I am going to buy a parka at the end of the season. Waiting until stores offload their winter stock is a great way to pick up quality equipment at a good price. This letter is to inform you that it will not be a North Face brand parka. Or any North Face product ever again. Thank you for your kind attention.
There's a much more important point in that article. And that is that most of the world's wheat is one strain which was bred to be resistant to stem rust fungus. Ug99 is a new variant of stem rust which is resistant to wheat.
A total monoculture; the entire global supply of wheat is a single variety. That goes for most food crops, though. This new fungus strain threatens the world's supply of grain. Beer, bread, whole wheat breakfast cereal, plus wheat gluten is used as a binding agent in a wide variety of foods. The only people that won't be hurt by this are the ones with Celiac's Disease.
I mentioned the outdoor nudes genre because that's the only one I could think of where copyright had some meaning. I didn't think about the point yozoo brought up when writing my comment. Without copyright, there could be rampant plagiarism of famous photographers like Ansel Adams and John Muir.
Although, like other cases of plagiarism, I don't think it would be that much of an issue. Adams is a famous photographer with many well-known works. Attempting to pass them off as one's own would be readily found out and the liar would lose their reputation. A budding new photog, without copyright protection on their work or a reputation to bank on, might have to look into other business models while they build their rep. That can be done; they can bank on their expertise at wielding a camera instead of selling the prints. Get paid for capturing the scene; after that it's free copies just like in other content industries.
It isn't like their wouldn't be any more photographs either. I hardly think securing copyright protection was the inspiration that drove the great photographers of the 20th century.
Thinking a bit on this "nature's decision" precedent CAFC just set, I think I'm in favor of it. If "nature's decision" makes the photo non-copyrightable, then they have just placed all outdoor photography and natural lighting conditions into the public domain. It will have to wait for another accidental infringement case to cite this one as a precedent, though. If this sticks, that is; and that's a big if.
Losing copyright protection on "outdoor nudes" photography is unfortunate because some of that is really beautiful. But in exchange, we've just gained a lot of clarification and put a long-awaited upper bounds on copyright maximalism. Who worries that an element of their photo may be infringing if anybody just walking by can see the same thing? That's just silly. Of course, now that we're discussing it, CAFC will realize the mistake they just made and will reverse their decision to appease the copyright expansionists.
Until then, this is a boon for photographers everywhere.
Wired.com has a How-to post on watching the Olympics online. Of course, it starts out pointing people to the official NBC website. Then they go into all the ways that will fail and point you to international coverage and torrents where you can actually get to watch the Olympics online.
In protest of NBC's blatant anti-customer stupidity, I haven't seen anything of the Olympics this year. I didn't even know it had started until I saw Google's logo last week.
*lowers price* *sales increase*
*lowers price more* *sales increase more*
"Hey, I think I see a trend here. Got to try it the other way just to be sure."
*raises price* *sales still increase*
"WTF?!"
Ms Munn has been a geek favorite for a while now. It's not like we haven't already seen everything she has to offer. That Slave Leia outfit at Comic-con, for example.
It's a sign of the end times. The apocalypse is approaching. Soon, you'll be "thissing" each other and simul-posting. And before you know it, you'll be walking Shoggoths together and all Azathoth will break loose.
My first thought when reading this was "Bye, nice knowing you." But then I thought about it for a bit and said "Maybe they've discovered the the little plastic disc industry is dead and they've found something else to drive sales in the real music industry." Then I realized that these idiots were serious and they don't have a clue about the current state of affairs in the music industry. They really seem to think only volume of plastic moved matters.
I'd take it even further. Make copyright expire into public domain in just 7 years unless the rights-holder pays (through the nose) to extend the copyright for another 7 years. We'll give them unlimited extensions in exchange for the short monopoly.
I think you'd also have to offer a carrot to the forgetful rights-holders and orphaned works. A grace period of, say, 3 years where the copyright can be reapplied and the song taken back out of public domain. So a rights-holder basically has a decade to decide if the copyright is profitable enough to keep paying for.
