anotherbyte.net

Cool new things pop up everyday - and sometimes take a while to be noticed:

New five dimension DVDs could store 2000 movies

Scientists at Swinburne University of Technology (from Melbourne, Australia!) have found a way to use the location (x,y axis, dimensions one and two), layer (3rd dimension), reflected laser wavelength (4th dimension) and polarization (5th dimension) of a special material to store information. Min Gu suggested the idea, and colleague James Chon came up with an "ideal material [that] contains gold, rod-shaped nanoparticles of different sizes and orientations." Gold nanoparticles are quite versatile, they are also being used to develop cancer treatments, new memory devices and improve x-rays.

Larry Lessig on laws that choke creativity and are creating a generation that does not respect laws

Lessig's presentation has some important points, including the loss of a read-write culture to "infernal machines", and the recurring "terrors" of the content industries in the form of new technologies. The most important point is towards the end - the realisation that young people live what is considered a normal life (in developed countries) constantly against the law. Merely by trying to create and generate culture, laws are broken. And this is resulting in a real lack of respect or faith in the law. John Tehranian in 2007 wrote a paper - Infringement Nation: Copyright Reform and the Law/Norm Gap (which if you search for on Google now brings up mostly torrent files - the original link is dead). It chronicles the day of an average 21st Century internet user. Who by the end of the day has amassed a $12.45 million liability. IN a day. And this was in 2007. How much proof do we need that change is required?

Games played by Australians from varied walks of life

This story on News.com.au is good news. Gaming is gaining popularity with a range of Australians, not just hardcore gamers or young males. But the source for this story troubles me. Apart from quoting a report from October 2008, I have similar issues to Greg Tannahill - where is the link to the report? He also has a very good summary of the more interesting statistics - from having read the report (and not just the summary). The methodologies are posted on Kotaku.