Intel's astute push to drive widespread adoption of wireless broadband continues to gather momentum with over 240 companies involved. Final standards are expected soon, and trials are underway. Bellsouth will start the trucks rolling in August.
Yes, you may be able to junk your slow DSL -- or, God forbid, dial-up lines -- for a wireless neighborhood connection.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
The World's Most Valuable Media Company Is ... Google
Move over, Time Warner. Google is worth more than $80 billion.
Can't you just kick yourself for passing on those over-priced $85 shares last year?
Can't you just kick yourself for passing on those over-priced $85 shares last year?
Apple iTunes Enters Japan, Faces Sony
Apple will open iTunes Japan this summer. With almost 500 million downloads sold, Apple will face local heavyweight Sony. By undercutting Sony's per track price by 35%, Apple expects to gain a foothold in this very important market.
Microsoft Windows Servers Finally Get Update Service
A year late, but better than manual updates by a long shot, the update feature will work a lot like the desktop automatic update download service.
Microsoft Tech Ed Conference Coverage
Yesterday's focus was on Apple's developer conference and the company's plans to port to Intel. Don't miss what Microsoft is saying to its own (significant) developer community about what's coming.
Here's what CEO Steve Ballmer has to say about enabling IT to drive business success to the sold-out audience of 11,000.
Here's what CEO Steve Ballmer has to say about enabling IT to drive business success to the sold-out audience of 11,000.
What Geeks Give Their Daughters
That's right, a Radio Shack build-a-robot kit. PC Magazine's positive review here.
IBM Wants to Help IT Manage Itself
Recently IBM unveiled a slew of new services and software aimed at helping enterprise IT departments manage their processes.
The IT department has always been less managed than other enterprise business units. After all, programming is more art than science, right? So schedules and budgets don't apply like they do in (every) other department. This drives senior executives to distraction, and has cost more than a few IT executives their jobs. Meanwhile, some big deals like Sarbanes-Oxley have focused, literally, the law on IT processes, operations, and controls. Something has to change. That's where IBM's new glogal program comes in.
"This is an integrated announcement supported by IBM Tivoli, IBM Global Services, IBM Rational and IBM WebSphere," said Susan Blocher, director of worldwide marketing for Tivoli, adding that the crux of the offering is geared toward helping IT departments more effectively deliver, design and implement better processes. The offering is based on the company's and IGS' customer experience, which has taught them that better IT process management, service and automation are sorely needed. Core to the solutions are "tool mentors" that help implement actions prescribed by the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), an industry guide of best practices, she said.
The new services and software rollout includes IBM Tivoli Unified Process, a navigational tool for customizing and implementing best practices for mapping, modifying and improving IT processes; IBM Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database, a virtualized database that joins IT information speed across multiple databases; IBM Tivoli Process Managers, prepackaged software to automate IT processes that can be customized to a particular vertical industry; enhancements to existing Tivoli products to support IT service management; and customized services from IGS around the new IT service management solutions.
IBM will compete against robust specialists in IT management such as Niku. I believe that IBM is on the right track, as there is no alternative in the modern enterprise to getting IT more managed and more manageable.
-- Peter S. Kastner
The IT department has always been less managed than other enterprise business units. After all, programming is more art than science, right? So schedules and budgets don't apply like they do in (every) other department. This drives senior executives to distraction, and has cost more than a few IT executives their jobs. Meanwhile, some big deals like Sarbanes-Oxley have focused, literally, the law on IT processes, operations, and controls. Something has to change. That's where IBM's new glogal program comes in.
"This is an integrated announcement supported by IBM Tivoli, IBM Global Services, IBM Rational and IBM WebSphere," said Susan Blocher, director of worldwide marketing for Tivoli, adding that the crux of the offering is geared toward helping IT departments more effectively deliver, design and implement better processes. The offering is based on the company's and IGS' customer experience, which has taught them that better IT process management, service and automation are sorely needed. Core to the solutions are "tool mentors" that help implement actions prescribed by the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), an industry guide of best practices, she said.
The new services and software rollout includes IBM Tivoli Unified Process, a navigational tool for customizing and implementing best practices for mapping, modifying and improving IT processes; IBM Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database, a virtualized database that joins IT information speed across multiple databases; IBM Tivoli Process Managers, prepackaged software to automate IT processes that can be customized to a particular vertical industry; enhancements to existing Tivoli products to support IT service management; and customized services from IGS around the new IT service management solutions.
IBM will compete against robust specialists in IT management such as Niku. I believe that IBM is on the right track, as there is no alternative in the modern enterprise to getting IT more managed and more manageable.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Handhelds to play satellite radio, digital books
This was hinted at in a patent a while back thought now one knew what form it might take. It looks like Audible and XM are partnering on this one. I'm not sure I can afford (actually I know I can't afford) an Audible subscription on top of my XM subscription. As in all things the devil will be in the details. Now if the device and play ordinary MP3-WMA-Ogg files on top of it all, it would be great. Short of that and I'm skeptical about its success. Then again a lot of folks like audio books and I'm sure this has been run past more than a few focus groups.
Intel deal may mean end to OS 9 support
More news from the Apple front. According to Apple research, few new Mac buyers are using the older OS. If you are an Apple user, how will this affect you?
Supreme Court Rejects Lexmark's Petition
Here's some good news for those who want to buy aftermarket cartridges for their Lexmark printers.
Spoofing flaw resurfaces in Mozilla browsers | Tech News on ZDNet
Spoofing flaw resurfaces in Mozilla browsers | Tech News on ZDNet: "A 7-year-old flaw that could let an attacker place malicious content on trusted Web sites has resurfaced in the most recent Firefox browser, Secunia has warned. "
What now?
Joe
What now?
Joe
Monday, June 06, 2005
Apple on Intel is a 3 Year Old Story
With a little web sleuthing, the blogged article tells it all -- in August 2002: the problems with IBM, Steve Jobs' willingness to consider other platforms, and the secret "South Park alien" development team.
Read the article and consider the date. Conclusion: Apple has kept a current port of Mac OS X running in parallel with its PowerPC product with a team of at least a dozen engineers for three years, at least. That tells me the technology risk is very low for getting the "OS X on Intel" port into X86 machines next year -- in the thorough, tested fashion customers expect from major PC industry players. Consider the Apple work about done.
What comes next is getting the Mac software ecosystem on board. That should not be hard, as Apple is on the ascendancy.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Read the article and consider the date. Conclusion: Apple has kept a current port of Mac OS X running in parallel with its PowerPC product with a team of at least a dozen engineers for three years, at least. That tells me the technology risk is very low for getting the "OS X on Intel" port into X86 machines next year -- in the thorough, tested fashion customers expect from major PC industry players. Consider the Apple work about done.
What comes next is getting the Mac software ecosystem on board. That should not be hard, as Apple is on the ascendancy.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Criminals Building Malware Attack Botnets
Maybe my woes with a trojan discussed during the show yesterday are not an isolated case. what intrigues me about the Trojan.Tooso.B virus is how little damage it does -- but how improtant the code in the trojan is to any bigger, more nefarious attack.
Live: Apple's Jobs on Intel, iPod, Developers
Text story written during Job' speech. Click Refresh to update the URL's contents.
EU Blinks. Microsoft Penalties Deferred.
The risk that the EU executive might hit the world's largest software company with a fine of up to $5 million a day receded because Microsoft's proposal allows non-Microsoft work group servers to interoperate with Windows personal computers and servers.
