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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 10 Issue 51
Volume 10, Issue 51 Atari Online News, Etc. December 19, 2008
Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2008
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- "CC: Classic Chips"
Rob Mahlert -- Web site
Thomas J. Andrews -- "Keeper of the Flame"
With Contributions by:
Fred Horvat
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=~=~=~=
A-ONE #1051 12/19/08
~ Yahoo Goes More Social! People Are Talking! ~ FCC Cancels Vote!
~ Critical IE 7 Exploit! ~ No Jobs at MacWorld! ~ Most E-mail Is Spam!
~ Apple Fixes OS X Issue ~ NY Wants Digital Taxes ~ Is The PS3 Dying!
~ Firefox Issues Patches ~ Apple Updates Mac OS X ~ Egypt Loses Web!
-* Data Slashes Data Retention! *-
-* Personalized Spam Is Rising Sharply *-
-* China Defends Right To Block Web Access! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Wow, the holidays are only a few days away - another year almost gone!
It seems just like a few weeks ago that I was cleaning off my golf clubs
to get ready for another season of play! And now I can look out the
window and watch the early beginning of a snowstorm that might dump up to
a foot of snow overnight! And this is after a couple of inches of snow
and then rain earlier in the week. I guess whether I'm ready for it or
not, it's here to stay for awhile!
So, we're not ready for the holidays just yet, with all that has been
going on around here. Maybe by the weekend, we can finish up, but I'm
not too hopeful. It's been a rough year, to say the least.
On a semi-positive note, after a couple of days of touch-and-go conditions,
our dog Butkus is getting a little better. We took him in for surgery on
Tuesday, and he tolerated that very well. However, some complications and
other medical issues were causing him to not improve. He had to be put on
a ventilator and be getting constant oxygen. He had a lung removed and
was having trouble adjusting to decreased air capacity. It wasn't looking
too good, and the doctors were very concerned. Of course this didn't do
much for us either, thinking that having him get the surgery was going to
help him overall. But day by day, he was making small improvements, and
the doctors were getting a bit more optimistic. For the first time since
we brought him in, we were allowed to visit with him. We decided that we
need him to see us, as well as us him. So, we decided to try and beat the
snow that was rapidly approaching and visit with him. He looked better
than we had anticipated, but he had intravenous tubes connected, a
catheter, and oxygen. And, something that he truly hates, one of those
plastic head cones to prevent him from licking at his sutures. Most of his
right side has been shaved, as well. He was semi-sedated with painkiller
when we got there, but he perked up a little when he saw us - a good sign.
We even managed to get a few tail wags! We couldn't stay too long because
we were concerned that he'd get too excited. So I think that the visit
helped him. We're hoping that he'll be able to be weaned off of the oxygen
soon so we can bring him home over the next few days. It would be nice to
have him back with us where he belongs!
So, while we're hoping for a family reunion for our biggest holiday gift,
we here at A-ONE wish you all a very happy holiday season.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
joe@atarinews.org
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well...
T'is the week before Christmas, and all through the land,
Our finances are crumbling, 'neath the FED's palsy'd hand.
Our banks are all cautious 'bout giving out loans.
And Fanny and Freddy, are now nothing but bones.
Wall Street and Main Street, what a nifty catch-phrase!
But the fat cats still get rich, regardless of praise!
The jets all sit silent, but ready to go
To some far away island where extradition is slow.
On Ford, on Chrysler, and on GM too!
You've screwed yourselves proper, but we've got a bail-out for you!
You threatened bankruptcy or at least you were hintin',
And the republicans, in denial, are saying, "Yeah, but that Clinton..."
Sorry folks. I just couldn't resist. Sometimes ya just gotta let your
true colors show, y'know what I mean? [evil grin]
Anyway, this IS the last issue you'll read before Christmas, and all of
us here want to wish you a happy, healthy holiday season. No matter what
your beliefs, please accept our wishes for a safe and joyous holiday and
a happy and healthy new year.
I'm not going to hammer at anyone about donating food or money to
shelters and/or soup kitchens... you already know all that stuff. I
remember the night Harry Chapin dope-smacked me for five or ten minutes
(but it felt like hours) about getting complacent and self-satisfied
with donating a little bit here and there.... almost 30 years have
passed, and I can still picture him, animated as all hell, joking and
laughing but with a hard-as-nails surface behind it. He lived what he
taught... "One for me, one for the other guy" was his motto, and he did
it because he felt he should... half his salary went to charity... We
lost a one-of-a-kind when he died, but his legacy lives on.
I'm not going to butt-kick you like Chapin did me, but I WOULD like to
ask you to donate a little something to the local homeless shelter or
food-share. You can't change the world, and I'm not asking you to try...
I'm asking you to change YOU... just a little bit. Give a couple of
bucks, a bag of stuffing or can of green beans or cranberry sauce. Just
do it. Just pick up a couple extra things when you go shopping and drop
'em off where they'll do some good. Let your kids see you do it... hell,
let them help you help someone else.
Okay, enough of that... if you're going to do it, you're going to do it,
and nothing I can say will MAKE you donate if you're NOT inclined to.
But at least think about it.
The other thing I want to mention is that we'd like you to be very
careful about drinking and driving. That's a big no-no. We all know
that. Do the designated driver thing, do the taxi thing (another Harry
Chapin reference), or do the "here, take my keys" thing. Whatever you
do, be responsible. Remember: The life you save may be MINE! [grin]
Okay, on with the news, hints, tips and info available from the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
On the subject of CTPCI news, last week Rodolphe Czuba posted:
"INFO : it will be possible to cut the PCI slots board to use only 3 or
2 slots. It will be possible too to cut for only 1 slot BUT you will
need to solder a big wire between CT60/63 & the PCI slot to furnish the
+3.3V.
