In case you have any doubt about the future of intellectual property in the Internet age, you need look no farther than the current shipping version of Microsoft Office XP. Remember you don't own software - and this is likely the one true innovation that can be attributed to Microsoft; software licensing. You only own a right to use it and the right to toss the CD like a frisbee. When you've installed OfficeXP and the first time you use it, you are politely told that the software must be activated, just like a new credit card. So in one fell swoop they've solved the piracy problem, unless somebody hacks the activation process, which I bet is not going to be easy. There are some pretty much unbreakable ciphers out there. If you install the software on two machines, Microsoft will know - and they can stop you by refusing activation. Copying the CD and spreading it throughout a third world country even with the registration number is useless because it still has to be activated, and to do so you're hitting a server at Microsoft which can deny it from running. If you think the Napsters and Gnutellas of the world are going to win this battle you are so very, very mistaken. My bet is that at least in the software world this idea is going to catch on like wildfire. It lets a software company track and regulate precisely how many times their software is installed, and control it down to the individual CD level. This might just qualify as Microsoft's second innovation in twenty some odd years. It's also an omen about what you can expect out of their dot-net initiative and software "leasing".

I put the above theory to the test and here are the results... First install went smoothly. The activation agent also didn't complain when I installed on a second machine (note that they can change this from the server without warning so don't take my example as the way it's always going to be). They likewise didn't complain when I reinstalled on the first system (screwup caused by user profiles, don't ask). However when I tried to install on a third box it came back and said that I was already activated on one machine and sorry, but you're gonna' have to call customer service to get this confusion straightened out. This is pretty much what I expected. They'll let you slide once. They'll let you screw up the install once. After that it's time to pull out the credit card. I may have used up all my chances on this research, so if I lose a hard drive at this point it's probably going to take $500 to re-activate it. I had every intention of putting Star Office (a Sun product) on the third machine anyway.

I just can't believe that nobody has registered PsychoRootCanal.COM... In fact if you think all the good domain names are taken, it's only a lack of creativity on your part. You just have to think a little...

It shows to go ya' - you're no safer in the royal palace in Katmandu than a US post office.

And I'm joyed that they're finally prosecuting the FBI sniper in the Ruby Ridge incident. Many of you think Randy Weaver is a right wing nut case, but go read the real story. It was a huge tragedy and completely avoidable had the FBI not been rude and deceitful. They started it by asking him to spy on a neighbor, which he really didn't feel like doing. So then they put the screws to him.