Mentre secondo me inizia bene…

“2. GUIDANCE
a. In almost all cases, OSS meets the definition of “commercial computer software” and shall be given appropriate statutory preference in accordance with 10 USC 2377 (reference (b)) (see also FAR 2.101(b), 12.000, 12.101 (reference (c)); and DFARS 212.212, and 252.227-7014(a)(1) (reference (d))).”

e poi continua con una ragionevole spiegazione sui tipi di licenze aperte….

“e. There is a misconception that the Government is always obligated to distribute the source code of any modified OSS to the public, and therefore that OSS should not be integrated or modified for use in classified or other sensitive DoD systems. In contrast, many open source licenses permit the user to modify OSS for internal use without being obligated to distribute source code to the public. However, if the user chooses to distribute the modified OSS outside the user’s organization (e.g., a Government user distributes the code outside the Government), then some OSS licenses (such as the GNU General Public License) do require distribution of the corresponding source code to the recipient of the software. For this reason, it is important to understand both the specifics of the open source license in question and how the Department intends to use and redistribute any DoD-modified OSS.”

mi pare di capire che non finisca proprio bene, in particolare per una frase (evidenziata qui sotto in grassetto) che o è stata scritta male (dovrebbe essere “or when pre-existing OSS for which the Government is the copyright holder is modified…”) oppure è stata messa li apposta per “chiarire” (?) che il Governo USA è sopra ogni licenza (ed ogni libertà)…

“g. Software [...] developed for the Government should be released to the public (such as under an open source license) when all of the following conditions are met:
[...]
(2) The Government has the rights to reproduce and release the item, and to authorize others to do so. For example, the Government has public release rights when the software is developed by Government personnel, when the Government receives “unlimited rights” in software developed by a contractor at Government expense, or when pre-existing OSS is modified by or for the Government.
[...]“

Voi che impressione avete ?

O tweet original foi apagado… A URL continua no ar… mas talvez nao por muito tempo…

Ai vai um screenshot:

1. The Future of the Internet – And How to Stop It

Jonathan Zittrain

This extraordinary book explains the engine that has catapulted the Internet from backwater to ubiquity—and reveals that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success. With the unwitting help of its users, the generative Internet is on a path to a lockdown, ending its cycle of innovation—and facilitating unsettling new kinds of control.
IPods, iPhones, Xboxes, and TiVos represent the first wave of Internet-centered products that can’t be easily modified by anyone except their vendors or selected partners. These “tethered appliances” have already been used in remarkable but little-known ways: car GPS systems have been reconfigured at the demand of law enforcement to eavesdrop on the occupants at all times, and digital video recorders have been ordered to self-destruct thanks to a lawsuit against the manufacturer thousands of miles away. New Web 2.0 platforms like Google mash-ups and Facebook are rightly touted—but their applications can be similarly monitored and eliminated from a central source. As tethered appliances and applications eclipse the PC, the very nature of the Internet—its “generativity,” or innovative character—is at risk.
The Internet’s current trajectory is one of lost opportunity. Its salvation, Zittrain argues, lies in the hands of its millions of users. Drawing on generative technologies like Wikipedia that have so far survived their own successes, this book shows how to develop new technologies and social structures that allow users to work creatively and collaboratively, participate in solutions, and become true “netizens.”

2. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity

Lawrence Lessig

From Stanford law professor Lessig (Code; The Future of Ideas) comes this expertly argued, alarming and surprisingly entertaining look at the current copyright wars. Copyright law in the digital age has become a hot topic, thanks to millions of music downloaders and the controversial, high-profile legal efforts of the music industry to stop them. Here Lessig argues that copyright as designed by the Framers has become dangerously unbalanced, favoring the interests of corporate giants over the interests of citizens and would-be innovators. In clear, well-paced prose, Lessig illustrates how corporations attempt to stifle innovations, from FM radio and the instant camera to peer-to-peer technology. He debunks the myth that draconian new copyright enforcement is needed to combat the entertainment industry’s expanded definition of piracy, and chillingly assesses the direct and collateral damage of the copyright war. Information technology student Jesse Jordan, for example, was forced to hand over his life savings to settle a lawsuit brought by the music industry—for merely fixing a glitch in an Internet search engine. Lessig also offers a very personal look into his failed Supreme Court bid to overturn the Copyright Term Extension Act, a law that added 20 years to copyright protections largely to protect Mickey Mouse from the public domain. In addition to offering a brilliant argument, Lessig also suggests a few solutions, including the Creative Commons licensing venture (an online licensing venture that streamlines the rights process for creators), as well as legislative solutions. This is an important book. “Free Cultures are cultures that leave a great deal open for others to build upon,” he writes. “Ours was a free culture. It is becoming less so.”

3. The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom

Yochai Benkler

In this thick academic book, Yale law professor Benkler offers a comprehensive catalog of flashpoints in the conflict between old and new information creators. In Benkler’s view, the new “networked information economy” allows individuals and groups to be more productive than profit-seeking ventures. New types of collaboration, such as Wikipedia or SETI@Home, “offer defined improvements in autonomy, democratic discourse, cultural creation, and justice”-as long as government regulation aimed at protecting old-school information monoliths (such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) doesn’t succeed. Non-market innovation is a good thing in itself and doesn’t even have to threaten entrenched interests, Benkler argues; rather, “social production” can use resources that the industrial information economy leaves behind. Where Benkler excels is in bringing together disparate strands of the new information economy, from the democratization of the newsmedia via blogs to the online effort publicizing weaknesses in Diebold voting machines. Though Benkler doesn’t really present any new ideas here, and sometimes draws simplistic distinctions, his defense of the Internet’s power to enrich people’s lives is often stirring.

4. Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software

Christopher M.Kelty

In Two Bits, Christopher M. Kelty investigates the history and cultural significance of Free Software, revealing the people and practices that have transformed not only software but also music, film, science, and education. Free Software is a set of practices devoted to the collaborative creation of software source code that is made openly and freely available through an unconventional use of copyright law. Kelty explains how these specific practices have reoriented the relations of power around the creation, dissemination, and authorization of all kinds of knowledge. He also makes an important contribution to discussions of public spheres and social imaginaries by demonstrating how Free Software is a “recursive public”—a public organized around the ability to build, modify, and maintain the very infrastructure that gives it life in the first place. Drawing on ethnographic research that took him from an Internet healthcare start-up company in Boston to media labs in Berlin to young entrepreneurs in Bangalore, Kelty describes the technologies and the moral vision that bind together hackers, geeks, lawyers, and other Free Software advocates. In each case, he shows how their practices and way of life include not only the sharing of software source code but also ways of conceptualizing openness, writing copyright licenses, coordinating collaboration, and proselytizing. By exploring in detail how these practices came together as the Free Software movement from the 1970s to the 1990s, Kelty also considers how it is possible to understand the new movements emerging from Free Software: projects such as Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization that creates copyright licenses, and Connexions, a project to create an online scholarly textbook commons.

5. The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World

Lawrence Lessig

If The Future of Ideas is bleak, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. Author Lawrence Lessig, a Stanford law professor and keen observer of emerging technologies, makes a strong case that large corporations are staging an innovation-stifling power grab while we watch idly. The changes in copyright and other forms of intellectual property protection demanded by the media and software industries have the potential to choke off publicly held material, which Lessig sees as a kind of intellectual commons. He eloquently and persuasively decries this lopsided control of ideas and suggests practical solutions that consider the rights of both creators and consumers, while acknowledging the serious impact of new technologies on old ways of doing business. His proposals would let existing companies make money without using the tremendous advantages of incumbency to eliminate new killer apps before they can threaten the status quo. Readers who want a fair intellectual marketplace would do well to absorb the lessons in The Future of Ideas.

6. Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace, Version 2.0

Lawrence Lessig

The “alarming and impassioned”* book on how the Internet is redefining constitutional law, now reissued as the first popular book revised online by its readers (*New York Times) There’s a common belief that cyberspace cannot be regulated-that it is, in its very essence, immune from the government’s (or anyone else’s) control. Code, first published in 2000, argues that this belief is wrong. It is not in the nature of cyberspace to be unregulable; cyberspace has no “nature.” It only has code-the software and hardware that make cyberspace what it is. That code can create a place of freedom-as the original architecture of the Net did-or a place of oppressive control. Under the influence of commerce, cyberpsace is becoming a highly regulable space, where behavior is much more tightly controlled than in real space. But that’s not inevitable either. We can-we must-choose what kind of cyberspace we want and what freedoms we will guarantee. These choices are all about architecture: about what kind of code will govern cyberspace, and who will control it. In this realm, code is the most significant form of law, and it is up to lawyers, policymakers, and especially citizens to decide what values that code embodies. Since its original publication, this seminal book has earned the status of a minor classic. This second edition, or Version 2.0, has been prepared through the author’s wiki, a web site that allows readers to edit the text, making this the first reader-edited revision of a popular book.

7. Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge

IEEE Computer Society Professional Practices Committee

The software engineering body of knowledge is an all-inclusive term that describes the sum of knowledge within the profession of software engineering. Since it is usually not possible to put the full body of knowledge of even an emerging discipline, such as software engineering, into a single document, there is a need for a Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge. This Guide will seek to identify and describe that subset of the body of knowledge that is generally accepted, even though software engineers must be knowledgeable not only in software engineering, but also, of course, in other related disciplines.

8. Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project

Karl Fogel

The corporate market is now embracing free, “open source” software like never before, as evidenced by the recent success of the technologies underlying LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP). Each is the result of a publicly collaborative process among numerous developers who volunteer their time and energy to create better software. The truth is, however, that the overwhelming majority of free software projects fail. To help you beat the odds, O’Reilly has put together “Producing Open Source Software,” a guide that recommends tried and true steps to help free software developers work together toward a common goal. Not just for developers who are considering starting their own free software project, this book will also help those who want to participate in the process at any level.

9. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

Cory Doctorow

A lot of ideas are packed into this short novel, but Doctorow’s own best idea was setting his story in Disney World, where it’s hard to tell whether technology serves dreams or vice versa. Jules, a relative youngster at more than a century old, is a contented citizen of the Bitchun Society that has filled Earth and near-space since shortage and death were overcome. People are free to do whatever they wish, since the only wealth is respect and since constant internal interface lets all monitor exactly how successful they are at being liked. What Jules wants to do is move to Disney World, join the ad-hoc crew that runs the park and fine-tune the Haunted Mansion ride to make it even more wonderful. When his prudently stored consciousness abruptly awakens in a cloned body, he learns that he was murdered; evidently he’s in the way of somebody else’s dreams. Jules first suspects, then becomes viciously obsessed by, the innovative group that has turned the Hall of Presidents into a virtual experience. In the conflict that follows, he loses his lover, his job, his respect-even his interface connection-but gains perspective that the other Bitchun citizens lack. Jules’s narrative unfolds so smoothly that readers may forget that all this raging passion is over amusement park rides. Then they can ask what that shows about the novel’s supposedly mature, liberated characters. Doctorow has served up a nicely understated dish: meringue laced with caffeine.

