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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 13 Issue 09
Volume 13, Issue 09 Atari Online News, Etc. March 4, 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 #1309 03/04/10
~ Gmail Bug Deleted Mail ~ People Are Talking! ~ More Secure Wi-Fi?
~ Testing Private E-mail ~ Love Pays for Tweets! ~ Firefox 4 Closer!
~ Xoom To Rival the iPad ~ Asteroids Wall Decals! ~ BlackHole RAT Trojan!
~ Used Software Trading? ~ De-mail Deals with Spam ~ National Unplug Day!
-* Libyan Internet Service Cut! *-
-* New Online Privacy Legislation Plan *-
-* Jobs Breaks from Leave To Unveil New iPad2 *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Another week has rolled by, and another week I'd like to forget. I'll
just simply chalk it up to Spring Fever and let it go at that.
More interesting news coming out of the Middle East these days, with most
of the focus on Libya. One can only guess what will happen there, but
whatever it might be, it won't be good news for either side. And here
in this country, the citizenry is coming out of its hibernation and
starting to "fight back" against a variety of political considerations
and decisions. "Enough Is Enough" may become a national war-cry! Time will,
as they say, tell.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - PS3 Shipment Detained Over Dispute!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Plenty of Games Coming This Week!
Geek Power: Asteroids Wall Decals!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Dispute Stalls Dutch PlayStation 3 Shipment
Japanese electronics giant Sony said a shipment of its PlayStation 3
consoles was being held in a Dutch port after a court upheld a patent
complaint filed by South Korea's LG Electronics.
The shipment, reported to comprise tens of thousands of consoles, has
been held since February after the Dutch court handed down a temporary
injunction against importing the goods, said Sony spokesman Yasuhiro
Okada in Tokyo.
"The shipment has been stalled since late last month," Okada said,
adding that the move came after LG filed a complaint that Sony violated
its Blue-ray technologies with the product.
He said that despite the Netherlands being one of Sony's major access
points to Europe, the court decision had not affected its entire PS3
shipment to the region as there were other entry points.
But the spokesman declined to elaborate further on when the company
expects the shipment to be released or how many units would be affected
due to the injunction.
Dow Jones Newswires, citing a person familiar with the situation, said
the shipment comprised tens of thousands of PS3 consoles and that the
court had handed down a 10-day injunction.
LG spokesman Kenneth Hong confirmed LG had filed a patent complaint
against Sony with the International Trade Commission in the United
States earlier this year, relating to its Blu-ray video technology used
in PlayStation 3 machines.
But he said the company could not comment on pending legal matters.
Sony might have to pay LG a royalty for every PlayStation 3 game console
it sells around the world should it lose the patent claim, potentially
costing Sony millions of dollars, the Financial Times reported.
Both sides are locked in patent disputes on various technologies in
Europe and the United States.
Last year, Sony brought a patent infringement claim of its own against
LG Electronics to the International Trade Commission in Washington.
It claimed that LG mobile phones violated its intellectual property
rights and sought to prevent the handsets from being shipped to the
United States.
With prices of assembled goods such as TVs being pushed lower by
increasing competition, companies are upping scrutiny of rival products
and more aggressively pursuing patent royalties, analysts say.
"Electronics companies are struggling to maintain profits amid rigorous
price competition," said Koki Shiraishi, analyst at Daiwa Securities
Capital Markets.
He added that the Dutch court's move was unusual and would impact supply
if the injunction was extended.
"What seems more common in the United States or Japan is that
administrators do not get so involved in such disputes. To me the
decision made by the Dutch court does not seem to be a common practice,"
he said.
"Usually companies try to keep inventories for about two weeks, so I
don't think the 10-day suspension will really hit the European market.
But if the suspension gets extended, it would inevitably have an impact."
Gamewatch: Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II Retribution, RIFT
It's no time for peace, respite, or forgiveness in Relic's Warhammer
40,000: Dawn of War II Retribution (PC), a standalone sequel to realtime
tactics-focused Dawn of War II and its followup, Chaos Rising. Retribution
adds a new race (the Imperial Guard), a campaign that supports all six
races in single-player, and - crucially for some of you - swaps
Microsoft's Games For Windows Live for Steam, including full Steam
achievement support. ETA: 3/1
If you'd rather sample the latest online roleplaying game, Trion's RIFT
(PC) places you at the epicenter of factional hostilities and efforts to
fend of extra-planar invasions. RIFT apparently lets you custom spec
your character's profession, then swap professions (up to four) to
optimize PvE and PvP play. Speaking of PvP, RIFT also supports
inter-server warfare via "Warfronts," allowing you to battle others in
world PvP. ETA: 3/1
The rest due this week, by platform.
*PC:* Fate of the World, Perfect World International: Genesis, The
Flying Dutchman
*Xbox 360:* Rango, Fight Night Champion, Beyond Good & Evil HD
*PlayStation 3:* Fight Night Champion, Rango
*Wii:* Rango, Chuck E. Cheese's Sports Games, Bit.Trip Flux, Remington
Super Slam Hunting Alaska
*Nintendo DS:* Rango, Puzzle Expedition, Busy Scissors, Mahjon Journey:
Quest for Tikal, Minute to Win It, Chronicles of Mystery: The Secret
Tree of Life
*PSP:* Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
What Every Geek Needs: 'Asteroids' Wall Decals
Geeks stereotypically aren't known for design sense. But Blik Asteroids
Wall Stickers not only let you show off your nerdy side; they look cool,
too.
Blik Asteroids Wall Stickers, officially licensed by Atari, will fix up
any geeks wall and make your home more cozy. They feature various
gameplay graphics including a ship, a bunch of asteroids of different
sizes, and numbers to "keep score" on your wall.
