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| "I don't think the report is true, but these crises work for those who want to make fights between people." Kulam Dastagir, 28, a bird seller in Afghanistan
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The COOK Report On Internet |
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| Topic: Economics |
2:03 am EDT, Jul 2, 2002 |
Debt "Restructuring" Is Prerequisite of Industry Recovery -- Ownership & Control of Assets Will Become Central Issue As the Center Goes Chapter 11, Economic Activity and Broadband Progress Moves to Locally Owned Networks at the Edges We Explore Architectural, Economic, Technology and Policy Issues of FTTH June 30, 2002 -- This combined August September Special Issue of the COOK Report on Internet takes an exhaustive look at what is coming to be known as asset based telecommunications. The COOK Report On Internet |
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Interview with Alan Kay in the Journal of the Center for Business Innovation |
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| Topic: Society |
12:27 am EDT, Jul 2, 2002 |
From Cap Gemini Ernst and Young, this publication might be compared to the Harvard Business Review. Here's a soundbite about the center: The Center for Business Innovation is a source of new knowledge and insights for management. We exist to discover and develop innovations in strategy, organization, and technology that deliver high value to business. Our work, performed in collaboration with leading thinkers in business, academe, and other research organizations, fuels development of new strategic consulting services, and is communicated broadly to general business audiences. On the subject of "connected innovation", the current issue of their journal includes, among other things, an interview with Alan Kay. Alan Kay is one of the most influential computer scientists of the modern era. His contributions, among many others, include the concept of the personal computer. We sat down with him to discuss his take on how innovations happen. In brief, Alan Kay rocks. Interview with Alan Kay in the Journal of the Center for Business Innovation |
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CS 6604: Recommender Systems (Spring 2001) |
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| Topic: Technology |
12:10 am EDT, Jun 28, 2002 |
In Spring 2001, Virginia Tech professor Naren Ramakrishnan taught an entire course on the topic of recommender systems. Here you can browse the syllabus, review slides from the lectures, and review the reading list. Course overview: CS 6604 concentrates on algorithms, methodologies, systems, and larger-scope issues (economic, commercial etc.) pertaining to reducing information overload. The unique aspect of this course will be how it integrates ideas from diverse areas: numerical analysis (strange but true), information systems, human-computer interaction, and algorithmics. Over the past three years, a large body of literature on recommender systems, filtering, and personalization technologies has been developed. Even though the field is driven by commercial trends and industrial developments, many of the ideas are nearing a stage of stabilization when their use is becoming common place (textbook material). CS 6604 will help illustrate the interplay between these different areas and demonstrate how ideas from diverse backgrounds can be combined in novel and sophisticated ways. CS 6604: Recommender Systems (Spring 2001) |
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washingtonpost.com: FBI Begins Visiting Libraries |
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| Topic: Society |
6:20 pm EDT, Jun 25, 2002 |
The FBI is visiting libraries nationwide and checking the reading records of people it suspects of having ties to terrorists or plotting an attack, library officials say. The FBI effort, authorized by the antiterrorism law enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks, is the first broad government check of library records since the 1970s when prosecutors reined in the practice for fear of abuses. washingtonpost.com: FBI Begins Visiting Libraries |
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Europe set to lose 25% of its Internet capacity? |
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| Topic: Economics |
6:16 pm EDT, Jun 25, 2002 |
The epic bankruptcy saga of KPNQwest became still more entangled on Monday as banks joined the clamor for an investigation of the service provider's accounts. KPNQwest's network, which carries a quarter of Europe's Internet traffic, remains live for now, but could close at any moment as a court order on Friday left the trustees with no money to pay staff. ... The bandwidth that the Ebone European backbone network leases from service providers is likely to be turned off within the next few days. If you need to get any data from Europe, you should act now. Routing tables will adjust, but congestion is lkely to be a problem. Europe set to lose 25% of its Internet capacity? |
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How One Decision Affects Many Players |
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| Topic: Science |
1:38 am EDT, Jun 24, 2002 |
The observations of Albert-Laszlo Barabasi about networks have broad applications in business. In an interview, he explained a few of the implications. How One Decision Affects Many Players |
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Lessons From Networks, Online and Other |
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| Topic: Science |
1:34 am EDT, Jun 24, 2002 |
Albert-Lazlo Barabasi, a professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame, became fascinated with the structure of the Internet in 1998. He and his student researchers designed software robots that went out on the Net and mapped as many of its nodes, hubs and links as they could. He then began studying other networks and found that they had similar structures. The Internet in particular, he found, had taken on characteristics of a living ecosystem. That made for a valuable insight in itself. But Professor Barabasi went a step further and analyzed the genetic networks of various living organisms, finding that their genes and proteins interacted in much the same networked way as the Internet. This conclusion, described in Professor Barabasi's new book, "Linked: The New Science of Networks", could alter the way we think about all the networks that affect our lives. I've already recommended this book, but today's NYT interview provides some additional background in case you haven't already bought the book. Lessons From Networks, Online and Other |
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It's Lucent to the Rescue at the FBI |
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| Topic: Current Events |
1:30 am EDT, Jun 24, 2002 |
FBI director Robert Mueller: "It's important not to go too far too fast." ... The director said the FBI's new Trilogy computer system will take several years to install ... He has hired computer experts from Lucent Technologies and elsewhere to upgrade the FBI's relatively primitive computer systems ... JLM:
Lucent is now running the FBI. Got fear? Decius:
(Honestly, I get the feeling that this is actually the other way around. Lucent can't be allowed to go out of business. This is fiscal policy at work. Nortel can probably be safely considered Canada's responsibility.) It's Lucent to the Rescue at the FBI |
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Halting Crime in Advance Has Its Perils |
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| Topic: Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films |
2:55 pm EDT, Jun 21, 2002 |
It's the year 2054 ... in Steven Spielberg's atmospheric new thriller, "Minority Report," a muscular and dense exercise of skill and verve. Although a few things remain the same in 2054, much has changed. Pre-Crime chief John Anderston (Tom Cruise) buys the motto "That which keeps us safe also keeps us free," until he becomes a fugitive himself. Accused of a crime predicted for the future, he is soon on the run. "Minority Report" may be the most adult film Mr. Spielberg has made in some time. It's about the bloody blurring of passion and violence: a compassionate noir. As Anderton, it may be one of [Cruise's] best performances yet. Many of the suspenseful beats are also sick jokes. ... The movie is filled with fictional commercials and the onslaught is presented as intrusive. The movie is really a kind of tour de force ... The film is magnificently creepy ... Halting Crime in Advance Has Its Perils |
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Telecom Outlook: First the Bad News, Then the Bad News |
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| Topic: Economics |
10:47 am EDT, Jun 18, 2002 |
The turmoil continues in telecommunications, making the long-awaited turnaround increasingly difficult to call. Indeed, in light of a wave of bad news last week and through the weekend, some analysts say the industry's problems could actually become worse before they become better. Joe Nacchio leaves Qwest; XO files for bankruptcy; Lucent's sales decline 15% in a single quarter; Sprint's debt is nearly junk. Analyst: "I foresee a near total collapse as the endgame." Another: "The magnitude of the problem is enormous." 24 of 29 top US telecom companies that have not yet filed for bankruptcy are at risk of doing so in coming months. A banker's view: "Let the ailing networks rot." Telecom Outlook: First the Bad News, Then the Bad News |
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