10. Getting Real: The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web Application

37signals

Getting Real details the business, design, programming, and marketing principles of 37signals. The book is packed with keep-it-simple insights, contrarian points of view, and unconventional approaches to software design. This is not a technical book or a design tutorial, it’s a book of ideas. Anyone working on a web app — including entrepreneurs, designers, programmers, executives, or marketers — will find value and inspiration in this book. 37signals used the Getting Real process to launch five successful web-based applications (Basecamp, Campfire, Backpack, Writeboard, Ta-da List), and Ruby on Rails, an open-source web application framework, in just two years with no outside funding, no debt, and only 7 people (distributed across 7 time zones). Over 500,000 people around the world use these applications to get things done. Now you can find out how they did it and how you can do it too. It’s not as hard as you think if you Get Real. The book tackles this very complex topic by distilling it down into easily understandable parts. Starting with the basics of project management, it details specific tools used in free software projects, including version control, IRC, bug tracking, and Wikis. Author Karl Fogel, known for his work on CVS and Subversion, offers practical advice on how to set up and use a range of tools in combination with open mailing lists and archives. He also provides several chapters on the essentials of recruiting and motivating developers, as well as how to gain much-needed publicity for your project. While managing a team of enthusiastic developers — most of whom you’ve never even met — can be challenging, it can also be fun. “Producing Open Source Software” takes this into account, too, as it speaks of the sheer pleasure to be had from working with a motivated team of free software developers.

11. Freedom of Expression (R): Overzealous Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies of Creativity

Kembrew McLeod

What if George W. Bush’s much ballyhooed “ownership society” were taken to an illogical extreme, so that each of us owned a phrase or a sound or a gesture that would generate a little income every time it was used? Of course, we could trademark all the catchphrases we like (as, for example, Donald Trump has with The Apprentice’s tagline “You’re fired”), but most of us are in no position to collect. Corporate entities, however, are capable and quite willing to claim ownership of what until recently would have seemed to be public property, to dangerous ends, argues Kembrew McLeod. The University of Iowa communications professor explores the clash between free speech and intellectual property law in this absorbing and unsettling expose. McLeod eschews the role of the detached observer in favor of a more indignant and even angry voice; indeed, he’s trademarked the phrase “freedom of expression” to hammer home his point and makes no secret of his contempt for “overzealous copyright bozos” and their ilk. Trends in intellectual property rights and the free exchange of ideas are serious business, however. The author supports his concerns with an array of examples, from the ridiculous (Fox’s attempt to punish comic Al Franken for his satirical use of their “fair and balanced” motto) to the alarming (corporate agribusiness’s development of “terminator technology” that makes patented seeds sterile after one planting). McLeod, who’s written extensively elsewhere about music, uses pop culture as a jumping-off point, but deftly ties together the legal threads that hamstring authors, recording artists, and filmmakers with their working scientific and agricultural counterparts. Indeed, McLeod deserves special kudos for demonstrating that the same forces that can be used to crush the seeds of creativity can also be used to literally smother the seeds of life.
This book’s documentary companion is available through Media Education Foundation. A low resolution preview of the 60-minute DVD can be seen

12. Free and Open Source Software for Development

Victor van Reijswoud and Arjan de Jager

Development organizations and International Non-Governmental Organizations have been emphasizing the high potential of Free and Open Source Software for the Less Developed Countries. Cost reduction, less vendor dependency and increased potential for local capacity development have been their main arguments. In spite of its advantages, Free and Open Source Software is not widely adopted at the African continent. In this book the authors will explore the grounds on with these expectations are based. Where do they come from and is there evidence to support these expectations? Over the past years several projects have been initiated and some good results have been achieved, but at the same time many challenges were encountered. What lessons can be drawn from these experiences and do these experiences contain enough evidence to support the high expectations? Several projects and their achievements will be considered. In the final part of the book the future of Free and Open Source Software for Development will be explored. Special attention is given to the African continent since here challenges are highest. What is the role of Free and open Source Software for Development and how do we need to position and explore the potential? What are the threats? The book aims at professionals that are engaged in the design and implementation of ICT for Development (ICT4D) projects and want to improve their understanding of the role Free and Open Source Software can play.

13. Information Societies and Digital Divides

Bernardo Sorj

The book argues ICT are part of the set of goods and services that determine quality of life, social inequality and the chances for economic development. Therefore understanding the digital divide demands a broader discussion of the place of ICT within each society and in the international system. The author argues against the perspectives that either isolates ICT from other basic social goods (in particular education and employment) as well as those that argue that new technologies are luxury of a consumer society. Though the author accepts that new technologies are not a panacea for the problems of inequality, access to them become a condition of full integration of social life. Using examples mainly from Latin America, the work presents some general policy proposals on the fight against the digital divide which take in consideration other dimensions of social inequality and access to public goods.

14. Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman’s Crusade for Free Software

Sam Williams

Free as in Freedom interweaves biographical snapshots of GNU project founder Richard Stallman with the political, social and economic history of the free software movement. Starting with how it all began–a desire for software code from Xerox to make the printing more efficient–to the continuing quest for free software that exists today. It is a movement that Stallman has at turns defined, directed and manipulated. Like Alan Greenspan in the financial sector, Stallman has assumed the role of tribal elder in a community that bills itself as anarchic and immune to central authority. Free as in Freedom looks at how the latest twists and turns in the software marketplace have done little to throw Stallman off his pedestal. Discover how the Richard’s childhood and teenage experiences made him the man he is today. If anything, they have made Stallman’s logic-based rhetoric and immovable personality more persuasive. In a rapidly changing world people need a fixed reference point, and Stallman has become that reference point for many in the software world.

15. Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman

Richard M. Stallman, Lawrence Lessig, Joshua Gay

Stallman is known internationally as the creator of the GNU operating system and cofounder of the Free Software Foundation. In this collection, he provides an accessible guide to the philosophy that inspired his cause. Stallman also takes a critical look at how businesses abuse copyright law and patents as they apply to computer software applications. He explains how these actions damage our society and encroach on our freedoms. Part 1, “The GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation,” offers a historical perspective, as well as an introduction, to the philosophy of free software (i.e., free as in “free speech, not free beer”). Part 2, “Copyrights, Copylefts and Patents,” explores the legal aspects of free software, laying out the mission of the free software movement and discussing its long-term goals. Part 3, “Creating a Free Society,” focuses on the importance of free software in our society and presents helpful examples. Part 4 comprises licenses that developers will find useful in making the programs they create accessible to the widest possible audience, as free software that can be redistributed and changed legally under the terms presented. The text gives more insight into Stallman’s thought processes than does Sam Williams’s biography, Free As in Freedom, a complementary work that relies more on interviews with Stallman and his associates. This important collection by a software visionary is recommended for larger public and academic libraries.

16. Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing

Andrew M. St. Laurent

Licensing is a major part of what open source and free software are all about, but it’s still one of the most complicated areas of law. Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing explains your licensing options, how they compare and interoperate, and how license choices affect project possibilities. If you’re an open source/free software developer, this book is an absolute necessity. The book wraps up with a look at the legal effects–both positive and negative–of open source/free software licensing. Licensing is a major part of what open source and free software are all about, but it’s still one of the most complicated areas of law. Even the very simple licenses are tricky. Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing bridges the gap between the open source vision and the practical implications of its legal underpinnings. If open source and free software licenses interest you, this book will help you understand them. If you’re an open source/free software developer, this book is an absolute necessity.

17. Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution

Chris DiBona, Sam Ockman, Mark Stone, Brian Behlendorf, Scott Bradner, Jim Hamerly, Kirk McKusick, Tim O’Reilly , Tom Paquin, Bruce Perens, Eric Raymond, Richard Stallman, Michael Tiemann, Linus Torvalds, Paul Vixie, Larry Wall, Bob Young

Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution is a fascinating look at the raging debate that is its namesake. Filled with writings from the central players–from Linux creator Linus Torvalds to Perl creator Larry Wall–the book convinces the reader of the overwhelming merits of freeing up the many iterations of software’s source code. The open-source movement has become a cause célèbre in light of the widespread adoption of Linux, Perl, and Apache as well as its corporate support from Netscape, IBM, and Oracle–and strongly felt opposition from Microsoft. Open Sources doesn’t address why these Microsoft foes are throwing their weight behind the movement. Instead, it focuses on the history and philosophy of open-source software (previously referred to as freeware) as an argument for shaping the future of programming. Open Sources is much larger than just a fight with any one company. Instead, it is a revolutionary call to release software development from the vested interests that label new directions in software development as threatening. This is not to say that opening the source code is an entirely egalitarian and communistic endeavor. These are programmers and startup owners; they want to be able to continue to program for a living. To that end, Open Sources contains strong business profiles from entrepreneurs such as Apache’s–and now, O’Reilly & Associates’–Brian Behlendorf, who discusses how to give away software in order to lure customers in for specialized versions. In many ways, this is a hands-on guide, displaying an insider’s view of the development process and providing specifics on testing details and altering licensing agreements. However, interspersed with tech talk is a reader-friendly guide for those interested in the future of software development.

18. We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People

Dan Gillmor

For the first time, bloggers have been awarded press credentials to cover the national political conventions. That‚s a harbinger of bigger changes in the media landscape, according to nationally known columnist Dan Gillmor. His new book, We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People, tells the story of the grassroots journalists–including bloggers–who are dismantling Big Media‚s monopoly on the news. Through Internet-fueled, interactive vehicles like weblogs, these readers-turned-reporters are transforming the news from a lecture to a conversation. They‚re publishing in real time to a worldwide audience that‚s eager to read their independent, unfiltered reports. And the impact of their work is just beginning to be felt by professional journalists and the newsmakers they cover. We the Media sheds light on this deep shift in how we make–and consume–the news. Journalism in the 21st century will be fundamentally different from the Big Media that prevails today. We the Media casts light on the future of journalism, and invites us all to be part of it.

19. The Cathedral & the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary

Eric S. Raymond

The Cathedral & the Bazaar is a must for anyone who cares about the future of the computer industry or the dynamics of the information economy. Its conclusions will be studied, debated, and implemented for years to come. According to Bob Young, “This is Eric Raymond’s great contribution to the success of the Open Source Revolution, to the adoption of Linux-based operating systems, and to the success of open source users and the companies that supply them.” The interest in open source software development has grown enormously in the past year. This revised and expanded paperback edition includes new material on open source developments in 1999 and 2000. Raymond’s clear and effective writing style accurately describing the benefits of open source software has been key to its success. With major vendors creating acceptance for open source within companies, independent vendors will become the open source story in 2001.

20. Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy

Lawrence Lessig

Should anyone besides libertarian hackers or record companies care about copyright in the online world? In this incisive treatise, Stanford law prof and Wired columnist Lessig (Free Culture) argues that we should. He frames the problem as a war between an old read-only culture, in which media megaliths sell copyrighted music and movies to passive consumers, and a dawning digital read-write culture, in which audiovisual products are freely downloaded and manipulated in an explosion of democratized creativity. Both cultures can thrive in a hybrid economy, he contends, pioneered by Web entities like YouTube. Lessig’s critique of draconian copyright laws—highlighted by horror stories of entertainment conglomerates threatening tweens for putting up Harry Potter fan sites—is trenchant. (Why, he asks, should sampling music and movies be illegal when quoting texts is fine?) Lessig worries that too stringent copyright laws could stifle such remix masterpieces as a powerful doctored video showing George Bush and Tony Blair lip-synching the song Endless Love, or making scofflaws of America’s youth by criminalizing their irrepressible downloading.

