Archive for October, 2008
Thursday, October 30th, 2008
Who is responsible in our cloudy world?
[As ever, this is also on the BBC News website]
In the next few days [in fact it is now published] a number of large technology companies, including Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!, are going to announce that they have signed up to a voluntary code of conduct on how they do business in countries that curtail [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in billblog by bill
Friday, October 24th, 2008
Old Street and environs
Peter Brawne is a genius.
Originally uploaded by genmon.
Maybe you have to know them… but it made me laugh out loud.
No Comments » - Posted in billblog by bill
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
Don’t have nightmares
[As ever you can read this on the BBC News website. Or on any of the spamblogs that rip off my copy and use it as linkbait.]
Anyone concerned about the security of their computers and the data held on them might sleep a little uneasily tonight.
Over the past few weeks we’ve heard reports of serious [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in billblog by bill
Friday, October 17th, 2008
My bio as a wordle
I took the standard biography I send out to people who want to know and made a Wordle… I think it says more about me than the 1000 word version…
And Jamais has done it too…
No Comments » - Posted in billstuff by bill
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
The Weight of Data
[As ever, this is on the BBC News website too]
I have just deleted fifteen gigabytes of data from my laptop. Gone are the unwanted video clips, the duplicated photos, the filed columns and the unlistened-to music, all consigned to the great Trashcan in the sky.
Yet it weighs the same as it always did, just over [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in billblog by bill
Monday, October 13th, 2008
Bill Thompson says: Find Me
I’ve long been fascinated by the tales of ‘numbers stations’, radio stations that broadcast lists of numbers. According to Wikipedia
Numbers stations are shortwave radio stations of uncertain origin. They generally broadcast artificially generated voices reading streams of numbers, words, letters (sometimes using a spelling alphabet), tunes or Morse code. They are in a wide variety [...]
5 Comments » - Posted in billstuff by bill
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
Norwich ID
Bill Thompson
Originally uploaded by Leo Reynolds.
I was one of the team leaders at the Norwich ID ‘Unconvention’ on Friday, working with a group of young people to report on what was happening on the day.
No Comments » - Posted in billblog by bill
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
Between a rock and an interface
[Not my title - I think Mark is to thank. And you can read this on the BBC News site as always]
One of the most wonderful things about spending a lot of my day online is that there is always something interesting to read when work gets boring or I’m waiting for the coffee to [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in billblog by bill
Monday, October 6th, 2008
Birthday
It’s my 48th birthday, and outside the sky is blue (for the moment). That’ll do.
(photo from the excellent Tom Catchesides)
6 Comments » - Posted in billstuff by bill
Friday, October 3rd, 2008
The Web is Not Television
[As ever you can read this on the BBC News Website]
There are often moments during the widespread adoption of transformative technologies where an old way of thinking or doing business is so threatened by the new possibilities that its adherents call on those with political power to ‘do something!’
It never works.
