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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 13 Issue 06
Volume 13, Issue 06 Atari Online News, Etc. February 11, 2010
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2011
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
Fred Horvat
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #1306 02/11/10
~ Twitter Mulling Sale? ~ People Are Talking! ~ Best Buy's Buy Back!
~ Activists' Protection? ~ IE9 Near-Final Version ~ Firefox 4, 5, 6, & 7?
~ HP: No Click Touchpads ~ iPad 2 Announcements? ~ DEC's Ken Olsen Dies!
~ Employees and Facebook ~ "Fate" of Ken & Barbie ~ In-App Purchases Woes
-* Anti-Computer Hacking Bill! *-
-* Debate Over An Internet Kill-Switch! *-
-* "Do Not Track Me Online Act" Privacy Bill! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Unless you've been in seclusion due to the horrible wintry weather over
the past couple of weeks, you've probably been aware of Egypt's President
Mubarak. This has been history in the making, brought on by massive
protests by the citizens of that Middle East country. Actually, I'm
surprised at the quick (more or less) decision that Mubarak made; and the
fact that this event was fairly non-violent. I'm not sure how this will
be remembered in the history books, but I'm fairly sure that some reports
will show that the internet played some role. I think that this will be
borne out partially due to the fact that Egypt "killed" the internet in
that country for almost a week, likely attempting to minimize news of
what was happening in the country. The "power" of the internet is
certainly amazing. Regardless of how it will be recorded, Egypt faces a
new era of leadership - hopefully a democratic one that will help to
maintain or create better stability in that part of the world!
On the local front, we had more snow here over the past week, but merely
an "event" of inconvenience more than anything else. A couple of inches,
which compared to the average of a foot or more each storm in the past,
this really wasn't much. It's been really cold, as well, but the long
range forecast calls for a couple of days near 50 degrees next week.
Finally, some relief in sight, although being a long-time resident of New
England, I'm not too optimistic that Spring is just around the corner!
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, another week has come and gone, and
yes, I missed another column. Things just never seem to fall into place
anymore. It used to be that you could count on at least a couple of things
going right. But no more.
Yeah, I know, it sounds fatalistic, but things are getting kind of crazy
out there. One need look no farther than the newspapers (or any news site
online) to see what's happening.
First of all, let's spend a line or two on the health care plan. A lot of
time and effort and, therefore, money were spent over about two years to
get this puppy passed. It finally got through and made into law. Although
I don't think that most of us really know what the plan holds for us, and
there's a lot of misinformation out there about it, I think it's a good
thing. Sure, it may require some 'tweaking'... I'd be surprised if it
didn't... but in general, I think we'll all be better off with it than
without it.
I'll be quite honest with you, this plan is not what I wanted. I had
envisioned something much more... citizen friendly and much less insurance
company protective. Sure, insurance companies deserve to make money, but
health insurance is something that shouldn't be a cash cow. I would have
liked to have seen provisions for tax incentives for companies that donate
technology, know-how, and even intellectual property like drug patents for
'the common good'. Provisions that make it attractive for companies that
make medical equipment to donate or offer at discounts the things they
produce. I could imagine a company realizing the benefits of tax
'write-offs'... lots of companies see the benefit now... but let's make it
a little sweeter. Double the tax write-off.
We could do the same thing with drugs. You're probably aware of drug
programs at drug and grocery store chains and stores like Walmart that allow
you to get a 90 day supply of certain generic drugs for about ten bucks.
That's a good thing, right? Sure it is. It's good for everyone. The drug
companies get their product out there, the stores get people coming in to
save money... and maybe spend what they've saved while in the store. And
the insurance companies make out too. If you're like me, your prescription
plan (if you're lucky enough to have one) has a $15 co-pay. And the
insurance companies will only cover a 30 day supply. So if you need a
prescription that happens to be on "the list", you can get three times as
much of your medicine for two thirds of the cost to you. So why do
insurance companies like it? Simple... the 10 bucks comes out of your
pocket, not theirs. You're still paying your insurance premiums and getting
your medicine, but they don't pay a dime because you always pay up to the
first 15 dollars anyway. I don't have a problem with that.
But what if.. what if we could get the drug companies to supply more
drugs... more kinds of drugs... for lower prices? Sounds good, right?
Right. But how do we do that? Well, how about the old tried and true tax
incentives? I doubt there's a company in the entire country that wouldn't
like a tax break. Give 'em one. Maybe some of them will be smart and use
bigger donations and price cuts as a marketing tool and increase sales,
which increases production, which increases jobs and equipment purchases,
all of which increase the number of dollars they'd be paying in taxes...
everybody wins.
Except the shareholders. Y'know what? Too bad. We've gotten too accustomed
to making a lot of money on stocks. Whatever happened to the days when you
bought stock and were happy if you made a percent or so over a bank
account? No, now everybody wants to retire like Getty and make a killing.
You really can't blame people too much for that; everyone wants to make
money. But when stock becomes a company's primary concern and not the
product or service they provide, trust me, the whole system is going to
collapse. Look at GM and the banks that needed bail-outs. They
concentrated more on their stock offerings than their products. And look
what happened.
But back to the subject... health care. Over and above the cost of drugs,
aside from the high price of today's high-tech equipment, there is always
the dark shadow of insurance. Yes, insurance companies are a necessity
today. The problem is that they know it, and aren't above using that
knowledge. Insurance premiums are outrageous. I won't tell you what the
cost of my health insurance is per week, but it's about twice what it
should be per month. The dollar amount is outrageous. And gone are the
days when having insurance meant you could be treated for what ailed you
without worrying about money. Even the days when a simple co-pay was the
worst thing that would happen are quickly becoming memories. Now, not
only do you have to deal with some fairly high co-pays, but you also have
minimums, deductibles and pre-approvals to deal with.
And in the event that you do actually require the services that health
insurance is supposed to afford you, you not only have to pay these
deductibles and co-pays, you also have to pay your insurance premiums. God
forbid you lose your job and, therefore, your coverage. Insurance
companies, like all companies, are not human. The organization itself has
no mind or heart or soul. Sure they're composed of and run by humans, but
somewhere in that transformation from "bunch of humans" to "corporation"
something gets lost almost every time. And insurance companies, like most
big companies these days, want to make their stock offering attractive for
their stock holders.
