History and Perspective on BeOS [Slashdot]
7:17:18 PM  #   your two cents []

Here's the Google News digest of stories on Geraldine Kennedy's appointment Friday as editor of the paper I work for, the Irish Times. I see that the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in Iran has headlined that she is the first female editor of an Irish daily.

4:00:50 PM  #   your two cents []

"Celldar" -- which can secretly track the movements of cars and people using radio waves transmitted by mobile phone masts -- is the latest invention to excite the surveillance-obsessed British government, which is funding Celldar research, says today's Observer. Celldar will be used with upcoming 3G mobile handsets that can identify and locate individuals. BTW, senior police officers are already allowed access to mobile phone and email records in Britain without the inconvenience of obtaining a warrant.
3:48:35 PM  #   your two cents []

Will Hutton in today's Observer: Why the Irish must vote yes. Depending on your point of view this might persuade you to vote yes, or to vote no. The election is this coming Saturday. Polls are showing a 40+% majority for Yes, though nearly a fourth of voters remain undecided.
3:37:16 PM  #   your two cents []

Hmmmm. My PC is making funny little sets of soft grinding noises when it does things like downloading emails or opening some programs. And it freezes while it makes those noises. Last night I discovered it can't find all the components to 'search' or the 'degfrag' program in Windows. Dear oh dear. Yes, I have backed everything up Just In Case. Yes, I ran the full Dell diagnostics program overnight and it can't find anything wrong with drives, memory etc. If I vanish you'll know why -- though postings will be very sporadic between 21/10 and 4/11 anyway, as I disappear into Africa for 2 weeks. Some blogging the week of the 21st on the International Bar Association conference in Durban, So Africa, however, which has some interesting-sounding cyberlaw sessions.
2:31:35 PM  #   your two cents []

Developers turn Xbox into Linux system. German group promises to morph game center into full-featured PC [InfoWorld: Top News]
2:25:36 PM  #   your two cents []

Microsoft to take European SME licensing worldwide. Customers with between 2 and 250 computers can choose to rent or buy software [InfoWorld: Top News]
2:20:36 PM  #   your two cents []

How to hack people. Kevin Mitnick reveals the biggest threat to the security of a company: You. [BBC News | TECHNOLOGY] But of course. This reminds me of a great presentation at the RSA Data Security Conference a few years ago, on how a little dumpster-diving behind major Silicon Valley companies produced all sorts of highly sensitive and confidential material, including printed out passwords, details of private phone calls, documents on ongoing secret negotiations with other companies, etc. Few people seem to bother shredding (and anyway, Enron showed that shredding has its fallabilities as well).
2:17:59 PM  #   your two cents []

Easy Access to Public Records Online Raises Privacy Questions [New York Times: Technology]
2:14:14 PM  #   your two cents []

Sinéad was right. Ten years after ripping up a photo of the pope to protest sexual abuse in the Catholic Church -- and destroying her career -- Sinéad O'Connor returns to talk about her new album of Irish folk, her kids and why she sympathizes with America. [Salon.com]
2:13:40 PM  #   your two cents []

Lawrence Lessig's own comments on the copyright case he is arguing before the Supreme Court, Eldred v. Ashcroft. And here's the Economist on the case, waxing hyperbolic on LL:

Now at Stanford University, formerly at Harvard, Mr Lessig has become a rock star of the information age, mixing scholarly inquiry with barnstorming activism on many issues. A Ralph Nader of the Internet, he fights against the mighty corporations that want to squeeze the vitality out of the web, trampling consumers in the name of Mammon. Were his target a cigarette company, say, Hollywood would already be making "Lessig, the movie".

Sheesh! I can hear the Vangelis theme song already...

2:13:15 PM  #   your two cents []

Why Human Rights Requires Free Software [Slashdot]
2:12:07 PM  #   your two cents []