Cody Taylor

unlametheweak recommends an Ars Technica piece detailing the convoluted lengths to which the MPAA will go in order to keep anybody from ripping a DVD, ever. The organization showed a film to the US Copyright Office, in the triennial hearing to spell out exemptions to the DMCA, giving instructions for how a teacher could use a camcorder to record a low-quality clip of a DVD for educational use — even though such a purpose is solidly established in law as fair use. “Never mind that this solution results in video of questionable quality and requires teachers to learn even more tech in order to get the job done. It also requires schools (or, given the way most schools are run, the teachers themselves) to incur additional costs to purchase camcorders and videotapes if they don’t have them already. Add in the extra time involved, and this ‘solution’ is a laughably convoluted alternative to simply ripping a clip from a DVD.”

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gollito writes in with news that Microsoft has released an open source alternative to Google’s BigTable file system, which is used on large distributed computer clusters. Matt Asay writes for CNet: “I also believe that Microsoft’s fear-mongering around open source cost it years of productivity and quality gains that it could have been delivering to customers through open source. I hope that reign of ignorance is over.”

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It’s not news that journalism is in crisis. Solutions are scarce, and our democracy is at risk. Journalism needs great hackers. Not just nerds, but programmers who care – about the values of journalism and the power of a free press to hold government accountable.

theodp writes “What do you do for an encore after you’ve shown the world it’s possible to build a ,000 car? Ratan Tata, head of India’s giant Tata conglomerate, now plans to build, 30 miles outside of Mumbai, 1,200 tiny apartments that will sell for ,800 to ,400 each. Sure, they’re small (floor plans), but keep in mind that you can pay a quarter of a million bucks for a 250-sq.-ft. studio in the East Village. Time reports that Tata has had to beef up security to handle the rush of buyers who want to plunk down their 0 deposits (yes, that’s two hundred dollars!). Who would’ve thought you could make IKEA homes look pricey?” The Businessweek.com article says that the apartments are aimed at someone making ,000 to ,000 per year (Time says ,000). In Mumbai, a call center operator with 10 to 20 years of experience barely qualifies at ,400 annually. 70% of the country’s 1.2 billion people live on 1/20 as much.

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