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- Volume 8, Issue 36 Atari Online News, Etc. September 8, 2006
-
-
- Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2006
- All Rights Reserved
-
- Atari Online News, Etc.
- A-ONE Online Magazine
- Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
- Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
- Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
-
-
- Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
-
- Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
- Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
- Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
- Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
- Rob Mahlert -- Web site
- Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
-
-
- With Contributions by:
-
- Francois Le Coat
- Stephen Moss
-
-
-
- To subscribe to A-ONE, change e-mail addresses, or unsubscribe,
- log on to our website at: www.atarinews.org
- and click on "Subscriptions".
- OR subscribe to A-ONE by sending a message to: dpj@atarinews.org
- and your address will be added to the distribution list.
- To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE
- Please make sure that you include the same address that you used to
- subscribe from.
-
- To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
- following sites:
-
- http://people.delphiforums.com/dpj/a-one.htm
- Now available:
- http://www.atarinews.org
-
-
- Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
- http://forums.delphiforums.com/atari/
-
-
-
- =~=~=~=
-
-
-
- A-ONE #0836 09/08/06
-
- ~ Atari Names New CEO! ~ People Are Talking! ~ MacAranym Alpha Out!
- ~ Xanga Settles With FTC ~ Facebook Privacy Issue ~ Firefox 2.0 Update!
- ~ XaAes Interview Open! ~ X-Debug Source Public! ~ JagFest UK 2006!
- ~ Windows Vista Pricing! ~ IE7 Anti-Phishing Tool ~ iMacs Get Intel Chip
-
- -* Philly Goes High-Tech School *-
- -* Google Offers News Archives Access! *-
- -* Brazil Judge Orders Google To Disclose User *-
-
-
-
- =~=~=~=
-
-
-
- ->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
-
- Yes, another Labor Day weekend has come and gone, with a whimper. It was
- almost a total washout around here. When it wasn't raining, the threat of
- rain lingered. But, we managed to get the pool closed for yet another
- season. It seems like yesterday that we opened it for the summer! It's
- hard to imagine that I've been retired for four months now. It's been great
- so far, but reality is starting to settle in. It's time to really start to
- consider pension versus employment, or both. Retirement hasn't dampened my
- appetite!
-
- Only a couple of more small outdoor project remnants to complete - yea! The
- indoor projects have started. It should be interesting! We had an
- electrician over earlier in the week to take care of a few things that I
- don't have experience doing. A new front door is on order. Once that's
- installed I can finish up what I started doing with the front porch. And
- then we continue inward and upward! Keeping busy is the name of the game!
- And, I'm still finding some time for some golf - I'll break 80 before I put
- the clubs up for the season. Getting closer!
-
- I know, I'm way off target, as usual, but the world of Atari hasn't been as
- active as it once was. But, this keeps me out of trouble (well, usually!).
- I was going to say a little something this week pertaining to the fifth
- anniversary of 9/11, but I have a feeling that we're all going to be deluged
- with all kinds of television, radio, and newspaper coverage. I'm not sure
- if that's a good thing or not, but I do see the significance of the events.
-
- Until next time...
-
-
-
- =~=~=~=
-
-
-
- MacAranym 0.9.4 Alpha
-
-
- Hi here,
-
- The MacOSX version of ARAnyM has been enhance thanks to the
- work of Philipp DonzΘ, and every Mac user should have it :)
- Especially if you're running on a laptop ! The updated version
- is available :
-
- <http://eureka.atari.org/MacAranym.zip>
-
- Please comment. You're welcome ! It look like :
-
- <http://eureka.atari.org/aranym.gif>
-
- Regards,
-
- -- Francois LE COAT
-
- Author of Eureka 2.12 (2D Graph Describer, 3D Modeller)
- http://eureka.atari.org
-
-
-
- Sources for X-Debug Available
-
-
- Hi all,
-
- Sources for the programming utility X-Debug, written by Andy Pennel,
- has been released to the public. This piece of software is a debugger
- that mainly targets Lattice-C but may offer some functionality for
- other languages as well. Thanks to being distributed under a very
- generous legal license it seems that people are free to do whatever
- they want with the sources.
-
- Read more and download the sources here:
-
- http://topp.atari-users.net
-
- Regards,
-
- /Joakim
-
- http://topp.atari-users.net
- http://xaaes.atariforge.net
- http://www.ataricq.org
-
-
-
- Interview With The Creator of XaAES - Craig Graham
-
-
- Hi all,
-
- The unofficial XaAES website has been extended with a new section:
- articles. As a first addition to this section, a short interview with
- the original programmer of XaAES, Craig Graham, has been uploaded. See
- the website for more information.
-
- http://xaaes.atariforge.net
-
- Regards,
-
- /Joakim
-
- http://xaaes.atariforge.net
- http://topp.atari-users.net
- http://www.ataricq.org
-
-
-
- =~=~=~=
-
-
-
- ->A-ONE User Group Notes! - Meetings, Shows, and Info!
- """""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
-
- JagFest UK 2006
-
-
- Just a reminder to all that this years JagFest UK has been moved north to
- Glazebrook (near Warrington) and will be held on the 28th and 29th of
- October.
-
- For more information on who and what will be there visit the main website
- at... http://www.jagfest.org/uk/JFK2006/index.shtml
-
-
-
- =~=~=~=
-
-
-
- PEOPLE ARE TALKING
- compiled by Joe Mirando
- joe@atarinews.org
-
-
-
- Hidi ho friends and neighbors. What a week... Steve Irwin gets bellied
- up by a damned stingray, a couple of tropical storms have come and
- gone, and the California state legislature, despite the really
- important issues like energy costs and fiscal solubility, instead
- decided to deal with the important issue of Pluto's demotion from
- Planet to Dwarf Planet.
-
- Way to go guys and gals. They ought to dock your salaries for the time
- wasted. I'm sure that Disney would make up the difference as a thank
- you for the free advertising.