The plan will be put to industry peers for their opinion over the next two weeks of market testing before the Commission makes a final assessment, but an open-source software group that is a major rival raised immediate objections.
The Commission postponed the most troubling questions about open-source licenses until an EU court rules next year on Microsoft's broad challenge against its antitrust decision.
We predicted this result here a couple of weeks ago.
-- Peter S. Kastner
The plan will be put to industry peers for their opinion over the next two weeks of market testing before the Commission makes a final assessment, but an open-source software group that is a major rival raised immediate objections.
The Commission postponed the most troubling questions about open-source licenses until an EU court rules next year on Microsoft's broad challenge against its antitrust decision.
We predicted this result here a couple of weeks ago.
-- Peter S. Kastner
.xxx Domain Is Exactly What You Think It Is
It's official—the Web soon will have its own red-light district. This week, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved a plan that will allow pornographic Web sites to use URLs that end with ".xxx."
Grid Computing Looking Forward
With the enormous flexibility and reliability afforded by computing grids, it may seem surprising that they not more pervasive today. The primary explanation is that grids exist in the context of a large ecosystem. It is not possible to go to a store and purchase a grid. Roadblocks to wider adoption are both technical and business-oriented in nature. From a technical perspective, it is safe to assume that applications not designed in multiprocessor environments are by default uni-processor applications. They can be executed on a multiprocessor node, but they will not use more than one processor, even if more are available, and hence the total run time won’t be shorter.
From a cost perspective, it might be attractive to share resources across organizations, including different companies, even in different countries. Doing so implies additional overhead to ensure data integrity, security, and resource billing. The technology to support these functions is still evolving. The lack of precedents makes potential users squeamish about trusting their code and data to be executed by someone else in a shared resource environment represented by a grid. Therefore, few grids today cross company boundaries. The largest user communities for grids today belong to government and academic research. This challenge translates directly into opportunity for those solution providers and system integrators that can overcome them. As the ecosystem of solutions for grid computing
continues to evolve, adoption is likely to increase by private companies that seek to harness the power and cost advantages of grid computing.
My perspective is that the real business value in grid computing has not even been defined, let alone achieved. The "commercial grid" -- as opposed to the scientific/technical uses of today's High Performance Computing grids -- is where the money will be made. The white paper in this blog defines a rather obvious architecture of nodes, clusters, and grids. The billion-dollar market questions are:
1) How will enterprise software tools be grid-enabled so any knowledge worker can begin to ask the questions no one can get answers to today? Look to the data warehousing market for a historical analog.
2) Can hardware vendors like IBM and Sun convince customers to rent grid capacity, ala electricity or will enterprises (continue to) build-their-own from excess capacity?
3) How can we harness the existing grid infrastructure available at every enterprise today: desktop PCs? Or will grids have to be built out on one capital asset requisition at a time over decades?
4) Will commercial grids lead or follow the trends towards virtualization? In a virtual computing world, the application becomes much simpler but the infrastructure has to be much smarter.
5) What happens to security in a node-cluster-grid world? The infrastructure of a grid world will make virus and trojan propagation possible at lightening speeds -- and it will mostly occur behind the enterprise firewall.
6) Are there synergies outside the grid that might make economic and societal sense? These might include electricity load shifting to do seriuos grid computing at night when electrical generation capacity is available at lower unit costs of production. Another would be geographical load-shifting work from the U.S. to Europe when that continent is sleeping and network and system traffic are lower.
7) Commercial grid computing will need to borrow a lot from existing high availability technology. Some grid applications will be mission critical in a 24/7 world. Others will only need checkpointing and restart at a checkpoint on failure.
Lots to ponder as we think about the computing world in 2015.
-- Peter S. Kastner
From a cost perspective, it might be attractive to share resources across organizations, including different companies, even in different countries. Doing so implies additional overhead to ensure data integrity, security, and resource billing. The technology to support these functions is still evolving. The lack of precedents makes potential users squeamish about trusting their code and data to be executed by someone else in a shared resource environment represented by a grid. Therefore, few grids today cross company boundaries. The largest user communities for grids today belong to government and academic research. This challenge translates directly into opportunity for those solution providers and system integrators that can overcome them. As the ecosystem of solutions for grid computing
continues to evolve, adoption is likely to increase by private companies that seek to harness the power and cost advantages of grid computing.
My perspective is that the real business value in grid computing has not even been defined, let alone achieved. The "commercial grid" -- as opposed to the scientific/technical uses of today's High Performance Computing grids -- is where the money will be made. The white paper in this blog defines a rather obvious architecture of nodes, clusters, and grids. The billion-dollar market questions are:
1) How will enterprise software tools be grid-enabled so any knowledge worker can begin to ask the questions no one can get answers to today? Look to the data warehousing market for a historical analog.
2) Can hardware vendors like IBM and Sun convince customers to rent grid capacity, ala electricity or will enterprises (continue to) build-their-own from excess capacity?
3) How can we harness the existing grid infrastructure available at every enterprise today: desktop PCs? Or will grids have to be built out on one capital asset requisition at a time over decades?
4) Will commercial grids lead or follow the trends towards virtualization? In a virtual computing world, the application becomes much simpler but the infrastructure has to be much smarter.
5) What happens to security in a node-cluster-grid world? The infrastructure of a grid world will make virus and trojan propagation possible at lightening speeds -- and it will mostly occur behind the enterprise firewall.
6) Are there synergies outside the grid that might make economic and societal sense? These might include electricity load shifting to do seriuos grid computing at night when electrical generation capacity is available at lower unit costs of production. Another would be geographical load-shifting work from the U.S. to Europe when that continent is sleeping and network and system traffic are lower.
7) Commercial grid computing will need to borrow a lot from existing high availability technology. Some grid applications will be mission critical in a 24/7 world. Others will only need checkpointing and restart at a checkpoint on failure.
Lots to ponder as we think about the computing world in 2015.
-- Peter S. Kastner
The Implications of Doubling the Number of the World's Computer Users
Intel research suggests that the next wave of computing users will look very different than the first. They will be less affluent and more heterogeneous, live in more challenging environments in the developing world, and in many cases have very different daily lives and abiding concerns.
Only 10% of the world's population are computer users. Half have never made or received a telephone call. This research paper is worth contemplating as the nature of the next doubling of computer industry growth will look nothing like the past ten years. Lots of implications for distribution models, channels, product price points, functionality, and a lack of always-on networking. Moreover, blockbuster products will have to be localized for the world's 130+ countries and societies. This will favor the big players.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Only 10% of the world's population are computer users. Half have never made or received a telephone call. This research paper is worth contemplating as the nature of the next doubling of computer industry growth will look nothing like the past ten years. Lots of implications for distribution models, channels, product price points, functionality, and a lack of always-on networking. Moreover, blockbuster products will have to be localized for the world's 130+ countries and societies. This will favor the big players.
-- Peter S. Kastner
A diehard Pc guy gets a MAC mini
When I heard about the Mac mini. I was very interested. So, when I came into some extra cash, I decided to get one. Just got it this past weekend. Hook up was a breeze. Power, USB keyboard, USB mouse, and monitor. Hooked up to a standard monitor with the adapter. Powered up and after welcome screens and answering a few questions. Like location etc.... I was at the desktop. I got it with Airport. I wanted to go wireless. After two hours, I finally decided to temporarily broadcast my SSID. Then I could see my WAP. For some reason my ASCII pass phrase would not work. So, I had to enter the hex key for the WEP. Bingo! I got online. Then I managed to get Firefox installed. Got a chat client, IRCle. Got that going OK. The latest MAC OS, Tiger, does not come with Stuffit for expanding files. I had a "SIT" file that needed Stuffit. The MAC was trying to open it with the MS word demo! LOL. That got me totally lost and confused. Thanks to GOOGLE, I finally found STUFFIT to expand my file. After about an hour.
