Shall Copyright Law trump Freedom of Press? The senior executives NASCAR and Encana seem to think copyright law should be more powerful than many people will permit it to be. I for one would love the Supreme Court of US and Supreme Court of Canada to decide some of these “copyright” cases so that any potentially ruthless & illegal actions cannot be taken again in US and Canada! Of course, IANAL (I am not a lawyer) and I rely on further instructions and guidelines from the justices at the two Supreme Courts to decide one way or another in each of the countries. Quoting an Feb 21st article by me,
“It should be noted that copyright law has been used in Canada in recent years to over-reach (in my opinion) into other unrelated areas. Take Euro-Excellence Inc. v. Kraft Canada Inc., 2007 SCC 37, [2007] 3 S.C.R. 20, a Supreme Court of Canada judgment on Canadian copyright law as an example, it ultimately is a case about the import of chocolate that somehow got twisted into a case about copyright.”
P.S. Most people just want to think “What a lucky guy?! People have no idea Jesse Heiman has been an actor (working as extras and other roles) for 12 years and has an extensive resume!
I love this quote, ““Ben Hogan said, ‘Golf is a game of luck, the more I practice, the luckier I get.’ The harder you work, the luckier you are.” Yes, before you attribute others’ success on “luck”, work hard, very hard. You may then earned the “luck” to experience Louis Pasteur’s “Chance favors the prepared mind.” yourself one day. I work very hard to get lucky. Wish me luck (or success)! :)
“This is an opportunity. The entire world is watching and there is nothing on. So quickly, everyone pull together a design, a caption, the folks from Oreo were in the room, and we got something out in just a few minutes [kempton's note: 360i was ready in only 5 mins after the power outage but waited for 5 more mins to confirm people were safe before the tweet].“ - Sarah Hofstetter, president of 360i (WSJ Video interview, Feb 4th, 2013)
Inspired by all the TEDxHongKong chatters I had last nightwithsomeattendees, I’ve finally done my version of top nth TED videos that inspired me. So here is my baker’s dozen (12+1) of TED and TEDx talk videos that I love and enjoy over the years. Some are popular and some are not.
May be we share a few common ones and we can chat about them in the comments. And if you see a few new ones that you haven’t watched, thats cool too and we can chat in the comments. And may be most important of all, please do share some of your fav! I love to check them out and hear why you love them!
In no particular order, the following are my baker’s dozen (12+1) tweets of my favourite TED & TEDx videos (with links added):
Forty-two months! Thats how long I’ve been eagerly awaiting for Carol Loomis‘ new book ”Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012: A Fortune Magazine Book” (368 pages, on sale Nov 26th and online amazon.com & indigo.ca). Carol is Fortune magazine senior editor-at-large and a long time (40+ years) close friend of Warren Buffett! I am thrilled to see Carol’s book published and in my hands as it feels like having an insightful person who knows Warren really well to guide me through some important and insightful articles. It will take me some time to read & review the book, please stay tune for my detailed review. Until then, my first impression of the book is it looks awesome!
Long time readers of Warren‘s news and insights will be familiar with some of key articles in this collection and also see many (for me) new articles that are important but less well known. Carol has added many insightful commentaries before the articles to give us context and share with us her views. For example, the article “The Inside Story of Warren Buffet” (April 11, 1988) is Fortune’s first profile of Warren and Carol’s preamble explains what lead her to finally wrote the first profile about Warren after knowing him for 20+ years at that point! And then the afterword for articles like “Buffett Hits $200 million Downdraft” (Nov 17, 1994) reminds readers that Warren actually made money on the USAir investment (which many people may have an impression of it being a money losing investment).
P.S. Now, let me explain my wait of almost forty-two months in this postscript. You see, in April 2009, shareholders of Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway NOT physically presented at the annual shareholders’ meeting in Omaha were given opportunities to ask Warren & Charlie remotely in advance via email for the first time. And I jumped at the chance by emailing my question to Carol! Along with my question, I told Carol that,
“I am a big fan of your Fortune articles about Warren and BRK. (I have taken the time to look up some of your older articles and really enjoy reading them.)”
In Carol’s email reply was where I first read of the mention of a possible book (the book that I am finally holding in my hands)! So, yes, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the book since Apr 2009, and that is about forty-two months! :)
P.P.S. Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed there is a stack of five books in the above picture. Can you guess the titles of the Warren related books in the stack? Find out how many you guess correctly by clicking here to see this picture.
Nov 7th, 2012 Update: After the announced election result from last night, I got my swing state Nevada (Reno) friend DeAno Jackson to talk election result with me.
