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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 08 Issue 25
Volume 8, Issue 25 Atari Online News, Etc. June 23, 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:
Roger Burrows
Kevin Savetz
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0825 06/23/06
~ Net Neutrality Deal? ~ People Are[n't] Talking ~ New Opera Browser 9!
~ MySpace To Go Global? ~ Online Traffic Equal? ~ Cheaper PCs Coming?
~ Crime Alerts in Boston ~ McAfee Launches Beta! ~ CD Writer Suite 4!
~ Windows Live Messenger ~ Naked World Cup Worm! ~ "Immortal 3" CD!
-* New Xandros Linux Desktop! *-
-* MySpace Faces Sex Predator Lawsuit! *-
-* Symantec Tests New Web-Security Service! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
My commentary last week wasn't meant to be prophesying, honest. However, I
guess my comments bore truth. As a result of extremely limited messages in
the Atari newsgroups this past week, Joe's "People Are Talking" column will
not appear in this week's issue (and hence the "teaser" change above!). I'm
really surprised that too often this has occurred this past year. Then
again, perhaps I'm being too optimistic in thinking that the Atari userbase
is still fanatical (in a good way!) about its choice of computing power.
Well, I'm throwing out the gauntlet! I know there are faithful Atari users
who are out there on comp.sys.atari.st and other Atari newsgroups. I know
that many of you have a lot to say; perhaps there isn't enough activity for
you to be active. In that case, perhaps you have your own personal views,
or recommendations, or memory that you'd like to share with our readers.
Have you ever been a "closet writer" but never had an outlet for your
thoughts? Well, here's your chance!! Drop us a line with your idea, and
we'll go from there. C'mon, there are lots of people waiting to hear what
you have to say. Be the first on your block to appear in print!
Meanwhile, I'm getting ready for a likely rain-soaked golf tournament this
weekend. Unless there's lightning, I have a feeling that were going to be
wet out on the course!! Well, it won't be the first time that I've played
in rain, so I guess it will be fun as long as it isn't a constant downpour.
My outdoor yard work is almost complete, at least as far as the major
projects are concerned. Soon I can focus on the smaller projects - the
"fun" ones that aren't back-breaking! And more opportunities to get out on
the golf course!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
CD Writer Suite v4 Available
Anodyne Software has released version 4 of CD Writer Suite. Version 4
supports both CD and DVD recording, among other features. For more
information, please see our web site at: http://www.anodynesoftware.com
Roger Burrows & Claude Labelle
"Immortal 3" CD Released
"Immortal 3", a double CD album presenting more than 150 minutes of the
best game music arrangements from classic Atari ST/ Amiga games, is
released by producer Jan Zottmann. Most of the tracks have been arranged
by the original artists.
Jochen Hippel, known in the Atari scene as "Mad Max", presents a "Wings
of Death" medley with a playtime of nearly 8 minutes, based on the music
he did for Thalion's famous Atari ST/E shoot 'em up.
Besides, Jochen Hippel rearranged a track from Thalion's Amberstar.
Ambermoon, Amberstar, "No Second Prize" and "Wings of Death" - all these
Thalion games are featured on the "Immortal 3".
Other tunes making you turn up the volume of your cd-player are based on
(but not limited to): Turrican II + III, Fire & Ice, Lotus 3, Speedball
2, Ghouls 'n Ghosts...and an orchestral interpretation of the Apidya
main title.
"Immortal 3" is available from Synsoniq Records for 24,95 Euro. For a
complete tracklist and ordering information visit the Synsoniq-homepage
at:
URL: http://www.synsoniq.de/productdetails.php?pid=567
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
[Editor's note: Due to the lack of activity in the Atari newsgroups this
past week, there will be no column this week.]
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Nintendo Updates 'Mario'!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Louisiana Joins Battle...
...and Gets Smacked Down!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Nintendo Updates 'Mario Bros.' With A New Bag of Tricks
Icons and legends get reinvented all the time - Batman, Madonna, the
Rolling Stones come to mind.
Now, the plumber's time has come.
In 1985, "Super Mario Bros." for the Nintendo Entertainment System bounced
into our lives and changed everything.
VIDEO GAME REVIEW: NEW SUPER MARIOS BROS.
Publisher: Nintendo
Rated: E for Everyone
Platform: Nintendo DS
Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 4
For lots of people, it's what started the journey into full-fledged
gamerhood. Large worlds to explore, enemies to overcome, that distinctive
music - for a long time, this WAS video gaming.
More than 20 years later, a new generation gets to see what the big deal
was.
Enter "New Super Mario Bros." for the Nintendo DS, a game sparkling with
the magic of an earlier era while showing off some new tricks for one of
gaming's oldest legends.
