The copyright debate should cover our rights, not just our responsibilities. As laughable as it sounds, last week the UK finally legalised copying music CDs for personal use – ripping or "format-shifting" discs to your computer so you can listen to albums on your portable device of choice. The change comes into effect in October but of course Brits have been ripping their music for more than a decade, just like everyone else, using software such as Apple's iTunes. It just took a very long time for the law to catch up with the technology.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/computers/gadgets-on-the-go/when-can-we-copy-our-dvds-20140804-1005p9.html

Earlier this month, tens of thousands of Chinese users found themselves abruptly unable to access the services of popular mobile messaging app Line. Now, after weeks of being unable to use the service—including paid ‘stickers’ that are widely shared among users—frustration is growing. Line’s services have been on the blink in mainland China since July 2, the day after a massive pro-democracy demonstration in neighboring Hong Kong.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/08/03/bye-bye-bear-lines-sticker-lovers-in-china-feel-thwarted/?mod=ST1

Fortunately, it turns out that a computer-science degree isn't necessary to get a job in programming. Fourteen percent of the members of some teams at Google don't have a college degree, and 67% of the programming jobs in the U.S. are at nontech companies where other kinds of industry experience are more likely to be valued. Computer programming, in other words, has become a trade. Like nursing or welding, it's something in which a person can develop at least a basic proficiency within weeks or months. And once budding coders learn enough to get their first jobs, they get onto the same path to upward mobility offered to their in-demand, highly paid peers.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/computer-programming-is-a-trade-lets-act-like-it-1407109947

Massive, undetectable security flaw found in USB. The problem, according to SR Labs, is that these USB controllers can have their firmware reprogrammed so that they announce themselves as a different class. For example, you could reprogram a mass storage device so that it masquerades as a network controller, so that all of your network communications (websites, passwords) get redirected to the device.

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/187279-undetectable-indefensible-security-flaw-found-in-usb-its-time-to-get-your-ps2-keyboard-out-of-the-cupboard

If you’re a cellular customer in the United States, today marks a very important day for you. As of today, cellular unlocking is legal in the U.S. again – which basically means you can now unlock your mobile phone, including the iPhone or any Android smartphone, to work on any carrier in the country. According to the White House, President Barack Obama is signing the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act today. The Act, which was brought on by Senator Patrick Leahy, and was already agreed upon by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, essentially reinstates a copyright exemption that legalized the modification of a mobile device’s firmware in order to remove carrier restrictions, both by the owners/consumers of the device, or authorized third-party sources.

http://www.redmondpie.com/unlocking-iphone-and-other-smartphones-now-100-legal-thanks-to-obama/

FEDERAL Attorney-General George Brandis has warned inter­net service providers that they can no longer pretend to be “innocent bystanders” in his war on internet piracy, and signalled that he would introduce legislation if he faces resistance. Senator Brandis knows that no measures will eliminate piracy entirely. “This is a percentage game,” he said. “We’re not going to reduce internet piracy to zero, but for every percentile piracy is reduced that’s a very substantial financial benefit to the content creators.”

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/george-brandis-puts-isps-on-notice-over-facilitating-internet-piracy/story-e6frg996-1227012183447

Missing just one day of school has negative consequences for a student’s academic achievement, the first major study linking poor attendance to lower NAPLAN results has found. And school attendance patterns established as early as year 1 can predict how often a student will show up to class right through high school, according to the research.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/skipping-school-for-just-one-day-affects-naplan-results-study-finds-20140802-zzjmr.html