business

This is only going to become a bigger issue as time goes on. I am firmly convinced that the things going on now will set the groundwork for much of our future--and much of our future freedom.

Podcasting saved from the UN -- for now

The US had pushed hard to get this new right applied to the web, even though virtually every country in the world had rejected this idea. The US was put up to this by Yahoo and Microsoft, who have giant databases of webcasts that other people have entrusted to them, which they wanted to get an ownership interest over. Over and over again, the world's nations have told the US that this wasn't an option, and over and over again, the Chairman of the committee snuck away between meetings and stuck it back into the treaty.

Just where does that line between the idea freedom and the reality of being a gluttonous capitalistic society lie? Things like this and the oil-based economic problems will show us quite clearly where.

Eye tracking Web usability

There's been a lot of hubbub over the potential purchase of a handful of U.S. ports by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based company out of Dubai. (NY Times article, Washington Post/AP article)