Digital Village Radio July - September 1997 Programs
9/27/97Web Design for Communication. Having a strong sense of Web design is more than just making your pages look pretty. Our guest today was Raymond Pirouz of R35 and author of Click Here. The book (which was developed with Linda Weinman) has tips for both the personal and professional web designer, with topics focusing on target audiences and effective (read: sparse) use of technology. Raymond not only explains the importance of typography and color, but also such ephemeral topics as site identity and natural navigation.
In the news:
The House Commerce Committee rejects Oxley-Manton amendment to the SAFE Bill - FBI guy talks of elitist extremists when it comes to privacy - There's a screen-saver which can crack encrytion - The Space Shuttle is going live via Netshow - Spam is down 90% as Sanford Wallace prepares of legal battle - Peter Hall is still mad at Earthlink, they say he's just being rude - The Senate is about ready to fill four out of five vacant seats at the FCC - Congress gets an earful about domain names and you're invited to listen in - Network Solutions goes public - Progressive Networks becomes Real Networks as they announce their intention launch an IPO - Uncle Bill thinks he pays too much property tax - At least he just got a raise - IBM goes for the copper - Deep Blue stops its freeloading and gets a job - graphics.com takes advantage of bad coding - Are Mac Devlopers going over - Iridium crosses halfway point as 5 more satellites are launched - Apple rekindles its relationship with Chiat-Day this weekend - M$ and IBM team up for the E-Stamp - Multi-Media hype is now coming to an email near you
9/20/97Cyberculture Looks at Itself. Our guest today was David Silver, founder of The Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies. We talked about how Cyberculture differs from other cultures and whether it's the Internet which is changing society or the other way around.
9/13/97The New Crypto Debate. Once upon a time, our government's leaders promised that they would never ever want to mandate a back door for domestic encryption. Well, that's all changed now. Louis Freeh and Diane Feinstein are coming out strongly in favor of the domestic use of key escrow. And now the SAFE Bill is being turned on its head through amendments. While this is happening in Washington D.C., the California state government is making similar noises. Ric was joined today by guest-host Brock Meeks to discuss what the future of online privacy has is store.
9/6/97:Hamlet on the Holodeck. As computers evolve, so do the ways we use them to tell our stories and share our experiences. Our guest today was Janet H. Murray, author of Hamlet on the Holodeck, The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace.
In the news:
Princess Diana is gone, but the Media live on - Freeh and Feinstein urge key escrow for domestic encryption - Injunction blocked in Bernstein/Snuffle case - Sex sells more than politics, so whitehouse.com goes for the porn - Apple is going to buy Power Computing, the biggest Mac clone maker - The NASDAQ is going to listen in on stock related chat sites
8/30/97:Computers in the Workplace. For the Labor Day Weekend, we reached back into the Pacifica Radio Archives to present Computers in the Workplace.
8/23/97:A Revolution, or just Revolting? Our guest today was R.U. Sirius, of Mondo 2000 fame and the person chosen to finish Dr. Timothy Leary's last book. His latest project is Revolting. And with a name like that, you know it's gotta be good.
8/16/97:Designing the Web Our guest today was Lynda Weinman, author of several books about web graphics and columnist for Web Techniques magazine. While keeping a focus on the overall importance of a site's design, Lynda also stresses the efficient use of the medium through techniques such as color reduction and proper format selection. For those people who want professional results, this often means the use of (professionally priced) software such as Photoshop and Debabelizer. That said, there also are some less expensive tools such as GifWizard, Paint Shop Pro and Graphic Converter which can offer many, if not all, of the features of the more expensive products.
8/9/97:Apple Update. With the announcement last week of the appointment of several new board positions and that Microsoft will be investing over $150 million in the company, Ric was joined by Joe Meldrum & Mike Descher to talk about the future of Apple.
In the news:
It was the greatest commencement speech Kurt Vonnegut never gave - Is computer-generated kiddie porn protected speech? - Hip is Happening - Pentagon Web site spooks the spooks - AOL may track user clicks - Say so long to "The Net" Magazine - Siggraph '97 was a great place to be
7/26/97:Mars Pathfinder. Our guest today was David Dubov, Webmaster of the Mars Pathfinder web site. Since the lander bounced onto the Martian surface on July 4th and released the Sojourner Rover a couple of days later, this has become one of the most popular web sites in history. It not only offers the standard history of the project, but also frequent updates of briefings and pictures.
7/19/97:Sky Dayton. He's still in his mid-twenties, but he's already a veteran entrepreneur. Sky Dayton's latest startup is The Earthlink Network, which he founded in 1994 and is now one of the largest Internet Service Providers in the country.
In the news:
A lot of 'net infrastructure problems this last week - Network Solutions wants to go public and everybody is not happy about it. Oh, and by the way, NS claims ownership of the .com domain. In the meantime, the Justice Dept. is investigating them for violation of anti-trust laws - Remember, nasa.com is not the same as nasa.gov - The White House is now pushing filtering - A proposed bill would mean an ISP is not responsible for the contents of a member's web pages - The Cox/Wyden Bill may be in trouble - Ireland is considering 'net restrictions - A Basque site causes IGC a problem with protesters because of links on its page - Wired Ventures is looking for a new CEO
7/12/97:Jon Katz. Columnist for Hotwired and author of several books, including his latest: Media Rants: postpolitics in the digital nation, Jon Katz called us from his mountain retreat. He and Ric talked about some of the news items of the day and how things like filtering software can affect libraries and such worthwhile projects as Peacefire. Later in the program phones were opened to listener calls.
7/5/97:CDA Decision Special. We took an in-depth look at the recent Supreme Court decision on the Communications Decency Act and freedom of speech in cyberspace. We spoke with Mark Rotenberg, Director of EPIC, Jonah Seiger, Communications Director at CDT, Ken Wasch, President of the SPA, Michael Sears, General Manager of SurfWatch, Wendy Simpson, President of SafeSurf, and Audrie Krause, Executive Director at NetAction.
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