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The May 15 gathering will be one of our combined SIG meetings. Soundediting will be the focus with Richard Rollins and Ed Hadley showing how torecapture and transfer audio information from tape and vinyl to CD. Crackout your 78s, Mama, we're going digital.
As always, we welcome any kind of input or feedback from members. Run across aninteresting item or tidbit on the net? Just send the link to the editor.Have an article or review you'd like to submit? Send it in. Have a comment?Email any officer you like. Involvement is the driving force of any usergroup. Welcome to the ours.
George Morrow, a mathematician and programmer who was a member of a groupof unorthodox hobbyists who were instrumental in creating the personalcomputer industry, died at his home in San Mateo, Calif., on Wednesday.
He was 69 and had suffered from aplastic anemia for the last year, his wifesaid.
Mr. Morrow was born in Detroit. He dropped out of high school, but at theage of 28 decided to return to school and received a bachelor's degree inphysics from Stanford University and a master's degree in mathematics fromthe University of Oklahoma. He entered a Ph.D. program in mathematics atthe University of California at Berkeley, but was sidetracked by hispassion for computers.
He started working as a programmer in the computer laboratory at Berkeleyin the early 1970s and began attending meetings of the Homebrew ComputerClub, an informal group of engineers, programmers, experimenters andentrepreneurs that ultimately spun off dozens of companies that formed thecore of the personal computer industry in the 1970s.
Forms Microstuf
Initially, most personal computers were sold as kits. Mr. Morrow formedMicrostuf, a company in Berkeley, Calif., to sell expansion cards and othercomputer add-on products to the first generation of personal computerenthusiasts. He would later change the name of the company, first toThinker Toys and later to Morrow Designs.
A self-taught computer designer, Mr. Morrow was involved in the efforts tocreate and standardize the S100 bus, a hardware design that made itpossible for early PC makers to share expansion cards.
Morrow Designs thrived when the personal computer became an important toolfor small businesses. The first machines ran the Digital Research CP/Moperating system. Later, Mr. Morrow introduced a portable computer intendedto compete head-to-head with the popular Osborne 1 computer. The Morrowmachine matched the Osborne's $1,795 price but offered more bundledsoftware.
Mr. Morrow was well-known for his enthusiasm and his sense of humor withinthe computer industry. Lee Felsenstein, who was one of the original membersof the Homebrew club and the designer of the Osborne 1, recalled that Mr.Morrow was usually dressed in jeans and tennis shoes.
When IBM began to dominate the PC market, Mr. Morrow was forced to shift tothe industry standard. In 1985, his company introduced a popular portabledesign known as the Pivot and sold the design to Zenith Data Systems. Butwith the industry becoming increasingly dominated by large electronicscompanies, Morrow Designs filed for bankruptcy in 1986.
In recent years, Mr. Morrow spent his time maintaining a collection of70,000 78rpm recordings, with much of the collection being dance and jazzmusic of the 1920s and 1930s. He had developed an advanced electronicsystem for digitizing and remastering the recordings, and he wasdistributing them on compact disc on his own label, the Old Masters.
He is survived by his wife, Michiko Jean, of San Mateo; two sons, John, ofSan Mateo, and William, of New York; and a daughter, Kelly, of San Jose,Calif.
Silicon Valley-based technology firms are increasingly worried about theimpact of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, on business. Manymanufacture computer parts in Asia and are preparing for businessdisruptions if the disease continues to spread.
http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1257953
http://news.com.com/2009-1086_3-999475.html?tag=fd_nc_1
Intel said Sunday that it cut the prices of its fastest microprocessorsfor desktop and laptop PCs by as much as 38 percent, following its regularpattern of slashing the cost of its chips in advance of faster models.
The price of Intel's Pentium 4 microprocessor running at 3GHz was cut 32percent to $401 from $589. The price of the mobile Pentium 4 chip runningat 2.4GHz was cut 38 percent to $348. Intel last made price cuts inFebruary.
The cuts came as Intel introduced faster models of both types of chips.
The price of Intel's newest chip for desktop computers--a Pentium 4 whichalso runs at 3GHz but has a faster system bus, or pathway to the rest ofthe computer--was set at $417. The new mobile chip, which runs at 2.5GHz,was set at $562.
Cuts to Intel's price list, which shows the cost of bulk purchases of 1,000chips, generally translate into reductions in the price of personalcomputers because microprocessors, the brains of PCs, represent asignificant percentage of the overall cost.
Apple Computer posted a small $14 million profit for its second fiscalquarter of the year on revenues of $1.474 billion for the quarter. Overallrevenue was down 1 percent from the same time last year, but margins wereup to 28.3 percent and international sales accounted for 47 percent ofApple's total sales volume. Apple shipped 711,000 Macs in the quarter, withfully 40 percent of them being notebooks - a strong debut for the new12-inch and 17-inch PowerBooks.
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/apr/16earnings.html
Although Apple's profit isn't stunning, the company managed to increase itscash-on-hand to over $4.5 billion, and has reduced the time in channel ofits products to four-and-a-half weeks. Apple says its next quarter shouldbe relatively flat (e.g., a small profit), assuming no major news shakesthe Apple tree. The market has been abuzz of late with rumors Apple mayapply some of its considerable cash assets towards the purchase ofUniversal Music, although both Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Vivendi directorClaude Bebear have denied Apple has made an offer for the world's largestmusic label. Apple is widely speculated to be preparing the imminent launchof a commercial music service to tie in with iTunes and the iPod; UniversalMusic's catalog would be a key component to any online commercial musicservice. [GD]
Apple's entry-level laptop family received a minor refresh this week,picking up a speed bump and larger hard disks but little else. The basic$1,000 12-inch iBook configuration now includes an 800 MHz PowerPC G3processor (up from 700 MHz) and a 30 GB hard drive. For $1,300, you canmove up to a 12-inch iBook with a 900 MHz processor and a 40 GB hard drive.The larger 14-inch model, at $1,500, also sports a 900 MHz processor and 40GB drive; a build-to-order option offers a 60 GB drive, 640 MB of RAM, andan AirPort card. The big surprise with this update is that these modelsdon't support AirPort Extreme, especially since this revision is likely tobe the one that students and school districts will consider for the nextschool year. However, with school budgets tightening, perhaps Apple isattempting to keep costs down until AirPort Extreme is more widely adopted.The new iBooks are available now. [JLC]
http://www.apple.com/ibook/
http://www.apple.com/airport/
As has been discussed in TidBITS Talk, Mac OS X 10.2.5 has some troubleswith certain USB hubs, with kernel panics becoming increasingly common.Last week, Apple offered some relief from those crashes for many byreleasing Mac OS X 10.2.6. Foremost among the changes is a fix for the USBbug; other changes include better printing compatibility for PostScriptOpenType fonts, fixes for certain Maya features, better compatibility withMacSoft Unreal Tournament 2003, a fix for Asian language scripts notappearing when English is the default language, and support for the SonyEricsson T610 phone in Address Book. It's a 6.1 MB download via SoftwareUpdate; standalone installers for updating from Mac OS 10.2.5 (6 MB) andfrom any previous version of Mac OS X 10.2 (86 MB) are also available. [ACE]
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=1909
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25448
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Apple Computer last week announced the availability of new all-in-one eMaccomputers. Like their predecessors, the new eMacs sport a 17-inch CRTdisplay (rather than the LCD flat panel displays used in other Macs)supporting resolutions up to 1280 by 960 pixels, but the eMacs now offer800 MHz and 1 GHz G4 processors, the ATI Radeon 7500 graphics processor,support for AirPort Extreme, and optional SuperDrives. The $800 base modeleMac features an 800 MHz G4 processor, a CD-ROM drive, a 40 GB hard drive,and 128 MB of RAM. The $1,000 version of the eMac offers a 1 GHz G4processor, a 32x DVD-ROM/ CD-RW Combo drive, and a 60 GB hard drive, whilethe high-end $1,300 eMac sports a 1 GHz G4 processor, a 4x SuperDrive, 256MB of RAM, and an 80 GB hard drive. All models have two FireWire ports, 5USB ports (three on the computer, two on the keyboard), an audio line-inport for microphones or other audio equipment, 10/100Base-T Ethernet and aV.92 56 Kbps modem. The CD-ROM and Combo drive eMacs still support bootingin Mac OS 9, though the SuperDrive-equipped eMac boots only into Mac OS X.The new systems ship with Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, and they are available boththrough normal consumer channels and to education customers in the U.S. andCanada. [GD]
http://www.apple.com/emac/
http://www.apple.com/education/store/
Apple today unveiled the iTunes Music Store, a commercial Internet musicservice featuring more than 200,000 tracks from the five largest musiclabels and available via a new Music Store playlist entry in the popular(and still free) iTunes 4 music playback and disc burning software. TheiTunes Music Store requires Mac OS X 10.1.5 or higher, iTunes 4 (an 8.3 MBdownload), and QuickTime 6.2 (a separate 18.4 MB download).
http://www.apple.com/music/store/
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
Unlike existing commercial music services such as Rhapsody and PressPlay,the iTunes Music Store offers both individual tracks and albums for saleand does not require a subscription, although customers may currentlypurchase _only_ using a valid credit card billable to a United Statesaddress using Apple's 1-Click accounts. The iTunes Music Store also allowscustomers to burn purchased tracks to CD or DVD discs (an unlimited oftimes for individual songs; up to ten times for an unchanged playlist), andto transfer tracks to players and up to three different Macs. Also unlikeevery other commercial music service, the iTunes Music Store is Mac-firstand currently Mac-only.
The iTunes Music Store offers individual tracks for sale from artists onthe world's five largest record labels - Universal, Sony, BMG, EMI, andWarner. The store's catalog currently features over 200,000 selections, andApple says the list will be expanding quickly (they'll even send you emailevery Tuesday with promotions and new additions). Importantly, the _entire_iTunes Music Store catalog is browsable within iTunes 4 by genre, artist,and album, and a 30-second audio preview is available for every track onthe service. Many tracks also feature cover art and some even offer videos.New selections, staff favorites, and featured artists will also be calledout separately. Once signed up, you can purchase individual tracks orentire albums with a single click. Individual tracks start at 99 cents;albums are typically priced between $10 and $15. Availability of specifictracks and artists may vary a bit: some artists don't permit the sale ofindividual tracks, so customers may be able to purchase only entire albums,and some long-form tracks (such as extended live performances, spoken wordrecordings, environmental recordings, some classical music) may have priceshigher than 99 cents. For users with low-speed connections, a shopping cartfeature enables the batch purchase of tracks so selections can bedownloaded all at once while you do something else.
