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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 09 Issue 35
Volume 9, Issue 35 Atari Online News, Etc. August 31, 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:
Jo Even Skarstein
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0935 08/31/07
~ Country Domains Popular ~ People Are Talking! ~ 'Junk Sleep' Hurts!
~ Virus "Prank" Turns 25! ~ Cyberslacking Problem! ~ Taskbar 4 Beta!
~ Vista Update In 2008? ~ Savvy Teachers Use Net ~ "Casual" Software!
-* Storm Worm Uses You Tube Ruse *-
-* HP Launches New Print 2.0 Campaign! *-
-* Critics Urge Rejection of MS "Open" Format!*-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Man, it's been one of those weeks! I don't even know when this week's
issue will be "hitting the streets" because, as I'm writing this, I have
no DSL service. Which means, no access to the web to do my research, put
the issue together, and get it online and out to you. A Verizon service
technician just left the house to check out the DSL "home operations"
lines because everything on our end appears to be working fine. So here
I sit waiting to find out what's happening!
The week started off pretty well! My wife and I celebrated our 23rd
anniversary last weekend. We went to Maine and took my father out for his
87th birthday; and we celebrated our anniversary as well. It was good
seeing my father again.
But, as the week progressed, things went progressively downhill. Family
issues, work issues, internet problems - even golf issues! I played two
rounds of golf this week - Thursday and Friday. Thursday wasn't too bad,
and I can't complain too much. Today (Friday), I should have stayed in
bed and never gone to the course! I played very poorly, but not as poorly
as one of the guys I was with. On a few holes near the end of our round,
this guy was getting so aggravated with himself, that he started taking it
out on his clubs. Some of his clubs went flying on occasion! I felt a
little bad because I know he's a better golfer than he displayed today.
But, there's no sense to flinging clubs!
And now the day is nearing its end and I'm still waiting to see whether or
not we'll have service. And, it's the beginning of the long Labor Day
weekend - we're all supposed to be relaxing and enjoying the last
unofficial weekend of the summer. Where did it go...?
So, who knows when you'll be reading this week's issue, but I hope that it
is not delayed for too long. As I'm writing, the bulk of the issue has
been completed. Still some more articles to finish researching and
compiling, get Joe's column from the web, convert it to html format, and
mail/upload to all of you! Fun stuff! Enjoy your weekend, and stay safe!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
Taskbar 4 Beta Release
Hi!
I've done a lot of work on Taskbar lately, mostly because I switched from
N.AES to XaAES last year and had to fix Taskbar accordingly. Now large
parts of the code has been completely rewritten, and many bugs eliminated.
There was a particularly nasty bug that would cause a bus error under
certain circumstances, so hopefully the problems many has had with poor
stability should be gone now.
The new beta is available at http://atari.nvg.org/Taskbar/. Please
read the documentation carefully before installing, and report any
bugs to me. Thanks.
--
/*
** Jo Even Skarstein http://atari.nvg.org/
*/
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. It's going to be a very short column this
week because, once I weeded out the deletion notices, the troll posts,
and the just plain stupid annoying UseNet jetsam and flotsam, there
really wasn't a lot of 'meat' left.
But I wanted to submit at least something to you for another reason all
together. I know that some of you are going to cringe, but I've just
got to mention a couple of political topics. I give you permission to
skip on down to the UseNet posts if you'd like. <G>
First, this thing with Senator Larry Craig of Idaho. For anyone living
in a cave or on some deserted island, Senator Craig was arrested in an
airport restroom for allegedly soliciting... well, let's say "friendly
contact".
Now, besides the fact that I find it cosmically funny that one of the
senate's leading "just say no to ho-mo" members was tagged for this
(AND that there were rumblings of this self-same senator's behavior
during the 1980's 'Senate Page Scandal') I find it a bit disturbing
that one of the two major political parties finds it more 'proper' to
quickly and without question sever ties to this senator, who has been
pretty much a cornerstone of their 'family values' platform for two
decades. At the time of this writing, the senator has not resigned, but
we're hearing more and more anonymous (you know, those jokers inside
the party who are so sure of themselves that they'll only speak on
condition of anonymity) reports that he's going to resign "any time
now".
It is true that the senator plead guilty to a lesser charge, and that
signals to some that his years of service and usefulness to his party
are done, but in my eyes, a plea holds much less of a stigma than a
conviction would have.
I'll be quite honest with you, folks. I don't particularly care what the
good senator's sexual orientation might be. It's just not a factor to
me. Of course, _I_ am not one of the ones who've made a career out of
telling everyone else what they should think, how they should feel and,
above all, that they need to be afraid of anyone who's different.
I've always thought that our differences were what made us strong. It's
the fact that we're a 'melting pot' that makes us what we are. I've
always taken the view that it's better to know about different ideas
than to not know. I firmly believe that fear is counter-productive.
And, since fear is usually brought about by the unknown, you can do
away with a large amount of fear by KNOWING what's going on.
Of course, there are those who broker power on the basis of fear. Fear,
while counter-productive to those feeling it, is a wonderful mode of
control to those who live and die by the ballot.
