Fed2 Star - the newsletter for the space trading game Federation 2

The weekly newsletter for Fed2
by ibgames

EARTHDATE: September 7, 2014

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WINDING DOWN

An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week’s net, technology and science news

by Alan Lenton

This week we have stories about moving from Windows XP to Windows 7 - when you have 26,000 devices, all running XP - passwords, overseas data centres and the law, young blood, a space museum in Kansas, Andy Warhol, balloons and Apple's new HQ. URLs on NetFlix/Comcast, Verizon copper lines, Walmart and Open Source, and the prospects of an Ebola Vaccine.

It's a fairly short issue this week as I get back into the swing of things after a three week break. Apologies to Alison, whose name I spelt with two 'l's a few weeks back (Hi Alison)! Should be ramping up again for a regular issue next week.

Shorts:

One of the things that caused me to take a break from producing Winding Down (The actual the time involved isn't in writing it, that only takes about two hours. Researching the material for it takes much longer) was setting up a new computer. Especially getting it to work the way I wanted it to, rather than the way Microsoft thought it should work.

Given that, I was fascinated to read an article about the UK department store and supermarket chain John Lewis finally moving off Windows XP. It took them three years from starting the move to having everything moved off XP. Along the way they had to deal with 26,000 laptop and desktop devices, and rewrite a whole lot of code. Pretty impressive.

Now, about the move to Windows 8...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28790582

There are a couple of interesting pieces on passwords by Roger Grimes in InfoWorld. One of them looks at how people are the problem, not the passwords, and the other looks at why you don't need long complex passwords. I have to say that, in relation to the second article, I tend to agree. The only time I've had passwords compromised is not by having my home or work desktop broken into, or someone guessing it, but because some large company's server was broken into and millions of passwords were stolen.

Think about it. It's simply not worth the effort to hack into a computer just to get one ordinary person's password, when with a little more effort you can hack into a server and get a whole slew of them in one go! Take a look and see what you think.
http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/passwords-arent-the-problem-we-are-248154?source=IFWNLE_nlt_blogs_2014-08-12
http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/why-you-dont-need-long-complex-passwords-249530?source=IFWNLE_nlt_daily_am_2014-09-03

I'm pleased to see that Microsoft is holding out over an order to provide US investigators with personal data held in its Irish data centre. Allowing a US judge to order a US company to provide data held overseas and subject to the data protection laws of the country in which it is held will quite frankly ruin many big US companies. Why? Because people will be prevented from using them, because to do so would make them liable to prosecution.

I'm going to be really fascinated to see how this one pans out!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/01/redmond_holds_out_on_email_handover_order/

Homework:

It sounds a bit vampirish, but for aging hippies like myself, some recent research on the effects of young blood on older cells is definitely interesting. Experiments with mice have shown that an infusion of younger blood into older mice can 'wind back' the age of a number of types of cells.

Tests are due soon to see if transfusions of blood from under 30s will help improve the condition of older people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's Disease. Positive indications will be a fabulous breakthrough, but I can see a sinister side to it. How long will it be before aging politicians bring in legislation to make it compulsory for everyone between the ages of 14 and 30 to donate a pint of blood once a month? We may soon find out who the real vampires are!
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329831.400-young-blood-to-be-used-in-ultimate-rejuvenation-trial.html#.VAqm0vldXpB

I'm not sure how many of my readers live in or near Kansas, but if you happen to live there, or are perhaps passing through Hutchinson, about an hour's drive from Wichita (of lineman fame*), Hutchinson has a really good space museum. You can't miss it - it's the building with the Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile outside the front door. Given the terrain in Kanas, I suspect that that you can see it from a long way off.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2581/1

For Geeks:

Did you know that the legendary Andy Warhol did a bunch of drawings using the Commodore Amiga home computer in the mid-1980s? No, I didn't either, but it seems that a set of floppy disks with the drawings on have recently come to light.

Mind you, looking at the examples shown at the URL, he was clearly struggling - the Campbell’s soup tin is definitely not as good as the famous print. Needless to say, recovering the images wasn't easy - not many geeks are still in possession of Commodore Amiga kit, after all. Still, it makes for an interesting little story...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/25/warhol_amiga_artworks_found/

Have I got a balloon for you, my geeky friends - how about a Darth Vader hot air balloon? No? Well maybe a flying cow, or the head of a statue of liberty? io9.com has a whole selection of amazingly shaped balloons for you to choose from. Personally, I really rather like the one that's shaped like the head of Vincent Van Gogh - cool, really cool. Take a look!
http://io9.com/the-strangest-hot-air-balloons-to-ever-grace-the-skies-1627352519

Calling all Apple geeks. Here's a little taster for you with some drone video of progress on building Apple's new super HQ, the last heritage of the late Steve Jobs. The HQ is due open in two years’ time and will, apparently, hold no less than 10,000 (yes, ten thousand) Apple droids when it's finished.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/03/drone_captures_shots_of_budding_apple_spaceship_hq/

Scanner:

Netflix petitions FCC to block Comcast Time Warner Cable merger
http://www.wired.com/2014/08/netflix-petition-fcc/

How to save the net: Don’t give in to big ISPs
http://www.wired.com/2014/08/save-the-net-reed-hastings/

How Verizon lets its copper network decay to force phone customers onto fiber
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/08/why-verizon-is-trying-very-hard-to-force-fiber-on-its-customers/

Walmart's investment in open source isn't cheap
http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source-software/walmarts-investment-in-open-source-isnt-cheap-248819

When will we have a vaccine for Ebola Virus?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-will-we-have-a-vaccine-for-ebola-virus1/?&WT.mc_id=SA_SP_20140804


* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qoymGCDYzU

Acknowledgements

Thanks to readers Barb and Fi (and Alison with one 'l') for drawing my attention to material for Winding Down.

Please send suggestions for stories to alan@ibgames.com and include the words Winding Down in the subject line, unless you want your deathless prose gobbled up by my voracious Thunderbird spam filter...

Alan Lenton
alan@ibgames.com
7 September 2014

Alan Lenton is an on-line games designer, programmer and sociologist, the order of which depends on what he is currently working on! His web site is at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/index.html.

Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/index.html.

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