May 2004 Archives

Yahoo has launched DomainKeys, a system similar to, and competeting with SPF. When email was first developed there was a small community on what became the Internet, systems could trust each other, and email was designed to trust what the sender was saying. Spammers have since figured out how easy it is to forge headers to fool email servers, and abuse the system. Which is made possible because email wasn't desgined to require authentication (or proof you are who you say you are). DomainKeys and SPF are both systems designed to provide a way to authenticate/validate the remote server. In a sense so that you can verify that someone who says they are Yahoo or AOL are really Yahoo or AOL. I think both are a step in the right direction given the impossibility of replacing what we know as email for the entire Internet. Lets review things that have to happen in order for either of these systems to be effective with spam.

1. You need mass deployment.
2. It needs to be easy to use.

With AOL supporting SPF, and now Yahoo with DomainKeys there is definately support from the major email providers. Microsoft is even comming into the mix with their own version for Hotmail. And their in lies the problem... three competeting standards. Now for this to be effective for the wider Internet you have to convince the SMBs and boutique shops to install and use the systems, which means that you need easy integration/support with: 1) Microsoft Exchange, 2) Sendmail, 3) Postfix, 4) qmail, and 5) Exim. Why you ask, Exchange has to be the most common email system for businesses, sendmail is installed by default on every Unix variant OS, and Postfix, qmail, and Exim are popular alternatives for higher volume systems running a Unix platform. I worry that with a lack of easy integration with mail servers, and technologies from different companies competeting to be the standard, it will be quite some time before we see any real trackson with this problem.

Scintillating. Stupendous. Singular. Introducing the 2004 V8-powered S4. Not simply 0 to 60 mph in 5.3 seconds, legendary quattro� all-wheel drive. Not just 40 free-breathing valves, a breath of fresh air in the category. Not just a step up the performance sport sedan ladder, the proverbial quantum leap. It all starts the moment you turn the key. This 4.2 liter V8 doesn't make noise. It makes music. So, what'll it be? A smooth as silk six-speed manual or six-speed Tiptronic� automatic with race-bred steering wheel paddle shifting? Either way, you get a rocket that delivers more torque at a mere 1100 rpm than some cars manage at full throttle. Horsepower is great, but it's torque that creates propulsive power.

Christina has wanted me to get a new car for a while now, with her car in the shop, and me putting miles on the rental, she decided to kick it into high gear, figuring that in typical Max fashion it would take me almost a year to get one. Little did she know that we would see an Audi S4 in Santa Barbara this weekend, and that I would want one. I still need to test drive, and kick the tires, and do the usual pre-purchase investigation. Plus I need to seriously contemplate if I really want a car payment again. But man was this car hot. Say it with me� 340 horsepower 4.2 liter V8 engine arrrgggghhhh�..