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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 07 Issue 53
Volume 7, Issue 53 Atari Online News, Etc. December 30, 2005
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2005
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:
Francois Le Coat
Mark Duckworth
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0753 12/30/05
~ Happy New Year To All! ~ People Are Talking! ~ OpenOffice Fixed!
~ Visionary Diebold Dies ~ AOL Top 10 Spam List! ~ Two ARAnyM Updates!
~ New GIM 0.4 Released! ~ eBay Hacker Pleas ~ NSA Site Cookies!
~ Landmark UK Spam Case! ~ Gender Gap in Web Use! ~ PSP Graffiti Ads!
-* Opera Denies Buyout Rumors! *-
-* Mom Fights Downloading Case Herself *-
-* Hacker Pleads Guilty To Attack on eBay! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
It's been one helluva year! The world has been faced with all kinds of
adversity this past year - a disastrous tsunami and hurricanes wiping out
cities, continued terrorism across the globe, and Joe missed more than one
column! But, here we are, still managing to move forward. Many of us are
still using our Atari computers fairly regularly despite the fact that the
world has passed us by technologically. Who knows what next year will
bring, but I can tell you that most of us are hoping that it's a good one.
All of us here at A-ONE want to extend our thanks for your continued support
over the past year. We're about to embark on our eighth year - who knew
we'd still be around today?!
Please celebrate New Year's Eve responsibly. The beginning of a new year is
always worth celebrating, but we want you all around for a long time to
come. Eat, drink, and be merry - but be safe.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
ARAnyM
Merry Christmas to you all,
There's two updates related to ARAnyM :)
<http://eureka.atari.org/MacAranym.zip> is a binary snapshot
0.9.2pre1 of ARAnyM for MacOSX. It was built with Xcode 1.5
under OSX.3.9. This package contains a boot disk image that
is suitable for latest improvements of ARAnyM, similar to
AFROS (ATARI Free OS). Ready to use.
<http://eureka.atari.org/xa-my-aes.zip> is a boot disk image
that is suitable for ARAnyM 0.9.0 (all host platforms). It may
be better to use a stable version (0.9.0) specially for devel
purposes. This disk image was updated with a December 23th
snapshot of freeMiNT, and follows all other developments
such as zView beta 7 etc.
It's up to you !
See you soon for updated news of the ATARI front ...
-- Francois LE COAT
Author of Eureka 2.12 (2D Graph Describer, 3D Modeller)
http://eureka.atari.orgmailto:lec...@atari.org
GIM Version 0.4 Released!
Hello all,
A Christmas release of GEM Instant Messenger has arrived. GEM Instant
Messenger is an AOL instant messenger compatible IM client for Atari
systems running MiNT. This version has fixes of iconification, font
selection issues fixed, it's built with Windom 2.0, buddylist
size/position is saved in the configuration file, debug text has been
isolated and removed, bug causing buddylist to redraw over everything
fixed, and restructuring and beautification of all dialogs.
Now I'll be working on the Sparemint Update Manager to get a usable
release now that I finally got my new server up and running. It shouldn't
be long at all. Also the site is almost ready to go again :)
Once that is done, I plan to rebuild gim mostly from scratch using the
current version of libfaim. In this version, now that I have much more
GEM experience, I will make sure everything is *very* pluggable so that
protocol plugins can be used, and the new version of libfaim has many
nifty features like server side buddylists and more!
Have a merry XMAS and happy to holidays to people who swing the other ways :)
Thanks,
Mark
http://www.atari-source.org
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Another week has come and gone, and we've
survived half of "The Holidays". The other half, of course, is New
Year's Eve. Of the two, I've always found New Year's to be the more
dangerous of the two.
Whereas Christmas is pretty much a family holiday, New Year's Eve tends
to be a party night, with lots of merriment and alcohol. I'm not against
merriment... heck, I'm not even against alcohol. But it's easier to
turn merriment off when you try to drive. When was the last time you
heard of someone getting pulled over for driving while happy? <grin>
As you might have heard me say before, New Year's Eve has always been a
time for quiet introspection, not drinking and partying. Now, I'm not
saying that's the only way to go, and I realize that the coming of the
new year can and should be a time for happiness, it's just that that's
not my way.
The point that I started out trying to make is simply this: If you go out
on the town, or even to a house party, on New Year's Eve, please be
careful. Not drinking if you're going to drive is only part of the deal.
The other part is watching out for the other guy who might not be as
socially conscious as you.
Look, we need every Atari user we can get these days. Do us a favor and
take care of yourself.
Okay, enough of that. Let's get to the news, hints, tips and info from
the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
'Gnorik' asks for information about RF modulators in STs:
"I have Atari 1040 Ste. I have read on the net, that any Atari ST has an
RF antenna cable with which one can connect the ST to any tv. It seems
that I can't find such an interface on my Atari ST, is this possible?
Or maybe the RF antenna cable should be connected to the same place,
where Atari monitor connects?
