News Common PC Linux Mac CUCUG
The next CUCUG meeting will be held on our regular third Thursday of the month: Thursday, September 21st, at 7:00 pm, at the First Baptist Church of Champaign in Savoy. The Linux SIG convenes, of course, 45 minutes earlier, at 6:15 pm. Directions to the FBC-CS are at the end of this newsletter.
The September 21 gathering will be another of our meetings within a cloaking device. I had word that something was being planned, but we'll have to see what materializes. However, another fun evening among friends is guaranteed.
ToC
By Ina Fried
Story last modified Wed Sep 13 06:11:20 PDT 2006
URL: http://news.com.com/Apple+forges+path+to+digital+living+room/2100-1041_3-6114835.html
SAN FRANCISCO--Apple Computer overhauled its digital music and video offerings on Tuesday, introducing new iPods in three categories and announcing plans to make movies available for purchase through the iTunes store.
Movies from four studios owned by The Walt Disney Company will be available on iTunes 7, the new version of the download software, the same day they are released to DVD, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in outlining the new offerings at a product showcase here. Preorders and movies purchased in the first week will cost $12.99; the price then bumps up to $14.99 for new releases.
The studios are Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax. Older titles will also be available for $9.99.
Movies can be downloaded in near-DVD quality, Jobs said during his presentation at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Consumers with broadband speeds of 5 megabits per second will be able to download movies from iTunes in 30 minutes, he added.
Apple also plans to introduce a product in the first quarter of 2007 that lets consumers stream their movies or music to televisions, Jobs said. The new device, code-named iTV, has 802.11 wireless built in. It will sell for $299 and works with PCs and Macs. "We think it completes the picture here," Jobs said.
Tuesday's announcements marked more than just a tweak to existing products and services, one analyst said.
"The big theme today was, Apple announced its intentions to take over your living room," said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray.
Apple would not say which flavor of 802.11 wireless networking the iTV would use. "We're not talking about the technology inside iTV," Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller said in an interview. "That's next year's discussion."
But Apple has made its mark in digital entertainment with music, and for those who just want a music player, it is offering new iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle models, along with a new video iPod. The new Nanos feature twice as much capacity as the original generation of Nanos introduced last year, and are available in a variety of colors like the iPod Mini they replaced.
The new Nano will come in three models--a 2GB in silver only; a 4GB in silver, blue, pink and green; and a 8GB in black only. Apple also will use an aluminum casing on the new generation of Nanos, perhaps to counter complaints that the Nanos were easily scratched. The 2GB version costs $149, the 4GB models cost $199, and the 8GB Nano costs $249.
The new video iPods have a 60 percent brighter screen for watching movies and television shows and a higher-capacity battery, delivering up to six hours of video playback on the 80GB model. The 80GB version costs $349, and a 30GB version costs $249. Consumers will be able to play games on the devices, including "Bejeweled," "Tetris," "Texas Hold 'em," "Zuma," "Pac-Man" and "Cubis."
Although the new video iPods have a brighter screen, better battery life and the ability to play games, Apple did not add wireless abilities or a larger screen, as some Apple watchers had predicted. Microsoft's forthcoming Zune player will include built-in Wi-Fi as well as a larger screen. However, it's unclear how bulky that player will be or what battery life it will offer.
Others to follow Disney? As for the movies, notably, Apple launched with just Disney's studios, while rival Amazon.com announced last week that its Unbox service will include films from 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. Apple's desire to have new releases available the same day as the DVD may have been among the sticking points.
In addition, Apple now has a family connection with Disney. Jobs earlier this year became a member of the board at the venerable entertainment company, which acquired Pixar, where Jobs is CEO.
But Disney CEO Bob Iger said he doesn't expect Disney to be alone on iTunes for long.
"I'm confident there will be many more after us," Iger told CNET News.com in a brief interview after the Apple event. "We're the first but we will be one of many fairly soon."
Apple is also offering relatively fixed pricing, though new releases sell for more than older titles. Iger said he is perfectly comfortable with that notion and doesn't think that will prove to be an insurmountable hurdle for the rest of the industry. However, Disney is likely to team up with others. "It's nonexclusive," he said of the Apple deal. "We're platform-agnostic."
Jobs said that although the movies are a U.S. feature, the company hopes to offer films internationally next year. Iger said that Disney is already in talks with Apple on overseas distribution.
Both the video iPod and iPod Nano come with a search feature that lets users find songs, artists or television shows by entering letters into a search bar rather than scrolling through the familiar menus. They will also allow users to sync their music collections on home and work PCs through the iPod, so songs added at home and synced to the iPod will transfer to a work PC when that iPod is plugged into a USB port.
Jobs called the new 1GB iPod Shuffle "the world's smallest digital music player." It's about half the size of the original iPod Shuffle, uses the same aluminum casing as the new Nanos, and has a clip built onto the back. It costs $79.
The new iPod and the iPod Nanos are available immediately, and the iPod Shuffle will be available in October.
Version 7 of iTunes is also available for download immediately. The addition of movies to the content available for purchase was the most significant new feature, but the new version provides music videos at a higher resolution than before, now up to 640-by-480-pixel resolution. The screens on the new iPods and iPod Nanos support this resolution, which will also improve the quality of movies played on a Mac, PC or television.
The lineup of television shows available on the iTunes 7 store will also now include highlights of football games through a deal with the National Football League's NFL Network, Jobs said.
ToC
by Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8661>
TidBITS#845/04-Sep-06
Apple has announced that Google CEO Eric Schmidt has joined the Apple Board of Directors[5]. He also sits on Google's board of directors and Princeton University's board of trustees. The other members of Apple's board[6] are currently Fred Anderson, Apple's former chief financial officer; Intuit chairman and former CEO Bill Campbell; J. Crew chairman and CEO Millard Drexler; documentarian and former Vice President Al Gore (for those who haven't seen his global warming movie "An Inconvenient Truth,"[7] it's also one heck of a plug for Apple laptops and Keynote); Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs; Genentech chairman and CEO Arthur D. Levinson; and Jerry York, chairman, president, and CEO of Harwinton Capital.
Although Eric Schmidt's experience with Google (and Novell and Sun Microsystems before that) will no doubt be an asset to Apple's board, it's hard to avoid speculating if this means there will be closer ties between Apple and Google in the future. Google has done perhaps the best job of any primarily Web-based company at supporting Macintosh browsers and putting out Macintosh versions of software, including tools like the graphical mapping application Google Earth[8] and the 3-D modeling program Google SketchUp[9]. Then again, Intuit chairman Bill Campbell was an Apple board member when his company decided to kill Quicken for Mac before Steve Jobs intervened (see "Quicken Speeds Back to Mac"[10], 11-May-98), and the Mac version still lags behind its Windows cousin.
ToC
by Spencer Michels et al (edited for length and clarity)
TUESDAY, September 12, 2006
URL: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec06/hp_09-12.html
Hewlett-Packard's chairman, Patricia Dunn, announced Tuesday that she would step down from the computer company's board in January after apologizing for her use of undercover investigators to discover the source of media leaks among other board members. The change at the top came at the same time that the local U.S. attorney and a House congressional committee decided to launch their own investigations into H.P.'s alleged use of illegal methods to trace leaks of confidential board deliberations to the press.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer says his investigation has determined serious violations of the law.
BILL LOCKYER: We currently have sufficient evidence to indict people, both within Hewlett-Packard, as well as contractors on the outside.
What Lockyer is looking into are allegations that H.P. hired investigators who impersonated board members and reporters to get phone records, so the company could find out who on the board was leaking to the media.
The illegal method used to obtain phone records is called pretexting.
Chris Hoofnagle, Privacy Law Specialist, U.C. Berkeley Boalt Hall School Of Law, said "Pretexting is much like an identity theft. In identity theft, someone uses your personal information to steal your money or access to your accounts.
Pretexting is similar, but, instead of stealing money, what they're doing is, they're stealing information about you: where you live, the people with whom you talk on the telephone, etcetera."
The H.P. case is an important one.
CHRIS HOOFNAGLE: This is a case that involves extremely powerful people having their telephone records essentially stolen by private investigators as part of an inquiry into their activities. And, if you think about it, your phone records reveal a lot about you. They reveal who your friends are, your political contacts.
H.P., founded in a Palo Alto garage by Bill Hewett and David Packard, is one of the oldest and most respected high-tech firms in Silicon Valley, with annual sales of $90 billion.
The company itself has had a rough couple of years. Its merger with Compaq didn't produce good results at first, and, partly as a consequence, its CEO and chair, Carly Fiorina, one of the most visible and successful women in business, was fired in early 2005.
After her departure, with a $21 million severance package, the company then made a remarkable rebound with an array of products, including computers and printers.
