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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 08 Issue 23
Volume 8, Issue 23 Atari Online News, Etc. June 9, 2006
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2006
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:
Mille Babic
Thomas Richter
To subscribe to A-ONE, change e-mail addresses, or unsubscribe,
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To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0823 06/09/06
~ Employee Mail Watched! ~ People Are Talking! ~ China Blocks Google!
~ Toshiba Unveils Drive! ~ Nordic Atari Show 2006 ~ Net Neutrality!
~ Atari++ Is Updated! ~ Parents' View On Web! ~ Digital Forensics!
~ PCs for Medical Cures! ~ Phish Scam At MySpace! ~ Web Site for Poor!
-* Spammer To Pay $10 Million! *-
-* Sweden Probes Suspected Web Attacks *-
-* UK Journalists Union Call for Yahoo Boycott *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, the Northeast has been hit with another week of monsoon season. It
appears that we're not going to get much of a Spring season again this year.
We had one day that it didn't rain, and I decided to take advantage of it
and I played golf. The lawn and gardens are growing great, but no such
luck managing them with all of this rain.
You would think that with this kind of weather, I'd take advantage of it and
finish getting set up with our new DSL. Well, I was planning to do do, but
that didn't happen. Finally getting hold of the tech support for the
wireless PCI adaptor, I was told that there was little chance I'd get it
configured to network with my wife's wireless system. Their suggestion, get
Windows XP. For the money that I'd have to spend to purchase this adaptor
card and a copy of XP, I could likely buy a new PC with everything I needed.
Well, I already have the card, so I may spring for XP. If it's the only way
to get my DSL working... I'm waiting to hear back from my father to see if
he has an extra copy of XP; he buys all kinds of "useless" software and
hardware at various office/electronics stores that offer rebates and
freebies with certain purchases. My old bedroom is full of this stuff!
We'll see. So, in the meantime, I'm still using dial-up while my wife is
enjoying the web at blazing speeds. It had better get Spring-like soon!!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Atari++ 1.46 Released
Hi folks,
Update time! A new stable release of the Atari++ emulator for Linux and
Win32 has been released. As usual, you'll find it here:
http://www.math.tu-berlin.de/~thor/atari++/
What's new this time:
Many thanks goes to Mark Keates for providing a really detailed emulation
of the AMD flash ROM chips, and thus for making Steve Trucker's Flash Carts
now really flash-able. The emulator is able to save these carts back to
disk as required.
Furthermore, creation of disk images has been simplified a bit. To create
an empty disk, just type in a non-existing file name, then format this
virtual floppy from the DOS of your choice (or the built-in one).
A couple of improvements have been made for the built-in FMS and Os. For
the former, Dos 2.5 directories can now be read fine, and the memory
requirements have been dropped considerably (MORE room for programs). For
the latter, text windows on Gr.9/10/11 have been improved and no longer
flicker during SIO operations.
A couple of other minor problems have been hopefully fixed, more is in
the README.
So long,
Thomas
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE User Group Notes! - Meetings, Shows, and Info!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
The Nordic ATARI Computer Show 2006
The Swedish ATARI Users Association (SAK)
The Nordic Atari Computer Show (NAS) 2006
Text version 2.0 (eng) 2006-06-02
_________________________________
Updated information about the convention can be found at:
http://www.sak.nu/ E-mail: i...@sak.nu
INFORMATION ABOUT NAS 2006
__________________________
THE NORDIC ATARI COMPUTER SHOW 2006
___________________________________
Where: Göteborgs Högre Samskola Gothenburg, Sweden.
Stampgatan 13. Same area as NAS 2003,2004,2005
When: 30th of June at 18:00 (GMT +01.00) to the 2nd of July 3, 15:00.
(Non-Stop)
For visitors without their own computers, the best time to visit
NAS is at Saturday 1st of July 10:00 to 19:00 and at Sunday 2nd
between 10:00 and 14:00.
What: A LAN-network with Internet connection is available for everyone.
There's also a wireless network available if someone bring a laptop, PDA.
Static IP-Addresses to use, but there's also a dhcp scope in the network.
Theme: ct60/EtherNat, FreeMiNT/XaAES
Seminars to be hold at 15:00-18:00 Saturday. At the moment
we do not have any seminars scheduled. Most users do demonstrate
their systems at their tables.
Internet cafe with classical original ATARI computers, Falcon with
steinberg software, synthesizer, lots of ct60 some with EtherNat,
Jaguars to play with.
Exhibition:
At this moment Nick Harlow (16/32-Systems) is positive and aimed
to come. We can all help him out before NAS with pre-orders and
also give him suggestions what to bring to Gothenburg.
http://www.1632systems.co.uk
http://www.1632-sales.zenwebhosting.com/acatalog/
nick AT 1632systems.co.uk
There's always ATARI users who sell things at NAS.
Entry: 30 SEK
Food? There's some restaurants close to NAS
microwave oven, coffee maker available. You have to bring your own
food.
Accommodation:
You can sleep at NAS. The building is a school, so you do have to
bring all the necessary things to sleep on a floor. There's
possible to use the showers as well. Gothenburg is a big town with
hotels, youth hostels.
Info: The latest info, maps is always to be found at http://www.sak.nu/
E-mail: info AT sak.nu (SAK)
mille AT sverige.nu (Mille Babic)
mrfuture AT comhem.se (Andreas Sjöö)
Phone to: 0708-35 73 05 (Andreas Sjöö)
0706-66 51 96 (Mille Babic)
KEEP THE TOS PLATFORM ALIVE.
WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT THE NORDIC ATARI COMPUTER
SHOW 2006!
Best Regards
The Swedish ATARI Users Association
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, Mother Nature is playing her
little games again here in the Northeast. While we had a couple of
days of annoyingly high temperatures a while back, it's been cooler
but damp and rainy lately.
I know, the weather isn't a very exciting topic of conversation, but
it's about all that I can think of to mention right now.
Maybe it's because I hear people snickering here and there about
global warming ever time we have below-normal temperatures for a
day or two. Or maybe it's because I'm getting older and temperature
and humidity changes make my joints ache. Or maybe even that my
mind is going and I just can't think of anything else to complain
about. <grin>
Anyway, as summer approaches, I'm sure that we'll have more
above-average temperatures and some below-average temperatures just
to keep the debate going.
