Hp's 2012 vision

There are some really cool images on the following web site of HP's ideas for the future of personal computing. Click at your own risk, though; 2012 is still a few years off...

http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/hptour

Longhorn Beta 3

Microsoft is looking for folks to try out Longhorn Beta 3, their long-developed Windows Server offering. The following is a quote from their press release:

The release allows people to evaluate the increased control, flexibility and protection built into Microsoft Windows Server “Longhorn” Beta 3, available for download today at http://www.microsoft.com/getbeta3. The final version of Windows Server “Longhorn” is on track for release to manufacturing in the second half of 2007.

“As they take it for a test drive, our customers and partners will find we made some vast improvements in Windows Server ‘Longhorn’ to help them reduce costs and adapt to changing business needs,” said Bill Laing, general manager of the Windows Server Division at Microsoft. “Between early adopter customers and Microsoft IT, we have hundreds of servers running in production environments today. If there’s one message we want to send today, it is get ready, download and evaluate.”

Improvements Microsoft is touting for this release:

1. Windows PowerShell, a scripting tool for administrators, is now included in the product.
2. Active Directory Federation Services improvements allow customers to implement new policies and make it easier to set up a relationship between trusted partners.
3. The Server Core installation option now comes with additional roles and enhanced functionality, such as print services and Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services.
4. The Server Manager console includes additional remote administration tools to provide a more integrated management environment.
5. Windows Firewall with Advanced Security, now on by default, provides a persistent and more secure environment beginning at installation.
6. NAP is integrated with Microsoft Update and Windows Update to enable administrators to decide which updates are critical and set policies accordingly. It also has a new administrative interface for simplified setup, scalability and better performance.

Social Security Numbers: The case against storing them.

Once again, a government-run database has leaked thousands of social security numbers onto the Internet, and no one is being held accountable for it. This database was housed at the Census Bureau, and shared with the Department of Agriculture's web site, where you and I could browse the social security numbers of thousands of farmers using any standard web browser. In a New York Times article, White House OMB spokesperson Sean Kevelighan said: “We take the loss or exposure of personal identifiable information very serious, but we are confident that this is an isolated incident.”

Let's ignore, for the moment, that Sean doesn't use the proper '-ly' ending on his adverb. The problem with Sean's statement is that this is not an isolated incident by any stretch of the imagination. The Department of Agriculture reported to the House Government Reform Committee on July 25, 2006 that it had confirmed eight incidents involving the loss or compromise of any sensitive personal information since January 1, 2003. The Department of Agriculture is not alone, and is not even the scariest example. This February the  Department of Veterans' Affairs leaked 1.5 million people's SSNs and medical data. In a separate incident, the VA reported in May 2006 that they lost 26.5 million people's SSNs.  You can see a frightening report by the House Committee on Government Reform here: http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20061013145352-82231.pdf .

The Federal Privacy Act stumbles timorously into the world of data protection, prohibits the use of SSN's as identifiers in federal agencies, and doesn't include any requirements for audits to ensure compliance.

The problem is not limited to federal agencies, either. Here in Michigan, both Michigan State and U of M have suffered breaches in which student and faculty social security information was leaked. Lansing Community College, where social security numbers also served as student ID numbers until a just a few years ago, has also had trouble hanging on to SSNs. In the first quarter of 2007, a few of the organizations who lost data including personal identification and social security numbers included: University of Idaho, Chicago Public Schools, MoneyGram International, & Fruit of the Loom.

Most of the data is not lost to hackers; most of it is physically stolen, when laptop computers, hard drives, or tape media are stolen. My question is, why is it necessary for so many of these organizations to retain my SSN? It might take some extra steps in the process of checking credit, arranging financial transactions, or handling loan data, but I don't think it's necessary for most of these agencies to store social security  numbers for any extended period of time at all, and certainly not in a mobile or net-accessible locale. Once you've applied for your farm loan and been approved, why does the Department of Agriculture need to store that information? Once you are a student at the University of Michigan and your financial aid has been processed, why do they need to keep your social security number in their file?

In short, I think too many of our systems are designed to hang on to large quantities of data they don't really need, and consumers don't have any option to withdraw that data once it has been given.  At a bare minimum, I think the Federal Privacy Act should be expanded to require personal identifying data to be purged when certain criteria have been met; for example, when a student graduates from college, certainly the college should get rid of their SSN. When a farmer has paid off his farm loan, his SSN should be removed from the system. My bank should not keep my SSN on file after my initial citizenship status check is complete, or after my loan has been processed.

