Alde’s Stuff

Ars Technica has a round up of the future CPU architecture. More cores and threads in more places. IBM is also retuning their POWER architecture.

When I read articles touting an tech certification earning more money than another, I often wonder if the reason for the income differential isn’t some self-serving in-industry backscratch to promote the certification (through government regulations, laws, etc) rather than provide some real return on investment.

In a follow-up article, Brodkin reported on a survey carried out for the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, (ISC)^2, which showed “that holders of the CISSP, SSCP or CAP certifications who work in the Americas and have at least five years experience earn [an average of] $102,376 per year – more than $21,000 higher than IT pros who also have five years experience but lack the certifications.”

Juniper gets interviewed about their focus for next year. Though I’m having a hard time believing that reducing tiers in datacenters will reduce complexity. It’s more like it increases a company’s reliance upon a single vendor; and when you start making your layers do more, it definitely becomes more complicated requiring higher paid engineers with certifications.

When you reduce a tier, a layer, by definition you save in cost, you save in power and you have better latency that translates to better performance. So this is why we’re winning a number of data center deals — including the New York Stock Exchange — with our two-tier approach, the fixed configuration EX3200 and EX4200 in the front, and the modular EX 8200 switches in the back. And very frequently, MX will become part of the equation when the customer looks at edge routing.

Google Mystery Domain (1e100.net) takes up a lot of internet traffic. Doing 3 minutes of analysis, I’m of the opinion this is for non-search (i.e. non www.google.com) interfacing traffic, like that from chrome, apps, etc.

Teen Blogging is in decline. It’s the closed feedback loop coupled with ADHD. Why blog if no one reads? Why write if no one reads? Twitter thought it had cornered the market on blogs, because everyone liked SMS at 140 characters, why not microblogs. Now if you have no followers, whats the point of Tweeting? Twitter quickly de-evolving into a secondary market channel for Celebrities / Famous People / And Businesses.

“Teenagers do not use Twitter,” he wrote. “Most have signed up to the service, but then just leave it as they realise that they are not going to update it (mostly because texting Twitter uses up credit, and they would rather text friends with that credit). They realise that no one is viewing their profile, so their tweets are pointless.”

DECT Phone encryption broken by cryptographers. Key takeaway is public algorithm review:

“It relied on the fact that the encryption was unknown and hence could not be broken. This is a case where something that has some potential for being strong is broken by just this one design decision that in any public review would have been spotted immediately.”

ZeuStracker turns 1. Happy Birthday!

As an answer to Cisco’s rumored CRS-1 upgrade, Juniper ups the ante on their T1600 router from 100GBps per slot to 250GBps per slot in the same chassis as an in-service upgrade as well.

The design work for the next-generation silicon has already been completed, and Sardella noted that Juniper is now beginning to build out and test the technology.

Boxee CET Avner Ronen takes the advantage of having NBC and Comcast CEO’s testifying under oath in front of an congressional hearing to point out that someone might not be telling the whole story regarding Hulu blocking Boxee.

Sprint uses Fixed to Mobile Convergence vendor Tango to sell Sprint MPLS circuits to provide minute offloading for IP PBX business owners.

Mobile calls to/from the PBX will still be routed over an MPLS connection, and the financial advantage of treating them as on-net mobile calls will be maintained.

Deutche Telecom floats a trial baloon towards a T-Mobile IPO. Is this DT trying to craft an exit strategy from the US market, or maneuvering towards a different style of engagement in the US?

EPIC files Freedom of Information Act request to get more information regarding the NSA’s agreement with Google. Most people look at this as a Privacy issue, my concern is that why should the US government be spending resources to secure or help secure a company with a $167 Billion market cap? Is Google now “Too Big To Fail” and needs to be taken over by the US government?

Apple says no location-based ads on their approved apps. Reminder: This technology (Providing geographic based promotion services to a computing device) is patented and owned by AT&T. Is this why they’re going to keep AT&T as their exclusive carrier for the iPhone?

Behavioral targeting and Ad Clearing houses are the next realm of ad delivery.

Chinese VoIP company’s numbers disappoint, mainly because China banned VoIP.

Sun CEO Tweetku’s his resignation.

The Internet Generation prefers SMS/Tweets over blogs, a Pew study finds.. I think this has to do with none of them want to actually involve themselves with learning/running things on the Interwebs, but wants to use pre-built infrastructure.

VoIP scammer gets prison term. His mistake was living in a country that actually cares.

Packet8 launches Facebook click to call app.

