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Tuesday, July 29, 2003 |
Morons Dot Org
Morons in the News: Another morons.org Milestone. Yesterday marked a year since the release of morons.org 2.0!9:18:16 PM 
Howl into the void []
Oliver Willis: Like Kryptonite To Stupid
EPM: Jenna & The Times. My idea of the Emerging Pornographic Majority is rushing furiously to life (perhaps a book should be written), and a topless picture of Jenna Jameson in the New York Times screams "Welcome To The 21st Century". The pictures will be...9:17:24 PM Howl into the void []
Oliver Willis: Like Kryptonite To Stupid
Dean Has Momentum. I think one of the worst mistakes the Democrats could make would be to ask Republicans who they should run for President. The most favored candidate on the right has been Joe Lieberman, who tends to rank somewhere south of...9:17:22 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Sharon Tells Bush Israel Won't Halt Its Fence Project8:18:39 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Bush Refuses to Declassify Saudi Section of Report8:18:38 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Oh, if Only the G.I.'s Would Come Marching In8:18:37 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
The Military: New Top General Tells Legislators U.S. Will Probably Need a Larger Army8:18:37 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Washington: Senators Assail 2 Officials for Lack of Postwar Details8:18:36 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Hello Son of Star Wars - Goodbye Low Earth Orbit. Weaponizing SpaceThe Case Against
Four Myths about Space Power - From Parameters, US Army War College Quarterly
Star wars could make space unusable
8:18:35 PM Howl into the void []
Corante: Corante on Blogging
Jake Ludington reports that everyone at Gnomedex is talking about RSS and cites what he likes about it but concludes that it's not "the magic bullet to catalyze the Internet to new sales heights."
8:18:12 PM Howl into the void []
Oliver Willis: Like Kryptonite To Stupid
The Arm. This is the most important man in Washington D.C. He doesn't have to be elected, his judge and jury are not on the field but instead are assembled in the stadiums and living rooms of the nation's capital and its...8:18:08 PM Howl into the void []
Oliver Willis: Like Kryptonite To Stupid
What's Up With The White House?. Whether President Bush is as dumb as the left thinks he is, or as smart as the right claims that he is - I think the intelligence of the people propping him up goes without saying. Of course, this intelligence...8:18:07 PM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Dinner on Thursday?. BTW - I know the link says 'live music' - but I called and there isn't any on Thurs. Posted by David Galbraith8:17:36 PM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Dinner on Thursday?. OK, how about Cafe Bastille in Belden place 7:30, Thurs? Its not too fancy and is downtown. The downstairs is relatively quiet or there is an outdoor area. Belden@Bush http://www.sfstation.com/cafes/cafebastille/ Posted by David Galbraith8:17:34 PM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Hardly Anyone Cares About Computer Voting Problems8:17:10 PM Howl into the void []
birdhouse.org
Hedwig Stars, Tom Waits To Perform at Matthew Sperry Benefit Concert. For the most part, I've tried to keep Matthew Sperry-related info at matthewsperry.org and not x-post here, but this is exciting: The big benefit concert scheduled for this Thursday, which was already looking really exciting, just got bigger. Tom Waits has confirmed that he will perform, so it should be a sold-out house. Details here. If you're in the Bay Area, definitely consider turning up - it was going to be great even before Waits...7:18:19 PM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Sharp Zaurus SL-C750 (P)reviewed7:17:57 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Pursuing Hussein, U.S. Captures 175 in Dozens of Raids7:17:23 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Liberia Rejects Cease-Fire Offer as Rebels Pound Capital Anew7:17:22 PM Howl into the void []
X-POLLEN
Memory transplants.Well, I bit the bullet, installed some perl nodes and migrated over the entries in my LiveJournal, bodega, from January through October of 2002 (and a single entry from June of this year) to this X-POLLEN weblog.
I've been doing a bunch of migrations moving other sites from Radio to Movable Type and from Blogger to Movable Type. This one relied heavily on advice from Amanita.
When I hit the one year mark over at Radio Free Blogistan I added the MTOnThisDate plugin and started showing entries from the previous (or next) year on main and archive pages at RFB. I may do the same thing here. I intend to keep drilling back and adding old journal pages to this one repository.
Next is the couple-three entries done at Shallows using Blogger. That will be easy. Then I need to extract the Still Breathing entries from Diaryland, and finally, I'll have to manually convert the handcoded pages of Breathing Room. That will take me back to 1997. The only earlier weblog-like thing I did was a crisis journal called "The Daily Barbie" that is more properly part of Enterzone and not the kind of personal blog/diary represented by those other sites and this one.
7:17:20 PM Howl into the void []
X-POLLEN
Long time no LJ.I think my paid membership at LiveJournal may have lapsed, taking away some of the RSS features I was using to stay in touch with my old small friends community. I'd still like to port my LJ entries over to X-POLLEN or into some yet undetermined system like textpattern of ftrain. Need to simplify.
7:17:16 PM Howl into the void []
Corante: Corante on Blogging
Lee Gomes says, in the Wall Street Journal (sub req), that "we'll soon see the end of the social infrastructure that currently exists around trends" and the erosion of the "trend-anointing caste" as "trend-spotting [is] put in the hands of common folk" via blogs and sites like Technorati and Daypop.
7:17:10 PM Howl into the void []
Oliver Willis: Like Kryptonite To Stupid
George Bush: Soft On Terrorism. I'll have more on our Saudi gyrations later, but this story just popped up as MSNBC's top story at this hour: Did war compromise al-Qaida hunt? BUT, AS "Operation Enduring Freedom" kept al-Qaida on the run, the White House was...6:18:33 PM Howl into the void []
Morons Dot Org
Reader-Submitted: The Bumbling Manipulator. The Nation reveals the subtle manipulation behind the words of our speech mangler 'n' chief.6:18:09 PM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Python 2.3 Final Released6:17:49 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Fires Kill at Least 4 and Ravage Forests on French Riviera6:17:39 PM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Morse Code Migrating To The Net5:18:22 PM Howl into the void []
Morons Dot Org
Signs of Intelligence: Pentagon Scraps Terrorism Betting Scheme. A follow-up5:17:52 PM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Stealing Bandwidth. It had never occurred to me that this was something that upset people. I don't think I've ever included an image from a remote site on my page (can't think why I'd want to) but I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who would never think, "I am costing someone money." Internet content seems so free to the average web surfer, I bet you have to be hosting a site and hit a bandwidth limit before you even give it a thought. So I think it's best to be polite about it. I dunno; maybe there are people out there who do this maliciously (that would be awful) but I bet most people just think "hey there's this image out there I want people to be able to see on my page." Posted by Andrew5:17:22 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia Resource Feed
Displaying Stock Information with the Stock History Sample Application4:19:33 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia Resource Feed
Choosing a Shopping Cart4:19:31 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia Resource Feed
Tuning Performance in JRun4:19:29 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia Resource Feed
Invisible Ideas Project: Macromedia Flash, GPS, and Mobile Devices4:19:27 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia Resource Feed
JDs Forum: Midsummer Wrap Up4:19:25 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia Resource Feed
Making Documents Viewable Online with Macromedia FlashPaper4:19:22 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia Resource Feed
Security Enhancements in Macromedia Contribute 24:19:20 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia Resource Feed
Adding E-Commerce with Contribute in 10 Minutes4:19:18 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia Resource Feed
Deploying Contribute to Departments or Enterprises-Revised for Version 24:19:15 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Movie Time!. Make Your Own Movie. Actually, what I think I love best about this is the stereotypically hipster-esque cast of character options. Ahh, cartoon hipsters!4:18:43 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
the importance of copyright. Buymusic.com may be acquiring their [approx equal]¥[fl]300,000 song[approx equal]¥ÿ music catalog from distributors who have no rights to the digital distribution of the songs. In other words, piracy on a massive, corporate, for profit scale.4:18:35 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
