Unison is a file-synchronization tool for Unix and Windows. It allows two replicas of a collection of files and directories to be stored on different hosts (or different disks on the same host), modified separately, and then brought up to date by propagating the changes in each replica to the other.

Unison shares a number of features with tools such as configuration management packages (CVS, PRCS, Subversion, BitKeeper, etc.), distributed filesystems (Coda, etc.), uni-directional mirroring utilities (rsync, etc.), and other synchronizers (Intellisync, Reconcile, etc). However, there are several points where it differs:

* Unison runs on both Windows and many flavors of Unix (Solaris, Linux, OS X, etc.) systems. Moreover, Unison works across platforms, allowing you to synchronize a Windows laptop with a Unix server, for example.
* Unlike simple mirroring or backup utilities, Unison can deal with updates to both replicas of a distributed directory structure. Updates that do not conflict are propagated automatically. Conflicting updates are detected and displayed.
* Unlike a distributed filesystem, Unison is a user-level program: there is no need to modify the kernel or to have superuser privileges on either host.
* Unison works between any pair of machines connected to the internet, communicating over either a direct socket link or tunneling over an encrypted ssh connection. It is careful with network bandwidth, and runs well over slow links such as PPP connections. Transfers of small updates to large files are optimized using a compression protocol similar to rsync.
* Unison is resilient to failure. It is careful to leave the replicas and its own private structures in a sensible state at all times, even in case of abnormal termination or communication failures.
* Unison has a clear and precise specification.
* Unison is free; full source code is available under the GNU Public License.

Unison File Synchronizer

For those readers who ask me what they can do to help fight poverty, one option is to sit down at your computer and become a microfinancier.

That’s what I did recently. From my laptop in New York, I lent $25 each to the owner of a TV repair shop in Afghanistan, a baker in Afghanistan, and a single mother running a clothing shop in the Dominican Republic. I did this through www.kiva.org, a Web site that provides information about entrepreneurs in poor countries — their photos, loan proposals and credit history — and allows people to make direct loans to them.

You, Too, Can Be a Banker to the Poor - New York Times

I am becoming more and more of a fan of Bradford Anderson, who plays the hacker character "Damian Spinelli" on General Hospital.

For those who don't watch GH: Spinelli is a character that was introduced a few months ago, as a college-aged "hacker." Initially just a side character who was introduced to provide an encrypted flash drive as part of a mob storyline, he's been developing a substantial fanbase. I've had fun watching how the writers are wrestling with the character -- *someone* on the writing staff has some geek chops, but they're limited as to what they can portray in the show, targeted as it is towards a mainstream audience that won't understand the majority of the cyberculture in-jokes. And of course there are the usual gaps in accuracy that are needed to keep the story moving along: Spinelli's laptop battery never fails, he always has instant access to high-speed wifi no matter which building he's in, and of course can tap into any hospital database or hotel security system with merely a couple keystrokes. ;)

But the real joy of the character, is watching Anderson's portrayal. He's not your typical soap star, and to be honest, has more Quasimodo in his look than Prince Charming. But the sheer personality that oozes out of him in every scene makes him more fun to watch than any Chippendale's dancer (and face it, Quasimodo is way hotter than any ol' vanilla prince).

I went ahead and wrote most of the Wikipedia bio on Anderson, and was impressed with what I learned. He's a 27-year-old actor out of New Hampshire, with some award-winning stage performances under his belt. He's also got skills in the school of physical comedy, and frequently plays his scenes like he's a high-energy combination of Sean Penn, Don Knotts, and Walter Mitty. He's high IQ comic relief, and a refreshingly original character in the world of soapdom.

The original reaction from some of the critics was, "Who is he, and why did they pick someone so ugly?" but the fan response has been incredibly positive, and fansites are popping up around the internet that are pairing Spinelli with "Lulu Spencer" (the beautiful blonde teenaged daughter of Luke & Laura) and splicing together all kinds of YouTube music videos with every snippet of a Spinelli appearance that's been on the show so far. The buzz is that Anderson has been offered a longer term contract on the show, and I hope he accepts, because I'm hooked on this character. He's my favorite part of GH at the moment, and it's a disappointment when it's not a "Spinelli day."

For those who like to track the fictional portrayals of hackers in pop culture, I recommend tuning in on this guy. He's a lot of fun to watch.

Elonka :)

P.S. For an example of Spinelli dialogue: In one scene, Spinelli visited the home of Lulu Spencer's grandmother, Lesley, who he had never met before. When Lesley opened the door, Spinelli timidly greeted her, and gave her the best compliment that he could think of, which was to shyly tell her, "Your DMV pictures don't do you justice!" :)

Bradford Anderson / Damian Spinelli : The hacker on General Hospital

On my Mac the new MemeStreams design looks great, but on my Dell laptop the colors seem slightly too dark. I want to take an opinion poll. With regard to the grays in the title bar behind the logo and in the posts, is the new design too dark, just right, or not dark enough, in your opinion?

