The End is Nigh For Google Wave

I fondly remember receiving my invite to Google Wave, having craftily used my social networking prowess to connect myself with someone in an earlier timezone who would then pass along one of his treasured invites and I would wear it as a badge of geek cred. I, was one of the lucky few (hundred thousand) who were invited to the game during the first wave of invites, and it felt good. I talked it up amongst my colleagues and guarded my invites, choosing carefully who I would allow into the wonder that was Wave. I did so to: (a) keep the club to a select few trusted friends and (b) make sure the invites where in the hands of others who would also take great care in choosing who they would invite. Those early days were good and we used Wave to collaborate on such things as where to go for lunch and as a back channel for office bitching sessions and Dilbert cartoons. The funny thing is that my initial select few eventually choose new career paths and the one tool that had kept us all together while we worked within feet of each other quickly fizzled to the point where I can't recall the last time I have logged in, it's been months. As we put distance between us we reverted back to e-mail and text messages and Wave no longer became relevant.

It seems as though Wave failed to ride the... no I'll not go there. Wave failed to capture the attention of the masses the way that gmail did, using the very same tactics that Google used to launch that product with much success. In a blog post yesterday on the Official Google Blog, Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Operations & Google Fellow wrote "...Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects." 

Perhaps we will see the features we loved in Google Wave in the rumored new Google social network "Google Me" as it was referred to by Kevin Rose of Digg fame when he let the cat out of the bag on This Week in Tech and via twitter. One has got to think that Kevin has credible sources and I'll be anxiously awaiting my opportunity to snag me one of those invites!

French Security Firm Warns Of Apple IOS / PDF Vulnerability

French security firm Vupen has reported a vulnerability targeted at Apple products running IOS, namely the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, that could allow hackers to take control of your device. The scam is an old one, lure users to a malicious website planted with an infected PDF document. It's been done before on PCs but this is the latest in a string of attacks aimed at Apple's popular mobile devices. It would seem as though Apple is feeling the pain long suffered by Microsoft, it's tough being at the top!

Apple is looking into the claim.

Credit: The Globe and Mail

Patch Tuesday Features USB / Shortcut Bug Fix

When I logged into my pc this morning I received the typical Windows update message and thought little of it. This update however addresses a critical issue publicized in mid July that has been dubbed the USB or Shortcut Bug. The bug was initially being exploited through the use of USB thumb drives and was thought to be limited in scope but, according to this BBC report, has been gathering steam since details of the exploit were published on July 17th. More disturbingly the target of the attacks appears to have been "aimed at the software control systems for critical infrastructure such as power stations."

If you do not have automatic updates turned on it is advisable to visit Microsoft and download this update. While I'm pretty sure you are not running a power station, the flaw in Windows would allow unauthorized access and control of your pc should you acquire the bug. Aaron Heibert at Tom's Hardware offers some friendly advice regarding how to protect yourself from this and other such attacks.

Let's be careful out there...

United Arab Emirates To Block Blackberry E-mail

The U.A.E. has indicated that it will begin to block Blackberry e-mails and text messages in October, citing security concerns. It's a twist of fortune for Research in Motion who scored a big win when security officials in the US allowed then President Elect Obama to keep his Blackberry but has run a fowl of the Arab states. The issue that the U.A.E. and other countries in the Persian Gulf region are having is that the highly encrypted messages make it difficult for government to monitor communications.  

“The U.A.E. has never been a place that offered much in the way of electronic privacy,” said Jim Krane, author of “City of Gold,” a history of Dubai. “The government makes no secret that it monitors electronic communication, including text messages, phone calls and e-mail. The revelation that secure BlackBerry data is frustratingly out of the government’s reach only confirms this.”

The burning question for me now is how will the stand be viewed by consumers here in the Western world? I would have to think that this is a plus for RIM here, but then again how many of us make our decisions based on such criteria?

Credit: New York Times

The War Against Watermelons

I was simply going to tweet this but Twitter seems to be experiencing some difficulties today. I am not quite sure what these folks have against watermelons but it does make for an interesting effect... wish I could say that no fruit was harmed in the making of this video but obviously that would be a lie.

Please don't try this at home Gary!

NASA Weighing Options Regarding Space Station Equipment Failure

According to the NASA website Teams in Mission Control in Houston are weighing the options with regards to a cooling loop that has had a mechanical failure and space walks are being considered. The loop that was shut down, and since been unable to restart, is one of two cooling loops and the problem seems to be associated with a pump that circulates ammonia. The failed loop is said not to have placed the crew in danger "The space station crew is in no danger and all systems are stable, though operating in a "single string" mode without redundancy. " 

Thankfully there are two spare pump modules aboard but they are located on the outside of the IIS and thus the potential for a spacewalk to retrieve the parts. 

