LexisNexis, it's kind of an industrial strength Google

Starting at 1:00 Keith Olberman tells the story of Justice Department lawyer Monica Goodling's LexisNexis search while investigating the political backgrounds of job applicants. (Yep, that's illegal.) The best part is when Olberman reads the complete search syntax starting at 1:35. (Stick though for the other searches Olberman suggests.)

The Mojave Experiment

It's been said that most people who think that Vista sucks haven't actually used it.

Rush plays Tom Sawyer back stage.

While they were back stage at The Colbert Report they were given the opportunity to play their classic Tom Sawyer on Rock Band. Do the make it all the way through? Watch to find out.

Great Sony Reader news!

For those of us lowly early-adopters who have a Sony Reader and not the OMFGBBQ Kindle, here's some wonderful news via Engadget:

Sony will be shooting out an update on Thursday to allow the Reader to use purchased books in the protected EPUB format from whoever is peddling them, instead of being tied to the Sony's e-book store, or just DRM-free text and PDF documents.

The content will still be DRM'd but at least we can buy content from someone other than Sony. (Not that I've ever bought more than a dozen eBooks for my reader.)

My work gets Meshy

I've been using Windows Live Mesh for a week now and color me impressed. Honestly, I never want to not work without this ever again. I previously gave you an overview of the features but this time I'd like to take you through a simple scenario that I've already found myself in do demonstrate just how folder synching makes my work so much easier.

First, a correction: In my previous post I said that copy & paste wasn't available in the standard Widows Remote Desktop. This is incorrect. You can copy & paste across computers using Remote Desktop, I'd just not realized that. (There's a longer story here but I'm going to leave that out.)

So, what's my scenario? The fact that I'm constantly creating documents on one computer not on the office network and needing the files on another computer which is on the office network. In the past, I'd need to use FTP or a flash drive to get the files from one computer to the other. No more!

Yesterday I found myself needing screenshots from one computer since that had the software I was writing about, but the Web page I was inserting them into was on the other.  Using what I'll show you here, I just saved the screenshots to a particular folder and by the time I was done, they automatically appeared on the other. Here's the steps involved in setting this up:

Here's my My Documents folder on my office laptop. As you can see, I already have two folders synched up with Live Mesh: Searching 2.0 and Speaking. I could save the screenshots into one of those folders but organizationally that's not appropriate since these files have nothing to do with a speaking engagement or my latest book. What I really want is some sort of temp folder into which I can stick files that I'm working on right now.

So, I created a new folder within My Documents named !Transfers. (Starting a folder- or file-name with a "!" will move it to the top of the list when you alphabetize.)

 

With Live Mesh already installed, I right-click on the folder and select Add folder to your Live Mesh...

The Add Live Mesh folder to your devices dialog box appears and I'm given the opportunity to rename the folder at this point. (There is also Show synchronization options here in which you can changes settings for other devices in your Mesh but I prefer to handle these on a computer-by-computer basis, as I'm showing in this post, for for a finer level of control.) Choosing not to rename the folder I just click OK.

My !Transfers folder is nor blue indicating that it is part of my Mesh.

Opening that folder I now see the attached Live Mesh panel. I've put some files into the folder and the panel is telling me that the files are currently being uploaded to my Live Mesh Desktop.

Logging into my Live Mesh Desktop I can see a new !Transfers folder containing the files in the folder. The files with the green and white arrow icons are the files that have not yet been uploaded from the computer to the Mesh Desktop version of the folder.

Now it's time to look at my office desktop. A new shortcut icon to a blue Live Mesh folder named !Transfers has appeared. (Second column from the left. Fifth icon down.)

At the moment, this does nothing. But, when I right-click on it I see an option named Sync with this device... (Since this is in bold, it's what would happen if I was to double-click on the icon.)

 

Choosing that option opens the Synchronize folder dialog box which should look familiar. In this instance however, I don't get to choose the name of the folder but I do get to choose where the folder will live on this computer. So, I'll click Browse...

