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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 11 Issue 04
Volume 11, Issue 04 Atari Online News, Etc. January 23, 2009
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2008
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #1104 01/23/09
~ Go Daddy Marketplace! ~ People Are Talking! ~ SC Kills COPA!
~ Microsoft To Cut Jobs! ~ Updated Worm Uses Obama ~ Apple Trojan!
~ AOL Mail Gets Updates! ~ Pope Embraces Facebook! ~ Spore for Kids!
~ Yahoo Antispam Boost! ~ Passwords, Keep A List! ~ Mac PC Hits 25!
-* Jobs' Cancer Has Recurred? *-
-* Open Source Notebook Comes to Life! *-
-* EC Could Strip Internet Explorer in Windows *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
We're only a few weeks into January, and I'm really sick of the cold and
snow!! If we're lucky, this week will actually pass without any snow.
The cold, on the other hand, has been here to stay for awhile!
Okay, so we now have a new president. All that you hear everywhere is
how things will really change, it's historic, etc., etc. While all this
may be true, aren't people being just a little pre-judgmental? Really
now, the man hasn't been in office a week yet and already people are
praising this new president. Let's be realistic, and give him a term of
office before we determine his track record. Realize, like most (if not
all) new presidents, are glorified before they even get the chair in the
Oval Office warm!
On to another pet peeve: spam. Just what is its purpose? Do people send
this garbage just to irritate those of us (all of us?!) who end up
receiving it? Do spammers really think that most people actually open,
much less read, this stuff? I mean really, how "real" is an e-mail whose
subject line contains more misspellings than on a first-graders first
spelling test? Sure, it's to avoid spam filters, but who really cares?
And how about those e-mails with subjects in foreign languages? Do you
really think that I'll open something like that? And I certainly don't
have a need to change various body parts, buy pirated software, trust
messages from banks in which I do not have an account, or any other topics
of non-interest. With all of the spam that I get on a daily basis (and it
has decreased somewhat lately), I can't believe that more spammers aren't
caught and incarcerated. What a waste of time and bandwidth, for everyone.
Spammers, get a life!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, there just ain't enough stuff in on
the UseNet this week for a column, so I'm going to just get a few things
off my chest and then go. Okay?
First of all... these CEOs and supposed 'leaders of industry'... they're
sticking it to us again. THEY may not think much of spending a million
dollars point two on redecorating their offices, but I can't think of
anyone that _I_ have ever met that could conceive of it. I'm not saying
that these guys and gals should live lives of stoic virtue or ascetic
deprivation, but the excesses that they're displaying are really good
examples of being out of touch and of either not understanding or not
caring about either the company they serve or its customers or clients.
I mean, c'mon. Can you imagine the audacity it takes to go to Washington
DC in your private corporate jet to ask Congress for federal money
because your company is broke?
And how about these financial institutions? Billions of dollars in
bail-out money, and they've basically said, "Naaaaah, we're not going to
tell you how we're spending it."
These are the self-same people that would make me jump through hoops
about what I wanted to borrow it for, how and when I planned on spending
it and such just to borrow my OWN money (equity in my home) and would
charge me a healthy interest rate on top of it! What's wrong with this
picture?
Of course, we cannot allow these institutions or industries to simply be
lost... it would be devastating... and I really don't want to see either
the banking auto industries socialized either. That's a sure way to kill
innovation and competition.
But since the 70's, when The Big Three got together with President Nixon
and presented a united front against toughening safety regulations...
and in fact asked for and had safety regulations because they had, as
Chrysler exec Lee Iacocca put it, "the goddamned japs breathing down our
necks"... there really hasn't BEEN competition. Oh sure, each one copied
the ideas of the others and tried to out-do one another, but they knew
that through brand loyalty and the limited number of options (is 3 or 4
manufacturers REALLY enough to ensure a free market?
And now their problem is the same as with the finance industry: They're
no longer in their original business. GM's major product isn't the
minivan or SUV anymore. It's stock. Their main concern is that their
stock offerings look good on Wall Street so that people will buy their
stocks and... well, make the stock offerings look good on Wall Street so
that people will want to buy their stocks. Vehicles are just an
intermediate step these days.
That brings us to politics. For the last two years, we've been hearing
the democratic majority saying that we didn't see a lot of movement
because they were dealing with the things that congress normally has to
deal with. "The wheels turn slowly" and so forth.
Well, in President Obama's first three full days of 'work', he's...
let's see.. signed an order to close 'Gitmo', okay funding for stem cell
research, reinstate funding for organizations that support abortion
rights, and push for his own stimulus package to get us back on the path
toward recovery.
For what it's worth, I think we should be giving money to NONE of these
institutions, companies or industries. Hell, with the almost three
TRILLION dollars we're talking about (which is what I figure this is all
going to end up costing), you could give about $6,600.00 to every man,
woman and child in the United States. Letting them spend the money as
they saw fit might go a long way toward helping the economy, and make
the companies and industries actually WORK for the money.
Of course, the problem with this is that people would pay off their
debts and build up their savings to make themselves more secure with the
money, and that isn't the way to boost the economy. The problem here is
that that's the way responsible people are SUPPOSED to act. You're
SUPPOSED to get rid of your debt and secure your future a little bit.
But back to the politics... At this point in the previous
administration, I don't think they'd done anything more than complain
about some computer keyboards that never existed and finished planning
41's first presidential vacation.
