The idea of user-developed wireless networks is great in so many ways. First of all, whether the commercial space is ready for it or not, such open wireless access is how the whole thing will have to work for it to avoid ultimately being no more significant than Compuserve or the old Prodigy – which were important but couldn’t really last in the face of the internet. But it’s also pretty cool that the guy in London is using Web Stalker as his network mapping system. Web Stalker was an art project. An award winning art project – and very cool, if inscrutable. What I like about it is that it reaches back to an earlier era on the web – when people were still getting used to browsers in the first place, Web Stalker came along as an alternate browser, deconstructing an idea that had barely taken root in the public consciousness. Kind of like the wireless project itself.
I can’t figure
out why everyone’s getting so worked up about the sale of Fuckedcompany on ebay. Not the Metafilter crew, really (they’re more than worldly enough to take this in stride), but the attention this has generated in the press seems just a little breathless to me. It’s like they’re trying to be all cool and cynical about it but are really quite appalled. Really though – pud is just taking the hack one step further towards its logical conclusion: he increases the site’s notoriety, sets up the site as its very own fucked company for whoever buys it (how pomo), and all the while keeps and enhances his own notoriety – after all, he can sell if for whatever he wants, but at the end of the day he’s still the guy who founded Fucked Company.
Big things are
happening in the crypto world. Not new algorithms or anything like that – but maybe, finally, the ball is rolling towards a much wider implementation of public key crypto. The latest is that an Irish company called Baltimore is offering its toolkit for free. This is exactly what’s needed – the first step in all of this is not technological (that one’s already been taken) but cultural. People have to get comfortable using secure communications – both conceptually and practically.
I wonder if Zero Knowledge is paying attention. I hope so.
I came across
an interesting article about encryption, specifically about PKI (public key infrastructure, such as PGP). It’s entitled Cheaper techniques take on PKI, and this quote is telling: “As the world has moved toward lighter-weight computing, PKI is becoming a tougher sell.”
PKI has always been a tough sell – it’s hard to imagine it being tougher. Regardless it’s an interesting update to the discussion, especially considering that one of the basic tenets of encryption states that security through obscurity is no security at all – and that’s just what it seems some of the newer systems mentioned seem to rely upon.
One thing is clear – if people want the privacy and security they say they do, then some encryption scheme will have to become commonplace. Equally clear – PGP isn’t currently seen as a viable option by general internet users, nor is a system like Freedom (from ZKS) catching on – they’ve reportedly had trouble selling it directly to end users.
Not your mother’s
CBC: 120seconds.com. The requirements blurb is funny – a standard list of components you’ll need (Real 7, Flash, etc.) and then, “One final warning: we did everything we could, but the site just sucks with IE4.5 on Macs.”
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