Computer Solves Crime by Predicting It

August 8, 2005

IO Error has a hard-to-believe-but-it-seems-to-be-true post about the use of computers to predict and prevent crime – an idea straight out of Minority Report. From Live Science: According to the computer’s analysis, there would be a robbery between 8 p.m. and midnight on Wednesday on South Broadway. “He predicted it and he was right,” Police […]

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Taking the Path of Least Resistance

August 8, 2005

Mark Cuban has a great post on the business wisdom of ensuring that your offering takes the path of least resistance. Gist: It was Aaron Spelling I believe who said that “TV is the path of least resistance from complete boredom”. Which is another way of saying that its easier to watch TV, than to […]

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The Rise of E-xtortion

August 7, 2005

The NYT has an alarming piece today on the rise of e-xtortion, for want of a better word. Gist: Early last year, the corporate stalker made his move. He sent more than a dozen menacing e-mail messages to Daniel I. Videtto, the president of MicroPatent, a patent and trademarking firm, threatening to derail its operations […]

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Identity Rights Agreements

August 6, 2005

Phil Windley at Technometria has an interesting post up about an alternative way of looking at privacy permissions – essentially, a user-driven system of classifying how a third party is permitted to use your identity information. Gist: IRA’s should come in a limited set of configurations, like CC. This makes it easy for people to […]

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An Insider’s View of ‘Ciscogate’

August 6, 2005

Jennifer Granick, security researcher Mike Lynn’s attorney on the recent Cisco-Black Hat matter, has a fascinating article in Wired that goes behind the scenes of the brouhaha. Great insight into the dynamics of settlement negotiations. The article is part I of an instalment piece. What follows is my take on “Ciscogate,” the uproar over researcher […]

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Life as a University Inhouse Counsel

August 5, 2005

Via Eric Goldman, here’s a fascinating article in the Chronicle of Higher Education on the life of one university inhouse counsel. Gist: When an alligator lurking in Lake Alice on the University of Florida campus here devoured someone’s pet poodle several years ago, Pamela J. Bernard’s telephone rang. It was a concerned university risk manager, […]

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Wikimania

August 4, 2005

Wikimania, the first annual conference on wikis, has just begun in Frankfurt. Wikis are spreading like weeds and there seems to be no end to the potential for the free culture movement. Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, is guest blogging at the Lessig Blog and is posting on Ten Things That Will be Free. […]

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The Public Legal Intellectual Glossary

August 4, 2005

The Public Legal Intellectual Glossary is “a wikki maintained by the usual suspects of law clerks, lawyers, and law students that make fun of public statements about the law that are laden with subtext…. The goal is to pick out buzzwords from articles and determine what the author really means when he says them.” Thanks […]

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Update on Car Black Box Surveys

August 3, 2005

In March I blogged the new Aviva Autograph program – a black box “pay as you go” car insurance program that received a lot of press when it launched in Ontario. Today USA Today reports on some results of driver surveys of similar programs. Gist: And here’s an interesting twist: The monitoring seems to be […]

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Anonymity and the Net

August 2, 2005

There’s been a slew of stories recently concerning anonymity and the ‘net. In May I blogged Ethan Zuckerman’s guide to blogging anonymously. Earlier today I blogged recent developments in P2P technology that would allow anonymous file-sharing. Yesterday the New York Times published an article describing efforts the paper and other media outlets are making to […]

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Congress Considers a National Tech Recycling Plan

August 2, 2005

Via Sabrina Pacifici, details on the U.S. Congress’ efforts to create a national recycling plan for the safe disposal of electronic devices. Gist: A 2003 EPA report estimates that roughly 50 million computers and 20 million televisions are disposed of each year, but that only 10 percent are recycled. This situation has not gone unnoticed […]

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Next Generation Peer-to-Peer

August 2, 2005

The NYT has an article on the coming next generation of P2P software, including a new project by Ian Clarke, the developer of Freenet. Quote: At a computer security conference in Las Vegas on Thursday, an Irish software designer described a new version of a peer-to-peer file-sharing system that he says will make it easier […]

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