I know he didn't mean to (so I won't act all flattered or smug or anything), but Robert Scoble just sort of summed up the better part of my topic/category list for this-here-blog of mine, over on his blog...

I thought it would be interesting to compare his list of cool upcoming topics for the future to what's categorized or searchable right now on my site. So, I did just that and have added the links, below. Not a bad start, and it points out to me where I am falling shorter than I had realized in my content. Hey Robert, thanks for the copy.

“For the next 18 months, where are the business opportunities going to lie? Tablet PC. Bigtime. Windows Media Center. Gonna be a big deal. SmartPhones. Wanna watch how fast the Motorola MPX220 sells when it's released in the next few months? Xbox Live. You only need to say one number and everyone knows exactly the Xbox thing I'm talking about: "2." Visual Studio 2005. Tons of stuff coming there. MSN has a whole raft of things up their sleeves. And we haven't even started talking about BizTalk, SharePoint, Exchange, SQL Server, 64-bit Windows, SBS, CRM, LiveMeeting, and OneNote, among other things.”

It also gives me a gut-check on my existing blog categories. Here they are, with the ones that apply to this posting checked:

AudioBlogging	Blogging	Humor	IT Security
Mobile	Movies	Office 2003	OneNote
Personal Stories	Random Stuff	RSS Stuff	SharePoint
Tablet PC	Tech	Things that Suck	Windows Media Technology

I have been using Furl for the past few months to create an online quick-hit catalog of items that I want to keep track of on the 'net for a number of reasons, such as items to keep track of for work purposes, stuff I may want to show someone else, or things I might want to write about at a later time here in my weblog. Today Furl sent an email to its users telling them that LookSmart has acquired the company, and describing the plans. It looks pretty good, and I hope it will be, since I have come to appreciate the Furl application.

From the email (my emphasis is added in bold):

"We are joining LookSmart, a provider of Web search and research-quality articles search, in addition to other high-quality search products.

  ...

"To show how serious that commitment is, we are officially allocating 5 gigabytes (GB) of storage for each individual member's public archive, enough space to store tens of thousands of archived items.

"We are also now working on many new features, some of which you may have requested. These include a groups feature, and the ability to search across all public archives.

"You might be wondering whether Furl will continue to be a free service, and the answer is: "Yes!" Furl will create revenue through the display of relevant, contextual advertising on search and content pages. This revenue source enables us to continue offering Furl free of charge. It also allows us to keep investing in the service. As Furl gets better and better, it attracts more members. They in turn attract new advertisers, creating a cycle of growth that benefits our members as well as our business."

Sean Gallagher writes at eWeek online. In his column, Root Access, he asks, "How connected is *too* connected?"

Do I have OCD? (Obsessive Connectivity Disorder) Do you?? My results are noted below, in-line... Damn Blackberries...

Gallagher: "I think that I've allowed myself to actually accumulate too much connectivity. As a remote employee of a highly-distributed organization, it's important for me to be as wired in as possible. But sometimes that may go a bit too far. As I sat in my car at a stop light responding to an instant message on my cell phone, I pondered exactly where I crossed the line into connectivity stupidity.

"Here's a simple test to determine if you have what I've come to call "obsessive connectivity disorder." The symptoms are listed in order from least to most severe; if you get more than halfway down the list, then you probably have OCD."

E-mail connectivity :

• You have more than one e-mail account that you check from work. YES
• You have more than one e-mail client running on your PC. YES
• You have more than one e-mail account that you check from a mobile device. YES
• You move information from one device to another by e-mailing it to yourself. YES
• You have read e-mail while at a sporting event. YES
• You have read e-mail while coaching a sporting event. NO
• You have read e-mail while participating in a sporting event. NO
• You have read an email while driving. YES
• You have responded to an e-mail while driving. YES
• You have responded to an email while home, in bed. YES :-(
• You have sent an e-mail from your phone to your Blackberry just to find it in your drawer. YES :-(

Instant messaging:

• You have more than one instant-messaging client running on your desktop PC. YES
• You have an instant messaging client running on your mobile phone. YES (in the past)
• You frequently see the AOL Instant Messenger alert, "Your screen name is now signed into AOL(R) Instant Messenger (TM) in 3 locations." And all of those locations are you. NO (AIM Sux0rz)
• You have more than two instant messaging clients running on your mobile device. And they're both active. NO
• You have instant-messaged yourself a reminder at your desktop from a mobile device. YES
• You IM your children to tell them to take out the trash. While you're at home. Uh - NO
• You have responded to an instant message while driving. On your cell phone. And it was more than just, "OK." YES

Security Pipeline has an interesting article that explains how you can do some simple and cost-free things with your network setup to significantly improve your security situation, in the event you have not already applied the measures they describe.

Note: I am not so sure I agree with the article as a whole (in my book, a good firewall is an absolute must, and vulnerability scanners do add real value, especially when used in combination with common sense and a good, well-trained set of brains and eyes), but the points made in the article are interesting and, at least on a case-by-case basis, valid. But I do not agree that implementing just those measures would provide anything even approaching acceptable network security. To state that many IT managers become mired in the volume of patches and configurations is a valid point on its face, and is worth considering when looking at how to manage security and prioritize, but to suggest or imply that one therefore avoid any of the patches and tools is not - in my opinion - a good option.

From the article (which gives specific items to address):

"According to Peter Tippett, CTO of the newly-formed security company Cybertrust (formed from TruSecure, BeTrusted and Ubizen), you're better off looking for good solutions instead of perfect answers. "A few solutions that are only 80 percent effective give an overall 99.9 percent solution," Tippett says. In fact, he says that the most effective security solutions require little time and less expense, and can reduce your exposure 40-fold."

From Microsoft Research, ConferenceXP v3.0 beta is available for people who are interested in seeing the latest developments in the areas of wireless classrooms, collaboration and distance learning:

ConferenceXP integrates recent advances in high performance audio, video and network technologies to seamlessly connect multiple distant participants in a rich immersive environment for distance conferencing, instruction and collaboration. ConferenceXP provides an extensible foundation for interactive collaborative environments, and serves as a research platform for designing and implementing distance conferencing and learning applications. Please visit the ConferenceXP 3.0 Beta web site for more information.

I don't usually link to this kind of stuff here (simply don't click if you're offended way too easily), but this is great:

• Robert De Niro as the Homeland Security Director

There's something about this that just doesn't smell quite right...