developer talks regulation, open source and the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto

With Bitcoin all the rage and startups popping up left and right, it's hard to know who's an expert in the virtual currency and who just has an opinion. Most people would put Jeff Garzik in the former camp.
A Bitcoin core developer for three years, he left his job at Red Hat on Friday to start work at Bitpay, the biggest Bitcoin payment processing service. IDG News Service caught up with him at the Bitcoin 2013 conference in Silicon Valley, where he talked about the state of Bitcoin today, the parallels with open source, and Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator, the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto. Following is an edited transcript of the conversation.
IDGNS: What's on people's minds at Bitcoin 2013? It feels like the Wild West right now -- the exchange rate's up and down, the government's starting to regulate, there are startups cropping up everywhere, where are we at?

JG: Bitcoin's growing up. It's been a hobbyist-grown organic piece of software, an organic community. I was one of the hobbyists. It grew up slowly, slowly, slowly over time, and now VCs are all over the place trying to write checks. As a developer, I've told several people, I don't want your check. I just started work for a startup called Bitpay, my first day is today.
For a long time the Bitcoin developers were working at Fortune 500 companies like Red Hat and Google. You didn't know if Bitcoin would be a success, we have families and have to support ourselves, so we all had non-Bitcoin jobs. This is sort of the watershed where developers are starting to be employed by Bitcoin companies, Bitcoin companies are starting to see outside investors, and the number of users is going through the roof. This is its coming out period.
IDGNS: I've talked to people here who trade bitcoins on exchanges, they say the exchanges need to become more professional and more stable.
JG: There's a race on. In order to legally service customers in the U.S., you have to register with the federal government, with FinCEN [the treasury department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network], and you have to obtain licensing with 48 out of 50 U.S. states. That's what the Mt. Gox thing was all about, it wasn't an attack on Bitcoin, it was a specific compliance issue.
IDGNS: Because Mt. Gox isn't properly licensed to trade?
JG: That's what that seizure was all about, it was specifically saying that they were violating the money transmission regulations, and money-transmission licensing is what the exchanges all need. So you have four or five exchanges that are racing to get all the licenses, because the prize at the end is going to be U.S. customers.

IDGNS: But they're trading in the meantime anyway?
JG: Some of the exchanges are going after only accredited investors, which is a legal slot you can fit into. [Accredited investors include registered investment companies and individuals whose net worth exceeds $1 million]. Other exchanges go for one or two states, they say we'll register with the feds, which is easy, and then get licenses in, say, California and New York and serve those customers.
IDGNS: Some people are put off Bitcoin by the price fluctuations, how do you see that playing out?

JG: It's definitely an issue, but to make a plug for my new employer, Bitpay lets people pay with bitcoins and then merchants receive U.S. dollars, so that removes the volatility for merchants. For individuals, I think it's going to be volatile for another year or two, simply because, mathematically, it's a thinly traded market.
IDGNS: Meaning there aren't enough bitcoins relative to the number of people wanting to trade them?
JG: Correct. If a hedge fund trader has a million dollars and wants to make a big Bitcoin buy, Bitcoin's going to go through the roof. If he sells the coins the next day, it goes through the floor. It behaves the same way as a Nasdaq penny stock, because there's a limited number of liquid tradeable bitcoins on the market.
IDGNS: Wasn't that avoidable? Why do we have this system where new bitcoins are released gradually over time?
JG: That's essentially modelled after natural resource extraction, gold mining and coal mining. Initially there's a whole lot, but every year you mine, there's less and less new gold introduced and the market slowly adjusts. If you released all 21 million bitcoins at once it would be even more volatile. It's an important part of the predictability of Bitcoin and where a lot of its value comes from.
IDGNS: The government has started to act, will it try to will regulate Bitcoin out of existence, at least in the U.S.?
JG: I don't think so. There are a lot of Bitcoin businesses springing up, as you can see around here, also the FinCEN guidance from a few months ago indicated they're treating it, as we predicted, as a private currency. Long before computers existed, private currencies existed and the laws around that are pretty well known.
IDGNS: As opposed to a national currency?
JG: Yes, it falls into the category of private currency, just as my bank could create its own currency if it wanted to, that's legal.
IDGNS: So it's illegal to destroy U.S. currency but it's not illegal to create your own?

JG: Exactly. There was a case with the Liberty Dollar, where a gentleman tried to make coins that actually looked like U.S. currency. The FBI and the federal government shut him down. But we're not pretending this is U.S. dollars, there's no confusion.
IDGNS: What's your background, how did you get into Bitcoin in the first place?
JG: I'm an engineer through and through. I saw it on Slashdot about a year after Satoshi [Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin and has never made his identity public] mined the first block in January 2009.

IDGNS: So you've been into it for about three years.
JG: Yeah, that makes me an old man.
IDGNS: What were you doing before?
JG: I was a kernel engineer with Red Hat. What I was doing there is remarkably analogous to what I'm doing now. Red Hat paid me but they didn't tell me what to work on, they paid me to be an OS engineer and contribute to Linux, so I would send my changes to Linus Torvalds. Same thing here, Bitpay isn't paying me to work on Bitpay, they're paying me to work on open source.
IDGNS: So they're paying you to strengthen the Bitcoin platform overall.
JG: Exactly, because if I make Bitcoin better, that benefits Bitpay.
IDGNS: There are a lot of parallels between Bitcoin and open source, politically and philosophically.
JG: A lot of people are into the whole libertarian aspect, I think of it more as an interesting engineering project. When I first heard about Bitcoin, I thought it was impossible. How can you have a purely digital currency? Can't I just copy your hard drive and have your bitcoins? I didn't understand how that could be done, and then I looked into it and it was brilliant.
IDGNS: There's a lot of powerful hardware coming onto the market for mining bitcoins [mining is how new bitcoins enter the system]. What is there to stop, say, Google from loading the Bitcoin software into one of its data centers and mining all the remaining bitcoins?
JG: Technically nothing, but in practice CPUs are powerless against ASICs [custom chips designed specifically for bitcoin mining]. Google would have to manufacture its own ASICs for that to have an impact, and that's never really been a worry. The worry now is who controls the foundries that produce the chips, so you have to think a couple of levels up.
IDGNS: Like TSMC?
JG: Yeah, you have companies designing the ASICs and then the chip foundries make them. Who's to say the foundry won't simply produce a million chips on top of your thousand-chip order?
IDGNS: Are you afraid that will happen?
JG: There are enough people who are pursuing ASICs that it isn't likely, but that's the current battle over decentralization of mining, that and mining pools.
IDGNS: What are the big obstacles to Bitcoin achieving world domination?