And there are other reasons too... but we don't have time or space here to
talk about corporate perks and over-spending and bad business moves. But
the fact is that health insurance is something that just shouldn't be a
'down and dirty' way for a company to increase its profits. No company
should be expected to try to lose money, but neither should any company be
allowed to take advantage of those in dire need of their products or
services. Health insurance is just to important.
Well, that's about all for this week, friends and neighbors. 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 - "Guitar Hero" Gets the Ax!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" BlizzCon 2011 Announced!
PS3 Hacker To Give Up HDs!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Iconic 'Guitar Hero' Video Game Gets The Ax
These days, guns are more popular than guitars, at least when
it comes to video games. The company behind "Guitar Hero" said Wednesday
that it is pulling the plug on one of the most influential video game
titles of the new century.
Activision Blizzard Inc., which also produces the "Call of Duty" series,
is ending the "Guitar Hero" franchise after a run of more than five
years. The move follows Viacom Inc.'s decision in November to sell its
money-losing unit behind the "Rock Band" video games. Harmonix was sold
to an investment firm for an undisclosed sum. Harmonix, incidentally,
was behind the first "Guitar Hero" game.
Game industry analysts have long lamented the "weakness in the music
genre," as they call it - that is, the inability of game makers to drum
up demand for the products after an initial surge in popularity in the
mid-2000s. Music games are often more expensive than your typical
shoot-'em-up game because they require guitars, microphones and other
musical equipment. While extra songs can be purchased for download, this
hasn't been enough to keep the games profitable.
Activision's shares tumbled after the announcement, but investors appear
more concerned with the company's disappointing revenue forecast than
the demise of the rocker game. As far as investors go, discontinuing an
unprofitable product isn't the end of the world, even if "Guitar Hero"
fans disagree.
"In retrospect it was a $3 billion or more business that everybody
needed to buy, so they did, but they only needed to buy it once," said
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. "It's much like 'Wii Fit.' Once
you have it, you don't need to buy another one."
"Guitar Hero" was iconic and often praised for getting a generation
weaned on video games into music. But its end after a mere half a decade
is a big contrast to other influential video game franchises, such as
the 25-year-old Mario series from Nintendo. "Call of Duty" first
launched in 2003, two years before "Guitar Hero."
In a conference call, Activision said its restructuring will mean the
loss of about 500 jobs in its Activision Publishing business, which has
about 7,000 employees. But the company's overall work force numbers are
not going to change much because it is hiring people elsewhere.
Activision did better than expected in the fourth quarter, which ended
in December, but that already was anticipated. After all, it launched
"Call of Duty: Black Ops" in November. That game, which is mostly set
during the Vietnam War, made $1 billion after just six weeks in stores.
Its latest "World of Warcraft" game has also been doing well.
Bobby Kotick, Activision's CEO, said the company's big franchises "have
larger audience bases than ever before and we continue to see
significantly enhanced user activity and engagement for our expanding
online communities." Revenue from so-called "digital channels" - that
is, downloads, subscriptions and extra game content sold online - now
accounts for 30 percent of the company's total revenue.
Activision said Wednesday it lost $233 million, or 20 cents per share,
in the latest quarter, compared with a loss of $286 million, or 23 cents
per share, in the same period a year earlier. Net revenue fell to $1.43
billion from $1.56 billion.
Its adjusted earnings of 53 cents per share were better than last year's
49 cents and beat analysts' expectations of 51 cents, according to
FactSet. Revenue that's been adjusted to account for games with online
components was $2.55 billion, up slightly from $2.50 billion a year
earlier and above analysts' $2.25 billion forecast.
For the current quarter, which ends in March, Activision forecast
adjusted earnings of 7 cents per share, and adjusted revenue of $640
million. Analysts are looking for earnings of 10 cents per share on
higher revenue of $771 million.
Activision Blizzard also said its board authorized a new $1.5 billion
stock buyback plan. And it declared an annual dividend of 16.5 cents, an
increase of 10 percent from the dividend it issued in February 2010, its
first ever.
Blizzard Announces BlizzCon 2011
Attention all gamers: Just in case the past year hasn't quite satisfied
your Blizzard fixation, what with the releases of StarCraft II: Wings of
Liberty and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, you'll get a few more chances
before 2011 is out. Blizzard Entertainment has announced that its sixth
BlizzCon gaming convention will be held this year on Friday, October 21,
and Saturday, October 22, at the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim,
California.
This "celebration of the global player communities surrounding Blizzard
Entertainment's Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo universes" lets gamers
gather to get hands-on time with the latest Blizzard games; attend
discussion panels with developers; participate in both casual and
competitive tournaments, as well as contests with major prizes; buy
merchandise based on Blizzard's games; and more.
Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard, said in a statement, "We
look forward to holding another exciting BlizzCon this year, filled with
some great entertainment and competition, as well as the latest news
about Blizzard games. BlizzCon is built from the ground up with our
community in mind; we're pleased to be able to host an event where
players can come together to have fun and celebrate their passion for
gaming."
For more information about BlizzCon 2011, and instructions on ticket
pricing and purchasing procedures closer to the dates of the convention,
visit the official Blizzard Web site, www.blizzard.com.
PS3 Hacker Must Turn Over Hard Drives to Sony, Judge Says
PlayStation 3 hacker George Hotz must hand over his computers to Sony
lawyers as part of a temporary restraining order issued last month,
a federal judge ruled Thursday.
Hotz had objected to the stipulation, arguing that Sony would be able to
go through its contents, but U.S. District Judge Susan Illston was not
convinced: "That's the breaks," she said, according to a report from Wired.
In late January, Illston granted Sony's request for a temporary restraining
order against Hotz, who hacked the Sony PS3 and posted his circumvention
technique on his Web site, as well as links for others to do the same. As
part of the TRO, Hotz was banned from posting or distributing those links
or information about his hacking techniques. He was also required to turn
over computers, hard drives, CD-roms, DVDs, USB sticks, or any other
storage devices on which the circumvention devices are stored.
Hotz objected to that last part, but Judge Illston was not having it.
"Here, I find probable cause that your client has got these things on
his computer," she said, according to Wired. "It's a problem when more
than one thing is kept on the computer. I'll make sure the order is and
will be that Sony is only entitled to isolate the information on the
computer that relates to the hacking of the PlayStation."