BusinessWeek reporter Peter Burrows, who wrote a book about H.P. and Fiorina, credits the new CEO and soon-to-become board chairman, Mark Hurd, for the turnaround.
PETER BURROWS: There is a rift on the board between folks who feel like they need to upgrade the way the board is run and become more sort of focused on the processes that are a major function of governance these days.
And then you have got other people who say, well, you know what, that's not the best use of our time. The best use of a board's time is to help the CEO run the company and make smart decisions.
And I think that rift has been there for a while, and this is how it happened to be exposed.
The scandal came to light when venture capitalist Thomas Perkins, who is regarded as one of the founders of Silicon Valley, resigned from H.P.'s board of directors. He complained about questionable ethics and dubious legality used by H.P. to identify Perkins' friend and longtime board member George Keyworth II as the source of the leak. Keyworth resigned from the board today.
On the other hand, Joseph Grundfest, Law and Business Professor at Stanford University, says the focus should not simply be on the company's investigative methods. He claims, board member Keyworth's leaks violated corporate ethics, and possibly the law.
JOSEPH GRUNDFEST: Corporate directors owe several obligations to the corporation and their fellow directors. They owe duties of loyalty. They owe duties of care. They owe duties of good faith, and duties of candor.
By leaking to the press, in violation of corporate rules, and also by lying to fellow board members about those leaks, Mr. Keyworth has violated essentially all of those obligations.
For all the problems swirling around H.P., Grundfest and other analysts see no permanent damage to the company or the high-tech industry. In fact, H.P. stock has remained strong throughout the crisis.
Related information:
"The HP board remains fractured. According to sources close to HP who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the information, some directors wanted Dunn to soldier on, while others wanted an immediate resignation. The deal allowing Dunn to continue as chairwoman through the rest of the year was part of a carefully negotiated settlement that also involved the immediate resignation of Jay Keyworth, the director who anonymously gave information to a CNET reporter back in January; it was that leak that launched Dunn's investigation that led to the most recent hacking of phone records."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14856951/site/newsweek/?nav=slate
"California Attorney General Bill Lockyer told The Associated Press that he is working with Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly in the investigation of Security Outsourcing Solutions, a small firm believed to have aided HP in its possibly illegal probe to root out media leaks in its ranks."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14838519/
Zeroing in on sources HP used
By Damon Darlin and Matt Richtel
The New York Times
Published: September 16, 2006, 9:31 AM PDT
http://news.com.com/Zeroing+in+on+sources+HP+used/2100-1014_3-6116472.html?tag=nefd.top
According to people briefed on HP's review of its internal investigation, prosecutors are focusing on the role of the Action Research Group of Melbourne, Fla. Congressional investigators identified the company this year as one of the most prolific users of subterfuge for obtaining phone records, a method known as pretexting.
...
In addition to the Florida firm, prosecutors have been examining the role of Security Outsourcing Solutions, a tiny Boston-area private detective firm. The firm and its principal, Ronald R. DeLia, have ties to HP through the company's Global Investigations Unit, which is based in Massachusetts.
ToC
Written and produced by John Anderson (mediaminutes@freepress.net)
Audio: http://freepress.net/mediaminutes/archive/mm090806.mp3
Text: http://freepress.net/mediaminutes/transcripts/mm090806.pdf
Congress is now back in session, and the Senate has yet to schedule a vote on major reforms to telecommunications law. The pending legislation does not include any meaningful provision for protecting the principle of network neutrality online, even though more than a million people have signed a petition sponsored by the Savetheinternet.com coalition asking that Congress preserve Internet freedom.
The grassroots movement for net neutrality drove home that point the week before Congress reconvened by holding petition-drops at Senators' offices in more than two dozen cities around the country, like
New York:
[rparsons]: "Unless we fight for Internet neutrality, the information superhighway will become a big-bucks boulevard for megacorporations, where discrimination rules, and millions of people who need the Internet to communicate and do business will be left behind."
Boston:
[dhalper]: "How are we going to have a marketplace of ideas if the marketplace of ideas is for sale to the highest bidder?"
Detroit:
[dpettit]: "We don't want to regulate the Internet. The problem is that cable companies and phone companies want to actually rig it."
Des Moines, Iowa:
[jcampbell]: "As a student, I want to have equal access to every source of information."
Minneapolis, Minnesota:
[citizen1]: "I think the Internet is just a fabulous thing. It promotes democracy, and, just, you know, level exchange of information and ideas. And I think it would be a tremendous tragedy if, during my lifetime, I saw it both come into being and then disintegrate."
And Honolulu:
[dlau]: "I'm a 71-year old who wants to communicate with his children and grandchildren, who wants to be able to go online and not have my telephone company or cable company tell me what web sites I can see, what time I go on, and what I have to pay."
In just these six cities, petitions with some 120,000 signatures were represented. The petition drops convinced at least four Senators to go on record in support of network neutrality, bringing the number of Senators in favor of Internet freedom up to 26, as of September 7th. 14 Senators are on record as backing major phone and cable companies' plans to create a tiered Internet. Four are classified as "waffling," while the rest have yet to take any position on the issue.
As for the phone and cable companies, their high-priced lobbying effort against the preservation of Internet freedom continues apace in Washington, D.C. This includes the formation of new "astrorturf" front-groups, the latest of which is the American Consumer Institute. What the group does not disclose is that its founder used to be the chief economist for Bell Atlantic - now named Verizon - and still works on the side as a consultant to the telecom industry.
With regard to more traditional forms of largesse, phone and cable companies are being quite generous with campaign donations this year. Several million dollars have been funneled into campaign coffers, with about two-thirds of it going toward Republican incumbents.
As for the sponsor of the Senate's telecom legislation, Ted Stevens of Alaska, he's pocketed tens of thousands of dollars in telco campaign contributions, even though he's not up for re-election until 2008. Stevens was also recently outed as the Senator who invoked his prerogative to indefinitely delay the consideration of a bill designed to cut back on the practice of adding pork-barrel spending projects to unrelated legislation. A former member of his staff was paid more than a quarter-million dollars in the first six months of this year by phone and cable companies to help lobby for passage of Stevens' telecom legislation.
Meanwhile, other government agencies with theoretical oversight over online access continue to downplay the threat of data discrimination. The Federal Communications Commission has already declared its disinterest in net neutrality, and just recently the chair of the Federal Trade Commission - the primary agency charged with policing phone and cable companies for anticompetitive behavior - announced the creation of a symbolic task force to further explore the issue, though it was couched in talking points that could have come straight from the mouth of a telecom lobbyist.
Congress' fall session is only scheduled to last until October 7th. However, it may adjourn early so as to give incumbents more time to campaign before the November 7th elections.
And now, here's a Media Minutes Fast Fact:
The automation of journalism is alive and well, and it's happening first in the world of business news. Thomson Financial, a provider of investment news, has unveiled a process by which it uses computers to parse corporate press releases and turn them around into stories which can run in print or online. Thomson brags that it can churn out computer-generated copy in as little as point-three seconds from the time the company releases its information, and has been doing so since March. However, they are not the only ones engaged in automatic journalism: the Reuters news service admits it uses computers to write some of its business news, but won't say how much.
--
Related Links:
Save the Internet: National Outpouring of Support for Network Neutrality -
http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2006/08/31/national-outpouring-of-support-for-net-neutrality/
More Astroturfing on Net Neutrality Issue -
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060823-7574.html
Alaska's Stevens Put a Hold on Pork-Barrel Transparency Bill -
http://freepress.net/news/17420
Ex-Stevens Aide Reports Cable Money -
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6365375.html?display=Breaking+News
Computers Write News at Thomson -
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/bb3ac0f6-2e15-11db-93ad-0000779e2340.html
by Richard A. Chapo
URL: http://www.market-day.net/article_25463/20060914/Net-Telephone-Services-In-Trouble-%E2%80%93-911-FCC-Rules-Upheld.php
Net telephone service providers are facing a huge problem. A court has upheld FCC regulations requiring the voice over internet protocol providers to provide 911 services.
911 Rules
As you know, traditional telephone companies provide 911 call services to customers. Under long established laws, the traditional telephone companies are required to automatically route such calls to a geographically appropriate area and deliver the originating phone number and address of the call. Net telephone services haven't done this in the past as the technical reading of the regulations didn't require them to. Now the regulations do and it is causing problems.
VOIP net telephone services are having severe difficulty complying with the FCC regulations. The calls are not routed through a traditional telephone line structure, which makes it very hard to determine the original calling number and address. On top of this, it is extraordinarily difficult to route the calls to the appropriate geographic emergency phone call center. Throw in politics and you have a boondoggle in the making.
