Chinese Proverb. "He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever." [Quotes of the Day]
12:40:45 PM  #   your two cents []

Where Microsoft is going to go. CEO Steve Ballmer explains what's on his mind after delivering the latest annual mission statement to his troops. Here's what's high on the agenda: how to combat the challenge presented by open source. [CNET News.com]
12:37:59 PM  #   your two cents []

Read Branscum, below, on the FCC decision and then read this [NY Times today]: "A bipartisan majority of an important Senate committee indicated today that it would vote to overturn some of the media ownership rules adopted two days ago, reversing one of the most significant deregulatory steps undertaken during the Bush administration." The issue of ownership is extremely important, as Dan has outlined eloquently in the past -- when the voices are not many but are boiled down to a few, reportage suffers and is more likely to be curtailed for commercial or other interests. I work for two independent publications (owned by trusts, so that they cannot be bought out by conglomerates), The Guardian and the Irish Times. I must say I have never once been asked by either publication to modify or in particular, restrain my perspective for anything other than legal reasons [grin]. Many of my friends who work for publications owned by conglomerates, have been. I am glad this issue has never even raised its ugly head because then, I would feel I was no longer a journalist. It's not that other frustrations with policy or attitude haven't arisen between me and these publications. But those are normal agitations between employer and employee, not things which undermine my whole concept of what my job is supposed to entail. (And can I just point out again that both these publications are supportive of their writers producing weblogs?!)
10:14:23 AM  #   your two cents []

The always-excellent Deborah Branscum has been in especially fine form of late (must be all that Scandinavian sunshine she's getting up in Sweden). See her right-on take on the appalling state of media ownership and the FCC licking the boots of those that are happy to kick it here (warning: it's likely to appall you to the point of needing a long cold pint of Guinness to calm down); and there's lots of other good stuff. Deborah doesn't seem to do permalinks though which makes it frustratingly hard to link to her posts! Get 'em while they're hot, or they'll vanish off the blog...
10:04:39 AM  #   your two cents []

Deal Reunites Early Makers of Hand-Helds. Palm Inc. agreed on Wednesday to acquire Handspring, which Palm's founders started as a rival five years ago. [New York Times: Technology]
9:28:14 AM  #   your two cents []

Boy, I could use this guide: Roving the Globe, Laptops Alight on Wireless Hot Spots. Traveling to Europe or Asia this summer? A look at places and service plans for wireless Internet access overseas. [New York Times: Technology] ... On the other hand, I did one of those day trips over to London yesterday for a story (ugh -- early plane, 1 hr car drive into city, a presentation, an interview, a demo, lunch, 1 hr car drive back to Heathrow, just made an earlier flight -- which was nice! Lots of people like to complain about Aer Lingus, but one of the really great things they do is if there's space on an earlier flight, they'll nearly always move you into that flight on request -- assuming you have no checked luggage. British Airways refused to do this for me in Zurich because I didn't have an expensive-enough ticket). I needed to finish up a story during the trip and rather than haul the laptop (with uncertain ability to email story) I instead opted for my XDA (PDA  PocketPC GPRS phone) and my tiny fold-out keyboard. Worked perfectly -- wrote the whole piece on the flight and in the first bit of the car drive in Pocket Word, then emailed it into the Irish Times as an attachment, from the XDA. Perfect, tiny, no hassle.
9:27:26 AM  #   your two cents []

Broadband Internet Use Has Its Risks, Study Finds. The constant connection and fast speed of broadband Internet access exposes users to far greater risk than most of them realize, according to a study. [New York Times: Technology]
9:19:19 AM  #   your two cents []

The man who saw God's plan. "In his fascinating biography of the strange, secretive Isaac Newton, author James Gleick attempts to understand the father of physics' genius -- and comes up with a mystery." [Salon.com]
9:18:47 AM  #   your two cents []

 Cool! -- Gecko-Inspired Adhesive Sticks It to Traditional Tape "...the researchers' calculations show that if they had enough to cover a human palm (200 square centimeters or so), gecko tape could support the weight of an average person." [Scientific American]
9:16:16 AM  #   your two cents []

ArtBots - The Robot Talent Show [Slashdot]
9:13:02 AM  #   your two cents []

Petition Congress to Save Public Domain. "Larry Lessig asks that everyone read this online petition -- to reclaim the public domain -- and sign it if you agree." [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]
9:12:32 AM  #   your two cents []