These wall stickers are made out of Blik Re-Stick, and as the name implies
you can remove them from any wall and restick them wherever your heart
desires. So if you happen to move, just peel them off your old wall and
bring them to your new humble abode.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Republican Lawmaker Promises New Online Privacy Legislation
A senior Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives will
soon introduce legislation designed to give Web users more control of
their personal data and to give the U.S. Federal Trade Commission power
to enforce voluntary privacy standards developed with Internet
companies, he said Friday.
Representative Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican and senior member of
the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he plans to introduce
online privacy legislation soon. The bill's focus will be on allowing
Web users to know what personal information Internet companies are
collecting about them and to control how it's used, said Stearns,
co-author of past online privacy bills.
The bill would encourage Web-based companies to develop industry
standards for privacy but would give the FTC some enforcement power,
Stearns said during a speech at a Technology Policy Institute (TPI)
forum on privacy.
Finding the right balance between privacy and online commerce is a
"tough issue," but consumers are demanding more privacy protections. "We
are at a tipping point where we have to come to grips with the
information that's being collected," he said.
Still, Stearns suggested that online advertising could be hurt if
regulations go too far. Online tracking to deliver behavioral, or
targeted, ads is a legitimate practice if companies notify consumers
what information is collected and allow them to turn off the collection,
he said.
"Online advertising ... supports much of the commercial content,
applications and services that are available today," he said. "We do not
want to disrupt a well-established and successful business model."
Stearns' approach to online privacy would likely be different from a bill
introduced in February by Representative Jackie Speier, a California
Democrat. Speier's bill would direct the FTC to create standards for a
nationwide do-not-track mechanism that would allow Web users to opt out
of online tracking and the sharing of consumer data among online
businesses.
The FTC, in a report released in December, called for the technology
industry to create more do-not-track tools.Mozilla, Microsoft and Google
all announced do-not-track features for their browsers shortly after the
FTC report.
The U.S. Department of Commerce called for a privacy bill of rights for Web
users in its own December privacy paper.
But William Kovacic, a Republican commissioner at the FTC, questioned
what agencies would enforce new privacy standards and whether lawmakers
and privacy advocates would stop pushing for more privacy protections if
Internet companies met current demands. "Do you believe the promises of
the regulators and others that if you do X, they will be satisfied?" he
said at the TPI event. "Or is X a revise-and-resubmit process ... in
which you never ultimately satisfy the referees?"
The FTC and Commerce reports, as well as some legislative proposals on
online privacy, are "very fuzzy" on details on whether there should be
strong regulations or voluntary compliance with industry privacy
standards, he added.
Before new privacy regulations are created, lawmakers should look at the
potential impact on Internet commerce, added Thomas Lenard, president at
TPI, an antiregulation think tank. "More privacy generally means less
information available" on the Internet, he said.
But Daniel Weitzner, associate administrator at the Department of
Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA), disagreed, saying recent studies suggest that Internet-based
companies that give users more control over their personal data can
build loyalty and advertising click-through rates at the same time.
Giving consumers greater control over their privacy doesn't necessarily
mean that online companies will lose access to all that data, he said.
"We really see no evidence that there's some trade-off" between privacy
and e-commerce, Weitzner said.
Schumer Calls For More Secure Wi-Fi Networks, Encryption
New York Sen. Charles Schumer on Monday called on Internet companies
like Amazon, Twitter, and Yahoo to encrypt their users' accounts in
order to prevent hackers from gaining access to personal information
over Wi-Fi networks.
Specifically, Schumer called on Web companies to switch from the HTTP
protocol to the more secure HTTPS option. HTTPS keeps data encrypted as
it travels between your Web browser and servers and is mostly used for
things like banks and credit card company Web sites.
"The number of people who use Wi-Fi to access the Internet in coffee
shops, bookstores and beyond is growing by leaps and bounds, but these
users are unaware that they are easy prey for hackers and identity
thieves," Schumer, a Democrat, said in a statement. "It is scary how
easy it is. Free Wi-Fi networks provide hackers, identity thieves and
spammers alike with a smorgasbord of opportunities to steal private user
information like passwords, usernames, and credit card information."
The "quickest and easiest way" to stop this is to switch from HTTP to
HTTPS, he said. He pointed to Firesheep, a Firefox add-on that made
headlines in October for allowing people to take over sessions on Facebook,
Twitter, Google, and more via open Wi-Fi networks.
The growth of free Wi-Fi hotspots provide opportunities for hackers to
exploit security flaws in HTTP extensions, Schumer said.
In letters to several tech companies, Schumer wrote that he is "calling
on you to make the switch to a default HTTPS protocol for all browsing
on and interface with your site. Many other companies have already made
this change, and it would be in the public interest for you to do so as
well. Your customers - and my constituents - deserve to have their
information kept as safely as possible."
Sites that deal with sensitive personal information have typically used
HTTPS during the sign-in process to protect password information and
reverted back to HTTP afterwards because full encryption can sometimes
slow down your experience on that site.
In January, Facebook introduced the option to encrypt your Facebook session
at all times, as well as an easier account authentication process. Hotmail
has a similar option. Last year, Google announced that it would encrypt
Gmail at all times, not just during sign-on, and make the process an
opt-out feature rather than opt-in.
Lawsuit Tests Use of Private E-mail for Public Business
A lawsuit filed against the mayor and city council of Austin will test
whether public officials in Texas can use their private e-mail accounts
to hide communication about government affairs from public scrutiny.
Rulings in similar cases in other states have generally found in favor
of public disclosure.
The suit, filed on Tuesday in state District Court in Travis County by
the Austin Bulldog, a local news website, alleges that members of the
Austin City Council broke open-records laws by failing to release
private e-mails, text and instant messages that relate to city business.
The plaintiffs argued that Texas law requires city employees and
officials to turn over local government records even when they're
written on personal devices. "We believe that technologies like e-mails,
instant messaging have been misused, and record retention laws haven't
been enforced," said Bill Aleshire, an attorney for the plaintiff and a
partner at Riggs, Aleshire & Ray in Austin. "City employees and
officials have been transacting government in the shadows by using their
own personal equipment."
