleggende krav til sitering og kildehenvisning". Leksikona hadde ein heilt annan status på 17- og 1800-talet, og det er tydelegvis denne gamle statusen dei prøvar å blåse liv i. Wikipedia tek ikkje mål av seg å presentere "sanninga", og denne audmjuke haldninga er minst like vitskapeleg som SNL sitt litt grandiose sjølvbilete.

"The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth—what counts is whether readers can verify that material added to Wikipedia has already been published by a reliable source (see below), not whether editors think it is true."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability

Forskarar skal tilvise til primærkjelder fyrst og fremst, og skal ein bruke sekundærkjelder så er det som regel litteraturoversiktar som har gjennomgått fagfellevurdering i spesialiserte tidsskrifter, bøker eller nettstader ein gjerne nyttar. Skal ein tilvise til ein leksikonartikkel så gjer ein det som regel som ein sørvis for lesaren, ikkje for å vise til primærforskning. Slik var det kanskje ikkje for ei stund sidan, men slik har det vorte.

Ordet kvalitetssikring er også, meinar eg, feil omgrep å bruke om noko som har med vitskapeleg produksjon å gjere. På engelsk så nyttar ordet "quality controll" eller "peer review" som tyder fagfellevurdering. Kvalitetskontroll er langt meir presist ord. Kva betyr det at informasjon er kvalitetssikra? Er kvaliteten sikra?

I Wikipedia er det forbode mot originalt innhald, og alle viktige opplysningar skal ha ei direkte tilvising til primærkjelder. Wikipedia er med andre ord fundert på grunnleggjande prinsipper om å vise til fagfellevurdering UTANFOR leksikonet, eller etterrettelege faktaopplysningar. Wikipedia fylgjer difor vitskapleg tradisjon ved å spele på lag med den sokratiske metode ved klokeleg ikkje blande seg inn det kvalifiserte lesarkrinsar driv med. Massenes visdom i wikipedia dreiar seg om å verte samde om kva slags kjelder som eignar seg som grunnlag for å skrive eitt eller anna, ikkje arbeidsprosessar som i ein tradisjonell fagredaksjon.

Mathieu O’Neil kritiserte verifiserbarheit som eit dårleg alternativ til nøyaktigheit. Problemet er at dersom ein går inn på å gjere leksikonartikkelen som ein stad å publisere originalt innhald og slakkar av på krava om verifiserbarheit, så vert det vanskelegare å oppfylle kravet om nøytralitet. At Store Norske Leksikon har andre arbeidsformer enn Wikipedia treng ikkje bety at dei er kvalitetsmessig betre. Det er mange kompromisser som må gjerast når ein skal fastsetje reglane for leksikonartiklar.

""No original research" is one of three core content policies, along with Neutral point of view and Verifiability. Jointly, these policies determine the type and quality of material that is acceptable in articles. They should not be interpreted in isolation from one another, and editors should therefore familiarize themselves with all three."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research

Dersom det er nokon som ynskjer å lage tradisjonelle syntetiserande leksikonartiklar så går det an å nytte Scholarpedia eller dei kan organisere finansieringa av SNL ved hjelp av donasjonar frå Fritt Ord eller slik Wikipedia gjer med innsamling. Store Norske Leksikon kunne argumentert langt betre for seg, men sjølv om dei hadde gjordt dette, så ville dei ikkje greidd å overtydd meg om at dei fortener statsstøtte.

Når dei vel å rakke ned på ein konkurrent som alltid har måtte klare seg utan statsstøtte, og som har arbeidsprosessar som gir provbar minst like god kvalitet så seier det litt om kor dårleg tru dei har på seg sjølve.

Når dei attpå til vel å ordleggje seg populistisk og ikkje som ein vitskapeleg redaksjon ville gjordt, så seier det meg at dei ikkje har den vitskapelege integriteten som dei hevdar at dei har i bøtter og spann.

Kanskje litt meir piratjakt, utvida vernetid på opphavsretten, totalitær sensur er vel så fruktbart å ta med til kulturministarens bord neste gong dei har møte? Når Wikipedia får fortsetje så går jo kulturen til grunne fullstendig. Heile den siviliserte verda står i fare :-)

Conservative Technology Manifesto launched

2010-03-12T11:18:00.000-08:00

The Conservative party in Great Britain is almost certain to win the coming political election. They have just published their digital manifesto. Here is a few things that I liked:

1) They want open source to have the same chances to win government contracts.
2) They want open standards to prevent lock-ins.
3) They want to protect intellectual property, but not if it conflict with new business models.
4) They want open data.

The Norwegian Labor party is acting similar to the English Labour party in the way that they try to hinder open source, open standards and open data as good as they can. Hopefully they start to update themselves soon.

http://www.conservatives.com/News/News_stories/2010/03/Conservative_Technology_Manifesto_launched.aspx

Hal Varian on newspaper economics

2010-03-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/03/googles-hal-varian-to-newspapers-at-ftc-confab-experiment-experiment-experiment/

Stiglitz: ECONOMIC FOUNDATIONS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

2010-03-08T03:30:00.000-08:00

Joseph Stiglitz very interesting paper in Duke Law Journal 57 Duke L.J. 1693 2007-2008

ECONOMIC FOUNDATIONS OF
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ

"CONCLUSION
Intellectual Property Rights are important, but the importance of
IPR has been exaggerated, as they form only one part of our
innovation system. IPR should be seen as part of a portfolio of
instruments. We need to strengthen the other elements of this
portfolio and redesign our intellectual property regime to increase its
benefits and reduce its costs. Doing so will increase the efficiency of
our economy—and most likely even increase the pace of innovation."

http://cgt.columbia.edu/files/papers/2008_Econ_Fdns_IPR.pdf

Notion Ink vs. Apple Ipad

2010-03-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

"In the tablet wars, everyone will be picking camps, and right now I am firmly in Notion Ink’s."

http://wireless.sys-con.com/node/1307391

" Innovating the 21st-Century University: It’s Time!"

2010-03-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

"Many people have written about this topic, in EDUCAUSE Review and other publications. The transformation of the university is not just a good idea. It is an imperative, and evidence is mounting that the consequences of further delay may be dire.

Now is also a time of great opportunity, and there is a steady stream of proposals for change."

http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/Innovatingthe21stCenturyUniver/195370

Science without Google is like a life without electricity

2010-03-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

A new Nature News survey shows that Google is very popular in China:

A land without Google?

