January 2008
115 posts
Oh come on - “Whispering campaigns”? Get out of... →
There’s an old truism in journalism that any headline which ends with a
question mark can usually be answered in a single word: No. After all, if a
journalist really believes something is true, he’ll make the headline a
statement, not a question. “Oswald shoots Kennedy” is what you’d put if
you know that Oswald shot Kennedy. If you don’t know - or you’re just
fishing for readers - you’ll put...
No Prok, that’s not the way it works →
Prokofy Neva gets her knickers in a twist over freedom of speech:
“He returned my comment to me, urging me to remove the part about Intlibber (see below the fold). That was because he believed it was a personal attack, a flame, whatever — and feared having that on his website. And that’s how people are able to manipulate the press, and never get made accountability by the press or blogs — because...
links for 2008-01-30 →
13 Questions to Ask Before Publishing a Post On Your Blog
Good tips on writing blog posts.
(tags: blogging)
O2 changes UK iPhone plans →
Via the lovely chaps at MacFormat, it appears that O2 has upgraded the plans for iPhone customers in the UK significantly. Customers on the £35 tariff, which currently gives 200 minutes and 200 texts, will now get 600 minutes and 500 texts. Meanwhile, those on the £45 plan will get 1200 minutes and 500 texts. If you’re on the top of the range £55 plan, you’ll now be repriced at £45.
Technorati...
links for 2008-01-29 →
Rich Mogull Joins TidBITS as Security Editor
Well done to Adam and the TidBITS crew for signing up Rich. What he doesn’t know about security isn’t worth writing about.
(tags: mac security)
links for 2008-01-28 →
Major Labels Allow P2P Music Sharing on QTrax | Listening Post from Wired.com
After years of fighting peer-to-peer file sharing companies, the major record labels have decided that if they can’t beat them, they might as well join them
(tags: p2p music)
links for 2008-01-28 →
Major Labels Allow P2P Music Sharing on QTrax | Listening Post from Wired.com
After years of fighting peer-to-peer file sharing companies, the major record labels have decided that if they can’t beat them, they might as well join them
(tags: p2p music)
Depression and dualism →
This week’s Bad Science column in the Guardian tackles an issue which I’ve always felt needed probing: the serotonin imbalance theory of depression.
At the heart of most chemical theories of the causes of depression is a very simple philosophical failing, a hidden form of mind/body dualism which both science and philosophy has long-since rejected.
According to the chemical theory of depression,...
The eeePC →
I’ve always been a sucker for a small computing device. Maybe it’s because I grew up with computer which were never less than bulky machines, and so, in the back of my mind, anything small is from the future.
So it’s no surprise that my latest purchase should be the Asus eeePC, a small, cheap laptop with a tiny screen and keyboard which nevertheless manages to run Linux and be a perfectly...
The eeePC →
I’ve always been a sucker for a small computing device. Maybe it’s because I grew up with computer which were never less than bulky machines, and so, in the back of my mind, anything small is from the future.
So it’s no surprise that my latest purchase should be the Asus eeePC, a small, cheap laptop with a tiny screen and keyboard which nevertheless manages to run Linux and be a perfectly...
Depression and dualism →
This week’s Bad Science column in the Guardian tackles an issue which I’ve always felt needed probing: the serotonin imbalance theory of depression.
At the heart of most chemical theories of the causes of depression is a very simple philosophical failing, a hidden form of mind/body dualism which both science and philosophy has long-since rejected.
According to the chemical theory of depression,...
links for 2008-01-25 →
Domain name effectiveness, importance of business e-mail and other small business articles - Microsoft Office Online
Small business articles by Microsoft about setting up your business online.
(tags: microsoft SME business online websites)
links for 2008-01-24 →
‘NetNewsWire and other desktop apps: your RSS router’
Lots of great reasons to use a desktop RSS reader rather than a browser-based alternative.
(tags: application netnewswire opensource RSS software web2.0)
Last.fm: Free the Music
Yowzah.
(tags: music lastfm)
iPhone 1.1.3 fixes the biggest iPhone security... →
Nate True has been digging into the recently-released iPhone 1.1.3 firmware and finds some of the groundwork has already been created for third party application support.
