Digital Village Radio November - December 1998 Programs
12/26/98Jon Katz and the Media Year. This may have been the year that the Internet finally, really, made it to the mainstream. Remember, the whole Lewinsky thing was first reported online. Then, later in the year, there was the Starr Report, which proved the hypocrisy of a Congress which has tried repeatedly to pass laws which would have made such material illegal on the 'net.
Our guest today was media critic Jon Katz of the Freedom Forum and SlashDot. In addition to the shenanigans in Washington, we also talked about how companies are gathering data about us. One example is shopping clubs which give special deals if you pass your club card through their scanner. What are the implications of such things? What decisions are being made about us based on our buying habits. Is it a good thing or a bad thing when the cashier at the supermarket knows that you are probably running out of toilet paper at home? What about the video store, or book store? What about the web sites you visit? What information about you is hidden in their logs?
In the news:
Alyssa Milano awarded $230,000 over nude Internet pix - Brits ordered to hoard food now for Y2K - Banks are told to "Know Your Customer"
12/19/98Pre-Empted, Week Two. Today we were again preempted. This time it was for the impeachment of the President. Our scheduled show on Internet commerce will be re-scheduled for early next year.
12/12/98Pre-Empted. Today we were preempted as lying politicians in Washington, D.C. talked about other lying politicians in Washington, D.C. Our scheduled guest, Peter Bergman of The Firesign Theatre, will join us early next year.
12/5/98Steve Bass and New Gizmos. It's the holiday season and there are lots of new goodies out there for those with a taste for the digital. Our guest today was Steve Bass, president of the Pasadena IBM Users Group and, not coincidentally, author of the Gizmo column in Computer Currents and a Contributing Editor for PCWorld. Among the things that have caught Steve's eye this year are the Windows 98 upgrade, buying CDs over the 'net from places like Music Blvd. (with its free CD offer), fighting banner ads and cookies with AtGuard software, USB devices which are just beginning to arrive, foiling telemarketers with Enigma and Wallace Wang's Steal This Computer Book. He also mentioned Microsoft's "new" ClearType, which Steve Gibson has pointed out is an old trick that Apple graphics gurus have been using for twenty years.
11/28/98Sharon Aker and The Mac Bible. Apple and the Macintosh are enjoying success with the release of the iMac computer and MacOS v8.5. Keeping these changes in mind, Sharon Aker has updated The Macintosh Bible. Within its 1000+ pages, this bible is full of tips and insights into the Mac, its operating system and interface.
11/21/98David Bennahum's Extra Life. Our guest today, David Bennahum, was part of the first generation of children to grow up with ready access to computers. His new book, Extra Life. Coming of Age in Cyberspace begins with his first glimpse of Pong when he was seven. It continues with the story of his first computer, an Atari 800, and of Mr. Moran, one of those magical teachers who knew enough to give his students the responsibility they deserved. It's an intimate look at a time when young people defined a revolution.
11/14/98Linda Weinman As the Internet matures, the people who create web pages are finding a home to hone their design skills as much as their HTML skills. Realizing this, designer and author Linda Weinman has started teaching regular workshops in the wonderful city of Ojai. The workshops are geared towards web professionals and advanced users who want to hone their design skills and get valuable hands-on experience using the latest tools.
11/7/98D.C. Update with Ari Schwartz. Today we were joined by Ari Schwartz, policy analyst with The Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington D.C. We spoke about how the 'net played perhaps its biggest part in the recent elections. We also discussed recent laws passed by Congress. This included the "Children's Online Protection Act", also known as CDA-II. Other laws passed concerned children's privacy and digital signatures. We also talked about issues such as Spam and copyright protection which are sure to face the upcoming session of Congress.
