A week ago we quick polled our readers, asking them if they were currently implementing online conferencing services?

Here's how the ninety-two respondants answered:

• 42%No current plans
• 15%Within the year
• 11%Less than six months
• 4%We've been collaborating from Tulsa to Tunisia for some time

Don't forget to take this week's Quick Poll on E-Voting.

Is it possible? Could the timeless battle between Internet Explorer and some Web-surfing rival renew once more?

It seems very plausible. With yet another barrage of security patches being announced, Microsoft has seen a 1% drop in Internet Explorer usage within the last month. That may not seem like such a huge number, but it still has an ominous impact -- MS is slowly bleeding IE users. And the constant patch releases are really akin to slapping a couple of bandaids on the wound without giving it proper medical attention.

So the time is ripe for web-brower companies like Mozilla and others to really stand up, shine and make names for themselves. And make no mistake, there's plenty of IE alternatives out there.

In the movie Highlander, the catch phrase was, "There can be only one." That's not necessarily the case in the browser game. But if it is, Microsoft better be careful. The "One" may not be them anymore.

Doncha just love variations on a theme? There's a new variation on the Bagle virus
floating around--time to make sure that your virus signatures are up to date. I can't help but think that there are a ton of script kiddies who could use a nice summer camp right now...

Since many network security components work by identifying either suspicious behavior or known code signatures, how worried should we be about worms that sleep on our systems?

Part of me says that the possibility of malicious code, digital Manchurian Candidates that wait until a specific trigger is provided, is a good argument for checksumming every file on your system and doing a regular scan. The other part of me says to get real, and lose the paranioa. For now, keeping tabs on behavior is as good as it gets, but I've now got a new reason to pop awake at 0330 and stare at the ceiling. It's just what I needed.

Oh, yeah, if you're wondering about the title--go listen to "The Weavers at Carnegie Hall. All will be explained.

Have you updated yet? If not, your computer, your family, and Western Civilization As We
Know It may have only hours to live!! Yeah, it's time for the latest in the on-going series
of Windows updates.

I know I shouldn't be flip about this--as far as I can tell, it really is important to
put these patches in place if you're running a current-generation Windows system with
current-generation IE. The problem is that I've got a couple' dozen Windows machines here
in my mini-swamp, and it takes a real chunk of time to update all of them. Oh, I know, I
could just have everything auto-update, but the idea of letting someone else tell my
computers when they're going to make changes to the operating system--well, it just makes
me uncomfortable.

I've been looking at low-cost patch management solutions lately, but I keep feeling like
there ought to be something better. So, help me out here--what are you using? I'd love to
find a good open-source solution, but I'm not willing to take the "throw out all the Windows
code and go to Linux" leap just yet. Until then, I guess I'll just keep complaining--and
asking you for suggestons.

Who cares about Switches, Network Security and WLAN design? The big news today is that finally -- Doom 3 is on its way to becoming a reality. The long -delayed, highly anticipated game just went gold.

So much for quality time with my children.

(A tip of my hat, btw, to anyone who recognizes which cult cartoon the phrase "Doom Doom Doom!" comes from.)

I've just about decided that the perfect outfit for travel while flying is a hospital gown and shower slides. The question is whether that flattering and oh, so practical garb will become a requirement for corporate on-site visits, as well. It seems that the British Ministry of Defence has decided that Apple's iPod is a significant hazard to national security and will no longer be allowed into critical areas. It seems that people are beginning to notice that many modern products are able to connect to a computer's USB port and transfer data, often without requiring any notification of or permission from system administrators.

So why stop at iPods? We've already seen companies banning certain models of cell phone because of industrial espionage concerns. Why should running shoes, watches, or Swiss Army knives with USB dongles be exempted from the ban? As we build more and more intelligence into common items, the days of the gaping gown and flip-flops may not be far off.

The answer, of course, is for firms interested in security to do things like turning off plug and play functionality. Until they come to their senses, though, Lester Haines at The Register has come up with a list of sensible precautions.

A week ago we quick polled our readers, asking them if "embarrassingly broad technology patents are being handed out like candy by the Patent and Trademark Office?"

