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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 09 Issue 05
Volume 9, Issue 05 Atari Online News, Etc. February 2, 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:
Uwe Seimet
Francois Le Coat
Stephen Moss
To subscribe to A-ONE, change e-mail addresses, or unsubscribe,
log on to our website at: www.atarinews.org
and click on "Subscriptions".
OR subscribe to A-ONE by sending a message to: dpj@atarinews.org
and your address will be added to the distribution list.
To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE
Please make sure that you include the same address that you used to
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To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
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Now available:
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Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
http://forums.delphiforums.com/atari/
=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0905 02/02/07
~ Few Rush To Get Vista! ~ People Are Talking! ~ ZINK Prints, No Ink!
~ eBay Bans Virtual Booty ~ Cyber-Bullying Grows! ~ New HDDriver Update!
~ Web "Tagging" Popular! ~ Sex Predators Targeted ~ US Gov't Earns 'D'!
~ New Zero-Day Warning! ~ Web Over Gardening??!! ~ New Eureka Version!
-* Gates Promises Vista Wows! *-
-* Adobe Pushes To Make PDF Standard! *-
-* Apple Seeks Patent For Bottom-Feeding Drive *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Although the possibility is out there that we'll get another dusting this
evening, we're still snow-less here in suburban Boston! Here we are, at
that "pivotal" point on the calendar - Groundhog Day - and we've had less
than two inches of snow so far this winter! Now, I realize that things
tend to balance out over time, and we'll probably get buried in the white
stuff sooner or later, but I'm enjoying not having to deal with it yet.
Sure, we've had some bouts of really cold temperatures, but that's an
issue most of us can handle with hardly more than a whimper. Spring here
in the Northeast is usually an extremely wet season, so I'm not worried
about things like drought-like conditions. Another six weeks of winter
according to Puxatawny Phil - I'm ready!
I was surprised that I didn't get any feedback from last week's comments
regarding the various MySpace issues. I figured that I'd get at least one
or two e-mails, regardless of the position on the topic. Oh well, perhaps
people aren't overly concerned about what their kids are doing online, or
whether or not they have an opinion about such issues. That's fine - I
had a bug in my ear and I got it out!
So, to make up for last week's two voluminous commentaries, I'll be
quiet this week. I'm sure another fiery topic will surface soon enough!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
HDDriver 8.2
There is a new version of HDDRIVER available, with the most prominent
change the support of IDE drives with a capacity of up to 2048 GByte
(LBA-48). (Up to now only 128 GByte were supported.) For SCSI drives
there is no change, i.e. drives up to 8192 GByte are supported.
A list of changes in the latest version 8.2 and a new demo version is
available on http://www.seimet.de/hddriver_english.html.
Dr. Uwe Seimet http://www.linkbylink.net/
February Release of Eureka 2.12
Hi,
The software "Eureka 2.12" is updated on its WEB page. It is a
"2D Graph Describer and 3D Modeller". You will fetch it from :
<http://eureka.atari.org/eurka702.zip>
That is the Complete Common Edition
<http://eureka.atari.org/eurka020.zip>
Is the Complete 68020 Edition
<http://eureka.atari.org/eurkafpu.zip>
Is the Limited FPU Edition
<http://eureka.atari.org/eurklite.zip>
Is the Lite Edition, working on early ST with 720kb floppy
<http://eureka.atari.org/lib_dgem.zip>
Are Dynamic Libraries Extensions for Eureka
<http://eureka.atari.org/tiny045.zip>
Is the OpenGL Extension (requires previous package)
This publication corresponds to 20th anniversary of its
starting developments, that began at first months of 1987.
I wish you big fun with this new STuff !
Best ATARIans regards,
-- François LE COAT
Author of Eureka 2.12
<http://eureka.atari.org/>
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE User Group Notes! - Meetings, Shows, and Info!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
JagFest UK 2007 (its not just for Jaguars you know)
This year's JagFest UK will be held at the Medway Manor Hotel, Rochester,
Kent, England on the 30th June & 1st July.
For the full weekend experience arrival and setting up will start late
afternoon and evening the day before (29th June) as usual.
Come and see Jaguars, VCSs, STs, TTs Falcons, Hades, Milans and more
including an appearance by one of only two working Jaguar Virtual Reality
headsets.
Keep an eye on http://www.jagfest.org/uk/JFK2007/index.shtml for updates on
who and what will be in attendance.
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. I don't know if we're going to have
enough messages for a real column this week, but we're gonna give it a
shot.
You know how I often go off on tangents and rant about stuff that has
nothing to do with computers in general or Atari computers in
particular? Well, this is another one of those times. [grin]
If you've read this column for any amount of time, you know that I've
got a lot of interests that have nothing to do with any of the other
interests. Well, we all are like that to one extent or another. It's
just a question of how far apart the interests are and how vocal we
choose to be about our interests.
Well, I was reading an article this week about the status of the North
American bison. It seems that there are two distinct genetic lines of
bison, and they're both right in and around Yellowstone National Park.
I didn't pay attention to whether or not there was a natural barrier to
their intermingling. It was the fact that there were two genetic lines
that interested me.
So I did a little research and found that there were a lot of
bison/cattle hybrids that have been reintroduced into the stocks of
both wild and 'farmed' buffalo. There were both cattalo and beefalo
that was bred to grow faster than buffalo, be more docile like cattle,
and have meat that was lower in fat and cholesterol than beef.