-
- Let's get back to Steve Irwin for a few minutes. Since I'm one of those
- "animal nuts", Steve Irwin has been known to me for quite a while.
- Irwin was a master showman to be sure, but beneath it all, he loved
- wildlife and understood how special it is. Hell, anyone who could hold
- a crocodile by the face while saying, "what a beauty" MUST really love
- critters. It strikes me as cosmically unfair
-
- So another icon is gone and, as we always have, we'll move on and get
- past it. I just hope that the lessons (both intentional and
- unintentional) that The Crocodile Hunter taught us will stay with us
- for a while.
-
- Okay, let's get to the news, hints, tips and info available from the
- UseNet.
-
-
- From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
- ====================================
-
-
- Fred Horvat posts this about the ACEC Atari Swap Meet:
-
- "Well folks, it is getting to that time of year again. The Atari
- Computer Enthusiasts of Columbus are holding their annual Atari Swap
- meet and Sale. It is going to be on Saturday September the 9th. It will
- be at the same time and place as before. For further information please
- go to
-
- Link: " http://acec.atari.org/ "
-
-
- Rodolphe Czuba tells Fred:
-
- "Hum... nice but very short delay announce to let far people to organize
- their travel. Should be announced at least 1 month before the date."
-
-
- Fred replies:
-
- "Yes I agree. I did not post to the Swap Meet on the Usenet until this
- week but I did post it on Atari.org, Atariage, AONE, and other places
- in July. I just didn't get it here on the Usenet until now. Mostly
- because I kept forgetting and all last week my Usenet access did not
- work with my ISP but mostly my bad."
-
-
- Thomas Girsch looks for Atari collectors:
-
- "I was doing some housecleaning, and found an SX-212 modem in the
- original box. The documentation and the serial cable are missing, but
- the power supply and modem are there (no earthly idea if they work,
- especially since I don't have a cable), as well as all the original
- packaging.
-
- I know it's not worth anything other than maybe sentimental value to
- someone, so if anyone out there wants it, drop me an e-mail, and I'll
- send it to you for the cost of shipping."
-
-
- 'TPr' tells Thomas:
-
- "Wow! I've NEVER seen one of those in my LIFE. What country are you in?"
-
-
- Ronald Hall jumps in and adds:
-
- "By the way, those have the added plus of being able to work with both
- the Atari ST and Atari 8bits..."
-
-
- 'Sid Pacman' asks about Dayton-area ComputerFest:
-
- "The Hara Arena (convention center) in Dayton, Ohio, says there
- will be no Computerfest held there this year. Has anybody heard of
- any other location where this show will be held? Or has it finally
- died off (after more than 20 years)?"
-
-
- Ronald Hall tells Sid:
-
- "Don't know about that one, but here is a link to some others:
-
- http://www.atariage.com/features/events/index.php
-
- Hope this helps."
-
-
- 'Larry' adds:
-
- "I started going to the Dayton Computerfest about 1985, and went almost
- every year until around 2000. But (IMO) online computer sales and
- auctions have killed off most of the business that the vendors
- traveling the computer show circuit once enjoyed. Check the
- announcement at: http://www.dma.org/
-
- For maybe 8-10 years, DMA also had a spring computerfest, and I could
- see it wither as the years went on. Then they dropped it. Other
- computer shows that once were pervasive have suffered the same fate.
- Just as the PC's crowded out the other platforms, the internet sales
- have crowded out the shows. It is regrettable, but evidently there
- were lots of people like me -- why travel to a show, fight the crowds,
- and have an inferior selection/price as compared to what is available
- as I surf the net? And if you are a seller, why not set up a site on
- the internet instead of loading up equipment, driving, setting up, etc."
-
-
- Fred Horvath jumps in and puts in his pitch for the swapmeet:
-
- "Well this coming weekend September 9 is the ACEC Swap Meet. Though not
- a very big event it's Atari themed. http://acec.atari.org/
-
-
- Classic Computer and Video Game items for Sale/Trade
- http://fmhcentral.freeservers.com/"
-
-
- Lonny Pursell adds:
-
- "I used to go every year back in the day when they had walls of atari
- and commodore stuff. It should be called windowsfest. No wonder it's
- cancelled. Who wants to go see a gazillion generic peecee's. Sure you
- see the occasional BeOS box or some flavor of linux, but it's just not
- fun anymore. I stopped going about 5 years ago.
-
- HamVention is probably your next best option. Also at Hara Arena if
- that is still going. I stopped going to that too. Last one I was at
- was a lot smaller, also shrinking."
-
-
- Phantomm asks about the STacy:
-
- "On the STacy, well under it, is a small metal access door that
- is held on by one screw. Under the door are 2 Socketed
- chips.
-
- Are these the TOS 1.4 chips or are these something else?
-
- If they happen to be TOS chips, Can one plug in 2 TOS
- 2.06 chips?"
-
-
- Jerome Mathevet tells Phantomm:
-
- "Have a look here:
-
- http://www.system-cfg.com/pages/atari_stacy.html
-
- Further down the page, you can see 2 chips with adhesive tape. These are
- the 2 EPROMS containing the TOS (not necessarily 1.4).
-
- Upgrading to 2.06 (which is possible on the stacy, according to
- http://gem.win.co.nz/hall/tos_206/guide206.zip) would be much easier
- compared to doing so for an ST since you'd only have 2 chips to program
- (presumably 2 27C1001 eproms or compatible).
-
- One chip should hold the LSB and the other the MSB of TOS 2.06 (which is
- which should be marked on the motherboard).
-
- All you need is someone with the right EPROM programmer and the TOS roms
- split over 2 files (LSB/MSB). Perhaps you need to configure jumpers so
- that the machine knows of the bigger size EPROMs."
-
-
- Rodolphe Czuba jumps in and corrects Jerome:
-
- "This is bad information !!!
-
- TOS 1.0 to 1.4 are running on $FC0000 to $FEFFFF (192 KB).