The book will soon be available under a Creative Commons license from Bloomsbury Academic. Stay tuned for launch.

21. We Media: How audiences are shaping the future of news and information

Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis

We are at the beginning of a Golden Age of journalism — but it is not journalism as we have known it. Media futurists have predicted that by 2021, “citizens will produce 50 percent of the news peer-to-peer.” However, mainstream news media have yet to meaningfully adopt or experiment with these new forms. Historically, journalists have been charged with informing the democracy. But their future will depend not on only how well they inform but how well they encourage and enable conversations with citizens. That is the challenge. This report details the important considerations when exploring a collaborative effort between audience and traditional media organizations.

22. The New Hacker’s Dictionary

Eric S. Raymond

This document is a collection of slang terms used by various subcultures of computer hackers. Though some technical material is included for background and flavor, it is not a technical dictionary; what we describe here is the language hackers use among themselves for fun, social communication, and technical debate. It’s the slang and secret language among computer jocks that offers the most fun. Don’t know what the Infinite-Monkey Theorem is? Or the meaning of “rat dance?” It’s all here. Most people don’t sit down to read dictionaries for entertainment, but this is surely an exception.

REPORTS

23. Wave 3: Power to the people SOCIAL MEDIA TRACKER

Universal McCann

This project is an ongoing commitment by Universal McCann to measure consumer usage, attitudes and interests in adopting social media platforms and is the largest exploration of its kind. It aims to provide the facts behind the hype. The first study was published in September 2006 (Wave 1) and the second study in June 2007 (Wave 2). This report (Wave 3) brings together the latest results from Wave 3 as well as tracking the evolving trends since Wave 1. Wave 3 surveyed 17,000 internet users in 29 countries and was completed in March 2008. Since Wave 1 in September 2006 the research has created genuine insights on the patterns of usage, such as China having more bloggers than the US, emerging markets leading take up and Japan shunning photo sharing.

24. FEED: The Razorfishâ„¢ Consumer Experience Report

Razorfish

Razorfish created FEED: The Razorfish Consumer Experience Report with a relatively simple mission: to gain a better understanding of how technology affects today’s digital consumer experience and explore the emerging trends that will shape those experiences for years to come. Brands will need to create content that engages and “reaches” consumers across channels, provide valuable services over mere advertising and master an increasingly complicated and expansive content distribution model. And, of course, they will need to rethink the way they create relationships (or conversations) with consumers before it’s too late. Based on our findings, the second half of FEED: The Razorfish Consumer Experience Report is explicitly concerned with examining the trends, companies and services that are shaping the consumer landscape of the future. For example, in “Mad Widgetry,” I discuss the impact of widgets and RSS feeds on the advertising and media landscape. In “Advertising As a Service,” Brandon Geary examines how smart marketers like Nike and Visa are taking a dramatically different approach to reaching consumers.

Microsoft Ads are Fun

But the fun is in the fact that not even a $300 million dollar ad campaign seems to be able to save Microsoft from ruining an already ruined image. (Disclosure: Yes, I am a free/open source software activist).

Ok, Microsoft is a huge and respectable company and they can hire Jerry Seinfeld, Willie Nelson, Barack Obama or even Jessica Rabbit to duet with Bill Gates… but the truth is that their company is so far from what people really want and think that advertisement alone cannot save them anymore at this point.

Microsoft needs to face the fact that we’re living in a new age. They have figured it out, but they are not facing it seriously. The industrial-age has ended, our kids were born in the Information age, in a networked society, in a culture where almost everything which is digital is (or is expected to be) “Free“.

The advancement of alternative Free Softwares for many proprietary (paid) softwares, free encyclopedias (remember when you had to buy Britannica?), free newspapers, digital music and movies (p2p anyone?)… what isn’t free by nature today is shared freely in p2p networks.

So, why do they still impose their “PC” monopoly power over the people? Why do we still have to pay absurdly high prices for a copy of Windows or MS Office (and remember that after buying it, it is not yours)? Let alone if you are a small business trying to keep all your software “legal”.

Have you ever wondered why Microsoft sometimes gives away their software to students (specially in developing countries)? What will they do when they are no longer students? Will they be able to break their dependency on these products and find cheaper or free replacements or will they have to pay forever more? Microsoft has built their fortune on their pioneering software policies but nowadays it doesn’t make sense anymore. I will avoid entering in details about all the criticism and litigation that exist around Microsoft..

All of this makes me think that the best advertising MS could do now is just not to advertise. Just disappear for a while. Take time to review their products and their strategy in the software field and acknowledge that it takes much more than an ad campaign to bridge the gap between their 30+ years of traditional way of doing business and marketing and, for example, the Google way of doing business and marketing. Google was born in this “Information-networked-free-culture” age and people today understand their brand much better than Microsoft’s… Still wondering why?

Anyway… Their ads are their problem. In the meantime let’s have some fun with Nintendo’s Wii:

PS.: this is not a real ad from Nintendo, of course.

L’articolo è interessante anche per coloro che non sanno cosa sia un Media Center o un Home Theater PC.

I progetti confrontati sono: XBMC, MythTV, Boxee, Elisa, Neuros OSD, Freevo, My Media System, Entertainer, CenterStage + Plex e MediaPortal.

Il documento è disponibile in italiano, inglese e portoghese, sotto una licenza Creative Commons (by-nc-sa), e il download gratuito all’indirizzo: http://www.telematicsfreedom.org/it/flossmediacenter

The article is interesting even for those who don’t know what a Media Center or a Home Theater PC are.

The projects compared were: XBMC, MythTV, Boxee, Elisa, Neuros OSD, Freevo, My Media System, Entertainer, CenterStage + Plex and MediaPortal.

