Blackmoor Vituperative

M.A. is one of the world’s foremost experts on neural networks. His undergraduate specialty was artificial intelligence, his master’s thesis was about genetic algorithms, and his doctoral dissertation covered evolutionary programming. Such an extensive computer science education opened up a wide range of career options, ranging from a professor at a university to … a professor at another university. When someone outside of academia sought out his expertise for a project, he jumped at the opportunity.

The company that wanted to hire M.A. was a small programming firm that developed and maintained software used by the Bureau of Water Management. They were recently awarded a large contract to redo a rather inefficient part of the system and were convinced that implementing a neural network was the way to go. After the initial interview, M.A. told them that a neural network was the wrong tool for the job and that they should use a traditional approach. Management disagreed with his assessment and insisted that he come aboard to help rebuild the system. Had they not offered such a generous salary, he might have recognized this as a first warning sign. […]

(from The Daily WTF, No, We Need a Neural Network)

Go read the whole thing. Don’t worry, it has a happy ending. I am tempted to hand this article to every client I have from now on.

Hats off to M.A., though. He told them the right way to do it, and then did what the client wanted instead. And then three years later, he told them the right way to do it, and then did it. That’s a professional. I want to be like this guy.

When Massachusetts’ government decided to use Open Document Format (ODF) as the default document file format throughout its agencies, a key concern was that ODF would not allow the visually impaired to use assistive computer technologies.

On Wednesday, IBM Corp. said it has helped solve that problem by developing technology that will allow applications based on ODF to better communicate with products used by the blind to access visual information on computer screens.

Through Project Missouri, IBM developed application programming interfaces, (APIs) collectively called iAccessible2. These APIs will make it easy for visuals in applications based on ODF and other Web technologies to be interpreted by screen readers that reproduce that information verbally, IBM said.

[…]

iAccessible2 not only will help ODF communicate better with screen readers that assist blind computer users, but it will also allow charts, pictures and other visuals based on AJAX and DHTML to be discerned by the visually impaired through those readers. “It’s like a universal decoder ring,” he said of iAccessible2. The technology is based on interfaces IBM originally developed with Sun Microsystems Inc. to make programs on Java and Linux platforms accessible to the blind. […] Mozilla Corp. also intends to integrate iAccessible2 into its open-source Firefox Web browser, Fishkind added.

(from InfoWorld, IBM project aims to help blind use ODF applications)

A vote to make Microsoft Office document formats an international standard was approved on Thursday, according to a Microsoft representative.

At the general assembly of Ecma International in Zurich, Switzerland, Microsoft’s Office Open XML–a set of specifications detailing the document formats in Microsoft’s office — was certified as a standard.

In addition, the membership-based standards organization voted to propose Office Open XML to the larger International Organization for Standardization (known as ISO) for standards approval through its fast-track process, a Microsoft representative confirmed.

The vote to accept Microsoft’s submission as a standard was expected. The ISO standardization process typically takes about nine months, according to experts.

(from ZDNet, Microsoft sails through document standard vote)

The Ecma vote was a rubber stamp. The real hurdle will be ISO. For the sake our digital future, I hope that they vote against recognizing Microsoft’s proprietary format as a standard.

Microsoft on Dec. 5 warned that an unpatched vulnerability in its Word software program is being used in targeted, zero-day attacks.

A security advisory from the Redmond, Wash., company said the flaw can be exploited if a user simply opens a rigged Word document.

[…]

There are no pre-patch workarounds available. Microsoft suggests that users “not open or save Word files,” even from trusted sources.

(from eWeek, Microsoft Issues Word Zero-Day Attack Alert)

Why are you still using MS Office? Does a house have to fall on you? Uninstall it and switch to OpenOffice, you knuckleheads.

The bottom line: Mozilla Firefox 2 is a winner, beating Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 on security, features, and overall cool factor and deserving our Editors’ Choice award.

(from ZDNet, Firefox 2 Review & Comparison)

Not all of the extensions (now called “add-ons”) which I used with Firefox 1.5 are available for Firefox 2.0. On the other hand, not all of them are needed anymore. Here is what I am using now:

1. Adblock
2. Adblock Filterset.G Updater
3. ColorZilla
4. CSS Validator
5. DictionarySearch
6. DOM Inspector
7. DownThemAll!
8. Duplicate Tab
9. Forecastfox
10. Google Browser Sync
11. gTranslate
12. Html Validator
13. IE Tab
14. Tabbrowser Preferences
15. ViewSourceWith

Massachusetts has a problem. The Commonwealth can’t keep its CIO or pass an IT budget. Louis Gutierrez, the of CIO Massachusetts’s Information Technology Division, resigned earlier this week. Does this mean the end of the state’s pioneering ODF (Open Document Format) rollout?

