Category Archives: Internet

Teh Lame

Posted on February 23, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

And there I was thinking “teh” is just a simple typo. That is, I have now learned, thanks to this Wikipedia article, teh lame.

Posted in Internet | 3 Comments

Remove Gmail Chat Annoyance

Posted on February 21, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Tim Bishop channels Kevin Burton, and explains how to remove a new pesky annoyance for gmail users:

there is a setting hidden at the bottom of the gmail page, down next to the lack of privacy policy, that allows you to do turn chat off, standard without chat. How like Google to try and hide the preference, kinda like refusing to put a delete button in for a year in spite of user demand and utility. It seems like every day Google is getting farther away from its roots in usability.

Thank you guys!

(Incidentally, it sounds like they’re having a lot of fun over there on the west coast. Should I be hoping for a Supernova invite?)

Posted in Internet | 7 Comments

Kibo Has a Web Page

Posted on February 14, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

I am probably the last to know this but I’ve only just discovered that Kibo, the founder of Kibology, has a web site, entitled, of course, Kibo : Kibo’s official site.

Oldtimers will recall Kibo from Usenet; back in the day he was something between a net.legend and a net.kook. I thought he was funny, most of the time. I even corresponded with the guy once, way back when.

Posted in Internet | 3 Comments

Things that Make You Go *Snort*

Posted on February 7, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

Alex Halavais predicts the demise of MySpace based on unorthodox market research.

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Not Quite Fit For Class Time

Posted on January 23, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

People who know me will attest that when the occasion warrants, and alas perhaps even when it does not, I am not notably squeamish about offending people. It may surprise them, therefore, to learn that there is one place where I am actually very squeamish about giving offense if it can be avoided: in the classroom. My feeling is that I have a somewhat captive audience, and that therefore I should be as careful as I can be to discuss potentially disturbing issues — e.g. the control of pornography on the Internet — in a somewhat clinical and even euphemistic manner. We may talk about the issues, but, for example, I certainly don’t think we need in-class demos of how porn sites might trick people into going there with deceptively named URLs.

All of which is preface to why I suppose I probably won’t be playing The Internet is for porn, a funny bit of World of Warcraft machinima, to my Internet Law class next year. (Warning: contains no nudity and only one offensive image.) And probably not even to the Virtual Worlds seminar (if in fact we get it organized). Which is maybe a pity.

Posted in Completely Different, Internet, Virtual Worlds | 1 Comment

Genuinely Interesting Disasters Dept.

Posted on January 21, 2006 by Michael Froomkin

David Weinberger provides pointers to great discussions of a fascinating train wreck of an idea:

Joho the Blog: The $100,000 Bottom-Up Pyramid|| Zephyr Teachout and Britt Blaser, both veterans of the Howard Dean Internet campaign, reflect on how to fix what’s going wrong at the well-intentioned Since Sliced Bread contest. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is sponsoring the contest, offering $100,000 to the person who comes up with the best idea for improving the lives of working women and men. 22,000 ideas were submitted which “a group of diverse experts” winnowed to 70, a process some felt was too top down.

This is a fascinating case in which a bottom-up process is supposed to squeeze out a single winner, the contest is intended to advance the social good, and the reward includes a hefty chunk of change.

I sat next to Zephyr Teachout at a conference dinner once. She’s very interesting — someone to watch.

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