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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 09 Issue 22
Volume 9, Issue 22 Atari Online News, Etc. June 1, 2007
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2007
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:
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0922 06/01/07
~ Surface Computer Shown ~ People Are Talking! ~ Jobs, Gates Reunite!
~ Militant Sites Watched ~ Beat Summer Doldrums! ~ Online Puppy Scam!
~ Nudity Delays Halo 2! ~ New Game Blasts Cancer ~ Google Street View!
-* US Internet Spam King Busted *-
-* Spam Flows Despite High-Profile Bust *-
-* GoDaddy Agrees To Run Domains In Limbo! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, I think that I've recovered from the long Memorial Day weekend!
We did a lot of work around the house, and could have done more had it
not been for the fact that both my wife and I spent most of last Saturday
attempting to refill our eyeglasses prescriptions. After my wife picked
out one frame (I was keeping the three I have), and got "measured", we
were told there would be a 2-hour wait to get the lenses made. And that
was after I was told that my lenses were not in stock. We declined to
wait, and returned to pick up her pairs later in the day. So, the day was
pretty well shot!
And of course there were other typical annual complications. Memorial Day
weekend is when we open up our pool. While we were getting everything
ready (cleaning the debris around the cover, etc.), I noticed that the
valve that sits on top of our pool filter was cracked so badly that it was
not able to be secured to the filter. So we drove around town looking to
find a replacement. Of the three places we checked, no one had this piece.
We returned to two of the stores to check prices to order a replacement.
We also looked at prices for a new filter in case the valve wasn't going
to be cost-effective. It wasn't, so we opted to buy a new filter. We got
it home, and unhooked the old one, bailed out 5-6 gallons of water, and
managed to "roll" it away (the thing still had 200 pounds of wet sand
inside! We hooked up the new one, filled it with water and new sand, and
turned it on. After finding a few "leaks" we tightened up the connections
more and we were in business. Our neighbors helped us get the cover off
(another annual project in itself) and also helped us get the old filter
out to the driveway so I can later bail the sand out so I can put it out
with the trash.
Other Memorial Day weekend projects include getting the gardens ready for
planting. I got out my trusty roto-tiller, and proceeded to till my two
vegetable gardens and an area that I had cleared of shrubbery last year.
I also tilled one of my neighbor's vegetable gardens. The next day we
visited our favorite farm and picked out some plants and vegetables.
Those haven't been planted yet! We also transplanted some plants that
were over-growing the area where they had been planted a few years ago,
to the area I had cleared the year before. So now all that remains is
to plant everything that we bought, and see where we stand - I always
seem to go overboard with flowers to be planted! And once those are in,
find some extra cash and buy some mulch to finish off that "neat"
landscaped look.
We topped it all off with a couple of barbecues and a few ice-cold drinks.
Memorial Day weekend would not be the same without that added touch! So
now I'm nursing more aches and pains that aren't likely to go away anytime
soon. Typical. I didn't even play any golf this past week. The one day
that I had set aside to play turned out looking so ominous, I decided not
to chance getting caught in some thunderstorms. As it turned out, the
storm never got here, but it sure looked threatening!
So, I hope that you all enjoyed your long holiday weekend. We enjoyed
ours although I know it sounds like were spent it all working. The
feeling of satisfaction after seeing how it all turns out makes it seem
less like work - at least for me. Have a great weekend!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, I think we may FINALLY have enough
messages from the UseNet to try to put a column together. It's been
incredibly slow in the newsgroup lately, and I'm afraid that this bodes
ill for this column.
Let's face it... no one wants to sit here and read my ranting and raving
week after week without any hope whatsoever of even coming close to
Atari-related stuff.
I could sit here and ruminate about past experiences... shows I've been
to, developers I've met, old Atari acquaintances who seem to have gone
insane, hacks I've done or heard of someone else doing... but c'mon,
you've heard all of that before. Not only from me, but from a dozen
others who were usually closer to 'the action' than I was.
So what are we left with here? Well, I guess the only answer is for you
to post more on the UseNet and get all of your friends to do the same.
I know it's tough. Hell, Atari hasn't made a computer in... what?... 10
or 11 years? It's tough to come up with new and exciting things with
that kind of base.
I can tell you one thing in earnest though. The major reason that Dana
and I continue to do what we do is that we've got such fond memories of
the Atari community and it's like a big extended family.
So unless you want to be accused of breaking up a family, get your butt
to the UseNet and start posting! [grin]
Oh, on another note, one of the message threads this week is about
Ronald Hall's BBS. That made me think to include the following link
from our buddy Scott Dowdle. The interviews included in this
documentary are really interesting. It's the proverbial 'blast from the
past'. Point your browser at
http://www.montanalinux.org/bbs-memorial.html and get ready to relive
the BBS revolution. Thanks, Scott!
