SantaClaus.com

This 1.0b1 release of NetNewsWire pro includes a weblog editor, notepad, Find command, AppleScript support, and more. [Ranchero]

Mhh, nice new weblog editor function. I think Kung-Log still has the edge for the feature set and the flexibility (categories, allow comments option, custom HTML tags), but having a Weblog editor that’s aware of my RSS feeds is a nice concept, just like Radio does I think.
Now maybe a Applescript to call Kung-Log from NNW would do the job just as well. Most important though: it includes a Find feature.

There is also an outliner built-in there, the « notepad ». I think an outliner is some sort of an epiphany that software developpers get. Dave Winer was the first case I remember witnessing, with MORE and Frontier, the outliner that kept on giving. The Tidbits crew has been saying good things about outliners for a long time too. Now Brent Simmons is at it too.

I’m curious to see if I’ll use it. I’m a big user of Word’s outline view but I tried a couple stand alone outliners over the years and even though I’m always impressed by the software itself, I never really got hooked on using them for any length of time.

Oh, I wanted to post this with NNW, but I’m getting a /CFSStreamFault. I usually get this with Kung-Log when I try to download a list of posts, it is apparently caused by a bug in the XML parser of OS X with accented caracters, dixit K-Log author’s. Thanks anyways for the early present.

No no, I’m not talking about everyone’s favorite operating system. Next time maybe.

To me it is almost an urban legend that MiniDisc devices, consumer level ones at least, did not allow digital output. It seems it is still true, even for audio recorded via a microphone and to which you could presumably be assumed to own the copyrights.

I guess the author of the article above will have to export analog audio and redigitize it. No big deal but it goes against the whole point of using such a device, doesn’t it?

In any case, many pissed off people here. Caveat Emptor.

Yes yes… coded architecture, private norms enforced by technological means…

[via lawrence’s notebook]

Quality of Service is unnecessary? Is throwing more bandwidth at the issue really a solution?

I care because QoS is a form of technological norm that is very potent. It does have the capacity to shape the environment and influence the actions of people (or their effects). I can’t wait for my ISP, who is owned by a content provider, to throttle competitors, err… ensure proper QoS, to selected resources.

On the other hand, I find reasonable that there could be the Internet equivalent of a emergency siren for certain packets.

Would « official » and public implementation of QoS make it harder for people who control the infrastructure to implement opportunistic QoS-like schemes? Should Internet connectivity declared a public service and regulated as such from a competition point of view? In that last hypothesis, could QoS be implemented in a more productive way?

I find it hard to believe that bigger pipes will solve all QoS issues, but is it a good enough solution to reduce the annoyance level low enough that people won’t bother to elaborate on the issue?

[via… damn… can’t find it anymore… NetNewWire really needs a « find » function]

Update: Well… this issue made a few people react. Should I be surprised that it seems it was all started by Lessig?

Here is a presentation by Doug Engelbart recorded in 1968. It’s quite impressive to see that most of these concepts, outlines, multiple views, hyperlinks, the mouse, are still in use today.

On the other hand, what was really high tech then is now common place but watching this, I can’t help to feel we haven’t come that far in 35 years.The concepts are the same, the goal is the same. The concept is much more polished, it’s not lab stuff anymore. But is there anything in the labs right now that will bring a revolution that will change the way I work in the next 30 years. I don’t think that WinXX qualifies there.

[via Phil Gyford]

The Japan Times reports that

An industry body representing seven developers of DVD technology and formats said Tuesday it will start global licensing of patents for DVD-audio and recordable DVD products in early January.

I’ll believe it when I’ll hear it.

In the meantime I’m curious about the DVD recordables bit. Which format is that? I’d also be very curious to read the terms of the patent licenses.

[via Baker&McKenzie E-law alert]

The WSJ has a story about the struggle to communicate your tastes to your TiVo (the TiVo can record TV shows automatically based on what it perceives to be your tastes). Moral of the story: gently correct but don’t overcompensate if it thinks you play for the other team:

His wife, however, was taken aback when she saw all the half-naked women he was ordering through TiVo. He told her those women meant nothing to him: « I’m just counterprogramming because TiVo thinks I’m gay. »

The personal information aspect of it all is also quite interesting.

[via Toomuchsexy.blog]

WiFi Standards and Etiquette
Glenn Fleishman offers wise words on the potential balkanization of WiFi standards. He doesn’t mention the elephant in the closet: Microsoft. It’s leading the charge for « etiquettes » on unlicensed wireless services in the 5 GHz band (and possibly elsewhere). Microsoft hasn’t provided specifics, and appears to be still working it the details itself. But the notion is that there needs to be something that plays the role of TCP to 802.11a/b/g’s IP. It’s not yet clear whether Microsoft’s involvement is a Very Good Thing or a Very Bad Thing. I don’t think it’s an evil company. I believe the people I’ve talked with really want to do the right thing to foster growth of unlicensed wireless. Still, there are significant dangers in the path Microsoft is going down. The WiFi community needs to engage these issues.

[Werblog]

What can I say… Sweet…

XBox modding, DVD, Palladium, black list of Unique ID numbers, secondary market control… This story on The Register hits all the right buttons.

While it seems most comments over at /. over this story are.. well typical. But the linked article about virtual manifestation in a virtual world is interesting.

From the legal point of view, how are behaviors of avatars treated in relation to their « owner »? Diffamation, vandalism, annoying behavior, can those be sanctioned? Freedom of expression and association? Do those exist in a virtual world ? Is the owner of the server all powerful? Should he then be responsible?

Sound ridiculous, but then fighting over virtual domain names seemed ridiculous at one time too.

That post about a lousy 30$ MEC fanny pack? Forget it… I changed my mind.

Amazon just started selling the Segway. Get IT?

The webcasting bill, which originally included a relatively hefty and retroactive royalty rate, will finally be passed in an acceptable form according to the Washington Post.

Sadly, all I reallly care about is wether I’ll be able to stream The Buzz again and mindlessly throw my dollars to a station that does not include it’s mandatory share of canadian content.

Interesting editorial in The Economist regarding P2P services and EMI’s new offering.

[via GrepLaw]