I am so there!

"I've Got a Golden Ticket!" Update: "Because you were a member and supporter of the Michigan Space & Science Center in Jackson, I would like to extend an invitation for you to join us for the member's 'pre-opening' event at the new Michigan Space Science Center at the Air Zoo. This will be taking place 11:00 am to 7:00 pm on Firday, June 8th in the Air Zoo's East Campus building."

That's what this felt like to me:



I've never seen the Cutty Sark. Perhaps now I never will. But I've loved that ship for over 30 years. In middle school, I took a modeling class. I built a model of the Cutty Sark. Mom did the rigging. We did it together, and that makes it special.

If I look closely, I can see how crude my modeling and painting work was (and I doubt I'd do any better now). But if I look from across the room, I see the Sark, full sail, riding the waves. I hear the gulls, and the Captain shouting out orders. I smell the salt spray.

That's our ship, Mom's and mine. I've taken it with me wherever I've lived in all the years since. And I always wanted to see the real thing, but business never took me to London. Now, despite their optimism, I suspect it's gone for good.

But our Cutty Sark still sails.

OK, this may be old news to some of you; and it's obvious, once you think about it. But it's news to me, so I want to pass it along.

The topic is WiFi Evil Twins. What's a WiFi Evil Twin, you ask? That's when some thief goes to a public WiFi hotspot area and sets up a new public WiFi network with the same or similar name, in hopes of getting people to sign in through his WiFi instead of the public one. Then he can attempt to upload viruses, record traffic, capture credit card information, etc. Usually he uses a stronger antenna, so that you're more likely to find his network than the legitimate network.

There are variations on this. One might be called the Evil One: he doesn't duplicate the existing network, he just creates a new network. As this interview with Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. (Professor of Internet Law at Lincoln Law School of San Jose, and the President and CEO of the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy) explains:

Anne: Yes. Just last week I was sitting in my local Starbucks, where they offer wifi hotspots from T-Mobile. In order to log into a T-Mobile hotspot, you must have an account with T-Mobile, for which you must pay.

Even though I don't use the T-Mobile hotspots, I always check (with my laptop) to see what wifi hotspots are available at any given location because, well, that's part of my beat.

Sure enough, users at that Starbucks who opened their laptops and searched for a local wifi Internet connection were presented with the option of "T-Mobile Hotspot," as they should be, but were also presented with a second option, called "Free Wifi from Team WiFi," which I am 99% certain was an evil twin (and indeed Starbucks confirmed that there was no special offer going on which would have otherwise explained that second hotspot).

Now, notice a few things about this second, uninvited hotspot. First, it uses the term "free wifi." Who wouldn't want to use that, especially compared to the T-Mobile hotspot, where you have to pay?

Second, though, note the friendly and familiar sounding "Team WiFi." By using familiar terms for their evil twin, along with telling people it is free, they are making it very easy for an unsuspecting user to go ahead and click and connect to that evil twin. In fact, users may just think that it's a special offer from the T-Mobile Hotspot people.

Sure enough, Audri, this evil twin caught some people. As the gentleman who was sitting next to me got up to leave, after being on his computer for quite some time, I asked him whether he had logged in to the Internet while he was there.

When he said that he had, I asked him whether he was a T-Mobile user. "Oh no," he replied, "they have a free wifi hotspot set up here."

I advised him that it was almost certainly an evil twin, and that if he had done anything online while logged in through that "free" hotspot which might have compromised any sensitive information, he should take immediate measures to remedy the situation, such as changing any passwords he had sent while logged in.

And for me, this is more than just theory: I'm pretty sure I've met an Evil Twin in the wild. A hotel I've been staying at offers free WiFi (more and more of them do these days — it's a lot cheaper than stringing wires to the rooms). They have three WiFi hubs: "hotel name", "hotel name2", and "hotel name3" (names changed because I'm not sure I'm right yet). That's what the owner believes, anyway; but when I check for available networks, there's a fourth network, named "Hotel Name". And it has a stronger signal than any of the other hubs. What's more, when I connect to the other three hubs, they all give me the same IP address; but when I (carefully and briefly) connect to the fourth hub, it gives me a radically different IP address on an entirely different subnet.

So what should I do about it? That's troublesome. From the interview with Ms. Mitchell:

At this point your readers may be wondering why I didn't alert the authorities. And this is why user education is so very important.

There really was nobody for me to effectively alert. I could have called the police, but they would not have had the resources to even figure out where this evil twin was located, let alone to figure out who and how it was being done. The best thing I could do at that point was to let people know not to use that hotspot.