Austin city spokesman Doug Matthews declined to respond to specific
allegations in the case, but said that Texas law is unclear on which
electronic communications are subject to disclosure laws. He pointed to
three related cases currently pending in the state. "We're not alone in
this," said Matthews. "In fact, statewide it remains an open question
because the state law doesn't address private text and e-mail messages."
The Austin Bulldog filed a public information request in January for
copies of all written communication between Austin City Council members
and the mayor in 2010. The city delivered some e-mails last week, but
the Bulldog said the city did not release all communications, including
those relating to city business from council members' personal phones
and e-mail addresses.
The suit said city officials have used private e-mail and phone accounts
to "keep substantive communications" away from public view. In one
example cited in the suit, a council member asked a constituent to
switch to the councillor's personal e-mail address to continue
discussing tax subsidies for a shopping center.
It further alleged that the city's internal instant-messaging platform
is a "secret messaging system established to avoid retention of certain
public records." The complaint was based on the Texas Public Information
Act and the Local Government Records Act, which prohibits destroying or
intentionally withholding communications of public record. Most states
have some form of open-record legislation that defines retention
requirements and access procedures for public records.
In recent years, courts have ruled in favor of public disclosure, said
Benjamin Wright, a Dallas-based attorney who specializes in data
security law. He cited a 2007 case in which a Kentucky judge required
the state government to turn over copies of e-mails between two state
employees, and an Arizona case the same year in which that state's
Supreme Court held that a trial judge must decide whether a county
official's e-mails were private. He also pointed to a 2008 decision by
the Ohio Supreme Court that deleted e-mails of county commissioners must
be recovered.
Libyan Internet Service Cut Again
Internet service has been completely severed inviolence-torn Libya for the
second time in two weeks, US online traffic monitoring firms said Friday.
Arbor Networks said all Internet traffic in and out of Libya "abruptly
ceased" between 1630 GMT and 1700 GMT on Thursday.
"This outage follows several weeks of periodic Internet outages and
reduced traffic volumes likely related to the ongoing social and
political events in the country," it said.
Fierce clashes were reported in Libya on Friday between rebels and
forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.
Another Web traffic monitoring firm, Renesys, said Internet service from
Libya went down shortly after 1635 GMT on Thursday.
"It looks like this is more than a blip - radio silence for 12 hours
and counting," Renesys said in a blog post on Friday.
"All of the Libyan-hosted government websites we tested (ie, the ones
that are actually hosted in Libya, and not elsewhere) were unreachable,"
it said.
Google, which tracks the status of products such as Google Search and
YouTube in various countries, reported that the services and others were
abruptly unavailable in Libya since Thursday.
Internet traffic in and out of Libya was completely severed for the
first time on February 18.
Jobs Breaks from Medical Leave To Unveil iPad 2
Apple CEO Steve Jobs briefly emerged from his medical leave and walked on
stage to a standing ovation Wednesday to unveil the second generation of
the popular iPad. It comes with two cameras and will go on sale March 11
in the U.S.
Jobs looked frail as he appeared in his signature black mock turtleneck,
blue jeans and wire-rimmed glasses.
"We've been working on this product for a while, and I just didn't want
to miss today," Jobs told an audience that included bloggers and Apple
enthusiasts. "Thank you for having me."
The next-generation tablet computer is faster than the original iPad's.
As expected, it comes with two cameras for taking photos and video
chatting. The battery life will be the same as the original - about 10
hours of usage or a month on standby.
The iPad 2 is also thinner - 8.8 millimeters, or about a third of an
inch, instead of the current 13.4 millimeters.
"The new iPad 2 is actually thinner than your iPhone 4," Jobs said.
The original iPad, which went on sale last April, was more popular than
analysts anticipated. Apple sold 15 million in nine months.
The iPad was initially used for checking e-mail, surfing the Web and
watching online video. But as the number of software applications - or
"apps" - designed just for iPad grew, the tablet made itself at home in
offices, shops, restaurants and countless other settings.
The rush for iPads sparked dozens of copycat touch-screen devices, but
so far, none has broken into the mainstream consciousness the way the
iPad has. In February, Motorola Mobility Inc.'s Xoom, the most promising
challenger so far, went on sale. It runs a new version of Google Inc.'s
Android software that was designed for tablets, not smart phones.
The new iPad will make it even harder for rivals to compete.
"Overall, the big message today is that Apple is offering a version 2
device while everyone else is still attempting to ship their first
version 1 devices," said Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe.
He said the iPad 2's improvements are modest over the first one, but it
will nonetheless stand out because there are more apps available.
Sarah Rotman Eps, a Forrester Research analyst, said iPads should make
up at least 20 million of the 24.1 million tablet computers she expects
people in the U.S. to buy this year.
Tablet computers existed long before the iPad, but it took Apple to
build a device that made sense to consumers. Apple simplified the
software, packed it in sleek, shiny hardware and sold it to a generation
of gadget lovers who, most likely, already have a smart phone and a
laptop that serve most of the same functions.
The new iPads will cost the same as the originals - $499 to $829,
depending on storage space and whether or not they can connect to the
Internet over a cellular network. Apple said there will be black and
white versions, despite its problems getting the promised white iPhone 4
models to market. The first iPad came only in black. In the U.S., the
iPad 2 will work on AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless.
A reporter who used a white iPad 2 immediately after the announcement
found it noticeably thinner and more curvy. YouTube video loaded quickly
using AT&T's data service, and "Toy Story 3" played smoothly. Given its
size, the iPad 2 appeared impractical for taking lots of photos, but
both cameras will help with video chats - the front one to show the
caller, and the back one to show what the caller is seeing.
Jobs also introduced a new accessory for the iPad that will let people
connect the tablet to high-definition televisions, so they can watch
videos up to 1080p in resolution on the bigger screen. The $39 part
plugs into the iPad's charging port and connects to an HDMI cable.
