Why Creativity Needs Shorter Copyright Terms – The subject line says it all. The "creative" industries have done a good job of convincing politicians that longer copyrights are better, but they're only better for those middle-men…
Giant ring detected around Saturn – "The scale of the new ring feature is astonishing. Nothing like it has been seen elsewhere in the Solar System."
I don’t go to restaurants to tell the truth – "Tips are embarrassing and stupid – they're vestigial haggling in a society that has otherwise moved on. If you're going to a restaurant to be served and eat a meal, why is the price of the delivery open to negotiation but not that of the food itself, the ambience, music, heating or use of the furniture? All of these things can disappoint or delight. It's illogical to fix the price of one element but not the others."
John Marcotte, Author of the 2010 California Protection of Marriage Act – Marcotte is trying to get divorce banned. "People who supported Prop 8 weren't trying to take rights away from gays, they just wanted to protect traditional marriage. That's why I'm confident that they will support this initiative, even though this time it will be their rights that are diminished. To not support it would be hypocritical. "
Hidden Developer Gems in Snow Leopard – I know it's geeky but I'm more excited about the new APIs in Snow Leopard than any of the new stuff or even, to a certain extent, the performance improvements.
ID Card Database *Already* Breached – "Yes, that will be a good excuse, won't it: honest guv, I just inadvertently clicked on Gordon Brown's ID card information…." Does anyone still think they're a good idea? I especially like the argument that because it's been broken it's more secure. Nice.
Who profits from the App Store? – A rather more balanced piece about the iTunes App Store than we typically see. Certainly I'm nearer the one copy a day end of the spectrum than the quarter of a million dollar in a couple of weeks you normally see in articles like this… (via @neilinglis)
Straw slaps ban on Iraq debate docs – How, in a democracy, does one person get to decide this? Surely taking a country to war is in the public interest?!
Ars Book Review: "Patent Failure" – Interesting book review about the effect of patents on an industry. Apparently cost more money than they make in anything but chemical and pharmaceuticals.
Lucky to be a Programmer – I don't program as much as I used to but this explains why I love to when I get the chance.
WordPress 2.6 – Usual drill. I've upgraded to the latest version of WordPress, the underlying software of ZX81.org.uk. If you see anything wrong please let me know!
