December 2012 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

IFixit loves new tech devices, especially in pieces

by gianluca quaglia

SAN LUIS OBISPO --- Jake Devincenzi was thrilled to get his hands on Google's new Nexus 4 <http://www.latimes.com/topic/services-shopping/electronic-devices/google-ne…> smartphone. He admired its sleek black case and large touch screen --- and he couldn't wait to tear it apart. In a small room cluttered with discarded computer parts, Devincenzi picked up a blue plastic stylus and eased the tool into a seam on the side of the phone as three co-workers watched. Minutes later, a pop. The tear-down had begun. "We're in," he said, and grinned. Each time Devincenzi plucked a part from the Nexus 4, he took a high-resolution photo and posted it online. By the end of the week, more than 60,000 people had scrutinized the tear-down, curious to know what was inside. Devincenzi, a 20-year-old Cal Poly <http://www.latimes.com/topic/education/colleges-universities/california-pol…> San Luis Obispo student, works part time for IFixit, a company that has less of a business mission than a manifesto: "Repair is independence. We have the right to remove 'Do Not Remove' stickers." With the helping hands of technicians such as Devincenzi and repair guides written by volunteer tech experts, IFixit is tapping into growing frustration with cellphones, tablets and computers that, once broken, are almost impossible to fix. The company says it wants to teach people how to repair electronic devices once again --- and will sell them the tools to do it. The company's logo is a clenched fist thrusting a wrench in the air. "It's not like it was 10 years ago, when you could open things up and kind of half-recognize what was in there," said Sean Campbell, a technology industry analyst with the Oregon research firm Cascade Insights. "I think most people have given up." To IFixit staff, every high-resolution photograph of naked phone bits splayed across a table is a small act of rebellion against big technology companies like Apple, Google and Samsung. Tear-downs, they say, are a rallying cry for the common man to grab a screwdriver and take back the right to do it yourself. "We're not necessarily actively anti-Apple or anti 'the Man,'" said Scott Dingle, 25, a customer service representative. "It's more like, we train other people to do it themselves." What is now a staff of 35 began as two people. In 2003, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo freshmen Kyle Wiens and Luke Soules started selling laptop parts out of a dorm room. When they couldn't find manufacturer-issued repair guides, they wrote their own. The first manual they posted online got 10,000 page views in the first weekend. They moved their business to a three-car garage, then a house, then a loft-like two-story office in downtown San Luis Obispo. Most IFixit employees are younger than 35. Many grew up taking apart toasters. Last year, IFixit earned $5.9 million in revenue by selling parts, kits and tools. Some of their more popular items include a "spudger" to adjust small wires, a five-sided screwdriver that fits Apple's proprietary screws, and a magnetic mat to keep track of tiny pieces that come loose- [...] continua qui http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ifixit-20121225,0,6361335.story qgl

Dec. 25, 2012

la bufala sulla fine del monopolio SIAE

by Simone Aliprandi

Signori... SIAE e IMAIE sono due cose diverse. Si capisce anche dal... . . ...nome! http://aliprandi.blogspot.it/2012/12/la-bufala-sulla-fine-del-monopolio-sia… Un caro saluto, -- Simone Aliprandi - http://www.aliprandi.org

