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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 07 Issue 49
Volume 7, Issue 49 Atari Online News, Etc. December 2, 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:
Fred Horvat
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0749 12/02/05
~ Rush for .eu Domain! ~ People Are Talking! ~ Online Rumor Mills!
~ Firefox Out the Door! ~ Web Creates Sellers! ~ New WinZIP Unveiled
~ AOL Illegal Billing?! ~ CCAG 2005 This Weekend ~ "Fremont" Free Ads!
~ Vista Features Near! ~ Storing Music Files! ~ Good Cyber Monday!
-* Spam Filters Getting Better! *-
-* Kazaa Owners Work To Install Filter *-
-* Agency Weighs Single-Letter Web Addresses! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I'm going to keep it really short this week. I've run out of Thanksgiving
leftovers and have turkey withdrawal pains. And, the entire hospital in
which I work is going crackers due to the pending survey next week.
Everyone is on edge because of preparation, and hoping that all will go
well. So, stress levels are high everywhere, including me. So, I won't
attempt to put together a column this week - it's tough to concentrate on
other things at the moment. Next week should be a relief!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE User Group Notes! - Meetings, Shows, and Info!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
CCAG Show This Weekend.
Buy, sell, trade, play, and see classic video games, computers,
peripherals, memorabilia, and more at The Classic Computing and Gaming
Show (CCAG) on December 4, 2005 at the National Guard Armory, 3520 Grove
Ave. Lorain, Ohio. Vendors, clubs, and collectors will be displaying and
selling their retrogaming and retrocomputing goods, from Pong and Atari
to Nintendo, Apple and IBM to Commodore and everything in between with
many set up for you to play with and explore.
We have 5000+ square feet of space.
http://www.ccagshow.com/
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
[Editor's note: Joe has obviously had worse turkey withdrawal that I did
this past week - he won't have a column this week. Personally, I think he
has a couple of drumsticks stashed away somewhere!]
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - PS3 To Get Parental Controls!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Sony To Put Parental Controls in PlayStation 3
Sony will be placing parental controls in the forthcoming PlayStation 3,
falling in line with other video-game console makers that have promised
parents the feature, according to the Entertainment Software Association.
Sony's current machine, the PlayStation 2, has access limits for movies,
but the controls do not apply to games.
Although details have yet to be released from Sony, many in the industry
see the move as part of a larger effort to give parents controls over what
their children are watching and playing on digital devices.
In creating the parental controls, Sony is the last of the major console
makers to build in access features specific to games.
Microsoft already has such controls in the Xbox 360, which shipped last
week. The controls on the Xbox 360 let users set access according to how
games are rated.
Microsoft also tweaked the popular Xbox Live online gaming service, giving
parents the ability to screen individuals who want to interact with their
children.
Although Nintendo does not have parental controls in its machines yet, the
company did announce in early November that its next console machine,
Revolution, will have the feature. The console is due to be released during
2006.
Because of the ubiquity of video games, and the increased sophistication
of their graphics, the gaming industry has garnered more attention over
the past five years.
Parental controls are only part of a larger effort to crack down on
violence-themed content that is available to children and teenagers.
Legislators have been keen to draft laws that restrict sales of certain
types of games, and some parental watchdog groups have blamed violent video
games for real-life violence perpetrated by teenagers.
Although parental controls could ease restrictions on the industry, some
are hoping that such access also will remove misperceptions about games
and their influence on real events.
"Violent games are blamed for problems that spring from other sources,"
said Jason Della Rocca, program director for the International Game
Developers Association. "Anything that reduces that is welcome."
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
'Spam' E-mail Filters Getting Better
E-mail "spammers" are aggressive as ever but Internet providers are getting
better at blocking junk messages before they reach users' inboxes,
according to a U.S. Federal Trade Commission study released on Monday.
The FTC found that spammers continue to "scrape" e-mail addresses from the
Web using automated programs that look for the telltale "@" sign.
But up to 96 percent of those messages were blocked by the two Web-based
e-mail providers used by the FTC in its test. The FTC did not say which
providers it used in its study.
"This encouraging result suggests that anti-spam technologies may be
dramatically reducing the burden of spam on consumers," the report said.
The FTC noted that Internet providers still must bear the burden of
filtering out those messages.
Consumers can stay off spammers' lists by writing out their addresses in
an alternate syntax if they must post them online, the FTC said.
Writing an e-mail addresses as "janedoe (at) isp (com)" rather than
"janedoe@isp.com" will fool most spammers' harvesting programs, the FTC
said.
