All posts by Richard

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

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This blog, eContent, focuses upon knowledge management and digital content for engineers and technologists. The issue of DRM and how it affects all digital content, not just music, is huge. Knowledge at Wharton (the business school) just published a podcast where two professors discuss the implications of this issue and Steve Job’s call to the publishing industry to drop DRM. Be aware that Job’s public request may not be that altruistic!

Stuck!

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Where is your favorite Hoeg stuck?!

A very large blizzard has "struck" Minnesota …

  • I’m stuck in Morristown, N.J. till Saturday afternoon
    >> How do you spell kindness? It’s spelled DeBary Inn. This year, I’ve started staying with Anita and Hill Rose at their Bed and Breakfast Inn near Morristown (our HQ). Even though their Inn is full tonight, when my plane was cancelled for today, they gave me one of the family’s bedrooms!
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  • My middle son is stuck at Wartburg College
    >> His Winter vacation was supposed to start today. The Winter part is correct, but he is definitely not coming home today!
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  • My wife is stuck in downtown Minneapolis
    >> My wife leads Information Technology for the Star Tribune. When the blizzard and a huge project hit at the same time, she got stuck in downtown Minneapolis. She did not get home last night (only six miles).

Nerdcast – Take 04: Run for China

China

Ever wondered how to say "Northstar Nerd" in Mandarin? Tune in to my short podcast (less than four minutes) where Dj attempts to teach me some basic Mandarin … and also explains the goals of the China Tomorrow Education Foundation.

Here is some background information (please consider emailing a pledge):

  • Amount Pledged as of March 1, 2007: $2,477 (updated total)
  • Learn more about my Run for China – Grandma’s Marathon (June 2007)
  • Last Saturday’s long training run: 15 miles in a Winter storm!

Finally, the podcast took place in a noisy Chinese restaurant in Avenel, N.J. My new microphone and laptop setup worked fine (podcasting tutorial). The photos taken below show Dj with me in my Run for China t-shirt. I used a web service that allows one to design a custom shirt online. Swift … click for a larger view!
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Panel Discussion in Second Life

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Very early this morning (5:15 a.m. Minnesota time) I attended a panel discussion in SL (Second Life). The early hour was due to the fact that the target audience was Europe.  PA Consulting brought together a number of companies including BMW, Vodafone, and the Financial Times. These representatives spoke about their experiences in SL, and answered questions (within SL we could IM the moderator).

As many folks have probably never experienced SL, I’ve attached a Powerpoint file with 12 screenshots from the the event.  The file is "read only"

Most panelists were in SL as an experiment, and were not yet doing formal product testing, recruitment, etc. My host however, PA Consulting, has private islands where they are running sims for customers to test product concepts.

Sunday Leisure

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For those of you have never seen a wolf in the wild, take a moment to view these links. You’ll begin to understand the majesty of my home region, Northern Minnesota. Although I’ve never seen a wolf pack take down a moose, I have seen wolves attacking deer in the wild. Just remember, this is the natural state of events. I’ve also attached a photo of my own northwoods cabin. One must snowshoe in one mile on a logging road at this time of year. Enjoy!

For those of you who want some leisure "non outdoors" entertainment, NPR just started podcasting excerpts from two of my favorite shows:

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