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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 06 Issue 36
Volume 6, Issue 36 Atari Online News, Etc. September 3, 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:
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0636 09/03/04
~ Internet Turns 35! ~ People Are Talking! ~ E-Mail Blackhole?
~ New iMac Is Released! ~ Video Games Sales Slow ~ GBA Price Cut!
~ MSN Music Falls Short! ~ Hurricane Frances! ~ Astro Boy Debuts!
~ ~ Acclaim Goes Chapter 7 ~
-* Napster Launches Music-To-Go *-
-* Microsoft Warns On Spyware's Impact *-
-* California Schools Warned of Identity Theft *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
What a great week it's been. The weather was cooperative, and basically
"cool" all week. This may change over the next few days, starting off this
weekend in the southeastern part of the country. Yep, another major
hurricane is knocking on our door. I don't know how people enjoy living
down south, but I guess they probably feel similar views for those of us
living in the northeast.
It's been a quiet week around here. We got some minor projects done around
the house, and a few more planned. Imagine, Labor Day weekend is upon us
already. I can't believe that the summer is winding down so soon. We'll
probably be closing up the pool this weekend. Maybe a few more small
projects around the house, as well. It's great to have some time to get a
few tasks done, with plenty of time to still relax.
Well, I don't have much to say this week. Being in vacation mode doesn't
lend much to thinking about intriguing topics. It's also been a quiet week
in the news, as well. Regardless, let's get down to it.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Another week has come and gone, and Mother
Nature has taken to dope-smacking the east coast yet again. Another
hurricane is taking aim at our shores. This one is... well, huge. It's
another instance of nature showing us that no matter how much we like to
think that we've progressed, the world on which we reside is still more
than capable of sending us scurrying with no more that the ancient,
basic elements of water and wind.
True, the sheer quantity and energy held within these 'elements' is
staggering, but it's the scale, rather than the energy that amazes me.
The storm system known as Frances is incredibly large. Seen from space,
it's an awesome storm that takes up an appreciable portion of the field
of view. I saw a picture of it taken from the International Space
Station, and I was in shock. I hope and pray that this puppy... against
all predictions... misses us completely. It ain't gonna happen, but I
can hope. This is one mean dog.
Getting back to the size of this thing... it's breath-taking. It's
awe-inspiring and, at the same time frightening. Things like this are
one reason that I laugh at environmentalists who preach the need to
"save the planet".
Let's face it, friends and neighbors, no matter what we do, no matter how
much pollution we kick up into the air, no matter what we poison the
oceans with, no matter how much nuclear waste we stash away in Yucca
Mountain, Earth will continue to be. WE are the ones we need to save.
Because although we may not survive our own short-sightedness, the Earth
surely would. And when there was nothing left of us but dust... no trace
of anything that we had managed to create in the past uncounted
millennia, the Earth herself would settle back to her own rhythm and
start anew as if we had never existed.
It may sound like I'm getting a bit spacier than normal, but think about
it... The Earth has been here for the past 4 billion years or so.
Anatomically modern humans have been here for somewhere (depending on
who you ask) for no more than 30 thousand years. And it's only been in
the last hundred and a half years that we've harnessed electricity and
the power of the atom. Mother Nature, on the other hand, has had all the
control she needs over these things for eons.
And within the next week or so, we'll get Mother Nature's report on how
much more damage we've managed to do to ourselves in the past year. The
"Ozone Hole" is about to open up over Antarctica. We'll see just how
ticked off Mother Nature is at us this time around.
Well, enough of all this. Let's get to the news, hints, tips and info
from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Josh Renaud posts this about a BBS system:
"The Grove Online has risen from the ashes of the early 1990s and been
reborn in emulation. It's the first-ever telnettable Atari ST BBS.
Some of you may have heard about it... It's been in operation a couple
years now. It still boggles my mind that this is POSSIBLE!
The Grove Online runs BBS Express! software and has tons of games
available, including Assassin, Galactic Empire, Final Frontier, and many
more.
telnet://shadow.skeleton.org "
Greg Goodwin tells Josh:
"This is awesome news! I will add you to the BBSmates list if you
haven't been added already.
And for those that would like to check out the BBS's of Dallas, TX, there
are three telnet BBS's here...
http://jybolac.atari.org
[I] Hope to get a BBS (Atari) going soon myself!"
Mark Duckworth tells Josh:
"Actually, that connects me to a freebsd login ;-) Maybe you need to
specify a port number for us to connect to.
Further, I was the proprietor of the very first telnettable Atari BBS
which was running Octopus BBS on an Atari TT030. And there are other
Atari related Telnet BBS's up and running, but not authentically running
on a real Atari.
The Atari-source.com BBS is down for now because Octopus is still under
development but I intend to bring it back up when I can more properly
configure it.
It was more a proof of concept and an educational experience in porting
an established BBS package to function as a telnet server.
Just like to set the record straight."