 

...and decide to put this folder under My Documents. Please note that the location of this folder on this computer does not need to match the location of the folder on any other computer. I could have left it on the desktop, or stuck it on a completely different drive for that matter.

Once I've chosen the appropriate location I click OK.

 

Then I click OK again.

 

The !Transfers shortcut no longer appears on my desktop.

 

But, if I open My Documents I will see the blue Live Mesh !Transfers folder right where I told it to be.

 

Opening up the !Transfers folder I see that my files are being copied down from the Live Mesh Desktop into this folder. (Some of them are MP3 files so they're going to take a little longer to synch between computers than some JPGs will.)

 

Now, whenever I put a file into my !Transfers folder on either computer it will be automatically synched to the other. (If the other computer isn't turned on or logged in, the synch will occur the next time the computer is on and logged in.)

Once I've moved the files out of my !Transfers folder into their appropriate storage location (or into the recycle bin) they'll automatically be removed from the other computers. In other words, Live Mesh cleans up after itself.

When I get home this evening I'll also see a blue !Transfers folder on my home desktop. There I can either choose to not synch the file to my home computer or set up the synch. In this case I probably will set it to synch since I do find myself often downloading files at home that I want to use at the office. All I'll need to do is dump them in my !Transfers folder and when I log into my office computers in the morning, my files will auto-magically appear.

Seriously, if you use multiple computers you've got to try this software. The word on the street is that the "synching with Windows Mobile devices" feature is coming soon (I have accessed my files via http://m.mesh.com on my phone but that's just remote access to the files, not synching) with a soon-to-follow Mac version. Give me a shout if you try it out as I'm looking for someone to test the sharing features with.

Groverfield

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Police: Photographing thugs 'is assault'

From the UK:

A householder who took photographs of hooded teenagers as evidence of their anti-social behaviour says he was told he was breaking the law after they called the police.

David Green, 64, and his neighbours had been plagued by the youths from a nearby comprehensive school for months, and was advised by their headmaster to identify them so action could be taken.

But when Mr Green left his £1million London flat to take photographs of the gang, who were aged around 17, he said one threatened to kill him while another called the police on his mobile.

And he claimed that a Police Community Support Officer sent to the scene promptly issued a warning that taking pictures of youths without permission was illegal, and could lead to a charge of assault.

Read the full story on Mail Online.

Canadian DMCA video contest: Bill C61 in 61 seconds

Via BoingBoing

Star Wars: The Fate of the Duel

Star Wars The Fate of the Duel
by daveandtom

Via YesButNoButYes

Full list of Starbucks closures now available

Starbucks Gossip has the list. Here's the damage Nebraska will be suffering:

11527 HWY 370 & 36TH 3811 TWIN CREEK DR BELLEVUE NE
13626 23RD & CLARKSON 610 E 23RD ST FREMONT NE
11270 2ND & W 42 ST 4116 2ND AVE KEARNEY NE
9883 120TH & BLONDO 2012 N 117TH AVE OMAHA NE
11528 CENTER & 63RD 6303 CENTER ST OMAHA NE
11529 HWY 370 & 72ND 1423 PAPILLION DR PAPILLION NE
11805 72ND & GILES 8440 S 72ND ST PAPILLION NE

Response to a book challenge

I know Jamie LaRue and have respected him for years now. On Monday he posted his response to a recent book challenge in his library district. Here's the intro:

Recently, a library patron challenged (urged a reconsideration of the ownership or placement of) a book called "Uncle Bobby's Wedding." Honestly, I hadn't even heard of it until that complaint. But I did read the book, and responded to the patron, who challenged the item through email and requested that I respond online (not via snail-mail) about her concerns.
I suspect the book will get a lot of challenges in 2008-2009. So I offer my response, purging the patron's name, for other librarians.

The rest of the post is his response and I'm officially declaring it required reading for everyone reading this blog. So please take five minutes and read his post titled Uncle Bobby's Wedding.

