desirable things

Search by Colour

Don’t you hate it when you have an image stuck in your mind? In particular a picture of a picture. Thanks to basic information overload, the internet, and not least, Flickr there are more images than I can imagine. Occasionally one of these images flashes past my screen and I think “nice” before moving along. Later I attempt to look for the picture and fail miserably.

I try retracing my steps, thinking where I had seen it, cursing my senility and realising the picture I need has gone forever (again!). The problem is, and I think of it as a problem, that there is no really good search tool for images. Now there is a partial solution to then problem.

The Flickr Color Selectr searches Creative Commons licensed photos on Flickr by color. My problem is that after playing with it for a little while I realised that I will now see hundreds more cool images that, a few weeks later, I will never find…

Posted on by mklang

Technology AS resistance

For a long time the dominant player in the personal computer market has been Microsoft. This has created a de facto standard among users who have come to expect and tolerate certain technological standards (and flaws) from their computers. One of the results of this dominance, among computer users, is the usersâ?? ability to praise diversity in principle but expect conformity from their computers.

If we all use the same tools we will produce the same limited range of products. Naturally there is a great variation within these products but still it is a freedom with limitations. One example of this is our perception of learning â?? at many (most?) universities today, when we say the word lecture most students and teachers think powerpoint. Therefore education becomes bullet-point lists. (more on powerpoint/eductation here: Do you hand out your handouts?).

But there is a technological resistance. Not to Microsoft. But a resistance to the current software ownership models which make it impossible (legally and sometimes technically) for users to

Run their software for any purpose
Study and adapt software to their needs
Redistribute, so others can be helped by such adaptions
Release improvements to the benefit of all

These four points are collectively known as the Four Freedoms and form the fundamental philosophy of the Free Software Foundation. The FSF works to provide software that fulfills such conditions.

Now many users argue that they are not competent to make changes to their software and therefore do not see the purpose of caring about such goals. This is a shortsighted outlook. The Four Freedoms grant others the ability to make changes. As non-techies all we have to do is reap the rewards of their labour. But without the freedom for them to make changes â?? we would have no rewards to reap.

Examples of Free Software are too numerous to list. But here are a few: Gnu/Linux operating system (comes in many different versions for example Ubuntu), Firefox (an internet browser), Thunderbird (an email client), GIMP (picture editing tool), Open Office (Office package with all you need), WordPress (the software that drives this blog) and much, much moreâ?¦

The software is free (fulfills the four freedoms) and is available at no cost. This is technology AS resistance.

Posted on by mklang

Torrent BBC

The BBC must be seen as being among the avant garde of television today. Not too long ago they opened up their archives under licenses similar to Creative Commons licenses (Look at the Creative Archive License Group). In doing this they were ahead of their time.

Now they have decided to make â??hundredsâ?? of episodes of BBC programmes via bittorrent.

By doing this the BBC once again show that they â??getâ?? technology. While in Sweden the term file-sharing is becoming synonymous with illegal action the BBCâ??s deal with Azareus shows that they can recognize a superior distribution system when they see one.

The new deal means that users of the software will be able to download high-quality versions of BBC programmes, including Red Dwarf, Doctor Who and the League of Gentleman. Classic series such as Fawlty Towers will also be available through a BBC “channel”. BBC News

Naturally the BBC is not into giving away these top titles (you didnâ??t think it would be that good â?? did you?) No, the titles will be protected by digital rights management software to prevent the programmes being traded illegally on the internet.

The BBC might carry the nickname Auntie Beeb but all I can say is that I wish my Swedish public service relatives were as creative.

(via Boing Boing)

Posted on by mklang

Lions among us

Lions have good PR officers. They tend to get put in the best places and are mythically protrayed as being much cooler than they really are. Just think about the four huge lions around Nelson in Trafalgar Square in London. Obviously great PR work. Nelson was a sailor and he still gets surrounded by four of the biggest lions ever.

Unfortunately there is a downside to great PR and that is that reality eventually creeps up. But somehow this does not happen to the lions. Not long ago, the Lion steps were unveiled in G̦teborg. Two large, blas̩ lions lay overlooking the main canal in G̦teborg. There air of aloofness and boredom is brilliant Рthese are not fierce wild beasts, they are city lions. Cool detached and above and beyond mere mortals that surround them.

Among lion statues there is a whole subset of the reclining lion but it is not very often that you come across a lion who is asleep. But of all the statues of lions my favorite is the sleeping lion guarding the tomb of George Wombwell, menagerist, buried at Highgate Cemetery in London. This lion is said to portray his favourite pet lion. To have the statue sleeping peacefully is a beautiful symbol. So peaceful.

But wherever did they get such good PR people?

Posted on by mklang

Art & Experience

Last week The Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones released a list entitled: 50 Works of Art to See Before You Die. These kind of lists are fascinating. There is a superficial desire to go through lists like these and tick of the things you have done. To see if you fit in – if you are on track. But there is also a nice thing about easy lists – they create a kind of canon which we can relate to.

Naturally there it did not take long for a collection of images to appear online – so now you don’t even have to look around you can easily browse the list.

But should lists like this be easy? I would prefer to change the focus of the list and call it 50 Works of Art to Understand Before you Die. Simply “seeing” art is not enough. Or is it? A long time ago I was at the Louvre (only a brief visit) and I was shocked at the amount of people thronging around the one piece of art which they probably had seen most in their lives (though not in real-life, whatever than means).

Most visitors stood in front of the Mona Lisa while they seemed to ignore most other works. What were they really looking at? A work of art or a great PR campaign?

