Computerworld UK "Open..."

And Now for Something Completely Different...

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:19:00 GMT

Instead of suing people who upload your content on YouTube, you put up * better-quality* copies, and try to sell something off the back of them:

gIMP My Foot

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:45:00 GMT

Jackboot Jacqui is at it again:

Mining the Mindless Wisdom of Crowds

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:31:00 GMT

First it was Google :

Of Lawyers and Software Patents

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:27:00 GMT

Regular readers will know that I have a bee in my bonnet about the non-patentability of software, largely because of the fact that software is made up of algorithms, algorithms are maths, and maths is not patentable: QED. So, as you might expect, the following, from a patent attorney, makes me go a funny colour:

Not so FAST....

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:37:00 GMT

FAST is seriously losing it:

A Huge Leap Back for Transparency

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:17:00 GMT

One of the fundamental rules in an open, democratic society is that government must be transparent to be truly accountable: if you can't see who is doing what, there's no hope of fingering the wrong-doers. Against that background, this is a huge slap in the face of the European Union's citizens:

Total's Total Shame

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:10:00 GMT

In the present climate, with growing distrust and disgust at the antics of greedy, global mega-corporations, I don't think this kind of scandal is going to go down too well:

The Economic Impact of Software Patents

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:03:00 GMT

The UK's Patent Office – which now goes by the awful name of UK Intellectual Property Office, which means it's really the UK Intellectual Monopolies Office – is a curious beast. On the one hand, as its name suggests, it's tied into one of the biggest confidence tricks around, dressing up conceptual mutton as intellectual lamb. On the other, there are odd outbreaks of sanity that suggest someone in there understands some of the deeper issues concerning software patents....

Ashley Highfield Goes to...Guess Where?

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:39:00 GMT

Microsoft.

Russia and Cuba Unite Against Microsoft

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:46:00 GMT

Recently, Russia announced that it was pushing Microsoft out of its schools in favour of open source. Now, it's going even further by joining with Cuba to write free software that can be used instead of Microsoft's products in other areas:

Open Educational Resources

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:49:00 GMT

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has probably done more than anyone else to further open education, and it's at it again, this time with a centralised site for Open Educational Resources (OER):

Free Our Bills by Writing to Them

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:41:00 GMT

Those nice people at Free Our Bills asked me to Write to Them, so I did:

Opencourseware About Openness

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:42:00 GMT

Opencourseware grew out of the application of open source ideas to education, so it seems appropriate that education should return the favour and offer opencourseware about open source. Here's a list of a hundred such courses, handily grouped by rough area.

ACTA of Hypocrisy

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:39:00 GMT

I've written several times about the mysterious Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement ( ACTA ), which is currently being negotiated behind closed doors, with little or no input from proles like you and me.

From Open... to Open Everything

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:17:00 GMT

You've read the blog, now visit the conference:

A Big Day for Fans of Archimedes

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:24:00 GMT

At 2pm on October 29th, 2008, ten years after the Archimedes Palimpsest was purchased by the present owner, the core data generated by the project to conserve, image and study the manuscript, will be released on the web.

Uncle Brucie Frightens Me

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:19:00 GMT

Eek :

Haapy Birthday PLoS

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:17:00 GMT

The Public Library of Science did not invent open access, but there's no doubt it took it to the next level :

Linus Up Close and Personal

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:11:00 GMT

Here's a brace of videos from the recent Linux Kernel Summit. Human nature being what it is, most interest will probably focus on the interview with Linus .

More on Labour's Data Delusion

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:44:00 GMT

And so it goes on:

Libelling Larry Lessig

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:41:00 GMT

Wow, outrageous :

Verified by Visa - As Valueless

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:35:00 GMT

I, too, have noticed the insidious spread of Verified by Visa (VbyV), and thought it looked well dodgy, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Here's the problem:

Microsoft's Future

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:35:00 GMT

This is something that I predicted would happen:

The Mirror

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Wo informieren sich Medienprofis? Dem Branchenblatt "journalist" zufolge vor allem bei SPIEGEL und SPIEGEL ONLINE.