JG: I would never recommend Bitcoin as a nation state currency that you're forced to use, but I think it's great as a private currency that you're free to choose if you want to. It's just very frictionless, you can trade it with free software.
The biggest hurdle may be the volatility, as you suggested. For regular users, I agree that's off-putting to a certain extent. I think it's something that will diminish over time, but it's a free market so there's no guarantee. Just introducing new people to Bitcoin is hard as well. It's technologically complex, how do I explain it to my aunt? But then, to a certain extent you don't have to understand it, you can download a Bitcoin wallet in the Android market, scan a QR code and you have bitcoins.
IDGNS: Is Satoshi still involved in Bitcoin's development?

JG: My personal opinion of him as a project leader is that he's not a good project leader. My opinion of him as an engineer is that he's a mediocre engineer. My opinion of him as an architect-slash-economist is that he's brilliant. He released Bitcoin and there were a bunch of obvious bugs and attacks that got fixed in the first six months, then there were less serious bugs that got fixed. He designed the system, fundamentally it works and it hasn't been hacked, but the software is sort of a crap program.
IDGNS: Do you know his real identity?
JG: No one I know has done any more than converse with him over email or Internet forums.
IDGNS: Do people still ask for his input?
JG: He hasn't answered anything since December 2010.
IDGNS: Do you think he'll pop up one day and say, hey I invented this?
JG: In the early days, when we had Wikileaks wanting to use bitcoins for donations, Satoshi came up on the forum and said, Please don't do that, it's a system in its infancy, we don't need all this conflict and controversy right now.
IDGNS: Can Bitcoin transactions be completely anonymous?
JG: The stock answer is no, it's pseudo-anonymous, sort of like a Swiss bank account, it's a number. But if you go through a lot of effort it can be anonymous.
IDGNS: Like using Tor?
JG: You'd have to use Tor, and if you send me bitcoins and another person sends me bitcoins, I have to sort of keep those in two separate pools. If I spend them both together, a network analysis can tie you, the other person and me together, so you might not even know who that other person is but suddenly we three are linked through network analysis.
IDGNS: Isn't the anonymity and inability to trace transactions one of the things that worries the federal government?
JG: That's the big thing with licensing the bitcoin exchanges, if you can regulate that gateway then you have a good chance of attacking the problem directly.

22 million Web portal user IDs stolen in japan

Yahoo Japan, the country's largest Web portal, said up to 22 million user IDs may have been leaked during a hack that was discovered last week.
The company emphasized that the IDs are already public information, and no passwords or other private data were affected. Yahoo Japan IDs are used along with password to log in to the site, and are often displayed when users leave comments or use its shopping or auction services.
Yahoo Japan said it discovered illicit access to its ID servers on Thursday evening, and upon further investigation found a file with 22 million user IDs on it. The company said it wasn't sure if the file had been transferred outside of the company, but couldn't deny the possibility.

The website posted warnings of the possible breach on its login pages, and offered a service for users to check if their IDs were among those that were possibly leaked. Yahoo Japan said last year it had over 24 million active user IDs.
Yahoo Japan does not allow users to change their IDs without creating an entirely new account, which means losing access to existing mail and other data. The company does allow creation of a secondary user ID it calls a "Secret ID," which is used solely for logging in and not meant to be shared publicly.
The company introduced the Secret ID feature as part of a security upgrade after a security breach last month. Yahoo Japan said it had discovered a malicious program on company servers that had extracted user data for 1.27 million users, but the program was stopped before it leaked any of the data outside of the company.
Yahoo Japan is the country's most-visited Web property, according to Web data provider Alexa, and the 15th most visited site globally. It is majority owned by Softbank, which also runs one of the country's largest mobile phone operators and a large broadband service. Yahoo holds a 35 percent stake in the portal.

$800,000 app contest for Samsung Galaxy S4

Samsung will host a US$800,000 contest for developers that build apps for the Galaxy S4 using the company's peer-to-peer software interface.
The South Korean company said Monday entrants in its "Smart App Challenge 2013" must make use of the Samsung Chord SDK (software development kit). Chord is a software interface for creating wireless connections directly between Samsung smartphones, without the use of an online server or mobile phone network.
Samsung is marketing its peer-to-peer technology to end users as "Group Play," a service for multiplayer games or sharing music and photos among users of its phones and tablets. The company is the world's largest smartphone manufacturer but relies on Google's Android ecosystem for the bulk of its online offerings and apps, most of which also run on rival phones.

The company said apps in the contest will be judged on categories such as uniqueness, commercial potential, and design. Apps must be entered for consideration from June 20 to Aug. 31, and the judging will run through November.
In addition to the use of Chord, entries must be sold on the "Samsung Apps" marketplace and use Samsung's application programming interfaces (APIs) for in-app purchases and displaying advertisements.
The contest will have 10 overall winners, awarding $200,000 to one first-place winner, $100,000 each to three second-place winners, and $50,000 each to six developers that come in third. Winning apps will also be candidates for investments from Samsung's venture arm and be promoted through the company's online properties and press events.
This will be the second year for the contest. Last year's competition, for the larger Galaxy Note and Tab devices, was won by the "Gun & Blood" app, a shoot-em-up marketed by developer Feelingtouch with the description "Listen up man, it is time to kill all terrorists."
Chord is a Java-based API that attempts to make it easier for developers to implement the various aspects of peer-to-peer applications, including discovering nearby devices, messaging and file transfer.

International Association of Outsourcing Professionals

The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) recently published the results of its research identifying the world's best outsourcing firms.

One part of this focuses on outsourcing advisors. I think the number of CIOs that outsource without taking independent advice must be pretty much zero. The outsourcing industry transforms every few years in reaction to new technologies, such as cloud computing, and economic changes, such as the 2008 financial crisis. So a CIO will struggle to keep up to date. Then you have an unimaginable amount of possible suppliers and numerous delivery locations. So outsourcing advisory has become big business.

Here is the IOAP top ten outsourcing advisories.

