If you are real geek, you can probably relate to this. Do you have some friends are fellow geeks and when you are in a social situation you find yourself wanting to talk about something you read on Slashdot or some zine? That's all fine and good, but what happens when your geek friends have already read those articles and were also planning to use the same material as chit-chat and conversation? [NeemaNet Daily]
Neema and I ran into this problem yesterday. Things seem to work best if there is a blance, some shared information some unique.
5:38:32 PM
It Turns Out AOL Owns Instant Messaging Patent. The patent (6449344), originally filed in 1997, and granted in September this year, gives AOL instant messaging subsidiary ICQ rights as the inventor of the popular IM Internet application. The patent covers anything resembling a network that lets multiple IM users see when other people are present and then communicate with them.... [The Shifted Librarian]
Language is important, its our mechanism for (consciously or unconsciously) transmitting values. Randy Pausch, a professor here at the Human Computer Interaction Institute is found of pointing out that only Software Companies and Drug Dealers call their customers Users. He also notes that Disney refers to people who come to its theme parks as Guests. The words we use are important. Just ask Trent Lott.
