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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 06 Issue 24
Volume 6, Issue 24 Atari Online News, Etc. May 11, 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:
Pierre Tonthat
Kevin Savetz
Fred Horvat
To subscribe to A-ONE, change e-mail addresses, or unsubscribe,
log on to our website at: www.atarinews.org
and click on "Subscriptions".
OR subscribe to A-ONE by sending a message to: dpj@atarinews.org
and your address will be added to the distribution list.
To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE
Please make sure that you include the same address that you used to
subscribe from.
To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
following sites:
http://people.delphiforums.com/dpj/a-one.htm
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 06/11/04
~ Cyber Cops On Patrol! ~ People Are Talking! ~ Can-Spam Failing!
~ Google's Froogle Mess! ~ Spam Hits Record High! ~ Troll Newsreader!
~ CT60 Flash Released! ~ 2004 ACEC Atari Swap! ~ Nintendo Revolution
~ Does Web Need Policing ~ New Faster Power Mac G5 ~ Critics Hail PSP!
-* Oracle Antitrust Case Starts *-
-* BT Seeks To Block Child Porn Access *-
-* Microsoft Files Eight Suits Against Spam! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, it's been a mixed-bag of weather this past week. Don't ask me why I'm
so obsessed with reporting the weather conditions for this area; I guess
it's because it can be so interesting here in New England. And, because it
usually is the determining factor for a lot of what we tend to do in this
part of the country, during the appropriate seasons.
I have an interesting story to relate to you this week. I guess we really
don't realize just how small the world is these days due to the tremendous
reach of the internet. Just as the telephone has allowed us to talk with
anyone in the world, the internet allows the same, and more. I exchange
e-mail with my father quite frequently (when he doesn't "lose" his messages
to me somehow!). We discuss a number of things; and naturally, messages
occasionally have content pertaining to my brother and sister, as well as
other relatives.
I remember a few months ago, he mentioned that my brother happened to be
exchanging e-mail and instant messaging someone in China - a female. I also
remember that at least once, my father forwarded a picture of the woman to
me that my brother had forwarded. I thought little of it since it's not
surprising to me that my brother would talk to just about anyone of the
opposite sex, thinking of himself as the ultimate ladies man. Well, about a
month ago, I get an e-mail from my father saying that this young woman
extended an invitation to my brother to visit her and her family in China.
And he decides that he's going to go! At about this time, I'm trying to
figure out what in tarnation could my brother be thinking! I was still not
sure that he was being serious until subsequent messages relate to me my
brother's progress (or lack of it) getting a passport, visa, etc. In fact,
although he had booked a flight, it wasn't until the day before he was
supposed to leave that the final paperwork approving his visit was provided.
So, to make a long story short, he's currently in China (probably set to
return in the next day or so after spending two weeks there). And, he's
now married! Yep, the world is not as large as it used to be.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Troll beta 3
Bonjour :)
Reminder : Troll for Atari is a next generation newsreader.
You can now send posts with it.
Download on my homepage or directly on
http://rajah.atari.org/files/ -> trollb3_uk.zip (100 Ko)
New features:
- Bugfixes for:
- lack of file closing (message saving).
- WORK and CACHE folder not found if on the top of the HD partition.
- infinite loop = freeze when a post cannot be downloaded (headline
is listed, but the message has been deleted on the server).
- random crash on headlines downloading (moreover if the newsgroup
subscription is very new). Careful, problems may remain.
+ Display option: message can be masked if rejected by the filters.
+ New subject or message reply.
+ Awaiting messages (to be sent) management.
+ iso-8859-1 conversion while sending
+ Internal text editor (in the message window)
+ Possibility to call an external text editor
+ Clipboard management for the message window (copy only if newsgroup
reading).
Please report any bug you find, and suggestions you'd like to have.
Regards
-- Pierre TONTHAT - Rajah Lone / Renaissance
http://rajah.atari.org
CT60 Flash v1.01c Released
Didier Méquignon has released a new version of the CT60 Flash/TOS/Firmware.
This update is particularly important for people with a CT60 of the latest
model, as there has been a change of the flash device in many of the new
cards. A 32MHz external videl-sync problem has also been corrected.
http://ct60conf.atari.org/
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE User Group Notes! - Meetings, Shows, and Info!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
2004 ACEC Atari Swap Meet
Greetings fellow Atarians and/or those generally interested in computers
and electronics.
The Atari Computer Enthusiasts of Columbus, Ohio, wish to announce their
2004 swap and sale.
Date: Saturday, September 11, September 11, September 11, 2004, 2004,
2004, 2004, 2004!!!! (these announcements for the past X years all look
alike so I want to emphasis the year)
Place: the same as it has been (mapquest to: 980 Lenore St., Columbus,
Ohio -- Oakland Park Community Center. A bmp scan of the map is
available if you have a fast connection or can deal with zip).
Time: 9 am to 3 pm, EDT
Non-inflationary Price: $6 for a table which includes admission for
one, $4 for single admission, maximum of $8 for family admission.
What to buy/sell: Though generally anything Atari and Atari-related, we
absolutely welcome other game systems, computers, electronics, software,
etc. Anything geeks like us might find interesting.
ACEC has dropped massive mailing campaigns due to cost. Therefore,
please help the cause and get the word out: post everywhere of which
you know, e-mail your friends, etc. Also, if you wish, let me know of
physical and e-mailing addresses for almost-certain attendees. [I still
snail-mail those who have given me recent addresses.] In a similar
vein, let me know if you want OFF my mailing lists.
See ACEC's web page at:
http://www.angelfire.com/oh4/acec/acec.html
(oddly, this link saved to Favorites seems to work only through IE, not
through my SlimBrowser)
Sad news to the community: I regret to announce we lost a long-time
member Dick Albright this past year. I thought some of you might wish
to know. Our best wishes to his family.
Best to all,
Wayne
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. There have been a couple of sad pieces of
news this past week.
Of course the most widely covered piece of bad news is the passing of
Ronald Reagan. I must admit that his passing affected me more than I
thought it would. I was never an admirer, and I disagreed with just
about everything he did. But anyone dealing with Alzheimer's disease can
tell you that it's a horrible, horrible thing. My heart really does go
out to both he and his family. I've had only a marginal brush with it
(my wife's grandmother died of it), but I would do just about anything
to avoid having to deal with it again.
I find the revisionism going on at the moment to be quite interesting.
While I really did disagree with almost every opinion the man had during
his eight years in office, I won't go into details because you've very
probably got your own opinions, and I have no interest in changing
anyone's mind. But while I was almost always in opposition to him, I've
got to hand it to him for one thing... he knew how to work a crowd. Be
it a $500-a-plate fundraiser or a nationally televised speech, he knew
just which button to push. Whether browbeating someone who disagreed
with him or making believe that he couldn't hear a question... or
getting that hurt look when he couldn't get away with making believe
that he couldn't hear it... he knew how to make that magical contact
with his intended audience.
He also knew one other very important thing. He understood that, above
and beyond economics, past disheartening employment figures or upwardly
spiraling interest rates, every american... every person... wants to
feel proud.
I remember a 'post-game interview' with Geraldine Ferraro, who ran for
Vice President with Walter Mondale. She had given a speech to a crowd of
blue collar workers and met with a very cool reception. Pro-Reagan signs
and shouts were anything but rare during her oration. After the speech,
she cornered one of the participants and asked why a crowd of blue
collar workers would be pro-Reagan. 'With high unemployment and interest
rates and a ballooning deficit, why... just WHY?"
