Wall Street Journal Article: Wi-Fi Cuts in on Cell Carriers...

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"Wi-Fi" gives cell carriers static This article highlights how so called "edge" networks, Wi-Fi (802.11b wireless ethernet) access points at coffee shops, airports, hotels and other public locations, are taking a bite out of cell carriers plans to offer Internet access on cell phones... Quote from the article: At first glance, software executive John Baron would seem to be a cellphone company's dream. He subscribes to the slow Internet browsing option on his cellphone, painfully pecking away on the dial pad to type in Web addresses. Lately, though, he has found a better way: When on the road, he uses Wi-Fi, the technology that gives him wireless access to the Internet on his laptop computer, at blazing speeds. "It's brilliant," he says. "The phone stuff is pretty clunky."

Smart Mobs: Book by Howard Rheingold

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Smart Mobs - Book Summary Quote from the companion website: Smart mobs emerge when communication and computing technologies amplify human talents for cooperation. The impacts of smart mob technology already appear to be both beneficial and destructive, used by some of its earliest adopters to support democracy and by others to coordinate terrorist attacks. The technologies that are beginning to make smart mobs possible are mobile communication devices and pervasive computing - inexpensive microprocessors embedded in everyday objects and environments. Already, governments have fallen, youth subcultures have blossomed from Asia to Scandinavia, new industries have been born and older industries have launched furious counterattacks.

The companion web site is a very good example of adding life to existing content. The website compliments and extends the information shared in the book...

Stanford University Investigates Weblogs for Faculty and Students

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Stanford ITSS Blog Project Stanford University is piloting the use of weblogs by faculty and students. Currently they are using Movable Type as their weblogging tool. From their project description page: As multidisciplinary work becomes more and more important to the sustained success of Stanford University, the tools available from ITSS must be better able to support such work.Weblogs are an excellent tool for supporting multidisciplinary teams, which is one of the reasons why we're considering creating a Blog service for all Stanford faculty, staff and students.

This American Life: NPR Program Web Site...

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From WBEZ in Chicago | This American Life Home page for the weekly radio program produced and hosted by Ira Glass... This weeks show profiles former Mayor Harold Washington. Previous broadcasts are available in Real Audio format... About this weeks program: It's the fifteenth anniversary of the death of the greatest politician you probably never heard of -- at least if you live outside Chicago. Someone funny and smart and inspiring and, rarest of all this fall, a Democrat who stayed idealistic and outspoken after he reached high office. The amazing story of Harold Washington, a parable of race and politics in America.

Am currently listening to the broadcast on the Internet from KCRW out of Santa Monica, California.

Text Messaging In England...

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Guardian Unlimited | Online | Textual gratification Text messaging took a while to take off, but now it's a natural part of life, writes Victor Keegan... Thursday November 28, 2002 Can you remember where you were when the first text message was sent in the UK? I'll give you a clue - it was 10 years ago next Tuesday. You can't? I'm not surprised. Nor can anyone else. In 1992 mobile phones, as mass market consumer products, were on no one's radar screen, let alone text messages. It is worth reminding ourselves that in 1991 a completely unknown company was facing bankruptcy and was on the verge of being taken over by Ericsson of Sweden. The company somehow pulled itself together and now manufactures 36% of the world's mobile phones. Its name is Nokia.

As I take more advantage of public transportation I find myself using my phone much more for things other than voice conversations. An instant message to a friend, browsing news headlines. The phone enables me to be connected when in places where a laptop would not be practical....

Barbie Has a Weblog...

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Barbie's Weblog Mattel has Barbie blogging... Interesting tibbits about her life... Here is here Thanksgiving post...11/28/2002 Terrific T-giving Caught part of the big parade on TV – always puts me in the holiday spirit. Then played hostess for a delicious dinner with the girls. Speaking of yummy… we stayed up super late having a movie marathon of our fave hunkster stars.

Real World Advertising Creeps Into The Sims...

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Big Mac Is Virtual, but Critics Are Real The inclusion of McDonald's within the Sims environment reflects an emerging trend in video games. The game's publisher, Electronic Arts, signed contracts under which it will receive more than $2 million to include McDonald's and Intel logos inside the game - contracts that industry analysts have said may be the most lucrative ever for video-game product placement. An interesting play on this is that those opposed to corporate intrusion into the online version of The Sims are encouraging people to protest as characters in the game....

Another article on metatags...

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Death of a Meta TagTraffick.com's Andrew Goodman wrote recently in an essay about meta tags, "If somebody would just declare the end of the metatag era, full stop, it would make it easier on everyone."I'm happy to oblige, at least in the case of the meta keywords tag. Now supported by only one major crawler-based search engine, Inktomi, the value of adding meta keywords tags to pages seems little worth the time. In my opinion, the meta keywords tag is dead, dead, dead. Like Andrew, I say good riddance!

Another article on the death of metatags as a tool for search engine placement....