Well, it worked to a certain extent, but the country loves beef, and has
a mental block about bison.
Oh, by the way, did you know that North American Bison are NOT buffaloes?
Buffaloes are the big, massive-horned creatures that roam around parts
of Asia and Africa. American Buffalo are related, but they're not
actually buffalo.
Anyway, there's a lot of controversy about what to do with these bison
that have cattle DNA in them... some want to just destroy them all and
be done with it. Others say that this would seriously deplete the
stocks of 'REAL' bison to a mere handful... some say less than 50
specimens, and that if it looks like a bison and smells like a bison
and it snorts like a bison... well, you get the idea.
Still others propose compromises like any specimen that's more than 5/8
bison genome is a bison.
Me? Well, I never really thought about it. A genetically pure bloodline
would be nice to have. I mean, what's the use of preserving critters
that are 'tainted', right? Well, tainted or not, these animals are here
now. Like I said, I never really thought about this before. Are hybrids
as desirable as 'purebreds'?
The reason I'm mentioning this is not because I'm really into nature
and... oh, what you might call the Zen of genetics, but because it's
just another example of something that has valuable points on both
sides of the equation, and its something that most of us never thought
of and never would have thought of had we not decided to read this
little article in this little online magazine about a little 'also-ran'
computer model from more than a decade ago.
But you did read it, and I'll lay odds that you'll think at least a
little bit about those big, nasty-smelling, bull-headed creatures that
at one time roamed throughout huge portions of the plain states, and
about their offspring and whether or not they're pure bison or part
cattle. Maybe you'll think about ranchers out in Wyoming and the
government subsidy that they're not getting anymore, and what a bison
might think about whether or not its got some cow DNA. You might think
about any one of those things, or about something that I haven't
thought about yet, but you'll think. And when all is said and done,
thinking is good.
Okay, let's get to the news, hints, tips and info from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
Dr. Uwe Seimet, author of HD Driver, posts this about his offering:
"There is a new version of HDDRIVER available, with the most prominent
change the support of IDE drives with a capacity of up to 2048 GByte
(LBA-48). (Up to now only 128 GByte were supported.) For SCSI drives
there is no change, i.e. drives up to 8192 GByte are supported.
A list of changes in the latest version 8.2 and a new demo version is
available on http://www.seimet.de/hddriver_english.html."
Adam Klobukowski tells Uwe:
"I see, with IDE drives, you stopped at maximum XHDI can handle (32
bits). Have you considered extending XHDI with new functions to fully
support 48 bit addressing? (that would give us max of 131 072 000 GB)"
Uwe answers good-naturedly:
"Ask me this question again as soon as Atari users want to add drives
larger than 2048 GB to their Atari!"
Adam tells Uwe:
"There already are 1TB disks, I think we'll see 4TB this year. I'm
thinking about buying one!"
Peter Schneider adds:
"My first hard disk was a Megafile 30, my current one is an IBM DCAS
with 4 GB, and I'm pretty sure I will never need a larger drive as
long as working with my TT.
I really do laugh when looking ad the ads for Windows Vista,
especially when regarding the hardware requirements..."
Henk Robbers adds his thoughts on that last subject:
"A sensible name convention for modern operating systems
would be the names of palaces:
Louvres
Fontainebleau
Versailles
...
Hermitage
The order reflects the increasing need for royal households
through history. They also all accommodate only 1 king."
'Calimero' adds:
"[The] Limit of 120GB was a little bit annoying but 2TB should be fine
for quite some time...
Anyway, how you manage to fill even a 120GB hard disc on an Atari? All
the games and programs for the Atari ST and F030 will take only 10% of
that space... Do you have 100GB of MP3s?"
Frank Szymanski tells Calimaro:
"I once converted all my CDs into MP3 (and used my Falcon for that) and
now consider storing the content of these CDs as .wav-files on the
falcon so I don't get any quality loss (except the fact that the DA
converters in the falcon are not the best ones)."
Well folks, that's it for this week. I know that there's only one
message thread here, but that's really all that was going on in the
NewsGroup this week. Maybe we'll get lucky next week and we'll have a
bunch of things to talk about. 'Till then, keep your ears open so
you'll hear what they're saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Sony May Have To Cut PS3 Price!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Wii News Channel Launched!
eBay Bans Virtual Booty!
And much more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Nintendo Launches Wii News Channel
Besides television, radio, Internet and newspapers where do you get your
news? Would you consider using a game console to receive your news? That's
what Nintendo and the Associated Press are hoping.
A new feature for Nintendo Wii owners is the "Wii News Channel", which
launched on Saturday. The content will comprise news from the Associated
Press and will offer stories on various categories from across the country
and around the world.
"What Wii has done for video gaming, we hope it will also accomplish for
news," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "Just by
pointing at your TV screen, you become your own interactive editor,
instantly accessing the latest headline stories, whether they originate in
Kansas City or Kyoto."
Japanese gamers have their own version of the news channel, which is
provided by Internet news portal Goo. European Wii gamers will begin
receiving News Channel content later this year.
The free news channel allows users to spin a virtual globe and point to the
location of a news event with their Wii Remote. The AP will supply news for
the Wii in English, Spanish, French, Dutch and German.
