Don’t Tax the Internet
Some members of Congress want to tax the Internet, and they’re trying to do it under the guise of “telecom reform.” That’s a trick Americans won’t like. It’s time to send Washington a message, loud and clear: hands off the
Enhancing the quest for olympic gold
The 2006 Winter Olympics is winding down, offering an opportunity for the world community to look back on the event and reflect. Drug testing, for instance, was an ongoing element of the games, bringing about intrigue that included Italian drug
Longer Lives Threatened by Global Divide Arguments
At a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a group of biologists discussed how, in the near future, people could expect to live 100 years. A longer, healthier life is good news to most, but
Reform Video Franchising Now
For those who think their cable bills are soaring to all-time highs, it might be reassuring to know that a bipartisan group of U.S. senators agree. At a recent Senate Commerce Committee hearing, members pondered the reasons for the rate
Fighting Spam Also Requires Fighting Knee-Jerk Critics
AOL and Yahoo will soon roll out a new program to charge advertisers for guaranteed access to users’ e-mail boxes. It’s not the perfect spam-fighting program that some would have hoped for, but those critiquing the plan on free speech
Net Neutrality and Silicon Valley’s important choice
Recently, there’s been a lot of chatter about the openness of the Internet being under attack. While the Net is indeed facing a threat, it’s not the one that some pundits make it out to be. Read more about the
Pleo: a really cute robot
Frequent readers of my blog will know that I’m a huge fan of robots and this past year seems to have been epic for their evolution. Check out this new one showcased at the recent Demo conference: the Pleo. The
Some questions for Muslims
John Robson, a historian and columnist for the Ottawa Citizen newspaper in Canada, has these questions for Muslims. I hope he gets some good (and peaceful) answers.
Fatal Conceit at the California Public Utilities Commission
After a year of heading in the right direction, the California Public Utilities Commission veered off course last week when Commissioner Dian Grueneich initiated a dangerous move towards old command-and-control regulation. Grueneich claimed to be staking out a middle ground
Silicon Valley’s new gossip rag
Is up and running. I went to a launch party for it last week at Chris Nolan’s home. Nick Denton, the guy driving the thing, is exactly what you’d expect.
Google China only censors good spellers
If you do an image search for Tiananmen on Google’s new China site, everything looks happy. But spell the ill fated square wrong as in: Tianenmen, Tienanmen and Tiananman, and it’s all tanks, baby. Gotta love it. Thanks to Paul
Colby Cosh on the “Great Right North’s” social policies
In this LA Times op-ed (link will expire), Cosh makes some great points about Canada. Perhaps the most humorous was his observation about how Canada’s new conservative government will affect pot smokers. He writes: The new regime is likely to
Motto for Freedom Activists: ‘Don’t Be Unreasonable’
Google recently created a public-relations firestorm when it unveiled a new search site in China that censors data on behalf of the Chinese government. Though the search giant’s success stems from its birth in a free country, that doesn’t mean
SF has more wireless than any other US city
JiWire says that San Francisco has 801 public hotspots — more than anywhere else in the US. The Chron’s Ryan Kim wrote a news piece about it today. I hope the mayor reads it.
Political bias affects brain activity
This is an interesting article. According to researchers at Emory University, partisan party members in both the Democratic and Republican parties ignored data that conflicted with their beliefs. Well, that explains some things…
Canada has a new Prime Minister
This was a long time coming and it’s too bad the Conservatives only won a minority. Stephen Harper, Canada’s 22nd PM, is incredibly smart and a good guy too. I knew him back when we both worked in Preston Manning’s
CWLA event with CA SOS Bruce McPherson tonight
California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson will be speaking for the California Women’s Leadership Association tonight. I will be there and am looking forward to a great discussion. If you would like to attend, information and tickets are here.
Another article on nano regulation
Pre-emptive regulation of nanotech is a silly idea and I say so in this news piece.
Time warp?
This web site makes me feel like its 1999 again except that the “I kiss you” guy has been replaced with dead guy.
Nanotechnology Needs Nano-Scale Regulation
Anyone who purchased clear sunscreen or wore stain-resistant pants during the holidays was probably enjoying the benefits of commercialized nanotechnology. While nanotech advances are exciting, some observers dangerously press for greater government oversight in the sector. Nanotechnology, the manipulation of