Dec. 24, 2012

"Santa’s Privacy Policy"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Ogni tanto fa bene sorridere, e quale momento migliore della vigilia di Natale? :-) Auguri! juan carlos Santa’s Privacy Policy. BY Laurence Hughes <http://www.mcsweeneys.net/authors/laurence-hughes> [Originally published December 23, 2010.] At Santa’s Workshop, your privacy is important to us. What follows is an explanation of how we collect and safeguard your personal information; the kind of information we collect; and your choices regarding our use and disclosure of this information. *Why Do We Need This Information?* Santa Claus requires your information in order to compile his annual list of Who is Naughty and Who is Nice, and to ensure accuracy when he checks it twice. Your information is also used in connection with delivering the kinds of goods and services you’ve come to expect from Santa, including but not limited to toys, games, good cheer, merriment, Christmas spirit, seasonal joy, and holly jollyness. *What Information Do We Collect?* We obtain information from a variety of sources. Much of it comes from unsolicited letters sent to Santa by children all over the world listing specific items they would like to receive for Christmas. Often these letters convey additional information as well, such as the child’s hopes and dreams, how much they love Santa, and which of their siblings are doodyheads. The letters also provide another important piece of information—fingerprints. We run these through databases maintained by the FBI, CIA, NSA, Interpol, MI6, and the Mossad. If we find a match, it goes straight on the Naughty List. We also harvest a saliva sample from the flap of the envelope in which the letter arrives in order to establish a baseline genetic identity for each correspondent. This is used to determine if there might be an inherent predisposition for naughtiness. A detailed handwriting analysis is performed as part of a comprehensive personality workup, and tells us which children are advancing nicely with their cursive and which are still stubbornly forming block letters with crayons long past the age when this is appropriate. [...] Continua qui: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/santas-privacy-policy

Dec. 24, 2012

Re: [nexa] Fwd: [IP] ] E-book restrictions leave 'buyers' with few rights

by Stefano Quintarelli

sull'argomento forse puo' essere di interesse http://is.gd/Ec45Qw con relativo pdf buon Natale! Il 23/12/2012 15:20, J.C. DE MARTIN ha scritto: > > > Begin forwarded message: > >> From: Dave Farber <dave(a)farber.net> >> Date: 23 dicembre 2012 11:51:03 CET >> To: "ip" <ip(a)listbox.com> >> Subject: [IP] ] E-book restrictions leave 'buyers' with few rights >> Reply-To: dave(a)farber.net >> >> >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: Dewayne Hendricks >> Date: Saturday, December 22, 2012 >> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] E-book restrictions leave 'buyers' with few rights >> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net(a)warpspeed.com> >> >> >> E-book restrictions leave 'buyers' with few rights >> Unlike the owners of a physical tome, buyers of e-books are licensees with lots of limitations. It's time to change the rules. >> By Michael Hiltzik >> December 22, 2012 >> <http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20121223,0,1032270.column> >> >> There's a crass old joke about how you can never buy beer, just rent it. Who would think that the same joke applies to book buying in the digital age? >> >> But that's the case. Many people who'll be unwrapping iPads, Amazon Kindles or Barnes & Noble Nooks on Tuesday morning and loading them with bestsellers or classics won't have any idea how limited their rights are as their books' "owners." >> >> In fact, they won't be owners at all. They'll be licensees. Unlike the owners of a physical tome, they won't have the unlimited right to lend an e-book, give it away, resell it or leave it to their heirs. If it's bought for their iPad, they won't be able to read it on their Kindle. And if Amazon or the other sellers don't like what they've done with it, they can take it back, without warning. >> >> All these restrictions "raise obvious questions about what 'ownership' is," observes Dan Gillmor, an expert on digital media at Arizona State University. "The companies that license stuff digitally have made it clear that you own nothing." >> >> Typically, e-book buyers have no idea about these complexities. How could they? The rules and limitations are embodied in "terms of service" documents that Amazon, Apple, B&N and other sellers shroud in legalese and bury deep in their websites. That tells you how little they want you to know. >> >> The rules are based, in turn, on the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, with which Congress hoped to balance the rights of copyright holders and content users. "In the digital environment, that's always been the trickiest balance to strike," Annemarie Bridy, a specialist in intellectual property law at the University of Idaho, told me. In those terms, the DMCA looks like a failure. >> >> Both camps have important rights to protect. Let's start with copyright owners. >> >> In the non-digital world, copyright ends with the first sale of each copyrighted object. Under the "first sale" doctrine, once you buy a book, that physical book is yours to lend, give away, or resell. Copyright is safeguarded by the limitations of physical transfer — once the book is given or loaned, the original buyer no longer has access to it. If a library owns five copies of a book, only five borrowers can read it at the same time. Theoretically a book can be photocopied, but only at great effort and with a perceptible loss of quality. >> >> In digital-dom, however, technology allows infinite copies to be made, with no loss of quality. Absent the usual restrictions, one could give away an e-book and still have it to read. Unrestricted transferability becomes a genuine threat to the livelihood of authors, artists, filmmakers, musicians. >> >> So some limitation is sensible. That's usually done through digital rights management, or DRM, which encodes copy or usage limitations into the digital file. The DMCA protected DRM by outlawing efforts to circumvent it (with a few exceptions). >> >> [snip] >> >> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress> >> >> >> >> Archives | Modify Your Subscription | Unsubscribe Now > > > > _______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa > -- my calendar: http://doodle.com/quinta http://blog.quintarelli.it

