From my viewpoint I agree with Kirkman, things must change, I find myself reading stories that although new can easily be read as rehashing older ideas (some not so old), the lack of creativity in especially DC and Marvel results in a recycling of characters and plots which inevitably will lead to a creativity stagnation.

So what are your views:
- Do you even read comics?
- Do have an opinion on the future of the big four (Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image)?
- Have you noticed a dip in creativity in the mainstream?
- Do you read independent/creator owned titles?

(via: Angry Zen Master)

Viacom had previously taken out a court order against Google demanding that the entire databse of user information for YouTube be handed over, including identifying information about individuals’ viewing habits. Viacom argued that this information was important to its copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube, but that individuals would not be prosecuted for watching copyright videos. Instead, the information was to be used to establish viewing trends.

Privacy and civil liberties campaigners argued that this personal information was not required, and constituted a gross invasion of users’ privacy.

Google will now hand over the user database, but with identifying information removed. So, presumably Viacom can still establish their viewing trends, but individual users can rest easy that they aren’t about to receive a threatening letter through the post.

“Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled.”

So, yeah… to put it simply… YOU WHAT!?!?!

No really… I had to make sure I had read this correctly and it was saying what I thought it was saying. It was. Viacom has got a legal decision that will force YouTube to hand over records of not just Viacom copyrighted material but EVERY and ANY video watched on YouTube and information that shows who they are!

The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) is understandably rather upset and shocked by this ruling (you can see thier blog post here). Thier reaction is summed up well by their closing statement:

“The Court’s erroneous ruling is a set-back to privacy rights, and will allow Viacom to see what you are watching on YouTube. We urge Viacom to back off this overboard request and Google to take all steps necessary to challenge this order and protect the rights of its users.”

While it possible to debate the pro’s and con’s of various net issues such as, net neutrality, piracy, freedom of speech, and even personal privacy, this ruling I think is less defensible. If it just targeted violations of Viacoms copyright and intellectual properties you could defend this ruling, but since it targets all videos it becomes a major violation of rights and privacy, and its not even a government but a corporation.

So, does this ruling up set you as much as it does me? Am I wrong to be upset? Is Viacom justified? Or is this just a sad reflection on the state of the internet and the world?

(via BBCNews)

Image by hinderik
Used under creative commons

No, it’s not about misplacing the cover for a promotional CD… Universal have been trying to prevent an eBay trader from selling promotional CDs online, citing the reason that promo CDs remain the property of the record company and, therefore, the trader is infringing Universal’s copyright.

The question is, “Who owns promotional CDs?” The record companies say that they do, of course.

The US case against Troy Augusto has been dismissed, with the judge ruling that he has the right to sell the CDs on. The case is being watched by UK lawyers while they decide what should happen with a DJ who has been arrested for selling pre-release CDs on eBay before their official retail release. Again, who owns the pre-release CDs? Is it the DJ, or the record company?

Universal say that they will appeal against the US ruling, so the story ain’t quite over yet!

Thanks to BBC news for reporting on the ruling.

Our lives are becoming increasingly monitored we are constantly under surveillance, our movements, purchasing habits and more can be tracked and analysed by not just the government but corporations. Now the same level of surveillance may well becoming the norm from our ISPs (Internet Service Provider) as we surf what is meant to be one of the last bastions of free speech.

There is a growing movement within ISPs to “listen” in to your data use for either advertising use or for third party interest groups such as music and film industry. Take Virgin Media, which used to the really good broadband provider Blueyonder, has announced that it is working with the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) to monitor the data use of its service users to see if they are downloading music illegally and then send letters to them about it.

Now here is the problem with this, are they going to just monitor BitTorrent usage or are they going to snoop so much they actually detect what information is being torrented? If the first then that will catch those who use BitTorrent legally (yes it does have its legal uses), if the second then that is, in my view, an invasion of privacy as they monitor and analyse ALL data coming in… of course this makes it highly unlikely as that would cost a lot.

Then there is the whole issue of Phorm and the controversy surrounding it (also here) is another concern that keeps growing. There is of course moves to make Phorm illegal under the wiretapping law, which raises questions about the above snooping by Virgin (and other ISPs eventually).

Of course this all touches on the larger issues of civil liberties, freedom, surveillance, big brother, net neutrality, and the like. But what do you guys think, do you think data snopping is ok? Do you think its a good thing? Whats your views of Phorm? Should we just accept this as an inevitable part of our world now?

Let the (civil) discussion begin

via BBCNews

The 3G iPhone
“Twice as fast, half the price”

Apple have finally announced the 3G iPhone at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, putting an end to the persistent rumours of an iPhone upgrade. The new phone, when using the 3G network, boasts significant speed advantages; apparently approaching wi-fi speeds and around 36% faster than the Nokia N95.

