http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people hourly 1 1901-01-01T00:00+00:00 http://gmane.org/img/gmane-25t.png http://gmane.org http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14197 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/business/yourmoney/14digi.html? _r=1&oref=slogin&ref=technology&pagewanted=print DIGITAL DOMAIN Want an iPhone? Beware the iHandcuffs By RANDALL STROSS STEVE JOBS, Apple’s showman nonpareil, provided the first public glimpse of the iPhone last week — gorgeous, feature-laden and pricey. While following the master magician’s gestures, it was easy to overlook a most disappointing aspect: like its slimmer iPod siblings, the iPhone’s music-playing function will be limited by factory- installed “crippleware.” If “crippleware” seems an unduly harsh description, it balances the euphemistic names that the industry uses for copy protection. Apple officially calls its own standard “FairPlay,” but fair it is not. The term “crippleware” comes from the plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit, Melanie Tucker v. Apple Computer Inc., that is making its way through Federal District Court in Northern California. The suit contends that Apple unfairly restricts consumer choice because it does not load onto the iPod the software needed to play music that uses Microsoft’s copy-protection standard, in addition to Apple’s own. Ms. Tucker’s core argument is that the absence of another company’s software on the iPod constitutes “crippleware.” I disagree. It is Apple’s own copy-protection software itself that cripples the device. Here is how FairPlay works: When you buy songs at the iTunes Music Store, you can play them on one — and only one — line of portable player, the iPod. And when you buy an iPod, you can play copy- protected songs bought from one — and only one — online music store, the iTunes Music Store. The only legal way around this built-in limitation is to strip out the copy protection by burning a CD with the tracks, then uploading the music back to the computer. If you’re willing to go to that trouble, you can play the music where and how you choose — the equivalent to rights that would have been granted automatically at the cash register if you had bought the same music on a CD in the first place. Even if you are ready to pledge a lifetime commitment to the iPod as your only brand of portable music player or to the iPhone as your only cellphone once it is released, you may find that FairPlay copy protection will, sooner or later, cause you grief. You are always going to have to buy Apple stuff. Forever and ever. Because your iTunes will not play on anyone else’s hardware. <snip> ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed as culture-ip< at >m.gmane.org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: Archives: http://archives.listbox.com/247/ Modify Your Subscription: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=124739&user_secret=a069132e Unsubscribe: http://v2.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?id=124739-a069132e-xcfwfceq Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com David Farber 2007-01-14T01:03:57 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14196 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/washington/14spy.html? ei=5094&en=203bd3d1f0cd9644&hp=&ex=1168750800&partner=homepage&pagewante d=print January 14, 2007 Military Expands Intelligence Role in U.S. By ERIC LICHTBLAU and MARK MAZZETTI WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 — The Pentagon has been using a little-known power to obtain banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage inside the United States, part of an aggressive expansion by the military into domestic intelligence gathering. The C.I.A. has also been issuing what are known as national security letters to gain access to financial records from American companies, though it has done so only rarely, intelligence officials say. Banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions receiving the letters usually have turned over documents voluntarily, allowing investigators to examine the financial assets and transactions of American military personnel and civilians, officials say. <snip> ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed as culture-ip< at >m.gmane.org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: Archives: http://archives.listbox.com/247/ Modify Your Subscription: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=124739&user_secret=a069132e Unsubscribe: http://v2.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?id=124739-a069132e-itqoslg2 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com David Farber 2007-01-14T01:01:04 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14172 http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/11/iphone-and-lg-ke850-separated-at- birth/ ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed as culture-ip< at >m.gmane.org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: Archives: http://archives.listbox.com/247/ Modify Your Subscription: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=124739&user_secret=a069132e Unsubscribe: http://v2.