Friday, April 28, 2006

Microsoft and Internet Explorer. John Dvorak makes a good argument that Internet Explorer was Microsoft's greatest mistake ever. Certainly its decision to tightly integrate IE with the operating system -- done as an anti-competitive maneuver against Netscape during the Browser Wars -- has resulted in some enormous security problems that Microsoft has still not recovered from. Not even with the introduction of IE7. [Schneier on Security] 11:18:07 PM    comment []

A Grand Unified Theory of YouTube and MySpace. A terrific Slate piece by Paul Boutin about the factors contributing to YouTube's success: it's easy to use, and it doesn't "tell you what to do."  . . . Link. Don't miss the lip-sync clip he links to. And Sam Anderson has a separate piece on Slate that takes a kiddingly serious look at the lip-sync genre. [Boing Boing] 11:17:59 PM    comment []

Is Anything on Limewire Legitimate?. My son was told yesterday in school to download a Queen song from Limewire. He was told this by a D.A.R.E. police officer who comes every week. Once he was done, he was told, he should delete it really fast. Did I mention he was told this by a cop? Does Limewire provide any possible way to download a Queen song (We Are The Champions, in case you are wondering) legitimately?... [Spire Security Viewpoint] 9:36:36 PM    comment []

Iran ignores nuclear deadline. Bush calls for peaceful solution but Ahmadinejad defiant as focus shifts to UN security council. [Guardian Unlimited] 6:45:13 PM    comment []