The 2006 Stupid Security Competition
Privacy International has again opened the Stupid Security Competition for entries. I foresee that they will have no lack of potential winners this time around, take a look.
Looking at the numerous egregiously stupid security measures that have been executed during the last few years, I am stunned. I don’t know if I should laugh or cry, or both at the same time.
The award categories are:
- Most Egregiously Stupid Award
- Most Inexplicably Stupid Award
- Most Annoyingly Stupid Award
- Most Flagrantly Intrusive Award
- Most Stupidly Counter Productive Award
I wish the competitors good luck; in many categories the “security” organizations of several Western countries will give each other a good run for the money. I predict a shut-out; all categories will be won by bodies who can be traced back to one organization.
2006-08-04Pluses and Minuses for my Treo 650
I have now used a Treo 650 for about a month. Time to sum up my experiences sofar.
Showstoppers
None sofar. This really is a Smartphone!
Things that I really want to get fixed
- Voice dialling using BT handsfree does not exist
- Sending and receiving business cards and calendar entries over messaging is not supported
- Entering scandinavian characters is way too tricky
Annoying things I can live with
- Versamail still doesn’t grok UTF-8 properly
- Landline phone numbers are not recognized when calls arrive
- Radio part is sub-par compared to other GSM phones, I know a few locations where the phone keeps losing network connectivity.
- Mixing WAP and Internet doesn’t work well, network settings must be changed every bloody time. Partially an operator issue.
- Voice quality occasionally sucks badly
- No receipts for SMS messages (only for MMS messages)
Cool things
- SMS chains are grouped into “chats”—Very Cool
- GPRS signon takes almost no time at all
- Datebook supports “Location”
- Photos of contacts sync with Outlook
- Personal ringtones (for favorites only)
- Browser works surprisingly well
- WAP works well, once you switch network settings
- Screen is very bright and sharp
- Fast! Fast! Fast! in use