Depending on how you feel about the Free Software Foundation and about its founder, Richard Stallman, you’ll either find this license funny or infuriating. I definitely found it interesting.

EXCEPTIONS: Richard M Stallman (the guy behind GNU, etc.) may not make use of or redistribute this program or any of its derivatives.

Nice use of iBeacon tech. Walk into the Bar Kick pub in Shoreditch, London and the soccer magazine When Saturday Comes and the fashion and culture magazine Dazed & Confused will be available automatically, for free via Newsstand, as long as you are within range of the pub’s iBeacon.

The publisher is Exact Editions.

Terrific idea. I think this has legs. The key is discoverability.

Spotify prefers to break down payouts in terms of monthly activity. In July, a “niche indie album” garnered $3,300, whereas a “global hit album” awarded the unnamed artist $425,000. Based on the company’s projections, these numbers will increase exponentially as the subscriber base grows.

I have to admit, this is pretty good. I’ve been vocal about subscription services and making sure artists get paid, so these numbers are interesting. One question I do have—for Spotify or the artists—why is there such a difference between these numbers and the reported “$10 for a million plays” type of stories that were making the rounds.

I wasn’t going to watch the video, but I’m glad I did. All of the teddy bears are donated to local charities.

Mobile Miniatures, as the Spektral Quartet has dubbed its ear-tickling project, is part of its mission to provide living composers with new platforms for their music to be performed and heard.

Love it.

Very interesting article. Abdel Ibrahim has been updating it with recent fluctuations.

Bloomberg:

Icelandic police shot dead a man who refused to stop firing at them with a shotgun in the capital of Reykjavik earlier today — and then they apologized. It was the first time that anyone in the country was killed by police gunfire.

“The police regret this incident and wishes to extend its condolences to the man’s family,” said national police chief Haraldur Johannessen.

Details of the event have yet to emerge, but this much is clear: Iceland is a weird place.

Sad that you have to describe such a peaceful country as “weird”.

All profits from this issue of Five out of Ten are in aid of SpecialEffect, a charity that works to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

A great cause and an interesting magazine from Alan Williamson.

Not only that, according to the original report, the customer noticed that it was a demo unit after inspecting the sticker on the bottom, but instead of simply returning it to Target, she decided to call a local news agency. You know, for justice.

Sweet Fuck, people are stupid.

PDF Expert 5 is a must-have app for anyone who reads, annotates or edits PDF documents on the iPad. It allows you to markup documents with highlights and handwriting, insert text and stamps, sign and even merge PDFs. Moreover, PDF Expert is the best choice for filling out PDF forms right on your iPad.

Looks like a great app.

Go paperless with Doxie – tiny and beautifully designed mobile scanners that scan everything, starting at just $149.

Doxie scans your paper: simply and automatically. Battery power and built-in memory means you can scan anywhere, then tuck Doxie away when you’re not using it. Once you’ve scanned everything, Doxie’s included Mac software makes organizing it all easy. Save, share, create searchable PDFs, and send to the cloud.

The Loop readers get free U.S. shipping and Guaranteed Christmas Delivery for all orders placed through December 19th. Order your Doxie today and give the gift of paperless.

Brent Simmons:

I don’t know how I could tell Amazon’s harmless, happy-day drones from Google’s real-time people-watchers — or those of the police or the NSA. It’s best to shoot them all down.

I laughed out loud when I read that. Seriously, how are they going to stop people from shooting them down. It’s got to be a problem, right?

Poynter:

When Planet Money embarked on a massive reporting project tracking the making of a simple T-shirt — from the cotton fields of Mississippi to Bangladeshi garment factories to shipping containers crossing oceans — an interactive, documentary-style presentation seemed like the obvious end result.

The NPR story is interesting in its “interactive documentary” style but this “story behind the story” is just as interesting.

BTW, the NPR story looks great on an iPad.

While its interactivity may be limited, you’ve got to admire the guy for the effort it must have taken to create this resume.