911 In A Digital Age
In many cases, government agencies fail to appreciate the complexities of the Internet and digital technology. They have a habit of issuing rules and regulations that are either antiquated or impossible to implement. The FCC and FTC are famous for doing so, particularly since the agencies seem to have the technical sophistication of dinosaur. On the issue of 911 rules for net telephone services, however, the FCC has acted appropriately.
911 is a critical service that must be made available to the public. It performs a service that is both needed and necessary. As the net telephone services seek bigger shares of the commercial market, they must also assume larger responsibility for the services they provide. This is particularly true for 911 services.
911 emergency call centers help save lives. In health risk situations, time is almost always a critical component in the outcome. Given as much, the FCC has acted appropriately in requiring net telephone services to provide 911 services to customers.
ToC
Posted Jul 6th 2006 4:56PM by Chris Thilk
Filed under: Gripes, Television
(Warning: You may want to go to your happy place before reading this.)
<http://www.adjab.com/2006/07/06/abc-wants-to-kill-dvr-ad-skipping/>
ABC executives have held discussions with the people providing consumers with DVRs about a potential future feature for the devices that would disable the ad-skipping. That's just one of the comments made by ABC President of Advertising Sales Mike Shaw following the networks' finally closing out their upfront session. Shaw feels that everyone on the ad-delivery side of the equation, from networks to cable operators, should be on the side of no-DVR-skippage since they all rely on selling ads. He doesn't think this is going to be a big deal for consumers, since they'll still be so happy the can easily record their shows for later that they'll barely notice and definitely won't be part of any backlash. This despite frequent assertions that most people considering DVRs are doing so for the ad-skipping feature. Shaw says he felt ABC was hung out to dry by other networks who folded so quickly to buyer demands that prices not include DVR viewings.
Terry Heaton also called "BS" on this whole argument by Shaw. Heaton points out that the networks effectively shot themselves in the foot, shins, kneecaps and hip bones on this issue by turning more and more time over to ads, leading to the consumer backlash that prompted DVRs to catch on in the first place. He even has a graph from eMarketer that shows commercial skipping is the second most important thing people are looking for from a DVR.
I'm going to be blunt here and say Shaw has his head in a very uncomfortable place. Killing DVR ad-skipping is a bad idea. If the other networks left you dangling on real-time ad numbers in the upfronts maybe it's not because you're the smartest guy in the room. Consumers are exercising more and more control over what they spend their money on and ad buyers are consumers in their own right. Shaw needs to stop bashing the devices that people enjoy using and spend more time re-figuring his networks business model.
Related links:
ABC Looks Beyond Upfront To DVR, Commercial Ratings Issues
by David Goetzl and Wayne Friedman, Thursday, Jul 6, 2006 8:45 AM ET
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=45264
Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog
07/06/2006 Entry: "ABC's Shaw needs to get real"
http://donatacom.com/archives/00001402.htm
Philips Patent App Would Force You to Watch Commercials - http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/18/philips-patent-app-would-force-you-to-watch-commercials-both-li/
The PVR/DVR Fast Forward Functionality Petition
"We the undersigned, as consumers of PVR/DVR technology, petition TIVO (manufacturers of TIVO), DNNA (manufacturers of ReplayTV), and the cable and satellite TV providers who offer PVR/DVR technology to refuse ABC executive Mike Shaw's request to disable the Fast Forward functionality of the PVR/DVR's."
http://www.petitiononline.com/DVR2006/petition.html
ToC
URL: http://freepress.net/press/release.php?id=165
FCC Buries Report Showing Local Owners Deliver More Local News
WASHINGTON -- Former FCC Chairman Michael Powell buried a federal study that showed media consolidation is harmful to local news reporting. The 2004 report found that locally owned stations produced five minutes more local news coverage in a half-hour newscast than their consolidated competitors.
Powell commissioned the study hoping it would show that media consolidation didn't negatively impact local communities. Upon seeing the results, Powell ordered that "every last piece" of the study be destroyed, according to a Wednesday report by the Associated Press.
<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4187090.html>
"Throughout his tenure at the FCC, Michael Powell aided efforts by large media companies to buy up local news outlets," said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, the national, nonpartisan media reform and policy group. "Had it seen the light of day, the FCC and its Big Media allies could no longer deny that locally owned media do a better job of covering local news. So he tried to hide it."
The study - titled "Do Local Owners Deliver More Localism? Some Evidence from Local Broadcast News" - undercuts industry claims, as the FCC considers changing the number of television stations, radio stations and newspapers one company can own in a single market. Among the study's findings:
The secret study was leaked to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D.Calif.) in advance of the Senate confirmation hearing for Powell's successor, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who voted to weaken longstanding media ownership rules in 2003.
A copy of the study is available here.
<http://www.freepress.net/docs/fcclocalnews.pdf>
Free Press, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America and Media Access Project have called on Martin to "immediately seek an independent investigation, through the Office of the Inspector General, to determine the circumstances under which the public was denied access to this important, taxpayer-funded research, the parties involved and the processes that may have allowed any record of its existence to be destroyed."
The letter is available here.
<http://www.freepress.net/docs/fcclocalnewsletter.pdf>
News of the cover-up comes at a time when Chairman Martin seeks to hand over control of more local news outlets to massive media conglomerates by eliminating local ownership caps and the longstanding prohibition on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership. The FCC has scheduled a public hearing on the possible changes in Los Angeles on Oct. 3.
"The FCC can no longer pretend Big Media does a better job of serving local communities," Silver said. "As millions of have told the FCC time and again, they want more local news and a diversity of voices on the public airwaves. Maybe now they'll finally start listening."
---See FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's reaction to Sen. Barbara Boxer presenting him with the exhumed FCC study.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT0AIJkO-aM>
ToC
Written and produced by John Anderson (mediaminutes@freepress.net)
Media Minutes - September 15, 2006
Audio: http://freepress.net/mediaminutes/archive/mm091506.mp3
Text: http://freepress.net/mediaminutes/transcripts/mm091506.pdf
On September 12th, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin testified in front of a Senate committee considering his re-nomination. He told the group that his top priority was the proliferation of broadband connectivity, and touted accomplishments made in that direction over the last year or two. But a new report from Free Press provides a reality check to the rosy rhetoric. Free Press research director Derek Turner says while it's true that broadband connectivity is growing, the quality of service is actually getting worse.
Derek Turner: "Most of that is driven by what we call so-called "DSL Lite" offerings, where they're half the speed of a normal DSL connection for about the same price. So while other countries are getting faster and faster, we're offering our consumers lower speeds."
In addition, the FCC uses a bogus methodology to determine just how much of the country is covered by broadband.
Derek Turner: "If you're in a zip code and there's one customer there that subscribes to, let's say, a satellite connection, then that zip code is now counted as covered, and this allows the FCC to say that 99% of the country has access to broadband. And in fact, one out of every 10 consumers has access to no broadband, and that the average consumer, or the median consumer, has only access to two providers."
Martin also touted the growth of alternative broadband connections to DSL or cable modems, like broadband-over-power line technology, mobile phone, and other long- range wireless connections. However, the opposite is actually true.
Derek Turner: "They peaked in about June of 2001, at having about one and a half percent of the market, were third-platform alternative connections. And they dropped drastically, to where now they only make up one-half of one percent of the entire market."
Turner believes the federal government should view the proliferation of broadband with a perspective similar to the undertaking of rural electrification more than 70 years ago. In addition, at least one current policy battle will play a significant role in determining whether the U.S. will regain its standing as a well-wired nation or continue to slip behind other industrialized countries.
Derek Turner: "We need to maintain net neutrality, because it's been the key driver of Internet growth since its birth. And that we believe if you get rid of network neutrality, what you're going to see is network operators really don't have much incentive to roll out faster connections like you see in Japan and western Europe."
To read the new report on the state of broadband in America, visit www.freepress.net, and click on the box marked "Broadband Reality Check II."
Related Link:
Broadband Reality Check II - http://www.freepress.net/docs/bbrc2-final.pdf
ToC
9/13/2006 2:50:50 PM, by Ryan Paul
URL: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060913-7735.html
A group of Princeton computer scientists has published a study that examines flaws and vulnerabilities in Diebold's AccuVote-TS voting machines. Complete with a video that demonstrates the ease with which the electronic voting machine can be compromised, the study provides chilling insight into the serious risk of election tampering and fraud created by modern voting technology. The vote-stealing demonstration software developed by the computer scientists "can modify all of the records, audit logs, and counters kept by the voting machine, so that even careful forensic examination of these records will find nothing amiss."