Earlier in January, lawyers representing Hotz argued that he hacked the
PS3 to add back a feature that Sony had removed.
Hotz, the lawyers claimed, "re-enabled" OtherOS functionality, or the
ability to dual-boot the PlayStation 3 using some other OS, such as Linux.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Egypt Move Revives US 'Kill Switch' Debate
Egypt's five-day shutdown of the Internet has revived debate in the United
States over how much authority the president should have over the Web in
the event of a crisis.
Some opponents of cybersecurity legislation wending its way through the
US Congress have condemned the bill as a danger to free speech and civil
liberties that would equip the White House with an Internet "kill switch."
Supporters deny it would confer any such power on the president.
As Hosni Mubarak cut his 80 million people off from the Web, the US
senators behind the legislation denounced the move by the Egyptian
president as "totally wrong" and leapt to the defense of their bill.
"(Mubarak's) actions were clearly designed to limit internal criticisms
of his government," said Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut,
Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, and Tom Carper, a Democrat from
Delaware.
"Our cybersecurity legislation is intended to protect the US from
external cyberattacks," Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee, Collins and Carper said in a joint
statement.
"We would never sign on to legislation that authorized the president, or
anyone else, to shut down the Internet," they said. "Emergency or no,
the exercise of such broad authority would be an affront to our
Constitution."
At the same time, the senators continued, "our current laws do give us
reason to be concerned" and their bill, which has yet to reach the
Senate floor, was designed to replace "broad and ambiguous" presidential
authority with "precise and targeted" powers to be used only in a
national emergency.
In June, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, American Civil Liberties
Union and some two dozen other privacy, civil liberties and civil rights
groups wrote a letter to Lieberman, Collins and Carper to express
concern about the bill.
"Changes are needed to ensure that cybersecurity measures do not
unnecessarily infringe on free speech, privacy, and other civil
liberties interests," they said.
"The Internet is vital to free speech and free inquiry, and Americans
rely on it every day to access and to convey information," the groups
said. "It is imperative that cybersecurity legislation not erode our
rights."
Taking note of the concerns, Lieberman, Collins and Carper said "we will
ensure that any legislation that moves in this Congress contains
explicit language prohibiting the president from doing what President
Mubarak did."
"Our bill already contains protections to prevent the president from
denying Americans access to the Internet - even as it provides ample
authority to ensure that those most critical services that rely on the
Internet are protected," they said.
Cindy Cohn, the EFF's legal director and general counsel, said the
latest version of the cybersecurity legislation was an improvement on
its "draconian predecessors" but remained wary.
"The Egyptian regime's shutdown of the Internet in an attempt to
preserve its political power highlights the dangers of any government
having unchecked power over our Internet infrastructure," Cohn said in a
blog post.
"The lesson of Egypt is that no one, not even the President of the
United States, should be given the power to turn off the Internet.
"(Egypt's move) puts a fine point on the risks to democracy posed by
recent Congressional proposals to give the president a broad mandate to
dictate how our Internet service providers respond to
cyber-emergencies," she said.
"Any proposal to give the president the ability to interfere with
Internet access of Americans - whether to address cyberattacks or for
any other reason - must be tightly circumscribed," she said.
"It must be limited to situations where there are serious and
demonstrable external security threats and must be strongly checked by
both Congressional and court review."
James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Washington-based Center for
Strategic and International Studies, said the cybersecurity bill sets
the threshold for invoking the presidential powers "very, very high."
"It's not some arbitrary power to turn off the Internet," Lewis told
AFP. "It's an authority consistent with other wartime authorities to act
in an emergency.
"It's not an Internet kill switch," he said. "That's just insane. How do
you kill a globally distributed network with millions of devices?
"The answer is you don't," Lewis continued. "But you can think about
isolating certain domains or certain enterprises.
"Say a big power company gets infected," Lewis said. "You say to them
'Disconnect yourself before you infect other power companies.' It's like
an avian flu quarantine for the Internet.
"It's not like Egypt where the dictator wakes up in a bad mood and does
it," he said. "It would be a legitimate process. It would have to be the
threshold of an act of war or a major terrorist event."
Anti-Computer Hacking Bill Coming in Congress
Strengthening cybersecurity is the goal of legislation being introduced
in Congress after reports of hack attacks on computer networks at
Nasdaq OMX Group and at oil and gas companies.
"Cyber-threats are not on the horizon, they are upon us," Democratic
Senator Robert Menendez, who is introducing the bill, said in a statement
on Thursday.
The bipartisan Cybersecurity Enhancement Act would fund more cybersecurity
research, awareness and education.
"Businesses and investors must trust that their investments are secure.
We cannot allow security breaches to undermine our trust in the U.S.
economy," said Menendez, from New Jersey.
Hackers working in China broke into computer systems of five multinational
oil and gas companies to steal bidding plans and other critical
information, computer security firm McAfee Inc said on Thursday.
Nasdaq OMX, operator of the Nasdaq Stock Market, said over the weekend
that it had found "suspicious files" on its U.S. computer servers and
determined that hackers could have affected one of its Internet-based
client applications.
Nasdaq OMX said there was no evidence that the hackers obtained customer
information or that any of the company's trading platforms were
compromised.
Menendez and other lawmakers have urged regulators to look into the
incidents and report back to Congress.
US Lawmaker Unveils Internet, Finance Privacy Bills
Cheered on by civil liberties advocates and consumer groups, a US lawmaker
introduced legislation Friday to help safeguard Internet users' privacy
and rein in dissemination of personal financial data.
"These two bills send a clear message - privacy over profit," Democratic
Representative Jackie Speier said as she unveiled the Do Not Track Me
Online Act and the Financial Information Privacy Act of 2011.
"Consumers have a right to determine what if any of their information is
shared with big corporations and the federal government must have the
authority and tools to enforce reasonable protections," she said.
The first bill would direct the US Federal Trade Commission to develop a
mechanism for consumers to be able to opt out of having their online
activity tracked, stored, or shared and require companies to abide by
that decision.
The American Civil Liberties Union hailed the legislation, with
legislative counsel Christopher Calabrese saying: "Signing on to the
Internet shouldn't mean signing away your privacy."
