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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 10 Issue 15
Volume 10, Issue 15 Atari Online News, Etc. April 11, 2008
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2008
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:
Jo Even Skarstein
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #1015 04/11/08
~ HP Enters Small Laptop ~ People Are Talking! ~ Are Bloggers At-Risk?
~ King Blasts Banning! ~ Painting Cyber Threats ~ New Taskbar Available!
~ Online Crime's Impact! ~ Brain and Eye Pills! ~ You Can't Tilt This!
-* Yahoo, Time Warner Talk AOL! *-
-* Yahoo Wants Better Microsoft Deal! *-
-* People Uneasy By Sites Using Personal Data *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Okay, so even though I can look out the window and see dark clouds on
the horizon, and know that it's cold and damp outside, I have finally
proclaimed that Spring has sprung!
How can I make such an affirmation? Easy, I embarked on my season debut
of golf this week! And, at the gun range, I used one of the outdoor
ranges and my hands were not numb with cold!
And to top this seasonal proclamation off, I dusted off the barbecue
and had a nice barbecued steak the other night! Doesn't get any better
than that!
So, how was the golfing? I can't complain, and I had plenty of excuses
all thought up to help me explain my possible poor play. But, I didn't
need them. Sure, I made some poor shots, but I made quite a lot of
good ones. This early in the season, I was content with my overall play.
No, I'm not ready to take on Tiger just yet! And, I'm hoping that I'll
be getting back to the course as a member of the staff within the next
week or so. The course was in better shape than I had anticipated, so
that's a good sign of how well we maintained it last season.
I was going to continue my rant on spam this week, but I think you get
the picture. It's just amazing that so much "crap" makes its way into
our e-mail boxes on a daily basis. I really see no point to it all, but
I guess I'm not supposed to understand the rationale behind a lot of this
stuff. As some spam machines get shut down, more pop up to taker their
place. Maybe some day, we won't be inconvenienced with this garbage.
Well, enjoy your springtime rituals, as well as just being able to enjoy
the weather as it continues to improve. I'll be cleaning up the yard of
last year's leaves, and getting the lawn ready. Pretty soon I'll get
ready for planting and getting the gardens in shape. Looking forward to
these and other things every Spring - it's a great time of the year!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Taskbar 4.10b
Another beta of Taskbar is available on http://atari.nvg.org/Taskbar/.
Some new features and a lot of work done cleaning up and refactoring
the code.
--
/*
** Jo Even Skarstein http://joska.nvg.org/
*/
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Another week has come and gone, and we
find ourselves facing springtime. Ahhh, for the gentle warm breezes and
the scent of things growing again after their enforced term of
dormancy. It won't be long until we're all out in our yards cleaning up
and mowing the lawn.
On another note, I'd like to thank the couple of you who emailed me
about last week's column and my rant about the current state of our
education system. I would like to make a comment about that though. I
wasn't ranting so much about the state of the education system as I was
about our SOCIAL system. To paraphrase President Clinton, there's
nothing wrong with our education system that cannot be cured by fixing
what's wrong with our social system. Parents have abdicated some of
their responsibilities and that's a big part of why our education
system is the way it is. To fix one, we must fix the other.
Okay, on to another subject. But what to talk about? Politics? Nah.
You've got your own opinions, and they're just as valid as mine.
Religion? No way! I'm not getting involved in that one.
So what does that leave? Microsoft's new version of Windows, Vista? I
don't think so. I've played with a couple of beta releases of it, and
formed my opinion early, but I'm really not familiar enough with the
finished product to have an opinion that I feel comfortable with making
public.
Oh well. Let's get right to the news and stuff from the UseNet, okay?
Yeah, that sounds like a plan.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Philippe Cousson asks about files from an ST-formatted disk to a PC:
"How do I get files, mainly text, from diskettes first used on an Atari
ST, for use on a Windows PC?"
Malcolm Dew-Jones tells Philippe:
"I think the easiest would be to format a new disk on the PC, as
mentioned elsewhere, and then use the Atari to copy the files to the
new disk. I think you have to copy one file at a time because a full
atari disk to disk copy will overwrite the bits required by the PC, and
the PC won't read it after that.
However, as alternative I recall that you can read the disks on a PC
by using linux.
