How MapQuest works

Ever wonder how MapQuest, or the OnStar navigation system, directs you from one point to another? The New Yorker's April 24 issue has an in-depth article about it. Here's an interesting synopsis of the system:

Generally, MapQuest and OnStar choose a road based on their calculations of which will get you there fastest. The criterion is time, a function both of speed and of distance. They do not, as some people suspect, simply pick the shortest route; otherwise, you might spend all your time on side streets, stuck at traffic lights or goat crossings. The algorithms consider the length of a road segment and the expected speed of the road and calculate the time it will take you to pass along it. Every road segment has a “costing,” a sum of the features that can slow a driver down. Turns, merges, exits, toll plazas, stoplights, speed zones: they all carry a cost. (Navteq has five “functional classes” of road, ranked according to connectivity and speed. An interstate highway is a one; a local street is a five.) These systems do not yet take into consideration traffic, construction, weather, time of day, or one’s tendency, on certain roads, to go faster than the speed limit.

Nor, I might add, do they suggest the most serendipitous or breathtakingly scenic routes.

Bringing wi-fi to Silicon Valley

San Jose Merc: Let the bidding for the largest wireless Internet project in America begin. The group pushing an ambitious plan to bring free or low-cost Internet access to all 1,500 square miles of Silicon Valley released a ``request for proposals'' on Friday, officially asking companies to make the Wireless Silicon Valley project a reality.

72-hour mobile video contest

Eyespot is having a mobile video contest this weekend. Send in your mobile mixes.

Vloggercon meetup pix

Some Flickr photos of the meetup we had in San Francisco yesterday planning for the Vloggercon videoblogging conference coming up June 10-11 -- from Enric and Markus.

Government seeks to muzzle reporters

Sunday NY Times: In Leak Cases, New Pressure on Journalists.

Earlier administrations have fired and prosecuted government officials who provided classified information to the press. They have also tried to force reporters to identify their sources.

But the Bush administration is exploring a more radical measure to protect information it says is vital to national security: the criminal prosecution of reporters under the espionage laws.

Such an approach would signal a thorough revision of the informal rules of engagement that have governed the relationship between the press and the government for many decades. Leaking in Washington is commonplace and typically entails tolerable risks for government officials and, at worst, the possibility of subpoenas to journalists seeking the identities of sources.

But the Bush administration is putting pressure on the press as never before, and it is operating in a judicial climate that seems increasingly receptive to constraints on journalists. ...

Because such prosecutions of reporters are unknown, they are widely thought inconceivable. But legal experts say that existing laws may well allow holding the press to account criminally. Should the administration pursue the matter, these experts say, it could gain a tool that would thoroughly alter the balance of power between the government and the press.

This is a radical and unprecedented assault on the press's fundamental right to keep the public informed about the illegal or questionable activities of government. It's shameful, and needs to be challenged at every corner by everyone who believes in a free and informed society.

Free calls

Free conference calling
For the past year I've been using freeconferencecall.com to make conference calls with business associates and friends. A lot of people still don't know about it. No gimmicks — it really is free. A number of competitors offer a similar service, which they can afford to do because VoIP is so damn cheap.

Free directory assistance
Just came across this: Phone companies charge you $1.40 or more for a simple 411 information call, even if you don't get the number you're seeking.

There's a free alternative: Simply dial 1-800-FREE-411 or 1 800-373-3411 for both local and national directory service. Try it out. Again, no gimmicks.

Limbaugh arrested on drug charges

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Rush Limbaugh arrested on prescription drug charges. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Firefox flicks

Not often that productive days are also fun, but that was the case Thursday when I talked shop with podcaster Dale Willman of Fieldnotes.tv and video site architect Todd Siegel over lunch and then headed over to a panel discussion and screening of 20 creative, clever 30-second spots for Firefox — created by users, natch.

You can see the Firefox Flicks entries online here. I liked:

Xraalthraal and John
Smells Terrific
Song and Dance
and:
Weeeeeee! (which I don't see online)

BTW, user-generated promos seem to be all the rage. See the page of video promos for the Vloggercon conference.

Legal guide for podcasters

Just completed: a comprehensive Legal guide for podcasters. It's also available in pdf format and they'll soon have it available for print on demand from Lulu.com. Great job covering all the bases! Now, we need an abridged version.

Publisher recalls novel by Harvard student

NY Times: Publisher decides to recall novel by Harvard student.

Just a day after saying it would not withdraw "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life" from bookstores, Little, Brown, the publisher of the novel whose author, Kaavya Viswanathan, confessed to copying passages from another writer's books, said it would immediately recall all editions from store shelves. ...

The similarities between "Opal" and Ms. McCafferty's books were striking in some cases, with many passages in Ms. Viswanathan's novel — Crown cited more than 40 — echoing Ms. McCafferty's works almost exactly.

Nevertheless, Ms. Viswanathan maintained throughout the week that her copying of the passages was "unintentional and unconscious."

Plagiarism is bad enough. Let's not compound it by lying.