Tracks available via iTunes Music Store are not MP3 files: instead, they'reencoded using AAC (Advanced Audio Codec), a technology from Dolby Labswhich is also incorporated into the MPEG-4 standard. At bit rates of 128Kbps and above, AAC offers greater audio quality than MP3 encoding,although AAC doesn't necessarily do as well at lower bit rates (such asthose suitable for modems). Using AAC also enables Apple to tap into thedigital rights management (DRM) technologies rolled into QuickTime 6.2,preventing the tracks from being swapped as easily as MP3 files. Users cantransfer AAC files purchased on iTunes Music Service to another computer,but iTunes 4 and other AAC playback software will require the originalpurchaser's ID and password to play them.
If the iTunes Music Store succeeds, expect Apple to ship a version thatworks for Windows users - much as they've done with the iPod player - andthe company says they're working to make the iTunes Music Store availableto international customers.
The real question is whether the iTunes Music Store's 1-Click shopping,music selection, and 99 cent price per track are enough to convince theusers of song-swapping services to "get legal." The tracks for sale viaiTunes Music Store are legitimate, legal copies of the music, but they'restill part of the much-vilified commercial music industry, which manysong-swappers don't want to support in any way, even at 99 cents per track.Music from independent artists and labels probably won't be available viathe service unless a distribution agreement is in place with one of theso-called "big five" labels, and very little of the 99 cent purchase priceis likely to make its way back to the folks who actually wrote, recorded,and produced the audio in any case. Looking forward, it would beinteresting to see Apple explore an affiliate program with the iTunes MusicStore, enabling independent labels and even individual artists offer tracksfor sale. This might give Apple the best of both worlds: popularlarge-scale commercial releases from the major labels, and independent,quirky material which isn't beholden to the larger music industry.
Needless to say, the iTunes Music Store is being overwhelmed with traffictoday, so don't be surprised to see errors while Apple works out the kinksand as the connection spikes settle down. That said, in our testing today,we were able to play previews and purchase songs, and the process appearssimple and elegant, as one would expect from Apple.
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CUPERTINO, California (AP) --Allen Evans of Middlesex, Vermont, is nostranger to digital music. About two-thirds of his music collection wasdownloaded for free from Internet file-swapping networks. The rest comesfrom CDs he and his family already owned.
Recently, Evans downloaded four songs -- and gladly paid for them.
The 19-year-old's purchases, along with 1 million other tracks sold in thefirst week of business for Apple Computer Inc.'s online music store, mark arefreshing turn of events for the ailing music industry.
Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, has succeeded in a major coup, forcingtectonic change in an industry notorious for its dinosaur pace and dragontactics.
Since the late 1990s, the music industry has battled Internet sites thatallowed anyone to download and copy virtually any song for free.Entertainment companies sued to shut down such file-sharing services asNapster, but failed to stem the traffic as other sites and technologiesreplaced it.
Now, there's a legal option that nearly everybody likes.
At 99 cents a download with virtually no restrictions on how and where thesongs can be played -- including portable devices, Apple's service forMacintosh computer users is proving to be the most promising alternative tofree, pirated music.
"The hardest part was to convince the labels that 99-cents-a-download is alegitimate business, and Apple did that work already," said Josh Bernoff,an industry analyst at Forrester Research.
"If it weren't for Steve Jobs' persistence, I don't think this would havehappened," said Hilary Rosen, chief executive of the Recording IndustryAssociation of America and its most vocal piracy fighter.
Over 18 months, Jobs and a small team of high-level Apple employeesnegotiated the deals with Universal, Warner, BMG, EMI and Sony MusicEntertainment. At times, Jobs personally demonstrated the music service topersuade the Eagles, Dr. Dre, Sheryl Crow and other reluctant artists tocome aboard.
Jobs hit the right chord with artists and with some of the very recordexecutives who had, two years ago, accused him of encouraging piracy withadvertisements that encouraged Apple computer users to create their own CDswith digital music files.
Rosen said Jobs sold them on the elegance and simplicity of iTunes MusicStore, which is easy to navigate and where a credit card is all that'sneeded to buy a song or album.
Jobs persuaded them, she said, to bet on his strong belief that consumerswant to "own" the music they download -- instead of see songs disappearfrom their computers under existing subscription-based services.
Because Apple commands less than 3 percent of the desktop computer market,the iTunes Music Store amounts to a trial run, Rosen said. Apple says thestore won't serve the dominant Windows market until later this year.
Jobs' timing could not be better.
After two years of declining CD sales, unabated online piracy and lukewarmconsumer interest for its own services, the industry was ready forsomething new.
Jobs, who also runs the Pixar Animation Studios behind the "Toy Story"movies, "had the integrity and talent, with the experience of movie andsongs and technology," said Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope GeffenA&M, part of Universal Music Group.
Jobs' success is encouraging both competitors and wannabes.
"If he's the one that gets the game going -- great," said Dan Hart, chiefexecutive of Echo, a joint venture of Tower Records, Best Buy and fourother retail chains that plans to mirror Apple's pay-per-song model in thelarger Windows world.
Echo has yet to complete technology and licensing deals, he said, but thetime is ripe.
That Apple's store sold a million tracks in the week following its April 28launch apparently shocked record executives, who said they would have beensatisfied with a million in a month.
Apple isn't the first to sell downloads by the song. And other services,too, allow burning onto CDs and transfers to portable music players.
But Apple was the first to piece everything together -- with virtually norestrictions, a reasonable price and a relatively easy-to-use computerjukebox program -- all without charging subscriptions, industry analystssay.
Customers can keep the songs indefinitely, play them on any number of iPodportable players and burn unlimited copies onto CDs.
By contrast, industry-backed music services such as pressplay and MusicNetrequire monthly fees and disable songs once subscriptions end.
Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee and vocalcritic of her industry's anti-piracy tactics, is thrilled by Apple'soffering.
"You can't call it visionary because they should have come up with thisfive years ago," she said. "It's ironic that a computer manufacturer isteaching the record industry the next step, and so far, that's what'shappening."
Along with the high-profile changes necessary for the iTunes Music Store,described previously in this issue, iTunes 4 sports a number of otherwelcome enhancements. Most notable is support for Rendezvous, as Steve Jobsshowed in his Macworld Expo New York keynote in 2002 (a feature that animpatient developer replicated in the open source application iCommune).Now a Mac using iTunes can share its music with other Macs using iTunes onthe same local network. In the iTunes Preferences dialog, you can shareyour entire library or just select playlists, and if you don't wanteveryone on your local network to see your shared music, you can restrictaccess with a password. Needless to say, shared music is play-only; youcan't copy shared songs to your computer, make playlists with them, changetheir information, or anything else.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06881
http://icommune.sourceforge.net/
Also new in iTunes 4 is support for burning data CDs or DVDs. It's notentirely clear how a data CD differs from an MP3 CD, but iTunes 4 nowoffers both options in the Burning pane in its Preferences dialog. Thiscapability is particularly useful for people who have Macs withSuperDrives, since they can easily burn backup DVDs of their entire musiccollection.
Not surprisingly, given the file format used for the iTunes Music Store,iTunes 4 can now import music from your CDs in AAC format along with MP3,AIFF, and WAV. To import music using AAC, you must have QuickTime 6.2,which is available as a manual download from Apple's QuickTime Web page; itisn't yet available in Software Update.
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
Apple enhanced the ever-present Search field in iTunes 4, adding adrop-down menu that lets you restrict searches to artists, albums,composers, or songs. When you're in the Music Store, a Power Search optionalso appears; choosing it takes you to the Music Store Power Search screenin the main iTunes window.
Finally, for those who miss CD cover artwork, iTunes 4 provides a new areathat you can hide or show at the bottom of the playlist pane. When showing,you can drag a graphic file to that area to add it to the selected songs;you can also add artwork by dragging it to the Get Info window's Artworktab or to the Artwork box in the Multiple Song Information dialog. If youdouble-click artwork underneath the playlist pane, it opens in a new windowat full size.
Where would you get this artwork if you don't have a scanner? Music youpurchase from the iTunes Music Store comes with its associated artwork,although it doesn't appear that you can download art from the iTunes MusicStore for albums you already own. However, there are numerous collectionsof cover artwork on the Internet, and you can also just find the album onAmazon.com and drag the image from Safari (or possibly other Web browsers)into iTunes. Unfortunately, iTunes 4 still seems to lack options forstoring and displaying other metadata such as lyrics or liner notes.
iTunes 4 requires Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later, with at least a Mac with a 400MHz PowerPC G3 processor and 256 MB of RAM recommended. It's available innumerous languages and is an 8.3 MB download. Although you must downloadmanually at the moment, it will likely appear in Software Update soon.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
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Apple's new online music service is likely to attract most of the attentiontoday, but in typical Apple fashion, it's the hardware that makes it allpossible. Noting that over 700,000 iPods have shipped since the device wasintroduced in October of 2001, Steve Jobs introduced three new iPodconfigurations featuring a dramatic redesign from previous versions.
http://www.apple.com/music/
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06608
http://www.apple.com/ipod/
The iPod line now comprises a 10 GB model for $300, a 15 GB model for $400,and a 30 GB model for $500. The iPod has also undergone a significantredesign. Measuring 0.62 inches (1.57 cm) deep, the 10 GB and 15 GB iPodsare lighter (at 5.6 ounces, or 158 grams) and thinner than two CDs,according to Jobs (I assume he's including the typical CD jewel case in hiscomparison); the 30 GB model is slightly thicker, measuring 0.73 inches(1.85 cm) and weighing 6.2 ounces (176 grams). The scroll wheel of earliermodels is still there, but the control buttons have moved into a line atthe top of the wheel, rather than being spaced in a circle. And, perhapstaking a cue from the 17-inch PowerBook, the buttons' text is illuminatedwhen you turn the screen's backlighting on.
