News Common PC Linux Mac CUCUG
The next CUCUG meeting will be held on our regular third Thursday of the month: Thursday, August 18th, at 7:00 pm, at the First Baptist Church of Champaign in Savoy. The Linux SIG convenes 45 minutes earlier, at 6:15 pm. Directions to the FBC-CS are at the end of this newsletter.
The August 18 gathering will be one of our split SIG meetings. The Linux SIG is tentatively scheduled to have Anthony Philipp showing the new "Ubuntu" Linux distribution. The Macintosh is open for anything anyone wants to bring in. The PC SIG will be treated to Kevin Hisel showing Konfabulator, the PC's flavor of Widgets.
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"Broadband (high-speed Internet) will soon become the way Americans receive almost all their media - TV, radio, Internet, movies, phone, video games and more. ..."
In the June newsletter, I published a partial transcript ("David Olson's Remarks at NCMR") of the "Broadband: Media Politics in a New Era" session which took place at the 2005 National Conference for Media Reform in St. Louis Missouri on Saturday, May 14th, 2005. Those that are interested can watch this discussion themselves Tuesday, August 16 at 4:00 PM on UPTV Channel 6, Champaign-Urbana's public access cable TV station. It is one of ten NCMR 2005 sessions beginning broadcast this month on UPTV. If you miss it, I've been told it will be rebroadcast.
For further program descriptions check out http://www.cantv.rog/media.htm . UPTV's schedule can be called up here:
http://www.city.urbana.il.us/urbana/finance/is/uptv/schedule/UPTVResults.asp
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Yahoo announced today that it has purchased Konfabulator, an application (for both Mac OS X and Windows) which enables users to run small custom applications ->called Widgets - right on their desktop. (In case you're wondering, Konfabulator came substantially earlier than Apple's Dashboard and its widgets: see Adam's review back in TidBITS-717_.) Konfabulator has inspired an enthusiastic developer community that created widgets to report on everything from traffic and mosquito conditions to metronomes and add-ons for Apple's iChat and iTunes. But not only is Yahoo buying Konfabulator, it's giving the program away for free! Anyone who purchased Konfabulator in the last two months will receive a refund.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07545>
Yahoo sees Konfabulator as a core technology behind the Yahoo Developer Network: Konfabulator - likely to be renamed Yahoo Widgets - will be a means by which Yahoo promotes its new XML-based content distribution schemes. By making Konfabulator free, Yahoo hopes developers will create Widgets for Mac and Windows that do all sorts of cool and useful things, many of which will be tied directly to Yahoo's online content offerings. Developers will appreciate not having to "scrape" Web sites to extract data for their Widgets; users will appreciate cool, new cross-platform tools; and Yahoo will see their content (and associated advertising efforts) reach new people in new ways. Konfabulator is now available as a free 5.2 MB download, and requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later. [GD]
<http://www.konfabulator.com/>
<http://widget.yahoo.com/>
<http://developer.yahoo.net/>
TidBITS#791/08-Aug-05
Apple Computer got some satisfaction for its iTunes Music Store, announcing not only the debut of the Japanese version of iTMS but also the worldwide availability of early Abkco catalog recordings, which includes early rock 'n roll classics from The Animals, Sam Cooke, Herman's Hermits, Marianne Faithful, and the Rolling Stones. The iTunes Music Store is now the only online music service with the complete catalog of the Rolling Stones.
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/aug/04itms.html>
<http://www.abkco.com/>
The Japanese version of the iTunes Music Store reportedly features more than 1 million tracks, including songs from popular Japanese acts such as Little Creatures, Chara, and Crazy Ken Band, alongside Japanese radio shows and podcasts. Over a dozen Japanese companies are providing music for the Japanese version of iTMS, along with international distributors, and Apple plans to offer more Japanese content in the months ahead. Songs on the Japanese version of iTMS sell for 150 or 200 yen (roughly US$1.35 / $1.80). Apple announced this week that the new store sold more than 1 million songs in its first four days of operation. Apple hopes the introduction of the Japanese version of iTMS will spur sales of iPod music players, particularly the iPod shuffle. Unlike the rest of the world - where the iPod is the utterly dominant portable music player - it merely leads the pack in Japan, accounting for about 36 percent of the market while rival Sony has managed to secure about 27 percent of the market for flash-based music players. [GD]
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/aug/08itms.html>
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By Arshad Mohammed / The Washington Post
Saturday, August 6, 2005
URL: http://www.detnews.com/2005/technology/0508/06/tech-271560.htm
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission ruled Friday that big telephone companies no longer have to lease their high-speed Internet lines to competitors, giving the companies more power over the delivery of popular fast Internet services.
The new policy raises the possibility that America Online Inc., Earthlink Inc. and countless smaller providers that do not have their own networks could ultimately lose use of digital subscriber lines (DSL) or have to pay the telephone companies more to keep offering broadband Web access.
Combined with a recent Supreme Court decision that freed cable TV companies from having to share their networks with Internet providers, the FCC policy completes a rapid change in rules that have so far created a wide-open market with ever-shrinking prices for broadband services. The panel agreed to delay imposing the rule for a year to lessen the impact on Internet service providers and their customers.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said it was only fair to give telephone companies the same treatment won by cable companies in the Supreme Court's June 27 "Brand X" decision, and he argued that consumers have multiple choices for broadband access.
"With the actions we take today, consumers will reap the benefits of increased Internet access competition and enjoy innovative, high-speed services at lower prices," he said.
At present, there is lively competition among multiple providers to lure customers with introductory broadband offers as low as $14.95 a month. But critics say that if big cable and telephone companies are ultimately the only broadband players, they could raise prices over time.
Whether high-speed Internet prices ultimately rise or fall depends in part on the development of still other types of technology, such as the delivery of broadband over power lines, wireless networks and satellite-based systems.
"Those futuristic promises are just that -- promises," said Kenneth DeGraff, policy director for Consumers Union.
"The FCC has solidified a mano-a-mano match between ... the cable and telephone companies," he added. "When consumers have fewer choices, prices will rise."
Industry officials and independent analysts said that the latest decision is likely to drive many small ISPs out of business but that bigger ones, such as Earthlink and AOL, would continue to be able to lease access to DSL lines from the telephone companies, albeit at higher rates.
Broadband has become the most popular way for Americans to access the Internet, and it is transforming the Web. High- speed surfing makes possible many of the hottest aspects of Internet culture, such as downloading music for iPod portable players or watching streaming video from events such as this summer's Live8 concerts.
Broadband prices have gotten low enough to woo more than half of American home Internet subscribers and have led to the decline of old-fashioned dial-up service such as that offered by AOL and Earthlink. Those companies are transforming themselves to keep up but lack their own high- speed networks and have depended on regulated access to systems owned by others to stay competitive.
In addition to representing a victory for the telephone companies, the FCC's bipartisan, 4-0 broadband vote is something of a coup for Martin, who brought along the commission's two Democrats by striking compromises.
Industry analysts said the Democrats were willing to cut a deal because the Brand X decision made it all but inevitable that the telephone companies would eventually get the same treatment as cable companies.
Among the compromises, the FCC postponed carrying out the broadband decision for one year to give independent ISPs time to adjust and to prevent their customers from being cut off overnight.
Separately, the commission urged Internet providers to let consumers get any content they want on the Web, provided that it's lawful.
The statement, which is not backed by any enforcement penalties, supports a demand by many high-tech firms that telephone and cable companies not use their grip on communications networks to discriminate against content or service providers.
The FCC's action "is a victory for the Bells," said Scott Cleland of Precursor, an independent research firm that serves big institutional investors.
Cleland said it is not in the telephone companies' interest to cut off rival ISPs entirely because they have a big wholesale business selling access to their lines and because they're lobbying Congress for more deregulation.
"They're not going to be real heavy-handed because it's not in their market interest," he said. "When you want more deregulation, you do not act like a monopolist."
Earthlink, which had argued against the decision, put the best face on the FCC's action.
"Today's FCC ruling effectively preserves DSL access for the next year. Beyond that, we are confident that we will extend our existing commercial agreements with the Bells so that we can continue to deliver DSL services," it said in a statement.
[Editor's Note: This article was submitted by David Noreen. Thanks, David.]
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by Jeff Carlson <jeffc@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#791/08-Aug-05
Back when I took a more partisan approach to operating systems, I considered Dell the latest in the line of sworn enemies of Apple. Sure, Microsoft makes the dominant operating system, but vast numbers of Windows installations end up on Dell PCs. It didn't help that company founder Michael Dell and Steve Jobs have traded PR barbs for years, with Jobs likening Dell laptops to bland Ford Taurus automobiles and Dell commenting that his favorite Jobs creation was the movie Toy Story 2. (Interestingly, Michael Dell also commented recently that he's open to the idea of selling upcoming Intel-based PCs running Mac OS X.)
<http://www.dell.com/>
<http://www.fortune.com/fortune/fastforward/0,15704,1072719,00.html>
Since I don't run a PC on a regular basis, I didn't expect that I'd be looking at the Dell logo on my desktop. But that's exactly what's happened - not a PC (though I did buy a refurbished laptop a couple of years ago for testing), but instead a beautiful 20- inch flat-panel widescreen display, the Dell UltraSharp 2005FPW.
Adam has been a proponent of using multiple monitors for longer than I've known him (see "Double the Fun with Multiple Monitors" in TidBITS-421_). And although he and others have made a good case for more screen resolution over the years, I could never quite justify the cost. Plus, I've used PowerBooks as my main Mac for years; the previous desktop Mac I owned was a Power Macintosh 7500. For a short period I hooked my PowerBook 5300 up to a 17-inch CRT, but only to use the monitor as the main display, with the PowerBook's lid closed. When PowerBook displays started increasing in size, and the 17-inch CRT gave out, I saved my pennies and stuck with the laptop's LCD.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=04768>
Then, a couple of months ago, I had an opportunity to experience multiple monitor nirvana: as part of a software review for Macworld, Apple went crazy and set me up with the best hardware it could offer to test with: a dual 2.7 GHz Power Mac G5 running two 30-inch Apple Cinema Display monitors (that's more than 8 million pixels; you can see two photos at the URLs below). The hardware had to go back to Apple within a couple of weeks, but it finally convinced me to consider buying a secondary display.
