Members of the FISA Court Published. Secrecy News reports on the names of the current eleven members of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA), along with the date each was appointed as well as when their respective appointments expire. The author of this report, Steven Aftergood, also states, “A full profile of the Court today —… Continue reading Members of the FISA Court Published

Library of Congress Overwhelmed By New Acquisitions. This AP article documents the critical shortage of space at the Library of Congress, which houses the largest library collection in the world. The library is in the process of building offsite storage warehouses (as many as 13) in nearby Maryland.  [beSpacific]

Technology Review: Networking From the Rooftop. Sinha's “chimney connection” is part of MIT's Roofnet, a project to create a self-organizing wireless network in which an amorphous, unmanaged collection of cheap Linux computers equipped with Wi-Fi cards collaborate to efficiently route data packets. [Tomalak's Realm]

Disaster Preparedness: Locking Out Former IT Personnel The single most valuable preventative measure is to make certain all systems are being documented. This can’t be stressed enough. Make backups of the documentation and have key personnel take copies home. When the time comes you, your new vendor, or your new employee will need the documentation to… Continue reading Disaster Preparedness: Locking Out Former IT Personnel

From NT/5.5 to 2000 or 2003?. Are you planning to upgrade from NT4/5.5 to Windows and Exchange 2000, or are you perhaps considering jumping all the way to 2003? Exchange 2003 offers many new benefits and features over Exchange 2000, as this Microsoft chart shows, however there may be a few more things to consider before… Continue reading From NT/5.5 to 2000 or 2003?

Software Customer Bill of Rights. As the software infrastructure has been going through chaos, reporters (and others) have been called me several times to ask what our software-related legal rights are now and what they should be. I propose 10 rules that are more modest than other suggestions but that could go a long way… Continue reading Software Customer Bill of Rights

IEEE's “Body of Knowledge” for Software Engineering. The IEEE Computer Society has been developing its own statement of the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK). They are now calling for a review of SWEBOK, which you can participate in at www.swebok.org. SWEBOK pushes the traditional, documentation-heavy approaches. I have read several drafts of it over… Continue reading IEEE's “Body of Knowledge” for Software Engineering

Best value conference?. Here's a great analysis of some techn conferences….. [thanks Jason] The Science of Conventions. Great breakdown of tech conventions…. [Jason DeFillippo's Journal] Putting a Value to a Conference In the past days there has been some discussion about the registration cost of professional conferences, especially the PDC ($1700) and BloggerCon ($500).  The… Continue reading Best value conference?

theinquirer.net – Microsoft software 'riddled with vulnerabilities”, trade body claims. Dept of Homeland Security should avoid Microsoft The US Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) has urged the US Department of Homeland Security to avoid using Microsoft software. The Washington based association, which represents members that generate over $300 billion, has issued an open letter… Continue reading Microsoft software 'riddled with vulnerabilities”, trade body claims