Om Malik:

Almost exactly six years ago, I survived a serious heart attack thanks to the team at UCSF Medical Center – specifically the cardiology division.

These past six years have added up to what could be the best years of my life – for now. And I will forever be grateful to the UCSF cardiology team. They saved me from near disaster and gave me a chance to rewrite my life story.

Obviously, a very good cause.

Have you ever looked at an object and seen a face in it? You’ll love this Twitter account and the pictures in it.

Chitika research:

One week following its release on September 18, 2013, iOS 7 users were generating more than 51% of all iOS-based Web traffic within North America. Growth has continued through the following two months, with iOS 7 usage rates surpassing the 70% mark within the continent. This makes it very likely that iOS 7 will continue to substantially outpace iOS 6 adoption, which reached 83% close to six months following its release in September 2012.

Meanwhile, Android is poking along:

Google’s latest OS dashboard reveals that 1.1 percent of active Android devices are running the new platform roughly a month after it became available. Not that its arrival is slowing down Jelly Bean’s growth, mind you. The older software now represents 54.5 percent of all Android use.

When you release a new version of your OS, the older version should drop, not gain in popularity.

Very nice. There are even live demos so you can see what’s going on.

Thoughtful analysis from MIT Technology Review that slices through the hype and paints a realistic picture of the limitations Amazon will face in bringing drones into service. In a nutshell, the article finds that the technology is feasible, assuming the FAA gets on board. But it will come at a pretty price, perhaps as high as $200 per package. For vitally important deliveries, such as a donor organ to save a life, the cost will certainly not be a deal-breaker.

The 2014 Beard Calendar is available to pre-order for $10. The guys behind the calendar asked me to be involved as “BatBeard,” an offer I gladly accepted. Meet Mr. May.

Interesting article on the emergence of drone delivery in China. With fewer regulatory hurdles to overcome, Chines drone delivery is being explored by a number of companies.

SF Express is testing a drone it has built for delivering packages to remote areas, according to Chinese media reports. The drone can hit an maximum altitude of 100 meters (328 feet) and deliver parcels within two meters of its target. It’s not clear what sort of weight these puppies can handle, but Beijing journalists calculated that it probably can’t carry more than 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds).

My favorite is the specialty bakery using drones to deliver cakes (see video below). They did get shut down for not getting the proper permissions, but not before they got some valuable experience.

The idea of drone delivery certainly has engendered a lot of strong feelings in people. Some folks embrace the possibilities, want to see what can come of this, while many others see only roadblocks (and they may be right). Personally, I see an ocean of possibility here. Even if the logistics prove impossible in certain, even most, situations, I still think there will be plenty of problems where drones might be the perfect solution. Delivery to remote sites seems like one starting point. Or delivery from one secure location to another. If point-to-point proves too difficult, drones could be used to connect two depots on opposite sides of a large city, where the start and end-points are controlled and bikes used to go the last mile.

The one thing that doesn’t click for me is the thought that this is impossible and not worth exploring. I say, bring on the impossible. It just makes us better.

Spectrometers have been around a long time, but the TellSpec proposes to be a pretty fascinating implementation. Point it at your food and it runs a spectral analysis, sends details on its findings to an app on your phone. Pretty cool. If it really works.

TellSpec is a three-part system which includes: (1) a spectrometer scanner (2) an algorithm that exists in the cloud; and (3) an easy-to-understand interface on your smart phone. Just aim the scanner at the food and press the button until it beeps. You can scan directly or through plastic or glass. TellSpec analyzes the findings using the algorithm and sends a report to your phone telling you the allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in the food. TellSpec is a fast, simple, and easy-to-use way to learn what’s in your food.

Before you budget for this piece of tech, be sure to read this debunking article from drop-kicker.com, then make up your own mind. Thanks to reader sheep for the heads up.

Steven Hoober published the results of his research back in February, but it’s really interesting.

Dates and cities have been announced.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY have amicably parted ways with longtime guitarist Nick Catanese and wish him the very best in his future musical endeavors. A replacement will be officially announced soon.

The end of an era for Zakk Wylde fans.