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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 04 Issue 33
Volume 4, Issue 33 Atari Online News, Etc. August 16, 2002
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2002
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:
Carl Forhan
Rob Mahlert
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Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0433 08/16/02
~ E-mail As Evidence! ~ People Are Talking! ~ New Power Macs!
~ March Supports DSS Act ~ Video Games Suit Dumped ~ Mow Grass Via Web!
~ Virus Lull A Concern? ~ Ready For Some Football ~ Turn Into "Turok"!
~ Web Site for Food Info ~ Songbird CGE2K2 Report ~ More HighWire News!
-* Fall Launch For MS Xbox Live *-
-* Future Bright For Web File Sharing! *-
-* Hiring for Tech Jobs Weak, Slows Recovery! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
All right, which one of you cursed me because of all this mention of the
weather? Come on, confess! Since last week's commentary, the temperature
has been in (at least) the 90's every day. They're predicting an 8-day heat
wave here in New England! This has gone beyond ridiculous. Mercifully, the
pool has been getting a workout!
There's an ironic article in A-ONE this week remarking about the fact that
tech job hiring hasn't picked up, thus slowing down economic recovery. DUH!
Why would anyone think otherwise? Of course things haven't improved; tech
companies are folding left and right - much faster than others are staying
on an even keel, much less growing. With all of the discoveries of
corruption in some high level tech companies, it's causing a major backlash
with consumers. People are skeptical and hesitant to invest. Cash slows,
economic woes follow. Maybe I'm wrong - I never took an economics course,
but it seems to make sense to me.
Well, the summer is winding down, unofficially. Hard to believe that Labor
Day is only a few weeks away. I get to enjoy it, however, with a couple
more weeks of vacation starting now. I'll be getting some more golfing in
as well as working on some plans for work inside the house. And if the
weather gets "better" maybe I can get some work down outside although this
heat may have ruined what work I've already done. I hope that things get
back to normal around here, soon!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
HighWire 0.0.8a Public Release
The HighWire Development Team would like to announce that the 0.0.8Alpha
release of HighWire is now available for your use and entertainment.
Changes in this version include the following.
Extended menu bar, the current charset encoding can be seen and changed
at menu title "View". Also de/increasing of the display font is
available there.
Menu entry"Info.." will show now some basic information about the active
frame.
Right mouse click now opens a popup menu.
Improved algorithm for line breaking to avoid splitting of text lines at
wrong positions.
Implementation of memory caching of images avoids multiple loading of
the same image. The pseudo URI "about:cache" now shows detailed
information about cached images.
Implementation of <frame scrolling=..> attribute.
Bugfix tags inside links breaking colouring.
And many more ...
Download links are on the HighWire site.
HighWire Development Team
http://highwire.atari-users.net
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. It's been a long, hot, humid week here in
the northeast. It's really starting to get on my nerves! It must be just
because I'm getting older and don't spring back from things like I used
to.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not ancient and I'm not feeble (not physically,
anyway). It's just that I'm starting to notice that the little things
that I once just shook off don't shake off so easily anymore.
For instance, it used to be that, when I'd been at the keyboard for too
long, I'd give my hands a rest and they'd be as good as new after a
couple of hours. Now, it takes me several days before my hands feel
better. Yeah, someone is reading this right now, nodding their head and
saying "carpal tunnel syndrome" to themselves. It might well be, but I
don't think so. My father has had CTS for several years now, and from
what I've observed, his symptoms are different from mine.
I find it amusing to tell people, "Yeah, I never had this kind of
trouble back when I was only using an Atari computer!". Most of them
never make the connection that it's been almost ten years since I used
only Atari computers, and that I'm therefore ten years older and ten
years less able to just 'shake it off'.
Well, while I try to shake it off, let's take a look at the news, hints,
tips, and info from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Paul Hopkins asks about a hard drive for his Falcon:
"There was a posting a while back concerning the the amount of
hard drive that a Falcon could access. Alas I did not keep a record
for future reference. Silly me !
Now I am in begging mode, hoping that whoever it was that posted that
information would be kind enough to repeat it for me please.
I am currently using a I Gig IDE. By how much may I increase this ?
What is the upper limit, or is the upper limit defined by the Falcon
and not the drive capacity,ie. will the Falcon ignore capacities on a
HD beyond that which it can access ?"
James Alexander tells Paul:
"Upper limit is defined by partition size handling of used os release.
TOS-Release Size / Grsse Comment / Kommentar
TOS 1.00 - 1.02 256 MByte
TOS 1.04 - 3.xx 512 Mbyte
TOS 4.0x 1024 MByte
MagiC 1024 MByte
BigDOS 1024 MByte
MagiC / BigDOS 2048 MByte (DOS-Kompatibel)
MagiC 6.1 -> FAT32 -> Terrabyte (nicht MagiC 6.01)
FreeMiNT 1.15 FAT 16 2048 MByte (DOS/TOS komp. Partitionierung)
FreeMiNT FAT 32 !> Terrabyte
128Gbyte are enough for any atari ;)
Drive: Type: Size: Mech: Comments:
Hitachi DK222A-54 540 MB 2.5"
Hitachi DK212A-81 810 MB 2.5" Not for CT2
Turbo mode
Hitachi DK212A-10 1.0 GB 2.5"
Areal MD2085 80 MB 2.5"
Fujitsu M2637T 240 MB 2.5"
Fujitsu M2724TAM 1.6 GB 2.5" No multiple
read/write
Conner CFN250A 250 MB 2.5"
Conner CP2064 64 MB 2.5" No CT2
TurboMode!