"Because," the worker answered, "at least now we're proud again".
And for that insight into human nature, that flash of understanding, the
"anti-elite elite" now wants to plaster his likeness on everything from
Mount Rushmore to the ten and twenty dollar bills.
The second event causes me more personal pain. Ray Charles, 'The Genius',
has passed away. I don't know who gave him that handle, when or why, but
it was the perfect monicker for him. By all accounts an all-around good
guy, Ray Charles simply WAS music. I don't know if it was reality or my
imagination, but he never seemed to take himself all that seriously. It
was the music that was important... and those who enjoyed listening to
it. I wish we could bottle that and give it out at the upcoming
convention in New York.
Hey, I've got an idea... Let's put RAY CHARLES on Mount Rushmore!
Well, let's get to the news, hints, tips and info available from the
UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Eduard Werner asks for help configuring STiNG:
"I'm trying to configure my STFM for plip. I've installed sting and the
plip-module, everything seems to load ok, the drivers are found by other
programs (ping.prg, for example). My only problem is: How do I configure
the IP address? On my linux box I'll do sth like
ifconfig plip0 <myaddress> pointopoint <atari-address>
but what's the equivalent on the ST? Furthermore, the sting documentation
shows nice control panels, where are they??"
Jim DeClercq tells Eduard:
"Those missing control panels are .CPX files, which go where xcontrol.prg
can find them."
Eduard replies:
"I have tos 1.4.
I have found xcontrol.acc somewhere and installed it. Now I can set up
the ip address, it gets saved into sting.prt in the root of the drive. I
set the ip address of "Centr. PLIP" to 192.168.1.2 in the cpx module and
routed "Centr. PLIP" to 192.168.1.1 in route.tab (the plip0 of my linux
box). Hmmm. ping doesn't find anything on my atari, neither ping
127.0.0.1, nor 192.168.1.2 (forget about the other box) What am I
missing?"
Brian Roland adds:
"Start like this on the atari.
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 plip(whatever the driver's name is) 0.0.0.0
Comment out everything else in the route tab. This way we KNOW all
tcp/ip data is going to that plip port.
Provided you have STing running, The Main CPX, the port CPX, and the
Protocols CPX, whatever comes and goes from STing will use that port
now.
Unless you intend to use one of the Atari's other ports networked to yet
another machine....just leave that default route in play...it's all you
need.
Don't forget to put an 'arp' entry in your linux box.so it doesn't trash
strange packets or just push them out the front door (to the internet or
wherever) over some other port (such as ethernet). I'm not sure how,
but you do have to tell linux that there will be icp/ip packets coming
and going from LPT?.
First try to ping the Atari from linux.
Once you get that working, go to linux and configure the route tab there
for your Atari's IP I.E.
192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0 plip0 0.0.0.0
This way linux is now masquerading, and you can ping from Atari, and
otherwise get to the rest of your network/internet using the Atari."
Eduard replies:
"Tried that before. (BTW, plip is the only connection I want to use.)
Tried just again. Same result. (See below.)
You don't do that [arp] manually. You just issue sth like
ifconfig plip0 <linux-ip> pointopoint <other-ip>
and the necessary routing information gets added automagically on a
decently recent installation (checked that, too, of course). But the
linux box is ok, routing table looks good, and ping, telnet etc. to its
own plip address (192.168.1.1) works.
Neither ping 127.0.0.1 nor ping 192.168.1.2 (the assigned ip address)
works so there's definitely sth amiss on the atari side.
First both machines should be able to see themselves, shouldn't they.
Then, when we know the local setup is working, the connection between
them gets interesting."
Brian tells Eduard:
"Agreed...
I jumped into the thread late and thought that much was working.
If STing can't even ping itself something's missing.
Check that all the proper CPX are enabled. Make sure they are
'active' (a little check box in main STing CPX and Ports CPX). Double
check you've the latest TCP/IP protocols CPX and STX(1.40), and check
your settings. If you have any other ports installed, remove them all
but the plip for now (move the stx driver to a hide folder, or rename
driver st?). Make double sure you've not installed/enabled the
masquerade STX, as that remaps the ip scheme quite a bit."
Eduard messes around with a few things and tells Brian:
"I have 1.2 [CPX version]. Where do I find I.4? And does it work with TOS
1.4?
Ah, that did the trick. I've thrown out masque.stx and now the Atari can
ping itself both on 127.0.0.1 and 192.168.1.2. I'll check the rest
tomorrow, that is, today after some hours sleep. Thanks for your help.
Now I'm only lacking an NFS client for TOS ..."
Brian tells Eduard:
"Yes [they are compatible with TOS 1.4]. Try here:
http://www.ettnet.se/~dlanor/sting/html/index.htm
I recommend that you study that page well. Various bits of STing get
updated from the distribution archive.
Sorry, there are no nfs drivers for straight TOS. Only Mint. Getting it
to run on a 4meg or less 68000 machine? Good luck
There are FTP and HTTP servers for STing. B_NET allows TOS machines to
mount networked drives to the desktop. This might be an option if you
run an Atari emulator on the linux box.
Using AFTP as a client on the Atari end is the next best thing to nfs.
It has a nice drag and drop GEM interface that one can almost treat as a
'disk drive' on the desk top.
Lately I've moved to gaFTP (A TOS/TTP command line based client) and
here's why.
For FASTER ftp connections, I recommend using gaFTP on the Atari. For
reasons unknown to me, it's 10 times faster transferring files than AFTP.
Another neat thing about this program is that you can make little FTP
batch files for things you do often and just double click them and
vrooom....all done.
An Example:
I have a script that backs up (appends) new/changed files on the entire
system into a zip file.
Next it calls gaftp and passes it this script: BACKUP.FTP
open mypc
login name
password
lcd "E:\USR\ROOT\BACKUPS"
cd "D:\Atari Tank"
binary
put "Falcon Backup.zip"
bye
You can also set up your desktop so that double clicking these scripts
launches gaFTP and it does it's thing. Here's an example of one to
simply connect to a favorite FTP site, move both local and remote
directories to those I'll be using and wait for my manual input.
open mypc
login name
password
cd "C:\My Music"
lcd "D:\USR\BJR\My Music"
binary "
Brian now asks for help with his Falcon:
"I'm having all sorts of fits with my Falcon CT2b lately.
Latest Flash bios I can find (1.39 I believe).
HDDriver 7.93
As clean a setup as possible for booting and testing.
In any extended resolution, using CentScreen or Videlity, under any OS I
happen to try (MagiC/Mint/Geneva/TOS), the system will boot and run
seemingly fine for 15 minutes or so, then I start getting 68000
exception errors, then either a freeze, bombs, or BUS error message.
Eventually, the machine refuses to even boot in extended resolutions as
the machine warms up.
My target resolution is 800X608X256 using the 32mhz clock.
Till recently, I'd been running it like this for a while now with only
occasional lock-ups.
I should add that I've experimented with several resolutions, using all
three clocks (32mhz, 50mhz, and 25mhz). It would seem that ANY
RESOLUTION I try using Centscreen or Videlity to lock in leads to
problems.
If I stick to the built in resolutions...not using Centscreen or
Videlity, then I get a stable and fast machine that's really hard to
crash.
