From Slashdot.org
Moosifer writes “Computerworld reports that in order to step on fewer 802.11b toes, the IEEE has reduced the actual throughput of 802.11g in its latest (and allegedly final) draft. I think I might keep old firmware on my linksys AP and card so that I can at least pretend I have faster gear.” It’s been moved from 54Mbps all the way down to 10-20Mbps, more than just a slight change.
若 ComputerWorld 報導屬實，那多少廠商賭在 802.11g 上面。不妙。
Senior high schools placed under SARS home quarantine began online learning courses yesterday, thanks to the Taipei City Government and companies backing the project. – from chinapost.com.tw
According to Sina.com, this system is based on similiar projects which are being widely implemented in Hong Kong where SARS has stopped students from going to schools. Accessibility is not optimized, by the way, which shies away Mozilla users like me.
在最新一期(2003/05)的 OCW Mail Digest 中指出了 MIT 針對網頁親和力(accessibility) 所作的努力。幾個內文的關鍵字和要點為：
* valid HTML 4.01, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
* And most importantly, our data tables now contain heavy use of “scope” and “header” attributes that should make it easier to navigate using screenreaders such as JAWS.
* accessibility of PDFs. We no longer use PDFs that include Type 3 or “bitmapped” fonts.
* As of yet, JAWS does not read mathematical symbols, equations or formulas. We are examining the use of MathML in the future, especially now that Acrobat 6.0 will support more XML within PDFs.
* In order to ensure that the 500 courses we release in September are as accessible as possible, we are working closely with the MIT Adaptive Technology for Information and Computing(ATICLab)
更多關於網頁親和力的資訊可以參考 Jedi 的「網頁無障礙與網頁親和力」一文。至於 MathML，阿彭似乎也有不少的心得。
Wiki 的非官方版本歷史：
* 1945: Vannevar Bush describes the gist of hypertext in As We May Think
* 1963: Doug Engelbart describes (and implements!) real-time computer+network-based collaboration system
* 1963: Ted Nelson lays out grand architecture of computer-based hypertext
* 1989: Tim Bernes-Lee invented WWW
* 1995: Ward Cunningham created the Portland Pattern Repository
進而到現在的 Wikilla 或是之前 elixus.org 上的 wiki clone. 整整過了六十八個年頭。在十倍速的時代，為何 temporal gap 仍如此之大？又，什麼是在 implementing 變動快速的串連機制(RSS for example)後仍會遭遇的不變使用者習性？Jean 在「攸關工具，非關工具」一文中寫道：
這使我想到年輕人用科技工具是天生的，因為她們就成長在這環境中，就像是從未被纏過足的女孩，跑的快且輕鬆，而對四十歲以上的人而言，則是後天的，像是被纏足再放大的人，跑不快，也容易摔倒，就更該勇於嘗試和練習，才能克服缺陷，若是做老師的拒絕使用新工具，或淺嘗即止，與學生間的落差不就越來越大了嗎？
在網路的教育上，我們常採取放流的方式。對於尚未有網路使用經驗的人，讓她們 surf WWW，寫寫轉寄 email，試試 Yahoo Messenger, 年輕一點的可能還會教她們使用 BBS。一陣子後，WWW 上的 accessibility problem(網頁親和力問題)、電子郵件的無責任轉寄和BBS(even Web version) 的諸多限制(high noise ratio)，都被想當然爾視為「常態」。反正，網路就是那個樣子。
或是，讓她們一開始就接觸現階段在某些程度上實現 What the Web Can Be 的 網站和電子媒介？減輕未來在「去習過程」中不自主慣性的抵抗或是重新進行 adaptation 的痛苦？
Hypertext/Wiki 的啟示是技術，也是非工具的習慣。我們在新媒介推廣所面對的核心問題，總是萬年不變的心理層面？
繼續，「Hypertext 不就是 WWW? 」可能不是，網路(WWW) is just one of the reigning successful model. 奇怪，這又和我之前所以為的很不一樣。
I fumbled, so I ask: “How to start with fresh eyes?”