Study finds people reuse the same passwords for multiple services. I’ve had a long standing observation about this practice. It has to deal with passwords and remembering them. The idiot uses the same password for everything, usually a weak strength. The newbie uses a different password for every site, but writes them all down on a piece of paper and never remembers any of them. The paranoid person uses a high strength password for each site, uses a different login for each one, uses a password memory service to store them all. While the veteran uses a few well thought out passwords, classifies those into usage categories, so that the crap password for a throw away site is always the same password, the login password to Windows / Playstation / Xbox is another, and only uses unique ones for banks. All this is alluded to at the end of the article:

The company’s practical advice for users who don’t wish to use a dedicated password application or password management website was to create three separate logins, one for financial sites, a second for any site holding sensitive data, and a third for sites not holding anything of value.

iiNet wins Safe Harbor ruling in Australia. Another article questions should Copyright holders pay for ISPs to deliver notices to end users? Since the FCC allows telecoms to charge for CALEA compliance, this is a solid precedent to site; Yes, the copyright holders should pay for DMCA-to-enduser delivery.

Cisco adds Unified Communications iPhone app to do VoIP over 3G. This totally makes sense, as you can minute shift from corporate PBX calls over VoIP data instead of Voice Minutes. Someone was suggesting Cisco buy Truphone to do this for them, but I think the minute Cisco did any investigation, they’d realize how bad Truphone is and end up buying someone like Packet8 or Fring. Both of those have a business end-user focus, and can tie in telepresence as well.

Xconnect proves ENUM and caller id can be a profitable business.

Canadian Cable ISP Novus offers 200 mbps to its customers. Prices still not in line with this amount of bandwidth outside of North America.

Broadcom announces Bluetooth 3.0 + HS chips - 24mbps over WiFi.

Personal computers, netbooks, smartphones and other consumer electronics (CE) devices are adding Bluetooth v3.0 + HS wireless functionality to extend the user experience and facilitate high-speed file transfer and synchronization among devices.

Oracle is determining what from Sun to keep and what to let fall by the wayside. Winners seem to be StarOffice, Java, Storage (Disk and Tape).

Sun’s hardware line will eventually be streamlined. Ellison pointed out that in addition to the inefficient supply chain, there are numerous point versions of products. The same server could have Sparc, AMD and Intel chips, with multiple versions at multiple clock speeds. The number of Sun servers can be expected to diminish, if only for the sake of eliminating redundancy.

Juniper Q4 numbers were up year-over-year. Seems Comcast and AT&T need more routers to meet demand.

AT&T was also specifically mentioned by Denholm as a key customer, representing more than 10 percent of Juniper total revenues for the year and for the fourth quarter.

Could Cisco be replacing the CRS-1?

Want cheap CNAM from your Asterisk box? BulkCNAM to the rescue!

Oracle 11g user privilege escalation hack discovered.

10 Free Photo Editing tools.

Startup Coraid looks to do ATA over Ethernet.

Counterpath’s new Bria softphone adds in some really cool features, including HD video and Jabber-like chat.

Comcast seems increasingly to be getting into the Business VoIP line of business. Guessing they’ve located a lucrative market to finally set up a real triple-play with businesses. Typically their Business offering has been their Consumer offering, just with more cable modems. If they look to integrate with a SIP PBX like Asterisk, companies like Packet8 may have problems.

Mark Cuban calls Google a Vampire. Danny Sullivan calls Mark Cuban’s Mahalo a Vampire. Sullivan FTW (graphs and charts over mere words everyime).

Posed to me by my friend Andrew, when was it that Chow Yun-Fat stopped being a bad-ass?

As a man so steeped in baddassery, one would think that there would be no way for Chow Yun-Fat to ever not be a bad ass, but after his lackluster performance as Captain Sao Feng in Pirates of the Caribbean 3 – At World’s End, and a flat performance in Dragonball Evolution, one is left but to wonder where is Brother Mark from A Better Tomorrow 2 where Chow Yun-Fat makes you forget the laughable plot device that he is infact the twin brother of his character from A Better Tomorrow. Or how he pulls off the extreme revenge mindfuck in God of Gamblers 2, and no need to describe Hard Boiled and The Killer.

Chow Yun-Fat lost his Mojo at the hands of the “I don’t know what” destroying Jodie Foster in Anna and the King.

His repertoire after “coming overseas” included The Corruptor and The Replacement Killers… But after…meh.

So thanks Jodie, for making Chow Yun-Fat not be a badass anymore.