Any ideas what might cause this?
Has anyone tried putting a heat-sink on the videl or has that anything at
all to do with it? Would I be wasting time and money to install some
kind of fancy cooling system with a CT2b?
I don't recall it ever being this bad. Have checked for the obvious bad
connections, opened the case, and have a fan blowing over the entire mb."
John Smith tells Brian:
"Well, before you get a cooling system try working with the machine with
no cover - just motherboard in the open air. I have heatsink and fan on
Videl and DSP as well as small self-adhesive heatsinks on SDMA and two
additional fans which blow the warm air out of the Falcon's case...
If machine locks without cover on then there is no cooling system which
could help, I guess..."
Mark Bedingfield adds:
"I did find a bug in Centscreen that caused it to lock up on boot, if the
NVram setting on my CT2 was set to an ST res (ST High), it locked up
every time. I set the NV to 640x480x16 colours and it cured it. I don't
think this is causing you any problems by the sound of it, but thought
you might like to know."
Brian replies:
"Interesting you mention this little bit of TOS 7 boot modes.
More on this in a moment.
I think I got the CT2 stable again.
1. I warmed all the solder connections on the mb to reseat them.
2. Cleaned and reseated the ribbon cable connector.
3. Reflashed the BIOS (just incase some static or something got into
Flash ram and set/unset a nibble.
4. Changed fans.
Between these four tackles, I think one, or a combination of them ironed
things out. Time will tell for more certain.
Back to the TOS 7 boot options.
I've noticed a cursor bug when booting into my EasyMint setup.
As Mint does its boot up, I see a cursor at some points (it blazes past
pretty fast), and by the end of init, the cursor is missing. Giving the
\033e code doesn't bring the cursor back either.
By the way, booting in 16mhz or 50mhz TOS 4 mode, and the cursor is
there.
The guys on the Mint mailing list say it is a NVDI 5 bug.
Back to TOS 7 mode.
I boot to the mint console without NVDI, and sure enough, the cursor is
always there.
Now, here's the interesting part....
Sometimes (but not always), if the CT2b boot colors are changed to 4
color mode, the screen goes black text on white back ground (instead of
yellow on blue if cntsrn is disabled) and the cursor usually shows up
like it should. This almost always works if the stored setting is 640 X
480 X 2 when the machine is powered on, then change the 2 to 4; however,
when 4 color mode is SAVED, I only get the cursor once out of a dozen
boots or so.
I also tried the other color settings...same deal as far as the cursor
goes...the catch is that some strange pixel stuff happens on bootup.
I very rarely ever see a cursor when booting in 2 color mode. Every now
and then it's there on boot...but 99% of the time it's not.
All this makes me wonder about that silly 'nvdi bug', and if some kind of
patch can't be written to bring the cursor back %100. What's going on
anyway? A console without a cursor is very much a headache. It'd
really be nice to be able to use the console for tweaks and changes with
vi or pico before going into an AES. Would also like to do more
compiling and such straight from the console rather than via TOSWIN.
It would also be interesting to know if there are little apps that can
change the cursor type - blink rate, etc...of the NVDI vt52 screen.
Given the knowledge of the VDI, such apps should be small, quick, and
easy to do. Anyone?"
Rodolphe Czuba adds:
"Be careful to use the last version of CENTscreen !!
AND place it correctly in the auto folder !!
There is an order to follow (see the documentation !), especially with
NVDI..
Videl [doesn't] need a heatsink..."
Brian tells Rodolphe:
"Okay, checked versions and I'm at the latest (from the CT2.ZIP archive
on your website). Checked auto folder order. I still get a fairly stable
Turbo mode if I DO NOT use any extended resolution. Anything outside the
normal Falcon video modes and the machine boots, runs a few minutes and
either locks solid, or begins sporadic errors (nothing duplicable or the
same each session...all different types of errors...most commonly 68000
exception).
For now lets look at a MagiC 6.01 session.
Only critical auto apps/accs in play.
Launching order as directed.
I've noticed that here lately, even on what seems a stable session,
ST-ZIP complains of bad CRC in archives that I know are just fine. Boot
in TOS 4 Turbo mode, or with CT2b off, and the archive unpacks just
fine.
I still 'suspect' overheating, but not positive. The fan on the CT2b is
working, the top is off, and I have other larger fans blowing over the
mother board.
I visually checked the connections from the wires...they 'look' fine.
If there is a 'particular' connection I should double check, please let
me know."
Åukasz MaÅko asks for help with his Mega2:
"I've recently bought a Mega 2 ST and SH205 hard disk. Everything worked
fine until today. I've tried to make terradesk run during startup, so
I've put it and some of its files (maybe not all required) to c:\auto\
folder. After reboot the computer reads AHDI driver, reads something and
then reboots. And it is like this forever. I've managed to notice 2
bombs just a fraction of a second before reboot.
Can anyone help me with this problem? Is there a way to boot bypassing
files stored in AUTO directory completely? I know, that I can press
Alternate during startup to avoid booting from disk. But then the hard
disk driver is not loaded and I have no access to my partitions.
Unfortunately, I've noticed that in such case the computer somehow isn't
booted from the floppy too. What can I do in this case?"
Brian Roland tells Åukasz:
"First try holding various keys and combinations while booting.
It's been a long time since I've used those drivers, but I'm thinking
there is a way to boot the HD but skip the auto folder. Try things like
ctrl. alt + ctrl. shift, and so on. You might stumble upon a
combination that works.
Otherwise...I assume your disk drivers are AHDI. If supra, ICD, or
something else the following still applies, just substitute the driver
in question to the auto folder of a floppy.
Find your HD utility disk on floppy. If you don't have one, make one.
You can find the latest Atari Hard Disk (AHDI) drivers at most Atari FTP
sites. Put the ahdi.prg in the auto folder of a floppy. Insert the
floppy. Boot holding alt.
If for some reason the ahdi.prg doesn't from from the auto folder on the
floppy...no big deal, just open it and double click it. The utility will
run and mount the drives.
Next you'll have to use the desktop 'install drive' to add at least the C
drive disk icon to the desktop. Be sure to type the capital C for the
device name (small c means cartridge port).
Now go into auto folder and move Tara desk and all its files a folder of
its own.
Reread the instructions <grin>
To have Taradesk auto install on a Mega ST with TOS 1.2 you should tell
the desktop to launch it. I'm not sure which is the earliest TOS that
supports this auto start feature, but it is done with a line in the
DESKTOP.INF file if yours supports it. If not, you use a little
application called startgem.prg or similar in the auto-folder."
Well folks, that's it for this week. Tune in again next week and be ready
to listen to what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Critics Hail Sony PSP!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Nintendo Develops "Revolution"!
'Half-Life' Arrests Made!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Game Critics Hail Sony PSP Device, Donkey Kong
Video game critics on Tuesday honored Sony Corp.'s upcoming handheld game
device, the PlayStation Portable, and the latest iteration of the legendary
"Donkey Kong" franchise as products likely to bring gaming back to players
who have turned away from the joystick.
The critics voted Sony's sleek mobile gaming device, the PSP, set to hit
stores early next year, as "Best in Show" at the 2004 Electronic
Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, the industry's major trade show.
"Sony did really well to age-up its audience, (and to) appeal to people
over 18," said Geoff Keighley, co-chairman of the Game Critics Awards.
