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☞ Marketing and Exploitation
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More scientific research which tells us what we would already know if we weren't so busy anthropomorphising.
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"Taken individually, these dubious actions might be dismissed...taken together they suggest a consistent philosophy" -- Yes, yes, I've seen MiniMicrosoft saying they have "turned the corner" but this episode suggests the underdog self-image is alive and well. Microsoft's military assault on the standards world deserves a written history; this is a good start.
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I'm a Zipcar member and they have a scheme where anyone who joins up via a member referral can get $25 or £25 free usage of the service (as well as the member getting the same). If you ever need a car for a few hours in a major US city or in London, Zipcar may well interest you.
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This is a brilliant video - great, catchy song, amusing video, restrained yet direct message. It deserves to be a chart hit. I want to buy a copy so I can listen to it while I'm flying United...
☞ Growing Pains
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Brilliant piece by Anil Dash. It took Microsoft until 2005 to start to grasp the issue he frames here, and they still aren't over it yet. IBM faced the same issue and almost died from it in 1992. Does Google have the flexible maturity to recognise and deal with the issue, or will it too build an impermeable membrane round the company to deflect criticism?
Island in a sea of corn
webmink posted a photo:
La Mont St. Michel seen across maize fields.
(From Photo Mink on Thu Jul 09 16:32:48 BST 2009)Seulement en France
webmink posted a photo:
Seen in La Gacilly
(From Photo Mink on Thu Jul 09 15:51:53 BST 2009)White Cliffs
webmink posted a photo:
Looking towards Weymouth on arrival at Poole on the ferry from Cherbourg
(From Photo Mink on Thu Jul 09 15:42:36 BST 2009)☞ Woot on Chrome
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Woot has made these lists into an art-form and this one is a classic.
Fruit stand in São Paulo
webmink posted a photo:
In the Central Market
(From Photo Mink on Thu Jul 09 15:15:23 BST 2009)Caju
webmink posted a photo:
The fruit from which cashew nuts are extracted, seen at São Paulo Central Market
(From Photo Mink on Thu Jul 09 15:13:02 BST 2009)Lula's Free Java Ring
The Brazilian economy is powered by the Java platform - even their new Free digital TV standard uses it. They took the decision to use Java for so much in part when we (Bruno, myself and a number of others) assured them, a number of years ago, that there would be Free implementations. The story ever since has been snowballing investment in Java skills and an economy capable not only of supporting its own needs but also of exporting skills - they've been making Java a priority for years.
When I was honoured to be invited to meet the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, at this year's FISL event in Porto Alegre, I naturally accepted. I decided to give him a Java Ring, a wearable Java-powered computer, as a symbolic token of the deep symbiosis between Brazil, the Java platform and Free software.
He took it enthusiastically, put it on straight away - and it fit him. He said that having a computer on his finger made him feel like James Bond and he posed for photographs with it.
Landmarks
The visit by the President of Brazil to (probably) the largest Free software event in the world is a landmark for the Free software movement. In his speech at the event, Lula recognised especially the work of Sergio Amadeu (once Lula's advisor on IT and the man Microsoft tried to sue for being honest about their strategy) and commented on the years of work that had been involved "preparing the meal" on which the country was now able to feast. In response to Marcelo Branco and the many others who had been lobbying him since he arrived at the event, he also too the opportunity to set his face against the terrible internet laws being proposed for Brazil.
The visit was a landmark in at least three ways:
- It represented the first visit I'm aware of to a Free software event of a head of state - in this case the head of the 14th largest economy in the world
- The speech demonstrated the key role Free software leaders like Sergio and Marcello have had in shaping the IT strategy in the country;
- The deprecation of the internet laws demonstrated that the Free software community actually has a powerful lobbying voice.
What was also fascinating was the regard in which Lula - and his ministers - held Richard Stallman. When the Finance minister came along the line-up before Lula arrived he commented on seeing Stallman "I know you!". Lula himself gave a warm and firm welcome to Stallman. Free software has been over 25 years in the making, but in Brazil it took place as a recognised force in affairs of state, in a way I am sure will be repeated globally in coming years.
(From Sun Mink on Mon Jul 06 09:01:03 BST 2009)Stallman Honoured in Brazil
webmink posted a photo:
[This was taken by the official photographer]
(From Photo Mink on Sun Jul 05 20:49:13 BST 2009)Lula's Java Ring
webmink posted a photo:
At FISL in Porto Alegre, I gave Brazil's President Lula a Java Ring to signify that Brazil is the world's first Java-powered economy, using free/open source Java software in all parts of government, even the national TV standard.
He took it enthusiastically, put it on straight away - and it fit him. He said that having a computer on his finger made him feel like James Bond and posed for photographs with it.
[This was taken by the official photographer]
☞ Three Frees for Independence Day
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Great analysis of the folly of the laws proposed in Brazil that makes President Lula's decision to block them, announced at FISL, seem obviously right.
