SPACE Commander Chris Hadfield sang David Bowie’s Space Oddity as his finale to his International Space Station show. And when he did, he potentially opened a can of worms (and lawyers). You can send a man to live in space. No sweat. But it’s much harder to work out who owns the words he says when he’s up there.
The song “Space Oddity” is under copyright protection in most countries, and the rights to it belong to Mr Bowie. But compulsory-licensing rights in many nations mean that any composition that has been released to the public (free or commercially) as an audio recording may be recorded again and sold by others for a statutorily defined fee, although it must be substantively the same music and lyrics as the original. But with the ISS circling the globe, which jurisdiction was Commander Hadfield in when he recorded the song and video? Moreover, compulsory-licensing rights for covers of existing songs do not include permission for broadcast or video distribution. Commander Hadfield’s song was loaded onto YouTube, which delivers video on demand to users in many countries around the world. The first time the video was streamed in each country constituted publication in that country, and with it the potential for copyright infringement under local laws. Commander Hadfield could have made matters even more complicated by broadcasting live as he sang to an assembled audience of fellow astronauts for an onboard public performance while floating from segment to segment of the ISS.
Ridiculous…
Posted: 25th, May 2013 | In: Music, Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
iNotRacist – the world’s most effective non-racist app.
iNotRacist -is the app. that will identity you as a non-racist. Bit discounts for politicians, policemen and golfers:
Posted: 24th, May 2013 | In: Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
How a teenage girl uses her iPhone – Yahoo! might want to reconsider that Tumblr deal
HOW do teenage girls use their phones? Answer: all the time. Bianca Bosker spoke to a 14-year-old girl about her life on a white iPhone S.
These are the pick of the quotes:
“I’ll wake up in the morning and go on Facebook just … because,” Casey says. “It’s not like I want to or I don’t. I just go on it. I’m, like, forced to. I don’t know why. I need to. Facebook takes up my whole life.”
…
Casey only parts with her phone during the hours she’s at school, when she leaves it in her locker. The rest of the time, she and seven friends keep up a running conversation over text messages.
Posted: 24th, May 2013 | In: Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
WHEN Lee Rigby was butchered to death by lunatics making a human sacrifice to the god voices in their heads, we knew that no nutjobs would break us. We are fair. We are strong. And then the police moved to arrest two men who had made “offensive” comments on twitter. It took the police fifteen minutes to arrest two armed jihadi-obsessed psychos who had hacked a man to death in the street. What odds they were swifter in nicking a 23-year-old and a 22-year-old for allegedly breaking the Public Order Act?
As ever, someone looking to be offended found something to dislike on twitter. They called Avon and Somerset Police. The thought police then nicked the two Bristol residents on suspicion of inciting racial or religious hatred.
Posted: 24th, May 2013 | In: Key Posts, News, Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Porn copyright firm threatens to tell your neighbours
THERE’S a lovely little scam operating over in the US at the moment. Somewhere between ort of legal and foul and disgusting but sorta legal.
What they do is look around for someone using Bit Torrent or similar services to download movies n’stuff. Then they check whether they’ve downloaded various porn films. If they have downloaded one that the law firm owns the copyright to (and they’ve gone out and bought many copyrights, which are pretty cheap these days for porn films) then they sue them for copyright infringement.
Posted: 23rd, May 2013 | In: Money, Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Gif inventor and inventor of letter ‘g’ in pedantic row
HAVE you ever jiffawed at a jif? The inventor of the Gif says the thing should be pronounced Jif. Gif stands for Graphics Interchange Format. That’s graphic not jraffic. But Steven Wilhite says the ‘G’ of Gif should be used like the G in Germany. Said Steven (pronounced. Ste-veen):
”It is a soft ‘G’, pronounced ‘jif’. End of story.”
Of course jif is now known as cif.
Posted: 23rd, May 2013 | In: Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Scooter rider has four accidents in a minute – video
IN this video, the hapless scooter boy suffers three accidents in a very short space of time.
I have no end of sympathy for him. The first time I ever drove a scooter was on a ‘fun’ track in Hampshire. I ended up wrapped around a fence in the car park. The next time I drove one was in Italy. As I headed towards the queue of terrified locals stood at the bus stop opposite the scooter hire shop, I knew that motorbikes and me made for an unhappy mix. Fortunately, I managed to twist the handlebars in time to slap into the bike renter’s car, which I then hired:
Posted: 23rd, May 2013 | In: Anorak TV, Cars | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Nintendo won’t brand you a criminal for making a video of your game – it will just take your money
WHO owns the videos you make and post on YouTube? Well, if you make one yourself playing a Nintendo video game, they do. Alan Wexelblat writes:
The basic idea is that if someone makes a video of themselves playing a Nintendo game and uploads it to YouTube any ads shown with that video will be of Nintendo’s choosing and revenue from it will flow to Nintendo. Ads may appear beside the videos or actually be inserted before and after the video when people go to play it.