The rhetoric coming from the republicans about closing Guantanamo Bay is
predictable. First of all, they steadfastly maintain that these are
dangerous terrorists (despite the fact that the only study on the
subject that the Armed Forces has ever done determined that a maximum of
eight percent of the people held in secret around the world had anything
at all to do with terror groups) and that 'we' know that they are a
danger. In the very next breath they complain that they shouldn't be
required to charge or prosecute these people because they don't have
enough evidence. Okay, Boner, which is it? Do we have proof that they're
terrorists or don't we?
Then they mention the fact that no one in this country would want these
dangerous criminals in prisons near where they live. Okay, ask folks in
Corcoran, Chino or Ossining about that. I'm sure that they'd rather not
have the dangerous felons contained in Corcoran Prison, California
Institution for Men, or Sing Sing so close either. But the whole
argument is a red herring. And it is, quite frankly, beneath us.
Then there's the hubbub about Obama being our first African-American
president. Yes, that's true, and it's an accomplishment and a milestone.
But is this the time to waste time and energy on that? There'll be
plenty of time for that once the economy is back on track, along with
our standing around the world and we've REALLY done something to
counteract terrorism. I've even seen people go as far as to point out
that Obama is 'only' half African-American. Is that even possible? What
does it have to do with anything?
I wish people would talk about the REALLY unique thing about having
elected Obama... He's our first Hawaiian president!
You don't think that's as noteworthy as being the first African-American
president? Okay, then think about how many African-Americans there are
(around 39.2 million) and how many Hawaiians there are (about 1.3
million). Now, which is more of a long shot, having an African-American
president or having a Hawaiian president? [grin]
Well, that's about it for this week. Tune in again next week, same time,
same channel, and be ready to listen to what they're saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Ubisoft Buys Southlogic Studios!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Creature Keeper, 'Spore' for Kids!
Nintendo Wii Breaks 10-Million!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Nintendo Wii Breaks 10-Million-Unit Barrier
The Nintendo Wii sold over 10 million units in the U.S. in 2008, the
first game console ever to break that barrier, according to new NPD data
relayed by the News Market.
The report said that the Nintendo Wii racked up 10.17 million sales in
2008, followed closely by the company's sister portable console, the
Nintendo DS, with 9.95 million. Both consoles broke the previous record
set in 2007, when the Nintendo DS sold 8.52 million units.
As a result, the Nintendo Wii represented 55 percent of all home console
sales in 2008, while the DS nailed 72 percent of all portable system
sales, according to the report.
EA Shows 'Creature Keeper,' 'Spore' for Kids
Electronic Arts said Wednesday that it plans this summer to release an
all-new, stand-alone version of Spore for kids.
The new game, which will allow multiple children to play together in a
very Spore-like universe, will be called Creature Keeper, said Lucy
Bradshaw, the general manager of EA's Emeryville, Calif.-based Maxis
studio, which created Spore.
In addition, at its "State of the Universe" event here, EA also unveiled
plans for Galactic Adventures, the first expansion to Spore. It is
planned for a spring release and will feature a set of new tools for the
massive space stage of the hit evolution game that, in addition to the
existing "play," "create," and "share" tools, will let players choose to
create their own adventures in space.
And EA topped off its set of announcements by saying that it expects to
release all-new versions of Spore for the Nintendo Wii and DS game
consoles, titled Spore Hero and Spore Hero Arena, respectively.
The announcements were the first EA has made that showcase the video
game giant's future plans for Spore, a game that it has clearly invested
huge resources in. The game, from legendary designer Will Wright, tasks
players with navigating five distinct stages - cell, creature, tribe,
civilization and space. Though it has sold fairly well, some have argued
that it hasn't lived up to its advance billing, particularly because it
was years in the works. Also, the game was originally released with a
version of digital rights management that limited the number of installs
consumers could have. Many people resisted the DRM restrictions, and
late last year, EA removed them.
However, either because of the DRM or in spite of it, Spore became one
of the most pirated games of 2008.
Now, with Creature Keeper, EA and Maxis hope they can attract a much
younger audience to the Spore universe. Unlike the original game, the
kids version will allow multi-player play. It does not require Spore to
play, but it will allow kids to import creatures from the original game.
It will be released for PC and Mac, just as the original game was.
The idea, said Bradshaw, is to give kids an easier way to experience the
fun and exploration of Spore, and to do so with other friends.
"They can invite friends over," Bradshaw said, "and have play dates with
their creatures."
With the Galactic Adventures expansion (see video below), meanwhile, EA
is attempting to address one of the biggest criticisms of the main space
stage of Spore: That players could not directly interact with the worlds
they encountered during their interstellar journeys. Instead, they would
be restricted to flying above any planets they found along the way.
Now, however, they will be able to beam down to new planets. More
important, however, may be that Maxis is making available to Spore
players a set of planetary adventure creation tools they've previously
only had in-house.
Among other things, the expansion offers players terra-forming tools,
making it possible to build all-new planets from scratch, and populate
them with all manner of buildings, creatures, rivers and other
geographical features. Players can choose any creation from the 65
million item-strong, player-created Sporepedia, the official Spore
social media system.
Bradshaw said that the tools that will be available in Galactic
Adventures were not ones that were originally planned to be included in
Spore. Nor was the expansion long in the works, she said. Instead, she
explained, the team at Maxis saw the ways that people were playing Spore
and listened to requests from players to have more interaction and
control over the space stage.
While EA isn't talking about total sales figures for Spore at this
point, Bradshaw did say that to date, there have been more than 65
million creations uploaded to Sporepedia, and more than 6 million
downloads of the Creature Creator, a tool that allows people to make
their own Spore creatures without owning the full game.
