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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 05 Issue 34
Volume 5, Issue 34 Atari Online News, Etc. August 22, 2003
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2003
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
Kevin Savetz
Carl Forhan
To subscribe to A-ONE, change e-mail addresses, or unsubscribe,
log on to our website at: www.atarinews.org
and click on "Subscriptions".
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To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE
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To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
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Now available:
http://www.atarinews.org
Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
http://forums.delphiforums.com/atari/
=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0534 08/22/03
~ RIAA Wants The Big Fish ~ People Are Talking! ~ eBay Blacks Out!
~ FCC Allows Video on AIM ~ Discount ISPs Growing! ~ New Mac Opera!
~ Sobig.f Worm Joins In! ~ Songbird CGE Report! ~ Power Mac G5 Ships!
~ Creative Computing 3! ~ Digitize Your Vinyl! ~ Office 2003 Soon!
-* Microsoft Thwarts Blaster! *-
-* Librarians Settle Internet Porn Case *-
-* FTC Chief Says Anti-Spam Bills Won't Work! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, this week wasn't too bad for weather, for a change. Next week
(another vacation!) should be beautiful. It may be the best week all
summer! It's hard to believe that Labor Day is almost upon us already!
Not much of a summer with all of the wet weather we had in the middle of the
season. Well, that's New England for ya!
Finally getting some work done inside the house for a change, instead of out
in the yard. Within the next few weeks, we hope to have an addition put on.
Actually, we're enclosing our deck with a sunroom and adding a small utility
(mud) room. The kitchen enlargement plans that we had were turning out to
be more money than we anticipated, so we opted to start with this smaller
project and then determine where to go from there. And there's still a lot
of cosmetic jobs to take care of inside also.
I came upon an interesting article this week that many of you "old-timers"
may appreciate. If you're a vinyl record collector like I am, you've
probably had some concerns about protecting your records. Many are probably
not available on cassette or CD; when the record is shot, you're out of
luck. Well, there's a new product coming out which will allow you to hook
your stereo up to your PC, and copy your albums as .WAV files. You can then
convert them to MP3 and save to CDs. I think I'm going to take a serious
look at this product because I have a massive record collection!
Well, this this is the last "unofficial" week of summer and probably my last
vacation for awhile, I'll shut up now and start my vacation a few hours
early!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Best of Creative Computing Volume 3
The Best of Creative Computing Volume 3 is now available on the Web in its
entirety. Published in 1980, this book is contains 300+ pages of articles,
reviews, and programs first published in 1977, the third year of Creative
Computing magazine.
http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/
This is the final book in the Best of Creative Computing trilogy.
Atariarchives.org also features the Best of Creative Computing volumes 1
and 2, as well as 15 other classic computing books.
A few highlights, in no particular order:
Alan Kay's Dynabook project at Xerox PARC
http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=5
Coin-in-the-Slot Computing at a Public Library
http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=16
Computerized Robots: A Step Into The Future for Hospitals
http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=69
The First West Coast Computer Faire
http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=98
Computer History Trivia Quiz
http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=160
Sophisticated Electronic Pocket Calculators
http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=274
Smart Handheld Electronic Games
http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=276
The Sol-20: Simple Enough for a Six-Year Old
http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=288
Radio Shack's $600 Home Computer
http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=290
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, it looks like my news server is back
up and running, so we'll have some real posts this week. If you remember,
the server was down last week after... "The Blackout". All seems to be
back on track, so we're gonna give it a shot.
I wanted to talk a little bit about North America's electrical
infrastructure and how it needs some sort of overhaul and the
now-familiar finger-pointing back and forth across the border, but in
scanning some of the messages on the UseNet, I think I'd rather voice my
disappointment with the attitudes being displayed and with the cheap,
mindless vulgarity displayed at the drop of a hat.
Atari users have always seemed to me to be a cut above average. A good
group of guys (pardon the obvious gender bias) who would go out of their
way to help out a fellow user whether they knew them personally or not...
that's my idea of an Atari user. Actually USING Atari computers was a
given... I just assume that anyone who shows up in an Atari newsgroup
will be interested or familiar with them. Of course, being an Atari user
should also mean showing a good bit of tolerance. After all, being a user
of a computer other than a "PC" means that you're usually the "odd man
out" in computer circles. That taught us to be tolerant and to accept
others as-is.
SO WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?? The kind of garbage that's been clogging the
newsgroup more and more lately is exactly the opposite of what I used to
think Atari users were. Has everyone here gone mainstream and decided to
hang out in the Atari newsgroups only to practice being rude, crude, and
objectionable in almost every way? Making rude comments (and I'm talking
about the kind of stuff that 5th graders have already grown tired of)
about someone either because they have an opinion that's different than
yours or because they might have gotten out of line themselves is not
only childish, it's offensive to the rest of us who read the newsgroups
for actual information.
Many people get bent out of shape if someone posts an advertisement for
their Atari-related business. Some get upset if anyone questions the
usefulness of a particular application or piece of hardware. From there
the someone escalates the attack, and someone else jumps in and starts
swinging, and someone else joins in, etc., etc., etc.
I find this to be rather troubling, especially considering the fact that,
by simply being Atari users, we are automatically "behind the eight
ball". We should know better. We should be more tolerant. We should be
more willing to overlook someone else's shortcomings or screw-ups.
I'm especially disappointed because a lot of the insults and trash
talking are coming from people that I've known for a long time and have
had a lot of respect for. Some of them are people that I consider friends
and usually agree with, and some I can count on disagreeing with most of
the time, but that neither increased nor decreased my respect for them.
What DOES decrease my respect is stooping to "potty humor" and vulgarity.
In most of the cases where there is a squabble, there are much more
socially acceptable forms of reproach without casting dispersions on
someone's sexual preferences.
Hell, even back in the GEnie Flame Wars of the early 90's we never sank
to the depths that I see in the newsgroups these days.
Now THAT'S something to be proud of, ain't it guys?
Well, let's get to the (non-offensive) news, hints, tips, and info from
the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
John West tells us that he...
"installed and played doom on my stock as a rock TT030
it runs like a dog, 4 frames per second. in 2nd biggest size, high detail
mode, sound is distorted.
I take it there is no software I can run to fix this, I just need more CPU
horsepower don't I?"
Edward Baiz tells John:
"Yes you do. On my Hades060 Doom and other ID games play nice. The
only problem I have is that the game crashes about 5-10 minutes of
play."
