Report: Columbia crew lived one minute after last contact. Shuttle investigators believe the STS-107 crew lived for about one minute after radio contact... [spacetoday.net] 
11:51:07 PM      comment []   trackback []  



NL bloggers wanted!.

Erik van Bekkum:

A call for bloggers in The Netherlands! I have been thinking with Lilia Efimova and Ton Zijlstra about getting bloggers together during the holidays and get to meet the people behind the blogs...we're thinking about doing something fun and informal, perhaps a picknick, on a Saturday?

Who is in? Go to the comments field of this entry and let us know who you are, where you live and what period would best suit you. If you cannot attend, syndicate this entry to your blog or email your blogofriends.

Of course, it's going to a be a Dutch treat! And: you don't have to actually have a blog to come. It's going to be fun!

[Mathemagenic] 
11:50:16 PM      comment []   trackback []  



Semantic Studios: International Information Architecture. The ways we categorize are rooted in language and culture. This creates unique challenges for information architects. For example, a web site targeted for a Japanese audience may require a completely different structure and organization than its German equivalent. Localization isn't limited to translation. [Tomalak's Realm] 
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Cultural Assumptions in the Wiki World. The grandfather of all wikis on the terms of intercultural conversation. [Blogalization Community] 
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Marc of rotten.com running AIDS marathon -- donate!. Mark Powell from rotten really isn't all that rotten:

In June I began training for the Honolulu Marathon with the AIDS Marathon training program. The marathon takes place on December 14, 2003. The training program raises money for HIV services through sponsorships of volunteer runners like myself.

From June until December, I'll be logging nearly 500 miles in this six-month training program put on by the National AIDS Marathon. I train during the week, and have a 'big run' every Saturday at the crack of dawn in Golden Gate Park. This past weekend, I ran 8 miles, the longest I have ever run before in my life. Doing something I am not sure if I can do is a great thrill, almost as compelling as helping to combat the pandemic of HIV on this planet.

In San Francisco, 1 out of every 50 residents lives with HIV/AIDS. 40 million people worldwide are currently living with HIV. One million Americans are infected, and countless other lives are affected by HIV.

I would like to ask your support- I have personally committed to raise at least $3,000 by September 3, 2003. Any contribution you can make would mean a lot to me and to people who benefit from HIV service and prevention programs in the Bay Area. Contributions are tax deductible and can be made through the simple website listed below. By contributing, you will be making a huge difference in the lives of thousands of people you have never met, and you will help me to reach my goal of completing a marathon in the service of our fellow man.

Link to online donation page, or email [marc at rotten dot com] to arrange an offline donation. Discuss [Boing Boing Blog] 
7:00:31 PM      comment []   trackback []  



One billion ends added.

Miles Yao has translated World of Ends to Chinese. Here it is.

Thanks, Miles!

[The Doc Searls Weblog] 
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Mutating Strands of HIV. First Documented Case of HIV hybridization in a human being was presented at the International AIDS Society conference in Paris. In this case, genetic tests on a superinfected woman showed that the two strains she was infected with swapped genetic material, creating a new hybrid strain of HIV. The actual effects are not yet clear, but this could pose a serious problem for researchers trying to create a vaccine. [MetaFilter] 
6:22:30 PM      comment []   trackback []  



My God, it's full of stars!. Hubble Heritage Image Gallery. (Be sure to also check out the Index Listing for links to higher resolution versions of each of the images.) [MetaFilter] 
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Harry Hatchet in the Guardian: "It was a Norwegian Maoist who first pointed me towards the online world of weblogs, and after six months of linking and commenting, a group of ultra-Thatcherite libertarians invited me to a bloggers' dinner party. Such are the people you bump into in the blogosphere..." [Corante: Corante on Blogging] 
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Once Upon a Time in Africa. An anthology of folk tales, selected by Nelson Mandela with the help of experts, has demonstrated a popular interest in traditional African stories. By Felicia R. Lee. [New York Times: International] 
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Space.com: The 10 brightest stars. If, like me, you find yourself lingering outside in the cool summer night air to look up at the stars, then you may find Space.com's latest article about the 10 brightest stars interesting... [Mac Net Journal] 
3:59:48 AM      comment []   trackback []  



Portuguese Parliament to government officials: start blogging. BoingBoing pal Jean-Luc from Paris says:

Xeni, I don't know if you've already heard about this, but a new law was just unanimously passed in Portugal by deputies (Projecto Deliberacao number 10/IX) which provides all deputies the option of having their own website or blog (the word weblog is mentioned in the law!). The deputies' blogs will be hosted on the Portuguese Parliament's webserver. The original piece of news, blogged in Portuguese, is here, from July 07, and and I wrote about it here in French.

I don't read Portuguese *or* French all that well, and I couldn't locate the law on the Portuguese government's website -- but if any readers have access to English language versions of the news, or care to provide a translation, please post in the Discuss forum! Discuss [Boing Boing Blog] 
3:42:00 AM      comment []   trackback []  



Reality shows: pointing the way to the panopticon future. As odious as reality TV shows are, they have the signal virtue of showing us how miserable life is in the absence of any privacy and ubiquitous surveillance.

So why reality shows? Reality shows are dead cheap. You think a million dollar prize is expensive? Each member of the cast of Friends that every night. To be competitive, a show like Survivor or Idiots in a Box hardly needs to beat "regular" shows to turn a profit. And, it turns out, that people will watch this stuff in huge quantities. (There are a couple interesting potential explanations for that, but I'll limit myself to the observation that sticking a bunch of people off the street with no special training or, apparantly, personality still produces a more interesting show with better dialogue than 90% of what the networks turn out. "Perhaps," mull the networks, "the problem is that the audience wants higher definition signals." Yeah, perhaps.) These shows thrive on feeding a never-ending appetite for more and more intimate/embarassing/private/dreadful behavior, and this drives an arms race to the bottom (as if there were a bottom). So why I am heralding them as being so important?

Because, magically, weirdly, just in time, they are teaching us what it means to be watched, all the time, and have all of your actions and interactions not only observed by millions of anonymous strangers, but analyzed, judged, and preserved forever. And this is a lesson that we, especially in the United States, desperately need to learn, because it is about to happen to all of us.

Link

Discuss [Boing Boing Blog] 
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I'm not Joi Ito, that's just my name. There is a lot of talk about identity these days. You MUST remember that identities are like names. You are NOT your identity. Your identity points to you. Everyone has multiple identities. Roger Clark describes this as the difference between entities and identities. You are an entity. Your name, your role in the company, your relationship with your child, they are different identities. Multiples identities isn't just about having more than one email address or chat room nym. A multitude of identities is an essential component in protecting privacy and interacting in an exceedingly digital world. [Joi Ito's Web Lite] 
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