I’ve received a few (annoying) links to offermanage.com (don’t go there) from random contacts on my msn list who I haven’t had an msn conversation with in years. First sign of trouble. Here’s a second sign. Quick piece of advice: don’t click on unsolicited links you get on msn, and […]
Technology
Google Talk launched a new service today called chatback (found via Garett). It enables Google Talk users to post a badge to their website or blog, which allows visitors to open a conversation with them. Visitors need not have a Google Talk account, and all badges can be disabled in […]
I’ve been setting up a few old ThinkPads (a 240 and an iSeries model from the same era) with Fluxbuntu to give them new life and replace the ever aging and useless Windows 98 they were running. I looked into Damn Small Linux and other such distributions optimized for minimal […]
Boycott? I’m down. The proprietary software company Trend Micro has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Barracuda Systems. They claim that Barracuda is violating their patent by distributing the free software antivirus program ClamAV. Pamela Jones of Groklaw writes: I think it’s another attempt to attack the FOSS development model […]
It’s 4am and I’ve already made several posts tonight. Maybe I’m just overtired, but Masnick has got me roaring with laughter: Late Sunday a new rumor arose: Yahoo! might try to keep Microsoft away by merging with AOL. That seems sort of like trying to keep a wild animal from […]
Steve Ballmer was asked by a student if Microsoft would ever create an open-source version of Windows in the future. He responds, I guess in an attempt at humour, with this: We wouldn’t be hosting Minority Student Day if we open-source Windows because we wouldn’t have enough profit to pay […]
Sen. Arlen Specter has proposed copyright leglislation in the United States in an attempt to provide an exemption for places of worship to broadcast NFL games. Bars and restaurants currently have this exemption, but the NFL has been busy sending nastygrams to churches using big screen televisions. Patry thinks the […]
Kevin Kelly outlined eight “generatives” in his article, Better Than Free, defined as qualities or attributes which must be “generated, grown, cultivated, nurtured… not be copied, cloned, faked, replicated, counterfeited, or reproduced.” These are qualities or attributes that remain scarce and valuable while digital goods become abundant and available at […]
When copies are super abundant, they become worthless. When copies are super abundant, stuff which can’t be copied becomes scarce and valuable. When copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied. Kevin Kelly’s recent post is a great summary of the ideas behind economic models […]