sworona's blog

M*A*S*H fans may remember the episode where Major Burns, frustrated at the low turnout for his morning calisthenics, whines, "But Colonel Potter, we'd get so many more if you'd just order them to volunteer."

For years, the entertainment industry has been promoting its own version of morning calisthenics to our college and university campuses, so-called commercial music services such as CDigix, Ruckus, and Napster. And the results have been similar: Even when offered for free, students stayed away in droves. The selection of songs was too small or the music couldn't be downloaded to iPods or the content couldn't be moved from device to device.

And so, following Major Burns' lead, Big Music and Big Hollywood have gone to Colonel Congress, and the Capitol Hill brass have delivered. Buried in the just-released Higher Education Act is a provision ordering every college and university in the country to "offer alternatives to illegal downloading". The inevitable result? Precious tuition and tax dollars diverted from academic needs to corporate vendors for the purchase of services that no one will use.

I guess it's not brand new, since I see about 6,000 hits for it on Google, but this New York Times headline showed me a term I'd never noticed before:

Picture Tube TV's Try a Slimmer Strategy
Thursday, January 20, 2005
The New York Times

Standard picture-tube TV's, the kind that the vast majority of Americans still buy, have long been video non grata at the Consumer Electronics Show. Seen as yesterday's technology, they have been relegated to the back room of the show, the industry's biggest gadget festival, where flat-panel liquid-crystal-display and plasma sets take center stage.

"Picture-tube TV" is probably the world's newest retronym. A retronym is a multi-word phrase you need to invent when an old word gets run over by new technologies or products. For example, when electric guitars came along, we had to invent the phrase "acoustic guitar". Plain old "guitar" no longer said it all. Other examples:

• Rotary (or dial) telephone
• Full-service gas station
• Classic Coke
• Plain text
• Manual tupewriter

We've been talking about the new kinds of TV's for quite some time, and so there are nearly 7 million Google hits for "LCD TV" and 375,000 for "flat-panel TV"."TV" all by itself gets 342 million hits. With those numbers for comparison, it's clear that "Picture-tube TV" really is a new arrival. By the time you look, the 6,000 might be up to 7,000.

Remember, you saw it here first.

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

Kevin Rollins has been CEO of Dell Computer for about six months. A couple of days ago he gave a lengthy interview to CNET, reported under this headline: Dell's Rollins dismisses iPod as a 'fad'.

A fad??? Why would he say that?

"It's interesting the iPod has been out for three years and it's only this past year it's become a raging success. Well, those things that become fads rage, and then they drop off. When I was growing up there was a product made by Sony called the Sony Walkman -- a rage, everyone had to have one. Well, you don't hear about the Walkman anymore. I believe that one-product wonders come and go. You have to have sustainable business models, sustainable strategy."

Ah. Now we know what Kevin Rollins considers a fad: Something you don't hear about anymore. He needs to rethink that definition. And his example.

In fact, the Sony Walkman wasn't a fad, it was a break in the curve, a paradigm shift. It was the birth of a new category of entertainment appliance, a category that's still wildly successful today. It was the start of something big. Rollins would do well to go visit the Sony Web site and read up on the history of the Walkman. An excerpt:

The Walkman created a totally new market for portable stereo systems, and it became a much-loved product around the world. In June 1989, 10 years after the launch of the first model, the total number of Walkman units manufactured had exceeded 50 million, and in 1992 this reached 100 million. In 1995, total production of Walkman units reached 150 million. Including a special 15th anniversary model, over 300 different Walkman models have been produced to date and Sony has remained the market leader.

What made the Walkman so special? A brilliant combination of marketing, design, and technology, even including the name:

The name "Walkman" became virtually synonymous with "headphone stereo" products and it even appeared in respected dictionaries abroad as well as in Japan. In 1981, Walkman was listed in Le Petit Larousse, a well-known French dictionary, and in 1986 the name was included in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Did you catch that phrase, "headphone stereo"? One of the things that made Walkman so special was something it lacked: Speakers. It was a headphone stereo, a product classification that hadn't been invented yet.