You can get various very small distributions of linux (i.e. 3-4
diskettes only) that install and run "on top of" DOS/Windows using the
existing dos file system. Unzip the linux distro into a directory, run
linux-start.bat (or whatever it's called), and it boots into linux
using your dos/windows file system. Now mount the atari diskette and
copy the contents into a directory. Now reboot and you're back to
dos/windows, and the atari files will be there on your hard disk where
you put them.
In the past I have used "mini-linux", but that was long long ago. There
are much more up to date distros of linux designed to be started from
dos/windows. You would need to google for them yourself, I don't know
what they are."
Peter West adds:
"There is a simpler solution if you still have the Atari, and the
diskettes are standard 80 tracks and 9 sectors/track: There is a
PD program called DISKMOD.TOS (7187 bytes) that needs BLOCK0.DAT
(512 bytes) in the same directory. If you put the old Atari disk
in the drive (with write-protection off) and then run DISKMOD.TOS,
it writes a new IBM-style boot sector (from BLOCK0.DAT) to the
disk *without affecting anything else on the disk*. You can then
run the disk on the PC.
I suggest for the first disk or two you make a back-up first on
the Atari, but I have never known it to fail (although there may
be problems with 'skewed' formats, but the older Ataris did not
produce that).
If you have problems locating the programs, send me your email
address and I'll forward them to you."
Adam Brannon adds his thoughts:
"For the best compatibility, make sure you are using Rainbow TOS (TOS
1.4) and at least a DSDD 720K drive, like the 314. TOS 1.2 will do PC
compatible disks but had a few glitches. With Rainbow TOS, you can
format the disk in the Atari and directly read it in the PC. I have
transferred many files between the PC and the Atari this way with no
problems."
Guillaume Tello provides one caution:
"But be careful with the disk format: if you use DD floppies, no problem
on both machines. But if you format a HD disk on the Atari in 720k, most
PC will detect the high density and expect a 1.44 disk! So you have to
fill the HD hole on the disk to make it act like a DD."
'MikeFaz' asks an easy one about copying files:
"I'm having a memory blank. I can't seem to remember how to copy
files from a floppy to my hard drive in my ST!"
Adam Brannon tells Mike:
"Open the floppy folder and drag the file over the hard drive icon and
drop. You can select more than one. If you want the files in a certain
folder on the HDD, make sure the HDD folder in open to where you want
the file and drag it from the floppy. Works pretty much like Windows."
Peter Slegg asks for help with using KeyEdit to change the characters on
his keyboard:
"I copied the british.tbl to the folder C:\MINT\1-16-CUR\ and renamed it
KEYBOATD.TBL
I've done this before but it had no effect on the keyboard layout. I
then edited it to re-arrange the 2 keys that are wrong # and `. Saved
it and rebooted but it made no difference. I don't think this is a
problem with keyedit."
Francois Le Coat tells Peter:
"In this case, I'd guess you've installed another utility that overrides
the freeMiNT keyboard mapping. This was the case when I was using the
keyboard mapping utility included in Clocky. Clocky mapping required to
be disabled so that MiNT "keyboard.tbl" was effective.
You may be using other keyboard utilities such as Clocky, CKBD etc. that
makes freeMiNT keyboard mapping ineffective."
Peter replies:
"No there is nothing like that, at least not that I am aware of.
Would clocky show up in ps -A ?
PID PPID PRI CURPRI STATUS SIZE TIME COMMAND
000 000 0 0 Wait 172032 02:59.95 MiNT
001 000 0 0 Wait 98304 00:00.15 init
002 000 5 5 Sleep 172032 00:00.00 sld
003 000 0 0 Sleep 172032 00:00.05 update
004 000 0 0 TSR 122880 00:00.15 fpu__2m
019 000 0 0 Wait 466944 00:00.17 gluestik
020 000 0 0 TSR 65536 00:00.08 LDG
021 000 0 0 TSR 16384 00:00.05 MACCEL3
062 000 0 0 Sleep 245760 00:00.15 syslogd
091 001 0 0 Wait 16384 00:01.09 aes
092 000 0 0 Sleep 172032 00:02.09 AESSYS
093 000 0 20 Sleep 172032 00:00.00 aesthred
094 000 0 0 Sleep 172032 00:01.16 XaSYS
095 094 0 0 Sleep 65536 00:00.00 bubble
096 094 0 0 Sleep 32768 00:00.00 cache040
097 094 0 0 Sleep 229376 00:00.80 cops
098 094 0 0 Sleep 262144 00:00.35 mintsett
099 094 0 0 Sleep 368640 00:02.63 mixer
100 094 0 0 Sleep 106496 00:00.01 st-guide
101 094 0 0 Sleep 294912 00:00.49 Bubbles
102 094 0 0 Ready 671744 00:01.32 toswin2
103 094 0 0 Sleep 253952 00:08.69 mltistrp
104 094 0 0 Sleep 1941504 00:07.00 thing
109 104 0 0 Ready 1392640 01:57.87 NEWSIE
111 109 0 0 Sleep 409600 00:02.05 EVEREST E
\INTERNET\NEWSIE\WORK\newstest.txt
112 102 0 0 Ready 737280 00:00.89 bash
127 112 0 21 Ready 49152 00:00.10 ps -A "
Jo Even Skarstein jumps in and says:
"Yes clocky would show up in ps -A
Do you have a list of active CPX's?
