OpenID & Microsoft Messenger v8 & a Telco
MX says 2006 = OpenID
Microsoft putting SIP support back into Messenger with the right telco transit agreements lined up to cope with the traffic against Google & Skype and FOAF goes massive – destination unknown!
And Microsoft go SIP in MSN Messenger – probably with Vodafone for transit breakouts.
Teleo
LiveCDs demonstrate that, yes, Linux can run under Windows
Chris Ward (tjcw@uk.ibm.com), Advisory Software Engineer, IBM
20 Dec 2005
Construct and package a Linux® LiveCD so that it will install using the standard Microsoft® Windows® install process and will operate as a standard Windows screensaver. Answering the most common concern about open source software, this article shows that, yes, Linux will run under Windows.
So why should you read this article? Why, indeed, should I write it? My motive is to help remove two obstacles to the wider adoption of free and open source software. Those obstacles are:
The perceived difficulty and disruptive effects of installing Linux
The uncertainty of hardware support for Linux
Most computer users are familiar with a Microsoft Windows environment and with the variety of screensavers available to prevent unauthorized access to the data on the computer when unattended.
There is sufficient free and open source software available nowadays to enable Linux to install and run as a Windows screensaver. This article shows you how to construct an appropriate CD or DVD, and in doing so, demonstrates that the “free” and “non-free” sides of the software Grand Canyon are not so far apart after all.
The examples in this article correspond to three current IBM objectives:
Concluding the OS/2 business
Reinventing education
Encouraging people to learn science
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-scrnsave/
WinFS – I reckon it’ll kill ‘em or it will never get rolled out in corporates.
Microsoft will have imploded before it’s successfully rolled out in corporates or quietly abandoned.
According to the Big Issue South West Dec 5-11th 2005:
“This year around 200,000 trees will be used to produce 1.7 billlion Christmas cards the nation sends. Sadly just 10 per cent o f these will be recycled, leaving the rest to fill up swelling landfill sites.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4625971.stm
Anyone want to bet on how long it will take between the first ID card being issued and a reporter from The Sun managing to get a low paid data entry clerk to assist them in producing a fake?
Paul, Loughborough
After a discussion in the office at lunchtime, my hypothesis is that Vista will require 512Mb memory and SATA-2 to function sensibly.
I also think that by the time it makes it out of the door virtualisation chips from both Intel and AMD will be shipping for the desktop and platform independant drivers will becoming up fast on the landscape.
Windows plan underscores Microsoft struggle
By Ina Fried
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: February 2, 2004, 4:00 AM PST
While many customers applauded the move, some analysts said that the decision may be more than an act of goodwill. According to recent surveys, about one-quarter of all PCs run Windows 98 or older versions of Windows. “Better to have people stay on Windows 98 than to start investigating things like Linux,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research.
Update March 19th 2006
Will 512 mb be enough memory? Some think not:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=1158
Come on Mr AB from Torquay, so just how many people will be able to upgrade to Vista without buying a whole new PC?
May 20th “The Times”
THE much-hyped next-generation of Microsoft software, Windows Vista, ran into controversy yesterday after analysts said that the system’s full range of tools would be available to less than 5 per cent of Britain’s PC market…
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9070-2188681,00.html
Well it all went by very quickly.
John (LX’s dad) has given me a Canon Rebel. I haven’t even yet openned!
Duty free bagged two large bottles of Pimms and two Moet et Chandon. $33 + $55 respectively!
Wednesday 21st
Plane got a good tail wind. The tired made it back to Totnes. I didn’t sleep on the plane, but was pretty solid on the train after Reading.
Biggles in good form. Thanks Rachel.
Great hospitality from Dale & Judy, (Milbourne Lodge 127)
Present were:
Dale
Judy
Heather (daughter)
Judy’s mother
Hoola (Briefly)
John
Daria
MX
LX
Church again – but we were nice and late. But only shaving off a quarter of an hour.
Again, singing a real bind – but sermon again, not too bad.
Liz came over with my early birthday cake!
This was quite a meet:
Greg & Julie
Uncle Roman
Aunt Ksenia (John’s Mother’s sister – Julie’s Mother)
Blueberry pancakes
Siobahn’s dad show me his camera collection – would he miss his FE2?
Picked up Rick – went round this neat church. (Choose the North American jobbie.)
Army surplus story – no score
Lunch
Met up with John at Lombard @ 18:17
Long time friends of John’s, lovely place in 5 acres.