While I'm all for user education — that's why I'm telling you this — I'm not so complacent as Ms. Mitchell about informing the police. Michigan's Attorney General has made fighting Internet crime a priority, so I've informed their High Tech Crime Unit. It may be a waste of time; but if I don't try, I'll always worry that someone might be getting ripped off, and I didn't do anything to stop it.

Now back to the subject of user education: here are some things you can do to protect yourself.

1. When in doubt, don't do it. These scammers are good. This is how they make their living. If you don't feel comfortable trying to detect and outwit the scammers, then don't do anything at a WiFi hotspot. Certainly don't enter any passwords, credit card numbers, etc. Save that work for when you have a direct connection. I'm not saying you should never use WiFI; I'm saying that if you don't want to take the time to learn how to protect yourself, then you should never use WiFi.


2. Always download the latest security updates from Windows Update. Set up your machine to download the updates automatically. Don't tell me you're too busy. If you're too busy, then stay off WiFi. In fact, stay off the Internet, period. The scammers are working hard to find new victims, and you're volunteering to be one. And don't tell me that the updates "break" your machine. While I'll grant that's possible, it's most likely something you're doing wrong, and you need to fix. I've had automatic updates activated on all of my machines for years, and I've never had a problem.


3. Turn on your Windows firewall.


4. Download and install Windows Defender.


5. Install a good antivirus/Internet security package, such as McAfee or Symantec, and keep it up to date.


6. Install a spyware blocker like Ad-Aware or Spybot. In fact, install both of them. They're free, and they seem to complement each other well. And yes, Windows Defender and McAfee and Symantec all have adware/spyware blockers as well; but since each product has its own strengths and weaknesses, it can't hurt to have multiple layers of protection.


7. Despite my advocating Ad-Aware and Spybot, be careful with "free" software. Software takes time to develop. Time is money. Although we programmers will often write code for fun or passion, the most common motivation is money. If someone's offering it to you for free, it's very likely because he hopes to make money somewhere else. In many cases, that's by selling ads through adware/spyware; but sometimes, it's by installing viruses and keyboard recorders to steal your banking information. If you're installing "free" software, make sure you trust the company or person that's providing it.


8. Change your WiFi settings to Paranoid (i.e., safe). This will involve several steps:
   
   
   
   1. Open up your network connections by selecting Show All Connections from your Start menu:
      
      
      
   
   
   2. When you see the Network Connections dialog, right-click your wireless connection and select Properties:
      
      
      
   
   
   3. You should see the Wireless Network Connection Properties dialog:
      
      
      
      Switch to the Wireless Networks tab:
      
      
      
   
   
   4. Click the Advanced button to open the Advanced wireless settings dialog:
      
      
      
      This lets you choose from three different ways to access WiFi networks:
      
      
      
      
      • Any available network (access point preferred). This means that you will connect either to wirless hubs or to other wireless computers, but you'll prefer wireless hubs.
      
      
      • Access point (infrastructure) networks only. This means that you will connect only to wirless hubs.
      
      
      • Computer-to-computer (ad-hoc) networks only. This means that you will connect only to other wireless computers.
      
      
      
      Unless you know you're intending to work with friends or coworkers and plan to meet somewhere without a WiFi network, it's always a bad idea to connect to other wireless computers. That's the easiest way to get viruses; and it's a very easy way to get hoodwinked by an Evil Twin: the scammer doesn't even have to set up a hub, just rename his computer to look like a network. The Paranoid setting here is Access point (infrastructure) networks only. Choose that one unless you're sure you have a reason not to.
      
      This dialog also has a check box: Automatically connect to non-preferred networks. For added Paranoia, make sure that box isn't checked.
      
      When you're done in this dialog, click Close. But don't close the Wireless Network Connection Properties dialog. You'll do more work there in the next step.
      
   
   
   
   
9. Next you want to disable automatic connection to all of your WiFi networks, or at least to most of them. Your home network is probably safe, as are those of your friends, and your office; but even in those places, if there are neighbors nearby, there's the chance of an Evil Twin. So the Paranoid (i.e., safe) approach is to only make manual connections. Now if you're like me, you probably already have a number of known Wireless connections; and if Evil Twins are as new to you as they are to me, then those are probably set up for automatic connection. So you'll need to switch those to manual, following these steps for each network:
   
   
   
   
   1. In the Wireless Network Connection Properties dialog, select the network you would like to change:
      
      
      
      After you select the network, click Properties. You should see the Properties dialog for the selected network:
      
      
      
   
   
   2. Select the Connection tab:
      
      
      
      Uncheck the box that says Connect when this network is in range, and then click OK.
      
      Repeat this for every wireless network. Then click OK in the Wireless Network Connection Properties dialog as well.
      