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?id=124739-a069132e-7ugknyzj Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com David Farber 2007-01-11T15:25:47 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14163 <snip> But David Farber, a telecommunications expert at Carnegie Mellon University, said the snazzy little ringer is more flash than substance. "I would characterize it as a small step," said Farber, a computer science professor who helped create the Internet. "This will end up sparking better competition and inspire the others to do more for Mac owners." <snip> http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/tribpm/s_487959.html ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed as culture-ip< at >m.gmane.org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: Archives: http://archives.listbox.com/247/ Modify Your Subscription: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=124739&user_secret=a069132e Unsubscribe: http://v2.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?id=124739-a069132e-3onlkm7k Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com David Farber 2007-01-10T23:01:48 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14162 any info on battery life playing music? video? telephone? ------------------------------------------- David Farber 2007-01-10T22:04:05 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14114 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070103/004227.shtml ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed as culture-ip< at >m.gmane.org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: Archives: http://archives.listbox.com/247/ Modify Your Subscription: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=124739&user_secret=a069132e Unsubscribe: http://v2.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?id=124739-a069132e-7rngnlhb Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com David Farber 2007-01-03T20:41:33 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14105 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/03/technology/03google.html? ei=5094&en=4d3171ddca1dab7d&hp=&ex=1167886800&partner=homepage&pagewante d=all Google Answer to Filling Jobs Is an Algorithm By SAUL HANSELL MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Have you ever made a profit from a catering business or dog walking? Do you prefer to work alone or in groups? Have you ever set a world record in anything? The right answers could help get you a job at Google. Google has always wanted to hire people with straight-A report cards and double 800s on their SATs. Now, like an Ivy League school, it is starting to look for more well-rounded candidates, like those who have published books or started their own clubs. Desperate to hire more engineers and sales representatives to staff its rapidly growing search and advertising business, Google — in typical eccentric fashion — has created an automated way to search for talent among the more than 100,000 job applications it receives each month. It is starting to ask job applicants to fill out an elaborate online survey that explores their attitudes, behavior, personality and biographical details going back to high school. The questions range from the age when applicants first got excited about computers to whether they have ever tutored or ever established a nonprofit organization. The answers are fed into a series of formulas created by Google’s mathematicians that calculate a score — from zero to 100 — meant to predict how well a person will fit into its chaotic and competitive culture. “As we get bigger, we find it harder and harder to find enough people,” said Laszlo Bock, Google’s vice president for people operations. “With traditional hiring methods, we were worried we will overlook some of the best candidates.” Google is certainly not alone in the search for quantitative ways to find good employees. Employers use a wide range of tests meant to assess skills, intelligence, personality and honesty. And the use of biographical surveys similar to Google’s new system is on the rise. Such tools, however, have mainly been the trademark of large corporations recruiting armies of similar workers, like telephone service representatives or insurance sales agents. They are rarely used in Silicon Valley, which is built on a belief in idiosyncratic talent. “ Yahoo does not use tests, puzzles or tricks, etc., when interviewing candidates,” Jessie Wixon, a spokeswoman for Yahoo, said. (Google is known for hazing prospects in interviews with intractable brain teasers. And it once tried to attract candidates by placing some particularly difficult problems on billboards.) <sip> ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed as culture-ip< at >m.gmane.org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: Archives: http://archives.listbox.com/247/ Modify Your Subscription: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=124739&user_secret=a069132e Unsubscribe: http://v2.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?id=124739-a069132e-9om6s1wu Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com David Farber 2007-01-03T11:00:50 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14092 I am happy to anonimize if appropriate but PLEASE put the request in the subject line David Farber 2006-12-30T17:22:22 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14072 --- original message --- From: "Richard Forno" <rforno< at >infowarrior.org> Subject: Quake cuts off much of Asia Internet Date: 27th December 2006 Time: 10:00:34 am ------------------------------------------- <HR> You are subscribed as culture-ip< at >m.gmane.org<BR>To manage your subscription, go to<BR> <A HREF="http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip">http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip</A><P>Archives at: <A HREF="http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/intere Archives: [LIST_ARCHIVES_URL] Modify Your Subscription: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=124739&user_secret=9a26e6e1 Unsubscribe: http://v2.