So, while this particular political party dresses up intolerance as
moral superiority, they also display the fact that they themselves are
afraid. Afraid of association, afraid of losing their precarious grasp
on power, afraid of being seen for what they actually are: scared,
angry, oppressed individuals who just want to feel powerful by
browbeating everyone else into conforming to a vision of what they
themselves wish they were.
I'm not going to tell you not to belong to one party or the other. Well,
I'd prefer it if you belonged to the same one that I do, but it's not a
precondition to being able to get things done. That's the difference
between me and them. They're deathly afraid that if you find out that
it's okay to be different, you might not be afraid of 'different'
anymore and they'd have a much harder time getting you to let them do
whatever they want in the first place.
Now, on the other subject... also political... President Bush just
announced his plan for helping people who are in danger of losing their
home because they cannot pay their mortgage.
As you probably know, lots of people thought they'd found a new
'loophole' in the mortgage business, and took out sub-prime
variable-rate mortgages in order to be able to afford a home.
My wife and I just bought our first home, and we too had to take out a
mortgage to do it. Hell, A-ONE doesn't pay THAT well. <g>
But we never ever considered a sub-prime loan because of that old
adage, "If something seems too good to be true...".
Now people are finding out that their monthly payment is beyond their
ability to pay it.
What the president is proposing is tax relief for both borrower and
lender under specific circumstances. While I'm sure that everyone
involved will appreciate saving a couple of percent on their annual tax
debt, it galls me that we now need to help prop up an industry that is
in the predicament it is mainly because of its own greed. Had the
lending industry not felt the need to 'hedge' with variable rate
mortgages, there would be fewer defaulted loans now, which would result
in a more relaxed atmosphere for lending in general, which would allow
borrowers attain mortgages that were more stable and manageable for
them, which would help to stabilize the housing market.
I can, to a certain extent, pardon borrowers who were so desperate to
own a home that they took a chance on a variable rate mortgage, but
they too were often motivated by greed. Variable rate mortgages were
going like hotcakes even when fixed-rate mortgages were at their lowest
rates in decades. That tells me that either people were trying to wring
that last little bit out of the system, or they were over-reaching for
a home, and counting on the "secret" they'd found to give them some
extra purchase-power.
Well, as with all "secrets" and "systems", there's a catch. The catch
this time is that you've got to be ready to get out from under the
skyrocketing interest rates when things go in the other direction.
That's the part that most people forgot this time... that a pendulum
always swings back. Lower-than-low rates aren't going to stay that way
forever, they're going to swing back in the other direction. Oops.
As I said, it's one thing to help out legions of homeowners who didn't
know any better. But it ticks me off to have to help out the industry
that made a killing on the practice that's now depressing the housing
industry. It's like rewarding them for sticking it to people in the
first place. Institutional welfare is what it is. Well, as long as the
money's going to help those who really need it, right?
Well, let's get to the news, hints, tips and info from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
'Jao' trolls (but not in a bad way) around for Falcon stuff:
"[I'm] Looking for a few bits to repair my Falcon including
a floppy drive (original if possible), a PSU as the current one is a bit
messed up and a keyboard. If anyone has any Falcon bits for sale/trade
let me know."
'ggnkua' tells Jao:
"Well if you don't find an original floppy, you can always use a new
one by placing the "drive select" switch to 0.
Also, regarding the PSU, if all else fails then you can use an
external AT (or something like the picoPSU with an external 20V
brick).
Finally, I _think_ that a plain ST/STE keyboard will work with the
Falcon."
Mark Bedingfield adds:
"All correct. I fixed a Falcon by just replacing the keycaps on a ST
keyboard. also if you find an old HP in the scrap yard, some have nice
Atari grey Sony floppy drives. Anyone who knows electronics should be
able to fix the PSU."
Last week, Hallvard Tangaraas said:
"For some strange reason, the Atari ST emulator Hatari
(http://hatari.sourceforge.net/) no longer works on my G4 Mac. It's
worked perfectly in the past although I don't use it very often. Come
to think of it... I've probably installed an upgrade to MacOS since I
last used it, and now run MacOS 10.4.10. I also noticed that there was
a newer version available at the Hatari website; version 0.95, but even
after upgrading it to that version it still won't work (it brings up a
blank, black screen and crashes after a few seconds). I've tried
trashing its preference file, but that doesn't make any difference."
Coda tells Hallvard:
"I'm on 10.4.10 on a G4 and Hatari 0.9 works fine here."
Francois Le Coat adds:
"Hatari 0.95 works here on my dual-G4@1.25GHz with an up-to-date
MacOSX.3.9, pretty well."
Hallvard scratches his head a bit and posts:
"Something strange is going on because I just tried it on another user-
account on my Mac, and it works fine there, but on my main user-
account it doesn't.
I've tried reinstalling both Hatari and the SDL framework which it
uses, as well as deleting the preference files. Any ideas?"
Coda tells Hallvard:
"If it works on another account but not yours, then the problem is
local to your user account (obviously), so if I was you I would look
for the .hatari.cfg and .hatari.nvram files in your home directory,
and delete them. Pull up terminal, do a 'ls -la' to check they are
there, and then 'rm -f .hatari.*' to get rid of them (without the
single quotes)."