If you want to know whats happening in the Rumble 2012 debate between Bill O’Reilly v. Jon Stewart (LIVE starting 8pm EST, i.e. 6pm Calgary time) but don’t want to pay the $5 to LIVE stream the video and watch it yourself, this reporter plans to LIVE blog the whole event in this article and share what other people thinks about the debate as it goes. I will try to highlight some of the good bits I enjoy.
*** LIVE Blogging in reverse chronological order (All time in MST) ***
7:34pm Overall, it is an enjoyable debate for me. I am glad that I paid the $5 to watch the show. It was fun. And even taking away the “fun” factor, it was such an engaging and insightful debate that I’ve learned a lot from Jon Stewart and even from Bill O’Reilly in knowing the kind of things he told his Fox News viewers and how some of the claims can be debunked.
“Malcolm Gladwell, bestselling author of Blink and Outliers celebrates 50 years of Jamaica’s independence. In conversation with CBC’s Eleanor Wachtel. Malcolm Gladwell’s books including his latest, Blink are available at Toronto Public Library.”
Here is Paul’s Banff official opening keynote description.
“CBC Opening Keynote: Paul Lee, President of ABC Entertainment Group
Paul Lee has had an illustrious career in the entertainment industry. Spending several years at BBC as CEO and founder of BBC America before becoming President at ABC, Lee has shepherded in 13 new series, working with some of the industry’s biggest names, including Tim Allen, Darren Star, Ashley Judd and Steven Spielberg. He is the head of all creative and business operations for ABC Studios and Times Square Studios. As head of all development, programming, marketing and scheduling operations for ABC Entertainment, Lee will deliver the CBC/Radio-Canada opening keynote at BANFF and will discuss the exciting future of the entertainment broadcast industry.”
“Nikesh Arora Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer
Nikesh oversees all revenue and customer operations, as well as marketing and partnerships. Since joining Google in 2004, he has held several positions with the company. Most recently, he led Google’s global direct sales operations. He also developed and managed the company’s operations in the European, Middle Eastern and African markets and was responsible for creating and expanding strategic partnerships in those regions for the benefit of Google’s growing number of users and advertisers.
Prior to joining Google, he was chief marketing officer and a member of the management board at T-Mobile Europe. While there, he spearheaded all product development, terminals, brand and marketing activities of Read the rest of this entry »
Question: I understand you just attended the Jerusalem Post conference [in New York on Sunday Apr 29th]. And I’ve watched a video of sparks flying between Environmental Minister Gilad Erdan, and Meir Dagan, former chief of Mossad [national intelligence agency of Israel].
My question is about your view on the idea of an Israeli pre-emptive strike of Iran. Do you agree with Meir Dagan that [I paraphrase] “War is the the kind of thing where we know how it starts, but not how it will end” and Israel should exhaust all other means first before considering war?
The following are part of the research materials I gathered in order to ask an informed question. I tried to be as fair and as diplomatic as I could when asking my question without losing anything important in my question.
* May 1st, 2012 Jerusalem Post report of The Jerusalem Post Conference “Dagan and Erdan’s caustic exchange at the ‘Post’ Conference“. I’ve excerpted part of the exchange from a transcript of the acrimonious argument in a panel discussion on Israel’s security situation. To better understand the tone and context, I also found and watched a video clip of part of the exchange on YouTube. I think you get a sense of the heat from reading the words. (note: emphasis added, pix of Mr. Dagan via CBS 60 Minutes)
“Keinon [Jerusalem Post’s diplomatic reporter]: But do you think it’s appropriate for him to make those kind of comments? He could have made them when he was the head of the Shin Bet (the Israel Security Agency)?
Dagan: First of all, I think he presented his position loudly and clearly about his refusal to the prime minister and defense minister. He didn’t announce it. It was in a closed room. To speak openly? (Turning to Gilad Erdan) I heard that a member of your party is now formulating a law… on behalf of my name, Dagan, preventing ex-people of the military and security establishment from speaking. Let me remind you of something, sir, what was started in Germany in the beginning.
You know how you are starting it; you don’t know how it is ending.
About Diskin, I believe that he is a very serious man and he is presenting a very serious point of view. And I know that serious point of view was presented to the prime minister and defense minister on many occasions.
[...] Erdan: Thank you very much, but I know that the Shin Bet is under the Prime Minister’s Office. (laughter) I also used to work there 15 or 16 years ago.
