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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 06 Issue 23
Volume 6, Issue 23 Atari Online News, Etc. June 4, 2004
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2004
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:
Kevin Savetz
Lonny Pursell
Nick Harlow
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
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To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
following sites:
http://people.delphiforums.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.delphiforums.com/atari/
=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0623 06/04/04
~ NEWSie Update Released ~ People Are Talking! ~ AtarICQ Updated!
~ Spam Gets Dangerous! ~ Easy, Cheap Broadband! ~ JagFest UK Soon!
~ Solaris Open Source! ~ Strike Back at Spyware ~ New HP Offerings!
~ Audio Exposure ST! ~ Lindows Wins A Round! ~ New Media Player!
-* Sasser, Netsky Worms Linger! *-
-* Revenge of Pac-Man - Retro Is Back! *-
-* Hacking Sparks Need For Complex Passwords! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I hope that everyone had a long and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. What a
great weekend it was around here. The weather was perfect for the entire
weekend! I managed to finish up most of my outdoor projects. The veggies
are in, all of my flower gardens are full, and most of the mulch has been
put down. An electrician fixed our electrical problems with our pool power,
so we'll be able to open up the pool as soon as the weather warms up a bit
more. They also took care of some other problems that we had. They'll be
back for some other things we want checked and added, but they got the major
stuff that we wanted done. I'll even get to finish those darn floors in the
"new" additions soon! Now I just have to check on the rider mower that's in
the shop, and I'll be all set for the outside stuff. My wife will be happy
once I start tackling the rest of the indoor projects, finally!
These long holiday weekends make for a short week, so I don't have much time
this week to talk about some of my growing pet peeves such as the growing
scourge of spam and the like. It's simply amazing with all of the
precautions one must take just to try and read our e-mail and do some web
surfing! Well, those thoughts will wait for another day.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
NEWSie Update Released
No the subject line is not a typo. ;-)
Available for download is v0.96a dated Jun 1, 2004 which is based on the
open source release of NEWSie. This updated should resolve the "begin "
issues, at lease with auto-depack enabled it won't mistakenly stop and ask
to depack a post anymore.
Like all things new, please use with caution. If you wish to discuss this
release please drop me a line at my private mailbox. I may look into other
bugs but I make no promises.
Direct download link:
http://www.bright.net/~gfabasic/files/newsie.zip
Binary release only at this time and the changes I made are available upon
request.
--
FreeMiNT http://sparemint.atariforge.net/sparemint/ [The Future is now!]
Team Atari http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/stats/team/team_21046.html
L. Pursell [AtarIRC, GFA-Basic, Hades060]
AtarICQ 0.160 Is Released
At last, there is a new release of AtarICQ available! Since the last
version was uploaded, many things have happened that made this one get
delayed over and over: I got a CT60, which I needed time to install and
setup properly. Furthermore, I shortly after experienced a serious hard disk
crash which took quite some time to recover fully from. Anyway, things are
slowly getting back to normal again now :)
In AtarICQ 0.160, you should not expect any major changes. Instead, there
are some important bug fixes present and even the overlay has been updated
again. Here is a brief list of the most important additions and changes:
# No hardcoded limit for the number of contacts you can add! The internal
arrays can be adjusted dynamically on the fly now! (Big thanks to Lp for
sharing the GFA info!)
# Configuration for sound has been bug fixed and should be much better now
# The OVL has had another update, so now aICQ can talk to eg. Trillian and
GAIM. Furthermore, some problems with receiving ICQ messages of certain
lengths (at least that is what seemed to be the problem) has been fixed.
# A problem with reading registration data from file has been cured
# Fixed a problem where sometimes the wrong window was given \\\"focus\\\"
# XBIOS sound should work on Falcons now (Big thanks goes to Deun!)
As usual, you can read more and download the program here: www.ataricq.org
http://www.ataricq.org/
Atari.Org Presents Audio Exposure ST
Atari.Org is pleased to announce the release of Audio Exposure ST, a remix
CD of classic tunes from Atari ST.
The CD is produced by Richard Davey of The Little Green Desktop and
mirror-hosted by Atari.Org.
The tunes remixed are:
* Rings of medusa
* Syntax Terror Fletch
* Gods
* Goldrunner
* The Killing Game Show
* Mindbomb demo
* There aren't any sheeps in outer mongolia
* Verminator
Happy listening!
http://audioexposure.atari.org/
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Another week has come and gone and I find
that other things have intruded into the time that I allot to myself for
this column.
I'm not going to hammer at you about registering to vote this week,
because I've got a little project that I'd like you to help me with if
you happen to live someplace other than the United States.
If you don't mind, drop me a line and let me know what gasoline/petrol
costs you. A simple email with the price (in native currency) per
gallon/liter would make me very happy. Yeah, I know, I've GOT to get out
more. <grin>
Anyway, if you could take a moment to send the above info to me at
joe@atarinews.org, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Okay, since you've agreed to do me that little favor, I'll do you one by
not going on any longer with this introduction. <grin>
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Ben Smith asks:
"Can somebody help so I can View and Print PDF files on my Atari ST?"
Edward Baiz tells Ben:
"There are two ways to do that. Get either Ghostscript or Porthos.
Ghostscript can be downloaded from the Internet. Porthos you have
to pay for (about $40). I have both, but Porthos is far the better
way, but you must have a multi-tasking environment."
Kenneth Medin jumps in with some additional information:
"At least the demo version of Porthos runs under single TOS. But, you
will need NVDI (V.5 ?) and probably WDIALOG.
On the other hand GEMGS (Ghostscript for TOS) can be used and seem to be
usable on 4 MB RAM. Just tested it on a MSTe and it could render at least
the two simple pdf's I tried. It's very slow but does not need any NVDI
or m-task.
The whole package takes 5.5 MB on the hard disk with the app itself at 1.5
MB. I had it convert the pdf to IMG files and it worked but the result
ended up in the \TMP directory with wrong file extender.
On a 16 MHz 68000 it's painfully slow... 2 minutes from launch until the
"GS>" prompt appear. Another 3 minutes to get the IMG file at 100 dpi. At
180 dpi I got errors due to lack of memory?
On the TT with lots of RAM it performed better...
Can be found at:
http://www.felschonline.de/c_atari_en.html
You will need at least:
http://www.tu-harburg.de/~alumnifc/download/atari/gemgs/gemgs13-bin.lzh
http://www.tu-harburg.de/~alumnifc/download/atari/gemgs/gemgs13-en.lzh
http://www.tu-harburg.de/~alumnifc/download/atari/gemgs/gemgs13-fnt1.lzh
http://www.tu-harburg.de/~alumnifc/download/atari/gemgs/gemgs13-fnt2.lzh
http://www.tu-harburg.de/~alumnifc/download/atari/gemgs/gemgs13-lib.lzh
A total of almost 4 MB to download."
Derryck Croker adds his opinion:
"In my opinion, GEMGS isn't the easiest program to set up or use, so if
money and OS are no object I'd definitely recommend Porthos.
Anyway, don't forget to thank DDP Translations for the English versions
of both these apps."
'Dark Willow' asks about graphics acceleration for his STE:
"I have a 4mb 520STe, with TOS 1.62. I know there are a whole slew of
graphic accelerators and upgrade for the Falcon and TT, but is there
anything out there for the STe? I don't want to make it super powerful,
but enough to be usable for web browsing and basic scanning/image
editing, say 800x600 with 4096 colours. Were any boards ever made, and
if so, how much do they go for???"
Brian Roland tells Willow:
"For speeding up the STe...
There have been a few upclocking kits for the CPU over the years that can
be bodged into an STe. Check the remaining Atari vendors, as they might
have something in the back room that will fit.
