STAFF COLUMNIST
One evening as I headed home from the Student Center, I was standing in the elevator, minding my own business and thinking about electromagnetic waves and how they propagate in space. Then the elevator came to an abrupt stop. The door slid open, and a couple stepped into the confined space, holding hands. No big deal, right? That?s what I thought ? until they started acting all couple-like, hanging onto each other like a pair of positively and negatively charged particles.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
What?s Next for Cloud Computing? Find Out at Structure 2011.
Ubergizmo community members register now and receive $100 off your ticket and a free report from GigaOM Pro on cloud and infrastructure.�Structure will be held in San Francisco, June 22nd & 23rd.
This year, we will be looking at the next wave of cloud technology and services. Anyone with a vested interest in cloud computing won?t want to miss this chance to hear about its future from the people who are making it happen.
Topics covered at Structure 2011 include:
- A Tale of Two Clouds: Private and Mobile
- Faster, Faster, Faster: The Memory, SSD and Flash Craze
- Cloud Storage: Moving Beyond Backup?
- The Next Frontier: Cloud Databases
- PaaS: Potholes Ahead?
- Dedicated in More Ways Than One: The IaaS Panel
- The Instrument of Cloud Monetization: The API
The schedule is now live at http://event.gigaom.com/structure/schedule/.
What’s Next for Cloud Computing? Find Out at Structure 2011., By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : Galaxy Tab 8.9 Preview, HTC Thunderbolt Review,
Source: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/05/cloud-computing-structure-2011/
Google Android leads smartphone market share, data use, report says
Google?s Android smartphones are top of the heap for popularity and data usage, according to a new report from Nielsen. In April, 37% of mobile consumers owned a smartphone, according to the study. Of those, 36% have an Android device,...
Online network Viadeo eyes Africa after shelving IPO (Reuters)
Reuters - Viadeo, the world's second-biggest online networking site for professionals behind LinkedIn, plans to double its users in Africa within a year, its chief operating officer for the continent said on Tuesday.
Finally, a real scientific controversy: arsenic in DNA
We spend so much time discussing manufactured controversies about science that it's a bit refreshing to be able to report on a real one. And one has been brewing since late last year, when Science released a report that suggested that researchers had forced bacteria to evolve to the point where they no longer simply tolerated arsenic, but incorporated it into their DNA. The publication quickly attracted criticism on a few blogs that were written by scientists, leading mainstream reporters to dig into matters. Now, the scientific community is having its say in the pages of Science, with eight separate technical comments on the work.
We covered the publication when it was first released, describing the major claims of the authors. They had isolated bacteria from an environment (California's Mono Lake) that is naturally high in arsenic, and then grew them in the lab, gradually raising the levels of arsenic while dropping those of its close relative, phosphorus, which is a component of DNA. After sufficient selection, they tested the surviving bacteria, and found some evidence that indicated arsenic may have been used in place of phosphorus in DNA.
Read the comments on this post
Consumer PC sales growth declines for first time ever: iPad the culprit?
Business Insider has posted a chart that tracks consumer PC growth from June of 2007 to March of 2011. According to the chart consumer PC sales have grown by at least 10 percent every quarter, until December 2010 when it remained flat. In the quarter ending March 2011, consumer PC sales actually went down 4 percent.
Business Insider says that "Microsoft's consumer PC sales growth has pretty much never declined. Not even when Microsoft released Vista. Not even when the economy went in the toilet. But suddenly, the growth of sales is about to go negative." Business Insider attributes this coming negative slump to the iPad. While you can present the same data in many different ways and draw different conclusions about what's causing a particular decline, I do think Business Insider has a point.
For many consumers an iPad is more than enough. If you only need a computer to browse the net, why buy a rigid box you need to sit at a desk to use? Why not just get a tablet you can use from the comfort of your couch? Do you think the iPad causing a decline in consumer PC sales? Let us know in the poll below.
Consumer PC sales growth declines for first time ever: iPad the culprit? originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 29 May 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/29/consumer-pc-sales-down-for-first-time-ever-ipad-the-culprit/
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Microsoft Office 2011 SP1 for Mac arriving next week with Outlook improvements
SP1 will also address Outlook's syncing support, with the BU adding calendar support for Sync Services allowing you to finally sync Outlook calendars with iCal and other local calendars, as well as syncing iDevices hooked up through iTunes. For Office 2008 upgraders, this was one of the features removed in the Entourage to Outlook switch, so it's nice to see it finally make an appearance in Outlook. The irony here is that Outlook will no longer be able to sync with your MobileMe calendar when it's upgraded to the new version on the 5th of May, or before if you've jumped the gun early, as Apple has removed Sync Services support from MobileMe by turning to CalDAV. Nothing to do with Microsoft here of course, and it shouldn't be long before something gets worked out.
