02 December 2002

Restaurants Make Bad WISPs TECH DIRT -- Eating establishments are better off offering free Wi-Fi to their customers than trying to squeeze the extra cash out of their pockets. That's because restaurants aren't WISPS. Some pubs in the UK are now offering free Wi-Fi to customers, saying that those customers are paying for it by coming in and ordering food that they wouldn't have ordered otherwise. That's the same argument that Schlotzky's Deli has made in the US. [Mike on Techdirt]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

New Specs for Digital Imaging INFOWORLD -- A group of six digital still camera makers and printer vendors, including Sony and Hewlett-Packard, have jointly proposed a new industry standard that allows images recorded by a digital still camera to be printed out without using a computer. This standard will trickle down to camera phones within three years, leading to kiosk-style print imaging. We should expect no less -- photo booths can double as print facilities for those with MMS phones. [Kuriko Miyake]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Draft Policy on Irish Flat Rate Access and More DUBLIN -- Dermot Ahern, Ireland's Minister for Communications, released a draft Policy Direction to the newly established Commission for Communications Regulation (CCR). Flat Rate Access is considered to "be of substantial benefit." Broadband Electronic Communications should be "widespread ... open-access, affordable, always on ... throughout the State within three years, on the basis of utilisation of a range of existing and emerging technologies and broadband speeds appropriate to specific categories." Regulation only where necessary. Regulatory Impact Assessment. "The Commission having decided to impose regulatory obligations on undertakings in the market for electronic communications or for the purposes of the management and use of the radio frequency spectrum or for the purposes of sustaining universal service obligations in the postal sector, shall conduct a Regulatory Impact Assessment in accordance with European and International best practice." Consistency with Other Member States. "The regulatory obligations imposed on undertakings in the electronic communications market in Ireland should be equivalent to those imposed on undertakings in equivalent positions in other Member States of the European Community." Consistency Across Platforms Regulation of Retail Prices Management of the RF Spectrum. "The Commission shall ensure that, in its management of the radio frequency spectrum, it takes account of the interests of all users of the radio frequency spectrum." Views are welcome up to 10 Jan 03. I would expect a major submission from Ireland Offline. [Policy Direction and IOFFL reaction]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Sighting: LeapFrog iQuest LEAPFROG -- The LeapFrog iQuest is "like training wheels for PDAs and cell phones" for the thumb generation, according to Jenny Levine. [The Shifted Librarian]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Happy Birthday Britney Spears GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- Britney Spears turns 21 day! I think she should've flown to Dublin for the day because there's no better place to celebrate a 21st than in Ireland.   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Karlin Lillington's Call to Action Karlin Lillington -- After breaking a front page story concerning the Irish government's draft legislation on data privacy, Karlin plans to create a permanent resources section on issues around safeguarding digital rights and especially the Irish government's plan to introduce a bill allowing for the retention of data on all Irish citizens' emails, faxes, phonecalls, mobile calls, and internet use. This is a good idea because Ireland needs a dedicated digital rights privacy advocacy group to inform the public and lobby against things like the UK RIP procedures. The Irish branch of the Electronic Frontier Foundation remains inactive. Karline calls for its reactivation and possible creation of something like Statewatch. [EFF and technoculture]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Billions of Public Access Wireless YANKEE GROUP -- A Yankee report says North American public wireless access (PWLAN) will grow into a billion dollar business. [Yankee Group and Peter Bellew and allNetDevices Wireless News]   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Dave Winer on Bootstrapping DAVENET -- There is plenty to be learned from how UserLand bootstrapped itself into productivity. Remember, the process is more important than the product.   [Comment on Shoptalk]

Imagine a Blogcam Intellisign GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- Webcams can give you a wonderful snapshot of interesting vantage points from around the world. And if they scroll into view on a street sign, wouldn't that be just as interesting? Imagine asking the street sign for a look at a favourite spot, then getting to see the webcam's view at your request. x:109   [Comment on Shoptalk]