https://www.infoworld.com/article/05/09/21/HNinfocard_1.html

I have tested this solution myself and it is quite impressive.  It shows SAP provisioning, a group management portal, and a simple workflow app for approving and provisioning contractor accounts.  Link to web cast on 9/14 here.  I would assume it will be available after 9/14 in a recording.

Abstract:

"As organizations grow, they tend to accumulate multiple systems and standards for storing and using digital identities. These systems can include directory services, human resource databases, financial systems, custom applications, and Web sites. This session focuses on the most recent prescriptive guidance in the Microsoft Identity and Access Management Solution Series (I&AM Solution Series) for Password Management, Self-service Provisioning GUI, and the Administrative Group Management tool. The session will also offer a sneak peak at the roadmap for the I&AM Solution Series and the team's current activities."

https://www.microsoft.com/events/EventDetails.aspx?CMTYSvcSource=MSCOMMedia&Params=%7eCMTYDataSvcParams%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ID%22+Value%3d%221032279715%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ProviderID%22+Value%3d%22A6B43178-497C-4225-BA42-DF595171F04C%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22lang%22+Value%3d%22en%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22cr%22+Value%3d%22US%22%2f%5e%7esParams%5e%7e%2fsParams%5e%7e%2fCMTYDataSvcParams%5e

Though this seems like a great idea, it has scary implications. Peoplen are pretty protective of their medical record. Reminds me of that Seinfeld where Elaine had a bad doctor visit and they put it on her record. She could not see it, but it caused her pains going to other doctors. Anyway, I wouldn't imagine doctors are generally good with IT security and probably don't maintain in house security staffs. This seems like an accident waiting to happen. If it is hosted, then someone might be able to steal medical info on lots of people at once. I think this kind of thing is important to society, but if we don't get the security right, we could be in trouble.

There are a lot of different aspects to the problem and many of these have been well discussed on Blogs across the internet. Kim Cameron (with the help of the Blogosphere) has created the "Laws of Identity" which help shape the kinds of things we need as a community to solve these problems. This is certainly a head start on the solution.

Why do I say this is hard? Well, I know that this is a technology problem, but the majority of the users are non-techie people. I think about my wife, my kids, my in-laws, and many of my friends who grew up in the internet age. In many cases, people ignore the information put in front of them and click whatever buttons they can to continue the transaction they are working on.

If we put an Infocard in front of them, will they pay attention? will they pick the appropriate identity or just the default (with all the extraneous claims in it)?

If the site they are browsing is a rouge site and the browser warns them, will it matter to them? We have all seen the message about the SSL cert not being trusted. Do you want to continue? Of course I do! Most people do.

If the Metasystem makes things more secure, but 10 times more difficult (for internet commerce), is it really going to work?

How do I use my Infocard when I am not on my personal machine?

The laws of identity talk about this kind of stuff, but solving the problems is still quite hard. It should be fun to watch.]]> https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/btrst4/interesting-article-about-identity-management-as-a-web-service Tue, 12 Jul 2005 13:09:00 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/btrst4/2005/07/12/interesting-article-about-identity-management-as-a-web-service/ Clint Boulton's interesting article talks about Identity Management delivering Idm solutions as web services.  I think this ties in well with Microsoft's plan for the Identity Metasystem and Infocard.

Overall, the trip was great.  Certainly the toughest physical accomplishment of my life.  The first 50 miles were basically simple.  After that, it was all uphill and extremely steep over the Chestnut and Laurel ridges.  The grades here ranged from 10-14%.  I also had a good number of dogs that seemed to want to attack.  This really spoiled a lot of the enjoyment for me.

For a picture of the route, click here

Trip Statistics

• Total distance: 68 miles
• Total time:  5 hours 48 min
• Speed:  Avg - 12 mph  /  Max - 41.6 mph
• Altitude:    Chestnut Ridge (2300 ft) & Laurel Ridge (2800 ft)
• Counties traveled: 5 (Washington, Allegheny, Westmoreland, Fayette, Somerset

Route Diary

1. To Monongohela (12 miles at end)
Trip started from my driveway.  Followed roads down to Mingo Creek Park and down to Rte 88.  88 South into Monongohela.  Joins with Rte 136 and followed this across the river and to the east.

2. To West Newton (22 miles)
Followed 136E towards Rte. 51.  Pretty much uphill all the way to 51.  First tough climb of the ride. Road had some cars on it, but was not too busy.  Plenty of shoulder to ride on if needed.  After 51 intersection, 4 miles to West Newton.  Pretty much downhill from here aside from a small hill.  Stopped at trail entrance just before the river.  Bike shop (Korber’s Bike Shop) & bathroom located here.