Outlook has also been bestowed with the ability to edit server-side Exchange rules, something our friends at TUAW pointed out, have been missing on the Mac since Office 2001 for Mac OS 9. The email Redirect and Resend buttons have also made an appearance, allowing you to send mail onto the intended recipient without being caught in the email chain for replies. Excel also gets some love from SP1 with improved Solver integration support, which should be handy for those attempting to use equations in Excel.
Look to Microsoft Autoupdate on your Mac starting next week, or visit the Microsoft Mac download center to update manually once it becomes available.
Microsoft Office 2011 SP1 for Mac arriving next week with Outlook improvements originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 03:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple's Deals May Transform Digital Music
The company's plan for "digital lockers" is winning over the major music labels
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_23/b4231035679728.htm
Monday, May 30, 2011
President Obama gets an iPad 2 filled with Polish pride
President Obama is on a European tour, and one of his stops included Poland. Before parting, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk gave President Obama several gifts, a usual custom for visiting dignitaries. One of those gifts was an iPad 2. President Obama already has an iPad 2, but TUAW reader Darek points out this iPad 2 was just a "container" for other Polish goodies, including some masterful Polish movies.
"One of them was 'Cathedral' by Tomasz Bagi?ski, which got Oscar nomination several years ago," Darek says. "There was also a masterpiece 'City of Ruins' -- a digitally recreated aerial panorama of post-war Warsaw, almost totally destroyed during WWII."
Darek also told us President Obama received another gift, the hot video game "The Witcher 2," which is made in Poland.
President Obama gets an iPad 2 filled with Polish pride originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 29 May 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/29/president-obama-gets-an-ipad-2-filled-with-polish-pride/
WebSockets Return to Firefox 6
Other notable features in Aurora 6 include the progress element, window.matchMedia API, better APIs for binary data and Server-Sent Events. You can download it here.
Sponsor
A look at the progress element element.
Here's a quick overview:
- Progress element: As seen above, this element can be used for displaying progress bars.
- matchMedia: The JavaScript equivalent of CSS Media Queries.
- Server Sent Events: A way for a server side script to generate client side events which include data.
There are several other changes. You can find more information about the new features on the Mozilla blog. Some information about user interface changes can be found here.
Instead of bringing WebSockets into the mainstream browser, Microsoft offers plugins for developers who want to test unfinished specs.
Discuss
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/readwriteweb/%7E3/ONgUdwvWiLQ/websockets-return-to-firefox-6.php
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Joichi Ito set to lead Media Lab
NEWS EDITOR
Joichi ?Joi? Ito, who was recently named the new director of the Media Lab, took the time to talk with The Tech about his ideas and perspective on the future of the Media Lab. Despite not having a college degree, Joi has made a name for himself in the technological and entrepreneurial world. Joi is currently a general partner of Neoteny Labs and chairman of Creative Commons, a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating the sharing of intellectual property. Yesterday, Joi announced that he will be helping to launch LinkedIn Japan, a job that he describes in his blog as the ?last ?real job? before I transition over completely to the Media Lab role.?
Digital shoppers ripped off @.com.au
Hint: why do we buy offshore?
Australian gaming, tech and software consumers selecting to buy from local online stores vs offshore etailers are paying up to 91 percent for the pleasure, according to consumers watchdog Choice.?
Source: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/29/online_shopping_pricehike/
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Boffins grow brains in petri dish
Manmade rat neurons with memories
For a chunk of the 20th century, SF writers played around with various ?brain in a jar? scenarios, and now, it?s come true.?
Source: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/30/potted_brains/
Endeavour 'nauts wrap last ever shuttle crew spacewalk
End of an era at the ISS
Mission specialists Greg Chamitoff and Mike Fincke earlier today wrapped the fourth and final spacewalk of Endeavour's STS-134 mission to the ISS ? the last ever EVA by space shuttle crew members.?