Simple Two image Message as to why I stopped using Google for good today, and why I will use Bing:

There I was, within two weeks of getting ready to FINALLY buy the G37S 6MT… And they go and release the changes to the 2010 model lineup. GAH!

2010 Infiniti G37 Coupe
For the 2009 model year, the G37 Coupe lineup expanded with the addition of
a new G37x Coupe AWD model featuring Infiniti’s “intelligent” ATTESA ETS
® all-wheel drive system. For 2010, the major enhancements are found
inside the seductively styled G Coupe body – with revised colors and
model/option package content.

The 2010 G Coupe is available in four models – G37 Coupe, G37 Coupe
Journey, G37S Coupe Sport 6MT and G37x Coupe AWD. Every G37 Coupe
comes equipped with a standard 3.7-liter VQ-series V6 with VVEL (for
Variable Valve Event and Lift) rated at 330 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque.
The engine is backed by a choice of an electronically controlled 7-speed
automatic transmission with available magnesium paddle shifters or a
responsive 6-speed manual transmission.

The G37 Coupe’s advanced platform and chassis also includes an available
4-Wheel Active Steer system (4WAS), which helps improve vehicle handling
performance by adjusting both the front steering gear ratios and the rear
suspension geometry according to steering input and vehicle speed. Braking
and handling is targeted to be among the best in the luxury sport coupe class.
The G37 Coupe also includes an extensive list of available technology
features, including a touch screen navigation system with XM NavTraffic®
Real-Time Traffic information (XM® subscription required, sold separately),
RearView Monitor and an available 11-speaker Infiniti Studio on Wheels™ by
Bose® audio system with 24-bit Burr Brown DAC, 3-way door speaker arrays
with 10-inch woofers and a 9.3GB Music Box Hard Drive.

The 2010 Infiniti G37 Coupe goes on sale in January 2010.

Changes for 2010 include:
Revised interior colors and new aluminum interior trim appearance
New white gauge color scheme
New center console design with revised lower center stack on automatic
transmission equipped models
New available next generation Infiniti Hard Drive Navigation System with
all-new features, including higher resolution graphics, Zagat Survey®
restaurant reviews, XM Weather® reports (in addition to XM
NavTraffic®), Speed Limited Advisories and fastest-route-calculation
based on statistical traffic data (XM® subscription required, sold
separately)
New available Spanish language support for navigation displays and
Voice Recognition functions
New rain-sensing wipers
New available Advanced Climate Control System (ACCS) –
automatically shuts outside air vents when exhaust fumes are detected,
while its Grape Polyphenol Filter removes airborne allergens from the
cabin and the Plasmacluster™ air purifier uses charged ions to help
reduce or neutralize airborne germs
HomeLink® Universal Transceiver and Bluetooth® Hands-free Phone
System added to the Journey model
Heated seats and heated outside mirrors added to the Journey model
RearView Monitor now standard on the Journey model
2GB Music Box Flash Memory Music Server added to the Premium
Package
Revised 18-inch wheel color (lighter)
One new exterior color

The Meiji Fran Patisserie chocolate covered cookie stick:

This Fran consists of Almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, cacao, wheat flour, and vanilla (at least what it says on the front of the box. The back adds things like shortening, condensed milk, and salt.). The cookie stick is chocolate in flavour, and is your standard Fran stick (i.e. larger than the Glico Pocky cookies). The hazelnut and macadamia nuts are imbedded into the chocolate, but are smaller in size than the typical Pocky Crush bits. A sweet first taste, it finishes a little bitter, and unless you nibble the chocolate off the stick, you really don’t taste the nuts, except in a light aftertaste.

Last in the Winter Chocolate list is Morinaga’s White Birch No Koeda.

As it says on the label, it comes with 12 packs with 4 sticks per pack. Each pack has a different food, including Cashew, Tea, and Sugar Beet. Mind you, not all these ingredients are included in the chocolate. I’m guessing that the ingredients are meant to remind the eater of the wintertime in Japan, and the shapes of the sticks to look like the twigs of the White Birch.
The overall flavour is a bit different in that there is no large crunchy cookie stick. There’s still a crunch, although minor, and a light vanilla chocolate taste.

Next in the winter-themed Pocky is the Glico Fuyu No Kuchidoke Pocky, or the Winter Chocolate Pocky.

This is your normal pocky, with an added dusting of Cacao, making the initial taste dry but bitter, until you get through to the inner milk chocolate.

Not your typical Pocky, and unless you’re a fan of bittersweet chocolate, you may want to stick with your normal Pocky.