E-mail addresses posted on test Web sites were likely to attract spam, but
those posted on blogs, chat rooms or other online forums were less likely
to become spam magnets, the FTC said.
Agency Weighs Single-Letter Web Addresses
Although Internet domain names may be getting longer or more complex as Web
sites creatively squeeze into the crowded ".com" address space, most
single-letter names like "a.com" and "b.com" remain unused. That may soon
change as the Internet's key oversight agency considers lifting
restrictions on the simplest of names.
In response to requests by companies seeking to extend their brands, the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will chart a course
for single-letter Web addresses as early as this weekend, when the ICANN
board meets in Vancouver, British Columbia. Those names could start to
appear next year.
But the transition won't be easy - and it could lead to six-figure sales of
this new online real estate, akin to opening New York's Central Park to
development.
"Obviously this is a valuable commodity," said Kurt Pritz, ICANN's vice
president for business operations. "How would the name be sold?"
Names are normally released on a first-come, first-served basis for $10 or
less, a policy that favors those who have written programs to automatically
and frequently check for a name's availability. Auctioning names to the
highest bidder is one possibility.
ICANN also must decide whether companies need to seek such names
individually if they want them across all suffixes, including ".com,"
".info" and ".biz."
Single-letter names under ".com," ".net" and ".org" were set aside in 1993
as engineers grew concerned about their ability to meet the expected
explosion in demand for domain names. They weren't sure then whether a
single database of names could hold millions - more than 40 million in the
case of ".com" today.
Six single-letter names already claimed at the time - "q.com," "x.com,
"z.com," "i.net," "q.net," and "x.org" - were allowed to keep their names
for the time being.
One idea was to create a mechanism for splitting a single database into 26
- one corresponding to each letter. So instead of storing the domain name
for The Associated Press under ".org," it would go under "a.org." In other
words, "ap.org" would become "ap.a.org."
Now, engineers have concluded that won't be necessary. They have seen the
address database grow to hold millions of names without trouble, so they
are now willing to let go of the single-letter names they had reserved.
(There are no immediate plans to release two-letter combos that have been
reserved under some suffixes - they were set aside not for technical
reasons but to avoid confusion with two-letter country-code suffixes such
as ".fr" for France.)
Meanwhile, a handful of companies have asked ICANN to free up the single
characters. Overstock.com Inc., for instance, prefers a single-letter brand
of "o.com" because its newer businesses no longer fit its original mission
of providing discounts on excess inventory.
The ICANN board must now decide whether and how to release the names. At
its meeting Sunday, it could ask staff to come up with a proposal or refer
the matter to an ICANN committee for further study.
Matt Bentley, chief executive of domain name broker Sedo.com LLC, said
single-letter ".com" names could fetch six-figure sums, and a few might
even command more than $1 million from some of the Internet's biggest
companies. Yahoo Inc. applied for a trademark to "y.com" this year.
"Obviously there's nothing more exquisite than names that are in extremely
rare supply like that," Bentley said. "They would have a lot of cachet as
a brand name. I could see there would be tons of demand."
EU Expects Rush for '.eu' Domain Name
The European Union expects a surge of applications next week when its ".eu"
regional domain name opens for registration.
"I expect a real rush, several hundred thousand in the first few days," EU
Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding told reporters Thursday.
"European companies should waste no time and register for the new `.eu'
domain name."
Reding and other supporters believe such a domain will help promote
European identity and create greater visibility for pan-European
e-commerce. Currently, businesses must use domains for their particular
country, such as ".fr" for France, or a global one like ".com," which is
seen by some as mostly a U.S. suffix.
Registration for ".eu" names begins on Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. GMT, and such
names can be used immediately.
For the first two months, only certain rights holders such as registered
trademark owners, public bodies and companies can register. On Feb. 2,
".eu" opens up to family names. General registration begins April 7 on a
first-come, first-served basis.
Reding said the restricted periods were needed "to reduce considerably the
risk of cyber-squatting" - the illicit use of domain names for fraudulent
use.
Such periods, known as sunrise, are typical these days as new domains get
introduced.
The ".eu" domain name will be run by EURid, a private European nonprofit
group. About 750 licensed resellers will accept registrations on EURid's
behalf.
Registrations are limited to people who live in the EU and to companies
with headquarters or branches inside the 25-nation bloc.
Prices are expected to range from euro80 to euro140 ($94 to $164) during
the sunrise periods. They should drop to euro25 to euro30 ($29 to $35) once
regular registration begins.
There are about 250 domain names on the Internet, but they are typically
assigned by country or territory.
