« December 2004 | Main | February 2005 »

Carnivore is dead, but there's no reason to celebrate

You might have read reports in the past weeks that the FBI has shelved its Big Brother-style application Carnivore. The application was designed to listen in to internet communications around the world.

But don't bother bringing out the party balloons. The American intelligence community isn't even close to stop eavesdropping on consumers and businesses around the world.

"Instead, [the FBI] is simply buying its surveillance tools from private companies," says CNet's Washington, D.C. correspondent Declan McCullagh. Carnivore was developed internally by the FBI.

This gives rise to the question what is more scary: the fact that the FBI is eavesdropping on communications outside of the legal boundaries of the United States, or that commercial for profit organisations are creating the tools that do so – and therefore can sell them to anyone who has an appetite for that software. Just think what that will mean for the future of anything ranging from e-commerce to e-mail communications.

January 31, 2005 at 06:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft cuts Windows reduction

The European Commission has slapped Microsoft on the wrist about its proposed name for the Windows version without Windows Media Player, that the company will ship in Europe as mandated by the commission. Microsoft proposed to call its mutilated baby "Windows XP Reduced Media Edition", but the European commission in all its wishdom has decided that might scare away consumers. A new name hasn't been revealed yet.

By telling the consumer what isn't in the box, Microsoft is opening interesting new perspectives on the world. Instead of prohibiting the new name for the European Win XP, the commission could have forced Microsoft to come clean about what else isn't in its software.

For regular Windows XP I had the following in mind: Windows XP Reduced Security Edition.

Other suggestions will be considered. Please leave them in the comments section below and we'll make sure a printout of this page reaches Redmond.

January 31, 2005 at 05:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft enters the age of mythology

Microsoft enters the age of mythology

Microsoft put on the Linux bashing hat once again, and the company's British platform strategist Nick McGrath is cheerfully jabbing away.

In an interview with vnunet.com he calls the security of Linux "a myth". Not only do just "a fee hundred developers" work on the suite, no-one takes responsibility for the software.

"Who is accountable for the security of the Linux kernel? Does Red Hat, for example, take responsibility? It cannot, as it does not produce the Linux kernel. It produces one distribution of Linux," McGrath said.

So let's do a fun thought experiment.

Does Microsoft take responsibility and even accountability for Windows? Can a bank file charges against the company when it looses billions of dollars due to a security glitch in Microsoft's software? It can't, because of a nasty little thing called software licences, which force users to waive all their rights to being treated as a paying customer.

If my Ford Explorer rolls over when I make a sharp turn, I can sue Ford because they failed to warn me against this – this isn't a fairy tale: Ford in the past has settled such cases and they do warn against it now. But if Microsoft builds an operating system that costs society billions of dollars (or pounds or euros for that matter) because of sloppy programming, Bill Gates laughs all the way to the bank.

Mr. McGrath, if you want to take on Linux, don't start talking about "responsibility". Coming from Microsoft, the R-word doesn't have much credibility.

January 31, 2005 at 04:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft's EU settlement unfriendly to open source

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is up in arms over some of the terms that Microsoft is looking to put in its server licence. According to a EU ruling from last year, Microsoft has to allow third party tools to work together with Windows Server. But the licence that Microsoft has drafted to enable this, effectively blocks out any open source application, the FSF told Builder.com

Microsoft demands a fee to use Microsoft technical documentation to implement Microsoft server protocols, based on the number of applications sold. But open source doesn't sell any software, nor does it track how many of the applications are downloaded. In short, it doesn't have the money to pay Microsoft and doesn't know how to measure the number of licence fees it should pay to Microsoft.

If the European Commission approves the Microsoft licence, open source applications such as Samba will be blocked from working with Microsoft software. That surely couldn't have been what the EU wanted to achieve when it convicted Microsoft.

January 28, 2005 at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

OpenSolaris has 3683 fans – so far

The first component of OpenSolaris that has been made available so far has logged 3,683 downloads.