Hallvard replies to Coda:
"Yes, I deleted the ".hatari.cfg" file using the terminal when trying
to work it out, but that didn't help either (I didn't know about
the .hatari.nvram" file). Now I have neither (probably not created by
Hatari again since it doesn't work properly).
I've also used Onyx (http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html) to
clean up my system, but again to no avail. Perhaps I've seriously
messed up MacOS somehow..."
Ian McCall jumps in and asks Hallvard:
"Any logs in Console that might help? Also, and I usually hesitate to
recommend this because it's acquired a mythical value that it doesn't
merit, have you tried to repairing permissions using Disk Utility? If
it's working in one account but not another, then it might actually
-be- disk permissions for a change."
Hallvard does some checking and reports back to Ian:
"I think that was it as it's working again now!
I also un-installed a few "haxies" (OS enhancement hacks), but it
can't have been that because it worked in the other user-account.
In any case I can continue to use Hatari.
Thanks!"
Now it's Ian's turn to ask a question about creating disk images:
"I've downloaded Llamatron from the llamasoft site, but it's a .zip file
which expands to the raw .prg files etc.. What I need is a disk image
that I can use either with Hatari or NoSTalgia.
Are there any utilities for turning a folder into a disk image at all?
Would prefer OS X utils, but platform doesn't really matter too much as
I have VMware images of Windows and Linux (Ubuntu) too."
Coda tells Ian:
"When I need to do this, I just use the virtual hard disk (directory
structure) with Hatari, and just dump the files I want into that
folder in OSX. Then I load Hatari, insert a blank disk (image), and
drag the files to the floppy disk. Job done."
Ian tells Coda:
"Worked a treat - thanks for the help!"
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 - "Manhunt 2" Approved For Sale!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Metroid Prime 3: Corruption!
"Casual" Software, Inviting!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"Manhunt 2" Game Approved For Sale
"Manhunt 2," a brutally violent video game that was effectively banned in
the United States, has risen from the grave in a modified form and will go
on sale for Halloween, its publisher said.
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc said a new version of the game, which
features an insane asylum escapee killing enemies in gruesome ways, had
won a "Mature" rating from the U.S. Entertainment Software Ratings Board,
meaning it is meant for players aged 17 and over.
The ratings board had previously slapped an "Adults Only" rating on the
game. While its decisions carry no legal weight, Microsoft Corp, Sony Corp
and Nintendo Co Ltd do not allow such titles on their game consoles.
It was the second bit of recent good news for Take-Two after the strong
debut of its spooky underwater shooting game "BioShock," and the
company's shares rose as much as 3.3 percent on Friday, when it announced
the "Manhunt 2" news.
"Manhunt 2 is important to us, and we're glad it can finally be
appreciated as a gaming experience," said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar
Games, the development team within Take-Two that created "Manhunt" and is
behind other popular but controversial titles like "Grand Theft Auto" and
"Bully."
"Manhunt 2 is a powerful piece of interactive story telling that is a
unique video game experience. We think horror fans will love it," Houser
said in a statement.
Censors in Britain and Ireland have also banned the game from being sold,
but Take-Two did not say whether it had submitted the reworked game for
review in those countries.
The restrictions on "Manhunt 2" sparked a debate in the video game
industry about whether the rating system needed an overhaul. Several game
critics who played review versions of the game said it was similar to
extremely violent but popular horror movies such as "Saw."
The game will be released on Sony's PlayStation 2 console and PSP handheld
device as well as Nintendo's Wii.
Nintendo's Epic Trilogy Concludes With Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Monday's launch of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for Wii marks the end of a
trilogy - and the start of the most active and dynamic Metroid adventure
yet. With the motion-sensitive Wii Remote, you become one with heroine
Samus Aran's powerful arm cannon, while the Nunchuk can literally yank
armor off enemies.
"Metroid Prime 3 has a revolutionary control style that makes it easy for
anyone to immediately jump into the action," says George Harrison,
Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate
communications. "Now, an entirely new audience can experience this amazing
first-person adventure."
The rich story requires players to use their heads as much as their hands.
Complex puzzles, tough enemies and new challenges put players inside the
visor of the story's heroine. As deadly Phazon threatens to corrupt Samus,
she harnesses its power and attacks her enemies with superpowered weapons.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption features voice acting, new bounty hunters and
three adjustable control settings for players of all skill levels.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, rated T for Teen, launched Monday
exclusively for Wii. The game's launch represents the culmination of
Nintendo's "Month of Metroid," which has featured free Metroid Prime 3:
Corruption videos available for download in the Wii Shop Channel and the
release of the classic Metroid and Super Metroid for the Virtual Console.
For more information about Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, visit
http://www.Metroid.com.
Vid-Games: Players Young And Old Invited
Nintendo's impressive comeback over the last couple of years has been
driven largely by "casual" software - the sort of games anyone of any age
can quickly learn to play. Titles like "Nintendogs," "Brain Age" and
"Clubhouse Games" have propelled sales of Nintendo's portable DS, making
it the most popular of the current generation of consoles.