Hootch production on the garden patio. MX reckons the second distilation could pop into a Honda VTEC engine 
Sanity returns in a strange location:
Belmont Starbucks
General shopping at Chicago’s Alley occurs and a trip to a great Shushi Shiroi Hana Restaurant, those present:
MX
LX
Siobahn
Ric
Comment: Excellent
Dropped of clothes at Siobahn’s parents, then we visited Kopi’s. Which we were pleasently ejected from at approximately 00:30.
Did a bit of straight driving for the second time. (Got the old Internation Driving License just incase.) But only at night, because those intersections look a bit tricky of Mr Lefty…
Arrived back 07:15
Grim, started back to find nobody had been visiting the Shrine of complete Dog’s Bollocks.
Dinner at Denny’s at 22:00 14th September – what a gloriously shit evening.
Get rid of car, walk round
2pm – trip around United Grand Lodge of Massachusetts very kindly conducted by R Carlton Hill.
We learnt stacks!
Great lunch at a noodle house in Chinatown.
It’s was a wrench not to see more of Boston – great city. Loads of history.
Now after all this travelling – was it worth it!
Certainly was, met up with LX’s net friend of 5 years – Heather and hubby Sean.
Great Thai meal
Follow by a trip to JP Licks – YUMMY icecream.
Those present:
MX
LX
John – LX’s dad
Heather
Sean
Accelerating on v quickly, as it’s actually 22:28 on Sunday 25th and it’s work tommorrow.
4th Calvary Community Church with Maria.
Too much singing, bit of hand waving. Rev Scott Eaton, sermon’s 8 outta 10.
5th Shopping with Maria – various.
6th Downtown with Liz – good fun.
7th Millenium Park and the Bean (of official the Cloud Gate)
8th Arrived at Father-in-law: John & Daria
9th Leave for the big trip 10:30 (remember the missing petrol cap John…)
Indiana-Ohio-Pensylvania
10th Arrive at Maria and Walter’s 08:00! (Maria is Daria’s niece)
Lunch at Todai’s, Lisa caught up with her best friend Siobahn and her Aunt Liz.
Also present myself and Lisa’s mother Maria.
BA299
16:15
Started at Totnes in morning, arrived at Heathrow via bus from Reading.
Take off about an hour late – I think it needed a push…
Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/16/secfocus_prints/
Your fingerprints are everywhere
By Scott Granneman, SecurityFocus (scott at granneman.com)
Published Thursday 16th June 2005 09:37 GMT
Comment How much do you trust your government? That’s a question that all of us have to ask, perhaps the more often the better. In 1787, Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of the United States and its third President, wrote to Abigail Adams sentences that may seem incredible to many people today:
“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the atmosphere.”
One way to define a government is by whom it controls; in other words, governments serve to provide necessary services to their citizens, like roads and armies, but governments can also legally restrict your physical movements, your property, and your rights. That’s why someone can sue you in civil court for money, but losing a civil suit cannot lead to your imprisonment or the loss of your civil rights. If you have the misfortune of being tried in criminal court, however, the state is your opponent, not an individual, and losing that trial can result in the loss of your freedoms of movement, property ownership, and civil rights.
There are many actions taken in the name of security by governments – local, state, and national, and their agencies and representatives – that are rightfully troubling to those of us who think about security. An item was recently in the news (and believe me, it’s but one of gazillions and I could fill a book with examples like this) that left me shaking my head and wondering just how much the people who think they’re protecting us really understand about computer security.
The Naperville Public Library in Naperville, Illinois (the board of which is appointed by the Mayor and approved by the City Council) is now going to ask patrons to submit fingerprints in order to verify the identities of patrons wishing to use the Internet terminals. Currently, parents can ask the library to filter the Internet access of their kids; according to the library, “filtered” kids are swapping library cards with kids whose parents have not asked for filters, so the little shavers are able to use the network without restrictions.
(Other examples of governmental and non-governmental organizations asking for your fingerprints today: the Statue of Liberty, Disneyland, the US Border Patrol, plus even some tanning salons, and gyms.) . The Library claims that “[i]t is only the number, not the image of the fingerprint, that is stored in the system.” On the face of it, it would be foolish for the library to lie about this, and it’s true that many, if not most, fingerprint biometric systems work this way. But they don’t have to. Couple that with the Library’s rather disingenuous assurance that “… this information is borrower registration information and can only be revealed if required by court order.” Under the terms of the USA PATRIOT Act, however, the FBI and other government agencies can ask libraries to reveal information about patrons at any time, without a warrant, and the libraries cannot reveal this snooping to their patrons.
