Looking at genius in the rearview mirror

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939600/steve_jobs_the_rolling_stone_interview

Absolutely brilliant how he saw some of this stuff so clearly. I know
for a fact I linked this article to my students, along with the 'Rip
mix burn" stuff to get their opinion of it at the time.

So what's next???

Jason Calacanis says we are losing empathy on the web

http://calacanis.com/2009/01/29/we-live-in-public-and-the-end-of-empathy/

Actually this is nothing new but Jason's idea about Internet Aspergers
is an interesting take on this. The web is probably the MOST
civilized bastion where this is occurring tho, other online services
are much worse. If you want to have your eyes opened to what he means
spend an afternoon on Xbox 360 or in a typical MMORPG. The lack of
flesh and blood feedback to the insults and hate online acts like an
accellerant, because there is no punishment and because the hate feeds
hate, it keeps amping up.

He calls for an end or curtailing of anonymity to solve this, I'm not
so sure. There has to be a method of eliminating hate without the
loss of privacy for those who aren't out of line.

Image Stabilization in iMovie 09 is the real deal, Kindle 2

check this out, very impressive:
http://www.macworld.com/article/138480/2009/01/imovie_09_image_stabilization.html

Not bad for a first attempt at moving this to the desktop from the
capture device. Doesn't negate the need for a pan/tilt head for
serious movies but for family shots it's worth the cost to upgrade to
the new iLife alone I think. More examples here:
http://flickr.com/photos/neven/3231965235/
http://beaucolburn.com/post/73597921/flippingsmooth

Oh, and the face recognition in iPhoto will keep your CATS organized
too. Can they haz cheezburgers?
http://www.maclife.com/article/news/iphotos_faces_recognizes_cats

We'll talk a lot about Mac Vs. PC and Mac AND PC in this class. All
of my business stuff is PC based but I have 3 Macs at home and a
dedicated PC only for videogaming. If it weren't for games I'd be all
Mac at home.

Kindle 2 coming in 2 weeks. We'll see how that goes, I wasn't all
that impressed with the first one.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/amazons-kindle-2-will-debut-feb-9/

Some interesting links

New IE might not suck so much:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2009/01/26/internet-explorer-8-release-candidate-now-available.aspx
I'll stick to Firefox tho I think.

Kanye West says don't use the same dumb password for all your accounts:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/26/kanye_west_hacked/

Continuing the recession bad news, IBM slashes 2800:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123300431170916831.html

Spooky Memory primer:
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/01/spooky-memory-at-a-distance-with-quantum-teleportation.ars

Title says it all:
http://arstechnica.com/security/news/2009/01/man-buys-used-ipod-gets-60-pages-of-sensitive-military-data.ars

PSP2 coming soon, maybe:
http://i.gizmodo.com/5139947/the-psp2-coming-soon-and-featuring-a-touchscreen
The rumored features sound interesting and I will be shocked if it
isnt multitouch/accelerometer enabled, but if it doesn't have two
analogue pads that will just be lame.

http://i.gizmodo.com/5139723/snow-shoveling-robots-where-were-you-during-my-childhood
http://i.gizmodo.com/5139559/19-examples-of-the-best-gaming+themed-furniture

Get ready for superbowl sunday:
http://i.gizmodo.com/5139579/tips-for-hd-and-3d-viewing-on-superbowl-sunday

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/01/nsa-whistlebl-2.html
http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2009/01/14-gigapixel-im.html

Best hack ever. I really hope this kid can do the same for the Nikon D300:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/01/hack-adds-hi-de.html

HDTV transition dumbly delayed:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/01/senate-pushes-b.html

Israel hacks.... antelope???!?!?
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/01/israel-unleash.html

Just when you think you've heard the dumbest thing ever... along comes:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/01/new-bill-asks-f.html
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/01/our-intrepid-leaders.html
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/01/congress-gets-bill-to-make-cell-phone-cameras-go-click.ars

The mac turns 25
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/video/2009/jan/22/mac-25-andy-hertzfeld
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_tech/~3/PlUn3zL1Ad8/index.html

Gigapixels:
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/01/gigapixel-tokyo.html
http://www.davidbergman.net/blog/2009/01/22/how-i-made-a-1474-megapixel-photo-during-president-obamas-inaugural-address/
http://specials.washingtonpost.com/inauguration/mosaic/
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/20/us/politics/2009-inauguration-zoom-photo.html
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/44.president/inauguration/panorama/capitol.monday/
http://www.simonhoegsberg.com/we_are_all_gonna_die/slider.html

More:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/Kvaulfr_Pyk/
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/Gc7OfIZ79mc/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/25/AR2009012502179.html?wprss=rss_technology
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/01/27/disagree-with-a-flig.html
http://waxy.org/2009/01/pirating_the_2009_oscars/

FW: [IP] Worm Infects Millions of Computers Worldwide - NYTimes.com

From New York Times via Professor Farber’s IP list

---

From: David Farber [mailto:dave@farber.net]
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 3:28 AM
To: ip
Subject: [IP] Worm Infects Millions of Computers Worldwide - NYTimes.com

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/technology/internet/23worm.html?_r=1&hp

 

By JOHN MARKOFF

 

A new digital plague has hit the Internet, infecting millions of personal and business computers in what seems to be the first step of a multistage attack. The world’s leading computer security experts do not yet know who programmed the infection, or what the next stage will be.

In recent weeks a worm, a malicious software program, has swept through corporate, educational and public computer networks around the world. Known as Conficker or Downadup, it is spread by a recently discovered Microsoft Windows vulnerability, by guessing network passwords and by hand-carried consumer gadgets like USB keys.

Experts say it is the worst infection since the Slammer worm exploded through the Internet in January 2003, and it may have infected as many as nine million personal computers around the world.

---

Archives

 

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Wired President, Twitter Journalism, more

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/15/obama.internet.president/

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2009/1/us-airways-crash-rescue-picture-citizen-jouralism-twitter-at-work
http://scobleizer.com/2009/01/15/plane-crash-in-nyc-captured-on-real-time-web/

Sending this article for you to see the 100 biggest blogs by traffic
more than you caring about how they are made. Scroll down to see the
list and links:
http://royal.pingdom.com/2009/01/15/the-blog-platforms-of-choice-among-the-top-100-blogs/

Warrantless Wiretaps given a legal nod:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090116-fisa-court-upholds-warrantless-wiretap-authority.html

Sleepwalkers use email too!
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20090115-night-e-night-sleepwalking-woman-logs-on-sends-e-mail.html

Welcome IT 102-50 Students!

Looking forward to seeing you all in class next week. We'll have a
bit of an interesting start to the semester, as we will be using a
'Team Teaching' approach. This class will be jointly taught by myself
and Mr. William "Bill" Reynolds, who happens to be one of the best and
most fun teachers of MS Office you will ever meet. Between the two of
us we will help you explore everything Information Technology has to
offer and all of the IT resources available to you at Monmouth U!

Please be sure to check the class blog frequently at
http://infotechbuzz.blogspot.com/

Also be sure to log in to see the details at:
http://ecampus.monmouth.edu - That site will be updated with Drop
Boxes, the Syllabus, and forum questions next week.

My email should you need to get me fastest is: sposten@gmail.com and
Bill can be reached at: WilliamSReynolds@aol.com

I do not recommend you use posten@monmouth.edu

We hope to see you all there at 6 Tuesday night, we will have a ton of
things to discuss. Couple of things we want you thinking about as you
come to our first meeting:

-How much do you _really_ know about computers? Do you know just
enough to get your work done or have you looked into ways that
computers are invading every aspect of our lives?
-What are computers doing today that we never expected just a few years ago?
-What is more important to you where technology is concerned:
Flexibility, stability, coolness or ease of use?
-What do you want to get out of this course? Are you here just
because it's a requirement or does technology genuinely really excite
you?

Do you know you can get the FULL MS office for just $60 as a student?
It's an amazing deal, Microsoft calls it the Ultimate Steal:
http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx

Do you regularly follow technology news? If not, here are a few links
to get you started, we will be discussing current events in technology
quite a bit!
http://www.engadget.com/
http://www.techmeme.com/
http://www.boingboing.net/
http://arstechnica.com/index.ars
http://gizmodo.com/
http://slashdot.org/
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/
http://www.wired.com/
http://tech.alltop.com/

We look forward to talking to you all soon!

Sam

Your own personal lie detector, end of semester

Hi folks, this should be one of my last posts for the year. Your
grades have been submitted and I'm proud of the hard work you all did
and great responses you provided back in all our discussions this
semester, it makes it a lot more fun to teach this class when students
give ME a lot to think about!

