Bell proposes end to ‘unlimited internet’

If there’s one that I hate about Canada is how some companies there try to take advantage of the regulatory environment and the nation’s social net. They believe this net applies to large corporations, but in reality, these should only be considered under the gravest conditions, as they should be self-sufficient. After all they’re private businesses and are not public. The technique usually involves a sappy story about not being able to stay afloat, because of current economic conditions, and how it’s necessary to give leeway. Sacrifices may come in the way of wage cuts, benefits, and/or demand public financial support, and as will be outlined below, also come as a costly –to the customer– billing system.

Convert PDF to JPEG on OS X

I had a student of mine complain that the .PDF material I’d provided was illegible. I attributed the problem to her ignorance, her lack of knowledge of the magnification tool, but the customer is always right, … right? I decided to hard copy the material myself and personally hand it in to her at our next class a week away. In the meantime I wanted to convert the .PDF material to something that she may be more adept at using, even if in a rastorized format. So, I decided to convert the .PDF to –wait for it– .JPGs! Googling brought me to an article that details a script that converts .PDF to .JPG but –in true mac fashion– it only works with the latest and greatest pay-ware version of OS X, 10.5, while I use 10.4 –leaving murmurers such as myself lost in the wilderness as the faithful continue to the promised land with their glorious and fearless leader, Jobs. Now, my problem is not with converting PDF to JPEG. I think this should easily be possible considering both formats are so pervasive. My problem is that it would seem –according to the Machead in the article previously mentioned– to necessitate underlying technology which only works with 10.5 OS X, and if there are other options for 10.4 users, why not mention them? Well, I found out there are other options, two –of which I’m now aware– in fact.

BSD Needs Spiced up Atmosphere-bsdtalk

I’m not sure why I can’t post comments to bsdtalk. Maybe it’s because I’m not signed up with the hosting service or because it doesn’t support Firefox. I can’t remember as I quit trying sometime ago. Anyways … seeing that I can’t post, I thought I’d post a comment on my own blog.

Note to Will Backman, bsdtalk Host
I like your podcasts but it’s starting to seem to me that the shows always have the same general theme, people sitting around talking about why BSD (and sometimes OSS in general) is so great –amounting to “feel good” interviews.

In episode number 139 you ask what “we” can do to improve BSD bookshelf visibility. I think generating interest might attract public attention and translate in hard book visibility. So, why not diversify and talk about threats to BSD development (whether they be internal/external, from proprietary competing OSS sources, and conflict (such as political/power struggles, or personality conflicts). Each postcast need not be entirely controversial as potential solutions to problems could also be pondered.

Here’s an idea I’ve thrown your way before. When are you ever going to cover comments by C. Hannum stating that”NetBSD is Dead”. See: <http://mail-index.netbsd.org/netbsd-users/2006/08/30/0016.html>.

Jack White Sells Out with Alicia Keys?

I never really liked Run DMC’s remake, if that’s what you can call it, of Aerosmith’s hit “Walk this Way”. Depending on how you look at it, it may not have been a remake as much as a legitimate new creative product. I doubt the latter, as the guitar riff is unmistakably Aerosmith, and for it to be a legit new product, entire and easily recognizable portions of a “song” –if you can refer to rap as “song”– can’t be mirrored in other songs. It can be reminiscent, but not a copy paste scenario.

Setting aside issues of legitimate authorship and musical taste, the remake did have some good effects. It salvaged Aerosmith’s butts, whose career was on its way to being relegated as a “goodies oldies bar band” –whose prospects where probably only seedy truck stops and corresponding bars.

Also in the process, Run DMC introduced good ol’ rock and roll to kids that probably had never seen, heard, and probably hadn’t conceptualized an electric guitar. They also introduced rap to rhythmicly challenged white folks. This might be called a market cross-over ploy.

On the part of Run DMC, I’m not sure if this was a thought out market plan. This might be giving them too much credit. If anything, they got people that would have never bothered to listen to rap to do so –if only to satisfy (morbid?) curiosity.

Having said that, as I’m sit here listening to the White Stripes singer Jack White perform a duet with a R&B female singer named Alicia Keys, I wonder about this obvious marketing ploy. I usually hate these marketing tactics, finding them cheap, predicable, even morally decadent.

Collanos Standalone Phone dead, & “Expropriated” into Workplace

Feb 14, 09 UPDATE: Peter Helfenstein has confirmed that a stand alone is in production. Read the comments section for details.

What irks me about big business is how they sometimes take GPL software, sometimes created by non-profit communities (let’s call it community software), and incorporate it into their product without regard for where the software originated and that community’s sensibilities and social contract.

