My bric a brac dream

Grok Headline matches for My bric a brac dream

Dream job

Dream job 04/04/2005 12:36 AM

This news hasn't exactly been a secret up until now, but it hasn't been official either. Starting tomorrow, I'll be hanging up the Creative Commons jersey to start work full-time at Google, as a product advisor and eventually product counsel. Before I go, I have plenty to say about, and many people to thank for, the amazing experience Creative Commons has been.

Just over three years ago, I started work at Creative Commons with little idea of what I was getting into. It involved copyright, I knew, and it involved Lawrence Lessig, and that alone was enough to ditch my plans to practice law in New York. (Ok, practicing law wasn't too tough to pass up, but New York was.) It became clear shortly into the job that the decision was even better than I'd ever imagined. It was as if everything I'd done, in school, at work, and through my hobbies, had culminated in this position working for an embryonic nonprofit called Creative Commons.

Here are three little anecdotes that give a glimpse into how winding up at Creative Commons was, for me, like making a brand-new friend whom I felt I'd known forever.

In college, I played in a band. We weren't particularly good, but we had a great time, and over two years I learned the single most important lesson about creativity that I've learned to date: Next to romance (with which creativity shares a few features), making something with friends, with everyone contributing different but equal parts, has got to be the most fun thing in the world. It's also, I realized, the only way things really get made. I don't care if you're Bob Dylan -- nothing comes out of your own head and into life without the influence of others, whether living or dead. (Every time you pick up a guitar, you're collaborating with the dead.) I started looking more closely at CD liner notes, at writers' biographies, at the acknowledgements sections of books, looking for clues into the real story behind the creation of anything credited to only one person. I didn't find much, and I didn't understand why.

In law school, I wrote an article about the musical Rent -- not my favorite piece of art, by a long shot, but one with a great joint-authorship dispute at its center. The playwright worked closely with a dramaturge to get the show into Broadway shape, and pretty much everyone agreed that without the dramaturge's contributions, the final show would never have existed. Problem was, they had no contract, and no other paperwork demonstrating an intent to share authorship credit. So, a federal court gave the full copyright to the playwright. In the article I argued that it was nonsense to expect artists to begin a jam session by filling out paperwork. (If you've seen "Get Creative," our first flash movie, the line "we interrupt this brainstorm to call the lawyers" comes straight from that experience.) But, as sure I was that the rules were wrong, I had no idea what to recommend in their place.

By the time I finished school, and thanks to a lot of people at the Berkman Center, I was fully infected with the IP bug. I was genuinely obsessed with the riddle that we're all still trying to figure out: How will all this stuff work in the future? How can we keep up this technological progress without giving artists the shaft? I still didn't have an answer. I remember very well doing my first stab at public speaking on a panel at a conference in New York. Siva Vaidhyanathan also spoke, as did the Dead Kennedy's Jello Biafra. Biafra was railing against the music industry and professing his love for Napster (which was then at its peak), but also explaining how he didn't want his songs winding up in Coca-Cola commercials. I remember saying something like, "Hey, Jello, you can't have it both ways."

That statement ranks right up there with the time in 1995, when I told a scholarship interview committee that the Internet "was overrated," as the dumbest thing I've ever said.

It wasn't until I finally wrapped my brain around the idea behind Creative Commons, cooked up collaboratively by our board of directors, that I felt someone had begun to crack the riddle. That epiphany was the first of many in my three years here; over and over again I found myself the lucky steward of other people's amazing ideas. From our logo (thank you, Ryan Junell) to our icons (thanks, Molly) to the vision of iCommons (Lessig, Christiane, Roland) to the Tech Challenges page (Hal Abelson) to the sampling licenses (Negativland!) to the WIRED CD (Conde Nast and the whole editorial staff) to CC Mixter (Neeru) to CC Publisher (Nathan Yergler) to CC Search (Mike, Nutch, Yahoo!) to our site re-design (Matt, Adaptive Path) -- the list could go on and on -- I've had the chance to stand at the hub of a giant collaborative creation without really doing much of the creating. It's been a bit like being in a band, but I feel more like the guy behind the soundboard than one of the musicians. And I feel awfully fortunate to have been there to witness it all.

I'm sure that, in some form or other, I'll carry on with the CC effort. But in any case, I like to think that like Menudo or Spinal Tap, we're the kind of band that stays together regardless of the particular line-up at a given time.

(This is the first of a few posts I'd like to write before offically signing off. I'm a lame-duck with a few hours of bully-pulpit left, so bear with me.)