"It's crucial that Americans have as much control over their online
privacy as possible and this bill is a welcome and important first step
toward that goal," Calabrese said in a statement.
The second bill aimed to give consumers more control over whether and
how financial institutions share or sell personal, non-public information.
It would enable people to opt out of such sharing between a parent
company and an affiliate, and require that consumers explicitly opt-in
to allow a firm to share such information with an unaffiliated third party.
Activists on Facebook Need Protection
Facebook has become an important tool for democracy and human rights
activists and it needs to do more to protect them, including allowing the
use of pseudonyms, a US senator said Thursday.
"Recent events in Egypt and Tunisia have again highlighted the
significant costs and benefits of social networking technology like
Facebook to democracy and human rights activists," Senator Dick Durbin
said in a letter to Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark
Zuckerberg.
"I commend you for providing an important tool to democracy and
human-rights activists," the Democrat from Illinois said.
"However, as millions of people around the world use Facebook to exercise
their freedom of expression, I am concerned that the company does not have
adequate safeguards in place to protect human rights and avoid being
exploited by repressive governments," Durbin said.
"Facebook has facilitated efforts by activists to organize demonstrations
and publicize human-rights abuses," he said.
"At the same time, the Egyptian and Tunisian governments have reportedly
used Facebook to monitor activists, which is surely aided by Facebook's
refusal to allow activists to use pseudonyms," the senator said, citing
Belarus, China, and Iran as other countries using social networking to
track activists.
Durbin repeated a call for Facebook, which has nearly 600 million users,
to join the Global Network Initiative (GNI), which has drafted a
voluntary code of conduct to protect human rights and whose members
include Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!
Responding to the senator's letter, Andrew Noyes, a Facebook spokesman,
said "the trust people place in us is the most important part of what
makes Facebook work.
"As demonstrated by our response to threats in Tunisia, we take this
trust seriously and work aggressively every single day to protect
people," he said.
As for pseudonyms, Noyes said: "Facebook has always been based on a real
name culture, and we fundamentally believe this leads to greater
accountability and a safer and more trusted environment for people who
use the service."
Referring to the appeal to join GNI, Noyes said, "as Facebook grows,
we'll absolutely be considering which groups we can actively participate
in but it's important to remember that our global operations are still
small, with offices in only a handful of countries."
New HP Laptops Put an Axe to the Click Touchpads
Sayonara, Clickpads. That's the part that resonated loudest from HP's
latest updates to its Pavilion laptops. It wasn't the new designs, latest
Intel processors, or the fact that it boosted sound with an extra pair of
speakers above the keyboard; ditching the infamous Clickpads, the touchpad
design every Pavilion used for the last year, in favor of a dedicated
mouse button model, was the big takeaway here.
The Clickpad model was flawed from the moment HP started using it in its
netbooks and Envy line, and soon after it appeared in every Pavilion model.
It was influenced, no doubt, by Apple: An oversized touchpad that
integrated the mouse buttons is something customers perceived as
fashionable and clean-looking. Problem is, merging the two resulted in
accidental cursor movement and touch gestures appearing when they
shouldn't. There have been countless software driver fixes from Synaptics,
the company that makes these Clickpads, but none that have really fixed
the problem completely. So HP went with new hardware.
The new touchpads feature a left and right dedicated mouse button,
bringing back the classic touchpad model. Except this time, HP enlarged
the touchpad itself so that it looked as big as the previous Clickpad. I
spent some time with a Pavilion dv6 and came away very pleased with the
new touchpad. It's like a heavy burden had been lifted.
Of course, there's more to these new Pavilions than the new touchpad.
New designs, consisting of decorated plastic and metal, will be
available to customers (the previous Pavilions had etched metal designs
only). A glowing LED light that surrounds the touchpad is now a feature
customers can add. For audiophiles, HP added a speaker bar above the
keyboard, in addition to the two that reside in the front bezel, for a
4-speaker system. Each Pavilion laptop will also be equipped with Beats
Audio, a combination of hardware and software that enhances audio
quality. A numeric keypad has been added to the dv6 models, and two of
the four USB ports are colored in blue, which means they have the USB
3.0 spec (10 times the speeds of USB 2.0).
CoolSense is another marketing catch-term you'll be seeing a lot of in
HP's new Pavilions. It encompasses component placement, such as placing
heat-dissipating parts away from the palm rest area. The vents,
meanwhile, are placed to the sides and direct heat away from the laptop.
HP's Thermal Assistant software allows you to choose your cooling
preferences and uses the laptop's built-in accelerometer to detect when
the laptop is moving, so it automatically chooses the coolest setting.
This technology will come in handy, particularly if you configure a
Pavilion with one of Intel's Sandy Bridge Core i7 quad core processors.
Dual core versions will be available, as will AMD processors. Since HP
is an AMD proponent, all Pavilions going forward will use an ATI
Mobility Radeon 6000 series graphics chip, if the occasion calls for a
discrete graphics chip.
The Pavilion dv6 and dv7 will be available on February 27, starting at
$749.99 and $999.99, respectively.
iPad 2 Announcement In February?
Apple could be unveiling the second-generation iPad at a small, closed
developer's event next week, according to reports.
Citing sources from the accessories business, MacNotes.de claims Apple
is unveiling the second-generation iPad next week, during a launch event
of iOS 4.3 for the AT&T iPhone. However as PC Mag noted earlier, leaks
from accessory makers should be treated with a grain of salt.
Meanwhile Japanese tech blog macotakara.jp, citing no one in particular,
also claimed that Apple was holding a "small event" to introduce the
second-generation iPad. The event wouldn't take place until the end of
the Lunar New Year on February 17, however, as most of Apple's suppliers
and manufacturers in Asia were off for the holiday. Makotakara also said
Apple was launching the tablet in March.
Unless all these publications are talking to the same person, these
rumors seem to confirm a report in January. 9To5 Mac discovered that after
uploading iOS 4.3 beta, which Apple released in January to developers, its
iCalendar automatically flipped to February 9th. The blogosphere was
suddenly filled with rumors of a February 9th announcement for the iPad 2.
A beta version of iOS 4.3 was released to developers at the end of January.
Most reports say a full release won't be available until March.
Separately there were plenty of other alleged iPad 2 sightings last week
to satisfy the even most eager iPad 2 beaver, from sightings of the screen
to a patent for a stylus to front- and rear- facing cameras; even the
tablet itself was supposedly spotted at the launch of Rupert Murdoch's
Daily app on Wednesday.
