Well, what's old news to some, is new news to others. I just ran across this component in Scott W.'s blog. Microsoft has back-ported some of the membership functionality coming out in Whidbey. This will be a great way to start the migration of 1.1 applications to ASP.NET 2.0 in the future.
You can download the component here. Also, Wacklabs.net has a "first look" at using the component.
Note: The functionality provided by this component is a preliminary version of the Membership, Roles, and Profile functionality coming in ASP.NET 2.0 and will change in the final release of ASP.NET 2.0. This means that any ASP.NET v1.1 applications you develop using this component will need to be updated when you migrate to the final release of ASP.NET 2.0. This is also a non Microsoft supported component.
[Discovered via Scott Watermasysk's blog]
Earlier this week, Dr. Vinton Cerf spoke at the University of North Flordia for the World Affairs Council of Jacksonville. It was an excellent lecture on the past and future of the Internet. Dr. Cerf was involved in the development of TCP and other early internet protocols. It was great to hear about the early beginnings of the Net from someone who was there!
His latest project is the Interplanetary Internet (IPN). The IPN has some unique challenges for handling data communications over long distances with frequent outages. It is amazing to me that we are only now developing a common protocol standard for communications with probes and other space vehicles. In the past, each space mission developed its own communication package. The new model will allow us to build upon the success of past missions.
Dr. Cerf has a great site hosted by MCI where he is the Senior Vice President of Technology Strategy. Definitely take a look at his site and catch him in person if you get the chance.