Ubisoft Buys Brazilian Videogame Maker Southlogic Studios
French videogame-making powerhouse Ubisoft said Tuesday it has bought
Southlogic Studios, adding Brazil's oldest videogame developer to a
growing list of acquisitions.
"As Brazil's most experienced and premier development studio, Southlogic
has proven its agility in adapting to new technologies and genres on a
variety of platforms," said Ubisoft worldwide studios director Christine
Burgess-Quemard.
"This acquisition reinforces our commitment to attracting talent in
South America, and Brazil in particular, further boosting the group's
ambitious expansion plans."
Southlogic is the latest in a series of Ubisoft acquisitions.
In July of last year, Ubisoft announced the purchase of Canadian special
effects studio Hybride Technologies in a move to wed Ubisoft's hot
videogames with Hollywood films.
Montreal-based Hybride has put its cinematic special effects prowess to
work in films including "Sin City" and animated blockbuster "300."
Ubisoft intends to use Hybride technology to make more film-like
videogames and as leverage for getting movies made from its titles, such
as its franchise based on Tom Clancy military espionage fiction novels.
In November, Ubisoft announced the acquisition of Massive Entertainment,
the Sweden-based studio behind popular strategy title "World In Conflict."
"Ubisoft is growing at an intense pace and our strategy is to ensure the
strength of our global creative teams," Burgess-Quemard said at the time.
Ubisoft has seen its coffers swell with strong sales of its titles.
The firm has benefitted from tailoring titles for Nintendo's Wii
videogame consoles and the Japanese firm's popular DS handheld devices.
Ubisoft's winning streak is continuing with freshly-released hits
including adventure game "Prince of Persia;" open-world action title
"Far Cry 2," and "Tom Clancy's End War" military strategy game.
Southlogic has worked with numerous studios worldwide and most recently
collaborated with Ubisoft on a "Wedding Designer" Imagine line title for
play on DS devices.
"We have been delighted with our collaboration with Ubisoft on their
Imagine line of games," declared Southlogic founder Christian Lykawka.
"The entire Southlogic team is excited about the potential for growth
and development as part of Ubisoft Sao Paulo and having our creations
reach players throughout the world."
Southlogic will become part of Ubisoft's operations in Sao Paulo.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Steve Jobs's Cancer May Have Recurred
Pancreatic cancer experts say they are puzzled by what is ailing Apple Inc.
Chief Executive Steve Jobs, because it is not clear how serious his health
problems are or how directly they relate to his bout with cancer.
Last week, Jobs said he had an easily treatable "hormonal imbalance"
that was robbing his body of the proteins it needs. Then, on Wednesday,
the 53-year-old CEO said his problems were "more complex" than
originally thought, and he would take a medical leave of absence for six
months.
Doctors who have not treated Jobs say they can only speculate without
hard information, but they said the tumor he was treated for in 2004
could have spread to another organ or resurfaced in the pancreas,
requiring surgery or other treatment.
Jobs could also be coping with side effects of that surgery that can be
treated easily, they said.
In 2004, Jobs was treated for a rare type of pancreatic cancer called an
islet-cell, or neuroendocrine, tumor. Such tumors can be benign or
malignant, but they usually grow slowly and are far less deadly than
most pancreatic tumors.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 37,680 Americans get
pancreatic cancer each year, but few get islet-cell tumors of the kind
Jobs had. The tumors are easily removed surgically but recur in roughly
half of patients, said Dr. Roderich Schwarz, a cancer surgeon at the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Dr. Clay Semenkovich, an endocrinologist at Washington University in St.
Louis, said in a telephone interview, "(Jobs) may have a new mass that's
substantially altering his physiology and causing him to lose weight."
The pancreas - a spongy organ the size of a large banana - produces
enzymes used in digestion.
Islet-cell tumors can cause over-secretion of hormones including insulin
into the bloodstream, wreaking havoc on digestion and leading to drastic
weight loss.
Semenkovich said that could explain Jobs' "hormonal imbalance," but
added that the limited information made it hard to say for sure.
Apple's cryptic missives on Jobs' health have not deterred speculation -
sparked by his gaunt appearance at an Apple event in June 2008 - that his
cancer has returned.
But his drastic weight loss could have other, less ominous explanations,
doctors said.
Jobs' surgery in 2004 is likely to have been the so-called Whipple
procedure -- an extensive and complicated operation that involves
several organs besides the pancreas, doctors agree.
Weight loss is a common side effect, since a partial pancreas may not be
able to effectively aid in the digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and
fats.
"If an operation removes 30 to 50 percent of the pancreas, you're
missing cell mass that produces juices that aid digestion. It could lead
to weight loss and fatigue," Schwarz said in an interview at an American
Society of Clinical Oncology conference on gastrointestinal cancers in
San Francisco.
Jobs may also have insulin deficiency, which would result in diabetes,
doctors said. They added that treatments for these side effects are
indeed "simple and straightforward," as Jobs has said.
Schwarz said patients who lack digestive enzymes can take enzyme
capsules to aid digestion, and they are effective fairly quickly.
That would not explain why Jobs would need six months of medical leave.
Joseph Kim, a cancer specialist and surgeon at the City of Hope medical
center near Los Angeles, said patients whose cancers recur in nearby
organs, usually the liver, can be treated using less-invasive procedures
than surgery. Cancers can be cut out or burned, and the recovery takes
only a few days, he said.
In Jobs' case, "we're probably talking about something more complicated,
like surgery," that would take longer, Kim said. Surgery on patients
with recurrent islet-cell tumors can be "extremely difficult, if not
risky," he added.
