The iPad is a bit heavy to hold, which makes it cumbersome for reading in bed, but it is not so heavy as to prevent my carrying it to class. I copied my PDF textbooks and lecture notes using Good Reader, and the iPad will be easier to tote than an armful of textbooks and notebooks. This was my principal desire for the Kindle2, Kindle DX, and iPad. it seems that only the iPad will fit the bill.

Typing on the iPad tedious, but I expect a wireless keyboard will solve that problem. Creating this article in the WordPress app is frustratingly slow. After switching to landscape mode with the larger keyboard, I can move along at about 25 words a minute, much slower than my normal pace of 60 wpm.

Overall, a two-day evaluation leaves me even more in love with Apple. While note a replacement for my MacBook Pro, iPad really does place a computer in my hands.

 

What is the Cloud?
The cloud is a reference to storing data on a computer that is available through an Internet connection, usually via TCP/IP. An example of cloud computing is Amazon’s S3 service, which offers effectively unlimited storage space to database administrators and website designers.

What are Cloud Backups?
Cloud backups are offsite copies of data that are accessible through an Internet connection, 24/7. Rather than storing data backups onsite, cloud backups are stored in a well monitored, secure data storage center. All data are securely encrypted using security ciphers, such as the ultrasecure AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). Unless the decryption passphrase is known, the data cannot be accessed. Users of cloud backup systems are assured that no one may access the data files, unless the passphrase (or passphrases) are properly authenticated.

Most users are familiar with using onsite backups, such as flash media, CD/DVD discs, or external hard drives. All of these media suffer from a shared risk: local physical security. If your office were burgled or destroyed in a fire, these locally-stored backups would be at as much risk as your primary storage media (workstations and network servers). Since data are your organization’s most valuable resource, and the only resource that is irreplaceable (and uninsurable), you must take extra precautions to ensure your organization will survive in the event your computing equipment were lost.

Because the security and privacy of data is so important, users often have a difficult time selecting a service for offsite backups. The backed up data must not be left open to the public (especially competitors). After reading thousands of pages of related security material and investing a year in testing cloud backup solutions, ITrain uses and recommends two services: BackBlaze and JungleDisk.

Popular Cloud Backup Solutions
Our recommendation comes from careful evaluation of many online backup solutions. BackBlaze and JungleDisk easily became the top solutions for a number of reasons:
1. Ultrasecure data storage
2. Fast, unencumbered upstream and downstream bandwidth
3. No outages
4. Unlimited storage space
5. Simple, automated backup control user interface

Our office network currently stores about 72GB of important data, a combination of small word processing/spreadsheet files and large desktop publishing, audio, and video files. These files are required for daily operations, and must be protected. Hundreds of additional gigabytes of video files are also saved, but these are of secondary importance.

We backup all important files to BackBlaze, which costs $5 per month. We backup all critical word processing and spreadsheet files, about 20GB worth, to JungleDisk which costs $0.15 per gigabyte per month. In addition, all files are duplicated on multiple servers and encrypted external hard disks within the office.

Both BackBlaze and JungleDisk accept our data backups as fast as our upstream bandwidth can send the files (usually 5-8MB per second).

Both services allow us to protect the securing of the data using two passphrases; JungleDisk even double encrypts the files. In both cases, we use passphrases of up to 64 pseudorandom characters (a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numerals, and punctuation marks). Because our files include information about you, our members, we take extra precautions to ensure your information is well protected.

BackBlaze stores the files on its proprietary servers; JungleDisk offers the option of storing the files on Amazon’s S3 service or RackSpace’s servers.

Managing Multiple Copies of Backups
JungleDisk’s backup software is the ultimate in flexibility. We can control how many copies of each backed up file are stored and for how long copies are maintained. BackBlaze automatically retains copies of backed up files for 30 days. In both cases, the most recent copy of each file is retained until manually removed.

Restoring Data
Both JungleDisk and BackBlaze offer a web-based restoration menu. JungleDisk also offers a shared drive interface, so the backup directories appear as a network drive.

For large restorations–those that are too large to quickly download, BackBlaze will send the files on DVD or external hard disk, shipped via overnight FedEx.

Dave’s Opinion
I personally recommend both services, BackBlaze and JungleDisk. They offer the same level of data protection; however, they offer different benefits regarding data access and restoration. That is why ITrain uses both services.

BackBlaze is a generous sponsor of ITrain, the International Association of Information Technology Trainers, and is offering the association a complementary annual subscription (even after we offered to pay for the subscription). In addition, through May 30, 2009, you may subscribe to BackBlaze’s backup service at a 10% discount. Whether you subscribe for one month or one year, you may receive a 10% discount on your first order, if you use the BackBlaze hyperlink below and the discount code, ITRAIN.

Please, test the services and post a comment telling us your evaluation.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
BackBlaze
JungleDisk

 

Amazon’s e-book reader meets the criteria for an digital book reader that I described 20 years ago: easy to use, clear text, substantive capacity, over-the-air downloads.

Kindle 2 Physical Size & Capacity

The Kindle2 is lightweight, 10.2 oz, about the size of a trade paperback book,
8” by 5.3”, and about as thick as a magazine, 0.36”. It was surprisingly thinner and lighter than I expected. This makes the Kindle2 easy to hold and carry. I can slip the e-book reader into my notebook case or keep it in its own leather binder. Either way, it is smaller than all but a few of the paperback books in my library.

I currently have five dozen books installed in the Kindle’s memory, and I have used less than .09GB of the device’s 1.49GB of available memory. This means that I should be able to store about 1,000 books similar to the ones that I have already downloaded. However, the books that I have installed are significantly longer than most books: Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s, the complete collections of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s and Mark Twain’s. Some of the books that I have installed are each thousands of pages in length, so I expect that the average reader will be able to carry upwards of 2,000 typical length books. Not bad for a device that can be carried in purse or computer bag.

Available Content for Kindle

With a quarter million books available from Amazon.com and thousands more available for free from other sites, I have had no problem finding interesting material to read on my Kindle. I downloaded classics that are now in the public domain from feedbooks.com, others from Amazon.com. Most popular books sell for $9.99; however, I was surprised to find that many books cost less, many for under a dollar.

Whether I purchase the books using my notebook or Kindle’s web interface, the books immediately download via a cellular connection to the device.

The device includes a web browser through which I can access Google and Wikipedia, as well as most sites. Some complex HTML designs confuse the device’s browser, but for the most part, I have had no significant problems.

Many of the academic papers that I read are delivered in PDF. The Kindle cannot directly read PDF files; however, Amazon offers a free conversion service: I e-mail the PDF files to my private Amazon.com e-mail address, and the Kindle versions of the documents automatically download to my device within a few minutes.

Change in Reading Habit

What most struck me about the e-book reader is the ways that it has changed my reading habits. I have read a dozen books on the device during the last two weeks. During the same period I read two paperback and two hardcover books. I compared reading physical and digital books during the same period.

I never noticed it before, but reading a physical book presents a few challenges. My thumbs were tired after holding the physical books open; I had never taken notice of this problem before. In addition, I had difficulty taking notes while reading the physical books. When my writing hand moved to the pad on my knee or desk, the book folded over, making it difficult to refer to the text.

Neither of these physical problems occurred while reading on the Kindle. In addition, I noticed that I more closely focused on the content of the text, as the Kindle displays only a single page at a time. When making notes, I could lay the device down and easily write in my notebook. I experimented with the digital notetaking feature of the Kindle, but the device’s keyboard does not lend itself to fast typing, so I kept to my paper notes.

Recommendation

I recommend, without hesitation, Amazon’s new e-book reader. Whether you read books, magazines, newspapers, or other documents–or a combination–I think that you will find the Kindle 2 a welcome tool in your literary kit. Buy the Kindle 2 directly from Amazon.com through this hyperlink: Amazon Kindle 2.

 

Time Machine is Apple’s automatic backup system. It allows me to use a second hard drive as a duplicate storage medium for everything on my MacBook Pro. Yes, everything: data, user settings, desktop…everything. If my MacBook Pro were to crash (or be stolen), the Time Machine drive can easily restore all of my settings and files to the new MacBook Pro. I risk losing only those files that were changed since the last automatic Time Machine backup. Since the backups run automatically every hour, I risk losing at most an hour’s worth of work. Even while I am working, Time Machine quietly backs up all my computer’s files.

I see a potential problem with this autmoatic backup system. I often work with data that requires careful handling, such as databases of passwords, network security settings, and personal data. These databases are in a variety of file formats, including relational databases, spreadsheets, and documents. Some of these files, such as the spreadsheets and documents are not locked while they are open, meaning the unencrypted version of the file may be temporarily stored on my hard drive while I am using the file. Because the file is stored on the drive, albeit temporarily, and it is not locked, Time Machine can back it up in its unencrypted state. This means that confidential data could be stored on my Time Machine drive without the protection that it would normally have if it were fully encrypted and saved on my computer’s hard drive.

What do you think? Is Time Machine a potential security vulnerability?

 

This distributed network will allow all users of the new Linux version to share one another’s central processing units (CPU). Users who are not taking full advantage of their computers’ CPUs will automatically share available CPU cycles with those Linux users who are executing procedures that can take advantage of extra cycles that exceed their own computer’s CPU.

Distributed networks, such as the Seti@Home project, which now requires the BOINC application, enable potentially millions of computer CPUs to share the effort of calculating complex formulae and searching large data pools. BOINC and Seti@Home are provided courtesy of the University of California, Berkeley.

The new Linux distribution, while similar to the BOINC network in effect, will not require the installation of the BOINC client software. By design, each computer on which the new version of Linux is installed will automatically seek out other similar installations and connect seamlessly into a distributed network, all without requiring the user’s taking any affirmative consent or action. The net effect of will be a global distributed network of Linux computers, some of which have hundreds of thousands of CPUs already networked into a single cluster, will share the processing power of one another’s CPUs.

A single user executing an application that requires trillions of CPU cycles may find the application completing in seconds, as the Linux distributed network shared the applications execution across hundreds of free CPUs. Given that Linux is used worldwide, free CPU cycles are expected to always be available, as computers are usually left running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Those computers that are expected to provide the greatest service are Web servers, which are connected to the Internet backbone through high bandwith connections. Home users connected via broadband will also provide a solid foundation to this new distributed Linux network, especially those with fiber to the home connections that have high speed upstream connections.

 

I bought one of the most capable notebooks available, spending ten times more than I did for my the eight-person 1964 Oldsmobile Jetstar 88 that I drove while I was in college. Yet, Vista ruined this fine piece of computing hardware. Yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and for the last two weeks, I have been in computing heaven.

I was on spring break with my family; we were sharing space at my wife’s sister’s beach house. On the fourth day of the vacation, while I was preparing discussion questions for my online classes, my Sony Vaio, running Windows Vista Business Edition, crashed for the umpteenth time. This time it was serious, requiring me to restore the entire system partition from a backup image.

After a few minutes of grumbling, I got to work recreating the partition and hoping that the master boot record was not corrupted, as that would complicate my restoration efforts. My wife, a computer engineer, overheard my under-the-breath comments and suggested that I finally give up on Vista, as it seemed to require more time to maintain that to productively use. She suggested that I call Apple and order a MacBook; she was sure that they could deliver it within a day to the beach house, and I would lose only one day’s work. Every man needs a woman as supportive as my wife is to me!

Using our youngest daughter’s notebook, I visted Apple’s website and evaluated the current line of MacBook notebook computers. I narrowed my options down to three models, and I called the Apple sales line. Sure enough, in less than 10 minutes and dozens of specific technical questions, I was confident that a MacBook would meet all of my needs. The Apple salesperson offered to deliver the computer to our vacation spot within 24 hours for as many dollars. I promised to call back, after talking to my wife.

After talking to Peg, I decided to drive two hours to the nearest Apple store to touch the machine that I had selected, just to be sure it was exactly what I was expecting. I grabbed our oldest daughter, who, as a teenager, loves road trips, and we struck off.

The Apple Genius with whom we spoke at the Apple store was patient and friendly. For an hour, I peppered him with questions and comments about each MacBook model. He remained calm and actually seemed to enjoy helping me. Finally, he said, “You seem to be very particular about your computers.” My daughter nearly passed out from laughing. I have been called many things, but particular is the most polite of them all.

My daughter suggested that I would be most happy with the MacBook Pro, as it had a separate video card and the keyboard was most comfortable for me. I agreed with her evaluation, and we bought the computer, an extra power adapter, a case, and a copy of Microsoft Office. Even though the Apple Genius promised that I would not need Office, I thought it would be a safe bet, as I need to be fully compatible with my student’s documents.

While ringing up our purchase, I noticed that the Apple Genius granted me over $200 in educator discounts. Everything about Apple, from the employees, to the store, to the computer, has been a pleasure. I love great customer service, and I feel right at home with everything Apple.

Today, it has been two weeks since my Vista computer last crashed. I don’t care; I am in heaven with my MacBook Pro. I have been more productive on this machine than I ever was on a DOS or Windows machine. The system automatically backs itself up to my Time Machine drive, and my data is automatically backed up to Amazon’s S3 servers, using JungleDisk.

I cannot imagine ever buying another Windows notebook.

 

The Pew Internet & American Life Project surveyed Americans’ use of a variety of information sources that help them seek answers to common problems that could in some way be related to government agencies and programs. The survey evaluated how Americans seek information on

1. dealing with a serious illness or health concern
2. making a decision about school enrollment
3. financing school
4. upgrading work skill
5. dealing with a tax matter
6. changing a job or starting a business
7. getting information about major programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

The survey’s major findings are

1. The internet is a go-to source
2. Searchers usually end up satisfied
3. Libraries meet special needs
4. Digital divides matter
5. Government documents should be created and delivered in all shapes and sizes
6. E-government is not an option, it’s a necessity

Like most Americans, I grew up using public libraries. My parents were often willing to drive me to the major public library in my hometown. When I was old enough to ride my bicycle more than just a few miles from home, I started spending time at the local college libraries. This respect for and love of library resources continues in me today. If it were not for the inclement weather, I would be spending this lazy Sunday afternoon at the public library.

The Pew report introduces the role of libraries, “For generations, public libraries have played a central role in providing a vast range of information to Americans. From the stacks of non-fiction books, to racks of newspapers and magazines, to shelves of reference materials and government documents, libraries have been the place to go to find answers to questions.”

Over the last decade and a half, the internet has offered a challenge to libraries’ dominance of reference resources. Most popular magazines publish the same content material in digital format as is published in the print format. Dictionaries and encyclopedias, including those with which most Americans are familiar, are available for free or a nominal annual fee on the internet. Now, with the popularization of e-book readers, such as those from Sony and Amazon.com, books can be easily delivered in digital format, no longer requiring avid readers to physically travel to the library. In fact, my local public library offers a wide selection of digital materials through its internet portal, including streaming music, music downloads, and books, which may be checked out for three weeks, just like a printed book.

However, as the Pew report identifies, this flexibility of accessing published data is only available to those with broadband internet access. Dial-up users are more restricted in accessing online resources, and are more likely to use their physical library resources for research.

Pew Internet & American Life Project report: Information Searches that Solve Problems.

 

Murdoch explains, “When a crystal is manufactured, it has a clock skew, and it’s different for each crystal (throughout its) lifetime.” Tadayoshi Kohno, now an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, has shown that computers on the internet can be identified by their clock skews, by tracking the timestamps of each machine’s transmitted packets. Clock skew, however, yields up to only 64 separate identifiers, making it an incomplete confirmation tool.