The company has a brand name for its casual line: Touch Generations,
which somewhat awkwardly connects the DS' touch-screen capability to its
cross-generational appeal. For now, Nintendo has reserved the Touch
Generations logo for the software it publishes, but I can think of a few
dozen more DS titles - like Ubisoft's "Platinum Sudoku," Majesco's "The
New York Times Crosswords" and D3's "Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the
Warlords" - that older players would enjoy.
While I'm a more stereotypical video-game consumer, I like to balance
intense action games with more laid-back fare. Even hardcore gamers need
a break from "Gears of War" every now and then.
* "Brain Age 2" (Nintendo, for the DS, $19.99): Last year's "Brain Age:
Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!" was more than a surprise hit - it
created a new genre, spawning a flood of imitators. Most of those lacked
the simple charm of "Brain Age," but now Nintendo is back with a proper
sequel.
Again, "Brain Age 2" presents you with an assortment of simple math and
observation puzzles. You may be asked to make correct change, unscramble
words or complete an equation with the appropriate mathematical symbol.
Speed and accuracy determine your "brain age" - the younger the better.
A few of the exercises, like a brief piano-playing challenge, are
entertaining, and "Brain Age 2" also offers 100 sudoku puzzles. But the
math questions are too straightforward to be much fun, and I still don't
know if the "Brain Age" brand of rapid-fire problem-solving boosts your
intelligence any more than crosswords, jigsaw puzzles or even "Pokemon."
Still, trying to bring down your brain age can become an addiction.
Two-and-a-half stars.
* "Picross DS" (Nintendo, for the DS, $19.99): Now that sudoku has
conquered the world, some of its fans are discovering other Japanese
logic puzzles with exotic names like kakuro, nurikabe and hanjie. The last
of those is the basis of "Picross DS," a collection of hundreds of
"paint-by-numbers" brainteasers.
Each puzzle begins as a blank grid. Numbers along the top show how many
black squares are needed in each column; numbers along the left side
provide the same information for the rows. You need to use logic to figure
out which squares need to be filled in; get it right and you're rewarded
with a pixelated picture. That little bonus makes "Picross" a little more
rewarding than sudoku.
If you've never tried hanjie before, "Picross" provides a nice tutorial.
Once you get the hang of it, there's enough material here to keep you busy
for months. And "Picross" lets you make your own puzzles and send them to
other players. It's a real bargain at just $20. Three-and-a-half stars.
* "TouchMaster" (Midway, for the DS, $29.99): If you're reading this in a
bar, look around and you'll probably see one of Midway's TouchMaster
machines - it's that countertop console that you can play trivia,
solitaire or checkers on. If you aren't in a bar, well, now you can play
23 of those TouchMaster games on your DS.
It's a decent assortment. Besides trivia and card games, you get
variations on mahjong, hangman, Yahtzee and others. There are a few duds
in the bunch - "Hot Hoops" free-throw shooting, the incomprehensible
"Artifact" - but most of the games are fun for a few minutes at a time.
As you would expect from games that are designed to appeal to a tipsy
crowd, there's nothing terribly complicated here. On the whole, the games
in "TouchMaster" are fast-paced and agreeable - and may bring back
memories for those whose drinking days are behind them. Two-and-a-half
stars.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Critics Urge Rejection of Microsoft "Open" Format
A Microsoft document format that may be adopted as an international
standard this weekend is a ploy to lock in customers, who could lose
control over their own data in a worst-case scenario, critics say.
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is balloting its
members on the issue in a vote that closes on Sunday. ISO approval would
encourage wider adoption of the Microsoft Open XML format by public-sector
organizations.
Opponents of Open XML, which is the default file-saving format in
Microsoft Office 2007, say there is no need for a rival standard to the
widely used Open Document Format (ODF) that is already an international
standard.
They argue its 6,000 pages of code, compared with ODF's 860 pages, make
it artificially complicated and untranslatable.
Microsoft and others point out that multiple standards are normal in the
software and other industries and that competition makes for better
products. Microsoft says its format has higher specifications and is more
useful than ODF.
"More parallel standards makes for better standards. It's good not to
decide for a single standard too soon," Michael Groezinger, Microsoft's
chief technology officer in Germany, told Reuters in an interview.
He declined to speculate on the outcome of the ISO vote but welcomed last
week's decision of the German Institute for Standardisation - an ISO
member - to give Open XML a conditional "yes" vote.
At the heart of the controversy are fears that Open XML is not as open as
it claims to be, raising the specter that customers using the
word-processing format could become reliant on Microsoft for access to
their own documents. XML, short for Extensible Markup Language, is a
standard for describing data in a way that is supposed to allow it to be
shared across various systems and applications.
"The absolute nightmare scenario is that Microsoft says: 'Update your
licenses or we'll turn off your access,"' Georg Greve, president of the
Free Software Foundation Europe, told Reuters in an interview.
"Access to governmental data will completely depend on the existence of
Microsoft," said Greve, who expects Microsoft to lose the ISO ballot in a
close vote.
The Free Software Foundation is a U.S.-based non-profit organisation that
campaigns for computer programs that can be freely used, modified and
redistributed.
