Author Archives: aaron
Super! Mario! Minigolf! (Figment!)
The artists’ minigolf course has always been one of my favorite parts of Figment and this year I’m building one of the holes! The theme of this year’s course is “Arcade,” and my hole is going to be a Super … Continue reading
On digital music and actually paying artists
Earlier tonight, Will Sheff posted this link on Okkervil River’s twitter stream. It’s a post by musician Bradley James about the pittance he gets from Spotify each time one of his songs is played (he got $20.76 for 4498 plays, … Continue reading
Clickwrap for Django and best practices for Terms of Service
Last night, I wrote a simple Django application for managing clickwrap legal agreements. I’m developing the artists’ submission system for the Conflux Festival‘s new site (which is not yet live), and we require artists to agree to an Artist Agreement … Continue reading
ABA Journal joins National Review in Asianizing Sotomayor
What is it about a Latina Supreme Court justice that just screams “Asian” to journalists? Whatever it is, the ABA Journal places itself in the dubious company of the National Review this month by highlighting Sonia Sotomayor’s ineffable Eastern-ness: This … Continue reading
White House still confused about Flickr photo licensing
When the White House first began posting photographs taken by its official photographer on Flickr, it caused a minor kerfuffle about licensing: the photos were posted under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license, even though works of the U.S. government … Continue reading
Matt Asay is wrong about rights
Matt Asay does not believe in a fundamental right to Internet access. His most recent barely considered core dump of generalities begins with this bit of popular conservo-libertarian retcon: “While the framers of the U.S. Constitution talked about the rights … Continue reading
My Corrupt Landlord, or A Helpless Empowered Tenant
Last September, I found a great apartment, via Craigslist, at 350 Lincoln Place in Prospect Heights — it had unheard-of-in-NYC amenities like a dishwasher & central air, a roommate I liked and had things in common with, and a rent … Continue reading
The irony of Conservatives for Patients’ Rights
I was on the treadmill when this segment on CNN about conservatives’ opposition to Obama’s health care policies made me wheeze uncomfortably with laughter. A swiftboat organization called Conservatives for Patients’ Rights–led by disgraced, corrupt healthcare CEO Richard Scott–has paid … Continue reading