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Turkey Revenge
The turkeys are pissed this Thanksgiving they are seeking revenge.
Germs Infest 60% of Americas Phones
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Smartphone Sanitizing: A Practical Guide
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Why Soft Skills Matter in Today’s Job Market
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IPv4 Doomsday Pushed Back
The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) announced (10-20-2010) that Interop returned its unneeded Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address space. The ARIN Press Release explains that Interop was originally allocated a /8 before ARIN’s existence and the availability of smaller address blocks.
Another press release indicates that Interop founder Dan Lynch acquired the addresses block to allow for unfettered Interoperability Testing between TCP/IP equipment vendors in the formative years of the Internet. Interop will continue to use a small part of the original grant to continue Interop’s 25-year mission to foster industry-wide interoperability while returning the rest of the address block to ARIN for the greater good of the Internet community. The organization recently realized it was only using a small part of its address block and that returning the rest to ARIN would be for the greater good of the Internet community.
ARIN will accept the returned space and not reissue it for a short period, per existing operational procedure. After the hold period, ARIN will follow global policy at that time and return it to the global free pool or distribute the space to those organizations in the ARIN region with documented need, as appropriate.
With less than 5% of the IPv4 address space left in the global free pool, ARIN warns that Interop’s return will not significantly extend the life of IPv4. ARIN continues to emphasize the need for all Internet stakeholders to adopt the next generation of Internet Protocol, IPv6.
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As the original poster at Slashdot points out, if any of the other IPv4 /8 address holders return their unused addresses, the IPv4 exhaustion date would be pushed back even further. I wonder what some of these companies plan on doing with all of these IP addresses?
- HP has 32 million publicly routable addresses (16 million of its own and 16 million from DEC which HP acquired when it ingested Compaq) most of which seem to be used to handle VoIP calls to India for sales and support calls.
- Is Ford going to install a IPv4/IPv6 gateway on all the cars with My Ford Touch, an upgrade of Sync, its in-car Internet service with Microsoft?
- How is the USPS using it 16 million IP addresses?
Some IPv4 /8 Address Holders
| Prefix | Designation | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 003/8 | General Electric Company | 1994-05 |
| 004/8 | Level 3 Communications, Inc. | 1992-12 |
| 008/8 | Level 3 Communications, Inc. | 1992-12 |
| 009/8 | IBM | 1992-08 |
| 012/8 | AT&T Bell Laboratories | 1995-06 |
| 013/8 | Xerox Corporation | 1991-09 |
| 015/8 | Hewlett-Packard Company | 1994-07 |
| 016/8 | Digital Equipment Corporation | 1994-11 |
| 017/8 | Apple Computer Inc. | 1992-07 |
| 018/8 | MIT | 1994-01 |
| 019/8 | Ford Motor Company | 1995-05 |
| 034/8 | Halliburton Company | 1993-03 |
| 035/8 | MERIT Computer Network | 1994-04 |
| 040/8 | Eli Lily & Company | 1994-06 |
| 048/8 | Prudential Securities Inc. | 1995-05 |
| 054/8 | Merck and Co., Inc. | 1992-03 |
| 056/8 | US Postal Service | 1994-06 |
This gadget was developed by Takashi Arano, Intec NetCore
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Apple Wants to Patent Spyware
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is reporting that Apple, Inc., (AAPL) has filed a patent application for a “Systems and Methods for Identifying Unauthorized Users of an Electronic Device. ” The patent is for a device to investigate a user’s identity to decide if that user is “unauthorized.”
Information Apple plans to collect
The system can take a picture of the user’s face, “without a flash, any noise, or any indication that a picture is being taken to prevent the current user from knowing he is being photographed“;- The system can record the user’s voice, whether or not a phone call is even being made;
- The system can determine the user’s unique individual heartbeat “signature”;
- To decide if the device has been hacked, the device can watch for “a sudden increase in memory usage of the electronic device“;
- The user’s “Internet activity can be monitored or any communication packets that are served to the electronic device can be recorded“; and
- The device can take a photograph of the surrounding location to find where it is being used.
Who is the responsible party
The EFF believes that as a result of this new technology, Apple will know who you are, where you are, and what you are doing and saying, and even how fast your heart is beating. In some embodiments of Apple’s “invention,” this information “can be gathered every time the electronic device is turned on, unlocked, or used.” When an “unauthorized use” is detected, Apple can contact a “responsible party.” A “responsible party” may be the device’s owner or as the EFF points out the “responsible party may also be “proper authorities or the police.” Once an unauthorized user is identified, Apple could wipe the device and remotely store the user’s “sensitive data.” Apple’s patent application suggests it may use the technology not just to limit “unauthorized” uses of its phones but also to shut down a stolen phone.