Dec. 24, 2012

Barriere architettoniche alla RAI

by Marco Baldassari

Qualcuno potrebbe far presente alla RAI che il pregevole lavoro che fanno dovrebbe essere libero da barriere "architettoniche" e liberamente fruibile essendo servizio pubblico pagato con soldi pubblici? http://www.radio.rai.it/radio3/terzo_anello/alta_voce/archivio_2008/eventi/…

Dec. 24, 2012

Fwd: [IP] ] E-book restrictions leave 'buyers' with few rights

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Begin forwarded message: > From: Dave Farber <dave(a)farber.net> > Date: 23 dicembre 2012 11:51:03 CET > To: "ip" <ip(a)listbox.com> > Subject: [IP] ] E-book restrictions leave 'buyers' with few rights > Reply-To: dave(a)farber.net > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Dewayne Hendricks > Date: Saturday, December 22, 2012 > Subject: [Dewayne-Net] E-book restrictions leave 'buyers' with few rights > To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net(a)warpspeed.com> > > > E-book restrictions leave 'buyers' with few rights > Unlike the owners of a physical tome, buyers of e-books are licensees with lots of limitations. It's time to change the rules. > By Michael Hiltzik > December 22, 2012 > <http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20121223,0,1032270.column> > > There's a crass old joke about how you can never buy beer, just rent it. Who would think that the same joke applies to book buying in the digital age? > > But that's the case. Many people who'll be unwrapping iPads, Amazon Kindles or Barnes & Noble Nooks on Tuesday morning and loading them with bestsellers or classics won't have any idea how limited their rights are as their books' "owners." > > In fact, they won't be owners at all. They'll be licensees. Unlike the owners of a physical tome, they won't have the unlimited right to lend an e-book, give it away, resell it or leave it to their heirs. If it's bought for their iPad, they won't be able to read it on their Kindle. And if Amazon or the other sellers don't like what they've done with it, they can take it back, without warning. > > All these restrictions "raise obvious questions about what 'ownership' is," observes Dan Gillmor, an expert on digital media at Arizona State University. "The companies that license stuff digitally have made it clear that you own nothing." > > Typically, e-book buyers have no idea about these complexities. How could they? The rules and limitations are embodied in "terms of service" documents that Amazon, Apple, B&N and other sellers shroud in legalese and bury deep in their websites. That tells you how little they want you to know. > > The rules are based, in turn, on the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, with which Congress hoped to balance the rights of copyright holders and content users. "In the digital environment, that's always been the trickiest balance to strike," Annemarie Bridy, a specialist in intellectual property law at the University of Idaho, told me. In those terms, the DMCA looks like a failure. > > Both camps have important rights to protect. Let's start with copyright owners. > > In the non-digital world, copyright ends with the first sale of each copyrighted object. Under the "first sale" doctrine, once you buy a book, that physical book is yours to lend, give away, or resell. Copyright is safeguarded by the limitations of physical transfer — once the book is given or loaned, the original buyer no longer has access to it. If a library owns five copies of a book, only five borrowers can read it at the same time. Theoretically a book can be photocopied, but only at great effort and with a perceptible loss of quality. > > In digital-dom, however, technology allows infinite copies to be made, with no loss of quality. Absent the usual restrictions, one could give away an e-book and still have it to read. Unrestricted transferability becomes a genuine threat to the livelihood of authors, artists, filmmakers, musicians. > > So some limitation is sensible. That's usually done through digital rights management, or DRM, which encodes copy or usage limitations into the digital file. The DMCA protected DRM by outlawing efforts to circumvent it (with a few exceptions). > > [snip] > > Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress> > > > > Archives | Modify Your Subscription | Unsubscribe Now

