Its time again for yet another raft of stories from the coffers of the Caffination news bin. As before these gems where to good to leave on the cutting room floor, but unfortunately we couldn’t get them into the mix for the show. Lots of news happening right now. Its hard to stay anywhere near the top of the pile.
In today’s Grab bag you’ll find politics, copyright, copywrong, Plastic bottles, Vases, Tools, and Luddites
Eisner on Copyright, why thats a bad combo. Michael Eisner former head of Disney was recently part of an interview done during the just closed SXSW convention. He came out hard on the side of copyright. Attributing certain things to a much beloved previous president, one Honest Abe Lincoln. Seriously if you going to listen to anyone their first name should be Honest. Here is the rub though, Disney early on in its carrier made the most out of term limits on copyright usually waiting until their previous works had expired before making a cartoon version of them Brother’s Grimm anyone? Its now mighty convenient that the house of Mouse is the biggest proponent of extending copyright.
If you want a damning piece on why Copyright is bad, and who it really benefits then check out the Lawrence Lessig Lecture on Free Culture. Unbelievable lecture. Great use of your time. This is a must watch!
Pretty up your plastic. In a disposable culture such as ours, its nice to see people taking a step back and finding new uses for old objects. Plastic bottles, and bottled water are the scourge of landfills everywhere so if even one piece of plastic gets shuffled into the living room as opposed to the trashcan this product is a great idea.
Get more use from your tools. I have a Leatherman wave, it is my favorite tool. It was a present to me when i left my job as a student worker, before i got my current job. It is quite probably one of the most versatile and durable tools i have ever had the pleasure of owning. The idea that this could be improved upon through a minor modification is truly intriguing.
Luddites of the world, Unite, or not. Its amazing that in 2008 people can get elected while knowing nothing of living the modern life. A life of being online, having a bank account and still have the power to affect change. So apparently the former PM of Poland who has all of the aforementioned qualities decreed that it would cheapen voting to be able to do it at home, while you were obviously looking at nefarious content. And probably drinking.
Eye spy, cybernetically speaking. This is one of the stories I’m really excited about. how does a cybernetic eye that helps restore sight to the partially blind sound? Well its sounds pretty awesome to me and beats the hell out of those stupid contact lens’ that change your eye to look like a cat.