我還是喜歡用光和水的來做比喻。河流是所有人生，我可以是河中一顆打從娘胎就不斷想要結晶的石頭。人生越濤湧，我必須為結晶所付出的心力就越大。某日，流速加快，以十倍速來進行，有的石頭沒法結晶被沖走，迷失在那一端；有的部分被沖走後又重新結晶，將自己的形狀重新組合，來適應新的流速。It’s a constant fight. 我，就是河中的石頭, the gestalt of stone。與水流接觸的表面雖流動不已，但表面下，卻沒什麼動靜。
或是，我是河岸邊投射到河流表面的那一束光暈。河常流，我隨然自動，我也不動。河流向我、流入我，也流出我。I AM the gestalt of light projected onto the river.
今日 Schee Quotes:
* RSS: when crystalization starts to flow
* Web: manifestation of beings in digital
* Open Source: 沒啥好怕，法是偷不走的
* New media, but old habits
* 正知見可以由數位記憶來輔助
1) 著作權法修正草案新聞 – – 賣盜版光碟最高罰八百萬 (2003/03/27)
2) US Department of State – U.S. Releases Special 301 Report
On Global Intellectual Property Rights (2003/05/01)
3) 美國在台協會新聞稿 – USTR 2001 SPECIAL 301 REPORT (2003/05/01)
4) 台灣部落格新聞 – 支持美國的下場 (2003/05/08)
有趣的是，在第二則新聞稿中，其中的一段是這樣子寫的：
Another 10 trading partners, including the European Union (EU) were placed on the priority watch list, which entails a greater level of scrutiny. The 11 trading partners are Argentina, the Bahamas, Brazil, EU, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, and Taiwan.
EU(歐盟)也跟台灣一樣位列在優先觀察名單之內。請續讀參考以下的資料… 5) EFFI – Finland kills EUCD(for now)
6) IP Justice – Italy Implements EU Copyright Directive: Consumer Rights Restricted with Little Debate (2003/04/16)
7) Association Electronique LIBRE – Status of the national law application of the EUCD
Just to name a few some very controversial issues.
此外，EU 這個 directive 中的排除條款是這樣子說的：
(33) The exclusive right of reproduction should be subject to an exception to allow certain acts of temporary reproduction, which are transient or incidental reproductions, forming an integral and essential part of a technological process and carried out for the sole purpose of enabling either efficient transmission in a network between third parties by an intermediary, or a lawful use of a work or other subject-matter to be made.
(34) Member States should be given the option of providing for certain exceptions or limitations for cases such as educational and scientific purposes, for the benefit of public institutions such as libraries and archives, for purposes of news reporting, for quotations, for use by people with disabilities, for public security uses and for uses in administrative and judicial proceedings.
(38) Member States should be allowed to provide for an exception or limitation to the reproduction right for certain types of reproduction of audio, visual and audio-visual material for private use , accompanied by fair compensation […]
(40) Member States may provide for an exception or limitation for the benefit of certain non-profit making establishments, such as publicly accessible libraries and equivalent institutions, as well as archives.
Article 2.
