iCraveTV Out For The Count
Television & Movies
5/2/2000; 11:30:53 PM Feb 29, 2000: "Groups representing the TV, film and sports industries have forced Canada's iCraveTV.com to permanently close its Web site, ending any possibility it will resume showing TV programs without permission, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters said." Goodbye, ICraveTV.

Time Running Out on Kid Email
Misc.
5/2/2000; 11:28:02 PM Feb 29, 2000: We hear about a lot of less-then-wonderful things being done "in the name of the children!", but this one's pretty good, actually. E-mail can get a child in over their head pretty quickly; my sister recently got in over her head, and she's 18! Still, while the ideas good, the government really should stop passing laws that they don't already know how to enforce; odds are, if they can't figure out how to enforce it today, they aren't going to figure it out anytime soon.

Observations on Opinions on the Amazon Patent Personal Commentary5/2/2000; 11:27:11 PM Feb 28, 2000: As I cruised the weblogs for the opinions of people regarding the Amazon patent, I thought I noticed a correlation between the person being in the computer field in a more-or-less professional manner, and thinking the Amazon patent is bad. It seemed to me that those who worked in the computer industry were likely to think the patent is wrong (and the more they worked, the stronger the dislike), while those who worked in other industries tended to think there was nothing wrong with it.Unfortunately, my sample is too small to say anything, and I am uncomfortable pointing out examples, as that might be percieved as an attack ('Your opinion on the Amazon patent is wrong because you are ignorant of the software industry' is a rather unpolite tack to take.). So, take that for what it's worth I supposed.There will be counterexamples, of course, that's the nature of statistics. I'm wondering if there's a trend. I hope some larger weblogs pick up the survey and help people participate without seeing this analysis first.

The Amazon One-Click Patent Fracas
Patents
5/2/2000; 11:19:31 PM I'll just let the original page I had for this on Feb 27, 2000 stand. It says it all and it would just clutter things up to try to include it all here.

ADV: Spam Spam & E-Mail5/2/2000; 11:16:30 PM Feb 23, 2000: I can't believe it; I just recieved my first spam marked ADV:, in accordence with the new Colorado law. Wow.Of course, it was addressed "Dear Golf Club Express Member" or some such... and I don't do golf, and I've never told anything that I do. *sigh*

Microsoft's ActiveX Too Active? Misc.5/2/2000; 11:14:29 PM Feb 23, 2000: Microsoft says it will fix its ActiveX installation program after a Spanish Web developer discovered that it modifies users' computers without asking for their permission."Why do so many companies think that as soon as you run their installation program, they can do anything they want to your computer? Why does Real Player install 7 icons and take over the treatment of 10-15 file types, without ever asking? Does this violate any concievable rights we may have?

Michigan town votes down library Net filtering
Censorship
5/2/2000; 11:13:20 PM Feb 23, 2000: "Unofficial results showed that residents here voted 4,379 to 3,626 against the proposal, which would have cut off funding to the library unless the filters were installed."

Wow, cool! I have to admit I fully expected it to pass with flying colors. The town in question is probably the most conservative city in Michigan, providing balance to our Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan and everything liberal.

News, Views and a Silicon Valley Diary
Privacy from Companies
5/2/2000; 11:10:06 PM Feb 23, 2000: "I've been making it a point lately to test the privacy features of Web sites and other kinds of interactions I have with businesses. I do this both because I want to guard my own privacy, and to collect data for this journal.

"The latest news is, I'm not surprised to say, the usual dismal stuff."

Grim Reaper's Age Guesser Humor/Amusing5/2/2000; 11:08:51 PM Feb 23, 2000: via array, via pith and vinegar, via Bradlands.Actually, I'm not terribly impressed. If you examine the weights it gives, then it draws the vast majority of the information from the two tell-tale questions. If I had been less honest about my facial complexion, it would have been horribly, horribly wrong. Derive what you can from that statement. OK, OK, I admit it, I just wanted a "via" chain of 3. Anyone care to go further?