Wii users will be able to browse news under categories including Business,
Sports, Arts/Entertainment, Technology and Science/Health. Icons will show
which stories have been read, which are text and which ones have photos.
Users will also be able to change the size of the text.
"The Associated Press is always looking for innovative ways to expand its
audience for news and information," said Jane Seagrave, vice president and
director of AP's digital division. "The Wii News Channel extends our
global reach even further, on yet another platform, offering our news to
people who otherwise might not see it."
To Break Even, Sony May Cut PlayStation 3 Price
Although Sony is blaming its faltering profits partly on PlayStation 3
price cuts in Japan, a senior executive said yesterday that slashing
prices further may be in store for the just-launched video game machine.
Pricing is one of the factors Sony Corp. is studying; it expects to break
even in its money-losing gaming business next fiscal year, said senior
vice president Takao Yuhara, stressing that no additional price cut has
been decided on.
The PS3 was launched in the United States and Japan in November, plagued
with production problems that resulted in shortages and will keep the
machines out of Europe entirely until March.
The next-generation game player also faces immense competition from
Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360.
Sony's disclosure Tuesday that October-December profit slipped 5 percent
to $1.3 billion sent Sony shares down 1.4 percent in Tokyo yesterday. The
shares closed at $46.33, up three cents, on the New York Stock Exchange.
Yuhara said red ink in the gaming division for the fiscal year through
March could be worse than the $1.6 billion operating loss that Sony is
forecasting.
Nintendo Video Games Winners With Fans And Critics
Japanese video game giant Nintendo Co. Ltd. was the top winner at the 2006
People's Choice 1UP Awards hosted by the Ziff Davis Game Group in San
Francisco on Wednesday.
"The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" for Nintendo's new Wii console
was voted game of the year and best adventure title by users of the 1UP
Network of video game fan sites.
"Wii Sports," also for the Wii, was named most innovative and best sports
game.
1UP Editors voted "Zelda" console game of the year. "The Elder Scrolls
IV: Oblivion" from Bethesda Softworks and Take-Two Interactive Software
Inc. took home the award for PC game of the year.
Ebay Bans Online Auctions Of Virtual Game Booty
Ebay said that it had banned auctions of virtual gold, armor and other
booty amassed in World of Warcraft and other online computer games.
The San Jose, California-based Internet auction house decided to bar
sales of what was essentially computer code representing riches, swords
and other items in games due to "legal complexities" regarding ownership.
"We decided it was best to just not allow sales of them," Ebay spokesman
Hani Durzy said of virtual game goods.
"We are not saying they are legal and we are not saying they are illegal."
Ebay continues to allow auctions of items from virtual societies such as
Second Life, where people represented by animated figures called "avatars"
buy and sell homes and other "property" made of computer codes.
"Right now, Second Life is not considered a game so we are not applying
the restriction to it," Durzy said.
In massive multiplayer online role-playing games such as Warcraft gamers
represented by avatars wage battles and undertake quests, gathering gold,
weaponry, armor and other virtual goods along the way.
Enterprising young gamers have earned livings playing Warcraft and selling
their booty online to those willing to pay to advance quickly through the
different levels of the games.
Durzy compared the ban on Ebay auctions of virtual game goods to the
firm's decisions to bar sales of alcohol or tobacco, which are lawful
products controlled by complex governmental regulations.
Ebay removes auctions of virtual game items found on its website, Durzy
said. The policy was put in place within the past few weeks.
"Remember, our policies are ever evolving," Durzy said. "We will change
them if the communities, state of the culture, or laws dictate such."
Ebay would not disclose the volume of sales of virtual game items it had
recorded on its website, which reported 53.5 billion dollars worth of
online auction trades in 2006.
Godzilla Stomps Onto PSP
Atari announced the impending release of Godzilla: Unleashed for the Wii,
Nintendo DS, and PSP.
Godzilla: Unleashed follows in the monstrous footsteps of last-generation's
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee. The game stars the titular Godzilla,
as well as a slew of some of his most famous adversaries. Godzilla:
Unleashed features urban arenas littered with fully destructible
skyscrapers and towering alien formations.
"The iconic Japanese giant goes from strength to strength, taking the
franchise in new directions not least with the unprecedented dynamic
control afforded by the unique Wii controller," said Cyril Voiron of Atari
Europe.
The game features a fully reinvented combat system, which on the Wii allows
for a greater degree of control over your monster as you decimate cities in
your quest to become the King of Monsters. The game will also feature a
non-linear storyline, which will be affected by players' choices in battle.
The game is scheduled for a fall release on all of the announced platforms.
Wii Is Guest Of Honor At New Genre Of Parties
Kris Smith called it "the equivalent of a man Tupperware party." In early
December, he and a few pals gathered in a basement in suburban Chicago to
try out their friend's brand new Nintendo Wii video game console.
At the end of the night, Smith, 32, was sweaty, exhausted, and completely
sold on buying a Wii for himself.
Smith, who never enjoyed video games before the Wii, said the console has
given him a new way not only to enjoy time with his wife and children, but
also to socialize with his friends.
After securing his own Wii, Smith, who heads new media initiatives at a
start-up, organized a "Wii Tournament" that included an hour warm-up
session and a trophy for the winner. The invitation told guests: "If you
have ever picked your nose or punched someone, you can get in on the fun."
