Posts from — January 2005

European Union IT research is failing:
Viviane Reding, European Commission information society and media commissioner, said, “Fast-changing IST research is, and must remain, a key driver for the rapid economy-wide technological innovation on which Europe’s skilled jobs ultimately depend.”

She said, “I intend to respond very quickly to the panel’s concerns about red tape, which is a general problem of EU research programmes, but felt most directly in IST research where we operate in a particularly dynamic and fast evolving environment.”

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this will be good, but there still needs to be some solid oversight.

Social Software Alliance -

Social Software Alliance
:
http://www.socialtext.net/ssa/

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i helped despam the ssa today.

European Union IT research is failing:
Viviane Reding, European Commission information society and media commissioner, said, “Fast-changing IST research is, and must remain, a key driver for the rapid economy-wide technological innovation on which Europe’s skilled jobs ultimately depend.”

She said, “I intend to respond very quickly to the panel’s concerns about red tape, which is a general problem of EU research programmes, but felt most directly in IST research where we operate in a particularly dynamic and fast evolving environment.”

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this will be good, but there still needs to be some solid oversight.

Fridgy:
Fridgy is a prototype piece from Israeli design Yonatan Sadowsky which aims to “break the ‘refrigeratorness’ of the common refrigerator,” most obviously by making use of a polyester fabric for its shell. Fridgy, which uses a Peltier-like cooling mechanism, is covered in a non-absorbent fabric, and can even be folded up when not in use. It’s like having a sleep over for your soda, except at the end everyone dies.
kitchen is the heart of the home [DesignBoom via NearNearFuture]

classic.

AoIR 2005:
Call for papers: AoIR 2005 (Chicago): “Internet Generations”

yep…. it is that time.

Recapturing Kansas — In These Times:
What I mean by that term is populist conservatism. It’s this angry right-wing sensibility that speaks in—or pretends to speak in—the voice of the working class. It got its start, more or less, in 1968, with the candidacy of George Wallace. The issues that the Backlash has embraced have changed a lot over the years. In the early days it was pretty much racist. Today, you have the same angry, hard-done-by sensibility, but it’s attached to different issues – the most famous being abortion, and, in this latest election, gay marriage.

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a nice description and interview by thomas frank.

Development Gateway Launches Software Tool For International Relief and Development Coordination:
January 11, 2005 – The Development Gateway Foundation has launched an open source software tool that organizations can use to coordinate international relief and development efforts. Called the Local Projects Database (LPD), this tool can be downloaded from the web. See http://lpd.sourceforge.net/

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this could be useful…

Monstrous Regiment Quotes:
http://ozdw.homes.com.au/DiscQuotes/Monstr.htm

it’s a cool novel

Keychain Plants:
SorobanGeeks has pictures of what they say is the latest fad in Japan: keychain plants. Each one sells for around $10 and features real, live plants that grow in a tiny arboretum until they become too large to be contained, after which they can be transplanted to a larger pot. I wanted to find a reason this was a bad idea, but I really can’t—the more greenery the better.
Plantes à emporter… [SorobanGeeks]

i want some.

Self-Destruct Button DX:
The Self-Destruct Button DX is a handy bit of kit to have around, especially if you access your living space through any manner of airlock. Noted as the “luxurious edition” on the product page (only the best for your last milliseconds in corporeal form), it’s made perfectly clear that ” Installing in the reception table, and on et cetera the foot warmer please enjoy. As for function this way as a switch completely being not to be, please note.” Noted.
Home Page [LiveDoor via TechJapan via SlashdotJP]

i need one of these for my office door.