myDigitechnician: November 2006

2006/11/28

Spam: Email, IM, TXT/SMS...

A recent article states, "The number of spam email messages has tripled since June [2006] and now accounts for nine out of 10 emails sent worldwide..."

My own experience bears out the trend of spam overload mentioned above. There were 98 emails in my Junk (spam) email folder last night when I emptied it only 24 hours after the previous deletion session. Those Junk folder email From and Subject fields were briefly scanned one by one to make sure the filter didn't have false positives (a 'good' email marked judged to be spam). About fourty of those were missed by the spam filter and showed up in my Inbox, where I marked them as spam for future filtering.

Six months ago, there would have been about ten emails collected in the Junk folder in a 24 hour period and five spam emails missed by the filter which ended up in the Inbox.

Six months ago it didn't seem worthwhile to spend time on stand-alone email spam filters or develop an email address strategy to significantly reduce the time spent dealing with spam. It seems that situation may have changed.

Unwanted mass communications are driven by several factors. Foremost is the fact that unwanted mass communications often result in the sender making money from the communications. As long as the mass mailers make money and there are negligible penalties for sending out their junk, they will continue to increase the amount of junk coming your way. Complicating factors with respect to email are a couple human traits and the low cost of sending out mass emails. The human traits are greed and gullibility (thinking they can get something for free, or nearly free) and a generally low level of computer or technological savvy.

Many young people use IM (instant messaging) much more than email, partly in response to spam and partly due to preference for faster and shorter communications. It is likely, however, that mass marketers will increase the amount of unwanted communications (spam or, for those not adverse to buzzwords, 'spim') in the IM world, just as they did with email. The same holds true for text messaging on cell phones (TXT/SMS) and whatever other communication methods are developed in the future.

These unwanted mass communication trends are a result of two truisms:

Any tool that can be used can also be abused (e.g. nuclear energy)
Human greed (a Chinese proverb says "Love is blind and greed insatiable", Socrates said "All wars are undertaken for the acquisition of wealth", and Virgil said " O accursed hunger of gold, to what dost thou not compel human hearts.") A Quote Garden webpage has some more interesting quotes about greed, including one by Gandhi warning what will happen if India adopts the industrial ways of the west...

Two lessons about take away from the above discussion are:

Commonly used forms of communication will always be subject to unwanted mass communications from 'marketers', and a strategy is advisable to minimize the annoyance caused by those mass communications
Utilizing communication methods which have not yet been adopted by a majority of people will minimize the amount of unwanted mass communications

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Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 28 November 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 ‘net

Could the end of net neutrality kill online gaming? http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061122-8275.html
Web 2.0: AJAX is not a robust internet tool http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2006/11/25/forward_to_the_distributed_revolution/
Xbox 360 Live Overwhelmed by Demand http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20061124/tc_nf/48219
Create your own free social websites with Ning http://www.ning.com/
Why Web 2.0 is more than a buzzword http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/11/why_web_20_is_m.html

Security & Privacy

"Psiphoning" data past the censors http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061122-8274.html http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/27/technology/27censorship.html?ref=business
Kevin Mitnick's Security Advice http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72116-0.html
Catching Cyber-Criminals By Thinking Like Them http://www.prweb.com/releases/cyber/criminals/prweb483300.htm
PGP creator: Net is like 'downtown Bagdad' http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/21/pgp_at_15/
The Story of PGP: Past, Present and Future http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=870
Mobile VPN is better choice than SSL VPN http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2006/112706-mobile-ssl-vpn-yes.html
Justice Official Opens Spying Inquiry http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/washington/28nsa.html

Mobile Computing & Communicating

Cell phone owners will be allowed to break software locks http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061123/ap_on_hi_te/digital_copyright
Pando Breaks Attachment Limit For Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061123/tc_cmp/195900056
The Six Biggest Ideas In Chat http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/24/the-six-biggest-new-ideas-in-chat/
More than 15% of people carry two wireless phones http://blogs.zdnet.com/ITFacts/?p=12114
Loki Location-Based Search and 'Virtual GPS' http://loki.com/how-it-works/determining-location.html

Open Source

Mark Shuttleworth invites OpenSUSE developers to join Ubuntu http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061125-8286.html
French MPs dump Windows for Linux http://software.silicon.com/os/0,39024651,39164312,00.htm
Open Source Gift Guide http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/11/open_source_gif.html
Open Source Event Kicks Off in Bangalore http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=19884&hed=Open+Source+Event+Kicks+Off
Linux Cellphone partners with Open-Source Developer http://www.slashgear.com/linux-cellphone-partners-with-open-source-developer-272645.php

SkyNet

Google shares climb past $500 barrier http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/11/22/cngoog22.xml
GoogleOS: What To Expect http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/googleos_what_to_expect.php
Google shuts down Gaia efforts with cease and desist http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/index.php?p=400
Philanthropic Google jobs http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/topic.py?dep_id=10093&loc_id=1116 http://google.org/