There are also kits for speeding up the serial port (the stock STe does
19200 tops). I say 'kit', because some were sold with the parts and
instructions boxed and labeled. This is likely something you could find
a DIY on the net and order your own parts for if you really wanted.
The STe holds 4meg of SIMM memory. If you haven't already topped that
out, it's an easy upgrade. Almost any 1meg, 30pin, 70ns or faster
sticks will do the trick.
Getting more than 4meg of memory into an STe is quite a challenge.
Marpet made some boards that one 'might' be able to hack into an STe.
Even so, it would require TOS 2.06 or MagiC to take advantage of it.
For enhanced graphics...Alla VGA... I'm thinking there was something
called "The Panther" that gives the STe one ISA slot. For this slot,
there were some NVDI drivers for at least one graphics card, tho' I do
not recall which card (for some reason I'm thinking ET4000).
My memory is foggy, but I do believe the Panther was designed with the
1040/520 STe machines in mind. One solution was to recase the
motherboard and mount the card inside. Another was to run a ribbon
cable outside the factory case, where your graphic card would live in a
no frills project box.
If he's still lurking around the Atari business, I would suggest asking
Nima (Homa Systems) about anything graphics related for the Atari. It's
my understanding that he has been quite instrumental in developing a lot
of things on the software end for Graphics cards. He also sold and
supported (possibly a developer as well?) the excellent Nova cards,
adaptors, and drivers.
Again, my memory is quite foggy....
Try a web search for "Panther Graphics Atari" etc...
Even if you can't find the ready built hardware kits for sale
anywhere...it should be something you might could build yourself
provided you can find the software bits somewhere.
Another thing to consider...
You might find a Falcon or TT, or even build a fast linux box for ARANYM
for what it cost to buy or build a graphics card that may or may not
work very well in the end.
One of the advantages to having enhanced graphics is the ability to
see/process large-colorful images. An STe tops out at 4meg of RAM
(unless you're very resourceful and creative). Keep that in mind! To
get much accomplished you'd likely need some sort of virtual memory to
hard drive tool (outside?), or expensive software that can manipulate
images from disk, which would slow things down considerably. Alas,
another reason it might be wise to get a different machine than to try
to slap a card on an STe. True, the graphics card will have memory
built in and allow large fancy desktops, but that doesn't stop the STe
from gobbling up more memory to drive the card when it comes to jpegs and
such as that.
The STe is perhaps the best machine Atari ever built for running STOCK
apps. MIDI, GAMES, etc, that don't call for lots of memory and screen
real-estate. Wish I had one around for that purpose When it comes to
power user set-ups, such as MiNT, or hot graphics workstations, you
might be better off just getting a new machine with lots of RAM and the
graphics capabilities you desire built in. Falcon, TT, Hades, Milan,
PPC, or Intel."
Dark Willow replies:
"Yes, the memory I've already upgraded to the max 4mb, though I'm not
going to be doing any super-demanding so I'm not woo worried about
that. I'm loathed to put my STe aside for a TT, Falcon or Hades as for
one thing the budget is minimal, and I've already put quite a lot of
effort if not money into the STe which I'm loathed to give up on.
I did a lil digging on the Panther card, it did indeed exist and it
was the Tseng ET4000 chip that does the tricks. So, with that in mind,
I can only give it a try, not going to give up that easy...
Re: Recasing. As it is, my system is in it's original casing. I'm not
sure how easy it is to get the Desktopper these days, but am serious
considering moving it into an ATX housing, preferably, but not
necessarily desktop, and using a PC keyboard and mouse. I know the
key'b and mouse is both possible and easy enough to do, BUT just how
risky is it resetting the motherboard as I foresee almost certain
drilling great big holes in the motherboard to mount it... just how
risky is it? I've only ever seen it done once and that was with (you
guessed it) a Falcon. Also, will any ATX case do, or is there any one
that is particularly good for the job?"
Brian tells Willow:
"Giving up on the STe was not at all what I had in mind. There's far too
many jewels that run best on that machine just like it is. I really
meant, if you can find a high end machine for less than the ET4000
upgrade would cost, ADD it to the collection.
In my opinion...for a non portable recasing, the bigger the case, the
better.
Don't drill any new holes in the STe motherboard itself. Instead, drill
the chassis to fit the MB and use nylon or rubber spacers to mount your
motherboard. The main thing is to make sure the case is large enough.
I've never done this, but as I think it through here is what "I" would
do. I might try it with my Falcon someday
Forget the whole tower case idea....
Go find a nice aluminium flight suit-case with suitable
dimensions...popular for cameras for instance. Use either woods, or
lucite sheets with proper glue to cut out an instrument panel to your
liking (surface area to mount buttons, keyboard, etc). Put a flat panel
TFT-VGA screen in the top half of the case, and mount the STe,
power supply, disk-drives and graphics card in the bottom half. You
could do the keyboard part a number of different ways....either using
the exiting keyboard solidly mounted in the case, or make it removable
on wire, or totally replace it with a PC or Mega keyboard of your
choice. Some kits exist for using non atari keyboards...the latest I is
called Eiffel I think.
As for specific 'plans' for my 'portable Atari'....I have none to
offer...if it were me, I would hunt parts, be creative, and design the
case as I go, solving problems one by one.
Regardless of your choice for a chassis...be it a tower, desk-top, rack,
or something portable as I mentioned, these are the basic things to
create solutions for.
One of the neatest things of all about the STe, is that it runs very
cool. Cooling is not an issue unless you've upclocked it, or put it in a
case with several HOT running disk drives or something (not so common
with modern drives). In fact, a lot of music studios don't get rid of
their ST machines for this very reason. It runs great without a
fan...NO FAN NOISE...so a lot of things in the actual sound room gizmos
get run by ST machines to this day
1. Power supply....
If you intend just to use the the existing STe power supply...no problems
at all. Just wire in a power switch as you like.
If you get a case with power supply and intend to run the STe from it....
The main thing is having a power supply that does not DEMAND some sort of
motherboard control (modern power saver features). Some of the newer
power supplies don't have a traditional 'on/off' switch anymore. Be
careful of that! Otherwise, it's easy...just match the voltages as
needed...pretty standard stuff here. Ground, +-12v and +-5v. Do pay
attention that there IS a difference between + voltages and - voltages.
2. Port access....
One solution is to mount the MB as close to case edges as possible, and
simply drill/punch the holes you need. Another is to make pig tails and
or harnesses to extend the ports to anywhere you'd like them.
Another option is to just leave a nice big hole somewhere to let all your
original cables run inside the case and plug in where they go. This is
fine if you tend to plug everything in and rarely change stuff around.
3. Cartridge/ROM port. If you never use this...just forget about it.
If you only have one device, plug it in and forget it. If you use it
all the time, with several devices...there's a few options.
a. Mount the MB in a position where you can just punch a hole to
access it.
b. Extend the port with a ribbon/card-edge kit, (I.E. CartRight from
Wizztronics)
c. Mount a dongle switcher such as Cart Master or Combiner, plug in
all your dongles.
4. The last biggie is the keyboard and joystick ports.
a. Remount the original keyboard in the original STe case and use
phone cord to build a cable to the STe MB. Design in connector types
and positions to your personal liking.
b. Acquire a mega or mega STe keyboard. Wire in appropriate
connectors for the cable.
c. Use a keyboard adaptor for PC type keyboard (Deka, Zkeys, Eiffel).
d. Be ultra creative and fashion your own new case and cables for
the original STe keyboard. If you can bodge together a bottom half to
cradle the keyboard, you can actually cut just the top part of the case
that you need for something that looks factory built. Materials you
might try for a bottom tray to match the top are light sheet metals easy
for a novice metal worker to fashion, lucite materials, moldable
plastics (like car bondo), and of course wood."