Where is the RF modulator located Inside the Atari case, or it is mounted
to the cable?
I am asking because I have no RF antenna cable for the Atari, I bought it
one year ago with only a b/w monitor.
And another question about the monitor. I can see the TOS screen not
full screen, but very small, a rather big part of the screen is taken up
with a border, and TOS screen is only 1/3 of my monitor screen. I can't
find any switcher to tune the monitor.
On the back side there are only three wheels for sound, brightness and
contrast, and some switcher above them. If I turn the switcher up, I
can see nothing if I turn it down, I see Atari TOS screen."
David Wade tells Gnorik:
"Its the single "phono" socket on the back. (assuming its an STE. or
STFM, plain STF does not have modulator.) If its an STE there should be
three PHONO sockets on the back. Two are the stereo sound out and the
third is the TV out. However its really only good for games.
BTW its the GEM desktop that you should see, not the TOS
screen. Try setting the thing to "Medium Resolution". Its some where on
the last menu."
Gnorik replies:
"Thank you very much for you answer.
But I really have Atari 1040 STe, its with AZERTY keyboard and french
GEM.
But on the back there are only...
left to right:
modem port,
printer port,
hard disk port,
floppy disk interface,
then monitor interface, and then two audio jacks with letters "R" and
"L", and there are power switcher above.
Then there are power socket and reset button.
Also I have two midi sockets on the left side of Atari, one unknown
interface, two joystick ports, b and a... I also have another two
joystick ports , but can' find "phono" :)
I can take a picture and post it... Is it possible that french Atari
STe's have no rf port?"
David tells gnorik:
"English ones are like this:-
http://www.myoldcomputers.com/museum/comp/1040st.htm
which is an STE as it has the extra joystick ports and the stereo
phonos... You can see the TV Out between the Floppy and Monitor ports.
Its possible as French TV has some "odd" standards. Indeed when I looked
I found this:-
http://mpc.fab.free.fr/atari/atari16-32/pstf.htm
Which shows a French STE with no RF output port, so perhaps the french
STE did not have this port."
Peter West adds his own thoughts:
"[It's] Very possible [that French STe's don't have RF modulators], as
French TVs use SECAM, not PAL, and perhaps Atari wouldn't find it worth
while to produce a modulator for this restricted market..."
Edward Baiz adds this:
"The monitor has this border normally. YOu can make it smaller and
increase your viewing size by going in and doing some electrical
adjustments. There is an article about this on the Net. I would just
buy the various SVGA adapters that exist for the ST. This will allow you
to hook up a PC-type VGA monitor, but will only give you mono. The
screen size is MUCH larger. That is what I did and it works fine."
'gnorik' now asks about floppy activity during boot-up:
"When I am turning Atari on floppy drive is making some noise
during a minute, and only after that TOS starts.
Is it proper for Atari St? The floppy drive is empty during start, but
Atari makes some noise with it..."
'Chris' tells gnorik:
"TOS checks for boot drives and such for about 45seconds on bootup, after
that time it gives up and you are then at the GEM desktop. If you put a
blank disk in the drive then the boot sector of the floppy is read and
TOS has "something" actually read, if there is nothing on the floppy
then it boots right to GEM."
Edward Baiz tells Chris:
"That is one thing I have always liked about the ST. You do not have to
worry about it or remember to hold down certain buttons to get the disk
to boot. I wish my Hades was like that."
Francois Le Coat asks about MOD players under ARAnyM:
"I just downloaded two ModPlayers :
GemPLAY 0.97 [25.12.05 23:58]
Link: gemplay097.lzh Yescrew
mxPlay 1.00 - best module player for your Atari Falcon [24.12.05 23:58]
Link: mxplay.sourceforge.net mxplay.atari.sk mxplay.lzh
from http://atari.sk/
and I tested these with ARAnyM. The problem is that these
players are performing a detection of the Falcon hardware.
But do you know that GSXB is implemented, and that the
DMA sound system and DMA system calls are present, though
there's no Falcon hardware.
Instead of detecting the Falcon hardware, you should better
detect GSXB, and use DMA calls as usual. That's so simple !
GSXB is at : http://assemsoft.atari.org/gsxb/
I'm telling that about ARAnyM, but it is the same problem
on my Hades 60."
'Janez' tells Francois:
"... Unless you have DSP working in Hades (MOD, ACE, GT2, AoN all use
DSP replayers in GemPLAY, to minimise CPU usage) GSXB will not help u
much. Reason for DSP is clear: no way to replay ACE, MP2/3, GT2, AON on
less as 060 CPU and even on 060 u may have probs, not to mention that
leftover CPU power will be weak. For example: MP3 takes let say 80% CPU
power on 060, so its not exactly usable as background player... Falcamp
use maybe 5%, Aniplayer with DSP 10% or so...
