Generics go mainstream...

James, you mean like Ada83 had 22 years ago? and Java 5 also has now?

It's taken just a little while for this wonderful language feature to make it out of the trusted computing / defence / aerospace market... :-)

And before you say it, C++ templates are just macros, so they don't really count :-)

tech/code | 14 Nov 2005 | #

How to solve "resource shortage"

How do you solve the problem of not having enough "resources" to meet your project's deadline?

Outsourcing via Primate Programming Inc.

tech/misc | 11 Nov 2005 | #

RSA-640 Factored

Schneir reports that RSA-640 has been factored.

Some links to follow up. Note that this isn't RSA-1024 by any means, but it continues to highlight that relying upon today's strong crypto may not guarrantee data security in 20 years time.

From one of these reports:

      The factorization of the latest RSA number to fall involved "lattice" sieving 
      done by J. Franke and T. Kleinjung using hardware at the Scientific Computing 
      Institute and the Pure Mathematics Institute at Bonn University, Max Planck   
      Institute of Mathematics in Bonn, and Experimental Mathematics Institute in 
      Essen. The factorization of RSA-640 was accomplished using a prime 
      factorization algorithm known as the general number field sieve. Sieving was 
      done on 80 2.2-GHz Opteron CPUs and took 3 months. The matrix step was 
      performed on a cluster of 80 2.2-GHz Opterons connected via a Gigabit network  
      and took about 1.5 months.

Not trivial compute power, but not out of the reach of people with lots of machines, or lots of money. Can you say university lab supervisor?

Practical Implications: Use RSA-2048 as a minimum for any new keys. Review the sensitivity of the data you are protecting with RSA-1024 and re-encrypt if you need longer term security.

tech/misc | 11 Nov 2005 | #

LCA2006 programme available

The programme for linux.conf.au 2006 is now available. And there's some surprises in there for those who've been before - 8 simultaneous miniconfs, and 6 streams including seminars and tutorials running side-by-side. More value for money every year. And I know of a few surprises that the conference program doesn't show :-)

Just remember, there's only 7 days of early bird registration still available. Don't you think it's time you registered to come to this great Australasian tradition? :-)

linux.conf.au 2006. Dunedin, New Zealand. 23rd - 28th January 2006 - Register now!!!

tech/linux-australia/lca2006 | 11 Nov 2005 | #

Parallel Peer Programming

While looking at Planet+ I found Scott James Remnant's excellent piece on Parallel Peer Programming.

It's not very surprising to see that the fantastic efforts of Canonical are due, at least in part, to using some XP-techniques.

tech/code | 04 Nov 2005 | #

Bulky Pocket Syndrome

I now have a Motorola V3 as my cellmobile phone. The thinness of the device was its biggest selling factor - my wife is happier since I now suffer less from bulky pocket syndrome. There's only my keys and palm pilot problem to solve now :-)

On the cool tech side, the V3 doesn't have some proprietry gumpf phone connector - it uses mini-USB for both battery charging and connectivity. Under Linux it appears as a USB modem - something to explore to see if its useful in the coming weeks. There's also bluetooth, but shadowfax (my laptop) doesn't, so that'll have to wait.

tech/misc | 04 Nov 2005 | #

Support Creative Commons

Support the Creative Commons fundraising campaign. Your right to release your content however you wish.

tech/IP | 01 Nov 2005 | #