Source: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/27/endeavour_spacewalk/
Last chance to see space shuttle in night sky
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43196938/ns/technology_and_science-space/
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Sunday, May 29, 2011
Asus Padfone Fully Exposed (Images) (Evan Blass/pocketnow.com)
Asus Padfone Fully Exposed (Images) — This is the Asus Padfone being introduced tomorrow: a package consisting of an Android smartphone and tablet to dock it with. Dock inside is more appropriate, as the “fone” appears to be fully consumed by the “Pad” when the two are merged.
How would you change HTC's Thunderbolt?
How would you change HTC's Thunderbolt? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 May 2011 23:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/28/how-would-you-change-htcs-thunderbolt/
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Unusual and Creative Bed Sheets
Creative blankets and unusual bed sheet designs from all over the world.
Sleeved Blanket
Limited edition duvet covers with sleeves. Because it is really annoying to have cold arms when reading in bed. [link]
NES Bed Sheets
Creative bedding set inspired by the iconic video game console. [link]
Rise and Sigh Bed Sheets
Embroidered bed sheets will imprint a message on [...]
Sleeved Blanket
Limited edition duvet covers with sleeves. Because it is really annoying to have cold arms when reading in bed. [link]
NES Bed Sheets
Creative bedding set inspired by the iconic video game console. [link]
Rise and Sigh Bed Sheets
Embroidered bed sheets will imprint a message on [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/toxel/~3/K-zQANYn6dQ/
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: CURRAN Y. OI ?13 Before MIT, a world-class figure skater Oi takes sixth place at US National Championships in 2008-2009 season
SPORTS STAFF
Nearly 10 years ago, Curran Y. Oi ?13 was picked to skate as a young Scott Hamilton in the Boston stop of Stars on Ice. Since then, he has placed sixth in the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, beating Olympic competitor Johnny Weir in the short program.
Pandora's Sales More Than Double as IPO Looms
First-quarter revenues at Pandora rose 136 percent year-over-year as the Internet music company said it expects to complete a $100 million initial public offering by the end of June
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2011/tc20110527_556538.htm
IndiaMART.com Pushes for Cohesive SME Ecosystem Through SME Learning Series
NEW DELHI, India, May 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
- Partners With Smallenterpriseindia.com for the Series
- Aims to Bring Clear Understanding of Finance, HR, IT, Communication,
Marketing & Other Business Verticals to SMEs
- Roadshows Being Organised Across India; Bangalore &
- Partners With Smallenterpriseindia.com for the Series
- Aims to Bring Clear Understanding of Finance, HR, IT, Communication,
Marketing & Other Business Verticals to SMEs
- Roadshows Being Organised Across India; Bangalore &
Lockheed Martin hit by cyber attack (AP)
AP - Hackers launched a "significant and tenacious" cyber attack on Lockheed Martin, a major defense contractor holding highly sensitive information, but its secrets remained safe, the company said Saturday.
Intel switches ARM stance from 'No' to 'Maybe'
New wrinkle in Apple-Samsung spat
Ten days ago, Intel CEO Paul Otellini told US investors that Chipzilla wouldn't use its new 22nm Tri-Gate process technology to build chips based on an ARM core. At a UK investors confab this Thursday, CFO Stacey Smith hedged on Otellini's emphatic "No".?
Source: http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/27/stacy_smith_talks_intel_arm/
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Fei Lam of WhiteiPhone4Now reveals how Apple found him
Earlier today we told you how Apple's legal team finally caught up with Fei Lam, the teenager from New York who was selling white iPhone 4 conversion kits, and filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against him. Now new information about the whole ordeal has emerged including how exactly Apple found him.
In an interview with Fast Company, Lam says that he first found out about the lawsuit when he received an email from Fast Company. Lam also says that, contrary to reports, he did not make US$130,000 for the sales of white iPhone parts.
He is apparently meeting with Apple's lawyers within the next month to discuss the lawsuit and any legal repercussions, however Lam will not be represented by a lawyer as he doesn't have the funds to cover one. An earlier report by Fast Company also noted that Apple only tracked Lam down after hiring a private investigator that worked for an anti-counterfeit and trademark protection firm. Looks like when it comes to Apple, you can't remain on the lam forever*.
*I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the worst pun ever.
