Monday, August 16, 2004

Booting PhD Students for Lack of "Talent". A PhD student in philosophy at Harvard writes: "I wonder if you could tell me anything about whether it is a common or accepted practice at philosophy departments in this country to 'kick out' students who are deemed insufficiently talented. I ask because it does seem to be a common practice in my department and I'm concerned because it creates an extremely uncomfortable working environment. Everyone is worried that they might be next and that, of course, makes it very hard to concentrate on an already difficult subject.  [The Leiter Reports: Editorials, News, Updates] 9:26:38 PM    comment []

Ticketek's PR blunder Alan of halfpie.net slammed Ticketek's website ( a New Zealand company) and a Ticketek employee, posing as a semi-literate Ticketek customer, posted a note on Alan's blog, defending Ticketek. Alan exposed "Simone," who then quietly slithered away. I have to disagree with u all i stumbled onto this website by mistake and i cant belive all the rubbish im reading ticketek is a great web site and service who have continued to give me great service over the years there is always somethinh for people like you to moan about so get a life!!! - posted by Simone at August 10, 2004 03:28 PM ===== Well of course you would say that, Simone - seeing as you work at Ticketek. Everytime a comment is made on this site the IP address of the commenter is logged. Yours is 210.54.93.30, which by an uncanny co-incidence belongs to auck.ticketek.co.nz. Funnily enough it looks like you came to this site through "accidentally" entering "I hate Ticketek" into Google, the same search that has been used by you and your Australian counterparts to find this page several times in the past month. Your ignorance in these matters is amusing and sad and unfortunately appears par for the course with your company. Your rather ill-advised comment further reinforces the lack of respect I have Ticketek and further demonstrates why your website - and your business - should be avoided as much as possible. Have a nice day. - posted by Alan at August 10, 2004 05:07 PM Link (Thanks, Brett!) [bOing bOing] 9:25:59 PM    comment []

Useit.Com: When Search Engines Become Answer Engines. Increasingly, the Internet user experience is becoming one of dipping a toe into websites rather than truly "visiting" them. Using search engines as their Web interface, people simply grab query-related nuggets from sites, but don't engage with the sites themselves. [Tomalak's Realm] 9:20:39 PM    comment []

State of emergency declared in Maldives after rare pro-democracy protest (AP) The government Friday declared a state of emergency, blocking access to the Internet, arresting about 100 democracy activists and using tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters who rallied in a rare show of dissent. State radio announced the declaration, saying fundamental rights of citizens were suspended, and people would not be allowed to gather, demonstrate or express views critical of the government. Hours before the announcement, an indefinite curfew was imposed in Male, the capital, barring people from leaving their houses. As night fell, armoured vehicles and security forces on foot deployed around the city, witnesses said. Internet access was blocked an hour after the state of emergency was declared. Earlier Friday, pro-democracy protesters had gathered outside police headquarters in Male to protest the detention of four people. Worried that a standoff might develop, police later released the four. But the National Security Service used tear gas and rounded up several demonstrators when the crowd, which swelled to an estimated 3,000, refused to leave, said the witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity. The protest was a rare event in a country where political dissent isn't tolerated. Political parties are banned in Maldives, a country of 278,000 people on 1,192 coral islands, about 500 kilometres off the coast of India. Chief government spokesman Ahmed Shaheed downplayed the demonstration. I will not call it a pro-democracy demonstration. Being a Friday, people just gathered, he said. 11:37:57 AM    comment []

iPodderb01. When run, iPodder checks the RSS2.0 feeds, checks if there are new shows to be downloaded, does so and copys them to corresponding playlists in iTunes. Stick your iPod in the dock and you'll automatically have all the latest on the go in seconds! Currently there is no timed operation of iPodder, it must be run manually each time you want to check for new shows iPodder only runs on Mac OSX with iTunes. It also requires the XMLTools2 scripts Download here [unmediated] 7:26:40 AM    comment []

i-neighbors launches. Keith Hampton, assistant professor of technology, urban and community sociology at MIT, has launched i-neighbors, a tool for using online media to foster neighborhood community-building. (Via Apophenia) [Smart Mobs] 7:25:40 AM    comment []

Two from OK/Cancel: Quick Links: Infodesign Insanity. This menu is 11 pages long. Note p4 "Party of Five" Quick Links: Real Ultimate HCI. Um. The purpose of the HCI student is to flip out and design user interfaces. 7:24:23 AM    comment []

Warner's Tryst With Bloggers Hits Sour Note. Earlier this month, Warner became the first major record label to ask MP3 blogs to play its music. The company's approach did not go as planned. By By DAVID F. GALLAGHER. [The New York Times > Business] 7:05:56 AM    comment []

Mobile Mobile Cell Phone Charging Station. Krista Winters and Matt Chick are offering emergency cell phone charges in New York City, outside of the Virgin Records in Union Square, reports POPGADGET (a fabulous blog - just pointed out by Régine of near near future - "POPGADGET: Personal Tech for Women. Gadgets, Culture, General Neophilia. For and by women"). Winters' and Chick's business, called Mobile Mobile, charges $.50 a minute for use of their giant battery and a compatible power adapter. You can also charge up other portables, like your iPod. Some countries in Asia and Europe use cell-phone charging stations or vending machines with emergency juice, but they don't seem to have arrived in the US yet. [Smart Mobs] 7:05:27 AM    comment []

More "play it cybersafe": Cyber-Ethics Champion Code. Take the pledge here. [Lessig Blog] 7:02:17 AM    comment []

Careful With That Petri Dish. The road to Mars is rough, and astronauts may need replacement body tissue on the way. British researchers are teaming up with NASA to find ways to grow it. By Lakshmi Sandhana. [Wired News] 7:00:55 AM    comment []

Electoral Vote Predictor 2004 4:36:46 AM    comment []