digiblade

Skype as Social Network: SkySpace

2006-12-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

While everyone is talking about Skype’s new pricing plan1 this week, we got a note this morning from a company called Bertorello announcing a product called SkySpace, which the company says is “the first social network for Skype.” SkySpace is actually a renamed, retooled version of Skype work collaboration tool called Verosee, which Argentina-born CEO Pablo Bertorello developed. Verosee (which I looked at a year ago) is a pretty unmarketable name — not like the buzzy moniker you get when you mash-up hot property names Skype and MySpace, ie SkySpace. We downloaded it onto a PC (no Mac) and basically its an easier way to do file-sharing for Skype users (Skype users can already transfer files). The application enables users to share files like photos and videos, both privately to another user or publicly to the broader community. Users can also personalize their SkySpace homepage, which the company says will jump-start social connections. The application appears to be Skype-certified, and is available in the Skype’s extra’s page.

Microsoft releasing book search for tens of thousands of out-of-copyright books

2006-12-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

Tens of thousands of out-of-copyright books are set to become available online when Microsoft releases Live Search Books to beta on Wednesday.Live Search Books (books.live.com) is initially restricted to only include non-copyright books scanned from the collections of the British Library, the University of California and the University of Toronto. Partnerships with the New York Public Library and the American Museum of Veterinary Medicine have also been announced. Live Search Books' "Search inside a book" feature allows users to search the full texts of scanned books. Copyrighted books will be added to the collection later, but only those submitted to Microsoft by publishers or authors. Microsoft has also updated the beta of Live Search Academic (academic.live.com) - adding millions of new articles, primarily bio-medical content. Live Search Academic now indexes thousands of academic journals in the computer science, engineering, physics, and bio-medical fields as well as theses and dissertations. more...

Move Blogger to the 'New' Google one

2006-12-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

Ryanne and Jay, popular video bloggers, recently spoke to Googler Eric Case who has been part of the Blogger team at Googleplex for the past few years.Eric spoke about the recent issues (network outages) with Blogger, the new features of Blogger Beta, migration from old blogger to new blogger beta, and what's coming next. Must watch for all Blogger users and fans [just hit the play button]Some interesting points made by Eric during his 9:00 minute talk:1. Google is migrating Blogger from it's legacy architecture to Google scale solid architecture.2. Historically, Blogger would publish static files via FTP but with Blogger beta, they'll serve dynamic content - a technique pioneered by Livejournal. No more hitting the "Republish Entire Blog" button.3. The new dashboard page of Blogger 3.0 is more optimized for users with fewer blogs.4. All Google products will share the same account, i.e., login.5. When your blog is migrated from the old version to the new blogger, you get an email saying the conversion is done successfully. This should take a couple of minutes only.6. Blogger Support staff actively monitors the Blogger Help group for issues - so that's probably the best place to share your problems.7. Google is migrating users to Blogger beta is phases as migration puts lot of strain on old Blogger database and impacts the performance for existing users.8. After the migration is over, Google will bring RSS feed enclosure support in Blogger. Google will integrate Blogger with Google Video and Youtube. Not sure when yet.9. Blogger could have media specific Blog templates that support video blogging and podcasting directly.Download Eric Case Interview [Quicktime mov, 47 MB]

Bombs Away !

2006-10-27T19:08:00.000-06:00

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl
--AZ-01: Rick Renzi
--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth
--CA-04: John Doolittle
--CA-11: Richard Pombo
--CA-50: Brian Bilbray
--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave
--CO-05: Doug Lamborn
--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell
--CT-04: Christopher Shays
--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan
--FL-16: Joe Negron
--FL-22: Clay Shaw
--ID-01: Bill Sali
--IL-06: Peter Roskam
--IL-10: Mark Kirk
--IL-14: Dennis Hastert
--IN-02: Chris Chocola
--IN-08: John Hostettler
--IA-01: Mike Whalen
--KS-02: Jim Ryun
--KY-03: Anne Northup
--KY-04: Geoff Davis
--MD-Sen: Michael Steele
--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht
--MN-06: Michele Bachmann
--MO-Sen: Jim Talent
--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns
--NV-03: Jon Porter
--NH-02: Charlie Bass
--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson
--NM-01: Heather Wilson
--NY-03: Peter King
--NY-20: John Sweeney
--NY-26: Tom Reynolds
--NY-29: Randy Kuhl
--NC-08: Robin Hayes
--NC-11: Charles Taylor
--OH-01: Steve Chabot
--OH-02: Jean Schmidt
--OH-15: Deborah Pryce
--OH-18: Joy Padgett
--PA-04: Melissa Hart
--PA-07: Curt Weldon
--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick
--PA-10: Don Sherwood
--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee
--TN-Sen: Bob Corker
--VA-Sen: George Allen
--VA-10: Frank Wolf
--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick
--WA-08: Dave Reichert

My Next Cellphone (the laptop will be used alot less as well)

2006-08-18T11:32:00.000-06:00

Sony Mylo The brand new Sony Mylo, due to hit the streets in September, is a lightweight solution to wireless internet browsing, instant messaging and making Skype calls away from the shackles of the desktop. In a web video exclusive, our friends at Gizmodo, the online gadget guide work through the range of features, and the outcome is impressive. With Skype, Yahoo Messenger, Google and a fully featured Opera web browser on board, in addition to mp3 and video playback, the Mylo offers an all in one communication and entertainment device light enough to take everywhere. Utilizing 802.11b WiFi, the Mylo allows for file sharing, Skype calls and IM both on and offline. Want to learn more about the Sony Mylo?Check out these excellent online reviews: Sony's official Mylo website went live today, in anticipation of the device's September release A Close Look at Mylo, from OhVoice.com features a comprehensive list of images Sony bets on WiFi with Mylo, GigaOm.com List of features from Realtechnews.com

It Happened to Jane: The 1959 Movie about Net Neutrality anyone can understand

2006-07-15T09:46:00.000-06:00

It Happened to Jane (1959) with Doris Day, Jack Lemmon, and Ernie Kovacs. A tycoon buys the only railroad going through a small Maine town. A local widow (Day) tries to get her live lobsters to market, but the railroad downgrades her shipments, letting lobsters die before they get to their customers. Despite the railroad's dozens of high powered lawyers, Doris Day wins in small claims court. When the railroad won't pay, she seizes a train, and starts a PR campaign against them that includes radio, television game shows, newspaper reports, and the like. The railroad retaliates by cutting off passenger and cargo service to their small town. The townspeople try to use the seized railcar to haul their goods, including the lobsters, to New York. But the tycoon routes the train all over New England to delay it. They intentionally congest those routes with other rail cars, start construction at chokepoints, and deny water for the steam engine to further slow down the lobsters. Will they make it to the Bronx in time for the dinner time rush? In the end, the mean tycoon's heart softens when he meets Day and her cute kids, and everyone lives happily ever after. Sound like the network neutrality issue? Big telecom incumbents abusing power. Playing favorites with routing. Delivering less than they're paid for, stopping innovation, and spending money on lawyers instead of upgrades. Unlike the movie, we don't have a Doris Day to charm "the meanest man in the world." So it comes down to congress and the FCC in the United States, and similar government organs in your country. Grassroots activism seems the only course since it's nigh on impossible to out-lobby phone and cable companies. So: What will you do for the Internet this week? How will you defend your right to call unimpeded? And in private? Who will you call?

Double Your Existing Hard Drive's Space Without Compression ?

2006-07-12T12:43:00.000-06:00

WILEY SILER has sent us a method which he said was discovered by Scott Komblue and documented by himself which they claim can recover unused areas of the hard drive in the form of hidden partitions. I haven't tried this here, and, would caution readers that messing with your hard drive is done at your own peril and very likely breaches your warranty. Required items Ghost 2003 Build 2003.775 (Be sure not to allow patching of this software) 2 X Hard Drives (OS must be installed on both.) For sake of clarity we will call the drive we are trying to expand (T) in this document (means Target for partition recover). The drive you use every day, I assume you have one that you want to keep as mater with your current OS and data, will be the last dive we install in this process and will be called (X) as it is your original drive. 1. Install the HDD you wish to recover the hidden partitions (hard drive T) on as the master drive in your system with a second drive as a slave (you can use Hard Drive X if you want to). Any drive will do as a slave since we will not be writing data to it. However, Ghost must see a second drive in order to complete the following steps. Also, be sure hard drive T has an OS installed on it You must ensure that the file system type is the same on both drive (NTFS to NTFS or FAT32 to FAT32, etc) 2. Install Ghost 2003 build 2003.775 to hard drive T with standard settings. Reboot if required. 3. Open Ghost and select Ghost Basic. Select Backup from the shown list of options. Select C:\ (this is the drive we want to free partition on on hard drive T) as our source for the backup. Select our second drive as the target. (no data will be written so worry not). Use any name when requested as it will not matter. Press OK, Continue, or Next until you are asked to reboot. Critical step 4. Once reboot begins, you must shutdown the PC prior to the loading of DOS or any drivers. The best method is to power down the PC manually the moment you see the BIOS load and your HDDs show as detected. 5. Now that you have shutdown prior to allowing Ghost to do its backup, you must remove the HDD we are attempting to expand (hard drive T which we had installed as master) and replace it with a drive that has an OS installed on it. (This is where having hard drive X is useful. You can use your old hard drive to complete the process.) Place hard drive T as a secondary drive in the system. Hard drive X should now be the master and you should be able to boot into the OS on it. The best method for this assuming you need to keep data from and old drive is: Once you boot into the OS, you will see that the second drive in the system is the one we are attempting to expand (hard drive T). Go to Computer Management -> Disk Management You should see an 8 meg partition labeled VPSGHBOOT or similar on the slave HDD (hard drive T) along with a large section of unallocated space that did not show before. DO NOT DELETE VPSGHBOOT yet. 6. Select the unallocated space on our drive T and create a new primary or extended partition. Select the file system type you prefer and format with quick format (if available). Once formatting completes, you can delete the VPSGHBOOT partition from the drive. 7. Here is what you should now see on your T drive. a. Original partition from when the drive still had hidden partitions b. New partition of space we just recovered. c. 8 meg unallocated partitions. 8. Do you want to place drive T back in a PC and run it as the primary HDD? Go to Disk Management and set the original partition on T (not the new one we just formatted) to and Active Partition. It should be bootable again if no data corruption has occurred. Caution Do not try to delete both partitions on the drive so you can create one large partition. This will not work. You have to leave the two partitions separate in order to use them. Windows disk management will have erroneous data in that it will say drive size = manus stated drive size and then available size will equal ALL the available space with recovered partitions included. This process can cause a loss of data on the drive that is having its partitions recovered so it is best to make sure the HDD you use is not your current working HDD that has important data. If you do this on your everyday drive and not a new drive with just junk on it, you do so at your own risk. It has worked completely fine with no loss before and it has also lost the data on the drive before. Since the idea is to yield a huge storage drive, it should not matter. UPDATE: Interesting results to date: Western Digital 200GB SATA Yield after recovery: 510GB of space IBM Deskstar 80GB EIDE Yield after recovery: 150GB of space Maxtor 40GB EIDE Yield after recovery: 80GB Seagate 20GB EIDE Yield after recovery: 30GB Unknown laptop 80GB HDD Yield: 120GB Also check out these comments

Could the architecture of the telecom system resemble the political system around it ?

2006-06-16T09:38:00.000-06:00

Posted by Martin Geddes The AT&T (as opposed to at&t) years reflected the military-industrial era. A “commanding height” of the Cold War was the flow of information, and just like the interstate highways. AT&T was as much a creature of the government as rational free-market economics. The break-up of AT&T as well as the 1996 act both chose to cleave the industry across the connectivity grain rather than with it. The current situation was 30 years in the making. As I rather undiplomatically stated, it’s a uniquely American mess that can only be solved by a uniquely American solution. But it’s really much deeper than that. From my shallow knowledge of American history, and short exposure to American culure, I’ve come to the following (probably widely unwelcome and possibly wildy wrong) conclusions. Network Neutrality is just a digital-era manifestation of much longer-running sores within the American political system and psyche.

• The outcome of the Civil War was that everyone lost. No winners, not even a draw. One side lost its soul, and the other its honour. It set the stage for a fundamental change from the United States to the United State. • The Seventeenth Amendment upset the carefully-crafted balance of power between the public, states, federal government (executive), legislature and judiciary. The US is a four-legged constitutional stool that the public is sat upon. (This may explain why it is one of — debatably, the — longest continuously established democracy). But it’s now an uncomfortably wobbly stool. • This set the stage for an immediate assault on personal freedom, which continues today in other forms. Competing jurisdictions would have ensured the migration of ethanolics and psychedelics to happier places. • The same over-reaching federal state also encroached into a whole bunch of other areas it would best have been kept away from, notably communications policy. • The rest, as they say, is history.

I can’t but help enjoy the irony of the often statist/corporatist/collectivist European Union being a paragon of devolved government, competing regulatory regimes and voluntary cross-border cooperation compared to the centrally planned US communications economy. If the FCC were tossed onto the scrap heap, and those powers returned to the states, my American friends would find that the Network Neutrality issue would rapidly cease to have any political significance. By making the prizes of Federal Telecom Lotto so big, the temptation to fiddle with the rules of the game has become overwhelming. Anyone fancy some salty tea? PS - Next overtly political Telepocalypse post: March 2009. I promise to keep my libertarian ways quiet until then. (Note that does mean I don’t fit into US Dem/Rep political stereotypes.) PPS - I’ll probably offend lots of people, but the short version is “Nice country, great people, shame about the government.” (For the UK, it’s “Nice people, great country, shame about the government”, and Italy is “Great people, great country, what government?” Only kidding! Calm down!) UPDATE: Something many readers won’t be aware of is the different ways the US and EU constitutions work. As I understand it, the commerce clause of the US constitution means that if it relates to interstate commerce (and practically everything in a networked globalised economy does), then it “goes federal” by default. In Europe, it’s different. The subsidiarity principle means everything should (in theory) be done at the lowest possible level of government. Just because something has an international dimension, it doesn’t mean that the EU gets full power over it. And even where the EU legislates, it merely sets out the general requirements and objectives, and each nation translates that into local law. Again, scope is retained for competing implementations and jurisdictions. I’m no fan of the eurocracy, but it’s illuminating nonetheless to see the practical consequences of different constitutional frameworks. UPDATE: That means the EU constitution is “edge-based”, and the US one doesn’t scale. Oops. Hey, just skip a generation and move straight to anarchism: peer-to-peer contracts, and a state whose only function is to enforce them.

Stealth ringtone for those under 30

2006-06-16T09:05:00.000-06:00

"In that old battle of the wills between young people and their keepers, the young have found a new weapon that could change the balance of power on the cellphone front: a ring tone that many adults cannot hear. In settings where cellphone use is forbidden — in class, for example — it is perfect for signaling the arrival of a text message without being detected by an elder of the species." Oh dear. Another annoying ringtone to add to all the rest out there -- except one that many of you might not be able to hear, as it's 16kHz, which is higher than the hearing range of many people above 30. The NYT article has a link to the ringtone (here -- in case you don't want to register or read the article). Can you hear it? I can -- it's a almost-painful high shriek --

Wow, I've been lazy...

2006-06-16T09:03:00.000-06:00

Actually, just a lot of work has come down the pipe, and I went on a week long camping trip. I promise to do better, really.

Linux Clustering:so simple, a Ph.D. in chemical engineering could do it

2006-05-30T18:17:00.000-06:00

How many MIT scientists does it take to build a Linux cluster? Just one, at least in the school's Department of Chemical Engineering. As part of his post-doctoral research at MIT, Vikram Kuppa, a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, uses several multiprocessor Linux clusters he put together. But he says he spends enough of his hours breaking down the molecular makeup of polymers and putting the chemical structures through virtual stress tests that he has minimal time left for tinkering with Linux kernels, server hardware, network gear and other components that go into the machine clusters he uses. "I really don't have time to do that," Kuppa says. "I wanted something that was robust and didn't require high maintenance." He says he investigated some free, do-it-yourself clustering packages - such as SCAR, Rocks, OpenMosix and other open source packages. Even beyond the other commercial Linux clustering products Kuppa has tried, Scyld's Beowulf product was the easiest to install and configure, he says. Instead of having to install the Scyld CD on each node, "you can install it on the master node, then go through a wizard, which asks how many nodes you want to install it on." The Linux image is then configured for however many nodes are indicated. When the cluster comes online, the operating system images are copied to each node and run in memory. The nodes do have hard drives, Kuppa says, but they're not used to store the operating system. Parallel computing with clustered Linux servers has become a standard tool of the trade for chemical engineers, Kuppa says - just as biologists must be handy with a microscope, geologists posses skills with a drill, and mathematicians need, well calculators. For Kuppa, the cluster works just as a high-powered microscope in some ways, creating visual images of complex structures smaller than a nanometer - 80,000 times smaller than a human hair. "But I'd much rather work with [this technology] than just sit in front of a microscope, any day," Kuppa says.

New type of Defense called ASLR to fight against MALWARE in MS Vista

2006-05-27T11:09:00.000-06:00

Mike Howard talks about a new piece of technology coming with Windows Vista designed to help fight malware attacks. Called Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) - it randomizes where system code is put into memory instead of using the same spot in memory which allows the system to be a target for specific types of malware that looks within memory to find important pieces of system code. In short, with ASLR - system code has 256 spots it can randomly be placed in memory allowing it to become harder to exploit system code in memory. Now, attackers have a 1/256 chance of finding that important piece of code to exploit. Mike goes into great detail on ASLR on his blog. I suggest reading it. I believe ASLR is one of many important code changes in Windows Vista that changes the standard behavior that has caused Windows to be a target of malware for many years. With features like this, users are going to be able to experience a much safe Windows experience with Vista. Source: Michael Howard's Web Log

AT&T leaks it's own sensitive info in NSA suit

2006-05-27T11:07:00.000-06:00

Lawyers for AT&T accidentally released sensitive information while defending a lawsuit that accuses the company of facilitating a government wiretapping program, CNET News.com has learned. AT&T's attorneys this week filed a 25-page legal brief striped with thick black lines that were intended to obscure portions of three pages and render them unreadable (click here for PDF). But the obscured text nevertheless can be copied and pasted inside some PDF readers, including Preview under Apple Computer's OS X and the xpdf utility used with X11. More here.

