04 Jun 2004
How Tough Are the Crop Cops?

This highlights a real problem in GM foods: who get's what? If the new plant "escapes", what's to prevent a dose of Prozac from appearing in your Frosted Flakes?

The USDA says it's stepping up efforts to regulate drugs grown in crops, and let the public in on those regulations. But environmental groups are unconvinced. By Kristen Philipkoski.

(link) [Wired News]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Hail Mani Redux

Last August, I posted a little prayer to Mani (the moon) that I wrote. Last night, Kris took a picture to go with it ... so I put it all together and posted it again in my writings area on the family site. Here's the link.

We plan on making the full size, hi-res image available for download soon: it makes a great desktop for Mac or Windoze. Enjoy!

00:00 /Asatru | 3 comments | permanent link

Careless coders tempting legal troubles?

I have always made sure, before I accepted any programming position, that I have the written approval of management to take code snippets with me when I leave. Often I've got the right to take whole programs - as long as I don't release them as a competing product. Otherwise, I simply won't take the job. Why should I be continually forced to re-invent the wheel?

The other thing that bothers me about this is that it seems to apply only to "intellectual property". If I learn to operate a particular piece of machinery on a job, and I supposed to forget how to run it on my next one? If I'm a chef and I discover (in my employer's kitchen) that olive oil gives a better flavor than butter in fried cicadas, must I forget that on my next job? Can I even fry cicadas at home in olive oil without "infringing"? What if I just modify the recipie to fried dung beetles? Is that not "code borrowing"?

Most software developers regard "code-borrowing"--reusing existing software in their own work--as an acceptable practice, despite the legal minefield it could create for their employers, according to research due to be published later this week.

(link) [CNET News.com]

00:00 /Copywrongs | 2 comments | permanent link