General Technology

The Long Now and SALT http://www.longnow.org/about/ http://www.longnow.org/projects/seminars/
In the Wii-PS3 Playoff, Nintendo Upsets Sony on the Fun Factor http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/22/AR2006112201857.html
Make your Mac's Speech Recognition work for you http://www.lifehacker.com/software/speech-recognition/hack-attack-make-your-macs-speech-recognition-work-for-you-215764.php
Health fears lead schools to dismantle wireless networks http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2461748,00.html
Guy Kawasaki Interviews Steve Wozniak http://www.zbiz.tv/2006/11/19/guy-kawasaki-interviews-steve-wozniak/
Mac vs. PC: How to Decide http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/25/AR2006112500045.html
Price war over online photos hits new low http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2006-11-26-prints-usat_x.htm
My productivity has peaked http://management.silicon.com/careers/0,39024671,39164347,00.htm

Economy and Technology

Flickr Blows up Market Research Biz http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2006/11/21/flickr_blows_up.html
Investing time and money in virtual worlds: Caveat Emptor http://www.venturebeat.com/contributors/2006/11/22/investing-time-and-money-in-virtual-worlds-caveat-emptor/
The Rise of "Freeconomics" http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2006/11/the_rise_of_fre.html
SaaS adoption set to explode http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2006/11/cio_interest_in.php
Mistakes Made On The Road To Innovation http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_48/b4011421.htm

*****

2006/11/27

PGP and Email Encryption

PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), an encryption tool for email, has been popping up fairly often as of late.

Two examples were in the news this past week. The first was in an article by Kevin Mitnick, a figure well known in the hacker world. Kevin penned an article about protecting yourself and your digital data in today's world. His first recommendation was spot on -- back up everything. His sixth recommendation was to use PGP encryption for sensitive emails, because sending an email through cyberspace is like sending a postcard through snailmail. Everyone that handles or cares to look at that postcard can read it.

The second instance of PGP was in articles mentioning that PGP celebrated its 15th birthday. One article featured some comments from Phil Zimmerman, the controversial creator of PGP. On a less than optimistic note, Phil said, "The internet has gone from [being] a gentleman's club for academics to something fiendishly hostile. It's changed from something like a university campus to downtown Bagdad."

Phil's comment echoes the feelings of Dan Ratner (electrical engineer, serial entrepreneur, and co-author of nanotechnology books) and Chunka Mui (futurist and author of "Unleashing the Killer App"). Dan and Chunka were on a panel at an MIT Enterprise Forum event in Chicago a few months ago and commented on security in the digital world. When asked about internet security and identity theft, both said they expect things to get worse before they get better.

Bob P and Luke W from NEW NET are also proponents of encryption for email. NEW NET may do a couple sessions on PGP and encryption, but any effort to increase the use of email encryption faces two roadblocks. The first is the lack of built-in PGP tools in most email programs. The second roadblock is the laissez-faire attitude of most people toward their email being easily read. The first roadblock could be overcome technically, but until a significant percentage of people decide email encryption is something they want/need, PGP will languish like the Opera browser, TOR, and OpenID.

If interested in encryption, consider reading Crypto, by Steven Levy and Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. If you want to discuss the topic, come to a NEW NET meeting (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology issues). NEW NET generally meets weekly on Tuesday evenings, with date/time/location of meetings posted weekly on this blog. This week's meeting is at 6:50 pm, Tuesday, 28 Nov, at Mister Churro, 207 N. Richmond Street, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA.

*****

2006/11/21

NNf: NEW NET Issues for 21 Nov 2006

Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 21 November 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 ‘net

Google, Yahoo, Microsoft adopt same Web index tool http://news.com.com/Google,+Yahoo,+Microsoft+adopt+same+Web+index+tool/2100-1025_3-6136041.html
Copyrights and Content Creation in Second Life http://blog.secondlife.com/2006/11/13/copyrights-and-content-creation-in-second-life/
China Lifts Wikipedia Ban, but Some Topics Remain Blocked http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/technology/16wiki.html
Free AOL Stuff, Courtesy of Bubble 2.0 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/technology/16pogue.html
Microsoft Launches Office Live Out Of Beta http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=194400419
Chinese dalliance with Wikipedia may be over http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061117-8245.html
The race to create a 'smart' Google http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/11/27/8394347/

Security & Privacy

Still sticking it to the consumer http://news.com.com/Still+sticking+it+to+the+consumer/2010-1023_3-6135578.html
Best Buy tries to copyright sales prices http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061114-8218.html

Mobile Computing & Communicating

AOL instant-messaging service widens features http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2006-11-14-aol-aim_x.htm?POE=TECISVA
Never Miss a Show with Pinnacle PCTV To Go http://news.digitaltrends.com/article11747.html
Hacking Email: 99 tips to make you more secure and productive http://www.itsecurity.com/features/99-email-security-tips-112006/

Open Source

Sun to release OpenSolaris under the GPL? http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061114-8224.html
IBM unimpressed with open source Java http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061114-8215.html
Java goes GPL (Long live Machiavelli!) http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2006/11/java_goes_gpl_l.html
Java Look-Alike Project Pushed Sun To Make Java Open Source http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=194300265
Sun's move to GPL Java shades of failed Xerox http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/7147/53/
D-Bus 1.0 released http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061114-8222.html
System76, Linux Hardware for Everyone http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/11/system76.html
Ballmer: Linux Infringes on Microsoft Intellectual Property http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=110006GY0INS

