BB King / NNf

If there had been an extra $150 laying around last night, I would have gone to a BB King concert that he put on in his club on Beale Street two blocks from my hotel in Memphis, TN.

The money tree didn't seem to be in working order, though. Sat in the hotel lobby instead and listened to two Brits discuss the merits of rugby league and rugby union. Certainly as interesting and unquestionably less expensive.

Some quite intriguing technologies and unique characters have crossed my path this week. There will be fun conversations in the next few weeks in Wisconsin pertaining to innovation opportunities in conjunction with the Insight 2006 Nonwovens conference here in Memphis.

Here is the final NEW NET issues list for the week of 30 Oct 2006. No meeting this week due to Halloween and other activities. Don't eat too much candy...

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1. Google buys JotSpot, dips into wiki world http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-6131024.html http://www.forbes.com/business/businesstech/2006/10/31/jotspot-wiki-google-tech-ebiz-cx_rr_1031google.html SkyNet takes another step towards self-awareness. Google bought the wiki web app, JotSpot, which should combine nicely with Google Docs & Spreadsheet. My question is whether Gcalendar will prevail, or whether JotSpot’s calendar has better features.
2. The Ten Most Dangerous Online Activities http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2006/10/25/microsoft-mozilla-malware-ent-tech-cx_sb_1025smallbizresource.html Give this to your non-geek friends, relatives, co-workers and customers. Many of them will benefit from the advice herein.
3. Lesson for Wisconsin: Carolina tech industry took time to build http://wistechnology.com/article.php?id=3435
4. In Teens' Web World, MySpace Is So Last Year http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/28/AR2006102800803.html Anyone trying to build an online social networking website or trying to make money on social network websites should read this article. Loyalty and viral appeal are somewhat mutually exclusive.
5. Windows Defender Leaves Beta http://microsoft.blognewschannel.com/index.php/archives/2006/10/25/windows-defender-leaves-beta/
6. Top Firefox 2 config tweaks http://www.lifehacker.com/software/firefox-2/geek-to-live-top-firefox-2-config-tweaks-209941.php
7. Flash to jump beyond the browser http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6071005.html?tag=nl
8. Adobe ponies up for Apollo http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6129403.html Will Apollo make your online web apps usable and invaluable offline? Next killer app?
9. Brainpower Tested On New Web Site http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061029/tc_cmp/193402756 This is one for Jim & Lindsey – Humana is a partner on this website.
10. Botnets cause significant surge in spam http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061030-8111.html
11. Vox Lifts Off and You’ll Love It http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/10/26/vox-lifts-off-and-youll-love-it/
12. Vox: Private conversation is aim of new blog software http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061026/wr_nm/life_blogs_vox_dc_1
13. Attack of the Bots http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/botnet.html Interesting real life story involving Jonathan S’s employer in San Francisco.
14. The high priestess of internet friendship http://www.ft.com/cms/s/59ab33da-64c4-11db-90fd-0000779e2340.html We should invite Danah Boyd, MIT grad, to BarCampMadison. Another good read for those interested in social network websites.
15. 3D Weather Data Visualization in Second Life http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2006/10/28/3d-weather-data-visualization-in-second-life/
16. Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0: Part 3 http://www.solutionwatch.com/519/back-to-school-with-the-class-of-web-20-part-3/
17. AT&T launches video monitoring service http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061026/ap_on_hi_te/at_t_remote_surveillance
18. Microsoft To Include Sonic Media Software In Vista http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061027/tc_cmp/193402603
19. San Francisco Gets Free FONs for Wi-Fi http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20061027/tc_zd/192585 Would FON be a good partner in Green Bay?
20. Socialtext Releases SocialPoint: Best-of-Breed Wiki Integrated With Microsoft's SharePoint http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=177884
21. Google actively aiding intelligence agencies? http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061030-8105.html SkyNet fodder for conspiracy theorists, or where there’s smoke, there’s fire? There is certainly the possibility of fire…

*****

Google Blogger Blues

Writing this post about problems with Google's Blogger seems apropos whilst sitting online only a couple blocks from the blues music scene on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Blogger Blues hit home because a post could not be put up by myDigitechnician when it was attempted several times last week. At that point Blogger could not even be logged into, at least from the connection available in Appleton, Wisconsin.

So today, as tech news was being scanned for tidbits to be added to the NEW NET issues list for the week of 30 October, it was interesting to note several articles and posts, two of which are here and here, talking about the problems on Blogger. The articles talk about problems that have been occuring, off and on, since 18 October 2006. Blogger appears to be staggering under the weight of its success due to its infrastructure being the same one Google inherited when it bought Blogger/Pyra Labs four years ago. Google recently rolled out a new beta version of Blogger, complete with new hardware and software, which has not been affected by the problems mentioned in the above article and post.

The problems with Blogger and the response of its users are instructive with respect to the future of the internet in several ways:

• Even though the service is free, users expect a very high level of reliability (why use it if it's not reliable??)
  
• Many internet residents expect their internet connections, applications and websites to be always available (instant gratification)
  
• Internet residents should expect their connections, applications and websites to have problems occasionally, and should prepare appropriately for those problems (learn from history)
  
• Inertia and resistance to change keep people from switching to new and better (frog in pot of water on the stove)
  

If you've considered using web apps such as Zoho, Kiko Calendar or Google Docs & Spreadsheets, it would behoove you to know what you'll do when your web app is temporarily (or, gasp, permanently!) unavailable. That's what makes Apollo from Adobe so intriguing. Apollo is a way to run your web apps when you are offline, essentially making the online web apps into client programs on your computer. If I understand it correctly, this would allow you to work on your Google Docs & Spreadsheets when you're not connected to the 'net, and would (correctly, we hope) synch the online and offline files when you reconnect to the 'net. For more info, see the Apollo articles in the NEW NET issues list which will be posted on this blog tomorrow.

Today's tip: Use Blogger beta and avoid the problems being experienced by those on the original Blogger system...

*****

NNf

Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 24 October 2006, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:50 pm weekly gathering upstairs at Tom's Drive In, 501 N Westhill Blvd, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. We're meeting at Tom's because Mister Churro may be closed for painting. Tom's has free wireless, good food and a nice upstairs area where the manager said NEW NET can meet. See you there!

