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Music

Record Label Infringes Own Copyright, Site Pulled 282

Posted by kdawson
from the wonder-who-filed-the-complaint dept.
AnonCow sends in a peculiar story from TorrentFreak, which describes the plight of a free-download music site that has been summarily evicted from the Internet for violating its own copyright. The problem seems to revolve around the host's insistence that proof of copyright be snail-mailed to them. Kind of difficult when your copyright takes the form of a Creative Commons license that cannot be verified unless its site is up. "The website of an Internet-based record label which offers completely free music downloads has been taken down by its host for copyright infringement, even though it only offers its own music. Quote Unquote Records calls itself 'The First Ever Donation Based Record Label,' but is currently homeless after its host pulled the plug."
The Almighty Buck

Surprisingly Few People Collect On GTA Hot Coffee 343

Posted by samzenpus
from the simulated-murder-is-fine-but-simulated-boobs-will-warp-you dept.
Relin writes "Out of the millions eligible, less than 3,000 have come forward to collect their money in the 'Hot Coffee' settlement. While the plaintiffs' lawyer is surprised by the development, Theodore Frank of the Legal Center for the Public Interest at the American Enterprise Institute seems convinced that the lawsuit was 'meritless' and will result in no payment for the legal counsel opposing Take-Two."
Businesses

Why OLPC Struggles Against Educators, Big Business 261

Posted by Soulskill
from the santa-is-not-a-capitalist dept.
afabbro writes "The current issue of BusinessWeek has an expansive article of the history of OLPC and why it has, to date, been a flop. Among the reasons: no preparation for the educational systems expected to use it, uncertain pedagogical theories, poor business management, competition from Microsoft/Intel, and no input from education professionals in designing the software. As BusinessWeek quotes one educational expert, 'The hackers took over,' and the applications are too complex for children to use. To date, 370,000 laptops have been shipped — a far cry from the original 150 million planned to be shipped by end of 2008."
Education

+ - Walter Bender Resigns From OLPC

Submitted by westlake
westlake writes "Walter Bender, the former executive director of MIT's Media Lab, and, in many ways, the tireless workhorse and public face of OLPC, has resigned from OLPC after being reorganized and sidetracked into insignificance. The rumor mill would have it that "constructionism as children learning learning" is being replaced by a much less romantic view of the XO's place in the classroom and XO's tech in the marketplace. Top OLPC Executive Resigns After Restructuring, Walter Bender Resigned from One Laptop Per Child!!"
Microsoft

+ - Is OLPC Dying ?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "First Mary Lou Jepsen left to pursue her own spinoff company. Then Ivan Krsti, chief of security and creator of Bit Frost left citing philosphical difference: "OLPC undertook a drastic internal restructuring coupled with what, despite official claims to the contrary, is a radical change in its goals and vision from those that were shared with me when I was invited to join the project". Now Walter Bender has left saying he has "decided to take some time to reflect on how I can best contribute going forward to the goal of giving children around the world opportunities for a quality learning experience." However, OLPCnews states, from un-named sources, that "that Nicholas Negroponte is close to abandoning Sugar and Linux in favor of Microsoft XP, to spur sales of the XO laptop." and that is the reason that Walter Bender has walked away from the OLPC organization. So can the OLPC dream survive these personnel losses and changes of directions?"
PC Games (Games)

+ - Top 10 independent games of 2007->

Submitted by
cliffski
cliffski writes "2007 marks the sixth year of the Game Tunnel Independent Game of the Year awards. It's been a long journey to get here and each year it seems Indie games are just a little better known by the gaming public at large, which we view as tremendously good news. The games themselves also seem to get a bit better each year, mixing unique visions with innovation to create experiences that speak to the heart of gamers. Each of the games is a winner in its own right, an undiscovered gem just waiting to be found. So dim the lights and warm up your modem, as Game Tunnel presents: The Top 10 Independent Games of 2007."
Link to Original Source
The Media

+ - Computerworld eats babies.-> 1

Submitted by Lerc
Lerc writes "Computerworld has posted a response to people who called them on their use of the term Bricked in a recent article. They are standing beside their use of the term. It seems they support the idea of misleading headlines in order to gain reader attention arguing that the body of the article still provides accurate information. "The facts in the article are clear and straightforward, and if the headline gets the attention of one user who *won't* walk up to you Wednesday morning with a cheesed laptop, I think you'll agree the verbal slap upside the head is worth it.""
Link to Original Source
Media

+ - Penny Arcade Recieves email on homeless man murder

Submitted by Gots_Hussies
Gots_Hussies writes "Penny Arcade artist Mike "Gabe" Krahulik recently recieved an email from a woman who knew one of three teenagers who beat and murdered a homeless man. The email is a response to Krahuliks attack on the media for believing the teenagers story that 'violent videogames were the reason we did it'. Excerpt from article "Your news post about the kids and the homeless man yesterday made me sick to my stomach, before I even read the CNN article. I knew what it was going to be about before even reading the article. It was not the article itself, or even your post that made me sick, it was the fact that I know this boy. Or, rather that I could be considered one of the "parents" of this boy.""
Announcements

+ - Airline to allow cell phones on planes

Submitted by SRA8
SRA8 writes "http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/12/21/wired.airlines/ index.html n January, Emirates airline plans to launch mobile phone usage in its planes, making it the first airline to allow passengers to make cell phone calls on its flights. And Australian carrier Qantas plans to start evaluating technology that lets fliers use their cell phones and PDAs during flight early next year."

There is always one thing to remember: writers are always selling somebody out. -- Joan Didion, "Slouching Towards Bethlehem"

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