Friday, December 1, 2006

How the Chinese Wikipedia Differs from the English. bulled writes "News.com is running a story on differences found in Wikipedia's Chinese site content, as compared to content on the same subjects from the English site. The article goes into a discussion about how the 'sanitized' information is so prevalent in Chinese education that it is seen as the 'truth'." From the article: "[Some] say the object should be to spread reliable information as widely as possible, and that, in any case, self-censorship is pointless because the government still frequently blocks access to Wikipedia for most Chinese Internet users. 'There is a lot of confusion about whether they should obey the neutral point of view or offer some compromises to the government,' said Isaac Mao, a well-known Chinese blogger and user of the encyclopedia. 'To the local Wikipedians, the first objective is to make it well known among Chinese, to get people to understand the principles of Wikipedia step by step, and not to get the thing blocked by the government.'"[Slashdot] 10:35:53 PM      Google It!.

Opening Statements Begin in Microsoft - Iowa Case. cc writes "The Des Moines Register is reporting that opening statements have begun in the Microsoft-Iowa antitrust case. The Register reports that the Plaintiffs have shaped their case around nine stories involving competitors from IBM to Linux. Microsoft attorneys say Gates is expected to testify in January, and company CEO Steve Ballmer will likely appear in February. Both men are expected to be on the stand for about four days. Unlike previous antitrust cases against the software giant, the Iowa case is seeking additional damages for security vulnerabilities. Plaintiffs allege that Microsoft's bundling of IE with Windows caused harm to consumers by increasing the consumer's susceptibility to security breaches and bugs. The case is one of the largest antitrust cases in history, encompassing millions of documents and Microsoft's business practices during the last 20 years."[Slashdot] 10:34:25 PM      Google It!.

Nike+ iPod Used For Surveillance. Thib writes "Researchers at the University of Washington have published a report detailing many easy and cheap ways the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit previously discussed on Slashdot can be used to track individuals, even when they are not carrying their iPod. They have even implemented a Google Maps application to display surveillance data in real time." From the article: "'Our research also shows that there exist simple cryptographic techniques that the Nike+iPod Sport Kit designers could have used to improve the privacy-preserving properties of the Nike+iPod kit,' the group reports. 'Our work underscores the need for a broad public discussion about and further research on the privacy-preserving properties of new wireless personal gadgets,' the group reports. 'We stress, however, that there is no evidence that Apple or Nike intended for these devices to be used in any malicious manner. Additionally, neither Apple nor Nike endorsed this study.'" [Slashdot] 10:32:43 PM      Google It!.

A conversation with John Wilkin about the Michigan/Google digitization project. My guest for this week's podcast is John Wilkin. He's the director of the University of Michigan Library's technology department, and coordinator of the library's joint digitization project with Google. It's been two years since Google began partnering with the University of Michigan and with other libraries, including Harvard and the New York Public Library. In this conversation we talk about the UM's earlier (and still-ongoing) efforts to digitize its 7-million-volume library, about how the partnership with Google has radically accelerated that process, and about what this is all going to mean for libraries, for publishers, for Google, and for all us. ... [Jon's Radio] 10:06:53 PM      Google It!.

Homeland Security Tracks Information on Travelers. feuerfalke writes "Homeland Security recently disclosed a plan regarding an Automated Targeting System, or ATS, that would generate a 'terrorist risk rating' based on information collected about the traveler. This information would include things such as where they are from, how they paid for tickets, their motor vehicle records, past one-way travel, seating preference and the meals they ordered in-flight. These ratings have now been assigned to millions of international travelers, including Americans, and the ATS is exempt from many provisions of the Privacy Act [~] one cannot view their rating or the information used to generate it."[Slashdot] 3:42:54 PM      Google It!.

Getting a Grip on Google Code. netbuzz writes "Niall Kennedy reports on his blog that Guido van Rossum, author of the Python programming language, has begun showing off his first project since joining Google last year. 'Mondrian is a Web-based code-review system built on top of a Perforce and BigTable backend with a Python-powered front-end,' Kennedy writes. 'Mondrian is a pretty impressive system and is currently in use across Google.' Kennedy's description of Google's current code-review system sure makes it sound like it was in need of an upgrade. 'The Mondrian tool creates a much better workflow by creating task-specific dashboards, in-line commenting, well-tracked statistics, and more,' he writes. 'The application is built on top of Python open source libraries such as the Django framework, smtpd.py mail service, and the wsgiref Web server software.'"[Slashdot] 3:39:12 PM      Google It!.