What?? No Taskbar?? [grin]
Btw make sure that you're putting keyboard.tbl in the actual sysdir. Try
a "more /kern/sysdir" and check that you're using the correct one."
Peter replies:
"Not yet with the Taskbar. I like the configurable display area in
Multistrip that I have set to show available memory and date-time. Plus
the Caps Lock indicator.
Jo Even adds:
"Hmm... Weird. Could it be that your kernel is compiled without AKP
support? Try searching mint.prg for "keyboard.tbl"."
Well folks, that's about it for this time around. Tune in again next
week and keep your ears open so that you'll hear what they're saying
when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Wii Controller Clone for Xbox?
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 'You Can't Tilt This'!
King Blasts Banning!
And much more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
New Xbox 360 Controller May Poach Nintendo's Wii Market
What would it be like if you could combine the best of an Xbox 360 and the
best of the Nintendo Wii? Gamers may soon find out if the latest rumors
are true.
Citing anonymous sources, MTV News reported Microsoft will soon launch a
Wii controller clone for the Xbox 360. It's part of a reported strategy
to cash in on Nintendo's market differentiation.
"[Microsoft] marketing just want it so they can match the Wii point for
point," MTV's source said. "The biggest parts of their marketing
materials outline how easy it would be for third parties to port their
Wii games to the 360."
According to MTV, the controller isn't much different in functionality or
design from Nintendo's Wii remote, but comes with four face buttons, an
analog stick and a microphone. There are also plans for the controller to
interact with the Xbox Live Vision Camera, the source said.
In addition to designing the interface for the controller, Rare, the
Microsoft-owned studio that developed Perfect Dark Zero, has also fleshed
out Microsoft's take on Nintendo's Mii avatars, the source said.
Microsoft's Miis are designed to be associated with any game that
incorporates the controller and create a standard look for the games. The
avatars aren't tied to a controller when in use, as Xbox Live profiles
currently are, MTV reported. Microsoft is reportedly hoping to release
the controller before the end of the year, despite development delays.
Yankee Group analyst Mike Goodman said a Wii-like controller seems like
a good idea for Microsoft. To Nintendo's credit, he said, the Japanese
firm identified a market need and exploited it. The Wii controller is
indeed Nintendo's differentiator, making it easier for a novice or a
nongamer to play games, Goodman said.
"If Microsoft develops a controller like this, it will test a couple of
theories," he said. "Microsoft has done a good job in positioning itself
for casual gamers. In some ways Microsoft has a better lineup for casual
gamers than Wii does. Theoretically, the drawback has always been the
input device. You've had to use the traditional game controller. It will
be interesting to see, if Microsoft does roll out this controller, if it
improves the value proposition for the casual market."
For the core market, the Wii remote controller does not work as well as
the traditional game pad, Goodman said. Nintendo's Wii has done well
with games like Wii Sports, but has not performed as well with
traditional games like Madden and other third-party titles.
"This controller would be giving consumers an option for what they want
to use," Goodman said. "But it sets up an interesting proposition for
developers, because now the question becomes which input device do you
develop for?"
Video Game Review: You Can't Tilt This
Purists who play the silver ball might say pinball should be enjoyed on
full-sized machines, but few of us have the money or den space to house
an arcade-size collection.
"Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection" (Crave Entertainment,
for the Wii, PlayStation 2 and PSP, $29.99) brings nine pinball tables
back from the 1970s, 80s and 90s and faithfully recreates their look,
feel and physics.
