Web, Blogging and Computers – Page 4

The Web 2.0 Ideas That Won’t Go Away

How do you know that Web 2.0 is past, long gone and uninteresting? Reading yet another article about how the law needs to be changed to allow people to do things that no one wants to do anymore:

Earlier this month, some fans of the NBC television programs American Gladiators and Medium found themselves unable to digitally record the shows on their personal computers. The reason for the blocked recordings raises important technical and legal questions about the rights of consumers to “time shift” television programs in the digital era. The blocked recordings affected people that record television programs on their personal computers using the Microsoft Windows Vista Media Centre. Most people are unaware that Microsoft has inserted a feature that allows a broadcaster or content owner to stop the digital recording of a show by triggering a “broadcast flag” that specifies its preference the show not be recorded. When the user tries to record it, Microsoft’s software recognizes the flag and issues a warning that the program cannot be recorded.

So? None of them paid a license fee for the right to record the show and, in any event, it’s American Gladiators for God’s sake. If anyone thinks we need to law of copyright to be altered so that folks can bootleg a hack summer repeat of a 1980s joke, they need their head examined. The things that have not taken off and become part of general society like mashing-up, creative common licenses, YouTube, podcasting, Facebook and (frankly) blogging as anything other than internet diarizing are not vicitms of copyright law but illustrations why we do not need to tamper with the law to respond to another short-term trend. Legislators don’t rush to fnid out what the hobbyists are up to.

And have you noticed that no innovation of the internet is not really having an effect on the US Presidential election?

Friday Bullets For The Humpday Of February

Doesn’t February cling on this year, demanding one 24 more hours before we get to the month of hope? Well, February is half over as of noon today. I hate February. I really don’t know why particularly as there never were exams or a rush to get a paper out. Never a particular drain on the budget or time. What else could it be?

Election Readiness Update: even if I love all elections, I wonder if this one’s timing is wise?

The Conservative government expects that it will be defeated over the budget in early March, which means Canadians could go to the polls by early April. The government has apparently intensified its election readiness, believing it may fall during a non-confidence vote on March 4, the day of the Liberal amendment to the Tory budget. That could set an election date for as early as April 7. Sources told CTV News that Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has told party members he is ready to pull the election trigger over the budget bill, even though some Liberals are against the idea.

I bet the Liberals lose a few seats…or many…but maybe the Tories do, too. I see no reason for change at this point given we have a centrist government just like the last centrist government. Needless to say, however, we are ordering the lawn signs promoting the GX40 way forward: “Change, Order, Hope and A Record To be Proud Of!!!”
Forget February. Pitchers and catchers are reporting…even for Kansas City.
I have started the call for a global rage for beer and pie festivals. Isn’t it time to debate the fine points of lard and flour, whether leek or onion better does with that filling? I am guided in part by my recollection of the show Pie in the Sky but am ignoring all that gross obestity.
The post-Christmas collapse of the Morton continues with them falling from mid-table to relegation. The manager has quit, too. You clearly are not doing enough, not taking on enough misplaced angst.
Extremists. Aren’t they getting to be a bore? I am not talking about the terrorist or flag burner but the unreasonable expectations of those who would control political authority. Consider, by way of comparison this op-ed nugget from The New York Times this morning:

If I were advising the Republican nominee, this is one of the places I’d ask him to plant his flag. I’d ask him to call for a new human capital revolution, so that the U.S. could recapture the spirit of reforms like the Morrill Act of the 19th century, the high school movement of the early 20th century and the G.I. Bill after World War II. Doing that would mean taking on the populists of the left and right, the ones who imagine the problem is globalization and unfair trade when in fact the real problem is that the talents of American workers are not keeping up with technological change.

What? A call to moderation and prudent focused hard work? When did we last hear that sort of stuff? Maybe something is changing. It was nice to see Larry King call Limbaugh an example of “the far right” last night during the McCain interview. The effect of the extreme exceeds any logical sense of their reach other than in their self-promoting vicitimized imagination. Without the looney left and the wacko right (and perhaps the Web 2.0ers, too) what could be done with the world?
Hans has a blog and, unlike 99.99999999% of blogging, it appears to be clever. Brainy. I can’t tell you any more about it as my experience is like 99.99999999% of blogging.

Surely that is enough for the day that starts the slide to March that marks the edge of spring.