David Wade adds:
"The ST (F,FM) and STe systems have no provision for graphic upgrades,
and case space is very tight, so as far as I know no upgrades for the
machines exist. (Actually I lie, ST class machines can be updated to STE
spec by piggy backing two chips). The MEGA, TT and Mega STE all have
provision for a graphics card. There are quit a few options for these
machines. I don't know what provision the Falcon has, but there are
certainly upgrade options."
Nick Harlow posts this about JagFest:
"Well first of all thanks to Pocket, Arethius, Scat and other who made
the Jaguar Connexxion in France a real nice place to be. Plenty of
games, plenty of collectibles, plenty to see and do...
But now come the Brits with JagFest'04, June 12/13... are you planning
to come and see what's happening in the UK Atari World? We still have
some more work to do but the event is shaping up nicely with the
following attractions.....
Licensed Bar -- A little liquid refreshment to help the RAFFLE go down
Jaguar
Battlesphere Tourney run by Gaztee plus all the latest and Greatest
Releases inc Songbird and B&C - see and buy the games and protos you
only thought you would hear about.
Lynx, a selection of the best games and prototypes around
Atari ST-STE-TT-Falcon
Full Papyrus X demos, and sales.
NEXUS Gaming Competition (TBA)
Maggie DIsk Magazine
Who will have a similar programme to last year (ST and Falcon), but with
new demo's since last year of course Chris's Falcon is now F060! Also
there will be the miracle of selected hits of Atari 8-bit on CT60,
through the miracle of emulation.
Atari 8 Bit
The Devastator II, a fully functional MAME controller for your PC.
Magazines
Premier On-line Atari magazine MyAtari, and Retro-Mart plus a surprise??
Tournaments
Asteroids 7800 run by James Perrow
Tournies organised by Steve Moss, more details on web pages
Side Show
Commodore Scene will be in attendance with a C= side show .
They will be bringing the '4 player Commodore stand' and a bunch of 4
player games for people to play on. Also, they will probably be bringing
our portable SX64's (x3) along with some software to show off and some
of the new hardware too.
Emulators
Gamebase ST
Rob Perry - Will be showing the progress he and Paul Thompson has made on
their GamebaseST project . Find out how easy they have made it to run ST
games under emulation, all wrapped up in a mame32 type frontend.
Atari Portfolio
Portfolio Club (U.K).
Europe's premier Portfolio supporters, the Portfolio Club will be along to
show off all things to do with the Atari handheld. Find out more
Portfolio stuff at www.portfolioclub.cwc.net
More Information can be found at http://www.uk.jagfest.org.uk/
All Weekend Pass Holders will receive 2 free gifts for supporting JagFest
UK..... a JagFest Keyring (gasp!!) and a Free full copy including Hint
Book of Oxyd for Atari ST, STE, TT, Falcon, PC or MAC ( even bigger
gasp!!). In fact JagFest are feeling so generous we will give the Basic
Oxyd pack to the first 50 who come to JagFest on Saturday or Sunday.
If you want to come along for the day, it's only £5 and you are sure of a
good time, with friends new and old.. just contact me at
nick@1632systems.co.uk
Hope to see you soon."
Well folks, that's it for this time around. 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 - Vintage Games Are Back!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 'Cy Girls' Adventure!
'The Political Machine'!
And more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
'Cy Girls' Offers Many Styles of Adventure
"Cy Girls" is a combat game with so many facets that it's difficult to
pigeonhole.
Part of this PlayStation 2 game involves gunplay; part involves martial
arts. Some is set in the real world; the rest takes place in cyberspace.
All of it involves a super-secret spy organization where the first
requirement appears to be supermodel looks.
"Cy Girls" is actually two adventures in one, each on a separate disk, both
set in the year 2084.
One disk features Ice, a blonde operative-for-hire who's all about sexy
coolness and firepower. After a shower scene, complete with strategically
placed steam, she's hired to infiltrate Net Justice, an international
company that makes money via the Orwellian job of rewriting personal
histories.
Once that mission is complete, Ice is caught and sent to a high-security
prison, where a secret organization known as the Cy Girls helps her escape.
The Girls eventually recruit her to combat evil, fight for justice and make
big bucks.
(Apparently in 2084, drop-dead gorgeous women can't make a fortune acting
or strolling the runways anymore.)
Ice has some impressive moves. I particularly like the way players can
flatten her against a wall and then let her dart out into the open to snap
off a few rounds.
The second disk is the story of Aska, a ninja warrior and Cy Girls
operative who has gone AWOL from the organization to avenge the death of
her father.
If Ice's moves are impressive, Aska's are truly amazing. (But then, they'd
better be because she's often fighting goons with big guns.)
Not only can she run along walls or leap from tree branch to tree branch,
but she can also zip to the opposite end of a corridor in the blink of an
eye, or vanish in mid-air, reappearing behind an attacker. It's more magic
than martial arts. With two speeds - stopped and fly-like-the-wind - she's
like the Road Runner with a sword.
One nice feature is the ability of both women to plug themselves into a
computer and operate in a virtual world that parallels our own.
For example, when Ice is trying to free other inmates, she can only get
access to the cell locks by "diving" into cyberspace and running through a
virtual copy of the prison. However, she can't get access to the cells in
the cyber world unless she opens the correct doors in the real world. The
result is a lot of switching between the two realms, but it keep things
interesting, especially when the cyber realm has its own set of enemies to
battle. (The game automatically maps your progress, a very helpful
feature.)
"Cy Girls" is not tough to play, at least on the easy level. The
auto-aiming capability makes Ice a sure shot, and Aska can take out several
enemies simultaneously if you push her buttons correctly.
Some enemies are best fought by outrunning them. If you die, you
automatically go back to the last checkpoint with your health fully
restored.
Sometimes the game fakes you out nicely. The natural tendency to have Aska
jump over every chasm turns out to be a bad move in at least one instance.
You will miss an important doorway if you assume that you don't want to
fall down a hole.
Despite its strengths, "Cy Girls" has some unfortunate elements.
The over-arching story line - apparently tied to Damnation Monday, a
catastrophic planet-wide power failure in 2058 - is more than a little
vague. After introducing this "first great panic of the 21st century," the
game leaps ahead 26 years for no apparent reason.
When you attack certain enemies, they lose their flesh-and-blood look and
become wire-frame outlines.
Too many villains look and act alike, swaying back and forth when they're
mortally wounded, like actors in a bad movie.
Boxes that are moved and chairs that have been tipped over are mysteriously
returned to their original position if you leave the room for a while.
All this detracts from a sometimes-compelling, often-elegant game.
"Cy Girls" ($40) from Konami is rated for mature audiences because of the
blood, violence, suggestive themes and strong language.
Ubisoft to Publish U.S. Election Video Game
The typical video game calls for shooting aliens, racing cars and beating
enemies into submission, but publisher Ubi Soft Entertainment has decided
gamers may also enjoy stumping for votes at a nursing home somewhere in
Ohio.
The company said on Wednesday it has signed a deal to publish "The
Political Machine," a new game for PCs that puts players in control of the
2004 presidential campaigns of either incumbent President Bush or
Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry.
Players will also have the option of creating their own Republican or
Democratic candidate or managing the campaign of a historical figure like
Ronald Reagan or Franklin Roosevelt.
The game will allow players to raise funds, barnstorm for votes and join
candidate debates.
"We figured it would be kind of fun to be able to go around the country and
try to take out ads, debate on the issues that are out there ... and see
how different candidates played up against each other," Brad Wardell, the
game's designer told Reuters.