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?id=124739-9a26e6e1-v1gbgolo Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com David Farber 2006-12-27T21:21:11 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14068 IPers, NLR and its members wish you a joyous holiday season. Click on this link to view our e-greeting. http://www.nlr.net/holidays2006/ Dave Farber Chief Scientist NLR David Farber 2006-12-25T00:44:49 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14012 We, GG and I, will be in Tokyo till noon on the 17 DEC. David Farber 2006-12-12T00:44:21 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/14005 http://www.hasbrouck.org/articles/travelprivacy.html David Farber 2006-12-10T20:54:08 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/13992 I will be in Korea (South) and Tokyo for the next 10 days. I will have frequent net access but not every day, so you will have a less flood of IP. Dave David Farber 2006-12-06T02:57:08 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/13963 I hve voice mail activated yet for the life of me I can not see hhow to listen to voicemail I get. Any suggestions. I am using 2.0.0.6 David Farber 2006-11-30T16:09:24 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/13948 Say I am in Tokyo and someone rings my 1412 cell number in the USA. My cell phone rings and I see it is not an important call so I either reject it or don't answer. Still I get billed $1.99 for a 1 minute call UNLESS I power off my phone. Thats T-mobile. RIP OFF David Farber 2006-11-29T00:37:32 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/13941 I have had the phone for maybe four months and wanted to give it a good set of tests prior to a report on it. Bottom line .. one of the best smart cell phones I have used yet. The E61 is a thinnish phone somewhat the size of the Motorola Q (see photo and specs at http://europe.nokia.com/phones/e61). No camera (I find that an advantage) It handles a quad GSM bands and WCDMA and Edge. It has a wifi capability. Mostly all one could ask for. The battery life is fantastci. I have yet to drain the battery down with extensive use of email etc. I run Mail for Exchange on it and the push mail works very very well. There are a set of apps that come with it that are handy and there are a lot f apps out there for the S60 3 software. I have used it successfully in Europe and JAPAN!!!! on the 3G and GSM networks. The stability is fine with only very infrequent freezes (compared to MS Mobile software). All in all a great phone that often replaces my Mac as the unit I travel with. I use T-Mobile in the USA and their international roaming is reasonably priced (well unreasonable but good compared to others) Dave David Farber 2006-11-28T17:12:34 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/13937 We will be in Seoul from the 7 th of Dec to the 11 th Dec (free on the weekend) AND TOKYO FROM THE PM ON THE 11 TH TO THE 15 TH DEC, THEN HOME David Farber 2006-11-26T18:19:23 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/13884 http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/14/the-stages-of-an-exploding-laptop- battery/ David Farber 2006-11-14T14:22:01 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/13879 =================== Good Experience - 7 Nov 06 ===================== By Mark Hurst Sign up: http://goodexperience.com/signup.php ==================================================================== Tuesday, November 7, 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Broken: Bank of America jailing a customer -------------------------------------------------------------------- I've heard of customer-hostile banks (and have experienced them myself [1]), but this Bank of America story takes the cake. Matthew Shinnick dropped by a Bank of America branch in San Francisco to make sure a check he was about to deposit wasn't fraudulent. The teller found that the check was fraudulent and told the manager, who then had Shinnick thrown in jail. Are you getting this right? The customer who wanted to make sure he wasn't about to draw on a fraudulent check, got thrown in jail by Bank of America. The San Francisco Chronicle ran a story quoting Gel speaker and craigslist founder Craig Newmark, among others - "Check from a scammer bounces victim into jail": http://tinyurl.com/hjexp > The teller contacted the business and was informed that no check > had been written to Shinnick for $2,000 or any other amount. She > immediately passed the check to the branch manager. "I saw him > talking on the phone and staring at me," Shinnick said. "A few > minutes later, four SFPD officers came into the bank. They didn't > say a thing. They just kicked my legs apart and handcuffed me > behind my back." The police report for Shinnick's arrest says he > was taken into custody "for the safety of the bank employees as > well as the bank customers." Shinnick spent several hours in jail, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, before his father posted $4,500 bail. All told Shinnick spent $14,000 to clear his record. Bank of America refused to reimburse him. In response, consumer advocate and radio host Clark Howard started a Bank of America "Money Loss Meter"... http://clarkhoward.com/topics/boa_meter.html ... to show how much money his listeners have withdrawn from BofA as they close their accounts in protest. It's up to $50 million. (There's more on Howard's site:) http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/2006/10/25/ And from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Clark Howard takes on B-of-A": http://tinyurl.com/ln3uz . For their