Smith's recent event is just one of a slew of Wii-themed home parties that
have cropped up since the console's launch late last year.
According to Wii owners, the console's motion-sensitive controller, which
can be swung like a tennis racquet or sword, makes it perfect for groups
of people to take turns bowling or swordfighting in their living rooms.
"It's almost as entertaining to watch people playing as to be on the
system," said Mike Marusin, the friend of Smith's who turned him on to
the Wii.
Perrin Kaplan, vice president of marketing for Nintendo of America, said
the Wii was also popular at family gatherings over the holidays -
including her own.
"For the first time ever over the holidays all the people in my household
were playing together," Kaplan said. "I know it was a first for a lot of
households."
Indeed, Marusin said he was floored by how the Wii caught on not, only
with his wife and friends, but also with his extended family.
"My father-in-law, who doesn't even have a debit card, was bowling,"
Marusin said. "That was the big talk of the family."
John Sams, a 20-year-old student in Greenville, South Carolina, said he
knew the Wii would be provide a new opportunity for socializing before it
even became available. As a result, he and his brother, Indy, 22, started
a Web site to link up people interested in Wii gaming parties in their
area.
The site, http://www.wiiparty.net, has about 150 registered members and
Sams said he has met several people through the site who have attended Wii
parties at his apartment.
He now has friends and classmates over to play games like "Red Steel" and
"Excite Truck" at least four times a week.
"I became famous for it," Sams said.
Recently, a man sent to repair his building's security system even joined
in on the fun.
"He wanted to play, so he stayed for about 30 minutes before his cell
phone went off," Sams said.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Gates Promises Vista Will Wow PC Buyers
Acrobatics, blaring music and plenty of hype accompanied Microsoft Corp.'s
long-delayed debut of its new Windows Vista operating system.
Hours before the software went on sale in New York, dancers clad in
Microsoft colors dangled from ropes high above street level and unfurled
flags to form the red, green, blue and yellow Windows logo against a
building wall. At a swank midtown eatery, speakers pumped out a hit from
hip-hop hotshot Snoop Dogg before Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief
executive officer, took to stage.
"Vista is the center, the launching point for the next generation of
connected entertainment in the home," Ballmer said.
Vista was set to go on sale around the globe Tuesday, along with new
versions of Microsoft Exchange e-mail software and the flagship Office
business suite, which includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Several
retailers had even scheduled midnight openings.
But unlike the recent launches of next-generation game machines like Sony
Corp.'s PlayStation 3, customers haven't been camping out for days.
"When I look at Windows Vista, I see a technology that is interesting,
that is relevant, but to some extent is evolutionary," said Al Gillen, an
analyst at the technology research group IDC. "I do not believe it will
create a lot of motivation for people to rush out and get a new operating
system."
In an interview, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said the company actually
wasn't pushing midnight sales events - after all, the software will be
available as a download over the Web for the first time. Even that route
will be relatively rarely taken - Ballmer acknowledged that, as in the
past, most consumers will switch to Vista only when they buy new
computers.
More than five years in the making, Vista was released for businesses Nov.
30, but the unveiling for consumers of the latest edition of Windows -
which runs more than 90 percent of the world's PCs - only came Tuesday.
Vista retails for $100 to $400, depending on the version and whether the
user is upgrading from Windows XP.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker contends that Vista is such a huge
improvement over previous computing platforms that users inevitably say
"Wow" when they see it.
Gates ticked off some examples, such as how Vista presents a slick 3-D
graphical user interface and document icons that give at-a-glance
previews. Gates said the next wow comes when people start using a
system-wide search program that Microsoft's engineers built into both the
operating system and new versions of Office.
Vista comes as changing dynamics of computing - notably the rise of
open-source software and Web-based services that replicate what
traditionally could be done only on a desktop computer - are threatening
Microsoft's dominance in the industry.
But Gates contended that the operating system has a higher profile than
ever before, as the PC has morphed from a souped-up typewriter to a
networked entertainment center, personal media library and gateway to the
Internet.
"When people think about their PC, they think about Windows even more than
who the manufacturer is. That determines how it looks, how you navigate,
what the applications are that are available," Gates told The Associated
Press. And in this case, Vista has folded in programs that users once
bought separately - including automated backup systems and some spyware
protections.
Microsoft built Vista so that different layers could be upgraded
separately, so it's possible that this is the last massive, all-in-one
update for Windows. No matter how Microsoft chooses to roll out Vista's
successor, Ballmer said there's still work to be done.
"There's so many areas in which we need innovation. Developers need a
richer platform if we're going to get speech, voice, natural language, and
more rich 3-D-type graphics into the user interface," Ballmer said. Plus,
the technologies around the PC - chips, storage, high-definition DVD will
all evolve, he said. "The operating system will need to evolve with them."
"Frankly, we've got a very long list of stuff our engineers want to do, a
long list of stuff that the companies here want us to do," he said.
Over the weekend, Dell Inc. started taking orders for PCs with Vista.
Kevin Rollins, Dell's chief executive, said the company's Web site saw a
20 percent jump in traffic, with "tens of thousands of copies" of Vista
sold for delivery Tuesday or later.
