North Coast Connections

GCN online magazine covers their version of the eleven important technology trends from 2006 that portend the future. I like the way they lay out this article by providing a very short description of the trend and then listing several links to past stories that cover the subject in more detail. From the chatter I've seen on GCN and from other sources, it looks like they pretty much got it right. Here are the highlights:

GIS
Geomapping is indeed become faster and cheaper, and it's not just Google Earth. It's the richness of open source products out there that accelerated this application into the mainstream. Our local experts on GIS can be found at hostGIS.com

WEB 2.0
While this has received way too much hype, the bottom line is that the Web is become more interactive and contains a lot more applications and communication tools. This is especially good for government websites that are starting to provide a lot more services online. We need look no further than my own annual Top 10 Court Website Awards at Justice Served for excellent examples of Web service delivery. A related trend is vastly expanded government web search functionality.

BOTNETS
These automated tech bugs used by hackers to crawl around the Internet to gather information and plant viruses have found a commercial niche with spammers posting ringtone, prescription drug and sex ads on web sign-up pages like robot salesmen from hell. The result is exponential expansion of this cybercrime and resulting loss of productivity and web functionality. Ask any local blogger about this phenomenon and they'll tell you it's a constant battle just to stay ahead of these creeps. I just deleted 74 false comments on this blog in 5 days. All of them were posted by Botnets.

VIRTUALIZATION
This seems like a subtle issue, but it has a profound affect on how technology is packaged, deployed and presented to the end user. In a nutshell, software and applications either "live" on your computer, or they "live" on someone else's computer and you merely access them using your computer as a gateway. In the old days we labeled "dumb terminals" as monitors that accessed mainframe applications but did nothing else. Today, your computer can do lots of cool stuff AND access a lot more cool stuff through virtualization.

PERSONAL IDENTITY VERIFICATION (PIV) & PUBLIC-KEY-INFRASTRUCTURE (PKI)
PIV is now used by Homeland Security to identify who you are and will very likely move into the PKI realm as a means to identify who you are for authentication purposes on the Web.

MORE
The rest of the list includes:
Loose data that is stolen or left lying around and used for fraud or identity theft;
Open source expansion into the mainstream of corporate computing;
Internet protocol changes; and,
Reduced power consumption.

I spend a great deal of my time trying to stay current with technology and related trends, and teaching these to court professionals worldwide. Some of these predictions work out and others don't, but it doesn't keep us from trying to foresee the future and be prepared for the likely changes.

Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com

Posted by Chris Crawford at 09:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hope everyone in blogland is having a great Christmas. Try not to get too caught up in the commercial aspects of gift seeking, shopping, madding crowds and all. Try instead to reflect on the meaning of the holiday, its rich traditions and its ties to family and friends. And the food ... don't forget the food. This blog posting will cover some local tech stories that deserve mention. I consider them our Christmas presents to the community.

SURFCAM
The first in our Christmas tales is the story of the Surfcam. A local talented teleworker named Kevin Arndt is an avid surfer. Somehow, he got connected to the CEDAR academy at Arcata High School where students in the EAST program got involved in planning and implementing a SURFCAM project to remotely monitor the surfing conditions at Camel Rock. Kevin found grant funding through his employer, passed it through the Redwood Technology Consortium as a project sponsor and enabled the students to purchase the equipment needed to complete the project. Now, anyone can fire up their browser and check out the waves before deciding to grab a wetsuit to ride the curls. Check it out yourself:

Surf cam address http://75.111.40.33:3398/
Surf cam reset address http://75.111.40.33:3397/

CARLSON WIRELESS
There once was a company in Redway that became a world leader in wireless telecommunications infrastructure. Under the leadership of Jim Carlson, Carlson Wireless landed contract after contract in the US and internationally to furnish and install state of the art point-to-point wireless relays to support telephone and Internet connectivity without the need for poles and wires. CW has now grown to the point where they have to move in order to have the room and workforce to support their customer base. Instead of pulling up stakes and leaving Humboldt County, CW has moved into the old Yakima / Watermark space in Arcata and is partnering with Humboldt State University to collaborate with research, internships and spin off business development. The Times-Standard recently ran a story on the move.

HUMBOLDT COUNTY LINES MAGAZINE
A sure sign of a vital community is one that not only has local daily newspapers, television and radio, but also has a magazine dedicated to local events and news. 2006 brought us Humboldt County Lines magazine, an online 'zine hosted by Ferndale's Jill St Claire at JSC Marketing. The publication is coming of age and it's online subscriber base is growing. I suspect you'll see paper versions appearing as soon as they reach critical mass. Drop by, check them out and become a subscriber yourself.

