Don鈥檛 bother to read the licence agreement
HARDLY anybody ever reads the licence agreements that permit you to use computer software 鈥� and that, for all you know, in paragraph 19(b)iii consign you to lifelong slavery with Moloch Computing, Inc. Only Feedback and our readers, we suspect, even try. Certainly, it seems hard to believe the people at Apple ever read their blindingly obvious warning that iPod software is not, in fact, suitable for controlling nuclear power stations (3 January 2009).
It is rare, though, for major companies to be quite as upfront as Adobe in appearing not to care whether their agreements are read or not. Bob Holmes was recently trying to install their free Reader software that enables users to view PDF files. Conscientiously, he tried to obey the request on the download page to read the licence agreement. Clicking on the link took him to where he could download the agreement in the form of 鈥� you鈥檙e ahead of us here? 鈥� a PDF file.
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鈥淲hen Colin MacLeod wanted to return a book to Amazon, a message from the online retailer told him the book鈥檚 鈥� return due date鈥� was 鈥�1 Jan 1970鈥�
One leak too many for Wikileaks?
TRAWLING the net, as one does, for information that might be embarrassing to organisations that deserve to be embarrassed, Feedback had another look at , first reported in New 杏吧原创 a couple of years ago (10 May 2008, p 28). Readers new to the site may think they鈥檝e come across regular old Wikipedia, but it鈥檚 actually a database of documents that weren鈥檛 supposed to see the light of day, supplied by whistle-blowers, dissidents and others seeking to expose what they consider to be misconduct.
The site says the documents are vetted for credibility by 鈥渙ur editorial team of professional journalists and anti-corruption activists鈥�. That means a search for 鈥淩oswell鈥� or 鈥淟och Ness鈥� won鈥檛 come up with anything, and the only is to a UK court order barring publication of photographs taken by former lovers.
However, the archive is loaded with documents on toxic waste, threats of lawsuits for divulging information, allegations of corruption, and other material that people wanted to stay hidden. One example is a catalogue of purportedly from the secretive Church of Scientology, including a of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
Another is which earned young-Earth 鈥渟cience鈥� creationist Kent Hovind a doctorate from Patriot Bible University. 鈥淗ello, my name is Kent Hovind,鈥� begins this weighty work. 鈥淚 am a creation/science evangelist. I live in Pensacola, Florida鈥�.鈥� From there it is only a short jump to: 鈥淓volution is a religion and not a science and therefore should be excluded from [the] public school curriculum鈥� and 鈥淭here is no scientific evidence at all to back up any form of macro-evolution鈥�. Wikileaks claims that 鈥渁ccording to our source鈥� both Hovind and Patriot Bible University have not exactly encouraged public scrutiny of this document. Should we be surprised?
Now, however, Wikileaks has to brace itself for more serious political fireworks. US authorities are reported to be seeking Wikileaks鈥檚 founder, Julian Assange, because the site plans to of a US bombing raid blamed for the deaths of 140 civilians in Granai, Afghanistan, a year ago.
This could turn nasty for Assange and his website 鈥� but they are not without potential allies. One of these is the parliament of Iceland, no less, which last month voted unanimously in favour of a package of legislation offering legal protection to whistle-blower sites like Wikileaks. Assange himself helped draft the law, which aims to make Iceland a haven for freedom of expression.
Could little Iceland somehow keep Wikileaks and Assange safe from the wrath of the superpowerful US? Watch this space.
READER Neill Jones is impressed by the aerodynamic abilities of bees. Scanning the website, he discovered: 鈥淏ees observe a strict working day, even in conditions of 24-hour sunlight. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology tagged worker bumblebees with a radio identifier, similar to an Oyster card鈥︹��.
Oyster cards, used for travelling on London鈥檚 public transport system, are roughly the same size and weight as a credit card. Neill hands it to the bees. 鈥淚鈥檓 surprised the poor little things could fly at all with the card strapped to their backs,鈥� he says.
WRITERS of news stories often put the date of their article underneath the title. Glyn Hughes notes that this useful habit can have unintended consequences, as in the headline and dateline of on the Endtime Ministries religious discussion website: 鈥淲hen Will the End of the World Be? Monday, 1st February 2010鈥�.
FINALLY, more of the blindingly obvious: Lee and Jill Ratzan sent us an image of a pack of Minute Maid fruit juice cartons prominently declaring that it is a 鈥�10 pack鈥�. The corner of the pack boasts: 鈥�2 more boxes than other leading juice box 8-packs.鈥� Now there鈥檚 a surprise.