Bush takes a page from the west wing

<p>Well, [l:http://nytimes.com/2005/11/29/politics/29bush.html?hp&ex=1133326800&en=8ed882717b3b0cd8&ei=5094&partner=homepage|from the sound of it], Bush was catching up on his [l:http://www.nbc.com/The_West_Wing|West Wing] viewing while down at Crawford for the holidays. <i>(I tried to find the episode on immegration reform to link to but NBC's website sucks)</i> Anyway, since traipsing around the globe talking about trade issues didn't distract American't from the increasing violence in IRaq and Afganistan, Bush is trying to ocus attention on a 2k mile stretch of border. Lst night's news showed the use of UAVs to patrol the border, I wonder if they will resort to arming the UAVs and taking out illegal border crossers in pre-emptive strikes, I mean, they could be...

Google and Privacy

This is a good op-ed from the NYT about Google and privacy. People love google and seem to ignore the fact that they are pretty bad on privacy, with tracking cookies, saved search history, merky privacy on google desktop serach and then the “never delete your mail” gmail pitch. I heard someone from EFF talk at NTEN regional SF talk about email privacy and wire tap laws. As the op-ed states: The government can gain access to Google’s data storehouse simply by presenting a valid warrant or subpoena. Under the Patriot Act, Google may not be able to tell users when it hands over their searches or e-mail messages. and for email over 180 days old…. well, you are SOL. Step up to the plate Google, and give become the leader in privacy protections just as you are the leader in...

The Disutility of gift giving

<p>My brother talks about this all the time. He doesn't like gift giving (or getting) that much. And I can relate. Often times you get stuff you don't want, or spend all together too much time buying things for people that they do not want either.</p> <p>[l:http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2005/11/28/PM200511287.html|This is a great little commentary from Market Place] about the utility, or rather dis-utility of gift giving (from an economic point). Apparently there is a 10% discrepancy between cost and utility of holiday gifts. And that only accounts for the cost of the gift, not the amount of time and energy it takes to think of the gift, shop for the gift, gasoline for the car, parking fees, wrapping paper, tape, bows…</p> <p>Don't get me wrong, I'm no scrooge.</p> <p>Buy less, save more time, more money, and give thoughtful gifts (not necessarily material ones) to those you love, and don't get sucked into the holiday industrial complex of shopping, wrapping… and returning. I am sure that the time spent shopping for a loved one would be more appreciated if it were simply spent with that loved...

Donating the Advertising revenue your eyeballs generate

I just saw this article on DailyCandy.com about GoodSearch.com/ GoodSearch is a search engine, now powered by yahoo that donated profits from advertising revenue to the charity of your choice. GoodSearch has a goal of donating 50% of revenues to charity, however in the fine print there is a caveat about a lower percentage in the first year. Anyway, seems like a good idea, wish you could choose your own favorite search engine though and not be forced to use Yahoo. This kind of reminds me a bit of the Interra Project where you decide where a percentage of the profits made by your shopping go. Also is someone relevant to the AttentionTrust discussion we were having. What if you could direct profits from the selling of your attention data to the charities of your...

A New Battelfield: Ownership of Ideas

Noel pointed me toward this article in the Internaltion Herald Tribune about intellectual property. I have pulled out just a few quotes below: “In certain cases,” said Elsa Lion, an analyst at the London research firm Ovum, “technology companies are beginning to realize they have more to gain by releasing patents to the general public than by hoarding licensing income.” Companies, even those the size of Intel, could one day be blocked from marketing a particular product whose design is made up of hundreds of thousands of patents just because an opportunist has claimed ownership of a single patent, said Adam Jaffe, dean of arts and sciences at Brandeis University in Massachusetts and a patent expert. Ideas that are free, widely available and instantly duplicated were impossible to contemplate in the days when copyright and patent law took root, a time when the expenses needed to print, distribute and sell a book or movie were considerable. Some intellectuals say that the more such rights are expanded, the less good the public reaps, a benefit that government’s protection of innovation once intended. And now some companies are starting to agree, arguing that the race for rights and royalties can actually harm competition. Well, certainly sounds to me like we would all be a lot better off if we freely exchanged ideas! At CivicActions, we believe in the free exchange of ideas and have put our, err, money where our mouth is. The Herald’s UI is horrible. It does not make browsing an article or copy and pasting easy or intuitive. It is far easier to read the article if you...