Quinn Norton
Encyclopedia
Quinn Norton is a Washington DC-based journalist, photographer and blogger covering hacker culture
, intellectual property
and copyright
issues, and the Internet
. Up until early 2009, she lived and worked in San Francisco, where she was married to journalist Danny O'Brien
. Her work has appeared in Wired News
, The Guardian
, and O'Reilly Media
publications such as Make
magazine. She has also been a long-time fixture at O'Reilly's Foo Camp
. She has recently became a columnist for Maximum PC
magazine, primarily on the subject of copyright.
Norton has given a number of talks at technology conferences on the topic of body augmentation
, usually under the title "Body Hacking". As part of her research, she had a magnet
implanted in the tip of her ring finger, enabling her to sense magnetic field
s. The magnet eventually shattered and the pieces were later removed.
that would output all possible melodies
, and then copyrighting the resulting score. Any music made afterwards would, depending on licensing terms, therefore be a copyright violation. One possibility is that the completed work would be licensed under a noncommercial license
, thereby providing that people could make music, but never again be able to sell it.
Hacker culture
A hacker is a member of the computer programmer subculture originated in the 1960s in the United States academia, in particular around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 's Tech Model Railroad Club and MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory...
, intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
and copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
issues, and the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. Up until early 2009, she lived and worked in San Francisco, where she was married to journalist Danny O'Brien
Danny O'Brien
Danny O'Brien is an English technology journalist and civil liberties activist. He wrote weekly columns for the Sunday Times and the Irish Times; and before that for The Guardian, and acted as a consultant in helping The Guardian formulate its online strategy. He worked for the UK edition of...
. Her work has appeared in Wired News
Wired News
Wired News is an online technology news website, formerly known as HotWired, that split off from Wired magazine when the magazine was purchased by Condé Nast Publishing in the 1990s. Wired News was owned by Lycos not long after the split, until Condé Nast purchased Wired News on July 11, 2006...
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, and O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media is an American media company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books and Web sites and produces conferences on computer technology topics...
publications such as Make
Make (magazine)
Make is an American quarterly magazine published by O'Reilly Media which focuses on do it yourself and/or DIWO projects involving computers, electronics, robotics, metalworking, woodworking and other disciplines...
magazine. She has also been a long-time fixture at O'Reilly's Foo Camp
Foo Camp
Foo Camp is an annual hacker event hosted by publisher O'Reilly Media. O'Reilly describes it as "the wiki of conferences", where the program is developed by the attendees at the event, using big whiteboard schedule templates that can be rewritten or overwritten by attendees to optimize the schedule...
. She has recently became a columnist for Maximum PC
Maximum PC
Maximum PC, formerly known as boot, is an American magazine and web site published by Future US. It focuses on cutting-edge PC hardware, with an emphasis on product reviews, step-by-step tutorials, and in-depth technical briefs...
magazine, primarily on the subject of copyright.
Norton has given a number of talks at technology conferences on the topic of body augmentation
Body modification
Body modification is the deliberate altering of the human body for any non-medical reason, such as aesthetics, sexual enhancement, a rite of passage, religious reasons, to display group membership or affiliation, to create body art, shock value, or self expression...
, usually under the title "Body Hacking". As part of her research, she had a magnet
Magnet
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, and attracts or repels other magnets.A permanent magnet is an object...
implanted in the tip of her ring finger, enabling her to sense magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
s. The magnet eventually shattered and the pieces were later removed.
The Northpaw
Quinn has continued her experimentation with additional senses by helping to test Adam Skory's and Eric Boyd's North Paw device which is based on the feelSpace project. The Northpaw anklet is wholly electronic in nature as opposed to her experiment with an implanted rare earth magnet. It's a series of vibrating motors fashioned into a band with an electronic compass which continuously activates the northernmost buzzer. It doesn't convey the same electromagnetic sense as her original implant. (Skory and Boyd have made the Northpaw device available as a kit.)Quinn's Symphonic Conundrum
Quinn's Symphonic Conundrum is a conceptual prank involving writing and executing a computer programComputer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
that would output all possible melodies
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, and then copyrighting the resulting score. Any music made afterwards would, depending on licensing terms, therefore be a copyright violation. One possibility is that the completed work would be licensed under a noncommercial license
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
, thereby providing that people could make music, but never again be able to sell it.
External links
- quinnnorton.com - Personal domain
- Guardian Unlimited Quinn's Symphonic Conundrum
- NPR All Things Considered Radio Interview about the magnet in her finger and her body hacking story
- A Sixth Sense for a Wired World Article and pictures about her magnetic implant
- We Make Money Not Art A summary of her "Body Hacking" talk at the 23rd Chaos Communication Congress
- Quinn Norton's articles for Wired News
- Presenter at Cusp Conference 2008