The dream is over

The dream is over 04/20/2004 01:43 AM

My quest for data comes to an end as the local 7-11 is no longer giving out iTunes cups and I can't seem to find any iTunes Pepsi bottles anymore. If you've been following my progress, the final tally was 5 for 7. Only two losers in seven outings, putting my winning percentage at 71%. Given that they claimed 33% would win, I'm either really lucky (doubtful), they wanted almost everyone to win, or demand wasn't nearly as high as they thought.

Is this all just a dream?

Is this all just a dream? 09/03/2004 06:17 AM
Did a Boeing 747 really hit the Pentagon? Warning: [flash movie, sound]

My dream

My dream 01/28/2004 11:22 AM
Last night I had a dream that I was trying to explain to John Kerry that the Internet is like free speech: Its value comes from its openness to possibility, and that the government should regulate it as little as possible. Yes, I actually had this dream....

Dream a little dream

Dream a little dream 01/28/2004 02:20 AM
USA Today Jan 28 2004 6:51AM GMT

I had a dream...

I had a dream... 12/02/2002 01:17 PM
Last night I had the strangest dream I ever dreamed before. Well, not exactly. But I dreamt that Yahoo bought Google. That's funny for a lot of reasons. But it was pretty cool in the dream. I'm still on West...

To dream of the Turkish Guy

To dream of the Turkish Guy 02/12/2004 10:02 AM
Audible Revolution, in The Guardian today, talking about Chris Lydon, Grant Henninger and Audible. Delayed for ages due to some unforeseen actual breaking news. Meanwhile, Lydon is now at Minnesota Public Radio, home of Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion. Keillor,...

Dream Bloat

Dream Bloat 12/26/2004 06:38 PM
Everything's bigger in Toulouse. The world's biggest plane has started rolling off assembly lines and is expected to take its first flight in March 2005. The quarter-billion-dollar, twin-deck, four-aisle plane can carry 555 passengers. Thanks to its design's outsized wings, future versions of the economical plane may carry as many as 800 passengers.
With the A380, Airbus hopes to do to Boeing what Boeing did to its competitors over 30 years ago with the 747. Already, Airbus Industrie has outsold and out-delivered Boeing for the last two years. But don't boycott just yet! It turns out the A380 is 51% American-made. Parts are so big they don't fit in this whale-like record-size transporter (though this Russian monster may have a claim); they are transported to Toulouse on a barge. More pics. Let's hope this latest high-tech aerospace gamble does better than the last one.
Europe, of course (troll alert), already makes the world's biggest truck, the fastest trains, the best cars (sorry Japan), and the most successful rocket launchers.
On a darker topic, 10 years ago, French commandos boarded an Airbus and killed Islamic terrorists planning to fly it into the Eiffel Tower.

"zamppas dream"

"zamppas dream" 02/19/2004 06:44 AM

I dream of Gmail

I dream of Gmail 04/12/2004 11:20 AM
NOTE TO SERGEY BRIN: stop dressing yourself in drag, fire one of your PhDs, and use the money to buy yourself a cluestick. Then beat your developers with it until they start taking accessibility seriously. (703 words)

My Dream Home

My Dream Home 06/24/2005 07:51 PM
Like general contractors with a psych degree, the architectural firm called fathom plumbs the depths of your soul to design the house you want. Our writer gets the blueprints of his dreams.

IndyJunior dream

IndyJunior dream 04/21/2004 03:47 PM

I user a neat little application called Indy Junior to map my travels. But apparently something's gone wrong with the XML file I output with Movable Type, because IJ still thinks I'm in the Caribbean, where I haven't been since early March. If only I were still on the beach. Thanks for the nice dream, Indy!

Maitreya's Dream 3.2

Maitreya's Dream 3.2 12/26/2004 05:09 AM
Software for Western and Vedic astrology (Jyotish).

Not Really Satisifed? You Can Still
Dream, Can You?

Not Really Satisifed? You Can Still
Dream, Can You? 09/02/2004 07:21 PM
Peter Rojas, in Engadget: Here's our pet theory/secret dream: Apple didn't include features such as TV tuner because they don't want the iMac to cannibalize sales of an even nicer media center Mac they have int he works.

Distant dream?

Distant dream? 07/02/2004 03:04 AM
CNET Asia Jul 2 2004 6:55AM GMT

Dream deferred

Dream deferred 06/23/2004 05:31 PM
USA Today Jun 23 2004 9:50PM GMT

An Amateur's Dream

An Amateur's Dream 06/19/2004 01:25 PM

Daniel J. Watkin (NY Times): His Moment in the Sun. It was the ultimate in surround-sound, and not surprisingly, because I was sitting smack in the middle of the stage at Avery Fisher Hall, an amateur clarinetist embedded in the clarinet section of the New York Philharmonic.