Okay, let's get to the news, hints, tips and info available from the
UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Peter West posts this about the file finder, SuJi:
"Due to its flexibility, SuJi has long been the favourite file finder
on the Atari range of computers running TOS, MagiC or MiNT. It will
search for files matching an entered name or partial name (very
extensive wild-cards can be used for search-masks); alternatively the
contents of a directory, partition or whole disk can be listed. The
results are displayed in a list which can be sorted in ascending or
descending order on any of the columns (name, size, date, time,
program flags, path of origin). If your desktop supports AV-Server,
double-clicking an entry in the list will either launch the
application if it is an executable file, or display the contents on
the screen.
Now the original author, Daniel H?pfl, has released the sources,
and Gerhard Stoll has used these to produce an improved version
1.36 that has three useful new features: Using Alt-O when the list
is open brings up a dialog in which you can decide which columns
are to be displayed (not many people will need to see the file
time-stamp or the program flags, say), so making more room for
long path-names to stay visible without scrolling the list window.
In the same dialog you can also select which columns of selected
entries (or the whole list) are to be written to the clipboard
when you use Control-C; you can then paste this to a text editor
for further processing. The third improvement is that both these
options as well as the size and position of the list window are
saved when the program is quit, so will come up the same way the
next time you use SuJi.
SuJi remains freeware, is available in German, English or French,
and may be downloaded from Gerhard's web page:
http://home.ewr-online.de/~gstoll/
This has been a public service announcement from Peter West (who
produced and updated the English ST-Guide hypertext for it)."
A different guy named Peter tells the first Peter that SuJi is a ...
"Great utility! Really useful when looking for dependencies etc. while
coding.
However - it seems to have some minor issues related to memory
protection. Thing gets killed as soon as I launch SuJi... perhaps
passing a bad pointer or something?"
Gerhard Stoll asks the second Peter:
"Which system do you have?"
Peter2 tells Gerhard:
"It's a Hades060, latest revisions of XaAES/FreeMiNT, Thing (latest
official version, not the beta), NVDI5.x.
I've also noticed that it doesn't find the AV server when double-
clicking on files in the "list of found files"-list, so it could be
something in the AV-related code. I've downloaded the sources and
browsed them briefly, but I'm using GCC myself so I can't really do
something unless I translate the source first."
Gerhard replies:
"I've uploaded a beta version:
<http://home.ewr-online.de/~gstoll/bin/SUJI137beta.LZH>
Can you test it?"
Peter2 tells Gerhard:
"It works!! And this version seems to select some nicer fonts by
default as well. Thanks Gerhard!"
Ronald Hall posts this about his baby, the DarkForce BBS:
"First, apologies for being late this month, many, many
many things going on. An Atari SysOp is never bored.
Second, we've reached another milestone (of sorts) here,
at The DarkForce! BBS. We just recently added our 500th
user!
Because of that, I had to expand our user database. Some
functions, such as MassMail will have some unintended
consequences because of this. Current users will have
multiple old MassMail entries waiting for them. Simply
hit any key to go through them all. Everything should be
returned to normal on your next call. Thanks for your
patience and understanding in this matter.
So...here is to another 15 years and 500 more users!
Our monthly winner of the 3 magazine subscription to
ST Magazine is:
Orion_
Congratulations, and remember, you can't win if you don't
call each month!"
Jean-Luc Ceccoli asks for help finding schematics for Blitz Turbo:
"I'm looking for the schematics of the hardware that went with
Blitzcopy, that used to allow to copy some uncopyable software.
Anyone know where I can find this?
Sorry, it's Blitz Turbo. I own the original software floppy, but can't
find the HW anymore."
David Wade cuts right to the chase and posts simply:
"http://atari4ever.free.fr/hardware/drives.html"
Well folks, that's it for this time around. Tune in again next week,
same time, same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying
when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Return of 'Command & Conquer'
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Nudity Delays Vista Halo 2!
"Re-Mission" Blasts Cancer!
And much more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Nudity Delays Halo 2 for Windows Vista
Last week, Microsoft issued a somewhat cryptic press release stating that
it was delaying the release of the Windows Vista version of its popular
Halo 2 game.
In the gaming community, which tracks product release dates and console
sales figures the way baseball fans track home runs and ERAs, the rumors
quickly spread that the delay was due to the discovery of partial nudity
in the game.
It did not take long for the rumors to be confirmed and, of course, for a
copy of the illicit image to make an appearance on the Web. The search was
launched by the gaming site Kotaku, which offered a "[g]old star to the
first tipster to present us with in-game pics of the offending dangly
bits."
Within a few hours, someone sent in a screen capture of the nudity, which
was attached to an obscure error message.
In a press release issued last Friday, Microsoft admitted that the initial
production run of Halo 2 for Windows Vista did in fact contain partial
nudity.
"It has come to our attention," the company said in a press release, "that
an unfortunate, obscure content error which includes partial nudity was
included in the map editor of our initial production of Halo 2 for Windows
Vista. This file is not in the game itself, nor will someone who simply
plays the game ever encounter it."