SkyNet

Google Adds Public Event Search http://gigaom.com/2006/11/15/google-adds-public-event-search/
Google Pages Updated to Loose Spammers http://www.sda-asia.com/sda/features/psecom,id,761,srn,2,nodeid,4,_language,Singapore.html

General Technology

New MacBook, MacBook Pros get 802.11n treatment http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0611macbook80211n.html
MIT develops model for wireless power http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061115-8229.html
Microsoft releases PowerShell http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061115-8234.html
Israel's 'spy fly' to track and kill terrorists http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Health__Science/Israels_spy_fly_to_track_and_kill_terrorists/articleshow/481778.cms
Toshiba brings 8Gb high-speed, high capacity card to global market http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/7303/52/
One Laptop per Child: Computer designed for those who can least afford them http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/19/features/design20.php
The Significance of Threadless.com http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/11/the_significanc.html
What Will Wii Controller Unlock? http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,72145-0.html
The Digital Ice Age http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4201645.html

Economy and Technology

MSN Is Still Going Nowhere Fast http://internet.seekingalpha.com/article/20639
Connectors http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2006/11/connectors.html
Avatars Air Grievances http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/newsanalysis/techgames/10322994.html
Second Life, Economic Evolution and the CopyBot http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20061117/
CopyBot http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/11/15/copybot
Universal Music Group sues MySpace http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061117-8247.html
Salad days are over for Yahoo; pass the peanut butter http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061119-8251.html
Bioenergy: 25% by 2025 http://www.25x25.org/

*****

2006/11/20

Java, Linux, Novell/MS, and Steve Ballmer

This week's NEW NET issues list has links to several articles discussing various impacts of open source on today's tech world.

There are different potential motivations for both Microsoft and Novell to have agreed to the partnership where the Linux and Windows worlds will theoretically work better together. And there are many paths which could result from the Novell/MS partnership.

However, Steve Ballmer's remarks this past week tend to point one at the darker motivations and paths. According to several sources, Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, stated "We've had an issue, a problem that we've had to confront, and because open-source Linux does not come from a company -- Linux comes from the community -- the fact that that product uses our patented intellectual property is a problem for our shareholders."

Another open source event in the news this past week was the Sun Microsystems release of Java under the GPL license. If you're interested in how one open source issue can be interpreted by the various parties involved, read the articles and posts about the open sourcing of Java in tomorrow's post on this blog. How open source can best be implemented is an interesting topic, and depends mostly on your viewpoint. There does, however, seem to be a growing tide of agreement that open source is important and is here to stay.

*****

2006/11/16

Black Friday Bargain Hunting

Luke's Picks for Black Friday:

* Circuit City - eVGA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB PCI Express $89.99 after rebates

Fantastic price on an excellent card. Batman has an XFX 7600GT 256MB, and it rocks out.

* Circuit City - Acer Turion64 X2 Laptop with 1GB DDR2, 120gb HD and built in webcam

Awesome powerhouse laptop. Originally $899.99 -- $100 in mail-ins, $200 instant savings. Acer is a great brand for laptops. My current laptop is an Acer, and it has held up superbly.

* Circuit City - $9.99 Netgear wireless router, after $70 in rebates

Pretty cheap for a basic wireless setup. I prefer Linksys products, but this'll do, too.

* Best Buy - Compaq, AMD Athlon64 3700+ w/ 1GB RAM and 250GB HD, 15"
LCD, $399.97

If you're looking for a cheap desktop system, this one's hard to beat.

Combine it with the eVGA GeForce 7600 GT from Circuit City, and you have yourself a powerful gaming machine for less than $500. Best thing about the Best Buy deals? Instant Savings.

* Best Buy - Western Digital 250GB HD $69.99

From the picture, it appears to be an external drive, but it doesn't say explicitly. Either way, a good price.

* Best Buy - MAG 17" LCD monitor $79.99

Good deal on a 17" LCD.

* Best Buy - Virgin Mobile "Oyster" pay-as-you-go phone $9.99

Andy from NEW NET clued us in on this. The Virgin Mobile phones are a pretty good deal if you need a pay-as-you-go phone. Personally, I intend to get one so I can use it while traveling. I DOUBT you'll need to hit the stores at 0Dark:30 in the morning to get one of these though.

* Best Buy - HP Laptop, Intel Core Solo/Centrino Platform. 512MB ram, 80GB HD $379.99

Normally I like to stick to Acer, Apple, and Toshiba for my laptops. BUT, $379.99 is hard to shake a stick at. This one is rated "Vista Ready" but I'd say the heck with that. Run Windows XP on it, and you'll be much happier. If you want to run Vista on a laptop get the Acer Turion64 from Circuit City, and upgrade to Vista in the second half of 2007.

Luke's AVOID THESE DEALS:

* Best Buy - Nintendo DS $99.99

Not only is this the first generation Nintendo DS and not the newer DS Lite, but it's also the regular price for the unit. There's no reason to wait in line before the sun is up for this.

