Author Archives: Dan Gillmor

Today’s Mercury News Personal Technology section offers a long list of suggestions on how to spend (or not) the special U.S. tax rebate that will soon be in the mail. Here’s what I suggested: Invest your tax refund in something … Continue reading →

A group led by Clay Shirky and Tim O’Reilly has issued a challenge to the manufacturers of Intel-compatible personal computers. It’s a direct result of two events — Microsoft’s supposed liberalization of its licensing practices, allowing PC makers more flexibility … Continue reading →

As you may know, a group led by Clay Shirky and Tim O’Reilly has issued a challenge to the manufacturers of Intel-compatible personal computers — put the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on all new PCs. The call to arms is … Continue reading →

Rob Malda: Why Linux Won’t Ever Be Mainstream. Linux won’t ever be accepted as a truly mainstream OS by most vendors. The reason for this is quite simply the users. And I’m not talking about everyone, I’m talking about the … Continue reading →

Wall Street Journal: Microsoft pulls back on Java support. The decision to drop Java support from Windows XP was first apparent last week in a “beta” or test version that Microsoft released to software developers. Java “virtual machine” code, which … Continue reading →

Dave Winer, after reading this comment on John Doerr’s statement of regret for an ill-advised comment during the inflation of the Internet bubble, says I should let Doerr off the hook. Sorry, I can’t do that. I think highly of … Continue reading →

AP: Microsoft to ask appeals court for rehearing. Microsoft spokesman Viveck Varma said the petition was “a good-faith attempt to seek clarification,” and should not be read as an unwillingness to settle the landmark antitrust case out of court. Good … Continue reading →

Mark Worden let me know that the results are in for the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, in which the English Department at San Jose State University asks entrants to come up with the worst opening sentence for a novel. Among … Continue reading →

Wall Street Journal: California becomes power player. With the acquiescence of other state leaders, Gov. Davis has put California on the road to creating what amounts to a mammoth state-owned electric utility, answerable largely to the governor. Moreover, though designed … Continue reading →

Los Angeles Times: Journalism giant shaped industry. Katharine Graham was one of the greats of modern journalism. She stood up to the most powerful people in the world, and stood for journalism that made a difference. Comments