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100224/full/4631012a.html

No evidence that patents works

2010-03-06T02:27:00.000-08:00

Here is some good references about the dysfunction of the patent system:

http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/02/22/Patent-Fail

Market vs. Mission sectors

2010-03-05T01:04:00.000-08:00

This essay from Peter Suber is very very good. NB. Check the good references sto Elinor Ostrom in the end, she is Nobel prize winner in Economics.

http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/newsletter/11-02-09.htm#publicgood

Economic crisis in public universities in USA

2010-03-04T01:24:00.000-08:00

Berkeley are specially in big trouble. Read more in the Norwegian Journal Forskningspolitikk

http://nifu.pdc.no/index.php?seks_id=16048

Datalagringsdirektivet og bibliotekene

2010-03-03T15:15:00.001-08:00

Noen tanker om datalagringsdirektivet og meningen med biblioteksvesenet

Datalagringsdirektivet er sansynligvis bare en forsmak på omfattende overvåkningsprosjekter vi kommer til å måtte forholde oss til de nærmeste årene. ADAPTS (Automatic Detection of Abnormal Behaviour and Threats in crowded Spaces) og INDECT (Intelligent information system supporting observation, searching and detection for security of citizens in urban environment) er store satsningsområder i EU som sansynligvis blir en del av hverdagen også inne i bibliotekslokaler når de blir ferdigstilt om en fire-fem år (1). Alt våre biblioteksbrukere gjør både fysisk og på internett kan bli overvåket. Kanskje vi godtar dette fordi vi stoler på våres regjeringers forsikring om at dette er for vår egen sikkerhets skyld.

Det store spørsmålet er kanskje likevel hva slags overvåkningsregime vi må avfinne oss med den dagen Kina eventuelt overtar USAs plass som verdens supermakt eller at land og kontinenter som har andre forhold til yttringsfrihet og rettsstatlige prinsipper enn Vesten blir i flertall på internett. Asia passerte Vesten i antall internettbruker i 2009, dette skjedde bare på noen få år.

Utenriksdepartementet i USA har stilt seg lignende spørsmål, særlig etter at offentlig påbudte bakdørere i Gmail ble inngangsdøren for mest sansynlig kinesiske hackere. State Department har bedt Hillary Clinton om 45 millioner dollar for å utvikle omgåelsesteknologi for at folk i undertrykte regimer skal få tilgang til sensurert informasjon. Ethan Zuckerman skriver på sin blogg 22. februar at omgåelsesverktøy er nytteløst i det lange løp. Et av tiltakene i den langsiktige strategien er blant annet:

"Secretary Clinton suggests that we make free speech part of the American brand identity – let’s find ways to challenge companies to build blocking resistance into their platforms and to consider internet freedom to be a central part of their business mission."

"The US should strongly pressure governments in open societies like Australia and France to resist the temptation to restrict internet access, as their behavior helps China and Iran make the case that their censorship is in line with international norms."

Den langsiktige strategien er sansynligvis god gammel kamp for yttringsfriheten slik det var på IFLA konferansen arrangert i Oslo i 2005 da det gikk det for seg en maktkamp innad i IFLA om yttringsfriheten bak lukkede dører i denne organisasjonen. Jeg var ikke deltager i denne debatten, men har forstått at det dreide seg om bokbrenning av IFLA-dokumenter på Cuba, og at U-landene stod steilt mot vestlige land. Denne kampen er iferd med å overflyttes på internett. Bibliotekene burde ha det operasjonelle ansvaret for å ivareta sin del av yttringsfriheten for de tjenestene og samlingene de tilbyr hver dag. Kanskje man bør se flisa i sitt eget øye før man begynner å klage på den store bjelken i øyet på vår neste?

(1) http://www.digi.no/834169/neste-skritt-etter-datalagring
(2) http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2010/02/22/internet-freedom-beyond-circumvention/

About internet circumvention and the USA

2010-03-03T10:09:00.000-08:00

The Norwegian government say that the Americans is pushing them to abide the EU-regulation on total internet surveillance, so it was interesting to read what Ethan Zuckerman wrote in his blog yesterday:

"The US should strongly pressure governments in open societies like Australia and France to resist the temptation to restrict internet access, as their behavior helps China and Iran make the case that their censorship is in line with international norms."

http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2010/02/22/internet-freedom-beyond-circumvention/

Piracy keep industrys alive

2010-03-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

Very interesting article from Freakonomics:

"In sum, it is through copying that the fashion industry creates trends. And it is trends that sell fashion. For this reason, fashion designers’ freedom to copy does not harm the fashion industry, and indeed may be one key to the industry’s continued success. In previous work we’ve called this “the piracy paradox.” Rather than harming originators, as piracy is supposed to do, in the fashion context it often helps them."

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/behind-the-scenes-of-oscar-fashion/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FreakonomicsBlog+%28Freakonomics+Blog%29

Victor Hugo himself once wrote: "The writer as a writer has but one heir - the public domain."

2010-03-01T12:38:00.000-08:00

Victor Hugo:

Le livre, comme livre, appartient à l’auteur, mais comme pensée, il appartient—le mot n’est pas trop vaste—au genre humain. Toutes les intelligences y ont droit. Si l’un des deux droits, le droit de l’écrivain et le droit de l’esprit humain, devait être sacrifié, ce serait, certes, le droit de l’écrivain, car l’intérêt public est notre préoccupation unique, et tous, je le déclare, doivent passer avant nous.

(Victor Hugo, Discours d’ouverture du Congrès littéraire international de 1878, 1878)

"Our markets, our democracy, our science, our traditions of free speech, and our art all depend more heavily on a Public Domain of freely available material than they do on the informational material that is covered by property rights. The Public Domain is not some gummy residue left behind when all the good stuff has been covered by property law. The Public Domain is the place we quarry the building blocks of our culture. It is, in fact, the majority of our culture." (James Boyle, The Public Domain, p.40f, 2008)

http://publicdomainmanifesto.org/node/8

I don't think Victor Hugo would have been very happy with his grand children taking his "rights" to court:

"Mr Cérésa's lawyers argued that banning his novel would violate freedom of expression and prevent others using great works of art and literature as inspiration. Victor Hugo himself once wrote: "The writer as a writer has but one heir - the public domain."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jan/31/books.france

See also Against perpetual copyright by Lawrence Lessig. He writes about the practical problems with heirs of intellectual property:
http://wiki.lessig.org/index.php/Against_perpetual_copyright

E-book price with the iPad

2010-03-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

Very interesting about the real costs for e-book publishing in New York Times:

Math of Publishing Meets the E-Book
By MOTOKO RICH

"She said she did not know whether publishers had struck the right price for e-books. “For all I know, a million books at $9.99 might be great for an author,” Ms. Rice said. “The only thing I think is a mistake is people trying to hold back e-books or Kindle and trying to head off this revolution by building a dam. It’s not going to work.”"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/business/media/01ebooks.html?pagewanted=2

Open source and government

2010-02-27T04:24:00.000-08:00

Dana Blankenhorn at Zdnet.com bring in his real life experience over many years about the relationship between open source and government:

"But after watching government on every level, in various countries, for over half my lifetime, I can tell you the last thing any government wants is to make a decision its successor can overturn.

