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FCC Shows How to Make an American Internet Quilt March 16, 2010 
Following the the Federal Communications Commission's release of a detailed plan for giving Americans better access to broadband Internet connections, the blueprint is drawing reactions across a wide range of observers and interested parties. "This may be one of the most important projects the government has undertaken since the national freeway system was constructed," said analyst Rob Enderle.
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Why Keeping the Bar Low May Be Good for Google March 15, 2010 
The Google model survived the dot-com mess but its success seems based largely on the belief that advertising can fund everything. If the users are unhappy, well it doesn't really matter. In fact, Google's customers (the folks paying them money) and the folks they actually serve are quiet different, causing me to question the viability of many of their non-search efforts.
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Old Dogs, a Straying Audience and New Media Tricks March 12, 2010 
The U.S. Census Bureau has started mailing out its forms, so I would like to take this opportunity to announce a new demographic category for those of us who will be writing "journalist" in the "occupation" box: Old New Media Dogs. T-shirts and business cards are forthcoming.
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Two Can Play at the Wired War Game March 09, 2010 
As the United States military increases the use of robots like unmanned drones in battle, it increases the danger that our enemies will take and adapt the technology to use against us, according to Peter Warren Singer, senior fellow and director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution.
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Security and Privacy? Forget About It March 08, 2010 
As the Obama administration grapples with the thorny issue of beefing up the United States' cybersecurity infrastructure, and as security experts warn of impending cyberwarfare, a debate is raging over how much surveillance is enough. One of the biggest problems about implementing cybersecurity is that it involves a measure of surveillance, and the line between surveillance and snooping is razor thin.
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Google's Long-Term Prognosis: Death by CEO March 08, 2010 
Last week I was asked to comment on a study of CEOs. It found that young ones do better than old ones do, which kind of pissed me off. At the same time, like a lot of folks in my business, I've been looking back at the lessons learned from Steve Jobs, who is kind of the CEO gold standard, and comparing him to Eric Schmidt, who appears to be the most highly paid empty suit since John Sculley.
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Say It Ain't So, Microsoft March 06, 2010 
Although its operating system and apps are so buggy that new vulnerabilities are discovered with frightening regularity, Microsoft now wants Internet users to pony up to cover the cost of cybersecurity. The idea was put forth by Scott Charney, Redmond's vice president for trustworthy computing, during a speech at the RSA Conference 2010 security convention earlier this week.
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Sour Grapes, Part Deux: SXSW Shows New Media Its True Colors March 05, 2010 
"OMG, somebody call the Waaaambulance!" went a comment on last week's column about South by Southwest. I had prepared myself for reader snark following my "it's all about me" piece regarding SXSW's denial of my complimentary press credential request. What truly surprised me, however, was the strength of a single tweet about the column.
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Compliant Media Help Apple Skirt Child Labor Scandal March 02, 2010 
You don't have to search very hard on Apple.com to find the 2010 Supplier Responsibility Report, the company's internal audit of how workers are treated on the assembly lines at the overseas third-party companies making its Macs, iPhones and iPods. "Read about Apple's continuing commitment to social responsibility" says the link on the lower right-hand corner of the home page.
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The iPad Catalyst Will Light a Lot of Fires March 02, 2010 
I'm still not personally sold on the idea that I need an Apple iPad, but I very much like what I'm seeing in the publishing industry in response to the fledgling product. Conde Nast is a respected publisher that's looking to do something cool, new and proactive for its magazines -- create digital versions that push the boundaries of digital magazine delivery.
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Facebook's News Feed Patent Lock - Vaguely Menacing? March 01, 2010 
Facebook last week won the right to call the news feed its very own. Patent 7,699,123 was issued by the U.S. Patent Office last Tuesday to CEO Mark Zuckerberg and seven other Facebook executives. It's described as a method for displaying a news feed in a social network environment.
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Was the iPad a Mistake? March 01, 2010 
This isn't to ask whether it will be successful. Apple is a master at setting goals and then exceeding them, and a lot of folks are clearly excited about the iPad -- but the first generation iPhone was kind of a mistake that got corrected in later versions. I'm increasingly thinking that Steve Jobs' initial concerns with this offering were well founded.
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Microsoft vs. the Zombie Hordes February 26, 2010 
Microsoft did its best Woody Harrelson impression this week and set out to bag some zombies. The zombies we're talking about here are PCs infected with malware. The bad guys spread the malware around and then remotely control victims' computers as part of a botnet that can do stuff like send out spam email or carry out DDoS attacks.
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A Sour-Grapes Special: SXSW Snubs ECT and Me February 26, 2010 
Austin, Texas, is the home of the annual South by Southwest Festival, which in 23 years has grown from a music-only celebration featuring a few Sixth Street bars, a handful of bands and lots of Shiner Bock beer, into a two-week, multi-media extravaganza featuring hundreds of Next New Thing musicians, filmmakers and technology movers/shakers -- and lots of Shiner Bock beer.
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Location-Aware Social Nets: Lights On, Nobody Home February 25, 2010 
Last week, Dutch group Forthehack launched PleaseRobMe, a site meant to expose the danger of location-based social networks such as Foursquare, BrightKite, Gowalla, and Google Buzz. Basically, PleaseRobMe says that every time someone posts his location in a location-based social network, that person is publicly announcing that he is not home, which could be taken to mean, no one is home.
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The Intel Intrusion: When Is a Hack Just a Hack? February 25, 2010 
At about the same time in January that Google reported its infrastructure had been hacked, someone broke into Intel's systems. However, unlike Google, which reported the attack publicly and ended up getting the federal government involved, Intel kept relatively quiet about its intrusion. The only mention Intel made of the attack was in its SEC 10-K filing.
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