Saturday, March 11, 2006

Finally, a general interest publication, the New York Times, publishes a realistic discussion of backcountry avalanche risks, by Jill Fredston. I wrote the following letter to the Times (the odds on publication are low, of course): Ms. Fredston's gives an excellent account of how backcountry travelers get in trouble by letting their wishes color their risk assessment. It is worth adding that most ski magazines and movies foster unreasonable expectations in new backcountry skiers by only showing glorious powder runs, when in fact deep powder is often associated with the highest slide danger, and good travel practice may well demand that we ski less exciting but more stable terrain. The fantasy of scoring the steepest, deepest run distorts and endangers the less-fashionable rewards of being out there with like-minded friends living with nature in her own terms. 11:02:11 AM

la la: Netflix-like music trading ... legal? I imagine they will cite the first-sale doctrine established in the copyright act (Via tingilinde.) Heh. They'll be nailed for contributory infringement since some fraction of participants will make digital copies that they keep in their digital music players even after they swap a CD. The key differences between la la and the corner used CD store are circulation speed and breadth of reach. Looked at as an information system, la la is a P2P system with sneakernet transmission and a restriction through physical tokens (the actual CDs) on the number of copies in circulation, but not on the number of copies made for local use. It will take some really good defense lawyers and surprisingly open-minded courts to dodge this bullet. I wouldn't bet on it. 9:47:03 AM