|
Ted's Radio Weblog
 |
Monday, February 28, 2005 |
NewsForge features an article called "My Workstation OS: Mac OS X" Apparently, it's part of a series that "So far, we've heard from fans of FreeBSD, Mepis Linux, Debian, Xandros, Slackware, Windows XP, Lycoris, SUSE Professional, NetBSD, Ubuntu, FreeDOS, Libranet, Mandrakelinux, and Arch Linux. Coming soon: Linspire, Knoppix, Gentoo, Fedora Core 3, and more." It's always interesting to read how other developers use their machines.
6:06:42 PM 
|
|
OSNews points to a useful review on NewsForge: Open source XML editors examined. "The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) provides a flexible and efficient way to store, transmit, and express data. The open source community has produced an impressive lineup of XML editing utilities. In this article Ryan Paul takes a look at some of the most useful."
I've used several editors on the Windows platform, like XML and Stylus Studio, and I'm looking forward to trying out a couple of the products mentioned in the article, starting with Quanta.
8:51:47 AM
|
|
|
Sunday, February 27, 2005 |
Cory Doctorow posts on Boing Boing: "Why you should love Google's toolbar"
Many web people have been critical of Google's new Toolbar, which allows its users to choose to have the pages they view parsed for things like ISBNs and have them auto-linked to Amazon, or have Vehicle Information Numbers auto-linked to a VIN registry.
Okay, that's cool. A toolbar of tools the user uses to manipulate a page is okay. What I objected to was anyone browsing to my pages and not seeing what I have written. If they want to hack it from there, well, that's the Internet. That's okay.
The Google Toolbar only works in IE. That's uncool. Their choice.
4:10:37 PM
|
|
Dave Winer blogs on Scripting News the sad news that  Jef Raskin died last night. "Via Kottke. He struggled to see his vision implemented, and in the end it was a compromise. Raskin wanted computers to be radically simpler, not just evolutionarily simpler. The Macintosh, a project which he started at Apple, morphed when Steve Jobs took it over to become the evolutionary computer it is. Not sure who was right, but Raskin didn't live to see his vision implemented. To me it's a poignant moment, Raskin is a contemporary. The edge is moving through my generation. No way we're going to die before we get old."
RIP, Jef. Thanks for making Apple happen.
2:46:18 PM
|
|
|
Saturday, February 26, 2005 |
Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc. points to The Gannon Scandal, Not Continued. Salon: See no Gannon, hear no Gannon, speak no Gannon. "It's stunning to me that there are questions about the independent press being undermined and the mainstream press doesn't seem that interested in it," says Joe Lockhart, who served as press secretary during President Clinton's second term. "People in the mainstream press have shrugged their shoulders and said, 'It's a whole lot of nothing.'"
I still find it weird that for two years this guy walked into the White House with Press Corps credentials and asked questions of the President of the United States. Who thought up this crazy idea? Who checked out this guy's background? What were they thinking?
And... where is the media? Laura and I again heard Emily Rooney and John Carroll roast this guy on WGBH's Greater Boston. Where's the network coverage? Where is the outrage?
2:20:55 PM
|
|
Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc. reports Google Toolbar, an Update. UPDATED
"I had lunch yesterday with several Google folks including Marissa Mayer, the company's director of consumer Web products, to discuss the new Google Toolbar, which is now in beta.
"Like several other people, I have raised serious questions about this product's new "AutoLink" tool. It strikes me as an intrusion into people's browsers by a company that commands great market share.
"She listened to my concerns. And she explained Google's stance -- nothing new there, and it amounts to "this is all for the users' benefit" defense. I am not convinced, however, that Google will end up doing the right thing in the end.
"As Search Engine Watch asks in this piece: "Why are publishers upset? Can they block the feature that adds links to their web pages? Who rules over content, users or publishers?"
"Good and fair questions -- but Google hasn't sufficiently answered them.
"At the very least, Google needs to make some changes in the installation process. As users install the toolbar they should be asked if they want features that change content on web pages. There should be an opt-in process, not an opt-out process, for such things.
"I have trouble with Search Engine Watch's Danny Sullivan's view that publishers of Web sites should be able to opt out of the toolbar changes. In theory, once I have content on my desktop it should be my right to "remix" it in the way I choose.
"What Google isn't taking into account is that its market power, and the tendency of users to accept the default -- to eat what's on the plate someone puts in front of them -- will tend to create Google's version of the Web, not the users' version. We all hates Microsoft's Smart Tags idea because it gave more, unearned power to Microsoft. Google doesn't have that same dominance, but it has enough to worry about.
