Wednesday, December 15, 2004

P2P in 15 Lines of Code. TinyP2P is a functional peer-to-peer file sharing application, written in fifteen lines of code, in the Python programming language. I wrote TinyP2P to illustrate the difficulty of regulating peer-to-peer applications. Peer-to-peer apps can be very simple, and any moderately skilled programmer can write one, so attempts to ban their creation would be fruitless. For more information about TinyP2P, see http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/tinyp2p.html. [unmediated] 3:17:58 PM    comment []

A New Forum (Blogging) Inspires the Old (Books). As blogs have gained a wider audience some publishers have started paying attention to them as a source for new writing talent. By JOSHUA KURLANTZICK. [NYT > Technology] 3:14:59 PM    comment []

Dave Pollard offers up a STATUS REPORT ON IMPLEMENTING THE 'GETTING THINGS DONE' PROCESS 7:23:29 AM    comment []

Scam traps. Guide to common cyberscams [CNET News.com] 7:23:22 AM    comment []

Hey, Your Library's Books Are in My Google. No, Your Google Is in My Library Books.. So the big news is about Google and libraries. I don't feel the need to comment on this right now, as you can find plenty of other places for that. However, here are a few angles I haven't seen discussed elsewhere in the library blogosphere. Libraries and the Internet "More broadly, the Internet can profoundly improve the relationship between libraries and society. For example, there are two major libraries in my town -- a college library, and a public library. My library card works in both places. I used to favor the college library, because there was open WiFi access there -- which meant, among other things, that I could use LibraryLookup from my laptop to find books in the stacks. Recently, though, the college shut down its open access point. And from an IT administrator's point of view, I can understand why. Not long after, the public library installed an open access point. So now it's my favorite spot, and lately I notice other mobile professionals congregating there too." [Jon Udell's Weblog (Click over to read Jon's story about getting locked in the library, too!) "A quick calculation using the figures above suggests an average scan rate of 3200 volumes per day (assuming 365 days/year for 6 years) at the University of Michigan site alone." [Tito Sierra on the WEB4LIB mailing list] "An even quicker calculation shows that they will need to digitize 2.25 books _a_minute_, 24 hours/day, 365 days/year to digitize 7 million volumes in six years." [Roy Tennant on the WEB4LIB mailing list] It's times like this when I wish Karen Coyle had a blog. [The Shifted Librarian] Yeah, Karen: where's yer blog? 7:20:09 AM    comment []

Referer log fun: this hit on semantic ascent gives intramural results for Department teams at Wash U over a couple decades. Great team names. 7:10:02 AM    comment []

School Board Sued on Mandate for Alternative to Evolution. The school board of Dover, Pa., was accused of violating the religious rights of several parents and students by requiring the teaching of an alternative theory to evolution. By NEELA BANERJEE. [NYT > Education] 7:04:41 AM    comment []

Mervyn King on Uncertainty. I don’t ask much of you lot, but I’m asking you to read this (yes yes, pdf, they’re not exactly uncommon you know) speech by Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England. As well as being one of the UK’s best technical economists, King really is uncommonly thoughtful and insightful when it comes to issues outside his direct area of specialisation (I notice that he thanks Tony Yates in the acknowledgements, who is also a top bloke). This British Academy lecture takes on the concept of risk in the abstract, and illustrates it with a number of examples related to the retirement savings industry. It’s really very good. If you take nothing else away from it, there is one point which is extremely well made; that part of the reason why we have a role for public provision of pensions is that it allows us to spread the burden of longevity risk between present and future generations. [Crooked Timber] 7:03:24 AM    comment []

NPR on Robert Pisano SAG Controversey. The National Public Radio has an audio story about the member suit against executive director Robert Pisano. This is an interesting listen because you get to hear they key players discuss the situation, including Melissa Gilber (SAG president), Tom Bower (actor), David White (SAG general counsel), and more. [Hacking NetFlix] 7:03:18 AM    comment []

Minister Says Iran Is Open to U.S. Talks. Iran said it is willing to talk with the U.S. about its nuclear program if Washington treats it as an equal partner. By NAZILA FATHI. [NYT > International] 7:02:48 AM    comment []