News.Com: Google delivers parcel search. The new “Search by Number” feature, announced Friday, also brings up information linked to other kinds of numbers, such as patent numbers, equipment identification numbers issued by the Federal Communications Commission, and airplane registration numbers from the Federal Aviation Administration. [Tomalak's Realm] ——- this could be handy….

US on WSIS. David Gross, head of the U.S. delegation to WSIS, talks about the week in Geneva. A must read. [Lextext]

I hate the letter. Microsoft Typeface Recall and an apology offered: a Swastika happened to slip by the censors. But is it really all that offensive? (more inside) [MetaFilter]

Titbits from WSIS side events. ICT4D Forum – UNDP/The Smithsonian Institute/SDC/GKP:Internet Governance, WTO and Electronic Trade Among the issues discussed was the problem of meaningful participation by developing countries in the WTO telecommunications services negotiations. Developing countries in particular suffer from a lack of skilled negotiators on the issue, institutional weaknesses, and often a lack […]

Tech Transformation Not All Good. Delegates to a U.N. tech summit warn that the push to overcome the digital divide may have unforeseen consequences. Westerners fret about security issues, while developing countries say the English-dominated Internet can reduce diversity. [Wired News]

SCO's Latest Claim of Web Site 'Attack' Harpooned. Groklaw: Security Experts Doubt SCO Was Attacked. SCO has reported that they are experiencing an attack on their servers. Groklaw… [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]

Job 9:12. World Trade Organisation's Agreement on Government Procurement. “International law? I better call my lawyer. I don't know what you're talking about, about international law,” the president said. [MetaFilter]

Freshmeat. Surfing around, I came across freshmeat, which “maintains the Web's largest index of Unix and cross-platform software… Thousands of applications, which are preferably released under an open source license, are meticulously cataloged in the freshmeat database, and links to new… [grandtextauto.org] Not to mention a huge array of independently made games… It's amazing how […]

WSIS Highlights 11 December 2004. Top-Level Experts Agree on Need for National ICT Strategies “It is vital for national governments to establish ICT strategies”, was the overriding message of this morning's panel discussion on national e-strategies. Speaking in the framework of the “National Strategies for the Information Society and the Role of Regional and Global […]

Interesting quotes from WSIS. Quotes of the day: “While we can talk about the best way to supply women of the world with dishwashers, some are simply looking for water to wash their dishes.” (In reference to the technology required to access ICTs) “Parliaments must consider people like my grandmother who will not ever use […]