- TOS 1.6, 2.6, 3.6 & 4.04 are running on $ E00000 to E7FFFF (512KB area :
- 256KB with shadow on all except Falcon)
-
- Stacy is decoding TOS area on $FC, so the TOS 2.6 cannot run simply
- plugging the two 1Mbits EPROMS !!
-
- You need to add an address decoder to do that!!"
-
-
- Simon Gornall asks about the VME ports on TTs and MegaSTEs:
-
- "Has anyone got any in-depth technical information about how the TT/MSTE
- and their VME bus interact ? I can find *some* stuff on the web (eg:
- the 19/7/1991 Atari VME spec), but it's hardly comprehensive [grin]
-
- Basically, if I want to create some VME hardware, I need to know things
- like:
-
- - how it'll interact with the OS
- - It's supposed to be slave-only, so presumably can't initiate
- DMA...
-
- - what the startup sequence is
- - card sends IRQ ?
- - OS queries address and expects response ?
- - When in the bootup-sequence all of this happens ?
-
- ... things like that
-
- I've tried sending email to Mario Becroft (of the Galaxy card fame), and
- I've even tried emailing the creators of a Sinclair QL VME-bus
- implementation, but no answers back as yet."
-
-
- Rodolphe Czuba tells Simon:
-
- "YES it is SLAVE (A24/D16) and you can see on the schematics !
- On schematics you can see too how are routed the VME INT and that the
- SCU (System Control Unit) is managing the share between the INT from
- the mb and the INT from the VME slot. You have info on this VME atari
- 1991 documentation that is extracted from TT/X documentation you
- mean...
-
- Have a look on my site web (museum area ?), there are some documents...
-
- Have a look too on the CTLink Hardware Guide because I did a table will
- all existing VME atari card and their INT level used !
- I send you now by email this CTLink doc."
-
-
- Well folks, that's it for this week. Tune in again next week, same time,
- same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when...
-
-
- PEOPLE ARE TALKING
-
-
-
- =~=~=~=
-
-
-
- ->In This Week's Gaming Section - PS3 Europe Launch Delayed!
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" EA To Add Ads To Games!
- Atari Names New CEO!
- And much more!
-
-
-
- =~=~=~=
-
-
-
- ->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
- """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
-
-
-
- Sony Delays PlayStation 3 Launch in Europe
-
-
- Gamers in Europe will have to wait a bit longer than expected to get their
- hands on the PlayStation 3, with Sony announcing that production glitches
- have pushed back the launch of its next-generation console until March
- 2007.
-
- At the same time, the company said it remains on schedule to make the PS3
- available in the U.S. and Japan in November, when it was supposed to debut
- worldwide.
-
- The revised launch date for Europe, Africa and the Middle East was
- attributed to problems obtaining critical Blu-ray high-definition video
- components in the PS3. Sony also cited difficulties in delivering consoles
- that can communicate in the wide array of languages used in this region.
-
- The Japanese electronics giant also noted that it still plans to deliver
- six million new gaming machines by March 2007, although it appears that
- only two million will available by the end of the year, instead of a
- projected four million, due to the change in delivery for Europe.
-
- Sony has a lot riding on the PS3, touted as a more powerful gaming console
- with superior visuals and graphics, given the competition from Microsoft's
- Xbox 360, which has been available for nearly a year. It's also up against
- the forthcoming Nintendo Wii machine, which is expected to launch worldwide
- in time for the holiday shopping season.
-
- "This delay was not entirely unexpected, given ongoing concerns about
- Sony's ability to get the parts needed to produce the four million PS3
- units it promised by the end of the year," Forrester Research analyst Paul
- Jackson said. "Production issues are common with manufacturers, and they
- affect the entire supply chain."
-
- But, he added, this decision means that shoppers in the UK, France and
- other areas with large numbers of gaming fans will probably take a closer
- look at the Xbox 360 and the Wii when the big shopping season rolls around.
-
- "Microsoft is now two holiday seasons ahead of Sony in offering a
- next-generation console, which is a distinct advantage," said Jackson. He
- suggested that Sony may be able to close the gap by using its vast
- developer network to deliver a selection of games that are more compelling
- than those currently available for other consoles.
-
- Pricing is another challenge for Sony, with the PS3 listing for about $500,
- while the Xbox 360 starts at $300 and the Wii will sell for an estimated
- $250.
-
- Nintendo, too, has set its sights on shipping six million Wii systems
- worldwide between its launch later this year and the end of March 2007. The
- company also said it expects to sell 17 million Wii games during that
- period.
-
- While Sony is touting the superfast Cell processor and Blu-ray video
- technology in the PS3, there has been debate about whether gaming
- enthusiasts would shell out $500 for the basic PlayStation 3 unit. "Price
- point is absolutely an issue for Sony," said Yankee Group analyst Michael
- Goodman.
-
- Nintendo, meanwhile, is taking a different approach by downplaying
- eye-popping graphics in favor of player interaction offered by the Wii's
- innovative motion-sensing controller. That selling point was somewhat
- blunted, though, by a similar controller unveiled by Sony for the
- PlayStation 3.
-
-
-
- Atari Names New Chief Executive
-
-
- Video game maker Atari Inc. said Tuesday it named David Pierce as its
- president and chief executive, effective immediately.
-
- Pierce takes the reins from Bruno Bonnell, who will remain the company's
- chairman and chief creative officer. In his new post, Pierce will oversee
- the operational management of Atari.
-
- He has over two decades of executive management experience with major
- entertainment companies including Universal Pictures, MGM, Sony Pictures
- and Sony Music Entertainment.
-
- Pierce held the post of executive vice president and general manager of
- Sony Wonder, a division of SONY BMG Music Entertainment, where he led a
- restructuring initiative, and was the senior vice president of Columbia
- Tristar Home Video, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, from 1989
- through 1994.
-
-
-
- Electronic Arts Cuts Deals To Put Ads In Video Games
-
-
- US video game powerhouse Electronic Arts (EA) announced deals to craft
- updatable advertising into software for games made for personal computers
- and Xbox 360 consoles.
