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Comcast’s Folly

Harry Shearer, the bassist for Spinal Tap, voice talent for many characters in The Simpsons, and host of Le Show has no difficulty criticizing the unnecessary complexities of modern media technology, but not until his August 14 episode (subscribe to the podcast) has he admitted to the frustrations of modern cable. “It’s now easier to watch TV on your […] » about 700 words

Closed Formats Are Bad For Libraries, Stop OOXML Now

Microsoft just won’t quit. Now they’re trying to make OOXML an ISO standard. Please help stop this. Here’s how I explained it in Open Source Software for Libraries: The state of Massachusetts in 2005 announced new IT standards that required its 80,000 employees and 173 agencies to adopt open file formats. The decision didn’t specify […] » about 300 words

Skyhook WiFi Geolocation

Old news from Gizmodo and Wi-Fi Networking News (quoting WiFi NN):

Skyhook has assembled a database of information about 1.5 million access points across 25 major cities in the U.S. by driving every street in every city. Their software records multiple data points per sample for directionality. Fire up their software on a laptop, and it compares the Wi-Fi information it sees with what’s in the Skyhook database, popping out a latitude and longitude within 20 to 40 meters.

Also geolocation related: Monopoly Live: London style.