Personally I prefer using fast DSP replayers, so owners of "plain",
"slow" Falcons can enjoy music and still have most of the CPU free for
other tasks. Falcon 030 owners must NOT be bannes, just we have faster
machines, esp since 030 Falcons are capable to replay all those
formats... I also made separate players in ACC versions, so TOS users
may enjoy music while doing other stuff."
Rory McMahon asks for opinions on what to do with his floppy disk
collection:
"I have amassed an unwieldly amount of 3.5" 720k non-original game,menu
and game demo disks. I have tested quite a few and most work fairly
well. Some need a 50/60hz program, but most boot to the game start.
My dilemma, how can I get rid of these, and make a few bucks, make a
few people happy. Should I format them and sell them as blanks or
leave em as is? I would sell them in lots of 50 or 100, couple extra
for possible bad disks? $4 + cost of shipping? Dunno.
Or should I just put them in the dumpster?
I couldn't possibly make a list of all the games. There are just too
many and I'm really short on time anyway. Any ideas?"
Charles Copp jumps in and offers:
"I have a second plan for these disks ...what do you say to
this...
He holds a contest and all the participants enter their addresses within
a month, who is the furthest away from rory pays rory for the shipping
and wins the disks.. great ideal huh?"
Neil Chester asks for help with Falcon mode on his CT60:
"Thought I'd use the Xmas holidays to get the CT60 Falcon working, after
changing the HD to a 3.5 Maxtor 40Gb one night very successfully I
thought that the flaky days of programs not running/disappearing were
over! I hope they are not back again....
I am currently setting up the computer in Falcon mode (eg CT60 mode
switched Off). I backed up my files from my CT2b's boot drive so that I
could going faster than installing each application. This also means I
have an adjusted MAGIC.RAM file for CT60 mode. TOS mode seems to be
working correctly so I tried a Magic boot, second time it got through to
the jinnee desktop OK. I tried to adjust the Video mode with
VIDEOMOD.ACC (as supplied with Centscreen 3, this displayed the usual
settings box but then as soon as I selected anything the box disappeared
and also disappeared from the ACC menu at the top of the screen!
Loading it in by double clicking on the ACC file didn't resolve the fact
that it had stopped working.
I remember I had this problem before with the old 2.5" drive installed
except that Magic packed up and refused to work after some days. Even
re-installing failed to get it working.
Is it a hardware or a software problem?
The micro ATX PSU is sat right above the CT60 board, I wondered if there
was interference or heat problems.
Any suggestions would be helpful."
Djuro Pucaric offers this to Neil:
"Maybe [it's] some videomod.acc incompatibility with ct60?
Try toggling fast ram flag bits as usual."
Well folks, that's it for this time around. Please remember to be
responsible over the holiday weekend. Please don't drink and drive.
Remember: The life you save may be MINE! <G>
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 - PSP Graffiti Ads Spark Controversy!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PlayStation Graffiti Ads Spark Controversy
Sony Corp. scouted out an unusual place to advertise its PlayStation
Portable before the holidays: the side of an abandoned building in a gritty
North Philadelphia neighborhood.
The black-on-white graffiti shows wide-eyed cartoon characters riding the
PlayStation like a skateboard, licking it like a lollipop or cranking it
like a Jack-in-the-Box.
But there's no mention of the Sony or PlayStation brands nor any hint the
wordless display is an ad.
The stealth marketing campaign has popped up in San Francisco, New York and
other large U.S. cities.
"It's all about hip-hop, urban and all that. They're just trying to get
into the teenagers' minds," said Eddie Torres, 29, who works at a nearby
furniture shop. "I think it's sharp."
Anti-blight advocates think otherwise.
"They're breaking the law," said Mary Tracy, who runs the Society Created
to Reduce Urban Blight, a watchdog group that fights illegal or ill-advised
billboards in Philadelphia.
Tracy said Sony ignored the zoning process that regulates outdoor
commercial advertising in the city.
Philadelphia Managing Director Pedro Ramos on Wednesday faxed a
cease-and-desist letter to Sony Computer Entertainment's U.S. division in
San Mateo, Calif. He could seek modest fines allowed by city code or sue to
recover any profit the ads produced.
"My fines aren't going to scare Sony," Ramos said. "What will worry them is
what the parents and their users will think. This really flies in the face
of everything we've been trying to do with our anti-blight initiative."
The Sony division did not immediately respond to the letter or to a
telephone message left by The Associated Press. However, Sony spokeswoman
Molly Smith told an Internet news site earlier this month that Sony was
hiring artists in seven cities Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago were
the others to spray paint the pre-drawn designs.
"With PSP being a portable product, our target is what we consider to be
urban nomads," Smith told Wired News.
In San Francisco, the ads were defaced soon after they appeared as word
spread that Sony was behind them. "Get out of my city!!!" and "Fony" were
written on one.
"I thought it was sneaky. Not cool," said Zan Sterling, who works at a bar
near one of the ads, which has since been painted over. "I hope that they
paid for the cleanup and removal."
Critics and supporters agree the campaign is designed to crack through the
clutter of marketing that pervades daily life. Others have criticized its
visual appeal.