Although the partial nudity was attached to an error message in the map
editor and not the game itself, the labeling rules of the Entertainment
Software Rating Board (ESRB) required Microsoft to change its packaging
to alert consumers to the presence of partial nudity.
The delay in the release of the game stemmed from the fact that Microsoft
needed to apply the appropriate warning sticker to the game's initial
production run.
The ESRB issued its own press release stating that Microsoft had alerted
the Board to "pertinent content found in a map editor tool that is being
bundled with the game." As the Board dryly put it, "The content in
question, although likely to be inaccessible to the vast majority of
users, displays a photograph of an individual showing his bare backside to
the user when a particular error occurs[.]"
So far, there is little more than speculation as to whether the nudity in
question was inserted by a Microsoft employee or someone working for
Bungie, the developer of the Halo franchise.
Not surprisingly, there has been rampant and often salacious speculation
on various gaming discussion boards about how Microsoft might go about
identifying the offender. The most common remark, not surprisingly, is
that someone will get canned.
Whether someone gets fired over the prank remains to be seen, but what is
certain is that the notoriety will be brief. Microsoft said in its
statement that a patch is available for download, and that the patch will
be applied automatically to any copy of Halo 2 that is connected to
Microsoft's Games for Windows live.
Return of 'Command & Conquer'
It's another bleak forecast for the future in the new video game "Command
& Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars."
Yet it's so much fun you probably won't mind the prospects of an Earth
politically splintered and environmentally devastated by an ever-spreading
crystalline alien substance called Tiberium.
This latest saga marks one of the best, and only, games of its type for
the Xbox 360. (The T-rated, $59.99 title is also available for Windows PCs
for $10 less).
Like other real-time strategy titles, the gameplay is centered around
collecting resources (in this case truckloads of Tiberium), constructing
barracks and other structures, and then sending your newly minted army
into all-out war.
Nothing here really breaks away from the real-time strategy genre's
conventions, and that's just fine.
The frenzied managerial pace of building forces, collecting tiberium and
defeating rivals remains an intense experience. The hours will quickly
pass as you conquer one mission after another.
There are several ways to play, but I recommend going through the
single-player story modes first.
They not only serve as a good primer to the Xbox 360 controls and various
units you can build (tanks, troops and air fighters among them), they also
advance an intriguing story that's filled with plenty of cheesy sci-fi
twists and turns.
Anyone who's played earlier games in the series, which date back to the
mid-1990s, will get an especially big kick out of seeing what fanatical
Nod leader Kane and other characters in the long-standing series are up to
now.
Speaking of characters, one of the hallmarks of the series returns with a
campy vengeance in "Tiberium Wars."
The full-screen, full-motion video segments between missions tell the
story and feature great appearances from some Hollywood talent such as
Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer, Billy Dee Williams and Michael
Ironside.
Yes, it's often painful watching these actors "act" in a video game. But
I had a smile on my face the whole time, and seeing this classic feature
from older "Command & Conquer" games conjured up a warm retro feeling.
Whether you enjoy the video sequences or the addicting gameplay, "Tiberium
Wars" is a welcome return to a reinvigorated franchise.
Three stars out of four.
New Games For Weathering The Summer Doldrums
The summer video game doldrums are almost here, but a small flurry of new
titles over the next couple of weeks may help tide gamers over until the
fall bounty.
Microsoft Corp. is making the biggest splash with three games this week.
The software giant's Xbox 360 console gets the long-awaited racing
simulator "Forza Motorsport 2," as well as "Shadowrun," a shooter that
mixes swords and sorcery with modern firepower such as rocket launchers
and sniper rifles.
PC purists who sniff at the idea of playing a shooter on a console will
finally get their hands on a Windows version of "Halo 2," Microsoft's
blockbuster sci-fi title for the original Xbox that came out nearly three
years ago.
"Shadowrun" is also for sale in a PC version, and Microsoft is bridging
the gap between PCs and consoles by letting players of the different
versions combat each other over the company's Live online service.
"Forza 2," which was delayed from its original release date in late 2005,
puts players behind the wheels of more than 300 super-realistic cars.
Players can customize the performance and appearance of their rides and
share them online.
Dan Greenawalt, game director for "Forza 2," said the game should do well
despite hitting the market at the start of what is the industry's slowest
season.
"We slipped (the release of) this game out and the reason is that you
don't ship a date, you ship a game. It just wasn't the game we wanted to
make," Greenawalt said. "I can't speak to the broader portfolio, but I
think it's a great game at suboptimal time."
Owners of Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii console have complained about a dearth
of new titles, and they get a respite with "Mario Party 8," a collection
of multiplayer mini games that make use of the machine's motion-sensitive
controller.
"One game that will be a bigger hit than expected will be 'Mario Party
8', not because it's a particularly good game but because everything for
the Wii is doing well right now," said Dan Hsu, editor-in-chief of gaming
magazine EGM.