And Walkman was distinguished for yet another omission: It was a tape machine with no "record" button. Unheard of! But it drove home the idea that this was a different kind of device.

That's a phenomenon, not a fad. And today, iPod is doing the same thing. By virtue of classy design, great technology, excellent features, and -- not to be underestimated -- good timing, Apple has captured the public's imagination and made people think different(ly) about personal musical appliances. Although iPod wasn't the first portable MP3 player (that honor goes to the Diamond Rio back in the late 90's), "iPod" has become the generic name for its category. 10 years from now, the iPod may or may not still be part of the product stream, but you can bet that "iPod" will be part of the dictionary.

So what's a fad? Well, yo-yo's were a fad, and hula hoops. Bell-bottoms and fat ties were fads. Skinny ties were once a fad, too. Who knows? Maybe they'll return to popularity again some day. On that day, Ralph Nader will be stylish once more. Skinny ties, however, will still be a fad.

Sony's Walkman, though, wasn't a fad when Kevin Rollins was growing up, and Apple's iPod isn't one today.

Unless you want to call Ford's Model T a fad.

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

Here's how the Open Park Project describes itself:

The Open Park Project (Open Park) is a Washington D.C. based non-profit organization and recognized tax exempt charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Our mission is to provide:

• A 21st century community service - offering public Internet access on the National Mall, as well as more specialized services for the museum community
• Public hotspots for democracy - so that citizens can communicate with each other online when exercising their 1st Amendment rights (via Webcams, laptops, and other WiFi equipped devices)
• An educational resource - to advance the widespread deployment of public wireless Internet access in the U.S. and the type of innovative spectrum management upon which WiFi depends, and
• A public test bed - bringing novel wireless applications and equipment (Internet phones, radio location tags, wireless kiosks) to the doorstep of national decision makers.

Open Park caught my eye when I saw a reference to their "Inauguration Week Public WiFi Service", now in place here in DC along the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route. From the Press Release (16K PDF):

Washington, D.C. -- January 12, 2005 -- The Open Park Project, a local non-profit, announced the provision of a free, carrier grade hotspot for Wi-Fi service during Inauguration Week along the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route giving the general public, event bloggers and the press on-site high speed access to the Internet.

The hotspot, which is now operational, will be open through January 22nd with coverage across Pershing Park on the north side of Pennsylvania Ave. between 14th and 15th Sts. NW. Some service is also available at Freedom Plaza (across from City Hall) and the northeastern corner of the Ellipse. The hotspot uses the same popular Wi-Fi compatible technology employed in home networks and coffee shops.

"Open Park's services will let the public share their Inauguration Week experiences on the Internet as they happen and open up one of the nation's most important events for real-time commentary," said Leo Cloutier, the group's Chief Technology Officer. "Along Pennsylvania Avenue, the service may also reduce the load on local cell phone networks."

Cloutier added: "Open Park's longer range plan is to provide free wireless Internet service across the National Mall and we are currently in talks with the Smithsonian Institution to install Wi-Fi access point equipment atop selected Mall museums."

They're not getting a lot of play in the mainstream press, although the Washington Business Journal did pick up the story. On the other hand, their Inauguration Week Blog is already on the air, and that's likely all the press you'll need.

One other note: I see that among Open Park's founding directors is Kevin Werbach. If that name's not familiar to you, it should be. He's a former attorney/technologist for the FCC, author of the fabulous Digital Tornado report, and self-described (and accurately so) "leading expert on the business, policy, and social implications of emerging Internet and communications technologies". And, of course, a blogger (Werblog).

So make a mental note of Open Park, check out Werblog, and enjoy inauguration blogging (from either direction). And imagine what blogging will be like in another four years.

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

It wasn't a good weekend for FBI computer systems.

Report #1, Carnivore scrapped:

FBI retires Carnivore
Saturday, January 15, 2005
The Register

FBI surveillance experts have put their once-controversial Carnivore Internet surveillance tool out to pasture, preferring instead to use commercial products to eavesdrop on network traffic, according to documents released Friday.