1. Spammer kills coffee shop's connection http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061022-8046.html Having access to free wifi seems like an important component of NEW NET meetings, although not having ‘net access during those meetings might enable higher quality conversation. Two questions for NEW NET this week – 1) do you prefer to have free wifi at NEW NET gatherings and why?; 2) Should any changes be made to Mister Churro’s WRT54G to minimize abuse and security problems?
2. Firefox 2.0 or IE7? http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/firefox-20-or-ie7/ IE7 will probably perform like Win XP SP2 when it was released, with 80+% of installers having no problems. Everyone reading this should install IE7 to see how the install goes, but don’t do it on your main machine for a while. Just know what you’ll do if the install of IE7 (or any other program) causes problems. Good option is to have Firefox installed before IE7 install. That way, if the OS doesn’t break you can still browse the web for info about whatever problem the IE7 install caused. Let’s do the about:config comment by Lars at NEW NET.
3. Hating Microsoft After Update Breaks My Computer With svchost.exe Error http://daggle.com/061016-142021.html Anecdotal caution about loading in IE7. This post explains what Danny Sullivan had to do to fix his computer after installing the new Internet Explorer. Here there be dragons…
4. Final Version of Mozilla Firefox 2 Will Be Released Oct. 24 http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20061020/tc_pcworld/127603 As of October 24 you’ll have a choice of updated browsers – Firefox 2 or Internet Explorer 7. I know which one I’ll use most...
5. Dodgeball goes Gauth, reveals GOOG’s masterplan to p0wn your butt http://factoryjoe.com/blog/2006/10/17/dodgeball-goes-gauth-reveals-googs-masterplan-to-p0wn-your-ass/ This post addresses identity management, a concept particularly important in the Web 2.0 world. Chris Messina points out that Google appears to be leading its SkyNet Kool-Aid drinkers down a primrose path to the Walled Ggarden. He advocates use of OpenID. Since he was a catalyst in the BarCamp movement, maybe he can initiate an OpenID campaign combining the BarCamp success with the Adopt Firefox success.
6. 1,000,000 residents = Happy! Crushing Signup Load = Sad! http://blog.secondlife.com/2006/10/18/1000000-residents-happy-crushing-signup-load-sad/ Once again, Second Life mirrors Real Life. SL now has a million residents, has been adding new accounts at 10,000 per day, has been in the news a lot, and is predicting some days with 50,000+ new resident registrations. Their scale-up problems are causing poor user experience for new users, and you can be sure their tech people are having lots of 20+ hour days. Reuters recently opened an SL news agency, many corporations are investing time and money into SL (I want one of those jobs…), and a “…U.S. congressional committee is investigating how virtual assets and incomes should be taxed.” When Luke and I joined second life in May, there were only 200,000 residents. If SL scales up effectively, the metaverse may have more residents than World of Warcraft in a couple years.
7. Second Life Uses Drupal http://buytaert.net/second-life-uses-drupal Drupal was one of the topics of discussion at BarCampMilwaukee, so it was interesting to see that Second Life uses Drupal.
8. FBI Director, Police Chiefs Support Record Retention For Internet http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061019/tc_cmp/193400408 Have you read 1984 recently?
9. AT&T Builds WiFi Network For California City http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061019/tc_cmp/193400391
10. Putting A Little Lipstick On Muni WiFi http://news.techdirt.com/news/wireless/article/6717
11. Creative Commons + Flickr = 22 Million Sharable Photos http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/10/digging_deepercreative_commons.html Creative Commons license benefits are explained a little in this post. Exceptionally well-worded was the comment, “…So without going to photography school, and just networking with other photographers, and giving my stuff away with attribution, I’ve got my name out there, I’ve got a lot of incoming links to my website…I didn’t realize that I could make money on photography by giving away as much as I could, that I could build up a portfolio and reputation so I could get paid work...”
12. Lunar Lander Rocket Flies But Fails In Bid For Prize Dollars http://space.com/news/061020_xprize_armadillo.html John Carmack was piloting the Armadillo Aerospace lunar lander with a joystick! All those hours of writing and playing video games may come in handy at some point in your future…
13. High-Tech Uniforms Finally Heading to War http://www.defensetech.org/archives/002872.html Here’s one for Luke and other MechWarrior fans. The comments were as interesting as the post.
14. PopTech, day 1 wrap-up http://www.kottke.org/06/10/poptech-day-1-wrapup PopTech sounds like as much fun as a BarCamp, although with up to 500 people, it’s a bit larger than I’d consider ideal. The $2500 registration fee is another difference from BarCamps… Powerful ideas, though.
15. Costs up as UAE regulators ban Net phone http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_hi_te/no_more_skype Would you be upset if your government took away VoIP options like Skype?
16. MS chides Apple for passing iPod worm blame http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/10/19/microsoft.chides.apple/
17. Flapjax on the griddle for Web apps http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20061013/tc_infoworld/82808
18. Flash 9 beta for Linux is available http://blogs.adobe.com/penguin.swf/2006/10/beta_is_live.html
19. Mac Mini becomes Linux-based IP PBX http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8680369796.html
20. Microsoft Eyes Future of Teleconferencing with RoundTable http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/oct06/10-20officeroundtable.mspx Justin – one of these would be nice for the Milwaukee Media Lab…
21. It’s Not the People You Know. It’s Where You Are. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/business/yourmoney/22digi.html?ex=1319169600&en=fc0cc8346b8b9382&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
22. Scrybe: New Standard In Office Apps? http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/10/21/scrybe-could-set-a-new-standard-in-office-apps/
23. Sony battery recall to hit 9.6 million http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061019/ap_on_hi_te/japan_sony_battery_recalls
24. Bugs and Fixes: Drive-By Downloads Cruise Through IE http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20061023/tc_pcworld/127492
25. HP passes Dell in world PC shipments http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_hi_te/pc_shipments
26. Palm Launches Treo 680, Touts Multimedia Capabilities http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061013/tc_cmp/193300469 When they add wifi to the Treo 680 and I can use it on my Verizon plan, I’m buying one of these…
27. Beauties and beasts predicted http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20596076-661,00.html
28. 10 Biggest Computer Flops of all time http://www.miguelcarrasco.net/miguelcarrasco/2006/10/10_biggest_comp.html
29. Roomba rival looks to clean up http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-6127955.html
30. Cheated? Get clicking http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061020.gtdwyer21/BNStory/Technology/

*****

X PRIZE Cup 2007

If you're intrigued by the concept of civilians heading into space, consider roadtripping to the X PRIZE Cup 2007 in New Mexico or volunteering at the event.

