The Mink Dimension
Simon Phipps's view of the Web - www.webmink.net


Books

Music

Cameras

MinkShop

Blog
Music
Photo
Thawte
Archive
Essays
Links
Bio
Contact
Wish-lists
Donations
FOAF

© 2008, Simon Phipps
All rights reserved
, all wrongs righted

Thawte Notary
View My Portfolio

Join Zipcar and get £25 in free driving!

Join Zipcar and get £25 in free driving!
The Daily Mink - All the Mink, All The Time, via Syndication

☞ Marketing and Exploitation

  • More scientific research which tells us what we would already know if we weren't so busy anthropomorphising.
  • "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.
  • 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.
    (tags: Zipcar Travel Eco)
  • 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...

(From Sun Mink on Tue Jul 14 15:31:02 BST 2009)

☞ Growing Pains

(From Sun Mink on Mon Jul 13 15:30:33 BST 2009)

Island in a sea of corn

webmink posted a photo:

Island in a sea of corn

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:

Seulement en France

Seen in La Gacilly

(From Photo Mink on Thu Jul 09 15:51:53 BST 2009)

White Cliffs

webmink posted a photo:

White Cliffs

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

(From Sun Mink on Thu Jul 09 15:30:47 BST 2009)

Fruit stand in São Paulo

webmink posted a photo:

Fruit stand in São Paulo

In the Central Market

(From Photo Mink on Thu Jul 09 15:15:23 BST 2009)

Caju

webmink posted a photo:

Caju

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

Lula's 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.
Stallman Honoured in Brazil

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:

Stallman Honoured in Brazil

[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:

Lula's Java Ring

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]

(From Photo Mink on Sun Jul 05 19:39:46 BST 2009)

☞ Three Frees for Independence Day

(From Sun Mink on Sat Jul 04 15:30:33 BST 2009)

Pirate plus Red Hat

webmink posted a photo:

Pirate plus Red Hat

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:

Grooming

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

(From Sun Mink on Mon Jun 29 15:30:40 BST 2009)

Orchids growing on a tree

webmink posted a photo:

Orchids growing on a tree

(From Photo Mink on Sun Jun 28 22:52:44 BST 2009)

The lake at Duas Marias

webmink posted a photo:

The lake at Duas Marias

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 Speaking at FISL

(From Photo Mink on Sun Jun 28 22:42:20 BST 2009)

Lula at FISL

webmink posted a photo:

Lula at FISL

(From Photo Mink on Sun Jun 28 22:40:16 BST 2009)

Big Sur Moonrise

webmink posted a photo:

Big Sur Moonrise

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

(From Sun Mink on Mon Jun 15 15:30:22 BST 2009)

links for 2009-06-13

(From Sun Mink on Sat Jun 13 15:30:34 BST 2009)

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!

(From Personal Mink on Wed Jun 10 14:50:00 BST 2009)

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

(From Sun Mink on Mon Jun 08 15:30:30 BST 2009)

Moonlight on the water

webmink posted a photo:

Moonlight on the water

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:

Full Moon at the Lighthouse

(From Photo Mink on Mon Jun 08 08:35:50 BST 2009)

Moonlighthouse

webmink posted a photo:

Moonlighthouse

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:

Perching Gull

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:

Moon Rise Over Big Sur

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]

Google
Web Webmink
Sunmink java.net

Subscriptions

This page: RSS 2.0 Feed
Del.icio.us: RSS 2.0 Feed
Sun Mink RSS 2.0 Feed
Mink Events RSS 2.0 Feed
Audio Mink RSS 2.0 Feed
Java Mink RSS 2.0 Feed
Photo Mink RSS 2.0 Feed
Personal Mink RSS 2.0 Feed
Listed on BlogShares