Fans of the series will relish the game's visual presentation. It's a
classic, 2D side-scroller, which means all you can do is move left and
right on the screen. All of the characters and levels attack the eyes with
happy, lush colors and move with fluidity, reminiscent of Mario's later
incarnations on the Super Nintendo.
Gameplay is old-school simple. Back in the NES days, you only used two
buttons on the controller (plus the directional cross) to play.
Things haven't changed. All you really need to do is move and jump, which
means people who have never played a game in their lives can pick up "New
Mario" in only a few minutes.
No matter what level you are, the experience of playing the game feels more
important than actually trying to beat it. There's plenty of nostalgic
stuff the fans will enjoy, but the game is bursting with loads of new
content that'll win the intrepid plumber a legion of new followers.
In the old games, Mario and Luigi grabbed mushrooms and flower power-ups
that would make them grow in size and give them the ability to chuck
fireballs at the enemy.
There's a slew of new power-ups, including:
- A Super Mushroom that turns Mario into a giant, giving him the ability
to bulldoze through enemies and walls;
- A blue mushroom that makes Mario tiny, which grants him access to smaller
pipes that lead to hidden areas. Mini Mario also has Jordan-esque hangtime
when he jumps, and he can run on water.
- A power-up that puts Mario in a protective shell, which also lets him
slide around and bowl over the bad guys.
As if that wasn't enough, Mario has apparently been doing some yoga - now
he can flip, jump off walls like a ninja and use a butt-drop to crush his
foes. Kids will like that one.
The top screen of the DS is where the action is, as well as a world map
(reminiscent of "Super Mario World"), where players can chart their journey
to rescue the princess, who's been abducted by Bowser Jr.
Along the way, you can pick new areas to explore as well as use Star Coins
(another new feature) to "buy" access to other areas. You can also "store"
an extra power-up that can be accessed on the touch screen whenever you
need it.
As fun as this game can be, the hardcore gamer would consider it a breeze.
You're set for life when you obtain the ability to launch fireballs, and
you'll be able to literally torch through the game in a few dedicated
sittings. There's extra lives and power-ups galore, so there's never any
sense of imminent danger when you play.
However, given the multitude of extra goodies and worlds, "New Super Mario
Bros." is the kind of game you can go through more than once without it
ever feeling repetitive. It's a great way to introduce a legend into the
lives of a new audience, and it'll remind a lot of older players why they
got into games in the first place.
Louisiana Joins Battle Over Violent Video Games
Louisiana is the newest front in the ongoing political and legal battle
over violent content in video games, which in the United States drive a $13
billion industry that rivals Hollywood box office sales.
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco on Thursday signed legislation that bans the
sale or rental of violent video games to children under the age of 18.
Under the law, violators would face fines of up to $2,000, one year in
prison, or both.
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the Entertainment
Merchants Association on Friday filed suit in the Federal District Court of
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to overturn the new law, saying similar laws have
been struck down by six courts in five years.
"We are confident this bill will be found unconstitutional, as have similar
statutes in other states," ESA President Doug Lowenstein said.
A representative for Blanco sent calls to the Louisiana attorney general's
office, where a spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.
Similar laws passed in California, Illinois and Michigan were found by
federal judges to have violated free speech guarantees.
Stephen Smith, an attorney who represents a variety of video game
companies, predicted that the industry would eventually prevail in the
Louisiana case.
"Violent content is not a basis under the First Amendment to ban
something," said Smith, a partner at Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles.
Judge Puts Louisiana Video-game Law On Hold
A federal judge has granted a request by video-game industry groups for a
temporary restraining order preventing the state of Louisiana from
enforcing a new law that would ban sales of violent games to minors,
according to court records obtained on Tuesday.
The ruling, issued by U.S District Court Judge James Brady on Friday, is
the latest salvo in a heated battle over content turned out by the $13
billion U.S. video-game industry.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco last week signed legislation banning the
sale or rental of violent video games to children under the age of 18.
Under the law, which was to take effect immediately, violators would face
fines of up to $2,000, or one year in prison, or both.
A hearing of the request by the Entertainment Software Association and the
Entertainment Merchants Association for a preliminary injunction is
scheduled for June 27 before the U.S. District Court for the Middle
District of Louisiana in Baton Rouge.
The industry groups sued to overturn Louisiana's new law, saying similar
laws have been struck down by six courts in five years.
Federal judges in California, Illinois and Michigan have found that laws
passed by those states violated free-speech guarantees.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
FTC Laptops Stolen, 110 People at Risk of ID Theft
The Federal Trade Commission, responsible for protecting Americans from
fraud and identity theft, reported on Thursday the theft of two of its own
computers with personal information about 110 people.
The incident was the latest in a series of recent thefts and data breaches
involving government computers.
The Veterans Affairs Department said last month an external hard drive
containing information on 26.5 million veterans was stolen. The Energy
Department discovered personal information about 1,500 employees and
contractors was compromised in a cyberattack, and the Agriculture
Department said a hacker may have obtained data about 26,000 of its
workers.
