- Activists prefer spending decisions on Internet freedom funds stay with State Department
I had not heard before of the Broadcasting Board of Governors before the concerns Spencer Ackerman at Wired lays out expressed by some activists over the possibility of funding for Obama’s Internet Freedom Agenda moving to that group. Spencerman lays out the concerns on both sides of the argument, that the State Department doesn’t have the best track record of managing funds but the broadcaster group has an overt pro-American agenda that seems incompatible with an inclusive definition of internet freedom. - Cory’s latest on the future of the copyfight and technology
Cory’s latest Guardian column expands on some of the possible fights over the near future applications of 3D printing that he has explored in his talk from last Summer, here in DC, and more recently at the iSchool Conference at University of Toronto. Personally, I harbor a probably unrealistic fantasy that 3D printing will completely overwhelm the ability of traditional intellectual monopoly middle men to cope, finally inviting a long overdue legislative compromise. - Apple handcuffs open web applications
The Register and their readers undertook some empirical testing whose results are not entirely surprising, if they can be confirmed. The article at least concedes that the performance issues observed may have been unintentional but that still leaves room for Apple to drag their feet on fixes as a means of encouraging more native apps, from sales of which they extract a hefty thirty percent cut. This is going to seriously damage the defense of Apple’s overly restrictive app store policies that states developers who object are encouraged to use pure web applications on the premise that they are just as well supported. - Etsy users understandably angry over personal data exposure, Ars Technica
- Etsy reacts to user outrage, makes changes to feedback system, Ars Technica
- Potential privacy risks that need to be addressed in next generation emergency services, EFF
- Katamari Damarcy hack for Chrome and compatible browsers, Slashdot
- IE9 arrives with enhanced performance, better standards compliance, WebMonkey at Wired
Exploring digital citizenry as a creator and a consumer.
As this article reasons, the lack of the Nitro JS engine in non-Safari apps may just be a “missing feature or a bug than a deliberate attempt of Apple to throttle web apps”.
This may be answered for us once the next iOS version comes out, but my gut feeling is this might just be a flub rather than something malicious from Apple.
(re: “Apple handcuffs open web applications”)