Oh, and... Think AT&T's complicity in helping the NSA spy on America doesn't affect you? Think again. Here are the cities that have facilities in which AT&T/NSA can install (or already has installed) gear to spy on Americans:

AT&T Central Office Locations Arlington, VA (ARTNVACK) Atlanta, GA (ATLNGATL) Cambridge, MA (CMBRMA01) Chicago, IL (CHCGILCL) Cleveland, OH (CLEVOH02) Columbus, OH (CLMBOH11) Dallas, TX (DLLSTXTL) Dayton, OH (DYTNOH15) Denver, CO (DNVRCOMA) Detroit, MI (DTRTMIBA) Honolulu, HI (HNLLHIWP) Houston, TX (HSTNTX01) Indianapolis, IN (IPLSINAT) Kansas City, MO (KSCYMO09) Los Angeles, CA (LSANCA02) Confirmed by KleinMemphis, TN (MMPHTNMA) Miami, FL (MIAMFLAC) Milwaukee, WI (MILWWIHE) Minneapolis, MN (MPLSMNDT) New Orleans, LA (NWORLAMA) New York City, NY (NYCMNY54) New York City, NY (NYCMNYBW) Newark, NJ (NWRKNJ02) Oakbrook, IL (OKBRILOA) Oakland, CA (OKLDCA03) Ojus, FL (OJUSFLTL) Philadelphia, PA (PHLAPASL) Phoenix, AZ (PHNXAZMA) Pittsburgh, PA (PITBPADG) Portland, OR (PTLDOR62) Redwood City, CA (RDCYCA02) Rochester, NY (ROCHNYXA) Sacramento, CA (SCRMCA01) San Antonio, TX (SNANTXCA) Salt Lake City, UT (SLKCUTMA) San Diego, CA (SNDGCA02) Confirmed by KleinSan Francisco, CA (SNFCCA01) Confirmed by KleinSan Francisco, CA (SNFCCA21) Confirmed by KleinSan Jose, CA (SNJSCA02) Confirmed by KleinSan Juan, PR (SNJNPRZA) Seattle, WA (STTLWA06) Confirmed by Klein*St. Louis, MO (STLSMO09) Sherman Oaks, CA (SHOKCA02) Tulsa, OK (TULSOKTB) Tucson, AZ (TCSNAZMA) Washington, DC (WASHDCSW) West Palm Beach, FL (WPBHFLAN) White Plains, NY (WHPLNY02)

No worries right? You only make local calls. AT&T provides local service in at least these locations:

Cleveland, OH (CLEVOH02) Detroit, MI (DTRTMIBA) Indianapolis, IN (IPLSINAT) Los Angeles, CA (LSANCA02) San Antonio, TX (SNANTXCA) St. Louis, MO (STLSMO09) And they provide circuits for nearly all of the newer local providers. Not concerned yet because you only use EMAIL at work, or browse the internet at work? Does your employer buy private data circuits from AT&T to connect them to the internet? Most likely. As does every company and government in the world. http://www.att.com/gov/solution/network_services/data_nw/def.html Or perhaps because you didn't find yourself on the list of cities above you are fine. Your phone/internet/corporate traffic isn't compromised because you: a) Only use AT&T for long distanceb) Use another long distance/internet company(that, unbeknownst to you buys circuits from AT&T for your area)c) Have never done anything requiring privacy in your lifed) Thought your cell phone simply had the range to talk all over the country directly (sorry, couldn't help it) Here is AT&T's world. And it is impressive. http://www.att.com/globalnetworking/media/network_map.swf Drill down. They have all these dots because they were a government regulated monopoly for nearly 75 years. If you were born after 1980 you might not know that. They were the most respected telecommunications company in the world. That's how you develop a service offering like this. http://www.att.com/globalnetworking/media/network_map.swf AT&T is the data on-ramp for the world. Your phone calls are just data. And all the content is recordable, not just call detail information, when using the equipment deployed by the NSA in AT&T's central offices. Did you happen to notice Cleveland on that list? Here's a tin foil thought to leave you with. While we've been so focused on Diebold, we've neglected to discuss how those electronic results are transmitted to central sites for tabulation. I'm not suggesting this took place, but if you have a product that can do this (currently installed and in use by the NSA at these some of these AT&T locations): Unparalleled extensibility — NarusInsight’s functionality can easily be configured to feed a particular activity or IP service such as security, lawful intercept or even Skype detection and blocking. More on Narsus here. Then you have a product that can block, i.e prevent, data packets from reaching their destination. If you can prevent them from reaching their destination, you can alter the packet content, and then send them on their way to the original destination. Of course Klein in his AT&T disclosure indicated that the fiber optics were cut in a way that doesn't put this equipment in the primary data flow. Who really knows what happens in a central office in the dead of night during an election year. Silly me, I forgot. Republican Senator Robertson is providing oversight. Whew! I feel much better now. Still think none of this affects you?

Hooray For Net Neutrality !

2006-05-25T15:42:00.000-06:00

Net Neutrality Bill Passes the House Judiciary Committee You can see the roll call at MyDD. A lot of credit for this goes to all the people who have take the time to call their reps to make the case for Net Neutrality and to Matt Stoller, who spent a lot of time on the Hill on this one. Props also to Conyer and Pelosi, who took the time to throw their influence behind the bill. Only one Democrat didn't vote for it, Delahaunt, who at least only voted "present" (effectively abstaining.)....

Repair Microsoft Windows With Just Eight Commands

2006-05-25T14:42:00.000-06:00

I'm happy to say that I've only had this happen to me once before: Windows really, really won't boot. You can't even get to safe mode. All you get is "Windows NT could not start because the below file is missing or corrupt" and a prompt to reboot over and over again. This usually seems like a reinstall moment (especially if you ask tech support), but it doesn't have to be so: Short-Media is running a guide called Repairing Windows XP in Eight Commands. The trick is getting into the Windows Recovery Console (which requires your XP install disc), rebuilding Windows' boot files, running CHKDSK, and fixing the boot sector. It may sound complex, but it really is just eight commands. However, be sure to read the whole article to avoid a few common gotchas.

FCC Won't Investigate NSA Phone Logs

2006-05-25T14:02:00.000-06:00

The FCC has declined to investigate whether telecommunications companies have broken consumer privacy laws by sharing phone call data with the NSA, saying the classified nature of the program prevents the agency from doing so. Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, said that the FCC would be unable to investigate at this time due to the fact it would require the examination of highly classified information. According to Martin, the agency has no power in ordering the release of those documents. Martin also mentioned that the government had already used the state secrets privilege in a court case against AT&T, which meant the FCC would have little chance of prevailing in any legal action. The decision is likely to anger many, as politicians from both sides of the aisle have called for an investigation into whether laws had been broken.

New Office Genuine Advantage Activated

2006-05-25T11:11:00.000-06:00

Reported earlier. Windows Genuine Advantage is now being extended to Microsoft Office. Customers of Microsoft Office who validate that their copy is genuine will be able to access free downloads from the Microsoft Download Center.

A Brain\Machine Interface in our Lifetime ?

2006-05-25T11:08:00.000-06:00

Honda scientists have created a system that will translate thoughts into electrical signals that can be used to control machinery. The technique doesn't require the user to undergo surgery or extensive training - a major advance over past thought-controlled technologies, the company said. More here.

MPAA accused of hiring a hacker

2006-05-25T11:05:00.000-06:00

A lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses the Motion Picture Association of America of hiring a hacker to steal information from a company that the MPAA has accused of helping copyright violators. The lawsuit (click for PDF), filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by Torrentspy.com parent Valence Media, doesn't identify the man the company says was approached by an MPAA executive. But the suit calls the man a former associate of one of the plaintiffs and alleges that he was asked to retrieve private information on Torrentspy.com, a search engine that directs people to download links. More.

FREE Nationwide Wireless Broadband in US ?

2006-05-25T10:51:00.000-06:00

A San Francisco Bay Area company has submitted a request for spectrum to launch a free high-speed broadband Internet service across the entire United States. Startup M2Z Networks on May 5 submitted a request to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a license to a vacant 20-megahertz band in order to broadcast free high-speed broadband Internet across the country. To pick up the signal, users would need to purchase a M2Z-certified reception device that the company estimates will cost $250, or less as the technology evolves. According to the company, M2Z would be free to sell advertising across the network, as well as use the spectrum for other purposes. The concept of metropolitan Internet access began in 2005, when Philadelphia decided to offer its residents free Wi-Fi access. Tempe, Ariz., and other cities soon followed suit, while San Francisco's decision to procure a free Wi-Fi network from Google generated intense debate. Meanwhile, technologies such as WiMAX have also emerged as potential metropolitan wireless solutions. More here

Wired News Publishes AT&T NSA Documents

2006-05-23T10:22:00.000-06:00

A file detailing aspects of AT&T’s alleged participation in the National Security Agency’s warrantless domestic wiretap operation is sitting in a San Francisco courthouse. But the public cannot see it because, at AT&T’s insistence, it remains under seal in court records. Wired News published the complete text of a set of documents from the EFF’s primary witness in the case, Source: Wired

Remove the New Microsoft WGA Nag Screen For Good !

2006-05-16T08:41:00.000-06:00

I posted this earlier. Seems there are a lot of false positives out there causing problems for legit users:

Start -> Search
All Files & Folders and select More Advanced Options
Check Search hidden files and folders
Searcg for "WGA" with no "
Rename WgaTray to WgaTray_ and Delete WGANotify
CTRL + ALT + DEL Select wgatray.exe and click End Process Button
In the search Results open WGATray.Settings with notepad
Overwrite the WHOLE Contents with these: Balloon interval = 9999999999 daysDaysBeforeBuyNow Unactivated = 9999999999DaysBeforeBuyNow Nongenuine = 9999999999Disabled = trueReduced reminders = true
Save and close.
Logoff and back on.
No more tray! Now onto the waiting on login screen.
Start -> Run enter regedit
Goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Uninstall\WgaNotify
Deleted the two keys beginning: NoRemove
Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs. Check Show updates.
Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications (KB905474) Click remove and on the next box click cancel
Gone.. Close add or remove all programs and control panel.
Back to registry Editor now remove the whole WgaNotify folder on the left, click it and hit DEL
Goto
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
App Management\ARPCache\WgaNotify - Now click WgaNotify on the left and hit DEL
Goto
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\
Eventlog\System\WgaNotify -
Now click WgaNotify on the left and hit DEL
Goto
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Services\
Eventlog\System\WgaNotify -
Now click WgaNotify on the left and hit DEL
Now to kill the bitch...
Goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify\WgaLogon - Now click WgaLogon on the left and hit DEL
Logoff... GONE! Logon.... No timer!
Restart

The Internet Has Always Been Regulated

2006-05-15T21:06:00.000-06:00

It started off as a government network designed to survive nuclear attacks (which, as everyone notes, is why it’s so good at routing around damage, including censorship) and along with government research labs its initial backbone was universities. All through that time, and indeed through the 90’s and almost up to the current day, there was a simple rule - you couldn’t discriminate against traffic. You couldn’t give some packets priority over other packets. That was the rule. It was the regulation. The FCC recently got rid of that rule. However they can put it back any time. What the telecom companies want is to take that authority away from the FCC and write into law that they can charge extra for good service, and for those who don’t pay – provide lousy service. The reason they want to do that is that they know that the minute people have to pay extra to get their e-mail on time, to get streaming video, to play online games, and so on – they’re going to scream to high heaven. Now the telecom companies will tell you that they need the extra money. They don’t. They are heavily subsidized already by the Federal government, to the tune of many billions, plus all customers pay for access. They aren’t losing money on running the network backbone. What they want, instead, is an oligopoly position where they can charge as much as the market can bear. Stirling has compared this to the 19th century railroads – who would charge farmers just enough so that it was farmers could make a bare living. Many of them, of course, fell below average, and died. The modern internet would be destroyed by what the telecoms want to do – anything that does not make much money, or that loses money now, would lose money, or lose even more money. Many services and websites would go away – probably including things like Flickr and Skype. The real time gaming industry would be gutted. Anyone offering heavy graphics downloads would see their costs soar – which they would either try to pass to you, or go out of business. Organizations doing real time data transfers (the entire financial industry) would be forced to pay even more, and brokerage fees would rise. Etc… This is also the perfect example of what I’ve been talking about for years – the best way to make money in the United States is to have the government force people to give it to you. Get the government to allow you to create a monopoly or oligopoly, crank your rates up, and tighten the screws. The telecoms are spending many millions of dollars promoting this bill. They aren’t doing so because they don’t expect a huge return on it. And that return will be paid by YOU. The money won’t come out of thin air, it will come from people who use the internet. You will have less services, and you will pay more for them, and the telecom companies will laugh all the way to the bank. Meanwhile the sort of applications that require heavy broadband will be developed and brought to market in places other than the US, because in the US the cost will usually be prohibitive. Places like Korea, and Europe, and Japan, will pull even further ahead of the US in internet penetration and capability, and the marvel the US created will be fully exploited by non-Americans.

How the NSA Conducts Wiretapping: Introducing The Narus ST-6400 and NarusInsight by Narus Ltd.

2006-05-12T17:56:00.000-06:00

I try to keep this blog free from general politics, so, I'll focus on the technology behind the US\NSA wiretapping program while providing some additional comment:

=Narus ST-6400 and NarusInsight by Narus Ltd. Under Gen. Michael V. Hayden the NSA has forced tecom companies to implement massive domestic spying hardware. Even though Gen. Hayden has said at the National Press Club that "As the director, I was the one responsible to ensure that this program was limited in its scope and disciplined in its application." The NarusInsight is one type of domestic spying hardware. Capable of monitoring 10 billion bits of data per second in real-time. This means the NarusInsight can monitor an OC-192 in realtime. For reference 10 billion bits is 10 million Kbts, divide that by the average DSL user witch is 256 Kbts (10000000/256) you get monitoring of 39062.5 DSL lines in realtime for every piece of hardware. After data capture Narus softeware can replay data. What does this mean well acrodding too Narus website "Capabilities include playback of streaming media (for example, VoIP), rendering of Web pages, examination of e-mails and the ability to analyze the payload/attachments of e-mail or file transfer protocols." Think of it as Tivo for the internet able to replay 39000 US DSL users activity in realtime for every piece of hardware.References: Narus Ltd http://narus.com

Essentially with a product like Narus attached to a big digital pipe, you can see everything at any level of detail, store it, and play it back at will. So you go to their website and who do you find offers add on services? Well none other than Verisign. That name might be familiar to you if you have ever purchased anything on the internet. "Protected By Verisign". Why should I care you ask? Read the fine print in the article to see what a full range of "services" they offer.

VeriSign will first use Narus LI for IP lawful intercept, but the company also has the right to outsource NarusSecure, NarusAnalyze and NarusMediate IP security and management software elements. Carriers, many of whom are just starting in IP telephony, will be able to outsource their lawful intercept responsibilities to VeriSign which, in turn, will use Narus' licensed software to work with law enforcement agencies in tapping IP phone calls. "They (carriers) get a warrant from the government ... but they don't really want to do it themselves. Now they have an opportunity to turn to one of the most trusted security brands in the world and have those folks do it as a managed service for them," said Steve Bannerman, vice president of marketing at Narus. "VeriSign goes through all the machinations of capturing the information and providing it to law enforcement."

The machinations are not only capture, and provision, but decryption. See Verisign holds the keys to the encryption kingdom. Ah but what telecom carriers would allow such unlimited access to the US Government. Well the ones that want to keep their licenses. Here's a sample of their predicament. Hayden did the research years ago, to head off the government's inability to see into the big fiber optic pipes and quickly realized it was a tall task, until he was handed an opportunity. The largest provider of fiber optic capacity on Earth Global Crossing went bankrupt. Can't have that happen can we, especially when they carry so much secure traffic for the US Government. What an opportunity to test the data collection technology from vendors like Narus. Not to mention adding virtually every important fiber optic connection point in the world to the NSA's visible world. A match made in heaven. So in rush foreign investors from China, but wait, Singapore (can't have the Chinese mafia so close to our technology) and here's the price they pay to play -

Network Security Agreement On September 23, 2003, the U.S. Government granted approval under Section 721 of the Defense Production Act of the investment in GCL by Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte Ltd ("ST Telemedia") pursuant to the GC Debtors? plan of reorganization. In order to obtain this approval, we entered into anagreement (the "Network Security Agreement") with certain agencies of the U.S. Government to address the U.S. Government's national security and law enforcement concerns. The Network Security Agreement is intended to ensure that our operations do not impair the U.S. Government's ability (1) to carry out lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance of communications that originate and/or terminate in the U.S.; (2) to prevent and detect foreign-based espionage and electronic surveillance of U.S. communications; and (3) to satisfy U.S. critical infrastructure protection requirements. Failure to comply with our obligations under the Network Security Agreement could result in the revocation of our telecommunications licenses by the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC").

And who oversees this ability?

The Network Security Agreement affects our corporate governance as well. The GCL Board of Directors maintains a Security Committee comprised solely of directors who are U.S. citizens and who already possess or are eligible to possess U.S. security clearance. These "Security Directors" must satisfy the independent director requirements of the New York Stock Exchange, regardless of whether any of GCL's securities are listed on such exchange. At least half of the members of the GCL board nominated by ST Telemedia must be Security directors. See Item 10 below. A Security Director must be present at every meeting of the board of directors of GCL and of any of our U.S. subsidiaries unless such meeting in no way addresses or affects our obligations under the Network Security Agreement.

Check out who these "overseers" are . An Admiral, General and the Honorable Pete Aldridge , who to quote his bio:

From May 2001 until May 2003, Mr. Aldridge served as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. In this position, he was responsible for all matters relating to U.S. Department of Defense acquisition, research and development, advanced technology, international programs, and the industrial base.

So, Why can't the DOJ learn about the NSA's wiretapping program? Why hasn't anyone in the Congress or Senate actually been fully briefed? Because the truth would change the world, just like the impact on religions of the world if a deity walked the planet. Imagine KNOWING beyond a doubt that there is NO digital privacy. Not even encrypted or SSL communications. Not even private business channels on high speed communication highways -the ones companies and governments pay dearly for. Well that's what the NSA has implemented. The technology for lawful intercept. Keep in mind that to George Bush it's ALL legal. Never mind that with the Narus technology and Verisign to unlock it there is no secure communications of any kind: private, governmental (that's other governments traffic on these digital pipes) or business. And like tapping into the results from the track, they can see news before it happens. Can someone make money this way do you suppose? Or secure their power through digital oppression? When will someone really take notice? Welcome to Oceania. George Orwell would be proud.

