Articles


Are web vandals preparing for the weekend?

An article from the San Francisco Chronicle (originally from the Associated Press) indicates that security experts and law enforcement officials are worried about a coordinated web defacement campaign set for July 6. The symptoms so far include a web site (since taken down by the web service provider) and a …

iTunes not a hit for some bands

The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Green Day, Linkin Park (among others) are declining to put their music up on Apple's iTunes. The dispute, according to an article from Reuters via Yahoo! is about the ability to sell single songs. The bands say that they will not bend their "art …

More Opteron bus information

Following up on a discussion earlier this week, I wanted to lay out some additional performance comparisons between the IBM PowerPC 970 and the AMD Opteron. Thanks to Dmitry for the pointer to this AnandTech article about the Opteron architecture. Opteron memory philosophyThe design of the Opteron memory and …


UK company finds cellular phone users

Privacy problem or boon to parents? It remains to be seen whether the service offered by FindAMobile in the UK will be one or the other, or maybe a bit of each. The service allows registered users to find other users (who have given their permission to be found by …

SAS to add Connexion services to flights

More wireless in the sky is coming! According to an article from DailyPress (originating from AP), the Swedish/Norwegian/Danish airline SAS has reached agreement with Boeing's Connexion service for wireless broadband. The service is reported to cost between $30 and $35 per flight and will be available on trans-Atlantic …

Vancouver to host 2010 Winter Olympiad

When my brother and I were skiing at Whistler in 2001, there was a lot of talk and argument about pursuing the Winter Olympics. Some sides were arguing that the games would bring too many people to the area and cause too much disruption, that the transportation was not sufficient …

How did Apple get coverage with just a few antennas?

Those at the Apple World Wide Developer's Conference last week had mixed reviews for the wireless access. Although coverage in the facility was excellent as far as signal goes, there were troubles with the volume of users on the system. Most of the problems were because of the sheer numbers …

Czech KFCs to get WiFi access

CIT Online is reporting that Cesky Telecom and KFC are teaming together to provide internet access at 42 KFC restaurants in the Czech Republic. The free service will last through September, at which time, it may turn pay.

Microsoft finds another Passport flaw

Microsoft has once again admitted that they have found and fixed a security flaw in the Microsoft Passport that could have granted access to user's accounts. According to an article from the Washington Post, the flaw only affected folks with accounts older than four years and to Microsoft's knowledge, had …

Listen.com sees huge response to price cut

Listen.com (owned by Real Networks and running the Rhapsody music service) is quoted in this Wired article as having doubled the number of CD track burns sold after cutting the price per track burn from $0.99 to $0.79. Although the company has not released total numbers of …

New California law requires disclosure of information leaks

A new law that goes into effect this week in California will require that companies that collect and maintain personal information alert customers when that information is inappropriately released.An article from CNet further details that release of information that could be used for identity theft (such as Social Security …

Kraft to cut snack sizes

According to an article from BBC News, Kraft Foods, America's largest food maker, is planning on reducing portions for its snack foods because of concerns over obesity. Although the company says its primary concern is customer health, they also admit that they are taking action out of concern over lawsuits …

Harry Crushes the Hulk

The New York Times had a great article that starts to give "kids in the digital age" some of their due. Instead of ranting on about their attention span, willingness to steal music, and their infatuation with TV and computer screens, Frank Rich looks at the rapid sale of Harry …

Electronics makers look out for linux "CELF" interest

According to an article on CNet, Sony, Matsushita, Hitachi, NEC, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, and Toshiba have formed CELF, the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum. The group is intended to help steer Linux in a direction compatible with consumer electronics, focussing on issues such as: Extended battery life Real-time responsiveness (for audio …

The Economist questions the economics of hotspots

The Economist has an article this week describing the current state of WiFi hotspots and asking some important questions about the viability of the business model that is causing the WiFi hotspot explosion. As mentioned in another article here today, the number of hotspots appears to be exploding. However, The …

Apache quality on par with commercial versions

An article from InfoWorld reports that tests by Reasoning (a software inspection firm) have indicated that recent Apache code (2.x version) has about the same number of bugs per thousand lines of code as commercial equivalents. I'm not entirely sure what this means, but I do find it an …

Latest WiFi deployment news

A series of announcements in the last few days has indicated a continued expansion of "hotspots" for 802.11 access. Here's a list: Barnes and Noble will be testing WiFi access in stores in Seattle and Atlanta (from SmartMoney.com) SBC is planning to roll out 2,000 WiFi Hotspots …

Toshiba releases gigantic 17" laptop

According to an article from CNet, Toshiba has released the P25, a portable computer with 17" of screen and 9.1 pounds of weight. Although using basically the same screen as the Apple 17" PowerBook, the computer weighs in at 50% more weight. Basic stats are: 2.8GHz Pentium 4 …

Comcast forces customers to change email addresses

In a move that will undoubtedly annoy users, Comcast has sent email to its customers (some weeks ago) informing them that they have until next week to begin the transition from their @attbi.com addresses to @comcast.net. Although it isn't costly for the company to maintain two domain names …