Linked List: February 18, 2010

Thursday, 18 February 2010

Aaron Swartz on Google’s Method of Testing ★

Aaron Swartz:

So it seems totally reasonable to imagine them releasing something without heavily testing it; their whole culture is based around testing things in the wild.

Good point, but I’d replace “totally reasonable” with “unsurprising”.

Harry McCracken on Scott Moritz ★

Harry McCracken:

Anyone want to explain why Moritz keeps relaying Kumar’s rumors as “exclusive” facts – and why TheStreet lets him do so?

Easy: because Moritz is an unscrupulous hack and TheStreet.com is a rag.

Roger Ebert on His Profile in Esquire ★

Ebert:

I was a little surprised at the detail the article went into about the nature and extent of my wounds and the realities of my appearance, but what the hell. It was true. I didn’t need polite fictions.

Chris Jones’s profile captured what I’ve been thinking for the last year or so: that Ebert has become a far better writer now than he was before. And that’s saying something, because he’s always been a terrific writer.

The Mariana Trench to Scale ★

Spooky.

Intellectual Ventures Uses Over 1,000 Shell Companies to Hide Patent Shakedowns ★

Techdirt:

The NY Times is now running yet another profile (they do this every two years or so) of Myhrvold and Intellectual Ventures that covers the usual bogus claims by Myhrvold about how he’s creating “invention capital,” with very little skepticism. However, it does reveal one interesting tidbit that we had missed. Last year, a research firm released a report highlighting that Intellectual Ventures has up to 1,110 shell companies, with which it can hide its activities. No wonder IV can pretend it doesn’t sue anyone. It can simply hide behind its shell companies.

I like how the Times story (by Steve Lohr) starts the second paragraph like this:

Admirers of Mr. Myhrvold, the scientist who led Microsoft’s technology development in the 1990s, see an innovator seeking to elevate the economic role and financial rewards for inventors whose patented ideas are often used without compensation by big technology companies.

But then never goes on to actually name any of these “admirers of Mr. Myhrvold”. Who admires this guy?

Andy Baio Interviews Ted Rall ★

Rall is financing a trip to Afghanistan using Kickstarter.