The loathesome, unprecedented Broadcast Flag comes into effect this summer, and thereafter, the feds will be mandating DRM in all technologies that can interact with a digital television signal, forever driving a nail into digital television uptake in the USA.

There's a single ray of hope, though: EFF, Public Knowledge and several other public interest groups are suing the FCC over this, arguing that they don't have the jurisdiction to impose the Broadcast Flag — the appeals hearing kicks off on Feb 22. — Read the rest

I did a mini-interview with Gizmodo yesterday, in which I was asked to empty my pocketses and talk about what gadgets I was carrying and why:

Fido Vtech prepaid mobile: this is the worst mobile phone I've ever owned. I have a bottom-of-the-line Nokia I use in Europe and a similar one that T-Mobile sold me in San Fran, and when I turned up in Toronto last week, I figured I'd just put a prepaid SIM into that one and go with it.

NASA researchers have conducted a successful test of Wi-Fi networking in a remote location to simulate terrain on another planet. BoingBoing pal Mike O points us to part of this article which states "Wi-Fi technology currently rates in the 1-to-3 range on NASA's 10-point technology readiness scale," and asks, "Does anyone know more about this scale? — Read the rest

The Antiques Roadshow Drinking Game: it was inevitable. Great rules!

Drink if…

* the owner of the item claims to have no idea as to the value of the item.  Drink twice if they give an amount that is hideously low ("Oh, I don't know…..a

San Jose Mercury News article about peer-to-peer. "'Napster brought anarchy to the masses. This next generation of P-to-P will institutionalize that anarchy,' said Robert Batchelder, a research director at Gartner Dataquest" Link