NYT (6): Economy

Wall Street, R.I.P. (with accompanying graphics); "What's free about free enterprise?"; "A tally of federal rescues" (informative graphic); "What a president can - and can't - do to fix the economy"; "Deregulation wasn't all bad. Inaction was worse"; "As the crisis unfolded, the Web sites of troubled financial institutions seemed oblivious."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, September 28, 2008

NYT (5): International News

One of the worst-ever acts of terrorism in Pakistan kills 40 and injures 150, including Americans; Sarkozy fears France is next in global economic meltdown; Chavez expels Human Rights Watch workers; a Sunni group hacks and defaces an important Shiite website in Iraq; and Mbeki may be out in political coup.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, September 20, 2008

NYT: As Text Messages Fly, Danger Lurks

A growing problem that one dismisses at one's very real potential peril.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, September 20, 2008

NYT (6): National Politics

Palin's politics of cronyism; Todd Palin's overly large role in Alaskan politics; "In some sense, Ms. Palin has become a metaphor for Alaska itself, and as grand a landscape as Alaska is, the current discussion is less about a geographical location than about a state of mind, or states of mind"; restoring voting rights for ex-cons; "The return (sort of) of race and gender" in politics; and "The completely serious (or maybe utterly pointless) activity on a John McCain Web page."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, September 14, 2008

NYT: Twittering From the Cradle

Uh...am I the only one who sees something seriously wrong with this? Not simply a form of exploitation, but a possible danger to their future? ??
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, September 11, 2008

NYT: I’m So Totally, Digitally Close to You

"How news feed, twitter and other forms of incessant online contact have created a brave new world of ambient intimacy."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, September 7, 2008

St. Paul Mayor and Media Mum on Journalism Crackdown

go to story
From Timothy Carr in Huff Post .. "Police -- with firearms drawn -- raided a meeting of the video journalists and arrested independent media, bloggers and videomakers. Journalists covering protests have been pointed out by authorities, blasted with tear gas and pepper spray, and brutalized while in custody. Democracy Now's Goodman reports that a U.S. Secret Service agent ripped her press credentials from her neck the moment she identified herself to him as a member of the media. Her producers emerged yesterday from their jail cells bloodied and scarred, reporting unusually harsh treatment at the hands of local and federal authorities"
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Thursday, September 4, 2008

NYT (2): National Politics

Hillary's expanded role in the face of the Palin pick; and Wikipedia as Orwellian "Ministry of Truth."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, September 1, 2008

NYT: Internet Traffic Begins to Bypass the U.S.

"The era of the American internet is ending."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, August 30, 2008

NYT Op-Eds (7)

Frank Rich joins NYT columnists Bob Herbert and Charles Blow in warning Obama that he must re-think his campaign ("As the presidential race finally gains the country’s full attention, the strategy Barack Obama used to vanquish Hillary Clinton must be rebooted to take out John McCain"); Thomas Friedman and Nicholas Kristof both offer quasi-apologias re China ("China and America can look at their Olympic successes as reaffirmations of their distinctly different political systems. But they could also learn from each other"; "For all the continuing repression, Chinese live far freer lives now than they did in the 1980s and ’90s. The openness even continues to expand on the Internet"); Maureen Dowd tells McCain to "check out of the Hanoi Hilton" ("John McCain’s campaign is cheapening his greatest strength by flashing the P.O.W. card to rebut any criticism, no matter how unrelated"); two guest op-eds on the Russian situation ("The real mastermind behind Russia’s invasion of Georgia is Stalin"; "The conflict in Georgia showed that Washington had better start treating Russia like the great power it still is"); and a third guest op-ed looks back at the Prague Spring ("Why do Czechs and Slovaks discount the Prague Spring, a period of political liberalization in 1968?").
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, August 24, 2008

Obama’s well-oiled machine

Posted by Bill Swiggard, Sunday, August 17, 2008

NYT: Ruling Is a Victory for Supporters of Free Software

A legal dispute involving model railroad hobbyists has resulted in a major courtroom victory for the free software movement also known as open-source software. In a ruling Wednesday, the federal appeals court in Washington said that just because a software programmer gave his work away did not mean it could not be protected. The decision legitimizes the use of commercial contracts for the distribution of computer software and digital artistic works for the public good. The court ruling also bolsters the open-source movement by easing the concerns of large organizations about relying on free software from hobbyists and hackers who have freely contributed time and energy without pay."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, August 14, 2008

NYT: Before the Gunfire, Cyberattacks

A very interesting - and somewhat scary -"pre-development" re the Russian attack on Georgia.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, August 13, 2008

NYT (2): Media/Internet

"On Aug. 1, four top members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent letters ordering 33 cable and Internet companies, including Google, Microsoft, Comcast and Cox Communications, to provide details about their privacy standards"; "In the age of Twitter and YouTube, crowds are driving the media agendas."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, August 11, 2008

NYT (2): Privacy Issues

Checking on anyone re open databases on personal info; and "malWEBolence: inside the world of online trolls who use the Internet to harass, humiliate and torment strangers."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, August 3, 2008

NYT: F.C.C. Vote Sets Precedent on Unfettered Web Usage

An important victory for Internet freedom.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, August 2, 2008

NYT (2): International Affairs

Bush makes noise about troop cuts in Iraq; and China relaxes some (but only some) restrictions on Internet access.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Friday, August 1, 2008

NYT (4): International News

Turkey avoids a political crisis; Brazil as economic powerhouse; and China not only limits Web access during the Olympics (despite its promises to the contrary), but sends a school employee to a labor camp for a year simply for posting photos of Quake-collapsed schools on the Internet.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, July 31, 2008

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"If we aren’t careful, we’re going to repeat the history of the oil industry by creating a bandwidth cartel" (Guest Op-Ed); "Has anyone stopped to think about what political slogans really mean?" (Friedman); "Given his inability to get lift off, even flying close to the sun, Barack Obama will need all the cunning intelligence he can muster" (Dowd)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, July 30, 2008

NYT: With Security at Risk, a Push to Patch the Web

"Since a secret emergency meeting of computer security experts at Microsoft’s headquarters in March, Dan Kaminsky has been urging companies around the world to fix a potentially dangerous flaw in the basic plumbing of the Internet."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, July 30, 2008

NYT: Officer Investigated in Toppling of Cyclist

The NYPD needs to take a chill pill; there is far too much aggression being shown throughout the system.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, July 29, 2008

NYT (3): Environment

A 100-mile oil spill on the Mississippi; California orders fuel switch in mid-sea; and an online charitable donation site goes green.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Friday, July 25, 2008

   Death of Free Internet is Imminent - ICH

Canada Will Become Test Case
Posted by Michael Butler, Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Chris Hedges: So Goes the Newsroom, the Empire and the World

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"We are cleverly entertained during our descent. We have our own version of ancient Rome’s bread and circuses with our ubiquitous and elaborate spectacles, sporting events, celebrity gossip and television reality shows. Societies in decline, as the Roman philosopher Cicero wrote, see their civic and political discourse contaminated by the excitement and emotional life of the arena. And the citizens in these degraded societies, he warned, always end up ruled by a despot, a Nero or a George W. Bush" - Hedges
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Tuesday, July 22, 2008

NYT (2): Obama

Increasing disenchantment in netroots land; and amibguity in Iraq over his withdrawal plan.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, July 17, 2008