Google Desktop 4 (beta)

2006-05-11T12:16:00.000-06:00

The Desktop team at Google is working at a frenetic pace. Just yesterday (well, in March actually, but pretty close) I was looking at version 3. But hey, it's a free service that delivers plenty of whimsy as well as useful little applications—Google calls them gadgets. The three new products – Google Co-op, Google Desktop 4, and Google Notebook – advance the state of the art in search by helping users worldwide find and share more relevant information. The products all incorporate new capabilities that leverage user communities, enabling users to either share more information with others or benefit from other users’ expertise to improve the accuracy of search results. The company also introduced Google Trends, a new tool that enables users to examine billions of searches conducted on Google to gain insight into broad search patterns over time. Google Co-op beta is a community where users can contribute their knowledge and expertise to improve Google search for everyone. Organizations, businesses, or individuals can label web pages relevant to their areas of expertise or create specialized links to which users can subscribe. Once a user has subscribed to a provider’s content, all of that provider’s labels and subscribed links are added to the user’s search results for relevant queries. These contributions serve as meta information that helps Google’s search algorithms connect users to the most relevant information for their specific query. Users interested in contributing can get started at Google Desktop 4 beta – available in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, and Brazilian Portuguese – offers another way for users to improve their search experience, by personalizing their desktops with the introduction of Google Gadgets. These gadgets are mini-applications that reside on users’ desktops and deliver a variety of personalized information such as games, media players, weather and news. Google Desktop can also recommend new gadgets and can automatically create a personalized homepage for users based on the subjects they frequently search and access. Available today from Google Labs at http://www.google.com/trends, Google Trends builds on the Google Zeitgeist to help users find facts and trends related to Google usage around the world. Google Trends enables users to learn how popular a particular search term has been on Google over time and see the relevant news articles that ran on that subject. Google Notebook is a simple way for users to save and organize their thoughts when conducting research online. This personal browser tool permits users to clip text, images, and links from the pages they’re browsing, save them to an online “notebook” that is accessible from any computer, and share them with others. Google Notebook is an interactive scratch pad for every website a user visits, offering a single online location to collect web findings without having to leave the browser window. For example, if a user were planning a vacation, she could clip the most relevant materials on the pages she visits and add personal notes to help organize all of her research. Users can make their Google Notebook public and share the notes they’ve taken with others. As a result, the time and effort put into their research can be harnessed by the online community as a whole. Google Notebook will be available next week from Google Labs at http://www.google.com/notebook.

PDF Security Compromised in Gmail !

2006-05-11T12:15:00.000-06:00

PDF authors go to great lengths to protect their documents. But circumventing PDF security could be as easy as opening the document inside Google's e-mail service. Last month, a blog post written by Andreas Bovens—a Belgian doctoral candidate in Japanese Studies attending school in Tokyo—demonstrated how Gmail's PDF-to-HTML filter could circumvent some rights-management features in PDFs, such as copying and printing limitations set by a PDF document's author. More at the source.

Windows Media Player 11 for XP release details

2006-05-09T21:08:00.000-06:00

Microsoft is planning a Public Preview Beta of Windows Media Player 11 for XP on Wednesday, May 17th. Users will be able to download the beta here (anyone will be able to get it): http://www.microsoft.com/windows/wi...ia/default.mspxThe final RTM release is scheduled for late June 06 (I will try this week to get a date).Here is a list of features that will and will not be in the XP version: Features in WMP 11 for XP (June 06): * New UI* Support for better synchronization for portable devices * Album “stacks” of album art* Indexed libraries with search-as-you-type features * User controlled downgrade of quality for DRM content to allow for smaller files * DRM content will contain metadata that shows what the user is allowed to do with the file * Includes Microsoft and MTV’s Urge music store Features in WMP 11 for Vista (Early 07): * Everything that is in the WMP 11 for XP * Playing content (including DRM) on your PC from another PC or device * Viewing content from the Vista Media library on other PCs or digital devices, such as Tivo * Playback of High Value video content * Shell integration with Windows Media Player * Content Indexer change notification to sync My Music and WMP library * DVD Fullscreen playback enhancements * DRM Transcode * High quality video streaming over home networks* Media foundation for playback

Novell is Back: Delivers an Open, Low-Cost Alternative to Microsoft

2006-05-09T10:27:00.000-06:00

Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) today announced the Novell Open Workgroup Suite is now available worldwide, giving customers an open, low-cost alternative to the Windows-centric solution many perceive as their only option. Novell Open Workgroup Suite customers can choose from two options. For deployment with Linux* servers and any desktop platform, the suite includes Novell Open Enterprise Server (with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server), Novell GroupWise for collaboration, Novell ZENworks Suite for cross-platform systems management, Novell Linux Desktop and the popular OpenOffice.org for Windows* and Linux. The suite is also available in a cross-platform version that allows deployment of the same suite components on any supported platform. The Novell Open Workgroup Suite is also the replacement for the Novell Small Business Suite and Novell Linux Small Business Suite, with an upgrade path for customers of these products. Pricing for the Linux platform version of the Novell Open Workgroup Suite starts with a rental option for $80 per year or $110 per device/user for a perpetual license. The cross-platform version of the suite is $150 per user/device for a perpetual license. Annual maintenance is also available, and upgrade pricing is available to existing customers of Open Enterprise Server, NetWare, GroupWise, ZENworks or competing products.

Verizon Communications Threatens The Financial Services Industry Over Net-Neutrality

2006-05-08T16:33:00.000-06:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Verizon Communications warned the financial services industry may not get the secure networks it needs if Congress adopts laws governing high-speed Internet broadband networks, according to a company memo obtained by Reuters on Monday. The financial services industry is weighing whether to wade into a fight over legislation on broadband service, known as "Net neutrality." It fears that without safeguards on pricing for network access, the costs to financial institutions could rise. Verizon's chief congressional lobbyist Peter Davidson said in a memo warning the financial services industry: "better not start moaning in the future about a lack of sophisticated data links they need" if Netneutrality laws were passed because the communications industry may not investin new networks.

Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Next Level: Genuine Software Initiative (GSI): Users May Have To Prove Legal Windows Use

2006-05-07T09:51:00.000-06:00

Microsoft is piloting an opt-in notification service for its Windows Genuine Advantage online verification program in the U.S., which may make it mandatory for users to get Automatic Update or Windows Update Rights. A pilot of the notification service – called Genuine Software Initiative (GSI) -- was initially launched in November in Norway and Sweden and then later in five additional countries. This week, Microsoft expanded the WGA notifications pilot to a "random subset" of English speaking customers in the U.S., U.K., Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. Microsoft said the notification service for Windows Genuine Advantage in pilot is voluntary but acknowledged that it may become mandatory later this year.

"The WGA Notifications pilot is opt-in, so all participants are given a choice about whether or not they wish to participate. Users can choose to suppress the notification," according to a statement issued by Microsoft to CRN Thursday. " While the pilot is presently opt-in, as it expands later in the year, AU and WU customers may be required to participate."

Full Article Here Initial WGA Report and Fix Here

AOL VOIP: AIM Phoneline Offers Free Phone Numbers

2006-05-05T10:35:00.000-06:00

It will be interesting to see how Skype and others react to this.

AOL is increasingly looking to capitalize on the growing popularity of AIM, their instant messenger. On May 16th, AOL will announce the launch of AIM Phoneline service that provides a free local phone number to any AIM user for receiving free incoming calls. The service will allow users to call each other free if both are online, typically using headsets or microphones attached to their computers.Though the AOL concept is not new, AOL Phoneline has the potential of overtaking existing players as it plans to provide the telephone number for free. Skype charges about $4 a month for a phone number. Yahoo Messenger 7.5 also provides a personal phone number (with any city area code) for receiving incoming calls to their PC from regular phone lines and mobile phones but at a price.Other services charge about $30 to $40 a year for a telephone number to receive incoming calls, and about 2 cents a minute to place phone calls from a computer to an ordinary telephone line.AOL plans to make money both from displaying advertisements to users and from the outbound calling charges and additional services, like ring tones and call forwarding.

Will Google Buy Olive OCR ? Here's Why it Makes Sense

2006-05-05T09:45:00.000-06:00

Olive Software develops some amazing OCR technology to convert a document in any format (PDF, HTM, Paper, Microfiche) into digital XML format preserving the document's content, structure and layout. US Defence, British Library, Newspapers, magazines like Time, ESPN, WashingtonPost, FT use Olive XML technology to create and archive electronic editions of their content.Now, MercuryNews is speculating that Google may buy Olive Software. I don't know if the deal will ever happen but surely, Olive does make sense for Google. Google is in the process of scanning millions of books, catalogs for Google Print and Google Catalogs using their proprietory scanning software. (Google doesn't use Acrobat, I confirmed this with the Adobe team). An established proved OCR technology like Olive could help Google concentrate their workforce on other areas like Search. As I've mentioned earlier, Microsofts next version of Office will default documents to the new XML format as well.

Windows Anti-Counterfeit Tool (WGA) Causing False Counterfeit Calls at Many Universities\Businesses

2006-05-04T14:33:00.000-06:00

Some system administrators are finding that Microsoft’s new anti-piracy software is incorrectly labeling PCs for users logged is with restricted accounts, as a counterfeit copy of Windows. The problem with the WGA installation is that it works perfectly fine as long as you are using an account with administrative rights on the system. As soon as one of the students, or other non-administrative level account, logs on to the system it screams that it is not a valid copy of windows and it is counterfeit.” A Microsoft staffer monitoring the newsgroup intervened, eventually diagnosed the problem, and offered a fix: give everyone, including the student systems running under rights-restrictive accounts, write access to a file called “data.dat.” Source: InformationWeek Fix it Here !

Skype 2.5: SMS and 100 Person Voice Conference Ability Now

2006-05-03T10:17:00.000-06:00

SMS: Short Message Service I like SMS. Great for business. Global. I can now send a text message from Skype to any mobile phone in the world. Cheap too. About 12 cents for users in US and Canada. UK, is 10 cents, Germany 13, Japan 7. Accountable too. If the message fails to be delivered I get a notification in 24 hours. Simple. Right click on your contacted name and select "Send SMS Message." (Your contact must enter their mobile phone number in the international format in their Skype Profile.) Convenient. I have Skype SMS set up so it sends my Mobile number along with any message. This makes it easy for the recipient to send a reply back to my mobile phone.

Skypecasting talk to 100 people at once The announcement of Skype's Skypecasting service is second in importance only to the announcement of Skype on August 31st 2003. Forget the fact you can have a conference call with 100 people. 100 is just a numbers game. Skypecasting changes forever the idea of podcasting. Blogging will be different after today. This is the wide channel. Skype in 2003 was mostly about you and someone else communicating, 1 to 1. Of course in 2004 we had conferencing of up to 5. But they were mostly private affairs. Family, cliques. Skypecasting is about groups, about public. About conversations: moderating, facilitation, sharing. Skype is about global connections and exchanges. Skypecasting is your village, your pub, your community. Live, real-time, now. You need to play with Skypecasts. It is more than cool.

Get it here free

Good Summary of Sweeping Telecom Bill:

2006-05-03T09:51:00.000-06:00

The U.S. Senate took the first serious step on Monday toward rewriting the nation's telecommunications laws, a move that raises politically sensitive questions about digital copyright and Net neutrality and that could take years to complete. Ted Stevens, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, released a 135-page draft bill (click here for PDF) that represents the most sweeping rewrite in a decade of laws dealing with video, satellite and broadband communications. The rest of this article does a fairly fine job summarizing the proposed telecommunications bill here:

Add Language Translation To Your Blog

2006-05-02T08:41:00.000-06:00

Always add language translation to your blog. The blogosphere is multilingual, and deeply international. Mr David Sifry of Technorati confirms this.Technorati charts illustrating the relative volume of blog posts based on the primary language of the post has given a different perspective of the Blog comminity. Japanese and English Bloggers are overtaking the English blog posts, at least in numbers. I posted earlier about these facinating charts here.

Eye-Fi: Convert a normal Digital Camera into Wireless Wi-Fi camera

2006-05-02T08:36:00.000-06:00

Wi-Fi capable digital cameras are set to become obsolete even before they hit the market shelves. We have seen Sandisk SD Wi-Fi flash memory cards for adding wireless to any PDA. Now Eye-Film has developed a similar product but for Digital Cameras. They call it Eye-Fi, a Wi-Fi enabled SD Flash memory card for turning those plain, simple digital cameras into Wi-Fi capable.The 1 GB Eye-Fi card is compatible with any model of digital camera as long as it has the SD card slot. The card itself has inbuilt Wifi features to transfer the photos wirelessly. The Eye-Fi card is expected for about the same price as a 1 GB flash card sells for today - $100. The product concept is impressive but eye.fi website is defintely not. There's neither a brief bio of the executive team nor a single-word writeup about the product. It does have links to a couple of bloggers and technorati .

Please Help Save The Internet

2006-05-01T17:29:00.000-06:00

Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an iPod? Everything we do online will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law next week that gives giant corporations more control over what we do and see on the Internet. Internet providers like AT&T are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality—the Internet's First Amendment and the key to Internet freedom. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. BarnesandNoble.com doesn't have to outbid Amazon for the right to work properly on your computer. If Net Neutrality is gutted, almost every popular site—from Google to eBay to iTunes—must either pay protection money to Internet companies like AT&T or risk having their websites process slowly. That why these high-tech pioneers and others are opposing Congress' effort to gut Internet freedom. You can do your part today—can you sign this petition telling your member of Congress to preserve Internet freedom? Click here : I signed this petition, along with 250,000 others so far. This petition will be delivered to Congress before the House of Representatives votes next week. When you sign, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can take to keep the heat on Congress.

Enable Multi-User Mode for XP's Remote Desktop

2006-05-01T09:44:00.000-06:00

Before its final release, Windows XP's Remote Desktop function had a feature it now lacks: multi-user mode, whereby more than one person could log on and control the PC at once. When the final version of XP shipped, though, this feature was disabled, meaning if you log on with remote desktop, any other user must be logged off. Fortunately, there's a way to unlock the original functionality, but as won't surprise you it's a bit of a hack and definitely at-your-own-risk. The process is detailed by Riccardo Raneri in his blog, but basically involves downloading an old pre-release version of termsrv.dll and making some setting changes. XP still has a hard-coded limit of three simultaneous users, but that's still a lot more than one. It's all here.

Senate Bill May Ban Streaming MP3s

2006-04-27T23:34:00.000-06:00

No, really. The PERFORM Act (where do they get these names that mean the oposite of what they do) would mean no more MP3 streams if you rely on the statutory license.

Silverhammer writes "According to the EFF, a new Senate bill (S. 2644) sponsored by Senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Graham (R-SC) would effectively ban streaming MP3 for licensed music by requireing 'casters to use the most restrictive streaming format available (e.g., Windows Media or Real) rather than simply the most restrictive features of a chosen streaming format (e.g., Shoutcast or streaming MP3)." From the article: "The PERFORM Act would ... requir[e] webcasters to use DRM that restricts the recording of webcasts. That means no more MP3 streams if you rely on the statutory license. Under the bill, the statutory license would only be available to a webcaster if: [114(d)(2)(C)(vi)] the transmitting entity takes no affirmative steps to authorize, enable, cause or induce the making of a copy or phonorecord by or for the transmission recipient and uses technology that is reasonably available, technologically feasible, and economically reasonable to prevent the making of copies or phonorecords embodying the transmission in whole or in part, except for reasonable recording as defined in this subsection."

I got this from Slashdot. Check out the comments, as good a read as the article.

Cheap Cool Infrared Webcam

2006-04-27T21:14:00.000-06:00

The USB InfraRed OptiCam is just too friggin cool. Because you never know when you might need 2 NightVision infrared lamps on your VGA webcam..or something...or other. And, only $20.00 baby. 350K pixel CMOS sensor (VGA) # Snap Shot trigger button # 2 Infrared lamps for NightVision # 3 white LEDs for light assistance # Built-in microphone # Adjustable lens for picture focusing # Works on MSN, Skype, ICQ etc. And I like the retro-tech look too.

Blog Usage Statistics And Trends: State Of The Blogosphere

2006-04-27T20:02:00.000-06:00

The blogosphere continues to grow at a quickening pace." wrote, Technorati CEO Dave Sifry, almost three months ago, when his leading blog search engine, Technorati, reported to be tracking over 27.2 Million weblogs.

This is why, Dave Sifry's State of the Blogosphere report, has rapidly become a valuable reference for all those interested in understanding and anticipating the blogging phenomenon as it evolves. Check it out; there are some really interesting charts and stats: I wasn't able to identify all of the spikes, but I did find some of the notables. For example, on the chart here (click it to enlarge), it certainly appears that technology product launches attract great interest in the blogosphere - seems that we just can't restrain our inner geekiness when products like the iPod Video and the Intel Macintoshes were launched. Posting volumes on those two days even eclipsed blog coverage and commentary of the Superbowl and the 2006 State of the Union speech.

It's Official: Microsoft Tests New WGA or GOV on Office

2006-04-27T17:03:00.000-06:00

Microsoft has posted the first Office download which has Genuine Office Validation (not required yet). It is sounds.exe the download enables sound in Office 2000,XP and 2003.It is not a new download, it's actually from 1999, so I guess Microsoft is testing. I tested it too and it works, this is what you see with a pirated office installation: Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003: Validation Failed The product key used to install Office has been blocked by Microsoft.

New Trojan\Virus Demands Ransom From Computer or Cell Phone

2006-04-27T13:05:00.000-06:00

Isn't this nice:

A new kind of malware circulating on the Internet freezes a computer and then asks for a ransom paid through the Western Union Holdings money transfer service. A sample of the Trojan horse virus was sent to Sophos, a security vendor, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant. The malware, which Sophos named Troj/Ransom-A, is one of only a few viruses so far that have asked for a ransom in exchange for releasing control of a computer, Cluley said. It’s unclear how the Trojan is being spread, although Sophos is investigating, Cluley said. Viruses can be spread in several ways, including through spam or a so-called drive-by download that exploits a browser vulnerability when a user visits a malicious Web site. Source: PCWorld

A newly detected mobile phone virus (via Buetooh) is charging mobile phone users $5 to send a premium rate SMS message, security experts warned today at Infosec Europe 2006. F-Secure explained that a proof-of-concept attack had been reengineered to make money illegally from mobile phone users. Source: vnunet

Markey Amendment Fails: House Ignores Public, Sells Out the Internet

2006-04-26T21:28:00.000-06:00

The "Markey Amendment" supporting Net Neutrality was voted down by a vote of 34 to 22. The "Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act" telecom law, or COPE Act, passed out of the committee without any meaningful protection for Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality means all online activity must be treated equally, and companies like AT&T must allow Internet users to view the smallest blog just as easily as the largest corporate Web site. Major telecom companies like AT&T and Verizon are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get Congress to change the rules to let them discriminate on the Internet -- forcing Web sites to pay "protection money" to ensure their sites will work properly. AT&T 1Q earnings soar 63.3 percent: they will only get higher when they can charge everyone higher rates and exclude voices they don't like. That's what monopolies do. Plus, they enable the government to spy on you. At least my Rep. Diana DeGette, courageously voted FOR Internet freedom every step of the way. C'mon folks, let your elected officials know how you feel about this !

Related links for the day: 250,000 petition signatures for the Markey Amendment Whip list for the Markey Amendment. I Want My Internets Google, Microsoft, Amazon et al. Good First Start, But Much More is Needed. More on the Rush recusal. Online Jim? Citizens Sign on to Co-Sponsor the Markey Amendment Medicare Plan D for the internets? C'mon Kevin, get a grip. It's a no brainer. Meet Mercenary Mouthpiece Mike McCurry, Enemy of Internet Freedom Watch the hearings here.

