Back in August, I noticed that Microsoft's own newsletters were failing the "SenderID" check in Hotmail; at the time, this could be excused (somewhat) because it was still a "beta" release.

Well, Windows Live Hotmail is now official--no more "beta".  Yet, Microsoft's own newsletters are still failing their own checks.

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BetaNews | Microsoft: Please Don't Disable UAC

I do all of my normal work (including debugging with Visual Studio) everyday on XP w/o "Administrator" rights, so I don't think I'll have a problem with UAC in Vista. It's really not that bad with a little help from runas and MakeMeAdmin.

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The big DRM mistake "Digital Rights Managements hurts paying customers, destroys Fair Use rights, renders customers' investments worthless, and can always be defeated."

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SteveX Compiled » Blog Archive » Common Password Salting

"...so many people use the same username and password over and over..."

Steve has a good idea on how you can more safely use the same password.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/technology/30gates.html?ex=1296277200&en=4e586bd7c9a4b218&ei=5088&

"...turning a phone into a computer could simply require adding a cheap adaptor and keyboard."

The idea of using a cellphone for a computer is being pitched in this article as a way to bring computers to the world's poor.  But I think the idea could be useful here in the US as well: these days, most people don't really need that much computing power (probalby the biggest "mainstream" application where you do is burning a DVD).

But "mom" (not just mom, but the large class of people who want to treat a computer like a car) wants to surf a few websites, read email, view a few pictures of kids/grandkids, etc.  For her (these people), much of the power of a computer is lost/wasted.  In fact, a computer almost brings too many complications: spyware, viruses, Windows updates, Internet connectivity, installing software, new hardware, etc. A cellphone simplifies many of these things, for example, your cell phone provider would become your ISP...automatically.

People have shown they're willing to spend around $300 for a cool phone, add in another $200 for a TV/monitor and keyboard dock and you've got a $500 computer system.  Clearly, this isn't on par with a $500 PC, but if people can do the same things for less hassle, do they really care about the details?

What makes this interesting/possible in 2006 is that 1) Pocket PCs and cellphones have gotten to the point where they have fairly powerful CPUs, and 2) right now, there just aren't that many really compelling reasons for a lot of people to have a PC.

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Torres Talking: Convergence is inevitable

"... They think people want to carry around 3 or 4 small gadgets; I think people only want one ..."

I think people only want to carry around one gadget too.  Note the "carry around" part; that means it's more or less with me all the time.  It doesn't mean that I don't have specialized gadgets for specific uses: for example, a small MP3 player that I can strap to my arm when running, or a nice digital camera to use when I know I'm going to be taking photographs.

And I think that "one device" is going to be some variant of a cell phone.  We're getting real close now that cell phones run Windows Mobile 5.0 (and thus can play MP3s and WMAs), have a memory card slot, 2 MP camera, wireless (WiFi & bluetooth), GPS, etc (although I don't know if there is yet one device that has it all).  Perhaps the bigger issue is my cell phone working well with the other devices such as my computer, car stereo (and home stereo for that matter), home/office phone, etc.

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Torres Talking: Media nirvana - Xbox 360 + Orb.com + Media Center PC

I'll probably look at an XBox360 just for the media features; I have no interest in playing video games on it.

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$500 to license free subway maps from the MTA - Engadget - www.engadget.com

"...one could argue that iPodsubwaymaps.com shouldn’t be allowed to generate ad revenue obtained from distributing the maps..."

Would it change the argument any if iPodsubwaymaps.com wasn't generating any ad revenue? I think it might...in any case, I agree with the closing comments

These are exactly the kinds of cases in which traditional copyright law feels unsatisfying in the age of digital mashups...

Copyright law just isn't working very well in our "digital age". A lot of things which would seem to be OK, could in fact be (or are) illegal.

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Blogger: Download Blogger for Word

Yes, I know that Dare (and presumably others) are working on a API for MSN spaces, but enough waiting already! As part of Microsoft, MSN Spaces should have had Word integration very early on.

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Write down your password today | The Register

"People can no longer remember passwords good enough to reliably defend against dictionary attacks"

Just yesterday I had to change my password on a website to make it "more secure".