Quantum Daytona 500 MB 2.5"
Seagate ST9077A 2.5" Sorry, no technical data
Quantum Europa 1.08 GB 2.5"
Toshiba MK1002MAV 1.08 GB 2.5"
Toshiba MK1924FCV 540 MB 2.5"
Toshiba MK2326FCH 330 MB 2.5"
Toshiba MK1403MAV 1.3 GB 2.5"
Toshiba MK2110MAT 2.1 GB 2.5" very silent
Toshiba MK2109MAT 2.1 GB 2.5" (2109 mbytes)
Beginning years ago that list on DOITF030 FAQ.
As N O B O D Y send his type of used IDE devices the list is short as
it is. I'm not in the position to buy and test some IDE drives for
people they are lazy two send two simple words.
Jean-Luc Ceccoli adds:
"So, you can add these two models to your list (both are 2.5" IDE) :
IBM DTNA-22110 2.11 GB
IBM DJSA2210 10.00 GB
Both tested on my Falcon."
Dr. Uwe Seimet, author of HD Driver, adds:
"Actually a list of drives that do *not* work makes more sense. There is
no reason why modern IDE drives should not work, so a list that would
have to list any IDE drive does not make much sense. Otherwise some
users will think that only the drives in such a list can be used.
Actually my experience is that even those drives that are said not to
work usually do work. Bad cables, or with SCSI wrong termination, are
almost always the reason for a drive not working.
There is no upper limit. With HDDRIVER IDE drives up to 127 GByte have
been tested. Drives with 128 GByte and more are also supported by
HDDRIVER, but have not yet been tested. See also
http://www.seimet.de/hddriver_english.html
Note that the operating systems limits the partition size. For huge
drive MagiC or MiNT have to be used in order to have partitions of more
than 1 GByte."
Greg Goodwin takes the thread and runs with it by asking:
"Is it true for IDE drives that extra space is simply ignored? I'm
considering adding a 2.5" drive to my Falcon, but have no need for 14
1 GB partitions. Two or three would do nicely."
Djordje Vukovic tells Greg:
"Hmm, IIRC the nature of the "FAT" filesystem (and possibly other
filesystems as well) is such that it works best when the directory trees
and the file counts are not too large- which favors a larger number of
(smaller) partitions over a smaller number of larger partitions.
A larger number of partitions is also advantageous (at least to me) in
terms of organization, backup, search, shorter paths to files (a path
too long causes problems in some older applications), etc.
Unused space (partition) on disk can be used to "mirror" some important
data, e.g. the complete boot partition or something similar.
As for partition size, the disk space is rather cheap these days which
offers a possibility that partitions are never filled over, say, 40-50%
which is advantageous regarding file segmentation, access, etc."
Edward Baiz asks about downloading problems:
"I have been using Porthos for some time and even registered. I have
always been able to download it even after I got my cable modem
connection. However a few days ago, I saw that there was a new version
(2.05) and clicked on the "download" button. The file is about 1.2 Meg.
Things started in the usual fashion until I had gotten about 129k, then
Cab stopped the download and acted like it was done and my file selector
came up to allow me to save the file. The real funny thing is that the
file name that was in my file selector was not the name of the Porthos
file, but the name of the web page I was at.
I am thinking something was done on Ivers's end, but they say things are
fine. I get the same thing every time. Now, when I use the MagicNet Cab
ovl file, the downloading goes almost to the end, then stops. Has anyone
else experienced this? I have not tried downloading the file under
MintNet, but I am going to and see just what happens.
Well I tried it out under MintNet and got mixed results. Using the
regular Cab.ovl file I got the same result. If I used the Mintnet ovl, I
was able to get the whole file, but still had to change the name before
I saved it. I was wrong about the name of the file coming up being the
name of the web page I was at. Actually it is like this. The name of the
webpage is porthos.php. The address where the file was coming from is
dl.php?File=PorthosD.zip. The filename that comes up for me is dl.php.
This all led me to believe it was the ovl file, so I tried an older
version of Dan Ackerman's ovl (1.3101) and I was able to get the whole
file, but still had to change the filename. Invers can say what they
want, but they changed something. In the end I was able to get the file
and that is what really counts."
Djordje Vukovic tells Edward:
I had similar occurrences several times (a couple of years ago) with CAB
when downloading large files: file transfer would start and then,
prematurely, a file-selector would appear as if the transfer was
complete, although only a portion of the file had been transferred. IIRC
at that time I was using Booklage's CAB.OVL for Sting.
I noticed that those problems appeared (at that time) on some web sites
only: e.g. europe-shareware and vezz's hardware-hack site, and a couple
of others which I do not remember now. After a number of attempts I
concluded that the problem appeared when, because of net congestion,
average transfer speed dropped below, say, 80% of theoretical values.
It was almost as if there was a timer somewhere which finished the
transfer after some theoretical period needed to transfer the file has
been exceeded. I solved the problem by taking those files at times of
day when net traffic was low: i.e. very late at night. I remember I even
contacted Vezz about that, and he said he was aware of the issue but
that it was a problem of the provider which hosted his site (later he
changed the provider, iirc)."
Jean-Luc Ceccoli tells Djordje:
"That is nice to hear, but I am still interested to know -WHAT- causes
this problem. Is it indeed some kind of timeout?"
Martin Byttebier tells Jean-Luc:
"I don't think it's a time out prob. You see I have a cable net
connection. Downloading Porthos just take a sort while (maybe 10 sec.),
even with Cab but yet I do have the same problem as describe by Edward.
