Friday, March 29, 2002

Something to do: Read the text of the "Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act" (CBDTPA.) THEN take Dave Winer's  Survey: Are fax machines legal?  [Scripting News]    You will be surprised at the answer. Another thought-- All these polititians are going to have one hell of a time getting the campaign commericals done. Why? Because independant editors do 85% of the ads. Tough luck huh? Newsweek: "Another blogger in the room read Searls’s log, and copied the link to his own site, acidly commenting on the inappropriateness of Nacchio’s whining. Though it’s not clear how many in the room were reading the weblogs, apparently there were a lot. In any case, it seemed that the room palpably chilled toward the pugnacious executive. This is a dangerous trend for public speakers everywhere."  [Scripting News]  Intel has announced its 2.4GHz P4 is coming out next week.  I wonder... with the RF this will put out, "Can it nuke my lunch to?" This week we have lost Dr. Scholl, Milton Berle, Dudley Moore, and  Billy Wilder  who gives us the quote of the day: "If anything important to say to your audience, first cover it in chocolate."  Yeah. 11:52:13 AM

First off, a personal thanks to everyone who's linked to the open letter to Senator Hollings and Company. (Below)The cooperation and kind words have been wonderful,  yet a little overwhelming to experience. Yesterday a couple people asked "Why?" I wrote the letter. Here's the short explanation: I have worked around computers since the age of 15 and finished my first research project on a old PDP-11 with the help of an old high school boyfriend. Over time I got to know many of the computer worlds movers and shakers as colleagues and friends-- mostly by accident. I never wanted to be IN the computer business but-- things changed. Ten years ago I was offered an opportunity to use my skills in usability, broadcasting and Intellectual Property to help design and test the first Windows based nonlinear editing system MC-Xpress. I became one of the products major champions and wrote a paper on Convergence. The paper laid most of the ground work for the non-proprietary systems being used today and how people would use them. We have come along way since then. While I have never enjoyed great financial gain from my work. But I did gain my freedom to work on projects, where and when I wanted, without being chained to a corporate edit-bay. Now Senator Hollings wants to take my freedom away with his "Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act" (CBDTPA.) Hollings and his friends in the Senate considers me a thief, because I have a computer that can create and copy video and audio.  Where I come from those are fighting words. Hollings has seen nothing yet. 5:14:36 AM

© Copyright 2002 Mary Wehmeier. Last update: 3/29/02; 5:14:40 AM.