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcarlson/15194718/>
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcarlson/13050332/>
Unfortunately, I'm not keen on spending the $3,000 required for a 30-inch Cinema Display. LCD prices have been falling pretty steadily, though, so I checked Dealmac to see what special offers were available.
Dell, being the giant of the industry, is able to command great prices on the parts it buys, which is one reason the company can offer complete computer systems for relatively little cost. Consequently, Dell frequently puts together deals to move its inventory. In this case, I found the 20.1-inch 2005FPW LCD for around $550. Considering that Apple's original 22-inch Cinema Display cost $4,000, and its current 20-inch model costs $800, the Dell display was a great deal.
The 2005FPW has a 20.1-inch viewable screen size, supporting a maximum resolution of 1680 by 1050 pixels (1,764,000 pixels). According to the technical specifications, it sports a contrast ratio of 600:1, an image brightness of 300 cd/m2 (candela per square meter, a measure of luminosity), and a viewing angle of approximately 88 degrees vertically and horizontally. In real-world terms, that means the screen is bright, beautiful, and sharp.
That's not all, though. The 2005FPW includes four input types: VGA, DVI-D, S-video, and composite. At first I thought that was marketing jargon that indicated you could simply attach just about any device with included adapters, but no, the monitor includes four separate ports. That enables you to connect four devices and switch between them. My PowerBook G4 connects via the DVI-D port, and for fun I hooked up my old Dell laptop via VGA. A button on the front of the monitor's frame switches among the different inputs.
What's more, you can also view two of the inputs in a picture-in- picture configuration or side by side, though this seems to apply only to VGA or DVI and one of the other inputs. I wasn't able to view both my Mac desktop and the Windows screen at once. I suppose I could hook up a DVD player to the S-video or composite ports and watch a movie in the corner of my screen, but I never tried it (I deal with enough distractions; a movie would completely wreck my productivity). Due to these input options, my TidBITS colleague Glenn Fleishman bought a 2005FPW to replace his aging television and turned it into a home entertainment system by hooking it up to his TiVo via S-video and to a Mac mini via DVI.
The 2005FPW also includes four USB ports, so you can use it as a USB hub; an included cable connects to your Mac using a separate USB input, giving you the four open USB ports. Two are easily accessible on the right side of the frame, and the other two are tucked under the bottom with the other inputs, and are harder to reach.
The height is adjustable from 15.3 inches (38.9 cm) to 22.4 inches (56.9 cm), and you can swivel the screen side to side and top to bottom in a fairly limited, but functional, range of motion. More impressive, however, is its capability to rotate: yep, just like the Radius screens of old, you can rotate the entire screen 90 degrees for a portrait view instead of a landscape view. Since all of Dell's technical specifications are geared toward Windows PCs, it's unclear what video hardware is required to support the rotated display. On my PowerBook G4 running the latest version of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, a Rotate pop-up menu enables me to set the screen at a 90, 180, or 270 degree rotation.
I use the 2005FPW as my main monitor, with my PowerBook set up at the right side to extend my desktop. Even with the PowerBook's 15-inch widescreen display, my workspace felt cramped on its own. With the new setup, I keep my most-used programs on the larger Dell screen, such as email and Word, and reserve the PowerBook's screen for iChat, extra Web pages I reference, and miscellaneous things like Activity Viewer and Terminal.
One downside is that the PowerBook's screen is dim in comparison to the Dell; it would be nice if they both shared the same brightness, but the PowerBook, while brighter than previous models I've owned, is still a display designed to be portable, and therefore not equipped with the same type of lamps found in the desktop LCDs.
If you're looking for a good deal, the 2005FPW is a great choice. As of press time, you could get the 2005FPW for around $525 directly from Dell's Web site. (Be sure to check both the Home and the Small Business sections of the site for prices; the Small Business price is currently $560, while the Home price is $525 for the exact same model.) I've seen Dealmac coupon codes that reduce the price further, but Dell's special deals are fleeting and often limited to a certain number of orders. If another great combination comes up, I may pick up another display to use with my PowerBook when I'm at home.
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From: Burt Johnson
Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2005 13:31:51 -0700
Sender: TidBITS Talk Discussion List
Did you hear that Goodwill Industries announced just this morning that they will now accept all used computer hardware? They have set up with various recycling groups that will process the equipment properly, then give whatever proceeds result back to Goodwill.
This suddenly makes it much easier for anyone to properly dispose of old computer hardware, since there are Goodwill stores just about everywhere (at least here in California). Also, they take them free, so there is no need to pay a recycler as is required at most other places.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08189>
[Editor's Note: In light of this topic coming up at our last meeting, I thought this and the next article might interest some people.]
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by Dawn D'Angelillo <dawn@smalldog.com>
TidBITS#789/25-Jul-05
As electronics enthusiasts, it's easy for us to get excited about new iPods, faster processors, sleek iBooks, and flat-screen monitors. But most of us have given little thought to what becomes of the equipment we replace.
An estimated 130 million computers will be manufactured and sold this year, as well as untold numbers of cell phones, televisions, and other electronic devices. The outdated electronics we replace, such as computers, televisions, printers and related peripherals, become electronic waste (e-waste). It's estimated that in 2005, one computer will become obsolete for every new computer put on the market. Cell phones have the shortest lifespan among consumer electronics: 1.5 years.
E-waste is both an environmental problem and a health hazard. Many people don't realize that electronics contain hazardous toxins such as lead, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, mercury, and brominated flame retardants, all shown to have adverse health effects in humans and wildlife. Particularly hazardous is older equipment which had large amounts of banned substances used in their production, such as polybrominated biphenyl (PBBs) and diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). These chemicals degrade slowly into the environment and build up in living organisms, much as the more well-known PCBs do. Accumulations of PBBs and PBDEs are known to affect behavior as well as thyroid hormone production as levels increase. While the adverse health effects of exposure to lead and mercury are well documented, most people are less aware that hexavalent chromium (Cr VI) is more soluble in water than its natural cousin, chromium (Cr III). Cr VI targets the respiratory system and in 1975 was declared an occupational carcinogen by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Want specifics? Different devices and components include a wide variety of toxic substances.
When electronics are not properly disposed of or recycled, they end up in our landfills, where the toxins they contain can make their way into the ground water and into the air we breathe. Some discarded electronics are shipped to developing countries to be harvested for any usable components by children and other workers paid pennies a day. This work is often done without gloves, masks, or goggles, resulting in exposure to the harmful chemicals, glass, and other sharp objects.
<http://www.svtc.org/cleancc/pubs/technotrash.htm>
<http://www.ewaste.ch/case_study_china/>
All this happens in part because no national regulations govern the handling or disposal of e-waste in the United States. California and Maine have passed their own e-waste laws, which place responsibility on the consumer. Other states have passed legislation classifying electronics as hazardous waste. This patchwork of different laws from coast to coast makes it difficult and expensive for consumers to understand what to do, and for retailers and manufacturers to adhere to the laws.
<http://www.computertakeback.com/legislation_and_policy/e_waste_legislation_in_the_us/>
So what can we do about it? As consumers, we need take personal responsibility for recycling our electronics properly. Every electronics reseller should offer options to customers and provide information about hazards of improper recycling. Manufacturers are also responsible: Apple, Dell, Sony, and the rest of the gang need to step up and offer incentives to make sure their temporarily cool items are recycled when they are no longer wanted. Apple has done some work here with the iPod recycling program and other environmental programs, although the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition has called on the company to go further.
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jun/03recycle.html>
<http://www.apple.com/environment/>
<http://www.svtc.org/>
Most solid waste districts can provide you with more information on resources in your area. You may want to ask a few questions when you go to drop off your electronics to be sure they're being disposed of properly. Some questions to ask include:
If you're not sure where to go to recycle your dead electronics, the Electronics Recycling Initiative and the Electronics Initiative Alliance have a list of links to pertinent recycling information for electronics. You can also find additional background information about the electronics waste problem on the Small Dog Electronics Web site.
<http://www.nrc-recycle.org/resources/electronics/policy.htm>
<http://www.eiae.org/>
<http://www.smalldog.com/ewaste/>
Small Dog Electronics supports shared responsibility and shared cost among consumers, manufacturers, and retailers. In other words, we're not just leaving it to our customers to pay for recycling. Currently, we offer free recycling when you purchase a replacement hard drive or iPod battery. We are also a local drop-off point for all electronics recycling. Recycling is available for 25 cents per pound, which covers the costs that we are charged by the recyclers.
We're also working with government leaders and industry organizations to develop a model for handling end-of-life electronics where financial and physical responsibilities are shared. This is proving to be a slow process, especially since our senator will be retiring this year. So far, no laws have been passed that have come directly from our efforts, but we will continue to keep this issue forefront in Vermont politics. We can all put pressure on our state and local governments to cooperate by writing to our elected representatives. Our biggest gains to date have been working with our local recyclers and solid waste managers to get them to assist in telling the story of e-waste.
Businesses, the technology and recycling industry, and our federal, state, and local governments should work together to make sure that our e-waste does not go to landfills or incinerators or to developing countries, but that our country has a system for responsibly handling and disposing of e-waste.
Even if Small Dog Electronics can't be the biggest contributor to this movement, maybe we can help by being the smallest and the noisiest, doing the share of the work that is ours to do, and spreading the word to other people. This isn't hard. It's like taking a pooper scooper with you when you go for a walk with your dog. If each person cleans up his or her own mess, the whole mess starts to get cleaned up.
[Dawn D'Angelillo wears many hats at Small Dog Electronics, including Customer Service, Marketing Director, newsletter publisher, and listmaster. Small Dog Electronics is an authorized Apple reseller of computers and peripherals based in Waitsfield, Vermont. The social mission of the company has remained focused on multiple bottom lines. Small Dog Electronics believes that its effect on the community, environment, customers, and employees is just as important as maintaining its profitability.]
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This article comes from Scribus <http://www.scribus.org.uk/>
The URL for this story is: <http://www.scribus.org.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=100>
Scribus Team Releases 1.3.0 - La Liberte
Date: Jul 15, 2005 - 12:00 AM
The Scribus Team is pleased to announce a technology preview of the next generation of Scribus - Open Source Desktop Publishing.
The aim for this release is to bring improvements and enhancements for both professionals and beginning users alike. 1.3.0 improves Scribus' abilities in areas like performance, accessibility and workflow. With this release, we also commence support for Scribus running natively on Windows and Mac OS X.