Friday Bullets For The 4,000th Post At Gen X At 40

Four thousand posts. Why do I do this? It’s just a cup of coffee in the morning. A way to get things going. I’ve met a lot of interesting ideas as well as a lot of tedious egos along the way but the best thing’s the incredible strength I have developed in my fingers. My God they are huge. More like sausages than hot dogs. I’d take any of you on in a finger fight. Piece of cake.

Update: should there be an election over the Afghan mission? I know I am at odds with my party of choice and have no home on the point when other policies or key player character is factored in. But isn’t that true for everyone these days?
When it comes to strategic alliances in a time of war, no two words give more confidence that “France” and “hinting”.
The problem with this study is it compares boomers to Gen Y’s:

According to new research, teens and young adults are no more narcissistic or self-aggrandizing today than they were three decades ago. Instead, all those overconfident, egotistical kids demanding instant jobs and fame may be a figment of aging imaginations.

Two sides of the same coin if you ask me. But you wouldn’t. Because I’m Gen X and you don’t care. No one cares.
Who knew wikipedia was a pack of cultist lies?
Good for Mitt for quitting some time after it was clear he would never win – despite all the money. He did his cause one favour, crystallize one thought that sums up the lack of political tolerance and savvy that is marking this demise of conservatism in America:

…And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror…

Because that is what Democrats want, right? A surrender to terror. They want to embrace their own terrorization and would feed the children of conservatives to the dogs. That is what Democrats want. You are warned.

Nice to have that assurance, though, that he was in his heart utterly unfit for the job. That and his conservatism of convenience. Not that I am one but not that there is anything wrong with it either. If you know what I mean.
Seeing as this is the 4,000th post, let me tell you some things you don’t know about Gen X at 40:

– I never post a post with an even number in the minute column. I have no idea why that is important but it is.
– There are actually twelve people with authoring rights and I actually play more of an editorial role for all posts labeled “alan”.
– I don’t own a shot put.
– English is not the language I grew up with as I am really a Finn.
– I played a small but important role in the development of hip-hop.
– If it weren’t for Hans, I would have packed this thing in years ago.

These, of course, are the least of my secrets.

That is enough for today – probably more than you can handle.

The Friday Bullet Points Of Christmas

Here we are. Another Christmas is upon us and the worst Friday for the idle clock watcher. What to not do when there may not be much to actually do? Eat candy canes in the morning, feel ill and ridden with guilt in the afternoon.

Sad Tech Update: Twitter as best bloggy app thingie of the year? Worth having the italicized statement that it “matters“?? While it is sweet to read that some people believe that some others don’t “get it” when, in fact, something just sucks and/or sucks time, how it is possible to think that something as useless (if usable) Twitter “matters”? Love matters. Health matters. Twitter is a place on the web for people who cannot sustain sufficient attention to write, comment upon or even read a blog. The content-driven internet without the obligation of substance. Warning: thought-fraud is afoot. Look out for consultants. Observation: Snood was the last great addition to the world of computing.
Update: David updates his post on Catholic rights and I respond sorta thusly with less than success technically speaking so I repeat myself:

As much as to make sure I comment here as anything, Catholic rights seems a very odd concept to me but, as you will say, it is there plain as plain can be and most likely it is the lack of relation to me that makes me scratch my head. These rights are like PEI being a province, a fact of positive law making it so regardless of the need. But unlike PEI, Catholic rights now seem unbalanced as they are not balancing against their former nemisis – Victorian era Protestant power. Left to its devices, PEI would become Anticosti – but would Rome in Canada fall so easily? In the secularized Canada, is it not the faithful against the materialist shallow Hitchenites as much as the violent puritanical terrorist hijackers whether of Oklahoma City or 9/11? But could there be general Christian rights to state funding, to acceptance as a minority? If not, can Catholic rights (surely now a sub-set homogenous within the whole of the shrinking Canadian patch of Christendom) be anything other than a historic quirk locked into our Constitution? This is not to be anti-Catholic so much as contemporaneously contextual, something admittedly the constitution and perhaps the Church cares little for.
Speaking of the workplace, is boredom the natural outcome of the technological miracle of the last 40 years? Not only have we not received out jetpacks, we have not entered into that leisure society that was promised as someone has to answer the phone – or at least record their voice mail message – every single day.
Are they morphing into one? Pete Roger Rose-Clemens? Is Schilling that nutty?
From meany-pants to Mr. Drip. Please oh please can we be given an effective Federal opposition communications campaign under the tree this year?
Wow – doing the right thing actually is a heck of a lot less painful than doing the wrong thing.
Rejoice! Now there is more Europe for neocons to crap on. The most successful economic and social experiment since WWII is taking in the poor and making them kings. What will this mean for the dirt poor guy on the bus in Poland who looked at me like I was from outer space when I was there in 1991 teaching in a small Baltic city, when bootlegged western shampoo that smelled like a flower instead of industrial effluent was just showing up in the market?