The iPod connectors have changed significantly. Instead of a standardFireWire port, the iPods feature a connector on the bottom that plugs intoan iPod dock for charging and synchronizing with iTunes. The dock alsoincludes a line out port for hooking up to stereo systems or poweredspeakers. Rounding out the included accessories, the iPod comes with earbudheadphones, a FireWire connection cable, an AC adapter, and a 4-pin to6-pin FireWire adapter (for connecting to some Windows systems). The twomore- expensive models also come with a carrying case, a wired remote, andthe iPod dock.
Apple eliminated the separate Mac and Windows configurations - the new iPodcan be used on either platform. Along with a free software update scheduledfor June of 2003, PC users will need a special dock connector cable (soldseparately for $20 starting in June) that enables USB 2.0 as well asFireWire access.
The latest iPod software adds AAC format playback, the capability tocustomize which options are available in the interface (such as hidingoptions for features you don't use, like the calendar), and On-the-GoPlaylists that enable you to build playlists on the iPod itself. It alsoincludes the games Solitaire and Parachute, a notes reader for readingtext-based information, and an alarm clock that can play either an alarmsound or music that you choose. However, many of these new features may tobe specific to the new iPod models; the latest iPod software, version 1.3made available today via Software Update, adds only the AAC playback to myoriginal 5 GB unit.
http://www.apple.com/ipod/beyondmusic.html
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Palm has released Palm Desktop 4.1 for Macintosh. New in this version is aSend to Handheld application that enables you to add image or MP3 musicfiles to a Palm OS device by dropping them onto the application's icon.Send to Handheld can also copy files directly to SD (Secure Digital) cardsinstalled in the Palm. Owners of Palm Tungsten T handhelds can play backMP3 files using the recently released RealOne Mobile Player, which is afree 350K download, or included with the new Palm Zire 71 (see "PalmTungsten C and Zire 71 Add Intriguing Features" in TidBITS-678_). PalmDesktop 4.1, which runs under either Mac OS X or Mac OS 9 (though Palmrecommends you don't synchronize the same handheld in both environments),also features improved, rewritten AppleScript support. The installer is afree 11.2 MB download. [JLC]
http://www.palm.com/support/macintosh/mac_desktop.html
http://www.palm.com/solutions/personal/realone/
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07166
In the toughest move to date against unsolicited commercial e-mail,Virginia enacted a law Tuesday imposing harsh felony penalties for sendingsuch messages to computer users through deceptive means.
The law would be enforced against those who use fraudulent practices tosend bulk e-mail, commonly known as spam, to or from Virginia, a state thatis headquarters for a number of major Internet providers, including thenation's largest, America Online.
The new statute adds criminal penalties for fraudulent, high-volumespammers. It outlaws practices such as forging the return address line ofan e-mail message or hacking a computer to send spam surreptitiously. Thosefound guilty of sending more than 10,000 such deceptive e-mail messages inone day would be subject to a prison term of one to five years andforfeiture of profits and assets connected with these activities.
Public outrage at spam is causing states and Congress to start looking atstronger measures against it. The Internet industry estimates that spamrepresents nearly half of all e-mail sent. And a new report by the FederalTrade Commission on Tuesday found that two-thirds of spam is sent witheither false return addresses or a misleading subject line.
Such anger from computer users is even causing some in the industry tosupport federal legislation, if only to avoid having to deal with apatchwork of state antispam laws. More than two dozen states have antispamlaws, but enforcement problems and low penalties have made many of the lawsineffective.
Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner said the new law could have a significanteffect on spam because half of all Internet traffic flows through thestate. The passage of e-mail through Virginia-based Internet serviceproviders, he said, gives state prosecutors the ability to reach thepurveyors of spam in other states and jurisdictions, noting that anearlier, weaker state anti-spam law had survived constitutional challenges.
"Many spammers see the current system that imposes civil fines as just acost of doing business," Warner said. "We hope we will see somehigh-profile prosecutions. If someone faces a jail sentence and a majorforfeiture of assets, it will serve as a deterrent."
But some legal experts said they doubted whether Virginia would have asmuch of an impact as Warner suggested. Legal cases, they said, wouldprobably be bogged down by questions over jurisdiction. Moreover, there arepractical problems that limit the ability of prosecutors to reach beyondtheir own states.
Shane Ham, a senior analyst who studies antispam legislation for theProgressive Policy Institute, said, "I can't imagine the state attorneygeneral in Virginia getting a lot of cooperation if they call up the policein California saying that they want them to arrest and extradite someonewho is wanted for spamming."
About half the states have tried to regulate various aspects of spam. Thefirst bill was passed in Nevada in 1997 and simply required that marketersoffer recipients a way to be removed from e-mail lists. Washington statehas brought several antispam cases based on laws that prohibit sendinge-mail to state residents where the sender or the subject line isfalsified.
Some states, including California, require unsolicited e-mail to beidentified with "ADV" in the subject line. Some of these allow recipientsof e-mail that violates these rules to sue the sender and seek monetarydamages.
Experts say these state rules do not appear to have had a significanteffect on spam but have instead perplexed big corporations, like creditcard companies and catalog merchants, that do business by e-mail.
"We need a single strong national policy to deal with spam so that no onecan play the states off against each other," Ham said. Of course, evennational legislation would do little to prevent spam sent from overseas, asa great deal is.
Congress, which ignored antispam bills introduced in the past four years,is now expected to give serious consideration to several new proposals.Indeed, prospective Congressional action is, in part, a response toantispam efforts by the states.
The Direct Marketing Association, the lobbying group for companies thatsell by postal mail and e-mail, has reversed its previous opposition tonational antispam legislation, largely to secure a more unified set ofrules.
The group would particularly like to avoid provisions that could forcemarketers who are found to violate the law to make payments to individualswho received their e-mail messages.
Earlier this month, Sens. Conrad Burns, Republican of Montana, and RonWyden, Democrat of Oregon, introduced a bill that would require senders tolabel unsolicited commercial e-mail and ban them from falsifying thesender's name or the subject.
This week, Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York introduced a bill, intended,he said, to impose criminal penalties on senders who repeatedly violate thelaw and to create a national registry of people who do not want to receivespam. "Last year, spam was an annoyance," Schumer said Tuesday. "This year,it is a significant problem, and next year, it could start to really killthe use of e-mail."
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California, plans to introduce a bill that,like some state statutes, would require bulk spam to be labeled with "ADV"in the subject line. The bill would also carry out a proposal by professorLawrence Lessig of Stanford University forcing the senders of spam to paycomputer users a bounty for reporting it.
All these proposals are meant to restrict deceptive marketers--thoseselling things such as rich-quick schemes and penis enlargers--as well asmerchants of pornography. They do not address the great quantities ofnondeceptive marketing e-mail sent by big companies and even the Internetservice providers themselves. America Online, for example, sends nearly 2million marketing e-mail messages a day to its 35 million members.
But the diffuse nature of the Internet defies orderly regulation, even atthe national level, when e-mail travels from state to state and country tocountry, often in untraceable ways. Many experts think that fighting spamwill require new technological approaches that supplement legislationcoming from many sources--including spam purveyors, Internet accessproviders and big companies that seek customers by e-mail.
Many antispam proposals will be debated in a three-day forum on spam inWashington starting Wednesday. The FTC, which already prosecutes somespammers using existing antifraud laws, is organizing the forum and willtake an unusually comprehensive look into the technology and economics ofthe spammers and the potential techniques to thwart them.
E-mail marketers, such as Scott Richter, president of OptInRealBig.com, ofWestminster, Colo., will debate with antispam activists such as AlanMurphy, an investigator for Spamhaus, a British registry meant to identifyspammers. (Richter is prominent on Murphy's list.)
Even Richter now says that a national law may be a good idea. "I want onelaw," he said in an interview. "Now, if someone lives in certain states, Ihave to put 'ADV' in the header. What if he moves and I don't know it?"
Richter, however, does not want rules that would restrict his marketing toomuch, where he sells diet pills, among other things. "I'm a U.S. citizenand I've worked hard to build this business," he said. "I don't want tohave to move to the Bahamas or to China."
A federal judge in Los Angeles has handed a stunning court victory tofile-swapping services Streamcast Networks and Grokster, dismissing much ofthe record industry and movie studios' lawsuit against the two companies.
In an almost complete reversal of previous victories for the record labelsand movie studios, federal court Judge Stephen Wilson ruled thatStreamcast--parent of the Morpheus software--and Grokster were not liablefor copyright infringements that took place using their software. Theruling does not directly affect Kazaa, software distributed by SharmanNetworks, which has also been targeted by the entertainment industry.
"Defendants distribute and support software, the users of which can and dochoose to employ it for both lawful and unlawful ends," Wilson wrote in hisopinion, released Friday. "Grokster and StreamCast are not significantlydifferent from companies that sell home video recorders or copy machines,both of which can be and are used to infringe copyrights."
The ruling is the second major setback to date to the entertainmentindustry's efforts to keep a tight rein on online file-swapping, followinga similar decision in the Netherlands last year that found that Kazaa wasnot liable for its users' copyright infringements. If upheld, the decisioncould lead artists, record labels and movie studios to cast new legalstrategies that they have until now been reluctant to try, includingbringing lawsuits against individuals who copy unauthorized works overNapster-like networks.
According to the major record labels, file-swapping is a major contributorto declines in music sales over the past few years, a trend that has thrownthe industry into disarray. Debt-ridden media conglomerates are nowconsidering sales of their music divisions even as they begin to test paidonline music services intended to compete with free file-swapping networksand turn the tide.
Attorneys called the ruling a blow for entertainment and record companiestrying to stop the networks used to swap unauthorized copies of theirworks.
"This is a very serious setback for the record industry and other contentindustries, because they've uniformly won these cases in the U.S.," MarkRadcliffe, an intellectual property attorney at Gray Cary Ware &Freidenrich said.
While the ruling in no way validates the legality of downloadingcopyrighted music online, it would shield companies providing decentralizedfile-swapping software such as Gnutella from liability for the actions ofpeople using their products.