While it is very stable and usable, there are a number of under the hood changes which will continue through the 1.3.x series
For future development versions, we will be announcing competitions for icon sets and splashscreens.
The Scribus Team would also like to thank Anduin.net/ˆòverby Consulting and n@work GmbH, Hamburg for gracefully sponsoring our Scribus Documentation site, our Bug Tracker and Anonymous CVS server. Also, a note of thanks to University of Salford - School of Media, Music and Performance for providing continued hosting of <www.scribus.net> and upgrading the server hardware.
Getting Scribus 1.3.0
You can:
Get the MacOSX build from <http://aqua.scribus.net>
View some screenshots <http://scribus.sourceforge.net/gallery/> of the various versions.
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URL: http://www.skype.com/products/
Skype is a little program for making free calls over the internet to anyone else who also has Skype. It's free and easy to download and use, and works with most computers. Download Skype now or learn more about Skype (incl. screenshots).
Our software's quick and easy to get started with. Download, register, install, plug in your headset, speakers or USB phone and start calling your friends. The calls have excellent sound quality and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption. You don't even need to configure your firewall or router or any other networking gear. It just, you knowŠ works.
And it doesn't just work on Windows, like some other software you may know. Skype is also for Mac OS X, Linux and PDAs using Pocket PC, with a native look and feel for each platform. Talking, sending instant messages or even file transfers work between different platforms like a charm.
[Editor's Note: Here's something you might want to play around with.]
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Investigating Machine Identification Code Technology in Color Laser Printers
URL: http://www.eff.org/Privacy/printers/wp.php
Introduction
On Nov. 22, 2004, PC World published an online article stating that "several printer companies quietly encode the serial number and the manufacturing code of their color laser printers and color copiers on every document those machines produce. Governments, including the United States, already use the hidden markings to track counterfeiters." <http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,118664,00.asp>. According to the article, the high fidelity of outputs from color machines to their original documents suggests that counterfeiters can potentially succeed in creating high-quality counterfeited currency and government documents using these machines. At the request of the United States Secret Service, manufacturers developed mechanisms that print in an encoded form the serial number and the manufacturer's name as indiscernible markings on color documents. The Secret Service and manufacturers would be able to decode these values from the markings and in the event a color machine was used to print a suspected counterfeited document, these values would be used with customer information to discover the identity of the machine's owner.
The U.S. government is not the only national government using the marking technology to deter counterfeiting activities. An Oct. 26, 2004, PC World article entitled "Dutch Track Counterfeits Via Printer Serial Numbers" <http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1002274598> explained that Dutch railway law enforcement officials were employing this same technology to investigate a large-scale railway ticket counterfeiting operation. According to the article, since information about a user is not encoded into the arrangement of markings, law enforcement agencies work with manufacturers to obtain the identities of the persons to whom the printers were sold. In a typical scenario, when distributors sell printers, they obtain information about the purchaser, which is maintained in a database. The purchaser's identity is then associated with the serial number and the manufacturer's name of the machine. A document whose author a governmental agency wants to discover contains only the serial number and the manufacturer's name of the machine on which it was printed, so upon extracting this information from a document, it must consult the distributor responsible for selling the machine. The distributor performs a database query to match the serial number with a purchaser; manufacturers can also do searches if they have access to the database.
Motivations
In the PC World article, manufacturers and the Secret Service claim that the marking technology was developed to deter counterfeiting activities using color machines. While they may actually use it for legitimate anticounterfeiting purposes, currently no law prevents them from exploiting the technology in ways that could infringe on the privacy and anonymity of Americans. This means that we have no way to require them to adhere to these purposes or even verify that they are the only purposes. We also have no way of knowing whether the Secret Service is the only governmental agency using this technology.
The possible misuses of this marking technology are frightening--individuals using printers to create political pamphlets, organize legal protest activities, or even discuss private medical conditions or sensitive personal topics can be identified by the government with no legal process, no judicial oversight, and no notice to the person spied upon. If the Secret Service or any other governmental body wanted to identify the author of an anonymously printed political pamphlet, it could use the markings on the document to at least determine the serial number and the manufacturer of the machine on which it was printed. Then, with the cooperation of distributors and manufacturers, it could identify who purchased the machine. We do not even know if the government actually needs to consult manufacturers each time it seeks to identify document authors; it could obtain a complete customer database from the manufacturer and simply access the specific information on its own for any purpose it chooses.
Xerox senior research fellow Peter Crean has informed us that each document identification request that Xerox's security department receives from the Secret Service is handled on a case-by-case basis, that Xerox identifies only suspected currency documents, and that identification of machines used to print pamphlets, letters, and other non-currency documents does not occur. If true, these statements are somewhat comforting, but a clear risk remains due to the absence of legislation regulating the use of the marking technology. Color printers are regularly used for anonymous printing and pamphleteering; they are an important tool of speech. Without appropriate legal protections against the misuse of identifying technologies, these long-protected forms of expression may be in danger, as the government has easy and secret ways to identify the authors, or at least the printer purchaser, of any speech printed on color printers.
Furthermore, what assurance does an author have that foreign governments, or even private entities, are not also using or misusing these marking technologies to identify speakers? We're aware of no laws regulating the distribution or reuse of information obtained through the use of marking technologies and customer databases. The Secret Service could share with foreign governments knowledge about interpreting the markings, which would mean that they could identify color documents printed in the United States. Similarly, no law prevents individuals or organizations from using this technology for their own purposes, which means that malicious parties who understand how it works can misuse it.
It is especially worrisome that the Secret Service was able to coordinate with private-sector manufacturers on the development of this technology since at least the early 1990s with no public awareness, much less public discussion, of the privacy and anonymity risks for users of this technology. This raises the general concern that the U.S. government might have promoted the development of identification mechanisms in other devices and might do so in the future with new technologies. The marking technology is possibly one of many instances of the federal government's unwillingness to be forthright with questionable law enforcement techniques. In addition to the serious privacy concerns, we must consider the implications of the government's possible lack of accountability to the public on matters affecting technology use and development.
Through this project, we want to inform current and prospective color laser printer owners, purchasers, and users of this potential privacy risk so that they can make educated consumer decisions. It does not necessarily follow from the presentation of this material that members of the general public should never use color laser printers containing marking technology. We recognize that some consumers, upon being informed, will still choose to use these machines; such a decision is within their discretion. We simply want to ensure that current and prospective owners, purchasers, and users of these machines know that they can be identified using this technology and consider the potential risks. We also want to continue to gather information to make this technology better understood over time.
Methodology
We visited numerous local print stores and printed eight specially designed 8.5" by 11" test sheets, each with a resolution of 600 dpi (see right for two of these test sheets). We initially examined the printed test sheets using a Digital Blue QX5 computer light microscope, but later determined that a blue LED flashlight and a magnifying glass were sufficient to detect the markings, confirming the efficacy of the technique suggested by Xerox senior research fellow Peter Crean (see http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,118664,00.asp).
Upon detecting markings on a test sheet, we attempted to describe their arrangement. With Xerox documents, the markings consisted of minuscule yellow dots positioned within a 0.5" by 1.0" rectangular space. The arrangement of dots was repeatedly printed over the entire printed side. These dots were transcribed onto paper and text files. We wrote simple Linux shell scripts and C programs to analyze the arrangements.
With Canon documents, the markings also consisted of tiny yellow dots. However, they were not arranged within a rectangular space, which made analyzing them more challenging. As of this writing, we haven't developed a protocol for analyzing Canon markings, which may require an interpreting scheme different from the one needed to interpret Xerox's. There may be multiple marking systems in use by different manufacturers or in connection with different generations of color printing technology.
Results
Here are images of yellow tracking dots printed by Canon and Xerox printers:
Printed side of test01 sheet
Machine: Canon Color imageRUNNER C3200. Magnified: 60 times.Unprinted side of test01 sheet
Machine: Canon Color imageRUNNER C3200. Magnified: 60 times.Printed side of test01 sheet
Machine: Xerox DocuColor 12. Magnified: 60 times.Yellow dots on blue color box background, test07
Machine: Xerox DocuColor 12. Magnfied: 60 times.Yellow dots on edge of test09 sheet with blue LED light
Machine: Xerox DocuColor 12. Magnified: 10 times.Yellow dots on test07 sheet
Machine: Xerox DocuColor 12. Magnified: 60 times.
Below is a list of transcribed dot patterns for Xerox printers in text file format. Pattern pXY refers to the pattern found on test sheet testXY, pattern pXY1_XY2 refers to the shared pattern found on test sheets testXY1 and testXY2, and pattern pXY1-XY2 refers to the shared pattern found on test sheets testXY1 to XY2, inclusive.
After unzipping these files, use WordPad or another text editor to examine them.
Analysis
For Xerox documents, within the 0.5" by 1" rectangular space, 8 x 15 = 120 locations exist for printers to print yellow tracking dots. Consider the following pattern found on test00-template, printed on a Xerox DocuColor 12 located at FedEx Kinko's, 201 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA.
^ x x x x x x x x x x
|
| x x x
|
| x x x x x
|
| x x x x x x x
8 dots
| x x x x x
|
| x x x x x x x x x
|
| x x x
|
v x x x x x x x
<--------- 15 dots --------->
We hypothesized that the patterns should be interpreted as binary values of fifteen bytes, where one byte was eight bits long and the more significant bits were written near the top of the pattern. We further postulated that the presence of a yellow tracking dot was equivalent to a "1" and the absence thereof was equivalent to a "0." We used shell scripts to translate these binary values into hexadecimal numbers, reading each column from top to bottom as a byte and taking columns in order from left to right. Below are the fifteen hexadecimal representations generated for the above Xerox DocuColor 12 pattern:
F1 32 80 80 8C 15 86 85 80 7F B9 1C 85 15 EC
It is difficult to discover their significance without printer information such as a serial number. These values could be encrypted, which could thwart analysis. When we obtain more data, including the serial numbers of machines, we look forward to determining the meaning of the bit fields in this pattern. Our analysis could be enhanced when we obtain the serial numbers of color machines.
