He thinks it’s amazing. He’s right.
Daily Archives: April 15, 2005
The Reith Lectures
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.
More creative photoshopping
Hollywood sees light at the end of the tunnel?
From Good Morning Silicon Valley…
In opening remarks delivered at the first inaugural Email Technology Conference, Vint Cerf, chairman of the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and one of the architects of the Net, said he’d recently discussed BitTorrent with at least two interested movie producers. “I know personally for a fact that various members of the movie industry are really getting interested in how to use the Internet — even BitTorrent — as a … method for distributing content,” said Cerf. “I’ve spoken with several movie producers in the last month. They are only just now starting to come to honest grips with the possibilities of using the Internet.”
Hacking the Papal Election
Bruce Schneier has written a fascinating piece on the security aspects of the papal election, in the course of which he addresses my thought about bugging.
Eavesdropping on the process is certainly possible, although the rules explicitly state that the chapel is to be checked for recording and transmission devices “with the help of trustworthy individuals of proven technical ability.” I read that the Vatican is worried about laser microphones, as there are windows near the chapel’s roof.
NYT journalism dissected
Aaron Schwartz was asked to speak to the Bay Area Law School Technology Conference about blogging as compared with conventional journalism. Here is the transcript of his extraordinary talk, which was based on a close reading of the way the New York Times covered the presidential election.
Coldplay Calling
The iTunes store sells songs for 99p each. Some people think this is too much. But the band Coldplay has found an even more profitable way of selling their music. They’ve signed up with Cingular Sounds to sell fragments of their stuff as ring tones. Fans can fork out $2.49 to purchase a 15-second snippet from the band’s new single, Speed of Sound, that can be used as their phone’s ringtone. Assuming that the average track lasts for three minutes, that’s equivalent to $29.88 per track. No wonder the ringtone business is now reckoned to be worth $209 a year. It even has a Top Ten chart.
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.
On this day…
… in 1912, the Titanic sank off the coast of Newfoundland. When I was growing up in Ireland, there was an urban legend that the Cork Examiner, a relentlessly provincial publication, carried a huge headline in 96-point type saying, “Corkman Drowns” and below it, in smaller type, “Titanic sinks on maiden voyage”. As the Italians say, if it isn’t true then it ought to be.