F2C2012: Aaron Swartz keynote - "How we stopped SOPA"

[Original LINK]

Aaron Swartz

Aaron H. Swartz (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013) was an American computer programmer, writer, archivist, political organizer, and Internet activist.

Swartz was a member of the RSS-DEV Working Group that co-authored the "RSS 1.0" specification of RSS,^[2] and built the Web site framework web.py and the architecture for theOpen Library. He also built Infogami, a company that merged with Reddit in its early days, through which he became an equal owner of the merged company.^[i] Swartz also focused on sociology, civic awareness and activism. In 2010 he was a member of the Harvard UniversityCenter for Ethics. He cofounded the online group Demand Progress (known for its campaign against SOPA) and later worked with US and international activist groups Rootstrikers and Avaaz.

On January 6, 2011, Swartz was arrested in connection with systematic downloading of academic journal articles from JSTOR, which became the subject of a federal investigation.^[3][4] Swartz opposed JSTOR's practice of compensating publishers, rather than authors, out of the fees it charges for access to articles. Swartz contended that JSTOR's fees limited access to academic work produced at American colleges and universities.^[5][6]

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz

The Unorthodox Engineers: Australian Fire Maps released!

The Unorthodox Engineers: Australian Fire Maps released!: It's fire season in Australia. My state in particular, Queensland, tends to catch fire quite a lot. I know this because I recently worked fo...

codecs – String encoding and decoding

Purpose:	Encoders and decoders for converting text between different representations.
Available In:	2.1 and later

The codecs module provides stream and file interfaces for transcoding data in your program. It is most commonly used to work with Unicode text, but other encodings are also available for other purposes.

Unicode Primer

CPython 2.x supports two types of strings for working with text data. Old-style str instances use a single 8-bit byte to represent each character of the string using its ASCII code. In contrast, unicode strings are managed internally as a sequence of Unicode code points. The code point values are saved as a sequence of 2 or 4 bytes each, depending on the options given when Python was compiled. Both unicodeand str are derived from a common base class, and support a similar API.

When unicode strings are output, they are encoded using one of several standard schemes so that the sequence of bytes can be reconstructed as the same string later. The bytes of the encoded value are not necessarily the same as the code point values, and the encoding defines a way to translate between the two sets of values. Reading Unicode data also requires knowing the encoding so that the incoming bytes can be converted to the internal representation used by the unicode class.

The most common encodings for Western languages are UTF-8 and UTF-16, which use sequences of one and two byte values respectively to represent each character. Other encodings can be more efficient for storing languages where most of the characters are represented by code points that do not fit into two bytes.

See also

 

For more introductory information about Unicode, refer to the list of references at the end of this section. The Python Unicode HOWTO is especially helpful.

source: codecs – String encoding and decoding

Blizzard Entertainment Planning A Linux Game For 2013

Blizzard Entertainment, the game studio behind wildly-popular games like World of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft, is planning for a Linux game announcement in 2013. 

This year is already looking fantastic for Linux-based gaming thanks to so many recent announcements and more being just around the cog in the future.rner. Since Valve's major Linux push with their native Steam Linux client and their continued porting of Source Engine games to Linux, many other game studios have stepped up with Linux interest, especially withthe Linux-based Steam console coming in the future. 

Besides Valve, among the publishers expressing Linux gaming interest have been Egosoft,THQ, Overhaul Games, and many other developers large and small have talked about their Linux plans. To add to the ever-growing list of Linux game milestones is now Blizzard Entertainment. 

Blizzard has already been controversial with Linux gamers due to (reportedly accidental) banning of players from their games using Wine to run the Windows titles on Linux, always-online/DRM practices on Windows, and other matters, but it seems the California-based company is finally taking Linux seriously. 

Read more: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTI2ODE

Android SDK is now proprietary, Replicant to the rescue

I just noticed that the Android SDK is now non-free software. If you go to

https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html#download

and click on one of the files, you are presented with lengthy “Terms and Conditions” which for example say:

In order to use the SDK, you must first agree to this License Agreement. You may not use the SDK if you do not accept this License Agreement.

This sentence alone already violates freedom 0, the freedom to use the program for any purpose without restrictions.