Well, that's about all I've got to say this time around, so let's
get on with the news and stuff.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Ivan Capan asked last week about using ST floppy images. He wrote:
"I have lots of files on the PC with a .ST extension and I want to
transfer them to floppies. Is there a way to put the floppy in
Atari, which is connected with PC in some way (I have a null-modem
cable), and use some program to write the image byte by byte to
Atari onto its floppy drive?"
This week, David Wade tells Ivan:
"One trick way is to use STTOMSA on PC. This will convert ST format
disks into Magic Shadow Archive files. You can split these over
multiple floppies. You can then use MSA on the Atari to
re-construct the disks. That way you write the disks on the ST and
don't try and force the PC Floppy Controller to do unnatural acts
such as write oddly formatted sectors. You can get STTOMSA from :-
http://members.fortunecity.com/dahstra/atariarc.html <but scroll
past the malware at the top down to MSA utilities.>
and MSA from
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/zogginhell/download.html
You need real DD floppies."
Jim DeClercq asks about finding his favorite backup program:
"Hard drives do not last forever, my backups are never quite
current, and Google can no longer find Charley Image.
Does anyone have a working path, or a working copy I might have? It
was freeware on the website of someone German who made neat
accessories for Atari ST machines."
'ProTOS' tells Jim:
"You can find it here:
< http://www.wilhelm.de/deu/download/charlyimage.zip > "
Jim replies:
"Thank you. That address does look familiar, but Google did not find
it. I wish some of the stuff on that site still existed, now that I
can pay for it. This sent from a Stacy using STiNG."
Stephen Moss asks for help with partitioning his hard drive:
"I have a System Solutions Mini S external SCSI HD connected to my
2.5Meg STfm via a Link 97 cable that I no longer require so I
though the quickest way of erasing it would be to format it and
then repartition using HD Drive V7.5. It formatted ok but I can't
partition it, know I have repartitioned this drive before although
I can't remember if I also reformatted it at that time.
When I try to partition the drive after clicking ok a pop up box
briefly appears that mentions something about partitioning and the
end of the second sentence is "memory..." but it is to quick to
read it all. Am I being a complete idiot and doing something wrong
or have I killed the HD by formatting it?
I also tried partitioning it with AHDI which complained that the HD
was formatted with a previous version and requests that I reformat
the drive, but when I try to do that with AHDI it refuses."
Uwe Seimet, author of HD Driver, tells Stephen:
"If the box you are mentioning is a regular popup displayed by
HDDRUTIL it should not vanish automatically, but only after having
been confirmed with a mouse click.
There is only one message (at least in the current versions of
HDDRUTIL) ending with "memory", and it is displayed if there is not
enough memory left to operate."
'Phantomm' asks about the STE's modem port:
"I've had a 1040STe for some years, still in new condition.
I would like to change the modem port to a 9 pin like on the
MSTE/TT/Falcon.
Can I use a simple adapter to reduce it down to 9pins or will
I need to do some re-wiring?"
Mark Bedingfield tells Phantomm:
"Yup, just a DB9 to DB25 converter and away you go."
Phantomm now asks about a subject near and dear to my heart...
encryption... and how to do it on an Atari:
"Years ago I recall a discussion on this subject.
Without doing any research first, thought I would ask in here.
Is it illegal to send e-mail or do a posting with the text content
encrypted?
With all types of hacking and such that goes on, I would like to
keep some of my e-mail as private as possible."
Coda tells Phantomm:
"As far as I know, [there are] not any [programs for the ST that do]
*meaningful* encryption. I.E nothing that won't be easily
breakable."
'Paolo' tells Coda and Phantomm:
"Well, there is Cadenza's EncrypSTer. It uses a 256bit user
definable key. Not so bad I'd say."
Well folks, that's it for this time around. Tune in again next week,
same time, same station, and be ready to listen to what they are
saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - 'Hellboy' Hits Streets in 2007!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" D1 Grand Prix, Drift Racing
Minnesota Sued Over Game Bill!
And much more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Hellboy Hits Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007
Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH recently announced Hellboy (working
title) for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PSP (PlayStation Portable) and
mobile phones.
Based on the acclaimed comic book series from Dark Horse Comics, the game
lets players unleash Hellboy's supernatural strength as they smash, crush
and demolish their way through over six unique locations that boast fully
destructible environments as they attempt to thwart an evil supernatural
plot.
Drawing players into the vibrant and detailed world created by comic book
legend Mike Mignola, Hellboy lets players step into the muscle bound frame
of Hellboy, a hulking crimson-skinned warrior of supernatural creation. On
the trail of a crazed witch, Hellboy uncovers a fiendish plot for world
domination and must rush to defeat the crazed Hermann von Klempt before he
can exert his evil will on a hapless world.
Hellboy offers players a visceral tactical brawling experience, letting
them unleash the hero's Right Hand of Doom on wave after wave of enemies.
Using a detailed context-sensitive fighting system, players can choose to
charge up Hellboy's strikes for added power or use his speed and agility to
unleash a rapid fire combination of blows on opponents. They can also
grapple with enemies, attacking them from close or even using them as
weapons to keep other attackers at bay.
Boasting detailed and expansive environments with advanced lighting and
texturing techniques, the levels in Hellboy are also highly destructible,
adding another level of strategy to the game's bare knuckled action while
bringing the character's untamed power to life. When confronted with a
large group of enemies, players can choose to smash a wall to create
smaller, more manageable groups and even pick up the rubble to use as a
weapon. Hellboy also lets players experience the game co-operatively with
two players taking on the roles of characters from the Hellboy universe
such as Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman.
"Hellboy unleashes the raw power of the comic book icon with devastating
hand to hand combat, an intricate grappling system and fully destructible
environments", said Hans-Joachim Amann, Head of European Product Management
for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. "Followers of the comic book and
movie will delight at controlling the sheer power their favourite sharp
tongued hero offers, while fans of action games will immediately be drawn
into the game's spectacular graphics and intuitive yet strategic gameplay."
Developed by Krome Studios for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PSP, Hellboy is
planned for release in 2007. A mobile phone version will also be released
in 2007, with further details to follow.
All the Exhilarating Action of Professional Drift
Racing Coming to the PlayStation2 in "D1 Grand Prix"
Yuke's Company of America, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yuke's Co., Ltd.,
and an official sponsor of the D1 Grand Prix Professional Drift Series,
announced "D1 Grand Prix", their professional drift racing simulation for
the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, D1 Grand Prix is expected
to be available in July 2006.
