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Links for 17 July 2008 through 18 July 2008

del.icio.us — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:44:59 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 17 July 2008 through 18 July 2008, gathered according to the ancient rituals:

Who is watching YouTube? The US courts want to know | ABC News: Are IP addresses personal information? Peter Black's take on the recent YouTube vs Viacom decision. With a lengthy comment by yours truly.
stripe - what you want on radio: A new multi-channel "Internet radio" service due to go live on 29 July. Subscription model, based in Australia. Investors include Glenn Wheatley and Alan Jones.
"Is St Isidore of Seville really the Patron Saint of the Internet?": Short answer: Yes.

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Links for 13 July 2008 through 17 July 2008

del.icio.us — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:50:34 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 13 July 2008 through 17 July 2008, gathered with moss like a rolling stone doesn’t:

Flat Earth News: The official website for Nick Davies' book, which various people have suggested I read.
Straw man | Wikipedia: "A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position." Tagged as a reminder to certain blog commenters.
Zappos.com: Who'd have thought that people would buy shoes online? Who'd have thought that a company would use Twitter and other social media to do great customer service (or so I'm told)?
Journalism: A Toxic Culture? (Or: Why Aren’t We Having More Fun?) | contentious.com: Amy Gahran helps explain why journalists are so defensive about their craft these days, and posits that they have "Priesthood Syndrome".
The plastic buttons we push | Amit Gupta likes you!: How do you make a living? Is it by pushing plastic buttons all day?
Is Social Media The Ultimate Buzz Kill? | Awake At The Wheel: Are we becoming so addicted to telling people about what we're experencing that we actually forget to experience it?
Principia Discordia Hardback | Synaptyclypse Generator: The central Discordian text, "Principia Discordia", is once more available in hardback. I am well pleased.
DIY carbon change | Unleashed: "Sometime in the last two weeks I stopped believing in government," says Mark Pesce. If governments are failing to respond to this vital issue, then we can ignore them and handle this ourselves.

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Links for 05 July 2008 through 08 July 2008

del.icio.us — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:58:57 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 05 July 2008 through 08 July 2008, gathered with string and glue:

The State of the Web - Summer 2008: A million people mentioned this fine commentary on the current state of the web. Nice work.
Future of Media Summit 2008 | Future Exploration Network: The third annual Future of Media Summit will be held simultaneously in Silicon Valley on 14 July and Sydney on 15 July. Why was I not told about this? OK, time to scam…
TuneRanger | Acertant: A tool to synchronise, copy or merge multiple iTunes libraries and iPods over the network. Available for both OS X and Windows. US$29, with 30-day free trial.
Mercury Messenger: Client software for MSN Messenger written in Java and runnable on OS X, Windows and Linux. Allows you to use the Mac's built-in iSight camera for video chats, unlike Microsoft's own software.
Scrivener | Literature and Latte: Word processors are for processing words. Like processed cheese. If you CREATE words, then you need a writing tool. Scrivener is just that, for OS X only.
iPhone in Australia - now for the bad news | Web Directions: A comprehensive analysis of the available data plans to support iPhone in Australia. Recommends NOT getting an iPhone yet to force carriers to lift their game.

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Links for 03 July 2008 through 04 July 2008

del.icio.us — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:07:38 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 03 July 2008 through 04 July 2008, gathered with joy and mutton:

Draft Report | Garnaut Climate Change Review: The Draft Report describes the methodology for evaluating the costs and benefits of climate change mitigation; to the application of the science of climate change to Australia; to the international context, and to Australian mitigation policy.
Turing Test | xkcd: On the other hand, maybe the test is to make the examiner think that HE'S the computer!
Turing test | Wikipedia: "The Turing test is a proposal for a test of a machine's capability to demonstrate intelligence." What I love about the REAL Turing test is the subtlety of it… It's not faking a human, it's faking a human faking.
Manned Cloud by Jean-Marie Massaud | Dezeen: This just has to be the most beautiful design for an airship I've ever seen. Guys, build it soon!
The BBC and the future of broadcasting | Stephen Fry: Stephen Fry's speech on the future of public service broadcasting, and the BBC in particular.