Josh tells Mark:
"My mistake... Use the same telnet address, but login as "bbs" at the
prompt.
Well, then surely The Grove Online qualifies as the first "Atari
telnet BBS running in emulation. <grin>
The best place is on the message base of the BBS itself... The sysop there
wrote his own code to connect the Atari in emulation to the telnet port
of
his unix box.
By the way - I neglected to mention in my original message that at the
login prompt, you need to type "bbs" which will invoke the BBS."
As a side note, this system looks like what we've been running
the AtariNews.Org chat on for several years now. I've often said
that one of these days I was going to read up on it and configure
the rest of the BBS system, but I've never gotten around to it.
-jm
Sam F. asks for help with his new CT60:
"I finally received my CT60!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I'm
nervous!!!
Anyhow, I look over the CT60 and the thing that really jumped out at me:
The fan was not attached to the heatsink in any way, and both the
heatsink and fan are pretty small.
I was wondering if I could attach a heatsink and fan from a pc's cpu.
The fan I speaking of has a plug which attaches to one of the power
leads from a psu. And both the heatsink and fan look as though they
would entirely cover the CT60's cpu.
Or should I just ask Rodolphe about it?"
Mark Duckworth tells Sam:
"This configuration is something you may not want to adjust. Although
for my overclocking needs this heatsink is inefficient, the PC one
didn't help but actually hurt. This heatsink is not bad at all. Since
you don't have the E141J mask 060, your processor really won't generate
an awful lot of heat. These things ran without heatsinks in most
applications. How Rodolphe sent it should be quite adequate. As for
the fan, mine seems to stay in place for the most part, and the fan
Rodolphe sent is of a much higher quality than most out there."
Sam asks Mark:
"So, how do I attach the fan to the heatsink? Keeping in mind, the
heatsink/fan on my CT60 is not the same as the combo I've seen on the
majority of CT60 photos, to include the photo on Rodolphe's website."
Philipp Donze tells Sam:
"So, you already found Rodolphe's website? Good. Then take a look at:
http://www.czuba-tech.com/CT60/english/Fitt_nosold.htm
It contains the remark/solution to your problems:
> There is no system to fix the fan on the heatsink. I suggest you
> to use a double side adhesive ruban between one border of the fan
> and the SDRAM DIMM or simply glue the fan on the heatsink.
Further I received some time ago an email from Rodolphe which
"highlighted" this change of concept.
But I'm also interested in some pictures from other "2nd batch CT60
owners" who glued the fan on the heatsink."
'Coda' adds:
"Don't try to remove the heatsink off the chip. It is thermally glued. You
might want to glue that fan on top of the heatsink, thats what I did -
just used a bit of superglue gel. You wont be able to overclock it very
much (I think 72 is the max) so you wont need a bigger hs/fan.
Load up the CT60 .cpx's and watch the temperature for a while. Probably
won't go about 45 degrees (c not f)."
Wayne Martz adds his thoughts/experiences:
"It's not supposed to be attached, it slides on from the side. Use what
he sent you, it's fine for now."
Well folks, it's time for me to bring it to an end for this week. Get
your butt to your local Town Hall and register to vote (You thought I
was going to let it slide this week, didn't you? <G>)... there're only 8
or so weeks left 'till the election, and if I remember correctly you've
got to be registered 30 days in advance of the election. So get going
and get ready to take part in government!
'Till next time, keep your ear to the ground and be ready to listen to
what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Game Boy Advance Price Cut!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Acclaim Files for Bankruptcy!
'Astro Boy' Makes Debut!
And much more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Nintendo Cuts Price on Game Boy Advance
Nintendo Co. has permanently slashed prices on its Game Boy Advance SP
portable video game system as the company tries to entrench its No. 1
position in the handheld game market.
Beginning Wednesday, the flip-up, color screen Game Boy Advance SP will
retail for $79, down $20 from its price since debuting in the United States
in March 2003.
Similar price cuts were being announced in Japan and Canada, said Perrin
Kaplan, vice president of marketing for Nintendo of America.
Kaplan said the cut should bring the SP further into the mainstream and
was unrelated to the company's impending Game Boy DS, or dual screen, which
is expected in time for the holidays. No price has been set.
"This is just logical for us," Kaplan said. "Everything we have done and
will always continue to do will be to maintain a stronghold on this."
Kaplan said the DS isn't a replacement for the aging SP. She said Nintendo
is targeting the DS, with its wireless and touch screen capabilities, at
older, more sophisticated "early-adopter" style gamers.
Kaplan said a newer SP was in the works, though she offered no details on
price, specifications or a release date.
The SP was the top game player last year, with more than 20 million sold in
the United States. Since 1989, some 172 million Game Boys have sold
worldwide.
"It's one area that we have really owned. We see it as an area that can
continue to grow," Nintendo spokeswoman Beth Llewelyn said. "Gaming has
expanded to all ages, and handhelds are ready to take that on and expand
too."
