Daily Archives: August 5, 2005

According to this CNN article, it will be a good long while before the folks at Google will be talking to any reporters from CNET. Not until July 2006, to be exact. A CNET story, dated July 14, tried to make a point about the importance of privacy concerns by giving an example of the type of personal information easily available online. The sample victim? Google CEO Erick Schmidt. See for yourself. Writer Elinor Mills found Schmidt’s estimated net worth, where he lives (with his wife, Wendy), some of his hobbies and even political donations…all via Google searches.

The article goes on at length to address the larger issue of privacy and the type of personal information readily available via the internet, including through other search engines like Yahoo! and MSN. Citing Google’s motto of “doing no evil,” as well as the company’s reputation as a good corporate citizen, the piece also includes commentary from some individuals with less faith in Google’s ability to simultaneously meet the demands of shareholders, other economic incentives and safeguarding mammoth amounts of personal information.

It’s not news that we’ve grown accustomed to and greatly enjoy the benefits of the digital age. The lesson here? For now, it’s…don’t mess with CEOs.

Congratulations, Longhorn Windows Vista! The birth of your first virus!

And so it begins.

According to Info World, an Austrian hacker whose aliases include “Second Part To Hell” and “Mario” wrote viruses designed to take advantage of a new command shell in Windows Vista, code-named Monad. Published on July 21 in a virus-writing tutorial for the underground hacker group called the Ready Ranger Liberation Front, the viruses are considered to be proof-of-concept, and appear to be the first for the new OS, whose beta was released mere days before.

I don’t know about any of you, but I’m still trying to figure out what/where the First Part To Hell is.

Soon, all of the rock climbers I know are going to thank the kite flyers. A group of Squids (Squid Labs in Emeryville, CA) decided to put some sensors on their four string kite one day. The load sensors led to more sensors and a wire core in the rope. This is when they realized that rope isn’t just used to fly kites, and this technology could be used in a ton of different applications. The rope is smart, and tells you before it breaks, that it will break.

Hopefully with nano technology we’ll get this incorporated into fishing line. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hooked the big one, and broke my line. If only my PDA alerted me right before that “snap”, I would know to let up and allow free Willie do his thing before I start reeling him in again.

If you’re Continental Airlines, providing your customers with free wireless internet access at Boston’s Logan airport could apparently “pose an unacceptable potential risk” to communications gear used by security personnel. This story got some long legs yesterday when the Associated Press, among others, wrote about Logan’s attempt to terminate Continental’s free WiFi node, which is in direct competition to the airport’s $7.95/day service.

According to the AP, Continental’s lounge at Logan has been wireless-ready since June 2004, but it took Logan officials more than 12 months to notify the airline in writing that the antenna for said service “violated the terms of its lease.” Conveniently enough, Massport, the agency responsible for the airport’s operation, then apparently told the airline it could route its wireless signals over Logan’s own WiFi signal. This, of course, could be done at a “very reasonable rate structure.” The FCC is unlikely to rule on the matter before Aug. 29, the deadline for accepting public comments on Continental’s complaint.

At least the article goes on to quote someone willing to call Massport’s bluff. “It’s hard to imagine how this is a security threat,” an industry consultant says. “They clearly don’t want the competition.”

Really?