Reference:
"We try to be as culturally sensitive as possible, but we want to make sure everybody goes home alive," said Capt. Paul Kuettner, an intelligence officer. "We're not going to risk the lives of one of our soldiers to be culturally sensitive."
....
But the Americans, Saud said, are no longer guests.

"They're going to stay a long time, if they have it their way," he said. "But the people will refuse. They won't tolerate it."

Everyone in the modest room nodded in agreement. "We're not hostile people," he explained. "We don't make any trouble. But if the Americans are hostile to us, we'll be hostile to them."
Washington Post

Notes:
A follow on the the story below. The quote of a warrior, not a peace-keeper. Not that the sentiment is right or wrong, but the diplomacy of it sucks.

Reference:
Microsoft is phasing out stand-alone versions of its Internet Explorer Web browser, according to statements attributed to IE programme manager Brian Countryman in an interview posted on the software giant's Web site.
....
...hinting that planned new security enhancements for the upcoming version of its Windows operating system, code named Longhorn, was the driving force behind the move.

Longhorn is expected to include a major security overhaul dubbed Next-Generation Secure Computing Base, formerly known as Palladium.
silicon.com

Notes:
Recognize first that the new trusted computing platforms, such as Next-Gen, are based on a revised hardware architecture that will no longer be a PC. It will include a second CPU that will monitor the state of the machine and the software.

The PC architecture is, loosely speaking, an open range where there is no controlling force on what runs on a particular box and little control on how it connects to the network.

Here we begin to see this changing. Not only will the architecture of the box be different, but what we call the OS will be different. It will be software designed for remote control by a central authority.

Add to this the provisions of the State "mini-DMCA", where the term access device is added to the mix and the definition of access device is left up to the telecomm, and you have a completely revised digital communications landscape.

Reference:
The features of Waste are similar to those of file-swapping services such as Kazaa and the defunct Napster, but the difference is that only small networks of people (up to 50, according to the Web site) can use it. The software also offers encryption and authentication to prevent non-invitees from accessing the private networks.
news.com

Notes:

Reference:
"IBM's endorsement of Linux has added credibility and an illusion of support and accountability," Ballmer continued, "although the reality is there is no 'center of gravity,' or central body, investing in the health and growth of noncommercial software or innovating in critical areas like engineering, manageability, compatibility and security."
news.com

Notes:
And this is a central argument across the board. What is the nature of control within a digital environment? What control is possible, what is required, what is wished for.

Reference:
If there ever was an industry that gives the lie to the free-market fantasy that the best regulators of an industry are that industry itself, it would seem to be the commercial fishing world. After more than 25 years of self-regulation, almost one-third of all American fish species are considered overfished by conservationists.
Salon

Notes:

Reference:
Microsoft said that, although it was planning to acquire GeCad's intellectual property, it would not continue developing the company's products.
news.com

Notes:
Along with taking IE into the OS, this is a move to provide a protective shell to the OS. Expect the anti-virus to also include intrusion detection.

Interesting to know what kind of detection -- filters, signatures, heuristics.

Also gives MS a reason to have customers connected so they can receive the updates. Means they can also spy with regularity. If software renting takes off, then the engine will be on the client and the signatures will be part of the rental paackage.

Reference:
The software maker said Tuesday that it will work with Auto ID, a joint venture of the Uniform Code Council and EAN International, to develop commercial and technical standards for radio frequency ID (or RFID) tags.
news.com

Notes:
If MS can embrace and extend in this market, they will go a long way to choking the gains made by Linux in point of sale. Us PocketPC device to roam the floors, dump the data into a central Windows network.

Reference:
Majority Republicans in Congress brushed aside Democratic pleas for a formal investigation into the handling of intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs, saying Wednesday that routine oversight should suffice.
....
He said criticism was causing divisiveness among intelligence agencies and "go back to the days of risk aversion, the primary cause of 9/11." A congressional investigation of the attacks found that agencies were weakened by a culture that discouraged employees from taking risks for fear of being criticized.
....
What's at issue, (Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee) said, is whether American intelligence can be trusted in the future as a basis for action against other adversaries, such as Iran and North Korea
abcnews.com

Notes:
What to do with intelligence information is a political issue, from all sides. What is in question is whether the administration fabricated "evidence", or matierally mis-construed intelligence reports, is not a political issue but is an issue of fact. There is an important difference.

To say that divisiveness among intelligence agencies is the primary cause of 9/11 is overly simplistic. However, it has great political resonance. It plays to the myth that the cowboy attitude is what made America great and it is the cowboy attitude that has been quashed by the Dems. See what happens? 9/11. So let loose the cowboy attitude!

The problem, of course, is that central to the cowboy attitude is independent cussedness, not centralized authoritarian policing.

Reference:
House Republican leaders, yielding to pressure from the Senate and White House to expand the child tax credit for low-income families, upped the ante with an $82 billion package that also extends the child credits to higher-income couples and includes tax breaks for the armed forces.
tbo.com

Notes:
So the tax cut is now $350 billion PLUS $82 billion. So much for holding the line.

Reference:
This combines two important trends. One is the continuing migration of computing functionality away from personal computers and onto other platforms--in this case a cell phone. A second important trend is the focus on transaction capability rather than document production capability.

The killer application in mobile computing is not transmitting stock quotes. It is not producing web logs on the go. It is executing transactions.
KlingBlog

Notes:
Kling's been on this kick for a while. I think the point he makes above is spot on, that there is a different technology requirement for documents and transactions. But then, this difference has always been there -- see the UPS/FedEx gal swiping the barcode and entering delivery data on her hand-held.

Document creation should move to a faster, lighter type of machine, such as the notetop idea of mine.

Interesting in all this is the fate of the server, the collection bin and distibution link. I think it's fair to say that there are two types of servers -- document and transaction. The document servers support the frontline back office, and will probably remain Windows boxes. The transaction servers will probably remain *nix boxes.

What's interesting to me is that serving up documents, such as web pages, has more to do with transactions than documents. Needs more noodling.