A little Bon Jovi on the stereo and a Sun & Sand Yankee Candle burning
in the background, and I find myself back at the Jersey Shore dropping
quarter after quarter at a boardwalk arcade.
"Pinball Hall of Fame" features a virtual arcade, letting players browse
the tables before settling in to play.
The oldest and simplest of the collection is "Jive Time" (1970), a basic
table with a bit too much space between the flippers and five upper
bumpers surrounding one of two spin holes. Sink a ball into the holes to
activate a bonus spin wheel on the backglass.
"Gorgar" (1979), a fantasy-themed title enhanced by elaborate artwork,
was the first talking pinball game, although the devil-like character's
vocabulary is somewhat limited. Hit the ball into the snake pit and
Gorgar keeps it and says, "Me got you."
The looping tracks of "Taxi" (1988) make for a hectic ride, but the
table sports an interesting spinout ramp for plunger shots that awards
up to 100,000 points with just the right touch. Your mission is to pick
up patrons and get them to their location, and the odd cast of characters
consists of a redhead named Lola, a robot called Pinbot, Mikhail
Gorbachev, Dracula and Santa Claus.
The extremely fast-paced "Funhouse" (1990) is perhaps the collection's
most enjoyable title.
It's chock full of ramps, trap doors, wind tunnels and mystery mirrors,
and its centerpiece is an annoying talking doll head named Rudy. Your
mission is to put Rudy to sleep (thus shutting him up) by advancing the
clock to midnight. Do so, and you'll get a chance to add millions to your
score.
Other interesting titles include "Whirlwind" (1990), which places three
spinning twister wheels in the middle of the table to mess with the
ball's natural fall, and "Space Shuttle" (1984), in which players take
on multi-ball missions atop a table decorated with a replica of the
spaceship.
The Wii version of "Pinball Hall of Fame" taps into the console's motion
control capabilities just enough to add to the authenticity.
Triggers on the left hand nunchuk and right hand remote activate the
flippers, and each control can be jerked a little to nudge the table
(nudge too much and you'll tilt). Pulling back on the nunchuk stick
pulls back the plunger.
I may never have reached "wizard" status, but I've played enough pinball
over the years to recognize that "Pinball Hall of Fame" is well worth
the bargain price. And it fits a lot better in my rec room than nine
standup tables.
Three out of four stars.
Japan Develops Brain and Eye Pills for Gaming Fans
Gaming addicts with sore eyes and tired brains may be able to perk up
with "Game Suppli," a new Japanese supplement developed specifically for
the country's thousands of fanatic players.
"We concentrated on developing a supplement for those who love games,"
reads the advert for the pills on www.cybergadget.co.jp, a Web site that
sells a range of accessories for video game fans.
Maker Kyowa-Yakuhin produces two different supplements for the "Game
Suppli" range: blueberry tablets that are meant to be good for the eyes,
and transparent capsules containing Docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, a
fatty acid that supposedly enhances concentration.
Japan's convenience stores are stacked with drinks and capsules
claiming various health and beauty benefits, sometimes without any
scientific evidence.
Horror Writer King Blasts Banning Violent Videogames
Horror writer Stephen King has criticized plans by a U.S. state to ban
violent video games, saying such a move would be undemocratic and it was
up to parents to monitor their children's entertainment.
King, in a pop culture column he writes for Entertainment Weekly, said
he was no videogame fan but was outraged when he heard that a bill in
the state of Massachusetts could ban the sale of violent games to anyone
aged under 18.
"What makes me crazy is when politicians take it upon themselves to play
surrogate parents. The results of that are usually disastrous. Not to
mention undemocratic," wrote King.
The move comes amid an ongoing debate in the United States, Britain and
Australia about banning violent games. British and Irish authorities
last year banning videogame "Manhunt 2" in which an insane asylum escapee
goes on a killing spree.
The jury remains out on whether violent videogames lead to violent
behavior.
King, whose stories such as "The Shining" and "Carrie" have been made
into Hollywood horror movies, said it seemed to him that the games only
reflected a violence that already existed in the society.
"What really makes me insane is how eager politicians are to use the pop
culture as a whipping boy. It's easy for them, even sort of fun, because
the pop-cult always hollers nice and loud. Also, it allows legislators
to ignore the elephants in the living room," he said.