How is it that an ATM card and 4-digit PIN works pretty well most of the time for securing my money, but we've got to jump through hoops to secure a computer?

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http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,68268-2,00.html?tw=wn_story_page_next1
"... But implementing a registration policy can be risky. It can drive away as much as 90 percent of a publication's traffic. In IDG's experience, 65 percent to 75 percent of readers tend to disappear when required to register. ..."

As an end-user, I agree that registration can be a pain (I myself have refused to register at a website just to read a single article).

But I think the solution is to figure out some kind of "single sign-on" system or some such thing. Microsoft has a white paper on an "Identity Metasystem" which I think would help a lot if everybody got on board.

User's don't mind a company knowing a little bit about them in exchange for a reading an article (or whatever), but managing a slew of user-ids and passwords--not to mention having to enter the same "registration" information over and over again--is a real pain.

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scooblog by josh ledgard : Barrier to Entry

Sorry Robert, if people have to create and log into their own blogs just to leave comments on other blogs they are reading... you'll lose at least 90% of the feedback.  The barrier to entry is just to high.  I have to:

Josh: I think you're missing the "big picture" and not "thinking outside of the box".

I don't know anything about the "new system" that Scoble mentions...but imagine a very well integrated RSS reader client.  Say something more like the give-and-take of USENET newsgroups.

Perhaps you'd integrate MSN Spaces tightly into this client and quietly create a blog in the background for a user.  Passport was integrated into Windows XP, why not integrate MSN Spaces tightly into Longhorn?  There's some more comments/ideas on this at http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=82366.  Another thing: right now it's a pain to add comments...each blog seems to have a slightly different UI.

I can imagine a scenario where users don't even know they have a "blog" or a "website".  Rather they have some "content sharing" application (maybe built into Outlook or OneNote) which does all of these things behind the scenes.

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No Need to Wait for Longhorn for LUA

About time!  I've said before that Microsoft should be focusing on getting users to run w/o "Administrator" rights, I'm glad to see this getting more press.

Here is the eWeek article, the non-admin wiki is here.

[Update 26-Sep-2005] Microsoft has released UAP Guidelines for Windows Vista.

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Muniwireless: Washtenaw County issues RFI for countywide Wi-Fi network Archives

"Washtenaw County...has issued a Request for Information...for deploying a wireless broadband network for urban, rural and mobile use in 2007."

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PBS | I, Cringely . May 12, 2005 - Inflection Point

Interesting analysis of some recent events in the technology world.

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A race to the wire as old hand at Morse code beats txt msgrs - Britain - Times Online

Another variation on everything old is new again? ...---, maybe it's time to learn more than ... and ---

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Google knows everything by Heiko Hebig | hebig.com

This is almost scary.  I typed in three somewhat obscure questions and Google came back with the answer.

• How many atoms in the Universe?  (About 4 * 10^79)
• What is the highest elevation in Michigan? (Mount Arvon at 1979ft)

http://radio.weblogs.com/0001011/2005/04/07.html#a9837

Wow! I wonder how this rates in comparison to my email from Donald Knuth?

http://www.gigaom.com/2005/04/07/msn-takes-on-skype/

...MSN Messenger...[has]... “the old architecture and put a new one in,”...I want to know more about how this will work - what technology they are using? Will there be a PC2PSTN phone service? Does it use SIP? Nothing? What Microsoft - despite Scoble - doesn’t get that the whole VoIP thing is happening in the “open media space.” ... [ emphasis added ]

Microsoft has made huge strides on the standards front in some areas - their C++ compiler is now pretty good (and VS2005/VC8.0) will be even better.  VS2005 will also clean up some of the HTML mess, although they still haven't embraced CSS 2.0 for IE7.  They've also worked hard at working with the various XML standards and are big supporters of the various web service initiatives.

But almost all of that effort is reactionary.  The VOIP area is something brand new, and in almost typical Microsoft fashion, they're going their own way.  This same type of behavior occurring over and over again is what helps breed the animosity towards Microsoft.