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Bill Gates’ letter to hobbyists (en Français, 2006)
by
Andrew Orlowski
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Free software doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as web hucksters. Not only is it a historical continuity of the way much of our software infrastructure has been developed, but it has encouraged commercial value to built through service models, or dual licensing. It’s a pity free software and open source advocates…
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People more drunk at weekends, researchers discover
by
Andrew Orlowski
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It’s open season on Wikipedia these days. The project’s culture of hatred for experts and expertise has become the subject of widespread ridicule. Nick Carr christened it “the cult of the amateur”. But what has professional academia done for us lately? Here’s a study from the University of Amsterdam to ponder. New Scientist reports that…
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Lessig, RMS on DRM
by
Andrew Orlowski
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Professor Lessig tells us that he should have reviewed the Sun Microsystems press release before it went out. It doesn’t fully reflect his position, he says, and he’s emphatic that this blessing doesn’t constitute an endorsement. Read more… Read More
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Anti-war slogan coined, repurposed and Googlewashed … in 42 days
by
Andrew Orlowski
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In early 2003, the phrase “Second Superpower” became a popular way to refer to the street protests against the imminent invasion of Iraq. The metaphor had been used by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and on the cover of The Nation magazine. A small number of techno utopian webloggers hijacked the phrase. The narrower sense…
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Meet the Jefferson of ‘Web 2.0’
by
Andrew Orlowski
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If Google’s PageRank reflects the “uniquely democratic nature of the web” – and if weblogs are the most empowering technology of our age – then how can we begin to fete a humble entrepreneur based in St Paul, MN? Very probably as the Gutenberg of the digital age. And the Jefferson. All rolled into one.…
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Lessig blesses DRM
by
Andrew Orlowski
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Oh. Dear. If you arrive for work today and discover a grisly pool of brain tissue and bone fragments where a colleague used to sit, we may have the explanation right here. For, n a move that risks causing Scanners-style head explosions across the land, Professor Lawrence Lessig has endorsed DRM. Not just any old…