Two reports to Congress obtained by the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the FBI didn't use Carnivore, or its rebranded version "DCS-1000," at all during the 2002 and 2003 fiscal years. Instead, the bureau turned to unnamed commercially-available products to conduct Internet surveillance thirteen times in criminal investigations in that period.

Carnivore became a hot topic among civil liberations, some network operators and many lawmakers in 2000, when an ISP's legal challenge brought the surveillance tool's existence to light. One controversy revolved around the FBI's legally-murky use of the device to obtain e-mail headers and other information without a wiretap warrant -- an issue Congress resolved by explicitly legalizing the practice in the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act.

Developed by a contractor, Carnivore was a customizable packet sniffer that, in conjunction with other FBI tools, could capture email messages, and reconstruct web pages exactly as a surveillance target saw them while surfing the web. FBI agents lugged it with them to ISPs that lacked their own spying capability.

Report #2, Virtual Case File abandoned:

FBI Rejects Its New Case File Software
Database Project Has Cost Nearly $170 Million
Friday, January 14, 2005
The Washington Post

The FBI said yesterday that a nearly $170 million computer system intended to help agents share data about terrorist threats and other criminal cases is seriously deficient and will be largely abandoned before it is launched.

The software, known as Virtual Case File, was supposed to provide a modern database for storing and indexing all case information and entries by agents, enabling them to share files electronically and search easily for links between cases that might not otherwise seem connected.

But the FBI has concluded that the system, the latest version of which was provided by Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego last month, is already outdated. New contractors are examining whether any portions of the system can be salvaged, and are determining how much it will cost to complete the project, the FBI said.

For more information about Carnivore and its demise, see EPIC and the EPIC Carnivore Page. You might also want to bookmark the EDUCAUSE resource page for CALEA, the "Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act".

For more on the $170 million "train wreck" (so-called by Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont), I recommend reading the full text of the Washington Post article excerpted above. Other independent reports:

• New FBI Software May Be Unusable (Los Angeles Times)
• F.B.I. May Scrap Vital Overhaul of Its Outdated Computer System (The New York Times)
• FBI Computer Error: System Not Found (Slate)
• FBI Says $170 Million IT System Worthless (IT Solutions Guide)

Y'gotta love those headline writers!

Both of these stories are likely to get much more attention in the upcoming Congressional session. A name you might listen for is Zalmai Azmi, FBI CIO, who was appointed last May shortly after the 9-11 Commission criticized the obsolescence of FBI computer systems.

Stay tuned.

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

In-Stat Market Research released a report a few days ago projecting that RFID tags will soon take their place alongside personal computers, cell phones, and the Internet itself as a disruptive technology:

RFID Tag Market to Approach $3 billion in 2009
Wednesday, January 12, 2005

RFID tags are poised to become the most far-reaching wireless technology since the cell phone. Worldwide revenues from RFID tags will jump from $300 million in 2004 to $2.8 billion in 2009.

The general public is already familiar with RFID tags for "EZ-Pass" lanes on toll roads and as credit-card replacements at gasoline pumps. Staying with the transportation theme, the In-Stat report notes a project at Arizona State University tagging bicycles so that only their owners can use them. (PDF versions of the ASU faculty research papers are available here (6 pages) and here (44 pages).)

But those applications just scratch the surface. Here are some recent articles about RFID tags for products, people, pets, and passports:

• U.S. government awards more RFID contracts for passports
• RFID: Dogs! Cats! Guitars?
• RFID Tracking System for Elderly & Children
• Three R's: Reading, Writing, RFID
• German researchers move forward on plastic RFID chip
• Drugmaker Teams With Law Enforcement To Use RFID To Halt Thefts
• RFID to track Social Security Administration material
• Wal-Mart tagging fuels RFID market
• IBM adds RFID capabilities to WebSphere products
• IBM steps up RFID push in Southeast Asia
• High-Tech Vegas
• Hewlett-Packard to accelerate ID tagging
• Tesco stocks up on RFID tags

Like any powerful technology, RFID can be powerfully abused. Privacy advocates are especially worried, as explained on the RFID page of EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center:

The proposed uses of RFID tags pose exponentially greater risks to personal privacy. Many technology experts predict the development of a seamless network of millions of RFID receivers strategically placed around the globe in airports, seaports, highways, distribution centers, warehouses, retail stores, and consumers' homes, all of which are constantly reading, processing, and evaluating consumers behaviors and purchases. In addition to undermining a consumer's ability to enjoy a lifestyle in relative anonymity, critics of the technology counter that the information gathered by RFID readers could be obtained by the government for surveillance or monitoring the activities of citizens, or even misused by hackers and criminals. Even more, the ever-expanding use of RFID chips would leave no aspect of life safe from the prying eyes of retail and corporate giants. Chips integrated into commonplace products such as floor tiles, shelf paper, cabinets, appliance, exercise equipment, and grocery and packaged products would allow even our most intimate activities to be monitored.

EPIC's RFID page has a wealth of useful information whether you think the technology is merely disruptive or decidedly dangerous. Check it out.

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

Coincidentally, two college students made headlines in yesterday's Washington Post for (alleged) cybercrimes.

The Austin story:

Texas Attorney Gen. Sues Student Spammer
Washington Post (The Associated Press)
Friday, January 14, 2005

AUSTIN, Texas -- The state attorney general filed a lawsuit against a 22-year-old college student and his business partner, accusing them of illegally sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited, misleading e-mails.

Ryan Pitylak, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, heads the fourth-largest spamming operation in the world, Attorney General Gregg Abbott said.

According to Travis County tax records, Pitylak owns a $450,000 home in an upscale Austin neighborhood. A woman who answered the door said Pitylak was out of town on business and would not be answering phone calls. Pitylak did return an e-mail, referring all questions to his attorney.

The Boston story (OK, OK, Cambridge):

Teen Web Editor Drives Apple to Court Action
Washington Post
Friday, January 14, 2005

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Nicholas M. Ciarelli was not even old enough to shave when he started getting under Apple Computer Inc.'s skin.

As a 13-year-old middle-schooler, the New Woodstock, N.Y., native built a Web site in 1998 and began publishing insider news and rumors about Apple, using the alias Nick dePlume.

Sites like his "are good for Apple," says Harvard student Nicholas Ciarelli.

Three years later, ThinkSecret.com was first to report that the company would debut a G4 version of the PowerBook laptop series. The product launched soon thereafter, along with ThinkSecret's reputation among Apple's legendarily zealous fans, generating millions of page views per month.

But after a series of letters warning the Web site to stop publishing proprietary information, Apple decided enough was enough. When Ciarelli scored yet another scoop in late December, by predicting the arrival of a new software package and a sub-$500 computer rolled out at this week's MacWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, the computer maker filed a lawsuit accusing him of illegally misappropriating trade secrets.

Considering the recent billion-dollar judgment against another spammer, Ryan Pitylak might start worrying about that $450,000 house. Nicholas Ciarelli, on the other hand, has a collection of bylines at the Harvard Crimson, and the Apple lawsuit raises significant free-speech and free-press issues. Win or lose, the case will be on his résumé.

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

Jason Schultz is an attorney with EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, specializing in intellectual property law. He was my guest last October on EDUCAUSE Live!, speaking about Acacia Media Technologies and other examples of abusive patents. (See my blog for more background on the subject.)

Jason's also a blogger ("LawGeek"), and Wednesday's entry caught my eye:

Come Grab A Drink with IPac in SF
Wednesday, January 12, 2005

For those of you who don't know, I've been donating some of my copious spare time to help out IPac, a new political action committee devoted to reform of IP laws.

On Monday night [January 17] in SF, IPac's having a little get together and you're all invited.

I'd never previously checked into IPac, so after I got over being astonished that Jason had any spare time, I went browsing.

IPac's motto is "Defending the public interest where culture and technology meet", and here's their Statement of Principles:

IPac Statement of Principles

IPac is a nonpartisan group dedicated to preserving individual freedom through balanced intellectual property policy.