The Internet's key oversight agency, the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers, made an exception because EU is on a special "reserved"
list kept by the International Organization for Standards, a worldwide
standardization body.
ICANN also is considering a ".asia" name for that continent.
Firefox 1.5 Hits the Streets Running
The latest iteration of the open-source browser Firefox is now available
for download, featuring upgrades designed to improve navigation, boost
security, and provide even more capabilities for a growing number of users.
Firefox 1.5 arrives a year after the browser's debut by the Mozilla
Foundation, which recently reported hitting the 100 million download mark.
"We have spent 18 months under the hood to improve the product, which now
offers faster page-loads, a drag and drop feature for tabbed browsing, and
better pop-up blocking," said Mike Schroepfer, vice president of
engineering at Mozilla.
Schroepfer cited the automatic-update function as a noteworthy improvement,
enabling users to install the browser once and receive security updates,
with prompts to upgrade, as they are released.
A next-generation rendering and layout engine is designed not only to speed
navigation between previously viewed Web pages through intelligent caching,
but also to display complex Web pages more accurately. Firefox 1.5 also has
an new user-controllable interface for blocking viruses, spyware, and
pop-ups, including flash-based ads.
The new Clear Private Data tool adds a layer of security by letting users
hide all personal data, including browsing history, cookies, auto fill-in
form entries, and passwords, said Schroepfer.
Support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), JavaScript 1.6, and Cascading
Style Sheets (CSS) also are provided, while users can customize the browser
through some 800 third-party extensions. SVG is a specification for
rendering two-dimensional graphics in browser interfaces. It works much
like Macromedia's proprietary Flash technology but is an open standard.
The ranks of Firefox users have grown substantially over the past year,
indicating that it is nibbling away at Internet Explorer's formidable
market share.
NetApplications, in a recent Web site traffic analysis, reported that
Firefox averaged 8.59 percent of the browser usage market throughout
October, up from 2.69 percent in January but below the peak of 8.71 percent
in June. In contrast, Microsoft's Internet Explorer currently enjoys an
86 percent market share.
Gartner analyst Ray Valdes suggested that Firefox might take a hit after
Microsoft's next operating system, Vista, is released and subsequent
changes are made to Internet Explorer.
"Much will depend on how Microsoft ties Internet Explorer to its big
releases next year," he said. "They may not have planned to emphasize
Internet Explorer, but I think Firefox's adoption rate is something they're
noticing."
Vista's Features Nearly Complete
Microsoft is accelerating the development of the next version of its
Windows client operating system and plans to test a feature-complete
version by early next year, a lead on the Windows Vista development team
says.
However, Microsoft is not planning to have a second beta of Vista available
before the end of the year, said Amitabh Srivastava, corporate vice
president of the Windows Core Operating System Development division, on
Tuesday. Microsoft plans to provide an update about the next beta of
Windows Vista in early 2006.
The company released the first beta of the OS on July 27. Microsoft is
still on track to ship Windows Vista in the second half of 2006, Srivastava
added.
Microsoft will complete all the features of Windows Vista by the end of
December, and will have those features integrated into the OS by early
2006, Srivastava said. Every test build after that will have the entire set
of features of Vista, and any changes will be based merely on customer and
tester feedback made about those features, he said.
Microsoft is making the move so developers and customers will have more
opportunity to help improve the OS so the final version of the product will
be of the highest quality possible, Srivastava said. "This will allow us to
receive meaningful feedback much earlier and have code that will more
accurately reflect [the final release]," he said.
Microsoft also is changing the release schedule for Community Technology
Previews (CTPs) of Vista, he said. In September, Microsoft began releasing
to the public more interim builds, or CTPs, of Windows Vista rather than
the previous cycle of two beta releases in an effort to get more feedback
on the product.
The company had originally planned to do those monthly, but is changing
that to a more quality-based release schedule rather than one based on the
calendar, Srivastava said. Instead of shooting for a CTP build every month,
Microsoft will release CTPs that will focus on a feature or set of features
about which the company wants feedback - for example, Windows Vista's
graphical user interface, he said. Once those features in that CTP meet
certain minimum requirements, Microsoft plans to release the CTP, he said.
This could result in either more or less CTPs, depending on what technology
Microsoft decides to focus on in those test versions. However, Srivastava
was quick to stress that Microsoft believes CTPs are a vital way to get
public comment about Vista to make it as robust as possible before the
target release date of the second half of 2006, so it will still make
available a very regular flow of those previews. "We really value the CTPs
so they will be released often," he said.
