acurrie

via kanyelicio.us

Let's hope all this is over soon...

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Columbia Pictures’ and Sony Pictures Animation’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs will be the most delicious event since macaroni met cheese. Inspired by the beloved children’s book, the film focuses on a town where food falls from the sky like rain.

via apple.com

I scored a free ticket for an advance screening of this absolutely unremarkable piece of Hollywood dreck courtesy of my friend Emily.

Considering that this 3D feature film was adapted from a 20-page children's book I guess my expectations should have been lower. Even so, it was awful -- even the kids there thought so...

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Nokia’s 5130 XpressMusic is available immediately in two color combinations — black/red and pear white/aqua. On a 2-year contract, it’ll run you $29.99 after a $20 mail-in rebate in stores and online.

via boygeniusreport.com

Pear white/aqua, you say? Not Bondi Blue...?

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Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

I stand firm in my belief that Easy Peasy remains the best choice for most users wishing to run Linux full-time on their sub-notebook, but if, like me, you’re not content with something that works perfectly well and seek instead something that makes you stand out in a crowd then you’ll definitely want to check out CrunchEee — a variant of CrunchBang Linux optimized for Eee PC netbooks.

CrunchEee comes with the custom Array.org kernel built-in, so WPA-encypted WiFi and the unique ad-hoc connection of Joikuspot are supported on start-up. There’s also an Eee-specific panel that lets you manage Bluetooth connections, your webcam and also gives you some performance presets for your Asus machine.

And… that’s about all you get. Seriously.

CrunchEee flaunts the absence of features as much as anything else. Consider that there’s no office suite, games pack or — near as I can tell — a desktop file, even! Of course, apps are readily available via the standard Synaptic package manager, but the minimalism in CrunchEee goes well beyond its black colour scheme.

Consider the complete absence of desktop icons… Clearly, n00bs aren’t welcome here, and l33t #! users will already know that a right-click of their mouse or trackpad will bring up a contextual menu of apps and such — though they’re just as likely to use keyboard shortcuts to get their haX0r party started.

There are precious few GUI tools here, most of your CrunchEee customization will be done by cutting and pasting snippets of text — like this bit I needed to get the volume keys on my Eee PC 901 working.

And no discussion of editing text files would be complete without bowing at the feet of the masterpiece of geekery that is Conky.

Described by its makers as a “lightweight system monitor”, Conky’s appeal is that it is almost infinitley customizable — witness the endless galleries of Conky config files like the ones here and here. As for me, I’ve yet to memorize the “super” shortcut keys in my CrunchEee installation, so I’ll be keeping the default config for now.

CrunchEee is based on the Ubuntu 8.10 kernel — there’s a new version of CrunchBang, with 9.04 but without the Array.org customization for my Eee’s WiFi needs. I tried to install the Array.org kernel myself once and it didn’t take. I guess I’m still a Linux n00b after all… Just don’t tell anyone, okay?

I can’t imagine surfing the web without Opera Mini and that alone is one of the main reasons I stick to Symbian devices.

via intomobile.com

Click here for my first of review of Opera Mini a year and a half ago.

This new version adds tabbed browsing and thumbnails on your start page. And apparently there's better support for S60 5th Edition touch devices, another big plus...

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

Onto the results, from over 130 people on five smartphone platforms, all data gathered yesterday in one 18 hour period. Each person could only nominate three apps that they couldn't live without:

• Gravity (Symbian OS) - 65 nominations
• Google Maps (Symbian OS, basic version built into other platforms) - 31
• Opera Mini (Java-hosted, Symbian OS, Blackberry or Windows Mobile or feature phones) - 18
• GMail (Java-hosted, all platforms except iPhone) - 12
• Facebook (Widget/native, depending on platform) - 10
• Profimail (Symbian OS) - 10
• Mobbler (Symbian OS) - 10
• Nimbuzz (all platforms) - 10

via allaboutsymbian.com

Since I missed this survey, I'll chime in with my three must-have S60 apps:

1. Opera Mini
2. Joikuspot
3. Qik

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

Thus, ironically, just when Nokia finally perfects the non-touchscreen ‘multimedia computer’, the market forces them to move in a completely different direction, using an interface that is currently sub-par.

via symbian-guru.com

Having used an N97 myself for two weeks last summer I myself would be interested more in the qwerty keypad than the touchscreen. So the N900 is, I guess, the obvious choice for me -- that is, once Nokia releases a version that will run 3G on proper North American frequencies...