The FTC laptops belonged to staff attorneys who were using them to prepare
an enforcement lawsuit, said Betsy Broder, the FTC assistant director for
privacy and identity protection.
The computers, which were password-protected, contained names, addresses,
Social Security numbers and some financial account numbers. The laptops
were stolen from a locked vehicle last week.
"We wish this hadn't happened," Broder said. "No data security is perfect
and we're going to use this as a way to improve our practices and
security."
The FTC sent letters to the 110 individuals notifying them of the theft and
offering one year of free credit monitoring.
The FTC is developing a new laptop computer security policy that would
require an employee to remove any personal identifying information in the
machine before it leaves an agency office. If the personal data was needed
for an investigation, an FTC manager would have to approve allowing the
laptop to leave the building, Broder said.
Senator Stevens Offers Deal On Net Neutrality
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens has offered a compromise in
the fierce fight over legislation on Internet network neutrality, but
stopped short of demands sought by content companies like Google Inc.
Google, Microsoft Corp. and other Internet companies have lobbied hard for
Congress to bar broadband Internet service providers such as AT&T Inc. and
Comcast Corp. from charging them to guarantee access and service quality,
often called network neutrality.
AT&T and Comcast, two of the largest high-speed broadband Internet
providers, have opposed any obligations imposed on their services or
restricting their business operations.
Stevens has added a new section to his proposed bill aimed at preserving
consumers' ability to surf anywhere on the public Internet and use any
Web-based application, according to the latest draft obtained by Reuters
this weekend.
However, the draft by the Alaska Republican does not include a ban on
pricing content companies have demanded.
Earlier versions of the bill only called for the Federal Communications
Commission to report on Internet access, prompting Hawaii Sen. Daniel
Inouye the top Democrat on the committee, and some others to call for more
protections.
Striking a compromise would likely make it easier for the bill to pass this
year. AT&T and Verizon Communications want it to pass quickly because it
would also make it easier for them to get licenses to offer cable
television service.
The Senate committee is scheduled to consider amendments and vote on the
measure at a meeting on Thursday. Spokesmen for Stevens and Inouye were not
immediately available for comment.
Stevens' compromise would also create a complaint process through the FCC
if consumers believe their access rights were violated and the agency would
be authorized to adjudicate complaints with penalties, according to the
draft.
However, the FCC would be barred from issuing any regulations under the new
law that would add to the obligations on Internet service providers.
The compromise is somewhat similar to legislation that passed the House of
Representatives. However, there are other differences between the House and
Senate that would have to be resolved.
Broadband providers argue that they would not block any public Internet
site or application but may want to offer private Internet-based services
like for customers to download movies.
But content companies worry that will squeeze public Internet traffic into
a narrower, slower lane.
Another new provision in the bill would require Internet providers to offer
stand-alone service without forcing subscribers to sign up for other
products, like voice or video services. Some companies already do so but
charge more.
Senate Committee Chairman Says 'No' to Net Neutrality
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, told eWEEK on June 22 that he does not want any
sort of net neutrality legislation to be part of the telecom bill currently
being debated by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
"Until somebody tells me what net neutrality means, until they can give me
a definition, I don't want it in there," Stevens said to eWEEK June 22.
"Right now, nobody knows what it means, so why put it in the bill?"
Stevens has previously said that he was opposed to legislation that would
put common-carrier-like provisions into the bill. Earlier he told eWEEK,
"The Internet should be free."
The committee held a markup session on Senate Bill 2686, the
Communications, Consumers' Choice and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 on
the afternoon of June 22.
A markup session is when the Senate committee considers amendments to the
current version of a bill before it goes before the full Senate for a vote.
The June 22 meeting was the first in what promises to be a long series of
meetings extending over the course of several days or weeks.
The bulk of the debate was aimed at two areas: funding communications
initiatives for the War on Terrorism and for VOIP (voice over IP)
legislation.
Net neutrality, if it is considered at all, will not be debated before
Tuesday, June 27. Only two events of substance took place at the June 22
markup session. The first was to adopt an amendment to accelerate the
spending of money for interoperability solutions for first responders.
Also voted on today was an amendment to limit local regulation of VOIP
services, and to preempt local and state limits on VOIP carrier operations,
with the exception of consumer protection, child pornography or privacy
laws.
The amendment, introduced by Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., would prevent states
from taxing interstate calls or raising financial barriers to entry for
VOIP carriers.
A number of committee members expressed concerns about the need for net
neutrality legislation in their opening statements.
While it's likely that committee members will have the chance to express
their opinions on net neutrality, and to offer their thoughts on what it
actually means, it's unlikely that any such provision will make it into the
current bill.
The chairman of a Senate committee has great power to control the content
of legislation, and it's highly unlikely that provisions a Senate committee
chairman opposes will see the light of day.
