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May 31, 2006

PIN and TAN - variations on a theme

When I had my first Internet bank account back around the middle of the 90's, my bank sent me a Personal Identification Number (PIN) and a list of one-time transaction numbers (TAN). The PIN was used to access the account and the TAN used to "sign" any transaction I wanted to do. This system worked pretty well (I thought, but then I was also partly responsible for the Internet-banking application in the first place - but that's another story).

Over time, as Phishing became a problem, my bank introduced indexed TANs, meaning you can no longer enter any old TAN from the list but the exact one you're requested to enter (i.e. via an index).

I've just opened another account with a different bank and they have another variation on the theme - indexed TANs with confirmation code. After you have entered the indexed TAN, the bank displays a confirmation code that you compare with the confirmation code next to the TAN on your list. If the confirmation code is correct then all is well. If not - or if the "bank" doesn't display a confirmation code at all, then something is wrong. Panic. Or rather "contact us immediately".

Posted by Matthew at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)

Wack-a-mole 2.0

The wack-a-mole blogging circus piled in on Tim O'Reilly last week. In my view, the whole thing was a non-event - but obviously it filled a void somewhere. Tim responds in length.

Actually, just to add something - here is the bit I find most interesting from Tim's entry:

MediaLive filed for the trademark on the Web 2.0 Conference back in November 2003, when they first entered into the partnership agreement with O'Reilly on this conference. This was before Web 2.0 became such a popular term -- the filing actually preceded the first conference. However, I wasn't personally aware of this trademark filing till this past February, as a result of discussions with CMP after the MediaLive purchase.
So, for over 2 years Tim O'Reilly wasn't even aware that CMP had trademarked Web 2.0 for conferences. Hmmm....

Posted by Matthew at 07:33 AM | Comments (2)

May 28, 2006

Shipped!

1 MB 13/1.83 CTO WHITE - not for me - but it's still a secret - so shhhh. Hopefully it will arrive in the next couple of days. Nearly as much fun as ordering one for myself. Nearly.

Posted by Matthew at 06:59 PM | Comments (0)

Indiginox update

Some months ago, I wrote about helping my friend Ashley get his new company Indiginox up and running. Since starting out, he has now expanded both the Indiginox offering and the website. There is now also a blog. Ashley describes Indiginox thus:

The idea behind Indiginox is to combine experience in both the proprietary and Open Source worlds and in so doing, bridge the gap between technology on the one side and the needs of customers on the other. Think of Indiginox as being the independent broker in the middle.

Posted by Matthew at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2006

Sideways for geeks?

Now this is an "un-conference" for me - WineCamp. It takes place in wine country from May 26-May28. From the blurb:

WineCamp is an ad-hoc un-conference, set in wine country. It is born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment.

That's open as in "will someone open the next bottle?" I guess. Anyway - seems like fun and a pity this type of thing is - again - on the other side of the planet. Now, what about an Open WineCamp focussing on Open Source topics next? I'm sure I could convince my wife I need to go to that!

Posted by Matthew at 02:46 PM | Comments (4)

May 23, 2006

Random Apple thought

Now that Apple has streamlined the laptop offering and raised the size and price of the "smallest" Apple laptop to 13" and $1099 - doesn't that mean they've left themselves some room at the bottom of the product line to introduce a smaller Mac OS X based "device"? Say an iTablet with a 7" screen and retailing for $899?

Posted by Matthew at 12:58 PM | Comments (1)

May 18, 2006

What value complexity?

Today for some reason I started musing about the market value of complexity. While there is a distinct tendency towards commoditization in certain industries I was also struck by the fact that maybe complexity is introduced to counter-balance falling margins.

Example: Mobile phone plans - the prices for mobile phone calls and data transfers have dropped a lot in the past years - and yet I challenge anyone to completely understand the implications of all the different price plans and rates. New mobile operators with new (and different) price plans seem to be introduced every day. (Actually this thought struck me while walking though the town center of Paderborn today - where there seem to be mobile phone shops on every corner now.)

Example: Cable television - the number of available TV cable channels here in Germany has grown by a large number in the last year. However there are also an increasing number of cable channel options you can now choose from (different pay-channel packages, pay-per-view etc.)

