Fujitsu prepares 300GB notebook drive | CNET News.com

Fujitsu prepares 300GB notebook drive | CNET News.com: Fujitsu is planning to release a 300GB hard drive for notebooks, which it says will set a record for SATA (serial ATA)-based 2.5-inch drives.

The vendor argues that the capacity of these kind of drives is now so high that they can replace the need for 3.5-inch desktop PC hard drives, which traditionally have offered greater storage capabilities.

Fujitsu will utilize perpendicular recording to achieve the new level of 300GB. Its 2.5-inch drive, called the MHX2300BT, is scheduled for release in February 2007.

Perpendicular recording boosts st"

(Via .)

Sony keeps targets for PS3 shipments | CNET News.com

Sony keeps targets for PS3 shipments | CNET News.com: "In memoriam: James Kim, CNET senior editor, 1971 - 2006


Sony said Thursday it sees no need to change its target to ship 2 million units of its PlayStation 3 game console worldwide by the end of December and 6 million by the end of next March. Sony has delayed the European launch of the PS3 to March 2007 due to a glitch in blue laser diodes, raising concerns that the electronics conglomerate could miss its original shipment targets.

'It is true that it took us sometime to bring the PS3 to mass production as blue laser availability worked as a bottleneck, but production has reached a certain level and judging from that level, 2 mill"

Google News finds more trouble in Europe

Google News finds more trouble in Europe: "

(InfoWorld) - Google is facing mounting protests from newspaper publishers in Europe, the impact of which could ultimately affect the amount of content available to end users through search engines.

The company is due to appear in court on Friday morning to dobattle with the Belgian press, which filed alawsuit earlier this year accusing Google of copyright infringement for the way it posts headlines and snippets of their news stories on Google News.

Meanwhile, in the past two weeks trouble has also stirred up elsewhere. The company was forced to put on hold the launch of its Google News Web site in Denmark last week after newspapers there demanded a system that would allow them to 'opt in' to Google's service, rather than having their content trawled automatically, said Holger Rosendal, head of the legal department at the Danish Newspaper Publishers Association.

And a Norwegian media group has written to the search giant, objecting to the way that Google posts thumbnails of its members' news photos. 'According to Norwegian copyright law, you are not allowed to use photos without permission from the rights holder, so that's the big issue here,' said Pernelle Borset, associate director of the Norweigan Media Businesses' Association.

The protests highlight mounting concern among some publishers that Google has gone beyond a simple search service to become a powerful media company that profits from the content of others. Publishers of news, books and other content types have filed lawsuits, often charging copyright infringement, to force Google to seek permission before using their work and even provide them with compensation.

Google responds that it acts within the law because it posts only snippets of publishers' content, and because the publishers can opt out easily. It notes that it drives traffic to publishers' Web sites, since it links to their publications, and it can help publicize works that might not otherwise be found.

Moreover, it says, if search engines were forced to get permission from every site they indexed, search services would not be able to operate at all.

'If content isn't indexed, it can't be searched. And if it can't be searched, how can it be found?' asked David Eun, Google vice president for content partnerships, in a Google blog post . 'Imagine a library with no index of titles or subjects of the books on its shelves, or no catalogue of the authors who wrote them.'

But that, critics say, is the point. Google is not a public service like a library, it is a profit-seeking company. Google may not 'aggressively monetize' Google News with advertisements, but the site attracts visitors to Google, and visitors mean money.

'The exceptions (for fair use) don't really cover what is in effect a commercial service, and that's where they are vulnerable,' said Laurence Kaye, a lawyer in the U.K. who is advising the newspaper industry on copyright issues.

Google isn't the only company targeted. Copiepresse, the group representing Belgian newspapers, also sent a cease and desist letter to Microsoft Corp.'s MSN division, which promptly removed the Belgian newspapers from its Web site rather than become embroiled in a lawsuit. Copiepresse has said that it may sue others.

The outcomes of the various lawsuits, also brought in the U.S. by Agence France Press, the Authors Guild and others, will shape how Google and other search engines can index and display copyright material on their Web sites. For users, they will determine whether search engines continue to give them easy access to such a wide variety of content.

Google lost an initial ruling against Copiepresse in September and was forced to remove the newspapers' content from its Belgian search site and from Google News. Google was not present at the hearing, however, apparently because of an administrative error on Google's part. On Friday -- assuming it shows up -- it will defend itself for the first time.

The outcome could affect more than Google News. Copiepresse argues that by indexing and caching its members' content, Google is effectively making copies of the works for a commercial purpose, which it says is a copyright violation. It also objects to Google using the material without first asking permission.

Those arguments could be applied to other types of content. Search engines index and cache masses of copyright work on the Web without first asking permission. If the Court of First Instance in Brussels upholds its initial judgment, it could make it difficult for search engines in Belgium to operate at all.

'The ruling right now means that search engines can't operate in Belgium, because you don't have the right to index copyright pages without explicit permission,' said Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of SearchEngineWatch.com.

A favorable ruling for Copiepresse could inspire other copyright holders to seek redress and potentially influence how other European countries apply copyright law to search engines. A decision is not expected for some weeks, and Google has also filed an appeal.

Google declined to comment on the possible ramifications of the case, but it acknowledged its significance in a posting to the Google blog: 'We do feel that this case raises important and complex issues. It goes to the heart of how search engines work,' wrote Rachel Whetstone, Google's director of European corporate communications and public affairs.

PPK on JavaScript: The DOM - Part 3

PPK on JavaScript: The DOM - Part 3: "This week we look at text nodes, node lists, forms and the level 0 DOM, DOM hyperspace and markers. The W3C DOM defines a few methods for getting and changing texts, but the core string methods and properties are more useful and versatile. By Peter-Paul Koch. 1120"In general, text nodes are easy to work with. The W3C DOM defines a few methods for getting and changing texts, but the Core string methods and properties we discussed in 5F are more useful and versatile.

Database-enabled Ajax with PHP

Database-enabled Ajax with PHP: "Ajax has taken the Web to a new level by offering an intuitive interactive model that rivals the desktop. To compete with desktop applications, you'll learn how to create database-enabled Ajax requests using PHP and MySQL. By Kris Hadlock. 1122"
n this article you'll learn how to create database-enabled Ajax requests using PHP and MySQL. We begin by creating the front-end HTML and JavaScript files used to make requests to the server-side. The requested server-side is a PHP file which bridges the gap between Ajax and a PHP object that connects to a MySQL database and returns results as an XML response to the Ajax engine. To cover this functionality you'll learn about the concepts from a high level overview rather than focusing on each and every line of code. The complete source code for this sample can be downloaded and is necessary to create a working sample on your personal server. Let's get started by taking a look at the front-end.

Microsoft, CompUSA to offer Vista early

Microsoft, CompUSA to offer Vista early: "

(InfoWorld) - Microsoft Corp. continues to expand ways customers can get access to Windows Vista as the OS' official launch date approaches. The company said Monday it is teaming with CompUSA stores to offer early access to Windows Vista to U.S. small businesses.Through the Microsoft Small Business Value Program, small businesses that want to purchase five or more licenses forWindows Vista can purchase them through one of two licensing programs -- Open Value or Open Business -- beginning on Nov. 30 from CompUSA stores. This is the day Vista will be available to Microsoft's volume license customers, but before the product's general availability in retail outlets, which will not occur until Jan. 30, 2007.

The Open Value and Open Business license programs are intended to allow smaller companies to acquire Microsoft software in a cost-effective way that can be managed online, according to Microsoft. Typically, small businesses can purchase software through these programs either from Microsoft or a licensed reseller, but Microsoft is extending this access to CompUSA retail outlets. CompUSA has more than 229 stores in the U.S.

The company plans to allow more retailers to offer Vista through these volume-licensing programs throughout 2007, Microsoft said.

Open Value will spread payments for the software out over a year, while Open Business requires an upfront payment, according to Microsoft's Web site. Open Value also includes a subscription to Microsoft Software Assurance (SA), the company's software update program, while SA is an add-on option for Open Business customers.

Small business customers that purchase Vista at CompUSA through one of the programs will initially receive a Microsoft Small Business Value Program Kit and a proof of purchase. A CompUSA sales associate also will work with the customer to explain how to download Vista and activate the licenses, Microsoft said.

Microsoft is touting the long-delayed Vista as a major overhaul of its Windows client OS with many benefits for customers, and has high hopes that people will upgrade to the new OS as early as possible. However, there is evidence from both analysts and business customers that neither consumers nor businesses are in a hurry to purchase Vista.

Web 2.0 Summit in review: Long tails, forgotten trails

Web 2.0 Summit in review: Long tails, forgotten trails: "

(InfoWorld) - The Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco this week was intended as a gathering of the best Internet minds talking strategy, but at times it felt like a big group hug: ‘Congratulations, we survived the bubble bursting!’Although its more than five years since Web 1.0 came crashing down, many from that era still strut their stuff at these events, including Netscape’s Marc Andreesen, Yahoo’s David Filo, and every VC who wants to find the next Google.

