Thursday, January 22, 2004

Hollywood group drops DVD-copying case. A request by the DVD Copy Control Association to the California courts marks the close of the last prominent legal battle over the DeCSS code. [CNET News.com - Front Door] Or, as Cory put it: DVD cartel backs off, EFF wins, DVD keys aren't "secret" 9:04:26 PM    comment []

How Amazon puts Linux to the test. Amazon's vice president of infrastructure describes in detail how the online retailer is using the open-source operating system in nearly every corner of its business. [CNET News.com - Front Door] 9:02:14 PM    comment []

Predictive modeling of shoplifters. Police in Birmingham, England, are using new methods with a simple database system to predict -- and hopefully prevent -- shoplifting behavior. Thanks, Peter! [Smart Mobs] 8:52:29 PM    comment []

Americans United Files Request For Public Records On New 'Faith-Based' Prison In Florida: Watchdog Group Seeks Information To See If Constitutional Requirements Are Being Met. This program is very troubling, said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. We need to get all of the facts to see whether this prison is being run in accordance with the U.S. and Florida constitutions. Lynn said state officials have sometimes made conflicting claims about the role religion will play in the facility. He said Americans United filed the freedom-of-information request to get to the bottom of the matter. We need to find out exactly what is going on at Lawtey, said Lynn. 2:32:38 PM    comment []

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here Models, Tools, and Ideas for Building a Better Future WorldChanging.com works from a simple premise: that the tools, models and ideas for building a better future lie all around us. That plenty of people are working on tools for change, but the fields in which they work remain unconnected. That the motive, means and opportunity for profound positive change are already present. That another world is not just possible, it's here. We only need to put the pieces together. (more below) Informed by that premise, we do our best to bring you links to (and analysis of) those tools, models and ideas in a timely and concise manner. We don't do negative reviews – why waste your time with what doesn't work? We don't offer critiques or exposes, except to the extent that such information may be necessary for the general reader to apprehend the usefulness of a particular tool or resource. We don't generally offer links to resources which are about problems and not solutions, unless the resource is so insightful that its very existence is a step towards a solution. We pay special attention to tools, ideas and models that may have been overlooked in the mass media. We make a point of showing ways in which seemingly unconnected resources link together to form a toolkit for changing the world. Every link we post is informed by technology, but the new possibilities we cover aren't just high-tech. Sure, we all need to understand the uses (and dangers) of advances like biotechnology, the Internet, ubiquitous computing, artificial intelligences, "open source" software and nano-materials. But we also need to know how best to collaborate, how to build coalitions and movements, how to grow communities, how to make our businesses live up to their highest potential and how to make the promise of democracy into a reality. We need to understand techniques as well as technologies, ideas as well as innovations. How we work together is as important as the tools we use. (That continues, if you want fuller descripteration.) 12:32:21 PM    comment []

Subject: [ISN] Trend Micro balks at Reuters hysteria Forwarded from: Vmyths.com Virus Hysteria Alert Vmyths.com Virus Hysteria Alert {20 January 2004, 19:10 CT} Reuters reporter Jennifer Tan filed a newswire last week to say computer virus attacks cost global businesses an estimated $55 billion in damages in 2003. Her story quotes Trend Micro employee Lionel Phang, who works in the firm's Singapore office. A number of news sites carried Tan's newswire and translated it into multiple languages. Two spokesmen at Trend Micro called Vmyths in an effort to balk at the Reuters newswire. Spokesman Michael Sweeny flatly dismissed the guesstimate as wrong. Spokesman David Perry insists Trend Micro CANNOT gauge a damage value -- because they simply don't collect the required data. Tan's newswire failed to explain how Phang derived his guesstimate. She also failed to say if Phang meant U.S. dollars or Singapore dollars. (There is nearly a 2-to-1 difference between those currencies.) Cub reporters often make these mistakes. It appears Reuters pulled the newswire from their lineup, but we didn't find a retraction or clarification. Based on previous history, Vmyths suspects Reuters will feign indifference in order to save face. Cub reporter Jennifer Tan will probably learn a lesson, and life will go on. History suggests this "$55 billion" URBAN LEGEND will thrive in the computer security world. Believe it or not, virus experts are a relatively gullible bunch who tell whoppers with a perfectly straight face. See http://Vmyths.com/resource.cfm?id)&page=1 to learn about this phenomenon. Employees are only human, and Trend Micro often goes out of its way to correct the record. Their spokesmen disowned Phang's guesstimate when copycat reporters called for a quote. Vmyths congratulates Trend Micro for taking the high road. Employees are only human ... but Lionel Phang may be "more human" than most. He has slipped up at least once before when talking to reporters. Phang may be suffering from a mild case of "False Authority Syndrome." Vmyths urges him to read http://Vmyths.com/fas/fas1.cfm as soon as possible. Stay calm. Stay reasoned. Learn how to distinguish U.S. dollars from Singapore dollars. And stay tuned to Vmyths. Rob Rosenberger, editor http://Vmyths.com (319) 646-2800 --------------- Useful links ------------------ False Authority Syndrome http://Vmyths.com/fas/fas1.cfm Remember this when virus hysteria strikes http://Vmyths.com/resource.cfm?id1&page=1 Common clichés in the antivirus world http://Vmyths.com/resource.cfm?id"&page=1 8:31:41 AM    comment []

Report Finds Risks in Internet Voting by Americans Overseas. A panel of computer security experts said that a $22 million system to allow soldiers and other Americans overseas to vote via the Internet is inherently insecure. By John Schwartz. [New York Times: Technology] 7:56:04 AM    comment []

Engineering Google Results to Make a Political Point. Google bombing, or manipulating search engines to produce political commentary, is becoming a group sport. By Tom Mcnichol. [New York Times: Technology] Good Google bombing explanation and concise history. 7:55:13 AM    comment []

Do Plants Practice Grid Computing?. According to Nature, plants appear to 'think' and seem to optimize their 'breathing' by conducting simple calculations through a distributed computing scheme. "David Peak and co-workers at Utah State University in Logan say that plants may regulate their uptake and loss of gases by 'distributed computation' -- a kind of information processing that involves communication between many interacting units." Nature adds this is similar to signals exchanged by ants to find the best source of food for an ant community. This might not sound much like what a computer does, but it is. In distributed computation, signals exchanged between components of the system define the process for solving a problem. Researchers are now exploring the possibility of using distributed computing with swarms of simple robots to carry out tasks, such as searching a landscape, more efficiently than a single, more sophisticated robot could manage. This overview contains more details and references. It also includes a picture of the tiny pores on the surface of a cactus leaf, called stomata, which permit the plant to breathe when they're opened. [Smart Mobs] 7:51:47 AM    comment []