Saturday, June 28, 2003

Online and in the Dark About Privacy Issues. DIARY Online and in the Dark About Privacy Issues. Compiled by Vivian Marino. [New York Times: Technology] 11:54:59 PM    comment []

A Decision That Universities Can Relate To. To understand why universities like the Supreme Court's affirmative action decision, one has to delve into university culture. By Nicholas Lemann. [U]niversities consider themselves to be rarefied autonomous institutions, oddly combining fragility and durability. (Remember that universities in recognizable form predate both democracy and capitalism.) Their total commitment to something that seems impractical — the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge — gives them an unlikely authority, independence and allure. The reason that so many people want to (or should want to) study at great universities is to imbibe the university culture; schools, including elite public ones like the University of Michigan, pick among their applicants to strengthen the culture as much as possible. The idea that they should be forced, in the name of fairness to the individual applicant, to populate themselves via externally dictated quantitative measures deeply violates their self- concept. So it's important that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote in her opinion that "universities occupy a special niche in our constitutional tradition," and proposed that legal close calls, so to speak, should go to universities because they deserve the honor of being left alone. She justified affirmative action not in terms of righting a past wrong, but of providing operating latitude to a category of institutions. [New York Times: Education] Valuable pull quote: universities in recognizable form predate both democracy and capitalism. 8:46:37 PM    comment []

Averting judicial "Armageddon". With a vacancy expected on the Supreme Court, Sen. Patrick Leahy warns President Bush not to wage ideological war over nominees. [Salon.com] 6:48:29 PM    comment []

A Blidge Too Far. Internet Pudit Fantasy Camp Launches is the funniest thing I've read in a long time, as well as the best evidence that the fine line between copious linking and circular jerking got crossed somewhere back in Q1, if not earlier. From the Denounce Newswire. Bonus LInk: New Blossier Service Tracks Bloggers For a Fee. Thanks to Brian for the pointage. (Also check out the perfectly named brianstorms.) [The Doc Searls Weblog] 5:46:05 PM    comment []

No Call And I seem not so far to have mentioned that the National No Call Registry for US'ns seeking to avoid telemarketing calls (at http://www.donotcall.gov/ ) has gone live. Due to high registration volume, you may experience slow response time. Confirmed Registrations Online and Phone June 27, 2003 10:30 a.m. 250,000 12:00 p.m. 370,000 2:30 p.m. 635,000 5:00 p.m. 735,000 8:04:56 AM    comment []

Krzysztof learns the lesson: when you sell software, provide instant gratification. 7:49:52 AM    comment []

Yahoo Spam Filter Thwarts FTC. While hundreds of thousands of Americans rush to sign up for the Federal Trade Commission's new do-not-call service, many Yahoo users are left wondering why they haven't received their registration confirmation. The reason? Yahoo's spam filter doesn't like the FTC's onslaught of e-mail. By Amit Asaravala. [Wired News] 7:44:10 AM    comment []

StreamCast Vows Peer-to-peer Protest (Reuters). StreamCast CEO Michael Weiss: The record industry called (peer-to-peer) users pirates, but what these people are hundreds of millions of voters. 3:09:19 AM    comment []

"On_Line". Yeah, this low-budget tale of heartbreak and horniness in the Internet age is kinda trashy. It's also a sweeter romantic comedy than anything made in Hollywood this year. [Salon.com] 12:06:41 AM    comment []

Geek reads. Growing up, all the kids -- black and white -- exiled me for being an obsessive reader. This year, I finally found three books that capture the black nerd experience. [Salon.com] 12:04:29 AM    comment []