As such, it could provide new leverage for file-swapping companies such asGrokster, Streamcast and Sharman in negotiations with record companies andother copyright holders to license works legitimately. Since Napster's $1billion settlement offer with the record industry in 2001, file-swappingcompanies have repeatedly sought an amicable settlement with copyrightholders but have been almost universally rebuffed.
The court's ruling applies only to existing versions of the Morpheus andGrokster software. Earlier versions of the software, which functionedslightly differently, could potentially leave the companies open toliability.
A spokeswoman for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said thecopyright holders were deeply disappointed in the decision and wouldcertainly appeal.
"We feel strongly that those who encourage, facilitate and profit frompiracy should be held accountable for actions," MPAA spokeswoman MartaGrutka said. "We're hoping that people aren't taking this as an invitationto continue along the path of what is clearly illegal activity."
Recording industry officials said they saw some good in the ruling, butthat they too would immediately appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
"We are pleased with the Court's affirmation that individual users areaccountable for illegally uploading and downloading copyrighted works offof publicly accessible peer-to-peer networks," said Recording IndustryAssociation of America (RIAA) chief executive officer Hilary Rosen in astatement. "(But) businesses that intentionally facilitate massive piracyshould not be able to evade responsibility for their actions."
Wilson's decision comes in the most closely watched Net copyright casesince Napster's demise.
The two pieces of file-swapping software affected by Friday's ruling remainamong the most popular downloads on the Net, although they operate deep inthe shadow of market leader Kazaa. Morpheus--once the undisputedleader--has fallen to about 120,000 downloads per week, according toDownload.com, a software aggregation site operated by News.com publisherCNET Networks. Kazaa, by contrast, was downloaded more than 2.7 milliontimes during the past week.
The RIAA and the MPAA sued Streamcast, Grokster, and the original parentcompany of Kazaa's software in October 2001, and the case has been makingits way slowly through court since that time.
In late 2002, both sides asked the judge for summary judgment, or a quickruling in their favor before going to a full trial. Wilson's decision infavor of the file-swapping companies Friday was tied to that months-oldseries of requests.
The decision does not directly affect Kazaa, at least not immediately. Atthe time that Grokster and Streamcast were arguing for summary judgment,Wilson had not yet ruled that the Australia-based Sharman Networks could besued in the United States.
Sharman is scheduled to meet with RIAA and MPAA attorneys in court onMonday, to argue over whether its counterclaim against the record labelsand movie studios should be dismissed. Friday's ruling, however, couldchange the direction of that hearing.
The judge's surprise ruling marked the first validation of an argument thatfile-swapping supporters have been making since Napster's firstcontroversial arrival. Peer-to-peer file-trading is a technology that canbe used for activities well beyond copyright infringement, and thetechnology should not be blocked altogether to stop solely its illegaluses, these backers have said.
In making that argument, the judge looked back to the landmark 1984 SupremeCourt ruling that upheld the legality of Sony's Betamax videocassetterecorder (VCR). That decision helped establish the doctrine of "substantialnoninfringing use," which protects technology providers that distributeproducts--like the VCR or photocopier--that can be used for both legal andillegal purposes.
"We are absolutely very proud of this judge for having the unusual capacityto be able to grasp the technology and its future benefit to taxpayers andshareholders around the world," said Wayne Rosso, president of Grokster."Technology is usually way ahead of courts and legislature. The fact thatjudge was able to acutely comprehend (this technology) is a credit to thelegal system."
Not like Napster
Much of Wilson's ruling hung on the technological differences betweenNapster and the newer, decentralized file-swapping services.
Napster's service opened itself to liability for its users' actions byactively playing a role in connecting people who were downloading anduploading songs--a little like a physical swap meet provides the facilitiesfor people exchanging illegal material, the judge said. By contrast,Grokster and Streamcast distributed software to people and had no controlover what their users did afterwards, Wilson said.
When users search for and initiate transfers of files using the Groksterclient, they do so without any information being transmitted to or throughany computers owned or controlled by Grokster," Wilson wrote. "NeitherGrokster nor StreamCast provides the site and facilities" for directinfringement. "If either defendant closed their doors and deactivated allcomputers within their control, users of their products could continuesharing files with little or no interruption."
It didn't matter that the companies were aware generally of copyrightinfringement happening using their software, Wilson added--they would haveto know of specific instances of infringement and be able to do somethingabout it, to be liable for those users' actions.
That stands in stark contrast to an earlier ruling against file-swappingcompany Aimster, in which the judge explicitly said the file-tradingcompany did not need to know about individual acts of copyrightinfringement as they were happening to be held liable for the illegalactivity.
Friday's decision is likely to send shock waves throughout the copyrightand technology communities, which have adjusted slowly over the last yearto the notion that file-trading services such as these were mostly likelyillegal. Technology companies have complained that the repeated lawsuitshave stifled innovation, but many also have begun to move forward inalliances with authorized music--and film-distribution services.
The case will certainly be appealed. Because different courts have come tovery different conclusions about the law, the issue could go as high as theU.S. Supreme Court, a process that would likely take years.
"This is far from over," said Fred von Lohmann, an Electronic FrontierFoundation attorney who has represented Streamcast in the case. "This isnot the end, but it sends a very strong message to the technology communitythat the court understands the risk to innovation."
In the interim, the ruling is likely to produce another round of interestin legislation affecting copyright issue on the Net--an outcome that Wilsonhimself foresaw.
Policy, "as well as history, supports our consistent deference to Congresswhen major technological innovations alter the market for copyrightedmaterials," Wilson wrote. "Congress has the constitutional authority andthe institutional ability to accommodate fully the raised permutations ofcompeting interests that are inevitably implicated by such newtechnology...Additional legislative guidance may be well-counseled."
News.com's Lisa Bowman contributed to this report.
Related News
* Kazaa strikes back at Hollywood, labels January 27, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-982344.html
* File traders, studios spar in court December 2, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-975801.html
* File swapping in the legal crosshairs December 2, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-975618.html
* RIAA, file-swappers ask for trial's end September 9, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-957227.html
* Record labels mull suits against file-traders July 3, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-941547.html
* Napster court win puts labels in spotlight February 22, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-843521.html
* Get this story's "Big Picture"
http://news.com.com/2104-1027-998363.html
Don't go looking for the compact discs of country singer Toby Keith andjazz player Ellis Marsalis, Jr., in the same section of a music megastore.Don't expect to find a concert venue where downtown poet Patti Smith willshare the stage with uptown pianoman Billy Joel. And don't even imaginethat you will be able to tune in that magic radio frequency where NeilDiamond's croons, Pearl Jam's rocks and Van Dyke Parks explore the musicalbyways of Americana.
An examination of the CD collections of most Americans will still revealthe sort of diverse tastes that find room for the acoustic folk rock of theIndigo Girls, the alternative rock of Michael Stipe and REM, and theclassic rock of Don Henley and the Eagles. But an increasingly corporateand commercial media rejects this very American penchant for diversity infavor of tightly formatted radio stations, lowest-common-denominatormarketing strategies and the sort of homogenized and sanitized music thatsounds as if it was created by a poll or a focus group -- as opposed to anartist.
Musicians of all stripes are starting to recognize that the gallopingconsolidation of American media -- especially in radio, where mostAmericans were first introduced to their favorite songs -- has reduced theability of recording artists to take the risks that reshape ourconsciousness, to explore new ideas and new sounds and, ultimately, to beheard. Since Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, whichremoved barriers to the number of radio stations one media conglomeratecould own, the largest of these conglomerates -- Texas-based Clear Channel-- has grabbed more than 1,200 stations and shaped a musical mixcharacterized by the homogenization of playlists, the death of programmingdiversity, less local programming, reduced public access to the airwavesand rapidly declining public satisfaction with radio and the music itplays.
"There are clear lessons from the dramatic consolidation of ownership inthe radio industry following the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and how ithas impacted the historic goals of localism, competition and diversity,"says Ann Chaitovitz, Director of Sound Recordings at The AmericanFederation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). And the lessons are notgood for American music or American musicians.
That's why now, as the five members of the Federal CommunicationsCommission consider a series of rule changes that would open the door tomore consolidation, commercialism, corporatism and corruption, Keith,Marsalis, Smith, Joel, Diamond, Stipe, Henley, Parks, Pearl Jam and theIndigo Girls have joined two dozen other prominent artists to sign a letterthat asks the FCC to halt the rush to enact six major rules changes byearly June.
The musicians are urging FCC chair Michael Powell to provide Congress andcitizens a full opportunity to review proposed changes of media ownershiprules before they are enacted. In addition, they make the case that basicrules to control against monopolies, hyper-commercialism and the loss oflocal content are both needed and broadly supported by Americans. "Webelieve the record demonstrates both the value of existing media ownershiprules and the dangers in permitting widespread consolidation of ownership,"the letter declares. "We also believe the FCC has been negligent inlistening to important stakeholder groups, like musicians, recordingartists and radio professionals, to ensure their testimony is on therecord."
The letter from some of the best-known musicians in the U.S. is the latestsign of the broad opposition that rule changes being considered by the FCC-- which would allow one company to own newspapers, television and radio inthe same town, and which would allow more consolidation of media ownershipon the local and national levels.
"The Commission is considering possible changes to broadcast ownershiprules which were put in place by Congress to ensure that the public wouldhave access to a wide range of news, information, and programming, as wellas diverse political views. Repeal or significant modification of theserules would likely open the door to numerous mergers that could reducecompetition and diversity in the media. A final rule, significantlyaltering media ownership limits, could have serious ramifications forrobust public debate and the marketplace of ideas," read a recent letterfrom leaders of Consumers Union, the Consumer Federation of America, theAFL-CIO, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and other groups thaturged Powell to open up the process. "The mass media provide Americans theinformation and news they need to participate fully in our democraticsociety. If media ownership rules are seriously weakened, one company in atown could control the most popular newspaper, TV station, and possiblyeven a cable system giving it dominant influence over the content and slantof local news. Such a move would reduce the diversity of cultural andpolitical discussion in a community."