We believe that technological innovation and individual creativity are vital to the future of this country. We believe that a prosperous and democratic society depends on freedom for all individuals to pursue scientific invention and artistic expression. Unfortunately, new intellectual property laws threaten to stifle these freedoms and restrict public participation in science, art, and political discourse.

Therefore, IPac will support elected representatives and candidates for public office who fight for these principles:

1. Creators of ideas and inventions have the right to be compensated for their work, but not to limit political expression, veto technological innovation, or restrict education and scientific research. [read why]
2. Intellectual property laws should be judged by their potential to foster new creativity, as required by the U.S. Constitution. [read why]
3. Intellectual property laws should be clear and explicit, so anybody can create without fear of lawsuits. [read why]

There's also an IPac blog, with a noteworthy item from this past Tuesday:

IPac Launches "Jailed for a Song"
Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Resolutions have been made, Boxing Day is long gone, and IPac is greeting the new year with a new campaign called "Jailed for a Song". Congress was busy with copyright in 2004, and JfaS is a retrospective on what almost went down. We note several of the craziest items that Big Content asked for -- but didn't get -- in 2004, and encourage people to get involved this year. Check it out!

There's some very interesting reading at the JfaS site; I commend it to your attention. Here's the graphical summary:

Oh…and if you're in the Bay Area on Monday, go join Jason Schultz for a drink!

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

It began life yesterday as an Associated Press story and was picked up early by MSNBC online. It arrived in my mailbox this morning on a mailing list for lawyers (IANAL), and Google News now shows dozens of references, with the number still rising .

The story:

Tell a lawyer joke, go to jail?
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
The Associated Press

Pair arrested outside Long Island courthouse.

Did you hear the one about the two guys arrested for telling lawyer jokes?

It happened this week to the founders of a group called Americans for Legal Reform, who were waiting in line to get into a Long Island courthouse.

"How do you tell when a lawyer is lying?" Harvey Kash reportedly asked Carl Lanzisera.

"His lips are moving," they said in unison.

While some waiting to get into the courthouse giggled, a lawyer farther up the line Monday was not laughing.

In fact he was not laughing so hard that he complained to court officials. Kash and Lanzisera were charged with disorderly conduct for "being abusive and … causing a disturbance."

AP continues: "They just can't take it," Kash said of lawyers in general. "This violates our First Amendment rights."

Not surprisingly, one Google hit is The First Amendment Center.

Of course, not all lawyers are humorless:

Lawyers offer help after pair's anti-lawyer joke arrest
Thursday, January 13, 2005
newsday.com

The two legal reform advocates who were arrested at First District Court in Hempstead Monday for telling anti-lawyer jokes are facing a new dilemma -- whether to accept the offers of free legal defense from the attorneys who have deluged them with calls.

"I've been saying, 'Thanks. Give me your phone number and I'll get back to you,'" said Carl Lanzisera, one of the founders of Americans for Legal Reform. "But I'd like to tell them go to hell."

Radical lawyer takes jokers' case
Thursday, January 13, 2005
newsday.com (from the Associated Press)

A pair of senior citizens arrested for telling lawyer jokes at a Long Island courthouse have a new attorney who shares their sense of humor: Ron Kuby.

Kuby, the radical lawyer and morning radio show host, volunteered on the air Thursday morning to handle the case of Harvey Kash and Carl Lanzisera without charge. The pair, in a phone call to WABC-AM radio during the Curtis and Kuby show, accepted his offer.

Kuby wasted little time in raising the possibility of a civil suit for wrongful arrest on behalf of the pair, who were charged with disorderly conduct after their arrests Monday in a Hempstead courthouse. A spokesman for the Nassau County courts said their behavior was "abusive."

Buried amidst the laughter (and non-laughter) are several references to these two jokesters as "legal reform advocates". Their organization is called Americans for Legal Reform, which summarizes its mission thus:

Are you tired of a so called "Justice System" that has no regard for justice? Are you tired of a legal system that is set up to make lawyers & judges rich at the expense of the rest of us?? Well we sure are and we are ready to do something about it.

"Do something"? What? I'll let you read that for yourself.

