An article from CNet tells of a new state capital spending plan in Massachusetts that requires that preference be given to open source software and software that complies with open standards. Sounds like a pretty reasonably approach. It doesn't ban proprietary software outright, but moves to protect infrastructure by removing …

According to an article from CNet this morning, the State of California is joining Wisconsin and Minnesota in requiring VoIP carriers to submit to regulation as a telephone company. It remains unclear exactly what any of the three states expects to do with this regulation, but there are indications that …

Karl Auerbach (all-around good guy, former ICANN at-large member, California lawyer) points out in his latest weblog entry that Network Solutions (purveyors of SiteFinder, that place everyone now goes when they type in the wrong domain name) has started a new web site aimed at domain information privacy called InternetPrivacyAdvocate …

Here's an interesting site that describes using popular tools such as: sawzalls, jigsaws and other serious iron to carve pumpkins. Check out some of the stuff in the gallery!

An article on Wired describes one man's bout with spam and his subsequent tenacious fight to take down the spammer that nearly cost him his business. No doubt, some of you have received the strange messages that look like they are "bounces" from mail systems for messages that appear to …

An article from BBC News discloses that 52 of the 251 people recently sued by the RIAA for file swapping have settled out of court for amounts ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 and that 832 people have voluntarily signed up for the so-called "amnesty" program that the RIAA …

Do you ever run into one of those interesting coincidences? This weekend I'm heading to Chile for a wedding of a good friend. I open up the New York Times yesterday to find an article detailing the current state of divorce law in Chile and suggesting that by next year …

An article from the Christian Science Monitor discusses a number of environmentally friendly chemical processes that are being developed to turn waste products into useful material. The most intriguing of these turns poultry waste into light crude oil. The idea has two interesting effects: first, it finds something useful to …

An article from Technology Review News details a project at the University of Rochester that involves using passive RFID tags embedded in a facility as a trigger for digital audio or CD- based guidance. The idea is similar to the ones used in museums that have guided tours that require …

An article from The Register describes letters reportedly sent to a number of journalists requesting source information about accused (and admitted) hacker Adrian Lamo. The article (originally appearing on the web site Security Focus, a clearinghouse for computer security information) goes on to describe the way in which the FBI …

Thanks to Amanda for pointing me at the paper on the "Google File System", used by Google as a back-office distributed file system. If you are interested in such things at a technical level, this is a good description.

In the gathering storm against SCO's attempt to gather licensing revenues from Linux, IBM has upped the ante once again, filing an amended complaint against SCO asking for, among other things, a declaratory judgment that would explicitly prohibit SCO from imposing additional restrictions on software that it had released under …

An article from CNet describes a new class-action lawsuit filed against Network Solutions over their system that redirects mistyped URLs to servers at Network Solutions. The lawsuit, believed to be the first to ask for class action status, was filed in California by Ira Rothken, who has a history of …

According to an article from InfoWorld, HP is now offering to indemnify purchasers of its Linux systems and support contracts against lawsuits from SCO. The deal is for people buying and using the HP-approved operating system from HP and only works if you have a valid support contract, but it …

In what appears not to be the only case of its kind, the RIAA has withdrawn a suit against a Macintosh user who they claimed was using the Kazaa file sharing service to share 2,000 songs. The problem? Kazaa doesn't run on the Mac. According to an article in …

Almost a week after the vulnerability was found, Apple Computer has now updated Mac OS X to fix the SSH problem on both client and server operating systems. The update is part of 10.2.8, a periodic maintenance update which, according to the tech note, includes a number of …

Not much other news will be reported today as I get the machine up and running and re-orient everything else. However, so far, so great. The machine is huge, weighing in at 58 lbs, but it is quiet -- requiring all of the other machines in my room to be turned …

An article from CNet this morning describes the experience of one Comcast cable internet user who recently received notification from his service provider that he was causing an "unreasonable burden" on the service and that if he did not cut his usage in half, his service would be suspended. This …

As if Microsoft's operating systems weren't causing enough trouble, Wired has a story that claims 65% of the bank ATMs will be running Windows by 2005. Microsoft will be selling them what the article refers to as a "stripped down version of NT," but it is more likely than not …

A story from the Associated Press earlier this month (courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle) reinforces the importance of paying attention to what you are doing. Lockheed Martin dropped a NOAA satellite (NOAA-N) on its side during a routine operation to move it from a vertical to horizontal position. The …