But the hype has more reality in it now, and that reality was palpable at this event. The Internet is bigger and there’s a whole lot more money flowing through it than in 2000. The Internet has gone global (only 20 percent of Internet users were North American in 2006, according to Morgan Stanley’s Mary Meeker).

And rather than exuding a get-lucky mentality, participants here seemed to accept that there’s lots of competition and commoditization out there, and that if you build something, it had better deliver real value to users at a low price.

Even Google seems to have gotten this religion, with CEO Eric Schmidt, for example, warning the collected entrepreneurs to ‘never trap an end-user’s data, let them move it around if they want … we’re even going to do this with search data; it will keep us honest.’

And nobody blinked when Chinese Internet kingpin Jack Ma said his company planned to launch a Web-based enterprise software suite. Why wouldn’t he, if he has the developers, the capital, and the local market knowledge?

Everybody here wants to become a platform, to build out their connection with customers into something broader and deeper. 'If you want to be a survivor, you have to go from being a killer app to a killer platform,' said Salesforce.com’s Marc Benioff.

‘Why not do it?’ asked Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, summing up the free-for-all attitude as he explained why his company launched a suite of Web services that seemingly have very little to do with its core retail business.

'This is what we've been doing for 11 years, operating Web-scale apps, high volume, high transaction,’ Bezos continued. ‘To me, Web 2.0 is computers talking to computers … this is a great business.’ Hmmm … or could it be that Amazon builds its own IT capacity for the Christmas peak load and has a lot of idle hardware sitting around the rest of the year?

The new new thing this year was the presence of true media bigwigs -- people such as IAC/Interactive’s Barry Diller or The New York Times Co.’s Arthur Sulzberger Jr. Althought their companies already have a significant Web presence (About.com, Ask.com, Ticketmaster, Match.com, and others), you couldn’t help but feel they were here playing catch-up to the latest potential dinosaur killers like YouTube or MySpace. (‘Yes, we got rid of Jeeves, we don’t know where he is,’ confessed Diller, unemotionally, in his best laugh line).

Also, traditional tech companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, and even Intel, who’ve long danced on the Web’s edges were here in force, trying to reinvent and reposition themselves.

Most of the attendees in the audience (when not out in the hallways doing deals) were surfing election results, Techcrunch, or tracking their site’s traffic on Google Analytics. Video seemed to be the app on everyone’s minds.

‘This year something happened,’ proclaimed Google’s Schmidt. ‘Video became a fundamental data type on the Internet.’ Morgan Stanley’s Meeker presented stats showing that as much as 60 percent of Internet traffic may be P2P sharing of ‘unmonetized’ video. And that while the global internet is experiencing 10-15 percent annual user growth, usage growth is in the 20-30 percent range. She pointed to Skype, with 136 Million registered users, growing as much as 80 percent a year. ‘Skype may be the fastest growing product in history,’ she said. (For more of these stats, see Meeker’s full presentation here.)

So who will the winners be?

‘Who’s the dog that’s really wagging the long tail?’ asked conference organizer Tim O’Reilly in the best mixing of metaphors at this year’s event. He’d apparently forgotten the old Web 1.0 saying … on the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog!

"

Florida e-voting: 18,000 'missing' votes in close race

Florida e-voting: 18,000 'missing' votes in close race: "

(InfoWorld) - Government watchdog group Common Cause has called for an investigation of electronic voting machines used in Florida's 13th congressional district because of 18,000 missing votes.About 18,000 people who cast votes in other races in Tuesday's election failed to record a vote for either candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. At last count, Republican candidate Vern Buchanan led Democratic candidate Christine Jennings by less than 400 votes in the race to succeed Republican Katherine Harris, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate.

Nearly 13 percent of voters in Sarasota County picked candidates in other races but did not choose a candidate in the House race. More than 35 callers to Common Cause's voter hotline left messages Tuesday saying the e-voting machines appeared to leave off a vote for Jennings on their summary screens, said Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause Florida. In neighboring Manatee County, just 2 percent of voters did not cast a ballot in the congressional race.

Some voters caught the omission and were able to go back and vote again for Jennings, but others may have missed the problem, Wilcox said.

'Sarasota County election officials must conduct a revote,' Wilcox said. 'The machines should be impounded, audited and tested to determine if voters were unable to cast a ballot and why. Sarasota County voters deserve an explanation.'

Undervoting for top-of-the-ballot races on e-voting machines is typically under 1 percent, according to a study released this year by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The county did not require the Elections System and Software (ES&S) e-voting machines to include paper printouts to back up the electronic vote.

'This is part of the reason we've been calling for a paper trail,' Wilcox said.

Ironically, Sarasota County voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure requiring paper trail ballots to be used as a backup to the e-voting machines.

Digital newspapers by 2008?

Digital newspapers by 2008?: "Imagine unfurling the morning paper to find a flexible electronic display streaming the latest news. This fantasy could become a reality in as soon as two years. erman Hauser, co-founder of venture capital company Amadeus Capital Partners, told Silicon.com there are no technical challenges left for e-papers and said he hopes to have a factory producing flexible electronic screens by 2008. A technology called "plastic electronics" has been harnessed by researchers to produce flexible electronic displays, combining electronics and print technology on a supple screen.

Apple Unveils New MacBook With Intel Core 2 Duo Processors

Apple Unveils New MacBook With Intel Core 2 Duo Processors: "Apple today unveiled its new line of MacBook consumer notebooks that now include Intel Core 2 Duo processors. Just one inch thin, the new MacBooks are up to 25% faster than the previous generation and feature a built-in iSight video camera, the MagSafe Power Adapter, and iLife ‘06."

Dell expands embrace of AMD chips

Dell expands embrace of AMD chips: "

(InfoWorld) - Dell Inc. plans to launch a desktop for its business customers on Wednesday that is powered by an Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) processor, marking another step in AMD's effort to gain more ground in the server market.

Dell's OptiPlex 740 will offer users the choice of an Athlon 64 or Athlon 64 X2 AMD processor, replacing the Intel Corp. Pentium used in the last generation machine, the OptiPlex 620. Dell also offers a similar product, the OptiPlex 745, with Intel's new 'Conroe' Core 2 Duo chip. Dell declined to comment about the new product until it is released.

This win is important for AMD, which has relied on its growing success in the server market to compete with Intel in recent months. AMD has seen its greatest gains in the server market, where its share more than doubled to 25.9 percent of x86-based servers in the second quarter of 2006, according to Mercury Research.

Dell began selling its first AMD-based servers in October, including the PowerEdge 6950 and SC1435 models. On Tuesday, Gateway Inc. followed suit, announcing it would use AMD's Opteron chip in three new rack-mounted servers, the E-9422R, E-9522R and E-9722.

Despite these wins in the server segment, AMD must also win market share in the desktop and notebook segments to become an equal competitor with Intel. The company has notched wins in the last 12 months by gaining acceptance from Lenovo Group Ltd. and Hewlett-Packard Co. on desktops for corporate customers.

An array of new products from Dell should push AMD closer to its goal. Dell launched its first AMD-powered desktops in September, offering Athlon or Sempron chips in its Dimension E521 and C521. And on Friday,Dell launched its first two notebooks with AMD chips, the Inspiron 1501 and Latitude 131L. Both products offer an AMD Sempron or Turion chip.

Dell's OptiPlex 740 will also make waves in the graphics market, where Nvidia Corp. is claiming victory in one of its first product wins since AMD acquired its rival ATI. Future AMD-powered PCs will probably provide their own graphics processing, since AMD plans to bundle its technology with ATI's. But in the meantime, Nvidia is seeing the results of a campaign to sell more graphics products for commercial enterprise PCs, not just consumer gaming platforms.

The OptiPlex 740 will use Nvidia's nForce core logic package, including networking and storage interfaces as well as pure graphics, said Drew Henry, general manager of Nvidia's media and communications processor business unit. Dell chose nForce because it is a well-defined package, and corporate IT departments demand stability of drivers, software and operating systems in their business desktops, he said.

'Over the past few years, we've been slowly and very quietly moving into the server marketplace, with wins on HP, IBM and Sun,' said Henry. 'And we've been executing a strategy to get specified on more commercial and enterprise products.'

Nvidia already has a stronghold in the workstation graphics sector, and hopes thatMicrosoft Corp.'s Vista OS will push it toward greater success on commercial desktops in 2007, as users are forced to add more powerful graphics processing to handle the 3-D data viewing and translucent 'Aero' windows.

Dell has not yet released price or availability for the Optilex 740, but the PC is expected to be Vista-capable, offer biometric security and support remote IT troubleshooting and power management. Gateway is selling its 1U E-9422R server for US$1,799, its 2U E-9522R server for $1,849 and its 3U E-9722 for an unlisted amount.

