Month: July 2003

Brobeck – the firm that keeps on giving. This has the potential to be a huge problem with wide-ranging ramifications for the ongoing troubles faced by several law firms. A former IT employee at Brobeck is claiming that confidential client files were potentially mishandled in the wake of Brobeck’s dissolution. In a declaration, Homiyar Watchha,… Continue reading Brobeck – the firm that keeps on giving

Power Laws, Political Websites, and Inequality. “Googlearchy: How a Few Heavily-Linked Sites Dominate Politics on the Web” (pdf, 300k), by Matthew Hindman and two co-authors from NEC labs, is an examination of the link structure of some 3 million politically-oriented websites. The authors draw observations similar to those in the Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality… Continue reading Power Laws, Political Websites, and Inequality

Some Florida felons to regain voting rights.  Florida has agreed to help restore voting rights to nearly 125,000 convicted felons who didn't get enough advice on how to regain their rights when they walked free, likely resulting in 30,000 of those felons regaining their civil rights this year, officials said Thursday. The Florida Rights Restoration… Continue reading Some Florida felons to regain voting rights

New: Building Wireless Community Networks. Reilly & Associates released Building Wireless Community Networks, Second Edition by Rob Flickenger, which provides a blueprint for setting up wireless community networks, including selecting appropriate equipment, finding antenna sites, and protecting the network from inappropriate access. [MacInTouch]

Haven't we heard this before?. The regional Bell companies say this time they're serious about broadband. I think they missed their opportunity. When cable operators were fighting mandatory open access in 1999-2000, the Bells could have positioned DSL as the open alternative for broadband. They could have leveraged independent ISPs and content providers as an… Continue reading they're serious

Keystroking at Kinko's. Keystroking at Kinko's: If you regularly use machines you can't control, such as machines at libraries or cafes, it's likely strongest to assume that everything you do is monitored. This MSNBC article describes how someone installed keystroke-capturing software on public machines, then sat back and collected passwords and personal data for identity theft.… Continue reading Keystroking at Kinko's

Ray Ozzie's Weblog. WiFi sniffing is EASY to do, it is commonly done, and the real question is at what point will someone do real damage by using what they sniff, and when will this be brought to the public's eye by the courts or by congress?  Think about it.  How long will it take… Continue reading

Ray Ozzie's Weblog

Encouraging Accountability through Personal Publishing. There's an increasing sense today that many of our most powerful institutions have become disconnected from the ordinary citizens they are supposed to represent. From questions about the accuracy and bias of the media to concerns over accountability of elected officials and government policy, there is a lack of communication and… Continue reading Encouraging Accountability through Personal Publishing

step away from the podium. Ross blogged the NY Times article on backchannels first, it seems. But I'm not interested in quoting it…I'm more interested in talking about its implications, and the responses it seems to generate from speakers. Two of my friends in the social software world, Stewart Butterfield and Anil Dash, are speakers… Continue reading step away from the podium

Attention-shifting. Article in the NY Times on back-channels of IM and Chat in universities, meetings and conferences.  Misses recent events.  Attention-shifting for early social software experiences will be meme for a while because its also a frame of reference shift. Cory Doctorow, a science fiction writer and blogger who has experienced this back-channeling at several… Continue reading Attention-shifting