Link blog archive
Videoblogging theoretics, being the media, and the completely improvised future of a world currently without rhyme, reason or good beetroot fertiliser.
Here's a feed of my links blog, which delivers a single daily item for that day's links.
January 2010
- Fat cat bosses and shareholders drink the same cream
Never in the history of the free market have shareholders complained because their shares increased too much. In the end, the fury about corporate salaries is simply an expression of unfulfilled greed - this time not by directors, but by shareholders.
November 2009
July 2009
- Best Practices for Peer Code Review
- Marginal Utility
"In economics, the marginal utility of a good or of a service is the utility of the specific use to which an agent would put a given increase in that good or service, or of the specific use that would be abandoned in response to a given decrease. In other words, marginal utility is the utility of the marginal use — which, on the assumption of economic rationality, would be the least urgent use of the good or service, from the best feasible combination of actions in which its use is included. Under the mainstream assumptions, the marginal utility of a good or service is the posited quantified change in utility obtained by increasing or by decreasing use of that good or service."
June 2009
- Irrational markets: people reject free money out of anger
The Ultimatum Game, in which test subjects respond to take-it-or-leave-it offers, has allowed psychologists to explore how humans handle issues like fairness and punishment. But a new study shows some people attempt to punish even when the rules of the game are stacked in a way that makes it impossible.
- Canadian ISPs avoid "Canadian content" regulations
Canada's telecoms regulator has concluded that Internet audio and video does count as "broadcasting" and could therefore be regulated like a TV or radio station—complete with levies to subsidize Canadian content. But the regulator has decided to exempt the Internet from the rules... for now.
- Lawyers plan class-action to reclaim "$100M+" RIAA "stole"
Lawyers in this year's two highest-profile file-sharing cases have joined forces, and they plan to file a class-action lawsuit against the recording industry later this summer to claw back the "$100+ million" that the RIAA "stole."
May 2009
- Migrate apps from Internet Explorer to Mozilla
- Nesson speaks: Inside P2P's "David v. Goliath" story
"[..] Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson explains why justice compelled him to take on the Joel Tenenbaum file-sharing case, why the RIAA's legal tactics are unacceptable, and how he hopes to take down the music industry 'Goliath.'"
- Enabling Internet Tethering via Optus/Virgin/Vodafone/Telstra on iPhone OS 3.0
"The following instructions are intended for members of the Apple Developer Connection (ADC), running an iPhone with a developer version of the iPhone OS 3.0 software. This guide also only provides Australian carrier settings for Telstra, Vodafone and Optus (plus resellers like Virgin), but if you follow the link to Crunchgear in the first step there are instructions on downloading and modifying the carrier setting bundles."
- Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors
"Unfortunately, the only way to get a definitive answer on whether a particular use is a fair use is to have it resolved in federal court. Judges use four factors in resolving fair use disputes, which are discussed in detail below."
- Open Database Alliance hedges against Oracle plans for MySQL
"Key stakeholders in the MySQL development community are joining together to turn the tables on Oracle and select a distinctly brighter future for the project. This fifth column will create a unique new order, where inclusiveness and community-driven development replace the arbitrary constraints of top-down development. We queried Kurt von Finck, one of the members of the MariaDB inner circle, to learn more about the group's plans."
- Real: studios, DVD-CCA "illegal cartel" squeeze out fair use
"RealNetworks says that the DVD Copy Control Association and the movie studios have conspired to prevent anyone else from entering the fair use DVD market, and that they have illegally banded together to refuse appropriate licenses to third parties. The RealDVD case is clearly heating up, and Real looks like it won't go down without a fight."
- Harvard prof tells judge that P2P filesharing is "fair use"
Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson is headed to federal court this summer to defend an accused file-swapper, and he plans to mount a novel defense: P2P sharing is simply "fair use."