Every government knows its time in office is limited. What it needs are stalwart friends and a legacy. Proprietary vendors deliver both, and it is in the nature of open source that these not be provided."

http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=5967

Ubuntu now the most popular cloud computing platform

2010-02-27T04:16:00.000-08:00

"Ubuntu is currently the most popular operating system base for developers building cloud-based computing solutions, Crawford said. The open source operating system is already used in some government agencies, including NASA, but has not been widely available as it lacked GSA schedule pricing and support."

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/190264/ubuntu_linux_now_available_to_fed_customers_on_gsa_advantage.html

Confused investments in e-government

2010-02-25T14:42:00.000-08:00

"After more than a decade of confused investments in e-government, information society, knowledge society, and so forth, I would have thought that the EU would help its member states better focus their efforts and good practice exchanges. Unfortunately, as browsing through other parts of epractice.eu clearly shows, it appears this is not the case.

Then why are we surprised if Europe lags behind in so many areas?"

http://blogs.gartner.com/andrea_dimaio/2010/02/24/why-the-eu-keeps-failing-on-e-government/

Indonesia, Brazil and India put up on US "Special 301 watchlist" for communistic open source recommandation

2010-02-25T02:33:00.000-08:00

This is flat-earth news from the copyright lobby: because these three countries has recommended use of open source software in the public administration they deserve to be put on the "Special 301 watchlist" according to the copyright industry.

Norway, Great Britain and many other countries have also recommended open source software in public administration, and Canada was actually put on the 301 watchlist. International Intellectual Property Alliance wrote that Open Source software encourage a mindset for piracy, when it actually do the opposite because people download legal open source software instead of pirate Microsoft Windows copys ;-)))

It encourages a mindset that does not give due consideration to the value to intellectual creations. As such, it fails to build respect for intellectual property rights...

http://www.iipa.com/2010_SPEC301_TOC.htm

William Patry: "How to Fix Copyright" is coming in 2011

2010-02-25T01:53:00.000-08:00

William Patry has written a book "about how we talk about copyright and the influence that plays in our thinking": Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars

http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Panics-Copyright-William-Patry/dp/0195385640/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0

His new blog has the same name: http://moralpanicsandthecopyrightwars.blogspot.com/

He wrote in a review post in Amazon that he is going to write a second book that is "entirely prescriptive, called "How to Fix Copyright"".

I am looking very much forward to that book. I think those two books will be the ultimate in copyright literature upp till now.

"Had I wrote a prescriptive book, that's all people would have focused on, I feared. But, since in the book I frequently advocate giving consumers what they want rather than what businesses want to give to them, I am heeding my own advice. I am writing a sequel, which is entirely prescriptive, called "How to Fix Copyright." It will be published by Oxford University Press too and will come out I imagine at the beginning of 2011. so please read and judge Moral Panics for what it set out to do."

http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Panics-Copyright-Wars-ebook/product-reviews/B002MTM3LQ/ref=sr_hist_5?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addFiveStar

Discrimination of Muslims in Norway

2010-02-24T04:21:00.000-08:00

I thought some of you could be interested in the discrimination of Muslims in Norway. I am deeply disappointed of how the mass media is writing about Muslims compared to other Norwegians. Here is the English translation of an important analysis:

Here are some new links about the issues:

http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikker/article3531988.ece

New report from IMDI

http://www.utrop.no/18181:

http://www.utrop.no/Plenum/Kommentar/18194

http://www.utrop.no/Nyheter/Innenriks/18183

Macmillan with new ebook platform

2010-02-22T14:00:00.001-08:00

This is VERY interesting

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/450204-Macmillan_Debuts_Interactive_Digital_Textbook_Platform.php

Historic victory for Open Source

2010-02-22T11:04:00.000-08:00

Here are a testemony that corresponds very much with my own impression of open source people:

One of the things I enjoy so much about Open Source is the amazing people you meet, like Jacobsen. There were a few people that smart at Pixar when I worked there, but there seem to be tons of them in the Open Source world.

Bruce Perens: Inside Open Source's Historic Victory

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/features/article.php/3866316/Bruce-Perens-Inside-Open-Sources-Historic-Victory

Open source to the moon

2010-02-22T11:03:00.000-08:00

Great project for the next Moon mission.

The Open Luna Foundation plans to put a permanent outpost on the Moon.

http://features.techworld.com/applications/3211968/is-open-source-the-right-way-to-the-moon/

SAS and SPSS with plugin for R. Android gets Firefox Mobile (Fennec) next month

2010-01-29T14:01:00.000-08:00

From SPSS 16 there will be a plugin for R available:

http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source/sas-and-ibmspss-rise-open-source-r-opportunity-519

Firefox Mobile Headed for Android OS?

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Mizilla-Firefox-Mobile-Google-android,news-5670.html

Free open source software help Haiti

2010-01-25T14:05:00.000-08:00

This really works:

http://www.ushahidi.com/

Government required backdoor the cause behind the Chinese Gmail hack

2010-01-24T14:59:00.001-08:00

One of many reason why content tracking probably never will be a success:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/23/schneier.google.hacking/

2009: More internet users in Asia than in Europe and North America combined

2010-01-24T14:57:00.000-08:00

Very interesting internet statistics here:

http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/01/22/internet-2009-in-numbers/

Er opphavsretten gått ut på dato?

2010-01-20T07:39:00.000-08:00

Dette var tittelen på eit seminar i Gyldendalhuset som eg var på i dag. Her er nokre raskt nedskrivne inntrykk frå seminaret, men fyrst problemstillingen:

"Er opphavsretten gått ut på dato?

NB: Endelig sted er bestemt, seminaret holdes i Gyldendalhuset!

Gratis seminar om opphavsrett og digital privatkopiering med utgangspunkt i Thomas Rieber-Mohns doktoravhandling Digital privatkopiering.
Se web-versjon av denne eposten

Tidspunkt: Onsdag 20. januar kl 09.00-12.00
Sted: Gyldendalhuset, Sehestedsgt. 4, Oslo

Arrangører: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Forbrukerrådet og Senter for rettsinformatikk.

I den analoge verden er vi vant til å låne bort bøkene våre og å kopiere cd-ene våre til nære venner og familie - ifølge åndsverkslovens §12 er det lov å "fremstille enkelte eksemplar til privat bruk". I den digitale verden er det imidlertid nå blitt så enkelt å kopiere filer at det truer med å ødelegge inntektsgrunnlaget for skapere av kunst, kunnskap og kultur. Betyr det at retten til privatkopiering må begrenses i en digital verden? Eller er det tvert imot opphavsretten som må begrenses for ikke å bli en bremsekloss i den nye kulturøkonomien? Les mer om boka her!

Program

• Registrering og kaffe fra 0830, programmet starter 0900.

• Thomas Rieber-Mohn (advokat i Kluge advokatfirma): Privatkopiering i en digital verden: Bør åndsverkslovens §12 endres, og i tilfelle på hvilken måte?

• Marte Thorsby (direktør i ifpi Norge): Norsk utakt: Er norske opphavsrettshavere rettsløse? En tilstandsrapport om dagens rettspraksis på opphavsrettens område.