One other point: What does this have to do with computers or networks or even intellectual property? Well…

Back around 1990, before any of us knew what a "browser" was or how to spell HTML, you navigated Internet information with a system called Gopher, developed at the University of Minnesota. At the time, I was with the computer center at Cornell, encouraging all of the University's colleges and departments to install Gopher servers. One of the most energetic participants in our Gopher Group was Tom Bruce, who would later help establish -- and still directs -- the widely referenced and well-respected Cornell Legal Information Institute.

Under Tom's expert guidance, Cornell's Law School ran one of the most heavily hit Gopher servers on the Internet, and by far the most popular resource on that server was -- you guessed it -- lawyer jokes! I had forgotten all about that until today's story jarred my memory. So I went over to the LII Web site to see if that joke file was still there. Alas, I couldn't locate it, neither with a local search nor via Google.

Sigh. Another historical treasure lost to the bit bucket of time.

I did find plenty of other pages devoted to lawyer jokes, though, and can report that the genre is alive and well. Here's an example from the Law Laughs home page:

Q: What's wrong with Lawyer jokes?

A: Lawyers don't think they're funny, and nobody else thinks they're jokes.

Listening for a knock on the door…

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

By now you've heard all about the cool new iPod shuffle. Maybe you even watched the announcement during Steve Jobs' keynote presentation from Macworld.

Cheaper than the competitors. Fabulous sound. Yet another triumph of product design.

And the slogans:

"Life is random."
"Enjoy uncertainty."
"Random is the new order."
"240 songs. A million different ways."
"Smaller than a pack of gum."

And the picture that goes with the last slogan:

Now, that's the version of the picture you've seen with the articles and the reviews. But on the official Apple iPod shuffle page, it looks a little different. You see, the Apple page is full of specs and details and marketing and drawings and sidebars. A very busy (but, as with all things Apple, elegantly well-designed) page.

And footnotes.

Yes, Apple's iPod shuffle page has footnotes. Four of them:

1. Music capacity is based on 4 minutes per song and 128Kbps AAC encoding.
2. 
   
3. Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. Battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information.
4. Some computers require either the optional iPod shuffle Dock or a USB cable extender (sold separately).

Even without looking at the page, you can guess where each of those four footnotes is anchored.

Oh…is something missing?

Right, I left out footnote 2. You see, the picture of the iPod shuffle on the Apple page has a caption, and the caption reads:

iPod shuffle: Smaller than a
pack of gum and much more fun.(2)

And the footnote cautions:

   2.   Do not eat iPod shuffle.

Now, we know that Apple's lawyers have been a bit hyperactive recently, but I think that's supposed to be a joke.

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

Bill Gates was busy last week. Not only did he get drunk with Conan O'Brien and wake up with a Macintosh, but he did an interview with CNET that's being blogged around the world. The attention-getting quote came in this exchange:

CNET:
In recent years, there's been a lot of people clamoring to reform and restrict intellectual-property rights. It started out with just a few people, but now there are a bunch of advocates saying, "We've got to look at patents, we've got to look at copyrights." What's driving this, and do you think intellectual-property laws need to be reformed?

Gates:
No, I'd say that of the world's economies, there's more that believe in intellectual property today than ever. There are fewer Communists in the world today than there were. There are some new modern-day sort of Communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and moviemakers and software makers under various guises. They don't think that those incentives should exist.

Now, when Bill Gates starts calling people Communists, danders will rise, umbrage will be taken, and fingers will pound. Wired was early off the mark with an article called "We're Creative Commonists, Bill": "The comments show just how out-of-touch Gates is with a large and growing community of people who have embraced the ideas of open source and building on one another's creative works," according to "proponents of copyright reform".

Wired goes on to quote Glenn Otis Brown, executive director of Creative Commons:

"I get sad when people cheapen words like 'communist' or 'fascist' by throwing them around recklessly, especially given what those words meant in the not-so-distant past. My father was a CIA Cold Warrior for 35 years of his life; he wasn't fighting against GPL'd software. Stalinist purges, the Berlin Wall, tanks in Budapest -- that's communism. And let's not forget just how many creative people's lives were ruined by irresponsible name-calling not too long ago. Remember the Hollywood blacklists?"