1 Deloitte Consulting
2 KPMG
3 Avasant
4 Alsbridge
5 Elix-IRR
6 Ernst & Young
7 Baker & McKenzie
8 Pace Harmon
9 Kirkland & Ellis
10 Quint Wellington Redwood 

IT security

IT security breaches on the rise, new research shows businesses aren't doing everything they can to keep their customers' personal information safe.
A study by Experian Data Breach Resolution and the Ponemon Institute found that only half of the surveyed businesses feel their organization makes the best possible effort to protect customer and consumer information.
Specifically, 60 percent of the businesses reported that customer data – including credit card information and social security numbers – that had been lost or stolen was not encrypted.
Not all breached data is the result of a malicious attack by cybercriminals, however. The research shows that breaches most often are the result of a negligent insider or the result of outsourcing data to a third party.

"The responsibility of keeping clients' information secure cannot lie solely on the shoulders of IT; rather, every executive in the organization should be aware, since the reverberation of a breach will be felt by everyone," said OzzieFonseca, senior director at Experiential Data Breach Resolution.
After experiencing the damage that can be done from a security breach, estimated at $214.00 per record, 61 %of businesses increased their security budget and 28 percent hired additional IT security professionals.
To avoid the repercussions of a breach, Experiential Data Breach Resolution offers several pieces of advice, including:

•    Educate. Since negligent employees or contractors make organizations the most vulnerable to future breaches, conducting training and awareness programs and enforcing security policies should be a priority for organizations.
• Support. With increased privacy and data protection comes the need for larger security budgets. It doesn't just take time; it takes monetary support, as well.
• Hire. The top three actions believed to reduce the negative consequences of a data breach are: hiring legal counsel, assessing the harm to victims and employing forensic experts.
• Learn. Lessons to be taken away from a data breach include: limiting the amount of personal data collected, limiting sharing with third parties and limiting the amount of personal data stored.

The study was based on surveys of more than 500 IT person who have experienced a data breach at their company.
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More Business with Big network 

It isn’t what you know in business, it is who yuo know. When you are looking for work this is definitely true or even if you are just wanting to expand your business.
There is a level of comfort that is gained by dealing with a familiar face. This is why networking is so critically important to todays businessman or businesswoman. The awkward truth though, is that some people are naturally good at networking and others struggle, uncomfortable and unsure of themselves. So how do you learn to be good at networking if that is not your natural skill?
You need to start with a little time to readjust your attitude to networking and prepare yourself to have a feel for where you need to be and who you need to see. Good networking is an investment in your future. Imagine a situation where you needed to find someone with a particular skill in a very short time. If you are well networked just a couple of phone calls could turn up the person you need. If you do not have an adequate network you will have to go the more traditional route of recruiting, sorting resumes and trying to find the right person the long way.
Knowing that networking is an investment for your future is the first step, but learning how to do it effectively can take a great deal of practice. First of all, learn how to ask So, what is it you do? with sincerity and genuine interest. More than half of good networking is being a good listener. Develop an interesting answer to that question yourself, even practice it in front of a mirror, until you can reply naturally and with confidence. Then, make a point of following up on any business cards you receive with an after event phone call or email.
Networking is about making connections. It is about finding people that can fill a need at a later date and making others aware of your skills and talents because you may one day fill a need for them. It is always more comfortable asking someone you know for help or advice and networking is how you get to know other business people who may one day be in a position to help you. Do not worry that you will feel awkward the first few times you try to network. These feelings are natural for most people and will fade the more you get out there.

Microsoft -YouTube = Google

The letter cited violations of the YouTube and YouTube API terms of service, including preventing the display of advertisements -- the way YouTube reaps revenue -- allowing video downloads and playing videos that partners have blocked on certain mobile devices.

"We request that you immediately withdraw this application from the Windows Phone Store and disable existing downloads of the application by Wednesday, May 22, 2013," the letter read. "We were surprised and disappointed that Microsoft chose to launch an application that deliberately deprives content creators of their rightful earnings, especially given that Windows Phone 8 users already have access to a fully-functional YouTube application based upon industry-standard HTML5 through the Web browser."
Microsoft, which built the YouTube app for Windows Phone, launched it May 8. Although Microsoft's Windows Phone Store does not disclose the number of downloads for any app, the YouTube app has been reviewed by more than 9,000 users and as of Thursday, was the fifth-most-downloaded free app in its catalog.
The Verge first reported the Google letter Wednesday afternoon, with Wired following minutes later. Neither revealed how they obtained the document.
Microsoft issued a statement Wednesday after the Google demands became public.
"YouTube is consistently one of the top apps downloaded by smartphone users on all platforms, but Google has refused to work with us to develop an app on par with other platforms," Microsoft said via a spokeswoman. "Since we updated the YouTube app to ensure our mutual customers a similar YouTube experience, ratings and feedback have been overwhelmingly positive. We'd be more than happy to include advertising but need Google to provide us access to the necessary APIs."
Ezra Gottheil, analyst with Technology Business Research, saw no end to the tit-for-tat, back-and-forth between Google and Microsoft.
"They're both contending for the territory where, by all accounts, Android has largely won," said Gottheil of the smartphone market. "Microsoft is an aggressive and feisty company, [so] this will continue, whether it's done publicly, or a behind-the-scenes chess match."
Microsoft has been the aggressor most of the time, said Gottheil, who ticked off Redmond's "Scroggled" attack ad campaigns and its pursuit of patent licensing fees from smartphone makers who rely on Android to power their devices.
"Microsoft has expressed its antagonism for far larger, but this is the first time I know where Google is fighting back in a public way," said Gottheil in a Thursday interview.
Google's CEO Larry Page, speaking at his company's I/O developers conference yesterday, called out Microsoft for not reciprocating.

Web based programmes

WASHINGTON, USA: Web-based programmes are the new effective measures in weight loss and weight management, according to a study.
Weight loss is a topic of concern for nearly 36 percent of Americans who are considered obese. There are many barriers that can interfere with weight loss.
For those attending face-to-face weight loss programmes, barriers can include travel, conflict with work and home, need for child care, and loss of anonymity.



