Monthly Archive for April, 2004

Mon
Apr
26
2004

Gmail search 1 cmts

I find it surprising that all the media attention and discussion about Gmail deals almost exclusively with the email service, the threading, the text ads, the labeling, and basically ignores the search. Google’s big thing was that you would be able to use a powerful and proven search engine to search your mail, and I, personally, would love this ability with my current 200MB mailbox.

But will Google’s email search be as good as it’s web search? Google web results are based on hugely complicated algorithms that began with PageRank, basically an innovative system of ranking results based on who else has linked to them. If CNN links to your site, and lots of people link to CNN, then your site is probably somewhat relevent. Of course Google is constantly fighting with people who manipulate their rankings by making all kinds of fake links. And the blogging phenomenom also chhanged some of the “standards” of linking.

But email, where does email link? I don’t think that the few links I send and receive through email are going to be very useful for the GoogleBot. I don’t think that email really works the same way. The labelling ability (as opposed to folders) might help with searches, but I don’t know how much. What has been lacking in every single review of Gmail, however, has been any talk about the search function, and if it’s any good. Especially since it doesn’t really support any kind of advance search features, such as regular expressions, which are very useful when you have a set of data that you have a pretty good understanding of (seeing as you’ve read it all at one time or another).

Sun
Apr
25
2004

Gmail 11 cmts

Why can’t I get a gmail account? :( Of course, even if I could, the 6 character minimum means no zeno at gmail. Oh well.

Sun
Apr
18
2004

WRT Help 2 cmts

In my last entry when I said I need “help” I think I meant I need a new approach, I need a better understanding of what my purpose is and what I’m trying to do and why I’m doing what I’m doing. I need something new and different, not the same old same old.

Sat
Apr
17
2004

0 cmts

Was Freaks and Geeks too real for network television? – Another lamentation about the sorry state of television, another show for me to watch on DVD.

0 cmts

Post-9/11 Immigration Crackdown “Ineffective” – Justice didn’t find any terrorists, but they used tougher terrorism laws to lock hundreds of people up for months without cause, and occasionally find people who had broken minor immigration laws. This is not new, it’s just a little more official now.

0 cmts

Apple to unveil new laptops Monday – I, for one, figured this out when on my visit to UCLA I saw that they were selling my laptop at $300 off the educational price.

0 cmts

Crazy About Bluetooth – Ever since I got my new laptop with Bluetooth built in I’ve been looking for some place to use it. I with Nextel had a phone that supported Bluetooth. And GPS. Imagine the possibilities!

Fri
Apr
16
2004

Wistful 3 cmts

So I have about 50 important e-mails to respond to, a bunch of books to read, an essay to write

Just another day in the life of a college student. September 19, 2001, to be exact. In my life. I’m just trying to figure out why I keep doing so many things wrong. Back in 2001 I found Brandeis and I was so happy. I did my work, I took part in activities, everything was new and exciting, and I enjoyed it all, learned and grew, and much of that was through classes in addition to all of my activities. Sure, I talked about how personal growth wins out over academic growth, etc., etc., but I did my work, I enjoyed it, I didn’t avoid it (so much), and I got it done. And I did okay in classes, and I got good grades.

So what has changed? Why is it now that when I sit down at a book to read it, a book I’m interested in, for a class I enjoy, I just don’t? I get distracted, I do stupid time-wasting things. Last semester was a disaster, a wake-up call, and this semester was going to be different, damnit, and I knew what I had to do and I knew I needed to fix things. So why am I back where I was? Why does this cycle continue to repeat?

I know I did the same thing freshman year, the same thing sophomore year, the same thing back in high school. But I always ended up getting things done, getting through it, coming out okay. I always knew that it would all work out. Last semester it didn’t, this semester was my chance to prove myself, and I don’t know why I can’t. I know, superficially, the things that I am doing wrong. I don’t know, I don’t understand, deep down, what I’m doing wrong, and why, and how to fix it.

I need help. I don’t know what that help is, exactly. Why am I not happy anymore? And now that I’ve stopped hiding that fact, where do I go from here?

What was I saying back in 2001, after a month at school? Oh yes:

I’ve been here some insanely short period of time, like less than a month, but already this place is my home. The people, the buildings, the surroundings are all mine now. Everyone I talk to who doesn’t live around here and who goes away or visits another college or whatever, comes back and tells me that this is what is home. They miss Brandeis when they’re gone. Its a great feeling.

Meanwhile, people in the UC system start college in the next few weeks. START! I’ve already been here an eternity. Yet, right now, I hope it never ends.

Wed
Apr
14
2004

0 cmts

Sat
Apr
10
2004

Hello, file sharing! 4 cmts

The latest study by economists of file sharing supports the techie view of the last three years, mainly that online file sharing does not significantly impact music CD sales. The study is explained in some detail in the NY Times article. The record industry is enraged, and the NYT reporter does a pretty good job of making fun of their illogical responses. Best paragraph is the last one:

“They can’t get to that using the two sets of data they are using – they aren’t tracking individual behavior,” said Jayne Charneski, formerly of Edison Media Research [...] “There’s a lot of research out there that’s conducted with an agenda in mind,” said Ms. Charneski, now the head of research for the record label EMI.

(Emphasis added.)

Meanwhile, I just don’t know if it’s funny or sad to watch the dying beast of the record industry hold on to it’s outdated ideas. The Wall Street Journal reports that in response to growing online music sales, specifically of individual tracks that people like, as opposed to force–fed albums of a few good songs and a lot of filler, the 5 major record labels are considering raising prices on individual popular tracks or forcing those tracks to be bundled with less popular ones. Additionally, in many cases popular albums are being sold online, i.e. in a lower quality, restricted digital compressed form, with no liner notes, no physical CD to distribute, etc, at a higher price then what it costs to buy them in stores.

Finally, the creator of the DeCSS hack of yore has released his latest masterpiece, a program called PlayFair that removes the Apple “FairPlay” digital rights management from legally purchased iTunes songs, removing the restrictions on copying and the like. The songs still maintain their unique digital watermarks, including the purchaser’s account information. This reminds me of the late, great eMusic, which offered unlimited music downloading of non-big-5 music, but the music contained digital watermarks and people who shared on P2P networks were dealt with, strongly. Seems like a sensible approach to me, and PlayFair removes the bitter aftertaste I get every time I purchase an iTunes track, because now I know that the possibility exists for me to get out of this crazy DRM scheme at some point in the future.

Your Proprietor

I'm Danny Silverman, a guy in Cambridge, MA with an interest in law, culture, media, and using technology to bring people together even as we work ever harder to push ourselves apart.

My day job is maintaining computer systems. I like exploring the outdoors. I catch and throw flying discs for sport. My cat is fuzzy.

To contact me: zeno@ this site.

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