Here's one for you to think about, is it a GOOD thing for everyone to
have their own personal lie detector? With a new 8 dollar iPhone app,
you can test it out for yourself and see if you believe it really
works:
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/12/19/no-lie-voice-stress-analysis-on-iphone/

I'm not so sure this is going to be a good idea for a lot of people, I
think it's a technology that just screams out for misapplication and
drama. We'll see how this one plays out, should be interesting!

Have a great break and Happy Holidays!
Sam

Re: Class is on for tonight at 6PM per the University - Students and Email/Texting

Students and Email/Text
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/gmail_preferred_by_students_but_nothing_beats_texting.php

Sam

On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 1:37 PM, Sam Posten <sposten@gmail.com> wrote:
> Folks, I have canceled my existing personal plans to make sure I meet
> with you at the designated time and place the University set up
> (without consulting me!) so that you may have the benefit of this
> final class period and can ask any questions you may have going into
> our final exam on Tuesday. This will not be a required meeting, but
> since I have done my best to be there I would appreciate it if you are
> available at that time that you take advantage of this opportunity and
> come to that session.
>
> "Your Tuesday evening class that was affected by the power outage has
> been rescheduled to meet Friday evening, December 12th as follows:
>
> IT 102 50 6-7:15 to: Plangeres, Room 234
>
> Sincerely,
> The Office of Registration and Records"
>
> Again, while it would be nice to meet and show you Maple/Matlab I
> believe this classroom is just that, a CLASSroom and not a LAB. If
> possible to demonstrate these functions in that meeting place I will
> definitely do so. As noted, Maple/Matlab and Powerpoint are not going
> to be parts of the final exam but everything else we covered this
> semester is fair game.
>
> Thanks and please keep those questions and comments coming and I will
> see those of you who can make it tonight at 6 in Plangeres 234,
> wherever that might be.
>
> Sam
>

NYT on Freedom and Technology

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/technology/personaltech/08link.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Sam

Why Copyright?

http://arstechnica.com/journals/law.ars/2008/12/04/new-short-film-asks-why-copyright

FW: Introducing Windows 7

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081028-first-look-at-windows-7.ht
ml

Looks like it might not actually suck.  Good for them, perhaps Apple has
lit a fire under MS after all!

Hopefully MS will release a demo video later today.

DISCLAIMER:
E-mail Confidentiality/Proprietary Notice: The information contained in this transmission may be proprietary and subject to protection under the law. The message is intended for the sole use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use, distribution or copying of the message is strictly prohibited. If you received this transmission in error, please contact the sender immediately by replying to this e-mail and delete the material from any computer. Thank you.

New Apple laptops confirmed for Tuesday!

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/09/apple-notebook-event-is-on-october-14th/

Will it be 'the brick'?
Will it have Blu?
Will it be a sub-notebook for under $800?
Will there be a tablet version?

Tune in Tuesday and see!

FW: [IP] Nat'l Research Council report on data mining report: it doesn't work

Not surprising, the software guys have been saying this for years.  The bad news is that this won't kill it, it will be too easy for someone new to come along every 6 months and claim they have new technology that this report didnt count on.

Sam

-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber
To: ip
Sent: 10/8/2008 3:26 PM
Subject: [IP] Nat'l Research Council report on data mining report: it doesn't work

Begin forwarded message:

From: Peter Swire <peter@peterswire.net>
Date: October 8, 2008 2:45:24 PM EDT
To: "dave@farber.net" <dave@farber.net>
Subject: RE: [IP] Nat'l Research Council report on data mining report: 
it doesn't work

Dave:

I did not participate in writing the report, but attended the roll-out 
event yesterday and have read through most of it.

I really commend this report to your readers.  It does high quality 
work on data mining and behavioral surveillance.

A particularly strong aspect of the report is a detailed and usable 
"framework for program assessment."  This essentially takes the 
Privacy Impact Assessment required by the E-Gov Act of 2002 and 
deepens the process considerably.  Although designed specifically for 
assessment of federal programs, the step-by-step framework would be 
easily usable in private-sector, state, and local programs.

One noteworthy point in the report is that compliance with the "law" 
is not enough (in part because the laws lag behind technical 
developments).  Too often officials defend a bad program by saying "it 
complies with all laws."  Program assessment also must look at 
upholding "values," and the framework sets out a step-by-step way to 
do that.

