Ewwwwww! 'The president ended the conversation "by kissing me on the head," the spokesman said.'
4:18:04 PM  #   your two cents []

Ed Cone: "There is a debate over the right of journalists to maintain private weblogs. It seems to me that journalists have rights in this area, but they also have responsibilities." He then goes on to offer some guidelines for journalists.

This whole issue is in serious danger of going down far too narrow a track here. This as NOT a journalist issue. This is a blogger issue. If you write into a public space in a weblog, then you are making public commentary. If you make that commentary about what you think of as your private life, but it includes comments on your friends, your exes, your job, your spouse -- then you have shifted your private life into a public space and may be held responsible for making those statements publicly (ask a lawyer!). Perhaps it is considered more pertinant that a person who is a writer by profession is making writerly comments into another space than that in which he or she is paid to write. But I don't see the difference. I see the same basic issues, whether I am a programmer for Intel or, (as I am), a hack with the Irish Times, The Guardian, or Wired.com.

Just look at this rather silly article in today's New York Times for confirmation of same.

But back to Ed Cone's guidelines for journalists. Get rid of the word 'journalists' and replace it with 'bloggers'. There's no real difference in relevance. On the other hand, I'm glad to say I felt nearly all these points were irrelevant to me. The Times and Guardian have never, ever questioned my right to have my own web space, whether it be a weblog or a website or to participate on discussion boards. It's fine with the Times for me to note my affiliation with them on the blog (and they let me add a link to my blog in my print column each week). I don't think it occurs to them to see it as either a conflict of interest or a potential problem. It's just not a big deal. I have criticised the Irish Times here before and I would argue for the right to do so in my print column if I felt there were reasons to do so. My guess is that they would allow that, as well. Even though I am not a staff writer.

Overall, blogging brings responsibilities. If everyone can be his or her own publisher, then every guy and gal had better learn some international and local libel and employment law, so that all bloggers -- not just journalists -- know their rights and responsibilities. Welcome to the world of publishing.

3:55:31 PM  #   your two cents []

'Heirloom software'?!?  Threat Is Seen to Heirloom Software. The personal computer industry began less than three decades ago, but already some of the early software programs that defined the era are an endangered species, the potential victims of "bit rot," according to a prominent digital archivist. [New York Times: Technology]
12:45:46 PM  #   your two cents []

From Russia, with... whatever. The online publication Russian Journal did this translation of my Irish Times interview with William Gibson -- rather cool to see it in Cyrillic script and find out my name is apparently [well, Radio won't paste in the Cyrillic... you'll have to go look at it yourself]. In other circumstances, I'd be delighted. The problem is that this journal, very well-designed, professional, and with what looks like some very interesting reading -- and with a background and operational ethos that I also would like -- never had the courtesy to ask me or the Irish Times whether they could use material which they are displaying on their site as if I am one of a stable of their own writers. They've clearly picked up the story from the copy I placed on the weblog, which is linked to.

But simply linking is not good enough here. Need I add that the Russian Journal itself would not find this acceptable if its own material were lifted in this wholesale fashion, and clearly states that it expects anyone using its articles to ask permission to use them. The Journal notes: "In any case, you should send us a request to reprint an article. Reprinting without reference is a violation of Russian and international laws. Violators can be subjected to a public censure as well as to more severe measures including criminal responsibility." Actually, reprinting copyrighted professional writing in full without permission is a violation of international laws. A simple link is not enough.

I'm disappointed that the Russian Journal took the approach it did when it clearly knew that this was the wrong way to go about things.

12:12:41 PM  #   your two cents []

Before Sun Is Reborn, It Must Resist Being Bought. Sun Microsystems looks vulnerable to a takeover either by another computer company or through a leveraged buyout by an investment firm. [New York Times: Technology]
10:52:45 AM  #   your two cents []

Microsoft to license Unix code. The software giant will license the rights to Unix technology from SCO Group, a move that could dramatically impact the battle between Windows and Linux. [CNET News.com] ...Here's a collection of related links.
10:48:58 AM  #   your two cents []

<rant> Is it just me, or is this really an incredibly banal article, way below the NYT's usual good standards? I read this and thought, who could possibly care? The people interviewed sound about as stupid as they get, as well. Put intimate details on a global, interconnected medium and expect the people written about won't notice? Duh!! </rant>. Dating a Blogger, Reading All About It. While personal blogs have been around for years, their proliferation has caused a wrinkle in the social fabric among people in their teens, 20's and early 30's. [New York Times: Technology]
10:47:32 AM  #   your two cents []

From John Naughton: Ethernet will be 30 next Thursday

Hooray! Nice interview with Bob Metcalfe, who with Dave Boggs invented it at that wonderful ideas factory, Xerox PARC. Interviewer asked "Why did you come up with the name Ethernet?"

Answer: " The luminiferous ether was once theorized to pervade all of space and was passive and omnipresent, a medium for the propagation of electromagnetic waves and particularly carrying light from the sun to the earth. That was the 1800s, and around 1900, thanks to Michaelson, Morley, and Einstein, et al., the ether was determined not to exist. So in 1973, while searching for a word to describe the medium that would be everywhere, that would be passive and would serve as a medium for the propagation of electromagnetic waves into particular data packets, we took that word that had fallen into disuse and called it the ether network." [Memex 1.1]

10:41:06 AM  #   your two cents []

Memorabilia for the Literary, Available on eBay. Editors at two literary magazines have recently used the auction site eBay's e-commerce capabilities to some highly creative ends. [New York Times: Technology]
10:39:54 AM  #   your two cents []

Isaac Asimov. "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." [Quotes of the Day]
10:38:14 AM  #   your two cents []

Hubble Spies Evidence of Seasons on Neptune [Scientific American]
10:37:25 AM  #   your two cents []

Robert Byrne. "Learning to dislike children at an early age saves a lot of expense and aggravation later in life." [Quotes of the Day]
10:37:04 AM  #   your two cents []