NASA says "Two of the four main buss switching units are cooled by the failed loop. The units switch and route power to various station systems. Mission Control is evaluating whether the heat generation may be low enough to not require powering off these switching units. With the loss of the cooling loop, several systems have been shut down, including one of two S-band communication circuits, one Global Positioning System circuit, several DC to DC current converters in Tranquility and a set of components that route commands to station equipment. Though two of the four station Control Moment Gyroscopes initially were turned off, the crew installed a jumper cable to regain a third gyro. The gyroscopes maintain the station's attitude in space."

As someone who works in the IT field, I feel much safer when the redundant systems are in place. This is however precisely why you build redundancy into systems and I'm sure NASA is considering all of the potential dangers and making their decision accordingly.

What's Next?

Not much time to write this morning so I'll leave you with this video of Flickr cofounder and cofounder of Hunch, Caterina Fake, and her thoughts on where we are going with technology and the future of the recommendatioin engine (credit Wired).

Thoughts anyone?

Much Fuss Over Facebook File Being Torrented

A lot of press over the past 24 hours regarding a file that has been made available for download via torrent sites. The file contains the publicly viewable profile information of approximately 100 million Facebook users. Firstly let me say that I am not a huge Facebook (the company) fan, nor for that matter am I what you would call an avid user, but I do have a Facebook account and it does suit a particular purpose for me... mostly serving up feeds of this blog. I do think however that a great deal of hype is surrounding this story unnecessarily and it's probably got more to do with the number of users and the sensationalism that a number like that can generate when being tossed around.

A "security consultant," Ron Bowes, used a piece of code to scrape Facebook profiles, collecting publicly available data and published the file on the internet. His motive was apparently to highlight privacy issues according to the BBC. While Facebook has been the target of much criticism over their privacy policies in the past, this type of attention is probably doing more for Ron Bowes, and his motives should be called to question. The information that you've made public via Facebook is what helps others using the service to connect with you, and if you are truly concerned perhaps you might like to reconsider joining such networks in the first place, or at least tweak your profiles to reflect your concerns. Ignorance is an excuse and not a defense, read the terms of service, limit what you share to what you are comfortable with, and pay attention to the notifications from the service providers. Just my thoughts....

Dirty Politics?

It's no secret that politics is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for you if you don't want your dirty laundry aired in public. The latter is what is being played out in a judicial race in McClain County  Oklahoma where a lawyer, John Mantooth, is facing a great deal of opposition from his daughter and son in-law who have created a website http://donotvoteformydad.com/ in an attempt to inform the voters of their opinion of the candidate. It seems as though daughter Jan Schill has had an unpleasant past with her father and perhaps her husband Andrew has other motives. Though Andrew Schill is quick to point out "We are shocked both by the extent and the nature of the media coverage this story has generated.  And we completely agree with Mr. Mantooth that the voters should look at his experience and record when deciding how to cast their vote for District Judge.  It is our sincere hope that you will examine this record for which we’ve provide the limited examples available to us and make an appropriate and informed decision."

Working Collectively Into The Night

A trend is popping up that involves people who tend to work late into the night, mostly alone, who are now forming groups of night owls and getting together to collectively and cooperatively pursue their pet projects or just catch up on things they can't accomplish during the day. The New York Times gives credit to Allan Grinshtein and Amber Lambke for forming "the New York Nightowls, a sort of study hall for entrepreneurs, freelancers and software developers who gather at 10 every Tuesday night and stay as late as 4 a.m."

Ms. Lambke, a creative consultant, says “The goal is to come, get inspired, meet new people and get work done,” and that “It’s six hours of uninterrupted, productive time where you’re surrounded by other creative people doing awesome things.” 

Personally, I've long been aware of the concept of Third Tuesdays, where generally tech savvy ilndividuals or at least those interested in technology get together once a month to socialize and learn from each other. I've long felt that our community would benefit from such a group, but now I'm liking the night owl concept even more. 

Michael Thorpy, director of the Sleep-Wake Disorder Center at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx says “Our circadian timing of sleep is affected by genetics, and people all differ,” and “If it fits in with their lifestyle, it can work very well,” he said. “A large part of their waking day is when things are quieting down.”

Now if we could only find a  place to meet and get stuff done... hmm.