Think about how many songs from before 2003 that you know. Then how many of those are still a significant source of income for the artist. If it's still a profitable song then the rights-holder has the money to pay for a copyright extension.
It doesn't magically get better after graduation, either. I've known people in booming technical fields repeatedly passed over for promotions and awards because they can't communicate intelligibly. My current employer has recommended remedial grammar and technical writing courses to several employees to improve their prospects.
It has to be handled very delicately, though. No one wants to be told their language skills are so poor they should shut up and don't type, either. There's anger management courses for the employees telling them that at the top of their lungs. And yes, that actually has happened.
Forget about the Asimov estate. Apple would have to buy the manufacturer of the Roomba out of its place in the military-industrial complex. That's one legal fight it would be preferable to avoid.
For matters of comparison, let me state that I don't buy music. But I also don't steal it, either. There's just so much music available for free out there it isn't worth buying or stealing.
The only time I "pay for music" is if a band I like is playing locally, I might get tickets to go see them. Or a cover charge, or a couple drinks. They've got the CwF + RtB; mass market label issued dreck just can't resolve the equation.
Our office, a large government sector IT services provider, was able to transform our operations over the course of a hardware refresh cycle. A facility that was run by almost 200 people is now managed by a team of 3. All the base metal, the rack-mounted servers, the "pizza boxes", were all replaced by blade centers and SANs. All those blades are just running hypervisors, virtual machines. There isn't a real computer left in there.
Now the 200-odd engineers and contractors that used to be in the room sitting at consoles configuring their projects just hand off a network diagram to the lab monkeys. They sit at their desks and instantiate the network then tell the engineer to point their browser at the lab proxy, which picks up the engy's smart card and hands over their virtual environment.
The old system run by 200 people was woefully understaffed. Even this new system run by three people is understaffed but not by nearly as much as before.
I'm still waiting for Scrabulous Effect to take off. Remember? When pursuing your legal rights is an epically boneheaded business move. Came from when Hasbro sued the writers of Facebook app Scrabulous for making Scrabble fun again. Good times!
As a Scoutmaster, I get to see a lot of material written by the Scouts. And I'll tell you, access to and use of technology is not the determining factor here. The largest difference I've seen regarding these kids' use of language is the involvement of the parents. Having parents who are involved in their child's activities, with the Troop, with school, leads to much better vocabulary and grammar.
On the post: North Face Lawyers Try To Drag South Butt Family Through The Mud
Dear North Face
I am going to buy a parka at the end of the season. Waiting until stores offload their winter stock is a great way to pick up quality equipment at a good price. This letter is to inform you that it will not be a North Face brand parka. Or any North Face product ever again. Thank you for your kind attention.
Sincerely,
Another Mike
On the post: More Examples Of Patent Incentives Making The World Less Safe
monoculture will kill us all
A total monoculture; the entire global supply of wheat is a single variety. That goes for most food crops, though. This new fungus strain threatens the world's supply of grain. Beer, bread, whole wheat breakfast cereal, plus wheat gluten is used as a binding agent in a wide variety of foods. The only people that won't be hurt by this are the ones with Celiac's Disease.
On the post: Soldier Sues Because He Insists Movie 'Hurt Locker' Must Have Been Based On His Life
how's that disclaimer go?
Oh, no, wait. I was thinking of "No animals were harmed in the making of this film." Sorry, my bad.
On the post: US Postage Stamp Found To Be Infringing On Copyright Over Statues In US Korean War Memorial
back to the drawing board?
Although, like other cases of plagiarism, I don't think it would be that much of an issue. Adams is a famous photographer with many well-known works. Attempting to pass them off as one's own would be readily found out and the liar would lose their reputation. A budding new photog, without copyright protection on their work or a reputation to bank on, might have to look into other business models while they build their rep. That can be done; they can bank on their expertise at wielding a camera instead of selling the prints. Get paid for capturing the scene; after that it's free copies just like in other content industries.
It isn't like their wouldn't be any more photographs either. I hardly think securing copyright protection was the inspiration that drove the great photographers of the 20th century.