Taking turns against the computer or another live player, budding "campaign
managers" will have to manage a budget, coordinate strategy and give
interviews on spoof political TV shows like "60 Seconds" and the "O'Maley
Factor."
Most of the game's demographic data is gathered from the U.S. Census, and
candidates rise in the polls by appealing to states on the issues judged
most important to them.
That will require players to finesse their message to gain the backing of
special interest groups and get the most states possible on board with
their candidate, Wardell said.
"A player who's not a political junkie quickly learns why real-world
candidates seemingly flip-flop on the issues," Wardell said.
The game is expected to be released sometime this summer, between the
Democratic convention in July and the Republican convention in August.
Wardell said the public seemed to be more evenly split between the two
parties and the candidates than in the past, which made the game
potentially more interesting.
"We wanted to do this before the 2000 election but our models said Al Gore
was going to win, so we decided not to do it," he said.
And while the game is clearly fallible as a predictive tool, Wardell said
it offered some insight into real life politics.
"According to our model, Kerry should pick Gephardt as his VP," he said,
referring to Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt, who he said could deliver
states like Iowa and Missouri.
So what about the outcome in November? "Right now, according to the model,
Bush is going to lose by quite a bit," Wardell said.
Revenge of Pac-Man: Vintage Games Are Back
In the early 1980's, when he was 25 and working on the arcade games
Defender and Robotron 2084, Eugene Jarvis wasn't sure video games would
last. "There was a fear that everything would just kind of die," he said
recently. Video games were new and seemingly impermanent, vulnerable to
business convulsions that made him fear that he was involved in a faddish
"digital Hula-Hoop" and that ever improving graphics would render early
games obsolete. There were even wild theories that spaceborne alpha rays
could cause arcade machines to decay.
Cosmic rays and other forces have not yet gotten the best of Mr. Jarvis's
creations, which are among the most popular in the thriving market of retro
games. As players age and 80's nostalgia reinvigorates interest in old
games, an industry that has long focused on the present and future has
become eager to herald its past.
"Retro's very popular now," said Perrin Kaplan, vice president for
marketing and corporate affairs at Nintendo of America, which is
introducing a classics game line. "We are part of the initiative that's
happening across fashion, music and otherwise."
Last month Saturn introduced a commercial featuring its Vue sport utility
vehicle rolling through a town, absorbing dots to the officially licensed
sounds of a grazing Pac-Man. Billboard magazine's Hot 100 singles chart
includes "Game Over (Flip),'' a song by the rapper Lil' Flip that contains
a beat built from the sounds of Pac-Man.
In the world of retro fashion, video game logos and icons make for trendy
T-shirts. (Most of the Atari T-shirts in circulation are not officially
licensed, according to Wim Stocks, Atari's executive vice president for
sales and marketing. Mr. Stocks's company was called Infogrames until, in
an acknowledgment of the retro trend last year, it adopted the faded Atari
name, which it had purchased three years earlier.)
Next week Nintendo, which has only sporadically reoffered games from its
extensive back catalog, will release a nostalgia line for the Game Boy
Advance that includes replica versions of Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers
and six other titles once playable on TV sets through the 1985 Nintendo
Entertainment System, or NES. It will also sell a special Game Boy Advance
painted to resemble the NES. The games will retail for $20 each, a price
close to that of many retro compilations of five or more games from
competing publishers. Ms. Kaplan said a similar Nintendo line in Japan sold
one million games in eight days.
This month the toymaker Jakks Pacific will add two new units to its own
classics effort, the million-plus-selling TV Games line. The TV Games
devices resemble classic arcade and home-console joysticks but actually
contain and play games as well, serving as controller, processor and retro
game collection all in one. One new unit will be shaped like a 1970's
Atari "paddle" controller. When plugged directly into the TV, it will play
10 Atari classics, including Breakout and Warlords. The other unit
resembles an arcade joystick and will include Ms. Pac-Man and four other
games.
Stephen G. Berman, president of Jakks Pacific, said the appeal of the
products, priced at $25 each and sold in game stores as well as at
mainstream retailers like Urban Outfitters and Walgreen's, stretched beyond
current gamers. "People who don't have the ability to play and the patience
to play PlayStation 2's or the Xboxes have the ability and patience to play
our TV Games," he said. The joysticks have been successful enough that two
major game publishers, Sega and Konami, announced separate plans last month
to license competing products through Radica Games and Majesco,
respectively.
Classic video games have not always been easy sells. To the uninitiated,
their appeal has often been confounding. Old games tend to be basic and
technically as far from today's games as silent film is to Lucasfilm. But
aficionados say that well-designed game play can transcend limitations in
the graphics.
Mr. Jarvis, 49, now a game designer at the arcade maker Raw Thrills,
likened the appeal to that of beloved games in other formats. "You never
get tired of playing Monopoly or Stratego or hearts," he said. "If you look
at the very cream of the crop of the video game medium of the early 80's,
there's probably 20 games there that will be fun forever."
Yet like Mr. Jarvis, plenty of designers had early doubts about their
works' longevity. Yuji Naka, a Sega game developer who programmed the first
Sonic the Hedgehog game in 1991, said he expected sequels to the game.
"What I did not see,'' he said by e-mail, "was a demand for vintage Sonic
games on current, then next-generation platforms."
Industry veterans speak of a bias against old games among those who work to
promote new titles. "For many, many years nobody wanted to acknowledge that
these things are part of a history," said Julian Eggebrecht, president of
the game developer Factor 5. "Marketing people were looking at you with a
funny, 'Oh, my God, is he getting old?' "
But now classic games fit into many business plans. Robert Ennis, chief
operating officer of Namco, publisher of the transcendent Pac-Man, said
that classics represented about 5 percent of his company's revenue. More
important, he said, the company's several "museum" collections have
involved little financial risk. "The development costs have already been
incurred," he said. "They are very profitable and easy to predict."
The classics have worked well not just as as standalone products but as
bonuses to newer games, too. Mr. Eggebrecht said his development team
included an influential 1982 Star Wars arcade game as a bonus in its 2003
Star Wars title to show gamers the inspiration behind the 2003 game.
In 2002 Atari programmers added to the entertainment value of a racing
game, Test Drive, by letting gamers play Pong during between-level load
times. The same year, Nintendo designers enabled players to collect and
play classic Nintendo games in the virtual town of the console game Animal
Crossing. Enthusiasm for that feature helped inspire Nintendo's classic
line, according to Ms. Kaplan.
Digital Eclipse, a company often hired to bring old games to new machines,
is having its busiest year of retro projects yet, according to its creative
director, Mike Mika. The diversity of the company's work reflects the
broadening uses for old games: retro compilations for consoles and the PC,
an assignment to insert classic Tron arcade games into a 2004 Tron title,
and the squeezing of the once-controversial 1992 fighting game Mortal
Kombat into cellphones for THQ Wireless.
Digital Eclipse has also brought Mr. Jarvis's work to multiple platforms,
including the current rights-holder's Web site, www.midway.com, where they
can be played free.
Once relatively rare, some classic games are now likely to be owned in
multiples. Greg Canessa, group manager of casual games at Microsoft, where
he is creating a classic-games download service for the Xbox called Xbox
Live Arcade, said he owns 16 versions of Pac-Man, and will "still stick
quarters into Pac-Man when I see it at the old soda shop or burger joint."
"There's just something about the classics,'' he said, adding, "I'll be an
old man playing these games."
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Two Weeks Till JagFest UK 12/13 June
Well first of all thanks to Pocket, Arethius, Scat and other who made the
Jaguar Connexxion in France a real nice place to be. Plenty of games,
plenty of collectibles, plenty to see and do...