In a study released in the new issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, investigators from the University of Kansas Medical Center continue to explore alternative weight management delivery methods to eliminate some of these barriers.
Debra Sullivan, lead investigator, says: "Although we found weight loss was significantly greater for face-to-face compared to virtual reality, weight maintenance was significantly better for virtual reality."
The virtual reality weight maintenance programme was conducted using Second Life, a web-based virtual reality environment available to the public.
Participants in Second Life create virtual representations of themselves, called "avatars", which can interact with other "avatars" and navigate through the virtual world of Second Life.
Voice communication is accomplished via headset, which allows for person-to-person and group interaction. Education and training takes place on an "island", which is purchased from Second Life and provides restricted group access to the nutrition education and training area.

apple iPad 5 rumor

Even before summer, the iOSphere languishes in the iPad rumor doldrums, apparently having exhausted itself with hopes for a Retina display iPad mini 2, and the A7 chip for the iPad 5. But there is hope: The Rollup uncovered the radical iPadiGlasses, in an exclusive report.
Also this week, fan art along with leaked specifications that sound utterly familiar ooze into the iOSphere to reveal the iPad mini 2; the same rumor, through iOSphere mitosis, subdivides into a new rumor about the A7 for iPad mini 2; and both Next iPads will be rushed to release because of the ongoing fall in product sales for the current ones.
You read it here second ... except for the iPadiGlasses.

"There are some clear improvements here over the existing iPad mini that should make this a no brainer upgrade for most existing owners."
-- Matthew Humphries, Geek.com, basing his assessment on Photoshopped fan art depicting an imagined iPad mini 2, and a rehash of other rumors that have long since worn out their welcome
__________
iPad mini 2 revealed in fan art and "leaked" specifications
With so little else happening rumor-wise, the iOSphere seized on a post from the Dutch website MobiLeaks, which revealed the iPad mini 2.
This "information" is based on 1) "a detailed render of [from] our tipster," meaning a piece of Photoshopped fan art; and 2) "a list of some specifications" which were "received," meaning copied and pasted from other rumors circulating for months. Confusingly, the post doesn't make clear whether both art and list are from the same "tipster" or different sources.
[ CATCHING UP: Last week's iPad 5 rumor rollup ]
Here's the fan art which shows, essentially, the same iPad mini you have today except with a nearly non-existent side bezel to left and right. And it's 0.2 millimeters thicker.
According to Adnan Farooqui, posting at Ubergizmo, "The person who created this render claims to have based it on the information received about the design of iPad mini's successor." In fact, no such claim is made or even hinted at by MobiLeaks.
The purportedly revelatory list of specifications includes the by-now-familiar stuff: 7.9-inch 2048 x 1536 pixel Retina display, 324 pixels per inch, A6X chip (unless it turns out to be the A7 chip), 8 megapixel front camera and so on.
"More iPad mini 2 specs and renders have leaked on a Dutch website, showing off a retina display," according to Clare Hopping's breathless post at TheFullSignal.
Hopping's post reflects the persistent, almost willful misunderstanding of what "leak" means in journalism or even bloggerism. To cite the Wikipedia reference: "A news leak is a disclosure of embargoed information in advance of its official release, or the unsanctioned release of confidential information." In other words, it's someone who knows actually knows something, telling someone else about it.
Or you can just pretend that an utterly unfounded rumor is a leak, which is that Matthew Humphries does at Geek.com. "There are some clear improvements here over the existing iPad mini that should make this a no brainer upgrade for most existing owners. The display remains the same size, but has increased its resolution to match that of its big brother. Apparently we're also going to see the processor upgraded from the dual-core A5 to an A6X chip, which is necessary to handle that higher resolution display. Both cameras are also getting a healthy upgrade from the current 5MP and 1.2MP parts."
Remember that he bases this on the MobiLeaks post which itself is based on nothing. Except possibly wishful thinking.
iPad mini 2 will have A7 processor
Apple rumors, like amoebas, reproduce themselves by a process of mitosis: they subdivide into new entities.
The MobiLeaks post mentioned above had the following about the Next iPad mini's processor: "The processor of the iPad Mini 2 is the Apple A6X, who also was fitted on the iPad 4. But according to our tipster is still not fixed. Since Apple is engaged in the production of the A7 chip, there is a possibility that this chipset is provided on the new iPad Mini."
In other words, the tablet will have the existing A6X chip. Unless it has the not-yet-existing A7 chip.
Here's how International Business Times' Erik Pineda interpreted this "report." First, the carefully designed headline: "iPad 5, iPad Mini 2 with Retina Landing in September with A7 Chips - Report."
Yet the MobiLeaks post nowhere mentions "iPad 5."
Pineda's opening sentence: "Apple's iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 release date has been set for September this year and the new iOS 7 tablet rollout is packed with vast improvements like Retina display panel and a faster A7 computing chip, a new report said."
An unsubstantiated, unsourced blog post that merely repeats other rumors becomes a fertile source for multiple new rumors, equally without foundation.
The issue of what chip Apple will use in the Next iPads, and Next iPhone, is the subject of endless speculation. Depending on how one defines "next," Next iDevices will have a 64-bit A7, a 20 nanometer A7, a four-core A7, some combination of these, the A6X chip now in the fourth-generation iPad, or even a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
To power the Retina display to the third-generation iPad, introduced in March 2012, Apple created the A5X system-on-chip, choosing a 45 nanometer silicon process instead of 32 nanometer, resulting in a really big component, with an area of 163 square millimeters compared to 123 for the A5. And it created a much bigger battery. Apple faces the same issues in powering a Retina display but it has solve them in the physically much smaller iPad mini.
iPad 5, iPad mini 2 will be released soon due to "big drop" in iPad 4, iPad mini sales
File this under Apple Zombie Rumors: It just will not die.
Weeks ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook clearly said in the most recent earnings call that Apple will start announcing new products, software and services starting in fall of 2013 and into 2014.
And yet.
"Consumers may get their hands on iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 soon as Apple seems pressured to release its tablets due to the drop in sales in its current models," declares Kristin Dian Mariano, in a post at International Business Times.
And the basis for the alleged drop in sales? "Reports." Like the now notorious report from Bloomberg.
"According to a report from Bloomberg, two of the key products from Apple, iPhone 5 and the iPad Mini, are expected to have a 25-30% drop in the second quarter," Mariano writes confidently. "This is because of the decline in consumers buying the current models of iPad and is waiting for the successors of the devices."
This seemingly straightforward comment is wrong in so many ways that we can't cover all of them, though The Rollup first touched on this controversy in last week's iPhone 6 Rumor Rollup [see the section "iPhone 6 will be assembled in Apple's own factories"].
The Bloomberg story to which IBT refers but does not link is this one, by Tim Culpan.
Culpan clearly has OEM manufacturer, and Apple partner, Pegatron saying that a decline in its revenues is due to falling demand for the iPad mini. Fortune's Philip Elmer-Dewitt was the first to identify the problems with Culpan's account, not least of which was the fact that Pegatron's CEO never said anything like that.
That critique has gone viral, prompting a tidal wave of invective and condemnation. The Loop as usual succinctly summed it up with its headline: "In which Bloomberg just makes shit up about the iPad mini."
Mariano clearly isn't a Loop reader herself or maybe she is and it doesn't matter because made-up stuff is what rumors are all about anyway. "[I]t is clear to Apple consumers that many new products are right around the corner including the iPhone 5S, the iPad 5 and the iPad Mini 2," she gushes. "So of course sales will start to decline on the current products because people are waiting to buy the newest version when it comes out."
The phenomenon of putting off a buying decision is one that Apple executives have acknowledged in the past. But iPads have only been available since April 2010 and the purchase pattern is much more varied than for either iPhone or especially iPod, as this chart from APPLinvestors.com shows (it covers the first 11 quarters of iPad sales). There is no plateau for iPad, at least not yet: The overall trend is strongly upward even with the increased variance in quarterly sales in the past 5 quarters or so.
Combine it with this companion chart showing cumulative sales for the same three products. iPad so far has been growing at a faster rate than iPhone did initially: It reached the 100 million unit mark in 10 quarters, while the iPhone reached it in 16.
iPad mini 2 in radical new form factor, and new name: iPadiGlasses
In general, the Next iPad rumors this week were so impoverished, so unimaginative, so lame, so well, you get the idea. Anyway, The Rollup thinks you deserve better.
So, the Rollup polled a key group of anonymous tipsters from all levels of the rumor supply chain, who are familiar enough with Apple's plans to be able to embroider them extravagantly, and we created our own rumor: the iPadiGlasses. We even have an actual photograph, no matter what anyone says, shown here of an actual prototype recently seen, apparently, at a beerhouse somewhere between Cupertino and Mountain View.
As you can see, it consists of not one but two radically revamped iPad minis, minied still further, and working in tandem: Together, they create a 16:9 aspect ratio big-screen, totally immersive HD experience. The "lenses" use a radical new transparent, lightweight, Superduper AMOLED (SdAMOLED) tinted glass that doubles as stylish sunglasses. Finally, all those weird patents for curved screen technology make sense: iPadiGlasses 2 will have "wrap-around" lenses.
Finally, Apple gets rid of the home button. A mere glance triggers the home screen. It's now revealed that Apple did not buy Authentic for its fingerprint sensor, but for its highly secret retina scanning sensor, now built into iPadiGlasses, and dubbed "Retina scan" in keeping with the unit's Retina display.
The UI can work by eye and head movements, like twitches and jerks. But Apple didn't stop there: It's added facial recognition software that detects and responds to grimaces, sneers, leers, and even tears.
The rumored curved battery is now a fact: embedded in the frame. The A7XYZ processor, code-named "zowie," along with memory and storage, and all that other stuff, is contained in a slender hinged compartment at the back of the iPadiGlasses.
And, finally, Apple has included a radical new Near Field Communications chip and software so you can use your iPadiGlasses as a mobile wallet. You just bend over and tap the glasses against the cash register or other NFC reader.
No information on pricing. At long last, we now know why Tim Cook delayed everything until next fall.