part, Bank of America denies that customers are closing their accounts as Howard claims. Bank of America spokespeople point out that the bank was just following California state law, which requires certain reporting of fraudulent activity. But even if they *had* to throw Shinnick in jail (which I doubt), they could still show their opposition to such a strange and hostile law. Imagine if they paid part of Shinnick's legal expenses, or even advocated a change in the law; think how much better Bank of America would look in that case. Companies have a responsibility to do right by their customers. I'm not even making a moral case, though I think there is one; here I'm just pointing out the financial responsibility. By hurting Matthew Shinnick, and hiding behind a flimsy legal defense, Bank of America hurt its own brand. Many customers left the bank because of this incident, and B of A will have to resort to costly advertising to win back those accounts. A customer-centric response would have been faster, easier, and cheaper; good experience is good business. - - - See also: [1] A bank experience (Oct. 5, 2006): http://www.goodexperience.com/blog/archives/000997.php Post a comment about this column: http://www.goodexperience.com/blog/archives/001053.php#comments Link to this column: http://www.goodexperience.com/blog/archives/001053.php David Farber 2006-11-12T00:34:14 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/13873 http://sianews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3023 October 26, 2006 Forget no-fly lists. If Uncle Sam gets its way, beginning on Jan. 14, 2007, we'll all be on no-fly lists, unless the government gives us permission to leave-or re-enter-the United States. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (HSA) has proposed that all airlines, cruise lines-even fishing boats-be required to obtain clearance for each passenger they propose taking into or out of the United States. It doesn't matter if you have a U.S. Passport - a "travel document" that now, absent a court order to the contrary, gives you a virtually unqualified right to enter or leave the United States, any time you want. When the DHS system comes into effect next January, if the agency says "no" to a clearance request, or doesn't answer the request at all, you won't be permitted to enter-or leave-the United States. Consider what might happen if you're a U.S. passport holder on assignment in a country like Saudi Arabia. Your visa is about to expire, so you board your flight back to the United States. But wait! You can't get on, because you don't have permission from the HSA. Saudi immigration officials are on hand to escort you to a squalid detention center, where you and others who are now effectively "stateless persons" are detained, potentially indefinitely, until their immigration status is sorted out. Why might the HSA deny you permission to leave-or enter-the United States? No one knows, because the entire clearance procedure would be an administrative determination made secretly, with no right of appeal. Naturally, the decision would be made without a warrant, without probable cause and without even any particular degree of suspicion. Basically, if the HSA decides it doesn't like you, you're a prisoner - either outside, or inside, the United States, whether or not you hold a U.S. passport. The U.S. Supreme Court has long recognized there is a constitutional right to travel internationally. Indeed, it has declared that the right to travel is "a virtually unconditional personal right." The United States has also signed treaties guaranteeing "freedom of travel." So if these regulations do go into effect, you can expect a lengthy court battle, both nationally and internationally. Think this can't happen? Think again. It's ALREADY happening. Earlier this year, HSA forbade airlines from transporting an 18-year-old a native-born U.S. citizen, back to the United States. The prohibition lasted nearly six months until it was finally lifted a few weeks ago. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union are two countries in recent history that didn't allow their citizens to travel abroad without permission. If these regulations go into effect, you can add the United States to this list. For more information on this proposed regulation, see http:// hasbrouck.org/IDP/IDP-APIS-comments.pdf. ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as culture-ip< at >m.gmane.org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ David Farber 2006-11-09T16:15:38 http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.culture.people.interesting-people/13806 "I am no expert here so I don't want to be commenting on this publicly, but what is the big deal here? The major security problem relates to keeping baddies and their weapons off the planes. The authorities have decided to AUGMENT that crucial protection by limiting the folks who can get access to the boarding areas of the airport to those who are actually flying (unless of course you are an adult m,eeting a minor child, or an employee of a restaurant or store in there, etc). So, everybody goes through the screening to make sure they are not carrying stuff into the boarding areas that could cause a problem when if those materials get onto planes, and the showing here is not that THAT screening is ineffective, but only that there is a way around the means of limiting WHO can come into the boarding areas. But that is the lesser of the problems, no?" David Farber 2006-10-29T23:38:35 Search the mailing list at Gmane query http://search.gmane.org/?group=$group=gmane.culture.people.interesting-people