In particular, one of the biggest security holes in the iPhone has been fixed:
- All applications now run as the user ‘mobile’ instead of as root.
- Preferences are now stored in /var/mobile rather than in /var/root.
...
links for 2008-01-21 →
Chuqui 3.0: Microsoft and the internet: throwing stones from glass houses…..
Chuq quite rightly points out that, while Microsoft has made some stupid and/or nasty design decisions along the way, so has the open source world.
(tags: microsoft internet technology)
Incredibly useful Google tip →
Associate Email Addresses with a Google Account:
“If you don’t like your current Google username or you want a more secure way to access your Google Account, there’s a way to log in using other email addresses. In your account, click on Edit next to ‘Personal information’ and associate additional email addresses with your Google Account. Note that you can’t add email addresses already associated...
Reality Distortion Failure - or the best marketing... →
Frank Shaw, of Microsoft’s PR company Waggoner Edstrom, gives his perspective on on the Steve Jobs keynote, and he’s not that impressed with the products released.
That’s perhaps not surprising, and of course he caveats his comments with exactly that point up front. What’s more interesting is his take on the way Apple communicates - which, he thinks, is looking dated:
“Most importantly though,...
louisgray.com: Mashable Uses A-List Power to Steal... →
Louise Gray gives Mashable a well-deserved kicking:
“There is a major problem in the tech blogosphere leadership where the basic tenets of journalism, sourcing and attribution are ignored.”
Louis is right. While everyone messes up an attribution every now and then, Mashable seems to have shown too much of a pattern to doing this for it to be anything other than editorial policy.
Scott Karp on “Developing Algorithms To Prevent... →
Scott Karp responding to Adam Weinstein’s claim that newspapers are likely to lose quality because of the popularity of “citizen journalism”:
“I attended Jeff Jarvis’ Networked Journalism Summit last fall, and I can tell you that there was no one advocating ‘cost cutting or lazy journalism,’ nor were there any ‘bean-counting publishers’ seeking to destroy the integrity of journalism — which is...
links for 2007-12-29 →
New World Notes: What’s the Trouble with Ten Percent? Tateru’s Take (and Mine) on SL’s Low Retention Rates
Just how bad is that 10% retention rate? Apparently, not bad at all - it’s the same as most other MMORPGs.
(tags: secondlife)
Links for 2007-12-28 [del.icio.us] →
New World Notes: What’s the Trouble with Ten Percent? Tateru’s Take (and Mine) on SL’s Low Retention Rates
Just how bad is that 10% retention rate? Apparently, not bad at all - it’s the same as most other MMORPGs.
links for 2007-12-24 →
Megaprims to stay - Andrew Linden - Massively
Linden confirms that megaprims aren’t going to be removed, but will remain unsupported for now. In other words, use at your own risk.
(tags: megaprims lindenlab andrewlinden secondlife building)
The Second Life Grid Grind » Blog Archive » LindenLab does not trust Aristotle verified users.
File under “Dumb”. Despite being age...
Links for 2007-12-23 [del.icio.us] →
Megaprims to stay - Andrew Linden - Massively
Linden confirms that megaprims aren’t going to be removed, but will remain unsupported for now. In other words, use at your own risk.
The Second Life Grid Grind » Blog Archive » LindenLab does not trust Aristotle verified users.
File under “Dumb”. Despite being age verified, Linden suspended a users because they suspected...
Aleister Kronos on the Colgate "build" →
Ambling in Second Life: Brush off for Colgate Smile Power:
“So there you have it. I just have to ask: ‘Colgate! Why did you do it?’ The cost may have looked overwhelmingly attractive on paper - but you’ve damaged your brand through a miserly and ill-considered first foray in virtual worlds. I would strongly suggest that you rethink why you want to be in Second Life, what it is you want to...
Death of Second Life? Nope →
Accenture Scientist Predicts Death of Second Life. Actually, you read the report and he doesn’t:
“‘The virtual worlds hold out the promise of everything from lower infrastructure costs to new revenue streams,’ said Swaminathan. ‘But Accenture Labs foresees an imminent drop in interest as businesses hit the limits of closed virtual worlds. Much as circumscribed networks such as CompuServe gave...