"They hired artists to just copy this same figure over and over, which
isn't too creative," said 29-year-old Jake Dobkin, a New Yorker who writes
for the blog Gothamist.com.
That matters little to North Philadelphia resident Leslie Griggs, 39, who
said the Sony ad is an improvement over the handbills and scrawls it
replaced.
"I don't think that's graffiti," Griggs said as she paused beside the
PlayStation ad. "That's art."
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
OpenOffice Updated To Fix Bugs in 2.0
Continuing its effort to become a serious alternative to Microsoft Office,
OpenOffice.org released an updated version of its open-source office suite
this week. OpenOffice.org 2.01 comes two months after the formal release of
version 2.0. The update mainly cleans up several glitches seen in the
earlier release.
The free, downloadable suite includes standard office applications, such as
a word processor, a database, a spreadsheet, and a presentation manager,
all of which are available in versions of the suite that can run on
Windows, Linux, and Solaris operating systems.
The updated version now includes support for several new languages, such as
Hungarian, Turkish, Russian, Macedonian, Estonian, and Bulgarian.
More significant changes in this update reflect user feedback for a
selection of features necessary in business environments. For example,
administrators now have the ability to disable and hide certain settings,
thereby limiting the functionality of applications to specific users.
Admins also can construct special installation sets of OpenOffice.org to
suit different user groups.
The developers working on the project also increased the suite's
compatibility with Microsoft Office, adding support for the bullets and
numbering features found in programs such as Microsoft Word.
This means that when an Office document is converted into OpenDocument
Format (ODF) - the native file format of OpenOffice - users will not lose
their bullets or numbered items. Instead, the items will be converted with
the same images as in the original document.
Other enhancements include a mail-merge function and a keyboard shortcut
with which users can save the position of their cursors. OpenOffice.org's
Writer, in its default setting, will save the last cursor position when a
document is closed. When users reopen the file, authors will find the
cursor at the last position it was in before the document was closed.
"The changes are based on the primary objective of the OpenOffice team to
provide a low-cost alternative to Microsoft Office," said Kyle McNabb, a
Forrester Research analyst. "It is a credible alternative now to Microsoft
Office. The incremental support they added has made it a credible
alternative for some businesses."
The changes in OpenOffice.org 2.01 are all well and good, said McNabb, but
the update is missing the flair of new features.
In a Forrester Research report that examined the previous version of
OpenOffice.org and Sun Microsystem's StarOffice 8, McNabb found that the
open-source suite "mimics" Microsoft Office in many ways. McNabb also found
that while it does offer "new, interesting file format and macro-conversion
capabilities," the "lack of innovation and no real improvement over"
Microsoft Office leave OpenOffice.org 2.0 as "little more than a cheap
Office imitation and a step back for information workers."
OpenOffice.org is using what Microsoft Office does as the primary set of
requirements instead of looking at the broader needs of the market, McNabb
said. "It is an imitation at this point, and it will have a limited appeal
in the market."
However, McNabb believes the missing innovation will not necessarily hurt
OpenOffice.org because there are always companies looking for a less
expensive alternative to Microsoft Office. But, said McNabb, it does put a
constraint on the market appeal of the open-source suite.
Web Browser Opera Denies Buyout Rumors
Oslo-based browser maker Opera has issued denials of a buyout, in the midst
of persistent rumors that Microsoft and Google have both targeted the
company for acquisition.
Reports of pending acquisition have been cropping up on Web sites and
blogs, fueling speculation that the company is not only up for purchase,
but also has actually already been bought and is waiting for its buyer to
announce the deal.
Analysts have noted that such an acquisition would be a smart move for
Microsoft, which would be able to incorporate Opera's unique technology
into the next iteration of Internet Explorer.
Officials at Opera have denied that the company has been purchased, and
have stated that they are not interested in Opera being acquired.
If Opera is being eyed for acquisition, it would likely be because the
browser's mobile version, Opera Mini, has become so popular with phone
makers.
Opera is the leading browser for telemobile devices, the company claims,
and has partnerships with Nokia, Motorola, and a number of Japanese and
Chinese phone and device manufacturers.
Because Opera is a "small browser," meaning it is straightforward in terms
of function and does not take much memory, it is well suited for devices.
Browsers like Internet Explorer, by contrast, can be too graphics-heavy for
PDA users, which limits the browser's use on mobile devices.
The Opera Mini was released for broad public preview just days before
Christmas, and is scheduled to debut in January. So far, it has only been
available to Scandinavian and German users.
Opera currently maintains only a very small slice of the browser market,
but a shift in September to an ads-free, non-fee model helped to boost its
popularity, according to Tor Odland, Opera spokesperson.
"Firefox has shown how an alternative browser can succeed and thrive," he
said. "We think the market is ready for more competition to Internet
Explorer."
The company is fiercely independent, he noted, and he characterized any
buyout rumors as industry gossip.
