Web/Tech

Considering all the talk of new technology that has passed through this site in recent years, this probably shouldn't have come as a big surprise, but I did not seen it coming:

Come on, guys; could we stick to arguing the issues instead of just hurling vile insults? There's plenty of snark in the blogosphere without us adding to it. I've been leaving the threads alone, even though it got pretty rough on a couple of them. Somebody was bound to go too far, even by today's online standards, and now somebody has. I've removed the comment from Christopher Swing purporting to be a Tweet from Tim Zank's daughter. Even if you're going to taunt each other like kids in the schoolyard, let's not be  dragging any 15-year-old girls into it, OK?

"Shrinking zone of privacy" question of the day: Should police be able to track you by placing a GPS unit on your car, without getting a warrant?

New from the Cato Institute, Libertarianism.org, a resource on the theory and history of liberty. From the opening page introduction:

"Starship Troopers," Paul Verhoeven's movie take on the Robert Heinlein classic, is interesting in the casual way it shows us an advance in communications technology. Though supposedly set in the far future, the TV/Internet mixutre it shows us could be from tomorrow. People watching news shows are told to "click here" if they want to know more. And it looks like tomorrow just arrived:

Sad but true:

The rapid adoption of tablet computers like Apple'si Pad has not reversed the slide in paying customers for news, as many media company executives had hoped the devices would.

Only 14 percent of tablet news users are paying directly for content on the device, according to an extensive survey from the Pew Research Center's Project for excellence in Journalism

Oh, goody:

Many consumers are irked by the catalogs, credit-card pitches and other "junk mail" they receive. But the U.S. Postal Service loves it—and wants to deliver more.

I referenced this piece about Steve Jobs several weeks ago. With the news of his death, it seems appropriate to link to it again:

Jobs gave people products they didn't know they wanted, and then made those products indispensable to their lives.  

Will the Kindle Fire make the 7-inch tabled really take off?

Here comes City Clerk Sandra Kennedy, blazing a trail into 21st century technology with blinding speed:

Sandra Kennedy, who has held the city clerk's office since 1983, on Wednesday announced a plan to replace stacks of paper with tablet computers for council members; stream meetings live on the Web; and provide easier mobile access to agendas, ordinances and other council documents.