Fei Lam of WhiteiPhone4Now reveals how Apple found him originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 27 May 2011 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/27/fei-lam-of-whiteiphone4now-reveals-how-apple-found-him/
Windows Phone 7 Mango Facebook Check In Integration
Screenshot of the Me tile in Windows Phone 7 Mango that shows integration of Facebook Places and ability to toggle messenger status.
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RIM Hopes Cars Drive PlayBook Sales (Wall Street Journal)
RIM Hopes Cars Drive PlayBook Sales — BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion Ltd. may be falling behind rivals in the smartphone war, but it is hoping to pull ahead in the brewing battle to bring mobile technology into the car. — The Canadian company is pushing its tablet and smartphone software …
Ima Fish's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
This week's favorites post come from Ima Fish, who, when not using an assumed name, is an IP lawyer...
I'm sure most people read Techdirt for the insightful posts concerning the fast-changing world of IP. That's why I started reading it. But recently I discovered a new use. Cubical Exercising. Nearly every day there's a story that makes me shake my head in utter disbelief. My neck muscles have been getting a great workout.
Let me walk you though last week's workout routine. On Monday there was a post in which Universal Music Group Distribution President Jim Urie claimed we need stronger IP laws because the "online theft of music is killing artists" as well as "destroying jobs, dreams and careers."
I'll ignore the "killing" comment as nonsensical hyperbole. But the complaint against jobs being destroyed is dangerously ignorant. Every time there's a disruptive change in the marketplace, jobs will be lost. Just as new jobs will be created.
When CDs replaced LPs and put LP manufacturers mostly out of business, was it the government's job to step in and pass laws against the production of CDs? I certainly don't think so. When the market for giant SUVs finally crashed in the US, was it the government's job to pass laws making the production and sale of small and efficient vehicles illegal? I sure hope not.
The music industry is changing from an ownership culture to a consumer culture. Publishers sell sheet music. Labels sell LPs, CDs, and singles. Even in the days of illegal Napster, you'd share music with friends by giving them a copy, either burned to a CD or copied to a flash drive. However, nowadays if you want to share a song with a friend, you simply post the YouTube video onto his or her Facebook wall. We no longer need physical copies or digital representations of physical copies to enjoy music. Those days have passed.
Unfortunately for us, all those old "ownership culture" middlemen, who don't have a clue how to run a business or earn money without the government's help, are now being forced to actually work for a living. And they don't like it.
Nothing was done to help displaced buggy-whip factory workers. But the music industry middlemen are very wealthy and connected. So, unfortunately, when they complain to the government, the government listens and takes action. No matter how completely unreasonable the complaint may be.
My favorite head-shaking post from Tuesday concerned the UK judge who issued a super injunction to prohibit any public discussion of Ryan Giggs' alleged affair. Of course the internet community ignored the super injunction, rendering it pointless. However, despite that fact, the judge determined that it was actually evidence for the need for a stronger super injunction. (May I suggest calling it a super mega injunction? Thanks. No problem.)
Let's go through the judge's tortured logic. He first says,
There were two great head-shakers last Wednesday. First was Senator Harry Reid's bizarre assertion that passing the Patriot Act without any modification was "an excellent compromise." Wow.
The other great head-shaker from last Wednesday was the ex-boyfriend who wants royalties for inspiring songs his ex-girlfriend wrote about their breakup. In the past, I've written about the absurdities of our new ownership culture. Newspaper writers claimed that other media outlets were stealing stories, which they "stole" themselves from the original sources. Aretha Franklin claimed she was owed money merely because she wore a hat. And the producers of Britain's Got Talent claimed that Google owed them money for providing free bandwidth and for bringing free attention and exposure to Susan Boyle's amazing talents.
Let's get this straight people, merely because someone else is making money does not mean you're owed money.
Thursday's head-shaking post comes from everybody's favorite company, Sony. It was revealed that Sony's theatrical film projectors are so riddled with DRM that 2D movies shown on those projectors lose as much as 85% of their brightness.
That may seem insane, but it is all a part of Sony's business plan. What is Sony's business plan? Treating its customers with utter contempt.
Ever since Sony became both a technology and content company, all it cares about is protecting its precious content. So it puts rootkits on its music CDs. It releases portable music players, but used the asinine ATRAC format. And it removes the "other OS" option in its Playstation 3, but leaves customer information completely open and unencrypted on its servers.
So in Sony's bizarro collective-mind, it's perfectly reasonable to destroy the movie theater experience in order to protect the movie theater experience.