Mark Duckworth adds:
"I dunno. To me this is a strange one. Doom ran pretty good on my Intel
486sx33. Logic would suggest the engine can be tuned up a bit to run
faster. Also that machine only had 4 megs of RAM. Then again it also ran
quite a bit better on my dx2/66."
John adds:
"It ran perfectly when it just came out on my then new 486DX40 had 16mb of
ram and had a SoundBlaster 16. was great.
perhaps the stock TT's video is horrendously slow, maybe a video card would
help.
Shame no ones made a Video, CPU, RAM & Ethernet card all in one for the TT,
would be an ideal piece of hardware."
Grzegorz Pawlik adds his experiences:
"Indeed. I have played Doom I on TT with a graphic card, and it *was*
playable, of course after reducing the image size and turning low detail
mode on.
Without a graphic card, I guess that running in 320x200 grayscale mode (16
levels of gray, ST-LOW) would help to make it faster, but I couldn't set it
to work in this mode. Only 320x400x256 color mode (TT-LOW) was available on
a standard TT display."
Patrice Mandin explains a bit about what's going on inside:
"The TT does not have a 320x200 video mode, so the program needs to convert
it from 320x200 (1 byte=1 pixel) to 320x400 (software double-lined mode,
and chunky to planarconversion), for the 320x480x8 bits TT mode. A video
card like the NOVA, which has (IIRC) a 320x200 mode (1 byte=1 pixel) could
improve performance.
Also, this is not a straight unix port, I rewrote the texture mapping
routines in assembly, because the original C ones where twice slower. You
can also disable sound ('-sound off'), which takes a bit of power.
One thing that could improve performance would be to disable texturing on
floors/ceilings, and maybe on walls (except for doors ?).
Finally, for the Falcon and if custom DSP routines were written, I would
expect a 2x performance decrease against badmood, because of all the work
to do in extra (IA, game engine, collisions, etc...)."
John Garone asks about his Megafile 30:
"I'm trying to boot a Megafile 30 on my Mega4. I let it spin up
and run AHDI from the floppy but I get a message saying "ID unavailable"
"not bootloaded".
So, even though I haven't set it to boot from drive C shouldn't I have
access to the 4 partitions that were there? The odd part is that after
installing a drive icon (C for example) and opening it I get the message
that the drive does not exist but after hitting cancel, a window opens with
the drives contents! Is the Megafile just about dead or have I missed
an installation part? Then that after playing around with it the floppy no
longer reads it's disk contents! Please don't tell me the Mega is having
problems."
Julian Wolfe tells John:
"Well, obviously your Mega is having problems, or you wouldn't be
posting this. <grin>
How long has it been since you've used the system? I've heard of
similar stuff happening when people haven't used the system for a long
time, or have just moved. It sounds like a flaky connection either
inside the Mega, or the drive. I would suggest opening up the Mega
and gently pushing down on the socketed chips on the board. What
clued me into this is that you said the floppy drive had a problem
after the Hard Disk when wrong. Reseating/pushing down on the chips
should fix both problems, if that is the problem.
Again, sounds like a flaky connection somewhere. Don't forget to
check cable connections while you have it open."
John replies:
"Without opening anything, ICD now boots the Megafile and shows 4 GEM
partitions but AHDI shows "ID unavailable". HDDriver shows "no partitions
found" at boot-up but Device check shows it as available. ICD's utility is
showing 1/3 of drive C as having bad sectors.
It seems to me that if the other partitions are the same as "C" and I
can mark the bad sectors and re-partition the 4 into 1 then the Megafile may
be only useful as a boot drive (or the trash)!
But, why doesn't AHDI or HDDriver boot it when ICD does? Too sensitive
to so many bad sectors or still a hardware problem? Note that Diamond Edge
shows the partitions as Atari and not ICD."
Uwe Seimet, the author of HDDriver, adds:
"They might see other bad sectors. I have had such a problem with an old
Megafile once, where the position and number of bad sectors varied with
each access and the temperature of the drive.
A drive that has so many bad sectors is severely damaged and I would not
expect a consistent behavior."
John tells Uwe:
"What you state is confirmed by ICD not seeing partitions now either!
Oh well. It was an adventure trying! I'll put the Megafile on the shelf
with other doorstops (Christmas fruitcakes, etc.)."
Well folks, that's it for this week. Tune in again next week, same time,
same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Start-Up Unveils Phantom!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" New PS2 Incentives! CGE2K3!
Nokia To Buy Sega Online Gaming!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Start-Up Unveils PC-Based Game Console
A Florida-based start-up that plans to take on Sony and Microsoft with its
own computer gaming console announced preliminary specifications of the
device over the weekend.
The Phantom game console will be based on a PC architecture, will download
games via broadband networks to an internal hard drive, and should be
available in the first quarter of 2004, said Infinium Labs. The company
published details of the console on its Web site after a computer games
show at which it had been planning to disclose the details was cancelled.
At the heart of the Phantom will be an Intel processor. Infinium Labs,
which previously promised a processor running at 2 GHz or faster, still
hasn't identified the processor but over the weekend said it would run at
a speed up to 3 GHz. The console will also include 256MB of DDR DRAM, a
graphics card from NVidia, and a hard drive with a capacity of at least
100GB, according to the specifications.
Those specifications won't stand still - one of the features of the Phantom
is the ability to upgrade the unit as technology advances.
A feature it doesn't have is an optical disc drive and that sets it apart
from its competitors - Sony's PlayStation 2, Microsoft's XBox, or
Nintendo's Gamecube. That leaves customers without any physical media
should the hard disk suffer a failure but Infinium says, should that
happen, users will be able to redownload games they have purchased. When
the disk drive is full, they will also be able to store games on network
servers to make room for new games on their local drive.
Games for the Phantom, which is based on the Windows XP Embedded operating
system, will be downloaded through a custom online service that will
require a broadband Internet connection. The Phantomnet online service,
which will also offer access to gaming content, demos of software, and
online gaming, will be a subscription service and is currently projected to
cost $9.95 per month, said David Frederick, chief marketing officer of
Infinium Labs.
Downloaded games are expected to cost the same or less than current
packaged games and users will also have an option to rent games, said
Frederick.
Like other console makers Infinium Labs expects software and not hardware
sales will be where it makes most of its profits. That's a classic business
model for computer game console makers but one that demands resources.
"Microsoft will be the first to tell you that its incredibly difficult to
break into this market," said Schelley Olhava, an analyst covering consumer
products at IDC. "You need some great games and you need some developers.