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Links for 02 July 2008

del.icio.us — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:13:18 +0000

Stilgherrian’s web links I’ve found for 02 July 2008, created automatically from internets.

China As An Island | Strange Maps: China has land borders with 14 other countries. And yet you should not think of China as particularly well-integrated with its neighbours. In fact, as shown in this dramatic map, you should rather consider China to be an island.
NASA's Moon Truck Goes for a Test Drive | Telstar Logistics: A prototype of a NASA lunar rover undergoing testing at the Moses Lake Sand Dunes in eastern Washington state.
Hyperpolitics (American Style) | viddler.com: The video of Mark Pesce's presentation at the Personal Democracy Forum 2008.
Asthma Weed | Sydney Weeds Committees: This is the nasty weed which keeps emerging in our garden and resists all efforts at eradication. Chemical warfare appears to be the only resort.

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Links for 26 June 2008 through 29 June 2008

del.icio.us — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 02:26:36 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 26 June 2008 through 29 June 2008:

Creatives grow better in the South West | YouTube: A brilliant 4-minute video explaining how to nurture creativity.
Top 10 reasons to hate the iPhone 3G | APC: A suitably well-researched piece to help counter the Apple fanboy hype. A phone is a tool. Not all tools are for everyone.
LEO Deutsch-Englisches Wörterbuch: A very fine-looking English-German dictionary site.

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Links for 22 June 2008 through 24 June 2008

del.icio.us — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:42:00 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 22 June 2008 through 24 June 2008, gathered with care and compassion:

Social networking comes of age, sort of | MISaustralia.com: Renai LeMay's article for the "Australian Financial Review", based on material gathered at PubCamp.
IT List | Skippy's List: "42 Things That I Am No Longer Allowed To Do in IT", beginning with "1 Not allowed to randomly rickroll users upon login to the application". Somewhat amusing.
Seven dirty words | Wikipedia: The seven English words comedian George Carlin listed in his monologue "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television", and a history of the furore this routine started.
7 things you can't say on the Internet | evolvingWe: Following comedian George Carlin's death, Josh Legard compiled this list. Read it, digest it, help prevent groupthink.
La Boheme - Restaurant Reviews | smh.com.au: I'm told we should go to this restaurant some time. Gottalove a review which starts, "Those of us who fancy a bit of porcine action…".
Direct Note Access :: celemony_: Peter Neub�cker's new Melodyne version 2 software can identify and edit individual notes within polyphonic audio material. This is extremely cool, and extremely important.
Top 500 supercomputers: Welcome to the petaflop generation | NetworkWorld.com Community: Welcome to the petaflop generation. The new most powerful supercomputer in the world is IBM's US$100 million Roadrunner system at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory.

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Links for 20 June 2008 through 21 June 2008

del.icio.us — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:01:03 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 20 June 2008 through 21 June 2008, collected as automatically as the sunrise:

100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man’s Library | The Art of Manliness: In comparison with my recent post of 5 book for bloggers (as if they're a homogeneous bunch!), here's one group's suggestion for books "every man should read". Uhuh.
Dipping: Pool Crashing in the UK Becomes Latest Google Earth Prank |Gizmodo: The latest craze is "dipping," or gatecrashing someone else's swimming pool, selected using Google Earth.
ThinkGeek Bluetooth Retro Handset | ThinkGeek: I think I want one. And currently only US$29.99.
How to eat at a Sushi Bar | YouTube: A wonderful 8-minute film explaining the, erm, finer points of sushi etiquette. Muchly good. Thanks, Jeff!

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Links for 17 June 2008 through 19 June 2008

del.icio.us — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:59:26 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 17 June 2008 through 19 June 2008. gathered automatically:

Receiver rejects call to release home plan | smh.com.au: Bizarre copyright claim? Building firm Beechwood Homes goes broke, but 580 customer can't get their homes built by someone else because Beechwood's receiver claims copyright on the plans!
Revoke Copyright for Poorly Paid Authors? | Brendan Scott’s Weblog: Counter view: "If the practical effect of 200 years of copyright protection for my industry body was that its members were 'the most poorly paid in Australia' I wouldn?t be asking for the regime to be extended! I?d be calling for it to be abandoned."
The Future of Copyright | Cato Unbound: Fascinating essay.
5 Influential Books All Bloggers Should Know | ProBlogger: Yes, by reading the same five books as every other blogger on the planet, you will suddenly provide a unique view on the world. Sigh. Good books, presumably, but "the usual suspects". Be original.

