So I spent some time today–when I probably should have been doing something else–reading some of the Travels Of Marco Polo. Oddly, I don’t have a print copy of this in my library–an omission I shall have to correct at some point–but that wasn’t a problem since Project Gutenberg has a decent translation. I wasn’t reading for any particular purpose,… Read more →
Tag: public domain
Now I’m Going To Have To Reread The Prince
I heard quite a lot–references and allusions–about Machiavelli during my early teen years, and that lead me to get around to reading The Prince at some point during my time living in Switzerland–I was 16 at the time. I remember being impressed and amused by the book, and by what I knew about how it connected to political life in… Read more →
Physical Culture and Self-Defence
Offered almost without comment: Both pages from Physical Culture And Self-Defence, one of the bazillion books at books.google.com. The internet keeps getting cooler. I note that you can download a PDF of the book for offline perusal. (Via Wondermark‘s David Malki!) Read more →
The Eldritch Dark
Now as the twilight’s doubtful interval Closes with night’s accomplished certainty, A wizard wind goes crying eerily, And on the wold misshapen shadows crawl, Miming the trees, whose voices climb and fall, Imploring, in Sabbatic ecstacy, The sky where vapor-mounted phantoms flee From the scythed moon impendent over all. Twin veils of covering cloud and silence, thrown Across the movement… Read more →
Tomorrow is “Conservatives sell us to US companies” day
I know you’re tired of it, but I’m going to mention the Canadian DMCA again, since it’s been announced various places that Prentice will be tabling it tomorrow. There’s some coverage at the National Post, which while using neutral language manages to present the legislation as something harmful to consumers: The new Copyright Act has been updated to reflect the… Read more →
Putting My Own House In Order
Or rather, bitching about my own country’s politicians for a change. It seems like I can’t turn around lately without seeing another story that just embarrasses me as a Canadian. The classic example, which I’ve talked about here before, is the Tories’ continuing attempt to force a DCMA-style law down our throats. After getting his ass more or less handed… Read more →
2008 And The Public Domain
Well, it’s another year, and consequently there’s a bunch of new works falling into the public domain. You can read all about it at copyrightwatch.ca. Some highly relevant examples to me: in life+50 countries (like Canada and most of the world) the published works of Dorothy Sayers, Lord Dunsany, Nikos Kazantzakis, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and lots of others are all… Read more →
I (heart) public domain
From Japanator: Did you know that right now you can get a handful of Akira Kurosawa films for free? Like, as in legally for free? That’s right! The nice people over at Japan Probe have pointed out that some of the master’s films have fallen into the public domain. Archive.org has them available for download right this second. Among the… Read more →
