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25 new of 163 responses total.
goose
response 121 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 4 14:05 UTC 2003

RE#118 -- Are corporate environments trying to squash IMs?  We view it
as "critical infrastructure" to quote my boss.  It's a great tool.
gull
response 122 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 4 14:31 UTC 2003

Some are.  We haven't tried, for the most part, where I work.  Some
places view it as either a major time-waster, or as a threat to
security.  Not only have many IM packages turned out to have significant
security holes, IM traffic is much harder to log than email.  That can
lead to legal exposures or risks of people leaking trade secrets undetected.
jaklumen
response 123 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 5 01:20 UTC 2003

I know Trillian, as a multi-user IM client, has an option to log 
conversations.  I know nothing about the programming involved, but 
even if it's harder, I suppose it may still be theoretically possible.

If security programs can currently log keystrokes entered on a 
machine, why not this?  (This is not a rhetorical question, I'm 
honestly listening.)
other
response 124 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 5 01:34 UTC 2003

Keystroke loggers do not discriminate.  Logging everything is more 
insecure than not logging important conversations.  Besides, a keystroke 
logger will only record the outgoing half of the conversation.
mdw
response 125 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 6 00:06 UTC 2003

It depends on how much authentication and encryption IM does.  If IM
used Diffie-Hellman, for instance, then without getting a copy of the
private key used at one end, there won't be any way to recover the
shared secret and decrypt whatever is protected using it.  If you can
install software on the client machine, instead of a keyboard log, you
might instead want to log all screen updates done by the IM client.  Of
course, if you want to search the text, depending on where you hook into
the graphics subsystem, you might have to do character recognition of
bitmapped graphics.
gull
response 126 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 6 15:26 UTC 2003

Are there any current IM clients that actually do encryption?  I thought
they were mostly using plaintext.
goose
response 127 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 7 16:32 UTC 2003

A quick Google shows that VeriSign and AOL are or were working on an encrypted
IM client.  and I see a news report from April 2001 reporting on Novell and
Mercury Prime(?) making encrypted IM clients..

goroke
response 128 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 8 15:11 UTC 2003

I'm entering this discussion late in the game, and haven't looked at any of
the earlier incarnations in some time, but I am surprised that the recording
industry isn't trying to take advantage of the positive aspects of
file-trading, rather than trying to kill it off altogether.  Using the radio
analogy, it seems to me that a workable solution would be to concentrate not
on the trading of files per se, but on the trading of high-quality stereo
files suitable for CD burning and avoidance of purchasing high-quality
commercial copies.  I don't know about the current service providers, but
Napster always claimed that they were providing users with the ability to "try
before you buy".  Not that I necessarily *believe* that, but if the industry
had called their bluff, and negotiated a deal whereby files could be traded
only if they were of sufficiently low quality (perhaps even requiring that
they be monaural) to make them unsuitable for CD burning, while being of just
high enough quality to give a fair idea of the content, the industry could
have gained another avenue to promote its products.  After all, amazon.com
as well as several other music marketplaces already have marginal-quality
monaural excerpts on selected tracks for CDs they offer for sale.
scott
response 129 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 8 16:05 UTC 2003

The record industry has not been noted for its intelligence lately.  Had it
been a bit smarter and more willing to take risks it could have started a
decent download service years ago.
gull
response 130 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 10 03:28 UTC 2003

Remember, this is the same industry that thought it should be illegal to
buy blank cassette tapes.
mcnally
response 131 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 10 03:56 UTC 2003

  ..and effectively killed DAT as a consumer audio format and nearly did the
  same to MiniDisc.
goose
response 132 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 10 14:07 UTC 2003

YEs, if it wasn't for the tenacity of Sony we'd not have MiniDisc's
anderyn
response 133 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 10 15:11 UTC 2003

Which is agood thing (having MiniDiscs!)
polytarp
response 134 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 10 20:09 UTC 2003

JABBER !
gull
response 135 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 11 01:34 UTC 2003

I've avoided MiniDisc because I don't like formats that only one
manufacturer supports.
scott
response 136 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 11 04:19 UTC 2003

It's a semi-propriety standard, but there are certainly recorders and media
available from manufacturers other than Sony.
jazz
response 137 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 11 14:52 UTC 2003

        Sony was, though, as usual, very late in opening up the specification
to the MD format.
gull
response 138 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 11 15:00 UTC 2003

Yup.  I kind of figured it was doomed to be the 8-track tape of the
digital world, and it's looking like I was probably right.
krj
response 139 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 11 16:39 UTC 2003

Minidisc is highly useful if you need a very small, very portable, 
decent quality digital recorder.  My wife uses hers a lot to record
herself singing.  However, if you don't need the 
portability at the recording end, MD has pretty well been replaced
by MP3 files recorded on a larger computer and played back on a 
portable.  

Unfortunately the development of quality portable MP3 recorders
is blocked by the Audio Home Recording Act, due to the requirement
that consumer digital recorders implement a SCMS (Serial Copy 
Management System).   The few MP3 recorders on the market appear
to be trying to stay under the radar by limiting the MP3 rate
to 128K or so.
scott
response 140 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 11 16:45 UTC 2003

Outside of the US, MiniDisc is quite popular.  
keesan
response 141 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 11 17:03 UTC 2003

Isn't a microcasette recorder small enough?
scott
response 142 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 11 18:12 UTC 2003

Small enough, but the sound quality of microcassette is terrible.
goose
response 143 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 11 18:21 UTC 2003

Saying it's terrible is being kind.
anderyn
response 144 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 12 00:17 UTC 2003

I've never tried recording on a microcassette, but a minidisc recording has
the good qualities of both a cd and a tape -- you have digital quality,
archival permanence, the ability to re-record and rearrange tracks.
krj
response 145 of 163: Mark Unseen   Mar 13 05:12 UTC 2003

Here's an interesting item from the NYTimes about Natalie Merchant, 
former lead singer for 10,000 Maniacs, former million-seller solo
artist.  She has chosen not to renew her contract with Elektra 
and her next album will be self-released. 
 
A comment from Jay Rosenthal of the Recording Artists Coalition
(the performers group launched by Don Henley) echoes things 
Richard Thompson said earlier when he chose not to renew his 
contract with Capitol/EMI:  "The only reason to go to the major labels
is to get your songs on the radio, to go for the promo money."
 
Rosenthal predicts that a large number of artists will soon 
be following the self-employment model:  "he expected major
labels to cut their rosters by 30 to 50 percent in the next 
year."
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/13/arts/music/13NATA.html
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