That said, Microsoft has released a November CTP and plans to release a
December CTP before the Christmas holidays, he said. The November CTP,
however, was a limited release to customers and partners in Microsoft's
Technology Adoption Program.
Gmail Now Scans for Viruses
Google has added a virus scanning feature to its Gmail Web mail service,
complementing the existing virus protection based on blocking certain types
of file attachments, such as executables.
Google informed users of the new feature on a Web page where the company
announces new Gmail features.
Now, Gmail will automatically scan all attachments users send and receive,
according to a frequently asked questions section devoted specifically to
this new functionality.
Gmail will attempt to clean or remove viruses from infected attachments so
that users can access the attachment's information; otherwise, users will
not be able to download the attachment. Gmail will also prevent users from
sending messages with infected attachments.
Until now, Google has protected Gmail users by blocking messages that carry
attachments commonly associated with virus attacks.
Google began rolling out the virus scanning feature this week, so not all
users have it yet, a Google spokesperson said Thursday. However, by the end
of this week, all users will have it, she said.
Lacking this functionality put Gmail at a competitive disadvantage in the
market, an analyst said.
"This was one of the main features they didna??t have that other providers
did," said Marcel Nienhuis, an analyst with The Radicati Group.
A little over a year ago, a Google official told IDG News Service that the
company was working on giving Gmail virus scanning capabilities, possibly
by licensing technology from a third party.
The Google spokesperson confirmed on Thursday that Google is licensing the
virus-scanning technology from a third party, but she declined to disclose
the company's name.
Google launched Gmail in April 2004. It is still in beta test mode. To open
an account, users must either request the service from Google by sending
the company a text message from a mobile phone or be invited via e-mail by
an existing Gmail user.
Despite the absence of virus-scanning capabilities and the hurdles users
need to clear to get an account, Gmail seems to have attracted many people
to its ranks, Nienhuis said. Now, it will become even more appealing to
current and future users, he said.
The lack of virus scanning is probably one key reason why Gmail is still in
beta, so it's possible that the service may exit its beta phase now, he
said. The other major feature Gmail is missing is a companion calendaring
application, he said.
Kazaa Owners Work to Install Filters
The owners of file-sharing network Kazaa were working Monday to install
filters aimed at preventing users of the software from swapping copyrighted
material.
Federal Court judge Murray Wilcox ordered Kazaa's owners to install the
new filters last week as part of landmark music piracy litigation between
Kazaa's owners, Sharman Networks, and the Australian record industry.
"Sharman Networks is working towards compliance of the court," Sharman
Networks spokeswoman Julie Fenwick said in a statement.
Wilcox gave Sharman until next week to develop a new version of its Kazaa
Media Desktop software with a new filtering system built in which will
include 3,000 so-called keywords, most likely the names of popular
recording artists.
Any searches containing those keywords will be blocked by the filter, in a
move aimed at stopping their copyrighted material being swapped by Kazaa
users.
Wilcox also told Sharman to use dialogue boxes to urge Kazaa users to
download the new software.
"There will have to be filters in place by Dec. 5 or Kazaa will be shut
down," Stephen Peach, chief executive of the Australian Record Industry
Association, said Monday in a statement to The Associated Press.
However, it is unlikely Kazaa could be shut down as any order would only
cover Australian users and the software is used by millions of people
around the world to exchange files containing music, movies and other
material. Also, users of older versions of the Kazaa software would likely
be unaffected by the new version.
In September, a federal court found Kazaa's owners and distributors, led
by Sydney-based Sharman, guilty of copyright infringement for failing to
rein in illegal file sharing on their popular peer-to-peer network.
Wilcox said in his September ruling it had been in the financial interest
of Sharman and its partners "to maximize, not minimize, music
file-sharing."
A hearing to set damages is expected sometime next year. Sharman is
appealing the verdict.
Lawsuit Accuses AOL of Illegal Billing
A lawsuit seeking to potentially cover hundreds of thousands of America
Online Inc. subscribers accuses the Time Warner Inc. unit of illegally
billing customers by creating secondary accounts for them without their
consent.
The lawsuit, filed last month in St. Clair County Circuit Court on behalf
of 10 AOL customers in six states, claims the company confused and deceived
customers about the charges, stalled them from canceling unauthorized
accounts and refused to return questioned fees.
"AOL exploits its subscribers' confidential billing information to
unlawfully generate additional revenue by charging subscribers for
additional membership accounts that they neither order nor request," the
lawsuit alleges, calling the scheme "common, uniform and continuing."