Clock skew has long been a concern of engineers of synchronous network, as it causes the clock signal for system components to arrive at different times; however, Murdoch is the first to take advantage of this hardware fallibility. Murdoch attacked The Onion Router, Tor, an anonymizing network that allows unregistered users to access web sites without identifying themselves. Tor network encrypts web traffic, through multiple servers, creating layers of anonymizing packets, none of which may be decrypted by another node on the Tor network.

Murdoch tested his digital attack by setting up a Tor network server and causing the server to warm up by executing intensive processes. The increase in system temperature caused minor changes in clock skew.

Dave’s Opinion

To understand how clock skew can be used to affect the security of anonymity networks, such as Tor, I think that we must first understand how Tor works. I suggest reviewing the audio recording or transcript of Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte’s Security Now! podcast. Episode 70 of this podcast explains in clear, lucid detail how the Tor network creates anonymity for web users.

Kohno’s theoretical work and Murdoch’s proof of concept attack does not bode well for network security systems, including the GPS and other national digital assets that require precise timings to function properly.

Call for Comments

What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References

Steven J. Murdoch’s notes, Detecting temperature through clock skew – Hot or Not: Defeating anonymity by moniToring clock skew to remotely detect the temperature of a PC

Steven J. Murdoch’s University of Cambridge website

Electronic Frontier Foundation Tor Network

Tadayoshi Kohno’s paper, Remote Physical Device Fingerprinting

Tadayoshi Kohno’s University of Washington website

Steve Gibson & Leo Laporte’s Security Now! Podcast, Achieving Internet Anonymity (episode 70)

 

This thought came to me while I was sitting in a Barnes & Noble bookstore, drinking a cup of coffee and working through the last few pages of a book on multidimensional physics.

My acquaintances, John and Dan, and I went out for lunch last Sunday. I picked up Dan and together we drove to John’s house. As I hoped, John was ready to go, when we arrived—it was almost 2:30, and I was hungry. We had not seen one another in a while, so we were interested in catching up with one another’s news—especially John’s academic studies. John had a laughing about his falling asleep while reading a less-the-gripping textbook, a problem that plagues all scholars on occasion.

It did not strike us a unusual that a student would find a textbook dry until we remembered that John is blind. It was Dan who first remembered, and he asked John if he were reading the book or listening to the book on tape. I got to thinking about the problems that John might face while completing his academic work—what if a text were not published in audio format? I asked him about this, and he explained how he converts digital texts to audio format.

His comments have been twisting and turning in the back of my mind for the last few days. I am an academic, a full time faculty member. All of my texts are delivered in digital format, as either HTML or Adobe PDF documents. With the exception of two grammatical style manuals, all texts are digitized and delivered electronically, to both students and faculty. The university has a fully-digitized reference library, so with the exception of two writing references, all books are available in digital format.

Many of the Adobe PDF books are protected from unauthorized distribution by DRM (digital rights management) encryption, a system that allows only authorized recipients to open, view, and print the books.

Many of my students have complained that the publishers’ DRM encryption fails to work on home computers, so they are left to read each chapter in HTML, without being able to download and print the entire properly-formatted text,

As much as I advocated within the university for a conversion from physical to digital texts, I never imagined that the publishers would so bungle the books’ distribution chain. Protection of copyright is vital in America, and I so believer in copyright and other intellectual property protections that I made the topic the focus of my dissertation. However, unless the works are accessible to the scholars—the book’s consumers—who pay the bills, the DRM protections defeat their purpose: making the texts accessible only to those who have paid for the text.

 

Why Are We Receiving More Spam?

Spammers are not giving up; in fact, they are getting smarter.

One of the reasons that we are lately receiving more spam is that spammers are diligently working to get past our antispam filters by embedding their messages in graphic images. Antispam filters are effective at reading the content of incoming messages and detecting common telltale word patterns, image spam gets past the keyphrase filters because it does not include ASCII text, only a graphic image. Since last year, the amount of image spam has increased 400%, it now represents almost up to half of all unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE) messages.

BotNets

Spammers also hide their identities and locations by using botnets, remotely-controlled personal computers that have been infected with a malware application and used to transmit the spam messages to their final, intended recipients. An article in Wikipedia states that spammers send 80% of UCE via botnet, sending transmitted 55 billion spam messages each day. While these numbers are unconfirmed, e-mail users generally agree that they get too many spam messages a day.

There Is No Legal Protection

U.S. e-mail users took heart in the federal Can-Spam Act of 2003, which requires UCE senders to properly identify their content and allow users to opt-out of future transmissions; however, much spam is coming from outside of the United States, and the spammers are not beholden to the U.S. law.

What Can We Do?

IronPort offers ten tips to help prevent and reduce the amount of spam that we receive.

1. Don’t open messages from someone that we do not recognize.
2. Don’t respond to spam messages.
3. Don’t click on hyperlinks included in the spam message.
4. Don’t buy from spammers—ever!
5. Don’t use a primary e-mail address; create a secondary e-mail address when submitting an online registration.
6. Don’t believe everything we read.
7. Do use a temporary or one-time-use credit card.
8. Do read security policies.
9. Use an antispam filter, either through our ISP or a standalone application.
10. Do use common sense.

Dave’s Opinion

I receive over 1,000 spam messages to one of my e-mail addresses, alone. If it were not for effective antispam filters, I would be afraid to open my inbox.

Call for Comments

What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References

IronPort Systems Offers the “Do’s and Don’ts” to Avoid Spam Deluge During Holiday Season
Wikipedia, Botnet
Wikipedia, E-mail Spam

 

According to a report published by the Pew Internet & American Life Project this week, 12 percent of internet users reported downloading at least one podcast; however, only 1 percent download on a typical day.

More men who are online, 15 percent, have downloaded a podcast, compared to 8 percent of online women. Users who have been online for more than six or more years are twice as likely as those who have been online for three or fewer years (13 vs 6 percent).

Dave’s Opinion

I have been listening to podcast recordings of my favorite news and conference recordings for six years. I used to carry a Sony MiniDisc player; now I use a SanDisk Sansa flash drive media player. I subscribe to 49 feeds, most of which are published by national news services or universities. The flexibility of timeshifting my listening has freed me to keep up with my preferred news sources. I carry the media player in the car, plugging it into the vehicle’s audio system, and when I exercise.

I am surprised that more folk do not listen to podcasts. The value of timeshifting makes podcasting one of the most useful digital applications.

Call for Comments

What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References

Pew Internet & American Life Project Report: Podcast Downloading

 

When I originally wrote this article, I was visiting one of my favoriate vacation spots in the United States: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. I am shocked that a paucity of public life line networks the coffee shop down the road from our resort offers free wireless Internet service and the sundry store on the other side of the shopping doubles as an Internet café selling access for $6.00 a day.

One of the Marriott facilities has a public a spot in the lobby, and that is about it. I’ve run across over a dozen guests with notebook computers; how many more could there be a who haven’t brought their computers down to the pool? What is the facility manager thinking? I wonder if there are 100 or more guests who would jump at the chance to get on the net for a bit–there are four of us, just in my vacation party.

I am disappointed that there are not more public wi-fi hot spots on the island. The hot spot that I found in our resort’s lobby is not really designed to be accessed by notebook computers,rather it is for owners of wireless digital cameras that would like to access the photo printer.
The owner of sundries store in the shopping plaza a half mile from our resort is friendly enough, and he opens the store early in the morning, at 6 o’clock. However, in order to use his wi-fi network to log into my class newsgroups or to check e-mail or the day’s news, I have to either walk with my backpack down to the plaza or jump in the family van and drive off in either case I’m gone for my family for the better part of an hour or two, which is not something that I find appealing while on vacation.

I have spoken with resort manager few times over the last few years asking when wi fi network will be more readily accessible across the complex and I’ve received platitudes and broad promises that next year we should have wi-fi access available in each of the condos. To me, that’s just not a good answer, given the business climate in which were expected to be accessible for at least a few minutes, each day.

At this ski chalet that we visit each winter during Super Bowl weekend, wi-fi access is available, and I am able to maintain a consistent all be at abbreviated work schedule during that vacation. I feel much more comfortable during that vacation—even though I am really up each person—because I can check in with my classes very easily both first thing in the morning and again after dinner, and I stay up with national and international news by leaving my rss feed reader open on my notebook computer.

How does it work for you? Are you able to find wi-fi access when you’re on vacation?

 

Reliance on digital technology creates a sense of emphasis on keeping busy and productive. The internet and the burgeoning world of e-business allow both geographic and chronologic flexibility. Word, both commercial and personal, may be attended with greater individual flexibility than ever before. No longer are many white collar professional—am I am not sure that this term is any longer appropriate, as casual dress is now encouraged during the entire work week—required to complete work at the corporate office.

Home desktop computers and especially portable notebook computers allow professionals to attend ot responsibilities at locations other than the office or rather, the personal computers enable the “office” to be flexible, as to location. For example, I am writing this article at our vacation beach house on a Sunday morning. I have significant discretion in choosing where and when I write because I am able to easily carry my notebook computer with me…in other words, I can easily carry my workplace with me.

As a full-time academic, my notebook computer has allowed me to change the way that I do library research. I take it with me to the library, use the wi-fi service to access the internet, and search the card catalog—all without leaving my study carrel. My time in the library is more productive, as I save time in physical movement, and I am able to cut and past data from the catalog (or other research reference) into my digital documents, ensuring greater accuracy for my reference citations.

The outcome of this available flexibility is a reliance on the digital technology as an aid to constantly-available work. I often find the I squeeze in work when I would otherwise be at ease or engaged in other pursuits. The always-available work environment intrudes into my life, at times.

 

I am not sure that most retail associates would be able to calculate the correct change for a $37.63 charge if the customer presented a $100 bill. Retail clerks rely on the cash register to calculate the sales tax and change that should be returned to the customer. Some registers even suggest alternative combinations of bills and coins to hand to the customer so that the proper change is delivered.

I am not sure that most retail associates would be able to calculate the correct change for a $37.63 charge if the customer presented a $100 bill. Retail clerks rely on the cash register to calculate the sales tax and change that should be returned to the customer. Some registers even suggest alternative combinations of bills and coins to hand to the customer so that the proper change is delivered.As a child, I was taught to accurately compute my sales totals, estimate the sales tax, and determine the anticipated change that I would receive for each purchase that I made. I was even taught to do these calculations in my head, without the help of a pencil and paper, let alone a calculator or automatic cash register—not that I would have been able to bring a cash register along in my pocket! To this day, I can quickly do a fast estimation of arithmetic, especially summations. This is a skill that serves me well as I move through the checkout line at the grocery store.

I find it difficult to believe that the proliferation of electronic calculators, spreadsheet applications, and yes, self-totaling cash registers has not had a deleterious effect on the general population’s skills at arithmetic. Skills, once learned but rarely practiced, are lost. Skills never learned are, by definition, lost to the user.

The general population, by all accounts, feels no need to learn, let alone practice, arithmetic, in its daily activities. Prove this to yourself by mentally estimating the cost of a fuel for an 850 mile road trip in a vehicle that yields 28 miles per gallon of gasoline at a cost of $3.05 per gallon. Even a quick estimate, without minor rounding of $1.00 per 10 miles, times 85 (or $0.10 per mile times 850) equals a rough estimate of $85 in gasoline cost (close to the actual cost of $92.59).

My mother, who was graduated from only high school just after World War II and had no further academic training amazed me recently during a phone call by arguing that airline fares would cost less than the cost of fuel and lodging should she and Dad come for a visit. It is just this type of numeracy that is lost to the current generation of Americans. Why have we lost this skill?

Without a calculator, most of us are innumerate. As helpful as a calculator or spreadsheet is to use—and I own at least a dozen calculators of various sizes—I rue our loss of the skills that were once considered academic de rigueur.

 

How does the public access to weblogs (blogs) affect our culture? Recently, online pundits have considered the effect that blogs have had on our nation’s political process. The presidential election of 2004 was the first to receive significant effect from bloggers, rather than just from those pseudo-journalists who report live from the national political conventions. Both major parties, the Republicans and Democrats, as well as the second-tier parties made full and good use of the low-cost (free) and concurrent interaction afforded by the blogosphere. I call this concurrent interaction because blogging allows readers immediate access to posted articles.

Just as soon as an article is posted to a blog, by the blog’s author, it is available to be read by anyone, anywhere in the world using no technology more sophisticated than a web browser.
Not only blogging, but also branding and the creation of a vertical mass of support came on the wave of digital activism in the 2004 election. Gradually, as with most new media, the net, blogging in particular, became an essential component of American politics.

However, like a hometown newspaper, yet to a global venue, the internet served the purposes of the candidates, themselves; the professional journalists in addition to their traditional outlets of television, radio, magazines, and newspapers; the active political voices: pollsters, pundits, and activists, both organized and individual, and citizen individuals, in addition to offering front yards and automobile bumpers and letters to the editor, through digital publications, including blogs and their follow-on comments and feedback tools.

An excellent example of the net’s political power netted candidate, Vermont Governor Howard Dean a half million dollars in a digital campaign to raise donations in competition with a forthcoming Republican fundraiser. The Republican fundraiser, a $2,000-a-plate luncheon netted a quarter million dollars in donations, while in the same time, the online Dean campaign netted a cool half million dollars. Also of note, the Republicans touched only 125 guests (donors), while the Dean campaign touched 9,700 donors.

Not only did the Dan campaign raise significantly more money and tap almost two magnitudes more supporters, it did so for less cost and effort.

Dean’s campaign slogan, “You have the power,” reflected not only poetically, but also, directly, the influence of digital politics.

However, by the time of each major party’s convention, the lessons of Howard Dean’s campaign were already forgotten–or maybe they were yet to be internalized–because at nether convention were leading candidates’ website URLs prominently displayed or promoted.

Further campaigns will likely play out in the digital arena, more so than in the past. Driven by a desire to promote populist values and inclusion of an increasingly diverse electorate, candidates’ managers will seek to parlay the low-cost, immediate publication of simultaneous interaction services of the net; blogging is but the first of the new technologies to be developed.

 

It is estimated, based on Technorati’s numbers, that the blogosphere, the global blog space, is doubling in size about every six months.

One hundred and seventy-five thousand blogs are created every day–two every second. These aren’t blog entires, but new blogs, each with dozens to thousands of articles. an estimated 1.6 million entries are posted to blogs each day–eighteen per second. These numbers do not account for the comments, trackback pings, and e-mail distributions that follow many of the articles.

While most bloggers post in English–about thirty-nine percent–thirty-one percent ware written in Japanese. Together, these languages comprise seventy percent of the blogosphere.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Please leave your comments below.

References
Technorati

 

The first distinction, for most personal computer users, is one of hardware and software: Microsoft Windows or Macintosh, IBM-style or Apple. Is the computer one that runs Microsoft Windows or Mac OS (operating system)? Fundamentally, is it one made of nonproprietary components, capable of running multiple operating systems (i.e. DOS, Windows, Linux, and Solaris)? Is the system designed specifically to operate the hardware vendor’s operating system, Mac OS, an operating system that, interestingly, is based on the open source Linux operating system?

While both computer designs can function well for the fundamental office and home tasks: word processing, calculation of numeric columns, keeping database of customer and friends’ names. However, one of the first distinctions that most users learn is that not all data created on one computer system can be easily transferred to another system.