Friday's head-shaking post comes from the New York Stock Exchange. The NYSE has proclaimed that any drawing, photograph, or representation of the NYSE trading floor violates its trademark.
I'm just glad this perversion of trademark law was not around back in the 80s. Otherwise, the film Trading Places would have had a truly sucky ending.
Well, I'm done with my neck exercises for this week. Let's keep our neck muscles in shape by checking back each and every weekday.
Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
I'm sure most people read Techdirt for the insightful posts concerning the fast-changing world of IP. That's why I started reading it. But recently I discovered a new use. Cubical Exercising. Nearly every day there's a story that makes me shake my head in utter disbelief. My neck muscles have been getting a great workout.
Let me walk you though last week's workout routine. On Monday there was a post in which Universal Music Group Distribution President Jim Urie claimed we need stronger IP laws because the "online theft of music is killing artists" as well as "destroying jobs, dreams and careers."
I'll ignore the "killing" comment as nonsensical hyperbole. But the complaint against jobs being destroyed is dangerously ignorant. Every time there's a disruptive change in the marketplace, jobs will be lost. Just as new jobs will be created.
When CDs replaced LPs and put LP manufacturers mostly out of business, was it the government's job to step in and pass laws against the production of CDs? I certainly don't think so. When the market for giant SUVs finally crashed in the US, was it the government's job to pass laws making the production and sale of small and efficient vehicles illegal? I sure hope not.
The music industry is changing from an ownership culture to a consumer culture. Publishers sell sheet music. Labels sell LPs, CDs, and singles. Even in the days of illegal Napster, you'd share music with friends by giving them a copy, either burned to a CD or copied to a flash drive. However, nowadays if you want to share a song with a friend, you simply post the YouTube video onto his or her Facebook wall. We no longer need physical copies or digital representations of physical copies to enjoy music. Those days have passed.
Unfortunately for us, all those old "ownership culture" middlemen, who don't have a clue how to run a business or earn money without the government's help, are now being forced to actually work for a living. And they don't like it.
Nothing was done to help displaced buggy-whip factory workers. But the music industry middlemen are very wealthy and connected. So, unfortunately, when they complain to the government, the government listens and takes action. No matter how completely unreasonable the complaint may be.
My favorite head-shaking post from Tuesday concerned the UK judge who issued a super injunction to prohibit any public discussion of Ryan Giggs' alleged affair. Of course the internet community ignored the super injunction, rendering it pointless. However, despite that fact, the judge determined that it was actually evidence for the need for a stronger super injunction. (May I suggest calling it a super mega injunction? Thanks. No problem.)
Let's go through the judge's tortured logic. He first says,
It is obvious that if the purpose of this injunction were to preserve a secret, it would have failed in its purpose.That seems logical. Griggs wanted to keep people from publicly talking about his alleged affair, but the injunction utterly failed. But the judge does not stop there.
But in so far as its purpose is to prevent intrusion or harassment, it has not failed.What the flagnard?! The judge continues in his attempt to destroy the foundations of logic and reason...
The fact that tens of thousands of people have named the claimant on the internet confirms that the claimant and his family need protection from intrusion into their private and family life.Sorry judge, but the fact that everyone is ignoring your super injunction does not mean you need a super mega injunction. It means that the underlying premise that Griggs needed an injunction in the first place was flawed. It means that people want to talk publicly about Griggs and nothing you do will stop them. (Unless you are the type of person who thinks High Chancellor Adam Sutler was the hero in the film V for Vendetta.)
There were two great head-shakers last Wednesday. First was Senator Harry Reid's bizarre assertion that passing the Patriot Act without any modification was "an excellent compromise." Wow.
The other great head-shaker from last Wednesday was the ex-boyfriend who wants royalties for inspiring songs his ex-girlfriend wrote about their breakup. In the past, I've written about the absurdities of our new ownership culture. Newspaper writers claimed that other media outlets were stealing stories, which they "stole" themselves from the original sources. Aretha Franklin claimed she was owed money merely because she wore a hat. And the producers of Britain's Got Talent claimed that Google owed them money for providing free bandwidth and for bringing free attention and exposure to Susan Boyle's amazing talents.
Let's get this straight people, merely because someone else is making money does not mean you're owed money.
Thursday's head-shaking post comes from everybody's favorite company, Sony. It was revealed that Sony's theatrical film projectors are so riddled with DRM that 2D movies shown on those projectors lose as much as 85% of their brightness.
