Your Personal e-mail is Personal

I work in IT. I tell people all the time that IT can, though it does not currently, intercept your "private" communications. A private corporation is not the government and therefore you have no expectation of privacy other than that which the company gives you. Personally, I keep a laptop and an N800 for most of my personal correspondence. The reason for this is perfectly illustrated in the following case:

According to the suit, Sidell has concluded that, when hustled out of his office after his termination, he left his work computer logged into his personal Yahoo account. The login credentials are typically retained for two weeks, and Siedel claims that, during that time, his former employees accessed his account repeatedly. Their access netted them over 10,000 e-mails archived in the account, as well as providing privileged communications between Sidell and his attorneys regarding his plans to pursue legal action regarding his firing. Those actions prompted the suit, which was filed in May and alleges various violations of the Stored Communications Act, Electronic Communications Protection Act, and a Connecticut wiretapping law.

According to a story about the case in The New York Times, however, the situation may not be that straightforward. His former employers allege that Sidell did not log into his Yahoo account from his own computer, but instead accessed it from a different employee's machine, and left the window open when he departed. An examination of that window suggested that Sidell used this access to send confidential company documents to his Yahoo account, justifying the company's full investigation of the account's contents.

The company will lose this case. Why? Lets look at some interesting developments in IT law. We have a case of a man who would daily, sit outside a store and use the free wifi. He was charged with WIFI theft because he did not have permission to use the WIFI. Permission would have been gained by actually purchasing something in the store or getting the store owner's permission. Lesson: If the account/network is not yours you are not entitled to use it.

Siedell's employer had every right to look on the computer for any stored files on their property (computer). Any mail left on the employers servers or in the disk cache, is also fair game. What the employer, or any other legal person cannot do is misrepresent themselves as the rightful owner of an account.

For example we have the HP fiasco where they were seeking a leak and misrepresented themselves to a phone company in order to gain access to phone records. Illegal.

Another nice example is if I were to get access to your debit card and pin. That does not mean that I can go to the bank and access your account unless you gave me permission to do so. If I have not then you have committed a crime.

Therefore I fully expect Siedel's employers to be on the losing end of this lawsuit, just as the telcos who went along with Bush and co. ought to have been.

The fact that the account was accessed on another employees machine means nothing at all. The allegation that Siedel was forwarding company info to his personal account is one that a warrant is needed to discover. Or the company should have checked the logs of their network security appliances for transfers of files.

Anyway going back to the personal computer thing. Clearly Siedel wouldn't be in this boat had he used his own personal laptop.

Oil up $5.09 today

5 bucks folks. Anything happen today to cause that? Some refinery blow up? Did Israel blow up something? Did the Iranian president fart? Did an oil tanker sink? Was there a riot in Nigeria? Did Hugo Chavez call Bush names again? Did the Chinese double their order? India?

What exactly happened to justify that kind of increase? A Brokerage is having problems? What's that got to do with oil discovery, pumping, refining or delivery? Pure speculation folks. Did the US Dollar drop in value by 50 cents? 25 cents? 10 cents? Demand is down and Supplies are adequate so what's the deal?

Speculation and profiteering.

That Pinging noise...?

And so the NY Times reports that people with engines recommending premium are putting in regular instead.

Even though the car’s manual says he should use premium, Mr. Alterio, 59, said the occasional pinging from his engine, caused by using the lower-octane gas, is worth the savings.

Yeah that pinging noise? Well let me explain what that is. See your computer AKA ECU, determines when the spark plug ought to ignite the air fuel mixture in your engine for optimal power and lowest emissions. The detonation of this mixture happens somewhere around TDC (top dead center) and usually somewhere after the piston has reached TDC.

That pinging noise is the fuel igniting beforeq the ECU sends the spark. That is called pre-ignition. It is happening before the piston reaches TDC and it puts HUGE pressure on the piston. It is akin to hitting the piston with a hammer while it is trying to travel in an upwards direction.

Fuel economy suffers. Pollutants, especially the deadly NOx gasses, go through the roof and you cna destroy your pistons and piston rings. You don't want to know what that will cost you. So if you have plans on keeping that vehicle for any amount of time, I would strongly, strongly suggest that if your engine is pinging on regular, that you pump it up a notch or you will spend that "savings" either on rebuilding the engine or putting a downpayment on another vehicle.

