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As I noted on my social networks, I used a newer disc image for this reinstallation. There is a point release of the LTS on which I’ve been stuck because of my mixer and video issues. While I still had to use the alternate version of that image and hit to set an obscure kernel parameter to boot for installation, since then the system actually has required none of the additional boot configuration I’ve had to do in the past. I am very glad this was so as part of my anger with myself and frustration was re-treading all the custom steps I’ve carefully noted in the notebook I keep for this purpose.

In the spirit of simplifying, I actually took a look to see what the price point is for the USB 2.0 version of my current FireWire mixer. As it happens the figure is two hundred dollars less than I was expecting. To the best of my research, the USB 2.0 mixer can indeed do full multiple track recording, something its USB 1.0 predecessor could not do. I read the return policy for my favorite, local audio gear vendor and formulated a plan.

Instead of hand compiling the FireWire driver for my current mixer, I ordered the newer USB 2.0 model. I will finish all the restoration work on my lab computer including install the stock Ubuntu Studio packages for audio recording. Before I undertake the hassle required to get my FireWire mixer working again, I will drop in the new USB 2.0 mixer after it arrives and see if it will simply work out of the box. I suspect it will as I already make use of a dedicated USB audio device both with this machine and with my laptop.

Worst case, if the new version of my mixer doesn’t work as is, I can simply return it, no questions asked. I have decent instructions and the exact same source code I used last time to get my FireWire mixer work. Best case, if the new model works then I will have saved myself some trouble and have upgrade my mixer to one that could potentially work with the latest version of my chosen operating system. The sole remaining barrier will be my video card which I suspect, after my savings have had a chance to recover, will be even cheaper to swap out than this mixer.

An additional benefit of this mixer if it works is that it is an easier, cheaper bit of kit for me to build into the talk I am planning to submit to the Ohio Linux Fest. I may even be able to drive it with my laptop, something I haven’t been able to do since I replaced may last Mac portable with my current ThinkPad. If everything goes to plan, I could carefully bundle up the mixer, appropriate cables, mics and stands to take with me to Columbus to do a live demo.

I am still thinking about that last bit, whether I want to risk a new purchase so soon after getting it but I like the idea, at least, of being able to endorse a cheaper, more compatible mixer that has all the feature on which I already rely.

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Ages ago I had tried to get more moderm vintages of Kubuntu on this machine than the last LTS release (10.4). I gave up due to the state of the drivers for my audio mixer and a frustrating video bug. This state of affairs has bothered me since. Every other machine I use tracks the new releases of both KDE and Ubuntu and the difference has been getting more and more obvious.

My wife’s new computer, also running Kubuntu 11.10 along with my laptop and my work machine, drove the widening difference home yet again. I found the KDE backports PPA and thought that might be a workable compromise that would allow me to better answer her questions and not feel the switching hassle so much when working at home or recording.

Foolish mortal.

It turns out that the deadly bug I encountered somewhere in the graphics stack with every version since 10.4 I tried on this Mac Pro isn’t in the kernel drivers or X.org like I thought but actually somewhere in KDE. I could not use the computer with the backported KDE for more than a few minuts without it crashing back to the login screen. I found what seemed like viable workarounds but they required turning off capabilities that this ridiculously over powered machine should be able to handle.

Irked, I invoked ppa-purge to ruthlessly rip out the KDE backports collection. As you may have guessed by now, that didn’t go so well. I kind of got my machine back into a usable state but there are still a bunch of missing pieces and widgets and tools that clearly are from the backported version of KDE, not the one maintained as part of the LTS version of Kubuntu.

Thankfully, I just recently set up a robust backup scheme that includes this machine. I also moved my home directory into a 2nd internal drive. I am in the throes of trying to get a version of the Kubuntu 10.4 LTS installer that will work with this infernal Mac and expect to be spending the rest of my day paying for my hubris by putting the machine back to rights.