That may seem insane, but it is all a part of Sony's business plan. What is Sony's business plan? Treating its customers with utter contempt.
Ever since Sony became both a technology and content company, all it cares about is protecting its precious content. So it puts rootkits on its music CDs. It releases portable music players, but used the asinine ATRAC format. And it removes the "other OS" option in its Playstation 3, but leaves customer information completely open and unencrypted on its servers.
So in Sony's bizarro collective-mind, it's perfectly reasonable to destroy the movie theater experience in order to protect the movie theater experience.
Friday's head-shaking post comes from the New York Stock Exchange. The NYSE has proclaimed that any drawing, photograph, or representation of the NYSE trading floor violates its trademark.
I'm just glad this perversion of trademark law was not around back in the 80s. Otherwise, the film Trading Places would have had a truly sucky ending.
Well, I'm done with my neck exercises for this week. Let's keep our neck muscles in shape by checking back each and every weekday.
Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
Source: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110527/11550014461/ima-fishs-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml
First Firefox 6 build next week, Firefox 7 by May, and aurora channel introduced
Along with the faster 6-week release cadence, Firefox's new Chrome-like release channels have also been given names and anticipated update frequencies. The most notable change is the introduction of a new alpha channel -- which is analogous to Chrome Canary -- that will be called 'aurora' and will update nightly. Aurora will be where fixes and features are tested, and either approved for Beta, or backed out to Central. Aurora will have a new icon, too.
The Nightly (mozilla-central) channel will remain unchanged in name and frequency, but it will gain a new 'nightly icon.' The Beta (mozilla-beta) channel will remain as-is, with new builds rolling out weekly. The Release (mozilla-release) channel will also remain as-is, with security and stability updates coming every 6 to 12 weeks.
It should be noted that the names (including 'aurora') are not necessarily final, but it's unlikely that they'll change. We're also awaiting the arrival of the new 'channel switching' technology, which should arrive in the next few days -- in time for the release of Firefox 6 aurora!
First Firefox 6 build next week, Firefox 7 by May, and aurora channel introduced originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Blog - Facts 'n' Effects
The best of the rest from the Physics arXiv this week
Multilayered Folding With Voids
Source: http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=6d88d493165fb78cae9d97b982ceea1a
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Can We Kill Off This Myth That The Internet Is A Wild West That Needs To Be Tamed?
We recently wrote about Nicolas Sarkozy's push to convince the tech world and the "digerati" that it's time to clamp down on internet freedoms. While he was more blatant and direct about it, we're seeing a similar theme elsewhere, and frequently see such claims in our comments as well. It's all based on this idea that the internet is some sort of "wild west" that is a haven for all sorts of illegality, and that needs to come to an end.
The problem is that this is a myth. It makes for a compelling narrative, but it's a myth nonetheless.
The latest version of this, is a horrible, dangerous and ridiculous editorial from Martin Kettle, at The Guardian, who insists that it's time to bring the internet "under control."
The problems can be solved by staying out the way. Kettle talks about spam and pornography. Yet, I almost never see spam any more. Why? Because technologists came in and built filters. I never see pornography either. And not because of any laws or filters, but because the websites I surf don't display any, and contrary to the myth makers, it's pretty difficult to "accidentally" run into porn. I do a lot of surfing and can't recall ever accidentally coming across any.
The internet isn't some wild west that needs taming. It's a new and different system that is sometimes used for bad purposes, but much more frequently used for very, very good purposes. And, because so many people have natural incentives to minimize the bad, they tend to take care of themselves naturally, by those who actually understand the system, and not by those who seek to implement laws and controls that don't fit the system.
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The problem is that this is a myth. It makes for a compelling narrative, but it's a myth nonetheless.
The latest version of this, is a horrible, dangerous and ridiculous editorial from Martin Kettle, at The Guardian, who insists that it's time to bring the internet "under control."