At least with the Cab-for-mintnet ovl. With the STing ovl (latest one) I
could download it without problem. For me it looks like an ovl problem.
The exact URL for Porthos is
http://www.calamus.net/files/dl.php?File=PorthosD.zip
My guess is that Cab has troubles with the question mark. That's
probably the reason why Cab downloads it as dl.php"
Well folks, that's it for this week. Tune in again next time, same time,
same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Become "Turok" For Real! Football Season!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Xbox Live To Be Unveiled This Fall!
Dismissal of Suit vs. Video Games Upheld!
And more!
->From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
A real quick commentary in this week's issue; I haven't visited this section
of A-ONE in quite some time! Last week there was an article in this section
relating how game companies were reducing the size of video game packages.
What took so long?? It's always amazed me when buying software that the
package was so large but when opened, there was little in it. Even back in
the Atari glory days, it was similar. Open up the box, find a disk or CD, a
small manual, and tons of cardboard filler! Economic blunder or marketing
genius? I don't know about you, but the size of the box didn't attract my
attention. Perhaps the graphics on the box did, but never the size. I'm
surprised that dealers and stores didn't complain about this years ago. I
don't know - maybe it's petty - but I'm glad to see that software packaging,
at least for video games, may get smaller.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Microsoft to Launch Xbox Live on November 15
Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday said it will launch "Xbox," the online gaming
service for its video game console, in North America on Nov. 15, the Xbox
game machine's one-year anniversary.
The service will require a $49.95 starter kit, which includes 12-months'
access, a game and a headset kit for voice communications with other
players.
At least six online-enabled games will be available for the console at
launch, with about 16 by the end of the year, Xbox spokesman David Hufford
told Reuters.
He said initial tests of the underlying network for the service will begin
with about 10,000 people at the end of this month, though he said the
network will be able to handle far in excess of the usage it will actually
get in the early going.
"We will definitely be able to support multiples of what we bring in on
day one," he said.
As for how many of the starter kits will be available that first day,
Hufford said "that number will be dictated by (retailers)."
Microsoft competitors Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. Ltd. also will enable
online gaming for their consoles latter this year.
Sony will release a network adapter for the PlayStation 2 as well as
related games later this month, while Nintendo has not specified a release
timetable for the adapters for its GameCube console.
While the Xbox has networking capabilities built-in, it only supports
broadband Internet connections; the other two consoles will support
traditional dial-up connections. The Sony adapter will support both while
Nintendo will release separate adapters for each connection method.
Video game hardware and software sales topped $9.4 billion in the United
States in 2001, with sales expected to easily break that record this year,
driven by competition among the three consoles and growing mainstream
popularity of games.
According to surveys by the game industry's trade group, the Interactive
Digital Software Association, as many as 31 percent of frequent game
players say they play online.
Forget the Football Stadium, It's Video Game Season
Forget preseason. For the gridiron warriors of the video game world,
regular season football kicks off this week in a very big way.
This week, Electronic Arts Inc. will ship "Madden NFL 2003," Japan's Sega
Corp. will issue "NFL 2K3" and Midway Games Inc. will release "NFL Blitz
20-03."
The releases come at a time when the video game business is scoring sales
records left and right, led largely by sports titles. Within that genre,
no category of sports game is bigger, or more contentious, than football.
"To the much more casual gamer, it's got a ton of appeal." said Michael
Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities.
"Madden," now in its 13th year, has essentially become a license to print
money for Redwood City, California-based Electronic Arts, or EA. The last
"Madden" title sold over four million copies across various game-playing
platforms and the entire franchise has moved more than 25 million units.
This year's game relies heavily on themes from TV's "Monday Night
Football," on which John Madden, the legendary coach of pro football's
Oakland Raiders, veteran commentator and the game's namesake, is now a
co-host.
Leading specialty game retailer GameStop Corp. on Monday said it has
already taken more than 50,000 reservations for the game -- best-ever for
a sports title.
EA was quick to jump on GameStop's statement as proof, it said, that the
market share game with rivals Sega and Midway was over before it even
started.
"The early data from retailers shows a lopsided victory," EA spokesman
Jeff Brown told Reuters. "We've destroyed the other team before they even
got out of the locker room."
But with "2K3" Sega, the former console maker that dropped hardware to
become a third-party publisher in early 2001, plans an attacking defense
strategy against "Madden."
Sega cut a deal with cable sports network ESPN to make "2K3" look and feel
in many ways like that network's highly popular "SportsCenter" program,
using many of the same graphics, color schemes, and even announcers.
Sega is so confident in its "2K3" game plan that it rushed the launch of
some versions of the game by a week in a sort of safety blitz on EA's
"Madden."
And Sega could have a winner on its hands.
After last May's E3, the video game industry's annual trade show, nearly
40 top video game writers named "NFL 2K3" the best sports game of the
show. "Madden" finished runner-up.
While "Madden" will support online gameplay using Sony Corp.'s PlayStation
2 only, "2K3" will go online both with Sony's network adapter later this
month and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox Live service, debuting later this year.
Acknowledging the position "Madden" has built over the years, Sega vice
president Charles Bellfield said Sega is aiming for about one-third of the
football game market on the PS2, the dominant game console.
"What's important here is this is now a two-horse race," said Bellfield,
who added that Sega is spending $15 million on "2K3," a hefty budget by
game-industry standards.
The clear underdog this season is Midway's "NFL Blitz 20-03," the latest
title in a long-running franchise that also appears on multiple game
platforms.
