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Wakko Warner asks: "So anyway, I was on IRC the other day (as I am often wont to do), and, as I was being banned from the network for not running 'identd', I thought to myself: 'Why do we still use this???' Can anyone come up with a valid reason why, in 2002, ident is still considered by some people to be a necessary component of the Internet? Most people use Windows for everything, and Windows has no identity services. Most UNIX folks I know disable it for security reasons. So, why do people still insist we run it in order to connect to their network? Is it still 1993 in some part of the world?"

Wakko Warner writes: "According to this article, a new Linux worm named "Cheese worm" has been spreading lately. The difference between this and other Linux worms is that Cheese worm attempts to fix backdoors added by other worms, removing malicious code and user accounts and scanning for other infected systems on the network. Now if someone would only release something like this for Outlook that turns off VBScript..."

Wakko Warner writes "According to this article, Napster lawyers (and RIAA lawyers) were grilled today by appellate judges. What's more interesting, though, is that, to appease the RIAA, Napster may institute a subscription-based service. Would you pay $4.95 a month to use Napster? "

Alex Prestin writes, "In an effort to control the recent distributed Denial of Service attacks which everyone's heard about, the FBI has released Linux and Solaris tools to detect the presence (or absence) of the various DDoS daemons. They're available in binary form only (for now). You can get them here." Quote from the page: "Recipients are asked to report significant or suspected criminal activity to their local FBI office." Update: 02/10 07:37 by H :Here's some more information:The author of the DDoS analyses (at staff.washington.edu/dittrich) has released a network scanner to scan for active agents on your network. It includes source, and is available here. PLEASE use it responsibly.

Alex Prestin writes "Donnie Barnes will be doing a Q&A chat session on CNN.com tonight at 8 PM EDT. " To read more from Donnie, check out the post-quiet period chat that CT and I had with him.

disclaimer:Hemos owns shares in red hat

Have you run 'whois' lately? Alex Prestin has. And he noted (as did several dozen others) that NSI has changed the message that appears. The most amusing part is that submitting a whois means you agree to this agreement: there's not normal way to cancel should you disagree with the policy. (which in all fairness is designed to slow down spammers and whois server abusers). Anyway, hit the link to read what you're agreeing to without agreeing to it.

[rs.internic.net]
The Data in Network Solutions' WHOIS database is provided by Network Solutions for information purposes, and to assist persons in obtaining information about or related to a domain name registration record. Network Solutions does not guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a WHOIS query, you agree that you will use this Data only for lawful purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this Data to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail (spam); or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes that apply to Network Solutions (or its systems). Network Solutions reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. By submitting this query, you agree to abide by this policy.

Microsoft's Ed Muth (him again) is claiming that Linux offers little value since it has fewer off-the-shelf apps, and no long term development road map. Moreover it suffers from a lack of integration between the OS and the apps, which is needed so that users can drag barcharts between Excel and Word. (Heard of Corba? No I guess not). Indeed Ed claims Linux usage figures are inflated. Finally, it must be obvious that good programmers won't code for free so they can't be good -- just like Van Gogh could not have been a good artist. If nothing else, Ed's good at rhetoric -- "Let's say, for discussion, they are equally scalable" implies nicely that NT is obviously more scalable. But his outburst is somewhat odd given that Microsoft's trial is not over, and the SIIA is recomending it be broken up. Thanks Alex Prestin for this link.

Alex Prestin writes "CNN.com did an interesting comparison to see whether Steve Jobs' claim of the G3 in the iMac being faster than any PII held any water. Their tests prove it did not. The iMac finished last, even versus a Celeron..."

Alex Prestin sent us This Link to a strange picture of the iMac, and what appears to be its long lost little brother. Ewan Leith wrote in to tell the world that "PC Plus in the UK goes on sale tomorrow (the 27th) with Suse 5.2 on the cover CD, along with another CD full of linux programs." Donovan was the first to warn the world that the 2.1.119 kernel is now out. I compiled my 2.1.118 kernel a wopping half hour before the 119 release. Sigh. Colin Walls sent us a link to the latest Spencer F. Kat cartoon thingee. There's another piece of aftermath from last weeks standards hoopla. icetrey wrote in to say "OctobrX and Bishop have chosen me, icetrey, to be the new blackbox themes webmaster. It has a new look, as well as a few new themes for 40.x."

Alex Prestin writes "Some now-defunct chip maker is claiming Intel infringed on a patent they own for doing RISC->CISC translation. It's well known that the P6 and PII are really just RISC cores with translators on them for CISC, as are most "CISC" chips nowadays. Seems the particular method of conversion is what is being contested though. They're suing for half a billion dollars."

Alex Prestin sent us an article about a new crypto bill. This one has the distinct advantage of not including the key-recovery abilities that the FBI and others have been demanding. Let's hope they can keep their heads straight on this one.

Alex Prestin writes "It seems a new bill has been introduced which is sort of a compromise between key escrow The Man wanted and complete privacy the rest of us wanted. I think it's a better solution than the other things I've heard anyway... "