Forward-thinking reform to copyright is possible: laws that recognise the growth and importance of the Internet, open source software, and new business models for creators. Canada could take the initiative, and lead the world.
Instead, new legislation proposed by this government will be a complete sell-out to the United States’ government and media’s demands. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act — a law that the U.S. passed in 1997 and has been widely seen as a damaging failure — will be imported wholesale. Instead of inviting a new era, Canada will repeat all the mistakes of the last decade.
This will not be a copyright law for Canadians. It will be a copyright law from entrenched U.S. lobbyists and politicians. Join us, and fight back!
National Hockey League games are among the first programming to be offered through Apple’s iTunes video download service to launch Wednesday, Apple Canada has announced.
CBC: Apple launches video downloading in Canada with slate of TV programs
full story
While I’m at it, here’s a link to the Podcast 101 piece done by Kevin Rose and Dan Huard of Systm. Take notes, there’ll be a quiz tomorrow.
Mike Kujawski posted a link on the Podcamp Ottawa Wiki to a very useful, and funny, video explaining RSS in a way anyone can understand. This is going to save me least a couple of hours a week.
A quickie post/homage on the occasion of the re-mastered Led Zeppelin re-issues of last week. Check out this great BBC interview with Robert Plant and John Bonham on, among other things, the death of the cult of personality. Yeah, right.
Prompted by the release of Apple’s iPhone in the UK, yesterday the BBC announced an optimized download directory of BBC podcasts for the iPhone (and iPod Touch).
Now, that’s moving fast.
The BBC also say they plan to release versions for other mobile devices soon.
For now, point your iPhone or iPod Touch to:
bbc.co.uk/podcasts
Mark Blevis yesterday announced Podcamp Ottawa to be held Novermber 25 in the Panorama Room of the National Arts Centre (go figure ;-)
The idea here is a back-to-basics “UNconference” day of discussions including an Audacity presentation by Mark’s Canadian Podcast Buffet co-host, Bob Goyetche, and a WordPress session lead by Charles Hodgeson.
Updated: Registration is free. Attendees will be asked to make a $10 donation to the Snowsuit fund. Check out the wiki and register soon; attendance is capped at 80.
This just in from our friend Hugh at Librivox:
LibriVox makes it to 1,000!
LibriVox, the free audio book project has just cataloged it’s 1,000th
book: “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” by Edgar Allan Poe (read by
Reynard T. Fox).LibriVox.org started in August 2005 with a simple objective: “to make
all public domain books available as free audio books.” Thirteen
people collaborated to make the first recording, Joseph Conrad’s
“Secret Agent.”Two years later, LibriVox has become the most prolific audiobook
publisher in the world - we are now putting out 60-70 books a month,
we have a catalog of 1,000 works, which represents a little over 6
months of *continuous* audio; we have some 1,500 volunteers who have
contributed audio to the project; and a catalog that includes Jane
Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice,” “Moby Dick,” Darwin’s “Origin of the
Species,” “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” Einstein’s “Relativity:
The Special and General Theory,” Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason,” and
other less well-known gems such as “Romance of Rubber” edited by John
Martin. We have recordings in 21 languages, and about half of our
recordings are solo efforts by one reader, while the other half are
collaborations among many readers.We are always looking for new volunteers! Come join us.
Best,
Hugh McGuire
http://librivox.org
info@librivox.org
Congratulations, Hugh, and everyone involved with Librivox. You’re what the interwebs is all about.
Whenever I find myself talking about great audio, usually with people who are passionate about radio and podcasting (like the other evening at the Ottawa Podcast meetup), a few great resources come up time and time again:
“Radio: An Illustrated Guide” by Jessica Abel and Ira Glass. This is a comic book on how the This American Life team produces the best damned radio show going.
Ira Glass on Storytelling (a 3-part YouTube video). Glass is the genius behind TAL.
“From Idea to Air“ by Tod Maffin. An e-book by the CBC’s Tod Maffin on what makes compelling audio and how to get it to air.
And of course the seminal …
“Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting” by Robert McKee
All great sources for starting discussions around engaging audio.
Since I’ve re-committed to posting here, last night I figured I had a few quiet hours to myself after the conference I was attending wrapped up. I mean what else is a geek to do in an exciting, world-class city besides upgrade the software running their blog?
I made a right mess of my WordPress upgrade. ‘Long story short: Everything is updated and running/displaying as it ought to now, but if you spot any oddities, please let me know.
Thanks Chris, for getting me out of a pickle. You should know better than to pick up the phone if I’m calling you after 10pm though.
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