The document is available in English, Portuguese and Italian, under a Creative Commons license (by-nc-sa), and the download is free at: http://www.telematicsfreedom.org/en/flossmediacenter

O artigo é interessante mesmo para quem não sabe o que é um Media Center ou um PC Home Theater.

Os projetos comparados são: XBMC, MythTV, Boxee, Elisa, Neuros OSD, Freevo, My Media System, Entertainer, CenterStage+Plex e MediaPortal.

O documento está disponível em Português, Inglês e Italiano, sob licença Creative Commons (by-nc-sa), e o download é grátis através da URL: http://www.telematicsfreedom.org/en/flossmediacenter

O trecho em discussão é a sua resposta a pergunta “Como vocês lidam com softwares abertos, como o Linux?“. Ele disse ao final da sua resposta:

“Reconhecemos que existem, sim, empresas que não têm o porquê de usar uma plataforma “proprietária” de software ou mesmo de banco de dados. Que é muito mais vantajoso, em termos de custos e de operação, que esta empresa use software livre. Não temos a pretensão de ser donos de 100% de mercado porque entendemos as suas particularidades.”

Bom, assim, porque sabemos que não existe algum motivo valido pra uma empresa usar MS Office – a pagamento – ao invés de OpenOffice (que tem formato ISO); ou Internet Explorer ao invés de Firefox (mais veloz e mais seguro); ou Outlook no lugar de Thunderbird… a estratégia melhor e mais logica para Microsoft seria retirar do mercado esses programas “inúteis” como acabou definindo – “sem querer querendo” – o próprio gerente regional.

The first issue was with the wireless keyboard and mouse, which refused to work after booting the generated CD to update the BIOS. I have then connected a wired keyboard and went successfully through all the bios upgrade process.

On restart, windows vista had no audio. I first tried entering the BIOS setup, loading the default settings, save and exit. Still no audio.

So then I figured out inside the Control Panel -> Audio settings that the default audio output was set to High Definition speakers (which I don’t have — yet … So I just made the normal speakers the default option (right-click) and it was done.

Don’t ask me how the BIOS changed my audio default settings within Windows Vista… weird O.S…

Google.com

Youtube.com

Google Docs (docs.google.com)

Sera que dia 12 de junho tudo vai se repetir nos sites em portugues ?

Não dá pra entender como um BANCO, do grupo ABN AMRO (não é que são pobrezinhos) ao invés de consertar o “módulo de segurança” simplesmente bloqueia o acesso dos clientes que não utilizam Windows porque não é “homologado”. Sou cliente do Banco Real, uso Windows e Linux, mas tirei a notícia do site Notícias Linux, onde o Celso Andrade reportou o problema e muitos outros visitantes apontam o dedo contra outros bancos que adotam prática semelhante, contra os programadores que talvez não tenham competência, ou contra os Gerentes de TI que evitam decisões importantes.

Eu acredito que bons programadores não faltam, e que é responsabilidade do Gerente de TI a criação e aprovação de políticas de segurança para o e-banking que dê segurança não somente aos usuários de Windows, mas à TODOS OS CLIENTES DO BANCO, sem discriminação. E, neste ponto, não importa se é 1% dos clientes que acessa o e-banking com linux ou outro S.O, importa que esse 1% paga o banco como todos os outros 99% e não obtém os mesmos benefícios. Banco Real, é assim que funciona, com alguns clientes vocês só lucram, mas com outros vocês tem que investir…

E se para isso tem que desenvolver um SISTEMA MULTI-PLATAFORMA (alias, que eu saiba deveria ser o standard de programação de qualquer sistema web profissional) vão ter que gastar um dinheirinho a mais… e bom, lembro a todos que não estamos falando da padaria da esquina… mas do ABN AMRO – BANCO REAL… que de dinheiro entende, e muito!

Recensione Portatile Asus F3Sa: Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.20GHz, 4MB L2, 800MHz FSB), HD 250GB, RAM 2048MB, Display Lcd 15,4″ Wide, Scheda Video ATI Radeon HD2600 512mb dedicata, DVD +/- RW DL, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g, Windows Vista Home Premium.

Un ringraziamento speciale a tutti coloro che hanno collaborato sul forum di Notebook Italia aiutandomi nei dubbi e consigli per l’acquisto.

Acquisto

Ho acquistato l’Asus F3Sa tramite il sito di MediaWorld. Devo dire che il servizio di vendita on-line non è stato buono. Quando l’ho acquistato il prodotto era disponibile e dopo un giorno sono stato informato che il prodotto era esaurito. Tra l’ordinazione on-line e la consegna (a Roma) ci sono voluti 15 giorni. Fortunatamente l’avevo ordinato con pagamento alla consegna, avendo il tempo di cercare offerte simili in altri negozi. Non ne ho trovate

Ho pagato 1.099 euro per il portatile, 11,70 per la garanzia estesa Media Word (4 anni) e 12,50 per la consegna.
Totale: € 1.123,20.

Ritengo che è conveniente sempre passare attraverso l’assistenza telefonica (numero verde 800 882288) perché si ha modo di verificare con sicurezza se l’ordine è OK e quando verrà spedito.

Contenuto della confezione

Il pacco di circa 5 chili conteneva, oltre al portatile e alla batteria:

* carica batteria
* cavo modem
* cavetto tv-out
* pezzetta per pulire lo schermo
* recovery disk
* disco driver e utility
* nero 7 essentials oem
* manuali di garanzia e manuale esteso per l’utilizzazione del portatile (in italiano)

Specifiche Tecniche

Il CHIP FRITZ TPM

Diversamente da quanto descritto nel manuale (che il chip TPM per default è disabilitato nella BIOS), e per mia sorpresa… Una volta che sono entrato nella BIOS per verificare l’accuratezza dell’informazione, non ho trovato nessuna traccia di configurazione per attivare/disattivare il chip fritz! Boh!

