Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Digital Projection of Films Is Coming. Now, Who Pays?. Economics and industry politics have delayed the long-predicted digital revolution in movie theaters. By Eric Taub. [New York Times: Technology]
3:55:40 PM    comment   

To Whom May I Direct Your Free Call?. The makers of the file-sharing application Kazaa have created a way to allow people to make high-quality phone calls over the Internet without having to pay a penny. By Nicholas Thompson. [New York Times: Technology]
3:53:25 PM    comment   

Rebound for Luxury Goods. A turnaround has begun for the $63 billion global market in luxury goods. By Tracie Rozhon. [New York Times: Business]
3:52:25 PM    comment   

Reed Unleashed. Naval Ravikant summarizes Reed Hundt's keynote this week at a wireless conference.  Reed (my former boss) is one of the best public speakers I've ever seen, and it sounds like this presentation was typically provocative.
[Werblog]
3:51:56 PM    comment   

Closer. Jeff Pulver: "One should thank the Skype team for an application which is helping to introduce a new generation of people to the killer app of the Internet...Voice." [Werblog]
3:45:41 PM    comment   

Pulver on Skype Hype. As usual, trenchant analysis by Clay.
[Werblog]
3:44:54 PM    comment   

Clay Shirky: File-Sharing Goes Social. Tim Bray offers the first first concept for paid email I've seen that might actually work.  The basic idea of using an economic mechanism to prevent spam has been hashed over many times.  One big problem with such mechanisms is that they break the decentralized, open architecture of email.  Tim's solution is to have intermediaries that serve as relays and collect the money.  The endpoints wouldn't have to change. 

I still don't see such a mechanism becoming ubiquitous.  There is still the question of getting such a system to critical mass, and various implementation problems.   But for active email users (like yours truly) I could imagine it becoming then norm instead of challenge-response systems. 
[Werblog]
3:44:05 PM    comment   

Vodafone: No 3G until it works. GENEVA -- Users expecting new broadband mobile services soon from Vodafone Group PLC may be disappointed by the operator's reluctance to set a hard launch date, but will be reassured to hear that when the service arrives, it will work. [InfoWorld: Top News]
3:39:55 PM    comment   

Sun: 'Microprocessors are dead'. Microprocessors as known today will become extinct by the end of the decade, to be replaced by computers built onto a single chip, Sun Microsystems' CTO says. [CNET News.com - Front Door]
3:38:16 PM    comment   

Advance and Be Recognized. Ephraim Schwartz wonders if Microsoft's Wireless Provisioning Services (WPS) is a way under the tent flap for proprietary configuration: Microsoft's WPS is apparently an automatic configuration tool that will allow users with Windows XP and hotspots running Windows Server 2003 somewhere in the authentication chain to have a handshake that doesn't require a user to manually configure settings. Schwartz wonders if this is a way for Microsoft, outside of a standard process, to lock in hotspots to using something that doesn't necessarily interoperate with many other platforms and even other Windows' versions. It's clear that Microsoft's focus on improving link-level security in Windows XP is strategic: they don't want to devote lots of resources to re-engineering old versions of their system, and they want enterprises to abandon NT and 2000 in favor of XP, which the company will now be selling in the same architectural form until 2006, Longhorn's new shipping...uh, year. But if you examine the flip side of the equation, as Nancy Gohring did yesterday, T-Mobile has said that they'll support WPS, but that they'll also work with any 802.1X client. 802.1X, just to remind everyone, is sung by three parts: a client, a port-restricted access point or switch, and an authentication server. The client can talk just to the AP or switch, which passes authentication messages (using EAPOL or EAPOW) to a server. Because 802.1X allows continuous messaging, not only does each user in such a system receive a unique WEP or WPA key, but those keys can be rotated at whatever frequency a network administrator decides with zero involvement by the user. The advantages for 802.1X in the hotspot world are enormous, and WISPs should consider subsidizing distribution of 802.1X clients to their customers of all platforms. If you review the client compatibility lists at Meetinghouse and Funk, you can see that an enormous range of platforms are available: all Windows flavors (98 and later), Mac OS X 10.2, Linux (kernel 2.4), and Solaris. On the backside, most hotspots are using some kind of RADIUS or AAA solution already. In the open-source world, 802.1X has lagged severely due to lack of non-enterprise interest in the spec. WISPs should just build 802.1X into their clients (as T-Mobile and ostensibly Boingo is doing) or give away third-party clients. (The latest version of Open 1x appears to be moving along, however.) Users, of course, are responsible for their own... [Wi-Fi Networking News]
3:37:49 PM    comment   

When U.S. and Chinese businesspeople sit at the negotiating table, frustration is often the result. This Harvard Business Review excerpt summarizes the historical and cultural disconnects.
3:00:45 PM    comment   

"Right stuff" managers may be entirely wrong to lead a new-growth business.
3:00:02 PM    comment   

© Copyright 2005 Omar Javaid .
Last update: 7/15/05; 7:59:36 PM .

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