On the post: US Postage Stamp Found To Be Infringing On Copyright Over Statues In US Korean War Memorial
i might like this decision
Losing copyright protection on "outdoor nudes" photography is unfortunate because some of that is really beautiful. But in exchange, we've just gained a lot of clarification and put a long-awaited upper bounds on copyright maximalism. Who worries that an element of their photo may be infringing if anybody just walking by can see the same thing? That's just silly. Of course, now that we're discussing it, CAFC will realize the mistake they just made and will reverse their decision to appease the copyright expansionists.
Until then, this is a boon for photographers everywhere.
On the post: Did NewTeeVee/GigaOm Violate Copyright Laws By Telling You How To View The 2010 Olympics Online?
it's spreading
In protest of NBC's blatant anti-customer stupidity, I haven't seen anything of the Olympics this year. I didn't even know it had started until I saw Google's logo last week.
On the post: Movie Star Claims Heathrow Airport Staff Printed Out, Circulated, His Naked Body Images
rule 34
On the post: Online Gaming Store Lowers Prices 75%, Sees Sales Shoot Up 5500%
trend analysis
*lowers price more* *sales increase more*
"Hey, I think I see a trend here. Got to try it the other way just to be sure."
*raises price* *sales still increase*
"WTF?!"
On the post: Verizon Wireless Blocks 4chan; You Would Think It Would Remember What Happened When AT&T Did That
nice one vzw
On the post: Online Comic Book Store Stands Up To Olivia Munn Lawyers Over Parody Comic Book
cunning stunts from stunning...
On the post: Why Shouldn't Jurors Be Able To Use Technology To Do More Research?
Re: Re: Re: Evidence admissibility
On the post: This Has To Be A Joke: Music Duo Claims It Won't Sell CDs Again Until 'Piracy' Is Stopped
At first I LOLed...
On the post: Australian Court Says Men At Work's 'Down Under' Infringes On Folk Song; Only Took Decades To Notice
Re: Re:
I think you'd also have to offer a carrot to the forgetful rights-holders and orphaned works. A grace period of, say, 3 years where the copyright can be reapplied and the song taken back out of public domain. So a rights-holder basically has a decade to decide if the copyright is profitable enough to keep paying for.
Think about how many songs from before 2003 that you know. Then how many of those are still a significant source of income for the artist. If it's still a profitable song then the rights-holder has the money to pay for a copyright extension.
On the post: Technology Blamed For Bad Grammar Despite Total Lack Of Causal Evidence
Re: Re:
It has to be handled very delicately, though. No one wants to be told their language skills are so poor they should shut up and don't type, either. There's anger management courses for the employees telling them that at the top of their lungs. And yes, that actually has happened.
BTW I retweeted this article. @redkendrick
On the post: Others Claim To Hold The Trademark On iPad. Is There An App For That?
Re: In other news
On the post: Indiana Senators Rush To Put In Place Sexting Law When They Clearly Don't Understand Sexting
ironically, I'm reading this on my droid
On the post: What The IFPI Report Left Out: Its Own Study Showed That File Sharers Do Buy
my music habits
The only time I "pay for music" is if a band I like is playing locally, I might get tickets to go see them. Or a cover charge, or a couple drinks. They've got the CwF + RtB; mass market label issued dreck just can't resolve the equation.
On the post: If Data Centers Are Understaffed, What Does That Mean For Security?
transformation by elimination
Now the 200-odd engineers and contractors that used to be in the room sitting at consoles configuring their projects just hand off a network diagram to the lab monkeys. They sit at their desks and instantiate the network then tell the engineer to point their browser at the lab proxy, which picks up the engy's smart card and hands over their virtual environment.
The old system run by 200 people was woefully understaffed. Even this new system run by three people is understaffed but not by nearly as much as before.
On the post: Four More Inducted Into The Streisand Effect Hall Of Shame
scrabulous effect
On the post: Yet Another Study Shows Txting Improves Kids' Spelling
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