Here's how the fifty respondants answered:

• 58% Duh. The EFF is right. We need to throw out existing idiotic claims.
• 34% Yes. The Gov should enforce stricter claim requirements in the future.
• 4% No. I think they're doing a good job challenging new patent claims.
• 4% What's the patent trademark office again?

Don't forget to take this week's Quick Poll on online conferencing services.

A woman in Texas was recently arrested as she entered her local bank, charged with with conning a Florida Ebayer out of nine grand for a motorcycle that never existed.

Only thing is, "Bobbie-Jean" claims she's the one who was conned.

The fifty-one year old unemployed accountant said she accepted a job she found on CareerBuilder.com for an overseas company. Part of her responsibilities included collecting payments from clients in the U.S. and wiring the dough to the UK.

But apparently the whole thing was a scam. And it's not the first time someone's been duped.

CareerBuilder and other online job search sites like Monster and Hotjobs are fighting a tough battle, trying to weed out fake job postings every day. But the illicit offers still manage to slip through, duping desperate job seekers into committing crimes, giving up cash, or worse -- revealing personal details about themselves.

Naturally, when the authorities come knocking, all fingers, roads and paper trails lead right to the unsuspecting "employee," while the company they work for seemingly vanishes.

Job search sites have plenty of suggestions on how to spot the fake job offers. But some folks feel that these providers should be providing alot more than just some advice.

As for "Bobbie-Jean," Career Builder is looking into her situation with a possiblity of joining in her legal fight to clear her name.

Sometimes, it's enough to solve one piece of the problem rather than waiting for the magic bullet that will make the problem disappear. Protecting your users against phishing attempts can be tough, since the design of pages (and facilities of browsers) can make it difficult to know which page you're actually viewing. I like a little IE add-in called SpoofStick that the folks at CoreStreet have developed and released for free download. It adds a small bar that shows where the web page is coming from--an interesting bit of information to compare with where you think you're browsing. Their page gives an an example of how it works, it carries no spyware, and the price is right.

A lot of discussion this past week concerned the appropriateness of the Organization for Internet Safety (OIS), a vendor-formed organization meant to create a guideline for security vulnerability disclosure. OIS released a public invitation to review its latest guideline revisions, which raised various concerns by numerous security researchers. The largest concern seems to be the bias of the guidelines in favor of vendors and not security researchers or end users. For those interested in following some of the thread, the initial post is located in our archives.

Also, there was additional discussion on various Internet Explorer exploit derivatives that still seem to be functional, despite the application of the latest patches and hardening techniques. We feel that, as time progresses, the security liability of Internet Explorer will continue to increase.

"A Kirkland man arrested last week on allegations that he stole proprietary technology from the AltaVista search engine two years ago is a Microsoft Corp. employee who has been working on the Redmond company's MSN Search initiative."

Innovation isn't just for high tech. Remember last year when our air conditioning died because of the cottonwood mess? Well, our friendly management company's handy man came up with an ingenious plan to ensure we didn't have a similar cottonwood party at 3am this year.

By placing window screens around the unit outside - screens with a very tight mesh - he's managed to keep the unit from becoming clogged with cottonwood and overloading itself.

Three cheers for ingenuity!

They're cute. They sing and dance. They're from another planet.

They're the Googles, and they're suing a Web Search giant near you!

Googles.com, a children's website operated by Stelor Productions, is suing Google.com, everyone's favorite search engine folks, on the grounds that Google's trademark is way to similar to the Googles.

Still with us?

Claiming "we were here first!" with their cutesy, friendly space creatures that encourage kids to laugh, play and dance, Stelor argues that Google's trademark application -- which covers a "long list of things, including children's books, stickers and clothing -- will cause nothing but confusion for fans of their interstellar stars.

Personally, I cannot fathom what kind of children's books Google.com would be able to come up with. Goldylocks and the three Googles?

The Little (Search) Engine that Could?

Hansel and Google?

But I digress.

This couldn't have ANYTHING to do with Google's going public, do you think? NAH.

Like they say, "one man's packing refuse is another man's Wasilly."