Microsoft's Groezinger denies any danger of bodies losing access to their
own data. He said Microsoft had handed over control of Open XML to
standards-making body Ecma, which would make it available even in the
event of Microsoft's demise.
Microsoft has also given guarantees not to pursue any patent claims
against parties using, selling or distributing Open XML, although some
have questioned whether those guarantees are sufficiently binding or
comprehensive.
It has also collaborated with Novell to develop a tool to translate Open
XML documents into ODF and vice versa. But critics say the tool cannot
provide a complete translation due to the higher complexity of the
Microsoft format.
Open XML is unnecessarily bloated, partly because it packs in unrelated
features that lead users to other Microsoft applications, FSF's Greve
says.
"This is a classic vendor lock-in strategy," he told Reuters. "It's not
that new, it's not that ingenious but it's quite effective."
Given Microsoft's leading market position, Open XML will become a de
facto standard regardless of the ISO decision.
"The two standards may converge in the longer term, but all organizations
should plan on them coexisting for at least the medium term," research
group Gartner said in a recent report.
"The problems associated with the need to translate between formats will
continue and will diminish the value of XML."
Prank Starts 25 Years of Security Woes
What began as a ninth-grade prank, a way to trick already-suspicious
friends who had fallen for his earlier practical jokes, has earned Rich
Skrenta notoriety as the first person ever to let loose a personal
computer virus.
Although over the next 25 years, Skrenta started the online news
business Topix, helped launch a collaborative Web directory now owned by
Time Warner Inc.'s Netscape and wrote countless other computer programs,
he is still remembered most for unleashing the "Elk Cloner" virus on the
world.
"It was some dumb little practical joke," Skrenta, now 40, said in an
interview. "I guess if you had to pick between being known for this and
not being known for anything, I'd rather be known for this. But it's an
odd placeholder for (all that) I've done."
"Elk Cloner" - self-replicating like all other viruses - bears little
resemblance to the malicious programs of today. Yet in retrospect, it was
a harbinger of all the security headaches that would only grow as more
people got computers - and connected them with one another over the
Internet.
Skrenta's friends were already distrusting him because, in swapping
computer games and other software as part of piracy circles common at the
time, Skrenta often altered the floppy disks he gave out to launch
taunting on-screen messages. Many friends simply started refusing disks
from him.
So during a winter break from the Mt. Lebanon Senior High School near
Pittsburgh, Skrenta hacked away on his Apple II computer - the dominant
personal computer then - and figured out how to get the code to launch
those messages onto disks automatically.
He developed what is now known as a "boot sector" virus. When it boots,
or starts up, an infected disk places a copy of the virus in the
computer's memory. Whenever someone inserts a clean disk into the machine
and types the command "catalog" for a list of files, a copy gets written
onto that disk as well. The newly infected disk is passed on to other
people, other machines and other locations.
The prank, though annoying to victims, is relatively harmless compared
with the viruses of today. Every 50th time someone booted an infected
disk, a poem he wrote would appear, saying in part, "It will get on all
your disks; it will infiltrate your chips."
Skrenta started circulating the virus in early 1982 among friends at his
school and at a local computer club. Years later, he would continue to
hear stories of other victims, including a sailor during the first Gulf
War nearly a decade later (Why that sailor was still using an Apple II,
Skrenta does not know).
These days, there are hundreds of thousands of viruses - perhaps more than
a million depending on how one counts slight variations.
The first virus to hit computers running Microsoft Corp.'s operating
system came in 1986, when two brothers in Pakistan wrote a boot sector
program now dubbed "Brain" - purportedly to punish people who spread
pirated software. Although the virus didn't cause serious damage, it
displayed the phone number of the brothers' computer shop for repairs.
With the growth of the Internet came a new way to spread viruses: e-mail.
"Melissa" (1999), "Love Bug" (2000) and "SoBig" (2003) were among a slew
of fast-moving threats that snarled millions of computers worldwide by
tricking people into clicking on e-mail attachments and launching a
program that automatically sent copies to other victims.
Although some of the early viruses overwhelmed networks, later ones
corrupted documents or had other destructive properties.
Compared with the early threats, "the underlying technology is very
similar (but) the things viruses can do once they get hold of the computer
has changed dramatically," said Richard Ford, a computer science professor
at the Florida Institute of Technology.
Later viruses spread through instant-messaging and file-sharing software,
while others circulated faster than ever by exploiting flaws in Windows
networking functions.
More recently, viruses have been created to steal personal data such as
passwords or to create relay stations for making junk e-mail more
difficult to trace.
Suddenly, though, viruses weren't spreading as quickly. Virus writers now
motivated by profit rather than notoriety are trying to stay low-key,
lest their creations get detected and removed, along with their mechanism
for income.
Many of the recent malicious programs technically aren't even viruses,
because they don't self-replicate, but users can easily get infected by
visiting a rogue Web site that takes advantage of any number of security
vulnerabilities in computer software.
Although worldwide outbreaks aren't as common these days, "believe it or
not there's exponentially more malware today than there ever was," said
Dave Marcus, a research manager for McAfee Inc.'s Avert Labs. "We find
150 to 175 new pieces of malware every single day. Five years ago, it
would have been maybe 100 new pieces a week."