While EA is the No. 1 independent game publisher, and Sega has quickly
emerged as one of the top names in the software publishing business,
Midway has struggled this year with below-expectation sales and management
challenges.
Wedbush Morgan's Pachter predicted that at the end of the day, "Madden"
would sell four million units, "2K3" would sell two million units and
"Blitz" would sell an even million, performances that he said were strong
for all three.
"No store reported pre-orders for Sega's NFL 2K3 ... (one) store told us
that if we wanted to own Madden within the first 5 days of its launch, we
should pre-order it," Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Matt Finick said in
research last week.
With most armchair quarterbacks acknowledging the game has come down to a
two-man event, early indications are that Madden is looking like the top
draft choice for yet another season.
Court Upholds Dismissal of Suit Vs Game Makers
A federal appellate court has upheld a lower court ruling that dismissed a
suit against video game makers that alleged their products contributed to a
shooting at a high school, attorneys for one of the game makers said on
Tuesday.
Attorneys for Midway Games Inc. said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Sixth Circuit upheld a district court ruling that Midway and other game
makers could not be held liable for a 1997 shooting at a Kentucky high
school.
Midway's attorneys said the appeals court upheld the district court's
position that there were sufficient grounds under Kentucky law to reject
the suit, which had claimed that the defendants' games inspired the
shooting.
Video Game Company Tries Human Branding
Wanted: Adventurous video game fans willing to change their identities.
Must be willing to live for a year as dinosaur hunter called Turok.
Hoping to push back the frontiers of advertising, a British marketing firm
said Monday it would pay nearly $800 each to five people for the right to
transform them into human billboards for a fantasy superhero.
Acclaim UK is seeking applicants who will legally change their names for
one year to promote the latest installment of its video game series about
Turok, a time-traveling American Indian who slays bionically enhanced
dinosaurs.
The Institute of Science in Marketing, a business group supporting the
effort, expects its so-called Identity Marketing technique will catch on
as the next big thing for companies eager to reach consumers dulled to
conventional advertising.
"It's not a gimmick ... Every form of their identity will have to change
for this to work," said Acclaim spokesman Andrew Bloch. "They'll be
walking, talking, living, breathing advertisements."
In a similar example, two years ago, a Kansas couple were paid $5,000 by
the Internet Underground Music Archive, a Web site, for naming their baby
boy Iuma.
Acclaim UK, whose parent company Acclaim Entertainment is based in Glen
Cove, N.Y., is launching a Web site where would-be Turoks can apply. The
company will cover the costs each winner incurs in changing his or her
name, to be done in a legally binding process called a deed poll.
In addition, winners will received a computer game console, as many video
games as they can play and 500 pounds ($785), Bloch said. He called the
payment a token sum because anyone willing to become a human billboard
"won't be doing it for the hard cash."
The plan grew from a perceived need to surmount the daily white noise of
advertising with something unique. Acclaim hopes each new "Turok" will act
as an ambassador for the game, taking time to explain the origin of his or
her name to anyone who asks.
"The video games industry has a habit of always striving for newer and
more unique ways of targeting customers, and with Identity Marketing I
think we've topped the lot," said Acclaim spokesman Shaun White.
Bloch described the original Turok as big and good-looking. "You'd be
quite proud to call yourself Turok if you knew who he was," he said.
The firm's target audience ranges from teen-agers to Turok enthusiasts in
their 40s. It expects that the first five Turoks - others may come later -
will be socially active and may even work in the video games business.
Acclaim said it would help successful applicants obtain a second deed poll
to revert to their original names after a year.
On the Net: www.mynameisturok.co.uk.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Official Songbird Report for CGE2K2
I was happy to be a part of another successful CGE in Vegas. It was good to
see such a strong turnout for the show, especially in light of our current
economy and post 9-11 travel concerns. My hat's off to everyone who made
the considerable effort to attend. Great to see quite a few familiar faces
as well make some new friends this year.
I finally sacrificed some suitcase space and brought a few of my favorite
2600 carts along in hopes of getting them autographed. Most of the ones I
brought are the actual carts we played as kids some 20 years ago, so it was
fun to finally be able to thank the Activision and Atari guys who made such
wonderful games. Hopefully I can get the rest of my favorite games signed
next year, as I missed a few opportunities this time around...
The Songbird booth stayed fairly busy throughout the show, with only a few
lulls in the afternoon on both Saturday and Sunday. It's both exciting and
tiring to show off all the cool new (and old) Jaguar and Lynx releases to
Atari fans; fortunately Scott Walters once again volunteered to help man
the booth, so I got the occasional chance to gulp down some food and even
walk around the show for at least 30 minutes. Also want to thank Glenn
Bruner, who I finally got to meet in person, as he and Scott both brought a
lot of equipment for me to display at the booth.
Vendor Night was fun but really difficult to pull off -- mostly our fault,
as a group of us waited an hour (!) in line just to eat at the nearby and
excellent Main Street Station buffet. By the time we got back for Vendor
Night, the band was blaring and a number of arcade games had already been
shut down. Still managed to play a few games, which is more than I've done
in past years. And it's always nice to sit and chat, so I didn't mind the
quiet end to the evening, and I look forward to a similar event in next
year's show.
On the Lynx front, people were suitably impressed by CyberVirus. I think I
sold all but one of the copies I brought, which was in the 10-12 range. I
also got several nice comments from people who had bought Ponx and Lexis in
previous years, talking about how much they enjoyed those games. Bjoern
Spruck really did a fantastic job with the high-color engine for the Lynx
CGE 5th slideshow, as fan after fan was stunned by the photo quality
appearing on the Lynx screen. Having the pics fade in and out and the MOD
playing in the background rounded this cart out as a professional
production.