The lawsuit, seeking class-action status, mirrors more than a dozen other
actions that have been pending in state and federal courts throughout the
country, said Stuart Talley, a Sacramento, Calif., attorney representing
the plaintiffs in the Illinois lawsuit. All of the federal cases were
consolidated in California two years ago, Talley said.
Nicholas Graham, an AOL spokesman, said the Dulles, Va.-based company
considers the Illinois lawsuit "a legal rehash that has as much legal value
as refiling your personal income taxes from four years ago."
"The important thing is that we deny the allegations now as we've done
several times, and we will defend this case as we have other cases
accordingly," he said, noting that AOL "takes extraordinary efforts to
resolve any issues the members raise."
"We have safeguards in place now that prevent unauthorized charges, and we
have credit and refund policies that do justice to the consumer," he said.
The lawsuit also names ICT Group Inc., a Newtown, Pa.-based outsourcing
company AOL retained to respond to customer complaints and billing matters.
Messages with ICT seeking comment were not immediately returned Friday.
Plaintiffs include an Illinoisan, two Californians, three Tennesseans, a
West Virginian, two Alabamans and a New Yorker.
No hearing date has been set on the Illinois case, which accuses AOL of
violating Illinois' Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
The latest lawsuit alleges that AOL misrepresented that subscribers may add
up to seven different screen names to a membership account for free. But
AOL "in many instances" spun off those screen names into additional
membership accounts without the subscribers' knowledge, then charged and
collected a separate monthly fee for each account.
The company requires members to pay charges and fees by credit card,
electronic withdrawals from their bank accounts or by adding to their
telephone bills, giving subscribers no opportunity to review a bill before
making a payment, the lawsuit claims.
To maintain its customer base, according to the lawsuit, AOL has instructed
customer-service contractors such as ICT to prevent AOL subscribers from
canceling their accounts "at all costs" and to resist giving refunds.
Customers who complain are offered at least one month of free AOL Internet
service instead of refunds or credits, while "unsatisfied customers who
insist on canceling or terminating their AOL memberships are obstructed and
delayed from doing so," the lawsuit claims.
New York-based Time Warner - the world's largest media company - has been
holding exploratory talks with companies including Microsoft Corp. about a
potential investment in or sale of AOL, which has become a hot property
because of its booming advertising sales and ability to draw in large
audiences online.
AOL long was seen as a drag on Time Warner due to the steady decline of the
dial-up Internet access business. But in recent months AOL successfully has
been revamping its business model, moving away from the subscription
business and selling more online advertising.
Service Lets Users Store Music on Internet
The founder of the original MP3.com Web site for downloading music has
launched a service that lets computer users store their music files on the
Internet and retrieve from pretty much anywhere.
Users can synch up their files and playlists to multiple computers,
personal digital assistants and, eventually, mobile phones and other
devices, said Michael Robertson, chief executive of San Diego-based
MP3tunes. It's also a way for music lovers to safeguard their musical
collections, in case their computers crash.
"For iTunes (Music Store) users, for example, ... if your computer gets
broken or stolen, you can't download that music again," Robertson said.
Oboe costs $39.95 a year and includes unlimited storage and bandwidth. A
free version lets users to upload content and stream it to other computers
but does not allow for downloading and offline play.
The venture is Robertson's second attempt at bringing to market a digital
"music locker" service. In 1999, he bought hundreds of thousands of CDs
and made them accessible through MP3.com to people who already owned that
CD.
But recording companies sued, and MP3.com ultimately went to the parent of
Universal Music.
The Recording Industry Association of America declined to comment Wednesday
on the new venture.
Exploiting the Oboe service for piracy might prove cumbersome. Any audio
tracks wrapped in copy protection schemes will retain their playback
restrictions, and the company says it will try to flag accounts shared by
multiple users.
Microsoft Set To Debut Free Classifieds
Looking to cash in on the lucrative online-trading market, Microsoft is
testing a classified advertising service that will let MSN users buy and
sell merchandise on the Internet.
Dubbed "Fremont," the service is currently available only in-house at the
software giant, but is expected to go public within a few weeks. It is
designed as an online community marketplace combining ad listings with
social networking and other community features.
When the service debuts, shoppers will see a list of linked categories on
the front page and will be able to browse or search through the listings.
Those wanting to sell items will be able to control how their ads are
distributed, from a broad Internet listing to an MSN Messenger buddy list.
In addition to catering to general consumers, Microsoft will give
developers the ability to customize the service, which runs on top of the
Windows Live platform. Developers will be able to integrate the listings
with Microsoft's Virtual Earth, MSN Alerts, MSN Messenger, Spaces, MSN
Shopping, and several other Windows Live offerings.