Am I just running a fever or is "complexity" something that comes with increased choice due to increased availability of a particular service or product?

Do industries actually bank on adding complexity in those markets to keep their margins up?

Posted by Matthew at 07:25 PM | Comments (3)

May 16, 2006

Scramble coming to XBox360

Now, long time readers of this blog will remember that the arcade classic game Scramble is my all time favorite. Well, it seems that a collection of classic arcade games - including Frogger and Scramble - will soon be available for the XBox360 on LiveArcade. I can't wait!

Posted by Matthew at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)

Apple MacBook - in Black and White

Apple launches the 13" Core Duo MacBook in black and white versions with a starting price of $1099. Only the high-end MacBook is available in black - and the price is an additional $200 for the - um - darker version.

Posted by Matthew at 04:37 PM | Comments (1)

Google Notebook - noted

By chance I tried out the link and I can actually log-on to the new Google Notebook service.

After logging on you are prompted to download a Firefox extension, which I did. After restarting Firefox you get a help page that explains how to use the extension. Basically, you can then select stuff on a web page and have it saved to your personal Notebook (a little pop-up window that then appears in your browser). If you "note" an image from a web page then the image is displayed in the Notebook entry. Once the entry has been made, you can edit or delete it. Clicking on "full page view" opens a new tab in the browser with your Notebook entries. You can choose whether your Notebook is private (seems to be the default) or public. A public Notebook has a Web address and can then be accessed over the Net. The color of your Notebook changes from blue to orange if the Notebook is public. Google asks you for a nickname to use and then generates a URL for the page. Here is my little West Wing page.

I need to play around with it some more to see if it's something I can really use.

Posted by Matthew at 03:58 PM | Comments (2)

May 15, 2006

West Wing ends

I guess this is my last post on the West Wing as the series ended on Sunday. The last episode was - well a last episode. Nothing spectacular but I think in the end - fitting. Luckily I can still watch the more energetic seasons on DVD or via other means. Salon writes an epitaph - and yes, Sorkin was a better writer but it was the cast who carried the show the full distance.

Posted by Matthew at 09:43 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2006

Winding down the West Wing

They are doing an excellent job of winding down the West Wing. The final episodes are really moving and I'm really going to miss what must be the best TV series I have ever downloaded - er - seen. Actually, tonight, my Mum is watching an episode from my season 1 DVDs while I am watching the current episode from season 7. Doesn't time fly. Transition.

Posted by Matthew at 10:10 PM | Comments (1)

JAX 2006 - all aboard

Ok, so WiFi at JAX conferences is still a sore point, but apart from that I think this has to be one of the best JAX's I've been to for a long time. First off, the conference has grown with around 1500 people attending this year. Over 140 sessions and 55 companies in the exhibitor hall. For the first time, JAX moved to Wiesbaden and even though the "community" feel of the original JAX (where the conference was in a small hotel) has gone somewhat, it was still a great place to meet up with some old and make some new friends.

But what struck me the most at JAX this year was the positive "vibes" I could feel. For instance - this is the first JAX I can remember for a long time - where companies were actually hanging up job offers. I talked to a couple of exhibitors and they were all very positive on the current state of the IT market in Germany. Things seem to be looking up.

Posted by Matthew at 11:03 AM | Comments (2)

May 05, 2006

JAX-BOF: Open Source in the enterprise

One of the things I'm really looking forward to doing is moderating the panel on Open Source in the enterprise at JAX next week. It will be the first time for me moderating and hopefully we'll have some good discussions and be able to answer questions from the audience on enterprise Open Source deployment. Amongst others, Lenz Grimmer from MySQL and Tobias Hartwig from JBoss will be in the panel with me. Drop by and wave.

Posted by Matthew at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

Please excuse the current light blogging..

..but my wife is away for a further three weeks course and so I'm playing Mr Mom again. My Mum is helping out this time and we are doing fine (thanks for asking). However, next week I'm off to JAX for a couple of days. So I'm currently writing a three day - blow by blow - playbook for my Mum to use as a project plan for getting through the days. My kids are of an age where coordinating the afternoon activities is probably the hardest challenge.

Posted by Matthew at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)