2. Member States may provide for exceptions or limitations to the reproduction right provided for in Article 2 in the following cases:
(a) in respect of reproductions on paper or any similar medium, effected by the use of any kind of photographic technique or by some other process having similar effects, with the exception of sheet music, provided that the rightholders receive fair compensation;
(b) in respect of reproductions on any medium made by a natural person for private use and for ends that are neither directly nor indirectly commercial, on condition that the rightholders receive fair compensation which takes account of the application or non-application of technological measures referred to in Article 6 to the work or subject-matter concerned;
[…](n) use by communication or making available, for the purpose of research or private study, to individual members of the public by dedicated terminals on the premises of establishments referred to in paragraph 2(c) of works and other subject-matter not subject to purchase or licensing terms which are contained in their collections;
歐盟各會員國對於衍生自 DMCA 的 EUCD 有著不同的意見，結果今年也上了 301 特別觀察名單。歐盟和會員國的相關動作，請參考 IP Justice。
在尋找歐盟 FP6 架構下的一些資料時，偶然兜到了 eSIGN 這個由德國漢堡大學德國手語與聽覺溝通研究室承攬的案子。eSIGN 的研究方向是希望將虛擬的手語主播，以「多語」的方式呈現在官方網站上，提供需要檢索公共影音資訊的聽障朋友們一個趨近無障礙的 accessing mode。這個計劃的簡報檔(172kb)可以由這裡下載。
或許 Jedi 有什麼意見也說不一定。
今早在國家數位典藏通訊第二卷第五期裡看到的消息，應該算是舊聞，但還是貼上來91年度得獎結果，以供參考。
不知，若使用 blog 或是 wiki, 再加上 rss 串接相關文件，可能會給國中小的『數位典藏』計劃，帶來什麼樣的風貌。
光要考慮到整個計劃內容和經驗，要如何執行和規劃才可以挪為或移植為後來者所用(say, portability is one of the concerns)，可能就讓會參賽者傷透腦筋了。
另一個消息是，Ward Cunningham, Wikiwikiweb 的發起人(father of all wikis)，也有了自己的 blog.
沒有這一兩年 blog 的大張旗鼓和諸多現象, wiki 可能會少了一點活力。
An anonymous reader submits: “Joe Barillari, a computer science student studying under Prof. Ed Felten, posted an analysis on his blog of the lawsuit filed by the RIAA against a Princeton college student for running “Napster-like” networks. He argues that the case doesn’t quite live up to its contributory infringement claim due to limitations in the DMCA. A good read!”
除了zonble 在文章中所提到的例子之外，國家圖書館的首頁也有類似的情形。隨文附圖兩張，分別為國圖、美國國會圖書館，還有英國大英圖書館首頁正在 loading 時所呈現的狀況：
本文算是 accessibility 的第四彈。若不以網頁親和力的角度來看，國家圖書館的首頁在 information compactness 的表現上，仍有極大的進步空間。
兩篇關於 journal 的 open access 商業模式之入門『指引』，分別是：Guide to Business Planning for Converting a Subscription-based Journal to Open Access(pdf. 990k) 還有 Guide to Business Planning for Launching a New Open Access Journal(pdf, 2mb).
Soros.org 底下的 Budapest Open Access Initiative?
早上便看到這則新聞：『賣盜版光碟最高罰800萬』。標題定的不是很好，讓人有似乎著作權爭議僅是在盜版議題上打轉的印象。草案內容，還沒有看到，但根據報上所載，有些條款實在頗令人氣短。
Creative Commons 特別在 educational purpose 方面作的授權條款延伸，由 Rob Hallman(a Stanford Law School student) 所起草：
Educational Purposes. The licensor permits students or educators to copy, distribute, display, and perform the Work in whole or in part for educational purposes as defined in this section.
Educational purposes include classroom use affiliated with an educational institution, research or other projects developed and displayed exclusively for classroom use, or for the review of instructor(s), or degree-conferring committees, where:
Educational institutions include individuals, corporations or trusts, commercial or noncommercial, whose primary purpose is educational, and whose educational purpose is demonstrable through governmental recognition or through comportment consistent with a customary understanding of educational purpose among practitioners in the field.
Classrooms include the traditional classroom setting as well as other recognized forums for instruction or coursework that are administered by an educational institution. On-line and other nontraditional ‘classrooms’ will be considered classrooms for the purposes of this definition where they are the forum for a legitimate course, seminar, or instructional program administered by an educational institution.
Students are a distinct, limited community currently participating with the permission of an educational institution in a course, seminar, or other program with an educational purpose offered by that institution. Student status is coextensive with the duration of the course, seminar, or program.
Educators are full-time or part-time/adjunct faculty, administration or staff of an educational institution.