However, the current version of the bill is notable in its bipartisan
support.
Over the 18 months that the bill has been in process, members from both
parties contributed.
"This is a product of all members from both sides of the aisle," Stevens
said in his opening remarks.
Stevens noted that much of the bill's content was crafted by members from
both sides, and a large number of amendments were incorporated by
consensus.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said that the committee should add a strong
provision for net neutrality to ensure that Internet access is not subject
to discrimination.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said that any net neutrality provisions must
protect the free, unfettered environment that has characterized the
Internet to date.
A total of 216 amendments were introduced for inclusion into the Senate
version of the bill. The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed
a similar bill.
If the Senate version passes the full Senate, the two bills will be
reconciled in a conference committee.
McAfee Launches Total Protection Beta
McAfee has launched the beta version of a new all-in-one security platform,
originally codenamed Falcon, that is designed to compete with Microsoft's
recently introduced Windows Live OncCare and a forthcoming security service
from Symantec, called Norton 360.
The beta version of the software, called McAfee Total Protection, can be
downloaded at http://beta.mcafee.com. Total Protection comes with all the
bells and whistles that experienced computer users might expect, and some
they might not.
The technology that forms the foundation of Total Protection includes a
SystemGuards module, which monitors computers for specific behaviors that
might signal virus, spyware, or hacker activity, and a module called X-Ray
for Windows, which is designed to detect and eliminate rootkits.
The new SiteAdvisor tool is designed to identify potentially dangerous Web
sites that contain spyware or adware. Findings are summarized with red,
yellow, and green icons that provide users with an at-a-glance view of Web
site ratings.
McAfee Total Protection also includes a Wi-Fi network monitor, a Windows
clutter cleaner, and a backup tool for keeping important information safe.
Those participating in the beta program will have the opportunity to test
a separate online backup service that is designed to preserve and protect
digital photos and personal files, and provide users with access to these
files from any secure Web connection.
When Total Protection is released, McAfee will roll out several additional
software packages, each offering progressively fewer built-in options.
These packages include McAfee PC Protection Plus, McAfee Internet Security
Suite, and McAfee VirusScan Plus.
"McAfee's release of multiple levels is really smart," said Natalie
Lambert, an analyst at Forrester Research. "More security savvy users will
opt for the more advanced features, while typical consumers will choose the
basic antivirus option McAfee provides."
Consumers will be "looking for a solution that meets their needs and their
budget," she said. Industry reports not directly confirmed by McAfee have
predicted that the pricing will range from $39.99 for VirusScan Plus up to
$99 for Total Protection.
Symantec Tests New Web-Security Service
Symantec Corp. said on Wednesday the release of its new Web-based security
service would depend on response to user trials and would be held back if
required tweaks meant it would miss the key holiday period in the United
States.
The firm said it would also announce details of its product, which aims to
give online users better protection from cyber criminals when paying bills
and buying and selling over the Internet next week.
Symantec's president of consumer products, Enrique Salem, told Reuters the
"Norton 360" service, aimed at bolstering the company's 62 percent share
of the consumer security market, was currently scheduled for a fall release
but could slip until the new year if the program was not up to scratch.
"We are all working toward a fall release but the most important thing in
all this is the beta feedback," said Salem.
"We need to make sure we get it right and it's robust," he added.
Salem said the company needed to have the product on the shelves ahead of
the key Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday period the North America or else
wait until the new year.
"Once you get beyond mid-November in the U.S., retailers have already
stocked their shelves so there is no point, (shipping the product) ... If
that was the case we would probably wait."
"That is absolutely not the plan though. The plan is to ship in the fall,"
Salem added.
Last month, Microsoft began selling its Windows Live OneCare service
targeting the fast-growing consumer security market.
Symantec, the world's biggest security software company, has countered with
Norton 360 in an effort to fend off the software giant and target a growing
market.
Salem also said the firm would unveil details of its yet-to- be-named
transaction security offering on Monday, which it hopes will restore the
public's wavering confidence in filling in personal and bank details
online.
"53 percent of people have stopped giving information online and 14 percent
have stopped paying bills online ... We think we have answered a lot of
people's questions."
Salem said the product would provide a much better protection than existing
offerings.
"Anyone can create a list (of bogus and fraudulent Web sites and e-mail
addresses) but lots of new sites are created every day."
"This will be able to recognize the characteristics of these types of sites
in real-time and it will also be able to authenticate sites so people can
be sure they are actually on their bank's site," he added.
MySpace Bolsters Defenses, Faces Sex Predator Suit
MySpace.com, the top online teen hangout, said on Tuesday it will bolster
protection for minors amid a flurry of complaints about sexual predators
prowling the site and a lawsuit filed on Monday by a teenage girl charging
it with negligent security practices.
