Alice turns 150

The sesquicentennial of the publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is 2015. Happy birthday! The Lewis Carroll Society of North America has information on events and commemorations for Alice150.

LinkedIn security breach (June 7, 2012), change your password

In case  you have not heard or been informed, as I was not, LinkedIn.com has had a security breach and 6.4 million member passwords were stolen. The theft was publicized on Thursday, June 7, 2012. As of June 10, 2012, all LinkedIn has done is to post a notice on its site that you should reset your password. In my case, the site remembered I was logged in from a previous visit and did not automatically log me out. I'm not sure whether that's a plus or a minus.

Mind the Cap, stop Canadian Internet usage billing

According to OpenMedia.ca, the Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) affirmed the ability of Canadian Internet Service Providers such as Shaw, Rogers and Bell, the Big Three in Canada, to charge customers for usage over their allotted monthly bandwidth quota.

If you want to help Stop the Meter On Your Internet Use, you can do so through an online petition (below) as well as by writing to the Hon. Tony Clement, Canada's Industry Minister who indicated on February 1, 02011 that he will review the CRTC's decision. You can also use Facebook and Twitter to support this campaign.

First step in Net Neutrality adopted by USA's Federal Communications Commission

The United State's Federal Communications Commission (FCC), according to this ITI Weekly News Digest & NewsBreaks item, had taken the first step towards Net Neutrality by adopting a set of rules. According to ITI's review,

These rules were developed following a public rulemaking process that began in fall 2009 and included input from more than 100,000 individuals and organizations and several public workshops. The rules require all broadband providers to publicly disclose network management practices, restrict broadband providers from blocking internet content and applications, and bar fixed broadband providers from engaging in unreasonable discrimination in transmitting lawful network traffic. The FCC says that the rules ensure much-needed transparency and continued internet openness, while making clear that broadband providers can effectively manage their networks and respond to market demands

The ITI piece goes on to state that the FCC's action is not without its detractors and critics, including "Republicans in Congress", the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and EDUCAUSE.

The new rules are supposed to take effect "early in 2011."

Ten Thousand Year Blog now available through syndication at Newstex

My Ten Thousand Year Blog was approved for syndication through Newstex. The company has begun marketing it. Details on the blog are available at

http://www.newstex.com/publisher-search/Blogs/Samples/The-Ten-Thousand-Year-Blog

Time Magazine 50 Best Websites and 25 Best Blogs for 02009

Time magazine has issued its 50 Best Websites and 25 Best Blogs for 02009.

Source: DIG_REF@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU, 02010 03 17

BC Government Web site gets social (media)

The main BC Government Web site is now offering social media services through the news releases and other access points. You can share the content through Facebook, Twitter (retweet it), Delicious social bookmarking or e-mail the content to someone. There's also a Goverment of BC YouTube Channel, three blogs, and Facebook and Twitter sites for BC Government content. It would be nice to see BC Government photos on Flickr as well.

Apple iPad meets Star Trek

I swear I saw the new Apple iPad lurking in the background of the most recent Star Trek film. Apple's own advertising even displays the film being viewed on the iPad. Certainly the concept and design of a thin, large-screen computer tablet has been a prop in some science fiction films and TV shows (not that I can name one off the top of my head), so I hope the iPad does well. The pricing is certainly interesting.

I'd be happy to have one sent to me for review.

Chrome OS from Google, is it truly time for the Net as the Computer?

I'm very skeptical myself given issues around computer security and sustainability of cloud computing resources of Google's announcement of its Chrome Operating System that will turn the Net into a Computer, or something like that. How do you feel about this question? Would you buy a computer running Chrome OS and why? If existing netbook computers are perfectly capable of handling Windows XP or Linux and doing all the things that one does today in an online environment, what incentive or benefit do you think Chrome OS besides offering users more of a choice of operating systems?

Some of the media stories about Chrome OS are, like my attitude, less than enthusiastic.

The Road to Area 51 - Los Angeles Times

The Road to Area 51 - Los Angeles Times

Posted using ShareThis.

This story reminds me of my one and only UFO sighting when I was growing up in Hawaii. It was around 1963. I was playing in a neighbor's yard and happened to look up and noticed a very high-flying round object, very silver, heading in a northwesterly direction. There was no vapor trail. I later thought it was a weather balloon, but this news story about declassified OXCART files makes me now wonder whether there had indeed been an early overflight of Oahu.