Posted on by mklang

Think of the French…

Do you associate the French with advanced implementations of Gnu/Linux? Neither did I. But we are wrong â?? the French are now moving ahead in implementing FOSS in government.

Apparently the servers of the French Gendarmes run on â??open sourceâ?? and also the Ministry of Culture. But in June 2007 the PCs in French deputes’ offices will be equipped with a Gnu/Linux operating system and open-source productivity software.

The results of an earlier study showed positive results:

â??The study showed that open-source software will from now on offer functionality adapted to the needs of MPs (members of parliament) and will allow us to make substantial savings despite the associated migration and training costsâ?¦â?? (News.com)

Swedes like to think of ourselves as being technologically advanced (which we are) but we are really falling far behind in the high level use of FOSS in government. It would be an excellent opportunity to take advantage of Microsoft Vista to go Gnu/Linux…

More info: Open source software in the General Assembly (in French), Free Software for the deputies (in French).

Posted on by mklang

In the mood

Actually I should be writing something. Not only one thing but I have promised several (mostly short) pieces. But I am having a hard time getting into the mood for writing. The closer the deadlines the less I want to jump in. Procrastination takes over…

Is the mood really an illusion? Often writers claim that they need to be inspired by their muse (or other artificial stimulants) to be able to create. Others claim that the art of writing is just a humbug and it’s all down to hard work. Pragmatists (or is it salesmen/consultants?) make strange claims such as: writing is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Not really sure where I stand on this.

Life would be nice if the mood was ever present. In particular if the mood was kind enough to show up at deadlines. But through experience I know that my mood seldom has the good manners to show up when needed most. So what is left is sad determination. Wish there was a way to create the mood. No – absinthe (Toulouse-Lautrec), opium (De Quincey) or LSD (Morrison) would not be a good idea. These may have worked for others but I somehow doubt that any paper I write would be improved through these means.

What gets you in the mood?

Posted on by mklang

On ugly furniture and growing up

Is it just me, or is most furniture really ugly? While spending time at a furniture store today (mostly to kill time) I was struck by the realization that most of the stuff in the store (not a small store) was really ugly. It was not only ugly it was expensive and ugly. Itâ??s the kind of furniture that seems to be in bad furniture advertisements (and stores) but never in peopleâ??s homes. This is obviously wrong since the stores seem to stock and sell the stuff.

Furniture is also a true sign of growing up. The first apartment is usually filled with furniture collected from everywhere from donations to cheap second hand stuff (some of which should have been thrown away long ago). Buying new furniture is a painful and expensive experience.

Therefore the first real sign of maturity or rather the real sign that a person is becoming a responsible adult is when he or she takes a large pile of hard earned cash and buys and expensive sofa â?? instead of a new stereo, car or holiday abroad.

The definitive sign of maturity (bordering on old age) is when one takes a large pile of hard earned cash and buys matching cutlery and platesâ?¦

This still does not explain why most furniture is so uglyâ?¦

Posted on by mklang

Enlightenment or countering the dangers lurking in darkness

My friend and colleague Jonas Ã?berg of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) has just turned the pressure on. The Swedish section of the FSFE has recently launched an ad campaign encouraging people to join the Fellowship of the FSFE. The campaign included a bonus give away of a pin or a lanyard to all those who joined before 31 December.

Today Jonas wrote a blog post where he complained about poor visibility in traffic which places pedestrians and cyclists in danger when it is dark – which is almost always this time of year in Sweden. So in order to do something about this he has just announced that he will buy a reflex vest (out of his own pocket) for anyone in Sweden who joins the Fellowship before the winter solstice (22 December 2006).

All you have to do is join fsfe.org/join then email him your Fellowship user name and length (for the right vest size) and he will send you a reflex vest…

This is such a brilliant idea!

I want to be part of it too. So if you (only in Sweden since this is a Swedish campaign) order your Fellowship (not renew, but become a new member) before the 22 December and you email Jonas your length (for the vest) then I shall send you a copy of John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty” (please let us know if you want it in Swedish or English).

Posted on by mklang

Rule of Law

Lord Bingham gave a lecture on the Rule of Law (at the Cambridge Centre for Public Law, 16th November 2006). In the lecture he sets out the eight criteria that a society must meet if it is to be said to be obeying the rule of law. Download the pdf or listen to the MP3.

Lord Bingham is infuriatingly modest in his introduction: “I have identified eight such rules, which I shall briefly discuss. There is regrettably little to startle in any of them. More ingenious minds could doubtless propound additional and better sub-rules, or economise with fewer.”
The eight rules which must be fulfilled by a state if it is to claim to be following the rule of law:

  1. the law must be accessible and so far as possible intelligible, clear and predictable.
  2. questions of legal right and liability should ordinarily be resolved by application of the law and not the exercise of discretion.
  3. laws of the land should apply equally to all, save to the extent that objective differences justify differentiation.
  4. the law must afford adequate protection of fundamental human rights.
  5. means must be provided for resolving, without prohibitive cost or inordinate delay, bona fide civil disputes which the parties themselves are unable to resolve.
  6. ministers and public officers at all levels must exercise the powers conferred on them reasonably, in good faith, for the purpose for which the powers were conferred and without exceeding the limits of such powers.
  7. adjudicative procedures provided by the state should be fair.
  8. the existing principle of the rule of law requires compliance by the state with its obligations in international law, the law which whether deriving from treaty or international custom and practice governs the conduct of nations.

Read the lecture, download the MP3 this is a clear concise call to arms. Instead of allowing societies to be persuaded by politicians claiming that law is important this is a list by which such claims may be held accountable.

(via Memex 1.1)

Posted on by mklang