-
- Microsoft subsidiary Massive Incorporated will build "dynamic ads" into EA
- titles, beginning with a car racing game titled "Need for Speed Carbon,"
- the companies said in a release.
-
- Independent in-game advertising network IGA Worldwide will design similar
- ads into the yet-to-be-released futuristic war game Battlefield 2142 and
- other titles, according to EA.
-
- "Dynamic advertising opportunities in top EA titles represents an
- unprecedented marketing opportunity for advertisers to target the youth
- demographic in the most engaging medium," said Massive chief executive
- Mitchell Davis.
-
- Redwood City, California, based EA is a leader in the video game industry
- with hit games including The Sims, 2006 FIFA World Cup, Madden Football,
- and titles based on characters such as Harry Potter, Batman, Superman, and
- James Bond.
-
- "Consumers are increasingly gaming in deep, virtual worlds and advertisers
- need adapted ways to reach these audiences," said EA vice president Frank
- Sagnier.
-
- The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the advertising deals
- or complete lists of EA games slated to have ads displayed in scenes.
-
- "EA entering this space right now is huge for the industry because of the
- decline of consumers getting their ad information from television," IGA
- spokeswoman Julie Fogerson told AFP.
-
- "In-game advertising has been a small industry so far. Analysts have been
- waiting to see what EA would do."
-
- IGA and Massive's Video Game Network plan to tailor ads to fit naturally
- into the increasingly lifelike scenes depicted in computer graphics.
-
- "In places like a basketball court, football stadium, or roadside in a
- racing game, advertising is not only nice to have but it is an essential
- component to create the fiction of being there," said Chip Lange, EA vice
- president of online commerce.
-
- There would be a mix of permanent "static" ad and "dynamic ads" that could
- be updated via Internet connections to the computers or Xbox 360 consoles.
-
- IGA said it would avoid letting ads get stale and would keep them in
- context with game themes, avoiding situations such as promoting today's car
- models in futuristic battle or Old West gunfighter games.
-
- "We try to make sure everything syncs up from the gamers' perspective and
- it makes sense," Fogerson said.
-
- "The really cool thing from a game developer's point of view is that they'd
- have to make up something to put there anyway."
-
- Game software can also provide the companies feedback to show advertisers
- how much attention players give to ads.
-
- "EA's strategic commitment to the space is one that many leading
- advertisers have been waiting for," said IGA chief executive officer Justin
- Townsend.
-
-
-
- Dell Founder Sees Gaming In PC Industry Future
-
-
- Dell Inc. founder and Chairman Michael Dell sees computer gaming becoming a
- $4 billion-per-year industry by 2010 as consumers hook up to high-speed
- Internet services to battle monsters on-line.
-
- Dell told the Austin Game Conference on Thursday night that his company is
- positioning itself to be a leader in computer gaming.
-
- "Things like multi-core processors, acceleration engines for physics and
- graphics, wide-screen displays, web cams: there are a lot of great things
- happening on the hardware side that can really make the gaming experience
- quite exciting," Dell said.
-
- Dell Inc., the world's leading personal computer maker with $55.9 billion
- in revenue last year, acquired Alienware, a Miami-based maker of gaming
- systems, earlier this year. Alienware had $200 million in revenue in 2005.
-
- Dell, a Texas native who has long admitted being a big fan of computer
- games, says he attended the conference to determine what game architects
- and designers want to see in computer hardware.
-
- "I want to know what kinds of things they're looking for in hardware, and
- they like to discover what's happening with hardware, new features and new
- capabilities, so they can make sure they're enabled in next generation
- games," he said.
-
-
-
- =~=~=~=
-
-
-
- A-ONE's Headline News
- The Latest in Computer Technology News
- Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
-
-
-
- Brazil Judge Orders Google To Disclose Users' Data
-
-
- A Brazilian judge has ordered the local office of Web search company Google
- to disclose the data of users of Google's social networking site Orkut
- accused of crimes like racism or child pornography.
-
- Federal judge Jose Lunardelli ruled late on Thursday that Google be given
- 15 days to disclose the information, including the Internet Protocol
- addresses that can uniquely identify a specific computer on a network.
-
- The judge set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($23,255) for each individual
- case if Google refuses to reveal the data.
-
- Brazilians account for 65 percent of Orkut's nearly 27 million users and
- public prosecutors have recently been investigating Orkut communities set
- up by Brazilians and dedicated to such subjects as racism, homophobia and
- pedophilia.
-
- Google officials in Brazil have said all clients' data is stored on a
- server in the United States and is subject to U.S. laws, which makes it
- impossible for them to reveal the data in Brazil. They also said the local
- affiliate only deals in marketing and sales and has nothing to do with
- Orkut.
-
- "The fact that the data are stored in the United States has no relevance
- as all the photographs and messages investigated by the prosecutors' office
- were published by Brazilians using Internet connections on the national
- territory," the judge said in his ruling.
-
- He said Google's local office had shown a complacent attitude toward "the
- serious crimes practiced on Orkut" and showed "profound disrespect for
- national sovereignty."
-
- Company representatives could not provide an immediate comment on the
- ruling. Google lawyer Durval Goyos earlier called the case against the
- company absurd.
-
-
-
- Microsoft Sets Pricing for Windows Vista
-
-
- Microsoft Corp. announced on Tuesday U.S. prices for Windows Vista, the
- long-awaited new version of the operating system that sits on more than 90
- percent of the world's personal computers.
-
- Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker, also reconfirmed its plan
- to target a general launch of the product in January after making it
- available to large-volume business customers in November.
-
- The software maker set the retail price for Vista at between $100 and $259
- for users upgrading from older versions of Windows. The prices range from
- the basic version of Vista to the top-end "ultimate" edition.
-
- For consumers looking to buy Vista without an upgrade, the products will
- cost between $199 to $399, Microsoft said.
-
- Windows Vista, already five years in the making, has been postponed by
- Microsoft several times.