He pointed out that there already was a rating system for videogames and
banning them was pointless because if the youngsters wanted to get hold
of them, they would find ways.
King argued that the growing divide in between the haves and the
have-nots in the United States and the country's gun laws contributed
more to violent behavior than computer games.
He said it was too easy for critics to claim - falsely as it turned out
- the Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui was a fan of shooting game
"Counter-Strike."
"If he'd been stuck with nothing but a plastic videogame gun, he wouldn't
even have been able to kill himself," wrote King.
The author said the most effective bar was parents knowing and caring
about what their children were watching and reading, what they were
doing and who they were hanging out with.
"Parents need to have the guts to forbid material they find
objectionable ... and then explain why it's being forbidden," he said.
"They also need to monitor their children's lives in the pop culture -
which means a lot more than seeing what games they're renting down the
street."
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Yahoo Wants Better Deal from Microsoft
Internet icon Yahoo Inc., under pressure of a three-week deadline from
Microsoft to accept its $41 billion buyout bid, said Monday it doesn't
oppose a deal with the world's largest software maker but wants a better
offer.
The statement comes after Microsoft warned Saturday that if a deal isn't
reached by April 26 it will launch a hostile takeover at a less
attractive price.
In early trading Monday, Yahoo shares fell 49 cents, or 1.7 percent, to
$27.87, while Microsoft's stock added 23 cents, or less than 1 percent,
to $29.39.
In Yahoo's lengthiest statement about the bid to date, Chief Executive
Jerry Yang and Chairman Roy Bostock wrote in a letter to Microsoft CEO
Steve Ballmer that the current offer is "not in the best interests of
shareholders" of Yahoo.
"We are not opposed to a transaction with Microsoft if it is in the best
interests of our stockholders," Yang and Bostock said in the letter. "Our
position is simply that any transaction must be at a value that fully
reflects the value of Yahoo, including any strategic benefits to
Microsoft, and on terms that provide certainty to our stockholders."
Microsoft's offer for Yahoo, made public on Feb. 1, would create a
stronger rival to Google Inc., which dominates the online search
advertising market.
At the time, the cash-and-stock bid was valued at $44.6 billion, or 62
percent above Yahoo's market value. As of Friday, the deal was worth just
under $41 billion.
Yahoo's board formally rejected Microsoft Corp.'s bid on Feb. 11, saying
it undervalues the company.
In Monday's letter, Yang and Bostock said Microsoft's threat to go
hostile is "counterproductive and inconsistent with your stated objective
of a friendly transaction."
The Yahoo leaders also dinged Microsoft for implying that the two
companies hadn't discussed the deal since February. Yang and Bostock said
the two companies "have had constructive conversations together regarding
a variety of topics, including integration and regulatory issues.
"Moreover, Steve, you personally attended two of these meetings and could
have advanced discussions in any way you saw fit," they wrote.
Yang and Bostock also said they are waiting for Microsoft to provide
information that would help them understand regulatory issues that could
arise from a deal. They said they it on March 28 after a joint meeting of
legal advisers.
Joele Frank of the public relations firm Microsoft has hired to advise on
the Yahoo deal, said early Monday that Microsoft had no immediate
response to the Yahoo statement beyond the "explicit" letter Ballmer sent
to Yahoo's board on Saturday.
"If we are forced to take an offer directly to your shareholders, that
action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from
our perspective which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal,"
Ballmer wrote.
Since initially rejecting Microsoft's bid, Yahoo has explored alliances
with Google Inc., News Corp.'s MySpace.com and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL,
but no alternative to Microsoft's offer has surfaced.
Ballmer acknowledged the alternative negotiations and questioned why, in
the absence of another offer, Yahoo was still dragging its heels.
"This is despite the fact that our proposal is the only alternative put
forward that offers your shareholders full and fair value for their
shares," Ballmer wrote in the letter. Ballmer said the Microsoft offer
has grown stronger as the economic climate has weakened, and that
Yahoo's shareholders agreed.
Yang and Bostock rebutted Ballmer's claim that most Yahoo shareholders
support a deal, writing, "stockholders representing a significant
portion of our outstanding shares have indicated to us that your
proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo."