But now come the Brits with JagFest'04, June 12/13... are you planning to
come and see whats happening in the UK Atari World? We still have some more
work to do but the event is shaping up nicely with the following
attractions.....
Licensed Bar -- A little liquid refreshment to help the RAFFLE go down
Jaguar
Battlesphere Tourney run by Gaztee plus all the latest and Greatest
Releases inc Songbird and B&C - see and buy the games and protos you only
thought you would hear about.
Lynx, a selection of the ebst games and prototypes around
Atari ST-STE-TT-Falcon
Full Papyrus X demos, and sales.
NEXUS Gaming Competition (TBA)
Maggie DIsk Magazine
Who will have a similar programme to last year (ST and Falcon), but with
new demo's since last year of course Chris's Falcon is now F060! Also there
will be the miracle of selected hits of Atari 8-bit on CT60, through the
miracle of emulation.
Atari 8 Bit
The Devastator II, a fully functional MAME controller for your PC.
Magazines
Premier On-line Atari magazine MyAtari, and Retro-Mart plus a suprise??
Tournaments
Asteroids 7800 run by James Perrow
Tournies organised by Steve Moss, more details on web pages
Side Show
Commodore Scene will be in attendance with a C= side show .
They will be bringing the '4 player Commodore stand' and a bunch of
4-player games for people to play on. Also, they will probably be bringing
our portable SX64's (x3) along with some software to show off and some of
the new hardware too.
Emulators
Gamebase ST
Rob Perry - Will be showing the progress he and Paul Thompson has made on
their GamebaseST project . Find out how easy they have made it to run ST
games under emulation, all wrapped up in a mame32 type frontend.
Atari Portfolio
Portfolio Club (U.K).
Europes premier Portfolio supporters, the Portfolio Club will be along to
show off all things to do with the Atari handeheld. Find out more Portfolio
stuff at www.portfolioclub.cwc.net
More Infomation can be found at http://www.uk.jagfest.org.uk/
All Weekend Pass Holders will recieve 2 free gifts for supporting JagFest
UK..... a JagFest Keyring (gasp!!) and a Free full copy including Hint Book
of Oxyd for Atari ST, STE, TT, Falcon, PC or MAC ( even bigger gasp!!). In
fact JagFest are feeling so generous we will give the Basic Oxyd pack to
the first 50 who come to JagFest on Saturday or Sunday.
If you want to come along for the day, it's only L5 and you are sure of a
good time, with friends new and old.. just contact me at
nick@1632systems.co.uk
Hope to see you soon.
Nick Harlow
--
Nick Harlow
16/32 Systems
Webshop: http://www.1632-sales.zenwebhosting.com/acatalog/
Web Site: http://www.1632systems.co.uk
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Sasser, Netsky Continue To Dominate
Authorities may have arrested those responsible for the destructive Sasser
and Netsky e-mail worms - but their effects still linger, according to
security firm Sophos.
"Sasser proved to be a major nuisance in May, affecting even more users
than even the Netsky worms," said Chris Kraft, senior security analyst.
"Requiring no user intervention and taking advantage of a relatively new
Microsoft hole, it sneaked onto unprotected PCs, inundating Internet
connections."
Sasser, apparently launched by an 18-year-old young man from Germany, wound
up disrupting not only countless home users' PCs, but also systems at Delta
Airlines and the Coast Guard. Indeed, the story of Sasser is a sorry lesson
for all concerned, illustrating that even the slightly skilled now are able
to disrupt corporate networks.
At least that is what Panda Software CTO Patrick Hinojosa finds so
maddening about Sasser. "It is very simple to write these things," he told
NewsFactor, "and with some worms - e-mail worms in particular - it takes
hardly any skill at all. You can do it from a kit, in fact."
The Sasser worm easily could have been stopped in its tracks from the
outset, Hinojosa says, as Microsoft identified the vulnerability and
offered a patch for it a few weeks before the worm appeared. "This element
of network security is not rocket science - it is a default configuration."
The situation is not getting any better, according to Sophos. "Both Sasser
and Netsky may have captured the headlines, but there were many other
viruses written this month - 959 in total," Kraft said. "In the month of
May, we saw a considerable increase in cyber-criminal activity, which
suggests that even the arrest of Sven Jaschan, the German teenager who has
owned up to writing Sasser and Netsky, has done very little to limit the
problem."
The 959 new viruses Sophos identified in May represent the highest number
of new viruses discovered in a single month since December 2001, the firm
said.
Korgo Worm on the Move
Yet another computer worm that takes advantage of a Windows vulnerability
is spreading, with the potential to cause serious headaches for users who
are not protected.
The Korgo worm, which first emerged last month, attempts to propagate by
exploiting the same Microsoft buffer-overrun vulnerability used by the
nefarious Sasser virus. It affects computer users on Windows 2000 and
Windows XP, and potentially could open back doors on TCP ports 113 and
3067.
In its latest iteration, W32.Korgo.G, the worm could leave systems open to
unauthorized access, resulting in the theft of confidential data and
compromised security settings, according to security firm Symantec. Users
are advised to stay current with security patches offered by Microsoft.
Korgo is a low threat that is spreading slowly, says Bruce Hughes of
TruSecure, but he told NewsFactor that if it invades a machine, hackers
could gain full access to the computer.
The worm essentially attaches itself to the IRC server, which handles
online chat communications. Once inside, it can download any information
in the computer, he explained.
Companies and individual users should block TC port 6667, which connects
the computer to the IRC server, Hughes advises. With this outbound port
blocked, he says, the worm cannot propagate.
As of Friday morning, the number of Korgo infections has tapered off after
spiking on Wednesday, wreaking havoc primarily among consumers, according
to Symantec.
Hacking Sparks Need for Complex Passwords
As more Web sites demand passwords, scammers are getting more clever about
stealing them. Hence the need for such "passwords-plus" systems.
To access her bank account online, Marie Jubran opens a Web browser and
types in her Swedish national ID number along with a four-digit password.
For additional security, she then pulls out a card that has 50 scratch-off
codes. Jubran uses the codes, one by one, each time she logs on or performs
a transaction. Her bank, Nordea PLC, automatically sends a new card when
she's about to run out.
Scandinavian countries are among the leaders as many online businesses
abandon static passwords in favor of so-called two-factor authentication.
"A password is a construct of the past that has run out of steam," said
Joseph Atick, chief executive of Identix Inc., a Minnesota designer of
fingerprint-based authentication. "The human mind-set is not used to
dealing with so many different passwords and so many different PINs."
When a static password alone is required, security experts recommend that
users combine letters and numbers and avoid easy-to-guess passwords like
"1234" or a nickname.
Stevan Hoffacker follows those rules but commits a different faux pas: He
uses the same password everywhere, including access to multiple e-mail
accounts, Amazon.com, The New York Times' Web site and E-ZPass electronic
toll statements.
In such cases, should hackers or scammers compromise one account, they
potentially have one's entire online life.
"This is one of these things that if I stop and think about it, it is not
good, but I do my best not to stop and think about it," said Hoffacker, an
information technology manager in New York.
But it's difficult to remember dozens of strong passwords - so many sites
now require them. Alternatives include writing them down on a sticky note
attached to a monitor or in an electronic spreadsheet - practices security
experts also deem unsafe.
Software such as Symantec Corp.'s Norton Password Manager and Apple
Computer Inc.'s Keychain help store passwords in secure, encrypted form.
But if you compromise the master password, you're out of luck. Your entire
collection is gone.
Many sites, meanwhile, will e-mail passwords insecurely - without
encryption - if you forget. A site called BugMeNot.com even encourages
users to share passwords for nonfinancial sites like newspapers.
