Adobe Extends Flash Video Support
kaourantin.net: What just happened to video on the web? – This post by an Adobe Flash engineer does a good job of expalining just what the new update supports.
Walmart Serves Up DRM-free MP3s
Wal-Mart Launches MP3 Music Download Tracks
BRISBANE, Calif., Aug. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) announces the launch of “DRM-free” MP3 music downloads, now available online at http://www.walmart.com. At only 94 cents per track and $9.22 per album, the new MP3 digital format delivers value, convenience and the ability for customers to play music on nearly any device, including iPod(R), iPhone(R) and Zune(TM) portable media players. Wal-Mart is one of the first major retailers to offer MP3 digital tracks with music content from major record labels such as Universal and EMI Music.
This is a pretty good deal. It is part of a marketing test being done by Universal to assess the impact of selling DRM tracks online. I’d bet that the test is a success. There is also a large library of albums available for less than $8.00. Load ’em up.
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Something Interesting to do With Twitter?
Law Librarian Blog: Twittering Floor Action in the House of Representatives – This looks interesting. I wonder if it will keep up once the House is back in session. I’m not sure how this is being done, but there is a summary of floor proceedings here and it seems to be the source for Twitter. It would be handy to have access to this info in real time, if available.
links for 2007-08-21
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joint project of COlorado and Columbia law schools to create a searchable body of American case law.
Yet Another Attempt at Freeing American Law
Carl Malamud has this funny idea that public domain information ought to be… well, public. He has a history of creating public access databases on the net when the provider of the data has failed to do so or has licensed its data only to a private company that provides it only for pay. His technique is to build a high-profile demonstration project with the intent of getting the actual holder of the public domain information (usually a government agency) to take over the job.
Generally, Malamud is launching a project to scan ultrafiche of the Federal Reporter, cleanup the rather large (3+ gigabytes per image) images, then do OCR on the images. All this will be done using an assortment of open source and free tools. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this, not only to see how it progresses but to see what West’s reaction will be since they produced the ultrafiche he is using and are the publishers of the Federal Reporter.
There is a good NY Times article on this here.
links for 2007-08-18
50 Free Apps for Your Fun and Enjoyment
This is a pretty good list. Note that some of these work better on Linux than Windows and some are really server-side apps.Behold the vast and sprawling feast of open source downloads. Incredible, ain’t it? Armed with little more than an Internet connection and some extra space on your hard drive, a rich cornucopia awaits you.