So, That's where I am. Do I like it? Yes, once you get used to things such as no right clicking, with a MAC one button mouse, it's really is pretty easy to navigate around the desktop. Makes me feel like a real NEWBIE again. Which is not always bad. Frustrating as heck but, not bad. :-).
Stay tuned for updates.
So, That's where I am. Do I like it? Yes, once you get used to things such as no right clicking, with a MAC one button mouse, it's really is pretty easy to navigate around the desktop. Makes me feel like a real NEWBIE again. Which is not always bad. Frustrating as heck but, not bad. :-).
Stay tuned for updates.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Microsoft Longhorn WinFX beta download
Indigo and Avalon are the codenames for two strategic developer technologies that Microsoft plans to ship in 2006 as part of the Windows "Longhorn" operating system. In addition, Microsoft is making these technologies available on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The Indigo and Avalon Beta1 "RC" enables developers to continue experimenting with early builds of these technologies, get acquainted with the development experience, and provide Microsoft with feedback.
This beta is functionality that will be available to Windows' XP customers as well as being baked into Longhorn. Developers get a look at the new programming model -- the APIs and objects in .Net Framework 2.0. Note that Visual Studio 2005, which is the Longhorn developer platform, is also out in beta at this site.
A must-have for Windows developers.
This beta is functionality that will be available to Windows' XP customers as well as being baked into Longhorn. Developers get a look at the new programming model -- the APIs and objects in .Net Framework 2.0. Note that Visual Studio 2005, which is the Longhorn developer platform, is also out in beta at this site.
A must-have for Windows developers.
OnComputers Podcast
This is the On Computers podcast for 06-05-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
Microsoft Opens Next-Gen Office File Format
Microsoft is introducing the new formats as part of Office 12, officials said, and will share more details about them at next week's Tech Ed 2005 conference in Orlando, Fla.
On Thursday the company will announce that it plans to make XML-based file formats the default in the version of Office due to ship in the latter half of 2006.
This is very big news. With a free license, third parties will be able to get the metadata for the Office file formats. As XML files, many programs will be able to easily assimilate Office documents and their content. EMC's Documentum will be licking its chops.
The downside is that machines will be able to more easily modify documents, bypassing the annotation and change management features -- and controls - in today's Office products. That's somewhat scary.
On Thursday the company will announce that it plans to make XML-based file formats the default in the version of Office due to ship in the latter half of 2006.
This is very big news. With a free license, third parties will be able to get the metadata for the Office file formats. As XML files, many programs will be able to easily assimilate Office documents and their content. EMC's Documentum will be licking its chops.
The downside is that machines will be able to more easily modify documents, bypassing the annotation and change management features -- and controls - in today's Office products. That's somewhat scary.
Is IBM/Rational Dumping .Net?
Despite early discussions regarding continued support for Microsoft and its .Net platform when IBM initially acquired Rational in 2003, Big Blue now seems to be pulling back from the pledges that Mike Devlin, the co-founder and former general manager of Rational, and Steve Mills, head of the IBM Software Group, made following the acquisition that IBM would continue to provide deep support for .Net.
At its IBM Rational Software Development Conference in the searing heat of Las Vegas last week, IBM ratcheted up its battle cry a notch by introducing new technology to help the Armonk, N.Y., systems giant integrate its solutions for business, application development and IT operations, something Microsoft has been trying to do and is expecting to deliver with Visual Studio 2005 and the Microsoft Dynamic Systems Initiative.
At its IBM Rational Software Development Conference in the searing heat of Las Vegas last week, IBM ratcheted up its battle cry a notch by introducing new technology to help the Armonk, N.Y., systems giant integrate its solutions for business, application development and IT operations, something Microsoft has been trying to do and is expecting to deliver with Visual Studio 2005 and the Microsoft Dynamic Systems Initiative.
EU's Hands May Be Tied in Microsoft Case
European regulators may be powerless to give open-source competitors effective access to Microsoft's server protocols, despite antitrust rulings against the company and the EU's ability to impose massive new fines.
The European Commission has said a proposal submitted by Microsoft Corp. this week on implementing EU antitrust sanctions is the company's last chance to avoid new fines, which could amount to 5 percent of Microsoft's daily global sales.
The Commission ruled a year ago that Microsoft must offer a version of Windows without a bundled media player, and must allow competitors to license server communications protocols.
While the issues around unbundled Windows are understood to have been resolved, Microsoft's plan for licensing the server protocols has been repeatedly found wanting, and negotiations have dragged on for months.
A core sticking point is the licenses' per-seat fees, which make them useless for open-source projects, according to open-source developers.
But where it comes to these crucial licenses, the Commission's hands may be tied. "If the Commission requires Microsoft to make its protocol licensing GPL [General Public License]-compatible, it could jeopardize their entire case," said Jonathan Zuck, president of ACT (the Association for Competitive Technology), which supports Microsoft's side of the case.
The European Commission has said a proposal submitted by Microsoft Corp. this week on implementing EU antitrust sanctions is the company's last chance to avoid new fines, which could amount to 5 percent of Microsoft's daily global sales.
The Commission ruled a year ago that Microsoft must offer a version of Windows without a bundled media player, and must allow competitors to license server communications protocols.
While the issues around unbundled Windows are understood to have been resolved, Microsoft's plan for licensing the server protocols has been repeatedly found wanting, and negotiations have dragged on for months.
A core sticking point is the licenses' per-seat fees, which make them useless for open-source projects, according to open-source developers.
But where it comes to these crucial licenses, the Commission's hands may be tied. "If the Commission requires Microsoft to make its protocol licensing GPL [General Public License]-compatible, it could jeopardize their entire case," said Jonathan Zuck, president of ACT (the Association for Competitive Technology), which supports Microsoft's side of the case.
Sun Seeks Benefits of Bundling with StorageTek Buy
While taking many by surprise, Sun Microsystems' purchase of StorageTek is largely believed to be a good move for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company.
There are detractors:
The early cry has the Sun/StorageTek deal pegged as a marriage of losers. On one hand, you have the depressed, former server king thumping down a multi-billion dollar storage bet. On the other, you have a slow growing tape storage-focused relic. Both companies face frightening market share losses in their core businesses and hover just below or just above breakeven. In short, not the type of union shareholders moisten over at night.
It's just about impossible to say how the new Sun will shake out. The true nature of this deal won't become evident for a couple of years. In the meantime, however, a couple of things are certain. Sun didn't return cash to investors, kick off a massive layoff session or acquire a software company as the more pragmatic types would like. Its contrarian buy has guaranteed several months of negative reports and stories. And the timing couldn't be worse. Sun just unveiled a new marketing campaign, complete with a new "S" symbol and the shockingly horrific "Share" slogan.
There are detractors:
The early cry has the Sun/StorageTek deal pegged as a marriage of losers. On one hand, you have the depressed, former server king thumping down a multi-billion dollar storage bet. On the other, you have a slow growing tape storage-focused relic. Both companies face frightening market share losses in their core businesses and hover just below or just above breakeven. In short, not the type of union shareholders moisten over at night.
