Author: Rick Klau

Give them credit for trying: Optimize Magazine, a new title in the InformationWeek empire, has launched “The Business Blog“. Unfortunately it looks like they’re updating weekly, and not exactly in the easiest format to make it useful. (Another minor nit, though it’s too early to tell: the URL appears to point to issue-specific entries, which…

A great catch by Phil Wolff about the social characteristics of web logs: Blogging Alone. Stephen Dulaney applies Indicators of Social Capital to Web Logs. Levels of giving (blog ecossystem) reflects people’s propensity to give to others when they themselves may not directly benefit. The economy of giving links. Participation and engagement (What we do when…

Terahertz lasersLasers now work at new wavelengthsAug 8th 2002 [Economist.com: Science & Technology] Enough progress on this front will dramatically expand the market for wireless communications. Lots of hurdles though – not least of which is getting the lasers to be stable at room temperature. But breakthroughs in medical imaging are almost certain to follow,…

And, as I opined last year, I am skeptical that funding ( from VCs, Microsoft, or anyone else) is a key limiting factor influencing the amount of software innovation. Right up until 1994 or so, VC funding for software was nearly impossible to get. It was in this austere environment that TCP/ IP, SMTP, NNTP,…

What does this mean? – Iraq is the tactical pivot– Saudi Arabia the strategic pivot – Egypt the prizeRead Jack Shafer’s article at Slate to learn more. It raises important questions: Why was this goof invited to present to the Pentagon? Is anyone (gasp) taking him seriously? Is he open to some basic PowerPoint tips…

TIPS is being run by “America’s Most Wanted” [bOing bOing] I’m having trouble believing that this is true, but by all measures it sure seems to be. According to this article at Salon, callers to the Operation TIPS hotline are routed to America’s Most Wanted. Guess Ashcroft was right after all – there really won’t…

Joy nails it. P.S.: Joy, can you please, please please fix your RSS feed? I’ve missed you!

Finally, A Way To Work Harvard Into The Conversation. Check out the first item for Monday August 5 here.  In some ways, the blogosphere resembles a cocktail party, as a joke works its way around the room.  The Nigerian bit had a multiplier effect which produced ten times the normal hit rate. [The Trademark Blog]…

If you’re looking for the ideal summer thriller, find a copy of The Quiet Game by Greg Iles. I don’t quite know how I have missed this author until now, but I’m glad I found him. I have read several of his books now – Spandau Phoenix, Black Cross and Dead Sleep – and have found…

Marc Barrot: “This should work even if your name is not Rick Klau.” (look under step 5, item #2.) Proof? Ernie did it. And some guy named Gilles. And some other folks. Again, Marc: Nice work!