Along with games, third-party manufacturers have stepped in with an array
of add-ons that turn the Game Boy into a digital camera, a cell phone or a
video player.
Hardware makers, however, have seen declining sales so far this year.
According to the NPD Group, sales of portable hardware in the first half of
2004 fell 18 percent compared to the same period a year earlier.
It's not stopping rivals, including Sony Corp., from entering the market.
Next year, Sony is set to unveil its PlayStation Portable, or PSP. The thin
black machine, about the size of a paperback book, plays movies and music,
plus games.
Video Game Maker Acclaim Files for Bankruptcy
Video game publisher Acclaim Entertainment Inc., which has been hampered by
a lack of hit titles, filed for bankruptcy liquidation on Thursday after
failing to line up new financing.
Acclaim, one of the oldest brands in the industry, has been known as much
for failures like "Turok: Evolution" and controversial titles like "BMX
XXX" as it has for its successes in the highly competitive industry.
The company, which filed for bankruptcy to liquidate its assets under
Chapter 7 of U.S. Bankruptcy Code, has also faced lawsuits from some of its
top licensees, including ones from teen superstars Mary-Kate and Ashley
Olsen and biking legend Dave Mirra.
Acclaim is the second well-known company in the business to go bankrupt in
recent times, after 3DO Co. in 2003.
It was not immediately clear what would happen to Acclaim's properties,
including upcoming games like "100 Bullets" as well as new entries in the
"Worms" franchise.
Rival developers are always looking to acquire popular games, and companies
such as Majesco Holdings Inc., Atari Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software
Inc. may be interested in Acclaim's roster, according to Wedbush Morgan
Securities Inc. analyst Michael Pachter.
But opinions differed on the value of those assets.
"Games like 'Juiced' and 'Red Star' are worth quite a bit," Pachter said.
"Majesco and Take-Two have a strong distribution presence so they would be
able to get them out quickly."
On the other hand, RBC Capital Markets analyst Stewart Halpern noted that
with 3DO's liquidation, none of their franchises sold for much more than
$100,000.
"If that's any guide, then it doesn't seem like the asset sale story is
going to be an exciting one," he said.
Acclaim attorney Jeff Friedman said a trustee has been appointed whose
duties will be to sell Acclaim's assets, including several titles that are
ready to market.
"(However) the games that are in the middle of development are more
problematic because it is not clear that there will be money to finish
those games," he said.
Friedman said at least one creditor was owed more than $20 million but he
did not know the name of that person or entity.
Acclaim in early July said it faced bankruptcy unless it could negotiate a
new credit facility, reiterating that warning in late August.
"Negotiations with a proposed lender to replace the company's former
primary lender, GMAC Commercial Finance (a unit of General Motors Corp.,
had terminated and the company's credit facility with GMAC expired on
Aug. 20 and was not extended," Acclaim said in a filing with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission.
RBC analyst Halpern said that while Acclaim's demise may be its own fault,
other smaller developers in the $10 billion interactive gaming industry
must struggle to compete in the face of rising marketing and developing
expenses.
"The numerous errors and misjudgments that Acclaim made along the way make
this a company specific situation," he said. But there is no question that
the cost of doing business continues to increase, making it harder for
smaller companies to compete broadly.
Shares of the Glen Cove, New York-based company, which was founded in 1987,
peaked at more than $30 a share in late 1993 but last broke $5 in mid-2002
and have traded below $1 since last September. Over-the-counter Pink Sheets
of Acclaim traded at around 2 cents on Thursday.
'Astro Boy' Makes Video Game Debut
Tetsum Atom is a butt-kicking, pint-sized hero that wants nothing more than
peace between humans and robots. More than a half-century after debuting in
Japanese comic books, "Astro Boy" - as he's known outside of Japan - is
starring in two new video games from Sega of America Inc.
"Astro Boy: Omega Factor" for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance is an enjoyable
title that pushes the little handheld game device to its limits. There's
also a mediocre PlayStation2 version, simply called "Astro Boy."
Astro Boy has appeared in many cartoons and comic books since he was
created by Osamu Tezuka in 1952. The wide-eyed robot, coifed with a shiny
head of slicked black hair, has a heart of gold and a childlike optimism
that makes him very likable and a positive role model for kids.
Astro Boy can dole out some serious punishment when diplomacy fails. He
boasts one million horsepower strength, his arms double as laser cannons,
a machine gun sprouts from his back and he flies with the help of red boots
that double as rockets.
The "Omega Factor" story covers Astro Boy's quest to uncover a plot to
incite war between humans and robots.
The 40-plus levels have you running, jumping and flying around caverns,
cities, even a futuristic Antarctica. The levels usually end in
confrontations with giant "boss" monsters. It takes a full cache of weapons
and plenty of finger dexterity to beat these super-sized, overpowering
enemies that nearly fill the entire screen.
