Well I personally think it’s quite creative to prove mathematical theories using beer. Some people hovever think this research and a few others are worthy of public derision.
Thanks for the reminder Fizzz
Archives mensuelles : novembre 2002
Before PowerPoint
Here is a presentation by Doug Engelbart recorded in 1968. It’s quite impressive to see that most of these concepts, outlines, multiple views, hyperlinks, the mouse, are still in use today.
On the other hand, what was really high tech then is now common place but watching this, I can’t help to feel we haven’t come that far in 35 years.The concepts are the same, the goal is the same. The concept is much more polished, it’s not lab stuff anymore. But is there anything in the labs right now that will bring a revolution that will change the way I work in the next 30 years. I don’t think that WinXX qualifies there.
[via Phil Gyford]
My cultural contribution of the day…
I found a link to this at a perfectly legitimate legal weblog. I have no comment on them, just thought that the pics were different from what we usually see (alright, and kind of funny too). Can it just be art? (Ok… there is somekind of social message in there but me not getting into that…)
Enjoy! It’s Friday!
But I love this weather!
High Perspective from the King Edward pier on the foot of Saint-Laurent boulevard in the Old Port of Montreal. In front, the Old Port promenade and the Jacques-Cartier bridge. To the right, the Jacques-Cartier Pavilion and the Montréal Science Centre. 
CURRENT CONDITIONS
Nov 29 2002 1:00PM – Dorval Airport
Heavy snow
I prefer the french version:
Conditions actuelles Aéroport de Dorval
Nuageux. Neige et poudrerie élevé
Poudrerie is the seal of quality of a good tempête.
And I’m listening to Printemps été from the album « Menteur » by Jean Leloup…
Now the fun part is that I actually love this weather. I’ll happily walk 40 minutes in it tonight. Plus the dog walk (the dog loves snow too). And I might just x-c ski this week-end.
Ask yourself: what would Larry do?
you really find out about anything on the net…
Had the Lessig’s, Jiro Kokuryo, Sen, Yoon and Neeraj over for Thanksgivings Dinner
Ok, this is definitely a voyeuristic bit of trivia, but the process of following a chain of three links (talk about lowered expectations) that made me discover something funny and unexpected, although not vital, was nice. And that was without hitting a single pop-up or annoying ad. This is what I remember from my Mosaic days…Viva la blogosphere
[via A frog in the valley > Marc’s voice > Joi Ito]
If that’s not unanimous criticism, I don’t know what is.
Among the list of people outraged by our good government’s plan to keep a database on the travel information of any citizen for 6 years, we can add retired Supreme Court Justice Laforest, who was on the Supreme Court bench when I was in law school, and Roger Tassé, attorney general of Canada from 1977 to 1985. They base their opinion largely on the Charter, which is indeed an instrument both are quite familiar with (note: understatement of the year).
A press release by the Privacy Commissioner introduces the letters to the Minister of National Revenue. Will this be a nonwhistanding solution? Can the federal even use that clause? Has it ever been used by the parliament or is it a provincial government only prerogative?
But remember, it could be worse.
DVD Audio: ready at last?
The Japan Times reports that
An industry body representing seven developers of DVD technology and formats said Tuesday it will start global licensing of patents for DVD-audio and recordable DVD products in early January.
I’ll believe it when I’ll hear it.
In the meantime I’m curious about the DVD recordables bit. Which format is that? I’d also be very curious to read the terms of the patent licenses.
Thanksgiving trivia:
Q. How many calories are there in an average American Thanksgiving dinner?
A. Enough to power a 27″ TV set for 49 minutes.
This and other interesting and useless bits of trivia on the November 2002 Harper’s list.
If TiVo thinks you are gay…
The WSJ has a story about the struggle to communicate your tastes to your TiVo (the TiVo can record TV shows automatically based on what it perceives to be your tastes). Moral of the story: gently correct but don’t overcompensate if it thinks you play for the other team:
His wife, however, was taken aback when she saw all the half-naked women he was ordering through TiVo. He told her those women meant nothing to him: « I’m just counterprogramming because TiVo thinks I’m gay. »
The personal information aspect of it all is also quite interesting.
[via Toomuchsexy.blog]
DRM discussions
I just have a thing for DRM, did you notice?
InfoWorld reports on DRM at Comdex, and, last July (yes, those Audible downloads have a way of backing up on me…) Seth Godin penned this cogent Memo To: Media Monopolists for Fast Company: « You can whine, lobby, sue, and then cripple your product so that it can’t be copied. Or, maybe, just maybe, you can stop thinking like a monopolist long enough to find new business models, new markets, and new strategic plans. »
[via Bag and Baggage]
Soliloque
atn (16:08:36): Des fois, le UI est lent en )*&?#)(*& sur le G4 400 ici
atn (16:09:30): Ok, j’ai juste 128 MB RAM, je roule dnetc, et ma carte vidéo est une merde (que je roule a 1600*1200), ca explique des choses, mais quand meme…
atn (16:09:59): et j’ai la facheuse tendance a ne pas redemarrer ma machine ou quitter mes applications.
atn (16:13:12): ce matin, j’ai installé un gugu pour avoir des system wide hotkeys. Je voulais juste ajouter un bouton mute sur mon clavier, j’ai fini par scripter une couple de commandes pour iTunes sur mes FKeys. (tiens, c vrai ca. pourquoi il y a plus de ressources FKeys sur OS X… c ce que j’aurais fait sous OS 9… meme pas pensé… Ahhh les bons souvenirs de Resedit…(peut ettre qu’il y en a et qu’on a oublié de me le dire par contre… mhhh))
Bref, les gros claviers logitech ou MS avec plein de pitons me tentent là.. marche ben en maudit et j’aime ca les boutons moi.
atn (16:14:22): a moins que j’aille directement pour ca
On the aggregator this morning…
bIPlog has a blurb on retailers using the DMCA to stop Fatwallet from offering price comparisons using data from their websites. Since Fatwallet understandably don’t feel like fighting the cease and desist and becoming yet another test case, chalk one up for the ever more likeable DMCA (and trigger happy lawyers).
In other news, Lessig is right in the Eldred case. This is from judge Posner, a « darling of the conservative movement », which makes this statement stand out. Who cares when wacko left-leaning hippies say it, right? Anyways, I’ll be happier when the supreme court agrees. In the meantime, bIPlog has a discussion.
G and A+B and WAP-not…
WiFi Standards and Etiquette
Glenn Fleishman offers wise words on the potential balkanization of WiFi standards. He doesn’t mention the elephant in the closet: Microsoft. It’s leading the charge for « etiquettes » on unlicensed wireless services in the 5 GHz band (and possibly elsewhere). Microsoft hasn’t provided specifics, and appears to be still working it the details itself. But the notion is that there needs to be something that plays the role of TCP to 802.11a/b/g’s IP. It’s not yet clear whether Microsoft’s involvement is a Very Good Thing or a Very Bad Thing. I don’t think it’s an evil company. I believe the people I’ve talked with really want to do the right thing to foster growth of unlicensed wireless. Still, there are significant dangers in the path Microsoft is going down. The WiFi community needs to engage these issues.
[Werblog]
Nero Express
What can I say… Sweet…
ying vs yang
Some things are essentially 2 sides to the same story.
MS EULAs vs the GPL
DVD CCA vs Gnutella
DRM vs privacy rights
What if TCPA focused on serving both sides of the issue? Just a thought .