… is back online. We took it offline after the old version (running on PostNuke) was hacked by person or persons unknown, and used the downtime to ponder feedback from users and rethink the concept. Our general conclusion is that the big need is for a site that is intelligible to non-technical users, non-doctrinaire and pragmatic. Most people don’t have strong views about computers or software — they just want them to work, be reliable and not cost too much. Some of them now realise that there may be alternatives to Microsoft that might work for them and need to know more. We will do our best to help them understand what’s possible and what might be involved in making the switch. Now all we need is an extra 6 hours in a day…
Daily Archives: December 13, 2005
The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet
The Alexa story
John Battelle, author of an excellent book on search, has a hyperbolic post on his Blog. It begins like this…
Every so often an idea comes along that has the potential to change the game. When it does, you find yourself saying – “Sheesh, of course that was going to happen. Why didn’t I predict it?” Well, I didn’t predict this happening, but here it is, happening anyway.
In short, Alexa, an Amazon-owned search company started by Bruce Gilliat and Brewster Kahle (and the spider that fuels the Internet Archive), is going to offer its index up to anyone who wants it. Alexa has about 5 billion documents in its index – about 100 terabytes of data. It’s best known for its toolbar-based traffic and site stats, which are much debated and, regardless, much used across the web.
OK, step back, and think about that. Anyone can use Alexa’s index, to build anything. But wait, there’s more. Much more…
It’s all done with web services. And it might indeed be significant because it could enable small but ingenious players to get into the search market.
Why DRM on music CDs always leads to spyware
Ed Felten is my idea of a great academic: he’s both a clever thinker and a brilliant explainer. As an example of what he can do, see this terrific account of how attempts to put DRM on music discs leads inexorably to the mess from which Sony BMG is now trying to extricate itself. Sample:
If the music is encoded on the disc in a format that any software program can read, the only way to stop programs from reading it is to install software on the user’s computer, and to have that software actively interfere with attempts to read the disc, for example by corrupting the data stream coming from the disc. We call this “active protection”.
For example, suppose the user wants to use iTunes to read the disc. But the DRM vendor wants to stop the user from doing this, because iTunes can be used to make copies of the disc. The active protection software will detect this and will interfere to ensure that iTunes gets a garbled copy of the music.
Here’s the key issue: Active protection only works if the DRM software is running on the user’s computer. But the user doesn’t want the software on his computer. The software provides no value to him at all. Its only effects are to stop him from doing things he wants to do (such as listening to the music with iTunes), and to expose him to possible security attacks if the software is buggy.
So if you’re designing a CD DRM system based on active protection, you face two main technical problems:
1. You have to get your software installed, even though the user doesn’t want it.
2. Once your software is installed, you have to keep it from being uninstalled, even though the user wants it gone.
This is just an excerpt. Read the full post for pleasure and enlightenment. Ed’s conclusion is: “Having set off down the road of CD copy protection, the music industry shouldn’t be surprised to have arrived at spyware. Because that’s where the road leads.”
Yes, siree.