You need to pump out some great games, not just one or two."
Infinium Labs is going about things differently, said Frederick.
"Sony and Microsoft are in a position to demand exclusivity on certain
titles," he said. "We take a different approach. To us it doesn't matter
if the title was originally created for Xbox or whatever. We make it easy
to have content on the Phantom and unlike Sony and Microsoft, who charge a
royalty to port and for the [software development kit], we provide the SDK
virtually free and don't charge a royalty to have it on our platform."
Relying on games ported from other platforms to the Phantom might not be
enough, said Olhava. "If you are a gamer and have a PlayStation 2, why
would you go out and buy another box to play Madden Football."
Olhava also worries about the upgrade option that Infinium says it will
offer.
"Consoles are fixed and there is commonality," she said. A game developed
in year one will still work in year five. When you start being able to
upgrade it changes the equation and makes it more like a PC."
Looking ahead, Frederick said the company is planning to begin a beta
testing program limited to the U.S. in October. He said the company has
received more than 40,000 applications for the beta testing program ever
since it began advertising it on its Web site. Sales are not expected to
begin until the first quarter of next year in the U.S. and the company is
targeting a price of around $400 for the console. International sales are
planned but no schedule has been fixed.
The $400 price tag is more than that of both the PlayStation 2 and the
Xbox, which each cost around $180 online, and a price that analyst Olhava
thinks could prove too high.
"Gamers have shown time and time again that $299 is the threshold,"she
said. "I think it will be a very niche product. All three companies are
very well established and those are the killer platforms."
Infinium's Frederick, not surprisingly, feels differently about his
company's prospects.
"We don't feel that there is any major competition,"he said."It is a game
console and there are two huge players in that space but we feel very
strongly that we have been able to differentiate enough between static
game consoles and dynamic platforms."
Infinium Labs has faced some hurdles in coming this far. When it first
disclosed it was developing a game console, online gaming message boards
were filled with messages from users casting doubt on the company's plans
and even on whether Infinium Labs was a real company.
"I can tell you flat out, not only is Phantom real but it's coming and it's
coming real soon,"said Frederick."For people who don't think it's real,
they will be in for a huge shock."
Sony Adds Game, New Hardware to PS2 Offerings
Sony Corp.'s U.S. video game division said on Tuesday it will include a
free game with the online-enabled version of its market-leading
PlayStation 2 console and will continue to sell a slightly lower-priced
version without online hardware.
The move by Sony Computer Entertainment of America to keep its pricing
unchanged but sweeten its offers came a day after one of the nation's
largest video game retailers said it was counting on price cuts or other
promotional activities to increase sales in the current quarter.
Sony said the $199 PS2, with a network adapter that allows users to play
games online, would be bundled with the game "ATV Offroad Fury 2," while
it would continue to sell the PS2 without the online hardware for $179.
Previously, Sony had sold a new version of the PS2 with improved DVD
functionality and the network unit for $199 and the traditional, older
version of the PS2 for $179. It had intended to phase out the separate
$179 offer entirely but will now continue it with the new, upgraded
hardware.
"We really intended the $199 price point to be consistent across time, but
obviously we didn't anticipate anyone would want the existing core when
they could get the network adapter for free," SCEA Executive Vice President
Jack Tretton told Reuters.
Tretton said demand is currently running about 20 percent for the online
bundle and 80 percent for the stand-alone unit, though he said the online
bundle could rise to about one-third of the total demand.
After Sony lowered the price of the PS2 to $199 from $299 in May 2002, just
ahead of the video game industry's key E3 trade show, retailers and
analysts were hopeful that this year's E3 in May would bring another cut,
with $149 the most talked-about potential price.
But the industry was disappointed when Sony rolled out the upgraded PS2
with the online adapter for $199, with the old PS2 reduced slightly to
$179.
Retailers, who saw sales surge last year after Sony cut its price and its
competitors followed suit, have said this year's price trims had little to
no effect at all on boosting sales.
"I don't really believe that pricing is a factor right now," Tretton said.
"I think we're very comfortable with where we are."
It was not immediately clear if Microsoft Corp. or Nintendo Co. Ltd. would
follow Sony's move with their own fresh round of cuts.
On Monday, executives of GameStop Corp., the nation's largest specialty
game retailer, said their earnings forecast for the third fiscal quarter
assumed price cuts or promotional programs.
GameStop executives in particular noted that they thought the $199 PS2
online package had not been selling as well as they believed Sony had
planned.
Nokia to Buy Sega Network Gaming Assets
The world's largest mobile phone maker Nokia, planning an aggressive push
into video gaming, said it has agreed to acquire Japanese game maker Sega's
multiplayer online games business.
Finland's Nokia said late on Tuesday the deal related to assets of Sega.com
Inc., including Sega's Network Application Package, or SNAP, a computer
server technology which is designed to form the core of networked game
play.
The value of the deal was not disclosed, but a Nokia spokesman said the
purchase price was "immaterial to Nokia." Nokia has some 10 billion euros
($11.11 billion) of cash and cash equivalents in the bank.
An industry source told Reuters that the purchase amounted to less than one
billion yen ($8.44 million).
"This transaction will give Nokia full end-to-end capabilities - the
device, the games and the back-end technology to support multiplayer
gaming," said Ilkka Raiskinen, senior vice president of Nokia's
entertainment and media business unit, on a conference call.
Nokia will use SNAP for connecting and keeping scores for multiple gamers
on its N-Gage phone/game deck combo device, set to be released worldwide
on October 7. It will take on Nintendo's Gameboy which currently dominates
the market for mobile gaming.
The N-Gage will let users compete wirelessly both over GSM cell phone
networks and via short-range Bluetooth networking.
"The key strength of N-Gage is the possibility to have multiplayer games.
It is completely different from current mobile games devices," said a
Nokia spokesman in Finland.
Nokia will use SNAP in its first multiplayer N-Gage game "Pathway to
Glory," and like Sega, will continue to license it to rival gaming
companies. SNAP is also used in Sony's PlayStation 2.
"This shows that Nokia is clearly standing behind N-Gage. So this is
clearly a fact that Nokia is serious about the stuff it is doing," said
Nordea Securities analyst Jussi Uskola.
Nokia, looking for new expansion opportunities outside the slower-growing
mobile phone industry where it has 37 percent of the world market, agreed.
"It speaks to our long-term commitment to this space," Nada Usina, general
manager of Nokia's media and entertainment business in the Americas, told
Reuters.
