| Monday, December 2, 2002 |  |
| Software license tied to human rights |
| CNET reports on a software license created by Hacktivismo, which includes clauses to "promote fundamental human rights of end-users". It forbids that the software is used for anything that violates the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and additionally, the monitoring of individuals, filtering of free expression, and more. If we do need restrictive licenses all, this would certainly be a fruitful approach. Way to go! [ Politics | 2002-12-02 02:42 | 0 comments | PermaLink ] |
| 239 MPG |
 Slashdot reports: "VW/Audi has a history of being a leader in creating super fuel efficient vehicles. They currently sell the most fuel efficient car in the world, 3L Lupo and the Audi A2, and the most fuel efficient station wagon (Jetta TDI Wagon). Now VW is experimenting with something along the lines of the Honda Insight ( a 2 person vehicle ). The 1L VW concept car can achieve .89L/100kms or 239MPG. With Biodiesel and Ultra low sulfur diesel becoming available, hopefully more of these vehicles will come to North America. These fuels are already available in Europe and combined with the new catalyst technology they use, these new engines produce very low emissions."[ Technology | 2002-12-02 02:56 | 1 comment | PermaLink ] More > |
| Big Government |
Doc Searls quotes Britt Blaser, who in Is our Sense Becoming More Common? says good stuff like:"It's not Republicans vs. Democrats or conservatives vs. liberals, it's us vs. THEM. People vs. big organizations using people's money against people's interests. If you're against big government - as you should be - then also oppose companies big enough to influence governments.It certainly is. And I'd also like to add that it is very peculiar that the U.S. political parties usually end up doing the exact opposite of what they supposedly stand for. The Republicans supposedly stand for less government and taxes. Ronald Reagan skyrocketed the U.S. national debt and the tax burden more than any U.S. president before him. And George W. here has created more debt and bureacracy than anybody. And a democrat like Clinton actually balanced the budget and lowered the taxes. [ Politics | 2002-12-02 17:22 | 1 comment | PermaLink ] More > |
| Online Business Networks |
| I was checking out Ryze.com today, after Seb Paquet mentioned it. It is an online business network. Mostly entrepreneurs I suppose. Self-motivated people who're looking for connections and opportunities. From what I understand, it is something that is working well and growing quickly. So, I'm looking for the clues on what it is that works. The interface is fairly simple. You create a profile, including categories of what you're interested in, and you can search through others' profiles, and find people based on the interests. You can leave messages for other people in their guestbooks, which can be seen by others, and you can flag people as your friends, or put them on your contact list. And you can create your own tribe, which others can join. All sounds good, but what is it that makes it work for people? The simplicity? The critical mass? The fact that people are trying to do business, so they're motivated?
Incidentally, a couple of hours after I signed up for Ryze, Scott Allen called, and he happens to be working on a book about online business networks, including Ryze. And actually he wanted to ask me if I could come up with some success stories from NCN. I've planned for a while to develop some more organized way of gathering feedback on successes and failures. So, maybe I should get moving. [ Organization | 2002-12-02 23:21 | 1 comment | PermaLink ] More > |