Symantec Corp. formed the same year Skrenta unleashed "Elk Cloner," but it
dabbled in non-security software before releasing an anti-virus product
for Apple's Macintosh in 1989. Today, security-related hardware, software
and services represent a $38 billion industry worldwide, a figure IDC
projects will reach $67 billion in 2010.
Even as corporations and Internet service providers step up their
defenses, though, virus writers look to emerging platforms, including
mobile devices and Web-based services like social-networking sites.
"Malware writers can't assume you are on PCs or won't want to limit
themselves to that," said Dave Cole, Symantec's director of security
response.
That's not to say Skrenta should get the blame anytime someone gets spam
sent through a virus-enabled relay or finds a computer slow to boot
because of a lingering pest. After all, there no evidence virus writers
who followed even knew of Skrenta or his craft.
Fred Cohen, a security expert who wrote his Ph.D. dissertation in 1986 on
computer viruses, said the conditions were right, and with more and more
homes getting computers, "it was all a matter of time before this
happened."
In fact, a number of viruses preceded "Elk Cloner," although they were
experimental or limited in scope. Many consider Skrenta's the first true
virus because it spread in the wild on the dominant home computers of its
day.
"You had other people even at the time saying, `We had this idea, we even
coded it up, but we thought it was awful and we never released it,'" said
Skrenta, who is now heading Blekko Inc., a month-old startup still
working in stealth mode.
And where was his restraint?
Skrenta replied: "I was in the ninth grade."
Storm Worm Uses YouTube Ruse
Security pros are warning that distributors of the Storm Trojan are now
using a YouTube video to lure users.
Contained in e-mails with subject lines such as "sheesh man what are you
thinking," the malicious link claims to go to YouTube.com, but actually
goes to a URL harboring exploit code.
"This is the first [YouTube] lure that the Storm folks are using but not
the first that has used YouTube in the past," said Dan Hubbard, vice
president of security research at San Diego-based Websense. "There are a
variety of e-mail subjects and bodies but basically they request you to
view a video."
Dave Marcus, security research and communications manager at McAfee, based
in Santa Clara, Calif., advised people to use caution when clicking on
links in e-mails. Clicking on the attachment associated with this
particular attack will infect the victim's machine with the Nuwar worm,
Marcus said.
"Malware writers continue to use social engineering tactics to infect a
user's machine with a copy of Nuwar, this time latching on to the
popularity of YouTube to lure people into clicking on the URL," he said.
"We expect these spammers to continue to use these types of tactics and it
will be imperative that users get educated on how to avoid becoming a
victim."
A study released Aug. 27 by Websense found that 12 percent of responding
IT managers working for SMBs (small and midsize businesses) had no way to
enforce their businesses' Internet usage policies. The report surveyed
450 IT managers and employees within the United States.
The study also found that business-owned computers were left vulnerable
to security threats for more than 21 days, on average, despite the daily
updates promoted and offered by operating system and anti-virus vendors.
Only 4 percent of SMB employees surveyed had daily security updates on
their work PCs and 11 percent said the security software on their work
PCs had never been updated.
The results are bad news for those concerned about the spread of the Storm
Trojan and other malware. According to researchers at McAfee, users who
fall for the latest Storm Trojan ruse are directed to a site containing an
image that tags back to YouTube's logo.
In the background, an embedded, obfuscated JavaScript routine launches
several browser and application exploits to infect the user's machine with
a copy of W32/Nuwar. In addition, if a machine is fully patched, the
malware author has a backup plan - wording on the Web page meant to
entice users into manually downloading the virus.
Hubbard said the overall resources of the attackers, the planning and the
resilience built into the infrastructure are why the Storm Trojan remains
such an active attack.
"This is clearly planned out," he said.
Microsoft Eyes Early 2008 Release for Vista Update
Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday it plans to release the first major
update to its Windows Vista operating system early next year.
Many of Microsoft's large corporate customers wait for the release of the
first "service pack" - a software package of fixes, updates and
improvements - before implementing a new Windows operating system.
Corporate customers often hold back on adopting new software to allow
Microsoft time to work out the kinks experienced by regular consumers who
often buy a new computer with the latest operating system already
preloaded.
In a post on the company's Web site, Microsoft said it plans to begin
testing Windows Vista SP1 among a smaller audience in a few weeks and aims
to ship the product to computer manufacturers in the first quarter of 2008.
Microsoft said the first service pack is not as significant as in the
past, because the company can now send out patches and fixes to the
product through online updates.
Windows Vista SP1 should, according to Microsoft, improve the operating
system's security, reliability and performance, but it will not change the
product's look or add any major features.
Microsoft also said it delayed the target date for when it will release
its upcoming Windows Server 2008 to hardware manufacturers. The company
now expects to release the product to manufacturers in the first quarter
of 2008 from an earlier target of the end of 2007.
Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said the delay should not affect its
plan to launch Windows Server 2008 at the end of February.
