In the past few weeks The Guardian has published a few articles that I generally refer to as ‘Our Digital Future’. These are important takes on the future of digital consumption, archiving, and rules, which, in my opinion, everyone should read and consider.
Cory Doctorow tells us that… the corporation is endangering its own future by letting the Hollywood studios set the rules for its HD broadcasts.
Steve Plunkett explains how milestones such as Project Canvas will bring together broadcast television and online media.
Victor Keegan on The issue of copyright is a global nightmare for anyone interested in digital preservation.
and also:
Cory Doctorow asks in part 2 of his article: Is crippling our sets, and handing over our cultural regulation to a foreign cartel, the best way to get viewers switched on to high-definition?
*** Update: a new article has been added.
John Naughton writes in The Observer:
The web may be global but sovereign states still make up the rules.
– Let me know what you think.
Big news this morning:
Yahoo and arch rival Google said on Thursday they had entered a non-exclusive partnership on search advertising expected to add as much as $800 million in annual revenue.
This deal will give Yahoo! some money to breathe and will take Microsoft off their back. The real reason behind it is to give Yahoo! a bit more time to find a better partner and learn about my idea.
In short: Adobe and Yahoo! should strike a winning deal.
[I probably need to write a better proposal... now that time is on our side]
** Update **
Incremental Blogger suggests that “Yahoo should acquire AllTop.com along with Guy Kawasaki“.
This is not a bad idea in its own right - directories are part of the DNA of Yahoo and Kawasaki does twits everyone with his AllTop evangelism. Advertising is maybe an answer, but its not the future. It could help Yahoo momentarily [like the Google donation], but it wouldn’t make it different and kicking.
We need something bigger here, something futuristic, something that will take Yahoo out of the miseries of Web 2.0 and into Web 3.0 [I'm afraid that Web 3.0 is going to be like World War III, but that's a different post].
Adobe, with their technological control over the future of the market, and with their stronghold of holding creative people in the balls, can trigger that move, and hey – every company in the world uses Adobe products. It will give Yahoo the leverage they need, and a lot of it.
To my original post - Adobe + Yahoo = Web 3.0
Can someone please introduce this idea to both of the above companies?
Yesterday the news brought back the soap story of Yahoo vs “Big Company”, and I’ve had an idea.
I like Yahoo! I like Adobe!
I think it’ll be a good idea if they’ll join hands and merge (or whatever companies do).
Two days ago Adobe released their news Media Player. Few weeks ago they’ve released Adobe Photoshop Express.
Wouldn’t it be just great if Flickr and Photoshop would live together?
It’ll be a lot better then Flickr and Microsoft Expression…
Yesterday, while strolling through one of the torrent sites, I came across a new album by NIN, called Ghosts I.
I normally buy the Nine Inch Nails albums, but I thought I’ll download it to check it out first. When Ghost I was downloaded I discovered a readme.txt file in it:
This torrent is an official upload from Nine Inch Nails.
We’re very proud to present a new collection of instrumental music, Ghosts I-IV. Â Almost two hours of music recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I-IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.
Now that we’re no longer constrained by a record label, we’ve decided to personally upload Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, to various torrent sites, because we believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution method, and we believe in finding ways to utilize new technologies instead of fighting them.
We encourage you to share the music of Ghosts I with your friends, post it on your website, play it on your podcast, use it for video projects, etc. Â It’s licensed for all non-commercial use under Creative Commons.
We’ve also made a 40 page PDF book to accompany the album. Â If you’d like to download it for free, visit http://ghosts.nin.com/main/pdf
Ghosts I is the first part of the 36 track collection Ghosts I-IV. Â Undoubtedly you’ll be able to find the complete collection on the same torrent network you found this file, but if you’re interested in the release, we encourage you to check it out at ghosts.nin.com, where the complete Ghosts I-IV is available directly from us in a variety of DRM-free digital formats, including FLAC lossless, for only $5. Â You can also order it on CD, or as a deluxe package with multitrack audio files, high definition audio on Blu-ray disc, and a large hard-bound book.
We genuinely appreciate your support, and hope you enjoy the new music. Â Thanks for listening.
http://ghosts.nin.com
Hence, what started as the illegal act of downloading an album over a torrent site, ended up as a totally legal act, approved by the creators of the content.
Maybe BitTorrent is not a bad word after all…
The new Rambo film is out, and includes a basic plot: John Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn Burma, and rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit.
But now it seems that Sylvester Stallone is taking the film back to reality and has a message for the Burmese military government, via Reuters. :
“Why don’t you invite me over? Let me take a tour of your country without someone pointing a gun at my head and we’ll show you where all the bodies are buried.”
But not only that, according to news reports
the Burmese have “gone crazy” over bootleg copies of the film, and the line “Live for nothing. Die for something” is being used as a rallying cry by dissidents. “This movie could fuel the sentiment of Myanmar people to invite American troops to help save them from the junta,” one Yangon resident told Reuters.
[Link]
On to other news:
Son of Osama Bin Laden, Omar, said to his dad:
“Try to find another way to help or find your goal… This bomb, these weapons, it’s no good to use it for anybody.”
[Link]