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Coding Style and Digital Creativity
I saw some raised eyebrows last week when I said that I could tell, in the Google v Oracle case, that two different programmers had touched the nine lines of code in question (one had written most, and another had come in to fix a minor bug), despite this never being (as far as I can […]
Open-Access Publication: Creativity, Constraints, and Ethics
A very interesting short piece about the recent surge in open-access journals. As a bit of background about the “traditional” and “open” manners of publishing scientific papers: In the traditional form, authors have their work reviewed; if accepted, it is published for free (or some relatively nominal charge to the author). There are often ads in journals […]
Creativity Without Law
This is a webcast of a conference that took place this past November entitled “Creativity Without Law”, co-sponsored by the Harvard Berkman Center: The event will focus on the growing body of scholarship examining the on-the-ground practices of creators and innovators. That scholarship challenges intellectual property orthodoxy by suggesting that incentives for creative production often exist […]
AI and Creativity
Today in class, we talked briefly about artificial intelligence (AI) and what it means for creativity. I thought this article that I saw yesterday comparing the smartness and creativity of humans and AIs (and, more importantly, the author’s vision of where AI is headed) would be a cool (if lengthy) read. http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html Cheers!
Constraints Made Google and Mick Jagger Great–and They’ll Make You a Better Entrepreneur
Here is another piece that glorifies constraints – this time in an entrepreneurial rather than creative context. In doing so it arguably provides a clue as to what lies behind this S&M like lust for handcuffs. Read closely and you may see that it comes down to ego and the illusion of being special. In […]
Top 10 Internet Law Developments Of 2014
Here is a terrifically useful article by Professor Eric Goldman of Santa Clara Law called the “Top 10 Internet Law Developments Of 2014”. It is potentially a wonderful source of inspiration for seminar or paper topics. Here is the link: Top 10 Internet Law Developments Of 2014. jon
The Entire Concept Of Intellectual Property Is Proof That Free Markets Aren’t Perfect
Though essentially tautological in it’s structure and delivery, this piece from Forbes is nevertheless of some use to provoke thought, though ironically not necessarily in the direction the author intended. Read it here: The Entire Concept Of Intellectual Property Is Proof That Free Markets Aren’t Perfect. Now ask yourself if the better answer is to: A. […]
The More Things Change…
Just to expand on today’s brief discussion of the rather circular nature of government support for cryptographic software (and to a lesser extent, new technology in general): 1976: After the NBS (National Bureau of Standards) consulted with the NSA, the NSA made a slight modification to the forthcoming DES standard. For years there was significant […]
Less than Zero — Backchannel — Medium
A concept well worth reflecting on: when is “free” not neutral? This article goes through the ins and outs of what it really means when carriers exempt certain apps from data charges, and not others. What do “net neutrality” rules have to look like to be meaningful and not a commercially manipulative sham? Read more […]
Writers Say They Feel Censored by Surveillance – NYTimes.com
How is this for disturbing – hardly the percentage difference between “free” and “not free” countries you might wish for: “Some 75 percent of respondents in countries classified as “free,” 84 percent in “partly free” countries, and 80 percent in countries that were “not free” said that they were “very” or “somewhat” worried about government […]