Some modifications on the CTPCI and the ATX tower drilling draft is
available in the technics area :
http://www.czuba-tech.com/CTPCI/english/welcome.htm "
Edward Baiz replies:
"To me, the more the merrier. I would not want to delete any of the
slots. I had four slots on my Hades and that was not enough. I would
have loved to have more."
Jean-Francois Lemaire asks Edward:
"Out of curiosity: what did you have in them? I had no idea there even
was a many as 4 PCI cards available for Atari hardware."
Jo Even Skarstein jumps in and tells Jean-Francois:
"I can't say what Edward had in his Hades, but in my Milan I have a
graphics card, two network cards and a PCI Soundblaster. I also have a
SCSI card and a TV card I'm not using."
Last week Phantomm said:
"I've a few projects that I've been working on, and after going thru
some boxes, I have located my fairly large Atari software collection.
A lot of Atari ST/E related software on disks already in the .ST file
format. Many of these programs especially the games have been cracked
and have nice demos, intros and etc that run before the games loads up
or at the title screen.
A lot of effort went into doing these and I must have several thousand
files in the .ST format. ( I've collected this stuff for years)
Is there enough interest in these files for me to create a few CDs and
make available? Or should I just leave them in the boxes?
Many are games, but also have a lot of apps/utilities/fonts/text files
and etc. These are from the 80s and early 90s."
Edward Baiz tells Phantomm:
"I possibly would be interested. Can you provide a partial list of the
programs that are on the disks?"
Phantomm replies:
"Not at the moment, sorry. But, a lot of it I have not seen anywhere
else. Not saying that someone doesn't have it, but there is some really
interesting software and etc. A lot of the files are in .MSA format too.
In the games, what I find interesting besides the games themselves, are
the built in cheat modes, and demos/music.
If I have to test every .MSA file, by making a working ST disk, then
it's really going to take some time. I've already made a shoebox full of
games from .MSA files and haven't really made a dent into it.
These all worked on my 1040STE, except for a few which I suspect will
only work on a ST/STFM.
To speed it up, I'll have to just copy them over to CD/DVD make a list
and get someone to help check the files before a final release if it
comes to that.
Also there seems to be a ton of Music related software."
'Charlie' takes the opportunity to ask for something he's been looking
for:
"I need a program called st control.......released by Trio Engineering..
do you have this program?"
Phantomm asks Charlie:
"Sounds familiar to me...not sure at the moment, I'd have to do some
searching
for it. I'm guessing that its some type of application? Can you tell me
about what year it was made and if it was a commercial release? Also,
what is it supposed to do?"
Well folks, that's it for this week. I know it's short, but there weren't
that many messages in the NewsGroup. Like I said before, have a happy,
healthy and safe holiday, and come on back next week... we need all the
readers we can get!
Tune in again next week, same time, same station, and be ready to listen
to what they're saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Is the PlayStation 3 Dying?
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" PSP 4000 in Late 2009?
Nintendo Settles Nyko Suit!
And much more!
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Is the PlayStation 3 Dying?
Fallout from the November sales data continues to mount for Sony and
its PlayStation family. CNNMoney's Silicon Alley Insider column pulled
no punches in its assessment of the numbers calling the PS3 "A sinking
ship" in light of its sales declining 19 percent compared to what it did
last year. While that's a bit melodramatic, it's hard to argue with
their conclusion that the PS3 needs a price cut soon, and a substantive
one at that. Ten year lifespan or not, it stands on the brink of falling
behind the Xbox 360 by an insurmountable margin.
The article attributes the PS3's struggles to three key reasons: its
higher price tag, no one caring that it plays Blu-Ray, and the lack of
system selling software. Acknowledging the price issue, the other two
fall into a much more gray area. Blu-Ray shows more signs of life with
each month that passes since it won the HD format war. Netflix announced
at the beginning of December that it had seen a dramatic rise in Blu-ray
renters, hitting its year-end target over a month early, and that's in
spite of an extra fee they added for the format. Sony Pictures Home
Entertainment president David Bishop also said in a recent interview
with Home Media Magazine that Blu-ray sales are growing at a rate of 200
to 300 percent over last year's figures.
Admittedly, the question of whether the PS3 has a library of must-have
titles is more subjective. But dismissing Metal Gear Solid 4,
LittleBIGPlanet, Resistance 1 and 2, and Uncharted alone is a little
hard to swallow. Regardless, there's no denying either the momentum the
Xbox 360 continues to enjoy in this head-to-head rivalry or the
gargantuan sales the Wii racks up. Whatever the short-term accounting
implications, the signs increasingly indicate that Sony can not afford
to watch $400 PS3s sitting on shelves much longer.
PSP 4000 in Late 2009, PSP2 Arriving Later
With 2008 on its merry way out, "publishing sources" have leaked news of
a PlayStation Portable update next year to Eurogamer.
The PSP 4000, a final refresh model, will appear in late 2009, say these
sources, followed by an official successor to the PSP at a later point.
Make that 2011 or 2012, then, to speculate logically (and perhaps to
coincide with the rumored release timeframe of Sony's PS4?).
If Sony follows precedent, bet on "PSP2" as the eventual successor's
moniker.
I reviewed the last refresh, the PSP 3000, when it snuck without much ado
onto shelves in mid-October. The changes were nominal, and the only two of
any functional distinction were a new inbuilt mic and a brighter, more
color-expansive LCD.
Unfortunately, that new LCD exchanged earlier models' "ghosting" problems
for an irritating new one: /interlacing/. Move the viewpoint around in a
3D game on the PSP 3000, and faint black lines appear, horizontally
stacked up and down the screen. It's like someone pulled a hundred-tine
rake across the video feed, and once you've noticed it, it's nearly
impossible *not* to.
