OCLC Research Announcements Available Via RSS
OCLC Research announcements are now available via RSS 2.0.
The Losing Battle Against Spam
The New York Times published an extensive article on the challenges posed by the adroit and aggressive junk e-mail industry that has to date overcome all challenges preventing the delivery of their unwelcome messages to our home and work e-mail accounts.
One Nation, Under Surveillance
Dan Farmer, a software engineer and computer security expert, and Charles C. Mann, an editor and author, have a two part article in the Technology Review titled Surveillance Nation. Part One appears to be available in full-text as premium content (subscription req’d). However, Part Two has no restrictions, and provides a perspective on the evolution …
CDT Seeks Info On Sites Blocked by PA Law
As I posted previously, the Pennsylvania Attorney General has refused to release information about hundreds of websites, innocuous and otherwise, blocked by the states’ recently enacted law, 18 Pennsylvania Statutes Sec. 7330. Yesterday the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) appealed the Attorney General’s refusal to grant access to this information, citing the Pennsylvania Right …
Library Patriot Act Resolutions
The American Library Association (ALA) has a useful resource available on their site: USA Patriot Act Resolutions of State Library Associations. It offers an alphabetical list of states, along with either direct, or sometimes circuitous links, to their respective resolutions endorsing the ALA USA Patriot Act Resolution.
Legal Hurdles to New Technologies
An interesting article from News.com addresses the legal obstacles (DMCA, patent claims) at the disposal of established companies who seek to block emerging technology competitors.
Summit on Web Credibility
Building Trust on the Web, Consumer WebWatch’s First National Summit on Web Credibility, April 24, 2003. Presentation topics include: Health Web Sites, Search Engines, Guidelines & Best Practices on the Web, Scams & Schemes: Why Don’t Consumers Trust the Web?, and Toward a More Credible Web. See this link for Jim Guest’s opening remarks.
FCC Adopts New Rules For E-Rate Program
Today’s news release from the Federal Communications Commission states that the agency “adopted new rules to simplify and streamline the operation of the schools and libraries program of the universal service fund (USF). The measures adopted today seek to improve program administration, create a more efficient application process for program participants, and improve program oversight …
More Students Targeted for File Sharing
College students are increasingly discovering that file sharing has serious consequences. Just ask 220 Penn State students accused of using an LAN to bypass the university’s network bandwidth restrictions. They have lost the privilege of Web access in their dorm rooms. See also my previous posting on four college students who were sued by the …
Wall Street Journal's New Afternoon Report
The Wall Street Journal recently launched The Afternoon Report, an opt-in e-mail update of breaking news, in text version, provided to subscribers twice daily. Yesterday, the e-mail update became available in HTML, and is now accompanied by lots of advertising as well. Readers may also choose to read the updates via a link on the …
Competition Heats Up Among Top Search Engines
Today’s Wall Street Journal has a brief comparison, in chart format, of some of the best features of the free services from Google, AOL, MSN, Yahoo, as well as the fee-based software, Grokker. The article also addresses the increasingly prominent relationship between search results and paid advertising.
Google Hacks Book A Hit on Both Sides of the Atlantic
Google Hacks by Tara Calishain and Rael Dornfest is given a big thumbs up by Lee Dembart in the International Herald Tribune. He also points out that Tara’s steady stream of updates and resources on Google applications are available through her terrific Research Buzz site, and additional resources, since the book’s publication, are here.