It's just about impossible to say how the new Sun will shake out. The true nature of this deal won't become evident for a couple of years. In the meantime, however, a couple of things are certain. Sun didn't return cash to investors, kick off a massive layoff session or acquire a software company as the more pragmatic types would like. Its contrarian buy has guaranteed several months of negative reports and stories. And the timing couldn't be worse. Sun just unveiled a new marketing campaign, complete with a new "S" symbol and the shockingly horrific "Share" slogan.
MSN Korea site hacked for days before being discovered
Password-stealing software planted by hackers was active on Microsoft's popular MSN Web site in South Korea for days before the world's largest software company learned about the break-in and removed the computer code.
Police investigators and Microsoft specialists are continuing to search for clues to the culprits behind this week's high-profile computer break-in. More details emerged Friday about the hacking, which targeted subscribers of an online game called "Lineage" that is popular in Asia.
Police investigators and Microsoft specialists are continuing to search for clues to the culprits behind this week's high-profile computer break-in. More details emerged Friday about the hacking, which targeted subscribers of an online game called "Lineage" that is popular in Asia.
Microsoft to Roll Out Windows 2000 Update Rollup
Time flies when you're having fun ... computing. Five years are up, so Microsoft is beginning the support phaseout for the venerable Windows 2000 with Service Pack 5. Win2k users should catch this SP when it comes out as it has many security fixes.
-- Peter S. Kastner
-- Peter S. Kastner
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Apple to ditch IBM, switch to Intel chips
New news at news.com (yes, I was trying for alliteration :P) about apple and intel, Peter was right but, exactly what they are gonna do with it, has yet to be decided.
-MissM/Jane
-MissM/Jane
Uneasy Rider - Newsweek Technology - MSNBC.com
This article asks if Ask Jeeves, the owners of "My Search", are in the clear. Apparently, Ask Jeeves is working to make sure their toolbar doesn't go places its not wanted, including cancelling contracts with its distributors.
As a side note, Ben Edelman, who was a guest a couple of weeks ago, is quoted.
As a side note, Ben Edelman, who was a guest a couple of weeks ago, is quoted.
Microsoft Office Versus Open Office in Terms of Market Share
Softpedia.com has a short article about market share of MS Office and Open Office. I found the numbers a little surprising, with Open Office having a 10% to 15% market penetration, depending on which analyst you believe.
Jack
Jack
Friday, June 03, 2005
ratDVD v0.5.1017
ratDVD v0.5.1017: "ratDVD takes a full featured DVD movie and puts it into a highly compressed .ratDVD container format file - while preserving all the features of the original DVD such as: "
This looks like a nice little program to back up your DVD's to your media center PC.
Joe
This looks like a nice little program to back up your DVD's to your media center PC.
Joe
Congressional aides predict telecom reform soon | InfoWorld | News | 2005-06-01 | By Grant Gross, IDG News Service
Congressional aides predict telecom reform soon | InfoWorld | News | 2005-06-01 | By Grant Gross, IDG News Service: "WASHINGTON - The U.S. Congress should pass some kind of telecommunications reform by late 2006, four congressional staffers focused on telecom issues predicted Wednesday, but the group couldn't agree on what kind of reform is needed. "
Ya think they can get it right this time?
Joe
Ya think they can get it right this time?
Joe
Forging an anti-terrorism search tool | CNET News.com
Forging an anti-terrorism search tool | CNET News.com: "The government is counting on new search technology to sniff out terrorists.
Google is the No. 1 free tool to snoop on friends or strangers. But government agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration are investing in a new search engine being developed at the University of Buffalo to do some of their more sensitive detective work."
Do you know who your friends are?
Joe
Google is the No. 1 free tool to snoop on friends or strangers. But government agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration are investing in a new search engine being developed at the University of Buffalo to do some of their more sensitive detective work."
Do you know who your friends are?
Joe
Apple to offer $50 credit in iPod suit | CNET News.com
Apple to offer $50 credit in iPod suit | CNET News.com: "Apple Computer has agreed to settle several class action suits over the battery life of its popular iPod portable music players, offering extended service warranties and $50 store credits to consumers who lobbed complaints. "
Read this to see how you can get your $50 credit.
Joe
Read this to see how you can get your $50 credit.
Joe
Digital divide has not disappeared | Perspectives | CNET News.com
Digital divide has not disappeared | Perspectives | CNET News.com: "It appears that we no longer need to worry about building a bridge between technology haves and have-nots. "
Or do we? do your kids use a computer to do their homework?
Joe
Or do we? do your kids use a computer to do their homework?
Joe
Group revives effort to define spyware | CNET News.com
Group revives effort to define spyware | CNET News.com: "Makers of anti-spyware software are taking another shot at creating a definition of spyware, this time with help from consumer organizations. "
Do you think that pop under is spyware? Or did you ask for it?
Joe
Do you think that pop under is spyware? Or did you ask for it?
Joe
DIYParts.org
I've now heard about this site from 2 podcasts, and a couple blogs, and I think there is something of genuine interest to you, the geeky reader of this blog. ;)
Basically its a hardware exchange between geeks, check it out, you might find a use for those parts stacking up, never to be used by you again.... (The ultimate reusing, in the reduce, reuse, recycle chain) Yes, you know who you are, too.
Then again, one might find a part that has been long needed!
-MissM
Basically its a hardware exchange between geeks, check it out, you might find a use for those parts stacking up, never to be used by you again.... (The ultimate reusing, in the reduce, reuse, recycle chain) Yes, you know who you are, too.
Then again, one might find a part that has been long needed!
-MissM
Thursday, June 02, 2005
SBC ups the ante in broadband war | CNET News.com
SBC ups the ante in broadband war | CNET News.com: "SBC Communications' move to slash prices on its DSL service could spur a pricing war between phone companies and their rivals in the cable industry, say analysts. But cable companies say they're competing on value rather than price. "
Is it time for you to call SBC? I have heard DSL as low as $14.95 a month.
Joe
Is it time for you to call SBC? I have heard DSL as low as $14.95 a month.
Joe
Slashdot | Online Shoppers Naive About Online Prices
I'm proud to be a "bottom feeder" shopper (searching multiple sites for the lowest prices), but I do tend to have sites that I trust. And a list of sites, I stay away from, because of various negative experiences.
and like Joe says "[fr]oogle is your friend!"
-MissM/Jane
and like Joe says "[fr]oogle is your friend!"
-MissM/Jane
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
OnComputers on PodcastAlley.com!!
Shameless self promotion alert!
We are actually listed at podcastalley.com but... we have NO votes :(
I hope you feel us worthy of a vote, you can only vote once per month, per email. Another benefit for you, the voter (hint, hint), is you can see a great selection of podcasts. I subscribed to the techpodcast.com feeds, and am slowly weeding out, the ones that have poor production values, or are too "basic" for me.
Enjoy!
-MissM
We are actually listed at podcastalley.com but... we have NO votes :(
I hope you feel us worthy of a vote, you can only vote once per month, per email. Another benefit for you, the voter (hint, hint), is you can see a great selection of podcasts. I subscribed to the techpodcast.com feeds, and am slowly weeding out, the ones that have poor production values, or are too "basic" for me.
Enjoy!
