Rick Prelinger of the Internet Archive, along with university libaries and other public interest groups, asked the Register of Copyrights to free the copyright cataloging database, which sells for $86,625.

Although the Copyright Office has decided to continue charging for the database, the fine folk at public.resource.org has set the copyright database free!

Archivists and researchers will be happy tonight! Download away!

Filed under: archive | 0 Comments
Tagged: copyright

Russell Peters KILLLS!!!!!!

Filed under: video | 0 Comments
Tagged: funny , RussellPeters

This is the first time I got the Espresso Book Machine to print and bind a book without human intervention! I happend to capture a video of Flatland being printed. Very cool!

(click play to start) (link to other sizes)

Filed under: archive, books, video | 0 Comments
Tagged: EBM , library , PrintOnDemand

if every tech company wrote customer service letters like this!

To all Woot customers:

I have received more than three emails from Zune buyers who are upset about Woot dropping the price of the Zune by $20 one month after it went on sale the first time. After reading every one of these emails, or at least scanning their subject lines, I have some observations and conclusions.

First, I need to make a better effort to hide my email address.

Second, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 30GB Zune from $149.99 to $129.99. This confidence is based on more than the holy doctrine of corporate infallibility. The Zune is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to “ride the lightning” and “shoot the curl” this holiday season, not to mention “kill the messenger” and “rock the vote”, further enabling us to “pay the rent” and “keep the lights on”. It benefits both Woot and every Zune user (but especially Woot) to drag as many new victims as possible into the Zune “dungeon”. We strongly believe that misery loves company this holiday season.

Third, being in technology for 1+ years, give or take a year, I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always some idiot changing lanes without signaling, and the potholes never seem to get fixed. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you’ll never buy any technology product. I mean, why should you? Truth is, you don’t really need any of this junk. We’re afraid you’ll catch on to that fact and overpaid frauds like me will have to go back into fields like telemarketing and burrito construction. Fortunately, most of you continue to languish in a consumerist stupor, wallets spread wide for us to plunder as we please. The bad news for us is that if you buy products from companies that support them well, you will receive years of useful and satisfying service. But we’re hoping you’ll buy from Woot instead.

(more…)

Filed under: all talk | 0 Comments
Tagged: funny , zune

I found these two awesome posts that my feedreader about a mile long today.. I’m surprised safari didn’t crash:

• Dorothy of Cat and Girl posts images of every photoshop filter successively applied to a photo.
• Joey aka Accordian Guy posts 72 scenes from the Simpsons, and their corresponding movie scene screengrabs.

Filed under: photos | 1 Comment

Oooh…time for a tiki shopping spree! At the Forbidden Island, Alameda’s first and only tiki bar.

On Sunday, September 23rd from 3-7pm, Forbidden Island will once again host Northern California’s largest sale of collectible & vintage tiki, Hawaiiana, rockabilly, and mid-century modern goods. The sale will feature an incredible selection of original art, collectable mugs and décor, vintage aloha & rockabilly clothes, vinyl, furniture, and much more. We’ll also be offering drink specials and a few surprises. Come early for the best selection- it’s guaranteed to be a sell-out event! Don’t miss it!

i would go but i’m trying to shed belongings, not acquire more. i’d be up for sipping a tiki drink at the bar though :-)

Filed under: bay area, tiki lifestyle | 0 Comments

Apparently these two have become inseparable at an animal sanctuary in China!

Filed under: cuuuuute, why are we here? | 0 Comments
Tagged: monkey

Throw out your Don Ho records! (via boing boing)

Filed under: tiki lifestyle | 1 Comment
Tagged: neat

No joke, there is such a thing! It’s what Cowboy Troy calls his music. He’s got a fan club called the Hick-Hop Federation and his single below is called the Hick Chick Dance Mix. I think I mentioned this to peliom and barbara when we were driving out to Mono Lake and they didn’t believe me so here it is :-)

Filed under: beats | 2 Comments

Here is a short video of a test run of the Open Content Alliance’s Espresso Book Machine, an automatic print-on-demand robot that makes perfect-bound paperback books. The Espresso Book Machine was created by On Demand Books.

This video was shot during configuration of the machine, so you can see the printing/binding process, but the book gets stuck and comes out mangled.. I’ll upload another video after the machine is set up..

(press play to start video) (link to other sizes)

Filed under: archive, books, tronix, video | 0 Comments
Tagged: EBM , library , PrintOnDemand

Jess and I went to the Samavor Tea Lounge at Yerba Buena Gardens a few weeks ago.. Here are some pictures!