-
- "Signs are good. Signs are positive in terms of our schedule, but we're
- always going to be vigilant about the feedback we get," said Shanen
- Boettcher, Microsoft's director of Windows product management.
-
- Microsoft released on Friday a test version of Windows, dubbed Release
- Candidate 1, and made it available to more than 5 million customers
- worldwide.
-
- Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund said the initial feedback on the test
- version of Vista is encouraging.
-
- "While substantial progress has been made with Vista, the timing is still
- iffy in our view and feedback over the next few weeks will be critical,"
- said Sherlund in a note to clients.
-
- Boettcher said the company also plans to have a program in place, possibly
- using coupons or rebates, to allow consumers to upgrade to Vista at a
- discount if they buy a PC before the new operating system's release.
-
- He declined to offer any specific details.
-
- Microsoft has said it expects the Windows Vista Home Premium to be the
- mainstream product with more entertainment options, allowing users to
- record and watch high-definition television, burn and author DVDs and
- perform other multimedia functions.
-
- The Home Premium edition, which will be sold as an upgrade for $159, is
- seen as a middle option for consumers, sandwiched between the Ultimate
- version with business-oriented functions and a bare bones Basic edition
- that comes without some of the system's flashy new interface features.
-
-
-
- Mozilla Updates Firefox 2.0 Beta
-
-
- Mozilla has released a new test version of Firefox 2.0, which will be the
- next major version of its popular open-source browser.
-
- Firefox 2.0 Beta 2, released yesterday, features an improved user interface
- and a limited version of the phishing protection feature that Mozilla is
- developing for the browser.
-
- More information on the Beta 2 release can be found online.
-
- Beta 2 also comes with improved search capabilities, a spellchecker for Web
- forms, and jazzed-up tabbed browsing capabilities.
-
- This second beta release will probably be the last beta version of Firefox
- 2.0. Developers are now planning to ship a nearly final "release candidate"
- edition of the browser on September 19, with the finished product going out
- the door by the end of October.
-
- Mozilla had been hoping to have Firefox 2.0 finished by September, but that
- date was pushed back recently to give developers more time to squash the
- growing list of bugs in the beta code.
-
- Both Mozilla and Microsoft are rushing to finish major updates to their
- browser software. Late last week Microsoft posted the first
- release-candidate version of Internet Explorer 7, and it is expecting to
- ship the final version of the next-generation browser by year's end.
-
- The release candidate can be found on Microsoft's Web site.
-
- Research company OneStat.com estimates that about 13 percent of Web surfers
- now use Firefox. The Netherlands-based company pegs IE users at 83 percent.
-
-
-
- Microsoft Adds Anti-Phishing Tools to IE 7
-
-
- Microsoft inked an agreement with whitelist specialist Digital Resolve on
- Sept. 5 to help its next-generation Internet Explorer 7 Web browsing
- software and Windows Live Toolbar application protect users against
- fraudulent Web sites.
-
- Under the terms of the deal, Digital Resolve, a unit of Digital Envoy, will
- provide its Trusted Server data feed directly into the two Microsoft
- products, promising to arm the programs with the latest information about
- Web sites believed to be operating to support phishing schemes, which
- typically aim to steal personal data in order to commit identity fraud.
-
- The technology will be used as a source of information for Microsoft's own
- Phishing Filter, already built into beta versions of IE 7 and Windows Live
- Toolbar, and will also be utilized in Windows Internet Explorer 7 for
- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and in Windows Vista, both of which are still
- under development and expected to arrive in 2007.
-
- Digital Resolve's software, which has generally been used by financial
- services companies to validate their own Web sites and search for phishing
- attempts launched in their likenesses, uses data mining tools to
- continually scour the Web for phishing activity.
-
- Once a site is determined by the program to be fraudulent, or even just
- sufficiently suspicious, its URL is fed directly from Digital Resolve into
- users' browsers.
-
- When a user attempts to direct a browser toward a questionable Web site,
- the software provides a warning prompt.
-
- The Trusted Server tools in Microsoft's Phishing Filter will be turned on
- as default protections in the products that carry them, company officials
- confirmed.
-
- While many traditional anti-phishing technologies use blacklists of
- suspicious sites to help block user access to fraudulent URLs, Digital
- Resolve's tools instead depend upon whitelists of authenticated pages. The
- system also aims to replace the two-factor image-based authentication
- technologies being used by banks and other companies with online operations
- to help customers log onto their sites safely. Putting the onus on
- businesses and users to protect themselves is unwieldy, and leaves people
- open to more sophisticated phishing attacks, Digital Resolve executives
- said.
-
- The anti-phishing software maker has worked with Microsoft previously to
- help safeguard users of Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming network from
- outside attackers.
-
- For advice on how to secure your network and applications, as well as the
- latest security news, visit Ziff Davis Internet's Security IT Hub.
-
- "Blacklists have been used for a long time, but this is something more
- dynamic that was needed to help protect Windows users before fraudulent
- sites are identified, as using a positive identifying indicators to
- legitimate sites doesn't leave any room from a social engineering
- standpoint," said David Helsper, vice president of engineering at Digital
- Resolve, based in Norcross, Ga. "A lot of online vendors are trying to
- address the authentication problem with images and shared secrets, but this
- takes the burden away from the companies and end users and puts validation
- directly onto the desktop."
-
- Trusted Server specifically addresses so-called man-in-the-middle attacks,
- an emerging form of phishing in which criminals use spyware or cross-site
- scripting attacks to place themselves between users and legitimate Web
- sites to steal personal data. As businesses have improved their site
- defenses and end users have become more aware of phishing schemes,
- man-in-the-middle attacks have begun to increase in number, Helsper said.
-
- Another nascent form of phishing the software offers to protect against is
- the type of attacks built around DNS cache poisoning, through which
- fraudsters attempt to dupe Web servers into believing they are
- communicating with legitimate sites when in fact they are being attacked.
