Software on Notes

Software Patents in Europe

melo@simplicidade.org (Pedro Melo) — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 10:15:12 +0000

Today, around 12:00, software patents will be up for vote at the European Parliament. You can follow it live.

At work, we put a site (Portuguese only) to spread the good word. You can also find an editorial of my CTO about the subject.

The process is something like this: first there will be a vote of a proposal to reject. If this vote is approved, the whole process goes back to the beginning.

If not, then the 21 amendments will be voted, and for each ammendemnt to pass, a majority is required. That’s 365 of 729 votes.

As always, you can find information about all this at the Software Patents vs Parliamentary Democracy website.

If you have kids, and you love your Mac

melo@simplicidade.org (Pedro Melo) — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 11:51:31 +0000

BabySafe. Pay the gentlemen. It’s really the only safe way to put your laptop in the hands of the kid. It protects your data (although your screen is still a bit exposed).

And why you want to put the mac in the hands of your kid? Well, it’s warfare. My wife prefers Windows, and I prefer UNIX and Mac in particular. So we have to win the kid when he’s young.

Using your iSight

melo@simplicidade.org (Pedro Melo) — Fri, 10 Sep 2004 13:00:18 +0000

I have a iSight camera for some months now, and except for the occasional video chat, it pretty much stays there at the top of my TiBook.

Today I came across this article talking about a software that’s been developed by Delicious Monster Software (great site, btw) called Delicious Library 3.0.

The software is in close beta right now, but you can check the ThinkSecret review of a beta, and it looks very very good.

The killer feature for me is that they support scanning the barcodes of CDs, DVDs and books with your iSight. The ThinkSecret article mentions another app with the same capability, Booxter, but a not-as-perfect implementation as Library 3.0.

The screenshots of this app seem very nice. Just hope they deliver it soon. I need to catalogue my growing 300-plus DVDs collection.

Software patents in Europe

melo@simplicidade.org (Pedro Melo) — Fri, 11 Jun 2004 12:10:06 +0000

So the European Parliament voted against software patents but the Council voted for software patents.

What’s next?

Well, elections are coming, next Sunday, so choose wisely if you care about this. Check this page to find out how the Portuguese MPs voted.

Next week, may the lobbying begin. In June, the Council must formally adopt the position, so you have a couple of days. You might need this: key arguments against software patents and MPs contacts.

If you prefer to phone them, check this out: MEP-Position-Lobbying-Guide or MEP Questionnaire Home (if you have more free time).

Anyway, don’t just stand there. If you write software for a living like I do, get of you butt, go vote on Sunday, and lobby next week.