Mesh the cloud and your desk

I don't suspect that I'm a "typical" computer user with my daily working with four different computers and constant travel but most of my readers I'm sure have at least a home and office computer. I'm also pretty sure that at some point you've "left that important file on the other computer" and have no easy way of getting it short of calling someone to get them to e-mail it to you. Great if your office is open and the file is small, but getting a file at 7am when you're presenting at 8, and it's a 10MB PPT file and you're basically screwed.

I've played with many different services to synchronize devices in the past my most of them are cumbersome at best, hardly functional at worst. However, yesterday I was given access to the "tech preview" of Windows Live Mesh and all I can saw is "where have you been all my life." (Supposedly this is open to everyone in the US but I've heard reports that so many people tried to access it yesterday that they've since closed it to new users again. So, your ability to register may vary.)

So, let me take you on a tour of Live Mesh and explain to you what it does and (basically) how it works.

First you head over to http://www.mesh.com/ and select the Sign in button. (I recommend you do this in IE as opposed to Firefox. I'll explain why later.)

All you need to log in is a Windows Live ID. (This is what was originally Windows Passport.) If you already have one, just use it to log in. If not, follow the instructions for getting one.

Once signed in you'll be presented with the Devices screen. At first you'll only see choices for "Live Desktop" and "Add Device". Here you'll see that I've already added three devices and currently two of them are running and connected to Live Mesh. (NLC Desktop is not. Why, later.)

To add a device to your Mesh select the Add Device icon, choose from the list of available device types (right now just 32-bit XP/Vista and 64-bit Vista PCs) and click the Install button.

I don't have screenshots of the install process since most of it happens behind the scenes. You'll be asked to Run a downloaded install.exe and once run a status balloon will appear in above your system tray telling you that Live Mesh is being installed. You'll eventually be told that Live Mesh is starting and ultimately be asked to log in with your LiveID. At this point you'll also be asked to name your computer to be able to tell it from the others in your Mesh.

Once this process has been successfully completed your device will be listed on your Live Mesh devices screen.

In the case of my "NLC Desktop" the installation program did run but I was asked for the admin username and password for the computer. Since I didn't have that information I clicked cancel thinking that was that. Well, it still lists my device and I still have access to the synching functions of Live Mesh. However, I do not have the remote desktop feature. Go figure..

This next screenshot shows the listing for my "Home Desktop" which did install completely and correctly. For this device I have both synching and remote access.

Even if you don't add any devices, Live Mesh will give you access to a "Desktop" which I've shown below. Here you can store files and create folders just as you would with other online storage services such as Windows Live Sky Drive. This feature alone is worth taking a look at.

In my case I've created a folder for upcoming speaking engagements and can upload files into it. When I'm later at a different location and don't have one of my computers with me I can simply log into my account, and download the file to that new local computer without installing any of the Live Mesh software.

For example, I'm at a library to give a presentation and they do not have the ability to hook my laptop up to their projector. All I need to do is get on their computer, launch the browser, log into my Live Mesh account, got to the desktop, find my PPT file, and open it. This will download the file to the local computer and open it accordingly. A great way to backup files you might need later. Total amount of online storage allowed at this time: 5GB.

What you'll also see attached to the folder off to the right is a secondary window displaying information about your account and the files contained within the folder you're currently viewing. The next screenshot shows the "News" about that folder. I'll get back to this in more detail when I talk about folder synching.

Next you can see the Members information for this folder. Live Mesh has the ability to share files and folders between account holders. As I do not yet know anyone else using Live Mesh I've not yet had the opportunity to play with this feature.

The third bit of information is about which Devices this folder is synched with. Again, more about this shortly.

To create a new folder select "Create new folder" on the desktop and give the new folder a name.

Additionally, when you create a new folder you can set the synchronization options for that folder, essentially choosing which of your devices you wish to have copies of the content of that folder.

The "News" link at the top of the window will show you the recent activity (mostly relating to synching of data) for your account. I'm assuming that this information is more useful when you have multiple people sharing folders and documents so you can see who's done what with which files.