D1 Grand Prix recreates the exhilarating art of drifting, including all the
cars, tracks, drivers and physics that has made the D1 Grand Prix the
pinnacle series in drift racing. Players will be able to select from
39 American and Japanese drivers, as well as vehicles from Toyota, Honda,
Mazda, Subaru, Pontiac, and more.
Game features include:
* 13 Driving Circuits from past D1 competitions including Odaiba,
Tsukuba Circuit, Autopolis, SUGO, Fuji Speedway, Irwindale, and more.
* Over 40 licensed vehicles to choose from.
* The most realistic drifting physics engine ever in a video game.
* In-depth tutorial teaches players the art of drifting.
* Official D1 Grand Prix car stats, rules, racers and racing circuits.
* Compete in both day and night, clear or rainy day races.
* Enhanced commentary engine lets players hear what the three judges
have to say in real time.
* Six modes of play: D1 Series, X-Treme, Time Attack, Survival Mode,
Battle Mode, D1 Theater (unlockable movies of actual footage of the
D1 Grand Prix, as well as in-game replays of the players' best runs).
Atari Ships Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure
Atari, Inc. announced that Dragon Ball¾: Advanced Adventure for the Game
Boy Advance has shipped to retail stores nationwide. Expanding on its
best-selling Dragon Ball Z brand of interactive games, Atari's release of
Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure is the only game on GBA that gives fans the
chance to experience the origins of the Dragon Ball universe and Goku's
rise to power. Developed by Dimps, the creative team behind past Dragon
Ball Z hits including Budokai, Budokai 2, and Budokai 3 for PlayStation2
computer entertainment system, Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure is rated
'E10' for Everyone 10 and older.
In Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure, players will have the opportunity to
relive all of Goku's childhood adventures through a blend of exciting,
authentic gameplay that includes side-scrolling, fighting and flying. In
addition to the most exhilarating aspects of DBZ combat are sequences
featuring all of Goku's childhood techniques and 18 exciting levels in
story mode. Based on the Dragon Ball animated series, this "prequel" to
Dragon Ball Z gives players the chance to experience Goku's ascension to
one of the greatest superheroes in animation, manga/comic book history.
"Atari's Dragon Ball Z games have succeeded because of their ability to
authentically capture the distinct characteristics and exciting action of
the series," said Emily Anadu, Atari Product Manager. "We are thrilled to
offer fans a new spin on the franchise by allowing them to experience the
origins of the DBZ universe and the rise of Goku, one of anime's most
beloved characters."
"Not only is Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure the best Dragon Ball game yet
released, it's also an enjoyable, good-looking, technique-filled action
game ... " says Nintendo Power Magazine in the May 2006 issue.
Atari's lineup of Dragon Ball Z products is the gold standard of
anime-based video games, with more than 10 million units sold since May
2002. For additional information about Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure,
please visit http://www.atari.com/dragonballz.
Minnesota Sued Over Video Game Clampdown
The trade group representing the video game industry sued the state of
Minnesota on Tuesday to overturn a new bill that would fine children and
teens for buying or renting mature or adults-only games.
The Entertainment Software Assn. (ESA) filed the suit in Minnesota Federal
District Court, arguing that the bill attempted to substitute governmental
judgment for parental supervision.
The ESA has successfully convinced courts to strike down six similar bills
during the past five years, usually by arguing that the prohibitions on
certain video games were unconstitutional.
"The bill's tortured effort to end run the First Amendment by punishing
kids directly fails under the Constitution because children have rights
under the First Amendment, like all other citizens," ESA president Doug
Lowenstein said. "The state is attempting to impose liability on children
because they know that courts have consistently held that they cannot
penalize retailers. We believe that the courts will agree that fining
children violates the First Amendment as well."
The bill would impose a $25 fine on anyone under the age of 17 who bought
or rented a video game marked "M" for mature or "AO" for adults only.
Stores would be required to post signs alerting customers to the
restrictions.
Lowenstein said that the average game buyer last year was 40 and the
average player was 33. He also questioned how lawmakers reasonably expected
retailers to collect the $25 fine from children.
The ESA, the U.S. association for console, computer and Internet game
developers, said many leading retailers already are working to prevent the
sale of Mature-rated games to people under 17.
The association's most recent legal victory came in April when a federal
judge in Michigan issued a permanent injunction halting the implementation
of a state bill that would ban the sale of violent video games to minors.
The judge rejected the state's claim that the interactive nature of video
games makes them less entitled to First Amendment protections, the ESA
said.
Online Video Games Set To Get X-rated
The adult entertainment industry is on the verge of making online gaming
sexier at a time when mainstream publishers are fighting a political and
cultural war over erotic content.
The controversial topic will be the subject of a conference in San
Francisco on Thursday, where many of the growing industry's big names will
gather.
"This is the newest industry and the oldest industry in the world coming
together," said Jezebel, a telephone sex business owner and operator of the
virtual Bareback Bordello in RedLightCenter.com, an online game inspired by
Amsterdam's famed Red Light District and now in test.
Like popular games such as "World of Warcraft" and "Second Life,"
Utherverse Inc.'s RedLightCenter is an online universe that can support
thousands of players. Unlike the mainstream games, where virtual sex
happens in areas apart from the main thrust of play, RedLightCenter starts
with sex.
"Our product is adult-themed and it's only for adult users," said
Utherverse Chief Executive Brian Shuster.
The majority of video game sales in the United States come from console and
hand-held game sales. Hardware makers Sony Corp., Microsoft Corp. and
Nintendo Co. Ltd have long declined to license development software to game
makers whose titles include sexual content.
Still, sex has been the hot-button issue for the $12.6 billion U.S. video
game industry since its ratings board last summer slapped an "Adults Only
18+" label on Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.'s best-selling "Grand
Theft Auto: San Andreas" game. That move followed the discovery of an
explicit sex scene known as "Hot Coffee," which could only be unlocked and
viewed with a computer download.
Retailers, who do not carry adult-rated games, pulled the title from
shelves, costing Take-Two millions of dollars and putting a chill on an
industry accustomed to self-censorship.
The incident inflamed critics of video game makers - whose average U.S.
customers is an adult man over the age of 25 - and spawned crusades by
lawmakers who want to impose fines on retailers who sell sexually explicit
or violent games to minors, despite several court rulings that have blocked
such laws on First Amendment grounds.