After its March 11 U.S. launch, the iPad 2 goes on sale March 25 in at
least 26 other markets, including Mexico, New Zealand, Spain and other
European countries.
Apple also introduced updates to the software that runs on the iPad,
iPhone and iPod Touch devices. The company said the update would work on
GSM-type iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 models; Verizon Wireless' version uses
a different technology.
The new system, iOS 4.3, includes support for FaceTime, Apple's
video-chat program. The company said people can now hold conversations
between iPads, iPhones and Mac computers.
The update turns iPhones and iPads with 3G cellular connections into
personal Wi-Fi hotspots, so you can share the connection with computers
or other devices - if your wireless carrier allows it. Many charge
additional fees for this service.
The improved software also makes Apple's Safari Web browser run faster.
Apple also announced new software designed for the iPad, including a
$4.99 version of iMovie for video editing and a $4.99 version of
GarageBand, its music recording and editing software. GarageBand
includes instruments that can be played by touching the iPad 2's screen,
and it can even sense whether you're tapping quietly or banging on the
"keys." People can start a project on their Mac, then work on it later
on the iPad 2.
Jobs gave an update on the company's iBook business, saying people
downloaded more than 100 million books since the e-book business
launched last year. He also said Random House became the last major
publisher to agree to sell its titles in the iBookstore.
Jobs announced in January that he would take a third leave of absence to
focus on his health. In the last decade, Jobs, 56, has survived a rare
but curable form of pancreatic cancer and undergone a liver transplant.
Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook has been running day-to-day operations.
In 2009, Jobs said in advance that he would take a six-month medical
leave; this time, the company did not specify when he would return. The
last time Jobs went on medical leave, marketing chief Phil Schiller was
the main presenter at product launch events.
Xoom Emerges As First Real iPad Competitor
Motorola's Xoom has been hailed as the most likely tablet computer to rival
Apple's iPad - the first with the goods to compete against the uncontested
leader in this nascent but rapidly growing market.
After trying it out, I found it to be a great gadget that, in many ways,
can keep up with the black slab from Apple. The first black slab, that
is. Unfortunately, Apple said Wednesday that it will start selling a
new, improved iPad next week, which will likely make it difficult for
the Xoom to snag many users.
The Xoom is well-equipped, with a large, vivid touch screen and zippy
processor.
It's the first to use Honeycomb, Google Inc.'s flashy tablet-geared
Android 3.0 software, which is a big improvement over older versions
designed for phones but pushed onto some tablets.
It's clear the software was designed for a tablet's larger touch screen.
A persistent bar at the bottom of the screen displays virtual "home" and
"back" buttons. You get information such as battery life and wireless
reception and notifications for e-mails, instant messages and more. You
also get a virtual button that can pull up miniaturized images of your
most recently used apps, the way it looked when you last used them. That
makes it convenient for speeding back over to a game or Web page.
The touch-screen keyboard is also nicer, thanks to Honeycomb. It's
easier to type e-mails and instant messages on the Xoom than on tablets
running older versions of Android. Although it doesn't seem as easy to
use as the iPad's virtual keyboard, the Xoom's keyboard is fairly
spacious and was something I got use to typing with after several hours.
Those who do a lot of typing can use a Bluetooth keyboard or connect a
USB keyboard with an adapter through the Xoom's Micro USB port.
There's one big blemish marring the Xoom's otherwise delightful package:
its price tag.
The Xoom, made by Motorola Mobility Inc. and available from Verizon
Wireless, costs $800 without a cellular-service contract, about $70 more
than a similarly apportioned iPad. You can get a Xoom for $600, but
you'll have to sign up for a two-year data plan that runs at least $20
per month; by contrast, AT&T Inc. offers month-to-month data service for
the iPad. Like the iPad, the Xoom lets you access the Internet through
Wi-Fi, so a data plan isn't essential.
While Motorola offers the Xoom in only one configuration right now
with 32 gigabytes of storage and data access through both Wi-Fi and
Verizon's cellular network - Apple offers a range of iPads. The cheapest
is $499 and comes with 16 gigabytes of built-in storage and Wi-Fi
access. The most expensive is $829 for a 64-gigabyte version with Wi-Fi
and the ability to access AT&T's data network for an additional fee.
Apple's iPad 2, which will be available in black and white, will keep
the same pricing structure, and a version of it will work with Verizon's
network.
Other than price, the Xoom and the iPad appear pretty similar: Both are
thin, shiny slabs, though the Xoom's screen is a bit bigger (and the new
iPad is noticeably thinner). The Xoom, like the iPad, has very few
buttons: Volume buttons sit on one side, and a combined power and lock
button is inconveniently positioned on the back.
The Xoom also has some 3-D-esque views incorporated throughout Xoom's
software. Play music on the Xoom and you'll notice your albums are
viewable in a 3-D-like array, or open up the included YouTube app and
you'll see a curved gallery of videos.
I was happy to see an updated Web browser, which gives you the ability
to open multiple tabs on a single screen; the iPad can't do that and
instead forces you to open a new window for each Web page. Web surfing
becomes easier and more clearly organized because you can see what
you're doing all on one screen, without having to leave the webpage
you're looking at. The browser also lets you surf the Web in "incognito
mode," which means pages you visit won't be logged in the tablet's
browsing or search history; that's a feature common on desktop browsers.
Sadly, the Xoom didn't come with support for Flash videos, which is a
popular online video format. An upgrade to allow that is coming soon.
The Xoom's screen measures 10.1 inches diagonally, compared with the
iPad's 9.7 inches. Its resolution is slightly higher than the iPad's,
and videos and photos looked bright and sharp with vivid colors. It's
great for reading books downloaded through the included Google Books
app. The app looks similar to one for Apple Inc.'s iBooks, but it also
has "day" and "night" settings. Those let you switch to a
white-text-on-black-background view when reading in the dark.
