News

The law is an ass

The BBC has a list of most ludicrous laws some of them are really excellent! Here are my favourites:

It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament

In the UK it is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing

It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow

In Switzerland, a man may not relieve himself standing up after 10pm

In Milan, it is a legal requirement to smile at all times, except during funerals or hospital visits

In France, it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon

Check out the whole list here.

Posted on by mklang

Books as marketing channels

A pet hate of mine is people who make notes in library books. I just cannot understand the arrogance of some people who are prepared to borrow a book and then mess it up. It’s not about cost it’s about a lack of interest in other peoples property and a lack of consideration for the next reader.

But now it’s not only the lenders doing it. The Guardian reports that public libraries in the UK will be using books as a direct marketing channel. The project will insert advertising into library books and provide libraries with much needed extra funding.

Up to 500,000 inserts a month are due to be handed out by libraries in Essex, Somerset, Bromley, Leeds and Southend.

The plan is being run by the direct marketing company Howse Jackson, whose business development director Mark Jackson said the company was “very proud” of what he described as “a brand new channel” for direct marketing.

Obviously Mark Jackson is more of a marketer than a reader. Guy Daines (director of policy at the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) was dismayed by the scheme.

(via Lex Ferenda)

Posted on by mklang

Experiences of a semi-nomadic lifestyle

By accepting my new position at Lund’s university I knew I was also accepting a great deal of travel. Before actually beginning the plan was that I would spend 2-3 days a week in Lund, two days in Göteborg, where I maintain a small part of my previous work. Most weekends would be spent in Norway with my girlfriend.

The plan naturally required living in Lund. This turned out to be rather difficult since Lund is a university town (small population – loads of students). Despite this I managed to find a flat with a flatmate. It’s a rather expensive university accommodation – but on the bright side it is in the center of town.

All this was easy enough to plan and predict.

Then came the surprises. Since I spend so little time in any one place:

Buying food for longer periods almost does not work. So I end up eating out a lot more. This is expensive, unhealthy and rather dull in the long run.

There is no point in ordering a morning paper in the letterbox so reading a newspaper becomes a luxury.

The gym is becoming a thing of the past. Running is the activity of choice. However carting around running gear (in particular the shoes) quickly fills any small carrier bag.

Any book, cd, dvd (whatever) you need or want will always be somewhere else.

Travel requires two things organization and patience, the former before and the latter during. Frequent travel requires much more of the same. Missing the bus to work is annoying missing the train is F##cking annoying & embarrassing. I have missed two in the last months.

Since I have always liked words of advice like “Keep your powder dry”, “go west, young man”, and plastics is the future (or something similar in the film The Graduate) here is some advice for others – based upon what I have learned.

– Never take the window seat on trains. In winter the heating is on this side, in summer the heat and light is annoying and if the train is crowded leaving the seat is difficult.
– Extra underwear must be kept at all locations.
– Duplicate (or triplicate) necessities. Shaving kit, after shave, aspirin, running shoes, notebooks, teas, etc etc.
– Make sure you have a bag with all your technical kit. Do not unpack this bag. Keep it close to you at all times. Clean underwear is nothing compared to a mobile with an empty battery.

    Once you start planning and organising things tend to work themselves out rather nicely… Until the next ugly surprise…

    Posted on by mklang

    Another idiotic regulatory attempt

    The latest idiotic proposed legislation comes from Italy. The proposal is that all blogs and websites need to be registered (and taxed).

    Beppe Grillo writes

    Ricardo Franco Levi, Prodi’s right hand man , undersecretary to the President of the Council, has written the text to put a stopper in the mouth of the Internet. The draft law was approved by the Council of Ministers on 12 October. No Minister dissociated themselves from it. On gagging information, very quietly, these are all in agreement.
    The Levi-Prodi law lays out that anyone with a blog or a website has to register it with the ROC, a register of the Communications Authority, produce certificates, pay a tax, even if they provide information without any intention to make money.

    Oh my God, Lets start with the easy stuff.

    First, How will they intend to police this law. The law can apply to all Italian sites. What is an Italian site? Is it:

    1. a site with an Italian domain
    2. a site on a server in Italy
    3. a site in Italian

    Second, what happens when the site is based in several locations with data pulled from several sources? Do they get a tax reduction?

