News Common PC Linux Mac CUCUG
The next CUCUG meeting will be held on our regular third Thursday of themonth: Thursday, December 16th, at 7:00 pm, at the First Baptist Church ofChampaign in Savoy. Directions to the FBC-CS are at the end of thisnewsletter.
The December 16 gathering will be our "Annual" meeting in which clubofficers will be elected. We will also have an open forum and a swap meetfor those who'd like to sell or exchange hardware and software in line withthe usual ground rules. This is a social event and should be a lot of fun.Hope to see you there.
ToCWe'd like to welcome the newest members of our group, joining us in thelast month: Joe "Kelly" Leininger (Windows PC desktop and laptop, LinuxDesktop), Chris Zahn (Windows PC desktop), and Jim Zinzow (Macintosh DualG4 Desktop).
We'd also like to thank renewing members Elaine Avner, Michael Habermann,Norris Hansell, George F. Krumins, Ed Serbe, William J. Strutz, and MarkZinzow.
Lastly, we'd like to express our appreciation to our Lifetime members KevinHisel and Richard Rollins.
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 group.
ToCIt's that time of year again to renew your membership in CUCUG. We rely onour members and their talents for our strength and vitality. You can renewat the December meeting with Treasurer Richard Hall or through the mail atour P.O. Box address. We sincerely hope to have you with us in the new year.
ToCThese are the gentlemen who have been officially nominated for re-election.
| President: | Richard Rollins | () |
| Vice-President: | Emil Cobb | (e-cobb@uiuc.edu) |
| Secretary: | Kevin Hopkins | (kh2@uiuc.edu) |
| Treasurer: | Richard Hall | (rjhall1@uiuc.edu) |
| Corporate Agent: | Kevin Hisel |
By Steven Musil
http://news.com.com/Week+in+review+Big+Blue+bids+adieu+to+PCs/2009-1083_3-5486652.html
Story last modified Fri Dec 10 10:27:00 PST 2004
IBM, the company that helped usher in the age of the personal computernearly 25 years ago, stunned the tech world with the announcement that itwould largely be bowing out of the business.
Big Blue plans to sell its PC division to China-based Lenovo Group and takea minority stake in the former rival in a deal valued at $1.75 billion. Thetwo companies plan to form a complex joint venture that will make Lenovothe third-largest PC maker in the world, behind Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
Lenovo will be the preferred supplier of PCs to IBM and will be allowed touse the IBM brand for five years under an agreement that includes the"Think" brand. Big Blue has promised to support the PC maker with marketingand its IBM corporate sales force.
Sam Palmisano, chief executive of IBM, says he felt the company had simplygrown apart from the PC industry. In a memo distributed to IBM employeesand reviewed by CNET News.com, Palmisano explained that Big Blue's strategyto concentrate on so-called on-demand computing had become incompatiblewith running a PC business.
"IBM is an innovation company," he wrote. "It's why we have investedbillions of dollars in recent years to strengthen our capabilities inhardware, software, services and core technologies focused on transformingthe enterprise."
Stephen Ward, general manager of IBM's Personal Systems Group, has beenanointed future CEO of China's Lenovo. Ward took some time out to discussthe early aims of the "new Lenovo" and its role in the PC market in theUnited States, China and parts in-between.
Open season at OpenWorld
Michael Dell, whose namesake company is the top-ranking PC maker, is not abig fan of the acquisition. During a question-and-answer session atOracle's OpenWorld conference, the Dell chairman said a deal between Lenovoand IBM would likely follow a pattern seen in many mergers where two verydifferent organizations fail to mesh.
"We're not big fans of the idea of taking companies and smashing themtogether," Dell said. "When was the last time you saw a successfulacquisition or merger in the computer industry? It hasn't happened in along, long time...I don't see this one as being all that different."
Some of Dell's top executives also disparaged the "big iron" approach ofbuilding large, powerful servers--a dig at rivals IBM, Sun Microsystems andHP. Those competitors see expensive, refrigerator-size servers with dozensof processors as a good way to tackle high-end corporate computing tasks.
Dell prefers clusters of lower-end systems linked over a high-speednetwork. A crucial component in making server clusters useful is a databasethat can spread across them--a database such as Oracle 10g, which Delltouted during a keynote speech.
Dell's partnership with Oracle is aimed at luring customers away from Sunservers running the Unix operating system.
Indeed, few companies were off-limits to Dell, as the executive whooversees the partnership with Red Hat said the Linux seller needs to lowerits prices, or risk losing customers to free versions of the open-sourceoperating system.
"We believe Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, for the small and medium-sizebusiness market, was out of the price range of these customers," said JudyChavis, director of business development for Dell's enterprise productgroup.
Dell has the marketing muscle to make its opinions clear. Indeed, Red Hat'spricing was instrumental in Dell's decision to sign its October pact tosell Novell's SuSE Linux.
With so many things on his mind these days, coming up with fresh materialfor a keynote speech didn't appear to be on Oracle boss Larry Ellison'slist of priorities. Ellison virtually recycled his speech from last year'sconference, warning thousands of tech professionals gathered to hear himspeak about the dangers of "data fragmentation."
He also promised that if the takeover attempt is successful, Oracle willfinish building new versions of programs that PeopleSoft is now developingand eventually merge those products with Oracle's own.
"We're going to invest more in the product than either company could havedone independently," Ellison said. "And we're going to give SAP a good runfor their money in this business."
Oracle and HP also announced a partnership to try to reach more small andmedium-size businesses. The companies will cooperate to unify theirrelationships with the resellers that reach smaller customers, to jointlydevelop and certify Oracle's software with HP's ProLiant servers, and toexpand programs for reseller training, sales and marketing.
The wild, wild Web
McNealy showed a photo during an OpenWorld speech to illustrate how rapidlytechnology improves--but instead illustrated another computing phenomenon:how easy it is to fall for an Internet hoax.
During his keynote address, McNealy displayed a picture supposedly from themagazine Popular Mechanics showing how people in 1954 envisioned the homecomputer. His point was to show how far computing has advanced beyond whatwas expected. Alas, in reality, the photo he used is a doctored picture ofa nuclear submarine control room mock-up, according to the myth-debunkingsite Snopes.com.
But he may not be alone. A function built into all major browsers could beco-opted by attackers to fool Web site visitors into surrendering sensitiveinformation.
The issue, which security firm Secunia labeled a flaw, could allow amalicious Web site to refer visitors to a legitimate site--such as a bank'sWeb site--and then control the content displayed in a pop-up windows. Theissue affects Microsoft's Internet Explorer, the Mozilla Foundation'sMozilla and Firefox browsers, Opera's browser, the open-source Konquerorbrowser and Apple Computer's Safari, the firm stated in advisories on itssite.
Meanwhile, the number of phishing attacks launched each month has increasednearly 10-fold this year. Tech security company MessageLabs, which hasintercepted almost 20 million phishing e-mails throughout 2004, said in itsannual report that the number of phishing attacks has soared from 337,050in January to 4.5 million in November. The rate rose most sharply betweenJune and July--from 264,254 to 2.5 million--which could be due to thewidespread use of zombie networks.
DVD division
In an effort to ease the transition to higher-capacity disc technology,Toshiba and Memory-Tech have developed a dual-layer disc that supports DVDand HD DVD formats. The disc will be single-sided, with the upper layerstoring up to 4.7GB of data in the DVD format and the lower layer holding15GB of HD DVD data.
On the other side of the DVD fight, Disney said it will release movies onthe Blu-ray format in North America and Japan when the discs becomeavailable. Manufacturers and disc makers said players and discs shouldstart hitting the market in late 2005 or early 2006. On Friday, Thomsonsaid its Technicolor business will manufacture both the HD DVD and Blu-raydiscs.
The Disney announcement means consumers will be able to get movies fromBuena Vista Home Entertainment on the Blu-ray Discs. Also part of thelibrary of films are those from Walt Disney Home Entertainment, HollywoodPictures Home Video, Touchstone Home Entertainment, Miramax HomeEntertainment, Dimension Home Video and Disney DVD.
Meanwhile, a Hollywood-backed technology group is suing a high-end hometheater system company, contending that its home DVD jukebox technology isillegal. The DVD Copy Control Association, the group that owns thecopy-protection technology contained on DVDs, said a company calledKaleidescape is offering products that illegally make copies of DVDs.
Kaleidescape creates expensive consumer electronics networks that uploadthe full contents of as many as 500 DVDs to a home server and allow theowner to browse through the movies without later using the DVDs themselves.That's exactly what the copy-protection technology on DVDs, called ContentScramble System, was meant to prevent, the Hollywood-backed group said.
Special report: Japan's sun rises again
The Japanese economy is undergoing historic changes to realize along-awaited recovery led by technology and other industries. As a result,stakes are particularly high this holiday shopping season as consumerelectronics plays an important role in the turnaround effort.
