I'd love to hear from IP readers who have adopted OS X. Were you switching from OS 9, Windows, Linux, or Unix? Are you still using your old system as well, or fully switched?

Read the results...Most people I know is all saying the same thing. /me licks Mac OS X. :)

O'Reilly Network: Mac OS X Switcher Stories [Aug. 21, 2002]

"it's my personal knowledge management system, annotated and augmented by my readers. "

Another interesting comment on blogs as knowledge management...

O'Reilly Network: My Blog, My Outboard Brain [May. 31, 2002]

"As with free speech itself, what we say isn't as important as the system that enables us to say it. "

Kind of interesting article on the structure of blogging...

O'Reilly Network: What We're Doing When We Blog [Jun. 13, 2002]

"The Sun Blade 150 workstation, starting at $1,395, is the latest in a series of inexpensive RISC/Unix workstations designed to compete against workstations based around Intel chips running Windows or Linux"

Sun is trying to compete with Linux and Apple... I think they are going to have to offer something more compelling if they want to make headway.

Sun releases low-cost Unix workstation - Tech News - CNET.com

"The prevalence of pornographic Web sites and e-mails is a lot more than an insult to common decency," Chernin said. "It's an increasing reason to keep kids and families off the Internet. And these are only part of the virtual logjam of valueless clutter."

The CEO of News Corp hates the internet; supports regulating the hell out of it.

Media chief decries Net's moral fiber - Tech News - CNET.com

"Doing things in a garage is more than just a quaint image. It means "doing things without _any_ burn rate." It means having a day job."

Timothy C. May is often at his best when talking about business. Here he discusses the back to earth realities of technological innovation post-bubble. This is not 20/20 hindsight. This guy was writing furious rants about the hot sports cars and crazy salaries back in 1997.

I'm reminded of a quote I heard at a Cypherpunks meeting: "If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher. I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in the hope of finding that most modest degree of independence still available under present circumstances." - Albert Einstein

Startups, Bubbles, and Unemployment

"American film studios are rapidly learning what computer software makers found out long ago: people will always find a way to get around almost any systems put in place to restrict the copying or distributing of digital products"

BBC NEWS | In Depth | dot life | Border controls crumble in DVD land

"EarthLink's arsenal to lure subscribers from its online rivals includes a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign and new access software that will let Web surfers banish pop-up ads--one of the most-often cited annoyances on the Internet. "

Pop-up blocking software has always been the domain of savvy internet users. Earthlink is now mass marketing it. I've got two problems with this.

The first is that the advertising market is seriously depressed and many of the sites that use pop-up ads cannot afford to operate without them. This announcement will certainly depress those numbers even further, possibly forcing a number of sites into bankruptcy or subscriptions, or increasing the number of floating animations and intersittal ads which are even more annoying but harder to eliminate. The web is NOT FREE.

The second is that not all spawned windows are pop-up ads. Earthlink's software will break MemeStreams. Savvy users will be able to turn the feature off so that they can still use this site, but most people won't be able to. The worst thing about all of this is that if you want to surf without pop ups all you have to do is turn your security settings in IE to "high." Earthlink is marketing a service that is only attractive to people who haven't bothered to look at the preference settings for their browser before.

I always liked Mindspring/Earthlink's anti-spam work. This is a different matter, however. I pay for spam. Pop-up ads pay for the content I like to read. I want to loose the spam, but I don't want to loose my content.

EarthLink software banishes pop-ups - Tech News - CNET.com

One of its agents has issued a warning about the popular practice of using chalk marks to show the location of wireless networks.

The marks, or "warchalks", are cropping up in cities and suburbs across the world.

The FBI is now telling companies that, if they see the chalk marks outside their offices, they should check the security of wireless networks and ensure they remain closed to outsiders.

FBI warns of Wireless Warchalking

The most precious resource in a computer system is no longer its processor, memory, disk, or network, but rather human attention. Project Aura aims to minimize distractions on a user's attention, creating an environment that adapts to the user's context and needs.

This article was published in the April/June issue of IEEE Pervasive Computing. It is available here from the Project Aura web site.

Toward Distraction-Free Pervasive Computing [PDF]