The Xoom includes a 5-megapixel camera on the back and a 2-megapixel
camera on the front - cameras were lacking on the first iPad, but the
iPad 2 will also have front and rear cameras. The Xoom's back camera
includes some simple color effects and scene modes for adjusting your
images. The front camera works with Google Talk's video chat feature, so
you can conduct video chats with friends. This is a nice addition I'd
been waiting to see.
I hoped there would be more tablet-specific apps available through
Google's Android Market, but I only counted a handful, including a CNN
application and the "Fruit Ninja" game. Several existing apps looked
good on the Xoom's larger screen, however, including the game "Angry
Birds."
These features are backed up by a dual-core processor, which make the
Xoom zip along. The Xoom's 1 gigabyte of random-access memory - the kind
important for running programs - is much more than the iPad has. In my
tests, the tablet rarely faltered and was quick to load content offline.
Online, it was fairly speedy and reliable, and this is expected to
improve. Currently, the Xoom uses Wi-Fi or Verizon's existing 3G data
network for wireless service. Eventually, it will be upgraded to work on
Verizon's faster 4G network.
The battery is rated for up to about 10 hours of video playback, or
about nine hours of Web browsing over 3G; I played YouTube videos over
Verizon's network and got more than six hours of life out of the Xoom.
Not bad, but it could be better.
Regardless, the Xoom is a strong tablet, and the first true competitor
to the iPad thus far. The new iPad looks enticing, but if you're set on
getting a non-Apple tablet and can get past the Xoom's steep price, it's
a good pick.
As Firefox 4 Beta 12 Debuts, Mozilla Looks Ahead to Firefox 5
Mozilla on Friday rolled out what appears to be the last beta release of
its Firefox 4 open source Web browser software.
Available for Linux, Mac and Windows, Firefox 4 beta 12 offers numerous
improvements to the browser's general stability, performance and
compatibility, Mozilla says. Performance is now better while viewing
Flash content, for example, as is plugin compatibility when hardware
acceleration is enabled.
Several hundred bugs have also been fixed in this latest release, for a
total of more than 7000 fixed since the software's first beta version.
On the usability end, hovering over a link now displays the URL at the
bottom of the window rather than in the location bar.
"We are in the final stages of the Firefox 4 Beta cycle," reads the
announcement on the Mozilla Blog.
A release date for the final version has not yet been announced, but a
release candidate is due sometime in March, according to the software's
accelerate the software's development cycle, rolling out multiple major
releases this year, all the way through version 7.
In the meantime, the new beta version is now available for download
on Mozilla's site. More than 400 million people now use Firefox around
the world, the company says.
Firefox 4 has experienced numerous delays in its development cycle, and
there have been more beta versions than originally expected. Among the
more notable features of the new version are support for "do not track"
capabilities along withJÃegerMonkey, a considerably faster JavaScript
engine.
With a new homepage design, Firefox 4 offers a new "tabs on top" layout,
and it no longer switches into offline mode automatically. Tabs and
add-ons can be managed more easily, Mozilla says, and new synchronization
features help keep versions across devices fully up to date.
Multitouch, 3D graphics and the WebM format are all supported, as is
hardware acceleration, though problems with drivers have made that feature
problematic on Linux.
Even as Mozilla is wrapping up work on Firefox 4, development is already
under way on Firefox 5, the software's next major version.
Indeed, Conceivably Tech recently uncovered notes and a series of mockups
suggesting that the next version will feature a more responsive
interface, an updated search bar that's 240 pixels wide, and substantial
changes to the appearance and use of tabs.
Particularly intriguing, in fact, are suggestions that Mozilla may be
planning a "site-specific browser" in which tabs get dedicated to specific
sites and which will integrate a navigation menu and site links within a
site tab. A visit to Twitter, for example, might then automatically
integrate "new tweet," "direct messages" and "mentions" within a drop-down
menu on the tab for that site.
Other ideas being considered include new ways of promoting Firefox Sync
and blocking automatically installed add-ons.
Currently occupying the No. 2 spot in the worldwide browser market - behind
only Microsoft's Internet Explorer - Firefox was recently named the No. 1
browser in Europe. Time will tell whether these exciting new changes will
be enough to propel the browser ahead of its competition. In the meantime,
Firefox remains my browser of choice.
Gmail Bug Deletes E-Mails for 150,000 Users
The cloud has failed roughly 150,000 Gmail users, whose e-mails have
been deleted and accounts disabled by a mysterious glitch.
Users on Google's help forum report that the Gmail bug responsible deletes
everything, including e-mails, labels, folders, and settings. When
affected users log on, they see a welcome message as if they've never used
Gmail before. Other users simply found their accounts disabled while
repairs are being done. According to Mashable, the bug affects less than
0.08 percent of users.
It's not yet clear whether Google will be able to restore the deleted
e-mails. Google hasn't addressed the issue on the official Gmail blog,
and the Google Apps Status Dashboard only acknowledges an ongoing "service
disruption." Eventually, Google will have to explain how this happened and
what will become of affected users' accounts.
For everyone else, the lost e-mails are a reminder of how Web storage
isn't completely immune to failure. If you rely on Gmail to safeguard
e-mailed documents and important correspondences, consider backing up
your account.
PCWorld's Ian Harac reviewed Gmail Backup in December and found it to be
a functional, but feature-barren option. The software is free, but right
now I can't access Gmail Backup's Website. (Perhaps it's overwhelmed by
demand.) Ian also recommended Gmail Keeper, which offers multiple profiles,
scheduled backups, and account migration for a one-time price of $30.
If you're comfortable backing up Web-based e-mail to another Web-based
service, Backupify routinely saves Gmail accounts and other services such
as Facebook and Picasa to its own servers. The first 2 GB are free, and
premium plans costs $5 per month for 20 GB and $20 per month for unlimited
storage.
