Subscribe to this blog in Radio:
Didn't find what you were looking for?
E-mail this blog's author, Bruce Umbaugh:  |
|
 |
Saturday, April 02, 2005 |
Darren addresses podcasting fever:
I'm skeptical about podcasting. I'm skeptical about who's doing it, who's going to do it, and who's going to listen to it. In short, I don't think podcasting is going to get very far into the mainstream. Here are my thoughts, in a kind of rhetorical discussion.
He goes on to take on the notion that it's still early, that there's a long tail, that everyone can do it, that there's a large audience, and that it's revolutionary, concluding that podcasting won't "have the legs that blogs have had."
Which isn't, of course, to say there's nothing to it at all, but is a salutary caution, all the same.
Check it out.
(thanks, Dave!)
10:55:42 PM 
|
|
Wes cites Paul Graham:
Copper and Tin. "That's the essence of a startup: having brilliant people do work that's beneath them. Big companies try to hire the right person for the job. Startups win because they don't-- because they take people so smart that they would in a big company be doing 'research,' and set them to work instead on problems of the most immediate and mundane sort." Ah, so that's why I haven't quit and started a startup.
[Hack the Planet]
10:45:13 PM
|
|
Copyright Decision Deals Blow to New Technology (Donna Wentworth).
Better late than never: Ed Foster's excellent April Fool's bit: "Oh, oh. While the Supreme Court's decision in the Grokster vs MGM case isn't expected for several months, I just stumbled onto something that looks like bad news for the peer-to-peer side. It would appear that the court in an earlier but somehow little noticed decision upheld arguments identical to those made by the music and movie industries in this case."
[Copyfight]
Excerpt:
Therefore, in the matter of defendant Thomas Alva Edison versus respondent the Book Authors Guild and respondent the Sheet Music Publishers Association, this court unanimously concurs with the lower court's decree. In inventing and offering for sale his "moving picture" and "phonograph" devices, the defendant induced countless infringing acts against the holders of copyrights for books and music. Defendant Edison's assets are to be seized in order to make restitution to the respondents. Furthermore, all phonographs, record players, moving picture equipment and similar devices are to be confiscated and destroyed. All "record" companies and "film studios" most disgorge their ill-gotten gains and henceforth cease and desist all operations now and forevermore.
3:12:42 PM
|
|
Welcome, Walt! (Donna Wentworth).
True cause for celebration: Walt Crawford of the consistently excellent Cites & Insights has joined the blogosphere.
For a taste of Crawford in action, here he is analyzing the FCC's reply brief in ALA v. FCC -- that is, the legal challenge to the broadcast flag technology mandate:
I've gone through the 45-page FCC response (also available from the EFF site). All I see is a series of "Did not!" responses. The brief includes demonstrably false statements, assumes that the bluff issued by Viacom and others is legitimate and the basis for dramatically overstepping the FCC's bounds, and nonsensically claims that the broadcast flag "protect[s] the integrity of broadcast digital transmissions" although it has nothing to do with broadcast quality or integrity. The brief is as breathtaking in its assertion of boundless FCC power as it is dulling in its lack of legitimate evidence or serious counter-argument.
[Copyfight]
3:11:58 PM
|
|
Student Hacks System to Alter Grades.
This is an interesting story:
A UCSB student is being charged with four felonies after she allegedly stole the identity of two professors and used the information to change her own and several other students' grades, police said.
The Universty of California Santa Barbara has a custom program, eGrades, where faculty can submit and alter grades. It's password protected, of course. But there's a backup system, so that faculty who forget their password can reset it using their Social Security number and date of birth.
A student worked for an insurance company, and she was able to obtain SSN and DOB for two faculty members. She used that information to reset their passwords and change grades.
Police, university officials and campus computer specialists said Ramirez's alleged illegal access to the computer grading system was not the result of a deficiency or flaw in the program.
Sounds like a flaw in the program to me. It's even one I've written about: a primary security mechanism that fails to a less-secure secondary mechanism. [Schneier on Security]
10:20:30 AM
|
|
A Blow to Computer Science Research. The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - which underwrites open-ended research by the nation's best computer scientists - is cutting its spending. By JOHN MARKOFF. [NYT > Business]
10:12:04 AM
|
|
Illinois governor approves birth control order.
"Our regulation says that if a woman goes to a pharmacy with a prescription for birth control, the pharmacy or the pharmacist is not allowed to discriminate or to choose who he sells it to," Blagojevich said. "No delays. No hassles. No lectures."
Under the new rule, if a pharmacist does not fill the prescription because of a moral objection, another pharmacist must be available to fill it without delay.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has also filed a formal complaint against the Chicago Osco pharmacy for the February 23 incident.
The pharmacy was cited for "failing to provide appropriate pharmaceutical care to a patient." Penalties could include a fine, reprimand or revocation of the pharmacy's license.
An Osco spokeswoman did not immediately return a call Friday.
Steve Trombley, CEO for Planned Parenthood in Chicago, praised the state's efforts.
"When medical professionals write prescriptions for their patients, they are acting in their patients' best interests," Trombley said. "A pharmacist's personal views cannot intrude on the relationship between a woman and her doctor."
[CNN via NewsIsFree: Popular Items]
9:27:40 AM
|
|
Neil Young undergoes brain procedure.
Young underwent "minimally invasive neuroradiology" treatment Tuesday at a New York hospital and remains hospitalized.
"The procedure corrected the problem and has been characterized as a complete success with a total recovery. And resumption of normal activities by the 59-year-old rock legend is predicted for the near future," agent Bob Merlis said in a statement.
Young began experiencing problems in New York nearly three weeks ago, on March 14, after he performed with The Pretenders at their induction ceremony at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Later that night, he experienced blurred vision.
A neurologist gave Young an MRI scan, discovered the aneurysm and scheduled the procedure for this week. Young traveled to Nashville for recording work before returning to New York for the procedure.
"He is now resting comfortably and has made a full recovery, but we strongly recommend that he not travel for several days," said Dr. Pierre Gobin with the New York-Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Young had to cancel his performance Sunday at the Juno Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys.
[CNN via NewsIsFree: Popular Items]
9:26:15 AM
|
|
|