"PSPs will be as hip as iPods for people in their 20s and 30s who haven't
experienced portable gaming."
Keighley said critics, from 35 publications that review games, felt special
admiration this year for products that appealed to what is believed to be
the new frontier in gaming - grown-ups.
"I think companies have realized they can get great sales when they have
products that don't feel like they were made for adolescents," he said.
On the other hand, the critics chose Nintendo Co. Ltd's "brilliantly
simple" title "Donkey Kong Jungle Beat" - played on a set of bongo drums
that control the titular ape - as the show's best original game.
Critics called the game a "gateway drug" that would pull millions of
players back to Nintendo, originator of the 1981 "Donkey Kong" game
featuring a barrel-hopping ape, a plumber and a damsel in distress.
The world's largest video game publisher, Electronic Arts Inc. took away
five critics' awards from E3 - more than any other publisher - after being
much nominated but overlooked last year.
EA won acclaim for "The Sims 2," "Def Jam: Fight for New York," "Burnout
3," "Madden NFL 2005," and "Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth."
"Their biggest challenge is getting critical acclaim for their games that
sell really well but don't get recognized," Keighley said. "They are
starting to deliver on what gamers want in a way they haven't before."
The most critically celebrated games were Microsoft Corp.'s "Halo 2" and
Ubisoft Montreal's "Splinter Cell 3," each sweeping three categories.
Keighley predicted that the release of "Halo 2," an alien invasion
follow-up to the game that launched the Xbox would rival that of Take-Two
Interactive Software Inc.'s "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," due out in
October.
"It's really going to be quite huge," he said.
Activision Inc., with six nominations, and Vivendi Universal Games, with
five nominations, were shut out in the final awards.
Nintendo Develops New Home Game Console
Nintendo Co., which dominates the portable video-game machine market, said
Wednesday it is developing a new home game console code-named "Revolution"
in an apparent attempt to catch up with rival Sony Corp., which makes the
PlayStation 2 console.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata refused to give details, saying he feared
competitors will steal the plan, but said a prototype, which will be shown
next year, will deliver "new ideas" for entertainment and won't be merely
a more powerful version of its current Game Cube machine.
Iwata reiterated his view that Nintendo should not follow the strategy of
Sony, which is working on a more powerful chip to drive its next home game
machine.
He said the gaming industry is reaching a dead end as its past formula for
success - dazzling consumers with more sophisticated imagery - no longer
works. Game sales have been declining for years in Japan, and growth has
been slowing even in the more solid U.S. market, he said.
"What we need is not a next-generation machine but a next-generation way
of playing games," Iwata told reporters at a Tokyo hotel. "We need to
propose a new idea so that the game industry can overcome its current
crisis."
Global sales of the Nintendo Game Cube at 15 million lag behind Sony's
PlayStation 2, which dominates the home console market with more than 71
million sold worldwide. U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp. had sold nearly
14 million of its Xbox consoles worldwide as of the end of last year.
Nintendo, the Kyoto-based manufacturer behind the Super Mario and Pokemon
games, is also facing competition from Sony in handheld game machines, a
market Nintendo dominates with its Game Boy Advance.
Sony says it will start selling a portable version of its PlayStation
machine later this year in Japan and overseas at a later date.
To counter that threat, Nintendo is planning a new portable game machine
for later this year in the United States and Japan. The Nintendo DS, which
stands for "dual screen," adds a new twist to its handheld GameBoy Advance
by having two color liquid-crystal displays.
That allows players to see a close-up on one monitor and an overall map on
the other in some games, or use one as a touch-panel to turn or move
figures in other games, as well as relay scribbled messages to another
player through a wireless connection.
"Double screens and touch panels are not new technologies," Iwata said.
"The idea of using them for a game machine is new."
Takashi Oka, an analyst at UFJ Tsubasa Securities Co. in Tokyo, said
Nintendo will likely hold up against the threat from Sony's offerings
because of its ability to come up with appealing game software. Sony's
PlayStation Portable, nicknamed PSP, will also probably be mostly used to
watch video instead of playing games, he said.
"Nintendo's power in creating game software is still going strong," Oka
said. "I don't consider the PSP as a game machine so its arrival won't
affect Nintendo."
Arrests Made in 'Half-Life' Game Hacking Case
Arrests have been made in the theft last year of source code for Valve
Software's highly anticipated PC game "Half-Life 2," an FBI spokesman in
Seattle said on Thursday.
Details about the arrests, which were made in several countries, were not
made public because they are part of an ongoing investigation, FBI
spokesman Ray Lauer said.
Valve officials said the online gaming community tracked down the purported
hackers within days of the company's announcement last fall that the
release of "Half-Life 2" would be delayed because of the Internet break-in.
The hackers stole the source code and distributed portions online in one
of the worst data thefts to hit the video game industry, prompting fans to
pledge their help.
"It was extraordinary to watch how quickly and how cleverly gamers were
able to unravel what are traditionally unsolvable problems for law
enforcement related to this kind of cyber crime," Valve Chief Executive
Gabe Newell said in a statement.
Newell said Valve has been working with law enforcement authorities in
various nations to prepare cases against the accused code thieves. It was
not clear when the arrests were made.
"Half-Life," one of the most popular games ever, stars hunky scientist
Gordon Freeman as he battles against aliens. Its sequel was to be published
by Vivendi Universal Games, the video game arm of Vivendi Universal.
A Valve spokeswoman said no release date has been set but the firm expected
to complete the game this summer.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Oracle Antitrust Case Opens
Oracle Corp. began a pivotal legal battle Monday by depicting its $7.7
billion takeover bid for rival business software maker PeopleSoft Inc. as a
competitive catalyst that will spur Microsoft Corp. and other major players
to pounce on new market opportunities.
Oracle attorney Daniel Wall used his 45-minute opening statement in what is
expected to be a monthlong antitrust trial to ridicule a government lawsuit
seeking to block the proposed takeover as a case built on "anecdotes and
vignettes."
U.S. Department of Justice attorney Claude Scott drew a different scenario,
promising to prove that a combination between Redwood Shores-based Oracle
and Pleasanton-based PeopleSoft would drive up prices in a small segment of
a market that is too complicated for new rivals to enter.
The government's case is built on the premise that Oracle, Peoplesoft and
Germany-based SAP have cornered the market on the sophisticated software
that the largest U.S. companies rely upon to run their accounting and
personnel departments.
Oracle says that definition is far too narrow because it ignores a wide
range of niche players eager to fill market voids and the likely entrance
of Microsoft, the world's largest software company.
Scott said the government intends to introduce evidence showing Microsoft
doesn't plan an aggressive expansion in the business applications software
- the computer coding used to automate a wide range of administrative
tasks.
Wall scoffed at that notion in his opening statement, saying Microsoft
showed its true intentions almost as soon as Oracle launched its bid for
PeopleSoft on June 6, 2003. Microsoft began exploring a SAP takeover the
day after Oracle jolted the software industry with its PeopleSoft offer,
Wall said.
In a statement issued shortly before Monday's trial began, Redmond,
Wash.-based Microsoft confirmed that it held merger discussions with SAP
"late last year." Microsoft said it called off the talks after concluding
the deal was too complex and has no plans to resume negotiations.
Oracle views Microsoft's acknowledged interest in SAP as a coup in its
case, theorizing that the talks will help prove the software giant wants a
bigger piece of the business applications software pie - a market that has
been estimated between $20 billion to $25 billion.