By next week, members over 18 years old would have to know the e-mail or
first and last name of any 14- to 15-year-old member whom they want to
contact, the company said.
Any of MySpace's more than 85 million members would also be able to choose
to hide their online profiles from strangers and only make them viewable
to pre-approved friends, the company said.
"We're going to build a foundation of safety and security so that social
networking is a safe place and a well-lit community," Hemanshu Nigam, chief
security officer of News Corp. unit Fox Interactive Media, told Reuters.
A 14-year-old girl from Austin, Texas, on Monday sued MySpace and its
owner, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., for $30 million, saying she was
sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old man she met on the site.
The suit charges the company with failing to take enough precautions to
protect minors from sexual predators.
MySpace said it was reviewing the lawsuit, and had for several months been
developing safety measures that would make it more difficult for strangers
to contact minors using the site.
The company is scheduled to present its plans on Thursday at an event
sponsored by the National Center for Missing
580 million last year.
The purchase made Murdoch the toast of Wall Street at a time when rivals
fretted about losing television viewers and newspapers readers to the
Internet and video games.
But its early success has been tempered by reports of sexual predators on
the prowl for children on the site. In March two men were arrested in
Connecticut and charged with having illegal sexual contact with young
girls - one 11 years old and the other 14 - they contacted through MySpace.
The minimum age for MySpace membership is 14, the company said, but the
requirement is hard to enforce with existing technology, Nigam said.
The Texas suit "alleges that MySpace.com had full knowledge that sexual
predators were contacting young children on the Web site but did nothing
to stop it," according to a statement by law firm Barry & Loew LLP, which
is representing the girl.
A News Corp. spokeswoman said the company had no immediate comment on the
charges.
In response to the March attacks and subsequent public outcry, MySpace in
May hired Nigam, a former prosecutor against Internet child exploitation
at the U.S. Justice Department, to lead security efforts.
MySpace said its advertising policy will also be altered to target
appropriate age groups. For instance, ads for mature online dating sites
will not be presented to minors.
Microsoft Releases New Windows Live IM Service
Microsoft Corp. launched on Monday its newly branded instant messaging
system, Windows Live Messenger, the first major release in a wave of online
services Microsoft plans to offer to grab a larger share of Web advertising
revenue.
Microsoft's suite of Windows Live services, which includes e-mail, search,
mapping and social networking, aims to unite the company's various Web
programs under a unified brand and look so the world's largest software
maker can better compete against Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. in the growing
online advertising market.
Windows Live Messenger builds on top of Microsoft's MSN Messenger - used by
240 million people worldwide - and offers free PC-to-PC calls, inexpensive
calls to ordinary phones from the PC and video conferencing using Web
cameras.
The messaging system has been in beta, or test mode since December 2005.
Most of Microsoft's Windows Live services are still in the public testing
stage, but the company said it plans to roll out more than 20 new Windows
Live services over the next year.
It has earmarked $1.1 billion of the company's total $6.2 billion research
and development budget in the coming fiscal year, starting July, for
Windows Live and MSN.
"Windows Live is a huge growth opportunity for Microsoft. The online
advertising opportunity will be a big growth driver for Microsoft in the
coming years as the market continues to expand," said Martin Taylor,
Microsoft corporate vice president for Windows Live and MSN marketing.
Other features of Windows Live Messenger include a sharing folder to more
easily distribute photos or files to people on the user's contact list.
Microsoft said it plans to integrate the new messenger with its other
Windows Live services.
The messaging system also incorporates Windows Live Contacts, a feature
that allows users to share and subscribe to their friends' contact list so
details are always up to date.
Newest Opera Browser Takes a Bow
After long months of experimenting with the test version, fans of Opera
will today be able to get their hands on the official Version 9 release of
the popular Web browser that has several new bells and a few interesting
whistles.
For one, Opera 9 includes widgets, which are small standalone applications.
With widgets, a user can play games, retrieve specified data like stats
about favorite sports teams, and perform other functions - all in
slick-looking little windows that can be positioned on the screen
independently of the browser.
Opera-based widgets are expected to blossom - if that's what widgets do -
because they can be developed and distributed by members of the Opera
community using open Web standards like JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and Ajax.
In addition to supporting widgets, Opera 9 features native support for
BitTorrent, a popular file-sharing technology for distributing movies and
audio.
And, in a preview of a feature that will reportedly be found in upcoming
versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox, the new Opera includes a
security bar to warn users about phishing scams and other malicious sites.
Another notable feature is that users can specify whether to allow
JavaScript on a site-by-site basis, rather than just turning it on and
off.
They also can turn off ads on a site-by-site basis and, if they are in a
redecorating mood, can add skins and buttons to change the look and feel
of the browser.
Increasingly, browsers are providing functionality far beyond simply
offering a window into the Web. Opera's support for widgets is in keeping
with this trend.