Once you have created a folder on your Live Mesh desktop you can then choose to sync the content of that folder with a folder on one or more of your devices. I've done that with my Speaking folder. Below shows what that folder now looks like on my NLC laptop. The shiny blue folder indicates that this folder is being synched via Live Mesh. (The folders do not need to have the same name but I've done so just to keep things clear.)

Once I open that folder I'll get the additional information window attached to its right side. This info window contains the same content as the one on the Live Mesh desktop: News, Members, and Synchronized Devices. (Shown in the next three screenshots.)

This information window can also be collapsed by clicking on the "<<", reducing it to a smaller bar of icons. Click the ">>" or any of the icons to open the information window.

That's what it looks like, but what exactly does it do? Well, synched files will mirror exactly what's been done in all the versions of that folder across your Live Mesh desktop and any synched devices. Here's what I've done:

I've got a "Speaking" folder on all four of my computers. This folder should contain copies of all the files relevant to my upcoming speaking engagements. The trouble has always been keeping track of which computer held the most recent version. This is no longer a problem. Once I set up the sync across all my computers, Live Mesh took over and made sure that the content of my Speaking folder on all the computers had the exact same content.

Now, whenever I change a file by renaming it, moving it, copying it, deleting it, or editing it's content, at the soonest available time, Live Mesh will cause those changes to be reflected on all the other computers. For example, if I'm at home and decide to work on a PowerPoint presentation, I just open it on my home laptop, make the changes, and click save. When I get into the office the next morning and turn on that computer, Live Mesh will notice the changes and replace the now old version on the office computer with the new version from my home computer.

At all times, the versions sitting on my Live Mesh desktop will always be the current version.

If I upload a new file to the Live Mesh desktop version of the folder, copies will be sent down to all my devices automatically.

In other words, I no longer have to worry about making sure that the correct version of the files I need are on any of my computers. No matter where I work on them, they'll all have the correct version. What could be better?

There are different options for controlling how files are Synched. These options can be found by right-clicking on the folder on the Live Mesh desktop and selecting Change sync settings.

You'll then see the Change synchronization setting for this folder window.

You can now choose to change the method of synching, including turning synching off, on a device by device basis.

The other major feature of Live Mesh is the ability to create a remote desktop session. To do this go back to your Devices list, select the appropriate (connected) device, and click the Connect button.

Here's the IE vs. Firefox bit. The remote desktop feature will not work in Firefox as it relies on ActiveX controls. Everything else, will work in Firefox just fine. (I've just used the "Open in IE" Firefox extension to automatically launch IE whenever I go to the Live Mesh site so I don't every have to be frustrated when I try to open a remote session.)

The first time you connect to a new device some ActiveX controls will need to be installed. This is only a problem for some as you need admin privileges for these to install successfully. (This is why in earlier screenshots you see that "NLC Desktop" is not connected. I don't have admin-level access to that computer.)

Once the ActiveX controls are installed you'll see a screen telling you that it is attempting to connect. In my experience this can take up to 30 seconds to work.

Once connected it works just like the traditional, but hard to set up, Windows Remote Desktop.

Tips are displayed off to the right including links to send a CTRL-ALT-DEL to the remote computer, blank the screen on the remote computer so no one can watch what you're doing at the remote location, and to show the remote desktop at 100% instead of the default "fit to window" as I've show above.

Additionally, there's an arrow in the bar across the top which when clicked switches you into a full-screen mode, essentially turning your computer into the remote computer.

But, you may ask, why is this any better than the traditional Windows Remote Desktop? That's easy, with Live Mesh you can copy and paste across computers! This is something you couldn't previously do. You still can't drag and drop between the local and remote computers but you can easily find the needed file on the remote computer, copy it, switch to the local computer and paste. It's a little slow (a 250MB video file insisted that it was going to take four hours to copy so I didn't bother) but if you forgot a 5MB PPT file, this is a great solution.