That’s it for now. Someone has to get to work to wait for the Yule buffet to begin.

Friday Bullets Celebrating The Defeat of The Spammers

Rejoice! The war is won!

You may have noticed that there has been spam recently. The move to Recapture has apparently attracted a band of manual spammers who focus on sites who use it. Spiteful bitter Romanians for the most part. Anyway, this site’s admin also allows me to customize the spam filter quite easily and yesterday I thought that I would try filtering “URL” and “a href” – the tools used to create a link of any sort. I realized only spammers link. Hans has been posting here for four years and still can’t link. And even if you do, it will just be hidden until I check. Rejoice! Rejoice!!!

Timekilling Update: Death from above via John Gushue.
Asteriskman Update: A good commentary on SI about the indictment of Bonds. I guess we don’t have to worry about whether he shows up when the ball goes into Cooperstown.
I should find a copy of The Cult of the Amateur – a book setting out how stunned the infiltration of Web 2.0 mentality has made us all. Here is a screaming example from Metafilter. Can you believe someone is still citing the Cluetrain Manifesto? How many times can Dan Rather get fires in the minds of dopes with bandwidth?
As Mohammad is to Denmark, so too are nudy Royals to Spain…except the enemy is within.
We are entering Senate reform season again despite “vehement objections from some provinces which insisted the chamber can’t be reformed without their consent.” It is beyond me how it is possible to provide for such change without the provinces. I pray every night for an application to be made from PEI to the Supreme Court of Canada demanding a say if anyone touches their four seats. Because if you can shift the Senate seats without consent, the Feds should be able to shift the four seats in the House of Commons.
If killing a cat is a crime, is stealing virtual furniture?
I no longer watch much NHL hockey. In part it is the strike but in part it is also that I am a Leafs fan. Damian Cox in the Star neatly summed up the Leafs this week:

A 22 per cent return on investment can buy you a lot of things, apparently, but just not a soul or a sense of professional pride. And just think: Ontario’s teachers own the majority share.

Good dig at the elementary school teachers, Coxy.

That’s enough for now. You’ve had a few weeks off the bullets and need to reintegrate slowly. The bends can be hellish.

Monday Bullet Points Celebrating Standard Time

Ah, standard time. Time to sleep. Time to get up not in a rush. Time for bullet points. What were we saving all that daylight for anyway?

Update: note the subtle underlying concept – no one is as smart as me and my friends:

“I think he’s a sincere and honest man,” Mr. Manning said yesterday on CTV’s Question Period. “I think the bigger question with Premier Stelmach and the administration is one of its competence. Does it have the competence to deal with these big-picture issues?” Mr. Manning said the opposition Liberals and New Democrats display even less understanding of Alberta’s potential leadership role, but predicted they could benefit from Tory failings.

I thought Manning was a populist? How is this not elitist?
The battle of the spammers continues but today was a bit of a victory with everything getting filtered. Sadly we will not be able to discuss either Miss Alba or Miss Spears in the comments now but on the up side we will not be able to discuss Miss Alba or Miss Spears.
Fluke or no fluke? It was quite a game with New England pulling away from the Colts at the end due to a defensive play which saw a late game loose ball lead to the exciting NFL conclusion of two minutes of non-plays. If it was any other sport, goons would be sent in to interrupt the taking of the knee, a courtesy oddly granted the soon to be victors.
How long before the personal computer goes the way of the console TV? I liked when my TV came with a wood finish. Can I get an iPod with a wood finish? I don’t think so.
A TV writers strike – do you care? I know I will have to find something else to do when Numb-Three-ERs is on, but I mainly watch news and sports. If you want know know what is happening behind the line, have a read about what Ian and Tessa think. I would offer either side my full support if they officially adopt the pronunciation “numb-three-ers“. And about that show: I know it’s Charlie – he’s the evil one.