Between battles, there's scripted dialogue where you'll encounter a roster
of friends, enemies and some characters between good and evil as the
overarching story unfolds.
Meeting friend and foe is vital to boosting Astro Boy's "Omega Factor" - a
sort of life force that lets him evolve his powers.
"Omega Factor" packs nicely drawn backgrounds, detailed animations and
atmospheric effects on the Game Boy's diminutive color screen.
There's a trade-off, though: occasionally choppy gameplay. While dodging
electrified floors and fighting robots in a steamy power plant, my Game Boy
Advance SP was clearly overwhelmed as the game slowed noticeably.
After finishing "Omega Factor," I tried the PS2 version, where we finally
see "Astro Boy" in three dimensions. Graphics aren't enough to help this
one.
What could have been a great opportunity to let fans freely roam Metro City
instead comes off as a thin ploy to sell more Astro Boy merchandise.
Without the licensed characters, you're left with a very average title: The
very short game (I finished it in an afternoon) boils down to a series of
increasingly tough fights.
In between, you can hunt for hidden collector cards (yawn), chat it up with
the locals and smash the occasional pack of robots. You develop additional
powers such as X-ray vision after beating a boss or completing some other
task.
There's just nothing here that really stands out. The gameplay is average,
as are the cartoonish graphics. The sound is nothing special and even the
big, spectacular battles are extremely average.
Unless you're a big Astro Boy collector, I don't see any reason to plunk
down $40. The curious will probably have their fill after renting it for a
few days.
"Omega Factor" is a far better deal at $30 with its interesting story,
colorful presentation and gameplay variety.
There's a positive message within these E-rated games as Astro Boy grapples
with weighty issues such as human-robot racism and the meaning of life and
death in a way that should please parents and engage children. Perhaps
that's Astro Boy's greatest ability.
Three and a half stars out of four for "Omega Factor," two stars out of
four for the PS2 version.
TOCA Race Driver 2 Gets Its PlayStation 2 Engine Turbocharged
With TOCA Race Driver 2 set to come screeching onto PlayStation 2 on
October 8th, take a circuit-side seat and grab a taste of the most
motorsports ever in one game with the stunning video - now available
from http://www.codemasters.co.uk/tocaracedriver2 .
Showing just why the game is the console's Ultimate Racing Simulator, the
new video's incredible looks and speed aren't rendered or enhanced. It's
100% pure and unadulterated PlayStation 2 game footage guaranteed!
Letting you loose on over 50 global racing circuits, TOCA Race Driver 2
will roar in with new and exclusive features for the PlayStation 2 edition
including an additional circuit, Spain's Catalunya, and an enhanced
Championship structure that allows for 99 additional car and track
combinations.
There's also a super hardcore "Pro-Sim mode" if you've got what it takes.
Hook the game up to a force feedback wheel, including the new 900 Logitech
Driving Force Pro, and you'll be really racing!
Plus, in TOCA Race Driver 2, you start as a professional - there are no
boring 'tests' to take before you can play the proper game. In fact, you'll
be buckling up in top supercars from the start - your first is the awesome
Ford GT!
From there, push your racing prowess through a total of 33 championships
that cover a massively diverse selection of motor sports, including GT
Sports Car Racing, Street Racing, Rally, DTM, V8 Supercars, Global GT
Lights, Rally Cross, Formula Ford, Open Wheel Grand Prix, Classic Car
Racing, Super Truck racing, Stockcar Oval Racing, Ice-Racing, Convertible
Racing, and Performance Cars.
An all new and proprietary PlayStation 2 graphics engine powers TOCA Race
Driver 2 along at an incredibly smooth 60 frames-per-second with absolutely
no pop-up, even when the game crams up to 21 cars onto the tracks
simultaneously!
Already a number one hit on Xbox and PC, the new PlayStation 2 edition of
TOCA Race Driver 2: The Ultimate Racing Simulator will launch October 8th,
complete with online play functionality for up to 8 players. Stay ahead of
the high-speed pack and check the PlayStation 2 movie at
http://www.codemasters.co.uk/tocaracedriver2 .
Video Game Sales Seen Pausing After Record 2003
Video game sales soared to a record $18.2 billion last year, but the days
of strong growth are on pause as players await a new generation of consoles
in 2005 and 2006, a new study showed on Wednesday.
Recent price cuts in Europe for Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation 2
plus new releases in reliably selling franchises such as "Grand Theft
Auto," "Halo" and "Doom" are expected to boost sales in the second half of
2004.
But sales for the entire year are expected to be flat compared to 2003, at
$18.2 billion, said London-based research group Screen Digest in its annual
study.
Screen Digest pointed out that the slowdown had been long anticipated as it
follows the typical trend for game consoles entering their third and fourth
years on store shelves.
"2003 was the peak. But the slow to stable growth for 2004 is positive.
There were a lot more consoles sold in this cycle than in the past one,"
said Ben Keen, executive director for Screen Digest.
