Marvin Ammori

In a post on The Netflix Blog that went up Sunday night, the company’s CEO, Reed Hastings, announced that Netflix would split its DVD-by-mail service and its streaming-video service into two companies. The new DVD-only company, called “Qwikster,” will be completely separate from the streaming business. Hastings also expressed contrition for the way the company rolled out its recent price hike, which alienated many customers. “Qwikster”  which will ship DVD’s and games reminds me of two already dead platforms, Napster and Friendster (I don’t like “sters”).  So after 10 years the stock is sold.  The subscription canceled.  The last little red envelope placed back in the mail this morning.  Qwikster? Technological domination? Nope just a plain bad idea.

There’s no doubt that Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a comedy classic. Those who have appreciation of such things should watch it, and those who show classic films to their kids (and you know who you are) should definitely put it on their lists.  Now, picture AT&T as the chap hoisting the older fellow, and cast T-Mobile as the poor sod who insists, “I’m not dead.” AT&T is doing everything it can to kill off poor T-Mob, even to bopping it over the head and throwing it on the cart with its other victims of the Black Death.  That’s because the more AT&T can marginalize T-Mobile, the more its tenuous case to take over T-Mobile will remain on life support. Even in the face of the Justice Department taking the extraordinary step to go to court to block the takeover, AT&T isn’t backing down. It never does.

Is it all just hype? Ten years after the Sept. 11 attacks, many lawmakers and intelligence officials say they fear the next such attack could be triggered with the click of a mouse.

So is attribution necessary? Yes and No. If you want to strike back, yes. If you want to stop an attack from being successful, no.  So simple, yet so problematic.  Correct attribution makes the attack justified. False attribution makes the attacking state an international pariah.

An interesting opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal today.  When large numbers of San Francisco residents, alerted by cellphone text messaging, appeared  on Valentine’s Day in 2006 to engage in a joyous public pillow fight, they began a yearly tradition that is regretted only by the public officials who are obliged to pay for the disposal of mountains of soggy feathers.

Yet participants in more recent public gatherings, also quickly assembled via electronic messaging, have acted far more dangerously and sometimes lawlessly. In doing so, they have raised difficult policy and legal issues, including questions relating to the role of the First Amendment.

The U.S. has proposed global cybersecurity strategy that aims to create a more secure Internet, improve cybercrime enforcement, and better protect cyber freedom worldwide. The new strategy was released yesterday and can be found here.

Sony has announced that it has just restored some PlayStation Network services after hackers forced Sony to take it down.  “We have greatly updated our data security systems,” Hirai noted in the video statement. “These changes were the result of an intensive investigation aided by some of the most respected forensic and security experts in the computer industry.” Those changes include more advanced security technology, advanced levels of encryption, additional firewalls and better early-warning systems, he said.

Location information is emerging as one of the hottest commodities in the tracking industry—the field of companies that are building businesses based on people’s data.

Blog host WordPress has been hit with the largest attack they’ve ever seen.  According to a statement by founder Matt Mullenweg to CNET, WordPress.com is being targeted by a DDoS–Distributed Denial of Service–attack which has caused “sporadic slowness.”

As expected, Amazon has announced its new and improved Amazon Prime service that now offers more than 5,000 streaming TV shows and movies to customers. Those who already pay the $79 per year for Prime won’t have to pay any extra to get access to the streams. Video will be available on Macs and PCs in the US, as well as a number of set-top boxes.