July 2009 - Ada_list - University of Waikato Mail Lists

by adam hyde

hey all, I think many on the list know I manage a community called FLOSS Manuals, and we create free documentation about free software. Recently I have been considering the development of free (libre) educational materials - specifically getting the current FM materials used in existing courses, or developing new text books. The possibilities for free textbooks are enormous and exciting. Not only can libre texts flow from one educational institute to another, but they can also be easily reused, recontextualised, translated, improved and updated. It would be very interesting, for example to consider integrating free textbooks into coursework where students improve textbooks for the next years intake etc. So, its a big area, but one that we are currently prepared for since we have now 1100+ members (800 in English, 300+ associated with other FM languages), strong collaborative partnerships with the FSF, Wikimedia Foundation, OLPC, Sugar, Mozilla Foundation, Sesawe (partially the Berkman Institute) plus numerous 'smaller' Free Software organisations such as Inkscape, Aspiration Technology and Xiph etc. So we have the members and alliances to help create something like this however, quite frankly, I don't know how to get a started getting educators or educational institutes involved. So, I am writing to the list to see if there might be anyone working in the tertiary education sector that might consider working with us to develop a textbook suitable for their curriculum? It would be preferable if the topic related to material we already have...so, in other words, a software related course would be more easily within our grasp than other subjects...We already have, for example, great books on Design (Digital Foundations - http://en.flossmanuals.net/DigitalFoundations), The Command Line (http://en.flossmanuals.net/gnulinux), and Inkscape (http://en.flossmanuals.net/Inkscape) amongst others... Once we have one book adopted, the road ahead might open up considerably which could lead to some very interesting possibilities... adam -- Adam Hyde Founder FLOSS Manuals German mobile : + 49 15 2230 54563 Email : adam(a)flossmanuals.net irc: irc.freenode.net #flossmanuals "Free manuals for free software" http://www.flossmanuals.net/about

11 years, 5 months

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Opening Invitation - Gray Nicol: New Work

by Mark Williams

Dear Friends You are invited to the opening of New Work an installation by Gray Nicol. Opening function is Wednesday 5 August at 5.30pm. There will be an Artist Talk Thursday 6 August at 12.15pm. In his first public work for 30 years Gray Nicol presents New Work, three videos combining sculpture, portraiture and the moving image.

11 years, 5 months

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Len Lye Discoveries and Rarities

by Mark Williams

Dear Film Archive friends, This Saturday Aug 1st at 3pm & 5.15pm, the New Zealand Film Festival presents Len Lye Discoveries and Rarities. If you think you know Lye’s work, Discoveries and Rarities includes a variety of surprises, many of whom were recently discovered in the vaults of MoMA, New York and subsequently restored at the New Zealand Film Archive. Highlights include the animation Life’s Musical Minute (with jazz by Woody Herman), a March of Time documentary about Atomic power featuring Albert Einstein, and a sequence of dancing girls in space that Lye contributed to the feature film Mad About Money. The programme also includes Art that Moves, the first Wellington screening of an 18-minute film by Roger Horrocks that dramatises Lye’s teenage years (in Wellington in the 1910s) and his “Eureka!” moment when he first came up with his idea of a new “art of motion.” Art that Moves is produced by Shirley Horrocks, camera by Leon Narbey, funding by Creative New Zealand. Len Lye Discoveries and Rarities is supported by Stout Trust, the New Zealand Film Archive and the Len Lye Foundation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark Williams Exhibitions/Project Developer Nga Kaitiaki O Nga Taonga Whitiahua The New Zealand Film Archive PO Box 11449 Wellington Aotearoa, New Zealand ph +64 4 384 7647 ext 829 fax +64 4 382 9595 http://www.filmarchive.org.nz ON NOW - Sat Aug 1 Hold Still - an installation by Rachel Shearer Mon-Weds 9-5pm Thurs-Fri 9-7pm Sat 4-7pm

11 years, 6 months

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// cuil //

by Julian Oliver

I've been trying a new search engine: http://cuil.com Any other Ada'ers tried it? I'm finding semantic/contextual grouping of query returns v'revealing/useful. Apparently put together by an ex-chef of Google's own secret sauce.. -- Julian Oliver home: New Zealand based: Madrid, Spain currently: Vigo, Spain about: http://julianoliver.com