Semenkovich said Jobs may need new surgery, and that six months is a
reasonable time for preparation, surgery and recovery, given his weight
loss. "Surgery in somebody who has lost a lot of weight is a risk," and
recovery could take longer, he said.
Microsoft Will Cut 5,000 Jobs as Net Income Declines
Microsoft reported an 11 percent drop in net income for its fiscal
second quarter compared to the year-earlier period. Revenue was up two
percent to $16.63 billion, but profit was $4.17 billion, or 47 cents a
share, versus $4.71 billion and 50 cents a year earlier.
Analysts had expected earnings per share of 49 cents. Microsoft's stock
dropped to around $17 a share in late trading.
The software giant said economic conditions and a weak PC market in the
year-ending quarter negatively impacted its Windows division, where
revenue fell eight percent. A continuing shift to lower-priced netbooks
also hurt the company's profit margins.
But CFO Chris Liddell assured investors that Microsoft would respond to
"volatility in the macroeconomic environment" by implementing a $1.5
billion reduction in operating expenses.
"The economy clearly has deteriorated more than we expected," Liddell
said during a conference call. "We have initiated a number of
cost-saving steps which we shall layer in over the course of the next
year."
Among other things, Microsoft will freeze pay raises and cut up to 5,000
jobs in research and development, marketing, sales, finance, legal,
human resources, and IT over the next 18 months, including 1,400 jobs
now. "We are also looking for reductions in marketing expenses and
discretionary spending," Liddell said.
The 5,000 job cuts are all internal positions, Liddell noted. "Outside
contractors are not included in that number, and we also will certainly
be looking at reducing that," he said.
Still, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that even as the company
eliminates some jobs, it will be adding more workers in key areas to
take advantage of whatever market opportunities lie ahead.
"We don't plan on shrinking, but we are putting the brakes on," Ballmer
told investors. "We are going to continue to invest in important areas
of opportunity for the company," such as search. "But at the same time
we are prioritizing," he said.
Ballmer admitted that the current economic climate is challenging. "We
certainly are in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime set of economic
conditions, and neither the consumer side nor the business side of the
tech industry is immune," he said.
Microsoft also said earnings and revenue are likely to be lower for the
rest of its fiscal year ending June 30. It said it would not issue
further earnings or revenue forecasts.
Microsoft intends to focus on improving performance in innovation and
market-share growth, as well as generate efficiencies through the
prioritization of resources. The software giant also indicated it is
moving to maintain cash liquidity so it can continue to make acquisitions.
"The opportunity to buy companies has never been better," Liddell said.
"We will continue to buy some small-to-medium-sized businesses, but the
level will be low in the next quarter or two."
Ballmer said he expects the computing market to shrink - perhaps for a
year or two - and then begin growing from a lower base. "I view this as
a pause," Ballmer said. "I don't think there is any stopping of the
forward march, for the market or for Microsoft."
Though Ballmer noted that Microsoft isn't immune to the effects of the
economy, he expressed confidence in the company's product portfolio.
"We will continue to manage expenses and invest in long-term
opportunities to deliver value to customers and shareholders, and we
will emerge an even stronger industry leader than we are today," Ballmer
said.
EC Could Strip Internet Explorer From Windows
Microsoft violated European Commission rules by tying Internet
Explorer to its market-dominating operating system, the commission said
in a preliminary ruling. The EC said that tie shields Microsoft from
head-to-head competition with rival Web browsers.
In a Statement of Objections (SoO) delivered to Microsoft last week, the
EC said tying Internet Explorer to Windows "harms competition between
Web browsers, undermines product innovation, and ultimately reduces
consumer choice." In response, Microsoft said it's studying the document
and remains "committed to conducting our business in full compliance
with European law."
The EC's latest move is a direct response to a complaint by rival
browser maker Opera, which alleged it was experiencing ongoing
competitive harm from Microsoft's practices. In particular, Opera
complained that Internet Explorer embraces new proprietary technologies
that reduce compatibility with open Internet standards, and therefore
hinder competition.
The commission noted last week that Internet Explorer is available on 90
percent of the world's PCs. Citing the evidence it has gathered to date,
the EC said tying Internet Explorer with Windows "distorts competition
on the merits between competing Web browsers insofar as it provides
Internet Explorer with an artificial distribution advantage which other
Web browsers are unable to match."
Microsoft observed that the EC is concerned that the ubiquity of
Internet Explorer creates artificial incentives for content providers
and software developers to design Web sites or software primarily for
Internet Explorer, which ultimately risks undermining competition and
innovation.
"According to the EC's SoO, other browsers are foreclosed from competing
because Windows includes Internet Explorer," Microsoft said. "The SoO
states that the remedies put in place by the U.S. courts in 2002
following antitrust proceedings in Washington, D.C., do not make the
inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows lawful under European Union
law."
The SoO is based on the legal and economic principles established by the
Court of First Instance on Sept. 17, 2007 -- when the EC's highest
judicial body upheld the commission's March 2004 ruling that Microsoft
had abused its dominant position in the PC operating-system market by
tying Windows Media Player to Windows.
If its preliminary views are confirmed, the commission said it could
impose a fine on Microsoft, require the software giant to cease the
abuse, and "impose a remedy that would restore genuine consumer choice
and enable competition on the merits."
The EC could require Microsoft to offer PC manufacturers a version of
Windows that doesn't include Internet Explorer, which is precisely what
the EC ordered in its March 2004 decision on Microsoft's Windows Media
Player. Microsoft, however, retained the right to also offer a version
with Windows Media Player and could follow the same course with Internet
Explorer.