But the minister of defense still works together [with the prime minister], and if Yuval Diskin thought the prime minister was doing things so dangerous for the future of Israel, so in order to save Israel, he should resign, and not wait five years as head of the Shin Bet and then even agree to serve one more year.
And then, when resigning and when the prime minister does not accept his guy to be appointed as head of the Shin Bet…
Dagan:It’s not true. (boos) You are lying, sir. I am maybe not polite, but I prefer ministers of the State of Israel who speak the truth.
Erdan: I prefer that former heads of Mossad and Shin Bet won’t make damage to Israel…. That’s what I expect from you. Mr. Netanyahu goes around the world, and he never says that we are going to attack Iran, or when or where, but he is doing a lot of efforts in order to raise the awareness, and it is working.”
In Chinese the word “crisis” is “危機”, a word compose of two parts, “危” for danger and “機” for opportunity. I am serious when I asked “Will blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng (陳光誠) break through Chinese dark cloud of lawlessness?” As if by chance (and I don’t believe in “pure chance”), Guangcheng‘s Chinese name is “光誠”, “光” is light and “誠” for frankness. I am keeping my fingers crossed for all parties involved, for Chen and his family members and supporters, for the US and Chinese governments, and for the powerless Chinese citizens that rights lawyers like Chen are trying to help in China!
The following is a partial list of questions I asked Sarah Hill in the interview talking about the LIVE broadcast last night from her perspective.
How did the LIVE broadcast come about? How did Sarah know Jean Francois (i.e. the vetting)? What other uses of the G+ Hangout On Air technology can already be used for today? Was there any Hangout On Air technical problems during the broadcast?
I was also able to talk to Jean Francois via G+ message and he was kind to share the setup he used last night and some technical issues he had. Here is my summary of his main setup.
- An old dual core portable computer with 4GB of RAM and a 1394 Firewire port (Firewire 400)
- a Sony HVR camera that was hooked up to the computer with a 1394 wire
According to Jean Francois, the above setup worked well until he had to run after the demonstration. He ended up walking 3-5 km in total and ran into some technical issues. I’ve listed the issues here in Jean Francois’ words. My hope is by sharing the issues, others can have a better LIVE reporting experiences.
“1- [As there wasn't time to organize and tape everything together] The wires kept unhooking themselves
2- The portable kept shutting down as soon as I closed the lid – even if we went in the control panel and set the parameters so it doesn’t turn off.
3- When there is a large crowd sometimes getting the connection is very difficult. I lost a good 45 min trying to [regain connection].
4- The battery of the portable was a major issue. We could have had a power pack but we needed to convert the current, so we needed a “transfo”- It was already too heavy so that option was out of the question.
5- If I had more time I would have loved to be able to have somebody with a hand-held mic but we had an issue bringing the sound from the cam and into the mic headset. I need to do more R&D on this.
6- Also, as I learned from past experience, good streaming means a lot of light. So the more light you have the better the quality of the image will be. [Kempton: I suggest a battery powered LED light panel]
7- And there is a need for a feature to know if you are still on air. I kept asking Sarah if I was still on air because I was not able to see the computer.”
By the way, Sarah plans to do a LIVE hangout tonight (Sat Apr 28) at 10pm EST to talk about the issues re the student demonstrations. If you live in Montreal or in Quebec, watch out for Sarah’s Hangout or invite.
Again, special thanks to Sarah and JeanJean Francois for the amazing and ground breaking coverage last night!
Note: Apologies for the audio echo in my questions. Fortunately, the echo doesn’t affect Sarah’s answers.
The full unit is about $20,000 including transmitter. According to DJI’s sales spec, the drone’s takeoff weight: 6kg, load weight: 2kg, ~16 mins max @ 6kg weight & 10Ah 6S battery. The drone is available end of April 2012. The remote control with screen (?) is available in about 3 months.
I’ve only “known” the great photographer Bill Cunningham for a few days from watching the documentary “Bill Cunning New York”. From this one documentary alone and the testimonies from many people in the doc, I believe his visual contributions and the examples he set (ethics as a reporter and his work over the years) has taught me personally a lot. See also NYT “Bill on Bill” and also “The Picture Subjects Talk Back”.
I’m very saddened to see the passing of Mike Wallace. Mike’s interviews and his 60 Minutes segments have set the gold standard and inspired journalists from around the world. I believe the best way to remember Mike Wallace is through the work he has done. Here in this 2008 post, I linked to some of my fav Mike’s video interviews The Mike Wallace Interviews
“In a recent interview with Playboy magazine, Mr. Wallace’s son Chris, who is the anchor of “Fox News Sunday” on Fox, said that his father “is 93 and showing it for the first time.”
