stargeek
Color Hiptop this summer?Color Hiptop this summer?Color Hiptop this summer? 03/19/2003 10:25 PM Danger's been showing off a new version of its Hiptop mobile
communicator with a color screen at the big Cellular
Telecommunications and Internet Association trade show this week.
Should be out by summer, and hopefully settles the rumors that
T-Mobile was dropping the Hiptop entirely. This is a GrokNews Entry: (what is grok?)Color Hiptop this summer?Grok Headline matches for Color Hiptop this summer?More on EV-DO and the color HiptopMore on EV-DO and the color Hiptop 03/21/2003 12:13 AM Rich Brome of PhoneScoop writes in with some comments about the color Hiptop and Verizon's new high-speed 1xEV-DO cellular network: The color Hiptop will have a 65,000 TFT display. The Danger people told me at CTIA they have (had) various prototypes will all kinds of displays, but they have settled on the high-end TFT they were showing at CTIA, which I thought looked pretty good. Not the brightest, but very clear, colorful, and easy to read in most lighting. Dissing the HipTopDissing the HipTop 03/20/2003 08:30 AM A reader who wishes remain to anonymous wrote in to say that he's played with the new color HipTop from Danger, and that's not all that hot: I saw a pre-production model while out in CA, and if the production model follows the same specs, it's got a *terrible* washed-out LCD display. Dual-scan, not active. Like you'd find on a toy. Given the cheap plastics and lousy build quality of the current units, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they do cheap out on the color ones, as well. Danger Hiptop SDKDanger Hiptop SDK 03/19/2003 10:26 PM The Danger Hiptop SDK is available. Boing Boing posted an inaccur ate rant from AaronSw about it; you actually can run your own apps on your own Hiptop. But it's still a problem that only T-Mobile-approved apps can be downloaded. It's increasingly clear that the cellular industry needs to be vertically disintegrated just like wired telcos and ISPs. People also need to learn that "unlimited" plans are part of the problem since they incentivize carries to screw with their customers to limit network usage. I'd much prefer an uncensored pay-per-bit plan (or Paris Metro Pricing). New Hiptop (Sidekick II) PhotosNew Hiptop (Sidekick II) Photos 07/21/2004 07:46 PM Setting up the Developers Kit for the
|
 If
you're a regular reader of this blog, you probably know that I'm
opposed to unregulated 'free' trade, very worried about the
extraterritoriality of the WTO, NAFTA, Davos and other corporatist
captives, strongly opposed to domestic corporations 'offshoring' jobs,
using influence with the Bush regime and other right-wing governments
to circumvent social and environmental laws and responsibilities, and
a
great believer in taking the pledge to buy local, and in community
self-sufficiency.At the same time, I'm a strong supporter of the UN and other multi-lateral NGOs, and I believe that we each have a responsibility for the well-being of all the people and creatures of this world. Some readers have said this view is inconsistent, and I wasn't quite sure how to respond to such charges. Fortunately, Peter Singer, in his recent book on global ethics, I'll have more to say next week about Bush's fraudulent and despicable Earth Day media blitz, and the major media's shameless lack of critical evaluation of the utter nonsense that his propaganda machine has been churning out this week on the environment -- newspeak of Orwellian proportions. The first part of Singer's book deals with environmental responsibility, and his prescription for increasing it -- immediate ratification of Kyoto by the US and other holdout countries, and introduction of an emissions trading mechanism to make the realization of Kyoto feasible (subject to the need for some oversight on the disposition of the proceeds of such trading when it involves autocratic governments). The second part of the book deals with the global economy, and Singer adroitly tears apart the Economist's (and other neocons') naive assertion that economic globalization somehow benefits both rich and poor countries. He then goes on to prescribe a substantial reform of the WTO and the GATT, which could actually lead to more equitable distribution of wealth and more efficient production of economic goods, while safeguarding human rights, labour and the environment. Unfortunately, the multi-national corporations and corporatists who hold sway in the WTO would never tolerate Singer's prescription, since it would entirely divert the benefits of economic globalization from their pockets to those of the world's poor. The third part of the book deals with international law, and Singer lashes out at Bush for his unconscionable refusal to ratify the International Court of Justice, and for the UN's continued hesitancy to accept a duty (not a right) to intervene in situations of genocide and other humanitarian crises, even within a single nation. Singer is sanguine about the limitations and dangers of 'global government', but supports strengthening the UN to enable it to act as a 'protector of last resort', and including in its mandate the responsibility to supervise elections in all member nations. The fourth and final part goes back to ethical principles and proposes that countries must, in this world where national boundaries no longer have any logistic meaning, set aside national interest and embrace, once and for all, global interest, impartially. That does not mean cultural homogenization, but imposes a responsibility for the reduction of inequality, both of economic resources and personal rights and freedoms. Always the pragmatist, Singer concludes by worrying out loud about how the responsibility for a global ethic could be managed: It
is widely believed that a world government would be, at best, an
unchecked bureaucratic behemoth that would make the bureaucracy of the
EU look lean and efficient. At worst, it would become a global
tyranny,
unchecked and unchallengeable. These thoughts have to be taken
seriously. How to prevent global bodies becoming either dangerous
tyrannies or self-aggrandizing bureaucracies, and instead make them
effective and responsive to the people whose lives they affect? It is
a
challenge that should not be beyond the best minds in the fields of
political science and public administration.
I'd like to believe that this was possible, because if it isn't, we're in serious trouble. We cannot expect national governments to set aside parochial interests, especially when this entails accepting a responsibility that would, for the richer nations, inevitably lead to a drastic redistribution of wealth to poorer nations and hence a sudden and sharp reduction in, at least, economic living standards (if not necessarily well-being). But as John Ralston Saul has so eloquently argued, larger organizations and institutions, whether public or private, are almost always, and inherently, less efficient, less agile, more resistant to change, more hierarchic, and less transparent than smaller organizations. So the challenge is to achieve the best of both worlds, having organizations of global scope and authority and responsibility, but broken up into sufficiently small, autonomous and dynamic units that they are sensitive, resilient, responsible and responsive to the people and communities they serve. We can only hope that "the best minds in the fields of political science and public administration", wherever they are, are up to the task. |
mellow-drama.blogspot.com/2004/09/carnival-of-recipes-this-week
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Actually, to continue the theme of relaxation: the Japanese have this wonderful invention called furoo, the hot bath. It feels scalding at first, but slowly you are overcome by this blissful drowsiness; much like in a sauna. They are in many ways similar in culture and purpose, and mostly they both just feel incredibly good in a country where it's actually bloody cold most of the time.
(Sorry, brain calls timeout. I was supposed to write more, but it refuses to work anymore, citing overtime legislation. Sorry.)
npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4575898
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FOAF Camp - 19-20 August 2004, Campus UTwente, The Netherlands
1st Workshop on Friend of a Friend, Social Networking and the Semantic Web - 1-2 September 2004, Galway, Ireland
Grrr, I definitely can’t make it to Ireland, highly unlikely I can make it to Holland - short of money and got a book to write. Grr, grr.
(via Morten)
Bummer it would have been great to see Danny there. Well maybe we'll run into each other in Trieste or Venice.
So what shall it be Danny - Yota or Black squid ink?
Avanti Populo!
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