Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 03 Issue 29
Volume 3, Issue 29 Atari Online News, Etc. July 20, 2001
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2001
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:
Rob Mahlert
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.delphi.com/dpj/a-one.htm
http://www.icwhen.com/aone/
http://a1mag.atari.org
Now available:
http://www.atarinews.org
Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=atari
=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0329 07/20/01
~ Napster Is Back Online ~ People Are Talking! ~ Windows XP: No Java!
~ ExtenDOS Gold Update! ~ Vintage Computer Fest! ~ MacWorld Letdown?
~ NetZero Founders Quit! ~ "Peekabooty" Software! ~ Final Fantasy X!
~ Hackers: Go Straight! ~ Atari 30th Anniversary ~ STeem Upgrade!
-* Internet Tax Issues Complex! *-
-* Who Is The Most Downloaded Woman?!? *-
-* Microsoft Seeks Browser Monopoly Rehearing *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Ahhhh, isn't summer great?! One week of vacation down and one to go (this
month!). I haven't really done much this week; it's been great! I ran a
few errands that needed to be done, but other than that, it was relaxation.
Out on the deck, a variety of cold drinks, some munchies, a book or two, and
little else was needed. Next week will probably be a different story; my
wife will also be on vacation (we couldn't get the same two weeks off)!
No thought-provoking thoughts this week; the mind has been on standby all
week. Some interesting news items that caught my eye, but nothing that
stirred my editorial senses. <g> So, in keeping with the season, I'll keep
this very brief this week. I know you're probably all more interested in
enjoying the cool summer night, or weekend pleasures. Meanwhile, I'll grab
another cold beer and relax out on the deck; it's a nice cool evening.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Steem v1.6 Released
Many bug fixes and improvements:
Bugs Fixed
MFP timer counters (Amberstar)
Hard drive emulation rename, sfirst/snext, exec and open mode bugs (Gulam,
Soundlab, CrackArt)
Memory bug (Rodland, Overlander)
HBL skipping bug (Leavin' Teramis)
Sound accuracy increased by a factor of 10,000
Number lock now toggles correctly
Shortcuts to press the ST's shift key will now work
New Features
Serial port emulation
ROM data cartridge support
Multiple screenshots, can capture any screen effect
New disk image format, can create an image of disks with strange formats (even
some protected disks work)
Fullscreen 640x400 mode
Open files in new window option
Use PC COM ports
Parallel port input
DIM disk image support
Less-intrusive scrollers
For more info, visit the Steem homepage: http://www.blimey.strayduck.com/
Pilot Atari v 1.0 Available
Matthias Jaap and Dave Taylor have gotten together and released a version
of the Pilot programming language for the atari.
Version 1.0 is available at the following URL with complete source code in
C for the language.
URL: http://www.mypenguin.de/prg/progs.php3?lang=en
Extendos Gold v3.3d
There is a new Extendos Gold update available.
excerpt from site...
ExtenDOS Gold
ExtenDOS Gold v3.3D is now available! Version 3.3D contains all the bug
fixes and enhancements that were in earlier versions, and also fixes some
bugs that were introduced in v3.3C, including a bug in handling folders
with long names. General improvements in v3.3x compared to earlier
versions include:
support for the SCSIDRV interface. This allows ExtenDOS Gold (and therefore
CDbackup, CD Writer and CD InScriptOr) to use SCSI CD-ROMs and CD recorders on
any system with this interface installed. This includes MagicMac, MagicPC,
and Atari compatibles running HDDRIVER
support for ATAPI/EIDE via SCSIDRV. This will allow ATAPI CD-ROMs and CD
recorders to be used on systems with an ATAPI interface and appropriate
SCSIDRV support
enhancements to CDaudio, including an improved user interface
We recommend that users of CDs with long names update to v3.3D as soon as
possible. As before, the update is available at no charge here.
URL: http://www.cyberus.ca/~anodyne/news.htm
FalcAMP RSC Competition
STGHOST appears to be running a competition
for the creation of new RSC files for FalcAMP.
excerpt from the site...
Compo rules
The compo is split in 2 categories: the 16 colour rsc compo, and the 256
colour rsc compo. All RSC will have to be sent to STGHOST before the 11th
of August (included). Then packages with all entries will be prepared for
voting. Votes will have to be sent before the 25th of August (included).
Here are some details about each compo:
16 color rsc compo
The only rule is that you have to use the standard system palette.
256 color compo
NVDI5 palette is the reference for 256 color rsc entries. I've been told
it's the same as Jinnee's palette, but it's not sure... You can try with
this palette if you don't have NVDI5.
As color icons can contain as well 16 color & 256 color versions, you can
compete in both categories if you want, just don't forget to say in which
one you want to enter when submitting your rsc files.
A few extra comments:
The aim of the compo is to offer new designs to the main window, but you
can also redesign all other windows :)
Please make RSC files that looks good with both TOS, Naes and Magic. Don't
forget to join a file describing with which OS your RSC looks friendly :)
If possible, try to send both lowres and highres versions of the RSC. But I
guess it's mostly the highres one which is used, so you know what to do to
get more votes ;)
If there are enough entries submitted, I'll try to add an rsc selector in
the front end (hmm, skins ?)
URL: http://deunstg.free.fr/sct1/falcamp/compo.html
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE User Group Notes! - Meetings, Shows, and Info!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
VCF East 1.0 - Only 1 Week Away
Vintage Computer Festival East 1.0
July 28th and 29th, 2001
Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center
Marlborough, Massachusetts
http://www.vintage.org/2001/east/
Only one week to go! The first Vintage Computer Festival for the east
coast of the United States is scheduled for the weekend of July 28th
and 29th at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center in
Marlborough, Massachusetts.
The Vintage Computer Festival is a celebration of computers and their
history. The event features speakers, a vintage computer exhibition,
and a vintage computer marketplace. We showcase all different types
of computers for all different kinds of platforms in all different
shapes and sizes.
If you wish to pass the word about the VCF along to your co-workers,
a printable flyer in Word format can be downloaded here:
http://www.vintage.org/2001/east/vcfeast.doc
SPEAKERS AND WORKSHOPS
We've got a terrific line-up of speakers at the inaugural VCF East.
The speakers include:
Wayne Green
Founder of Byte and 73 Magazine, among many other publications.
The influence of Wayne's computer publications propelled the
microcomputer revolution of the 70s and 80s.
Eldon Hall
The "Father" of the Apollo Guidance Computer, Eldon will discuss
the development the computer that brought the first men to the
moon.
Christine Finn
Christine is bringing the discipline of an archaeologist to the
study of computer history. She'll be discussing her upcoming
book "Artefacts: The Material Culture of the Silicon Valley".
Michael Nadeau
Michael will be taking on the subject of determining the value
of old computers for buying, selling and trading. He's also
writing a book on the topic.
Megan Gentry
Megan, a former DEC employee, will be giving a workshop that
every beginning collector of DEC gear will want to attend.
She'll also be exhibiting the PDP 11/73 that was used to control
the heating and air systems at The Mill (DEC's former headquarters).
More speakers to be announced soon!
The speaker schedule can be found here:
http://www.vintage.org/2001/east/speaker.php3
FABULOUS DOOR PRIZES!
Year after year, the VCF always has the best stuff to give away, and
this year is no different
o Mindset computer to be given away to one lucky attendee!
o Complete NeXT "Cube" to be awarded to Best of Show exhibit!
These prizes are being furnished by the Atari Historical Society.
Visit the AHS at:
http://www.atari-history.org
EXHIBIT YOUR VINTAGE COMPUTER
There is still time to register your computer exhibit! But act
quickly, the registration deadline is July 20th. Exhibit your
favorite computer in the Vintage Computer Exhibition. First, Second
and Third place prizes will be awarded to the Best of Show exhibits!