However, the EFF says Apple’s new technology would do much more. The EFF believes that this patented device enables Apple to secretly collect, store, and potentially use sensitive biometric information about the user. This is dangerous in two ways according to the EFF:
- It is far more than what is needed just to protect you against a lost or stolen phone. It’s extremely privacy-invasive and it puts you at great risk if Apple’s data on you are compromised. But it’s not only the biometric data that are a concern.
- Apple does not explain what it will do with all of this collected information on its users, how long it will keep this information, how it will use this information, or if it will share this information with other third parties. We know based on long experience that if Apple collects this information, law enforcement will come for it, and may even order Apple to turn it on for reasons other than simply returning a lost phone to its owner.
- Apple’s technology includes various types of usage monitoring — also very privacy-invasive. This patented process could be used to retaliate against users who jailbreak or tinker with their device in ways that Apple views as “unauthorized” even if it is perfectly legal under copyright law.
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The EFF says this is a new business opportunity: spyware and what they are calling “traitorware.” The patent would allow Apple to find and punish users who tinker with their devices. The EFF says it’s not just spyware, it’s “traitorware,” since it is designed to allow Apple to retaliate against customers who do something Apple doesn’t like.
This patent is downright creepy and invasive — certainly far more than would be needed to respond to the possible loss of a phone. Spyware, and its new cousin traitorware, will hurt customers and companies alike — Apple should shelve this idea before it backfires on both it and its customers.
Related articles
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Uncategorized |
Tags: 2010, AAPL, Apple, Biometrics, EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, IOS, iPhone, Malware, Patents, Spyware, Steve Jobs
5 Billion Mobile Phones
The market research firm iSuppli predicts that 73.4% of Earth’s population now owns a mobile phone. Thanks to demand in the emerging economies, analysts at iSuppli are predicting that there are now 5 billion mobile subscriptions. That works out to nearly 3 out of every 4 people on this planet will own a mobile phone.
Dr. Jagdish Rebello, iSuppli senior director, and principal wireless analyst believes that mobile phones are driving the tech industry. Rebello says “… the proliferation of wireless communications stands out as one of the most significant phenomena in the history of technology.” He says that wireless communication is now. “ … a basic staple like food, clothing, and shelter.”
“Wireless now represents the biggest stage that any technology market has ever played on, offering unlimited opportunities for members of the mobile communications supply chain,” Rebello said in a press release. “Because of the prevalence of mobile communications, the focus of the global technology supply chain has shifted away from the slower-growing computer market toward fast-expanding wireless-oriented platforms he says, ”The vast size of the installed base means wireless delivers greater opportunities for content and service developers to reach a large part of the population. Furthermore, the evolution of mobile handsets into smartphones is leading to the deployment of more value-added services, software, and components.”
Wireless subscriptions vary widely by region
iSuppli says wireless subscriptions vary widely by region. At the low-end is the combined Africa and Middle East region at 50% to 157.6% in Western Europe. The global installed base of wireless devices will amount to 4.9 billion at the end of 2010. The remaining subscribers will be accounted for by added Subscriber Identification (SIM) modules used in mobile handsets and services to Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications systems. IntoMobile points out that 47.6 million subscriptions were added per month since December 2008 to reach current levels.
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Dell Number 2 again
I wrote about Dell losing its #2 role in the PC market but now iSuppli reports that Dell (DELL) has regained its customary rank in the global PC market behind HP. After nine months in third place, the Texas-based OEM retook the number 2 place from Taiwan-based Acer (ACID) in the second quarter of 2010. The change is primarily due to decreased Acer sales and not improved sales for Dell.
In the second quarter shipped Dell shipped 10.5 million units worldwide, down a negligible 1.2 percent from 10.7 million units in the first quarter. This gave Dell a 12.8 percent share of global shipments, down from 13.1 percent in the first quarter according to iSuppli.
However, iSuppli says Acer experienced a 6.2 percent shipment decline in the second quarter, with its shipments falling to 10.2 million units, down from 10.9 million in the first quarter. As a result, Acer’s share declined to 12.4 percent, down from 13.3 percent in the first quarter. Acer’s decline was notable given the global PC market’s 1.1% sequential rise in the second quarter, with shipments amounting to 82.5 million units, up from 81.6 million in the first quarter.
“With its product line heavily focused on mobile PCs, Acer’s sequential decline in notebook shipments affected its position at the total PC level more than its competitors, which were able to draw on the upswing in desktop shipments to bolster their total shipments,” said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, compute platforms research for iSuppli.