"I'm not interested in playing the political game of getting a game out in
a box and getting it rated. Games have been sickeningly violent over the
last decade. Now that they start to show breasts, the government is up in
arms," said Shuster.
RedLightCenter is only available via online download.
As bad as it was for mainstream companies, "Hot Coffee" has left the
playing field wide open for adult content purveyors, who are always looking
for new ways to tempt customers.
Porn site NaughtyAmerica.com promises to challenge RedLightCenter with its
adult gaming universe due out in late summer. A subscription to
NaughtyAmerica's game will cost less than $12.95 per month, while
subscriptions to RedLightCenter will be $20 per month starting June 14.
Those games join other X-rated offerings such as "Virtually Jenna," an
online title that gives users the opportunity to have sex with a
computer-generated version of popular porn star Jenna Jameson for $29.95 a
month.
Paying visitors to RedLightCenter can adopt virtual characters called
avatars and use them to live out their sexual fantasies, including having
"intercourse" with another avatar.
Still, the game is not limited only to erotic activities. Users can hang
around and chat, listen to music at the dance club or even run businesses.
The site also offers real-world sex videos and shopping for lingerie and
other erotic items.
While sex is the hook, Shuster said his goal is to create a community that
drives the heavy traffic a successful Web site needs to thrive.
"Sex isn't as much of a game as it is a way to connect. We're coming in as
a way to fill that gap," he said.
In the end, though, the game is all about business.
"It's a more practical way, ultimately, to deliver adult content," he
added.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
UK Journalists Union Calls for Yahoo Boycott
The union representing journalists in the UK and Ireland called on its
40,000 members to boycott all Yahoo Inc. products and services to protest
the Internet company's reported actions in China.
The National Union of Journalists said it sent a letter on Friday to
Dominique Vidal, Yahoo Europe's vice president, denouncing the company for
allegedly providing information to Chinese authorities about journalists.
The union also said it would stop using all Yahoo-operated services.
Yahoo has been cited in court decisions as supplying China's government
with information to help them identify, prosecute and jail writers
advocating democracy.
"The NUJ regards Yahoo!'s actions as a completely unacceptable endorsement
of the Chinese authorities," wrote Jemima Kiss, chairman of the NUJ new
media council in the letter to Vidal.
A Yahoo spokeswoman in San Francisco could not immediately be reached.
Yahoo Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Semel said last month the company
had no choice but to comply with local laws and did not have the power to
change Chinese policy. He added that he was seeking help from the U.S.
government to urge China to allow more media freedom.
The company has been accused by the NUJ and other journalism groups of
providing records that led to an eight-year prison term for Li Zhi for
discussing pro-democracy issues in a Web forum and of helping identify Shi
Tao, who was sentenced to prison for 10 years for forwarding a government
email to the foreign press.
Kiss said the NUJ was advising all members, who include reporters, editors,
photographers and illustrators, to boycott Yahoo until the company "changes
its irresponsible and unethical policy."
Other Internet companies also have come under fire lately for some actions
in China, including Google Inc. for saying it would block politically
sensitive terms on its Web site in the country and Microsoft's MSN for
shutting down a blog under Chinese government orders.
Google Founder Lobbies for Net Neutrality
Google Inc. co-founder and President Sergey Brin met with U.S. lawmakers on
Tuesday to press for legislation that would prevent Internet access
providers from charging Web sites more for faster content delivery.
"The only way you can have a fast lane that is useful - that people will
pay a premium for - is if there are slow lanes," Brin told reporters after
meeting with Republican John McCain, a member of the Senate committee that
oversees telecommunications issues.
Google, Microsoft Corp. and other major Internet site operators have joined
with small Web site owners to oppose broadband providers such as ATT 2006
Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of
Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent
of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the
content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
Defeat for Net Neutrality Backers
A telecommunications bill that would let phone companies offer TV over
their lines but would not prevent toll roads from being set up on the
Internet, passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday.
By a vote of 321-101, the House passed the bill.
An amendment by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts, designed to guarantee
network neutrality by requiring phone and cable networks to provide
"nondiscriminatory" service and granting the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) authority to enforce it, was defeated by a vote of
269-152.
The approved bill does not discuss the potential significance of network
neutrality but prohibits the FCC from creating rules to require it.
"Network neutrality" is the principle that telecommunications companies
continue to provide equal access to all sites and services on the Internet,
without differentiation, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Specifically, advocates of network neutrality want telecommunications
companies to be prevented from blocking or discriminating against Internet
content providers by providing "fast lanes" and "slow lanes" that are set
up according to how much the content providers pay to get their sites and
services to end users.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, argued that Markey's amendment would give too
much power to the FCC and would deprive the telecommunications companies of
the revenue they need to develop and deliver new services.
Rather than require phone companies to obtain local licenses for new
services, which can take months, the bill allows companies to apply to the
FCC to obtain national franchises within 30 days of submission.
This was the explicit trade-off - giving the phone companies freedom to
price Internet services in exchange for providing more TV choices to
consumers.
"The response to the potential loss of net neutrality shows that the public
is aware of the risk of a regulated information highway," said Stacey
Quandt, an analyst with the Aberdeen Group. "And the idea of the Internet
becoming a 'toll road' is anathema to the American people."
Some observers believe that market forces would undercut any efforts to
create preferential treatment on the Internet.
"There are always market forces," said Struan Robertson, a lawyer with law
firm Pinsent Masons and editor of the Internet law Web site Out-Law.com.
"If some of the major ISPs try to raise their prices for Web site
downloads, this creates an opportunity for other ISPs to undercut them by
offering cheaper access."
With the House fight over, a network-neutrality coalition of content
providers, including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and eBay, will now focus on
the issue as it moves to the U.S. Senate.
Google.com Blocked in China According to Media Watchdog
The Google.com search engine has been blocked in most parts of China, as
Beijing steps up its efforts to restrict the public's access to
information, a Paris-based media watchdog said.
Internet users in many major Chinese cities have had difficulty connecting
to the uncensored international version of Google for the past week,
Reporters Without Borders said in a statement received here Wednesday.
Aside from the Google.com search engine, Reporters Without Borders said
the blocking was being gradually extended to the Google News and Google
Mail services.
"Google has just definitively joined the club of western companies that
comply with online censorship in China," Reporters Without Borders said.
"It is deplorable that Chinese Internet users are forced to wage a
technological war against censorship in order to access banned content."
