“When I visit a mosque, I show my respect by taking off my shoes. But if a believer demands that I, as a non-believer, observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect but for my submission.”

Flemming Rose, Cullture Editor, Jyllands-Posten

Screensavers seem to me to be a very strange genre of software, they are more often than most unfree and rarely do the free versions reach the quality of Really Slick Screensavers.

Post prompted by the search for a Windows XP screensaver that could display items from a number of RSS feeds, and if something catches the eye, bring up the item in Firefox.

Not a lot to ask.

Meanwhile, the poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.

'Nuff said?

As the visibility we have increases with the deployment of access to the Internet, there are going to be frictions, and no amount of "media responsiblity," what ever you perceive that to be, is going to stop people getting the opportunity to take offence.

Mark Cubey - Gillmor Gang

Reluctant to read this new take on the old idea that groups, correctly structured and sampled, despite ignorance, bias and uncertainty, can come up with insightful answers.

Given the way our brains are structured, that this macrocosmic view of the emergence of intelligence from a diverse cluster of entities is correct shouldn't be a surprise.

Well researched and written with a fund of interesting research examples, and a strict definition of when crowds do and don't (mobs) work.

Its in the WCC Library system, but I can't link any closer than the search, check it out

ObURL: Independent Individuals and Wise Crowds
James Surowieki

That the rumoured Google PC will turn out to be a Google branded handset with a Linux OS and Sun et al terminal software with SDR, camera, standard batter/fuelcell form-factor, universal recharger socket, 4" color screen, mesh node (when docked, wired gateway) optional, Tor aware, also Hamachi... Google seeds market with 10⁹/10², 10⁷ in under-developed countries as part of food distribution, teach them to fish in the ocean of knowlege...

I mean why not? Google and Skype have kicked in to FON, which provides a small amount of subsidised hardware. Once you've got access and client, search rockets () and with appropriate pricing and again hardware subsidy, Indian broadband connectivity has rocketed, up a substantial 54 percent from 25 million in 2004, but this is a country where broadband costs as little as 199 rupees (US $4.50)/month.

ObUrl: Google, Sun plan partnership
Walled Gardens reward gardeners, Arpu.