kierenmccarthy.co.uk

Two problems today. One, I’ve got a 9pm flight out of London Gatwick to Marrakech. And two, England were playing against Ecuador in the[tag]World Cup[/tag] at 4pm. As ever, the [tag]Internet[/tag] popped up like a white knight…

It’s a rare event that the technical aspects of the Internet make it onto TV, but Dave Farrar appeared on New Zealand Breakfast TV of all things on Thursday explaining that Internet NZ was going to stir things up in Marrakech because of the .xxx decision.
The fact it was .xxx was, of course, the news [...]

The whole issue over who runs the Internet and how, comes to a head on 30 September when the Memorandum of Understanding ([tag]MoU[/tag]) and [tag]IANA[/tag] contract between the US Department of Commerce ([tag]DoC[/tag]) and [tag]ICANN[/tag] end.
To date there has not been a single public meeting over this fundamental state of affairs and, incredibly, even ICANN [...]

Who’d be Paul [tag]Twomey[/tag]? It would be the job of one man just to keep track of the [tag]ICANN[/tag]’s current feuds and lawsuits. Two of them have popped up again: [tag]CIRA[/tag] and [tag]ICM Registry[/tag].

I’ve long had a rule that whatever [tag]Microsoft[/tag] does, no matter how wonderful it sounds, and especially if loads of news stories appear saying it is wonderful, at some point it will end up screwing the very companies I want to succeed.
But what’s this? “Microsoft and Creative Commons Release Tool for Copyright Licensing.” Yes, Microsoft [...]

There are a few good rules to follow if you plan to make a living from public writing aka journalism.
For one, do not write about people or countries that are not your own unless you acknowledge that fact explicitly. Two, do not write about topics simply because they are controversial, unless you are an expert. [...]

The [tag]Internet[/tag] overseeing organisation [tag]ICANN[/tag] is meeting in [tag]Marrakech[/tag] starting on Saturday and it looks as though there is going to be much to discuss, some of it planned for, and some of it that people will seek to avoid. But one question rises about all others: what will happen to the Internet on 30 [...]

The [tag]animal rights[/tag] group [tag]Speak[/tag] has just been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority for a “misleading and inaccurate” quote it attributed to the chairman of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), Sir Michael Rawlins.
The [tag]ASA[/tag] received a complaint from [tag]NICE[/tag] saying that the quote – which appears on the front of leaflets the [...]

It was the honorary degree ceremony for [tag]Oxford[/tag] University this morning at the Sheldonian Theatre – called for one reason or another, The [tag]Encaenia[/tag] Ceremony.

I have to confess I haven’t heard of any of those getting their honorary degrees, which is a blessing I suppose as it means they comes from academia and aren’t the [...]

Yesterday lunchtime, quite by accident, I saw that at 5pm that afternoon at the [tag]Oxford[/tag] Playhouse was the annual Charles [tag]Simonyi[/tag] Lecture, to be given by Nobel-prize winning scientist Sir Harry [tag]Kroto[/tag], on the subject of: “Can the Internet save the [tag]Enlightenment[/tag]?”
So I changed my route home to go via the Playhouse and buy a [...]