] First, there is a genuinely substantive policy discussion
] going on within WIPO about its obligations to be more
] than an IP-factory and instead explore its capacity as a
] positive force for the social and economic development of
] its member states.

This is much needed. I was bitching about WIPO a couple days ago. Cheers to the people who've been working on this.

EFF: WIPO reform

] After the panel, I discussed this issue with Kenn Cukier
] of The Economist, who has followed the development of
] this technology for a while and has a good perspective on
] how we reached the current state. It seems that the
] decision to use contactless technology was made without
] fully understanding its consequences, relying on
] technical assurances from people who had products to
] sell. Now that the problems with that decision have
] become obvious, it's late in the process and would be
] expensive and embarrassing to back out. In short, this
] looks like another flawed technology procurement program.

Freedom to Tinker: Why Use Remotely-Readable Passports?

] he Long Tail is about the shift from hits to niches.
] Several readers have asked what this means for the future
] of mass (hit-driven, mainstream) culture in America.
] The short answer is that it will not only get less mass,
] but that this is a trend that's already well underway.

This long tail blog is very good. Worth following possibly.

The Long Tail Blog

] "I had sent my first inquiry to TSA public affairs, my
] second to (the agency's risk assessment office), but
] information has not been forthcoming," Kelly said in
] e-mail to Carol DiBattiste, the transportation security
] agency's deputy administrator, in November 2003. "This is
] particularly disturbing...We're getting better
] information from outside then we have from our own folks
] at this time."
]
] DiBattiste sounded like she was replying to a pesky
] reporter when she wrote back: "TSA Public Affairs has no
] information in response to your request."
]
] How fitting, then, that DiBattiste landed a plum
] $500,000-a-year job last month with privacy-impaired
] company ChoicePoint. (Remember this figure the next time
] you hear about purportedly underpaid government
] bureaucrats.)

More solid reporting from Declan McCullagh on the DHS "privacy" office. So the deputy administrator of the TSA goes to work for ChoicePoint with a big ass salary? I'd say identity theft is the least of our worries. There seems to be an unhealth professional network going on here between cops, spyware companies, and profiling companies. This is the clique that will create the thought crime/pre crime machines.

Sidelining Homeland Security's privacy chief | CNET News.com

] Update. Indeed, he is gone from the search results now.
] Back tomorrow?

Yup, here it is:

Ken Lay Info

] Whenever I read an article about a cure for peanut
] allergies (my daughter has a life threatening nut
] allergy), the articles always quote some researcher as
] saying it'll happen "in five years."
]
] Curious about the popularity of "in five years," I
] googled the following terms...

Boing Boing: Popularity of using 'in 5 years...'

] Google Sightseeing takes you to the best tourist spots in
] the world via Google's satellite imagery.

Google Sightseeing

] Motorists on southbound I-75 this morning were greeted
] with a freeway construction message board proclaiming
] "speed limit 100 mph go go go."

heh heh. Given the way most Michiganders drive though, they probably had to slow down to comply.

MDOT pulls plug on fake speed zone sign

] Does Europe Hate Us? Thomas L. Friedman Reporting re-airs
] on Discovery Times on Monday, April 11, at 9 p.m. ET.

Discovery Channel :: Spotlight: Does Europe Hate Us?

] MTV has begun beta testing a new content delivery system
] based on instant access to anything and everything
] entertainment related. Initially delivering six
] specialized "channels" to its Web-based platform.

Its possible that I might actually be able to get music videos in my house again for the first time in a decade. Unfortunately I am almost positive that MTV is going to fuck this up. Why can't I just stream MTV2?

BetaNews | MTV Takes to the Web with 'Overdrive'