The company also announced plans to release the third service pack of
Windows XP, Vista's predecessor, in the next few weeks. It will be
released to PC makers in the first half of 2008.
HP Launches $300 Million Print 2.0 Campaign
"What do you have to say?" That's the tagline HP will use in a $300 million
marketing campaign, announced Tuesday, for its recently launched,
wide-ranging Print 2.0 strategy.
First outlined in May, HP's Print 2.0 strategy has three stated goals:
delivering an advanced printing platform for increasing speed and lowererd
costs for high-volume printing, making printing from the Web easier, and
expanding HP's content creation and publishing platforms, such as
Snapfish, to new markets.
To emphasize HP's Print 2.0 efforts to provide output for all kinds of
Internet-based media, the campaign will enable users to "mash up" or
combine their content with free and exclusive content from singer/fashion
designer Gwen Stefani, Burton Snowboards founder Jake Burton, and graphic
designer Paula Scher.
At hp.com/gwen, users can customize Stefani's designs - in greeting
cards, CD labels, paper dolls, and other templates - with their own
personalized information before printing them out. Using HP's Tabblo
technology, which HP acquired when it purchased the company of the same
name in March, users can add their photos and text to pictures from
Stefani's Sweet Escape tour, print sample pages, and, for a fee, order
the customized book.
Similarly, at hp.com/burton, tools are offered for brand building, and, at
hp.com/paula, templates based on Scher's designs allow users to create
and print business cards, letterhead, and brochures.
Users can print the results of each subsite on home/office printers or,
the company said, eventually through a network of printing providers.
There are also wikis, or group blogs, for consumers and small businesses
to share information. In the fall, a Web site called HP Print Studio will
have an ongoing repository of free templates for users to customize such
materials as greeting cards, letterheads, business cards, and invitations.
But the campaign includes much more than just free, customizable sites.
The company has introduced HP Scitex X2 printhead technology, a
first-ever piezoelectric printhead for HP, to raise printing speeds and
lower printing costs for high-volume users.
In addition, HP is partnering with several Web sites to make printing
easier, such as using its Tabblo technology to help Flickr members make
photo books and collages. HP-owned Snapfish will provide online printing
for Windows Live Spaces, and the HP Yahoo Printing Toolbar offers
one-click access to a printing utility download, free online classes,
printing tips, and more.
HP's Print 2.0 also covers DVD and labeling services. For example, the HP
NextDayTV service will publish TV programs for retail customers on DVDs
soon after their airdate, and will partner with Major League Baseball and
other media partners. The HP Smart Labels & Packaging Solution offers
secure serialization for pharmaceutical label and package printing to
help combat drug counterfeiting.
And, this being HP, there are also new printers - including the first
consumer, touchscreen compact photo printer and, for business, what the
company called the world's fastest mobile printer.
Country-Specific Domain Names Popular
The number of domain name registrations worldwide reached 138 million
midway through 2007, a 31 percent increase from a year earlier, according
to the company that operates much of the Internet's core address
directories.
Although the ".com" suffix continues to be the most popular, with about 55
million registrations, VeriSign Inc. said country-code domains such as
".fr" for France are strong. There were more than 51 million country-code
registrations collectively, a 36 percent hike from mid-2006.
Germany's ".de" is the leading country code and the second-most popular
suffix overall, followed by ".net" in third place. The United Kingdom's
".uk," China's ".cn" and ".org" are among the other leading suffixes.
VeriSign runs the databases listing all ".com" and ".net" names as well
as the master directory, or root server, that lists all the Internet's
suffixes, meaning all traffic touches the company's computers at one point
or another. Domain names are key for helping computers find Web sites and
route e-mail messages.
There are currently 267 domain name suffixes in the main root server,
with ".asia" being the latest addition. Most of them are country codes,
ranging from ".ac" for the Ascension Island to ".zw" for Zimbabwe.
Savvy Teachers Use The Net To Engage Students
As children head back to school savvy teachers are looking for the best
ways to help students maximize their learning potential.
Laptops are replacing traditional notebooks and educators are using
technology to provide individualized instruction and online tutoring,
which can add variety and help students to learn better.
"It's an exciting time to be in education because we are no longer looking
for one method," Kris Enright, executive director of the Professional
Association of Colorado Educators, said in an interview.
"Now, with the opportunity to meet individual needs, schools are becoming
more diverse."
Enright added that the ability to address student needs with a variety of
tools is key to good instruction and effective learning.
Tutor.com, a company based in New York City, served 750,000 online
students last year. This year it expects to help more than a million,
George Cigale, founder of the site said in an interview.
Tutor.com has a network of 1,800 certified teachers, college professors,
undergraduates and graduate students in the United States and Canada from
accredited universities.
"The vision from the early days eight years ago was to make it possible
for a student to connect ... whenever they are stuck, whenever they need
help overcoming an educational challenge," Cigale said.
The use of online tutors who meet government-approved academic standards
is supported by the U.S. Department of Education for supplemental
educational services under its No Child Left Behind Act.
"The department believes that online tutoring is an important option for
students eligible for supplemental educational services who live in rural
areas or have other challenges accessing a traditional tutoring program,"
Morgan Brown, assistant deputy secretary in the Department of Education's
Office of Innovation and Improvement, said in an email.
