Tuesday, March 09, 2004

Job Security You Can Buy. Consumers can now purchase employee-background screening tools at some Sam's Club stores and vet their personal records before employers do. But critics worry over-the-counter background checks could end up in the wrong hands. [Wired News] If it falls into "the wrong hands"? Oh, man. 8:05:06 PM    comment []

Diary of a Newbie #3: the bleakness of crowds. by Montserrat Tovar sometimes i wonder why i am writing this. i say this because it seems like there is not much to say about... [The Alphaville Herald] 8:01:30 PM    comment []

Ted Ritzer of Free Music fame, on how the music industry is changing. This company called musiclink.com has an innovative and ambitious vision - a step in the right direction: "Musiclink provides a new method of payment which incorporates contributions and grants that pay for artists' projects. This allows emerging and established artists to enhance their careers and insures fairness and support for diverse expression. Access to live music; music education is funded for all communities. Musiclink fills a void. The National Endowment of the Arts no longer supports individual artists. The "Go Fish" granting process does not have the efficiency to support the tens of thousands of working and recording artists, who deserve attention. The industry is not able to foster emerging artists or maintain established ones no longer on the charts. " [TJ's Weblog "Technology, Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship"] 5:27:50 PM    comment []

An early draft of tenure-track hiring in philosophy at PhD-granting Programs for 2003-04. [The Leiter Reports: Editorials, News, Updates] 7:29:06 AM    comment []

The American Delusion: Safety. All the money spent on security to turn the country into a fortress may make us feel better, but it doesn't make us any safer. By Bruce Schneier from Wired magazine. [Wired News] 7:20:51 AM    comment []

Promises, Promises. Charting the Bush administration's expectations of job creation against the more dismal reality. By Paul Krugman. [New York Times: Opinion] Best graph ever to illustrate an op-ed piece: it keeps Krugman to three grafs, about 150 words, and that's enough. 7:17:16 AM    comment []

Filming the Hand That's Stealing His Wallet. Bob Arno, a security consultant in Las Vegas, spends seven months each year traveling the world filming pickpockets and other street thieves. By With Francine Parnes. [New York Times: Business] 7:13:00 AM    comment []

One File Swapper, One Lawsuit. The music industry cannot file one lawsuit against 200 alleged file swappers, says a federal judge in Philadelphia. Instead, the Recording Industry Association of America will have to sue each individually. By Katie Dean. [Wired News] 7:12:26 AM    comment []

This is a great deal. I know some of the regular readers here have been curious about or vaguely interested in participating in the Well community. Here's a fabulous opportunity to give its tires a good kick, take it around the block a few times, see how it fits. Friends are invited to join The WELL: The WELL, one of the most cherished and original online social gathering places, has engaged, informed, enraged and transformed people from around the globe since 1985. On April 1 our community - and we don't use that term lightly - will be 19 years old. We're inviting friends of friends to join the conversation in celebration. We're pleased to offer a very special (and very occaisional) Friend To Friend rate. All you need is the login name of your friend at The WELL. Join the award-winning, non-anonymous conversations at a special rate through April 1, 2004. Explore either of our membership packages for two full months for a setup fee of just $2.00. If you cancel by phone or email during the two months, you go on your way, no regrets. If you stick around, our regular monthly rate will kick in starting with the third month, until you say otherwise. Some WELL members have been at home here for over 18 years, and it could just happen to you. Tell 'em bumbaugh sent you. 2:53:14 AM    comment []