P2P enforcement forced anonymity and evasion technologies to evolve far faster than they ever would have if the FBI had been the only 'threat' to privacy online.

I agree with this conclusion. You don't really want mostly innocent people resorting to these technologies. Pressures such as RIAA enforcement have helped create these networks, and ISP Data Retention as well as laptop border searches will push it further along. If you are creating a policy situation where most people fear monitoring and prosecution you've done something wrong.

slight paranoia: How The RIAA and MPAA Unknowingly Assist Child Pornographers

DHS estimates that it will take only 44 minutes for a current driver's license holder to get a certified copy of their birth certificate, travel to the DMV and get a new license when it expires. No current driver's license holder will be allowed to renew a license by mail. They estimate the costs to states and individuals over 10 years will be $23 billion.

A couple years ago a friend of mine was arrested, taken to jail, because the name on his social security card did not exactly match the name on his driver's license. DHS had ordered that driver's license databases be correlated with Social Security and simply issued arrest warrants for anyone with a mismatch. Lots of married women got caught up in it. That was the start.

The annoying beaurocractic process mentioned above is the least of my worries in regard to REAL ID.

REAL ID will internationalize criminal records, all the way down to parking tickets. You get a speeding ticket in Holland and it goes against your licence in Georgia. Unpaid parking tickets in California will prevent you from driving in Hong Kong. You will not be able to escape the system...

Unless you want to forgo flying or entering federal buildings or collecting social security... Then if you live in one of the states that will issue drivers licences that are not connected with REAL ID you can get one and live off the grid. This puts conservatives in an interesting catch 22 situation. The reason these alternate drivers licenses exist is that if we're going to have illegal immigrants we'd prefer that they carry liability insurance. Many conservatives would prefer that we didn't have illegal immigrants. But other kinds of conservatives would prefer to have the option of living off the grid. You really have to make that choice right now. If you can live off the grid, so can others. If you need one of these things to drive, you won't be able to live off the grid and drive legally, buy beer or cigarettes, or carry insurance.

A National Healthcare plan might be the final nail the coffin here. It would be a federal program tied to these federal IDs. If you want to see a doctor under national healthcare, you won't be able to live off grid.

The use of these IDs will expand and expand. There really is little reason to have one federal ID and a separate passport, and there will be an interest, over time, in standardizing these on an international basis. The present plan does not require that the IDs be chipped. Thats fortunate, but probably temporary. They'll eventually get chipped.

20 or so years from now it will be possible to enforce things like age restrictions for social networking sites. In order to create an account you'll plug your national ID card into the slot on your laptop. You'll mostly do this because it will fill out all your biographical information for you. Its just more convenient that way. But it will also enable enforcement of restrictions and tracibility.

We don't really need all of this technology to engage in perfect law enforcement. There are other ways. The East Germans had perfect law enforcement. You don't have to have a 4th amendment and if you didn't you'd bust more criminals. At some point it would be nice if we stop and realize that the fact that technology makes something convenient doesn't make it a good idea. We're not going to.

The mainstream nanny state liberals and mainstream cultural conservatives control the government, because the government serves them. Other people don't want government. They do, and the government gives it to them, and it will keep giving it to them until this country is locked down tight as a drum. They'll stand on the other side of it and wonder why we're not particularly good at innovation anymore, but they'll never think that the root cause is the ID chip in their pockets.

REALID: Your Orwellian Nightmare has already begun

Moggridge's new book, Designing Interactions, was recently discussed here.

Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with IDEO co-founder Bill Moggridge. They look at how some of our favorite technology came into being, from the very first laptop right up to the iPod.

Some of you bought the book; any thoughts?

Bill Moggridge, author of 'Designing Interactions'

possibly noteworthy wrote:

I doubt you'll ever find yourself associating a YouTube video with a place and time in your life.

I have a distinct memory of the first place and time I saw soxmas.mov. I remember the struggle to download, then find the right machine to watch it on, etc. Not quite the YouTube experience, but now it probably would have been.

I also have associations with watching episodes of "The Wire" on my wife's laptop in our oceanfront bungaloo on our honeymoon. Not quite YouTube, either.

Most YouTube does not have the production values that would translate to a classic. Remembering time and place with a viral or homemade movie is like remembering where you read a pulp paperback or newspaper... if it resonated, great, but otherwise they are disposable media for disposable time.

RE: A Traveler's Library

Why is it that every time my cat Butterscotch walks on my laptop, he manages to step on the power button and shutdown Windows?

Samsung is taking fuel cell technology for notebooks to the next level by showcasing a new DMFC (Direct Methanol Fuel Cell) dock that can power a Q35 ultraportable notebook for 8 hours a day for a full month. According to Samsung press release, the fuel cell has an energy density of 650Wh/L and total energy storage of 1,200Wh.

DailyTech - New Samsung Fuel Cell Dock Powers Laptop for a Full Month