The BBC has put up an audio archive of famous Reith Lectures. I’ve just been listening to the first RL ever — given by Bertrand Russell in 1948. Amazing to hear the old boy’s reedy tones coming across the Net and out of my PowerBook speakers. If you want a justification for public-service broadcasting, look no further.
Category Archives: Asides
What UK politicians would have on their iPods…
… if only they knew how to operate them. Lovely item in today’s Guardian about politicos’ musical tastes. Reminds one that music provides a window into the soul. Could one love someone who loved Wagner?
Reboot: June 11-12
Interesting conference happening in Copenhagen in June. Participants include Cory Doctorow, Jason Fried, Robert Scoble, Doc Searls, Jimbo Wales and David Weinberger. Hmmm… wonder if RyanAir flies to Copenhagen.
Sistine chapelcam?
The conclave of cardinals to elect the next pope assembles in the Sistine Chapel next Monday. Wonder if any enterprising media organisation has thought about bugging the building? A wireless webcam would be just the ticket. This one, for example, can be remotely controlled.
An innovative use of Google
From today’s New York Times…
It seems that Kenneth L. Lay, the former Enron chairman who faces trial next January on fraud charges, has paid Google, the online search service, to place ads next to or above searches about Enron and related topics and direct people to a site that gives his side of the story.
The links also appear in searches involving the bylines of some reporters, like Mary Flood of The Houston Chronicle and Kurt Eichenwald of The New York Times. A quick check of the Google “AdWords” site suggests that Mr. Lay pays about $25 a day for linking ads to the searches. Every time someone uses Google to search for sites about “Ken Lay” or “Enron,” among other terms, and then clicks on the link to the kenlayinfo.com site, that click costs Mr. Lay a little less than a dime. His case hasn’t yet gone to trial, but he’s trying to score points in the court of public opinion, and he’s willing to pay for it.
Royalweddingcam.com
Looks like my prediction that the servers for the royal wedding webcam would be overwhelmed may be wrong. I’ve just looked and it’s fine.
Mind you, the action — such as it is — hasn’t started yet. Don’t you just love the tasteful frame!
On this day…
… in 1855, Charlotte Bronte died in Haworth, Yorkshire.
… in 1755, Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language was published.