war

Creative Commons Philippines Launch

Congratulations to the Philippines Creative Commons to their upcoming launch on the 14th January. From the Creative Commons press release:

Following the unveiling of the Philippine localized Creative Commons licenses in December, citizens of the archipelago will gather today in Manila to celebrate in full the public launch of its completed licenses and the country’s strides towards fostering the global commons movement.

Attorney Jaime N. Soriano, Creative Commons Philippines Project Lead and Executive Director of the e-Law Center, announces that the launch activities are scheduled to take place on January 14, 2008 from 1:00pm to 9:00pm at the Arellano University School of Law.

The event will consist of three parts: 1) an orientation to projects by stakeholders in the Philippine Commons, with the aim of developing a local collaboration promoting alternative licensing, free and open source software, open education, and free culture;  2) the public presentation of the CC Philippine Licensing Suite Version 3.0, which has been available online since its soft launch December 15, 2007; and 3) the CC Philippines Concert featuring  more than six local rock bands.

Posted on by mklang

Dangerous Technology

An Australian advertising campaign is aimed at raising awareness to the dangers of listening to music via headphones while in traffic.

nswpolice_1a.jpg

nswpolice_2.jpg

nswpolice_3.jpg

DDB Sydney has released a print campaign to raise awareness of the fact that the number of teenagers dying as a result of listening to ipods whilst they cross the road is beginning to reach “epidemic proportions”. I like the art direction of this campaign, even though i would have liked to see some different executions. Maybe use other models of the iPod. (adgoodness)

OK so there are a lot of teenagers with headphones but it’s not only teenagers. I am not only talking about my own experience – look around! Things that may have been known as being in the realm of the teenagers are now firmly part of adult and middle age life. And they are here to stay. If I end up in an old folks home I totally expect there to be wifi, network games and all the other toys that I depend upon.

Posted on by mklang

Real academics walk the walk they talk

Like most academics I know, I tend to say yes to most offers to do extra work. Your schedule seems too full? No way! Of course you accept to give a lecture, write a chapter, hold a seminar, write a short text, give an interview…

Therefore at the beginning of the new year I doubt that I am alone in playing Tetris with my calender in a vain attempt to fit in all the things I promised and still find time to work with the mundane everyday task of research. Despite being aware of this I have already promised to do several things besides my actual work for example:

  • Book chapter on digital resistance in Swedish
  • Revise two research papers
  • Review two research papers
  • Write a commentary on the GPLv3
  • Launch a new journal
  • Teach in Lund & Göteborg
  • Lecture in Stockholm
  • Hold a seminar in Göteborg

And it’s still only January. I must be more protective of my time or I shall be totally unable to implement my major plan for being a productive academic. Why is it that most academics seem to be only too happy to say yes to all the extra work? In the past I had an idea that if I turned an extra task down I would never be asked again. This may be true but it is still not really a strong reason for saying Yes.

Part of me says Yes because I am flattered simply by the fact that I was asked. Another part of me says Yes because I want to show that I can do the job. The academic system that schooled me taught that many of the extra tasks we do (for which the only reward is a dubious honor or community recognition) are all part of the way in which an academic should behave. Part of the norms which make up the academic community. In a sense the extra work is not our reward but it actually defines who we are as academics. Or could it just be that I am a glutton for punishment?

Posted on by mklang

Seven Random Things

After reading the results of the Seven Random Things meme at both The Mummy’s Bracelet and The Little Professor I want to join in.

  • I grew up on the island of Malta where I attended an all boys catholic school. I have been an atheist as long as I can remember.
  • I once predicted that I would never need a mobile phone. I have lost count of how many I have owned.
  • As a child I was accident prone and required stitches on several occasions, I lost half a finger before I was two – but I have never broken a bone.
  • My first job was at McDonalds I survived 4 days before quitting.
  • I have been a vegetarian for twenty years but recently I have become aware of the fact that I don’t know why.
  • Science Fiction/Fantasy books bore me, but I like the films. Deep films bore me but I like to read the books. But I rarely read fiction.
  • I almost didn’t survive law school. Bad study routines, computer games (especially Diablo) and insufficient interest in general law almost made me quit. I wonder where I would be today.

Naturally its easy to tag friends like TechnoLlama, Jonas, Hesa, Cyberlaw… But I would also like to tag some of the blogs I regularly read so Mothugg, Stephen, Joi & Jill consider yourselves tagged!

Posted on by mklang

Steal This Film II

Copyright never was what it used to be and the struggle to define the purpose and limits over the protection of intellectual property (or indeed the idea of intellectual property) continues daily.

One example of the ongoing debate is an op-ed in the Swedish paper Expressen a group of Swedish politicians called for the legalization of file sharing. One of the politicians was a police officer. But this is more an example of the exception than the rule.

