Thursday, December 21, 2006

Software patents == evil Dave Winer: "The process whereby RSS came to be so powerful was one of building out both ends of the technology, supply and demand, and putting some currency on the network, and hoping it boots up. In the case of RSS as a transport for blog posts and news articles, it did, and the two pieces were Radio UserLand's blogging tool, Radio UserLand's aggregator, and a few early blogs, including Scripting News (the currency). It also worked in a similar manner, eventually, for podcasting. "Today I received a link to a patent granted to Microsoft, where they claim to have invented all this stuff. Presumably they're eventually going to charge us to use it. This should be denounced by everyone who has contributed anything to the success of RSS." Update: Dave Winer: "Re Microsoft's patent on RSS applications, apparently it's not a grant of a patent, but a patent application." "2008 pres" 1:18:38 PM

Iraq 70% of americans disapprove of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, according to a recent CNN Poll quoted by Polling Report. Thanks to Mathew Gross for the link. He writes, "The surge goes both ways." "2008 pres" 7:07:20 AM

? for president? Political Wire: "According to a new CNN poll, Democrats appear to hold an advantage at this point for 2008 presidential campaign, with 52% of respondents saying 'they would either definitely vote for a Democrat or are leaning in that direction. Thirty-two percent said they were leaning toward the GOP or would definitely cast their ballots for a Republican candidate. Thirteen percent said they were not leaning toward either party.'" "2008 pres" 6:55:11 AM

Gilmore for president? Political Wire: "Former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore (R) 'announced today that he would form a committee to explore a presidential bid in 2008,' reports the New York Times. 'While Mr. Gilmore is not particularly well-known nationally, he and his associates argued that there might be a path here for a little-known candidate who could corral support of the party's critically important conservative wing.' Said Gilmore: 'A void exists. There is just no conservative right now who can mount a national campaign.'" "2008 pres" 6:53:42 AM

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