For complete details on the VCF East 1.0 Exhibition, visit:
http://www.vintage.org/2001/east/exhibit.php3
The Best of Show exhibitor will win a complete NeXT "Cube", including:
NeXT Cube, monitor, keyboard, mouse, desktop speaker, NeXTstep 3.3
OS, and various assorted NeXT applications.
This machine is being provided by the Atari Historical Society:
http://www.atari-history.org
BUY/SELL/TRADE AT THE VINTAGE COMPUTER MARKETPLACE
Do you have some vintage computer items you'd like to sell? Whether
you rent a booth or sell on consignment, the Vintage Computer
Marketplace is the premier venue for selling old computers and
related items. If you would like to rent a booth or inquire about
consignment rates, please send e-mail to <vendor@vintage.org> for more
information or visit:
http://www.vintage.org/2001/east/vendor.php3
Booths are still available, but may not be when you decide to make
your reservation! Make your reservation today!
TELL A FRIEND! TELL A FRIEND! TELL A FRIEND!
We really hope to see you at the first VCF for the east coast! And
remember, tell your friends!!
A printable flyer in Word format can be downloaded here:
http://www.vintage.org/2001/east/vcfeast.doc
Vintage Computer Festival East 1.0
July 28th and 29th, 2001
Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center
Marlborough, Massachusetts
http://www.vintage.org/2001/east/
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. My intro is going to be short this week.
I just want to relay a little story and a warning to you.
Several weeks ago, my brother and sister-in-law asked me for help on
deciding what computer to buy. I sat down with them and talked about
what they wanted, what they didn't want, and what they actually needed.
Like most of us, they really didn't NEED the latest and greatest
hardware. They simply wanted a good machine that would last them a few
years.
I got to work and configured a system online at my favorite Intel-based
manufacturer's website.
The machine was a sight to behold. 1.7 Gigahertz, plenty of RAM, good
video card, big monitor, DVD ROM and CD Read/Write drives, and kickin'
sound system.
It came in at less than his maximum price, so he was happy. He's not a
computer person, so he just shook his head when I explained all of the
cool stuff that this computer had.
My sister-in-law is a bit more computer savvy, but not my too great an
amount. So when they began having trouble with the system after
installing AOL's latest and greatest offering, it was she that spent the
time on the phone with tech support.
The problem was that she kept getting virtual memory errors when running
the AOL software. Because I was the one that configured and recommended
this manufacturer, I stopped by and tried several things like increasing
the amount of virtual memory and repairing Win2K. I still don't know
what the exact problem was, but if I used AOL to dial up and connect to
the web, and used AOL's browser, I got the same VM errors that she had
been getting. If I used Explorer after connection, I could surf to my
heart's content without encountering any problems.
With this information in hand, she called the manufacturer's tech
support line and patiently did everything that they told her to do. This
(after a total of nine hours on the phone with tech support) resulted in
a completely non-functional collection of plastic, metal, and silicon
pieces. Something had gone awry and the operating system had been wiped
from the hard drive and the installation CD didn't seem to be readable.
The CD had to be sent back before the company would send a new one. And
that's where they stand now.
The moral of my story, boys and girls, is: Know what you're getting
into, and don't rely exclusively on tech support.
In this case, they heard hoofbeats and thought "Zebra" instead of
"horse". Had they simply had the foresight to say, "Okay, what happens if
you minimize the AOL app and run Explorer?", I'm sure that they'd now be
happily cruising around on the net.
Okay, let's get on with the news and stuff from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================
'Matt' asks about multi-tasking OSs on his Atari:
" A few questions for MiNT...
1. I've got a new SCSI 1Gb drive for my MegaSTE, to avoid loosing space,
I want to format about 500 Mb (32 Mb partitions) for TOS and the rest
with an extended format like ext2fs for Mint... So is it possible and
with which utility can I format the last 500 Mb into ext2fs ? (or better
format minix ?)
2. Does anybody have a english version of the Gemini 1.a (free desktop
like Jinnee) ?
3. When I have re-installed MagiC 6.1, have got the message at reboot :
'MagiC ist nicht personaliziert...' why ??? Maybe my install disks are
corrupted... if someone can send me his install disks...."
Edward Baiz tells Matt:
"Yes, I believe that is possible [having different file systems on the
same hard drive]. I am doing almost the same thing, but I am using a
separate drive for Mint/MintNet.
Never heard of [Gemini], but it sounds nice. I have and use Jinnee and
it is a great desktop for Magic. I also have Thing and it is great for
Mint.
At the beginning of the [MagiC] installation you are asked some questions
where you fill in your name etc. That may be the problem."
Dr. Uwe Seimet adds:
Yes, this is possible. The ext2fs partition can be prepared with the
ext2fs tools available for MiNT.
BUT: If I remember correctly ext2fs is not supported or at least not
tested for the MC68000. This is because the MC68000 lacks certain bit
manipulations that are very useful for implementing ext2fs efficiently.
Frank Naumann should probably comment on this. I think the README
included in the ext2fs distribution also says so."
Edward Baiz asks about the THING desktop:
"Well I am finally going to install MintNet on my Hades, I have all the
files and am ready to go. I want to especially load in the X Server that
will allow me to run X Window applications right on the GDEM desktop. The
computer needs to be in the 256 color mode for this. The problem is that
when I try to boot up in the 256 color mode, Thing gives me a BUS error
along with Twilight, Edith, and Gemjing. I can boot up in all the other
color modes (mono, 32k, 64k, 24bit, 32bit). Anyone know as to why this
happening?
I have N.AES 1.2 and Thing 1.27. I bought the N.AES CD from Woller and
Thing was on it. I am not sure it that makes me a registered user or
not."
Martin Tarenskeen tells Edward:
"I THINGk you are [registered]. The unregistered version will show
"Shareware" in ugly letters all across your desktop and doesn't remember
window positions. If your version does not have this, why should you pay
more?"
Martin Byttebier adds:
"Everyone who has bought the N_AES CD is a registered user of the N_AES
version of Thing. This version can only be used with N_AES."
Edward tells Martin:
"Well I guess I have to just email him. I figured I had a different
version of Thing when I could not run it from my Magic, Geneva or
Regular TOS desktop."
Edward now asks:
"I notice that when I run some programs under Thing (Qdialer) the colors
on the dialer are messed up. Is there a special color pallette I need to
have?
How are people adjusting the window colors under Thing?"
Henke Robbers tells Edward:
"It might be a colour cpx.
I remember when I got my TT a few weeks that I unintentionally made fore
and background colour the same. I thought I ruined the TT. (10 years ago
:-)
After rebooting without HD I was able to conclude that the colour cpx
set the palette when it is activated at start up.
So I refreshed the cpx from the installation disc and that cured it.
Thing should work fine with the default palette."
Jon Gibbons asks:
"Just wondered, is it possible to get both the MEGA ST and the MEGAFILE
into the same shell ?
This was just an idea that sprung to mind as ye olde Megafile is taking
up quite a bit of room."
Uwe Seimet tells Jon:
"I don't think so. The Megafile hard disk drives are 5 1/4 inch drives,
which will not fit into the case of the MegaST."
Jon tells Uwe:
"I tried it earlier on today .. the drive would (just about !) fit, but
the extra mainboard and power supply were too big to fit in :( Also I
don't think there would be a way to screw down the extra board + power
supply. However it looks as if the positions for screws for the drive
are already there in the ST case ...."
Lyndon Amsdon tells Jon:
"I think you should be able to power the drive from the computers PSU.
Megas are designed for a HD to be fitted internally."
Djordje Vukovic tells Lyndon:
"Yes, but not an old power-hungry monster like Megafile. However, some
more modern drive with smaller power consumption (and smaller size)
would fit nicely, heat less, and there is an ACSI connector inside the
box so the ASCI/SCSI host adaptor can be put in there too. Remember that
some ventilation has to be maintained so it would not be good to jam the
box full of additional hardware."