an unveiling. Qur[approx equal]¥úan in Aramaic? Virgins become raisins, veils become belts. "Luxenberg[approx equal]¥ús chief hypothesis is that the original language of the Qur[approx equal]¥úan was not Arabic but something closer to Aramaic. He says the copy of the Qur[approx equal]¥úan used today is a mistranscription of the original text from Muhammad[approx equal]¥ús time, which according to Islamic tradition was destroyed by the third caliph, Osman, in the seventh century. But Arabic did not turn up as a written language until 150 years after Muhammad[approx equal]¥ús death, and most learned Arabs at that time spoke a version of Aramaic."4:18:31 PM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Chinese "Dragon" Chip On Sale4:18:19 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia - Designer Developer Center
Displaying Stock Information with the Stock History Sample Application by Mike Chambers; re: Macromedia Flash.4:18:05 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia - Designer Developer Center
Choosing a Shopping Cart by Paul Whitham; re: Dreamweaver.4:18:02 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia - Designer Developer Center
Tuning Performance in JRun by Eric Anderson; re: JRun.4:18:01 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia - Designer Developer Center
Invisible Ideas Project: Macromedia Flash, GPS, and Mobile Devices by Bill Perry; re: Macromedia Flash.4:17:58 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia - Designer Developer Center
JDs Forum: Midsummer Wrap Up by John Dowdell; re: Contribute, FlashPaper.4:17:56 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia - Designer Developer Center
Making Documents Viewable Online with Macromedia FlashPaper by Dennis Griffin; re: FlashPaper.4:17:54 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia - Designer Developer Center
Security Enhancements in Macromedia Contribute 2 by Donald S. Booth; re: Contribute.4:17:52 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia - Designer Developer Center
Adding E-Commerce with Contribute in 10 Minutes by Eric Ott; re: Contribute.4:17:50 PM Howl into the void []
Macromedia - Designer Developer Center
Deploying Contribute to Departments or Enterprises-Revised for Version 2 by Macromedia; re: Contribute.4:17:47 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Playtarot. PlayTarot -- the major arcana depicted with Playmobil.3:19:39 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
The language of threatening letters to King David. Czech linguist Bedrich Hrozny first identified Hittite in 1915. It's an extinct Indo-European language that I thought would be of limited interest when I mentioned it in a previous post. However, I've been urged to share some related links, like this one which explains why Hittite is a black sheep in the IE family, this one, which contrasts the phonetics of Hittite and its relatives, a morphology page with many examples in Hittite and a short description of the relationship between Hittite and Sanskrit.If you haven't gotten your fill, there's Translated Hittite texts
3:19:37 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Sponsor Seth's. Sponsor Seth's ride for cancer in the PMC Seth Dillingham, a weblogger and creator of the Free-Conversant weblogging service, has been training for months to ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge this weekend. The PMC hopes to raise $16 Million for the Jimmy Fund in support of cancer research and treatment.4000 riders are registered to ride the approximately 200 mile route, and each rider needs a $2500 sponsorship to qualify for the ride. Seth needs about $750 more to qualify, but there are only a few days left to raise this amount. Please donate!
3:19:27 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
the importance of copyright. Buymusic.com may be acquiring their ?300,000 song? music catalog from distributors who have no rights to the digital distribution of the songs. In other words, piracy on a massive, corporate, for profit scale.3:19:21 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
an unveiling. Qur?an in Aramaic? Virgins become raisins, veils become belts. "Luxenberg?s chief hypothesis is that the original language of the Qur?an was not Arabic but something closer to Aramaic. He says the copy of the Qur?an used today is a mistranscription of the original text from Muhammad?s time, which according to Islamic tradition was destroyed by the third caliph, Osman, in the seventh century. But Arabic did not turn up as a written language until 150 years after Muhammad?s death, and most learned Arabs at that time spoke a version of Aramaic."3:19:18 PM Howl into the void []
bOing bOing
Nano Cartoon3:18:41 PM Howl into the void []
Dan Gillmor's eJournal
A Move Toward Protecting Digital Privacy. Cnet: U.S. lawmaker wants limits to spyware.Rep. Mary Bono introduced a bill Monday that would take the "spy" out of...3:18:31 PM Howl into the void []
David Harris' Science & Literature
Are you yawning yet? How about now?."Self-aware or empathetic people are more likely to catch the yawns, say US researchers," reports Nature Science Update.
We still don't know very much about why we yawn but the common urban myth about the yawn as a way of the body getting more oxygen has been disproved.
3:18:23 PM Howl into the void []
John Robb's Weblog
Joel: E-mail condoms.3:17:53 PM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Rechargeable Batteries - Yes or No?3:17:36 PM Howl into the void []
Corante: Social Software
V-2 Calls for Social Networking Metadata. Adam Greenfield over at v-2 has some interesting observations about participation in social networking services, spurred by the appearance of Tribe.net:I've spent, maybe, six hours of my life building up a beachhead at Friendster: fleshing out a profile, writing testimonials, uploading pictures. By the time LinkedIn came along, I could hardly be bothered to do the minimum necessary to look credible. Now, with Tribe, unless it shows real signs of critical mass and robust utility, I'll doubt I'll be motivated to do much more than a pro-forma signup. And the next one won't even get that.Though I sympathize with the sentiment, I doubt the conclusion. The *only* thing these services have to base a business on is lack of interoperability -- as noted here earlier, LinkedIn specifically forbids users from including contact details in requests, to prevent users from contacting one another out of band. Were LinkedIn to open up, they would lose all the leverage they have in charging for the service, since users, not LinkedIn, would control their data.There needs to be an open metadata standard in this area, or none of these services is going to survive for long enough to gain momentum and reach beyond the initial membership cliques. These services need to be interoperable.
Much liklier is that this is a game of over-building and collapse. Most of the YASNS sites doomed, because network effects favor the larger over the small. Like IM, the standards are likely to be set by the commercial victors, because while everyone might benefit from an open metadata standard, the benefits would be spread so evenly as to deflect commercial investment.
2:19:03 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
With Hussein as Target, U.S. Launches Dozens of Raids2:18:50 PM Howl into the void []
Christian Science Monitor
US raids keep pressure on Hussein2:18:30 PM Howl into the void []
Christian Science Monitor
Foreign visits to US drop sharply2:18:29 PM Howl into the void []
Christian Science Monitor
Schwarzenegger's demur complicates race2:18:27 PM Howl into the void []
Christian Science Monitor
Next door, lessons for Liberia2:18:25 PM Howl into the void []
Christian Science Monitor
Shuttered Bug: Mexico rolls out its last classic Beetle2:18:24 PM Howl into the void []
bOing bOing
Newsweek's Stephen Levy: Capitol Hill P2P Prohibition craziness2:18:16 PM Howl into the void []
bOing bOing
Music legend Lester Chambers' album collection stolen -- call for help2:18:14 PM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Cyber Sleuths vs. Secret Networks2:17:55 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
the importance of copyright. Buymusic.com may be acquiring their [approx equal]¥[fl]300,000 song[approx equal]¥ÿ music catalog from distributors who have no rights to the digital distribution of the songs. In other words, piracy on a massive, corporate, for profit scale.2:17:45 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Inspiration for Change. Severn Cullis-Suzuki is best known as the eldest daughter of environmentalist David Suzuki, and famous for her speech at the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit. Since that time she has travelled internationally as a public speaker and environmental activist. Now Severn has chosen to break out of her father's shadow, and that of her childhood speech, to focus on grassroots projects that emphasize action instead of only talking about the state of the world. She is the founder of the Skyfish Project, a forum for environmental discussion. It is also where she first presented the Recognition of Responsibility to encourage individuals to take the pledge towards sustainable living.2:17:43 PM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Dinner on Thursday?. OK it's Tuesday afternoon PST and where's the man with the plan. Please don't tell me this is going to be a chaordic, self organizing effort! Where's Sam? Call me at 415-296-9401. Posted by Marc Canter2:17:17 PM Howl into the void []
the reverse cowgirl's blog
Bukkake Artist Needs Your Help.
