See the full post on the DRM Blog, here.

The full post is on the Guardian website. Via Elmyra’s del.icio.us feed.

Full post on Mashable, here.

“As I’ve argued in the past, Yahoo needs to out-open Google if it is going to have any chance at competing in search. Even if it’s too late to catch up to Google in core search, an open approach could help Yahoo differentiate its product, win over developers, and open up new avenues of search that Google is currently ignoring. And being open means embracing Google as well.”

This is a really interesting idea from Erick Schonfeld. Given Google’s dominance, he’s right that a change of tack is needed to come anywhere near making inroads in search - and it’s becoming increasingly clear that on the Web, the more open a technology and its APIs, the more widely adopted it becomes. Full article on TechCrunch, here. Via the Twitter feed.

Story on NewTeeVee. Found via GigaOM.

“Microsoft researchers studied the addresses of 30bn instant messages sent during a single month in 2006 … Examining the minimum chain lengths it would take to connect all the users in the database, they found the average length was 6.6 steps and that 78% of the pairs could be connected in seven links or fewer.”

The BBC reports on a Microsoft study, which asks whether the “six degrees of separation” theory holds true on their Messenger IM network. It’s an interesting idea, but I’m unconvinced - it seems more like marketing than good science. The study was limited only to their users, and geographic, social and economic factors must play a large yet unquantifiable part in building connections in this artificial environment. Full BBC News story here.

“Non-competes put the brakes on innovation and job creation, and the effects are felt far beyond the VC community … Employer non-compete agreements are literally handcuffs. We need to ask whether their impediments to innovation serve a greater good by protecting employers’ legitimate rights.”

Bijan Sabet has some interesting thoughts on non-competition agreements. While I can see his logic, I would be concerned that corporate espionage could almost become the standard if employees were allowed to start directly competing companies as soon as they leave their old employers. Article on GigaOM, here. Via Bijan Sabet’s tumblelog, here, and Rojo, here.

Anyway, now that my contacts aren’t going to end up overloaded with randoms, and in the interests of integration between e-mail and IM, I’m going to start using my Gmail address (guy.rintoul@gmail.com) for Google Talk, although I’ll still use im@guyrintoul.com for MSN. Please update your GTalk contact lists as required. My full contact details can be found here.

“Some start-ups choose to develop their products and services in stealth mode in order to avoid competitor attention and build hype leading up to the launch … [But] Building an entire product below the radar, then banking on a one-time launch is a risky proposition … I think that a more open approach, that may involve some level of secrecy, is the way to go.”

I completely agree. Building up anticipation through controlled information release will excite people and prompt them to sign up for the final release. If potential users are kept completely in the dark about what to expect, they’ll often just find another solution to use in the meantime - and once locked in, they’ll stick with it even if it’s inferior. Post is on Mapping The Web, here.

To view your profile page in the new layout, you’ll need to install the Developer app then visit www.new.facebook.com. Via CNET News.

Ars Technica post here.

“If we only make standard fare, we cannot beat other studios. There were already adult videos with Lolitas or themes of incest, so we wanted to make something new. A relationship between wife and an old father-in-law has enough twist to create an atmosphere of mystery and captivate viewers’ hearts.”

Time has a bizarre insight into the Japanese trend for ‘elder porn’. In a country with an ageing population and one of the most sexless societies in the developed world, there’s been an explosion in demand for adult movies starring ‘mature’ stars. The article features Shiego Tokuda, a 73-year old pornstar whose 350 films include “Forbidden Elderly Care” More here.

So true… I’m sure most people who work in an office can identify with this I’m a big advocate of letting people pick one password and stick with it, or at the very least not making them have a different password for every single system they use. The problem with having too many passwords, and being forced to constantly change them, is that it has an adverse effect on security as people end up writing them down and sticking them under their keyboards so that they can remember them! Comic reproduced by kind permission of Shane Johnson, author/artist at My Life in a Cube.

“4chan is also very profane. A phrase from Star Wars comes to mind: It’s a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Spammers don’t even bother to spam 4chan; Google started searching it only six months ago. But it is the wellspring from which a lot of Internet culture, and hence popular culture, bubbles. In his way, moot is one of the most powerful people on the Web.”

Time interviews moot, founder of the 4chan.org bulletin board, which started Internet crazes such as I Can Haz Cheezburger. Time article here.

From Washington Times, via the Open Rights Group mailing list.

“This is probably a reasonable trade off: after all, users don’t just get free software (zero marginal cost) but free hosting, bandwidth and storage as well (real costs to the service provider). However it can be very limiting.” [emphasis his]

However, he cites the example of Google’s slow progress in fixing a minor problem as the flip-side. While it would be a five-minute fix in open source, it becomes a drawn-out hassle to resolve when the code is proprietary and protected. However much we try to balance all the factors, both open- and closed-source models have their up- and downsides in one form or another.

“[Verizon CEO] Seidenberg’s main contention seems to be that the iPhone isn’t a success because it has such a small share of the overall mobile phone market, which is sort of like arguing that GM is more successful than Ferrari because they sell more cars.”

Love the comparison From News.com, here.

CNET News.com reports on this stupid mistake here.