   
   
   
   
   Once you've disabled automatic connection, you'll need to connect manually to any network. To do this, right-click the wireless network connection icon and select View Available Wireless Networks:
   
   
   
   You'll see the Wireless Network Connection dialog:
   
   
   
   Select the network you want to connect to, and click Connect.
   


10. While you're in the Wireless Network Connection dialog, search for Evil Twins. If you see two networks with the same name, one is probably an Evil Twin. If you see a network with a seductive name like "Free Wifi from Team WiFi," that's probably an Evil One. Here's a hint: Internet service isn't free. If a cafe or restaurant or hotel puts in WiFi service, it's because they're hoping it will bring them customers. And the only way it can bring them customers is if customers know about it. That means they'll advertise it with signs on the wall or the front door. If you don't see an advertisement for it, it's probably an Evil One. And if there's both a fee-based service like T-Mobile and a "free" service, the "free" service is almost conclusively an Evil One. When in doubt, ask the management. If they don't know about it — or they're clueless and say, "I don't know anything about the wireless" — assume it's an Evil One.


11. If you think you've found an Evil Twin or an Evil One, I disagree with Ms. Mitchell: inform your Attorney General. They get our tax follars to pursue cybercrime, but they can't be everywhere. If they don't know about the crime, they can't pursue it. Maybe nothing will come of it, and the criminals may keep commiting their crimes; but if no one does anything, then they will keep commiting their crimes. I understand why Ms. Mitchell would inform other patrons that they were at risk. Of course, it takes some chutzpah to start telling random strangers in a cafe that they're at risk; and worse, it may also upset the scammer, and he may take steps to shut you up. And even if you inform the management, it's possible that someone in management is the scammer. I think it's best to leave law enforcement to the law enforcement authorities. Tell your AG.

Robert A. Heinlein once wrote: "Anything free is worth what you pay for it." My cynical addition is "If you're lucky." That "free" WiFi could end up costing you everything you've got in your bank account, and a whole lot more.

UPDATE: My lone commenter and fellow Duelist Epee Bill links to this more serious WiFi vulnerability. It's a WiFi driver flaw affecting laptops from Dell, HP, and Gateway, as well as other devices. Because it's driver-level code, it works at a privileged level in your system and can give a hacker complete control.

The catch is no one's distributing the fix through typical "push" channels. You have to know about it and go pull it down.

My good buddy Josh Holmes announced some major news this week: he's joining Microsoft as an Architect Evangelist.

As someone whome he hit up for a reference, I've been waiting a long time to say: Congratulations, Josh!

Update: Revised Josh's URL.

...I no longer have to remember which one's al-Zarqawi and which one's al-Zawahiri. The live one (for now) is al-Zawahiri.

Ever since I got my wonderful Gateway CX200X — and even before, with my less-than-wonderful Toshiba M200 (which I'm managing to put to productive use, but cautiously) — I've had this annoying problem. When I would shut the lid, with every expectation that that would suspend the machine, I would be deceived. I would put the machine in my backpack, and head off for the road or the plane or wherever, expecting that my machine was obediently sleeping, preserving battery power; and instead, it was still running along, drinking down that battery juice. Yumm! And even worse, it was locked away in my backpack, a confined and somewhat insulated place, where the machine served as a most effective heating system, thoroughly roasting any heat-sensitive system inside — such as, say, itself. And when I would open the backpack, I would pull out a horribly overheated machine with half its battery power gone. And the first thing I would see would be a message box: "Insufficient system resources exist to complete the API." No explanation of which resources were lacking — and trust me, my Gateway's a powerhouse, packed with all the RAM and CPU and disk it could possibly hold, and even the Toshiba has lots of RAM (keep that in mind) — nor which API (Application Programming Interface, or operation for you non-geeks) was failing, nor which program was having the problem. And often the box appeared multiple times. And once I finally closed them all, I could use the half-depleted, overheated machine.

There was one other symptom, which I was sure was related but couldn't prove: if I closed the machine's lid, and then happened to be near it maybe thirty minutes or so later, I would sometimes hear the standard Windows error chime that means "Hey, something just failed." My assumption (true enough, as it happens) was that that error chime corresponded to the message box appearing.

Now since the problem was common to both machines, I naturally assumed that it was due to something I had installed on the Toshiba, and then later moved to the Gateway. But despite some experimentation, I didn't figure out what it might be. I resigned myself to doing a full power down whenever possible. It's a lot slower, but it's safer. But I was still puzzled at what application might be preventing the machine from sleeping.

Little did I suspect that it was the operating system.