"We have many plans for the future in terms of what we'd like to do with
the browser, and directions for development," he said. "We look forward to
carrying out those plans."
Hacker Pleads Guilty to Computer Attack on eBay
An Oregon man pleaded guilty to using a "worm" program to take control of
20,000 computers via the Internet and launch an attack on auction website
eBay in 2003, US prosecutors said.
Anthony Clark, 21, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a
fine of at least 250,000 dollars, according to Luke Macaulay of the US
Attorney's Office.
Clark and accomplices unleashed a "worm" program that burrowed into
computers with Microsoft Windows operating systems and turned the machines
into obedient "bots", Macaulay said.
When Clark gave the commands, the bots launched online attacks on eBay and
other websites, according to prosecutors.
The drone computers jammed the websites with requests, overloading them in
what is called a denial-of-service attack, because it results in legitimate
users being shut out, according to prosecutors.
Clark was arrested as part of a "Botnet" investigation by the US Secret
Service and the US Attorney's Office, Macaulay said.
Clark pleaded guilty in a federal court in the Silicon Valley city of San
Jose on Tuesday, prosecutors said.
AOL Releases Top 10 Spam List
In its annual analysis of mass e-mail attacks, AOL reports that spammers
are using more "special order"-type subject lines to mislead people.
AOL's Top 10 Spam List this year shows that instead of generic pitches for
products, specificity is now the favored approach by those attempting to
trick people into opening otherwise unwanted e-mails.
"Spammers are getting more devious, hoping to cash in through identity
theft and phishing attempts," said AOL spokesperson Nicholas Graham. "They
are distributing e-mails that attempt to get people to reveal sensitive
information such as bank account and credit card numbers, or to hijack a
user's PC."
There has been an increase in organized spam rings, said Graham. These
syndicates target large e-mail systems and use bot networks to spread their
brand of deception across the Internet.
Examples of spam on this year's list include "Your Mortgage Application is
Ready," "Online Prescriptions Made Easy," and one from "Lisa" that claims
to have "sent you to the wrong site." Unsuspecting folks are lured into
providing personal information through such bogus sales offers, said
Graham.
Other ruses on the list include pitches for products that claim to improve
physical appearance and sexual prowess, and free offers for items like the
iPod Nano and Xbox 360.
AOL's 2005 Top 10 global spam messages, by subject line:
1. Donald Trump Wants You - Please Respond
2. Double Standards New Product - Penis Patch
3. Body Wrap: Lose 6-20 inches in one hour
4. Get an Apple iPod Nano, PS3 or Xbox 360 for Free
5. It's Lisa, I must have sent you to the wrong site
6. Breaking Stock News** Small Cap Issue Poised to Triple
7. Thank you for your business. Shipment notification
8. (IMPORTANT) Your Mortgage Application is Ready
9. Thank you: Your $199 Rolex Special Included
10. Online Prescriptions Made Easy
AOL reported progress overall in stemming spam in 2005. The company said
that spam reaching its customers has declined by more than 75 percent since
its peak in late 2003, as measured by member complaints.
AOL claimed that this year, it blocked an average of 1.5 billion spam
messages each day, or a total of 556 billion blocked messages for the year.
Those messages accounted for 80 percent of all e-mail that reached AOL's
gateway, the company said.
Landmark UK Spam Case Decided
A British man has won a landmark case in the UK against a company that was
allegedly sending him unsolicited e-mail repeatedly.
Nigel Roberts sued Media Logistics UK, a marketing company, after receiving
a number of e-mail advertisements about starting a fax broadcasting
business and a contract car firm. The advertisers used Media Logistics to
spread their messages to Internet users.
The case's outcome could prompt more individuals to go after companies that
use e-mail for marketing messages without opt-in permission from users.
Media Logistics has to pay only a minor amount, since Roberts limited his
monetary damages in order for the case to be heard in small claims court.
The choice of that court ensured that the case would go through the system
faster and not require extensive, costly legal assistance for Roberts.
Although Media Logistics does not have to pay a large amount in damages,
the case is already being heralded as a win for everyone who has tired of
spam, and is expected to inspire more litigation in the coming year.
The decision for Roberts comes three years after the European Union passed
a directive on privacy and telecommunication that prohibited spam. The case
is believed to be the first successful prosecution of its kind in Europe.
In the U.S., a number of high-profile cases have also worked to limit
spam's reach. Microsoft in particular has been aggressive in taking
spammers to court, with the cooperation of state authorities.
Last July, for example, Microsoft and Massachusetts shut down a major spam
operation and targeted them for prosecution.
With actions like those, as well as more court cases globally, there is
hope that spam can at least be reduced, according to Microsoft's Internet
safety enforcement attorney Aaron Kornblum.
"The amount of spam coming from some individuals, or a spam ring, can be
staggering," he said. "If these people in particular are sued, and their
operations shut down, the effect would be considerable."
