Fergus Cassidy

FRIDAY 28 JANUARY 2004 23.45 (GMT)
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::: SPLIT ATOMS...

While doing some more research for the Tribune column last Sunday, I came across this point of view by Sandra Harding, who has written extensively on the philosophy of science.

She wrote this in 1991, proposing that the split between science and technology in Western thought has a political dimension:

The insistence on this separation between the work of pure scientific inquiry and the work of technology and applied science has long been recognised as one important strategy in the attempt of Western elites to avoid taking responsibility for the origins and consequences of the sciences and their technologies for the interests, desires and values they promote.


::: TIM BERNERS-LEE INTERVIEW...

US radio journalist Christopher Lydon is a good interviewer and he's recently posted a wide-ranging and thoughful interview with Tim Berners-Lee. This quote from Berners-Lee, provides a flavour:

"The general public is seizing on the Web as a way to have a conversation. That for me is very inspiring. It doesn't tell me something about the Web. It tells me something about humanity. The hope for humanity is that people do want to work things out.

"They do want to come to common understandings, and they will do it by constantly refining the way they've expressed their own ideas - and occasionally, on a good day, listening to the way other people have expressed theirs."

INTERVIEW: Part 1 (MP3 format)
Part 2 (MP3)


::: SHURELY SHOME MISHTAKE..

"The State does not have a monopoly on wisdom or expertise in all areas of economic and social life."

Quote is from 'Regulating Better', an Irish government white paper (Jan 2004).


::: COOP D'ETAT...

Encouraging to read recently about Britain's first co-operative internet service provider (ISP). Enough people in Hebden Bridge, a rural part of Yorkshire, were fed up that their local exchange wasn't being upgraded and decided on some DIY.

The Calder Connect Co-operative now has 320 members and aims to increase that to 1000 by the end of this year. Entry level charge is £20 a month including VAT for 10X dial-up speed and 5X upload. Plus £1 for a share in the co-op.

MORE INFO: Calder Connect Co-op


::: POLE AXED...

I've been without phone service since last Saturday evening when the line (ISDN) went dead, and can't access the internet. This is being posted from a friend's house.

Little did I know that my criticism's of Eircom's service to its customers in my column in yesterday's Sunday Tribune (written on Wednesday), would see me - yet again - at Eircom's mercy.

I live in a rural area about 40 miles from Dublin and have become resigned to a lower level of service even though I, and many others living in rural areas, pay the same charges as everyone else.

Last Saturday evening, I rang 1901 to report the fault. An answering machine informed me that I must wait until Monday morning. According to Eircom, once the fault is reported they are committed to fixing it within two working days. However, even this DOES NOT apply to ISDN.

Yet in the current issue of Eircom's telephone directory there's a blurb which says "You need Eircom hi-speed [ISDN] if you work from home".

Work that one out.


SUNDAY 29 FEBRUARY 2004 23.55 GMT
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::: GOODBYE E...

THIS WEEK'S TRIBUNE COLUMN: The electronic voting debacle in Ireland reveals much hypocrisy when it comes to e-democracy and e-government and doesn't bode well for the future.


::: HOMEWORK?...

On the back of yesterday's announcement by the government to provide all primary and secondary schools in Ireland with broadband by the end of 2005, the minister for education said that old computers would also be upgraded.

Presumably this also means software, and at an estimated cost of Euro18m for the scheme it would be interesting to know if any open source or free software is going to be used.


::: PATENT FREE...

As reported elsewhere, a group of scientists at Trinity College Dublin unveiled a major medical breakthrough last week. Professor John O'Leary and a team working at the Coombe Women's hospital developed a more accurate test for detecting cervical cancer.

What drew less attention, unfortunately, was the decision not to patent the test. O'Leary said the team wanted to make their discovery as widely available as possible.


WEDNESDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2004 01.45 GMT
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::: A FIRST FOR IRELAND...
I spent a day last week in Knockmore in rural Mayo learning about a pilot Group Data Scheme. This is Ireland's first co-op attempt to provide broadband in the form of a community network. I wrote about it in The Sunday Tribune and you can read it here.


