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Friday, June 21, 2002 |
Apple offers Airport and Networking updates
Check the Software Update panel in your OS X System Preferences application to get the update to AirPort Software 2.0.4 and an update to the OS X networking architecture...
5:30:21 PM 
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Welcome back Dave!
Dave Winer is back home after his week of silence and a hospital visit. The founder of Userland Software and creator of Radio 8, the software I use to maintain Mac Net Journal, checked in on Scripting News with this:
Greetings sports fans. First I want to thank everyone who sent their good wishes. This was probably the toughest week I've ever had. I came through it stronger, but changed. Not sure how much I want to write about it, but I did want to acknowledge, as soon as I possibly could, that it meant a lot to have so much support. Just got home a few minutes ago. One step at a time.  [Scripting News]
2:14:07 PM
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New 2-pound laptop could be a boon for writers
Alphasmart, the makers of pseudo computers reminiscent of the TRS-80 laptops of years past which are used by writers and students, has unveiled preliminary information about a new machine called Dana that will run on the Palm OS. This machine, whose price has not yet been announced, looks interesting to me as a writer. If it is sturdy enough, it could be a good tool for writing and data management in the field, for instance when I am out visiting a bird watching site and I want to write something up about the site or access the bird identification outline I have been creating on my Palm and make some changes on the fly. I can do this with my Palm Vx and the add-on keyboard I have now, but the connection between the keyboard and the Palm is anything but sturdy, and the larger screen on this Dana device would make writing much more pleasant.
I'll have to keep an eye out for more details about the product in the future...
1:21:49 PM
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Survey may have overstated Mac ownership savings
Are Macs Really Cheaper To Own?. Last week, Apple Australia publicized a finding by research firm Gartner that found Macs
are 36 percent cheaper to own and maintain than their Windows/Intel counterparts. Now,
the research firm has restated its findings, claiming that the original data referred to
a specific scenario. [osOpinion]
12:51:26 PM
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User donations save one Web site
Paul Boutin details the fundraising drive on the Kuro5hin site in It Takes a Village to Save a Site. Community tech site Kuro5hin was about to vaporize because of lack of funds, so its webmaster makes a plea for bucks. Users respond with alacrity, and the site will go on. By Paul Boutin. [Wired News]
It is great to see that one Web site has found a way to sustain itself under the weight of growing fees and the human costs of maintaining a bustling site. I just wish the story was as positive for Mac Net Journal. So far my experiment with advertising on MNJ is a dismal failure, with no income whatsoever, and MNJ has not seen any new user donations in more than a month. In total, user contributions over the last four months have added up to $120 - just enough to cover the hosting costs for the site. And as my personal funds run out and my time needs to shift to money-making concerns, it is hard to say how MNJ will transform in the coming months.
The bottom line: Without some kind of income from this site, the amount of new content and the amount of time that I will be able to devote to it will dwindle. Money definitely isn't everything, but there is no way that I will be able to maintain the time commitment as well as the financial commitment to this site without revenue. If you find the news and comments on Mac Net Journal worthwhile, please consider supporting the site with your donation. Without it, MNJ is bound to get smaller, less useful and possibly to go away altogether...
8:22:35 AM
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Shifted Librarian site looks at Internet radio royalties
Internet Radio In Trouble?. I haven't read through the full decision yet but based on what Doc and Mary Lu are saying, it doesn't sound good in regards to webcasting rates. Mary Lu has a full copy of the decision and the table of costs, while Doc is collecting reactions.
Adam, can I still get a hug?
Addendum: The New York Times has a story on this now.
"The government on Thursday decided that songs delivered online by Internet music broadcasters will be charged royalty fees at a rate that is half of what was originally proposed by an arbitration panel....
The recording industry, which had sought higher royalties to compensate artists and music labels for using their songs, criticized the new lower rate....
Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association, which represents webcasters, called the decision a positive step away from a higher rate, but said 'there's still going to be a lot of pain in the industry....'
Opponents to Thursday's ruling can appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit within 30 days. The court could modify or set aside the decision if it finds the ruling was highly unreasonable.
If the decision is not changed, the first monthly royalty payments will be due in November. The fees are retroactive to 1998 and full payment of royalties from past years will be due Oct. 20."
So the Librarian of Congress understood that the proposed CARP rates were too high, so he cut them in half. That's good, certainly not as bad as it could have been. But it's not enough to help smaller webcasters stay in business because the new rates are not structured to take into account the revenue actually coming in to the station. That's bad.
I imagine the webcasters will appeal it (as might the recording industry), so this probably isn't over yet. I'm still disappointed, but at least Mr. Billington wasn't reeled in on the recording industry's fishing line, netted, and hung on the wall. [The Shifted Librarian]
7:27:01 AM
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A happy Summer Solstice to all!
I finally dug myself out from under this week's workload to update my nature and photography Weblog, The Equinox Project, with images from my three-day bird watching trip to Eastern Washington last weekend. I will catch up to the current day in my journal entries today as well. After all, what better time to catch up on a Web site devoted to the passage of the seasons than on the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It's Summer Solstice time!
The shot included in this post was taken Monday, when our bird watching group had a true Wild West moment - encountering a cattle drive that blocked the gravel road and sent the cows, cowboys and cowgirl scurrying around us en-route to their next pasture down the road. Much of Eastern Washington, like much of the Western U.S., is devoted to cattle grazing. Though I am not a fan of cattle grazing and the paltry rates that farmers pay to overrun and ruin natural habitat, this encounter with stereotypical life in the West was interesting.
Other photos in this update to the site include a trio of butterfly pictures. This week has been an exciting one for me in the butterflying side of things, since I found out Tuesday that a rare Queen butterfly that I photographed in our yard in August 2000 was being accepted by the record keepers in Washington state as just the second sighting of this species in the Pacific Northwest, and the first sighting as far as I know in Washington. The butterfly in question is normally found no farther north than Nevada. The Queen butterfly is common in the southern United States.
7:07:32 AM
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Whew...that was a close call
Large Asteroid Narrowly Misses Earth. An asteroid the size of a soccer field narrowly missed the Earth by 75,000 miles, one of the closest known approaches by objects of this size, scientists said Thursday. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: Science]
6:47:50 AM
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© Copyright 2002 Rob McNair-Huff.
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