Sega said it would continue its focus on game creation and publishing,
including titles for the N-Gage. It has abandoned the hardware industry
and this deal underlined that move and its focus on software, it added.
"The new Sega focuses on game content. (Its) not abandoning the mobile
gaming business by any means," one Sega executive said on the call.
"This is a positive move for Sega. It allows them to focus on software and
the company said it would move out of the North American infrastructure
business and being able to complete this deal was part of that plan," a
Tokyo-based analyst said.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Songbird CGE2K3 Report
Wow, CGE came and went like a whirlwind for me this year. Of course, that's
not really a surprise since I headed up the JagFest event at CGE and
consequently I had MANY late nights in July and August preparing
everything!
The floor was decked with a lot of familiar vendors as well as a few new
ones. I never seem to have much time to visit other booths, but it's always
nice to say to a bunch of the other vendors/homebrewers as they're setting
up for the big launch on Saturday. There was a massive line outside the
door Sat morning, and overall I'd say it felt like attendance was
equivalent to last year. Were there actually more arcade games than ever on
the floor? Sure looked like it!
Atari fans responded very favorably to the new Jaguar and Lynx products
debuting at the show, with Painter being the runaway favorite of the lot. I
got to meet Gordon Gibson (author of Painter) in person, who's a very
friendly and down-to-earth sort of guy; I think he was pleased with the
sales of his game, although he went a bit overboard in the "stuff the
suitcase with extra Painter CDs" department! ;)
Want to draw a small crowd to the booth? Pop in the JAG-ADS commercial
archive CD, and watch people be drawn like moths to a flame. :)
The JagFest tournaments and events didn't go over quite as well as I'd
hoped. We had one Jaguar running on a projector with about a 6'x6' screen
and stereo sound, another Jaguar on a 27" TV, and a few Lynxes set up for
solo or comlynxed play. I think we got about 20 participants in the
Protector SE tournament, but the other tournaments did not fare so well.
Still, it was neat to see Prot SE projected on the wall near the Songbird
booth all weekend -- I could just point and say "It's that game." :) Kevin
Manne's design for the JagFest banner looked superb as well.
I think doing tournaments, especially on "niche" systems like the Lynx and
Jag, may require some more brainstorming and promotion before I'd rush to
do it all again. We gave away a bunch of Lynx/Jag stuff as prizes, and of
course having more "mainstream" prizes (either in the classic or
contemporary sense) could have attracted more players.
JV Games and High Voltage Software were both on hand to talk about their
experience doing Jag games. It was a bit noisy where we had the informal
talks in the JagFest corner, but otherwise these events were very well
received with Jag fans. I'm extremely grateful to Vince, Jag, Eric, and
Kerry for attending the show -- thanks, guys!
Scott Walters demoed Mad Bodies, and a number of Jag fans were impressed by
this fast-paced game and look forward to its release. Scott and Glenn both
brought a ton of cool Jag stuff to display in the case, and that always
gets a lot of attention as well. Finally got to see the Jagdapter and a
populated MPEG PCB!
The biggest surprise of the show was a special appearance by none other
than Nolan Bushnell. I'm kicking myself because I didn't make time to meet
him personally, but it's so cool that he came and spoke in the first place.
This also had the side effect of clearing out more than half of the
attendees during his ~2 hour talk. ;)
The show wore me out as always, but it's fun to talk to the fans, sell some
merchandise, play games, and look forward to things to come. Thanks to
John, Sean, and Joe for once again hosting the best classic gaming event
around!
Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Microsoft Thwarts Expected Blaster Worm Web Site Attack
As expected, Microsoft Corp. thwarted an attack set for midnight on
Saturday on its Web site by the Blaster worm, which has infected hundreds
of thousands of Windows computers.
The Blaster worm, also called MSBlaster or LoveSan, crashes Windows XP and
Windows 2000 computers and instructs them to attack a Microsoft Web site
with an anti-Blaster patch just after midnight, local times, Saturday.
A Microsoft spokesman said the company's site had no problems as a result
of the worm, which has infected 386,000 or so computers, according to an
estimate from anti-virus vendor Symantec Corp.
A day earlier, Microsoft said it had protected its network by eliminating
the Web page with the URL used by Blaster.
Although the attack on Microsoft failed, the worm will continue to spread
until computers with the Windows hole get patched, security experts have
said. In addition, there are two new versions circulating, including one
that installs a back-door Trojan application that provides an attacker
remote access to the computer.
The patch for the security hole, which affects Windows XP and Windows 2000,
as well as Windows NT and Windows Server 2003, can be downloaded at
http://www.microsoft.com.
'Good' Worm Fixes Infected Computers
A new Internet worm emerged today that is designed to seek out and fix any
computer that remains vulnerable to "Blaster," the worm that attacked more
than 500,000 computers worldwide last week.
The new worm scours the Internet for computers already infected with
Blaster and deletes the "bad" worm, according to two anti-virus software
vendors. The worm then fixes the computers with one of eight software
patches developed by Microsoft Corp, and it uses infected computers as a
base for searching the Internet for other vulnerable systems. Blaster and
the new worm both target vulnerabilities in recent versions of Windows XP,
Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0.
Even though the new worm is "good," it can cause plenty of trouble for
computer users, said Oliver Friedrichs, senior manager at Symantec Security
Response, an Internet security company based in Cupertino, Calif.
Once it infects a computer, it is programmed to remain there until Jan. 1,
2004, all the while scanning the Internet for other computers to infect.
That activity saps an infected computer's processing power and Internet
connection speed, Friedrichs said.
A Microsoft official declined to comment on the new worm.
The Blaster worm was first identified last Monday. It instructed infected
computers to launch a denial-of-service attack on Microsoft's security Web
site beginning on Saturday. That attack largely fizzled, however, after
Microsoft disabled the targeted site.
The unprecedented media attention given to Blaster prompted millions of
users to download the Microsoft patch that fixes the Windows vulnerability,
but many computers remain unprotected. The new variant and others like it
continue to infect roughly 3,000 new machines each hour, Symantec said.
Experts cautioned users to download the Microsoft security patches to
ensure their computers are not infected with the new worm.
"The fact is, this thing will install stuff on your computer without your
permission," said David Perry, global director of education for Cupertino,
Calif.-based anti-virus software maker TrendMicro. "You don't know if these
things are competent programs, and the fact is that more damage has been
done to computers systems through viruses that were otherwise benign that
messed something else up because they were poorly written."
TrendMicro and Symantec have released information to help customers detect
and eliminate the new worm.