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Links for 16 June 2008

del.icio.us — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:36:59 +0000

Here are the web links I’ve found for 16 June 2008, posted automatically.

OpenAustralia.org: Are your Representatives working for you in Australia's Parliament? A new and much easier way to see who's saying what in federal parliament.
The Possum Box: A new Australian political blog hosted by the mysteriously large-brained Possum Comitatus.
Why Me? | lonelysandwich: A delightful essay pondering Apple's new MobileMe branding. "Apple is removing the Mac from the Apple computer experience and laying the foundation for a browser-based OS, the thing that Google has been threatening all this time."

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Links for 04 June 2008 through 11 June 2008

del.icio.us — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:10:53 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 04 June 2008 through 11 June 2008, collected semi-automatically:

The Big Picture | Boston.com: "News stories in photographs", it says. Daily photo-essays of about 15 images, nice and big.
Earth's Seasons | US Naval Observatory: The times of the Summer and Winter Solstices, Aphelion and Perihelion for every year until 2020.
Stories We've Seen Too Often | Strange Horizons: A list of story plots and themes which this online publisher has seen far too often. Tr�s amusement.
The Sassy Uterus: Someone on Twitter said this was the best blog title he'd seen in ages. I visited and found myself reading post after witty post about… childbirth and raising a baby. Like I'd normally care!
Writing Style for Print vs Web | Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox: Linear vs. non-linear. Author-driven vs. reader-driven. Storytelling vs. ruthless pursuit of actionable content. Anecdotal examples vs. comprehensive data. Sentences vs. fragments.
Graffletopia: A massive collection of stencils (templates) for the OS X diagram/graphics tool OmniGraffle.
Waiting for the Rapture | IEEE Spectrum: The singularitarians believe that in the next several decades we?ll have computers into which you?ll be able to upload your consciousness: immortality.

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Links for 01 June 2008 through 02 June 2008

del.icio.us — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:56:30 +0000

My links for 01 June 2008 through 02 June 2008, gathered semi-automatically:

The Twitter backchannel | Memex 1.1: A explanation of why Eurovision is the perfect Twitter event. This bookmark is dedicated to Mark Pesce.
Virtually on parity | Steven Poole: Magnificent deconstruction of how Microsoft re-wrote an article about "misunderstood" features in Windows Vista.
Alternative boondoggles | Charlie’s Diary: If the $523B to $3T spent on the Iraq War was put to some useful purpose, what could it achieve? Interesting suggestions, and trolls in the comments are dealt with swiftly.

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Links for 26 May 2008 through 01 June 2008

del.icio.us — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:01:28 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 26 May 2008 through 01 June 2008, gathered semi-automatically and covering a disturbing range of topics:

NSLU2-Linux: Technical information for hacking the Linksys NSLU2 NAS device, along with the Synology DS101, the Iomega NAS100d, the D-Link DSMG600 and other ixp4xx-based devices with large attached storage.
Hacking WD MyBook World Ed: Western Digital's My Book World Edition network storage device is actually a little Linux RAID server. This Wiki has technical information on how to hack them.
Sarah Jessica Parker Looks Like A Horse: Well, she does. And here's the website. Proof that people have too much time on their hands.
A twittering experiment | eicolab: An interesting use Twitter, with a comment added by yours truly.
Friends, Enemies and My Army | Viddler.com: Another recent presentation by Mark Pesce, this one at the 2008 Next Wave Festival, Melbourne, on 25 May 2008. A nice trip through the power of Twitter, the "nuclear option", and the surprising influence of Josh Marshall's army.
Phoenix Lander “Talks” to Twitterers | NYTimes.com: Includes an interview with the NASA employee who's been playing the part of the Mars Phoenix spacecraft on Twitter (@MarsPhoenix).
Australian Strategic Policy Institute: "One for the feed reader", I've been told. I haven't explored this site yet.
A discussion paper on the singular use of “they”: This link looks like it solves this question forever. If only people read it…
Twitter Co-Opted by Users as Better SMS, Social Media Platform | URBEINGRECORDED: Yet another superb essay on the impact of Twitter.
The Gruen Transfer | ABC TV: A new TV series looking at the art and science of persuasion as used by the advertising industry. Much good stuff here.
Ern Malley | Wikipedia: Not exactly a new story, but I was recently reminded of this wonderful literary hoax from the 1940s.
Scaling a Microblogging Service - Part I | Hueniverse: A comprehensive but fairly technical explanation of the problems Twitter faces.
The Digital Media Revolution | YouTube: Mark Pesce, Technology Futurist speaks about the Digital Media Revolution at the SAGEM conference, April 2008, in Adelaide. Will the government heed his advice? In 5 parts, this links to part 1.
Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address | YouTube: An inspirational 15 mins about the importance of following your dream, even if the end result isn't clear. "You can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking back."