- Mac OS X Leopard: Designer’s Guide to Icons
“Gorgeous, artistic icons are an important part of the Mac OS user experience. Users expect beautiful icons that tell an application’s story in a clear and memorable way.”
- Are you ‘app-noxious’?
"iPhone, other mobile apps can turn enthusiasts into annoying know-it-alls"
April 2009
February 2009
December 2008
- Global Green Solar Report Cards
- The Next Wave of Nuclear Proliferation
This article’s concern, accordingly, is with what a globally expanded use of nuclear energy would mean for nuclear proliferation specifically (as opposed to the issues of nuclear waste disposal or the risk of catastrophic accident, which also merit serious consideration), and this topic as it centers on state actors (rather than nonstate actors such as terrorist groups).
November 2008
July 2008
- JSON and Browser Security
[..] Be aware however that the eval function is extremely unsafe. If there is the slightest chance that the server is not encoding the JSON correctly, then use the parseJSON method instead. The parseJSON method uses a regular expression to ensure that there is nothing dangerous in the text. The next edition of JavaScript will have parseJSON built in. For now, you can get parseJSON at http://www.JSON.org/json.js. [..]
- The Rise of "Worse is Better"
[..] The right thing is frequently a monolithic piece of software, but for no reason other than that the right thing is often designed monolithically. That is, this characteristic is a happenstance. [..] The lesson to be learned from this is that it is often undesirable to go for the right thing first. It is better to get half of the right thing available so that it spreads like a virus. Once people are hooked on it, take the time to improve it to 90% of the right thing. [..]
June 2008
- Pre-eclampsia
A medical condition where hypertension arises in pregnancy (pregnancy-induced hypertension) in association with significant amounts of protein in the urine. Because pre-eclampsia refers to a set of symptoms rather than any causative factor, it is established that there are many different causes for the syndrome. It also appears likely that there is a substance or substances from the placenta that may cause endothelial dysfunction in the maternal blood vessels of susceptible women.[1] While blood pressure elevation is the most visible sign of the disease, it involves generalized damage to the maternal endothelium and kidneys and liver, with the release of vasopressive factors only secondary to the original damage.
February 2008
- Does Background Music Impact Computer Task Performance?
Summary: The effects of music on performance on a computer-mediated problem-solving task were examined. Participants completed the task in anonymous dyads as they were exposed to either Classical music, Punk music, or No Music. Results indicate that those in the Classical music condition performed better on the problem solving-task than those in the Punk music or No Music conditions. However, those listening to the Classical music offered more off-task comments during the task than those listening to No Music. Implications for website designers are discussed.
- Music while you work: the differential distraction of background music on the cognitive test performance of introverts and extraverts
"The current study looked at the distracting effects of pop music on introverts' and extraverts' performance on various cognitive tasks. It was predicted that there would be a main effect for music and an interaction effect with introverts performing less well in the presence of music than extraverts. Ten introverts and ten extraverts were given two tests (a memory test with immediate and delayed recall and a reading comprehension test), which were completed, either while being exposed to pop music, or in silence. The results showed that there was a detrimental effect on immediate recall on the memory test for both groups when music was played, and two of the three interactions were significant. After a 6-minute interval the introverts who had memorized the objects in the presence of the pop music had a significantly lower recall than the extraverts in the same condition and the introverts who had observed them in silence. The introverts who completed a reading comprehension task when music was being played also performed significantly less well than these two groups. These findings have implications for the study habits of introverts when needing to retain or process complex information."
- The Psychology of Behaviour at Work: The Individual in the Organisation
Research into the role of music in the work place. "...score in a reading comprehension test were significantly higher in a 'low information-load music' condition than either a slient condition or a 'high information-load music' condition, where 'information load' was measured by tonal range, repetition and rhythmic complexity."
December 2007
- Sunset Blvd (quotes)
Joe Gillis: Audiences don't know somebody sits down and writes a picture; they think the actors make it up as they go along.