Exciting and interesting aerospace activities abounded at the X PRIZE Cup 2006, 20 - 21 October 2006 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. These included:

• Vertical Lander competition, with John Carmack piloting the Armadillo Aerospace entry with a handheld controller. He had problems landing safely due to dust kicked up by his vertical lander, Pixel. Real life problems not anticipated...
  
• Space Elevator Beam Challenge, wirelessly power space elevators. Huge improvements from last year, dropping from six minutes to climb the tether ribbon down to less than one minute, although the judges weren't sure if the ribbon was 50 or 60 meters long.
  
• Space Elevator Tether Challenge, testing the strength of potential space elevator cable materials. This event happened late at night and included the test unit failing and disqualifications for three of the four entries due to their entries being one or a few millimeters below the stated two meter distance.

If you don't have space exploration activities planned yet for October 2007, consider a road trip to New Mexico. RocketRoadCamp may be in your future. Plot a route from Maine to New Mexico. We'll have designated meet-up points every three to four hours along the route, and the arrivals at each of those points will join the convoy on its southwest trek.

This may need to be a two-phase voyage, with the inital wave made of those people who are volunteers at the event. The second group would be those folks who are not able to take as much time off from their everyday activities. Modern day wagon train, here we come. Wouldn't it be cool to be part of an X PRIZE Cup convoy consisting of several thousand vehicles heading down the highway towards Las Cruces? Contact me if this sounds like your type of adventure!

Excuse me now -- I have to use Mapquest and Google Maps to start plotting the route. Let me see, who can I connect with in Maine...

*****

Internet Explorer 7: Update

After recommending yesterday that people install IE7, comments that came flying through cyberspace included that I should be hit with a shoe and that, in addition to installing IE7, it might be nice to dip our hands in boiling oil.

Installing IE7 was recommended to the NEW NET crowd because tech enthusiasts should understand at least some of the things that can occur when installing Microsoft's latest web browser. Reasons include:

1. IE7 will be pushed to all Win XP SP2 users who have Windows auto-updates turned on.
2. NEW NET participants likely have friends and relatives who turn to them for help. Telling those who need help that you haven't worked with IE7 or its installation doesn't help out those friends and relatives.
3. Bringing tales of IE7 installation problems to NEW NET and having people help solve the problem would make for a lively NEW NET meeting!
4. In the first item on the NEW NET issues list, the comment was made that the IE7 install should not be done on a person's main machine. Other cautions were also pointed out. If a NEW NET tech enthusiast had concerns after reading those cautions or if they only have one Windows computer, they would be correct to not install IE7 for a couple months; it is hoped they possess the requisite amount of savvy to make the decision that's right for them.

Having said that, an 18 Oct 2007 post on one website has a number of suggestions for people who are installing IE7. One interesting suggestion was that if you have Zone Alarm 6.5, you should uninstall it before installing IE7. See the above 18 Oct 2006 post for details related to that.

Now...let's fondue that shoe in a pot of boiling oil...

*****

Firefox 2.0 and IE7 / NNi

(Ed. note - this post was updated at 1737 hrs, CST, USA, 19 Oct 2006 because of some errors.)

Two next-gen browsers are rolling out; Firefox 2.0 and Internet Explorer 7.

Microsoft just announced you can download the official version of Internet Explorer 7. See the two items related to IE7 below on the NEW NET issues list. If you enjoy the tabbed browsing of Firefox, but need to use IE for some sites, you'll like the ability to do tabs in IE7. As with all newly-released software, when installing IE7 be aware you may have problems and plan prior to the install what to do if it causes major problems, which it will for a few people.

Firefox 2.0 Release Candidate 3 is available for download now. The final 2.0 version of the geeks favorite web browser is expected by the end of October. Changes in 2.0 vs 1.5 are minor compared to the wholesale changes in IE.

If you install either version of the new browsers, make sure you keep them updated since there are bound to be security holes in the new releases which the malware industry will quickly take advantage of.

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Below is the initial list of issues for the TUESDAY, 24 October 2006, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:50 pm weekly gathering upstairs at Tom's Drive In, 501 N Westhill Blvd, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. We're meeting at Tom's because Mister Churro may be closed for painting. Tom's has free wireless, good food and a nice upstairs area where the manager said NEW NET can meet. The final list will be posted on this blog by 1500 hours (3 pm) Central U.S.A. time on 24 October 2006.

