Digital Village Radio
January - March 1999 Programs
3/27/99Lauren Weinstein on Privacy. Concern about privacy has reached a fevered pitch recently. Of course stories about such things as the serial number inside Intel's Pentium III chip, or unique ID numbers embedded into Microsoft documents or being sent to the company against Windows' users express wishes, may go a long way to explaining this concern. Or guest today was Lauren Weinstein, Moderator of The Privacy Forum. We talked about these topics and others, including the upcoming battle between the US and EU over privacy.
In the news: Radio B92 and others use the 'net to get the word out of Kosovo - Virginia court rules domain names are property - The Mellisa email virus causing problems in offices and elsewhere - Demon Internet loses libel case
3/20/99Open Phones. A last minute scheduling change allowed us to open phones to our listeners. Included were comments about problems installing Microsoft's new Internet Explorer v5.0 and the mail component of Netscape's v4.5 Navigator. We also talked a bit about the declining quality of phone lines and the coincidental roll-out of high-speed (and high priced) DSL phone lines.
3/13/99Melodie Woods & Shred Betty. If you're a Betty that shreds, or know one, then you'll want to check out the Shred Betty web site. Our guest today was Melodie Woods, Director of Content Development at Shred Betty and its parent company, GirlGames. We talked about how young women are using the 'net today and how that's different than just a couple of years ago. Now there are many sites devoted to girls and the number is increasing.
3/6/99LinuxWorld Open Phones There's little dispute that Linux, the kernel of the very popular Gnu operating system, is a phenomenon. Originally developed by a student in Finland name Linus Torvalds, it has grown into a global project with the best chance (some say) of replacing Windows on the majority of peoples' computers. Because of all this, last week's LinuxWorld has a particular energy, both in the mainstream booths of the big software houses and the back alleys of the Linux hacker culture. Now that this upstart OS with the odd name and cute mascot is getting some real respect in the area of servers, it's starting to make a big move to the desktop. As various GUI desktops (such as KDE or GNOME) mature, they will offer Windows users a familiar interface. Today we open our phones to LinuxWorld attendees and Linux users to get their impression of the operating system and its potential impact during this next year.
In the news:
Looking for that special vacation site? Check out Menwithhill - Here come the Muddies! - The Senate releases its Y2K report - Say goodbye to Know Your Customer - EU to look at personal privacy - Clinton names privacy point man - Journalist waits for child-porn sentence - Senate holds 'net smut hearing - Net gambler sues credit card companies - Raytheon demands disclosure of identity of Internet chatters - HP to split into two companies - Wall Street working Saturdays to simulate Y2K - Counties demand net taxes - Pointcast CEO resigns amid buyout rumors
2/27/99Erik Davis & Techgnosis. Many of us would first think that there is a clear divide between technology, with it's logic and numbers, and mysticism with it's magical visions and otherworldly pursuits. But whether it's cave paintings, printing presses or e-meters, humans have long used technology to help realize the transcendent self. Our guest today was Erik Davis, author of the new book Techgnosis, which explores this mind/spirit connection.
2/20/99Robert Lauriston &
The PC Bible. At nearly 1000 pages, The
PC Bible goes a long way towards reaching its goal of being a truly comprehensive
reference and tutorial, for both beginners and oldtimers alike. Our guest
today was Robert Lauriston, the book's
editor.
In the news:
The North/South Korean border creates a special Y2K problem - Afraid you'll miss the latest high-speed police chase? Then check out Pursuit Watch - The Secret Service funded a private driver's photo database - The Feds take some heat for their Know Your Customer banking plan - Teen gets in trouble for appleimac.com domain name - GoTo.com is mad at Go.com over what they say are too similar logos - ATT/TCI given the big O.K. for their merger - Ho-hum, the Pentium III debuts as critics pursue a Freedom of Information Act request to see if the Feds pressured Intel to include individual serial numbers on the chips - The National Commission on Libraries & Information Science rejects mandatory Internet filters in favor of local control
2/13/99Raymond Pirouz Our guest today was designer Raymond Pirouz, whose new book Illustrator 8 Magic provides a guide to using this popular vector-graphics program. Raymond also talked about R35 edu, his new efforts to make designers out of all of us.
1/30/99Information Rules. With all the talk about the New Economy, one would think that all the old rules were dead. Not so say today's guests, Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian, whose new book Information Rules sets out to show how the same old tried-and-true economic laws still apply to today's new technology.
1/9/99Christian Boyce and MacWorld. Every year, the intrepid Christian Boyce makes the trek to MacWorld. In recent years it's usually been a rather sullen affair. But that has changed this year, with the phenomenal success of the iMac and G3 computers. While much of the attention has been on the new fruity flavors of iMacs, Christian tells us that there were a number of other things of interest, including another insane keynote speech by Steve Jobs, Apple's iCEO.
1/2/99Richard Stallman and Freedom. It's a shame that the English language doesn't distinguish between free as in "zero price" and free as in "do what you wish" as the French do with gratuit and libre. Our guest today, Richard Stallman, creator of the GNU Project, refers to it as the distinction between free speech and free beer. What he's doing with the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation is promoting software that is free (as in freedom). He believes that users should be free to use and modify the software to suit their own needs. If that means modifying the code, so be it. If that means giving a copy of the software to a friend, so much the better.