List of Printers
Below is a list of printers that do and do not print yellow tracking dots on documents. Although we qualify these dots as "tracking dots," we have not proven that they indeed encode identifying information. Crean's testimony in the PC World article and the pattern differences between numerous printers suggest that these dots encode relevant information, but we still need to demonstrate that they do. With all of these printers, there might be another form of marking technology being used in addition to the system of yellow dots. Watermarking and steganographic techniques have become elaborate and complex, so one cannot rule out their use in printer documents. One could argue that the real identifying information is encoded using a complicated, statistically based algorithm, and the yellow dots are merely decoys (created using random values at the time of printing) to prevent people from examining the real marking technology. Thus, the presence or absence of yellow tracking dots on a document does not prove that no other form of marking technology is being used.
With these caveats, we present the following lists. Only one printer that we tested did not print yellow tracking dots:
Xerox (list obtained through EFF's empirical research)
Here is a list of printers that print yellow tracking dots:
Canon (list obtained through EFF's empirical research)
Toshiba (list provided by the manufacturer)
Xerox (list obtained through EFF's empirical research, unless otherwise noted)
FOIA Request
EFF is also trying to discover information on this subject through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the United States Secret Service.
Conclusions
Our project's work confirms that one form of marking technology is being used in color laser printers. There could certainly be other forms of marking involved. Consumers can easily test whether printers are printing yellow tracking dots on their documents by flashing a blue LED light onto the white parts of their document. If numerous black dots appear (yellow becomes black under a blue LED light) with a semblance of structure, it is likely that the document contains tracking dots.
What You Can Do to Help EFF
We always appreciate the help of our members and supporters. You can help us make further progress with this project. Ask manufacturers of color laser printers and color photocopiers to disclose information on this technology and to explain why it is not publicized or brought to the consumer's attention at the point of sale.
You can also help us through a more hands-on approach. If you own, operate, or have legitimate access to color laser printers or color photocopiers, please print the eight test sheets provided below on each of the machines to which you have access and send them to EFF (see address below). If there are printing stores near where you live or work, please print the eight test sheets there and send them to us. Please obtain the name of the manufacturer, the model type, and if you can, the machine's serial number. Unfortunately, EFF cannot reimburse costs incurred in printing these documents. In the event that all eight test sheets cannot be printed, please try to print as many as you can. Please print or request printing of these test sheets on normal laser printer paper and in consecutive order based on their filenames' numbering. If you plan to send us more than one machine's test sheets, please keep them separated (preferably in folders) to prevent data mixing.
Please include this information form (PDF) within each folder, to help EFF identify whence the test sheets came.
Test sheets printed in foreign countries are welcome. Please send test sheets until Nov. 1, 2005.
Use either the .pdf or the .png versions of each - no need to print both. You can also download a compressed file [tar.gz, 8.7M] of all the sheets.Test sheets:
Send test sheets to:
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Machine Identification Code Technology Project
454 Shotwell Street
San Francisco, CA 94110-1914
U.S.A.
References
De Vries, Wilbert. "Dutch Track Counterfeits Via Printer Serial Numbers." /PC World./ Published 26 Oct. 2004, accessed 06 Jun. 2005. http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1002274598
Katzenbeisser, Stefan, and Fabien A.P. Petitcolas, eds. /Information Hiding Techniques for Steganography and Digital Watermarking./ Boston: Artech House, 2000.
Tuohey, Jason. "Government Uses Color Laser Printer Technology to Track Documents." /PC World./ Published 22 Nov. 2004, accessed 06 Jun. 2005. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,118664,00.asp
ToC
By Mark Baard
<http://wired-vig.wired.com/news/feedback/mail/1,2330,0-540-68501,00.html>
Aug. 12, 2005 PT / 02:00 AM
URL: http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,68501,00.html
Imagine if your next Mac cost you only $300, and ran faster than any G4 or G5 you've ever used.
That future may already be unfolding; Hackers have found a way to bypass a chip designed to prevent the Mac OS from running on non-Apple PCs, which are often cheaper than Macs.
Some of the hackers are running the tweaked version of the operating system on their PCs natively. Others are using the system with VMware, which allows the Mac OS to support more PC hardware.
Hackers and curious computer users this week have been downloading the tweaked Mac OS X for PCs, nicknamed "OSx86," from several websites connected to the BitTorrent file-distribution system.
OSx86 is designed to run on Apple Computer's next generation of hardware, which some call "MacIntels" and others "MacTels" because the machines will run on Intel microprocessors rather than the PowerPC processor used in current Macs. The hacked version of OSx86 is based on pirated software, which came from copies of the operating system sent to participants in the Apple Developer Connection. The ADC participants also received MacIntel computers for testing and development.
Now the hacked version of OSx86 is running on Dell laptops and other PCs with Intel and AMD microprocessors.
"Mileage varies depending on what kind of hardware you're using, but it (OSx86) is working on several PCs," said "Mashugly," a college student majoring in communications who manages the OSx86 Project <http://osx86project.org>, a community of developers interested in the new operating system.
No one knows exactly why OSx86 appears to be running faster on the PCs than the Mac OS does on today's Macs.
"To be honest, we're not sure," said a hacker nicknamed "cmoski," who said he works for a large software company. "Some in the Pentium camp want to say, 'Because a Pentium is faster, of course,' some want to say (Intel chip architectures are better than Apple's) and some in the PowerPC camp just want to say that it isn't full OS X (running on the beta systems)."
The hacked OSx86 bypasses a chip, the Trusted Platform Module <http://www.infineon.com/cgi-bin/ifx/portal/ep/channelView.do?channelId=-64820&channelPage=%2Fep%2Fchannel%2FproductOverview.jsp&pageTypeId=17099, or TPM, that is intended to prevent the system from running on ordinary PCs.
"We have even gone so far as to remove the TPM kernel extension called AppleTPMACPI.kext entirely," said cmoski.
The impact of the OSx86 hack on Apple's hardware brand could be severe.
The hack shows that Steve Jobs' company will be turning out machines indistinguishable from any other PC, or "white box," said German hacker Michael "mist" Steil <http://www.ccc.de/congress/2004/fahrplan/speaker/283.en.html>.
"Apple wants to avoid the word getting out that (MacIntels) are just PCs, and that (OSx86) works on PCs," said Steil.
Steil made a name for himself hacking Microsoft's Xbox game console. He has seen the hacked OSx86 running on a PC, and has been watching the conversations at the OSx86 Project website. But he said he is not hacking the operating system himself.
"The problem with this hack is that it is based on illegal software," said Steil. "You have to start by downloading pirated software."
The hackers are also writing software extensions so they can run their Wi-Fi cards and other non-Apple gadgets with the Mac OS.
"We have been working on many areas of the operating system," said cmoski. "Some are working on developing kernel extensions (the OS X equivalent of drivers) for our favorite hardware. For example, one driver that I am involved with is for the Broadcom wireless chipset."
Companies such as Microsoft <http://www.microsoft.com> and Intel <http://www.intel.com> originally laid the groundwork for the TPM. The companies insist the chip is meant to verify trusted computers on a network and prevent malicious code from running on PCs.
Apple would not comment on this story or on its intended uses for the TPM.
But critics have called the TPM an anti-competitive device that stifles innovation. They suspect the company may use the chip to keep unwanted third-party software off its machines. Others doubt Apple would take such a hard line with developers.
"Apple is a better company than Microsoft in general," said Bruce Schneier <http://schneier.com>, a security expert, author and CTO of Counterpane Internet Security <http://www.counterpane.com>. "So, it's hard to attribute these nasty motives to them. But those are the risks."
Microsoft, through its participation in the Trusted Computing Group <https://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org>, laid the groundwork for the TPM "as a way to shore up its monopoly," said Schneier.
Apple could use the TPM, which stores digital encryption keys and certificates, to block third-party iTunes plug-ins from running on MacTels. (Apple currently plays a cat-and-mouse game with plug-in developers by having its software look for known unauthorized code.)
Such a move would help Apple and its partners secure short-term gains in market share for its iPod, which meshes tightly with iTunes and the iTunes Music Store.
Apple employees appear to have been trying to listen in on IRC discussions among OSx86 hackers, according to hackers citing the IP records from their IRC channels.
The hackers suspect Apple wanted to demonstrate the weaknesses of TPM security, and may have plans to license its operating system to PC makers eventually.
"Perhaps Steve Jobs wants to be able to tell Apple shareholders, 'Hey, I tried,' before he licenses the operating system (to other manufacturers)," said Mashugly.
It seems like getting around the TPM wasn't that hard, according to a hacker nicknamed "parch," who said, "Apple could have made the lock heavier."
ToC
[Editor's Note: All but the last few items in this section were submitted by Kevin Hisel. Thanks, Kevin.]
By Paul Thurrott
URL: http://www.wininformant.com/
Reports inexplicably circulated on the Internet this week that Microsoft will eventually cease development of the free Windows AntiSpyware tool so that the company can instead sell a service called Windows OneCare Live. Those reports are completely bogus. Microsoft will continue to offer the unmanaged Windows AntiSpyware product for free, will update it for the foreseeable future, and will include similar technology in Windows Vista. The Windows OneCare Live service will include a managed version of the Windows AntiSpyware technology and will be available for a yearly subscription fee, probably starting early next year. Microsoft won't stop supporting or upgrading Windows AntiSpyware when Windows OneCare ships.
Only when we're talking about Dell could a record rise of revenues (28 percent) and a 15 percent rise in earnings be considered disappointing. But that's what happens when you're the computer juggernaut and analysts expect constant growth of more than 20 percent. Is Dell starting to mature (and, thus, slow down)? You be the judge: The company posted earnings of $1.02 billion on revenues of $13.4 billion for the quarter ending July 29. But its average revenue per product fell from $1610 a year ago to $1480. Dell blames the shortfall (ahem) on overly aggressive pricing. The company typically lures PC buyers to its Web site with promises of lowball prices, then successfully upgrades those products with lucrative memory and peripherals. This quarter, apparently, fewer consumers took the bait, with many sticking to the stock PC configurations. Dell says that it's addressing that concern. I'm a big fan of Dell's products, and I don't understand how anyone can see bad news in this quarter's results.
As I first reported in "The Road to Windows Longhorn 2005" showcase on the SuperSite for Windows a few months ago, Microsoft plans to ship one or more premium editions of Windows Vista--one for home users (think Media Center) and one for businesses (think Tablet PC). These editions would be in addition to those that replace Windows XP Home Edition and XP Professional Edition. This week, Microsoft confirmed that it's working on premium Vista editions and revealed that it will likely ship an Office 12 Premium Edition product as well. The goal, apparently, is to cash in on those people who are willing to pay more to get more, a slight detour from the company's stated policy of providing more value for less. I guess when you own the market you can pretty much do what you want. My advice, to anyone who's listening, is to can the product editions and ship one PC client version in which users can enable or disable features as they see fit. I think of this mythical product as Windows Choice. Just a thought.