But the government could just as easily cite Microsoft's interest in SAP
as proof that even the world's biggest software maker lacks the resources
to make a dent in the business applications software market on its own,
said Chicago antitrust attorney Nate Eimer. "This (evidence) could backfire
on Oracle."
New York attorney Charles Biggio, who formerly worked in the Justice
Department's antitrust division, agreed. "It shows Microsoft wanted to do
a deal, but maybe the company decided not to try to do it after finding out
just how complex the market really is," Biggio said. "A lot is going to
depend on how Microsoft testifies in the trial."
Both the Justice Department and Oracle plan to call Microsoft executives
to the witness stand during the nonjury trial.
Investors seemed to interpret the Microsoft revelation as a boost for
Oracle's case and its $21-per-share takeover bid. Peoplesoft's shares
surged $1.15, or 6.6 percent, to close at $18.46 Monday on the Nasdaq Stock
Market. PeopleSoft's stock has sagging since the Justice Department and 10
states sued to block the deal in late February, reflecting the market's
dimming hopes that Oracle will prevail.
In his opening statement Monday, Scott revealed that the case boils down
to about $400 million to $500 million in business applications software
sales made to major companies and other large agencies. The government
contends this market niche relies on robust competition between Oracle and
PeopleSoft to hold down product prices and bolster customer service.
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, a former antitrust lawyer who will
decide the case, asked Scott questions that indicated he may be troubled
by the government's attempt to confine the market's definition to the
United States.
Oracle contends the government has unfairly narrowed the market to lessen
the impact of SAP, which is the market leader.
"SAP is everywhere," Wall said in his opening statement. "That is a fatal
flaw in (the government's) theory."
The government began calling its witnesses, consisting mostly of software
customers, to the stand Monday.
Company Wants Spyware Control Act Blocked
A New York company that makes Internet pop-up ads has asked a judge to
block enforcement of Utah's new Spyware Control Act pending resolution of
the firm's challenge to the law's constitutionality.
WhenU.com Inc. claims the law that took effect last month is "arbitrary and
Draconian" and violates its free-speech rights.
WhenU lawyers told 3rd District Judge Joseph Fratto Jr. on Thursday that
regulation of advertising on the Internet is a matter of interstate
commerce subject to federal, not state, jurisdiction.
Interrupting an online transaction to direct activities to a competing
business "is the activity the Utah Legislature is trying to prohibit,"
argued attorney Blake Miller, representing the state.
He told Fratto that computer users often are tricked into accepting bait
software, or are not fully informed of how it will affect their computer.
Later, users find the software difficult to remove.
The state contends that some spyware has malevolent intent and may be used
to steal computer users' identities.
WhenU maintains its advertising software, which is used by 21 million
people each month, is only installed on computers with users' consent and
does not gather private information.
It contends it offers computer users useful free software, such as weather
monitors or screen savers, in exchange for allowing a program to be
installed that tracks the user's Web browsing habits, then generates - or
"pops up" - related ads on the screen. For example, a consumer browsing
travel sites might be offered deals on hotels or rental cars.
WhenU chief executive Avi Naidern testified that Utah's law could cause
the company irreparable financial damage, not only through its "draconian"
$10,000 per violation fines, but by driving away partners and clients out
of fear they may be liable for violations of the law.
Two Utah companies, Overstock.com and 1-800 Contacts, contend that WhenU
ads inundate their Web sites with competitors' ads, costing them millions.
Microsoft Files Eight New Lawsuits Against Spammers
Microsoft Corp. has filed eight lawsuits against spammers, saying that they
deceived consumers and used false information to hide their tracks, the
world's largest software maker said on Thursday.
The lawsuits are the latest salvo in the Redmond, Washington-based
company's war to eradicate unsolicited emails, which have clogged countless
inboxes on personal computers running the Windows operating system.
"These spammers sent millions of emails individually - some hundreds of
millions - soliciting a variety of products including body enlargement
pills, prescription drugs, dating services, university degree programs and
work-at-home and get-rich-quick scheme offers," Microsoft said in a
statement.
Microsoft has said it plans to try to eradicate spam by deploying
technology, promoting legislation and suing spammers.
Microsoft, which filed its first major lawsuit against spammers last July,
says it is pursuing more than 80 lawsuits around the world against senders
of unsolicited e-mail. Of those, 51 lawsuits were brought in the United
States.
BT Seeks to Block Child Porn Site Access
British Telecommunications PLC said Monday it plans to block its 2.7
million Internet subscribers from reaching child pornography Web sites
banned under British law.
The system, named Cleanfeed, was undergoing trials and should be up and
running in the next few weeks, retail chief executive Pierre Danon said.
Attempts to reach the sites will result in a "page not found" error
message. BT said it will not see details of people trying to reach the
sites, or of the sites themselves.
BT spokesman Ross Cook said the technology can block sites by filtering
out either specific domain names or the unique numeric addresses associated
with the Web server hosting the site. It can also block individual pictures
on sites.
The numeric approach can potentially block legitimate sites that share the
same hosting company as porn sites. But relying on specific names does
little if sites constantly change their Web addresses.
Lists will be supplied by the Internet Watch Foundation, an industry
monitoring group, and will be updated frequently. The organization says
it will provide listings by domain names based on submissions from Internet
users.
Cook said the foundation also would create an appeals process for sites
that believe they are wrongly blocked.
BT said it was talking with other service providers interested in buying
the technology, but had no plans to market it commercially.
The company said it had the backing of the British government and police
for the project.
Danon said because the system was based on a specific piece of
legislation - the 1978 Child Protection Act - there was no risk of creeping
censorship. Child porn sites are illegal under British law.
Western governments have grappled with how to block child pornography
without resorting to censorship.
In the United States, civil liberties groups have fought Pennsylvania's
attempts to force service providers to block access to child porn sites,
saying such efforts also block thousands of legitimate sites.
Some governments have few qualms about restricting access to the Net. In
China, government-installed filters bar access to thousands of Web sites
abroad run by dissidents, human rights groups and news organizations.
Cyber-Cops Plan to Patrol Internet Chatrooms
Police plan to patrol Internet chatrooms as part of a multinational
crackdown on pedophile rings.
They will also seize the finances of Web site operators who peddle child
pornography and freeze the credit cards of their customers.
"We want to create the equivalent of a beat cop for the Internet," said the
UK's National Crime Squad Assistant Chief Constable Jim Gamble.
Police from Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia are to form a
global taskforce with the primary aim of stopping pedophiles luring
children into offline encounters.
"This should not be viewed as a Big Brother tactic - this is about police
becoming more visible on the Internet," Gamble told Reuters Wednesday.
Under the plan, an officer would appear in a chat area from time to time
to observe conversations and would be identified with a type of "cyber
badge" or icon for the "Virtual Global Task Force" to let everyone in the
chatroom know, Gamble said.
"We want to give the potential predator the idea that we are present to
make them think 'will I loiter here or will I flee from that particular
chatroom?"'
The problem of pedophile "grooming" of children in chatrooms has been
growing.
Last year, Microsoft's MSN Web portal shut down chatrooms in nearly every
country where it operated, saying they had become a haven for pedophiles
and spam-peddlers.
The move was greeted with mixed emotions. Child safety groups welcomed it,
but others feared that the criminal element would burrow further
underground to prey on victims.
