seclists.org from the lemmings and non-lemmings

For any particular issue, you can pretty much predict how the Internet will respond.

Take this story from Wired:

Computer security guru Fyodor...reports waking up yesterday to find his website SecLists.org essentially removed from the web by his domain registrar, GoDaddy. After a bunch of phone calls to GoDaddy, he eventually got them to explain why: Because MySpace asked them too [sic].

This elicited a near-Pavlovian response in most quarters. Take this example:

GoDaddy chief Bob Parsons is a big supporter of free speech. He’s also a big supporter of privacy as a way to do this by promoting domain whois privacy services.

That’s why the internet world was shocked today to learn that GoDaddy suspended a domain name, seclists.org, based on the content on that site....

To make matters worse, GoDaddy general counsel Christine Jones responded by saying GoDaddy’s terms of service say the company “reserves the right to terminate your access to the services at any time, without notice, for any reason whatsoever”, according to the CNET article.

That attitude should make people think twice about registering domains with the company.

And some people are thinking:

Actions like these make me hesitant to recommend or use GoDaddy.com for any domain registration or hosting.

But other people are...well, they're thinking:

This raises questions on Internet free-speech and Internet governance, some might say. But in my opinion, it’s probably a good thing *IN THIS CASE*, as innumerable MySpace users were potentially at risk.

However, it is debatable whether there truly was a risk here:

The latest move, however, attempted to re-capture information that had already spread on the Internet for more than a week.

Meanwhile, as of this evening (it's still kinda sorta "evening" in the Pacific time zone), Bob Parsons is writing about other topics:

Our 2nd Super Bowl Ad Rejected by CBS – See it here! Why it was rejected. 5 times the channels on your TV! The switch to digital – it’s sooner than you think!

Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

The GoDaddy ToS forbids hosting what they call "morally objectionable activities".

Perhaps this whole thing is just another Bob Parsons Super Bowl - whoops, "big game" - publicity stunt. Actually, I'm joking - if Parsons truly wanted to get people's attention, he wouldn't do it in a way that would adversely impact on GoDaddy's customer relations.

The new Blogger

I was going to write about the seclists.org fiasco, but I'll need to do that later. When I logged in to Blogger to write that post, I was pretty much urged to convert to the new Blogger.

I had delayed performing the conversion after reading this January 3 message:

While a majority of old blogspot blogs have migrated to the new Blogger, there are loads of bloggers still waiting for the Google invite that would allow them to shift from the old to the new version of Blogger.

Well, it turns out that Google has decided to postpone shifting of large blogs with thousands of posts to the new Blogger for some time.

Here's an official answer from the Blogger FAQ spotted by Improbulus and Impudent:

Why can't I switch to the new version of Blogger?

..if you have a very large blog (more than a couple thousand posts + comments), you'll need to hold off for a bit.

One of my blogs, the Ontario Empoblog, definitely falls into this category.

Anyway, I eventually got my invite, and got it again, and again. This is my first post using the new Blogger, so this is kind of a test case. I'll try the labels while I'm at it.

[Oops, I guess I needed some commas between those labels.]

Google circa 1960

This has been making the rounds for a while, I guess. I heard about it from Randy Morin's del.icio.us tags. (And yes, I'm promoting online casino games below. But Steve Jobs can't get me for THAT.)


For more funny pictures, visit FunLOL.com!
Online Casino Games

iPhones from Ocean Telecom Services

In the last few posts, I've talked about iPhones that didn't have anything to do with Steve Jobs (or, for that matter, Cisco). A search of the US Patent and Trademark database uncovers this trademark application:

Word Mark IPHONE
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: handheld and mobile digital electronic devices for the sending and receiving of telephone calls, faxes, electronic mail, and other digital data; MP3 and other digital format audio players; handheld computers, personal digital assistants, electronic organizers, electronic notepads; magnetic data carriers; telephones, mobile phones, computer gaming machines, videophones, cameras; prerecorded computer programs for personal information management, database management software, electronic mail and messaging software, paging software, database synchronization software, computer programs for accessing, browsing and searching online databases, computer software and firmware, namely operating system programs, data synchronization programs, and application development tool programs for personal and handheld computers; electronic handheld units for the wireless receipt and/or transmission of data that enable the user to keep track of or manage personal information; software for the redirection of messages, Internet e-mail, and/or other data to one or more electronic handheld devices from a data store on or associated with a personal computer or a server; and software for the synchronization of data between a remote station or device and a fixed or remote station or device; computer hardware and software for providing integrated telephone communication with computerized global information networks
IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: hand-held unit for playing electronic games

Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Design Search Code
Serial Number 77007808
Filing Date September 26, 2006
Current Filing Basis 1B;44D
Original Filing Basis 1B;44D
Owner (APPLICANT) Ocean Telecom Services LLC LTD LIAB CO DELAWARE Corporation Trust Center, Room 123 1209 Orange Street Wilmington DELAWARE 19801
Attorney of Record James Johnston
Priority Date March 27, 2006
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

More information here:

Current Status: Newly filed application, not yet assigned to an examining attorney.
Date of Status: 2006-10-04
Filing Date: 2006-09-26...

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Foreign Application Number: 37090
Country: Trinidad / Tobago
Foreign Filing Date: 2006-03-27...

