Best practices rarely are.

Perhaps it's about time someone said this out loud and in public ...

The Worst Thing About Best Practices.

Here's a list of reasons to why you should not adopt 'best practices':

10:51:57 PM    

The Future of Work.

Future Tense explores how the modern work “place” is evolving and adapting to new trends, technologies, and economic factors.

2:14:44 PM    

Wall Street Journal reports on podcasting.

This technology is taking off fast, although many people either "don't get it" or get it wrong. Even Apple's implementation has some shortcomings.

"The premise behind podcasts is that they let consumers listen to audio programs when they want to, rather than when broadcasters schedule them. ... For now, podcasts are generating more grassroots excitement than profits. More than six million American adults say they have downloaded and listened to podcasts ... Still, few podcasters are selling advertisements, much less charging subscription fees for their content. The more commercial podcasts become, the more likelihood that they may come to resemble aspects of radio that turn off some consumers."

[WSJ]

12:33:05 PM    

Investing in "the online conversation."

Dave Winer says:

"John Palfrey, executive director at Berkman Center (where I used to work), announces a new venture capital fund that focuses on investments in "tagging, RSS, OPML, search, social software, and related next-gen standards." According to Jim Moore, another former colleague of mine and JP's partner, they have raised $20 million from Ritchey Capital, and plan to raise another $80 million."  [Scripting News]

12:25:45 PM    

Windows Desktop Search

Microsoft released APIs (in beta) to facilitate desktop search beyond the browser. As hard drives increase in size and drop in price, expect this to become significant in eLearning applications, especially in "workflow learning."

[CNET]

12:20:43 PM    

Using RSS to deliver malware.

Watch out when Longhorn arrives, according to this article. Comment spam may turn out to be the least of our worries.

"Richard Stiennon, director of threat research at anti-spyware company Webroot Software Inc., has long predicted that RSS will be used to serve up malicious code. 'It's not yet a big target, but once RSS usage becomes as widespread as e-mail or instant messaging, the hackers will find a way to use it to distribute malware,' Stiennon said in a recent interview with Ziff Davis Internet News."

[eWeek News]

Update: Microsoft ready to discuss RSS Security [ComputerWorld]

12:07:59 PM