Mozilla Releasing Firefox 4, 5, 6, and 7 in 2011?
With the browser wars turning in favor of Google's upstart Chrome's favor,
Firefox's leadership has decided that imitation is the highest form of
flattery. At least when it comes to release schedules. The Mozilla Wiki
currently lists "ship Firefox 4, 5, 6 and 7" among its goals for the 2011
calendar year.
One of the many groundbreaking and remarkable things about Google's
browser is that a new version has shipped an new version at an average
of every three months. Most other browser makers, including Firefox up
till now, have only deemed an update worthy of a new version number
after a couple of years.
Surprisingly, such a major change wasn't mentioned on the Firefox blog
or on Mozilla's press center site. One of the first sites to report the
change was DownloadSquad, which also notes in an update that the roadmap's
status is marked "draft," meaning it hasn't been finalized, so the plan
may not come to pass. A Mozilla rep told PCMag.com that it was updated
back in December, though it's just hitting the consciousness of the
Internet today.
The Roadmap, authored by Firefox director Mike Beltzner, is prefaced by
this mission statement: "We succeeded in re-energizing the browser
market, creating competition and innovation which benefits Web
application developers and users alike. This newly competitive market
has presented challenges for the continued success of Firefox, and in
2011 we must ensure that we can deliver a product that is compelling to
users in order to continue to be able to demonstrate our vision for the
Web. This roadmap outlines our planned strategy and direction for
Firefox in 2011."
Firefox 4 has been in the works for over a year, is likely to be
released next month, and its features are well known. But for the
heretofore unknown future versions, the emphases will be as follows:
*Firefox 5 *
* Account Manager
* Simple Sharing UI
* UI Animation
* 64 Bit on Windows
*Firefox 6:*
* Web Applications
* FasterCache
* OSX 10.7
* JS Optimizations
*Firefox 7 *
* e10s? deXBLification?
Beltzer adds that each version should add "anything that improves
responsiveness and is ready, anything that improves stability and is
ready, anything that polishes the user interface and is ready, and
anything else serving product priorities and is ready." But no projected
dates are included on the road map.
In a section titled, "How to ship faster," Beltzner writes that the team
must "take a hard look at our existing systems and re-evaluate some of
the assumptions we take as immutable." These include concern for
add-ons, older branches of code, localization, formal code review, and
giving every code contributor equal say.
It's an ambitious undertaking, but it's good to see Mozilla doing
something to attack its stagnant user growth, which came close to 25
percent of all Internet users, but never quite made the mark, thanks to
the arrival of Chrome. Having a $200 billion company behind its
development effort hasn't hurt Google Chrome, but it's not a guarantee
that a feisty, well-organized volunteer-assisted project like Firefox
can't come out on top.
Microsoft Releases Near-Final Web Browser Version
Microsoft Corp. released a near-final version of Internet Explorer 9 on
Thursday, saying the updates make the Web browser even better at tapping
into a computer's powerful processors to help multimedia-laden websites
load and run faster.
IE9 is a free download that works Windows Vista and Windows 7 computers.
It's not compatible with Windows XP.
With IE9, Microsoft followed the visual lead of Google Inc.'s Chrome
browser. IE9 has far fewer buttons, icons and toolbars filling the
screen, leaving more room for the contents of Web pages. It mimics some
features in Windows 7, the newest PC operating software from Microsoft,
in that it lets people "pin" individual websites to the taskbar at the
bottom of the PC screen to make permanent one-click shortcuts.
Based on feedback from the beta version, which Microsoft said was used
by 25 million people, the software will let people add a new row of tabs
to the bar at the top of the browser window. It will also pop up fewer
notifications.
The new browser is much more than an aesthetic overhaul. IE9 can take
advantage of multicore microprocessors to crunch website code faster. It
also uses the PC's graphics processing unit - the same chips that make
the images in elaborate video games run smoothly - to make movie clips
and other visuals load and play faster.
Microsoft said Thursday that it has improved several aspects of the
browser that make it run faster than the beta that was released in
September. It fine-tuned the engine for rendering JavaScript, a widely
used Web programming language, so pages load faster. IE9 now also
decides on the fly when to tap into the graphics processor for more speed.
Competitors including Google and Mozilla, maker of the Firefox browser,
are also working on similar technical upgrades to their software. This
new crop of browsers will be competing with "apps," small programs for
smart phones, tablets and other devices that deliver the some of the
same content as websites but in a way that's easier to navigate on
smaller screens.
Why Browser 'Do Not Track' Features Won't Work
Mozilla, Microsoft, and Google have each developed some sort of "do not
track" feature for their respective Web browsers. The intent is good,
but each solution is fundamentally flawed and is unlikely to work very
well in the real world.
Following the call for action from the United States Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) to create some sort of a Web browsing "do not track"
list similar to the "do not call" list consumers can use to avoid being
harassed by telemarketers, the major browser vendors took some
initiative and got to work.
Microsoft announced availability of the Internet Explorer 9 release
candidate - the final evaluation version before the official release of
the browser. The IE9 RC includes Microsoft's solution to the Web
tracking issue. The problem with Microsoft's approach, though, is that it
relies too heavily on user intervention - requiring the user essentially
to manage which sites should or shouldn't be allowed to track browsing
behavior.
Google's approach is not an inherent feature of the Chrome browser, but
is offered instead as a "Keep My Opt-Outs" browser extension. Not only does
the Google solution require the user to be aware of the extension and add
it, but the ability of the extension to thwart online tracking efforts
relies on the self-regulating efforts of the advertising companies
responsible for the tracking.
Then, there is Mozilla's "do not track" solution. The Mozilla feature has
been added to the latest beta release of Firefox 4. If enabled, Firefox
will add information to HTTP requests from the browser letting Web sites
know that the user wishes not to be tracked...assuming the Web site is
paying attention and chooses to care.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) backs the Mozilla solution. An
EFF spokesperson e-mailed me to comment. "The Do Not Track approach
endorsed by the FTC and now Mozilla is a great idea. It's technically
elegant and will serve as a platform for further privacy innovation.
