So the first site I usually read in the morning is slashdot, then on to Thomas Barnett's blog, then John Robb's blog, then Digg and Reddit, and by then I start pulling info from other sources. If after reading all of that I still don't have anything to post, it's going to be a long day. Of course, I have plenty of other things to keep me busy (like work!), but I always need a distraction kicking around in the back of my head.
Anyway, good news of the day: the US Copyright Royalty Board has moved back the date of the new royalty rates, which apply disproportionately to internet radio and streaming sites. It basically means the end of great sites like Pandora, which has helped me discover more new music than I know what to do with. I'm sure similar companies will just move offshore somewhere, and operate under cover of darkness.
Bad news of yesterday: the army is going to start restricting bloggers. It's too bad, really...the army bloggers are the boots-on-the-ground types who actually do the best PR of the war. I've read many military blogs and have yet to find any classified information or anything that could give away positions or compromise missions. Hopefully this didn't have anything to do with the Yingling article...but I fear that's the message - nip this thing in the bud. Don't let those young bucks question the greybeards (i.e. anyone discussing the war that you might see on CNN) who have led us ito this mess. This story was also on future tense this morning, but I was on my way out the door and didn't hear it all.
Also, regarding the last point - you've heard this out of me a million times, but you cannot restrict the usage of the internet through regulations. Period. The internet is about information sharing. Without that, there is nothing...you hear me? Nothing! It just doesn't work that way - see yesterday's hubbub about Digg if you're curious.
Also, that Digg story is less about the sharing of a "copyrighted" key (you can copyright strings of ones and zeroes, right? wrong!), and more about the distribution of a circumvention device. The distribution of circumvention devices is covered by the DMCA (which amended 17 USC 1201(a)).
Also, Dan reminded me yesterday that I need to pick up Snow Crash again. I think I'd get more out of that book a second time. But I have so much to read, it's annoying.
Okay, now time to work a bit, let some articles jockey for position in the back of my mind, and see which comes out on top.
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2 comments:
I recently joined Blogger and have been browsing through some of their sites. As an army retiree who served two tours in Vietnam, your reference to the article that criticized our generals caught my eye. That article is right on.
Superior weaponry and overwhelming force won WWII for us, and our generals have been relying on that ever since. But in Vietnam our superior weaponry and overwhelming force got us nowhere--and it's getting us nowhere in Iraq.
We have not fought effective unconventional warfare since Francis Marion's forces bedeviled the British.
Nice going. I enjoyed this post.
Thanks for the comment! If you like similar thinking on war, I highly recommend Thomas Barnett's blog on the sidebar. He's a military guy who knows that winning the war requires a different strategy than winning the peace. Small Wars Journal is also a good one.
I agree that overwhelming force doesn't buy us what it used to these days. It's just not effective since our enemies know better than to face our mechanized blitzkrieg and instead choose to draw this conflict out slowly against our troops.
I can only hope we're learning from or mistakes - the market for our second-biggest export (security, barely behind entertainment) may only continue to grow...
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