11 years, 6 months

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// Stallman on the Pirate Party's copyright platform/reform //

by Julian Oliver

Hola a todos, A very interesting article from Richard Stallman on the impact of Swedish Pirate Party's proposed copyright reform on free software, one that defaults copyrighted material to the public domain after 5 years. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/pirate-party.html Saludos, -- Julian Oliver home: New Zealand based: Madrid, Spain currently: Vigo, Spain about: http://julianoliver.com

11 years, 6 months

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CoLab PhD scholarship

by Stella

Please pass this on to prospective PhD students and your networks - thank you. CoLab is pleased to announce a three year scholarship for a full-time PHD student undertaking research within the Faculty of Design & Creative Technologies at AUT. The CoLab PHD scholarship is intended to promote research that involves the development, application or critical engagement with new technologies. The scholarship encourages research through the application of creativity and foregrounds the development of new applications and opportunities across the creative and technology sectors, in keeping with CoLab’s cross disciplinary engagement with the arts and science. The research process may be theoretical, applied or practice-based, though the research proposal must clearly articulate a hypothesis or research question(s). The application date is 25 September 2009 and is for NZ$25,000 a year for 3 years (exempt from tax) subject to successful annual progress reveiw. For more information and to apply go to: http://www.aut.ac.nz/student-life/student-services/new-students/scholarships then click to 'current AUT scholarships' in 'Design and Creative Technologies' Dawn Hutchesson CoLab Manager AUT University Ph: +64 (09) 921-9566 Mobile: 021 275 2243 Convergence Collaboration Communities http://www.colab.org.nz/

11 years, 6 months

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Machine Divas performance, 23 July, 8pm European Time

by helen varley jamieson

The cyberformance “Machine Divas” will be presented in UpStage and at the Kunstraum Niederosterriech, Vienna, on Thursday 23rd at 8pm European time (find your local time here <http://tinyurl.com/ns3aoh>). The live link to the stage will be here: http://www.upstage.org.nz 15 minutes before show-time (if you don't see the link, refresh your browser). what does a machine diva look like? does she have a soul? are her friends electric? is she just after our robots? does she control this machine? would she make a good girlfriend? does she have a tail? This is the result of a week-long workshop as part of the IMA Salon, 16-23 July in Vienna. The workshop, led by Helen Varley Jamieson, is exploring the theme of “Machine Divas” through the medium of cyberformance - live online performance. The workshop participants and creators of the performance are Sara Schmidt, Julia Groeblacher and Eva Ursprung, with Suzon Fuks online and contributions from Marlena Corcoran, Annie Abrams and Miljana Peric. Thanks to Regina Lercher, Elisabeth Schimina for organising the workshop; to Reiner Kack for technical support, coffee and chocolate; and to Kunstraum for letting us play in this great space. The performance will be followed by a discussion that will be streamed via Ustream, at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/machine-divas. Machine Divas is an ongoing research and networking project initiated in 2007 by Eva Ursprung and Andrea Sodomka, to investigate woman artists using technology for their work in nowadays expanded “theater space“. http://ima.or.at/machinedivas/ helen : ) -- ____________________________________________________________ helen varley jamieson: creative catalyst helen(a)creative-catalyst.com http://www.creative-catalyst.com http://www.avatarbodycollision.org http://www.upstage.org.nz http://www.writerfind.com/hjamieson.htm ____________________________________________________________

11 years, 6 months

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copyright and academics

by su b

Hi all, I'm currently working on a project that will look at the use of the digital image in teaching. If there is anyone out there who is interested in this angle on copyright, please contact me off list and I can give you more information on what we are doing and how it might contribute to this discussion. The project is in a formative stage at present (minimal funding and working at getting more!) . We have worked on related projects for the past 18 months and are now consolidating into this: ""This project investigates the use of the digital image and the associated delivery of software and copyright information in the tertiary classroom. Through the development of a shared resource hub – d*hub – it presents practical resources for teachers working with digital images. Based on case studies in art and design where students develop projects that push at the boundaries of copyright, appropriation, and manipulation of digital images d*hub will document, analyse, evaluate, consider and recommend methods for engaging with digital images whilst paying careful attention to the laws of copyright and movements towards open source and creative commons approaches to digital media."" cheers su =============================### Dr. Susan Ballard Academic Leader, Electronic Arts School of Art Otago Polytechnic Te Kura Matatini ki Otago Private Bag 1910 Dunedin 9005 NEW ZEALAND office ph. +64-3-4796061 cell. +64 (0)21-209-0721