More on the New Office 2007 File Formats

2006-04-26T19:37:00.000-06:00

The new Office 2007 is due to be released sometime on 2007 and I really like it so far. As I mentioned earlier, Office 2007 will have two major changes to the office file format. For the first time Microsoft will have file extensions with more than 3 characters, but more importantly it will move from the well know .doc, .xls and .ppt file extensions for the popular Office documents.Office 2007 will have a new, XML-based file format for Microsoft Word 2007, Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007. The New file formats will be the default file formats for Office 2007 but they will also be backward compatible to Microsoft Office 2000 using Office 2007 Compatibility Mode. Here are the new file formats in a simpler format than my previous post:

Word 2007 Supported File Formats Word Document (.docx) - Default format Word Macro-enabled Document (.docm) Word Template (.dotx) Word Macro-enabled Document Template (.dotm) Excel 2007 Supported File Formats Excel Workbook (.xlsx) - Default format Excel Macro-enabled Workbook (.xlsm) Excel Template (.xltx) Excel Macro-enabled Workbook Template (.xltm) Excel Binary Workbook (.xlsb) Excel Add-in (.xlam) PowerPoint 2007 Supported File Formats PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx) - Default format PowerPoint Macro-enabled Presentation (.pptm) PowerPoint Slide Show (.ppsx) PowerPoint Macro-enabled Slide Show (.ppsx) PowerPoint Template (.potx) PowerPoint Macro-enabled Presentation Template (.potm) PowerPoint Add-in (.ppam)

Not all file formats will be backward compatible only the following formats will be backward compatible down to Office 2000.

Word Document (.docx) Word Macro-enabled Document (.docm) Excel Workbook (.xlsx) Excel Macro-enabled Workbook (.xlsm) Excel Template (.xltx) Excel Macro-enabled Template (.xltm) Excel binary Workbook (.xlsb) Excel Add-in (.xlam) PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx) PowerPoint Macro-enabled Presentation (.pptm) PowerPoint Slide Show (.ppsx) PowerPoint Macro-enabled Slide Show (.ppsm) PowerPoint Template (.potx) PowerPoint Macro-enabled Presentation Template (.potm)

Office 2007 will also support export to PDF (ver 1.5 which is compatible with Acrobat version 6) and XPS . XPS will support rights management for secure document managements, PDF export will not support rights management.

Turn a 60$ Router into a 600$ Router: FREE

2006-04-26T09:35:00.000-06:00

This is a simple method for converting a $60 router into a $600 router (PDF alert!) with a firmware upgrade. The router in question is the fairly ubiquitous Linksys WRT54G. Simple, powerful, and nearly anyone can do it.

Remove the New Microsoft WGA Nag Screen For Good !

2006-04-25T17:46:00.000-06:00

As you might have already found out, The WGA check will now install a nag screen if your license is allegedly invalid. It shows up at boot and on the log-on screen but you can remove it. Do not install "Windows Genuine Advantage Notification (KB905474)" . But, if you are reading this, you already did.

Please go to the comments section for complete workaround instructions posted as they become available by our subscribers here at digiblade.

Go to the Control panel/Add and remove programs and uninstall "Windows Genuine Advantage notification". Use Windiz Update + Firefox to download patches and leave IE for good! 04/27/2006 Update: various workarounds that work for now but Microsoft is going to be very agressive on this issue. Update: Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Next Level: Genuine Software Initiative (GSI): Beta roll-out has begun Manual fix how-to here Please Help Save The Internet

Worldwide Email Statistics: 60 billion sent daily

2006-04-25T12:14:00.000-06:00

BERLIN (Reuters) - Internet users around the world send an estimated 60 billion emails every day and many of these are spam or scam attempts, business leaders said on Tuesday.

"A large percent of it is spam, and the hackers out there are really smart and getting smarter. We all have to run in front of them" Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer added.
No shit, Steve...more of the obvious here

Microsoft Bringing 'Genuine Advantage' WGA Authentication to Office by 05/01/2206

2006-04-25T10:46:00.000-06:00

As I reported the other day for Windows WGA; In its increasingly aggressive drive to stamp out piracy, Microsoft is bringing Office into the WGA fold, and adding a new notifications service to WGA itself. Windows Genuine Advantage has worked so well that Microsoft is planning to introduce a version of the anti-piracy authentication program targeted at its Office suite. Microsoft officials said on April 24 that the company is commencing this week a pilot of "Office Genuine Advantage," (OGA) a program that will operate almost identically to Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA). Microsoft is piloting OGA in seven languages, initially: Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Greek, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Russian and Spanish. Source article 0427\2006 UPDATE: Microsoft has started testing.

Another Zero-Day Bug For Microsoft Internet Explorer

2006-04-24T17:52:00.000-06:00

Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which was just patched with 10 fixes two weeks ago, suffers from yet another zero-day vulnerability that can be exploited remotely, security firm Symantec said Monday. In an alert to customers of its DeepSight threat system, Symantec cited a vulnerability first posted to the Bugtraq security mailing list by researcher Michal Zalewski, who notes that IE is prone to memory corruption because of the way it handles malformed HTML. HTML content that contains nestedtags without the corresponding closure tags, said Symantec's alert, can trigger the bug. "An attacker could exploit this issue via a malicious A fully-patched version of IE 6 for Windows More Here and don't forget about this exploit. Personaly, just ditch IE John C. Dvorak posits that nothing qualifies more as Microsoft's greatest blunder than Internet Explorer. Browser wars aside, the web browser from Redmond is the source of a great many of Microsoft's problems.

"All of Microsoft's Internet-era public-relations and legal problems (in some way or another) stem from Internet Explorer," Dvorak says. "If you were to put together a comprehensive profit-and-loss statement for IE, there would be a zero in the profits column and billions in the losses column—billions." Dvorak suggests that Microsoft's ongoing obsession with the browser is bad business and that it should yank Internet Explorer out of OS and immediately cease development. "People will not stop buying Microsoft Windows if there is no built-in browser. Opera and/or Firefox can be bundled with the OS as a courtesy, and all the defaults can lead to Microsoft.com if need be," he says, going on to note what we all know to be true: it'll never happen, and Microsoft "will forever be plagued by its greatest blunder ever."

Notes from the Access to Knowledge (A2K) conference, Yale

2006-04-23T16:32:00.000-06:00

Live from the Access to Knowledge (A2K) conference, Yale; Moderated by Mike Godwin, Electronic Frontier Foundation. Notes here.

"Save the Internet" Campaign for Network Neutrality Launched

2006-04-23T16:28:00.000-06:00

This Monday, a coalition of Internet activists from across the political spectrum will officially launch the Save the Internet Campaign to fight telecom companies that are trying to create a multi-tiered Internet, where lower-income customers have less access to content and bandwidth than higher-paying customers. Quoting their new website:

Congress is pushing a law that would abandon Network Neutrality, the Internet’s First Amendment. Network neutrality prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding which Web sites work the best — based on who pays them the most. Your local library shouldn’t have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to have its Web site open quickly on your computer. Net Neutrality allows everyone to compete on a level playing field and is the reason that the Internet is a force for economic innovation, civic participation and free speech. If the public doesn’t speak up now, Congress will cave to a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign by telephone and cable companies that want to decide what you do, where you go, and what you watch online. This isn’t just speculation — we’ve already seen what happens elsewhere when the Internet’s gatekeepers get too much control. Last year, Canada’s version of AT&T — Telus— blocked their Internet customers from visiting a Web site sympathetic to workers with whom Telus was negotiating. And Shaw, a major Canadian cable TV company, charges an extra $10 a month to subscribers who dare to use a competing Internet telephone service. Congress thinks they can sell out and the public will never know. The SavetheInternet.Com Coalition is proving them wrong.

Founding coalition members: Charter Members: Professor Lawrence Lessig -- Stanford Professor Timothy Wu -- Columbia Free Press -- Coalition Coordinator Gun Owners of America Craig Newmark -- Craigslist.com Founder Professor Glenn Reynolds -- aka Blogger Instapundit MoveOn.org

Civic Action Consumers Union American Library Association Consumer Federation of America Public Knowledge Common Cause National Association of State PIRGs (U.S. PIRG) Flint River Hospital Center for Digital Democracy Consumer Action Association of Research Libraries The Service Roundtable -- Small Business Network Afro-Netizen Loyola University Chicago, Department of Communications Educause OpenPrivacy New Organizing Institute Covenant College Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Projec Association for Community Networking Amazing Kids CCTV Center for Media and Democracy Alliance for Community Media Professor Susan Crawford David Isenberg -- Harvard Berkman Center Sascha Meinrath -- Community Internet Pioneer Center for Creative Voices in Media Community Technology Centers Consumer Project on Technology Interfaith Council for Social Justice FreeNetworks.org Media Access Project Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Media Alliance Reclaim the Media The Agonist NYC Wireless AcornActive Media Foundation Californians Against Waste Chicago Media Action CUWiN National Video Resources Illinois Community Technology Coalition Ohio Community Computing Network Ask-Wi.com, Inc. Politics1.com Peacefire Quicksilver Communications The American Association of Retired Persons

To get involved, visit the website and let Congress knowhow you feel about the issue.

Tell Congress to preserve the free and open Internet. Click Here

New Scary digital copyright bill introduced to Congress

2006-04-23T12:44:00.000-06:00

For the last few years, a coalition of technology companies, academics and computer programmers has been trying to persuade Congress to scale back the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Now Congress is preparing to do precisely the opposite. A proposed copyright law seen by CNET News.com would expand the DMCA's restrictions on software that can bypass copy protections and grant federal police more wiretapping and enforcement powers. Full Article Here Some of the more scary bullet points: • Permits wiretaps in investigations of copyright crimes, trade secret theft and economic espionage. It would establish a new copyright unit inside the FBI and budgets $20 million on topics including creating "advanced tools of forensic science to investigate" copyright crimes. • Amends existing law to permit criminal enforcement of copyright violations even if the work was not registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. • Boosts criminal penalties for copyright infringement originally created by the No Electronic Theft Act of 1997 from five years to 10 years (and 10 years to 20 years for subsequent offenses). The NET Act targets noncommercial piracy including posting copyrighted photos, videos or news articles on a Web site if the value exceeds $1,000. • Creates civil asset forfeiture penalties for anything used in copyright piracy. Computers or other equipment seized must be "destroyed" or otherwise disposed of, for instance at a government auction. Criminal asset forfeiture will be done following the rules established by federal drug laws. • Says copyright holders can impound "records documenting the manufacture, sale or receipt of items involved in" infringements. Jason Schultz, a staff attorney at the digital-rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says,

the recording industry would be delighted to have the right to impound records. In a piracy lawsuit, "they want server logs," Schultz said. "They want to know every single person who's ever downloaded (certain files)--their IP addresses, everything."

Microsoft WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) To Be Taken Up To The Next Level 04/25/2006

2006-04-23T12:27:00.000-06:00

(New WGA Logo above)

Since the Windows Genuine Advantage debut as a pilot on 9/2004 Microsoft is slowly making the program more annoying and intrusive. In the beginning the WGA was an opt-in feature, and then slowly it became mandatory. Users who choose not to validate their copy of Windows can not download updates from Windows update (they still can download critical security updates via automatic update feature in Windows). On Tuesday Microsoft will make WGA more intrusive and will use scare tactics to make users validate and purchase a legal copy. On 4/25/06 Microsoft will start WGA Notification in the US, UK, Australia, NZ and Malaysia. The WGA notification has been running as a pilot in several countries such as Norway, Taiwan, Sweden, Israel, Denmark, Poland and other countries. The new WGA notification campaign will have a new logo for OEM and system builders, as seen here exclusively for the first time. Some users will begin to receive the update as early as Tuesday next week. When a user goes to WGA to validate and/or download things like IE 7.0 or Media player or take advantage of the Buy Local offers they may receive the notification if their copy is not genuine. Up until now if you didn’t validate your copy of Windows nothing happened, but now with the WGA Notification, every time you reboot your computer, log-in and periodically (every hour or so) Windows will display a nag screen “reminding” you to validate your copy. From the first time users get the request to validate they have 14 days to comply. After 14 days they will not be able to download security upgrades such as IE7 and Windows Defender. Critical security updates will still be available like it is now. Microsoft hopes that by notifying users that they are not eligible for all security upgrades it will drive more users to purchase a legal copy of Windows, and also report the counterfeit dealers that sold them their copy. In some cases Microsoft will give a free license to users who are victims of a high quality counterfeiting. However there are good news for those who still don’t wish to validate their copy (and no it is not GEICO). There is a way for users to turn off the notifier but it may be turned back on in the future as they try to download the latest updates to IE or Media player or take advantage of the Buy Local offers through their local system builder. And last note, if you think that this is the end, Microsoft is preparing enhanced notification and better VLK validations in Windows Vista. Related: Almost 20% Of Windows Fail To Validate WGARelated: Why Microsoft Introduced WGA Now . Do not install "Windows Genuine Advantage Notification (KB905474)" if you think your computer is suspect.

Update from 'the horse's mouth'

Update: Microsoft Office is next 05/01/2006

Update: Here is a fix

Update: Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Next Level: Genuine Software Initiative (GSI) has begun beta roll out.

Site Navigation is More Important than Search Engine Optimization

2006-04-22T10:14:00.000-06:00

Thank You Robin Good for this excellent piece: Prentice Hall Professional, in an article of last October entitled "The Search Lurch: Have We Become Lazy Googlers or Smarter Web Researchers?" asked four highly accredited online search and web usability professionals Jakob Nielsen, Jesse James Garret, Gerry McGovern and Tara Calishain, their thoughts on "how our search habits are changing Web culture and even changing the way Web sites are being designed and maintained." The questions presented to these experts focused on understanding whether the increased use of search engines as the fastest means to get to any information seeked should influence and modify the way contents and navigation elements inside web pages are designed. Without looking at the answers provided by my much more qualified colleagues, I felt compelled to contribute and extend their interesting conversation by providing my own views and recommendations for online publishers curious to learn where to place their limited resources next. These the questions: 1) As the power and influence of search engines such as Google increase, will Web users bother going to homepages and trying to figure out each site's navigation scheme? Or with our increasingly shortened attention spans and demands on our time, will we just Google everything? 2) Do you think it's futile for site designers and information architects to struggle with developing effective navigation schemes for their sites? In other words, is search engine optimization becoming more important than navigation optimization? 3) On the premise that Web users are already Googling more, navigating less, what would you recommend to site designers to make their sites more usable and searchable right now? Here my answers: Question: As the power and influence of search engines such as Google increase, will Web users bother going to homepages and trying to figure out each site's navigation scheme? Robin Good: Or with our increasingly shortened attention spans and demands on our time, will we just Google everything? Habitual web users already don't navigate back to your home page MOST of the time. That is what the stats say on my own half a million monthly visitors. They land on a specific article and they take that as the full embodiment and key access to all of your web site. If you hadn't yet figured this one out, it's indeed time to do something about it. When users come to your web site, it is generally because someone has directed them to read something specific you have written or published or a major search engine has provided them with a result linking directly to your page. So, the user arrives at your site and learns about its related content and about other relevant sections mostly from the very page that they land on. This is the main reason why, each individual article page should be designed to provide strong focus on the topic/issue covered while at the same time facilitating user navigation, exploration and discovery of other complementary and relevant sections on the same site. Users, will increasingly bother less and less with going proactively to your site home page to learn more about your content and initiatives. Unless you provide extremely effective complementary navigation and content features (related articles, comments, etc.) in-place and next to your individual page content, you will likely limit the ability of your readers to access greater quantity of content from your site. Question: Do you think it's futile for site designers and information architects to struggle with developing effective navigation schemes for their sites? In other words, is search engine optimization becoming more important than navigation optimization? Robin Good: I not only think it's not futile at all for designers and information architects to spend their time developing more effective navigation schemes for their sites but I consider such investment one of the strategic keys to significantly higher returns in terms of page views, time on site, user loyalty and even ads profitability. Search engine optimization on the other hand, remains a key strategic asset to master as it provides the primary discovery and access vehicle for new readers of your site. That is: what use is to be "highly navigable" and with "individual articles that act as mini-home pages" if nobody can find you? Do you have so much buzz around your name and so much word of mouth sending visitors to your site that you need to leverage the traffic that major search engines can send you? So, while I think that designing effective navigation components for your web pages is absolutely of paramount importance, I wouldn't spend a dime on that front unless I was sure that my content could be easily found on the major search engines too. Interestingly enough to become truly "visible" on the major search engines you may need to do a number of things that will help your site navigation in major unexpected ways. One such thing is probably much more important than any other one: Title your content more effectively. Remember, the internet is a gigantic library: where have you catalogued your content? By effectively learning how content needs to be titled on the web, you can boost by a great deal the ability for your content to be effectively found on the web in the first place. It is not a matter of submitting to search engines, or of adding keywords or meta tags to your HTML code. None of that makes a significant difference anymore to your relevance and visibility on the majors search engines. What counts are: a) Your titles b) The quality, quantity and freshness of your content (how much good original content do you really have and how often do you put it out?) c) Whether other sites are linking to it or not Though there are certainly a hundred or more other factors that you can tweak and consider when trying to optimize your visibility online, the essence of it all comes down to those three points above. So, in my view, SEO has always been more important than site navigation, because it does provide the primary and fundamental access to your content. Without it all other propositions and optimizations strategies are useless. This is not to say that I wouldn't spend on optimizing site navigation, but I would certainly do so after having made sure I am in control of my search engine visibility first. Question: On the premise that Web users are already Googling more, navigating less, what would you recommend to site designers to make their sites more usable and searchable right now? Robin Good: I would personally recommend to independent online publishers and site designers to focus more on building more interesting navigation schemes around complementary content and features as well as in the positioning and delivery of commercial ads, whether text-based and contextual or traditional full-image ones. Interruptive, flashy, get-in-my-way ads are in my opinion to be strongly avoided. Those are really unfair to the novice, non-technically expert web users who are often forced into viewing them as they know often little on how to move them out of the way. Unethical, intrusive, distracting, unperforming (it slows down my access to the information I want to see). I am really not for them. Highly-relevant, informative, possibly text-based information ads are all the rage now and they do work very well too. Positioning these in ways that the user may interpret as useful and effective is one of today's key challenges as different sites and audiences demand highly differing approaches. Useful placement of other complementary information components like "related articles", recommended books, comments by readers, references to related categories of content, recent and most popular articles on the same topic, links to video and audio commentary, newsradars and thematic feeds, all provide great opportunities to offer the reader useful additions and extra reasons to explore more of the site content. Search integration is also essential. Providing users with multiple search access points within article pages allowing instantaneous search into the site contents as well as into other related and complementary content resources is also becoming an increasingly valuable asset to further facilitate content exploration and discovery. The use of content categories and tags can also greatly contribute to enhance accessibility of content for your site readers. Providing multiple different and overlapping access "views" for your content is always a plus. And last but not least, since you can't expect the world to stop and come to you at once, the moment you want to really be seen and evaluated for what you cover, you need to start your conversation. A conversation made up of commenting on other sites and stating your own valuable ideas, a conversation made up of responding to those few who will come to your site to state their joy or rage, a conversation made up of understanding that the best way to be noted by others (and linked to) is not to talk about how great you are, but of how great some individuals, sites, tools and writings out there really are. By guiding others to valuable resources and models out there online, you create great meta-navigation for the web at large, while becoming a) immediately visible to those very ones you could provide strong exposure, and b) a memorable referrer to those that came to you for advice. ...and don't forget to read what the experts said!...