So amid all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, take the time to reflect on our many blessings. These local tech heroes are helping us flex our technology muscles and will form the base for a strong local economy. I lift my glass of eggnog (hmmmm ... eggnog) and toast their commitment.

Merry Christmas!!

Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com

Posted by Chris Crawford at 09:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Most everyone jealously guards the openness of the Internet and opposes measures to restrict, tax or obstruct traffic on the World Wide Web. However, there are technology rats that inhabit the 'net who use technology to mine information or otherwise use websites to self-promote, spam or even propagate viruses through the use of tools called Spiders, Spider Bots, or just 'bots that crawl around the Internet looking for websites for the purpose of grabbing information for legitimate purposes like allowing Google searches, or for log-in opportunities to register or hack into sites.

One of the ways that websites thwart 'bots is through the use of "gates" that automated Spiders can't see or get through because they require some human intelligence to get around. The most popular tool is called a captcha, which stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. A captcha is a display of randomly chosen groups of 4-7 letters and numbers written in script or otherwise obscured to make it difficult or impossible for an automated program to read without human intervention. The website visitor is required to read the letters and numbers, retype them into a field and confirm that they are correct.

When it comes to bank websites, Ebay, Paypal or other privacy sensitive sites, this is a crucial security precaution. For those who operate blogs, membership websites or other sign-in online collaborations these 'bots can be a major pain in the butt because they constantly "register" as seemingly legitimate users but are really pimping ringtones, porn, loan consolidation or a host of spam.

Recently, my credit card company, MBNA, sold to Bank of America and instead of using Catpcha, they used a different tool that I found more user friendly. They asked legitimate users to re-confirm that they were legitimate and asked for a not-to-exceed 10 character word or phrase that is then co-mingled among 12 or more randomly chosen words from which to choose whenever the user logs in. In addition, the user is asked to identify the computer that is used to log in so that the website can authenticate the source of the inquiry.

OK, the latter authentication is kind of scary, smacks of Big Brother, and even creates further hassles when one is legitimately accessing an account from a different computer. But the end game is the same ... if you are who you purport to be, it should be easy to authenticate who you are.

You may have noticed of late that credit card companies ask that you verify a newly issued card by calling from your home phone. Even if your home phone is blocked from user ID, it is never blocked when you call an 800/866/888, etc number. If you call to activate a new or re-issued credit card from YOUR phone, the bank can authenticate who you are without human intervention, which is worth a bundle when you multiply the transactions by the labor costs.

So now you know a few new tech terms ... Catcha, authentication, 'bots and rats ... the last one is the most important to know.

Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com

Posted by Chris Crawford at 03:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

For those of us born in the era of the nuclear threat, the Civil Defense logo consisting of the letters C and D forming a red circle in a white triangle on a blue disk, was a constant reminder that at any time we could be wiped off the face of the Earth with an attack from Russia. According to a NY Times article, the logo has now been replaced with a more edgy Homeland Security logo.

To some, especially our younger readers, this is an esoteric and seemingly meaningless historic event. To those of us born before or at least living in the 1950's, it is a much bigger deal.

I remember back in the 1980's seeing a powerful video aimed at orienting mangers with the reality of the mindsets of the different age groups of the workforce by describing how their lives were affected by the historic events that occurred during their lifetimes. The video was called "what you are is what you were when." Oddly, I can't find reference to it in a Google search. Similarly, community college teachers are often given a "reality check" in the form of orientation in which the "reality" of the incoming class is provided in a one page briefing that says (among other things) that the incoming class has never seen a vinyl record, did not experience JFK's or RFK's assassination, never saw a rotary telephone and a host of similar factoids aimed at alerting teachers about how to relate to students in a meaningful way.

The closest I could come to this briefing is a blog that allows the viewer to see what realities affected each generation according to their year of birth.

As for me, I distinctly remember the 10am air raid drills that were repeated on the last Friday of each month in which students had to duck under their desks to practice avoiding the nuclear blast. Walking down the street back then, it was not unusual to see the Civil Defense logo as a reminder of where to go (usually a basement space) in case of a nuclear attack.

I'm not sure replacing the CD symbol with the Homeland Security symbol will have its intended effect, especially considering the lack of recognition or context by a youthful society. Still, it is worth noting the passing of this era.

I am reminded of a quote by Paul Harvey that "(i)n times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these." We still live in a dangerous world and we should all be mindful of how, when and where to take cover if we need to.

We just won't have a CD logo any longer to give us a clue.

Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com

Posted by Chris Crawford at 03:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)