It is not unexpected, by the technically-trainer experts, that data on different computer systems may not be interchangeable; however, to the less-skilled user, this may seem unexpected. After all, both pieces of equipment are computers. Two cars of different manufacture probably use the same fuel, both transport equally well, so why not expect similar simplicity from two computers?

Part of the reason that the automotive and information technology products may be ill suited for comparison is the relative development period of the two. Automobiles have been consumer products for a century; digital computers have been available for only two decades.

Even more so, most consumers have thousands of hours of practice driving cars in all seasons and many diverse road conditions, but under generally controlled and similar situations. After a few hundred hours’ practice, all roads begin to look alike to a driver. On the other hand, computer software applications often appear substantially different, to the end user. The only similarity shared by a database, spreadsheet, and word processing application is the keyboard—as far as most users can tell.

Many of the distinctions and technical details of personal computer systems become apparent only after years of near-daily use and exposure to many different computer systems and software applications. Even so, after exposure to diverse software applications (i.e. word processing, spreadsheets, databases, email, and web browsing), most users still do not understand the fundamental differences that make an Apple Mac OS system different than one running Microsoft Windows—or Linux.

The operating system, whether Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, Linux—an open source product created by a generous community of volunteer software programmers—determines which software applications will efficiently operate on the example system.

Even more confusing, both to technical experts and the general population of digital users, is the overlap amongst the alternative operating systems: Mac OS is actually Linux; Mac OS can emulate Microsoft Windows, using an operating environment called SoftPC; Linux can run most software programs written for Microsoft Windows by using a free program, called Wine: Windows Emulator. Speaking of free, Linux is—totally free.

Although we may find commercial releases of Linux on retail shelves, these are actually neatly packaged copies of Linux that are also available for free, as digital downloads from the vendors’ websites. The downloadable versions can often be customized and may include additional applications, both business and entertainment, than the packaged retail versions. The benefit of the retail version is that some period, usually 90 days, of technical support is included. Even that is not an issue for technically adept users who recognize that more detailed, higher quality, support is available free through tens of thousands of websites dedicated to supporting Linux users.

 

How well do users accept responsibility for the perceived complexity of digital systems?

Although I judge that popular digital computers are less secure and more difficult to use than they could easily otherwise be, primarily because buyers are swayed in their decision making by marketing influences, I also judge that most end users don’t accept sufficient responsibility to learn the nuances, strengths, and weaknesses of the systems that purchase or use.

All systems have a degree of complexity. Procedures All systems and constituent components require specific operating procedures. Even systems as manual as writing required a pencil to be sharpened and fresh paper made available. If the pencil were not sharpened, it would not write well. In elementary school, students are taught to use a manual rotary pencil sharpener, and in some homes, even at an early age, children were taught to use a battery-powered electric sharpener.

Even earlier, the Crayola box of 64 crayons and the sharpener on the back of the box teach many children that rudimentary skill of creating a writing point. Knowing that a sharp point can create both a thin line and, with a twist of the wrist, a gentle, broad shadow, is fundamental to fully using the drawing pencil. All users recognize this and are able to meet the rudimentary skill set expectations of an elementary school art teacher.

If artistic skills develop further, the user may learn to make finer distinctions and learn more application details regarding the pencil. For example, knowing and being able to apply the soft and dark 6B pencil lead through the hard and light 6H pencil lead, the wood versus mechanical pencil body, not to mention graphite versus charcoal media are critical to having developing a broad diversity of artistic forms.

The range of knowledge, both of the tool (pencil, in discussion) designs and how and when to most effectively use each degree of the tool’s diversity grants the user flexibility to select the most appropriate tool version for the intended application. Does the average user need to know the same range of distinctions as the expert, the artist? No; however, as more distinctions are made available to the user, more fluid and unrestricted applications follow.

Just as the knowledge of pencil distinctions offers greater flexibility to the artists-and writer-knowledge of how a personal computer and its attendant software applications offers greater flexibility of application to the digital end user.

What are some of the common distinctions that may aid the digital user?

 

It is difficult to accept digital failures and the all-too-often human failure to properly use digital technology as it was designed to be used.

Many information technology experts place blame on the designers of digital systems, especially software vendors (both those who create operating systems and those who author applications) for users’ difficulties in properly using computers. Much of the criticism is aptly directed, For example, the Microsoft Windows system registry, first introduced in 1993 with Windows 95, while a boon to hardware and peripheral makers, is actually a poorly-designed total system management tool, because once corrupted, the registry is very nearly impossible to repair. There is no easily accessible means of backing up and restoring the registry automatically without risking misconfigurations.
Early versions of Microsoft Windows, up to version 3.11 for Workgroups, and all versions of Linux use a system of initialization and configuration files that can quickly be duplicated and individually—or collectively—restored, in the event of a system failure.

Regardless, personal computers are complex, and believe it or not, quite delicate instruments—as most users will attest after spending a few hours (or days) attempting to repair a corrupted application or coaxing an inkjet printer to create the proper shade of rouge on family pictures.

With all of this software (and hardware) bashing, pushing forward with full force, most users forget that all technologies require training and proper procedures. Most consumers do not want to recognize that a toaster oven should be unplugged when not in use; that is, until their toasting unit spontaneously bursts into flames, one day. Actually, the oven most likely heat up of its own volition, but rather a family member mishandled the oven, possibly bumping the on/off switch during a routine kitchen counter activity.

Soup and pasta with tomato sauce should not be heated in an uncovered microwaveable container, unless the sight of red splatters in the microwave is appealing to you. Surely, the designers of these consumer systems could have created better systems: guarded on/off switches, containers with hinged, no-loss lids. All it takes to prevent these common problems is two simple system changes. However, repairing these two problems creates new problems. By repositioning the on/off switch on the toaster oven, the unit becomes more difficult to operate. Installing a hinge on microwavable container lids makes dishwashing—manual and automatic—cumbersome. I should know, as I am my family’s dishwasher.

What perception and judgment paradigm allows is to accept these system failing, but not those of our personal computer? If you are quick to say price, think again, we could just as easily find examples of frustrating system designs in our automobiles and home construction, two items that generally cost more than a personal computer.

I judge that the world, our lives, is complicated. WE look to the personal computer to help us organize and control our lives. When the control system, itself, adds a layer of complication, we react quickly and often out of proportion to the actual incident.

 

Weblogs—blogs—are a product of the need to make it easier to publish on the web. For the less technically adept user, blogs are a venue to online publishing that requires almost no special training. I have read many articles that describe blogs as a source for writers, web publishers. When I discuss blogs with adult university students, especially business management majors, a common reaction is that the blogging software is a facilitation tool that the could use to build web content without leaning heavily on the support of information systems staff or contract computer advisors or webmasters.

These students’ observations that blogging is a tool, not solely the result, presents a perspective that is significantly different from that which most technology pundits present.

WHO BLOGS?
Most bloggers are young, technically-savvy computer users; although, I anticipate that blogs will follow the expectations put forth by my business management students: viz., blogs will become business tools for disseminating information, both internally and externally.
?
Why will blogs become a business publishing tool?

 

While the Encyclopedia Britannica’s flagship print edition has 65,000 articles and is published by a company that has been in business since 1768, Wikipedia, online since 2001, has amassed a corpus of 1,019, 202 articles.

Britannica uses a hired team of 4,000 authors and offers distributorships for its products—clearly a commercial enterprise; the number of contributors in this well-organized company is dwarfed by the communal and egalitarian league of Wikipedians (Wikipedia contributors and editors), over 1,000,000 of whom are registered, and an undisclosed number of whom are unregistered.

With so many Wikipedians’ being unregistered, and the veracity of registered contributors open to question, because of the open nature of the online encyclopedia—anyone my contribute a new article or edit an existing article—the question is begged: Can we trust the veracity of content if the author and his or her experience is unknown?

Recent news reports have called it a toss-up between Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia, in regard to the accuracy of content in articles; however, although Wikipedians are “encouraged to uphold a policy of ‘neutral point of view’ under which notable perspectives are summarized without an attempt to determine an objective truth,” I judge, because of the system’s open nature and simplicity of operation, that most articles are posted without the review of experienced editors. Is this a point of concern? Should readers question the accuracy and completeness—even the neutrality—of each Wikipedian’s comments? I think readers should question the accuracy of articles found in Wikipedia.

Readers should also question the accuracy of articles found in Encyclopedia Britannica. In fact, we should be more concerned of the potential lack of neutrality in articles that are presented by a homogenous, closed, team of authors and editors who have a commercial axe to grind, than a group of egalitarian writers who seek share their knowledge openly, whether in original work or by editing another’s article..

One reference source is insufficient. Data presented in Wikipedia should be fact-checked, just as those in Britannica. Do not take one author’s word for any but well-known facts. It is exceedingly difficult to be fully objective; opinion and prejudice creeps into all writing, often without the author’s notice.

Dave’s Opinion
I am a Wikipedian, both as an original author and editor. I seek to share my knowledge, in scholarly, trade, and consumer publications, and I judge that Wikipedia is a harbinger of a digital service, the wiki, that will have a profound affect on all of our lives.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Wikipedia
Encyclopedia Britannica

 

The misidentified excel.exe file, along with a number of other misidentified files from Microsoft Corporation and Adobe, were quarantined by the McAfee software, renamed, and moved to a different directory on the user’s hard disk.

The problem was corrected about four hours later, when McAfee pushed update 4716 to the all users.

Dave’s Opinion
Problem such as this are false positives, and they occasionally happen; however, causing a problem to such a popular software product, Microsoft Excel, is inconveniences many users.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
McAfee

 

Google’s GDrive was announced last week, possibly as a teaser, because the announcement was quickly removed from the search engine giant’s website. The internal corporate notes that were online for a short time reflected plans to serve more than just search engine data. GDrive subscribers would be able to upload word processing, spreadsheet, and other digital data files to the GDrive servers, creating a virtual hard disk in the sky that allows access from any authorized computer, home, office, or borrowed.

The online copy, called the “Golden Copy,” according to Google’s document, would serve as a backup of the user’s data.

Most Microsoft Windows users know how to save documents on their local hard drive, usually the C: drive, in the My Documents folder. Corporate users are accustomed to saving data on network file shares, and Google’s GDrive will emulate this service, possibly being accessible as a new drive letter. Anyone who knows the appropriate GDrive password should be able to gain access to the “internet file share.”

Dave’s Opinion
This sounds like a great idea; however, my experience makes me think that most users don’t realize how dangerous it can be to post data online in unencrypted form, primarily because most of us pick access passwords that are too short or too common, in other words, too easy for crackers to guess.

Google’s GDrive does circumvent the need for virtual private networks (VPN) to gain access to commonly shared files that are stored on remote drives; however, it does not include the other features that make VPNs a solid alternative for businesses: it does not encrypt data transfers end-to-end. Employees who log into a business’s Google GDrive from a wi-fi hotspot, such as Starbucks or McDonalds, will find that the data they upload and download will be accessible to anyone within radio range of their notebook computer…the data is not encrypted while being transmitted over the wi-fi network, unless a VPN is in place, something that Google’s solution will lack.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

 

I am writing this text by using my favorite writing implement: a finely crafted Waterman fountain pen with an extra fine nib and an ultra smooth light ink (South Sea Blue in color). My paper is a smooth, eggshell writing journal, bound in a calfskin leather jacket with a corresponding leather thong closing wraps. The only metal I touch is in my pen’s sleeve connectors, and even that is minimal. I will eventually type my words into my notebook computer and word processing software for editing and layout. You may be thinking, why not initially compose at the keyboard? I compose by hand because my words flow more smoothly if I write by hand, manually without digital assistance.

I write more slowly using pen and paper, and this allows me time to consider my words. I am a persnickety writer when I compose at the keyboard: fussing over each word and phrase. Writing by hand frees me to let my ideas flow, without any editing and evaluation. I am able to test multiple alternatives of phrasing and content, where, if I were to compose at my keyboard, my composition rate (typing speed) often outpaces my thoughts. I find myself writing quickly, but writing the first thing that comes to mind. During the manual writing process, I think of a few turns of phrase before committing my words to paper, yet I feel fully engaged and productive because my hand is in constant motion, albeit, always a moment behind my mental composition.

This is but one example of an activity that works best, for me, if I do it manually. By way of creating the proper paradigm and perspective, I do almost all of my composition at the computer keyboard; however, most of my writing is the creation of academic syllabi, lecture note, blog and e-zine articles, and technical manuals. These are brisk, factual and come out my recent experience; the content is often dispassionate and dry. My personal works: this text, personal notes, and notes to family members are all composed manually using pen and paper so that my feelings and broader thoughts have time to develop fully during the comparatively slower manual writing process.

 

It may take decades, even longer, for us to grasp the significance of the digital lifestyle and revolution and the breadth of changes the revolution has wrought on us.

The ability to share easily information, especially on a global scale, is democratizing. How will this effect organizations or institutions that attempt to control and repress individual thoughts and actions?

However, no-cost digital publishing, such as blogs, allows the formal media to discredit the sources of ax grinding and soapbox standing Computers that offer feedback to the human users are perceived as more friendly, and the users enjoy the interaction more, if the computer offers positive feedback or compliments.

How well do we use computers as tools to benefit our activities, as compared to using alternative technologies?
The personal computer is eminently suited for many indispensable modern tasks, such as surfing the web, sending e-mail messages, and communicating in the fast-paced digital environment of instant messaging. However, other tools are available for these tasks: cell phones are the most notable alternative technology. We use computers for many other tasks, many of which predate the personal computer, and while the tasks can be accomplished on the personal computer, the tasks were not developed because of having access to a computer.

These digitally-optimal tasks include composing letters and notecards; recording class or meeting notes; and researching spelling, definitions, and etymologies. Arguably, as an academic, I often find the freely available web based dictionaries to lack substance and reliability, especially when comparing synonyms. Traditionally published dictionaries often, in my opinion, present a more complete linguistic evaluation.

It is not worth considering the quality of most word processor-based thesauri. The software vendors should leave these functions out of the products, unless they are willing to design properly an accurate thesaurus database.
Maintaining a personal calendar is one example of tasks that does not require a personal computer. In fact, many folk who have a strong reliance on a personal computer for most other administrative tasks continue to maintain a manual pencil & paper calendar. Until operational necessity forced me to share my personal calendar with coworkers, in the early 1990s, I had a near religious attachment to my leather notebook calendar. It was only after the value of sharing my calendar data became significant did I finally acquiesce and begin to use an electronic calendar as my primarily appointment management tool. To share my calendar data, I needed an application that seamlessly integrated in my company’s local area network. Even after beginning—for five years– to use a digital calendar, I printed my schedule and carried it in my leather notebook. This meant that in order to always have a current calendar with me, I would have to print six pages, sometimes four or five times a day…a fresh copy each time I left the office, just in case a change had been made since I last printed the calendar. At an average cost of 4¢ per page, this habit became a noticeable budget line item.

In the mid 90s, I purchased a handheld computer, one running the popular and powerful Palm operating system. With this device (and the four updated versions that I have since purchased), I can synchronize all of my calendar entries with the application running on our network server, enabling bi directional updates: insertions, deletions, and changes.

My current handheld computer has wireless capability, and it allows me to access my networked data and the internet. I occasionally use my handheld to browse the web and check my e mail when I am out of the office at a wi-fi hotspot: airport terminal, hotel, client site, or coffee shop (along with bookstores, one of my favorite relaxation haunts).