Nessuna traccia dell’opzione TPM dentro della BIOS

Primo Avvio

Al primo avvio, la prima cosa che ho fatto è finire la configurazione di Windows Vista (circa 15min), fare update di Norton (21 aggiornamenti, circa 36Mb), e di Windows Update (22 aggiornamenti, circa 64Mb). E naturalmente, istallare Mozilla Firefox

Il processore e il disco rigido hanno superato le mie aspettative mentre la scheda video ha deluso…

La tastiera dell’Asus F3Sa

Benchmark Mainboard / Processore

Ecco i risultati dei benchmark per il processore e motherboard. Non sono un esperto, però mi sembrano ottimi risultati. Ringrazio se qualcuno voglia lasciare dei commenti su questi risultati.

Benchmark Memoria RAM

Proprietà bus memoria:
Tipo bus DDR2
Bus 128 bit
Clock reale 396 MHz (DDR) (originale: 400 MHz)
Clock effettivo 792 MHz

Video e 3DMark

Proprietà processore grafico:
Adattatore video ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 (Asus)
Versione BIOS 010.054.000.000
Data BIOS 07/02/07,14:00:3
Nome in codice GPU M76
Periferica PCI 1002-9581 / 1043-1562 (Rev 00)
Tecnologia processo produttivo 65 nm
Tipo bus PCI Express 1.0 x16 @ x16
Quantità memoria 512 MB
Clock GPU 500 MHz (originale: 500 MHz)
Clock RAMDAC 400 MHz
Pipeline pixel 4
TMU per pipeline 2
Shader unificati 120 (v4.0)
Supporto hardware DirectX DirectX v10
Pixel Fillrate 2000 MPixel/s

* Risultato 3Dmark05: 5821

Benchmark Hard Disk

Merita nota il fatto che esiste un fastidioso “ticchettio” dell’hard disk anche quando non c’è nessuna operazione in corso. Forse Windows Vista? Forse i software Asus pre-istallato? Non lo so ma devo trovare forma di eliminarlo…

Risultati HD Tune:

Test PCMARK05

* Risultato PcMark05: 5602

Conclusioni

Sono soddisfatto del mio acquisto. CPU High End, ottima e abbondante memoria, Hard Disk capiente (non sopporto quello tic-tac …) e Scheda Video di fascia media (ha deluso un pò nei benchmark), comunque il tutto più che soddisfacente per 1099 euro.

Aspetti positivi:

* Combinazione CPU + Memoria + HD potente
* Qualità assemblaggi e materiali impeccabili
* Dotazione hardware precisa e personalizzabile
* Per tutte le esigenze
* Personalizzabile al massimo
* Buona disponibiltà di colori
* Componentistica nuovissima
* Dotazione di base
Aspetti negativi:

* Acquistabile solo su internet (per ora)
* Ticchettio del Hard Disk
* Tempo di Consegna Lungo (oppure sono stato sfortunato

Ringrazio tantissimo se mi lasciate i vostri commenti su questo portatile, specialmente nel valutare i benchmark (non sono un esperto di hardware) e suggerire modifiche che possono migliorare ulteriormente le prestazioni o eliminare il ticchettio del hard disk…

Giudizio globale: Ottimo, specialmente il rapporto Prestazioni/Prezzo.

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Na maioria dos casos, apesar de ser um programador que começa tentando resolver um problema particular através da implementação de um software, o líder Open Source ao longo do tempo programa cada vez menos. Entre suas principais atribuições de liderança podemos destacar: dar uma visão ao projeto; assegurar-se que o projeto esteja dividido em pedaços pequenos e bem definidos (módulos), os quais um indivíduo poderá responsabilizar-se em implementar sem interferir nas outras tarefas do projeto; atrair mais programadores e, por último, mas não menos importante, manter o projeto unido, ou seja, prevenir que seja abandonado ou que aconteça um “fork” (ramificação do projeto que acaba originando um novo projeto derivado com características e funcionalidades de sistema similares àquele original, que usa geralmente como base os códigos fonte já existentes, mas com uma nova liderança).

O líder, ao começar seu projeto, deve estar apto a apresentar uma quantidade suficiente de código que permita uma reação por parte da comunidade onde está inserido. A solução inicial não precisa estar funcionando corretamente e pode conter diversos erros. O que é preciso é convencer de que o seu programa tem potencial para fazer bem aquilo que se propõe a fazer. Também é importante que o programador líder não realize a maior parte do trabalho inicial sozinho, e que deixe tarefas desafiadoras para que outros programadores as realizem. Podemos dizer que é relativamente mais fácil atrair os colaboradores ao início do projeto porque, caso haja sucesso, surgirão novos interessados e usuários, e as colaborações dadas ao início do projeto serão mais visíveis e valorizadas dentro da comunidade. A verdade é que um projeto Open Source necessita de um desafio constante, caso contrário não haverão interessados em participar de um projeto cuja liderança seja passiva diante dos obstáculos que se apresentam.

Outro aspecto determinante no sucesso de um projeto Open Source parece ser a natureza de sua liderança. As estruturas de governança variam muito de projeto a projeto. Em diversos casos, como no desenvolvimento do Linux por exemplo, existe apenas uma liderança, sem disputa. Ao mesmo tempo em que algumas tomadas de decisão são delegados a outras pessoas, uma forte centralização da autoridade caracteriza este tipo de projeto. Enquanto o líder estiver tomando as decisões corretas, contentando e valorizando o trabalho geral da equipe, continuará a receber o apoio incondicional de seus seguidores. Existem outros casos, como o desenvolvimento do Apache Web Server, onde existe um comitê que resolve as disputas internas através de votos ou consenso geral.

