Wikileaks and "Opened Source"

Well here is your daily dose of ironic humor.  Onion quality satire by Java programmers for Java programmers.  Personally, I never liked "static" either ;)

Stevey's Blog Rants: Wikileaks To Leak 5000 Open Source Java Projects With All That Private/Final Bullshit Removed

EYJAFJÖLL, ICELAND — Java programmers around the globe are in a panic today over a Wikileaks press release issued at 8:15am GMT. Wikileaks announced that they will re-release the source code for thousands of Open Source Java projects, making all access modifiers 'public' and all classes and members non-'final'.

Passive Voice has been Studied

A large chunk of English speakers use a grammar that does not include passive sentences.  

Many English speakers cannot understand basic grammar

"If a significant proportion of the population does not understand passive sentences, then notices and other forms of written information may have to be rewritten and literacy strategies changed.

"What's more, the existence of substantial individual differences in native language attainment is highly problematic for one of the most widely accepted arguments for an innate universal grammar: the assumed 'fact' that all native speakers of a language converge on essentially the same grammar. Our research shows that they don't."

What Should the Next Supreme Court Nominee Know?

What key areas of experience and expertise might round out the current court in the absence of Justice Stevens following his retirement?   Should Obama nominate a liberal?  An Evironmentalist?  A representative of any one of the numerous underrepresented and disenfranchised groups that have suffered inequality under the law?  Maybe.  But then there's also this.   Read the article, its unbelievable. 

Our Tech-Savvy Supreme Court - Law Blog - WSJ

According to the story, the first sign of trouble came was about midway through the argument, when Chief Justice John Roberts asked what the difference was “between email and a pager?” (Cue sound of hard slap against forehead.)

Scary Editorials about Health Care

TalkingPointsMemo captured a truly ironic editorial over at Investor's Business Daily, before it was patched up (the evidence is still in Google's cache).  The editorial was highly critical of the proposed U.S. health care reform legislation.  Since reform is not expected to be a "good thing" for investors if it passes, we can understand their point of view.

Instead of pointing out the financial risk to investors, however, they decided to scare people by warning that the bill would usher in the same terrifyingly low level of health care quality as is available in the U.K. 

They went a little over the top, though, when they suggested that Stephen Hawking would have perished of neglect under the U.K.'s health care system.   Hawking is, of course, a Commander of the British Empire and has held the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge (Isaac Newton's old job) since 1979.

Don't Need To Be a Rocket Scientist | TPM

People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.

Lessig's infamous talk

Here's your daily dose of irony.  One of Lessig's talks on how copyright should be adapted to remain viable ... received a take-down notice from Warner music.

I hadn't seen the talk before.  You can watch it below.  Well worth the time. 

update on Warner Music (Lessig Blog)

As you may have read me tweet, the organization that hosted me for this talk:

Received a notice that Warner Music had objected to its being posted on copyright grounds. Apparently, YouTube's content-ID algorithm had found music in the video that they claimed ownership to. The organization is apparently responding by disputing the claim

Judge in Pirate Bay case had conflict of interest

Downloading pirated movies is wrong.  But publishing a web index is not (see the activities of a company called Google for example).   

Nevertheless, if the judge in the Pirate Bay case were designing laws, Eric Schmidt would be looking at a year of jail time right about now.

That's the deal the owners of Pirate Bay got from him, anyway.  

But it looks like the judge may have been a card-carrying member of pro-copyright groups lobbying for tougher copyright laws.  Justice is so not blind.


Pirate Bay judge and pro-copyright lobbyist accused of bias • The Register

The judge in The Pirate Bay trial has been accused of bias, after Sweden's national radio station revealed that Thomas Norström was a member of the same pro-copyright groups as several of the main entertainment industry reps in the case.

Legislation to help musicians

Here's an interesting way to level the playing field between terrestrial and internet radio:  make terrestrial radio pay the same high royalties as streaming internet stations. 

