Scott Jones--View from the Hinge

Google DNS: Your Big Buddy for Fast Internet, or Wanna-Be Big Brother?

Google is a one-stop site for just about everything you could possibly want to do on the 'net.  It goes way beyond a search engine; you can use Google as an online word processor, calendar, personal finance tracker, map and travel assistant, shopping site, bookstore, web mail application, streaming video clearinghouse (it owns YouTube)...you get the picture.  Google's got a feature for just about everything.

Now, Google is premiering its own DNS!  Now, any of you who aren't hopeless geeks like myself might ask the question: what on earth is DNS?  It's an abbreviation for Domain Name System, and its workings can get a wee bit complicated, but the simplest metaphor is that of a phone book.  If you want to call a person, but you don't know the number, you grab a phone book and look up the number by the name of the person or business you're looking for.  Many people don't realize that the internet also accesses websites by NUMBER, not by the name of the website (or URL).  When you want to do a web search, you go up to your address bar and type in http://www.google.com.  After you hit enter, your ISP (Internet Service Provider) says "ok this guy wants to navigate to Google.  What's the IP address for that-what's it's number?"  Then it uses its DNS like an internet phone book.  It queries a few servers to find that numeric IP address (this is referred to as "resolving the host"), and navigates there for you.  (If you want a far more technical breakdown of DNS, Wikipedia has a mind-numbing amount of info on the subject.  Just click here. )

Luckily computers, servers and connections are pretty fast these days, and the resolving process typically runs quickly. However, lesser-quality DNS servers out there (some smaller ISPs have sort of mediocre DNS) can get a wee bit bogged down.  Part of this is because of caching-the process by which a system stores recently or often-requested IP addresses in memory for quicker recall when subsequent requests come in.  Rather than having to scour the net looking for the proper address, it's already queued up.  Caching is great, but it takes memory.  Smaller ISP's might not have the ability to cache vast amounts of DNS data for very long--it gets deleted more often because there just isn't the room.  The DNS "phone book" thus has to rebuild itself more often, and this takes time.  That translates into longer page loads for the person browsing the 'net.  It should be said that this will only pose a potential problem for you if you 1) have a slow connection and 2) are using a dinky little ISP with a poor quality DNS server that has bad security protocols and insufficient space for caching.  If you're on a broadband connection with a large ISP (something like Comcast, for example), I doubt you'd have enough DNS problems to justify shopping for a different solution.

A second concern with conventional DNS is security.  You would be amazed how simple it is to dupe a DNS into going to the wrong IP address for a given website.  When your DNS server goes out to query other DNS servers to find an IP address, ingenious hackers can poison the process by having their computers pose as DNS servers, and give false IP addresses back to your ISP's DNS server.  Let's say I want to do some online banking.  I type in the address for my bank's online banking service.  My ISP's DNS server kicks into action, consulting other DNS servers on the 'net to correctly resolve the host for my bank's site.  In this process, a hacker jumps in and sends out the message: "Hey!  I'm a DNS server!  The IP address you're looking for is xx.xxx.xxxx.x.xx."  My DNS server falls for it, and navigates to the false address.  The page that comes up looks just like my real online banking website, but in reality it's been counterfeited by the hacker.  Unknowingly I enter my username and password, and presto!  The hacker now has all he needs to log into my bank account and transfers all my money to his account.  Now that's a simplified example, because the use of SSL certificates, and making sure your address bar displays "https:" at the beginning means that the data you enter will be encrypted, thus appearing as gobbledy-gook gibberish to the hacker.  But if you're not watching for this stuff, you can mistakenly enter your personal data on a nonsecure site!

Google has entered the fray, claiming that its DNS will be the answer to everyone's problems.  Google has an ENORMOUS infrastructure, as you can well imagine.  Vast amounts of available memory means that Google will be able to maintain a staggeringly huge cache of DNS data, and that cache can stay around for much longer before being purged and re-built.  Because of this they promise to deliver much faster browsing.  They also seek to address the security issue by the way their DNS servers will request host data from other DNS servers.  The Google DNS will send its requests along with some unique "junk" data that would be next to impossible to replicate.  When another DNS server sends back an IP address, yet doesn't contain the random "junk" data generated by the Google DNS, then Google will know its likely hacker activity and throw out that result.

So speed, convenience, and security are what Google DNS offers.  Sounds good on the face of it, right?  But there are big concerns out there about Google's move.  The question on many people's lips is: "Google already has its fingers in so many aspects of the internet; do we really want it making itself even MORE indispensable to the 'net's infrastructure?"  The fear is that many Internet Service Providers (ISP's) will say, "why even bother with our own DNS?  Why not just direct our clients' traffic to the Google DNS servers?"  If that were to happen with enough internet companies, then Google itself would become inextricably integrated within the infrastructure of the entire internet.  This notion is setting off the antitrust radars of many 'net watchdogs, and even the government is watching.  Another big concern is privacy.  Many feel uncomfortable with the idea of Google having their internet browsing patterns stored in a DNS cache somewhere.  Google has assured everyone that they'll take steps not to abuse privacy, but the distrust persists.  Perhaps with good cause.