For those keeping track at home, the dudgeon level here is HIGH.

The blogosphere cavalry charged in with blazing keyboards. A good summary is at boingboing, called "Creative Commies: more art than you can shake a sickle at". CNET's own blog published a reader comment under the title "Gates' Commie quote inspires the masses" (opening: "Workers of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your screensaver."). And be sure to see the I/P Updates Blog entry called "Gates' Comment Inspires Bourgeoisie". All of which were spotlighting these instant graphics:

And, of course, the T-shirt.

And just when Bill figured the worst must be over, this headline added a crushing blow:

IBM offers 500 patents for open-source use
Monday, January 10, 2005
CNET News

IBM has decided to let open-source developers use 500 software patents without fear of an infringement lawsuit, a new step in its encouragement of the collaborative programming philosophy.

That's right, those pinkos over at Big Blue have endorsed Open Source, big time.

Which leaves Bill Gates only one option.

THINK

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

Apple's iPod has created hundreds of product spin-offs, millions of dollars of third-party business, and more unexpected ideas for content than you can count. The headlines tell the story, from "Playboy's free come-on turns iPod into iBod" (CNET) to "Apple talks up mid-range Motorola 'iPod phone'" (The Register).

And so no one should be surprised to see this story from the Radiological Society of North America's RSNA News:

iPod Helps Radiologists Manage Medical Images
December, 2004
RSNA News

"Technology coming from the consumer market is changing the way we do things in the radiology department."
-- Osman Ratib, M.D., Ph.D.

"This is what we call using off the shelf, consumer market technology," says Osman Ratib, M.D., Ph.D., professor and vice-chairman of radiologic services at UCLA. "Technology coming from the consumer market is changing the way we do things in the radiology department."

Dr. Ratib and Antoine Rosset, M.D., a radiologist in Geneva, Switzerland, recently developed OsiriX, Macintosh-based software for display and manipulation of complex medical image data.

How did the developers go from a music player to a medical storage device? "We basically wanted something that everybody could use," explains Dr. Ratib. "That's why OsiriX can be used with the iPod, iChat and other tools."

"Radiologists deal with a very large amount of medical imaging data," Dr. Ratib explains. "I never have enough space on my disk, no matter how big my disk is, I always need more space. One day I realized, I have an iPod that has 40 gigabytes of storage on it. It's twice as big as my disk on my laptop and I'm using only 10 percent of it for my music. So, why don't I use it as a hard disk for storing medical images?"

A recent survey of OsiriX users found that it has been very well received. One thousand people downloaded the software within the first month of distribution. Dr. Ratib believes actual usage is about three to five times that number.

OsiriX software can be downloaded at http://homepage.mac.com/rossetantoine/osirix/.

Nice work, Doc. And here's a song for that iPod!

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

[Item temporarily removed for testing.]

Last week, the big news in all the papers and all the blogs was CES, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. There was an amazing array of new gadgets and gizmos, and an equally impressive roster of big-name speakers.

Wednesday night, Bill Gates was the keynote, and the format was an interview with Conan O'Brien. As blogged by Todd Bishop of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Conan had the quote of the show:

"Bill and I hit the bar, had a good time. And then we got so drunk that we actually went out and we got ourselves matching tattoos, which is always good. And, in fact, I got so drunk that I woke up with a hooker, Bill got so drunk he woke up with an Apple computer."

Cheers, Bill.

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.

Here's some interesting news about Linux from one of my favorite security guys, Bruce Schneier. Yesterday he blogged about a report from the Honeynet Project, describing the security of Linux. The December 17, 2004 report begins:

The past 12-24 months has seen a significant downward shift in successful random attacks against Linux-based systems. Recent data from our honeynet sensor grid reveals that the average life expectancy to compromise for an unpatched Linux system has increased from 72 hours to 3 months. This means that an unpatched Linux system with commonly used configurations (such as server builds of RedHat 9.0 or Suse 6.2 ) have an online mean life expectancy of 3 months before being successfully compromised.