NSA Web Site Places 'Cookies' on Computers
The National Security Agency's Internet site has been placing files on
visitors' computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite
strict federal rules banning most of them.
These files, known as "cookies," disappeared after a privacy activist
complained and The Associated Press made inquiries this week, and agency
officials acknowledged Wednesday they had made a mistake. Nonetheless, the
issue raises questions about privacy at a spy agency already on the
defensive amid reports of a secretive eavesdropping program in the United
States.
"Considering the surveillance power the NSA has, cookies are not exactly a
major concern," said Ari Schwartz, associate director at the Center for
Democracy and Technology, a privacy advocacy group in Washington, D.C. "But
it does show a general lack of understanding about privacy rules when they
are not even following the government's very basic rules for Web privacy."
Until Tuesday, the NSA site created two cookie files that do not expire
until 2035 - likely beyond the life of any computer in use today.
Don Weber, an NSA spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday that the cookie
use resulted from a recent software upgrade. Normally, the site uses
temporary, permissible cookies that are automatically deleted when users
close their Web browsers, he said, but the software in use shipped with
persistent cookies already on.
"After being tipped to the issue, we immediately disabled the cookies," he
said.
Cookies are widely used at commercial Web sites and can make Internet
browsing more convenient by letting sites remember user preferences. For
instance, visitors would not have to repeatedly enter passwords at sites
that require them.
But privacy advocates complain that cookies can also track Web surfing,
even if no personal information is actually collected.
In a 2003 memo, the White House's Office of Management and Budget prohibits
federal agencies from using persistent cookies - those that aren't
automatically deleted right away - unless there is a "compelling need."
A senior official must sign off on any such use, and an agency that uses
them must disclose and detail their use in its privacy policy.
Peter Swire, a Clinton administration official who had drafted an earlier
version of the cookie guidelines, said clear notice is a must, and `vague
assertions of national security, such as exist in the NSA policy, are not
sufficient."
Daniel Brandt, a privacy activist who discovered the NSA cookies, said
mistakes happen, "but in any case, it's illegal. The (guideline) doesn't
say anything about doing it accidentally."
The Bush administration has come under fire recently over reports it
authorized NSA to secretly spy on e-mail and phone calls without court
orders.
Since The New York Times disclosed the domestic spying program earlier this
month, President Bush has stressed that his executive order allowing the
eavesdropping was limited to people with known links to al-Qaida.
But on its Web site Friday, the Times reported that the NSA, with help from
American telecommunications companies, obtained broader access to streams
of domestic and international communications.
The NSA's cookie use is unrelated, and Weber said it was strictly to
improve the surfing experience "and not to collect personal user data."
Richard M. Smith, a security consultant in Cambridge, Mass., questions
whether persistent cookies would even be of much use to the NSA. They are
great for news and other sites with repeat visitors, he said, but the NSA's
site does not appear to have enough fresh content to warrant more than
occasional visits.
The government first issued strict rules on cookies in 2000 after
disclosures that the White House drug policy office had used the technology
to track computer users viewing its online anti-drug advertising. Even a
year later, a congressional study found 300 cookies still on the Web sites
of 23 agencies.
In 2002, the CIA removed cookies it had inadvertently placed at one of its
sites after Brandt called it to the agency's attention.
Head of Massachusetts I.T. Quits over OpenDocument Flap
Peter Quinn, head of Massachusetts' Information Technology division since
2002, has resigned his position, saying that his presence seems to be
hindering future I.T. initiatives.
Quinn and his department have been the focus of intense debate in the last
few months, after deciding to move the state's government offices to
OpenDocument Format (ODF) by 2007.
The transition was immediately challenged by Microsoft, and Gov. Mitt
Romney stepped in to support Microsoft's attempts to develop a format that
would fulfill the state's new mandates.
In an e-mail to his staff announcing his decision, Quinn noted that he has
become a "lightning rod" with regard to I.T. decisions. "Even the smallest
initiatives are being mitigated or stopped by some of the most unlikely and
often uninformed parties," he wrote, according to news sources.
Many in the open-source community have expressed criticism over the way
Quinn has been treated in recent months, especially by The Boston Globe.
The newspaper had called for an investigation of Quinn's travel expenses
for technology conferences.
Quinn was exonerated of charges. But some people have speculated that the
intense focus on Quinn's private and professional life could have been a
factor in his resignation.
Also being debated in the wake of Quinn's departure is the role of
Microsoft, which has sparked anger from open-source advocates who believe
the company is heavily involved "behind the scenes" with Massachusetts
government officials.
"Microsoft is in there, stirring up debate," said Pamela Jones, who runs
watchdog site Groklaw. "The whole thing is more of a mess than it has to
be."
A recent posting on Groklaw reflects the vitriol surrounding the issue: "No
one human and decent will volunteer to work in the public sector if they
are egregiously mistreated as their reward," an anonymous poster wrote. "I
believe it's pointless to ask Microsoft to ponder its ways."