::: GO WAN, GO WAN...
On a related theme, IrishWAN.org is holding its 2004 conference on Saturday 24 April. The group aims to create community-run wireless networks all over the country. Already there are active networks in Antrim, Dublin, Limerick and Wexford.

The venue is the Auditorium, Waterford Institute of Technology on the Cork Road and the conference will run from 11.30am to about 5.30pm.

I went to last year's conference and if you're in any way interested in wireless networks, I can't recommend this event highly enough.

MORE INFO: IrishWAN.org


THURSDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2004 22.45 GMT
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::: BIG CALL...

Press agency AFP is reporting that the US telecoms regulator, the FCC, voted 4-1 today to exempt Free World Dialup (FWD) from regulation. FWD is a service offering free telephony over broadband.

It's only a temporary decision however, as the FCC will now engage in proceedings to decide how Voice Over Internet Protocol is to be regulated, if at all.

Michael Powell, the chairman of the FCC, has said that VOIP is the most important proceeding in the history of communications, which means there will be trench warfare up ahead. Already law enforcement agencies are lobbying hard for regulation.


TUESDAY 30 MARCH 2004 23.35 GMT
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::: AND THE GOOD NEWS...

Hot on the heels of the formation of the Knockmore Community Network Society, another co-op has been set up.

Formed by a group of community networking experts in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow, the Dublin Wide Area Network Society Limited wants to promote the ideas of IrishWAN and community networking, and to share knowledge and resources.

Robert Fitzsimons, chair of the group, said that "community networking provides an alternative to the overpriced and limited solutions of the incumbent telecommunication companies and internet service providers. We are confident that it will form a vital resource for all members of the community".


THURSDAY 25 MARCH 2004 22.55 GMT
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::: (YET ANOTHER) REPORT ON BROADBAND...

Statement released today by IrelandOffline.org:

Ireland Offline welcomes the findings of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Marine and Natural Resources.

Chairman of Ireland Offline, Christian Cooke, welcomed in particular the recognition in the report that market failure has led to lack of true platform competition and that this has led to late delivery of services, high prices and under-investment.

"Because consumers have generally been forced to use one platform operator, this operator has not had the pressure to deliver competitive services. Consequently, Ireland has been consistently near the bottom of international league tables", said Cooke. "This is the problem that ultimately needs to be solved", he added.

Ireland Offline also welcomed the recommendation of setting of the 5 Mbit/sec speed target for widely available broadband by 2006. "This is a highly ambitious target given the timescales", said Cooke, "but ultimately we need to move beyond the constraints imposed by the legacy copper telephone network and traditional business models for broadband provision in order to achieve this objective".

LINKS: Volume 1 of the Joint Committee report [PDF 1mb]
IrelandOffline


WEDNESDAY 10 MARCH 2004 00.45 GMT
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::: GAMBLING WITH DEMOCRACY...

Last Saturday I noticed how Ireland's national lottery still attracts enough people to create queues in some shops on Saturday or Wednesday evenings.

Then I read that the lottery company will decide in the next three months whether to allow the Lotto to be 'played' over mobile phones.

It would be very interesting to see if people have sufficient trust in 'playing' over mobile phones or would they continue to opt for a printed ticket in a shop.

If having a a ticket which records and verifys what numbers a person picked is so important then it's a no brainer when it comes to electronic voting.


SATURDAY 6 MARCH 2004 23.55 GMT
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::: PATENT WEB...

The US Patents office (USPTO) has invalidated a web technology that is at the heart of a big legal dispute over who owns it.

Last year Microsoft lost a patent case and were ordered to pay over $500m in compensation to Eolas Technologies.

The USPTO decision is part of a review process and may only be temporary. However, the World Wide Web Consortium submitted prior art on the patent late last year and asked for the patent to be struck down.

In a letter to the US department of commerce Tim Berners-Lee said: "On October 24 2003, we filed a statement under 35 USC Section 301 presenting prior art not considered by the Patent and Trademark Office in issuing the '906 patent and explaining why the claims of the patent are invalid based upon that prior art".

Berners-Lee may be able to rescue another piece of technology which should belong in the public domain.