I’ve spent most of the weekend testing out a distribution of Linux called Back Track. The latest version is a BETA release and from what I’ve seen so far, it is the most convenient and comprehensive set of security and vulnerability tools I’ve seen. Expect a full review of this distro on my blog at some point in the future.

The rest of the weekend has been dedicated to meeting an old business partner and long time friend of mine, Chris Bishop. Chris is Hotel Chocolat’s Online Marketing Manager turned e-business guru. He’s now moving onto House of Fraser leaving behind a 200% increase in online sales at Hotel Chocolat through his affiliate marketing schemes and Google traffic engineering. Truly inspiring. Chris now undertakes Online Marketing Advice and Consultancy for various clients and will be assisting with the online marketing of RatwareUK

We spoke for a while about life-cycles and eventually touched on Microsoft’s aspirations to go virtual within the next decade, but the most surprising topic, which I knew nothing about, was the use of technology and the Internet by large corporations to categorise individuals and market their products dynamically. Chris tells me that Tesco are developing their clubcard so that their computer systems know when you are in the stores; know when you are passing the small aisle displays and know what your product choices and moods may be. Through the displays they can visually alert you to a product you were probably 50/50 on the way to buying and help you make up your mind. I guess it’s easy when you know a person’s sex, age, address and weekly buying habits. There is a lot of information an artificial intelligence system can derive. Our conversation was a timely reminder of how the Internet and technology has only just been born and we have not yet even begun to understand its potential.