Over the past decade, the growth rate for video game turnover has exploded,
rivalling cinema box office takings and CD sales in several major markets.
Screen Digest defined the market in its annual report as including video
games for personal computers and consoles such as PlayStation 2, Xbox and
Nintendo's GameCube, plus "edutainment" titles, or hybrid
entertainment-education software.
Global video game sales growth in 2003 was led by Europe, and in particular
Britain, Screen Digest said.
The British video game market, the third-largest in the world behind the
United States and Japan, jumped almost 20 percent to $1.88 billion. The
Western European market climbed 21 percent to $6.4 billion, the researchers
said.
Screen Digest predicted global retail sales will rise a further 16 percent
to $21.1 billion by 2007.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Apple's New iMac Computer Is All Display
Apple Computer unveiled, after a two-month delay, its new iMac desktop
computer on Tuesday which integrates disk drives and processors into a flat
display less than two inches thick.
"Now we have the world's thinnest desktop computer," Phil Schiller, head of
worldwide product marketing, said in a keynote presentation at the annual
Apple Expo in Paris.
Shipping from mid-September, Apple said the computer would be available in
versions with a 17-inch and a 20-inch display, with a wireless keyboard and
mouse.
Apple said in July the launch of the new iMac would be delayed until
September. It put a dent in the share price of the company which has been
at the forefront of computer innovation for decades, but whose global
market share has been eroded to less than 5 percent amid competition from
lower-priced PCs running on the Windows operating system from Microsoft.
Retail prices of the new iMac will start at $1,299 for the 17-inch model,
or 1,399 euros in Europe. The slightly thicker 20-inch model will cost
$1,899, or 2,049 euros.
"This is a much more affordable line (of personal computers)," Schiller
told a cheering audience of Macintosh (news - web sites) users. He declined
to give sales targets.
The model will take over from the current iMac, which created a buzz when
launched a few years ago with its minimalist design featuring a thin
display perched on a stainless steel pole above a white hemispherical base.
Sales of the iMac have slowed in recent quarters, but Apple's portable
notebook computers have still been doing well.
"7.5 million iMacs have been sold over the last six years. It's time for
an entirely new iMac," Schiller said.
Analysts agreed the iMac had been in need of a makeover. The new design
would take less space on a desk and this would push existing Apple users to
trade in their old iMac. But the new design would not be enough to convince
Windows users to switch, they said.
"These devices are all about software. There's nothing here that addresses
the compatibility issues," said analyst Brian Gammage at Gartner, referring
to the fact that existing software running on Windows cannot be swapped to
an Apple computer.
The new model, designed by the same team that developed the iPod portable
music player, works on G5 microprocessors.
With the iPod, Apple broke into the consumer electronics market and has
come to dominate the portable music segment where it claims 58 percent of
the U.S. market for MP3 players.
Schiller also drew attention to Apple's newly developed business of selling
songs online through its iTunes Music Store. Stores that were opened to
German, French and British customers 10 weeks ago have already sold 5
million tracks, he said.
A fourth European iTunes store would open in October, which would give
consumers in all other countries access to the catalog, in English,
Schiller told Reuters in an interview.
Worldwide, Apple has sold more than 4 million iPods and sold more than 100
million songs in the United States since it was launched in April last
year.
The success of iPod and iTunes, by far the most popular online music store,
has pushed Apple shares up from a six-year low of $12.92 in April 2003 to
over $35 this week.
Schiller reiterated that 49-year old Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who in the
late 1990s came back to rescue the company which he had founded, was making
a good recovery from cancer surgery. "He's doing great. We really look
forward to Steve coming back to work in September," Schiller said.
Napster Launches Music-To-Go Service
U.S. music-downloading service Napster has launched a preview version of
its Napster To Go portable music service, which incorporates Microsoft's
latest digital-rights management software, Janus.
Napster To Go uses Microsoft's new Windows Media Player 10 to enable
Napster subscribers to download songs to portable music players. The
preview service is available at an introductory price of US14.95 per month.
Final pricing has yet to be announced.
Microsoft's Janus digital-rights management software, which is included in
Windows Media Player 10, is used to prevent copyright abuse. This means
that users are allowed to download songs to their portable devices as long
as they continue to pay their subscription fees to Napster.
The Napster To Go preview is free to download, but it only works with the
Samsung Portable Media Center or Creative's Zen Portable Media Center.
Portable media centers are a new class of device that can download all the
digital entertainment that consumers store on their Windows XP-based PCs,
including photos, recorded TV shows, home videos and
music.
"What subscribers have to do is log on to Napster on their PC, then plug in
their Portable Media Center," Napster spokesperson Dana Harris told
NewsFactor. "They can then download songs to the device. Subscribers have
to connect their Portable Media Centers to Napster once a month to renew
their license to listen to the music on the devices."
