We could learn some lessons about blogging, honesty, accountability and the distinction between public and private views from an unlikely source: the U.N.’s special envoy to Sudan. Jan Pronk, expelled last month for comments on a blog he was writing about the conflict, has replied to an email I sent to him shortly after he… Read More »
Researchers are using Google Earth, the New York Times/IHT reports, to look for evidence of giant tsunamis, signs that the Earth has been hit by comets or asteroids more regularly, and more recently, than people thought: This year the group started using Google Earth, a free source of satellite images, to search around the globe… Read More »
Bits and pieces: Andrew Lih reports that since China lifted its block on Chinese Wikipedia new registrations — people signing up to add or modify entries — have shot up from 300-400 to more than 1,200 on Sunday. Says Andrew: “The ZH community has been waiting over a year for this moment.” The Media Gap:… Read More »
I don’t know whether to be delighted or depressed, but it seems many of my musical heroes are now writing music for computers. And it’s emerging as something of an art form in itself. Robert Fripp, for example, is doing the music for the Windows Vista startup sound, as part of an 18 month project,… Read More »
If you ever feel the urge to trade on a spam stock tip, I offer this unsolved whodunnit as a cautionary tale. If you’ve been getting an extra dumpster of spam in your inbox lately, it’s probably because of a little known company called Cana Petroleum. If you open the email in question (and I’ve… Read More »