Apesar das diferenças nos tipos de governança, os líderes de projetos livres têm diversas características em comum. A maioria deles são programadores que iniciaram escrevendo o código inicial do sistema, ou realizaram alguma importante contribuição no início do projeto e, mesmo não fazendo mais colaborações a nível de código e tendo agora tarefas mais amplas de gerenciamento, consideram aquela experiência inicial como fundamental para dar-lhes a credibilidade necessária para liderar o projeto.

Mas o que uma liderança de um projeto Open Source realmente faz? Através de uma primeira análise podemos dizer que a natureza quase anárquica de evolução destes modelos deixam pouco espaço para a existência de uma liderança. Essa análise, entretanto, é equivocada. Em primeiro lugar, como já descrito, o líder define a visão do projeto. Se o líder é respeitado pelos colaboradores e se a sua visão é convincente, as expectativas de sucesso são positivas. Em segundo lugar, mesmo que os participantes sejam livres para levar o projeto pelos caminhos que quiserem (pois todos possuem o código fonte), a aceitação ou rejeição de modificações ou adições no sistema por parte do líder do projeto provê uma certa forma de certificação de qualidade do produto final, mantendo a integração e compatibilidade com o resto do projeto.

Acima de tudo, os programadores devem acreditar na sua liderança. Devem acreditar que os objetivos propostos pelo líder são convergentes com os seus, e que não estejam contaminados nem influenciados por opiniões e decisões políticas, comerciais ou que promovam o “ego” do líder. A confiança na liderança é também a chave para prevenção de um fork do projeto. A presença de um líder carismático reduz a probabilidade de divisão do projeto em ao menos duas maneiras: os colaboradores indecisos ficam mais propensos a seguir as alternativas do líder, e a facção dissidente pode não ter um líder natural com o mesmo nível de carisma do original, desencorajando adesões ao fork.

Por fim, uma boa liderança deve claramente comunicar os objetivos e procedimentos de avaliação do projeto. De fato organizações Open Source optam por fazer a natureza de seu processo de tomada de decisão o mais transparente possível: o processo pelo qual um comitê avalia novas propostas de soluções é freqüentemente enviado à uma lista de correio eletrônico e todas mensagens são arquivadas.

Como em empresas tradicionais, percebe-se que muito da probabilidade de sucesso ou fracasso de uma iniciativa no mundo livre depende da postura tomada pelas pessoas que estão à frente do processo. Atitude.

Google vai e google vem… em 2 dias com muitos cliques aprendi tudo sobre os tipos de cartao de memoria compativeis com o Nintendo DS, e por fim escolhi o DS-Linker 16G (16 Gigabits = 2Gbytes) na loja virtual Gameyeeeah que vem com um adaptador frontal pro Nintendo DS, que se conecta com o PC em uma porta USB.

Barbada. Chegou em 1 semana (de Hong Kong até a Italia, com entrega DHL), e foi so conectar no PC, sem instalar nada. Funciona como uma pendrive, basta copiar e colar os arquivos. Roda tudo perfeitamente.

Escolhi o DS-Linker por que:

• tem o adaptador compativel com o cartao 30-em-1 que tinha comprado na Tailandia (que descobri ser um DS-Fireline que nao achei em venda em nenhum lugar) e assim posso re-utilizar aquele;
• tem uma boa memoria, a bom preço;
• os reviews dizem que é o cartucho com maior compatibilidade no momento, apesar de existirem cartuchos com memoria removivel (R4, M3 Simply…).

Cercaziende.it è un network di oltre 90 mila aziende italiane con 3 miliardi di visitatori l’anno e circa 19.000 pagine visitate al giorno. Niente male ha?

Almost all developers like Free Software, too: they can download the source code, modify it and share the code with a friend – in most of the cases – totally free of cost.

But everybody loves Web2.0. Gradients and drop shadows, rounded corners, user-friendly UI, a “community” around it, tagging, rating, ajax, new features everyday, api’s and widgets and… Wow! Finally the web application of our dreams, right? Wrong!

The web2.0 (at least most of it showing up in the headlines today) is not Free – as in “free speech”. Unless I can pay some million dollars, I can’t have the source for that cool Job board, or that photo or video sharing kick-ass web application, or a community-based news portal, social networking, maps, dashboard, project management, email, office suite, <add your favorite web2.0 app here>….

You can tell me: “Ok, but I can embed a widget on my website and some of those services allow me to use an ‘open API’ to create super-cool mashups.” Sure, you can. Many people can live with these restrictions. I just think that users and developers deserved more. After all, who created the base where all of this was built upon?

The problem is that there’s no simple way to know if any of the above examples was built upon a GPL software, right? Wrong again. The problem is that even if they were built that way, they’re not violating the GPL license. And this can happen to good free web apps as well, like WordPress, sugarCRM, dotProject and others. You can get it, change the graphic appearance, add maybe one or two new unique features, spend lots of money in marketing stuff and then create an ASP service totally proprietary without the obligation of releasing your code.

And the “community” can’t benefit back from their past work, just contribute more and more Data to “cool web apps” and do not care about future privacy issues. Well, someone said already that privacy is over… I prefer to believe that we can still have a way to protect our information.

Please don’t get me wrong. I love these web2.0 apps as much as you do, and I use most of the examples above. What I think is not fair is that you can actually build upon a free software, create a web service with millions of users and then just don’t release it. This problem is known as the ASP loophole, and unfortunately GPLv3 solves it only partially (at least as in it’s current draft).

For those who care about how you’ll develop free software on the web in the next couple of years, I suggest start helping to fix the GPL bug. For those who don’t… have you seen the new Google Analytics features?

You can buy the poster online. In fact the shop has some other nice posters. Have fun.