Ken Dow: The Net

Mon, 10 Mar 2003 14:54:48 GMT

Dan Gillmor: Broadband competition might still be possible
"The radio-based Canopy system uses unlicensed spectrum, so no one has to ask for regulatory approval. The price is low enough -- a company or Internet service provider can serve hundreds of customers for about $20,000 in start-up equipment costs -- and it looks easy to deploy. Best of all, it offers excellent data-transfer rates, in the range of 6 to 7 megabits a second, which is much faster than the cable and phone-based alternatives today, though ISPs offering Canopy-based services commonly ratchet down individual customers' capacity to some extent."
[Tomalak's Realm]

Bring it! Competition for high-speed access would be a Very Good Thing, and unlicensed spectrum seems to be the only way that's going to happen.

Thu, 06 Mar 2003 14:10:20 GMT

Boing Boing Blog: GoogleHacks is out!
"Google Hacks contains 100 tips, tricks and scripts that you can use to become instantly more effective in your research. Each hack can be read in just a few minutes, but can save hours of searching for the right answers."

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 14:14:44 GMT

The Register: Dark Apple?
"Eschewing the MP3 format, Apple's service will be based on Dolby's AAC (Advanced Audio Coding not Codec, as the LA Times report mistakenly states) in order to tie each track to a specific Mac and thus prevent unauthorised duplication."

Well I guess that answers that question. Somehow it doesn't quite ring true - an unknown proprietary, copy-crippled format that only works on a pricey computer peripheral? Not exactly home run material in my books.

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 13:51:34 GMT

Salon: Waiting for Wi-Fi
"Wi-Fi Nation is on indefinite hold, at least until computer-carrying consumers can roam beyond the invisible tether of the base station at the office, or the AirPort in the family den. With tens of millions of customers ready to be wireless by next year, and the price of a Wi-Fi laptop dropping below $1,000, why isn't AT&T setting up antennae for us, instead of shutting down its Digital Broadband service?"

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 13:41:51 GMT

Doc: Free Fi Fo Fun
"Plenty of hotels, coffee shops, libraries, universities and whole cities are already providing free wi-fi for the same reason they provide street lights and public restrooms. None of those are free either - except to the users who expect them for exactly that price."

The hotel I stay at in London started offering WiFi, so I gave it a go when I was down there last. They even provide the card. Unfortunately, you get a Windows CD with no information about network name, password, or encryption settings - and no tech support number! My PowerBook had good signal strength and I did get redirected to some kind of portal page when trying to browse out, but that was it. At $10.95 a night, definitely not in the Free-Fi camp at this point. But when I've got work to do, it's worth it.

Tue, 04 Mar 2003 21:14:20 GMT

Boing Boing Blog: Apple working on music service for iPod users
"The LA Times reports that Apple has signed up several of the major labels to create a music downloading service for iPod owners."

The 64Kbps question: in what format? MP3, the people's choice? Or (shudder) will Apple go over to the dark side with a DRM-laden Quicktime format?

Thu, 21 Nov 2002 16:57:04 GMT

Universal plans $1 downloads "I don't know if someone caught wind of Janis Ian's grand plan or if Universal is just clicking to the worldbeat, but according to Geek.com, Universal has plans to offer cheap, unrestricted music downloads at a buck a shot" [TeledyN]

Sounds good, but the bad news? "Liquid Audio and Windows Media Audio formats". Sigh.

Wed, 20 Nov 2002 15:58:57 GMT

Adam Engst: The Evil that is the DMCA "I recently attended a talk by Professor Tarleton Gillespie of Cornell University in which he made a compelling argument for how the Content Cartel is using the legal force of the DMCA to direct us down a path where content cannot exist outside of a "trusted system," which is a set of hardware, software, and file formats that all agree on what the user is allowed to do with a piece of content. (The trust here is between the pieces of the system, because the content owners don't trust their customers at all.) The trusted system's goals are simple - to eliminate all unauthorized uses and create a situation where we pay more for the content we consume." Thanks for "Doc" for the link.

Tue, 19 Nov 2002 12:58:40 GMT

Doc passes along some honey from the hive mind of Google. Check out Google Sets and Google Glossary.

Mon, 18 Nov 2002 20:32:50 GMT

MrG: Bookseller Burning "People would shop Indigo if it wasn't (a) obscenely overpriced (b) badly designed as an e-shopping destination and (c) offers absurdly long times to delivery."

Thu, 10 Oct 2002 00:10:51 GMT

Tuning out the customer "The media companies are now undertaking an assault on the customer. They shut down Napster, the most popular new technology application in many years. They have sued and shut down sites that listed lyrics to popular songs. They have begun selling CDs with so-called "copy protection" that should instead be called "listen prevention," because they often are unplayable on PCs and other popular listening devices."
[via "Doc"]

Sun, 06 Oct 2002 23:28:35 GMT

If you're a Mac OS X type, stop reading this (not yet) and go download Watson (OK, now). It's a novel and wildly improved way to use parts of the Net. You'll never browse Amazon again. I just made a pork marinade that took me all of 60 seconds to find, using Waton's recipe mode, and it was very good. Open your wallet and buy this thing.

