Also, today's NYT has an article about national security needs for more language experts. ---- http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB987356381635082061.htm # # April 16, 2001 # # Asian Technology # # Two New Peer-to-Peer Programs Aim High, but Still Have Glitches # # By JEREMY WAGSTAFF Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL # # Time to grovel. I was hoping this week to be able to trumpet # a bunch of new programs that free you from some of the physical # constraints of modern computing. I was hoping to be able to say # that, at last, you were free of shackles such as overprotective # technical staff, the corporate Intranet and endless e-mail # attachments. # # But paradise, I'm afraid to say, has to be postponed for a while. # The two programs I've been toying with, new versions of which # were both released last week, are Groove Networks Inc.'s Groove # (www.groove.net1 ) and GoToMyPC (www.gotomypc.com2 ) from # Expertcity Inc. # # Groove is the first serious attempt to introduce peer-to-peer # computing to the business marketplace, giving employees a chance # to communicate and share files by setting up their own online # work groups. GoToMyPC offers the first Web-based -- and legal # -- method of accessing and controlling another computer. Both, # in theory, are great ideas, elegant in their simplicity and # genuinely useful. But neither worked perfectly. # # Peer-to-peer computing -- where multiple users can interact # directly, rather than through a server -- is probably the next # great thing for the Internet. Best known as a way to swap music # over the Net via Napster, so-called P-to-P applications allow # much more, such as letting users share files, messages or # calendars, or collaborate in real time on a document or drawing. # # As I've mentioned before, the Web will start coming into its # own once people stop obsessing about how to make money out of # other users and start capitalizing on the intrinsic benefits # of having millions of people all sharing a network. # # Peer-to-peer computing offers users the chance to set up their # own personalized networks atop the public Web. Without these # P-to-P systems, people have to use a number of imperfect # alternatives. For instance, users can rely on their Internet- # service providers to provide the tools (but they may be held # hostage to proprietary programs or HTML); or use corporate # networks (jealously guarded by techies rightly afraid of viruses # and other abuses); or shuffle e-mail messages among team members # (a cumbersome process). # # In practice, Groove isn't quite mature yet. The preview edition # looks and feels professional, and carries loads of useful # features, including instant messaging, file sharing, even a # doodling pad. It also supposedly works behind a firewall, and # around problems such as connecting to computers that share the # same Internet connection. # # Although the program is sturdier than its beta ancestors, I found # it unstable and unreliable. On one computer it wouldn't load # properly; on another it behaved erratically through the company # firewall and offered no easily accessible options that I could # tweak to make it perform better. # # Disappointing, but not fatal. Groove, or something like it, is # definitely the wave of the future: Freeing up employees to set # up their own peer groups without cluttering the corporate Intranet # makes sense. Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, for one, # agrees: Last week it bought 10,000 licenses for more than 100,000 # employees world-wide, making it Groove Networks' first paying # customer. # # GoToMyPC, meanwhile, tackles a similar problem from a slightly # different angle, and is a unilateral peer-to-peer system, rather # than the more common variety that lets anyone talk to anyone # else. Whether on the Net or not, users have been hamstrung by # the fact that generally they only can run one computer at a time. # Working from home? Chances are you only can access the office # network with difficulty. Forget a vital file at home? There are # only one or two programs available that allow you to access a # remote computer, and most of them aren't Internet-based. Instead, # these programs rely on actually dialing into the computer via # a phone line. # # GoToMyPC aims to make the process simpler by harnessing the # Internet to link computers. It sounds simple, and it is: Assuming # the two computers are connected to the Internet (and most office # computers permanently are hooked up, as are PCs on a cable modem # or other high-speed Internet connection), the software merely # links them together. It establishes a digital handshake between # the two computers and makes sure the connection is secure from # prying eyes. That in a nutshell is how GoToMyPC works. # # Once again, in theory, this sounds good. The number of times # I've left important files in the office, or at home, doesn't # bear thinking about. To be able to fire up an Internet connection # -- any-where, anytime, since the software is simple to install # and not limited to any particular host PC -- and access your # data and programs is a very appealing idea. # # In practice, of course, there are problems. One is security. # If you can get into the computer, chances are some ne'er-do-well # can too, whatever levels of security Expertcity applies (and # there are plenty of them). That's why a lot of people disconnect # their computers from the Internet when they aren't around, even # if they're paying for a 24-hour connection (and if you don't # you should seriously consider doing so). # # The other problem may perhaps be due to my own dumbness and the # slowness of my connection but I couldn't get my two computers # to talk to each other at all. What's more, the software didn't # appear smart enough to know it already was loaded, so it would # go through this song-and-dance routine of installing fresh widgets # every time I tried to establish a connection. In the end it would # have been quicker for me to have gotten a taxi, caught the # afternoon shuttle flight, walked home from the airport and grabbed # the files myself. # # Finally, I'm not sure system administrators are going to be that # happy about allowing this kind of thing on their networks. Indeed, # Expertcity appears aware of this and offers a template for an # e-mail message you can send to your system administrator. Knowing # a few of these guys myself, it sounds a bit optimistic. # # Both of these programs are worth trying out -- they're free, # at least for the moment -- as long as you've got a good Internet # connection and you don't mind tinkering with glitchy software. # I'm not going to get too excited about them for now, but one # day we may all be wondering how we lived without them. # # Write to Jeremy Wagstaff at jeremy.wagstaff@awsj.com5 URL for this Article: http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=SB987356381635082061.djm Hyperlinks in this Article: (1) http://www.groove.net/ (2) https://www.gotomypc.com (3) http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=SB98633805226227884.djm (4) http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=SB974071105710705230.djm