A detailed look at how China blocks parts of the Internet from its citizens.
Security interrupts spokesguy on camera to tell him that photos are not allowed at DC Union Station
The guy, speaking for Amtrak, was telling the reporter that it is legal to take photos in the station. [via]
Are photographers really a threat?
Says Bruce Schneier in The Guardian:
Given that real terrorists, and even wannabe terrorists, don’t seem to photograph anything, why is it such pervasive conventional wisdom that terrorists photograph their targets? Why are our fears so great that we have no choice but to be suspicious of any photographer?
Because it’s a movie-plot threat.
The writer says ‘In the digital era, a magazine’s design has never been more crucial to its survival’ but these mags are all tiddlers.
These are the people in your neighbourhood
The Indy talks to Richard Barnbrook, the leader of the odious British National Party. Barnbrook slithered into London City Hall last month, after being voted in as Greater London Assembly councillor.
This PDF magazine by Vancouver-based urban-planning guy Gordon Price is always an eyeopener. This issue is on Paris and its parks.
Wacky Packages Coffee Table Book
The look and feel of the dust jacket resembles the original wax paper used for Wacky Packs. Art Spiegelman, an original artist for the stickers, wrote the foreword “Wacky Days.” The book is a nice size, almost 250 pages (233 Wacky Pack stickers are shown in 4-color) with approx a 5 × 7 trim.
Finally some details about what caused eBay to sue craigslist.
According to the complaint , the two controlling shareholders of craigslist made a boardroom decision to do a reverse share split, giving one new-style share for every five old-style shares. It doesn’t make any difference in equity or for the purpose of dividends but, through the magic of mathemathics, it reduced the per centage of shares eBay owned against the other two shareholders to just under 25 per cent. And, coincidentally, 28.4 per cent was what the craigslist bylaws required to elect a director.
eBay bought its stake from a former employee who had been given a minority stake in craigslist to reflect his early importance in the business. According to ValleyWag the former employee approached eBay to take his 25 per cent ownership, eBay allegedly paying $16 million to the former employee and $16 million to the other two shareholders.
One lesson to take from this is the importance of shareholder agreements. Once you have given shares to other people, they can do whatever they like with the shares — subject only to an agreement that all shareholders have signed. A clause that any entrepreneur should insist on is no selling of shares to outsiders without permission.
Shareholder agreements can also govern how to run the business. As this article says
Craigslist is registered as a for-profit company; as such, its only legal responsibility is to its shareholders, not its users.
This is black letter law. Shareholders who disagree with the running of any company that diverts precious profits to charitable or social projects can sue the company for compensation, for a change of directors, to change corporate direction, or even to liquidate the company. If you are not in it only for the profit, put it in writing.