According to the FBI, there are just 200 hard-core Al-Queda members worldwide. [via Tom Tomorrow] This seems like a big story, but I haven't heard anything about it on CNN or anywhere else. At one time the experts were saying there were more than 5,000 Al-Queda members.
My cousin Matt's band, The Eye, is trying to get some exposure on their local radio station in Omaha. You could give them a hand by going here and voting for the second group that contains I Am Siam by The Eye. (You can also download that song and others from their site.) It's a close race.
Update: The voting has closed and they won! (by a good margin.) If you voted, thanks for pitching in. If you're in Omaha, you'll soon hear The Eye at 89.7 on your FM dial.
Update: The voting has closed and they won! (by a good margin.) If you voted, thanks for pitching in. If you're in Omaha, you'll soon hear The Eye at 89.7 on your FM dial.
Cory is in the middle of a core blog dump after vacation over at boingboing. It's worth going over there now, otherwise you'll never catch up.
The garden is coming along nicely. We had a bumper crop of strawberries this year because we let the runners go wherever they wanted last year. They're winding down now, but the tomatoes are just getting started. We also have this crazy cayenne pepper plant on the deck that has half a dozen good-sized peppers on it. I need to figure out how to dry them when they're ready. And then what to make with them...salsa?
Weblog MediaWatch Top 10
I added a page to the Weblog Bookwatch for non-book items: DVDs, CDs, Software, etc. It's called Weblog Mediawatch Top 10. I also re-worked both watches behind the scenes so they're using Amazon's Web Services instead of the bag of http gets and regex that makes up a SCRAPI. (I think the best part of the burgeoning Web Services movement is the fact that people won't have to write as many regular expressions.)
I added a page to the Weblog Bookwatch for non-book items: DVDs, CDs, Software, etc. It's called Weblog Mediawatch Top 10. I also re-worked both watches behind the scenes so they're using Amazon's Web Services instead of the bag of http gets and regex that makes up a SCRAPI. (I think the best part of the burgeoning Web Services movement is the fact that people won't have to write as many regular expressions.)
This cracked me up: Real life if hackers ruled the world. it r0xor5! [via MeFi]
I spent all day yesterday taking a sea kayaking class through Tamal Saka at Tomales Bay. We learned how to maneuver the kayaks, paddle, get in and out, and various rescue techniques. We even had a brief introduction to reading tide logs, sea charts, and navigation. Today I'm discovering sore muscles that I didn't even know I had. Practicing the rescues all day was tiring, but I'm glad I went through it. It gets the worst case scenarios out of the way, and I'll know what to do when I'm out and the kayak tips over. I had only been river rafting before, so the first time I made a "wet exit" (tipped the kayak over) the salt water was surprising. Using the gear, and learning how to steer was awkward but I can't wait to go out again. There was something amazing about being out on the bay in a boat you're controlling—paddling through waves and wind while seagulls are flying overhead and fog is rolling over the hills. And the experience can only get better with practice.
Matt Kingston wrote a good TrackBack tutorial for all of you thinking about implementing a home-brewed system...or building it into your weblog tool. (I'm looking in your direction Blogger and Radio Userland. ;)
Speaking of the State of Web, some people in congress are standing up for Internet radio. U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA), George Nethercutt (R-WA), and Rick Boucher (D-VA) have introduced the Internet Radio Fairness Act. It will reduce the outrageous fees to costs more in line with traditional radio stations. Sounds fair to me...especially since there can only be a limited number of airwaves stations due to FCC restrictions, but the number of Internet stations is potentially unlimited. (for now.) [via MeFi]
Not everyone is thrilled about Web Services. Here's a less enthusiastic view on ASPnews.com: Show Me the Money: "Yet there's still a vital ingredient missing before this new wave of service component providers can become a sustainable model. How are they going to make money?" Many companies profit from specialized application development and integration, and the idea of Web Services is pretty scary to them. Like those CRM/ASP folks: Will Web Services Kill Packaged CRM Apps? It seems like whenever you reduce friction in a process, there are people who profit from that friction who will be upset.
The Weblog Bookwatch (found on this site) was mentioned in Slate today, along with Erik Benson's BookWatch Plus. It's a brief article explaining what Web Services are, why you should care, and why everyone's going to be doing it. This article doesn't go into any technical specifics—or mention any standards or protocols. They do describe why people are excited about them: "Web services are like LEGOs: They snap together in almost limitless combinations. As the big sites bring their Web services on board it's easy to imagine your home page summarizing the items you have for sale on eBay, displaying whether you're available to chat via AOL or Yahoo!, and mapping the current location of the airplane you're on via Expedia." Web Services = Application Syndication.
An article by Kevin Werbach in 2000 titled, The Web Goes Into Syndication pointed out that Amazon has always seen syndication as a good strategy; at that time through its affiliate program, and ZShops. He says, "By acting as a syndicator and a distributor of e-commerce, Amazon is turning the absence of scarcity on the Web from a threat into an advantage. The multitude of other sites that users visit are no longer alternatives to Amazon; they are opportunities for Amazon to expand its presence -- and its earnings." Web Services are just their latest effort to push out instead of trying to attract and hold. In other words, they get the Web.
An article by Kevin Werbach in 2000 titled, The Web Goes Into Syndication pointed out that Amazon has always seen syndication as a good strategy; at that time through its affiliate program, and ZShops. He says, "By acting as a syndicator and a distributor of e-commerce, Amazon is turning the absence of scarcity on the Web from a threat into an advantage. The multitude of other sites that users visit are no longer alternatives to Amazon; they are opportunities for Amazon to expand its presence -- and its earnings." Web Services are just their latest effort to push out instead of trying to attract and hold. In other words, they get the Web.
Doc Searls transcribed some of Lawrence Lessig's keynote at OSCon. I've seen him speak a few times, and it's always been inspiring. I hope he wasn't serious about ending his public speaking as Doc noted. This time around he said,
"Yes, we have sites and blogs and Slashdot stories. But nothning in Washington. If you don't do something now, this freedom will be taken away — either by those who see you as a threat and invoke the system of law they call patents, or through copyright enforcement. If you can't fight for your freedom, you don't deserve it...How many have given more to the EFF than they've given their local telecom company for shitty DSL service?"It reminds me of Bruce Sterling's keynote at SXSW last year. He said that we had millions of Napster users, but no one in Washington willing to stand up and defend it. He asked, "Where is our representative from the state of Napster?" If a national politician could tap into this loosley connected state of Web, I bet they'd find amazing support. But it's a two-way street. The state of Web also needs to find, court, and support politicians who share their views. As hackers (in the larger sense of the word), we like to think we can route around the idiocy of Washington. Based on what Lawrence Lessig is telling us though, it's time to route through Washington while we still can.