    Third, what is a website? Can you define it legally? Is there a difference between the site, server and domain? What about:

    1. A facebook profile
    2. A blog on blogger
    3. An advert on ebay
    4. A wikipedia page
    5. A flickr profile

    These may be unique individual websites – but they can also be seen as part of a larger domain.
    Fourth, what about free speech rights? Basically an unregistered website would be in violation of the law but would/should the reaction be to close down the site? What happens if a newspaper does not register can they be closed down?

    Fifth, administration. How much money and resource can be used to police a law such as this? Can the revenue it brings in even begin to cover the investigative resources required? No of course not. Imaging attempting to chase every Italian blog. How do you know when they are Italian?

    Proposals to regulate the Internet come at regular intervals. Often they are barely thought through and will collapse before they even reach the enactment stage. Some laws on Internet regulation have been enacted but are then thankfully forgotten by those who should enforce them.

    In the end proposals such as these show that regulators seem to lack even a basic understanding of the technology which most of us use. They also lack a fundamental modern historical approach to regulation. It is really a case of being condemned to repeat the past since we cannot remember it. All the earlier crappy failed attempts to regulate the Internet have failed but since the people proposing regulation have no memory of this we are doomed to see the same mistakes repeated again and again.

    At best this provides a form of light relief and humor.

    (via BoingBoing)

    Posted on by mklang

    You've got to be kidding?

    Consumer Law and Policy Blog has a great article on the moronic “browse-wrap” agreements, a derivation of the “shrinkwrap” licensing terms that appear inside packaged software. The Browse-wrap agreements is the terms and conditions which the company believes that they are able to enforce on anyone who happens to browse over to their website.

    In fact the company Inventor-link has the following terms in there browse-wrap (“Privacy and User Agreement):

    Furthermore, we strictly prohibit any links and or other unauthorized references to our web site without our permission.

    So even without visiting their website they claim that people cannot link to their site without their prior consent.

    Consumer Law and Policy Blog writes:

    Depending on the circumstances of the case, browse-wrap agreements may or may not be enforceable. Where a company has included a provision prohibiting fair use for purposes of criticism, however, it is hard to see how any court would enforce the agreement. Readers of a site have little opportunity to review and agree to such terms, and a reasonable consumer who had reviewed the terms would be unlikely to agree to them.

    Attempting to control linking is not a new phenomena. Back in 2001 KPMG attempted to intimidate the owner of a website and prevent him from linking to the KPMG theme song (oh, yes!) by claiming that he had not been approved through a “Web Link Agreement”, read the story (and the cheesy song lyrics) on Wired.

    The article over at Consumer Law and Policy Blog contains an interesting analysis of the situation and I recommend that everyone should read the article and take a stand to make sure that idiotic licenses (?) such as these become as worthless as the code they are written in.

    Posted on by mklang

    Internet Censorship China

    Reporters Without Borders and Chinese Human Rights Defenders (a Chinese Internet expert working in IT industry) has produced a study on the Chinese official system of online censorship, surveillance and propaganda. For obvious reasons the author of the report prefers to remain anonymous. The RSF press release promises:

    This report shows how the CCP and the government have deployed colossal human and financial resources to obstruct online free expression. Chinese news websites and blogs have been brought under the editorial control of the propaganda apparatus at both the national and local levels.

    … [The report] explains how this control system functions and identifies its leading actors such the Internet Propaganda Administrative Bureau…, the Bureau of Information and Public Opinion… and the Internet Bureau…

    Internet censorship is a vital topic any work in this area is very welcome. Two PhD thesis’ of interest in this area are Stuart Hamilton’s To what extent can libraries ensure free, equal and unhampered access to Internet-accessible information resources from a global perspective? and Johan Lagerkvist The Internet in China: Unlocking and containing the public sphere.

    Posted on by mklang

    Anarchist Cookbook Terrorism Material

    A 17-year-old was arrested in England for “collection or possession of information useful in the preparation of an act of terrorism”. This is naturally terrible. But when you find out that the information useful in the preparation of an act of terrorism was the book The Anarchist Cookbook! This is really stupid. Not only is the information simply a collection of readily information but the book is also available online and also on the Amazon UK page. So why should this get you arrested.

    Picture 17-4 The teenager faces two charges under the Terrorism Act 2000.The first charge relates to the possession of material for terrorist purposes in October last year.

    The second relates to the collection or possession of information useful in the preparation of an act of terrorism.

    Amazon.com’s page for The Anarchist Cookbook contains a note from the author, William Powell, who says “The book, in many respects, was a misguided product of my adolescent anger at the prospect of being drafted and sent to Vietnam to fight in a war that I did not believe in.” (via BBC & Boing Boing)

    What kind of terrorist needs to a buy this silly book? It’s available via links from Wikipedia and its available for download here (among other places). If possession of this book is a violation of the Terrorism Act then would linking to the same be aiding and abetting?