Skye Ashbrook is a graffiti artist interested in bringing the word "bukkake" to the streets of her fair city--Austin, Texas--one stencil at a time. To do so, though, Skye needs your help. She wants to know the Japanese character spelling of bukkake, so she can, well, bukkake Austin with it.
Here's how Skye explains her bukkake-based art project:
"In Austin, there is a decent amount of stencil work going on--lots of regular girls & porn-star girl-type imagery, some political figures, some random crap. I have a stencil I want to add on top of other stencils, adding to them, transforming an average porn-star, politician, or movie star stencil into a well-labeled bukkake scene. There is a Marilyn Monroe stencil that just needs a little bit extra--I guess that's what started it all. It's been there for months, un-touched, no additions, nothing. People seem to think it's sacred? Not sure, but I think it's unfinished. I was also thinking that with the upcoming political season and impending elections, the bukkake stencil could nicely modify the huge mugshots of the candidates that will be popping up everywhere."
I know I'm inspired. Skye has a Japanese Language translator on her computer, so if you know the phonetic spelling of bukkake in Japanese, she's also interested.
In addition, Skye wonders:
"Do you know of any songs that have thus touched on the subject of bukkake?"
I don't. Do you?
Of course, if you'd like the latest in breaking bukkake news, check out this story about the Superman of soup men, "Jack Off Star Makes Splash in Face of Adversity," sent in by RCB pal and enemy of Scientology, Mark Ebner.
Email me your bukkake info here. Skye and I, not to mention the City of Austin and the international art world, thank you.
1:21:10 PM Howl into the void []
She's Actual Size, Nationwide, Believe
Re: Lessons Learned
I've been having some, shall we say, "anger management" issues lately, and my aunt the certified counselor took it upon herself to help me get some things out in the open.
One of the things she asked me was if I would ever allow a relationship (any relationship) that ended badly to be rekindled.
It was an interesting question. I've had very few relationships go bad, at least in any way I'd notice. Most of the parting of ways I've had was by mutual agreement and would not generally want to be rekindled by either party.
In a situation where I had wronged someone badly enough to warrent a severing of ties, I'm sure I would want to rekindle. And what really surprised me was that I would even be willing to rekindle a relationship with someone who'd wronged me, unless it seemed like I'd put myself in the same situation that allowed myself to be wronged.
I was actually pretty surprised. I have always thought of myself as the holding a grudge type, but it looks like I'm mellowing in my old age.
I think I'm beginning to feel that being right or being protected isn't as important as taking chances on someone who might just turn out to be worth it. Of course, more often than not, they aren't, but into each life some pain and betrayal must fall. What's the big deal? You get hurt, you learn your lesson, you get over it.
1:20:16 PM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
U.S. Is Lovin' McDonald's. Plus, Berkshire's billion, and low-fare Atlantic Coast Air.1:19:56 PM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
60 Seconds to an ETF. Invest in an exchange traded fund in 60 seconds or less.1:19:51 PM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
Blockbuster CEO Talks Competition. David and Tom Gardner talk business with CEO John Antioco.1:19:47 PM Howl into the void []
Morons Dot Org
Random: Stories we missed on Jul. 26, 2003. Here are URLs that were submitted to our queue on Jul. 26, 2003 but didn't make it into actual stories...1:19:36 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Senators Assail Bush Aides for Lack of Data on Iraq's Future1:19:17 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Liberian Reconsidering Plan to Resign1:19:14 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
White House Rejects Request From Saudis to Declassify Report1:19:11 PM Howl into the void []
X-POLLEN
Pictures of the boys.When I was in New York I got to spend one evening with my mom, brother, sister-in-law, and nephews, who have since turned one year old.
As is often the case, most of the pictures I took came out blurry, but some seemed worth preserving, even with motion lines.
I tried using the flash, but it made things so high-contrast. Finally, I shot a couple-twenty seconds of video, just to capture the whole flow.
1:19:04 PM Howl into the void []
Gawker
Mannahatta: the new Pianos?. A citysearch review of Mannahatta on Bowery, titled "interesting surprise": "I decided to go in for a drink and I...1:18:54 PM Howl into the void []
Gawker
Madonna's new Gap ads. Columnist James Lileks on Madonna's new Gap ad campaign: "So Madonna will be the Gap spokeshag this fall. She's part...1:18:51 PM Howl into the void []
Gawker
Gawker stalker. á Federico Castelluccio aka Furio Giunta holding court at an al fresco 8 top 9:00 PM Monday evening 28 July...1:18:45 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Lesbians move product!. Do men deserve it? A new commercial for lingerie airing in the UK shows an attractive woman getting ready for her date (putting on a number of sexy unmentionables), then walking by all the men at the bar to kiss her equally lovely girlfriend, sitting alone waiting for her. The tagline implies the lingerie is too sexy to waste on men. (warning: Quicktime)1:18:33 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Dear baby, welcome to dumpsville. Population: you.. Fifteen ways to leave your lover. In seventh grade, my then girlfriend had her best friend dump me. On the bus. I thought that was hell. I was wrong. The Guardian, in tribute to a Malaysian man that divorced his wife via text message, lists the fifteen harshest break-ups in history.1:18:29 PM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Dinner on Thursday?. I'd love to go! I'll be in town and would love a chance to meet more bloggers. Posted by Kevin Lawver1:18:15 PM Howl into the void []
bOing bOing
SEEMEN Machine art show in SF on August 11:17:37 PM Howl into the void []
bOing bOing
Bigfoot Symposium1:17:35 PM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Citizens' Protection in Federal Databases Act Introduced1:17:16 PM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
(Solar) Power to the Masses1:17:14 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Israel to Continue Building Security Fence Criticized by Bush12:20:09 PM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
White House Rejects Request From Saudis to Declassify 9/11 Report12:20:07 PM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
Living Below Your Means. So, how did you get out of debt?12:20:03 PM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
Berkshire's Billion. Who will win as Berkshire Hathaway insures Pepsi's billion-dollar sweepstakes?12:20:01 PM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
U.S. Is Lovin' McDonald's. A weak dollar helped out overseas, while the burger giant found homebase success.12:19:58 PM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
Achieve Your Financial Goals. Most goals involve money. Here's how to make those dreams a reality.12:19:56 PM Howl into the void []
Gawker
The mob gets dot-commed. The Mob Project has been turned into a dot com. A website called Flocksmart will allow users to organize mobs...12:18:50 PM Howl into the void []
Gawker
Gothamist's interview with Rocco's kitchen manager. Gothamist has a friend whose cousin is the kitchen manager at Rocco DiSpirito's new restaurant/reality TV show. (That means that,...12:18:46 PM Howl into the void []
John Robb's Weblog
Customer Service and K-Logs. What customer activities have shifted to the Web (based on a Forrester study on the sales of complex goods):- Researching product information (90%)
- Comparing product features and prices (58%)
- Contacting customer service (56%)
- Locating a store or distributor (42%)
- Checking product availability (36%)
Which of these activities could be enhanced by corporate use of weblogging?
