I’ve been on the fence about Creative Commons licenses. They often seem like the pipe-dream of a group rapidly falling out of power, too utopian and shortsightedly idealistic. Also, I don’t recall hearing about any case where a CC licence has been faced a real legal test.

Despite all of that, I’ve decided to try an experiment with something I’ve been working on recently. Part of freelancing is tailoring your own licenses and contracts, in many ways the CC licenses are simply pre-made contracts which benefit from the pooled knowledge of a large community and lots of free legal advice. With most things I do, I want them to live beyond me and hopefully become the seeds with which someone else makes something new. I was planning on giving this project away for free anyway and this is a perfect opportunity to experiment a little.

So my next little project will be released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike license. Here’s hoping for the best.

If this is what 2 Columbus Circle is going to look like I don’t see why they don’t just knock the whole thing down and start over. The reason for keeping the building was the façade, trying to adapt a period floor plan is probably more trouble than it’s worth.

(Via Gothamist.)

In my email tonight, 10 pictures that defy explanation: Some guy, gloves, a plastic lei and a skull mug fiilled with cold black coffee.

Oh, and one seriously pissed off possum.

Finally got to see a Mac mini in person tonight after speaking at the Apple Store soho. Even cooler than I was expecting. The real charm of that little computer is that it feels almost disposable. Not in a wasteful way, in a “pull it out of the box and take a drill to it without remorse” kind of way.

In a few months we should start seeing some really cool hacks built around these things. The trick is going to be finding and interfacing affordable USB sensors and servos.

But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do

Once you find them

— Jim Croce

“The great correcting mechanism for people on the Web is people on the Web.”

— Peggy Noonan on blogging in the Wall Street Journal