Last week, I got fed up with using my machine as a backpack heater, and I got fed up with waiting through power down and power up. So I did a quick Internet search, and I found this Microsoft Knowledge Base article. It explains that this error happens in Microsoft Windows XP SP 2, because of a flaw in the hibernation engine. (And before anyone asks why I used Hibernate rather than the much faster Standby mode: I am using Standby; but I have a battery-saving power mode enabled that switches to Hibernate if it's inactive for half an hour. Or it would if it could; but instead, this error happened. And when it did, the message box would appear, and the error chime would sound. See, it all starts to come together now, eh?)

And the nature of the error has to do with what Hibernate does: it captures the state of your machine, and saves that to your hard drive, and then powers down; but when your machine powers back up, it sees that hibernation state file, and it recreates that state as if your machine had never been sut off. So that means it has to make an exact image of your entire RAM, so that it can reload that exact image when it starts up again. But here's the flaw: sometimes it couldn't get the resources (file handles or something, I don't think I've ever found out) to create the RAM copy; and so rather than lose the contents of your RAM, it would simply refuse to hibernate.

And here's the real kicker: the more memory you had, and the more you used it and fragmented it into a lot of smaller chunks, the more likely it was that the hibernate engine would run out of resources. So if you're somebody like, say, a programmer, who puts a machine through a lot of memory churn... And if you decided when buying a new machine that the best way to deal with memory limits was to just buy lots and lots of memory... Then you were more likely to have this problem!

And as the KB article explains, Microsoft does have a fix. Unfortunately, this problem was found after XP Service Pack 2. And short of utter calamity, Microsoft has no plans for another Service Pack for Windows prior to Vista. And as many of you have probably heard, Vista has been pushed back to the first quarter of next year. So there's no official path to obtain the fix for this problem.

Except for one path: a hotfix. As the KB article explains, Microsoft does offer a hotfix for this problem. For those who haven't run into one before, a hotfix means:

1. Microsoft hasn't had a chance to test this on nearly as many machines and configurations as they would like.


2. In particular, Microsoft hasn't had a chance to regression test this. Regression testing is a way of testing that no old bugs have somehow been reintroduced in the process of fixing a new bug.


3. It may take a little more expertise to install than does a usual set up program.


4. Microsoft has to be sure that you get the version of the hotfix that's right for your operating system. (XP isn't the only OS where they found this problem.)


5. Microsoft can't support the hotfix. If you must have it, they strongly encourage you to do a thorough backup before installing it.


6. Microsoft strongly discourages you from installing the hotfix unless you're actually suffering from the problem it was designed to fix. For instance, most people never hibernate desktops, and not all laptops or Tablets are experiencing this problem, so don't apply the hotfix to those!

In the case of this hotfix, they're extremely cautious to be sure that only people who really need the fix get it, and that they get the right version: they don't offer it as a download, but rather require you to call them on the telephone (how quaint), give them the Knowledge Base article number (that's 909095, for those of you who need it), and request that they email you a URL for the hotfix. And when they send you the URL, it includes a password that expires in a week. They really don't want you to install this unless you absolutely need it.

But I have to tell ya, I installed it Thursday, and already I'm thrilled. Suspend-to-Hibernate transition just works. I know that's no big deal to some of you, but it's a huge deal for me. No more roasted machine!

Now I don't fault Microsoft for having the bug. All code has bugs. I don't fault Microsoft for not releasing another Service Pack with this fix, because I understand that release schedules on a major product like an operating system are very difficult to manage. I won't go into all the reasons, but I'm very sympathetic to how difficult this schedule must be for them. And I'm not even upset about the multiple-step hotfix approach, nor about their caution in releasing it and their reluctance to support it. I think I understand all of their reasoning for these decisions.

But I'm a little annoyed at Microsoft for not publicizing this problem and the hotfix for it more. I have been at two major Tablet PC promotional/educational events at Redmond in the past half year, plus the MVP Summit. Power management came up as an issue at all of them. And the roasting-computer-in-the-backpack problem came up at every one of them. And Microsoft people promised that this was a driving force for some of the advanced power management features coming up in Vista.

But not once did anyone mention that I could have a fix for my immediate problem immediately.

I'm going to assume that the problem is so obscure that most Microsoft people don't even know about it. But at a Tablet PC talk specifically about power management? Where they cite roasting computers as a problem that people are complaining about? I have trouble believing that no one there knew about this problem and the hotfix.

There may be some acceptable explanation for not telling us about this. I'm willing to listen. But there's no reason I can see not to tell the world as loudly as my little blog can. So I'm going to join the chorus of many, many bloggers and others telling the world: "If you're getting to message 'Insufficient system resources exist to complete the API,' read KB article 909095." I can't recommend that you install the hotfix, because only you know how willing you are to risk having to rebuild your machine if something goes wrong; but I can make you aware of the hotfix, and I can let you know that it works on my machine.

