Sunday, October 23, 2005

Excerpted ... Roland's Sunday Smart Trends #81. Breaking Down Language Barriers Much sooner than you might expect, it will be possible for an American in New York to pick up a cell phone and have a conversation with a Chinese co-worker in Shanghai -- with both people speaking their native languages. Cell phones, using sophisticated translation technology, will translate the conversation in real time. Source: Andy Stone, Forbes.com, October 19, 2005 [Smart Mobs] Yeah, right. Maybe if the "sophisticated translation technology" is putting a human translator in the middle. Otherwise, bet against. 5:09:44 PM    comment []

The Inevitable Expansion of CALEA. In a panel discussion at a forum at Cardozo Law School in New York last year, I argued that in an age of convergence, the Computer Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) would inevitably end up being applied directly to Internet communications. We're now seeing my prediction come true. Officially, CALEA was passed in 1994 to apply only to traditional voice communications over the traditional phone network, but the Federal Communications Commission has recently interpreted the law in a more expansive way, ostensibly to address Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) communications. The result? Everybody who's part of the Internet is now going to be asked (or required) to build in wiretappability. This New York Times story is just the tip of the iceberg. [Godwin's Law] 12:42:46 PM    comment []

Cuban Calls His Terror Film a Reminder. Mark Cuban has spent so much time pushing boundaries and rattling status-quo thinking that he is nearly numb to the backlash that seems to accompany his every move. By HOWARD BECK. [NYT > Sports] 12:42:03 PM    comment []

How the Media Helped Launch a War. The Echo Chamber Project "is an open source, investigative documentary about the how the television news media became an uncritical echo chamber to the Executive Branch leading up to the war in Iraq." [Dan Gillmor's blog] 12:37:28 PM    comment []