Onlineability news feed

Freakonomics Radio: What Keeps Glenn Beck Up at Night?

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:15 GMT

A few weeks back, I was a guest on Glenn Beck's radio show. Something interesting happened before we went on the air. He noticed the book I was carrying - Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines, by the Berkeley physicist Richard A. Muller - and asked me about it. I endorsed it rather enthusiastically. He said it sounded like a book he'd like to read, so I went ahead and gave him my copy (and, yes, Dr. Muller, ordered another one for myself).

Plan Colombia: A $5 Billion Failure?

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:30 GMT

The U.S. has spent more than $5 billion on military and anti-narcotics aid for Colombia in recent years. In a new article for Slate, Ray Fisman points to a new paper that analyzes conflict and coca production in areas with and without Army bases to determine the impact of all that aid.

3 Count: Mario Carted

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:22 GMT

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: $1.5m Fine for Illegal Game Upload

First off, an Australian man has been ordered to pay Nintendo $1.5 million and cover $100,000 in court costs for uploading a copy of Mario Bros Wii to a file sharing site a week before the game's release. The site in question was shut down quickly but the game was downloaded “many thousands of times” before then.

2: More Posner Plagiarism

Next up today, Gerald Posner, a reporter for the Daily Beast, has been hit with two back-to-back allegations of plagiarism, accusations that have apparently cost Posner his job. Posner stands accused of having lifted passages from The Miami Herald as well as a Texas attorney among others.

3: Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ Reprint Under Way, Bucking German Ban

Finally today, the copyright on Hitler's autobiography “Mein Kampf” is due to fall out of copyright in 2015 and plans are already underway to reprint the controversial work. The state of Bavaria currently holds the copyright to the work and has banned all reprints, including for academic purposes, and publication is still banned in Germany, copyrighted or not. Bavaria has expressed concern that the book could be used for neo-nazi propaganda, a concern researchers are saying they hope to counter in advance.

Suggestions

That's it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Saturday morning for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Monday morning right here on Plagiarism Today.

jonb1324cdr

Freakonomics Radio, Super Bowl Edition: What Happens to Your Head, Inside the Helmet, After a Nasty Hit?

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:33 GMT

As mentioned yesterday, we are launching a podcast, Freakonomics Radio. In the first episode (subscribe at iTunes; or listen now in the player at right), we ask the question "What Do NASCAR Drivers, Glenn Beck, and the Hitmen of the NFL Have in Common?"

Apple Store Is Back Online. Little To See Here.

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:33 GMT

The Apple Store was down this morning. And since this is Apple, one of the high-tech universe's favorite parlor games began: What's really going on?! As it turns out, not much, unless you're in the market for some new photo editing and organization software.

dot.gone

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:53 GMT

What happened to the dot.com millionaires?

dot.Rory

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:53 GMT

Child web safety: Which browser should you choose?

Unfriendly voices

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:11 GMT

The many different faces of cyber-bullying

Smartphone keys get quantum trick

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:04 GMT

A quantum physics trick is set to give smartphones and hand-held devices pressure-sensitive switches and touchscreens.

Online safety for five-year-olds

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:58 GMT

Children as young as five are being targeted in a safety campaign launched as part of EU Internet Safety Day.