* Everywhere - Nintendo DS for $129.99

This is the 2nd generation, DS Lite. BUT, $129.99 is the normal price for it. There's no reason to buy it on Black Friday. It's a neat system, but wait till you can buy it without fighting the hordes.

* Anywhere - Any older videogame systems

Do your research, make sure you're actually getting a bargain. With the launching of the Sony PS3 and the Nintendo Wii, now is not the time to buy an older console. Wait awhile, and the prices will fall on the last-gen machines.

Final Thoughts:

"Black Friday" can be the source of great deals, or it can merely be a big headache. Do your homework! Know the regular prices of the items you're looking at are, and compare that with their sale prices on Black Friday. If you're not sure what the price on a piece of computer hardware or videogame system is, give us a call at 920-858-1377. We'll give you our opinion on that piece of hardware and whether we think it's a good deal. I didn't list them above because there were so many different deals, but this is a great time to get a 1GB or 2GB USB Flash Drive. Many of them are available for between $8 and $32. Remember to watch the ads for which are instant-savings and which are after-mail-in-rebate savings. Best Buy, under their policy of abolishing mail-in rebates, has some positively AWESOME deals that are in-store savings, at least as far as the ad-scans I've read indicate. Double-check with your local ads when they arrive, just to be sure. The above prices are from Black Friday websites, so there may be some variation from the prices listed above. Dress Warmly, and bring some hot chocolate or coffee with you. It can be a COLD wait out there in the dark morning of the parking lot.

*****

2006/11/14

Blogger Woes / NNf

It seems the time has finally come to switch from the original Blogger system to the new beta version.

The previous post on this blog (Sun Java Released to Open Source) was written last night. However, when an attempt was made to publish the post, Blogger refused to cooperate, reporting that there were errors. A second attempt was made, on the hope that the 'error' was merely a temporary glitch in Blogger's performance. No dice on Try # 2. Going with the theory that maybe that post's webpage was just messed up, the page was closed out, a new browser page opened, and Blogger was logged into again. The post was re-written and, once again, the Publish button clicked. Try # 3 -- futility personified. Not wanting to leave the dead horse less than thoroughly flogged, several more tries were made with variations on a theme. All to no avail, of course. In due course, the white flag was raised, Firefox was shut down and more fruitful tasks were pursued.

When myDigitechnician's Blogger account was opened this morning, the 'Java Open-Source' post was in the edit screen, but had not yet been published. So the Edit button was clicked for the 'Java' post, and after verifying that the draft post seemed in good order, the Publish button was clicked, albeit with no drum roll. A quick check of the myDigitechnician blog show that, yes, indeed, the post had published. For good measure, apparently, two additional copies of the post had been published. Triple-goodness!! A quick trip back to the blog control panel and several clicks of the Delete button brought us to the current state of one copy of the post, published just as desired.

The above process convinced me to transfer over to the new version of Blogger. According to what I've read online, the beta version doesn't have any of the problems the legacy version is experiencing.

If you've got a fairly easy blogging solution you'd recommend as an alternative to Blogger, please let this beleaguered blogboy know!

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Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 14 November 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 people have expressed a desire to periodically meet at places other than Mister Churro. Tom's has free wireless, good food and a nice upstairs area where the manager said NEW NET can meet.

The ‘net

A Web Site to Call Your Own http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/technology/02pogue.html?8dpc=&_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1163088146-/yvGde6NV7/5GF3bxjrxNQ
Pre-DOCSIS 3.0 rollout in South Korea hits 100Mbps http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8195.html
Yahoo to embed instant messaging into e-mail http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8192.html
Amazon S3: Show me the money http://blogs.smugmug.com/onethumb/2006/11/10/amazon-s3-show-me-the-money/
The YourMinis Do-It-All Flash Homepage http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/11/the-yourminis-do-it-all-flash-homepage/
Find, Track and Review Conferences http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/13/confabb-find-track-and-review-conferences/

Security & Privacy

Alarm Raised for Critical Broadcom Wi-Fi Driver Flaw http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20061111/tc_zd/193827
Phishers Cast Bait for Bigger Catch http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20061110/tc_zd/193799
Universities move to hide work from U.S. eyes http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061111.gtuniversities11/BNStory/Technology/
Mutate, fragment, hide: The new hacker mantra http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9004967

Mobile Computing & Communicating

Yahoo, Linksys Unveil VOIP Cordless Phone http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127806-c,webtelephonyconferencing/article.html http://www.techtree.com/India/News/New_Phone_Uses_Yahoo_Messenger/551-77101-615.html
Motorola Buys Mobile App Company http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20061110/tc_pcworld/127850
Samsung Unveils Multi-featured PDA With WiMax http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061109/tc_cmp/193600742
Geek to Live: Essential tools for the placeless office http://www.lifehacker.com/software/collaboration/geek-to-live--essential-tools-for-the-placeless-office-213641.php
Surf 'n' ride: Access the Net in the car http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061110/ap_on_hi_te/autos_mobile_internet

