16 Jun 2004
Hosting Service Closes 3000 Blogs Without Notice

Proving once again that you do, indeed, get what you pay for.

Citing the high costs of running the free service, performance concerns, and health problems, Dave Winer closed down the weblogs.com hosting service without any prior notice. As many as 3000 sites are now inacessible, and the users who want to transfer their data elsewhere have to ask (politely) for it to be exported. As might be expected, reactions range from understanding to enraged. Netcraft has a report, too.

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Northwest Privacy Lawsuit Dismissed

Gosh, I guess I don't have to make my mortgage payments anymore! I mean, I never actually read all the documents at closing - and I can prove it, because there were so many documents, that if I'd actually read them all, I'd still be there reading away! This will surely be overturned (or narrowed) on appeal.

News.com is reporting that a judge has tossed out a privacy lawsuit against Northwest airlines. The plaintiffs claimed that their privacy was violated when Northwest gave their information to the government. From the judge: 'Although Northwest had a privacy policy for information included on the Web site, plaintiffs do not contend that they actually read the privacy policy prior to providing Northwest with their personal information. Thus, plaintiffs' expectation of privacy was low.' Do you always read the privacy policy?" If you haven't read a particular EULA, does that mean it doesn't apply either?

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Dead wife bait traps killer lion

Imagine discovering the half-eaten corpse of your spouse in the underbrush, and calmly lacing it with poison to kill the lion when he returns to finish the meal. Revenge is, as Shakespeare said, a dish best served cold.

Tanzanian police promise to wipe out man-eating lions after a villager poisons one using his wife's corpse as bait.

(link) [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

Consulting group: Send more jobs offshore

We're trading away our future for a bigger bottom line on next quarter's financials.

Research and development is ripe for shipping abroad, says The Boston Consulting Group.

(link) [CNET News.com]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link