The BFF

http://steamwords.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/the-real-e-publishing-story-its-not-the-millionaires-its-the-midlist/

When Apple’s iPad arrived on the scene in 2010, many magazine and newspaper publishers saw it as a gift from the gods: a chance to turn back the clock and convince consumers to pay for their content in a new form. But for many, that dream has given way to the cruel reality that apps are at best a stop-gap measure, not a dramatic new business model. As MIT Technology Review editor and publisher Jason Pontin points out — in a post about why his magazine has decided to kill its app — the benefits don’t outweigh the negatives for both readers and publishers. It’s a lesson that some other content producers might want to consider.

http://lewisflude.tumblr.com/post/22457371154/if-the-internet-was-around-before-recorded-music-would

'In its case against 26 major record labels at British Columbia Supreme Court in Canada, BitTorrent index isoHunt has submitted a response to the copyright infringement allegations. The BitTorrent site argues that not only do they pose no threat to the music industry, it’s the copyright industry itself that’s threatening the freedom of expression of millions of people on the Internet.'

https://torrentfreak.com/record-labels-threaten-the-open-internet-isohunt-tells-court-120229/

A new report from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, using data from the Census Bureau’s Business Dynamics Statistics, shows that the number of start-ups in a given year declined from about 12 percent of all companies in the 1980s to less than 8 percent in 2010, the lowest point on record.

Fifteen officials of ECAD, the Brazilian organization in charge of collecting copyright licensing fees for music, face indictment after a Senate investigation there. The organization is the Brazilian counterpart to American collecting societies such as ASCAP and BMI. The Senate committee also recommended new legislation to overhaul the copyright licensing system in Brazil.
In the political arena, copyright debates are often portrayed as morality plays with industry incumbents as the good guys and file-sharing firms like Megaupload and the Pirate Bay wearing the black hats. Yet the controversy in Brazil is a useful reminder that the picture isn't always so black and white. Incumbents in Brazil and elsewhere have also skirted the law, taking money that rightfully belongs to artists or consumers.

'One such oddity has started causing an issue for apps that use the Dropbox SDK.  Apparently, apps have started to be rejected left and right because of a rogue link to a desktop version of the service that allows users to add more storage to their account.
That’s right, Apple has rules against allowing users to purchase things outside of the application.  If a service isn’t using Apple’s in-app purchase platform, it can’t provide an outside link to purchase a subscription service.'

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/05/02/apps-using-dropbox-are-being-rejected-because-apple-is-playing-hardball/

There is a war coming: Cory Doctorow on the future regulation of general purpose computation – videoSaying 'make me a computer that runs all the programs but doesn't have a spreadsheet feature' is not like saying 'make me a car without a phone'. Cory Doctorow, the digital journalist and campaigner, explains why the battle over copyright was just a warm-up for a much wider war over computation itself

The good thing about this book is it helps you set drupal up and will help successfully  install the MAMP server environment that you'll need to develop a website. The book explains git and drush which are both very useful. They should bring fear to every designer when they see a UNIX terminal. This book should get you through most of that hassle. The book though is OSX centered. It does cover window installs but I can't vouch for the information.

But that is where it ends! While this book will get drupal installed there are no explanations about creating content or theming. Not a mention of views, blocks or custom content fields or Drupals fabulous image settings. You'll need another book for that. Design and Prototyping for Drupal by the same author might get you what you need.

THE LOWDOWN: This book is only useful if MAMP, version control (GIT) and Drush are a mystery to you. And this will help! Anything else then look somewhere else.

One thing though :) Dani recommends Navicat as a database interface. I recommend sequelpro for OSX which is free and brilliant. TIP: While GIT does version control it backs up files only and not your database. Backup your database regularly, especially if everything works and you are going onto a new stage of development. Learning drupal, git and drush takes time. Do not rush this or it will be frustrating. But once you do get the hang of it it is very rewarding. Using StackOverflow.com and to a lesser extent IRC for questions should help you a lot.