"That's why I call telephones an interrupting technology," said Patel, whose girlfriend always seemed to be in a meeting or driving her car when he called. "I didn't want to talk to her, necessarily. I wanted instead to find a way to feel connected to her, or reassured that she was there."

What I find most interesting about this experiment is its motivation...

Ubicomp tables interconnected via the internet

] Like the Segway, Bombardier's Embrio concept--a prototype
] that may or may not make production--uses gyroscope
] technology to balance riders but adds a dash of flair
] absent in the Segway, which we as car nuts find slightly
] nerdy.

KICK ASS, 'eh?

Canadian Segway

] California (Reuters) -- A company calling itself Lover
] Spy has begun offering a way for jealous lovers -- and
] anyone else -- to spy on the computer activity of their
] mates by sending an electronic greeting, the equivalent
] of a thinking-of-you card, that doubles as a bugging
] device.
]
] Computer security experts said the Lover Spy service and
] software appeared to violate U.S. law, but also said the
] surveillance program pointed to an increasingly common
] way for hackers to seize control of computers.
]
] Marketed as a way to "catch a cheating lover," the Lover
] Spy company offers to send an e-mail greeting card to
] lure the victim to a Web site that will download onto the
] victim's computer a trojan program to be used for spying.

Illegal e-cards to spy on your lover

] Activists have also questioned the political affiliations
] of the leading voting companies. Late last year, Harris
] found that Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, used
] to run the voting company that provided most of the
] voting machines in his state. And in August, the
] Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that Walden O'Dell, the
] CEO of Diebold, is a major fundraiser for President Bush.
] In a letter to fellow Republicans, O'Dell said that he
] was "COMMITTED TO HELPING OHIO DELIVER ITS ELECTORAL
] VOTES TO THE PRESIDENT NEXT YEAR."
]
] But the problems Harris found in Diebold's system are
] perhaps the best proof yet that electronic voting systems
] aren't ready for prime time. Indeed, the vulnerabilities
] in the software, as well as the internal memos, raise
] questions about the legitimacy of the California recall
] election. In its ruling, the 9th Circuit Court put the
] election on hold until the six counties that currently
] use punch-card systems -- six counties that comprise 44
] percent of the state's voters -- upgrade their systems.
] On Monday, 11 judges on the 9th Circuit reheard the
] recall case; they may very well allow the election to go
] ahead on Oct. 7. If the recall vote is put on hold until
] March, however, many may wonder whether to trust the
] results: Four of the six punch-card counties -- including
] the largest, Los Angeles and San Diego -- have plans to
] upgrade to Diebold machines by March.

Very good article, with links to Diebold's internal memos, on the electronic voting systems.

Salon.com Technology | An open invitation to election fraud

] Internet restrictions, government secrecy and
] communications surveillance have reached an unprecedented
] level across the world.
]
]
] A year-long study of Internet censorship in more than 50
] countries found that a sharp escalation in control of the
] Internet since September 2001 may have outstripped the
] traditional ability of the medium to repel restrictions.
]
]
] The report fires a broadside at the United States and the
] United Kingdom for creating initiatives hostile to
] Internet freedom.
]
]
] Those countries have "led a global attack on free speech
] on the Internet" and "set a technological and regulatory
] standard for mass surveillance and control" of the Net,
] the report by London-based Privacy International and the
] GreenNet Educational Trust argues.
]
]
] The 70,000 word report, Silenced, is launched today
] (Friday, September 19) at the preparatory meeting of the
] World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva.
]
]
] The study, undertaken through a collaboration of more
] than 50 experts and advocates throughout the world and
] funded by a grant from the Open Society Institute, found
] that censorship of the Internet is commonplace in most
] regions of the world.

The Register

] WASHINGTON - The FBI has identified a teenager as the
] author of a damaging virus-like infection unleashed on
] the Internet and plans to arrest him early Friday, a U.S.
] official confirmed Thursday.
]
] The 18-year-old, whose name and hometown was not
] immediately available, was accused of writing one version
] of the damaging "Blaster" infection, which spread quickly
] across the Internet weeks ago, the official said,
] speaking on condition of anonymity.
]
] The official asked that further identifying information
] about the teenager not be disclosed until his arrest.

FBI to Arrest Teen in Internet Attack (TechNews.com)

Microsoft using a Linux service is ironic, given that Microsoft has identified Linux as its biggest competitor. In a conference call with analysts last month, company CFO John Connors ranked Linux as the #2 risk faced by the company. The #1 risk was the general economic environment, Connors said. Nearly one in five small and mid-sized businesses are using Linux on the desktop.

Heh, first the problems with switching from FreeBSD to Windows NT at hotmail.com, now having to eat crow and use Linux as a front end with the Blaster worm. I really hope that IT Directors figure out how much crap they've been fed by the marketing machine. Oh, wait, never mind. Peter principle.

Microsoft Is Using Linux To Protect Its Own Web Site

"Scientists running a pioneering experiment with "living robots" which think for themselves said they were amazed to find one escaping from the centre where it "lives"."

I am Not a Number!!! Well, maybe Number 5...

Robot on the run

] A Senate panel will hold hearings on the recording
] industry's crackdown against online music swappers, the
] chairman said Thursday.
]
] Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) made the announcement in a
] letter to the Recording Industry Association of America.
] He had received information he had requested from the
] group about the campaign, which Coleman has called
] excessive.
]
] The Senate Governmental Affairs' Permanent Subcommittee
] on Investigations is reviewing the group's responses and
] declined to make them available Thursday, as did the
] industry group.
]
] The association announced plans in June to file several
] hundred lawsuits against people suspected of illegally
] sharing songs on the Internet. Copyright laws allow for
] damages of $750 to $150,000 for each song.
]
] In his letter, Coleman said he would look at not just the
] scope of that campaign but also the dangers that
] downloaders face by making their personal information
] available to others. Coleman said he would review
] legislation that would expand criminal penalties for
] downloading music.

Finally - a glimmer of hope the RIAA is going to be told to call off the dogs.

Senator to hold hearings on recording industry's piracy crackdown

] An electronic glove that can turn American Sign Language
] gestures into spoken words or text, designed to help the
] deaf communicate more easily with the hearing world, is
] under development.
]
] Researcher Jose Hernandez-Rebollar of George Washington
] University has demonstrated that his "AcceleGlove" can
] translate the rapid hand movements used to make the
] alphabet and some of the words and phrases of sign
] language.

Pretty dang cool!

LB

Inventor designs sign language glove