libLicense 0.8 now available!

Greg Grossmeier, August 7th, 2008

Thanks to the great work of Asheesh Laroria, Software Engineer here at Creative Commons, the libLicense software package is now available for software developers. The new package can now be found in both Debian and Ubuntu (development versions) and will be in Fedora soon.

That is all well and good, but what does it mean for you and what can you do (as a developer)?

• First, try it! Tell us what you think of its functionality and interface.
• Secondly, integrate it into your application. There is interest in getting it into InkScape, the Open Source vector graphics editor.
• Finally, you can help us improve our test cases. Read more about this in Asheesh’s email.

This is a great time to add Creative Commons licensing awareness to your applications.

The Indie Band Survival Guide

Cameron Parkins, August 7th, 2008

The Indie Band Survival Guide, originally released as a CC-licensed PDF, has gone professional with a recent pressing in physical form. Written by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan (otherwise known as Chicago-based band Beatnik Turtle), the book explores the ability for indie bands to be successful on their own, without the help of a major recording deal, in the current music industry.

The book and ideas therein are wrapped in a variety of CC layers. Cherkow and Feehan, both in the original PDF and in the book, recommend using CC licences as a means for musicians to spread their works far and wide, referencing the oft-cited Tim O’Reilly quote, “Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy.” To Cherkow and Feehan, CC licensing music makes sense as a promotional tool, increasing the ability for an artist to gain exposure and fans.

Recommendation aside, The Indie Band Survival Guide garnered popularity and traction through the initial decision to license the text under a CC BY-NC-SA license. Through this exposure, Cherkow and Feehan were able to hookup with St. Martin’s Press and work out a publishing deal, eventually producing a major rewrite that includes a variety of information not available online. Although the book itself is not CC-licensed (it is often hard for first time authors to leverage such agreements from their publishing companies) the PDF remains free and available online and isn’t lacking in information, coming in at over 50,000 words. 

Check out the PDF and if you are a DIY musician, seriously consider picking up the print version - beyond its endorsement of CC it is full of useful knowledge on the intricacies of the music industry.

An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube

Jane Park, August 7th, 2008

Michael Wesch, creator of the strikingly insightful videos “A Vision of Students Today” and “The Machine is Us/ing Us”, gave a presentation at the Library of Congress back in May on the anthropology of YouTube. The presentation was the third in a series called “Digital Natives,” natives being basically my and probably your generation if you’re reading this. It’s about the net and the people who grew up with a computer humming by their bed stands. Wesch delves into this phenomenon that is us—how we think and how we perceive and connect with the world differently due to the internet and new media like YouTube. 

“An anthropological introduction to YouTube” is where “traditional” academic research and the new media landscape intersect. It is the anthropological perspective and study of our generation’s fascination with YouTube, and is itself viewable on Wesch’s YouTube page. Check it out; I started watching it and couldn’t stop. The fifty-five minutes flew by like a lunch break. The video itself is licensed CC BY-NC-SA.

Kids Open Dictionary Builder

Jane Park, August 6th, 2008

When I was a kid, the only dictionary around the house was a monumental hardcover my little brother used as a stool to reach the cookie jar. We hardly ever looked inside of it, and when we did, we couldn’t find any words used in the real world. It was the super duper collegiate university fifth edition, or something like that. Later, my brother might’ve used it as a substitute for weight class…

Point being, a new project speaking to this situation was recently launched by Karen Fasimpaur and Brad Emerson, along with a host of collaborators. The Kids Open Dictionary Builder is a new wiki-style dictionary intended especially for kids who want to be able to read simple definitions of real world terms. Of course, the dictionary can be used by anyone: students of all ages, teachers, publishers and more. All content will be contributions to the public domain, free for anyone to use, modify and repurpose. From their FAQ page:

“We want this resource to be as sharable as possible, and while we think sharing is good, we don’t feel compelled to force others to share. The more learners around the world who benefit from this, the better. We want people to to mix and mash up this content without the burden of thinking about license compatibility or even crediting a source. Glossaries are one of the most basic building blocks of many educational materials, and there are currently no sources (that we were able to find, after extensive research) that allow for low-burden reuse. Teachers have asked for this again and again, and in its absence, most are just inappropriately borrowing copyrighted content. That’s why we decided to build this open dictionary.”

The ultimate goal is to have a comprehensive and complete edited version, free of inaccuracies and spam. Of course, since it is a wiki (and a dictionary at that), the project can only keep growing. So feel free to contribute! Remember those words that stumped us as kids? You can take a stab at defining them now.

Installfest for Schools @ LinuxWorld

Frank Tobia, August 5th, 2008

The Alameda County Computer Resource Center, a Bay Area non-profit whose motto is “Obsolescence is Just a Lack of Imagination”, is organizing an Installfest for Schools at LinuxWorld August 4-7th. The Center will be refurbishing recycled computers and donating them to Bay Area schools that can put them to good use.  And as CC has blogged previously, this isn’t their first time around.

In addition to Linux, the computers are loaded with Creative Commons-licensed photos and music from Flickr and Jamendo. The photos and music were selected as part of our LiveContent project. If you’re interested in helping out, you can volunteer, donate, or join the mailing list.