• Ole Andreas Rognstad (professor i rettsvitenskap, UiO): Ny opphavsrettslov: Gammel vin på nye flasker? Hvordan kan norsk opphavsrett gjøres mindre avhengig av skiftende teknologier?

• Thomas Nortvedt (underdirekør i Forbrukerrådet): Forbrukervennlig DRM. Forbrukerrådet har engasjert seg sterkt i kampen mot DRM-løsningene til iTunes og Kindle. Kan tekniske kopisperrer brukes på en måte som balanserer ophavsmennenes og forbrukernes interesser?

• Terje Gaustad (førstelektor ved Handelshøyskolen BI): Internett-basert piratkopiering: Økonomiske konsekvenser og forutsetninger for overgang til bærekraftig nettbasert distribusjon.

Seminaret avsluttes med paneldebatt ledet av Jon Bing fra Senter for rettsinformatikk.

Seminaret er gratis. Bindende påmelding sendes Bjarne Buset innen 15. januar 2010. NB: Begrenset antall plasser."

http://gyldendal.aktivdigitaldialog.no/html_version.php?CampaignID=661&CampaignStatisticsID=&Demo=1&EncryptedMemberID=MTYyODM2OTY%3D&Email=aWRyZXR0JTQwYWthZGVtaWthLm5v

1) Ingen av foredragshaldarane verka som at dei overhovudet hadde i tankane at opphavsretten var til for anna enn kulturområdet, dei tenkte tydelegvis ikkje over at det opphavsrettsregimet me endar opp med også får innverknad på forskning og utdanning. Til dømes så vil autoriserte domener som gjeld hushaldningen vere heilt ubrukeleg for den vitskapelege kommunikasjonen som bør foregå så fritt og uhindra som mogleg. Dei færraste utvekslar forskningsresultater med familimedlemmer, det gjer ein med kollegane sine i akademia.

2) Opphavsrettens fundament stammar frå det faktum at kultur og vitskap er så atomisert at det er umogleg å etablere ein tilnærma rettvis gevinstfordeling av fruktane av kunnskap og kultur.Kunnskap og kultur er i tillegg ein føresetnad for eit rikt samfunn, som er føresetnaden for vitskapeleg og kulturell vekst, dvs. vekselverknader. Difor så er det i alle slags opphavsrettslovgjeving etablert ei samfunnskontrakt mellom opphavsrettshavarane og samfunnet. Det skal vere likestilling. Victor Hugo sa dette i ei tale under etableringa av Bern konvensjonen.

"One figure in particular, Victor Hugo, made an impassioned speech arguing that literary property protection must be operate as a way to found the public domain and asserting that when choosing between authors’ rights and the public domain, the public domain must win. Furthermore, when one examines the dominant theories offered to justify copyright—from Lockean labor to Hegelian personhood to utilitarian theories—no justification for descendible copyright is found. Nonetheless the analysis of this material offers a way to understand that another heir, society, ought to be considered in copyright policy as a matter of intergenerational equity."

Frå paperet: Copyright's Hidden Assumption: A Critical Analysis of the Foundations of Descendible Copyright
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1353746

3) Når ein ikkje erkjenner denne samfunnskontraktmodellen som grunnlaget for opphavsrettslovegjeving, og i tillegg ikkje går utanom bedriftsøkonomiske analyser, så seier det seg sjølv at dei ikkje var interessert i andre måtar å finansiere åndsverk på. Nesten all vitskap i dag vert finansiert av ideelle fond eller det offentlege, og snart dei fleste stiller krav om å gi frå eineretten til eksemplarframstilling. Genero-prosjektet til Fribit er eit spanande prosjekt, men det finst veldig mange andre. Store Norske leksikon greier seg ikkje utan statsstøtte, medan Wikipedia greier å gjere jobben veldig bra. Har Wikipedia ein rik onkel? Nei, dette er dugnadsinnsats og spleiselag.

4) Torvund går ein prinsippiell skivebom når han seier at ingen kan påberope seg retten til å piratkopiere. Dersom samfunnskontrakta mellom opphavsmennene eller opphavskvinnene og samfunnet er triksa til på bakrommet av lobbyistar og politikarar som ikkje er ekte representantar av folket, så har me ein lov som ikkje er av folket. Når ein kriminaliserar store delar av befolkninga utan at dei synes dei har gjordt noko galt, så kan det tyde på at copyrigthlovane er for strenge. At Torvund ikkje synes at det er noko ubalanse er greit nok, men han verkar uinteressert i å snakke om balanseprinsippet overhovudet.

Dersom lovgjevar ikkje representerar folket så har lova mista sin legitimitet. Beviset på at Torvund gjer denne tabba er at han sjølv ikkje går inn for arvbare opphavsrettar (royalities er arvbart til ein viss grad) i det uendelege slik som med fast eigedom. Den dagen han gjer dette så skal eg gje han honnør for konsistent argumentasjon :-) Hadde han diskutert om unntaka frå kapittel 1 i åndsverkslova, dvs. kap. 2 er for lite eller for vidtgåande så kan me kanskje snakke om det moralske aspektet, men det verkar som at han ikkje er interessert i å diskutere åndsverk som ei samfunnskontrakt, noko eg meinar er faktiske feil, og som platebransjen i USA og toppjuristar på området støttar meg i:

"But Landes and Posner say they “are skeptical that the noneconomic theories of intellectual property have much explanatory power or normative significance…”
http://www.pff.org/issues-pubs/pops/pop13.15copyright_term_lengths.pdf

Elles så vart eg positivt overraska over alle dei utruleg gode spørsmåla og innspela frå salen, heilt tydeleg eit opplyst og oppdatert publikum. Svara frå foredragshaldarane var også veldig bra må eg seie, tatt i betraktning deira ståstad.

Møtet var nok ingen suksess sett frå copyright-tilhengjarane si side, det å koma ut av skyttargravene og ta debatten på flatmark og ikkje operere gjennom PR-byråer og lobbyistar var nok litt slitsamt for dei. Det var sporty gjordt, og eg meinar at dei har alt å vinne på å ta desse debattane fordi det til sjuande å sist kjem til å verte langt meir lukrativt for desse i det lange løp. No ser eg at EU og USA med sine ACTA har andre planer, men desse planene har veldig stor vilje, men lite realisme bak seg. AP og Høgre har fått instruks frå høgare hald om å vere med på dette prosjektet, men som kjem til å verte tradisjonell copyrigth-regimes siste krampaktige forsøk for å overleve ved hjelp av total overvåkning.

Elles så verka det som om at opphavsrettstilhengjarane har forkasta ideen om DRM i stor grad, og at dei heretter satsar på overvåkning og innhaldssporing som ACTA samarbeidet legg opp til i EU, Asia og USA. Det skjer saker og ting, og ting er i dramatisk endring.

