Former UNC student and current Californian Justin Watt received a cease and desist letter from Liberty Council representing Exodus International calling for Justin to remove an image from his Justinsomnia blog. The image a clear parody of Exodus’ billboards inviting uphappy gays to try to become straight. Justin’s mod invites unhappy straight people to become gay.
Justin, instead of ceasing or desisting, contacted ACLU. Justin’s new ACLU lawyers countered with a strong letter of their own [PDF]. Reports are that Liberty/Exodus has since backed off.
Additional coverage in USA Today and on boingboing.net
Category: Alumni and other friends (Page 12 of 38)
Washington Irving was there in the 1820s; I’ll be in Granada at the Alhambra at the end of April for the Louis Round Wilson Knowledge Academy meetings. All kinds of good folks have recommended Irving’s book to me (thanks Terry and Ismael). I’m about 100 pages into the 1851 facsimile edition and am enjoying Irving’s adventures and storytelling immensely. What a treat it will be to be see the Alhambra now over 150 years after Irving’s visit.
Pew Center for the Study of Internet and American Life reports that “For many home broadband users, the internet is a primary news source.” :
By the end of 2005, 50 million Americans got news online on a typical day, a sizable increase since 2002. Much of that growth has been fueled by the rise in home broadband connections over the last four years. For a group of “high-powered” online users — early adopters of home broadband who are the heaviest internet users — the internet is their primary news source on the average day.
At the same time, the US is threatening to create a tiered Internet with positive support from FCC Chief Kevin Martin (reports /. and Networking Pipeline).
People are learning from the internet instead of watching Fox! This must be stopped (or at least further regulated and tamed)!
Blooker madness continues. After a morning at the doctor, I met up with the two person BBC-TV crew from DC and Stephen Fraser of lulu. We spent about 2 hours shooting in Carroll Hall’s Halls of Fame room. I got to be sitting in Charles Kuralt’s chair during at least part of it. Rozalia Hristova interviewed me about Blooks and the Blooker. Stephen ran out and got a copy of the Blooker overall winner (I can’t tell you what that is yet) as the show, News at 10, will run on or after the April 3rd Blooker winner announcement.
Afterwards, we all went to Bon’s Country Cookin’ where we introduced the BBCers to fried okra, fried green tomatoes, meatloaf, and hushpuppies.
During lunch, I had to walk off and take a call from Ian Mount of the Wall Street Journal. Also about the Blooker. Ian is down in Buenos Aires where they have no Wall Street. Ian’s article will run this upcoming Saturday.
I am trying not to get a standard Blooker rap, but it’s becoming unavoidable.
Is there no end to Blooker madness? Yes, on April 3 when we announce the winners. In the meantime, BBC-TV has picked up from the BBC Radio Five lead and is flying a crew down to interview me, in my role as judge, tomorrow.
The question is where to do the interview. In the lovely SILS Library? Outside if the weather holds? Or at Allen and Son BBQ? I’m leaning toward the last.
Dean Bowers suggests the Kuralt Learning Center, a great place. But the BBC-TV want — get this — my office “probably with the
blinds shut (for what the producer describes as a “cyberspace feel”).” This is why the French and Italians are known for high fashion and the Brits for bowlers.
John Melo of the UNC Law School’s Journal of Law and Technology writes to alert us the upcoming Symposium on April 8.
What: Symposium: Attack of the Blog: Legal Horrors in the Workplace
When: April 8, 2006, 9AM – 3PM
Where: UNC Law School, Chapel Hill, NC (Maps)About: The increased popularity and simplicity of blogs has provided employees and employers a forum to share their thoughts and ideas with the world. Those very thoughts though have potentially far reaching ramifications. A well intentioned thought could alert a competitor to internal problems within a company.
Even worse, a blog could quickly shatter investor confidence or be misconstrued to provide insider information. The 2006 JOLT symposium will explore the possible legal problems blogs could cause for both employees and employers. How can both be protected? Can and should a company encourage blogging by its employees? What, if any, are the first amendment rights issues? How can an anonymous blogger be dealt with?
Speakers: Mark Jen, Product Manager, Plaxo
Kurt Opsahl, Staff Attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Eric Goldman, Professor, Marquette University
Ed Cone, blogger/writer
Yugen writes to remind me that Wayne and Wax will be in town playing and talking:
What: Wayne Marshall (aka Wayne&Wax) talks about music, mash-ups and intellectual property.
Where: Freedom Forum, Carroll Hall, UNC Campus
When: 3pm Friday, March 24.Wayne Marshall is an ethnomusicologist and musician from Boston who has written extensively about remixing, mash-up, musical innovation and copyright on his blog and the riddim method. Wayne will be talking about and giving examples of sample-based music including mash-up, and how current intellectual property laws effect the creation and spread of these genres.
DJ C owner of record labels Mashit and Beat Research will be joining Wayne to bring another perspective to the mix.
Wayne and DJ C will also be playing a show at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill on Thursday March 23.
PJ has a nice article at Groklaw on the UNC/RHAT Symposium (held last November, but now available for viewing). My favorite part of the article (wish I had been able to get out to Allen and Son for BBQ with PJ):
If you enjoy the videos, here’s who to thank: the University of North Carolina, iBiblio, and more than anyone Matthew Szulik, CEO of Red Hat, who really was the force that made this conference happen. Here are his opening remarks. There are more videos there as well, but I haven’t seen them myself yet. Currently it’s available only in RealMedia, but they’re working on it, I understand, to broaden your choices. I attended the conference, by the way, and had a blast, but there were different discussions going on simultaneously, so some of this is new to me too. I expanded my concept of Groklaw because of that conference, actually. Had some great barbecue too. If you are ever invited to anything Red Hat, iBiblio or the University of North Carolina is planning, my advice is, Go.