The study reveals that "[m]alicious software running on a single voting machine can steal votes with little if any risk of detection," and that the software can be installed on a voting machine in only a minute by anyone that has physical access. The study also discovered that Diebold's AccuVote-TS systems can be targeted by self-propagating viruses "that can spread malicious software automatically and invisibly from machine to machine during normal pre- and post-election activity." The computer scientists conclude that defects are present in the hardware of the AccuVote-TS as well as the software. Although some issues can be mitigated by software updates, the machines themselves will have to be replaced in order to eliminate some of the problems identified by the study.
The AccuVote-TS machines are designed to automatically install code from a removable memory card during the boot process. A virus embedded in a bootloader image file stored on a memory card will automatically infect any machine that is booted while the card is inserted. The virus written by the Princeton experts will automatically install itself on every memory card inserted into the machine during subsequent boot processes. So, when a technician tries to update an infected system, the memory card containing the update will be altered and the virus will be passed on to any other voting machine that the technician tries to update from that memory card.
The paper suggests several ways to mitigate potential voting machine problems. Requiring that all updates be digitally signed could potentially prevent unauthorized software from infecting and manipulating voting machines. Limiting physical access to memory cards and voting machines could also help prevent tampering. The paper cites a study conducted in 2006, in which researchers addressed issues like "lack of inventory control and gaps in the chain of custody," pointing out the need for policies that establish secure handling and management practices for voting machines. The paper also advocates parallel testing, system certification, and paper trails as other potential solutions.
Last month, we reported on election disruptions that occurred in Alaska as a result of Diebold machine defects. Yesterday, Johns Hopkins University computer science professor Avi Rubin wrote a blog entry about a day at the polls with the Diebold AccuVote-TS. Serving as an election judge in the Maryland primary, Rubin witnessed numerous Diebold machine voting failures and deficiencies firsthand. From missing access cards to dysfunctional electronic poll books to ineffective anti-tamper mechanisms, the machines were nothing but trouble. Machines crashed, refused to synchronize, and inaccurately reported whether or not a citizen had already voted. One of the most disturbing revelations of the day related to Diebold's business practices rather than the machines themselves. The Diebold representative assigned to the precinct had been hired the day before, and had only received a brief six hours of training in a massive session with 80 other people. The representative admitted to having virtually no familiarity with the hardware, and claimed that Diebold hired cheap contractors to do the job rather than well-trained technicians in order to save money. The representative, who didn't even know how to set the machines up, gave up and left in frustration halfway through the day.
The state of California banned Diebold voting machines, and sued the company for machine-related fraud after flaws were found in the AccuVote-TSx machines used in a 2004 election. The constant stream of discovered vulnerabilities and problems in real elections may finally compel other states to do the same. Diebold has not yet responded to our requests for a comment, but sources say that the company is attempting to pressure the Princeton group into retracting the study. In the past Diebold typically responds to criticisms of its voting machines by asserting that the systems operate securely when properly configured.
Related links:
Security Analysis of the Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting Machine - http://itpolicy.princeton.edu/voting/
Diebold voting machine failures strike again in Alaska - http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060825-7592.html
California bans the use of some e-voting machines - http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20040501-3721.html
California to sue Diebold over voting machine-related fraud - http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20040907-4164.html
ToC
Posted at 08:48 AM, August 31, 2006
URL: http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_08.php
"Groundbreaking Bill Waits for Governor's Signature"
Sacramento - The California State Senate passed tough new privacy safeguards late yesterday for use of "tag and track" devices known as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips embedded in state identification cards. The bill helps ensure that Californians can control the personal information contained on their drivers' licenses, library cards and other important ID documents.
The State Assembly passed the Identity Information Protection Act (Senate Bill 768), authored by Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), earlier this month. Governor Schwarzenegger has until September 30 to sign the bill into law. The legislation is sponsored by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the ACLU, and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, and it is supported by groups ranging from the AARP to the California Alliance Against Domestic Violence to the Gun Owners of California.
"Without security safeguards, RFID tags can expose you to identity theft, covert tracking, and stalking," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien. "This bill is a good first step toward ensuring that critical state-issued IDs don't leak your personal information."
RFID tags are tiny devices connected to miniature antennae that can be used to store and transmit personal information. When an RFID reader emits a radio signal, RFID tags respond with their stored information. The federal government has decided to embed RFID tags in new U.S. passports, and states across the country are considering their use in ID cards. The Identity Information Protection Act has drawn national attention as a model for future privacy-protecting laws in other states.
"RFID technology is not in and of itself the issue. The issue is whether and under what circumstances the government should be allowed to compel its residents to carry technology that broadcasts their most personal information," said Senator Simitian. "This bill provides a thoughtful and rational policy framework for making those decisions. I hope the Governor agrees."
EFF's Identity Information Protection Act fact sheet:
<http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/RFID/sb768_fact_sheet.php>
For more on RFID:
<http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/RFID/>
Contact:
Lee Tien
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
tien@eff.org
Related links:
Privacy Groups Press for Controls on 'Smart Cards' - <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6076807>
The ID Chip You Don't Want in Your Passport - <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091500923.html>
ToC
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 1, 2006
URL: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/01/eveningnews/printable1962352.shtml
(CBS) Is there such a thing as computer privacy? These days, having the very latest technology also means that nearly everything we do on company time is subject to scrutiny. As CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports, more and more, we are being watched.
In a world that depends on e-mail, depend on this: The boss can see it all.
"If you want to read employees' e-mail, you can definitely do that," says Gary Steele, CEO of Proofpoint.
Steele should know: Proofpoint is in the business of helping bosses keep a close eye every time a worker hits the send button.
"Companies actively review, monitor and analyze the e-mail of their employees ? with employees not even knowing that's the case," Steele says.
The monitoring may be done by a bunch of guys in your company's basement. But these days, more often it's sophisticated software that scans outgoing e-mail for everything from offensive language to trade secrets ? and then alerts the boss.
One of those bosses is Christopher Faulkner, who admits he watches every e-mail and every move his workers make online at his company, CI Host.
"I don't want one of my employees having one ear to the receiver of the phone with one of my customers talking to him while he's chatting with his buddies on instant messenger, while my customer is getting second fiddle," Faulkner says.
A new survey shows that close to half (46.9 percent) of all companies with more than 1,000 employees now scrutinize e-mail and another 28 percent say they intend to do so soon.
That can be a shock for workers who think e-mail was private. Julie Blenkhorn was one of those workers.
"I learned my lesson the hard way. Basically, I sent an e-mail with a resume applying for a job through my work e-mail. And not more than a day later, I was called to my boss' office and asked about that e-mail," Blenkhorn says.
In the past year, nearly a third of companies (31.6 percent) say they have fired employees for improper e-mail use; more than half (52.4 percent) have disciplined workers for misusing e-mail.
Think you're safe at work if you're sending e-mail from your own private account, like Hotmail? You're not: Monitoring software is set up to catch anything sent from an office computer. Keeping a secret could mean going back to snail mail.
ToC
By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 11, 2006 4:00 AM PDT
URL: http://news.com.com/The+hard+drive+at+50/2009-1015_3-6112782.html?tag=st.prev
Hard drives radically changed the way the world stores data. And for a brief period, at least one was a tourist attraction as well.
Crown Zellerbach, at one time a major paper producer in San Francisco, was the first company to install a RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) machine, the first IBM computer with a then-newfangled piece of storage technology called a hard drive, according to Jim Porter, president of analysis firm Disk/Trend. The RAMAC--officially announced on Sept. 13, 1956--weighed 1 ton and stored 5MB of data on 50 spinning platters, 24 inches in diameter.
Porter worked at Crown, which got the RAMAC because the company delivered a lot of computer card stock to IBM.
"Any time we had a business guest, they wanted to see it, so I'd take them three levels below Market Street to the computer room. You could see the head assembly moving back and forth. It put on a good show," Porter recalled. "I showed it off dozens of times."
A lot has changed in the last 50 years. Manufacturers now sell drives that hold 750GB, or 150,000 times more data than the RAMAC, but they weigh only a few ounces and measure just 3.5 inches across. Drives that can hold a terabyte will be announced late this year or early next year.
"The hard drive has advanced about 65 million times in areal density since the RAMAC, and we're still, in my estimation, three orders of magnitude from any truly fundamental limits," said Mark Kryder, chief technical officer of drive maker Seagate Technology.
Hard drives, moreover, have become pervasive. Between 1992 and 2003, roughly 1.5 billon drives shipped, capable of holding 41,400 exabytes, according to the "How Much Information?" study from the University of California at Berkeley. An exabyte is a billion gigabytes. Five exabytes would be enough to store all human speech since the dawn of time through 2002, according to the study. More data is stored on hard drives than on optical drives, paper or other media, according to the study.
