SitePoint has put out a new article that features wikis — what they are, why they work, who should use them, etc. It’s written by the same guy who mentioned wikis in an article a few weeks ago. Most of the arguments and explanations he presents can be found on most wikis already, but it is nice to see them presented clearly and succinctly in one place.

One thing that interested me is that he spends a lot of time talking about a stand-alone personal wiki called Notebook (what an original name, eh?). I’ve downloaded it to my computer and I’m this close to using it for my personal journaling in place of Movable Type. Up till now I’ve kept a password protected personal blog in an unadvertised location. I’ll let you know what I decide.

Microsoft apparently forgot to renew its domain registration for hotmail.co.uk. You can read the full story over at The Register, a british IT news site.

Some guy noticed that the domain was available and snatched it up out of the goodness of his heart before anyone else could. He’s already agreed to give it back to Microsoft. If I’m not mistaken, it would be illegal for him to sell it back. You would hope Microsoft will at least reimburse the guy for the cost of registering the domain.

The domain registrar said they followed procedure in making sure Microsoft was aware of the domain’s upcoming expiration. I guess someone really dropped the ball on that one.

If you’re in to web design, but have never read any articles over at A List Apart, I highly recommend that you scoot your butt over there and start readin’.

The site has been under construction for over a month and I’ve really missed reading fresh content there. Now that their new layout is up, they have satisfied my cravings with three new articles. I especially enjoyed the sliding doors article.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about trying my hand at freelance web design. I think I would have to learn flash first, but some things I’ve read lately have convinced me that the world of freelance design may not be as hard to break into as I had previously thought. I’m not sure I could do it for a living, but I already spend way too much time working on my own site. Why not make a little side money doing something I enjoy?

Starting on November 24, 2003, the FCC will require cellular phone companies to allow their users to switch carriers and keep their phone number. So, for instance, if you aren’t happy with T-Mobile you can switch to AT&T or Sprint without the inconvenience of losing your phone number.

The bad thing is that within the first 12 months after this goes into effect, polls estimate that over 30 million cell phone users will switch carriers. These (presumably) are people who are currently unhappy with their cell providers, but haven’t switched yet because their number is important to them for business or personal reasons.

Cell phone companies aren’t looking forward to this (and I don’t blame them) because of all the hassle it’s going to cause them. However, they are also trying to convince the FCC that this will hurt competition and raise prices in the cell phone industry. Nonsense!

If anything, this will bring more competition into the mobile phone industry. Think about it. If you’re thinking of starting a cell phone company, number portability translates into more customers. We’ll have new mobile providers coming out our ears. Plus, in order to keep existing customers, mobile carriers will need to increase their customer service and lower their prices (or make their contracts more strict, but that just makes them look bad). All of this means better competition, lower prices, and a lot of happy people who get to keep their cell phone numbers.

Here are a few articles on the subject of number portability:

1. Cellular Phone Number Portability on Horizon
2. Number Portability May Spark Wireless Migration

I actually saw one of these over the weekend. The new $20 bill is multi-colored. Released on October 9, 2003, the new bills are still mostly trademark green, but now include blue and peach colored areas. As they continue to release the other bills, they will each have their own unique color scheme, allowing you to quickly recognize a bill by its coloring alone.

The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing issued a press release concerning the bills last Thursday. They’ve also devoted a whole section of their website to highlighting the features of the new bills.