Random attempts to access Google.com in Beijing appeared to confirm that
the international version of the search engine had indeed been made
unavailable, while the censored Chinese-language version, Google.cn, was
still accessible.
Google.cn was launched in January amid much controversy because the company
agreed to censor its service according to the wishes of China's propaganda
chiefs.
A Beijing-based Google spokeswoman said Wednesday the company was looking
into the apparent effort to block its most widely used search engine, but
declined any other comment.
"We launched an investigation last week," spokeswoman Cui Jin said. "As
long as we don't have more certain information, it would be irresponsible
for us to comment more."
Reporters Without Borders also said the Chinese authorities had largely
managed to neutralize software designed to sidestep censorship since late
May.
Software such as Dynapass, Ultrasurf, Freegate and Garden Networks is
normally used to gain access to news and information that is blocked by the
firewall isolating China from the rest of the worldwide web.
Bill Xia, the US-based exile who created Dynapass, said the jamming of
these programs had reached "an unprecedented level" and he was convinced
the authorities were deploying considerable resources to achieve it.
China: Internet Companies Must Obey Its Laws
China welcomes foreign Internet companies working in China, but they must
respect and abide by the country's laws, including those on expression, the
Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
The comments by ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao followed remarks Tuesday
by Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin acknowledging the Internet company
has compromised its principles by accommodating Chinese censorship demands.
Liu said China took a positive attitude toward working with companies such
as Google, but any cooperation must exist "within a framework of law," and
that Beijing hoped firms would abide by China's regulations.
Google's Brin said the Internet company had agreed to the censorship
demands only after Chinese authorities blocked its service in that country.
Google's China-approved Web service omits politically sensitive information
that might be retrieved during Internet searches, such as details about the
June 1989 suppression of political unrest in Tiananmen Square. Its
agreement with China has provoked considerable criticism from human rights
groups.
Sweden Probes Suspected Web Attacks
Sweden's domestic intelligence agency said it would probe why the
government's Web site crashed on Sunday amid reports hackers had sought
revenge for a crackdown on alleged online piracy.
The government Web site went off line in the early hours of Sunday. The
Internet home page of the national police crashed in similar fashion on
Thursday.
The police Web site problem came a day after the Pirate Bay Internet page,
which the recording industry calls a major source for downloading pirated
music and films, was shut by police.
"They (the government) contacted us and wanted to make a police complaint
that something has happened with their home page and it is now a question
for us investigate if it is a crime or something else," said Anders
Thornberg, a spokesman for the Security Police intelligence agency.
Local media said hackers attacked both sites, now functioning again, after
the clampdown on Pirate Bay. Pirate Bay is also up and running again.
Sweden's Emergency Management Agency earlier warned all 31 bodies involved
in emergency management, such as the police and rescue services, and all
21 local authorities to ensure they were safe from attacks on their Web
sites.
Newspaper Aftonbladet quoted a group called World Wide Hackers as saying
they had arranged an attack on the government's Web site.
Sweden last year banned the downloading of copyright protected music and
movies from the Internet after being singled out for criticism by
Hollywood. The raid on Pirate Bay was the latest of several actions against
suspected online piracy.
Critics say the police are heavy handed and that people should have access
to free information via the Internet, including file sharing.
Several hundred people demonstrated in Stockholm on Saturday in support of
Pirate Bay.
Spammer, Partners Agree to $10M Settlement
One of the world's most notorious spammers, his former partners and their
companies have agreed to pay $10 million to settle a state lawsuit, Texas
officials said Wednesday.
Ryan Pitylak, 24, a recent University of Texas graduate, has admitted
sending 25 million e-mails every day at the height of his spamming
operation in 2004.
At one time, Pitylak was listed as the fourth-worst spammer in the world by
the Spamhaus Project, a London-based international clearinghouse that
tracks spammers and works closely with law enforcement officials.
Under the settlement announced Wednesday by the Texas Attorney General's
office, Pitylak owes $1 million in civil penalties. He already has paid the
state $225,000 to cover attorneys' fees.
In a separate settlement with Microsoft Corp., Pitylak agreed to a fine of
$1 million and promised never again to send out false, misleading or
unsolicited commercial e-mails.
Pitylak's e-mails touted low-cost mortgages, extended auto warranties and
debt-counseling services, among other offers, and he received $3 to $7 for
every lead he generated when someone clicked on the links in his messages.
Pitylak says he now opposes spam and is offering his skills to Internet
companies to help them fight spam.
Toshiba Unveils 200-GB Laptop Drive
Toshiba has announced plans to start selling a 2.5-inch, 200-GB hard drive,
effectively raising the bar on storage capacity for laptops.
The drive uses a relatively new technology, called perpendicular recording,
that stands bits of data on the end of a disk rather than on the flat
surface of the media, as with traditional recording technologies.
Perpendicular recording provides up to a five-fold increase in storage
capacity over earlier magnetic-recording techniques.
By allowing more data bits to pass under the drive head in the same amount
of time, the new technology also increases data throughput without having
to increase the disk's rotation speed. This performance boost comes without
increases in power consumption or heat generation.
Experts say that larger data capacity in small drives is critical at this
juncture for breakthroughs in notebook PCs.
Toshiba envisions the new drive being used in high-end laptops, including
newer models equipped with video-capture boards and those running Windows
XP Media Center, said Maciek Brzeski, a marketing executive in the
company's storage drive division.
"Toshiba and other companies are bringing out laptops with TV tuners
installed, and some have the new high-definition DVD players, which will
require a lot more storage capacity, especially for capturing an HD feed,"
he said.
The new 2.5-inch product, which will be available in August, boosts data
capacity to 1.67 times that of Toshiba's former highest-capacity 2.5-inch
drive.
Other manufacturers, including Seagate and Hitachi, are beginning to
implement perpendicular recording for small-format drives that will be used
in all sorts of electronics, from digital-music players to mobile phones.
Seagate recently unveiled a laptop with 160 GB of storage capacity, and
followed that up with a monster PC hard drive with 750 GB of storage space
that can hold some 25 DVDs, 50 hours of home video, 15,000 songs, 15,000
digital pictures, and 50 computer games - and still have 300 GB of free
space left over.
"This is a significant breakthrough for the hard-drive industry because the
longitudinal recording technology has been extended as far as possible,"
said John Rydning, research manager at IDC, in a recent interview. "It sets
the stage for further data capacity increases in 2.5-inch products."
