I recently wrote articles talking about the need to create a culture of privacy, and some counter arguments to the “what’s the problem if you’ve got nothing to hide” comment on being watched. Slashdot has pointed to a couple of articles relevant to those topics.

The first is a paper called ‘I’ve Got Nothing to Hide’ and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy by Professor Daniel J. Solove of the George Washington University Law School.

The second is an article in Scientific American called Privacy Isn’t Dead, or At Least It Shouldn’t Be where Carnegie Mellon computer scientist Latanya Sweeney states that computer scientists should be trained to consider the privacy, user, and social side of what they do.

Even though daylight savings time changes this weekend, there still seems to be a lot of confusion around what has to be done to computer systems, and indeed whether some of the patches even work properly. Some suggest that everyone should print off the next several months of their Outlook calendars just in case. (Save some trees – print it in pdf.)

Anyone who has not dealt with this needs to do so today.

Read a ZDNet article with some details

Go to the Microsoft DST help center

Windows Vista debuts tomorrow. Should business be in a hurry to adopt it?

A lot has been written about this recently. A Google search on “Vista” will get lots of reviews and opinions.

The bottom line is that if you are getting new PC’s – there is no reason not to get Vista on them. The only caveat is that you should ask your software vendors first if their products are ready to run on Vista.

Upgrading existing machines to Vista is probably not worth it for most. While Vista does have some compelling features, for the most part the time and effort and cost to install Vista, (including any costs for PC upgrades) outweighs the advantages.

The best place to be right now is to have PC’s that are near the end of their life cycle, and due for replacement late this year. That makes the upgrade to Vista easy, and gives some time for any production bugs to be worked out.

And when evaluating Vista, think about Office 2007, and Exchange 2007. Certain features in Vista – like unified messaging – may require upgrades to Exchange as well.

ITBusiness.ca reports that Microsoft has announced that Vista and Office 2007 will be available to corporate customers this month. Consumers will have to wait until January.

So the question is – are you an early adopter wanting to be the first to upgrade – or would you rather wait a bit and let others sort out whatever initial issues might arise?

Read the ITBusiness.ca article

BusinessWeek has an article saying that Texas Instruments is worth watching because its chips are fast becoming the workhorse for key industries in the Digital Age.

The premise is that the future of computing is not in PC’s, but in portable devices and consumer electronics. The article quotes the TI CEO as saying “We’ve moved out of this PC era and into an area where communications and entertainment are driving technology“.

Its an interesting read on several fronts – the growth of Texas Instruments, the types of devices their chips are in, and an indication of the future of computing at the device level.

Read the BusinessWeek article

ITCanada.ca has an article about the gap between the number of new IT jobs, and the number of IT graduates. It refers to a study that shows the demand for IT grads is far bigger than the supply.

This is consistent with discussions that have taken place within the London tech and education community. Anecdotal evidence suggests there are good job opportunities for grads in certain IT fields.

Those now making decisions about their education who have an interest in IT should consider programs at institutions such as the University of Western Ontario, and Fanshawe College.

Read the ITCanada.ca article

BusinessWeek has an article entitled Dark Days at Dell that takes an interesting look at Dell and its current problems. Its worth a read to understand the Dell issues, and for its insight into the need to continue to innovate.

In essence, the article says that Dell’s revolutionary business model has lost its edge, and Dell has failed to adapt or innovate.

From the article:

Dell remained slavishly loyal to its core idea of ultra-efficient supply-chain management and direct sales to consumers, even as rivals have stepped up their game and markets have shifted to take away some of Dell’s key advantages. Instead of adapting, critics say, Dell cut costs in ways that compromised customer service and, possibly, product quality.

They’re a one-trick pony. It was a great trick for over 10 years, but the rest of us have figured it out and Dell hasn’t plowed any of its profits into creating a new trick

Read the BusinessWeek article

Speculation is that we will see a terabyte PC hard drive by the end of the year. That will be a noteworthy milestone. It wasn’t that long ago that a terabyte of storage was supercomputer or data centre territory.

Another noteworthy technology milestone is the sell-out of the initial 100 orders for the Tesla Roadster electric sportscar. It took less than a month for 100 people to put down $100,000.00 deposits for cars that will be available in 2007.

Read a Gizmodo post on the terabyte drive

Read an engadget post on the Tesla car

Microsoft has been taking some heat over its Windows Genuine Advantage antipiracy program that checks to see if you have a valid license for Windows.

The complaint is that users were mislead and not told what the code did, and that there may be privacy issues surrounding the data that is returned.

I don’t know enough detail to provide a personal opinion on this – but consider whether it is (a) an opportunity seized by zealous class action lawyers, (b) surreptitious action by Microsoft using questionable privacy practices, or (c) somewhere in the middle.

No matter what the outcome, it illustrates the tug between companies trying to get paid for their products, the methods they use to enforce that, and whether those efforts are in the end the best way to approach the problem.

Read a PCWorld article on the lawsuit

I have been asked to contribute an occasional post to the Canadian IT Manager blog. It is run by Microsoft, and includes content by independent professionals.

My first post yesterday was 1 of 2 parts on Legal Matters IT Managers Need to Be Aware Of - the 2nd part will be posted today.

Read part 1 of Legal Matters IT Managers Need to Be Aware Of

Read Part 2

Go to the main page of the IT Manager blog

Read the entry announcing my presence as a guest blogger (among other things)