-MissM
The 'Dirty Little Secret' About Longhorn
Several sites are reporting that Longhorn won't be as closely tied to .NET 2.0 as previously reported. There are good reasons for this given in the eWeek.com article linked to above and it looks as if things are going to be handled in such a way that developers who are depending on the next version of .NET aren't going to be left out in the cold, even for a short time.
So why is this treated in the press as such a defeat for Microsoft? I don't know. Maybe folks are just acustomed to throwing brickbats at Longhorn because of the major features that are going to be delayed.
Jack
So why is this treated in the press as such a defeat for Microsoft? I don't know. Maybe folks are just acustomed to throwing brickbats at Longhorn because of the major features that are going to be delayed.
Jack
Dr. Watson's Longhorn Makeover Raises Eyebrows
This is one of those aspects of Longhorn that will be very hard to judge until the product actually debuts. I can understand the privacy worries, yet cannot help but wonder if this is one of those tempests born of speculation and without complete facts.
See for yourself.
Jack
See for yourself.
Jack
Boffins build self-wiring supercomputer
A large computer that can reconfigure itself on the fly in order to best solve whatever problem it is working on has been the goal of several research efforts, over the years. Great progress seems to have been made. Franky, though, the biggest attraction of this story in The Inquirer was the subtitle "Handy for those who can’t change a fuse".
Jack
Jack
Computex show opens in Taiwan
Click here to see what's up at Computex, the consumer digital technology show in Taiwan. You'll likely pick up on many of the items that will be hot this Christmas buying season.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
BIG NEWS ON USA MICROSOFT: Slavery to It Is Ending : Argentina Indymedia (( i ))
BIG NEWS ON USA MICROSOFT: Slavery to It Is Ending : Argentina Indymedia (( i )): "Mass-produced computers can KILL Microsoft and free the world's computer users. They'll be too cheap to accommodate MS Windows"
Will you get a cheap Linux based computer?
Joe
Will you get a cheap Linux based computer?
Joe
Enterprises Tout Linux's Cost, Performance Benefits
Enterprises Tout Linux's Cost, Performance BenefitsA million dollars is not trivial, and that's the amount that retail chain Boscov claims it will save by switching to open-source software.
Will your company make the move away from Microsoft?
Joe
Will your company make the move away from Microsoft?
Joe
15 things you can do with RSS - Tim Yang's Geek Blog
Since more and more of you are using RSS now (you know who you are :P )
I found the tips here fascinating. One allows you to track fedex packages
I think that RSS and podcasting are two VERY cool, and expanding technologies, that truly do make life easier.
-MissM
I found the tips here fascinating. One allows you to track fedex packages
I think that RSS and podcasting are two VERY cool, and expanding technologies, that truly do make life easier.
-MissM
IBM Seeks More Users for Cell Chip
IBM demonstrated a blade server board based on the Cell architecture at the E3 show this week, and reportedly plans to sell the boards in rack-based server systems, according to The Register in the UK.
Already designed into next year's Sony Playstation 3, IBM and partner Toshiba are looking for more uses -- to keep IBM's East Fishkill, NY $3 billion fabrication facility busy.
The engineering prototype Cell blade generates 400 Mflops with two onboard cell chips running Linux. With this level of floating point, expect IBM to target scientific, military, academic, and life sciences applications. (And yes, Jack, http://setiathome2.ssl.berkeley.edu/stats/team/team_48460.html would do great with a couple of these blades).
-- Peter S. Kastner
[UPDATE:link to the OnComputers Seti Page, MissM]
Already designed into next year's Sony Playstation 3, IBM and partner Toshiba are looking for more uses -- to keep IBM's East Fishkill, NY $3 billion fabrication facility busy.
The engineering prototype Cell blade generates 400 Mflops with two onboard cell chips running Linux. With this level of floating point, expect IBM to target scientific, military, academic, and life sciences applications. (And yes, Jack, http://setiathome2.ssl.berkeley.edu/stats/team/team_48460.html would do great with a couple of these blades).
-- Peter S. Kastner
[UPDATE:link to the OnComputers Seti Page, MissM]
Monday, May 30, 2005
LinuxISOtorrent.com :: Linux ISO Torrent
This site seems to have the latest Linux versions, at least, the few that I do know...
SuSE 9.3, Fedora Core 4, kubuntu 5.04, knoppix 3.8.1, Mandrakelinux 10.2 RC2, ubuntu 5.04 and 5.10 Colony 1, etc, etc,
I was amazed! at the number of distros. I knew there were a lot, but golly I never realized there were so many.
Several AMD 64 versions too, in addition to the std i386.
-MissM
SuSE 9.3, Fedora Core 4, kubuntu 5.04, knoppix 3.8.1, Mandrakelinux 10.2 RC2, ubuntu 5.04 and 5.10 Colony 1, etc, etc,
I was amazed! at the number of distros. I knew there were a lot, but golly I never realized there were so many.
Several AMD 64 versions too, in addition to the std i386.
-MissM
"Linux Lasts Longer" Says Honeynet Project
Interesting white paper by Honeynet.org for a quick read. Note the date is last December, but, heck, I cannot keep up with everything on the Internet anymore :-) The date is important because Windows XP SP2 was brand new as of the report's data collection period.
Interesting findings:
Interesting findings:
- Unpatched Linux machines last a mean of 3.0 months before compromise
- Windows machines last hours if left unpatched
- Machine-based hacking is goving way to human-based social crimes (DOS) and financial crimes (e.g., phishing).
I am going to bookmark this org and check back periodically to see what comes to the honey.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Sunday, May 29, 2005
OnComputers Podcast
This is the On Computers podcast for 05-29-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
Rumours of the death of VMS...
Few of us ever think about VMS/OpenVMS anymore. It's still alive and very well, thank you, despite rumors of it's demise. Our friend Buddwig often works on a VAX running VMS and the operating system has now been ported to Intel's Itanium2 platform.
There aren't many operating systems as robust and reliable as OpenVMS, as this Infoconomy article shows. It's an interesting read.
Jack
There aren't many operating systems as robust and reliable as OpenVMS, as this Infoconomy article shows. It's an interesting read.
Jack
PCWorld.com - Microsoft: New Netscape Breaks IE
PCWorld.com - Microsoft: New Netscape Breaks IE: "Microsoft is advising users of Netscape 8 to either uninstall the software or edit their computer's Registry files because of a bug in America Online's new browser." It sure is a good thing Microsoft has never had a bug!
Joe
Joe
PCWorld.com - Indy 500 Team Turns to Wi-Fi for Racing Edge
PCWorld.com - Indy 500 Team Turns to Wi-Fi for Racing Edge: "Wireless IP technology will play a role at Sunday's Indianapolis 500, keeping the Red Bull Cheever Racing team updated with reams of precise data from two cars zipping around the 2.5-mile track at speeds of 219 mph."
Who said 802.11G wasn't fast? It works for them.
Joe
Who said 802.11G wasn't fast? It works for them.
Joe
PCWorld.com - Fret About PC Zombie Threat?
PCWorld.com - Fret About PC Zombie Threat?: "Worried about zombies? Internet users concerned about the number of virus-infected PCs ready to launch an attack over the Web can at least keep track of how afraid they should be--and satisfy their curiosity--by visiting CipherTrust Inc.'s new ZombieMeter resource."
Am I worried? Should I be? Are you?
Joe
Am I worried? Should I be? Are you?