The preview can be downloaded from a Napster link on the Windows Media
Player 10 Digital Media Mall storefront.
The full version of Napster To Go will be launched later this fall. "We are
the first and only company to offer a portable music service," Harris told
NewsFactor.
"By the time the full service is available, I expect a lot more portable
music centers to be on the market that will be compatible with Napster To
Go," she said. "All the major MP3-player manufacturers, such as iRiver and
Rio, will have portable music centers available."
Rivals Say Microsoft Online Music Store Falls Short
Microsoft Corp's. newly launched MSN Music download service has a long way
to go to catch up with iTunes and other online services, competitors said
on Thursday.
Apple Computer Inc., a longtime rival and sometimes partner on Microsoft,
said that the world's largest software maker will have a tough time
matching the 16 million songs downloaded every month from its iTunes music
store and will be crippled by users not being able to transfer songs onto
iPod portable music players.
"It is about the music, the acquiring of music and the listening of music,
and how to give customers the best experience of that," said Eddy Cue,
Apple's vice president of applications.
Cupertino, California-based Apple also noted that MSN Music, which launched
on Wednesday, is offering only 500,000 downloadable songs, half of what
iTunes currently offers. Yusuf Mehdi, vice president at Microsoft's MSN
Internet division, said MSN Music would quickly grow to more than 1
million.
"It will be larger than any catalog," Mehdi said.
Microsoft is also touting that its songs will be encoded in the Windows
Media format at a higher bit rate than Apple's standard format for iTunes,
resulting in better sound quality.
Both offer songs at 99 cents each, although Microsoft is also offering
some longer-playing songs above that price, a practice that record
companies had been trying to implement. Apple has resisted industry
pressure to offer songs at more than 99 cents.
Josh Bernoff, analyst at Forrester Research, said it was still too early
to tell how Microsoft would stack up against Apple, noting that MSN Music
launched in beta, or test mode.
"It has weaknesses that Apple has pointed out but many of them are going
to get fixed," Bernoff said, "Just because Microsoft's first offering
doesn't solve all problems doesn't mean that they won't be around for a
long time or soak up customers."
Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft had been working for over a year to
enter the online music market. The new MSN Music can be accessed from a
browser as well as a new version of the Windows Media Player that also was
unveiled.
Microsoft is also opening up a "Digital Media Mall" within its Windows
Media Player software program for playing audio and visual content.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which began offering music downloads in March at 88
cents each, on Thursday launched an online music store the works with
Windows Media Player.
In a similar effort to expand the reach of iTunes music store, Apple
introduced an affiliates program on Wednesday that allows Web site
operators to link their content to Apple's downloads and earn a commission.
Seattle-based RealNetworks Inc. also weighed in on Microsoft's foray into
the online music market, saying that its strategy offering both song
downloads and music subscription services was the "key to the overall
growth of the legal music market."
RealNetworks recently launched a promotional 49 cents per-song download
campaign in conjunction with its Harmony service that allows songs
downloaded from its store to be played on Apple's iPod. Apple has said
that RealNetworks effectively hacked into the iPod, and it was considering
legal action.
Singapore-based Creative Technology Ltd. said on Thursday it would double
its Windows-friendly digital music player product line as it tries to boost
its 10 percent global market share and overtake the iPod's leading
17 percent share of the market.
California Schools Warned of Identity Theft
California university officials have warned nearly 600,000 students and
faculty that they might be exposed to identity theft following incidents
where computer hard drives loaded with their private information were lost
or hacked into.
Since January, at least 580,000 people who had personal information about
them stored in university computers received warnings they might be at
risk.
The latest instance of missing equipment occurred in June at California
State University, San Marcos.
An auditor lost a small external hard drive for a laptop computer. Personal
data, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers and other
identifiers for 23,500 students, faculty and staff in the California State
University system were contained on the missing hard drive.
At the University of California, San Diego, and San Diego State University,
hackers broke into computers and obtained access to files of personal data
for more than 500,000 current or former students, applicants, staff,
faculty and alumni.
Officials from the Cal State system and UC San Diego said they have no
evidence any personal data were stolen.
At the University of California, Los Angeles, a stolen laptop in June led
officials to notify as many as 145,000 blood donors that their data might
be in the open.
A California law requiring people be notified when they might be exposed to
identity theft took effect in July 2003. Officials say that might explain
the rash of notices.
"There's no reason to assume that suddenly in July 2003 all these computer
security breaches started occurring," said Joanne McNabb of the Office of
Privacy Protection in the California Department of Consumer Affairs. "It's
just that we know about them now, when we didn't hear before."
Microsoft Warns on Spyware's Impact
Though Microsoft Corp.'s new security update package is all about
protecting systems from worms, viruses and spyware, it can't do much about
what's already on computers ? and that could pose a problem.
The company is warning users of the Windows XP operating system to check
for spyware before downloading the free massive security update, called
Service Pack 2.