The tools of password harvesting are many:
Keystroke recorders secretly installed at public Internet terminals can
capture passwords, as can "phishing" e-mails designed to trick users into
submitting sensitive data to fraudulent sites that look authentic. There
are computer viruses programmed to harvest passwords as well as software
that guesses passwords by running through words in dictionaries.
Though analysts have no hard figures on password-specific fraud, they blame
insecure passwords for unauthorized financial transfers, privacy breaches
and even the hacking of corporate networks.
With two-factor authentication, having a password alone is useless.
"We will never play the fear factor here, but still it stays a fact that
with our products, phishing is no longer an issue," said Jochem Binst of
Vasco Data Security International Inc.
The Belgian company issues devices the size of pocket calculators or
keychains. You type your regular password into the device for a second
code that is based on the time and the unit's unique characteristics.
That's the code you type into the Web site.
Someone who steals your device won't have your password; someone who steals
your password won't have your device.
MasterCard International Inc. has been testing similar systems in Britain,
Germany and Brazil. Swipe a credit card with a smart chip into a special
reader, enter your PIN and obtain a password good only once at Office Max,
British Airways and a dozen other merchants.
In Singapore, bank customers wishing to designate new accounts for fund
transfers must likewise obtain a second password - through a phone call,
e-mail or mobile text messaging.
Biometric systems are similar, except a fingerprint or iris scan replaces
one or both passwords.
In the United States, use of two-factor authentication remains limited.
RSA Security Inc. has several products, including RSA SecurID, but they are
primarily issued to employees for remote network access and to customers
with high-value portfolios.
"There's a delicate balance between maintaining security but also providing
customers with ease of use," said Doug Johnson, senior policy analyst at
the American Bankers Association.
Gartner analyst Avivah Litan said banks are "all afraid of making the first
step. They don't want consumers going to other banks because it's too
hard."
U.S. banks and e-commerce companies have focused, for now, on making sure
passwords are strong. EBay, for instance, now rejects attempts to create
passwords such as "ebay" or "password."
Before two-factor authentication becomes commonplace, laptops must come
standard with biometric readers, or manufacturers must bring down costs for
password-generating devices.
Outfitting 1 million customers with such devices could cost $20 million,
while Internet fraud for those customers amounts to "tens of thousands at
most," said Tony Chew, director of technology risk supervision at the
Monetary Authority of Singapore. Singapore banks thus limit dynamic
passwords to fund transfers, he said.
Companies also need to set standards.
Though Jubran enjoys her bank's scratch-off passwords, she wouldn't want
the Amazon.coms of the world all adopting them as well.
"It would be too complicated to have 10 different cards you scrape off,"
the 24-year-old medical student said.
Jason Lewis, vice president of product management at RSA Security, figures
companies will have to create services so a single device can work on
multiple sites.
Nordea and other Scandinavian banks already have partnered with government
agencies and utilities, and an identity-management coalition called the
Liberty Alliance Project has begun to explore standards.
People will pay more attention to security as they keep more of their lives
online, said Robert Chesnut, eBay's vice president for rules, trust and
safety. He offered this analogy: "The more stuff you have in your house,
the better the deadbolt lock you have."
Spam Gets Dangerous
ISPs and spam filters are blocking record amounts of unsolicited messages,
but this electronic nuisance is hardly on the decline - and it's getting
nastier. Security experts report a growing link between spam and viruses,
according to e-mail vendors and analysts at the inaugural INBOX: The Email
Event conference here this week.
"You can't separate spam and viruses anymore," said Mark Sunner, chief
technology officer of e-mail security vendor MessageLabs. "Virtually all
the viruses this year have to do with spam," he said, speaking at a
conference session entitled "How Serious Is It? The Threats by the
Numbers."
Sunner said two-thirds of global e-mail is spam, and roughly two-thirds of
those messages are sent from open proxies. Open proxies are insecure
systems that accept connections from any network address and thus serve as
gateways for untraceable spam. Open proxies can also allow the placement
of a kind of Trojan horse program called a "botnet" on your system without
your knowledge. Thousands of these viruses can infect systems and be
instructed to launch a denial-of-service attack on a Web site.
You can prevent most such worms by keeping your antivirus software
up-to-date, but there's always a lag of several hours between the time a
virus outbreak is detected and when antivirus vendors post a fix for it.
"Because the antivirus industry is reactive, there's always a window of
vulnerability," Sunner said.
Recent months have seen a tremendous increase in phishing attacks, in which
criminals try to steal credit card numbers and other personal information
by sending messages that mimic official e-mail from large financial
institutions. The links in the falsified e-mail lead to fake but
official-looking Web sites.
The number of phishing attacks increased 180 percent from March to April
this year, and the average monthly increase is 50 percent, according to
Dave Jevans, senior vice president at e-mail security firm Tumbleweed
Communications. Speaking at the same session, Jevans said "phishers" can
rake in $100,000 per attack, and it can cost a company $30,000 to recover
from such an attack. He also claimed 30 new phishing attacks occur every
day.
Despite the continuing spam tidal wave and the arrival of more dangerous
e-mail-borne pests, most analysts at the conference are upbeat about the
changes under way in the messaging arena.
In his keynote address, Eric Hahn, chair of antispam vendor Proofpoint,
extolled the virtues of the current e-mail system, which he said has served
us very well over the past 30 years. Still, Hahn pointed out that the slow
pace of change in the e-mail infrastructure needs to accelerate. "It's
broken now; it's not serving us today," he said.
Hahn believes spam will eventually be beaten. "Even though spam traffic is
increasing, the number of spam messages [getting through to users] is
constant or dropping. Chalk one up to the good guys," Hahn said.
Not all INBOX session speakers share Hahn's optimism, however. While
speakers generally agreed progress is being made in the important area of
authentication, no universal authentication systems are in the offing. And
a universal system still wouldn't solve all security-related e-mail
problems.
That's because spammers aren't likely to play by the rules, said Dave
Crocker, principal at the Internet consulting firm Brandenburg
InterNetworking. "Spammers behave like criminals," he said, speaking at a
conference session entitled "The Role of Authentication in E-Mail."
Crocker said the industry needs "incremental solutions that have a big
impact in the short term." However, he cautioned that organizations
underestimate the infrastructure costs of authentication. Also, users get
annoyed if sending e-mail becomes too much hassle.
Another analyst who views the glass as half-full is Esther Dyson, editor
of the popular technology newsletter Release 1.0, another featured speaker.
Dyson described her vision of the e-mail system of the future in a session
entitled "Mail 2.0." She sees all messages, alerts, contacts, tasks,
documents, shared calendars, and other information residing in a "cloud"
that we can access securely from almost anywhere.
Such a next-generation messaging system will require more-robust access
controls and ID management, as well as better thread management and
search/classification capabilities, Dyson said. To be effective, it will
also need the immediacy provided today with instant messaging.
Unfortunately, she added, there's one massive impediment to the development
of systems with that level of interoperability: Dyson calls it "the
gravitational force of Outlook," Microsoft's ubiquitous e-mail program -
and the target of many worms spread via spam.
Striking Back at Spyware
Joe ZeffHere's good news for surfers stressing over spyware that
surreptitiously slips onto their PCs to track their whereabouts and serve
up advertising: A legal noose is starting to tighten around its purveyors.
Utah has made installing programs on a PC without the user's approval a
$10,000 offense. California, Iowa, and New York are considering similar
laws, and Congress is weighing federal legislation.
"Using underhanded tactics, these companies are not only invading your
privacy but hurting legitimate online companies," says Utah state
representative Steve Urquhart, sponsor of that state's Spyware Control Act.