- A weblog, built and maintained by a product manager, could provide customers with an active resource on the products they are deciding to buy.
- This could be accomplished by building a spreadsheet comparing (feature by feature) several different products, and publishing to a weblog as an additional page accessed by the navigation system. Additional comparison info could be presented in a weblog format for easy consumption.
- Contacting customer service on most sites is painful. Additionally, the FAQs and resource databases seem put together by monkeys (albeit highly paid ones). A simple way to generate an extremely valuable and organic customer service data is to have each rep publish a weblog. The question, including keywords, is the title of the post. The answer is the response.
- Not really applicable, but for many companies the local outlet doesn't have an effective Web presence (not even for coupons, specials, etc.). A simple weblog with a corporate template would suffice.
- New poducts should be hyped via a weblog. Features, improvements, etc would all factor into the weblog's posts. A simple countdown clock would track the days or hours to availability.
12:18:40 PM Howl into the void []
Tomalak's Realm
News.Com: Yahoo settles patent dispute. The company sued Yahoo in December, accusing it of infringing 10 patents related to e-commerce technology that alerts customers to the availability of a product or the details of an order when they attempt to purchase something online.12:18:11 PM Howl into the void []
Tomalak's Realm
Law.Com: From December 30, 2002; Yahoo-NCR Patent Dispute Heats Up12:18:08 PM Howl into the void []
bOing bOing
Nerve: Sex in the age of phonecams12:18:02 PM Howl into the void []
bOing bOing
Citizens' Protection in Federal Databases Act12:17:59 PM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Specs for Sony PSP Handheld12:17:53 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Cinematographica. The exciting hobby of collecting Cinematographica is a great resource whether you are a collector or if you just found some old family home movie relics. Browse the 100 Years of Film Sizes or salivate over the author's own collection. Perhaps, you, a do-it yourselfer like myself, do have some old family movies laying around that you want to digitalize. Read the tips about converting before you jump in and possibly spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.12:17:40 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Get Your Straight Pride Shirts Here. Are you a breeder and don't care who knows it? Show the world by wearing one of these delightful straight pride t-shirts. Display it at the next straight pride march!12:17:32 PM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Guilty Until Proven Innocent at Colby-Sawyer College. I hope you have your consent forms. According to page 23 of The 2003-2004 Colby Sawyer Student Handbook, students accused of date rape are expected to provide "evidence of unequivocal consent" to defend themselves from the charge. The handbook does not state what constitutes "evidence of unequivocal consent".11:22:46 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Yep that's what he said. Responses to Bush's 2003 "State of the Union" Address put together by the folks at IPA expands the analysis of the speech a bit beyond the yellowcake issue. (Via Plastic)11:22:37 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
You can call me Ray. Ray's Place: Ever since Jeremias turned me on to Achewood back in November, I've been hooked. Some of y'all at that time objected to Chris Olmstead's drawing style, which is, admittedly, an acquired taste. Well, now in the interest of not doing as much work, he's given popular character Ray a weekly advice column, "Ray's Place." Bearing in mind that Ray is a self-centered cat with a swingin' lifestyle, this almost redeems the whole well-worn format of Internet advice column.11:22:31 AM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
InterVideo Poised to Roll. Jeff Fischer describes the many positive aspects of InterVideo.11:22:08 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Israel to Continue Building Security Fence Criticized by Bush11:21:57 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Pentagon Abandons Plan for Futures Market on Terror11:21:53 AM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
The Web Programming CD Bookshelf11:20:30 AM Howl into the void []
Gawker
Remainders. á 100 years of New York City [via MeFi] á NYC mob article #376 á National parks in Manhattan [via...11:20:10 AM Howl into the void []
Gawker
To-Do List. 1. Catch Supergrass at Irving Plaza. 2. See Pasolini's "Arabian Nights" at the Film Forum. 3. Try the grilled octopus...11:20:06 AM Howl into the void []
Corante: Corante on Blogging
Matt Haughey: "With the advent of features like this at Technorati to tie multiple weblogs to a person, and tools like this to find similar weblogs, why can't these tools say 'you may also enjoy these 5 weblogs' whenever I check for updates?..."11:19:58 AM Howl into the void []
Corante: Corante on Blogging
Larry Weber, the PR exec and entrepreneur, says, in an article pointed to by Anil, that he's thinking about building a new venture that looks to blogs and other new media formats as he builds "the marketing organization of the future."
11:19:51 AM Howl into the void []
Corante: Corante on Blogging
Donna Wentworth points, in a discussion of the influence blogs may have on political discourse, to several articles John Hiler published last year and says, "[He] looks at the trees to envision the forest, rather than vice versa--and in so doing, comes as close as anyone has to pinpointing what makes the weblog form/function unique."
11:19:46 AM Howl into the void []
Fanatical Apathy
Opting In for Freedom. Telemarketers are suing the government over the new national do-not-call list (which can be found here). Their argument is that...11:19:18 AM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Custom System Development. Best of luck Joe!... Excerpt from Archipelago11:18:21 AM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Dinner on Thursday?. I will be "there"... Looking forward to it! - Mark Posted by Mark Graham11:18:17 AM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Telemarketers Sue Over "Do Not Call" List10:22:16 AM Howl into the void []
Tomalak's Realm
NY Times: Subpoenas Sent to File-Sharers Prompt Anger and Remorse. A blizzard of subpoenas from the recording industry seeking the identities of people suspected of illegally swapping music is provoking fear, anger and professions of remorse as the targets of the antipiracy dragnet learn that they may soon be sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.10:21:46 AM Howl into the void []
Tomalak's Realm
Digital Web Magazine: An interview with Jeffrey Veen. There are amazing things happening on the Web, and, interestingly enough, most businesses couldn't imagine living without it. We're spending an increasing amount of our time at Adaptive Path trying to understand the value of a quality user experience.10:21:43 AM Howl into the void []
John Robb's Weblog
ROI calculations: K-Logs vs. traditional Intranet Portals10:21:37 AM Howl into the void []
Scott Rosenberg's Links & Comment
Bomber bingo!
The news that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Association (DARPA) --
the agency whose predecessors were responsible for the primordial
development of the Internet -- has planned to open an anonymous global
futures market or gambling parlor in which participants can bet on
future terrorist acts has elicited understandable perplexity and
consternation. Sen. Byron Dorgan tells the New York Times he has had
trouble persuading people it's not a hoax.
But the project does not seem quite so outlandish if you are versed in the latest trendy theories of the market and emergent behavior. The Web is full of these operations, play markets in celebrity and reputation, most of them relatively frivolous or fun, like blogshares or the Hollywood Stock Exchange. Why not harness the collective wisdom of the market to save terror victims' lives? Why not let the invisible hand stop the terrorist's hand?
Here's why.