In mid-June, Nintendo will also offer "Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree," a
console version of its popular mind exercise series for its DS handheld.
"Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas," the popular tactical shooter from
French publisher Ubisoft, storms onto Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 in
mid-June.
But PS3 fans won't get an exclusive title until the end of July with the
debut of "Lair," a gorgeous fantasy game in which players control flying,
fire-breathing dragons. While not expected to drive sales of the PS3,
"Lair" is an important addition to Sony's stable of games until it rolls
out more A-list titles for the holidays.
"The PlayStation 3 seems to have a lack of killer apps ... but games like
'Lair' are more like Sony saying we're building a solid library," Hsu
said. "You don't want to be defined by just one game."
In terms of overall sales, the PS3 is straggling behind the Xbox 360 and
the surging Wii, but Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all saving their
best games for the end of the year, when the industry racks up half of
its annual sales.
"Market share is not going to be decided this summer, it will happen this
holiday season," said Evan Wilson, an analyst with Pacific Crest
Securities. "It's summertime, there are not a lot of hardware sales, and
people are outside and not inside playing games."
Video Game Maker Target Teens With Cancer
Cigna Corp. said on Wednesday it will offer HopeLab's "Re-Mission" video
game, which lets teens and young adults blast cancer while learning how to
improve the odds of beating the disease, free of charge on its Web site.
"'Re-Mission' has demonstrated that video games have the power to help
teenagers better adhere to their cancer treatment and embrace key
behaviors that improve their health and quality of life," Dr. Glenn
Pomerantz, medical director of its CIGNA HealthCare unit, said in a
statement.
Teenaged cancer patients can face a unique set of challenges, medical
experts said. They are old enough to be responsible for their treatment,
but may be too young to understand the potentially deadly consequences of
skipping required medications that may make them feel sick, lose their
hair, get acne, or gain weight.
Pam Omidyar, a medical researcher married to eBay Inc. founder Pierre
Omidyar, launched HopeLab in 2001, seeking to improve the health of young
people with a mix of good science and fun technology.
HopeLab, a Northern California-based nonprofit organization, teamed with
video game developers and animators, cancer experts, cell biologists,
psychologists and young patients, seeking to make a high-quality video
game that would educate as well as entertain.
The results was "Re-Mission," a teen-rated shooting game featuring a
nanobot named Roxxi who roams inside the bodies of fictional cancer
patients, destroying cancer cells, battling bacterial infections and
managing side effects associated with cancer and cancer treatments.
Since the game's launch early last year, HopeLab said it has delivered
76,000 copies of "Re-Mission" on disc or via download on its Web site
(www.re-mission.net).
Cigna's site (www.CIGNA.com/re-mission) will offer the game.
HopeLab tested "Re-Mission" in a randomized, controlled trial of 375 male
and female cancer patients aged 13 to 29, who were enrolled at 34 medical
centers in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Preliminary study results suggested that playing the video game increased
quality of life and cancer-related knowledge.
The "Re-Mission" players also maintained levels of chemotherapy in their
blood and showed higher rates of antibiotic use than those in the control
group, indicating that the game helped patients stick to cancer therapy
regimens.
"The 'Re-Mission' video game is an important tool to help improve their
understanding of cancer, its treatments and effects, which can result in
more confidence in their ability to deal with the disease and more
consistent compliance with their treatment," said Dr. Gary Dahl, a
pediatric oncologist at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford
University in California and a principal investigator for the
"Re-Mission" study.
"'Re-Mission' works. It gives young people with cancer a sense of power
and control over their disease," HopeLab President Pat Christen said.
Cigna's Pomerantz said the insurer plans to work with HopeLab to help
young patients with other chronic conditions.
Next on HopeLab's list: obesity.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
GoDaddy Agrees To Run Domains In Limbo
GoDaddy.com, the leading registration company for Internet addresses, has
agreed to take over and manage more than 850,000 domain names belonging
to customers of a troubled rival, officials announced Tuesday.
The deal, reached with the support of the Internet's key oversight
agency, means that customers of that rival, RegisterFly, could once again
renew names, or transfer them elsewhere if they do not want to stay with
GoDaddy.
Those names had been in limbo following financial and operational
troubles at RegisterFly. In some cases individuals, groups and businesses
were finding their Web sites inoperable because they could not properly
renew their addresses before they had expired, nor could they move them
to another company, officials said.
"For the past few months, they were pretty much in the dark and there was
a lot of frustration there," GoDaddy Chief Executive Bob Parsons said in
an interview. "All that is a thing of the past."
Parsons refused to disclose terms of the transfer deal, saying they are
confidential. But he said GoDaddy isn't buying RegisterFly, so any
lawsuits and other previous disputes remain with RegisterFly.
The deal calls for RegisterFly to give GoDaddy its customer databases.
