Monday, March 11, 2002

Tularemia, a new biologial weapons agent? Doesn't seem as severe as anthrax. Right now the incidence is low in the U.S. -- a few hundred cases a year. 1:03:44 PM

The CDC is investigating a rash of rashes. 12:57:54 PM

Hacking with a Pringles tube. Empty cans of Pringles crisps could soon be helping malicious hackers spot wireless networks that are vulnerable to attack. [BBC News: sci/tech] Corperate IT people in these open networks must really be stupid. How can you leave a glarring hole like this in your network. 12:48:43 PM

Robot sub finds Antarctic food stash. A major food reserve which has been hidden under Antarctic sea ice is discovered by a team using a robot submarine. [BBC News: sci/tech] 12:44:48 PM

Plastic Fantastic. Cracked a windscreen? Fractured your radiator? Broken the lens of your sunglasses? Happily, a solution is at hand, with scientists at UCLA developing a self-repairing plastic. [Beyond 2000 - Daily Science News] What a great idea. This is going to end up in everything. 12:32:59 PM

Here is a great quote from an AOL employee about why they don't use Microsoft software. Microsoft's server products have never been seriously considered by AOL, according to our insiders. "The licenses cost too much, their hardware requirements are excessive, they take too much labor to maintain, and we have enough security problems of our own without adding Microsoft's," says an AOL bean-counter who has access to the company's server cost numbers. The article also describes AOL moving away from Internet Explorer to the Gecko engine. This will immeadiately increase the Netscape/Mozilla market share to near 50%. So much for IE's dominance. 12:08:21 PM

For those interested in the future of publishing, the future of software or the future of the world, read this article. It seems to just be describing where publishing is going, but what I feel is important is the participatory nature of the web. Anyone can publish and get distribution as good as commercial sites for very little money. You are judged solely on the perceived quality of your efforts. We now have many points of view, not just the big publications. It is also near impossible to keep information from people and control of information is a cornerstone of totalitarian government. Freely available information steadily erodes dictatorships. This changes everything. 11:59:36 AM