A PSP 4000 would ostensibly remedy the PSP 3000's interlacing gaffe,
though anything else is conjecture. A minor weight drop? Further
ergonomic tinkering? I wouldn't expect much. Companies like to save
their superstar features for full-family shifts, which is why some of
the most head-slappingly obvious and programmatically superficial
improvements in current iterations of Windows or OS X will never see
light of day by way of prior version service releases.
Developers are reportedly already at work on games for the PSP's
successor, says Eurogamer, which at best means they're testing computer
simulations, and at worst, that someone's yanking the usual chains.
Long overdue feature request for the
PSP-whatever-it's-eventually-called: Dual analog thumbsticks, please.
Nintendo Settles Lawsuit with Nyko
Nintendo of America Inc. and Nyko Technologies Inc. said Wednesday they
have settled a lawsuit over the nunchuk controller used for the popular
Wii gaming console.
Terms weren't disclosed.
Nintendo of America, based in Redmond, Wash., had sued Los Angeles-based
video-game accessory maker Nyko, alleging violation of its intellectual
property rights.
The nunchuk attaches to the Wii's wireless controller for games like
boxing, where players need to hold the controller in both hands.
Under the agreement, Nyko will continue to sell a redesigned version of
its Kama wireless controller, the companies said.
Does Gaming at Work Improve Productivity?
In many offices, approved gaming in the workplace is limited to the
receptionist's engagement in rounds of Minesweeper or Solitaire when the
phone isn't ringing. Admins may sneak off to Pogo during lunch, and the
IT guys may stick around after hours for a game of Counter-Strike, but
by and large video games have been no more a part of the typical
company's culture than pinochle.
Things are slowly changing, however. A number of companies have found
that using video games as a way to reward employees for reaching their
goals or increasing their productivity can improve office productivity
and morale. During the current economic downturn, rewards for overworked
employees can be especially welcome.
Another practice whose popularity is growing is the use of video games
as training tools. Numerous public safety and military organizations use
video games to simulate field conditions. (For example, the battle
simulator America's Army, developed by the U.S. Army, has become an
enormously successful recruiting tool for the military.) But you don't
have to shoot Nazis to find value for games in the workplace: A company
called Executive Command uses the strategy game Empire Earth II to teach
managers how to improve their strategic thinking and work as part of a
team.
At Regence Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Portland, Oregon, IT department
members earn virtual "tokens" for performing certain activities:
Resetting a user's password is worth 2 tokens. Implementing a
cost-saving idea earns 30 tokens. Employees can then "spend" these
tokens to play quick, chance-based video games. The games are more akin
to slot machines: Tokens are converted into points, which can be
redeemed for prizes, including cash.
The gaming-at-work approach is the brainchild of Snowfly, a company that
provides technology-based employee incentives. According to Snowfly, the
arrangement increases motivation and productivity as workers compete to
earn tokens and prizes. The company claims that the system has a 95
percent approval rate among users. Businesses currently using the system
range from a Wyoming bank to a beverage distributor.
Some employers faced with special situations actively encourage gaming
on the job. For example, Monterey Bay Area paramedics who work long
overnight shifts have management's blessing to play casual games like
Bejeweled on their PDAs during downtime so they don't fall asleep. But
even in corporate office environments, which have long resisted any
mingling of work and play, the taboos are beginning to fall.
In some organizations, gaming has become a part of corporate culture,
and virtually everyone participates. At the Computing Technology
Industry Association, or CompTIA, president and CEO Todd Thibodeaux gets
in on the action, too. His 158 employees regularly commandeer conference
rooms outfitted with various console games, to shoot a few holes of
Tiger Woods for the Wii or to take in a quick game of Forza 2 or Stardust
on the PS3.
Back in their cubicles, members of rival CompTIA departments regularly
engage in PC-based multiplayer games, trash-talking over the walls. The
company also maintains a "lending library" of high-tech products,
including game consoles and software titles, that staffers can take
home. Thibodeaux says that the Wii typically is booked for months in
advance.
Though the company has no formal policy on gaming, Thibodeaux says that
it tends to work itself out, and he actively encourages game playing.
"Salaried employees know that their work day is what they need it to
be," he says, "and if they need to squeeze in 15 to 20 minutes of
leisure time here or there, they know they can make it up later."
In Thibodeaux's view, his company's gaming policy (or nonpolicy) has "no
downsides." He offers myriad reasons why it works: It's an amazing
team-building mechanism, particularly when people from around the
company gather around a console in a single room. Also, "stress relief
really increases productivity, especially at busy times of the year." It
even helps with recruiting, he says, because most other companies don't
encourage their employees to play games at work. Perhaps most important,
says Thibodeaux, the policy has never been abused.
Lee Burbage, "internal community chieftan" (sort of like HR director)
for the Web site Motley Fool, offers a similar story. The 200-employee
company has a fully outfitted game room, with consoles and even arcade
games (Robotron is phenomenally popular). Here, matches of Halo keep
staff coming back to frag. Like CompTIA, Motley Fool has no precise
policy on use of the facilities (the company has a "take what you need"
vacation policy, too), and employees can play whenever they want. It's
all part of Motley Fool's culture of "trust and individual
responsibility."
Burbage firmly believes that gaming helps the staff. The most obvious
reason: "People need a break. Studies show that if you just sit at your
desk all day, productivity goes down and down." He says that gaming also
teaches how to think strategically, several moves ahead, and of course
it helps with team building, "And hey, it's fun," adds Burbage. "After I
go play Halo, I come back and I'm happy and in a good mood."