Some people wish they could play center field for the San Francisco Giants. Watkin got his dream, to play with one of the world's great orchestras. What a cool story. Reading his account brought back some memories for me. My first "real" instrument was clarinet, which I started playing in third grade. I had to stop playing it (and the sax, which I took up in fifth grade) many years later when a ruined front tooth, from a bicycle accident, was replaced with a kind of dental bridge that didn't allow the kind of pressure you have to exert when playing a reed instrument. But I've always loved the clarinet's sound, whether it's in classical or jazz or just about any genre where the instrument makes an appearance. I never was nearly good enough on clarinet to have dreamed of playing in a serious orchestra. But in seventh grade, before my voice started to change, I was selected to join a soprano boys choir that performed in one of Bach's many masterpieces, the St. Matthew Passion, in New York's Carnegie Hall. I confess I was a bit bored when we weren't singing, but it was an amazing experience to stand on that grand stage.

Maitreyas Dream

Maitreyas Dream 07/25/2004 12:39 PM
Release 3.1

dream machine

dream machine 08/04/2004 08:19 PM
dream machine The dream machine is a creation of Bri on Gysin, a Canadian-English expatriate colleague of William S. Burroughs and Paul Bowles. Timothy Leary called this device "the most sophisticated neuro-phenomenological device ever designed." A dream machine is being exhibited this week in San Francisco. If you can't make it there, you can perhaps build your own.

Keep the dream alive

Keep the dream alive 06/14/2004 09:03 PM
Movies for Music
From the press release: "Movies for Music" (moviesformusic.org) is an online film contest with a simple aim: to give the public a clear and honest look at the music industry. As more people learn how the music business works, major label CD sales will plummet faster. The contest launches Monday.

The short film contest launched today, and first place is a ZVue handheld video player.

Dream groaners

Dream groaners 06/02/2004 08:44 AM
I woke up this morning from a vivid dream. Someone had been talking about a philosopher who liked to fast before he thought. Not for me, I replied, or else, Rene a la Carte would have written "I think, therefore I yam." Look, it was just a dream, ok? At least I didn't have Jean Paul Sartre writing Being and Muffinness. Nor did Sartre say "Hell is other Peeps." Nor did Kant issue his Categorical Aperitif. So just leave me alone....

Acting Out A Dream

Acting Out A Dream 05/25/2004 12:50 AM
A few years ago, students used simple video recorders to make their movies. Now they have access to more sophisticated technology including green screens, sound recording music and various computer programs -- including Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Final Cut Express and iLife. By Erin Snelgrove, The News-Review (via MyAppleMenu)

A LCD Screen to dream for

A LCD Screen to dream for 06/29/2004 01:00 AM

This is one time in my life when I wished I had a rich family member who I could beg for some pocket change. Engadget has a review of a soon to be release 1 billion LCD by NEC. All I can say is wow and as the reviewer at Engadget is predicting the price will probably be on the extreme high side. But it's always nice to dream. For those of you who are design artist and photographers you need to check this bad boy out. [Engadget]

"A Pedophile's Dream"

"A Pedophile's Dream" 02/01/2005 09:08 PM

Kids' blogs a 'paedophile's dream': I don't think I'd ever let my kid have a blog. We've schooled him repeatedly on never giving anyone his real name on EverQuest. I think he calls himself Frank on that game.

A forensic psychologist has warned that children's blogs pose new threat to children online. She said blogs are "a paedophile's dream", because of the insight they give into a child's life, habits and movements.

[...] She said: "This [blogging culture] is just a paedophile's dream because you have children uploading pictures, giving out details of their everyday life because it's an online journal," BBC Online reports.

Welcome to a narrowcaster's dream

Welcome to a narrowcaster's dream 11/20/2003 12:40 AM
But I've never heard of any of these artists... Say hello to iRATE radio. The premise is simple: mp3's collected from various free sites are collected and indexed on a common server. You, through your spiffy iRATE client, are fed mp3's, which you then rate. Over time, your musical tastes are matched against others, and you are then fed mp3's which you will like, ostensibly. [...via Bifurnicated Reinvents]

American Dream?

American Dream? 11/10/2003 11:15 PM
''I lived the American dream,'' says Baglio, 70, whose last workday was Oct. 30. ''I would have never thought I'd last 45 years here.'' That's Louis Baglio speaking, as reported in an article by Johnny Diaz in the Boston Globe on Sunday. This guy cut hair for 45 years in downtown Boston and he thinks he lived the American dream! What a moron! First, not only did he stay at the same job for his entire career, he only changed his place of employment twice. Even school kids know that if you want to ratchet your salary, you move from...

