Wednesday, October 01, 2003

Today, was the ninth instance of our annual community service day, Webster Works Worldwide, not only at Webster's St. Louis campus, but also at a number of our other campuses across the United States and overseas. I painted a classroom with some students, faculty, and staff, at Webster Child Care Center. Webster Child Care serves families of diverse economic and ethnic backgrounds (it is a United Way agency), providing quality care and education for children six weeks to six years of age. Great staff, delightful kids -- a fun day, even if seeming a lot like actual labor. Here some of us are from Webster Works Worldwide three years ago. Today, the coolest action by far was the painting of a mural at Webster Child Care Center. A costume designer and a few of her students made short work of one of the most amazing murals I've seen. Photos when they're available. 10:18:13 PM    comment []

Technorati Profile 5:17:29 PM    comment []

Net radio royalty group splits from RIAA, by John Borland, CNET News.com. By law, the organization is required to give 45 percent of Webcasting royalty revenue directly to artists and 50 percent to record companies. In its three years of operation, SoundExchange has distributed more than $10 million in royalties, the group said. 5:17:25 PM    comment []

Security Expert Geer Sounds Off on Dismissal, by Dennis Fisher, in eWeek. A security researcher and scientist with more than 30 years of experience, including work on some groundbreaking projects, Geer was let go just a day after the publication of a paper he co-authored that was sharply critical of Microsoft Corp. - one of @stake's customers. The paper covered the effects that Microsoft's monopolistic position have on the security of the Internet. The paper argues that the dominance of Windows in the marketplace has created a monoculture in which all systems are more vulnerable to widespread attacks and viruses. Part of the answer to the problem, Geer and his collaborators wrote, is for enterprises to diversify their infrastructures with products from other vendors. Software diversity in the name of security is by no means a new idea, but Geer and the other authors are all very visible in the high-tech industry, especially within the security community, and their opinions carry a certain weight. However, Geer said Monday that the opinions in the paper were no more controversial or edgy than many of the things he's said in speeches, interviews and other papers during his time with @stake. People say that if he was surprised [by being fired], he's an idiot. Well, I was surprised in this sense: I do this kind of thing all the time, Geer said in an interview from his home. My job was to be out in front far enough that a company the size of @stake could be at the front of an industry like this. 4:17:31 PM    comment []

Bill Scherr IV, on the ISN list, about the @Stake firing: It is not that Mr. Geer is unemployed. It is not that a monolithic network allows mal-users to traipse thru the digital landscape using the same exploits over and over again. It is that @stake has just blown any modicum of objectivity, spraying doubt on all it's reports. . . . The big picture here is that objective reports require independence. Anyone who reviews a thing to issue an opinion on that thing, can not have repercussions brought upon him by folks involved in creating that thing. Likewise, if the product is good, and the reporter calls it good, no reward can be realized by that reporter, other than his normal fee. How else can we trust his word? How else can we trust that researcher not to hide a bad product behind his good reputation? The report issued an opinion on a technical issue, relating to a business practice. The business practice is tweaking code, APIs and error messages, etc. to "lock" current customers into the Microsoft suite. That is how M$ became the "sole source supplier" for Uncle Sam's desktops. The technical issue was the monolithic network mentioned above. Whether @stake acted on their own, or were levered into that action, is immaterial. 4:17:21 PM    comment []

Moby: in the new issue of blender i listed 25 songs that i would download if i knew how to better use the interweb. for what it's worth, the songs that i chose are/were: 1. Bad Brains "House of Suffering" 2. The Bongos "The Bulrushes" 3. Nick Drake "Northern Sky" 4. The Clash "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" 5. Julee Cruise "Mysteries of Love" 6. Echo & The Bunnymen "Over the Wall" 7. ESG "You're No Good" 8. Roberta Flack "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" 9. Goldfrapp "Utopia" 10. Heaven 17 "Are Everything" 11. Interpol "Hands Away" 12. Japan "All Tomorrow's Parties" 13. Joy Division "Atmosphere" 14. Liquid Liquid "Optimo" 15. Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes "Don't Leave Me ThisWay" 16. Minor Threat "12XU" 17. The Motels "Suddenly Last Summer" 18. Polyrock "No Love Lost" 19. Public Enemy "Welcome to the Terrordome" 20. Roxy Music "Mother of Pearl" 21. Television "Marquee Moon" 22. Tuxedomoon "No Tears" 23. Wild Swans "Revolutionary Spirit" 24. X "Los Angeles" 25. Siouxie & the Banshees "Dear Prudence" 4:17:16 PM    comment []

Senate testimony: Rappers in Disharmony on P2P, by Katie Dean, Wired News. LL Cool J threw the first volley: My first question is this: Do people in the entertainment industry have the same rights as other Americans to fair pay for fair work? If a contractor builds a building, should people be allowed to move into it for free just because he's successful? Should they be able to live in this building for free? That's how I feel when I create an album, or if I make a film, and it's shooting around the planet for free. LL Cool J said he has seen a gradual decline of his record sales even though he made some of the greatest hits of his career recently. Artists are a huge and extremely important part of American culture, LL Cool J said. We're the dreamers. Musicians like studio drummers, for example, are seriously affected by illegal file sharing, according to Cool J. He's not LL, he's not getting the big check and doing the movie thing and all of the talk show stuff that I do, but he's on the drums -- he's making a living. (Because of piracy), these people can't live. I'm not against technology, I'm not against the Internet, I just wish that music could be downloaded legitimately, LL Cool J said. Chuck D, leader of Public Enemy, vehemently opposes what the industry is trying to do. Technology giveth and it taketh away, and the industry knows this, Chuck D said. The horseshoe makers probably got upset at the train manufacturers because (the new industry) took away their transport dominance, just as the train manufacturers probably got mad at the airline industry. I think this expands artistry and it's about adjustment, he said. As an artist representing an 80-year period of black musicianship, I never felt that my copyrights were protected anyway, Chuck D said. I've been spending most of my career ducking lawyers, accountants and business executives who have basically been more blasphemous than file sharers and P2P. I trust the consumer more than I trust the people who have been at the helm of these companies. The record industry is hypocritical and the domination has to be shared. P2P to me means power to the people, Chuck D said. And let's get this to a balance, and that's what we're talking about. Others who testified included Lorraine Sullivan, a college student sued by the music industry for sharing copyright music files; Mitch Bainwol, CEO of the RIAA; Jack Valenti, CEO of the Motion Picture Association; and Alan Morris, executive director of Kazaa's parent company, Sharman Networks. 3:17:08 PM    comment []