I see some schools are blocking access to Myspace and other blogging tools. The blogosphere, some people seem to believe, is just a bunch of people looking to exploit teenaged girls.
Sure, blogs can be dangerous. So can cars and jobs. I think the Myspace phenomenon exposes weaknesses in upbringing more than anything else.
The IP block associated with congressional offices has been banned off and on from editing Wikipedia, due to a large percentage of dubious edits that attempt to clean up a Congressperson's image, or smear political opponents.
This has raised a question: Should people with vested interests edit articles?
I'm not sure when I first heard of Craigslist. I think it was sometime this year. It's probably the biggest up-and-coming website there is, and while it's a way of life for some (people have used it to sell everything they own, including their house, then move to a new city, find a new place to live, a new job, and new stuff to fill it) a large number of people have never seen or heard of it.
What I've always wondered is how what amounts to a free classified ad board makes money.
I saw a story on Slashdot today where Darren Rowse was claiming he makes more money off Google Adsense ads on his blogs than he makes off his real job.
That's interesting. It's believable. But normal? No. Comments on the story said, to the effect, that they can't wait for it to happen to them.
There are reports in the news today that Google may launch a Paypal-like service. Most are questioning whether Google can compete with Paypal, which boasts 72 million users.
Very early in my BBSing days (1989 or so), I was talking to the operator of one of the first BBSs I called. He said he instantly bans anyone who engages in "flame wars."
I didn't know what a flame war was, though I found out pretty fast. And they're just as much a problem today as they were back then. Maybe more, since people can talk any time and they don't have to wait for the BBS line to get un-busy.
I saw a story on the news tonight about more than 100 students who won't be getting into MBA programs. Why? When they applied to a number of prestigous universities, a posting on a bulletin board claimed to let them view their records and see if they were admitted or not.
It didn't work for all of them. But those who tried to peek are being punished.
I saw the following in one of my Backup Exec failure logs (directory names changed slightly to protect the client's name, and me):
Directory F:\ITWEB\Flash Stuff\Welcome Page Animations was not found, or could not be accessed.
None of the files or subdirectories contained within will be backed up.