A three-part CNET News.com special report examines the challenges faced bytech companies, the changing face of the corporate culture, and the cultureclash between techno-pop and ancient traditions.
http://news.com.com/Japans+sun+rises+again/2009-1041_3-5470344.html?tag=nl
Also of note
U.S. Supreme Court justices questioned whether states discriminate in favorof local wine suppliers by banning direct sales to consumers fromout-of-state wineries in a pair of cases that could affect wine prices andchoices...Microsoft is battling the vulnerability of weak passwords byadopting a new security measure for its internal networks: smart cards forevery employee...Intel once said desktop buyers wouldn't really need 64-bitcapabilities until later in the decade, but the company will make suchcapabilities a feature across its desktop lines next year...Companies thatuse free software downloads to target Web surfers with annoying ads areturning on each other to keep customers--and the cash they generate--forthemselves.
ToCNOW YOU SEE IT ....
BBC NEWS, 2004/11/29 12:14:35 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/4051553.stm
Net users are getting the chance to fight back against spam websites
Internet portal Lycos has made a screensaver that endlessly requests datafrom sites that sell the goods and services mentioned in spam e-mail.
Lycos hopes it will make the monthly bandwidth bills of spammers soar bykeeping their servers running flat out.
The net firm estimates that if enough people sign up and download the tool,spammers could end up paying to send out terabytes of data.
Cost curve
"We've never really solved the big problem of spam which is that its sodamn cheap and easy to do," said Malte Pollmann, spokesman for LycosEurope.
"In the past we have built up the spam filtering systems for our users," hesaid, "but now we are going to go one step further."
"We've found a way to make it much higher cost for spammers by putting aload on their servers."
By getting thousands of people to download and use the screensaver, Lycoshopes to get spamming websites constantly running at almost full capacity.
Mr Pollmann said there was no intention to stop the spam websites workingby subjecting them with too much data to cope with.
He said the screensaver had been carefully written to ensure that theamount of traffic it generated from each user did not overload the web.
"Every single user will contribute three to four megabytes per day," hesaid, "about one MP3 file."
But, he said, if enough people sign up spamming websites could be force topay for gigabytes of traffic every single day.
Lycos did not want to use e-mail to fight back, said Mr Pollmann.
"That would be fighting one bad thing with another bad thing," he said.
Slow down
The sites being targeted are those mentioned in spam e-mail messages andwhich sell the goods and services on offer.
Typically these sites are different to those that used to send out spame-mail and they typically only get a few thousand visitors per day.
The list of sites that the screensaver will target is taken from real-timeblacklists generated by organisations such as Spamcop. To limit the chanceof mistakes being made, Lycos is using people to ensure that the sites areselling spam goods.
As these sites rarely use advertising to offset hosting costs, the burdenof high-bandwidth bills could make spam too expensive, said Mr Pollmann.
Sites will also slow down under the weight of data requests. Early resultsshow that response times of some sites have deteriorated by up to 85%.
Users do not have to be registered users of Lycos to download and use thescreensaver.
While working, the screensaver shows the websites that are being botheredwith requests for data.
The screensaver is due to be launched across Europe on 1 December andbefore now has only been trialled in Sweden.
Despite the soft launch, Mr Pollmann said that the screensaver had beendownloaded more than 20,000 times in the last four days.
"There's a huge user demand to not only filter spam day-by-day but to dosomething more," he said "Before now users have never had the chance to bea bit more offensive."
ToCNOW YOU DON"T.
It was under fire from security experts and spammers
News Story by Scarlet Pruitt
http://www.computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,98039,00.html
DECEMBER 03, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - Lycos Europe NV appeared to havepulled a controversial antispam screen-saver program from its site today,after coming under fire from both security experts and the spammersthemselves.
The Web site previously distributing the "Make Love Not Spam" screen saver-- which offers to turn the tables on spammers by overwhelming their Websites with requests -- no longer offers the program and now carries themessage "Stay Tuned."
Lycos Europe also removed prominent advertisements for the screen saverfrom its home page.
Not all Internet users can access the "Stay Tuned" message, however, assome Internet service providers blocked the http://www.makelovenotspam.comsite, said Paul Mutton, Internet services developer at Internet hostingservices company Netcraft Ltd. Users on parts of the Internet backboneserved by these ISPs get an error message when trying to reach the site.
Lycos Europe drew criticism from some members of the security communityover the screen saver, saying that the company is engaging in vigilantismand crossing the line by launching what are essentially distributeddenial-of-service (DDOS) attacks on spammers' sites. The Web portalresponded that it doesn't intend to bring the sites down but simply tocripple them. The screen saver was released on Wednesday (see story).
But some ISPs blocked access to the Make Love Not Spam site, supposedlybecause the screen saver generates a lot of unnecessary traffic on theirnetworks, or violates their rules on DDOS attacks, Mutton said.
Some spammers also reportedly took action against Lycos Europe byredirecting traffic from the screen saver back to the site that distributesthe program.
Lycos Europe representatives weren't immediately available to comment.
ToCBy John Borland
http://news.com.com/Supreme+Court+to+hear+P2P+case/2100-1027_3-5487491.html
Story last modified Fri Dec 10 15:34:00 PST 2004
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said it would hear a controversial case onwhether file-sharing software companies could be held legally responsiblefor copyright infringement on their networks.
The court's action is good news for big record labels and Hollywoodstudios, which have lost successive rulings on the issue in lower courts.They want software companies like Morpheus parent StreamCast Networks andGrokster to be held legally responsible when copyrighted material isswapped using their software.
"There are seminal issues before the court--the future of the creativeindustries and legitimate Internet commerce," Mitch Bainwol, chiefexecutive officer of the Recording Industry Association of America, said ina statement. "These are questions not about a particular technology, butthe abuse of that technology by practitioners of a parasitical businessmodel."
The court's decision could also be a sobering sign for technology companieswell outside the world of file-swapping. At the core of the case is aninterpretation of a 20-year-old decision that made VCRs legal despite theirability to copy TV shows and movies, which ultimately helped pave the wayfor a host of technologies ranging from CD burners to Apple Computer'siPod.
That case, known as the Sony-Betamax decision, set out rough guidelinesunder which technology used to make illegal copies of copyrighted materialcould be distributed without the manufacturer being responsible for theresulting piracy, as long as the product was also capable of "substantialnoninfringing uses."
That's been enormously influential for computer and consumer electronicsmakers over the past few years, particularly as music and movies have beenturned into easily copied digital formats. Indeed, all MP3 player makers,including Apple, owe their recent history to a 1999 decision in which ajudge said MP3 players were capable of playing legally purchased music, andwere therefore legal.
"I don't think anybody had a clue how significant that decision was when itcame out," said Jim Brelsford, an attorney at Jones Day. "So many thingsturned out to be built on that."
Some in Silicon Valley fear that a Supreme Court ruling aimed at reining infile-swapping could have unintended impacts on future product development.
"There's a lot more at stake here for the technology industry than for thecopyright industry," said Fred von Lohmann, an Electronic FrontierFoundation attorney who has represented StreamCast Networks on the issue."This case will not be determinant of the future of peer to peer around theworld, but it will be determinant of the future of a whole host of futuredigital products."
The case itself focuses on Morpheus and Grokster, each of which are popularfile-swapping applications that are widely used to trade movies, music andsoftware.
Studios and labels sued the companies in 2001, following successful legalcampaigns against peer-to-peer trailblazer Napster. Attorneys for theentertainment conglomerates said the newer file-swapping services were,like Napster, building businesses based on copyright infringement.
But Grokster and StreamCast were built around a different technology thanNapster. Their services involved a highly decentralized network ofindividual computers trading files among themselves, rather than a networkcontrolled from a central location.
Lower court judges ultimately said that the companies did not directlycontrol what happens on their networks, and that their software could beused for legal purposes. That shields the companies themselves from legalresponsibility for the actions of their users, the lower courts said.
"Defendants distribute and support software, the users of which can and dochoose to employ it for both lawful and unlawful ends," federal court JudgeStephen Wilson wrote in the original opinion, released in April 2003."Grokster and StreamCast are not significantly different from companiesthat sell home video recorders or copy machines, both of which can be andare used to infringe copyrights."
With six months or more likely to pass before arguments and a ruling in thecase, the court's decision will throw new uncertainty into the file-tradingindustry, where some companies have been hoping to gain permission to sellauthorized copies of music through their networks.
The court issues no comment when it decides to take a case, so there is noindication as to what specific issues might have caught the justices'attention, or which way they might be leaning on the issue. Oral argumentsin the case will likely be held in March, and a decision is expected byJune of next year.
Outside attorneys said it's rarely possible to guess the justices'intentions before they rule, although the oral arguments could provide somehints.
"It's completely unpredictable," said Morrison & Foerster attorney JonathanBand. "It could well be that the entertainment industry will rue the daywhen they went to the Supreme Court."
ToCBy Evan Hansen
http://news.com.com/E-voting+faces+new+scrutiny/2100-1028_3-5465309.html
Story last modified Wed Nov 24 04:00:00 PST 2004
What's new:
The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of the U.S.Congress, agreed to look into anomalies in the November election.
