Thursday, April 10, 2003

'Wayback Machine' Stars at Sex Court Trial, by Anthony M. DeStefano, New York Newsday. The existence of the monster "Wayback Machine" -- a service with a massive computer capacity of over 100 terabtyes -- was disclosed to jurors in federal court in the suit brought by Playboy Enterprises against a Web enterpreneur Mario Cavalluzzo over use of the name "Sex Court." Cavalluzzo's attorney John Bostany seemed stunned by the revelation about the huge archive as he cross- examined a Playboy official. Judge Raymond Dearie also quipped that it sounded like something from the film "Back to the Future." But Cindy Johnston, Playboy Enterprise's Internet research manager, said that hundreds of computers have been storing web pages and that she uses the Wayback Machine regularly to check for infringements on Playboy trademarks. 11:55:14 PM    comment []

Tech--Privacy's friend or foe?. A group of researchers is out to prove that though technology has created many of society's privacy concerns, it can protect our liberties in the future. [CNET News.com] 9:32:04 PM    comment []

Andrew: Brain teaser for you all: anarchy as a political system is generally understood to be a bad thing, yet anarchy as an economic system is generally accepted as how things ought to be. Why? . . . . [Andrew Bayer Is Dreaming of China] 8:12:37 PM    comment []

The spirit of freedom. "There is an amazing amount of information related to current world events making its way around the world via e-mail. Some of it is good and some of it is shallow. Some of it is true and some of it isn't. I rank what follows among the best of what I've received, even though it isn't entirely true as circulated." [Purportal.com Headlines] 7:04:42 PM    comment []

Uni MP3 showdown begins, by Simon Hayes, Australian IT. The much-anticipated hearing of Sony Music Entertaiment (Australia) Ltd & Ors v The University of Tasmania & Ors - a case that pits Sony, Universal and EMI against the Universities of Tasmania, Melbourne and Sydney - will begin a two-day hearing today. Justice Tamberlin is expected to hear argument on the merits of the industry's attempt to get the universities to release records that it believes could lead to alleged music pirates that use university networks. . . . The universities also raised concerns that a letter summarising the orders the recording companies would be seeking mentioned hard drives which at any time had stored the evidence being sought. Counsel for the universities argued that could catch whole servers that may have played a part in the creation of an email. Argument over the scope of the orders was postponed until a later date. 4:53:58 PM    comment []

Open-source battle rages in Oregon, by Lisa M. Bowman, CNET News.com A group of open-source advocates and critics will meet behind closed doors Wednesday afternoon, in the first of at least two meetings in search of a compromise on what could be the first bill in the United States to encourage the use of open-source software by a state government. The bill, introduced by Oregon Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, last month, would require the state to consider using open-source software when buying new programs. Although the bill does not specifically mandate open-source software over proprietary software, the bill does say it cannot be excluded from the selection process. The bill, HB 2892, also says open- source options can significantly reduce the state's costs of obtaining and maintaining software. 10:52:51 AM    comment []

Intelligence ops in Baghdad show need for physical security back home, by Dan Verton, Computerworld. 9:52:42 AM    comment []

WNEW Cutting Talk Format to Focus on Free-Form Music. After months of declining ratings, an all-talk station is switching to a free-form music format along with a heavy dose of gossip and entertainment news. By Lynette Holloway. [New York Times: Business] 7:11:51 AM    comment []

How to Hook Up Your Network. Building your own wireless network isn't complicated. All it takes is a broadband connection, a few hundred dollars and a willingness to pull the plugs. By Paul Boutin for Wired magazine. [Wired News] 7:10:56 AM    comment []

Steve Gilbert writes: We should get serious about lifelong learning - everyone learning at every age. Things are changing faster, new information is accumulating faster, so are opportunities and threats. More of us are living longer. Teaching and learning are probably survival traits - for individuals and for communities. Most people need or prefer externally provided structure and engagement with peers for many important kinds of learning. Some of the people are good independent learners some of the time, but not all the people all the time. Do the arithmetic. We need lots more teachers and teaching to make lifelong learning for everyone a realistic possibility. Teaching is one of the best ways of learning. Teaching feels good. Learning feels good. Everyone can teach someone something some of the time. [We need all the adjuncts we can get. Everyone can be an adjunct. And we will continue to need more full-time teachers than we have.] 7:09:34 AM    comment []

David Carraher: Weblogs in Education. [Scripting News] Scripting Dave (as opposed to BlogsInEduction Dave) also pointed at something someone pointed me to the other day but I can't recall who it was to give them credit: HOW TO MAKE A REVOLUTION in three easy steps, by Lee Felsenstein. It really is relatively easy and simple. And it really is recipe for revolutions. Check it out. 7:07:09 AM    comment []