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How to deal with angry customer?

When customers are angry, they are really not angry with you or your company or your product. They are actually angry with the problem. You need to understand that you are on the same side that the customer is on. The problem is the one that is on the other side. But most times, the problem is never really the problem. It is the response/ action towards the problem that becomes the real problem. So resolving the problem is important to us as it is to the customer.

Statistics shows that a happy customer will tell others about the service to 10% of the people they know. Customers with a problem will tell it to 30% of the people they knows about the problem. But customers who had a problem resolved an is happy will tell it 55% of the people they know. This shows that a happy customer will not only be a loyal customer but also help in a good word of mouth marketing for your business.

Yahoo calls press conference amid Tumblr acquisition rumors

Yahoo has called a mystery press event in New York City on Monday afternoon, hot on the heels of rumors that it plans to buy Tumblr for US$1 billion.
"Join us as we share something special," says the invite, sent to members of the press Friday afternoon.
Citing unnamed sources, All Things D reported earlier Friday that Yahoo may be in talks to partner with Tumblr, invest in it, or make an outright purchase. It notes that Yahoo's CFO talked earlier this week about the need for Yahoo to bring back its "cool."

Adweek, in another report citing unnamed sources, put the value of the deal at $1 billion.
Marissa Mayer is expected to be at the New York City event, according to CNBC. Tumblr's headquarters are in New York.
The blogging and social network service was founded in 2007 and has 175 employees. It says it currently hosts more than 100 million blogs.

20 Tips for becoming a better programmer

1. There should be only ONE single exit point to each method (use if-else whenever needed).
2. When using if-else, make sure to place the SHORTER code snippet in the if:

if (cond) { <only a few lines of code> } else { <here you should write the "bigger" case> <many many lines...> ... ... . . . }

3. Do NOT throw exceptions if you can avoid it, it makes your code MUCH slower, if you feel like throwing something and then catching it – go play ball with your dog. If you don’t have a dog get one – they’re awesome!
4. Do NOT try to do many things on the same line – when you’ll get an error – it will be harder to debug, example how to NOT write your code:

String result = hasInformation()? getState() : (hasMoreInformation() ? getOtherState() : getState());