The problem here is that “Let’s Play” style videos are a pervasive form of information and sharing throughout the industry. I did a quick YouTube search for “let’s play” for this blog post and got back over 9.1 million hits. People create these videos to show off their skills, to highlight interesting things they’ve seen such as game “easter eggs”, to provide guides or walk-throughs, or just to share a bit of fun with friends. There are a few professional or semi-professional games writers who use this style of video to promote themselves or their channels, but they are a tiny minority of that nine million.
Nintendo has positioned its action as a gentler approach; rather than trying to ban content related to Nintendo games, they just want to make money off it by changing the video that an individual uploaded. Yeah, um, guys that’s not a whole lot better. It also comes across as cheap and lazy – rather than creating content for YouTube that fans and players would want to watch, Nintendo is just taking over other peoples’ content.
Nintendo is not alone. Google is there to help:
Nintendo will accomplish this by using YouTube’s Content Match ID system, which allows publishers, television networks or record labels to identify if content being used in a video is something from their products. Those entities can then monetize those videos.
And lest you think Nintendo look like swine, they explain:
“We continually want our fans to enjoy sharing Nintendo content on YouTube. That is why, unlike other entertainment companies, we have chosen not to block people using our intellectual property.”
No, Instead of making you a criminal they will just take your money instead. Oh, the irony…
NOTE: In 2013, Nintendo made an annual profit of 7.1bn yen (£47m).
Posted: 20th, May 2013 | In: Technology | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
1951 manual: How To Use a Dial Telephone
IN 1951: anyone uncertain of how to use a telephone was being educated:
Posted: 17th, May 2013 | In: Flashback, Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
The Mickey Mouse gasmask was utterly terrifying in 1942 – and it still is
WAR is utterly terrifying. It’s ugly. But in 1942, T.W. Smith, Jr., owner of the Sun Rubber Company, and designer, Dietrich Rempel, created something to give children nightmares: the Mickey Mouse gas mask, as approved by Walt Disney.
Posted: 16th, May 2013 | In: Flashback, Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
1936: How to die by electrocution in 30 pictures
AUSTRIAN physician Stefan Jellinek founded The Electro-Pathological Museum in 1936. Hr provided the content in Elektroschutz in 132 Bildern (Electrical Protection in 132 Pictures). DEath and electricity went hand-in-hand. But with this book, you would be forewarned.
If you can identify all the contraptions, let us know.
Posted: 16th, May 2013 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
The entirely insane new tax in France on smartphones, laptops, TVs and tablets
THE French have decided it would be a good idea to tax all the smartphones, TVs, tablets and the rest in order to subsidise the creation of French movies n’ stuff that people can watch on their smartphones, tablets and TVs. This is truly insane:
The French government is considering creating a new tax on smartphones and tablets in a bid to raise millions to support the creation of digital cultural content inside France.
The proposal, handed to President Francois Hollande today, outlines a one per cent tax on the sale of Internet-compatible devices, targeting companies such as Google, Apple and Amazon.
The tax would yield about 86 million euros per year. The revenue would help cultural industries create French content such as music, images and videos.
Posted: 15th, May 2013 | In: Money, Technology | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Great car driving music with a film car chase montage (video)
CAR driving music with a film car chase montage. Can you name the films?
Posted: 14th, May 2013 | In: Cars, Film | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Things that existed: the Phone Relief Ultimate Hands-Free Headset
IN the early 1990s, the world was in peril. Telephones were falling into pies, to the floor from desks and very possibly being mistaken for carrots. But help was at hand. The Phone Relief Ultimate Hands-Free Headset was here.
Posted: 13th, May 2013 | In: Flashback, Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Bang With Friends: the only people anonymous are the sex site’s creators
BANG WITH FRIENDS is a site that boasts:
The anonymous, simple, fun way to find friends who are down for the night.
Your friends will never know you’re interested unless they are too! (Completely private & discreet until both friends are down to bang!)
Posted: 12th, May 2013 | In: Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
IN 1881, the London St James’s Gazette reported on the end of life on Earth. The news was picked up by Australia’s Bendigo Advertiser:
STARTLING THEORY.
The London St James’s Gazette writes :—
” This planet, it seems, is threatened with serious changes by the extension of the telegraphic system. A timely note of warning to this effect is given by one of the American papers. Polarity, it observes, depends upon a current of electricity passing at right angles to the direction of the poles. The polarity of the earth depends upon the electric or heat currents of the sun, and it is highly probable that the earth’s inclination to the ecliptic is governed by its polarity. If, therefore, there were instantly established sufficient electrical connection by wires around the earth, with the earth itself, to instantly equalize the current and produce a complete reduction of all electrical excitement, what would be the effect on the polarity, and secondly on the inclination to the ecliptic ? May there not be a sudden change of polarities — the Arctic region becoming equatorial, and the tropics suddenly changed to polar temperature? The sudden melting of the vast ice fields would produce another glacial flood ; the present race would disappear, and the man of the quaternary would begin life ever again at the antipodes. All this is to be accomplished by the continuation of complete circuits for telegraphing around the globe. Of course tremendous earthquakes would follow, as the polar diameter is twenty-six miles too short and the equatorial twenty-six miles too long. Whether this theory prove correct or not, there cannot be a doubt that something has of late gone wrong with atmospherical arrangements, and perhaps the telegraph wires are not wholly blameless in the matter.”