Peter West asks for help with converting JPEG files:
"I have some JPEGs that a friend wants to use on his web page.
Unfortunately the scanner was set far too dark (no, he can't re-scan).
Is there any Atari ap that would allow me to lighten them and save them
as JPEGs again? I have tried some of my image processing programs but
most won't handle JPEGs (other than load them). I finally tried Calamus,
which loaded and processed them, but couldn't save as JPEG - only TIFF
and BMP. I saved as TIFF and then used Imagecopy to convert to
256-colour GIFs, but what started out as a 25 kB JPEG finished up nearly
half a meg of GIF! Don't think anyone wants to download that! Any ideas
how this could be done? I tried converting the GIF back to JPEG in the
new Pixart, but the computer crashed each time - with or without MagiC
and Thing."
Anders Eriksson tells Peter:
"ImageCopy v4 can load the Jpegs, automatically add more light and save
back as Jpeg again. Same with several other programs, GemView for
example."
Peter asks Anders:
"How do you do that? The only brightness etc. sliders I can find are for
the screen and another for printing. Are you saying there is a way to
use them for copying as well? I can't find that in the manual. Or would
this need another screen grab? Difficult as I am running in 32k colours
max at present on my RGB monitor."
Edward Baiz tells Peter:
"PhotoTip version 3 does this just fine under Magic/Geneva/N.AES. Just
load in a JPEG and you can lighten or darken it to your pleasure. Then
you can save it out in a TIFF or JPEG form. You can download it at the
site below, but you need to register it to get it's full potential.
http://home.sunrise.ch/dursoft/progs_e.html"
Harry Sideras adds:
"Doesn't LookNSee do this? There's a brightener module with various
settings as well as JPEG import and export (as you must already know).
Alternatives are Positive Image and Imagecopy of course. With IC bear in
mind that if you change the brightness in Options\Screens\Colours before
loading the JPG when you resave as JPG you will be losing further
colours from the screen depth that you are in, so I'd advise running in
maximum colour depth before you try it.
I just had a quick go in IC4 and the X-convert option didn't seem to
account for the brightness for me."
Leo 'Z' asks about networking ST and PC:
"I am an ex-atari user who kept his 4meg STE in the loft for the past 3
years or so. I fished it out yesterday, got the HD connected again and
am now enjoying a trip down memory lane!
I've got a PC running windows ME, and am wondering if there is anyway to
share data between them in a more modern way than by using floppies. I not
only would like to share files, but also a net connection (?)
IS any of this possible? I seem to remember a prg which enabled to (or
more?) STs or Falcons to be networked by using the midi ports. Maybe this
would be some kind of solution?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, even if its to tell me it can't be
done!
I look forward to any replies...."
Edward Baiz tells Leo:
"There are two program that will do this. One is Ghostlink which needs a
null modem cable. The is PARCP (I use this) which needs a special cable
connected to the printer ports of each computer."
Well folks, that's it for this week. Tune in 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 - Atari Anniversary Edition!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Final Fantasy X! Decimator!
EA Sports Rugby!
And more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Square's 'Final Fantasy X' Goes on Sale in Japan
Finally, fantasy is a reality.
On Thursday, Japanese videogame developer Square Co Ltd released the
long-awaited ``Final Fantasy X," the latest in a series of the popular
role-playing games of which 31 million copies have been sold worldwide
since 1987.
Hardcore fans -- mostly teenage boys -- eager to get their hands on the
first copies waited for hours outside the doors to a popular Tokyo software
chain that opened at 6:30 a.m.
``As soon as I saw the poster saying the game would be available from
today, I had to get my hands on it," said one 15-year-old boy, making his
purchase before heading to school. "I love the story and I've wanted to
buy it for a long time."
In Final Fantasy X, which costs $71 apiece and is played on Sony's
PlayStation 2, gamers can play the role of Tidus, a cocky, competitive
17-year-old with blond locks, or Yuna, a 17-year-old whose conservative
dress and calm disposition mask a single-minded desire to crush her evil
nemesis, Shin.
And for the first time, gamers can hear their characters speak rather than
follow their dialogue in text.
``The upgrades in the gaming machines allow us do more with 3-D animation
and computer graphics," said a Square spokeswoman.
Square is betting heavily on the popular game series to bring it back to
profitability after a parent operating loss of 2.31 billion yen ($18.62
million) in 2000/01.
So far, the company is off to a good start.
``As of July 17th, we had initial shipments of 2.14 million units and
advanced orders of 1.4 to 1.5 million units," said Square CEO/President
Hisashi Suzuki.
Square said that both of those were new sales records for Playstation 2
games.
``The game is selling very well. Our expectations were to sell between
1,000-1,500 copies of the game in the first day," said Virgin Megastore
manager Asami Hasegawa. ``We're well on our way to meet and even break
those targets."
While analysts say they expect the game to sell well and lift Square's
earnings this year, they are wary of the company's venture into the
movie-making business and note it would take a while to earn back the
initial costs of about $35 million for developing the game.
Square had intended to launch Final Fantasy X by the end of March but said
in January it was postponing the release to improve the game's quality.
``Square cannot expect the volumes it saw in Final Fantasy IX because the
installed base of PlayStation 2 is much smaller at this point. There is
less overall demand," said Jay Defibaugh, analyst at Credit Suisse First
Boston.
Nonetheless, the company is staying optimistic.
``We've reached the two million figure. Now we're targeting three million
units, but ultimately we would like to eclipse the all time record of 3.8
million units," said Suzuki.
PlayStation 2 shipments in Japan as of the end of March totaled 4.75
million, only one-quarter the number of the original PlayStation, according
to Sony Computer Entertainment.
And the much-hyped ``Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within," the first
completely computer generated (CG) science fiction film, received a
lukewarm response when it opened in the United States on July 11, grossing
$11.5 million in its opening weekend.
Industry insiders said they were confident that the movie, which cost $137
million to produce, will be better received in Japan when it lands in
September, and that, more importantly, it will not dampen enthusiasm for
the game on which it is based.
Nuby Interactive Ships Decimator for PlayStation
Game Console; Licensed Dual Analog Controller
Hits Retail Shelves
Nuby Interactive LLC has begun shipping its new full-featured analog
controller, the Decimator, designed for the PlayStation game console, to
retailers nationwide. The Decimator is the newer of only two third-party
dual analog controllers to receive a license from Sony Computer
Entertainment America and the only of these with a button remapping
feature.
``This full-featured controller was clearly designed with the gamer in
mind. Each feature was developed to meet the needs of today's gamers and
the demands of the latest games," said Paul Chen, Nuby's vice president of
sales and marketing.
The Decimator features a positive ergonomic design that has been created to
fit all hand sizes, children and adults. Its modern form and black/blue
color scheme complement the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system.
Color coordinated rubber grips are built-in to prevent loss of grasp during
heavy game play.
It is the only licensed controller offering Macro-Map for improved game
play. Macro-Map allows gamers to reassign eight of the primary buttons with
twelve possible moves, adding unmatched versatility to the controller. It
also has all of the features used on the PlayStation and PS one original
controllers, making it compatible with all versions of PlayStation.
Electronic Arts Ships EA SPORTS Rugby
for the PlayStation 2
Electronic Arts Inc. launched EA SPORTS Rugby for the PlayStation2 computer
entertainment system. This is the first rugby title available on the
PlayStation 2 console in North America. Electronic Arts shipped the title
last month in Australia and Europe.
EA SPORTS Rugby features licensed content from the Australian Rugby Union,
and from a number of other bodies including the New Zealand Rugby Union,
South African rugby Football Union, the Rugby Football Union, Federation
Francaise de Rugby and Scottish Rugby Union. Bill McLaren, the voice of
rugby, provides the commentary.