Markets depend on good information. The DARPA plan is based on the theory that an open market will draw out the best information from multiple sources. That's fine if, in fact, the incentive of making money in the market is strong enough to overcome other motivations of participants. If you were a terrorist planning an attack, would you try to make a little money on the side by using your insider knowledge to place a winning bet? Or would you allocate a little extra money in your operating budget to placing decoy bets to delude those who you knew were turning to the U.S. military-funded terror market for intelligence? Or would you simply stay away, distrusting the market's anonymity mechanism on the assumption that its American designers will have built in some sort of back door? It's nearly impossible to imagine any set of circumstances in which this market would provide untainted information.
Which leads us to the other problem, which just exploded in the face of the Bush administration: How could the folks at DARPA not understand that they had created an unbelievable PR gaffe? What tone-deaf idiot there couldn't see that the relatives of victims of terror attacks or the families of soldiers risking their lives ostensibly to fight terrorism might find it a wee bit disturbing that the government was funding an operation which, if it worked properly, would allow terrorists to profit from their knowledge of their plans?
Here it is useful to remember that today's version of DARPA is the same outfit that brought us the infamous Total Information Awareness program. And all these brilliant efforts have been spearheaded by Admiral John Poindexter-- who apparently learned nothing from his years fending off conspiracy charges relating to his last bout of foreign policy innovation in the Iran-contra scandal.
If there were a futures market in Poindexter's career it would just have cratered.
POSTCRIPT Apparently this project has already met a swift end. Think of it as a sort of anaerobic-bacteria idea -- hatched in the darkness of an agency, unable to survive once exposed to the oxygen of public awareness.
10:20:41 AM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
Kingfish of the Hill. Finding Nemo swims ahead with Disney along for the ride.10:20:20 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
A sordid tale. Diego Garcia islanders await call to go home. 'Cherry and thousands of other islanders were the victims of a brutal depopulation strategy by Britain in the 1960s and 1970s which sought to hand over an empty island to the United States for use as a key military base. The depopulation campaign ended in 1973 with the removal of the last islanders, who were dumped on the quays of the Mauritian capital, Port Louis ... 'The Chagos Islands: A sordid tale. 'The story involves "bribes" from the United States, racism among senior civil servants, and the UK Government deceiving parliament and the United Nations.'
The Chagos archipelago: Decolonisation and human rights., by the Southern African Human Rights NGO Network, includes a brief history of the islands from original settlement by French settlers and African slaves. 'For a people as a whole to be actually victimised by the act of forced eviction from their homeland must be the most humiliating, supreme injustice and degrading treatment any people can be made to undergo. '
10:19:55 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
an unveiling. Qur[approx equal]¥úan in Aramaic? Virgins become raisins, veils become belts. "Luxenberg[approx equal]¥ús chief hypothesis is that the original language of the Qur[approx equal]¥úan was not Arabic but something closer to Aramaic. He says the copy of the Qur[approx equal]¥úan used today is a mistranscription of the original text from Muhammad[approx equal]¥ús time, which according to Islamic tradition was destroyed by the third caliph, Osman, in the seventh century. But Arabic did not turn up as a written language until 150 years after Muhammad[approx equal]¥ús death, and most learned Arabs at that time spoke a version of Aramaic."10:19:49 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Hussein Bodyguard Is Captured in Series of Raids in Tikrit10:19:35 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Bush Warns Israelis About Dangers to Peace Process10:19:32 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Liberia's Rebels Declare New Cease - Fire10:19:30 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
White House Won't Declassify Saudi Material in 9/11 Report10:19:27 AM Howl into the void []
David Harris' Science & Literature
Nuclear weapons funding.Bush's requests for increased funding of nuclear weapons programs has been curbed by the US House of Representatives. The best summary of this is at the American Institute of Physics' FYI newsletter. There are two relevant reports: #99 and #100.
From #99:
Two controversial requests by the Bush Administration regarding the nuclear weapons programs were significantly constrained by the House when it passed H.R. 2754, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill for FY 2004. The Administration's request of $15.0 million for a new type of weapon, the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, was reduced to $5.0 million. The House did not provide the requested $6.0 million for other advanced concepts definition studies.
What this basically means is that the House has no confidence in the need for or the ability of nuclear "bunker-busting" bombs.
A key point made in the House report is that the current budgetary situation prevents good decision making. Currently, the Department of Defense (DOD) tells the Department of Energy (DOE) what it requires for nuclear weapon readiness but without providing the money to do so. DOE must then juggle the rest of its budget to make that happen. As such, the amount of money to be spent on nuclear weapons is never actually compared with other defense requirements (within DOD), nor is it compared with other alternative investments in R&D that could achieve preferable goals (within DOE). We're talking about $6 billion dolllars each year and the House Committee has shown that it is not convinced that money is being well spent.
From #100:
Two Bush Administration requests regarding the nuclear weapons program were either curtailed or rejected. This FYI provides report language explaining the denial of funding to reduce the current 24-36 month test readiness posture at the Nevada test site to the proposed 18 months.
Some extracts from the House Committee's report:
Neither past performance nor any program or planning documentation provided to the Committee supports the Department's contention that an additional $100 million over three years and a $45 million increment every year thereafter is likely to result in a consistent 6 to 12 month improvement in test readiness posture when the current requirement has not been successfully maintained.
The proposal reflects a disturbing 'cost is no object' perspective in the Department's decision making process.
The Committee does not recognize the NNSA declaring a revised test readiness posture as a new requirement nor is it convinced that the decision can be successfully implemented based on the planning information provided to date. The Committee challenges the NNSA to work within the significant funding provided each year for its site readiness activities to demonstrate the ability to meet its current requirements before additional funds are added to meet a more problematic goal.
10:19:09 AM Howl into the void []
Radio Free Blogistan
Beyond title, link, description.Jake Ludington's been posting some thoughts about RSS in his weblog, since Gnomedex just ended and RSS was in the air there.
He questions whether RSS is "all that", allowing that "RSS (or something like it) is permanently changing the way online publishers deliver content," but pointing out that "RSS isn't the magic bullet to catalyze the Internet to new sales heights."
In his next entry, Jake looks at some of the things RSS isn't the perfect solution for, giving a few examples, such as this one:
For non-computer related data, other schemas could be established. For instance, if you were wanting to organize data about a baseball game, metadata for all pitching, fielding, and hitting statistics could go a long way toward automating every fantasy league site (for all I know, this has been done).
10:18:29 AM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Dinner on Thursday?. +1 on pool -1 on dim sum Posted by xian10:17:47 AM Howl into the void []
Rayne Today
| H |
Project update: The new house
A new wrinkle has developed. During the course of a long heart-to-heart, head-butt to head-butt, hand-to-hand last night, my husband attempted to persuade me to be the general contractor and handle the entire construction project myself, rather than deal with any of the local general contractors. Omigod.
I can't imagine working for this guy, what with all the data he needs to be comfortable with any purchasing decision or financial commitment! I don't think he realizes that's part of the challenge; he thinks I'm doubting my own abilities having expressed reluctance to take this on. Sure, I can manage a global team of IT people in an enterprise with which I'm entirely familiar...but draw my own plans, hire my own architect and sub-contractors, make sure everyone performs their piece to specification within building code and on time, under budget, AND provide my husband a ton of data on status? Hell no! was my initial response.
Any of you folks been your own GC? Persuade me one way or the other!