Yes, parallel efforts will still be needed to combat online scams,
phishing and privacy-invading malware (and also to protect people who
don't use Do Not Track) but this is a major step in the right direction."
It may be technically elegant, but it's fatal flaw is that it depends on
the Web sites in question to A) be looking for the HTTP header data, and
B) be reputable enough to honor the "do not track" request. Those are
some major hurdles that make Mozilla's technical elegance impractical in
function.
Doug Wolfgram, CEO of IntelliProtect, an online privacy management company,
agrees that the Mozilla solution is flawed. Wolfgram e-mailed me to say,
"The Mozilla solution is only as effective as the companies who embrace it
which so far is none. It appears as though it sets a header, meaning opt
out of ALL sites who embrace it or none, no real consumer choice for whom
they want to allow to track."
In response to my criticisms of the Mozilla approach, the EFF spokesperson
explained, "The tracking we're most worried about is conducted by large
third-party domains. These are giant sites that are tracking most of us,
most of the time, but we never see them because they're hidden inside
iframes and JavaScript beacons in the pages we're looking at. Among those
very large domains, we believe it will be comparatively easy to determine
which ones do and don't respect the Do Not Track header."
Wolfgram also pointed out another serious obstacle. "Many behavioral
targeting companies are based outside the US - making legislation
ineffective. Right now, those within the US must voluntarily comply."
Wolfgram added that solutions which take an all or nothing approach
don't give consumers enough control.
The good news is that the FTC and the major browser vendors are aware
that there is a problem and are all actively working on solving it. The
bad news is that these initial stabs fall short of the goal, and that it
would be better if all parties would agree on a single, standard solution.
Anti-Spam Search Engine Blekko Averaging 1 Million Queries Per Day
Blekko's alternative, human-curated search engine now averages 1 million
queries a day and between 10 to 15 queries per second just three months
after launch, according to January figures the startup released Monday.
Blekko's secret sauce is its slashtags - topic tags auto-fired or appended
by users to queries to limit search results to those from curated sets of
websites. Blekko is reporting that there are now more than 110,000
human-curated slashtags.
Blekko CEO Rich Skrenta sees the figure as proof that the slashtag
approach is resonating with users. "We're happy at how quickly users
have adopted the idea of a new search engine and have created so many
quality slashtags just three months since launch," he says.
With 66.6% market share in the U.S., search is Google's domain to lose.
Blekko's plan of attack has been crafting a narrative that paints the
upstart as renegade, most recently by eliminating all results from 20
content farm sites it labelled as spam.
In previous conversations, both Skrenta and Blekko founder Mike Markson
appeared grounded in the reality that Blekko would not be making a dent
in Google's search share anytime soon. Still, at launch, the pair shared
that Blekko's model is such that it could be a profitable company at 1
million to 2 million queries per day. Having hit the smaller end of the
spectrum, the question is whether the startup will begin to employ ads
on the currently pristine site to start generating revenue.
Blekko has raised $24 million since being founded in 2007. Earlier this
month, the startup released an iPhone and Android application with
features similar to those available on the web.
Best Buy Launches Electronics 'Buy Back' Program
Timing is everything when shopping for gadgets. That's because there's
always a possibility that a new version of the smart phone, tablet or
other electronic gear will be released soon after you make a purchase.
To allay such fears, Best Buy Inc. launched its new "Buy Back" program
in a Super Bowl ad featuring aging heavy metal star Ozzy Osbourne and
teen pop sensation Justin Bieber. Under the program, the electronics
retailer agrees to buy back certain products within a limited time.
Customers can get a partial refund based on how quickly they return the
item.
Best Buy is touting its buyback plan as a way to "future proof'"
purchases. But it comes with costs and catches you should examine
carefully.
For now, the buyback plan is free. But after Feb. 12, here's what it
will cost:
* Laptops, netbooks and tablets: $69.99.
* Mobile phones: $39.99 to $59.99 depending on the price
* TVs: $59.99 to $349.99 depending on the price
And depending on when the item is returned, here's how much of the
purchase price customers get back:
* Within 6 months - up to 50 percent
* Between 6 and 12 months - up to 40 percent
* Between 12 and 18 months - up to 30 percent
* Between 18 and 24 months - up to 20 percent
* Between 24 and 48 months (only TVs are eligible) - up to 10 percent
So to obtain buyback protection for a $600 iPad, customers would pay
$69.99. If it's returned in less than six months, they would get $300
back. If they returned it in six months to a year, they'd get $240 back,
and so on.
For mobile phones, the amount refunded is based on the retail value of
the phone, even if the customer paid a special discount price.
It's worth noting that the refunds aren't made in cash, but are issued
on Best Buy gift cards. To get the maximum buy back amount listed,
customers also need to return the item in good condition with all of the
accessories it came with. Otherwise the refund may be reduced or even
denied.
That said, products can be returned for any reason. So even if customers
aren't coveting a new upgrade, Best Buy will take the item off their
hands.
And if the item is returned within Best Buy's standard return policy
window, it's also possible to get a refund of the buyback plan purchase
too.
Facebook and Google Size Up Takeover of Twitter
Google Inc. and Facebook Inc, plus others, have held low level takeover
talks with Twitter that give the Internet sensation a value as high as
$10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In December, Twitter raised $200 million in financing in a deal that
valued it at $3.7 billion. The company, which allows users to broadcast
140-character messages to groups of followers, had 175 million users as
of September.
The Wall Street Journal reported on its website that executives at
Twitter have held "low level" talks with executives at Facebook and
Google in recent months about a possible takeover of Twitter.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the WSJ said other companies
have also held similar talks.
"But what's remarkable is the money that people familiar with the matter
say frames the discussions with at least some potential suitors; an
estimated valuation in the neighborhood of $8 billion to $10 billion,"
the report said.
The paper said the talks have so far gone nowhere and that Google,
Facebook and Twitter all declined to comment.
Despite the valuation, the report said Twitter's executives and board
were working on building a large, independent company.
"People familiar with the situation said the company believes it can
grow into a $100 billion company," the WSJ said.
Twitter, created in 2006, is among a crop of popular Internet social
networking services that includes Facebook, Zynga and LinkedIn.
A growing secondary market has developed in shares of the privately held
Web sensations and investors are monitoring the companies closely in the
hope they might float shares.
It was only in the middle of 2010 that Twitter offered marketers a way
to advertise on the service.