1. Firefox 2.0 or IE7? http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/firefox-20-or-ie7/ IE7 will probably perform like Win XP SP2 when it was released, with 80+% of installers having no problems. Everyone reading this should install IE7 to see how the install goes, but don’t do it on your main machine for a while. Just know what you’ll do if the install of IE7 (or any other program) causes problems. Good option is to have Firefox installed before IE7 install. That way, if the OS doesn’t break you can still browse the web for info about whatever problem the IE7 install caused. Let’s do the about:config comment by Lars at NEW NET.
2. Hating Microsoft After Update Breaks My Computer With svchost.exe Error http://daggle.com/061016-142021.html Anecdotal caution about loading in IE7. This post explains what Danny Sullivan had to do to fix his computer after installing the new Internet Explorer. Here there be dragons…
3. Firefox 2.0 RC3 Now Available http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127520-c,mozilla/article.html The official Firefox 2.0 is expected out by the end of October, but if you can’t wait, the Release Candidate 3 should work well for you.
4. Dodgeball goes Gauth, reveals GOOG’s masterplan to p0wn your butt http://factoryjoe.com/blog/2006/10/17/dodgeball-goes-gauth-reveals-googs-masterplan-to-p0wn-your-ass/ This post addresses identity management, a concept particularly important in the Web 2.0 world. Chris Messina points out that Google appears to be leading its SkyNet Kool-Aid drinkers down a primrose path to the Walled Ggarden. He advocates use of OpenID. Since he was a catalyst in the BarCamp movement, maybe he can initiate an OpenID campaign combining the BarCamp success with the Adopt Firefox success.
5. 1,000,000 residents = Happy! Crushing Signup Load = Sad! http://blog.secondlife.com/2006/10/18/1000000-residents-happy-crushing-signup-load-sad/ Once again, Second Life mirrors Real Life. SL now has a million residents, has been adding new accounts at 10,000 per day, has been in the news a lot, and is predicting some days with 50,000+ new resident registrations. Their scale-up problems are causing poor user experience for new users, and you can be sure their tech people are having lots of 20+ hour days. Reuters recently opened an SL news agency, many corporations are investing time and money into SL (I want one of those jobs…), and a “…U.S. congressional committee is investigating how virtual assets and incomes should be taxed.” When Luke and I joined second life in May, there were only 200,000 residents. If SL scales up effectively, the metaverse may have more residents than World of Warcraft in a couple years.
6. Second Life Uses Drupal http://buytaert.net/second-life-uses-drupal Drupal was one of the topics of discussion at BarCampMilwaukee, so it was interesting to see that Second Life uses Drupal.
7. FBI Director, Police Chiefs Support Record Retention For Internet http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061019/tc_cmp/193400408 Have you read 1984 recently?
8. AT&T Builds WiFi Network For California City http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061019/tc_cmp/193400391
9. Putting A Little Lipstick On Muni WiFi http://news.techdirt.com/news/wireless/article/6717
10. Creative Commons + Flickr = 22 Million Sharable Photos http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/10/digging_deepercreative_commons.html Creative Commons license benefits are explained a little in this post. Exceptionally well-worded was the comment, “…So without going to photography school, and just networking with other photographers, and giving my stuff away with attribution, I’ve got my name out there, I’ve got a lot of incoming links to my website…I didn’t realize that I could make money on photography by giving away as much as I could, that I could build up a portfolio and reputation so I could get paid work...”
11. Costs up as UAE regulators ban Net phone http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_hi_te/no_more_skype Would you be upset if your government took away VoIP options like Skype?
12. Windows virus bites Apple iPods http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6062074.stm
13. Flapjax on the griddle for Web apps http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20061013/tc_infoworld/82808
14. Flash 9 beta for Linux is available http://blogs.adobe.com/penguin.swf/2006/10/beta_is_live.html
15. Mac Mini becomes Linux-based IP PBX http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8680369796.html
16. Sony battery recall to hit 9.6 million http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061019/ap_on_hi_te/japan_sony_battery_recalls
17. HP passes Dell in world PC shipments http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_hi_te/pc_shipments
18. Palm Launches Treo 680, Touts Multimedia Capabilities http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061013/tc_cmp/193300469 When they add wifi to the Treo 680 and I can use it on my Verizon plan, I’m buying one of these…
19. Beauties and beasts predicted http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20596076-661,00.html

*****

NEW NET Final List for 17 Oct 2006

There are no updates to the NEW NET issues list that was posted on 13 Oct 2006 at http://mydigitechnician.blogspot.com/2006/10/daily-searchcast-nni-v2.html. See you at Mister Churro tonight at 6:50 pm!

Daily SearchCast / NNi v2

One of the most well-respected names in search, Danny Sullivan, has a relatively new webcast (formerly known as podcast) called Daily SearchCast.

A couple episodes played in the background today at myDigitechnician while other work was being done...sort of. Two cautions about Daily SearchCast. First, you need to be highly interested in the internet and web search to enjoy the show. Danny assumes you're pretty plugged into the web and search, and you might not catch a number of his references if you're just casually interested in tech topics.

Second, if you do listen to Daily SearchCast, be prepared to be less productive whilst listening. Danny's webcast decreases productivity for 96% of his listeners. One just can not listen to Daily SearchCast and have it occupy idle brain cells like you can do with music. If you want more info about the topics mentioned during the webcast, go to his website, http://dailysearchcast.com, which has links for most of the topics discussed.

A similar webcast can be found at TWiT. If you like Leo Laporte, check out This Week In Tech.

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Below is the initial list, version 2, of issues for the TUESDAY, 17 October 2006, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:50 pm weekly gathering at Mister Churro, 207 N. Richmond St., Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. The final list will be posted on this blog by 1500 hours (3 pm) Central U.S.A. time on 17 October 2006.