Regardless of my personal choice, do I need an electronic calendar? Yes, because I must easily share my data with coworkers. However, if someone who operates independently, and does not need to share data, chooses to keep a paper calendar, there is no loss of functionality: the possible exception is the ease of making a backup copy of valuable appointment data.

I have found another helpful use for my handheld computer: logging my aircraft flights. Federal air regulations require that I maintain a record of my flights as a pilot. All pilots that I have met rigorously log all flight time, even if as a passenger in the right seat, they took control of the aircraft for only a few minutes, while the pilot in command read a chart or took a break from the tedium of a long flight. Interesting, the Federal Air Regulations do not specify the format in which pilots must keep their flight data. So, in addition to a traditional hardbound paper logbook, I maintain a digital database of all flight data in my handheld computer. Not only do I have automatic calculations of each flight (fuel used, duration of flight, type of aircraft flown), I also have a complete backup copy of my paper logbook (or vice versa, as you prefer). Pilots that keep only a handwritten, paper logbook must take time, every once in a while, to make photocopies of their logbooks. Unless a pilot has a current logbook, he may not take off.

 

To what degree do we fail to evaluate the use of technology and the available interface designs of the technology that we use?

I am still thinking about my conversation with George. Those of us who see value in the full use of technology have to embrace technology, not just accept it. Embracing is the twisting tweaking and fully applying to an application the interaction of effort.

I compare embracing to a faith in the virtue of technology: not that it is solely using a computer; rather it is an emotional bond to the system of digital development. Embracing technology requires recognizing that the more important question is “How best can I use this new device?” rather than, “How do I use this new device?”
Looking for the application, focusing on the outcome, is more important than being concerned about learning to use the catalyst device. Seeing value in the intrinsic nature of a technology is at the heart of embracement. It is as if it were an act of faith. Looking past the functional steps toward the applicability and the outcome-creation potential forms the bond of trust that is inherent in an embracing of any technology.

1981: IBM introduces its first Personal Computer. VisiCalc, Lotus 1 2 3, word processing applications, especially WordPerfect, change the processes by which businesses and later, consumers, collect, store, retrieve, examine, and refer to data.

Access to a digital storage and processing device, especially one that plays games, as an individual and personal tool, created a new paradigm: my data.
My PC=my data.

? How did a “personal” computer create a paradigm of “personal” data?
? How prevalent is this paradigm?
? How did the personal computer create the paradigm of personal data?

Alternatively, was it vice versa? Which came first, the personal computer or personal data? It seems transparent that the personal computer came first, but could its success have been fueled by the masses’ readiness for personal data?

The me first 70s were followed by the go go 80s—the fast development of business following the ecological catastrophes of the mid and late 80s—were people ready to self manages their data?
It is the personal computer that drove the desire for personal data, because the tool created the work. Before spreadsheets, financial and manufacturing data were predominantly reviewed in the aggregate. VisiCalc and, especially, Lotus 1 2 3 created the desire to micromanage data, and they developed a new paradigm for business: the what-if scenario.

With an electronic spreadsheet, business analysts were able to compare potential outcomes, modeling possible alternatives, without investing in expensive prototypes or manual calculation, the professional title given to men, later women, who performed columns of calculations, often logarithmic.

?Data Addiction
I received the PC games Microsoft Zoo Tycoon 2 and Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 for Christmas, and I found that I can easily become addicted to the games, playing them well into the wee hours of the morning…and I am not a normally a computer gamer! The games are not even that interesting, and, in fact, they are boring and repetitive. What is it about these games that makes them so enticing and engaging? The competitive aspect of these games encourages me to practice, learn tricks, seek tips and cheat codes online, and try again and again.

 

How the PC has affected the face of America is one of the questions that have been rolling around inside of my head for over two decades. Most people would agree that the computer revolution has created a brave, new world; however, few may recognize that the availability of personalized, individualized data processing has not only altered our patterns of common behavior, but more so, our expectations of the availability to and delivery of data.

Business professionals speak of information processing; however, computers, even personal computers, are actually a data processing tool. The bits (electrical signals of computerized minutia) are actually data: facts, figures, recorded portions of human activity. Information is an ephemeral evaluation, a cognitive judgment that the human mind creates when data are read and understood. Information exists solely as a mental construct.

I am a university faculty member. I facilitate adult academic classes, in both face-to-face (onground) and computer-mediated (online) classrooms. Some of my students are pursuing the Bachelor of Science in information technology (BS/IT) degree. These students are generally highly competent in the use of technology, both for personal and commercial applications. One recent evening, while teaching a course in critical thinking to a class of about two dozen BS/IT majors, I asked the cohort to describe the distinction between data and information. Most students quickly used their notebook computers to search an online dictionary for the words’ definitions. They were surprised to find the two words define one another: the distinction is not clear in a descriptive dictionary, the most common type of dictionary available online. A commonly used tool offered no help; the students would have to evaluate the distinction themselves.

I frequently consider the distinction: data are the digital products stored, processed, and produced by a computer; information is the conceptualized outcome of the data processing. To me, it is patently clear that data and computer are paired, as are information and the human cognitive process. Why did the students not intuitively recognize this distinction? Not a few of the students were equally competent at many computer applications as I.

Most people seem to be taking their personal computers for granted: relegating the devices to the status of personal household or office appliance. Consumers purchase computers at mass-market retailers, like so many microwave ovens and toasters, rather than at specialty retailers that offer knowledgeable advice and guidance. However, a personal computer has the potential, in properly trained hands, to effect life-altering outcomes: cancer research, protein folding, financial evaluations, and yes, electronic mail and instant messaging. Try any of those tasks with the kitchen toaster!

I recently talked with an academic colleague about the development and application of digital computer technology, especially toward the data retrieval and classification process. Our conversation started following George’s lamenting that much of the peer-reviewed academic literature that he uses in his research is available only in hardcopy, print form. The cream of the published research was not yet available to internet users. While I enjoyed our discussion immensely and I look forward to each of my discussions with George, I disagree, or at least our initial comments lead me to question, how much value we can be found in computer-mediated data that are archived and retrieved, especially regarding the crass referencing systems of multi disciplinary academic literature.

We agreed that PC databases of formatted data—address lists and the like—work well and are sufficiently mature to allow storage and retrieval of desire data in a reasonable timeframe. However, unformatted data, such as a corpus of literature or multidisciplinary scholarship cannot be stored in a computer system without significant expertise in both the subject area and storage system, nor can the literary data be retrieve, except by one with similar skills.

I do not disagree with George on all points; however, I judge that most researchers must acquire requisite skills, prior to successfully conducting data searches, at least with any significant measure of accuracy. Scholarly research has, traditionally, required specialized cataloging and search skills: knowing the alphabet in which the data is cataloged, the library’s cataloging system, Boolean logic, and the grammar of the search engine.

Skills have developed to compensate for the changing requirements of technology. Digital search skills are, in principle, if not in practice, not substantively different.

? Have the requisite skills changed—substantively—in the face of digital data storage?

? Do people, today, react differently to digital data storage than those who faced previous storage systems?

Peer-reviewed journals are available online, there is no longer need a need to visit, physically, a university graduate library. The cost of purchasing the digital copies of literature can be compared to the cost of travel and photocopies, when visiting a physical library. Digital access grants flexibility, both in time and space.

 

Internet traffic is broken into packets, small data chunks, that are routed through the most efficient available channels. A single e-mail message or webpage download my comprise dozens of packets, each of which takes a different route to reach its intended destination. The receiving computer reassembles the packets into their original form, allowing the data to be read without error. Since the packets travel independently between the sender and receiver, they do not necessarily end their travels at the same time, and internet technologies account for this; in fact, this is one of the fundamental strengths of the net’s design: flexibility in packetization and transmission.

E-mail and online documents aren’t adversely affected by the routing delays that occur when their data packets are disassembled, transmitted, potentially delayed, and reassembled at the destination, because the delay is small enough to not be noticed for these media. However, when listening to digital audio or watching online video, a delayed packet or two is not only noticable, it is annoying.

A half-second delay in transmitting an e-mail message is not noticable, but a half-second latency makes voice over IP (VOIP) practically unusable. With the cost of VOIP and the bundling of free long distance services, many consumers and businesses are dropping their traditional POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) in favor of lower-cost VOIP alternatives. With rates as low as one-third of traditional POTS service, VOIP alternatives are attractive to cost-conscious buyers.

Telecommunication companies are under pressure to provided tiered service, effectively guaranteeing high-speed and unimpeded service to those who are able to pay a premium for connectivity. This may lead to latency and transmission delays for consumers and small businesses that do not subscribe to the internet toll service. Streaming audio, video, and the all-important VOIP transmissions may be disrupted and, effectively, made unusable.

But to net purists, network neutrality is a founding hallmark of the internet. Worse than transmission delays is the potential for transmission road blocks. Telecommunication providers may choose to no longer offer open routing to competitor’s networks, requiring service subscribers to pay a premium (a toll) to have data packets routed to or through a competing telecommunication company’s network, the potential host of the intended destination.

Dave’s Opinion
While I am willing to take the toll road, when I drive my car, I am uncomfortable being required to take it, while on the internet. I’ll be looking for the bypass that I hope will remain a freeway.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

 

As I transfer my book from my writer’s notebook to my digital notebook, I will post sections to this blog; I look forward to your constructive feedback in the comments section of each post.

It all started bit by bit.

It all started for me with a father employed by IBM. International Business Machines was the largest employer in my hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York, and I had more than a few friends who had fathers employed by Big Blue. We were an IBM family. Dad felt that he owed much of his personal success to his being fortunate to earn a job with IBM after returning home from the Korean Conflict. IBM paid for our healthcare, and the doctor’s waiting room was cozy with IBM wives and their children. My parents paid for treatment for coughs, fractures, and the assortment of pre-adolescent maladies with blue dollars.

The IBM country club was host for the annual family holiday party, and summertime swimming lessons were given at the country club pool. I even learned to play golf at the club. The IBM softball team kept the younger employees in shape, and both of my parents were ace bowlers, occasionally practicing at club’s lanes.

For me, growing up with the IBM family, I had a picture of an idyllic corporate environment, a place that I would want to work. Dad worked hard, from nine-to-five each day, helping to manage development projects that would eventually end up as huge computers running corporate payroll databases and calculating the trajectories of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions. At home, I was secure in the knowledge that IBM and its line of big iron computers would always be there to provide for our family’s needs.

In the 70s, I left home for college and then military service, so I was not living at home to hear first-hand of the changes at the IBM plants in and around Poughkeepsie. The early 80s found Dad transferred to Boca Raton, Florida to work on a new development project that was to become the IBM Personal Computer.

The IBM PC, as most people called it, was to change the face of data processing. Businesses then, just as today, run on data, and although I did not recognize it at first, individual’s lives were to become much more sensitive to data processing needs, as time progressed.

Dad had occasionally encouraged me, in his gentle handed way, to study how computers work: programming and computer science. I wanted to be a high school music teacher, and I had no interest in things mechanical, let alone a data processing device without obviously moving parts. To me, a computer was a mechanical device with hidden components that shuffled decks of 80-column punch cards and made more noise than I cared to hear. Try as he might to encourage me otherwise, Dad kept his promise to support my career choice, and I left to study music education. Ironically, my first choice for music school was on the campus of one of the State University of New York’s premier computer science colleges…it is too bad that while I was at school I still thought computers were noisy and less interesting than playing the French horn and piano.

It was not until a decade after I first left home that I was to come to recognize that a computer could actually be useful to me. In the mid 80s I came face-to-face with a computer, but this time it was on my terms and I had an immediate need to learn how to use the box. I was a graduate student at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, taking the writing seminars. It was summer, and anyone who has spent a summer near the Chesapeake Bay knows how humid and muggy it can be. My classes required me to write up to 40 pages of prose each week, sometimes through three revisions. I had an electric typewriter and it was turning into a torture device. My housemate, another serviceman and I, being bachelors and perpetually broke, didn’t turn on the air conditioning—I typed and sweat my way through a set of summer writing seminars. During a visit late that summer, Dad surprised me with the gift of an IBM PC Portable. He had bought it used from IBM, but it became a welcome tool as my writing requirements increased.

The PC Portable was a clunky device with two 5.25 inch diskette drives, 640 KB (Kilobytes) of RAM (Random Access Memory), and a six-inch monochrome monitor: all packed in to a travelling case that weighed more than my overseas duffle bag. Dad and Mom were also thoughtful enough to give me a 12 inch color monitor that sat on top of the luggage-sized case.

In less than an hour, Dad was able to teach me to use the PC Editor software application to type my papers, and from that day on, I’ve only used my typewriter to fill out pre printed forms.

Within a week, I teaching myself WordPerfect and Lotus 1 2 3, two applications that demonstrated true excellence in software programming and application interface design. Within the month, I was learning dBase III Plus, another excellent software application.

I took to the IBM PC like quite like a duck takes to water, but like a drowning man takes to flotsam: I saw the personal computer as a tool that would make my life much easier.

Not only was I beginning to breeze through my academic papers, but I was enveloped in a learning process about a device that I intuitively guessed was changing my life. Within a year, I was teaching undergraduate software classes, and I saw my career laid out before me. I resigned from the military, started a computer consulting practice, and I never looked back, not once—probably because the digital world was coming at me too fast for me to dare take my eyes off the road ahead.

 

Quantum computers can use individual atoms to store binary quantum bits (qubits) of data (0 or 1), much like traditional computer microprocessors; however, the rules of quantum physics apply at the atomic level, one of the rules being that a qubit may hold multiple states simultaneously and multiple qubits may be linked through quantum entanglement, leading to increases in some types of processing speed.

A quantum computer requires the qubit to be trapped, prevented from normal interaction with the outside world. The University of Michigan project allows for multiple trapped qubits to be integrated, scaled to a useful level. Initial reviews indicate that the university’s project may be scaled to hundreds of thousands of integrated qubits.

Dave’s Opinion
Should the University of Michigan’s project develop into a scalable quantum computer chip, it would be a watershed in the development of quantum computer, opening the door to commercial applications for computing at the atomic level.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Please leave your comments below.

References
University of Michigan

 

The new version allows drag-and-drop reordering of tabs, faster redisplay of pages, improved pop-up blocking, and additional privacy and accessibility features. Firefox 1.5 supports SVG, CSS2, CSS3, and JavaScript 1.6, demonstrating Mozilla’s commitment to web standards, a hallmark of open-source programming.

Dave’s Opinion
I’ve been using Firefox since the day that it was first publicly released, and I’ve made it my primary browser, setting aside Opera, and eschuing Microsoft Internet Explorer, entirely.

My favorite feature of Firefox, other than its blazing speed, is the extensions service. I’ve added extentions that display the weather, waiting Google gmail messages, and Google AdSense earnings in my status bar. Best of all, the Adblock extension blocks display ads on the my favorite websites, so I can quickly read the text without being interrupted by advertisements.

Call for Comments
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References
Mozilla Corporation

 

Sony’s XCP copy protection program was included on at least different 20 CDs, and automatically installed itself when the CD was inserted into the computer’s drive, without the user’s knowledge or consent. The root kit software has a cloaking feature that hides files on the affected system. Users who attempt to manually remove the software find their CD drives inoperable.

Both the original root kit and Sony’s patch leave users’ computers open to attack from malicious software, including Trojan horse programs that allow the computer to be remotely controlled through the internet.