Industry research firm eMarketer said last month that Twitter, which
doesn't disclose financial information, generated an estimated $45
million from advertising in 2010 and is expected to generate some $150
million this year.
Google, the world's number 1 Internet search engine, generated roughly
$29 billion in revenue in 2010 and Facebook, recently valued at $50
billion, produced about $1.9 billion, eMarketer said.
SFTC Asked To Investigate Kids and In-App Purchases
Do in-app purchases take advantage of children and inadvertently cost
parents way more money than they intended to spend? US Rep. Edward
Markey (D-MA) is worried that they do, and he has asked the Federal
Trade Commission to look at the in-app purchase process offered by Apple
and Google to see whether games that offer in-app purchases are unfairly
marketed towards kids.
Stories about children inadvertently spending thousands of dollars
inside of their parents' iPhone apps have circulated around the Web over
the last year or so. Parents need to enter a password the first time in
order to authorize a purchase (or an app download), but iOS devices
don't ask for the password again until some period of time has passed,
leaving eager kids to their own devices if parents aren't careful. When
kids get authorization, they sometimes go crazy buying new items inside
of their favorite games, surprising their parents with an eventual bill.
This phenomenon is hardly new, though it has gained more attention
recently thanks to coverage from the mainstream press. That coverage is
what led Markey to pen his letter to the FTC, asking it to review the
issue and possibly educate consumers about the dangers of in-app
purchases. He also asked the Commission to determine whether Apple,
Google, and app developers are engaging in deceptive marketing practices
when they advertise games to kids.
"I am disturbed by news that in-app purchases may be taking advantage of
children's lack of understanding when it comes to money and what it
means to 'buy' an imaginary game piece on the Web. Companies shouldn't
be able to use Smurfs and snowflakes and zoos as online ATMs pulling
money from the pockets of unsuspecting parents," Markey said in a
statement accompanying his letter.
"The use of mobile apps will continue to escalate, which is why it is
critical that more is done now to examine these practices. I will
continue to closely monitor this issue and look forward to the FTC's
response."
Google only recently introduced its own in-app purchasing system for
Android, so the current problem group is mostly made up of iPhone,
iPad, and iPod touch users. Apple doesn't currently offer a setting that
reduces the amount of time between password requests, but it does
offer parental controls that let parents turn off in-app purchases
altogether. Of course, choosing this option will mean that no app will
be able to make in-app purchases (whether an adult is using them or
not), but until a better solution becomes available, those settings can
be found under Settings > General > Restrictions.
Russian Hacker Admits Guilt in $10 Million Cyber Theft
A Russian man has pleaded guilty in court to stealing $10 million from
former Royal Bank of Scotland division World Pay in 2008 by hacking into
accounts, RIA News reported on Monday.
Investigators said 27-year-old Yevgeny Anikin was a member of an
international hacking ring that copied client account information and
boosted the daily maximum withdrawal limit before taking cash out of
bank machines across Europe, Asia and the United States.
"I want to say that I repent and fully admit my guilt," Anikin in his
final comments to the court in Novosibirsk in Siberia, where he was
charged with theft.
Anikin, who was detained in 2009, bought two apartments in Novosibirsk
as well as a luxury car.
Russia has produced some of the world's most renowned hackers, including
the programer who wrote ZeuS, a malicious software introduced as spyware
that hides in computers and logs keystrokes to steal passwords. The
software has helped steal an estimated $10 million.
Anikin, who is currently under house arrest, asked the judge for
leniency in sentencing, saying he had already started paying back the
money to the company. RBS Group sold World Pay in 2010 to a consortium
of Advent International and Bain Capital.
Another member of the hacker ring was sentenced by a St. Petersburg
court to six years in prison in September 2010.
The judge in the case, Lyubov Nazarov, said the verdict and sentence
would be announced either on Monday or Friday.
License To Tweet? UK May Restrict Posts from Court
English courts may restrict the public's freedom to post Twitter updates
from inside hearings to avoid the risk of prejudicing trials, the head of
the judiciary in England and Wales said Monday.
In a consultation report on the use of smart phones and live, text-based
communications from court, Justice Igor Judge's office said in some
instances only members of the press - not the public - attending court
may be permitted to use Twitter.
"The combination of instant reporting without the self-restraint
presumed to be exercised by accredited members of the media might lead
to a greater likelihood of prejudicial reporting," the report said.
It added that the risks of the public sending tweets may be amplified by
their informal nature, as they "usually involve less measured remarks,
which are presented in a manner which invites commentary and opinion
from other users, and are posted in real time with no opportunity for
review."
The report follows concern that members of the public don't have
knowledge of media law and could post updates that fall foul of the
rules. In Britain, television cameras are not permitted to broadcast
criminal cases.
The report said that courts could restrict Twitter use to accredited
reporters, or consider applications from the public on a case by case
basis.
The consultation report is meant to gather public opinion after a judge
issued interim guidance in December that there was no ban on using
Twitter in court - but that users would have to seek the judge's
permission first. Such permission could be refused in criminal trials if
there is a risk that information posted on Twitter might influence
witnesses or jurors.
In the U.S., federal courts tell jurors to avoid Twitter, Facebook and
other social networking sites, but deciding whether journalists can
tweet or blog from court has generally been left up to judges.
Relatively few federal courts have embraced Twitter, although last year
a federal judge in Kansas allowed a reporter to use the microblogging
service to provide updates from a gang trial.
Digital Equipment Corp. Co-founder Ken Olsen Dies at Age 84
Kenneth Olsen, the computer industry pioneer who co-founded minicomputer
maker Digital Equipment Corp., died at the age of 84 on Sunday.
Olsen will be remembered for the key role he played in at least one
technology revolution: the move from mainframes to minicomputers.
Olsen entered electronics school for a year during his time in the Navy.
Working as a technician in the service, Olsen's knowledge and passion
for electronics grew.
During his time at MIT after the Navy, Olsen designed the Whirlwind
computer, the first real-time computer. Olsen was on the staff of the
MIT Digital Computer Laboratory for seven years.
Outfitted with a $70,000 investment from General Georges F. Doriot at
the American Research and Development Corp., Olsen co-founded Digital
Equipment Corp. (DEC) with fellow MIT graduate Harlan Anderson in
Maynard, Massachusetts, in 1957. The company began to develop the first
small interactive computer and producing printed circuit logic modules,
which were used to test electronic equipment.
