Microsoft perfers MobilePC on the cell phone than Negroponte’s $100 laptop. Everybody, they say, knows how to use a cell phone, and more importantly, they need a cell phone to talk for real-time exchange of information via voice or time-shifted through texting.

Link to article…

The New York Times editorial page will create a huge wave of viewing of a video created by a 15 year old criticizing the Bush Administration. ICT democratizes the power of information, enabling a teenager from rural Alabama to get into the New York Times, be heard around the world, and labeled a "New Campaign Media Guru".

The ability of housewives, kids, and geographically dispersed and isolated persons to mine for and assemble stories of misdeeds, corruption, or just bad decisions is enabled by information communication technology. As modern-day pamphleteering that our Founding Fathers were so fond of, we need to continue to explore this and push growth in information and communication technology in Africa and elsewhere. Information gets transformed into knowledge leading to pressures to increase quality of life across all segments of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Isn’t that a good thing?

John Markoff and Saul Hansell write in the New York Times today about a massive computing complex Google is building in Washington state. Oddly, Markoff and Hansell miss the big picture and instead focus on Google as a "search engine":

Google is known to the world as a search engine, but in many ways it is foremost an effort to build a network of supercomputers, using the latest academic research, that can process more data — faster and cheaper — than its rivals.

The need to slice milliseconds off query results is only part of what Google seeks. The authors only, while google-eyed at the power of the distributed computing network that by their words is greater than the NSA’s computing power (an interesting comparison to be made), hint at other services by way of the a quote, "Google is like a Borg", and the comment on the culture of secrecy in Google derived from not discussing revenue sources.

Google does so much more than return results, as I’ve written about in the past. It is unfortunate this front page, below the fold, NYT story misses this. Google is probably happy they did.

I wonder if Negroponte’s $100 laptop or Gates’ cellphone computer can do this… Gone in 20 Minutes: using laptops to steal cars.

High-tech thieves are becoming increasingly savvy when it comes tostealing automobiles equipped with keyless entry and ignition systems.
While many computer-based security systems on automobiles require some
type of key — mechanical or otherwise — to start the engine, so-called
‘keyless’ setups require only the presence of a key fob to start the
engine.

The expert gang suspected of stealing two of David Beckham’s BMW X5
SUVs in the last six months did so by using software programs on a
laptop to wirelessly break into the car’s computer, open the doors, and
start the engine.

“It’s difficult to steal cars with complex security, but not
impossible. There are weaknesses in any system,” Tim Hart of the Auto
Locksmith Association told the U.K.’s Auto Express magazine.
“At key steps the car’s software can halt progress for up to 20 minutes
as part of its in-built protection,” said Hart.

Because the decryption process can take a while — up to 20 minutes,
according to Hart — the thieves usually wait to find the car in a
secluded area where it will be left for a long period. That is believed
to be what happened to Mr. Beckham — the crooks followed him to the
mall where he was to have lunch, and went to work on his X5 after it
was parked.

While automakers and locksmiths are supposed to be the only groups
that know where and how security information is stored in a car, the
information eventually falls into the wrong hands.

According to the Prague Post leaving such information on a
laptop is what got Radko Souček caught for stealing several cars. “You
could delete all the data from your laptop, but that’s not good for you
because the more data you have, the bigger your possibilities,” he
says. He says any car that relies on software to provide security can
be circumvented by other software. “Every car has its weak spot,” he
says. Souček faces up to 12 years in prison.

The Leftlane Perspective: Many modern cars now rely on software entirely
for security. Gone are the days where microchips supplemented
mechanical locks as an additional security measure. In the case of true
‘keyless’ systems, software is the only thing between a thief and your
car. As computers become more powerful, will stealing cars become even
easier? Never mind future cars with better security — what about
today’s cars a few years down the road? With cars as inexpensive as the
Toyota Camry offering entirely keyless systems, these concerns a
relevant to all consumers.

If you’re a Skype user, and many of us are (including me), you may be interested in this presentation by Philippe Biondi and Fabrice Desclaux. Be forewarned, it’s long and detailed, so here are the take-aways in the conclusion:

First the "Good Points"

• Skype was made by clever people
• Good use of cryptography

Then the "Bad Points"

• Hard to enforce a security policy with Skype
• Jams traffic, can’t be distinguished from data exfiltration
• Incompatible with traffic monitoring, IDS
• Impossible to protect from attacks (which would be
  obfuscated)
• Total blackbox. Lack of transparency.
• No way to know if there is/will be a backdoor
• Fully trusts anyone who speaks Skype.

ZDNet explores the presentation more than I will but only a bit more than I did. Jan in Malaysia explores the safety of Skype password systems.  Googling Skype and backdoor returns a fair number of hits. I’d recommend Googling the news for more details.

This is comforting DHS Gets Another F in Computer Security.

Several agencies saw a considerable drop in their scores. The Department of Justice went from a B-minus in 2004 to a "D" in 2005, while Interior earned failing marks after getting a C-plus in 2004.

One of the greatest threats to our national security has been the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Between that and the fantasy that taking off my shoes to go through the detector at the airport (what about the chemical plants, railroads, airport employees, ports, small fields, Canada, tunnels under the southern border, etc) we are simply farther from having our act together. Too much time, money, and resources were spent on this massive re-org. How’s the FBI’s case management system coming along? How about giving email to the agents?

Briefly on the ICT front to connect the world through virtual social networks. Google and Nike team up (using Microsoft technology) to create a social network based around soccer: Joga. I submitted my request to join but haven’t heard back yet. Maybe that ill-timed tackle in that pickup game outside of Portland is working against me…

Breifly, from Deep Freeze 9: You’re as likely to lose an email as the checked bag on your next flight.

You’re as likely to lose an email as the checked bag on your next flight More email is lost than I thought. The loss rate is at least 0.7%, or 7 messages in 1,000 [1]. If you send ten messages a day, this means 25 will go astray in a year. For comparison, airlines operate with 3 to 10 lost baggage reports per 1,000 passengers on major airlines [2]. As for the old-fashioned way of doing it: the British Royal Mail has admitted that more than 14 million letters and parcels were lost, stolen, damaged or tampered in 2005, out of 22 billion items handled. That’s 0.06% — ten times better than email!

Hmmm.

Briefly, the tactics of the Pentagon encouraging milbloggers with "exclusive editorial content" (which I still don’t receive) is now public in the corporate sphere. The New York Times has a story today about Wal-Mart’s public relations agency, Edelman, providing press releases to favorite bloggers. Wal-Mart isn’t well loved for its corporate social responsibility, something WM is countering. The core issue here is how bloggers are cutting and pasting press releases into their blogs without attribution. The response by some of the bloggers caught in the act is both sad and laughable. You should read the article… people are starting to realize the problems with lazy media, er, bloggers.

From Engadget (who got it from Gizmologia) comes a picture with two different laptops. It isn’t clear, however, if one or both of the computers is the "winning design". Where exactly is the crank? Is it in the X of the orange machine? Go to Gizmologia (link includes Google translation) or Engadget to find more.

News brief: BT ‘quadruples’ broadband speeds.

BT is to increase its broadband speeds by up to four times from 31 March.
The firm said 78% of its users would be able to access at least four megabits per second (4Mbps), compared with the maximum of two available now.
Almost half would get 6Mbps and those close to their local exchange would be able to access 8Mbps.

And the American market languishes…