AS you may expect, not all is roses. Live Mesh is definitely impressive and solves a lot of the issues that I've been having keeping four different computers in sync, and for retrieving remote files while I'm on the road. However, there's definite room for improvement.

• The support for mobile devices, and maybe more importantly, Mac clients will be essential for large scale implementation.
  
• I have yet to get Live Mesh started on my home Vista laptop. It seems to have installed just fine but keeps telling me "Failed to start Live Mesh". I've searched all the forums and I do know that I'm not the only person with this problem. Considering that it did install and run earlier in the day I suspect that this may be due to the alleged closing of the tech preview.
  
• Remote desktop is a bit slow. In the past I've been using a combination of Hamachi & RealVNC for my remote desktop sessions and that is faster. This is due to RealVNC reducing the umber of the colors displayed in the remote session thus allowing the screen to redraw faster. Live Mesh keeps full colors and only removes the wallpaper. I'd like to see an option to change the number of displayed colors based on connection speed.
  
• This last one is a bit odd. It turns out that Live Mesh requires User Account Control (UAC) to be enabled in Vista before it will install. On my home laptop I'd completely disabled UAC. (This isn't something I actually recommend.) However, when I first tried to install Live Mesh on that laptop I got the following error message. (It looks like Microsoft isn't kidding about this UAC thing.)

So there you have it, my initial impressions of Windows Live Mesh. I'm sure there's features I've missed and I'm looking forward to using it to share documents with others. (Is you're willing to play, get an account and let me know. I've got five sharing invites to give out.) The bottom line: this is a great product and could only get better.

Take photos of your kids having fun, get called a pervert

When Gary Crutchley started taking pictures of his children playing on an inflatable slide he thought they would be happy reminders of a family day out.

But the innocent snaps of seven-year-old Cory, and Miles, five, led to him being called a ‘pervert’.

The woman running the slide at Wolverhampton Show asked him what he was doing and other families waiting in the queue demanded that he stop.

Luckily in this instance the police were sympathetic towards the photographer:

‘This parental paranoia is getting completely out of hand. I was so shocked. One of the police officers told me that it was just the way society-is these days. He agreed with me that it was madness.’

Read the full story at Mail Online.

Funny... But, why?

Yes, this is funny:

But consider the actual sign being criticized. Why is the library asking for your phone number just to use a computer? What possible legitimate purpose is that serving?

Somewhere, in an alternate universe...

Thanks Louise!

Configuring a public laptop: Which direction should I take?

Here in Nebraska we're going to be giving grants to give libraries who don't already offer public access WiFi a Linksys WiFi router and a choice between a Dell laptop and a Samsung Q1. The question I have deals with how I should set up the laptops/Q1s. Before I describe the options keep the following in mind: a) They both run Vista. b) The fact that one's an UMPC and one's a traditional laptop is irrelevant. (At least I think the hardware is irrelevant. If you think it isn't please explain.) and c) The computers will be made available for public use. So, which would you choose?

Option #1
Set up a staff account with admin privileges and a public account as a standard user. This way the staff can run updates and change settings and the public can't alter anything.

Option #2
Have just one user account but install Windows Steady State so that no matter what the public does, a reboot solves everything. To make changes permanent the staff would just need to turn off Steady State first.

I have my opinions but I'm trying to see if I've missed anything. What do you think?

Photographing the Police in Tennessee

A Johnson County sheriff’s deputy arrested Scott Conover for unlawful photography.

“He says you took a picture of me.  It’s illegal to take a picture of a law enforcement officer,” said Conover.

Conover took a picture of a sheriff’s deputy on the side of the road on a traffic stop.  Conover was stunned by the charge.

...

In an affidavit, the deputy said he saw something black with a red light which he thought was a threat.  Conover was also arrested for pointing a laser at a law enforcement officer.

The photo was taken with an iPhone which contains no laser. It doesn't even contain a flash like my Motorola Q.

Read the full story at TriCities.com.