I may be able to achieve this in time to record and edit the remaining bits for this evening’s podcast. I doubt it very much, though, so wanted to let my listeners know. Feel free to laugh at my expense and I will try to have my lab machine back in order for next weekend, to release the feature I already have recorded then.

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The details about the call for papers for the tenth Ohio Linux Fest are here.

This week’s security alerts are passwords are not going away any time soon and wasting hacker’s time to keep web sites safe.

In this week’s news, The Pirate Bay launches a promo platform for artists, how quantum computing could move to the cloud, smallest transistors from nano-tubes outperform silicon, and Google’s new privacy policy including first reactions and Google’s response to them.

Following up this Mozilla adds BrowserID support to all its sites and Kirby Ferguson and EFF seek a remix exemption to the DMCA.

View the detailed show notes online. You can also grab the flac encoded audio from the Internet Archive.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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• If the feds can shut down Megaupload, why do we need SOPA?, Ars Technica
• The Pirate Bay press release on SOPA: we are the new Hollywood, Techdirt
• Petition: investigate Chris Dodd for fraud, Boing Boing
• House Democrat pulls support for SOPA, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
• After terrific year, music biz demands that world adopt “SOPA plus”, Ars Technica
• Sen. Ron Wyden: PIPA/SOPA is a Congressional wake-up call, Epicenter at Wired.com
• The President’s challenge: What more does government want — or deserve — from the tech world?, Boing Boing
• EMI boss opposes SOPA, says piracy is a service issue, TorrentFreak
• Sen. Leahy will look at anti-piracy alternative, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
• Does DNSSEC really interfere with SOPA/PIPA?, threatpost
• The TPP impact on New Zealand’s Public Domain, Michael Geist
• Public interest groups speak out about next week’s secret meeting in Hollywood to negotiate TPP (think international SOPA), Techdirt
• White House petition to end support for ACTA, Boing Boing
• Polish government reconsiders ACTA, Michael Geist
• Stop ACTA: secretive treaty will bring in the worst of SOPA through trade obligations, Boing Boing
• UK signs ACTA as activists urge resistance, Networking at ZDNet UK via Slashdot
• The ACTA fight returns: what is at stake and what you can do, Michael Geist
• Opponents protest signing of ACTA without adequate debate, Ars Technica
• Polish politicians don Guy Fawkes/Anonymous masks to protest ACTA signing, Techdirt
• EU ACTA Chief Resigns, Slashdot

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Please check out Flattr if you haven’t already and send me an email if you’d like a voucher for a few euro or dollars if you are a new user.

The hacker word of the week this week is fool.

The feature this week is a monologue that attempts to bring to the surface some of the assumptions that inform my world view as a self identified hacker for examination and hopefully discussion.

View the detailed show notes online. You can grab the flac encoded audio from the Internet Archive.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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• The President’s post-SOPA challenge: all right, you come up with a solution!, ReadWriteWeb
• Reeling MPAA declares DNS filtering “off the table”, Ars Technica
• MPAA issues statement slamming SOPA/PIPA “blackout” protests as “dangerous gimmick”, Boing Boing
• “Least restrictive means”? One way that SOPA could die in court, Ars Technica
• Why one game developer is skipping E3 to start an anti-SOPA crusade, Ars Technica
• A history of IP violence: how SOPA’s and PIPA’s sponsors have waged war on the Internet, Ars Technica
• When a petition isn’t enough: SOPA protestors raise money to hire lobbyist firm, Ars Technica
• Even without DNS provisions, SOPA and PIPA remain fatally flawed, Ars Technica
• Five key senators abandon online piracy bills amid Web protests, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
• More senators dropping off as co-Sponsors of PIPA, Techdirt
• Boehner: Piracy bill lacks consensus, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
• PIPA support collapses, with 13 new Senators opposed, Ars Technica
• Hollywood fights Internet protests with… TV ad, billboard, radio spot, Ars Technica
• Post-SOPA: the path forward for addressing piracy, Ars Technica
• SOPA backer reassures his troops: “Facts will overcome fears”, Ars Technica
• Internet SOPA/PIPA Revolt: Don’t declare victory yet, Threat Level at Wired.com
• Senator Ron Wyden To The Internet: Thank You For Speaking Up… But We’re Not Done Yet, Techdirt
• SOPA/PIPA aren’t a failure to understand the Internet; they arise from self-interested fear of free speech, Boing Boing
• First Dem reverses course on piracy bill, The Hill’s Hillicon Valley
• SOPA getting a face-lift: how evil will it be?, Threat Level at Wired.com
• Senate leaders from both parties back away from PROTECT IP, Ars Technica
• At GOP debate, all four candidates oppose SOPA, Ars Technica
• Reid shelves PROTECT IP Act in response to “recent events”, Ars Technica
• Internet wins: SOPA and PIPA both shelved, Ars Technica
• How the Internet blackout affected congressional support for PIPA/SOPA, Boing Boing
• SOPA goes back to the drawing board, PIPA postponed, Slashdot