Scan documents with your camera phone

2006-04-20T10:12:00.000-06:00

ScanR is an interesting service that lets you turn your camera phone into a "scanner." Basically you snap a shot of a document or whiteboard with your 1MB-or-better camera phone and e-mail it to ScanR, whereupon they'll send you a cleaned up, tagged version of the image as a PDF or a fax. The examples on the ScanR web site are pretty impressive, and if the fax option works well it might save businesspeople a lot of trips to Kinko's. ScanR is (currently) free to use.

From their website: Scan, copy and fax with your camera phone or digital camera.scanR uses advanced imaging processing and data extraction technologies to convert photos into legible, searchable PDF files. Document taggingEach document sent to scanR is tagged with the keywords extracted from the text on the page. This enables easy organization of documents scanned with scanR and quick searches using Google™ Desktop or other desktop search tools. Image processingWithout scanR, your images will contain background noise, soft focus, shadows, and poor alignment. scanR corrects these deficiencies and creates a true copy of your whiteboard or document.

Microsoft Office New 'Open'XML Format: Be Prepared

2006-04-20T09:56:00.000-06:00

I've been playing with the newest beta of Office 2007, and I think it's a winner. This time around MS developers are focusing on the NON power users and bringing all mystery up front in an easy to call up format. But, power users have not been left out. Office 2007 will offer a new save format called Open XML. I've provided a few links to get you started on this very powerful extension: • Open XML Formats Overview • Microsoft Enterprise Content Management White Paper • Open XML Formats FAQ • Open XML Formats Architecture White Paper Below are some basic info links: See the new 2007 Microsoft Office system user interface When planning the release of the 2007 Microsoft Office system, we took on the challenge of making the core Microsoft Office programs easier to work with. Taking into account extensive usability data and recent advancements in hardware and software, the team has delivered the most significant update in more than a decade. Quick! Get a better look at the 2007 Microsoft Office system The preview site for the 2007 Microsoft Office system has been upgraded to give you a richer, more detailed view of the features in this new release. Check out new product information pages, as well as new videos and demos, user interface highlights, features for role-based users such as IT professionals, and much more. See it now. 2007 Microsoft Office release: What will it cost? See this page to find estimated retail pricing information for the 2007 Microsoft Office system products that will help meet your business and personal needs.

Open PDF Files almost Instantly with Foxit

2006-04-15T12:17:00.000-06:00

I've bee using Adobe Acrobat (reader and Creator) forever. One of the things I've grappled with forever is trying to minimize the amount of time it takes to open a simple PDF. Well here it is and it's free ! Foxit PDF Reader a free reader/viewer/printer for PDF documents. Unlike Adobe® Reader, this one has size less than 1M, needs no installation and opens up immediately. How cool is that ? Lets see, Free, Small footprint, fast...check. Grab it here

Reduce Memory (RAM) usage in Firefox and Thunderbird Easily

2006-04-15T11:32:00.000-06:00

Originally posted by Ryan at Cybernet: Now, this is by no means a REAL fix for the Firefox memory leak, but it certainly does appear to help it quite a bit. This little fix will move Firefox to your hard drive when you minimize it, and as a result it will take up less than 10MB of memory while minimized. So far, from my experiences with using this today, when you maximize Firefox it will obviously increase the memory usage. However, it does not seem to go back up to the insane amount that it was at before minimizing it. For example, Firefox was at 180MB of memory usage and then I minimized it and after a few seconds I maximized it. After maximizing it and continuing on my routine business it appeared to only have gone up to 60MB. This seems to be a good solution for me right now since I frequently maximize and minimize Firefox anyways. Now I know many people will say that Firefox will take longer to maximize since it will be located on the hard drive, but I haven’t noticed ANY delays. It is able to redraw itself just as quickly as if it was located in the ram (in my experience). Okay, now here are the few simple steps: Open Firefox and go to the Address Bar. Type in about:config and then press Enter. Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean. In the box that pops up enter config.trim_on_minimize. Press Enter. Now select True and then press Enter. Restart Firefox. See how quick and painless that was? At any rate you can always go back and delete the same setting that you just created if you start to experience any issues. I have also set the browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers value to 0 because that will prevent Firefox from caching pages for the back button. This is also supposed to free up some memory that gets stolen. Update: Martin has informed me that this fix also works for Thunderbird. I am not a Thunderbird user so I didn’t realize this. After thinking about it I realized it “should” also work for Netscape, Mozilla, and SeaMonkey. Also, this fix is only for Windows machines (sorry Mac users).

New Phishing Hook Found in Internet Explorer

2006-04-13T22:44:00.000-06:00

Well it seems just as soon as Microsoft fixes one hole another one pops up in Internet Explorer: A bug in Internet Explorer has been publicly disclosed that allows a phishing site to display a different URL in the address bar than that of the actual site displayed. The bug affects fully-patched Internet Explorer 6.0 systems.
According to Secunia the vulnerability is due to a flaw in the handling of Macromedia Flash .swf files in IE windows.
Secunia has a test that you can use to see if your browser is vulnerable.
Currently no patches have been announced or planned for the upcoming Microsoft patch day this week.
This is another really scary one folks. Ditch IE now ! I DID !

Network Neutrality Roundup AT&T and AOL Caught Cheating

2006-04-13T20:19:00.000-06:00

Center For American Progress - Telecommunications companies like Verizon and AT&T want to build high-speed networks to provide video and Internet services in competition with cable companies. Will these networks be broadly available and foster technological innovation? Or will they simply benefit certain moneyed interests? The answer -- and, ultimately, the future of the Internet -- depends on the telecommunications bill currently winding its way through Congress. Consumer advocates and progressives like Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) are pushing for the telecom networks, which will be built using public rights-of-way, to provide universal, non-discriminatory access. The telecommunications companies (along with the cable giants) want to reserve the right to give preferential access to whomever has the most cash. Thus far, unfortunately, the industry is winning. Read the rest here.
By the way, did you know that the US was 12th in broadband penetration?
Update: From the New York Times' blog, Dealbook:
In an effort to solve the “network neutrality” problem in their own favor, big Internet and media companies could decide to join forces to bid for radio spectrum, according to a report in Investor’s Business Daily.
Preston Galla fleshes the idea out more here, via Sanford,
AOL Censors Emails:
CNET News.com - AOL on Thursday apparently began blocking subscribers from sending or receiving e-mail containing the Web address of a petition against the company's upcoming certified-mail program.
The Internet service provider, which has roughly 20 million subscribers in the United States, began bouncing e-mail communications with the URL "Dearaol.com" sometime early Thursday, according to the progressive nonprofit Moveon.org.
Dearaol.com is a coalition of companies and individuals against AOL's adoption of GoodMail's CertifiedEmail, an antispam program that requires marketers to pay to ensure delivery of their e-mail messages and circumvent spam filters. The Web site contains an open letter and a petition that calls on people to protest what it calls an "e-mail tax" that would inhibit the Internet's inherent free flow of information and create a two-tiered system.
Lobbying Prowess Earns AT&T Millions:
This article, written by Sanford Nowlin, documents the massive amounts of money AT&T poured into the Texas state capital, under the guise of free-market competition, so that it could raise local telephone rates. (It also wants to create an internet environment where VOIP isn't nearly as cost effective as it already is, proving, like all emerging monopolies that it doesn't like competition.
The downside is that AT&T won it's fight and is already raising local rates:
In March, the company said that 1.4 million Texans' monthly phone bills could rise an average of $2 as a result of the bill's price deregulation. The company is boosting basic rates in many markets for the first time in 22 years to nudge more customers into buying a package of services.
By its own count, AT&T stands to collect some $2.8 million a month in additional revenues.
Looks like Ma Bell got its money's worth from the lobbyists, after two months it will recoup all of its expenses. Sounds like a racket to me.

Better Search Options: Simply Google and Windows Live Academic

2006-04-12T12:02:00.000-06:00

Simply Google: In addition to the requisite Google search box, it also has search boxes for Images, Groups, Books, Blogs, and so on and so on, plus links to other Google sites like Analytics, Personalized Home, and Gmail, plus all of Google's blogs (and their feeds). Simply Google also has links for Google's various apps and its April Fools sites and, for, good measure, search boxes for Yahoo!, MSN, and a few others. No, this isn't the first meta-Google site, but for a site with a couple dozen search boxes, Simply Google does a nice job of keeping down the clutter.

Windows Live Academic: currently indexs content related to computer science, physics, electrical engineering, and related subject areas. Academic search enables you to search for peer reviewed journal articles contained in journal publisher portals and on the web in locations like citeseer.
Academic search works with libraries and institutions to search and provide access to subscription content for their members. Access restricted resources include subscription services or premium peer-reviewed journals. You may be able to access restricted content through your library or institution.

Europe Surpasses North America In Instant Messenger Users and...

2006-04-11T12:23:00.000-06:00

Some interesting research done by comScore Networks who released the results of an analysis of instant messenger (IM) usage in various parts of the world. According to the study, eighty-two million people, or 49 percent of the European online population, used IM applications to communicate online in February. In comparison, sixty-nine million people in North America, or only 37 percent of the online population, used IM during the same timeframe. Interestingly, the analysis showed that IM is most heavily used in the Latin American region, with 64 percent of the online population using IM in February. The MSN Messenger application has the strongest penetration worldwide, with 61 percent of worldwide IM users utilizing the application in February. MSN Messenger is also dominant in Latin America, reaching more than 90 percent of IM users, and in Europe and Asia Pacific, reaching more than 70 percent of IM users in each region. North America is the most competitive IM market, with MSN Messenger, AOL/Aim and Yahoo! Messenger each garnering between 27 percent and 37 percent of IM users in February. Additional IM programs are gaining ground, especially outside of North America. Skype is now used by 14 percent of IM users worldwide, although this application is used by only 3 percent of the online population in North America. Skype appears most popular in Asia Pacific, reaching 26 percent of the region’s IM user population. More here in their press release

Net Neutrality Posts Today

2006-04-05T15:30:00.000-06:00

...but not limited to having been posted today. Sanford at the San Antonio Express-News AT&T blog notes Rep. Markey's guest post, saying, "Markey lays out an easy-to-understand case for his side, and spells out why people should pay attention."Dana Blankenhorn asks an essential question, "The question is not who controls the architecture, it's who controls your consumer experience? Is it you or the network operator?" And Justice Talking had an excellent sympopsium last night on their NPR show. Everyone should listen to this show, which is replete with outrageous comments and cogent arguments from both sides; evidence that we need to find a bi-partisan solution to this issue. I'd prefer a way to hammer out issues honestly and fairly instead of more partisanship, and attempts to not ram bills through committee, like Joe "Boss Hogg" Barton, a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. Our opposition to Barton isn't that he's Republican; it's that he's a telco partisan and not a public servant. Update: Paul Kapustka reports that Senators Snowe (R) and Dorgan (D) will introduce a net-neutrality bill in the very near future, which will, as Paul quotes, "amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure net neutrality." Clearly excellent news for the pursuit of a bi-partisan solution to this issue.

UPDATE: Network Neutrality Amendment Defeated

Previous weeks posts here.

The Ultimate Unattended Windows Installation

2006-04-04T16:14:00.000-06:00

I’ve been making ‘slipstream’ Cds for over two years. They save time and money regardless of whether it is sanctioned by Microsoft or not. I know my clients may not care about this story, but for the working geeks out there, I present this: Some poor souls have decided to try to amalgamate the latest version of every known software driver onto one CD for the purposes of creating an unattended Windows XP setup disk that would work on literally any PC. And it looks like they’re making extremely good headway on this project! So far there are 8 driver packs that make up the entire project, supporting: Chipset, CPU, Graphics, LAN, MassStorage, Sound, and WLAN. The final file, Driverpacks BASE contains all the required documentation and batch files to slipstream the drivers onto a Windows XP setup CD, and even includes an UpdateChecker to ensure everything is as up-to-date as it can be. Hats off to uAwiki.org and DriverPacks.net for making my life easier.

I give up on Microsoft Internet 'Exploder' as of Today !

2006-04-04T15:53:00.000-06:00

I posted earlier about how bad this is and now this: WaPo - Security Fix - It is easy to write about the latest security flaw in Microsoft's Windows operating system as if it were some abstract threat that hackers may or may not get around to exploiting at some point. But when you have evidence that a single phishing group is using the vulnerability to steal online banking and e-commerce credentials from thousands of victims each day, the threat suddenly becomes a great deal more personal and real. Read the rest at the link. Are you one of the statistics? This is how Microsoft's ‘monopoly’ affects you, the consumer. Do yourself a favor and get Firefox or Opera. Perhaps soon, Linux will be more user friendly than Windows. Until then, keep paying attention to the security threats because Microsoft doesn't (unless you count these lame security advisories): Microsoft Security Advisory Notification Issued: April 3, 2006 Security Advisories Updated or Released Today * Microsoft Security Advisory (917077) - Title: Vulnerability in the way HTML Objects Handle Unexpected Method Calls Could Allow Remote Code Execution - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/917077.mspx - Revision Note: Advisory updated to clarify that the Compatibility Patch will be replaced in the June update cycle. * Microsoft Security Advisory (912945) - Title: Non-Security Update for Internet Explorer - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/912945.mspx - Revision Note: Advisory updated to clarify that the Compatibility Patch will be replaced in the June update cycle. JUNE ?!

Search for ALL files in XP, regardless of extension

2006-04-03T19:29:00.000-06:00

Windows XP has a stupendously aggravating behavior when first installed when it comes to searching files. For some reason, out of the box Windows XP only searches files that match a certain set of file extensions. While for many people that set is enough, it can drive you crazy to do a search for a file that you know exists based on the contents in the file, and get no results. If you've ever been bit by this shortcoming in Windows, there is a way to turn off the filtering "feature" using the Windows GUI. But, there is an easier way, download this .reg file from Chris Sells, a very well-known Windows developer has dozens of useful stuff on his site. run The reg file on your system and voila - file searching works as you would expect it would.

Skype News Roundup

2006-04-03T19:19:00.000-06:00

Skype as a Call Center ? VOIP Phones: Retro and Cell Phone Styles Phil Wolff in Maryland for Freedom to Connect: Actionable items. For example, furnishing every VoIP user with a "Call to Civic Action" button that pops up their elected representatives' phone numbers. Getting staffers on the Hill to use Skype. Writing platform statements that Republicans and Democrats can include in state platforms, to which we can hold congressional candidates accountable, which we can feed to the press as newsworthy questions. Acta non verba! And Lastly, my favorite: WISPA.IT (go Italy): You know the fancy system you get with your cellphone that provides access to your voice mail. Now imagine you could dial your own Skype Assistant and retrieve all your chat messages, voice mails, and emails too. Then add in the capability to direct / forward your calls to others when you aren't there. Plus you would like to access Skype's low rates from your cell. For some this could be pretty cool. Wispa enables you to access your Skype account (you must have SkypeIn!) from any phone. Simply call up your Skype account and start interacting with the voice attendant and DTMF tones. The voice is one of those MS voices so it isn't the sexiest choice in the world. Still it is intelligible and you have a few voices to choose from. Video Interview and Demo info here (very cool stuff). EQO lets you extend Skype onto your mobile phone, complete with buddy lists, incoming and outgoing IM chat etc – all done via their clever servers. It’s global, free at the moment for basic services and it works brilliantly. You need a permanently running Skype server at home to act as the hub, but any old computer will do as long as there’s a permanent Internet connection. I haven’t tried Hotxt yet, but it’s the same kind of principle, move communication onto the data channel to lower the rates. So you pay £1.00 a week for all the txt messages you can eat, plus around 1p a message for the data charge on GPRS. That’s a bunch cheaper than the 12p the networks charge, even bearing in mind that you pay for incoming and outgoing messages. Each text is 2.5 times bigger than the measly 165 characters of standard SMS, and it all works instantly. UK only at the moment, but I’ll see if I can get a trial account here and report back. Previous: I recently posted about Skype being sued. Well, now it's getting really weird; A SkypeTech Millitary Net?