Joe
Cellular | Why Jerry Springer should get into the ring tone business | News.blog | CNET News.com
Cellular | Why Jerry Springer should get into the ring tone business | News.blog | CNET News.com: "What's next, Jerry Springer ring tones? I'll bet there are people willing to buy snippets of a particularly bleeped out bit of his day time schlockathon, like when the cross-dresser reveals himself to his unsuspecting husband of three months? 'Why you BLEEP, I'm gonna BLEEP your BLEEPing BLEEP'
'Oh, Hi mom, great to hear from you!'"
Is that your phone ringing?
Joe
'Oh, Hi mom, great to hear from you!'"
Is that your phone ringing?
Joe
When a lawyer gets hit by spammers, expect a lawsuit | CNET News.com
When a lawyer gets hit by spammers, expect a lawsuit | CNET News.com: "In one of the few instances of an individual taking a spam fight to the courts, a New York lawyer has filed a lawsuit alleging that his e-mail address was hijacked and used to send messages promoting a company's stock. "
Didn't anyone ever tell this guys not to ness with a lawyer?
Joe
Didn't anyone ever tell this guys not to ness with a lawyer?
Joe
Federal report warns of RFID misuses | CNET News.com
Federal report warns of RFID misuses | CNET News.com: "Radio frequency identification is becoming increasingly popular inside the U.S. government, but agencies have not seriously considered the privacy risks, federal auditors said.
In a report published Friday, the Government Accountability Office said that 13 of the largest federal agencies are already using RFID or plan to use it. But only one of 23 agencies polled by the GAO had identified any legal or privacy issues--even though three admitted RFID would let them track employee movements. "
Is this a surprise? I don't think so!
Joe
In a report published Friday, the Government Accountability Office said that 13 of the largest federal agencies are already using RFID or plan to use it. But only one of 23 agencies polled by the GAO had identified any legal or privacy issues--even though three admitted RFID would let them track employee movements. "
Is this a surprise? I don't think so!
Joe
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Coming Soon: Virtual Earth at Google and MSN
Having scoped my neighborhood with the overheads provided by Keyhole, recently acquired by Google, I can tell you that digital overhead photography on the Internet has gotten way better in the past five years. With better commercial satellites, desktop software and the desktop power to run it, and cheap storage for all those terabytes of territory, digital geogpaphy is better than ever.
Microsoft and Google will soon introduce new products, partly aimed at delivering a geographic context to retail storefronts.
Oh, and beware of lying naked in the privacy your backyard on a clear day. A few years ago, you'd be a pixel to a satellite. Maybe. Not anymore.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Microsoft and Google will soon introduce new products, partly aimed at delivering a geographic context to retail storefronts.
Oh, and beware of lying naked in the privacy your backyard on a clear day. A few years ago, you'd be a pixel to a satellite. Maybe. Not anymore.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Real Time, Online Hunting Experience
Tired of playing first person shooters on your game console? Step right up and shoot live ammunition at targets via the Internet.
OK, target shooting remotely is not my cup of tea, but it's not controversial either.
What is controversial about this site is shooting live game over the Internet. You will be hearing more about this web site as soon as (fill in the blank from a very long list) finds out about it and a Congressman calls a press conference covered on the nightly news.
Hey, you heard it here first.
-- Peter S. Kastner
OK, target shooting remotely is not my cup of tea, but it's not controversial either.
What is controversial about this site is shooting live game over the Internet. You will be hearing more about this web site as soon as (fill in the blank from a very long list) finds out about it and a Congressman calls a press conference covered on the nightly news.
Hey, you heard it here first.
-- Peter S. Kastner
First Digital Mop Debuts
If you have any doubts that twenty years from now our lives will be fundamentally changed by digital consumer products, read this article. No, you may not want to buy a digital robot mop this afternoon. But think about the very smart people with Stanford MBAs who did market research which shows that there really is a market for robot mops.
Go figure!
-- Peter S. Kastner
Go figure!
-- Peter S. Kastner
Dell, HP, Lenovo Roll Out Dual-Core Desktops
As we posted on May 26th, Intel's aggressive pricing for the new Pentium D dual-core microprocessors gets immediate attention from the big PC OEMs.
HP announced the dc7600, a small-form factor desktop. Moving up to a dual-core 2.8GHz Pentium D from a single-core Pentium 4 costs $81 based on my use of HP's constantly changing configurator.
Dell's XPS 9100 is not as price attractive as the HP dc7600, but they are aimed different audiences.
Lenovo (aka IBM's former PC division) will deliver the A52 and M52 next month. you won't find it mentioned at the (IBM domain) web site yet.
-- Peter S. Kastner
HP announced the dc7600, a small-form factor desktop. Moving up to a dual-core 2.8GHz Pentium D from a single-core Pentium 4 costs $81 based on my use of HP's constantly changing configurator.
Dell's XPS 9100 is not as price attractive as the HP dc7600, but they are aimed different audiences.
Lenovo (aka IBM's former PC division) will deliver the A52 and M52 next month. you won't find it mentioned at the (IBM domain) web site yet.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Pod Guides, Another Creative Use for iPods
I have been watching the ecosystem build around Apple's iPod for about a year. It is truly impressive what human invention can do.
With the link above, you can get a free software template for podguides, a hodge-podge of HTML text, JPEG photos (including maps), and MP3 audios that can create a walking tour of a city, a demo run through, or any number other creative uses. With a photo iPod, you can take the text, photos, and audio with you on you iPod alone. The rest of us will have to print out the text and photos to view while listening to the audio walk-through.
One variation, pPod, is available for the loos of London. (Click on the link if you don't get it).
With tools like this, individuals can create localized or even highly personalized content and publish it for basically nothing. Podguides, a great idea. Four stars.
-- Peter S. Kastner
With the link above, you can get a free software template for podguides, a hodge-podge of HTML text, JPEG photos (including maps), and MP3 audios that can create a walking tour of a city, a demo run through, or any number other creative uses. With a photo iPod, you can take the text, photos, and audio with you on you iPod alone. The rest of us will have to print out the text and photos to view while listening to the audio walk-through.
One variation, pPod, is available for the loos of London. (Click on the link if you don't get it).
With tools like this, individuals can create localized or even highly personalized content and publish it for basically nothing. Podguides, a great idea. Four stars.
-- Peter S. Kastner
The Next IT Revolution
Remember that guy who said a couple of years ago in a Harvard Business Review article that IT added no value to enterprises? Yes, Nicholas Carr is the man.
I disagreed vehemently with his conclusions two years ago. This time, we are in agreement: technology and Internet business processes are converging in a way that favors the emergence of an IT utility. Users plug into it, like a wall power outlet. It's there, 24/7. It expands capacity on demand (to use IBM's name for this game).
Anyway, it will take ten or more years to play out. Historians looking at this blog can decide whether Mr. Carr and I are right. I have no doubt on the direction. It's the timing that's hazy -- and any tech marketer will tell you that timing is everything.
-- Peter S. Kastner
I disagreed vehemently with his conclusions two years ago. This time, we are in agreement: technology and Internet business processes are converging in a way that favors the emergence of an IT utility. Users plug into it, like a wall power outlet. It's there, 24/7. It expands capacity on demand (to use IBM's name for this game).