However, Quinn's departure does not represent an automatic victory for
Microsoft. Romney spokesperson Eric Fehrnstrom noted that the ODF
initiative is still in place, and that records will begin to be stored in
that format beginning in 2007, as planned.
Study Shows Differences in Internet Use
Women are now as likely to use the Internet as men - about two-thirds of
both genders - yet a new study shows that gaps remain in what each sex does
online.
American men who go online are more likely than women to check the weather,
the news, sports, political and financial information, the Pew Internet and
American Life Project reported Wednesday. They are also more likely to use
the Internet to download music and software and to take a class.
Online women, meanwhile, are bigger users of e-mail, and they are also more
likely to go online for religious information and support for health or
personal problems.
"For men, it's just, `Give me the facts," said Deborah Fallows, who wrote
the report based on six years of Pew surveys. "For women, it's `Let's talk
about this. Are you worried about this problem?' It's keeping in touch and
connecting with people in a richer way."
About two-thirds of the 6,403 adults surveyed by Pew during 2005 said they
use the Internet. By gender, it was 68 percent of the male respondents, and
66 percent of the female participants - a statistically insignificant
difference given the study's margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2
percentage points.
In 2002, by contrast, the gap was slightly larger: 61 percent vs. 57
percent.
The surveys find that for many activities, such as getting travel
information or looking up a phone number, men and women are equally likely
to use the Internet.
Barry Wellman, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto, said he
was struck by the similarities and the affirmation that the Internet is so
integrated into the lives of both men and women that "they aren't even
thinking they are going on the Internet anymore."
In the relatively small number of activities where differences were
noticeable, they were often slight.
A survey from March, for instance, found that 54 percent of online men use
the Internet for job-related research, compared with 48 percent of female
Internet users. A September survey found 94 percent of online women sending
e-mail, compared with 88 percent for men.
Women also were more likely to use e-mail to write friends and relatives
about news, worries, advice and planning. They were also more likely to
credit e-mail for improving relationships with friends, family and
colleagues. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to participate in
interest groups, such as fan clubs.
Men also were more likely to use the Internet for entertainment, such as
downloading songs and video, listening to music at Web sites and remixing
songs, images or text into new creations. Fallows attributes that to a
greater comfort with technology, another of the surveys' findings.
Tracy Kennedy, a University of Toronto and Brock University lecturer who
specializes in Internet use in the home, said that beyond gender, a
person's offline life produces "different expectations, different routines
and different needs" when he or she goes online.
For example, women are often the primary caretakers in households, she
said, so, "yes, its very likely that she will be searching for health
information for her kids and spouse (or) partner."
"We can certainly assert the gender differences argument, but I think
there's much more to it than that," she said.
The Return of the C:\ Prompt?
Microsoft has big plans for the trusty old C:\ prompt. For its upcoming
Windows Vista operating system, the company is developing a new
command-line interface, or shell - the text-based controls typically
accessed by clicking Command Prompt (under Start Menu, Programs,
Accessories) in Windows XP.
Code-named Monad, the new shell will enable a host of new programs known as
scripts - something at which rival Unix operating systems have historically
excelled. While these new commands and scripts will interest primarily
administrators and power users, less-technical types may benefit from
Monad scripts that could circulate on the Internet as Unix scripts do. For
example, a Monad script might quickly reorganize files and directories
based on their name or creation date - a task that can take a fair bit of
manual labor in Windows Explorer.
A beta version of Monad for Windows XP is available as a free download.
Registration is required, and you will also need to have .Net Framework 2.0
(available at the same page) installed.
Mom Fights Downloading Suit on Her Own
It was Easter Sunday, and Patricia Santangelo was in church with her kids
when she says the music recording industry peeked into her computer and
decided to take her to court.
Santangelo says she has never downloaded a single song on her computer, but
the industry didn't see it that way. The woman from Wappingers Falls, about
80 miles north of New York City, is among the more than 16,000 people who
have been sued for allegedly pirating music through file-sharing computer
networks.
"I assumed that when I explained to them who I was and that I wasn't a
computer downloader, it would just go away," she said in an interview. "I
didn't really understand what it all meant. But they just kept insisting on
a financial settlement."
The industry is demanding thousands of dollars to settle the case, but
Santangelo, unlike the 3,700 defendants who have already settled, says she
will stand on principle and fight the lawsuit.
"It's a moral issue," she said. "I can't sign something that says I agree
to stop doing something I never did."
If the downloading was done on her computer, Santangelo thinks it may have
been the work of a young friend of her children. Santangelo, 43, has been
described by a federal judge as "an Internet-illiterate parent, who does
not know Kazaa from kazoo, and who can barely retrieve her email." Kazaa is
the peer-to-peer software program used to share files.
The drain on her resources to fight the case - she's divorced, has five
children aged 7 to 19 and works as a property manager for a real estate
company - forced her this month to drop her lawyer and begin representing
herself.
"There was just no way I could continue on with a lawyer," she said. "I'm
out $24,000 and we haven't even gone to trial."