Musicians are especially worried about the loss of cultural diversity --and the practical impact it has on their ability to reach audiences thatwere once available to them. "As artists, we recognize the important rolethat radio and other media play in the vitality of the American culture,"says Henley. "It is outrageous that many citizens are not even aware thesechanges are being debated. To a large extent, this is because the FCCleadership has not fully engaged the public. But what frightens me more isthe complete absence of any network coverage of this issue. The broadcastinterests who clearly stand to benefit from further consolidation haveseemingly absolved themselves of their responsibility to cover thisproceeding as a news story. If this is the sort of biased coverage we getnow I can't imagine what will pass as journalism in the next phase of ourincreasingly consolidated media future."
Among the other musicians joining Henley in signing the letter are JacksonBrowne, Jimmy Buffett, David Crosby, Tim McGraw, Joan Osborne, Tom Petty,Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, Jennifer Warnes, Nancy Wilson of Heart, SonicYouth's Thurston Moore, Fleerwood Mac's Stevie Nicks, and Ray Manzarek ofDoors fame.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Commerce Secretary Donald Evans on Thursday urged theFederal Communications Commission to avoid delaying a vote on an overhaulof rules governing ownership of newspapers and television and radiostations.
Evans said in a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell that the agencyshould complete the review on June 2 as planned.
"This proceeding presents an important opportunity for the commission toupdate its rules to reflect the realities of the modern media marketplace,with its unprecedented proliferation of outlets for news and information,"Evans said.
Lawmakers have bombarded the FCC with letters in recent weeks asking Powellto disclose the FCC's plans for overhauling media ownership restrictionsbefore approving any changes. Others have urged Powell to stay on schedule.
The FCC is studying whether decades-old ownership restrictions belong in amarket altered by satellite broadcasts, cable television and the Internet.
A 1996 law requires the FCC to review ownership rules in light of industrychanges every two years.
Last week, Powell told lawmakers that the FCC must finish the currentreview on schedule to have time to begin the next one.
"Further and more specific notice is unwarranted in light of the fullrecord before us, and weighed against the pitfalls of further delay,"Powell wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
Evans commended Powell for "recognizing the need to resolve the uncertaintysurrounding potential rule changes."
The ownership rules include a ban on mergers between major televisionnetworks and a restriction preventing a company from owning a newspaper anda radio or television station in the same city. The rules also prohibit acompany from owning TV stations that reach more than 35 percent of U.S.households.
Powell repeatedly has said the rules should be changed. Two otherRepublicans on the five-member commission also are widely expected to seeklooser regulations, an outcome sought by many large media companies who saythe rules hurt business.
Critics warn that mergers resulting from looser rules could leave a fewhuge companies in control of what people watch, hear and read.
On the Net:
FCC: http://www.fcc.gov
WASHINGTON (Billboard) - A letter signed by 30 major recording artists isto be sent Tuesday to Michael Powell, chairman of the FederalCommunications Commission (FCC), warning him that further deregulation ofthe radio industry "will have a negative impact on access to diverseviewpoints and will impede the functioning of our democracy."
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Bulletin, is in response toprobable FCC plans to eradicate remaining cross-ownership rules.
The artists say that previous radio deregulation has backfired, resultingin "reduced marketplace competition, reduced programming diversity and thehomogenization of playlists, reduced public access to the airwaves forlocal programming, and reduced public satisfaction with listening options."
The letter is a result of combined efforts by the Recording Academy, theFuture of Music Coalition, the Recording Artists Coalition, and othergroups. It carries signatures by Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Don Henley,Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Stevie Nicks, DJ Spooky, Pearl Jam, Tom Petty,Bonnie Raitt, R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe, and others.
Search Page on Google - http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=&q=%22Don+Henley%22+%2B+FCC
National Public Radio story - http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1247709
May 4, 2003 - Tuesday, May 6, 2003 could be a turning point in thecontentious history of recording artists and record labels. On that day,hundreds of American musicians will converge on Albany, NY in support ofthe Artistic Freedom Act of 2003. If passed, the bill would give artistsunprecedented freedom in negotiating and terminating recording contracts.
Legislation backed by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, is nowbefore both the New York State Assembly (assembly bill A6951) and Senate(senate bill S4548). It reflects widespread dissatisfaction amongperformers who often get locked into deals that determine the course oftheir careers for decades. Similar legislation is under consideration bythe California Assembly, backed by Senator Kevin Murray (D-Culver City) andthe Recording Artists Coalition.
"It is incumbent upon the legislature to ensure that creative artists arenot unduly restrained in their efforts to obtain work, participate in thefree market or to associate freely," reads a memorandum filed with thelegislation. If enacted, the Artistic Freedom Act would let artiststerminate recording contracts at the end of seven years, making them "freeagents" like professional athletes not signed to any team. AFTRA officialshave characterized the legislative proposals as "history-making . . .changing artist contract terms for the better permanently." The AFA wouldmirror NY state law limiting personal-service contracts for minors in theentertainment industry, and would limit contracts for "unrepresentedartists" (ie, without legal counsel) to three years.
In Albany, members of the American Federation of Musicians, the AmericanFederation of Television and Radio Artists, and representatives of nationallabor organization the AFL-CIO will hold meetings with lawmakers in effortsto win support for the bill. They will also hold news conferences to helpeducate the public on the plight of recording artists nationwide.
Recording artists are also pressing federal regulators to provide more timefor public commentary on proposed changes to rules governing mediaownership. The Federal Communication Commission plans to adhere to an earlyJune deadline to alter regulations on ownership caps for television andradio stations. At the end of April, a letter signed by 34 performers wassent to the FCC encouraging more discussion before making a final decision."A refusal to allow Congress and the public to view and debate yourspecific proposal would be a tremendous disservice to the American publicand the citizens who depend on these media structures for theirlivelihoods," the letter stated.
Many observers believe that the Republican-dominated agency will side withmedia conglomerates that are pushing for further deregulation. Artistsreportedly fear that further consolidation in the broadcasting industrywill reduce the diversity of programming available and make public exposureof new music increasingly difficult.
"We believe the record demonstrates both the value of existing mediaownership rules and the dangers in permitting widespread consolidation ofownership," the musicians wrote. "We also believe the FCC has beennegligent in listening to important stakeholder groups, like musicians,recording artists and radio professionals, to ensure their testimony is onthe record." Signatories included Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, DavidCrosby, Neil Diamond, Don Henley, the Indigo Girls (Amy Ray and EmilySaliers), Billy Joel, Lenny Kaye, Toby Keith, Ian MacKaye, Ray Manzarek,Ellis L. Marsalis Jr., Tim McGraw, Sam Moore, Thurston Moore, Mya, StevieNicks, Joan Osborne, Van Dyke Parks, members of Pearl Jam, Sandy Pearlman,Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Kevin Richardson, Patti Smith, Stephan Smith,Michael Stipe, Tom Waits, Jennifer Warnes, Saul Williams, and Nancy Wilson.
To date, the FCC has held only token public meetings on the proposedchanges, instead inviting the public to submit comments to the agency'swebsite. Further fueling the controversy is Chairman Michael Powell'srefusal to divulge the precise nature of the changes, a situation that hasalso provoked harsh words from US Senators. Powell has stated thatreleasing the proposals wouldn't affect the outcome of the agency's vote,leading some observers to conclude that approval of looser ownershipregulations is a done deal.
[Editor's Note: Our Treasurer, Richard Hall, watches TechTV and broughtthis one to our attention.]
Tennessee Digital Freedom Network was featured on TechTV's "The ScreenSavers" Thursday evening at 6:00pm (CDT). Tony Campbell was the first gueston the show, joining them by phone from Nashville. He talked about bills inthe state congress that restricts how you can use your Internet connection.Tony briefly explained who the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network is andwhat they're doing. If you live in Tennessee, visit the website to learnhow you can participate. Also, read the EFF line-by-line analysis of theMPAA model bill.
Tennessee Digital Freedom Network
http://tonyc.com/tndf/
Thursday's Show Links
http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/shownotes/story/0,24330,3426970,00.html
[From the TDFN web site:]
Our website was mentioned and shown, and TechTV also linked to it from theScreen Savers show notes. The show re-aired at 7:00am and 11:00am onFriday. Thanks to Eric for getting us in contact with TechTV, and to theguys at TechTV for giving us a soapbox.
What Has Happened
Many of us only became aware of this issue due to a Slashdot article postedon Monday, April 21st. The bill was to be reviewed by the judiciarycommittee at 3:30pm the next day.
On little more than 24 hours notice, almost 20 people were able to show upat the judiciary committee hearing in opposition to SB213. Some came fromNashville and nearby Clarksville, while others came from as far away asKnoxville. Several people spoke out against the bill, and we were able todelay almost certain committee approval of SB213. (Shawn Garbett took somegreat notes on the hearing.)
Afterwards, a senator in attendance remarked that the committee hadprobably given us the two weeks because they did not expect us to return tocontinue our opposition. If that's what they thought, they were wrong.
We now have only a few days to get organized for the next hearing onWednesday, April 30th at 8:30am before the House Judiciary Committee. Ourinitial plan is to make maximum use of the time to contact as many senatorsand representatives as possible, gently persuading them of the harm causedto TN citizens by this legislation. We know that this battle will not beover in two weeks. We will carry our cause for as long as is necessary toensure that this legislation is not enacted in its present form.
What is HB457/SB213?
HB457 and SB213 are the Tennessee House and Senate versions of the"Super-DMCA" bill, proposed by the MPAA and already passed in eight states(and counting). If passed here, this bill will have a very negative impacton citizens' freedom of speech, access to secure communications, and use ofmany networking technologies. It would give Internet service providers(ISP's) unprecedented control over what types of devices and softwareTennesseeans can use while connected to their systems, and give them powerto sue users for thousands of dollars per day if they infringe on thatcontrol in any way. If this bill is enacted, Tennesseeans will have farfewer freedoms in their electronic interactions; as the Internet andpervasive computing becomes more a part of our lives, this will translateinto control by a few corporations over almost everything that you doelectronically.
Why should it matter to me?
Freedom is not free. We have to defend it every day.