5. Look for code pieces that look the same and if you find any – REFACTOR your own code!
6. Meaningful names are a MUST. If you’re not sure, meditate on it for another minute. Still not sure? ask your colleagues for their opinion.
I’m still shocked everytime I find out that the following is not common knowledge:
7. Whenever you can use HashMap instead of List/Queue – use it!
And on the same note:
8. If you can use caching instead of I/O (usually DB) – use caching
9. If a nice and simple regex can do the job – use it!
10. Do not use regex for parsing (for example: HTML/XML/json)
11. Print to Log. You should have at least two levels of logging: DEBUG and ERROR. The latter should be the default. Nice tip: you can send your self a text when a critical error occurs, by sending an email to @ – look here for more details.
12. Use stackoverflow – not only for asking questions! take a few minutes, every day, and try to answer questions – you’ll be surprised how much you’ll learn from it!
13. A rule of thumb: if your method is over 50 lines – split it. If your class is over 500 lines – split it. If you think you can’t split it – you’re doing something wrong.
14. Writing a code which is “self explanatory” is great but also very hard, if you’re not sure how “obvious” your code is – use code-comments.
15. When writing code comments always assume that the reader doesn’t know what you’re trying to do. Be patient & explain. No one is going to *bug* you because your comment was too long…
16. You want to improve? read books, blogs, technical online newspapers join relevant groups on Linkedin, update yourself with the latest technologies, go to conferences, got the point ?
17. Practice makes perfect: solve code-challenges, join hackathons, go to meetups etc
18. Choose one IDE and study it carefully, make sure you know the major features. Tune-up the keyboard shortcuts – it will make your workflow smoother.
19. Whenever you find a bug, before you fix it, write a unit-test that captures it. Make sure it does.
and my favorite:
20. Don’t get lazy – RTFM
We’ll finish with two quotes:

Employee Resigns

So your top employee has resigned. Now what?

When one of your best employees quits his job, expect that some people in your team will be all eyes and ears about how you would react.  Some of them might also reflexively wonder if they themselves should get their traveling bags ready to seek for greener pastures.  Or some may start to think if there’s anything wrong with the company. Others may get over the news quickly enough, but it still pays to handle sensitive matters such as these with care. Resignations from an employee, especially from someone who has positively contributed to the company, will usually be a downer for your other employees. Sequioa Capital founder Don Valentine says over at the RingCentral blog that “Disruptions can sneak up on you or any other company.”  Any company must be prepared for any change that can impact their operations. Here are some things to keep in mind if a top employee hands in his resignation papers:



Accept and reflect 

Many employees resign because of management issues.  This is why it’s hard for some managers not to take resignations personally; the real reason for leaving might  be the managers themselves!  Of course an employee will usually never tell you right in your face that you or the company sucks, all in the name of not burning bridges. But you can find out the real reason by allowing the employee to talk freely about his reasons for leaving and reading between the lines. It may be a concern you can do something about to prevent future attrition – like bullying from other colleagues, salary issues, personal issues, stress, or others. Don’t throw a fit; rather, accept the resignation gracefully and do some self-reflection. Is there merit to his reasons for leaving? Is there anything you can do to improve company policies or your management style, so you can keep your other valuable employees?
Explore the merits of a counter-offer
There are several risks associated with making a counter-offer. A top performer who has resigned has probably already weighed the pros and cons of leaving.  However, Lance Haun over at TLNT says that counter-offers can work if they are done right.  You should be selective about who to give counter-offers to and let some of them go without a fight, since counter-offers could be used by some employees as a strategy to ask for a salary increase.  Counter-offers are not a retention technique or salary negotiation tool. However, they are a last ditch effort to keep employees if the costs of them leaving are greater than allowing someone else to take the reins. You need to factor in what the impact will be on your team if the person leaves, how employee will be affected if the counter-offer is accepted (the loyalty of the employee who resigned might come in question), and all the non-monetary costs the employee will be taking with him if he leaves (product knowledge, strategies, etc.). That said, be prepared for your employee not to accept your counter-offer.  Best policy is to identify and prevent possible problems even before your valuable employees resign. Also, make sure that your senior employees are mentoring other employees, so your company won’t be crippled if someone leaves.
Show your support
A good company will support and wish its employees well, especially if they know that these employees will be leaving for better opportunities.  Don’t hesitate to give your recommendations and referrals if the employee deserves it.
Stay positive when you communicate the news
Of course, top management and other employees would have to be informed about important changes such as these.  Show respect and be positive.  Acknowledge the loss for the company and convey your appreciation for the employee’s efforts. Let your employee say his parting words and immediately get into action to put your team into transition.
Manage the transition phase
Never leave other employees hanging, especially when it’s about what they’re supposed to do next when a teammate leaves. Let the departing employee work with his colleagues and allow those left to volunteer for tasks. Don’t overload the employee on his last two weeks on the job, so he can efficiently help you with the transition phase.
All in all, it’s important that you handle changes such as this with grace.  Have you ever had to handle a resignation from a top performer?  Or have you ever had to resign from a job?  How did the company handle your resignation?  Share your comments and experiences below.

10 Marketing Strategies For Businesses

10 Marketing Strategies For Businesses

1]-  Be able to describe what you do/what you are in one clear sentence. Donald Trump is correct, that elevator speech is really important. Ask a friend or colleague to give you an honest evaluation of your description. Does it give the listener a basic understanding of what you do? If not, make it a priority to work on it. Before someone can decide if they may need your product or service they must first understand what you’re saying.

2]-  Be UNIQUE in ALL that you do. Don’t just give it lip service. If you’ve decided to adopt a unique approach to make your business memorable (tagline, business signature, giveaway, mascot, illustration, photo, color scheme, etc) be sure to use it consistently in your marketing efforts. It should become part of your brand.

3]- Use your mission statement as a filter for all that you do. Once you’ve clearly decided what your marketing goals, strategies, targets and tactics ARE, it should be easy to identify those things that DON’T fit. For example, if you have identified the best marketing vehicles to reach your customer then it’s very easy to say “no” to those salespeople offering you marketing opportunities that don’t fit your plan.

4]- Don’t jump-process….Discover your target market and your points of difference before you start marketing. Your printed collateral materials, Web site, and advertising will be much more effective and less expensive to produce if you have your marketing strategy established first. Then you’re simply following your plan in all that you do. Avoid the “shotgun” approach or “reactive” marketing.

5]-  Give back to the community…strategically. There are so many great causes and organizations out there and you can’t do everything. So, pick the ones that will best position you with your target market.

6]-  Network efficiently and effectively. If you don’t feel that you are a competent networker, now is the time to learn how to be or hire someone that is. Enough said.

7]-  Remember that inconsistent advertising is wasted money. A prospective customer must be exposed to the same message in the same way numerous times before they are ready to entertain a buying decision. Pick an advertising vehicle where you can afford to have an ongoing and consistent presence.

8]-  If you do trade shows, have a plan and work the plan. Companies participate in trade shows for a variety of reasons. Unless you have a success plan, you won’t know if it worked. 

9]-  Look for ways to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Speaking engagements, publication articles and volunteer leadership roles can all help label you as an expert in your field. 

10]-  Keep all marketing communications clear, brief and focused…Did I mention brief? Enough said.

