Turning Off Network TV and Political Blogs

January 5, 2005

Two resolutions for the New Year: First, watch less network TV.  More and more, my reaction to what I see on television is "who cares?".  Network TV is simply becoming irrelevant.  I think a few things are going on here.  First, the ‘net is a vastly more efficient medium for finding reliably relevant content.  Second, […]

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The Tyranny of the Billable Hour

January 5, 2005

Once again Adam Smith, Esq. nails the issues in a discussion of the tyranny of the billable hour, all arising out of a DC Bar article on the topic. It’s really simple: – if you pay your law firm for its lawyers’ time, that’s what they will give you – lots and lots of time.  […]

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YADFNRF (Yet Another Delay For Nortel Restated Financials)

January 4, 2005

Are Nortel’s restateds the financial vapourware of 2005?

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Microsoft to Provide Subscription Security Service?

January 4, 2005

Microsoft is rumoured to be on the verge – Jan 6ish – of announcing a beta of a fee-based security subscription service, along the lines of Symantec, et al.  I do not believe for one moment that the geek community is going to give MS a bye on this one.  A lot of ink is […]

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Did Jon Stewart Kill Crossfire?

January 4, 2005

You couldn’t watch Stewart’s performance on Crossfire, and the play it was given in the media in the days afterward, and not wonder whether this was coming.  As usual, Wonkette gets a couple of extra jabs in as she tells the story ….

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Biometrics and Canadian Passports

January 4, 2005

Via David Fraser, a CP story concerning the unsurprising news that face recognition technology is not up to snuff (yet) for use by the Canadian Passport Office. Just wait a month or two and try it again ….

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Dvorak on the Declining Fortunes of Newspapers

January 4, 2005

As if radical change on a daily basis weren’t enough for one industry … It’s either almost or well-past trite by now to predict the imminent demise of traditional media at the hands of the Internet, but sometimes one can’t help commenting on the death throes.  This time its Dvorak, commenting on some specific examples […]

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Another Day and the World Changes Again

January 4, 2005

Much press these days over Vonage’s new WiFi VoIP phone.  Lots of people have been trying to hack the phone | WiFi border recently; the Vonage product is going to give this market an enormous push.  With community WiFi exploding, WiMax in the offing, and VoIP gaining both market depth and breadth, the telcoms are […]

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One Year After Law, Spam Still Out of the Can

January 4, 2005

Via WaPo, a story on the mixed success of CAN SPAM on its one year anniversary.

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The Battle for Your Family Room

January 3, 2005

The WSJ is reporting (paid subscription required) on the emerging battle for control over family room technologies – the technologies that will integrate media distribution and recording / listening / viewing in the family room and elsewhere in the house.  One of many stories on this that have appeared lately, as the battle heats up. […]

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California Passes Anti-Spyware Law

January 2, 2005

On January 1 the new California Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act came into force.  Via Information Policy, the "Act makes it illegal for anyone to install software on someone else’s computer and use it to deceptively modify settings, including a user’s home page, default search page, or bookmarks and outlaws the collection, through intentionally […]

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Using Sound to Communicate Meaning

January 2, 2005

Via NevOn, a fascinating piece in the January Wired about a new technology that uses the sounds of orchestral instruments to represent discrete events displayed by brokerage trading computers, the concept presumably being that once the trader learns the associations, the brain can more efficiently identify and respond to signficant events.  The technology has been […]

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