2006-04-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

This should help out a lot of folks out there. Beta P2P application with a cool twist. It’s easy to use. Now thats novel, eh ? You don’t need to install anything. Just put a file on your site as you normally do, but add “http://www.dijjer.org/get/” to the beginning of your links: normal link: “http://mysite.com/video.mov” dijjer link:”http://dijjer.org/get/http://mysite.com/video.mov” When they click a Dijjer link, users will get some of the file from your website, but most of it will come from other people running Dijjer. That’s how you save bandwidth. And when someone clicks on the link who hasn’t used Dijjer before, they’ll get help installing it.

ePaper getting closer to reality

2006-04-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

I, for one, am glad that someone besides Sony is coming out with an affordable eReader. Looks like it mutiple format friendly too ! You can find out more here. Or, check out the PDF 04/05 CNET has done a nice article on eReading

What We Can Do With Our Technology Very Soon

2006-03-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

I’m going to step away from the day-to-day for a moment. This may or may not fit into the P2P Foundation meme but it is certainly part of the discussion. But for now, let’s dream;
It will be a world where what you see and hear is what you choose to see and hear. It is a world where the anomie of modern life will give way to a mesh of relationships based on common interests and real values. It will be a world where who you are, isn’t based on your credentials, isn’t based on your money, but is based on who you know and what you have done.
Ian Welsh calls it The Flash Society – a world where help is a word away, where tribes and guilds enmesh their members in a web of friendship, obligation, duty and protection. The technology is almost here, and the social norms are already changing as in the recent formations of Social Networking sites like myspace.
Imagine then that everything is transmitting. You are transmitting your location and whatever other information you choose to transmit. Every shop, every house, every road, every car, every item in every store – indeed everything manufactured or tagged, is tagged with information.
You wear a PDA on your wrist with a full screen, or for the truly daring a pair of visors. That PDA or visor is set both to transmit and to receive – and more importantly than receiving to screen. For in a world where every store is transmitting its location, what it sells, and its specials; in a world where all the roads are transmitting their current traffic load; in a world where those in your tribe are letting you know if they are busy, available, or inviting you to join them for a party, movie, coffee or conversation – in such a world, as with the internet today, the problem is getting the information you want.
So as you walk, shopping, you set your PDA to tell you what stores are selling shoes, to show their location relative to you, and to show any specials on high-top sneakers. If you are a fireman, your PDA is automatically downloading the fire code history, floor map and water main locations of buildings and with a simple command they come up for you. Because that information is encrypted only people like yourself, police and building inspectors can see it, your ‘Guild’.
Information is presented the same way it often is today in computer games – in iconic form or as simplified colors. Choose to see all the restaurants in a few blocks and each one might come up as a symbol – the brighter it is the closer it is, the more green it is on a spectrum of red to green the more expensive it is, and the symbol itself varies by the type of food – perhaps a roman arch for Italian food, golden arches for fast food, and a fortune cookie for Chinese.
In such a world, the world you see is the world you need to see at any given time. Those who need directions see both a mini-map and a line running in the direction they need to go. Those who are heading to Customs see a list of the documents they need, those who want food or to find a lawyer see that. And a policeman sees those who have called for help – but they don’t see him on their display unless he chooses to let them.
This expands deeply into the work world. Imagine doing inventory in such a world – you look at each section in order and your PDA does the counting for you. Indeed, depending on transmitter power you might be able to take inventory without ever leaving your office. And fraud, in such a world, is mislabeling or unlabelling items – as people will tend to assume the virtual world and the real world are the same thing.
All of this will probably eventually be controlled both verbally and kinesthetically. A pair of gloves with multiple sensors, or for those who choose, full sets of clothes are used to give instructions through intricate bodily motions. In the same way that typing is learned, people will learn to control their data devices without even thinking about it, switching fluidly from view to view; changing the information they are transmitting with a quick and nearly unconscious movement of their hands, their bodies, An ‘information data dance’; and creating new functions the same way we string words together by the rules of grammar to create sentences we’ve never said before and may never say again, yet which seem to us as nothing special.. The motion of pupils will also be tracked, and matched against the gestures of hands to select items visible only in a person’s visor or PDA.
Socially this world will be one where who you know has much less to do with the physical than it does today.
This has already begun with many Millenials, the "anti-consumers". Their lives right now are either played out in MMRPGs or in Live role-playing games. Many claim they have more friends on-line than IRL (in real life). Yes, it's about who they know, and how they connect with those people. Sure, a lot of kids their age are still consumerist, but - there is change coming, and you see it in these kids, both in my daughter’s age group and younger. The millenial generation believes in social capital in a way that I have not seen in a generation since the depression babies. In the case of the depression babies, it was all they had. In the case of the millenials, it is because the tools to make communities are now much more powerful, and have much more leverage.
They certainly believe in it far more than my generation did - which formed sub-cultures and cults by the bucket (Goth, Punk, Valley Girls), but somehow did not find the community it was looking for. Instead, the alienating forces of broadcast were abundant, and either people built pyramids, or they became, like me, lone grey wolves, carrying with them a one person sense of their role in a world. already having networks of virtual friends spread in a far net geographically. Nor can these friends be dismissed as not “real” friends, they are often truer friends than those who are friends by accident of geography, spending their time and money to help people they know mainly online. Indeed I am, personally, closing in on the point where more of my friends and business associates are people I originally met virtually than ones I met physically. And these are real relationships as measured by both money and time – thousands of dollars and thousands of hours have been spent on them, and earned by them.
My guess is that the most important of these will form out of groups centering around mutual interests and hobbies and form into long enduring networks of reciprocal\symbiotic friendships which will turn into societies with formal dues and duties. They have been called Flash tribes in the past, for the way they will be able to protect their members by quickly dispatching help to their aid and indeed I expect the first forms to be mutual aid societies, where social norms and the sharing of personal dreams that comes so easily in the virtual world leads to strong expectations that members will be there for other members who need help. It is this beginning which made me call them militias or tribes – because they will be tied together at first mainly by custom.
When traveling you will reach out to see who in your tribe lives in the area and can act as a guide, or a host. When doing research you will see who is an expert in your tribe. When doing business you will tend to use members of your tribe first, because you will know that strong social approbation will fall on those who fail to live up to their duties to a tribe member.
Oddly this world, if it turns out as it should and is not locked down by the interests of the modern world into a pattern more suitable to the current day, will also give individuals a great deal more functional freedom. Today the truth is that most people are effectively wage slaves. People work so they can do things after work, not live to work. They are dependent – their food, their energy, their clothes – everything they have, everything they need is completely disassociated from their own efforts, and fewer and fewer are able to independently generate the exchange needed to pay for those items without entering to a situation where most of the value of their work is appropriated by others.
In the new world, a world of micro-local production, or micro-local energy production where every building both consumes and produces energy; a world where design and manufacturing is simplified so that it moves into the reach of small groups of people or households, will allow many more people to actually offer the world whatever it is that they can make and produce. And in a world where the world is your customer – the odds of finding the people who want what you produce increases substantially, since if there are only a few thousand in the entire world that will be enough, while in the past unless those people happened to live near where you lived the market effectively did not exist. The younger bloggers I read are all into making things, and I'm part of an active, thriving, on-line art community. We have close to 1000 people in a local online group, creating new things every day. Kids are enthralled by Make magazine, Ready Made, anything to do with being creative and innovative and making stuff for yourself.
So, What I have described is half prediction – half plan. Some of it will happen due to the simple nature of technological change. Other parts can happen or not, the potential is there, but it is not necessary that it turn out that way. There is always a lot of money to be made in monopoly and oligopoly situations and there are always people who will seek to create the bottlenecks, government grants and gates necessary to allow them to take a toll from everyone who wants certain goods or services. The job market's like Office Space without the office, just a choice of flair and, a solution that's getting pushed hard with retail's new big slogan, "express yourself! with our stuff!". What some might call creativity and innovation others might see as living in a fantasy world, however self-sufficient, almost as bad as George W.'s. Whether it's in fullblown LARPing or Bacardi and Axe commericals.
One battle of this generation will be to ensure that those who want to make the future profitable to a few – to the winners of the last fight – are not successful. If they are, a lot of freedom and a lot of prosperity will have to wait, or will be realized elsewhere, by those who cannot afford to allow the past to strangle the future.

Skype Faces $4.1 Billion Lawsuit From Former P2P Rival

2006-03-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

Internet phone service provider Skype Technologies said it plans to defend itself against explosive allegations that its technology is actually owned by another company, Streamcast Networks.
Skype, owned by eBay, of San Jose, Calif., has been accused of creating a secret shell firm in order to steal away some peer-to-peer technology developed by Streamcast, then use it to build the Skype service, according to a lawsuit Streamcast filed in January in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
The complaint seeks $4.1 billion in damages, and demands that Skype stop using the Streamcast features. Streamcast's complaint was first reported upon the week of March 27 by Andy Abramson of the Web site VoIP Watch.
The defendants are Skype and its co-founders. eBay is not named in the suit.

Microsoft Office 2007 Beta News and Video

2006-03-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

I’ve been playing with this beta for a week now. You may have seen a few screenshots of the new "ribbon" interface that will replace the menubar and toolbars in Microsoft Office 2007. It doesn't seem so mysterious to me, but then I'm not really Office's average use case. If you want a better idea of what using Office's new interface is really like, I recommend this streaming preview video (direct link to WMV stream) that Microsoft has put together. It's a 13-minute marketing piece so be prepared for some awkward scripted dialogue from Real Microsoft Employees (Dear Product Manager Julie Larson-Green: The camera is over here. Please look at it.), and unless you're a corporate executive you'll probably get the gist of it in the first five minutes. Personally I'm excited about the new interface, but then I’m not a power user and am used to picking up new interfaces at the drop of a hat. For the average cube-dweller, I'm not yet convinced that it wouldn't cost companies a bundle in time spent relearning. PC World's Techlog has an interesting piece about Microsoft's impending elimination of the menubar in its products as well.

Bad Day For Net Neutrality

2006-03-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

In a modest victory for broadband providers, a highly anticipated bill in the U.S. Congress does not include specific rules saying that some Internet sites must not be favored over others.

I know this is the fiftieth time I've posted on this but net-neutrality is a big freaking deal and it effects us as much, if not more than HR 1606. We all need to educate ourselves on it and follow it and lobby on it, especially with Google slanting rightward. Major bloggers are letting this one slip by. And this is an issue that binds the Left and the Right! Educate yourselves. Contact your representatives.
I'm imploring you. We're going to get hosed if the broadband providers are allowed to charge tolls and create a two lane internet.
Here are some useful links:
Net Neutrality for the non-technical
Net Neutrality is Bad for You (an alternate viewpoint)
Worse Case scenario
Update: From a friends email, this is the kind of garbage we're up against.

US Gov't to launch investigation into Lenovo "spy" PCs

2006-03-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

As you may recall, way back over a year ago when Lenovo announced its intentions to buy IBM, congress stepped in to call for an investigation to make sure the Commies Chinese megacorp wasn't going to be getting access to anything sensitive or secret in IBM's labs or R&D facilities. Well, obviously everything passed over kosher, but now the US State Department's placing an order for 15,000 Lenovo PCs, and the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission wants a thorough look through the machines to ensure they're not rigged with bugs and spyware. Outside dismantling every single PC and freshly installing the OS themselves, we're not sure how they would guarantee they'd be clean, which just goes to show you've really got to trust your PC manufacturer, especially if you're the government. In all reality they're probably more likely to find a Sony backdoor than a Lenovo one, anyway.[Via BoingBoing]

Microsoft Responds (but does not fix) Recent exploits regarding the Internet Explorer HTML handling vulnerability

2006-03-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

03/28/2006 Update: This is just getting Worse The vulnerability in Internet Explorer that we reported on Friday is quickly being taken advantage of, says the Washington Post's Brian Krebs, and more than 200 web sites have been altered by hackers to include malicious code to exploit it. Sites being seeded with infectous code include small business sites that most users would never suspect of harboring malicious software. When an Internet Explorer user visits such a site, all kinds of malware may be silently installed on their computers, including programs which steal passwords and credit card numbers. Microsoft has yet to release a patch and likely won't for another two weeks when Patch Tuesday rolls around. They're still advising users to disable Active Scripting, but Krebs is recommending much more direct action that I echo: drop Internet Explorer and install Firefox or Opera. For those of you STILL using Microsoft's Internet Explorer you'll be wanting to take a look at Brian Krebs' latest update on the most recent flaws in the software and links to the new unofficial patches. The patches are free, but again, unofficial. They are designed to repair flaws that hackers can access to steal passwords. I’m starting to use Internet Explorer less…and…less. Saturday the Microsoft Security Response Center became aware of public reports of attacks on some PC users utilizing the vulnerability that Lennart posted about in Internet Explorer. Here's what we know. The attacks are limited in scope for now and are being carried out by malicious Web sites exploiting a vulnerability in the method by which Internet Explorer handles HTML rendering. To be clear, and as our advisory states, the vulnerability affects currently supported versions of Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. So. What are the IE team and the MSRC doing right now? Well, first off we're working day and night on development of a cumulative security update for Internet Explorer that addresses the vulnerability. As we've been told many times, the focus should be on quality, but with a clear eye towards time. The security update is currently being finalized through testing to ensure the level of interoperability and application and web compatibility needed. Right now, the update is on schedule testing wise to be released (meeting the quality goals customers have asked for) as part of the April security updates on April 11, 2006. But as I said, we're actively keeping an eye on any attempts to utilize this in an attack. We'll release it sooner if warranted. Right now we're monitoring the attempts to exploit this vulnerability and we're working with our industry partners and law enforcement to remove the malicious Web sites using the vulnerability as they pop up. That's a key point because it's important that we work to limit the ability of attackers to utilize this vulnerability in criminal attacks. I want to caution everyone that they should take care not to visit unfamiliar or untrusted Web sites that could potentially host the malicious code. If you are concerned about exploitation of the vulnerability by websites you frequently visit though, you should follow the guidance on safe browsing at: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/online/browsing_safety.mspx. Enterprise customers should review our recent Security Advisory (917077) for up-to-date guidance on how to prevent attacks through exploitation of this vulnerability while we work on the update. One other thing to note. Everyone should know that the security update addressing this vulnerability is a cumulative update that contains all previous security updates for Internet Explorer, new security updates for issues unrelated to the current attacks, as well as minor non-security related changes to how Internet Explorer handles some Web pages that use ActiveX controls. For more information on these changes, you should check out security advisory 912945. The MSRC and your Internet Explorer team is working on this issue day and night. This is an ongoing issue and we will post more guidance as it becomes available.

Internet Explorer in More Trouble After Public Release of Exploit

2006-03-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

I reported about this vulnerability last week.
Here is the latest and it does not look good for IE:
WaPo - Security Fix - Security experts are warning that at least one set of instructions showing bad guys how to exploit an unpatched security hole in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser have been posted online, and that malicious Web sites are likely to begin using the blueprints to install spyware and other unwanted junk on visitors' Windows computers.

Internet main news source for many broadband users

2006-03-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

According to a new report released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, "By the end of 2005, 50 million Americans got news online on a typical day, a sizable increase since 2002." Read the full report for yourself here.
I want to read the report thoroughly and report back but here are some quick initial thoughts:- Among all respondants, 23% used Internet as a primary news source. That number differentiated to 26% of respondants who used dial-up, and 43% of respondants who used broadband.

Samsung unveils 32GB Flash-based 'HDD killer'

2006-03-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Samsung has launched what it reckons its the world's first 32GB NAND Flash-based hard disk drive replacement unit. The company claimed the so-called "solid state disk" can access data three times faster than an HDD can and write files one-and-a-half times more quickly - though we don't know what HDD spec it was comparing its product to. The SSD is a 2.5in form-factor product that operates at 5V and connects across a 66MHz Ultra DMA parallel ATA bus. Samsung said the unit consumes just five per cent of the energy it takes to run a hard drive. Samsung launched the product in Taiwan, the better to attract the islands' numerous notebook manufacturers, who produce almost all of the world's mobile computers. Samsung is particularly keen to get its drive into laptops, which it believes will benefit most from the SSD's lower power consumption. As the world's largest manufacturer of NAND Flash, Samsung wants to broaden the memory technology's appeal beyond MP3 players and memory cards. It has been working with Microsoft on the idea, and Windows Vista will support the use of NAND Flash caches to speed boot times. Intel recently unveiled 'Robson', an add-in card that uses a NAND Flash bank to cache operating system components to reduce start-up times and help cut battery consumption. Samsung's SSD is seen more as an alternative to an HDD than something that operates alongside one, it seems. Samsung believes the SSD market will be worth $4.5bn by 2010, up from $540m this year. ® More and related here

Apple Makes the Fastest Windows XP Machines

2006-03-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

What a shocker. Gearlog analysts took Windows XP and loaded it onto each of the three Intel-based Mac systems in their labs. That alone is a massive accomplishment, but the real kicker--the Apple systems blew away the competition in the benchmark tests. That's right. Apple makes the fastest Windows PCs, at least by some measures. Check out the story for the benchmark results and more here.

New LARGE Vulnerability found in Microsoft Internet Explorer

2006-03-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

03/23/2006 UPDATE Microsoft plans to release a pre-patch advisory with workarounds for a "highly critical" vulnerability that could put millions of Internet Explorer users at the mercy of malicious hackers. The advisory, which will be posted here, acknowledges a code execution hole that was discovered and publicly reported by Secunia Research of Copenhagen, Denmark. Secunia said in an alert that the vulnerability is due to an error in the processing of the "createTextRange()" method call applied on a radio button control. "This can be exploited by a malicious Web site to corrupt memory in a way that allows the program flow to be redirected to the heap," Secunia said in the alert, warning that successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code whenever the target visits the rigged Web site. The vulnerability was confirmed on a fully patched system with IE 6.0 and Microsoft Windows XP SP2. It has also been confirmed in IE 7 Beta 2 Preview, Secunia said. ...Firefox\Mozilla looking better all the time... From Jeffrey van der Stad's Blog: Last week I found a (to my knowledge) new vulnerability in the Internet Explorer 6.0 browser. With this vulnerability it is possible to run an hta-file without the users permission. The issue lies somewhere in... (Removed on Microsoft's request). I developed a working Proof of Concept and I notified Microsoft NL today. Today he writes: I suggested to visit Microsoft in Amsterdam to show them the PoC, but the Microsoft team was able to reproduce the exploit with a few suggestions.. So no trip for me.. :( Here's what Debby wrote: "We've actually been able to repro this in house, so unfortunatley, it looks like you don't need to go to Amsterdam after all. :( We have been trying to get this fix into the next IE release, but it's been a lot of work to do that as it's relatively late in the cycle. It looks like it will make it in though." Full Story At Source...

Windows Live Messenger Beta goes public ( multilingual too)

2006-03-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

Net Neutrality information for the nontechnical

2006-03-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

A San Francisco talk show on public radio station KQED had a program on net neutrality yesterday that was very easy to understand. Example: UPS and Wal-Mart trucks carrying goods down the highway. UPS carrying other people's goods, Wal-Mart carrying their own. That's fine, Wal-Mart should be able to carry their own stuff. But what happens when Wal-Mart owns the road? Won't they try to get their products to market faster? Carve off lanes for their own trucks? Change the speed limit for themselves to create a competitive advantage that pays off the investment in the highway? Michael Krasny, Host: Dave McClure, president and CEO of the U.S. Internet Industry Association Eric Hernaez, CEO of Solegy, a company that provides voice over IP and other next generation services Glenn Woroch, professor of economics and executive director of the Center for Research on Telecommunications Policy at UC-Berkeley's Haas School of Business John Sumpter, vice president of Pac-West You can listen to it here

RFID DOA ? Already Vulnerable to Malware\Viruses.