Transfers of names will be automatic, and GoDaddy will notify existing
RegisterFly customers about the switch and set up a Web page and
telephone hotline. GoDaddy expects to start running those names within a
week.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the
organization in charge of the Internet's addressing policies, said the
deal was good for RegisterFly customers.
"GoDaddy is a well-known, large customer-service-driven organization,
and so that should diminish the sorts of problems people have
experienced," said Paul Levins, ICANN's vice president for corporate
affairs.
The deal also marks a win for GoDaddy, which can make money when those
names are up for renewal.
"If it wasn't for that, our interest in doing the deal would be
diminished quite a bit," Parsons said. "It is going to take a certain
degree of efforts on our part. We're going to have to answer any
questions customers have and resolve any issues."
ICANN already had moved to yank RegisterFly's accreditation and sued the
company for its databases. Levins said ICANN would proceed with the
lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, saying the company still
wasn't prominently notifying customers of the decertification decision.
GoDaddy Group Inc. manages more than 20 million domain names under
".com," ".net" ".org," ".biz," ".info" and other suffixes. Like
RegisterFly, GoDaddy functions as a registrar, meaning it registers
names on its customers' behalf and submits them to a central database for
each suffix, known as a registry.
US Internet 'Spam King' Arrested
US prosecutors said they captured on Wednesday a nefarious Internet
marketer responsible so much junk e-mail they called him "Spam King."
Robert Soloway, 27, was arrested in Seattle, Washington, a week after
being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of identity theft, money
laundering, and mail, wire, and e-mail fraud.
"Spam is a scourge of the Internet, and Robert Soloway is one of its most
prolific practitioners," said US Attorney for the Western District of
Washington Jeffrey Sullivan.
"Our investigators dubbed him the 'Spam King' because he is responsible
for millions of spam emails."
Between November of 2003 and May of 2007 Soloway "spammed" tens of
millions of e-mail messages to promote websites at which his company,
Newport Internet Marketing, sold products and services, according to
prosecutors.
Soloway routinely moved his website to different Internet addresses to
dodge detection and began registering them through Chinese Internet
service providers in 2006 in an apparent ploy to mask his involvement.
Spam messages sent by Soloway used misleading "header" information to
dupe people into opening them, according to Sullivan.
Soloway is accused of using "botnets," networks of computers, to disguise
where e-mail originated and of forging return addresses of real people or
businesses that wound up blamed for unwanted mailings.
If convicted as charged, Soloway will face a maximum sentence of more than
65 years in prison and a fine of 250,000 dollars.
Prosecutors want to seize approximately 773,000 dollars they say Soloway
made from his spamming-related activities.
Spam Flows Despite High-Profile Arrest
Junk e-mail continued to land in mailboxes around the world Thursday,
despite the arrest a day earlier of a man described as one of the world's
most prolific spammers.
Even if Robert Alan Soloway is ultimately convicted and his operations
shuttered, spam experts say dozens are in line to fill the void.
"In the short term, the effect it's going to have is more symbolic more
than anything else," said John Levine, co-author of "Fighting Spam for
Dummies." "Soloway is a large spammer, but hardly the only large spammer."
Levine said Soloway was a good target because he operates in the United
States and has taken few steps to cover his tracks.
Soloway, 27, was once on a top 10 list of spammers kept by The Spamhaus
Project, an international anti-spam organization. Others have since topped
him, mostly based in Russia and other countries out of reach of U.S. or
European law.
But Soloway remains on a Spamhaus list of about 135 spammers deemed
responsible for as much as 80 percent of all junk e-mail, and one
Spamhaus official considers him in the top 20.
"Most of the Russian gangs seem to have a lot more freshly hijacked
computers and are able to deliver much more spam into people's inboxes,"
said Vincent Hanna, a European investigator for Spamhaus. "The stuff that
Robert Soloway had under this control, let's call it `second grade.'"
Soloway was arrested Wednesday on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud,
e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Prosecutors
say Soloway has sent millions of junk e-mails since 2003 and continued
even after Microsoft Corp. won a $7 million civil judgment against him in
2005 and the operator of a small Internet service provider in Oklahoma
won a $10 million judgment.
Soloway could face decades in prison, though prosecutors said they have
not calculated what sentence range he might face.
Like most spammers these days, authorities say, Soloway sent out
unsolicited bulk e-mails using networks of compromised computers called
"zombies." These are generally home computers whose owners typically have
no idea that their machines have been infected with viruses or other
malicious programs; service providers can't easily block messages from
zombies because they are mixed in with legitimate messages.
What set Soloway apart was his focus on spam designed to sell tools and
services for companies and organizations to send their own junk e-mail,
said Patrick Peterson, vice president of technology at anti-spam vendor
IronPort Systems Inc.
Other types of spam were largely unaffected by the arrest. One Gmail
account collected messages Thursday promising deals on Viagra and other
medicines, while an AOL account drew an offer for two large, mouthwatering
pizzas.