Dave’s Opinion
Sony BMG Music Entertainment really dropped a hammer on their toes, twice. I’m all for protecting intellectual property and digital media; however, do not expect that a system-wide security tool will do that without causing other problems for users.

This XCP root kit and its patch sound like a product created by committee without any technical expertise.

Call for Comments
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References
Sony BMG Music Entertainment

 

Maryland and Virginia, along with other states are testing a new technology that allows traffic patterns to be mapped on roadways by monitoring several hundred thousand cellular phone signals at the same time. So long as the cellular phones are turned on–they need not be in use–the system can track the cars’ locations.

State transportation and law enforcement agencies say that the cellular tracking systems monitor clusters of phones, rather than individual users; however, privacy advocates aren’t so sure that the system won’t be used for purposes other than those currently promised by the state agencies. The systems are so sensitive that they can determine whether cellular phones are moving along at the pace of a pedestrian’s walk or at highway speed.

Maryland will begin testing the cellular tracking system near Baltimore, and Virginia will test on the Norfolk beltway.

Not all cellular telecommunication providers are willing to connect their networks to cellular tracking system. Cingular, for one, currently plans to decline Maryland’s future program; however, Verizon Wireless will continue to serve the government’s requests.

Dave’s Opinion
For once, I’m glad to have Cingular cellular service. I’m not comfortable being tracked by the phone that I hang on my belt. I don’t usually exceed the speed limit, but sometimes I do get caught in the flow of traffic around the Baltimore Beltway. I’d hate to get a ticket just because my cell phone was doing 60 in a 55 MPH zone.
Call for Comments
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References
Tracking Phones for Traffic Reports

 

Westchester County Executive, Andy Spano, proposed a new law this past week to protect the public from crimes, such as identity theft and other consumer fraud. The law, if enacted by the county’s Board of Legislators, would require commercial businesses, including internet cafes, to take fundamental security precautions to protect customer information from being acquired by computer crackers and personal identity thieves.

According to the county’s press release, “Spano and Norman Jacknis, the county’s chief information officer, took a laptop computer equipped with easily available software and drove around downtown White Plains [last week] in search of vulnerable networks.” The press release also reported that the Department of Information Technology performed the same survey and came across 248 wireless hot spots in less than a half an hour of driving down Westchester Avenue and Main Street in White Plains. Out of those, 120, or almost half, lacked any visible security at all.”

The law would require all commercial businesses that use wireless networks and maintain personal information to have secure networks that protect the public from potential identity theft and other potential threats such as computer viruses and data corruption.

Dave’s Comments
This is a good first step toward encouraging data security practices.

Initially, it appears that the law will also affect home offices, and it may even affect wireless telephone networks, as these, while not specifically Wi-Fi, are wireless networks. If a legal challenge results in telephone services being wrapped up into this law, wouldn’t that be a major hassle?

Call for Comments
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References
Westchester County Government Press Release

 

Consumer web use favors affluent, young, and educated users. Almost all, 95 percent, of households with a combined income over $100,000 annually have at least one computer, and 92 percent of this demographic are online. By comparison, households earning under $40,000 have a 41 percent online access rate, still a significant number.

Popular consumer online activities include gathering news, weather, and sports data; seeking government and health information, and job searching.

The most wired areas of the country were in the west, and the least wired were in the south.

According to a report released in October 2005 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 22 percent of American adults has never used the internet or email and does not live in a wired household; yet, 53 percent of home internet users has broadband access. The distinction usage through broadband and lower-technology dial-up service is significant.

Dave’s Comments
Interestingly, 62 percent, about two-thirds, of households with college graduates have broadband access to the net, while only 44 percent of households of high school graduates have broadband service. The Pew Internet & American Life project also reported that access speed is a greater predictor of online behavior than is the user’s experience. Broadband users are more likely to engage in a broad range of online activities than dial-up users. I have found this true, for myself, even within the broadband usage range. When I have a 6 Mbps or faster connection I am more likely to frequently maintain backups of my websites, download software updates, and participate in other bandwidth-intensive activities. When I connect to slower, yet still broadband, networks, such as residential DSL networks, I’m more likely to restrict my online activities to e-mail and web reading.

Call for Comments
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References
Digital Divisions (Pew Internet & American Life Project)

 

The Internet Café & Sundries shop is one of the few public hotspots on the island, and the rates are reasonable: $30 for a week’s worth of unlimited wi-fi access, 24 hours a day. There are also a dozen Windows PCs connected to the net, for those who don’t travel with a notebook computer.

The free coffee bar makes this shop a welcome morning stop.

Next year I may have free wi-fi access in our villa, but if not, I’ll be back to the Café for a signal and coffee.

 

The study reports that the number of residential broadband users increased only three percent during the first six months of 2005. In short, “There is not much pent-up demand for high-speed Internet use at home,” according the Pew report, and the average dial-up user is now older, less educated, or in a lower income bracket than dial-up users of just three years ago.

The survey included data current through May 2005 and reported that 53 percent of residential internet users have a high-speed connection at home. In December 2004, half of residential users had home broadband. This six percent increase, over six months, is “small and not statistically significant,” according to the report.

During roughly the same calendar period, a year earlier, the penetration of residential broadband increased from 35 to 42 percent, a full 20 percent increase.

The report argues that “the potential pool of potential adopters of broadband is comprised of several different groups that are either not large or declining.”

Dave’s Opinion
I enjoy reading the reports that come from the researchers at the Pew Internet & American Life Project, and this report is no exception. While I’m disheartened to find that broadband adoption is decreasing, I’m heartened to find that over half of American households have useful bandwidth.

I suggest that you read this report, and the other Pew papers. I think you’ll find them illuminating.

Call for Comments
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References
Pew Internet & American Life Project
Broadband Adoption in the United States: Growing but Slowing

 

Google Print, which was launched last October, facilitates the online searching of book contents, according to Google, makes it easier to find relevant books. Charges brought by The Authors Guild in a New York court claim damages and demand the search engine company stop uploading the contents of library books. Lawyers for the New York-based nonprofit asked the court to block Google from copying the books so the authors would not “suffer irreparable harm, ” caused by losing control over the reproduction and distribution of their work.

A recently published list of talking points, taken from The Authors Guild website, aims a broadside at Google, the company well known for its search engine and recently recognized for its broad applications of digital technology:

1. Google is a commercial, not a charitable, enterprise. Google is worth roughly $90 billion, making staggering profits through its online advertising programs. Its investment in Google Library is intended to bring even more visitors and profits to its website and ancillary services. The Guild is all for profit, but when the profit comes from the works of authors, the authors should be properly compensated.

2. Google is scanning entire books, not just “fair use snippets.” Google is digitizing countless texts, your books, in their entirety — every sentence, every carefully chosen word — without your permission. That Google presents browsers with small selections of your work doesn’t change that.

3. It’s not just public domain books. The Guild has no objection, of course, to the digitization of public domain works. The Google Library project goes far beyond that, encompassing works that are still protected by copyright, including in print and out of print works.

4. Out of print doesn’t mean public domain. Out of print works are valuable. Out of print works are republished every day, bringing welcome new advances to authors and the prospect of new royalty income. That Google is willing to sink so much money into digitizing these works is further proof of their ongoing value.

5. Authors (and the Guild) aren’t opposed to making their works searchable online with a proper license. With a proper license, in fact, far more than “snippets” could be made available to users. The opportunities are boundless, but it all starts with a valid license. This is no big deal, really; businesses large and small sign license agreements every day.

Google Print’s website includes the following statement that addresses how Google Print works:
Just do a search on the Google Print homepage. When we find a book whose content contains a match for your search terms, we’ll link to it in your search results. Click a book title and you’ll see the page of the book that has your search terms, along with other information about the book and “Buy this Book” links to online bookstores (you can view the entirety of public domain books or, for books under copyright, just a few pages or in some cases, only the title’s bibliographic data and brief snippets). You can also search for more information within that specific book and find nearby libraries that have it.

Dave’s Opinion
It sounds to me that The Authors Guild is stuck in a hot-lead mode of thinking while the rest of the world has moved to digital type. Google Print doesn’t seem to be aiming to control the distribution and reproduction of authors’ work, even those that are still under copyright protection. Rather, Google Print aims to serve as a type of combination digital library and bookstore.

The Authors Guild doesn’t seem to be able to honestly evaluate the current state of its industry. In a publication on the association’s website homepage, A report linked from its own homepage, Report to the Authors Guild Midlist Books Study Committee, acknowledges the growing limitations of national chain booksellers and libraries to deliver a broad range of titles to the public. Wouldn’t you think that the association, rather than seeking further limitations on book publication, would, instead, seek to help its member authors to more widely distribute their work? Although The Authors Guild may be showing its true colors; the same homepage also prominently advertises another book, The Writer’s Legal Guide: an Authors Guild Desk Reference.

I think The Authors Guild should consider partnering with Google in an effort to help authors, both members and nonmembers, to distribute their work as widely as possible.

Unless The Authors Guild gets in the swim of digital publication, they’ll sink with their lead still in their back pockets.

Call for Comments
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References
The Authors Guild
Google Print
Report to the Authors Guild Midlist Books Study Committee

Related Articles
Google Becomes a Library. Digitizing the World’s Books?

 

Hitachi’s upgrade kit is made up of a 5,400 RPM 2.5″ drive in capacities of 40, 60, 80 or 100GB. The included Apricorn EZ Gig II Hard Drive Cloning and Upgrade software is designed to communicate through a USB 2.0 port; however, if the notebook computer has only a USB 1.1 port, the communication and upgrade will work, but at a slower speed.

Dave’s Opinion
This is an excellent option, both for information technology consultants and end users. The upgrade it will retail between $139 and $219.

The included 5,400 RPM drive is faster than the typical 4,200 RPM drive supplied by most notebook manufacturers. So, not only can users increase their drives’ capacity, but also the access speed. A 30% increase in drive speed is a noticeable improvement.

Call for Comments
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References
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
Apricorn EZ Gig II

 

The worm affects computers by downloading a new HOSTS file. Because the worm downloads a new HOSTS file, rather than inserting directly as part of the infection process, the HOSTS file can be updated, again and again. The HOSTS file overrides the Internet’s DNS (Domain Name Service) and redirects domains to artificial IP addresses.

Dave’s Opinion
P2Load.A also modifies the start page and the search options of Internet Explorer The worm is spread through the P2P programs Shareaza and Imesh.

As always, I strongly recommend users to keep antivirus signatures updated every day. I use Computer Associates eTrust EZ Armor, that updates its antivirus data every hour, and it includes an excellent firewall application.

Call for Comments
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References
Panda Software P2Load.A Data
eTrust EZ Armor

 

Blogs generally offer fresher material than traditional websites. Even mainline news services such as The New York Times and CNN publish blogs to facilitate the timely distribution of breaking news.

Many blogs are also republished in RSS (Real Simple Syndication) format, which allows the content articles to be quickly scanned using RSS reader applications or a free extension to the open-source –and widely used– web browser, Mozilla Firefox.

Blogs and their writers, known as bloggers, have gained international prominence following the recent U.S. presidential election and the Christmas-time tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia. Had it not been for the loss of electrical power and internet access throughout much of the Gulf Coast of the U.S., there would have been many more blogs reporting the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Businesses have taken a cautious approach to blogging, failing to grasp the potential for customer service applications; however, this may change, partly as a function of Google’s increasing the accessibility to blogged data.

Dave’s Opinion
My primary new sources are the RSS feeds for formal articles and blog entries from The New York Times, CNN, Reuters, and the BBC. I’m excited that Google has set aside a portion of its cataloging services specifically for blogged articles. Many of these offer opinions and color that don’t make it through the traditional editorial process. I appreciate the value of blogs, not only for their frequency and currency, but for the additional detail and perspective that they offer.

Call for Comments
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References
Google Blog Search
Mozilla Firefox

 

The principles of quantum mechanics allow for superpositions, in which a bit of memory may represent both 0 and 1 at the same time. The recent experiments, using beryllium ions, have created a less volatile data storage medium with a useful storage period over a million times longer than is necessary to enable quantum data processing.

Dave’s Opinion
The scientists at NIST have made a great leap forward in the development of quantum memory. Rather than relying on data backup and duplication to create a fault tolerant environment, the longer lasting memory may serve to protect data bits while they are being used for calculations and processing.

Call for Comments
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References
NIST

Related Articles
Quantum Computer to be Ready in Three Years

 

Other researchers have been able to slow, and in some cases, completely stop the speed of light; however, each previous experiment required controlled laboratory condition. The EPFL scientists, based in Switzerland, have demonstrated a methodology for speed control without the need for specialized equipment. Rather, standard optical fibers are used as the medium in which the experiment took place. The speed of the light signal can easily be adjusted, allowing the operator to control the transmission speed over a wide variance.

This is not just a scientific novelty. The ability to accelerate and decelerate the speed at light travels in a fully-optical environment will have profound impact on the telecommunication’s industry, which relies heavily on fiber-optic cable for both long-haul and short-hop data connectivity. Currently fiber-optic transmissions must be converted to slower electrical transmissions before the data can be processed. Data traveling at the speed of light that is controllable may allow all-optical data transmission media, eliminating the current need for electrical conversion.

The EPFL scientists demonstrated the creation of optical memory using their Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) method, which decelerated the light transmission by 72 percent.

Dave’s Opinion
One of the personal benefits that I see to an all optical network is faster data transmission speeds, both for corporate and consumer networks. Currently, broadband bandwidth is throttled to prevent electrical switches from being overtaxed during peak loads. The available bandwidth is limited to prevent excessive peaks in requested bandwidth. An all-optical network, with increased available bandwidth may increase the users’ available bandwidth, even allowing for management by pro-rata share and throttling.

Call for Comments
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References
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

 

Almost a thousand school districts nationwide use an integrate digital resources into the traditional classroom environment, but Empire HS has leaped ahead of other secondary schools and following the model set by post-secondary institutions such as the cutting-edge University of Phoenix, which offers fully-digital academic resources for both students and faculty: all texts and classroom resources are delivered electronically in a number of digital formats, including Adobe Acrobat PDF.

Students at Empire HS will receive course materials through the school’s wi-fi network, and homework can be submitted electronically. Web-based filtering systems help students and faculty maintain academic honesty by keeping an eye out for plagiarized material.

Dave’s Opinion
I’ve been implementing digital resources in the classroom since the late 80s; however, it wasn’t until four years ago that I experienced how effective both online and digitally-supported classrooms can be. At the University of Phoenix, students in my classes frequently arrive to the first workshop having downloaded the course syllabus and the first week’s readings. The days of having students arrive to class with the excuse that their textbook was out of stock at the bookstore are long gone. Now, both the students and I have access to all course materials just as soon as we’re scheduled for the course. Now, there is no excuse for not completing all assigned readings before the first class starts.

I was excited to see that my daughters’ middle school has webspace for each teacher. I hope by next year, when my oldest daughter starts high school, she’ll find a digitally-supported classroom, just like the 340 lucky students at Empire High School.
Call for Comments
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References
Empire High School
University of Phoenix

 

The answer to these questions is undoubtably money, costs, in particular; however, the infrastructure and service costs may be covered through advertising, and the company to do it may be our favorite search engine provider: Google.

According to a report in Business 2.0, Google has been building a national network by buying up miles of dark, unused fiber-optic cable and test marketing a wi-fi hotspot in San Francisco’s Union Square shopping district. Feeva (formerly UnwireNow), the contractor providing the San Francisco hotspot is preparing additional free hotspots in California, Florida, New York, and Washington.