On the Jaguar front, Protector SE got a lot of play time as a new release,
as did Skyhammer, and naturally I had the CGE 5th slideshow running early
in the show, too. On Sunday one soon-to-be Jag fan got hooked on Zero 5,
and I watched him beat the first three missions on his first try! He
couldn't say enough good things about the Jag after that. That's why it's
fun to go to these shows, and demo games -- even non-Songbird games --
because there are so many gems for the Lynx and Jaguar, and most people
don't realize how unique some of these games are compared to other systems.
I managed to sell three Jags and four Lynxes while at the show. I then
proceeded to leave a small box of Jaguar carts behind in my booth after the
show ended -- thanks, Larry, for not putting all those on eBay! ;-) And I
picked up a few shrinkwrapped 2600 titles like RealSports Boxing for $5
each at the B&C booth for my personal collection. Also snagged a few of the
new releases for the 2600 and 7800, too.
The Dig Dug Drop was quite a sight to behold. Contrary to some posts I've
read so far, it seemed like everyone was generally excited and having fun
with it. Definitely a feeding frenzy, though, but what did you expect? I
stayed out beyond the fringe until it was too late to grab an unopened box,
but no big deal.
To John, Sean, and Joe: you guys have done it again with CGE2K2. Tons of
arcade games, amazing special guests, new game releases, and so much more.
There's a genuine sense of camaraderie and excitement exhibited by nearly
everyone at the show. It's no wonder that CGE is in my opinion the best
gaming show anyone could attend. And special thanks as well to Don, Scott,
and the rest of your volunteer staff who are always willing to help and
stop by occasionally to ask if I need anything. That's really cool.
To everyone who didn't make it out this year: start saving your pennies
now, and join us next year for CGE2K3! :-)
----------
NOTE: Some commemorative "CGE 5th" Lynx carts and Jaguar CDs are now
available for purchase while supplies last. Both are photo slideshows from
the past four years of CGE, and each is hand-numbered. Price is $39.95 for
the Lynx cart, and $29.95 for the Jaguar CD. Shipping is free worldwide for
one or both items. Only 60 of each will ever be produced, and fewer than
half are available as of this writing. Please contact me via email at
songbird (at) atari (dot) net to reserve your copy prior to sending
payment.
----------
Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird-productions.com
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Apple Unveils New Power Macs, Lowers iMac Price
On Tuesday, Apple unveiled a new line of Power Mac computers that feature
dual PowerPC G4 processors, increased memory and the company's new Xserve
technology.
The Cupertino, California-based company also pulled back price increases
on iMac and eMac desktops and gave both product lines an optical-drive
upgrade to DVD-ROM. The price reduction puts the eMac at $1,099 and the
flat-panel iMac at $1,499.
"Now, for the first time, users can burn their own custom DVDs on an
under-$1,500 computer," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said.
As for the new Power Macs, Jobs touted the new dual G4 computers and their
use of Apple's new OS X version 10.2, also known as Jaguar. "These are the
fastest Macs ever, and Jaguar really makes the dual processors sing," he
noted.
With dual processors running at 1.25 GHz, 1 GHz or 867 MHz, the new Power
Macs also feature the Xserve architecture, which supports up to 2 GB of
RAM, Apple said. The Power Macs, which will ship with the OS X Jaguar
operating system preinstalled, come with a new ATI Radeon 9000 graphics
card.
Although he called the new Power Macs merely a "speed bump," Forrester
research director Carl Howe told NewsFactor that the machines represent
Apple's commitment to dual processing, in which two processors perform
tasks in tandem -- or separately -- to enhance performance across the board.
"The main things are not around the speed bump, but that all of their
professional units will be dual processor; that's a statement of intent,"
Howe said. He added that the new computers' increased storage capacity is
probably more important to users than the speed enhancements that the dual
processors will provide.
But Apple senior director of hardware product marketing Greg Joswiak told
NewsFactor, "To have Unix-powered, dual-processing design at $1,699, we
think, is a large statement."
Dual processors previously were offered only in Apple's top-of-the-line
computers.
"The Mac OS X Jaguar is Unix architecture technology built to take
advantage of dual processing," Joswiak added.
Apple claims that by advancing multiprocessing capabilities, the Power
Macs could deliver 18 gigaflops (18 billion floating point operations per
second) and could run professional applications, such as Adobe Photoshop,
as much as 90 percent faster than a 2.53 GHz Pentium 4-based PC.
Referring to the dual-processing Xserve architecture, which supports
increased memory capacity, Apple director of Power Mac product marketing
Tom Boger said that Apple has delivered on customer requests. "It's really
a new generation of Power Macs, not just a speed bump," Boger told
NewsFactor.
The dual 867 MHz Power Macs, priced at $1,699, and the dual 1 GHz model,
which costs $2,499, are now available at Apple's online store. The dual
1.25 GHz Power Mac, priced at $3,299, will become available in the second
half of September.
Apple also announced it is reducing the price of its iMac and eMac desktop
computers by $100, erasing last March's price hike, which Apple blamed on
its own increased cost for flat-panel displays and memory.
"We have come out of the crisis stage on memory and flat panels," Joswiak
said. "They have eased and reduced the cost, so we're able to then make a
more aggressive statement on price."
Forrester's Howe said the move is an attempt to drive sales and move
inventory at a key time for Apple.