Microsoft will have an opportunity to respond in writing to the EC's SoO
within the next two months and can request a hearing. "Under EU
procedure, the European Commission will not make a final determination
until after it receives and assesses Microsoft's response and conducts
the hearing, should Microsoft request one," the company said.
As a result of the EC's March 2004 ruling, Microsoft was assessed $1.4
billion in fines for stifling competition by directly linking its Media
Player software to Windows.
US Supreme Court Shuts Door on Child Online Protection Act
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that a law
designed to shield children from pornography on the Internet violated the
constitutional right to free speech.
The move by the highest court, which let the ruling stand without
comment, would appear to mean the end of the road for the Child Online
Protection Act (COPA), which was passed by Congress in 1998 but never
enforced.
Rights groups welcomed the Supreme Court decision not to hear the Bush
administration's appeal of the ban on COPA, with the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) describing it as a "clear victory for free speech."
The ACLU has been among the groups which filed legal challenges to COPA
on the grounds that it violated the First Amendment right to free speech.
"For over a decade the government has been trying to thwart freedom of
speech on the Internet, and for years the courts have been finding the
attempts unconstitutional," ACLU senior staff attorney Chris Hansen said
Wednesday.
"It is not the role of the government to decide what people can see and
do on the Internet," he said in a statement. "Those are personal
decisions that should be made by individuals and their families."
"The court's decision not to review COPA for a third time affirms what
we have been saying all along - the government has no right to censor
protected speech on the Internet, and it cannot reduce adults to hearing
and seeing only speech that the government considers suitable for
children," added ACLU legal director Steven Shapiro.
Leslie Harris, president the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT),
also praised the Supreme Court for not interfering with the ruling of an
appeals court in Pennsylvania in the case.
"We applaud the court's decision which ends the government's quixotic
and wasteful 10-year effort to impose an unconstitutional censorship
standard on Internet content," Harris said.
COPA was intended to prevent minors from accessing pornographic content
on the Web but it ran into immediate and repeated legal challenges on
free speech grounds.
Microsoft To Deliver First IE8 Release Candidate Monday
Microsoft plans to deliver the first release candidate of the next
version of Internet Explorer on Monday, according to sources familiar
with the company's plans.
Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) has been in its second beta release since
August, and a post on Microsoft's IE8 blog on Wednesday said the company
was "about to release" IE8 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) for Windows XP and
Vista. Sources familiar with the company's plans said the release will be
Monday.
In Microsoft terminology, a release candidate means the software is
feature complete and the code is basically stable, and a final release
is imminent.
Microsoft's public relations team also has sent out e-mails to members
of the press saying that Microsoft will have some news regarding IE8 on
Monday, but will only comment under embargo about that news.
Microsoft originally had hoped to release the final version of IE8
before the end of 2008, but as with many Microsoft product releases, the
software's delivery was pushed back. Rather than set firm dates for
software releases, Microsoft typically these days will say the final
release of software is dependent upon user feedback from the beta process.
Microsoft has developed IE8 to be more compliant with accepted
Web-development standards such as CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and RSS.
This is a goal the company also had with IE7 but which backfired because
developers who built sites for earlier versions of IE found they didn't
render properly or work at all on IE7 once it supported those standards.
Microsoft developed IE before many Web standards were developed, and so
older versions of IE don't support them. Developers would typically
write applications to work with IE rather than to support standards
because IE was the de facto standard for Web browsing for many years.
That has changed, starting with the release of the open-source browser
Mozilla Firefox several years ago. Firefox and now Google's Chrome
browser have given users more browser choice, so Microsoft has had to
make IE more competitive and standards-compliant.
IE8 also has some new features to make browsing the Web easier and more
convenient for users, including two called Web Slices and Activities.
Web Slices lets users subscribe to pages or points of interest they
visit on the Web, such as news feeds or eBay auctions, and keep track of
them through tiles that appear in IE's navigation menu.
Some third parties have even developed custom Web Slices. For example, a
social search-engine company called OneRiot has developed a Web Slice
that lets users keep track of the most frequently visited links other
Web users are clicking on in real time.
Activities let the user right-click on a Web page and pull in maps or
other Web pages into a site they are browsing without need for more
coding or add-ins by the developer.
Microsoft also had said improving overall browser performance is a goal
for IE8, as IE7's frequent crashes are the reason many users say they
have switched to Firefox from IE.
New AOL Webmail Connects Gmail, Yahoo Mail
AOL's newly formed Products and Technologies Group made its first product
announcement on Thursday, an update of AOL Mail that allows users to
access Gmail and Yahoo Mail accounts.
In addition to the plugins for external mail accounts, the second
largest free email service has also been updated for faster performance,
over 45 new customization themes, and calendar and address syncing with
mobile devices including BlackBerry and the Apple iPhone.
"Web mail is an integral part of the AOL experience and at the heart of
our product offerings," said Ted Cahall, president of AOL Products and
Technologies. "With this new release, we can showcase the important role
AOL products continue to play in the company. Enhancing products that
already attract a large, engaged audience is a key goal for our
organization."
The company claims that has 48 million users for all of its mail
services, including installed software and Web-based. Unique visitors to
the web mail services, mail.aol.com and AIM mail users saw a 27 percent
increase in unique visitors. Page views were up 21 percent in 2008.
"People who are using AOL Mail represent an already-engaged audience,"
said Rich Landsman, senior vice president of AOL Mail. "As we continue
to extend our capabilities far beyond sending and receiving mail, we are
challenging ourselves and third-party developers everywhere to create
new opportunities for delivering customized, relevant content using our
mail platform."