IronPort said it saw no notable drop in spam volume, with 70 billion
messages in a 24-hour period, unchanged from two weeks earlier. The
company said spam has doubled from about 36 billion a day last May.
Anne Mitchell, who runs the anti-spam consultancy Institute for Spam and
Internet Public Policy, said an individual user who happens to be on
Soloway's list might see a big drop, but the collective impact is
negligible.
"It's not that different from the mafia," she said. "Many times the feds
grab a high-ranking don but the mafia didn't go away. Someone's going to
step up and fill his void."
Nonetheless, anti-spam experts lauded the arrest, calling it an
encouraging sign that authorities are taking spam seriously. Compared with
civil lawsuits that have led to multimillion dollar judgments,
prosecutions have been rare.
"Criminal prosecutions are absolutely necessary," said Richi Jennings,
lead analyst for e-mail security with Ferris Research. "It adds a whole
new level of fear to the lives of these spammers."
Joseph Smith, 43, a Web designer in Greensboro, N.C., said he couldn't
say for sure the arrest resulted in a decrease in spam Thursday, but he
was hopeful.
"I can see the Net becoming a little more secure now and becoming a more
enjoyable experience," he said.
Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said the arrest not only removes Soloway
from spamming "but it throws caution to others that are doing it as well.
There's hope that this causes a ripple, if not a wave."
At Wednesday's news conference in Seattle announcing the arrest, U.S.
Attorney Jeff Sullivan acknowledged that "others sometimes take their
place, but we want it to be a deterrent."
Jobs, Gates Reunite Onstage At Digital Conference
In a rare public appearance together, rival tech titans Steve Jobs and
Bill Gates met on stage Wednesday night at a tech conference here in
Southern California.
Their meeting was more love fest than slug fest. Jobs and Gates,
appearing at the D: All Things Digital conference, talked about their
history together and the future of personal computing. Still, the
audience wondered if their would be fireworks between the two. Apple CEO
Jobs joked: "We kept our marriage secret for over a decade."
Their mood echoed the spirit at a Macworld conference a decade ago in
Boston where Jobs told attendees: "If we want to move forward and see
Apple healthy and prosperous again, we have to let go of this notion that
for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose." Back then, Jobs was joined by
Microsoft co-founder Gates via satellite hookup as the software giant
committed to delivering Apple Macintosh versions of its Office suite and
Web browser.
Wednesday, Gates said the tech industry is healthy. "We'll look back on
this as one of the great periods of invention," he said. Jobs said
personal computers have proved resilient but there will be an "explosion"
of post-PC devices. "IPhone is one of them," he said, referring to
Apple's hotly anticipated cellphone out next month.
The appearance generated early buzz. Wired magazine called it the biggest
reunion since Simon & Garfunkel. Apple and Microsoft remain intense
rivals. Microsoft dominates personal computing with Windows, while Macs
have a single-digit market share. Apple is a force in digital music with
its iPod and iTunes Music Store. Microsoft's Zune music player is a
distant also-ran. Apple's iPhone launch next month is one of the most
anticipated new gadgets in years.
When Wall Street Journal tech writer Walter Mossberg pointed out to Jobs
during another session that iTunes effectively makes Apple a big Windows
software developer, Jobs quipped: "It's like giving a glass of ice water
to somebody in hell." The conference brought a host of announcements:
* Jobs said the Apple TV set-top box will now play YouTube videos. The
gadget wirelessly plays music and video stored on computers on widescreen
TVs.
* Palm founder Jeff Hawkins unveiled Palm Foleo, a $499 (after $100
rebate) "mobile companion" to smart phones that looks like a compact
laptop. It's equipped with a 10-inch screen, full-size keyboard and Web
browser. Due this summer, it's linked to smart phones through wireless
Bluetooth technology.
* Start-up Livescribe showed a fountain-pen-size "smart pen" that records
text written on special paper. It also records audio, which can be played
back. Text and audio can also be uploaded to computers for replay. It
will be sold later this year for less than $200.
Also attending the conference, which ends Thursday: Google CEO Eric
Schmidt; Arizona senator and GOP presidential candidate John McCain; film
director George Lucas; and YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen.
Google Street View a Peeping Tom?
Google, in addition to organizing the world's information, apparently also
wants to allow you to photographically navigate any public space. Earlier
this week, Google announced Street View for Google Maps. It's a new
feature that enables users to view and navigate 360-degree, street-level
imagery from several U.S. cities.
But the easy availability and potential misuse of the photos is raising
privacy concerns from several corners.
The Street View photos, found at maps.google.com, are currently available
for specific, blue-outlined streets. Initially, Street View includes areas
of the San Francisco Bay, New York City, Las Vegas, Denver, and Miami,
although the company said it will soon expand elsewhere in the U.S.
With these photos, the Mountain View, California-based company said in a
statement, users can virtually walk the streets of a city, check out a
restaurant before arriving, and even zoom in on bus stops and street
signs to make travel plans.