Do you have more than one computer? Do you use Linux? Do you use any kindof Internet security hardware or software (called a "firewall"), or doesyour company use networking equipment to share Internet access usingnetwork address translation (NAT), or allow employees to connect from homeusing a virtual private network (VPN)? Do you cryptographically sign orencrypt your email? SB213/HB457 threatens your access to all of these. Andif you don't understand some of these terms, you may already be using thesetechnologies and simply be unaware of it. That's unimportant, though,because you can still go to jail for it.
This legislation is being presented to the Judiciary Committees as a "Theftof Service" bill, which simply "update[s] state law so that itcomprehensively protects new broadband communication services from piracyand sabotage." In reality, it is much broader and more insidious. In itscurrent form this law would make even a minor violation of your Internetagreement a Class-D felony, and levy excessive fines of $1,500 or more perdevice or software program, per day. Imagine, hooking your laptop upimproperly at home for a year could cost you more than half a milliondollars. Compliance will cost Tennessee businesses a bundle as well.
"It is not a cable theft bill. It is a comprehensive broadband/Internet
telecommunications bill." - Geoffrey Beauchamp, chief lobbyist for HB457/SB213
Advanced Micro Devices will come out with a new chip on Tuesday--and onceagain, everything is on the line.
The Opteron processor, first revealed in 1999, represents the Sunnyvale,Calif.-based company's best opportunity ever to sell chips to corporatecustomers and into the lucrative server market.
The chip sports two major features for enhancingperformance--HyperTransport, for linking chips, and an integrated memorycontroller for speeding up the data flow between memory and the processor.Benchmarks from AMD suggest that the chip will increasingly outperformIntel's equivalent Xeon chip.
More importantly, the Opteron can run 32-bit Windows-Linux software, whichis found on desktops and small servers around the world, and 64-bitsoftware, which is used on high-end servers. The 64-bit software that willrun on the chip will be almost identical to the kinds of applications andoperating systems corporate customers use now, making it easy and cheap toadopt.
A desktop version of the chip, called Athlon 64, which can be used onanything from laptops to scientific workstations, comes out belatedly inSeptember.
Intel chips aren't as ambidextrous. Instead, the company sells Pentiums andXeons for, respectively, PCs and midsize servers, and it sells Itanium 2for the 64-bit market. Pentiums and Xeons run the same software, butItanium 2 requires entirely different code, which can be costly to developand test. Itanium's software isolation in part has retarded sales, analystsand executives have said, adding to the appeal of AMD's one-chip solution.
"Intel will ultimately have no choice but to respond," said Dirk Meyer, asenior vice president at AMD. "If we didn't exist, I think Intel would bein a position to drive Itanium down everyone's throat. But we do exist, andwe are going to offer an alternative, and even a virtual monopolist likeIntel is going to respond at some point."
Smaller manufacturers like RackSaver will release Opteron servers thisweek, and analysts believe that big companies like IBM could follow suit.If that happens, AMD will be able to compete against Intel ineverything--not just the consumer and small-business segment, whichaccounts for only around 30 percent of the total market. Microsoft, IBM andLinux companies currently are writing software for the chip.
Then again, this is AMD--a company that seems perpetually stuck in aSisyphean nightmare.
In the past 16 years, AMD has had eight profitable years and eight in thered. Total net earnings since the end of 1986, including acquisitions andsell-offs, comes to around $350 million, about the same as Intel earns insix weeks.
Bringing Opteron to market hasn't been easy. Both the server and desktopversions of the chip were originally due in late 2001, but they keptgetting pushed back, in part because of technical problems. The chip willdebut at 1.8GHz, slightly lower than expectations.
Although the company has made its share of mistakes, its biggest problem isIntel, which has more engineers, fabrication facilities, money andconnections.
"We only have one competitor, and that one is pretty awesome," AMD CEOHector Ruiz said in an interview late last year. Intel is "huge, and theyhave a lot of smart people."
Nonetheless, AMD executives and most analysts assert that the historicalpattern is ready to be broken. The company has shed its reputation forhaphazard manufacturing and boasts one of the premier semiconductor designteams in the world.
"For the last 10 years they get themselves to the brink of death and thencome back. They are great at the last-minute comeback," said Dean McCarron,principal analyst at Mercury Research. "But Opteron is a reliable,corporate-server play. If it gets traction, then everything (AMD makes) isacceptable."
Opteron under the hood
The underlying theme of the Opteron is memory and its problems. Memory,which stores data required by the processors, remains one of the chiefbottlenecks in computer performance. Memory runs at a far slower rate thanthe processor, a mismatch that leaves the processor spinning in idle as itwaits for data. The physical distance between memory and the processor alsocreates a lag.
All three of the touted features of the Opteron work to resolve thisproblem. Integrating the memory controller effectively shrinks the firstpart of the pipeline between the memory and the processor, thereby speedingup performance.
HyperTransport shrinks the latter part of the pipeline. In currentmultiprocessor servers, the processors and memory trade data over a centralsystem bus, similar to a bridge or freeway that connects the suburbs to acentral business district. Designing a chipset for an eight-processorserver is often fraught with difficulties and delays because of thecomplexities in designing an efficient bus.
In HyperTransport servers, the central bus is eliminated. Instead,processors and memory are spread out and united by a high-speed ring road,similar to the decentralized live-work areas that have become common inhigh-population areas.
Additionally, Opteron comes with 16 registers, or data holding bays,instead of eight like existing chips using the so-called X86 architecture,which is the basis for current Intel and AMD chips.
"The X86 architecture is fine, but if it has any one limitation it is inthe limited number of registers," AMD's Meyer said. "Going from eight to 16may not sound like much in comparison to RISC architectures (like IBM'sPower 4 chip) with tens of registers, but you get essentially 80 percent ofthe benefit going from eight to 16."
The reasoning behind Opteron's 64-bit characteristic revolves aroundmemory. Current computers with 32-bit chips can only manage 4GB of memory,while a 64-bit computer can handle vastly more. Databases and otherapplications perform better with more memory because it allows theprocessor to access more data rapidly without having to dig it out of thedisk drive.
Intel's Itanium provides the same ability, but it's far less convenient andmuch more expensive, AMD executives say. With Opteron, computer makers andsoftware developers only have to tweak their products modestly to get themto take advantage of the 64-bit characteristics, according to Fred Weber,AMD's chief technical officer. IBM ported its DB2 database over in thecourse of just a few days with a couple of engineers, he noted.
For corporate customers, this means an easy adoption curve. Opteron alsowill be far less expensive than Itanium, which starts at $1,338. Adding the64-bit ability only increased the size of the chip by a small percentage,Weber said. Initial prices for the Opteron range from $283 to $794. Thatmeans cheaper hardware.
Large hardware makers are intrigued. Newisys, which is licensing anOpteron-based server design to other manufacturers, says that virtuallyevery major manufacturer is testing the chip.
"The large hardware manufacturers are watching each other to see who bites.If one of them does, the others will be (pressured) to do it as well," saidMike Feibus, principal analyst at TechKnowledge. "I don't see anyresistance at the (information technology) level. It is all with thecomputer makers."
Problems ahead
Intel, of course, isn't taking the challenge lying down. The company willupgrade its Xeon processor line in the near future and has been working topopularize its Itanium 2 chip. Richard Wirt, an Intel fellow and one of thecompany's senior chip designers, said he meets with researchers anddevelopers and Oracle on a weekly basis to optimize performance. Overall,Intel has spent millions on rounding out the corners on Itanium 2.
And although performance of the first Itaniums was disappointing, recentbenchmarks have put Itanium 2 toward the top of the heap. A new version,code-named Madison, will further boost output.
Invite Michael Kanellos into your in-box Senior department editor MichaelKanellos scrutinizes the hardware industry in a weekly column that rangesfrom chips to servers and other critical business systems. EnterpriseHardware every Wednesday.
Sign me up! "Across the board you are looking at about 50 percentimprovements in performance," said John Miller, product marketing managerfor business-critical systems at Hewlett-Packard, which will adopt Madisonacross its high-end server line.
Sales have picked up as well. Oil giant BP, Swiss laboratory CERN and anumber of research institutions have adopted Itanium. Dell Computer, anearly critic of the chip, has said it will sell Itanium 2 servers.
Additionally, AMD has a sordid history to live down. Although it's shown itcan create award-winning chips, making them in volume profitably has provedelusive.
Compaq Computer shocked the PC world in 1995 by announcing its intent toadopt AMD's K5, a decision it reversed after performance problems emerged.With the K6 and K6-II, AMD gained market share and simultaneously lostbillions.
In mid-1999, the Athlon won rave reviews and contracts withHewlett-Packard, Sony, IBM and Gateway. Two-and-a-half years later, thecompany has about 13.8 percent of the processor market, or around the sameamount it did before the Athlon arrived. Although the self-imposed problemshave faded, Mercury Research's McCarron and others point out that bigcomputer companies are conservative to a fault and rarely like to takerisks.
Even if AMD can manufacture flawlessly however, the company will faceanother obstacle: indifference. While 64-bit performance sounds great onpaper, actual demand in the broad market could be far off. In the servermarket, more than 80 percent of the servers sold are 32-bit machines. MostOpteron servers sold, therefore, will be basic 32-bit machines.
In desktops, 64 bits may not be in the picture for years. Memory can, atmost, account for 8 percent to 10 percent of the cost of building a PC,according to memory and PC executives. Although memory prices are droppingfast, 4GB of memory is more expensive now than many desktops. High-end PCswith 4GB of memory will still be rare in 2005, according to Dataquestanalyst Andrew Norwood. These computers won't even be mainstream by 2007,according to Sherry Garber, an analyst at Semico.
By that time, AMD will be selling new chips, and the current Athlon 64 andOpteron designs will be a distant memory. Intel executives have said theyprobably won't bring 64 bits to the desktop until near the end of thedecade. Besides, the company has technology that can let 32-bit computersexceed the 4GB limit, although not to the same degree as 64-bit chips.
In the end, what AMD will likely need is a computer maker to carry the64-bit flag.
"What is absolutely critical is to get those top-tier manufacturers," saidGordon Haff, a senior analyst at Illuminata.