Though he can't attribute the phenomenon entirely to gaming, Burbage
says that the company's culture has helped keep employee turnover at a
minuscule 4 percent per year.
That leaves us with just one question: Which department produces the
best gamers? Thibodeaux says that his sales department is big into
shooters (draw your own conclusions on that one), but all sources seem
to agree on one piece of advice: No matter what game you're playing,
never go up against the IT department.
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Critical IE 7 Exploit Making The Rounds
Microsoft issued a critical security warning Tuesday that a malicious
exploit is making the rounds and attacking vulnerabilities in Internet
Explorer 7.
The risk is believed to be widespread, given that IE 7 is the latest
version of Microsoft's browser and is bundled with XP service pack 3 and
also Vista, said Dave Marcus, director of security research and
communications for McAfee's Avert Labs.
The AZN Trojan, which has been making the rounds since the first week of
December, has the potential of infecting users' system with a Trojan
horse, or "downloaders" that can download other forms of malware onto a
user's system.
Microsoft announced it will release a security patch Wednesday via its
automatic update system to patch users computers.
Users can potentially get infected two ways, Marcus said. One is to
visit a malicious Web site that already has the malware installed on the
site, or visit a legitimate site, in which the attacker has inserted the
malicious script to run in the background, leaving visitors unaware
their systems have been compromised. "A lot of Web sites are pushing out
this exploit," Marcus noted. Some of the infected sites include Web
sites that offer free wallpaper for mobile phones to sites that feature
property to product-related sites.
Microsoft is encouraging users to update their systems once the patch is
released Wednesday at 10 a.m. PDT.
Apple Fixes Issues in Mac OS X Leopard and Tiger
Apple has been busy fixing several glitches for users of both its Mac OS
X Tiger and Mac OS X Leopard.
On Monday Apple released a slew of fixes - 36 to be exact - for Mac OS
X Leopard in its 10.5.6 update that fixes problems with iChat, MobileMe,
and Safari. On Tuesday, the Cupertino-based company released Security
Update 2008-008 for Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.11 users.
The update for Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 to 10.5.5 addresses several issues
with iChat, including no longer logging users out of iChat when setting
the iChat status to invisible, and it resolves an issue with pasting
text from Microsoft Office.
Mail also received a list of fixes, including improving its overall
performance, improving the accuracy of Connection Doctor, and taking
junk mail out of the inbox. The update also addressed the issue of Mail
quitting, the reliability of printing PDF attachments, and the issue
which caused Mail to append a character to the file extension of an
attachment.
For MobileMe, the fix was simple: Sync contacts, calendars and bookmarks
on a Mac automatically and within a minute of the changes being made on
a computer, a mobile device, or via the Web at me.com.
Apple had several fixes for parental controls, including an issue which
prevented the addition of allowed Web sites from Safari via drag and
drop. The update also fixed time limits and addressed an issue in which
parent-controlled accounts were not able to access iTunes.
For its Time Machine backup utility, the fixes were simple: Improve
reliability with Time Capsule and fix issues that could cause Time
Machine to show that a backup volume could not be found.
For gamers, the update solves problems with graphics. It includes
general improvements for the performance of games; graphics improvements
for iChat, Cover Flow, Aperture and iTunes; and fixes distortion issues
with ATI graphics cards.
While Apple aimed to improve performance with its 10.5.6 update, it is
also concerned about security breeches and Security Update 2008-008
corrects issues with CoreGraphics, CoreServices, Adobe's Flash Player
plug-in, Libsystem, Internet sharing, and ISO files.
Fixes will prevent unexpected system shutdowns when a user has opened a
malicious ISO file. The update also addresses an issue with memory
corruption in Libsystem's startup time API. The update provides improved
memory.
There are multiple issues that exist in the Flash Player plug-in,
according to Apple. The most serious issues could lead to downloading
malicious code when visiting a Web site. Apple tackles this problem by
updating the plug-in to version 9.0.151.0.
The system updates can be downloaded as an automatic update or in a
stand-alone installer.
Firefox Issues Eight Patches for Web Browser
Mozilla has issued eight patches for its Firefox Web browser, three of
which fix problems classified as critical.
The patches come after security experts have recommended using a browser
other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 and older versions of IE due
to a dangerous vulnerability. Microsoft is due to release an emergency
patch for that problem Wednesday.
Two of the critical Firefox problems could allow an attacker execute a
cross-site scripting attack, in which scripts or commands from one Web
application that shouldn't run in another are successfully executed. The
third problem relates to Firefox's browser engine, and could make it
crash or possibly allow someone to remotely execute code on a PC,
Mozilla said in its advisory.
Mozilla defines a critical vulnerability as one that could allow an
attacker to run code on a machine in the course of normal Web browsing.
The patches are for Firefox version numbers 3.04 and 2.0.0.18. Mozilla
has said this round of patches will be the last for Firefox 2, which it
will now stop supporting. The update also removes the phishing filter in
Firefox 2 because the browser uses an outdated version of a protocol
used to import a blocklist of phishing sites supplied by Google. Firefox
2 users are being promoted to upgrade to Firefox 3.
Firefox's auto-update mechanism should automatically download these
latest patches, and users will be prompted to restart the browser to
complete the process.
NY Proposes Applying Sales Tax to Digital Goods
Rumors of the fabled "iPod tax" swirled again Tuesday when a budget plan
unveiled by New York Gov. David Paterson included provisions that would
impose a sales tax on digital downloads.
The plan also includes a tax on television and radio services provided
by cable and satellite, and says that e-commerce sites like Amazon
cannot claim tax exemption for online purchases if they have affiliates
located in the state.