The photos are not real-time captures, but they can include windows of
apartment buildings, houses, or businesses, through which private details
may be viewed. In an article in Friday's New York Times, for instance,
Oakland, California resident Mary Kalin-Casey expressed her dismay at
being able to see her cat Monty in the living room window of her
second-floor apartment, via Street View.
"The issue that I have ultimately," she told the Times, "is about where
you draw the line between taking public photos and zooming in on people's
lives." She said the next step could be seeing books on her shelf.
Within Street View Help, there is a link to "Report Inappropriate Image,"
within which there are such reporting options as "this image infringes on
my privacy" and "this image presents personal security concerns," but the
navigation paths to this reporting are not immediately evident.
"Most companies," said Brad Shimmin, an analyst for industry research
firm Current Analysis, "won't sell photos if you can identify people" in
a given, private setting. He noted that people and objects seen in public
spaces constitute news, and there is no apparent privacy right there -
especially because Google is not presently making money from the images.
The borderline, he suggested, is being able to see into people's windows
and their private lives, whose visual accessibility from a public space
might be legal but runs counter to U.S. notions of privacy.
Google apparently has even more plans for photographic and data mapping.
On Wednesday, Google announced it had purchased Panoramio, a company
based in Spain that enables photographers to link their digital images to
the exact location on the planet where they were taken, via Google Maps.
Concurrent with the Street View announcement at the Where 2.0 conference
in San Jose, the company also announced the launch of Mapplets. This new
tool allows developers and consumers to create miniature Web pages inside
Google Maps and then put anything there that could go on a normal Web
page. This includes HTML, JavaScript, or Flash. The idea is to create
miniature applications, such as real estate search, current weather
conditions, or distance measurement.
In the past, Google has shown a willingness to accommodate user concerns
over privacy and security with better, user-controlled options. With
malicious uses for these new technologies not difficult to imagine, it
remains to be seen what Google's reaction might be.
EU States Share Monitoring of Militant Web Sites
European Union states have started sharing monitoring of militant Web
sites, including sites linked to al-Qaeda, a draft statement agreed by the
bloc's ambassadors on Wednesday shows.
Police say the Internet has taken on huge importance for militant groups,
enabling them to share know-how and spread propaganda to a mass audience,
and to plan operations.
"The (EU) member states have started to work on joint projects. At
present some member states under German lead responsibility are sharing
the task of analyzing al Qaeda's media department as-Sahab," the draft
prepared for the next meeting of EU justice and interior ministers in
June said.
Al Qaeda has its own media arm, as-Sahab, whose output has included a
series of statements by its senior leaders.
The EU police agency Europol is building an information portal to allow
exchange of information on militant Web sites monitoring, the draft said.
The portal is to include a list of links of monitored Web sites,
statements by terrorist organizations, and details on experts checking the
web in EU countries, including their language competence and technical
expertise. Expert meetings will also be organized.
Western security analysts say al Qaeda and its offshoots have been very
adept at using new media, publishing footage of violent executions and
attacks on British forces in Iraq on the Internet within hours of them
happening.
"Internet use plays a major role in the logistic, operational and
communication network of terrorist organizations," the statement said.
"Terrorists use the Internet not only as a means to communicate and spread
propaganda, but also to radicalize, recruit and train terrorists, to
spread instructions on how to carry out concrete offences and to transfer
covert information," it said.
Germany, which holds the rotating EU presidency, has been pressing the 27
EU states to cooperate on web monitoring, arguing that not all member
states have experts who can translate and analyze Web sites used by
militants.
"The systematic cooperation in sharing the task of monitoring and
assessing the Internet needs to be further strengthened," the statement
said.
Microsoft To Unveil Coffee-Table-Shaped Computer
Microsoft Corp. will unveil a coffee-table-shaped "surface computer" on
Wednesday in a major step towards co-founder Bill Gates's view of a
future where the mouse and keyboard are replaced by more natural
interaction using voice, pen and touch.
Microsoft Surface, which has a 30-inch display under a hard-plastic
tabletop, allows people to touch and move objects on screen for
everything from digital finger painting and jigsaw puzzles to ordering
off a virtual menu in a restaurant.
It also recognizes and interacts with devices placed on its surface, so
cell phone users can easily buy ringtones or change payment plans by
placing their handsets on in-store displays, or a group of people gathered
round the table can check out the photos on a digital camera placed on
top.
The world's largest software maker said it will manufacture the machine
itself and sell it initially to corporate customers, deploying the first
units in November in Sheraton hotels, Harrah's casinos, T-Mobile stores,
and restaurants.
The company is selling the Surface for between $5,000 and $10,000 each,
but aims to bring prices down to consumer levels in three to five years
and introduce various shapes and forms.
"We see this as a multibillion dollar category, and we envision a time
when surface computing technologies will be pervasive, from tabletops and
counters to the hallway mirror," Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said in a
statement.