Firefox, among others, might push this trend even further. There are
reports that Firefox 3, the version after the next upcoming release, will
allow browser-based applications to run even when the browser is offline.
In a move to embrace new platforms, Opera 9 supports what is called the
Extensible Rendering Architecture (ERA), a set of standards to ensure that
browsers can work with any Web-connected device - such as cell phones or
video game machines.
Opera has plans to extend widgets to the new platforms as well. "Desktop
users have already discovered the wonders of widgets," said Scott Hedrick,
Opera's executive vice president. "Now it's time to bring them beyond the
PC."
Some observers see such platform expansions as offering important growth
opportunities for the browser.
"If Opera can leverage some of the wins it has had in the mobile space and
the handheld gaming market, it can make some inroads against Microsoft,
which currently owns the desktop," said Nicole d'Onofrio, an analyst with
technology research firm Current Analysis.
"The key will be for Opera to partner with PC manufacturers and have Opera
9 preloaded on desktops," she noted.
New Xandros Linux Desktop Arrives
Xandros 4.0, the first new version of Xandros Inc.'s desktop Linux
distribution in a year and a half, arrived on June 20. Xandros 4 is based
on Debian Sarge Linux, with LSB (Linux Standard Base) improvements courtesy
of the DCC Alliance's Common Core.
It also includes the KDE 3.42 desktop interface. If you want GNOME, you're
looking at the wrong distribution. Xandros is very KDE-oriented.
For programs, it includes the newest editions of the KDE application
family, Firefox, Thunderbird, and the OpenOffice.org 2.0 office suite.
This latest version of the first mass-market Linux desktop, the long-gone
Corel Linux, has added a variety of features designed to make it a drop-in
replacement for Windows.
One aspect of this is the inclusion of Paragon Software Group's NTFS for
Linux. With this program, Xandros will be able to both read and, much more
significantly, write to Windows's NTFS-formatted drives. NTFS has become
the most popular Windows file system.
Xandros also makes things easy for Windows desktop users to migrate from
XP, or other shipping Windows desktops, by incorporating Versora's
Progression Desktop. This innovative program enables users to import their
Windows settings, data, and files-including email, photos, and music-when
moving from Windows to Xandros.
Xandros 4 also comes with CodeWeavers CrossOver Office bundled. This
program enables users to run many popular Windows programs like Microsoft
Office and Intuit Quicken.
MySpace To Expand to Other Countries
News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Group on Tuesday said it plans to expand its
online music and teen hangout site, MySpace.com, to 11 countries and seek
programming deals with traditional media companies.
MySpace, one of the fastest-growing Web properties, which News Corp. bought
for $580 million last year, plans to offer MySpace in France and Germany
and also is looking into China and India over the long term, the company
said.
News Corp did not identify the other countries.
The company launched its first web site outside the United States in
Britain in April.
On Tuesday, MySpace said it has appointed David Fischer to be its managing
director for the United Kingdom and Europe.
Before joining MySpace Fischer was the founder and the chief executive of
Xlantic Group, an entertainment company that developed new business models
in music marketing and production.
All Online Traffic May Not Be Equal
Market forces aren't enough to preserve the Internet's historical principle
of treating all traffic equally, regardless of the content provider's
wealth or clout, a high-tech advocacy group said Tuesday in announcing its
support for legislation.
In a report, the Center for Democracy and Technology said consumer demand
might very well create sufficient incentives for Internet service providers
to treat all online sites and services equally.
"But that outcome is far from guaranteed," the Washington-based group
wrote. "CDT believes the risk is too great to simply `wait and see.' Once
new, non-neutral networks and business arrangements have been put in place,
overturning those arrangements is likely to be extremely difficult."
At issue is the concept of "net neutrality," the idea that telephone, cable
and other Internet providers shouldn't favor certain Web sites or services
simply because they are willing to pay higher fees or make special
arrangements to transmit data.
Phone and cable companies contend pure net neutrality would drive up costs
to consumers because online businesses wouldn't pay a fair share of the
billions of dollars being spent to provide high-speed service around the
country.
Although they say they wouldn't block access to anyone, some Internet
providers have proposed "tiered services," in which a company offering an
Internet phone or video service could pay for higher priority to the
network. That's important because voice and video offerings consume much
bandwidth and rely on real-time delivery of data, so delays would be much
more noticeable than if it were e-mail or a static Web page.
But critics say that with tiered services, those unable or unwilling to pay
would essentially be left out.
The House earlier this month passed a broad telecommunications bill that
would give the Federal Communications Commission authority to enforce net
neutrality principles and set fines of up to $500,000 for violations.
Critics say that provision wasn't enough to maintain the Internet's
freewheeling openness.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is scheduled to
take up the issue Thursday.