又，另有一文”Slow Start for Long-Awaited Easing of Copyright Restriction“介紹教育工作者在課堂上所可能遇到的智財權問題。
回到淡江大學的企圖。沒有類似 copyleft 或 creative commons 的解套模式出現之前，想要仿效 open courseware, 那在課程上線後，真正的問題可能才要開始。廖漢騰在『台灣文化研究失職了嗎？數位學習及數位典藏的沈默』一文中提到：
台灣文化研究選擇不介入「數位學習」及「數位典藏」這兩個國家計劃是背離了其批評又創造的心靈活動的。
與著作權使用息息相關的教育界，在此次草案擬定當中的立場為何？
同樣的，如果著作權新聞還是會以「盜版」來架構陳述新聞脈絡，或是視盜版為著作權首要「對抗」之敵人，那我們的數位學習環境，恐怕在可見的未來，仍難讓學生跳脫出只是蒐集 information source 的大倉庫(too much information, too little wisdom?)。這個趨勢，我們已經可以在鄒景平老師的這篇 blog 中，瞧出一些端倪。
理想中(which is almost always not the case)，國家級的數位典藏計劃應有高於一般商業或個人 digital archives 的 accessibility. 所以我們可以根據之前討論脈絡來看一看http://www.ndap.org.tw/Links/ 中的各計劃狀況。
此外，Meatball:Wiki 在 320×320 的 Palm Tungsten T 上，以 iSilioX 轉檔的結果，閱覽起來毫無問題。CreativeCommons.org 和 Wired 也有同等級的親和力。Plucker 也是目前在試用的軟體。
再度回應當初所討論的無障礙網路空間議題。感謝好友 Celeste 提供相關訊息。轉貼於下，請參閱。 前言：
1. 殘障者上網遇到的問題
2. 視障者使用網路的方式與工具
討論：
1. 視障者的網路近用權相關的法律條文
2. 援引美國障礙者法案(American Disabilities Act of 1990 , ADA) 所引起的爭議
3. 視障者網路近用權有關的案例
(1) 1999 美國 National Federation for the Blind v. American Online 和解（最早的案例）
(2) 2002 美國 Access Now v. Southwest Airliner 駁回（截稿前最新的案子）
(3) 2000 澳洲Bruce Maguire v. Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games（SOCOG）勝訴
結論：
美國復健法案508條款雖然規定2001年6月以後所有的聯邦政府及政府資助單位的網站，
都必須要符合近用網站的原則，然而根據最近舊金山州立大學與Pricewaterhouse Coopers 的調查，仍有87%的政府網站是不具近用性
身心障礙者保護法56條明文規定建築物需符合無障礙標準，罰則不輕，但台灣的實體無障礙空間仍然相當粗糙，虛擬無障礙空間遙遙無期
上個月中的消息。永遠老三的Opera 為了抗議 Microsoft(TM) 的一些作法，在原本的 7.x 版本外又特地推出了 bork version. 這個 version 跟其他版本的差異在於，瀏覽 MSN 網站時會將所有的英文自動翻譯成有趣的拼法。若有興趣自己試試, Opera Bork 版可以從官方的 ftp 站下載。
來自 Technology Review 的消息。號誌辨認常常是我們騎車周遊各國時所會遇到的一個麻煩。現任教於 Carnegie Mellon University 的 Jie Yang 發明了一套使用 HP Jornada 再加上照相機便可以將他國道路視覺號誌翻譯的軟體。 我在想，PDA 除了可作 GPS 定位之外，還可以如何和摩托旅遊結合。至少，我曾經在 PalmGear 上看過為數不少專們寫給行車油量紀錄的軟體。
1) 2001 年 Lawrence Lessig(Stanford Law Professor) 與 Jack Valenti(President of the Motion Picture Association of America) 針對 Creative Commons 授權模式作精采的辯論。
2) MIT Open Courseware 採用的 CC 授權條款。
三月份 Business Week 的特刊報告”Linux Uprising.” 頗為有趣的封面。
Amazon 的創辦人兼執行長 Jeff Bezos 竟然可以向 USPTO 申請到 Discussion Group 的專利權，這實在是令人啼笑皆非。局裡員工顯然是自外於網路世界太久了。
Inventors: Bezos; Jeffrey P. (Seattle, WA)
Assignee: Amazon.com, Inc. (Seattle, WA)
Read more from Ecommerce News.