``There is a huge loyal rugby following with rugby clubs across North
America and EA SPORTS Rugby captures all the essential elements of
international rugby that will please these fans," said Chip Lange, vice
president of marketing, North America. ``EA SPORTS is committed to covering
the world of sports and this is an exciting next step in our videogame
library."
EA SPORTS Rugby combines stunning graphics, sophisticated physics models
and AI (artificial intelligence) that immerses gamers into the big hitting,
fast paced world of international rugby. The PlayStation 2 console gamers
will enjoy the depth of gameplay, team management offerings and
unparalleled graphic presentation of the rugby franchise.
To master EA SPORTS Rugby, with hopes of winning the Tri-Nations Series,
the Bledisloe Cup, the Six Nations and other international tournaments,
gamers will have to become intimately familiar with their squads of
players, and the types of set plays they operate against different
opposition...selecting specific players for certain games. With 600 players
in all, this will be a challenging yet fun task. The game features 25
faithfully modeled international stadiums, including Twickenham,
Murrayfield and Ellis Park.
Developed by The Creative Assembly Ltd., in the United Kingdom, EA SPORTS
Rugby is the culmination of three years research and development. EA SPORTS
motion capture technology captured professional rugby players' moves to
enhance the game with greater realism. Running, passing, tackling, jumping
for the ball and packing into scrums all show a great level of detail and
animation.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Infogrames Celebrates Three Decades of Atari
Video Gaming With Atari Anniversary Edition
for Sega Dreamcast and PC
Twelve Games From the Golden Age of Arcades Live Again
Infogrames celebrates 30 years of Atari classic arcade fun with the release
of Atari Anniversary Edition for Windows 95/98/ME computers and Sega
Dreamcast video game consoles. This special one-disc, 12-game compilation
is being released to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Atari's founding
in 1972 as the first company ever established solely for the purpose of
creating and marketing video games. The multi-billion-dollar interactive
entertainment industry that has developed since Atari's founding owes much
to the vision of Atari and the groundbreaking titles that are found on
Atari Anniversary Edition.
This monster compilation of 12 of the best-known games from Atari's arcade
stable of the '70s and early '80s includes Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe,
Battlezone, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Gravitar, Millipede, Missile
Command, Pong, Super Breakout, Tempest, and Warlords. All come
authentically recreated in emulated form just like you remember them from
the arcades.
In addition to the 12 classic arcade games that helped launch an industry,
Atari Anniversary Edition also includes a multimedia supplement of video
interviews with original game designers, images of noteworthy memorabilia,
original press releases, and more. The PC version has a bonus collection of
desktop themes (mouse pointers, system icons, font, screen saver,
wallpaper) for each game. Both versions include a collectable Atari logo
sticker to show your Atari pride.
Developed by Digital Eclipse, Atari Anniversary Edition is available at
most major retail outlets for $14.99 E.R.P and is rated ``E" for everyone.
JAGULATOR V1.5.0 RELEASED
from the Jagulator website...
Back again!!! Two days ago I released some screenshots of some homebrew
jaguar code that was running on Jagulator. Well today I decided to release
v1.5.0 so that you too get a chance to see them running. This release is
part of my new strategy to regularly release Jagulator as it develops.
As I mentioned previously, I was having problems with the JoyPad emulation.
This is now working and is demonstrated well with the 'Team Tap Tester'
Jaguar Demo written by Matthias Domin. I also managed to fix a bug in the
transparency code which now means that only the images requiring
transparency have them (unlike all images before the bug - DOH!).
The four demos that are working (fully or partially) with Jagulator 1.5.0
are: TeamTap Tester, JagMania, JDC Demo v1 and Colors.
Visit the Jagulator site to download v1.5.0 and the demos
URL: http://www.jagulator.com/
For the downloads page: http://www.jagulator.com/main.htm
www.atari-jaguar64.de Updated
Hi Everybody !
Diederik and I spend the last week working on another big update of
www.atari-jaguar64.de and here is it: http://www.atari-jaguar64.de
We hope you like it.
Almost every section is updated.
If you have any comments or questions, feel free to ask.
Regards, Lars.
Jaguar Development Club
Keeping the first 64-Bit video game system,
the great Atari Jaguar, alive.
E-Mail: starcat@atari-jaguar64.de
http://www.atari-jaguar64.de
http://www.jaguar-development-club.de
http://www.e-jagfest.de
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Napster, PlayMedia Deal as Court Deadline Looms
Napster announced Monday that it has chosen PlayMedia Systems, Inc. to
design a playback and file security system that PlayMedia CEO Brian Litman
says will "preserve the delicate balance between security, listener
convenience, and music enjoyment."
Napster and PlayMedia issued the joint announcement at around the same
time that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals informed Napster that the
song-swapping entity must file its emergency federal appeals court brief
by August 9th.
The court said that the record labels, which are suing over copyright
infringements, will then have up to four weeks to rebut Napster's brief to
the appeals court once Napster files it.
Meanwhile, Napster officials see the PlayMedia deal as the latest step in
its quest to legitimize itself in the eyes of the major record labels.
Napster said the company plans to implement PlayMedia's AMP technology to
power its proprietary media players. In addition, PlayMedia will continue
to set up such developing technologies as customized playback, decryption
and encryption for Napster.
PlayMedia technology will also be used in new software that will control
the way subscribers to the new Napster acquire and play
copyright-protected music.
Napster interim CEO Hank Barry appeared optimistic in his assessment of
the alliance.
"Napster is at the forefront of using some extremely advanced rights
management and security technologies in a file-sharing environment," Barry
said in a prepared statement.
"PlayMedia's technologies and consulting services will give our users a
satisfying experience for discovering and listening to new music."
Webnoize music analyst Ric Dube told NewsFactor Network that Napster, in
its attempts to appease its enemies, is now working within a framework
that consumers don't want.
Dube told NewsFactor that many consumers, including those faithful to the
old Napster peer-to-peer (P2P) system, have the idea that when they pay
for a monthly subscription, the songs they download will be theirs to keep
and use in whatever form they wish -- much like the old Napster.
But Dube said that the new system "will limit music and limit what users
can do with that music."
Dube said that Napster's licensing deal with MusicNet, for example, is a
bad one for consumers because it follows a rental paradigm.
"You pay US$10 a month to download 50 songs, about 20 cents a song," Dube
said. "But at the end of each month, you have to pay another 20 cents to
keep this same song.
"After five months, you've spent a dollar on the song. At this point, it
would have been cheaper to have bought the CD, where you get, say, 15
songs for $15 and the right to do whatever you want with them," Dube
added.
"Because of the way it's structured, [the new Napster] becomes a
promotional mechanism for selling CDs [and] does not threaten the status
quo."
While Dube said it's too early to assess Napster's fate, he said the
prognosis "doesn't look good."
"Content made Napster hot," Dube told NewsFactor. "Now that there's no
more [easy access] to unlimited content, and consumers don't want to be
nickel-and-dimed to death," they are already looking into the next
generation of P2P servers such as Kazaa and MusicCity, he said.
Appeals Court Puts Napster Back in Business
A federal appeals court on Wednesday gave embattled song-swap service
Napster Inc. the green light to resume business over the Internet --
overruling a lower court judge who had demanded more assurances on
copyright protection.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Napster, which has been voluntarily
offline since the beginning of the month, was allowed to resume operations
``pending further order of the court."
The decision by the court's three judge panel overruled an earlier ruling
by federal Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, who on July 11 instructed Napster to
stay offline until it could show it had done everything in its power to
make its new song-filtering system 100 percent effective.
Napster officials expressed pleasure with the appeals court decision, but
did not to say if the company would immediately resume trading music.
``We're pleased that the U.S. Court of Appeals granted our request for a
stay," Jonathan Schwartz, Napster's general counsel, said in a statement.