So what do you think?  Are the speed, convenience and security offered by Google DNS significant enough that other concerns are mitigated, or is this a disturbing trend that ought to be nipped in the bud before it gets out of hand?  I must say that I'm not quite comfortable with Google's move, but I'm willing to get more facts before making my judgment on the issue final.  Any input from the techies out there would be welcome.

Interested in some further reading?  I would recommend this article by CNET's Stephen Shankland.  Also check out Topher Kessler's look at the problems faced by DNS servers, and the pros and cons of using an alternative DNS like Google or the current first-place holder, OpenDNS.  If you want the viewpoint of OpenDNS's founder, David Ulevitch, about the downsides of Google's new DNS, check out his blog on the subject.  (Just remember to take it with a grain of salt; this guy is obviously biased since his livelihood is dependent on Google NOT having success with this.  OpenDNS has a free version, but it's chock full of ads.  They also have paid services with more features.  The corporate version of OpenDNS costs a whopping $2000/year!)

Last, how about a video link that discusses all these pros and cons?  Check out this episode of CNET's show "Buzz Out Loud."  Stephen Shankland, mentioned above, is a major contributor to this discussion.  Enjoy!

I Think I Would've Been Murdered on the Spot...

This is funny, but oh man--who does this?!  If I'd done this at my wedding, my wife would've decapitated me!

Too Busy to Talk to God? Let a Computer Do It for You!

This is too much.  Just absolutely too much.

I forget whether I was meandering around Foxnews.com or the Drudge Report, but whichever it was, my Outrage-o-Meter went off the charts when I was led to a story about a website that sells prayers for those whose busy lifestyles preclude them from saying the simplest little prayers to our Creator.

It's called Information Age Prayer, and it introduces its service in this way: "Information Age Prayer is a subscription service utilizing a computer with text-to-speech capability to incant your prayers each day. It gives you the satisfaction of knowing that your prayers will always be said even if you wake up late, or forget."

How to describe my reaction?  Hmm...flabbergasted?  Outraged? Incredulous?  Livid?  (I'll avoid certain other words due to my Christian faith).  Needless to say, this is the most jaw-dropping fiasco I've encountered in some time.

There are just so many things to say about this total sham.  For one, expecting God to listen to computers that pray is beyond ludicrous.  Computers have no eternal soul.  They have no capacity whatever to relate to God.  When they reproduce words using voice simulation technology, it's just that...word reproduction.  There's no spiritual content or value to it whatever.

Another consideration: anyone that is too busy, sleep deprived or forgetful to pray has a really poor set of priorities.  Each person finds time to do what he or she finds to be really important.  If you're too busy or forgetful to pray, then your relationship with God has very little importance to you.  You'll find your true god is wherever you spend the most time, energy, resources and attention.  If other matters in your life keep you from even speaking to the God of the Bible, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, then don't bother with spending money to have a computer reproduce prayers to Him.  You don't know Him at all, and I guarantee you the computer will earn you NO FAVOR with Him.

Why won't it earn you favor?  Because God is NOT moved by mere words spoken in prayer, as if they were some sort of magical incantation.  The one, and ONLY, thing He cares about is whether you and He have a genuine, Father/child relationship.  And that's really the crux of why this Information Age Prayer is just...stupid!!

Think of it this way.  Pretty soon my folks will be moving out of a rented home and into a new parsonage that their church built for them.  When they vacate the rental, my family and I will be moving into that house because it's bigger, nicer and has more storage.  In the next several weeks there will be boxes to pack, nooks and crannies to clean, and furniture to move, for both households.  My Dad will need help moving things, and I'll need help in turn.  Now, what will be my motivation to help my Dad?  Well, perhaps I'll be convinced to help him if he comes up to me and says, "My son, who art on the other side of town, strong be thine arm!  Thy pickup come, thy muscles lift my couch, and yea, mine armoire...." (And so on).  Or will such putrid, flowery words be the means by which I'll motivate Dad to help me?  Of course not!!  I'm going to bust my back for my Dad because he's my Dad.  And he'll wear himself out for me because I'm his son.  It would be insulting for either of us to think that it is the WORDS we use that make us willing to help each other.  We do it because he's my Dad, and I'm his son.  We love each other.  End of story!