1. Microsoft Streets & Trips 2007 With GPS Locator Helps Consumers Take the Tension out of Travel http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/Oct06/10-11TravelTensionPR.mspx Perhaps Andy can give us an update on whether the changes in Streets & Trips 2007 make it worth upgrading over earlier versions. Streets & Trips has been very useful for Andy, so if you have questions about it, talk with him at NEW NET.
2. Gtube: why copyright violations don't matter http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2006/10/why_copyright_v.php Google ticked me off by buying YouTube, and there was a temptation to not include the topic in this week’s NEW NET list. However, because Gtube has the potential for a huge impact, either good or bad, it had to be included.
3. Google Docs and Spreadsheets: Not quite Google Office, but closer http://news.com.com/2061-12572_3-6124601.html Writely and Gspreadsheets were combined in a common location and interface. For many people, such as soccer moms and community groups, Gdocs may now be a good alternative to emailing Word or Excel spreadsheets back and forth.
4. Google launches Mac blog http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/10/10/googlemac/index.php There have got to be lots of Mac diehards at Google, so it’s surprising it’s taken them this long to launch an official Mac blog.
5. Torvalds takes bite of Mac mini http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/hardware/soa/Torvalds_takes_bite_of_Mac_mini/0,130061702,339271592,00.htm Linus like some things about the Mac mini, but he is certainly not giving Apple rave reviews for their implementation.
6. What is Office 2.0? http://www.redmonk.com/sogrady/archives/002358.html An interesting think-piece about online apps and the possibilities of the MS Office model of digital documents transitioning for some organizations or people to an ‘online office apps & docs’ model.
7. 43 Folders Series: Inbox Zero http://www.43folders.com/izero/ Check out this webpage if your Inbox has more than 20 emails in it. This is the first time I’ve heard of 43Folders, but it had some interesting items. Not sure if the site would improve my effectiveness or just suck up my time reading it.
8. Business.com Launches Work.com http://www.traffick.com/2006/10/businesscom-launches-workcom.asp Work.com is described as a B2B version of About.com. Has useful info and suggestions for small and medium businesses, and you could make worthwhile connections with some of the site contributors.
9. Looking Sharp http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=19&entry_id=9823 Here’s an offer you may want to consider. Trial accounts are free until 15 Nov 2006. Sharpcast aims to make your synched digital content available to you online or offline on multiple electronic devices.
10. The Ongoing Struggle of Free vs. Fee, Part Two http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3623664 This post’s comment about ‘digital natives’ sparked a small epiphany. Media companies and digital content creators had a fighting chance with digital immigrants, but the new generation of digital natives will likely change the world because they’ve always known free and easily accessible digital content. They have little tolerance for the old models.
11. Wikipedia - Where do People Go After Visiting Wikipedia? http://weblogs.hitwise.com/heather-hopkins/2006/10/wikipedia_where_do_people_go_a_1.html The statistical analysis metrics discussed in this post could be a good tool to show where there is clear need for an online market leader. People wanting to build an internet company should read this post.
12. Time's About Up For Windows XP Service Pack 1 http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/10/still_running_service_pack_1_o.html
13. Top 10 annoying things about next gen http://www.unfetteredblather.com/?p=266
14. AMD takes wraps off of quad-core design http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061011-7961.html
15. Free international calling... for the next 3 years? http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/10/how_to_free_int.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
16. Eudora to partner with Mozilla and go open source http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061011-7962.html
17. Yahoo! Sites and Verizon SuperPages Lead in Share of U.S. Internet Yellow Pages Searches http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061009/cgm022.html?.v=68
18. Firms to boost Internet speeds without fiber-optics http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061010/wr_nm/broadband_television_dc
19. BounceBully: return spam to the spammer http://www.bouncebully.com/
20. Google reboots its master plan http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/2006/10/11/google-reboots-its-master-plan/
21. United States vs. Google: Benevolent Skynet or 1984? http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2006/10/united_states_v.php
22. IceWeasel - Why proprietary software will always win out. Humour? http://engtech.wordpress.com/2006/10/12/iceweasel-why-proprietary-software-will-always-win-out/
23. Google's personal search services http://www.currybet.net/cbet_blog/2006/10/smarter_searching_liberating_i.php
24. Fujitsu To Offer Flash-Disk Option With Laptops http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20061013/tc_pcworld/127501

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Blogger & New Laptop / NNi

Between Blogger not automatically saving periodically when a new post was being written tonight and my clumsy fingers not yet being used to the smaller keyboard on the new laptop, the original post for tonight for myDigitechnician got blown away into cyberspace.

Rather than spend another twenty minutes retyping the original post, the initial issues list for NEW NET will instead be posted. While tomorrow's post is typed, the "Save as Draft" button will occasionally be utilized to prevent a recurrence of tonight's performance.

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Below is the initial list of issues for the TUESDAY, 17 October 2006, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:50 pm weekly gathering at Mister Churro, 207 N. Richmond St., Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. The final list will be posted on this blog by 1500 hours (3 pm) Central U.S.A. time on 17 October 2006.

1. Microsoft Streets & Trips 2007 With GPS Locator Helps Consumers Take the Tension out of Travel http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/Oct06/10-11TravelTensionPR.mspx
2. Torvalds takes bite of Mac mini http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/hardware/soa/Torvalds_takes_bite_of_Mac_mini/0,130061702,339271592,00.htm
3. Google launches Mac blog http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/10/10/googlemac/index.php
4. Time's About Up For Windows XP Service Pack 1 http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/10/still_running_service_pack_1_o.html
5. Top 10 annoying things about next gen http://www.unfetteredblather.com/?p=266
6. AMD takes wraps off of quad-core design http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061011-7961.html
7. Free international calling... for the next 3 years? http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/10/how_to_free_int.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
8. Eudora to partner with Mozilla and go open source http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061011-7962.html
9. Google Docs and Spreadsheets: Not quite Google Office, but closer http://news.com.com/2061-12572_3-6124601.html
10. Yahoo! Sites and Verizon SuperPages Lead in Share of U.S. Internet Yellow Pages Searches http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061009/cgm022.html?.v=68
11. Firms to boost Internet speeds without fiber-optics http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061010/wr_nm/broadband_television_dc

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NEW NET Back To Tuesdays

The NEW NET weekly tech enthusiast meetings are being moved back to Tuesdays, starting with next Tuesday, October 17.

The move to Monday night as a way to see if Monday was more convenient for people did not result in an increase in attendance. Additionally, the Monday was inconvenient for several Tuesday people. The meeting night may be changed again in the future if it appears it would be beneficial. But for the foreseeable future, it will stay on Tuesday nights. Sorry, Steve! It seemed like you've got lots of other things going on right now with the family and other things anyway. Hope all is going well with the cross-border issues and everything else!

Last night's meeting was an interesting demo of the intricacies of upgrading a Linksys router to Linux. Certainly not a procedure for the uninitiated or faint of heart. Making the change to Linux allows the wireless router owner to gain all sorts of magical powers, including but not limited to increasing the router signal strength, controlling the bandwidth of individual users, and making it so no one person can hog all the bandwidth by using P2P or other large-volume applications.

Eric H was going to install the Linux software on a WRT54G router at BarCampMilwaukee, but he said that couldn't be done on a version 5 of the unit. I'm pretty sure the demo last night was on a version 5, so possibly at BarCampMadison, either Luke or Bob P could do a demo on installing Linux on a WRT54G v 5!