``We're studying the implications of the decision. We continue to push
ahead with the launch of our new membership service later this summer."
Napster has been under legal attack for more than a year by the recording
industry, which has accused it of facilitating music piracy over the
Internet and running roughshod over copyright law.
In its efforts to remain in business, Napster has vowed to relaunch itself
as a subscription service, charging members in return for monitored access
to copyright-protected material.
On Wednesday, Napster informed users that it would soon launch a
second-phase, beta test of the new service after some two months of
internal tinkering. The company has said that about a million people have
signed up to participate in the test of the new service, which will be
free.
``We want to make sure that Napster's first bona fide 'official release'
meets the highest technological standards," Napster said in an e-mail to
users.
It added that, once the system is fully operational, more half of what
subscribers will pay Napster will go directly to the artists, songwriters
and other rights holders whose works are transferred between members of the
Napster community.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which has been
spearheading the legal drive against Napster, issued a statement
underlining the temporary nature of the appeals court's stay.
``We are confident that after a thorough review, the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals will uphold Judge Patel's decision," RIAA Executive Vice President
Cary Sherman said.
``The evidence in this case clearly shows that Napster has not done all it
can to police its system...it is important to note that today's ruling does
not change in any way the fact that Napster must prevent copyrighted works
from appearing on its system as previously ordered by the Court."
Napster was hit with a preliminary injunction in March when Patel ruled
that it must block song files that the recording industry identifies as
being covered by copyright.
Napster, struggling to comply with Patel's order, voluntarily suspended
file-sharing July 2 for a self-imposed shutdown as it sought to fix
technical glitches related to its latest filter upgrade.
Prior to the self-imposed shutdown, the once wildly popular song-swap
service, which enables people to trade compressed MP3 computer files of
their favorite music, had been rapidly losing users to other song-swap
systems.
The system had already seen usage shrink to an average 1.5 songs shared per
user, down from an average of 220 in February, according to the research
company Webnoize.
Analysts said the longer Napster remains shut down, the higher the risk of
losing users forever to other alternatives.
Microsoft Seeks Browser Monopoly Rehearing
Lawyers for Microsoft on Wednesday afternoon asked the U.S. Court of
Appeals in Washington, D.C., to revisit a central issue of the antitrust
case: that the Redmond, Washington software giant created a monopoly by
integrating the same instructions into both its browser and operating
system.
Microsoft told the federal court that "critical evidence was overlooked --
or misinterpreted -- on the technical question" of whether the company "
'commingled' software code specific to Web browsing with software code
used for other purposes in certain files in Windows 98."
Boston antitrust attorney Michelle Miller told NewsFactor Network that she
was surprised at Microsoft's request, saying the company has a "real
uphill battle" getting a rehearing. Miller said it could take "a couple
weeks to several months" for the appeals court to respond.
Three weeks ago, an appeals court held that the company was guilty of
"exclusionary conduct" by meshing software instructions in its browser and
operating system, as well as not allowing computer makers to remove the
browser from the Windows desktop, and returned the case to a lower court
to set a penalty.
In its current request, Microsoft said its upcoming Windows XP includes
the ability to uninstall Internet Explorer. Microsoft also claims an
earlier ruling on the commingling of code was in error, and says the issue
"is important because it might be read to suggest that [PC makers] should
be given the option of removing the software code in Windows 98 (if any)
that is specific to Web browsing."
Justice Department officials said Wednesday that both the trial court and
the federal appeals court have ruled in the government's favor on the
issue, according to reports.
The state of Iowa will respond to Microsoft's request, say reports. New
Mexico recently settled its case with Microsoft after the company agreed
to pick up the state's legal bills.
The Justice Department has requested that the penalty phase of the
antitrust judgment be resolved quickly. The appeals court said on June
28th that there would be a 45-day waiting period, allowing both the
government and Microsoft time to formulate appeals.
But on July 13th, the government asked a federal appeals court to rush the
case. There is "no good reason to delay issuance of the mandate until
mid-August or later," the U.S. Justice Department told the court.
A Microsoft spokesman said Wednesday that the company still seeks an
out-of-court settlement. Microsoft confirmed reports on Monday that it had
talked with Justice Department antitrust chief Charles James in an effort
to reach a settlement.
The move was confirmed just prior to Microsoft's relaxing its Windows
license agreement, allowing computer makers to delete Internet Explorer
from the upcoming Windows XP desktop.
Analysts view Microsoft's latest legal maneuvering as protecting its
decision to increase the bundling of features into its operating system,
according to reports. Microsoft has been criticized for tightly
integrating Internet, music, photography and instant messaging services
into Windows XP.
Some legal experts question Microsoft's request for a rehearing, since the
June 28th ruling was unanimous.
Microsoft Opposes Speeding Antitrust Case
Microsoft said on Friday it opposed the government's request for a U.S.
appeals court to expedite the antitrust case against the company back to a
lower court ahead of schedule.
The software giant first wants the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia to rule on its request that the panel re-examine part of its
recent ruling on the case, the company said in a court filing.
Microsoft also asked the court to send the case back to a lower court after
it rules on the rehearing and, within a week after that decision is issued,
the company said it would decide whether to seek review by the U.S. Supreme
Court.
``This filing asks for an appropriate and limited time period for the
company to address any legal issues related to the Court of Appeals
ruling," said Microsoft spokesman Vivek Varma.
The Justice Department and 18 states said in their motion that the case
should be moved back to a lower court judge quickly, arguing the software
giant's conduct should be reigned in as soon as possible.
Unless the appeals court grants the government's request, the case is
expected to go back before a U.S. District Court judge no earlier than
mid-August, under a June 28 ruling by a federal appeals court.
A Justice Department spokeswoman had no immediate comment on Microsoft's
filing.
On June 28, the appeals court overturned a lower court's order that
Microsoft be broken into two companies but upheld findings that the company
abused its monopoly in the market for personal computer operating systems.
The appeals court rejected findings that Microsoft attempted to monopolize
the Internet browser market, and it ordered a new lower court judge to
consider remedies against the Redmond, Washington-based company and
determine whether it illegally tied its Internet browser to Windows.
If the appeals court agrees to speed up the case, it would give prosecutors
more time if they decide to ask for remedies that involve Microsoft's new
Windows XP operating system, due to be released in October.
``As we move forward quickly with the logical next steps in the legal
process, we remain committed to working with the government to try and
resolve the remaining issues in this case through settlement," Varma said.
Earlier this week, the company asked the appeals court to re-examine its
ruling that it illegally ``commingled" computer code of its Internet
Explorer browser and Windows operating system.
The company said it filed the rehearing request with the appeals court
because it believes the ruling was based on "clearly erroneous" findings
of a lower court judge.
Internet Tax Issues Get More Complex
The Internet tax debate has moved beyond simply whether to extend the ban
on access and discriminatory taxes to whether state commercial taxes can
be imposed online as well as offline.
The Internet tax debate has moved beyond simply whether to extend the ban
on access and discriminatory taxes to whether state commercial taxes can
be imposed online as well as offline, an analyst said Tuesday.
There is active consideration now for a middle ground that if states
simplify their tax system out-of-state companies could collect sales taxes
on Internet transactions.
The questions now are to what degree states must simplify their sales tax
and how much certainty each state must have that it will get the authority
to collect sales tax at the end of this process, said Bill Whyman,
Internet analyst at the Precursor Group in Washington, D.C.
For IT managers and corporate executives, changes in state tax systems
translate to different accounting methods and added costs to collect the
added fees.
Several bills are floating in the House and Senate to address the looming
expiration on the ban on cyber taxes in October. Congress has only about
seven working weeks remaining before the October deadline because of the
lengthy summer recess, a limited period for complex bill passage.
