Consider This…
Reflections on Life, Standards and Everything
The study of standards has a reputation for being, how to say tactfully, not exactly riveting. Or, as Monty Python's John Cleese might pronounce it: "Dreadfully dull — dry as dust and thoroughly drab and awful, really". The purpose of this section of ConsortiumInfo.org is to convince you that the study of standards, as they are used everywhere in the world around us, can be interesting as well as necessary. And sometimes, perhaps entertaining as well.
Recent Entries:
October 2009
#61 Jazz, Jazz Standards, and Open Source
What exactly did software programmers do before there was software to program? The similarity of open source software to jazz provides a clue.
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August 2009
#60 The Constantine Code and the Missing Standard!
Dan Brown is renowned for spinning tales that weave together ancient events and contemporary intrigue with potentially dire modern effects. I guess he does OK, considering what he has to work with. But next time, he should look into standards (what the hell?)
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June 2009
#59 Digitization and the (Vanishing) Arts of the Book
Throughout the ages, monks, artists and graphic designers have lovingly illuminated and designed published works of all kinds. With electronic books finally taking hold, will the arts of the book be abandoned forever, or will a new generation of artists be allowed the bandwidth needed to enrich our future reading experience?
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April, 2009
#58 Googling to Newspaper Solvency
Major newspapers and wire services have recently begun talking tough about cracking down on on-line aggregators that reproduce news extracts and then link back to the full text. Are the news organizations biting the hands that could save them?
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February, 2009
#57 Killing the Cockroach: The Incredibly Illogical, Fundamentally Odious — but Seemingly Ineradicable — Billable Hour
You'd never write a blank check to a house painter to paint your house. So why hand one to a lawyer? Good question.
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