SJ Mercury: Lofgren bill backs digital copying for personal use. The bill, dubbed the Balance Act, would establish consumers' rights in the digital world. It would formalize the right to make backup copies of digital works for use on other devices -- like the car stereo or portable player -- and protect consumers who bypass technological locks to view a DVD movie on their laptops. [Tomalak's Realm]

RFID. Is RFID inherently Evil? Not a chip in your body, like EvilCorp Applied Digital Solutions proposes, but in your household products, your clothes, and your car. And it's here now. With almost no law anywhere to restrict its use.

But then again, how often do you use products made or sold by Benetton, Prada, British retailer Tesco, Proctor & Gamble, and Wal-Mart?

Phillips Semiconductor alone has already sold half a Billion of these chips. [MetaFilter]

Hmm, Microsoft is adding webcam support to its instant messenger. I guess I gotta go and get a webcam again.

RIP: Windows XP?. "The successor to Windows XP (due in 2004, and rapidly slipping to 2005) is currently code named Longhorn, and it will not be compatible with your existing software, hardware or methods. Microsoft has already stated that backward compatibility will not be a design feature."... [Lockergnome's Bits and Bytes]

My comment? Chris, this guy doesn't have good information. Ignore him.

TouchGraph is a cool way to see the web of sites that are involved with your own. You gotta check it out.

Scott Berkun has some interesting ways to get the most out of conferences. Plus, he gives great tips on why easy-to-use interfaces don't happen. I have a feeling he is passionate about the second topic. His domain is "uiweb.com."

Of course, the astute among you know that I sold out long ago. You all know that I work for NEC, right? And that I enjoy using Microsoft Software (I hear I'm one of only four people on the planet who enjoy that), viewing Sponge Bob on my Tivo, and shooting pics with my Nikon. The funny thing is, though, that none of the above have ever asked for me to talk about them on my weblog. Including my employer (NEC).

Ahh, webloggers are soon gonna be selling everything on their web sites thanks to PR firms like Richards Interactive and its "Project Blogger" initiative. Sigh.

I guess I should just DRINK COKE sell out and cash in on the dozen or so people who visit here, huh?

I setup my Ryze site today. Gotta get a picture up there. Ryze is an interesting personal identification site.

All day today I've gotten this question: why is your instant mail handle "<scoble kingpin="false" loc="nec santa clara" />"? Answer: it's an inside joke. Don Box had a similar one, but his said <kingpin="true"> so I thought I'd have a little fun with Don. Funny thing about doing something unusual. It causes a lot of conversations. I notice a few people at Microsoft are having "XML Fun" with their instant message names. If you wanna join the fun, my Windows Messenger address is: robertscoble@hotmail.com. I had several people who said "what, are you stupid, don't you know how many people read your weblog?" Well, so far 12 people have added me to their instant messenger. I figured that since Steve Wozniak has his cell phone number on the Internet (you can search for it) and he actually answers his phone, that I could handle a dozen people instant messaging me. Oh, I see an Executive Vice President at Waggener Edstrom (Microsoft's PR firm) added me today. I guess now Microsoft can tell me off instantly, huh?

Here's Asya's own site titled "My own Self." Her own self indeed. 100+ self portraits. Each one haunting. A must see.

A photographic star is born. Asya Schween does the most interesting self portraits I've ever seen. She posted them to the Nikon forum. And she gets interviewed by two of the photography industry's best. She shoots with the same camera I use. I don't get anything half as interesting as her shots. Wow. Scroll down in the interview to see a bunch of her latest.

Denise Howell gives some advice to the Meckler group that's planning a Weblogger conference.

Groupthink: let's all go "ahh cute" as we visit Jon's web page. Is there anything cuter than a puppy? Too bad they only stay that way for a few months.

John Lam read my "how Microsoft can beat Linux" ideastorm and came up with his own analysis. Hint: John's is way better than mine is.