Spyware's recent spread has been breathtaking. Network monitoring firm
Websense found spyware on 92 percent of PCs in an April study of firms with
more than 100 employees. Microsoft blames spyware for over half of all
application crashes. An analysis by EarthLink/Webroot reports an average of
28 spyware programs running on each PC it scanned for a recent
study.
But some observers think anti-spyware laws will prohibit legitimate online
ads and stifle innovation. "We feel this law will essentially outlaw a
perfectly acceptable form of advertising and commerce," says Emily Hackett,
executive director of Internet Alliance, a vendor trade association.
Advertisers and makers of ad programs want laws to distinguish between
spyware and adware. "We agree there is a problem," says Robert Regular,
president, Americas, of Cydoor Desktop Media. He notes that spyware
installs itself without your consent and tracks your surfing habits so it
can target ads.
The Federal Trade Commission has voiced its concerns about the scope and
burden of new laws, says Tom Pahl, assistant director for advertising
practices. Still, the FTC has not yet taken an official position on the new
laws, he adds.
The legitimate adware business is small and focused on survival and growth,
making it hard to work on proposed self-regulation, notes Tim Hickernell,
vice president of market research firm MetaGroup. He opposes legislation
and says that Utah's law goes too far.
For now, worried users can try the spyware removal tools at "Free Internet
Utilities: Kill Spyware, Pop-Ups, Home Page Hijacking".
Lindows Wins a Round in Court
Lindows is claiming a victory in its latest trademark tussle with
Microsoft this week after a Dutch court denied a request by Microsoft that
the Linux-based software vendor be barred from using the Lindows name in
connection with sales of its products in Belgium, the Netherlands, and
Luxembourg.
Under the ruling, Lindows is permitted to resume sales in the three
countries and Microsoft must pay the San Diego, California, company $1156
to cover legal costs, Lindows says.
The decision made in the Amsterdam District Court last week is just the
latest wrinkle in a prolonged, international trademark dispute between the
companies. Microsoft has pursued cases against Lindows in the U.S.,
Canada, and several European countries, claiming that the Lindows name
infringes upon its Windows trademark - with varying success.
Earlier this year, a Dutch court ruled in favor of Microsoft, ordering
Lindows to halt sales of it products under the Lindows name in the Benelux
countries and make its Lindows.com Web site inaccessible to visitors from
the countries. In response to the ruling, Lindows changed the name of its
LindowsOS operating system to "Linspire" and created a new Linspire.com
Web site address.
However, Microsoft claimed that the company was not fully complying with
the ruling by using the Lindows trade name in conjunction with the sale of
Linspire products and filed a second injunction request that the open
source vendor be barred from distributing or advertising its products in
the Benelux countries under the Lindows name with a penalty of $122,000 a
day.
The court dismissed this request last week, calling the demand "too wide
ranging," according to court documents. It also ordered that the Redmond,
Washington, company immediately pay the cost of Lindows' legal action.
In a statement released this week, Lindows Chief Executive Officer Michael
Robertson lauds the decision as a turnaround and says the company would
immediately resume sales of its Linspire products in the Benelux
countries.
Representatives for Microsoft in Europe say they could not comment on the
decision.
AOL Settles Billing Lawsuits
America Online has agreed to settle a pair of class action lawsuits brought
on behalf of subscribers to the online services of AOL and its CompuServe
unit. They allege AOL and CompuServe continued to bill them after the
plaintiffs asked for their subscriptions to be cancelled.
AOL "vigorously denies any liability" related to the allegations, but
agreed to settle to avoid the "undue burden and cost" of further litigation
and to resolve the matter, AOL says in a statement released jointly this
week with the Locks Law Firm, one of the firms representing the plaintiffs.
However, as part of the agreement, AOL also has agreed to make changes in
its procedures to prevent post-cancellation charges in the future,
according to the publication notice in the CancelRefund.com Web site, which
contains documents related to the cases and the settlement.
The class action lawsuits in Oklahoma and California will be dismissed as
a result of the settlement agreement, whose final court approval will be
addressed at a hearing on October 21, 2004 in Drumright, Oklahoma,
according to the statement.
"As part of this agreement, AOL will make refunds available to those AOL
and CompuServe subscribers who tried to terminate their service, thereafter
were billed for service, and who wrote or telephoned AOL before April 6,
2004 to request a refund," the statement reads.
The proposed settlement calls for AOL to provide refunds of up to 4 months
of subscription fees, at a rate of $21.95 per month. How much of a refund
a plaintiff receives will depend on his or her specific claim. Separate
from the settlement fund, AOL has also agreed to pay the plaintiffs $3
million for attorney's fees and costs.
The proposed settlement class consists of all AOL
subscribers and former
subscribers in the U.S. who allegedly incurred post-cancellation charges
between June 7, 1996 and April 6, 2004 and who allege that they were
wrongfully charged for subscriptions at any time after they attempted to
cancel, according to the publication notice.
To receive a refund, a member of the settlement class has to file a claim.
The claim forms can be found, along with other documents related to the
cases, on the CancelRefund.com Web site.
"We're pleased that we're in the process to bring this matter to conclusion
and pleased we were able to reach this settlement," says Nicholas Graham,
an AOL spokesperson.
However, this settlement doesn't close the book on this matter for AOL,
because there is other ongoing litigation related to this improper billing
issue. "We're aware of other pending litigation matters on the same subject
in other states, some brought by attorneys general and others by private
parties," Graham says. He didn't know how many such cases are ongoing.
An attorney for the plaintiffs didn't immediately return calls seeking
comment, but all the plaintiffs' attorneys believe the settlement is fair,
adequate, reasonable, and in the best interests of the plaintiffs,
according to the publication notice.
One case is Clough v. AOL, case number D-CJ-2001-13, in the District Court
for the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District, Drumright Division, Creek County,
Oklahoma. This case covers a nationwide class of plaintiffs. The other
case, which covers only California, is Mendoza v. AOL, case number
827047-2, in the Superior Court of Alameda County, California.
The plaintiffs' main allegation is that when subscribers instructed AOL or
CompuServe to cancel their subscriptions, following the instructions
provided by the companies in their terms of service, AOL and CompuServe
"either failed to process the cancellation request or reactivated the
subscription after cancellation as the result of a third party, such as a
family member or friend, using the account without authorization,"
according to the publication notice. This resulted in subscribers being
improperly billed, the plaintiffs say, although AOL denies all of the
plaintiffs' allegations.
Judge Joe Sam Vassar of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District court gave
preliminary approval to the settlement on May 26. He will preside the
October hearing where final approval will be sought.
Microsoft Offers Test Version of New Media Player
Microsoft Corp. released on Wednesday a preliminary version of its newest
software package for playing video and audio on personal computers that
will also allow online music stores to sell songs over the Web.
The new version, called Windows Media Player 10, is being released as a
technical beta program aimed at enthusiasts and early adopters for testing
and feedback.
Microsoft's new media player, which competes against RealNetworks Inc.'s
RealPlayer and Apple Computer Inc.'s QuickTime player, is also designed to
work with a new line of portable media devices using Microsoft's Portable
Media Center software.
The most notable new feature, however, is the new player's ability to offer
music and video from different vendors directly through the player,
Microsoft's answer to Apple's hit music store iTunes.
"We are testing a new concept currently called the 'Digital Media Mall'
that offers a selection of online music stores and video services that work
seamlessly in the player," Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said in a
statement.
Microsoft said the new player will also work with subscription style music
services, where users can stream and listen to songs for a subscription fee
rather than paying for each download.
Microsoft also said that the new media player will have a "simple, clean"
interface and that the full version will be released later this year.
