Saturday, January 10, 2004

Another Mixed Bag of Updates

Server problems mid-week, work on the fallout from that, plus everything else on my plate means I have been a bit quiet here for a while. It also meant that Wednesday's Online Opinion column turned up late. In the end, two columns appeared - one on so-called copy protection (which is, of course, actually copy prevention and one on AOL's nasty new habit of sending junkmail that looks like bills. I'm also giving serious thought to adding a comments section to OO - one thread for each article. Perhaps that will bring in the elusive interaction/debate I keep seeking. Probably not, though.

It was slightly tempting to write a column on this week's Washington Post article that revealed the most damning evidence about Iraq's weapons programs. But really, what is there to say? The whole thing would be laughable, if it weren't for the thousands who died.

More genuinely amusing was Verisign (those well known experts on Internet security) who this week allowed one of their root level certificates to expire, breaking I have no idea how many secure web sites round the world. Only the latest mistake (or worse) from the company whose slogan is "The Value of Trust". Which, I guess, is why those of us who genuinely value trust, get our secure certificates elsewhere.

Speaking of trust, why is that I need to go to an American newspaper to find out that opposition to their loopy guns-on-planes plan is not limited to one British union and a charter company? In fact, several other countries or national airlines have refused to comply. Surely the British media should be accurately reflecting international opposition to this idea?

Interestingly, America appears to not like the same rules being applied to its citizens (scroll to the bottom) :

"We have told the Brazilians that we think that these are measures that provide tremendous inconvenience to travelers and that they need to be changed," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Tuesday.

These measures are essentially the same as those facing Brazilians (and pretty much anyone else) entering the US under new plans.

Finally, in sad news for budding roboteers everywhere, rumours have surfaced that Lego is to drop their Mindstorms range of robot kits. Anyone buying me one before they vanish (or organising a successful "Save Mindstorms" campaign) will be eternally blessed.

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