Elles så vil eg anbefale ei samfunnsøkonomisk analyse av ulovleg fildeling, som eg meinar er langt meir relevant enn å berre ta for seg dei bedriftsøkonomiske sidene, og som vart kåra til årets artikkel av Samfunnsøkonomen i 2009:

Ulovlig fildeling av musikk – hva bør gjøres når ny teknologi truer opphavsretten?

http://www.slideshare.net/FriBit/ulovlig-fildeling-av-musikk-hva-br-gjres-nr-ny-teknologi-truer-opphavsretten

Motstanden mot internett og massane sin visdom

2010-01-13T15:47:00.001-08:00

Det verkar som at det har utvikla seg eit depressivt syn på verda hos enkelte frå forlagsbransjen. Argumentasjonen verkar veldig urealistisk, men likefullt så ser det ut til at denne irrasjonelle omverdsforståinga har overtaket i visse bransjer og blandt ein del politikarar.

Difor er det artig å sjå kva dei gløggaste i av motstandarane mot Creative Commons og liknande har å seie.

I dag leste eg artikkelen "The Madness of Crowds and an Internet Delusion" og kikke litt rundt på sidene til Stan Liebowitz og Jaron Lanier. Det skulle vise seg å vere ganske syltynne argumenter må eg seie. I omtala av boka hans "You are not a gadget" på Amazon står det fylgjande:

"Something went wrong around the start of the 21st century. Individual creativity began to go out of fashion. Music became an endless rehashing of the past. Scientists were in danger of no longer understanding their own research. Indeed, not only was individual creativity old-fashioned but individuals themselves. The crowd was wise. Machines, specifically computers, were no longer tools to be used by human minds – they were better than humans. Welcome to the world of the digital revolution."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/science/12tier.html

Var litt interessant å koma over desse lenkene fordi det visar kor oppkonstruert og frårive frå realitetane argumentasjonen er frå empiriske, geografiske og historiske fakta. Til dømes verkar det som det er kun i ip-regulerte områder i verda kultur og ekte vitskap kan eksistere. Akkurat som at Afrika og Latin-Amerika er tomt for kultur, at Wikipedia og open source eigentleg ikkje finst, (og viss desse fenomena finst så er dei dømt til å dø) eller at kultur og vitskap ikkje eksisterte før ein fekk innført copyright.

Må vere utruleg depressivt å måtte ty til så mange halmstrå når motparten er stappfull av suksesshistorier. Spådommen om at open source aldri kom til å få serleg utbreiing viste seg i alle fall å ikkje slå til, og verda har ikkje gått under heilt enno på grunn av denne.

"We show that the total amount of source code as well as the total number of open source projects is growing at an exponential rate. Previous research showed linear and quadratic growth in lines of source code of individual open source projects. Our work shows that open source is expanding into new domains and applications at an exponential rate."

http://dirkriehle.com/2008/03/14/the-total-growth-of-open-source/

No to år etterpå så tenkjer eg veksten berre aukar og aukar i stadig raskare fart.

Gizmodo: Pixel Qi Good Enough

2010-01-10T01:09:00.000-08:00

"We got our first good look at this screen tech this morning, and we covered its weaknesses: the LCD colors aren't as vivid as a plain LCD's and suffers at some viewing angles, and the reflective mode suffers from the glossy screen's glare, but in both modes, it's good enough. (And Notion honcho Rohan Shravan says he's working on a fix for the latter issue.) What this means is that no matter what you're using the device for—browsing the web over 3G, reading an ebook, watching a video—you can switch between screen modes depending on your environment or preference."

http://gizmodo.com/5444232/notion-ink-adam-pixel-qi-tabletereader-hands-on-your-screen-is-obsolete

The ereader year 2010

2010-01-10T00:32:00.000-08:00

Engadget writes:

"If you ask us, the smart money is on multi-purpose devices running hybrid displays from Pixel Qi (or similar) like Notion Ink's Adam."

Pixel Qi has been my bet for about a year now. Unfortunately I don't have the money..

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/09/the-e-reader-story-of-ces-2010/

Breaking News: Liliputing, Engadget and Gizmodo verdict: Pixel Qi is very good.

2010-01-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

Just as I thought, Mary Lou Jepson have made another breakthrough in screen technology and produced the genious Pixel Qi. The guys at Liliputing, Engadget and Gizmodo is not excactly unexperienced in checking out new gadgets, and when they liked it in the hands on test, I believe it is a winner. This will probably be the students and researchers favourite. The Notion ink does everything, it has even an HDMI connection.

Gizmodo:
"E-ink Is Dead, Pixel Qi’s Transflective LCD Just Killed It"

Engadget:
"The screen resolutely refused to be overpowered by the light, whether its backlight was on or off, but that was merely the tip of the iceberg as far as the happy impressions."

Liliputing:
"They actually look like e-Ink displays, but they’re not. Turn up the backlight, and you have full color saturation."

Predictions of 2009 and 2010

2010-01-07T02:35:00.000-08:00

Very interesting and fun predictions from Freedom to Tinker by Ed Felten:

"(1) DRM technology will still fail to prevent widespread infringement. In a related development, pigs will still fail to fly.

By tradition this is our first prediction, and it has always been accurate. Guess what our first 2010 prediction will be? Verdict: right."

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/2009-predictions-scorecard

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/predictions-2010

Good prototype!

2009-12-18T08:34:00.001-08:00

Combined with a mobile keyboard, bracket for the monitor, electronic pen and so on, I think something like this will be a standard student gadged the coming years.

http://www.slashgear.com/notion-ink-tegra-android-smartpad-uses-pixel-qi-display-1866308/

Shirky writes about how to save local bookstores

2009-11-23T02:38:00.000-08:00

DOJ as OPEC for ink:-)))

"All of which is to say that trying to save local bookstores from otherwise predictably fatal competition by turning some customers into members, patrons, or donors is an observably crazy idea. However, if the sober-minded alternative is waiting for the Justice Department to anoint the American Booksellers Association as a kind of OPEC for ink, even crazy ideas may be worth a try."

http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/11/local-bookstores-social-hubs-and-mutualization/

Open source science the future

2009-11-20T04:36:00.000-08:00

Now the genious is out of the bottle in scientific discovery, and this article gives an good introduction to something that is going on. Here is an excerpt:

"Our project was designed so that researchers willing to conduct open research would be protected from this form of theft by their ability to maintain an openly available paper trail from the time they submit their project proposal until the time they publish their final report," Priyan Weerappuli, executive director of The Open Source Science Project, told Linux Insider. "It's worth noting that while the risk of intellectual theft is real, the ability for researchers to work off of one another is an invaluable tool for furthering any given field of study. We seek to ensure is that researchers are properly credited for any such property they produce."

http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/Open-Source-Science-A-Revolution-From-Within-68701.html?wlc=1258720450

IMPORTANT: http://www.copyright-watch.org/

2009-11-15T15:49:00.000-08:00

This is a significant and important effort done by Electronic Frontier Foundation:

"Balanced and well-calibrated copyright laws are extremely important in our global information society. The smallest shift in the legal balance between the rights of copyright owners and users of copyrighted knowledge can destroy or enable business models, criminalize or liberate everyday behaviour, and transform or eradicate new technology. A law that is passed in one nation can quickly be taken up by others, through bilateral trade agreements, regional policy initiatives or international treaties. We all need to keep watch."

http://www.copyright-watch.org/home

I also heartly recommend "Intellectual Property Watch" (a lot of free articles)

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/

and Knowledge Ecology International (the people that revealed the ACTA secret treaty!)

http://www.keionline.org/

Three organizations with a bunch of smart people!