-
- "We were impressed with the quality of Digital Resolve's data feeds, and
- they have become an important addition to our rich network of data provider
- partners," said Alan Packer, product unit manager of the Anti-Phishing Team
- at Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash. "This agreement underscores
- Microsoft's goal of employing a broad range of data sources from both third
- parties and end users to help protect customers from the threat of
- phishing."
-
- A study shows that eBay and PayPal remain the most popular phishing
- targets.
-
- Trusted Server could someday be augmented with an automatic malicious code
- zapper being developed by Microsoft for future iterations of IE, the
- world's most popular browser. Researchers at the software maker are touting
- a prototype framework called BrowserShield that promises to allow IE to
- intercept and remove, on the fly, malicious code hidden on Web pages,
- instead showing users safe equivalents of those pages.
-
- The BrowserShield project-an outgrowth of the company's Shield initiative
- to block network worms, and the brainchild of Helen Wang, a project leader
- in Microsoft Research's Systems and Networking Research Group-could one day
- even become Microsoft's answer to zero-day browser exploits such as the WMF
- (Windows Metafile) attack that spread like wildfire in December 2005.
-
-
-
- Apple Updates iMacs With New Intel Chip
-
-
- Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday updated its iMac line with Intel Corp.'s
- latest microprocessors.
-
- The Intel Core 2 Duo processor, which was launched by the world's largest
- chip maker this summer, is faster than the Intel chips previously used in
- the iMac and other Macintosh computers.
-
- Also Wednesday, Apple unveiled a new version of its consumer desktop
- computer - an iMac with a 24-inch screen. With a 2.16-gigahertz chip, the
- high-end computer retails for $1,999.
-
- Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product
- marketing, said that every iMac will now have the Core 2 Duo chips.
-
- Apple also bumped up the processing speeds of both models of its Mac mini
- without raising the prices of $599 and $799. The book-sized computer, aimed
- to be the company's entry-level offering, now features Intel's faster
- dual-core chips, instead of single-core ones.
-
- The product upgrades come as Apple is looking to gain market share against
- its PC rivals that run Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.
-
- To better compete, Apple announced plans to switch from IBM Corp. and
- Freescale Semiconductor Inc. chips in June 2005, and by January 2006 the
- company unveiled two Intel-based computers - an iMac and a new laptop -
- that were based on Intel's Core Solo processor. It has since switched its
- entire line of computers to Intel.
-
- Meanwhile, Windows-based PC makers are looking for Microsoft Corp.'s
- upcoming Windows Vista operating system to boost sales. Release of the
- consumer version of Vista has been pushed to January, however, and Apple
- will be looking to capitalize on the delay.
-
- "The holiday season should be a great one," Schiller said.
-
-
-
- Philadelphia Opens High-Tech School of the Future
-
-
- Philadelphia on Thursday opened a public high school where students work on
- wireless laptops, teachers eschew traditional subjects for real-world
- topics and parents can track their child's work on the Internet.
-
- Called "The School of the Future" and created with help from software giant
- Microsoft, it is believed to be the first in the world to combine
- innovative teaching methods with the latest technology, all housed in an
- environmentally friendly building.
-
- The school, which cost the school district $63 million to build, is free
- and has no entrance exams. The 170 students in the inaugural ninth-grade
- class were selected by lottery from 1,500 applicants.
-
- Three-quarters of the students come from the surrounding West Philadelphia
- neighborhood; 95 percent of the students are black, and about 85 percent
- come from low-income households, the school district said.
-
- Philadelphia School District Chief Executive Paul Vallas told students they
- would be scrutinized by other schools around the world.
-
- "You have become instant role models," Vallas said. "People are going to
- be ... watching you."
-
- Student still sit in classrooms, but lessons rely heavily on information
- found on the Internet and on interactive software. Students will be allowed
- to learn at their own pace. Homework is done on computer and sent to the
- teacher for grading and parents can access the school's network to read
- teacher feedback on their child's progress.
-
- Traditional education is obsolete and fails to teach students the skills of
- problem-solving, critical thinking and effective communication, which they
- need to succeed in the 21st century, principal Shirley Grover said in an
- interview.
-
- "It's not about memorizing certain algebraic equations and then
- regurgitating them in a test," Grover said. "It's about thinking how math
- might be used to solve a quality-of-water problem or how it might be used
- to determine whether or not we are safe in Philadelphia from the avian
- flu."
-
- David Terry, 14, said he was hoping to "turn over a new leaf" after
- discipline problems in his previous school left him with an "average to
- really bad" academic record.
-
- "This is a great opportunity for me," he said. "In other schools, I would
- not get this kind of education."
-
- Christopher Green said he was "ecstatic" that his daughter Meray was
- selected to attend the school. "She's a cancer survivor, and this is her
- second wind," he said.
-
- The school's environmental enhancements include natural lighting, windows
- made of photovoltaic glass that generates some of the building's power
- supply, and cabinets made from trees removed from the site during
- construction, officials said.
-
- Microsoft, motivated by a combination of altruism and self-interest, was
- closely involved in planning the school and providing its technology, said
- Mary Cullinane, group manager for the company's Partners in Learning
- program and the school's "technology architect."
-
- "We have a vested interest because we need to hire the kids who are
- graduating, and we want to make sure we have created a blueprint that other
- folks will be able to use," she said.
-
- Microsoft sees the project as a way to give the poor majority of the
- world's population an education that is more relevant to the world of
- work, said Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer.
-
- "If we want to continue to see the global economy expand, we need to find
- a way to lift 5 billion people out of their poor environment," he said.
-
-
-
- Google Offers Access to News Archives
-
-
- Google plans to enhance its Google News service with a feature designed to
- let users find articles with historical information on events and people.
-
- Google News Archive Search is slated to go live today with an index of
- links to articles mostly from newspapers and magazines.
-
- Google built the service's index with links already in its general Web
- search index, as well as with links it gained access to through
- arrangements with publishers and news aggregators, said Jim Gerber,
- Google's content partnerships director.
