Tim Adams on viral marketing and tipping points

Typically thoughtful piece by Tim on the way ideas spread nowadays.

The view from 90,000 feet: Roger Needham on the central issues in computer science

Masterful, succinct summary.

The Columbia disaster — live only on the Net
New York Times report.

“Some of the shuttle trackers in the western United States also kept an eye on the skies, and shared their impressions online. An illustration of their reactions, moving from excitement to confusion to horror, can be found in an online discussion for shuttle buffs on the Free Republic Web site; it was begun by a reader 38 minutes before the Columbia’s scheduled 9:16 landing.

The first sign of something wrong comes at 9:05 — at least 11 minutes before The Associated Press moved the first wire-service alert and the TV networks began live coverage (which had the first video of the breakup, shot minutes before). …”.

The article reprints the internet chat dialogue as the tragedy unfolds. It makes remarkably gripping reading.

Osama continues to win hands down in his campaign to destroy Western democracies

Patriot Act II. Slate’s Today’s Papers reports on the Justice Departments’ planned “Patriot II” which further expands government powers and further degrades civil liberties…

“Let step back a generation shall we? If this were to become law, Martin Luther King and anyone else involved in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, would have likely been labeled domestic terrorists. The Attorney General would have been able to revoke the citizenship of King and anyone who donated money to the cause of civil rights, or who joined the Freedom March from Selma to Montgomery, deporting or imprisoning them without any legal recourse. And under the existing rules of the first Patriot act statements extracted under torture by friendly foreign powers would have been admissible evidence in their capitol terrorism trials.” [Way.Nu]

Doc Searls on the evolution of the Linux story

Fascinating, thoughtful piece starting from the famous Gandhi mantra:

First, they ignore you.
Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight you.
Then you win.

Another attack on PowerPoint

This time from the the Guardian . Seems that Colin Powell used the package in his presentation to the UN.

Everything you wanted to know about Google…

Lovely Boston Globe article.

The people have spoken.. Whoa. This today on Salon: At the end of the first week of January, the Princeton Survey Research Associates found that 44 per cent of Americans believe that some or all of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqis. Ye Gods!… [stevenberlinjohnson.com]

The mystery of digital photography — revisited

In today’s Observer column I’ve returned to a topic that really intrigues me: the amazing popularity of digital cameras.

The State of the Union Address — annotated

Lovely idea — Dubya’s SOTU address, hyperlinked and annotated by James Fallows.