The company recently released a forecast that calls for its revenue to
rise more than 70 percent over the next three years. In their letter,
Yang and Bostock said Yahoo's business has been marching forward. They
pointed to an announcement made earlier Monday, in which Yahoo released
more details about its effort to become a one-stop shop for selling and
distributing online display ads - the Internet's equivalent of
billboards.
The upgrade, called Amp, won't be available until this summer, and then
only on a limited basis among more than 600 newspaper publishers trying
recover some of the revenue that the Internet has siphoned from their
print editions.
Yahoo said Amp will make it easier for advertisers to aim their messages
at specific demographic groups across scores of Web sites. Amp will rely
heavily on data that Yahoo collects about people's preferences at its own
Web site as well as other online destinations.
Yahoo's new platform will be competing against similar technology
recently acquired by Google and Microsoft. Google bought DoubleClick Inc.
for $3.2 billion primarily so it would have a better vehicle for selling
display ads. The same objective drove Microsoft's $6 billion purchase of
aQuantive.
Yahoo, Time Warner in AOL Talks
Yahoo is in talks with Time Warner on a deal to combine Internet
operations with AOL, while News Corp. is in talks with Microsoft to
jointly bid for Yahoo, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The possible deal between Yahoo and AOL is a bid to thwart Microsoft's
bid for Yahoo. Yahoo plans to present shareholders with a three-fold
plan to move forward without Microsoft. The Yahoo plan would also
include a multi-billion dollar stock repurchase as well as an
advertising tie-up with Google, the report said.
A Yahoo-AOL deal would involve Time Warner folding AOL into Yahoo and
making a cash investment in return for about 20 percent of the
combined company, the Wall Street Journal said. The deal would be
valued at around US$10 billion, and would not include AOL's dial-up
Internet access business. Yahoo would use cash from the Time Warner
deal to buy back several billions of dollars worth of its own stock.
Time Warner is under pressure to find a strategy for AOL because it
has lost a lot of value since their merger in 2000, the report says.
There is still a lot of work to do before a deal is reached, the paper
reported.
Microsoft has already offered Yahoo shareholders a combined cash and
stock deal valued at $42 billion, and has stated several times that it
will not raise its bid.
The Wall Street Journal reported, however, that News Corp. may join
Microsoft in the bid for Yahoo, although the newspaper did not say how
much the offer might increase nor how the two companies would split
ownership of Yahoo.
HP Unveils Small Laptop for Schoolkids
One more of the world's biggest technology companies is clamoring to enter
the growing market for pint-sized computers targeted mainly for pint-sized
customers. Hewlett-Packard Co., the No. 1 seller of personal computers
worldwide, said Tuesday it's throwing its weight behind a new class of
miniaturized laptops, a fledgling market already populated with products
from Intel Corp., the world's largest semiconductor company, and Asustek
Computers Inc., the world's largest maker of computer motherboards.
The machines are so new the industry hasn't settled on a name for
low-cost and scaled-down laptops used primarily for surfing the Internet
and performing other basic functions like word processing.
Intel has labeled them "netbooks," and it expects more than 50 million
netbooks to be in circulation by 2011.
HP executives say their new machines, which go on sale later this month,
are an important piece of the Palo Alto-based company's effort to build
market share in schools, where machines had to be smaller and cheaper
without losing too many functions.
The companies also expect adults to cotton to the idea of buying two
laptops - a lightweight one just for Web browsing on the go and the
full-power machine for the home or office. But industry executives
acknowledge that the market is untested and that no one knows what
demand will be once the machines are deployed widely.
HP's foray comes in the form of a new computer called a "Mini-Note" that
weighs less than 3 pounds with a screen that measures 8.9 inches
diagonally. The machines start at under $500 for a Linux-based model.
Prices go up for Windows Vista models with faster processors.
The processors HP is using are made by Via Technologies Inc., the distant
third-ranked player in the microprocessor space, and come in clock speeds
up to 1.6 gigahertz. The inclusion is a big win for Via, which trails
Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. by a wide margin in the
microprocessor market.
HP executives say the only major feature its Mini-Note lacks is an
optical drive for ingesting DVDs and CD-ROMs, which can be bought
separately. But they say many schools requested the drives be left out to
prevent students from playing unauthorized games.
The Mini-Note will compete primarily with Intel's Classmate PCs - which
are designed by Intel and feature Intel chips but are built and branded
by other companies - and Asustek's Eee PC.
