Digital Dialogue
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Eclipse from space 
Armel Guclu over at EUMETSAT (the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites in Darmstadt, Germany) dropped me an e-mail with a link to some cool satellite photos of today's solar eclipse. Take a look at these.Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Armel Guclu over at EUMETSAT (the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites in Darmstadt, Germany) dropped me an e-mail with a link to some cool satellite photos of today's solar eclipse. Take a look at these.Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
To .xxx or not to .xxx
It looks like the European Union, Australia and the United States have just helped put off the adoption of an Internet domain just for pornography sites. But isn't creating an .xxx address for porn sites like keeping strip clubs away from schools, as some U.S. senators argue?Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
It looks like the European Union, Australia and the United States have just helped put off the adoption of an Internet domain just for pornography sites. But isn't creating an .xxx address for porn sites like keeping strip clubs away from schools, as some U.S. senators argue?Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Fool's gold
Tech bloggers do too have a sense of humor. See what they created for April Fool's Day, as catalogued by Wikipedia. I liked some of these fictional reports especially: Google takes over global teletext operations from 46 television broadcasters. Apple reveals ad visible from space for its 30th anniversary. iTunes changes to WMA. Lucasfilms announces a line of "adult" Star Wars novels. The Pirate Party of Sweden is shut down by the Ministry of Justice. Microsoft Buys OpenOffice.org. Wikipedia's overall entry on April Fool's Day is pretty entertaining.Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Tech bloggers do too have a sense of humor. See what they created for April Fool's Day, as catalogued by Wikipedia. I liked some of these fictional reports especially: Google takes over global teletext operations from 46 television broadcasters. Apple reveals ad visible from space for its 30th anniversary. iTunes changes to WMA. Lucasfilms announces a line of "adult" Star Wars novels. The Pirate Party of Sweden is shut down by the Ministry of Justice. Microsoft Buys OpenOffice.org. Wikipedia's overall entry on April Fool's Day is pretty entertaining.Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
What future for digital films?
The film industry is straining to come up with a business model for the digital age. Legal, permanent, film downloads -- concurrent with DVD releases -- are emerging, in Europe and in America. But critics complain they are too expensive and do not have the extras consumers get when they buy physical DVDs, often at steep discounts. What should the ideal (legal) movie download service look like? And do you expect Hollywood to come up with something acceptable soon?Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
The film industry is straining to come up with a business model for the digital age. Legal, permanent, film downloads -- concurrent with DVD releases -- are emerging, in Europe and in America. But critics complain they are too expensive and do not have the extras consumers get when they buy physical DVDs, often at steep discounts. What should the ideal (legal) movie download service look like? And do you expect Hollywood to come up with something acceptable soon?Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Boot Camp: Good news or bad?
Apple just announced that it is offering a little download called Boot Camp to let its newest (Intel-based) computers run Windows XP. Talk about letting the fox into the henhouse: Mac users could boot up into either operating system. Is this a bad thing for rapid Apple fans, who might not want "the Evil Empire" besmirching their machines? Or is it a good thing, giving fence-sitters one more reason to go with a Mac? Or maybe it's good for both Apple and Microsoft?? (And how are they going to calculate market share now, when a single machine has multiple operating systems?!)Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Apple just announced that it is offering a little download called Boot Camp to let its newest (Intel-based) computers run Windows XP. Talk about letting the fox into the henhouse: Mac users could boot up into either operating system. Is this a bad thing for rapid Apple fans, who might not want "the Evil Empire" besmirching their machines? Or is it a good thing, giving fence-sitters one more reason to go with a Mac? Or maybe it's good for both Apple and Microsoft?? (And how are they going to calculate market share now, when a single machine has multiple operating systems?!)Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Breaking open the "walled garden"
Most mobile phone carriers offer a type of Internet access that forces you to go through a portal: Vodafone Live, Orange World, etc. For the last few years, I have had a GPRS phone and an Internet subscription that allows me to download/upload a certain amount of data per month. A while back, I became frustrated with my carrier's portal, not least because the most useful services came with extra charges. So when I got a new phone, I decided not to get it through my service provider, and found that once I had painstakingly configured it for e-mail and Internet access, it was easy to set up bookmarks to the mobile Internet sites that I found useful: BBC and IHT for news, Sky Sports for soccer scores, Google for bet-settling Web searches. I can still get to the service provider's portal, but I almost never use it. Carriers should probably continue to operate portals, but they shouldn't wall us into them, after all, even AOL is dropping the "walled garden" approach. What do you do with the mobile Internet? And does your carrier provide you with what you need to surf where you please? Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Most mobile phone carriers offer a type of Internet access that forces you to go through a portal: Vodafone Live, Orange World, etc. For the last few years, I have had a GPRS phone and an Internet subscription that allows me to download/upload a certain amount of data per month. A while back, I became frustrated with my carrier's portal, not least because the most useful services came with extra charges. So when I got a new phone, I decided not to get it through my service provider, and found that once I had painstakingly configured it for e-mail and Internet access, it was easy to set up bookmarks to the mobile Internet sites that I found useful: BBC and IHT for news, Sky Sports for soccer scores, Google for bet-settling Web searches. I can still get to the service provider's portal, but I almost never use it. Carriers should probably continue to operate portals, but they shouldn't wall us into them, after all, even AOL is dropping the "walled garden" approach. What do you do with the mobile Internet? And does your carrier provide you with what you need to surf where you please? Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Showdown for Microsoft
Tags: microsoft So Microsoft this week finally gets to argue its appeal of the historic European antitrust decision against it two years ago. We won't know who won until at least the end of the year, but it will be fascinating to watch the legal fireworks of each side on display each day. On Monday and Tuesday, they will argue the decision on bundling Media Player with Windows. On Wednesday and Thursday, they will argue the decision on the interoperability of other software with Windows' servers. Friday is set aside to argue the size of the record 497.2 million-euro fine. We'll be using this entry point to keep you updated as the lawyers make their pitches through the course of each day. James Kanter of the IHT, meanwhile, gives us the lowdown on the Court of First Instance itself. (We also have a slide show on the judges.) Does anybody expect to see any new legal ground broken in Luxembourg? Who would be the bigger loser if the other side wins -- Microsoft or the European Commission? And is there as much at stake in the marketplace as there was two years ago?Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Tags: microsoft So Microsoft this week finally gets to argue its appeal of the historic European antitrust decision against it two years ago. We won't know who won until at least the end of the year, but it will be fascinating to watch the legal fireworks of each side on display each day. On Monday and Tuesday, they will argue the decision on bundling Media Player with Windows. On Wednesday and Thursday, they will argue the decision on the interoperability of other software with Windows' servers. Friday is set aside to argue the size of the record 497.2 million-euro fine. We'll be using this entry point to keep you updated as the lawyers make their pitches through the course of each day. James Kanter of the IHT, meanwhile, gives us the lowdown on the Court of First Instance itself. (We also have a slide show on the judges.) Does anybody expect to see any new legal ground broken in Luxembourg? Who would be the bigger loser if the other side wins -- Microsoft or the European Commission? And is there as much at stake in the marketplace as there was two years ago?Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Caught in a triple play?
Telecommunications and cable companies around the world are singing the praises of the so-called triple play -- a one-bill package that includes TV, broadband Internet and telephone services. Many are also starting to put chips down on a "quadruple play" that would include mobile phone service. The questions for consumers are these: Are you willing to hang up on individual offerings that work well -- and back each other up in some cases -- for the one-stop shop? What happens when the cable or DSL network goes down? And in the case of DSL, is the television quality as good as cable or satellite? Please share your thoughts and experiences. Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Telecommunications and cable companies around the world are singing the praises of the so-called triple play -- a one-bill package that includes TV, broadband Internet and telephone services. Many are also starting to put chips down on a "quadruple play" that would include mobile phone service. The questions for consumers are these: Are you willing to hang up on individual offerings that work well -- and back each other up in some cases -- for the one-stop shop? What happens when the cable or DSL network goes down? And in the case of DSL, is the television quality as good as cable or satellite? Please share your thoughts and experiences. Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Ask WWW creator your questions
Tim Berners-Lee, whose work at CERN led to the World Wide Web, is in Edinburgh for the international WWW conference this week. Tim has graciously agreed to field questions from IHT readers through Digital Dialogue. His biggest priority these days is the "semantic Web," but he is also enthusiastic about adapting mobile devices to the Web, Net "neutrality" and many other topics. In my dealings with him, what has struck me most is that it seems he has not lost the idealism of his youth for what the Web can do for the world! Please post your questions here, and I'll pass them on. See update belowDigital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
Tim Berners-Lee, whose work at CERN led to the World Wide Web, is in Edinburgh for the international WWW conference this week. Tim has graciously agreed to field questions from IHT readers through Digital Dialogue. His biggest priority these days is the "semantic Web," but he is also enthusiastic about adapting mobile devices to the Web, Net "neutrality" and many other topics. In my dealings with him, what has struck me most is that it seems he has not lost the idealism of his youth for what the Web can do for the world! Please post your questions here, and I'll pass them on. See update belowDigital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
And now, the answers
In addition to our regular coverage of the International World Wide Web Conference in Edinburgh last week (Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31
In addition to our regular coverage of the International World Wide Web Conference in Edinburgh last week (Digital Dialogue, 2006-11-27 21:46:31