Posted 10:50 AM (0) comments

Bill Gates - you've got mail!

I've considered the New York Post to be barely a step above the Inquirer (maybe, Weekly World News with a sports section?) since the advent of Rupert Murdock, but when the cover technology (or business) they can really go off the edge. Everyone knows that Time-Warner is looking hard to divest itself of AOL after the disaster of attempting to merge those two entertainment giants. But the Post evidently seriously believes that Microsoft and Time-Warner are in discussions to have Redmond acquire the biggest rival to its MSN network. The Post reports: "Time Warner lawyers have begun analyzing any potential antitrust issues from such a deal, and to date their conclusion is that there would be few roadblocks to a Microsoft acquisition of AOL." What color is the sky in their universe? Even the Bush-era, business friendly Department of Justice couldn't choke that one down.

Posted 9:02 AM (0) comments

Waiter, there's caffeine in my soup!

Network World's Cara Garretson has a fascinating piece about IT workers and caffeine , including looks at caffeinated soda and candy, all the way to soup with caffeine added! Evidently my ten cups of coffee a day isn't enough for real caffeine freaks.

Posted 5:28 PM (0) comments

Shocking, I say, it's shocking!

According to this story in PC World on-line alcoholic beverage sites are accused of targeting teens. But who's doing the accusing? Why its the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University. What would really be shocking is if the report had concluded that everything was just fine.

What these latter day Carrie Nations really want is to ban alcohol advertising (and possibly consumption) entirely. The center makes no bones about their aim: "The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University monitors the marketing practices of the alcohol industry to focus attention and action on industry practices that jeopardize the health and safety of America's youth."

When are Americans going to wake up and realize that a) animation appeals to more than pre-adolescents; and b) what appeals to a 21 year old legal drinker just might also appeal to an 18 year old legal-in-some-states drinker. But, then, some people believe that everything enjoyable is a vice to be stamped out and that the internet is the devil's own communications medium. And its sacrilegious to post this on St. Patrick's Day! (see, I can be just as stereotypical as the next bozo!)

Posted 8:50 AM (0) comments

Save us from the Bully

Microsoft continues to play the heavy as the 800-pound bully searches for courts in which to persecute Lindows.com while at the same time throwing up delay after stalling tactic to keep its US trial from starting. While US judges have been sympathetic to Lindows arguments those in Europe have almost all sided with Microsoft.

Evidently it's Redmond's plan to launch so many suits in so many different venues in the hope of bankrupting the San Diego open-source startup.

This could have the same outcome as its heavy-handed approach in the mikerowesoft incident - in which Bill Gates threatened to financially ruin a Canadian teenager - which blew up when not only the usual Anyone-But-Microsoft crew but also the general public overwhelmingly castigated the Bellvue Bullies.

Yes, Microsoft has the money, the connections and the lawyers to sue Lindows in almost every country in the world which would be ruinous for Michael Robertson and his cheerful band of propeller heads. But, just as Martha Stewart found out that being able to do something doesn't mean you ought to do it, so too should the world step up to Microsoft and announce that their conduct is gross and arrogant and people just won't take it any more.

Posted 4:53 PM (0) comments

Verifying e-voting

VoteHere, Inc makes the verification software used by Sequoia voting terminals, and soon to be used (hopefully) by other manufacturers. Browse through their documentation and papers and find out why electronic voting can be the safest, most efficient and most accurate voting method we've ever used.

Posted 10:53 AM (0) comments

Caught by the Legal Shorthairs

Lots and lots of pointers popping up in the blogosphere all pointing to Wired's story that California Attorney General is proposing to send out a letter warning peer-to-peer software companies that they could face legal challenges if they don't clean up their acts. The big news is that the leaked document purportedly shows that it was created by (or at least edited by) "...a senior vice president of the Motion Picture Association of America." Wow! Turns out this VP is the senior vice president for state legislative affairs - i.e., the exec charged with liasing with state governments. In other words, a lobbyist! Wow-whee-wow, a lobbyist drafting letters and bills for politicians! What wil lthey think up next? Of course, they've been doing that in this country since before there was a country - the Continental Congress which drew up the U.S. Constitution had its far share of lobbyists drafting sections and amendments. While the letter itself is really over the top (which the MPAA often is), the method isn't anything new.

Posted 10:16 AM (0) comments

Andre's Falls

Andre Durand has postulated the Identity Waterfall Effect (complete with graphics!) which holds that all integration, management and security challenges can only be totally solved within the sphere of identity management. Its a top-down view of my thesis that Identity is the platform for all "interesting" services offered via a network (or, nowadays, web services) connection.