kierenmccarthy.co.uk

I was at the United Nations in Geneva last week to watch what was happening to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) as it prepares for its third outing, this December in Hyderabad, India.
Actually I was there for a different reason – an ICANN consultative meeting on the future of the organization the morning before the [...]

I’m writing this in that neverworld of an airport waiting for a slightly delayed plane.
And, of course, as it always is, that airport is Heathrow. I hate Heathrow. I’ve always hated Heathrow. Even as a kid, I remember the sensation of life ebbing away from you as you sit in uncomfortable chairs next to grumpy [...]

It’s been six weeks since I last posted here. That can’t be good. And I have a ton of stuff to get out of my mind through my fingers. The one-day trivia brain of Los Angelenos; the US presidential election process; the insane bureaucracy and mind-control of this peculiar and remarkable country. Plus, lots of [...]

I am having a tough day today. A very painful goodbye at Oxford station, a long walk along the river, and now I am sat in my half-empty flat feeling hollow and a little lost.
My possessions are strewn about. They need to be divided into take-with, put in shipping container, and chucked away. I have [...]

For those interested in Internet things – and in this case the sexy side of the Internet, Facebook and all that stuff – there is an interesting conference due to start in two hours in Ottawa, Canada.
I know because I’m here and I’m on of two official bloggers. See can see the full agenda here, [...]

About nine months ago, I wrote a post about there being an effort by UNESCO to decide a new set of Seven Wonders of the World. Well, the results are in.
And, by popular vote, they are:

Chichén Itzá, Mexico
Christ Redeemer, Brazil
The Great Wall, China
Machu Picchu, Peru
Petra, Jordan
The Roman Colloseum, Italy
The Taj Mahal, India

Three weeks ago, I added a translation module to this blog as an experiment with automated translation software.
The technology worked although thanks to some readers of different nationalities, it quickly became clear that the translations were not great – and in some cases barely comprehensible. Part of the reason is that I write in a [...]

The tagline for my book on the Sex.com saga has to be with the publishers on Thursday i.e. in two days.
We – meaning me and the publisher – are still undecided so here is your chance to have some fun and help me out. There are a list below of the sort of variations [...]

Just seen this on a site called Easy Webber – a Top Ten guide to the worst domain names out there.
It’s basically smutty innuendo but also oddly amusing in one or two cases. For example, the number one slot goes to the website that aims to provide agent details for various famous people. Unfortunately [...]

Well, Stuart Lawley won’t take no for any answer and .xxx has popped up on the ICANN agenda again, this time with such extraordinary controls and safeguards that it makes you wonder whether the business case is still there.
Contrary to common belief, the .xxx domain was never ruled out. In fact, because it had been [...]