Delicious LiveJournal Links for 12-12-2008

[andrewducker]

• Why asset bubbles are a part of the human condition.
  Because people naturally try to beat the system, take time to realise that bad things can happen if they take risks, and throw away what they've learned if the situation changes slightly.
  (tags: research psychology finance science markets trading)
• Why the IWF was wrong to lift its ban on a Wikipedia page
  Interesting piece on OUT-LAW. Which I expect a fair chunk of you to disagree with, but it is well worth a read.
  (tags: UK internet censorship)
• NumberSpiral.com
  Made my head hurt - but in a good way.
  (tags: visualization mathematics maths tutorial numbers)
• Actor cuts throat on Vienna stage
  Acting - dngrs bsns
  (tags: acting unlikely)

Comments

[drplokta]

The main problem with the IWF's action was not the censorship of the image, or even of the page, but that they did it in a technically ham-fisted manner that interfered with the relationship between the client and the server for every Wikipedia page loaded by every user on the affected networks. If they'd just done it properly, there would have been almost no fuss.

[bracknellexile.livejournal.com]

Technically that was the ISPs that implemented the IWF's blacklist. The IWF merely provide a list of sites to block, but yes, the whole thing was a massive technical cock-up and it's the fact that the ISPs cover up the blocking with faked 404-errors that bugs me more than the fact they blocked Wiki in particular. That and the blocks were stupidly easy to circumvent.

AS I read elsewhere (and I cringe at using the terms but..), the IWF is a Web 1.0 solution to a Web 2.0 problem.

[andrewducker]

I'm generally in agreement. If they just knocked out individual images then I'd have much fewer qualms.

If they did so in a transparent manner, making it clear that the connection had been blocked (rather than 404ing) I'd have no problems with it at all.