links for 2008-01-11

"1981 book 'Out into Space' by Neil Ardley features this image of Venus, 'bombarded with containers of plants that will begin to change its atmosphere into oxygen, which people can breathe'". Another Paleo-Future that I recognise from my childhood books.

"A lot of the joy that people experience with machines isn't purely out of the proverbial output, but how that machine interacts. What does your machine do when something goes wrong? Is it patient? Is it forgiving? Is it helpful?"

"This article contains possibly THE WORST advice for small business that I have ever read. Certainly the worst I've read this year. Here are 13 reasons why this article makes Gene Marks a dumbass". Kalena Jordan is rather more judgmental than I was.

"I stumbled on two things that shaped my thinking about the Guidelines. 1. Blogging may be personal but it is not private. 2. Personal blogs by BBC people can benefit the BBC". Nick Reynolds gets nostalgic for his days working in policy.

I thought it was news of an exciting geoIP restricted webcast type affair, but it turns out they just played inside the embassy, which technically is the Czech Republic despite being located in Notting Hill

"The entire Sony BMG catalog will be available on Amazon MP3 beginning later this month. Sony BMG is the last major label to drop DRM". This would have made my user-experience work at Sony a lot easier last year. How long before TV catches-up?