It seems so completely BASIC when we talk about human relationships--family.  How is it that somehow we get stuck on stupid when it comes to our relationship to God?  He does not care a FIG about fancy words, about prayer-incantations.  They don't merit us one iota of favor, forgiveness or provision from God.  You can say the most eloquent prayer in the world, and if you don't know God as your Heavenly Father it will gain you precisely nothing.  He doesn't want RELIGION, or RITUAL, from me, you or anybody.  He cares only about whether or not you're in the Family.  Is He your Father?  Are you His child?  Do you love Him--really love Him?  If so, you won't have to worry about putting the right words together.  Just ask Him for what you need, and He'll be there.  You won't need a computer chanting tinny, robot-prayers for you.

Are you in the Family of God?  You don't get there by fancy words, or Boy Scout good deeds, or any religious ritual.  You become His child by the finished sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross--His blood shed to wash your sins away and to raise you up from spiritual death to eternal life.  Trust in Jesus.  Make God your Father and your Lord.  Don't pay money for a stupid computer to pray for you.  Accept what Jesus has already paid for you to become a true child of God.

8 iPhone Owners Have "Stars upon Thars", Buy Hyper-Snobby Screen Saver Before Apple Removes It

How many of you remember this dandy little story by Dr. Suess, The Sneetches?  In the story, Dr. Suess rightly holds snobbery-based-upon-appearance to grand ridicule.  These bipedal, duck-like critters start sorting themselves into classes based upon which of them have stars on their bellies.  Those that do have them dub themselves "the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches."  Well, the non-star-bellied Sneetches feel envious and slighted.  More than anything they wish to have "stars upon thars," thereby placing themselves among the Rich and Famous.  Enter an enterprising little...thing...named Sylvester McMonkey McBean.  He unveils a machine which will place stars upon the bellies of the plain-bellied Sneetches, for the low, low price of 3 bucks each.  Every one of them pay the money and get their stars, resulting in all Sneetches having "stars upon thars."

The ORIGINAL star-bellied Sneetches are mightily put out.  They wish to maintain their illusion of superiority, but now that every Sneetch has a star, how to make the distinction?  Sylvester McMonkey McBean sidles up once more, having made a few adjustments to his machine.  Now, for the price of TEN dollars the original star-bellies can have their stars removed.  Then they can declare that the best sort of Sneetch has no star; their elite status is saved!  Every one of them enthusiastically plunks down his sawbuck, and the plain-bellies proclaim their favored status once again!

Here's where everything runs amuck.  Eager to keep their new-found status, the originally plain-bellied Sneetches who paid to have stars upon thars pay 10 bucks to have their stars removed once again.  The original star-bellied Sneetches who paid to have their stars removed pay 10 bucks to have their stars put back on! Before long there's such chaos and disorder that the line at the machine gets totally mixed up.  Those getting stars and those removing stars are in a huge jumble, paying again and again, getting stars and removing them.  The denouement: they all run out of money, nobody can tell who's who anymore, and Sylvester McMonkey McBean rides off, laughing all the way to the bank.  How stupid those Sneetches were!  How foolish!  How shallow!  Certainly that sort of thing would never happen in real life!

I can hear poor Dr. Suess rolling over in his grave.

Apple's iPhone is quite the little status symbol in its own right.  Originally sold at the absolutely stupid price of $600, it was a way for human Sneetches to declare their techological coolness and superiority.  The iPhone's second incarnation is supposedly better and faster, with a price tag of only $200.  That's quite a bit more like it (though I've heard that by the time most folks get done getting the new iPhone equipped with the things they think they need, they'll shell out an awful lot more than $200).  This put the iPhone within reach of a lot more people; predictably, sales have been explosive.

Now that the great, unwashed masses have access to iPhone coolness, perhaps the original human Sneetches feel their exclusivity in jeopardy.  That's what a man by the name of Armin Heinrich must have been betting on, because he developed a very unimpressive screensaver by the pretentious name of "I Am Rich."  This story on foxnews.com relates how the screensaver works.  It displays a glowing red jewel on the screen, such as you see in this second picture.  That's all it does.  How much would you pay for such a screensaver?

How about $1000?

Yep.  $999, to be precise, but that's the price Heinrich put on his screensaver when he offered it through iTunes.  Now I ask you: what would possibly move someone to pay such a price for something so worthless? According to Heinrich, the whole purpose is this: whenever you see that glowing red jewel on your screen, it "always reminds you (and others when you show it to them) that you were able to afford this. It's a work of art with no hidden function at all." That's just insulting.  (If anyone reading this finds Heinrich's rationale attractive, it's doubtful that you and I will ever be friends)

When I first started reading the story, I thought it was a joke.  Then I thought to myself, "no one will ever dignify that jerk by sending him a cent."  I was wrong.  As it turns out, 8 people purchased that stupid thing.  U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E.  It seems the Sneetches are alive and well, with a much larger fund of money than brains.  Apple, at least, had the decency to pull the travesty from iTunes...but not before 8 people had the opportunity to display themselves as self-centered, shallow fools. The buyers included one person from France, one from Germany, and....

SIX from the United States.

May God have mercy upon our country.