"Cougaar is an open-source Java-based architecture for the construction of distributed agent-based applications. It is the product of an eight-year DARPA-funded research project in highly scalable and survivable multi-agent systems" [Slashdot]. Sounds very cool. I think I would like to build something like this. 10:34:20 AM    comment []  

Microsoft offers a bounty of $250,00 for information leading to arrest of the individuals responsible for writing the MSBlast and SoBig viruses [Slashdot]. My first reaction is to concider what kind of unforseen consequences might arise if this practice were continued. This would create a market for information. Imagine an inventive person creating a virus, framing someone else as the writer of the virus and then turning that individual in for the reward. I wonder what other ingenious scenarios could be invented.

However it goes, I think this is probably a smart move on Microsoft's part. $250k is a lot of money for most people, but a drop in the bucket compared to the damages that Microsoft has to pay when these viruses hit. A little incentive of this type might actually stand a chance of making a potential virus writer think twice before releasing his ideas on the world. 10:32:07 AM    comment []