Security expert Bruce Schneier summarizes sensible personal computing safety tips here.
Monthly Archives: December 2004
Duke’s 2 minute short copyright movies
Duke’s law school recently ran a contest that asked entrants to create short films demonstrating some of the tensions between art and intellectual property law, and the intellectual property issues artists face, focusing on either music or documentary film. Take a look here. Via Cory Doctorow.
2005 Mercury Montego Review
Dan Neil pens one of the more brutal car reviews I’ve seen: The 2005 Mercury Montego: “Mercury’s throwback makes everything new feel old again”.
Overture Center & The Madison Economy
Megan Krug continues her series on the economic impact of the Overture Center.
TABOR changes (Taxpayer Bill of Rights)
Kira Sparks has an update on the proposed TABOR legislation.
Car Review: Chrysler Town & Country Minivan
I recently drove a couple of versions of the latest Chrysler Minivans: a basic short body length car and a longer Town & Country version (rentals). My quick thoughts:
- They work, and includes some very useful design items. The dashboard controls are easy to use (with the exception of the strange shifter) and the radio is not bad.
- Air circulation on the short version is not great (for the people in the last row), while the longer version has adjustable air ducts throughout the mini-van.
- Reasonable power, though they really should have a 5 speed automatic like the 2005 Honda Odyssey.
- Handling: Low marks as the ride is rather soft, especially when the minivan has 6 passengers. The 2005 Honda Odyssey feels more sure footed.
Marquette Interchange Website
Today the Milwaukee Journal has a story about the state’s no bid
website for the Marquette Interchange project. $685,000!!!!?
Barnes to Move
Philadelphia’s fascinating Barnes Foundation is set to move downtown (from the Main Line) to Museum Row. Virtual Properties has a VR scene of the exterior here. Founder Albert C. Barnes, a patent medicine millionaire, never wanted this – he loathed the downtown art crowd. Visit the Barnes before it moves… Carol Vogel has more. Background links: Alltheweb Clusty Google MSN TeomaYahoo Search
“Everything these days doesn’t have to be a tourist trap.”
Atlanta Commits to WiFi Network
Atlanta is rolling out wifi across municipal facilities, according to Glenn Fleishman:
A big chunk of City Hall unwires this month, and chunks of the Atlanta airport by March 2005. A private firm has contracted with Atlanta to add Wi-Fi to city buildings, but will also continue its own rollout at private locations like hotels and retail stores. This is an interesting partnership, because the city?s stamp on the Wi-Fi carrier, Biltmore Communications, and the branding of the service as Atlanta FastPass should make it a much easier sell for private parties to want to climb on this particular bandwagon.
Meanwhile, Megan Costello has more on Madison’s WiFi plans.
Madison WiFi Paid or Free Service?
David Isenberg emailed me and PLEADED that the Madison folks make this a free WiFi service as he rarely pays for it any more (other than hotels). That is largely my experience. There’s often a free hotspot available in the big cities (I parked recently in San Francisco prior to a meeting and fired up my laptop, only to find several free WiFi hotspots).
I think any local WiFi network based on subscriptions will be a challenge.