There were also a couple interesting conversations about malware at last night's NEW NET gathering. The two main issues were the problems seen by Internet Explorer users when the security hole was in the news and MS ended up patching it out-of-cycle. myDigitechnician has not yet seen malware infestations that seemed directly attributable to that issue, but that is likely because most myDigitechnician clients are home pc users rather than business users. One piece of advice from the meeting last night is for everyone to install the free Webroot SpySweeper malware scanner. It won't remove any malware, but it will prevent quite a bit of malware from jumping on your machines. And it will notify you if you have malware that you should use something else to remove. Or if you want, at that point you can pay Webroot for the annual use license and use SpySweeper to remove what it's found. None of the anti-malware products are foolproof, but SpySweeper is consistently one of the best.

The other malware discussion centered around the 'Chinese' attacks on US government computers. Bob P had an interesting explanation of how flashing the BIOS memory would allow other changes to be made on a computer hooked to the internet, which would allow the computer to be infected with no way to detect it (or almost no way we know of right now). The bad guys are taking malware to a whole new level. Kind of scary as to where we'll end up with online computer security and privacy in another year or two...

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NEW NET Final List for Week of 09 Oct 2006

As winter approaches and the daylight time gets shorter, the list of things to do seems to be getting longer.

Hence the lack of a substantive entry for the myDigitechnician blog this afternoon. Gotta put the NEW NET final list of issues online before 1500 hours today, but don't have the time to write a post on one of the hundreds of topics of interest to me. Too many other things higher up on the list right now...

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Below is the final list of issues for the Monday, 09 October 2006, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:50 pm weekly gathering at Mister Churro, 207 N. Richmond St., Appleton, Wisconsin, USA.

1. Best Buy, SanDisk, RealNetworks Unveil Player, Digital Music Store http://www.informationweek.com/industries/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=193104971 YAIK – yet another iPod killer. Will Best Buy (or Microsoft Zune) succeed where others have failed? What is it that makes iPod special, and how long will the specialness last?
2. More Than Half of the Nation's 117 Million Active Gamers Play Online, and 64% are Women http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061005/nyth091.html?.v=66 This may be an interesting way in which myDigitechnician can provide some worthwhile info to its clients. How might small business leverage this for their websites?
3. IE7 Is Coming This Month...Are you Ready? http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/10/06/IE7-Is-Coming-This-Month_2E002E002E00_Are-you-Ready_3F00_.aspx Make sure you understand how IE 7 will impact you personally or your clients, friends and relatives.
4. AT&T DSL: no more contracts http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061004-7907.html AT&T announced consumer-friendly internet access with the list price the same for month-to-month or a one-year contract, although one free month with a contract makes the annual contract slightly less expensive.
5. A List of Amazon S3 Backup Tools http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/007641.html Another article about online data storage service, although S3 is aimed more at developers than consumers or small businesses.
6. Chinese Hackers Hit Commerce Department http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=193105227 Does the US do less internet attacks on other countries than they do on the US? How can security and reasonable ‘net access be balanced. If government computers aren’t secure online, can consumer or business computers be safe online?
7. China jamming test sparks U.S. satellite concerns http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-10-05-satellite-laser_x.htm Someone told me it would be difficult to maintain satellite ‘net access in a moving vehicle because a poorly targeted connection could ‘block or burn out’ adjacent satellites. Seems like satellite communications have a long way to go to be secure and robust.
8. Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0 http://www.solutionwatch.com/515/back-to-school-with-the-class-of-web-20-part-2/ Security issues related to being on the net gives one pause when thinking about web applications and how digitally dependent we should be on internet applications and file storage.
9. Totally wireless on campus http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20061003/tc_usatoday/totallywirelessoncampus Understanding the direction of new internet businesses and young people entering the job market after college is a good thing.
10. PCI Express 2.0 nears completion http://news.com.com/PCI+Express+2.0+nears+completion/2100-1006_3-6123758.html Are you aware of the differences between PCI, PCI Express and PCI Express 2.0? Check out this article; it talks about graphics cards that “…slurp 225 or 300 watts of power…”
11. 20 Smart Companies to Start Now http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/09/01/8384349/
12. Sun to hold press conference in Second Life http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/10/06/sun_second_life/
13. Bush defies Congress on DHS privacy reports http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061006-7928.html
14. REVIEW: Writely mostly hits the mark http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061005/ap_on_hi_te/tech_test_writely
15. Instant-Messaging Chats, Like E-Mail, Can Last Forever http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,218339,00.html
16. Knocking the exuberance out of employees http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/10/knocking_the_ex.html
17. Worth a read: VoIP Hacks http://macvoip.com/stn/?p=195

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Web Apps, Security and the Future of the 'Net

Reading recent articles about 'Chinese attacks' on US government websites, proliferation of web apps, sneakier malware and pervasive 'net use by college students and other young people raises questions about the future of the 'net.

The article about attacks originating in China against US government websites brings up the question of how secure anyone can be online these days. According to the article, entire computers are being replaced by the government because it's feared the attackers may have stored "...malicious code in the BIOS flash memory." The government department officials said even wiping the hard drives might not make the computers safe to use.

A post on SolutionWatch.com gave a pretty good overview of web applications, especially with respect for use in educational settings. One potential problem, though, is what do you do if there are major security problems or an extended web outage and a significant amount of your data and the applications you use to do computer work are on the web. Maybe the answer is that if the web becomes so insecure or unreliable that a person can't trust it to store their data or to provide apps to process that data, then there are much bigger problems than how to retrieve or store our files.

The article about the Chinese attacks, as well as articles linked from the PCWorld 'spyware & security' webpage and other malware articles in the news lately reinforced the point that malware writers have a continual improvement goal. They work hard to be good at being bad guys. The articles also reinforced the opinions of Dan Ratner and Chunka Mui, two smart guys from the Chicago area, who stated at an MIT Enterprise Forum in Chicago earlier this year that security on the 'net will get much worse before it gets better.

Combine implications of the above articles and posts with an article about college student's expectations that the 'net and technology will be available everywhere and always in good working order. Shake well and out comes a mixture guaranteed to result in some interesting times. There is also a certain level of expectation on the part of young people that their online information requires no more care and feeding than does their cell phone or their iPod or their tv. As loosely controlled and protected as the 'net is, one has to wonder how it has lasted this long without falling apart or being torn apart. Is the long term future of the 'net one of sunshine and fun, or one where only gunslingers with no data to lose dare venture. Or, like most things in life, is it somewhere in-between, with a healthy dose of 'caveat emptor?'

