Monday, October 09, 2006

Remember, paranoids have enemies too.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/09/korea.nuclear.test/index.html

North Korea claims successful nuclear weapons test

POSTED: 7:43 a.m. EDT, October 9, 2006



Lawsuit by proxy? Support for the little guy? Continuation of antitrust acts by other means?

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/08/1714234&from=rss

Microsoft Shown Involved with Baystar and SCO

Posted by Zonk on Sunday October 08, @01:35PM from the cheeky dept. Caldera The Courts Microsoft Linux

baryon351 writes "Back a few years ago, when SCO looked like it was hemorrhaging cash, a surprise investment came out of the blue from venture capitalists Baystar. They invested $20 million in SCO and aided their anti-Linux cause, enabling McBride & co. to continue with (now shown incorrect) claims of line-by-line code copying of SCO IP in Linux. Now one of IBM's submissions to the court reveals Microsoft was behind it after all. Baystar's manager says about Microsoft's Richard Emerson: 'Mr. Emerson and I discussed a variety of investment structures wherein Microsoft would backstop, or guarantee in some way, Baystar's investment ... Microsoft assured me that it would in some way guarantee BayStar's investment in SCO.' Despite the denials about their involvement, Microsoft helped SCO continue this charade — and on top of that halted all contact with Baystar after the investment, reneging on their guarantee."



Interesting. What should an organization do after you've been hacked?

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/about-that-fake-post.html

About that fake post

10/08/2006 01:52:00 PM Posted by Karen Wickre, Google Blog team

A bug in Blogger enabled an unauthorized user to make a fake post on the Google Blog last night, [How could anyone confirm this? Bob] claiming that we've discontinued our AdWords click-to-call test. The bug was fixed quickly and the post removed. As for the click-to-call test, it is progressing on schedule, and we're pleased with the results thus far.



They used to be able to take it with them when they retired. Is that still possible?

http://digg.com/politics/Foley_may_be_able_to_use_campaign_funds_to_pay_for_legal_defense

Foley may be able to use campaign funds to pay for legal defense

tomboy501 submitted by tomboy501 14 hours 58 minutes ago (via http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003294460_foleyfunds08.html?syndication=rss )

Federal law allows former Rep. Foley to use his $2.7 million campaign war chest to pay any legal fees he incurs that are related to his status as a member of Congress. [I doubt this was official government business... Bob] Under the law, Foley might also be able to tap that pot of money to hire public-relations experts to respond to the media.



Interesting article, but he misses the fact that operating at this scale requires investments that form a substantial barrier to entry. If you are thinking of starting an online business, you better start soon...

http://wired.com/wired/archive/14.10/cloudware.html

The Information Factories

The desktop is dead. Welcome to the Internet cloud, where massive facilities across the globe will store all the data you'll ever use. George Gilder on the dawning of the petabyte age.



http://www.wired.com/news/wireservice/0,71924-0.html?tw=rss.index

Indie Bookstores Tackle Internet

Associated Press 16:30 PM Oct, 08, 2006

CHICAGO -- Adam Brent knew his 11-year-run selling bestsellers and new releases was over when mail carriers started walking into his building to deliver books from Amazon to the tenants upstairs. [Yet there are still individuals and entire industries that don't see this! Bob]

... But Brent is also part of a growing number of independent bookstore owners refusing to give up. He's closing his store this month but plans to reopen as a discount book store. Others are luring customers by putting in cafes or opening specialty shops that cater to a specific audience, like mystery lovers. Some are following the lead of public television and selling memberships. Or they're being saved by investors who can't bear the idea of losing these local institutions. [That's not investment, that's charity. Bob]

... "There are a lot of ways to make money in the business," said Brent, whose father, Chicago bookseller Stuart Brent, closed the city's most famous bookstore after a half century in 1996.

... Some bookstores have survived by giving their customers what they say chain stores often do not: Employees who know what they're talking about.



The law is a strategic weapon – use it!

http://techdirt.com/articles/20061008/163213.shtml

Will Spamhaus Get Shut Down Over Dispute?

from the not-good dept

Last month, we wrote about a judge awarding an $11 million judgment against anti-spam organization Spamhaus, after an accused spammer (in Spamhaus's database) sued the organization. Spamhaus lost, in part, because they refused to appear (though, the details now suggest they originally did appear, and then stopped). Spamhaus is run by Steve Linford, who is based in the UK. The suit was filed in Illinois -- so Spamhaus had a reasonable claim that the Illinois court has no jurisdiction over a UK-based organization, and little worry that they would need to actually pay (if they had $11 million, which it seems likely they don't as a volunteer group). However, they probably didn't expect the latest turn of events.

The court is now thinking about asking ICANN to suspend spamhaus.org, which would cause all sorts of problems for the many, many, many ISPs, companies and individuals out there who rely on Spamhaus' list of spammers. Dave Farber's Interesting People discussion list is having a big debate over this, pointing to a worthwhile discussion from an Illinois lawyer and spam fighter not involved in the case. He points out why the judge really had no choice, due to some mistakes that Spamhaus made early on, and warns that Spamhaus may be in real trouble if they try to duck this. While others argue that Spamhaus may be able to continue operating without a domain, but just using an IP address, there's no guarantee the court won't try to shut down the IP address as well. Either way, this all represents a real dilemma for Spamhaus, generally one of the most respected anti-spam lists out there. They probably have a reasonable defense: all they do is put out a list. They do not actively block a spammer, and they generally can back up why certain spammers are on their list in pretty great detail. However, if they are forced to defend each and every lawsuit filed by an upset spammer, it would make it prohibitively costly for Spamhaus (or any other such list) to remain in business -- in which case all of us who rely on such lists lose out. It's not clear where this goes from here, but it could represent a serious issue for anyone who keeps an anti-spam list or uses an anti-spam list to filter their email.



http://digg.com/software/Register_using_a_fake_email_address_then_grab_the_emails_from_dodgeit_com

Register using a fake email address - then grab the emails from dodgeit.com

theone3 submitted by theone3 1 day 19 hours ago (via http://dodgeit.com/ )

To avoid spam, send your registration forms to *(anything)*@dodgeit.com, then go to dodgeit.com and type in *(anything)*. Your email will be available with complete anonymity. No prior setup or login required.



Something interesting here. Perhaps you could “type” up documents proving George Bush spent his National Guard service years on the beach at Atlantic City...

http://digg.com/design/Free_Broken_Typewriter_style_fonts

Free "Broken Typewriter" style fonts

benjamino submitted by benjamino 21 hours 33 minutes ago (via http://misprintedtype.com/v3/fonts.php )

Really good free fonts for download. Broken 15 has to be my favourite, it looks familiar?!?!

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