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

We have had blank media levies in Canada for almost ten years. The first tariff was imposed on December 18, 1999.

In that time, CPCC (the levy collective) proudly claims that:

Since then, more than $150 million has been paid to songwriters, composers, recording artists and other rights holders for the copying of their music. This money has been received by over 97,000 rights holders, most of whom would not be able to continue their careers without this revenue.

That's less than $1,600 over ten years or an average of less than $160 a year for each of these rights holders, most of whom would supposedly "not be able to continue their careers without this revenue.”

via excesscopyright.blogspot.com

Dude, I don't doubt for a moment that you're right. But that photo has *got* to go. Srsly...

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

 

Since CBC content is funded by the public, shouldn't the public own it? Or at least have access to it? Actually, the CBC archives are just the tip of the iceberg: the overwhelming majority of stuff made for Canadians with Canadians' money is inaccessible to Canadians.

via boingboing.net

So says Jesse Brown, host of the interwebs' most important Podcast (if not the best)...

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

Nokia has a truly horrendous marketing decision on its hands - how do you market what's meant to be your key smartphone (the N97) when it's so much worse than your other smartphone that's not actually meant to be a phone at all!

via mobilementalism.com

Many thanks to fellow Twitter-er Brandon for bringing this to my attention...

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

Whether it's playing music or taking photos or handling email or browsing the Web or.... simply making phone calls, the N97 wins out.

via allaboutsymbian.com

Despite an onscreen-only qwerty keypad the Hero ha a modern UI and the ability to run innovative software like Layar, the augmented reality browser.

I'm not saying the AAS is wrong here -- I'm saying I need to get my hands on a Hero and see for myself.

Little help...?

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

You've already read my answers to the five questions put forth by the Canadian government -- now check out my killer footnotes!

This document was created using OpenOffice, a platform-agnostic open-source software suite free to use under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License.
For more information, please visit http://about.openoffice.org/

Yeah, I went there...

It has been made available for sharing using the Portable Document Format (PDF), recognized in 2008 as an open standard for electronic file formats by the International Organization for Standardization.
For more information, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Document_Format

"Oh no you di'int..."

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.
To view a copy of this license, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/

OH SNAP!!1!

This document is publicly available online at http://www.scribd.com/acurrie
“When information is generally useful, redistributing it makes humanity wealthier no matter who is distributing and no matter who is receiving.”
For more free information, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_wants_to_be_free

Boom! You're done. Stay down, if you know what's good for ya... 8-)

 

Download now or preview on posterous

andrew_currie_copycon.pdf (51 KB)

 

Posted via email from Andrew Currie on Posterous

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

So I'm finally getting around to finishing my submission to our government's public consultation on copyright...

There are five key questions to answer:

1. How do Canada’s copyright laws affect you? How should existing laws be modernized?
2. Based on Canadian values and interests, how should copyright changes be made in order to withstand the test of time?
3. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster innovation and creativity in Canada?   
4. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster competition and investment in Canada?
5. What kinds of changes would best position Canada as a leader in the global, digital economy?

Here's the first final draft of my answer to Question #5 -- unless you have something to say about it!

5. What kinds of changes would best position Canada as a leader in the global, digital economy?

I am heartened that my government understands the global and digital opportunities for Canada's intellectual property.

I have hopefully made a compelling case against the use of digital locks. I will additionally submit that the specific practice of region-locking media has no place in an era of instant, global publishing, as media in digital form is no longer a scarce commodity. Furthermore there is no need to prioritize Canadian content on the Internet, as finding such things is as easy as entering "Canada" into an Internet search engine.

I would also call upon our government to resist the pressure of certain WIPO member countries and not support a proposed and so far internationally unpopular ratification of the current treaty.

Continuing to look abroad I am hopeful that Canada will learn the hard lessons of the DMCA in the United States, which has most certainly not stopped piracy and has succeeded only in bankrupting students and single mothers.

Here at home I would ask my government to closely review the groundswell of criticism to Bill C-61, thankfully scrapped as a by-product of the last election call. Hopefully a similar situation this autumn won't derail the efforts of this important consultation!

