It sounded like a great idea: close off a street and have 200 technology companies fill the block with displays and glitz. The only probelm, says the Chicago Tribune, was that there was no Internet; event organizers and exhibitors say the DSL routers that were supposed to provide connectivity never worked, even though Chicago’s local telco, Ameritech, claims they had everything up and running less than an hour after the party began.

There has always been a market for professional hatchetmen. Now there is the Internet. Put the two together, and there is an obvious need for workers adept at the art of the flame, says an article in this week’s Village Voice.

As digital moviemaking tricks get better-faster-cheaper, stunt men and women are starting to worry about just how long they are going to be needed. Meanwhile, many are learning to work with new computerized animation technology in the spirit of, “If you can’t beat them, join them.” latimes.com article.

“While IBM and Dell race to come out with PCs for wireless networks, also known as wireless local area networks (WLANs),
the Philippine government has reversed its position on banning use of such technology in the country.” Story at ComputerUser.com.

In an entertaining piece headlined Don’t Fall for a Dot-Con, The Washington Post warns against bad or biased investment advice online, and give some some horrifying examples.

In an entertaining essay, Glenn Fleishman tells Seattle Times readers why she fell away from the Apple Faith, and why she has regained it and is now doing penance for her pervious disbelief.

Dan Gillmor’s column in the San Jose Mercury-News talks about how the current crop of American politicians doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job of delaing with technology or changes technololigal advances are making in our lives.

Slashdot gives us a nice summary of internet legislation, including the ‘American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act,’ ‘Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act,’ and others.

EETImes is reporting that the SDMI is running a contest to have people crack examples of their encryption before choosing which method will be used in SDMI approved digital music devices.

Harris Interactive, a well known firm which has many email lists, has had another settlement in its lawsuit against ISPs which blocked its mailings. “Although the Harris lawsuit listed dozens of Internet service providers (ISPs), its real target was the “black hole” list published by the Mail Abuse Prevention System, known as MAPS.“