Archive for Technology
02.15.07
Posted in Technology, World, World News, Politics at 7:21 pm by stark
A coalition of U.S. software, music, and movie producers has urged the Bush administration to add Canada to the countries blacklist of intellectual property villains. The list is currently populated with countries such as China, Russia, and Belize. Citing Canada’s so-called chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime, the group contends that Canada has developed into an international hub for bootleg movies, software, and video game piracy.
While on one hand, this may seem like a stern warning from the U.S. to their largest trading partner, in reality it is clearly bulling tactics from a country who already feels its dated copyright laws losing ground around the world. Dr. Michael Geist, Canadian Research Chair of Internet and E-Commerce Law, points out that Canadians should not be fooled into thinking their laws are failing in any way to meet some kind of standard. In fact, the U.S. list includes blacklist recommendations for 23 of the world’s 30 most populous countries including Japan, Sweden, Italy, Spain, India, and Switzerland, to name a few. Dr. Geist even points out that this is merely an attempt by the U.S. to enforce a global agenda because it sees it’s own agenda failing both locally and abroad. If the international community is all on the same page, which is not the same one as the U.S., which country really deserves the blacklisting?
Personally, as a Canadian citizen, I am very disappointed in the Globe and Mail article. I expect more from my country and its media resources, and I expect them not to be mere puppets to another countries whims. Their article was very poor, to say the least, failing to mention any of the other large countries also indicated for blacklisting, and instead skewing the article to instill fear in our population. I think they need to step back a bit and look at the country they live in, not the one they apparently wish they did.
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02.14.07
Posted in Technology, Hardware, PC, Science at 10:15 pm by stark
Canadian manufacturer D-Wave Systems Inc., announced today their self proclaimed, “world’s first commercially viable quantum computer.” The rollout event took place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California and was hailed as a big step toward the age of quantum computing.
The system is only designed to solve Sudoku puzzles and experts say the announcement may be a bit premature. Assuming the machine works perfectly in its current form, it is still at least 1,000 times too small to solve problems that current machines cannot. This is also assuming it can be scaled up that high, which has not been tested at all.
“There are still a lot of ifs and maybes here,” says quantum computing researcher Seth Lloyd of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But he credits D-Wave for its willingness to test the idea. “From the scientific perspective,” he says, “what they’re doing is very interesting.”
A working quantum computer is the dream of every techno savvy person in the world, even if they don’t realize it yet. While current systems remain restricted to linear calculations (ie. if this, then do this, followed by that), a quantum system has the capability of being in many states simultaneously, which allows for much more complex calculations.
In theory, a quantum computer would be able to solve problems in a fraction of the time it requires today’s systems, and would make even the most complex of encryption algorithm obsolete. A hackers dream. While we can’t pick one up just yet, quantum computing technology seems to be improving by leaps and bounds and is no longer just a pipe dream. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
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02.13.07
Posted in Technology at 6:13 pm by stark
I came across an article today highlighting 32 reasons why Geeks (ie computer professionals in this case) are severely underpaid. A lot of it is just common sense, but the overall theme of the article is basically, if you don’t ask for more, or expect more, why would they ever pay you more? I think that’s a lesson many of us need to learn or did learn at one point in our careers. If you don’t value your own worth, why would they?
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02.11.07
Posted in Technology, Entertainment, Movies, Television at 4:11 pm by stark
Last week we discussed Walmart’s foray into the movie download race with the launch of their brand new service. Immediately, there were many complaints that the site would not work with any browser other than Internet Explorer. This was strange, to say the least, considering the massive size of Walmart and the fact that nowadays cross compatibility is a necessity not just a luxury. This was almost universally chalked up to an over site or poor programming. However, now it appears it may be intentional. Many users are now reporting that Walmart has completely turned off the new application to FireFox, Safari, and any other user on a browser they don’t like. This seems like a pretty poor decision for a company who is already late to the game and faces very stiff competition. I can already see Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes smiling from ear to ear…
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Posted in Technology, World, Politics at 3:51 pm by stark
What do you do if your country is attacked on multiple fronts simultaneously, from a foreign or domestic group, where it’s very difficult to pinpoint exactly where it is originating from? This is the question the US Government and the National Cyber Response Coordination Group (NCRCG) is asking itself as it currently develops an official game plan for response to a cyber attack. Options currently under consideration include everything from launching a counter cyber attack to locating and bombing (KABOOM bombing not Google bombing) the source of the attack. While there is currently no official plan in place, the US Government is clearly taking this threat very seriously. Last November the Air Force added a Cyber Command group whose responsibilities include missions fought in Cyberspace.
“The preferred route would be warning the source to shut down the attack before a military response. If the United States found itself under a major cyberattack aimed at undermining the nations critical information infrastructure, the Department of Defense is prepared, based on the authority of the president, to launch a cyber counterattack or an actual bombing of an attack source.”
While it never hurts to prepare for something like this, I wonder if in all this planning they are considering the fact that these type of attacks can occur within the US borders and could originate from the basement of some house in a suburban neighborhood. In such a case, is the plan still to MOAB everything?
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02.10.07
Posted in Technology at 6:13 pm by stark
The chairwoman of the Wikimedia Foundation, Florence Devouard, recently hinted in a talk at the Lift07 conference that Wikipedia only has funding for the next 3-4 months, after which it may disappear if donations don’t pick up. According to people in attendance Devouard was quoted as saying:
At this point, Wikipedia has the financial resources to run its servers for about 3 to 4 months. If we do not find additional funding, it is not impossible that Wikipedia might disappear.
While an interesting situation to say the least, I would wager a guess that this ominous deadline is merely a strategy to increase funding and generate awareness. At the very least, Wikipedia is clearly one of the worlds best encyclopedia resources, and would be worth a pretty penny. If the Wikimedia Foundation can no longer support it, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the heavy hitters like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon showed some interest. One things for sure, Wikipedia is here to stay, but maybe not in the same way we have all become accustomed. Maybe soon we’ll see a new partnership emerge. Wikoogle? MSN Encyclopedia Live?
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02.09.07
Posted in Technology, PC, Windows, Microsoft at 5:47 pm by stark
On the list of the most hated characters of all time, Microsoft Clippy ranks right near the top sharing space with the likes of Jar Jar Binks, Barney the Dinosaur, and Pikachu. Well, today is the day you’ve all been waiting for, as engadget reports that Clippy is no longer a part of the Microsoft Office family, which ends a glorius 10 year life. Once the forefront for annoying and inconvenient helpful advice for Microsoft’s entire office line, in recent years Clippy was relegated from his role as a starter to a mere second string bench player (in fact he was not even turned on by default in Office 2003). While he may be gone, he will never be forgotten and perhaps one day we can look back fondly on the memories of our fallen friend. RIP Clippy…
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02.08.07
Posted in Technology, World, Business at 10:30 am by bobbyjoe
Investors, founders, and several employees at YouTube are very happy today with the announed payouts from Google. Back in October, 2006 Google agreed to purchase YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock. “YouTube’s three founders and Sequoia Capital, its main financial backer, received the biggest windfalls.”
- Chad Hurley, YouTube’s chief executive, was paid in Google shares with a current indicated value of more than $345 million. He received 694,087 shares and an additional 41,232 in a trust.
- Another founder, Steven Chen, received 625,366 shares and another 68,721 in a trust, for more than $326 million. Jarwed Karim, the third co-founder, received 137,443 Google shares, with an indicated value of $64.6 million.
- Sequoia Capital, the sole venture capital backer of YouTube, received 941,027, valued at about $442 million.
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