This year, about 450 million to 460 million drives will leave factories, according to Disk/Trend.
The growth, in part, has derived from the seemingly never-ending demand for servers, PCs and data storage--as well as by a successful effort by drive makers to diversify outside of the PC market. High-end TVs come with built-in drives, while Toyota Motor and Mercedes-Benz are planning to embed hard drive-based navigation and entertainment systems into luxury cars, according to Bill Healy, senior vice president of product strategy and marketing at Hitachi Global Storage Technologies.
TiVo-like digital video recorders wouldn't be possible without hard drives; home servers stocked with videos and music could be the next must-have item. Drives are also replacing tape drives for more permanent data storage, Healy added.
The realities of the drive industry--high capital costs, rapid technology changes, lots of competition, penny-pinching customers, short product life spans--have always made survival tough.
At the mid-1980s peak, 76 companies, including outfits such as Seiko and Citizen Watch, were churning out drives, according to Disk/Trend.
"Now, if you count very carefully, you'll find eight--and some of those are very small," Porter said. The top three makers--Seagate, Western Digital and Hitachi--account for about 75 percent of drives shipped. Life at the top, though, isn't easy. Although Seagate and Western Digital are currently profitable, Hitachi has experienced some unprofitable quarters recently, and margins for all companies remain tight.
"I don't remember a time when the money was rolling in," joked Al Shugart, who was one of the engineers on the RAMAC and went on to found Seagate. "It has always been a tough field, hasn't it?"
Much of the credit for the design of the drive goes to Reynold Johnson. IBM sent him to San Jose, Calif., in 1952 to develop a magnetic storage system in which data could be recorded or retrieved directly from any part of the medium. In tape systems, you need to rewind or fast-forward to get to a particular point of data.
At the time, many thought of devising a magnetic cylinder. The problem with cylinders, though, is surface area: A cylinder capable of holding 5MB of data with the materials at the time would have been at least 17 feet long. Johnson came up with the idea of stacking magnetic disks, said Al Hoagland, who runs the Magnetic Disk Heritage Center and worked on the RAMAC with Johnson. (For the record, the RAMAC 305 was the computer system that contained the first drive. The 350 was the name of the actual drive array attached to the RAMAC 305.)
"The approach Rey Johnson pursued was unique in the industry," Hoagland said. "It wasn't obvious. The multiple disk stack on the RAMAC gives roughly 240 square feet of recording area. Any time you slice something really thin, you get two new surfaces."
To get data out of a stack of disks, though, Johnson's team had to develop heads that could move up and down the stack without touching the disks. It also had to figure out how to synchronize various processes. "There were a lot of things that were a total departure," Hoagland said.
Besides giving IBM the lead in drives, the invention of RAMAC also prompted IBM to erect its drive factory in San Jose because the company realized that the expertise couldn't be easily replicated elsewhere, according to Hoagland. Although it ultimately sold its hard-drive business to Hitachi, Big Blue became one of the biggest employers and largest landowners in what would become Silicon Valley.
Despite a constant string of buyouts and power shifts in the tech industry, the level of competition in the drive business hasn't changed much over the decades. Drive makers' latest challenge is flash memory.
The drive industry scored a coup in 2001, when Apple Computer put a 1.8-inch Toshiba drive into the first iPod. Apple also became the first company to adopt 1-inch microdrives on a wide scale with the iPod Mini. Now microdrives are on their way out.
"The 1-inch volumes have come down significantly, impacted severely by flash. Right now, we are looking for a new application for the 1-inch (drive)," Healy said.
To survive, drive makers have begun to integrate vertically, producing components such as heads and disks themselves rather than buying them from third-party vendors. It's a completely different tack than the rest of the IT industry. But by bringing things in-house, manufacturers can better control production and quality.
They can also introduce innovations more rapidly.
To build up or defend sales, manufacturers are looking for ways to enhance their drives, such as simplifying data encryption processes. The security angle will likely come in handy in the next battleground with flash: notebooks. In the next few years, flash will first appear in small notebooks targeted at vertical markets such as defense, according to executives of flash-producing companies.
Hitachi's Healy, among others, scoffs at the idea of flash notebooks hitting the mainstream anytime soon. "As a buyer, someone is going to try to convince you to buy something with 30GB of storage when, for a few dollars more, you can buy something with a 160GB hard drive," he said.
Despite the tough financial circumstances of the drive world, the technology has aged well. Drive makers have generally managed to double the capacity of their products every couple of years for decades. (That's on pace with Moore's Law, but the underlying principles are different.) During the late '90s, capacity was doubling nearly every year.
Perpendicular recording, in which bits are stacked on top of each other on a platter, may enable drive makers to once again accelerate the density growth rate over the next few years. However, the method's benefits likely will begin to slow down circa 2010, when drives are set to be capable of storing 500 gigabits to 1 terabit per square inch.
At that point, industry players will have to introduce drives based on new technology to continue the pace of progress. Without changes, further increases in density will cause drives to lose data at room temperature.
Hitachi favors adopting patterned media. In this technique, recording film on a drive is segmented into pattered dots. This prevents one bit, or dot, from flipping its neighbor. Seagate, on the other hand, favors heat-assisted recording. In this method, a laser inside the drive heats the platters to record or erase data; at room temperature, the platters are inert.
Although both techniques will eventually be incorporated into drives, it remains unclear which one will come next. Ultimately, the decision could turn on which technology looks easier to bring to mass-manufacturing.
"You've got to figure out how to do this not just in a lab demonstration, but by producing them in the hundreds of millions," said Porter of Disk/Trend. "The good news is that you have people working in both of these camps and maybe others. There's nano this and nano that."
No matter which technology innovation makes it to market first, the end for hard drives is not near.
"We can see 50 (terabits) to 100 terabits (per square inch) being possible," Seagate's Kryder said. "Mother Nature has provided us with a technology that is scalable to very, very high densities, so you just keep working at the problem with enough engineers, and you make progress on it steadily."
ToC
Paul Thurrott
URL: http://www.wininformant.com/
If you're interested in the well-regarded Release Candidate 1 (RC1)
version of Windows Vista, I've got good news: It's now available to
anyone that wants it. Even people who did not sign on for the Beta 2
release are now able to download RC1 via the Windows Vista Customer
Preview Program (CPP). Users can request a $5 DVD or download a 3 GB ISO
file, which they can then burn to DVD themselves. Microsoft now says it
expects about 5 million people to test RC1 via the CPP and other
distribution methods, and it hopes that feedback from this version will
make the final release--due in late October--the highest quality version
of Windows yet.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/preview.mspx
Microsoft revealed details about its upcoming iPod killer, the Zune. From the initial public unveiling, all we can tell is that the Zune is quite iPod-like, with a 3-inch color screen, 30 GB hard drive, and similar size, weight and form factor to the Apple device. A few things do set the Zune apart, however, and it will be interesting to see whether any of these features excite consumers. First, the Zune will be offered in multiple colors, though only white, black, and, curiously, brown will be available in time for the holiday selling season. The Zune features wireless networking functionality so that Zune users can share music and photos. And it includes a FM radio tuner. Oh, and it's completely incompatible with the number one online service in the world, iTunes, making it a complete non-starter. Anyway, the Zune will be backed by yet another online service, called Zune Marketplace, which no doubt will be modeled after the Xbox 360's Xbox Marketplace. No word yet on pricing, though Microsoft says it will be competitive. No word, too, on the exact release date. Or why they're even bothering.
So, is the Zune competitive? Is it... exciting? More to the point, does it offer anything that a slew of uninteresting iPod competitors don't offer? The answer to all of these questions is a vague "sort of." Without having one in my hands yet, it's hard to get excited about the Zune. But see, that's the problem. Without having a second generation iPod nano or iPod shuffle yet, earlier this week, I was pretty much blown away by those devices. And now that I do at least have the former of those devices, I'm even more impressed. Zune will have to "wow" a lot more in person than it does in the promotional materials I've seen so far. That said, I'll be giving Zune--and, tellingly, its competitors--first class treatment on the SuperSite for Windows beginning next week with a new Zune Activity Center where I'll feature all the MP3 player and digital audio, video, and photo reviews I've written over the years and augment that with new reviews of current players and software. This is a long-overdue addition to the site, since I've been working with digital media for over a decade--two, if you care to include the Amiga--but the Zune introduction seems like a logical time to start it up.