Open Source

Open Source VoIP Takes A Few Steps Forward http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061109/tc_cmp/193600550
Open Season on Closed Platforms at Web 2.0 http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061109/tc_cmp/193600882
Microsoft And Oracle Are Following The Linux Leader http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061111/tc_cmp/193700586
Samba Team Asks Novell to Reconsider http://news.samba.org/announcements/team_to_novell/
Sun frees Java source code into public domain http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061113/tc_afp/usitinternetsoftware
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/fueling_the_network_effect

SkyNet

Oops! Google Sent 'Worm' to E-mail List http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3642906
Google Checkout waives fees for holidays http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061109/ap_on_hi_te/google_checkout
Google adds start page to Google Apps for Your Domain http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061113-8211.html
Google’s Marissa Mayer: Speed wins http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3925
Google Earth maps history http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061114/tc_afp/afplifestyleitinternethistorymapsgoogle

General Technology

Looking for a new video game system? http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-11-09-console-cover_x.htm
Gigantic Polar Storm Spotted on Saturn http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,228626,00.html
Blog with daily flash game reviews http://www.freegamesnews.com/en/index.php

Economy and Technology

IBM galvanized by video game business http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061110/ap_on_hi_te/game_chips_ibm
Q& A: Amazon's Jeff Bezos At Web 2.0 http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061111/tc_cmp/193700471
IBM accelerates push into 3D virtual worlds http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061110/wr_nm/ibm_dc
Sites Give Sneak Peek At Black Friday Deals http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061114/tc_cmp/194300123
Today's teens will change the way we work... http://comment.silicon.com/editorsblog/0,3800012021,39163087,00.htm

*****

2006/11/13

Sun Java Released to Open Source

Jonathan Schwartz, president of Sun Microsystems, announced on his blog today that Sun is releasing Java under the open source GPL version 2.

Tim O'Reilly, head of O'Reilly Media, said "Everyone has been expecting that one day Sun would open source Java technology, but no one expected just how far they'd go -- GPL. "It's a bold move and a great opportunity both for Sun and for free and open source software."

Jonathan mentioned that part of Sun's motivation in releasing under the GPL was the Novell/Microsoft announcement last week which suggested "that free and open source software wasn't safe unless a royalty was being paid." Another bit of negative feedback about the Novell/MS deal came from the Samba team who said Novell should "work with the Software Freedom Law Center to undo the patent agreement and acknowledge its obligations as a beneficiary of the Free Software community." Not too much chance of that happening, but it will be interesting to watch whether Novell's move makes SUSE stronger in the Linux world or whether it hurt's SUSE's market share.

It's been an exciting and interesting two weeks in the open source world. Although much of the open source movement in the USA is restricted to the tech or geek community, there are increasing signs of the open source concept creeping into other sectors of the American economy and society.

To open your eyes a bit wider about open source, consider reading "Open Sources 2.0" from O'Reilly Media. You'll be glad you did.

*****

2006/11/12

Telephone Options / NNi

Yahoo and Linksys' announcement of a dual landline/VoIP phone they're releasing, along with numerous phone discussions at NEW NET, may be the impetus needed to move me into internet-enabled telephone calling.

Because of limited phone usage and a strong dislike for the low quality of cell phones conversations compared to land line calls, my usage of internet phone calls has thus far been negligible. But technology is approaching the point where the benefits may be worth the lower quality and slight hassle. A concerted effort will be made over the next two weeks to understand all the options to land lines and traditional cell phones which are relevant to my situation. A combination of web research, talking to Andy M and others at NEW NET, and discussions with people who extensively use something other than land lines and traditional cell phones should give a good overview.

What would really be nice is a phone/pda, 3.5" screen, with GPS and wifi, a switch to change phone mode from cell to wifi, and a selection of pre-loaded VoIP packages that work transparently with the phone and can be easily switched from Yahoo to Skype to Google to Jajah to xxx. That would allow using the normal cell phone service to make calls when not at a wifi hotspot, with easy switch over to free or very-low cost VoIP when around free wifi. No mp3 player is needed, because that will only drain the battery faster than the wifi alone will. No camera needed, either -- just raises the phone cost. Not sure if a slide-out keyboard is worthwhile -- could go either way with that one. The GPS will be designed to work seamlessly with any of the major mapping programs whilst online via wifi, and will have a good map program (MS Streets and Trips?) in memory for times when there is no wifi available. Oh yeah, the phone should be available for $99 or less from the cell service provider.

Somebody call me when my phone is ready to be picked up.

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Below is the initial list of issues for the TUESDAY, 14 November 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 people have expressed a desire to periodically meet at places other than Mister Churro. 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 14 November 2006. See you at Tom's!