Anyway, it will take ten or more years to play out. Historians looking at this blog can decide whether Mr. Carr and I are right. I have no doubt on the direction. It's the timing that's hazy -- and any tech marketer will tell you that timing is everything.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Microsoft Windows Server Takes Half the Loaf
For all the ink about the growth of Linux in the enterprise, the fact is that Microsft has executed methodically but without inspiration for the past five years (since Windows 2000). As a result of this hard work, Microsoft has now achieved parity with all other server operating systems platforms based on IDC's Q1 market research. Gartner reached a similar conclusion.
Microsoft should be pleased, as I see the trend continuing towards more Microsoft market share in servers. That is also good news for the hardware ecosystem, especially Intel and AMD.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Microsoft should be pleased, as I see the trend continuing towards more Microsoft market share in servers. That is also good news for the hardware ecosystem, especially Intel and AMD.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Via Offers More Performance, Less Power With C7 Chip
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Via's C7 will challenge Intel's mobile Centrino (Pentium M) with mid-range performance at only 15 watts of power. Based on my personal experience with past performance claims by Via, I will stand firmly in the "show me" column.
EU Gives Microsoft June 1 Deadline
Crunch time for Microsoft, the European Union, and litigants such as Real Networks. It will be interesting to see who bluffs, who folds, and who gets the pot. What are we talking about?
The EU is on the verge of deciding that Microsoft has not complied with its monopoly findings of some two years ago, which verdict Microsoft is appealing.
The EU is on the verge of deciding that Microsoft has not complied with its monopoly findings of some two years ago, which verdict Microsoft is appealing.
- Microsoft was ordered, and delivered, a version of Windows XP Home without Media Player 9, a bundling no-no according to the EU. Real Networks wants a crack at getting its own player on some OEM machines. Microsoft charges exactly the same price for the media player-less version, which none of the OEMs have ordered. The EU is mulling what the price difference should be, and if it really wants to get into the price setting game, let alone the technology price setting game. My take is Microsoft is right; the value is zero as anyone in the world can download the latest Media Player free at Microsoft.com.
- Licensing terms for third-parties who want to look at Microsoft source code and develop Microsoft-compatible interfaces. This is a big deal for companies like Apple and the Unix/Linux crowd, who need to tie into Microsoft client and server networks. Microsoft has proposed a few thousand dollars a day to look at the source code and from $100 to $800 a server for run-time licensing. The EU is mulling whether this is too stiff a tariff and non-compliant with the EU's directives.
How big is the pot? Well, the EU is blustering about 5% of Microsoft's global revenues. Before you go running for Microsoft's financials, that makes the fine over $5 million -- a day.
My bet is the EU will fold. There is no way the U.S. (president and Congress) will let the Europeans fine a U.S. company $5M a day for this situation.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Friday, May 27, 2005
10 tips for improving your wireless network: Extend the range and the strength of your wireless network
Sometimes we forget that when it comes to Windows, Microsoft is the expert. They offer a wide range of information. This article was published in February, but was recently featured from a link on the Microsoft home page. I think it gives some good advice overall, though I personally have had excellent results with "mixed" vendor networks. Still, in some cases -- expecially with some of the exotic wireless "G" variants, sticking with one vendor can be important.
Cohen disputes UK registry's legitimacy | The Register
Cohen disputes UK registry's legitimacy | The Register: "The company that runs the UK's Internet registry is not officially recognised by the government and as such has no right to decide what should be done with the millions of domains that it sells each year."
Who owns that domain? And who decides?
Joe
Who owns that domain? And who decides?
Joe
BT cracks down on rogue diallers | The Register
BT cracks down on rogue diallers | The Register: "BT is bragging that it's 'winning the fight against unwanted internet diallers' following the launch of its modem protection software at the beginning of May."
What will the porn sites do if that can't make your computer call off shore?
Joe
What will the porn sites do if that can't make your computer call off shore?
Joe
CIA plays cyberwar game | The Register
CIA plays cyberwar game | The Register: "The CIA is running a cyber wargame this week designed to test how effective authorities would be in withstanding an orchestrated hacking attack. "
Now they are playing real war games! :(
Joe
Now they are playing real war games! :(
Joe
ZombieMeter keeps track of hacked PCs
If we've got to live with this stuff, we might as well have some fun with it. Now we have the ZombieMeter, a flash-based, graphical representation of the Zombie computers that plague the internet.
After looking at it, it sorta makes me want to go out and change the world, one computer user at a time. Oh yeah, that's what we are already trying to do.
After looking at it, it sorta makes me want to go out and change the world, one computer user at a time. Oh yeah, that's what we are already trying to do.
Most popular downloads of the week from PCWorld.com
Most popular downloads of the week from PCWorld.com RSS feed.
http://rss.pcworld.com/rss/downloads.rss?period=week
Since I'm now a big RSS feed nut. Thought this might be of interest to the rest of you RSS feed nuts out there. You know who you are :-)
So copy and paste the above URL and start downloading.
http://rss.pcworld.com/rss/downloads.rss?period=week
Since I'm now a big RSS feed nut. Thought this might be of interest to the rest of you RSS feed nuts out there. You know who you are :-)
So copy and paste the above URL and start downloading.
SpywareBlaster Update Available
I'm not exactly sure when this update was released, but if you use Spywareblaster and haven't checked lately, go update to version 3.4.
Phishers get personal
Sometimes this endless war with the bad guys just gets tiring. But knowledge is power. So here's the latest information about how phishers work to ensnare you.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Microsoft security guru: Jot down your passwords
Okay, it's official now. It's okay to write down your passwords if you need to. (Unless your company disallows that). I mean for your personal computer at home or if your workplace allows. Use bettter passwords, and write 'em down so you don't forget them. It's okay. Really.
Intel Quietly Launches Dual Core Mainstream Processors
One of the bigger tech launches was made in virtual stealth mode today. I couldn't even find the press release on Intel's web site. The "Smithfield" dual core Pentium D microprocessors are out the door.
Pentium D uses two Prescott cores without Hyperthreading technology. The Intel Pentium D processors 840, 830 and 820 are priced at $530, $316 and $241, respectively, in 1,000-unit quantities. I expect machines based on the 820 chip, with dual 2.8 GHz processors, to be available in the $800 range for the fall back-to-school season. That's a lot of multi-tasking horsepower for the money.
Pentium D uses two Prescott cores without Hyperthreading technology. The Intel Pentium D processors 840, 830 and 820 are priced at $530, $316 and $241, respectively, in 1,000-unit quantities. I expect machines based on the 820 chip, with dual 2.8 GHz processors, to be available in the $800 range for the fall back-to-school season. That's a lot of multi-tasking horsepower for the money.
A new Prescott Pentium 4 aimed at single-task business power users, model 670, was also introduced. The Intel Pentium 4 model 670 is priced at $851 in 1,000-unit quantities.
The Pentium D processors also harness the new 945 chipset. In various combinations, the feature set includes:
- 1066, 800, 533 MHz front-side bus speeds
- PCI Express with x16 in 1 or 2 slots
- a new graphics accelerator, the GMA 950
- High-definition digital audio
- RAID support for RAID 5 and RAID 10 joins the current RAID 0,1
- 3 Gbps SATA 3 disk drive support
- Business desktops can get out-of-band management, which alows a remote tech to diagnose and re-boot a blue screen or dead machine
- DDR2 memory, with new support for mis-matched memory chips. You won;t lose dual-channel performance if, for example, you use a 256 MB and 512 MB DIMMs in the same channel
25 new Intel motherboards were released today as well. A cursory analysis of the product sheets indicates:
- You can run a dual core 860 Extreme Edition chip in any of the 25 motherboards. All 25 mobos are LGA 775 pin-out with support for 1066, 800, and 533 MHz front-side bus speeds; SATA 3 and ATA 100 disks, 8 USB 2.0 ports, one parallel ATA slot with two ports, and "instantly available PC" technology that allows, say, a DVD to be played without booting an OS.
