] If you talk to people who want academic careers and want
] to get degrees, an example of a hot topic might be
] quantum computing, which seems exciting. And I think it
] is exciting, but to me, what's much more important is how
] we fundamentally conceive of software.

Jaron Lanier thinks creatively about software.

Coding from Scratch: A Conversation with Virtual Reality Pioneer Jaron Lanier, Part One

] Based on a detailed design and simulation (but without an
] actual implementation), we believe that the NFS sieving
] step for 1024-bit RSA keys can be completed in less than
] a year on a $10M TWIRL machine, and that the NFS sieving
] step for 512-bit RSA keys can be completed in less than
] 10 minutes on a $10K TWIRL machine.

Time to up those key sizes again.

[IP] Fast factoring hardware

] A fast-moving computer worm slowed down Internet access
] Saturday for about 22,000 servers, according to the
] Internet security firm Symantec.

The network that MemeStreams is on dropped off the net last night. I imagine that someone on it must have gotten this worm. Apparently outages were widespread.

CNN.com - Electronic attack slows Internet - Jan. 25, 2003

] "The adoption of the new name means that we will no
] longer use the term Palladium. There are several reasons
] for this. As a code name, Palladium was successful in
] gaining widespread attention. Unfortunately, it was also
] imprecise. “Next-generation secure computing base” more
] accurately describes what we are working toward — to help
] build a more secure Microsoft Windows operating system.

Spin Spin Spin....

There is too much going on in this space for it all to be a coincidence. Someone decided on a counter PR effort.

Palladium Name Change; Mission Still Same

] WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 After a weekend of antiwar
] protests that many participants say signaled an expansion
] of public opposition to military action against Iraq,
] some organizers are facing criticism, much of it from
] within the movement, about the role played by their
] group, International Answer.
] Attendance at rallies in Washington and San Francisco
] last Saturday was in the tens of thousands, and reflected
] a mix of views that spanned the social and political
] spectrums. Many protest organizers say the presence of
] labor unions, religious groups, business people and
] soccer moms showed a growing mainstream opposition to the
] war.

Some War Protesters Uneasy With Others

Scroll down a ways for the true story of where the One-Ring has ended up...

Frodo Fails...

] About 70 percent of all the queries were either
] identical, or repeat requests for addresses within the
] same domain. About 12 percent of the queries received by
] the root server on Oct. 4, were for nonexistent top-level
] domains. In addition, 7 percent of all the queries already
] contained an IP address instead of a host name.

All bad code and misconfigured firewalls.

Unnecessary Traffic Saturating A Key Internet 'Root' Server

] Presumably man's spirit should be elevated if he can
] better review his shady past and analyze more completely
] and objectively his present problems. He has built a
] civilization so complex that he needs to mechanize his
] records more fully if he is to push his experiment to its
] logical conclusion and not merely become bogged down part
] way there by overtaxing his limited memory. His
] excursions may be more enjoyable if he can reacquire the
] privilege of forgetting the manifold things he does not
] need to have immediately at hand, with some assurance
] that he can find them again if they prove important.

Vannevar Bush's 1945 Memex article, in which he explains a hypertext like system involving microfiche. Unfortunately, the Atlantic neglected to include the illustrations.

Whats most interesting about this article is the capability, such as annotation, which does not exist on the web. The MemeStreams thread bookmarket is supposed to provide an annotation function.

As We May Think by Vannevar Bush

] Regulations.gov is the U.S. Government web site that
] makes it easier for you to participate in Federal
] rulemaking - an essential part of the American democratic
] process.

Wow, nice of them to provide this!

Regulations.gov

] The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted unanimously to slap
] restrictions on a controversial Pentagon data-mining
] program that critics say would amount to a domestic
] spying apparatus.

Lots of good news today...

Senate limits Pentagon 'snooping' plan - Tech News - CNET.com