"A Patent Dilemma" from Innovate (Dec./Jan., 2006/2007). Stephen Downes provides a clear and comprehensive statment about the Blackboard LMS patent, reactions to the patent claim, and the important implications the BB patent has for open source efforts. This is an important article to read and reference. ____JH ________ "I have argued in the past that the thieves in our community are not the file sharers and the advocates of open source, but rather, those who use the nuances of the legal system to take something created by others and to make it their own (Downes 2003). I agree with Howard Rheingold: 'Blackboard's actions are shameful, greedy, and bogus, and they have the potential for retarding the development of online learning throughout the world' (2006, ¶ 1)." [Editor's Note: Blackboard representatives were asked to submit a counterpoint article, but this offer was declined.] A Patent Dilemma (Volume 3, Issue 2, December 2006/January 2007). When Blackboard unveiled its U.S. patent for 44 features of learning management systems and then filed a patent infringement suit against Design2Learn, the educational technology community's response was negative and swift. Stephen Downes discusses why many educators oppose both the patent and Blackboard's claims to the underlying technology long considered in the public domain. He also highlights the dangers presented by Blackboard's patent claims, not only to its commercial competitors, but also to open source learning management systems. Downes argues that Blackboard's actions not only distract from current research, but also strengthen distrust of commercial involvement in educational technology development. Moreover, Downes contends that Blackboard has violated the implicit ethical tenets of communal ownership and exchange which have long characterized the educational software community. [Innovate] [EduResources Weblog--Higher Education Resources Online] 11:29:33 AM      Google It!.

The Importance of Game Length. Gamasutra's regular 'Question of the Week' feature touches, this week, on the ideal length of games, and the importance of game length. While the overwhelming opinion was 'quality is better than quantity', there were a range of opinions along that scale. From the article: "I would say as a gamer on the more casual side (30+ years) the game length is fine around 20-25 hours. If you are having fun while playing. I never have time to finish anything longer. It makes me more satisfied to have played through the game in 20-25 game hours than never even reach half way. - Joachim Carlsson, Massive Entertainment" [Slashdot] 11:27:48 AM      Google It!.

Experts Say Ajax Not Inherently Insecure. An anonymous reader writes "Jeremiah Grossman (CTO of WhiteHat Security) has published Myth-Busting - an article dismissing the hyped-up claims that AJAX is insecure. He says: 'The hype surrounding AJAX and security risks is hard to miss. Supposedly, this hot new technology responsible for compelling web-based applications like Gmail and Google Maps harbors a dark secret that opens the door to malicious hackers. Not exactly true ... Word on the cyber-street is that AJAX is the harbinger of larger attack surfaces, increased complexity, fake requests, denial of service, deadly cross-site scripting (XSS) , reliance on client-side security, and more. In reality, these issues existed well before AJAX. And, the recommended security best practices remain unchanged.'" [Slashdot] 11:25:02 AM      Google It!.

Phoenix Airport to Test X-Ray Screening . PHOENIX -- Sky Harbor International Airport here will test a new federal screening system that takes X-rays of passenger's bodies to detect concealed explosives and other weapons. By AP. [washingtonpost.com - Technology - Industry News, Policy, and Reviews] --maybe we could get bone density tests for osteoporosis on the fly - so to speak --BL 9:33:44 AM      Google It!.

New Email Rules Effective Friday. An anonymous reader writes "As of today [Friday], certain U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees, in accordance with new federal rules. In April the Supreme Court began requiring companies and other entities involved in federal litigation to produce 'electronically stored information' as part of the discovery process of a trial." From the article: "Under the new rules, an information technology employee who routinely copies over a backup computer tape could be committing the equivalent of 'virtual shredding,' said Alvin F. Lindsay, a partner at Hogan & Hartson LLP and expert on technology and litigation. 'There are hundreds of "e-discovery vendors" and these businesses raked in approximately $1.6 billion in 2006, [James Wright, director of electronic discovery at Halliburton Co.] said. .'"[Slashdot] 9:24:21 AM      Google It!.

Psiphon Now Available For Download. eldavojohn writes "Project Psiphon has been released for public download under the GPL. CNN has coverage of the Canadian research project that 'works by first allowing a person in a country like Canada that does not censor Internet content to set up a user name and a password for a person in a country that does [~] China, for example.' While this idea is certainly nothing new to Slashdot, the fact that software like Psiphon is becoming publicly available is interesting. For a quick simplified 'How it works,' Psiphon has a Flash demonstration." Not a moment too soon, apparently. China is moving to assign IDs to bloggers, to register their real identities and track their statements online.[Slashdot] 9:15:03 AM      Google It!.