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In lieu of my usual curation of stories, even a minimal link dump, here are a few more posts worth reading about SOPA and PIPA.

PJ at Groklaw has a pretty good summary of the day’s events, as the sunset sets (at least here on the East Coast.)

Kevin Marks offered via Techdirt a translation of some of the latest frothy blatherings from current MPAA chief and former Senator Dodd. I honestly see visions of him dictating this, neck veins bulging and flecks of spittle flying from his lips. I am a bit galled that he has the temerity to call an “abuse of power” the actions of site and network service operators defending themselves from the very existential threat he has been championing through incredibly deep pocketed lobbying.

That’s not the end of it, either. Also on Techdirt, Mike Masnick relays how the MPAA is now trying to downplay the web wide blackout, claiming no large sites participated. Google? Wikipedia? Yeah, those are inconsequential. Even among technology enthusiasts and early adopters, clearly no one has ever heard of them.

And finally, Lauren Weinstein wonders what happens when the banners come down and the lights go back on at all the the protesting sites. Joe Brockmeier at ReadWriteWeb poses similar questions about how we sustain vigilance against bad ideas advanced by those whose bank balances outstrip any sense they might have of the greater public good. Alexis Madrigal at The Atlantic touches on many of the same questions, drawing parallels to other movements and how to encourage focus, break out of the technology centric echo chamber and sustain momentum.

All are worthy thoughts to bear in mind as we tally our victories and lick our wounds, returning from whence we respectively came. Tha may be the usual state of apathy about issues that are admittedly not the easiest to understand. Or it may be the near constant apprehension I know I am not alone in feeling over what lunatic scheme Hollywood will try next rather than engaging in a meaningful dialogue about real means of protecting and bostering cultural creation without damage the very public whoser heritage it is.

Hopefully a few people, at least, were informed enough by today’s events to perhaps to be lead through greater awareness to that latter group, being more mindful than before of what is at stake when seemingly obscure legislation like SOPA and PIPA is next proposed.

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I like Mitchell’s analogy of a store. While not perfect as the costs of altering virtual directories and digital maps is different than their physical counterparts, the overall absurdity of trying to legislate around a blatant pirate site is no less absurd.

The solution under the proposed bills is to make it as difficult as possible to find or interact with the store. Maps showing the location of the store must be changed to hide it(1). The road to the store must be blocked off so that it’s difficult to physically get to there(2). Directory services must unlist the store’s phone number and address(3). Credit card companies(4) would have to cease providing services to the store. Local newspapers would no longer be allowed to place ads for the video store(5). And to make sure it all happens, any person or organization who doesn’t do this is subject to penalties(6). Even publishing a newsletter that tells people where the store is would be prohibited by this legislation(7).

Her conclusion is also compelling to me, that SOPA and PIPA are ill timed as the world of online content is heavily in flux. The implication is that many of the solutions we might consider would be bad fits, not just DNS blocking and the other measures in these bills. She admits room as well for those that prefer to make user of existing, traditional business models where an author prefers to limit access and use a per-per-view model.