"

(Via InfoWorld.)

Microsoft enters domain name registration game

Is it something that MS Doesn't do? Microsoft enters domain name registration game: "

(Last week, the company was added to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) list of accredited domain name registrars, according to

domain name service provider Dot and Co. This means that Microsoft can now add new top-level domains to the databases used by computers on the Internet.

Microsoft was not immediately able to comment for this story, but the move is probably related to its Office Live product,which is expected to emerge from its beta testing period on Nov. 15, according to Rich Miller, an analyst with Internet research firm Netcraft Ltd.

Microsoft offers free domain name registration to Office Live users and to date the company has been using Melbourne IT Ltd. for this service. By becoming a registrar in its own right, Microsoft could cut costs, Miller said.

Though its status as a registrar makes it possible, Miller does not expect Microsoft to get into a new business selling $7 per year domain name registrations. 'The most sensible approach for them is do what they're doing with Office Live,' he said. 'Use the domain name to establish the relationship and then offer additional services.'

Being a registrar also gives Microsoft better access to the top-level domain databases and could help the company improve its Live Search product, Miller said.

Google Inc. has also become a domain name registrar so that it can quickly determine when domains have changed hands and then adjust their search ranking accordingly, he said.

Microsoft became a registrar on Oct. 31, according to Dot and Co., and is now accredited to register .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .name and .pro top-level domains.

"

Xbox Live cues up TV, movie downloads

Xbox Live cues up TV, movie downloads: "New feature appears to be Microsoft's latest attempt to colonize
the living room.Microsoft's Xbox Live service will soon let people download selected television shows and movies, the company said Monday.

The new service is expected to go live on November 22, said Scott Henson, Microsoft's director of platform strategy. The idea is to add the new content--movies like Patriot Games, V for Vendetta and The Matrix, as well as TV shows such as Survivor, South Park and Friends--to existing Xbox Live games."

William "DigitalBill" Douthett -Updated Memorial Service and Submissions

William "DigitalBill" Douthett -Updated Memorial Service and Submissions: "Additional information is being released regarding memorial services for William 'DigitalBill' Douthett. You are invited to participate."

The family has made arrangements to hold a small, private funeral ceremony in Butler, Pennsylvania where Bill's ashes will be laid to rest.

In addition a memorial ceremony will be held on Saturday, October 14th, 2006 at 3:00pm at the Education Facility at John U. Lloyd Beach State Park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Family and friends will be in attendance, and all of Bill's acquaintances are invited to attend and participate.

The Cost of Apple Discipleship

The Cost of Apple Discipleship: "

2007 is going to be a good year for Apple. A very good year. Apple in 2007 will ask you to dip into your pocket a bit more than usual. Do you get your money’s worth from Apple products?

Apple Protection Plan
Most people would rather pay 2007 is going to be a good year for Apple. A very good year. Apple in 2007 will ask you to dip into your pocket a bit more than usual. Do you get your money’s worth from Apple products?
Apple Protection Plan
Most people would rather pay a premium and get a higher quality product. Generally they assume higher quality equals longer life. One of the big disappointments in life is paying for quality but getting crap. It does create a feeling of getting stooged.
Apple has something called the AppleCare Protection Plan - a fancy name for a three year warranty. I’m always cynical when I see extended warranties. If the product is good enough, why only give it a twelve month warranty? Why not give it a three year warranty outright? Looks a bit like profiteering from where I sit. Otherwise it’s an admission that the product won’t last three years without failure of some sort. Why spend good money on a computer that the vendor is betting will be having problems by three years of age? If you’re going to have trouble anyway, why not just buy a cheap computer? No wonder people choose cheap PCs over Macs.

This Day: October 23, 1999: Mac OS 9 Released

This Day: October 23, 1999: Mac OS 9 Released: "OS 9 was the last iteration of Apple’s Classic Mac OS and it had users excited, What was so great about OS 9? Things that Mac users take for granted today made their first appearance in OS 9. The list includes: automatic software updates, multiple accounts, and password key…What was so great about OS 9? Things that Mac users take for granted today made their first appearance in OS 9. The list includes: automatic software updates, multiple accounts, and password key chaining.
Steve Jobs pitched OS 9 as the best “internet OS ever” but users of Mac clones were left out, OS 9 was a “Made by Apple” affair. OS 9 was released on October 23, 1999.

News: The PlayStation 3: 24 things you need to know

News: The PlayStation 3: 24 things you need to know: "GamePro has rounded up two dozen facts about Sony's PlayStation 3 that might interest you -- including information about the games' high-def display capability and the new wireless 'Sixaxis' controller.

"

Photos: Roll up this laptop

Photos: Roll up this laptop: "Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a laptop that can be rolled up as easily as a paper, A team of engineers at the U.K.'s University of Cambridge has developed "morphing materials" that make it possible to roll up a laptop screen as easily as a newspaper.

This prototype, created by Keith Seffen, a lecturer in structural engineering at the University of Cambridge, holds the main electronic components by wooden strips on the vertical sides of the screen.."

Flaming LAX laptop was a ThinkPad

Flaming LAX laptop was a ThinkPad: "Lenovo confirms that one of its laptops caught fire, but it doesn't yet know if Sony batteries were inside. A burning laptop that frightened passengers at Los Angeles International Airport over the weekend was a ThinkPad, Lenovo confirmed Wednesday, and that notebook ships with Sony's battery technology.

The incident, described by a poster at the Web site Something Awful, involved a passenger running back up the jetway as a plane was boarding with a smoking laptop that eventually caught fire. Lenovo dispatched a team of investigators to Los Angeles within 12 hours of the incident, and confirmed that the laptop was a ThinkPad T43, said Ray Gorman, a company spokesman.

Cisco can't reproduce Black Hat flaw: "

(InfoWorld) - Cisco Systems has been unable to reproduce a security flaw reported in its PIX firewall appliance earlier this month, the networking company said Tuesday. Alleged flaw was discovered by Hendrik Scholz, a developer with Freenet Cityline, who discussed it during Aug. 2 presentation at the Black Hat USA conference in Las Vegas. Freenet is a German VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service provider.

Scholz claimed that if someone sent the PIX device a specially crafted SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) message, the firewall would then allow attackers to send traffic to any device on the network. SIP is a protocol used to set up telephone calls and other communication sessions over the Internet.

'We've had engineers both within the business unit and within our PSIRT [product security incident response team] organization looking into this,' said John Noh, a Cisco spokesman. 'We have not been able to replicate what he claims he has discovered.'

Cisco had not ruled out the possibility that a flaw exists and is still testing its security appliances for a possible vulnerability, Noh said. But the company wanted to update customers on what it had found so far, he explained. 'This is just a response for the benefit of our customers who might have seen the press coverage.'

Scholz could not be reached immediately for comment.

During his Black Hat presentation, the security researcher said that exploiting the flaw was 'really easy to do.' But in an e-mail interview conducted two weeks ago, Scholtz said that a hacker would first need to know 'intimate details' about the network being attacked and have control of a device on the inside in order to pull off the attack.

The problem, as Scholtz described it, had to do with the PIX SIP state engine and parser.

Google launches free Wi-Fi network: "

(InfoWorld) - The Wi-Fi network Google built for Mountain View becomes generally available on Wednesday, providing free broadband wireless access in this California city that the search engine giant calls home.Google's network includes 380 access points throughout this city, which has about 72,000 residents and covers a 12-square mile area, said Chris Sacca, Google's head of special initiatives.

It will offer 1Mbps of throughput both upstream and downstream, and that capacity can be increased if necessary, he said.

Google had been shooting for mid-September for the service's official launch, but it wrapped up its final tests ahead of time. About 1,000 people participated in the service's test phase, he said.

Starting Wednesday, people with Wi-Fi devices will be able to pick up the Google network's signal and sign in with their Google account user ID and password.

Those who don't have a Google account will be able to create one by simply choosing a password and entering an e-mail address. If they don't have an e-mail address, they will be able to create one as well, he said.

Google has no plans to deliver online ads to the network's users and it isn't charging the city anything for building the network. In fact, the city stands to receive payments from Google for the placement of equipment on city-owned light poles, Mountain View officials have said in the past. Moreover, Google will cover maintenance and utility costs.

'We have no business plan for this network,' Sacca said. Google hopes to benefit indirectly by the increased availability of Internet access, and it believes it is contributing to its home city, where more than 1,000 of its employees live, he said.

People should be able to reach the network inside their homes, to some degree. 'Wi-Fi signals are irregular and hard to predict, so coverage varies depending on where you are, how close the node happens to be and what your house is made of,' Sacca said.

Residents can buy inexpensive repeater devices to boost and extend the reception inside their homes, he said.