And speaking of digital media, honestly, is this some kind of joke? A few years ago, Microsoft started an internal project called Max that was about creating awesome Vista-specific applications. Over time, we've only seen one application come out of the group, called, go figure Max. The original version of Max was a simple if nice-looking photo sharing application. This past week, however, Microsoft released a new version. Here's the official description: "Microsoft Codename Max is your opportunity to try a new, exciting experience from Microsoft. Today Max lets you make beautiful photo slideshows to share with your family and friends. You can also use the newsreader to keep up with the latest news updates from around the world." That's right. It's now a photo sharing application ... and news reader. Eh? What's coming in the next release? The ability to process foods into various forms of paste? And why does it only run on Windows XP (and not on Windows Vista RC1)? Sorry, but this is just weird.
Microsoft this week unveiled some interesting new desktop and notebook PC peripherals, many of which are aimed at customers moving to Windows Vista in the months ahead. The new Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 features Bluetooth wireless technology and is aimed at Media Center users. However, there are Vista-specific buttons on the keyboard, like Gadgets, which triggers the Vista Sidebar. A non-rechargeable version without backlighting, the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000, is also available. These and other devices will be rolled out in the months ahead, Microsoft says.
After years of waffling, Dell this week unleashed a set of three new desktop PCs that are powered by AMD Athlon-64 X2 microprocessors. It's too bad the company waited so long: For the past two or three years, AMD's processors were faster, cheaper, and cooler than anything offered by Intel. But now that Intel has shipped its Core 2 Duo processors, the situation is reversed. So while PC companies like HP have been offering AMD alternatives for years, Dell is only now doing so, and it's waited so long that those processors no longer offer any benefit at all. I love Dell--in fact, I will likely buy my latest in a long string of Dell PCs this very week--but this move says a lot about the decision-making problems that have gripped the company for a while now. In this case, it doesn't make sense to be conservative. And for the record, yes, my next Dell PC will use an Intel Core 2 Duo processor.
Microsoft recently shipped the Beta 2 version of Windows Media Player
(WMP) 11.0 for U.S. customers only (though international versions will
follow shortly). No word yet on what's new in this latest public beta,
but I will say this: I really do prefer the sleek black UI of WMP 11.0
over the translucent Windows Vista version. You can find out more and
grab the free download of this beta at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/11/default.aspx
Posted by Ryan on 14 Sep 2006 1:29 pm
URL: http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2006/09/14/googles-picasa-25-now-out-of-beta/
Google Picasa Google's Picasa 2.5 photo managing software has worked its way out of Beta (believe it or not :) ). The release notes detail all of the new features but here is a brief overview for those that have not been venturous enough to play with the Beta:
- Share photos online
- Nested folder view
- Save changes to disk
- Improved import
- Screensavers
- Geotagging
- Larger thumbnails
- New RAW features
- Improved caption editing
- Starred photos organize automatically into a special album
- "Just raw frames" option lets you export time-lapse sequences in the movie maker
- The bottom row of buttons can now be configured to suit your needs
I have been using Picasa for awhile now it is a really nice piece of software. It definitely shows that Google is dedicated to updating their products so that the users will continue to get new features.
Download Picasa 2.5 (http://dl.google.com/picasa/picasa2-setup-3291.exe)
ToC
Paul Thurrott
URL: http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/93461/93461.html
In late August, hackers released a program called FairUse4WM, which lets Windows Media Player (WMP) users decrypt music files purchased online and reformat them into unprotected Windows Media Audio (WMA) files. Microsoft then patched its server-based components so that content makers could require users to upgrade their clients to a WMP version that circumvents FairUse4WM. But the hackers quickly struck back with a new version of FairUse4WM that bypasses Microsoft's efforts.
After the release of the original FairUse4WM, I contacted a Microsoft representative, who told me that the hack was indeed real and not just an analog hole-based circumvention. (Such hacks require users to manually play each protected song to record unprotected versions one at a time, but don't actually compromise the integrity of the underlying protection technology.) In a letter to Windows Media licensees soon thereafter, Microsoft said it would update its individualized blackbox component (IBX) to circumvent FairUse4WM.
"Consumers are not at risk in any way," the company told licensees. "Content services can require that the updates be present in order to issue licenses [to consumers]." The IBX update is particularly important to subscription-based services such as Napster and MTV URGE, because users of those services can downloads thousands of tracks at a time for a monthly fee. By requiring users to upgrade to a new license, these services can halt the flow of music that can be unencrypted and freely copied.
However, on September 2, hackers released a new version of FairUse4WM that bypassed Microsoft's changes and added support for different WMP versions, including the new WMP 11 Beta 2. What's interesting about FairUse4WM is that it decrypts only music you've purchased yourself: The tool won't work unless you have a valid license for the content on the PC to which you've installed FairUse4WM.
Questions remain, of course. Does FairUse4WM represent fair use of purchased (not subscription) content, in a legal sense? Although the use appears to be legal, users agree to certain conditions when they purchase media via online services. Those conditions include prohibitions against circumventing the Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology that prevents users from copying tracks.
FairUse4WM users should be concerned that Microsoft will ultimately defeat FairUse4WM. The company is sure to release yet another IBX patch. Ultimately, Microsoft has far more at stake than the hackers responsible for FairUse4WM. My guess is that Microsoft will shut FairUse4WM down pretty quickly.
ToC
URL: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9003256
Called the BladeCenter QS20, IBM's new system is also aimed at companies in the digital animation, aerospace, defense, communications and gas industries. Pricing for each QS20 blade starts at $18,995, an IBM spokeswoman said.
The base configuration of the QS20 includes two cell processors each running at 2.3 GHz, 1GB of memory (512MB per processor), a 40GB hard drive, dual Gigabit Ethernet ports and one or two InfiniBand adapters connected with Peripheral Component Interconnect Express. IBM suggests using Red Hat Inc.'s Fedora 5 Linux operating system.
ToC
by Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
article link:<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8671>
TidBITS#846/11-Sep-06
Last week, Apple announced two notable changes to the iMac line, available now. First, all iMacs now use Intel's new 64-bit Core 2 Duo processor, which Apple claims can deliver up to 50 percent faster performance than previous Core Duo processors. However, in testing done by PC World on PC laptops, the Core 2 Duo chip improved performance by only 5 to 10 percent over identically configured laptops with the older Core Duo chip; Macworld's benchmarks rated a 10 percent improvement. My guess is that the new iMacs with the Core 2 Duo will be faster, perhaps noticeably so in some tasks, but not so much that it would make sense to upgrade from an existing Core Duo-based iMac to a new Core 2 Duo-based model.
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2006/sep/06imac.html>
<http://www.apple.com/imac/>
<http://www.apple.com/imac/intelcore2duo.html>
<http://www.macworld.com/2006/09/firstlooks/core2duo/>
<http://www.macworld.com/2006/09/firstlooks/imacbench/>
However, the second notable change in the iMac line may be sufficiently compelling to cause even a recent iMac purchaser to consider trading up to a new model. That's because the top-of-the-line iMac now comes with a built-in 24-inch widescreen display running at 1920 by 1200 pixels (compare that with 1440 by 900 for the 17-inch display and 1680 by 1050 for the 20-inch model). The 24-inch display also offers a wider viewing angle than the smaller displays, is brighter, and provides a higher contrast ratio than the 17-inch display (though slightly lower than the 20-inch display).
<http://www.apple.com/imac/graphics.html>
Interestingly, there are a number of other differences between the 24-inch iMac and the smaller models besides some added size and weight. The 24-inch iMac uses a faster Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT graphics processor (or an optional Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT) in favor of the Intel GMA 950 (in the 1.83 GHz 17-inch iMac) or the ATI Radeon X1600 (in the 2.0 GHz 17-inch iMac and the 20-inch iMac). Instead of a pair of FireWire 400 ports, the 24-inch iMac features one FireWire 400 port and one FireWire 800 port. It also doubles the power of its internal digital amplifier from 12 watts in the 17- and 20-inch iMacs to 24 watts.
<http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html>
Configuring an iMac is a bit more confusing than in the past, since the low-end 1.83 GHz 17-inch iMac, priced at only $1,000, can be configured only with more RAM (512 MB standard, up to 2 GB), with an Apple Remote, and with a modem. It comes standard with a Combo drive, a 160 GB hard drive, Intel GMA 950 graphics processor, and AirPort Extreme, but not Bluetooth. This basic configuration was introduced in July 2006 for education buyers (see "New iMac Replaces eMac for Education", 10-Jul-06); it's now available to anyone (and it still costs $900 for educational customers).
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8595>
The 2.0 GHz 17-inch iMac ($1,200) can be upgraded to a 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo processor and comes with a 160 GB hard drive, upgradable to 500 GB. In contrast, the 20-inch ($1,500) and 24-inch ($2,000) iMacs both come with a 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, upgradable to 2.33 GHz, and they both have 250 GB hard drives, with 500 GB options. All three of these models come with an 8x double-layer SuperDrive, 1 GB of RAM (upgradable to 3 GB), and built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0.