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Top Ten Rules For Cultivating Profitable Relationships

1. Continuously Learn About Your Customers

2. Treat Different Customers Differently

3. Anticipate Customer Needs

4. Interact With Customers Using The Media Of Their Choice

5. Focus on Revenue and Retention

6. Constantly Increase Value for Customers and their Organization

7. Present a Single Face Across Channels

8. Enable Information

9. Create Business Rules to Drive Decisions

10. Empower Employees with Information and Training

Google free storage to 15 GB

Google said it is increasing by three times the amount of free storage for users of its cloud storage service Google Drive. Google Drive today announced it's increasing the amount of free storage it offers subscribers from 10GB for Gmail and another 5GB for Drive and Google+ Photos.
Combined, Google subscribers will get a net total of 15GB of free unified storage and will be able to share all the additional data among the Drive cloud storage service, Gmail and Google+ Photos.
Google Drive's storage subscription plan increased the free capacity from 5GB to 15GB.

Clay Bavor, director of product management at Google Drive, wrote in a blog that with the new combined storage space, "you won't have to worry about how much you're storing and where.
"For example, maybe you're a heavy Gmail user but light on photos, or perhaps you were bumping up against your Drive storage limit but were only using 2 GB in Gmail. Now it doesn't matter, because you can use your storage the way you want," he wrote.
Google has been increasing its competitive pressure on other cloud storage providers since launching its Drive service last year.
Among Google Drive's competitors is Microsoft's SkyDrive and Apple's iCloud, but the companies most threatened by Google's move into online storage are smaller specialized service providers, such as DropBox, Box, SugarSync and YouSendIt, according to analysts.
Dropbox offers 2GB for free, and its first paid upgrade option is to 50GB for $9.99 a month or $99 per year.
"[Average consumers] don't have much of a relationship with these smaller [cloud] companies," Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg said at the time of Google Drive's launch. "The challenge for these smaller companies is reaching out to consumers or shifting to somewhat of a different market; the problem is that Google also wants the business market, the small business market and ultimately the enterprise IT market."
This article, Google Drive throws down the gauntlet: 15 free gigabytes, was originally published at Computerworld.com.

May 13, 2013

Make your passwords harder to crack

http://www.itworld.com/security/356391/make-your-passwords-harder-crack

Activiti BPM public training at Singapore in June 2013

Attune University provides three days Activiti BPM public training at Singapore June 10-12,2013 Activiti BPM Public Training Mumbai, June 26 - 28, 2013 JOIN US AT THE Mumbai, Activiti BPM Training Register Now Attune University provides three days training on Open source BPMN 2.0 standards and Activiti BPM. This is unique opportunity for Technical Architect, Project Manager, System Integrator and Senior Developer to learn installation, configuration, design and deployment of BPMN 2.0 business processes using Activiti. After this training you will be familiar with BMPM 2.0 business processes, services orchestration, process deployment, execution, testing and monitoring using Activiti and also Activiti integration with Mule ESB and jBoss Drool. Follow on Linked In | Friend on Facebook | Follow on Twitter Copyright © 2013 Attune University, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: training@attuneuniversity.com Our contact number is: +91 90999 12995

How to install Linux on a vintage 68K Mac (tutorial)

 If you're like me and happen to have a bunch of vintage Macs powered by Motorola 680x0 CPUs lying around, then you probably like to tinker with them. And what better way to tinker with obsolete hardware than by installing an obsolete version of Linux on it? It's a difficult and time-consuming procedure with no practical purpose, of course, but when has that ever stopped us?
In this how-to, I'll install Debian 4 (a Linux distribution) on a 68K Mac. There are some catches, and the road to functioning Linux on a 68K machine can be long and frustrating, so I'll try to condense the process into a series of easy-to-follow steps. No matter how I simplify it, though, keep in mind that almost everything about this process is antithetical to the traditional Macintosh experience, so it is not for the faint-hearted.
Step 1: Prepare the Mac

