“SOFTLOCK EXPLAINED that due to extreme demand, customers would have to return later to access the story. “It’s ten times what we expected,” said Ruth Feiner of the Maynard, Mass.-based firm, though she would not be more specific.

At Amazon.com early on Tuesday, where the $2.50 charge most outlets asked for the book was waived, readers were accessing the 66-page novella, “one and a half times per second,” claimed spokeswoman Kristin Schaefer.”

“Both local papers, in their own ways, exercise judgments that undermine their credibility. The [San Francisco Chronicle’s] technology coverage harps on the same tired theme of amazement. My God, says the local paper, look at the wizards and their wonders. The Chron should justrun the same daily headline: “More Cool Stuff From Those Young People in Palo Alto.” The [Mercury News] regards the area’s newly wealthy as curiosities from another planet. The Merc’s recurring headline would say, “They’re Rich. They’re Young. What Does It Mean for People Who Are Poor Like Us?””

“One former editor at the Merc once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Oracle CEO Larry Ellison at a banquet, but couldn’t bring himself to say a word to the billionaire. He told me later he didn’t know what to say to Ellison, whom he noted was at the time the wealthiest man in Silicon Valley.

How is it possible for an editor to be so awed by power, money or influence that he could not even shake another man’s hand? Such insecurity in the face of the area’s increasing wealth and sophistication is a sad commentary on the people who should be telling the valley’s stories”

“This is the backdrop to Chris Nolan’s little stock deal. Whatever the specific rights and wrongs of her AutoWeb escapade, it’s a sign of the new prosperity some technology reporters enjoy, and that really
gets under some observers’ skin. Maybe Nolan did everything by the book, maybe she didn’t; either way, she serves as a whipping boy for the tut-tutting of old-line news hounds who resent the changes that the Internet is bringing to their business.”

“Nathan Myhrvold, a physicist who is on leave from his job as the chief technology officer at Microsoft Corp., said in an e-mail interview, “People have made apocalyptic predictions about technology constantly for as long as there has been technology. I think it is because change frightens them. What is more, the most common form these dire predictions take is ‘this next generation of stuff — wow! that is really different and really scary.'””

“In the telephone interview last week, Joy said he doubted that the development of advances could be reined in in the commercial world, and he criticized scientists as being largely silent on the inherently destructive potential of rapidly evolving technologies.

Asked if he thought a technological species could expect to survive the ever-accelerating evolution of its market-driven technologies, Joy said: “The answer is ‘yes, but not without additional care.’ I think it’s possible — but it’s not a given. Survival won’t come for free.” ”

“All around us are ordinary phenomena that can astound us if only we attend to them with the seriousness they do not typically receive: letters and letter-writing, street scenes, routine family life, artistic and cinematic depictions of how we live our lives, everyday work and commercial situations, sociable occasions, nonprofessional sports activities, transportation contexts, venues of legal and political action, viewing televised entertainment, consuming information from various media, and so on. The study of the extreme, outlandish, and “profane” aspects of late 20th century existence has been well-developed and has given rise to many useful theoretical and research tools. Here, we want to turn these analytic tools to the level of everyday life, to examine in microscopic and graphic detail the more mundane, habitual, and quotidian aspects of our existence – including how we define what is “mundane”. These unnoticed, unmarked aspects of our lives are often the most political and yet depoliticized, and it is one of the goals of this journal to expose these processes.”

“This paper analyses the cultural significance of male facial grooming, the arts of shaving, clipping and trimming, and the meanings of full beard growth. It draws upon a semiotic interpretation, and reconfigures the overlooked and personalised ritual of daily facial preparation and presentation. The analysis sees
facial hair as a signifier of masculinity, but one which does not remain fixedly within the masculine realm. The radical politicisation of facial hair has been effected through both the gay and the feminist movements, so that the figures of the “bearded fairy”, the “goateed club bunny”, and the “drag king” are their assigned subcultures, but bleed via the mass media into dominant culture.”

“Despite the call from many thoughtful folks for us to give up our patents unilaterally, I don’t believe it would be right for us to do so. This is my belief even though the vast majority of our competitive advantage will continue to come not from patents, but from raising the bar on things like service, price, and selection — and we will continue to raise that bar. We will also continue to be careful in how we use our patents. Unlike with trademark law, where you must continuously enforce your trademark or risk losing it, patent law allows you to enforce a patent on a case-by-case basis, only when there are important business reasons for doing so.

I also strongly doubt whether our giving up our patents would really, in the end, provide much of a stepping stone to solving the bigger problem.

But I do think we can help. As a company with some high-profile software patents, we’re in a credible position to call for meaningful (perhaps even radical) patent reform. In fact, we may be uniquely positioned to do this. ”

“On an important meta-level, one thing to note is that this episode is a fascinating example of the new world, where companies can have conversations with their customers, and customers can have conversations with their companies. I’ve been saying for 4 years now that, online, the balance of power shifts away from the merchant and toward the customer. This is a good thing. If you haven’t already, read the cluetrain manifesto. If you want the book, well…you can get it at several places online…”

“I do want to commend Jeff for listening to his customers. He didn’t just hide behind his lawyers, or a PR spokesperson, but engaged directly, demonstrating that he does understand the new rules of the Internet
economy.”

“Weblogging by nature has been a solitary pursuit, and its practitioners are mostly independents. But as Gillmor and Cooper are showing us, the model can work on a corporate level — if news organizations are willing to be more free with their notion of what is acceptable content for their Web site.”

Gillmor says eJournal is an experiment in what the Web experience can be. “We’re still trying to figure out what it is,” he says. “That’s part of the fun.” While the columnist is (obviously) at the center of the Weblog with what he writes, Gillmor sees it as facilitating a multi-way conversation between he and his readers, and readers and other readers.

Hosting a Weblog is a way to add a personal voice to the corporate face, says Jim Romensesko, one of the most widely recognized Webloggers.”