To a lesser extent, they also will go up against the XO laptop from the
Cambridge, Mass., nonprofit One Laptop per Child, which is intended
primarily for schoolchildren in developing countries.
Intel says it has sold "tens of thousands" of Classmate PCs since they
went on sale last year. And OLPC says it has sold hundreds of thousands
of the XO. Figures were not immediately available for sales of the Eee.
Are Bloggers an At-Risk Population?
While political blogs like the Daily Kos get most of the attention from
the media, the New York Times cast a spotlight on the world of technology
blogging with a recent article entitled, "In Web World of 24/7 Stress,
Writers Blog Till They Drop."
The article focused on the recent death of Russell Shaw, a prolific tech
blogger who wrote for ZDNet, TMCNet, Weblogs Inc., the PodTech Network,
Corante, AllBusiness.com and the Huffington Post. Shaw also wrote books
on media downloading and wireless networking.
Shaw suffered a heart attack while in San Jose to cover a tech
conference. His last e-mail to his ZDNet editor displayed a
never-say-die work ethic: "Have come down with something. Resting now,
posts to resume later today or tomorrow."
In December 2007, Marc Orchant, who had recently left ZDNet to cofound
a now-defunct site called BlogNation, died of a massive coronary while
working in his home office. And later that month, Om Malik, who left a
reporting gig at Business 2.0 to start his own blog site, GigaOm,
survived a heart attack.
To the New York Times, these events signaled something ominous - a
"digital sweatshop" where professional writers - the kind who, in
another age, would have union jobs on newspapers or magazines - are
toiling away, always trying to win one more page view, earn one more
scoop, not so much for the importance of what they have to say, but to
earn enough money to support their families.
Reporter Matt Richtel quotes Michael Arrington of TechCrunch bemoaning
the always-on lifestyle of an A+-list blogger. Arrington says he has
gained 30 pounds since starting his blog, developed a severe sleeping
disorder, and turned his home into a full-time office. "At some point,
I'll have a nervous breakdown and be admitted to the hospital, or
something else will happen. This is not sustainable," he said.
"There's no time ever - including when you're sleeping - when you're
not worried about missing a story," Arrington told the Times. "Wouldn't
it be great if we said no blogger or journalist could write a story
between 8 p.m. Pacific time and dawn? Then we could all take a break.
But that's never going to happen."
Arrington may be on the same road that Om Malik was traveling when he
was stopped by a heart attack. Last week, Malik took stock of his life
three months after being hospitalized. As a first-time entrepreneur
with bills - and a team of reporters - to pay, he "second-guess(ed)
every decision not made by myself and was obsessed with minutiae," he
wrote on GigaOm.
"Three months on, having seen the Giga Gang at work, I realized what
a mistake that was. You empower people, and in turn they power you to
do good things. Now I am finding more time to focus on writing,
reporting and spending time on projects," he wrote.
The at-risk population likely includes not just bloggers, but many
others in the Silicon Valley information economy. "Many of us in
Silicon Valley refuse to acknowledge that we live a high-stress
existence and are prone to all sorts of problems that stem from an
18-hour-a-day, non-stop lifestyle," he said.
Another technology blogger, Mitch Radcliffe, said that Arrington and
others' breathless desire to deliver scoops - even of extremely narrow
interests - shows that such bloggers are taking journalism's worst
impulse (as depicted in the screwball comedy His Girl Friday) and
exacerbating it.
"What the story does is demonstrate that the race for a 'scoop' keeps
people at the edge of their energies and good judgment," Radcliff
said. "Journalism's worst feature, the desire to be first with a
story, rather than providing thoughtful and complete reporting so
that the reader can make up their own mind, has become the raison
d'etre for blogging. It drives volume in postings, but not
necessarily good reporting."
Online Crime's Impact Spreads
There appears to be no end to the cybercrime wave despite daily headlines
about the latest computer breach and the best efforts of hundreds of
security companies.
The latest estimate: $200 billion a year, rivaling the illicit markets
for drug trafficking and money laundering, says Mikko Hypponen, chief
research officer at computer-security firm F-Secure.
Hypponen was among scores of computer-security experts here this week to
discuss how data theft and Internet-enabled financial fraud have evolved
into a global enterprise as sophisticated and responsive to economic
principles as any other industry.
"International crime 10 years ago was drugs and money laundering," says
Hypponen. Yet, Interpol, the international crime-fighting organization,
has only a 65 million euro annual budget (about $102 million) to fight
crime, he says.