The lost e-mails are reminiscent of a Hotmail server problem that
temporarily deleted the e-mails of more than 17,000 users in December.
Microsoft was able to restore access a few days later, so maybe there's
hope for those unlucky Gmail users.
European Court to Rule on Legality of Used Software Trading
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has been asked to decide whether the
trading of "used" software licenses is legal.
The German Federal Court of Justice referred the question to the ECJ
following a legal battle between Oracle and usedSoft, a company that
buys and sells used software. Oracle launched the case after usedSoft
offered "pre-used" Oracle software licenses online in October 2005.
Oracle says that its license agreements with its customers contain
provisions to the effect that the software can't be used by a third party.
However usedSoft argues that it acquired a notarized statement from the
original licensee that he was the lawful holder of the licenses, that he
no longer used the licensed programs and that he had paid the purchase
price in full. usedSoft's customers who acquired a "used" license
downloaded the software from Oracle's website.
The German Regional Court originally ruled in favor of Oracle, but
following usedSoft's appeal, the federal court decided to refer the
matter to the ECJ. The European court will consider how directive
2009/24/EC on the legal protection of computer programs should be
applied in this case. This will also set a precedent for trading of used
software licenses throughout the European Union.
The ruling should also clarify the legal status of individuals who have
purchased used licenses.
usedSoft welcomed the decision to involve the European Court of Justice.
"Ultimately, the resale of downloaded software is based on European
regulations which must also be clarified for all of Europe," said
usedSoft managing director Peter Schneider. "We regard this to be an
important stepping stone victory on the way to truly free trade on the
software market."
The ECJ may take up to two years to rule on the case. Oracle said it
would not comment on the case.
Germany Identifies a Secure Way to Deal With Spam
In theory, stopping spam is easy: just make it uneconomic to send
millions of messages by charging for each one sent, or make senders
authenticate their identity to stop address spoofing and simplify
blocking.
In practice, that would involve building a secure, parallel e-mail
infrastructure linking electronic authentication with real-world
identities: a daunting task. Yet that's just what Germany is about to do.
De-mail - a play on the country-code abbreviation for Deutschland
(Germany) and the word e-mail - is a government-backed service in which
all messages will be encrypted and digitally signed so they cannot be
intercepted or modified in transit. Businesses and individuals wanting
to send or receive De-mail messages will have to prove their real-world
identity and associate that with a new De-mail address from a
government-approved service provider. The service will be enabled by a
new law that the government expects will be in force by the end of this
month. It will allow service providers to charge for sending messages if
they wish.
Eliminating spam is not the primary purpose of De-mail - in fact,
service providers will be legally obliged to deliver every De-mail
message, without blocking any, just as the postal service is not
supposed to throw away your mail.
But the proportion of spam in De-mail is likely to be much lower than in
regular Internet e-mail, of which 77.6 percent was spam in January,
according to Kaspersky Labs. That's because De-mail's requirement that
senders identify themselves will make it riskier to promote fake
pharmaceuticals and illegal pyramid investment schemes, while any
charges to send messages will make spamming less profitable.
The identity requirement will also make it easy for recipients to filter
and block unwanted De-mail messages - there is no legal obligation to
read them, after all. Filtering is also possible with regular Internet
e-mail, but less reliable because of the possibility of address spoofing.
Messages sent through the De-mail service will have the same legal
protection and status as paper mail, making it possible to send the
equivalent of recorded delivery mail and obtain a legally valid receipt.
On the technical side, De-mail will use existing Internet standards,
carrying messages over encrypted connections between dedicated SMTP
(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) servers that only communicate among
themselves, isolated from regular Internet mail servers. The law will
require De-mail service providers to comply with strict technical
specifications and to pass regular security audits.
Telecommunications operator Deutsche Telekom, corporate e-mail provider
Mentana Claimsoft and Internet service provider United Internet (owner
of the brands GMX and 1&1) are promoting the future service at the Cebit
trade show in Hanover, Germany, this week, as is the German Ministry of
the Interior, backer of the scheme.
Deutsche Post, the German postal service, has also developed a De-mail
service, according to Ministry sources, but Deutsche Post was showing
only its ePostBrief secure webmail service, which is already on the
market but is not interoperable with De-mail.
None of the De-mail providers exhibiting at Cebit would say exactly how
much they planned to charge for the service, although none of them
expect the cost to exceed that of a paper letter, currently €0.55
(US$0.75) in Germany. But even at that price, De-mail senders would save
by eliminating the cost of paper and printing -- or at least passing it
on to recipients wishing to keep a physical copy of a document.
The secure nature of De-mail will allow banks and utilities to push out
monthly statements or bills electronically, rather than on paper.
Customers can obtain the same documents from the websites of those
organizations today, "but it's a pull process, they have to log in and
download all this information," said Jens Mayer, De-mail project leader
at Deutsche Telekom.
With De-mail, they'll be able to log in to a single site or service, the
same one they use every day, to access bills and statements.
Deutsche Telekom's plan is that De-mail will be just another tab in the
webmail interface for customers of its ISP subsidiary, T-Online: "Our
philosophy is that De-mail should be as easy as e-mail," Mayer said.
Mentana Claimsoft, meanwhile, wants businesses and government
organizations to use their existing Outlook clients and Exchange
servers. The company has developed an Outlook plugin to flag
authenticated incoming messages with a De-mail icon. Outgoing De-mail
messages can go through Exchange too: Mentana Claimsoft will operate
secure gateways into the De-mail system, although its customers will
remain responsible for the authentication of their users and the
security of their internal networks, said Nils Kiehne, an account
manager and consultant with Mentana Claimsoft's GovMail division.
For now, De-mail usage will be restricted to German residents and
businesses, but other countries could get involved. European Union
competition laws require that Germany allow service providers from
elsewhere in the E.U. to offer De-mail. And the legal frameworks for
similar services elsewhere are starting to appear: only last month,
France passed a law defining the technical framework for electronic
registered mail.