The ‘net

A Web Site to Call Your Own http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/technology/02pogue.html?8dpc=&_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1163088146-/yvGde6NV7/5GF3bxjrxNQ
Pre-DOCSIS 3.0 rollout in South Korea hits 100Mbps http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8195.html
Yahoo to embed instant messaging into e-mail http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8192.html
Amazon S3: Show me the money http://blogs.smugmug.com/onethumb/2006/11/10/amazon-s3-show-me-the-money/
The YourMinis Do-It-All Flash Homepage http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/11/the-yourminis-do-it-all-flash-homepage/

Security & Privacy

Alarm Raised for Critical Broadcom Wi-Fi Driver Flaw http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20061111/tc_zd/193827
Phishers Cast Bait for Bigger Catch http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20061110/tc_zd/193799
Universities move to hide work from U.S. eyes http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061111.gtuniversities11/BNStory/Technology/
Mutate, fragment, hide: The new hacker mantra http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9004967

Mobile Computing & Communicating

Yahoo, Linksys Unveil VOIP Cordless Phone http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127806-c,webtelephonyconferencing/article.html http://www.techtree.com/India/News/New_Phone_Uses_Yahoo_Messenger/551-77101-615.html
Motorola Buys Mobile App Company http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20061110/tc_pcworld/127850
Samsung Unveils Multi-featured PDA With WiMax http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061109/tc_cmp/193600742
Geek to Live: Essential tools for the placeless office http://www.lifehacker.com/software/collaboration/geek-to-live--essential-tools-for-the-placeless-office-213641.php
Surf 'n' ride: Access the Net in the car http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061110/ap_on_hi_te/autos_mobile_internet

Open Source

Open Source VoIP Takes A Few Steps Forward http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061109/tc_cmp/193600550
Open Season on Closed Platforms at Web 2.0 http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061109/tc_cmp/193600882
Microsoft And Oracle Are Following The Linux Leader http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061111/tc_cmp/193700586

SkyNet

Oops! Google Sent 'Worm' to E-mail List http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3642906
Google Checkout waives fees for holidays http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061109/ap_on_hi_te/google_checkout

General Technology

Looking for a new video game system? http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-11-09-console-cover_x.htm
Gigantic Polar Storm Spotted on Saturn http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,228626,00.html
Blog with daily flash game reviews http://www.freegamesnews.com/en/index.php

Economy and Technology

IBM galvanized by video game business http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061110/ap_on_hi_te/game_chips_ibm
Q& A: Amazon's Jeff Bezos At Web 2.0 http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061111/tc_cmp/193700471
IBM accelerates push into 3D virtual worlds http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061110/wr_nm/ibm_dc

*****

2006/11/11

Black Ops: Fox Valley Battalion Gamers Club

Black Ops, the gaming enthusiast division of myDigitechnician, today identified its first location for holding Fox Valley LAN gaming parties.

Pizza King, 800 E. Wisconsin Avenue, Appleton, has a separate room they are willing to reserve for a LAN (local area network) video gaming party. The only cost to the gamers is that at least $25 worth of food and drinks must be ordered. That should be no problem for a group of hungry and thirsty gamers.

Luke W, director of Black Ops, and a fellow gamer inspected the Pizza King facilities today. Luke and the store manager discussed the possibility of holding LAN parties there. The manager was open to the idea and showed Luke the room where the gaming would be done. The room will accomodate up to twelve gamers and their equipment.

Next steps for video gaming events sponsored by Black Ops include:

Establish a web presence for Black Ops gaming events
Connect with Fox Valley gamers
Develop promo materials for Black Ops gaming events
Identify other Fox Valley area venues for Black Ops gaming events
Develop an equipment and supplies list for LAN parties

The objective of Black Ops gaming events is to provide video game related opportunities, including LAN parties, in the Appleton/Fox Valley area (Wisconsin) and to connect myDigitechnician/Black Ops division with people who may be interested in Black Ops services. Black Ops: Fox Valley Battalion (tentative name for group) will be focused on both current and retro gaming, with emphasis on games other than World of Warcraft, Counter Strike, Battlefield 2 and Warcraft III. There are many other LAN groups focused on those four games, so there is a need to have a group of people interested in other games.

If interested in learning more about Black Ops or its gaming events, contact Luke via email at luke [at] mydigitechnician dott com.

*****

2006/11/10

Fab Lab Milwaukee Discussions

A recent CNN Money article covered MIT physicist Neil Gershenfeld's Fab Lab project, a social technology experiment with personal fabricators.

After reading the article this morning, there seemed to be no recourse other than to email a link and copy of the article to several other people who are interested in the Fab Lab concept. One of those copied on the article, Justin Kruger, likes the Fab Lab idea so much that he's willing to put some effort into generating more interest in establishing a Fab Lab in Milwaukee. If he puts together a Fab Lab discussion meeting, it will be fun having a group talk about opportunities, possibilities and needed resources for the project. With the right people involved, a Fab Lab at Bucketworks or some other central Milwaukee location could happen in the next year or two! That would be cool! And a Fab Lab in Milwaukee could be the catalyst for similar Fab Labs in Madison, Appleton and a few other places around Wisconsin. Those facilities would be a great way to build collaboration and networking in Wisconsin.

There were discussions about Fab Lab in conjunction with BarCampMilwaukee. If Justin gets a project rolling for a Milwaukee Fab Lab, it might make sense to do a BarCampMadison session about Fab Labs, or a combo Fab Lab/Media Lab project.

If you're interested in Fab Lab and want to be involved in one in Wisconsin, contact me or stop by a Fireseed meeting in Milwaukee.