ToC
By Paul Thurrott
URL: http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/47072/47072.html
On Monday night, Microsoft began rolling out a new version of its Windows AntiSpyware beta product. While the new release is still technically described as Beta 1, the company tells me that it provides three areas of improvements over previous releases.
"This refresh provides additional new signature updates to customers; provides them with more information about programs and processes running on their PC; and solves an issue regarding the delivery of new anti-spyware signatures for some customers," a Microsoft representative told me Monday evening. Visually, the product appears to be virtually identical to previous releases.
Microsoft recommends that all Windows AntiSpyware beta users upgrade to the latest version of the software. You can grab the update manually from the Microsoft Web site, or wait until the software auto-updates.
<http://www.microsoft.com/spyware/ >
By Paul Thurrott
URL: http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/47377/47377.html
Microsoft will release an updated version of Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 (SP4), a consolidated software patch that was supposed to be the last major update to Win2K. The new version of Update Rollup 1 is required because the initial version includes "isolated" problems that have affected some Microsoft's customers.
"After the release of Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4, we identified several issues that may occur when you install this update rollup," a Microsoft support bulletin states. "These issues are isolated, and affect few customers ... If you are affected by these issues, we suggest that you do not install Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 until the corresponding hotfix is available. We plan to reissue Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 soon." Microsoft also noted that the new version of Update Rollup 1 will include several new hotfixes.
According to Microsoft, the original version of Update Rollup 1 adversely affected certain applications from Citrix Systems, Internet Security Systems (ISS), and Sophos. Even Microsoft Office is affected. After installing Update Rollup 1, customers reported that Office applications could no longer save data to floppy disks. For more information about the update rollup, visit the Microsoft Support Web site <http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891861>.
ToC
By Paul Thurrott
URL: http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/47401/47401.html
On Tuesday, Microsoft was awarded a $7 million settlement from self-proclaimed "spam king" Scott Richter, who at one time was busy sending over 38 billion unwanted emails a year through his company, OptInRealBig.com. Sued in December 2003 by Microsoft and the state of New York, Richter has agreed to pay $7 million in damages to settle the case and will halt his illegal spamming practices.
"Microsoft will reinvest every penny from this settlement to expand the effort against computer-related crimes," Brad Smith, the General Counsel at Microsoft says. "One million dollars of that money will be directed to New York state to provide many community centers with the resources to provide broader access to computers to both kids and adults."
Microsoft hopes this settlement will send a message (insert pun here) to other spammers that their days are numbered, and that sending illegal spam is risky. According to the software giant, Microsoft has supported more than 135 spam enforcement actions worldwide, including the 106 private civil lawsuits in the United States alone.
"In response to Microsoft's and the New York attorney general's lawsuits, we made significant changes to OptInRealBig.com's e-mailing practices and have paid a heavy price," Richter says. "I am committed to sending e-mail only to those who have requested it and to complying fully with all federal and state anti-spam laws."
ToC
By Daniel Sorid
URL: http://tinyurl.com/bu3x6
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Intel Corp. is preparing to unveil a significant change in the underlying technology of its computer chips, one that emphasizes power efficiency and multitasking as much as raw speed.
The change, which Intel has billed as its "next-generation architecture," involves alterations to the circuit design of its microprocessors, the central chips in personal computers, which it sells today under the Pentium brand name.
The Santa Clara, California-based company said on Thursday it will provide details of the shift at a gathering of technology developers in San Francisco later this month.
In materials released ahead of the gathering, the company said the new technology will allow for energy-efficient chips that can be used in sleeker boxes than today's often clunky desktop machines.
Though the new chips will be structurally different, the changes are likely to be transparent to PC users, who would continue to be able to run similar software packages, including Microsoft Windows.
Already, analysts are predicting Intel will borrow heavily from its notebook computer chip line, known as Pentium M, in its designs for next-generation personal computer products.
"When they did the Pentium M, they were under tight constraints on power," said Nathan Brookwood, an independent technology analyst and consultant. "Now, desktop and server are facing similar kinds of constraints. It's not so much battery life as it is noise, just the physics of cooling a really hot, small chip," he said.
Pentium M, released in 2003, is best known as the microprocessor component of Intel's Centrino brand of notebook computer chips. Centrino also includes a wireless networking chip and an auxiliary chip for graphics, memory and other functions.
The Pentium M processor has won plaudits from technology reviewers for its efficiency, and analysts have long predicted that it would become the successor to the current line of Pentium 4 desktop chips, which some PC makers have criticized as power hogs.
At the show, called the Intel Developer Forum, Intel will also shed light on its new Digital Health group, a start-up venture within the technology bellwether that is aiming to develop products and services to address the rising cost of healthcare for an aging population.
The company's Digital Home and Mobility groups will discuss devices, content and services for entertainment, as well as technology to link cellular phones to personal computers.
Much of the discussion throughout the event will focus on multi-core chips, which contain two or more processing cores in a single silicon chip.
Multi-core, which allows for more efficient multitasking, is a feature that new Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini has called one of the keys to the company's future.
ToC
Scot Finnie has published an article that provides a knowing glimpse inside the newest OS to come out of Redmond, Windows Vista. This is a review of the first available public beta of Vista and is quite eye-opening. Read the entire article here:
<http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/72.htm#winreport>
ToC
by Mark Zinzow, CUCUG
Here's a tidbit I'd like to share about a free tool I recently tried and liked:
The free Foxit PDF reader has a typewriter tool that types on any PDF document, not just the forms that the Adobe Acrobat reader would. It is also smaller and loads instantly, unlike the much slower Adobe Acrobat reader.
<http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php>
It is very handy for typing up paper forms distributed in PDF without having to find a real typewriter.
Their full editor might be a good alternative to the full Acrobat as well, but I've not tried it, so couldn't say for sure. I'm really impressed with the free reader over Acrobat!
[Editor's Note: This article was submitted by Mark Zinzow. Thanks, Mark.]
ToC
Next-generation operating system aims to bring more 'clarity'; formerly was code-named Longhorn.
July 22, 2005 - 6:24 PM EDT
URL: http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/22/technology/microsoft_vista/index.htm?cnn=yes
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -- Microsoft announced Friday that it will call its next-generation operating system "Windows Vista."
The much-anticipated operating system had formerly been code-named "Longhorn."
Microsoft also unveiled the Windows Vista Web site and said the first beta test version of the system, which will be targeted at developers and IT professionals, will be available by Aug. 3. The system is scheduled to be released late next year.
Previous Windows releases have been named by year number or by a moniker -- such as Windows XP -- to describe the release itself.
But with Windows Vista, Microsoft wanted the name to focus more on the product, and how it brings clarity to users, said Greg Sullivan, group product manager at Microsoft.
"We each have our own unique view or vista of this digital world. Windows Vista is going to bring more clarity to that," he said.
Microsoft (Research) has promised that the new system will have several improvements, including better security features, more comprehensive search capabilities and a friendlier user interface.
Specific features include a new way to manage files involving the use of virtual folders, which will make storing and finding information easier, Sullivan said.
Several privacy capabilities, such as protected user accounts, have also been built into the new system, he said.
In a Microsoft video of the name announcement, the new system is described as "Clear. Confident. Connected."
Licenses for operating systems and related software still account for the majority of the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant's sales and operating profits.
ToC
Windows Genuine Advantage system first exploited within 24 hours of its launch.
Elizabeth Montalbano and Robert McMillan, IDG News Service
Monday, August 01, 2005
URL: http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122058,00.asp
Microsoft says that hackers managed to bypass a process it had implemented several days ago to ensure that users of Microsoft's update services possessed legitimate copies of Windows before they could download updates and content from those services.
A posting on the Boing Boing blog claimed that a JavaScript command string could bypass a check that Microsoft instituted Wednesday through the Windows Genuine Advantage 1.0 program.
According to the posting, users can override the WGA by pasting the string javascript:void(window.g_sDisableWGACheck='all') in the address bar of their browser and pressing Enter. The code "turns off the trigger for the key check," according to the blog posting.
The WGA program requires users to run a program verifying that their Windows operating system is not pirated, before they can use Microsoft's software update services. Microsoft had been running it as a pilot program since September 2004 but made the validation system a requirement just last Wednesday.
A Microsoft spokesperson conceded on Friday that hackers had indeed succeeded in cracking the WGA program, but said that the software giant will fix the flaw they exploited in an upcoming version of the WGA program.
The exploit came soon after Wednesday's launch of the program, the spokesman said. "Within 24 hours, hackers claimed to have circumvented the process and it appears that they did," he said. "This is a hack that exploits a feature that enables repeat downloads in the same session so that a hacker never has to validate as a genuine user," he said.
The move to lock out pirated copies of Windows from the update sites is part of Microsoft's effort to fight software piracy, a major issue for the software vendor.
The Boing Boing hack is not the only way to get around WGA's restrictions.
David Keller, founder of PC consulting and services firm Compu-Doctor in Cape Coral, Florida, was able to change his Internet Explorer settings to bypass WGA when he ran into a flaw in the program that flagged a legitimate product key on a customer's Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 as invalid.
"The customer was the original owner, no hardware was changed since purchase, nor was Windows ever reinstalled on the system," Keller said in an e-mail to the IDG News Service. WGA had rejected the operating system, nevertheless, thereby preventing Windows Update from working, he said.
Keller wrote that he did not have much luck with Microsoft support technicians, so he found a way to bypass the validation process on his own and moved along with the update. He accomplished this by disabling the Windows Genuine Advantage add-on within his browser's Internet Options. By clicking on Tools/Internet Options/Programs/Manage Add-ons, Keller disabled the WGA add-on. He then exited Internet Explorer and was able to do a Windows Update without completing the validation step.
ToC
Leader <mailroomuk@zdnet.com>
ZDNet UK
July 29, 2005, 14:35 BST
URL: http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/other/0,39020682,39211252,00.htm
Vista has a central place in Microsoft's plans for the future. It's not so clear it will have the same importance elsewhere
It's been a long time coming, and it's not here yet. This week has seen a brief flurry of activity in the extended saga of Microsoft's Longhorn operating system - it got its proper name, Vista, and its first official beta release. Don't look too hard at it, said Microsoft, it's just for programmers.