ACTA

2009-11-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

Goog blog post in Washington Post:

"How do you spin a situation in which the government -- that is, our hired employees -- won't specify the goals of a negotiation done in our name and concerning our rights?

"Absurd" is the right word for this."
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2009/11/acta.html

Department of Defence with strong open source guidelines

2009-11-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

It is significant when the DoD, with a budget almost 4 times the Norwegian states total budget for 2008 issues such strong recommandations for open source.

http://blogs.ingres.com/debwoods/

www.whitehouse.gov are also going open source by the way, and it has now become mainstream business practice to consider open source. Things are happening.

Open standards in Learning management systems are going forward

2009-11-15T15:36:00.000-08:00

"Learning Application Interoperability Standards Get Vendor Boost"

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/11/09/learning-application-interoperability-standards-get-vendor-boost.aspx

Pixel qi in E-readers From Aztak, Cool-er?

2009-11-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

Interesting initiatives on wireless ebook readers.

"Such a dual-purpose screen will be available by year's end from Pixel Qi with whom Aztak said it has "held extensive in-person discussions," according to Barry."

http://www.twice.com/article/366162-Wireless_E_readers_Due_From_Aztak_Cool_er.php

Perhaps this screen technology will make the smartphones to serious reading devices too?

New book: The Laws of Disruption

2009-11-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

http://www.amazon.com/Laws-Disruption-Harnessing-Business-Digital/dp/0465018645/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257194340&sr=8-1

Patens don't help drug development for poor countries

2009-11-02T04:50:00.000-08:00

Investments in Pharmaceuticals Before and After TRIPS by Margaret Kyle, Anita McGahan - #15468 (HE ITI PR)

Abstract:

We examine the relationship between patent protection for pharmaceuticals and investment in development of new drugs. Patent protection has increased around the world as a consequence of the TRIPS Agreement, which specifies minimum levels of intellectual property protection for members of the World Trade Organization. It is generally argued that patents are critical for pharmaceutical research efforts, and so greater patent protection in developing and least-developed countries might result in greater effort by pharmaceutical firms to develop drugs that are especially needed in those countries. Since patents also have the potential to reduce access to treatments through higher prices, it is imperative to assess whether the benefits of increased incentives have materialized in research on diseases that particularly affect the poor. We find that patent protection is associated with increases in research and development (R and D) effort when adopted in high income countries. However, the introduction of patents in developing countries has not been followed by greater investment. Particularly for diseases that primarily affect the poorest countries, our results suggest that alternative mechanisms for inducing R and D may be more appropriate than patents.

http://papers.nber.org/papers/W15468

Access to medicine in developing countries

2009-10-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

Silke Trommer, researcher for the Centre of Excellence in Global Governance Research at the University of Helsinski, Finland, in a separate panel about access to medicines in developing and least-developing countries warned against provisions in free trade agreements.

In several agreements, she said, the scope of patent protection is extended by patenting the new use of an old product, for example, in what is called evergreening of existing patents.

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/10/11/wto-forum-bypassing-international-agreements-may-hamper-medicines-access/

Open Source in Biology

2009-10-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

Interesting development here:

This kind of collaborative is needed, Friend contends, because biologists are starting to see how vast networks of genes get perturbed in complex diseases like cancer, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. All of this data is too complex for any individual, or team of scientists—even at a place as wealthy as Merck—to fully grasp.

http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2009/10/06/sage-bionetworks-biologys-open-source-spark-snags-major-donation-from-quintiles/

Ubuntu partnering with Intel and IBM

2009-09-25T06:30:00.000-07:00

on moblin 2.1 and a special OS with Lotus for Africa.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10359700-92.html

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/172531/intel_ports_linux_netbook_os_to_desktops.html

Interesting statistics

2009-09-25T06:24:00.000-07:00

The record companies or film industry SAY they can't survive in a free internet, but there is someone who can that, and that is...

http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html

Harvard about what we need to know about ICT for development.

2009-09-25T06:21:00.000-07:00

Canada's International Development Research Center and Harvard's Berkman Center are convening a conversation today and tomorrow at Harvard on the future of information and communication technology and development (ICT4D).

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/09/24/harvard-forum-what-do-we-need-to-know/

New Irex e-readers coming

2009-09-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6698624.html

Google Sidewiki

2009-09-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

Google Sidewiki is doing the same thing that has been available in Plos journals for a while, the possibility to annotate parts or the whole webpage.

I think it can be very useful.

www.google.com/sidewiki

Zotero 2.07.1 is out, Dataverse Network 2.0 is out

2009-09-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

www.zotero.org www.thedata.org

The case for books. Robert Darnton

2009-09-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

Darnton has a pretty good case for books IMHO, here is som excerpt from PublicAffairsbooks

This is a book about books, an unashamed apology for the printed word, past, present, and future. It is also an argument about the place of books in the digital environment that has now become a fundamental fact of life for millions of human beings. Far from deploring electronic modes of communication, I want to explore the possibilities of aligning them with the power that Johannes Gutenberg unleashed more than five centuries ago. What common ground exists between old books and e-books? What mutual advantages link libraries with the Internet? Those questions may sound empty in the abstract, but they take concrete form in decisions made every day by players in the communication industry—webmasters, computer engineers, financiers, lawyers, publishers, librarians, and a great many ordinary readers.

Whatever the future may be, it will be digital. The present is a time of transition, when printed and digital modes of communication coexist and new technology soon becomes obsolete. Already we are witnessing the disappearance of familiar objects: the typewriter, now consigned to antique shops; the postcard, a curiosity; the handwritten letter, beyond the capacity of most young people, who cannot write in cursive script; the daily newspaper, extinct in many cities; the local bookshop, replaced by chains, which themselves are threatened by Internet distributors like Amazon. And the library? It can look like the most archaic institution of all. Yet its past bodes well for its future, because libraries were never warehouses of books. They have always been and always will be centers of learning. Their central position in the world of learning makes them ideally suited to mediate between the printed and the digital modes of communication. Books, too, can accommodate both modes. Whether printed on paper or stored in servers, they embody knowledge, and their authority derives from a great deal more than the technology that went into them.

HARDCOVER
ISBN 978-1586488260
Pub date: 10/27/09
Price: $23.95/30.50 Canada
5 1/2 x 8 1/4
240 pages
Carton Quantity: 40
History, Literature
Selling Territory: W
Rights:

Tips to "developed countries" for copyright reforms

2009-09-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

Very good advice to the richest country in the world as well for developing countries IMHO.