Asheville elumenati David McConville is indignant about the purple prose let loose in the NYTimes Magazine Travel section by Wells Tower.
Tower wants to write about the good things in Asheville/Black Mountain, but his Columbia-trained MFA kills it for the readers. Better to go over to the J-School, Wells.
UPDATE: Check out David’s response in the comment below.
The music was good enough that I missed the beginning of the Carolina/George Mason game. The folks promoting Signal Fest had SNMNMNM playing on the lawn at Weaver St (Carrboro’s front porch or backyard depending on how you like at it).
I love the instrumentation of this band. They are playing power pop and ska with a tuba in the place of the bass guitar for instance. Other brass evident were a trumpet and a trombone. And channeling They Might Be Giants with some radical accordion playing.
Uzi and TJ were there getting the Signal Fest vibe on. Look for more as the Fest approaches — April 7 and 8.
The UNC-TV stream that is labeled Koleman Strumpf is actually a P2P panel chaired by Koleman which features John Buckman of Magnatunes.com, Gene Hoffman founder of eMusic.com, Ed Klaris of The New Yorker, Adam Toll of BigChampagne.com, Sam Yagan of eDonkey, Tor Hansen of Redeye Distribution and Yep Roc Records, and Roger McGuinn musician.
The attendees have a lot to say too. In this session, we hear from Robert Kaye of MusicBrainz, Cory Doctorow, Chris DiBona of Google, Roy Kaufman of Wiley and Sons, Laurie Racine of Center for the Public Domain, JJB of ibiblio’s Lyceum project and others I can’t identify just now.
It’s about a 2 hour stream with a bit of hollow sound, but well worth hearing what this wide variety of folks have to say.
Back in November, we had a gathering of experts on Intellectual Property, Creativity, and The Innovation Process sponsored by the UNC System and Red Hat. Andy Oram of O’Reilly did a great write up on the Symposium. UNC-TV taped and produced some of the talks which are streamed now from the UNC-TV site which also lists the talks and the agenda for the Symposium:
UNC Symposium on Intellectual Property, Creativity and the Innovation Process
First Lady Mary Easley and Matthew Szulik, CEO of Red Hat kick off the 2005 UNC Symposium on Intellectual Property, Creativity and the Innovation Process. Szulik and others from the corporate and educational arenas gather to discuss how technological advances affect copyright and how creativity and innovation foster social, cultural, intellectual, and economic growth. Other guests include James Boyle, director for the Center for the Study of the Public Domain, Edward Klaris, general counsel for The New Yorker, past UNC President Molly Broad, and others representing public domain laws.
Agenda
Opening Remarks:
Mary Easley, First Lady of North CarolinaOpening Remarks:
Matthew Szulik, CEO
Red HatFour Ways to Ruin a Technological Revolution
James Boyle, Director
Center for the Study of the Public DomainKoleman Strumpf
Associate Professor, Department of Economics
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillWhen the Now is Too Long: How DRM & Old-World Copyright Fight the Future
Cory Doctorow, Novelist and European Outreach Coordinator, The Electronic Frontier FoundationSymposium Wrap-Up – Matthew Szulik and Molly Broad
Panel Discussion at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law
Most of the known world has contacted me concerned by the recent arrest of Yanni in a domestic violence complaint. The Smoking Gun has the complaint and Yanni’s mugshot.
Note to fans: I still have luxuriant flowing hair and Yanni does not.
Jane Tyndall of Tyndall Galleries writes that the North Carolina Museum of Art has recently acquired the triptych Reminiscing by Beverly McIver (I wrote a little about McIver’s show at Jane’s gallery last year).
Quoting Jane who quotes Preview: The Magazine of the North Carolina Museum of Art, March/April 2006:
“The Museum has recently acquired several new works of art that expand the scope and diversity of the 20th century and contemporary collections and also reflect the global, cross-cultural dialogue taking place in the art
world today. The new pieces include painting, photography and sculpture by nationally and internationally known artists and artists with North Carolina connections. …“Beverly McIver grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, and now lives in Arizona. Since the early 1990s, she has examined racial stereotypes in an ongoing series of expressionist self-portraits. The paintings deal with her African American identity and how she perceives her role in a society that historically has marginalized minorities and women. Often McIver paints herself in blackface – a reference to her childhood desire to become a professional clown, and also a way to confront and reclaim stereotypes head-on by changing the conventional clown white-face to black.
“Reminiscing, a self-portrait in triplicate, reveals its subject from three different vantage points – she stares off into the distance, looks down with despondence and then turns her head to the side, never meeting the viewer’s
gaze. Failing to tuck her hair up under her wig and exposing her emotional disarray, McIver paints a woman disheveled in appearance and in mood. This portrayal shows McIver striving to come to terms with her mother’s recent death. Without emphasizing it, the artist has again painted herself in
blackface, for she is rarely out of character, even at times of personal mourning.”
T-rel and JJB were at BarCamp Austin (and SxSW) where JJB did a presentation to an overflowing crowd on Lyceum. Did JJB get a WordPress t-shirt tho?
YIKES! I need to resize that poster!
Now I need to write more to fill out the length of the poster image.
JJB the main Lyceum developer is off in Austin at SXSW. He’s reporting occassionally on the Lyceum blog. You can still test drive Lyceum even whilst he’s away.
I’m off to Granada, Spain the end of April for the Louis Round Wilson Academy meeting which will take place in the Alhambra (Washington Irving fans alert–why is that novel not in Project Gutenberg?).
I know very little about that area of Spain. So if you are reading this and know anything, leave me a comment or drop me a note.
Sally has a great write up on photos hidden in a box at the Birmingham News with the label “Keep. Do not sell.”
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