In Tokyo, about 80 people lined up Monday night at the Bic Camera
Department Store to become among the world's first consumers to own Vista.
Celebrities and executives were on hand as a large-screen TV displayed a
countdown to the midnight launch (10 a.m. EST).
The second person in line, Fumihiko Koyama, 33, waited three hours and
was hoping the new operating system will make his work in Web design
easier.
"My expectations are very high for Vista," he said. "I want to try it out
because it's new."
For a Tuesday morning store celebration, DSG International PLC's flagship
PC World store in central London hired costumed characters, including
Sherlock Holmes for security and a movie star for multimedia.
PC World spokesman Hamish Thompson said some retailers are banking on
Vista to push customers toward the higher-end machines needed to run
Vista - which imposes such hardware requirements as 1 gigabyte of system
memory, or RAM.
Few Rush Out To Buy New Windows Vista
Consumers can finally get their hands on Microsoft Corp.'s long-delayed
Windows Vista, but unlike the mad midnight rushes retailers saw with the
recently released video game consoles, stores saw only a trickle of early
adopters Tuesday.
Retailers around the world held special midnight events Monday or opened
early Tuesday morning, as the Vista operating system and Office 2007
business software went on sale in 70 countries. Some stores, including a
Best Buy in midtown Manhattan, brought in extra employees to handle
pent-up demand for Vista.
At a CompUSA in San Jose, Calif., David Keller, a 40-year-old
information-technology consultant from Jacksonville, Fla., was among the
first in line to pick up a new Hewlett-Packard Co. laptop at midnight
(3 a.m. EST). "I've been waiting and waiting, and I've been using my
personal laptop for work; it's not working well," he said. "This is a big
deal for me. I'll hopefully get the better performance that I need, and I
won't have to go through the trouble of upgrading later."
But at another CompUSA store in Raleigh, N.C., only about a dozen people
braved frigid late-night temperatures to stake their claim on a copy of
Vista.
This is the first time since 1995 that Microsoft simultaneously released
new versions of Windows and Office, the software package that includes
Word and Excel. Although the vast majority of people worldwide still run
Windows machines and use Word to type up documents, the company faces
growing competition from Linux open-source operating systems and an array
of free desktop or Web-based programs for word processing, e-mail and
other services.
Microsoft said PC users will want to upgrade to Vista for its 3-D user
interface and speedy desktop search function. The Redmond, Wash., software
maker also touts Vista's improved security and parental controls. For
Office 2007, Microsoft tossed out familiar menus and buttons and replaced
them with a "ribbon" of settings that change depending on a user's current
task.
But consumers whose computers work fine with Windows XP, Vista's
five-year-old predecessor, may not see a compelling reason to switch. Al
Gillen, an analyst at technology research group IDC, estimates it will
take five to seven years before the majority of systems running XP are
retired.
Michael Bridges of Mabank, Texas, was the lone customer perusing the
sprawling display of Vista software and computers at a Fry's Electronics
store in Dallas on Tuesday morning.
Bridges, a 53-year-old who works in the highway construction business,
said he was curious to see the various editions of Vista but had no
immediate plans to buy a copy.
"Every time Windows comes out it has bugs," he said. "I don't want to pay
for that yet. I'll probably wait a couple of months."
Kathleen Calvin echoed those concerns as she left a Best Buy in Brooklyn,
Ohio, empty-handed.
"I just want to make sure it's something that's going to work well," she
said. During the past few weeks, shelves in the computer section at a Best
Buy in midtown New York have been essentially bare, as consumers lost
interest in laptops with XP and the retailer cleared space to sell new
machines running Vista, which imposes such hardware requirements as 1
gigabyte of system memory, or RAM.
Consumers who want to upgrade a relatively new XP computer can expect to
drop $100 to $259 for Vista alone, depending on the version (a standalone
version of Vista costs up to $399, but it is already included in the
price of new PCs).
While Microsoft boasts that 1.5 million devices are Vista-compatible now,
analysts warn of a potentially rocky transition.
"The real proof I think is going to be in the first few weeks, where we
see if all the vendors really stepped up to getting their drivers right,"
said Michael Silver, an analyst at Gartner, a research group. "It is
definite that some things won't work, especially if you're trying to make
an older PC learn new tricks."
But as in the past, most consumers will switch to Vista only when they buy
new computers, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Monday during a
launch-related event.
Apple Seeks Patents For Bottom-Loading Disk Drive
Apple has applied for two patents related to a bottom-loading disk drive
for a notebook.
The patents, first reported on Friday by technology blog Engadget, relate
to having a disk drive on the bottom of a notebook. Today, disk drives on
Apple MacBooks are accessed through a slot on the front of the machines.
One of the patent applications filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark
Office is for an access system for a portable device. "The portable
computer is accessed through an active user interface on the bottom surface
of the portable computer," the application, dated Jan. 25, says.
The other application, also dated Jan. 25, is for a disk drive media
access system that would apparently prevent the disk from falling out of
the drive.
Apple wasn't immediately available for comment.
A potential benefit of a bottom-loading disk drive would be a thinner
notebook.
However, there's no indication of Apple's plans for the patents, or whether
the technology would eventually make its way into products.
Adobe Pushes for PDF Standardization
In a competitive move against Microsoft's emerging XPS format, Adobe on
Monday released its Portable Document Format 1.7 specification to a
standards group for official recognition.
