fozbaca.org

Re: fallacies
On the music industry and MP3s and Napster.

“There has grown up in the mind of certain groups in this country that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of protecting such a profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute or common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have the right to come into court to ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back.” Robert Hienlien – Life-Line, 1939.

It is still true now. I do believe that OpenSource is the way to do software, and dropping all Intelectual Property. If that belief means that I no longer have a job writing software so be it. I can get non-programing job.

MPTrip Discman for $115. It plays normal audio CDs but also plays MP3s off a CD (ISO 9660Level 1). It is soposed to be able to read into directories. Now they need to make a model for the car that is dash mountable.
[via ScriptingNews]

fuckedcompany.com – the dot-com deadpool

Myth of the big screen

Strangely, Network Computing is seen as a failed technology which never happened. Well I would argue that it did but we call them PDAs and WAP Cell Phones, and Information Appliances.

…
In order to design effective small wireless devices, you have to understand people. The devices are by their very nature Modal devices. So you are stuck with a modal design. In order to solve the puzzle you have to figure out which modes will best suit your Users. Screen size has nothing to do with it.

…
The point here is that a heterogenous set of modal devices used appropriately and designed for how people live will always be better than a single general purpose device.

Found on sabren.com

They say that if you place a frog in a boiling pot of water, it’ll jump right out. But if you put the frog in lukewarm water, and only bring it to a boil slowly, the frog will not notice the slow increase in temperature, and will happily let itself be cooked. Why anyone would like to eat a frog is beyond me. However, the metaphor fits.

How happy people become miserable and don’t even realise it, one little thing after another leads to a steaming pot of boiled frog.

Is it a Mac Cube? They do look kinda neat. I do like Apple making the computer box a kind of art. The Colbalt Cube gives me a similar kinda feeling, I just want one to sit on my desk.

Canadians spend more time at work doing personal websurfing than Americans, go Canada.