Paterson, a Democrat, proposes closing a digital property taxation
loophole by imposing state and local sales tax on the purchase of
pre-written software, digital audio, audio-visual and text files,
digital photographs, games, and other electronic entertainment.
"With the passage of this bill, a book, song, album, or movie would be
subject to sales tax no matter if it was bought at a brick and mortar
store or downloaded online," according to the plan.
"Change is never easy, but it is the only way we can put New York back
on the road toward fiscal and economic recovery," Paterson said in a
statement." There is no doubting the seriousness of the problems we must
address and the need to deal with them in a direct and candid manner."
If the provision is successful, residents of New York would no longer be
able to purchase songs from online music retailers like iTunes,
Amazon.com, or Walmart.com without incurring a sales tax.
Paterson also proposes taxing cable and satellite service, which is in
place in 23 other states.
The budget would also require online retailers without a physical
presence in New York but who deal with its citizens to set up a "nexus"
in the state for tax purposes.
In May, Amazon.com sued the New York State Department of Taxation and
Finance after New York lawmakers approved a budget package that included
a bill that would force online stores like Amazon.com to collect sales
tax.
Amazon argued that since it did not have a physical presence in New
York, it should not have to pay taxes. New York argued, however, that
since participants in Amazon's affiliate program - which allows people
to earn money when they include Amazon links on their personal Web sites
or blogs - live in New York, Amazon does have a presence in the state.
Under Paterson's proposal, a company would create a "nexus" in the state
if any of their affiliates live in New York. This "prevents a company
from avoiding charging sales and use tax on Internet purchases by
creating independent but affiliated out-of-state entities to make those
sales," according to the proposal.
Also included in Paterson's plan is a $10 fee for filing a paper
personal income tax return, in an effort to encourage Internet-based
filings.
Yahoo Slashes Data Retention to Three Months
In a move to one-up its search-engine rivals, Yahoo on Wednesday
announced a new global data-retention policy that far surpasses what
Google and Microsoft have proposed.
Indeed, Yahoo is setting the industry standard for data retention with
its promise to anonymize user log data within 90 days -- with limited
exceptions for fraud, security and legal obligations. Yahoo is also
expanding its policy to apply not only to search-log data but also page
views, page clicks, ad views, and ad clicks.
"In our world of customized online services, responsible use of data is
critical to establishing and maintaining user trust," said Anne Toth,
Yahoo's vice president of policy. "We know that our users expect
relevant and compelling content and advertising when they visit Yahoo,
but they also want assurances that we are focused on protecting their
privacy."
Privacy advocates, including European Union regulators, have put
pressure on search engines to slash data-storage times. The current
industry standard is 18 months. Microsoft last week told European
regulators it's ready to cut the time it holds users' search data from
18 months to six months - if other search-engine companies do the same.
"What we've done since April is evaluate the multiple uses of search
data to ascertain if we can, in time, move to a six-month time frame,"
said Peter Cullen, Microsoft's chief privacy strategist. "Our answer is
yes, we can, but we don't believe it makes sense for us to make this
change until our competitors also commit to meeting this higher standard
with respect to both the method and time frame for anonymization."
Yahoo isn't waiting for other search engines to cooperate. Instead, the
heads of the business and engineering units at Yahoo worked with the
privacy and data-governance teams to review data needs. Their goal was
to ensure that Yahoo retains data only long enough to serve its business
and user-experience needs while maintaining the ability to fight fraud,
secure systems, and meet legal obligations.
"This policy represents Yahoo's assessment of the minimum amount of time
we need to retain data in order to respond to the needs of our business
while deepening our trusted relationship with users," Toth said. "We're
proud this new policy sets a new benchmark for the industry."
Yahoo said users won't see a difference in their experience with Yahoo
products or services, and advertisers will continue to leverage its
interest-based advertising systems to deliver the most relevant ads.
That revelation begs the question: Do users really care how long search
engines retain their search data?
"I question to what extent consumers have any awareness of
data-retention issues," said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at
Sterling Market Intelligence. "They do have awareness that their
behavior is tracked online, and there is considerable discomfort with
that, but in terms of specific issues as to how long data is kept, I
think there is total ignorance on the part of regular consumers."
Yahoo's move also begs questions about what Microsoft, Google and others
will do in response to this aggressive policy. Sterling said it puts
pressure on the search-engine industry to at least shave time off their
data-retention policies. The European Union has pushed for a six-month
limit.
"We might see Microsoft quickly come out and say it will cut its policy
to six months, or maybe match Yahoo," Sterling said. "If that happens,
certainly Google will have to follow suit. Google may not come down to
three months, but they may come down to six months. If Google were to be
isolated in this, it would not only incur the wrath of the EU regulators
but it would also suffer in the press as the other two key players
stepped up to the requested standard."
Privacy Advocates Question Yahoo's Data Policy
Yahoo on Wednesday announced a new data-retention policy, but on
Thursday privacy experts were still scratching their heads about what
the policy really means.
Although it appeared Yahoo was setting an industry standard for data
retention with a promise to anonymize user log data within 90 days (with
limited exceptions for fraud, security and legal obligations), privacy
advocates say the announcement isn't clear.
"It's subtle, but it's important. Yahoo is not slashing its
data-retention policy to three months," said Marc Rotenberg, executive
director for the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "Yahoo is
modifying the data at three months and keeping the data. So the real
question is what is happening to the information that these search
companies are keeping?"
Yahoo said the heads of its business and engineering units worked with
the privacy and data-governance teams to review the company's data
needs. The goal was to ensure that Yahoo retains data only long enough
to serve its business and user-experience needs while maintaining the
ability to fight fraud, secure systems, and meet legal obligations.
