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Full text in RSS? [MetaBlog]

James Duncan Davidson probably doesn't read my blog, but he does ask for the full text of entries in RSS feeds. I felt that, as I tend to be loquacious, it was better to stick to a summary. What do people think? Would you prefer the full text of the blog entry or just the first paragraph? Is anyone reading it anyway?

posted at 9:28 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

Will COMDEX survive? [WebTech]

The big question here in Las Vegas is whether COMDEX can survive. Dire rumours circulate about Key3Media, and anyone who's been before can see that the attendance is way down (even if, at around 120,000, it is still huge). This has always been the PC industry conference, unlike CEBIT in Germany which has managed to ride many technology waves. So maybe this is an indicator of what we've all bee predicting - that the era of PC domination is waning and the new web-based world is taking precedence. Of course, it could also just be an indication of industry malaise, but we can hope...

posted at 8:54 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

Sunday, November 17

Webcasters Survive .. for now [SocioPoliticio]

Andrew reports in The Register that small webcasters have been given a one month reprieve of the grim reaper of the RIAA shutting them down. Go listen to Radio Paradise if you need to hear why it's worth saving - the best mix of music I have heard in a long time, and not an air-time whore amongst the whole output.

posted at 9:58 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

Leonid Meteors [PhotoTravel]

I knew it had to be around somewhere, and fortunately Blogdex has pointed me to the NASA Meteor Forecast complete with nice curves showing meteor densities for locations around the world. I'm pleased to say that Las Vegas, where I will be for COMDEX on Tuesday night, looks like it will have great viewing.

posted at 9:35 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

Prior Mouse [SocioPolitico]

Not sure how many people are tracking (or even aware of) the epic battle being fought in Eldred vs. Ashcroft in the USA (concerning copyright extensions and by implication the indefinite right of faceless corporations to benefit from copyright without being forced to give anything back to the intellectual commons), but it seems their copyright on Mickey Mouse may face prior art claims.

posted at 6:22 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

The price of convenience [WebTech]

There's a lesson on the planes for the Open Mobile Alliance though. Remember in-flight phones? Remember the reputation they have for poor quality and extortionately high cost? Well, it seems none of use travellers have been using them. All the phones on my flights today have a sticker on them saying the service has been discontinued. It seems convenience and a captive audience is not enough to make people pay for a service. As we evolve the future services that will drive the mobile market, especially if the services involve a chain of interconnected data services (yet another use for the term 'web services'), we need to pay careful attention to the chain of costs involved to make sure that the value at least matches, and preferably exceeds the cost to the customer. Otherwise we'd better order the 'discontinued' stickers in advance.

posted at 5:49 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |

Kissed Hawai'i Goodbye [PhotoTravel]

So that's it. After a week of wall-to-wall meetings that might as well have been held in Birmingham for all it mattered (snorkelling notwithstanding), and after days of wrestling with two-ended snakes in the standards meetings, I've finally upped and left Hawai'i and made it back to California.

The travel experience back is one I have done twice in the last month and both times it proved pretty miserable - obviously the airlines want to bring holiday-makers down to earth with a bump. The airport is minimal (at Honolulu they have even closed the premium lounges), the security checks intrusive (two checkpoints, one for security and one for agriculture, with a manual search of my copious camera carry-ons because the explosives sniffer was broken), the queuing interminable. On board the flight, the airlines have used their oldest available equipment, with geriatric seating which even in first class only reclines by about 5° and which has almost no comforts to insulate the traveller from the five hour flight. The equipment used for the 55 minute flight from LAX to SJC was better, even if I did get searched yet again at the gate. Everyone was polite and friendly, but nonetheless it shows the lack of respect the airlines have for their passengers.

posted at 5:40 PM (UK) | Comment? (0 so far) | links to this post | |