Filed under: food, photos, san francisco | 1 Comment
Tagged: brunch , samovar , yerba buena

The Fray audio archives are up on the Internet Archive. These recordings from Fray Day 8 San Francisco are superb! This was the last Fray Day, held in November 2004.

Kevin Smokler’s story is very touching. Unfortunately, the recording doesn’t do Kid Beyond’s set justice.

Part 1:
Part 2:

Filed under: all talk, beats, san francisco | 0 Comments
Tagged: fray

Today I was thinking about Fray, the old-school story-telling website from back in the day. Unfortunately, they went on hiatus a couple days ago, and and have definitely been missed. It’s odd that the same day that I decided to check up on Fray is the same day that they announce the return of Fray, as a printed quarterly publication! Submissions are being accepted until October 1, so get busy!

I hope they resurrect the Fray Day events as well. We went to Fray Day 7 in SF and got to hear Armistead Maupin read and Noe Venable sing. It was magic.

Update: OK, it’s not odd that Fray picked today to relaunch; today is their 11th anniversary. But it is weird that I picked today to randomly start think about Fray.. hmm…

Filed under: all talk, books, inspiration, san francisco | 0 Comments
Tagged: fray , recommended

(via channel frederator)

Filed under: video | 1 Comment
Tagged: meme

Check out this impossibly-cute fake laptop keyboard. Someone call TikiRobot HR.. We need to hire this kid, stat!

Apparently the pet keys are shortcuts for webkinz. Via Shifted Librarian

Filed under: cuuuuute, design, doodles, tronix | 1 Comment
Tagged: multitouch

Made From Scrap is moving into the rANch! They seem like a pretty neat organization and a good ranch addition..

This means that the ranch will now be open to the public, instead of being a semi-underground art warehouse.

We found our nesting ground by partnering with the sexiest underground behemoth of San Francisco imagination: The Cataclysmic Megashear Ranch on 1433 Van Dyke, in the Bayview neighborhood.

Filed under: san francisco, tronix | 0 Comments
Tagged: rAnCH

Todd Lappin from Telestar Logistics posted this pic of the Sock Exchange at Bernal Bubbles:

via b0ingb0ing

Filed under: san francisco | 1 Comment
Tagged: bernal

Yesterday, barbobot, peliom, and I did a century ride in the eastern sierras near mono lake and saw lots of neat rocks. I wish I’d taken more pics but I spent most of my time huffing and puffing and catching up to my teammates! Here are a few though.

Filed under: cycling | 2 Comments

All music videos should involve robot legs.

Filed under: beats, video | 0 Comments

Copyright issues are so technical and complex that it makes talking about copyright in a public forum very hard. Who wants to listen to me talk about “changes to traditional contours of copyright protection”? Nobody! Not even me, and I *love* listening to myself talk!

Well, here are four posts about copyright that hopefully won’t bore you to death.

1. Rick Falkvinge and the Pirate Party of Sweden

I got to hear Rick speak when he came to visit the Internet Archive, and he blew me away. Due to lobbying by the (mostly US-based) entertainment industry, broader copyright protection laws are enacted around the world every year. These expanding copyright laws threaten privacy and other civil liberties. In response to this, Rick founded the Piratpartiet in Sweden. They are now the 10th largest political party in Sweden, and are starting to influence real policy change. Rick does a great job about explaining problems with complex copyright laws to the general public. Check out his Google tech talk:

2. Antigua, Online Gambling, the WTO, and Hollywood
The WTO has ruled that the US ban on offshore internet gambling is illegal. The US disagrees, and refuses to lift the ban. Antigua argues that the ban has cost the country $3.4 billion in damages, and has asked the WTO for permission to violate copyright law and distribute US movies and music as a form of compensation.

3. SQLite, the public domain, Germany, and submarine patents
sqlite is an awesome, free, open-source filesystem-based database engine that is in the public domain, which means anyone can use it for any purpose they want. Almost every large technology company embeds sqlite into one of their products.

In Germany, the public domain doesn’t exist as it does in the US. In Germany, authors can’t dedicate a work into the public domain, and thus can’t contribute to sqlite!

Also, due to patent concerns, sqlite uses 17-year old technology, exclusively.. Crazy stuff!

4. A big victory: Golan v. Gonzales

Remember when Kahle vs Gonzales was heard in the 9th Circuit? Well, that went poorly. However, in the case of Golan v. Gonzales, the 10th Circuit has voted unanimously that First Amendment review clause in Eldred has been triggered, and the case has been remanded to the district court. This bodes well for a Supreme Court review of Kahle vs. Gonzales as well.

Filed under: all talk, no code | 0 Comments
Tagged: lists , PirateParty