Barry Goff, a group product manager at Microsoft, said some spyware could
cause computers to freeze up upon installation of the update.
Spyware, which typically piggybacks with downloaded software such as
file-sharing programs, tracks behavior, triggers pop-up ads and can
otherwise cause problems on computers.
Programs such as Ad-Aware and SpySweeper can scour computers for spyware.
Microsoft recommends that users clean their PCs of spyware and back up
their data before turning on the auto update feature that automatically
downloads Service Pack 2, or SP2.
People who download SP2 also may need to check whether legitimate programs,
such as third-party security software, need to be updated. SP2 makes major
changes, including adding a Windows Firewall to better guard computers
against attack, and those changes can also cause compatibility issues with
other software.
Microsoft finished work on SP2 in early August and is slowly distributing
it to customers through automatic downloads, manual downloads and CDs. The
company is metering out the product to avoid clogging up networks and
slowing other Internet traffic ? and to monitor for any glitches.
Goff said fewer than 10 million consumers have received SP2, while several
million businesses have downloaded the product. Research firm IDC estimates
that about 260 million copies of Windows XP have been sold.
The Customer E-Mail Black Hole
Customer e-mail is routine, and routinely trashed, studies show.
Disappearing as though swallowed by a black hole, ignored e-mails are
costing companies millions as disgruntled consumers take their business
elsewhere.
"The fact that 41 percent of large North American companies are simply
ignoring e-mails from high-value buyers is shocking," Dr. Jon Anton,
director of Benchmark Portal and Benchmark Research at Purdue University's
Center for Customer-Driven Quality told NewsFactor.
The black hole catches e-mail that falls through the cracks between
programs. "Retailers are not adequately addressing customer
questions/inquiries submitted via e-mail, because the technology and
processes are disjointed from the other CRM activities. Any time a call
center agent needs to toggle among various applications, or they do not
have a single view of the customer, poor customer service is likely," Rob
Garf, retail analyst at AMR Research, told NewsFactor.
Although a hassle for consumers, the problem is understandable. "It's
essentially the same problem we had in the 1980s with toll-free phone
numbers. Everybody loved calling in, but there were not enough agents - or
sufficient technology - to handle the volume. So it is with e-mail now,"
says Anton.
The evolution of customer communications does show a recurring trend. From
"letters, to toll-free numbers, to e-mail and on to Web chat, corporate
America is always trying to catch up with demand," says Anton.
While Anton says companies are not "laggards," the perception is that
companies are not exactly racing to attend to the customer.
"A shocking 41 percent of the companies did not respond at all to our
surveyors' e-mail, even though a clear intention to make large purchases
was indicated in the body of the e-mail. Only 39 percent of the overall
sample sent an answer within 24 hours, and only 15 percent of companies
sent any form of acknowledgement. Only 17 percent of the companies in the
overall sample responded with an accurate and complete answer," Anton says.
Among sector-specific findings in the study, retail performed the best in
responsiveness with 53 percent responding within 24 hours. Surprisingly,
the financial-services and telecom companies were the least responsive,
with 59 percent and 40 percent of the companies respectively sending no
response at all.
There were also some surprises in the category of quality of response. The
retail sector performed the best with 35 percent of the companies providing
an accurate and complete answer. Telecom and high-technology manufacturing
performed the worst with only 9 percent and 10 percent respectively.
"Lack of e-mail integration into the overall CRM platform often leads to an
e-mail black hole, and that ultimately impacts service levels and the
customer experience. It will be increasingly difficult to win those
customers back. Companies cannot afford to drop the ball," says Garf.
The loss of sales and goodwill is compounded by the loss of cost-savings
in operations. "Call centers are inherently ineffective. It costs between
US$8 and $15 per call to handle a transaction or inquiry by phone, whereas
it only costs a dime to a quarter to handle the same thing through the
Internet," Carl Lehmann, vice president of Technical Research Services at
Meta Group, told NewsFactor.
If history repeats itself, a fix is not too far off. "It took about five
years to straighten out the problems with toll-free calls, and we expect
about the same for e-mail. We've been through two years of growing pains,
and in about three years, we'll have the problems solved," says Anton.
But that is not the only footnote in history that stands to be repeated.
"E-mails are the easiest of services to outsource to countries like India
once the technical issues are worked out," says Anton. "Customers will
never know foreigners are answering the e-mail, since cultural nuances and
language differences are not apparent like they are on the phone in call
centers."
He added that customers tend to expect an answer by e-mail within 24 hours,
as opposed to the expected immediate response by telephone. "Fewer agents
will be needed to answer e-mail, further lowering costs," he said.
In any case, the black hole will continue to consume customer e-mail and
company profits, until it turns its maw toward technical jobs and
paychecks. Bottom line, it is a situation that must be reckoned with.
Web Turns 35, but Still Work in Progress
Thirty-five years after computer scientists at UCLA linked two bulky
computers using a 15-foot gray cable, testing a new way for exchanging data
over networks, what would ultimately become the Internet remains a work in
progress.
