links for 2008-01-25

"The lock & key metaphor is a powerful one. If we only had the Internet version. What you need is a way to walk up to any computer and identify yourself quickly. It would require a key and lock be built into every machine. It turns out we do & it's USB".

"Paulo Coelho, author of 'The Alchemist', is using BitTorrent and filesharing networks as a way to promote his books. He set up a Wordpress blog, Pirate Coelho, where he posts links to free copies of his books on P2P networks, FTP sites, and so on".

"I can't see any reason why I'd want to use this. There are plenty of engines that do the same thing rather better, more easily and clearer on the screen. Think through the display issues, work out what's most important, then come back in 6 months or so".

"Has the open source software movement become a victim of its own success? A provocative new study suggests that the giants of the commercial software world are cashing in on the popularity of open source". For provocative, read raging flamebait... ;-)

"As this problem sounds rather more long-term than short-term shouldn't Central Line users know what's going on? Well LU dont think so. And neither does the Evening Standard". Apparently nobody interested in smoking Central Line train story

"SFA have announced that they will let fans determine the set for their US shows by voting online. The band are giving fans the opportunity via a 'voting widget' on their Beggars Group blog". But will NME be campaigning for 'Laughing Gnome' a la Bowie?

"We've all heard arguments about whether there's a liberal bias in the US media. We wanted to know how European media coverage of presidential candidates compared, and discovered that the top Democrats appear in 10% more of total candidate coverage".

Do you watch the Fox Network? Family Guy? The OC? Do you think the sexual situations in Mass Effect are any more graphic than scenes routinely aired on those shows? Do you believe young people have more exposure to Mass Effect than to prime time shows?