President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 in
an effort to improve educational standards throughout the United States.
Parents are always looking for additional ways to supplement their
child's learning, according to Enright.
"If the student is actually learning and it's authentic, then it's
effective," he added.
Don't Let Your Boss Catch You Reading This
If you are at work, chances are you are probably doing it right now.
Walk into any large office, and you will most likely hear the telltale
computer bleeps of chat programs and online games, accompanied by furious
mouse-clicking. Employees may seem busy, but many are wasting time on the
Internet, or "cyberslacking."
Studies worldwide suggest employees spend about a fifth of their work
shifts engaging in personal activities. Their favourite time waster? The
Internet.
Patricia Wallace, author of the 2004 book "The Internet in the Workplace:
How New Technology Is Transforming Work," said employees have always found
ways to avoid working too hard.
"The issue is now you have something that seems to be genuinely
irresistible because it's such a gateway to the whole planet that's right
there on your desk and easily concealed to people passing by," said
Wallace, a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Employees who cyberslack have been shown to spend most of their time
emailing, and almost a third of their messages were not related to work,
said James Philips, a psychology professor at Australia's Monash
University.
Many workers manage finances or shop online. Popular social networking
sites such as Facebook and MySpace are also common cyberslacking
destinations. It is not uncommon to see a user write on his "status"
report that he or she is "at work."
Some companies, which spend millions on Web access, have fired workers
for cyberslacking, citing concerns about inappropriate activities. But
hiding it has become easier - people can access the Internet through
mobile phones, for instance.
Films and television shows have been focusing on the phenomenon.
Time-wasting at work was spoofed in the 1999 cult film "Office Space,"
while "The Office," a British TV comedy that now has a U.S. version, has
shown characters playing a computer war game as part of what they
described as a team-building exercise.
Walter Block, a professor of economics at Loyola University in New
Orleans, pointed to similarities between employees who slacked off before
the computer age and those who waste time in cyberspace.
"I think they do it for the same reason they did it before - some people,
because they're cheating their boss, other people, because it helps them
work," Block said.
Office-dedicated Web sites have been popping up.
Workers can go to www.overheardintheoffice.com to post and rate humorous
quotes overheard at their workplaces. They can rant about office
colleagues and bosses at www.annoyingcoworker.com - and email them
anonymous messages through the Web site.
"UGH! You eat like a pig!" one person wrote. "Stop smacking your lips and
licking your fingers and snorting while you eat chips two feet away from
me! It's like feeding time at the zoo!"
A recent survey by online compensation firm Salary.com showed about six
out of 10 employees in the United States acknowledged wasting time at
work.
About 34 percent listed personal Internet use as the leading time-wasting
activity in the workplace. Employees said they did so because they were
bored, worked too many hours, were underpaid or were unchallenged at work.
Firms all over the world are concerned about potentially harmful effects
of surfing they deem to be inappropriate may have on their company's
image. Many firms use computer software to monitor Web activity and block
certain sites or servers.
Almost a fifth of those surveyed in a 2006 Israeli-American poll said they
accessed online sex sites at work.
U.S.-based electronics firm IBM once fired an employee for visiting an
adult chat room at work. Last year, a New York City employee was sacked by
Mayor Michael Bloomberg for having a card game on his computer screen.
Some experts say private Internet use at work does not affect productivity
and could even be beneficial.
"The so-called cyberslacking could be online shopping or arranging for
your dog-sitter online or taking care of banking so you don't have to take
a two-hour lunch," Wallace said. "In cases like that, you're actually
helping employees save time."
"Junk Sleep" Damaging Teenagers' Health
British teenagers are damaging their health by not getting enough sleep
because they are distracted by electronic gadgets in their bedrooms,
according to a survey on Tuesday.
Advice body The Sleep Council said "junk sleep" could rival the
consumption of unhealthy junk food as a major lifestyle issue for parents
of teenage children.
Its poll of 1,000 youngsters aged 12 to 16 found that 30 percent managed
just 4 to 7 hours sleep as opposed to the recommended 8 or 9 hours.
Almost a quarter said they fell asleep more than once a week while
watching TV, listening to music or using other electronic gadgets.
"This is an incredibly worrying trend," said Dr Chris Idzikowski of the
Edinburgh Sleep Centre.
"What we are seeing is the emergence of Junk Sleep - that is sleep that
is of neither the length nor quality that it should be in order to feed
the brain with the rest it needs to perform properly at school."
Nearly all the teenagers had a phone, music system or TV in their
bedroom, with around two-thirds possessing all three.
Almost one in five of the teenage boys said the quality of their sleep
had been affected by leaving their TV or computer on. The survey also
found that 40 percent of youngsters felt tired each day, with girls aged
15 to 16 faring the worst.
However just 11 percent said they were bothered by the lack or quality
of sleep.
"I'm staggered that so few teenagers make the link between getting
enough good quality sleep and how they feel during the day," Idzikowski
said.
"Teenagers need to wake up to the fact that to feel well, perform well
and look well, they need to do something about their sleep."
=~=~=~=
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