11 years, 6 months

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copyright / relevance

by johannes contag

very interesting discussion everybody, thanks, I've been reminded and made aware of many important points. especially the original wording of the Berne copyright resolution, great to read. ever the pragmatist, I do question though how relevant this debate actually is to a real solution. to put it crassly - the combined production costs and profit margins of every artist on this list probably add up to much less than those of one single hollywood blockbuster. I'm still struggling with it myself conceptually, but the framework has changed quite a bit from around five years ago, when the main issue was mp3 file sharing. but while the music industry itself has undergone huge changes - I'm thinking of how cheap it has become to record broadcast-quality music - the film/tv industry continues to rely on stupendous budgets and huge production teams. in terms of financial risk, this is who stands to suffer the most from copyright infringement. even if we don't give a rats' arse about mainstream film/tv and its corporate frameworks, this is (I boldly claim) the bulk of content being shared on the net these days - why else would people have 40 GB broadband plans! so whatever the next stage in the evolution of copyright and copyright reinforcement is, that's the main issue it'll have to address. hollywood's plethora of lawyers won't have it any other way. in other words, it's not the protection of individual artists' rights that's at stake, but the protection of corporate investment (as much as I hate to say it). this hasn't really changed since the days of "home taping is killing the record industry". in the commercial distribution of art/music, the rights of the artists themselves have never really meant that much, have they? I'm rudely ignoring the indie cottage industries here, I know, and also the importance of the ongoing struggle against corporate domination. but while the internet has been great for enabling artists to pursue direct distribution models, the bulk of all internet file sharing surely involves corporately-owned/distributed content. and for as long as audiences continue to favour palatable canonical pap, that's exactly what copyright regulation will remain focused on. so while we can passionately advocate or reject the various tenets of copyright protectionism, I think we're kidding ourselves to believe our artist perspectives will have much impact on any new laws made. personally I can't see the proposed law changes (amended or not) radically changing download behaviour. if we can already download media files as collections of strands from multiple sources, surely there will be plenty of loopholes to be found around whatever policing system may be introduced. the internet just isn't designed to be monitored. also if we look at the three-decade-long history of software piracy - where pretty much every anti-piracy measure has been cracked - I just don't see how any meaningful protection could be offered to simple media files. as far as I can tell, the policing of copyright on the internet is a huge (and prohibitively costly) uphill struggle and will probably never be resolved in a satisfactory way. which is why I was suggesting another approach a few days ago - an internet traffic tax. thanks bronwyn for pointing out the isle of man scenario, it'll be interesting to see if and how it happens! I've thought on this idea a bit more (which btw. I'm still not sure is really any good), if anyone's interested: the main premise is that users would have to pay the tax as part of their connection fee (e.g. by the GB), and that it removes any incentive for them to cheat the system. although this is an over-simplified model, the difference in mp3/mov file sizes seems to be vaguely indicative of the difference in their associated production costs, so a volume-based tax would (very arguably) be representative of the users' extent of media consumption (very very arguably taking into consideration the traffic of streaming and video conferencing, and the crossover with online sales). the other main difficulty would be how the resulting revenue pie was divvyied up among millions of copyright owners. one approach would be periodic random sampling of net traffic, and for registered copyright owners (or more likely their associated royalty collection agencies) to be allotted payments that reflect analysed trends rather than specific ownership. another approach would be for all files protected by copyright to have trackable ownership tags. such a tagging/monitoring system would of course open the privacy can of worms, and it would also be susceptible to hacking. however if my imagined tax was paid by volume (whatever way this might work) and regardless of actual content, there would be no real incentive for users to cheat. (tax regulation - to stem free market capitalist greed - isn't this what we want? back to the regulated market utopia?) another consideration would be the amount of money involved for users. this wouldn't be a tax to generate the equivalent revenue of sale prices but simply to cover the licensing cost, and even that at a much lower level than now. that may be hard to accept for corporate content owners, but they are currently headed for a web disaster anyway. this idea would actually guarantee copyright owners a base level of reimbursement for their production costs. one final point to consider (in what has become an increasingly tangential rant, sorry!) is the role of the ISPs. as illegal as much video downloading is, it does represent immense profits to ISPs. because of this, I'd imagine for the ISPs to chip in on this tax, and also to provide the monitoring/tracking/sampling services needed to make it happen. I don't think they could very well refuse, seeing it's them who are (in effect) facilitating all of the piracy at the moment, and who would stand to benefit greatly from increased net traffic. any comments/criticisms appreciated - this is (literally) a feverish rant and I've certainly taken a few convenient conceptual shortcuts. I guess I'd just like to hear some constructive ideas about the future of file sharing (or is it too simplistic to nail the current copyright issues to this?), rather than individual artistic positions on what copyright should or shouldn't be. cheers, jo > > Yes, this is a popular idea that has been mooted. The Isle of Man have come > closest to implementing it from what I've heard, however I don't believe it > has gone through: > http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/jan/26/digitalmedia-digitalmusic > > You've captured one of the main issues with this idea in your first > paragraph: this tends to be discarded as an idea as there is an issue of who > will track the data, and administer the divvying up of costs - and ISPs > aren't exactly leaping to put their hands up. A much simpler and direct > option is for music/film companies just to make their content available > legally online so consumers can go to their online shop and purchase what > they want. Of course, with the internet being a big copying machine, and > copying being so easy, IMHO the cost of this media should be much cheaper so > that the legal alternative is not a prohibitive one for financial reasons. > >> >> just thinking aloud a thought I had the other night: >> how about an overall tax/fee rather than individual copyright payments? >> like >> a broadcasting fee for the internet but tailored to usage parameters. might >> require some pretty severe, privacy-invading tracking of content though if >> the resulting revenue-pie was to be split fairly... >> >> so the idea might be backward-thinking garbage, but I think if there was no >> constant pay/steal right/wrong pressure, people's download behaviour would >> be much more balanced - i.e. just what they actually want, and not all >> series of the wire at once (just in case its a once-in-a-lifetime >> opportunity). after all, most download-type entertainment is pretty crap, >> and that's a lot easier to realise if there's no entry fee associated with >> it. >> >> or am I barking up completely the wrong tree? >> >> jo >>