The onslaught of cybercrime has had wide-ranging impact, based on the
topics of panels, reports and surveys released during the conference.
* In online we don't trust. The hazards of surfing and shopping online
have shaken consumer confidence in e-commerce.
Nearly 60% of Americans are fearful someone will steal their account
passwords when they bank online, and 38% do not trust making payments
online, according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by TNS
Sofres on behalf of digital-security company Gemalto.
* Banking threats. Consumers are warranted in their fears. Bank accounts
were the most commonly advertised item for sale on underground computer
servers, accounting for 22% of all items in the last six months of 2007,
according to a Symantec report this week.
Several analysts, including John Pescatore of Gartner, point to the
escalating threat of bots, sprawling networks of compromised PCs
controlled by criminal groups. Bot nets are increasingly spreading at
financial institutions. The top bot nets send a staggering 100 billion
spam e-mail messages each day, SecureWorks says.
* Malware ads. Speaking of spam and other forms of malicious software
code, hackers are using YouTube videos to advertise their goods.
In one post, a group from Albania offers to illegally break into
corporate networks to steal data and implant malware, says Don Jackson,
director of threat intelligence at SecureWorks.
People Uneasy With Web Sites Using Personal Details
Many people are uncomfortable with Web sites customizing content to
people's personal profiles, according to a new survey.
"There's a creepy factor and a fear of the unknown that people don't
want to deal with," said Michelle Warren, senior research analyst at
Info-Tech Research Group in London, Ontario.
"The notion that there's a privacy issue in someone's email account
hits a little too close to home for some," she added.
Nearly 60 percent of 2,513 people in the United States questioned in a
Harris Interactive poll said they were uneasy when Web sites use
information about personal online activity to tailor advertisements or
content.
The findings may pave the way for web giants to offer users more
tangible benefits in exchange for lost privacy, such as discounts on
movies, music and electronics, said Dr. Alan Westin, of Columbia
University in New York, who helped to design the poll.
"Free search engines or social networking sites are encoded on web
user's DNA, and one way to defend behavioral marketing is to sweeten its
benefits to users," Westin said in an interview.
While privacy boundaries aren't forcing web users to boycott popular Web
applications just yet, that may change as users begin to understand the
extent to which their personal details are being used.
"What happens is people suddenly realize they've put out enough personal
information to get served with a targeted advertisement, and the Web
makes the transition from convenience to creepiness," said Colin McKay,
of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in Ottawa.
The survey showed that younger users are more comfortable with the
customized web content, with people aged 18-43 leading the pack.
As a whole, web users' comfort was increased only slightly when asked to
consider potential safeguards that would improve web privacy policies
and procedures.
MIT Researcher 'Paints' Cyber Threats
Cyber threats like NetSky, Mydoom and Parite are the bane of IT
departments around the globe, but artist Alex Dragulescu has found
subtle beauty deep within the dangerous computer code that can bring
down networks and bombard e-mail inboxes with murderous spam.
Dragulescu has peeled back the code behind the world's worst tech bugs
and rendered stunning images from it. The Romanian-born MIT researcher
and artist was commissioned to do fashion the artwork by MessageLabs, a
computer security company that sought to put a face - or at least a
shape - on computer viruses.
Dragulescu found interesting, recurring patterns. He used the data to
coax pointy green tentacles from the dreaded `Mydoom' e-mail worm and
grew pretty peach petals from the epicenter of the `Degreediploma5'
spam file.
"I think there is beauty in their complexity," Dragulescu said at a
gallery debut of his work in San Francisco. "These types of threats are
very smart. Very intelligent in design. Digital organisms, really, that
adapt themselves and replicate. We wanted to capture some of that
complexity and uniqueness."
The process of creating the art was like none other. MessageLabs
carefully sent Dragulescu the once-harmful files after modifying them
so his computers would not contract the viruses.
Dragulescu looked for the frequency of certain occurrences in a virus,
such as particular network sockets that it was designed to compromise.
He fed the resulting data into a program he created with an algorithm
to grow the viruses and Trojans visually.
"The number of occurrences would determine how branching develops.
Another example would be how curly the tentacles get," Dragulescu
said.
Dragulescu's next project will be creating abstract portraits of
people based on the contents of their blogs and the types of online
communities they inhabit.
=~=~=~=
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