“He’s in a facility in Connecticut. Physically, he’s okay. Mentally, he’s not,” Chris Wallace said. “He still recognizes me and knows who I am, but he’s uneven. The interesting thing is, he never mentions ’60 Minutes.’ It’s as if it didn’t exist. It’s as if that part of his memory is completely gone. The only thing he really talks about is family — me, my kids, my grandkids, his great-grandchildren. There’s a lesson there. This is a man who had a fabulous career and for whom work always came first. Now he can’t even remember it.””
I missed attending the Fox LA Google+ Hangout with “Iron” Mike Tyson but I’ve just watched the video and I think it was awesome! Thanks Maria and the Hangout plussers for the insightful questions and an awesome experience. Love it!
Here are some of my fav moments and their time codes. Hope you find them somewhat useful.
0:00 The fun start from beginning to end! :)
0:14 The funniest Mic check I’ve seen recently.
2:30 Hello Tom
3:15 About Mike’s one man show
4:10 DeAno’s question re how does it feel be be in the hall of fame?
5:07 Jason’s question re Mike Tyson’s Super Punch-Out video game character
6:05 How Mike feels about the Charlie Sheen roast?
6:50 Justin’s question re the brilliant scene in “The Hangover” movie
8:35 Kim’s question: If you can change one moment in life from a negative to a positive, what would it be?
9:40 Monica’s question: Who are some of the sources/people that have inspired you?
11:20 Sudesh’s question: Will you come to India?
11:55 Mike talks about his Las Vegas one-man show April 13th – 18th, 2012.
I want to point out I haven’t forgotten the serious crime and harms Mike has committed in his life. But I do believe once he (or any other convicted criminals) has served the punishments deemed appropriate by the society, it is to his and the society’s benefit to see him well integrated back into the society and be a productive citizen again.
The Mike I watched on the hangout video looks like a changed man and a “nice” man. I hope he is a genuinely changed man even I don’t know him personally. I have no reason to doubt his sincerity.
“Find the best in everybody.One of the things that Jon Snoddy as I said told me, is that you might have to wait a long time, sometimes years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.“
Fact checking & Correcting the USA Today “Supreme Court likely to vote on health care law Friday” article
I am not a lawyer and don’t even play one in my dreams but I think the USA Today article (see below for article link) has given an incorrectly impression that US Supreme Court justices’ votes today is final when it is not.
At this conference, each justice – in order from most to least senior – states the basis on which he or she would decide the case, and a preliminary vote is taken.
I honestly expected more informed and precise reporting from widely read publication like the USA Today. Well, I overestimated USA Today. By the way, as a legal geek for some years now (again, I am not a lawyer). I want to point out an interesting difference in the decision making processor between Supreme Court of Canada and Supreme Court of US
In Canada,
“They sit at a round table in the room and each judge gives their opinion of the case, starting with the least senior judge [ending with the Chief Justice.“
In US,
“At this conference, each justice – in order from most to least senior – states the basis on which he or she would decide the case, and a preliminary vote is taken.“
My personal take is the Canadian approach is superior in eliciting wider range of freely given opinions where even the most junior justice is given a full opportunity to express his/her view without constrained by more senior justices’ expressed opinions, let alone opinions from the Chief Justice. Of course, some would argue that as supreme court justices of any country of any seniority, the justices can say whatever he/she wants. But I, unscientifically, suspect human nature will limit and restrict opinion expressed in the US model.
“In the months following the hearing there is a lot of writing and rewriting and there is debate amongst the judges who sat on the case about how propositions should be formulated and what should be put in and what should be left out, and there is supplementary research done on points of difficulty, and the air is filled with memoranda to and fro the judges. Opinions are modified. Minds are changed. If the court is closely divided on a particular appeal, the outcome could shift. “
P.S. I want to emphasize that my point is the Supreme Court justices can change their opinions. I am not saying whether they will or will not in this case.
RT @emmgryner: OMG just got off the phone w @Cmdr_Hadfield who signed off saying "see ya when I get back to Earth"...and I got chills 1 week ago
RT @WilliamShatner: I watch @Cmdr_Hadfield 's Space Oddity video last night and I have 2 words for him: "SHOW OFF!" I'd even look good floa… 1 week ago
RT @emmgryner: I am going to bed blown away by all the feedback and love re @Cmdr_Hadfield's Space Oddity. So proud to be a part of it. Wow… 1 week ago
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