Congratulations to Elonka on making prime coverage in the New York Times ...

For nearly 16 years, puzzle enthusiasts have labored to decipher an 865-character coded message stenciled into a sculpture on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters in Langley, Va. This week, the sculptor gave them an unsettling but hopeful surprise: part of the message they thought they had deciphered years ago actually says something else.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Sanborn left a phone message for Elonka Dunin, a computer game developer who also runs an e-mail list for enthusiasts trying to solve the "Kryptos" puzzle. For the first time, Mr. Sanborn had done a line-by-line analysis of his text with what Mr. Gillogly and Mr. Stein had offered as the solution and discovered that part of the solved text was incorrect.

Within minutes, Ms. Dunin called back, and Mr. Sanborn told her that in the second section, one of the X's he had used as a separator between sentences had been omitted, altering the solution. "He was concerned that it had been widely published incorrectly," Ms. Dunin said.

Ms. Dunin excitedly started sending instant messages ...

A Break for Code Breakers on a C.I.A. Mystery

The following images of stamps from around the world are a window into the computer's history. They immortalize key players in its evolution and honor the inventions themselves.

Indonesia has a stamp celebrating (?) the y2k bug!

Wired News: Computers on Stamps

A DEVICE that can pick up on people's emotions is being developed to help people with autism relate to those around them. It will alert its autistic user if the person they are talking to starts showing signs of getting bored or annoyed.

I know several people who should be required by law to wear this!

New Scientist Technology - Device warns you if you're boring or irritating

In an internal memo last October, Ray Ozzie, chief technical officer, who joined Microsoft last year, wrote, "Complexity kills. It sucks the life out of developers, it makes products difficult to plan, build and test, it introduces security challenges and it causes end-user and administrator frustration."

The trouble with Microsoft.

Windows Is So Slow, but Why? - New York Times

While the ICANN Board considers these concerns, and until they are remedied, CIRA will as of this date:

* Suspend its voluntary contribution of funds to ICANN;
* Hold in trust CIRA's voluntary contributions to ICANN;
* Suspend consideration of any Accountability Framework;
* Decline to host or be a major sponsor of any ICANN event; and
* Cease chairing the ccNSO's IANA Working Group.

Canada is the only place in the official DNS system with what I would consider a reasonable whois privacy policy.

Canada suspends involvement with ICANN.

I'm glad that Vint Cerf took the time to answer these questions and I'm glad that he chose to answer some of mine, but I find myself pretty unsatisfied with some of the answers he offered. This is all defensive of the status quo. The answers don't acknowledge problems and don't provide information about the future. I think an ICANN public relations person would have provided similar answers.

Q15: Does ICANN view the bulk domain monetization business as a legitimate activity that contributes constructively to the Internet as a communications tool?—by Tom Cross

Vint Cerf: As an engineer, I must admit that this particular “business” has been a surprise for me. However, it seems to fit within the present framework allowed by domain name operation. Advertising seems to be the primary driver here and it is argued by interested parties that advertising is an important form of commercial communication and therefore qualifies as a constructive Internet application.

I think this is insane. The exact same thing could be said about spam. This next one is similarly frustrating.

Q10: Why can’t Domain Name Holders automatically request anonymity without having to pay their Registrar, which really does NOT cost those Registrars anything extra?—by Search Engines Web

Vint Cerf: While I cannot speak for any Registrar (not being conversant with all their costs), there is always some cost associated with doing anything special. There is a tension between the desire for open WHOIS information and the desire of some registrants to be anonymous. That tension has yet to be satisfactorily resolved in policy discussions especially in the GNSO. One of the proposals has been to implement tiered access to WHOIS information, possibly by adopting a new technical substructure for implementing the system. Until that happens, registrars that are offering some form of anonymity apparently do so by adding procedures to the normal registration and apparently adding to cost.

No one had to do anything special until ICANN made accurate DNS WHOIS the law. All of the additional procedures that registrars have to follow to allow for identity protection are a direct and obvious product of ICANN policy. If ICANN hadn't stuck its nose in, people wouldn't have to pay more money to protect their identities, and people could still subpoena registrant contact information just like they do now.

Answers from Vint Cerf: The Road Ahead for Top-Level Domains

One of our most laudable national goals is the export of free speech and free information, yet American companies are selling censorship. While some advocates of technology rights have proposed consumer boycotts and Congressional action to pressure these firms into responsible conduct, a good first step would be adding filtering technologies to the United States Munitions List, an index of products for which exporters have to file papers with the State Department.

Oh good greif. This should be a BIS controlled item and not a State Department controlled item.

Exporting Censorship - New York Times

Similicio.us is a search engine that allows you to type in your favorite domain and receive suggestions of similar domains that might be of interest.

Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection: Six Degrees of Similiation

Half of all malfunctioning products returned to stores by consumers are in full working order, but customers can't figure out how to operate the devices, a scientist said on Monday.

Most product quality problems exist between terminal and chair

RIM has paid NTP $612.5 million in full and final settlement of all claims against RIM, as well as for a perpetual, fully-paid up license going forward. This amount includes money already escrowed by RIM to date.

Well, thats over.

Research In Motion and NTP Sign Definitive Settlement Agreement to End Litigation