"Will Google do the right thing? This is a big test.
(By the way, Mayer said that while Microsoft's former Smart Tags guy is working for Google now, he's not involved in the Toolbar project.)
I'm surprised that Dan isn't focused on what I see as the large issue here - the copyright violation that Google commits when they alter content they don't own. On my web site, I plug one of my books, Essential SourceSafe with a link to the publisher's web site, where you can buy this book. Buying it directly from the publisher benefits the publisher in less cost and consequently greater profit, some of which is passed on to me. The ISBN is listed on the page; the reader is free to copy this number and paste it into a book store search on BookPool, eBay, Barnes and Noble, Amazon or any other book seller they wish. (Better a sale than no sale, right?) But if the web browser has Google Toolbar installed, I'm told that ISBN is turned into a link to Amazon. Who's making the profit on that link to Amazon? Not me. I'll bet Google does. So, I lose money on a web page I wrote and support and host, and Google gains? I'm not comfortable with that.
How different is it for Google to provide this service automatically from the user doing it manually? There's a fine line between offering convenience to the user, offering the ability to remix incoming content, and the act of automatically rewriting it for the profit of others. Most browsers offer the ability to apply a stylesheet of your own choice to incoming content -- bumping up the fonts or increasing the contrast for a visually impaired user for example -- and this is a good, empowering feature. But adding or rewriting links for the benefit of third party is different. Isn't this what some adware does? This is troubling.
Microsoft gave in to public pressure and published support for a META tag that would disable SmartTag processing on a web page, but this still puts the burden on the author and copyright holder and does not require the software using the page to respect the copyright and license of the content. It needs to be the other way -- let writers opt in if they want their work rewritten. I wonder who would opt in?
1:38:35 PM
|
|
From http://bash.org/?6824:
<@Logan> I spent a minute looking at my own code by accident.
<@Logan> I was thinking "What the hell is this guy doing?"
10:57:05 AM
|
|
|
Friday, February 25, 2005 |
OSNews reports Firefox 1.0.1 Released. Firefox 1.0.1 is a security update for the 27 million users who have already downloaded the free browser. The Mozilla Foundation encourages all users to download the update.
11:13:58 AM
|
|
|
Thursday, February 24, 2005 |
Whil Hentzen blogs: Mike Stewart leaves the Fox team Many of you know Mike as the test lead for Fox, as well as an incredible motorcyclist, and general all-around 'characters' at DevCon and other Fox events. While the leadership of the group has changed multiple times over the last decade, the list of players on the team has been remarkably steady, so it's sad to see one of them go, and even sadder when there's no explanation - the headline of this entry is all the explanation we've seen so far... read more
Good fortune and godspeed, Mike.
3:02:34 PM
|
|
David Berube, our fearless leader, posts: Monday, March 7th - Webrick and Linux World. CentraLUG is having another great meeting on Monday March 7th, and this time, we'll be covering Webrick, a powerful system for easily creating custom webservers in Ruby. With Webrick, it's easy to drop a full webserver into any application. We'll also have a brief recap of LinuxWorld. Per usual, there will be copius amounts of free caffeine.
It's at the NHTI. You can get directions on the NHTI site: http://www.nhti.net/frames_Map.html. It's in the Library/Learning Center/Bookstore, marked as "I" on that map. The room is 146, and it starts at 7:00.
1:31:52 PM
|
|
"Big Blue enters market for software that lets a computer run multiple operating systems simultaneously, CNET News.com has learned." [CNET News.com] And it looks like IBM is very interested in sharing the technology, releasing it as open source and collaborating with the separate Xen project.
Virtualization was big news at LinuxWorld last week, as this article also on CNET news.
1:19:46 PM
|
|
|
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 |
Slashdot: reports "Broadcast Flag in Trouble." I hope they are right. Laura and I enjoy our fair use of broadcast shows by timeshifting them to our convenience, and if that privilege is taken away, we will watch less, not more. Vinyl record companies bemoaned that the cassette tape was the end of the recording industry; movie makers said that VHS and Betamax would crush them. It's evolution, folks. Deal with it.
The Electronic Freedom Foundation suggests "Fight the Broadcast Flag from your Armchair" with the publication of their HD PVR Cookbook (High-Definition Personal Video Recorder) and sponsorships of "Build-Ins" across the country.
2:16:05 PM
|
|
|
Tuesday, February 22, 2005 |
|
Monday, February 21, 2005 |
Computerworld News reports "New Sober worm moving fast, security company warns. W32.Sober-K-mm, a new variant of the Sober worm, is a mass-mailer that today began attacking computers in Europe and in the United States."