The real attempt to draw the lines that may limit copyright occur every day and are defined in the way in which we all collectively use our technology. The act of file sharing by an individual is, in of itself, an unimportant act. Taken collectively file sharing is a massive active form of resistance and a re-interpretation of the the general consciousness of justice, right, wrong & morality.

Another important position is taken by those who actively comment and interpret the acts of all those involved in the re-definition of copyright. An important contribution to this is the film Steal this Film II. It features scholars such as Yochai Benkler, Felix Stalder, Siva Vaidhyanathan, and Howard Rheingold and portrays file sharing and the copyright debate as a historical development in the urge to regulate the spread of information.

Over at the Industrial IT Group blog Jonny has written a very good analysis of the importance of the film. Watch the movie, read the analysis and get involved in the most interesting re-defition of law in our time. 


Posted on by mklang

Trysil

Off to bed soon. All the packing is done. The skibox is on the car and we are heading off to Trysil. The weather looks good (between -2 tomorrow and -13 on Monday) so my first skiing experience should be a good one. The main part of my first skiing will be cross country rather than alpine but I hope to try the latter as well.

411846217_7c1d713671.jpg

Photo jmcunnin2000

Besides the fun of buying “functional” clothes and equipment that boggles the mind (for example ski wax!) their is a technique to be mastered (source wikipedia): herringbone, diagonal stride, double pole with kick, and double pole.

  • Herringbone: This technique is used for climbing steep hills. A walking or running action with splayed skis and without any glide. The poles are planted alternately behind the skis. A distinctive herringbone pattern is left in the snow.
  • Diagonal stride: An exaggerated running action with parallel skis and a glide on each stride. The poles are planted alternately on the opposite side to the kick. For experienced skiers this technique is used uphill. Less experienced skiers also employ the diagonal stride on the flat.
  • Double pole with kick: Both poles are planted simultaneously to give a powerful thrust. As the poles swing forwards again a single leg kick is made. This technique is used when the skier is still moving too quickly to diagonal stride, but is having difficulty double poling (typically on slight uphills or at the bottom of a long hill, just before switching to diagonal stride).
  • Double pole: As above but without the kick. During some long races, in reasonably flat terrain, competitors double pole for the majority of the course

So having purchased the clothes, looked up the information online and read-up on the technology I am prepared to go where I have never gone before and make a total ass of myself, again 🙂

Check out the Trysil webcam.

Posted on by mklang

Arrogant, Daring & Right

Found a new voice of wisdom (to call it vox populi would probably be wrong) today. Alf Rehn writes an excellent rant about the research article in the context of the UK RAE (Research Assessment Exercise) system:

Now, what I find absolutely horrendous and directly unethical is that all this denigrates the scholarly book, the research monograph. The way I was raised into academia, this was what you meant by research, and now a bunch of foreign bureaucrats with language problems are saying that this does not count? Well, fuck you and the horse you rode in on. Writing a journal article, to me, is mainly an exercise in typing. There are rote formulas to get a journal article done (well known such, looking at the shite that gets published), and it frankly bores me a lot of the time. A book, however, is another matter. A book takes time to craft, and the sheer length thereof forces one to work in an altogether different manner. I was taught by my Doktorvater the following: If you haven’t written a serious monograph, you shouldn’t be made a PhD. If you haven’t written two, you’re not a serious scholar. “—And never let one who hasn’t written three serious books become a professor! It cheapens the title.” And damn good advice it was too.

It’s provocative, it’s daring, maybe it could be a bit reactionary, it’s definitely bold, ballsy and forward. It also happens to be correct. Go Alf!

(via Imaginary Magnitude)

Posted on by mklang

Doris Lessing on the power of books

Last night Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Read her Nobel lecture online, it was delivered on Friday 7 December at the Swedish Academy by Nicholas Pearson, Doris Lessing’s publisher in the UK. In her speech she points to the importance of books and reading for the creation of literature and she also takes a swipe at the banality of the Internet compared with the depth of literature. But the part I enjoyed the best came towards the end…

The storyteller is deep inside everyone of us. The story-maker is always with us. Let us suppose our world is attacked by war, by the horrors that we all of us easily imagine. Let us suppose floods wash through our cities, the seas rise … but the storyteller will be there, for it is our imaginations which shape us, keep us, create us – for good and for ill. It is our stories, the storyteller, that will recreate us, when we are torn, hurt, even destroyed. It is the storyteller, the dream-maker, the myth-maker, that is our phoenix, what we are at our best, when we are our most creative.

Posted on by mklang

FSCONS and Skolelinux

The FSCONS conference was really good. I managed to speak to many interesting people and my presentation turned into a very good interactive discussion with the audience. The only thing that is wrong is that I am unable to attend the second day which is today. The reason for this is that my grandmother is 90. This is a birthday that cannot be missed so I am on the train to Stockholm.