Tips for Developing Countries when reviewing Copyright Laws
Denise Nicholson

International intellectual property agreements allow limitations and exceptions to be adopted in national copyright laws. Here are some tips for developing countries when reviewing their copyright laws:-

*
Adopt a maximalist approach – include as many limitations and exceptions as already in copyright regimes around the world – keep door open for new exceptions as technology changes.
*
Try to separate exceptions for entertainment from exceptions for education and libraries in your copyright law.
*
Ensure adequate exceptions for libraries, archives and museums (including provisions for accessing and providing information; digitization; preservation, digital curation (including migration to new technologies as they change).
*
Ensure adequate exceptions for people with sensory-disabilities (e.g. blind, visually-impaired, print- handicapped, blind/deaf, deaf, dyslexic, reading & learning disabilities, etc.)
*
Ensure adequate exceptions for classroom teaching, as well as distance and open learning, literacy training, adult basic education, non-commercial staff training and sharing of information amongst colleagues for research, discussion and information purposes.
*
Do not include protection for non-original databases. (It had little or no positive impact for rightsholders in the EU and created problems for users)". Original databases are protected by copyright like any original work.
*
Keep or reduce the copyright term to the lifetime of the author plus 50 years in terms of the minimum requirements of international IP agreements – Longer terms do not benefit net importers of intellectual property.
*
Do not include anti-circumvention clauses, unless there are clear, balanced exceptions to enable access to information.
*
Do not include public lending/educational lending rights (countries are not obliged to in terms of any international agreements). To date, no developing country has adopted a lending right. IFLA and eIFL do not promote public lending rights for developing countries. See IFLA Position Paper on the Public Lending Right and its Background Paper on the Public Lending Right.
*
Consult the eIFL-IP Draft Law on Copyright Including Model Exceptions and Limitations for Libraries and Consumers . Also see commentary on this draft law.
*
Adopt the best provisions from WIPO Studies on -

Limitations & Exceptions for the Visually-Impaired;

Limitations & Exceptions of Copyright & Related Rights in the Digital Environment

Copyright Limitations & Exceptions for Education – final report due at end of 2009

*
Promote Open Access, Open Source Software & Open Licensing (e.g. Creative Commons, etc.)
*
Create and populate Open Access Institutional Repositories/Research Archives to showcase African research.
*
Encourage authors not to sign over all their rights to publishers – encourage them to retain rights to enable them to place their works in open access institutional repositories, on personal blogs or to include in teaching materials. Encourage them to make use of an Author’s Addendum.
*
Seek expert and free assistance and advice from Access to Knowledge (A2K) organizations/projects/initiatives when reviewing copyright laws, e.g. Electronic Information for Libraries; African Copyright & Access to Knowledge Project (ACA2K); Commonwealth of Learning; IFLA Committee for Copyright and Other Legal Matters (CLM) and Consumers International.

Also consult the following publications (free to download):-

eIFL Handbook on Copyright & Related Issues

and

“Introducing Copyright – a plain language guide to copyright"
(Commonwealth of Learning).

*
Consult the resources on ACA2K website, Wits Copyright Portal and Commonwealth of Learning's Copyright Resources.
*
Lobby your Government officials who attend WIPO meetings in Geneva to call for users’ rights to be enshrined in a balanced international framework. If they are supporting the WIPO Development Agenda in Geneva, why are they not implementing better and more balanced copyright laws at home?

http://www.aca2k.org/index.php?option=com_idoblog&task=viewpost&id=229&Itemid=73&lang=en

Google target Apps.gov

2009-09-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

Open data had their www.data.gov and now they have launched the www.apps.gov

Very impressing, and now Google want to provide 300 000 000 American citizen government service on separate servers.

This is something that I really believe in. Nobody can do it as cheap and stable as Google.

check it out on: www.apps.gov

Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI)

2009-09-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI) is NSF’s bold five-year initiative to create revolutionary science and engineering research outcomes made possible by innovations and advances in computational thinking. Computational thinking is defined comprehensively to encompass computational concepts, methods, models, algorithms, and tools. Applied in challenging science and engineering research and education contexts, computational thinking promises a profound impact on the Nation’s ability to generate and apply new knowledge. Collectively, CDI research outcomes are expected to produce paradigm shifts in our understanding of a wide range of science and engineering phenomena and socio-technical innovations that create new wealth and enhance the national quality of life.

Read more about this important development here:
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503163

File sync in Zotero!

2009-09-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

Very very good news!

Zotero File Storage is a cloud-based storage solution for PDFs, images, web snapshots, and any other files attached to your Zotero personal and group libraries. Zotero File Storage allows you to access your Zotero-attached files from any computer with a web browser, and you can synchronize these files to any computer with Zotero installed. See the storage FAQ for additional information.

Every Zotero user has been granted 100MB of free Zotero file storage for attached files. In the near future users will be able to purchase additional storage space.

http://www.zotero.org/support/file_sync

Open access alliance: Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California at Berkeley

2009-09-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

Great news! The Danish DEFF report concludes with savings of 70 million Euro every year so we should work harder for open access journals in Norway too. I think it would be about the same in Norway. I am sure that we could have spent 610 million Norwegian Kroner on something better than reducing our ability to communicate scientific results. What about some new nanotech labs?

According to Thomas C. Leonard, University Librarian at UC/Berkeley, "Publishers and researchers know that it has never been easier to share the best work they produce with the world. But they also know that their traditional business model is creating new walls around discoveries. Universities can really help take down these walls and the open-access compact is a highly significant tool for the job."

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/open-access-0914.html

Economic policy and intellectual property

2009-09-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

I have one theory (that I have just discovered that the Indian scholar Lawrence Liang has written a lot about): I think I see a pattern in IP regulation, and that it resemble how the rich countries always have told the poor countries; Do what we say, not what we do. For example, South-Korea build themselves up by NOT doing what the World Bank told them, while Africa has been practically runned by the world bank and IMF since 1960. Bill Gates build himself up in a regime WITHOUT software patents, but he insist that his followers should follow the new rules. I think free and open standards/software/culture can play the same role for Africa in the knowledge society as tariff protection, subsidies and government support played for South-Korea in the industrialized society?