Bottom line:
Experts do not expect an inquiry to result in a dramatic challenge of theNovember election results, but it could lead to important changes inongoing reforms of the election process.
A newly announced federal investigation of the November election will bringfresh scrutiny on the performance of e-voting machines, but electionexperts said they believe any impact will be limited to future politicalcontests.
On Tuesday, five Democratic representatives said the GovernmentAccountability Office agreed to their request to review complaints thatelection machine technology and procedural issues had prevented some votesfrom being counted in the recently completed presidential election.
More stories on e-voting
Though most observers have concluded that election technology performedreasonably well Nov. 2, a variety of anomalies have cropped up, fuelingcalls for a deeper review of complaints from voters and election watchdoggroups over possible mistakes.
"On its own authority, the GAO will examine the security and accuracy ofvoting technologies, the distribution and allocation of voting machines,and the counting of provisional ballots," the five members of the House ofRepresentatives said in statement Tuesday. "We are hopeful that GAO'snonpartisan and expert analysis will get to the bottom of the flawsuncovered in the 2004 election."
The pending GAO inquiry offers the latest sign that the postelectionhealing called for by politicians has yet to emerge for critics of e-votingmachines.
Experts said they do not expect an investigation to result in a dramaticchallenge of the November election results. But it could lead to importantchanges in ongoing reforms of the election process sparked by the famous"hanging chad" ballot problems in Florida during 2000's closely foughtpresidential race.
Congress in 2002 passed the Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, to help statesfund an overhaul of antiquated voting systems with new e-voting machines.But those attempts have themselves sparked heated criticism over oftenpoorly planned changes that some believe offer citizens less secure andreliable voting procedures than they had before.
Calls for reforms
Criticism has focused on the lack of national voting machine standards andthe failure of some voting districts to require that e-voting machinesproduce a paper ballot receipt that could be used in the case of an audit.
"The $64,000 question is whether or not the GAO finds enough problems inthe 2004 election results to spur Congress to help the Help America VoteAct," said Doug Chapin, director of Electionline.org, a nonpartisanvoting-information site. "Election reform is driven by either consensus orcrisis, and in the absence of either, reform will move slowly, if at all,in the next Congress...There is some concern that if there are only anumber of smaller problems, they might just slip under Congress' radar."
One problem voters faced in the November elections was that after choosingone presidential candidate, they were presented with confirmations thatthey had voted for the opposing candidate, the Electronic FrontierFoundation and VerifiedVoting.org said in a release earlier this month. TheVerified Voting Foundation is an e-voting critic that has called forindependent technical experts to monitor and test voting machines andresults, among other things. The groups added that another common error wasthat machines crashed and rebooted without evidence of whether the voteswere counted.
The groups sent letters to voting officials in eight counties with theworst problems urging them to allow for independent machine tests. Thecounties included Broward and Palm Beach in Florida, Mahoning and Franklinin Ohio, Mercer and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, Harris in Texas, andBernalillo in New Mexico.
Calls for increased scrutiny of e-voting systems are heating up as thetechnology is rapidly taking root in election districts across the country.Some 50 million voters used electronic ballot machines in November, up from32 million in 2002 and 20 million in 2000. In October, the U.S. Senatevoted to increase from $500 million to $1.5 billion the budget for grantsto states for election reform improvements mandated under HAVA.
Despite some critics' predictions of widespread and major problems,electronic voting machines made a respectable showing in the U.S.elections. Though issues cropped up in almost every state that usede-voting machines, all were relatively minor, and most could be attributedto poorly trained poll workers, problems caused by voters or othercircumstances, according to poll observers.
Known glitches include a transmission error in the battleground state ofOhio that gave President Bush almost 4,000 phantom votes in the preliminaryresults posted online, the secretary of state's office in Ohioacknowledged. Meanwhile, data from Florida has raised eyebrows and led toat least one analysis that claimed the result of voting there isstatistically implausible.
Analysis of voter behavior
Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley published on Fridaya statistical analysis of irregularities in Florida voter behavior thatcontends voting patterns favored Bush to the tune of 130,000 to 260,000votes.
The report analyzed the statistical relationships between Florida's Nov. 2results and a variety of factors, including historical trends in Florida,racial factors and county size. According to the analysis, people usinge-voting machines tended to favor Bush in proportion to the number ofregistered Democrats in each county.
The group stressed that results were not proof of any errors in countingthe vote but merely suggested that some link existed between the type ofmachine used to tally votes and the margin by which Bush won.
"Without a paper trail, statistical comparisons of jurisdictions that usede-voting are the only tool available to diagnose problems with the newtechnology," the researchers said in the report.
Paperless e-voting machines accounted for 29 percent of the Nov. 2 votetally, according to VerifiedVoting.org.
"There were widespread malfunctions and errors, and we're pleased that theGAO will apparently be investigating these incidents, and hopefully it willlead to improvement in regulation and technology," said Will Dohertyexecutive director of the Verified Voting Foundation.
A representative for e-voting machine maker Hart InterCivic, which providedsome 25,000 machines used in the November election, said the companywelcomes the findings of the GAO.
"A lot of different studies have said a lot of different things, so ifsomeone from the government wants to look at the results and get to thefacts, then I think that's good," said Michelle Shafer, director ofcommunications at Hart InterCivic. Shafer added that testing already occursin many of the counties that use e-voting machines.
Representatives lobby for probe
Shortly after the election, five Democratic members of the U.S. House ofRepresentatives began lobbying the GAO to conduct an independentinvestigation. In two letters, sent Nov. 5 and Nov. 8, Reps. John ConyersJr., D-Mich., Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Robert Wexler, D-Fla., asked theGAO to investigate various complaints about election machine technology andprocedural issues preventing some votes from being counted. Two othermembers of the House of Representatives, Robert Scott, D-Va., and RushHolt, D-N.J., signed the Nov. 8 letter.
The lawmakers provided the GAO with some 57,000 incident reports that hadbeen received by the House Judiciary Committee.
The representatives asked the GAO to move quickly while there was stillevidence from the election to analyze.
"There is substantial concern that much of the primary evidence needed toevaluate these allegations will not be preserved without immediate action,"they argued in the Nov. 8 letter.
Eight other members of the House of Representatives gave their support tothe GAO request as well, the representatives said in their statement.
"The GAO is a fair and honest nonpartisan body, and we are hopeful that itwill look at all the issues and problems that came up and will seriouslyconsider recommending changes," said Cindy Cohn, legal director of theElectronic Frontier Foundation, which had previously called on the GAOrecommendations to conduct independent testing of results from e-votingmachines.
But she added that the GAO's recommendations would likely apply only tofuture elections. "Our expectation is that the GAO's study won't becompleted in time to affect current results," she said.
ToCBy Margaret Kane - Staff Writer, CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/Google+offers+a+suggestion/2100-1024_3-5487090.html
Published: December 10, 2004, 5:51 AM PST
Google has launched a new feature that tries to guess what people are lookingfor as they type queries into a search box.
Google Suggest ( http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en ) quietly debutedthis week on the company's Labs site ( http://labs.google.com/ ), which showcases Google features that"aren't quite ready for prime time," according to a message on the site. Whensomeone starts typing a request into the search box, a drop-down menu appearswith suggestions as to what that person could be looking for.
For instance, typing in "Mi" generates a list starting with "Microsoft" andcontinuing with "miniclip," "Michael Moore" and "miserable failure," amongother suggestions.
Google uses "a wide range of information" to predict queries, according to anFAQ, including data about the overall popularity of various searches. Thecompany does not use individual search histories to help generate the prompts,it says.
Google regularly launches new features in its Labs section, using it as a testbed before formally releasing them. The company recently launched a specializedsearch function that can scan for scholarly literature, and a desktop searchfeature allows users to scan their PCs using Google technology.
Google's competitors haven't stayed silent. Yahoo said Thursday that it plansto start testing a downloadable desktop search application in early January,and Microsoft has plans to launch a similar feature by the end of the year.
ToCBy J.D. Biersdorfer
http://news.com.com/DS+gives+gamers+another+window+on+their+world/2100-1043_3-5486194.html
Story last modified Sat Dec 11 06:30:00 PST 2004
The newest piece of hardware in the video game wars, the Nintendo DS,arrived in stores last month out to prove that two is better than one--inmore ways than one.
The popular handheld console has two display screens ready for duty when aplayer flips open the clamshell case, and two microprocessors to handle thecolor game graphics and the machine's many other functions. True to itsdual nature, the device has slots for two kinds of game cartridges: its ownNintendo DS games, as well as any of the hundreds of cartridges designedfor the older Game Boy Advance machines.
"We wanted people with a big game library to feel comfortable movingforward," said George Harrison, senior vice president for marketing andcommunications at Nintendo of America.
The DS includes the standard navigation and action buttons typically foundon handheld consoles and controllers, but it also has a touch screen and athumb pad that give players different ways to play. Even the microphone canbe used to control the action. "We had to provide software developers withnew ways to allow customers to interact with our games," Harrison said.
