Steve Jobs’s yacht released

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From The Register:

The yacht was launched in October, with the team that worked on the custom-build project receiving a specially engraved iPod from the Jobs family. Starck, however, had been promised nine per cent of the estimated €150m cost of the boat as a commission, but the Jobs family claimed that Venus had not been as expensive as first planned and disputed the charge.

After the yacht completed sea trials and arrived the Port of Amsterdam earlier this month, Dutch bailiffs boarded her and put Venus in chains until the legal dispute was settled. The impounding order has now been lifted and a settlement achieved on Christmas Eve, Le Monde reports.

“The Venus is not under arrest,” said Gérard Moussault, the Dutch lawyer representing the Jobs family. “A solution has been found and a guarantee has been deposited in a bank account so that the boat can leave.” He declined comment on the exact amount.

Phew! That’s all right, then.

LinkedIn endorsements turn you into the product

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This morning’s Observer column.

for much of my time on LinkedIn, things have been mercifully quiet. There’s been the odd connection request from someone I know; a persistent stream of annoying invitations (always declined) from total strangers seeking to add me to their “professional network”; occasional requests from ex-colleagues for recommendations; notifications of achievements, promotions, awards etc that have come the way of my contacts. Small beer, really.

Recently, however, baffling emails from LinkedIn began to trickle into my inbox informing me that so-and-so had “endorsed” me. What it meant, apparently, is that so-and-so had affirmed that I do indeed possess the skills that my profile claims I have. Not having asked anyone for such endorsement, I was initially perplexed.

Then the trickle turned into a steady stream. It seemed that everyone on my contact list had, somehow, been badgered into confirming that my online CV wasn’t fraudulent…

eReading vs pReading

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Latest from the Pew Internet project.

The population of e-book readers is growing. In the past year, the number of those who read e-books increased from 16% of all Americans ages 16 and older to 23%. At the same time, the number of those who read printed books in the previous 12 months fell from 72% of the population ages 16 and older to 67%.

Overall, the number of book readers in late 2012 was 75% of the population ages 16 and older, a small and statistically insignificant decline from 78% in late 2011.

The move toward e-book reading coincides with an increase in ownership of electronic book reading devices. In all, the number of owners of either a tablet computer or e-book reading device such as a Kindle or Nook grew from 18% in late 2011 to 33% in late 2012. As of November 2012, some 25% of Americans ages 16 and older own tablet computers such as iPads or Kindle Fires, up from 10% who owned tablets in late 2011. And in late 2012 19% of Americans ages 16 and older own e-book reading devices such as Kindles and Nooks, compared with 10% who owned such devices at the same time last year.

Holiday reading

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One of the really nice things about Christmas is that the phone stops ringing and the tide of work-related email recedes, leaving time for reading. Here’s what’s I’m into just now:

Artemis Cooper’s biography of Patrick Leigh Fermor. Like many people I’ve been fascinated by Fermor ever since reading his two great travel books — A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water. I’ve long been curious to know what the rest of his life was like. Now I’m finding out.

Sebastian Seung’s Connectome: How the Brain’s Wiring Makes Us Who We Are.

Larry Lessig’s new book, Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress – and a Plan to Stop It.

Age of Fracture,a terrific work of intellectual history and the first really convincing account I’ve come across of how and why the post-war liberal consensus ran out of steam and was replaced by the neo-con nonsense that has got us into our current mess.

Too much brandy!

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Shortly after the cake had been iced, we noticed that Tux had gently subsided onto his back. “Hmmm…”, said the lovely maker of the cake, “I must have put too much brandy in it.”

Happy Christmas to any readers who happen to be passing by.