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| compos mentis. Concision. Media. Clarity. Memes. Context. Melange. Confluence. Mishmash. Conflation. Mellifluous. Conviviality. Miscellany. Confelicity. Milieu. Cogent. Minty. Concoction. |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
9:49 am EST, Jan 5, 2004 |
Ever since it passed the USA Patriot Act, Congress has stood by in an alarming silence while a fabric of new law governing the balance between liberty and security has been woven by the other two branches of government. Many Democrats are happy to snipe from the sidelines but offer little in the way of constructive alternatives. They are content not to do their job ... Alleged enemy combatants, after all, don't tend to be an organized constituency of campaign donors who can garner congressional attention. You can almost taste the anger in the air at the Washington Post. Silence on the Hill |
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Online Music Piracy Plummeted in 2003 |
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| Topic: Intellectual Property |
9:41 am EST, Jan 5, 2004 |
The percentage of online Americans downloading music files on the Internet has dropped by half and the numbers who are downloading files on any given day have plunged. The latest survey results from the Pew Internet & American Life project indicate that people are running scared. Online Music Piracy Plummeted in 2003 |
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Across Sands of Time and Oceans of Space |
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| Topic: Science |
9:31 am EST, Jan 5, 2004 |
The first 100 years of powered flight have taught us how much American ingenuity can accomplish. By continuing to make use of the unique capabilities of the space shuttle in the context of a balanced and forward-looking space program, we refuse to abandon the promise of exploration and innovation in the next century of flight. In today's Los Angeles Times, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe argues for a renewed manned space program. Across Sands of Time and Oceans of Space |
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Bigger Frankenfish to Fry |
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| Topic: Science |
9:28 am EST, Jan 5, 2004 |
The GloFish is here! Well, not exactly here, but there and everywhere else, starting today. (... expect a lively black market ...) [State and federal regulators will] have to do better when a scarier biotech fish comes up for approval in 2004: a salmon that grows at five times the normal rate. Bigger Frankenfish to Fry |
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| Topic: Society |
8:00 pm EST, Jan 4, 2004 |
"When I first got to Hebron I wouldn't open fire on little children. And I was sure that if I ever killed or hurt anyone, I'd go so crazy that I'd leave the army. But finally I did shoot someone, and nothing happened to me. In Hebron I shot the legs off of two kids, and I was sure I wouldn't be able to sleep anymore at night, but nothing happened. Two weeks ago I hurt a Palestinian policeman, and that didn't affect me either. You become so apathetic you don't care at all. Shooting is the IDF soldier's way of meditating." Wow. If you were disturbed by the comments of American snipers in a recent NYT story, consider the IDF. No Exit |
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Instant Messaging, Not Information Pollution |
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| Topic: Human Computer Interaction |
7:30 pm EST, Jan 4, 2004 |
Email is ... very close to the breaking point ... [but] it is naïve to believe that IM is the answer to the information overload that's ailing e-mail. Our culture is hurting from information pollution everywhere we turn. ... one more toxic spill that's directing our attention to short-term minor issues at the cost of procrastinating on important tasks that require more than a few minutes of uninterrupted thinking. What can we do about this? Jakob Nielsen makes the case for an "Internet control panel" in a recent issue of ACM Queue. Again, the article raises important issues, but I find the proposed alternative rather unconvincing. According to Nielsen, it seems that the "solution" is just a matter of loading the right software onto the computer. At its core, this affliction is not computer related, and no quantity of object-oriented band-aids will eliminate the pain. In context, the problems of email and IM are relatively minor. Instant Messaging, Not Information Pollution |
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| Topic: Civil Liberties |
7:00 pm EST, Jan 4, 2004 |
In The Naked Crowd, acclaimed author Jeffrey Rosen makes an impassioned argument about how to preserve freedom, privacy, and security in a post-9/11 world. How we use emerging technologies, he insists, will be crucial to the preservation of essential American ideals. With vivid prose and persuasive analysis, The Naked Crowd is both an urgent warning about the choices we face in responding to legitimate fears of terror and a vision for a better future. The fact that the above text was provided by the publisher explains the use of the words 'acclaimed', 'impassioned', 'vivid', and 'persuasive'. The book goes on sale January 13. Remind me to come back to this in a few weeks. The Naked Crowd |
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| Topic: War on Terrorism |
6:44 pm EST, Jan 4, 2004 |
How can we protect ourselves ...? First, we can turn off the TV. ... It is hard to imagine FDR instituting a color-coded system of terrorist alerts ... The vicious cycle at this point should be clear. The public fixates on low-probability but vivid risks because of images we absorb from television and from politicians. This cycle fuels the public's demand for draconian and poorly designed laws and technologies to eliminate the risks that are, by their nature, difficult to reduce. We have the ability to resist this dangerous cycle by choosing leaders who will insist on laws and technologies that strike a reasonable balance between freedom and security. What we need now is the will. The author of this article repeatedly uses the term Machine as a rhetorical device, but this can be deceptive, since the essence of the issue has everything to do with people and nothing to do with machines. Nevertheless, read this article and let me know which Machine you'd prefer. Naked Terror |
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| Topic: Surveillance |
4:21 pm EST, Jan 3, 2004 |
The FBI now has more power to compel ... with no court oversight and in nearly total secrecy. Congress should be finding ways to curtail the use [of authority], not expand it. Now, to issue a national security letter, the FBI merely has to certify that the information is "relevant" to a national security investigation. This is more unchecked power than the agency ought to have ... ... Congress has taken action that really is worth worrying about. The Washington Post is not pleased. Too Much Power |
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Mobile and Ubiquitous Reputation Systems |
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| Topic: Technology |
11:41 am EST, Jan 3, 2004 |
Look ahead, to a near-future world dominated by embedded computing. Immeasurable resources are deployed everywhere, some with computation for the taking, others hard at work for the users that deployed them. What kinds of problems arise in this environment? How can steps be taken today to prepare for these possibilities and to direct progress in a positive direction? This is an old paper, but Georgia Tech has removed it from the Google index. It can be found in the Wayback machine index, but not displayed from the archive because of the robots.txt exclusion. Mobile and Ubiquitous Reputation Systems |
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