9:21:26 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Another tiresome post. Bicycle tire sizes You thought paper sizes was an obscure and dull topic? Wait till you explore the historical arcana of bike tire sizing, where 1.25" does not equal 1 1/4".9:20:37 AM Howl into the void []
anil dash's daily links
Atom API primer. joe's done a great job of documenting the nascent API9:19:36 AM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
US Shrugs Off World's IP Address Shortage9:19:19 AM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
Low Fare Atlantic Coast Air. The contract commuter carrier may enter the discount game.9:19:06 AM Howl into the void []
Radio Free Blogistan
Update on Pie.Mark's still calling it Atom. Some people are still calling it Necho. Whatever you call it, Mark Pilgrim has an update on the project to define a vendor-neutral API, archiving, and feed format for weblogs, and a pointer to the API-in-progress and some sample feeds.
Myself, I'm returning to the original working title, Pie, until something permanent comes forth. I'm going to say, if pressed, that PIE stands for "Pie isn't echo," but that's just a joke. To quote Sam Ruby, "I like pie."
9:18:40 AM Howl into the void []
Dan Gillmor's eJournal
Chili Cookoff Decamps From Fading Comdex. One of the highlights of the huge Comdex trade show was always the Chili Cookoff, a charity event run by...9:18:30 AM Howl into the void []
bOing bOing
A week without Interweb is worse than divorce9:18:18 AM Howl into the void []
bOing bOing
WiFi versus wildfire9:18:15 AM Howl into the void []
bOing bOing
WiFi coming to Second Cup9:18:12 AM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Rules rules rules. Sam Ruby: : "Question: in this context, won't rules alone amount to little more than organized opinions?" This is true in any context. Rules of any sort are nothing more than a collection of opinions one group of folks happen...... [more][back]Trackback from snellspace9:18:06 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Taylor's Forces Launch Attack in Liberia9:17:29 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Sharon Expected to Make Demands on Bush9:17:25 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Fires Ravage French Riviera, Kill Four9:17:20 AM Howl into the void []
Washington Post: Front Page
Comic's Gentle Humor Tickled Generations8:25:30 AM Howl into the void []
John Robb's Weblog
Emergic. The Lindows Webstation. An inexpensive PC that boots from a CD. With dirt cheap (and getting cheaper fast) local disk storage, what's the advantage? None. This question, and its inevitable answer, has damned the arrival of Network PCs (hard disk free PCs) since McNealy and Ellison began to promote them 7 years ago.8:25:19 AM Howl into the void []
John Robb's Weblog
Joe Firmage: 3-D portals and a global taxonomy run by experts. Joe, a serial entrepreneur with a strong eccentric streak, is onto a good idea (a network of expert webloggers) but the path to implementation (it uses a strong dose of VRML spaces) doesn't sound plausible.8:25:15 AM Howl into the void []
John Robb's Weblog
BBC. Relatively random survey: stress caused by a loss of e-mail worse than divorce. What about the loss of a weblog?8:25:11 AM Howl into the void []
John Robb's Weblog
Another question: is Madonna's move to star in Gap ads a first babystep towards a clothing or lifestyle line? Is she thinking about reinventing herself as the Martha Stewart for the aging babyboomer? It is possible, p diddy pulled it off with hip hop clothing for young urban affluents.I love the process of people reinventing themselves (as only happens in the US) as Martha Stewart did when she went from Wall Street to a guru of domestic perfection. We live so long now, that the idea of an entire life spent doing the same thing is absolutely boring. By necessity it would make us grumpy, insensitive, greedy, tedious, and disingenuous. To protect the spirit, change is a necessity. It brings joy to the heart and a zest for life. At least that is my philosophy, your results may vary.
8:25:04 AM Howl into the void []
John Robb's Weblog
I was talking to my friend Peter tonight over chips and hummus about AOL's new strategy. One thing we both seemed to agree on is that the strategy sounds alot like a return to Time Inc's Pathfinder strategy. For those that don't remember Pathfinder circa 1996, it was an attempt by Time Inc. to bundle and repurpose all of its media properties into a single destination site. It was a monumental failure. Its return in AOL 9.0 is testament to the evaporation AOL's braintrust.8:24:58 AM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby
Technology is a Ratchet. Clay Shirky: What both optimists and pessimists believed, however, deep down, was that their opinions mattered. Question: in this context, won't rules alone amount to little more than organized opinions?8:24:37 AM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby
Custom System Development. Joe Gregorio: I am pleased to announce the formation of my company, BitWorking, Inc., a custom system development company able to provide tailored software for Windows Desktop, Embedded and Web Services applications.8:24:34 AM Howl into the void []
birdhouse.org
Time Is Real. Graffiti scrawled on the back of a sign, underneath the BART tracks along the Ohlone Greenway, just outside El Cerrito station: Time is real. Your life has meaning. Music: Love :: AndMoreAgain...8:24:00 AM Howl into the void []
Salon.com
Bush I vs. Bush II. As the deficit yawns and Iraq becomes a quagmire, old-guard Republicans are increasingly worried about where George W. Bush is leading the country.8:23:51 AM Howl into the void []
Salon.com
Beautiful young shock troops for Bush. At a weekend pep rally in Washington, a thousand college Republicans clap, cheer and party -- and reveal a troubling dark side.8:23:48 AM Howl into the void []
Salon.com
Lynda Barry. Broken branches8:23:43 AM Howl into the void []
Salon.com
King Kaufman's Sports Daily. The Patrick Dennehy tragedy has nothing to do with sports, yet it may still reveal some of the corruption endemic to college athletics.8:23:40 AM Howl into the void []
Salon.com
"I don't believe in the American dream". Spanish director Carles Bosch talks about his epic documentary "Balseros," which follows seven Cuban refugees who came to the U.S. by raft in 1994 -- and found their new homeland to be something less than paradise.8:23:36 AM Howl into the void []
Salon.com
Joe Conason's Journal. Apparently, conservatives think the White House was justified in lying about the motives for war.8:23:32 AM Howl into the void []
Salon.com
This Modern World. Could the Time Machine have saved Iraq from its liberators?8:23:30 AM Howl into the void []
Salon.com
Help me be strong. I'm in love with a man I work with. We're both married with kids but we don't want to break up our families.8:23:28 AM Howl into the void []
John Robb: The Weblog Network
Joe Firmage: 3-D portals and a global taxonomy run by experts. Joe, a serial entrepreneur with a strong eccentric streak, is onto a good idea (a network of expert webloggers) but the path to implementation (it uses a strong dose of VRML spaces) doesn't sound plausible.8:23:18 AM Howl into the void []
How to Save the World
PLACE-ORIENTED BLOGS. You may have
noticed that I (sometimes unfairly) group blogs in my blogroll into
artistic, business/scientific, environmental, news, and political
categories, with Salon blogs listed separately because...well, because
they're my community.