This is what I feel has happened with the Collanos Phone, a product that I once believed to be a viable GPL replacement for Skype (I even recommended it to others) and the successor to WengoPhone. In fact, I think Collanos Phone was based on much of the same code as was WengoPhone, although the Collanos forum¹¹¹¹¹¹ is vague about the exact providence stating, “Collanos Phone is based on many pre-existing open-source components and governed under the General Public License (GPL)”. True, Wengo might not qualify as a “software community” but I understand the code upon which WengoPhone was based was and continues to be community driven (ie., the libgaim library from Pidgin, previously known as Gaim).

If you haven’t clued in yet, Collanos has effectively cancelled the stand alone Collanos Phone. The download page now only mentions, “Collanos Workplace … now includes Collanos Phone”. The first of this that should have sounded bells off is a Dec. 16, 08 email I received from Peter Helfenstein and Franco Dal Molin mentioning the extension of Workplace’s capability to that of video and audio based telephony. It didn’t mention the killing off of the softphone project, but that’s public relations for you. You can “read into” this change-over on Helfenstein’s blog entry from January 28, 09 entitled “Team – It’s Time to Talk²²²²²²“.

EndNote creator sues Zotero creator

Actually, it’s Thomson Ruerters (creators of EndNote) that is suing George Mason University (Virginia), which funds Zotero, They are suing for 10 million annually. As I understand it, there are two aspects to this. One, is that Zotero allows accessing EndNote’s proprietary format. Two, Thomson alleges that Zotero reverse engineered the proprietary format through decompiling EndNote.

Mentioned in linux today

Ha!! It seems I made it onto “linux today”, although this was some time ago.

Is David Grohl playing for the Mexican band Café Tacuba?!

Chilean cable t.v. is endlessly looping Café Tacuba’s latest music video. It’s by way of this that I came to ask myself, “Is it just me or does David Grohl from the Foo Fighters look like Emmanuel del Real from Café Tacuba?”.

Emmanuel del Real or David Grohl?

An Interview with Photographer Sonja San Martin

I thought it was about time to publish an interview –I’d been sitting on for almost two years.

Sonja San Martin is a rising Chilean photographer. Her works have been published in magazines such as Rocinante, El Sur^11111111111, Colegio Médico de Chile (Medical Journal of Chile), Hatuey, and her photography has made the cover of PROhumana^22222222222. In 2007, she exhibited a series called “Cucao: Luces y Colores de Chiloé” centering on Cucao (50 km. southeast of Castro, Chile) –at the Marta Colvin hall (Universidad de Bío-Bío) in Chillán, Chile. In 2006, she did camera and photography work for Yiri Culture’s documentary “Le Pont de la Joie” as a French/Chilean cross cultural exercise and analysis, where sixth grader artwork from both countries were exchanged. In that same year, she travelled to France to do a documentary as part of the same project. She has also offered introduction to photography and journalism workshops in Castro and Chillán.

San Martin studied at the Universidad de Serena in 2001, and later with the Taller de Fotografía de Reportage in the Escuela Portafolio in 2003. Sonja San Martin obtained a college (instituto profesional) degree in Audio Visual Communications from DUOC^33333333333 in 2004.

Maurice Cepeda-Gonzalo Millán Tribute, 2007

I met Sonja San Martin through a mutual journalist friend, Rodolfo Hlousek, in 2006, when I was asked to perform for a tribute to the Chilean poet Gonzalo Millán^44444999999. From the moments I’ve spent with San Martin and based on her work, she strikes me as a bright, talented artist, one that’s excited about life, and one that sees life via a different and sincere perspective; San Martin speaks her mind, when others might not want to rock the boat. For instance, she does not sugarcoat her disdain of the Chillán poetry scene (if not most of its participants), which might be odd considering she covered Chillán’s 2007 Tribute to Gonzalo Millán, but I gather this simply attests to Millán’s posthumous charisma. (The photograph contained herein, was taken by San Martin during that very same tribute.)

In my interview below, San Martin talks about her imputus for taking photos. Interestingly, she says that this stems from a desire to catalogue, create, and self-heal, rather than from a drive to express herself –although one could argue that all action is self-expression. The interview initially starts with a bit on her social life, artistic start, whether her work is art, her modus operandi, instinct vs. technique, if she keeps abreast with current photography trends, and her web presence. San Martin also mentions her soft-drug use as a young person, her latter struggles with depression and panic attacks, and how photography has helped her overcome these obstacles.

Considering that I rarely see San Martin in person, she consented to being interviewed during an IM conversation on July 18, 2007. Then later in December 2007, she encouraged self-publication of said interview on this very same blog. Below is my own translation of the colloquial Chilean Spanish. I’ve tried to remain as literal as possible, unless incomprehensible in English or where typical North American idioms fit. My comments are in square brackets, “[]“. These are sometimes used to clarify or complete ideas that may not be logical or obvious to the native English speaker.

Enjoy!

America, the Grim Reaper

Considering the worldwide impact of the failing American economy due to the Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac scandals, I thought this pic is representative.

America, The Grim Reaper