asp

Microsoft to issue emergency fix for .Net hole

Microsoft said today it will issue an emergency patch tomorrow to fix an important hole in the ASP.Net framework used to create Web sites.

The vulnerability was disclosed by Microsoft just over a week ago and later found to be used in limited attacks. It affects all versions of the .Net framework when used on Windows Server operating systems, according to the advisory.

Windows desktop systems are affected but not vulnerable unless they are being used to run a Web server, Microsoft said.

"Based on our comprehensive monitoring of the threat landscape, we have determined an out-of-band release … Read more

GPL in the cloud: The market doesn't care

If the market's response to the Affero GPL is any indication, I was 100 percent wrong to suggest that open source would suffer without closing the so-called "ASP loophole."

That, at least, is the feeling I'm getting reading Stephen O'Grady's excellent summary of open-source licensing, and particularly the GPL, and how it works (or doesn't) in SaaS, cloud, and other instantiations of network-based computing. Despite the fact that the Open Source Initiative approved the Affero GPL--which explicitly shuts the door on free-riding on open source in network-based computing without contributing back--few have adopted … Read more

Richard Stallman is warning *us* about cloud computing?!?

I read Richard Stallman's commentary on cloud computing in the UK's Guardian. Stallman is full of warnings about cloud computing:

One reason you should not use Web applications to do your computing is that you lose control. It's just as bad as using a proprietary program.

But he completely neglects to mention that he had a chance to seed the cloud, which is largely built using open-source software, with an upgraded GNU General Public License (Version 3), and he demurred. Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation failed to protect the cloud when they had the chance, … Read more

Would closing the ASP loophole create more problems than it solves?

I and others have argued that it's critical to open source's future that licenses like the Affero GPL close the "ASP loophole" by requiring companies like Google to contribute back derivative works of open-source software that they distribute as a service, rather than as packaged software. Now Gordon Haff is suggesting that requiring Web 2.0 to Contribute 1.0 may cause more problems than it solves, and he could well be right.

The problem has nothing to do with whether Web 2.0 vendors like Google are required to contribute back. The problem is all the so-called Web 2.0 users:

Distribution in the GPLv2 and GPLv3 licenses draws (mostly) a hard-edged line. If you're an enterprise using software internally, anything goes. If you're using GPL code in software you're selling to the public--whether downloaded, on a CD, or in embedded firmware--you must make the relevant sources available. However, as more and more companies of every stripe make parts of their computing infrastructure available to their customers--think online banking, for example--where does it end? The boundaries become very fuzzy--which would inject lots of uncertainty into just about any use of open source in an enterprise environment.

This is a very, very good point. I'm not sure how to answer it.… Read more

Samsung's adorable cell phone speakers

I know I have a strange fetish for cell phone speakers, which is why I had to scope out these Samsung ASP700 speakers that I first saw at CES. I found them at CTIA sitting pretty in Samsung's booth (where else would they be?) while attached to a Samsung Juke. These round little beauties, which have a decent sound for their size, include an ICE amplifier. Considering they're designed by Bang & Olufsen, it's not surprising that they're so eye-catching.

A trio of Samsung cell phone speakers

Samsung showed off a series of new cell phone speakers at CES. On the bottom row are the cube-shaped ASP800 (left) and the ASP600 (right), and on the top left is the circular ASP700. The white color scheme is an interesting design choice, but we like the minimalist look.

As they were behind glass, we weren't able to inspect them closely, but we did get a short demonstration. Like the similar products from LG and Sony Ericsson they seemed decent on the whole. No, they won't replace your living room sound system, but they're perfectly fine for … Read more

DHS fudged test results, watchdog agency says

A new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office charges that the Department of Homeland Security used biased methods to enhance performance results in tests on a new generation of radiation detectors meant to protect U.S. ports.

At stake are $1.2 billion in contracts to produce advanced spectroscopic portal (ASP) monitors and thousands of lives should they fail to work.

Experts from four national laboratories were consulted prior to publication of the report (PDF) by the GAO, the nonpartisan audit and investigative arm of Congress, which was released yesterday.

The agency found that the DHS' Domestic Nuclear Detection Office &… Read more