"They see back to school as a critical part of their quarter, and they
want to hit their numbers," Howe noted.
Hiring for Tech Jobs Fails to Pick Up, Slowing Recovery
Technology employment, expected to be growing by now, is failing to do so --
further hampering the already weak economic recovery.
More than 243,000 jobs have been cut this year in telecom, computers and
e-commerce, says outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas.
Wednesday, communications equipment maker Agere Systems added to that with
4,000 announced job cuts, more than a third of its workforce. Equipment
maker Flextronics International said it will chop 5,261 jobs. Tuesday, IBM
announced 15,600 job cuts -- twice what had been expected -- in its
broadest reductions since the early 1990s. Last week, cellphone maker Nokia
cut 900 of 19,000 jobs in its networks operation. The Finnish company,
unlike its rivals, has largely avoided big layoffs..
The pain is greatest in Santa Clara County, Calif. -- the heart of Silicon
Valley -- where the jobless rate was 7.6% last month. That's down from a
record 7.8% in June, but it remains the highest annual increase among U.S.
metro areas.
The job picture looks much different than what was expected earlier this
year. Then, Silicon Valley job postings were rising and companies
anticipated a tech rebound by now. Since, a host of factors blocked
recovery, including:
* Telecom's meltdown. Global Crossing and WorldCom filed for
bankruptcy-court protection, further throwing their sector into doubt,
including Agere, Nokia -- and RealNetworks, which cited telecom
''turbulence,'' plus weak capital spending, when it announced a 10% job
reduction last week.
* Stock market jitters. The stock market's weakness continues to squeeze a
source of new capital for tech companies that want to expand and add jobs,
says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com. That's because the weak
market is largely closed to the initial public offerings that venture
capitalists need to recoup investments and funnel that money into new
ones.
* Corporate scandals. Accounting shenanigans and executive indictments
shook Silicon Valley's confidence just as it was recovering from Sept. 11,
says management consultant ArLyne Diamond of Santa Clara. Her hopes that
tech hiring would start ramping up in the first quarter were dashed in the
spring.
Diamond cited a recent report that VCs, whose money fueled the late-1990s
tech boom, had in the second quarter given back more money to investors
than they took in. That also crimps hiring, because it deprives start-ups
of cash.
The hope now, Zandi says, is that companies don't cut payrolls more. That
would further weaken the already soft recovery from a recession partly
triggered by tech spending's meltdown, says Lynn Reaser, Banc of America
Capital Management chief economist.
E-Mail Can Be Key Criminal Evidence
Not since the glory days of letter-writing, before the advent of the
telephone, have people committed so much revealing stuff to written form as
they do in the age of computers.
All those e-mail messages and electronic files are a treasure trove of
evidence for law enforcement officers, whether they are targeting
terrorists, crooked CEOs or local drug dealers.
The challenge for police and prosecutors is learning how to dig up and
preserve these electronic gems.
"Any agent can come in and look through papers, but not every agent can do
a thorough computer search," said David Green, deputy chief of the Justice
Department's computer crime section, which helps train federal and state
investigators.
Green teaches that a mistake as simple as turning off a computer can wipe
away valuable evidence. Knowing such basics, and the ins and outs of
privacy law, is essential when electronic evidence may play a role in so
many cases.
"It's like the gift that keeps on giving," said Tom Greene, a deputy
attorney general in California, one of the states suing Microsoft Corp. in
an antitrust case built largely on computer messages. "People are so
chatty in e-mail."
E-mail revealed the shredding of documents at Arthur Andersen, and exposed
Merrill Lynch analysts condemning stocks as a "disaster" or a "dog" while
publicly touting them to investors.
Anti-American sentiments in messages Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh and
shoe bomb suspect Richard Reid sent to their mothers were gathered as
evidence against them.
And when Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and
killed in Pakistan, investigators used e-mails from his abductors to track
them down.
When drug dealers are arrested, police search their electronic organizers
and cell phones for associates' names and telephone numbers. When someone
is accused of molesting a child, his computer is searched for child
pornography. When a company is sued, it can be forced to turn over
thousands of employee messages.
"E-mail has become the place where everybody loves to look," said Irwin
Schwartz, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense
Lawyers.
One reason is that computer data is difficult to destroy. Just clicking
"delete" won't do it, as Oliver North learned during the 1980s Iran-Contra
probe, one of the earliest investigations to rely on backup copies of
electronic messages.
Deleted files can linger, hidden on a computer's hard drive until that
space is overwritten with new information.
"The best way to get rid of computer data is to take the hard drive and
pound it with a hammer and throw it in a furnace," said John Patzakis,
president of Guidance Software, which makes forensic software that helps
police find hidden files.
Even that might not work with e-mail, which investigators may also be able
to track down in an employee's office server, stored by Internet
providers, or in the recipient's computer.
To go hunting through computer data, law officers need a search warrant
issued by a judge. Winning legal permission to eavesdrop on e-mail as it's
transmitted is more difficult, because that is considered the same as
wiretapping a telephone. Investigators generally need a court order based
on probable cause that the wiretap will reveal evidence of a felony.
Criminals, or people who simply want to protect their secrets, can use
encryption software to scramble their e-mail. And special software can
overwrite computer files, so they are truly deleted. Most criminals aren't
that savvy yet, prosecutors say.
Even law officers make the mistake of indiscreet e-mail. Defense attorneys
commonly scour messages between police or prosecutors to look for
ammunition to question investigative techniques or suggest bias. Or, one
of the prosecution's expert witnesses may have posted notes on the
Internet that contradict his testimony.