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Links for 23 May 2008 through 24 May 2008

del.icio.us — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:03:06 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 23 May 2008 through 24 May 2008, collected almost-automatically…

Only Connect | the human network: The text of Mark's keynote at Microsoft's ReMIX 08.
Mark Pesce - Only Connect | Viddler.com: This 23-minute keynote presentation from Microsoft's ReMIX 08 is a wonderful distillation of Mark's thoughts over recent months. If you want to get your head around the future, watch this.
TimesMachine | New York Times: All issues of the New York Times from 18 September 1851 to 30 December 1922 available to browse as images and PDFs. Free to NYT delivery subscribers, but even the sample issues offered to everyone are a fascinating read.
We Travel in Tribes | Rands In Repose: Excellent explanation of the appeal of Twitter.
Royalty-free music | Aussie Bloggers: Links to some sources of royalty-free music, i.e. music for which you pay a one-off fee and can then continue to use in your production.
Twittiquette and Acceptable Online Social Network Behaviour | DEDLOG: Dedlam offers 5 excellent tips for being a "good participant" on Twitter and other social media.
All The Cool People Are Still Going… | hyperpeople: Adolf Hitler gets ready for the Burning Man party. Wrong. Funny.
PR and the Management of a Real Crisis | DEDLOG: Shanghai-based Dedlam's commentary on how China handled the media during this month's earthquake.
Power-Tweeting: 101 Everyday Uses for Twitter | Inside CRM: Examples of how the Twitter community uses this simple tool. When it works.

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Links for 15 May 2008 through 19 May 2008

del.icio.us — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:05:02 +0000

My links for 15 May 2008 through 19 May 2008, gathered semi-automatically:

The Mother of All Demos | Wikipedia: On 9 December 1968, Douglas Englebart demonstrated some breakthrough technologies: interactive text, video conferencing, teleconferencing, email and hypertext — and the very first computer mouse. This Wikipedia article has links to videos of the actual 1928 demo.
Shops track customers via mobile phone | Times Online: UK shopping centres are trialling the tracking of customers via their mobile phone emissions. Which stores do they visit? How long do they stay?
Drivers of Australian Inflation | A Stubborn Mule?s Perspective: What's causing the relatively high inflation in Australia? Here's an excellent visualisation with analysis.
The Prospect/FP Global public intellectuals poll: Over 20,000 people voted for their top names from the original longlist of 100. Links to analysis and biographies. Voters also nominated others who they thought should have been on the top list. Interesting view of what counts as "intellectual".
The Workplace: How to tell if you're a "workaholic" | International Herald Tribune: Workaholics don't get more done, necessarily, because they focus on inconsequential details.
Building a Popular Social Media Profile: Seven Essential Characteristics | Dosh Dosh: Some useful tips for establishing a global micro-brand.
Federal Budget 2007-08 analysis | ALIA: The Australian Library and Information Association's take on Australia's Federal Budget. Librarians get this information stuff!
Why Gen Y Is Going to Change the Web | ReadWriteWeb: Many of the themes have appeared elsewhere before, but still a good article.
Powerhouse Museum Collection's Photostream | flickr: 450-odd photographs from (mostly) the 1800s taken from original glass-plate negatives. Beautiful shots of Victorian Sydney, rural scenes etc.
The Art of the Business Card | Guy Kawasaki: Finally, a business card design where you can actually read the information! interesting discussion in the comments, too.