Recently I've discovered another type of blog that is primarily
geographical in nature. These have been self-styled as 'place-oriented
blogs' or 'blogs of place'. Although most of us write from time to time
about what's happening in our physical community, place-oriented
bloggers write almost exclusively about the history, geography, and
current events (often with photos) of their community. They're actually very entertaining (and sometimes educational) to read. Here are some of the best of the breed I've found: London and the North - London & Yorkshire, UK Faultline / Creek Running North - California Lifescapes - Texas Bowen Island Journal - British Columbia Laughing Knees - Japan Life at the Edge - Tasmania (whence the photo above) Ecotone - A wiki with more Bloggers of Place, and more about them Some of our Salon bloggers write more about their physical location than others, especially those living outside the country as ex-pats. What do you think -- is your blog a 'blog of place' or do you just write about home when there's nothing more urgent to write about? Is this a legitimate new genre of blog? I have occasionally posted about my home on the Oak Ridges Moraine in Ontario, but not with any geographic thoroughness. Should I write more about place? |
8:22:55 AM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
Telemarketers Answer the Bell. Telemarking industry won't give up your number without a fight.8:22:18 AM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
JDS Uniphase's Telecosmic Trip. Tom Jacobs ponders whether the fallen broadband king is a turnaround bet.8:22:14 AM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
When to Panic. Don't lose it for the wrong reasons.8:22:10 AM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
Untying the Knot. Untangling money messes outside the bonds of marriage.8:22:07 AM Howl into the void []
The Motley Fool
Sportsman's Guide Hits Its Stride. This former bargain stock and Hidden Gem is being recognized for its stellar earnings.8:22:04 AM Howl into the void []
rushkoff.blog
Terrorism Futures: Stunts and Hunts. There's two gaming opportunities receiving wide coverage these days for their crassness: one lets you bet on the probability of new terrorist events, and the other gives you the opportunity to hunt naked women in the desert and then shoot them with paint guns.The first is a real proposal. DARPA believes that extending their existing FutureMap program (Futures Markets Applied to Prediction) to include actual betting on scenarios involving "the economic, civil, and military futures of Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Iraq (news - web sites), Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey and the impact of US involvement with each," says DARPA.
The other is a much-protested and controversial game based on a video called Bambi Hunt, in which men hunt and shoot naked women with paint guns. I received many emails asking me to comment on the games - but I never did, except to say that the whole story stank of a good Media Virus. (This opinion never made it into any of the articles for which I was interviewed, lest it discredit the merits of the story.) Of course, the controversy over whether Las Vegas should have granted a gaming license to men who intended to shoot paint balls at naked women did turn out to be a publicity stunt intended to promote the video in which this activity was photographed.
Might DARPA's efforts be a similar lure? The Futures program is to be supervised by Poindexter and crew - the same guys charged with Total Information Awareness. What use might they have - not just for futures data - but for knowledge of who is betting against US interests, and when? I can't think of which would be worse: losing money in a terrorism futures market, or the knock on the door after having won.
There some things it's going to get increasingly dangerous to predict.
(Thanks to Aaron Naparstek for sending me the Darpa article this morning.)
8:21:58 AM Howl into the void []
Corante: Corante on Blogging
Tom Coates, in suggesting it's time to "balkanise our aggregators": "Blogdex, Daypop, Popdex, Technorati and the like are no longer simple reflectors of a community's activities - they are also one of our community's best mechanisms for news discovery... Unfortunately it also means that the country with the most weblogs sets the international community's agenda."
8:21:40 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
U.S. Troops Said to Capture Hussein Bodyguard8:21:30 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Estranged Allies: France and Germany Consider Possible Roles in Postwar Iraq8:21:27 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
Moscow Journal: Young, Russian, and Rich ÷ for Now at Least8:21:25 AM Howl into the void []
New York Times: International News
P.O.W. Ashes Go to Japan8:21:22 AM Howl into the void []
Corante: Social Software
Wifi, Personal Calculators, and the Backchannel. Since we seem to be treating the NY Times backchannel article as a tribal fetish object, I'll drive my nail in as well.When I was in 5th grade, an argument about personal calculators broke out in the Letters to the Editor column of my local newspaper, an argument conducted with religious fervor. One one side were those who felt that calculators were, on the whole, a good tool and that students should be taught to use them. On the other side were those who felt that calculators were a crutch, that their use would pollute the minds of impressionable youth, and that their appearance was a sure sign of The End Times.
What both optimists and pessimists believed, however, deep down, was that their opinions mattered. "Someday," each of them thought, "someone is going to ask me what we should do about these here calculators." What the adults didn't understand, but me and my 5th grade posse did, was that caluclators, having arrived, were never going away.
So it is with the backchannel. We have seen only the barest hint of the disruption ubiquitous Wifi + automated discovery is going to bring about, but already the people weighing in about whether its a good idea or a bad idea look like the people discussing calculators. It doesn't matter if the Wifi backchannel is a bad idea; it's not going away.
Furthermore, programmatic attempts to create a no-laptops environment in the hopes of stemming the use of the backchannel will work only as long as laptops are the only portable Wifi-enabled device, a period which is going to last about another 3 months. Devices like the tablet PC, the Palm mSeries Wifi PDA, and even digital cameras are going to be part of the backchannel as well. Once students start taking handwritten notes on Tablet PCs, speakers will not be able to ban them. Within 5 years, people who live in urban areas will be bathed in connectivity in any environment where they are required to sit still for longer than 15 minutes. (Some of us live in that world today.)
This will of course create negative effects. The strongest negative effect is the dissipation of group energy and attention through the cracks in the group mind caused by monitoring your email on the side. But being "for" or "against" such effects is mostly irrelevant, because most of the people bothered by the effects are not going to be in a position to ask for the backchannel to be turned off. As with calculators, the technology is a ratchet, and having moved forward, its not moving back. The trick now is to figure out the social rules accompanying its use.
8:21:17 AM Howl into the void []
Dan Gillmor's eJournal
A Great Mac Utility. Tip of my hat to Howard Rheingold for telling me about a must-have utility that I didn't know about --...8:20:55 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Nice guy Charles, finishing last. The Price of Nice. I am out to prove once and for all that nice guys truly finish last and prove to myself that women are a lost cause in the realms of romance and love. [via deviantART; Message Forums]8:20:33 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Tighter, please. I always thought that starting the day by tying a rope around your neck made no sense. No it turns out that wearing a tight tie may damage your eyesight8:20:28 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
New religion?. Ready for a new religion? Or maybe not so new. But it may explain a few things.8:20:26 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Cuteness. Kitties. Japan. Games. Flash.. ece4co - nine cute little kitty flash games from Yoshio Ishii.8:20:21 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Hummer ad parody. Hummerdinger! The Sierra Club spoofs the Hummer, Onion-style.8:20:18 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Kerouac bobblehead. Kerouac becomes a bobblehead. From the sports promoters in Lowell, Massachusetts, to the literati, everybody thinks it's a terrific idea. "Certainly, Jack would love it," says the executor of his estate.8:20:14 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
World's largest picnic in Bryant Park. Help NYC break the record for world's largest picnic... Local NYC cable access freaks The Unbelievable Show will be hosting an attempt at the Guinness-certified world's largest picnic in Bryant Park on Sunday, August 3rd. Hulabilly, a Hawaiian/Western Swing/Hot Jazz band will be there and donations will be accepted for City Harvest. Wherever you are, back away from the glow and enjoy the summer while you still can...8:20:10 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Gittin' Dirty, Nasssssty. "My influences come from China; my style comes from Africa, Egypt, Tokyo, and Russia, with love; and the rest comes from Neptune." A chat with the artist formerly know as Ol' Dirty Bastard.8:20:05 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
How About Raising Money for Him Instead of The Star Wars Kid?. How About Raising Money for Him Instead of The Star Wars Kid? Perhaps the most faithful of Delhi's unpaid city servants turns 80 on Tuesday, but has no plans to retire.Mohammed Habib has had the grisly task of collecting the city's unclaimed corpses since he was 12. He says he has disposed of hundreds of bodies - and all for free - in a country where millions live in poverty.