Along with the committee members mentioned, your readers should know 
that the lead drafter of the report (who was presented as such at the 
event yesterday) was Fred Cate of Indiana University.

I think this is the best single document I have seen for how privacy 
issues should be addressed in the federal government going forward.

Peter

Prof. Peter P. Swire
C. William O'Neil Professor of Law
   Moritz College of Law
   The Ohio State University
Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
(240) 994-4142, www.peterswire.net

-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave@farber.net]
Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 1:34 PM
To: ip
Subject: [IP] Nat'l Research Council report on data mining report: it 
doesn't work

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10059987-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&ta
g=2547-1_3-0-20

October 7, 2008 9:30 AM PDT
Government report: Data mining doesn't work well
Posted by Declan McCullagh

The most extensive government report to date on whether terrorists can
be identified through data mining has yielded an important conclusion:
It doesn't really work.

A National Research Council report, years in the making and scheduled
to be released Tuesday, concludes that automated identification of
terrorists through data mining or any other mechanism "is neither
feasible as an objective nor desirable as a goal of technology
development efforts." Inevitable false positives will result in
"ordinary, law-abiding citizens and businesses" being incorrectly
flagged as suspects.

The whopping 352-page report, called "Protecting Individual Privacy in
the Struggle Against Terrorists," amounts to at least a partial
repudiation of the Defense Department's controversial data-mining
program called Total Information Awareness, which was limited by
Congress in 2003.

But the ambition of the report's authors is far broader than just
revisiting the problems of the TIA program and its successors.
Instead, they aim to produce a scholarly evaluation of the current
technologies that exist for data mining, their effectiveness, and how
government agencies should use them to limit false positives--of the
sort that can result in situations like heavily-armed SWAT teams
raiding someone's home and shooting their dogs based on the false
belief that they were part of a drug ring.

The report was written by a committee whose members include William
Perry, a professor at Stanford University; Charles Vest, the former
president of MIT; W. Earl Boebert, a retired senior scientist at
Sandia National Laboratories; Cynthia Dwork of Microsoft Research; R.
Gil Kerlikowske, Seattle's police chief; and Daryl Pregibon, a
research scientist at Google.
<snip>

DISCLAIMER:
E-mail Confidentiality/Proprietary Notice: The information contained in this transmission may be proprietary and subject to protection under the law. The message is intended for the sole use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use, distribution or copying of the message is strictly prohibited. If you received this transmission in error, please contact the sender immediately by replying to this e-mail and delete the material from any computer. Thank you.

FW: [IP] What can you do with a 12-million-digit prime number? | csmonitor.com

 

-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber
To: ip
Sent: 10/1/2008 11:31 AM
Subject: [IP] What can you do with a 12-million-digit prime number? | csmonitor.com

http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/09/30/what-can-you-do-with
-a-12-million-digit-prime-number/

What can you do with a 12-million-digit prime number?
By Andrew Heining | 09.30.08

The scientific world is abuzz this week with news that researchers at 
UCLA have discovered a prime number with more than 10 million digits. 
The find qualifies them for a $100,000 prize from the Electronic 
Frontier Foundation (EFF) and undeniable geek cred, but a decidedly 
unscientific survey of comments from around the web concludes that the 
overall response to the announcement is: So what?

Not being a math whiz myself by any means, I set out to find an answer 
to this question. Are monster prime numbers the key to clean energy? 
Negative. Can you prevent space shuttle accidents with a gigundo-
prime? Survey says: no. But megaprimes will help rid your golf game of 
that nasty slice, right? Wrong again.

When a frustrated parent questioned the importance of her daughter 
learning about prime numbers in school, the helpful folks at Ask Dr. 
Math pointed out that primes are the basis of RSA encryption. Whenever 
online shoppers send personal information and credit card numbers 
across the web, prime numbers provide the backbone of that security.

Besides keeping your identity secure, primes have long been used as a 
math shortcut, helping with factoring, linear equations, and other 
things you probably haven't thought about since high school.

But why did the EFF offer $100,000 for the first person to discover a 
10-million-digit-plus prime number? The hunt for large primes requires 
massive computing power – the production of which is prohibitively 
expensive for a single organization. Distributive computing – the same 
kind UCLA used to find their megaprime – makes a supercomputer out of 
many smaller individual machines, using the web to stitch all that 
power together. The EFF Cooperative Computing Awards provide an 
incentive for everyday Internet users to contribute to solving great 
scientific problems.

The method is the message.

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