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The Free Software Foundation in europe bids farewell to their founder and forms a whole new leadership team. Georg has done great things and has been a pleasure to work with, so the new team has a high benchmark set for them.
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Gladwell has the same class of questions as I did when I read the article in Wired that Anderson expanded to make this book. They are "but what about infrastructure costs", "who pays to have it made in a world where people don't trust extended effects". He misses my question "doesn't the 'Free' in software refer to liberty rather than cost and isn't that what drives the power curve?" I'll still have to buy & read the book though (it's not free).
Pirate plus Red Hat
webmink posted a photo:
Peter Sunde of Pirate Bay (in green) in conversation with Michael Tiemann of Red Hat while we waited for the Presdient to drop by.
(From Photo Mink on Tue Jun 30 17:34:03 BST 2009)Grooming
webmink posted a photo:
Members of a monkey family at a house in the forest outside São Paulo.
(From Photo Mink on Mon Jun 29 17:21:17 BST 2009)☞ Required Security Reading
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Deliciously direct and deep paper looks at the assumptions behind our security thinking and confronts them head-on. Still relevant after 4 years, which is good going for anything geeky.
Orchids growing on a tree
webmink posted a photo:
The lake at Duas Marias
webmink posted a photo:
In the hotel grounds.
(From Photo Mink on Sun Jun 28 22:49:40 BST 2009)Lula Speaking at FISL
webmink posted a photo:
Lula at FISL
webmink posted a photo:
Big Sur Moonrise
webmink posted a photo:
I finally had the time to build an HDR version of the moonrise I posted earlier, using three frames bracketed one stop apart.
(From Photo Mink on Sat Jun 20 00:32:27 BST 2009)links for 2009-06-15
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Uh-oh. Serious blow to the Sun folks working in Austin.
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I interviewed Liane and Glynn on the show floor at JavaOne about the new 2009.06 release of OpenSolaris.
links for 2009-06-13
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Delighted to see VirtualBox showing up as a retail item. Yes, those of us who know can go get the free download, but having it on the shelves in stores is still the only way to reach the mass market for most things. It's time we had more Free software for sale like this.
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Another good, free sampler from Amazon MP3 in the USA. If only the UK store had some of these.
Goodbye, AdSense
I got an e-mail from Peter Brown at the FSF recently asking if I'd investigated the new advertising network they are endorsing, AdBard. Since I have seen Google Adsense revenue fall and fall, and since I have increasingly seen advertisements I don't like on my pages, I took a look at it.
It has some interesting features. First, they only accepts sites that support Free software for displaying advertisements. Second, they only accept advertisers supporting Free software, and they give site owners the chance to vote on advertisements. This way the accept/reject decision is transparebt and crowdsourced. Third, they are limiting display to one ad per page.
Those were all attributes I liked, so I am switching Webmink.Net over to AdBard. The topic is always controversial so I look forward to your views!
OpenJDK Board gets Google & Red Hat Members
Over the weekend, Mark announced he's updated the OpenJDK Interim Governance Board page to add details of the two new members Sun has asked to join the Board to navigate towards a permanent OpenJDK governance system. They are both well-known contributors to OpenJDK, and in fact when I asked Mark Wielaard to suggest the best pick for new Board members they were the names he suggested. They are:
- Andrew Haley, of Red Hat, GCJ co-maintainer and Classpath corner-stone, and
- Martin Buchholz, of Google, a developer of the JDK core libraries at Sun for many years.
I'm delighted they are joining the Board and, while there's no crisis to solve since the existing interim governance is mostly working fine, I hope their arrival will help us formalise arrangements at last.
(From Sun Mink on Tue Jun 09 17:43:00 BST 2009)links for 2009-06-08
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"A Comment on Notice of Inquiry, FCC GN Docket No. 09-51" -- If I was a US citizen I'd go sign this now. The semantic gap between "broadband" and "internet access" is just waiting to be exploited by certain reptilian corporations.
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I used to work with Dick when he was at Sun, and this principled stand is exactly what I would expect from him. Congratulations and bravo.
Moonlight on the water
webmink posted a photo:
At The Lanes, Santa Cruz
(From Photo Mink on Mon Jun 08 08:39:31 BST 2009)Full Moon at the Lighthouse
webmink posted a photo:
Moonlighthouse
webmink posted a photo:
The lighthouse at Santa Cruz lit by the light of the full moon
(From Photo Mink on Mon Jun 08 08:34:44 BST 2009)Perching Gull
webmink posted a photo:
On the beach at Carmel-by-the-sea. You can license this photograph for commercial use.
(From Photo Mink on Mon Jun 08 08:19:18 BST 2009)Moon Rise Over Big Sur
webmink posted a photo:
Seen from Nepenthe Restaurant
(From Photo Mink on Mon Jun 08 07:55:52 BST 2009)[Daily Mink last updated Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:55:22 BST by Planet Roller]
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