3. Bike Trail to Smithton (28 miles)
Took bike trail South along the river.  There was a parking area in Cedar Creek, but I did not stop.  https://www.atatrail.org.  It was 6 miles to the Smithton Parking area.  This was much smaller, but I was able to spot the exit at the end of the parking lot.

4. To Scottdale / Connelsville (38 miles)
Took a left onto 981 E and crossed the Yough River.  I took this rode all the way to Scottdale.  Very nice road for riding.  No major climbs or attack dogs and traffic was minimal.  After about 7.6 miles, 981 split to the left (In Ruffs Dale, PA).  I stayed right and the road eventually changed its name to Homestead Avenue.

5. To Normalville (56 miles)
This is where things got difficult.  I was hoping to take back roads up the Chestnut Ridge into Normalville.  I had it all mapped out, but I could not find the road I needed (T731).  These little township roads can be poorly marked.  Anyway, after a bunch of looking, I gave up and took 119 S into Connelsville.  This was ugly.  Rumble strips and tons of traffic.  Not really a road that is made for bikes.  Then I decided to take the route to the cabin on the roads that I know from driving.  I took 711 out from Connelsville.  Brutal climbs that were extremely steep.  At least 14% grade at times.  To make matters worse, there were tons of big trucks going to a quarry up the road.  711 was so tight, that I had to pull off the bike and stop when trucks went by.  Peak was about 2300 feet.  Climb was 9 miles long.  Connelsville is 905 feet, so the total climb was 1395 feet.

6. To Cabin (68 miles)
Stopped in Normalville at a market to recover.  Still another big steep climb ahead.  653 was also full of 12-14% grade roads and had a lot of trucks due to another quarry.  I climbed as best I could and was going as slow as 3mph at times.  A couple times, I really did have to stop.  Not sure if it was any tougher, or if I was running out of steam.  At the very bottom of the climb, a Rotweiler jumped out at me and was not on a leash.  He was showing teeth and looked ready for action.  Since I had a giant climb in front of me, I was quite concerned.  Luckily a truck came down the hill and scared him off.  Yikes.  Peak was 2800 feet.  Climb was 6 miles long.  Normalville is at 1800 feet, so the total climb here was about 1000 feet.  When I saw the Laurel Ridge State Park signs, I knew I was home free.  All downhill to our cabin from there.  Family was waiting for me cheering at the end.

What I brought

• 3 replacement tire tubes
• 2 patch kits
• Rain jacket
• 2 bike water bottles + 1 extra bottle filled with Gatorade
• 2 Cliff Shot Gels – Razz Sorbet
• Fig newtons
• Tools – pump, multi-tool, allen wrenches, tire irons, Phillips screwdriver
• Wallet & mobile phone

Changes for Next Time

• Possibly take 819S from Scottdale to 201 and then into Connelsville.
• A woman in Normalville from the market told me a better way from Connelsville.  She said to take Breakneck, to Quail Hill, to the Clinton Bypass.  This would guide me down to 381 and into Normalville.  I’m sure the climbs over Chestnut Ridge would still be there, but there would hopefully be less traffic.
• For a longer trip (possibly easier), I could pick up the trail again in Connelsville and follow it to Ohiopyle.  From there, I could get picked up or take it all the way past Confluence to Rockwood.  From Rockwood, I could take 653 going the other way and climb the Laurel Ridge from the other side.  Rockwood is at 1,826 feet, so some of the climb would be done on much less steeper grades.  Connelsville to Rockwood would be 47 miles and then about 11 miles up to cabin.  This would make for an overall distance of 108 miles.

https://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2139352/active-directory-moves-towards

Pretty exciting.  You could certainly have developed your own OpenLDAP MA using the extensible MA, but this will take some of the manual effort out of the picture. 

https://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/8763.asp

Basically, Microsoft and Sun have really started to show some progress on partnerships that were annouced a year ago.  The two items that are most interesting to me are:

1. WS-Federation Interop.  Microsoft and Sun are working on interop protocols to allow WS-Federation and Liberty protocols to work together.  This will be accomplished by 2 specifications:  Web Single Sign-On Metadata Exchange (Web SSO MEX) Protocol and Web Single Sign-On Interoperability Profile (Web SSO Interop Profile).

2. WS-Management.  This new specification will allow systems management technologies to communicate cross platform more easily.  Today, we can use WMI to gather system data or send system commands to Windows systems.  WS-Management will allow similar activities, but to various platforms and hardware technologies without being Windows specific.

Very exciting!