*****

2006/11/07

Flash and Firefox / NNf

Adobe Systems Incorporated donated the code for the ActionScript virtual machine to the Mozilla Foundation.

That means the engine behind Flash will be incorporated into the Firefox web browser, although the first incarnation of Firefox with this code is not expected until 2008.

It will be interesting to see the impact of this code donation. If the Tamarin project, established by Mozilla with the ActionScript code, enables next gen versions of YouTube, Second Life and other video, animated or 3D internet content, Adobe's move could be the catalyst for some really cool innovations. New resources like Tamarin, along with Amazon's S3, the expected Gdrive and MS Live Drive, mean the cost of entry is becoming lower and lower for dedicated and smart internet innovators.

Lots of action in the open source world this past week!

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Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 07 November 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. A slightly different commentary format was tried this week, with an attempt to highlight the "most important" issues, as well as mention a couple interesting sidelights.

The ‘net

Firefox 2, Internet Explorer 7: Random Thoughts http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/003021.html
Pressure Forces Microsoft to Change Vista Licensing http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127741-c,vistalonghorn/article.html
Eco groups use online maps in mine fight http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061105/ap_on_re_us/google_mountaintop_mining
FON buys GSpace, Will Add Storage to WiFi http://gigaom.com/2006/11/05/fon-gspace/
A bigger bang http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1937496,00.html
Three transfer services for large files http://mediafire.com/ http://yousendit.com/ http://dropsend.com/
Windows Live Local Gets "Virtual Earth" 3-D Cities http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/061106-170532
Microsoft tries 3D maps, fails http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/index.php?p=379
FCC classifies Broadband over Power Line as information service http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061105-8154.html
Wikipedia "hoax" not actually a hoax http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061106-8161.html
Jellyfish Smack: How Low Can You Watch Prices Fall? http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/06/jellyfish-smack-hold-low-can-you-watch-prices-fall/

Security & Privacy

US Customs announces massive new database on trucks and travelers http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061103-8143.html
We ALL want to use biometrics: we just don't know it yet. http://www.silicon.com/publicsector/0,3800010403,39163734,00.htm
China: Net Censorship? Not Here http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061103/tc_cmp/193501251
Eliminate Spyware http://ralphcaddell.com/pchelp/spyware.htm
Antiphishing Fighters Target Malware http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=26362
Wikipedia Targeted by Malware Writers http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=01200189K7ZC

Mobile Computing & Communicating

Web access for autos on the road http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20061031/tc_usatoday/webaccessforautosgoesontheroad
Verizon Offers Wireless Synching Of Phone/PC Contact Lists http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061101/tc_cmp/193500851
Ringtone from any MP3 http://www.lifehacker.com/software/ringtones/geek-to-live-make-a-ringtone-from-any-mp3-212232.php
Meebo: IMing from anywhere http://blog.meebo.com/?page_id=205

Open Source

Oracle zeros in on Red Hat http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20061030/tc_infoworld/83132
PHP road map revealed http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20061101/tc_infoworld/83332
Amarok, the Linux music player, is shipping a new version http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2006/10/amarok_jukebox_.html
Why Gaming Is Lousy On Linux http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,2047506,00.asp
Microsoft backs Novell's Linux platform http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061103/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_novell
Microsoft-Novell: Bad Omen For Open Source Linux http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3641851
OpenOffice Blesses Microsoft-Novell Pact http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061104/tc_cmp/193501757
Microsoft Keeps The Patent Hammer Handy In Novell Linux Pact http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061104/tc_cmp/193501752
Top Plugins for MythTV http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,2050657,00.asp
Ten ideas about Ideas http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000119
FreeGeek.org http://www.freegeek.org/mission.php
Firefox & Flash: Adobe gives ActionScript VM to Mozilla http://blogs.business2.com/utilitybelt/2006/11/web_20_bombshel.html

SkyNet

New mobile GMail app looks, feels like PC interface http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061102-8134.html

General Technology

SMIC's bid for profitability falls short http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/10/31/HNsmicfallsshort_1.html
Microsoft Delivers Free Small Biz Accounting Software http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061031/tc_cmp/193500278
Ambitions are sky-high for New Mexico spaceport http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/space/la-na-spaceport30oct30,0,2415967.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-space
Berkeley's Mesh Network: Dust in the RFID Wind http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2051310,00.asp
A USB with oomph http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-11115-1.html
VMWare's Fusion begins private beta http://www.tuaw.com/2006/11/03/vmwares-fusion-begins-private-beta/
USB turntable http://www.x-tremegeek.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=12071
This is the month to see Mercury http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2006/11/06/features/science/404825ab6bd00acf8725721d00267cc1.txt

Economy and Technology

Entrepreneurs and VCs descend on Silicon Valley for Startup Camp http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3880
The $200 Billion Lunch: IPv6 http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2006/pulpit_20061102_001174.html

Analysis of This Week’s Economy And Technology Issues

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. A major surface shift in the Microsoft attitude towards Linux bears consideration. Microsoft and Novell announced a new MS-Linux ‘cooperative’ working relationship. This is a ‘surface’ shift because it is difficult to know whether MS has accepted the importance of open source software and wants to build a collaborative relationship with FOSS or has chosen the relationship with Novell as the best way to fight or minimize the importance of open source. There is reason to question MS’s intentions with the Novell agreement because of its history of dominating the software industry through defeating rather than working with competitors and its past statements about Linux (e.g. “The rationale for this is, that the aim of free software is not to enable a healthy business on software but rather to make it even impossible to make any income on software as a commercial product”).