Hacker Writes Easy-To-Use Mac Trojan
In a sign that hackers, like everyone else, are taking an interest in
everything Apple, researchers at Sophos say they've spotted a new Trojan
horse program written for the Mac.
It's called the BlackHole RAT (the RAT part is for "remote access Trojan")
and it's pretty easy to find online in hacking forums, according to Chet
Wisniewski a researcher with antivirus vendor Sophos. There's even a
YouTube video demonstration of the program that shows you what it can do.
Sophos hasn't seen the Trojan used in any online attacks - it's more a
bare-bones, proof-of-concept beta program right now - but the software
is pretty easy to use, and if a criminal could find a way to get a Mac
user to install it, or write attack code that would silently install it
on the Mac, it would give him remote control of the hacked machine.
BlackHole is a variant of a Windows Trojan called darkComet, but it
appears to have been written by a different developer. The darkComet
source code is freely available, so it looks like BlackHole's author
simply took that code and tweaked it so it would run on the Mac,
Wisniewski said.
Mac OS X has been gaining market share on Windows lately, and that's
starting to make it a more interesting platform for criminals. Wisniewski
said that while Mac malware is still very rare, he has seen another
Trojan, called HellRTS, circulating on file-sharing sites for pirated Mac
software.
$430K Love Settlement Shows Tweets Can Be Costly
Courtney Love's settlement of a case sparked by online attacks on a
fashion designer show that while Twitter posts may be short, they can
also be costly.
The singer has agreed to pay Dawn Simorangkir $430,000, plus interest,
to settle a lawsuit the designer filed in March 2009 over comments Love
made on Twitter and her MySpace blog.
While the case didn't go to a jury, First Amendment experts say it
highlights the need for celebrities and average people to watch what
they say online.
"People are getting in trouble for Twitter postings on an almost daily
basis," said First Amendment Attorney Doug Mirell, a partner at Loeb and
Loeb who did not handle the case.
"The laws controlling what is and isn't libelous are the same regardless
of the medium in which the statements appear," he said.
Simorangkir's attorney, Bryan J. Freedman, agreed, and said Love's
settlement should drive that point home.
"The fact is that this case shows that the forum upon which you
communicate makes no difference in terms of potential legal exposure,"
Freedman said. "Disparaging someone on Twitter does not excuse one from
liability."
Love's attorney, Jim Janowitz, said the settlement actually saved the
rocker money. "This is a case where the economics of the case didn't
make a lot of sense for either side," he said, noting that the costs of
going to trial would have been large.
Janowitz said he would have argued that Love's statements were opinion
and hyperbole, but not libelous, and that Simorangkir's sales rose after
Love's tirades.
Twitter's popularity has skyrocketed in the past year, in part because
celebrities interact with fans on a daily basis by posting candid
photos, thoughts and even product endorsements.
The widow of grunge rocker Kurt Cobain, Love has gained a reputation on
the microblogging service Twitter with her posts, which are occasionally
profane and sometimes nonsensical messages on a variety of topics.
Several posts have lashed out at attorneys and other individuals who
have drawn the musician's ire, with her tweets coming in rapid
succession and using every bit of the site's 140 character maximum per
post.
Simorangkir sued over several postings written under Love's former
Twitter account, courtneylover79, that accused the designer, who is
known as Boudoir Queen, of theft and of having a criminal background.
Simorangkir's lawsuit claimed Love became angry with her after she
completed five outfits for the singer and sent her a bill.
"Love mounted a malicious campaign to not only terrorize Simorangkir,
but to ruin and destroy her reputation and livelihood," Freedman wrote
in a May 2009 filing.
The case had been scheduled to go to trial in February, and was expected
to be the first in which a jury decides whether a celebrity's Twitter
posts could be considered libel.
Freedman confirmed that a settlement had been reached, and said Love's
attorneys had hoped to keep it confidential. Love also settled another
lawsuit filed by Simorangkir's husband over photos for a nominal amount,
Janowitz said.
"In order to show the world the comments were derogatory and completely
illegal, it was imperative to my client to have the settlement be
public," Freedman said.
The attorney said a public statement will be issued next week, but the
monetary settlement that Love is required to pay, reflects the
seriousness of the case.
"Personally, I think $430,000 is an appropriate way to say she's sorry,"
Freedman said.
Mirell said stars need to be cautious about how and what they post
online, especially when they're talking about others.
"When you start talking about someone other than yourself, you are
beginning to get into dangerous territory," Mirell said.
Janowitz predicted other celebrities are likely to get into trouble over
their social media musings.
"Undoubtedly there will be people who do it until it is better
understood that this publication, just like anything else, is
publication," he said.
Man Gets 7 Years for Forcing Modems to Call Premium Numbers
A New Hampshire man who made US$8 million by installing unwanted dial-up
software on computers and then forcing them to call expensive premium
telephone numbers was handed down an 82-month sentence on Monday.
Prosecutors say that between 2003 and 2007, Asu Pala and others put
together a lucrative business by setting up premium telephone numbers in
Germany - similar to the 1-900 numbers used in the U.S. - and then
infecting German PCs with software that would automatically dial the
numbers for short periods of time.
"The victims were generally unaware that their computers' telephone
modems were calling these numbers and charging them with expenses," the
U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release.
These dialers were a major, but largely unreported, problem in Europe in
the early part of the last decade. In 2006, two men were given stiff
sentences by an Austrian court for running a scam that brought in
L12 million ($16.5 million). And while dial-up modem usage has dwindled,
shrinking the number of possible victims, this type of software is still
in circulation in Europe.
Pala, a Turkish immigrant to the U.S., ran a small Massachusetts Internet
service provider called Sakhmet when he was approached by others - men he
believed to be the brains of the operation - and enticed into building the
back-end infrastructure for dialer software that was then downloaded onto
the German computers, his lawyer, Geoffrey Nathan, said in an interview
Tuesday.