"This policy represents Yahoo's assessment of the minimum amount of time
we need to retain data in order to respond to the needs of our business
while deepening our trusted relationship with users," said Anne Toth,
Yahoo's vice president of policy. Yahoo is also expanding its policy to
apply not only to search-log data but also page views, page clicks, ad
views, and ad clicks.
Rotenberg said he would welcome a retention policy in which data is
deleted or destroyed, but that's not what Yahoo has announced. As a
consequence, he said, there's more confusion about what search-engine
companies are doing with the data they collect.
"Just to give an example, the IP address is a unique identifier that
more often than not links a search query to an individual user. Yahoo is
not even removing the entire IP address. They are knocking out the last
few digits," Rotenberg said. "That's a little like having someone's
phone number and taking the last number off of it. That's not deletion.
It gets very subtle and very complicated."
When a user conducts a search on Yahoo, Google, Microsoft or another
search engine, the companies collect a large volume of data. Most users
aren't aware of how much data is collected because it happens behind the
scenes.
For example, when a user searches, the engine collects data around the
text, which is referred to as the search query. It also saves the date
and time stamp, which is when the search occurred down to the second. It
records the cookie, which is more accurately called a persistent
identifier. It saves the IP address, and there's also a record locater.
"When the companies say they are deleting or anonymizing, neither of
those statements are true. What they are really doing is modifying the
data that they are keeping. Then the interesting question is, how are
they actually modifying the data? What is being kept? What isn't being
kept?" Rotenberg asked. "And the fairly obvious question is, is it
possible to re-identify the person that made the search, because, at
least from the privacy perspective, that's what this is all about."
FCC Cancels Vote on Free Broadband Wireless Plan
A much-publicized meeting by the Federal Communications Commission
later this month has been canceled. The meeting's agenda included a vote
on a plan that could have provided free broadband wireless service to
underserved areas of the U.S.
The FCC said the meeting for Dec. 18 was canceled following a request
from Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.)
that the agency scale down other efforts in order to concentrate on the
switch to digital-television broadcasts in February.
FCC spokesperson Robert Kenny said "it does not appear that there is a
consensus to move forward and the agenda meeting has been canceled."
It wasn't only Democratic legislators pressuring the FCC. The outgoing
Bush administration also indicated that it opposed the plan. Last week,
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin
Martin which said, in part, that the administration believes the
airwaves "should be auctioned without price or product mandate."
The FCC's plan would have auctioned off some airwaves and required the
winner to offer free wireless Internet access. One version of the plan
would have required the winning company to make at least 25 percent of
the spectrum available free to most of the nation. Another version would
have given free, unlicensed access to some of the spectrum to innovators
if the acquiring company didn't fulfill its promise.
Neither version of the plan was exactly receiving accolades from the
cell-phone industry or free-speech advocates. T-Mobile, for instance,
argued there would be interference from the free Internet into the
adjacent spectrum it licensed. However, FCC engineers have told news
media that there would be no significant interference.
Some consumer advocates interested in maintaining free information flow
objected to a part of the plan that would have required a filter to
remove adult material for under-18 users. Users over 18 could remove the
filter.
Some observers saw the FCC plan as a retread of an earlier plan
submitted by M2Z Networks, primarily for use of the 2155-2180-MHz band.
The auction was designed for frequencies in the 2.1 GHz Advanced
Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum, which includes 2155-2180 MHz.
Backed by technology venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield &
Byers, M2Z has proposed that consumers buy a router that offers free,
midrange DSL speeds and then pay for any upgrade to faster
transmissions. M2Z's business model includes advertising for the free
component.
The cancellation comes shortly after the release of a 110-page report
from the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight and
investigations subcommittee. The report, entitled Deception and
Distrust: The Federal Communications Commission under Chairman Kevin J.
Martin, charged that Martin changed and withheld data and reports in
order to bolster his particular positions, and that he presided over a
demoralized and dysfunctional agency.
U.S. Not Ready for Cyber Attack
The United States is unprepared for a major hostile attack against vital
computer networks, government and industry officials said on Thursday
after participating in a two-day "cyberwar" simulation.
The game involved 230 representatives of government defense and security
agencies, private companies and civil groups. It revealed flaws in
leadership, planning, communications and other issues, participants said.
The exercise comes almost a year after President George W. Bush launched
a cybersecurity initiative which officials said has helped shore up U.S.
computer defenses but still falls short.
"There isn't a response or a game plan," said senior vice president Mark
Gerencser of the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting service, which ran the
simulation. "There isn't really anybody in charge," he told reporters
afterward.
Democratic U.S. Rep. James Langevin of Rhode Island, who chairs the
homeland security subcommittee on cybersecurity, said: "We're way behind
where we need to be now."
Dire consequences of a successful attack could include failure of
banking or national electrical systems, he said.
"This is equivalent in my mind to before September 11 ... we were
awakened to the threat on the morning after September 11."
Officials cited attacks by Russia sympathizers on Estonia and Georgia as
examples of modern cyberwarfare, and said U.S. businesses and government
offices have faced intrusions and attacks.
Billions of dollars must be spent by both government and industry to
improve security, said U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the
Democratic chairman of the intelligence subcommittee on technical
intelligence.
The war game simulated a dramatic surge in computer attacks at a time of
economic vulnerability, and required participants to find ways to
mitigate the attacks - using real-life knowledge of tactics and
procedures where they work.
It was the broadest such exercise in terms of representation across
government agencies and industrial sectors, officials said.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, addressing the
participants at the end of the exercise, predicted cyberattacks will
become a routine warfare tactic to degrade command systems before a
traditional attack. That is in addition to threats posed by criminal or
terrorist attackers.
International law and military doctrines need to be updated to deal with
computer attacks, Chertoff said.