While PDF is already the unofficial standard for electronic documents,
Adobe hopes to set the format in stone and lock out Microsoft by releasing
the specification to the Association for Information and Image Management
(AIIM) for publication by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO).
Much like PDF, Microsoft's XPS, or XML Paper Specification, allows users
to distribute and print documents without installing the actual application
that created them. Some analysts view Microsoft's decision to remove the
"Save As PDF" feature from its new Office productivity suite and replace it
with XPS as a clear indication that the software giant intends to battle
Adobe in this arena.
Kevin Lynch, senior vice president and chief software architect at Adobe,
threw down the gauntlet in the ISO arena, calling the company's decision
to seek approval the next logical step in the evolution of PDF from de
facto standard to a formal, de jure standard.
"By releasing the full PDF specification for ISO standardization, we are
reinforcing our commitment to openness," Lynch said in a statement,
arguing that standardization will drive continued innovation and expand the
PDF ecosystem that has developed over the past 15 years.
Adobe published the complete PDF specification in 1993, giving it a leg up
on Microsoft's nascent XPS format and offering business users more robust
capabilities, according to Directions on Microsoft analyst Greg
DeMichillie. XPS, he added, is immature compared to PDF.
"Consumers will find the functions of PDF and XPS similar; you open an
electronic file and it looks just like it would on paper," he noted. "But
from a business perspective, you can do much more with PDF on several
levels."
One key difference between PDF and XPS is platform support. PDF readers
are available for Mac, Linux, and old and new versions of Windows.
Currently, XPS is supported only on Microsoft products.
A second difference is the number of PDF creation tools on the market.
Beyond Adobe, there are free and fee-based third-party tools available to
create the electronic files. XPS does not offer this level of creation
support.
Finally, Adobe offers server support for PDF. Customers can fill out forms
online, click "send," and dispatch a PDF file to an organization's server.
The server can then process the file.
"Microsoft wants to add these types of features," DeMichillie said, "but
XPS doesn't yet make them available. PDF has far more supporting processes
to help businesses incorporate electronic files into their operations."
ZINK Prints Without Ink
Printers are cheap; one can be purchased for as little as $49. But how
would printer manufacturers survive without selling ink, as well? ZINK, a
startup, doesn't care.
Printers all need their regular fix of consumables that include photo
paper, and, of course, ink; a key method of making money for Epson, HP,
Lexmark, and Canon.
ZINK's new patented print technology (the company claims over 100
patents), introduced here at DEMO 07, doesn't need ink wells to create a
photo. Instead, it uses special paper, which includes a layer of dye
crystals sealed under a special polymer coating-embedded paper, and a
portable printer. The printer doesn't have ink cartridges or ribbons,
instead applying heat to the special paper, which then, according to ZINK
(which stands for "Zero Ink"), "colorizes the crystals" and apparently
brings them through to the surface of the paper. The end result is a
color photo.
We saw, albeit briefly, a pocket-sized prototype of a ZINK printer;
however, the company has no intention of building the actual output
devices. ZINK executives said they plan on licensing the thermal printing
technology to other printer OEMs. Company representatives believe the
ZINK printer and paper will have a big impact.
"ZINK...provides a magical user experience, can transform any device into
a printer, is good to the environment, and most importantly, makes people
smile," said Wendy Caswell, president and chief executive of ZINK Imaging,
in a presentation here.
"Tagging" Content Popular Online
Internet users are taking avidly to sites that let them label photos,
movies and blogs with their own descriptive tags, providing a major new way
of organizing information online, according to a survey by the Pew Internet
& American Life Project.
The December survey, released Wednesday, found that 28 percent of Internet
users have tagged content, and 7 percent have done so on a typical day.
Tagging is used to organize photos on Yahoo Inc.'s Flickr, Web site
bookmarks on Yahoo's del.icio.us and video on Google Inc.'s YouTube.
Google's Gmail e-mail service also uses a form of tagging, although its
"labels" are for personal rather than group organizing.
With tagging, a YouTube video of a python attacking rabbit gets tags that
include "python, snake, rabbit, reptile, eat, devour, food, chain,"
helping to guide people who search the site looking for any of those
things.
The people most likely to be taggers are typical early adopters, the
survey found: They are under age 40, use broadband Internet connections
and have above-average income and education.
It was the first time Pew asked about tagging, so it couldn't to say how
fast the phenomenon as a whole is growing.
In commentary accompanying the survey results, David Weinberger, a fellow
at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, contrasts
the use of tagging to older methods of organizing information, like the
Dewey Decimal system used in libraries.
The Dewey system is a hierarchal system in which each book belongs only to
one category, while tagging lets users organize things in multiple
categories that are useful to them.
"You may want to tag, say, a Stephen King story as 'horror,' but maybe to
me it's 'ghost story' and to a literature professor it's 'pop culture,'"
Weinberger writes. The beauty of the system is that all those views can
co-exist.
The survey polled 2,373 adults Nov. 30 to Dec. 30 by phone, of which
1,623 were Internet users. It had a margin of sampling error of 3
percentage points.
US Government Earns A 'D' In Cybersecurity
The Cyber Security Industry Alliance has given the U.S. government D
grades on its cybersecurity efforts in 2006, and renewed its call for the
U.S. Congress to pass a comprehensive data protection law in 2007.