The slew of bills agree on extending the freeze either for five years or
permanently on Internet access taxes and multiple and discriminatory
levies. But sales tax simplification, business activity taxes and a lack
of clarity on what constitutes a physical presence in a state for tax
purposes have made it difficult for lawmakers to find agreement on
comprehensive legislation.
Companies that transact business over the Internet are covered under the
same 1992 court ruling as mail order catalog businesses. Companies do not
have to collect sales taxes from online or mail order sales unless the
company has a branch located in that state. That physical presence
threshold is called nexus.
As the debate becomes more complex, deal-breaker issues that will have to
be resolved before legislation can be passed center on how to define
physical presence for the business activity tax and what is the limit on
the number of sales tax regulations, Whyman said. Business activity taxes
include licensing, franchise or occupation taxes. Currently, there are
7,500 state and local taxing districts.
If enough states simplify their tax systems, the government would allow
equal tax treatment between Main Street and online and other remote
retailers under some proposals.
-Many in the industry are concerned that if out-of-state vendors are
required to collect sales tax on Internet transactions, states will use it
as the proverbial 'camel's nose under the tent' to impose all other kinds
of business activity taxes, such as franchise and income taxes,- he said.
Some have proposed a -bright-line- test for what triggers jurisdiction for
business activity taxes.
Virginia Congressmen Bob Goodlatte, a Republican, and Rick Boucher, a
Democrat, introduced the latest bill on Tuesday, the Internet Tax Fairness
Act. The lawmakers propose a permanent ban on Internet access and
discriminatory taxes. But they also designed their bill to clarify
standards by which states could collect business activity taxes.
States will be able to impose taxes on income from interstate commerce if
the company has property and employees in that state for at least 30 days.
High-tech groups praised the -bright-line- nexus standard in the
Goodlatte-Boucher bill. -Such clarification is extremely necessary in our
digital economy to eliminate the potential for double taxation and
uncertainty among businesses,- said Ken Wasch, president of the software &
Information Industry Association.
That bill does not address sales tax on Internet commerce and the effort
to streamline state taxing laws.
Apple's Macworld Letdown
If an individual had the ability to listen to the thoughts and utterances
of Mac users across the globe Wednesday morning, that person would more
than likely have heard the simultaneous grumbles and moans of all those
that watched the latest Macworld Expo from Apple Computer, as virtually
none of the expectations were met.
Most industry analysts had hoped for flat panel iMacs, an Apple branded
PDA, major speed jumps, and Steve Jobs' famous "one more thing," which
usually features a product or announcement that steals the show.
While Apple did unveil some new products and made a few announcements, for
the most part, these were mostly minor software updates, incremental
hardware upgrades and repackaged examples of existing Apple technologies.
Jobs started his keynote speech by talking about the company's recently
introduced retail effort, while also mentioning that the company plans to
open additional stores in Dallas, Texas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Boston,
Massachusetts and Chicago.
Shortly afterward, the focus changed to OS X. It was made known that there
are over 1,000 applications shipping now for OS X, that 29 percent of
developers plan to deliver an OS X native application within three months
and that 55 percent plan on delivering their software within a six-month
time period.
Steve then handed the show floor to 10 unique software developers --
including Microsoft, Adobe, Quark, Filemaker, Connectix, IBM, WorldBook,
Blizzard, Aspyr and Alias Wavefront -- so that each could represent their
company's upcoming OS X applications.
After each featured upcoming copies of software to be available for OS X,
Steve re-took the stage and talked specifically about OS X.
It was this presentation that was most significant for Apple, as it dealt
almost entirely with OS X's much-needed accelerated user interface.
Those of you who have had the opportunity to use OS X up until now might
have been disenchanted with the operating system's sluggish performance.
Fortunately an upcoming (September) update to OS X (10.1) alleviates these
performance concerns.
Applications in 10.1 appeared to launch incredibly fast and window
resizing and minimizing are no longer a burden, as is the case now in
10.0.4. It'll be interesting to see how the OS fares in performance
comparisons now that the interface is optimized.
After the OS X presentation was finished, Jobs turned to hardware,
beginning with the company's iBook.
Recent sales statistics proved to be impressive: According to Jobs,
182,000 iBooks shipped in only two months time -- the highest number of
notebooks Apple ever shipped under one product line in a single quarter.
When Jobs mentioned the iMac, Expo attendees held their breath in
anticipation for what they hoped would be the product announcement that
would reenergize Apple's one product line in the greatest need of a
significant update.
Instead of these significant updates, the iMac retained its aged form
factor and reverted to last year's colors of Indigo, Ruby, Snow and
Graphite, with only minor speed improvements (500/600/700MHz). If any good
news came of this announcement, it's that Apple did away with those
disgusting patterns that were introduced only a few months ago.
When it came time for Apple to unveil its new Power Mac towers, Expo
attendees at least had one new thing to look at.
Apple introduced a slightly modified enclosure based on the company's G4
tower casing while also offering updated internals. The new high-end
machines come in 733, 800 and Dual 800 MHz configurations.
The 866 and Dual 800 models will come with a new-and-improved SuperDrive
as standard equipment. nVIDIA GeForce 2 cards are also standard, with
GeForce 3s as a BTO option.
The high-end model now comes with a dual-display graphics card that has
both VGA and ADC connectors. The single-processor 733 and 800 PowerMacs
are available now, the Dual 800 in August, and the 866 "soon," which we
take to mean September-ish.
The obligatory PowerMac vs. Pentium bake-off took center stage shortly
after the new G4s were introduced. Apple pitted its 866 G4 against Intel's
1.7Ghz P4 -- Intel hasn't yet shipped its 1.8 GHz processor just yet -- in
a comparison using Adobe's PhotoShop and MicroMatt's Media Cleaner.
As always, Apple completed its comparison tests twice as fast as the
Wintel machine, which brought about discussion from Apple's No. 1 hardware
man Jon Rubinstein about "the MHz Myth."
While this speech made a complicated subject very simple, its subject
matter might best be addressed to the multitudes that still associate
speed with MHz/GHz.
The show ended after Steve Jobs re-introduced minor updates to the company's
DVD software. iDVD 2.0 (Mac OS X-only) will ship this autumn, with a host
of impressive new features such as background encoding, up to 90 minutes
of video, motion menus, slideshow soundtracks, and new presentation
styles. It will be a free upgrade to existing iDVD users.
I'm confident that Apple has a whole lot more that it's holding back for
better economic times. I, along with the rest of the Mac community, was
hoping that Apple would release these products at the Expo as an act of
defiance of the current economic slowdowns.
Oh well. I guess its back to the waiting game again.
NetZero Founders Resign to Start New Company
Internet service provider NetZero Inc. on Tuesday said its four founders
have resigned to start a new company -- almost six weeks after NetZero
agreed to buy rival Juno Online Inc. to form a new company called United
Online.
The company, which was founded in July 1997 and went public in September
1999, said in a statement that NetZero President Ronald Burr and three
other founders have resigned to start a new company called Layer2 Networks,
focusing on broadband.
The other founders that resigned were Stacy Haitsuka, senior vice president
of technology; Harold MacKenzie, vice president of software, and Marwan
Zebian, vice president of networking and communications.
None of the executives will be replaced. Gerald Popek was named chief
technology officer in October 2000 and Randy Tamura was recently hired as
NetZero's vice president of software to take over some of the daily
responsibilities of the founders.
NetZero Chief Executive Mark Goldston said in a phone interview that the
executives and he realized about a year ago that the company was getting to
a size and scope where their skills were not being best used.
Therefore, the executives had been spending much of their time looking at
venture opportunities in high-speed and wireless services. However, those
opportunities did not fit into where NetZero was going, especially with the
Juno deal.
``As we go forward, we are going to have to rationalize the employee base
from both companies. It was very clear to them that they weren't going to
have ongoing operational roles in the new company because they had
diminished roles in the existing company," said Goldston, who will become
president and chief executive of United Online.
