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Heather

sphcow@mas.to

<p>Translating geek to human
 <a href="https://mas.to/tags/WomenInTech" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>WomenInTech</span></a> <a href="https://mas.to/tags/DigitalIdentity" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>DigitalIdentity</span></a> <a href="https://mas.to/tags/Internet" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Internet</span></a> <a href="https://mas.to/tags/Standards" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Standards</span></a> <a href="https://mas.to/tags/IDPro" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>IDPro</span></a></p>

Posts

  • Post #4249762

    ICYMI: An IETF Internet-Draft, W3C Working Draft, OpenID Implementer’s Draft, and FIDO Review Draft are not equivalent measures of maturity. Because apparently standards were not confusing enough without overlapping terminology. A field guide to how four major SDOs actually work: https://sphericalcowconsulting.com/2026/01/13/sdo-process-field-guide/

  • Post #4161159

    Research is not just finding sources. It is deciding which sources deserve weight, tracking what you found, verifying details, and being honest about what remains uncertain. New post: how I approach research for defensible, decision-ready papers, including Google Scholar, NGO and international organization searches, source spreadsheets, database checks, cold outreach, and careful use of AI as an organizing aid rather than an authority.

  • Post #4035491

    I have been in a few of the many, many conversations this week at #IETF regarding if and how to built new Internet protocols for AI agents, and I have so many questions. So many, but maybe also just one. Are we ultimately moving towards building a separate internet (lowercase on purpose) just for AI? Is that what all these discussions lead to? FWIW, I think that’s probably a terrible idea. I don’t think I’ve heard anything that suggests the problems we’re attempting to solve are specific to age...

  • Post #3976704

    With over 100 active Internet Drafts on various topics around AI, a third of the available side meetings, and nearly half of the HotRFC lightning talks at #IETF 126, I’m feeling more than a little overwhelmed with all the heat and so very little light.

  • Post #3749320

    I am a Disney Princess. The view outside my kitchen door this morning. They are super curious about the noises coming from inside (coffee making noises).

  • Post #3650850

    A good process protects hard disagreements. But when the process is weaponized, it stops protecting the work and starts driving good people away. My latest post looks at process abuse in standards development, why documentation matters, and how to protect participation without weakening dissent. https://sphericalcowconsulting.com/2026/07/07/when-process-stops-protecting-the-work/

  • Post #2093810

    What the AI Vendor Landscape Reveals About Fragmented Identity Systems Heather explores how the AI vendor landscape reveals deeper challenges in fragmented identity systems and enterprise security architecture. By examining how tools function across identity, signals, policy, and enforcement layers, this episode reframes AI not as a feature but as part of a broader decision-making ecosystem. Understand why distributed decision systems create complexity, how… https://sphericalcowconsulting.com/...

  • Post #2093809

    Identity Systems Don’t Make Decisions Heather examines why identity systems do not actually make decisions on their own, and how enterprise security outcomes emerge from fragmented, distributed processes. By unpacking how identity, risk, and policy tools interact, this episode reframes modern identity architecture as a complex decision-making environment. Explore how deterministic systems, integration gaps, and inconsistent data interpretation affect access control… https://sphericalcowconsult...

  • Post #2093807

    Same user. Same device. Same request. Different outcome. Add AI on top and that inconsistency compounds. If decision logic is split across identity, risk, policy, and apps, where is control? My observations in the latest blog post. I&amp;#39;d love your take on it! https://sphericalcowconsulting.com/2026/05/05/identity-systems-dont-make-decisions/

  • Post #923730

    #introduction (re-posting) Hello, world! I&amp;#39;m a freelance consultant working to support the #digitalidentity and #internetstandards fields. I&amp;#39;m not an architect or developer; I don&amp;#39;t design the standards. I help working groups of smart people figure out what to do and offer whatever kind of support is needed for the brilliant people who write the specifications to get it done. I&amp;#39;m based on an island outside of Seattle, with my sweetheart and two Very Fuzzy kitti...

  • Post #923729

    Right now, we’re calling them “AI browsers.” But like most things labeled AI, that name probably won’t last. Soon they’ll just be… browsers. Which makes this question worth asking now: if a browser starts acting on your behalf, does it still fit the W3C definition of a Web User Agent? Maybe. https://sphericalcowconsulting.com/2026/03/24/when-browsers-start-acting-for-you/

  • Post #923728

    Last time I asked whether AI-enabled browsers fit the W3C definition of a Web User Agent. Short answer: mostly yes. But that raises the more interesting question: What needs to change in the Web Platform Design Principles to make that answer a comfortable yes? Some thoughts. https://sphericalcowconsulting.com/2026/03/31/ai-browsers-and-the-web-user-agent/

  • Post #322800

    Best thing I&amp;#39;ve read on the Internet in AGES: https://terribleminds.com/ramble/2025/12/04/vital-cat-update/ This might be even better than The Great Flamingo Uprising of 2010.