Tech Bones

The EU celebrated America's Independence Day by rejecting the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) with a vote of 478 against and 39 for with 165 abstentions. Despite all the back room negotations and closed meetings, common sense prevailed. Now that's a great way to celebrate freedom. Happy Independence Day!

A 1965 internal paper written by Gordon Moore, Director of R&D for Fairchild semiconductor entitled, "The Future of Integrated Electronics" predicted "the development of integrated electronics for perhaps the next ten years." Based upon an extrapolation that relied upon data from 1959 to 1964, Moore projected that the number of components per integrated chip would double every 12 months. A decade later, integrated circuit technology had advanced by leaps and bounds to the point that these predictions were validated at an IEEE conference. At the 1975 conference, Moore, who had become co-founder and President of Intel, revisited the data and slowed the progression to doubling every 18 months, resulting in his findings being dubbed "Moore's Law." Upon reviewing his projections again in 1995, Moore commented "The current prediction is that this is not going to stop soon." Moore was right in each case. The initial projection Moore

[Comment: I received the following from Wally Kinney, a friend who I highly respect. In his capacity as Chairman of the Audit Committee for the Texas State Securities Board, Wally is extremely knowledgeable about investing. He felt the following information was well worth sharing, regardless of whether you live in Texas or not. After reading it, I agree wholeheartedly.] SECURITIES COMMISSIONER WARNS ENTREPRENEURS ABOUT POTENTIAL HAZARDS OF RUSHING INTO ‘CROWDFUNDING’ AUSTIN, Texas - Securities Commissioner John Morgan today urged small businesses and entrepreneurs to be aware of the potential regulatory pitfalls in "crowdfunding," an online money-raising strategy sanctioned by the federal Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act. Through crowdfunding, individuals will be able to invest in start-ups through a broker-dealer or a "funding portal," which is a website that advertises the investment offering and facilitates payment from investors to the company i

Without announcing prices or release dates, Microsoft recently introduced a pair of tablets named Surface. Leaving the analysis of the technical details of each tablet to those who attended the announcement, the most striking element of this announcement to me is the dramatic departure from Microsoft's 37 year old tradition of avoiding direct competition with their hardware partners. Considering Apple's success, one might argue a Microsoft tablet is long overdue but too late to have an impact. Microsoft Surface http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/default.aspx In reality and despite the substantial lead forged by Apple with the iPad, a huge untapped market for tablets exists. As even more functionality is added, the prospects for overtaking the low end netbooks and notebooks market increase. Besides, everything new today becomes dated within 18 months, so the upgrade market will always loom on the horizon. Microsoft's entry will up the ante in the tablet market by

An upsetting trend looms over proposed national legislation and international agreements that threatens First Amendment rights on the internet. While public outcry has successfully hindered the advancement of such measures so far, attacks to our freedom of speech on the internet continue to increase according to Google. A Fox News article entitled "Google sees 'alarming' uptick in government censorship' outlines several recent examples of governments submitting requests to have material it finds "illegal, hateful, terrorism-promoting, or offensive" removed from the internet. While Google has refused the requests in some cases, they have been forced to comply in others. Fox News: Google sees 'alarming' uptick in government censorship http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/06/18/google-sees-alarming-uptick-in-government-censorship/ Dorothy Chou, Google's senior policy analyst, wrote in a Sunday blog post, "It's alarming not only because

Prior to the proposed legislation of the Senate's PIPA (Protect IP Act of 2011) and House of Representatives' SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), an international effort to enforce Intellectual Property (IP) rights, known as ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement), was already in the works. Though PIPA and SOPA were both left to languish as a result of negative response from the IT user community, ACTA remains alive and well. Public scrutiny over the extent and regulations of both PIPA and SOPA thwarted congressional approval of either act. However, the ACTA effort is not subject to such openness. Negotiations for its enactment continue behind closed doors. With minimal industry or user input allowed, representatives from major industrialized nations continue to negotiate the terms of ACTA. Based upon leaked copies of drafts, the combination of broader controls and even more vague wording will compromise the First Amendment on the internet and erode privacy concerns far beyond

If you think battling all the viruses, trojans, malware, and other perpetrators in the internet world is tough enough, imagine trying to defend against someone with a passkey to your backdoor. Virtually everything used on a daily basis is computerized and networked. The latest gadgets, alarm clocks, appliances, houses, cars, and virtually everything else we use for entertainment or work, are computerized and inter-connected. Imagine a nefarious entity, such as Austin Powers' Dr. Evil, who intends to control the world and force his way of life on the rest of us. What if Dr. Evil covertly, over time, gained control of the manufacture of technology by replicating creations throughout the world and selling them at a fraction of the price, thanks to lower labor costs and a willingness to take a short term loss to gain long term control of the market? What if Dr. Evil succeeded in not only becoming the manufacturer of a majority of all electronics produced in the world including mili

If you are a network manager, a computer systems administrator or a computer security specialist, you have undoubtedly heard about the Flame trojan, a malware program that redefines ones concept of espionage and warfare on the cyber front. In a recent post on The Weekly Standard magazine's Web site, Jonathan V. Last provides an interesting perspective of the Flame pertaining to what Flame means in terms of the evolution of malware. Bride of Stuxnet Webcraft as spycraft. http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/bride-stuxnet_646424.html While accurately describing Flame as " the most spectacular computer worm ever made ", Jonathan Last minimizes the true threat it presents by categorizing it as " the perfect spy ." Aside from the obvious espionage threat this malware poses, its potential evolution as a disruptive and destructive threat is far more ominous. The current Flame trojan could be merely a first release in the wild, a recon version on a spy missi