San Francisco, about 40 miles north of Mountain View, has chosen Google and partner EarthLink to provide municipal Wi-Fi service. The companies have proposed a two-tiered service: EarthLink would offer a paid subscription service with speeds over 1Mbps and Google would offer a 300Kbps service for free. The companies are currently in negotiations with the city on the terms of the agreement.

The free service is expected to include ads, and this has triggered criticism from civil liberties advocates who are concerned that users' privacy may be compromised if ads are targeted based on their location and interests. Meanwhile, others have complained the city isn't allocating funding to help low-income users take advantage of the network.

Apple Previews Mac OS X Server Leopard: "Apple today previewed Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard, the next major release of Apple’s award-winning UNIX server operating system. Scheduled to ship in spring 2007, Leopard Server builds on Apple’s legendary ease of use with new Server Assistant and Server Preference features that make it easy for even non-technical users to set up and manage a server with just a few clicks of a mouse.

My MacBook Pro Battery Swelled Up!: "

Wow, we really need to fix our MacBook Pro battery issue before things really get bad. We first reported our troubles with our beloved Mac notebook last week and then the new week started with a replacement program from Apple, direct, explaining our problem. Well, we've been just a wee-bit busy here at SOT and haven't had a chance to fill out that dandy form. Today when we pulled out our MBP from our Swiss…

WWDC06 Disappoints?: "

Where was the aluminum iPod? The glossy MacBook? Tabbed Finder? Windows Virtualization? Didn't Scobel say there was too many surprises to let slip 'cause Jobs would have his head? (Leo said this on Episode 64 of TWiT.) I don't know, I like Time Machine a ton, and the Mac Pro does look hot, but, did this meet the hype? For me? No. I think Wall Street agreed as Apple's stock (AAPL) fell when all the… Windows Virtualization? Didn’t Scobel say there was too many surprises to let slip ‘cause Jobs would have his head? (Leo said this on Episode 64 of TWiT.) I don’t know, I like Time Machine a ton, and the Mac Pro does look hot, but, did this meet the hype? For me? No.

I think Wall Street agreed as Apple’s stock (AAPL) fell when all the guys that dress better than Steve Jobs cast their votes of “unimpressed” after the Cupertino CEO finished his keynote speech from the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Monday morning. Biz Journals had the headline “Apple stock down on no Jobs’ surprises” which Microsoft’s MSN Money site was more than happy to run. The business world wasn’t moved.

In all, the day ended with no bang. No great stunning new gizmo that no one even thought of but rather, everything — for the most part — that everyone anticipated: a PowerMac replacement running Intel chips with some Leopard highlights. That’s it. Wow, is Jobs losing his touch?

Virgin Offers Weird In-Flight Service: Answers: "Virgin Atlantic Airways claims to be offering the first in-flight text messaging service: If you define text messaging as 'sending short emails to somebody at a dedicated service who answers your questions,' then, sure, they're the first, and, I hope, the last. Instant messaging isn't what they're offering; Tenzing, by the way, was the first to offer it in 2003 and 2004, plus low-speed email via proxy. That service was discontinued, but will re-emerge from its descendent merged entity OnAir next year along with cell phone calling in flight. You have to tell me why anyone would pay whatever ridiculous fee Richard Branson--now the world's third greatest billionaire--will demand from passengers to ask, for instance, 'the best way to chat up the cabin crew' according to a Virgin spokeswoman (and isn't that a nice double entrendre on top of that nonsensical query) quoted in this Reuters story....

Another Free Wi-Fi through Advertising Model from Hypewifi: "Don't prejudge them by the word hype in their name: Hypewifi has yet another model of providing users with free Wi-Fi through support from advertising. In their model, a user must answer a few demographic questions which are tied to their profile in order to surf. These demographic questions allow more closely targeted advertising, they say, without exposing a particular user's details. Advertisers can choose to only target those whose profile matches their needs extremely closely. This kind of approach requires a very high volume of users as qualifying users because winnowing down all users to find just the reasonable targets of ads means that an advertising inventory can't be served uniformly. Sell a million ad impressions and you see just 50,000 qualified users come through for a few pages each, and you've got a lot of unsold inventory. (You could have low-rate salvage ads displaying for 'unqualified' users; this is why some sites seem littered with T-shirt ads, for instance. Although let me not mock the billions spent each year on message T-shirts.) Hypewifi looks for locations where users would want free Wi-Fi and where professionals that meet the demographic that they want to offer to advertisers would congregate. The company says that they have 1,000 registered users so far with a soft launch....

Sun edges closer to open-source Java: "Sun has launched a portal site for its Java programming language, part of the company's move to make the Java code open-source. August 15, 2006 (IDG News Service) -- Sun Microsystems Inc. launched a portal site for its Java programming language today as it inches closer to making the Java code open-source, a company executive said.

The Web site details the company's efforts to make open-source the first bits of the Java SE (Standard Edition) implementation, known as the Java Development Kit (JDK), said Simon Phipps, Sun's chief open-source officer. The site is also a forum for input on the best way to take Java to open-source, he said.

"I don't think that I or any of the people in Sun's Java organization know how to take Java and make it into a successful open-source community," Phipps said. "We've got ideas. We're fairly confident that it's possible, but we really need the advice and insight of the existing communities to help us get to that place."

Sun's move is part of a broad company restructuring following the replacement in April of co-founder Scott McNealy with Jonathan Schwartz as CEO. Sun has undertaken several other open-source projects, including its operating system with OpenSolaris and the open-source tools platform NetBeans.

CIO warns many IT workers face dangerous stress: "At the Share conference today, William Cross, CIO of Seminole Electric Cooperative, warned attendees that IT staffers work too much, get too stressed and are endangering their lives. August 15, 2006 (Computerworld) -- BALTIMORE -- When it comes to testing an IT system, William Cross, the CIO of Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc. in Tampa, Fla., uses an approach that his staff describes as "brutal." But it's a system Cross hopes will avoid sleep-disturbing middle-of-the-night production failures -- part of a larger effort to keep his staff from getting stressed out.

"I work very hard to make sure that my staff doesn't work overtime," said Cross, who spoke here today at the Share conference for IBM users. "We go to great lengths to help keep people from being called on nights and weekends."

The reason: People who work in the middle of the night are more prone to mistakes, he said.

Three terabyte desktop network drive ships: "The NAS is Mac OS X, Windows and Unix-compatible. It uses Web browser-based administration. It supports SMB/CIFS, UPnP and Webdisk network services.
he Platinum NAS system uses four individual Serial ATA (SATA) hard disk drive mechanisms, and can support 750GB drives -- for a total combined capacity of 3TB. Each drive can be hot-swapped using a lockable drive tray. The drive is Mac OS X, Windows and Unix-compatible.

The Platinum NAS uses Web browser-based administration. It supports SMB/CIFS, UPnP and Webdisk network services. The Platinum NAS is designed to work from a desktop, rather than a rack system, aimed primarily at small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) looking for fast, redundant network storage capabilities without the added complexity of a full-blown file server.

Sony to help pay for Dell recall: "

(InfoWorld) - Sony Corp. has promised to share the cost of a massive battery recall announced by Dell Inc. Monday after a series of notebook PCs burst into flames.Dell reported to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that 4.1 million laptops worldwide could catch fire, and recalled the batteries, which were built by Sony.

Asked if Sony would help pay for the cost of the action, a spokesman said, 'We are supporting Dell in many factors of this recall and that is one of them.'

The financial impact on both companies is unclear. Sony would not say how much money was involved, but did say it had also provided the battery cells to other PC manufacturers.

The defect was caused by a short circuit that happens when microscopic metal particles break through the lithium ion cell wall and contact a battery anode, said Sony spokesman Rick Clancy.

'You try to eliminate that in the manufacturing process, but to eliminate them 100 percent is very difficult. Usually when you have a short circuit, it might lead to a battery powering down so you'd have a dead battery, but other times it could lead to incidents including flaming,' Clancy said

The chances of a short circuit depend on the design of each PC, such as whether the battery cells are aligned in parallel or perpendicular, and their proximity to heat sources like the processor and power supply. But ultimately, the odds are against the engineers, since any given particle can create a short, just as any given sperm can make a baby.

'It's kind of like impregnating someone. It only takes one, so the more of them there are, the more likely that you'll impregnate someone,' said Clancy.

Despite the challenge of blocking every particle, the number of short circuits has been very low, Sony insists.

'It's a number you can count on two hands,' Clancy said, adding that it is inconsequential 'when you look at it by Six Sigma standards.' Six Sigma is a measure of engineering quality that ensures a process will not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities.

Faced with the danger of fighting open flames in an office or airplane, many corporate IT managers might not take solace in Sony's assurance. But some analysts agree that the chances of a given laptop catching fire are slim.

'Bully for Dell to come clean and admit it. The incident rate is very, very low. It's a handful and they've got 4 million batteries, so it's not like the Pinto,' said Ted Schadler, vice president for consumer electronics research at Forrester Research Inc. The Pinto was a car sold by Ford Motor Co. with a design defect causing its fuel tank to rupture in rear-end collisions, leading to deadly fires. Ford recalled 1.5 million Pintos in 1978.