Fair enough: if you weren't a programmer, there isn't much to look at <http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/0,39023100,39210991,00.htm>. Compared to Apple's OS X, Vista doesn't look unfinished so much as barely started. So what has Microsoft been doing for all this time? Important though it is for the company to promote innovation by trying to patent the smiley <http://www.zdnet.co.uk/zdnetuk/news/business/legal/0,39020651,39210396,00. htm>, it doesn't take that long to fill in the forms.
The answer, of course, is that most of Vista's newness sits beneath the interface. The surface details have to be fiddled with to make it look new, but what Microsoft's really keen on is the new security, trusted system and digital rights management (DRM) under the hood.
This is good and bad news for users. Better identity management and less vulnerable systems are essential for the continued health of e-commerce, but it's not clear that the rest of the industry is willing to hand over control of these ideas to Microsoft. Nor is it clear that Microsoft is willing to relinquish control of the ideas inside Vista. It's certainly keen on the sort of DRM that lets it and the content provider decide exactly what you can do with media you buy - and introduces the potential to disable parts of your system if you do not comply.
Understandably, users tend to see this sort of thinking as a big 'Keep Away' sign. Vista is going to have to be something particularly tasty to make us swallow such unpleasant medicine, otherwise it will never get the critical mass necessary to make it a viable distribution mechanism for content providers - let alone become the default standard. Looking at the first beta, this magic dust is nowhere to be seen.
It'll be a while before we see enough of the finished product to pronounce on its viability, but based on what we've seen on Beta 1 Microsoft will need every minute of every week until launch to ladle in sufficient goodness to make it a contender. Not wasting time on daft patent applications would be a start.
ToC
By Sam Varghese
August 3, 2005 - 1:42PM
Source: Sydney Morning Herald - Subscription Required.
URL: http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking/windows-offers-new-vistas-of-spending/2005/08/03/1122748681367.html?oneclick=true#
Text can be found here as well: http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/2044
People wanting to upgrade to Windows Vista are likely to need not only a new computer with more robust hardware, but a new monitor as well.
A US tech consultant says technology in the new version will fuzz protected digital content unless it is viewed on a monitor which has High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP).
Stephen Speicher, who writes a weekly column for the tech blog engadget <http://www.engadget.com/>, said: "If you're one of those rare people whose display is equipped with HDCP, you're fine. However, in the world of computers, such users are few and far between."
The technology is known as PVP-OPM, or Protected Video Path - Output Protection Management.
Speicher said while HDCP had become a /de facto/ standard for display copy-protection in televisions, its penetration in the computer display market was very low.
"Whether you're plunking down money for one of the new ultra-fast LCD displays with 4ms response times or you're becoming the envy of the neighbourhood with Dell's UltraSharp 2405FPW widescreen display, you're buying a monitor that won't play nice with premium content in Longhorn (the code name for Windows Vista)," he said.
"The bottom line is that Microsoft is beginning to incorporate some of the same standards that commercial entertainment devices are using. In the case of PVP, this means that HDCP will be used."
Speicher said this was not surprising as the specifications for HD-DVD, one of the next-generation DVD standards being pushed by the US-based DVD Forum, called for HDCP. "Blu-ray (the opposing next-gen DVD standard) will probably follow suit," he said.
A Microsoft official confirmed this, saying: "Current computer monitors will work even with high-value content, although the resolution of displayed images might be lower than what you might get with a protected monitor link."
Marcus Matthias, Windows Digital Media product manager in Redmond, said this was nothing new as some existing DVD players required HDCP protection to "upsample" their source to higher resolution.
"Digital outputs of any system need some form of copy protection, as without it, digital protection upstream has much less value," he said. "The consumer electronics world has adopted content protection very broadly, with the bulk of high-definition TVs today supporting monitor copy protection."
Microsoft's white paper on PVP: <http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/stream/output_protect.mspx>
ToC
from Tom Purl <tompurl2000@yahoo.com>
One of the last "proprietary" Linux distributions now has an open-source license. Novell has open-sourced the professional version of SUSE Linux and are calling it OpenSUSE. For more information, please see the following links:
I know, no one cares about SCO any more, but this is particularly interesting. Groklaw is now reporting that SCO might have used GPL'ed Linux kernel code in their proprietary version of UnixWare. This could be a violation of the GPL and, if true, would be wonderfully hypocritical.
The "Indiana Access Program" is piloting a program that may eventually lead to the acquisition of 300,000 Linspire computers for state high schools.
A new BSD distribution has been launched that aims to make BSD the best OS for your cousin's Dell. DesktopBSD use KDE with FreeBSD to "provide a system that's easy to use and install."
[Editor's Note: These items were submitted by Tom Purl. Thanks, Tom.]
ToC
Melissa Mitchell, Arts Editor
217-333-5491; melissa@uiuc.edu
6/20/05
URL: http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/05/0620computermusic.html
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - For nearly a half century, composers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - often in collaboration with scientists and engineers - have been making music and music history within the soundproof walls of the School of Music's Experimental Music Studios.
That history dates to 1956, the year Lejaren Hiller, a chemistry professor working on a master's degree in composition, and research associate Leonard Isaacson completed their "Illiac Suite" for string quartet - the first musical composition generated by a computer. What began at Illinois as a novel exercise prompted by intellectual curiosity gave rise through the years to a new form of artistic expression commonly referred to as computer music.
That tradition of experimentation - which expanded from computer-assisted composition to include computer sound synthesis, visualization of music and scientific sonification - lives on at Illinois, where composers and music theorists still trade notes long into the night with computer programmers, mathematicians and other techie types. Except in today's WiFi world, of course, the gurus of the studios' Computer Music Project no longer crunch numbers and bend sound waves in the shadows of tall towers of mainframe computers; the studios' minimalist surroundings now include just a few desktop machines and speakers. And current collaborations sometimes occur from a distance.
That was the modus operandi for Sever Tipei and Hans G. Kaper, the brains behind the CMP's latest killer app: the Digital Instrument for Sound Synthesis and Composition, better known by its nickname, DISSCO.
Tipei is a U. of I. professor of composition and manager of the CMP; Kaper is a senior mathematician at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, and has an adjunct appointment in the U. of I. School of Music. Together with graduate students from Tipei's advanced computer music seminar, the musician and the mathematician have worked on the development and testing of the software since 1993. It recently was made available free to the public under terms of the GNU General License on SourceForge.net.
So, what makes DISSCO such a hot property among those drawn to both rhythm and algorithm?
"With DISSCO, composition and sound synthesis are integrated in one seamless process, and share a common formal approach," Tipei said. In other words, on the composition side, the software functions as an assistant - or collaborator of sorts - to the composer, who still maintains the ultimate creative license.
On the synthesis side, "DISSCO is a tool for the composer - like a piano," Tipei said. "The beauty of this is that we have absolute, detailed control over everything."
Using DISSCO, the composer determines the formal structure of a composition - selecting basic elements, such as scale factors, tone values, pitch and timbre, as well as "modifiers" such as vibrato, tremolo and glissando. At the same time, the composer plugs in variables to create different types of sound combinations - in effect, creating the instruments to play the composition.
"What we're doing is creating sounds completely from scratch," said Tipei, who noted that unique features of the program include precise control over perceived loudness of sounds and the ability to produce a finished piece of music that requires no further processing.
And even though the composer controls much of the output by punching in a host of variables, DISSCO is capable of inserting some degree of randomness in the patterns and sounds that are generated.
"The randomness is more of an aesthetic choice than anything else," Tipei said. "Lots of people - for good reason - complain that electronic music is boring. When presented in concert, there's nothing to look at on stage and is always exactly the same. One solution is to add live performers." Another, he said, "is to add degrees of randomness in the composition."
"For my own compositions, I ask performers not to play the same version twice. Unlike in a gallery, where a painting always appears the same, my work is going to be different each time."
Tipei said that he expects DISSCO will be used to make music for any number of applications - by composers such as himself, who create electronic art music for performance and recording, as well as those who produce sound accompaniment for digital media, films and television. He also has used it as a valuable tool for teaching music-composition and theory in his classes.
In addition to its use as a music-composition tool, DISSCO has the ability to translate complex computer data into sound waves - using a process known as "additive synthesis," which builds sounds from simple sine waves - making it useful to scientists and mathematicians. Like visualization techniques that morph data into images that can assist scientists in distinguishing patterns or aberrations in the data, DISSCO can be used to reveal similar characteristics through sonification - the faithful rendition of scientific data in aural images.
"Scientists can use this instrument to explore scientific data by rendering them in a sound file," Kaper added. "The data are used to define the characteristics of the sound wave, such as the way it is tuned, its loudness, its spatial distribution, and the amount of reverberation. In all, there are more than a dozen useful degrees of freedom that we can build into a sound - more than enough for most physical or computational experiments."
During DISSCO's development stage, Tipei said the researchers tested its sonification capabilities using data from a computational chemistry experiment.
"We looked at two interacting molecules, and measured energy levels before and after a reaction," Tipei said. "The sounds indicated when things 'happened' in the molecules."
When used for scientific applications, "the software probably will be most useful when used in connection with visualization," Tipei said.
Although DISSCO version 1.0 has been released on SourceForge.net, the U. of I. professor said the fine-tuning phase continues.
"It's by no means finished; it's a work in progress," he said.
Meanwhile, Tipei and Kaper plan to travel to Barcelona in September to present a paper on DISSCO at the 2005 conference of the International Computer Music Association. And later this year, two of Tipei's DISSCO-generated compositions will be featured among other selections on a Centaur recording.
Samples of music created with the program are available.
http://ems.music.uiuc.edu/cmp/software/dissco/index.html
[Editor's Note: This article was submitted by David Noreen. Thanks, David.]
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by Geoff Duncan <geoff@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#790/01-Aug-05
Apple Computer last week took the wraps off minor updates to two affordable segments of its Macintosh product lines, speeding up and improving the iBook portable line while (finally!) doubling the default RAM installed in Mac minis.