-
- The service ranks results based on their level of relevance to the query,
- and preference isn't given to links from Google partners, which include The
- New York Times, Factiva, Time Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.
-
- The service covers roughly the history of the past 200 years and results
- can be grouped in various ways, including by timelines, topics, and
- publishers.
-
- Google News Archive Search doesn't return links to multimedia content, nor
- does it include links to reference material like books and encyclopedias,
- said Anurag Acharya, a distinguished engineer at Google. It's not linked
- with Google's Book Search service.
-
- The links lead both to free and fee-based articles. Google merely provides
- links and doesn't get involved in monetary transactions between users and
- publishers for access to the articles. There is no integration with
- Google's Checkout online payment system, he said.
-
- The new service has no monetization model, and there is no financial
- arrangement between Google and the publishers it is partnering with,
- Acharya said.
-
- Google News Archive Search is launching with a U.S. English-language
- interface, although it contains content in other languages. The plan is to
- make it more global through collaboration with international partners and
- to launch it for other countries.
-
- Google News Archive Search links will surface sometimes on Google.com
- results.
-
-
-
- Supreme Court To Hear Arguments On Software Patents And Open Source
-
-
- The opponents of proliferating software patents who see them as a threat
- to open source software may finally get their day in court - the U.S.
- Supreme Court.
-
- The critics have been itching for this opportunity for years. But the
- Supreme Court rarely reviews patent cases, which usually are decided by
- federal appeals courts. The top court, however, has agreed to hear three
- patent cases this fall, though only one relates to the impact of patents
- on open source software.
-
- The case involves two brake pedal manufacturers. The Electronic Frontier
- Foundation, a legal advocacy group, has filed a friend of the court brief
- in the case of KSR International v. Teleflex. The two parties will be
- arguing whether Teleflex has patented the right to put electronic sensors
- on brakes. The EFF has signed on to argue that the U.S. Patent Office's
- increasingly loose grants of patents is hurting innovation in many fields,
- such as electronic brake sensors, but that it's particularly worrisome for
- open source code development.
-
- Patents are meant to protect innovations that represent inventions and
- breakthroughs, not steps that "a person of ordinary skill in the field
- could consider obvious," says Corynne McSherry, an EFF attorney. Recent
- decisions by the Circuit Court of Appeals have forced the U.S. Patent
- Office to change its standards for patents, resulting in "a surge of
- software patents" that often cover what McSherry says is commonplace
- functionality. The EFF wants the Supreme Court to rule that the Patent
- Office should use a stricter standard based on a 1966 decision, Graham v.
- John Deere.
-
- Not everyone agrees patent standards have gotten too loose. In June,
- FireStar Software sued Red Hat after its acquisition of JBoss, charging in
- a Texas court that JBoss' open source object/relational mapping software,
- called Hibernate, violates its object/relational mapping patent. FireStar
- asserts that it patented the entire concept of object/relational mapping,
- not merely a specific method of doing so. But facing even a bad patent in
- court can be costly. Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, was
- deemed in violation of five NTP patents by a federal jury in 2002. With its
- wireless e-mail technology at risk, RIM settled the case in March by
- agreeing to pay NTP $612 million, a pact that stuck even though the Patent
- Office a few days later overturned several NTP patents.
-
- Open source advocate Bruce Perens claims FireStar illustrates how companies
- keep their patent claims vague. "It's a practice to capture the maximum
- range of possible infringement," he says.
-
- Even more damaging, he says, is the potential of patent filers to scare off
- would-be open source innovators by making claims against existing open
- source projects and users of their code. A Berkeley physics teacher, Robert
- Jacobsen, loves model railroads and built the Java Model Railroad Interface
- as open source code for fellow hobbyists. In March, he received an invoice
- for $203,000 from KAM Industries saying it had a patent on digital methods
- of controlling a model railroad command station, and it was seeking payment
- for all the times Jacobsen's code had been downloaded. Jacobsen is fighting
- the invoice in court and asking that the KAM patent be voided.
-
- Defending against such claims can put a small company out of business or
- depress the stock price of a sizable one like Red Hat. It costs on average
- $3 million to $5 million to mount a legal defense, according to the annual
- survey of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. But Perens
- is more worried about open source developers and small companies that base
- their business on open source. "It's no longer possible to write a program
- of complexity without infringing on what someone claims is their
- established patent," he says.
-
- As such claims mount, they will cast a chill over more open source
- companies and probably the projects themselves. "As a society, it's a
- terrible mistake to let that happen," Perens says. "We're going to kill the
- golden goose."
-
-
-
- Xanga Settles With FTC For $1 Million
-
-
- The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday announced its largest-ever
- settlement involving the Children Online Privacy Protection Act.
-
- New York-based Xanga.com and its principals, Marc Ginsburg and John Hiler,
- will pay a $1 million civil penalty to settle accusations that the social
- networking Web site collected, used and disclosed personal information
- from children under the age of 13 without notifying and obtaining parental
- consent first, according to the FTC.
-
- The complaint charges that the defendants knew they were collecting and
- disclosing personal information from children under 13 because over the
- past five years, the site allowed 1.7 million visitors to create Xanga
- accounts after they provided a birth date indicating they were under that
- age, the FTC said.
-
- The company, which in 2005 had about 25 million registered accounts, also
- failed to notify the children's parents of their information practices or
- provide the parents with access to and control over their children's
- information, according to the FTC.
-
- "COPPA requires all commercial Web sites, including operators of social
- networking sites like Xanga, to give parents notice and obtain their
- consent before collecting personal information from kids they know are
- under 13," FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said in a statement. "A
- million-dollar penalty should make that obligation crystal clear."
-
- John Hiler, Xanga.com's chief executive, said the company has "instituted
- a stronger, more comprehensive safety and compliance program." Xanga's new
- program includes personnel whose sole responsibility is to act upon all
- account deletion requests from parents, creating a system that allows users
- to flag others who are underage or are posting material in violation of
- Xanga's terms of service, and creating a ratings system for user-generated
- content.
