Iraqi Kurdistan by Ed Kashi. Can’t say I’m that much of a fan, I prefer it when the concept is stronger rather than just bunching together all your shots and pausing on the good one. However, what it does illustrate nicely is that capturing “the decisive moment”, as famously described by Henri Cartier-Bresson, is much, much easier thanks to digital cameras…
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The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property report (700KB PDF) was released today. I’ll comment on this when I’ve given it a read through; at 150 pages it might take me a while. It’s also worth emphasising that the report provides “recommendations” that carry no legal weight or binding, at least as far as I’m aware. As such, the British government is free to — and probably will — ignore most or all of it. Feel free to call me cynical!
My little (headless) pony?. Hasbro’s FurReal Friends Butterscotch Pony “…comes unassembled in box with head detached. You may wish to not open the box around your children if they may be frightened by a box with a decapitated horse inside.”
howies® partners with Timberland. My favourite Welsh clothing company announced today that they’re partnering with Timberland. They seem pretty happy with the deal so Timberland must be a decent, ethical company. Here’s hoping it’ll be long and fruitful union.
The Art of Business: Catch Those Errors Before They Catch You. As someone who’s worked in the print industry, I think this article on proofreading gives some excellent tips. Like it or not, if there are errors in the copy text the client will blame you, regardless of whose fault it actually is.
OpenDocument Now Published ISO Standard. This is the word processing document format used by OpenOffice which aims to break the format lock-in of the mighty Microsoft Office. By achieving ISO certification it can now be implemented into any software product without royalties. It’s a small step, but hopefully it’ll help wider adoption and convince organisations and governments that they should store their documents in this format, rather than Microsoft’s proprietary document.
Are green magazine covers cursed? Interesting article on the superstition that a green-coloured magazine cover will kill your sales.
OS X disk image vulnerability debunked. Alastair J. Houghton shows exactly how security research should be done by providing a thorough analysis of the recently highlighted Apple OS X disk image (DMG) vulnerability. He proves that it doesn’t overwrite any memory and therefore can’t result in kernel-mode arbitrary code execution by unprivileged users. Exceptional (heh) work!
Granularity for students – lifehack.org: (via BoingBoing)
Granularity is a tremendously useful strategy for students. The typical spiral-bound student-planner doesn’t seem to encourage it; that tool is often little more than a place to store due dates: “research paper due.” But no one can just write a research paper. That paper can only be the result of numerous small-scale tasks. It’s not surprising that students who think of “write research paper” as one monolithic task are likely to put it off far longer than they ought to.
Judge Says U.S. Money Violates Rights of the Blind. America is one of the few countries in the world whose currency isn’t distinguishable by blind people. Most use different-sized notes, raised text or other methods to allow identification by touch. A recent court ruling means that the US has to start working on a solution.
It’s amazing that this has only just started to be addressed, but now that it has it poses some interesting questions. Will cash and vending machines all have to be modified? The money drawers in registers? Will it be applied retroactively to currency already in circulation? Say they were to create embossing stamps that create raised areas on the notes, would there be any security measures to prevent the incorrect stamping of bills?
I’m intrigued as to how they’ll solve this problem, the potential costs could be huge.