Test your digital IQ here.

Most adults are OK at turning the machine on and doing simple tasks like collecting email and writing documents — anything more than that is time to call in the kid. So let’s see how you stack up with this test of your computing IQ. I wrote these questions back when I was a part-time high school computing teacher, and for the most part they have held up over the years.

1. What are the steps you need to take to upgrade your PC’s firmware?
2. Do you have a firewall/router on your home network or personal firewall software on your computers? Bonus points: have you ever upgraded this firmware?
3. Are you sure your anti-virus definitions are up to date on your entire collection of home PCs? Did you check this within the last week?
4. Do you know how to share files and printers on your home network?
5. Can you successfully attach a Word document to your email, and successfully detach one that is sent to you?
6. Do you know how to change your displayed name on the header of your email messages?
7. Can you retrieve your email messages over a Web-based client remotely from the machine that you usually use at home or at work? If you can, do you know how to do it?
8. Can you password-protect one of your Word documents?
9. Can you add comments to a Word document and share them with a co-worker so that both of you can see them?
10. Can you successfully synchronize your Palm PDA between two different PCs? Bonus points for being able to synchronize your contacts with a third program, such as ACT, Outlook, or Notes.
11. Can you add additional software programs to your Palm?
12. Can you rip several of your music CDs onto your computer and burn selected tracks onto a new “mix” CD?
13. Do you pay your bills online and check the balances of your accounts? Bonus points if you also use the Web-based tax preparation software too.
14. When you need to lookup a word in a dictionary, find a phone number, get directions on a map, check a train timetable or a movie listing, do you first go to the Web or a paper-based resource?
15. Do you have more than 25 people on your Instant Messaging buddy list? Bonus points if you use IM at both work and home.
16. Do you know what FTP means and how to move files between your computer and a Web server?
17. What is the port to block for AOL IM traffic? If you know the port number, do you know how to do this on your home network?
18. Have you ever downloaded a ring tone for your cell phone? Have you ever used your phone to send an email, an IM or to view a Web page?
19. Have you ever used an online service to print your digital photos?
20. Have you ever connected to a wireless network at a Starbucks or someone else’s home?

Aiding and abetting Adrian Lemo

There is something about harboring a confessed criminal in your house that can bring new excitement to your life. Within minutes of meeting the so-called “homeless hacker” Adrian Lamo, he was showing me how to reprogram my cell phone. That is the kind of guy he is — someone who has broken into numerous computer systems around the world and knows his way around the cell phone firmware, yet isn’t afraid to share his knowledge with the common reporter. The funny thing was, he could remember the codes to get it into programming mode, but had trouble finding the phone’s power switch. It was sort of cute, in a way.

You could say he is a criminal with a conscience, and I mean that in just the nicest way. When I told him to help himself to whatever he could forage in my fridge (which is always a risky proposition in even the best of times), he told me he boosted a yogurt. No, you didn’t steal it, I offered it to you, I said. Then he told me his credo: “If you are going to be a criminal, you might as well be a trustworthy one.” I completely agree. So have all the yogurts you can find, Adrian. In the meantime, I got to watch him in action and spend more time with him doing normal (i.e., non-computer-related) activities. It was a gas.

You can read more of this essay here.

Amazon opens up

These days, when you think about leaders in Web services, you tend to think about IBM, Microsoft or Sun — or some other tools vendor that is providing interfaces, code and applications servers. But my candidate for the top spot isn’t a vendor of computer software. It does sell a lot of stuff, though, in fact more than most Web sites and with a wide range of products and items. My candidate is Amazon.com.

What does a glorified online bookstore have to do with Web services? Plenty. Amazon has been leading our industry in several fronts, almost since the first book was sold in the summer of 1995. Two recent developments once again emphasized how Amazon is taking steps beyond what many of their competitors are doing: Itís opening up a Web services interface to its back-end systems and allowing customers to use keyword searches to actually view a series of the pages of the books that are for sale.

You can read the entire essay here.