First let’s look at why Gutierrez is leaving.

As he said in his resignation letter, it’s because, “IT innovation in Massachusetts state government ran out of steam in August, when the legislature closed its formal session without action on the IT and facilities bond. I am presiding over the dismantling of an IT investment program — over a decade in the evolution — that the legislative leadership appears unwilling to salvage at this time.”

This is widely seen as a blow to open-standards. In particular, this won’t do the planned rollout of the ODF for state use in January 2007 any good.

The use of ODF has been a controversial subject in Massachusetts for over a year now. Peter Quinn, Gutierrez’s predecessor as CIO, resigned on January 9th because of personal attacks based in part on his support for ODF.

While Massachusetts is theoretically still switching to ODF for its official documents, without a budget to implement the change, it’s hard to see it happening.

(from Linux Watch, Massachusetts CIO change worries ODF supporters)

Hopefully, the troops who do the actual work are still pushing the ODF train uphill, and the musical chairs for CIO is just a bump in the road.

If your copy of Vista does not pass Microsoft’s anti-piracy sniff test, you won’t be able to use the Aero user interface, Windows Defender anti-spyware and ReadyBoost memory-expanding technologies that will be built into the premium versions of Vista. (Will other Vista elements, like Vista Ultimate Extras, get the WGA lock-down? The Softies had no comment when I asked.)

[…]

There are also some WGA and Volume Activation 2.0 myths that Microsoft is out to debunk, officials said. If a Vista machine doesn’t pass WGA or Volume Activation 2.0 muster, Microsoft cannot and will not “shut it off,” officials said. (If you fail to activate Vista in 30 days, however, it sounds like your Internet access is shut down after an hour. Sure sounds like a “kill” switch by any other name.)

(from ZDNet, What Microsoft still isn’t saying about WGA and Volume Activation 2.0

Remember: at least 20% at least 42% of the 60 million people hassled by WGA (aka Windows Genuine Aggravation) are licensed users who have obtained the software legitimately.

Just say “no thanks” to Vista.

Miscreants are using an unpatched security bug in Internet Explorer to install malicious software from rigged Web sites, experts warned Tuesday.

[…]

“Fully patched Internet Explorer browsers are vulnerable,” Ken Dunham, director of the rapid response team at VeriSign’s iDefense, said in an e-mailed statement. “This new zero-day attack is trivial to reproduce and has great potential for widespread Web-based attacks in the near future.”

(from ZDNet, Porn sites exploit new IE flaw)

On the one hand, I am curious why ZDNet specifically mentions porn. The exploit could just as easily be on a web site with photos of kittens. On the other hand, I am wondering why on the gods’ green earth anyone is still using Internet Explorer to begin with. Use Firefox, you knuckleheads!

This is a good open source story with a happy ending. I haven’t read something that made me feel this good in weeks.

The 160 first-year medical students at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine used to receive a boatload of printed course materials during their first weeks in school%u2014four cases’ worth of paper per student, in fact.

Printing costs were sky-high. So it wasn’t surprising when state budgetary officers zeroed in on printed course materials as a prime opportunity to slash.

But with printed materials no longer available, pressure was mounting on the electronic version of course materials, available on the SOM’s intranet site. After pondering upgrading the course materials via a commercially available application, the SOM’s Office of Information Systems decided to go with an open version of course management software, implemented by Cignex, a systems integrator specializing in open source and based in Santa Clara, Calif. Cignex would prove critical in helping SOM select an open application that would prove a scalable platform for future growth.

read more…

(from eWeek, College Taps Open-Source App to Solve Costly Paper Chase)

The State of Massachusetts has reaffirmed its commitment to begin using the OpenDocument Format by Jan. 1, 2007, a move that has been welcomed by the ODF Alliance.

“We plan to implement ODF, using translator technology plugged in to Microsoft Office, in a group of early adopter agencies, including the Massachusetts Office on Disability, by January 1, 2007,” Louis Gutierrez, CIO of Massachusetts’ ITD (Information Technology Division), said in a mid-year statement on ODF implementation, dated Aug. 23.

(from eWeek, Mass. Back on Track for ODF Implementation)

And of course, anyone who does not depend on assistive technology can just use OpenOffice.