2006-03-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

Pranksters and criminals can infect RFID chips with computer viruses, worms and malware to cause major disruption at places where the popular tracking technology is used, according to new research by a group of European scientists. In a proof-of-concept paper presented at the IEEE Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications March 15, researchers from the Free University in Amsterdam warned that the tainted radio-frequency identification microchips could corrupt RFID databases and cause major chaos at airports and supermarkets.
In the United States, RFID technology has been used to track pets, collect tolls on roadways and serve as a potential replacement for UPC (Universal Product Code) bar codes, but the impact on privacy has triggered protests in some quarters. But, privacy is just one hiccup, according to the ground-breaking research paper written by the university's Computer Systems Group. "[No] one expects an RFID tag to send a SQL injection attack or a buffer overflow. This paper is meant to serve as a warning that data from RFID tags can be used to exploit back-end software systems," the group said.
"RFID middleware writers must therefore build appropriate checks—bounds checking, special character filtering—to prevent RFID middleware from suffering all of the well-known vulnerabilities experienced by the Internet." The paper outlines several ways in which an existing middleware vulnerability could be exploited to launch malware code and simple viruses that can infect RFID tags and corrupt the database that connects to the tag reader.
"No one thought this possible until now," the group said, noting that it went public with the sample viruses to convince the people in charge of RFID systems that the threat is not merely theoretical.
"By making code for RFID 'malware' publicly available, we hope to convince them that the problem is serious and had better be dealt with, and fast. It is a lot better to lock the barn door while the prize race horse is still inside than to deal with the consequences of not doing so afterwards," the researchers said. In one scenario outlined in the paper, the group said the RFID-augmented labels used to expedite baggage handling can be targeted by a malicious traveler to cause chaos and panic in busy airports.
"Consider a malicious traveler who attaches a tiny RFID tag, pre-initialized with a virus, to a random person's suitcase before he checks it in. When the baggage-handling system's RFID reader scans the suitcase at a Y-junction in the conveyor-belt system to determine where to route it, the tag responds with the RFID virus, which could infect the airport's baggage database," the researchers explained.
"Then, all RFID tags produced as new passengers check in later in the day may also be infected. If any of these infected bags transit a hub, they will be rescanned there, thus infecting a different airport."
"Within a day, hundreds of airport databases all over the world could be infected," the team said, warning that an RFID virus could also carry a payload that damages the database and, for example, helps drug smugglers or terrorists hide their baggage from airline and government officials.

Quest Says They are 'Net' Nutral

2006-03-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

The concept of net neutrality has become an issue of increasing debate and concern in recent years as users seek guarantees they will have ready access to the global Internet unfettered by government censorship or by unreasonable service charges imposed by service providers driven by the profit motive.
This has raised calls for Congress to pass legislation that would protect net neutrality and for the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to enact and enforce policies that prevent services providers from blocking traffic or imposing new fees for Internet access.
Qwest Communications CEO Richard Notebaert on March 15 voiced his company's commitment to "net neutrality," saying his company would never block traffic or degrade network performance as a way to maintain competitive advantage.
But with the next breath Notebaert said that government regulation shouldn't prevent service providers from negotiating "commercial agreements" that allow them to deliver different types or grades of service at a specific price. The market should be allowed to determine how it will package and charge for network services, he said.
"My job has never been to degrade service or to give any customers less capability than they asked for and paid for," Notebaert said, speaking at the VON (Voice Over Network) Spring Conference here.
However, Notebaert's position raised questions in the audience about Qwest's commitment to net neutrality if these commercial agreements might tend to restrict the public access or raise the cost of accessing Internet services or content. Jeffrey Pulver, founder and chairman of Pulvermedia, the host of the Spring 2006 VON Conference, said Qwest's approach amounted to nothing less than "payola" for access to Internet content and services.
Paying for different Internet service levels would eventually cause the "Balkanization" of the Internet in which users would have limited access to different classes of content or quality of service based upon their ability or willingness to pay.
This would occur just as users are getting access to more sophisticated services, such as voice and video, he noted.
He said he didn't believe that Internet users would accept any business policy or service-level agreements that limit their access to Internet content.
Over the past year, VOIP Service provider Vonage Holdings and other VOIP service providers have complained that some high-speed Internet service providers were blocking its IP telephone traffic.

The Correct Image Format For The Correct Situation:

2006-03-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

Now you have no excuse not to use the correct image formats :

JPEG:

Good:

Photographs

Game screenshots

Movie stills

Desktop backgrounds

Bad:

Windows application screenshots

Line art and text

Anywhere where fine lines or sharp color contrast is needed

PNG:

Good:

Text, line art, comic-style drawings, general web graphics

Windows application screenshots

When absolutely 100% quality is required (24 bit)

When alpha channel support is required

As a general replacement for anything that is a non-animated GIF

Bad:

Photos, in-game screenshots (only when quality is not important and you're looking for small files)

Disappointing browser support from Microsoft and others

GIF:

Good:

Where animations are absolutely required

Widespread browser support

Bad:

Patented, legal techicalities

Large file sizes compared to PNG for the same quality

Obsolete

If you still aren't too sure on which to use when, check out the samples page. If you want to see more images or test your newfound knowledge, check out the samples page which contains a bunch more images.

The Internet as consumer surplus engine

2006-03-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

Martin Geddes has long described the Net as a “consumer suplus engine” to anyone who’ll listen. It takes previously bundled billable services like voice telephony, strips out the service from the connectivity components, and stops you being over-charged for the service because of lack of competition on the connectivity. Anyhow, here’s the verbatim quote from Paul Kedrosky, who has found an academic paper that puts the numbers to what’s obvious to everyone: Only about 0.2% of consumer spending in the U.S. … went for Internet access in 2004 yet time use data indicates that people spend around 10% of their entire leisure time going online… Based on expenditure and time use data and our elasticity estimate, we calculate that consumer surplus from the Internet may be around 2% of full-income, or several thousand dollars per user. Wow, that’s pretty awsome, isn’t it? You’re only paying for about 10% of the value you get from your Internet connection. That other 90% becomes a budget for other, exciting services and activities. Who knows, your non-telco job may be funded by the consumer suplus of the Net! Personally, I suspect that this report will under-estimate the real value, because it only considers monetised value, and users as consumers of content and service. How can you put a price on the value of open, democratic discussion, for instance? Here's a thought: - In physical transport (atoms), we found that there was a complex business called “logistics” which is where the profit is; “trucking” is just a small function of logistics. With data networks (bits), it’s the exact opposite; there once was a complex “bit management” industry called telecom. This is slowly, painfully fading away. It’ll get replaced by a simpler industry that just teleports bits over geographic distance. We don’t have a name for it yet. - Telecom is just another utility delivering stuff through pipes. In fact, it’s just like a water utility — except you don’t have the glamour of sewage disposal.

Ray Ozzie Speaks on RSS XML and His New Flavor: SSE (Simple Sharing Extensions)

2006-03-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

http://spaces.msn.com/rayozzie/Blog/cns!FB3017FBB9B2E142!285.entry | Comments
For years, many companies including Microsoft have invested significantly in the open, interoperable use of XML and Web Services toward enabling programmatic interconnection between processes, services and sites across the internet. And that investment is bearing fruit as professional developers serving enterprises use powerful tools such as the .NET family of products toward decidedly embracing SOA. The shift from monolithic toward composite applications has progressively become a reality in the enterprise, as we turn data center-based systems into a programmatic “mesh”.

But in the wild world of the web, composite applications have taken a notably different path – the most popular form these days being the mashup. Although arguably far less powerful than going the WS route, mashups demonstrate how quickly a “mesh” can form when the process of wiring together components is made easy for the “scripting-level” developers. These higher-level developers and integrators are critical to the development ecosystem: they exist in far greater numbers than formally trained programming professionals, and more often than not they possess key domain expertise – rapidly bridging technological capabilities into real world, valuable solutions.

Clearly as the flexibility and potential of “mashing up” and recombining application components gets closer to someone who understands the user’s needs, the value to that user increases.

And this is where my head has been at the past several months. I’ve been wondering, “what would it take to enable users themselves to wire-the-web”?

If you happened to read my post about Simple Sharing Extensions last fall, you’re already likely aware of my optimism about the potential of using RSS as a DNA of sorts to enable “mesh” information sharing scenarios at a grassroots level on the internet. I believe RSS has the potential to be the “UNIX pipe of the internet”, and that one of the simplest and most pervasive “mesh” needs that many of us have is to provide connections for things such as contacts, calendar entries, messages, files and the like.

About a month ago, while putting together a presentation that included the obligatory March Of History related to the emergence and significance of the GUI, I was struck with a fairly stark realization.

In the PC world, whose pre-GUI history was experienced through various flavors of MS-DOS, one of the greatest user benefits first delivered pervasively by the GUI was the radical concept of running multiple applications simultaneously and, more importantly, using them concurrently and inter-operably. Through rigorous style guidelines and standard controls made available to application developers, suddenly users had the power to interact in ways that bridged divergent applications.

And what was the most fundamental technology enabling “mash-ups” of desktop applications?

The clipboard. And a set of common clipboard data formats.

Before the clipboard, individual applications (such as Lotus 1-2-3 with its Copy and Move operations) enabled intra-application data transfer – in a world largely designed around a single running application. But the advent of the multi-application user environment, combined with the simplicity of the Select/Cut/Copy/Paste/Clear model, suddenly empowered the user in ways they hadn’t previously experienced.

In its simplest form, the clipboard enabled the user to simply grasp the concept of moving a copy of the information from one application to another (i.e. by value).

In its most advanced form, the clipboard enabled users to set up “publish and subscribe” relationships among applications – dynamically interconnecting a “publisher” with a “subscriber” (i.e. by reference). You can see an early such PC application mashup in one of my old posts.

So … I started to think:

The world of the Web today is enabled by the power of a simple user model – Address/Go or Link, Back, Forward, Home. And certain “in-page” models have emerged from the ether: clicking the logo in the upper-left is Home, search in the upper-right, Legal/Corporate/Privacy/etc at the bottom. How we interact with shopping carts is now fairly standard.

But each site is still in many ways like a standalone application. Data inside of one site is contained within a silo. Sure, we can cut and paste text string fragments from here to there, but the excitement on the web these days is all about “structured data” such as Contacts and Profiles, Events and Calendars, and Shopping Carts and Receipts, etc. And in most cases, the structured form of this data, which could be externalized as an XML item or a microformat, generally isn’t. It’s trapped inside the page, relegated to a pretty rendering.

So, where’s the clipboard of the web?

Where’s the user model that would enable a user to copy and paste structured information from one website to another?

Where’s the user model that would enable a user to copy and paste structured information from a website to an application running on a PC or other kind of device, or vice-versa?

And finally, where’s the user model that would enable a user to “wire the web”, by enabling publish-and-subscribe scenarios web-to-web, or web-to-PC?

Just think about that last scenario. It’s a mess today. Let’s look at the most adopted form of wiring-the-web today: RSS feeds for blogs.

There are three classes of generally available weblog feed readers:
1. PC-based aggregators such as NewsGator or NetNewsWire
2. Web-based aggregators such as Bloglines or live.com
3. Browser-based aggregators such as Internet Explorer or Firefox

Many blog sites are prepared to publish content through feeds. But how do they suggest to the user that they establish a subscription within their preferred blog aggregator?

In the case of #3 above, browser designers have (thankfully) agreed upon a simple technique wherein a special icon “lights up” when a page contains feeds to which you can subscribe. This icon is: (image placeholder)

However, in the case of #1 and #2 above, we’re in a world of hurt.

Some PC-based aggregators use custom registered URL schemes such as “scheme://feed-path”; others use techniques such as http://localhost/feed-path. Web-based aggregators pass the feed-path in the url, e.g. http://subscriber-site/subscriber?feed-path. The user experience for subscription is a mess.

And what of the promise beyond weblogs for feed-based publish and subscribe? Today’s user experience is certainly constraining what might be.

After thinking about this for a while … I had an idea .

The idea was based on using a simple and consistent user model to wire-the-web that would assist individuals in creating their own mesh of interconnections - both web-to-web and web-to-PC.

Simply stated, I’d like to extend the clipboard user model to the web.

A few weeks ago, I approached my brother Jack – who leads a Concept Development team in my group at Microsoft – and visually sketched out and storyboarded some end-to-end user scenarios that I wanted to try to accomplish. The scenarios were all centered on this new clipboard user model.

The team took me up on the challenge, and in a few short weeks had accomplished all of the scenarios, and more. And they did it using techniques that are incredibly simple, and which work securely and are browser independent.

Today at O’Reilly’s Emerging Technology Conference, I’m sharing this new concept – through a brief demo and through hallway discussion.

I call this new concept Live Clipboard, because we view “live” efforts as those providing users with seamless end-to-end scenarios that “just work” by weaving together the best of software and the best of services.

The Concept Development team has created a screencast of a Live Clipboard demo, and a simple web page-based demo that you can play with. Hopefully this will convey more vividly some of what I’ve attempted to explain above.

There are quite a few key influencers attending ETech, and it’s my aspiration that many of them, and many of you, will embrace this nascent technique, and “make it real” by working with us. The goal is to create a standard that works across many different scenarios, many different types of websites, and many different PC-based applications. In the same vein as Simple Sharing Extensions, we’re releasing our work under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.

For our part, a number of individuals from MSN and Windows Live will now be actively participating in the refinement of Live Clipboard toward ultimately implementing it on sites such as live.com. Those who’ve seen it are quite excited about bringing this value to users.

I'd like you to help evolve LiveClipboard from an idea to reality - please join the discussion at: LIVE-CLIP@DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM

Enjoy, and please share.
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Vyatta to Challange Cisco IOS and other Router Operating Systems

2006-03-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

By Phil Hochmuth Linux and open source pros who have followed the developments of the eXtensible Open Router Platform (XORP) should get to know a bit of Sanskrit - the word Vyatta, in particular. Vyatta, which means "openness" in the ancient language, is also the name of a start-up that is promoting a commercial version of the XORP software. Created by Internet researchers, XORP was developed to test out new code for routers and network equipment. Based on this code, and some of its own tweaks and modifications, Vyatta recently released a beta version of its product - a downloadable CD image that can turn any Intel-based PC into a full-fledged (albeit full-fledged beta) version of a Cisco or Juniper WAN router. The CD image includes the XORP code, and a modified version of Linux, optimized to run as a router platform (superfluous packages removed, and loose security ends tied down). Vyatta says someone using its router could save as much as 50% to 90% of the cost of buying and maintaining a proprietary WAN router from a major vendor. It's the same story as in the data center with Linux/proprietary operating system swap-outs: cheaper Intel hardware costs. Some router vendors can charge up to three times the regular cost of standard parts found at Best Buy or Circuit City, such as RAM, interface cards, power supplies and other hardware. The strength of open source is the other asset Vyatta touts. Many network equipment vendors use both proprietary and open source code in their gear, but run the software in a black box without giving users access to it. Vyatta says a potentially worldwide network of eyeballs finding bugs and shoring up vulnerabilities in its code will make it robust enough for deployments in the most critical networks - such as financial services, defense or the Internet core. Vyatta says it will follow a familiar open-source business model: offer its product for free, charging for support and consulting. Its production version is scheduled for later this year.

Visual image search with Tiltomo Search Engine

2006-03-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

Content based visual search engine Tiltomo searches images and returns results based on their visual similarity to the source image. 'Our approach is to allow free thinking, where search results are influenced by what you see. Our system encourages you to make a broad search and narrow the types of images you like. It's as simple as searching a keyword, then clicking the image you like to see more. We feel this way of searching allows you to follow your own creative path, and find images that you might not normally look for.' Tiltomo is currently in beta, but after playing around with the search for a bit, you can start to see the potential for something like this. At the very least, it's another excellent way to discover new and interesting photography...Awesome ! Tiltomo

Backdoor for Law Enforcement on Vista ? 'Over My Dead Body' Update

2006-03-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

Windows Vista won't have a backdoor that could be used by police forces to get into encrypted files, Microsoft has stressed. In February, a BBC News story suggested that the British government was in discussions with Microsoft over backdoor access to the operating system. A backdoor is a method of bypassing normal authentication to gain access to a computer without to the PC user knowing. But Microsoft has now quelled the suggestion that law enforcement might get such access. "Microsoft has not and will not put 'backdoors' into Windows," a company representative said in a statement sent via e-mail. The discussion centers on BitLocker Drive Encryption, a planned security feature for Vista, the update to the Windows operating system. BitLocker encrypts data to protect it if the computer is lost or stolen. This feature could make it harder for law enforcement agencies to get access to data on seized computers. "The suggestion is that we are working with governments to create a back door so that they can always access BitLocker-encrypted data," Niels Ferguson, a developer and cryptographer at Microsoft, wrote Thursday on a corporate blog. "Over my dead body," he wrote in his post titled "Back-door nonsense." Microsoft is talking to various governments about Vista. However, the talks are about using the new operating system and BitLocker for their own security, Ferguson wrote. "We also get questions from law enforcement organizations. They foresee that they will want to read BitLocker-encrypted data, and they want to be prepared," he wrote. "Back doors are simply not acceptable," Ferguson wrote. "Besides, they wouldn't find anybody on this team willing to implement and test the back door." Windows Vista, the successor to Windows XP, is slated to be available by year's end. From 2\18\2006 From Vnunet: Microsoft may begin training the police in ways to break the encryption built into its forthcoming client PC operating system Vista. This is not the first time such links between Microsoft and the security services have received attention. In 1999 journalist Duncan Campbell alleged that Microsoft had reached a secret deal with the National Security Agency in the US to allow them backdoor access to Microsoft systems. More

It's Alive !...Windows Live

2006-03-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Windows Live Mail 5 is Live: Well, almost. It's coming very soon, we promise. But for those who can't wait, here's a sneak peak at all the new features for Windows Live Mail Beta “M5” (M5 is geek speak for Milestone 5). If you're a WL Mail beta tester you won’t have to do anything to get it -- your inbox will update automatically. If you aren't a beta tester, go sign up!

Windows Live Portal has been updated, although still in beta it is already in the top 500 most visited websites and still climbing

New Windows Live Messenger 8 beta to be released Today

Windows Live Expo beta, a free online marketplace from Microsoft, helps customers define their own marketplace universe.
Microsoft Corp. today will release a beta version of Windows Live™ Expo (http://expo.live.com) nationwide. Previously in closed beta, Windows Live Expo is now accessible to all U.S. customers and expands the traditional classified ad concept by providing social networking and community features through a trustworthy, convenient and free online service.
“We’ve been watching our own Microsoft® internal marketplace service for the past couple of years and were inspired by employee behaviors. Regardless of the transaction, we noticed that trust and convenience are the key factors to closing a deal,” said Garry Wiseman, product unit manager for Windows Live Expo at Microsoft. “What sets Windows Live Expo apart is that people can set their own search parameters for goods and services. They can define their own marketplace universe.”
Windows Live Local technical preview (pre-beta version) will go live offering “street-side” level imagery for Seattle and San Francisco. Imagery is limited to core downtown areas of the two cities and US customers will be able to access the tech preview directly at http://preview.local.live.com Windows Live Local technical preview will provide consumers with an early look to provide feedback on the limited release of “street-side” imagery for Windows Live Local. Additionally, consumers can utilize the imagery to augment the current road, aerial, and bird’s eye views currently available when searching for location specific information.
Also announced is that Windows Live in the future (when Vista lanches) will support Media Center. One thing that is already available in US now, which is MSN Remote Record, will be available in Windows Live. The second thing is that when you recorded TV, and you’re not at home but say in a hotel, you can watch the recording through Windows Live!Now that's cool, but I'm afraid it will be available for US only when launched.