The new Products and Technologies group is part of the company's move to
an ad-based profit model, and includes Mail, Mapquest, AOL Search,
Truveo video search, and AOL Mobile, as well as the back-end
infrastructure teams. You can check out the new webmail client at
mail.aol.com.
Low-Cost, Open-Source Web Tablet Comes to Life
The growing category of very inexpensive laptops, spearheaded by
netbooks and One Laptop Per Child's vision of the $100 laptop, may soon
have another offering.
TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, who voiced an open call last July for a
"dead simple touchscreen Web tablet that boots right into the browser,"
costs $200, and is open source, has reported that a second - and better -
prototype for such a device is now up and running. He calls it the
CrunchPad, and others have described it as a netbook without the keyboard.
In his original posting, Arrington asked for help in creating the new
device. "Nothing fancy" like the $2,500 Dell Latitude XT, he wrote.
"Just a MacBook Air-thin touchscreen machine that runs Firefox and
possibly Skype on top of a Linux kernel." And, once built, he proposed
to "open source the specs" so that anyone could build one.
Arrington said he wanted one to sit on his lap so he could easily and
comfortably browse Web pages related to TV programs - or, since the
device would play Flash video, he could watch movies or TV shows from
Hulu, YouTube or Joost. Music playing, video chatting, and e-mail would
round out the capabilities. By focusing on the browser, Arrington said,
the device could use very low-end hardware.
In August, Prototype A was built with an aluminum case "twice as thick
as it needs to be," and performance that offered more potential than
actual. "It barely booted," Arrington admitted, but it was enough of a
demonstration that he knew he wanted one that worked well.
Now the project has a team lead, Louis Monier, the founder and chief
technical officer of AltaVista and former head of eBay's Advanced
Technology Group. And Prototype B is now ready.
Prototype B sports a 12-inch, 1024x768 touchscreen, a 4:3 aspect ratio,
and a Via Nano processor. Arrington wrote that the processor performs
comparably to Intel's Atom processor, used in its netbooks.
The prototype has a gigabyte of RAM, and a 4GB flash drive for the
operating system, browser and Web cache. Other features include Wi-Fi,
an accelerometer that lets the device reposition a Web page when the
machine is turned, a camera, and a four-cell battery.
The weight is about three pounds and, although his original vision was
for a $200 price tag, Arrington said something under $299 is more
realistic.
The prototype runs a full install of the Ubuntu Linux open-source
operating system, with a custom Webkit browser. The user experience and
feature set are being built by Singapore-based FusionGarage, whose blog
touts its enthusiasm for "the browser as an operating system."
Arrington said the effort has received "thousands" of e-mails, with many
expressing a desire to own a CrunchPad. He also noted "quite a bit of
interest" from potential investors, adding that the decision hasn't been
made whether a company will be spun off to produce units for sale.
Domain Registrar Go Daddy Tries Web Marketplace
It may sound counterintuitive to launch an online marketplace as Web
retail sales are slumping, but Internet domain name registrar Go Daddy
Group Inc. is betting that it can translate its home page traffic into
sales of teak slab tables and decorative clogs.
The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company opened the Go Daddy Marketplace on
Tuesday, which lets users list as many things as they want for a $5
monthly fee and 10 percent commission on products that sell. The company
has not advertised the service yet, apart from a link near the top of
its home page.
So far, "hundreds" of sellers have listed "tens of thousands" of
products, according to Go Daddy's executive vice president and chief
marketing officer, Barb Rechterman.
Go Daddy Marketplace is still tiny compared to the millions of items
available through eBay Inc. or online retailer Amazon.com Inc. On the day
after GoDaddy's marketplace launched, you could buy items ranging from
iPod accessories to silver jewelry, but searches for various consumer
electronics, DVDs and musical instruments yielded few results.
Even so, Rechterman said the company's home page gets a "tremendous
amount" of traffic, and privately held Go Daddy hopes this will bring
buyers and sellers. According to comScore Inc., the Go Daddy site
averaged 2.3 million visitors per month in 2008.
And while the sluggish economy is hurting many retailers, both on and
off the Web, Rechterman thinks it is a good time to start such a
service, saying that merchants are hungry to sell their products.
"Businesses need to do business," she said.
'Updated' Worm Using Obama Spam To Spread Rapidly
A virus that is spreading with a vengeance is plaguing businesses in
the new year. The Conficker worm, which caused havoc on Windows PCs in
October, has come back to strike more than 3.5 million PCs in 24 hours
under a new name, Downadup, according to security analysts.
The worm resurfaced earlier in the month, infecting Windows workstations
and servers and causing a variety of problems for users.
Downadup consists of a family of network worms that are difficult to
remove, especially when there is an infection inside a corporate
network, according to F-Secure, a security company which first released
warnings about the worm.
"First discovered in October 2008, Conficker, Kido or Downadup is a very
sophisticated worm, but the updated version from two weeks ago is much
more serious," said Jart Armin, a security specialist with HostExploit.
"Essentially it becomes part of MS Windows services.exe, and then
establishes an HTTP server from the infected PC."
Armin added that the worm automatically generates hundreds of domain
names to fool any tracking, but only one is the real site that downloads
the malicious instruction set.
"It also enables replication via USB sticks and across office networks,"
Armin said. "It appears to be especially timed to take advantage of the
holidays and lack of IT staff around."
Is there any help for victims of the Conficker? Some, according to
security specialists.
One is to watch out for fake Barack Obama sites, according to F-Secure's
blog. The company is seeing spam trying to use the presidential
inauguration as a way to push spam and the Downadup-related activity.