Standard equipment for all iMac models includes a built-in iSight camera, three USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire ports, Gigabit Ethernet, mini-DVI out, built-in stereo speakers, a built-in microphone, optical digital audio in/out jacks, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, and iLife '06.
Although the also-updated Mac mini doesn't share the iMac's switch to the Core 2 Duo chip, Apple has speed-bumped the low-end Mac, dropping the Intel Core Solo processor entirely while keeping prices at their previous level. The $800 Mac mini moves from a 1.66 GHz Core Duo processor to a 1.83 GHz Core Duo processor, and the $600 model drops its 1.5 GHz Core Solo processor in favor of a dual-core 1.66 GHz Core Duo processor. All other specs remain the same.
<http://www.apple.com/macmini/>
ToC
by Jeff Carlson <jeffc@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#843/21-Aug-06
Is your new Mac laptop making barnyard noises or suffering from insomnia? Apple has released a pair of updates to address two specific, annoying issues that have cropped up with the MacBook and MacBook Pro.
The MacBook SMC Firmware Update adjusts the fan behavior of the entry-level notebook to calm its inner cow. The update apparently gets rid of the "moo" sound caused by the MacBook's fan repeatedly spinning up and powering down as it regulates the processor temperature. As this is a firmware update, make sure the installation process isn't interrupted. The installer is a 420K download, requires Mac OS X 10.4.7, and works only on the MacBook.
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macbooksmcfirmwareupdate.html>
MacBook Pro owners can install ExpressCard Update 1.0, a 492K download that fixes a problem where the laptop would fail to go to sleep if some cards are left in the ExpressCard slot.
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/expresscardupdate10.html>
ToC
by Glenn Fleishman <glenn@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8670>
TidBITS#846/11-Sep-06
Wi-Fi networks are everywhere, but finding them often requires tedious use of the erratic AirPort menu in the menu bar, or a separately running application, like iStumbler, that shows more information than most people require. (iStumbler is great for learning more about and troubleshooting the local AirPort-space, however, and includes support for scanning for Bluetooth devices and revealing Bonjour services on the local network.)
Christoph Sinai's coconutWiFi offers a simple menu bar indicator: a single dot. The dot is red when there are no networks in the vicinity, yellow when nearby networks are encrypted with WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) or WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) protection, and green if at least one unprotected network is in range. (Scanning isn't sufficient to find other protection methods, such as WPA Enterprise, which requires a login, or MAC (Media Access Control) lockouts, with which specific Wi-Fi adapters are allowed access by their unique hardware number.)
<http://coconut-flavour.com/coconutwifi/>
Click the dot, and a list of networks drops down, including the method of encryption for protected networks. An optional number next to the indicator displays the number of networks found. The software is a universal binary and a 219K download; donations are accepted.
ToC
by Geoff Duncan <geoff@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#843/21-Aug-06
Much of the recent talk of running non-Macintosh operating systems on Apple's new breed of Intel-based Macs has focused on virtualization solutions like Parallels Desktop (see "Parallels Desktop: The Switch is Complete") and VMware's as-yet-unreleased product (see "More, Less, and No Information on Running Windows on a Mac", but let's not forget the product announcement that started the ball rolling officially: Apple Computer's Boot Camp (see "Apple Opens Boot Camp for Windows Users", which enables Intel-based Macs to restart running Windows XP and is scheduled to be included in some way with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8567>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8627>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8494>
Apple last week released version 1.1 of its public beta of Boot Camp, adding support for Apple's brand-new Xeon-based Mac Pro and Xserve systems, adding partition presets which make installing Windows XP simpler for many users, providing the capability to install Windows XP on any internal disk, and building in support for Apple's iSight camera and built-in microphones. The new beta improves support for Apple keyboards (enabling Delete, Print Screen, NumLock, and ScrollLock keys under Windows) and, for folks using single-button pointing devices, enables right-clicking by pressing the rightmost Command key on Apple keyboards. Boot Camp beta 1.1 also rolls in a number of small fixes, including turning off internal speakers when the headphone jack is in use, support for date and time synchronization under Windows when logged in as an administrator, and more.
<http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/>
The new beta weighs in at 202 MB; complete instructions for updating are available on Apple's Web site. As always with beta software, we strongly recommend you back up your data early and often, and think carefully before trusting truly important data or processes to Boot Camp.
ToC
by Mark H. Anbinder <mha@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8669>
TidBITS#846/11-Sep-06
Parallels, Inc. last week announced a release candidate for an update to their Parallels Desktop for Mac, adding compatibility for Apple's new Mac Pro computer and the developer builds of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. The "Update RC," a free update for all Parallels Desktop users, adds additional improvements such as improved compatibility for Solaris and OpenBSD 3.8 guest operating systems, and an improved Parallels Tools package.
<http://www.parallels.com/en/products/workstation/mac/>
The $80 Parallels Desktop allows owners of Intel-based Macs to run Windows or other Intel-based operating systems in a virtual machine while still running Mac OS X. Apple's Boot Camp solution, still a public beta until Leopard's release, requires the user to restart the Mac to switch between Mac OS X and Windows operating systems. Parallels offers a 15-day free trial of their software. (Don't forget that you can save $10 off the cost of a Parallels Desktop license using a coupon from Joe Kissell's "Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac" ebook, rendering the ebook free.)
<http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/>
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/windows-on-mac.html?14@@!pt=TRK-0034-TB846>
Another option for Intel Mac users who wish to run Windows applications is CrossOver Mac, a forthcoming product from CodeWeavers, Inc., released as a public beta late last month. This application doesn't even require the user to install Windows. Based on Wine, which re-implements the Windows developer APIs, CrossOver Mac lets Mac users run many, though not all, Windows applications in their own separate windows under Mac OS X.
<http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/>
<http://www.winehq.com/>
by Geoff Duncan <geoff@tidbits.com>
TidBITS#843/21-Aug-06
In what may turn out to be one of the largest consumer electronics product recalls in history, computer maker Dell is voluntarily recalling some 4.1 million batteries sold with a wide range of its notebook systems over a more-than-two-year period ranging from 01-Apr-04 through 18-Jul-06. Dell is offering free replacement batteries to affected consumers via a Battery Return Program Web site.
<https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/>
According to Dell, the recalled batteries can overheat under rare conditions, presenting a risk of fire, property damage, and/or injury: the company has received six reports of the batteries overheating and causing damage to furniture and personal belongings. The company has received no reports of injuries caused by the recalled batteries. Dell says customers should not use recalled batteries, but power notebooks from their AC adapters until replacement batteries arrive.
Why are we noting a Dell battery recall here? First, many Mac owners also use "those other" computers and may be directly affected by Dell's recall. Second, the recalled batteries were manufactured for Dell by Sony, and Sony also manufactures batteries for Hewlett-Packard and Apple. HP has already said none of its products are impacted by the issues forcing Dell to recall batteries; so far, Apple is still investigating whether any of its products might be impacted. Apple instituted a recall of MacBook Pro batteries at the end of July 2006 due to performance issues, not overheating problem (see "Apple Recalls Underperforming MacBook Pro Batteries").
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8617>
ToC
by Jeff Carlson <jeffc@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8653>
TidBITS#844/28-Aug-06
Apple last week announced a voluntary recall of 1.8 million iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 batteries[5] due to potential overheating issues. The affected lithium-ion batteries were manufactured by Sony and are related to the batteries recently recalled by Dell (see "Dell Recalls 4.1 Million Batteries,"[6] 21-Aug-06). The batteries were sold between October 2003 and August 2006. Affected batteries include:
If you own an affected battery, Apple recommends that you stop using it immediately (the laptop can run from its power cord without a battery) and order a replacement from the Battery Exchange Program iBook G4 and PowerBook G4[7] Web page. The program is being managed only through the Web site, so don't take a battery to an Apple Store or authorized retailer. Apple claims a 4 to 6 week turnaround for receiving a new battery.
Since the announcement, some people have had trouble with Apple's Web form, mostly with serial numbers that fall within the published range not being acknowledged. According to some reports, attempts that failed on the first few days after the announcement have subsequently worked as Apple fixes the bugs in the form-checking code. If you're still not having any luck, you can also call Apple[8] and see if a person can accept the number manually. Note that not all batteries within the published ranges were made by Sony, and thus aren't affected (this might account for the more-specific "ending with" phrases now included).
According to information posted by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission[9], "Apple has received nine reports of batteries overheating, including two reports of minor burns from handling overheated computers and other reports of minor property damage. No serious injuries were reported."
