Tuesday, November 01, 2005

What's behind Iranian leader's anti-Israel rant. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's zeal brings leverage at home - but not abroad. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 7:51:39 AM    comment []

The Strange Case of the Spoofer Captured by a Spoof. Chris Elliott included a 19th-century robot named Boilerplate in his mock-historical novel, not realizing that Boilerplate was an online hoax. By EDWARD WYATT. [NYT > Books] Suprising that a publisher so concerned about copyright would let this slip through . . . ":^)" 7:51:08 AM    comment []

Scientist At Work | Lisa Randall: On Gravity, Oreos and a Theory of Everything. Unanswerable questions most appeal to physicist Lisa Randall, who co-authored a theory that may explain why gravity is so weak compared with other forces of nature. By DENNIS OVERBYE. [NYT > Science] 7:47:51 AM    comment []

Editorial: The Digital Money Mill. The Online Freedom of Speech Act is a bill that protects political bagmen, not bloggers. [NYT > Opinion] 5:53:36 AM    comment []

If It Quacks Like Malware... (Donna Wentworth). Mark Russinovich has discovered a rootkit on his computer that he believes is part of a DRM scheme for a Sony CD. Like your average malware, it's hidden, poorly written, difficult to get rid of. And according to Russinovich, the EULA says not a peep about it, meaning Sony didn't even bother with the usual pretense of giving people fair warning: "While I believe in the media industry's right to use copy protection mechanisms to prevent illegal copying, I don't think that we've found the right balance of fair use and copy protection, yet. This is a clear case of Sony taking DRM too far." [Copyfight] 5:53:28 AM    comment []

N.Y.U. Graduate Students Say They'll Strike to Unionize. New York University is facing a strike next week by its graduate student teaching assistants, who lost their union representation in August and are trying to win it back. By KAREN W. ARENSON. [NYT > Education] 5:52:25 AM    comment []

Religion: Alito Could Be 5th Catholic on Current Supreme Court. A Catholic majority on the nine-member court would be a significant historical shift. Until 1988, there had been no more than two Catholic justices at once. By LYNETTE CLEMETSON. [NYT > Washington] 5:52:20 AM    comment []

Distant Podcasts from Internet Librarian 2005!. Sweet! The Distant Librarian has MP3s of some of the presentations from the recent Internet Librarian conference! Beaucoup thanks, Paul! Competing with Google: Library Strategies – Stephen Abram Google: Catalyst for Digitization? Or Library Destruction?  – Roy Tennant and Rich Wiggins Social Computing for the Information Professional - Liz Lawley Google-brary- The Status Quo of Tomorrow's MegaLibrary – Panel Pew Internet and American Life Project – Lee Rainie [The Shifted Librarian] 5:49:20 AM    comment []

Two from Wired: This PC's Up Against the Wall. Get rid of your desktop: Chip PC's Jack-PC is a thin client that fits into a standard ethernet wall box. Plus: Catch some stellar views of Mars with the Orion XT12 IntelliScope. From the Wired News blog Gear Factor. IRC Channel as Startup Incubator. It's perhaps the most powerful underground institution in programming, a source of inspiration for programming legends like Shawn 'Napster' Fanning and Justin 'Gnutella' Frankel. So where do you go if you're working on the next world-changing piece of software? By Robert Andrews. [Wired News] 5:48:55 AM    comment []