Readers' Comments

Reader Comments on Aardvark Daily 28 June 2001
Note: the comments below are the unabridged submissions of readers and do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher.


From: Kane
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: The site is ??? - msn

Hey,
The site appears to be down, click on any of the news
links ? not to good fot the first day, not to mention the
Netscape issues.




From: David Mohring
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: MSDN Subscriber Forced to use Passport

It's started

If you code professionally for windows using MS development
tools, a MSDN subscription is a must have option.

Quoting the email
Dear MSDN subscriber,

MSDN® Subscriptions is pleased to announce that the MSDN
Subscriber Download Web site at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/resources/
subdwnld.asp will soon be upgrading its logon authentication
technology to Microsoft® Passport.

Microsoft Passport provides personal authentication services
that make it easier for you to navigate between Web sites,
and makes it faster and more secure for you to make
purchases online.

Beginning in late June, the MSDN Subscriber Download Web
site will prompt you to sign up for your personal Passport
and associate your current subscriber record to this
Passport. After signing up, access to MSDN Subscriber
Downloads will be easier, faster, and more secure.

For complete details, and to sign up now for your free
Microsoft Passport, please visit http://www.passport.com.

Sincerely,

The MSDN Subscriptions Team

http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions




From: GeriatricGeek
For : Right Of Reply (for publication)
Subj: The Biblical Beast is...

CATSHIT...Bill Gates has never tried HERDING CATS...he's
only a young chappy really...he will keep trying without
much success. Microsoft will continue preaching to the
converted...Bill will learn that RESISTANCE is FUTILE...the
OPEN SOURCE MOVEMENT and Linux  will prevail as sure as God
made little green apples.




From: Peter
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Word of the day

For the benefit of others, I had to look this up to understand it.  I
specifically like definition 2. Cheers Pete

escutcheon \Es*cutch"eon\, n. [OF. escusson, F. ['e]cusson, from OF. escu
shield, F. ['e]cu. See Esquire, Scutcheon.] 1. (Her.) The surface, usually
a shield, upon which bearings are marshaled and displayed. The surface of
the escutcheon is called the field, the upper part is called the chief,
and the lower part the base (see Chiff, and Field.). That side of the
escutcheon which is on the right hand of the knight who bears the shield
on his arm is called dexter, and the other side sinister. Note: The two
sides of an escutcheon are respectively designated as dexter and sinister,
as in the cut, and the different parts or points by the following names:
A, Dexter chief point; B, Middle chief point; C, Sinister chief point; D,
Honor or color point; E, Fesse or heart point; F, Nombrill or navel point;
G, Dexter base point; H, Middle base point; I, base point.

2. A marking upon the back of a cow's udder and the space above it (the
perineum), formed by the hair growing upward or outward instead of
downward. It is esteemed an index of milking qualities. --C. L. Flint.

3. (Naut.) That part of a vessel's stern on which her name is written.
--R. H. Dane, Jr.

4. (Carp.) A thin metal plate or shield to protect wood, or for ornament,
as the shield around a keyhole.

5. (Zo["o]l.) The depression behind the beak of certain bivalves; the
ligamental area.




From: Grant
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Passport

The Passport ID's is scary stuff coming from MS - one
security glitch & the bad guys get access to everything.
And I thought one password was supposed to be a security
risk?

Of course at the moment any passport ID is still not tied
to a person on a one-one basis - if you have to get one
(and I can see that it is only a matter of time) then given
fake details, using multiple ID's and have several people
use a generic ID would help break the usefulness of the
system.  Marketing information can get very skewed when you
have a few hundred people called Billz Bates all earning
billions and living in Outer Pongolia.

Where is gets more scary is that MS will start some serious
datamining - ie checking what books you buy & where they
are sent & matching physical location, not to mention
Telecom/Xtra sharing telephone number/addresses with there
MSN partners. Worse still imagine bitching about MS dev
tools on a site or via a hotmail style service that you had
to access via your passport number?  Given that they
already use PR firms to track 'friendly' vs critical
reporters for releases then the potential is 'interesting'
(especially if you are sufficiently paranoid ).

Prediction - MS will need to tie your actual living
breathing paying self to a 'passport' in the same way real
passports use photo's.  Therefore expect a MS push for
authentication devices (smartcards, voice, facial scans
etc), coming really now.
Now Have Your Say