Find a Mac that will work with the version of Linux we're using. There is no hard and fast guide to compatibility, so you'll have to go by the general guidelines I lay out below. Before you begin, be sure you have a fresh PRAM battery installed.
CPU. You need a Mac with a 68020, 68030, or 68040 CPU. The plain 68000 CPU machines (like the Mac SE) will not work with this version of Linux. The list of candidate machines that can use this version of Linux includes most Quadras, the Centris machines, some Performas, many of the LC models, and most of the Mac II series.
RAM. Your Linux Mac should have at least 16MB of RAM, but I recommend 24MB or more. You need at least 10MB free (after Mac OS loads) to run the bootloader program at a minimum.
Hard drive. Use a large hard drive for the era--at least 200MB, hopefully more. If you have data on the hard drive that you don't want to lose, back it up, because you'll be repartitioning it later. That means you are 100% guaranteed to lose the data currently on it.
Removable storage. For the most streamlined installation, you'll need to have an internal or external CD-ROM drive. A Linux distro image will be burned onto a CD-R.
In my case, I used a Mac LC575, which runs on a 33 MHz 68LC040 CPU, with 36MB of RAM and a 540MB hard drive. It also has a built-in CD-ROM drive.
Step 2: Get the software
After your Mac is ready, it's time to get some software. Here is the list.
Mac OS 7.1 to OS 7.6. You will need a basic Mac OS installation on the hard disk to launch the Linux bootloader program (called Penguin), so you need to be able to install Mac OS (or copy over a working system folder from another disk). Doing so is generally beyond the scope of this piece, but if you need a copy of Mac OS, Apple provides version 7.5.3 via its FTP site free of charge.
Patched Apple HD SC Setup 7.3.5. Versions of this SCSI hard drive formatting and partitioning utility come with every version of Mac OS, but you'll likely need a patched version of 7.3.5 that will allow you to use the tool with non-Apple hard disks. You can download the patched version as part of this SIT-compressed package.
Debian 4.0 CD image. I will use a specially-built version of Debian Linux 4.0 for 68K machines. It's old, but it's the best we have right now. You can download the Linux ISO.
That ISO is a CD disk image, and you'll have to know how to burn it to a CD-R. (If you're reading this far, I'm guessing you probably do.) The ISO contains the other software we'll need, namely the Penguin bootloader, a Linux kernel file, and a RAM disk image, which we'll talk about more below.
Step 3: Prepare the hard drive
To prepare the hard drive, you'll need another drive to boot from that has the Apple HD SC Setup program on it. I recommend using a bootable Mac floppy disk. Copy the HD SC Setup to that disk.
Next, physically connect (if it isn't already) the SCSI hard drive you want to use for Linux to your Mac. Insert the HD setup floppy and boot to it.
Run the HD SC Setup program and select the proper drive ID. Then click the partition button and (Warning: This will delete your data) remove whatever partitions already exist on the drive.
Next, you'll add three new partitions by clicking on the "custom" button, then clicking on the blank volume area to the left of the window:
First partition: A Mac OS partition that will hold the Mac system software and the Penguin bootloader. That partition should be at least 20MB, but if you have the room, make it 50MB to 100MB so you have space for other Mac OS utilities that may come in handy another time.
Second partition: An "A/UX Swap slice 1" partition, which will function as swap space (virtual memory) for Linux. It should be roughly double the size of your installed RAM. So make it 48MB to 64MB. The exact amount isn't too important.
Third partition: An "A/UX Root slice 0" partition, which will be the main (root) storage space for the Linux OS and its related programs. You should fill up the remaining hard drive space with this partition. Ideally, it should be at least 100MB.
Additionally, you could do more fancy partitioning for user space and such, but this is way is simpler and it works just fine for how often you'll likely be using your Linux installation (i.e. a few times).
Step 4: Install Mac OS
As I previously mentioned, you'll need a basic installation of Mac OS on the hard drive in order to boot into Linux. So using whatever method (and OS version) you're comfortable with, install it on the Mac OS partition we just created.
If you have lots of other vintage Macs lying around, it's handy to simply connect your Linux HD as a second disk on another working Mac and copy a working System 7.x folder over. It saves a lot of time versus switching floppies or even a CD install.
Step 5: Prepare the Linux files
If you haven't done so already, burn the Debian 4.0 ISO to a CD-R. You can use whatever modern PC or Mac you're comfortable with to do it. Just make sure you're actually burning the image contents itself to the CD-R and not just copying the ISO file to it. In Mac OS X, you'll have to use Disk Utility to properly burn the image to a CD.
Once you've got the CD, you'll need to get a few files off of it and onto your vintage Mac OS 7.x partition. In my case, I had a Mac OS 7.x extension that could read the Linux CD file system, so I stuck the CD in my LC 575 and copied the files directly. If you don't have that extension, then you may have to copy them from the CD on your modern machine and copy them over to the vintage Mac via another method (beyond the scope of this article).
Here are the exact files you'll need (including the paths to them on the CD):
/install/kernels/vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-mac
/install/cdrom/initrd.gz
/install/tools/mac/Penguin-19.hqx
/install/tools/mac/PenguinColors.hqx
/install/tools/mac/PenguinPrefs.hqx
Once you have those files on your Mac OS 7.x partition, put them all inside a folder called Penguin. Then un-binhex the three HQX files--StuffIt Expander usually works, and I bet you have that utility already if you've come this far.
Now you'll have three functional pieces in the folder: the Penguin bootloader program, the Linux kernel (vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-mac), and the RAM disk image (initrd.gz).
Before we go further, I'll step back and explain what each part does. The bootloader is a Mac OS program that allows us to boot up Linux on older Macintosh hardware. Because of the way older Macs work, you can't boot directly into Linux right after flipping on the power switch like you can on a more modern machine. The Linux kernel is the basic package of non-Mac binary code that forms the heart of the Linux operating system. The RAM disk image is an encapsulated file system that contains a minimal set of Linux binaries, scripts, and setup files needed to start the Linux installation process.
Step 6: Run and configure the Linux bootloader
Now that you have all the files you need on your Mac OS 7.x partition, it's time to run the Penguin bootloader and configure it properly.
Before you run Penguin, it's best to allocate some RAM to it so it works properly. Click on the Penguin icon and choose Get Info from the file menu in Finder. Down at the bottom there's a box where you can type in the amount of RAM the system reserves for it at a minimum. I put in 10MB for mine--values less than that caused errors for me when I tried to boot Linux later.
Now double click on the Penguin program to start it. Go to File > Settings in the menu bar to open up the settings. In the first tab, Kernel, click on the Kernel button and select the "vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-mac" file. Then click on the RAMdisk button and select the "initrd.gz" file.
Next, click on the Options tab in setup. Find a field labeled "command line" and enter root=/dev/ram into this field.
You're a brave one to get this far. We're almost ready to start the install process.
Step 7: Install Linux
Now it's time to start up Linux for the first time. In this case, I'll boot into the RAM disk image that contains the setup program needed to copy the files over from the Debian CD-ROM.
In Penguin, go to File > Boot. If all goes well, text will start scrolling in the Penguin console window. In a moment, the screen will blank and you'll see a white or cyan penguin logo (if you're using a color monitor, that is) in the upper right corner of the screen.
After that, it may look like the computer is hung up, but give it some time. In a moment, if the Linux kernel we used likes your hardware, the screen will blank again, showing a colorful Penguin logo in the upper left of the screen, and a familiar Linux text crawl will begin scrolling downward. Don't be alarmed if you see some error messages. As long as crawl keeps going, you're OK.
Soon, an interactive menu-based install program will pop up on the screen, guiding you through the install process. It should find your CD-ROM drive, help you set up the target hard disk, and begin the process of copying the OS and various program packages off the CD and onto your hard drive, which can take quite a while. After a reboot, you should be good to go.
Congratulations. You're now running Linux on your 68K Mac!
Character-building frustration
If you're like me, things didn't work perfectly the first time around. This is where the frustration sets in. Sometimes Debian just doesn't like your particular Mac. Maybe it's the CPU type, maybe it doesn't recognize your CD-ROM drive, maybe you don't have enough RAM.
Whichever way it fails, it's not immediately obvious how to get this hobbyist-built (and generally abandoned) Debian distro to like your particular Mac. So I'm afraid you're on your own at this point. First, try a different 68K Mac. If that still doesn't work, The Linux/mac68k Project has some excellent info on machine compatibility, troubleshooting, setup tips, and more. There are also older versions of Debian on that site that may work with your particular machine.
Good luck. Always remember: The journey is the reward. Having come this far--even if your 68K Linux isn't functioning properly--you've ideally grown in some way as a human being. You're also a stone-cold computer nerd! Steve Jobs would be disgusted--and proud. High five.