...more recent posts
Great article from Joel about Microsoft Passport. This is a really understandable description of how cookies work, why they are usually no threat to privacy, and how Microsoft is routing around this "problem" to build the worlds biggest database about... you. They are trying to sell this "service" as a help to the consumer because using Passport, you only have to remember one password, and it will remember all the rest for you (as it collects info on what you are doing on each of those sites you are accessing by a password stored in Passport.) Why no one listened to my plea for the password watch, which would solve this problem much better, I do not know. I submitted it to shouldexist but nobody seemed to understand the genius of my idea :-)
I had to unsubscribe from that Chi-web mailing list. After a few weeks of skimming the subject fields before throwing everything away unread, I've decided it's not for me. And just in time, Cam has started a new list on Content Management Systems. Already very busy, and its only been up a few days. I think this will be more up my alley.
In all the Napster hysteria the DeCSS trial is getting overlooked. I guess it's a little more technical, so it's harder to report on. I won't even try, but I had to post this little exchange from the trial that was quoted on techdirt.
Q = Mr. Garbus, attorney of 2600.comWhat do you mean "get back to work Jim"? - I'm not surfing; I'm investigating.
A = Ms. Reider, Chief Operations Anti-Piracy, MPAA, witness of plaintiffs
"Q. How did you know to go to the LiViD website, download the material you downloaded in October and November? A. I'm an investigator. I followed a trail there. Q. Tell me what the trail was. A. I read about it on Slashdot."
So, Napster will be down today. In unrelated news, Hack the Planet points out the top two downloads from SourceForge yesterday were The Freenet Project (6521) and Open Source Napster Server (1932). Get busy.
If your reading this from work, don't forget to thank your computer system administrator. What? You didn't know it was sysadmin day? Shame on you. In honor, here's the original usenet post that went on to become the most desired sysadmin t-shirt of all time.
Newsgroups: alt.sysadmin.recovery
Subject: ADMINSPOTTING
Message-ID: <5cl3le$q24@infoserv.aber.ac.uk>
From: gkb@aber.ac.uk (Gary Barnes)
Date: 28 Jan 1997 14:49:18 -0000
Organization: Ripoffs R Us
X-No-Archive: Yes
Choose no life. Choose sysadminning. Choose no career. Choose no family. Choose a fucking big computer, choose hard disks the size of washing machines, old cars, CD ROM writers and electrical coffee makers. Choose no sleep, high caffeine and mental insurance. Choose fixed interest car loans. Choose a rented shoebox. Choose no friends. Choose black jeans and matching combat boots. Choose a swivel chair for your office in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose NNTP and wondering why the fuck you're logged on on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting in that chair looking at mind-numbing, spirit-crushing web sites, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last on some miserable newsgroup, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up lusers Gates spawned to replace the computer-literate. Choose your future. Choose sysadmining[1].
Gaz
[1] It might fuck you up a little less than heroin[2].
[2] ObFootnote.
This prototype Sony camera looks pretty cool. Not very high resolution, but the size is amazing. I have one (canon s10) that I like, but I never seem to have it when I really want it. You could literally always have this one with you. Cool. But then I found a link to this digital film company. If you are at all interested in photography go check that site, and prepare to be very excited about the possibilities. Unfortunately the guy who posted the link said it had been vaporware for a long time. Still we can hope.
The RIAA wins the first battle (too bad for them they've already lost the war.) A San Francisco judge has ordered Napster be shut down (at least) until the outcome of the trial is known. The RIAA has to put up a $5 million dollar bond which will be awarded to Napster to compensate for loss of business if they end up winning the trial. Here's the slashdot thread. Here's the Washington Post blurb. Here's the wired story. Here's one of the many boycott the RIAA sites already in action.
The irony here is that one profit monger, the RIAA, is trying to kill another profit monger (Napster) and the result is going to be the rise of a radically distributed NONPROFIT ORIENTED file sharing network that literally cannot be stopped. Funny where greed will get you as move toward the frictionless marketplace.
Things are moving forward on many fronts as we speak. Over at Hack the Planet the discussion is really heating up about Jeff Kandt's plan for enabling the direct, voluntary payment of musicians (tipping.) Check out the action in the ensuing discussion. Jeff has changed the internet rallying cry from "the internet treats censorship like damage and routes around it" to "The internet treats greed like damage and routes around it." Cut out the middleman, as Dave Winer keeps exhorting us. Anyway, he's about to take his plan to a wider audience for another round of crypto vetting. Combined with a Gnutella or Freenet distributed file sharing network, I think this could really happen. I truely believe that musical artists can make money from voluntary payments. The RIAA, on the other hand, cannot. I hope that Dave Winer picks up on Jeff's ideas, and either promotes them, or something similar, in conjunction with his new Userland Radio. This is really the start of the big change. Wes Felter's headline today reads: "the singularity is coming" and I think I know what he's talking about. Hold on tight, things might get a little stranger from here on in.
I keep wanting to link to this new (to me) site that I have really been enjoying, except that it's really not about anything, and no post in particular ever seems to call for a link (sound familiar?) Still, it's a great site, and often very funny (much like another fav rasterweb.) Anyway, here's one about banannas.
Brilliant dinner last night at chez Wheel. He keeps turnin' and he can't slow down... Making me feel good today even with the grey skies and rain. Anyway, lots happening, so let's get to those links.
Zvezda docking complete. The Russian "brain" module of the space station (see picture below) was successfully docked with the rest of the station (see picture to left.) Good work. <robotvoice>must get off planet</robotvoice>
Salon has an article on Eazel a new GUI being developed for linux by some incredibly heavyweight (ex-Apple) interface people. Set for release this Fall, I guarantee you'll be hearing a lot about this one. Could make linux possible for mere mortals (like me.) It is going to be really fun watching this race: linux morphs toward the Mac as the Mac morphs toward unix (OS X.) Sounds like they are zeroing in on the promised land, but who's going to win? Anyway, read the article, or just enjoy this little pull quote
Last week, I met with Mike Boich, CEO of Eazel, who gave me a look at Nautilus, Eazel's souped-up file manager for Linux-based systems. And unlike most software product demos, which usually consist of equal parts stupefaction and irrelevance, the Nautilus run-through actually delivered. Nautilus looks like a lot of fun. More to the point, it looks like it will work.
Apparently, the MPAA v. 2600 trial has ended although no ruling has been issued yet. This is the case about that pesky piece of software called DeCSS which allowed people with linux machines to actually play the DVD's the have bought (or not bought, as the MPAA likes to point out.) Anyway, this is a really big one in terms of setting precedent for whether you actually own the entertainment content you buy, or whether you are just sort of leasing it, under incredibly tight controls. And it sounds like the judge is impressed by the good side. Still, this will almost definitely go to the supreme court, so lots more fun to come.
And in the techno-lust department, SGI has seriously cut the price on its seriously beautiful, almost-as-good-as-the-Cinema-Display, 18 inch flat panel display (bundled with Formacs ProFormance 3 PCI video card) down to $1795! Still too much of course, but this is a $1000 reduction, and with the video card, really a pretty good deal. I'm saving all pennies for next years Powerbook g4, which I'm still boldly stating has the chance to be the best selling computer of all time. This thing is going to smoke. Now get back to work, or none of us will be buying anything.
From a request on another page, I've put up some rather boring pictures I took Monday at the Union Square Green Market. If you're not familiar, this is what makes it possible to live in NYC (assuming you can't afford to eat out for every possible meal :-)