Posts from February 2004

Microsoft has a new site online covering the security changes in Windows XP SP2. I installed the new build on my Tablet last night and started poking around. Included in the SP2 builds are Tablet-specific improvements to handwriting recognition as well. When you start the computer for the first time you are presented with an Automatic Updates screen before you even see your desktop. On boot there is a window front and center (similar to Windows Tour) reporting on your computer's current firewall, automatic updates, and anti-virus setup. Security Center is a new control panel, as is Windows Firewall....

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President Bush announced this morning that he is calling for "an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of man and woman as husband and wife." Some choice quotes from his speech: "After more than two centuries of American jurisprudence, and millennia of human experience, a few judges and local authorities are presuming to change the most fundamental institution of civilization." "The union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution, honored and encouraged in all cultures and by every religious faith. Ages of experience have taught humanity that the commitment of a...

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PassMark Security is a new company founded by Bill Harris, former CEO of Intuit and PayPal, to tackle the problem of phishing, or emulating a trusted site. Their approach is to show you a picture you selected at registration to be your relationship identifier. If you choose a horseshoe and receive an e-mail without that horseshoe picture, you know someone is trying to trick you. You can personalize your PassMark or choose from stock images, similar to an instant messaging program's buddy icon. Mr. Harris serves on the boards of Earthlink, Macromedia, eOne Global, Yodlee, XTec, MyVest, and LowerMyBills....

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Kim Zetter of Wired News interviewed Viet Dinh, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, and primary author of the USA Patriot Act....

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Robin Pogrebin of the New York Times writes about large video screens making their way into some concert halls. A 15-by-20 foot video screen cutting the orchestra in two while they play Wagner and Brahms. How does this make the symphony more user-friendly? "[T]he younger generation is more responsive to visual stimuli" says Benjamin M. Rosen, a Philharmonic trustee who spearheaded and financed the experiment....

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TiVo has a new survey online for TiVoToGo, a program export feature they plan to introduce in the fall. Would you like more ways to control your content? Take the survey!...

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Harvard Business School Working Knowledge columnist Stever Robbins addresses equity-based compensation as a motivator. You want people emotionally invested in the company's success. You can get that investment by giving them meaningful work in service of a worthwhile goal. Hire people who believe in what you're doing and match them to jobs. If you want to reward their commitment, then give them stock, but make it crystal clear you're rewarding their innate involvement, not trying to buy it. Stock ownership is also bestowing title upon key employees. You are becoming a partner in the business, however small your partnership stake...

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I spent my entire weekend at CodeCon here in San Francisco. Most presentations seemed to focus on the different ways we present ourselves to the world. ZeroConf to help others find what you have to share. Social software to define relationships and grant privileges based on those relationships. Anonymizers to hide you from the world. Versioning systems to track your steps. The highlight of my weekend was talking to Donald Knuth on Friday night at the Google party. I also had a chance to talk to Craig Newmark about his ReplayTV battles and his blogging experience....

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Last night I had my first massive attack of comment spam. All from 212.199.169.153 over 10 minutes adding up to 10 garbage messages. It would have been more if not for my throttle setup. Annoying, but at least I can delete each one pretty easily. All the posts hit were recent posts, so turning off comments for old posts would not have helped in this case....

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Draganfly Innovation put together a scaled down General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Predator B aircraft for hobbyist use. "[C]an even be equipped with a GPS flight control unit for long distance, pre-programmed reconnaissance missions (20 miles effective range)" Starts at $600 without the camera attachment, or $750 with a wireless video camera and lithium-polymer batteries allowing for a 90 minute flight time....

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