John Naughton has some great links to both his recent Observer column on the scourge of Powerpoint in the corporate world and to related links, one of which is to this wonderful version of the Gettysburg Address -- if Abe Lincoln had used Powerpoint. Hilarious -- but also a sad reminder of how elegance of delivery, much less a sense of command and oratorical power, is utterly lost with our insipid  reliance on the 'talking points' slide.

5:56:58 PM  #   your two cents []

Bob Frankston: The Legacy of Spectrum. "The presumption that underlies the FCC management of communications is that we must have prior restraint because we are not allowed to do better than the methods used over 100 years ago! Communicating with a radio is treated as being special and not only is prior restraint allowed, it is required." [Tomalak's Realm]
3:53:08 PM  #   your two cents []

 Heritage group Duchas may purchase a herd of cattle to control vegetation around the famous Poulnabrone dolmen:

Now, in a conservation plan to protect the dolmen, the role of grazing cattle is seen as vital to protect safe access to the tomb. The plan points out that the use of livestock may be "considered the most ecologically environmentally sensitive option to control vegetation", adding that grazing must be maintained to preserve the richness and diversity of the grasslands.

3:51:39 PM  #   your two cents []

New UK space policy emphasizes scientific, commercial use of space. "The policy, however, relies on unmanned space systems, and does not include an increased role in the ISS, including flying British astronauts to the station." [spacetoday.net]
2:36:45 PM  #   your two cents []

6 Retailers Plan Venture to Sell Music on the Web. Six music retailers plan to announce that they are joining forces to sell music that can be downloaded from the Web. [New York Times: Technology]
2:35:11 PM  #   your two cents []

Marketing Battle for Online Dating:

One major drawback, according to Marketdata Enterprises, is that about 30 percent of the people using the services are married. And even among those who are legitimately single, there is a pesky lying problem.

"You can lie about your height, your weight, your age," said John LaRosa, the research director at Marketdata who has just completed a study on dating services. "You may be 55 and sending in a photo of when you were 40. It's caveat emptor — buyer beware."

And in related news!: A Female Counterpart to Viagra. [New York Times: Technology]

2:32:44 PM  #   your two cents []

Crime Is Soaring in Cyberspace. Skilled thieves and employees are stealing millions if not billions of dollars a year from businesses, say consultants who track cybercrime.  [New York Times: Technology]
1:18:59 PM  #   your two cents []

From Boing Boing Blog: Monowheels through time and space. This site has an amazing history of past and present efforts to build a monowheel vehicle. I spit upon your puny Segway. What's that word again? Monowheel! Link
1:18:16 PM  #   your two cents []

This is particularly relevant at the moment in Ireland: Online Kid Porn a Tricky Problem. The Net makes child porn ridiculously easy to find. But most people don't know that viewing such images online -- even once -- is illegal. The witch hunts that result do little to stamp out child abuse, or to trap the real predators in our midst. A commentary by Lauren Weinstein. [Wired News]
1:16:38 PM  #   your two cents []

Point Man in Europe Assesses Intel Outlook. Christian Morales, a general manager of European operations for Intel, discusses issues facing Intel in Europe. [New York Times: Technology]
1:15:24 PM  #   your two cents []

I've got a piece on Wired.com today on Adnan Osmani's web browser. Unfortunately this lead-in suggests wrongly that researchers are 'drooling' and I'd like to emphasise that this is not my claim nor did I write this intro. The researchers are simply impressed with the overall creativity and work behind the browser in general, and think the unproven, and so far undocumented premise behind the purported speed boost could work. This kind of positioning of course grabs reader attention but is definitely gilding the lily -- and unfair to what Adnan has done and what the researchers said -- and perpetuates the overcooked hype about this schools competition project: 

Teen's Web Browser Wows Top Geeks. Sixteen-year-old Adnan Osmani seems like a typical teen boy interested in computers. But the ultrafast Web browser he created has some MIT and Intel tech researchers drooling. Others are more than a bit skeptical. Karlin Lillington reports from Ireland. [Wired News]

1:14:46 PM  #   your two cents []

Jobs for President? Not This Time. An underground campaign to draft Steve Jobs as a candidate for president is snuffed out in short order by the man himself. The Apple CEO said he was flattered, but not interested in the job. [Wired News]
1:07:11 PM  #   your two cents []

Robert Wilensky. "We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards coud produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true." [Quotes of the Day]
1:06:08 PM  #   your two cents []

VoIP hang-up looming?. Local telecommunications giants want to make it harder for Net telephony providers to get access to the dwindling supply of unassigned phone numbers. [CNET News.com]
1:05:37 PM  #   your two cents []

There's a little item on Ireland.com's breaking news that the Dept of Communication will support the development five trial wireless networks. I don't know any more about it and there's no formal press release yet, but here's the bulk of the news piece. You kind of wonder why we're having these dinky trials of already-proven technologies -- I mean, a single hotel in Dublin?! But anything is better than nothing:

Mr Dermot Ahern said the projects will begin shortly in Dublin, Cork, Mayo, Sligo, Limerick and Louth. The trials of the local area networks (LAN) will provide high-speed access in a number of locations in these areas, including a university, hotels, specific towns and a conference centre.

Mr Ahern said the trials will play a "vital role in allowing high speed communications access without the necessity of installing fibre optic cables or wires". The trials will test the feasibility of wireless LAN broadband technology and identify how and where it can be used.

The locations proposed for the various trials are: Dublin's Digital Hub, Trinity College, Cork City and the Mahon area, Dundalk, Drogheda, Ardee, Westport, Sligo, a conference centre, a ferry terminal and one hotel in Dublin, Limerick and Galway .

11:46:30 AM  #   your two cents []

EFF Ireland: The movement to re-form an Irish branch of digital privacy and civil rights advocacy group EFF is now on a roll. Boards.ie have a new discussion forum for privacy and digital rights issues here; you can follow a thread on re-establishing EFI here. NB: I've put the people who contacted me through this blog in touch with each other and with the forum, but I seem to have missed a couple of names -- if you did not get the email, many apologies; contact me again and I'll link you up with the group.

To date citizens in Ireland have had little say in the law-making process in the whole area of digital privacy, copyright, spam, data retention, and so forth. Many new bills are about to come out that cover these areas, in particular, an outrageous 3-4 year data retention proposal from the Department of Justice, to retain traffic data from ALL faxes, emails, phone and mobile calls, and internet usage for every Irish person. An advocacy/watchdog group is badly needed to help create (indeed, force) public and Dail [parliamentary] debate in these areas, and to be a point of contact and information for the media and citizens. If this interests you, get involved and check out the discussion forum, and/or feel free to email me and I'll add you to the group mailing list.

1:09:08 AM  #   your two cents []