Tuesday, September 06, 2005

The internet circa 2010. This news article says a report written by Trevor Barr,Alex Burns and Darren Sharp looks at the future of the internet and "quotes internet heavy-hitters".One of whom is Mr Howard Rheingold.Professor Barr's report,(PDF) Smart Internet 2010,"explores four schools of thought on the next five years of internet evolution.The Adaptive User Environment suggests that the most successful technologies will be those that can fit user needs;proponents of Not the Smart Internet want a simple,user-friendly web;Rich Media advocates want to be able to see "any content,on any device,in any format,at any time";and the Chaos Rules school holds that the internet "may be in a continual state of decay and worsening disorder".The report says "ubiquity will be the byword of the net's future.Said Professor Barr:"Instead of the net society,it's about the net in society.It will become this indispensable lifestyle tool". Future by users,not providers [Smart Mobs] 10:12:32 PM    comment []

Nuclear Weapon Is Years Off for Iran, Research Panel Says. A British research institute said that Iran was at least five years away from producing sufficient material for "a single nuclear weapon." By ALAN COWELL. [NYT > International] 10:12:18 PM    comment []

Feeling about New Orleans depends on how much TV watched?. I've noticed a wide variation in how disturbed friends and miscellaneous New Englanders feel about the situation in New Orleans.  Some are very emotional while others don't seem profoundly affected.  I have started asking folks "how much TV news coverage of the event have you seen?"  Feeling distraught seems to be correlated with watching TV.  Those who've read textual descriptions of the suffering in newspapers or on the Web aren't anywhere near as upset as those who've seen video clips of people suffering.  Reading the lines "hundreds of people were screaming" isn't as disturbing as seeing one person scream. This seems to jibe with something a public TV producer once said:  "Television is useless for conveying information.  If you print out the script for the 20+ minutes of nightly network news it is only a few pages that you could read in a minute or two.  Very few facts are communicated during that newscast.  Television is good for making people feel a certain way." Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? [Philip Greenspun Weblog] 10:09:57 PM    comment []

Two from BNA News: STUDENT SUES AFTER FINDING TERM PAPER FOR SALE ONLINE A Duke University is suing the operator of Web sites selling her paper and seeking more than $100,000 for copyright infringement, invasion of privacy and damage to her reputation. Among the Web sites cited in the lawsuit are http://www.doingmyhomework.com, which says it provides the public with examples of papers and essays to help people find ideas to complete their homework. 'DVD JON' BREAKS MEDIA PLAYER FILE ENCRYPTION The first looks to be an open-and-shut case, no? Term papers are born with copyright vested in their authors. Without transfer or license of some sort, the Web site is in violation. (I don't know what to think right off the bat about the damage to reputation or invasion of privacy claims.) On the other hand, isn't the recovery of damages limited in cases where copyright was not registered with the Library of Congress? Hmmm. 10:59:57 AM    comment []