Every U.S. attorney's office across the country has a computer and
telecommunications coordinator, and the Justice Department is pushing more
of its prosecutors to take cybercrime courses. The department also finances
some training for state and local law enforcement.
"The problem is the uninitiated police officer who will go in and turn on
a computer to look to see if it's worthwhile to send the computer in for
examination," said Peter Plummer, assistant attorney general in Michigan's
high-tech crime unit.
"When you boot up a computer, several hundred files get changed, the date
of access, and so on," Plummer said. "Can you say that computer is still
exactly as it was when bad guy had it last?"
A defense attorney could argue it's not, and try to convince a jury that
evidence has been mishandled or tampered with.
When feasible, investigators usually prefer to use special software to
make an exact copy of the contents of a computer's hard drive. This can be
done without even turning on the computer.
Future Bright for Online File-Sharing
A new report from The Yankee Group predicts that free file-sharing systems
-- such as Kazaa, Morpheus and Limewire -- will flourish over the next few
years as legitimate music services struggle to provide what users want.
The report, which said consumers downloaded more than five billion audio
files from unlicensed file-sharing services in 2001, indicates that the
number of downloaded files will grow to nearly 7.5 billion in the next few
years, when legitimate services will begin having an impact.
The Yankee Group predicts that unlicensed file-sharing will decline to 3.9
billion in a few years, while legitimate music services gain momentum.
"Efforts by the record labels to use the courts to quash music piracy have
failed, and legitimate online music services have had little impact," said
Yankee Group senior analyst Michael Goodman. "The future of music,
however, resides on the Internet and its dramatically lower distribution
costs."
Goodman told NewsFactor that despite the recording industry's legal attacks
on Napster-like peer-to-peer services, free file-swapping systems continue
to gain users.
"You're never going to shut down the free services," Goodman said. "You
knock these out and there are another 70 to take their place."
The newest free file-sharing services are avoiding Napster-like problems
by not using centralized servers. Some services are also moving their
operations off-shore and out of reach of the Recording Industry Association
of America (RIAA), which has zealously tried to stop the file-sharing
activity in court.
The latest Yankee Group report echoes complaints that the RIAA's legal
efforts, which include seeking court orders to shut down Internet sites,
have largely failed.
In response, RIAA spokesperson Amanda Collins told NewsFactor that the
recording industry has, in fact, been successful in court.
"While litigation is not a business model, the courts have agreed with us
every step of the way that these illegal sites are guilty of copyright
infringement," Collins said.
The Yankee Group said that in order to succeed, legitimate sites -- such
as MusicNet, Rhapsody, MusicNow and Pressplay -- must offer a wide range
of content from all five major record labels as well as from independents.
The report concluded that they must also give consumers ownership --
including the ability to copy songs -- and must make downloadable files
portable, meaning that they can be played on different devices at home, at
work and while mobile.
"Consumers want to burn music," Goodman said. "[Services have] got to give
them ownership, and you need content."
Goodman said that the latest versions of legal sites are improving by
"loosening their business rules" and providing limited recording ability.
But these legitimate challengers still have a ways to go.
The Yankee Group also said that the recording industry must differentiate
between legitimate music services and their free rivals by adding unique
content and services.
The report noted that efforts to lock in content through digital rights
management (DRM) technology is a lost cause, and said that consumers who
want to share music will find a way to do so, "thereby defeating all
realistic DRM capabilities."
Goodman suggested that content owners should use DRM instead to promote
sales and increase revenue by letting users, if they wished, copy music
files with software that delivers advertisements for similar music.
"You get opportunities to sell out of DRM instead of putting up a wall,"
Goodman said, adding that a single DRM workaround equates to widespread
distribution quickly over the Internet.
While the report said that the next few years will be dominated by free
file-sharing services, it does predict that legitimate, licensed services
will gain users and are sure to have an impact on online music trading in
the years ahead.
Goodman said that the success of legitimate services depends on a change
in the current relationship between the record industry, which must learn
to share control of content with users, and consumers, who will need some
time to adapt to fee-based services.
Asked about the requirements for creating a successful legitimate site,
the RIAA's Collins said, "We agree that you can't compete with free. The
record companies are online and are licensing new deals all the time."
March Held To Support Software Bill
Between 40 and 50 LinuxWorld attendees marched from San Francisco's
Moscone Center to City Hall on Thursday morning to show support for the
Digital Software Security Act. The bill, which has been introduced in the
California Legislature, would require state agencies to only purchase
software that offers unrestricted use of the program, unrestricted access
to the source code, and the freedom to copy and distribute the software.
Red Hat chief technology officer Michael Tiemann, one of the organizers,
says the purpose of the hour-long march was to bring together IT
professionals, a notoriously nonpolitical group, for a common cause. "It
was more about planting the seed," Tiemann says, noting that the marchers
realize the state's legislative power is really in Sacramento. "We didn't
have the legs for that," he joked about a march to the state capital.
At issue is the fact that California sues software companies that exercise
monopolies, then turns around and rewards them with new contracts, Tiemann
says. Open-source is more secure, he says, because there's the potential
for many different experts to examine it for problems before it's put into
production. But when there's a problem with, for example, Microsoft
software, there's ultimately only one vendor who can fix it, he explains.
"With open source, there are more eyes and hands," Tiemann says. "That's
the difference between a monarchy and a democracy."
Tiemann says one of the primary objectives of the march was to show IT
professionals that they're capable of influencing legislative codes as
well as programming codes.