But it turns out that the National Association of Broadcasters and the RIAA are against it (go figure) claiming that paying the higher royalties will hurt the artists.

This is ironically the same argument used by the same people in support of higher royalty rates for the internet stations.  


Bono: Radio Should Pay for Songs, Like Web Does - News and Analysis by PC Magazine

Should traditional radio stations have to pay the same royalty fees that are imposed on Internet and satellite radio stations? If pending legislation is successful, that could become a reality, but the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is hitting back at the bill's high-profile supporters to make sure that doesn't happen.

Java Programmers not Humorless

And they have a sense of irony ...

but are more probably like Drew Carey than Jim Carrey.

Who Says Java Programmers Don't Have A Sense Of Humor? | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

I've heard the stereotypes about Java programmers being uptight nerds who don't know how to cut loose. Well, that's about as far from the truth as Enterprise is from Gene Roddenberry's original vision. Contrary to what you may have heard, Javaheads can be quite the cut-ups. In fact, I've been working at Symantec for more than a year now, and compared to the systems administrators and IT support personnel around here, I'm a regular Jim Carrey.

If you don't stand for anything ... you don't stand for anything.

In Sweden these guys are as big as the Green Party; close to capturing an EU seat.  Who knew that Pirates would be the next civil rights champions?  Sort of makes Jack Sparrow look like Albert Schweitzer. 

Pirate Parties are “A Classic Civil Rights Movement” | TorrentFreak

It was almost three years ago that the first Pirate Party was formed in Sweden. Its aim is to deal with over-reaching copyright law, and this is exactly what the Pirate Party stands for in most people’s minds. But there is more.

In recent times, the Pirate Party has been more concerned with government actions that affect ordinary citizens. The wiretapping law (FRA) for example, as well as the likes of IPRED, which will give companies chasing an alleged copyright infringer more powers than the police.

Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?

Today's Irony.

Conservative Episcopalians Vote to Create Alternative Branch - washingtonpost.com

Conservatives from the Episcopal Church voted yesterday to form their own branch of Anglicanism in the United States and said they would seek new recognition in the worldwide church because of their growing disenchantment over the ordination of an openly gay bishop and other liberal developments.

McCain in DMCA smackdown.

Call it karma, call it irony, call it poetic justice.  Or just call it hypocritical.  


McCain begs for YouTube DMCA takedown immunity • The Register

After having several campaign videos removed from YouTube for alleged copyright violations, Republican presidential candidate John McCain wants the video-sharing web site to consider special takedown privileges for politicians and their ilk.

McCain '08 general counsel Trevor Potter yesterday sent a letter to YouTube execs claiming the site is too quick to remove their campaign videos based on "overreaching copyright claims." He wrote that on numerous occasions that the material in question was "clearly" privileged under the US fair use doctrine.

No more Jerry, brought to you by a Mac

So who wrote the ad campaign contract for bid and forgot to stipulate: "use a PC"?

I'm a PC, Made on a Mac

I don't exactly feel sorry for Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), but the brewing brouhaha over its latest ad -- and a very good ad, if I do say so -- is so funny that it's sad. AppleInsider reports that Mr. Softy's new "I'm a PC" pitches, which substitute for the goofy and ill-fated Bill Gates-Jerry Seinfeld team-ups, appear to have been created using Macs.

Made in China

The workers at the factory didn't know what the colorful flag represented. But orders kept flowing in for more....

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Free Tibet' flags made in China

Police in southern China have discovered a factory manufacturing Free Tibet flags, media reports say.

The factory in Guangdong had been completing overseas orders for the flag of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

What does a guy have to do to get a national holiday?

Columbus blamed for spread of syphilis - health - 15 January 2008 - New Scientist

Syphilis really did come from the Americas, suggests a new study.

There has been a long-running row over from where the dreaded disease came. But new genetic data from deep in the jungles of Guyana suggests that while other forms of this bacterium have plagued humans since early in our evolution, it emerged as venereal syphilis only when carried back to Europe by Columbus and his crew.