Of Smartphones And Info Disclosures

We normally don't devote a whole lot of time covering this technology, but this report from CRN Senior Writer Paula Rooney is worth considering.

Slowly but surely Microsoft has been gaining ground in this arena ( this item from The Register about Palmsource says it all), not surprisingly by making the connectivity between these devices and your desktop or notebook applications more and more seamless.

The latest feature set in Magneto (the next rev of its mobile operating system) notably contains push technology that automatically updates your mobile device should something back at home base be changed. Since this very task is the one that frustrates me most, I can only imagine how others will respond.

Could this be a blow to the Crackberry nation? Personally, I believe that if left to their own devices, most of this crowd would stick with their current technology. However, this latest Microsoft development could encourage companies to FINALLY adopt corporate policies for outfitting their workers with handhelds. We all know that right now, these early adopters are mostly left to their own devices when it comes to devices. (Pun intended.)

For those of you obsessing about how to apply increasingly rigorous compliance regulations within your client accounts (or, frankly, figuring out whether they do in fact apply), Slashdot is carrying this item about a new federal policy that covers how electronic documents are used in court.

Given the current litigious environment, it's probably worth boning up on these policies or talking to legal experts about how archiving solutions might be impacted.

From security guru Bruce Schneier comes this post about the current debate over whether or not to suppress the publication of data about software vulnerabilities and new patches.

One school of thought suggests that the disclosure of this information spurs the very sort of nefarious behavior that patches are supposed to protect against. Sort of a call to arms for would-be hackers. That may be so, but the policy or restricting access to that information could set up a system of haves and have notes when it comes to protecting against potential threats.

And speaking of speaking out, wow, and double wow. From the land of the ultraliberal where Dan Gillmor runs his Grassroots site comes this VERY interesting item about the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. It seems they're considering an ordinance that would require local bloggers to register with the ethics commission. Ostensibly to prevent closet lobbyists from having too much influence without paying for it. Hmmm. What will they think of next? Will tech journalists have to disclose what kind of equipment they create their blogs on?