Sony expects the Dell and Apple battery recalls to cost between $172 million and $258 million, and even if the recall doesn't hurt Apple's bottom line, it's still a distraction and potential reputation hit with people who don't realize the fault lies with Sony.
ToC
by Geoff Duncan <geoff@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8654>
TidBITS#844/28-Aug-06
Removing a dark cloud from the future of its now-iconic iPod music players, Apple Computer has announced it will pay Creative Technologies $100 million[10] to settle all legal disputes between the companies. The payment grants Apple a paid-up license to use Creative's so-called "Zen" patent in all Apple products; under the terms of the agreement, Apple can recoup some of the money if Creative is able to license the Zen patent to other parties.
Creative filed suit against Apple[11] in May 2006, almost 10 months after having been granted a patent on the organization and navigation of music tracks on a portable device. Creative initially filed for the patent in January 2001, when it debuted its first Nomad and Zen music players. Apple introduced the first iPod in October 2001. However, Creative's claim took until August 2005 to wend its way through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The settlement not only removes doubts from the future of the iPod line (as part of its suit, Creative was seeking to block the importation of iPods into the United States), but also saves Creative from a protracted and costly patent battle. In addition to having to prove its case against Apple, Apple had filed two salvos of suits accusing Creative of violating Apple patents. The settlement presumably lets the companies set aside all litigation, and - what's more - Apple gains a partner. Creative plans to join Apple's "Made for iPod" program and begin producing its own lines of iPod accessories later this year.
ToC
by Glenn Fleishman <glenn@tidbits.com>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/8655>
TidBITS#844/28-Aug-06
Apple public relations director Lynn Fox says that the Wi-Fi exploit demonstrated by David Maynor and Jon Ellch two weeks ago in a video shown at the Black Hat 2006 conference does not represent a flaw in Apple's software or device firmware (see "Wireless Driver Hack Could Target Macs and Windows"[12], 07-Aug-06). Apple told Macworld[13] and many other media outlets that the demonstrated exploit uses a third-party wireless driver for a Wi-Fi USB adapter. Neither the driver nor the chips are the same as those used by Apple in Mac OS X on a MacBook.
Further, Fox said that Apple has received neither code nor a demonstration that shows a flaw in shipping hardware and software. The researchers have changed the message[14] on the page at SecureWorks, the consulting site at which they provide services, to clarify that Apple code wasn't involved in their demonstration. Chipmaker Atheros also issued a statement - to Brian Krebs at Security Fix[15] - that their products apparently aren't at risk, either, based on what they knew at the time that they issued that statement.
The two researchers who presented the hack say that a flaw in the way in which wireless drivers from several manufacturers hand off data to the operating system can allow exploits in which a machine can be compromised to execute arbitrary code. That arbitrary code could then allow an affected system to grant root, or system ownership, access to the computer. In July, Intel released a patch for their Centrino Wi-Fi adapters found in laptops from many manufacturers that fixes such a problem, although Maynor and Ellch said that this fix wasn't a result of their work.
With that level of access, a cracker could install "bot" software that's used to turn affected computers into remotely activated warriors in the spam or denial-of-service wars. Bots are now considered the biggest single problem on the Internet because millions of computers can be activated, like sleeper cells, whenever an attack is desired.
A small firestorm of responses have appeared since Apple's denial, hinging on two factors: some writers and bloggers have been presented with information by Maynor and Ellch that is not yet in the public sphere of knowledge, and Apple's denial of the exploit is extremely carefully crafted.
My take at the moment is that it's highly possible that Maynor and Ellch have found a security flaw in the built-in MacBook and MacBook Pro Wi-Fi drivers that, at the point that Apple made their statement about not seeing any "evidence" of an exploit, they had not yet presented to Apple. In this scenario, Maynor and Ellch accidentally provided details to Brian Krebs before they meant to, and are remaining mum until Apple responds. We'll see.
You can read many takes on this subject: George Ou at ZDNet[16] (who has received private information), John Gruber at Daring Fireball[17] (who has not), security expert Rich Mogull's personal blog[18] (he has been disclosed), Wi-Fi expert Jim Thompson[19] (who tears the exploit apart limb by limb, fingernail by fingernail) and John Moltz at Crazy Apple Rumors Site[20] (who makes stuff up).
reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
The August 17 meeting began with the introduction of officers and a visitor, Del England. President Rollins noted the absence of Corporate Agent Kevin Hisel, who we phoned and he arrived later. There was an extended discussion of the Red Lion's 40th Anniversary event at which Kevin's band "The Rave" performed with great success.
The floor was then opened up to the Question and Answer session:
Dave Noreen had a question about some special permission when he got on the CUCUG forums. Those issues will be looked at. David also voiced a complaint he had about McAffee virus protect speed problems on a Windows 98 machine. The resident experts shook their heads knowingly. They advanced ditching it, stating it to be a "resource hog." David asked if he should go unprotected? The immediate refrain was "No." Richard Rollins said he would take them off the Net and use a newer machine for Internet activities. He said Windows 98 has big holes in its security and Microsoft is no longer supporting it. Another option is to get AVG.
Jim Berg said he has a "surfing" box and another box. He uses NetBouy or NetBio for exchanging file. You can Disable TCP/IP. Linux is also lower risk. He noted there is safety in going between two different OSes. Kevin Hisel said you should also use Adaware, Spybot, and Windows Defender. "Don't use IE. It's a great product, but it's a target." Also recommended was Microsoft's One Care suite which can be had for $50 for 3 machines. It is the number two top seller right now.
Norris Hansell talked about Word virus problems. He was informed that these are macro virus and if you turn off the ability to run macros, they are no threat. Done.
Wayne Hamilton talked about his NeXT box. He said he has to get some files off of it, but he is not sure it will boot. The machine has a SCSI port with the small connector. He wants to get the files off his backup drive if the NeXT won't boot. Quentin Barnes said he'd help.
Norris Hansell had some questions about PDF makers. He was getting rid of Adobe PDF maker. He was told he could use the one in Word.
Mark Zinzow had crank flashlights for sale this. Mark said he was also starting an investment club. He showed the book and web sight for "Magic Formula Investing" <http://www.magicformulainvesting.com/> which is the system he proposes to use. He said he was looking for those interested in investing $1000 to $4000 with a 3 to 5 year time commitment. Lastly, Mark spoke about the Ben's Bargains enclosure he got for his half terabyte backup of his audiobooks.
Kevin Hisel related a distressing tale of a friend who had initialized his drive when his Mac asked him if he wanted to do so. He said the friend lost 30 months of work that was on the external Mac drive and he was wondering if any of the files could be recovered. There was a discussion of the best way to approach the problem.
Phil Wall said he had bought a cheap OEM dual layer DVD writer from PC Direct and he was having "issues." Quentin Barnes advised him to make sure his BIOS is up to date. Kevin Hisel recommended PowerDVD as the best player software. Phil asked, "Does it matter if you buy cheap media?" Kevin Hisel responded, "Does it matter if you buy cheap heart valves?" He recommended Verbatim media. Kevin said do not trust Memorex. They switch suppliers for the media they slap their name on and you never know what you're going to get. Someone suggested you can use something like CD-R Tools to tell you who the actual manufacturer is. On the hardware front, Kevin said he is biased toward NEC drives. They are hacker supported. As for burning software, George Krumins said he had used Easy CD Creator, but switched to Nero. It worked better.
The Core Two Duo was talked about as the new Mac G5 replacement. All Macitoshes are now Intel based machines.
As they Q&A came to a close, President Rollins asked about the plans for the SIG meetings in the second half. Emil Cobb said the Mac SIG will have open session. When asked about the PC SIG, Richard said he still don't know. "I will know in about fifteen minutes."
And so it goes.
ToC
reported by Kevin Hopkins (kh2@uiuc.edu)
The August meeting of the CUCUG executive board took place on Tuesday,
August 22, 2006, 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,
Kevin Hisel, Kevin Hopkins, Emil Cobb, and Joe Dewalt.
The Board meeting was conducted in a rather informal manner this month.
President Richard Rollins and Kevin Hisel discussed the five versions of
Microsoft's Vista. Kevin said there are basically only four that real
people will be interested in. See
<http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060730-7384.html> for a good
discussion of the upcoming Microsoft OS flavors.
For the September 21 General meeting, Richard announced that he won't be there. Kevin Hisel will do something for the PC SIG.
Commenting on the last meeting, Richard said the flashlights were good.
ToC
The CUCUG is a not-for-profit corporation, originally organized in 1983 to support and advance the knowledge of area Commodore computer users. We've grown since then, now supporting PC, Macintosh and Linux platforms.
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: Allen Byrne 344-5311 adbyrne@ieee.org
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/ .
CUCUG
912 Stratford Drive
Champaign, IL
61821-4137