October, 9, 2001 archives

the five-part pbs documentary local news (a look behind the scenes of a charlotte, nc local news broadcast) sounds really cool. but in a fit of insanity, the main local pbs affiliate has scheduled it on thursday at 8pm, putting it up against survivor and friends. and it doesn't look like the other local pbs affiliates are playing the series. argh. (there's been two other great pbs documentaries recently: the first year, about five beginning teachers in the lausd, and the press secretary, about joe lockhart's office over three days towards the end of the clinton presidency.)

fedex redesigned their site to be more lightweight, and usage shot up 835%. a good lesson in making a site better by making it simpler. (also good plugs for akamai, keynote, and mercury interactive.)

look closely in this picture at what is right off the shoulder of the large picture of osama bin laden on the poster. then check out this picture, which is the source for that part of the poster. hilarious. the second picture is part of this site. (apparently spotted by mpawlo.)

dan bricklin writes quite eloquently about how copy protection robs the future, a variation on the theme of data being lost due to it being stored on obsolete media formats (like magnetic tape). but if the entertainment industry has its way, this will be the law, thanks to senator fritz hollings, bought and paid for by news corp., aoltimewarner, disney, and cbs. (and, of course, microsoft will be laughing all the way around the monopoly board.)