<http://www.apple.com/ibook/>
<http://www.apple.com/macmini/>
Improvements to the iBooks aren't just limited to processor speeds - which have been boosted to PowerPC G4s running at 1.33 GHz in the 12-inch model and 1.42 GHz in the 14-inch model - but extend to a higher-performance ATI Mobility Radeon graphics controller, built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth wireless technology, and the scrolling trackpad and Sudden Motion Sensor technologies which originally appeared in the PowerBook G4 line. Prices start at $1,000 for a 12-inch iBook with 512 MB RAM, a 40 GB hard drive, and 512 MB of RAM; prices for the 14-inch model start at $1,300. A variety of build-to-order options are available for iBooks, including larger hard drives, more pre- installed RAM (although we usually recommend purchasing RAM through less-costly sources than Apple), and, for the 14-inch model, slot-loading SuperDrives. iBooks still sport two USB 2.0 ports and a single FireWire 400 port, along with 10/100Base-T Ethernet; iBooks ship with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and Apple's iLife '05 application suite pre-installed.
Apple's also cranked up the default RAM installation across its Mac mini product line, with 512 MB of RAM now being the new standard with no change in Mac mini pricing, which still starts at $500. The top two Mac mini models - at $600 and $700 - now include AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth wireless connectivity by default, and the most-tricked-out Mac mini offers a slot-loading SuperDrive. Mac minis also ship with Tiger and iLife '05 pre-installed.
ToC
TidBITS#790/01-Aug-05
Apple has released iPhoto 5.0.4, a minor update that "addresses an issue with browsing photos that have been auto-rotated by a camera." Honestly, I've not seen the problem (it seems to relate to editing photos that were auto-rotated by your camera and that appear in the wrong orientation), but the speed with which 5.0.4 followed 5.0.3 means that it's probably bugging a bunch of people. The update is roughly 40 MB via Software Update or as a standalone download. [ACE]
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/iphoto504update.html>
ToC
TidBITS#790/01-Aug-05
Only one month after adding the iPod shuffle to its product lineup, Hewlett-Packard reportedly plans to stop reselling Apple's iPod digital music players by the end of September 2005. The reselling arrangement between Apple and HP was launched in January 2004 to much fanfare and, at the time, seemed like a good way for Apple to get the not-yet utterly iconic digital music player into new retail and marketing channels. But that's not quite how things worked out: HP apparently never made much money selling iPods, and its versions often fell behind Apple's product offerings and were sold as discounted also-rans. HP's portion of the iPod phenomenon reportedly amounted to less than 5 percent of iPod units sold. And HP has bigger problems to solve: it's currently in the process of jettisoning about 10 percent of its workforce in order to make its bottom line roughly $2 billion fatter. [GD]
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/jan/08hp.html>
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At 10:35 AM -0700 8/2/05, Mark H. Anbinder <mha@tidbits.com> wrote:
The Sox Win the Series and Apple Ships a Multi-Button Mouse
http://www.tidbits.com/.3c6c7993
On Wed, 3 Aug 2005 08:28:28 -0700 Andrew Laurence <atlauren@es.nacs.uci.edu> wrote:
Let's recap the last twelve months:
Red Sox win the Series
Microsoft switches to PowerPC for XBox 360
Deep Throat goes public
Apple releases cheap hardware
Apple goes Intel
Apple releases multibutton programmable mouse.
I can't take much more of this.
...and speaking of the subject line...
Cream reunites.
(Although arguably the Eagles took that thunder a decade ago.)
On Wed, 3 Aug 2005 08:33:12 -0700 Kevin van Haaren <kevin@vanhaaren.net> wrote:
This looks really cool, but why the heck is there no Bluetooth version?
On Wed, 3 Aug 2005 10:04:28 -0700 Kenneth Prager <prager@ieee.org> wrote:
That was my initial thought too. However, looking at the feature list...
...I suspect that power consumption is an issue. My guess is that there will be a second iteration of the ASIC that'll result in less power consumption and then a Bluetooth version.
I'd also be curious to know if this was Jobs' concept or if he was "convinced." If it's the latter, I would have loved to have been a fly-on-the wall at that meeting!
ToC
by Mark H. Anbinder <mha@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#791/08-Aug-05
The conventional wisdom has been that Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs would never allow the company to ship a multi-button mouse; such an animal would compromise the legendary simplicity and ease of use that were Apple's hallmarks. Power users griped and, tired of Control-clicking instead of right-clicking to bring up contextual menus, or, desperate for a scroll wheel, looked for third-party pointing devices.
No more: last week Apple announced the immediate availability of the $50 Mighty Mouse, a programmable multi-function, multi-button mouse for Mac OS X, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. Mighty Mouse (yes, Apple was careful to license the name of the cartoon hero) is visually simple, a white corded mouse that looks just like the Apple Pro Mouse except for a tiny, spherical, scroll ball where the average mouse's scroll wheel might be.
<http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/>
The scroll ball rotates in any direction, rather than just up and down, enabling free-form scrolling that Apple says better suits "applications from viewing Web pages and photographs, to video editing and music creation." This any-direction scrolling is similar to that capability of the new scrolling trackpads featured in recent PowerBook and iBook models. The scroll ball is also clickable, as are most scroll wheels.
What keeps the Mighty Mouse's design pure and simple is the new touch-sensitive upper shell. Rather than separate hard-wired left and right buttons, the Mighty Mouse features a programmable touch area that can be one or two buttons - just one for purists who never need to right-click (and single-button mode is the default), or two for right-clickers or those who would like a right-click to perform some other action.
Side buttons, positioned where users of the Apple Pro Mouse have gotten used to gripping in order to lift and reposition their mouse, can be programmed together or separately, either for clicks or, for example, to activate Expose or Dashboard.
While Mighty Mouse is compatible with any version of Mac OS X, the company says Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is required to customize the buttons for one-click access to Dashboard, Expose, and Spotlight, or to launch applications. The new mouse is available immediately at the online Apple Store as well as at Apple's retail stores and resellers.
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by Glenn Fleishman <glenn@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#792/15-Aug-05
The Mighty Mouse is mighty fussy. Apple sent me a review unit last week, and in our testing the mouse falls short in several regards. Most obviously, I continue to find the overall shape of the mouse ergonomically unsatisfying, but I have hand and wrist problems that make a regular mouse uncomfortable. (For a general description of the Mighty Mouse, see "Apple Ships a Multi- Button Mouse" in TidBITS-791_.)
<http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08201>
First, the scroll ball (what New York Times columnist David Pogue calls a trackpea, a term I like) is not a revolutionary breakthrough that puts shame to all other scroll wheels. It's a tiny, hard-to-use ball that makes a barely audible ticking sound (generated via an internal speaker) as it's used. I found it tricky and no improvement over a scroll wheel.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/04/technology/circuits/04POGUE-EMAIL.html>
The left-right touch-sensitive clicking works fine, but it's not worth crowing about. But I have no complaints about two physically, mechanically separate buttons either, making Apple's design mostly of interest for the way it can switch between one button for those who prefer simplicity and two buttons for those who want more flexibility. However, TidBITS Managing Editor Jeff Carlson found the touch-sensitivity to be tricky, because he often rests his index and middle fingers on his two-button Kensington mouse; using the Mighty Mouse required that he either suspend his middle finger in the air above the right button (quickly creating a sore finger) or move it off to the side.
Squeezing the mouse to activate the two side buttons seems to be a particularly strange action, versus pressing a single button, and the addition of extra buttons doesn't solve any problems for me.
I also find the Might Mouse software (which installs from an included CD) confusing. Plug in a Mighty Mouse without installing any software on any platform (Windows or any Mac OS X release), and the main left and right buttons work by default. Install the software for Mac OS X 10.3.9 to 10.4.1, plug it in, and the left and right buttons work. However, install the software for Mac OS X 10.4.2 or later, plug in the mouse, and you get only a single big button at the top, requiring you to enable the multi-button functionality manually.
Another shortcoming, Jeff noted, is that you can't reprogram the right-button action. He uses a right-click as a double-click (which I find mystifying, but each to his own), but that's not possible using the Mighty Mouse software, unlike the commonly used Kensington MouseWorks (for Kensington pointing devices) or Alessandro Levi Montalcini's $20 USB Overdrive utility (for nearly any USB controller), neither of which dictates particular actions mapped to particular buttons. USB Overdrive 10.3.9 already appears to work with the Mighty Mouse if you don't install Apple's drivers, and Alessandro has committed to supporting the Mighty Mouse fully in future releases.
<http://www.kensington.com/html/1385.html>
<http://www.usboverdrive.com/>
Overall, Mighty Mouse doesn't measure up in design and function to many other mature mice. Its features are unique, but not compelling.
ToC
TidBITS#792/15-Aug-05
Apple Computer today released Security Update 2005-007 for both client and server versions of Mac OS X 10.3.9 Panther and Mac OS X 10.4.2 Tiger. The update includes a number of patches to Apple software (such as Mail, Safari, under-the-hood technologies like the Quartz and CoreFoundation frameworks, and, in Mac OS X Server 10.4.2, the Server Admin tool used to create firewall policies). Apple also patched components of Mac OS X's Unix underpinnings, including OpenSSL, the X11 windowing system, Apache 2, CUPS, Kerberos, and zlib. Apple recommends all Mac users install this update since it addresses several security problems which could, in theory, enable a remote attacker to access data on the computer, create user accounts, execute arbitrary programs, or let URLs bypass Mac OS X's built-in security check when clicked. The update is available from Apple via Software Update and at the first URL below; the download ranges from 13.3 MB to 29.9 MB, depending which version of Mac OS X you need to update. Apple details the changes included in Security Update 2005-007 at the second URL below. [GD]
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798>
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302163>
TidBITS#792/15-Aug-05
Last week, Apple released PowerBook G4 Graphics Update 1.0, a 2.1 MB patch that improves graphic stability for some 15-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4 models running the 1.67 GHz PowerPC processor; apparently the installer performs a hardware check to determine if the update is required. The update requires Mac OS X 10.4.2. [JLC]
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/powerbookg4graphicsupdate10.html>
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TidBITS#789/25-Jul-05
The Omni Group has released OmniWeb 5.1.1 to fix a variety of minor bugs and improve compatibility with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. You can read the full change list on the OmniWeb Release Notes page linked below; suffice to say that if you use OmniWeb, particularly with Tiger, you'll want to download the 6 MB update to eliminate some annoying page drawing problems on certain sites and crashes in specific situations. Despite Safari's new features in Tiger, I still find myself relying on OmniWeb for most of my Web browsing thanks to features like reopening pages on relaunch, workspaces, separate window editing of textarea fields, find/replace in textarea fields, and more. [ACE]
<http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniweb/releasenotes/>
ToC
TidBITS#789/25-Jul-05
Back in 1998, Open Door Networks shipped DoorStop, the first firewall for the Mac. The program was subsequently licensed to Symantec for Norton Personal Firewall, and now Open Door has released DoorStop X, a new version for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and 10.4 Tiger. Although Mac OS X has had a built-in firewall since Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, and the version in Tiger finally offers rudimentary logging of denied access attempts, DoorStop X provides far better logging (particularly in concert with Open Door's Who's There? Firewall Advisor utility) of both allowed and denied access attempts. DoorStop also features a more graphical interface that makes it easier to understand your configuration at a glance, and most important, the program enables you to open up a particular port to a specific IP address or range of IP addresses, thus eliminating the all-or-nothing approach of Mac OS X's built-in firewall. Through 15-Aug-05, DoorStop X costs $40, or $60 when bundled with Who's There. Educational discounts are available for multiple license packs. A fully functional trial version (2.2. MB download) works for 30 days; Who's There has a fully functional, 10-day trial version (also 2.2. MB). [ACE]
<http://www.opendoor.com/doorstop/>
<http://www.opendoor.com/whosthere/>
URL: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301183
Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) service is known by several names, including File Sharing, Personal File Sharing, AppleShare, and Apple File Service. Some AFP servers can only share over the AppleTalk protocol; they don't offer sharing over TCP/IP, which is now the preferred protocol. If you try to connect to an AppleTalk-only AFP server from a Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger computer, this message will appear:
"Connection failed. This file server uses an incompatible version of the AFP protocol. You cannot connect to it."
