links for 2010-09-27

  • A call for tweet data older than what is available on the site. It's nice to make the call, and it's great if Twitter listens, but unless you own your own data or have some control over the services you use, you're beholden to a corporation to make decisions in your best interest and often against theirs. The Twitter history issue is a good reminder of why open APIs and the like are not sufficient for free network services.
    (tags: [twitter](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/twitter) [socialmedia](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/socialmedia) [identica](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/identica) [statusnet](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/statusnet))
  • An interesting look at the etymology of "left" and "right" in a bunch of languages. One thing I'm left curious about, though: given the common relationship between "left" and "north," where does English's "southpaw" come from?
    (tags: [language](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/language) [etymology](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/etymology) [left](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/left) [right](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/right) [directions](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/directions) [word](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/word))
  • Clipper 2.0: The US government is preparing to seek new regulation that will undermine encryption technology so that it can be wiretapped. I don't love drug dealers or terrorists, but it's hard to imagine clear-thinking people who see this as a good idea.
    (tags: [encryption](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/encryption) [internet](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/internet) [clipper](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/clipper) [cryptography](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/cryptography) [nytimes](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/nytimes) [article](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/article) [interesting](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/interesting) [government](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/government) [politics](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/politics))
  • WOW does this article ever miss the point. A criticism of the people who advocate giving non-rivalrous goods away in order to generate demand for rivalrous goods, calling them hypocritical for doing exactly what they suggest. (I think that makes them hypercrites!)
    (tags: [article](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/article) [stupid](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/stupid) [freemium](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/freemium) [corydoctorow](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/corydoctorow) [free](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/free))
  • Congratulations to the Diaspora guys on a great New York magazine profile. This piece seems to miss the point less, although it's hard to find a source that isn't posing D* as a Facebook killer.
    (tags: [facebook](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/facebook) [socialmedia](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/socialmedia) [newyork](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/newyork) [diaspora](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/diaspora) [article](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/article))
  • Well, some of this skepticism of social networks is well-placed, and I do think social media fanboys get a little breathless when describing the power of Twitter et al. But of course, Gladwell gets a little muddy when talking about the strengths and weaknesses of these loose-tie networks, and this piece certainly doesn't spell the downfall of the Twitterati, but it's worthwhile reading.
    (tags: [malcolmgladwell](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/malcolmgladwell) [newyorker](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/newyorker) [socialmedia](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/socialmedia) [internet](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/internet) [twitter](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/twitter) [facebook](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/facebook) [civildisobedience](http://delicious.com/parkerhiggins/civildisobedience))