Further, it should be absolutely illegal to store other people's personally identifiable information on anyone's laptop computer. This is ridiculous in the way that Bozo the Clown was ridiculous.

Identity theft is still on the rise, but almost half of identity theft victims are under the age of 40. This means, unfortunately, that it is not a heavily emphasized political issue, since baby boomers still drive politics in the US. I believe, however, that it is an ethical issue that organizations should not ignore. If you can't absolutely guarantee the safety of an SSN (which you most likely can't) I think you should remove it from your systems. 

Should this be possible?

I have often wondered if Microsoft was sending me subtle messages through my operating system, enticing me to waste time skimming MSN, or to buy the next version of Windows.

Now, there is free subliminal messaging software online, with which you can program yourself to do all sorts of things. Or, rather, you tell the software what you'd like to accomplish, and it brainwashes you to achieve your goals.

This doesn't seem like a good idea to me. It seems to me that most of the free things on the Internet are loaded with advertisements. If something is subliminal, it means it isn't visible to the naked eye, which leads me to believe that anything is possible. What if I start trying to subliminally program myself to work more efficiently, but instead I find myself craving herbal supplements and cheap, cheap airfare? Next thing I know I'll be on a $59 flight to Bogota, where I can buy discount pharmaceuticals and invest some money in a private fund in which I am certain to become a millionaire as soon as someone in Africa can properly collect his inheritance.

I think the Internet does enough 'programming' of my brain as it is. 

Ubuntu Out of the Box

Ubuntu's next release is creating quite a stir this week, as Ubuntu makes aggressive strides into the world of high-end servers.  Essentially, the next release of Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn, scheduled for April 19) is the first Linux distribution with Para-Ops and VMI support for optimized performance under VMware.  Of course, Feisty Fawn still supports open-source virtualization packages, like Xen.

If the release works as it should, you could run Feisty Fawn on your Linux server, and install a VMWare layer. From there you could do all the ordinary things VMWare supports, including running virtual Windows machines.

Google Fun Activity

Here is some fun for your lunch hour entertainment.

Go to Google.com
–Click on Maps.
–Click on Get Directions.
–In the "From" field, type New York,New York
–In the "To" field, type Paris,France.
–Get your directions, and read line # 23.

Farida's Birthday!

We were all singing in our kitchen again on Monday:  Happy birthday Farida!

Family Visit...

Dynamic had a visitor today! This is Chloe, Casie's daughter.

New Mac Pro reaches epic proportions...

When I saw Apple's web site this morning, I think I heard the lofty trumpet sounds of Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man chiming down from the heavens. I am pretty sure the murky clouds over the Detroit area parted, and a single ray of sunshine beamed directly down through the Dynamic Computer ceiling and onto my flat panel.

The new Mac Pro is just an unspeakably awesome computer. Let's start with options for 8-core Xeon processing. Up to 16 GB of RAM. 3 TB of storage & your choice of three hot graphics carts. It is downright swoonworthy. The best part: the entire thing is customizable. You can opt to start out with this case nearly empty, leaving a ton of room for expansion, or you can load up. The price difference there is about $2500 for the bare bones (still pretty great) up to about $12,000 for the most incredible desktop computer I have ever seen.

I can't wait to see if the reviewers like these. I think it's a great move for Apple to offer just one really amazing new computer, and let people scale it the way they want it. I'm sure most home users aren't going to shell out $12,000 for a machine to play World of Warcraft or Doom; the nearly empty version could still make for some pretty smooth gaming or multimedia performance. I can, however, see how some professionals might want to inch toward the $12,000 top end. I have got to think this would be an amazing architect's or engineer's computer. It would also be great for my work with the Adobe Creative Suite, rendering vector graphics and such, although I'd have a tough time convincing Casie and Farida of the ROI of switching me from Windows to Mac and buying me a computer that costs as much as a car.

Dare to dream.  And now, all together on the count of three:

one,        two,         three:    *swoon*

Don't forget your Windows Update today

Microsoft released a patch yesterday for that security hole in all Windows operating systems that I mentioned last week. As it turns out, Vista was also susceptible to these exploits; it just took a little convincing to get Microsoft to admit it.

So, if Windows is nagging you right now to run your updates, you probably should go ahead and do that. Unfortunately, it requires a reboot; but then you will have the peace of mind that comes with knowing your computer is free of holes. Well, that is, until the next one is discovered sometime next week...