The Privacy Commissioner of Canada : Annual Report 1999-2000
"Privacy is related entirely to the degree to which we respect each other as unique individuals, each with our own sets of values which we are entitled to make known or not as we see fit. To truly respect your neighbour, you must grant that person a private life. Respecting one another's privacy means the difference between a life of liberty, autonomy and dignity, and a hollow and intimidating existence under a cloud of constant oppressive surveillance." On a lighter note, I'm not sure if I am more troubled by the claims in this report or the fact that the report reprints old Cathy comic strips to further its arguments. ( 500kb )
A.P. : AOL to offer free service to schools
I'm not sure that Steve Case could be any more disingenuous when he says "We don't think of this as a business opportunity." In exchange for free bandwidth, the world's largest media company has been given license to track, record and and analyze the surfing patterns of students over a multi-year timespan. Oh yeah, students will be "blocked" from offensive material, which presumably means anyone not owned by AOL. It doesn't get any better than this when it comes to data-mining and product development.
Danny Drennan : The 90210 Weekly Wrapup
A gratuitous link on the eve of the final episode. The site hasn't been updated since 1998 -- not without good reason -- but it is hilarious. Remind me to post pictures from the Brenda Party...
Spider Robinson on the Microsoft/Slashdot dust-up
Not much new here; it's just fun read authors when they go hyperbolic. "No, really! If you use BillCo's operating system -- let's call it OpenWindow -- and run LookOut!, your computer's no longer merely user-friendly: It's now a user-slut; one too dumb to carry condoms, or even take names."
Ars Technica on Physical Home Networking: An Installation Guide