Dec. 23, 2012

un'interessante riflessione sulla tecnologia di Nassim Taleb

by gianluca quaglia

un'interessante riflessione sulla tecnologia auguri qgl ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We're living in a Black Swan <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_swan_theory> world, but what does this mean for the future of technology? My new book Antifragile <http://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Gain-Disorder/dp/1400067820> argues that technologies, ideas, and theories -- anything informational or cultural, as opposed to physical -- /age in reverse/. We may be trained to think that the new is about to overcome the old, but that's just an optical illusion. Because the failure rate <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_rate> of the new is much, much higher than the failure rate of the old. When you see a young child and an old adult, you can be confident that the younger will likely survive the elder. Yet with something nonperishable like a technology, that's not the case. There are two possibilities: Either both are expected to have the same additional life expectancy, or the old is expected to have a longer expectancy than the young. In this situation, if the old is 80 and the young is 10, the elder is expected to live eight times as long as the younger one. continua qui http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/12/worlds-not-ending-but-technologys-agin…

Dec. 22, 2012

Google/Vividown

by avv. Monica A. Senor

Ho scritto un commento a caldo dopo l'assoluzione di oggi (ero in aula perché, come certo saprete, Carlo Blengino è uno dei difensori di Google e stamani discuteva). Mi permetto di linkarlo in lista: www.penalistiassociati.it/contents/attached/c2/senor_articolo_Google_3.0.pdf Buon Natale a tutti, Monica

Dec. 21, 2012

Fwd: APPELLO RODOTA'