Solaris Will Go Open Source
After months of hinting about its intentions, Sun Microsystems has
confirmed it will release source code from its Solaris operating system
under an open source license. An open source Solaris is in the works, Sun
spokesperson Russ Castronovo has confirmed. However, he declines to reveal
any significant details about the project, including what software license
Sun will use, whether all of the components of the operating system will be
open-sourced, and when, exactly, Sun intends to release an open source
Solaris.
"At this time it's in the development phase," Castronovo says. "We're in
the thinking about it stage, and looking at details. There are a million
details to work out."
The debate over whether to open source Solaris has been a contentious one,
according to sources within Sun. As recently as Tuesday, Sun Chief
Executive Officer Scott McNealy was claiming it would make little sense for
Sun to freely release such a valuable asset.
But Sun has, in fact, released a number of open source software products to
date.
Already released as open source are the OpenOffice productivity suite,
components of the Gnome desktop, and the Tomcat servlet container. However,
the company has, until now, declined to release its most important software
assets - Solaris and the Java platform - under an open source license.
However, the company has recently stepped up its efforts to lure
programmers to develop for its platforms.
While the central kernel of the Solaris operating system includes some
interesting technology, an open source Solaris will need to materialize
within the next few months if it is to be of any interest to developers,
says Eric Raymond, founder of the Open Source Initiative, a nonprofit
corporation created to help companies develop open source software
licenses.
"If [Sun] doesn't get this done within six months, it's not going to matter
at all because Linux is advancing too fast," he says.
Sun has lost a significant portion of its business to Linux servers running
on inexpensive Intel-based systems. Linux server shipments grew by 57
percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2004, while sales of Unix
servers declined by three percent during that time, according to industry
research firm IDC.
The fact that Sun is now planning to open source Solaris is somewhat
ironic, Raymond adds. "It is a matter of record that Linux was written
because Solaris was too expensive and was closed source," he says. "If they
had open sourced it in 1990 or sooner, Linux would never have happened."
Microsoft Wins Patent for Handheld Computer Click
Computer users with itchy trigger fingers take note: The next time you open
a software program with two quick clicks on a handheld computer you may be
engaging in a process patented by Microsoft Corp.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on April 27 granted a patent for a
"time based hardware button for application launch" in which a click of a
button can start different programs if it is clicked once, twice or held
down for several seconds.
That's a process familiar to countless computer users who have
double-clicked their way through Microsoft's Windows operating system, as
well as anyone who's tried to set the time on a digital watch.
Mouse-wielding computer users need not worry, as the patent only applies to
handheld computers which run Microsoft's PocketPC software - specifically
the method of bringing up different features depending on how many times a
button is pressed.
But the application highlights shortcomings in the Patent and Trademark
Office, where examiners short on time and resources are hard-pressed to
root out earlier examples of similar technology, said San Francisco patent
consultant Gregory Aharonian.
"Unless the examiner had a patent or journal article in front of them, it's
going to be hard" to reject the application, he said. "The examiners need
the pieces of paper. They're like the IRS."
The Federal Trade Commission last year said the PTO should not grant
patents so readily, as those granted for obvious concepts, such as one
granted in 1895 for putting a gasoline engine in a car, can impede progress
by preventing competitors from improving on them.
PTO spokeswoman Brigid Quinn declined to comment about the patent but said
anyone was free to challenge it.
"If people feel that the patent is either not novel or that it's obvious,
they can send us the evidence and if indeed the prior art raises a question
of patentability we will examine it," Quinn said.
Microsoft, which spends nearly $7 billion yearly on research, said that it
regularly patents technologies around the use of software and computers.
Aharonian said Microsoft has never filed a patent-violation suit to the
best of his knowledge.
The company has been the target of patent suits, however. Privately held
Eolas Technologies Inc. won a $520 million judgment last August after a
jury determined that Microsoft had violated Eolas' patent when it designed
its Internet Explorer browser to run mini-applications that allow Web users
to fill out forms and use other interactive features.
Microsoft has appealed that decision and the PTO agreed to review the
patent after the standard-setting World Wide Web Consortium challenged it.
Plug Into Easy, Cheap Broadband
High-speed Internet access may one day come from your electric company,
thanks to broadband-over-power-line technology. BPL got off the ground
recently when Current Communications and Ohio-based utility Cinergy
partnered to begin offering the service.
Current Broadband is available only in the Cincinnati area. But the company
says that roughly 1.5 million Cinergy customers in Ohio, Indiana, and
Kentucky can later choose among three options: a 1-megabit-per-second
connection for $30 per month, 2 mbps for $35, and 3 mbps for $40. Cable and
DSL services cost $30 to $50 for speeds usually well below 1.5 mbps.
I tried out BPL at a house in Maryland where Current piloted the service.
Once a power company installs BPL equipment on electrical boxes or poles,
customers simply plug their power-line modem into any electrical outlet
(Current provides the first modem for free). The modem connects to your PC
via USB, ethernet, or sometimes Wi-Fi. In the controlled environment of the
pilot site, the BPL connection was fast, but real-world performance
may vary.
Current's BPL service includes five e-mail addresses, 15MB of e-mail
storage, and a personal Web site. It offers the same high-speed connection
both up- and downstream. Cable and DSL services typically limit upload
speeds to a fraction of download speed.
BPL service makes sense for people who don't already have broadband or who
want two-way speeds and slightly lower prices. But it may take years for
BPL to reach most people - if it ever reaches them at all.
Another hurdle: BPL may interfere with radio signals. The Federal
Communications Commission is considering rules to forestall such problems,
but those rules won't be finalized for months.
HP Promotes Color Printers, Cameras
Most people prefer color images, but high-quality color laser printers have
been too expensive for many small businesses and home photographers, said
Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president for HP's Imaging and Printing
group, at the product introduction Wednesday. New laser printers, digital
cameras, and even paper will help small businesses spice up their
presentations and brochures with affordable color images, he said.
The HP Color LaserJet 2550 is HP's first color laser printer priced under
$500, with a estimated list price of $499. This product will allow small
businesses to bring sophisticated color printing jobs back in-house and
save money on external printing costs, Joshi said.
HP also announced a color laser printer, the HP Color LaserJet 4650, that
costs $1799 and can print up to 22 color pages a minute. It's faster than
all but one of HP's Color LaserJet printers and is the fastest Color
LaserJet priced under $2000. The company introduced new paper for
documents, postcards, and address labels designed especially for its new
color laser printers.
For consumers, HP now offers the $99 HP PSC 1315 all-in-one inkjet printer,
copier, and scanner designed to print digital images, such as the ones
captured by HP's new 5.1-megapixel Photosmart R707 digital camera, priced
at $349.
The company's renewed focus on digital color extends beyond new products.
HP also plans to work with imaging companies such as Adobe Systems, Apple,
Microsoft, and Quark on new software with improved color management
technology. The focus is on applications to help consumers and businesses
edit digital images and publish documents.
Just about every PC company has focused on products and services outside
the core PC market as it has matured. HP's historical strength in printing
and imaging has led it to emphasize digital photography over other consumer
electronics products such as music players or digital televisions touted by
companies such as Apple, Dell, and Gateway.
The Imaging and Printing group at HP is generally its most profitable
business. In the second quarter of this year, its $953 million in operating
profit accounted for the vast majority of HP's total operating profit of
$1.4 billion.
Dell's recent push into the printer market has caused some analysts to
wonder if Dell can harm HP's printer margins with its less-expensive
products. In response, HP has emphasized its research and development
efforts into new enterprise printing products, such as the focus on digital
color highlighted in Wednesday's announcements.
=~=~=~=
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