Professor Reynolds links to this very lengthy essay on cultural contamination, and how that may not be as bad as some people want you to believe, by Kwame Anthony Appiah. There's far too much good content here for me to summarize, so I'll just pull out what I think is the most critical point:

So liberty and diversity may well be at odds, and the tensions between them aren't always easily resolved. But the rhetoric of cultural preservation isn't any help. Again, the contradictions are near to hand. Take another look at that Unesco Convention. It affirms the "principle of equal dignity of and respect for all cultures." (What, all cultures - including those of the K.K.K. and the Taliban?) It also affirms "the importance of culture for social cohesion in general, and in particular its potential for the enhancement of the status and role of women in society." (But doesn't "cohesion" argue for uniformity? And wouldn't enhancing the status and role of women involve changing, rather than preserving, cultures?) In Saudi Arabia, people can watch "Will and Grace" on satellite TV - officially proscribed, but available all the same - knowing that, under Saudi law, Will could be beheaded in a public square. In northern Nigeria, mullahs inveigh against polio vaccination while sentencing adulteresses to death by stoning. In India, thousands of wives are burned to death each year for failing to make their dowry payments. Vive la difference? Please.

I'm currently reading Jack McDevitt's Omega, which involves a sorta Prime Directive situation like in Star Trek: a catastrophe looms for a primitive culture, and the cultural preservationists would rather let the natives die than save them and thus expose them to a more advanced culture. The older I get, the more arrogant the Prime Directive sounds to me: sacrificing people's lives for some supercilious view of "culture" that sounds on awful lot like "keeping the primitives in their place". Kwame Anthony Appiah skewers this notion quite adeptly. His essay is long, but it's well worth your attention.

UPDATE: I just read the credits at the end of the essay. It turns out to be an extract from the author's book, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, coming later this month. Gee, just what I needed: an excuse to shop for books...

...I'm just calling it far better news than I predicted 9 hours ago:

SAGO, W.Va., Wednesday, Jan. 4 - Forty-one hours after an explosion trapped 13 men in a West Virginia coal mine here, family members and a state official said 12 of the miners had been found alive Tuesday night.

Earlier Tuesday evening, the body of one miner was found 11,200 feet from the mine entrance, within a few hundred feet of a vehicle used to transport the workers deep into the mine, company officials said. The miner was not identified, and the cause of his death was unclear.

Joe Thornton, deputy secretary for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, said the rescued miners were being examined at the mine shortly before midnight and would soon be taken to nearby hospitals. Mr. Thornton said he did not know details of their medical condition.

One man lost is tragic, of course; but after they found his body, I expected to hear about twelve more bodies by the morning. Seldom have I been so glad to be wrong.

UPDATE: Communications breakdown. Instead of one fatality, there's one survivor, who's in critical condition right now.

Seldom have I been so sorry to be right.

So I'm in Dallas in an ice storm, watching the local news to keep up with flight status. And the newest ice-related incident is live footage of a semi truck jack-knifing and catching fire and slamming into a media van. Ugly, but all drivers appear to have escaped without major harm.

But the news lady just added new information: the burning truck is full of UPS packages, and burned at least five minutes before any firefighters arrived.

If you've sent any Christmas presents via UPS, you might want to go to their tracking page and see if your package was passing through Dallas. If it was, you may not be done with your holiday shopping after all.

Fire now looks to be under control now, but some packages are gonna be toast.

Update: And the amazing story of the day is that so far, despite numerous accidents all over the area, there are no fatalities anywhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. May they continue to be so fortunate.

Update 2: What a different world. Someone from the road commission is on TV explaining road salt to all the viewers. In Michigan, that's kind of like explaining air: if you're alive, you know about it.

Ever have a night when you really need to get up early, and yet things keep you up late, and finally it seems like the safest course is just to stay up? Or does that only happen to me? Either way, this is one of those nights. In five-and-a-half hours, my plane leaves Atlanta. I've been away from Sandy and the dogs and our home for four weeks. I am going to be on that plane. And I already learned this week that this hotel's wake-up calls are still pretty unreliable. And while the M200 has pretty good speakers and usually serves as my alarm clock, it's having some problems right now. (Never buy Toshiba. Toshibas are junk.) And this 3500 has had the speakers repaired, but they pretty much suck, and I can barely hear them. (Never buy Toshiba. Toshibas are junk.)

So at this point, the safe way to be sure I'm on that plane is to stay awake until I board, and then sleep on the plane. So to find things to keep me going, I decided to do something I haven't done in a while. It's time for another installment of Seen around the tech blogs.