Posted: 12th, May 2013 | In: Flashback, Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
78,000 apply to live and die on Mars, because they hate Earth, clearly
SOME people hate Earth so much that they’ve applied to live on Mars, even though Mars looks like an arid death hole. More than 78,000 people from 120 different countries have applied to leave Earth, which frankly makes them traitors and we should round them up and boo them into oblivion.
The openings come from a new reality TV series from Dutch non-profit organisation Mars One.
Posted: 10th, May 2013 | In: News, Technology | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Skills of Defensive Driving – Episodes 1 to 5 (1973)
IN Skills of Defensive Driving, the Australia Department of Transport pops the sex comedy soundtrack into the player and keep your eyes on the road. This was made by Film Australia in 1973:
Episode 2: Easter Time
Episode 3: The Car Behind
Episode 4: The Head On Collision
Great intro. An inspiration for Police Squad.
Episode 5: Cross-roads crash
Spotter: Jalopnik
Posted: 8th, May 2013 | In: Cars, Flashback | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
In 1967 The Muppets worked as IBM instructors (video)
IN 1967, IMB hired Jim Henson to educate their staff. His Muppets were here to help. Cue the Cookie Monster:
Kermit:
Suits:
Ralph:
Posted: 6th, May 2013 | In: Celebrities, Flashback, Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
The Liberator 3D gun secures victory for who owns the best printers
TEXAS University law student Cody Wilson has printed and fired a 3D gun. The gun was manufactured on a 3D printer that cost $8,000 (£5,140) from eBay.
Posted: 6th, May 2013 | In: Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
POLICE forces will be beating a path to Heather Dewey-Hagborg’s door. She collects stray hair, dropped chewing gum, and discarded cigarettes, extracts the DNA and constructs models of the faces of the comber, chewer and smoker. One say this technology will be used to identify the dog that dropped a packet in the wrong place, the Singaporean who defied the rules and chewed the Bazooka Joe and the man in the balaclava who held up the bank.
From this sequence, Dewey-Hagborg gathers information about the person’s ancestry, gender, eye color, propensity to be overweight and other traits related to facial morphology, such as the space between one’s eyes. “I have a list of about 40 or 50 different traits that I have either successfully analyzed or I am in the process of working on right now,” she says.
Dewey-Hagborg then enters these parameters into a computer program to create a 3D model of the person’s face.” Ancestry gives you most of the generic picture of what someone is going to tend to look like. Then, the other traits point towards modifications on that kind of generic portrait,” she explains. The artist ultimately sends a file of the 3D model to a 3D printer on the campus of her alma mater, New York University, so that it can be transformed into sculpture.
Posted: 6th, May 2013 | In: Technology | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
21 vintage camera adverts for your inner voyeur
BEFORE the age of digital cameras in everything, buying a snapper was a call to loins. Men needed cameras for one reason: to record women (and in one instance below, other men). We’ve compiled 21 great images of what photography looked like before self shots and the internet.
Michael Landon did it was “flash”. The star of Little House on the Prairie was the wholesome and good Charles Ingalls, creating a myriad children from God’s will and hearty woodland walks. Then in the 1980s he got a Kodak Ektralite camera and went to film girls in their swimmers doing onto varnished hardwood flooring.
Going Beyond subtle.
Whipped hair and soup strainer, Tamon man was a serious photographer. The Playgirl ideal never smiled.
She’s looking at you. He’s looking to steal her necklace.
The name’s Bond. Basildon Bond. So shoot me!
Why flash at the beach? Because with brilliant light you can see through her swimsuit, that’s why. And you live in Bridlington.
a
It’s 1932. Women are free to watch.
The XL Addict has a raincoat and bins. He is a “man on the move”. He;’s looking at your “money maker”. He is the man your mother warned you about.
Five reasons. One… two… three… (or are they a pair?)… four…
Get a grip
An eyefull. Shoot.
Romance lives in upskirt shots.
Your Kodak dealer has lots of photos. You just need to aks the right questions.
That sort of man. And it’s not “small”, ok.
Also cooks, cleans, communicates with Mars and deflects Russian atom bombs. The camera is merely huge.
The man on the floor is a keen observer of the human condition.
The Nikkormat FTN is “bait”. Be the master of bait…
See that girl in the distance? Now take a look through a Soligor 80-200. Yeah, she’s that close.
Camera woman wears ideal photography kit.
It’s just like being there.
With the Vivitar Super 8 women are easy meat.
Talent
Posted: 30th, April 2013 | In: Flashback, Technology, The Consumer | Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
Was the Yugo the worst car ever made?
WAS the Yugo the worst care ever made? Known locally as the Zastava Koral, the Zastava corporation’s compact hatchback died in 2008, when the last horror rolling slowly off the Zastava factory in the Serbian town of Kragujevac.
Posted: 28th, April 2013 | In: Cars, Flashback | Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed:RSS 2.0
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