Microsoft plans to offer the classifieds service for free, supporting it
with advertising placed on search-results pages.
Redmond's move into classifieds follows on the heels of Google Base, a
similar ad-supported classified service that also is in the testing stage.
Both companies are looking to draw customers away from auction site eBay,
the top destination site for people selling personal items online.
The Microsoft approach represents an effort to socialize classifieds but
with one major difference: Microsoft leverages the social network that
already exists in a user's buddy list and address book, noted Forrester
Research analyst Charlene Li in a blog posting.
"I see a really nice service shaping up," she wrote. "The classifieds
interface is familiar; each category has the expected search fields and the
opening page lays out all of the options in a simple manner similar to
Craig's List's austere list of links."
Internet-based trading is booming, with the Pew Internet & American Life
Project reporting that one in six Internet users in the U.S., or 25 million
people, have sold something online.
The survey data showed that, while 17 percent of all U.S. Internet users
have sold something online, 30 percent of users with broadband Internet
access at home or work have sold personal possessions on the Web. Among
people aged between 29 and 40, 26 percent of Internet users have sold
something online, compared to 17 percent of Web users aged between 18 and
28.
Online classified ads have boomed as a direct result of the rise in
personal sales on the Internet. The number of Americans using online
classifieds has shot up 80 percent in the past year, according to data from
comScore Media Metrix.
The top five classified sites recorded by the comScore Media Metrix
Internet measuring service in October 2005 were Craigslist.org with
8,236,000 unique visitors, Trader Publishing Company with 7,468,000 unique
visitors, Cars.com with 4,298,000 unique visitors, Apartments.com with
1,555,000 unique visitors, and Abracat Property with 924,000 unique
visitors.
Massachusetts Reconsiders Microsoft Office
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has noted that the state is optimistic
Microsoft will be able to meet its standard for an open format by the
Commonwealth's January 2007 deadline.
Debate has raged in the state since Massachusetts' Information Technology
Division proposed that government computers be moved to an open-file
format.
The division decided to migrate to the OpenDocument standard, prompting the
Governor's office to hold a special committee session in early November to
hear more about the choice.
Microsoft recently announced that it would standardize Office document
formats, known as Office Open XML, and submit the formats to standards
bodies for approval. This move will satisfy state requirements for open
standards, Romney's office noted.
The XML-based document formats will appear in Office 12, due out next year.
That means Microsoft will have to be sure to make its ship date for the
application suite if it wants to meet the Massachusetts deadline.
"The Commonwealth is very pleased with Microsoft's progress in creating an
open document format," noted Tom Trimarco, the state's administration and
finance secretary, in a statement.
"If Microsoft follows through as planned, we are optimistic that Open
Office XML will meet our new standards for acceptable open formats,"
Trimarco added.
Microsoft has been fighting hard to share details about how Office 12 will
mesh well with Massachusetts' aims, noted the company's general manager
Alan Yates.
"We're glad we've had the opportunity to explain our approach to openness,
he said. "There have been very favorable reactions to our open formats so
far, and we look forward to continued positive reactions, both in
Massachusetts and elsewhere."
But it is likely that the debate is not over. Some industry observers point
out that the European standards bodies have yet to accept Microsoft's
application, for one thing.
Also, there are still individuals and companies who advocate using
OpenDocument, and they are expected to push for the format's adoption in
the state.
WinZip 10 Compression Utility
WinZip, a well-known name in software compression, recently unveiled the
latest version of its long-standing utility. Available in either Standard
or Pro editions, WinZip 10 provides something for everyone needing an
all-encompassing compression tool.
WinZip 10 installs in just minutes. Just download the file from the
company's Web site, click a few buttons, and you're ready to go.
The application's interface has not changed that much over earlier versions
of the software. You have the option of selecting classic or wizard
formats, along with a new Internet Explorer interface for those who feel
more comfortable working in a browser-style environment.
Using WinZip is a walk in the park. Regardless of the interface you use,
you simply select the files you want and the application does the rest.
Advanced features are available, but these only take a few moments to
learn. Altogether, WinZip has done an excellent job of making this program
user-friendly.
While most people probably will use WinZip only to decompress or compress
large files, others might appreciate a few new features designed to make
the program more functional.
In addition to including two new zip file formats, the company added a new
automated-compression feature. If you need files zipped at regular
intervals, you can schedule the tasks and have WinZip do all the work
without you in the room.