So on Thursday she was all alone at the defense table before federal
Magistrate Judge Mark Fox in White Plains, looking a little nervous and
replying simply, "Yes, sir" and "No, sir" to his questions about scheduling
and exchange of evidence.
She did not look like someone who would have downloaded songs like Incubus'
"Nowhere Fast," Godsmack's "Whatever" and Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed
Life," all of which were allegedly found on her computer.
Her former lawyer, Ray Beckerman, says Santangelo doesn't really need him.
"I'm sure she's going to win," he said. "I don't see how they could win.
They have no case. They have no evidence she ever did anything. They don't
know how the files appeared on her computer or who put them there."
Jenni Engebretsen, spokeswoman for the Recording Industry Association of
America, the coalition of music companies that is pressing the lawsuits,
would not comment specifically on Santangelo's case.
"Our goal with all these anti-piracy efforts is to protect the ability of
the recording industry to invest in new bands and new music and give legal
online services a chance to flourish," she said. "The illegal downloading
of music is just as wrong as shoplifting from a local record store."
The David-and-Goliath nature of the case has attracted considerable
attention in the Internet community. To those who defend the right to such
"peer-to-peer" networks and criticize the RIAA's tactics, Santangelo is a
hero.
Jon Newton, founder of an Internet site critical of the record companies,
said by e-mail that with all the settlements, "The impression created is
all these people have been successfully prosecuted for some as-yet
undefined 'crime'. And yet not one of them has so far appeared in a court
or before a judge. ... She's doing it alone. She's a courageous woman to
be taking on the multibillion-dollar music industry."
Santangelo said her biggest issue is with Kazaa for allowing children to
download music without parental permission. "I should have gotten at least
an e-mail or something notifying me," she said. Telephone and e-mail
messages seeking comment from the Australia-based owner of Kazaa, Sharman
Networks Ltd., were not returned.
Because some cases are settled just before a trial and because it would be
months before Santangelo's got that far, it's impossible to predict whether
she might be the first to go to trial over music downloading.
But she vows that she's in the fight to stay.
"People say to me, `You're crazy. Why don't you just settle?' I could
probably get out of the whole thing if I paid maybe $3,500 and signed their
little document. But I won't do that."
Her travail started when the record companies used an investigator to go
online and search for copyrighted recordings being made available by
individuals. The investigator allegedly found hundreds on her computer on
April 11, 2004. Months later, there was a phone call from the industry's
"settlement center," demanding about $7,500 "to keep me from being named
in a lawsuit," Santangelo said.
Santangelo and Beckerman were confident they would win a motion to dismiss
the case, but Judge Colleen McMahon ruled that the record companies had
enough of a case to go forward. She said the issue was whether "an
Internet-illiterate parent" could be held liable for her children's
downloads.
Santangelo says she's learned a lot about computers in the past year.
"I read some of these blogs and they say, `Why didn't this woman have a
firewall?' she said. "Well, I have a firewall now. I have a ton of security
now."
Computer Visionary Diebold Dies at 79
John Diebold, a business visionary who preached computerization during the
era of Elvis and Eisenhower as the future of worldwide industry, has died
at the age of 79.
Diebold died of esophageal cancer Monday at his home in suburban Bedford
Hills, said a nephew, John B. Diebold.
Although Diebold is now hailed as a prophet of the computerized future, his
zeal for computers was not widely shared in the 1950s.
After graduating from the Harvard Business School in 1951, he was hired by
a New York management consulting firm and was fired three times for
insisting that clients consider computerizing.
"I was too early," he once said. "It was before the first computer was
installed for business use."
Diebold laid out his vision of a computerized future with his 1952 book,
"Automation," which presented the then-radical notion of using
programmable devices in daily business.
The influential book was reissued on the 30th and 40th anniversaries of its
publication.
His vision of the future was conceived while serving in the Merchant Marine
during World War II. He watched the ship's anti-aircraft fire control
system, with its crude self-correcting mechanisms, and envisioned adapting
the technology for business use.
In 1954, Diebold launched his consulting firm John Diebold & Associates.
Coincidentally, that was the same year General Electric unveiled the first
full-scale computer system for a business.
Over the next half-century, his firm, which had no connection to electronic
equipment company Diebold Inc., provided advice to AT&T, IBM, Boeing and
Xerox, along with the cities of Chicago and New York and the countries of
Venezuela and Jordan.
In 1961 his firm created an electronic network for the Bowery Savings Bank
in New York that allowed immediate updates of all transactions, allowing
customers to bank at any branch. His company also developed a network that
changed the way hospitals keep records, medical records and statistics to
be collected electronically.
Some of his ideas took time to reach fruition. In 1963, Diebold presented
newspaper executives with a plan to use keyboards for entering stories that
could be edited on computer consoles - a system that did not became
standard until years later.
In addition to his nephew, Diebold is survived by his wife, Vanessa, along
with a daughter and a son.
=~=~=~=
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