According to Feeva, Inc.’s website, the company “provides a software platform that allows businesses and metro areas to provide WiFi access for free or with low user fees. Our solution radically changes the way that WiFi — and even wired — access is delivered to the public or to any specific user group. [The] solution is ideal for any entity or business that wants to provide wireless or wired Internet access to the public or to a specific user group, but doesn’t want to risk a large upfront investment.”

Google has also built partnerships in New York, Atlanta, and Miami with telecommunications providers AboveNet, Cogent Communications, and WilTel. A national broadband wi-fi network could offer Google an unprecedented opportunity to develop a long-term advertising revenue stream, based partially on an ability to locate each wi-fi user and target geographically-specific advertising. Using technology developed by Feeva, Google may be able to serve online ads for stores and services that are next to the wi-fi hotspot user.

Dave’s Opinion
I’d be willing to let Google know where I am, in return for free metropolitan wi-fi access, especially in resort areas, where it’s sometimes difficult for me to find a public hotspot.

When I can find a hotspot, it’s often at a cost of up to $20 a day. I’d rather trade a bit of personal privacy for free wireless service.

Call for Comments
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References
Google
Feeva
AboveNet
Cogent Communications
WilTel

 

According to the Copyright Office’s website, “[I]t is not entirely clear whether the [preregistration] system will be compatible with web browsers other than Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 5.1 and higher. Filers of preregistration applications will be able to employ these Internet Explorer browsers successfully. Support for Netscape 7.2, Firefox 1.0.3, and Mozilla 1.7.7 is planned but will not be available when preregistration goes into effect. Present users of these browsers may experience problems when filing claims.”

It sounds as if support for other browsers is planned, but won’t immediately be available, but what does this mean?

Dave’s Opinion
I can’t understand why the U.S. Government, as well as commercial e-business developers, doesn’t use open-source development tools that are designed to be browser independent, such as PHP and MySQL? Come on folk, let’s build websites that work well, under as many conditions as possible.

The U.S. Copyright Office is a division of the Library of Congress, a part of the United States Government. Wasn’t it the U.S. Government that sued Microsoft over antitrust issues? It seems as if the government and Microsoft have patched their relationship.

Oh, by the way, if you’d like to submit your comment about the Copyright Office’s plans, you’ll have to do so via snail mail, in sextuplicate.

Call for Comments
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References
Library of Congress Announcement

 

InStep is an intensive internship program of up to 24 weeks, giving select students hands-on experience developing state-of-the-art software services and solutions in Infosys’ global development centers across the globe.

Dave’s Comments
I think this is a wonderful educational opportunity for MBA candidates, most of whom will shortly be responsible for making decisions that will affect thousands of U.S. employees. Seeing how outsourcing can be applied, to benefit both U.S. and Indian workers is an excellent learning tool, one that will have long term positive effects for the global marketplace.

Call for Comments
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References
Infosys Technologies, Ltd.

 

Dave’s Opinion
RSS is a media delivery format that has excited me for many years. Not only is the format convenient for readers, it’s a simple process for publishers to create an RSS feed, especially from a blog. In fact, most blogging software will automatically create an RSS feed, which can be directly accessed by readers.

The current grail sought by digital marketers is a technology that will easily enable the insertion of interstitial and integral advertisements into RSS feeds and their constituent articles.

I’ve found the most convenient RSS/Atom reader is the Feedview extension for Firefox, a free download from Mozilla’s website. Using Feedview and Firefox’s toolbar-level bookmarks, I can keep access any of my two dozen or so favorite RSS feeds with only a couple of mouse clicks. This is a much faster way of accessing the current news reports than visiting an equal number of separate websites.

Call for Comments
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References
Google News (RSS/Atom feed hyperlinks in left margin)
Feedview Extension

 

Keyword searches are de rigueur on the net; however, IBM is developing its Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA) to analyze document text with the goal of understanding content and meaning, seeking relationships, and recognizing facts. Rather than requiring the search engine user to learn the intricacies of search criteria grammar, akin to being a bibliothec, UIMA enables the user to find information, not just data, out of potentially petabytes of online and corporate digital files.

UIMA will be able to search many formats of digital files, including databases, e-mail, audio, and video.

Best of all, IBM will make UIMA available through the open-source software distribution site, SourceForge, by year’s end. The alpha version of the UIMA SDK (Software Development Kit), an all-Java implementation, can now be downloaded for free from IBM AlphaWorks.

Dave’s Opinion
Maybe IBM should name their new search algorithm Apollo, or more fittingly, Eros.

Call for Comments
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References
IBM AlphaWorks
SourceForge

 

Many digital devices, including everyone’s personal computer, have built-in clocks that keep track of the current date and time. These devices usually have internal calendars that automatically adjust for daylight saving time each spring and return to standard time in the autumn. The new law will move the start of daylight saving time forward by three weeks and extend it by a total of four weeks. So, for four weeks each year, digital devices that do not account for the changes in DST dates will be off by an hour.

Many people wait to make cellular calls until their free nighttime minutes begin. If the cellular nighttime schedule is off by an hour, nocturnal conversations could easily run up almost $1,000 a month in per-minute charges.

Dave’s Opinion
I expect that Microsoft will quickly release a patch to Microsoft Windows XP and 2003 so users of these operating systems will see the correct time in the system task bar; however, users of older versions of Windows, such as Windows 95/98/Me/2000 may be out of luck. Microsoft no longer offer full updates service for these operating systems.

I hope that Palm offers a patch for my handheld computer. I rely totally on my Tungsten E2 to keep me on time for my appointments.

Thankfully, I wake up to a digital alarm clock that synchronizes with an atomic clock via a radio signal, so I should get up at the right time, each day. But, will I know when to go to bed?

Call for Comments
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Although Microsoft has not confirmed that the crack works, details are well publicized, and it appears that the crack is popular, at least amongst nefarious users.

Previously, JavaScript tricks were required to bypass the WGA requirement; however, now it appears that it’s as simple as running the WGA application in Windows 2000 compatibility mode.

Dave’s Opinion
Microsoft has yet to learn that the best way to deliver software is to make it easy for users to have access to the software. Rather than trying to keep folk out, Microsoft should encourage users to be honestly use their products. Take a note from the shareware book, Microsoft. Create great software that we want to use, and then make it easy for us.

Given the option, most people want to be honest.

Call for Comments
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References
Microsoft Corporation

 

Couches and wing armchairs, arranged in small groups, encourage conversation and relaxation. Bookshelves present a selection of reading materials, including a book swap. I’ve picked up John Barry’s The Great Influenza, but I haven’t decided which of my books I’ll leave in return (they are all so dear!).

Light fare is served from 7:30 A.M. until 4:30 P.M. (6:00 P.M. on Fridays and Saturdays). A good selection of coffee flavors, both high-test and decaf is always on tap.

Private internet kiosks rent for $5.00 per half hour. If you bring your own wireless notebook or PDA, wi-fi access is $5.00 per three-hour session^*. I signed up for a full-week’s wi-fi access for $28.50, so I can access the net 24/7, even from my car or the benches on the building’s front porch. Last week, I relied on dial-up access, and the low-bandwidth was more than annoying while I was teaching online courses.

I’m glad that I wandered into 2Bean yesterday and noticed a small note on the counter indicating that wi-fi access was available…I think that I’ll suggest to the owners that they post an advertising notice in the café’s front window.

*2Bean’s wi-fi is 802.11g, 54Mbps bandwidth

 

In addition to the online applications, backup software systems received much attention from crackers seeking to access corporate and personal data, possibly for resale. Detailed warnings were published in SANS Top 20 Q2 2005 Critical Vulnerability Update.

Dave’s Opinion
With the proliferation of digital music players, an increasing number of otherwise less-technically savvy consumers are connecting and downloading applications and digital data (music). It’s a good idea to read SAN’s vulnerability update and to seek additional security guidance.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
SANS Top 20 Q2 2005 Critical Vulnerability Update

 

A reader subscribes to RSS feeds that then content is pushed to the user’s computer. With the release of Mozilla Firefox and the Feedview extension, RSS feeds can be read within the webbrowser’s window; additional software need not be purchased or installed.

Bloggers and web publishers have long recognized the power inherent in distributing content via RSS, because it ensures a ready audience, one who has already requested a subscription to upcoming articles.

Microsoft has announced that RSS services will be integrated into the next release of the Windows operating system, making it a snap for all users of this release of Windows to access feeds from around the globe.

The trick for publishers and media outlets, like Google and Yahoo, is to figure out how to insert advertisements into the RSS content.

Dave’s Comment
Advertising, we’ve got to live with it to have otherwise free content. I’m sure not looking forward to having my dozen or so RSS feeds clogged with interstitial ads. I like the clean, crisp RSS view, just as it is right now.”Within five years,” he said, “everyone with a broadband connection will be using it whether they know it or not.”

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Mozilla Firefox
Feedview

 

D-Wave’s design takes advantage of an low-temperature superconducting analog chip, rather than the sensitive lasers and vacuum tools required by other quantum computer designs.

Dave’s Opinion
For those of you who have followed my writing for a while, you know that I’ve had an interest in the development of quantum computing tools for more than two decades. I’m excited about D-Wave’s design, and I have to admit, I’m heartened by the company’s ability to break ranks and look to an alternative design that may facilitate the early adoption of quantum computing technology.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
D-Wave Systems

 

According to this morning’s Wall Street Journal, Google’s commissions for processing each transaction in the payment service could significantly increase its $3.2 billion annual revenue, which currently comes primarily from online advertising services.

Dave’s Opinion
Should Google enter the payment processing market, PayPal will have to dance with the wolf, and quickly, if it wants to remain in business. E-business helps to flatten the world, to use Thomas Friedman’s term, and Google is taking full advantage of the pancaking effect of its global presence and name.

Call for Comments
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References
Wall Street Journal, Google Set to Offer Payment Service to Compete With eBay’s PayPal

 

The problem may only affect a very small number of users, and it is limited to displaying RSS (real simple syndication) data, not general-purpose webpages. The folk at America Online, Netscape’s owner reported today that a patch will be released next week.

Dave’s Opinion
The potential conflict doesn’t affect security, and I’m not surprised that Microsoft will do a bit of the crying wolf in order to create negative publicity for any competing product.

I suggest that users don’t play into Microsoft’s consternation and instead move straight to Mozilla Firefox, a stable, fast webbrowser with hundreds of optional extensions that allow users to customize the browser’s functionality.

Call for Comments
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References
Netscape
Mozilla Firefox

 

The portable computer includes built-in access to Internet radio, RSS (Real Simple Syndication) news reader, and a digital media player. Weighing in at about a half-pound, the device will be available to consumers this fall.

According to Nokia’s website, “The device runs on Linux based Nokia Internet Tablet 2005 software edition which includes widely deployed desktop Linux and Open Source technologies. The maemo development platform (www.maemo.org) will provide Open Source developers and innovation houses with the tools and opportunities to collaborate with Nokia on future devices and OS releases in the Internet Tablet category.”

Dave’s Opinion
This is a good foray for Nokia: designing a portable media device without being beholden to the restrictions and costs that traditional laptops face with Microsoft Windows. The Linux operating system is generally considered more stable and flexible than Windows, and with proper installation is equally secure, and some IT experts think, more secure than Microsoft’s operating system.

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet Press Release: http://press.nokia.com/PR/200505/995802_5.html

Call for Comments
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References
Nokia 770 Internet Tablet Press Release

 

In a statement released by Acting Assistant Attorney General John Richter, the government’s goal is “to shut down as much of this illegal operation as quickly as possible to stem the serious financial damage to the victims of this high-tech piracy–the people who labor to produce these copyrighted products,” He continued, “Today’s crackdown sends a clear and unmistakable message to anyone involved in the online theft of copyrighted works that they cannot hide behind new technology.”

Dave’s Opinion
While I agree that the enforcement action is a long time in coming, it was probably hastened by the posting of “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” on the site, even before the movie was released in theatres.

Call for Comments
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References
BitTorrent
EliteTorrents (currently offline)

 

According to the FTC website, Operation Spam Zombies was announced yesterday as an international campaign to educate Internet Service Providers and other Internet connectivity providers about hijacked, or zombie computers that spammers use to flood in-boxes here and abroad. Twenty members of the London Action Plan, an international network combating spam, and 16 additional government agencies who will participate in Operation Spam Zombies will send letters to more than 3,000 ISPs around the world, urging them to employ protective measures to prevent their customers’ computers from being hijacked by spammers. The measures include:

1. block port 25 except for the outbound SMTP requirements of authenticated users of mail servers designed for client traffic. Explore implementing Authenticated SMTP on port 587 for clients who must operate outgoing mail servers.
2. apply rate-limiting controls for email relays.
3. identify computers that are sending atypical amounts of email, and take steps to determine if the computer is acting as a spam zombie. When necessary, quarantine the affected computer until the source of the problem is removed.
4. give your customers plain-language advice on how to prevent their computers from being infected by worms, Trojans, or other malware that turn PCs into spam zombies, and provide the appropriate tools and assistance.
5. provide, or point your customers to, easy-to-use tools to remove zombie code if their computers have been infected, and provide the appropriate assistance.

Dave’s Opinion
These are good first steps for security-aware ISPs to take in throttling the transmission of spam.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Federal Trade Commission
FTC Press Release
Operation Spam Zombies

 

The SSD has uses only five percent of the electricity required to power hard disk drives, and weights less than half of a comparably-sized disk drive. Because the SSD has no moving parts, there almost no noise or heat is emitted by the module, and it is less prone to skipping or damage from movement.

The SSD has read/write speeds of 57/32 MBps, respectively, making it fast enough for both computer and consumer electronics applications.

Dave’s Opinion
SSD modules with greater capacity are expected soon, making the memory product a serious competitor for micro-data devices. Look for the Samsung SSD, not only as USB flash memory key, but also as a replacement for portable digital music hard disks and, eventually, notebook hard disks.

Call for Comments
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References
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

 

About 1000 AD, the Archimedes treatises were scribed onto parchment; however, about 200 years later, the text and diagrams were erased to allow the valuable writing material to be reused. Christian prayers, written in Greek, were scribed over Archimedes’ words, creating a palimpsest, a reused parchment. The prayer book was used in religious study for seven hundred years, until Danish philologist John Ludvig Heiberg discovered the palimpsest in the library of The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Istanbul. It was Heiberg who recognized that the document was a palimpsest and contained text and diagrams that were authored by Archimedes.

Stanford’s accelerator is able to detect tiny amounts of iron in the erased ink by using x-rays so cause the iron to fluoresce, to glow. Most of the text was revealed by scientists at Johns Hopkins University and the Rochester Institute of Technology, using digital cameras and ultraviolet or infrared filters, the accelerator will help to fill in the missing parts. This palimpsest contains the only copy of Archimedes’ treatise, “Method of Mechanical Theorems,” which describes how the mathematician used mechanical means to develop his theorems, and the only original Greek version of the treatise “On Floating Bodies,” in which Archimedes addresses the physics related to flotation and gravity.

Dave’s Opinion
All I can say is Eureka!

Call for Comments
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Access to Google News, the New York Times, British Broadcasting Service, local weather and moving listings, and Google’s Gmail service can be displayed on a single homepage, along with a dialogue to Google’s flagship search engine.

Dave’s Opinion
I think this is a convenient way to quickly glance at the news without any of the annoying ads served up by Microsoft and Yahoo! I need all that annoying eye candy like I need a hole in the head.