The money was good. Pala was caught after he was flagged by federal
authorities after paying cash for his second Lamborghini sports car,
Nathan said. By May 2009, Pala had begun cooperating with federal
authorities and was training U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents
across the country on how the Trojan downloader scam worked. He was also
secretly working on a sting, trying to nail the two men who had
introduced him to the scam. But they couldn't be enticed into a meeting,
and the feds ultimately pulled the plug on the operation.
At his sentencing, Pala was given a break for his cooperation with the
government, but had the sting worked, it would have cut years more off
his sentence, Nathan said. "The case reflects the pitfalls and the
success of a cooperation agreement," he said.
The people Pala had been trying to turn in, however, are still running
the scam, Nathan said. "Most regrettably, it turns out that the big fish
got away with the crime and they remain in operation."
Pala pleaded guilty to fraud and tax evasion charges in U.S. District
Court for the District of Massachusetts in April 2010. In addition to
the 82-month sentence, he must pay a $7.9 million fine, along with $2.2
million in back taxes to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
National Day of Unplugging Is This Weekend
Hey, you! Put that smartphone down! Back away from that iPad! Switch off
your laptop, and stop Tweeting! It's almost time for the Second Annual
National Day of Unplugging. After all, even geeks need to disconnect now
and then.
Based on the concept of the Jewish Sabbath (i.e. a day of rest), the
National Day of Unplugging is put on by a group called Sabbath Manifesto.
It runs from sundown on March 4 to sundown on March 5, and is exactly
what the name implies - it's a day of rest from all gadgets and
electroinics.
Sabbath Manifesto has a list of its Ten Principles to follow during the
National Day of Unplugging. The basic gist: It's a chance for you to avoid
technology, get some fresh air, and get back in touch with friends and
family.
If you're so inclined, check out Sabbath Manifesto's cell phone sleeping
bag (a pouch to store your smartphone for the weekend) and cellular
service-blocking phone-kerchief (a handkerchief that can actually block
cellular signals.
As much as we love it when you read GeekTech every day of the week (bonus
points if you refresh the page compulsively!), we won't hold it against
you if you decide to avoid the blog this weekend. It's OK; we understand,
and we'll still be here when you come back on the grid. Promise.
For more, visit the Sabbath Manifesto site, or follow them on Twitter
@SabbathManifest.
Flash-Based Solid-State Drives Nearly Impossible To Erase
Researchers from the University of California at San Diego delivered a
paper at the FAST-11 Conference in San Jose, Calif., last week that
shows it's almost impossible to reliably erase data from a solid state
drive.
The tome, "Reliably Erasing Data from Flash-Based Solid State Drives", goes
through all of the known techniques for erasing data and comes up short in
every case. The study's method is straightforward: They put repeating data
on an SSD or USB drive, tried using various erasing techniques, took the
SSD or USB drive apart, and pulled raw data off the chips. If any of the
original data remained, erasing didn't work.
The culprit? SSD's so-called Flash Translation Layer, a firmware
interface that makes an SSD appear to the PC like a big fat, uh, FAT
device. Operating systems want to work with file allocation tables and
clusters. SSDs have to deal with the vagaries of Flash media, which are
quite different from rotating magnetic layers. For example, SSD blocks
have to be erased before they can be written, and erasing takes a lot of
time. FTL figures out how to erase unused blocks of memory when the SSD
isn't doing anything else. SSD devices wear out faster if the same
blocks are written and rewritten, so FTL balances the write load across
all of the available memory.
You might imagine with all of these delayed erases running around and
blocks of data being intentionally scattered to remote corners, there's
some potential for error. Ends up, there's more than just a potential.
Here's what they found.
*Erasing an entire SSD hard drive is difficult*
When the researchers used the drive's built in "Erase Unit" command --
that's a legacy ATA-era command and it doesn't work on USB drives -- of
the twelve SSDs tested, only four were completely erased. (One of the
drives is automatically encrypted, so they couldn't tell if it was
erased properly or not.) One of the drives reported it had been erased
when, in fact, all of its data was immediately accessible. #FAIL.
Overwriting the whole disk fared a little bit better. With a hard drive,
overwriting routines typically write all zeroes or all ones or some
random character - and then repeats the process a specific number of
times. Out of eight drives tested using a similar method, one was
completely erased after a single pass and two were completely erased
after overwriting the data twice. One of the drives had 1 percent of the
original data still on it after 20 writes. But half of the drives took
more than 58 hours to perform/a single pass. The researchers gave up.
Then the researchers tried degaussing, but it didn't work at all.
Encrypting drives passed muster, because deleting the key from the Key
Storage Area makes the data useless. But the authors are less than
enthusiastic about the approach because there's no way to verify that
the manufacturer's key deleting mechanism completely obfuscates the
contents of the Key Storage Area.
*Erasing a single file is a horse of a different color*
Single-file eradication generally relies on overwriting all of the
storage space used by the file. As you might imagine, with the FTL
running interference, it's going to be very hard to pick up all the
pieces of a file.
When the researchers tried the usual approach - 35 different variations
on the file-overwriting theme, including several military spec algorithms
- they found single-file erasure just didn't work: "All single-file
overwrite sanitization protocols failed: between 4 percent and 75 percent
of the files' contents remained on the SATA SSDs. USB drives performed no
better: between 0.57 percent and 84.9 percent of the data remained."
Bottom line: There's no way to reliably erase an entire SSD or a single
file on an SSD or USB drive, although using an encrypted drive comes
close. Some specific SSDs have full-drive erasing routines that work,
but there's no way for you to know which ones.
The authors of the study conclude by presenting a new set of extensions
to a baseline FTL that will make SSDs erasable.
Perhaps some day we'll see the recommendations applied to an SSD device.
In the meantime, the only sure way to erase the data on an SSD or USB
drive requires a very large hammer.
=~=~=~=
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