The $150 DS, measuring less than 6 inches long by 3.5 inches wide by 1.1inches thick when closed, packs a lot of technical punch for a portablegame machine. The dual screens have a resolution of 256 by 192 pixels andare capable of displaying 260,000 colors, and the unit's ARM9 and ARM7processors are powerful enough for 3D graphics. With two screens, a playercan see different perspectives within the same game, like an overall map ofthe terrain within the game on one screen and a first-person point of viewon the other.
Far from the monochrome green screen and tiny floating Tetris blocks thatmade the original Game Boy a hit back in 1989 (the beginning of a franchisethat has sold 178 million units worldwide), the Nintendo DS is asophisticated handheld with wireless networking capabilities (up to about100 feet, the company says), stereo speakers and a headphone jack thatprovides virtual surround sound.
In addition to voice commands, elements in some Nintendo DS games can bedirectly controlled through the power of the pen--or stylus, as the casemay be. The lower of the two 3-inch backlit color displays acts much likethe screen on a handheld organizer--tapping or dragging the stylus canexecute a command or activate a game feature.
For times when stylus-wielding is too clumsy to keep up with a game, thethumb pad can come into play. This is a plastic pad, connected to theunit's wrist strap for easy access, that slips over the player's thumb. Itcan be used for frantically drumming the screen to fire weapons and controlother aspects of some games.
Although basic networking could be accomplished in the past by stringingtwo Game Boy Advance units together with a cable for multiplayer contests,the Nintendo DS can accommodate multiple players. The wireless networkingfunction allows up to 16 DS-toting warriors with the same game card to playtogether. "Taking the Game Boy from a singular to a shared experience tookus into an accelerated mode that we wanted to extend to the Nintendo DS,"Harrison said.
If everyone on the DS network doesn't have the same game card, group playis still possible with certain games intended for "single-card download"play. In this setup, a host DS machine with the game card lets otherplayers download data over the network.
The wireless-networking feature also allows DS users to communicate, usingthe touch-screen and embedded software called PictoChat. Users can writemessages by tapping on an on-screen keyboard or by drawing letters andsimple designs directly on the message area. Messages can be sent to up to15 users, provided they are all within range.
The success of gaming hardware is usually tied to the inventiveness of itssoftware. While just a half-dozen games were available when the Nintendo DSwas released in the United States last month, the device's potential seemsto have snagged the interest of a few people already. Nintendo reports thatit sold half a million units in the first week of release.
ToCTerren Tong - Tuesday, December 7th, 2004 | 9:47AM (PST)
http://www.neoseeker.com/news/story/4133
NVIDIA to provide graphics component of PS3
Well this is certainly a bombshell. It looked like NVIDIA might haveexited the console realm with the Xbox 2 contract going to ATI but todaythey have announced that they will be powering the Playstation 3.
"TOKYO and SANTA CLARA, CA-DECEMBER 7, 2004-Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.(SCEI) and NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) today announced that thecompanies have been collaborating on bringing advanced graphics technologyand computer entertainment technology to SCEI's highly anticipatednext-generation computer entertainment system. Both companies are jointlydeveloping a custom graphics processing unit (GPU) incorporating NVIDIA'snext-generation GeForce and SCEI's system solutions for next-generationcomputer entertainment systems featuring the Cell* processor.
This collaboration is made under a broad, multi-year, royalty-bearingagreement. The powerful custom GPU will be the graphics and imageprocessing foundation for a broad range of applications from computerentertainment to broadband applications. The agreement will encompassfuture Sony digital consumer electronics products."
This certainly changes the console landscape. It also ties up a coupleloose ends including analyst speculation that NVIDIA has been after the PS3contract for some time and more importantly, the rumor that OpenGL would bethe PS3 API. This makes a lot more sense as NVIDIA has the best OpenGLdrivers in the industry. The next generation console race should have theATI Xbox2 coming in 2005 and the NVIDIA PS3 coming in 2006.
Here's the link to the Press Release -http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_17342.html
ToCLaser-emitting device could be tech blockbuster
By Greg Kline (kline@news-gazette.com)
News-Gazette Staff Writer
Saturday, November 13, 2004
The fellows who brought you the light-emitting transistor, not to mentionthe light-emitting diode and the world's fastest transistor, have gone onebetter.
The laser-emitting transistor, to be highlighted Monday in the journalApplied Physics Letters, might end up at the center of integrated circuits- computer chips - for the next 50 years, said University of IllinoisProfessor Milton Feng, one of its inventors.
Feng's colleague UI Professor Nick Holonyak was a little more cautious.
"You can't tell what the implications are," said Holonyak, a UI electricaland computer engineering and physics professor. "We're at the front end ofthings. These are still fairly primitive."
Still, Holonyak thinks the technology, which the UI is patenting, couldeventually be a blockbuster and almost certainly is a first.
"To my knowledge, no one has ever run a transistor as a laser before this,"he said.
What's the significance of that? Well, getting a transistor, the linchpinof the electronic age, to emit light is one thing. UI researchers announcedthat they had done so in January.
Getting one to emit laser light is another thing entirely. Laser light is"coherent." It's hundreds of times more powerful than the spontaneous,scattered light emissions the researchers first recorded. It can bestimulated as needed, finely focused, controlled and used in signaling, asin fiber-optic communications, one potential place for the device createdby Feng and Holonyak.
"Coherent light can be guided," Holonyak said.
Feng, also a UI electrical and computer engineering professor, thinks lasertransistors could be used in signaling between tiny components ofintegrated circuits as well.
Transistors today are "two-port" devices. A charge goes in and anelectrical signal comes out.
The laser-emitting transistor, on the other hand, is a three-port device, acharge goes in and two signals come out, electrical and light, Feng said.
The addition of the light signal, and Feng's work on faster transistors ingeneral, is what holds out the promise of increasingly powerful "superchips," capable of moving more data faster, for a long time to come.
Moreover, Holonyak said the idea has an advantage over other possibilities,such as carbon nanotubes, for overcoming the limitations chip makers arefacing with current technology. That's because it can be more easilyintegrated into existing processes for manufacturing and employingintegrated circuits.
It also could offer a more compact , single package for some uses, likefiber optics, where both transistors and a light emitter are required.
The laser transistor was produced in the UI's Micro and NanotechnologyLaboratory. Post-doctoral researcher Gabriel Walter and graduate studentRichard Chan collaborated on the project, funded by the Defense AdvancedResearch Projects Agency.
Feng's lab produced the world's fastest transistor, 509 gigahertz, lastyear, beating its own record.
He and Holonyak are in the habit of meeting mornings for coffee, and shoptalk and it was there that they started discussing the possibility of usingthe light-emitting qualities, initially a throwaway byproduct, of Feng'sfast transistors.
Holonyak developed the first practical light-emitting diode, a device whichlights up the displays of electronic devices everywhere.
He's adding to his long list of honors next month when he receives the VonHippel Award, the highest honor by the Materials Research Society, forcontributions including the first semiconductor laser in the visiblespectrum, a device that's central to CD and DVD players, among otherthings.
ToCJames E. Kloeppel, Physical Sciences Editor
217-244-1073; (kloeppel@uiuc.edu)
11/15/04
URL: http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/04/1115transistor.html
[photo caption: Milton Feng, left, and Nick Holonyak have demonstrated thelaser operation of a heterojunction bipolar light-emitting transistor.]
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Researchers at the University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign have demonstrated the laser operation of a heterojunctionbipolar light-emitting transistor. The scientists describe the fabricationand operation of their transistor laser in the Nov. 15 issue of the journalApplied Physics Letters.
"By incorporating quantum wells into the active region of a light-emittingtransistor, we have enhanced the electrical and optical properties, makingpossible stimulated emission and transistor laser operation," said NickHolonyak Jr., a John Bardeen Professor of Electrical and ComputerEngineering and Physics at Illinois.
The same principle making possible the transistor - negative and positivecharge annihilation in the active region (the source of one of thetransistor's three currents) - has been extended and employed to make atransistor laser, he said. Holonyak invented the first practicallight-emitting diode and the first semiconductor laser to operate in thevisible spectrum.
[photo caption: The transistor laser light beam with a infrared wavelengthlabeled "hv" at the top is captured by CCD camera. The contact probes (darkshadow) on the Emitter, Base and Collector.]
Unlike a light-emitting diode, which sends out broadband, incoherent light,the transistor laser emits a narrow, coherent beam. Modulated at transistorspeeds, the laser beam could be sent through an optical fiber as ahigh-speed signal.
"This is a true, three-terminal laser, with an electrical input, electricaloutput and an optical output, not to mention a coherent optical output,"said Milton Feng, the Holonyak Professor of Electrical and ComputerEngineering at Illinois. "It is a device that operates simultaneously as alaser and as a transistor." Feng is credited with creating the world'sfastest bipolar transistor, a device that operates at a frequency of 509gigahertz.
At laser threshold - where the light changes from spontaneous emissionto stimulated emission - the transistor gain decreases sharply, but stillsupports three-port operation, Feng said. "The electrical signal goes down,but the optical signal goes up."
