meta-roj

the finalists are up

i’ve just flipped the monthy archives so they are presented in chronological order (as opposed to reverse-chronological), since that just seems to make sense…

scientist

i picked this up from the ap wire, but it’s something i’ve been flirting with for a while… i just didn’t have a good hook until i read this:

vivisimo helps narrow internet searches

Let’s say, for example, you’re curious about accommodations in France and enter a search for “Paris Hilton.”

Google recognizes this as a search in the category of “Regional-Europe-Travel and Tourism-Lodging-Hotels” but still produces page after page with links about celebrity socialite Paris Hilton and her exploits. That’s because Google’s engine ranks pages largely based on how many other sites link to them, sending the most popular pages to the top.

(i’m just going to give them the benefit of the doubt that someone looking for paris hilton on google has any interest at all in france).

i’ve been watching categorization/searching/organizing applications for a few years now, and one of the more interesting ones a few years ago was from a local company (wisdombuilder). i don’t know if they’ve kept up or done anything really new and exciting, but it was neat to play with for a while, particularly since i had a particular application. that gig didn’t work out. but, i digress. you people come here to get interesting perspectives, so here’s the line you want: the paris hilton problem is the killer app in this category.

in a few years, when google is all grown up, we’ll be talking about the day that google passed the “hilton test.”

that, of course, will be a few weeks before google passes the “turing test.”

update: kevin pointed me to this at ieee spectrum. now that i’ve defined the hilton test (i shoulda used my own name), the race is on…

update (2004.01.05): slashdot picked it up.

reuters is reporting that universal music (big label), directv (big broadcast) and a couple of the people behind vivid entertainment (big porn) are talking about getting in bed together to launch an “uncensored” music video channel.

can skin break through the mtv hold on music video?

i just have to stick my nose in this one… i just saw jeremy zawodny (missing the point of social networks) throwing a $1000 gauntlet into the net, and within 3 hours or so, it’s accepted by richard stokes (i’ll take social software for $1,000 please, alex).

my name isn’t alex, but i just have to see how this plays out. i suggest our two friendly dissenters hie themselves to long bets and make it official. we have a slight gap between the two bets at this point,

jeremy zawodny

If you really think that Friendster scored over $10 million in VC funding on the premise of being nothing more than a “browse your friends” site, get real.

Or maybe I’m the one smoking crack. But I’d bet you $1,000 I’m not.

richard stokes

Given the historical track record that 70% of all VC-backed ventures go nowhere (or worse), I’ll be happy to take an even-money bet for $1,000. How do you propose we decide if it is a commercial success or not?

so we’re not exactly on the same page with “commercial success” versus “nothing more than a browse your friends site,” but there’s got to be a way to make this work. surely, keeping me entertained in some small way is worth $1000 to these two gentlemen :)….

since we’ve got the vc angle, i suggest a short-term long bet, something on the order of 3 to 5 years, to match the vc horizon. this also needs a fundamental metric of some sort, such as “still operating.” from there, jeremy and richard need to work out what constitutes a significant change in the friendster model.

these are smart people. this should be good.

update (2004.01.06): updated link for startupskills

punk promoter

breakthrough

i’m allergic to powerpoint. there are debates on the issue, and i’ll leave those to the microsoft pr department and edward tufte, since they’re much more qualified to make their individual cases.

personally, i just sat through a few too many powerpoint presentations where all the speaker did was read the screen to me. this, i can do on my own. this, i can do faster on my own. this, i can do at 3am. so i don’t much care for powerpoint. especially busy, animated powerpoint.

then david byrne goes and picks up powerpoint.

there’s some potential for redemption here.

[text of the abc piece below]
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benemar benatta was taken into custody legitimately – for having false id papers. no big deal, really, except that it was september 5, 2001, and within a week, the world trade center towers would crumble.

it started as just another catch at the border, but here’s why you need to worry.

benatta was held in solitary confinement with 24 hour lights and noise to deprive him of sleep. he wasn’t permitted to speak, shower or even read. he did not have access to a lawyer.

the fbi cleared benemar benatta of any involvement with the september 11 attacks within two months. and he was kept in those same cruel and unusual [yes, i just invoked the united states constitution – that’s the 8th amendment for anyone who still thinks it might apply to them] conditions for five months after that.

at this point he was offered a deal – to plead guilty to something he did not do in exchange for his release. surprisingly enough, after 7 months of solitary confinement (and torture), and without the benefit of legal counsel, benemar benatta valued truth over personal freedom.

benemar benatta can sit at my table any day.

then he was transferred to another detention facility and assigned a public defender. now more than two years after he was arrested, all charges were dropped at the recommendation of a federal judge, but he is still in custody, and fighting deportation to algeria.

paul campos

As for Benemar Benatta, he is remarkably understanding: “I don’t blame the United States,” he says. “They’ve never had to deal with terrorists, and 3,000 people died.”

there isn’t much to be found on this story, and that’s one of the more troublesome issues. if you search for benemar benatta with google, a number of the hits have vanished. this is also quite troubling. i think we have sources enough to consider this a valid story. i think even the possibility that this is true is one of the most disturbing and important issues america faces today. rather than fighting terrorists, we have become terrorists. this government is acting like a third-world, third-rate petty dictator in the name of security.

that’s my opinion. you should form your own.

in the meantime, be careful jaywalking. you could get 7 months of torture while someone tries to get you to plead guilty to something.

paul campos in rocky mountain news.
a terrorist nation called america in indymedia (uk).
two years gone from abc news.
release from jail sought for cleared terrorism suspect. washington post [this article will self-destruct].
cleared 9-11 detainee still being held fort worth star telegram. (a shortened version of the post article).
algerian born detainee seen as victim of excess. washington post [this article will cost you].
embassy of algeria responds to article. washington post [this article will also cost you].

update: added the dec 31 washington post article to the long version. and links to it and the star-tribune articles.

i wasn’t using my civil rights anyway
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