Dell’s share of the global PC market had been steadily declining since the second quarter of 2008. At that time the company accounted for 16% of worldwide shipments and held a 6.5% point lead over Acer. However, by the third quarter of 2009, Dell’s share had dwindled to 12.9 percent, allowing Acer to slip past and take the world’s No. 2 position.
“The second-quarter results show the market-share battle between Dell and Acer is not over and that it will continue to rage,” Wilkins said.
The second quarter marked HP’s 16th consecutive quarter as the No. 1 worldwide PC brand, with a market share of 18.1 percent.
Top 5 PC OEM Ranking Q2 2010
| Q2 2010 Rank | OEM | Q2 2010 Shipments | Q2 2010 Share | Q1 2010 Shipments | Q1 2010 Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hewlett-Packard | 14,995 | 18.1% | 15,965 | 19.6% |
| 2 | Dell | 10,541 | 12.8% | 10,668 | 13.1% |
| 3 | Acer | 10,191 | 12.4% | 10,870 | 13.2% |
| 4 | Lenovo | 8,327 | 10.1% | 7,020 | 8.6% |
| 5 | Toshiba | 4,456 | 5.4% | 4,575 | 5.6% |
| Others | 34,020 | 41.2% | 32,499 | 39.8% | |
| TOTAL | 82,490 | 100% | 81,596 | 100% |
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
BP Oil Spill Still in the Gulf
Greenpeace has found traces of oil from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico at a depth of 3,200 feet and up to 300 miles from the spill site, according to a report from AFP. A team of scientists aboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise reported the results. After 10 days of sampling around areas affected by the worst oil spill in history. “From the measurements we’ve taken, we see clear signs of oxygen deficiency on a large transect starting at the Macondo wellhead, all the way 300 miles to the west,” said Rainer Amon, a Texas A&M scientist who participated in the research in the AFP article. “How much of oil and gas components are still in the water is something that we need to now investigate in the laboratory.”
The expedition had four points plotted to the west of the well to investigate the main path of oil after the April accident that led to a massive release of crude oil. They concluded that the dissolved oxygen level was not as low as scientists would have expected if a greater proportion of oil and gas had dissolved in the water.
This suggests that oil has not “disappeared” some have suggested and that as much as three to four million barrels of crude from the disaster have still not been accounted for. “Despite everything that BP and the government would like us to think, the truth is, the oil spill’s impact is not over,” said Greenpeace US research director Kert Davies. “Scientists know better, fishermen know better, the people of the Gulf and certainly the clean-up crews endlessly picking up tar balls know better. The government and BP need to be honest with everyone about the extent of the damage.”
Charlie Riedel/AP
The researchers conducted a parallel study of sealift and obtained samples of sediment on the ocean floor at a depth of 4,20 feet, five miles from the disaster site. The article says that some of the samples contained visible amounts of oil with a strong smell said Greenpeace in the AFP article. The samples have been sent to an independent laboratory for study and to determine the presence of chemical dispersants.
“When we’ve analyzed all the samples we’ve collected for our work and that of our colleagues, we hope to come up with a pretty good estimate of how much of the oil and gas was put into the system. Hopefully, we can then come up with good ideas of where that missing oil and gas has gone” Texas A&M’s Amon says in the AFP article.
Some 205 million gallons of oil flowed into the Gulf after the April 20 explosion aboard the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig, impacting the crucial fishing and tourism industries and destroying hundreds of miles of the region’s fragile coastal ecosystems.
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The rest of us will have to live with the long-lasting impact, but not BP. Politico reports
During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.
For their $77K investment, BP is now getting special treatment according to CBS News. CBS has reported
Charlie Riedel/AP
BP and the Obama administration are discussing a possible settlement over fines for the company’s massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill in an effort to avoid a costly legal fight …. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., said the goal of the talks between BP PLC and the government is to reach a deal instead of having to fight it out in court.
CBS News further reports that BP faces penalties and fines under a variety of environmental protection laws, including fines of up to $1,100 under the Clean Water Act for each barrel of oil spilled. If BP were found to have committed gross negligence or willful misconduct, the fine could be up to $4,300 per barrel. That means that based on the 4.9 million barrels released from the Macondo well, BP could face civil fines under the Clean Water Act alone of between $5.4 billion and $21.1 billion.
Any reduction in fines that BP can leverage out of the administration would give a healthy return on investment for BP and will show the value of the environment to Washington.
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Oil |
Tags: 2010, Barack Obama, BP, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Energy, Greenpeace, Gulf Oil Spill, Politics