The Semantic Web Illustrated, SemaView – first of a series of “At-A-Glance” illustrations introducing the semantic web technologies.
The Lord Of the Webs (Washington Post) – Tim Berners-Lee explains the Semantic Web at the US National Science Foundation 2003-01-30
Google 的『獨大』讓我感到有點害怕，但除了萬眾為首的 它 以外，我們是不是有其他不同的選擇呢(well, I am not sure)？我自己另外常用的有 vivisimo.com, teoma.com, 還有 alltheweb.com.
opensource.mit.edu 提供 Open Source 學術研究界一個 depository. 開放來源碼研究者，可於網頁登記個人研究專長。
昨日上傳的論文，簡列 title 與 abstract 如下… Paper 1
Authors:
Bonaccorsi, Andrea & Cristina Rossi
Title
Why open source software can succeed
Click to access rp-bonaccorsirossi.pdf
Abstract
The paper discusses three key economic problems raised by the emergence
and diffusion of open source software: motivation, coordination, and diffusion under a dominant standard. First the movement took off through the activity of a software development community that deliberately did not follow profit motivations. Second, a hierarchical coordination emerged without the support of an organization with proprietary rights.
Third, Linux and other open source systems diffused in an evnvironment dominated by established proprietary standards, which benefited from significant increasing returns. The paper show that recent developments in the theory of critical mass in the diffusion of technologies with network externality may help to explain these phenomena.
Paper 2
Authors
Franke, Nik and Eric von Hippel
Title:
Satisfying Heterogeneous User Needs via Innovation Toolkits: The Case of
Apache Security Software
Click to access rp-vonhippelfranke.pdf
Abstract
Manufacturers customarily provide only a few product variants to address the average needs of users in the major segments of markets they serve. When user needs are highly heterogeneous, this approach leaves many seriously dissatisfied. One solution is to enable users to modify products on their own using innovation toolkits.?We explore the effectiveness of this solution in an empirical study of Apache security software. We find high heterogeneity of need in that field, and also find that users modifying their own software to be significantly more satisfied than non- innovating users. We propose that the user toolkits solution will be useful in many markets characterized by heterogeneous
demand.d.onality on offer. We also find that users creating their own software modifications are significantly more satisfied than are non-innovating users. We conclude by suggesting that the “toolkits for user innovation” approach to enhancing user satisfaction might be generally applicable to markets characterized by heterogeneous user needs.
Paper 3
Authors:
Hertel, Guido, Sven Niedner & Stefanie Herrmann
Title:
Motivation of Software Developers in Open Source Projects: An Internet-based Survey of Contributors to the Linux Kernel
Click to access rp-hertelniednerherrmann.pdf
Abstract:
The motives of 141 contributors to a large Open Source Software project(the Linux kernel) was explored with an internet-based questionnaire study. Measured factors were both derived from discussions within the Linux community as well as from models from social sciences. Participants’ engagement was particularly determined by their identification as a Linux developer, by pragmatic motives to improve own software, and by their tolerance of time investments. Moreover, some of the software development was accomplished by teams. Activities in these teams were particularly determined by participants?evaluation of the team goals as well as by their perceived indispensability and self-efficacy.
Paper 4
Author:
O’Mahony, Siobhan
Title:
Guarding the Commons: How Community Managed Software Projects Protect
Their Work
Click to access rp-omahony.pdf
Abstract:
Theorists often speculate why open source and free software project contributors give their work away. Although contributors make their work publicly available, they do not forfeit their rights to it. Community managed software projects protect their work by using several legal and normative tactics, which should not be conflated with a disregard for or neglect of intellectual property rights. These tactics allow a project intellectual property to be publicly and freely available and yet, governable. Exploration of this seemingly contradictory state may provide new insight into governance models for the management of digital intellectual property.
