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What's wrong with the Web, part 42

In a story on BoingBoing, a "web developer" who got a major bit of Sticker Shock on his eye(candy)Phone from AT&T wrote:

"On the way to the airport, I activated the per-use international roaming data plan - the only one offered to me. The rep quoted me $.005 per KB but did not disclose what that would translate to in layman's language (i.e., X amount per e-mail, X amount per web page, etc.). I'm a web developer as part of my career and I couldn't even tell you how many KB the average web page is, no less a text message to my son, an e-mail with a photo to my mother, or a quick check of Google Maps. That's part one of the trap.", he wrote, referring to AT&T trapping him into spending money. He's right, but in the wrong direction. It's part of the trap that some web designers get into, of not knowing or caring how bloated their pages get, as long as they look pretty in the office with a direct connection. People on slower connections pay the price.  In this one case, the web developer got to pay the piper. Except that he was able to wiggle out of it.
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A Muslim answers a Texan's 'Why do they hate us?'

... from The Washington Post

All I can say is: Read it. Read it and understand why so much is wrong with the world today. We've been saying for decades that U.S. policy is way out of line; it's nice to see the mainstream press catching up.

Related reading in this Toronto Sun article: Bush's next disaster? The Sun often takes Bush's side, so it's refreshing to read this warning on their site.
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Time for a really new cell phone

OpenMoko Neo1973 Goes on sale - on schedule

The OpenMoko website started selling the developer preview of the Neo1973 cell phone on July 9th, as promised. Linux-based and all open source (except for a tiny shim around the GSM module), this is the phone that most every open source developer should have. The current offering is a bit short on software, but the price reflects that. Why buy that closed-shop iPhone when you can have an open source Neo phone? And, check the site to find out why it's called Neo1973!

My talk at OnLinux (October 2007)

From the Event Horizon Dep't

It's confirmed - I will be speaking on OpenMoko at OnLinux in Toronto in October, 2007.  OnLinux promises to be a large gathering of local open-source talent as well as project leaders from around the world.
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