BrianAndPamela.com

Link to Lawrence Lessig

Larry Lessig (more about him later) has essentially told Steve Jobs to put his money where his mouth is.  After Jobs’ “blog heard round the world” telling Big Content to back off and allow iTunes to sell music unDRMed, Lessig notes that there is music on iTunes that isn’t controlled by the Big Four, including some CreativeCommons stuff where the artists actually requested that iTunes skip the DRM.  Apple refused.  Now Steve has made the pronouncement… let’s see if he follows through.  The particular artist that Lessig mentions is Colin Mutchler, who you should also check out.

Link to Apple - Thoughts on Music

I made a bold statement back in October that the only people that are inconvenienced are legitimate customers.  That people who are serious about stealing music are going to do it anyway.  I'm not by any means the only one saying it.  Bloggers have been saying it.  DefectiveByDesign has been saying it.  The EFF says it. Bill Gates said it.

Now one of the biggest names in Digital Music is saying the same .  Arguably THE biggest name in digital media distribution, Steve Jobs of Apple, Inc. released what amounts to a blog post today in which he says exactly that. (more…)

Link to Jensen Harris: An Office User Interface Blog : New Fonts For Documents

Aldous Huxley wrote:

A type of revolutionary novelty may be extremely beautiful in itself; but, for the creatures of habit that we are, its very novelty tends to make it illegible, at any rate to begin with.
Typography for the Twentieth-Century Reader
Aldous Huxley

So we will see, at any rate.  The new versions of Microsoft Office now ship with new default fonts and type faces.  Added to the ubiquitous Arial, Verdana, Courier (New) and the loathsome Times New Roman are the new defaults of Calibri, Cambria, Consolas, Candara, Constantia and Corbel. (more…)

So I'm trying to get a computer set up for a new employee coming in on Monday.  We're giving her the computer that was used by the person she's replacing, only no one bothered to get the login for the machine before the last girl left.  I tried unsuccessfully to access the local admin account that was supposed to have been created on the box, and was about ready to cry.  Then I remembered… "Ophcrack Live CD". 

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Link to Privately, Hollywood admits DRM isn't about piracy

Ken Fisher has a good little piece over at Ars Technca about DRM.  He's basically saying what we've all been saying for a while now.  DRM isn't about piracy for Hollywood, it's about profit. 

DRM is about nickle and diming away what used to be "fair-use".  I won't repeat all of Fisher's arguments, but quite telling is his link to a Business Week article by Ron Grover.  Grover quotes an anonymous Hollywood exec complaining that Apples DRM policies are already too lax, because you can authorize up to five devices on one iTunes account.  Quoth the exec, "His [Steve Jobs] user rules scare the heck out of us."  Why?  Because I might lend my authorization to a friend?  The way I might lend a DVD? 

I've got more to write about DRM, maybe it's time for another long DRM rant, but not today.  Lucky you.

Didn't see the comet at night recently?  Try during the day. 

Comet McNaught (see our original story here) is so bright now as it passes through perihelion — that is to say closest to the sun — that observers around the world are reporting that it is visible during the day time.  according to SpaceWeather.com:

 Solar heat is causing the comet to vaporize furiously and brighten to daylight visibility. At magnitude -4 to -5, McNaught is the brightest comet since Ikeya-Seki in 1965.

To find the comet, you need to shield yourself from the sun by standing in the shadow of a building, then hold your fist at arms length.  The comet is 5 degrees east of the sun and your fist is about five degrees wide.  The standard warnings apply about not looking into the sun, you'll go blind and then how would you read this wonderful blog?

Full story at SpaceWeather.com you might need to check the archives for Jan 13th.

One of the things that differentiates many Web 2.0 sites from the "old guard" companies is their logos.  Rounder, softer, shinier, these are the marks of a Web 2.0 logo.  So here's an image that wonders, "What if the same design principles were used for logos we're all familiar with from the non-web world?"

Link to image

I especially like AT&T (subtle enhancements), The USA, 3M (mmm!), Quaker (awesome!), and UPS (beta! rofl) 

Somethings should write themselves.  They are so easy to talk about, to explain in person but getting them to make sense on the screen is different entirely.  My feelings on the iPhone should have been like that.  I wanted to love it.  I love my iPod, so what's not to like about the wide screen, wi-fi, touch controlled iPod I've been craving mixed with a cell phone?  Well, I'll tell you…

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Link to Apple says Cisco lawsuit is "silly" - Engadget

Apple to Cisco:  "You wanna piece of this???  Come get some, sucka!" 

While I finish mind mapping and writing my response to Apple's announcement of the iPhone on Tuesday, here's a little something to tide you over.  Cisco launches the Linksys "iPhone", a VoIP product–surprising everyone, since iXxxxx has essentially been the domain of Apple Inc (née Computer) for a while now.  Then Apple releases the iPhone, a combo cell phone/iPod (that slices and dices and makes cotton candy).  Cisco sues Apple for trademark infringement.  Today, Apple responded with, "Bring it."  Must be nice to be so arrogant and have no one call you on it.

 I’m still digesting and planning what to publically say about the iPhone which Apple announced yesterday.  But to hold you til then, I found this graph on digg.  Essentially it shows Apple stock climbing about 8.5% while Palm and RIM (Makers of Treos and Blackberries) fall.  Interestingly Nokia and Motorolla only fell slightly.  I’d also like to see graphs of Cingular (the announced carrier for the iPhone) against T-Mobile and Verizon over the same period.

Original story at Infectious Greed.