I år har jag beslutat att inte köpa så många julklappar. Men även om de inte blir många till antalet, så hoppas jag att många kommer att få glädje av dem! Jag har idag gjort donationer till följande organisationer och artister:

Läkare Utan Gränser

En organisation som gör insatser och räddar liv där det behövs utan att ta politisk hänsyn.

• http://www.lakareutangranser.se/
• http://www.msf.org/

Missing People Sweden

En ideell organisation som hjälper personer att finna anhöriga som försvunnit. Till minne av Emil K.

• http://www.missingpeople.se/

Barncancerfonden

Cancer är skit. Punkt.

• http://www.barncancerfonden.se/

LukHash

En av mina favoritmusiker just nu. LukHash gör fantastisk elektronisk musik med hjälp av gamla spelkonsoler och datorer, såväl som elgitarrer och pianon. All musik från LukHash kan laddas hem gratis! Det senaste albumet, Falling Apart, släpptes 29 september i år.

• http://www.lukhash.com/
• http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/353807/lukhash

Tryad

Tryads musik är inte bara gratis, den är fri. Det betyder att du kan använda den i egna projekt, både personliga och kommersiella, utan att fråga om lov eller betala licensavgifter. Hurra för fri kultur!

• http://tryad.org/
• http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/104/tryad

Nina Paley

Nina är en förkämpe för fri kultur och alla hennes senaste verk är tillgängliga gratis för dig att avnjuta och remixa. Hennes seriestripp Mimi and Eunice kan läsas online och du kan ladda hem hennes film Sita Sings the Blues utan kostnad. Åter igen, hurra för fri kultur!

• http://blog.ninapaley.com/
• http://mimiandeunice.com/
• http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/
• http://blog.ninapaley.com/2011/11/11/how-to-free-your-work-video/

Linux Mint

• http://www.linuxmint.com/

Mint är ett fantastiskt trevligt alternativ till Windows. Det är gratis, fritt och användarvänligt. Det är sant att det kan vara bökigt att installera, men det kan du få hjälp med och när det är gjort så är det lätt att använda. Hurra för fri mjukvara!

God Jul!

—–

I have decided to buy only a few christmas gifts this year. But even though the number of presents is low, I’m hoping they will bring joy to a lot of people. Today, I have made donations to the following organizations and artists:

Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres

An organization that saves lives wherever it’s needed, without politics getting in the way.

• http://www.lakareutangranser.se/
• http://www.msf.org/

Missing People Sweden

A non-profit organization that helps people find relatives that have gone missing. In memory of Emil K.

• http://www.missingpeople.se/

Barncancerfonden / Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation

Cancer sucks ass. Period.

• http://www.barncancerfonden.se/

LukHash

One of my favorite musicians right now. LukHash creates awesome electronic music using old games consoles and computers, as well as electric guitars and pianos. All his music can be downloaded for free! His latest album, Falling Apart, was released on 29 September this year.

• http://www.lukhash.com/
• http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/353807/lukhash

Tryad

Tryad’s music is not only free of charge, it is free-as-in-freedom. That means you are allowed to use it in your own projects, both personal and commercial, without asking permission or paying license fees. Hooray for free culture!

• http://tryad.org/
• http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/104/tryad

Nina Paley

Nina is a champion of free culture, and all her latest works are available for you to enjoy and remix, free of charge and free-as-in-freedom. Her comic strip Mimi and Eunice can be read on-line, and you can download her film Sita Sings the Blues. Again, hooray for free culture!

• http://blog.ninapaley.com/
• http://mimiandeunice.com/
• http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/
• http://blog.ninapaley.com/2011/11/11/how-to-free-your-work-video/

Linux Mint

• http://www.linuxmint.com/

Linux Mint is a fantastic alternative to Microsoft Windows. It’s free of charge, free-as-in-freedom, and it’s user friendly. True, you can run into problems while installing it, but there are people who can help you, and when it’s done, Mint is easy to use. Hooray for free software!

Merry Christmas!

Here’s another favourite Mimi and Eunice comic strip from the archives of Nina Paley!

I love this one because it touches on a very important part of the whole Copyright issue. Many proponents of Copyright argue that without it, no new cultural works would be created. This is wrong, and it should be obvious to everyone. But, of course, it’s not.

The thing is, artists have always created art. Without Copyright, artists would keep creating art. Do you actually think that if Copyright was taken away, writers would stop writing, painters would stop painting, and photographers would stop taking pictures?

Yes! It’s true, I am actually posting this sunday comic while it is still sunday.

Here’s another favourite Mimi and Eunice comic strip from the archives of Nina Paley!

This is pretty much what Watermarking and DRM are all about. You take a perfectly good product and make it less usable and less enjoyable for the people who actually paid for it. In other words, you punish your paying customers.

In case you didn’t know, pirate cake generally comes without the pee, thus tasting a lot better. So, is it any wonder that a lot of people prefer pirate cake?

Here’s another favourite Mimi and Eunice comic strip from the archives of Nina Paley!

Ever noticed how most corporations pushing for stricter legislation to “protect creators” never actually create anything themselves, except lawsuits?

Big media companies hate copying, not because it’s stealing (because it’s not), but because it is a form of competition. And competition is always bad when you are guarding a monopoly.

Here it is, though, another Mimi and Eunice strip from Nina Paley!

This is another favourite of mine, as it highlights a real problem with copyright legislation today. The fact that it is increasingly used as a tool for censorship.

I’ll be back tonight with a new Album of the Week!

But as promised, here is another Mimi and Eunice strip from Nina Paley!

I love this strip so much, because it illustrates how price and value are very different things. A lot of artists, musicians and writers worry that low prices, for instance on ebooks, de-value their work. This is simply not true.

There are other kinds of value than that which is measured in dollars. And the more a piece is shared and enjoyed, the more valuable it becomes. Sometimes even in dollars.

The monetary value of an ebook, or a song, is how much money it’s brought in since its publication, not the price of each copy. If an ebook is priced at $1,000 dollars but sells not a single copy, is it really worth anything compared to a $0.99 ebook that sells 10,000 copies?

Please come back tomorrow for the Album of the Week, where I recommend another album you can download and enjoy free of charge and add to its value by doing it!

Maybe patents used to be a good idea. But now, they really do more harm than good. I’ll be writing more on this subject in the future.