Analysts say the first few applications only hint at what is possible.
"The potential for the interface is huge," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst
with Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm. "Once you open
it up to applications, what you can think of is limitless."
Microsoft held demonstrations of the technology last week and Ballmer will
officially introduce it at the Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things
Digital" conference on Wednesday.
Microsoft shunned its usual PC manufacturing partners and decided to take
control of the surface computer's hardware production using an
undisclosed contract manufacturer. It will run the Windows Vista
operating system.
Microsoft has a mixed record with new technology. Its Zune music player
has not yet become a major challenger to Apple Inc.'s iPod, but its Xbox
360 game console has enjoyed early success in the battle of
next-generation game machines.
For years Gates has championed touch-screen technology such as the
tablet PC with little success, but the Surface is a totally different
shape and allows for multiple users at once.
In a demonstration, Microsoft placed a digital camera with a wireless
chip on the tabletop. The Surface recognized the camera and sent its
pictures to the display, allowing people around the table to sift through
them, grabbing and turning pictures or making them bigger or smaller by
spreading or narrowing their fingers.
Microsoft showed in another demonstration how Deutsche Telekom cell phone
operator T-Mobile USA, one of its launch partners, could deploy the
computer in its stores.
A customer can grab a phone off the shelf, place it on the tabletop where
it will recognize the device and pop up the handset's specifications and
information to the screen. For a side-by-side comparison with another
phone, the customer can put down a second handset next to the first phone.
"It's drop-dead simple and people really like it, because it mimics what
they do in the real world," said Pete Thompson, general manager of
Microsoft's surface computing business.
Microsoft said at launch it will deploy a virtual concierge for Harrah's
Entertainment Inc.'s casinos in Las Vegas and place the surface
computers in the lobbies of Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s
Sheraton hotels.
It also signed a distribution and development agreement with
slot-machine maker International Game Technology.
Dog Lovers Warned About Online Puppy Scam
Think that puppy in the e-mail looks cute?
You'd better ignore it. The American Kennel Club and the Council of
Better Business Bureaus are warning consumers about a new e-mail scam that
is conning people into spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on
puppies that they actually never receive.
"Because of the emotional investment, consumers are more vulnerable to
being taken advantage of when it comes to a cute, cuddly puppy than with
any other purchase," said Lisa Peterson, an AKC spokeswoman, in a written
statement. "A dog is a major investment - a living, breathing being who
will rely on you for 10 years or more. Take time to educate yourself on
the hallmarks of a egitimate and responsible breeder."
Both the AKC and the business bureau report they've recently received
complaints from people who have lost money after responding to online
solicitations or newspaper ads about puppies for sale. The scammer, who
generally poses as a breeder, either sends out e-mails or puts up ads
offering up free or inexpensive puppies. The ads have been spotted on
MySpace postings, Web sites, and in newspaper classified sections. The
scammer claims he's affiliated with a religious organization and is being
relocated to a foreign country and needs to find a new home for the
puppies.
"The consumer can be taken in by the sincerity of the scammer, who'll say
that they don't care about money and just want to find a good home for
their beloved puppies," said Steve Cox, VP of communications for the CBBB,
in a written statement. "But then the fees for shipping the pet mount up
and the consumer can lose hundreds of dollars before realizing they've
been conned and will never get their puppy."
Both organizations offer this advice to anyone looking to buy a puppy:
Do your research. Ask if the breeder is a member of an AKC-affiliated club
and contact the club to verify membership or check recent listings of
available AKC litters from breeders at the club's Web site. Potential dog
owners also can check with the BBB and the AKC to see if there are any
complaints about the breeder. Request references and speak to other people
who have purchased dogs from this breeder, especially if the breeder
doesn't live near you.
Good breeders focus on the puppy, not the payment. Beware of breeders who
seem overly concerned with getting paid. Any reputable breeder will be far
more concerned with the appropriateness of the potential pet home than what
and when they're getting paid. Make sure you have clear expectations -
ideally in writing - of how and when the pup will be paid for. Be
especially wary of any breeder who insists that you wire money and who
calls to ask for more money to be wired to cover last-minute shipping fees.
Don't be fooled by a slick Web site. Unscrupulous breeders and even
outright scammers can be represented by professional-looking Web sites that
lure you in with fraudulent pictures of adorable puppies. At the very
least, speak with the breeder on the telephone and ideally meet the breeder
and the puppy in person. If you locate a breeder online, never send money
without checking their references and credentials first.
Take your time. Beware of breeders who claim to have multiple breeds ready
to ship immediately. It's highly unlikely that your perfect puppy will be
available for shipping on the day you call. Gestation and socialization of
a litter takes months - no puppy should be separated from its mother before
it's eight weeks old.
Report a scam. Anyone who has experienced a dog-related scam should report
it to local law enforcement, as well as to their local Better Business
Bureau.
=~=~=~=
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