Friday, May 03, 2002

Security, finance, and risk management. From the Digital Identity weblog, a trenchant observation about security. Spinning off David Coursey's provocative Why I trust Microsoft more than my bank, the DI guys correctly point out: The security industry has been entrenched with the idea that trust is manageable by digital security. This, the tech industry clearly has failed at delivering. It is easier to see the role of the financial services companies in identity management. They don't excel in security but in risk management, which, ultimately, will become the name of the game. Scary but probably true. [Jon's Radio] 5:20:44 PM

Cisco expected to triple earnings [IDG InfoWorld] 5:15:33 PM

Linux networks much cheaper than Windows - report. It's a TCO thing [The Register] 8:54:12 AM

C# plugin for Eclipse: This plugin is free and open-source.  This plugin is only available under Windows, as Microsoft .NET platform only exists under this operating system.  Perhaps some of the Mono or Rotor guys should check this out. [Sam Ruby] 8:52:42 AM

The Economist:  The Telecom bloodbath gets worse.  Why?  A couple of reasons: A mismatch between inexpensive optical bandwidth at the core of the Internet and expensive last-mile bandwidth provided by copper wire and co-axial cable. A lack of available fee-based content caused by the media industry.  A distribution system that relies on expensive centralized sites. In order to correct this, a couple things need to happen: Last mile bandwidth needs to move to fiber in order to place it on the same 1 year doubling rate experienced by providers of core bandwidth.  The best way to force the regional bells and cable companies to move quickly to last mile fiber is to introduce competition into the local loop.  Clearly, the CLEC model didn't work (the regional bells actively worked to undermine their ability to ride their networks).  The only hope is a high capacity fixed-point wireless provider that can enable hundreds of Mbs of connectivity for a reasonable cost.  This would require that the US provide one or two companies with a sanctioned monopoly on the spectrum required (in contrast to selling it at an auction).  This new competitor could have a nation-wide system up and going in a couple of years.  The fear here is that this new competitor will chew up this available bandwidth by replicating current cable offerings. A move to fixed price all-you-can-eat media services.  This new system would quickly trounce TV/cable as the best means to get professionally produced content.  The result would be a radical improvement in revenues for media companies and an increasing demand for fatter pipes to get it onto the hard-drives of consumer PCs faster. A new distribution architecture.  A bright spot is the impending roll-out of smart desktop software (personal broadcast networks -- a combination of P2P, desktop-webapps, and webservices) that will use plentiful desktop storage and programmed downloads (24x7 utilization of the current thin pipe) to provide high-quality, media-rich consumer experiences.  When the pipe does open up, these low-cost systems will allow fill the available capacity as quickly as it becomes available without a corresponding increase in costs. [John Robb's Radio Weblog] 8:49:44 AM

Cops seize Oracle shredders The Governor of California dispatched CHiPs officers to Oracle HQ yesterday to seize their shredders when he got word that Oracle planned to shred some docs that were evidence in a disputed contract case.Link Discuss posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:29 [bOing bOing] 8:44:15 AM

Relevare.com has a neat flash-based interface -- interesting navigation...  Make sure you have Flash installed before you go there. 8:41:45 AM