Have you been coveting a Gmail invitation? I found over a million of ‘em on isnoop.net. If you’ve got a few invitations to share, I’m sure isnoop.net would love to help give them away. Be generous.

Call for Comments
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References
Google’s Homepage Creator
isnoop.net Gmailomatic

 

The HT technology allows two separate processes, software threads, to concurrently execute, using a single CPU, and it’s this capability that can be exploited. he multiple processes share access to the CPU’s cache, and through this shared access the security keys for the computer can be gleaned.

Dave’s Opinion
Cache is a portion of memory, usually built into the microprocessor, that enables ultrafast access to frequently-used, and recently-used data. By storing the data in fast-access memory, overall system performance is improved. Generally, the system’s L1 cache is cleared between system processes; however, with HT technology, the cache may remain filled, pending a request from another thread, this allows one processing thread to have access to the data intended for use by the other. The problem is akin to a shared desk: one user has access to another’s papers unless the desk is cleared between work shifts.

Percival reported that the co-access security risk only affects servers, and that desktop users are not at risk; however,
Hyper-Threading processors also ship on desktop PCs, but this particular flaw is only a problem for servers, Percival said on his Web site.

According to Percival, “Hyper-Threading, as currently implemented on Intel Pentium Extreme Edition, Pentium 4, Mobile Pentium 4, and Xeon processors, suffers from a serious security flaw,” Colin explains. “This flaw permits local information disclosure, including allowing an unprivileged user to steal an RSA private key being used on the same machine. Administrators of multi-user systems are strongly advised to take action to disable Hyper-Threading immediately.”

Call for Comments
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References
BSDCan 2005 Hyper-Threading Vulnerability

 

Verizon has no plans to offer DSL-only service to new customers.

Dave’s Opinion
Verizon gives a bit of back talk in the details of the announcement. Current voice/DSL customers may convert to solely DSL service, but only if they don’t select an alternative wireline voice service provider; the customers must switch to cellular or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service. It seems that if Verizon must lose a portion of its wireline telephone business, it’s going to make sure that a competitor doesn’t pick it up.

I think that all DSL providers will eventually offer DSL-only alternatives, especially to residential consumers.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Verizon Communications

 

Take, for instance, Apple iTunes and Napster’s use of a DRM wrapper that prevents music purchased from the online service from being used on a digital music player that is not recognized by the DRM wrapper. Not everyone has an iPod, that works with iTunes, or an iriver H10, that works with Napster. I’d like one of these new devices, but I’ve chosen to make due with my Sony NetMD Walkman. In fact, the Walkman’s removable MiniDisc media make the device easy to upgrade. I can carry a cache of MiniDiscs with me, and I’m able to share my discs with other NetMD users, just as if I were sharing an original CD. As flexible as the NetMD MiniDiscs are, the digital recorder isn’t supported by the new DRM security of these two premier music distribution services. How many other yet-to-be-created services won’t support my device? Before starting the argument that Moore’s Law affects all digital devices, and products quickly become too archaic to support, my MiniDisc player is not the only device that’s running into a wall because of DRM…most digital music players run afoul of DRM wrappers.

Jon Johansen, a Norwegian software coder, recently released PyMusique, an application that let’s honest downloaders sidestep the DRM requirements of Applies iTunes music service. PyMusique logs into the iTunes site, facilitates the purchase of music without the iTunes DRM wrapper. Once the unwrapped music is downloaded, it can be transferred to any digital media player, including a computer.

I recognize that once a song (or a set of hundreds of songs) has been downloaded without the DRM wrapper, it can be illegally distributed, just as if it were ripped directly from a physical CD or downloaded from an unauthorized site, but at least I would be able to listen to the media in a manner that’s convenient for me. I say drop the DRM and trust that I won’t illegally distribute the music I just bought.

The world’s not perfect, and there are many dishonest and unethical people; heck, we take actions that are unethical, to some extent. However, DRM is a set of shackles that excessively restrict reasonable use of commercial music. My wife makes the argument that, in the aggregate, artists are likely to get more playtime if their music were distributed freely. At some point, mass appeal encourages commercial success: just ask the Grateful Dead, who “have long encouraged the purely noncommercial exchange of music taped at our concerts and those of our individual members.”

Audiophiles, encourage the simple distribution of the music (and audiobooks) that you enjoy. Be honest, don’t bootleg or pirate recordings. Music distributors, pay heed to your market niche and customer service: drop DRM wrappers, now.

Call for Comments
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References
Grateful Dead Statement

 

The report continues to say that recent lawsuits by the recording industry against both media distribution outlets (i.e. Napster) and individual file swappers have encouraged 48 percent of the downloading users’ to move toward informal networks and personal relationships as distribution alternatives. Digital music players, e-mail, and instant messaging (IM) services are popular media for the informal distribution of digital content. The Pew Internet & American Life report, Music and Video Downloading Moves Beyond P2P, estimates that 18 million Americans are sharing digital content through nontraditional media.

Nineteen percent of those surveyed (an estimated 7 million Americans) reported downloading content using a digital media player, an iPod or similar device. E-mail and IM were even more popular alternatives; a reported 28 percent (an estimated 10 million Americans) use e-mail and IM for distribution. Remaining nontraditional distribution channels comprise websites, including blogs.

About a third, 30 percent, of those surveyed reported stopping file sharing because of a fear of prosecution, following the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) purges. About half, 49 percent, of respondents judge that file-sharing networks should be held responsible for the illegal distribution of copyright-protected media that traverses the P2P networks.

I find it particularly interesting that half of the folk, and possibly more, based on my experience, place the legal responsibility for protecting copyrights on the P2P networks, and fail to take personal responsibility for their own actions. It is as if the P2P networks forced the individual downloaders to receive the illegally distributed content. Come on, other than yourselves, you are you trying to fool?

Call for Comments
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References
Pew Internet & American Life Project

 

A fully-patched installation of Internet Explorer doesn’t mean that the user is safe from malware. For over half of 2004, 54 percent of the time (200 days), a worm or virus was in the wild that could take advantage of additional vulnerabilities for which a patch was not available from Microsoft.

So, what is a computer user to do? One free alternative is to use Mozilla FireFox, rather than Microsoft Internet Explorer. During the same period, ScanIT found that FireFox was vulnerable only 15 percent of the time (56 days). Another alternative is the commercial webbrowser, Opera, which was vulnerable for 17 percent of 2004 (65 days). Either of these alternatives is an excellent first step toward decreasing the risk of being attacked by internet-delivered malware.

Dave’s Comments
ScanIT’s website will report common security problems that may put you at risk; it’s worth a visit.

Another site, Steve Gibson’s Shields Up!! will help you detect a general set of security risks to you system.

Use both sites, ScanIT and Shields Up!! to help you detect your risks.

Call for Comments
Please leave your comments below.

References
ScanIT Browser Security Test
Shields Up!!

 

1. Every gallon of ink used by consumer ink jet printers creates two tons of garbage, including the cartridge and it’s packaging.

2. The first atomic clock was originally set to the time on Albert Einstein’s pocket watch.
3. George Washington was a self-avowed atheist.

If trivia like these tickle your fancy then read on.

The three trivial statements above are taken from a fun website, gullible.info, I want to give the authors credit, both for their writing and their sense of humor. None of the statements is true, yet they each sound accurate. At first, I accepted them as true, because I took them at face value, not analysing and evaluating their veracity and accuracy. But now, I have to fess up; I’ve really presented them as a come-on, hoping that once you’re here, you’ll read further. I’m sorry for attempting to dupe you.

I’m challenged to write this article after facilitating a set of classes in the past month that addressed the topics of ethics and focused on the application of critical thinking to the evaluation of ethical considerations. What struck me in facilitating the classroom conversations is that many of the students, all thoughtful, well-educated adults, failed to apply the general principles of analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and evaluation when discussing whether common actions were appropriate (right or wrong). I was intrigued by the number of opinions that were formed based on untested truths.

For example, many adult students saw nothing wrong with distributing digital music that was protected by copyright and distribution reservations if the music was originally given to them (if they didn’t steal it directly, themselves). The opinions agreed that it would be acceptable to distribute exact copies of someone else’s commercial work, so long as the distributor didn’t pilfer the work, but received it gratis from someone else (even the original pilferer).

So, by extension, would it be acceptable for me to receive stolen objects and share them with a friend? What if the shared object were the booty of a bank heist? Isn’t there a law against possessing stolen objects?

I introduced the topic of digital ethics by posing a question regarding the use of pop-up and banner advertisement blocking software: is it ethically acceptable to use ad-blocking software to view commercial websites that offer free content and commercial advertisements?

In all classes, this question generated a lot of conversation, but in general, it was a question that the participants had not yet considered. If I were to use blocking software, such as the AdBlock extension to the Mozilla Firefox webbrowser, would I be accepting the content in a manner other than was intended (even licensed) by the provider? Is it ethical to take something without consideration for the desires and expectations of the provider?

What do you think? Is it proper (not just acceptable) to view commercial webpages using ad-blocking software?

 

Jeffrey Citron, CEO of Vonage Holdings Corp., a leading VoIP provider, called for a letter-writing campaign to Congress to protest network port blocking as a form of censorship. Citron said that the FCC moved within weeks of Vonage’s filing a complaint against Madison River Communications, fining the company $15,000 for, in effect, terminating all voice communications for the affected consumers, including emergency 911 service.

Citron wants to urge Congress to pass legislation to ensure “complete neutrality” of both wire-line and wireless telephone companies, which will ensure VoIP service providers and customers free and unfettered access to any telephone network in the country.

Dave’s Opinion
Madison River Communications should be ashamed of its actions, and its customers should express their resentment at corporate high-handedness by voting with their wallets: walk away, find another telecommunications provider.

Call for Comments
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He was prosecuted under state laws by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for prosecution, primarily because he was a minor at the time that he committed the crime. A Federal conviction would have resulted in a significant incarceration, and would have not allowed the judge such latitude in sentencing.

During the investigation the Federal Bureau of Investigation uncovered more than $50 million worth of music and movies on Dhaliwal’s computer. Many of the movies were available only in theaters, at the time. The files weren’t solely for personal use, Dhaliwal both duplicated and sold the pirated digital media.

Dave’s Comments
From a digital rights perspective, I’m glad that this thief has been stopped; digital poachers, like Dhaliwal, are a parasite on the back of digital media development and distribution. However, offering a minor sentence and requiring service and education are a reasonable response to a teenager’s misdeed.

It will be interesting to see the spin that the Recording Industry Association of America puts on this case.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office
Recording Industry Association of America

 

Customers who purchase a computer from 20 of the industry’s leading manufacturers will have to phone home to Microsoft and announce their intention to use the operating system that came with the computer they just bought.

In keeping with Microsoft’s Worldwide Anti-Piracy Initiative, the company will work “to further combat software piracy, Microsoft is working with partners to change how some Certificates of Authenticity (COAs) are matched during activation, because a significant number of COAs are stolen each year from reputable computer makers and resold as new. This change will help protect consumers from being victimized by pirates and give them confidence that they are receiving what they paid for. It also will help Microsoft’s partners protect their investments in Windows.”

Dave’s Opinion
It’s disheartening that Microsoft has to protect it’s products from theft; sadly, that’s the way it is. The move away from digital activation is a significant hurdle for many users. I know, because I’ve had to call a few times to activate copies of Microsoft software products, usually following hardware upgrades or replacements. The folk at Microsoft’s activation hotline are friendly and helpful, but it’s a cumbersome and time-consuming task to make a phone call during the installation of a new computer.

Call for Comments
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References
Microsoft to Implement Worldwide Anti-Piracy Initiative

 

The installation was much quicker than I expected. I usually set aside three or four hours to install and configure a server’s operating system, but Knoppix cut that time down to 30 minutes. I then tinkered with a few minor configuration options (screensaver, background colors), but the necessary functionality was up and going in well under an hour.

If you’re interested in trying Knoppix, yourself; download it from either the developer’s website or LinuxISO.org. When you’re burning the single-file download to a CD, pay attention to be sure to you properly configure the CD to accept the ISO image, otherwise the CD won’t have it’s self-booting property.

BTW, Knoppix is free for both personal and commercial use.

 

I’ve written about my experiences in this and other big box retailers, in the past, in other than glowing compliments. Yesterday, however, was a trip to the twilight zone…it was a pleasure.

Good service is hard to come by, but, somehow, the managers of this store have found the secret elixir. Good job, CompUSA. I’ll be back.

 

The malware, known as BankAsh-A, not only deletes all of the Microsoft antispyware files, it then goes on to install a keylogger (keystroke logging) program to record all data entered into online banking websites.

Dave’s Opinion
The current version, BankAsh-A, targets U.K. bank customers; however, future versions of the malware application could target other countries’ banking customers. While this type of keylogger isn’t new, BankAsh-A proves the concept that Microsoft’s antispyware software is vulnerable to attack.

It’s disconcerting, although not at all unexpected, that Microsoft’s antispyware would be targeted; many digital security experts just didn’t expect the first attack to come so quickly.

Call for Comments
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Grid computing uses the Internet to connect high-end computing resources to solve complex scientific and research problems without requiring individual sites to maintain big iron hardware. The distributed network grants authorized users access to significant computing resources.

The new consortium comes out of a decade-old project, including the Globus Toolkit that was developed at Argonne National Labs. Members of the original Globus project now serve on the consortium’s board of directors. The Globus Toolkit open source standards for implementation of grid computing networks will be a significant first effort for the new organization.

Dave’s Opinion
Distributed computing isn’t a new application for network computers; however, until now, implementation standards were difficult to pin down. The Globus Consortium may move grid computing from the narrowly-focused government projects and the popular SETI@home network to the corporate IT center. This is a project that is worth watching.

Call for Comments
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Until now, the first place award had been earned by a computer worm; however, Downloader.GK was responsible for 14 percent of all digital attacks, last year.

Dave’s Opinion
We may see this as an oppugnant award, encouraging us to take retribution; however, much of the responsibility for this Trojan’s efficacy falls on our shoulders. Downloader.GK requires unsuspecting users to visit an affected webpage and accept installation of a specific ActiveX control before the program modifies the computer’s Windows system registry. The payload is a set of adware programs.

We can be proactive in preventing the spread of this type of malware by being cautious of the sites we visit, never opening an e-mail attachment that we don’t expect, keeping our antivirus applications up to date and set to maximum security, using a software and, if possible, hardware firewalls, and, finally, using a third-party web browser that’s more secure, such as Opera or Firefox.

Call for Comments
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References
Panda Software
Opera
Firefox

 

By far, e-mail is the most common online activity, an activity of 90 percent of all users; however, e-mail isn’t the principal reason most folk go online.

The net is an information goldmine, perceived by many to be a digital library. Users frequently search for commercial products, hobbies, and general information. Almost all respondents agreed that they use the net for information gathering.

Slightly over one third of users find entertainment value on the net, playing online games. A quarter of users reported using chat rooms; however, this activity is more popular with younger netizens, under the age of 25. Most chat activity is anonymous.

Business to Consumer (B2C) activity increased significantly; however, in 2000 only a quarter of all users reported engaging in online purchases

Dave’s Opinion
I offer these research data today in expectation of comparing them to the results of the upcoming report, which will include more current data. I expect that next week’s report will indicate that e-mail is still the most common online activity; however, B2C commercial activities will increase to include a significant majority of users, possibly over 90 percent of all users, including adults and teenagers. Online banking and digital music distribution have, in my research, encouraged these niche markets to put their credit cards forward, online.

