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Who Are You? Whose Baby Is That? Didn’t I Write That? March 30, 2006

About a decade ago, just after the public Internet made its debut, cyberpunk author Neal Stephenson claimed in one of his novels that copyright violations would run rampant on the Internet, and there’d be nothing we could do about it.

Stephenson’s prophetic words have come true, especially in the blogosphere, where people lift content in its entirety from one website and post it onto their own. These lifters come in two categories, however: those that give credit and those that don’t. By credit, I mean either including the copyright notice and/or at least a link back to the original article.

Since links …

Will That Be Cash, Charge, or Your Finger? March 29, 2006

The Chicago Tribune reports that Pay By Touch in the United States has outfitted Jewel-Osco supermarket/ drugstores in 14 states with a pay-by-touch system. To pay, you touch your finger to a tiny piece of glass, and supply a phone number.

According to the poll at the Chicago Tribune’s website, at the time of this writing, 71.1% of 671 respondents said that they were uncomfortable with such technology. Apparently customers surveyed at these stores felt similarly.

Interestingly, the technology does not store fingerprints. Rather, it converts features of your finger into an equation. According to Pay By Touch, that means …

You’re… Hired - Job Seeking In The Global Village March 28, 2006

The Associated Press reports today that technology firms in the United States are waiting for word from Congress in Washington regarding importing engineers and computer programmers on visa arrangements. They’d like immigration laws to change. This is no doubt due to the tech bubble that is once again forming, creating a void in the labour pool, even though there actually are skilled, out-of-work people available, but invisible.

Now, I don’t know what the unemployment figures are these days in North America. I gave up looking for full time programming work 2 years ago, after 2 unfruitful years of searching, up …

Hark, Who Goes There - Digital Identification and the New World Order March 24, 2006

According to CardTechnology Magazine, parts of southern Taiwan are trying out a contactless digital money card, branded by MasterCard, for bus passengers. Apparently, the card cannot be validated fast enough for subway use. The cards are also being used for purchases at stores.

The Taiwanese trial is one of many that are going on around the world. The Feb 2006 print issue of CardTechnology magazine asks the question “Will Banks and Transit Create A Common Contactless Card?” on the front cover. There is a move all over the world to force citizens to give up hard currency and printed identification …

Dealing With Your Cellular Provider’s Downtimes March 21, 2006

I just got off a tech assistance call to my cellular provider, which I initiated when I couldn’t access my email or the web from my new, beloved PalmOne Treo 650. After over a half hour of very pleasant assistance, we got nowhwere. Except that the tech rep admitted to the network being down out in the western provinces in Canada. I said that this must be the problem for me, somehow, as well. She was unwilling to agree and instead pleasantly sent me through configuring, trying, and reconfiguring my Treo’s network settings for a half hour or so.

Now despite …

Your World Daily Planner

What’s On When has taken a novel idea and turned it into a website. What they’ve done is turned themselves into a storehouse of upcoming events all over the world. Events are searchable through a number of means, including a world map, by continent, country, city, theme, and date range. Quite comprehensive, I’d say.

The one thing it doesn’t have is the ability for someone to enter a search string. The themes are predefined, so you’d have to sift through a page of listings to maybe find what you’re looking for. However, maybe they’ll add features in time.

What’d be really …

The Internet Superhighway Goes On The Rails

Planes, trains, and automobiles. The Internet has been available on airplanes for some time now. It’s only fitting that trains are next. VIA Rail Canada now offers WiFi access on their trains along the Quebec City - Windsor corridor.

For those of us that have been waiting 20 years for the promised high-speed trains along this rail corridor, being able to access the Internet on trains is no substitute. But it also means that we can work while travelling. Which sort of makes up for not being able to get to our destinations quickly.

The first thing that struck me, upon reading …

Managing Your Life With Rich Internet Applications March 18, 2006

According to Jep’s Rich User Interfaces blog, the KIKO online calendar application is ranked number one amongst Ajax (Asynchronous Javascript and XML) RIA (Rich Internet Application) apps. (The ranking is actually from Dan Grossman’s Ajax apps list.) I’ve been reviewing online calendaring systems lately and have come across a few nice apps (30 Boxes and RSS Calendar).

While I settled on 30 Boxes a few weeks ago, I’m liking KIKO’s features. I haven’t signed up yet,  but KIKO has some incredibly appealing features, good for the global traveller. For example, I’m on the go enough that I …

The End of Pay-As-You-Go Phone Cards? March 17, 2006

Card Technology print magazine reports that network providers the world over are getting ready to offer mobile phone users a new way to pay for their airtime. This spells the end of those scratch cards you can purchase in different denominations.

Anyone who currently sells these cards for the tiny margins they offer can this revenue stream goodbye as soon as the end of this year in some parts of the world. Unless you’re willing to pay for the expensive network lines and equipment you would otherwise need to offer the new payment method. Of course, for pay-as-you-go users and …

Robot Bugs? You’re Kidding, Right?

From the “It’s Not April Fool’s” files… On the front cover of yesterday’s Globe and Mail newspaper (Canada) is a small headline about the Pentagon developing cyborg insects. These miniature cyborgs would be real bugs, with electronic devices inserted into them at the larval stage. The idea is to be able to control them remotely.

Sounds crazy? I seem to recall coming across one web page late last year where Japanese scientists were demonstrating how they could control the musculature of a woman. In fact, they could remotely control her arms and legs.

The idea with the cybugs is that they …

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