The report later compares Linux and Windows:

This life expectancy is all the more surprising when compared to vulnerable Win32 systems. Data from the Symantec Deepsight Threat Management System indicates a vulnerable Win32 system has life expectancy not measured in months, but merely hours. The limited number of Win32 honeypots we have deployed support this, several being compromised in mere minutes.

The computers were running essentially unpatched out-of-the-box systems, and the report identifies the default Linux configuration as one of the likely reasons for the positive results. I suspect that another reason -- one not mentioned in the Honeynet report -- is the low number of bugs in Linux, recently measured (as I blogged last Sunday) at 0.6% of the number in typical commercial software.

While following links from the Schneier blog, I stumbled across this article on TechWeb:

Unprotected PCs Fall To Hacker Bots In Just Four Minutes
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
TechWeb.com

The lifespan of a poorly protected PC connected to the Internet is a mere four minutes, research released Tuesday claimed. After that, it's owned by a hacker.

In the two-week test, marketing-communications firm AvanteGarde deployed half a dozen systems in "honeypot" style, using default security settings. The six machines were equipped with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1), Microsoft Windows XP SP1 with the free ZoneAlarm personal firewall, Microsoft Windows XP SP2, Macintosh OS X 10.3.5, and Linspire's distribution of Linux.

Not surprisingly, Windows XP SP1 sans third-party firewall had the poorest showing. "In some instances, someone had taken complete control of the machine in as little as 30 seconds," said Marcus Colombano, a partner with AvanteGarde. "The average was just four minutes."

Windows XP SP1 with the for-free ZoneAlarm firewall, however, as well as Windows XP SP2, fared much better. Although both configurations were probed by attackers, neither was compromised during the two weeks.

The most secure system during the experiment was the one running Linspire's Linux. Out of the box, Linspire left only one open port. While it reacted to ping requests by automated attackers sniffing for victims, it experienced the fewest attacks of any of the six machines and was never compromised, since there were no exposed ports (and thus services) to exploit.

The Macintosh machine, on the other hand, was assaulted as often as the Windows XP SP1 box, but never was grabbed by a hacker, thanks to the tunnel vision that attackers have for Windows. "The automated bot/worm attackers were exclusively using Windows-based attacks," said Colombano, so Mac and Linux machines are safe. For now. "[But] it would have been very vulnerable had code been written to compromise its system," he added.

So what's the Honeynet Project? From their "About" page:

The Honeynet Project is a non-profit (501c3) research organization of security professionals dedicated to information security. We have no products, services or employees, our research is done on a volunteer basis. It is our goal to learn the tools, tactics, and motives of the blackhat community and share these lessons learned. It is hoped that our research will benefit both its members and the security community. Founded in October, 1999, all of our work is OpenSource and shared with the security community.

You should also take a look at their FAQ's. I particularly like the last one, "How do I get started in the security field?" The answer, in part:

The security field is relatively new, there really is no set path to becoming a security professional. Doctors, lawyers, accountants, all these fields have predetermined paths, courses, and certifications defining how you get started within these professions. Security is different in that there is no real defined path that we know of. So, part of the challenge to you is defining it yourself.

That's true, but becoming less so. Which gives me an opportunity to plug the upcoming EDUCAUSE Security Professionals Conference, April 3-5, 2005, in Washington, D.C. Whether you've already figured out your path to becoming a Security Professional or are still mapping the way, you'll find something of value at this conference.

There's one more important point to note here, and it comes from the same Honeynet report we started with:

The primary threat is changing from machine-focused to human-focused. There is a growing trend towards social engineering, attacking the people using computers. In some cases, it is no longer the computer that is valuable, but the individual's information that resides on it. Also, it's often becoming easier to attack the user as opposed to the system, as newer installations are more secure by default. As a result, considerably more effort is being expended in strategies such as phishing [MessageLabs -- "Phishing attacks skyrocket in 2004"] to extract valuable information from targets, or malicious websites and mobile code that compromise client systems.

Whether you're a long-time Security Professional or a naive Web surfer, there is nothing more important to be aware of.

Steve

This message reflects the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.