8:20:02 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
TheTerrorMarket. Trading on the Future of Terror [LA Times] The war on terrorism has come to this: The Pentagon is setting up a commodity-style market to use real investors [approx equal]¥ä putting down real money [approx equal]¥ä to help its generals predict terrorist attacks, coups d'etat and other turmoil in the Middle East. You can sign up here to bet on suicide bombings.8:19:58 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Dizzee Rascal. Fix Up, Look Sharp With stateside hip hop in an unprecedented doldrum, the torch has been snatched up on this side of the Atlantic by 18-year-old Eastender Dizzee Rascal. He's recovering from a stabbing carried out rival fans of a rival garage collective in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. The attack took place a few days before being nominated for the Mercury Music prize.Guaranteed not to be everybody's cup of tea, but he's an interesting character and challenging music make it, and his album, worth a look.
8:19:54 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
no bones about it. the kid in the orange shirt has no bones. [Windows Media, 3.7mb]8:19:50 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
theater asks impeachment question. The Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, California takes the impeachment question directly to the local street and neighborhood and asks the following question on it's marquee. What is an impeachable offense? Lying to wage war? Or lying about sex? Across the country billboards and marquees have been commonly used to express political sentiment (original link from Buzzflash)8:19:46 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
Digital Morphology, for when you really want to get up close and personal.. Digimorph, headed by University of Texas professor Timothy Rowe, is a collection of 2D and 3D cross-sectional images of everything from dinosaur skulls to fertilized emu eggs. Using an advanced X-ray Computed Tomographic scanner, researchers are able to capture minute details of a subject's internal structure. DigiMorph provides data on almost 300 species in the form of Quicktime animations, 3D movies, and stereolithography files which can be used (with the proper tools) to create your own 3D specimen.If you've ever wondered exactly what's up with the stimulating hummingbird or the confounding platypus, now's the perfect time to take a more in-depth look.
8:19:41 AM Howl into the void []
MetaFilter
hey mom and dad. "hey mom and dad"a word from the front - i feel horrible for this guy and his family. why isn't he getting food, water and being rotated? where are all our taxpayer dollars going anyway?
8:19:28 AM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Dinner on Thursday?. Marc, why don't you suggest a place. Maybe a Dim Sum place in China Town. We can walk over to North Beach area afterward to grab a drink or shoot some pool at Savoy. Posted by Don Park8:19:10 AM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Dinner on Thursday?. ... You know... tomorrow is Tuesday and we haven't chosen a place yet! Anyone?! Posted by Kevin Burton8:19:06 AM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Dinner on Thursday?. I'll be there. Posted by Nick Chalko8:19:03 AM Howl into the void []
Sam Ruby's Comments
Dinner on Thursday?. Sam is proposing a Web logger dinner in San Francisco Thursday Jan 31. I will make the drive to the bay. Sounds like lots of cool people will be there.... [more][back]Trackback from Show Me the Code 2.08:18:59 AM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
2191.78 Years for the RIAA to Sue Everyone8:18:40 AM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Wearing a Tie May Cause Blindness!8:18:38 AM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
Pentagon Lets You Bid on Terrorism?8:18:35 AM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
SSH or VNC From Your Cell Phone?8:18:33 AM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
VoIP Beats Conventional Phone Service In Iraq8:18:31 AM Howl into the void []
Slashdot
India Chooses All-Electronic Voting8:18:28 AM Howl into the void []
plasticbag.org
The Balkanisation of Blogdex...8:18:22 AM Howl into the void []
Gawker
Gossip roundup. á Kimora Lee, mocking bidders at husband hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons' charity auction: "You can't afford my shoes." [Page Six]...8:18:16 AM Howl into the void []
Gawker
Dana Giacchetto released from prison. Mothers, lock up your daughters' trust funds. Dana Giacchetto, ex-money manager to the stars, is out of jail. The NYT...8:18:12 AM Howl into the void []
Gawker
In defense of Judith Miller. [This is a June article, but it just popped up on Mediabistro today, and I just saw it, so...] American...8:18:09 AM Howl into the void []
Gawker
We like San Francisco! Really!. Yes, we do! Do so! Shut up. Dwell editor in chief Allison Arieff: "I go to New York a lot,...8:18:06 AM Howl into the void []
Gawker
Belated NY Mag/Guardian "Media at War" report from last Thursday. Alright, not so much a "report" as a series of discursive little observations and bits from NY Mag/The Guardian's "Media...8:18:03 AM Howl into the void []
Morons Dot Org
Morons in the News: Pentagon Overseeing Project for Gambling on Terrorist Events. I wish this were satire.8:17:55 AM Howl into the void []
anil dash's daily links
a few amusing indie CA gov candidates. i'm only linking to this story because it contains the phrase "Web-based blog"8:17:50 AM Howl into the void []
anil dash's daily links
Larry Weber intends to focus on blog marketing. hopefully weber shandwick's founder creates a PR effort as clueful as he seems to be8:17:46 AM Howl into the void []
anil dash's daily links
michael wants to read 10,000 weblogs, too. glad to see someone understand where i was coming from, and there's some cool new ideas there, too8:17:43 AM Howl into the void []
anil dash's daily links
consorting with the enemy. creative commons board member joi ito and MPAA head jack valenti mug it up8:17:40 AM Howl into the void []
anil dash's daily links
The Blog Politic Versus Congress. dvorak astutely points out the disconnect between thought and action in weblogs8:17:36 AM Howl into the void []
Pesky the Rat
Scientists discover the Greeks were right;not too late to start sucking up to Zeus.
In an earth-shaking announcement, scientists at Stanford University have discovered that the universe is under the control of a dysfunctional Greek family. The discovery came after sixteen residents of Lost Altos, California, found themselves transformed into swine after refusing to allow an excessively tall woman with a bow and arrow cut to the front of the 15-items-or-less line with one-hundred bottles of olive oil and a hardback copy of Sexy Celebrity Chefs.
Scientists brought the swine back to Stanford, where the pigs proceeded to consume ten years of research into the origins of Superconducting Supermodels. Disraught over the loss of their valuable work, the scientists prayed to God their research would be returned.
Then, suddenly, the heavens opened up like a Wal-Mart in the Midwest. A giant barber pole descended from the sky. A tiny white speck appeared where the pole appeared in the dark clouds. The speck slid down the pole and grew larger, but not much. Finally, the speck became a small, hunched-over little man with a lightening bolt coming out his ass.
The scientists gasped as the little man dropped from the pole and stood before them. ãWho are you?ä one of them asked timidly.
ãIâm Zeus. Who else has a goddamned bolt of lightening coming out his ass?ä
The scientists knew this had to be true, because truth is stranger than fiction, and none of them had ever read any fiction that was stranger than this.
At that very moment, the herd of swine came around a corner at full speed, dragging in their teeth over a hundred inflatable Superconducting Supermodels. One of the scientists asked, ãcan you help us turn those innocent grocery shoppers back into humans and get back our valuable research?ä
Zeus laughed, and his laugh echoed through the mountains of California and across the oceans of the world to the halls of Mount Olympus. ãMy daughterâs handiwork,ä he mused, ãshe is such a headache.ä With a wave of his hand the pigs turned back into upper crust Los Altos grocery shoppers, all of whom immediately checked to insure they hadnât lost any jewelry.
The scientists stared at Zeus in wonder. ãSo the Christians were wrong after all!ä said one. ãI sooooooo knew that.ä
Zeus chuckled. ãLater, kids. Iâve gotta turn myself into a swan and get friendly with Britney Spears.ä
News of the discovery spread fast. At the White House, officials hauled in a herd of cattle to begin animal sacrifices. ãThis Zeus fellow is somebody I can deal with,ä said President Bush, ãyou just bribe the hell out of him and he does what you want. Now thatâs what Iâm talkinâ about.ä
8:17:21 AM Howl into the void []