As part of the FSCONS the Free Software Foundation Europe created and handed out the first Free Software Scandinavian Award. Since I was on the award committee I know first hand how interesting reviewing and discussing Free Software projects and initiatives can be. Here is the press release about the award which went to the excellent Norwegian project Skolelinux:

Free Software Foundation Europe is proud to announce that the Norwegian project Skolelinux is the winner of the first Free Software Scandinavian Award handed out at during the Free Software Conference Scandinavia 2007 in Göteborg friday 2007-12-07.

Skolelinux has under a long period of time worked hard to promote the use of Free Software as well as the use of free and open standards and file formats. By using low cost or spare hardware, schools and other public institutions can find a free and cheap IT solution made to meet their needs.

Skolelinux captures a big part of the free software spirit; sharing and reusing. By focusing on schools, Skolelinux makes sure students, tomorrow’s computer users, and decision makers, can grow up in a spirit of sharing, reusing and learning from family, friends and neighbours.

The goals of Skolelinux are to:

* Provide a complete software solution using free software tailored for the needs and use-cases in educational scenarios.

* Pre-configured for easy installation (standalone, as well as network-wide roll out).

* Easy to use, maintain, and administer.

* Supporting your native language.

* Classify and package all free software related to education.

* Write documentation to describe how to use the various software (in an educational context).

* International availability, currently being translated into more than 50 languages.

Skolelinux has combined important, and dedicated work contributions with technical knowledge and political skills.

The adoption of Skolelinux in so many countries around the globe shows that the use of Free Software and open standards has really been spreading in a very positiv way.

The next milestone is that we are now seeing the merge of different school systems based on Free Software. The largest example is the merge between Skolelinux and the very successful Spanish GNU/LinEx project which has at the moment more than 250.000 users and 80.000 work stations in use in schools in Extremadura. The one laptop for every two pupils project.

Both Skolelinux and the GNU/LinEx buildts on Debian GNU/Linux and can enjoy the many synergy effects.

By focusing on schools the Skolelinux project shows by example how Free Software can be used. The jury finds this strategy important for the continued use of free and open standards.

Short about Skolelinux:

GNU/Linux in Schools

Skolelinux is free, stable, future secured, sustainable, and is upgraded frequently

– no license problems
– easy and time saving administration
– security updates are made quickly available
– simple system updating
– good administration of the software packets
– older PC ‘s can be used as thin clients
– no dependence on commercial interests/vendor lock in

About the leadership:
———————
The Skolelinux project has “doer democracy” which means that the active persons decide! The merit lies in your contributions not in your title.

The free, open source code in the project is very valuable because the source code is available making it is easy to change and
customize. This is illustrated by the many languages that are being supported. In a digitalized world it is important for the survival of the cultures that even small national languages are being actively supported.

The collaboration platform:
—————————
The Skolelinux version 3.0r1 is now available. There has been a valuable collaboration between the following countries: Germany, Spain , France, Greece and Norway. Lately also with a Canadian School project.

For some years now there have been regular meetings between different free software school systems and projects. The reason being to share cool applications and avoid double work. A win-win situation for all.

Congratulations again to Skolelinux. We wish you continued growths and success.

The Scandinavian Free Software Award
————————————

The Scandinavian Free Software Award has been designed for Nordic citizens, projects or organizations that make an outstanding contribution to the Free Software movement. Free Software projects, efforts, achievements of all kinds – including work done by Nordic citizens which has had a large effect in other parts of the world are eligible to be nominated. It is the aim of FSCONS 2007 that this award becomes an annual event.

Jury 2007:

The jury is compiled by Nordic citizens only. This year the members are:

– Anne Østergaard (Gnome Foundation, Denmark)
– Henrik Sandklef (FSFE, Sweden)
– Jonas Öberg (FSFE, Sweden)
– Marcus Rejås (FSFE, Sweden)
– Mathias Klang (FSFE, Sweden)
– Petter Reinholdtsen (NUUG, Norway)

Here is the complete list of nominated projects.

Posted on by mklang

Free Software Conference

On Friday and Saturday it’s time for FSCONS which is a conferences where the goal is to allow:

Top notch programmers, hackers, lawyers, and government representatives will speak to idealistic programmers, hackers, lawyers, companies and ordinary computer users. Spreading the buzz for Free Software in the region and keeping people informed about what is happening are just the very obvious goals.

The speakers at the conference promise to make this an event to remember, not to mention the many visitors who will be attending. The conference is a good mix between hard-core programmers and the activists. In particular I am looking forward to meeting and listening to presenters from organisations like EFF, Wikimedia Sweden, Google & Skolelinux.

Posted on by mklang