Call for Comments
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References
Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society

 

Before you connect your computer to the Internet for the first time, read all of the manuals related to antivirus and firewall configuration, yes, they’re probably digital copies already installed on your hard drive. Make sure you’ve set your antivirus and firewall options at their strongest levels.

As soon as you connect to the net, download the updates for your antivirus and firewall programs. There’s a good chance that hundreds of viruses and other assorted malware programs have been created since your PC was built, and your antivirus program won’t know about these new risks until you update the software.

Your next step must be to download Firefox, the newest secure web browser. Don’t, under any conditions, use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. This program is replete with security holes and vulnerabilities that crackers will use to attack your computer.

Then, download the following two spyware cleaners and run them daily: Ad-Aware and SpyBot – Search & Destroy. These two applications will search your computer, looking for bits of malware and privacy-stealing cookies that were able to get past your firewall and web browser’s security.

 

Following postings to the Bugtraq mailing list, a respected source of timely security information, Symantec security managers also detailed the heap overflow vulnerabilities of Microsoft’s popular operating system. Until Microsoft releases patches, users are vulnerable to attack through the winhlp32.exe file, which manages Windows help files. An attacker can trigger a memory overflow by tricking a user into opening a Trojan help file.

In related news, Symantec also warned of a second Windows vulnerability, called LoadImage, that guides the operating system in displaying desktop icons, cursors, and bitmap images. Trojan images can be used to trigger a memory overflew and install rogue computer code on computers running Windows. The Trojan images can easily be received via e-mail or through websites.

As with the Help file vulnerability, most supported versions of Windows are affected by the LoadImage flaw, including versions of Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003, Symantec said.

Dave’s Opinion
Users should be especially careful to not open unexpected e-mail attachments and to visit only known, reputable websites until Microsoft issues security updates for these serious security vulnerabilities.

Call for Comments
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References
Microsoft
Symantec

 

The service-wide policy is designed to offer guidance in the consistent application of IT use regulations and procedures, alleviating local policies that vary from station to station. Navy and Marine Corp personnel will be allowed to use the services’ IT equipment for personal use, such as web surfing, online shopping, and personal e-mail, so long as these activities don’t use excessive bandwidth.

Dave’s Opinion
This is a sound organizational policy, and it models policies that I have seen developed in creative, forward-thinking commercial businesses. Much IT infrastructure sits idle, especially during the evening and weekend. Allowing employees to use this technology to attend to personal projects, such as pursuing higher education and sending e-mail to family at home, can provide a significant boost to morale. Go Navy!

Call for Comments
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Santy uses the Google search engines’ ability to locate the boards; however, Google is taking quick, preemptive action to block the worm’s ability to search the online database.

Bulletin board owners can block Santy’s effects by updating their PHP installations to PHP 4.3.10 or PHP 5.0.3 and phpBB installations to version 2.0.11. PHP is an open-source development language widely used by website designers. phpBB is a popular bulletin board software that uses PHP to dynamically create HTML webpages and manage the messages posted to the bulletin board.

Dave’s Comment
Welcome, Google, to the big time. Sadly, this is one of the drawbacks to being popular, your services are more likely to be misused by those with misdirected intentions.

Call for Comments
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References
Google
The PHP Group

 

The security hold allows a cracker to gain access to the contents of a toolbar user’s computer without the user’s being aware of the the attack. Google says that it has repaired the security hole and has begun distributing an updated version of the search toolbar installation program.

Dave’s Opinion
It seems that users of the Google Desktop Search Toolbar are safe from this security problem, if they are using version 121.004 or newer.

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References
Rice University
Google

 

The Associated Press reported, today, on a few information technologist that are doing well in their young careers, so well, in fact, that they each hope to retire before reaching middle age, and they attained their success without a formal higher education. This article struck a raw chord with me, because I emphasize the value of formal education to all of the students whom I teach, including those seeking a B.S. in information technology (IT) and those pursuing a M.B.A. with a further concentration in IT.

The true, lasting, value of their education (and degrees) is not so much to gain their first few promotions, those elevations will come based on technical certifications and demonstrated technical acumen. The lasting value is in the cognitive polish that is developed from rigorous, guided scholastic work and mentored critical thinking, both of which are required during the pursuit of a formal academic degree. The two IT workers described in the article, which I read on CNN.com, are reportedly earning significant salaries; however, their success is fallaciously related to their lack of formal academic training. Both of the interviewees are successful because of their hard work and a generous helping of good luck: one is an entrepreneur, the other is rewarded with stock options. Along with Bill Gates and Michael Dell, these two bring to four the total number of successful IT folk without at least one college degree that I’ve read about in the last two decades.

Yes, good work is rewarded; however, good work, coupled with a well-earned college education is much more likely to result in significant professional success. The ability to critically analyze data, perform algebraic and geometric computations (such as calculating the linear feet of cable required to wire a building) and persuasively argue (or actively listen) are all skills best learned in the combination of classroom and office. These are skills that, along with those taught in a liberal arts curriculum, are valued in business leaders.

Not all IT workers will have a series of fortunate events, as did the two men described in the news report. For the vast majority of us, we must take all advantages, and a solid education is one personal advantage that I earnestly hope will be valued by all IT professionals.

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References
Some Techies Find Success Without a College Degree

 

Google’s AdWords program displays sponsored links that are selected, based on the keywords entered into the search engine. Judge Brinkema decided that “there is no evidence that that activity [tieing advertisements to keywords, even if the keywords were trademarks] alone causes confusion,” one of the principal premises of a trademark dispute.

Dave’s Opinion
This is one case in which I think that intellectual property law hasn’t caught up with the technology available to Internet users and e-businesses. By allowing trademarks to be used as keywords and generate competitive advertisements, that are frequently not easily distinguishable from the actual search engine’s results, could lead to a dilution of the trademark’s distinction. I’m going to keep following this case, Judge Brinkema still has other issues to decide that were brought forth in this case. But, for now, Google’s footloose to sell insurance ads unrelated to Geico, even if we search for Geico.

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References
Google

 

The messages of good cheer come in 15 different languages and the language is selected, based on the recipient’s -mail address. The worm modifies the system registry of Microsoft Windows computers, automatically self-executing when the computer is rebooted. Zafi will also seek out antivirus and firewall applications, overwriting those programs. The nefarious action of the worm is to open a backdoor on the PC, allowing the system to be turned into a zombie, remotely controlled to send more spam or participate in a distributed denial of service attack on selected websites.

Dave’s Comments
I’ve got as much holiday good cheer as the next person, but e-mailed greeting cards rub me the wrong way, especially at this time of the year. I think that holiday cards should be hand signed and either postal mailed or hand delivered. Take the time to show how much you care for your friends and loved ones, write them a card. Oh, and as for this worm; you know the drill: don’t open any file attachment that you didn’t expect, no matter from whom it comes.

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Libraries participating in the initial round of literary digitalization include Stanford University, with holdings of 8 million books, the University of Michigan, with 7 million titles and Oxford University, although only the pre-1900 collections will be available from Oxford. Harvard University and the New York Public Library have agreed to participate in a test phase, making a portion of each of their library’s holdings available to Google’s project.

Google, already has in index of 8 billion web pages, and this literary digitalization project would place the popular search engine in a league of its own, outpacing rivals Yahoo! and Microsoft’s MSN web directories/search engines.

Dave’s Opinion
Google has, recently, been embroiled in a competitive wrangle over command of the desktop search toolbar market niche. This literary digitalization and search project puts Google into its own classification of data search and retrieval service. Desktop search services pale in comparison to the value created by making the world’s premier libraries available with the click of a mouse.

Anyone who thinks that the great academic research libraries are still to be physical place is missing the boat. If you’re one who loves wandering the stacks, you’re going to have to learn wander the keyboard, instead. And, wasn’t it just last month that I wrote about Google Scholar, the data retrieval company’s effort to make scholarly articles available online?

I’ve already received requests from Google to digitize my books. Maybe, it’s time for me to jump on the bandwagon.

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References
Google Print
Google Scholar

 

Using a new process called dual stress liner (DSL) the team improved the performance of both types of semiconductor transistors: n-channel and p-channel. DSL allows the atomic foundation of the transistors to compress and expand, improving the flow of electrons within the chip.

Dave’s Opinion
New applications in electronic chip technology often don’t show practical benefits until years following initial development; however, the AMD/IBM chip design may actually affect product development early next year.

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References
AMD
IBM

 

Spammers stay in business because we’re buying their wares, and pirated software applications are one of the most popular products to be sold through spam advertising. Spam, unsolicited commercial e-mail, is not just a nuisance, but in the United States, usually illegal. Both spam and software piracy are big business: why not meld the two?

Dave’s Opinion
Here’s why you should never buy anything, especially software, from a spammer: you’re dealing with person of questionable, if not downright malformed, ethics. If the person is breaking the law (or at least the local common mores) by sending you spam, it’s not much of a stretch to think that the below-market price software he’s hawking may also be either stolen or illegally duplicated. Do you want to participate in the breaking of both national and international copyright laws by installing pirated software?

Moreover, that bonus software included with your order may just be a Trojan that turns your PC into a zombie for the spammer’s use in sending out even more spam … now you’ve become not only a pirate, but a spammer, too. Nice work.

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The university’s decision is based on reports in the media and a long series of warnings by Carnegie Mellon University’s Computer Emergency and Response Team Coordination Center (CERT/CC).

Dave’s Opinion
I applaud Penn State’s decision to publicly support using more secure web browsers. Now, will other universities follow the Nittany Lion’s lead?

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References
Pennsylvania State University
CERT/CC

 

The new malware comes via an e-mail message entitled “Be the first to fight spam with Lycos screen saver.” The attached file is named Lycos screensaver to fight spam.zip.

Dave’s Opinion
OK, I see both sides of the fence on this issue. We all hate spam, and many of us are ready to proactively put spammers out of business. Most users don’t realize how invasive and destructive the Lycos Europe Make Love Not Spam screensaver’s actions are (it creates a distributed denial of service attack against alleged spammers). However, this doesn’t negate the first rule of safe computing: never, under any conditions, open a file attachment that you weren’t expecting. Remember, to practice safe computing.

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Blog is one of the most frequently discussed Internet topics; it’s an elegant demonstration of personal expression and corporate marketing. The MSN Spaces service will be for personal use; however, businesses have found blogs to be a simple and effective way to keep in touch with vendors and niche markets. Updates require no more time than typing the article, and the updates are immediately available to all viewers.

Dave’s Opinion
I use a blog as the permanent repository for ITinfo articles; it’s much less work to manage the archives as a blog than it was to manually create individual webpages for each article. The blogging software makes it a snap. I also maintain a personal blog, SaysDave, in which maintain a cultural critique.

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References
MSN Spaces

 

Yesterday, Netcraft, an Internet traffic monitoring company, reported that the service had forced offline two alleged spammer websites in China, even though the service promised to not deny service to spammers, only to cause them digital headaches. It seems that Lycos Europe’s heavy-handed tactics have backfired. One of the targeted websites, mortgage.info, redirected the spam attack right back at Lycos Europe’s webserver, taking the makeolovenotspam.com website offline. Is turn about fair play?

Dave’s Opinion
Two wrongs don’t make a right; it’s one of the fundamental fallacies taught in all undergraduate critical thinking courses. Civilized people should not go about doing harm to those who have harmed without due process and convincing evidence of guilt. And even following proof, reasonable consideration should be given to the punishment.

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The planned Wi-Fi network, which will offer low-cost Internet service to residents, is still scheduled to go online this summer. Pennsylvania House Bill 30, signed into law this week, allows incumbent carriers, such as Verizon, the right to block local governments from setting up paid Internet networks after January 1, 2006. The law allows existing services, such as Philadelphia’s, to continue, plus there’s a one-year grace period within which new governmental network services may be developed. Good news for residents is that the law does not restrict the future development of free-access networks, should a local government decide to foot the bill.

Dave’s Comments
I have been using Baltimore and Philadelphia’s metropolitan Wi-Fi networks as examples of government support for broad-access Internet services, in my university e-business classes. Philadelphia’s network plan is interesting because it encompasses the entire metropolitan area, and is specifically designed to serve those residents most likely to not have current broadband Internet access.

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References
Pennsylvania House Bill 30

 

WINS is a network component that manages a distributed database of network stations by mapping computer names and IP addresses across a routed network. While other versions of Microsoft Windows include support for WINS, only the server versions are currently known to be infected, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft will patch this security flaw as part of it’s scheduled monthly update.

Dave’s Comment
This is a serious security issue. Until an update is released, network administrators can secure their systems by blocking their firewall’s TCP and UDP ports 42 and either removing WINS or using IPsec to secure the network traffic.

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References
Microsoft Security

 

Flooding is a long-standing technique of crackers, those cyberterrorists that seek to shut down a selected website or Internet service provider by sending millions of requests for webpages in a short period of time, and then keeping up the attack. Websites are designed to handle a specific and anticipated level of requests, and every website can be effectively brought offline, if the frequency of requests is sufficiently high.

Lycos Europe will maintain a database of spammers and this list will be fed to Make Love Not Spam screensaver users. By maintaining a central repository of spammers’ websites, it’s possible to easily and quickly target the most egregious spammers.

Dave’s Comments
There are two catches to this program. One, it’s possible to inadvertently associate an innocent website as a home to spammers, and this can easily be done by a cyberterrorists sending false artificial spam with the intention of misdirecting Lycos Europe’s staff into including the named site in the antispam database.

The second catch is that this program puts the cost of chasing down spammers onto the backs of users, Internet Service Providers (ISP), and the telecommunications industry. Flooding costs money to ISPs and telcos because is requires substantial bandwidth.

As much as I rail against spamming, this flooding program isn’t the way to stop it. Rather than downloading this screensaver, stop buying from spammers and strongly encourage your friends and family to stop buying from them, too. Poison spammers at the trough, and don’t pass the cost onto the innocent.

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References
Make Love Not Spam

 

Because the new Netscape browsers uses a software engine that is built into Microsoft Windows, rather than into a separate application, the browser will only be released for Windows users, no Unix or Mac versions are planned. Users will have greater control over security details than if they were to use Microsoft’s browser; for example, pop-ups, cookies, ActiveX, JavaScript, and Java may each be individually tweaked for each website visited.

The new preview version is being released to a select group, and a public release is expected early next year.

Dave’s Comments
One of the difficulties I face, both in the office and at home, is dealing with websites that are designed around Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser and drop out when I visit them using Opera or Firefox. Maybe this new version of Netscape will balance IE’s popularity with sound security.

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References
Netscape Network

 

Marketscore is a descendent of the Netsetter spyware application. The application forces requests for web pages to be passed through proxy servers, allowing cached (previously downloaded) copies of pages to be served, rather than the most current, copies. Because Marketscore creates a trusted certificate authority on computers running the application, it’s possible for Marketscore’s proxy servers to extract sensitive data by using the certificate authority to unencrypt the data during it’s transmission from the website to the user’s computer. Credit card, banking, and online purchase data are just some of the data users routinely encrypt using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), a service that normally operates in the background, away from most users’ eyes.

Dave’s Opinion
There is a fundamental rule that we should all remember: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is (too good to be true). The online corollary to this rule is: there’s no way to improve download speed, except to connect to a line with greater bandwidth; proxy server caching doesn’t really work.

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References
Marketscore