McAfee Buys Preventsys
McAfee Inc., a provider of computer security software and services, said on
Tuesday it has acquired closely held Preventsys Inc.
McAfee spokeswoman Siobhan MacDermott said the transaction was valued "in
the low millions." She declined to elaborate.
McAfee, based in Santa Clara, California, sells a wide range of security
products, including ones that help defend against computer viruses.
Preventsys, of Carlsbad, California, develops security risk management
software, which companies use to identify security problems as they seek to
demonstrate and monitor compliance with internal auditing procedures and
government regulations.
McAfee Chief Executive George Samenuk last week said at an investor
conference that he planned to use some of the company's $1.1 billion in
cash to broaden its portfolio of security products through acquisitions.
Samenuk told a Cowen & Co. investor conference that he hoped to make
several acquisitions over the coming quarters. The deals would be valued
between $5 million and $250 million, he said.
McAfee disclosed the acquisition on Tuesday as the company's top executives
spoke at a company analyst day in New York.
Microsoft Releases Antigen E-mail Security
Microsoft on Tuesday announced the first release of the Antigen enterprise
antivirus and antispam software since it purchased the technology with
Sybari Software in 2005.
The company released new versions of Antigen for Exchange, Antigen for SMTP
Gateways, Antigen Spam Manager, and Antigen Enterprise Manager. The updates
add Microsoft's antivirus engine to the default third-party scanning
engines used by the product. The products also add support for clustered
Exchange deployments and improved management features for handling
quarantined messages and log files, Microsoft said.
Microsoft completed its acquisition of Sybari in June, 2005 and has spent
the last year certifying the company's antivirus and antispam products with
its Security Development Lifecycle process, said Steve Brown, director of
product management, security and access management at Microsoft.
Microsoft's antivirus engine will work alongside engines by Computer
Associates, Norman Data Defense, Sophos, MailFilters, VirusBuster, AhnLab,
Authentium, and Kaspersky Labs, the company said in a statement. Microsoft
also added a digital signing feature for antivirus engine updates which
makes those updates more secure, Brown said.
Antigen uses five scan engines by default. However, customers can increase
that number to nine by purchasing the Antigen Messaging Security Suite,
which combines Antigen Exchange, Gateway, and Spam Manager, and allows
customers to increase the number of engines that can be used, said Joe
Licari, director of product management for Antigen at Microsoft.
A new version of Antigen Enterprise Manager, a management tool for
Antigen-protected servers, allows administrators to pull quarantine
information from distributed Antigen installations and manage those
centrally.
The Antigen Cluster Awareness feature allows Antigen to fail over in
clustered Exchange deployments without having to update signature files
and other configuration settings that could cause downtime, Licari said.
Perot Systems was a longtime Sybari customer and plans to upgrade to the
new release of Antigen Exchange, though the company did not evaluate the
other Antigen updates, said Don Westurn, a senior Exchange engineer, at
Perot.
Westurn said he liked the integrated SpamCure antispam feature in the new
Antigen release. That technology was previously an add-on for Antigen, but
is now part of the standard product, and replaces stripped down antispam
features like basic subject line filtering.
Antigen was tightly integrated with Exchange before Microsoft bought the
company, and is even more so now, said Ajlan Karaoglu of Perot.
The new Antigen products will be available July 1 and will start at $10.50
per user for an annual subscription, with volume discounts. A three-month
free trial download of the products will be available starting Tuesday.
Phishing Scam Takes Aim at MySpace.com
A phishing site that harvested the login and credentials of MySpace.com
users was removed as of Friday from a California server, a security vendor
reported.
A phishing attack involves tricking users into visiting a look-a-like Web
page that asks for personal information, which is then sent to a hacker.
The rich trove of personal information stored on MySpace user pages is
making the social networking site an increasing attractive target for
identity theft, said Ross Paul, a senior product manager at Websense, which
makes security software.
The attack would not have been noticed by most users, Paul said. The attack
starts when a user is sent a link through an instant messaging program.
The link is from someone in their contact lists, asking them to click the
link to MySpace to view photos, Paul said. The link leads to a fraudulent
MySpace login page. Once the victim enters their information, they are then
transparently logged into the real MySpace pages, Paul said.
But a hacker then has access to personal information stored by MySpace,
such as someone's address and birthday, which could be used to open a bank
account, Paul said.
A hacker can also tap other instant messaging contacts or e-mail addresses
to send out the link to the phishing site, which often is done using
automated programs.
"The rising popularity of this kind of meeting place is obviously
increasing the potential for financial gain," Paul said. "The more
information you give MySpace, the more at risk you would be if someone
managed to get a hold of your login information."
MySpace, started in 2004 and bought by News Corp. last year, counts at
least 73 million users and is growing. MySpace's "viral" networking model
allows friends of friend to easily connect, but sexual predators have also
used its features to meet underage victims.
As a result, MySpace appointed a chief security officer in April and
implemented careful page monitoring.
Study Finds Companies Snooping On Employee E-mail
Big Brother is not only watching but he is also reading your e-mail.
According to a new study, about a third of big companies in the United
States and Britain hire employees to read and analyze outbound e-mail as
they seek to guard against legal, financial or regulatory risk.
More than a third of U.S. companies surveyed also said their business was
hurt by the exposure of sensitive or embarrassing information in the past
12 months, according to the annual study from a company specializing in
protecting corporate e-mail at large businesses.
"What folks are concerned about is confidential or sensitive information
that is going out," said Gary Steele, chief executive of Cupertino,
California-based Proofpoint Inc., which conducted the study along with
Forrester Research.
The top concern was protecting the financial privacy and identity of
customers followed by compliance issues and a bid to prevent confidential
leaks. Businesses ranked monitoring for inappropriate content and
attachments as less important.
Steele also said on Friday that more and more companies are employing staff
to read outgoing e-mails of workers who typically have no idea their
correspondence is being monitored.
"It is not something that is broadcast," Steele said. "There are
organizations where employees think they can say whatever they want to say
and nobody is going to read it."
The survey gathered responses concerning e-mail security from 406 companies
in the United States and the United Kingdom with more than 1,000 employees.
In both regions, 38 percent of respondents said they employed staff to read
or otherwise analyze outbound e-mail. In the United States, 44 percent of
companies with more than 20,000 employees said they hire workers to snoop
on workers' e-mail.
