Thursday, February 20, 2003

Microsoft's Kid Mobs. Thanks to a bundle of bizdev chutzpah with a great name, Tammy Savage, Microsoft is developing something that may actually seem cool to 16-year-olds of all ages. Steven Levy describes the evolution of Threedegrees, a p2p smartmobbish application brewed by Microsoft's NetGen Lab, which is really a bunch of college just-graduates living in a big house, Real World style, helping Microsoft figure out how people who've grown up in a networked world want to take communication to the next level. Threedegrees, the result of this jam session, allows users to from mobs - er, ad hoc posses - of up to ten persons, with the theoretical possibility that they will "perform shared tasks," as the Jupiter analyst quoted in CNet's story says. Right, tasks... play tunes, chug virtual beer, that sort of thing. As Levy describes it, this is Microsoft's first anti-production tool... when a beta was added to servers within Microsoft, "productivity took a nose dive." Cory Doctorow says "...the project sounds kind of neat, until you realize that it's got an assload of DRM built into it and, in the end, does less than Napster did." (Thanks, Phred!) [Smart Mobs] 10:18:43 PM    comment []

Hacking democracy. Computerized vote-counting machines are sweeping the country. But they can be hacked -- and right now there's no way to be sure they haven't been. [Salon.com] Asks the meaningful question: Should a senator own a stake in a voting-machine company? 10:05:38 PM    comment []

Ministry of Justice wants speedy closure of Internet vote-swapping service, Helsingin Sanomat (Helsinki). For example, a person who has recently moved to Helsinki could get into contact with someone living in Southern Savo and they would "trade votes", deciding between them who gets the vote in the respective constituency. The idea is simple: a person registers with our service, and anounces in which consituency a vote is available for exchange, and the consituency in which he or she wishes to exchange a vote. If a suitable match can be found, the two receive details of how to get in touch with one another, reports the website. The service also contains a kind of "Over My Dead Body" arrangement by which the voter can stipulate which party or parties he or she would absolutely refuse to support, even if his "own vote" goes to the desired candidate in the exchange process. The scheme is non-commercial, and there is no advertising on the site. . . . No police investigation has as yet been launched into the match- making scheme, but the fact that the Ministry of Justice took just 41 minutes following the opening of the website to issue a stern warning should indicate that they take a very dim view of the idea. 1:27:49 PM    comment []

Second Reading, by Jonathan Yardley, An occasional series in which The Post's book critic reconsiders notable and/or neglected books from the past. Great idea. 12:27:25 PM    comment []

Papers and presentations are now being accepted for The Black Hat Briefings Amsterdam 2003 event in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, May 14th - 15th, 2003. Papers and requests to speak will be received and reviewed until March 25th. The Black Hat Briefings was created to fill the need for computer security professionals to better understand the security risks and potential threats to their information infrastructures and computer systems. Black Hat accomplishes this by assembling a group of vendor-neutral security professionals and having them speak candidly about the problems businesses face and their solutions to those problems. No gimmicks -- just straight talk by people who make it their business to explore the ever-changing security space. 12:27:22 PM    comment []

Compromise copyright bill in works, by John Borland, CNET News.com. Speaking at the Intel-sponsored Digital Rights Summit in Silicon Valley, Sen. Ron Wyden, D- Ore., said he was close to introducing a bill that would likely require consumer-electronics devices or media such as music CDs to be clearly labeled with explanations of any anticopying restrictions. Several other legislators are preparing, or have already introduced, bills that contain labeling provisions that apply to specific devices or media such as digital televisions or audio CDs. 12:27:18 PM    comment []

Multiple Vulnerabilities in Opera Web Browser affecting v 7.0 and eariler. The holes allow access to files on the user's computer, including browsing history and stored e-mail. More info at Grey Magic Security Research. Opera 7.01 is now available, which is not vulnerable in these ways. 12:27:15 PM    comment []

Good editorial in this week's Webster Journal: Duct tape provisions won't stick in conflict, by Amela Abdihodzic. Did I get duct tape? You must be kidding me. To those who have seen war just in the movies, a roll of duct tape might sound like a good idea. To people like me who have actually survived a war, duct tape sounds like a joke. Worth a read if you, like many of us, have been thinking about duct tape. 11:26:44 AM    comment []

Fingerprinting P2P pirates. MP3 filtering now being done at the University of Wyoming, with technology from Audible Magic, could open a new front in the online music wars. By John Borland, Staff Writer, CNET News.com. [CNET News.com] 7:01:10 AM    comment []

It's pretty stunning to be reading about Kathy's ''is that all there is'' moment and her philosophical musings while thinking about the scene in present-day Iran. I doubt no more about the way Farzad feels--I worry about mine--but should I regret past actions? . . . . Not that it really matters. Nothing really matters--we drive our cars, make trouble, eat--all manner of things, but they all pass. So nothing should ever really get you down. Rather a bad philosophy I think. . . . The thing I want the most no human can give, because it’s all in me. It’s nice to have a dream. Of course, nothing measures up. 6:48:04 AM    comment []

Kevin does the math. Kevin Marks takes Clay's power curve points and rolls them out in a pile of impressive graphs. Well done. [The Doc Searls Weblog] 6:38:41 AM    comment []

Two years ago: Okay, okay, a little bit about Napster, but mostly not What to expect when you're expecting to be governor (on Jane Swift) Drop in Business Investment Big Factor in Economy's Stall The Lonely Crowd: Media companies have struggled for years with the idea of communities. What are they missing? the rise and subsequent fall of VarsityBooks The Textbook Case glassdog Memo on Napster, Music Genome, and Music Buddah An amusing online continuing education parody 3:25:29 AM    comment []