Yet whatever one's qualms about Sarkozy and his plan, he is surely on to something that should not be so sweepingly dismissed. Looking at British politics this week, it is hard to make an intellectually serious case that internet regulation issues should not be raised. Not only has the balance between parliament, the courts and the media been made to look irrelevant over superinjunctions by the twitterati, but almost the first act of the new Scottish government on Thursday was to promise a clampdown on internet sectarian hate postings. The fact that Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg also popped up this week with the casual suggestion that children under 13 should be able to use social networking sites dramatically underlines the argument that there are issues of importance to discuss here.Let's take these things one by one. First, on the issue of the superinjunction, it suggests the exact opposite of what Kettle is arguing. It's pointing out the ridiculousness of analog-era regulations in a digital age. That's not a case for controls. It's a case for removing controls. The issue of hate speech is another one where people overreact emotionally. The best way to counter hate speech (which is almost always ignorance) is with more speech. "Clamping down" only convinces those who hate that they're "onto something" and that they're being persecuted. Finally, Zuckerberg's claim -- which he's already pointed out involved taking his words out of context -- was just that there could be socially useful reasons why younger people might be helped if they could have accounts, but over aggressive internet controls prevent that. Again, that seems to argue against control, not for it.
The internet cannot exist in some undiscussable and untouchable dimension of human activity. It is a human creation. It affects human lives in all sorts of increasing ways. Morality and the rule of law should apply on the internet as elsewhere in human conduct. As such, it is an absolutely proper subject for governments to consider, though naturally with sensitivity.And here's the myth at work. The internet does not exist as untouchable. Morality and the rule of law do apply to the actions people do there. The question is whether those laws are appropriate. In many cases, it appears they're not.
We have got to get past the fallacy that rules that existed in the pre-internet era are obsolete because the internet makes it so difficult to enforce them. To obey the injunctions of the courts over privacy, for example, is in principle right, not wrong. The fact that the internet makes it possible to circumvent those injunctions does not negate their worth or seriousness. It merely makes it imperative to consider the ways in which such constraints can be fairly enforced in the new media. That may not be as difficult as it may seem.No, the fallacy is not that these laws are obsolete because they're difficult to enforce. It's that they're obsolete because many of them don't make any sense, such as these injunctions that seek to merely protect the rich and famous from having their own embarrassing actions discussed. Furthermore, some of these laws aren't "difficult" to enforce, they're impossible to enforce. And it's not because the internet is some "wild west," but because it's a very different platform of communication -- a many to many platform, which the world has not had before. We've had one-to-one and one-to-many forms of communication, but a many-to-many platform really does change some important fundamentals when it comes to speech.
Far more important are the questions of internet access to unsuitable material, especially but not solely by children, as well as the danger to children from inadequately policed social media. Merely to write such a sentence is to invite outrage in some quarters, but these issues are all too easy for a society to ignore until they return to haunt us.And the proper response, if there is "unsuitable" (unsuitable to whom, by the way?) content is to go after those who produced and distributed it. Not to seek to block access and sweep it under the rug. That's denial. Let's live in reality.
It is beyond serious dispute that the internet has placed much greater amounts of pornography within far easier reach of many more people, including children, than at any other time in human history. And it is inconceivable that this is a development without destructive consequences."Destructive"? That certainly seems like hyperbole. Do you have any evidence to support destructive? I agree it may be inappropriate, but there are ways to deal with this that don't involve regulations. It's called educating children as to what's appropriate, and how to deal with content that is inappropriate should they come across it.
To argue for controls over the internet may not be cool. But the internet was surely not meant to be this way. The geniuses who created the modern web and made it so exciting did not do so in order to create the largest pornography bombardment in human history, to have a global email system weighed down by spam, to encourage hostile hacking into national security secrets, to embolden sectarian bigots to violent threats or mere gossipers to say ill-considered things under the protection of pseudonymity.No, they meant to create a platform for communication in a many-to-many fashion and they knew that, as with any platform for communication, it can be used for both good and bad purposes. The response shouldn't be to automatically reach for the regulation button, with all its unintended consequences and heavy handed results, but to understand what it means to live in a world of much freer communication.
The problems can be solved by staying out the way. Kettle talks about spam and pornography. Yet, I almost never see spam any more. Why? Because technologists came in and built filters. I never see pornography either. And not because of any laws or filters, but because the websites I surf don't display any, and contrary to the myth makers, it's pretty difficult to "accidentally" run into porn. I do a lot of surfing and can't recall ever accidentally coming across any.
The internet isn't some wild west that needs taming. It's a new and different system that is sometimes used for bad purposes, but much more frequently used for very, very good purposes. And, because so many people have natural incentives to minimize the bad, they tend to take care of themselves naturally, by those who actually understand the system, and not by those who seek to implement laws and controls that don't fit the system.
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