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Domain: itarchitect.com

Stories and comments across the archive that link to itarchitect.com.

Comments · 6

  1. Electric signal propagation speed in copper by tygt · · Score: 4, Informative · on Copper Wire As Fast As Fiber?
    From http://www.copper.org/copperhome/HomePlan/puffs_sm oke_pulse_electrons.html, which is the copper trade group and hopefully reasonbly accurate and not overly optimistic, I find:

    Such waves would travel at the speed of light except that they are slowed down slightly by the effects of the insulating material surrounding the wire. Speeds of one-third to more than one-half the speed of light are typical.

    OTOH, http://www.itarchitect.com/article/NMG20010416S000 6 states:

    In more ordinary media, such as certain commercial single-mode optical fiber products, the propagation velocity of a signal is 68 percent of c or 205,000km/s ... In comparison, electric waves or signals in commonly used copper wire travel at speeds between 55 percent and 80 percent of c.

    So don't take it for granted that just because an electric signal doesn't travel at c in copper that it's slower than light in fiber!

    On a barely-related tangent: As someone who put up with a satellite internet connection for 4 years, I can state authoratatively that the speed of light isn't nearly quick enough for a variety of purposes....

  2. HTTP, time to update?-XMPP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on So How Do You Code an AJAX Web Page?

    "With the growing popularity of AJAX does anyone think it's time to update the HTTP spec?"

    I'd recommend XMPP and Jep-0124

  3. Javascript Haters Society-Jabber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on JavaScript Malware Open The Door to the Intranet

    "Sysadmins should all disable Javascript?! Fine, go ahead, I'll move to a company with less demanding security requirements. You'll find your network's impressively secure once there are no users left."

    I'll toss this here. After reading this. I've wondered if a browser bridge could be built into a JabberNet(TM) as it were.* When your browser hits the xmpp equivalent of Apache (using the xmpp extension, just like coldfusion uses CFM). One would gain functionality that HTTP doesn't allow, and maybe better security, as well as easier programming on both sides (the state issue would be easier to handle). Any thoughts?

    *It could even layer over a true P2P infrastructure, or simply be a substitute for the HTTP web (with a better discovery than DNS).

  4. Re:Acronym soup. by mypalmike · · Score: 1 · on The Time Has Come to Ditch Email?

    This article is useful in that it gets people thinking about the problem. Now some clever person can come up with a proposed solution and post an article about it. That's how it works.

    It's not like nobody's ever discussed these issues before. Or have they?

  5. La Grande by Andy+Dornan · · Score: 2, Informative · on ISP Restrictions Based on Hardware/Software?

    Interesting. It could be that the chip-architect article is mistaken, but it was right about Yamhill, and also mentions an Intel patent that involves an on-chip crypto engine. (I think it means #6542981 [PDF], not the one referenced.) Alternatively, Intel could be lying, or just have changed plans since 2003.

    But the two aren't really incompatible. The circuitry that the monograph points to is allegedly part of La Grande, Intel's proprietary version of Trusted Computing, not a TCG-compliant TPM. That’s even worse in a way, as it would mean software that only runs on an Intel CPU (and an Intel chipset: La Grande will also require a TPM and AMT, a proprietary technology in Intel network cards).

    On-CPU crypto might also have something to do with trusted components. The TCG's long-term plan is to have some form of hardware signing/encryption in everything, not just a single chip in every PC. Most of the focus so far is on graphics/sound cards (for DRM) and keyboards/mice (to stop hardware sniffers), though.

    I was aware that the TCPA predates the official announcements about Palladium, etc., but I thought that meant technical work. It's disturbing that the White House and the BSA were involved so far back, and that they chose the immediate aftermath of 9/11 to talk about it publicly.

  6. Some links (from TFA author) by Andy+Dornan · · Score: 2, Informative · on ISP Restrictions Based on Hardware/Software?
    Richard Clarke's speech about mandatory TNC is here. (PDF file, and Google doesn't have an HTML version.) I think the date (2001) might be wrong, as that was before the official announcement of TCPA and Palladium.

    There were also some leaked memos that went into more detail. I don't know if they're still on the Web anywhere, but this story from The Register describes them.

    There are no TPM/TNC-based authentication systems available yet, but plenty of companies sell software-only versions. (These can be spoofed, of course.) The most well-known is Cisco's Network Admission Control ("the self-defending network"). They're intended mostly for LANs, but some vendors are already suggesting that they be used by ISPs (especialy in Wi-Fi hotspots).

    I'd be extremely interested in seeing the Pentium with an onboard TPM, as this is something Intel has denied. (They sell motherboards with third-party TPM chips, but claim not to be integrating it with the CPU itself.)