The News – 03/15/04

In this Issue:	Recommended Reading
Past Their Expiration Date Shameless Self-Promotion Dept. Throwing Stones at Windows (programmers) Catch the Bzz Outside In Wi-Fi Gartner Predicts Spammers Fight Back With Porn Who’s Using Your Wi-Fi? Social Networking the Latest Rage Older Workers In Demand Who’s Spying On You?	I realize this is the only newsletter you’ll ever need, but if you want more in-depth detail, check out: Stan Hustad’s The Coaching Connection Management Signature's The Express Read

Past Their Expiration Date

Needless to say, things have been very busy here at StratVantage Central, what with starting up a new company and all. Now that The WiMAX Guys has installed wireless hotspots for its first big client, the Grand Hotel Minneapolis, I’ve got to clear out these old links before they get too moldy. Don’t worry, there’s always something new to write about. I’ve got another 40 some pages of great stuff to sort through with more shipments coming every day.

Briefly Noted

• Shameless Self-Promotion Dept.: It’s here: A new company from StratVantage – The WiMAX Guys. The service has two parts. The first is targeted at consumers and small businesses who buy the wireless networking gear, but can’t get it to work. We visit and get it up and running fast. The second part of the business is new installs for people who want to set up wireless hotspots. Check out the Website at www.TheWiMAXGuys.com.
  
  I provided some background info for my colleague, Marcia Jedd, who prepared an interesting white paper called Six Ways to Increase Marketing ROI. Check it out.
  
  My article, Why Your Company Needs a Professional Wireless Network, was published in the Reside newsletter, which also published my article about Short Messaging Service (SMS), Wherever they go, there you are.
  
  My second article for Fawcette Technical Publications’ Enterprise Architect magazine, Companies Collaborate on IT Practices, reports on a best practices sharing effort called Project Avalanche. My feature article, Grid Computing Takes Off in the Enterprise, was published in the magazine’s inaugural issue last May. (Registration required to view.)
  
  My article, Innovative Marketers Target Unwired Customers was published in the NetSuds newsletter in May.
  
  Several issues ago I debuted SNS Begware, an opportunity for you, gentle reader, to express your appreciation by tipping your server via PayPal. See the sidebar for more info. Total in the kitty so far: $86.48.
  
   
• Throwing Stones at Windows (programmers): Alert SNS Reader Andy Stevko sent along a link to an interesting series of files that contain comments put into the Windows 2000 code. When programmers write code, especially for a huge project like W2K, they often make remarks revealing their opinions on a variety of subjects, including the quality of their compatriots’ coding. When the Windows 2000 operating system code was stolen and published on the Internet not long ago, we got an unprecedented look into the minds of Microsoft’s programming staff.
  
  While there’s a fair amount of fairly typical profanity and vulgarity in the comments, as well as dissing of other Microsoft products, the most revealing comments regard the special, undocumented features Microsoft puts in its operating systems to give advantages to their other products, such as the Office suite. Microsoft has vigorously denied such practices for years, but now they’re caught red handed, assuming, of course, that the comments are original and unaltered.
  W2K Greps
  
  
• Catch the Bzz: Alert SNS Reader Dave Harkins sent along a BzzCard, which is a way normal people can advertise products they love. This could be a fabulous way to finally make the Holy Grail of viral marketing work for big business.
  BzzAgent
  
  
• Outside In Wi-Fi: Startup BelAir Networks thinks the best way to unwire a hotel or office building is from the outside, by siting a big access point outside and beaming the signals into the building.
  Wi-Fi Planet
  
  
• Gartner Predicts: Gartner analyst Art Lill says the confluence of pervasive wireless, real-time infrastructure, service-oriented architecture and low power-consumption mobile devices will be a catalyst that could transform or kill entire industries and spawn new ones. “What's happening in the music industry is nothing compared to what will happen to the pharmaceutical, publishing, media, advertising, retail, transport and financial services industries,” Lill said.
  Gartner Predicts
  
  
• Spammers Fight Back With Porn: Spamhaus is an anti-spam organization that many spammers obviously are not in love with. So some spammers have turned their spam arsenals against them. Spammers have sent emails that inform the recipients that they have subscribed to a child pornography mail order service and that a set of CDs containing pornographic images of children is already being mailed out to them. If the recipient believes they have received the message in error then they are asked to contact the administrators and cancel their order. Of course, this message has caused many upright citizens to fire off messages – to, unfortunately, Spamhaus, as it turns out. Quite a mess, really
  Silicon.com
  
  
• Who’s Using Your Wi-Fi? So you don’t care if a stranger uses your Internet connection, eh? After all, it doesn’t cost you any more per month on your home broadband account. Well, how about if that stranger downloads child porn, or sends out a million spams, and your Internet service provider gives your name up to the Feds? Toronto police stopped a car last December in which the driver was watching porn, apparently streamed from an open home Wi-Fi connection.
  
  Everyone needs security, even if you’ve got nothing to hide.
  Silicon.com
  
  
• Social Networking the Latest Rage: You could argue that people have used the Internet for social networking from its inception. But the latest craze involves services that allow people to search for those with common interests online, and even make business connections. I personally belong to several of these networks, including LinkedIn, Ryze, and Huminity. Each has slightly different rules, but using each is like playing a big game of Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon. In some networks, you can connect directly to people you’re interested. In others, you need to send requests through intermediaries who then “recommend” you to the target person. In the last month, I’ve connected with a techie in Holland and a wireless businessman in New Zealand, neither of whom I’d ever even heard of before. Here’s a list of various social networking services:

Tribe.net Spoke LinkedIn Friendster Ecademy

Ryze Business Networking Evite Monster.com – Now networks job seekers Online Business Networking Huminity

• Older Workers In Demand: Renee Ward, founder of seniors4hire, a Web placement organization specializing in the plus 50 set, says, “Older workers are intelligent, experienced, flexible, and they have the soft skills needed to blend in well at a new company.” Ward says younger workers often have bad attitudes and of course they lack the significant experience of older workers. Kinda makes you proud to be a boomer, even though I really hate it when people call us “aging boomers.” We’re all aging, aren’t we? As Dylan said, “He who is not busy being born, is busy dying.”
  
  The good news for all unemployed workers comes from the Department of Labor, which estimates that 26 million Americans will retire from the current 147 million person labor force by 2008 and 4.6 million jobs will go unfilled.
  News.com
  
  
• Who’s Spying On You? Spyware is software that runs undetected on your computer and sends information to the Internet. Sometimes Spyware merely compromises your privacy. Sometimes it steals your passwords and credit card numbers. This article gives a good overview. If you want to protect yourself from spyware, get Spybot, which has the loveliest click through agreement I’ve ever seen.
  News.com