In its structure, Blaster is considered most similar to "Code Red," a worm
that infected more than 300,000 computers in the summer of 2001, directing
all PCs plagued with the bug to attack the White House Web site. As with
Blaster, several variants followed the original Code Red, including a worm
known as "Code Green," which attempted to fix computers tainted by Code
Red.
Security experts have debated the merits of using so-called "good worms"
to fight virulent worms and viruses since the early 1990s, particularly in
situations when a fast-spreading infection might endanger critical
information systems or cause widespread damage. Most experts say such
activity has never been seriously considered because it is illegal under a
1986 computer crimes law.
"It's been discussed that if there were ever a really bad worm that might
do semi-irreparable damage to the Internet, a good worm might be useful,"
said Richard Clarke, the Bush administration's former cybersecurity czar
and a former member of the National Security Council. "But most sensible
people realize it's probably illegal."
The new worm variant comes on the heels of a more insidious version that
debuted last week. Dubbed "BlasterC," that version installed "backdoors"
on infected machines that could allow intruders to steal or delete files.
Buried within the code of the new worm is the message: "I love my wife &
baby :-)~~~ Welcome Chian~~~ Notice: 2004 will remove myself:-)~~ sorry."
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are investigating the
source of the Blaster worm and all of its variations.
New Fast-Spreading Sobig Worm Adds to 'Worm Week'
A new mass e-mail worm that attempts to download files from the Internet
and potentially leave computers vulnerable to further attack was spreading
quickly around the world on Tuesday, anti-virus experts said.
The new worm, dubbed Sobig.F, is at least the fourth new, major Internet
worm to hit computers worldwide in the past week, prompting anti-virus
vendor F-Secure to declare this the "worst virus week ever."
Sobig.F, a variant of an older worm, began spreading on Monday in Europe
and has infected an estimated tens of thousands of Windows-based computers,
said Patrick Hinojosa, chief technology officer at Panda Software, based in
Madrid.
It arrives in e-mail and includes a variety of subject lines, including
"Your details," "Thank you!," "Your application" and "Wicked screensaver."
It has caused some corporate e-mail systems to grind to a halt, according
to Sophos Inc.
When the .pif or .scr attachment is opened, Sobig.F infects the computer
and sends itself on to other victims using a random e-mail address from
the address book.
It also prepares the computer to receive orders and tries to download files
from the Internet, said Hinojosa. It was unknown exactly what files they
were, he said.
If the infected computer is on a shared network, the worm tries to copy
itself to the other computers on that network.
The worm is programmed to stop spreading on Sept. 10.
Network Associates Inc. has rated Sobig.F a medium risk because of the
quick rate of spread, said Jimmy Kuo, research fellow at Network
Associates, an anti-virus software vendor.
Sobig.F was spreading at an "alarming rate," accounting for nearly 80
percent of all infection reports recorded on Tuesday, according to
anti-virus provider Central Command.
Sobig.F comes on the heels of the Blaster, or LoveSan, worm which hit
hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide last week, spreading to
victims through a security hole in the Windows operating system and
crashing them.
On Monday, another worm surfaced that was written to remove Blaster from
infected computers and patch the hole. That worm, dubbed "Welchia" or
"Nachi," was temporarily paralyzing many corporate networks, experts
reported.
In addition, an e-mail hoax was circulating, purporting to be a patch from
Microsoft for the security hole Blaster exploits. But the e-mail instead
contains a Trojan application that installs itself on the computer as a
back door enabling an attacker remote access to the system.
There has not been so much virus activity since the Code Red and Nimda
worms hit about a year ago, experts said.
Minnesota Librarians Settle Internet Porn Case
The city's public library will consider using Internet filters to restrict
patrons' access to online porn, and will pay $435,000 to a dozen librarians
who said easy access to the images resulted in a hostile work environment,
the librarians' lawyer said Friday.
Library officials released a statement confirming the settlement, but did
not mention the amount.
Among other measures, the officials said they would consider Internet
filters and an increase in the penalties for those who violate the
library's Internet policy.
The library did not admit any wrongdoing.
The issue arose in 1997, when librarians complained that staffers were
being regularly exposed to pornographic images. Concern grew as patrons,
including children, also were exposed to the graphic material.
The librarians complained to state and federal agencies, and in 2001 the
Equal Employment Opportunities Commission found probable cause that federal
law had been violated because of a sexually hostile work environment.
The case was referred to the Justice Department, which decided not to sue
the library. The librarians filed a federal lawsuit in March.
EBay Blacks Out for Three Hours
A power outage at a Web hosting facility caused a three-hour shutdown of
the Web site of eBay, the online auction company said Thursday.
The shutdown between 8:55 p.m. and 11:45 p.m. Wednesday was eBay's first
complete blackout in about two years and affected an unknown number of
bids, said company spokesman Kevin Pursglove.
The online giant handles about 7 million bids a day.
A roughly 10 minute-long power outage at a Qwest Communications facility in
Santa Clara, one of several computing plants eBay uses to run its Web site,
triggered the blackout. It forced eBay to reboot its systems, a process
that usually takes about two hours, Pursglove said.
The company plans to credit listing fees for affected sellers. Bids that
were scheduled to end at the time of the blackout have already been
extended 24 hours, Pursglove said.
FTC Chief Says Anti-Spam Bills Won't Work
The chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday that new
anti-spam legislation being considered by Congress won't work, and pointed
instead to improved technology as the best hope for eliminating unwanted
e-mail.
FTC Chairman Timothy Muris told a communications industry conference that
some of the legislation moving through the House and Senate "cannot do much
to solve the spam problem." It could, in fact, harm consumers by making it
harder to prosecute offenders, he said.
"Eventually, the spam problem will be reduced, if at all, through
technological innovations," including improved spam filters and the
integration of anti-spam technology into e-mail services, Muris said.
"Some of the proposed legislation, unfortunately, could be harmful or, at
best, useless," Muris told the gathering of technology, telecommunications
and media executives at the Progress & Freedom Foundation Aspen Summit.
The comments mark the strongest statement yet from Muris on efforts to stop
the flood of unsolicited e-mail clogging the in-boxes of Internet users.
Unsolicited, unwanted e-mail has skyrocketed in volume over the past
several years, costing businesses billions of dollars in wasted
communications bandwidth.
Get-rich-quick schemes, pornography and other unsolicited, dubious pitches
now account for between 40 percent and 80 percent of all e-mail, and U.S.
