Now this one is right up my strasse, and no mistake..
Anti-piracy group pirates anti-piracy report: “Cory Doctorow: A reader writes, ‘The International Chamber of Commerce ‘Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting And Piracy’ initiative has been accused of pirating thousands of documents from anti-piracy tracking service Gieschen Consultancy. The documents apparently later reappeared in a slightly different format under the ICC’s own brandname. Statement from the consultancy:’
‘The ICC and BASCAP misrepresented themselves as a partner in 2006 and 2007, gained access to proprietary information and then took what they learned and incorporated it into their own product offerings.
Its functionality, user interface, presentation, method of classification, and delivery is clearly based on our designs and existing products. It is extraordinary that an organization committed to fighting counterfeiting and piracy would steal the intellectual property of another organization.’
$2 to the pound? Bloody ridiculous. Good job I decided a couple of years back to hang onto dollars, on the basis that, y’know, it couldn’t get any worse, could it?
In other news, we’re now the proud owners of a new studio computer – a Macpro, which I’ve named Remington as he appears to be constructed entirely out of steel. So, here’s Jorge Luis Borges to say a few well-chosen words in honour of Remington:
“This was the first time Remington rifles were used in the Argentine, and it tickles my fancy to think that the firm that shaves me every morning bears the same name as the one that killed my grandfather.”
Whenever I need to `get away,’ I just get away in my mind. I go to my imaginary spot, where the beach is perfect and the water is perfect and the weather is perfect. The only bad thing there are the flies. They’re terrible!
“The process begins with the DNA being collected using a patented, non-invasive technique: using a special swab (much like a Q-tip) to painlessly collect cheek cells. The whole process is simple and takes less than 30 seconds. This sample is then sent to our highly secure, certified laboratory, where the DNA is extracted to create a unique genetic fingerprint, using a technique that takes advantage of the variation that occurs among the DNA sequence of every individual..”
“I’ve always taken a pride in my appearance,” said the trim 47 year-old, “and I don’t see why that should change just because Ken is no longer around.”
The immortal Dud, parodying the musical stylings of Benjamin Britten and the vocal mannerisms of his muse, Peter Pears. It’s still bloody funny even if you’re not familiar with Britten or Pears, but those chord voicings and the idiosynchratic vocal delivery are absolutely on the money. Dud, it seems, was just too damn good at everything..
It’s an old Hermeto piece, whose title now eludes me. The bass-line is in 5, the rest of the tune in 4 so it’s great for left/right hand independence, not to mention tickling the old grey cells back into life. Try it – you’ll like it..
(Just listened back to it and was surprised that I hadn’t previously noticed how Vince Guaraldi/Charlie Brown it sounds..)
iTunes Store will sell ENTIRE EMI CATALOG DRM-free!!11!1ONE!: “Cory Doctorow:
“Hallelujah! Apple and EMI just announced that they will be selling DRM-free Apple songs through the iTunes Music Store. The songs will cost 130 percent of the price of the existing crippled songs, and you’ll get to choose. Weirdly, Apple seems to have sold this move to EMI by saying that the DRM-free version will be a ‘premium’ offering for audiophiles who want higher-quality music. I think that audiophiles are probably the people who have the least trouble keeping up with the latest tips for efficiently ripping the DRM off of their music — the people who really need DRM-free music are the punters who can’t even spell DRM.
“This is some of the best news I’ve heard all year. DefectiveByDesign is soliciting ideas for a thank-you gift to Steve Jobs. This may just be a sneaky way of hiking music prices, but hell, it’s a whole lot more than I thought we’d get. What’s more, Apple pricing DRM-free music at $1.29 means that the $0.79-0.99 DRM-free MP3s from competing indie music stores will get a huge price advantage.”
‘What we’re adding is a choice–a new choice–and people can choose whichever one they want,’ Jobs said regarding Apple’s decision to make available two levels of sound quality and DRM restriction. Nicoli cited internal EMI tests in which higher-quality, DRM-free songs outsold its lower-quality, copy-protected counterparts 10 to 1.
Of course I’m all in favour of the removal of DRM, but, as far as I’m concerned, 256 AAC, which they’re now offering at a premium. should really have been the standard in the first place – good news all the same..
Orwell’s London neighborhood covered in spy-cameras: “Cory Doctorow:
Dozens of private and public spy-cameras surveil the streets, walls and windows of the area around George Orwell’s apartment. Britain, the nation that ’sleepwalked into a surveillance society,’ has created the landscape that Orwell envisioned, a world where your every step is recorded from every angle. And as Cardinal Richelieu said, ‘If you give me six lines written by the most honest man, I will find something in them to hang him.’ Is there any among us whose movements aren’t suspicious under the wrong circumstances?
On the wall outside his former residence – flat number 27B – where Orwell lived until his death in 1950, an historical plaque commemorates the anti-authoritarian author. And within 200 yards of the flat, there are 32 CCTV cameras, scanning every move.
Orwell’s view of the tree-filled gardens outside the flat is under 24-hour surveillance from two cameras perched on traffic lights.
The flat’s rear windows are constantly viewed from two more security cameras outside a conference centre in Canonbury Place.
In a lane, just off the square, close to Orwell’s favourite pub, the Compton Arms, a camera at the rear of a car dealership records every person entering or leaving the pub.
Within a 200-yard radius of the flat, there are another 28 CCTV cameras, together with hundreds of private, remote-controlled security cameras used to scrutinise visitors to homes, shops and offices.