"We know that if someone shoots missiles at us, they're going to get a
certain kind of response. What happens if it comes over the Internet?,"
he said.
Chertoff and Gerencser expressed caution over suggestions earlier this
month calling for the appointment of a White House "cybersecurity czar"
to oversee efforts. But Ruppersberger disagreed. One person was needed
to take charge of efforts and to secure the president's ear, he said.
Ruppersberger said people close to president-elect Barack Obama's
transition team have convinced him that Obama understands the importance
of bolstering cybersecurity.
China Defends Right to Block Web Site Access
A spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs defended government
censorship efforts that block access to some foreign Web sites, saying
they had broken Chinese laws by promoting the idea that "two Chinas"
exist.
"I hope these Web sites will exercise self-discipline and not do
anything that violates Chinese laws," said Liu Jianchao, a ministry
spokesman, according to a transcript (in Chinese) of a Tuesday press
conference.
His comments came in response to questions about Chinese access to Web
sites like the BBC, Voice of America, and others, being blocked again.
Access to many censored Web sites was restored earlier this year, part
of a government commitment to not restrict Internet access during the
Olympics. That grace period now appears to be over.
Prior to the Olympic games, China frequently blocked access to Web sites
that it deems objectionable. The government rarely discusses these
efforts, or provides information about why the Web sites are blocked.
Liu's comments suggest the reasons are largely political.
His reference to "two Chinas" means Taiwan and China. China regards
Taiwan as a renegade province, although the current Chinese government
has never ruled the island. Taiwan is ruled by the Nationalist Party,
which retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese civil war to
the Communists. The two sides have been locked in a military and
political stalemate since that time.
Taiwan's political status remains a sensitive issue in China, and the
government frequently speaks out against any politician or political
statement that it believes supports the cause of Taiwanese independence,
forbidden by China's anti-secession law.
Liu did not name the foreign Web sites that had allegedly fallen afoul
of Chinese censors, but he defended China's right to manage Internet
access according to its own laws.
Mass Internet Outages in Egypt after Cables Cut
Egypt's communications ministry says Internet cables in the Mediterranean
Sea have been cut, causing massive Internet outages.
The ministry says three Internet cables running through the Mediterranean
were cut Friday morning. Throughout the country the Internet is almost
completely down or working sporadically.
The ministry says it will take "several days" for cables to be repaired
and is trying to switch Egypt's Internet to an alternative route.
It is the second large-scale Internet outage in Egypt this year.
Undersea cables were also damaged in January, causing outages in the
Mideast and India.
Yemen and Sudan were also having phone and Internet difficulties Friday,
but it was unclear if it was connected to the outage.
Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.5.6
MobileMe syncing improvements and security fixes headline the list of
changes unveiled with the release of Apple's Mac OS X 10.5.6 update
Monday.
The file should be appearing in the Software Update window at any moment
now, depending on how often you've set Software Update to check for new
software. The sixth update to Leopard, originally released in October
2007, comes with the usual range of tweaks, bug fixes, and security
improvements.
One update of note concerns MobileMe, which is now capable of pushing
updates made to calendars or contact information from the Web or an
iPhone to the primary Mac within a minute. Apple had numerous problems
with the launch of the MobileMe service earlier this year, and the
latest update should help fix one of the more pressing issues still
outstanding with the $99-a-year service.
No Jobs Means No Macworld Splash
Without Steve Jobs attending this year's Macworld keynote, it's safe
to say Apple won't be making a huge splash in January.
Before Tuesday's announcement that Jobs would skip the annual Macworld
keynote, the usual rumor mill was in full swing, with speculation about
Apple Netbooks, iPhone Nanos, and the like. The news that Phil Schiller,
senior vice president of worldwide marketing, will be giving the keynote
(the Philnote?) brought all that speculation to a halt.
Apple made it pretty clear yesterday that it is not expecting this
Macworld to pack a punch. "It doesn't make sense for us to make a major
investment in a trade show we will no longer be attending," Apple
spokesman Steve Dowling said. As such, that means Apple is not likely to
spend the time and effort required to put on one of Jobs' patented
addresses, with the elaborate demonstrations and Keynote presentations
that accompany such an address.
So what might we expect? New Mac Minis and an upgraded iMac are
possible, given the length of time since new models were introduced and
a few early reports. And a safe bet is a 30-minute demonstration of the
capabilities of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, which is expected to appear in
the first quarter of the year.
But do not expect anything groundbreaking to emerge from this year's
Macworld, which, truth be told, was probably going to be the case, no
matter who gave the keynote. Jobs' absence merely confirms that Apple is
mailing in this Macworld, the last in which the company plans to
participate.
One potential surprise would be Jobs making any kind of appearance. The
announcement immediately set off speculation about his health, though
nothing has emerged over the last 24 hours to suggest that it has taken
a turn for the worse.
Apple could get a lot of mileage out of having Jobs swap roles with
Schiller, playing the goofy capable-assistant role usually reserved for
Schiller. And it would allow the Mac-faithful to serenade Jobs one last
time; while many people come to Macworld for the products and the
community, an awful lot of people come for no other reason than to see
Jobs speak.
Even if Jobs just sat in the front row, as executives such as COO Tim
Cook and various members of the board of the directors do during a
typical Stevenote, it would go a long way toward reassuring the Mac
community and Apple shareholders that Steve is fine. Apple's stock is
down almost 7 percent Wednesday, following yesterday's news, as
investors ponder the impact of a January without Jobs.
Yahoo Revamps E-mail To Become More Social
Yahoo Inc. has finally started to roll out new features designed to make
its e-mail service more like the popular online hangouts Facebook and
MySpace, following through on a promise made nearly a year ago.
