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Friday, August 15, 2003 |
Faking out Friendster. A booming online service for connecting people takes up arms against a sea of "fakesters" who'd rather role-play than network. [Salon.com]
8:41:00 AM 
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Sour Note to Microsoft Deal. Microsoft's latest deal would let Europeans download music on the cheap, but it also buttresses the EU's contention that the American monolith is attempting to dominate the audiovisual field by bundling its own player with its dominant desktop system. [Wired News]
8:39:23 AM
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New Fears Around Blaster Worm. Asia braces for Saturday, the day when Blaster is expected to leap snarling onto the flanks of a cowed Internet-using public once again. This assault is expected to be more disruptive than the original. [Wired News]
8:37:44 AM
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the new fair and balanced explodedlibrary.info: a correction about AOL Journals - it's only useless for some people. Thanks to feedback from Jason Lefkowitz of theAnt's Eye View, I can tell you that AOL Journals will work with if you use IE 6 for Windows to create or edit posts. Using IE 6 will give you a built-in WYSIWYG HTML editor which will allow you to both link and have titles. So that's the good news. I thought that the way to get the most out of AOL features was to use its browser (the one based on IE), but I guess AOL 8.0 for Windows must be based on an older version of IE, because it had no WYSIWYG editor. Maybe AOL Journals will work properly in the upcoming AOL 9 for Windows. But the bad news is that yesterday's comments are still very true for Mac users. There is no equivalent of IE 6 for the Mac. The Mac AOL browser is based on Netscape / Gecko. I wonder why AOL would let Mac users use AOL Journals, knowing that it won't work properly for them? I suspect they never really thought about it.
By the way, you can read Jason's review of AOL Journals here.
8:31:55 AM
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System's Crash Was Predicted. By Peter Behr,
Washington Post. [Washington Post: Front Page]
I don't know know if The question is not whether, but when, the next major failure of the grid will occur, by David Cook, general counsel for the nation's electric reliability organization, counts as a prediction, exactly. Just in case, let me get mine in:
- A bus will collide with a car in Miami. The question is not whether, but when.
- A plane will crash. The question is not whether, but when.
- A team from the NBA East will win the NBA Championship. The question is not whether, but when.
- A politician will resign from office amidst scandal. The question is not whether, but when.
- Schoolchildren will set a new Guiness Record. The question is not whether, but when.
- There will be another big blackout. The question is not whether, but when.
Make a note of those. I want credit for predicting them when they happen.
Meanwhile, the Wasington Post also has
 history, graphics, photos, and discussions of blackouts.
8:27:11 AM
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Power Failure Not Tied to Worm. Computer network and security experts say they have no reason to believe Thursday's massive power loss in the U.S. and Canada was related to the Blaster computer worm. [Wired News]
8:16:18 AM
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The Author's Guild on the Fox News v. Al Franken debacle.
You Decide: Trademark v. Free Speech
Fox News Network claims that Mr. Franken and his publisher
Dutton have infringed its trademark by using "fair and balanced" (a phrase
trademarked by Fox) in the subtitle of Mr. Franken's upcoming book and that
this is cause to seek an extraordinary remedy under U.S. law -- to
preemptively block publication of the work. Fox also alleges that the book
mimics the look and style of those of its host, Bill O'Reilly.
The Authors Guild is compiling a list of works that might have been subject
to being barred under this bizarre interpretation of the trademark law. We
intend to submit this list to the court hearing this case, and we'd like
your help in this endeavor.
You can submit other titles that include trademarks. (Oh, you can also read
the whole
Complaint: Fox v. Penguin & Franken (961K PDF) and the
Guild Statement on the suit.)
The list includes
6:09:32 AM
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Salon and The Well say:
Get
Grandparented!
Announcing the opportunity to lock in your Salon Premium
Subscription rate if you have the one year Think Ahead Special with Salon
Premium now!
If you regularly read the award-winning journalism of Salon.com, the WELL's
parent site, you've probably noticed that Salon will be raising the rates
for subscriptions! The old rate for the full Premium subscription there,
with the ability to suppress all banner ads, and get full benefits and
goodies, was $30 per year, and the new rate will be $35. Right now you have
an opportunity to be grandfathered in with the old rate for as long as you
keep your Salon Premium subscription. Now we'll extend that offer for
active WELL and TT community members who think ahead and pre- pay by the
year.
The WELL/Table Talk Think Ahead special offer provides memberships at
discounted rates when you pre-pay a year at a time -- and we include a
year's full subsciption to Salon Premium, soon to be a $35 value -- for no
extra charge.
- We will not be raising the rates for the Think Ahead special at
this time.
- And better than that, we want to grandfather you in. Or grandmother,
for that matter, if you prefer! The same Salon Premium lock-in will apply
to everyone who has a Think Ahead annual membership in good standing on the
15th of August. This means that should you ever decide to drop out of TT or
The WELL for a while, you will have the option of continuing a stand- alone
Salon Premium subscription at the original $30 annual rate.
- If you decide to pay by the month, you will not be locked in at this
rate, but you will still be able to issue yourself an extended day- pass to
Salon with your month-to-month WELL or TT membership.
To be eligible for this lock-in you must have an active Think Ahead
membership as of August 15.
That's today!
3:08:32 AM
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