Congress is widely expected to pass an anti-spam bill into law this year.
Some provisions would actually make it harder to prosecute spammers, Muris
said. One bill, for example, would require authorities to prove a spammer
had falsified their identity in 10,000 different e-mails in order to bring
felony charges.
"Spam is one of the most daunting consumer protection problems that the
commission has ever faced," he said.
Muris said lawmakers can help by giving consumer protection officials at
the FTC expanded powers to track down and prosecute elusive spammers.
But he sharply criticized as unenforceable a recent proposal for a
"Do-Not-Spam" list to go along with its "Do-Not-Call" list the agency has
adopted to prevent unwanted telemarketing phone calls.
Spammers, most of whom are "clearly illegitimate," would simply ignore it,
Muris said. "Unfortunately, the legislative debate seems to be veering off
on the wrong track, exploring largely ineffective solutions."
The FTC has used anti-fraud laws and a database of millions of spams to
prosecute 53 spammers over the past few years. Measures moving through
Congress would require Internet marketers to disclose their online and
offline addresses and honor customer requests to be taken off their mailing
lists.
The bills provide for hefty fines and possible jail time. They have drawn
support from marketing groups and major Internet providers, but some
anti-spam groups have said they do not go far enough.
Muris praised a provision in a Senate bill that would allow the FTC to
prosecute a seller who knew or should have known that e-mails were sent
with deceptive headers.
Muris also threw his support behind provisions in some of the bills that
set criteria for legitimate marketers who want to use e-mail to advertise
their wares. But he said giving consumers the ability to file class-action
lawsuits against spammers was pointless.
RIAA Won't Target Small Downloaders
The Recording Industry Association of America says it will not go after
small violators when it sues people who illegally share songs on the
Internet.
The assurance came in a written response to questions by Minnesota Sen.
Norm Coleman, chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs' Permanent
Subcommittee on Investigations. Coleman plans to hold hearings on the
RIAA's campaign, which he has labeled "excessive."
"RIAA is in no way targeting 'de minimis' users," wrote Cary Sherman, the
group's president, in a letter the subcommittee released Monday. "RIAA is
gathering evidence and preparing lawsuits only against individual computer
users who are illegally distributing a substantial amount of copyrighted
music."
Sherman added that his group "does not condone any illegal copying and does
not want anyone to think that even a little illegal activity is
acceptable."
Sherman did not specify how much illegal distribution constituted "a
substantial amount," and an RIAA spokesman declined to quantify the phrase.
Coleman, a Minnesota Republican and former '60s rock roadie, says he fears
that legal penalties for downloading songs don't fit the crime. Copyright
laws allow for damages of $750 to $150,000 for each song. The RIAA
announced plans in June to file several hundred lawsuits against people
suspected of illegally sharing songs on the Internet.
The RIAA said that while it has not yet filed lawsuits in its current
campaign, "we assure you that we will approach these suits in a fair and
equitable manner."
Sherman said that in cases it brought last year against college students
who were illegally distributing tens of thousands of songs, the RIAA
settled cases for $12,500 to $17,000 each.
In a telephone interview Monday, Coleman said the RIAA has been cooperative
but that he remains concerned the industry is "overreaching."
Coleman is a former prosecutor who has used the Web site Napster to
download music.
Apple Ships Power Mac G5
Apple Computer Inc. said Monday it had begun shipping its new 64-bit Power
Mac G5s to customers.
"We're talking about full-fledged shipments," said Greg Jozwiak, Apple's
vice president of hardware product marketing, in an interview Monday
morning.
Although Apple was dealt a blow when foundry partner IBM acknowledged
Friday that its fab in East Fishkill, N.Y., had been idled by last week's
widespread power blackout, Jozwiak said the blackout hadn't affected the
company's production schedule.
"We're right on schedule, even a little bit early," Jozwiak said. "IBM's
done a great job supplying the processors."
In June, Apple said that three new 64-bit Apple G5 systems would ship in
August, ranging in price from $1,999 to $2,999. However, Apple will only
ship the Macintosh versions with a single 1.6-GHz processor installed;
customers who ordered dual 2.0-GHz Macintoshes will be forced to wait until
"later this month," Jozwiak said.
Pricing will remain the same, Jozwiak said, although DRAM prices have
slowly edged up. "Everyone's hit equally by rising costs," he said.
Apple received over 100,000 preorders for the new systems, Jozwiak said,
who acknowledged he did not know when all of the preorders would be
completed. Jozwiak also declined to offer specifics as to which customers
would receive their orders first, noting that the sales team had a specific
allocation model to divvy up the new Macintoshes between online customers,
its retail stores, and third-party retail stores such as CompUSA and Best
Buy.
FCC to Allow Video on AOL Messenger
The Federal Communications Commission has agreed to allow America Online to
transmit video entertainment over its popular Instant Messenger system,
ending a restriction imposed when it approved the merger of the online
company with media giant Time Warner Communications in early 2001.
A source familiar with this week's decision said that the commission's
three-member Republican majority decided in favor of lifting the ban while
the two Democrats dissented. The result of the vote, which is not required
to be conducted in a public session, is expected to be announced in the
next 48 hours.
The decision is a victory for struggling AOL Time Warner Inc., which
lobbied hard for the change and hopes to use instant messaging to promote
its video content. AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose declined to comment on
the decision before an official announcement from the FCC but said the
company has been hoping for a
favorable decision.
"We think that we made a compelling case," Primrose said.
FCC spokesmen declined to comment.
AOL and Time Warner were primarily in different businesses when they
announced their merger in early 2000. But regulators were concerned about
the marriage of the largest online service provider with one of the
nation's most powerful media conglomerates.
They reasoned that a combined company that included a large cable
television system, magazines, CNN, and Warner movies and music could
dominate news and entertainment over the Internet and lock out competitors.
As a condition of merger approval, the FCC zeroed in on the area where AOL
had particular dominance: instant messaging. The tool has rocketed from a
hit with teenagers and online aficionados to a ubiquitous means of
electronic communication.
AOL members are not required to use Instant Messenger, but AOL has not
allowed the system to work with competing systems, such as Microsoft
Corp.'s MSN Messenger service or Yahoo Inc.'s Messenger. As a result, users
of the different systems cannot communicate with each other.
When it approved the merger, the FCC said it would need to see convincing
evidence that AOL's instant-messaging dominance had significantly lessened.
According to people familiar with the vote to lift the ban, AOL prevailed
by demonstrating that since the merger, its share of the instant-messaging
market had dropped from a percentage in the mid-sixties to the mid-fifties.
