The auto industrys number is almost up.

The 17-digit codes that identify the origin, make, model and attributes of cars, trucks, buses even trailers worldwide will be exhausted by the end of the decade.

And like an odometer that returns to zero and starts over again, a Vehicle Identification Number or VIN could be duplicated.

Experts say duplicated VINs would cause havoc for repair shops, state license offices, insurance agencies, law enforcement and other groups that use VINs to process warranty claims, investigate accident claims and recover stolen vehicles.

Weve been brainwashing law enforcement and the insurance community and virtually everybody that a VIN is like DNA theres one for any one vehicle, said Ed Sparkman, spokesman for the Chicago-based National Insurance Crime Bureau.

At the root of the impending shortage is the explosion of vehicle production in recent decades. Automakers build 60 million cars and trucks every year and each one needs a unique VIN in the same way a newborn is given a Social Security number. And that doesnt count heavy trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles that require VINs.

link

 I had posted this 6 months ago, but the link has changed.

The world is changing, and it’s changing faster than we think. Programmers are going to have to move up the value chain, and move up fast, if they are to keep their jobs in the coming years. The recession isn’t helping, as its effects are masking a significant underlying trend. When the recession ends, the truth is going to scare folks who aren’t prepared.

slides

If you want to relax after too much work .. and are sick of the normal Hollywood movies, check out Beat Takeshi.

Excellent page about Beat Takeshi.

Takeshi Kitano on the question: What’s you’re coolest moment?

 "In Japan, there is a broadcasting station called NHK,
  like BBC, but much, much stricter. When I was a rising
  star in comedy I appeared on a live program, and the director specifically
  said you can't say such-and-such, if you use these words you'll
  be finished. So of course I couldn't resist. I said 'shit'
  12 times in a row. I said, 'I saw a shit-like substance on the street.
  So I went over and I picked it up and smelled it, and it smelled like
  shit. Then I felt it and it felt like shit, and I liked it, and
  it tasted like shit, so I put it away. Thank god I didn't step in it!'
  That was my coolest moment, because it was a tremendous risk. They could have
  cut me off but they didn't. The director was fired and the producer was moved
  to another program, far away from Tokyo."

• software as Commodity
• network-enabled Collaboration
• customizability and software-as-Service

link

rubyforge.org/projects/net-ssh

Version 0.0.2 brings the implementation to full compliance with the SSH2 protocol, since you can now use ssh-dss key types.

The most significant new feature is a limited implementation of the SFTP protocol. Only a subset of the features of SFTP are implemented, namely directory enumeration, and getting and storing files. More features are coming.

The SSH protocol itself is asynchronous, so the "core" implementation of the SFTP protocol (Net::SSH::SFTP::Session) is also asynchronous. However, a synchronous version (useful when you don’t need multiple channels open simultaneously) is also available (Net::SSH::SFTP::Simple).

Until Ruby 1.8.2 is released, you need to also install the patched version of the OpenSSL module for Ruby (also available from the Net::SSH site). Ruby 1.8.2 will include the patched version of OpenSSL, though, so once you have installed you’ll need nothing else to run Net::SSH.

(Source coredump.cx) This is not an exciting story: I happened to be browsing aimlessly through case studies and other publications released by Microsoft as a part of their "Get the facts" initiative. At one point, I stumbled upon a Word file I wanted to read - and as soon as I ran it through wvWare, I noticed there is a good deal of amusing change tracking information still recorded within the document. Naturally, publishing documents with "collaboration" data is not unheard of in the corporate world, but the fact Microsoft had became a victim of their own technology, and had failed to run their own tools against these publications makes it more entertaining.

A pointless idea came to my mind that instant: why not run a gentle web spider against all Microsoft sites in English, specifically looking for other instances of tracking data not removed from documents? I coded a bunch of scripts and let them run through the night, fetching approximately 10,000 unique documents; over 10% was identified as containing change tracking records. I decided to collect only those with deleted text still present, yielding a crop of over 5% of all documents. Quite impressive. Below, you will find a brief (and rest assured, incomplete) list of the most entertaining samples I’ve run into, along with some speculation (and only speculation) as to the reasons we see them. link The tool used

 Subject: Re: Application Development
 Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 08:35:43 -0800
 On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 03:34:19 -0600, Jason wrote:
 >>
 >> Hi All,
 >> Are there any rapid application development tools that work with FORTH? Any
 >> help is greatly appreciated.