Look at this article for example: " These data are used to investigate the welfare effects of widespread infringement of foreign works on American publishers, writers, and the public. The results suggest that the United States benefited from piracy and that the choice of copyright regime was endogenous to the level of economic development."
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=495776

Lawrence Liang has some very good points:
"..and the latest allegation is that pirated music and software helps fund terrorist
organizations such as the Al Qaida."
http://www.sarai.net/research/knowledge-culture/critical-public-legal-resources/copyrightculturalproductionandopencontentlicenses.pdf

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/09/11/funds-for-us-state-dept-global-ip-enforcement-training/
http://www.ifad.org/events/op/2009/wipo.htm
http://www.gov2summit.com/
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/09/01/un-climate-report-envisions-modified-trips-as-governments-seek-progress/
http://www.msfaccess.org/main/access-patents/the-global-politics-of-pharmaceutical-monopoly-power-by-ellen-t-hoen/
http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2009/intellectual_property_20090714/en/index.html

This blogpost by Stephen Gowan is very good:

http://maravi.blogspot.com/2009/07/stephen-gowans-obamas-africa-speech.html

Mashup of Google Knol, Plos and Rapid Research Notes

2009-09-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

Plos Currents is the new modern era scientific journals that has peer-review and are designed for collaboration and rapid dissemination from scratch. Google is doing a great job for the scientific community and research that will benefit all, as ususal.

"The successful development of open access publishing by organizations including the Public Library of Science (PLoS) in recent years is a dramatic illustration of how the Internet is revolutionizing scientific communication. Today, after several months of work, I’m delighted to announce that PLoS is launching PLoS Currents (Beta) – a new and experimental website for the rapid communication of research results and ideas. In response to the recent worldwide H1N1 influenza outbreak, the first PLoS Currents research theme is influenza."

http://www.plos.org/cms/node/480

http://knol.google.com/k/plos/plos-currents-influenza/28qm4w0q65e4w/1%23#

Denmark to save 70 million Euro every year with Open Access

2009-09-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from the announcement:

"The full report is available here:
Open Access – What are the economic benefits?

A comparison of the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Denmark

The reports of the three countries can be downloaded below:

* JISC report: Economic Implications of Alternative Scholarly Publishing Models: Exploring the costs and benefits
* SURF report: Costs and Benefits of Research Communication: The Dutch Situation
*

DEFF report: Costs and Benefits of Alternative Publishing Models: Denmark"

http://www.knowledge-exchange.info/Default.aspx?ID=316

Why following the rich countries rules never makes sense

2009-09-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

Following the intellectual property regulations from the rich world is like following "free trade" receipe in the industrialized world. It won't work.

Here is a very good blogpost on that:

http://maravi.blogspot.com/2009/07/stephen-gowans-obamas-africa-speech.html

Problems with intellectual property

2009-09-11T11:55:00.001-07:00

Intellectual property is ready for reform in everything from food security to global health. Here are some recent links that is taboo to talk about in the rich world right now. Almost everyone hate to talk about it and if they do they deny the problems more or less completely. Most people are even willing to abondon the democracy to protect the income system that is based on unfear exploitation of the worlds poor through IP-regulation.

http://www.ifad.org/events/op/2009/wipo.htm
http://www.gov2summit.com/
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/09/01/un-climate-report-envisions-modified-trips-as-governments-seek-progress/
http://www.msfaccess.org/main/access-patents/the-global-politics-of-pharmaceutical-monopoly-power-by-ellen-t-hoen/
http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2009/intellectual_property_20090714/en/index.html

So far in the Norwegian election, it seems that the majority of Norwegian don't care about using the billions of dollar from the oil fund to oilsand extraction. Almost nobody cares.

They also don't care about massive surveillance of almost all digital information.

If the Norwegian politicians give a damn in climate change, forget everything they have learned about free expression, how can they travel to places like Afghanistan anThey are not interested in much else than keeping the status quo.d kill for free expression,or travel to conferences around the world and talk about the importance of reduction of CO2? Why are they spending 1 percent of GDP every year on developing countries when they earn ten times (?) through the deeply unfear international ip-regulation?

Some times I have problems to see the principal differences between the "well-functional social democracies" and corrupt regimes in the developing world. Both don't care about climate change, and both have their victims. The Norwegians build more and bigger palaces than dictators in the third world and give a damn how and where the money come from. Both give a damn about the future for anyone else than themselves.

Am I wrong?

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/09/11/funds-for-us-state-dept-global-ip-enforcement-training/

Open Hardware

2009-09-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

When Pixel Qi and Backblaze and a few other start up the open hardware race I think we will see some interesting disruptive forces.

"What if I told you that you could build a petabyte-sized cluster for around $120,000?

Now compare that to a couple of million dollars via a storage company like EMC Corp. or a server maker such as Sun Microsystems."

http://gigaom.com/2009/09/01/open-source-hardware/

They actually sell very cheap back-up too: "Hassle free back up for $5/Month Unlimited
$5 per month per computer (or get two months free by purchasing a year for $50!)"

Immigrants economic value for Norway

2009-09-01T05:36:00.000-07:00

I did'nt know that we can thank Farouk al-Kasim, a young Iraqi geologist in may 1968 for the oil exploration in Norway.

But al-Kasim’s most immediate problem on arriving in Oslo that morning was how to fill the day: his train to Solfrid’s home town did not depart until 6.30pm. “I thought what I am going to do in these hours?” he says. “So I decided to go to the Ministry of Industry and ask them if they knew of any oil companies coming to Norway.

“Farouk is perhaps the greatest value creator Norway has had,” says Olsen.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/99680a04-92a0-11de-b63b-00144feabdc0.html

Pixel Qi

2009-08-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

From this comparison it looks like the Pixel Qi is almost as good as E-Ink technology.

Few short links

2009-08-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

New book: The World is Open
http://worldisopen.com/bookshelf.php

Smart Grid Standards: Road Map a Month Away; Vint Cerf Weighs in
http://www.reuters.com/article/earth2Tech/idUS295503766420090824

Barnes & Noble Lands Irex, Another Would-Be Kindle Killer
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20090824/barnes-noble-lands-irex-another-would-be-kindle-killer/

Flatworld Knowledge doing very well!

2009-08-20T04:35:00.000-07:00

"After a sort of beta earlier this year, Flat World is set to announce on Thursday that over 40,000 college students at more than 400 colleges are going to be using their digital, DRM-free textbooks in the Fall semester, up from 1,000 in 30 colleges in the Spring."

Source: Wired

The multimedial 3D web here soon?

2009-08-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

If you combine O3D http://code.google.com/apis/o3d/ (impressing 3D!),Canvas, SVG, CSS, XML,Ajax, Native Client, WebGL, with Google On2 recent aquisition I think we will reach a the point where the browser will do almost everythin very soon.

Newspaper in war with themselves

2009-08-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

"If ever there was an article at war with itself, this is it."
http://www.againstmonopoly.org/index.php?perm=593056000000001361

Google News four times bigger from today

2009-08-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

The Google News Archive grows fast:

http://googlenewsblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/extra-extra-updates-from-our-growing.html

The Gecko Edubook coming in August

2009-08-04T05:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.norhtec.com/products/gecko/index.html

ePub format the new PDF?

2009-08-02T01:21:00.000-07:00

"EPUB became in standard in September 2007, but the big step came in May 2008 when the Association of American Publishers (AAP) issued an open letter to IDPF announcing their support of the open standards format, said Smith. EPUB titles started hitting online bookshelves early this year."

http://www.infoworld.com/d/applications/epub-next-pdf-190