Wired: “In a possible response to last week’s terrorist attacks, China has unblocked its citizens’ access to U.S. media sites. But skeptics scoff that it’s only a cosmetic change.”

“I’d just started working on my morning M&Ms, when I was asked where my group can buy a good turn-key ~2CPUx10-node Beowulf cluster in
two hours. I suspect the time frame is longer than that, although the window-of-opportunity for the money is apparently on the order of days, and a quote before the
procurement meeting would help. Any ideas? Who’s good? What it should cost? Thanks!” If you’re quick, maybe you can become the world’s newest manufacturer of
custom beowulf clusters.” More at Slashdot.

“Civil liberty groups add that intelligence agencies already have more than enough freedom to intercept communications and acquire records of electronic communications, and caution against handing over yet more powers to allay short-term fears.

Imposing restrictions on technologies that can be used to secure messages will do little to combat terrorism, they say, but could seriously erode personal privacy.” More at BBC.

Slashdot: “Frustrated by Code Red and now Nimda, the DSL provider DSL.net (a CLEC and reseller of Covad) has shut off 800+ infected customers. They claim
they cannot get in touch with all of their customers, so they’re just shutting them all down, and waiting for the customer to call them. When/if the customer does call
they are informed that they are infected with the Nimda virus and must remove it before they will be reactivated. But how are customers supposed to fix the problem
when their internet connection is shut down?”

“With the emergence of the Nimda worm–the latest in a long series to attack
Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS) and other software–Gartner
believes it’s time for businesses with Web applications to start investigating
less vulnerable Web server products.” A comment from Gartner at CNET.

“With the rising cost of office-productivity software, many small businesses are asking themselves whether
investing in yet another upgrade is really necessary. And tight budgets are causing school districts to wonder
whether there’s an alternative to the pricey software they thought was so essential.

With the start of the beta review process for StarOffice 6.0 right around the corner and general availability expected
early in the new year, these customers could find their alternative in an office suite from Sun Microsystems.” More at CNET.

Slashdot: “Early this week, brtb submitted an eye-opening write up which may end up as the classic example of a large-scale GPL
violation. Microtest’s DiskZerver, a NAS device designed to handle CDs, would seem to be a sharp product, except it’s based
on software licenced under the GPL and potentially other free-software licenses as well. Of course, you would never know this,
because Microtest never mentioned it, however that didn’t stop Microtest from manufacturing and then marketing the device
before it sold it off to another company. DiskZerver’s new company xStore, which was unaware of the licensing issues, was
notified about them, and this impending article. They have yet to comment. In situations like this, what should a company do to bring such a glaring
GPL violation back into compliance?”

ComputerNewsDaily: “As for you, Whither, I’d start learning ActiveX programming. As the Justice Department found
out, nobody stops Microsoft. Nobody.”

LinuxSecurity: “Building your own console server is easy. All you need is an old PC and some additional serial cards (most PCs come with only two ports). Multiport serial
boards, such as those from Digi International, that install under Linux are available. RS-232 connections are limited to 25 feet, so remember to consider
distance issues.”

The Register: “Three in four Americans favour tough anti-encryption laws, in the wake of last week’s terrorist
atrocities, a survey finds.

Seventy-two per cent believe anti-encryption laws will be “somewhat” or “very” helpful in combating
terrorism, according to the survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates.

The survey found that 54 per cent of those asked “would favour reducing encryption of
communications to make it easier for the FBI and CIA to monitor the activities of suspected terrorists –
EVEN IF it might infringe on people’s privacy and affect business practices”.”