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Richard Hale Shaw makes an interesting argument against the C# using statement (not the using directive; and thank you, C# team, for that bit of confusing language). I disagree with him; but it will take time and sleep before I can fully explain why. The short preview: he says you can't force people to use your class correctly; I say I can, and I'll show you how, soon.

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Joe Kunk passes along some suggestions on porting MFC code to .NET, including some discussion of tools to automate parts of the port. Since I have a presentation on this topic, I'm going to check out those tools.

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From the Earth to the Moon links to this discussion of where the Apollo capsules are today. Until it shut down, the Michigan Space and Science Center in Jackson was home to the Apollo 9 capsule. (Commander McDivitt was a Jackson-area native.) I used to go there for inspiration whenever I had a spare afternoon. When I think of what those engineers accomplished at a time where the sum total of all the computers at NASA amounted to less memory than I have in my hand, I realize that no job of mine is that tough. It was a sad day when I learned that MSSC had closed. Now I have to go all the way to San Diego to see Apollo 9. Of course, my flight home tomorrow ends in Dayton (I started this trip with INETA meetings in Cincinatti and Dayton), and Apollo 15 is at the Air Force museum there; and later this year I'll be in Huntsville for another INETA presentation, where Apollo 16 is. So I'll get my fixes then. (Bonus: outside of Dayton and on the road toward home is the Neil Armstrong Museum!)

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James Avery is looking to switch blog engines, and wishes he had a decent, easy to use and extend .NET solution. I could be wrong, James, but I think it will be really easy to build your own with ASP.NET 2.0.

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Tablet PC Buzz points out this post by Josh Einstein about fixes that will make Tablet PC components work properly under .NET Framework 2.0. I'm getting a new version of Tablet UML ready, so this was important news to me!

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Space Law Probe has a round-up of reactions to China's manned space launch.

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I don't have James Hudnall under Tech Blogs, because I think of him as a comics guy. His Espers is one of my favorite series. But he's also a computer geek. This week, he posted about the latest story on e-paper, and we drooled over the possible comic book applications.

Marvel has released 40 Years Of The Amazing Spider-Man on CD. I haven't picked it up yet, because I'm afraid someone may get it for me as a gift, and I wouldn't want to spoil that. I really would love to read that collection on a Tablet PC (particularly my new Gateway CX200X Tablet PC, to be ordered next week); but a programmable e-paper comic would be equally cool.

(And I hope that Marvel and DC and others release a lot more of their back stock this way.)

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Mike Swanson shows off the 5 best videos from the PDC. I wish I could've been there, but I was earning the money that will pay for my new Gateway CX200X Tablet PC.

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Matt Propst announces the Formal Cancellation of Grand Valley Programming Competition. That's too bad, but I hope they can pull it off next year. Josh Holmes and I were asked to be judges. One of my oldest programming memories is high school programming competitions at Grand Valley, so this would've been like going full circle.

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And speaking of Josh Holmes, he has a couple of posts on his latest work with Compact Framework and Win CE. Josh is my goto guy on this Windows handheld stuff, and he should be yours, too.

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Sam Gentile posts about a Channel 9 interview with him and Ward Cunningham. Since neither gentleman is shy — especially with their opinions! — it's pretty no-holds-barred.

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And speaking of Robert Scoble (the guy behind Channel 9), he's on a crusade to get Microsoft to focus on blog searching.

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Julie Lerman has a 512MB memory chip for a Toshiba Portege M200. Julie, Julie, Julie... Some day you'll learn: never buy Toshiba. Toshibas are junk.

Look at this Gateway CX200X Tablet PC, Julie. Look at the 14" wide-screen. Isn't it... tempting? Look at that optional 4-year, on-site, parts and labor and accidental damage warranty look... comforting?

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Lora at What Is New posts that the Windows Mobile PC Team (i.e., the Tablet team plus) now has a group blog.

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And speaking of the Windows Mobile PC Team... This is a little belated note (since I just learned of their blog from Lora): they write of the work their people did in helping to support Hurricane Katrina relief. I've already noted the contributions by Best Buy, WalMart, Home Depot, Edward Jones, McDonald's, and others; so it's only fair that I point out that my favorite software company has pledged over $9 million in cash, materials, and support to the relief effort. Thank you, Microsoft.

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Howard Lovy has retired NanoBot. That's too bad, but his new job probably keeps him plenty busy.

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Thom Robbins forwards an announcement of the general availability of the "Project Server Visual Studio Team System Connector" application. "The solution provides guidance for integrating Project Server and Visual Studio Team System. It demonstrates how Project Server and Visual Studio Team System can be integrated together to provide extended value for project and resource managers and guides developers through the process of building and customizing components that link the project management and software development tools. This is a foundation for partners to build applications that can integrate the two server products and provide specialized functionality."