Paper 5
Authors:
von Krogh, Georg, Sebastian Spaeth & Karim R. Lakhani
Title
Community, Joining, and Specialization in Open Source Software
Innovation: A Case Study
Click to access rp-vonkroghspaethlakhani.pdf
Abstract:
This paper develops an inductive theory of the open source software
innovation process by focussing on the creation of Freenet, a project
aimed at developing a decentralized and anonymous peer-to- peer
electronic file sharing network. We are particularly interested in the
strategies and processes by which new people join the existing community
of software developers, and how they initially contribute code.
Analyzing data from multiple sources on the Freenet software development
process, we generate the constructs of “joining script”,
“specialization”, “contribution barriers”, and “feature gifts”, and
propose relationships among these. Implications for theory and research
are discussed.
Paper 6
Author:
West, Joel
Title
How Open is Open Enough? Melding Proprietary and Open Source Platform
Strategies
Abstract:
Computer platforms provide an integrated architecture of hardware and
software standards as a basis for developing complementary assets. The
most successful platforms were owned by proprietary sponsors that
controlled platform evolution and appropriated associated rewards.
Responding to the Internet and open source systems, three traditional
vendors of proprietary platforms experimented with hybrid strategies
which attempted to combine the advantages of open source software while
retaining control and differentiation. Such hybrid standards strategies
reflect the competing imperatives for adoption and appropriability, and
suggest the conditions under which such strategies may be preferable to
either the purely open or purely proprietary alternatives.
Paper 7
Author:
Zeitlyn, David
Title:
Gift economies in the development of open source software:
Anthropological reflections
Click to access rp-zeitlyn.pdf
Building on Eric Raymond work this article discusses the motivation
and rewards that lead some software engineers to participate in the open
source movement. It is suggested that software engineers in the open
source movement may have sub-groupings which parallel kinship groups
such as lineages. Within such groups gift giving is not necessarily or
directly reciprocated, instead members work according to the xiom of
kinship amity??direct economic calculation is not appropriate within
the group. What Bourdieu calls ymbolic capital?can be used to
understand how people work in order to enhance the reputation (of
themselves and their group).
****************************************************************************************
Working Papers
****************************************************************************************
Paper 1
Author:
Ratto, Matt
Title:
Re-working by the Linux Kernel developers
Abstract:
Technology design is generally a matter of re-working existing systems
rather than the designing of entirely novel artifacts. In this paper I
explore part of a computer operating system called Linux that is
designed to be re-worked by its users, a process I call ‘designing for
redesign’. I examine the practices of reworking within this development
effort using some concepts gleaned from activity theory, a
meta-theoretical model that particularly focuses on the simultaneously
material and conceptual aspects of artifacts. This work is two- fold;
first to examine design as part of a larger activity of re-working, and
second, to begin to put together a model of socio-technical activity
that incorporates the complex epistemological and ontological conditions
that characterize current human conditions. Understanding the sociality
and materiality of “knowing” and “doing” in technologized society means
unpacking what we mean when we talk of ‘access’ and understanding ‘use’
as often an activity of re-working.
Paper 2
Author:
Reis, Christian Robottom & Renata Pontin de Mattos Fortes
Title
An Overview of the Software Engineering Process and Tools in the Mozilla
Project
Click to access reismozilla.pdf
Abstract:
The Mozilla Project is an Open Source Software project which is
dedicated to development of the Mozilla Web browser and application
framework. Possessing one of the largest and most complex communities of
developers among Open Source projects, it presents interesting
requirements for a software process and the tools to support it. Over
the past four years, process and tools have been refined to a point
where they are both stable and effective in serving the project needs.
This paper describes the software engineering aspect of a large Open
Source project. It also covers the software engineering tools used in
the Mozilla Project, since theMozilla process and tools are intimately
related. These tools include Bugzilla, a Web application designed for
bug tracking, bug triage, code review and correction; Tinderbox, an
automated build and regression testing system; Bonsai, a tool which
performs queries to the CVS code repository; and LXR, a hypertext-based
source code browser.