If you open a case of Coca-Cola this summer and spot a strange looking can with a recessed panel and buttons on the side, you won't be drinking but may be smiling.

Turns out these special cans are fitted with cell phones and global positioning chips. The push of a red button connects the dialer to the prize center where they find out if they've won anything from cash to an SUV (It's a one-way call -- so don't get any ideas about trying to dial Uncle Hector in Paraguay).

The military, however isn't quite ready to have their Coke and smile. They're concerned that the special cans -- if brought onto a base -- could be used to eavesdrop into military matters. So every can is being scrutinized before passing by the armed guards.

Hmm…Maybe Uncle Sam just likes his Pepsi?

Do you remember muscle cars? I know I had a serious case of the hots for
a '71 Hemi 'Cuda when I was, oh, 12 years old or so. Detroit kept
pushing large-displacement cars as far as they could go, and teen-aged
boys loved them. Of course, the day came when the insurance companies
(and the reality of gas prices) made them too expensive to own, and the
genre died overnight. Now, of course, we have cars that with better
performance in nearly every aspect, plus enhanced safety and better
fuel economy. Let's call it product maturity.

It's just possible that Microsoft's Internet Explorer will someday be seen
as the Hemi 'Cuda of web browsers. The folks in Redmond have done an
admirable job of building performance features into the world's favorite
browser, but we keep being reminded that it can be expensive to operate.
The latest reminder came in the guise of a CERT Security Alert that warned
of ways in which hackers could cause malicious code to execute on a
system in spite of existing security software. Wonderful.

This sunday is the 228th celebration of our Nation's Independence.

To say that the last few years have been challenging for our country would be a severe understatement. On a daily basis, we're faced with the looming threat of terrorism within our very own borders. Former allies now criticize our actions abroad. Family and friends risk their lives every day in a foreign land -- many making the ultimate sacrifice.

No, it's not alwasy easy to feel patriotic on a day like Sunday. But despite all the obstacles we face, this is still a wonderful place to live. I'm proud to be an American -- and to have the honor sharing my own birthday with that of our country's.

Have a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!

"What is freedom? Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for yourself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice and the exercise of choice a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing." — Archibald MacLeish

Within the last few years there have been some stories circulating in an almost urban legend-eseque fashion -- tales of cell phones combusting. Many of these stories included an injury to the owner of the phone, because that person was either using it at the time, or was in close proximity to it when it went all "Flame on!"

Well as we all soon discovered, these stories weren't so much legend as legit. Cell phones have been igniting. The latest victim -- a 16 year old girl whose phone caught fire while in her back pants pocket. She suffered 2nd degree burns on her buttock. Fortunately she will be alright.

Previously, alot of these stories included the cell phone user being near a gas station, and somehow the phone ignited gasoline fumes. This poor girl however was volunteering in a youth center.

I decided to check my own wireless plan.

• 500 anytime minutes
• minutes shared between my phone and my wife's (ala a "family plan)
• free chat time between those two phones

Nowhere did I see "Sudden combustion without warning," thank goodness. Just fine print about some ridiculous deactivation fee. All that would do is burn a hole in my wallet.

Those wacky judges are at it again. Tuesday, the Supreme Court squashed the Internet Porn Law designed to protect children from stumbling onto pornography. Yesterday, a federal appeals court said it was totally fine that a company that offered e-mail service tracked its subscribers' messages.

This decision came in lieu of a court case involving a now-defunct company, Interloc Inc. A former VP of the company was accused of ordering his folks to set up a program that made copies of e-mails in 1998 so they could review messages sent to its subscribers by their rival at the time -- none other than Amazon.com.

So how on earth did they escape conviction of the wiretapping charges? Ah the magic of the "loophole." Since the emails were copied while in "electronic storage" -- no real wiretapping ever took place. So by the letter of the law, they couldn't be held accountable.

You can bet that this is a huge can of worms just waiting to rupture and wriggle forth. Basically, this means companies could conceivably do a tap-dance around the law in order to rummage through inboxes.

Sounds to me like we need our legislators to be a little more mindful of the changing face of technology, and the fact that what laws work for one type of tech, may not work well for another.