Tuesday, October 01, 2002

An MSNBC Interview with Shawn "Napster" Fanning is blinked over at Smart Mobs. I think the [industry’s] approach of providing a limited catalog of music, providing services that are significantly below the consumer’s expectations, and then simultaneously scaring them from trying to do what they want is the wrong approach. They really need to try to determine what are the core things that people really love and respect from a music service and make sure they satisfy those needs. . . . [W]hen consumers have the ability to learn about new and interesting music — and the barrier is lowered in a way that gives them control over how they experience it — I think those are positive things. As Napster grew and ultimately hit its peak, if you look at CD sales [they] were up as long as Napster was popular. The point at which Napster started filtering (blocking out certain songs after a court order in March 2001) is the point at which the record industry announced that this constant increase in their CD sales suddenly changed. 7:50:53 PM    comment []

ImClone, Martha Stewart, Merrill Lynch, Enron, Arthur Anderson, Global Crossing, Tyco, WorldCom, Adelphia, et. al. Diagrams to help you make sense of it all Well, there's only one diagram so far, but more will be added over time. Also available as a T-shirt, mousepad, or poster. 6:08:30 PM    comment []

Apple pulls iPod in France, by Ian Fried, CNET News.com. Apple has recently been made aware of an issue with its iPod product line's compliance with French law as it applies to sound output, the company said. This issue is correctable with a simple software update to any existing iPod, and we are taking a number of proactive steps to make that happen. 1:08:04 PM    comment []

All-Day Kindergarten Posts Big Gains in Montgomery, by a Washington Post Staff Writer. 1:08:03 PM    comment []

A beacon of sanity: In an age of religious fanatics, patriotic zealots and self-righteous leftists, Salman Rushdie champions free thinking and fun. By Michelle Goldberg, in Salon. 1:08:02 PM    comment []

NSA to upgrade monitoring abilities, by Seth Hettena (AP). The National Security Agency has signed a $282 million contract with Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego to help develop a more refined system for culling useful intelligence from a flood of data it collects daily. Officials disclosed the 26-month contract on Monday. 1:08:00 PM    comment []

Here's a story on the ''Listening to the City'' online discussions about what to do at the ground zero site where the World Trade Center towers stood: Vox Populi, Online and Downtown, by Amy Harmon (NYT). [T]he 10,000-odd messages produced by the online groups are also being scrutinized as a model for civic engagement on local and national issues. Some who have monitored the process suggest that online discussion may be a more promising way to promote democratic debate than a Javits-style town hall — in part because it is more practical. You don't have to buy people lunch on the Internet or get them a free pass on the ferry to get there, said Robert D. Yaro, the president of the Regional Plan Association, one of the organizers of the Javits Center event and a member of the Civic Alliance. And people could do this at 3 in the morning if that's when they were free. . . . At Javits, there was no bouncing of ideas: we just went around the circle and each person had their say, said Cynthia Schmae, a consultant for Web Lab, a nonprofit organization that specializes in online communication and ran the Web discussions. You didn't have time to get to know each other so you don't have that flow. 1:07:59 PM    comment []

House Members Approve Language Easing Some Copyright Rules for Online Courses, by Dan Carnevale (CHE). Language that members of Congress added to an appropriations bill that passed the House of Representatives on Thursday would make it easier for professors to use more kinds of copyrighted works in online courses. The legislation would amend the Copyright Act of 1976 so that online-education instructors could use recordings of dramatic literary and musical works -- such as plays, musicals, and operas -- without seeking permission from the copyright owners. Under current law, only nondramatic literary and musical works can be used in such courses without permission. 1:07:57 PM    comment []

Who Is and Isn't Qualified to Teach? Experts Disagree on What Makes Good Teachers: Specialized Knowledge, Personal Qualities or Training. By a Washington Post Staff Writer. 12:07:37 PM    comment []

Howard Rheingold's Web site concerning Smart Mobs is a multi-author weblog. 11:07:56 AM    comment []

Eliot blinked Keeping Cool: Women's Brains Better at Handling Anger In a nutshell, the research indicates that men are more aggressive than women because the part of the brain that modulates aggression is smaller in men than it is in women. Both genders have about the same ability to produce emotions, but when it comes to keeping those emotions in check, men have been shortchanged. The story itself is at ABC. 11:07:55 AM    comment []

Seeking Deeper Meaning in the Babbling of Babies, by Mary Duenwald (NYT). Although all 10 babies opened their mouths wider on the right when babbling, they opened equally on each side when making random sounds. If in babbling, the child were just working through mastering the motor output of the mouth, then all sounds should come out equally, Dr. Petitto said. But babbling was different. The findings support the idea that the brain has tissue dedicated specifically to learning language. 11:07:53 AM    comment []

Bas C. Van Fraassen, The Empirical Stance, Reviewed by Richard Rorty, in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. 10:07:24 AM    comment []

Bruce Sterling points at some software art and says What a cool idea. It's software art, so instead of framing the art, the Whitney Museum fronts the code. That is some top-notch art, too. It really belongs in a museum. Click on it. Be persistent. Trust the curator. 10:07:22 AM    comment []