Earlier this year, Feng and Holonyak reported their discovery of athree-port, light-emitting transistor. Building upon that work, theresearchers fabricated the transistor laser in the university's Micro andNanotechnology Laboratory. Unlike traditional transistors, which are builtfrom silicon and germanium, the transistor laser is made from indiumgallium phosphide, gallium arsenide and indium gallium arsenide, but canemploy other materials in this family (the so-called III-V compounds).
"This work is still very much in its infancy," Holonyak said. "There ismuch more to be learned, including how to separate and optimize thetransistor laser output between electrical signals and light signals."
Down the road, ultra-fast transistor lasers could extend the modulationbandwidth of a semiconductor light source from 20 gigahertz to more than100 gigahertz. Used as optoelectronic interconnects, transistor laserscould facilitate faster signal processing, higher speed devices andlarge-capacity seamless communications, as well as a new generation ofhigher performance electrical and optical integrated circuits.
Co-authors of the paper with Feng and Holonyak are postdoctoral researchassociate Gabriel Walter and graduate research assistant Richard Chan. TheDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency funded the work.
News Bureau, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign807 South Wright Street, Suite 520 East, Champaign, Illinois 61820-6219Telephone 217 333-1085, Fax 217 244-0161
ToCIn case you didn't catch it, National Public Radio did some interestingstories on internet access. Champaign-Urbana even gets a mention. You canhear the stories at:
Digital Generations: Rural High-Speed Web access -
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4190131
Verizon Attempts to Block City's Move to Provide Internet Access -
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4191108
Rural Telecom Subsidies Jeopardized -
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4186191
There's also some very interesting Internet related news in the MediaMinutes segment here:
Media Minutes: December 10, 2004 -
http://freepress.net/mediaminutes/archive/mm121004.mp3
"The Supreme Court agrees to hear a case that could determine the future ofthe Internet. Congress creates a copyright czar. And a Fast Fact: spendingon political TV advertising in 2004 smashes all records."
ToCFrom Gary Bernstein, Director of Computer Information & AccessKrannert Center for the Performing ArtsWed, 8 Dec 2004 12:25:41 -0600
It has recently come to our attention that the number of "phishing"exploits out there are increasing at a dramatic rate. Since it is very easyto fall victim to these "scams", we thought I should send out some moreinformation about them. Please see the links below for more information.
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-014.html
In short, the sorry state of affairs that we are currently in requires thatyou question the validity of all messages that you receive via e-mail andall websites. The scammers are out in full force and they are gettingcraftier by the minute. They fool the recipient into giving them personaland confidential information such as mother's maiden name, social securitynumbers, credit card information, bank account information, etc. Theythen use this information to purchase items for themselves or to steal youridentity to commit crimes in your name or to destroy your credit rating.
If you ever have questions about the validity of something, please contactthe company that supposedly sent the message by phone (for example callCitibank or E-Bay or Amazon). As the person who receives e-mail addressedto several well-known addresses (webmaster@kcpa, postmaster@kcpa, etc) Isee a lot of these scams first hand.
ToCBy Jo Best
http://news.com.com/Survey+Some+iPod+fans+dump+PCs+for+Macs/2100-1042_3-5465935.html
Story last modified Wed Nov 24 07:28:00 PST 2004
The popularity of the iPod could be boosting Apple Computer's financials inunexpected ways.
According to a survey of iPod users by financial analysis firm PiperJaffray, Macs are basking in the reflected glory of the iPod, with some whoown the music player saying they have already or are intending to ditchtheir PCs for Macs.
The research found that 6 percent of iPod users have made the switch. Anadditional 7 percent said they are planning to dump their old PC for anApple machine, according to the survey.
Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray senior research analyst, said the iPod haloeffect will make a difference to Apple for a while to come.
"We're in the very early innings of a multiyear trend," he said.
Among the factors influencing the PC-dumping crowd are ease of use, a focuson entertainment and the perception of better security.
The switchers, according to Munster, tend to be people who aren'tnecessarily techie types.
"A lot of people, with all due respect, don't understand thetechnology...They're people with money, not tech people," he said.
While Apple might see a healthy period ahead, to turn the advantage intolong-term gain the company has to keep setting the design trends, accordingto the analysts.
"They've got to keep that 'cool factor' going," Munster said. "If theydon't, they're in trouble."
Jo Best of Silicon.com reported from London.
ToCPaul Thurrott
http://www.wininformant.com/
Microsoft has launched the beta program for Windows Server 2003 Release 2(R2), its interim follow-up to Windows 2003 that's scheduled to ship inOctober 2005. R2, which was first publicly revealed on the SuperSite forWindows in January, will be built on Windows 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) andwill add previously shipped add-ons such as Active Directory ApplicationMode (ADAM), Windows SharePoint Services (WSS), and Automated DeploymentServices (ADS), as well as a host of new features, many of which are stillin flux. If you're interested in testing Windows 2003 R2, the initial betawill be a limited, closed beta, but a future beta release that's due in thefirst half of 2005 will be publicly available.
In keeping with its new policy of warning customers about upcoming securitypatches the week before releasing them to the public, Microsoft revealedlast night that next week's regularly scheduled monthly security patchrelease will include patches for five flaws, all noncritical. The fixeswill ship December 14, Microsoft says. However, Microsoft recently releasedan out-of-band security fix for IE that patches a critical flaw. That fixfinally closes a hole that could let malicious Web site owners remotelycontrol users' PCs and launch malware.
Sandive, a broadband traffic outfit, reported this week that traffic onMicrosoft's Xbox Live online game network quadrupled in the wake of therelease of Halo 2, the company's blockbuster new Xbox game. Sandive saysthat Xbox Live network traffic has continued, unabated, since Microsoftfirst released Halo 2 on November 9. "The jump [in traffic] raisesquality-of-service concerns for service providers who are eager to keephigh-value customers like gamers from churning away to competitors with abetter reputation for optimized broadband experience," a Sandive reportnoted. Meanwhile, I've come around to the joy of the networked Halo 2multiplayer experience, after years of being a PC gamer snob. Cartingaround an Xbox and a flat-panel screen isn't exactly easy, but I'veparticipated in a few Xbox LAN-based deathmatches with several friendsrecently, and it's good stuff.
Intel might have been late to the 64-bit x86 (now called x64) party, butthe company intends to keep the fire to the feet of market innovator AMD byreleasing an amazing array of new 64-bit chips next year, then rapidlyupping performance over the next several years. Intel says that by 2008 itwill increase the performance of its microprocessors by 10 times, thanks toadvances in multicore processors, which essentially fuse multipleprocessors' "brains" into a single chip. First, however, Intel will releasea family of 64-bit consumer-oriented chips that will start shipping in 2005and will target Longhorn, the next-generation version of Windows that's duein mid-2006. Intel is looking to the technical and marketing successes ofits Centrino mobile brand for inspiration about the direction to take withdesktop-oriented chipsets. The company's 2005-era 64-bit chips will likelyborrow liberally from the Centrino design, which currently graces most ofthe notebook computers sold today.
Yesterday, Microsoft issued release candidate (RC1) builds for the x64versions of Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP, both of which are scheduledfor release in the first half of 2005. Microsoft declared build 1289 ofWindows 2003 x64 Edition and XP Professional x64 Edition as RC1 on Monday.
In recent briefings with Microsoft, executives from the software giant havebeen effusive in their praise of the x64 platform, which provides 64-bitcapabilities, better performance, and complete compatibility with the32-bit x86 platform that today's PCs use. One of the highlights of the x64platform, they've said, is that, unlike the Itanium, x64 provides full32-bit application compatibility and performance, giving customers the bestof both worlds.
"Whenever we do performance testing, we run [various] industry-standardtests on the previous operating system on the same piece of hardware [asthe x64 OS]," Iain McDonald, a Microsoft group program manager told merecently. "Our goal was that customers could move to x64 without seeing apenalty in 32-bit application performance. We wanted to eliminate any sortof adoption barrier. We believe we've actually nailed it. The key is thatthere are some architectural benefits to x64 ... so 32-bit applications runat parity, or better, on x64 [platforms] than they do on x86."
One of the other huge advantages of x64 is that it finally shatters the 4GBmemory model that 32-bit systems use, letting native 64-bit applicationsaccess stunning amounts of RAM. However, even 32-bit applications benefitfrom this situation when running on x64. McDonald told me that each 32-bitapplication gets a full 4GB of virtual address space when executing on x64platforms, up from 2GB on 32-bit systems.
Unlike the recently released 32-bit version of Windows 2003 Service Pack 1(SP1), the beta releases of Windows 2003 x64 Edition and XP Professionalx64 Edition are currently available only to beta testers. However,Microsoft tells me that it will ship the build to MSDN customers and otherswithin the month. Both products are functionally similar to the latest32-bit versions of each product. So, for example, the x64 version of XPwill be almost identical to 32- bit XP SP2, whereas the x64 versions ofWindows 2003 will include the feature set from Windows 2003 SP1.