Read more about Opteron
http://news.com.com/2104-1006-997529.html?tag=bigpic
Related News
* Opteron prices reflect AMD confidence April 17, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1006-997348.html
* AMD's Opteron aspirations April 8, 2003
http://news.com.com/2008-1082-995885.html
* Accenture: Revenue to rise in 2003 July 24, 2002
http://news.com.com/2110-1017-946080.html
* AMD swings Hammer at server makers June 28, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-940331.html
* End of era as AMD's Sanders steps aside April 24, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-890695.html
* AMD's Merced competitor among chips detailed next week September 30, 1999
http://news.com.com/2100-12-230818.html
* Get this story's "Big Picture"
http://news.com.com/2104-1006-997529.html
Windows core technology guru Rob Short explains how hackers were involvedin Windows Server 2003 development, and why not all NT4 applications willrun on it.
At the Microsoft Server 2003 launch in London this week, ZDNet interviewedRob Short, the vice-president of Windows Core Technology. Responsible forthe overall engineering and management of the Windows kernel, Short talkedabout what makes Server 2003 different from previous Windows products,where Unix and Linux still have the advantage, hackers, applicationcompatibility, performance and security.
ZDNet UK: Is it fair to say Windows Server 2003 is just XP with the .NETstorage extensions bolted on?
Short: No, that's not accurate. It's true that the core of windows is thesame, many parts of the system are very similar across the two products.But a year and a half, two years ago we were looking at the constantproblems we were having with security and hacks. The level of maliciousnessof the hacks was getting frightening. We stopped all other work. We got thearchitecture people to look at each part of the code, and work out howwould people attack it, and based on that tried to reduce the surface area,what's the exposed part of the product, the ways the system was listeningto the network. That was the top priority, especially as we were creatingnew things. We spent a lot of time understanding how IIS (InternetInformation Services) was managed, and there are a lot fewer ways to dothat now.
Each of the new components have well defined threat models analysed bysecurity experts. The older ones have a lot turned off by default so thatadministrators are aware of what's running in the system. And then if wemove down a level, at the same time that we were doing the architecturereview we took eight or ten of our best coding people and sent them off togo and be hackers. One person I have working for me actually used to be ahacker -- he's British -- and we persuaded him there was a career to behad. We took a whole bunch of these people and made them hackers. We hadthem hack the system. We took the people who were responsible for eachcomponent and we did design reviews and code reviews. We created a wholebook of common coding problems that lead to security errors, and we tookevery piece of code in the system and compared them against those rules. Wecreated tools that run across the code and understand almost all theattacks. Microsoft Research built a tool that can find almost all thebuffer overflow problems, and compilers added a bunch of checking.
So we've done stuff right across everything. At the very top level it's thesame -- the administrator of the system controls the passwords, whataccounts are available and so on. The more locks you put on something, theharder it is to use, the more inclined someone is to leave it unlocked. Youhave to watch the balance between keeping it very tightly locked down and-- will people use it? But we took every single person who worked on theproduct, development and management teams, and had them look at thesecurity from top to bottom.
We're still finding issues. But all of the newer code has got to be ten ora hundred times better.
ZDNet UK: How do you see the patch rate changing?
Short: Right now the patch rate is still high. We're doing a number ofthings. We're looking at the patches. A lot of times we look at an attackand we look at all the rest of the code across the system to see if theattack applies elsewhere.
We've built a patch mechanism in 2003 that will be shipped externally. We'llbe able to patch probably two thirds of the components without shutting thesystem down. That's an area where the Unix guys are ahead of us, because ofthe way they do redirection -- they can patch a file and then change thesymbolic link. That's an area where we've got a problem, and we'll fix it inthe near future when possible.
ZDNet UK: How many applications will transfer over from NT4 or 2000?
Short: We had a very high goal, but what happened to the goal was that weran into security problems. We added a lot of changes in the system so thatthe applications couldn't interfere with each other or the operatingsystem.
I'm not sure what the exact number is for taking an NT4 application andrunning it -- it's in the high 60 percent. It's not 90. The ones thatpeople make themselves tend to be better than the larger, all-encompassingapplications. We've tested literally thousands of applications. There's anenormous list you can look at to see what on your particular applicationyou might have to change. Most of the problems we've seen have beensecurity related. There are some issues with the IIS redesign, but most ofthe time, if the application is following the rules then it will run. But Imust admit the rules haven't been well publicised.
ZDNet UK: You pushed some of the IIS into the kernel, didn't you?
Short: We have what we call a listener, an HTTP handler that we pushedinto the kernel. We were looking at how to improve performance. Requestscome in and go all the way through the networking and back into user modewhere they're handed off. There is a huge amount of the web traffic thatyou can respond to very quickly without having to have a user mode. Sothere's HTTP.SYS, a driver that runs in kernel mode and responds in waysthat are very well understood, with some parsing and quite a bit ofcaching, and it handles sessions and it's a huge performance win.
Personally, I'm against shoving things into the kernel. That was a verycareful decision. We have a lot of parsing in there, and that opens you upto buffer overruns and attacks. The amount of scrutiny that code has got isjust plain ugly. Anything that gets it confused gets shoved straight backup.
ZDNet UK: What's happened to the file system?
Short: There are two things. We spent a lot of time on performance. Wecreated the SMB file server specs, and we didn't have the fastest onearound, which was embarrassing. So we took our performance team and said"your mission is to make ours twice as fast as this other one on themarket." We've actually done that. So there's a huge performance increase.Most of those are the type of changes in separating the different filestreams from each other deeper down in the system so you get moreparallelism it works better on a parallel system. We've drasticallyimproved the performance on Checkdisk. The transaction file system lets youmake a transaction across a collection of file changes. We've addedshadowing, so you can take a snapshot of something at a point in time andmake a backup on the fly. We've done things to the IO subsystem, withtighter integration between a RAID subsystem and caching.
ZDNet UK: How about the registry?
Short: We've added more caching to the registry access, and we pulledapart the locking which is one of the areas of the system we spent a lot oftime on trying to improve so it'll run on very large systems, Itanium 64bit systems and so on, we see a lot of lock contention. So right throughthe kernel and the IO system we pulled a lot of the locks apart. And theregistry, we pushed the locks up a little bit. So the locking is finergrained.
ZDNet UK: Why is there no command line only version?
Short: We're looking longer term to see what can be done, looking at thelayers and what's available at each layer and how do we make it much closerto the thing the Linux guys have -- having only the pieces you wantrunning. That's something Linux has that's ahead of us, but we're lookingat it. We will have a command line-only version, but whether it'll have allthe features in is another matter. A lot of the tools depend on having thegraphical interface. Printing, for example, requires all the graphicssubsystems because we have the "what you see is what you get" model. Youneed to have the whole of the display stuff to render it. It's a verytangled subsystem.
ZDNet UK: Are we going back towards two product lines again, with 2003and XP taking the place of NT and Windows 9X?
Short:They're much more compatible, they're created from the same codebase. It's the same application interface, except that the server isextended. The same drivers work in both. Looking from underneath or above,they're the same. That's what we're trying to do, and it certainly wasn'tthe case with NT and 9X. The embedded product will be built from the samecode base. We're moving towards building what we like from a common set ofcomponents.
It looks really good on PowerPoint! Reality is never quite as good.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/813489/download.asp
A recent Windows Update patch can cause some Windows XP computers to slowdown. If you regularly update your Windows XP with all the latest patchesand fixes, you may have downloaded Security Update #811493 which has beenshown to slow down some Windows PCs after it has been installed. If youhave installed this update and your machine seems fine, you shouldprobably do nothing--you are unaffected. But if you think your machine ismuch slower now than it was less than a month ago, you may have an issuewith 811493.
This problem is documented by Microsoft in Microsoft Knowledge BaseArticle #819634. It is here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;819634
Microsoft recommends uninstalling the security update using Add/RemovePrograms which can be found in your Control Panel but only if you are theonly person who uses your machine. The update is labeled "Windows XPHotfix (SP1) Q811493" and can easily be uninstalled.
Another method to get around the problem is to temporarily turn off real-time scanning in your antivirus program.
I had this problem on my machine at work which uses Norton Antivirus. Allmy other machines use AVG (a free antivirus program) and seem unaffected.I could not turn off the real time scanning within Norton due to thesysadmins locking that feature so I opted to uninstall the 811493 update.My machine was noticeably faster after the uninstall.
A new version of 811493 will be available soon from Microsoft via WindowsUpdate.
My Pentium II 400MHz household server died and I did not realize just howimportant this second PC had become to me. I use it to monitor theperformance of my employer's web servers, perform twice-daily, automatedbackups of all the PCs on my home network, monitor changes on web sites Iam interested in, synchronize all the Favorites folders on all mynetworked machines and record selected audio streams during the day so Ican listen to them when I get home from work.
I needed a QUICK (like RIGHT NOW!) replacement. I couldn't take the timeto build a machine or order one from the net so I was stuck with buyingfrom a box merchant. If I had the time, I'm sure I would have takenadvantage of some screaming deals on the Dell web site that were pointedout to me by other CUCUGers. I ended up buying an HP Pavilion 505N for$519 at the local Circuit City on my lunch break. Here are the specs:
Celeron 2.2GHz
256M DDR SDRAM
60GB Ultra DMA HD
48X CD/RW
Floppy
Onboard 64M Intel video and generic sound
6 USB 2.0 ports(!)
1 Serial port
56K Winmodem
10/100 NIC
Cheesy Polk Speakers
Keyboard/Mouse (both PS-2)
WinXP Home (SP1)
One-year limited hardware warranty
Before I even booted for the first time, I added another 256M stick of DDRSDRAM. There are two slots.
The first thing I noticed was how quiet this machine is compared to myhuge PII-400 box. I'm not sure if that's a good thing (will it overheatrunning 24/7?) but it sure brought down the decibel level in my computerarea. The other thing I noticed was that it's loaded with a bunch ofsoftware (and some *spyware*) that I'll never use. It took about an hourdigging through the thing, uninstalling and whacking the crapware out ofMSCONFIG, to get the machine to boot cleanly.