Nearly one in three U.S. companies also said they had fired an employee for
violating e-mail policies in the past 12 months and estimated that about
20 percent of outgoing e-mails contain content that poses a legal,
financial or regulatory risk.
Parents Mark Internet Favorites and Dislikes
Most parents love the Internet and want their kids to use it. But a new
survey finds almost as many also fear the online world - especially social
networking sites such as MySpace - and worry their kids will get in trouble
with people they meet.
"It's this complete dichotomy," says James Steyer, CEO of Common Sense
Media, which today will release results from a survey commissioned about
parental attitudes toward the Internet.
"They see this incredible potential, and they know their kids have to be
there," Steyer says. But "it's also what they are scared of most."
The study, which was conducted online May 5-10 by Insight Research Group
with a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points, says 80% of parents
are concerned about kids meeting sexual predators online.
But another study, conducted April 25-May 1 by Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner
Research, shows 30% of 18- to 24-year-olds worry about getting harassed or
stalked online.
That's because young people who largely have grown up with the Net think
of it as a social outlet, says Jennifer Berktold, a senior associate with
the research group.
To young people, the benefits of giving out some personal information to
reach out to friends outweigh risks.
And, the study shows they're so comfortable with the medium that 78% have
a personal website or blog.
But findings suggest both parents and teens need more education about using
online media, Steyer says.
Parents also recognize the importance of the Net. The survey shows 91%
think the Internet helps their children explore their passions, and 77%
think the Internet is one of the most valuable education tools teens have.
But 88% think it's important to know what their kids are doing online.
That's why on Wednesday Common Sense is also launching an educational
campaign that includes a website, fliers and a multimillion dollar public
service advertising campaign. A guide for parents and a tip sheet for teens
and parents can be found at commonsensemedia.org.
In the next two weeks, the San Francisco-based non-profit will launch an
initial $3 million public education ad campaign with several media partners
to be named later this month, Steyer says. The campaign will include public
service ads in print, online, TV and radio.
Nancy Willard of Eugene, Ore., an Internet safety consultant to schools,
applauds the idea of a media campaign even though plenty of information
for parents and kids already are online.
"We tend to do a good job of reaching those parents who are paying
attention," she says. "But we are also struggling in finding ways to get to
those parents who are not paying attention."
Researcher Looks to PCs for Medical Cures
Researcher David Baker believes the key to an AIDS vaccine or a cure for
cancer may be that old PC sitting under a layer of dust in your closet or
the one on your desk doing little else but running a screen saver. Those
outdated or idle computers may be just what Baker needs to turn his ideas
into scientific breakthroughs.
Baker, 43, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington,
realized about two years ago that he didn't have access to the computing
horsepower needed for his research - nor the money to buy time on
supercomputers elsewhere.
So he turned to the kindness - and the computers - of strangers.
Using software made popular in a massive yet so far fruitless search for
intelligent life beyond Earth, he and his research team are tapping the
computing power of tens of thousands of PCs whose owners are donating spare
computer time to chop away at scientific problems over the Internet.
Baker's Rosetta(at)home project is attracting PC users who like the idea of
helping find a cure for cancer and admire the way Baker has involved
regular people in his research that aims to predict how protein structures
unfold at the atomic level.
"We're getting these volunteer virtual communities popping up that are
doing wonderful things," Baker said. "People like to get together for good
causes."
Baker's work could one day lead to cures to diseases from cancer to
Alzheimer's. The project takes a more direct approach to other diseases,
including the search for an HIV vaccine. In that case, his team hopes to
develop a way to help the body recognize critical parts of the virus'
proteins so that it can no longer hide from the body's immune system.
The project sends work to computers that have installed the necessary free
software. When the machine is idle, it figures out how an individual
protein - a building block of life - might fold or contort, displaying the
possibilities in a screen saver. When the PC is done crunching, it sends
the results back to Baker's team and grabs more work.
More than 60,000 people are donating computer power to Baker's research -
equivalent to the power of one supercomputer. He hopes to increase that
number by at least tenfold - enough to lead to major scientific
breakthroughs.
The technology, known as distributed or network computing, isn't new. In
the late 1990s, a project at the University of California, Berkeley started
inviting people to donate their computer power to scan distant radio
signals for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. Millions of people have
participated in the SETI(at)home project.
Two years ago, as Baker was realizing his project's limitations, the
Berkeley group developed new software and opened it to other research that
could benefit. The SETI work continues and remains its biggest beneficiary,
with donated computer time from nearly 953,000 computers.
Baker's project now has participants from around the world, but the
earliest donor of idle computer time came from across campus at the
university's Housing and Food Services.
"I knew the kind of power that personal computers could have if you pulled
them all together," said Ethan Owens, 27, an employee who first offered his
department's 200 computers to the Astronomy Department before taking his
offer to Baker.
Soon, dormitory front desks, computer labs, maintenance offices and kitchen
business centers became part of Rosetta(at)home.
By the time school started last fall, the two organizations were working
together to recruit students to put the networking software on their PCs.
The project has grown both on and off campus ever since.
Many of the most active volunteers are cancer survivors or people who have
lost close friends or relatives to the disease.
Philip Williams, 53, who writes computer software for the federal
government in Washington, D.C., said he started pulling old Macs out of the
closet when he learned more about the Rosetta project. The two-time
Hodgkin's survivor plans to add more computers soon.
Although he continues to contribute computer time to a few other projects,
Williams' loyalty clearly is with Baker.
"Baker's group has a way of making people think that they are part of the
project," said Williams, who has also volunteered to help diagnose problems
other participants are having with the software.
Baker said users don't just think they are important to the project, they
really are.
"As a scientist, one of the things you're supposed to do is outreach.
Outreach has become fundamental to solving the problem," Baker said,
pointing out that his team has received some ideas about new research
angles by involving the public. Some were generated on the project's
message boards.
The volunteers also have recruited more people to help, have made useful
suggestions about software issues and have helped test new software
versions before they are sent to everyone using Rosetta(at)home.
Williams said Baker's participation in project message boards has made
Rosetta much more than a quirky project of the month.
David P. Anderson, director of the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network
Computing, said Baker's lab has done a particularly good job of connecting
the participants to the science, including sharing the potential medical
impact of the project.
"Hopefully, Rosetta is setting a standard that the other projects will have
to live up to if they want to hold onto their participants," Anderson said.