Today, the truly Free Software version of Android called Replicant came to the rescue and released a free (as in free speech) version of the SDK.

The Free Software Foundation Campaigning to Stop UEFI SecureBoot

The Free Software Foundation is on an offensive against restricted boot systems and is busy appealing for donations and pledge in the form of signatures in a bid to stop systems such as the UEFI SecureBoot from being adopted on a large-scale basis and becoming a norm in the future.

The FSF, through an appeal on its website, is requesting users to sign a pledge titled "Stand up for your freedom to install free software" that they won’t be purchasing or recommending for purchase any such system that is SecureBoot enabled or some other form of restricted boot techniques. The FSF has managed to receive, as of this writing, over 41,000 signatures. Organizations like the Debian, Edoceo, Zando, Wreathe and many others have also showed their support for the campaign.

The Foundation acknowledges that SecureBoot, if implemented correctly, will help protect systems from malware and other such threats. But, it believes that Microsoft and other hardware manufacturers will implement boot restrictions thus preventing users from installing other operating systems. “...we are concerned that Microsoft and hardware manufacturers will implement these boot restrictions in a way that will prevent users from booting anything other than Windows”,reads the appeal.

Beyond the signatures, FSF is also asking individuals to come forward and donate $50 USD (minimum) for the cause of stopping the SecureBoot. “We need to raise $350,000 by January 31st to help us amplify your voices in 2013. Please, donate today to help us turn up the volume”, notes the campaign page. You can find more information on the campaign here.

SecureBoot has received a lot of criticism from various open source organizations. Promoters of Linux such as the Linux Foundation have already started working towards coming up with ways to make Linux work on UEFI enabled hardware. The Linux Foundation recently released a minimal UEFI SecureBoot preloader that will enable users to install Linux distributions on SecureBoot hardware.

Source: http://paritynews.com/software/item/530-the-free-software-foundation-campaigning-to-stop-uefi-secureboot

Cree Reaches LED Industry Milestone with 200 Lumen-Per-Watt LED

DURHAM, NC -- Two years after breaking the 200 lumens-per-watt (LPW) R&D efficacy barrier, Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) delivers another industry first with the introduction of the Cree XLamp® MK-R LEDs. The new MK-R LEDs leverage the SC³ Technology™ next-generation LED platform to deliver up to 200 lumens-per-watt (at 1 W, 25°C) LEDs.

The new MK-R LEDs make the next generation of 100+ lumens-per-watt system possible for high-lumen applications, including outdoor and indoor directional applications, such as halogen replacement lamps. MK-R LEDs are available in EasyWhite® color temperatures, providing the LED industry’s best color consistency for designs that use only one LED. For systems that use multiple LEDs, MK-R enables manufacturers to use fewer LEDs while still maintaining light output and quality, which translates to lower system cost.

“It’s amazing that Cree is able to achieve a 200 lumens-per-watt LED so quickly,” said Nicola Vendrame, CEO, Linea Light group. “The high efficacy of the MK-R LED means that we can drive the LED harder for more light output without creating heat issues. In addition, the MK-R LED has the right combination of size, color consistency and optical control to enable the next generation of performance in our indoor directional luminaires.”

“Cree’s relentless innovation continues to push the boundaries of what is possible with LED lighting,” said John Edmond, Cree co-founder and director of advanced optoelectronics. “The MK-R LED is another game-changer for the industry. An LED with this level of performance can accelerate the development of high-output lighting applications and could enable applications we haven’t even thought of yet.”

The MK-R LED features a 7 mm x 7 mm footprint with a 6 mm optical source and delivers up to 1600 lumens at 15 W, 85°C. Characterized at 85°C, the MK-R component is available in 2700 K to 7000 K color temperatures and offers minimum CRI options of 70, 80 and 90 (at selected color temperatures). The MK-R LED is the ninth product built on Cree’s SC³ Technology platform. The innovative platform leverages Cree’s advanced silicon-carbide technology, features advancements in LED chip architecture and phosphor and boasts a new package design to deliver the most advanced LED components in the industry.

Cree Reaches LED Industry Milestone with 200 Lumen-Per-Watt LED