Friday, November 28, 2003

Breach of copyright no crime under draft E.U. law. [InfoWorld: Top News] (It would still be a civil offense, though.) 7:42:31 PM    comment []

"CARNIES BUILT THIS COUNTRY--THE CARNIVAL PART OF IT ANYWAY.". Begging to Differ will be hosting the Carnival of the Vanities next week (that's Wednesday, December 3, to be exact). If you'd like to participate, please send us your links by midnight Monday, December 1. This week's Carnival is up... [Begging To Differ] 7:37:42 PM    comment []

Boxes & Arrows: Natural Selections: Colors Found in Nature and Interface Design. Perhaps no other design element has as much influence on how we feel in a space (a website, a home, etc.) as color. Colors can instantaneously change our moods and alter our opinions. They can make us comfortable, put us in a state of awe, or get us excited. [Tomalak's Realm] 4:17:33 PM    comment []

Security of handhelds far too lax, experts say, by John Cox and Denise Dubie, Network World. 1:40:55 PM    comment []

The Grocery Game: Collective Consumer Intelligence. The ever-perceptive David Bennahum notes in this Slate article that a website called the Grocery Game gives consumers knowledge that they would not have had otherwise -- inside info about which grocery coupons are the best buy. It sounds simple, and it is, but when billions of people, rich and poor, gain the ability to make better fiscal and political decisions through their purchases, potentially powerful collective action becomes possible. [Smart Mobs] 12:29:04 PM    comment []

We Are Where We Shop. Americans have made a Faustian deal with the culture of shopping, and especially with bargain culture. By Sharon Zukin. The Good News. Over the past 25 years, we've seen an enormous, unexpected improvement in the standard of living for the world's poor. By Paul Krugman. I've heard it said that I should try, just once, to write something upbeat. Honestly, on the domestic front it's hard. Yes, the business cycle is looking up — but with the budget out of control, pork-stuffed legislation making its way through Congress and the extractive industries making environmental policy, we seem to have lost the ability to govern ourselves. Did I mention civil liberties? But if I take the global long view, there's still a lot to cheer about. [New York Times: Opinion] 12:27:14 PM    comment []

Beware the Worm in Your Handset. As more consumers begin surfing the Web and sending e-mail messages on cellphone and hand-held devices, along comes a new worry: worms and viruses spread via Internet-enabled handsets. By Ken Belson. [New York Times: Technology] 12:20:42 PM    comment []

America's storyteller. Legendary oral historian Studs Terkel, still going strong at 91, sings the praises of rebels with a cause. [Salon.com] 12:17:00 PM    comment []

Is this a flair for fictions? By Gayle Macdonald, Alexandra Gill and Dawn Walton, Toronto Globe and Mail. In Banff, she is known as Von Hullessem, the 49-year-old organizer behind an allegedly bogus writers' conference, who is to appear in court on Monday to face seven counts of fraud under $5,000, two counts of false pretences and one count of theft under $5,000. In other lives, she is known as Elisabeth Roswitha von Meerscheidt- Hullessem, one of 16 aliases. In Arkansas, where the Madison County Sheriff's Department is seeking extradition, she was allegedly Lisa Hackney, the woman who mowed down her mother with a car and then went on to write a novel based on the alleged assault. (Also, check out the earlier coverage here on the blog.) 4:38:30 AM    comment []