The DTrace application, a system optimization tool, was the first part of OpenSolaris that has been made available when Sun announced the release of the source code last Tuesday. The complete version of OpenSolaris is slated for a release in the second quarter of this year.

The 3,683 downloads might seem minor, but it does show that there is genuine interest from the developer community for OpenSolaris. Also, the release of DTrace can be seen as a PR move, largely meant to show Sun's commitment to opening the source code. It plays only a minor part in the larger scheme of open sourcing Solaris.

January 28, 2005 at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google absorbs another Firefox developer

Speculation about Google starting development of its own browser is sure to roar now that the company has hired a second developer that has worked on the Firefox open source browser.

Darin Fisher announced his move on his blog, just days after fellow developer Ben Goodger made a similar move.

Goodger was a full-time lead programmer for Firefox. Fisher worked for IBM and contributed to Firefox' backend infrastructure. Both will continue working on the open source browser as part of the staff of 20 core engineers and 60 volunteer helpers.

January 28, 2005 at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intel's greed makes waves

Intel for years has been complaining about California's hospitable tax climate. Employing staff here is just too expensive, the company has said.

Intel might have its corporate head quarters in the Golden State, but it has repeatedly stated that is has a "no hiring" policy: as a rule California based employees who retire can only be replaced in facilities in other states.

That doesn't mean that Intel doesn't take the state for every penny is can squeeze out of it. As the San Jose Mercury News reports, Intel is one of 18 companies that received a total of $80.9 m in tax refunds from the state of California. Other companies on the list include HP and Cypress Semiconductor.

The refund has Californians fuming, because the companies already pay effectively nothing in income taxes.

Furthermore, the refund comes at a time when the state is facing a $8.6 bn budget deficit. (Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last year promised to make that black hole disappear by simply "opening up the books").

January 28, 2005 at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WiFi Hotspots a $12 bn cash drain

Commercial WiFi networks over the coming years will cost telecommunications providers $12 bn in the US alone, warns Boston based Strategy Analytics. Increased competition as well as the rise of free WiFi networks are to blame, the firm says.

The outcome doesn't surprise me. There are few places in the US, and especially in Silicon Valley, where you can't pick up a WiFi signal. But unless I need an internet connection professionally, I won't be paying up to 20 dollars for one day of internet access. And until WiFi roaming is a reality, allowing T-Mobile subscribers access to Verizon's network and vice versa, I'm not going to sign up for any monthly subscription plan. We've been through this with mobile telephony – these companies by now should know better.

Strategy Analytics might state the obvious, but it's always good to add a scary multi billion dollar figure to your research conclusions.

January 28, 2005 at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why blogs matter

Blog might have been the number one word of 2004, most people on this planet have no idea what the impact of the online journals will be.

If you still ask that same question (and you should!), read this posting by Jeff Nolan. I fully agree with everything he says. But instead of using up your screen's real estate by summarising his views, the fact that Nolan wrote the posting, and that I care about it, says it all.

Nolan works for SAP Ventures, yet he shares his insight on the role of blogging in the enterprise. And he does a pretty good job.

Without his blog, Nolan's views would have reached only a few people – the regular media certainly wouldn't have been interested in his views on blogging. He after all has no expertise on the subject. It isn't until you read his posting that you value his opinion on the matter.

January 28, 2005 at 06:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mac Mini has copycats scrambling

If the Mac mini succeeds in creating a market for secondary computers in the home, an army of copycats is ready to follow the company's lead.

"If [the Mac mini] started a trend of small (desktops)...I'd be very happy about that. It would be a reason for someone to consider a desktop." Tom Anderson, vice president of marketing for the Consumer PC Global Business Unit at Hewlett-Packard told Cnet.

Although consumers have showed they like small computers by embracing laptops, vendors of small desktops systems have been unable to conquer much of a market share.

But now that Apple is trying to do what so many others have tried before – and added a design that doesn't want to make you throw up – it might finally create a market for second and third computers in the home. That has the entire PC industry paying attention.

January 28, 2005 at 01:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)