Many IT managers now face a choice of whether to embark on an expensive campaign to recall all the notebooks scattered throughout a large company.

'IT departments may not pull out all the stops; it depends on their replacement cycle,' Schadler said. 'If it's an executive cycle of one or two years, they might wait, but if it's three years, they may want to do it sooner.'

Many IT managers will ask Dell for more details, since the recall spans a variety of 10 types of Dell Latitude notebooks, 15 models of Inspiron notebooks, four Precision workstations, and four XPS models.

The engineering specs, form factors and applications used will vary so much between those PCs that some administrators may decide that certain computers have an acceptable amount of risk. After all, Dell was merely following market demand to install power-hungry processors, shave weight off portable PCs, and hold prices down, Schadler said.

'Dell is not known for their engineering prowess, are they? Sony is an engineering company, and Dell is a marketing and sales company.'

But another analyst said the recall could cause havoc in corporate IT departments.

'IT managers need to react quickly to Dell's recall. It is likely to cause headaches for travelers that are asked to rely on AC power while waiting for the battery to ship to them. End users will not be happy,' said Samir Bhavnani, director of research at Current Analysis Inc.

Losing customers' trust would be bad news for Dell, of Round Rock, Texas. The company missed its earnings target for the first quarter and has watched rival Hewlett-Packard Co. catch up fast in market share.

'Dell right now is at a low,' he said. 'It is likely that we will not see a huge impact from the changes Dell is making until the second half of 2007.'

Since reporting its last results, Dell has spent $100 million on customer service and has simplified its process of offering discounts. Investors could learn more about the company's reaction to the recall when Dell reports its next quarterly earnings on Thursday.

(Via InfoWorld.)

Novell feels "passionate" about Linux! Novell Still Alive? WoW! If you ask any Novell Inc. watcher to rate the software vendor's abilities, the chances are that observer will give the company a low grade for marketing. Novell has struggled with how to position its products for years and now hopes it's finally on the right track with a new focus for its Suse Linux distribution.We've underperformed in marketing; I accept that,' said John Dragoon, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Novell. 'We're going to be a little more focused and more passionate.'

Novell executives provided a general update on Suse Tuesday at the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco. Suse faces off against rival Red Hat Inc.'s Linux distribution at the server level, but which company will be a major Linux provider on the desktop is up for grabs.

Dragoon hopes Novell's new tagline for Suse, 'Your Linux is ready,' will strike a chord with users concerned about the open-source operating system's performance, reliability, security, usability and support. The vendor released Suse Linux Enterprise Server 10 (SLES 10) and Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (SLED 10) last month.

Novell's new message about Suse promotes the operating system's ability to run on the desktop to the data center, as well as stressing the role the open-source community plays in contributing to the software. 'Our job as [Suse] custodians is not to screw it up,' Dragoon said. Novell acquired the Linux distribution when it purchased German company Suse in 2003.

Since last month's launch, Novell has seen over 325,000 downloads of the operating system, 175,000 of SLES 10 and 150,000 of SLED 10.

'We know that mindshare is not market share,' Dragoon said, adding that Novell's challenge is to convert the casual downloader into a Suse customer. About 19,000 of 150,000 SLED 10 downloads were by users who registered with Novell, indicating 'some level of seriousness' about Suse, added Jeff Jaffe, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Novell.

'The battle for the Linux desktop has taken many years and will continue to take many years,' Jaffe said. While Novell has had success with desktop Linux as a thin client or powering POS (point-of-sale) systems, the distribution has yet to make much of a dent in the corporate desktop operating systems arena where Microsoft Corp.'s Windows OS dominates. 'For the first time, we have a real alternative to the Windows desktop,' Jaffe said.

Novell will target two groups of desktop users for SLED 10, Jaffe said. The first group is users of engineering desktops like the ThinkPad laptop Lenovo Group Ltd. debuted Tuesday at LinuxWorld and which runs SLED 10, aimed at electronics engineers and chip designers.

The second, much larger group consists of 'corporate knowledge workers' whom he defined as staff typically using five applications -- e-mail, presentation graphics, spreadsheets, word processing and the Web -- at work. What Novell needs to focus on with SLED 10 is ensuring that the distribution runs those five applications well and is interoperable with Microsoft's Active Directory, he said.

For the next six months, Novell wants to encourage companies currently evaluating Microsoft's delayed Vista client operating system, now due out early next year, to pilot SLED 10.

'Find several 100 users and try out our desktop,' Jaffe said. 'If you like it, roll it out; if you don't like it, go back to bloatware and upgrade to Vista.'

Review: Ajax in 10 Minutes: "For Web developers who want to add more interactivity to their Web sites, this book is packed with information. It's well written, but if you're a novice additional programming background is recommended. To learn more, read on... By Lee Underwood. 0623"

The layout of the book, according to the introduction, is "divided into bite-sized lessons, each designed to take no more than about 10 minutes to complete." So it's the lessons that take 10 minutes, not the entire book. Well, that made a bit more sense. I found as I read the book that the lessons were easy to digest, and yes, they took roughly 10 minutes to complete. You would be amazed at the amount of information you can learn in ten minutes when it's put together in a concise format. The book was written by Phil Ballard, a professional Web consultant based in south east England.

Dell to recall 4 million batteries: "Inspiron, Latitude and Precision owners should check to see if they qualify for recall offer."

Apple Matters | Apple Market Share to Explode?

Apple Matters | Apple Market Share to Explode?: " On June 30 Apple Matters’ Darcy Richardson wrote an article questioning whether or not Apple is in jeopardy. In it she discussed some reasons for the temporary decrease in Apple Computer’s stock value.
It does seem that there are a lot of reports of Apple’s future demise. When researching my article last week about Maine’s $41 million laptop expenditure, I noticed reader comments about the inadvisability of Maine buying laptops from a sinking company. I knew that Apple was having a few difficulties that I suspected would only have a short term stock effect, but was surprised that some people feel the company is on the road to oblivion.
Those who think Apple Computer is on its last gasp might want to look at the latest news. It appears that Apple is poised for a market explosion.

Slashdot | Northrop to Sell Laser Shield Bubble for Airports

Slashdot | Northrop to Sell Laser Shield Bubble for Airports: "OSTG

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Northrop to Sell Laser Shield Bubble for Airports
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday July 12, @09:26PM
from the charge-the-ion-cannon dept.

NeoPrime writes 'CNN Money web site has a story about Northrop Grumman forecasting development of "

Five critical updates mark MS Patch Tuesday

Five critical updates mark MS Patch Tuesday: "

Overtime for sysadmins looms

Microsoft has released seven security updates, five of which it describes as critical, as part of its regular Patch Tuesday update cycle.

Of particular note is a security update for the DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol) Client for Windows (MS06-036), which creates a means for hackers to send maliciously crafted spoofed DHCP responses in an attempt to seize control of vulnerable machines provided they can gain access to a targeted LAN.

Galileo codes cracked

Galileo codes cracked: "

Security by obscurity fails again

The secret codes used by Europe's Galileo navigation satellite have been broken by researchers at Cornell University.…

A team from Cornell's Global Positioning System Laboratory succeeded in cracking so-called pseudo random number (PRN) codes of Europe's first global navigation satellite, despite attempts to keep the data under wraps. The development means "free access" for consumers who use navigation devices that would need PRNs to access satellite data from Galileo, according to the team from Cornell.

Linux 2.6.17 Released

Linux 2.6.17 Released: "diegocgteleline.es writes 'After almost three months, Linux 2.6.17 has been released. The changes include support for Sun Niagara CPUs, a new I/O mechanism called 'splice' which can improve the performance greatly for some applications, a scheduler domain optimized for multicore machines, driver for the widely used broadcom 43xx wifi chip (Apple's Airport Extreme and such), iptables support for the H.323 protocol, CCID2 support for DCCP, softmac layer for the wireless stack, block queue IO tracing, and many other changes listed at the changelog'

CNN.com - Apple surpasses beer on college campuses - Jun 7, 2006

In a rare instance, Apple Computer Inc.'s iconic iPod music player surpassed beer drinking as the most 'in' thing among undergraduate college students, according to the latest biannual market research study by Ridgewood, New Jersey-based Student Monitor.

Nearly three quarters, or 73 percent, of 1,200 students surveyed said iPods were 'in' -- more than any other item in a list that also included text messaging, bar hopping and downloading music.

In the year-ago study, only 59 percent of students named the iPod as 'in,' putting the gadget well below al"

(Via .)

PCWorld.com - Slick Apple MacBook Does Windows Too: "

With its new MacBook, Apple has filled out its Intel-based portable line with an entry-level model. But this mobile Macintosh packs so many clever, practical features into its compact case that using it never feels like a compromise. In fact, the $1499 matte-black version I tried out is one of the best-looking, best-designed laptops I've ever used, regardless of cost. (An otherwise identical shiny-white configuration goes for $1349; prices start at $1099.)