    Posted on by mklang

    For as little as £25…

    Aab_homeApparently the British Library cannot afford to take care of all its old books and has come up with scheme to protect their books: Adopt a book.

    “The beneficiary of your gift can enjoy benefits such as a personalised bookplate added to your chosen book and the chance to view it on a behind the scenes tour. Adopt a Book supports our conservation team, helping us preserve the world’s knowledge for future generations.”

    How to adopt a book:

    (i) decide what level of donation you wish to make,
    (ii) add a title from the list to your shopping basket, and then
    (iii) go the checkout to give your details and make your gift.
    You can choose for the certificate and, where applicable, tour vouchers to be sent to yourself or directly to the beneficiary. We use first class post and aim to reply within three working days.

    This is really a good cause but the whole tone “For as little as £25…” makes the whole thing a bit of a car boot sale. Hardly the way to engender a deepened respect for old valuable books… or is it just me?

    (via Biblioteksrelaterat)

    More news from the British Library is their increased digitalisation project. The British Library has begun a new digitalisation project. This entails the digitalization of over 100 00 books. The focus is on 19th century literature which has not been issued in new editions. It is hoped that the Internet will breathe new life into the old books.

    (via Humaniorabloggen)

    Posted on by mklang

    Information overload is passé

    It used to be called information overload but after reading Jonny’s latest post on the Industrial IT Group blog I have been educated, updated you might even say, that the current term is actually frazzing.*

    Frazzing, short for frantic multitasking, refers to a form of mental channel switching caused by all the distractions we face today: cell phones, sms, e-mails, and loads of web interactions. We should be warned, or so they tell us, about the danger of new technology and the ways in which they disrupt our working life.

    Jonny, you make an interesting observation that a CEO of a tech firm, quoted as saying,

    “There’s plenty of technology. There’s way too much technology, in our opinion, and certainly too much complexity in technology.”

    may in fact be a closet luddite. The argument is – that if people don’t get, or cannot handle, the technology you are secretly against it. Of course the underlying argument is that the luddite’s are wrong and technology is good. You continue:

    Yes, when people are trying to get more done by doing several things at once, it often means that they are able to do nothing particularly well. Technology that is supposed to make us more productive by keeping us connected may only enhance this problem. Then again, technology may be something else than a productivity tool? If people are bored at work and editing their Facebook profile all day, maybe the problem isn’t Facebook?

    Despite the fact that I recently posted a diatribe on web 2.0 in general and Facebook in particular I agree with you. The problem is not the technology but rather our ability to interact and control it (do not interpret this as a slippery slope – the same argument cannot be used for Cocaine).

    The technology is useful and the way in which we interact it defines the way in which we are capable of handling technology without frazzing. But I still have a question: Why aren’t you on Facebook? Your argument would have been more potent if he were there…

    So Jonny, choosing to handle technology by not using it…. isn’t that a bit…. well…. you know…. Luddite?

    —

    * the problem of information overload or frazzing is old and established. In 1984 Jacob Palme wrote an article entitled: “You have 134 unread mail! Do you want to read them now?” In Computer-Based Message Services, H. T. Smith (Ed.), IFIP Proceedings, Elsevier North-Holland, New York.

    Posted on by mklang

    Unhappy lists

    The National Geographic website contains plenty of wonderful reports and pictures. This makes the website well worth visiting regularly. The website also now contains two new unhappy lists. One is the ten most polluted places in the world: La Oroya (Peru), Noril’sk (Russia), Linfen (China), Sukinda (India), Chernobyl (Ukraine), Kabwe (Zambia), Dzerzhinsk (Russia), Vapi (India) and Sumgayit (Azerbaijan)

    The abandoned lead mines in Kabwe

    It is all too easy to see that pollution has occurred somewhere else (preferably far away) and to forget that pollution has occurs as part of larger global system where even those of us in unpolluted countries are responsible and will be affected by the consequences.

    The second list is the announcement of the most endangered species of 2007. These are the Western Lowland Gorilla, Chinese river dolphin, Egyptian vulture, Santa Catalina Island rattlesnake, Banggai cardinal fish, Gharial and Coral. This list is the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. There website is another which is well worth visiting both for their images and the sobering information.

    Banggai cardinal fish

    Posted on by mklang