Those who work with a lot of multimedia content also will have something
to smile about with the new zip-to-disk feature. WinZip cuts the middleman
out of the picture and now lets you zip and burn at the same time.
This zip-and-burn feature and the automation function come only with the
Pro version. The Standard version, for the most part, offers the same
features as WinZip 9.0, with the exception of improved compression
efficiency and new interface options.
WinZip 10 is a great utility regardless of which version you buy. If you
need to get the absolute most out of a zipping utility, though, the WinZip
Pro is the way to go.
Pros: New Internet Explorer-style interface; excellent scheduling feature;
zip-and-burn capability.
Cons: Best features are available only in the Pro version.
Verdict: WinZip 10 is a great utility regardless of which version you buy.
If you need to get the absolute most out of a zipping utility, though, the
WinZip Pro is the way to go. For those who like to keep their compression
utilities up to date, WinZip 10 is a great choice.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Price: $29.95 for the Standard version, $49.95 for the Pro version.
www.winzip.com
Internet Turns Nation into Sellers
The Internet is turning Americans into a nation of salespeople, with
growing numbers of Internet users going online to make money from unwanted
items.
"One in six Internet-using adults in the U.S., or 25 million people, have
sold something online," said Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist
at Pew Internet & American Life Project. "The figure is higher for Web
users who have access to broadband Internet connections."
Lenhart said she expects Internet sales of personal items to increase after
the holidays. "It will be very interesting to see what happens in January,"
she said.
Funded by the Pew Charitable Trust, the Pew Internet & American Life
Project is a nonprofit and nonpartisan research center that studies the
social effects of the Internet on Americans.
"The Internet is providing people with the 'anytime, anywhere' yard sale,"
Lenhart said. "People are able to sell to a wider variety of potential
customers than those who visit a local yard sale."
A nationwide telephone survey carried out by Pew found that people who sell
items online come from all points on the demographic spectrum.
However, Internet sellers are particularly likely to be male, in their 30s,
relatively affluent, and well-educated, according to Pew. They also are
likely to be relatively intense users of the Internet who have broadband
connections and go online frequently.
The survey data showed that, while 17 percent of all U.S. Internet users
have sold something online, 30 percent of users with broadband Internet
access at home or work have sold personal possessions on the Web. Among
people aged between 29 and 40, 26 percent of Internet users have sold
something online, compared to 17 percent of Web users aged between 18 and
28.
For its survey, Pew spoke to 2,251 American adults (aged 18 and older),
including 1,577 Internet users, between September 13 and October 14, 2005.
Online auction site eBay is the number one destination site for people
selling personal items online, Lenhart said. "There are purchasing risks
associated with eBay, but this does not seem to deter people," she said.
"One advantage of eBay is that customers can pull out of a potential
purchase if they are not satisfied."
Online classified ads have boomed as a direct result of the rise in
personal sales on the Internet. "The number of Americans using online
classifieds has shot up 80 percent in the past year, according to data from
comScore Media Metrix," Lenhart said.
The top five classified sites recorded by the comScore Media Metrix
Internet measuring service in October 2005 were Craigslist.org with
8,236,000 unique visitors, Trader Publishing Company with 7,468,000 unique
visitors, Cars.com with 4,298,000 unique visitors, Apartments.com with
1,555,000 unique visitors, and Abracat Property with 924,000 unique
visitors.
"By providing local sites, Craigslist allows individuals to sell to a large
number of local people," Lenhart said. "Buyers have all the benefits of
Internet shopping, but they can see the item before they buy it and they
are able to carry their purchases away without having to pay for
transportation costs."
Online Rumor Mill Dogs Companies
The e-mail circulating in Washington last month said a former government
lawyer knew a guy whose dog had to be put to sleep because he walked on a
floor cleaned with Procter & Gamble's Swiffer WetJet, licked his paws and
developed liver disease. Two of the cats owned by the man's maid, who also
used the product at home, were said to have died, too.
A quick Google search found that the rumor - which started last year - had
been totally refuted by Snopes.com and BreakTheChain.org, two websites that
are dedicated to online-myth-busting. But it has been neither quick nor
easy for P&G to squelch the story, which was also proved false last year by
toxicologists at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals.
Thanks to the Internet, hoaxes, legends and scurrilous rumors about
companies and their products are living longer than ever. Companies from
Target to Starbucks have had to battle a seemingly ceaseless online rumor
mill, which is sometimes fueled by myths perpetuated by competitors.
Some targeted companies fear that disputing the rumors can actually make
matters worse.