E-mails have been sent around the world suggesting users follow links to
Obama Web sites. Some fake Web sites that produce malware are
store.greatobamaguide.com, store.superobamadirect.com and
superobamaonline.com.
And there are many more, according to F-Secure.
F-Secure has also posted the registered countries for the IP addresses
causing harm and they include China, Brazil, Russia, India, the Ukraine,
Italy, Thailand, Taiwan and Kazakhstan, to name a few. Most, however,
originate in China, Brazil and Russia.
"The main fake Web site was superobamaonline.com, which has now been
taken offline; however more are likely to appear," Armin said. "It shows
registration via XIN NET Technology Corp. of China; however, this domain
registrar has been primarily used by Russian cybercriminals."
"Essentially these fake Web sites are a 'fast-flux' botnet hosted around
the globe, and the links via spam e-mail point to a file called
speech.exe, which is a Waladec malware variant," he added.
Updating your PC has never been more valuable than now, according Armin,
who said consumers need the latest operating-system updates and patches.
As always, PC users and businesses also need to be sure to update
antivirus software.
"Microsoft has patches. However the ongoing problem resides where many
PCs do not have the latest MS patches, i.e. MS patch MS08-07, and
estimates vary from one to nine million PCs infected worldwide," Armin
said.
Trojan Found in Pirated Apple iWork Software
Internet security firm Intego said on Thursday that it has discovered
a new Trojan horse in pirated copies of Apple's iWork '09 productivity
software that could allow an attacker to take control of the infected
computer.
The Trojan horse, OSX.Trojan.iServices.A, discovered circulating in
copies of the software on BitTorrent trackers and other pirate sites, is
rated serious, according to Intego's security alert.
When iWork is installed, the Trojan is installed as a start-up item as a
part of iWorkServices. It has read-write-execute permissions for root
control of the computer, Intego said. The malware connects to a remote
server over the Internet and may download additional components to the
infected computer.
As of early Thursday, at least 20,000 people had downloaded the iWork
'09 installer, according to Intego.
Meanwhile, an Italian researcher has uncovered a way to inject malicious
code into memory of OS X-based computers, which would enable attackers
to easily hide their activities, according to The Register.
'Hacker' Wins Right To Fight Extradition to US
A Briton accused of hacking into computers owned by the US military and
NASA space agency got the green light Friday for a fresh legal challenge
against a bid to extradite him to the United States.
Gary McKinnon, 42, faces spending the rest of his life in prison if
convicted by a US court of gaining access to 97 computers in 2001 and
2002, following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
He says he was looking for evidence of unidentified flying objects
(UFOs), while his supporters say he has Asperger's Syndrome - a form of
autism - and could attempt suicide if he is forced to go to the United
States.
Two judges at the High Court gave McKinnon's lawyers permission Friday
to seek a judicial review of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's decision last
October that he should be extradited.
Speaking after the ruling, McKinnon's solicitor Karen Todner said it was
"the right decision".
"The judges have granted permission for a review of our claim that the
Home Secretary has not sufficiently taken account of the effects of
Asperger's and particularly the effect it will have upon him if he were
to be extradited," she said.
"It is the right decision. This case has been going on since 2002 and
finally we have got the first right decision."
England and Wales's new Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer,
is also looking at a request for McKinnon to be tried in Britain rather
than the United States. His supporters believe he would get a more
lenient sentence here.
McKinnon, who was diagnosed with Asperger's last August, has signed a
statement accepting that he has committed an offence under British law.
Starmer's decision is expected within the next month.
Nasty Worm Wriggles into Millions of Computers
A nasty worm has wriggled into millions of computers and continues to
spread, leaving security experts wondering whether the attack is a
harbinger of evil deeds to come.
US software protection firm F-Secure says a computer worm known as
"Conficker" or "Downadup" had infected more than nine million computers
by Tuesday and was spreading at a rate of one million machines daily.
The malicious software had yet to do any noticeable damage, prompting
debate as to whether it is impotent, waiting to detonate, or a test run
by cybercriminals intent on profiting from the weakness in the future.
"This is enormous; possibly the biggest virus we have ever seen," said
software security specialist David Perry of Trend Micro.
"I think the bad guys are field testing a new technology. If Conficker
proves to work well, they could go out and sell malware (malicious
software) to people. There is a huge market for selling criminal malware."
The worm, a self-replicating program, takes advantage of networks or
computers that haven't kept up to date with security patches for Windows
RPC Server Service.
It can infect machines from the Internet or by hiding on USB memory
sticks carrying data from one computer to another. Once in a computer it
digs deep, setting up defenses that make it hard to extract.
Malware could be triggered to steal data or turn control of infected
computers over to hackers amassing "zombie" machines into "botnet" armies.
"Here we are with a big, big outbreak and they keep revamping their
methodology to increase the size of it," Perry said. "They could be
growing this huge botnet to slice it up and sell it on the criminal market."
Microsoft says it is aware of the Conficker "worm family" and has
modified its free to detect and get rid of infections.
The US software giant also advises people to stay current on anti-virus
tools and Windows updates, and to protect computers and files with
strong passwords.
A troubling aspect of Conficker is that it harnesses computing power of
a botnet to crack passwords.
Repeated "guesses" at passwords by a botnet have caused some computer
users to be locked out of files or machines that automatically disable
access after certain numbers of failed tries.
"Downadup uses brute force from the infected network of botnets to break
the password of the machine being attacked," Perry said. "That is
something never seen before and I find it disturbing."
Perry urges people to harden passwords by mixing in numbers, punctuation
marks, and upper-case letters. Doing so makes it millions of times
harder for passwords to be deduced, according to Perry.