Putting aside the fact that it’s really easy to fool fingerprint biometric schemes, Naperville’s actions brings up some big questions: How much should you know about the public library? Do you know who runs the library? Do you trust them? Will the library really only keep a hashed number of your fingerprint and not your fingerprint itself? What is to prevent the FBI and other law enforcement organizations from getting that information by using the PATRIOT Act? What about when other governmental services, agencies, and organizations will soon start asking for fingerprints?
It gets worse. Future passports are going to use biometrics and may have RFID chips embedded in them (thus broadcasting American’s identities to anyone with a powerful enough RFID scanner). Do you use encryption software on your computer to keep it secure? A Minnesota appeals court has recently ruled that encryption software may be used as evidence of criminal intent (putting aside the fact that every computer out there has encryption software of some kind on it). It seems a regular occurrance that cops hassle photographers based on unconstitutional and, even worse, non-existent bans on photography in public places. A 57-year-old grandma and middle school principal forgets about the sandwich knife she put in her carry-on luggage; a TSA employee informs her upon finding it that she is now “considered a terrorist” and that “you don’t have any” constitutional rights.
And on and on.
This is approaching madness. Money is mis-spent, impossible promises are made, laws and decisions are rushed into being without thinking through the consequences, and freedoms and liberties are constricted, all in the name of security and safety. And the worst thing of all is that most people – John and Jane Q. Citizen – have no idea at all that their government agencies are wasting time, money, and valuable manpower in largely futile efforts. Citizens are told by their governments that they are safer, but in far too many ways they are really not.
What can people who know something about security do about this? It seems overwhelming and impossible; ignorance is a powerful force, especially when wielded by a government. Couple that with the natural tendency of too many people to believe those in authority – unthinkingly! – and we’ve got real trouble.
Let’s start small: talk to your family, your friends, your acquaintances. Educate the folks with whom you work. When something in the news provides you with what educators term a “teachable moment,” take advantage of that to help people understand the proper use, and more importantly, mis-use of technology for security.
Then move outward. We can write letters to the mass media. We can try to get interviewed by our local radio and TV stations. We can talk to everyone we know. We can contact our representatives, at all levels of government, and try to help them understand the difference between real security and a false, wasteful sense of false safety. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. It’s not. Ignorance and fear have a way of constantly subverting knowledge and bravery. But that doesn’t mean we can’t rebel against them – and in this case, a little rebellion isn’t just a good idea. It’s a requirement.
What are you going to do to make sure that your government really protects you, your family, those you love and care about, and your nation?
Copyright © 2005, (http://www.securityfocus.com/)
Scott Granneman is a senior consultant for Bryan Consulting Inc. in St. Louis. He specializes in Internet Services and developing Web applications for corporate, educational, and institutional clients.
© Copyright 2005
Shares scheme launched for homes
This is Money (C)
14 June 2005
THE UK’s first property exchange was launched today enabling investors to buy and sell shares in individual houses.
The property will then be rented out by a letting company and investors will split the rental income, minus fees, according to the proportion of the property they own.
When people want to end their investment they simply re-sell their shares through the exchange, at a higher price than they bought them for if the property is considered to have risen in value.
There are currently 18 properties available through the exchange and the group expects the number to increase substantially in the coming months.
The exchange currently only offers residential properties in the UK, but it hopes to expand to include commercial property and overseas residential property in future.
Chief executive Stephen Kenny, who helped set up betting exchange Betfair, said: ‘The benefits of investing in the buy to let market have been well documented over recent years and yet this is an asset class that remains inaccessible to most.
‘Opromark opens up the buy-to-let market to a broader range of investors, including those struggling to get on the housing ladder, by making the minimum investment £1 and ensuring that investors can diversify their investment cost effectively across a range of residential properties.’
When a property is first introduced to the exchange people can view its details, including an independent survey, valuation and searches, and analyse the performance of comparable properties to decide whether they want to invest in it.
Investment in individual properties is restricted to 10% of the available shares. If someone exceeds this level they have to make an offer for all the remaining shares in the property.
Stamp duty will have to be paid on any properties bought through the exchange, but the group said it was currently trying to limit properties to ones which fell below the £120,000 threshold above which the tax is paid.
Membership of the exchange is free, but Opromark charges people a trading fee depending on the size of their investment, ranging from 3% for investments of up to £3,000 to 0.5% for ones over £250,000.
The exchange can be accessed at www.opromark.com
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/mortgages/buy-to-let/article.html?in_article_id=401358&in_page_id=56&ito=1452
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