As someone who's more and more excited about process and practices, I'm pleased by this news.

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James Kendrick — a.k.a. jkOnTheRun — links to this Detroit Free Press story about Bill Gates's visit to Ann Arbor. (Oh, sure, Bill... Come to town when I'm three or four states away! OK, I wouldn't have been invited anyway, since his presentation was for students. But still...) I think the story hints at one reason why I suspect for Microsoft's strong support for the Tablet PC: Bill loves his Tablet, and has wanted one for a long time. You don't believe me? He described his vision of the platform in drooling detail way back in The Road Ahead (or maybe it was Business @ the Speed of Thought — I'm on the road, remember, so I don't have my books with me). There are few people who are more fanatical about Tablet PCs than I am, but Bill's clearly one of them. And so I have a sneaking suspicion that, just as Microsoft will always sell a version of Basic so long as Bill's involved, so too will they make sure that somebody's making new Tablet PCs for Bill to play with.

(NOTE: The above is tongue-in-cheek, and I know nothing about Microsoft's internal platform decisions nor the reasons for those decisions. But I do know that it's true that Bill loves his Tablet PCs.)

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And speaking of jkOnTheRun... He links to more proof that Toshibas are junk. And he has a plea:

Let’s help Tracy get her Tablet back. Anyone with a Toshiba horror story about repair or customer service difficulties please chime in here with a comment. Let’s see if a string of unsatisfied customers can get Toshiba’s attention about Tracy’s plight. It’s worth a shot as she has nothing to lose since she is already without her precious.

I'm about to throw some links your way, James, as you asked. But at this point, you may already know my conclusion: never buy Toshiba. Toshibas are junk.

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There! That worked out just about perfectly. I planned to start prepping and packing at 0600, and it's 0553. That gives me just enough time to do a cursory proofread, and then post.

When next you hear from me, I hope to be H*O*M*E! Sandy, I'm on my way!

Professor Reynolds links to this USA Today story, Spyware can constitute illegal trespass on home computers.

When I clicked the link to read the story, Spybot popped up twice to inform me that it had blocked download of the Avenue A spyware.

Apparently someone in ad sales at USA Today needs to learn to read their own paper...

My brother-in-law Carl led me to check out the latest news from Windows Automotive. It looks like the software now supports the .NET Compact Framework. That means that, when I can get ahold of one of these, I know how to program the car. Eeeevil ideas are brewing. Heheheheheeeee...

This one's for my buddy, Epee Bill...

"Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM." That phrase was the bane of clone-makers in the mid-80s. Companies would willingly pay five times as much for an IBM, just because no one wanted to take the fall for problems with a lesser system.

And no, that didn't mean that IBMs didn't have their flaws. It simply meant that if you bought IBM, no one would claim you cut corners and caused the mess. It was the safe choice.

Eventually, companies got more comfortable with compatibles; and eventually, IBM lowered their prices to compete. They're still pricey, but they're also still good machines (particularly the new Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet PC).

The funny thing is, I never actually heard of anyone who was fired for not buying an IBM. I'm sure it might've happened; but the phenomenon was really all about corporate folks unwilling to take a chance.

But apparently, someone just got fired for buying an Apple (link requires free registration):

After a divisive public debate, a lawsuit brought by a former county commissioner stopped the program last month, not on its merits but on the plan to fund it with proceeds from a special sales tax approved by county voters in 2003. On Aug. 14, school board members received a stinging report from a corporate investigator alleging bias and deception in the bidding process for the contract, which had been won by Apple Computer.

School board members voted immediately to terminate the contract with Apple. Three of the seven members called for Redden's dismissal. The other four said they still had questions both about the bidding process and about how the investigative firm, Kessler International, put together its report.

It will be, if this guy (story linked by eWeek) gets the Republican nomination:

A public interest lawyer who is also intending to run as a Republican in the 2006 Illinois gubernatorial race is taking his fight to Microsoft in hopes of preventing the company from releasing what he calls "bad code."

Andy Martin of The Committee to Fight Microsoft on Tuesday announced his intentions to block Microsoft from releasing Windows Vista. Martin intends to ask Microsoft for an unconditional warranty that the operating system is free of bugs that could result in security vulnerabilities.

When Mr. Martin, a trial lawyer with a bit of an Ahab complex when it comes to Microsoft, writes and releases a single secure application that survives assaults from thousands of hackers the world over, then I'll take his opinions on software seriously.

