AI: Thanks, Assholes. This afternoon I would like to send a special thank you out to Jenny McCarthy, Andrew Wakefield, Meryl Dorey, Age of Autism and anyone else who encourages parents not to vaccinate their children. It’s just so great what you guys are doing. You’re so warm and fuzzy with your adorable plea to […]
Links for March 31st
Measles Outbreak Triggered by Unvaccinated Child What began as a family trip to Switzerland in 2008 ended up as a public health nightmare in California. The family's 7-year-old boy, who was intentionally unvaccinated against measles, was exposed to the virus while traveling in Europe. When he returned home to San Diego, he unknowingly exposed a […]
Links for March 12th
Cyprus conflict closes leaders’ eyes to water shortage Water has been rapidly disappearing in Cyprus since the 1970s, but conflict between Turkish and Greek communities means fixing the problem is not high on the political agenda. Alex Bell finds that Cypriots are now struggling for control of land that is slowly dying. Atheists meet in […]
Links for February 9th
Digital Economy Bill bill could ‘breach rights’ An influential group of MPs and peers has said the government's approach to illegal file-sharing could breach the rights of internet users. The Joint Select Committee on Human Rights said the government's Digital Economy Bill needed clarification. It said that technical measures – which include cutting off persistent […]
Links for January 13th
France’s anti-piracy goon squad pirates the font in its logo Boing Boing Hapodi, the French agency that’s in charge of the country’s new anti-piracy scheme (if someone you live with is accused of three acts of infringement, your whole household is taken offline and added to a list of address to which it is illegal […]
Links for December 23rd
The BBC’s digital rights plans will wreak havoc on open source software Last summer, the BBC tried to sneak “digital rights management” into its high-def digital broadcasts. Now, generally speaking, the BBC isn’t allowed to encrypt or restrict its broadcasts: the licence fee payer pays for these broadcasts, and no licence fee payer woke up […]
Links for December 14th
Cleaners ‘worth more to society’ than bankers – study Hospital cleaners are worth more to society than bankers, a study suggests. The research, carried out by think tank the New Economics Foundation, says hospital cleaners create £10 of value for every £1 they are paid. It claims bankers are a drain on the country because […]
Links for December 4th
Don’t strike up the band Visit a pub and there’s every chance you’ll hear background Muzak, or high-volume Sky Sports coverage of Premiership football. But what are the chances of hearing live music? At least as good as they have ever been, says the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which controls the licensing of […]
Links for November 17th
Labels may be losing money, but artists are making more than ever The Times Labs blog takes a hard look at the data on music sales and live performances and concludes that while the labels’ profits might be falling, artists are taking in more money, thanks to the booming growth of live shows. The Times […]
Links for November 4th
Childhood vaccines, autism and the dangers of group think Wallace has run smack into an abiding, perhaps growing, phenomenon of the Internet Age: Citizens armed with information are sure they know better. Readers who brush up against expertise believe they have become experts. The common man rebels against the notion that anyone — not professionals, […]
Links for September 17th
BBC looks to copy protect content BBC plans to encrypt Freeview HD data have come under fire from critics, who say it will effectively copyright free BBC content. Under plans submitted to regulator Ofcom, the broadcaster has requested that it be allowed to encrypt certain information on set top boxes. Only trusted manufacturers would be […]
Links for September 8th
Cory Doctorow: Special Pleading Six years ago, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom couldn’t be counted as a real success for open publishing because I was too obscure to feel the cost of the lost sales. Now, I’m too successful, someone whose name is so widely known that I am uniquely situated to benefit […]