Links for 2007-12-18 [del.icio.us] →
Electric Sheep Company lays off 1/3 of their staff - Massively
Ooops.
Out to Pasture » Blog Archive » Restructuring
ESC talks about the layoffs. I wouldn’t be too quick to draw too many conclusions from this: it would be like making a conclusion about all operating systems on the basis of Windows Vista.
Links for 2007-12-12 [del.icio.us] →
Hope for keeping attachments out of where the sun don’t shine, even in Second Life - Massively
The marvellous Nicholaz Beresford thinks he’s finally found a fix for the crazy hair up your ass bug. Well done Nic!
New World Notes: New World Newsfeed: CTO Cory Linden Leaves
There’s wall to wall coverage on this today
Cory Ondrejka’s departure in his own words - Massively
Philip Rosedale...
Links for 2007-12-08 [del.icio.us] →
Age-verification - a matter of informed choice - Massively
A great summary by Tateru Nino about the misbegotten mess that is age verification in SL. I still haven’t verified - the system won’t allow me to, failing every time.
Well, that seemed to go ok →
I’ve moved this blog over to my own Wordpress install, and everything seems to be working. I’ve also switched the RSS feed using Feedburner, which should mean that if you’ve getting this via RSS, it should work perfectly.
Closing for a very short while... →
Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible! Basically, I’m currently doing the switch from Typepad to Wordpress for this blog. All the posts and comments are ported over, and the DNS is currently in the middle of changing from pointing to TypePad to pointing back to my own host. If everything has been done right, you shouldn’t notice the difference if you’re coming in...
Testing using MacJournal →
Nothing to see here, unless you really want to know whether MacJournal will work with TypePad. Let’s test that
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Working?
Daring Fireball on commercial malware vs... →
First, apologies for the hideous title the post, but I couldn’t really think of a better way of putting it. Commenting on my previous post on Mac security, John Gruber asks:
“But, and I’ve argued this before, it doesn’t explain why the Mac has, effectively, none. If it’s true that malware developers who want to make money will only write software for the vastly larger Windows...
Daring Fireball on commercial malware vs... →
First, apologies for the hideous title the post, but I couldn’t really think of a better way of putting it. Commenting on my previous post on Mac security, John Gruber asks:
“But, and I’ve argued this before, it doesn’t explain why the Mac has, effectively, none. If it’s true that malware developers who want to make money will only write software for the vastly larger Windows...
links for 2008-01-18 →
Don’t believe the low bit-rate ‘HD’ lie | George Ou | ZDNet.com George Ou points out that “HD” download services from Apple and Microsoft are nothing of the sort, delivering quality that’s actually below DVD. He’s not wrong. (tags: HD downloads video apple microsoft tv)
links for 2008-01-18 →
Don???t believe the low bit-rate ???HD??? lie | George Ou | ZDNet.com George Ou points out that “HD” download services from Apple and Microsoft are nothing of the sort, delivering quality that’s actually below DVD. He’s not wrong. (tags: HD downloads video apple microsoft tv)
links for 2008-01-18 →
Don’t believe the low bit-rate ‘HD’ lie | George Ou | ZDNet.com George Ou points out that “HD” download services from Apple and Microsoft are nothing of the sort, delivering quality that’s actually below DVD. He’s not wrong. (tags: HD downloads video apple microsoft tv)
Uh huh, right, so there's no Mac malware... →
Note that F-Secure do not sell a security product for the Mac - so forget about that “they’re only trying to spread FUD so we’ll buy their product” stuff. More details on Trojan:OSX/DNSChanger, plus a blog post about its variants - over 60 variants of this have been found by F-Secure. And finally, yes, this is a trojan not a virus, so it exploits the user’s...
Uh huh, right, so there's no Mac malware... →
Note that F-Secure do not sell a security product for the Mac - so forget about that “they’re only trying to spread FUD so we’ll buy their product” stuff. More details on Trojan:OSX/DNSChanger, plus a blog post about its variants - over 60 variants of this have been found by F-Secure. And finally, yes, this is a trojan not a virus, so it exploits the user’s...