The Dream Comes True

The Dream Comes True 11/19/2003 08:05 AM
Back in 1995, I was VP of Strategic Marketing at Open Text, which at the time was 25-person SGML indexing company. The company had initially built itself on a single lead project in the late '80s: Indexing the Oxford English Dictionary. Doing a full-text index of such a massive work was considered impossible. Who could dream of indexing tens of thousands of pages, hundreds of thousands of words? But under the technical direction of Tim Bray, breakthroughs were made and full-text retrieval took an important step forward. Fifteen years later, Tim Bray and Open Text have moved onto other...

i dream of a man whose hopes never end

i dream of a man whose hopes never end 12/05/2003 09:05 PM
Couple of nifty news items that I think are pretty cool -- I get mentioned in an Los Angeles Times story about blogging, and Reuters picks up a Hollywood Reporter story about my O'Reilly deal. Even better, both of the stories aren't framed negatively!

You need a license to say "I have a
dream"

You need a license to say "I have a
dream" 12/17/2003 02:40 AM
Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech is still in copyright (as is almost everything else familiar in our lives), and Dr King's heirs strictly enforce the copyright. Wendy Seltzer points out what this means for free expression and political commentary.

You can always quote a few lines without asking permission, but that's likely to be the same few lines that have become cliched with repetition. Quote the whole speech to make a more substantial point, and you face thousand-dollar license fee claims from the estate. Quote them to make a point critical of King, and you may be denied a license entirely.

Link

Dream DRM Receiver

Dream DRM Receiver 12/17/2003 02:32 PM
Dream 1.0 released

Dream Mergers

Dream Mergers 03/28/2005 11:15 PM
In this time of wacky M&A, I thought I would start a list of dream mergers.  Please add yours, even if they don't entirely make sense....

Perchance to dream.

Perchance to dream. 03/13/2003 10:25 AM
All week, I have woken up about 2 hours after I fall asleep. I end up staring at the ceiling for what seems like an eternity, before sinking into a restless slumber, waking about once every 90 minutes. I have had terrible nightmares, from which I awake with a scream somewhere between my stomach and my lips, depending on the severity of the terror.

Geek Wet Dream

Geek Wet Dream 01/03/2004 12:15 AM
My New power adapter. On the back row are my speakers, phone charger, printer and lava lamp. The front row has a...

Dream while being Awake

Dream while being Awake 12/08/2002 03:58 PM

Oblivio points out a very interesting fact:

All mammals but platypuses dream.

Also: Dolphins have split brains so that when one brain is dreaming, the other is awake. Otherwise they'd drown.

Poor platypi, lucky dolphins.

Overclockers' wet dream comes true

Overclockers' wet dream comes true 05/05/2004 09:54 AM

The Dream Gadgets of 2014

The Dream Gadgets of 2014 05/06/2004 05:51 AM
They're as small as your cell phone, more powerful than your desktop and packed with 10 years of future tech. Five design giants build the supergadgets of the future, from Wired magazine.

3G dream a security nightmare

3G dream a security nightmare 04/16/2005 07:12 PM
Zone-H Apr 16 2005 9:14PM GMT

Living the bug-free dream

Living the bug-free dream 05/03/2004 03:08 PM

An interesting post about Wh ere Bugs Come From -- the computer kind, not the creepy crawly kind (we know where those come from).

...[A] classic tale of slippery assimilation, trying to find that ridiculous cut-off point where a program went from being short enough to be bug-free, to long enough to be inevitably buggy...This, of course, is the promise of structured programming, of functions, of objects. If we can write 137 lines of code without a bug, then we can structure our programming style so that we’re always writing units of fewer than 137 lines. We can build those units into components, and voila! No more bugs.

If only it were so simple! Having used various approaches to programming -- from the by-the-seat-of-the-pants methodology to hard-core unit testing for each and every class that's written -- I can say that there's no magic bullet, no magic number of lines, no magic anything. It's just freakin' work, and lots and lots of testing, to get your software to the point that it does what it's supposed to, and when it doesn't, to gracefully alert the user that something's gone amiss.

New Xbox: Dream or nightmare?

New Xbox: Dream or nightmare? 06/17/2005 04:45 PM
Dallasnews.com - Wed Jun 15, 06:24 pm GMT
Grok Description matches for My bric a brac dream
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My bric a brac dream

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