Thursday, August 29, 2002

True Nyms and Pseudonyms For one of my projects, I've had to take a deep dive into the technology and issues of information security, in particular encryption. One of my sources is the 2001 collection of essays and stories by Vernor Vinge and James Frenkel (editor), True Names and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier. This is some of the best, most thought provoking reading I've done in a while. If you're interested in understanding the issues involved in cryptography, freedom of information and commerce, and virtual communities, take a look. Highly recommended. comment []2:12:53 PM

I'm writing a paper describing a better model for enterprise computing. Part of that model is a recognition that the 18-year focus on "desktops" as the dominant computing metaphor is now a dead end. In exploring when this all started (exploring the details and dates; I know the general story because I lived it), I ran into this wonderful site describing the history of Apple Computer and lots of the history of personal computing. My, what a long strange trip it's been. comment []9:19:36 AM

© Copyright 2002 Jeff Nichols.