This happens because Tiger no longer supports connecting to AFP over the AppleTalk protocol.
As a solution, enable the TCP/IP protocol on the AFP server if it offers this option. If no TCP/IP option is available, connect to the Tiger computer from the computer that is the AppleTalk-only AFP server (instead of trying to connect from the Tiger computer to connect to the older computer). This method works because AppleShare client software <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=16145> on the older computer can connect to a Tiger computer over TCP/IP, even if it can't offer service over TCP/IP.
This may also affect third-party AFP server products. Be aware that some affected AFP servers have a TCP/IP option, but others don't.
Some AFP services that /do not/ have a TCP/IP option include Personal File Sharing in Mac OS 8.6 and earlier, and the AppleShare server suite. Some AFP services that /do/ have a TCP/IP option include Mac OS 9 File Sharing, and the AppleShare IP server suite.
Article ID: 301183
Date Created: March 25, 2005
Date Modified: May 02, 2005
[Editor's Note: This one cropped up on my home network when I upgraded to Tiger. Thought others might find this useful to know.]
ToC
July 21, 2005 -- President Richard Rollins began the meeting with the traditional introduction of officers.
Richard then talked about his conversation with a UI Apple rep about the upcoming change to Intel processors. It was said that the open sources group working on Open Office asked Apple for assistance, but they were told they couldn't help because they are contractually obligated to Microsoft. A discussion followed on the implications of the processor conversion.
Richard talked about his Internet connection and some of the quirks of his NIC cards that he discovered. He said the cards talk to each other on WEP, but there are three different varieties of WEP and his cards are old enough to have some problems with each other.
During another conversations, it was pointed out that the web site http://www.uchug.org has a list of freeware worth looking at each month. Just click on Library link.
Bryan Forbes asked about older hardware recycling. Obsolete Technology was mentioned. The recycling center on north Lincoln was also pointed out. Obsolete is located in the back of Brash Flower Shop, by the Rose Bowl. It was also noted that the Salvation Army and the Goodwill take working machines.
This led to a general discussion on the topic of recycling computers. Check out http://www.illinoisrecycles.com - http://www.illinoisbiz.biz/com/ recycling/ . Office Depot recycles toner and ink jet cartridges and gives you a ream of printer paper in exchange. Richard Rollins says his church also has a drop-off box for printer carts.
It was stated that Laser's Edge on Mattis Avenue will recharge toner cartridges.
Harold Ravlin talked about Lexmark printers: he hates them. They have a chip in their cartridges that will allow those printers to only use their own cartridges. There have been restraint of trade law suits over this. Kevin Hisel said that last month a court case decided in favor of a third party refiller against Lexmark.
Someone asked, "Are there any color laser printers for under $1000?" The answer was "Yes, well under that price." The catch is that they take four cartridges for each of the separate colors required for color printing and they cost $78 each.
Emil Cobb talked about Dell printers. The problem with them is that you can only get your replacement ink cartridges from Dell. He constantly has people coming into Staples and asking him for replacements.
Mark Zinzow brought up the topic of waterproof MP3 players for swimming. Check out http://www.waterproofmusic.com . He said he just had to have one.
David Noreen asked about MythTV. Harold Ravlin said the hardware is easy but the software takes a while to set up. He suggested checking out these web sites:
http://www.mythtv.org/
http://www.mythtv.info/
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2005/06/22/myth_tv.html
http://entertainment.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/06/27/209236&from=rss
http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2003/07/mythtv_howto.html
You need BitTorrent to download some of this software.
Kevin Hisel was still bringing up recycling sites. He found that three web page for the University environmental group, Students for Environmental Concerns, is screwed up.
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ro/www/StudentsforEnvironmentalConcerns/
President Rollins concluded the main portion of the meeting by asking what was going to be discussed in the SIGs this evening. Emil Cobb said the Mac SIG would be investigating Widgets. Kevin Hisel said the PC SIG would be looking at Firefox extensions and "Crap Cleaner."
written and presented by Kevin Hisel
We covered the topic of extensions for the Mozilla Firefox web browser. There are literally hundreds of these add-on programs that extend the capabilities of the Firefox browsing experience. Many people who have switched from Internet Explorer cite the availability of these Firefox extensions as their primary motivation. Here's a rundown of the extensions that were demonstrated at the meeting:
To find these and many more Firefox extensions, visit https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/ .
reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
This evening the Macintosh SIG had six members and one visitor exploring the topic of Widgets. Emil Cobb kicked things off, but with everyone sitting around with their laptops and their own favorite Widgets, it soon became a free for all. Early on our own beloved Harold Ravlin was paraphrased as saying "Widgets? I don't need your stinking Widgets." But even he got into them as we went along. Below is a list of just some of the Widgets that we covered.
iTunes Widget - "because you can"
Widget Mail
PacMan Widget
Radar in Motion - a weather radar widget
Google Maps
GPeek - Google Mail widget
SysStat
CNN.com
Dictionary
More Widgets - Widget for finding widgets
Google Image Widget
Gasoline widget - just called Gas 1.1.1
"Snap and Drag" - A full or partial screen capture widget. See VersionTracker.
It's like SnapsPro.
Weather Radio -
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/radio_podcasts/weatherradio.html
(NOAA) Listen to NOAA Weather Radio streams from the National Weather Service.
ZipCoder
Wikipedia
Asteroids Widgets
Snake (game) Widget
JiWire - looks for wireless hotspots
Tile Game - drag and drop a picture into a puzzle
Yoda Widget - http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/games/yodawidget.html
BookFinder - Book Widget can be found on the Apple's Widget sight -
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/dashboard/
Abe.com - Advanced Book Exchange, Bryan Forbes said, is a great site for used books. - http://www.abebooks.com/
Another source of widgets is http://vanillasoap.com/widgets , as well as http://www.dashboardwidgets.com.
Most of the widgets above can be found on the Top 50 Dashboard Widgets - http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/top50/
The group also talked about Fry's as a great place to shop for Apple gear, while they were swapping widget tips. Here's the address.
Fry's Electronics
3300 Finley Road
Downers Grove, ILright off of 355 on Butterfield Road east.
Kevin Hisel stuck his head in at the end of our meeting and announced that the Board meeting would be held "Tuesday after next Tuesday" - August 2nd.
ToC
reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
Due to scheduling conflicts, the July meeting of the CUCUG executive board was actually held on Tuesday, August 2, 2005, at 7PM, at Kevin Hisel's house. (For anyone wishing to attend - which is encouraged, by the way - the address and phone number are both in the book). Present at the meeting were: Richard Rollins, Emil Cobb, Richard Hall, Kevin Hopkins, Kevin Hisel, and Phil Wall.
Richard Hall: Nothing new.
Emil Cobb: Emil was a little nebulous about his usual head count, but reckoned we had about 18 members in attendance at the July meeting. He gave a little discussion about what the Mac SIG covered at the last meeting which was Widgets, little utilities that do a myriad of small tasks. Kevin Hisel said it sounded like Konfabulator for the PC. The discussion then turned to some deals Yahoo has made with ABC, NBC, and CBS to distribute news.
Phil Wall: Phil said that Anthony Philipp might show the new Linux distribution "Ubuntu" at the next Linux SIG meeting. Phil is interested in home programming of Linux, examples of which he might show. He is also interested in showing some "eye candy" applications available in Linux.
Kevin Hopkins: Not a thing.
Kevin Hisel: Nuttin' Honey.
Richard Rollins: Kevin did a wonderful demo of Firefox extensions at the last meeting. So far, we have had no volunteers for demos for upcoming PC SIG meetings. Kevin Hisel said he would be willing to show Konfabulator, which is basically Widgets for the PC.
ToC
Meetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Champaign in Savoy. The FBC-CS is located at 1602 N. Prospect Avenue in Savoy, on the NE corner of Burwash and Prospect. To get to the the First Baptist Church from Champaign or Urbana, take Prospect Avenue south. Setting the trip meter in your car to 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 the right) 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; Burwash Park is to the east. Turn east (left) on Burwash. The FBC-CS parking lot entrance is on the north (left) side of Burwash. Enter by the double doors at the eastern end of the building's south side. A map can be found on the CUCUG website at http://www.cucug.org/meeting.html. The First 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 mid year.
Our monthly newsletter, the Status Register, is delivered by email. All recent editions are available on our WWW site. To initiate a user group exchange, just send us your newsletter or contact our editor via email. As a matter of CUCUG policy, an exchange partner will be dropped after three months of no contact.
For further information, please attend the next meeting as our guest, or contact 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 406-948-1999 contact/index.html Linux SIG: Phil Wall 352-5442 phil.wall@pobox.com
Email us at http://www.cucug.org/ contact/index.html, visit our web site at http://www.cucug.org/, or join in our online forums at http://www.cucug.org/starship/ .