What seems like a lifetime ago, but in reality was only a generation, when Saturday Night Live was in its prime, Eddie Murphy portrayed a character named Velvet Jones. As an entrepreneur, Velvet offered instructional books on several subjects. In an SNL sketch titled the "People's Court," Velvet was forced to defend one of his books against accusations that it did not deliver sufficient instruction to achieve success. Velvet Jones on the People's Court (NBC's Saturday Night Live - Season 7, Episode 9 - 23 January 1982) When I read pitches for co-founders or chat with people who believe they have the idea for the next great startup, the image of Eddie Murphy comes to mind. While I admire their enthusiasm and encourage their pursuit of the dream, I sense these potential entrepreneurs have skipped a few chapters along the way, trying to jump from the premise of having an idea to counting their first million. If only they would take the time to re-read the book

As I've pointed out in the past, activity tracking and data mining are increasingly becoming more sophisticated. Once they approach being a real science, maintaining personal privacy becomes less feasible. The following article in Forbes' demonstrates how close we are to that time... How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/ If you think your browser settings protect you from such efforts, think again... Google tracked iPhones, bypassing Apple browser privacy settings http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/17/google-tracked-iphones-bypassing-apple-browser-privacy-settings/ It's getting harder to maintain any sense of privacy. . . .

A picture is worth a thousands words... Or explanations.

With apologies to the producers of the movie 'Top Gun', no better example of "The Need For Speed" has ever existed than a technology user, as exemplified by the following cartoon...   Thanks to Jorge Cham at http://www.PHPComics.com for illustrating this point so well. . . .

I have come to the conclusion that there are basically three types of technologists: Inventors, Innovators, and Imitators. Inventors advance technology to the next plane. Innovators push the vertical plane of technology, typically inspiring inventions. Imitators broaden the horizontal plane of technology, frequently driving innovations. All three overlap to some degree yet define a distinct approach. For example, the invention of the computer chip involved a technically innovative way to use transistors that advanced technology. Similarly, innovation uses, combines, or improves upon existing products often simulating a newly invented technology. Imitations can involve slight changes or extensions initially appearing to be innovative, even inventive, but in essence merely expand upon a copied premise. Many true innovators, including Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, are also considered inventors. While both had the vision to recognize how existing technology could be combined, enhanced, and

In visiting with the founders of a few new startups recently, I sadly discovered that the most frequently expressed "business plan" involved building a product markedly similar to an existing, successful one. Even more disappointing, none of the plans focused on improving the copied product but rather in duplicating its functionality to the point of attracting sufficient attention to result in the company being acquired, allowing the founder to cash out. Money reigned supreme over innovation. Endeavoring to expand functionality or improve a concept was shunned in favor of seeking a quick buyout and a big payday. The thrill and pride of creating something unique, like a piece of art, was absent. Money, from imitation not invention or innovation, was the resounding mantra. The shortcut to success by today's standard. It only takes a little more work than playing Lotto, with about the same odds of winning. Where is the next Steve Jobs whose passion fueled his novelty and

Yahoo co-founder Eric Yang recently resigned as a member of the board stating, "The time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo." With this statement, Yang signaled the dramatic end to the 17 years since he helped found the company. In that time, he watched Yahoo's market share and stock price grow substantially, only to collapse in the wakes of Google's and Bing's success.  The latter must be the most painful considering Yahoo spurned Microsoft's $47.5 acquisition offer back in 2008, a figure representing almost three times its current stock value. At the time, Yahoo's decision was largely attributed to Yang's unwillingness to let go of his dreams and his influence over the board. Like a kid hanging on one rung of the monkey bars, unable to move forward and yet afraid to drop, some entrepreneurs hang on too long before finally falling to the ground. Failure to recognize when to get out of the way not only postpones the inevitable

Despite being an intellectual property developer, I do not support the proposed Protect IP Act (PIPA Senate Bill 968) or Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA House Resolution 3261) legislation. Granted, piracy of Intellectual Property creates signifcant problems and those who profit by completely ignoring IP rights need to be stopped. However, typical of legislative redress, both proposals overreach in their attempt to resolve the situation. Senate Bill 968 - Protect IP Act of 2011 http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968/show House Resolution 3261 - Stop Online Piracy Act http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show While this legislation attempts to curb the piracy of IP, it allows the Department of Justice to circumvent due process based upon their interpretation of what constitutes a violation and the justification for immediate action. Protecting property rights should not come at the expense of constitutional rights. If only for that reason, opposition to the proposed legisla

While I embrace the concept of the "Cloud" and its potential, my concerns regarding security continue to fuel my reluctance to fully endorse the technology or recommend it as a "one size fits all" solution like many of my peers.  In all probability we will get there but I am just not ready to declare the "Cloud" as being ready for Prime Time. Apparently, neither is the Los Angeles Polic Department. In a much bally-hooed deal with Google, the Los Angeles City Council voted last Fall to move the entire 30,000 employee email system to the "Cloud" using Google's hosted services.  However, after reviewing security needs and requirements, the LAPD sought and received an exception for its 13,000 employees citing that the system offer by Google "does not have the technical ability to comply with the city's security requirements."  Instead, LAPD will stick with the GroupWise system it has long used and which offers the security neede

With apologies to Yogi Berra. My Uncle recently eMailed me the following joke... After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago. Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story in the LA Times read: "California archaeologists, report finding of 200 year old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers." One week later. A local newspaper in South Dakota reported the following: "After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Java, South Dakota, Ole Swenson, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Ole has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, S