Although the details are still shrouded in mystery, sources close to thenegotiations between computer giant IBM and the China-based PC maker LenovoGroup say that the companies will announce plans tonight for IBM to sellits PC business for as much as $2 billion. Under the terms of the deal, IBMand Lenovo will create a new US-based PC maker, the majority of which willbe owned by Lenovo, although IBM will retain a small stake. Although thecompanies were originally mute about the topic, IBM and Lenovo early thisweek confirmed that IBM's PC business is on the block.
The new company will be the third largest PC maker in the world and willlikely continue to use the IBM name, as well as key IBM brands such asThinkPad, for at least a few years. It will also have access to IBM'scorporate accounts, which is considered key to the new company's success.
Lenovo, which was previously known as Legend, is China's largest PC makerand is partially owned by the Chinese government. However, the company hasrecently started investigating acquisitions and mergers that would let itbetter compete with Dell and HP worldwide. Although the new deal with IBMwon't technically see all of IBM's PC operations come under the Lenovoumbrella, it will give the Chinese company direct access to the lucrativeUS PC market. In that market, IBM is in a distant third place behind Delland HP, and its PC business is said to be only marginally profitable.Shares of Lenovo were halted on the Hong Kong stock exchange inanticipation of the blockbuster deal.
Microsoft filed seven lawsuits yesterday against spammers who violated theControlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing(CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003 antispam law's "brown paper wrapper" provision bysending offensive email messages to unsuspecting recipients. The provisionrequires that emailers include a label indicating that the message containsexplicit material in both the subject line and the initially viewable areaof an email message.
Antivirus vendor McAfee expects Microsoft to enter the antivirus market inmid- 2005, leading credence to rumors that the software giant will offerits antivirus wares earlier than the previously announced Longhorn timeframe. McAfee says that although it has a deal with Microsoft to give MSN 9customers antivirus solutions, Microsoft has yet to contact McAfee aboutextending the contract to include the upcoming MSN 10. For this reason,McAfee expects Microsoft to first offer its own antivirus solution throughMSN, not generally to all XP users. I'm interested to see what happens. Ihave yet to hear anything personally from Microsoft about any pre-Longhornantivirus plans.
ToCFrom Microsoft
We are committed to making the Windows experience better for you. A lot ofour efforts focus on engaging with customers in focus groups, surveys,usability studies, and visits to customers' homes and workplaces. Even withall these activities, we believe we have an opportunity to do more. Forthat reason, we created the Windows Feedback Panel Program. It's anexciting new way for us to get feedback from you so we can produce softwarebased on your needs. With this program, we are getting our customers evenmore actively involved in helping to create the world's best software.
ToCBy John Foley, Information Week
http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=54800665
December 7, 2004
Following the launch of its Firefox browser, Mozilla delivers an E-mailclient. A calendaring application may be next.
On the heels of the success of its open-source Firefox browser, the MozillaFoundation on Tuesday will release an E-mail client intended to be analternative to Microsoft's Outlook Express.
Thunderbird 1.0, available as a free download at http://www.mozilla.org, isdesigned to work with Firefox 1.0, the browser released in November that'scutting into the market share of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Mozilladevelopers are working on a related calendaring application for release in2005.
Thunderbird runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac computers. Lead engineer ScottMacGregor says Thunderbird come with built-in defenses for two of the mostcommon E-mail problems: spam and viruses. Other features includes an RSSviewer for reading and managing Weblog postings, a Saved Search functionthat makes it possible to save searches within a folder, and the ability togroup E-mails by day or week.
Thunderbird 1.0 is aimed at consumers, but MacGregor expects it to appealto business users, too. Already, one company has deployed 40,000 copies ofThunderbird, MacGregor says, though he declined to name the company. A toolcalled Mission Control Desktop allows system administrators to centrallymanage Thunderbird functions such as user settings.
ToCfrom Tom Purl (tompurl2000@yahoo.com)
My favorite quote from this article is one that you'll probably hear froma lot of companies and other governments soon:
"Open source whenever possible, proprietary software only when necessary."
Here's a link to the story:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-08-30-011-26-NW-LL-PB
A new version of everyone's favorite bootable Linux distribution has beenreleased. For more information, please see the following link:
http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/10/1356241&tid=90
The latest and greatest version of the most versatile BSD has beenreleased. For more information, please take a lookat the following link:
http://www.netbsd.org/Releases/formal-2.0/NetBSD-2.0.html
ToCBy Stephen Shankland
http://news.com.com/Intel+more+active+in+desktop+Linux/2100-7344_3-5465225.html
Story last modified Tue Nov 23 16:40:00 PST 2004
Intel has begun an effort to make it easier for sales partners in China andIndia to sell desktop computers running Linux, starting a more active phasein the company's help with the open-source operating system.
Intel has made substantial efforts to boost Linux, which most often runs oncomputers using the company's processors, but those efforts have beenlargely confined to powerful networked computers called servers. Thechipmaker warmed up to desktop PC makers when partners in the Asiancountries started requesting more help with desktop Linux, companyspokesman Scott McLaughlin said.
Now when Intel ships the components out of which companies assemblePCs--often called "white box" systems because they're from companies withlittle-known brand names--it will include a kit of software andinstructions to ease Linux installation. It's a strategy Intel has used foryears with Windows.
The kit includes driver software, which enables use of specific hardwarefeatures; scripts to quickly install software that has been validated towork with various versions of Linux; and a program called the ApplicationVersion Compliance Tool that checks to make sure programs are compatiblewith those Linux versions and Intel electronics.
The kit supports three versions of Linux--Red Hat Desktop, Novell LinuxDesktop 9 and Red Flag Desktop 4.1--and will support Linux from the ChinaStandard Software later, Intel said. Sun Microsystems inked a deal in 2003under which the China Standard Software will sell Sun's Linux desktopsoftware, but Intel couldn't say if this was the version of Linux it wouldsupport.
On desktop computers, where Microsoft is dominant, Linux faces much higherbarriers than in the server market, where Linux's similarity towell-established Unix makes it a natural fit. But particularly in Asia,Linux is catching on, and Microsoft has lowered prices in several emergingmarkets.
Linux has at times been something of an afterthought for Intel. Forexample, when it released Centrino components, which mated wirelessnetworking with an Intel processor, the technology came with full supportfor Windows. Linux support for Centrino did show up a year later, thoughIntel released prototype software that only now has begun arriving in testversions of Linux.
Intel also said it will open four Linux development centers to helpsoftware companies build PC applications for Linux computers. The BeijingMunicipal Science and Technology Commission, established by the Beijingmunicipal government, will help run a center in that city; the GuangdongLinux Technology Service Center will help run one in Guangdong, China; theIndian Institute of Technology will help run one in Mumbai; and StefaniniConsultoria will help run one in Brazil.
In addition, Intel and the city of Xi'an in China signed a preliminaryagreement in September to adopt computers using Linux and Intel components.Intel plans to help with testing, validation and management.
ToCBy Sam Varghese
December 13, 2004
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Breaking/TCO-study-Linux-wins-again/2004/12/13/1102786990788.html
An updated Linux vs Windows TCO study has found that a 250-seat company canend up saving 36 percent if it were to equip its users with the open sourceoperating system and applications that run on it.
The study, by Melbourne-based open source firm Cybersource, found that evenuse of a commercial Linux distribution such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux,would result in 27 percent lower costs.
The study was first issued in April 2002. "We have now updated this reportto accommodate the changes in both platforms. We have also extended themodel to increase its relevance and accuracy," said Con Zymaris, chiefexecutive officer of Cybersource.
The study covers the average requirements over a period of three years.Zymaris said the timeframe was chosen because the costs of upgrading had tobe borne repeatedly in the case of Windows.
He said given the fact that the company deals in open source products, fouraspects had been factored in to tip the scales towards Microsoft:
"The costing models include expenses such as workstations, servers,networking, IT staff, consultancy fees, internet service charges, file,mail and print servers, e-commerce servers, SQL and network infrastructureservers, internet and intranet servers, line-of-business software, desktopproductivity applications, external training, printers as well asmiscellaneous systems costs," Zymaris said.
ToCBy Nate Mook, BetaNews
November 18, 2004, 5:06 PM
http://www.betanews.com/article/Ballmer_Linux_May_Violate_228_Patents/1100815603
At Microsoft's Asian Government Leaders Forum in Singapore, Microsoft CEOSteve Ballmer told attendees that Linux violates over 228 patents, and"somebody will come and look for money owing to the rights for thatintellectual property," according to Reuters. Company representatives latertoned down the statement to Microsoft Watch, but not before uproar from theopen source community claimed Microsoft is using scare tactics to sell itsproducts. Microsoft says Ballmer was simply citing a recent Open SourceRisk Management report.
[Editor's Note: Gee, I wonder why he would say that? See above.]