- The Power of Non Verbal Communication
U.C.L.A. Psychologist and researcher Albert Mehrabian illustrated the impact and importance of non verbal language in his 1967 investigation of how people communicate. Mehrabian’s research shows that 7% of the meaning of communication comes from verbal elements (or words), 36% comes from vocal elements (tone, pitch, rate, etc....), and 55% comes from non verbal elements (posture, expression, etc....).
October 2007
- The Ethics of Erasing a Bad Memory
Questions of withholding bad news, wiping out bad memories — plastering over wayward cracks in our minds with chemicals — are answered thousands of times everyday, without ever being asked.
September 2007
August 2007
June 2007
May 2007
March 2007
January 2007
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
- probloggers.org
- Step-by-step: implementing online intranet forms
- How staff look for documents
- IT conversations on podcasting = radio (it is, it is)
- Lessig, democracy in Brazil, and the rock star who became a politician
- Jonathan Millers Brief History of Disbelief (atheism)
- Anti-drug movies from Singapore
- Dada: Art and Anti-Art, the personal 1916 history of Hans Richter
- 80s Berkeley punk compilation
- PPC G5 may support DAT and LPAR
- Steve Rubel interviews Gday world podcasters
New amateur Australian broadcasters reach a token broad audience, without understanding the old Aussie accent and attitude affect.
- Google prevents comment spam
- Jon Udell's audio digital darkroom
- Funcom's free subscription to Anarchy Online
- Rocklopedia Fakebandica
- IEEE takes middle road on copyright infringement
- Another How to Podcast
- Build an Apollo Guidance Comptuter
- Eyes on the Prize civil rights doco and demo
- Gibson MaGIC Les Paul with Ethernet
- The Aprilia Trike
- History of Macintosh
- Sending coal to the RIAA/MPAA
- Endangered gizmos
- Perceptual Coding -- good coverage
- The emperor of vulgarity -- Dubya's inauguration
- Cracker Bag
Eddie spends her pocket money obsessively hoarding fireworks and carefully planning for cracker night. When it finally it arrives, Eddie and her family head to the local football oval. In the frosty air Eddie lights the fuse of her first cracker and experiences a pivotal moment, one of the seemingly small experiences of childhood, that affects us for the rest of our lives.
- Cassini-Huygens mission to Titan
- IBM clearing 500 patents for use in open source projects
- Apple haters piss take
- Marathon Trilogy for free
- What makes a design seem intuitive?
Users can complete their objective when current knowledge equals target knowledge....
- Gayle Austin does thesis on first 16 years of 2JJJ
- The person has become the portal
- How to fix mom's computer
- DJ Danger Mouse's toolkit
- Tim Bray's Iapetus solution
- Mapping the culture of an online community
- 1983 Usenet post on the big bad Internet(s)
- Electricity and Petroleum Consumption, Selected Countries
- BUZZWORDS GONE BAD
- 60 Seconds With Big Bird
- A Game of Concentration: Videogames and ADHD
- Music Industry Must Respect Privacy of Filesharers
Ruling in Charter Case Smashes DMCA Subpoena Powers The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision today that will stop entertainment corporations from gaining access to the names of people using...
- When The Going Gets Tough The Press Get All Whiney
Apple goes after rumor sites.
- Turmoil in blogland
Danah Boyd's salon article on 6A buying LJ.
- Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sleep (But Were Too Afraid To Ask)
- Required-user-registration debate continues
- Videora
BitTorrent peer to peer technology and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, Videora automatically and intelligently finds and downloads video you want to watch.
- Decide instantly to read this review
- Staying awake…
- Personal Chemistry and the Healthy Body
- Pacific War -- sequel to Band of Brothers
- Podcasting's transcription dilemma
Jon Udell nails podcasting.
- Google Suggest Dissected...
- 120-year-old tortoise adopts baby hippo
- How to Podcast RIAA Music Under License
Fadcasters continue to invent radio.
December 2004
November 2004
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