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Harry Potter: the story so far

Well, of course if you’ve read the books you’ll know exactly how it’s going to end and how they got there for that matter. I read 2 or 3 of them about 8 years ago so I may have forgotten a detail or two. Who was the big beardy guy who …. ?

It seems to me that Harry Potter is as much the films as it is the books. More so in fact because of the wider audience. Hell, I never bought any of the books (got a lend of ’em at the time), but I do have a box set of the first 5 or 6 films. Yes, haven’t watched them either.

The whole thing is rather baffling, a bit like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze back in the early nineties, but this has gone on way longer … (too long if you ask me!)

So, has anyone made a “cam” version of the film yet? Come on Internet, it’s been out a day or two. Surely the “zero day” pirates already have it? I wonder how many kids will come across this post looking for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2 (CAM).avi”. Just go buy the books, and while you’re at it buy other books too and expand your mind.


But first, go watch this great chat between Richard Dawkins and Neil deGrasse on the Poetry of Science. That will blow your mind, a hell of a lot more than Harry Potter will do. There’s real magic in science. (Thanks Alex!)

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Harry Copter

Harry Copter

And for our next product, we’re bringing out a toy that makes pottery called “Harry The Potter”.

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Would you download the new Harry Potter book?

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Drmike says he found a site where you can download “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”.

Would you download a possibly incomplete copy of a new book? What if it’s not as polished as the finished item? Would the glaring grammatical mistakes, and unedited paragraphs ruin the experience for you?

What about the experience of lying in bed with a good book, engrossed in it and falling asleep with the light on? Is it the same with a set of printed sheets from your computer? I think not. That scene in The Devil Wears Prada does spring to mind where the kids are reading the manuscript on the train..

Meanwhile, Scott Adams has an excellent post on copyright violation which he later explained was an experiment in “cognitive dissonance”.

If you’ve read anything about experiments to produce cognitive dissonance, you know this was the perfect setup. You can produce dissonance by putting a person in a position of doing something that is clearly opposed to his self image. Then wait for his explanation. The explanation will seem absurd to anyone who doesn’t share the dissonance. In this case the model that produced it was…

1. Good people are not criminals.
2. Criminals break laws.
3. I break copyright laws.
4. But since I know I am a good person, my reason why it’s okay to violate copyright laws is (insert something absurd).

I don’t think it worked on me because I happen to agree with him that copyright violation is theft. Previous mind experiments have however worked on me so I’m as susceptable as anyone. His underpants story was particularly absurd however, even if in keeping with his sense of humour and not at all out of place on the Dilbert blog!

Reading Harry Potter at WordCamp

21st July – the book is out and I’ve seen it. I took a picture of the last page but I don’t think anyone really wants to see it, do you? There’s Michael reading his copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows!