Ben Sullivan's Tech Blog -- Exclusive: Leonard Kleinrock on who really invented packet switching: "The following won't end the debate over who should get credit for what. But by offering the insights, opinion and beliefs of a man who was there "way back when," it is, I think, a valuable piece of the puzzle. "

via a reference in slashdot

More insight into the intellectual origins of packet switching technologies.

4:55:06 PM •  • comment  

SF Gate: The Big Rip-Off. The real irony of digital copy-prevention measures is that the industry has invested heavily in these technologies, with monies coming from compact-disc sales. But not only do their measures not have the desired effect (preventing copying), they also produce an inferior product overall... [Tomalak's Realm]

More on efforts by the recording industry to eliminate their customers (not that they would phrase it that way)

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Modern societies face a cruel paradox: Fast-paced technological and economic innovations may deliver unrivalled prosperity, but they also render rich nations vulnerable to crippling, unanticipated attacks. By relying on intricate networks and concentrating vital assets in small geographic clusters, advanced Western nations only amplify the destructive power of terrorists--and the psychological and financial damage they can inflict.

[Privacy Digest]

Granted. But even with the somewhat heightened sensibilities of policy-makers post 9/11, you still have decision making processes driven overwhelmingly by NIMBY, BANANA, and other considerations about those votes with deep pockers.

Those designers who do think about systemic vulnerabilities and risks have very little in the way of effective voice in the design process. Normal Accidents by Charles Perrow would be worth taking another look at in this context.

4:32:52 PM •  • comment  

Phil Greenspun is getting it as Dane points out.  Desktop publishing is the future of content on the Web.  Next, tie this to a low cost global content distribution system (via server side mediation and P2P connectivity) and you get a Web site published off of a desktop that can handle millions of visitors in an hour.  Nice. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

Another dimension in this trend I find intriguing is how it encourages a  bootstrapping and shoestring mentality as contrasted with the excesses perpetrated by the flood of VC money not so long ago.

Creativity is never enhanced by unlimited budgets. Almost always it works the other way around.

4:12:30 PM •  • comment  

Online Journalism Review: WSJ's $28 Million Renovation. Budde readily admits the new version is "more of a departure from the print publication than in the past." In fact, acknowledging the differences in the media was a core reason for sweeping changes in the way content is organized. [Tomalak's Realm]

Does anyone else find this an interesting contrast with the recent efforts at the New York Times to peddle an "exact digital replica" of the print version of the times?

4:05:16 PM •  • comment