-
- Xanga also does not allow instant messaging and chat, or allow profile
- searches based on sex, age or gender, according to the company.
-
- The FTC consent order does not constitute an admission of guilt. The order
- does require Xanga to delete personal information collected and maintained
- by the site that violated COPPA, and to provide links on some of their
- sites to FTC consumer education materials for the next five years.
-
- Other social networking sites include News Corp.'s MySpace, which has about
- 108 million users, and Facebook with fewer than 10 million. Facebook had
- its own controversy this week when many users threatened to boycott the
- site after it began delivering automated, customized alerts known as News
- Feeds about users' closest friends, classmates and colleagues.
-
-
-
- Nasty Bug Found in 'Classic' ICQ Client
-
-
- AOL is advising users of its ICQ instant messaging service to update to the
- latest version of the ICQ software following the discovery of a bug in an
- older version of the product.
-
- Security researchers at Core Security Technologies today reported that they
- had discovered the flaw in ICQ Pro 2003b, a version of the ICQ client that
- AOL still offers for download and bills as a "veteran version" for users
- who prefer the earlier look and feel.
-
- Although the bug doesn't affect more recent ICQ software like ICQ 5.1, it
- could mean serious problems for ICQ Pro 2003b users, according to Max
- Caceres, director of product management at Core, a vendor of penetration
- testing software.
-
- Core researchers have developed proof-of-concept code that causes ICQ Pro
- 2003b to crash, and they believe that this vulnerability could eventually
- be exploited to run unauthorized software on a user's PC.
-
- Hackers would attack a PC by sending a maliciously encoded instant message
- to any ICQ Pro 2003b user connected to the service. Victims "don't have to
- do anything at all," Caceres says. "Just by being there, someone can send
- them a message, and they can be compromised."
-
- Core has also discovered less-critical issues in AOL's ICQ Toolbar 1.3 for
- Internet Explorer. These flaws could allow attackers to change the
- toolbar's configuration settings or possibly even run scripting code by
- sending victims maliciously encoded RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds.
-
- AOL says it is working to fix the bugs, but the company classifies them as
- "minor and low-risk," according to spokesperson Andrew Weinstein. "Any
- users who are concerned can simply upgrade to the latest version of ICQ or
- not load suspicious RSS feeds," he said via instant message.
-
-
-
- Web Social Site Facebook Hit By Privacy Protests
-
-
- Facebook.com, the No. 2 U.S. social network site that is quickly expanding
- beyond its college student base, has been met with a sudden privacy
- backlash by users after it made design changes this week.
-
- By late on Wednesday, more than 500,000 of Facebook's 9.5 million members
- had signed an online petition calling for the company to back off a feature
- called "News Feed" that instantly notifies members when friends update
- their own sites.
-
- On Monday, the Palo Alto, California-based company founded in 2004 by then
- Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg, began automatically notifying
- users whenever new photos were posted by friends. The site also makes it
- easier to learn about people's political or social affiliations or dating
- status.
-
- Facebook differs from its bigger rival MySpace.com by giving members far
- greater control over every detail they may publish on their individual
- member profile pages.
-
- Manifesting in record cyberspace time and scale, the protests have swept
- across college campuses, taking on the form of proto-political actions
- which are only possible in the age of instant electronic links and virtual
- mob behavior.
-
- "Calm. down. breathe. We hear you," Zuckerberg wrote in a note to users on
- the Facebook site on Tuesday of the changes.
-
- "We think they are great products, but we know that many of you are not
- immediate fans, and have found them overwhelming and cluttered," he wrote.
- "Other people are concerned that non-friends can see too much about them."
-
- The sudden reaction follows a raft of U.S. privacy scares sparked over the
- past year by the theft of key details on millions of credit card users and
- by widespread reports of adult predators targeting teenage users of
- MySpace.
-
- By contrast, the Facebook reaction is fueled not because it revealed any
- new personal data about its users. Rather, the change simply makes it
- easier for friends to track one another. "Stalking is supposed to be hard,"
- a Facebook user complained.
-
- "News Feed is just too creepy, too stalker-esque, and a feature that has
- to go," reads the petition of the newly formed "Students against Facebook
- News Feed."
-
- Nonetheless, the outrage mingled with tongue-in-cheek humor as evidenced
- in the name of a related protest site: "The Coalition to Stop Facebook,
- Stalker Edition." Both groups can be reached only by registered Facebook
- members at: (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2208288769).
-
- Zuckerberg responded in his Tuesday blog post to members that, "We agree,
- stalking isn't cool; but being able to know what's going on in your
- friends' lives is."
-
- "Nothing you do is being broadcast; rather, it is being shared with people
- who care about what you do - your friends."
-
- One of the many impromptu protest sites that have formed called for users
- to boycott Facebook in a day of protest on September 12.
- (http://daywithoutfacebook.blogspot.com/)
-
- The threat of a boycott comes at a vulnerable time for Facebook, which was
- bracing for a surge in subscribers as students return to school this month
- at the roughly 2,100 colleges and 22,000 high schools that offer Facebook
- accounts.
-
- Facebook has roughly one-tenth the number of users of rival social
- networking site MySpace.com, which accepts members of all ages and has
- become a big hit among high-school age students. MySpace is a unit of News
- Corp.
-
- Privacy has been a selling point for Facebook, which took a more
- disciplined approach to growth by restricting membership initially only to
- Internet users with ".edu" e-mail addresses - which require affiliation
- with an educational institution.
-
- Four months ago, it began offering accounts to select organizations
- including major companies, non-profit groups and members of the military.
- So far 15,000 organizations have been added to the list of Web addressees
- that qualify for Facebook.
-
- "What we are trying to do is get people to share information - and to share
- whatever they are comfortable doing," Zuckerberg told Reuters regarding the
- changes.
-
-
-
-
- =~=~=~=
-
-
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- material herein is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing.
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