As is the case nowadays, the 505N did not come with any software CDs. Ithas a 5G partition on the hard drive that contains restore files for theoperating system and included applications. If you want a set of CDs (incase the drive goes belly-up) you have to make them. HP's restore processis an improvement over the old days when you were forced to do a completewipe of the drive to restore even one application. You may selectivelyrestore components, so I guess this is not a complete bummer. But it'scertainly far from ideal.
The Celeron 2.2Ghz makes this machine far more snappy than the old400MHz PII and it beats the pants off my PIII-1GHz main machine, too. Iguess that's to be expected. I really enjoy the CD/RW. It's a genericmodel (ID'ed as a Cyberdrive CW088D) but it really screams for making CDsand easily burns at the max rate of 48X. My current burner is only an 8Xmodel, so this is quite a step up. The 505N has an odd little CD storagearea on top of the machine that you can store 8 CDs in. Handy for keepingblank media at the ready.
The onboard 64M-shared video is Intel 82445G-based and is perfectly usablefor my purposes. I'd never think of running games on this box (too slowand herky-jerky) but it has a fast screen draw in 2D and plenty of modesand refresh rates available. The sound is also onboard and sounds finethrough my hi-fi system (once I turned off the DirectSound mode which hada lot of hiss and crackles).
One unexpected bonus on this machine is the inclusion of USB 2.0. The 505Nincludes 4 ports in the back and 2 ports which are accessible under alittle door on the front of the computer. A nice touch. The NIC is aRealtek RTL8139 and is a PCI NIC, not the onboard or software-emulatedtype. It performs well.
In everyday use, the machine works great for what I want it to do. Maybeit's even a bit of overkill, but I was out of options at the time. For$519 I think it's a decent buy, but as mentioned earlier if you look aroundand have some time, you can find better deals on other machines.
URL: http://www.wininformant.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=38967
During his keynote address on day two of the Windows Hardware EngineeringConference (WinHEC), Will Poole, Microsoft Senior Vice President of theWindows Client Division, detailed his company's roadmap for deliveringLonghorn, the next major Windows version. Contrary to previous reports,Longhorn will not ship in beta form until early 2004, and will not bereleased to manufacturing until 2005, Poole said.
"There will be a huge wave of excitement for the industry when Longhornships in 2005," Poole noted. "There's been a lot of speculation aboutwhether we'd do an interim release before then. I don't think so. Instead,we will have additional releases, follow-ons, for Windows XP Media CenterEdition (MCE) and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, that focus on fit-and-finish and support for international markets." These follow-ons, whichwill be marketed as XP MCE Version 2 and XP Tablet PC Version 2,respectively, will include new features like better handwritingrecognition for non-English languages and new Media Center Guide data forEuropean TV. According to Poole's timeline, Tablet PC Version 2 will shipin late 2003, while MCE Version 2 will ship in 2004. However, MCE Version2 will definitely ship before the end of this year.
Regarding Longhorn, Poole says that the road to Longhorn is shorter thanit appears, but that the company has a lot of work to do. In March, thecompany delivered to developers its first preview look at Longhorn, hesaid. WinHEC, this week in New Orleans, is the second major milestone forthe product, and the first time the company has publicly revealed detailsabout Longhorn. The next major milestone, at October's ProfessionalDevelopers Conference (PDC), will include a pre-beta 1 build of Longhorn,which developers can use to work on drivers, applications, and servicesdesigned for the new system. In 2004, Microsoft will deliver the Beta 1and Beta 2 release of Longhorn, Poole said, and then the company will RTMLonghorn sometime in 2005.
These Longhorn milestone dates are a bit later than previously thought, asthis year's PDC was the original target for Longhorn Beta 1. However, mostindustry observers hadn't expected Longhorn to slip until 2005, so theproduct's final release date comes as no surprise.
URL: http://www.wininformant.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=38990
SuSE has released a version of Linux that's tuned for the Opteronprocessor, set to launch Tuesday, with rival Red Hat planning its ownproduct for the fall.
Operating system support is a crucial factor for the success of AdvancedMicro Devices' Opteron, whose 64-bit design can address vast amounts ofmemory more easily than Intel's rival 32-bit Xeon or Pentium processorscan. Although Opteron can run older 32-bit software, programs must berebuilt to take advantage of the 64-bit features.
The next crucial hurdle will be for AMD to find major computer makers thatare willing to use the chip, said Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff.
"It's going to be very important that there be some tier-one (manufacturer)support," he said. "At end of day, customers are a lot more interested inOpteron if IBM and Dell are selling systems, than if they can only buy themfrom a regional integrator or RackSaver or some other relatively smallsystem player."
Most desktop computers don't yet exceed the 4GB memory limit of 32-bitchips--typically divided into 2GB for the operating system and 2GB forother software. But Opteron is designed for servers, more powerful machinesthat handle networked computing chores such as housing databases with manygigabytes of information.
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) can address as much as 512GB of memoryon an Opteron system, half the 1 terabyte limit of the processor itself andan amount that only today's most powerful servers, with dozens ofprocessors, can accommodate. Although AMD has grand ambitions, initialOpteron systems will be much smaller dual-processor models.
Linux is first out of the gates supporting Opteron's 64-bit features,though an improved version of Microsoft Windows is in the works. SuSE andRed Hat are the two major sellers of Linux, with Red Hat leading the marketand second-place SuSE providing the software for the four-companyUnitedLinux consortium. Paris-based MandrakeSoft, a smaller player workingto emerge from bankruptcy protection, released its Opteron version inMarch.
One future step for Opteron is higher-level software support. SuSEdemonstrated IBM's DB2 database software for Opteron in March, while RedHat plans to show off an Opteron version of DB2's database rival fromOracle at the Opteron launch, the companies said.
SuSE has been more aggressive than Red Hat in embracing computers beyondLinux's stronghold on Intel Pentium and Xeon processors. Its SLES softwarenow runs on computers with those processors, on computers with Opteronchips, on computers with Intel's 64-bit Itanium competitor and on IBM'sfour different server lines.
"We have built a family of products out of one single source-code base,"said Markus Rex, head of development for SuSE. That unification makes iteasier for software companies to make their products available for multiplecomputer lines.
A close partnership
SuSE has been a tight AMD partner, beginning work in 2000 to create aversion of Linux for Opteron and future members of the x86-64 chip familysuch as Athlon 64. Rex said AMD took suggestions on how best to design thechip's circuitry for running Linux, and when the first chip prototypeemerged, it took three days to get the SuSE version up and running.
"There was a very close collaboration to make sure there is oneenterprise-class operating system ready at launch," Rex said, though hedeclined to detail financial terms of the partnership.
Red Hat plans a similar unification with the next edition of its Red HatEnterprise Linux software, version 3.0 that's due in the fall.
"Red Hat didn't want to get involved in rolling any new architectures intotheir Enterprise Linux line until everything comes together with EnterpriseLinux 3.0," Haff said.
SLES for Opteron costs $448, including 12 months' access to the SuSE LinuxMaintenance Program for one server.
The 64-bit version of SLES runs 32-bit applications software about 5percent faster than the 32-bit version, Rex said. When the applications aswell as the operating system are 64-bit editions, the performance boost isabout 5 percent to 10 percent, he said.
The system has a performance advantage over Xeon servers when more than 4GBof memory are used, Rex added. Although Xeon systems such as IBM's x440 canaddress as much 64GB of memory, they must switch back and forth betweendifferent 4GB chunks through a technology called physical addressextension.
SuSE's Opteron version of Linux also can store much larger files--8exabytes, 4 million or more times larger than the 1 or 2 terabyte limit ofcurrent 32-bit versions of Linux.
A 64-bit version of IBM's DB2 for Opteron will go on sale this summer,spokeswoman Alise McNeill said.
The DB2 group is "a big early-adopter crowd in IBM," Haff said. "They'revery interested in new technologies they think can increase their marketshare."
Related News
* AMD rolls dice on Opteron chip April 21, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1006-997529.html
* Opteron prices reflect AMD confidence April 17, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1006-997348.html
* Windows variants set for 64-bit AMD chips April 9, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1006-996160.html
* RackSaver, AMD heat up the server wars March 5, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1010-991054.html
* Mandrake Linux files for bankruptcy January 15, 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-980819.html
* AMD nails Microsoft backing for Hammer April 24, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-890698.html
* AMD touts Linux support for new chips February 28, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-847560.html
* Get this story's "Big Picture"
http://news.com.com/2104-1016-997619.html
These are the notes for my Java demo at April's Linux SIG CUCUG meeting.
When is Java useful?
Java is useful when you care about coding to more than one computingplatform.
If you think you might want to port your code to another platform, considerJava.
If you want to learn skills that can be used on more than one platform,consider Java.
If you love Windows and never plan on using anything else, go with VB.Net.
Java, JavaScript
JavaScript is NOT Java! JavaScript is NOT Java! JavaScript is NOT Java!
JavaScript was created by Netscape and originally called LiveScript.Marketing changed the name to JavaScript to cash in on the hype surroundingJava. Netscape and Sun jointly announced the new language on December 4,1995, calling it a "complement" to both HTML and Java. Microsoft laterreleased VBScript and their own take on JavaScript, JScript.
JavaScript is an interpreted scripting language.
C is a compiled language.
Java, like .Net, is somewhere between compiled and interpreted. Java sourcecode is compiled into bytecode. That bytecode runs on a Java VirtualMachine.
Think of Super Nintendo or MAME arcade emulators. A cartridge of codereleased 10 years ago can run on multiple operating systems today via agame engine written specifically for the desired platform.
Java is an object-oriented programming language.
Applications and Applets
Java applications do not have to be ugly and slow things that run in abrowser. Java applications can look decent (LimeWire, ThinkFree Office).
http://www.limewire.com/
http://www.thinkfree.com/
Applications run stand-alone (outside web browser)
Applets run within web browser.
IDE's:
Borland JBuilder (Windows, Mac, Linux?) {Recommended for graphical applications}
IBM's Eclipse (Windows, Mac, Linux) {Recommended for normal Java development}
Sun's NetBeans AKA SunOne
Others
Hello World// To compile:// javac HelloWorld.java// To run:// java HelloWorld//public class HelloWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("Hello World"); }
}
Interactive