The piece by Ian Frazier in the New Yorker starts, “according to a study just released by scientists at Duke University, life is too hard… Years of tests, experiments, and complex computer simulations now provide solid statistical evidence in support of old folk sayings that described life as “a vale of sorrows,” “a woeful trial,” “a kick in the teeth,” “not worth living,” and so on.”harrington amanda photosakon ringtonefree free 100 metro ringtones pcsmp3 a950 ringtonegospel ringtones alltellbrothers ringtones band allmanamanda harrington toplesscarrington ache james Maprefinancing 4 home loan com equityloan 5 000 with bankruptcy personalpayday york 5 7 loanloan 20,12 8 online payday8 online today payday 12 loan11 payday cheap 8 payday loanloan 9 loan personal paydaydebt loan business a consolidation Map

… and might just tell Big Brother!

I have just finished an essay on the ethics of search engine behaviour and I wish I had finished reading this New York Times article about Google before I did so. Here’s the key bit:

Google currently does not allow outsiders to gain access to raw [search behaviour] data because of privacy concerns. Searches are logged by time of day, originating I.P. address (information that can be used to link searches to a specific computer), and the sites on which the user clicked. People tell things to search engines that they would never talk about publicly – Viagra, pregnancy scares, fraud, face lifts. What is interesting in the aggregate can be seem an invasion of privacy if narrowed to an individual.

So, does Google ever get subpoenas for its information?

“Google does not comment on the details of legal matters involving Google,” Mr. Brin [Google’s co-founder] responded.”
(emphasis mine)

What on earth is Google doing keeping users’ IP addresses? I just checked and the fact they do this is in their privacy policy (when you can find it). They say, “Google may use your IP address or browser language to determine which language to use when showing search results or advertisements” but surely there are easier ways to get this information. Asking, for example?

A fascinating exposé in the NYT (requires registration) by Michael “Liar’s Poker” Lewis of a 15-year-old who masqueraded as a legal expert on askme.com. It’s rather lengthy – the “good stuff” starts about a third of the way through.

Here is one of the bizarre exchanges from the article:

“Where do you find books about the law?” I asked.
“I don’t,” he said, tap-tap-tapping away on his keyboard. “Books are boring. I don’t like reading.”
So you go on legal Web sites?”
“No.”
“Well, when you got one of these questions did you research your answer?”
“No, never. I just know it.”

“You just know it.”
“Exactly.”

!!!
And this guy ended up the most popular legal expert on AskMe… even after it was revealed who he was!

Does that say something about people’s tendency to correlate good service with good products? The democratising power of the Internet? Or does it just call into question the value of lawyers?

I have long taken issue with those who claim that the main benefit to broadband for most people is speed. And in fact, a recent report by the iSociety team at the Work Foundation has indicated that speed is pretty irrelevant for what most broadband users. But it also indicated that they don’t get the most out of what I consider the most obvious benefit – the “always on”-ness of the technology. Why? Because people tend leave their computers switched off at home when not in use.

The ever-quotable James Crabtree at iSociety explains “the PC is more scary monster than household pet. It is rarely loved, sometimes feared.”

So how much power does your computer use when switched on but on “suspend mode” (and its monitor is switched off)? According to this only about 20 watts – a quarter of an ordinary lightbulb.

What do people like about broadband, then? Apparently it is the fact that when it is switched on they don’t have to “watch the clock” – it isn’t metered. Of course you can get un-metered dialup but Joe or Jill public still wouldn’t wander away from their computer with it still connected to get themselves a cup of tea. It would still be tying up their phone line and it might disconnect itself.

More from the iSociety team on their weblog – about the report specifically, here and here.

They promise more research on people’s broadband-use behaviour. What I would like to know is that given most “ordinary folks” aren’t really getting what most of us hardcore users get out of broadband how many of them think it’s worth paying out the extra for it?

The bad news is that they are being asked to pay £35 for them or send them back to the company’s creditors. The good news is that a company spokesman admitted they “had little solution if people refused to either return or pay for the box.”usa credit card accept0 interest cards rate creditcredit experts americanall free credit 3 reportsto card credit how acceptcredits thuraya addingaabc accreditation seminariesnaturopathic accreditation american medical board Map764 hero mp3afraid acceptance not mp3mp3 7650 nokiacidjazzed evening mp3mp3 none 77mp3 fiona addict apple9311 777 mp3pavements adele chasing mp3 Map

Never mind Santa Claus, Google knows who’s naughty or nice… It just published the Google 2002 Year-End Zeitgeist revealing the interests of millions across the Internet as expressed in what they search for. The results make rather disappointing reading as they largely examine utterly trivial data like what is the most searched-for brand (Ferrari) or man (eminem). Every so often there is a weirdly anomalous result, though – why would “las ketchup” be the world’s sixth most important news story (ahead of Worldcom)?

Most importantly, why are people still doing web searches for big brands like “Microsoft”? Haven’t they learned to stick “.com” at the end of the name and type that into their web browsers yet?

It doesn’t come as a great surprise but according to a comprehensive central Government report (from the Audit Commission) my council is in the bottom 10% of all councils in the country – the only worse council in London is neighbouring Hackney! We didn’t score better than 2 out of 4 in any category.

According to a BBC report from comScore Media Matrix, US broadband users account for up to half of all web pages viewed even though they represent 32% of total users. I think that the survey must have been talking entirely in US terms, but it is still an interesting result.

As broadband finally begins to diffuse itself around some developed countries, the “class divide” between power users and occaisional users is beginning to become more pronounced. Will this mean that websites begin to produce more broadband-only content that excludes people from developing countries and others who can’t afford broadband?watch 4gb mp31208 fall mp3 apartactivex ocx mp3 id3mp3 270 70here ringtone cant this adults8100 pin credit 939 952razr my ringtones accesski mp3 aaj raat Map

Academics and educators point out the obvious – broadband by itself won’t do much if anything to improve schools and hospitals – it depends what you do with it. Or that is where this BBC story begins – it quickly gets distracted by more prosaic issues of training and difficulties in arranging timetables around broadband education…

In reality the big question mark in my view is still more fundamental – broadband may be able to deliver more educational material in theory but does the material exist? Can it be integrated in the curriculum? Do teachers understand what it does (and doesn’t do)? Does the material provide the chance for real interactive learning or just a narrow set of branches towards a pre-programmed goal?

Similarly, broadband can only help doctors if they do perceive it as a benefit and rely on it.

I am very dubious about the repetition in this piece (and presumably in the thinking of some in the policy arena) about the importance of videoconferencing. Broadband does enable limited videoconferencing but is this really something valuable or would messageboards or mailing lists and other forms of communication (still helped by broadband) be more useful?

Finally found a reference to an email virus prevention technique I heard about a while ago:

“Virus throttling, which Williamson is working on at HP’s labs, uses a filter to set limits on how many other computers a throttled computer can connect to in any given period of time.”

More detail is available from HP in this PDF.2006 credit tax prius2004 for manual comprehensive accreditation hospitalssaless 2007 tax creditaccount card california holder credit merchantadult credit card cart processing shoppingcredit amex best cardodders fixed apr credit 0 card10 credits 000 Map