As part of a legal settlement announced in late May, AOL and Microsoft said
they were beginning negotiations on making their messaging systems
compatible, but no agreement is close.
Microsoft Sets Release of Office 2003
Microsoft has taken the wraps off its Office 2003 software, which features
a number of enhancements to the dominant business application that the
company now has dubbed "Microsoft Office System."
The software giant said Office 2003 should be on the shelves by October
21st, and that some equipment makers will begin shipping machines with the
software by the end of September, although those dates could be overly
optimistic.
Included in the System product are new versions of popular Microsoft Office
programs for businesses - such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook - as
well as three new programs: InfoPath with support for XML-based documents;
Live Communications Server; and OneNote for digital note-taking on Tablet
PCs.
A redesign of Outlook features junk mail filters to put the lid on spam,
and a tool called "the Research Task Pane" enables faster access to data.
The release follows a year of testing by Microsoft, "allowing the company
to develop the most innovative and stable Office products to date," the
company said.
Unlike other recent upgrades to Office, such as XP - which were basically
minor adjustments - the 2003 version is a significant improvement, said
Yankee Group analyst Dana Gardner. The biggest improvement, he told
NewsFactor, is a greater embrace of the XML programming language, creating
more interoperability between the client application and server.
The Office System creates "smart" clients that offer the ability to use
Microsoft's software interfaces as front-end connections to simplify the
use of more complex back-end applications.
"Those comfortable with Word, Excel and Outlook will see more back-end
business available to them since those applications will be more flexible
as front-end clients to servers and applications," Gardner said.
This marks a substantial shift by Microsoft, which previously was less
interested in interoperability and limited the access to back-end
processes, the analyst said. "The company is now trying to draw more
software vendors who can use their own back-end systems to play with
Microsoft applications."
Pricing for the Office 2003 editions is unchanged from Office XP, with the
standard edition selling for US$399, the professional edition listing at
$499 and a student/teacher edition selling for $249. Individual Office
applications can be purchased as well.
With some 90 percent of enterprises using Office, Microsoft virtually has
cornered the market, although there is some competition from such products
as StarOffice, Linux desktop software and Apple's
Macintosh products.
"They have delivered more functionality, and the opportunity to expand the
role of applications at the same cost as the previous offering," said
Gardner. While Microsoft is now ramping up production of Office 2003, he
said that the software probably will not be in users hands until early next
year.
Opera Releases Browser for Mac OS X 'Panther'
Opera Software ASA on Wednesday released a new version of its commercial
Web browser to run with Apple Computer Inc.'s upcoming release of its
latest Mac operating system.
Opera's version 6.03 for Mac is an interim release that will allow users
to continue browsing once Apple releases Panther, the name of its Mac OS X
10.3, the company said. While Apple hasn't given a date for Panther's
release, sources have said it is due out in September.
Opera, of Oslo, Norway, plans to finish development on a full release
compatible with Panther, Opera 7 for Mac, later this year.
Opera for Mac 6.03 includes bug fixes and the removal of the start-up
dialog for unregistered browsers. It is available in Czech, English,
French, German, Italian and Norwegian
The newest browser is available for $39 and includes a free upgrade to
Opera 7 for Mac once it is released.
Computer Users Flock to Discount ISPs
Selling dial-up Internet access may seem like a dying business, as waves of
Web surfers defect from leading Internet service providers America Online,
MSN and EarthLink.
But there's a vibrant dial-up market blossoming below the industry leaders
as computer users flock to no-frills access priced under $10 per month.
The growth has inspired dozens of ISPs to elbow into the bargain market,
some charging monthly fees less than $5. But no company is benefiting more
from the trend than United Online Inc.
United is attracting new customers almost as quickly as AOL is losing them.
The Westlake Village-based owner of bargain-priced ISPs NetZero, Juno and
BlueLight added 840,000 new subscribers in the year ended in June while
AOL's U.S. service decreased by 1.2 million customers. Meanwhile, EarthLink
lost 201,000 dial-up subscribers and MSN shed about 100,000.
EarthLink's dial-up losses would have been even greater if not for the
78,000 new subscribers it picked up though its PeoplePC subsidiary, a
discount ISP it bought a year ago.
With 2.55 million subscribers, United Online still lags the industry
heavyweights.
America Online, for one, has nearly ten times as many U.S. subscribers. And
EarthLink has 4.87 million subscribers, some 3.9 million of them dial-up
customers.
MSN, which like AOL doesn't break down dial-up and broadband, had 8.6
million subscribers for the same period ending June 30.
United Online's growth produced a $21 million profit during the first half
of this year and ignited a hot stock that mushroomed 16-fold since the
September 2001 marriage between NetZero and Juno that created the company.
Management predicts the boom will continue, with another 400,000 to
600,000 subscribers joining one of its discount ISP plans - available in
6,500 cities in the United States and Canada - during the next year.
"We want to serve the masses in a way that makes them happy and keeps us
profitable," said Mark Goldston, United Online's chief executive.
He's not after the defectors of major dial-up providers who are migrating
to broadband Internet. Instead, United Online is wooing away AOL, MSN and
EarthLink customers who want to trim their expenses without giving up
unlimited Internet access.
By switching from AOL's $23.90-per-month service to one of United Online's
$9.95-per-month plans, a subscriber saves $167.40 annually.
"United Online is in an excellent position because America loves a deal,"
said Gartner Inc. analyst Lydia Leong.
The bargain ISP market appears poised for further growth as more low-income
households buy their first computers and connect to the Internet.
An estimated 16.1 million households with Internet access - about
one-fourth of the market - have annual incomes below $35,000, according to
IDC, a technology research firm. By 2006, IDC projects 29.1 million
Internet households, or about one-third the market, will have annual
incomes below $35,000.
With that price-conscious market in mind, United Online is trying to build
the Internet's version of Southwest Airlines - a frugal business with a
decent, low-price service that rivals either can't or won't match.
United Online's bare-bones approach still turns off plenty of people.
Those who dislike NetZero and Juno complain of obnoxious ads, frequent
disconnections and customer service headaches. Unlike the premium services,
United Online charges its customers $1.95 per minute to talk to customer
service representatives.
United Online's recent success has vindicated Goldston, a former executive
for L.A. Gear, where he invented the inflatable pump for Reebok's
basketball shoes.
Goldston came to NetZero in 1999 amid the dot-com hyperbole, determined to
create a totally free ISP that would make its money shoveling a steady
stream of ads to its audience.