NetZero launched its free Internet service in October 1998, but has
recently expanded beyond free access as Internet advertising spending dries
up.
It now offers paid access and aims to corner the discounted Internet access
market to compete against bigger players such as market leaders AOL Time
Warner Inc., EarthLink Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.
``It's a bittersweet decision. NetZero is something we have created and are
very attached to but are very confident in the management team that exists
and their ability to carry the company forward," Burr said in an
interview.
Layer2, which will soon be looking for financing, hopes to provide the
connection between the ``last mile" of broadband, or from the central
office to the home.
``There is no provider who provides the connection from the last mile to
the Internet and all ISPs have to build it themselves, which is a big
reason broadband has run into bottlenecks in deployment" Burr said.
He added that there is a high probability that NetZero and Layer2 will be
working together in the future.
Microsoft XP Won't Include Java
Microsoft will not include the Java programming language in its new Windows
XP operating system, the software giant said Tuesday.
Microsoft spokesman Tom Pilla said the company decided not to include the
language so it wouldn't violate a legal settlement agreement.
Java maker Sun Microsystems Inc. in January settled a lawsuit it brought
against Microsoft three years ago in U.S. District Court in San Jose,
charging Redmond-based Microsoft with infringing a licensing agreement to
use Java.
Java, introduced by Sun in 1995, lets developers write a software
application that can run on a variety of computers, regardless of the
underlying operating system. The language is widely used on Web sites and
Sun had hoped to make Java a universal programming language.
Sun alleged that Microsoft violated the terms of an agreement signed in
1996 by creating a Windows-only version of Java that was incompatible with
other software. Sun also claimed copyright infringement, but a judge later
dismissed that part of the claim.
Under an agreement, Microsoft agreed to no longer license from Sun any
current or new versions of Java, but it would have been allowed to
distribute products carrying outdated versions of the Java technology for
seven years.
Microsoft also had to pay Sun $20 million, and was barred from using Sun's
``Java Compatible" trademark.
``In the wake of the settlement agreement with Sun and the resolution of
that litigation this approach simplifies our implementation and adherence
of that agreement," Pilla said.
In light of the settlement agreement, which gave Microsoft just seven years
to phase out Java, he said the decision should come as no surprise.
``The reality is that
(Java program) represents a lot of code that the vast
majority of users don't need," Pilla said.
A Sun spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment by The
Associated Press Tuesday.
Pilla denied that the move was aimed at phasing out support for Java in
Microsoft applications. He said Windows XP users will be able to easily
download Java off a Microsoft update site if they come across a software
application running on Java.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia also
addressed Microsoft's use of Java in its ruling last month that unanimously
reversed the breakup of Microsoft.
The court overturned the court-ordered breakup of Microsoft, but upheld the
trial judge's finding that the software giant violated antitrust laws by
muscling hardware and software companies into giving its operating systems
preferential treatment.
In its ruling, the court said that making an incompatible version of Java
was not illegal, but said that its agreements with software vendors to use
only the Microsoft-compatible Java version was illegal.
Microsoft, meanwhile, has recently begun developing a set of Internet
services, called .NET. based on another programming language, called XML.
The .NET strategy calls for selling a series of paid services over the
Internet that users can access on any computer device. This could range
from booking plane flights to buying concert tickets.
Latest Destructive Virus, SirCam, Spreading Quickly
A new virus has been discovered that has the possibility to fill up users'
hard drives, delete files, distribute private documents, hide itself from
typical virus scanners, and propagate itself across the Internet using the
Microsoft Outlook address book.
The Symantec Anti-Virus Research Center (SARC) has ranked the threat of
the virus, entitled SirCam, a four, with five being the most serious. The
McAfee Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team (AVERT), as well as the Trend
Micro Virus Information Center, ranks the virus as a medium threat. SirCam
also joined Trend's Worldwide Virus Tracker Top 10 list at number 3.
The virus usually comes as an e-mail attachment with the file name
"SirCam32.exe." There are several payloads of the virus that randomly
occur. One user could actually be a carrier of the virus but never be
infected.
"When you run it, it does three things that are sort of odd and unusual,"
said Steve Trilling, director of SARC.
The first thing it does is compute a random number that has a 1 in 33
chance of triggering the machine to fill up all the remaining space on the
hard disk by adding text to a system file in the Recycle Bin
(c:\recycled\sircam.sys) at each startup.
Next, the virus will check to see if the date is October 16. If it is and
the Windows operating systems is using a European date format
(day/month/year), then it will again generate a random number that has a 1
in 20 chance of triggering the machine to delete all the files on the hard
drive.
Finally, it will export a random document form the hard drive and append
it to the body of the virus when it propagates itself to other users. This
could present a privacy breach if the document is confidential.
Another unusual characteristic of the virus is that when it uploads a file
from the hard drive to send to other users, it will append the file name
with either .exe, .bat, .tif., .com, or .link. If it uses .link or .bat,
the virus will essentially "neuter" itself, Trilling says, ceasing to
operate.
The virus stores itself in the Microsoft Windows Recycle Bin, where most
virus scanners don't scan for viruses.
Trilling says Symantec, which first discovered and issued a patch for the
virus on Monday, has received 200 submissions of the virus from around the
world, 40 of which were from corporate customers. McAfee has received 50
worldwide submissions, 30 over the evening between Wednesday night and
Thursday morning.
The virus is also a worm, spreading by sending itself out to all the
addressees in a person's Microsoft Outlook address book, and copies itself
to any shared drives it finds.
The e-mail that people get is either in English or Spanish, and the body
of the message varies although it typically looks like this:
Hi! How are you?
I send you this file in order to have your advice
I hope you can help me with this file that I send
I hope you like the file that I sendo(CQsendo) you
This is the file with the information that you ask for
See you later. Thanks
Patches have been available for download for most of the week from the
major anti-virus software vendors. Those that don't fix their systems
could have an ugly awakening October 16, Trilling says.
The last well-known virus to use a date as its trigger was the Chernobyl
virus, which went off on April 26, 2000, the anniversary of the Chernobyl
incident in Russia. That virus also was distributed months before the
actual trigger date (August 1999), giving users plenty of time to patch
their systems before the virus went off.
Vincent Gullotto, senior director of McAfee AVERT, says not everyone
patches their anti-virus systems. Among McAfee's customer base, Gullotto
says about 50 to 60 percent perform weekly updates, another 30 percent
update monthly, and the rest either update less often or not at all.
Hackers Advised Against Life of Crime at Defcon Jamboree
At the world's largest hacker convention -- a raucous and paranoid
gathering of loners given to black T-shirts and wild pranks -- the veterans
had a message for the younger, up-and-coming hackers: go straight.
The opportunities of a career in business and the risks of a life of
cybercrime was the serious subtext to the DefCon conference this week,
where attendees are notorious for jamming hotel video systems, pouring
cement down toilets, and getting the group banned from past venues.
``DefCon is a cross between a Star Trek convention and a Ramones concert,"
said Bruce Schneier, a regular speaker at DefCon, a cryptography expert and
chief technology officer of a network monitoring firm, Counterpane Internet
Security.
This year's meeting, at the Alexis Park Hotel, featured sessions on how an
interest in hacking can be parlayed into work as a security consultant and
even the show's organizers announced that they had formed their own firm.
``I'd rather invest money in starting another business than putting it in
the stock market," said Jeff Moss, who organized the first DefCon nine
years ago and also puts on a conference that takes place right before
DefCon, Black Hat Briefings.
Black Hat, held at Caesar's Palace, attracted 1,300 earlier in the week and
about 5,000 were expected at DefCon, where professionals and dedicated
amateurs come to swap information about computer network vulnerabilities
and how to fix them.