Another new feature, and one which made me jealous of my Blackberry-toting friends when I realised the Blackberry already had this, is built-in GPS. Whilst the iPhone can still get location data from cell-towers and wi-fi networks, the addition of GPS is a very welcome one which, to be honest, kind of negates the need for the other two. The accuracy and dynamic updating of GPS will make the iPhone’s location-aware features all the more useful.

When I asked about a 3G iPhone in the O2 shop, the sales guy told me that the reason there wasn’t one at the moment was because 3G phones were notoriously bad on battery life. Fortunately, the iPhone seems to have got over that problem, with up to 300 hours standby time, and up to 5 hours of 3G talk time. That extends to 10 hours if using a 2G connection.

The camera is still only 2 megapixels, which is a bit of a downer to be honest, but photo geotagging has been added to the mix which, if nothing else, wins extra gadget points.

Now for the best bit; the price. It is being billed as half the original price: Apple’s tagline is “Twice as fast, half the price”.

The 3G iPhone is released on 11th July. Visit www.apple.com/iphone for all the details.

This mistake caused £5million worth of hull damage when the tracing paper obscured vital information on the charts and the Trafalgar grounded off the island of Fladda-chuain in November 2002. Commanders Fancy and McGhie were later reprimanded at court-marshal for their part in allowing the incident to take place.

I love the fact that the most advanced weapons platform in the Royal Navy still uses written charts (I guess GPS doesn’t work under water?), and that so much damage could be caused by the decision to put tracing paper on top!

Image by Fred Dawson - used under Creative Commons lisence

Hmm, it’s never going to catch on as a protest chant, really, but creating cheap and clean energy is in demand. The problem is it takes a lot of solar panels to generate the same energy load as, say, a nuclear power station. How about building them HUGE, and in a very sunny spot then?

Researcher Dr Thomas Hinderling proposes just that: building huge floating solar panel islands 5km across, with designs suitable for use on sea and on land. Dr Hinderling’s “most concrete partner” at the moment is the government of Ras al Khaimah, the northern-most Emirate in the United Arab Emirates, who are already building a prototype solar island in the desert. It’ll certainly get plenty of sun! It is hoped that this island will be generating by mid-2008.

But would this kind of thing work in more temperate climates? Believe it or not, plans are afoot to do the same thing on a smaller scale in… wait for it… Glasgow.

Local firm, ZM Architecture, have submitted plans to tether solar-panel “lilies” on the river Clyde where they will get maximum exposure to the sun. The energy they generate will be fed into the National Grid.

At present there seem to be no firm plans to go ahead with the Glasgow project, although ZM Architecture hope to develop a pilot project in partnership with the Glasgow Science Centre.

So, two similar project but on massively different scales. I can certainly see the UAE project working out, but is solar power in a Scottish city centre going to make much difference to the environment?

What do you think?

(photo credit: BBC News)

H/T to Wired and BBC News

Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at anytime, from anywhere. Evernote’s “About” Blurb

So what’s to like about Evernote then?

• Being able to access notes across platforms and multiple computers: When I write a note on my Mac, using the desktop note-taking program, it is automatically synced with my Evernote account on the net. I can pick up those notes on my PC at work, in an internet cafe, or another computer using the desktop program. I will eventually be able to access (and write) notes on my mobile phone too, but at the moment my particular make of mobile is not supported.
• Advanced image recognition: I had to check very carefully to make sure Evernote was entirely automatic. Why? Because when you add an image to any of your notes, Evernote attempts to recognise any text contained in the image. The thing is, it’s very good at this, and I was suspicious that the text recognition was actually being carried out by a human. Turns out it’s just a very clever system, though.
• E-mailing images: One way I can use my mobile is to e-mail images that I snap with the camera to Evernote. This almost turns my mobile into an ultra-portable scanner, as I can snap a pic of a poster or document, mail it in, and Evernote will carry out text recognition on it. The only limitation I have found with this is that you don’t get a plain text version of your image - you can search the text, but not just read it back.
• Easy note-taking: The desktop client and website are pretty much WYSIWYG - add images and text all you like and it’ll be synched across all platforms just as you typed it. There aren’t masses of options available - it’s not quite Microsoft Publisher or Apple Pages, but it’s good enough to make your notes look decent while still remaining easy to use.

Sounds wonderful, but is there anything not to like? Not much, really:

• There isn’t a mobile client for my phone yet, but I would imagine that will come eventually. That’s what happens when you play with a Beta version, isn’t it?
• Some text in images isn’t recognised. Given that I’m snapping random stuff and actually trying to break the text recognition that’s perfectly acceptable, but it is a bit frustrating when you discover that your snap was a little shaky and you just can’t get that recipe for croissants you’d hoped for ;)

Evernote is currently in closed beta, but I have 10 invites if anyone wants them. Just leave a comment asking for an invite, and don’t forget to fill in your e-mail address so that I know who to invite :)

http://www.apple.com/imac/