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IE7 and Front Page: Change is Good? / NNi

A couple Microsoft changes were in the news recently which may impact people you know who use Internet Explorer or have a website designed with Front Page.

They say change is good. Ultimately these two Microsoft changes will unquestionably lead to good things. Unfortunately there will be short term problems caused by the changes.

It has been a lonnnnngggg time since major improvements were made in Internet Explorer. Because about 80% of people on the internet use IE, it was a popular program for malware writers to attack. Many people's adware or spyware woes are due to using IE. The release and subsequent popularity of the Firefox browser with some obvious improvements over IE has also put pressure on MS to issue an improved version of the world's most-used web browser.

IE7 problems will occur primarily because the improved browser is going to automatically installed on most people's WinXP SP2 computers. The change may cause confusion for some and will result in conflicts on a few systems. Because it's an auto-push, some people may see some changes and not know what caused the changes because they don't know they've switched from IE6 to IE7.

One potentially huge problem is retail online shopping websites that don't work properly with IE7. There is no way to tell for sure how many sites won't work well with IE7, but during the peak holiday sales period is not the best time to find out. In addition to potential sales problems for customers, there is the likelihood help desks everywhere will have phones ringing off the hook because of issues with the new browser version.

The other change is that MS is discontinuing support for its Front Page webpage design program. One impact of this change is some ISPs are discontinuing support of websites designed with Front Page. One reason for discontinuing support is MS will no longer develop and issue patches for security problems caused by Front Page. The ISPs have an obligation to not expose their systems to potential security problems which hosting websites built with Front Page could cause. For many ISPs that means no more hosting websites designed using Front Page.

Six months from now everyone will be glad that Front Page is gone and the world is surfing the web with IE7, but there will be a few pains and groans between now and then. Review your situtation and the situations of your customers and friends to minimize the pain they experience because of these two changes.

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Below is the initial list of issues for the Monday, 09 October 2006, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:50 pm weekly gathering at Mister Churro, 207 N. Richmond St., Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. The final list will be posted on this blog by 1500 hours (3 pm) Central U.S.A. time on 09 October 2006.

1. Best Buy, SanDisk, RealNetworks Unveil Player, Digital Music Store http://www.informationweek.com/industries/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=193104971
2. More Than Half of the Nation's 117 Million Active Gamers Play Online, and 64% are Women http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061005/nyth091.html?.v=66
3. IE7 Is Coming This Month...Are you Ready? http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/10/06/IE7-Is-Coming-This-Month_2E002E002E00_Are-you-Ready_3F00_.aspx
4. AT&T DSL: no more contracts http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061004-7907.html
5. A List of Amazon S3 Backup Tools http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/007641.html
6. 20 Smart Companies to Start Now http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/09/01/8384349/
7. Sun to hold press conference in Second Life http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/10/06/sun_second_life/
8. Bush defies Congress on DHS privacy reports http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061006-7928.html
9. REVIEW: Writely mostly hits the mark http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061005/ap_on_hi_te/tech_test_writely
10. Totally wireless on campus http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20061003/tc_usatoday/totallywirelessoncampus

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BarCamp Sessions

The best way to schedule and run barcamp sessions depend on what barcamp participants want to get out of them, what the experience and knowledge level of participants is and various other factors of each specific barcamp.

These comments are based on having attended only two barcamps; BarCampChicago and BarCampMilwaukee. Future barcamps, including BarCampMadison and maybe a MinneDemo, are eagerly anticipated by me because of the opportunity to meet new people, to learn about new topics, to share new tech-knowledgy gained in the next few months, and to see how a different group of people passionate about technology share what they know. It is likely sessions at each barcamp are run slightly or completely differently. Concepts of an ideal session are undoubtedly also slightly or completely different from one barcamper to the next. Chris Messina, Tara Hunt and others undoubtedly have valuable ideas about sessions based on a broad perspective and would likely share those views if asked.

Here's one description of an effective, interesting, fun session agenda for a barcamp:

• 200 participants registered for the two day event; 120 for both days, 50 just for the first day, 30 just for the second day
• 25 registered participants can't make it; 25 walk-in participants show up
  
• It's guaranteed that some registered people won't be able to participate
• It's good to allow for last-minute walk-ins
  
• Two main session tracks, with 8 one-hour slots on day one and 5 one-hour slots on day two.
• Having only two main tracks means less people will miss sessions of interest. When there are four or five tracks in one time slot, it's likely one or more sessions of interest will be missed for that time slot.
• Main sessions will have a pre-defined location to move to after the end of the session for those who wish to continue an interesting and passionate discussion.
• Prior to barcamp, registered participants indicate their topics of interest both for leading sessions and for participating in sesssions as other than a leader. People signing up to lead sessions in the two main tracks are encouraged to do sessions which have been indicated by registered participants as areas of high interest.
  
• For those with a strong desire to lead a session topic outside the two main tracks in a more informal setting, to a smaller group, or to a more focused audience, impromptu mini-sessions will be organized in the first five minutes of each time slot. Those sessions are limited to ten participants and run for as long as there is interest, whether that is ten minutes or three hours.
• A cowbell or other technologically advanced sound and/or light method of notification will be used so that all those at barcamp are aware when each time slot ends and the next time slot begins. Sessions end at three to five minutes before the hour and start at three to five minutes after the hour. Time for a quick bathroom break and grabbing a beverage and snack. That way new sessions can start on time and those wishing to move from one session to a different one will know when the new session is starting.
• Session venues will be separated sufficiently by physical barriers and by distance so participants aren't distracted by stuff happening outside their session.

After letting the grey matter percolate on this topic overnight, a few other general statements about sessions will be entered into tomorrow's post on this bat-station, or bat-channel, whichever it is.

*****

Business and Personal Data Security & Reliability

To improve data security and reliability, some time was spent today making a list of the various devices and services that transmit or contain business and personal data.

