Friday’s 27-4 dinner (I’m sure the URL will exist by the time you read this, otherwise try this one!) was fun. At the Hotel School, the venue was ideal for its purposes, and there seemed to be a lot more mixing. I gave a shortened, slightly tailored version of my technology and consciousness talk I’d… Continue reading 27-4 dinner at the Hotel School
Month: April 2007
Of rock stars and Wikipedia translation
At the recent iCommons party (which was partly an after-party for the Digital Freedom Expo), held at the Independent Armchair Theatre (normally a venue for bands and other creatives) Jimmy Wales and Lawrence Lessig proved their rock star status by actually standing up on stage and managing to hold the audience with a talk about… Continue reading Of rock stars and Wikipedia translation
Getting wireless working on a Toshiba Satellite Pro L10 in Linux
I feel like I’ve run the Comrades Marathon. I recently installed Kubuntu Edgy on a friend’s machine. It’s an identical machine to mine – almost. Mine’s a Toshiba Satellite L10-101, her’s is a Toshiba Pro L10. I’ve already blogged about what I needed to do to get wireless working on my machine. Thankfully Feisty (which… Continue reading Getting wireless working on a Toshiba Satellite Pro L10 in Linux
Digital Freedom Expo: Day 2
Day 2 of the DFX wasn’t quite as exciting as the previous day. Attendance was down after the big first day splash (Lawrence Lessig and Jimmy Wales weren’t there), and my exhaustion after a few late nights probably had something to do with it too. Rishab Ayer Ghosh gave a taste of some extensive research… Continue reading Digital Freedom Expo: Day 2
Digital Freedom Expo: Day 1
I attended the Digital Freedom Expo, hosted by UWC, which started Thursday. What a fantastic day! Of the speakers, first up was the rector of UWC, Brian O’Connell, introduced by Archbishop Desmond Tutu (by video, released of course under a Creative Commons license). O’Connell framed the conference in terms of a continuation of the struggle… Continue reading Digital Freedom Expo: Day 1
Newspapers, online, the Times, and the missing niche
For international news, nothing beats online. I’m informed of the story, often with greater in-depth analysis, well-before it makes the newspapers. National weekly newspapers sometimes add important value – the Mail and Guardian’s coverage on Zimbabwe is excellent, and far surpasses most international coverage. With the launch of the Times, a daily national, as well… Continue reading Newspapers, online, the Times, and the missing niche
Castro is right on biofuels
Recently Fidel Castro has come out of his illness-related exile firing, with a swipe at US biofuel policies, describing it as the internationalisation of genocide. He’s right. Mass use of biofuels is a disastrous idea. Here’s a simple example. In the UK, 37.8 million tonnes of petroleum products are consumed each year. Their most productive… Continue reading Castro is right on biofuels
Does abortion reduce the crime rate?
Legalised abortion reduces crime rates. It’s a statement bound to cause controversy, and probably the main reason the book Freakonomics, which I recently finished reading, is as well-known as it is. It caused a storm of reaction at the time, and an online search reveals hundreds of examples, mostly furiously emotional rants with not much… Continue reading Does abortion reduce the crime rate?
Peace, love, happiness and Mr Delivery
In those heady early days when I first envisaged blogging, I imagined every post filled with wisdom, carefully crafted to add only the best, most beautiful, most constructive to the world of words. Instead, I find I don’t write about 9 out of 10 topics I want to write about, because writing of the kind… Continue reading Peace, love, happiness and Mr Delivery
Anonymity online – yes or no?
With the recent threats made against Kathy Sierra, and the resulting responses, I’ve been thinking about anonymity on the web. I’m not going to discuss technical issues, or legal issues – rather broad principles. There’s been a storm of response, outraged missives saying suggesting various fixes. One of the more common responses has been that… Continue reading Anonymity online – yes or no?