“Advice to Students: Pack a Mac”: "‘In a few months, nearly 3 million freshmen will head off to college,’ writes Stephen Wildstrom for BusinessWeek. ‘Included in the gear most of them lug along will be a computer, often brand new. This year I have some advice for the college-bound: Unless you have a compelling reason not to go with a Mac, an Apple laptop or desktop offers the best combination of features, ease of use, and value.’ [Jun 15, 2006]"

Malware’s commercialization driving security challenge | InfoWorld | News | 2006-06-13 | By Paul Krill: "
About InfoWorld : Advertise : Subscribe : Contact Us : Awards : Events : Store

Malware’s commercialization driving security challenge
Security remains a problem because of commercial incentives to build malicious software, but progress is being made, panelists say

Apple debuts new U2 iPod | CNET News.com: "


Apple debuts new U2 iPod
By Candace Lombardi
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: June 6, 2006, 9:45 AM PDT
TalkBackE-mailPrint
Apple Computer on Tuesday released a new version of its U2 Special Edition iPod music player, with a 30GB storage capacity and 14-hour battery life for $329.

Like the first version, the black and stainless steel iPod has a red navigation wheel and is engraved on the back with the signatures of U2's four band members. The new model holds up to 7,500 songs, 25,000 photos or up to 75 hours of video, Apple said.


The first U2 iPod, which was released in October 2004, held 20GB, had a 12-hour battery life, and did not have video functionality. It was priced at $349. As part of an Apple partnership with Universal Music Group, the device came with a

Google voices Microsoft browser-grab concern

Google voices Microsoft browser-grab concern:


The next release of Internet Explorer continues to worry Google, despite having no plans to develop a competing browser, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday.
Microsoft is currently beta testing IE7, which contains a search box with a drop-down menu which by default uses the company's search engine. Google executives have complained about this, and Schmidt reiterated their concern on Wednesday.
"We want to make sure that the use of the power of Windows is done in a correct and legally appropriate way," Schmidt said in a question-and-answer session with financial analysts and investors.

Steve Jobs Should Quit Apple and Head Disney

Steve Jobs Should Quit Apple and Head Disney:

think that Mr. Jobs has done a wonderful job bringing Apple back from the brink of death. He has completely revolutionized the industry and set Apple on sound financial footing for many years to come. In fact, even if Apple just cruises through the next couple of years without doing anything terribly ground breaking, it will still continue to gain market share and increase profits based on the work that Jobs has already done. In fact, I don’t think its unreasonable to say that Jobs’ most innovative years are now behind him and that anything else he produces won’t have the same impact or response as his two most iconic creations, the iMac and the iPod. Thus I am suggesting that perhaps Mr. Jobs leave now, while he is still at the top of his game. Let Mr. Ive and the rest of the staff he has trained handle things from here because it is time to move on to bigger and better things.…

Mac Whacking: switching between desktop environments is a slap!: "From this post by Tom Krazit at CNET we learn of Erling Ellingsen who has developed a way to use the motion sensor in modern Mac laptops to allow him to tap the side of the screen and bring up different desktop environments. He has posted a video of this amazing feat as well as all the geeky details on on how to get this stunt to work.

iPod phone Part 1: Speed Dial with your iPod: "If you're an iPod owner, you're carrying more power around in your pocket that you realize. The ubiquitous music player has capabilities that go way beyond 5,000 songs.

In our new series, Pro Pod Power Tips we'll unlock some of the iPod's lesser-known capabilities.

Join me for our first episode. We'll be teaching our iPods to dial a phone in the first of two iPod phone articles.

CONCEPTDRAW MINDMAP 4.4 ADDS MIND MAPPING TO iPOD: "Odessa, Ukraine, May 18, 2006 – CS Odessa announces that the new version of ConceptDraw MINDMAP 4.4 becomes the first application that brings mind maps to iPods. With ConceptDraw MINDMAP users of

Apple releases XCode 2.3 | MacMegasite: " 
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Apple releases XCode 2.3
Apple has released XCode 2.3, the latest version of their integrated development environment. Major changes in this version include New DWARF debugging format for improved debugging fidelity and efficient utilization of disk space; New Distributed Network Build (DNB) scalable build architecture; and numerous enhancements and bug fixes. XCode 2.3 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later on a PowerPC or Intel processor. See the full release notes here.

Apple Matters | When Is It Okay to Insult iPod Users?: "
http://applematters.com/images/uploads/ch_idont_entry.jpg

May 27, 1981: Apple Offers Second Block Shares to the Public
Decode Your Digital Photos with Reveal
Apple Plus Pearson Equals PowerSchool Multiplied
May 26, 2004: Apple Starts an iPod Division
Is There Room for a Really Cheap Mac?

iPhone: iThink Not

If you were kicking around Europe in the middle ages there were certain things, William Manchester tells us, that you simply believed. Saber toothed hirsute humans patrolled the forests, Atlantis was just over the horizon, and rabid frothing men with the heads of dogs lived to the south. That there was no evidence of the existence of any of these things would not, the average peasant would sincerely aver, have the slightest impact on the implicit unshakable belief in their reality. The Apple iPhone is a little like the legends of yore. There is no actual evidence of such a beast but because there are iPods and cell phones it seems like a sure thing that Apple will produce a cell phone.

Scott Kelby launches online ''Photoshop for Digital Photographers'': "The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) has just released Photoshop for Digital Photographers with Scott Kelby--a 21-day online training course on its newly launched training site....

Why the New Mac Campaign will Fail: "

Last Thursday, this space featured a column earnestly opining that advertising the iPod alone wasn’t enough to help Mac sales. This week Apple introduced new ads for the Mac. The surprising thing is that Apple could respond that quickly to the complaint, sure Final Cut is great but Apple even…

Apple Renews 99 Cent Deal--Is That What It Takes to Compete?: "

In a meeting ending Monday evening, Apple announced it would hold steady on the original 99 cent price for all of its iTunes songs. Apple pioneered the digital download market in 2003 with the iPod/iTunes perfect combination, but recently music industry moguls and overseas legislation have threatened the iTunes price bracket.…

This Day: May 11, 1999: Apple Announces the G4: "The biggest difference between a G3 chip and its successor the G4 was Altivec. Altivec, renamed Velocity Engine by Apple for marketing purposes, added a 128 bit vector execution unit that promised to speed up graphically intensive tasks significantly. That wasn’t the only good thing about the G4.

MS tries to rain on PS3 parade with $200 Wii forecast: "

Exec predicts cut-price Nintendo box

Microsoft has claimed Nintendo's Wii console will cost $200 when its ships. Well, sort of. In a dig at Sony, Microsoft VP Peter Moore said consumers will be able to buy an Xbox 360 and a Wii for the price of a $599 PlayStation 3, according to Reuters.…

NASA denies Japanese SST talks: "

'No discussion at this time' on SuperConcorde

A NASA spokeswoman has denied that the agency plans to hold talks with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) over the development of the latter's Next Generation Supersonic Transport (SST).…

Photos: Apple unwraps 17-inch MacBook Pro: "The 17-inch MacBook Pro, which features Intel's Duo dual-core chip, is similiar to the 15-inch model.
"

Microsoft Tool To Help Users Avoid Typo Domains

Microsoft Tool To Help Users Avoid Typo Domains:
blueZ3 writes "ZDnet is running a story on a new tool from Microsoft that aims to inform users when they reach 'typo domains'. Apparently, there's concern in Redmond that IE users are being exploited by companies running ad farms on typo domains. The tool uses an automated search routine to look for domains with particular types of typographical errors--transpositions, incorrect TLDs, missing letters--and then adds the domains to a database. The eventual goal (though this isn't clear from the article) seems to be something akin to Verisign's URL redirecting, where typo domains are blocked."

Venus Probe Returns First Images

Venus Probe Returns First Images:
The BBC reports on the first images returned from Venus by the EU probe. From the article: "They show the hothouse planet's south pole from a distance of 206,452km. Mission scientists are already intrigued by a dark 'vortex' feature which can be clearly seen in one image. Venus Express will orbit the planet for about 500 Earth days to study its atmosphere, which is thought to have undergone runaway greenhouse warming." They're offering some high-rez images of the planet at the ESA website.

Lessig, Stallman on 'Open Source' DRM

Lessig, Stallman on 'Open Source' DRM:

Best of all possible shaftings?