Because of the recent purchase of a new laptop, proper security and reliability of important data are a current concern. Digital data and a proliferation of computers, portable electronics, and portable data storage devices have introduced a wide spectrum of data risks. Business and personal data used to be pretty much restricted to paper documents which were kept at a place of business or at home and the only way that data moved around was through the mail or by personally carrying it from place to place.

Boy, have things changed...

In addition to paper documents, the following devices may contain business or personal data:

• Personal and/or work laptop
• Personal and/or work desktop
• Non-owned computers (work, friends, library, internet cafe, etc)
• PDA
• Phone
• CDs & DVDs
• USB flash drives
• Portable digital music players (e.g. iPod)
• Portable hard drives
• Flash memory cards (e.g. CF, SD, etc)
• 3.5" floppies (nearly extinct)

In addition to the US mail and personally carrying it with you, data can be moved around by the following means:

• Internet
• Web browser (http)
• Email
• IM (instant messaging)
• VoIP (internet telephony, such as Skype)
• P2P
  
• FTP
• Online storage
  
• Intranets
• Work
• Home (wired & wireless)
• Non work/home (friends, library, internet cafe; wired & wireless)

You can lose your data in the following ways:

• Lose a physical device (flash drive or memory card is small and easy to lose; cell phone or pda is easy to set down and forget, laptops can get forgotten at airport security or other places when traveling)
• Have a device stolen (laptops are prime targets for thieves, as are other small electronic devices)
• Data intercepted online
• By ISP/Telecom/Backbone network employee
• Companies or governments (legal)
  
• Crackers
• rogue individuals
• organized crime
• governments
• companies
  
• Data intercepted when transmitting wirelessly (especially at free hotspots)
• Data stolen by eavesdropping or covert monitoring (discovering PIN numbers when you use phones, ATMs or other data entry devices)
  
• Physical device fails and files have not been backed up (hard drive dies, flash drive wears out)
• Data is in your possession, but you can't access it (can't find file on your hard drive or lost the password for an encrypted file)

Quite a few security and reliability risks are listed above. At least 95% of the US population has data at risk due to one or more of the above issues.

The question now is, "What should you do about those risks?"

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BarCampMilwaukee Aftermath / NNf

BarCampMilwaukee is over for this year. In the next few days, the aftermath of the event will be documented and possibilities for the future will be explored.

Approximately one hundred people participated in the first BarCampMilwaukee, 30 September - 01 October 2006. New connections were made between people passionate about technology and about how it can be used or created. The 31 hours of BarCampMilwaukee were a fun and interesting time, and the sessions I participated in were exercises in learning, sharing and stretching my mind. There are still random thoughts from countless conversations bouncing around from one gray cell to another. As those thoughts coalesce, a list of possibilities and some priorities will emerge and be documented on this blog.

Several items on this week's NEW NET issue list are about the Yahoo Hack Day which was also held this weekend. Hack Day was somewhat like BarCampMilwaukee, only on a grander and slightly more expensive scale. The number 10 item on the NEW NET list below discusses how traditional industry conferences and expos are not faring as well as in the past, and barcamps and 'hack days' may be some of the events filling the void.

Today's post will be short so I can get the NEW NET issues list on-line in preparation for tonight's gathering at Mister Churro. If you were unable to participate in BarCampMilwaukee, consider participating in BarCampMadison in early 2007. Watch the BarCampMilwaukee Aftermath webpage for future events and projects in which you can participate and collaborate. And put BarCampMilwaukee 2007 on your calendar for next year as soon as the date is set. We look forward to seeing you there!

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NEW NET at Mister Churro on Monday !

Below is the final list of issues for the Monday, 25 September 2006, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:50 pm weekly gathering at Mister Churro, 207 N. Richmond St., Appleton, Wisconsin, USA.

1. Lawsuit tries to pin blame for murders on GTA: Vice City http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060926-7838.html
2. Hackers claim zero-day flaw in Firefox http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-6121608.html
3. Sandisk Announces 12GB and 16GB Extreme III CF Cards http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4320
4. House approves warrantless wiretapping http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060929-7867.html
5. OpenBSD creator wants users to pressure Intel on open source policies http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061002-7874.html
6. One phone number to rule them all http://www.lifehacker.com/software/telephone/one-phone-number-to-rule-them-all-203629.php
7. Creative mayhem at Yahoo's first-ever software hack-a-thon http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061001/tc_afp/afplifestyleitinternet
8. Yahoo Hack Day http://p6.hostingprod.com/@www.ventureblog.com/articles/indiv/2006/001258.html
9. All Women Team Takes Yahoo Hack Day Top Prize http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/10/01/all-women-team-takes-yahoo-hack-day-top-prize/
10. Tech Trends Threaten Trade Shows http://news.yahoo.com/s/ibd/20060927/bs_ibd_ibd/2006927tech
11. McAfee: Microsoft completely unrealistic on Vista http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061002-7875.html
12. IE 7 May Impact E-tailers' Sales http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061002/tc_cmp/193100905
13. Only a "moron" would buy YouTube http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060929/wr_nm/media_youtube_dc
14. HP goes shopping, comes home with VoodooPC http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060928-7863.html
15. AMD signs deal with number two Chinese PC builder http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060929-7865.html
16. First look at Wallop http://blogs.zdnet.com/Stewart/?p=124
17. Virtual schools and tutors offer students new opportunities http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060928-7859.html
18. The long tail is real, but only a handful are cashing in http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3674
19. Google, Intel Call For Vastly More Efficient PC Power Supplies http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20060927/tc_cmp/193005954
20. PC World's 100 Fearless Forecasts http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20060929/tc_pcworld/127152
21. Co-founder tells his side of Apple story http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060927/tc_nm/wozniak_dc
22. Screeching mobiles that give thieves ear bashings http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6121684.html
23. Video games aim to spice up old people's lives http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060930/tc_afp/afplifestyleusitgameshealthelderly
24. Gameworld: Older women rule ... the casual games market http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060928/tc_nm/leisure_gaming_women_dc
25. Pangea Arcade game now available http://news.yahoo.com/s/macworld/20060929/tc_macworld/pangea20060929

*****