But I think the Illinois Democrats will have to get by without my contribution. Despite being insane enough to nominate Alan Keyes in 2004, I can't imagine even the Illinois Republicans will nominate Mr. Martin for dogcatcher, much less governor. I think his positronic brain needs ajustment, so he can understand how the real world works.

From The Earth To The Moon reports that Buzz Aldrin has released a children's book on space travel. (They also continue to advertise a deluxe DVD edition of From the Earth to the Moon, the stunning miniseries from Tom Hanks. Drool...)

Dotfuscator and James Avery's book get a mention on Slashdot.

Speaking of books, Bill Wagner reviews Keith Brown's .NET Developer's Guide to Windows Security. "As I said at the top of this review, “The .NET Developer’s Guide to Windows Security” should be required reading for every .NET developer."

And speaking of James Avery, he got asked about blogs and RSS in a job interview this week. Hey, James, I hope that doesn't mean you'll take a new job out of town before I show up next month!

Tablet PC Buzz links to this Channel Insider report on unexpectedly high demands for the new ThinkPads, including the new ThinkPad Tablet PCs. "The ThinkPad Tablet has sold so fast since its introduction that Lenovo quickly ran out of stock and is now working to catch up, he said. The product, intended for vertical markets such as health care, has caught on in the mainstream marketplace, he said."

Howard Lovy takes a hiatus from his blogging hiatus to post outtakes from his Wired story on nanomedicine and cancer. These are parts that were cut for space, but they add nice depth to the overall article. I hope Mr. Lovy finds full-time employment soon, so that he can spare more time for blogging on nanotechnology.

Julie Lerman points out The Regulator, a regular expression testing and learning tool. RegEx has always frustrated me, since it seems to be very powerful yet is incredibly poorly documented. And no one seems to be able to recommend a good book on it. Instead, I hear, "Read chapter such-and-such from that O'Reilly book on SED," or something like that. The Regulator looks like a great help. Thanks, Julie! And thanks, Roy Osherove, for writing it. (Julie also experienced a tornado recently. We have a family friend who was trapped when her house was collapsed by a tornado, and I've had tornado-phobia my whole life. A post like Julie's will give me nightmares tonight. Thanks, Julie...)

Chris from PowerBlogs (my blog service provider; and yes, I'm very pleased with the service) reports that reports are working again. That will be good, because I haven't actually seen reports since I signed up. Now lest you think that's a complaint, I entirely understand the reasons why: Chris was away on his honeymoon; and unlike some people I know, he actually stayed away from tech for the duration. (Actually, judging by the timing, Chris was setting up my account somewhere right in the middle of last-minute wedding stuff.) I look forward to checking out the reports.

Sam Gentile posts on the power of blogs. "So what's the message? An investment in reading quality bloggers every day will increase your knowledge and make you a better Developer/Architect/Marketer, and also your own blog could do wonders for your career and exposure."

me: under a microscope (found via Eric Maino) struggles to balance school and work and like. At that age, I thought it would get so much simpler when I could drop school out of the mix. Sorry to tell ya, bud, but it only got more complicated. Keep working on your balancing skills. They'll serve you well.

Mike Swanson posts on the new WinFX, as well as other new stuff. Mike also bucks the trend in ironic, imaginative, and generally silly blog names, with "Michael Swanson's Blog". I respect that.

hack-a-day links to a robotic drum set that would make Herbie Hancock proud. (And if you don't get the allusion, you must not have spent the early 80s letting MTV rot your brain.)

Thom Robbins points out some new Sharepoint application templates. Some day, I'll understand what that means...

Patrick at The Tablet PC in Teaching & Learning asks about a tool for using Ink in IE. A commenter links to IE Ink 2004, which lets you Ink on any Web page and then save a local copy. I'll have to try that out. Patrick also points out a new Tablet PC commercial from Microsoft, aimed at the education market. This ad almost makes me want to go back to college!


UPDATE AND SHAMELESS PLUG: And And since there's Tablet PC information in this post, Richard Hale Shaw would have my hide if I didn't recommend our new Tablet PC BootCamp.

There have been lots of tenth planets "discovered", only to have them reclassified as something else. But this one looks to be larger than Pluto. If Pluto counts as a planet, then so should this as-yet-unnamed body.

Of course, there's some dispute as to whether Pluto should count as a planet. It's pretty darn small. And I the calculations that led to its discovery were flawed, and it just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Well, I've put it off as long as I can, but I can't avoid it any longer. I need a blog. These days, it's an essential tool for letting people know what's up in your business. And it's a lot less work to maintain than is an email newsletter.

So this will be the place to learn what's up with Tablet UML and with my UML training classses. And I'll also comment on other items as they come up: UML, Tablet PCs, .NET, and more. Lots more, most likely. We'll find out.