Just how "world" is that World Phone?

There's an interesting graphic online in a recent article on the economist.com. It shows the areas of the world that have GSM coverage for a BlackBerry. Extrapolating that to cover any data service at all, since that's all that BlackBerry uses, it is an interesting view of the growth of mobile technology across the globe. Here's a hint: Avoid northern Canada, the Amazon , the Sahara and Gobi deserts, the Australian Outback and the Russian East and you should be fine.

Or, more simply, most places where lots of people live have service, so it isn't a big deal. But it is a cool picture.

Microsoft "clarifies" position on Public Folders

One of the biggest uproars about Exchange 2007 came from Microsoft's "de-emphasis" of the role of the Public Folder store. Not only were the admin tools not included in the GUI until SP1 but there are also limitations in the OWA access. Plus, Microsoft was pushing SharePoint so hard that it seemed pretty clear that Public Folders were headed for their demise. Not so fast, say the folks over on the Exchange Team blog. Here's an excerpt of a recent post:

...[T]here seems to be much confusion over the use of the word "de-emphasized". Many people have interpreted this guidance as "Public Folders are dead, and we need to migrate to SharePoint now!" This is not true. Our updated guidance is centered around the major scenarios in which Exchange Public Folders are used today. Depending on each scenario, the strengths of each server and known issues, you should find our guidance more specific to your environment. For this reason, Microsoft will continue to support Public Folders in the next major release of Exchange Server, after Exchange 2007. This means Public Folders will have full support for 10 years from release of the next major release of Exchange Server.

So I guess we all have some time to think more logically about the migration plans and whether we need to invest in SharePoint so quickly or not. The post also includes a pretty good comparison chart of the different uses for PFs and suggestions on whether those functions should be migrated to SharePoint or stick with PFs. Not surprisingly, a number of the functions actually are recommended to stick with PFs, and even to consider PFs as the deployment option in a new installation. The main areas where SharePoint is compelling are no surprise - Custom Apps and Document Libraries. Those also happen to be two areas where SharePoint is incredibly strong. But for other things, like shared calendars, contacts and task lists, PFs are not dead yet. Sure, the UI is fancier in SharePoint for team calendars and lists, but the administrative and infrastructure overhead is also much higher.

SharePoint is great - for some things. But Exchange Public Folders also serve a good purpose. It is good to see this "clarification" from Microsoft that ensures the survival of such a strong tool.

Delay strikes 3G BlackBerry release

There's a rumor swirling that the expected June release of the 3G BlackBerry device on the AT&T network is going to slip a couple months. Apparently there are issues with the call quality. Potentially troubling for RIM is that Apple is also reportedly working towards a 3G version of the iPhone for release in the coming months as well. If the 3G iPhone is released along with v2 of the iPhone software which will support Exchange ActiveSync then there is a decent chance that a number of BlackBerry users will switch to the iPhone platform. It will have the email connectivity and speed, plus the cool factor of being an iPhone. I wouldn't want to type out long emails on that screen, but I'm clearly not the only person shopping for one of these devices.

Windows XP SP3 released!

Microsoft has released XP SP3 to manufacturers, beginning the slow process of getting the last service pack for the OS out the door and onto consumers' PCs. The main new features are the addition of Network Access Protection and some other Windows 2008 features, as well as some minor performance benefits. The full details of the release notes can be read here.

This is the last bug push for XP, with Vista set to be the only option after June 30th (except for lower powered systems like the Asus eeee) and then Windows 7 rumored to be in the pipeline for 2009, though I don't trust that rumor at all.

A different approach to workstation virtualization

Most discussion of workstation virtualization has focused on either a layered approach to the OS to allow for applications to be installed and removed seamlessly or on thin client access to applications. Somewhat in parallel, Microsoft Research showed off a workstation sharing approach last year (first item in the post) that allows for multiple users to share a single monitor and computer while each running their own isolated instance of applications. Now NComputing has come up with an approach to workstation sharing that seems to be focusing on sharing the resources of a single "host PC" (aka Server) and granting each user access to their own keyboard, video and monitor.

The solution basically involves adding an extra hardware card in the PC, exposing three RJ45 jacks out the back. Each of these jacks can be connected to a NComputing device that allows for the keyboard/mouse/video connection. Add two cards to a typical desktop and now seven users can share the resources of the one PC. For basic kiosk-type usage, this is a pretty efficient and cheap way to go. There are some limitations, including the 10 meter cable length max, but overall it seems like an interesting technology for setting up a training room on the go, kisok access in a conference center or other low power usage scenarios.

This isn't going to replace Citrix or other thin-client solutions, at least not any time soon, but it may be an interesting play in that direction for localized use.

When "My Matters" aren't really your own

The folks at Interwoven have started a blog on their support site (which can't be rendered in any RSS feeds thanks to the login requirements). Still it is a pretty good collection of tips and tricks and pointers for the WorkSite family of products. One of the recent posts addresses a potential issue where users would get inconsistent results for their "My Matters" and "My Favorites" results in MCC mode. It turns out that this is actually more common than it probably should be, but also that it is incredibly easy to address. The users just need a preferred database defined. There's more details in that blog post (I don't want to steal their thunder - nor their content), but the resolution should be pretty easy to implement if you're seeing the problem.

