Microsoft security guru Jeff Jones is extending the meme that Windows is more secure than Linux. Ever curious, I decided to check out his assumptions and methodologies. Setting aside easy red herrings like the timing of fixes, I still came across judgment calls that less MS-centric researchers might have made differently.

By digging on the vastly improved US Census Bureau site, I found that there really isn't much poverty in my small midwestern city. Can local geeks use this knowledge to close the portion of the digital divide that's due to income? My plan's designed to satisfy Conservatives, Moderates, Liberals and Greens. If it doesn't please you, let's hear yours.

When we first built our newsblog, existing blogging software was dumb and ugly. So we wrote our own blogware in Python, using Zope as the platform. It was beyond state-of-the-art. But blogging software grew up with lots of exciting features, while simply maintaining our custom-built platform became more and more painful for our guy with more important things to do. In the end, we gained a lot, and lost a little.

Should a small town offer free mobile municipal wireless? A midwestern city confronted with the question digs through the possibilities. The second meeting of our Wireless Task Force reveals that robust private efforts are already under way. A question is emerging: How far should a city go to bridge the digital divide?

After a year of testing, French virus experts have concluded that Microsoft Office is less dangerous than its competitor, OpenOffice. In the short term, this is great news for Microsoft... outside of Europe. More anti-open source FUD will delay some planned migrations. Longer term, OpenOffice will benefit, as France and Germany pour resources into securing the product they now rely upon. The race is, as they say, afoot.