The concept flopped, resulting in $312 million in losses during NetZero's
first three years. To survive the dot-com shakeout, Goldston orchestrated
a merger between NetZero and its once-bitter rival Juno.
Investors were so turned off by the combination that the stocks of NetZero
and Juno both fell below $1 per share.
"We were seen as two skunks trying to breed a mink," Goldston recalls.
Goldston saw the deal through and reduced expenses by laying off about half
the work force, leaving United Online with 460 employees today. He also
began to emphasize the low-priced subscription service while continuing to
offer a limited amount of free access.
United Online still has about as many nonpaying users as subscribers, but
the company no longer spends much supporting the free service, just $12.6
million in the company's most recent fiscal year ended in June.
Meanwhile, United Online collected $248 million from its subscribers in its
last fiscal year, up from $6.7 million two years ago.
Because United Online initially was built to support a free Internet
service, a big chunk of the fees is falling to the company's bottom line.
It's a business that Goldston predicts his rivals won't be able to copy:
"To do it, they would have to blow their companies up, which they are more
than welcome to do."
Xitel Device Digitizes Your Vinyl
Your analog music collection can make the move to digital with INport, a
new pocket-size device from Xitel that transfers recordings from your
stereo to your PC.
The $70 Xitel INport provides high-quality digital sound transfers from
turntables and cassette decks (and even older devices, such as eight-track,
as long as you route it through the stereo receiver).
An external device, the INport is a 2-by-3-by-1-inch rectangular silver box
with audio inputs on one side and USB outputs on the other. It includes a
30-foot cable that plugs directly into the rear of the audio component and
connects to your stereo, as well as a 3-foot USB cable to connect your PC
to the INport device.
Xitel also provides software that controls the input levels and is divided
into two modules for recording and "ripping" of vinyl and other older
recordings. It saves the tunes as.wav files; you can use any of a broad
selection of CD-editing programs to convert to MP3 and burn them to discs.
"There is a huge amount of people who have a monstrous vinyl collection,
with music that will never be released on CD," says Ben Davis, vice
president of product management at Canberra, Australia-based Xitel. "So
there is a need for a product like this that allows people to preserve
their records by making backup copies, as well as being able to take the
music with them so they can enjoy it in the car."
The INport is overly simple to use - the hardware design is foolproof, and
doesn't allow you to plug in any incorrect cables. The software is equally
easy to use.
Due to its compact size, the INport also is easy to use when connected to
a laptop. You can take the laptop to the stereo, transfer the files, and
later move them to a desktop system or MP3 player. (This is ideal if you
are visiting friends or relatives with lots of valuable records that they
don't want to let out of their sight.)
You cannot, however, plug a turntable directly into the INport. Due to the
low sound levels from a turntable, an amplifier is needed to boost the
signal. This requires the turntable be part of an existing stereo setup,
rather than a stand-alone component. For this reason, the product is geared
toward those who have never given up the vinyl ghost and continue to
maintain an operational turntable setup.
"A turntable without an amplifier has a very low output level. To add a
preamp would have made the product too complicated," Davis says.
The INport is able to compensate for the varying sounds of early recordings
with a module that automatically adjusts recording levels. Because the unit
is external, it is not subject to noise interference from the PC -
something Xitel claims is a drawback of internal sound cards.
While the predominant market for the INport consists of baby boomers trying
to recover lost music, Davis says modern DJs are using the component too.
"Younger guys with turntables are using this to mix music and immediately
press it onto a CD," he says. "It is really changing the way they work."
CD media offers music collectors the path of least resistance, and provide
most of the music that most people want to hear or buy. But the vast amount
of pre-CD vinyl offers another musical world. And aside
from the common
contention that vinyl is somehow "warmer" than CDs, it contains an
unmatched depth and breadth for people who do not share the tastes of the
majority.
The "lost" recordings found only on vinyl include thousands of spoken word,
comedy, and novelty records from the 1950s and 1960s, says Robin Thomas, a
buyer for vinyl outlet Saturn Records in Oakland. "None of these will ever
see the light of day on CD," she says. "And many people value the
imperfections of an old recording as it sounds on vinyl."
This is not the first technology to try to migrate vinyl tunes to the
digital age.
However, most solutions have focused on the software side, requiring you
to assemble the hardware components.
Microsoft's Plus Digital Media Edition, a Windows XP add-on, includes such
software, too. The Plus Analog Recorder lets you create digital copies of
vinyl records or cassette tapes using automatic hiss and pop reduction and
automatic track-splitting.
Xitel also markets a product to play MP3s through your stereo, a function
also provided by competing devices.
Tampa's Crowd-Scanning Software Misses Crooks
Police thought facial recognition software could be a great way to spot
criminals or missing children in crowds. Civil rights activists deplored it
as "Big Brother" on the street.
Now police in Tampa, Florida, are removing the software, which is linked to
street surveillance cameras, from the Ybor City entertainment district
after the 2-year-old scheme, the first such deployment in the United
States, failed to produce any arrests.
City Police Chief Bennie Holder said on Wednesday the department had
decided not to renew its annual agreement with Identix Inc. on using the
company's Facial Recognition Software.
"While the software proved reliable in testing, there have been no positive
identifications or arrests attributed to the software," the department said
in a statement.
Civil rights groups hailed the move. When Tampa installed the software in
June 2001, they denounced it as an intrusion that went beyond simple
surveillance cameras because it ran images past a police database and
sought to match faces with criminals or missing people in the database.
"We're pleased they've decided to go ahead and remove the face recognition
technology," Darlene Williams, who heads the Tampa branch of the American
Civil Liberties Union, said on Thursday. "Before, every person who walked
down the street was subjected to an electronic police line-up without their
consent."
Police spokesman Bob Guidara said the decision to end the test program -
which was paid for by the company - was based on the fact it had not
produced results, not on the privacy issues. He declined to comment on
whether the lack of results was the fault of the software or the database
used.
Meir Kahtan, a spokesman for Minnetonka, Minnesota-based Identix, said in
a brief statement: "Identix has always stated that this technology requires
safeguards and that as a society we need to be comfortable with its use."
"We are comfortable with their (the Tampa police) decision," he said.
Identix is a security technology company with products including
fingerprint readers and other identity technology. The face recognition
product is used in a similar form in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is also
used in the London district of Newham and in Birmingham, England.
The surveillance cameras in Ybor City, in place since 1997, will remain.
=~=~=~=
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