Interesting Links for 28-08-2012

[andrewducker]

• A third runway, Boris Island, better rail? Please, just decide
  (tags: government uk transport )
• Who inherits your iTunes library?
  (tags: ownership media libraries )
• All the Spammers in the World May Only Make $200 Million a Year (and cost $20Billion to clean up)
  (tags: email spam )
• If people cared more about computer games, this is the election

Comments

[danieldwilliam]

The marijuana study is very interesting.

I’m not enough of a statistician to know if the 50 or so individuals who were habitual users during their teenage years is significant or not but assuming that it is and that follow studies confirm the result then I think this rather strengthens the case for legalisation and the licensing of suppliers to prevent sales of marijuana to teenagers as much as possible.

[andrewducker]

That would be the _sensible_ decision :->

[momentsmusicaux]

Judging by the schoolkids that walk along my street during breaktimes and lunch, teenagers are already very good at procuring fags.

(Not that I disagree with legalization, quite the opposite.)

[danieldwilliam]

I know they are and if marijauna was subject to the same regime as tobacco I’m certain many teenagers would continue to have access to it.

But probably fewer than have access to it when it is being sold by unregulated criminals.

[danieldwilliam]

I wonder how much of a problem digital media archive inheritance will turn out to be. The question does highlight the difference in how we used to consume and own media and how we will in the 21st Century.

Assuming copyright persistence of 75 years after death for individuals or 75 years after creation for corporate then, if I live until I’m 80 everything in my digital collections by an author dead by 1979 will be public domain anyway. I expect Project Gutenburg to have bought up copyright for a whole bunch of stuff post 1979. From 2055 I wonder what the economic value of stuff produced in the 2010’s and 2020’s will be?

How much stuff will I own that my heirs won’t already own that they would want?

(I’m also expecting the existing model of funding creative works and allocating ownership to be unsustainable in about 20 years.)

[andrewducker]

I'm expecting a mass implosion of the music industry in about 5 years.

Sadly, a lot of the creators of the things I like are insisting on clinging onto life, so their copyright will persist until after my death.

[danieldwilliam]

I'm expecting a mass implosion of the music industry in about 5 years.

As soon as that?

What’s your thinking behind that time scale?

(Not that I disagree with you, you think more about this than I do.)

Sadly, a lot of the creators of the things I like are insisting on clinging onto life, so their copyright will persist until after my death.

Life sucking bastards - why can’t they do the socially responsible thing and die, already

[andrewducker]

It feels to me that we're at a tipping point, and physical album sales are about to follow physical single sales into the abyss. I'm probably wrong there, and habits will hold on for longer, but the high-street shops are holding on only because they're being lent support by hopeful banks, and I will be astounded if HMV is still a music shop in ten years time, and somewhat surprised if they are in five

[momentsmusicaux]

Bright screens -- that is quite possibly my problem. I'm on the computer most of the day, and then indulge in a few hours of laptop time in the late evening. Then I got to bed and wake up at 6 or 7 am...

[andrewducker]

Yeah - Julie and I end up watching TV in bed as well, which probably isn't good.

[momentsmusicaux]

I have at least put a stop to it in bed, as I was aware that treating the bedroom and the bed as an 'active' place was bad for me. But it would seem that laptopping on the sofa has effects too. I need to read more, basically!

[ajr]

Staring at bright screens in bed will make it harder for you to sleep. Shocking, I know.

I habitually make my screens as dark as I possibly can (while having them still be usable, natch). I don't have any conflict doing so with my computers, but when I set the TV up to my liking I always get complaints from people who expect everything to be SUPERBRIGHT AND AWESOME! all the time. "This is terrible!" they say, "You can't see what's in the shadow areas!" Um, yeah. Because you're not supposed to see what's there! As a result, I'm very bad at watching other people's televisions without feeling (a) blinded and (b) tempted to calibrate them properly.

I'm sure I had a point I was going to make when I started writing this comment but I forget what it was now.

[andrewducker]

I borrowed a Blu-Ray calibration disk, and used it to make my TV look right. Took about half an hour, I think. And I'm totally with you on shadows.

[pigwotflies]

Thank you so much for linking the Birthday Party Princess thread. It's absolutely wonderful and hilarious. :D