Uh huh, right, so there's no Mac malware... →
Note that F-Secure do not sell a security product for the Mac - so forget about that “they’re only trying to spread FUD so we’ll buy their product” stuff. More details on Trojan:OSX/DNSChanger, plus a blog post about its variants - over 60 variants of this have been found by F-Secure. And finally, yes, this is a trojan not a virus, so it exploits the user’s...
Service interruption on Sunday →
Depending on what time I get back from the weekend’s visit, there may be a period of downtime for this blog on Sunday. I’m transferring Technovia from running on Typepad to my own hosted version of Wordpress. All permalinks should remain working, and no posts or comments will be lost, but while I move the domain over there will be a period when it’s not available. The RSS feed...
Service interruption on Sunday →
Depending on what time I get back from the weekend’s visit, there may be a period of downtime for this blog on Sunday. I’m transferring Technovia from running on Typepad to my own hosted version of Wordpress. All permalinks should remain working, and no posts or comments will be lost, but while I move the domain over there will be a period when it’s not available. The RSS feed...
Service interruption on Sunday →
Depending on what time I get back from the weekend’s visit, there may be a period of downtime for this blog on Sunday. I’m transferring Technovia from running on Typepad to my own hosted version of Wordpress. All permalinks should remain working, and no posts or comments will be lost, but while I move the domain over there will be a period when it’s not available. The RSS feed...
Fair use for the 21st century: if it adds value,... →
Link: Fair use for the 21st century: if it adds value, it’s fair; if it substitutes, it’s not - Boing Boing.
“Tim busts out a great working definition for fair use that simple enough to understand that it can be reliably followed by casual remixers and users of content, but not so simple as to be idiotic: if it adds new value, it’s fair use; if it substitutes for the...
Fair use for the 21st century: if it adds value,... →
Link: Fair use for the 21st century: if it adds value, it’s fair; if it substitutes, it’s not - Boing Boing.
“Tim busts out a great working definition for fair use that simple enough to understand that it can be reliably followed by casual remixers and users of content, but not so simple as to be idiotic: if it adds new value, it’s fair use; if it substitutes for the...
Fair use for the 21st century: if it adds value,... →
Link: Fair use for the 21st century: if it adds value, it’s fair; if it substitutes, it’s not - Boing Boing. “Tim busts out a great working definition for fair use that simple enough to understand that it can be reliably followed by casual remixers and users of content, but not so simple as to be idiotic: if it adds new value, it’s fair use; if it substitutes for the...
The day Steve Jobs got snubbed at his own show →
The story about Violet Blue being snubbed by Steve Jobs reminded me of an incident that I witnessed a few years ago where Jobs was, himself, snubbed. After keynotes, Jobs usually likes to head down to the show floor and look around the Apple booth, talking - mostly - to Apple employees. At one keynote, a few years ago, I found myself standing behind Jobs and his entourage on the escalators going...
The day Steve Jobs got snubbed at his own show →
The story about Violet Blue being snubbed by Steve Jobs reminded me of an incident that I witnessed a few years ago where Jobs was, himself, snubbed. After keynotes, Jobs usually likes to head down to the show floor and look around the Apple booth, talking - mostly - to Apple employees. At one keynote, a few years ago, I found myself standing behind Jobs and his entourage on the escalators going...
The day Steve Jobs got snubbed at his own show →
The story about Violet Blue being snubbed by Steve Jobs reminded me of an incident that I witnessed a few years ago where Jobs was, himself, snubbed. After keynotes, Jobs usually likes to head down to the show floor and look around the Apple booth, talking - mostly - to Apple employees. At one keynote, a few years ago, I found myself standing behind Jobs and his entourage on the escalators going...
Why engaging with the Mac community over security... →
Rich Mogul talkes about his “Curious Relationship With Apple And Security” and what he wants to do in the future:
“Actively engage with the Apple community, give Apple credit for what they get right, and point out where they get things wrong while educating Mac users. This hopefully gains me enough credibility that they can’t simply dismiss me as anti-Apple and I can help the...
Why engaging with the Mac community over security... →
Rich Mogul talkes about his “Curious Relationship With Apple And Security” and what he wants to do in the future: “Actively engage with the Apple community, give Apple credit for what they get right, and point out where they get things wrong while educating Mac users. This hopefully gains me enough credibility that they can???t simply dismiss me as anti-Apple and I can help the...