11 years, 6 months

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Re: [Ada_list] Ada_list Digest, Copyright (River Tucker)

by River Tucker

Hi, I do not agree that ‘artists love to play the victim, subsisting on the barren fringe of social order’. Rather I believe this is the area to which many artists are resigned because of a failed and largely unenforceable copyright system. Corporations are to blame in many areas. Keeping artists poor does not make better art by the way. The template being proposed will not rectify the main issue, which is payment to the artist or developer for the use of their works. In general I believe ISP and governments have no intention of fixing the copyright dilemma for the benefit of the public or artists. Their intent is solely derived from control of the network and profit making. It will be interesting to see how much effect big business can have on the state and its attempt at using the copyright argument to control our networks. A control that is readily available through prior programming. It can be argued that networking and file sharing sites help artists to create a profile thus advertising their works to the wider public. In actuality the advertising alongside the artist is given more merit than the work they may produce. The funds gained by advertising alongside the artist, is the only business reason for these sites apart from information gathering. Many artists or developers will simply choose to not freely release works to the public arena when miscellaneous advertising is the revenue base and none of this goes to the artist. In most instances any resulting benefits to the artist are completely negated because of our cash based society. There is no mitigating this fact. Exactly how much content should the artist or developer release freely before a level of reimbursement is reached? The expectation of many is simply not forfilled in no way because of the merit of the work. Many formats of artwork do not lend themselves to a client-based approach and as such there is no reimbursement for the artist in utilizing the current or proposed system. Many established or developing arts will simply fade away. In all respects any proposed changes should keep in mind that the renaissance should not be hindered. River Tucker New Zealand

11 years, 6 months

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Ada_list July 2009