So there you go. Your first Monday bullets. I have no idea if this will continue but I am on the road this Friday so cut and paste these ones for use then if you are really having trouble with this change stuff.

Paying Indirectly Is So Much More Comforting

Not that I can extract myself from the cost of being advertised upon/to/at, the idea that the New York Times has “got it” and is giving away its subscription content misses the point:

“I was surprised by the New York Times’ decision,” Globe and Mail publisher Phillip Crawley said. He would have reservations about converting the Globe’s archives to a free database given the revenue it generates, turning a profit for the paper. “The Globe’s archive, with its long history, is a treasure house of information which remains a valuable asset,” he said.

The Times is hoping to use its new free archive to draw traffic into other parts of the website, Ms. Schiller said. “A certain portion of the people that come in through the archive … are going to get diverted,” Ms. Schiller said. “They’re going to find other portions of our site such as business, technology, health, entertainment – key verticals that you can really monetize.”

Yowch! I just got my key verticles monetized! I wish they would apply a cream before doing that. But by figuring out they can extract more money, by slapping on more ads, your soda pop goes up in price, you car, your whatever you buy. Big deal, you say – but then say big deal to the long tail, the many people making small choices to control the direction of culture. Nope, this is another step in the internet becoming more and more like TV as opposed to whatever what people were wishing for in 2004. Remember 2004? That was so cool.

How Fast Is The New Fast?

The BBC reports on a study showing that computers are bunging up the work place due to lack of proper implementation. Here is the
executive summary of the report, which includes the following:

The problem lies with people rather than the systems themselves,
concludes the iSociety think-tank. Workers do not have enough guidance about technology, support staff are cut off from other staff and managers are “naive”, said the year-long study. This contributes to “endemic annoyance” with computers which can be avoided with better understanding.

Having worked in a
number of digital offices in the public and private sector since 1990, I can confirm my experience that implementation of IT resources often is about as thoughtful as buying Winnebagos for wheelbarrow functionality needs as both are things with wheels. Why is this? The drive to upgrade needlessly pushed by
consultants, IT marketing and procurers without the information required to say no to the bright new toys. Before buying new communications and information
systems few organizations seem to themselves ask questions about how they communicate, what information they need and, most importantly, why.

Narcissim Used To Be A Fault

Can we be collectively narcissistic? Could it be that too much access and too much information can be too much? What happens to a society when everything is ok and everything should be open and available to and from all? Is it only simply a flourishing or are their limitations inherent either in a healthy society or being human? We can hardly be both tribal and non-hierarchical. We can hardly be exposed and not take in or be shaped by that exposure. Yet that seems to be a working principle:

“Most of the content on the network is contributed by the users of the internet,” he said. “So what we’re seeing on the net is a reflection of the society we live in. Maybe it is important for us to look at that society and try to do something about what’s happening, what we are seeing.

He added: “When you have a problem in the mirror you do not fix the mirror, you fix that which is reflected in the mirror.”

That is an odd analogy. You do remove the mirror when it is a distraction, is aimed into someone else’s space or is just in the wrong place. It does not seem to capture what we are. Is it possible that we are so obsessed with not having certain people tell us the modern is corrupt that we have determined that free discourse is an absolute, utterly uncorruptible and uncorrupting?

Time To Confess!

It’s too bad there isn’t an independent body to study stuff that no one wants studies that much. I would submit an application for a grant for a calculation of how much waste computers and the internet have caused:

“The issue is now you have something that seems to be genuinely irresistible because it’s such a gateway to the whole planet that’s right there on your desk and easily concealed to people passing by,” said Wallace, a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Employees who cyberslack have been shown to spend most of their time emailing, and almost a third of their messages were not related to work, said James Philips, a psychology professor at Australia’s Monash University. Many workers manage finances or shop online. Popular social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are also common cyberslacking destinations. It is not uncommon to see a user write on his “status” report that he or she is “at work”.

I think that underestimates the capacity and the long tradition of people to fund ways to not do. The inclusion of solitaire and battleships on the first desktops lead to a generation of well qualified lonely card playing admirals. But we were promised a world of leisure and the three day work week when the future was first envisaged, not just jet packs and food in tubes. All that has turned out is that the food is in plastic and not aluminum and the hours of leisure are spent in a cubicle not at a cottage.