With the additions announced Monday, Yahoo's roughly 275 million e-mail
users will have the option of setting up their accounts so they can
highlight communications from other people with whom they have formed an
online connection.
The concept mirrors a premise that has turned privately held Facebook
and News Corp.'s MySpace into two of the Web's hot spots for socializing
over the past three years - a period that has coincided with a wrenching
downturn at Yahoo.
After registering their profiles on Facebook and MySpace, people can use
the sites to form online bonds with their friends and family so they can
share personal information and keep track of each other's activities.
Yahoo also is copying Facebook and MySpace by opening its e-mail service
to applications created by outside programmers. In a test that started
Monday among a small number of e-mail users, Yahoo began offering
applications developed for finding photos stored in their mailboxes,
transferring information to blogs and sharing tips about movies.
The changes will turn Yahoo's e-mail service into a "scrapbook for your
life," said John Kremer, a company vice president. "We hope opening up
Yahoo mail will have a game-changing influence on the industry."
Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang offered the first glimpse at the
Sunnyvale-based company's broader e-mail ambitions during a presentation
at a consumer electronics show held in January.
Introducing the changes took time because Yahoo wanted to ensure it got
the technology right and hoped to minimize disruption for users, said
Ash Patel, who heads up the company's products. "We are very deliberate
in the way we roll things out," he said.
The e-mail overhaul took so long to complete that Yang is now on the way
out as Yahoo's chief executive. With Yahoo's stock price and earnings
eroding under his leadership, Yang plans to step down as soon as a new
CEO is found.
Besides tweaking its e-mail service, Yahoo plans to upgrade its toolbar
for Web browsers. The improvements include the ability to check new
messages coming into Yahoo e-mail and competing services as well as to
receive notifications about their online connections' latest activities.
As it introduces new twists to its Web site, Yahoo also is planning to
phase out less popular services as part of an effort to reduce its
annual expenses by $400 million. Yahoo is reaping most of the savings by
laying off 1,500 workers in a purge that began last week.
Patel on Monday declined to discuss which services Yahoo will eliminate,
saying more information will be passed on next year.
About 90 Percent of All Email Is Spam
Armies of hijacked computers are flooding the world with spam as hackers
devise slicker ways to take over unwitting people's machines, according
to a Cisco report.
Virus-infected computers are woven into "botnets" used to attack more
machines and to send specious sales pitches to email addresses in
low-cost quests to bilk readers out of cash.
"Every year we see threats evolve as criminals discover new ways to
exploit people, networks and the Internet," said Cisco chief security
researcher Patrick Peterson.
Junk email referred to as spam accounts for nearly 200 billion messages
daily, approximately 90 percent of email worldwide, according to a Cisco
Annual Security Report.
The United States is the biggest source of spam, accounting for 17.2
percent of the messages. Turkey and Russia ranked second and third,
accounting for 9.2 percent and 8 percent of spam respectively, according
to Cisco.
This year, botnets were used to inject an array of legitimate Websites
with an IFrames malicious code that reroutes visitors to websites that
download computer viruses into their machines, according to Cisco.
"The botnet is, in many cases, ground-zero for online criminal threats,"
Peterson said.
"Using malware to infect someone's computers is an incredibly common
mechanism and harnessing them all together is a way they do their click
fraud, spam emails, and data stealing."
As computer security vendors such as Cisco get better at protecting
machines from hackers and users grow wary of clicking on unsolicited Web
links or email attachments, online criminals are turning botnets on
Web-based email accounts.
Hackers are "reputation hijacking" by using botnets to figure out weak
passwords protecting Web-based email accounts, according to Peterson.
Weak passwords consist of family names, birthdays, home addresses, or
other terms considered relatively easy to deduce.
Once access is gained to legitimate email accounts, a plethora of spam
messages sent are sent in the owners' names.
Personalized Spam Rising Sharply
Yes, guys, those spam e-mails for Viagra or baldness cream just might be
directed to you personally. So, too, are many of the other crafty
come-ons clogging inboxes, trying to lure us to fake Web sites so
criminals can steal our personal information.
A new study by Cisco Systems Inc. found an alarming increase in the
amount of personalized spam, which online identity thieves create using
stolen lists of e-mail addresses or other poached data about their
victims, such as where they went to school or which bank they use.
Unlike traditional spam, most of which is blocked by e-mail filters,
personalized spam, known as "spear phishing" messages, often sail
through unmolested. They're sent in smaller chunks, and often come from
accounts the criminals have set up at reputable Web-based e-mail
services. Some of the messages are expertly crafted, linking to
beautifully designed Web sites that are bogus or immediately install
malicious programs.
Cisco's annual security study found that spam is growing quickly -
nearly 200 billion spam messages are now sent each day, double the
volume in 2007 - and that targeted attacks are also rising sharply.
More than 0.4 percent of all spam sent in September were targeted
attacks, Cisco found. That might sound low, but since 90 percent of all
e-mails sent worldwide are spam, this means 800 million messages a day
are attempts are spear phishing. A year ago, targeted attacks with
personalized messages were less than 0.1 percent of all spam.
The latest attacks include text-message spam, e-mails trying to trick
business owners into coughing up credentials for their Google
advertising accounts, or personalized "whaling" e-mails to executives
claiming that their businesses are under investigation by the FBI or
that there's a problem with their personal bank account.
As the world's largest maker of networking gear, Cisco is in a unique
position to study the traffic flowing through its customers' networks,
which include the biggest Internet providers and corporations. The
latest study was based in part on the company's ability to monitor 30
percent of all Web and e-mail traffic through its hardware and software
and a network of companies that contribute data.
=~=~=~=
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