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| Current Topic: Technology |
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| Topic: Technology |
1:49 am EST, Dec 5, 2003 |
For a long time now, the FCC has been pushing the idea that ownership matters. That might be right about cable and telecom companies, but it doesn't follow that AOL and Comcast are the most efficient providers of high-speed network access. [With asset-based telecom,] we might learn again why GM doesn't own the highways, and why neither cable nor telecom companies should own IP access. In the latest issue of Wired Magazine, Larry Lessig introduces the world to asset-based telecom. "Thanks, Larry! I didn't know!" Hardly. The Cook Report has been covering this area for eons now. Search my Memestream for asset based telecom. That said, I'll be coming back to the "ownership matters" meme soon. Stay tuned. Fiber to the People |
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| Topic: Technology |
12:18 am EST, Dec 5, 2003 |
Leave it to Californians to pass an anti-spam law that could ruin e-mail for the rest of us. There is, however, a way around the California law: the "CAN-SPAM" Act. According to this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, California's spam legislation would outlaw the Memestreams feature, "Forward this to a friend". Memestreams could be exposed to a class action lawsuit. The solution appears to be an overriding federal law. Actually, depending on the definition of e-mail, it could outlaw the reputation agent altogether. It's clear that e-mail need not involve SMTP nor RFC 822. Spamifornia |
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Buying and Selling the Little Black Book |
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| Topic: Technology |
1:30 pm EST, Nov 25, 2003 |
Can you count your friends? Better yet, can you organize them in a database? There's a lot of buzz about a new breed of software tools that can help people manage their contacts -- or, to make it sound more serious, leverage their social capital. "It's easy to identify candidates these days. The challenge now is selection." At the end of the day we will have private aggregations of data more rich and interconnected and personal than any government ever dreamed of ... and of course this data will be readily available, just as data from credit card companies, merchants and airlines is today. Finally, I have to ask what these tools do to the old, low-tech concept of friendship. In some way, with their numbers and lists and classifications, these services can subtly make a social network into a trophy collection. Technology has made it easier than ever to count your friends -- but that doesn't mean you should. Esther Dyson weighs in on the trends in social networking software. Buying and Selling the Little Black Book |
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The Layers Principle: Internet Architecture and the Law |
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| Topic: Technology |
1:15 pm EST, Nov 23, 2003 |
This essay addresses the fundamental questions of Internet governance: whether and how the architecture of the Internet should affect the shape and content of legal regulation of the global network of networks. The Layers Principle: Internet Architecture and the Law |
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Quote about Internet Bandwidth, from WSJ |
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| Topic: Technology |
12:25 am EST, Nov 20, 2003 |
... as much as 60% of the Internet's total bandwidth is eaten up by 5% of users engaged in file swapping ... Has this figure been substantiated somewhere? |
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Terror futures market back in business |
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| Topic: Technology |
9:38 pm EST, Nov 17, 2003 |
A US government plan to create a market allowing traders to bet on the likelihood of terror attacks and other events in the Middle East has been revived by the private firm that helped develop it. The market, called the Policy Analysis Market (PAM), will allow traders to buy and sell contracts on political and economic events in the Middle East, including assassinations, the overthrow of regimes and terrorist attacks. The market is scheduled to start trading next spring. CNN picks up the PAM story. Sooner than later, the market gets what the market wants ... Terror futures market back in business |
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| Topic: Technology |
9:19 pm EST, Nov 17, 2003 |
The intended March 2004 launch of the Policy Analysis Market has sparked some interest of late. Some comments and clarifications are in order. A good analogy for what will be launched in March 2004 is an opinion survey based on a long questionnaire; however, you need only fill out the parts of the survey that you find interesting. Respondents, who will be called traders, will have an incentive to focus on the subset of questions about which they feel they have the best information. [PAM seeks to improve] the way distributed information on matters of public importance is gathered and measured. [More details] will be made public in January. I'm worried about the future. Should I buy or should I sell? Should I stay or should I go? What ever shall I do about all this uncertainty? Isn't there someone out there with all of the answers? Of course; I'll just ask PAM! She'll know ... Policy Analysis Market |
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Terrorism futures market gets second lease on life |
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| Topic: Technology |
9:16 pm EST, Nov 17, 2003 |
The Policy Analysis Market in terrorism futures that created such a stir that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency dropped it like a hot potato in July is back. The market, which is intended to be an analysis tool to track and predict events in the Middle East, was developed for DARPA by Net Exchange of San Diego. The storm of congressional and public protest when the program was revealed resulted in its being shut down within 24 hours. But Net Exchange apparently has decided to launch PAM on its own next spring. Hi, I'm PAM. Is there something you'd like to tell me? "I know something you don't know! I know something you don't know!" Terrorism futures market gets second lease on life |
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Social discrimination by iTunes playlist | Wired News |
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| Topic: Technology |
7:53 pm EST, Nov 16, 2003 |
Playlistism, Aubrey explained, is discrimination based not on race, sex or religion, but on someone's terrible taste in music, as revealed by their iTunes music library. Aubrey said an iTunes music library tells a lot more about people than the clothes they wear or the books they carry. Aubrey said Wesleyan students are enjoying a new parlor game -- going through music libraries trying to guess what their owners are like. At any one time, 30 or 40 iTunes libraries are available on the campus network, which is shared by about 2,000 students. Students are starting to realize they must manage their music collections, or at least prune them, to maintain their image, Aubrey said. He confessed to deleting a lot of stuff himself. Everything seems to devolve into Friendster, sooner or later. I would disagree with Aubrey that music is a better indicator than books, if not for the relative lack of critical mass in the book collections of young people today. I think there is a message in here about the evolution of our interaction with media. Popular music is a dominant cultural currency, but in an age in which spending an hour just listening to an entire album (without simultaneously running, driving, eating, playing, or otherwise) seems like an exceptional commitment, the individual "track" has become the denomination of choice. When an outstanding five minute song needs a sub-four minute "radio edit" in order to even compete for airtime, we are collectively suffering from a serious case of attention deficit disorder, coupled with a "super size!" programmer mentality that selects two mediocre-but-short tracks over one great-but-"long" track. Music used to be an event, not a product. For the iPod generation, music as Art is being increasingly devalued, even as it becomes pervasive to the point of ubiquity. Social discrimination by iTunes playlist | Wired News |
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Device Lets Drivers Control Traffic Lights |
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| Topic: Technology |
1:52 am EST, Nov 4, 2003 |
It sounds like a suffering commuter's dream come true: a dashboard device that changes red traffic lights to green at the touch of a button. [Such] devices are becoming available to ordinary motorists ... "Can you imagine the nightmare our roads would be if everybody had one?" Device Lets Drivers Control Traffic Lights |
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