        Heh, Forth _is_ a Rapid Development Tool.

         -- Regards, Albert

Just in case you do not know what to buy me as my next birthday present .. I saw this monster on Gizmodo.

Stefan discovered this in the XP-ML.

Ha, ha: With this premiere programmable pair, happening holidays are just a few remote-clicks away.

Nowadays, most couples would love some extra arms and legs to help conquer their ever-expanding to-do list. Our 2003 His & Hers multifunction robots fit the bill quite nicely, thanks.

Someone at the door? Click your remote and send His Robot to check it out. His Robot's voice circuitry can deliver your greeting, and His on-board video camera gives you a view of the visitor, who can hop onto His platform and be delivered to you in the den.

Need some help getting the groceries into the house? Her Robot is happy to help. Need to leave a message for the spouse or kids? Tell it to Her Robot, and she'll spread the word. link

If uncertain about the dress code, also enjoy today’s Dilbert

What’s a day without Dilbert and UF?

  "Are you still using a database?"

    Madeleine is a Ruby implementation of Object Prevalence:
    Transparent persistence of business objects using command
    logging and snapshots.

     http://madeleine.sourceforge.net/

          Hi,

          Just figured it was a good time to release all the good stuff I and
          Stephen Sykes have been preparing in the Madeleine CVS. YAML marshalling
          and snapshot compression should be the highlights for our existing
          users.

          Madeleine 0.7 (July 23, 2004):

         * Broken clock unit test on win32 fixed.
         * AutomaticSnapshotMadeleine detects snapshot format on recovery
         * Snapshot compression with Madeleine::ZMarshal
         * YAML snapshots supported for automatic commands
         * SOAP snapshots supported for automatic commands
         * Read-only methods for automatic commands

        If you're planning to use either YAML or SOAP marshalling, beware that
        there are objects and classes that Ruby's own Marshal can handle but
        these can't. You will have to try for yourself if your application
        works, both to make a snapshot and to read it back, with the marshaller
        you want to use.

                                  cheers

                                  /Anders

It shows Ruby cross-polinating from Perl, Eiffel, Smalltalk, and Python.

The author also has diagrams for the history of Unix and Windows. The Unix one is very impressive. Unix is truly a diverse family.

 After labouring over the weekend, I am happy to present the first
 version of Gnome's Guide to WEBrick:
 http://shogo.homelinux.org/~ysantoso/WebWiki/WEBrick.html

 The guide is more of a reference-type documentation rather than
 tutorial. I believe that WEBrick is straightforward enough for someone
 to grasp its idea. At that point, a tutorial would be of lesser use
 than a reference.

 Being the first release, I am aware that there are many mistakes:
 spelling, grammar (not native English-speaker), obtuse example, etc. I
 am also aware that there are missing sections. Some of the missing
 sections are listed in the 'NOT YETs' section. If you think there are
 other topics I missed, please inform me.

 >I work for ThoughtWorks (TW) and would be happy to tell you about it.  TW
 >was founded on the idea that if you put together the best and brightest
 >people and give them a challenging environment then only great things can
 >happen.  This has been and continues to be the main criteria by which we
 >hire people and is the one of the reasons we are so successful.  As such,
 >the recruitment process is a series of flaming hurdles, but well worth it.
 >I just can't bring myself to leave the company even after 5 years :-)

Why does the world need Nutch, when search engines are free? Search engines are free to use like television is free to watch, but, like television programming, search results are subject to manipulation by the interests that control them. The only way one can be certain that search results are unbiased is if the technology which computes them is public. Nutch seeks to make high-quality search technology freely available.

How can a non-profit afford to run a search engine?

Nutch is primarily a software project, not a service. Large scale deployments of Nutch will probably be run by commerical interests separate from Nutch, funded by advertising or somesuch. If the Nutch software is good enough, perhaps existing major search engines will use it in place of their current closed source code.

The Nutch project itself may choose to host small-scale demo system, so that folks can see that it really works. This will require only moderate funding. The Nutch project may never host a full-scale deployment for folks to use as their everyday search engine. We’ll leave that to commercial ventures that can afford it.

Will Nutch ever be as good as other search engines?

We hope it will be better. With developers and researchers from around the world helping out, we hope to be able to surpass the quality of what any single company can do.

Nutch