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The Internet

Ray Bradbury Loves Libraries, Hates the Internet 600

Posted by kdawson from the in-the-air-in-the-tubes-whatever dept.
Hugh Pickens was one of several readers to let us know that, according to a NY Times story, the 89-year-old Ray Bradbury hates the Internet. But he loves libraries, and is helping raise $280,000 to keep libraries in Ventura County open. "Among Mr. Bradbury's passions, none burn quite as hot as his lifelong enthusiasm for halls of books. ... 'Libraries raised me,' Mr. Bradbury said. 'I don't believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don't have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.' ... The Internet? Don't get him started. 'The Internet is a big distraction,' Mr. Bradbury barked... 'Yahoo called me eight weeks ago,' he said, voice rising. 'They wanted to put a book of mine on Yahoo! You know what I told them? "To hell with you. To hell with you and to hell with the Internet." It's distracting. It's meaningless; it's not real. It's in the air somewhere.'"
Government

Military Enlists Open Source Community 131

Posted by samzenpus from the freedom-is-free dept.
jmwci1 writes "The US Defense Department is enlisting an open source approach to software development — an about-face for such a historically top-down organization. In recent weeks, the military has launched a collaborative platform called Forge.mil for its developers to share software, systems components and network services. The agency also signed an agreement with the Open Source Software Institute to allow 50 internally developed workforce management applications to be licensed to other government agencies, universities and companies."
Security

Submission + - MI5, British spy agency searches for real-life `Q' (yahoo.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun
suraj.sun writes: LONDON — He was James Bond's go-to guy for inventions that included dagger-embedded shoes, radioactive lint and a deadly sofa that swallowed people. Now, Britain's domestic spy agency — MI5 — is hunting for its very own "Q," of sorts.

MI6's sister organization, which carries out surveillance on terror suspects inside Britain and gives security advice to the government, is searching for someone to lead its scientific work. Projects could include everything from developing counterterrorism technology to tackling a biological or chemical attack.

"Looking for a chief scientific adviser to lead and coordinate the scientific work of the security service so that the service continues to be supported by excellent science and technology advice," MI5's Web site ad reads.

MI5 has long had a roster of scientific staff tasked with developing high-tech gadgets, but an official said the service now wants a high-profile figure to lead pioneering work in technology and science.

The adviser's work will focus chiefly on creating sophisticated new tools to help security service officers carry out surveillance and analysis work, said a government security official, who requested anonymity to discuss the work of MI5.

Y! News : http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090418/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_quest_for_q
Books

Submission + - The Internet Archive Demands Same Rights as Google (fictioncircus.com)

Submitted by
Miracle Jones
Miracle Jones writes: "Brewster Kahle's Internet Archive has jumped on Google's "Authors Guild" settlement and asked to be included as a party defendant, claiming that they ought to get the same rights and protections from liability that Google will receive when the settlement is approved by federal court. From the Internet Archive's letter to Judge Denny Chin: "The Archive's text archive would greatly benefit from the same limitation of potential copyright liability that the proposed settlement provides Google. Without such a limitation, the Archive would be unable to provide some of these same services due to the uncertain legal issues surrounding orphan books." Who deserves the rights to out-of-print literature more? Google or Kahle's internet library?"

Comment Re:Entrapment. (Score 1) 767

by LupusUF (#22814950) Attached to: FBI Posts Fake Hyperlinks To Trap Downloaders of Illegal Porn
I'm not a lawyer, but from what I have read about entrapment if they tried to charge you for viewing porn because you clicked on the link, that would be entrapment. However, they are not doing that. They are using the fact that you clicked on the link as probable cause for searching your computer. They then charge you having the child porn on your computer that is unrelated to link that you clicked. If you didn't have any porn on your computer, then you likely would not be able to be charged for clicking on the link (since you could then claim entrapment).

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