The CDT said Tuesday that any legislation should be narrow and exempt, for
now, any non-Internet services that may use the same pipes - for example,
television services over regular phone lines.
CDT staff counsel John Morris said Internet providers still should be able
to prioritize certain types of services, such as Internet phone calls, as
long as the prioritization is offered to all companies equally, without
prior arrangements or fees.
In a separate study released in conjunction with the CDT report, Daniel J.
Weitzner, a principal research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, said nothing should preclude users from paying more for higher
speeds.
"The freedom to buy the bandwidth that one can afford means that hundreds
of millions of people around the world have been able to participate in the
Internet even if not at high speed," Weitzner wrote. "These decisions are
always up to the user, not the network operator or the content provider."
Cheaper PCs Coming Soon?
Users looking for a new PC might want to wait for a round of price cuts
that are expected soon from Intel, the world's largest maker of
microprocessors.
Component vendors and analysts in Taiwan say the company may announce such
reductions in July, and the PC market has already slowed down in
anticipation of the move. The microprocessor is one of the most expensive
parts inside a PC, so price reductions could have a big impact on the price
of an overall system.
Taiwanese companies often know inside information about the PC industry,
such as about upcoming chip launches or price reductions, because they make
many vital components for PCs and need to know about upcoming technical or
business changes in order to prepare new products. Taiwanese companies hold
over three quarters of the global market for computer motherboards.
Intel announced its most recent price reductions on June 4. It regularly
updates its price lists because older processors usually fall in price as
it introduces newer ones.
The company says it hasn't made any formal announcements about a price
reduction in July. "There has been no announcement, but I believe everyone
has speculated on that," said Nick Jacobs, a corporate communications
manager for Intel in Singapore. Intel is often the subject of rumors and
speculation, he noted.
Whether the current talk turns out to be real or speculation, it has caused
demand for a host of PC components, including memory chips and LCD screen
panels, to slow. That's because PC vendors don't want to have built up a
backlog of PCs with more expensive processors if Intel is about to cut
prices.
"Overall DRAM demand remains minimal, as PC demand has been postponed since
Intel had foretold its July price reduction," said market researcher
DRAMeXchange Technology, in a report on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, prices of LCD panels used in laptops and desktop monitors fell
by 3 percent to 5 percent in the second half of June, according WitsView
Technology.
A reduction in microprocessor prices could produce bargains for users
looking for a new PC. Lower prices could allow PC makers to pass the
savings directly on to users, or enable them to add more goodies to a PC,
including more memory, a larger hard drive or a flat display screen,
without increasing the price of the system.
Part of the reason people believe Intel will slash prices is due to stiff
market competition with rival Advanced Micro Devices. The two companies
have been in a pitched battle over the past year, with AMD gaining some
market share on its rival and even winning a key new customer, Dell. The
world's largest PC maker used to exclusively use Intel microprocessors,
but recently announced it would use AMD processors in some servers.
Another reason Intel might cut prices would be to make way for its upcoming
family of powerful and more energy-efficient Core 2 Duo microprocessors,
said one component maker. As the company releases new microprocessors, it
usually slashes prices on older models in order to clean out its
inventories.
Computer Worm Lures Victims With 'Naked World Cup'
Soccer purists can breathe a sigh of relief: There is no Naked World Cup.
IT professionals, on the other hand, may want to be a little more vigilant,
as a new e-mail worm is on the loose that preys on the intense worldwide
interest in the international sporting event.
Called Sixem-A, the worm began circulating earlier this week, and has just
recently been blocked by antivirus vendors. So far the worm has been
detected at only a handful of companies, but it is the first World Cup 2006
malware to target an English-speaking audience, says Graham Cluley, a
senior technology consultant with antiviral firm Sophos.
Victims receive messages with subjects like "Naked World Cup game set," or
"Soccer fans killed five teens," and are encouraged to click on an e-mail
attachment, which appears to be an image. In fact, this attachment is
malicious software that disables antivirus products, attempts to download
more malware, and also forwards itself to e-mail addresses saved on the
victim's computer.
Malware has become an unsavory part of the World Cup tradition. In 1998,
World Cup-themed malware wiped out hard drives; four years later the
VBSChick-F virus tried to take advantage of the World Cup hosted in South
Korea and Japan.
Scammers are already looking to score on the next World Cup, telling
would-be victims that they've won a lottery connected with the 2010 event,
to be held in South Africa, Cluley says.
Widespread interest in any topic creates opportunities for "social
engineering" attacks, in which people are tricked into helping the
attackers, says Cluley. "People are just as hungry to watch the games and
get content as they are to get videos of Pamela Anderson or Paris Hilton,"
he says. "The bad guys have moved from nubile girls to fit young men."
World Cup fans have already seen malware disguised as a downloadable game
plan and tickets for this year's event, which is being held in Germany.