"This is necessary in a world where malware hacks passwords," Perry said.
"Go get a notebook, keep it next to your computer and record your
password in it. No hacker in the world can hack the written page locked
away in your office."
Internet Applauds 25 Years of Apple Macintosh
All across the Internet, people are celebrating 25 years of Apple's
Macintosh computer. From heartfelt tributes about the first time they
touched the IIe to fond remembrances of Apple's less-than-prosperous
ideas, stories are flowing about one of the most inspirational and
influential companies ever.
CNET fondly revisits Apple's famous 1984-tinged Super Bowl commercial and
Apple's other advertising campaigns, which have all set the company apart
from its competition and detractors as an innovator daring to think
different
(and inspired both competitors and creative parodies).
"In the entertainment industry, it was the dawn of the cinematic Super
Bowl ad," writes Caroline McCarthy. "For historians, it was a notable
moment in Soviet-tinged pop culture. But in the tech world, this was the
birth of Apple as we know it - 25 years ago this week."
Gizmodo also applauds the 1984 commercial and delves into its more
technical aspects. Gizmodo's writers also take a time-out for some
sentimental praise: "With one single emission, it generated millions of
dollars in free coverage and re-runs in TV stations through the nation
and abroad, and became a historical landmark to advertisers, companies,
and public alike."
MacRumors stumbled upon an inspiring speech given by COO Tim Cook during
Wednesday's earnings conference call. When asked about Steve Jobs'
medical leave of absence, Cook launched into Apple's philosophy on how it
builds, functions, and innovates. Part of the text reads: "We believe
that we're on the face of the Earth to make great products, and that's
not changing. We're constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the
simple, not the complex.... We believe in saying no to thousands of
projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important
and meaningful to us."
Cook's impromptu pulpit pounder might illuminate better than any
historical timeline the drive and impact Apple, and the Macintosh, has
had upon the technology industry.
For serious in-depth coverage of Apple's anniversary, check out Macworld's
multi-part series exploring everything from software, to icons, to some of
Apple's less than prosperous inventions.
Iain Thompson writes for vunet.com about why he still hates Macs.
His acid-laced diatribes include bits like, "the Mac moved from being a
useful tool to something to be loathed," and "One of the key reasons I
hate Macs are their users. There's a certain kind of smug, snooty Apple
user that makes me want to reach for the EMP cannon. Apple's fan base
bears more resemblance to cults like Scientology than many would like to
admit."
Ouch. Thompson writes for all you out there who aren't so keen on
celebrating any aspect of Apple's history.
The Telegraph looks back with skepticism, and posits that Apple wasn't
actually quite so much an innovator as it was a "refiner."
Sadly, the quietest site on the web is Apple.com, which has a unique
opportunity to revisit its history and chart the growth of its role in
home computing. But ever the nonconformist, one can only think that Apple
chooses to look forward, into future possibilities and innovations,
rather than consider the past.
Pope Welcomes Facebook, But Cautions
Pope Benedict XVI says social networking sites such as Facebook and
MySpace can foster friendships and understanding, but warns they also
can isolate people and marginalize others.
Benedict urged a culture of online respect in his annual message Friday
for the World Day of Communications.
Benedict welcomes as a "gift" new technologies such as social networking
sites, saying they respond to the "fundamental desire" of people to
communicate.
But he also warns that "obsessive" virtual socializing can isolate
people from real interaction and deepen the digital divide by excluding
those already marginalized.
He urges producers to ensure that the content respects human dignity and
the "goodness and intimacy of human sexuality."
New Thinking About Passwords: Write 'Em Down
It used to be conventional wisdom among security experts that you
should never write your passwords down, but thinking is changing on
this. Roger Thompson, a respected anti-malware guy, thinks you should
write them down. I've seen this from other people and I do it too, to a
degree.
As Thompson says, it's not just that you should write them down, but
that you should have a lot of them and write them down. It is far more
secure for you to have a variety of passwords, so that if any one of
them is compromised the damage can be limited. If you write them down
you can better handle a larger number of passwords.
Thomson says that you should write them down "either in your wallet or
in a database." I'm not sure I like either option. As he says, if you
put them in your wallet and your wallet is lost or stolen you'll know to
reset your passwords. I would hesitate to have them in my wallet. But I
would not put them in a database unless that database itself was heavily
protected.
And of course there are products, like Norton Identity Safe (part of
Norton Internet Security, which store and encrypt your passwords.
Yahoo Mail Gets an Antispam Boost
Yahoo has taken new steps to sharpen its Webmail service's antispam
capabilities, including the adoption of two commercial technologies and
the testing of an open-source system, the company said Tuesday.
Abaca announced that Yahoo will use its e-mail security technology
designed to detect malicious phishing and spam messages and filter them
out of Yahoo
Mail inboxes.
Meanwhile, Return Path said separately that Yahoo will implement its
Complaint Feedback Loop, a service that notifies legitimate e-mail
marketers whenever end users tag their messages as spam, so that they can
investigate why, such as using an incorrect mailing list, and take
corrective action.
Finally, Yahoo announced that its internal antispam team has been using
a "supercomputer" grid made up of thousands of PCs to improve its
ability to detect spammers. Yahoo is working with universities in this
research effort, whose PC grid is part of the company's open source
Hadoop project.
In a blog posting announcing the various efforts, Yahoo's Anti-Spam Czar
Mark Risher wrote that fighting spam continues to be a huge challenge
and priority for the company. "The bad guys are always out there trying
to make a buck with their scams, but we're committed to helping keep you
safer online," Risher said.
=~=~=~=
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