Olsen served as president of the company from its founding in 1957 until
his retirement in 1992. In 1960 DEC produced the PDP-1. DEC flourished
with the PDP-8, the world's first mass-produced mini-computer, which was
manufactured from 1965 to 1984. The PDP-11, produced by DEC in 1970,
became the most popular minicomputer line in history.
Olsen left Digital in 1992, essentially forced out as young executives
of the PC era usurped the authority of the generation that ushered in
the minicomputer.
Olsen was known to be a blunt speaker on occasion. As corporate IT
spread beyond the confines of IS departments in the 1980s and 1990s, he
could be critical of people who were not steeped in technology. "The
whole world's gone crazy because all of the software and all of the
marketing are run by people who've never operated a business," Olsen
said in an interview with the IDG News Service in 1998, six years after
he left Digital.
He advocated a balanced approach to management, however. "The first
problem is to try to get people to organize (businesses) with wisdom,
with common sense," he said, in the 1998 interview.
Sharing his passion for computers with the public, Olsen co-founded the
Computer Museum, originally located in Marlborough, Massachusetts, in
1979. The museum later moved to Boston. In 1999 the museum closed, but
many of its exhibits are now part of the Boston Museum of Science. He
was named a fellow of the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley.
Olsen has received many awards, including the MCI Communications
Information Technology Leadership Award for Innovation, the Founder's
Medal from the IEEE and the National Medal of Technology.
*Curriculum Vitae: *
1926 - Born in Stratford, Connecticut, on February 20
1944 - Entered the Navy
1950 - Graduated from MIT with a B.S. in electrical engineering
1952 - Awarded an M.A. in electrical engineering by MIT
1957 - Co-founded Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC)
1979 - Co-founded Boston's Computer Museum
1990 - Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
1992 - Retired from his position as President of DEC
Feds Settle Case of Woman Fired over Facebook Site
Employers should think twice before trying to restrict workers from
talking about their jobs on Facebook or other social media.
That's the message the government sent on Monday as it settled a closely
watched lawsuit against a Connecticut ambulance company that fired an
employee after she went on Facebook to criticize her boss.
The National Labor Relations Board sued the company last year, arguing
the worker's negative comments were protected speech under federal labor
laws. The company claimed it fired the emergency medical technician
because of complaints about her work.
Under the settlement with the labor board, American Medical Response of
Connecticut Inc. agreed to change its blogging and Internet policy that
barred workers from disparaging the company or its supervisors. The
company also will revise another policy that prohibited employees from
depicting the company in any way over the Internet without permission.
Both policies interfered with longstanding legal protections that allow
workers to discuss wages, hours and working conditions with co-workers,
the board said.
"I think it certainly sends a message about what the NLRB views the law
to be," said Jonathan Kreisberg, the NLRB regional director in Hartford
who approved the settlement.
"The fact that they agreed to revise their rules so that they're not so
overly restrictive of the rights of employees to discuss their terms and
conditions with others and with their fellow employees is the most
significant thing that comes out of this," Kreisberg said.
Terms of a private settlement agreement between the employee, Dawnmarie
Souza, and the company were not disclosed, but Kreisberg said the
parties reached a financial settlement. Souza will not be returning to
work there.
Souza declined a request for comment. A representative for American
Medical Response did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Souza posted the Facebook comments in 2009 from her home computer, hours
after her supervisor said a customer had complained about her work. The
expletive-filled posting referred to her supervisor using the company's
code for a psychiatric patient. Her remarks at the time drew supportive
posts from colleagues.
Chuck Cohen, a labor and employment lawyer and former NLRB member during
the Clinton administration, said the case will have employers around the
country re-examining their Internet policies
"It clearly has resonance because we know the NLRB's general counsel is
going to take this position," Cohen said.
But Cohen warned that the case doesn't give employees free rein to
discuss anything work-related on social media.
"The line can go over to disloyalty or disclosure of truly confidential
information," Cohen said. "This is not without boundaries, but we just
don't have a good sense yet of where the boundaries are."
Millions of Americans use Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
Kreisberg said the board is looking at a growing number of complaints
that explore the limits of corporate Internet policies. The board is an
independent agency that supervises union elections, referees
labor-management disputes and works to prevent unfair labor practices in
the private sector.
Sara Begley, a Philadelphia-based employment lawyer, says
image-conscious companies may be taken by surprise that the law
protecting employees who want to discuss working conditions extends to
social media sites, which can potentially be viewed by thousands or even
millions of people.
"I think it's a natural
evolution that the law is being broadly
interpreted to include social media considering that it's become one of
the most prevalent methods of communication," she said.
Ken and Barbie's Fate Put to Facebook Vote
Facebook users are being asked to vote on whether one of the most iconic
US couples ever should be reunited after a seven-year split.
Barbie and Ken, two half-century-old dolls marketed by the world's
biggest toy company, Mattel, split on Valentine's Day 2004 after 43
years together, and now the public is being asked to weigh in on whether
they belong together.
After the big break-up, Barbie began a dalliance with an Australian
surfer dude-doll called Blaine and Ken dumped his role as Barbie's
eternal sidekick and "stepped out in a big way," Mattel says on the
Facebook page for the two dolls.
Ken went on to win critical acclaim for his role in Toy Story 3, and
also made appearances at Fashion Week in New York, the page says.
But even as he revelled in his new-found celebrity, Ken's aim was always
to win back Barbie, Mattel says.
"Having explored the singles scene after his starring role in Toy Story
3, Ken now knows Barbie is the only doll for him," Mattel said in a
statement outlining some of the "epic romantic gestures" the boy doll is
making to win back his girl.
One of those gestures is by professing his love for Barbie on billboards
in New York and Los Angeles, one of which reads: "Barbie, We May Be
Plastic But Our Love is Real."
Mattel is now asking fans of the two dolls, who have retained their
youthful good looks and seamlessly changed with the times, to vote on
either doll's Facebook page or on barbieandken.com to determine if they
should get back together.
Ken reportedly wants to win back Barbie by Valentine's Day, in a week's
time.
There was no word Monday on how the poll was going or what Blaine's fate
would be if Barbie goes back to Ken.
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