"You always have to balance even having the conversation we're having
here," says P&G spokesman Glenn Williams. "We think, 'Gosh, do we want to
say anything?' "
But P&G learned long ago that it was best to face a false rumor head-on.
Years before the hoax about the "killer" floor cleaner, P&G endured a
longer-lasting nasty rumor.
In that case, the stars-and-moon trademark the company used to display in
this country was falsely linked to the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in the late
1970s. In the 1980s, the rumor morphed into one that falsely connected the
trademark with Satanism. The rumor was disseminated through fliers and,
much later, e-mails.
P&G spokeswoman Linda Ulrey says the company solicited support from a
range of religious leaders as well as from its employees, who worked to
convince members of their own churches that the rumors were false. At one
point, fliers began claiming that P&G officials had appeared on TV talk
shows confirming the rumor. P&G responded by obtaining letters from those
shows saying no P&G executives had appeared on those shows.
Once P&G identified people it said had spread the rumor - some of whom it
says worked for competitors - it pressed charges to get them to confess and
stop distribution of the information. Some of them did confess, Ulrey says,
and litigation is pending against others.
All told, the rumor passed through several cycles from the 1970s through
the 1990s. Ulrey says, "You can never really tell" what, if any, impact it
might have had on sales. She notes that the "company continued to grow and
do well."
David Mikkelson, who co-founded Snopes.com 10 years ago with his wife,
Barbara, says that, like gossip, many Internet myths sometimes start with
a tiny grain of truth. But then "People extrapolate something completely
unfounded," Mikkelson says. "Someone, somewhere probably did use the
Swiffer and experienced pet death, but you can't say it's related."
The Mikkelsons don't write about every rumor they hear of. They focus on
those that seem most widespread. After all, it's easier for them to display
a refutation once on their website than to reply by e-mail to everyone who
forwards a suspicious rumor.
Sometimes, though, even when they tell people a rumor is unquestionably
false - or that the instigator recanted, as in the case of one rumor
against Target - Mikkelson says some people refuse to believe it.
"They'll say, 'But I don't care. I'm boycotting them anyway,' " he says.
The couple have researched claims that more than 25 companies, from
Microsoft to Sony to Victoria's Secret, were giving away money to anyone
who forwarded promotional e-mails to friends.
"No, you're not going to be receiving money, merchandise or free trips from
Bill Gates (or anyone else), no matter how many people you forward this
message to," the Mikkelsons counseled on their site.
The Federal Trade Commission got caught up in an Internet hoax this year -
and it nearly overwhelmed the agency's telemarketing Do Not Call list. As
the tale went, people's cellphone numbers were suddenly going to become
available to telemarketers. The bogus rumor unnecessarily worried millions
of people.
Lois Greisman, an FTC official in charge of the Do Not Call list, says the
list averages about 200,000 calls a week, but that during two big cycles
of this e-mail distribution, several million more people called to put
their numbers on the list.
Greisman says the rumor may have been started, unintentionally, by someone
who'd heard that a cellphone number directory was being compiled.
In any case, it would violate Federal Communications Commission rules to
place a telemarketing call to a cellphone.
"It was the quintessential urban myth or legend," Greisman says. "People
just pieced together bits of information."
Says Mikkelson: The rumors are often "promulgated by mostly earnest but
woefully misinformed people."
Cyber Monday Marks Online Shopping Season
While the Thanksgiving weekend marked the official start of the holiday
shopping season for stores on land, Monday kicks off the season for online
retailers. So far, early signs bode well for the rest of the season.
Today, "Cyber Monday," shoppers are hitting the Web. Shop.org says more
than 58 million consumers are expected to shop online today from home or at
work.
Non-travel online retail sales rose 22 percent to $1.89 billion for the
week ending Friday, compared to year-ago period, according to comScore
Networks, an Internet research firm.
Nielsen/NetRatings said traffic to online shopping sites grew 29 percent
year-over-year on Friday.
Yahoo! Shopping reported that the number of visits to its site rose 52
percent on Friday, better than the 30 percent jump expected.
The nation's retailers had a modest start to the holiday shopping season
as consumers jammed stores for bargains in the early morning hours Friday
but seemed to lose interest as the weekend wore on.
"There was a lot of hype, a lot of promotions and lot of people, but the
results were on the lukewarm side," said Michael P. Niemira, chief
economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers.
According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which monitors sales at more than
45,000 retail outlets, sales for the combined Friday and Saturday period
slipped 0.5 percent to $13.4 billion, from the year-ago period.
=~=~=~=
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