I posted something below from the Washington Post bylined only ''by a Washington Post Staff Writer.'' That's because there's a ''byline strike'' going on. ' Byline Strike' Begins at Post: Guild Calls for 5-Day Action as Contract Talks Hit Standstill Over Union-Membership Rules. By Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer. Participating reporters, columnists, photographers, artists and critics are withholding their names from work appearing in The Post through Saturday's editions, as the union tries to turn up the heat on stalled negotiations. . . . The Post has told us it's made its final offer, said Rick Weiss, Guild unit co-chairman and a national science reporter. We've all made our most intelligent arguments as to why the other side should change its mind. The way it works in bargaining is if you can't convince someone to change their minds and you don't have anything left to trade, then the only way you're going to get movement is to put pressure on and irritate and embarrass the other side, so that is what we're doing right now. . . . The fact that The Post was able to bully some unions with less clout into accepting some bad contract languages is no reason for us to give in to this sort of pressure, Weiss said. . . . In addition to the byline strike, Guild members are employing other tactics to bring attention to the negotiations, which remain stalled despite the presense of a federal mediator on three occasions. Since August, the Guild has been handing out "pledge cards" to subscribers at public events such as Takoma Park's annual Folk Life Festival, held on Sept. 22, as well as sliding them under neighbors' doors in apartment buildings. The cards are addressed to Washington Post Co. Chairman Donald E. Graham and Post Publisher Boisfeuillet Jones Jr. Senders pledge that they support the Guild and will cancel their Post subscriptions if the Guild asks them to. . . . For a reporter, a byline is part ego, part credibility. Hank Stuever, a Style section staff writer who is not a Guild member but endorsed the previous byline strike, said he has mixed feelings. We're not an oppressed class of people, said Stuever. I think it's deliberately going to embarrass a company that has not been bad to me. Being well paid doesn't absolve me from caring about my brethren and sistren two floors up or two floors down or out in Greenbelt, he said, referring to The Post's lesser-paid commercial workers. And yet I waffle because the debate is so annoying. 10:07:20 AM    comment []

Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching and Low-threshold Applications. Check out the Teaching, Learning, and Technology for Almost Everyone workshop that Steven W. Gilbert, David Starret, and Lisa Star gave at the MERLOT conference over the weekend. 10:07:18 AM    comment []

Mob Rule. Mark Frauenfelder interviews Howard Rheingold, author of Smart Mobs, a book about the next social revolution, in TheFeature. What you have is neither a microchip nor a television but a kind of “mind amplifier.” I think that’s an important principle – that by combining certain powerful technologies – particularly when they amplify human capabilities – you get hybrids that are much more powerful and very different from the components. (I'll be leading discussion of Smart Mobs with Howard Rheingold in The Well's Inkwell.vue around Thanksgiving time.) (You can preorder the book now at amazon.com.) 10:07:16 AM    comment []

Oh, those bad, bad, bad consumers who try to take advantage of poor, powerless -- oh, wait a minute. This is a different story: Companie s settle CD price-fixing suit, by Larry Neumeister (AP). Consumers who bought CDs between 1995 and 2000 can file claims for part of the fund, prosecutors said. Public announcements will be made later to inform consumers how to participate in the payout. . . . This is a landmark settlement to address years of illegal price-fixing, [New York Attorney General Eliot] Spitzer said. Our agreement will provide consumers with substantial refunds and result in the distribution of a wide variety of recordings for use in our schools and communities. And what great responses from the labels and retailers: We deny any wrongdoing, Warner-Elektra-Atlantic said in a statement. We have made a business decision to settle these matters and avoid continuing with expensive and protracted litigation. The settlement made sense to us from a business perspective, and enables WEA to put this matter behind us. Nathaniel Brown, a Bertelsmann Music Group spokesman, noted that the settlement does not state that there was any wrongdoing. He said the company maintains that its pricing practices were appropriate and lawful throughout the period. Sony declined to comment. EMI and Universal did not immediately return telephone messages for comment. . . . Dawn Bryant, a spokeswoman for Musicland, said the company had no immediate comment. Trans World Entertainment spokesman John Sullivan said, We were wrongly accused and nobody admitted any wrongdoing. Tower Records did not immediately return messages. Well, great. Just so noone did anything wrong when they were preventing price competition for consumers who actually buy CDs. See also Suit Settled Over Pricing of Recordings at Big Chains by Claudia H. Deutsch (NYT) and M usic Firms Settle Lawsuit: Refund Pact Ends CD Price-Fixing Case. By a Washington Post Staff Writer. (And a question: what implications did these practices have for the artists? Are they paid a percentage of retail or wholesale prices? I think not. I think they're paid by the piece, in which case the ''alleged'' price fixing plausibly had the net effect of driving down payouts to artists by exchanging sales volume for margin. Anybody know differently?) 9:07:05 AM    comment []

T-Mobile to launch Sidekick device. The wireless carrier will announce Tuesday that the highly anticipated device that combines a Web browser with a cell phone is available nationwide, sources say. [CNET News.com] 7:17:21 AM    comment []

As Security Cameras Sprout, Someone's Always Watching [New York Times: Technology] 7:16:13 AM    comment []

Growing a Woman President [Christian Science Monitor] 7:13:03 AM    comment []

Q&A: What's next in Washington? [Christian Science Monitor] 7:12:25 AM    comment []