Meanwhile, OSNews reports that Gartner takes Microsoft to task. "Microsoft should be concentrating on securing Windows instead of trying to challenge security software companies, according to research firm Gartner."
"Gartner's MacDonald also rapped Microsoft's decision to create an updated version of Internet Explorer (7.0) for Windows XP only, hinting that motive for the decision could be to push corporate customers into upgrade their systems from Windows 2000."
If that's true, I think it is a risky move. By announcing IE 7.0, supposedly in beta this summer, Microsoft is admitting that their current offerings are insufficient and that patching will not solve the problem. It's February. Any CIO that wants to be employed this fall ought to be looking at alternatives today: FireFox, Opera, Safari. The option to "upgrade" to Windows XP, a major change management move involving an OS upgrade followed by innumerable patches, is a huge obstacle compared to downloading another browser and installing it.
9:37:07 PM
|
|
Scripting News cites News.Com: "Google's browser toolbar is raising eyebrows over a feature that inserts new hyperlinks in Web pages, giving the Internet search provider a powerful tool to funnel traffic to destinations of its choice."
Scripting News goes on to quote John Robb quoting Anil Dash: "Google is pushing its ads into content it does not own."
Like Microsoft's Smart Tags, that is modifying content that they do not own. If the content happens to be your material, how do you feel about Google infringing on your right to present it as you have chosen? Is this copyright infringement?
9:27:59 PM
|
|
|
Sunday, February 20, 2005 |
I'm pleased to announce that I will again be one of the teachers at the LAMP course at the New Hampshire Technical Institute's Center for Training and Business Development. We start teaching on Tuesday night, and will be teaching ten evenings Tuesday and Thursday, 6 PM to 9:30 at the Concord campus. There's till time to sign up and catch the first class -- details are available at the CTBD site. We taught this class in the fall semester and it was a great success. At the end of the course, the students have a simple interactive database-backed web site running on Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP.
4:11:20 PM
|
|
|
Saturday, February 19, 2005 |
Jeremy Zawodny waxes poetic on why the world does not need another Groupware "solution" (to what?) as Novell releases their NetMail product as Open Source and suggests some problems that could use another solution or two. JWZ shares a little insight into what killed Netscape.
WARNING: May not be suitable for some environments. Not suitable for those who think the F-word should never be used.
6:43:24 PM
|
|
Friday was spent at the client's delivering the final beta of the first phase of a five-phase LAMP (Linux-Apache-MySQL=PHP) project. Client was ecstatic! But, of course, I came home with a list of small adjustments to punch through. Hope to tell more as it unfolds. Briefly, it's a simple data entry and reporting system: 20 tables, 40 web pages, used by an inhouse staff to manage their workflow. This first piece got rid of the worst of their manual labors. Later phases will produce documents to present in a customer-facing web site, and tighten up the workflow tracking. Phase I was 40 hours of analysis and design with customer interviews, document review and resulted in a design document of workflow, prototyped web forms and an ERD (data model). The model was dead-on, requiring just a couple adjustments. Eighty hours of coding produced the forms and got us through the beta testing and demonstrations. Client goes live with a pilot test next week.
6:36:01 PM
|
|
Sorry for the light blogging. Spent Thursday at LinuxWorld in Boston; got to see lots of vendors big (IBM, Intel, AMD, Novell, Red Hat) and small (X.org, LTSP.org, GNHLUG.org) and hang out with some cool folks.
6:30:42 PM
|
|
|
Wednesday, February 16, 2005 |
Latest Updates from MySQL AB, the PR department for MySQL AB via RSS announces: MySQL Launches 'MySQL Network' for Corporate Enterprises Looking to Fast-Track Open Source Database Deployment. Boston, LinuxWorld Conference & Expo -- "MySQL AB, developer of the world's most popular open source database, today launched a new way for corporate enterprises to acquire, deploy and support MySQL for their business-critical applications.
The new 'MySQL Network' offering is specifically designed for large IT departments looking to leverage the cost and performance benefits of MySQL -- while addressing key business requirements for implementing open source software."
Anyone up for a game of Buzzterm Bingo? Sheesh.
3:28:11 PM
|
|
|
Sunday, February 13, 2005 |
Dan Bricklin's Log says Get Make Magazine. "I started to read MAKE I got goose bumps. There's real hope for the next generation."
I have fond memories of building stuff with my Dad - crystal radio sets, adding a vernier dial to a shortwave set, building a couple of electronic sets, learning how gears and cams and pieces make ratchets and convert rotary power to linear and so forth. MAKE magazine seems to continue the tradition of taking things apart and (we hope) putting them back together, perhaps a little differently, perhaps a little better.