University researchers are experimenting with ways to increase its capacity
and speed. Programmers are trying to imbue Web pages with intelligence. And
work is underway to re-engineer the network to reduce spam and security
troubles.
All the while threats loom: Critics warn that commercial, legal and
political pressures could hinder the types of innovations that made the
Internet what it is today.
Stephen Crocker and Vinton Cerf were among the graduate students who joined
UCLA professor Len Kleinrock in an engineering lab on Sept. 2, 1969, as
bits of meaningless test data flowed silently between the two computers. By
January, three other "nodes" joined the fledgling network.
Then came e-mail a few years later, a core communications protocol called
TCP/IP in the late 70s, the domain name system in the 80s and the World
Wide Web - now the second most popular application behind e-mail - in 1990.
The Internet expanded beyond its initial military and educational domain
into businesses and homes around the world.
Today, Crocker continues work on the Internet, designing better tools for
collaboration. And as security chairman for the Internet's key oversight
body, he is trying to defend the core addressing system from outside
threats, including an attempt last year by a private search engine to grab
Web surfers who mistype addresses.
He acknowledges the Internet he helped build is far from finished, and
changes are in store to meet growing demands for multimedia. Network
providers now make only "best efforts" at delivering data packets, and
Crocker said better guarantees are needed to prevent the skips and stutters
now common with video.
Cerf, now at MCI Inc., said he wished he could have designed the Internet
with security built-in. Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc. and America Online
Inc., among others, are currently trying to retrofit the network so e-mail
senders can be authenticated - a way to cut down on junk messages sent
using spoofed addresses.
Among Cerf's other projects: a next-generation numbering system called IPv6
to accommodate the ever-growing armies of Internet-ready wireless devices,
game consoles, even dog collars. Working with NASA, Cerf is also trying to
extend the network into outer space to better communicate with spacecraft.
But many features being developed today wouldn't have been possible at
birth given the slower computing speeds and narrower Internet pipes, or
bandwidth, Cerf said.
"With the tools we had then, we did as much as we could reasonably have
done," he said.
While engineers tinker with the Internet's core framework, some university
researchers looking for more speed are developing separate systems that
parallel the Internet. That way, data-intensive applications like video
conferencing, brain imaging and global climate research won't have to
compete with e-mail and e-commerce.
Think information highway with an express lane.
Some applications are so data-intensive, they are "simply impractical to
do on the current Internet," said Tracy Futhey, chairwoman of the National
LambdaRail. The project offers for its members dedicated high-speed lines
so data can "get from point A to point B and not have to contend with the
other traffic."
LambdaRail recently completed its first optical connection from San Diego
to Seattle to Pittsburgh to Jacksonville, Fla. Work on additional links is
planned for next year.
Undersea explorer Robert Ballard has used another network, Internet2, to
host live, interactive presentations with students and aquarium visitors
from the wreck of the Titanic, which he found in 1985.
The Internet's bandwidth can carry only "lousy" video and "can't compete
with looking out the window," Ballard said. But with Internet2,
"high-definition zoom cameras can show them the eyelids."
Internet2, with speeds 100 times the typical broadband service at home, is
now limited to selected universities, companies and institutions, but
researchers expect any breakthroughs to ultimately migrate to the main
Internet.
While Internet2 and LambdaRail seek to move data faster and faster,
researchers with the World Wide Web Consortium are trying to make
information smarter and smarter. Semantic Web is a next-generation Web
designed to make more kinds of data easier for computers to locate and
process.
Consider the separate teams of scientists who study genes, proteins and
chemical pathways. With the Semantic Web, tags are added to information in
databases describing gene and protein sequences. One group may use one
scheme and another team something else; the Semantic Web could help link
the two. Ultimately, software could be written to process the data and make
inferences that previously required human intervention.
With the same principles, searching to buy an automobile in Massachusetts
will also incorporate listings for cars in Boston.
Change doesn't come easily, however. For instance, the IPv6 numbering
system was deemed an Internet standard about five years ago, but the vast
majority of software and hardware today still runs on the older IPv4, which
is rapidly running out of room.
And the Internet faces general resistance from old-world forces that want
to preserve their current ways of doing things: Companies that value profit
over greater good. Copyright holders who want to protect their music and
movies. Governments that seek to censor information or spy on its citizens.
In early August, the Federal Communications Commission declared that
Internet-based phone calls should be subject to the same type of law
enforcement surveillance as cell and landline phones. That means Internet
service providers would have to design their systems to permit police
wiretaps.
Jonathan Zittrain, a professor with Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet
and Society, fears a slippery slope. As these outside pressures meddle with
the Net's open architecture, he said, there's less opportunity for
experimentation and for innovations like the World Wide Web, born out of an
unauthorized project at a Swiss nuclear research lab.
=~=~=~=
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