Fire Alarms Systems

Amazon shares finished the day up 0.2 percent at $223.61 on Friday on Nasdaq. The stock had traded as low as $219.06, but rallied as invitations to the media event began arriving.

The thing is, courts sometimes value their procedures over logical interpretations of rules and law. I hope the 2nd Circuit doesn't do that here, and I hope the Government gets slammed for their over-reach. This isn't rocket science folks, it's just free speech.

From the British take on free speech, albeit from an American

The problem is that he's not British. His arguments run right up against the First Amendment. The approach he suggests would be a restraint on speech, and that's just not the American way. (Although it is the British way; he may want to investigate moving abroad.)

I would vote for these Senators if they represented my state. They're actually doing their job, instead of perpetuating a surveillance state that violates the Fourth Amendment. Remember, those who would choose safety over freedom deserve neither.

There are many takeaways from this story. First, hire an attorney if you get sued. Second, hire an attorney if someone is trying to collect a crazy debt against you. Third, the court system can be abused by folks to make examples of others. I am disappointed in Craigslist if the facts of this story are true.

The new normal in a technologically disrupted world

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I was chided in an international IP law class in England for arguing against my professor's views that forcing western patent regimes on developing countries benefit those countries. My classmates, however, were primarily from India and China. They agreed with me, and this post touches on the human rights issues involved:

Programmers building apps for the forthcoming version of the iPhone software, iOS 5, were warned on Sunday that Apple is wiping old backups made using test versions of that software on Thursday. Many have taken that to mean a final version is imminent. That is the software that will run on any revised iPhone, so the two would certainly be released at the same time.

the exact opposite argument

Amazon

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We're expectantly awaiting the day when a developer fires off a press release about how it's choosing to

Apparently UNC's method of dealing with constant complaints from the entertainment industry about students file-sharing is to throw the baby out with the bathwater. It's blocking network access to any computer which they discover has file sharing software on it. It's unclear from the article just how UNC is detecting file sharing software, though that would seem to raise some serious privacy questions. Also not explained in the article is what qualifies as "file sharing software." After all, an FTP app, email, instant messaging and a browser could all be considered "file sharing" apps. Either way, if UNC discovers you have file sharing software that's on its "evil" list, you get a message that pops up in your browser saying:

I understand why UNC is doing this, but I still find it worrisome. These are technologies that rapidly evolve. What may seem "evil" today may not be in the near future. Blocking your students from using them, except after they jump through a bunch of hoops -- each with a giant warning on them -- chills the willingness of students to actually look at certain new and important innovations that can be built on top of the older things. Requiring people to go ask permission to go use one of the fundamental features of the internet is likely to be quite frustrating for students who have perfectly legitimate reasons to use such networks.

Our second venture onto the TGS showfloor includes Ico HD and all the slightly offbeat gems on the Konami stand

had booth babes!). The Wiz International Information Technoogy College was there, despite the fact that that the Fukushima-based school was severely damaged during the earthquake back in March. According to staff on the stand, many pupils were left homeless by the disaster and doubts were placed on whether the year's coursework should be or could be completed.

The legendary Tokyo Game Show kicked off on Thursday, with some Vita, a touch of Puyo Puyo, and plethora of RPGs

At Capcom, the show floor today was dominated by Monster Hunter Tri 3G on the 3DS, though an epic looking Monster Hunter 4 (see video) was also announced during a pre-event press briefing. There was also much excitement about forthcoming open-world RPG, Dragon's Dogma (see the TGS trailer here). Players command a hardened warrior and his squad of AI pals across vast landscapes populated by dragons and massive flying monsters. Looks like there's an emphasis on tactical battle and exploration. The third-person visuals, sprawling vistas and mammoth creatures give it the look of Skyrim, but obviously with a group combat element. It's due out in the US and Japan on Xbox and PS3 next year. I've yet to talk to Capcom about a UK release.