ToCby Geoff Duncan <geoff@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#756/22-Nov-04
In an interesting move, GarageBand.com has inked a deal with Microsoft'sMSN Music whereby top-rated GarageBand artists will be featured on MSNMusic services, and (eventually) artists will be able to distribute or selltheir music via MSN Music. The deal marks the first time one of the majoronline digital music services (okay, a potentially major service; right nownothing compares to the iTunes Music Store) has dipped into the vast poolof independent and unsigned musical talent available via the Internet. Italso marks the first time a (potentially) major music distribution channelhas created an option whereby featured artists are primarily selected bymusic listeners, rather than by record labels, producers, advertisers, andmarketing machines.
<http://www.garageband.com/news/msn_music.html>
<http://www.music.msn.com/garageband/>
The basic idea is that featured artists are selected from GarageBand.com'stop-rated artists in a variety of genres; those ratings are derived fromGarageBand's listener review process, in which anyone can participate. Thelistener ratings act as a filter to highlight the strongest (and/ormarketable) artists in each genre. MSN Music will launch a new "GarageBandRadio" channel on MSN Music which will stream tracks from GarageBand.comtop-ranked artists; MSN Music will also enable GarageBand.com artists tosubmit music for distribution either for free or as paid downloads - thefirst time a (potentially) major online music store has opened up a directchannel to independent artists. MSN Music will also apparently carry"hundreds of thousands" of GarageBand.com songs as free downloads; some ofthese tracks will at least in part be comprised of participants in theoriginal MP3.com's TruSonic program, which GarageBand has acquired and isworking to restore.
This move - for the time being - makes MSN Music the only major playerin the online music scene making any direct effort to connect withindependent, unsigned, and emerging artists. Something of an irony,considering the source!
ToCby Glenn Fleishman <glenn@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#756/22-Nov-04
Apple last week released AirPort 4.1 software for Mac OS X 10.3, adding afeature that's been in great need: the capability to use more modern andsecure WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption when you're also linkingbase stations wirelessly through WDS (Wireless Distribution System). Thisis common if you have an AirPort Express linked wirelessly to an AirPortExpress or AirPort Extreme that's connected to the Internet. WPA is highlyrecommended, as the weaker WEP encryption has been broken for some time.
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/airport41formacosx.html>
The update also includes necessary support for the new Keyspan ExpressRemote, which can plug into the AirPort Express's USB port to enable remotecontrol of iTunes.
<http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/urm17a/>
The update also enables you to rename a printer connected via USB to a basestation. This solved a problem with the printer that my wife and I share athome; I could print wirelessly, but she had to remain connected via USBcable. After changing the name - its Rendezvous name, really - in theAirPort Admin Utility, my wife can now print to that printer. I suspectthere's a funky entry for that printer deep in some Rendezvous .plist fileon her machine that, if deleted, would have made it work, too, but thisapproach was easier.
The update also includes AirPort Express 6.1 and AirPort Extreme BaseStation 5.5 firmware updates. AirPort 4.1 requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later,and is available through Software Update, or as a 12.4 MB download. AnAirPort 4.1 update is also available for Windows; the firmware updates arealso available as separate downloads.
ToCby Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#756/22-Nov-04
I've been a Eudora user for a long time, and despite the improvement inother email clients over the years, I've never been tempted to switch awayfrom Eudora. That's in part because I grok the program at a deep level; inthe parlance of a certain group of die-hard Eudora users, I can "think likeSteve." Steve, in this case, is not Steve Jobs (who has expressed disdainfor Eudora in the past), but Eudora creator Steve Dorner (who has his owndisdain for Apple technologies - for years, typing "Appearance Manager" ina Eudora email message would cause Eudora's invective identifier MoodWatchto rate the message as likely to cause offense). Steve Dorner is an emailpurist, and although he's come around to various modern features, he'sstill the guy who allowed users of Eudora 3.0 to toggle a preference called"Waste cycles drawing trendy 3D junk."
That's why, when I first saw the emoticons feature in the just- releasedEudora 6.2, I almost called Steve to make sure he hadn't been secretlydrugged and brainwashed into adding a feature that makes the "trendy 3Djunk" of 1996 seem downright subdued. Eudora 6.2's emoticons featurereplaces (only in the local display) 24 standard smiley charactercombinations (like :-)) with iconic representations. Needless to say, manylong-time Eudora users who, even if they didn't mind the trendy 3D junk wayback when, will react with justifiable horror to this wildly misplacedfeature. Let's face it, people who are still using Eudora despite the freeand bundled competition from Apple and Microsoft probably like theprogram's utilitarian interface and power user features and areuninterested in such silliness. I left the emoticon display on for a whileto determine that I really did hate it as much as I thought I would, then Ishut it off (in the Font & Display settings panel) and let my mail returnto its 9-point Monaco goodness. Maybe I've been conditioned to think likeSteve for too many years, but little icons littering my mail don't make itany more fun to read, and they certainly don't make dealing with the mailany faster. Graphical emoticons don't bother me as much on the Web, wheregraphics and text are commonly mixed together, but I don't want them in myemail.
<http://www.eudora.com/email/features/emoticons.html>
Luckily, as counter to the core philosophy of Eudora as emoticons are, theother new features in Eudora 6.2 are more along the lines of what I knowand love about the program. Most important for less-savvy users isScamWatch, which helps you identify where a link embedded in anHTML-formatted message points by displaying a little yellow tooltip boxthat shows the real URL. If the real URL looks suspicious to Eudora, eitherbecause it points at a numerical IP address or because it doesn't match thevisible URL showing in the message, Eudora notes that fact in the tooltip,and if you click a suspicious URL, Eudora pops up a warning dialog toensure you realize that the link is deceptive. This feature is subtle butbrilliant. Far too many people are being fooled by "phishing" messages thatpurport to be from PayPal, Citibank, or eBay, and this feature shouldprovide a welcome protection that could prevent the dire consequences ofgiving a scammer your passwords or personal financial information. In myreal world use, since I'm alert to phishing messages, ScamWatch has mostlycaught the links in Macworld's weekly newsletter, since the domain in theirvisible URLs doesn't match what I presume is a click- counting servicedomain that then redirects clicks back to the main Macworld site.
<http://www.eudora.com/email/features/scamwatch.html>
For those of us who have been forced to revamp our mail reading strategiesof late, Eudora 6.2 offers another key improvement: Live Search. Manypeople don't realize that you can set up and run a search in Eudora, andthen choose File > Save to save it in a Saved Searches folder. Once asearch is saved, you can invoke it instantly by choosing it from thehierarchical Special > Find menu (and of course, anything you can choosefrom a menu, you can attach to a toolbar button). With Eudora 6.2, searchesare now live, so if you receive new messages while a search results windowthat would find those messages is open, Eudora automatically adds the newmessages to the search results window. I'll explain how I've altered myapproach to reading email in another article; suffice to say for now thatI'm using a saved search to collect mail from multiple mailboxes into asingle window for easy access.
I'm not an IMAP user, so I can't comment on the effectiveness of Eudora6.2's new IMAP capabilities, but they sound good. You can now transfermessages from IMAP mailboxes to local mailboxes even when you're offline;deleted messages in IMAP mailboxes are immediately removed from view(although you can toggle an option to show them if you wish); and you cannow turn on an auto-expunge feature to remove deleted messages from IMAPmailboxes immediately or when the space used by deleted message exceedssome percentage. You can also stick with manual expunging if you prefer.
Lastly, there are a few minor new features that may interest some users.Eudora can now show the number of unread messages on its Dock icon; such afeature is meaningless to me, since I always have tons of unread messages.(However, a nice touch is that the number applies to the frontmost mailboxwindow; so if you have no unread messages in the In box, but new messagesare automatically routed to other folders - such as Junk - you can seeimmediately if Eudora's new mail alert sound heralds important mail withoutbringing the application forward.) Eudora's SSL handling has improved, andif a new SSL certificate is chained to a trusted root certificate, Eudorawill automatically trust the new certificate. For those who spend time inEudora's Address Book (not me; I rely almost entirely on nicknameauto-completion), there's now an iChat button with every entry that, whenclicked, starts a new chat with the selected person.
Eudora 6.2 is a 6.5 MB download, and it remains available in three modes.Light mode provides a reduced feature set but is free; Sponsored modeoffers all of Eudora's features except SpamWatch (its Bayesian spam filter)for free but displays a small ad window; and Paid mode gives you all ofEudora's features, technical support, and free upgrades for 12 months. Ifyou paid for Eudora within the last 12 months, Eudora 6.2 is free; if youlast paid between 13 and 24 months ago, upgrading costs $40. New copies, orupgrades from versions paid for more than 24 months ago, cost $50.
<http://www.eudora.com/download/>
ToCTidBITS#757/06-NDec-04
Apple continues to release security updates, with Security Update2004-12-02 rolling in fixes for numerous potential exploits. Theimprovements update the Apache Web server, the Cyrus IMAP server, Kerberos,the Postfix mail server, QuickTime Streaming Server, Safari, and Terminal,along with several low-level frameworks. Although none of thevulnerabilities seem particularly serious, it's always worth stayingup-to-date on security patches to help prevent problems. Security Update2004-12-02 is available via Software Update (sizes range between 12 MB and24 MB depending on operating system version), and it's available asseparate downloads as well for the client and server versions of Mac OS10.2.8 and Mac OS X 10.3.6.