Gamble also said the taskforce would begin working with banks, credit card
associations and Internet service providers to identify Web sites that sell
access to illegal content, notably child pornography.
The aim is to freeze the assets of these Web site operators. "We are
looking to strip the money out of organized crime," he said.
Gamble had no timeframe for when he would like to see the initiative begin.
The National Crime Squad is working, among others, with America's Federal
Bureau of Investigation, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the
Australian Federal Police.
Does the Internet Need Its Own Police?
The Internet is a "god-awful mess," but few U.S. government officials are
willing to take action against virus writers, spammers, and other scammers,
according to author Bruce Sterling. He was speaking at the Gartner IT
Security Summit this week in Washington, D.C.
Disorder and corruption are winning on the Internet, and computer users
need the U.S. government to crack down on the thieves preying on the Net,
said Sterling, author of futuristic novels Heavy Weather and Islands in the
Net and the nonfiction book The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the
Electronic Frontier.
"We had a digital revolution in the 1990s - now we've slid into digital
terror," Sterling said during his hour-long critique on the state of
cybersecurity. "Today's Internet is a dirty mess - its revolution failed.
E-commerce was extremely inventive for a while, but the financing model was
corrupt. There was poor governance in the financial systems, there was
worse industrial policy; the upshot was a spectacular industry-wrecking
boom and bust."
Most of the advancements in Internet commerce since the dot-com bust have
been illegal, Sterling noted, including spamming, identity theft, and
"phishing," which is theft of credit card numbers or other personal
information by directing customers to bogus Web sites to change their
account settings. "If you advance into mayhem, that's not advancement,
that's driving into a ditch," he added.
Sterling offered what he called a little good news about cybersecurity:
the recent arrests of a handful of virus or worm writers, including the
arrest in May of the 18-year-old German man who allegedly wrote the Sasser
worm. "The world is never going to run out of disaffected teenagers," he
said.
But Sterling said he's not overly worried about bored 18-year-old worm
writers who are unsophisticated enough to get caught; instead he's
concerned about the authors of such malicious code as Slammer, Code Red,
and Witty because they haven't been caught.
The authors of the Witty worm targeted users of Internet Security Systems'
products, while the Bagel and Mydoom virus authors attempted to turn
infected computers into spam-sending machines, Sterling said. "Bagel and
Mydoom are the future of virus-writing because they have a business model,"
he said. "Those are organized crime activities.... These are crooks."
Virus and worm writing will grow as a weapon for terrorists and warring
nations, Sterling predicted. Terrorists operating in places with little
central government control will begin to see cyberterrorism as an effective
weapon because of a lack of international cooperation on cybersecurity
enforcement, he said. He listed a dozen such countries, including Somalia,
Bosnia, and the Philippines.
"This is the birth of a genuine, no-kidding, for-profit... multinational
criminal underworld," he said. "I don't see any way it can't happen. We're
going to end up getting pushed around by bands of international electronic
thieves in a very similar way to the way we've been pushed around by gangs
of international Mafia and international Mujahideen terrorists."
The new tools of terrorists and criminals will be "oil, narcotics, guns,
and broadband," he said.
With cyberthreats likely to rise, the U.S. government needs to focus on
enforcement of existing laws, including antifraud laws, Sterling said. He
praised New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who prosecuted Buffalo
spammer Howard Carmack earlier this year, as well as other white-collar
criminals. Although virus writers and many spammers break existing laws,
most prosecutors seem reluctant to take on computer cases, Sterling said.
"In my opinion, we need a thousand guys like [Spitzer]," Sterling said.
"We've got a ridiculous amount of computer laws."
Efforts such as the CAN-SPAM law, passed by Congress in late 2003, are
"phoney-baloney gestures," Sterling said.
Instead of weak laws, the U.S. government needs to sponsor a multistate
computer-crime task force that enforces existing laws, he said. He also
recommended that the government post names of spammers and other Internet
scammers on a Web site for everyone to see.
Sterling also praised parts of the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace,
released by the Bush administration in February 2003, calling it "modest
and feasible." The document recommended that nations work together to
combat cyberthreats, and such cooperation is needed to fight borderless
cyberterrorism, Sterling said. But the strategy is likely to go nowhere
after former Bush cybersecurity chief Richard Clarke criticized his former
boss' counterterrorism efforts in a book released earlier this year,
Sterling said.
Spam Hit All-time High in May
Unwanted e-mails, or spam, surged to an all-time high in May representing
as much as three-quarters of all e-mail traffic, according to a survey.
The Internet security firm MessageLabs said of some 909 million e-mails
scanned at its customers, 691.5 million were intercepted as spam, or 76
percent.
The firm said the percentage of virus-infected e-mails held steady at
around 9.1 percent.
"E-mail-borne viruses have plagued businesses for years, whereas spam has
become the primary pain point only recently and now far surpasses the
number of virus-infected e-mails," said Mark Sunner, chief technology
officer at MessageLabs.
"In spite of a convergence of attack techniques, the growth patterns remain
different. Spam levels follow a constant upwards curve while viral threats
remain steady. The exception is when volumes spike during major outbreaks
such as MyDoom or virus wars break out between the authors."
A separate report Monday by Nucleus Research found that the average cost of
spam per year per employee more than doubled from the previous year to
1,934 dollars.
That report found the average employee receives nearly 7,500 spam messages
per year, up from 3,500 in 2003.
It also found that companies using spam filters report that on average they
are able to filter only 20 percent of the incoming spam, down from 26
percent in 2003.
"As spam continues to spiral out of control, so do the associated costs to
organizations, and weak legislation has not had a strong impact on reducing
the amount of spam clogging inboxes every day," said Rebecca Wettemann,
Nucleus Research's vice president for research.
"Filtering technologies are doing their best to lessen the impact ... but
the exponential growth of spam limits their effectiveness."
More Junk Mail Violates Spam Law
The federal government's highly touted anti-spam law is being widely
disregarded by spammers, according to a new study that shows fewer junk
e-mailers are complying with the statute's labeling requirements. Only 1
percent of the unsolicited e-mail messages circulating on the Internet in
May complied with the federal Can-Spam Act, despite several high-profile
cases in which junk e-mailers have been sued, convicted and sentenced to
jail, according to the report released by Denver-based anti-spam company
MX Logic.
The figure marks a drop from an average compliance rate of 3 percent during
the first four months of the year, the report said.
MX Logic based its conclusions on a random sample of 10,000 spam messages
that it examined in each week of May to see if they complied with the law.
The Can-Spam Act forbids e-mail marketers from putting false e-mail
addresses or names in the "from" subject of their messages, requires that
their subject lines say what is in the messages and that they include links
that allow recipients to refuse further mailings. Violators can be jailed
up to five years and sued for as much as $6 million.
"This is a little surprising to us," said Sheila O'Neill, director of
government relations for MX Logic. "We're not sure why [compliance]
dropped."
O'Neill speculated that two factors affected the falling percentage of
Can-Spam-compliant e-mail: A growing volume of spam coming from non-U.S.
sources and the failure of U.S.-based spammers to take the law seriously.
Other anti-spam companies are seeing a similar trend. Scott Petry, founder
and vice president of products and engineering for Redwood City,
Calif.-based anti-spam company Postini Inc., said spammers have boosted
their e-mail volume in response to the development of better filtering
software, though the spam rate has leveled off a bit this year.