The CSIA, a trade group representing cybersecurity vendors, gave the U.S.
government D grades in three areas: security of sensitive information,
security and reliability of critical infrastructure, and federal government
information assurance.
"Government needs to take these issues very seriously," said Liz Gasster,
the CSIA's acting executive director and general counsel.
Among the problems in 2006: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
reported a data breach involving the personal information of 26.5 million
military veterans and family members. Other agencies also reported multiple
lost laptops containing personal information. The CSIA called on agencies
to notify citizens of data breaches.
After a rash of reported data breaches in early 2005, members of Congress
introduced multiple bills requiring companies with data breaches to notify
affected consumers. But a breach-notification law failed to pass, partly
because of jurisdictional fights between multiple congressional committees.
A comprehensive data security bill should include breach notification, but
also a requirement that all organizations holding sensitive data -
including private companies, government agencies, nonprofits, and
educational institutions - use reasonable security standards, Gasster said.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has taken action against several
companies, but a comprehensive law would give the FTC or another agency
broad jurisdiction to investigate data breaches, she said.
The CSIA is optimistic a comprehensive data breach law will pass in the
next year, even though it stalled in the last Congress, Gasster added.
Major data breaches continue to happen, and consumers will increase the
pressure on Congress to act, she predicted. In mid-January, retailer TJX
Companies Inc. reported a massive data breach.
"Consumers just are not going to put up with is," Gasster said.
Here's how the CSIA generated its government cybersecurity grades:
-- Security of sensitive information, grade D: Congress ratified the
Council of Europe Convention on Cyber Crime, allowing the U.S. to work
with other signatories on cybersecurity investigations, but failed to pass
a comprehensive law to protect sensitive personal information.
-- Security and resiliency of the critical information infrastructure,
grade D: The Department of Homeland Security appointed an assistant
secretary for cybersecurity and telecommunications and implemented some
cybersecurity program, but it hasn't offered a clear agenda for its top
cybersecurity research and development priorities or established a
survivable emergency coordination network to handle a large-scale
cybersecurity disaster.
-- Federal information assurance, grade D: Government continues to offer
a "mixed bag of successes and failures," the CSIA said, with progress
within the White House Office of Management and Budget's enforcement of
cybersecurity directives and implementation of U.S. President George
Bush's Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, requiring agencies to
start issuing smart identification cards. But the government needs to do a
better job in several areas, including security issues with telecommuting
and releasing information on the cost of cyberattacks, the CSIA said.
In addition to a comprehensive data protection bill, CSIA called for the
U.S. government to strengthen the power of agency chief information
officers and called on agencies to increase testing of cybersecurity
controls.
Lawmakers Target Online Sex Predators
In a move to protect children from online threats, U.S. Senators Charles
Schumer and John McCain on Tuesday introduced legislation that would
require sex offenders to submit e-mail addresses, instant-message names,
and other identifying Internet information to federal authorities. But
critics of the bill say more should be done.
The "Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2007," or KIDS
Act, would place a convicted felon's electronic identifying information in
the National Sex Offender Registry, and allow social-networking sites to
cross-check user information against the registry to protect kids from
online predators.
"Millions of teenagers log on to Web sites like MySpace and they, and their
parents, shouldn't have to worry about running in to these predators
online," Schumer said in a statement, adding that sex offenders have no
business joining social-networking communities.
Under the proposed legislation, any sex offender who submits a fraudulent
e-mail address could face jail time. Further, any offender caught using an
unregistered e-mail address would be in violation of probation or parole
terms and face a return to prison.
The senators reason that sex offenders who provide fraudulent e-mails offer
law enforcement a clue that they are attempting to evade detection.
"The fight to protect our children from sexual predators has moved from the
playground to the Internet. By adopting this legislation, Congress would be
able to provide Web sites with the tools to develop innovative solutions to
protect children," McCain said in a statement.
MySpace and Facebook, along with the American Family Association, have
endorsed the KIDS Act. But some legal experts said the legislation does not
go far enough to protect the Internet's youngest social networkers.
"This bill is not enough and we are in agreement with the Attorney Generals
who are involved in this issue that MySpace should implement age
verification technology," said Adam Loewy, a partner with Barry & Loewy
LLP, the firm that has filed lawsuits on behalf of four families that
allege their minor daughters were solicited online and then sexually abused
by adult MySpace users.
Families from New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina filed
separate suits last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging
negligence, recklessness, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation by
MySpace and its parent company News Corp. The companies named in the suit
could not immediately be
reached for comment.
MySpace has taken steps to implement technology designed to keep kids
safe, including rolling out the MySpace Guardian Toolbar to help parents
track activity of a child's page. MySpace also has partnered with Sentinel
to create a database that it uses to identify, block, or delete accounts
of known sex offenders using its community. Still, some are not satisfied.
"The age verification technology, which does exist, is the best way to
protect children on sites like MySpace. MySpace's refusal to adopt the age
verification technology indicates that it is just not serious about
protecting children," Loewy insisted. "The argument that there can't be a
perfect solution is a cynical excuse. Everything possible that can be done
should be done."
Symantec Warns of New Zero-Day Word Attack
Hackers are exploiting a new, unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft Word
that could allow them to take control of a victim's computer, Symantec
has warned.
