Australian of the year  #
Wednesday, 25 Jan 2006 11:02PM
Australian of the year!

I don't get it... what sport does he play?


Is this a bear?  #
Wednesday, 25 Jan 2006 09:57AM
Wacky question of the day:

Q: Crossword clue "Indigo", letters "_N_L"

A: Anil

We cheated and used One Across, a crossword clue site.


Copyright  #
Wednesday, 25 Jan 2006 09:13AM
From an interview with Lawrence Lessig via BoingBoing:

Google wants to index 18,000,000 books and make them searchable. If the book is in copyright, you'll get a "snippet" around the search. If it is not in copyright, then you can see the full book. Of the 18 million books, 16% are out of copyright. 9% are in copyright and in print.

That means 75% are in copyright, but out of print.

Now the publishers say you need to ask permission before you index these books. But how do you ask the 75% of 18 million authors when we have no list of copyright owners, no record of who owns the rights, no way to track down current claimants at all. Yet it stands in the way-- and now threatens Google with a huge law suit-- because the term gets extended and extended. The term for the framers was 14 years, renewable once. It is now life of the author plus 70 years-- which for someone creating in the way Irving Berlin did, would be 140 years.

I'd love to know the percentage of music that is out of print but still in copyright. I'd love to know that percentage for just music from the 90s.