A new release of the Jabber framework for RU and Frontier. (The prefs page will probably work only in RU.) Info in the title link, and the changes page (if you've installed it).

I've done the coding for the transition to the new framework architecture for Jabber, and I'm now testing it, trying to run down all the code paths, checking my TODO list, seeing what happens when I disconnect the network. Also got a bit of documentation to sift through and correct, which I'm doing right now.

I also want to once again look into the possibility of adding Jabber functionality to xml.rpc, since I don't need a connection reference any more. (I forgot to list this as another good reason to transition to this architecture.)

It's interesting to look at your neighbors on the net when you have your own domain name. Obviously, I have "JERF.ORG", which you think would be kinda isolated, but that's not true.

I receive a lot of messages directed to INFO\@IERF.ORG. (All caps deliberate; I get stuff from IERF precisely because j's look like i's.) IERF seems to be a teacher re-certification group; if you have a foriegn country certification for teaching, and would like to translate that into a USA certification, they're the ones you talk to.

DaveNet: Scientology and Google.  [Scripting News]

Also includes comments on the SSSCA.

'"It's the same information as the front of the license," said Frank Mandelbaum, chairman and chief executive of Intelli- Check, a manufacturer of license-scanning equipment based in Woodbury, N.Y. "If I were to go into a bar and they had a photocopier, they could photocopy the license or they could write it down. They are not giving us any information that violates privacy."'

I wish I could take this guy's computer off his desk. It does nothing that couldn't be done by hand. It doesn't give him any capability that enhances his ability to do business, as long as he has paper, a pencil, some envelopes, and some stamps. So why does need a multi-thousand dollar computer?

Scottish Lass: "Dave, it's supposed to be us girlies that are the teases." Hehe.  [Scripting News]

But does that method of figuring it out count? *chuckle* Been looking forward to this for a while, and it's done in style, too.

[a proposed reaction to the SSSCA:] 'Unfortunately, mass civil disobedience is historically the best antidote to an unjust law.... Bootleg everything you can get your hands on.'

There's a certain amount of validity to the civil disobedience bit; but in every other regard this article totally misses the mark. The problem with the SSSCA isn't that it might prevent bootlegging. That's simply the stated goal. The problem is the lengths it goes to to attempt to obtain that goal, with no regard whatsoever for balance or collateral damage.

Frustration is... staring at your News Aggregator page just before your network connection goes out. It's like being a kid in a candy store, except you get zapped when you try to take something.

A followup to this earlier post: The IETF Draft on Security Disclosure has been retracted. Not sure what to think about that. No agreement would ever have been reached, and debate may or may not have been useful; there's probably nothing to add.

'Microsoft sued Lindows over its name in December. Lindows is capitalizing on the reputation of the Windows brand, the suit said, and its name is confusingly similar to that of the Windows operating system....'

'Microsoft may have received more than it bargained for. Not only did U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour deny the company's request, he also said Microsoft has raised "serious questions" about the validity of its own trademark.'