When Sun trumpeted its 'open source DRM' last month, no one at first noticed an unusual name amongst the canned quotes. Lending his support to the rights enforcement technology was Free Software Foundation, Electronic Frontier Foundation board member, and Software Freedom Law Center director, Professor Lawrence Lessig. A name usually associated with the unrestricted exchange of digital media.…

Samsung elbows its way into chip foundry business: "

(InfoWorld) - Samsung Electronics plans to double the capacity at its chip foundry subsidiary by the end of this year and become a potent new rival in the made-to-order chip business, a senior Samsung executive said Tuesday.The subsidiary, Samsung Semiconductor, is targeting customers requiring the most advanced production methods available, aided by a technology alliance with IBM and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing that will take it to a cutting edge, 45-nanometer manufacturing process.

'Our focus is on 90-nanometer and below, including 65-nanometer. Now we have [130-nanometer] and below in production,' said Ana Hunter, Samsung's new vice president of technology at the U.S. subsidiary.

Working at IBM's facility in Fishkill, New York, joint development teams have already completed work on 65-nanometer manufacturing technology and are moving it into Samsung's chip factory in South Korea. Around 30 Samsung engineers remain in Fishkill, hard at work on 45-nanometer technology. A nanometer is a measurement of the size of transistors and other parts that are etched onto chips.

Samsung has also invested in a state-of-the-art chip factory for the foundry venture. Output is at around 15,000 silicon wafers per month now, Hunter said, but capacity will double to 30,000 by year's end. Ultimately, output will reach 70,000 wafers per month. Hundreds or thousands of chips can be made on one wafer, depending on the chips' size.

Heavy investment is required for such plants, which cost around $3 billion, but Hunter declined to give a figure.

'Samsung is one of the few companies able to invest at the leading edge for volume production,' she said.

The deal to join the technology alliance with IBM and Chartered also provides a boost, in part because doing R&D jointly is less expensive than going it alone. Developing technology together also makes it easier for a customer to choose any of the three companies for its chip production. Chips are designed to be made on a specific production line, which is why once a customer chooses a foundry for a specific product, they rarely switch.

The new chip factory and R&D alliance make Samsung a potent new rival for foundry industry leaders Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp.

'Samsung's track record speaks for itself. The memory giant has taken over a strong position in everything they've commit themselves to,' said Joanne Itow, an analyst at Semico Research in a report Monday.

The Taiwanese foundry leaders have fended off competition before, but in recent years several Japanese companies have moved into their territory, and new entrants are targeting the most advanced chip production. TSMC is watching the new competitors carefully: 'We respect them, but we do not fear them,' TSMC Chairman Morris Chang has said.

For Samsung Semiconductor, this year is about moving forward. So far, it has gained orders from its parent company and from mobile phone chip developer Qualcomm Inc. But the company faces challenges.

Hunter said there has been some hesitancy among potential customers to work with Samsung because of its roots as a chip developer and producer. Companies that create and make their own chips have a history of renting out excess production lines to smaller companies when times are lean, but taking them back when demand spikes. It's an arrangement that doesn't work well for small customers because they miss out on hot demand. The foundry industry was developed by TSMC to solve this problem.

'We have to prove ourselves to the market. ... It has not been a major business area for us in the past,' said Hunter, who worked at Chartered Semiconductor for 15 years before taking her new role at Samsung.

Sue Google, not us, Torrentspy tells Hollywood : "

Sue Google, not us, Torrentspy tells Hollywood
Torrentspy argues it can't be held liable for actions of visitors once they leave its Web site

By Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service
March 28, 2006 E-mail  
Printer Friendly Version
The Motion (Overview, Articles, Company) Picture Association of America (MPAA) might just as well have sued Google (Profile, Products, Articles) for copyright violation rather than pick on Torrentspy, the smaller company said in a court filing this week seeking dismissal of the case.

German watermark technology gains traction: "

(InfoWorld) - In case you didn't know, two separate institutes within the renowned German research group Fraunhofer Gesellschaft have developed two separate watermark technologies, with one quietly gaining traction in the European audio sectorMusicTrace, a spin-off of the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, has delivered watermark technology to Optimal Media Production for a new service aimed at curbing online music piracy, MusicTrace Managing Director Christian Neubauer said Tuesday in an interview. The Fraunhofer Institute was the creator of the MPEG-1 Layer 3 algorithm, later shortened to MP3.

'Optimal Media plans a service that will allow music studios to use watermark technology to protect the music they typically provide on CDs to broadcasters, critics and others for review before commercial distribution,' Neubauer said. 'Music companies are very concerned about music landing on the Internet and being copied illegally. Our technology is designed to track pirated copies.'

MusicTrace technology embeds a watermark in music stored on CDs. The technology makes slight changes to sound data; for instance, the change could be a higher volume intensity in a tiny part of a song.

The technology is already being used by the Austrian subsidiary of Sony, which operates the German-language, audio-book Web site claudio.de, according to Neubauer.

MusicTrace was issued a patent for its watermark technology in 1996, he said.

But another Fraunhofer group is following closely on the heals of MusicTrace. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Integrated Publication and Information Systems Institute, one of 58 institutes within the huge applied research group, have successfully tested a software system, based on their own digital watermarking technology, for tracking pirated audio files in p-to-p (peer-to-peer) file-sharing networks.

The institute's approach differs from others in that it doesn't monitor the individuals who illegally download music but rather scans for content that has been illegally uploaded.

The technology was demonstrated earlier this month at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany.

Apple restricts developer code access: "Developers angry at Apple's new approach to OS X code-sharing."

In an apparent attempt to stop developers porting Mac OS X to non-Macs based on Intel processors, Apple has restricted developer access to key elements of its source code. 'With the release of Mac OS X for x86 processors, Apple has chosen not to release source to key components of the OS, such as the kernel and all drivers," said Rob Braun in Dæmon News.

Apple To Drop Mac OS X In Favour Of Windows: "Ahhh, I'm perpetuating the machine! That John Dvorak may be whack, but he knows how to get a click. See? Here's another one! This time he's gone all-out, with a delusional, pot-smoking, half-baked, preposterous, offensive, short-pants-wearing, goose-stepping, lollypop-eating crazy idea. I mean, woah! Come on. Seriously. Here he is, repeating the words of some guy some idiot gave a PhD to: Epstein made four observations. The first was that the Apple Switch ad campaign was over, and nobody switched. The second was that the iPod lost its FireWire connector because the PC world was the new target audience. Also, although the iPod was designed to get people to move to the Mac, this didn't happen. And, of course, that Apple had switched to the Intel microprocessor. Hmm... where to begin? The Switch campaign is still running, they've sold 20% more Macs this past quarter than the year-ago quarter, who cares about Firewire, and yeah, so they switched to Intel. I'm still waiting for the convincing argument here! Anyone? Anyone?"

CTIA Not Opposed to Municipal Broadband: "The National Journal reports the CTIA says it's not opposed to competition from municipal broadband: Many of its members offer Wi-Fi service and Cingular apparently bid on the San Francisco service, which I'm embarassed to have missed. (Cingular is majority owned by AT&T, minority owned by BellSouth. AT&T has led significant lobbying efforts in Texas against municipally owned or franchised broadband, but Verizon and Comcast have been loudest elsewhere.) Update: A colleague wrote in to note that Cingular's 'bid' in San Francisco was a response to the initial RFI/P (request for information/proposal) in which they noted the prevalence of 3G service. I tried to look up their response and it's not in the archives at the Tech Connect site that houses SF's project. Further Update: Another colleague wrote to tell me that Cingular's 'bid' was part of the SBC response to the RFI which is not found in the alphabetical proposal listings, but rather in the Comments download, which was to be reserved for non-proposal input. On reviewing that submission, it's clear that SBC answered with a great degree of detail and no real SF specificity except to state that 73 FreedomLink hotspots are in SF. They talk at length about SBC's fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) initiatives without noting how many SF residences might benefit. They mention 3G service being ubiquitous without discussing monthly costs or interior access (poor). They suggest DSL service up to 6 Mbps is available, but don't have any information on which fast speeds are available to which percentage of residents. Hardly a bid for Wi-Fi service...

Mac OS X Security:
Mac and Linux users aren't used to turning on the news and hearing about security threats that affect us. The Linux stuff doesn't get reported because Linux is too geeky, and the Mac threats have been generally absent because there haven't been many.

Well, two Mac issues popped up last week and caused a bit of excitement. The second of the two was really bogus, and probably never would have had any legs at all if the other one hadn't happened. From http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/:

Inqtana.A has not been met in the wild and it uses Bluetooth library
that is locked into specific Bluetooth address and the library
expires on 24. February 2006. So it is quite unlikely that Inqtana.

U.S. now allows full 5-GHz Wi-Fi networking: "The FCC added another 255 MHz and 11 channels to the existing 325 MHz and 13 channels available for Wi-Fi in the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure spectrum. As of Jan. 20, any products that apply for certification in the 5.47-to-5.725-GHz band or in the lower end of the UNII band at 5.25 GHz to 5.35 GHz were required to support dynamic frequency selection (DFS) and transmit power control (TPC) to minimize interference, per a February 2005 FCC order. If you've already got equipment running in the lower band installed, don't worry, you're grandfathered.DFS and TPC are part of 802.11h, the European "flavor" of 802.11a. DFS dynamically instructs a transmitter to switch to another channel under particular conditions, such as the presence of a radar signal.