Text Messaging Used as Malware Lure
Botnet herders have found a crafty new way to lure computer users to
maliciously rigged Web sites-via text messaging on cell phones.
The latest social engineering trick is to send SMS (short messaging
service) alerts to mobile phones with a warning that the target has
subscribed to an online dating service that racked up expensive charges on
cell phone bills.
The message includes a URL for the user to unsubscribe to avoid the $2 per
day charges.
According to a warning from anti-virus vendor CA, the URL points to a Web
site rigged with Win32/Bambo.CF, a Trojan horse program used by identity
thieves to hijack sensitive user information.
The fake dating Web site associated with the scam has been set to entice
targets into entering the phone number. At this point, it attempts to load
an executable file called "unregister.exe."
Interestingly, the Web page does not attempt to exploit any software flaws.
Instead, the attacker provides step-by-step instructions to click the "Run"
button on each warning page, providing an easy way around the Internet
Explorer security warning prompt.
For advice on how to secure your network and applications, as well as the
latest security news, visit Ziff Davis Internet's Security IT Hub.
If the program is run, it installs the Trojan, CA said in its advisory.
At press time June 23, the malicious Web site was still active.
Websense Security Labs, a San Diego, Calif., malware research company, said
the bot is a variant of Dumador, a back door that opens two ports and
allows the computer to be remotely controlled by malicious hackers.
Dumador is controlled by a Web-based HTTP controller that is used to send
commands to botnets.
A botnet is a collection of hijacked computers used to send spam or launch
distributed denial-of-service attacks.
While bots are mostly controlled by IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels,
researchers at Websense say Web-based controllers have become popular with
bots that are used to capture and transmit keylogger information and to
store user data.
Crime Alerts at Your Fingertips in Boston
Phil Carver may never see the white Maxima stolen near his neighborhood,
but the description e-mailed to him by the Boston Police Department will be
in the back of his head when he goes for a walk with his kids.
Boston has become the latest - and largest - U.S. city to launch a crime
alert system designed to get the word out about murders, bank robberies and
other crimes to residents and businesses via e-mail, text messaging and
fax.
"This is stuff I can tell my neighbors," Carver said. "At the very least it
keeps people on their toes and aware of what's going on. The more people
are aware and involved, the less crime you'll have."
Carver, who lives in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, is among an
estimated 1,000 people who have registered since early June shortly after
the program was launched in Boston, which has seen a spike in crime over
the past 18 months.
Alerts are sent not only about various violent crimes, but also about
trends, such as car break-ins. Specific types of businesses, such as pizza
shops, can be warned of robberies. Alerts also can be sent about fugitives
and missing persons.
The program is designed to both disseminate and solicit information, at a
time when prosecutors complain that witnesses too often remain quiet. The
program allows anonymous tips.
"The idea of this is to close cases," said Joseph Porcelli, civilian
community service officer with the Boston Police Department. "What gets
sent out is information that the community needs to know, or can take
action on."
The department's first alert was about a May 30 bank robbery in South
Boston. A young woman wearing dark sunglasses and a Gap sweat shirt made
off with an undetermined amount of cash.
An alert was sent after two men were fatally shot outside a Dorchester
store on Wednesday afternoon. None of the cases have been solved, but
officials say there are success stories in other cities using the
technology.
Cincinnati, Fort Worth, Texas, and Durham, N.C., are among the nearly 300
communities and law enforcement agencies that use the system. The service
is provided by Citizen Observer, a company based in St. Paul, Minnesota.
"A phone tree can take hours and days. This, you can get in a matter of
seconds," said Sgt. Eric E. Franz, who runs the program for the Cincinnati
Police Department and estimates he sends about three alerts per week.
An alert was sent shortly after a downtown Cincinnati bank was robbed in
March. A clothing store owner received the alert on his cell phone, and
called moments later.
"A guy had just left his business. He bought new clothing and paid with
cash," Franz said of the bank robber, who was later arrested on a city bus.
That's the exception, not the norm, however. Franz estimates about a dozen
crimes have been solved as a result of the 300 alerts they've issued in the
past two years. Each alert generated about 100 calls from the public, he
said.
Citizen Observer was created by Scott Roberts, who launched an Internet
crusade in Minnesota six years ago leading to the arrest of a man who shot
his mother. To receive alerts, users register for free at Citizen
Observer's Web site.
The Boston program is being piloted in three neighborhoods: South Boston,
Dorchester, and Roxbury. Mayor Thomas Menino said he wants to expand it to
the whole city.
So far, Carver has received only two alerts. But Carver says the more
chances he has to stay on top of crime, the better.
"As a father of three living in the city, any tool we can use to stay aware
and spread information about crime is a good thing," said Carver, president
of the Pope's Hill Neighborhood Association.
Boston Police Department: http://www.cityofboston.gov/police
Citizen Observer: http://www.citizenobserver.com
=~=~=~=
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