Mark Pottorff, 40, a computer programmer in Rochester, Minn., was
contributing computer time for the search for extraterrestrial life when
he heard about Rosetta(at)home and decided to switch.
"The outcome is much more beneficial," and more likely to get results than
a search for ET, Pottorff said, adding, "If you reach him, he's still 100
million light years away."
Rosetta: http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/
Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing:
http://boinc.berkeley.edu/computer
Cybercrime Spurs College Courses in Digital Forensics
One of the hottest new courses on U.S. college campuses is a direct result
of cybercrime.
Classes in digital forensics - the collection, examination and presentation
of digitally stored evidence in criminal and civil investigations - are
cropping up as fast as the hackers and viruses that spawn them.
About 100 colleges and universities offer undergraduate and graduate
courses in digital forensics, with a few offering majors. There are
programs at Purdue University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of
Tulsa, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Central Florida.
Five years ago, there were only a handful.
"I teach students to be like (TV supersleuth) MacGyver," says Sujeet
Shenoi, a computer science professor at the University of Tulsa.
Traditional students, police officers, government employees and aspiring
security consultants are taking the courses as more crooks stash
ill-gotten data and goods on PCs, PDAs, cellphones, network servers, iPods
and even Xboxes.
Students learn where to find digital evidence and handle it without
contaminating it. Once preserved, students are shown how to examine
evidence and present it clearly during court testimony. "If you revert to
geek speak, you can lose a judge, jury and prosecutor," says Mark Pollitt,
a digital forensics professor at Johns Hopkins University who retired in
2003 after 20 years as an FBI agent.
Digital forensics is considered a crucial weapon in law enforcement's
escalating war against computer-related crimes. The science is used in
criminal investigations; civil cases such as employment lawsuits where
personnel records and e-mail correspondence are sought; and by companies
faced with cyberattacks. Plus, there are evolving state and federal laws
that define how evidence is handled in civil cases.
The evidence is particularly important in the seizure of data for child
pornography cases, which comprise a majority of criminal investigations in
the USA, says Marcus Rogers, an associate professor who heads the computer
forensics program at Purdue University's College of Technology.
The FBI handled more than 9,500 computer forensics cases in fiscal year
2005, which ended in September, compared with about 3,600 in fiscal 2000,
according to an FBI briefing.
The crush of cases has domestic intelligence agencies such as the National
Security Agency and the CIA, local law-enforcement officials and companies
clamoring for experts in finding and preserving digital evidence, security
experts says. "There is a thirst in government agencies for
(cyberinvestigators)," Pollitt says. There appear to be no shortage of
suitors. Since he enrolled in Purdue's master's program last fall, Blair
Gillam says he has been approached by recruiters representing government
agencies and the private sector.
JFK Papers, Photos To Be Put On Internet
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is launching a massive
project to post 48 million pages of documents, 400,000 photos and 1,200
hours of video on the Internet.
The late president's papers will be digitized first, and could be available
on the Internet in 18 months, said Allan B. Goodrich, the library's chief
archivist.
The entire projects, which also includes 7.5 million feet of motion-picture
film and 9,000 hours of audio recordings, is expected to take a decade to
complete.
"President Kennedy loved history and drew inspiration from it. Hopefully,
by making these collections widely available, we can inspire new
generations in many lands,"
the late president's youngest brother, Sen.
Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), said Wednesday.
The JFK Library undertaking will serve as a pilot program for a
presidential library system that has more than 400 million papers, said
Sharon Fawcett, assistant archivist at the National Archives and Records
Administration, which has responsibility for all 12 presidential libraries.
The project will uses computer equipment and technical support donated by
EMC Corp. in Hopkinton.
Effort Unveiled for New Web Site for The Poor
Low-income Americans would have free and easy access to vital information
under an effort announced Thursday to create a bilingual Web site.
One Economy, a non-profit group that uses technology to upgrade the lives
of the poor, said it aims to raise $20 million to start the project, Public
Internet Channel.
The site would provide information about such basics as public safety,
emergency services, education, health care and jobs.
U.S. Senators John McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Barack Obama, an
Illinois Democrat, serve as honorary co-chairs of the non-profit group and
hailed the initiative.
"It will ensure that all Americans have the same easy access to information
and resources they need to prosper in our global economy without getting
lost in the World Wide Web," McCain said in a statement.
Said Obama: "The Public Internet Channel can do for accessing social
services what Yahoo! has done for accessing entertainment or what
Craigslist has done for accessing local goods for sale."
The non-profit group said it plans to launch prototypes in several cities
in the next year, beginning with Baltimore.
As part of its programs, the group also runs a Web site called the Beehive
that offers tips for managing money and starting a business. It has also
helped bring broadband Internet access into the homes of 200,000 poor
people.
Much of the information the new site will provide is now available
elsewhere. The new initiative would allow Internet users to obtain it
quickly on one site in English and Spanish.
One Economy said it hopes to obtain funding from corporations and
philanthropic organizations.
Fill Up With News at Gas Station TV
Motorists cringing at the cost of fuel can now at least fill up on current
news and information while tethered to the pump.
Internet-enabled Gas Station TV formally launched its digital television
network Monday featuring ABC programming and original content including
local news, sports, weather and traffic. The network will air constantly
updated content to refueling motorists on 20-inch high-definition LCD
monitors embedded in gas dispensers.
GSTV already has conducted a test pilot in Dallas and expects to reach 100
locations of the Wal-Mart-based retail gasoline chain Murphy USA by
September and 400 stations in the top 10 U.S. markets by next year.
"We're very focused on creating an enjoyable and informative experience for
the average of four minutes the user spends at the pump with content that
has a sense of purpose and that can help them," GSTV CEO David Leider said,
describing the venture as based on an advertising revenue model.
Current content includes "News You Can Use" segments from ABC's "Good
Morning America" along with news, weather forecasts and traffic updates
from ABC-owned stations as well as promotional material. Rotating ads from
such retail brands as Pepsi, Frito-Lay and US Tobacco are woven into the
segments and geared toward driving the consumer back into the convenience
store.
GSTV president Adam Bleibtreu said future collaborations with other content
providers are imminent.
"We view this as a great distribution platform to provide the appropriate
mix of content," Bleibtreu said. "This is a truly captive audience that we
have - those stuck at the pump - and this is a great opportunity to engage
them."
=~=~=~=
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