PIPA/SOPA and Why You Should Care, Lizard Wrangling

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(Updated to add links for further reading at the end of the post. I realize as my thoughts are shared beyond my usual readership that this entry doesn’t adequately explain the issues and what is at risk, relying very heavily on my writing and podcasts to make clear what is at stake and my broader views on copyright.)

Blacking out web sites in protest of proposed legislation that would adversely impact the values embodied in online conversation and activity is one of the more venerable traditions in a space defined by a metaphorical clock that ticks at breakneck speed.

In the past, these efforts have seemed to me to be a bit tenuous at best. I say so not to doubt the sincerity or commitment of those participating but of the visibility of these virtual actions to the general prublic and responsible policy makers.

Not so this time around. I don’t think it is the sheer volume of participation, though I don’t have any hard data to back up my sense of that. I think that access to the net is now much more a part of an expanding fraction ordinary people’s daily reality than in protests past. There are still not inconsiderable challenges we have left to realizing true universal access but all the same I feel this campaign is a signal moment beyond just the issues it is directly addressing. The audience size seems to have passed a tipping point, not the head count of those speaking out. Perhaps this is as a result of the recent round of social innovations, maybe it is just the logical outcome of growth curves going back to the original commercialization of the net in the nineties.

The reason my site is still live has nothing to do with skepticism of other destinations going dark. Hopefully I’ve made clear how I feel the highest profile sites speaking out will affect more people than any other issue thus far. I am especially eager to get a sense of how broadly the self imposed embargo of Wikipedia reaches. A site that is more used by more people seems hard to imagine, even the most popular news or media outlet. And yet, try to think back to Wikipedia’s presence in the public consciousness ten or even just five years ago in comparison.

The core provocation invited by the web wide blackout is to imagine an online space where laws like SOPA and PROTECT IP are on the books. In such a world, the expanded and unchecked private rights of action will the your most notorious YouTube takedown spat to date look like a mild disagreement over an obscure point of netiquette in the most civil of networked fora. Easy to imagine existing voices quelled, as many are doing to themselves in protest; far harder to envision what voices might never be heard, what innovations never developed.

The most effective participation I’ve seen so far, at least for me, are the protests where the authors have clearly internalized the issues and put forward the same call to action, to contact your elected representatives to voice your concerns. Uniformity breeds complacency where as unqiue expression better begs thoughtful contemplation and hopefully active engagement.

In that context, in my speculative imagining of post-SOPA, post-PIPA world, I would still be here. Day in and day out I already try to parse and share the implications of the slug fest between the increasingly monopolistic entertainment industry and the innovators of all sizes from the technology sector. I don’t necessarily accept that piracy is the huge existential problem that the Hollywood establishment makes out. Taking that as a point of departure, there are just far too many questions around how legislation like the already on the books DMCA and the proposed ones we are currently protesting are appropriate responses.

Beyond my loud mouthed persistence in publicly teasing apart these questions, my own imp of the perverse would drive me to tempt the exercise of these new private rights of action on steriods, powers that lack appropriate cheks-and-balances when the proven potential for abuse is so great.

Let them try to shut me up, if the stakes are free expression then being subject of impact litigation is well worth the cost.

To learn more about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) and why so many sites and people are protesting them, the page for taking action at American Censorship has plenty of additional resources, scroll towards the bottom for a video, some selected articles and a timeline of events around these pieces of legislation.

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This week’s security alerts are a new slow motion DoS attack and mapping malware into beautiful 3D models.

In this week’s news, a semantic line interface, considering internet access as a human right, why you don’t need a college degree to be a profession coder, and a call to bring back the busy signal, at least metaphorically.

Following up this week file sharing religion officially recognized in Sweden and first SOPA’s DNS blocking provision is deferred then the entire bill is delayed indefinitely.

View the detailed show notes online. You can also grab the flac encoded audio from the Internet Archive.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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