Today I argue the contrary -- technical issues excepted.

Here's why the Net is a better news source than TV:

On Demand
With the Net, you can get the news when YOU want it -- not at a time decided by the Network programmer.

Choice
Even Sky Digital subscribers have a choice of just a small number of TV news sources -- the Net gives you access to thousands of sites and a corresponding greater number of perspectives and sources.

Convenience
With the advent of WAP, wireless and other technologies, the Net-based news can be delivered directly to you -- providing valuable alerts to important events.

Continuity
Online publishers don't "bump" your favourite website and replace it with a news site in the same way that TV programmers tend to drop programs for major news or sports events.

However -- all is not perfect with the Web.

Since Tuesday (US-time) a number of "Tech News" sites have tried to become "General News" sites -- losing their focus on tech issues and publishing a long list of stories on the terrorist attacks -- with nary a tech connection to be found.

While this may be a very tempting thing for such sites to do -- it's also a lazy thing to do.

Yes, good tech news stories have been very thin on the ground since the attacks -- but is that any reason to suddenly turn your website into yet another cnn.com or ABCNews.com?

I ToldYaSo
As I predicted last week, the US government is already moving swiftly to outlaw strong encryption without a government-accessible back-door.

This ZDNet story reports that one US senator has started the lobbying for such a move.

The FBI has also been given license to monitor some forms of communications (including the Net) without the need for a wiretap warrant.

Remember that I also predicted copy-cat moves to up the snooping powers of our own government -- stay tuned. It's not a matter of whether this will happen here, it's simply a matter of whether we'll be told that it's happened.

Readers Say (updated hourly) Nothing Yet Have Your Say

Calling the FBI...
On the weekend I contacted the FBI in the USA using a form on the Bureau's website which has specially been set up for reporting suspicious activity or providing information in respect to the recent attacks.

While I can't disclose what information I provided, suffice to say it was certainly something that concerned me enough to file a report.

I have received no response -- not even an acknowledgement -- but I guess they're somewhat swamped right now. However -- even an auto-response would seem to have been a smart thing to do, given the importance that some of the information related through this site might play in the safety and security of the USA in these dangerous times.

Save The Aardvark Fund
Yes, I have had several donations to the Aardvark fund and I thank those who put their money where their mouse is :-)

If guilt is gnawing away inside you then there's still time to donate.

Just drop by and hand over your loot.

Add Aardvark To Your Own Website!
Got a moment? Want a little extra fresh content for your own website or page?

Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!

There is/are 0 Vacancies Last added 2 July In The Job Centre

There are 14 Domain Names for sale