***********************************************************************
MS Thesis
Author:
Rothfuss, Gregor J
Title
A Framework for Open Source Projects
Abstract:
The historical roots of Open Source are outlined. A comparison between
Open Source projects and classical projects highlights strengths and
weaknesses of both, and defines their attributes. Existing Open Source
theories are evaluated, and the requirements for a framework for Open
Source projects are determined. The framework introduces the notions of
actors, roles, areas, processes and tools, and depicts their
interrelationships in a matrix. Each aspect of the framework is then
further developed to serve both as a conceptual foundation for Open
Source and a help for organizing and managing Open Source projects.
***********************************************************************
Updated Paper
Author:
Hawkins, Richard
Title
The Economics of Free Software for a Competitive Firm
Abstract:
This paper builds a simple economic model of the profit seeking firm
with a choice between producing an open source and proprietary
solutions. Differences between public and viral licenses are discussed
from the firm’s perpective. Advocacy issues are omitted entirely, and
the model requires no math beyond subtraction. The decision of a firm to
adopt an open source product rather than purchase is also discussed, but
is seen as a trivial and uninteresting problem.
資料來源: Karim
===============================================
Karim R. Lakhani
MIT Sloan School of Management
MIT Free/Open Source Software Research Project
e-mail: lakhani@mit.edu
voice: 617-851-1224
fax: 617-344-0403
http://opensource.mit.edu
http://freesoftware.mit.edu
http://mit.edu/lakhani/www
Dan Gillmor 在 專欄(聖荷西水星報) 中提到 Google 已經買下 blogger.com 母公司 (Pyra) 的訊息，這不啻是為整個 bloggging sphere 投下重大的變數(now it’s getting fuzzier and harder to predict the curve)。
Synergy and consilience? Google 主管還在想 blogging 和 googling 要怎麼結合：
Nick Denton asks: “Will Google use weblog links to improve Google News?” I asked Google’s spokesman roughly the same question, but got no answer. Stay tuned, he said, because the company is just starting to figure out how it’s going to use this stuff.
新的 googlism 會是 “glogging(個落格)” 嗎？
/. 上的討論。
Elwyn Jenkins(GoogleVillage.info): Google Buys Pyra: Fuel for The Blogging World!
Paypal, 網路上最大的小額付費機制，昨日(Feb.13)寄發給會員新的 user agreement(海外版). 我使用 paypal 大概有一年多的時間，因此被特赦在下次登入的六十日之內，決定是否同意新的條款。若不同意，只好吃自己的。懷疑新條款我們這些善良的人類(no robot-agent)是否能解讀：
Re-organize the information into 1) a User Agreement that sets out the basic legal relationship between you and PayPal, and 2) various Policies that set the rules for how the PayPal service works. This reorganization is intended to help you more easily understand your legal rights and obligations and to help you find answers to your questions on our various services more quickly. It also is intended to make the format of our User Agreement more consistent with that of our parent company, eBay.
Update our arbitration clause in order to clarify your dispute resolution alternatives in the event that you have a dispute that cannot be resolved through normal customer service channels.
Paypal 在去年底已由 ebay 所併購，並且與原來的付費機制(ebay payment)整合。另外，電子灣(ebay)在台灣這邊併購力傳資訊的過程相當不順利，一直到現在，雖然拍賣介面有所地域化，但仍是難以回天。這個消息對去年八月底趕來台灣的總裁 Meg Whitman 而言，絕對是第二記巴掌(第一記為 ebay 退出日本市場)。
Paypal(now an ebay’s company) 這種動不動就修改使用者同意條款的舉措，相當令人感冒。雖然我會安慰自己說『使用者的眼睛或許是雪亮的』，但不要忘記的是『行為則是被綁標的』。我還在研究 c2it, 看是否能為自己的最後尊嚴作解套。
T.H. Schee 