Year 2008

I can say it's a good start

And that's about all it is. Mediocre now, but promising. Lacking in features, but open. A relatively dated foundation in some respects, but one that's accessible to everyone. Android may not be what people expected; it's nowhere near being an iPhone killer and the software experience could definitely use some polish --- it's without a doubt firmly in the 1990s. But Android innovates too; if not just because it's open, because it is full of extremely innovative concepts --- concepts that can primarily happen in an open environment. Take for example 'intents'. In the end, I'm sure the G1 is going to be 'ok'. Nothing special. But it wasn't meant to be. It's a 1.0, by a company that has no experience in that sort of thing, but at the same time has most of the mindshare.

Το Σεντούκι των Δηλώσεων

Το Google επέκτεινε το ευρετήριο δηλώσεων από τις ειδήσεις σε 5 έτη, επιτρέπωντας έτσι στον καθένα να εξερευνήσει τα όσα είπαν πολιτικοί, αστέρες του κινηματογράφου και της μουσικής, προσωπικότητες της τέχνης και επιχειρηματίες τα τελευταία πέντε χρόνια. Το περσυνό καλοκαίρι ο Γιώργος πέταξε στο τραπέζι την ιδέα του factcheck.gr. Ίσως η ανάπτυξη ενός παρόμοιου ευρετηρίου για την Ελλάδα (ή η χρήση του ευρετηρίου του Google --- εαν αυτό κάποτε καταστεί δυνατό) θα βοηθούσε στον έλεγχο των δηλώσεων και μείωση του θορύβου στα όσα λέγονται και γράφωνται και -- ίσως -- στο μέλλον αποτελούσε παράγοντα αύξησης της ποιότητας των δηλώσεων δημόσιων προσώπων. Αν μη τι άλλο, θεωρώ πως ένα τέτοιο 'εργαλείο' θα αποτελούσε ένα (σημαντικό) βήμα προς την υλοποίηση ενός οργανικού factcheck ιστοτόπου για τα ελληνικά δεδομένα.

Endgame

The tensions among the first Bush cabinet on many issues were pretty evident. Colin Powell’s appointment as Secretary of State was meant to satisfy the moderates, after all. That and perhaps balance the factions within the Republican party, at a time when G.W. Bush seemed clueless on practically anything that mattered and Cheney/Rumsfeld represented an […]

Clearly, DRM is not the best way to go to help prevent piracy

Will Wright on the Spore DRM controversy:
"I think one of the most valid concerns about it was you could only install it so many times. For most players it’s not an issue, it’s a pretty small percentage, but some people do like wiping their hard disk and installing it 20 times or they want to play it 10 years later.
Spore doesn't seem to be anywhere near what it was promised to be --- in 10 years it is quite probable that few will remember it (let alone play it), unless it is followed by vastly improved sequels. That cannot be said, however, for several of Wright's other games. SimCity 3000 is still enjoyed by many, 9 years after it was released, especially as it was (and probably still is) part of several 'classics' low-price bundles. SimCity 4 is practically universally still considered superior to the 'Societies' spin-off and still enjoyed by millons globally. And while it may be true that the, ever-elusive, 'market' could, potentially, boycott games in lieu of their ridiculous DRM, Wright's response is unfortunate in the way it treats both replayability and consumer rights.

Delusions.

Hmmm, what was Mark thinking when he wrote this? The warrior rabbit is our talisman as we move into a year where we can reasonably expect Ubuntu to ship on several million devices, to consumers who can reasonably expect the software experience to be comparable to those of the traditional big [software vendors]: Microsoft and […]

Δικτυακή Ουδετερότητα στην Ευρώπη. Το Κράτος ως Ρυθμιστής.

Η δικτυακή ουδετερότητα είναι ένα ζήτημα που φέρνει κοντά πολύ κόσμο που κατανοεί την αξία της ελευθερίας του επιχειρείν, της έκφρασης και της επικοινωνίας στο διαδίκτυο, ανεξαρτήτως της ευρύτερης ιδεολογίας του και πολιτικών θέσεων. Θεωρητικά, η βέλτιστη προσέγγιση στο θέμα της ουδετερότητας — και με την οποία τείνω να συμφωνήσω — θέλει τη πολιτεία να […]

Περι της Ελληνικής Δημοσιογραφίας

Με αφορμή την ανακοίνωση για το κλείσιμο της Athens News στις αρχές του μήνα αποφάσισα να γράψω για την δημοσιογραφία στην Ελλάδα. Μάλλον ιδιαίτερως ελάσσονος σημασίας ως δημοσίευμα, η ξαφνική διακοπή της έκδοσης της Athens News, μιας εφημερίδας που κυκλοφορούσε για 57 χρόνια, θαρρώ πως προδίδει μια γενικότερη τάση που αργά ή γρήγορα θαρρώ πως […]

Technology and The End Of Capitalism

The recent financial crisis brought back memories of ‘Black Monday’, October 19th, 1987, the day of the greatest financial crisis of the late 20th century and the day the concept and practice of automated trading entered the consciousness of millions of people around the world. “Imaginary Wealth”. In Search of An Ethical Justification The ethical […]

Talk about returning to Europe

1,000Mbits of transit over Gigabit Ethernet in Bucharest now costs no more than it does in London - and only a couple of dollars more than in San Francisco. That’s incredible, and impressive. Talk about returning to Europe.
[via AFoE] Impressive, indeed! Anyone knows what the price is in Athens?

Web 3.0™. The Latest in EU Buzzwords.

Absolute BullIt's not as if any government anywhere (let alone the European Commission) ever preempted technological innovation and successfully regulated it, before it even became reality. Take for example what happened with Biofuel in the EU. Or renewables. Or, as a matter of fact, the 'net itself. So it actually begs the question: What on earth were the (seemingly clueless) bureaucrats that drafted this press release thinking when they coined their own pointless buzzword (as if there aren't enough already) in 'Web 3.0' and proceeded in presenting their equally pointless milestones and grand vision, when the EU funding for broadband has rivalled Gore's Information Superhighway in waste, frivolousness and incoherence? In spite of the lack of substance in the press release, there are some good parts in the related Commission report, The Future Networks and the Internet. Nope, it's not the internet of 'things' or 'stimulating investment in high-speed broadband' or --- ironically --- 'building the net of the future'. Instead I found keeping the 'net open and guaranteeing availability to be the most useful (and realistic) of the themes presented in the report. In any case, thinking about the future is commendable and could prove extremely wise; the way the Commission attempts to achieve it seems completely wrong and betrays ignorance of how and why technology such as the 'net can have such a disruptive effect in society (hint: yep, lack of regulation definitely had something to do with it). A public consultation on the 'early challenges of the Internet of Things' is open until the 28th of November.