Archive for February 2009
If you’ve paid attention to the news lately, you’ve inevitably heard that Shepard Fairey… the creator of the iconic Obama “Hope” image is in the midst of a lawsuit with the Associated Press over his source image. Fairey is claiming fair use while the AP is claiming damages for using an uncited photo. Personally, I side with the fair use argument but believe that derivative work, including all future reproductions of “Hope”, should include a citation to the original artist’s work unless other explicit permission has been granted.
In this case, however, I’ve stumbled across some very interesting information about Shepard Fairey. Much of the media I’ve followed (including an exposé by NPR) has painted Fairey as a champion of fair-use and open-license. He’s explicitly stated that work in the open domain should be available for derivation. Sadly, he has a strong history of hypocrisy with respect to copyright protection & artist rights.
Shepard Fairey created the following derivative work (right) based on a photograph (left) by Manny Garcia. Garcia and the AP are now seeking damages from Fairey for not citing his source or paying licensing fees.
However, in 2008, Baxter Orr created the following derivative work (right) based on Shepard Fairey’s original image (left). Fairy ordered a cease and desist, threatened to sue, and called Orr a “parasite”.
Mr. Fairey… you are not a heric icon of the fair use movement, you are nothing more than a commercialist hypocrite who is narcisistic enough to believe that you are above copyright law and basic artistic manners.
Source: Boston Globe, Wikipedia, & Consumerist
Some security websites (such as PayPal & Bank of America) have special flags embedded in their pages that tell Firefox to not save their passwords. I recently came across a method that overrides these flags and allows Firefox to save passwords for any and all websites. Note: Only do this on computers that you and only you have access to!
- Navigate to your Firefox components installation directory. (Usually located:
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\components\) - Open the following file with wordpad:
nsLoginManager.js - Search for the following block of code:
_isAutocompleteDisabled : function (element) {
if (element && element.hasAttribute("autocomplete") &&
element.getAttribute("autocomplete").toLowerCase() == "off")
return true;
return false;
},
- Change the line that currently says “return true;” to say “return false;”
- The block of text should now look like this:
_isAutocompleteDisabled : function (element) {
if (element && element.hasAttribute("autocomplete") &&
element.getAttribute("autocomplete").toLowerCase() == "off")
return false;
return false;
},
- Save your changes and restart Firefox.
There you go, Firefox should offer to remember all passwords, regardless of their security level. Remember… only do this on your personal computer! PS: If you’re not currently using Firefox… for heaven’s sake… why not!?!? Get Firefox
I like to think of myself as reasonably informed, but I’ve still been pretty much in the dark about how this whole “credit crisis” thing happened. Well, I just came across this excellent video that explains the situation in very down-to-earth terms. Honestly, it’s one of the more fascinating web videos I’ve seen in a long time. It certainly cleared a lot of things up for me, here’s hoping some of you might find it helpful.
The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.
Okay, I don’t normally post crap like this, but I was sent this video clip by a good friend and I must say… it’s pretty stellar. Enjoy!
The following two statements were recently added to the Facebook Terms of Service. Does this bother anyone else?
You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content.
What does this mean? Anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later. Also:
The following sections will survive any termination of your use of the Facebook Service: Prohibited Conduct, User Content, Your Privacy Practices, Gift Credits, Ownership; Proprietary Rights, Licenses, Submissions, User Disputes; Complaints, Indemnity, General Disclaimers, Limitation on Liability, Termination and Changes to the Facebook Service, Arbitration, Governing Law; Venue and Jurisdiction and Other.
So, when you delete your account, a whole lot of data is retained… indefinitely. Wonderful.
Source: Consumerist
Remember last August when I wrote about Joe Biden’s close ties with the MPAA and the RIAA? Well, it looks like old habits die hard.
Among the men appointed to the Department of Justice are:
- Donald Verrilli: The man responsible for killing Grokster, suing Google on behalf of Viacom, and the infamous lawsuit against Jammie Thomas.
- Tom Perrelli: Lawyer extraordinaire for the RIAA
- David Ogden: Defense lawyer for the Copyright Term Extension Act
- Neil MacBride: Created the program that rewarded people for phoning tips about suspected software piracy
So much for “bringing the integrity, depth of experience and tenacity that the Department of Justice demands in these uncertain times.”