New Computer Security Dilemma: Lack of Viruses
The first half of 2002 has been an eerily quiet period for the computer
experts on watch for worms and viruses, leaving some to trumpet their
effectiveness even as their predictions of doom are now looking overblown.
Nobody has a bullet-proof explanation, but theories range from the
introduction of enhanced anti-virus software to stiffer anti-hacker laws
to more vigilant computer users.
Last year, security experts calculate, the Code Red, Nimda and Sircam worms
caused billions of dollars worth of damage, knocking out computer networks
for days and forcing companies to scramble for patches to prevent recurring
attacks.
The wave of intrusions put anti-virus firms in the spotlight. They warned
companies to fortify their networks against these unseen invaders or risk
losing precious time and resources in network outages and lost files.
For the unprepared, they said, things would get worse in 2002. But with the
exception of Klez, a persistent email worm making the rounds since earlier
this summer, there's been little cause for alarm.
"Klez is the biggest case of the year and that's it," said Mikko Hypponen,
manager of anti-virus research at Finland's F-Secure. "That's a big
surprise to us and to everybody else in the anti-virus community."
Hypponen last year warned viruses would spread to mobile computing devices,
including pocket PCs and so-called smart phones, a prediction that has yet
to materialize.
In 2001, F-Secure issued nine "Level One" virus warnings, a label it uses
to signify the most damaging outbreaks. This year the number is zero,
Hypponen said.
Other monitoring firms report similar findings. UK-based Sophos Anti-Virus
is detecting 600 to 700 new virus types per month, nearly half as many as a
year ago, said Graham Cluley, a senior technical consultant at Sophos.
Ohio-based security firm Central Command, Inc. reported a month-on-month
decline in July.
Other firms say the number of viruses in circulation remains steady
compared to last year, but the infection rate has declined, which suggests
that preventative measures and new security software are proving effective.
The lull in hacking and virus-writing has caught the attention of U.S.
federal agents too.
Marcus Sachs, a spokesman for infrastructure protection in the 10-month-old
U.S. Office of Cyberspace Security, told Reuters at last week's DefCon
hacker conference in Las Vegas that it's an encouraging, if not puzzling
development. "Have we seen a change in the mindset of the hacking
community?... Or patriotism? Or are we doing a better job getting the word
out about vulnerabilities and patching systems?" he asked rhetorically.
Regardless, "it's a reversal of the trend we saw last year."
A number of explanations could help explain the downward trend.
Corporations are taking extra steps to shore up their computer networks, a
development the anti-virus community points to as a big victory, and they
have limited employees' email freedoms.
Also, newer versions of anti-virus software are particularly effective
against the more rudimentary worms and viruses using a common computer
code exploited by young virus writers, known in the industry as "script
kiddies."
A decline in cybercrime has been attributed to new laws too.
The U.S. Patriot Act, enacted shortly after September 11, and a new bill,
The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act, call for a maximum prison term ranging
from 10 years to life for hacking and virus-writing offences.
It's adding up to an unsettling proposition. A drop in virus activity, even
if it proves short-lived, comes at a rough time for the competitive young
computer security sector. A number of firms emerged to cash in on the
demand for security help in the past few years.
"For the anti-virus industry in general, a slow-down would not be very
good," said F-Secure's Hypponen. "But I'd love to see it happen. It would
free up the resources for us to do something other than fight a problem
that shouldn't even be there in the first place."
Others are convinced it's too early to claim victory and determine winners
and losers.
"It's the calm before the storm. There will be a next one," warned Urs
Gattiker, scientific director at EICAR, European Institute for Computer
Anti-Virus Research. "The problem is if we have to wait too long for it,
will we be too complacent, and not be able to fight it off?"
Consumers Have New Web Site for Detailed Food Info
Got a craving for more details about your favorite food than the ones
printed on the package label?
A Web site launched on Thursday by the U.S. Agriculture Department tries to
satisfy that hunger with a breakdown of dozens of fatty acids, amino acids,
vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber and calories, for more than 6,000 foods.
The database lists 117 nutrient categories for each food, including
tryptophan, retinol, glycine and others that are not typically included
on food package labels.
The data was collected from USDA researchers, food industry sources and
other scientists.
Consumers can look up their favorite foods ranging from cheese crackers
to chicken patties, choose a serving size, and see details about the 117
nutrients.
The USDA said the food database includes brand-name breakfast cereals,
candies and even ostrich and emu meat.
The Web site is at:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR15/sr15.html
Robot Grass Cutter Cuts Through Tedium of Mowing
Tired of mowing the lawn? New Zealand researchers say they have a device
that could make your neighbors green with envy.
It's a lawnmower operated via the Internet.
The robotic grass cutter is controlled through a web page which monitors
the mower by a small camera on the side of a house.
"What our technology allows us to do is to control lawnmowers and other
robotic devices while people are away at work," Massey University's Glen
Bright told Reuters.
The electric mower, smaller and more compact than a normal mower, moves in
a sequence across the grass, stopping in places that require trimming.
It motors out once during the day and then again at night with the computer
directing its every move.
The mower should be up and trimming by the end of the year and commercially
available soon after that, Bright said.
The device needs physical boundaries to navigate but by the end of the year
it will be able to self-navigate and adjust to different grass heights as
well as carrying out gardening tasks such as soil testing, he said.
The mower was developed in collaboration with lawnmower and chainsaw
company Husqvarna, part of the Sweden-based AB Electrolux home appliance
maker.
The next step is an automatic vacuum cleaner, Bright said.
=~=~=~=
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