Another major Linux topic is Oracle’s ‘attack’ on Red Hat. Oracle appears to be seriously undermining Red Hat’s business model by offering support for Red Hat Linux at a lower cost than Red Hat. Dell said they will be using Oracle for their Red Hat Linux support. Combined with the MS venture with Novell, Red Hat employees are likely to have ulcers, long work days and a small Christmas bonus.

A move that seems much more beneficial to open source than the Microsoft or Oracle announcements is Adobe’s donation of the ActionScript virtual machine to Mozilla. Item #12 under Open Source indicates that the CEO of Adobe realizes they run the chance of someone developing a better Flash engine, but he says, “Shame on us if we can't out-innovate the competition.” Adobe certainly stands to win if the open sourcing of ActionScript results in more people utilizing Flash for video innovations on the web, but the Adobe/Mozilla deal feels a lot warmer and fuzzier than the Microsoft/Novell deal. The first version of Firefox to use the donated Flash code is expected in 2008.

Microsoft changed their policy for Vista so you can now install it an unlimited number of times, except for computers that are bought with the OS pre-installed. You still can’t have single-license versions installed on multiple machines simultaneously. This article was listed above as an internet issue because MS would have never relented if it weren’t for the web’s ability to create high publicity and feedback levels in a short time. Also, I hadn’t realized you couldn’t take the legally purchased copy of Vista from a store-bought computer and transfer it to a computer you build yourself, although that’s not surprising since you don’t buy the OS, you only rent it under limited terms.

Microsoft released Live Search Virtual Earth, a 3-D competitor to Google Earth. The Search Engine Watch post gives a good overview of the new mapping service. There are currently 15 cities in virtual Earth, and it’s a browser-based service rather than a downloaded program like Google Earth. This MS launch is an interesting progression in the online mapping world, and a tantalizing taste of things to come in the next few years. However, it only works in Internet Explorer, and as the #8 item under The ‘net points out, the experience will be most enjoyable with a high end machine. Maybe Andy can check it out and give a review of MS Virtual Earth vs Google Earth at an upcoming NEW NET gathering.

An interesting item for some older non-geeks who want to put their vinyl music into digital format is the USB turntable, #8 under General Technology. A number of people have expressed interest in getting their vinyl onto CDs or computer, but didn’t know where to start. That meant existing solutions, which may seem simple to you, were more complicated than they wanted.

On an open source, sustainable community note, FreeGeek.org in Portland sounds pretty interesting, per #11 in Open Source. I don’t think there is anyone in Wisconsin who does something like this. It would certainly be a good way to get some positive press for Linux and open source, and might be a good way to bring more members to Wisconsin Linux user groups. Josh, Pehr, Justin, James, Blake, Dennis, others – any interest in further discussions about this?

Let me know if you have any additional tech issues for this week. See you Tuesday at Mister Churro!

*****

2006/11/06

FreeGeek.org

FreeGeek "...recycles computer technology and provides low and no-cost computing to individuals and not-for-profit and social change organizations in the community and throughout the world."

It might be worthwhile to publicize the FreeGeek concept and start some discussions about a similar organization in Northeast Wisconsin, Milwaukee or Madison. Assuming there are not already organizations like this in Wisconsin.

Many non-geeks wonder what to do with their old computers when they no longer want them. With Vista coming and the increasing trend to laptops, the likelihood of people getting rid of older WinXP systems will be higher than normal. These days, an 'old' computer may have 1 GHz processors and 128 MB RAM or more. That type of system will work fine with a properly set-up Linux install.

An organization like FreeGeek has many potential benefits in addition to providing low or no-cost computers to people who want them.

Keeps toxic compounds out of the landfill
Helps people who want to dispose of a usable computer but don't want to just throw it away
Increases awareness of the open source concept
Builds community networking and collaboration
May inspire a new group of Linux and open source users, and could increase the membership in Wisconsin Linux user groups

If interested in the concept of FreeGeek, start a dialogue in your community, LUG or circle of tech enthusiasts. Or contact me and we'll see where it goes...

*****

2006/11/05

Microsoft Likes Linux? / NNi

Microsoft had a marketing campaign which essentially said Linux was a bad thing. Until last week.

MS and Novell announced an agreement to make Windows work better with open source software. Some people question whether MS has changed its attitude about Linux, or whether this is just a new tactic to fight Linux. Red Hat has been the leader in enterprise Linux, but is being squeezed by the MS/Novell pact and by Larry Ellison's recent announcement that Oracle is supporting Red Hat Linux customers at a lower price than Red Hat. Definitely rough times for Red Hat. I wonder what Mark Shuttleworth thinks of all this...

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Below is the initial list of issues for the TUESDAY, 07 November 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 07 November 2006.

The ‘net