Friday, November 28, 2003

The social effects of cellphones Joi Ito links to a report written for Motorola by social theorist Sadie Plant entitled "The Effects of Mobile Telephones on Social and Individual Life" that looks at some of the emerging social conventions about cellphone use and has lots of interesting nuggets of info about how people are using cellphones. Like that some research done in London that found that if a man and a woman were sitting together in a public place like a restaurant or bar, 32 percent of men were likely to have their phone on display (like by placing it on a table) while only ten percent of women did so, but when two women are sitting together, 38 percent of the time both women would have their cellphones out. She also talks about the different stances people adopt when they're speaking on their phones. There's the "speakeasy" pose, which involves "heads thrown back and... [Gizmodo] How about talking quietly instead of yelling into the phone? 10:03:46 PM    comment []; Code-Breaker Canton went to the code museum in Annapolis and brought back some photos of decoding machines from WW2, and a paperback with some code-breaking exercises. He showed me one he had been working on for twenty minutes. I solved the puzzle in about twenty seconds, which isn't a big deal because I find that these sort of exercises have to be solved right away or one has to walk away from them and start afresh later. It's like pattern recognition - you either get it or you can stare at it for hours without making any inroads. 9:54:37 PM    comment []; Atlanta, Pt. 4 9:51:18 PM    comment []; Bluejacking These days, many mobile phones come equipped with Bluetooth -- a technology for sending data up to 30 feet to another device. It's kind of like wifi, except more flexible, albeit with a shorter range. But the point is, a lot of phones can use Bluetooth to send contact information from one to another, much the way you used to "beam" information from one Palm Pilot to another. Except with Bluetooth, you don't need to be pointing your device at the recipient. Indeed, you could be thirty feet away in a crowded room. This has given rise to a new trend: "bluejacking". Bluejacking is when you use your phone to locate another phone nearby that has Bluetooth -- and then send that person some contact info, and possibly a cryptic little message. Often you're doing it to a total stranger, anonymously. As the bluejacking web site puts it: On... [collision detection] 9:04:14 PM    comment []; How the Other .00001% Lives New Yorkish speculates on Thanksgiving at the always ra-sha-sha home of Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski. Kozlowski, of course, is being... [Gawker] The next morning all that remains is a dull headache and an upset stomach..... 9:03:37 PM    comment []; Canton's Austin Panorama photo 8:58:39 PM    comment []; Really Old Art. Now this is... Really Old Art. Now this is fab: Dutch and Flemish Painting of the 17th Centuries. [The Cartoonist] 8:53:36 PM    comment []; The case for open-source voting softare, pt. 3 I've written before about the Diebold computer-voting-maching scandal, and why I think voting software should be developed in an open-source mode -- so that citizens can see for themselves how the software works, and whether it's secure or insecure. Diebold has always publicly claimed that its secret, proprietary software is safe and reliable -- while in private, Diebold engineers have written panicked memos talking about the security holes. Yesterday, the Register reported that Diebold's automated teller machines were infected by the Nachi worm. Why? Amazingly, they run on Windows XP Embedded -- a platform that is just shot through with holes. [collision detection] 8:52:33 PM    comment []; Stopping spam with poetry Okay, this is cool: Here's an innovative way to stop spam -- and hit spammers with an intriguing use of copyright law. Habeas, an anti-spam corporation, has created a set of special "x-headers" that you insert into your outgoing mail. Essentially, it's a little watermark that indicates that your email is genuine and valid. ISPs can set up a simple filters that allow email through that includes these special x-headers. But hold it -- couldn't the spammers themselves also put these x-headers into their junk mail, and thus get past the filters? Sure. Except here's the thing: The headers are written in the form of haiku -- a copyrightable art form. (That's an example you see above.) If a spammer copies one of Habeas' x-headers and uses it to send out millions of pieces of spam, they've just broken copyright law on a massive scale: They have illegally distributed... [collision detection] 8:51:12 PM    comment []; the worst part of Sonny Bono lives Ok, this is very cool. AISO GrepLaw, Detritus as set up a "Sonny Bono is Dead" site, collecting samples from the works that would have passed into the public domain, but for the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. Sonny Bono, I am told, was a sweet man and great friend. I'm sure that's true, and his untimely death certainly robbed the world of the very best of this man. It's therefore very sad that the worst of Sonny Bono continues to echo -- this indiscriminate extension of copyrights. Congresswoman Mary Bono had some great ideas about how to make Congresswoman Lofgren's Public Domain Enhancement Act "better," as she put it. Is there a possible Sonny Bono Public Domain Act in the works? [Lessig Blog] I sent this link to Mary Bono today. Everything can be improved. 8:48:04 PM    comment []; 2004 Next year SSRI will release the following new CDs: In February we are hoping to release Jon Gagan's wonderful new album "Transit", which features scores of great musicians. In May we hope to release the next Luna Negra CD "La Semana", which so far promises to be my best work ever! In the Fall of 2004 we will release my third Christmas album, which is yet untitled....and you can get a taste of it soon - as a free download this December - a holiday gift from us 2 U. Check our Listening Lounge in December for a free download of "Le Cafe" from "The Nutcracker". Hear my wonderful Lester DeVoe guitar...hear Jon playing the Turkish Saz, Davo playing the dumbek.......... 8:28:41 PM    comment []; Holiday Special We are offering a holiday special: The Trilogy is now available for $46.00 and we will include the limited edition wearable mini CD "3 is 4 good luck" for free as long as supplies last. 8:17:41 PM    comment []; Another Atlanta photo...... 8:14:31 PM    comment [];

© Copyright 2003 Ottmar Liebert. Last update: 12/1/03; 6:10:53 AM.