by Giulio De Petra

Cari amici di Nexa, mi permetto di segnalare sulla lista questo appello per il ruolo che la Fondazione Basso ha avuto, gia' a partire dai primi anni 90, all'epoca delle prime esperienze di reti civiche, nel sollecitare la discussione e l'approfondimento sulle implicazioni culturali, politiche, sociali dell'utilizzo di Internet. Penso che sia importante per tutti noi che questo luogo continui ad essere un punto di riferimento per la comunità scientifica e professionale della rete. Giulio > > Oggetto: APPELLO RODOTA' > > La Fondazione Basso rischia di dover chiudere tra pochissimi mesi. Sarà uno dei tanti, silenziosi omicidi culturali che si stanno consumando di questi tempi in Italia. > La Fondazione non è soltanto una istituzione di grande prestigio internazionale. E’ un luogo di ricerca, anche se sempre più faticosa per le ristrettezze finanziarie. E’ una presenza viva nella discussione culturale, testimoniata dal suo essere sede quasi quotidiana di convegni, incontri, lezioni. E’ un servizio agli studiosi e alla città con la sua biblioteca sempre aperta. Una biblioteca che offre risorse straordinarie, addirittura uniche, soprattutto per quanto riguarda la rivoluzione francese, la Comune, la storia del movimento operaio – passioni del suo fondatore. Guarda al mondo e all’Europa, alla quale ha dedica un Osservatorio sui diritti, un sito davvero unico, che mette a disposizioni di tutti un materiale ricchissimo e sempre aggiornato. È custode delle memorie del Tribunale Russell sull’America Latina e ne continua l’attività con il Tribunale permanente dei popoli, voluto da Lelio Basso contro le violazioni dei diritti umani nel mondo. Ospita la scuola di giornalismo, la scuola per la buona politica. E’ riferimento di gruppi che lavorano sulle frontiere del cambiamento, dalla bioetica all’informatica. Pubblica la rivista “Parolechiave”, i suoi Annali, volumi relativi alle ricerche svolte. E’ un luogo vivo, accompagnato dall’entusiasmo, dalla generosità, dai sacrifici di chi vi lavora. > Tutto questo si sta già spegnendo. Non sarà possibile rinnovare gli abbonamenti alle riviste per il 2013, gli acquisti di libri diventano impossibili. Così una biblioteca muore. La sua sala di lettura sarà chiusa. Le porte della Fondazione verranno sbarrate. Nella sala dei convegni calerà il silenzio. > Ne soffriranno gli studiosi, privati di uno strumento di lavoro. Gli editori, privati di un luogo per la discussione dei loro libri. I suoi diversi frequentatori, privati delle opportunità offerte dalle discussioni e dai confronti. La stessa politica, privata di un luogo di elaborazione, disinteressata, ma non falsamente neutrale. > Ho collaborato con Lelio Basso fin dai tempi in cui la Fondazione nasceva. La ho presieduta per molti anni, continuo a lavorarvi. Sento la responsabilità di segnalare a tutti quel che sta accadendo. Non servono grandi risorse. Servono gesti concreti da parte dei molti che possono farli, con piccoli contributi o con sostegni finanziari mirati a singoli obiettivi – l’acquisto dei libri, il rinnovo degli abbonamenti alle riviste, il finanziamento di specifiche attività. > Sono gesti civili, una reazione al degrado culturale che ci avvolge. Spero che vi siano. > Stefano Rodota' > SOSTIENI LA FONDAZIONE CON LE EROGAZIONI LIBERALI Le persone fisiche possono detrarre le erogazioni effettuate a favore della nostra Fondazione nei limiti e con le modalità stabilite per legge (art 15. c 1, lett i-bis, DPR 917/86). Le persone giuridiche possono dedurre le erogazioni effettuate a favore della nostra fondazione nei limiti e con le modalità stabilite per legge (art 100, c 2, lett h, DPR 917/86). Si possono effettuare le erogazioni liberali tramite bonifico bancario intestato a : Fondazione Lelio e Lisli Basso Issoco BNL IBAN: IT18I 0100503373000000002777 tramite Paypal direttamente dalla homepage della Fondazione oppure tramite c/c postale n 82103003 Causale: Erogazione liberale Il nostro codice fiscale è: 80162890588

Dec. 21, 2012

Re: [nexa] assolti i manager di Google

by Carlo Blengino

In fondo, è un poco una vittoria anche di NEXA. Due dei difensori sono fellow, e hanno respirato l'aria del Centro! Grazie a J.C. e a Marco. C. Il giorno 21/dic/2012 16:22, "Mauro Alovisio" <mauro.alovisio(a)gmail.com> ha scritto: > in attesa di ulteriori approfondimenti in lista > > > http://www.ilmondo.it/attualita/2012-12-21/google-assolti-appello-3-manager… > > Milano, 21 dic. La Corte d'appello di Milano ribaltando la sentenza di > primo grado del tribunale ha assolto tre manager di Google dall'accusa > di violazione della privacy in relazione all'inserimento sul web di un > video con bimbo down picchiato e deriso da compagni di scuola in un > istituto di Torino. In primo grado i tre imputati erano stati > condannati a sei mesi ciascuno per violazione della privacy e assolti > dall'accusa di diffamazione. La Corte d'appello li ha assolti anche > dal reato di violazione privacy confermando l'assoluzione per > diffamazioni > > > Cordiali saluti > Mauro Alovisio > _______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa >

Dec. 21, 2012