First list of closing Starbucks released

Wondering if your local Starbucks is on the chopping block? Wonder no more. Consumerist has the list. For those of us in Nebraska, the only one closing so far is the one in Bellevue.

#11527 - hwy 370 & 36th
3811 Twin Creek DR
Bellevue, NE

Jedi Gym

Guess who

Q: But do you go on line for yourself?

A: They go on for me. I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don't expect to be a great communicator, I don't expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need - including going to my daughter's blog first, before anything else.

Read The Huffington Post for the answer.

The end of an era for Windows

No, not XP. Yep, here's proof for everyone that's so totally worried that they won't be able to buy XP any more. (BTW: Get over it!) Come November 1, 2008 OEM's will no longer be able to sell Windows for Workgroups 3.11. (The OS I used in grad school in 1994-95.)

Help Stop Big Media

[This is a slightly edited reprint of an e-mail I received and support.]

Add Your Voice - Sign the Petition Today!

When members of Congress return home this summer, they need to hear why stopping further media consolidation must be a top priority.

By acting now, you can ensure that there are thousands of petitions ready to be delivered when Rep. Jeff Fortenberry sets foot back in your district for the summer congressional recess.

Help Stop Big Media: Sign the Petition Now

In May, the Senate voted to stop Big Media by passing a "resolution of disapproval," which rejected the Federal Communications Commission's latest effort to consolidate local media.

We won in the Senate. We can win again in the House.

To do this, we need to get 100 co-sponsors in the next 100 days to support the House version of the bill (H.J. Res. 79). This summer, we'll be delivering hundreds of thousands of petitions at in-district meetings with key members of Congress. Make sure your voice is heard.

Help Us Get 100 Co-Sponsors in 100 Days.
Sign the Petition Today

Tens of thousands of people already have signed the petition, and 30 members of Congress have agreed to co-sponsor the bill. But we need to do more to swing a majority in the House.

And we don't have much time. We plan to deliver the signatures in August, when elected representatives leave D.C. for the summer.

Congress may be about to go on break, but we aren't going to rest.

Thanks for your help,

Josh Stearns
Campaign Coordinator
http://www.stopbigmedia.com/
http://www.freepress.net/
P.S. Help spread the word! Join the 100 Cosponsors in 100 Days event on Facebook and tell your friends to sign the petition.

---

Take action on this important campaign at:
http://free.convio.net/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=265

Tell your friends about this campaign at: http://free.convio.net/site/Ecard?ecard_id=1109

StopBigMedia.com is a project of Free Press and the Free Press Action Fund, on the Web at www.freepress.net.

Nancy sushes a Krillitane

Nancy sushes a Krillitane (1)
Originally uploaded by Travelin' Librarian

Just showing off the Blog This feature in Flickr.

"Librarians are trained democracy superheroes"

Update: MSNBC's Countdown has picked up the librarian ejected from McCain event story.

John McCain kicks librarian out of town hall event

Thanks dad.

Hello from Omaha

I'm currently teaching my Blogging workshop in the basement of the Omaha Public Library's main branch. Right now, 11 librarians are writing their first blog posts.

The Open Rights Group

I've blogged about the Open Rights Group in the past and I just heard from them that they're running a support campaign right now. Even if you don't donate, you should at least check them out.

The Open Rights Group is a grassroots technology organization which exists to protect civil liberties wherever they are threatened by the poor implementation and regulation of digital technology. We call these rights our “digital rights”.

In 2005, a community of 1,000 digital rights enthusiasts came together to create the Open Rights Group. Since then, ORG has spoken out on copyright term extension, DRM and the introduction of electronic voting in the UK. We have informed the debate on data protection, freedom of information, data retention and the surveillance state.

These are issues that affect all of us. Together, our community, which includes some of the UK’s most renowned technology experts, works hard to raise awareness about them.