ATTORNEY/CORRESPONDENT INFORMATION
Attorney of Record
James Johnston
Correspondent
JAMES JOHNSTON
OCEAN TELECOM SERVICES LLC
CORPORATION TRUST CENTER, ROOM 123
1209 ORANGE STREET
WILMINGTON, DE 19801

But if you perform a web search for Ocean Telecom Services, you can't find their website at all. What you can find, however, is a ton of speculation on who Ocean Telecom Services could be. This speculation is not necessarily germane to the Ontario Technoblog, so I'll just mention one little tidbit:

Apple went so far as to create a phony company -- called Ocean Telecom Services LLC -- to get around Cisco's trademark, Cisco alleges.

In an application to the U.S. Patent and Trade Office in March, Ocean Telecom billed itself as a foreign company doing business in Trinidad and Tobago. The company listed its attorney as James Johnson [sic; the patent application actually lists the last name as Johnston]. His contact information was an e-mail address from Google's free Web-based gmail service.

On Thursday, the Apple spokeswoman said the company would not discuss Ocean Telecom.

No one responded to an e-mail that The Associated Press sent to James Johns[t]on's e-mail account.

The daily news. Interesting, isn't it?

iphone Dialup from iPhone AS and iPhone UK Ltd.

From iphone.no:

Call our access number from any telephone or operator
What do I need to get started?:
Any telephone will allow you to call our access number

Register your details
Log in and buy call credit
Call our access number 08450340880 or 020 80902800
Benefits
Free setup
Very low international call charges
No monthly charge
Works from any telephone or operator
Buy credit with your credit card or by SMS
Register the telephone you usually call from to save entering your PIN Code
Call history details on your web account
Ring directly from your phonebook without entering the access number

iPhones from Comwave

From comwave.net:

Comwave iPhone™ is a telephone service that that is quite liberating and frees you from the "Phone Company". iPhone uses your High-Speed Internet connection as a phone line. With one internet connection you can enjoy as many phone lines as you like, and you can talk and surf the web at the same time.

How it works. You will recieve a device that looks like an internet modem. This is the iPhone. On the back of the iPhone (click here) are telephone outlets that you use to plug your telephone set just like a regular phone jack at home. You can plug in any type of telephone, even a fax or answering machine.

Each iPhone is capable of supporting 2 independant phone lines (one line for you and one for the kids) and you can attach as many telephone sets as you like.

iPhones from Teledex

This is the first in a series on many different iPhones that have nothing to do with Steve Jobs (except for one possible exception).

From the Teledex web site:

What Makes iPhone Different?
Teledex iPhone IP and iPhone Hybrid phones have been designed from the ground up specifically for the unique needs of the hospitality market.

Unlike some other VoIP solutions that may be used in hotels, that are simply repurposed designs originally designed for other applications, both the hardware and software of iPhone has been designed with hotel applications in mind.

From the layout of the interface, to the color touch screen display, to simple-to-use content management tools, only iPhone is designed with the hotelier (and their guests) in mind....

The Teledex iPhone IP is designed for the specific needs of today’s hotel environment. Combining VoIP voice and rich, graphical content in one stunning new design that’s easy for guests to use, iPhone brings you new ways to generate new revenues and cut your operating costs.

[16 JANUARY 2007 - FOLLOWUP HERE (ONTARIO EMPOBLOG).]

The Ontario Technoblog Veers into Religious Commentary

I don't really have anything to add to the iPhone discussion, other than the fact that I'm mulling over the shift in cellular telephone design from something modeled on the Trimline phone to something modeled on...I don't know, a brick or a calculator or something.

Michael Hanscom tagged the relevant Apple Computer - I mean Apple Inc. - page.

iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.

Randy Morin tagged this post, which reads in part:

Instead of a standard keypad, the iPhone uses a patented Apple technology called "multi-touch". It doesn't use a stylus, has "multi-finger gestures" and claims to ignore unintended touches. Jobs compared it to two other revolutionary Apple UIs - the mouse on the Macintosh and the click wheel on the iPod.

But Mitch Wagner at InformationWeek is scratching his head:

Reading up on the Apple iPhone, I'm not seeing what's so exciting about it, and I'm even tempted to say that the thing is going to sink like a lead balloon and everybody who's jazzing about it now is going to feel foolish in a year. It's a cell phone that's also an iPod that does the Internet and takes pictures. Why is that exciting?

Ah, but if things were selected based upon their technical merits, then Betamax would have won the religous war with VHS.

Speaking of religious wars, here's a sampling of the responses that Wagner has received:

You just don't get it. And write about technology?

Keep your Treo you wouldn't understand... an I phone is just too easy for you

You're not excited that all the different things (camera, phone, ipod) come in ONE small device now. I guess you're one of those who'll be more excited about news like Britney Spears walking aroudn (sic) without panties. Please quit writing such articles.

I didn't expect a Media 1.0 magazine like InformationWeek to understand the allure of the iPhone, and this article proved my point.

Sounds like you don't have Cingular and can't get out of your contract. Boo Hoo. Go home and watch your B&W 13 inch tv.

I bet you also "don't get it" about the Macintosh.

Wonder if Apple has hired iPhone evangelists...

[DISCLOSURE: One of the divisions of my employer manufactures a competitive product.]