At my recent presentation to the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Linux User Group, I showed off the LinkSys WRT54G. As soon as we were done, I offered to pop the cover off my router so we could look inside. I was immediately surrounded. My fellow LUGgers could immediately identify the serial port solder pads on the circuit board, identify the RAM, EEPROM, radio transceiver, and so forth. I asked who was confortable using a soldering iron and better than half the hands went up. As the evening wore on, there was discussion of leasing a T-1 and turning yourself into the local community wireless ISP - several members had done that - and the 3 dB attentuation per meter of leaves when trying to reach more distant sites, how to get broadband to remote rural locations, and experiences with different DSL providers.
Innovation lives.
10:58:21 AM
|
|
|
Saturday, February 12, 2005 |
InfoWorld: Top News reports "Microsoft warns customers about exploits for new flaws. BOSTON - Microsoft warned customers about computer code that exploits holes in the company's software and blamed security researchers for publishing proof of concept code to trigger the vulnerabilities, which was then turned into working attacks."
This isn't about shooting the messengers. It's common practice to notify vendors of a flaw when you find them and give a reasonable grace period before publicly releasing sufficient information to exploit the flaw, to give the vendor, Open Source or Closed, a chance to distribute a patch. In this case, the patches are already out there, as I blogged on Wednesday. It just takes a while for a few million people to patch. Most of us like to wait to hear if others discover problems with the patches.
However, it was Microsoft that publicized the vulnerabilities, and you can bet that others had already duplicated the exploits, based on the description Microsoft provided, as well as the binary patches that pointed to the affected code.
This still points back to Microsoft. Downloading and displaying a graphic should not allow remote code to be executed under any circumstances. A deep problem with the Microsoft operating system security model is exploited once again.
5:14:32 PM
|
|
|
Friday, February 11, 2005 |
|
Thursday, February 10, 2005 |
Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc. point to A Continuing Stain on America's Honor. Bob Herbert (NY Times): Stories From the Inside. The Bush administration has turned Guantanamo into a place that is devoid of due process and the rule of law. It's a place where human beings can be imprisoned for life without being charged or tried, without ever seeing a lawyer, and without having their cases reviewed by a court. Congress and the courts should be uprooting this evil practice, but freedom and justice in the United States are on a post-9/11 downhill slide.
2:16:29 PM
|
|
The National Weather Service maintains a great set of RSS feeds so that you can get any alerts, warnings or advisories in your RSS aggregator. I've been watching the incoming snow storm for two days. Just in case you were thinking of visiting the Monadnock group because of the posting I put up here earlier this week:
"Due to the winter storm about to hit our area and some forecasts showing a worst case of up to 20 inches of snow by tomorrow, this month's Monadnock Linux User Group meeting will be cancelled."
"We will resume the normal meeting schedule next month, second Thursday of the month. More announcements will follow as we get closer to that date. "
Guy Pardoe
MonadLUG Coordinator
MonadLUG's meeting announcement mailing list is having a few problems at the moment, but consider signing up in a few weeks to stay abreast of their activities.
9:51:48 AM
|
|
|
Wednesday, February 9, 2005 |
Laura and I heard about this on Emily Rooney's "Beat the Press" edition of Greater Boston last Friday, but the implications are deeply disturbing. Some man, using a pseudonym, was not only posing as a journalist with approval of the White House but (follow the links) was likely not the person he was claiming to be. What is going on in the White House?
Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc. reports:
'Reporter' Gannon is Gone. The "Jeff Gannon" saga took an ugly turn. Gannon, you may recall, was the White House "reporter" of questionable bona fides -- apparently a Republican operative whose main role was to ask friendly questions of the president and his spokespeople, a countervailing force to what the Bush administration plainly believes is an overwhelmingly liberal White House press corps. (That view of the suck-up brigade is laughable, in my view, given the half-baked, credulous coverage the administration has enjoyed.)
"Various bloggers have been investigating Gannon, and one of them turned up some news that led him to silence himself."
"Timothy Karr has some details. See also Daniel Conover's analysis, in which he notes: "It must be clear now that blogs and websites are providing the bulk of significant real-time reporting on MSM matters. Those of us who work in the MSM and care about these issues turn to these "non-official" sources to get the scoop on our industry, and I don't expect that to change any time soon."
"Fair enough. But this episode should give people a queasy feeling. The scandal is the administration's contempt for the public, and the lack of journalistic credibility this person demonstrated, not whatever he was doing on the side."