The zero-day vulnerability is the fourth in Microsoft's widely-used Word
2000 software that has not yet been patched, the security company said in
its Security Response Warning.
A zero-day vulnerability refers to a security hole for which exploits are
already available when it was discovered. This latest one affects most
versions of Windows running Word, Symantec's advisory said.
Danish security vender Secunia ApS also reported the vulnerability, and
rated it as "extremely critical," its highest-level warning. Microsoft,
however, said the attacks are "very limited."
The attack comes via an infected Word document, a method increasingly used
by hackers for targeted attacks. If the document is opened, it installs a
Trojan horse program, called Trojan.Mdropper.W, onto the computer, Lau
wrote. The Trojan also puts other files on a computer that enable a hacker
to control it.
Microsoft released three sets of critical patches on Jan. 9, including
ones for Outlook, PowerPoint and Windows, but not for Word.
Users can avoid trouble by not opening unexpected Word documents attached
to e-mail. Hackers often spam out thousands of messages with harmful
attachments, such as Trojan horse programs, hoping unsuspecting victims
will open them.
Trojans often look harmless and can quietly install themselves on a
computer with no visible signs. The use of Word to mount an attack can be
particularly effective since the file format is so widely used.
"Silver Surfers" Choose Web Over Gardening
Retired people are starting to prefer browsing the Internet to more
traditional pastimes such as gardening, travel and DIY, according to a
survey on Friday.
Those questioned by insurance company AXA said they spend an average of
six hours a week online, shopping, doing research and e-mailing friends
or relatives.
Forty-one percent listed surfing the Internet among their favorite
pastimes, slightly ahead of the second choices, gardening and home
improvements (both 39 percent), and travel and walking (28 percent).
Their top Internet activity was e-mailing (84 percent) and looking for
information (83 percent).
Nearly half have booked travel tickets online, a third have tried
Internet banking and 28 percent catch up with the news online.
Two thirds regularly contact their children via the Internet, while four
in 10 keep in touch with their grandchildren.
AXA said older people were attracted by the Internet's convenience.
"It is encouraging to see British pensioners embracing technology," said
AXA spokesman Alison Green. "This report highlights how pensioners are
using the Internet to support a less stressful approach to life in later
years."
Cyber-Bullying Replaces Schoolyard Bullying Among US Kids
Cyberspace has replaced the schoolyard as the preferred space for bullying
among many US kids, who are going online to threaten, insult and harass
each other outside the watchful eye of teachers or parents.
According to statistics, more than a third of American teenagers who use
instant messaging and social networking sites such as MySpace, FaceBook,
Xanga and Friendster fall victim to electronic insults, often by
schoolmates.
"Many kids are involved or engaged in this behavior because it is sort of
out of distance," Justin Patchin, assistant professor of criminal justice
at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, told AFP.
"They don't see the harm that they are causing, they don't really think
that they are doing anything wrong, they think they're just having fun," he
added.
The bullying includes nasty remarks posted on personal pages or repeated
insults during instant messaging conversations.
Sometimes, however, the aggression goes even further. According to a study
by the University of Wisconsin, 12.6 percent of respondents reported that
they had been threatened physically and almost five percent said they
feared for their safety.
The phenomenon has even provoked suicides. In 2005, a 15-year-old boy named
Jeff killed himself in the southern state of Florida after being harassed
for two years on the Internet by other teenagers.
Another 13-year-old boy from the northeast state of Vermont, Ryan
Halligan, committed suicide in 2003. Halligan, who suffered from a slight
handicap, had become the butt of jokes on the Internet by several girls.
"Cyber-bullying wasn't the only factor but those who were close to the
situation maintained that it was a primary contribution to the kid's
depression and ultimate suicide," Patchin said.
He said girls were just as prone to engage in this sort of bullying as
boys. Girls are also more likely to be subjected to online bullying -
38.3 percent are bullied against 34.4 percent for boys - but 27.3 percent
of them don't hesitate to answer back, according to the University of
Wisconsin study.
"When you think about traditional schoolyard bullying, it seems to be a
more boy-dominated affair," Patchin said. "But with cyber-bullying, girls
and boys are equally likely to be involved in the behavior."
He said girl bullying is "more subtle, more subversive, more indirect or
more relational aggression," and the Internet was the perfect place for
that kind of aggression.
The most commonly used insults among girls are "fat, ugly, slut and
bitch" along with the spreading of lies and rumors.
Faced with this growing trend taking place outside the school walls,
American educators say they are often at a loss on how to respond.
"It's a very difficult challenge," said Ann Flynn, director of education
at the National School Boards Association. "Basically, it is as if
everyday a child walks from school, someone stands on a corner and yells
something negative.
"How can the school be held accountable for what happens on the
sidewalk?" Many school districts are addressing the problem by creating
"respect policies" or honor codes under which cyber-bullying would fall,
Flynn said.
"I would really hesitate to see a law passed," she added. "You do get
very close to infringing on freedom of speech when you start to
legislate some of this."
She said a national study was underway on the use of social networking
sites by teenagers and parents' perception of what their children are
doing online.
"Quite frankly the social networking phenomenon has grown so quickly
that it's very hard to have a good baseline of what's happening," Flynn
said.
=~=~=~=
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