Microsoft's Office Live services debut with e-mail, Web hosting services: "

(InfoWorld) - The first installment of Microsoft's Office Live initiative landed in beta form last week. No one really thought an AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) version of MS Office was imminent, but it was still slightly disappointing to see that Office Live went little beyond the fee-based e-mail, HTML template, and Web hosting services that a range of vendors have offered before to small businesses.Make that very small businesses. 'Office Live is really aimed at U.S. businesses with less than 10 employees,' said Dean Nicolls, senior product manager of information workers services at Microsoft. 'Office Live is giving them an all-in-one solution to create an online presence -- from creating a Web site to having company branded e-mail and Web site stats, to having their own shared sites and online business applications so they can keep all their information in one place.'

Office Live will be available in three versions, all available in final release by the end of year. Office Live Basics, which includes a Web site, domain name, oodles of templates, Web site analytics, and five e-mail accounts, will be advertising-supported and free of charge to customers. Office Live Collaboration includes 20 business applications for managing customers and employees, whereas Office Live Essentials rolls up the functionality of both plus 50 e-mail accounts. Free during beta, final versions of Collaboration and Essentials will go for a monthly subscription fee starting at $29.95.

Microsoft confirms USB bug that drains batteries: "

(InfoWorld) - An unfixed bug in the USB (Universal Serial Bus) driver of Windows XP Service Pack 2 OS causes a notebook's battery to drain faster than usual when there is a device connected to its USB port, Microsoft Corp. confirmed Friday.In a statement through its public relations firm Waggener Edstrom Inc., Microsoft also admitted that the flaw, which lies in the ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) driver of Windows XP SP 2, will remain without an easy-to-apply fix indefinitely. The ACPI is part of the OS's power management scheme for USB 2.0, the latest standard for USB peripheral ports on notebook computers.

The flaw affects some Intel-based laptop computers, according to Microsoft. The company informed its support and OEM (original equipment manufacturer) hardware partners of its existence in July 2005 through an article in its knowledge base, a searchable database where support partners can find information about Microsoft technology.

In that article, the company outlined a registry key fix for the bug, but this fix requires a 'deep understanding' of the OS and there are risks involved with implementing it so it is not meant for general customer user, Microsoft said.

Microsoft and its third-party support partners are continuing to investigate the bug but do not know if and when they will release a widespread fix, according to Microsoft. However, the company said concerned customers should contact Microsoft technical support and if demand for a patch is sufficient, it will do additional testing and release a fix on its Microsoft.com/download center.

Microsoft said it did not on its own make information about the bug generally available because 'the impact was negligible on most systems' at the time the knowledge-base article was released. A published report discovered the bug in late January, and only then did the company publicly acknowledge the flaw.

'While there is a noticeable impact on battery life when USB 2.0 devices are plugged into some specific models of laptop computers, these systems are still fully functional and newer systems have significantly longer battery life than their predecessors, whether a USB 2.0 device is plugged in or not,' Microsoft said in its statement.

Also, since behavior of the flaw had not been fully tested when Microsoft released information about it to OEMs, the company said changing the USB driver software might negatively affect how the USB port interacts with other devices. For example, some devices might not work when plugged into the port, or the entire computer might not respond, Microsoft said.

IBM to boost Web enablement in Rational tools | InfoWorld | News | 2006-02-17 | By Paul Krill: "About InfoWorld : Advertise : Subscribe : Contact Us : Awards : Events : Store
While Rational has products now that can run in a browser, IBM (Profile, Products, Articles) is focused on server enablement of the offerings so they live on the Web, said Danny Sabbah, IBM Rational general manager. Rational RequisitePro, for example, could be deployed as a distributed application. Key to the effort will be the federation of project databases to make them more easily accessible to globally distributed development teams. Federated databases will provide a single view of an application on the Web.

PlayStation 3 Delayed, Over $800?: "AWhiteFlame writes 'Cnet is reporting that a research report issued by Merrill Lynch suggests that the Sony PlayStation 3's American release may be postponed until 2007. From the article: 'The analyst firm proposed the idea that high costs and Sony's decision to use an 'ambitious new processor architecture--the Cell' is making it look like the company might not be able to meet its goal of getting the PS3 out in the U.S. this year.' Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment.' The official report (pdf) would also seem to indicate that the console will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $900 when it launches."

The analyst firm proposed the idea that high costs and Sony's decision to use an 'ambitious new processor architecture--the Cell' is making it look like the company might not be able to meet its goal of getting the PS3 out in the U.S. this year.' Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment." The official report (pdf) would also seem to indicate that the console will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $900 when it launches.

Homeland security urges DRM rootkit ban | The Register: Homeland security urges DRM rootkit ban
Give it up
Published Friday 17th February 2006 16:29 GMT
New year, new job? Click here for thousands of tech vacancies.
US government officials took Sony BMG to task over its controversial use of rootkit-style copy protectio"

Mac OS X malware latches onto Bluetooth vulnerability: "

Lab rat poses low risk

A second strain of malware targeting Mac OS X has been discovered days after a Mac OS X Trojan appeared on the scene. The latest malware, Inqtana-A, is a proof-of-concept worm that attempts to spread using a Bluetooth vulnerability.…

"The worm is not spreading in the wild and uses an internal counter that means it will expire on February 24, so it's unlikely to ever be much of a problem. Nonetheless, Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) users are still advised to make sure they're patched up in order to guard against attack from any future worm that uses the same exploit."

Panic spreads over Windows Vista 'back door' that never was: "

MS caught not evildoing again...

Who'd be a Microsoft? There you are, strolling along minding your own business and the next thing you know you're in a top level conspiracy with the UK security forces to put a back door into Windows Vista. Or so, anyway, the web bush telegraph would have us believe. But disorientating as we find it to be leaping to Microsoft's defence twice in one day, we at The Register feel compelled to point out that the story is somewhat exaggerated, going on entirely untrue.…

MacBook Pro from Apple Begins Shipping This Week

It looks like Apple is all ready to ship the Apple MacBook Pro, these beauties makes me wish I was one of the lucky few. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro notebook features Core Duo processor, built-in iSight(TM) video camera and a host of rich features. All models will contain faster processors than previously announced with no add ional cost. The start up model ships at around $1,999 while the Mac Pro with a 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo processor is priced at 2,499. Te new MacBook Pro will begin shipping this week and will be available through the Apple Store(R) (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

Belkin CableFree USB hub : «
Now you can place your laptop anywhere in the room while still maintaining wireless access to their USB devices, such as printers, scanners, hard drives, and MP3 players. Surprised! Don’t be, it’s a reality not a dream. Thanks to the award winning Belkin CableFree USB Hub, the industry's first USB Hub to enable wireless connectivity between a computer and its USB peripherals.

It is worth mentioning in this regard that Belkin CableFree USB Hub has recently won the coveted Laptop Magazine's Best of CES Award for its innovation and functionality. By using CableFree USB hub you can locate your printers, scanners, hard drives, and MP3 players anywhere in the room because there is going to be no cables around. It will give the laptop users a much-needed cushion to roam wirelessly while still maintaining access to their stationary USB devices.

Microsoft to launch Office Live beta: "Microsoft is set to announce a free beta of its Office Live service for small businesses tomorrow and said it hopes to garner more than 100,000 beta users for it. Microsoft will announce the free beta of its upcoming Office Live service for small businesses tomorrow and said it hopes to garner more than 100,000 beta users for it.
The premium versions of the Office Live service will likely cost less than the monthly bill for a cable broadband Internet subscription, the company said.

First announced last November by Microsoft's in-house software-as-a-service guru, Ray Ozzie, Office Live is a bit of a misnomer: The service does not replicate any of the features of Microsoft's Office suite of productivity software. Instead, it is, for now, a repackaging of services formerly offered via the MSN portal but targeted at small businesses.

Microsoft patch fails to install for some users - Computerworld: "
IDG Network:    FEBRUARY 15, 2006 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - Microsoft Corp. has reported a problem with one of its security patches released yesterday that requires some users to take additional steps to ensure it installs properly. Soon after its release, Microsoft discovered a problem for users who tried to install MS06-007 through the following channels: Automatic Updates, Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), and Systems Management Server 2003 when used with the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates (ITMU), the company said.

Customers using Automatic Updates don't have to take any action because the patch will install properly with their next scheduled update, Microsoft said.

Deploying the .NET Framework 1.1 Using Systems Management Server 2.0: "Describes the specific procedures for using Systems Management Server (SMS) to deploy the Windows Installer setup package for the .NET Framework 1.1 (Dotnetfx.exe) across a network."
The beter question is: How many server versions MS has? It is getting to be a joke!