Sun, 06 Oct 2002 17:44:54 GMT

I decided a few days ago that I couldn't take any more of Verisign as a registrar, so I packed up my domains and headed over to EasyDNS, who I keep hearing good things about. The move is still underway, but my decision was confirmed when I received this stunning demonstration of Verisign's clue-free state: Dear Valued VeriSign(r) Customer: We've received a request to change your domain name registration for KENDOW.COM to another registrar. You're a valued customer, and we want you to remain with VeriSign. Now is the time to take advantage of our special rate of just $15 per year when you renew for 2 years. To receive this limited time offer, go to: http://www.stayoffer.com So not only do they have the most abysmal, labyrinthine Web interface in the universe, but apparently they think it's a good idea to insult unhappy customers with a special offer. How transparent can you get? Maybe if you'd paid this much attention to my business before I decided to leave...?

Sun, 06 Oct 2002 17:32:44 GMT

In The Real Battle, Doc Searls draws conclusions from his foray into (un)Digital Hollywood, where people say things like, "I won't be able to sell advertisers, that's right, and the consumers will unfortunately be the beneficiaries of that."

Sat, 05 Oct 2002 16:37:16 GMT

Music industry, Verizon go to war "Music companies tried to persuade a judge Friday to let them obtain the names of people suspected of trading music files online without going to court first, a move that could dictate how copyright holders deal with Internet piracy in the future." [Google News Search]

Fri, 04 Oct 2002 13:40:55 GMT

Howard Rheingold: Smart Mobs "The big battle coming over the future of smart mobs concerns media cartels and government agencies are seeking to reimpose the regime of the broadcast era in which the customers of technology will be deprived of the power to create and left only with the power to consume." [elearningpost]

Wed, 02 Oct 2002 22:40:20 GMT

Effective Email Marketing [via Serious Instructional Technology]

Wed, 02 Oct 2002 19:07:21 GMT

Apple stands firm against the entertainment cartel "Intel's doing it. Advanced Micro Devices is doing it. Microsoft is doing it. Apple Computer isn't. What's Apple not doing? It's not -- at least so far -- moving toward an anti-customer embrace with Hollywood's movie studios and the other members of the powerful entertainment cartel." [Via Boing Boing Blog]

Here's hoping Jobs & company can stay the course and keep computing in the hands of the user. Honestly - I'll find another way to earn a living if personal computing become little more than glorified television. Please take the time to understand what's happening with the advent of Digital Rights Management. Here are some suggestions from (I think) Cory Doctorow by way of Glenn Fleishman:
"First, visit digitalconsumer.org, Google and type "copy fight" (first result), and the third is eff.org. Second, get active: write or email or fax Congress. Email Uncle Steve and tell him not to knuckle under. Third, become power users of convergence appliances or digital convergence. If we buy iTV, Philips DVD recorder, these are empowering devices for the user. The faster the public embraces these technologies harder to take away these rights."

Tue, 01 Oct 2002 19:30:06 GMT

A word from the wise "Depending on the vagaries of an algorithm programmed by engineers at a VC-backed Silicon Valley dotcom-vestigial company is not a good idea. A bit of friendly advice. Don't tell the loan officer at the bank that's how you're making your mortgage payments."

Mon, 30 Sep 2002 17:27:58 GMT

Email Newsletter Usability (Alertbox Sept. 2002) "The most significant finding from our recent usability testing of ten email newsletters is that users have highly emotional reactions to newsletters. This is in strong contrast to studies of website usability, where users are usually much more oriented towards functionality. Even a website that you visit daily will feel like a tool where you want to get in and get out as quickly as possible and not connect with the site." [Serious Instructional Technology]

Thu, 26 Sep 2002 15:32:37 GMT

Worst Flash site ever? I heard a song I liked by Starsailor and noticed the vocal reminded me a lot of the lead singer from the Waterboys. So I thought I'd see if maybe this was a new band for him. By the time I finally got to the main page, waiting for any navigation menus to load - all dissolvy and transitiony and annoyingy - I decided I didn't care any more. Yeesh.

Wed, 25 Sep 2002 13:20:51 GMT

Bell to launch online music service "Bell Canada refused to comment prior to the announcement but one source said a subscription service, called Radio MX Musicmatch, will see paying subscribers choose music from a "digital jukebox" and subsequently "burn" CDs using music from its partners' playlists for $59.95 per year." [National Post: Financial Post]

Hard to say exactly what will be offered but unlimited burning for $60 CAD would be a reasonable price. What format will music be? MP3? Bwaa-ha-ha! Windows Media more likely, with the attendant lack of compatibilty for iPods, iTunes or a gazillion other listenologies. We'll see.

Tue, 17 Sep 2002 12:12:32 GMT

Found in my referers list this morning: Java Weblog Player. It drives your browser through an apparently random sequence of blogs.

Tue, 17 Sep 2002 01:03:21 GMT

Boxes and Arrows: Building the Beast: Talking with Peter Morville. "Believe it or not, we do actually define information architecture in the second edition. Here are our formal definitions:

The combination of organization, labeling, and navigation schemes within an information system.
The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content.
The art and science of structuring and classifying web sites and intranets to help people find and manage information.
An emerging discipline and community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape."

[Tomalak's Realm]

Sun, 15 Sep 2002 17:15:10 GMT

You can run but you can't hide from - The Syndica8...