Automotive experts say that following the manufacturer’s instructions is advisable, and that some high-performance cars can experience knocking and hesitation when accelerating, and possibly some engine damage, if regular gas is used when a higher grade is recommended.

“The only thing I’ve noticed is more money in my wallet,” said Steve Altman, standing alongside a black 2007 Mercedes on Lee Highway in Arlington, across the Potomac River from Washington. He made the switch from premium gas two weeks ago, he said, and his car runs no differently than before. Still, he plans to add a fuel injection cleaner at the end of the month, just in case.

Oh yeah, most of those injector cleaners are shyt. Unless one is popping Chevron Techron (which I recommend) you're guaranteed to be wasting your money. Of course that stuff isn't exactly cheap.

AT&T Must be tickled pink to have the iPhone give free advertising to their rival Verizon Wireless.

Steve Jobs at WWDC2008

Isn't he looking a bit gaunt? Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen him so slim.
And I recall that Mr. Jobs was discussing the security issues with RIM, including a little comment about how RIM's servers were a point of failure, yet now mobile Me uses, well, Apple Servers. Of course Apple is not going to be between a corporation and it's phones, but still, given the numerous times .Mac has gone down....

Edit: Some people are claiming that Steve Jobs looked no less "slim" than he did last year or before. BS. There have been numerous photos of the man around in the last year, and he clearly has less hair now and far less body fat. if he was sick with some "bug" it must be some bug that's been inhabiting his stomach for quite a while. I think a lot of people are plain scared to discuss it, but Steve was not looking all that good Monday. Sounded cool, but did not look right at all.

I don't know if he's been on chemo or on some low calorie diet where you purposely under eat, it's really not my business. But folks who say Steve is looking "normal" are either in denial or need there eyes checked.

Bike To Work Week 2

So week two of the Bike to work program is here. Today's trip went about 5 min faster than the last one. This was due to a couple of things. Firstly since I left 30 min earlier than before, some of the traffic was less than before, so I didn't have to wait at some unlighted intersections as long as I had to last week.

Secondly, I did a better job of pacing myself and recovering from hill climbs. I cannot stress enough the importance of pacing. So fo example, I did not pedal down hills this time. This conserved energy for the final hill. I'm not going faster than 30 MPH so, it make little sense to pedal when I'm already moving at 26 or so MPH.

lastly is proper cadence control. a lot of people, including myself often use too hard a gear for going uphill. They put a lot of stress on their knees and legs pushing a hard gear. Instead i is better to get a good cadence going that allows you to maintain a decent speed with decent turnover where you're not fighting the bike and gravity.

On a closing noteI have to say that there are some really rude people on the road. It's not cool to put the nose of your car into an intersection when a bike is approaching. It's scary and it pisses me off. Also, check your mirrors when pulling out of parking spots. You should assume that the bike is moving faster than you think it it's moving. In most unrban settngs we can hit the posted speed limits.

I think next week I will start doing this twice weekly. I will need to get a portable fridge for my office because sports drinks from vending machines are pricey.

Running on Empty? Repair Bill Soon Come

So we find that some people are allowing their cars to run out of gas in their efforts to not go broke filling up their tanks. However; should the continue to do so, they may soon find themselves at the receiving end of a bill for a fuel pump replacement. Many cars have fuel pumps that reside in the gas tank of the vehicle. These electric pumps are cooled by the fuel in the tank. As you run out of fuel there is less liquid actually splashing the little motor and it can get hot and burn out. Added to the potential problems is that many older vehicles have some sediment at the bottom of the tank. Each time you let the fuel tank go bone dry, you increase the chances of that sediment collecting on the strainer and impeding the fuel flow and increasing the load on the electric motor. Hence, the practice of allowing the tank to go dry may lead to premature fuel pump failure and a decent sized bill. I recently replaced my fuel pump (for other reasons) and the pump alone ran about $150 retail. I did the work myself so I didn't have to pay to have it installed, but such a job would cost you between one half hour to an hour of billing. So it is entirely possible that a consumer, in an attempt to save money, could end up with a $200 fuel pump bill, which at $4.00/gallon works out to 50 gallons of gasoline. Worth it?