Archive for December, 2006
Sunday, December 31st, 2006
From the archive…
I wrote and published this on my blog in September 2003, over three years ago, and came across it while rebuilding my home page today. I think it is even more relevant now.
In February I wrote a column for BBCi’s News Online in which I called for the creation of ‘OfSearch’, a UK government agency [...]
No Comments » - Posted in rambler by bill
Sunday, December 31st, 2006
Living in the wired world
[As ever, you can read a slightly shorter version of this on the BBC News website]
Anyone who has been online for some years, as I have been, should have felt remarkably smug this year as the Internet and all of its associated technologies, services, protocols and applications went mainstream.
The change was clear in the media, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in billblog by bill
Monday, December 25th, 2006
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Originally uploaded by BillT.
Sitting talking to Anne at home last night when Lili took this…
No Comments » - Posted in billblog by bill
Monday, December 25th, 2006
Welcome to the new economy…
This year there has been remarkably little fuss made over the continued growth of online shopping for Christmas presents, perhaps because we’ve finally reached the point where it is just a normal part of our lives.
After years of effusive headlines – the BBC had ‘Internet shopping set for new record’ in December 2002, and ‘E-Commerce [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in billblog by bill
Thursday, December 21st, 2006
Have yourself a carbon-wasting Christmas…
This Christmas period offices will be empty of staff as the country shuts down for the extended celebration that has become the norm over the last few years. Many staff will head home from work on Friday 22nd, not to return until January 2nd. They’ll leave behind the wreckage of the Christmas party, a [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in billblog by bill
Monday, December 11th, 2006
Why standards matter
On Thursday I’m heading down to London to attend the IEC Centenary Challenge Awards at the IET building on Savoy Place – just at the back of the better-known hotel -and give a talk about why standards matter.
It should be a fun day, with a distinguished audience including professors and students of technology, engineering and [...]
No Comments » - Posted in billstuff by bill
Sunday, December 10th, 2006
Who criticises the critics?
According to Nick Carr:
Jon Pareles, the New York Times rock critic, has a nicely balanced piece today surveying the various crosscurrents roiling today’s media markets…
Yet over at Buzzmachine, Jeff Jarvis weighs has a different take, castigating Pareles for not having faith:
Choice is good, not something to be lamented. Indeed, I find it ironic that a [...]
No Comments » - Posted in billstuff by bill
Sunday, December 10th, 2006
Corby
Corby, a steel town in the middle of Northamptonshire, has been getting some attention recently. Graham Williams’ YouTube documentary, ‘corby, welcome to hell‘ is five minutes of despair, while The Guardian ran a two-page spread in which the town is called “Britain’s official ‘yob capital’“, beginning with a splash of local colour – the [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in I saw this by bill
Friday, December 8th, 2006
Getting the balance right – more on Gowers
[Also to be found on the BBC Website later today]
For anyone with an interest in copyright, patents, trademarks and the panoply of laws, licenses and regulations surrounding intellectual property the publication of Andrew Gowers’ ‘Review of Intellectual Property’ was keenly awaited.
1 Comment » - Posted in billblog by bill
Wednesday, December 6th, 2006
Sound recording copyright
One of the big fights was over proposals to extend the copyright protection for sound recordings from 50 years. The idea is comprehensively demolished in Gowers:
4.26 But the fairness argument applies to society as a whole. Copyright can be viewed as a ‘contract’ between rights owners and society for the purpose of incentivising creativity. As [...]