Thoughts/feedback/etc. are still welcome -- I'm emailing this pig tomorrow!

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

To pretend that the WIPO copyright treaty is a big deal around the world is simply not true as less than 50 per cent of countries have ratified it. It will only stifle innovation and harm the preservation of the public domain.

via itworldcanada.com

Keep this in mind when you're writing up your CopyCon submission.

You are writing up a CopyCon submission, aren't you...?

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

Key Recommendations

1. Expand the definition of fair-dealing to be more flexible and inclusive.
2. Regulate the use of technological protection measures so that they do not interfere with users’ legitimate attempts to use copyrighted works.
3. Eliminate Crown copyright.
4. Strictly limit statutory damages.
5. Enhance moral rights to protect creators.
6. Establish a “notice and notice” system of Internet copyright enforcement.

Download now or preview on posterous

CFS-submission-copyright-consultation-2009.pdf (2703 KB)

Posted via email from Andrew Currie on Posterous

So I'm finally getting around to writing up my submission to our government's public consultation on copyright...

There are five key questions to answer:

1. How do Canada’s copyright laws affect you? How should existing laws be modernized?
2. Based on Canadian values and interests, how should copyright changes be made in order to withstand the test of time?
3. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster innovation and creativity in Canada?   
4. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster competition and investment in Canada?
5. What kinds of changes would best position Canada as a leader in the global, digital economy?

Here's the first draft of my answer to Question #4:

4. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster competition and investment in Canada?

As its very name would suggest, I believe that the future of content is new, not old, media. And to properly embrace this future Canada must prioritize the needs of new media creation over the wants of old media companies trying to protect their archaic ways of doing business.

One innovative approach to copyright already exists and seems to be working well on Internet sites like Wikipeda and the made-in-Canada photo-sharing service Flickr:

http://creativecommons.org/

Creative Commons offers an international standard for IP use with a range of licensing options that are free of legal jargon and thus clear enough for an end user to understand. I myself have benefitted from Creative Commons numerous times, and have had my photography published in international mass media because of it.

I have read elsewhere about suggestions to broaden the levy on blank media to subsidize the funding for new media creation. To be honest I'm unclear as to whether this current levy subsidizes new works by artists or instead just pays off old media companies and maintains the current (and broken) status quo.

I would propose instead that the major ISPs in this country, being the point of entry to the Internet, be required themselves to provide additional funding for made-in-Canada new media.

Thoughts/feedback/etc. are most welcome, as I won't be making my final submission until the end of the week...

Posted via web from Andrew Currie on Posterous

So I'm finally getting around to writing up my submission to our government's public consultation on copyright...

There are five key questions to answer:

1. How do Canada’s copyright laws affect you? How should existing laws be modernized?
2. Based on Canadian values and interests, how should copyright changes be made in order to withstand the test of time?
3. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster innovation and creativity in Canada?   
4. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster competition and investment in Canada?
5. What kinds of changes would best position Canada as a leader in the global, digital economy?

Here's the first draft of my answer to Question #3:

3. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster innovation and creativity in Canada?

It is my belief that art, culture and innovation in this country would greatly benefit from two things:

I. More fair dealing -- specifically, more exemptions for education & research and less criminalization of non-commercial use.

I hopefully don't need to impress upon this government that those in our education system hold the keys to Canada's future. As such their needs should be given at least a double-weighting against any argument put forth by for-profit intellectual property industries.

This is not to say that IP makers don't deserve to make a profit, but they do need to understand that not all sharing is piracy. Fan pages on the web, mash-ups and yes, even file sharing engage people in the arts and oftentimes bring more paying customers directly to content creators. Though sharing media has never been easier, finding the original source has also become a similarly trivial thing.

II. A shorter copyright term. 5 years, 10, 25... Anything would be better than what we must currently endure.

I wrote above that Canada's big media companies have no right to hold our nation's culture hostage. Worthy artists certainly deserve compensation for their current endeavours, but locking up our cultural archives benefits almost no one.

We have an opportunity here to free up an important facet of our shared history by releasing archival works into the public domain. This would go a long way towards keeping our culture alive, and as new generations of Canadians engage with it what was old will once again become new.

Any feedback is welcome, as I won't be making my final submission until the end of the week...

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