Apple have announced a free application for making textbooks, along with a push to provide commercial textbooks from existing publishers through their iBooks delivery medium. It looks as if commercial books produced in this way will remain entirely restricted to reading on Apple hardware. (There's more flexibility for free books.) Apple have had an increasing… Continue reading The Apple textbook
Month: January 2012
Open source licences explained
A new article about open source software licences, aimed at audio and music researchers developing their own software: http://soundsoftware.ac.uk/open-source-software-licences-explained If you notice any mistakes, please add a comment here or drop me a line.
Why the proposed US copyright regulations should worry UK citizens
Referring to today's 24-hour Wikipedia blackout in protest against proposed US copyright regulations, a colleague at work asks: Could someone explain to me why wikipedia et al wouldn't just move hosting to a different country if they have issue with US regulations... this blackout kind of implies that US law regulates the whole internet A site… Continue reading Why the proposed US copyright regulations should worry UK citizens
Marmalade!
Seville oranges are in season, so it's time to make marmalade. I love making marmalade (and fortunately I also like eating it, though I'm the only person in my household who does). This is a straightforward light, tangy sort. Have seven or eight jam jars washed and ready, and keep them hot in the oven… Continue reading Marmalade!
Is music recommendation difficult?
My research department works on programming computers to analyse music. In this field, researchers like to have some idea of whether a problem is naturally easy or difficult for humans. For example, tapping along with the beat of a musical recording is usually easy, and it's fairly instinctive—you don't need much training to do it.… Continue reading Is music recommendation difficult?
End of the laptop line
I realised not long ago that, for my purposes, laptop PCs have stopped improving. It didn't happen recently: it just took me a long time to notice. In fact I reckon it happened about five years ago. My decline and theirs The first laptop I bought with my own money was a Vaio R600MX in… Continue reading End of the laptop line
The Breakfast Post 