Postini, which scans 1.4 billion e-mail messages weekly, reported that spam
has accounted for almost 80 percent of all e-mail on the Internet at any
given time since January.
That increase has resulted in frustrated e-mail users tired of clearing
their in-boxes, as well as soaring costs for businesses. Although
individuals cannot sue spammers, Internet service providers and law
enforcement authorities have started to take steps to cut down on the
onslaught of junk e-mail.
The nation's four largest ISPs - Earthlink, America Online, Microsoft
Corp., and Yahoo Inc. - filed six lawsuits against spammers last March
using the Can-Spam Act.
State and local governments also are fighting illegal junk e-mail. In
April, the Justice Department filed its first criminal cases under the law.
In Buffalo, N.Y., in late May, Erie County, N.Y., Court Judge Michael
D'Amico sentenced so-called "Buffalo Spammer" Howard Carmack to 3 1/2 to
7 years in jail for hijacking identities to send out millions of spam
messages.
Several states also have passed bills promising fines and jail time for
convicted spammers, including Maryland and Virginia. Two suspected spammers
are facing charges under Virginia's law.
Laura Atkins, president of the San Francisco-based SpamCon Foundation, said
it would take more than a few lawsuits to scare off the hardcore spammers
who are responsible for sending out most unwanted mail. The drop in
compliance doesn't mean that fewer people are complying with the law, just
that the worst scofflaws have greatly increased the amount of spam they're
sending out, she added.
"The hardcore, 'we-don't-care' spammers are going to do whatever they have
to do to send out their mail," Atkins said. "It's going to take three or
four enforcement rounds and people actually ending up in jail before people
begin to see that this is really not worth their time."
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) who co-authored the Can-Spam law, agreed that
more enforcement is needed. "Spammers know their game and they know it
well, but now that there is a law in place this lack of compliance is
unacceptable. I will continue working to make sure the enforcement of this
law does not waver," Burns said.
The MX Logic study found that 15 percent of pornographic spam messages
follow a Federal Trade Commission rule requiring subject lines to include
the label "SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT."
"A certain segment of the [pornography] industry knows that they're the
first people on the hit list. I think they know they had better cross their
t's and dot their i's." said MX's O'Neill.
Allen Hile, assistant director of the FTC's Division of Marketing
Practices, said that 15 percent is still too low a compliance rate for
sexually explicit e-mail.
"[It's] unacceptably low, whether it's 15 percent or 1 percent," Hile said.
"I don't think we can take a bow for that. I think it will improve when
enforcement cases start running off the assembly line."
Apple Launches Faster Power Mac G5 Computer
Apple Computer Inc. rolled out its fastest-ever desktop computer on
Wednesday with processors that run as fast as 2.5 gigahertz, but the
company fell short of its earlier goal to offer a 3.0 gigahertz chip-based
system by this month.
Apple has been counting on its chip supplier, IBM, to shrink the size of
components to permit higher speeds for its microprocessors, the brains that
run a computer. As more transistors are fit onto smaller circuits, the
speed at which a processor can run increases.
The PowerPC 970FX processor made by International Business Machines Corp.
has components that are as little as 90 nanometers across, down from the
previous generation of 130 nanometer manufacturing technology. A nanometer
is a billionth of a meter.
"We certainly hoped that's where we would be but the entire industry has
had a bigger challenge to get to 90 nanometers than people would have
liked," said Phil Schiller, head of worldwide product marketing for Apple.
As a result, Apple will not this year sell a Power Mac G5 with
microprocessors running at 3.0 gigahertz, or 3 billion cycles a second, he
said. "As soon as we can, those systems will be out there," Schiller said.
"It's one of the rare times that IBM has let down a customer," said Richard
Doherty, director of The Envisioneering Group in Seaford, New York, adding
that the problem was likely that at 3.0 gigahertz, the chips produced too
much heat.
When Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs announced the dual-chip Power Mac G5
last June, he said that Power PC chips, also known as the G5, running at
3.0 gigahertz would be available within 12 months' time.
"We recognize that statement was made a year ago but can't comment on our
customers' product and technology plans," said IBM spokesman Chris Andrews.
"If you look at the challenges others are facing in the industry with that
same transition ... we'd argue that is a very significant performance boost
we were able to provide."
"Both for IBM and Intel the move to 90 nanometer has been more difficult
and they've been the leaders" in using the latest-generation chip-making
technologies, said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at market research firm
Insight 64. "Every time you make these technology transitions it's more
difficult than the last time."
In January, the world's largest chipmaker, Intel Corp., said it would delay
its new line of microprocessors code-named Dothan by a few months after a
validation test had found problems. Intel ultimately rolled out the new
chips, an update to its Pentium M line of chips, on May 10.
For IBM's part, the company had trouble producing enough properly
functioning Power PC 970FX chips from a single wafer, a measure known as
yield in the industry, Brookwood said. "The company hasn't been terribly
specific other than to say the yields weren't where they wanted them to
be," Brookwood said.
IBM has been losing money in its chip division as it seeks to bring its
new $3 billion East Fishkill, New York, plant on line that uses the latest
chipmaking technology.
Previously, Cupertino, California-based Apple's Power Mac models used
microprocessors that ran as fast as 2.0 gigahertz. The latest models all
use two processors in each computer.
Apple said it expects to ship the 2.5 gigahertz models in July, while
versions with two 1.8 gigahertz microprocessors and two 2.0 gigahertz
processors are now available.
The 2.5 gigahertz chip is one that Apple is currently selling in a computer
server it launched a few months ago.
The company, which earlier this year said it was having problems with its
supply of chips from IBM, said it believes it has gotten past those supply
challenges and will be able to meet expectations for the new G5.
"We're feeling very good about our ability to supply that product in July,"
said Tom Boger, desktop product marketing vice president for Apple.
Apple introduced the system about a year ago and previously the least
expensive model had only one 1.6 gigahertz microprocessor. The system
prices now start at $1,999 and run to $2,999, while the previous range
began at $1,799.
Google Stirs Controversy With Froogle
Google has staked its reputation as the Internet's premier search engine on
delivering rapid, relevant search results - untouched by human hands - that
it says are based on complex mathematical formulas and sophisticated
technology. But with Father's Day approaching, Google Inc. is experimenting
by promoting its own shopping site ahead of other online search
results and
ads. That has prompted criticism from some industry experts who say that
the giant search engine company appears to be compromising the unusually
high standards that it has set for itself just as it prepares to sell stock
to the public.
Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch, said this was the first time
he had noticed Google promoting its shopping service, named Froogle, by
placing it at the top of the list of advertiser-supported search results.
For example, when computer users typed the phrase "Father's Day gifts" into
Google earlier this week, Froogle often came up as the first listing.
Google previously has said its ad rankings were based entirely on formulas
combining the prices paid for ads and the popularity of Web sites among
searchers.
"It is weird when Google shoves its own stuff in there," Sullivan said. "It
is wrong, in that Google has taken a spot an advertiser was expecting to
get. If you are an advertiser, you have a right to be upset. They ought to
come up with something better."
Google declined comment about the recent promotion, citing the quiet period
companies customarily enter leading up to their initial public offerings of
stock. Federal securities laws prohibit companies from saying anything that
would hype the offering during the quiet period. Google has recently taken
a liberal approach to that directive, talking openly about a number of new
product initiatives, though it has been careful to avoid making revenue
projections.