Sessions covered the esoteric -- like microcontroller hacking and the use
of intelligent agents in attacking and defending networks. Featured games
included ``Spot the Fed," "Hacker Jeopardy," and a ``Capture the Flag"
competition where contestants attempt to break into a secured test network.
The competition ``helps you become a better systems administrator," said
``Graphix," a 17-year-old participant, who like many hackers prefers to be
known only by a screen name.
The event also featured a bazaar where vendors hawked books with titles
like ``How to Hide in Public Places," ``Lip Reading Made Easy," and ``You
and the Police."
Despite its underworld image, DefCon is a place where veteran hackers can
influence their younger colleagues in positive ways, attendees said.
``You have people who are here to see their idols and their idols are
telling them to stop doing the bad hacking," said Eric Ohlson, a security
consultant for Breakwater Security Associates, based in Seattle.
Jack Holleran, who served as technical director of the National Security
Agency's National Computer Security Center until retiring earlier this
year, is one of several law enforcement personnel who volunteer at DefCon.
``I think like a parent," said Holleran, the father of five. "Many
hackers don't have socialization skills. It's my belief that they deal with
people who can understand what they're talking about."
Holleran said it is useful for federal agents to be involved in the show.
``It helps them (hackers) see that there are different ways of doing
things," he said. ``That they may be able to do what they want to do
without getting a felony conviction."
``Aqualung," 23, who sports an ultra-thin mustache and favors black
clothing, said on the sidelines of the convention that he hopes to bank on
his 14 years of computer experience to start a small consulting firm.
Aqualung said he has advice he can give companies on the vulnerability of
their networks to break-ins through employees dial-up connections, he said.
The hacker has unearthed a lot of ``interesting stuff" by doing so-called
``war dialing," setting his computer to automatically dial available local
phone numbers to find open connections. With that kind of random probing,
he was able to tap patient information from a veterans hospital in Long
Beach, California, he said.
``I'm not the kind of person who goes in and breaks stuff," Aqualung said.
``I just go in and look around. I try to be ethical."
Moss, the conference organizer, said helping educate younger, often
socially isolated hackers to the consequences of illegal computer activity
is one of the main reasons he continues to run the annual show.
Earlier that day, Moss said he encountered one attendee hacking into an ATM
cash machine in a hotel lobby trying to make its screens display
``DefCon."
``As long as they know the risks, my job has been done," he said. ``I
don't want to see really bright kids in high school not be in computer
security because they screwed up."
Hacker Group: Software Will Make Censors 'Powerless'
Hacker-developed software aimed at foiling the efforts of repressive
governments to censor free speech and squelch dissidents on the Internet
is under development and will be completed soon, according to a group that
bills itself as "ethical hackers."
Hacker collective Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) had originally planned to
unveil its "Peekabooty" anti-censorship software project at the DefCon
2001 hacker convention, which ended Sunday in Las Vegas, but said earlier
that the project would be delayed because further testing was needed to
weed out technical problems.
The software makers say governments will be powerless to counteract the
software because it will be released as open source code, which means that
anyone can add to or modify it, and it will "mutate beyond recognition."
The convention, once a secretive gathering of underground hackers, has
evolved closer to the mainstream in recent years, and this year's
gathering was addressed by federal law enforcement officials, human rights
experts, and even a U.S. congressman.
"We are talking about more constructive, more positive ways of dealing
with human rights abuses," freelance human rights researcher Greg Walton
told the group. "It's not ethical to own someone's Web site as a way of
getting the message out."
Federal agencies even used the lure of government jobs to appeal to the
hackers.
"The objective of coming and having a 'Meet the Fed' panel is to give
folks who have not crossed the line yet a positive alternative,"
Department of Defense spokesman Jim Christy said. "There is a whole lot of
talent here. Let's put that talent to good use."
The cDc said it has 28 people on the anti-censorship software project,
including IT professionals, lawyers, humans rights workers and students
from the U.S., Israel, Canada, Europe, Taiwan and China, as well as
"informal layers of support."
On its Web site, the group describes the software as a "distributed
collaborative privacy network. It allows clients to evade most forms of
DNS (domain name service) filtering. It will also make Web page requests
directly to a distributed server cloud that processes the requests and
trans-serves content back to the requesting client."
Members of the Peekabooty network will be able to request specific
documents or files to be put on the network. Then, when the files appear,
the browser will package them, encrypt them to further shield the data,
and send them back to the individual computer making the request.
The software is aimed at repressive governments that crack down on
Internet free speech, like China, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. But
Internet censorship has also become a hot-button issue in countries not
generally thought of as repressive.
In Ireland, for example, the government recently introduced legislation
banning opinion polls during the week before elections and referendums.
Germany bans Nazi-related material, and Australia restricts access to
pornography. In the UK, activists claim that Web portals are censoring gay
e-mails.
"The liberal democracies have talked a far better game than they've played
on access to information," the cDc says on its site. "... if our leaders
aren't prepared to defend the Internet, we are."
The group uses what it calls "disruptive compliance" to get its message
across.
"We are trying to intervene to reverse the tide of state-sponsored
censorship of the Internet through the inventive use of code," says the
group, which only uses code names.
"It's the opposite of 'civil disobedience.' We favor using disruptive
technologies that comply with the spirit and original intent of the
Internet."
Who Is the Web's Most Downloaded Woman?
The race is on to find the world's most downloaded woman -- and the British
are offering a wrinkly soap star to prove that shapely lovelies from
Australia and America are not the answer.
Chances are that the British interpretation of ``Who wants to be an Online
babe" do not gel with the wider Internet world, which is more attuned to
the charms of busty challenger Sarah Jane from down-under or current web
queen Danni Ashe, a 32-year-old U.S. porn star.
August 1 is D-day, or at least D-cup day, when Sarah Jane afficionados try
to topple Ashe (www.billiondownloadwoman.com) in a 24-hour frenzy of
hardcore clicking.
``Log on and be part of history," said the Australian's Web site
www.sarahjane.com.au, in a salacious entreaty to user
``Log on and be part of history," said the Australian's Web site
www.sarahjane.com.au, in a salacious entreaty to users to out-click fans of
the U.S. diva.
Blonde Sarah Jane, described by her Web site as an actress -- albeit one in
a scarlet fishnet bodysuit -- has set her sights on ousting the pneumatic
stripper Ashe of ``Danni's Hard-Drive" fame as the virtual world's
favorite woman. Unseating Ashe would need at least 70,000 clicks a day,
given that the U.S. star says she is already three times more popular than
super-downloaded teen-pop goddess Britney Spears, with lifetime hits of
more than a billion.
But now there's a surprise late entry.
Britain hopes that 72-year-old Kathy Staff, frumpy female star of the
decidedly softcore television series Last of t he Summer Wine, can use
irony, innuendo and wrinkly tights where physical attributes lack.
``We're out to stop her (Sarah Jane). Help us put Nora Batty up there with
the best of them," BBC Radio Five Live, promoters of the alternative babe,
said on their Web site.
Whoever wins, the record keepers are not playing ball.
The Guinness Book of Records said Ashe held the download title last year
but that she had to subsequently share her crown with another model, Cindy
Margolis, when it became harder to measure hits.
``We did have a category for most downloaded woman but we discontinued it
last year because its just nigh on impossible to verify," said a spokesman
for the Guinness Book of Records.
May the best woman win.
=~=~=~=
Atari Online News, Etc.is a weekly publication covering the entire
Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise noted
at the beginning of any article, to Atari user groups and not for
profit publications only under the following terms: articles must
remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of
each article reprinted. Other reprints granted upon approval of
request. Send requests to: dpj@atarinews.org
No issue of Atari Online News, Etc. may be included on any commercial
media, nor uploaded or transmitted to any commercial online service or
internet site, in whole or in part, by any agent or means, without
the expressed consent or permission from the Publisher or Editor of
Atari Online News, Etc.
Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do
not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of the publishers. All
material herein is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing.