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/>
It's worth noting in passing that Apple also recently released a minorupdate to iCal to plug a security hole surrounding alarms that openprograms or send email. iCal 1.5.4 is also available via Software Updateand as a standalone download; it's 8.2 MB. [ACE]
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ical.html>
ToCTidBITS#757/06-NDec-04
Thanks to Rob Faludi for passing on the information that the U.S. PostalService Click-N-Ship program now works on the Mac. Click-N-Ship is usefulbecause it lets you avoid trips to your local post office to mail packages,at least if you're using Priority Mail or Express Mail (including GlobalExpress Guaranteed and Global Express Mail). In brief, you weigh yourpackage, enter the weight, destination, and insurance amount (if any) in aWeb form, and then pay for the postage via a standard Web shopping cart. AJava-based Web application helps you print the necessary shipping label ona normal sheet of paper (you can also buy special label stock). Your postalcarrier then picks up the package the next day just as though it were anoutgoing letter. We've only had the chance to use Click-N-Ship a few timesso far, but it worked fine in Safari and OmniWeb, and should help useliminate all those extra errands to the post office. The USPS doesn'tclaim Macintosh compatibility yet, but it's entirely possible thatimprovements in the Java VM for Mac OS X brought the necessary changes tomake it all work. We still need to buy a good digital scale to take overfrom our analog kitchen scale, but once that's done, mailing packages willbecome less annoying than it has been. [ACE]
<https://sss-web.usps.com/ds/jsps/ds_landing.jsp>
ToCTidBITS#757/06-NDec-04
I would like to point out a mistake in my article "Sense & Sensors inDigital Photography" in TidBITS-751 (reprinted in the October 2004 issue ofThe Status Register). I stated that smaller sensors are more sensitive tocamera movement than larger sensors, but when the field of view iscomparable, they are not. This vitiates one paragraph but has no effect onany conclusions or advice. Also, an editing gaffe at the end of the samearticle sowed some confusion over the role of green in Bayer sensors. Thesecond link below points to a clarification of this and also to anextensive set of FAQs that have come out of the series. [Charles Maurer]
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07860>
<http://psych.mcmaster.ca/maurerlab/Publications/TidbitsErrata.html>
reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
The November 18 meeting began with the traditional introduction of officers.Treasurer Richard Hall was absent this evening. President Rollins thentalked about Computer Deli a little bit. He showed off some of his recentpurchases: a retractable headphone set, a retractable mouse, etc. - spacesaving device he's able to carry around with him more conveniently. Othersnoted Computer Deli is far better on price for cables than either Best Buyor Staple.
There was a discussion of Obsolete Technology Recycling for the disposingof old computer equipment, especially monitors.
Richard then asked about Mac News and Emil Cobb brought up the new U2endorsed iPod from Apple. Emil then mentioned that Edwin Hadley would beshowing some burning software called Dragon Burn in the Mac SIG thisevening.
There was some talk about the new IBM chip foundry being constructed for $1billion.
Norris Hansell talked about WABC from New York and also WMAL (
Mark Zinzow showed some karabiners with a light in them he had for sale for$1. He was also interested in getting together with anyone who'd like to goin on an order for combo (USB/Firewire) drive enclosures.
Kevin Hisel showed the C64 DTV commercial from off the web.
A member asked about getting prints of panoramic digital images. GycleePrinting was suggested. In town, it can be done for $12 a square foot atDixon Graphics on the corner of John and Neil. Googling Archive Angel wasalso suggested.
When asked about Linux News, Tom Purl offered a whole list of recentsoftware releases.
Jerry Feltner offered more of his great printing paper for anyone whowanted it.
President Rollins then introduced our new members and visitors for theevening.
As presiding Election Judge, Kevin Hisel opened the floor for nominationsfor club officers. Mike Latinovich nominated the current officers foranother term. Norris Hansell seconded those nominations. As there were noother nominations, Kevin then closed the nominations for the evening.
We then went to break.
reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
The demonstration this evening was performed by Richard Rollins. Richardshowed how to put a Liteon 16x DVD burner drive ($84) into a PPA Inc.external drive enclosure ($39) which he acquired at bonusbargains.net .This process was really quite simple once you are shown how to do it. It isreally reassuring to the uninitiated to see something like this first handand realize you, too, could actually do something like this for yourself.
The was also some discussion about access points. Kevin Hisel spoke aboutpurchasing a router and a G card from Amazon for $90 with a $50 rebate. Itpays to have your ear to the ground like this.
ToCreported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
The November meeting of the CUCUG executive board took place on Tuesday,November 23, 2004, at 7PM, at Kevin Hisel's house. (For anyone wishing toattend - which is encouraged, by the way - the address and phone number areboth in the book). Present at the meeting were: Richard Rollins, Emil Cobb,Kevin Hopkins, Kevin Hisel, Rich Hall, and Mike Latinovich.
Richard Rollins: Richard began the meeting with a bit of friendly advice,stating that if you have Windows ME, don't sign up with Earthlink and usetheir provided disk of software. It's an Windows XP disk and it wrecks MEupon installation. It trashes Internet Explorer and if you remember thecourt case a few years ago where Microsoft said it would be difficult toextricate IE from the Windows system, it's true. Everything runs through itand trashing it creates a right mess. Richard said he is currentlyrebuilding a system hammered by the Earthlink software.
Rich Hall: Rich reported that we had 8 new and renewing members at thelast meeting. He also stated that he had paid the room rent for the nextyear.
Mike Latinovich: Marking his triumphant return Board meetings, Mike said,"The doughnuts were lacking" at the last meeting, but, he noted, everybodyseems to have laptops now and the meeting site has a "honkin' connection."Impressive. Mike then turned to the serious business connected with hisappearance at the meeting: he let it be known that he no longer wants tohost the discussions groups. He said he just doesn't have the interestanymore. This came as a real shock to the other Board members and there wasserious discussion about what would be needed as far as hosting resources,someone to take over the duties, and the other logistics involved intransferring this valuable club service to a new home. Mike said all youneed is a site with PHP and MySQL. He also said this transition didn't haveto happen immediately, in the next eight months would be fine. Kevin Hisel,as our former BBS sysop, seemed determined to shoulder the challenge.
Kevin Hopkins: Kevin wanted top check on the web version of thenewsletter. Kevin Hisel did so. Kevin then delivered the memberships thatcame in the mail to Treasurer Hall.
Kevin Hisel: Kevin reported that the CUCUG site is now hosted byRackspace in San Antonio, Texas. He said he is extremely pleased with theservice and the site is rock sold now.
Emil Cobb: Emil reported that there were 12 members at the Linux SIG,rising to 22 at the general meeting.
Emil said he would have virus protection software for OS X at the next MacSIG. He then discussed the presentation Ed Hadley had given at the lastmeeting.
Richard Rollins: Richard noted that election of club officers will occurnext month. He also restated his desire to have a swap meet in Decemberalong with an open forum. Regarding the last meeting, Richard said hereally enjoyed demonstrating how to put a drive into an external case.
ToCMeetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at theFirst Baptist Church of Champaign in Savoy. The FBC-CS is located at1602 N. Prospect Avenue in Savoy, on the NE corner of Burwash andProspect. To get to the the First Baptist Church from Champaign orUrbana, take Prospect Avenue south. Setting the trip meter in your carto zero at the corner of Kirby/Florida and Prospect in Champaign(Marathon station on the SW corner), you only go 1.6 miles south.Windsor will be at the one mile mark. The Savoy village sign (on theright) will be at the 1.4 mile mark. Burwash is at the 1.6 mile mark.The Windsor of Savoy retirement community is just to the south; BurwashPark is to the east. Turn east (left) on Burwash. The FBC-CS parking lotentrance is on the north (left) side of Burwash. Enter by the doubledoors at the eastern end of the building's south side. A map can befound on the CUCUG website at http://www.cucug.org/meeting.html. TheFirst Baptist Church of Champaign is also on the web at http://www.fbc-cs.org .
Membership dues for individuals are $20 annually; prorated to $10 at midyear.
Our monthly newsletter, the Status Register, is delivered by email. Allrecent editions are available on our WWW site. To initiate a user groupexchange, just send us your newsletter or contact our editor via email. Asa matter of CUCUG policy, an exchange partner will be dropped after threemonths of no contact.
For further information, please attend the next meeting as our guest, orcontact one of our officers (all at area code 217):
President/WinSIG: Richard Rollins 469-2616 Vice-Pres/MacSIG: Emil Cobb 398-0149 e-cobb@uiuc.edu Secretary/Editor: Kevin Hopkins 356-5026 kh2@uiuc.edu Treasurer: Richard Hall 344-8687 rjhall1@uiuc.edu Corp.Agent/Web: Kevin Hisel 352-1002 Linux SIG: Tom Purl 390-6078 tompurl2000@yahoo.com
Email us at
912 Stratford Dr.
Champaign, IL
61821