In another recent practice that is drawing criticism, Google manually
altered the mathematically generated search results for certain products
- such as golf clubs - that might typically be purchased as gifts for
Father's Day so that the first thing coming up in a search under ads was a
link to Froogle. In this case, Google did not identify Froogle by name,
choosing instead to label the result under the heading "Product Search
Results." Only when users clicked on the link did they find it led to
Froogle.
While Google considers this an experiment, some industry analysts said it
appears to violate Google's own standards about disclosure and its
description of how search results are derived. Andy Beal, vice president
of WebSourced Inc., a search engine marketing firm, called Google's
practice misleading since it makes it appear that the Froogle link came up
because of its relevance, rather than because Google officials decided to
list it on the top.
"If Google thinks there is nothing wrong with showing Froogle at the top,
why are they not clearly labeling it?" Beal asked. "They should at least
have a button that explains what it is and where these results are coming
from."
Google's practice contrasts with that of Yahoo Inc. Type "Father's Day" in
its search engine, and the first results that come back are labeled "Inside
Yahoo" to distinguish them from search results for the rest of the Web.
"Google does hold itself to higher standards, and they are vocal about
trying to establish guidelines and standards for others to live by," Beal
said. "A case in point was their recent guidelines about software. If
Google is going to set the standards, then by Google's own definition, they
should have those results labeled as Froogle, and make it clear what those
results are for."
Other industry experts said they saw nothing wrong with Google's promotion
of Froogle, noting that the company was simply attempting to provide
computer users with the most useful links for buying gifts. Fredrick
Marckini, chief executive of iProspect.com Inc., a search engine marketing
firm, said that with product searches becoming a more important task for
search engines, Google is making life easier for online shoppers.
If Google decides to routinely favor Froogle in directing people where to
go when they shop, Marckini said online retailers may be forced to take
Froogle more seriously, marketing their wares through the service as they
do on the search engine. Google allows businesses to list their products
for free on Froogle. Google will apparently seek to profit from Froogle,
as from its main site, primarily by selling ads.
"They seem to be true to their word. I don't think this is inconsistent
with anything they have said," Marckini said of Google. "I think they are
doing it in a clear attempt to improve the value of their search results."
Dennis Pushkin, chief executive of marketing firm MoreVisibility.com Inc.,
said Google appears to be laying the foundation to ramp up Froogle, which
has been in a test phase, and make it an engine of profit. While Google is
immensely popular and enormously profitable, its Froogle service is
relatively small compared with other Internet sites and search engines
specializing in product comparison, Pushkin said.
"This is the next stage of Google, and they are presenting the beginning
of Froogle," Pushkin said. "The advertiser in due course is going to have
the opportunity to advertise on Froogle."
Scott Kessler, an analyst with Standard & Poor's, said Google needs to
develop Froogle and other services if it is to continue growing amid
heightened competition. An April survey commissioned by S&P showed that
Google remained the undisputed leader in search and that Yahoo was a
distant second. Among 1,000 people surveyed, 48 percent said they used
Google most, followed by Yahoo (20 percent), MSN (14 percent) and AOL (7
percent). Kessler said that it is likely the gap between Google and the
others will narrow and that the leading search engines will increasingly
come to resemble one another.
"We think Google will have difficulty replicating Yahoo's success in
consumer content and services," Kessler wrote in a new research report.
"With Froogle, Google has extended its search capabilities to comparative
shopping. But users of Google search somewhat less for information about
products and services than those of other major search services. While
Froogle is an application, Yahoo offers similar search functionality, as
well as browsing capabilities, a shopping marketplace, and payment
offerings."
Could Your New PC Be Patchless?
The excitement home buyers feel when taking a new PC out of its box can be
short-lived if the machine is vulnerable to the swarm of viruses and worms
on the Internet.
One senior administrator at a major research university recently endured a
prolonged setup procedure with his new laptop. The administrator, who asked
not to be identified due to the visibility of his position, purchased a
laptop in May after encountering delays in obtaining the notebook, which
was first introduced last March along with Intel's Centrino technology.
After connecting the notebook to the Internet over a dial-up connection,
the machine started crashing repeatedly in a sequence that looked eerily
familiar to the administrator's experiences with the Blaster worm last
August. Sure enough, a Google search quickly confirmed his diagnosis,
setting the stage for a two-hour marathon download of Windows Update
patches and the Blaster Worm Removal Tool from Symantec.
Current PC users are constantly reminded about the need to download patches
and operating system updates as soon as they are made available. But those
users may not realize that a "new" PC might actually have been sitting in a
warehouse for several months, and might lack the most recent patches
required to keep it safe from viruses and worms.
In order to meet delivery deadlines, PCs bound for the retail market must
have their operating systems frozen about three to four weeks prior to the
date on which they are made available, said Jim Kahler, manager of consumer
support for Hewlett-Packard's consumer PCs. With Microsoft releasing
several new security updates almost every month, there's no simple way to
ensure that when a PC finally makes it to the user, that PC contains the
latest updates required to secure the system, he said.
HP advises all purchasers to activate the built-in firewall that comes with
Windows XP prior to connecting the machine to the Internet, Kahler said.
The next major update to the Windows operating system, Windows XP Service
Pack 2, will help improve security by turning the firewall on as the
default option on future releases of the operating system.
Toshiba ships every PC with documentation that urges customers to
immediately visit the Windows Update Web site and download and install any
software patches that the site identifies as missing on that PC, said Carl
Pinto, director of product development.
Most of IBM's PC customers are businesses that have an IT staff member who
makes sure each PC contains the necessary updates before passing it along
to the user, said Clain Anderson, director of marketing for IBM's wireless
and security solutions.
IBM can also set up a system that monitors the patch status of an
enterprise's network of PCs, automatically downloading updates as they are
provided by Microsoft, Anderson said.
Representatives from Dell did not respond to requests for comment. However,
Dell doesn't sell its PCs through retail stores, which means it only
carries four days of inventory at any one time, according to its financial
results presented last month.
The Windows Update feature is only one line of defense against fast-moving
worms and viruses. Just about every PC company ships a free trial version
of an antivirus product such as Symantec's Norton Antivirus that will help
detect viruses and worms.
Besides those two defenses, there's not much the PC industry can do to
protect users against worms and viruses other than pleading with them to
install Windows Update patches and regularly update their virus
definitions, said Stephen Baker, director of industry analysis with NPD
Techworld in Reston, Virginia.
Unlike other electronic devices that consumers are used to owning, such as
televisions, PCs require regular maintenance and a willingness to cede
control of the update process to a vendor, Baker said.
"You have a lot more responsibility as a PC owner to maintain and take care
of your device than you do as a television owner," Baker said.
Virus-infected PCs aren't just problematic for their users. They are often
used as spam relays or to launch other virus and worm attacks, making it
essential that all PC users patch their systems, Baker said.
The university administrator eventually discovered a guide called "Windows
XP: Surviving the first 24 hours" on the interesting-people.org mailing
list maintained by Dave Farber of Carnegie Mellon University that would
have provided tips such as turning on the firewall and manually checking
for updates.
The episode turned out to be nothing more than an evening of aggravation,
but it could have been avoided with clearer instructions on how to safely
break in a new PC, the administrator said.
=~=~=~=
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