AND FINALLY…
Microsoft Office Live was created to empower small businesses with online capabilities that previously have been unaffordable or too technologically complex for to set up and maintain. Microsoft Office Live offerings are geared to small businesses with fewer than 10 employees, and are designed to help you establish an online presence, automate key internal and external business tasks, and collaborate with employees, partners, and customers.
Our current offerings provide your business with the following:

A professional Web site with a free domain name (for example, www.northwindtraders.com), company-branded e-mail accounts hosted by Microsoft, and easy design and reporting tools to create and maintain a company Web site

An online repository for organizing company documents and contact information in one place to help you manage your businesses operations in a more secure and integrated manner

A password-protected workspace, called a Shared Site, for online collaboration with employees, customers, partners, suppliers, and contractors

A host of rich, yet simple, online applications for managing your customers, projects, and employees, as well as your sales, marketing, and company information

Here are just a few of the many Microsoft Office Live services:
Microsoft Office Live Basics. With Office Live Basics you get your own domain name (for example, www.northwindtraders.com); you can create a professional business Web site in minutes with our easy-to-use Site Designer tool. Plus, Web site traffic reports let you manage your business Web site without being a Web expert. You also get five company-branded e-mail accounts (for example, jsmith@northwindtraders.com) to help give your company the professional image it deserves. Built on Windows SharePoint Services, Office Live Basics helps your business establish a professional Web presence, with 30 MB of Web site storage. All at no charge.
Microsoft Office Live Collaboration. Also built on Windows SharePoint technology, Office Live Collaboration provides a password-protected online work environment, supplemented with richly functional business management applications. It is offered free of charge during the beta period and afterwards on a monthly subscription basis. Office Live Collaboration allows you to create any number of password-protected Web sites, called Shared Sites, for collaborating among internal employees as well as external customers, suppliers, and vendors.
As part of the Office Live Collaboration offering, you have access to more than 20 powerful and versatile business applications important to managing a business. These tools can assist you in everything from customer and project management to sales, marketing, and human resources. Because Microsoft hosts and supports the entire solution, your company saves the cost of expensive IT infrastructure and maintenance.
Microsoft Office Live Essentials. Office Live Essentials provides all of the features of Office Live Basics and Office Live Collaboration, including domain, hosting, and Web design services; password-protected Shared Sites; collaboration tools; and business management applications. In addition, it provides a Web site with 50 MB of storage, 50 e-mail accounts (with 2 GB of storage each), more advanced Web site traffic reports, and Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 support for advanced Web design. Office Live Essentials is offered free of charge during the beta period, and afterwards at an attractively priced monthly subscription rate

Microsoft Offers Free USB Memory Sticks (in the US Only)

2006-03-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

In its effort to get people to stop using pirated software and purchase only genuine products, Microsoft is resorting to some interesting tricks. One of these is to offer users an USB stick loaded with tons of information about MS’s licensing program, FAQs and others.This can be done by accessing a special web page with Microsoft’s new program, called “Mystery Solved”, which explains the intricate ways of licenses. After all the programs and unsuccessful strategies, the Redmond giant might finally be able to catch the user’s attention, this solution being quite elegant.All that users have to do is to fill in a form with their address and to answer some questions regarding Microsoft’s policy on licenses.The size of the USB stick is not mentioned, but the company says that it will take somewhere 6 to 8 weeks for delivery. Unfortunately, this program is for US residents only, which is rather strange considering that the piracy phenomenon hits Microsoft harder in other countries, like Russia or China.And since we are talking about licenses, it’s worth mentioning that Microsoft’s last move was to change the license agreement for OEMs. The company redefined the concept of computer and reduced it to the motherboard, which means that a newly acquired motherboard requires a new license for the operation system. Thanks bink.nu

Julian Bleecker: Manifesto for Networked Objects

2006-02-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

Julian Bleecker has finally posted his "Manifesto for Networked Objects" in which he discusses "Why Things Matter". Julian elaborates on a variety of issues connected to the "Internet of Things", populated by "Blogjects" or "Spimes" that collect and disseminate information, making us eventually rather live "in" than "on" the internet.
Besides being highly recommended reading in this case, a manifesto is something that is published to incite debate about the subject. What's your take on the networked world of objects? Will things become relevant in the creation of "meaning", will they become elevated to agents with the status of "first-class citizens", even advancing "trans-species dialogue"? Or is the creation (and consumption) of relevant information exclusive to human agents (read: bloggers)?
What's for certain: it is always good for artists, designers and researchers to write a manifesto when they feel that something big is in the air.
Related: Bruce Sterling's "Shaping Things", Too smart objects, LIFT06.

Communal Shareholding and the relationship of P2P

2006-02-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

Michel Bauwens takes us further in this explorative journey into better understanding the true nature, characteristics and potential value of peer-to-peer (P2P). In particular, communal shareholding and the relationship of P2P with the concept of a gift economy are explored. Finally, relationships between authority, hierarchy and effective forms of P2P and participation are analyzed providing fascinating insight into the relations between hierarchy, co-operation and autonomy. As he concludes: "The use-value created by P2P projects is generated through free cooperation, without coercion toward the producers, and users have free access to the resulting use value. The legal infrastructure that we have described above creates an 'Information Commons.' "
P2P and the Other Modes of Production The framework of our comparison is the Relational Models theory of anthropologist Alan Page Fiske, discussed in his major work Structures of Social Life.
The fact that modes of production are embedded in inter-subjective relations -- that is, characterized by particular relational combinations -- provides the necessary framework to distinguish P2P.
According to Fiske, there are four basic types of inter-subjective dynamics, valid across time and space, in his own words: "People use just four fundamental models for organizing most aspects of sociality most of the time in all cultures. These models are" :

Communal Sharing

Authority Ranking

Equality Matching

and Market Pricing

Communal Sharing (CS) is a relationship in which people treat some dyad or group as equivalent and undifferentiated with respect to the social domain in question. Examples are people using a commons (CS with respect to utilization of the particular resource), people intensely in love (CS with respect to their social selves), people who "ask not for whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for thee" (CS with respect to shared suffering and common well-being), or people who kill any member of an enemy group indiscriminately in retaliation for an attack (CS with respect to collective responsibility).
In Authority Ranking (AR) people have asymmetric positions in a linear hierarchy in which subordinates defer, respect, and (perhaps) obey, while superiors take precedence and take pastoral responsibility for subordinates. Examples are:

military hierarchies (AR in decisions, control, and many other matters)

ancestor worship (AR in offerings of filial piety and expectations of protection and enforcement of norms)

monotheistic religious moralities (AR for the definition of right and wrong by commandments or will of God)

social status systems such as class or ethnic rankings (AR with respect to social value of identities), and rankings such as sports team standings (AR with respect to prestige).

AR relationships are based on perceptions of legitimate asymmetries, not coercive power; they are not inherently exploitative (although they may involve power or cause harm).
In Equality Matching (EM) relationships people keep track of the balance or difference among participants and know what would be required to restore balance. Common manifestations are:

turn-taking

one-person one-vote elections

equal share distributions

and vengeance based on an-eye-for-an-eye, a-tooth-for-a-tooth

Examples include:

sports and games (EM with respect to the rules, procedures, equipment and terrain)

baby-sitting co-ops (EM with respect to the exchange of child care)

and restitution in-kind (EM with respect to righting a wrong).

Market Pricing relationships are oriented to socially meaningful ratios or rates such as prices, wages, interest, rents, tithes, or cost-benefit analyses. Money need not be the medium, and Market Pricing relationships need not be selfish, competitive, maximizing, or materialistic -- any of the four models may exhibit any of these features. Market Pricing relationships are not necessarily individualistic; a family may be the CS or AR unit running a business that operates in an MP mode with respect to other enterprises.
Examples are:

property that can be bought, sold, or treated as investment capital (land or objects as MP)

marriages organized contractually or implicitly in terms of costs and benefits to the partners

prostitution (sex as MP)

bureaucratic cost-effectiveness standards (resource allocation as MP)

utilitarian judgments about the greatest good for the greatest number, or standards of equity in judging entitlements in proportion to contributions (two forms of morality as MP)

considerations of "spending time" efficiently, and estimates of expected kill ratios (aggression as MP).

Every type of society or civilization is a mixture of these four modes, but it can plausibly be argued that one mode is always dominant and imprints the other subservient modes. Historically, the first dominant mode was kinship or lineage based reciprocity, the so-called tribal gift economies.
The key relational aspect was 'belonging'. Gifts created obligations and relations beyond the next of kin, creating a wider field of exchange. Agricultural or feudal-type societies were dominated by authority ranking, that is, they were based on allegiance. Finally, it is clear that the capitalist economy is dominated by market pricing.
Thanks again to Robin Good

My earlier post is : HERE

Alarming Phishing Trends

2006-02-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

Remember:NO REPUTABLE ORGANIZATION WILL EVER SEND YOU AN EMAIL THAT INVITES YOU CLICK A LINK TO IT.
A legitimate email will invite you to browse yourself to their website. it will not provide a shortcut.
When you get such an email, block the sender.
The number of phishing Web sites skyrocketed in December, as did the number of sites designed to spread password-stealing badware, according to the most recent report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group.
The number of unique phishing sites jumped from 4,630 in November to 7,197 in December, a 55 percent increase. Online scam artists also targeted a wider range of companies in their phishing sites. One scam found at the end of 2005 targeted customers who shop at Wal-Mart's Web site, telling recipients that their accounts had been compromised.
Another notable phishing attack in December went out in an e-mail impersonating the Internal Revenue Service, linking to a bogus IRS site that claimed to offer recipients a way to check on the status of their tax refund. We've seen IRS phishing attacks before, and we are likely to see more of them in the weeks leading up to April 15.
December also brought a massive increase in phishing-based Trojan horse programs as well as keyloggers -- nasty programs designed to intercept sensitive information the victim enters into banking, e-commerce or Webmail accounts. According to the APWG, the number of Web sites using browser vulnerabilities to attempt keylogger installs exploded to at least 1,912 in December, up 83 percent from November.
That growth was spurred in large part by the discovery of two critical security flaws in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser -- MS05-054 and MS06-001 -- that allowed malicious Web sites to install software on the visitor's computer. The APWG report said its members spotted hundreds of sites using exploits for those vulnerabilities to install keystroke-logging software.
By Brian Krebs

More Commentary on Network Neutrality

2006-02-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

By Martin Geddes
I’ll shut up about network neutrality some time, but the craziness of the whole think just gets me riled.
Imagine that a ‘neutrality’ rule is imposed in the US. Verizon and at&t’s regional market power goes unchanged, and the cablecos are the only competition. Continued artificial spectrum scarcity is bought with some skillful lobbying. Don’t expect any price competition, because game theory tells you that you need a minimum of 3 players to de-stablise a cartel (even if an unspoken one).
If I’m Ed or Ivan, what should I do next? Easy. Raise prices for “Internet” access. And put in place a system not interconnected at the IP layer, where every service has to get through a gateway. Sell this “Web + mail” Net at a reduced price. (It looks just like the restricted GPRS gateways we live with today, so everything’s off the shelf and the regulatory rules are predictable and favourable). Want to run Vonage? Fine, $5/month, we’ve cut a deal with them, and know how to proxy their SIP traffic. Want to run Skype? Tough, they don’t support our proxy.
Note that they ARE NOT SELLING ‘INTERNET’. Your neutrality rules don’t apply: it’s entirely a private IP network with some application layer gateways. Unless you believe that such network architectures should be illegal, too. Whaddayamean, you didn’t think of this in your “interconnected Internet Protocol network” definition? ;)
I suspect that decreasing the number of people with “Internet” access isn’t the intent of neutrality advocates. The assumption seems to be that the incumbents won’t react to the obvious incentives placed before them. Lots of mini Chinas.
By the way, does the ‘no application discrimination’ rule mean my Tesco Mobile data service is illegal (ignoring the 4000 mile jurisdictional leap)? Their main selling point is cheap circuit voice minutes. The data offering is a minor feature to their users. It’s built on IP, but the only destinations allowed are those on the ports for HTTP/HTTPS. Do you think a neutrality rule would make Tesco open up full Net access? Or just junk the whole data side? Why do you feel that I should be prevented from buying such a service from Tesco, presuming the limitations are made clear?
Is the Internet the only networked good deserving of a neutrality rule? There’s a lot of network-effect industries out there. Should the makers of USB-enabled goods not be allowed (by force of law) to set license fees that depend on the application? Why doesn’t this ‘neutrality’ logic stop at exchanges over Internet Protocol? At what size of player does neutrality no longer apply?
What evidence have “neutrality” proponents have that it is better to treat the symptoms rather than causes of uncompetitive connectivity markets? Why is it so important to prevent a price signal of “MONOPOLY RENTS — OVER HERE! COME AND GET IT!” leaking out? How come the forces that scream blue murder when it comes to freedom of speech fall silent when it comes to freedom of contract?
Now there are some things that could be done that would be fair and constructive. There should be “full disclosure” rules, much like with credit card offers. I would also suggest that some “regulated terms” be used that compulsarily be included in all marketing material, e.g.:

“Full Internet access”. Does what it says on the tin. Servers, VPNs, pr0n, whatever you like. Any default filters can be turned off by the user (a sensible compromise, IMHO).

“Partial Internet access”. Anything less than full Internet access where end-to-end IP connectivity is in place. Filters can be at the IP layer, or in Terms of Service.

“Restricted Internet access”. Access is provided via proxies to selected services, and not end-to-end IP connectivity.

(There would be common exceptions for illegal content, protection of networks from attack, etc. And some special rules would apply to content delivery network caches.)
Other progressive, constructive suff to campaign for? Switch all Universal Service funds from one application (landline PSTN) to connectivity. Unbundle the identity space (E164) from the telephony service using some cunning privacy-enhanced version of ENUM (I’ve got a few ideas…). The usual spectrum stuff. Oh, and give the FCC commissioners a big bonus package if they manage to abolish themselves ;)
But the last thing you want is a neutrality rule. As Vint Cerf’s Senate testimony said:
nothing less than the future of the Internet is at stake.
Indeed. But in the exact opposite way to which he suggests.

How to Get Rid of DRM: Content as a Utility

2006-02-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

Sell the Hardware \ Give Away the Content
If only I could've been there to stand up and clap:
"Why are you such a bunch of big girls?" asked Birch. "Why don't you tell the content owners to just get stuffed?" He continued unabated: "You're too seduced by the content industry, Hollywood is not even a $10 billion industry. Hollywood is small compared to the telecom industry. Why don't you take a stronger line? Consumers don't want DRM at all. You can't sell DRM."
Thus the EET reports the outburst of audience member David Birch, who stood up during the Q&A part of a panel on DRM at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona and let rip at the telecom industry panelists. David Benjamin, who filed the story for the EET, reports that Birch also told the panelists that telecommunications industry is 15 times the size of the content industry.
In a later column at the EET, Spencer Chin approvingly cites the story of Birch's outburst, and manfully (though not entirely successfully) attempts to laud Birch for "stirring the pot" while simultaneously censuring name-calling at professional conferences.
I say bring on the name-calling. In fact, if Mr. Birch happens to read this post, we'd like to formally offer to let him have the mike for a moment so that he can preach, heckle, and harangue a bit more in a guest editorial on content vs. the carriers. Just drop us an email.
For my part, the coverage of Birch's rant definitely got me thinking. The total cost of Peter Jackson's King Kong was somewhere north of US$200 million. That's quite a bit, but such big-budget blockbusters are rare, and you can make and market a Hollywood movie for well under half that figure. Indeed, Brokeback Mountain had a production budget of only US$14 million.
In the tech industry, the price of a new fab is currently around US$5 billion, a price that puts such facilities out of reach for all but the biggest players like Intel and IBM. Still, that's 25 King Kongs, or over 350 Brokeback Mountains, or 1,000 five million dollar episodes of a big-budget HBO series like Rome or The Sopranos. My point is that, for even just half the price of a single 65nm fab, the tech industry could buy a few small studios and just start throwing tons of free content at the world. Or, for the full price of a fab, they could fund almost a decade worth of low- and medium-budget content to give away as an inducement for people to buy hardware.
Intel, IBM, and other tech companies with large investments in Linux know full well that you can sell a lot of hardware by giving away the software. Why not give away the content too? How many dollars worth of media center, home networking, and home network attached storage hardware could you sell if consumers knew that there were terabytes of free, unencumbered, high-definition, processor-intensive, storage-hungry, bandwidth burning, digital content awaiting them on the Internet—content that they could copy, share, and shuffle around among as many newly purchased media devices as they like?
I'll freely admit that 90% of what I know about the cost of Hollywood movies and TV shows I learned from Google over the past two hours. I'll also admit that drawing big-picture conclusions about how the tech industry could crush the movie industry based on a comparison of the cost of a fab to the cost of some movies and TV shows has a certain "late night dorm room bull session" quality to it. Nonetheless, I stand by my general claim that, for the price of what a single tech company invests in a single new fab, the hardware and telecommunications industries as a whole could dump enough free digital content on the world to fuel a very profitable explosion in consumer hardware purchasing.
So c'mon, tech industry. Why let Hollywood push you around and, even worse, hold hostage tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars in potential sales? If investments in open source can pay off in server hardware sales, why couldn't investments in free movies and music pay off in home entertainment, networking, and storage hardware sales?

Another Take on Network Neutrality on the Same Day Online Open Television Platform Launches

2006-02-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

Paul Kapustka strips the Network Neutrality issue down it its real core:
The RBOCs and cable will use all their firepower to try to keep video captive, to make money off it the way they did off voice.
Americans love TV. They even had to invent the TiVo to extract the 0.1% precious metal from the toxic sludge. Just as Lessig lamented his Grokster framing as being too abstract, maybe this neutrality issue is getting too academic. OK, you and I know it’s really about applications not yet invented. The 2040 fridge DNA sensor that takes a quick peek at the week-old chicken, sequences the genomes on its surface and refers the whole lot back in real-time to biohazard central for an opinion, or whatever.
For now, it’s all about TV. Will the goggle box become the Google box, or not?
Why not call a spade a manual trench digging utensil and point out that the “triple” play involves telcos selling captive video over duopoly lines, which is direct competition to alternative Internet-based suppliers (whom they would like to cut out of the picture (pun intended). (Of course, “triple” play is itself an idea caught in legacy telco-think, in that there isn’t a total unbundling of all the stages of consumption, and fragmentation into a zillion aggregators, filters, distributors, etc. enabled by the uber-flexible Stupid Network.)
Full disclosure: I went cold-turkey on the medium in 1999, don’t own a TV, so I don’t know what I’m talking about. And if you are still reading, Today is indeed the official launch day for the newest and final piece of Participatory Culture democratic television platform. The platform includes four key components:
1) The Democracy Player (formerly DTV for Mac)
2) Videobomb
3) Broadcast Machine
4) The Channel Guide
The new Participatory Culture platform is fully open-source and built on open-standards in the true open and interoperable spirit of the Internet. This could be the beginning of something very big.