Our Goals

• To raise awareness in the media of digital rights abuses
• To provide a media clearinghouse, connecting journalists with experts and activists
• To preserve and extend traditional civil liberties in the digital world
• To collaborate with other digital rights and related organizations
• To nurture a community of campaigning volunteers, from grassroots activists to technical and legal experts

It's not just the UK

Here's a story from Oklahoma:

"That black SUV passed me doing about 120," Owens said. "I stopped, pulled off on the median, had my camera and just walked around and shot a few pictures."

Much to Owens' surprise, when police saw him taking the pictures, they demanded he hand them over or go to jail. Owens said three troopers and an Oklahoma City police officer were present during the incident.

"I quickly opened the scooter seat, dropped my camera in and locked it, and said ‘No, I won't give it to you,' Owens said.

As professional photographer and a teacher at Casady School, Owens stood his ground, telling police they were violating his civil rights.

"I'm a prep school teacher, not a criminal," Owens said. "It was constant screaming a foot from my face, of how stupid I am."

After Owens refused to take the camera out of his scooter and delete the pictures, that's when he said one of the Troopers lost his restraint.

"He finally just snapped, and said ‘That's it, you're going to jail,' and knocked my helmet off my head and took me over to a tree and cuffed me," Owens said.

Read the full story and see video at NewsOn6.com.

Daniel Ellsberg on warrantless wiretapping bill

What Every American Needs to Know (and Do) About FISA Before
Tuesday, July 8th from Tim Ferriss on Vimeo. via BoingBoing.

More on UK photographer's rights

This group of photographers came prepared and pulled out a bull-horn when confronted by security guards.

The BBC picked up the story and has more details.

Snuggly is back!

Snuggly the Security Bear is back and this time he's here to explains Warrantless Wiretapping.

UK photographers are basically & officially screwed

'First of all, may I take this opportunity to state that the Government greatly values the importance of the freedom of the press, and as such there is no legal restriction on photography in public places,' [Home Secretary] Smith writes. 'Also, as you will be aware, there is no presumption of privacy for individuals in a public place.'

However, the Home Secretary adds that local restrictions might be enforced. 'Decisions may be made locally to restrict or monitor photography in reasonable circumstances. That is an operational decision for the officers involved based on the individual circumstances of each situation.

Read the full story in The British Journal of Photography.

It's gonna be ok

Mistake Shows Need for Clear Communication in Piracy Discussions

Let's say that I download the last episode of the recent season of Lost via BitTorrent. It's not yet available on DVD and I get broadcast TV in my home. Is this theft? Some in the entertainment world say yes. Here's an example:

In a demonstration for BusinessWeek earlier this year, Attributor executives showed how many times scenes from "The Sopranos" had appeared on 20 leading video sites since they first aired on TV. In all, 1,500 scenes from 52 episodes had been viewed 32 million times. For Time Warner's (TWX) HBO, those viewings might have brought in more than $1 million, said Attributor Chief Executive Officer Jim Brock. [Emphasis added.]

The quote talks about and HBO series which people do pay to see (by subscribing to HBO) but I've read similar statements regarding broadcast TV shows too. But here's the catch:

It turns out that Brock was estimating revenue from advertising that did, or could have, run next to the "Sopranos" clips. I'm glad I asked, because there's a big difference between an overlooked opportunity and outright theft.

Here is exactly where we need to separate the hype from the reality. Is the company losing money because of theft or because of their lack of understanding and missing of an opportunity?

Read the full article at Tools of Change for Publishing.

Obama’s FISA opportunity

Here's Keith Olbermann's special comment from last night:

Warning to copyright enforcers: Three strikes and you're out

I think we should permanently cut off the internet access of any company that sends out three erroneous copyright notices. Three strikes and you're out, mate.

Having been disconnected, your customers can only find out about your product offerings by ringing you up and asking, or by requesting a printed brochure. Perhaps you could give all your salespeople fax machines so they can fax urgent information up and down the supply chain. And there's always the phone – just make sure you've got a bunch of phone books in the office, because you'll never Google another phone number.

Call it a modest proposal in the Swiftian sense if you must, but I'm deadly serious.

Read Cory Doctorow's full article on guardian.co.uk.