US Spies Target UN in NY

Uncategorized

In an interesting memo apparently leaked to the British newspaper Observer, a senior US NSA official is seen asking British (and, presumably, other) intelligence agencies to spy on U.S. allies to try to bolster the U.S. negotiating position over Iraq. This is seen by many as a Nixon-like dirty tricks.

Understandably, this has created a huge stir in Britain. What is even more surprising is how quiet this has been in the U.S. Has the American press lost all sense of journalistic independence from the government?

The Register has an article analyzing the authenticity of the memo.

Why Information Should Be Free: 2003 Version

Freedom

You just can’t go wrong with an article that starts with Have I ever mentioned that I love Larry Lessig? The SXSW Sunday Afternoon: Lessig article goes on to write: He begins with a sanctimonious quote from Jack Valenti: “Morals, democracy, integrity. All being corrupted by sharing. Sharing has introduced a moral decay.” Lessig, needless to say, disputes the claim. Click above to read the full article from David Weinberger.

Photography at the Edge of Winter

Entertainment / Arts

In a reflective mood at the end of winter? Check out Andy Chen’s winter photography over at Kumquat’s Musings. I’m anxious for the high-res scan to plaster on my desktop.

Photography in unusual lighting conditions like this one is more tricky but well worth the effort. I’ve taken a photo or two in those situations, and almost inevitably end up thinking “Wow, I didn’t notice these detail when I was taking the photo.” The realism of photography is also the most deceiving — a scene that is rushed, loud, noisy, and uncomfortable to the photographer can appear peaceful and serene to the viewer. I can usually tell when I have a good photo if I notice things in the proof that I hadn’t seen when I was physically at the scene.

Man Arrested for Wearing Peace T-Shirt

Freedom

On Monday, a man was arrested in a mall for wearing a shirt reading “Give Peace a Chance.” But the story gets better. Apparently the man bought the shirt at that very mall, and happens to be an attorney that is the charmain of the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct.

In a later update, after a 100-person protest, the mall asked that the charges be withdrawn, but offered no explanation. It is still up in the air whether or not the police will drop the charges.

PHPNuke Copyright Notice Debate

Uncategorized

Today, a story (beware the popups) on PHPNuke.org caught my attention. Basically, it is slamming Yale’s excellent LawMeme site because it doesn’t include a PHPNuke copyright statement at the bottom of each page. The PHPNuke people seemed to be asserting that this was required of them under the GPL.

This concerned me, as PHPNuke is a part of Debian, which has a strict set of guidelines requiring included software to be truly Free. I did some checking, and, in a post to debian-legal, highlighted the problem.

There are several interesting aspects of this saga. One is that some may consider the user to actually be distributing parts of the PHPNuke code to each person that views a webpage. Another is whether PHPNuke qualifies as an “interactive program” under the GPL. So far, these seem to be uncharted waters.

A Lesson on Influencing Adults

Society, TV

When the news broke yesterday that Fred Rogers had died, it was amazing to see how many adults still remembered the Mr. Rogers show and even were personally moved by the show in later life. I think it goes to show that what children watch on TV and at the movies really does matter to their character development.

A number of stories about Mr. Rogers appeared yesterday in addition to those liked above. We saw appreciations, lists of Fred Rogers quotes, links to an old interview with Mr. Speedy Delivery, and even how to talk to children about his death.

NPR has a webpage about Fred Rogers.