Wednesday, June 25, 2003

Googlesluts. Jan Haugland nominates David Harris for Googleslut of the century for temporarily renaming his blog Harry Potter 5 Summaries and News. Over 3000 hits this morning and counting.... [Radio Free Blogistan] 11:00:19 PM    comment []

Latest Potter book scanned, swapped online. People who want to read the latest Harry Potter book but don’t want to wait in line or pay for it can download a free copy. [CNET News.com] 10:58:39 PM    comment []

Andrew Odlyzko: The unsolvable privacy problem and its implications for security technologies. [Hack the Planet] 10:53:52 PM    comment []

Very Richest's Share of Income Grew Even Bigger, Data Show. The income of the 400 wealthiest taxpayers grew steadily in the years 1992 to 2000, while their tax burden plummeted. By David Cay Johnston. [New York Times: Business] 10:52:59 PM    comment []

World's First WiFi Nation WiFi is the prefect fit for the Island of Niue, where harsh weather conditions of rain, lightning, salt water, and high humidity cause major problems with underground copper lines, said Richard St Clair, Co-Founder and Technical Manager at The Internet Users Society - Niue and Chairman, Pacific Island Chapter ISOC. And since WiFi is a license free technology by International Agreement, no license is needed either by the provider or the user. . . . A substantial portion of Niue’s tourism comes from visiting yacht traffic during the non-cyclone season. Yachts with onboard computer equipment with WiFi cards and external antennas will be able to park in the harbor and access full Internet services from their vessels as an open node, also free of charge. Other visitors, consultants and tourists to the island who carry laptops with either built in WiFi or as an add-on, will also have the ability to connect to the open node free of charge for the duration of their stay. Local Internet users with recent-vintage laptops will find the built in wireless features useful as more areas are covered with RF, and users who may be in the more congested telephone circuit locales such as Alofi central will also benefit from the new technology. One government office is already hooked up to the WiFi service and it is expected others will join in as soon as the appropriate hardware is installed. The story notes that Niue has offered free e-mail nationally since 1997, free full Net access since 1999, and a free broadband Internet Cafe since this past spring. 1:42:13 PM    comment []

Innovative Uses for a Computer Classroom? at /. (via CHE). 9:33:23 AM    comment []

Good post by an unrepentant carnivore over at Playing with my food, and other things... on animal welfare and recent developments at McDonald's (as noted here). Paul's concerned, all the same, and notes that his concern goes as far back as ancient Halal and Kosher traditions; it is mainstream, not radical. 9:16:42 AM    comment []

The Road to Oceania. Writing in the shadow of Orwell, it seemed very strange to be alive in 1984. In retrospect, it has seemed stranger even than living in the 21st century. By William Gibson. [New York Times: Opinion] 7:46:02 AM    comment []

blogs at college. Dave and the Berkman Center folks have been building a "user agreement for weblog hosting at Harvard Law, and a privacy policy. We hope it could become a template for other universities, schools, libraries, perhaps even businesses." Comments and help invited. [Lessig Blog] 7:45:30 AM    comment []

Animal Welfare's Unexpected Allies. McDonald's and Burger King are now financing research that they would have dismissed as silly ten years ago. By David Barboza. [New York Times: Business] 7:43:15 AM    comment []

Blood and asphalt. A new documentary pays tribute to "Signal 30," "Highways of Agony" and the other ghoulish, crudely made yet unforgettable driver-training films of the '60s and '70s. [Salon.com] 7:29:02 AM    comment []