Amazingly enough, it took less than 24 hours to see the first massive privacy issues flaring up with Google Chrome. In a CNET interview, Peter Eckersley of the EFF says: "We're worried that Chrome will be another giant conveyer belt moving private information about our use of the Web into Google's data vaults," Eckersley said. "Google already knows far too much about what everybody is thinking at any given moment. Now this is a total surprise, is it not? Not only can Google read all your mail, knows

I’m going to start referring to her as the Venn Queen. Eve Maler has done another Venn diagram, this time to show the relationship of whole areas of the “user-centric” sphere of activities. Going into Digital ID World next week, I’ll use this to help orient conversations around why there needs to be a simple, [...]

No, I am not talking about Google Chrome (yet). But it is related: if you look at it seems that Germany has already conquered Denmark, Benelux, Switzerland, and Austria-Hungary. It could also be a the EUSSR with its capital in Brussels... Or maybe this is a completely new country call "Googleland", where every citizen deposits all their data in a save datacenter, identified by a unique id. "Information Self-Determination" is a basic human right, and any data merchant will get shot on sight. The only

Prompted by James' post , I just joined Kiva - a microfinance clearing house connecting individual lenders in developed countries (or indeed anywhere ) with entrepreneurs from impoverished communities around the world. These are people who want to change their lives, but have little or no access to capital from traditional sources such as banks and credit cards. It's a great concept - as it's repaid, you can relend the money to other borrowers again and again and again.

Just in time for First Beam, the LHC staff has released a video. It's geeky, but quite funny: > > Watch First Beam on September 10 at http://webcast.cern.ch/

This is just another installment of how the freedom of expression and scientific research is being sacrificed on the altar of "public safety" and "property rights". From the CNET article : "A federal judge on Saturday granted the Massachusetts transit authority's request for an injunction preventing three MIT students from giving a presentation about hacking smartcards used in the Boston subway system." To summarize this incident: a couple of student find a giant security hole is a publicly financed

I just laughed out loud: Go King Homer I. of Spain! tags: humor , simpsons

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is considering to invalidate many (if not most) software patents and significantly restrict the issuance of new process patents. No doubt, intellectual property does deserve decent protection, and I think that this move by the USPTO will in fact result in better protection of property: copyright law provides ample protection against IPR theft while not getting in the way of real innovations. To draw a technical comparison, process patent law protects the

Whoever thought we’d be using blogs for vacation notices? But until we have real Internet-wide presence service, it seems much more sane than problem-prone email bounce-backs. So count on me to be completely offline (and I mean completely) until August 4th. I’ll blog more on why when I return (in complete bliss).

Joe Andrieu nails another super post (where DOES he find the time to write/draw all of these???), this time about what it means for a platform to really be open. My favorite part is that he doesn’t just do it in words — he does it in pictures, deliciously simple and understandable graphics that make it [...]