MSM = Mainstream Media, for those not up on the latest TLA -- Ted
5:56:04 PM
|
|
Computerworld News reports "Microsoft's Gates vows 'interoperable' software. In a lengthy letter to customers yesterday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates spelled out a new mission for his company's software: better interoperability. "
That's just silly. Microsoft got into the market interoperating with IBM LAN Manager, then Novell networking. Until Microsoft actually shows they are acting differently, this is just a rehash of "Embrace, Enhance, Extend, Extinguish." Microsoft is using their marketing machine to kill the meaning of another word, just as they distorted the "right to innovate" to mean "using monopolistic practices to dominate a marketplace and crush competition," they are trying to redefine "interoperate" to mean "Microsoft can access everything but no one can access them."
Recently, Microsoft was embroiled in a controversy over the "openness" of their Office XML. (HINT: Don't bother, go with OpenOffice.org's soon-to-be-OASIS-standard format. Tools are out there.) The resolution was for Microsoft to issue a new license for their XML that effectively limits others to read and not write the format, and also a poison-pill requirement that software contain a clause specifying the technologies are licensed from Microsoft, a requirement which prevents the formats from being used in GPL software.
It is interesting to note that Microsoft is trying this tactic. Let's see what happens next.
12:00:19 PM
|
|
Computerworld News reports Thirteen patches planned in next Microsoft security update. "Microsoft has telegraphed its plans to release 13 security patches as part of its regular monthly security update next Tuesday."
Details on MS05-04 through -015 include critical patches to prevent remote code execution in Internet Explorer, OLE, COM, the DHTML editing control, the License Logging system, PNG processing, the Windows Shell, Sharepoint, ASP.NET and Microsoft Office. Microsoft Bob appears to be unaffected. It is the seventh week of 2005.
8:45:12 AM
|
|
|
Tuesday, February 8, 2005 |
Ed Lawson did a great presentation on CUPS, the Common UNIX Printing System, last night at CentraLUG. Christopher Schmidt did a great job of taking meeting notes when he wasn't showing us how he programs his cell phone in Python via Bluetooth from his PowerBook. Really. Cool.
The Python SIG also held a session in the hour before the main meeting, and we've tentatively agreed on the 3rd Wednesday of the month as the time for the SIG to get together. Location still TBD - we may use the NHTI in Concord, but are also looking at Manchester as a more central location.
Thursday night the Peterborough LUG, also known as MonadLUG, will be holding its first session in a while, coming back from a period of somnolence thanks to their new coordinator, Guy Pardoe. Looking forward to the meeting!
11:25:08 AM
|
|
Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc. posts "Podcasting De-Mythologized. Lisa Williams has done a smart, 4-minute video explainer about podcasting... Now, if we could only give the genre a more accurate name. It's about sending MP3s to devices of various kinds, not solely the iPod. Watch Williams' piece anyway. "
I'm a big fan of The Gillmor Gang, which is a weekly talking heads program featuring some sharp IT analysts. The last show, with guest Dan Bricklin, was excellent. I fear it may be their last, though, as IT Conversations host Doug Kaye is off on vacation for two weeks, and Doc Searls points out that Steve Gillmor left this rather vague "be back later" message. Hope they return soon.
While they call it "POD-casting," it's just audio; non-iPodders like myself can listen on their Macs and PCs, their MP3 Players, or do like I do and burn the MP3 to CD and listen in the car. Someone on a recent Gillmor Gang made fun of the idea of making a CD, but it's actually pretty easy, simple and pretty cheap. I get CDs at five cents a piece on sale in bulk spindles from Staples or the big box electronics stores and I can listen pretty much anywhere. No batteries to buy or recharge, no FM transmitters or earbuds to fumble with. Dan Gillmor is right that the name is misleading. It might be better to talk about them as "talk shows" or "internet radio shows" or something. Optionally using RSS as a distribution mechanism, podcasting is like TIVO®-for-audio: it records all by itself in the background and just shows up. A great idea.
11:16:58 AM
|
|
|
Thursday, February 3, 2005 |
Good news Slashdot: reports EU Software Patents Dead Again.
Good. Patents are for physical inventions. Copyright is for code. You should be able to protect, with a copyright, your expression of an idea in code. You should not be able to lock up, with a patent, an idea for your exclusive use.
11:47:19 AM
|
|
|
Wednesday, February 2, 2005 |
Hide Your IPod, Here Comes Bill. Apple's music player apparently is wildly popular on Microsoft's campus. Thousands of Microsofties own the devices, to the great irritation of management. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]
10:31:40 AM
|
|
|