That's the troubleshooting tip for the weekend.

Watching mobile connectivity happen

It isn't often that we get to see the real details behind the uptake on a technology. In the case of wireless 3G connectivity in the UK, however, there is some real data available in the form of a nifty graph from the mobile carrier 3. They recently showed off the trend in total bandwidth usage on their network and the line it basically goes up consistently at a 45 degree angle. The carrier was struggling to drive usage on the 3G network that they spent a ton of money to build out; most folks were just using it for phone service, which doesn't use the network to its potential. But now that broadband access cards/dongles/USB adapters are becoming more widespread, the usage of their network is increasing phenomenally. Even more amazingly, in the UK they apparently pay per megabyte, not just a monthly unlimited plan like we get here in the USA. So in addition to seeing adoption of the technology, the carrier is actually seeing growth in revenues.

I've been plugging broadband access for a while now - I'm a huge fan of the anywhere access to data. It is good to see that it is finally starting to gain traction with folks other than commuters on the Acela trains in the north-east corridor.

Net Neutrality in the UK

The idea of content providers paying for access to various ISPs has hopped the pond, with carriers in the UK now clamoring for the BBC to cough up cash to help them grow their facilities. This is the first time the discussion seems to have come up in the UK (at least the first time I've heard it) and it raises some interesting issues, most notably because of the role the BBC plays in this discord. With costs subsidized by the government, the suggesting that the BBC pay for access to bandwidth is effectively a tax on citizens, whether they use the services or not.

This issue came to the forefront recently because of the spike in traffic usage from the BBC based on their release of the iPlayer, an application for streaming content to users. Not only did they release the player, but the Beeb also has made available a TON of content for it. Users have downloaded an estimated 43 million episodes of shows in the first three months, and there are some estimates that the impact on the broadband infrastructure in the UK is averaging 3-5% of total usage. That number is expected to grow, and some are suggesting that the cost to the ISPs to handle the load will exceed $1.5 billion in the coming years.

Obviously the BBC is fighting the notion that they should have to pay, suggesting instead that the ISPs shoulder the cost of handling the increased traffic on their networks, going so far as to suggest that they will note which ISPs provide appropriate bandwidth on their site, an idea that ruffled a few feathers in the ISP community. Ultimately it may be the regulator, Ofcam, that makes a decision on this. Hopefully they stay as far out of the picture as possible, letting the market drive the industry.

EMC buys Iomega....Why?!?!?

EMC announced yesterday that they are purchasing Iomega for $213MM in order to "expand their offerings to small businesses and consumers." I understand that the price is right for EMC - which is to say a drop in the bucket - but I'm rather perplexed by this turn. EMC has been making a lot of moves in the consumer/SoHo space, such as their acquisition of Mozy late last year, but it is hard for me to tell if they are just snapping up well run, profitable ideas that someone else invested the time to build and grow (an old Microsoft habit) or if they are really looking to get into the consumer space for their products. While expanding their product offering certainly opens up avenues for sales, they just aren't that big. Iomega's net profit last year was about $10MM dollars. There's just not much value there. I guess it is $10MM more than EMC had last year, but the cost to get it seems high to me. Iomega does have an online storage arm to their company, so maybe this purchase is really just to get rid of a Mozy competitor.

Also of interest/entertainment value is that all the press releases seem to be describing Iomega as the "Zip drive maker" and ignoring the fact that they make a bunch of other products, including NAS and backup devices.

Kraken challenges Storm for botnet supremacy

That almost sounds like a sports headline, and with the NCAA basketball championship game being played tonight I guess it isn't completely unreasonable to have that tone. On to the details now...

A new botnet seems to be establishing itself on the Internet. Dubbed "Kraken," this one seems to be better at concealing, morphing and distributing itself than the Storm net that I wrote about late last year. At that time, security vendors were suggesting that the Storm had two million compromised computers in the net, though the current version of the story seems to suggest that the Storm has about 200,000 compromised systems under its control. The Kraken botnet, meanwhile, is reported to have 400,000 compromised machines and in an extremely worrisome development, the codebase for it seems to be morphing rapidly, staying ahead of most security vendors' efforts to isolate and eradicate it.

"Kraken, despite being on all these people's computers, has such low anti-virus coverage," said Paul Royal, principal researcher at Atlanta-based Damballa. "Anti-virus companies can't keep up with the arms race because of the number of variants and the frequency of the updates."

In addition, the code inside the executable file that infects a PC has been arranged in a way that makes it hard for malware analysis tools to accurately disassemble the malicious program.

"It raises the question of whether this basically has been authored specifically with anti-virus evasion in mind," Royal added.

There also seems to be significant concern that the Kraken has spread into many corporate systems that are generally thought to be protected by more robust defenses, including IDS/IPS solutions. Those systems seem to be incapable of detecting or stopping the malware.

The malware is being used to send out spam from infected hosts, so if you're appropriately protected against unauthorized outbound email sending on your network it might not be too big a deal. Still, this is further proof that the malware developers aren't giving up. Rather, they are trying harder, and incessantly try to show that, in the words of Dark Helmet, "Evil will always triumph because good is dumb!"