Bob Frankston
(bio)
Welcome to my writings.
If you want the recent essays check out the sidebar on the left or, better,
go to
Further Readings for a
curated list of essays.
Other essays are listed in chronological order and then by category. The main
essays are in larger letters and minor documents (such as messages posted on discussion
sites) are indented and in smaller letters. The documents themselves are located
on this site (www.Frankston.com) and as
well as external sites.
Note that I'm currently writing shorter transient posts on Facebook as "Bob Frankston".
I'm gathering links here.
You can send me Email. Note this unique address
is only valid for the next few days.
The best way to link to a document is as
http://rmf.vc/keyword.
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Posts from the last few months |
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Columns |
Columns written in 1998-1999 -- blogging before blogs. Look here
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All |
All posts -- hundreds |
Some of the recent entries are also listed on the sidebar. Secondary
items such as postings on other mailing lists are indented. Note that the year
shown is the year the essay was updated. An essay written in 1979 might be listed
under 2009 if it was updated recently.
Cranking Along 20-Dec-2002
Scott Kirsner wrote about blogs (including mine) in the Boston Globe. I felt I should quickly put together my own comments but it took five days to reflect upon my writing.
On Ensuring End-to-End 15-Dec-2002
It is easy to ask for quality but rarely do people ask what is meant by Quality. In practice, the term is often and excuse for arbitrariness and is antithetical to the openness of the Internet.
Mistrial! 23-Nov-2002
The Federal courthouse in Boston has banned the use of PDAs. The unwillingness to allow mental aids is very worrisome.
Ownership 31-Oct-2002
Owners add value. But we limit ownership based on a static agrarian model of property. In order to maximize society's benefit we need to be able to accept that others' need the opportunity be owners and holding bits hostage leave us with little opportunity to create value.
Another Dangerous Idea 31-Oct-2002
Just as the Darwin's recognition that we are the product of an indifferent process of evolution, the Internet forces us to come to terms with the interplay of social policy and technology.
Implementing .DNS 02-Sep-2002
With all the noise and rancor surrounding ICANN it is easy to lose sight of the fact that ICANN itself is just mechanism that people care about too much. Create the .DNS TLD gives us a way to move beyond the squabbling.
Trapped by the Web! 02-Sep-2002
The web protocols are great for pushing documents but we must not confuse a web site with a service. Your need to focus on service, not a web site.
About Binding 02-Sep-2002
The DNS is a mechanism for associating stable identifiers with volatile IP addresses. The dotDNS simply removes the impediments to effective use of binding for maintaining relationships on the Internet but it's also important to understand the concept in its own right.
The Cable Racket!! 26-Aug-2002
What gives ATT the right to grab revenue from a company just because it uses their wires? Something is very wrong and I hope that these kinds of arrangements will make it more obvious.
Blogging, Spam and Discovery 10-Aug-2002
Blogging is being "discovered" by the mainstream press and they view it in their image. But it is a lot more interesting when viewed as a way to exchange information and compared with others approaches such as advertising and its feral cousin, spam.
(East (New (York))), (New (York)) 31-Jul-2002
In visiting the neighborhood I grew up I was struck by the sign for E New York Ave. But the street is named after East New York, not New York. Ambiguity is everywhere. Too bad the ICANN seems to be in denial.
Various annoyances and related issues 06-Jul-2002
We tend to underestimate the pervasive effect of seeming innocuous design issues yet they have large implications, especially as they accumulate. In itself each annoyance seems minor. The challenge is seeing which of them are leverage (or tipping?) points. After all, the Internet Protocols are trivial yet they mooted a trillion dollar telecom industry.
The FCC In Context 25-Apr-2002
Politics is often treated as a spectator sport. But the FCC is different in that we can do more and think about the fundamental issues rather than just betting on winners and losers.
The Importance of Encrypted IPV6 23-Apr-2002
The Internet has become a maze of twisting winding passages because the existing addressing scheme has been unable to keep up with the demands. The Internet has also become unsafe and we need to support responsible behavior by giving users the ability to maintain the integrity of their connections.
The "Magic" of the Internet 14-Apr-2002
The Internet seems to work by magic but if you look underneath you find it is very simple. A good example is email. You don't even need a program - you and send mail by simply typing and sending commands to the recipient's computer! The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is indeed simple!