- ATX, microATX, and BTX form factors are all well represented. Pergaps BTX will now get off the ground.
- The value mobos support the older GMA 900 graphics. Buyers would do well to look for the GMA 950 with twice the performance, since graphics requirements are going nowhere but up, and the price difference is trivial.
- Half the boards have two PCI-E x16 slots. This means nVidia's SLI technology, which uses two graphics boards to deliver superior (and costly) gaming performance, will be widely supported by Intel -- and presumably other OEMs.
- A minimum of 10/100 Ethernet, with options for 1 GHz and the new iAMT management technology
- Ten boards have matrix disk technology, with built-in RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10.
If you would like my spreadsheet on the above features, e-mail peter(at)oncomputers(dot)info You know the drill.
OEM motherboard support from the usual Taiwan suspects is expected immenently with comparable features.
Pentium D will more than meet the requirements, including graphics, for Microsoft's Longhorn operating system, when that arrives in a year or two.
I do not know why Intel is not blowing its horn about Pentium D? Maybe they are miffed at the less than stellar reviews of the dual-core 860 HT chip against arch-rival AMD. My take is dual core is great for power users -- like those who follow On Computers -- who want the much better (e.g., less hour glass) performance that only comes from having two CPUs ready to handle the juggling from all the processes we have going all the time. My next desktop will definitely be dual-core. The pricing is aggressive, implying Intel wants to quickly get Pentium D into the mainstream price bands, and can meet a steep volume ramp.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Microsoft advises IE users to uninstall Netscape 8
I have no idea who is really at fault. There are suggestions that it is IE and there are suggestions that it is Netscape. In time, we will get a clearer picture of what is really going on.
So this is just a heads up. If you are using the new Netscape, you know the one that needs IE in order to work, then you may have problems with XLST files. If you have a problem with these files appearing blank, then you may want to look to this as the reason.
So this is just a heads up. If you are using the new Netscape, you know the one that needs IE in order to work, then you may have problems with XLST files. If you have a problem with these files appearing blank, then you may want to look to this as the reason.
Deleting spyware: a criminal act?
An interesting article by Mark Rasch of Security Focus in The Register. It's a couple days old, so some of you may have seen it. Still, it's worth posting because it poses some interesting questions such as; can you be sued for breach of contract by removing the spyware from something you downloaded and clicked through the EULA for?
Jack
Jack
PGP use ruled relevant in child abuse case
For some time now, I have been telling folks to have the capability for encryption of at least their emails, and to insist those with which they correspond about sensitive matters (such as financial and medical matters) have that capability, also. It's really not too often you have to use it, but seeing as email is essentially a broadcast of it's contents, encryption is a good thing for privacy in certain areas.
Now, it appears that a Minnesota Appeals Court has ruled that having the capability of encrypting data is by it's very existence, suspicious of illegal behavior and grounds for an investigation.
There was a time when our government tried hard to suppress encryption technologies. They failed. It appears the struggle continues.
Jack
Now, it appears that a Minnesota Appeals Court has ruled that having the capability of encrypting data is by it's very existence, suspicious of illegal behavior and grounds for an investigation.
There was a time when our government tried hard to suppress encryption technologies. They failed. It appears the struggle continues.
Jack
Ringo.com -- Caution advised
I just had an e-mail from an acquaintance asking me to update his address book using Ringo.com. A few minutes later I got a worried e-mail from him.
"Dear Friends:
I am sorry to have to write this however I received an apparent e-mail from an old friend that asks for personall data. It appeared ligitimate however it started going through my mailing list automatically. The program is called RINGO and appears to be related to Yahoo and Hotmail. If you receive any e-mail with "Ringo" or "Update my Address Book" in the subject or other part of the header, delete it. Please check out this site to get a feeling of what things people are collecting on you!"
As far as I know Ringo is not related to Yahoo or Hotmail in any way.
I did not fall for it, but it was a little out of the ordinary, so I was researching it when he notified me about it.
In the meantime, do not click on any links in any e-mails having to do with Ringo.com without carefully considering the consequences (I say this circumspectfully because I don't have hard evidence that they are bad guys, but their operating mode is suspicious).
Evidently the process is rather fast and you don't have any second chances as is clear from the above worried e-mail. Of course, this outfit already has my e-mail address because they got it from my acquaintance's address book, but I don't have to help the process along, nor do I have to jeapordize the information in my address book.
"Dear Friends:
I am sorry to have to write this however I received an apparent e-mail from an old friend that asks for personall data. It appeared ligitimate however it started going through my mailing list automatically. The program is called RINGO and appears to be related to Yahoo and Hotmail. If you receive any e-mail with "Ringo" or "Update my Address Book" in the subject or other part of the header, delete it. Please check out this site to get a feeling of what things people are collecting on you!"
As far as I know Ringo is not related to Yahoo or Hotmail in any way.
I did not fall for it, but it was a little out of the ordinary, so I was researching it when he notified me about it.
In the meantime, do not click on any links in any e-mails having to do with Ringo.com without carefully considering the consequences (I say this circumspectfully because I don't have hard evidence that they are bad guys, but their operating mode is suspicious).
Evidently the process is rather fast and you don't have any second chances as is clear from the above worried e-mail. Of course, this outfit already has my e-mail address because they got it from my acquaintance's address book, but I don't have to help the process along, nor do I have to jeapordize the information in my address book.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
MacNN | Intel CEO: Apple/Intel story "Haley's comet of rumors"
as a follow up on Peter's post, I found this intriguing, that it may have just been "a ploy to pressure IBM."
and another article at wired blogs
--MissM
and another article at wired blogs
--MissM
IPod Plug-In Sets Music Free
A plug-in for Winamp frees iPod users from iTunes, and adds some functions that Apple doesn't intend iPod users to have.
Hamming It Up at Radio Meets
I couldn't resist posting this article about hams because I am one. In the early days of personal computing the Hams were a major part of the community.
Netcraft Toolbar Now Available for Firefox
It only made sense for Netcraft to protect the IE users first, but at long last, Firefox users have a Netcraft toolbar of their own.
If you don't already know what it is, it is an anti-phising tool. When installed, you get a toolbar that gives you a risk rating (the more red the riskier); tells you how long the site you are visiting has been around; what country the site is in; and who the host is. Besides being a useful way of telling where in the Web you are, it is just plain interesting. While there have been other means to get the same information, nothing I've seen is as transparent or handy as the Netcraft Toolbar. It is well worth the screen real estate it takes in my opinion.
Get yours for free today. Note: your name and e-mail address for download are totally optional.
If you don't already know what it is, it is an anti-phising tool. When installed, you get a toolbar that gives you a risk rating (the more red the riskier); tells you how long the site you are visiting has been around; what country the site is in; and who the host is. Besides being a useful way of telling where in the Web you are, it is just plain interesting. While there have been other means to get the same information, nothing I've seen is as transparent or handy as the Netcraft Toolbar. It is well worth the screen real estate it takes in my opinion.
Get yours for free today. Note: your name and e-mail address for download are totally optional.
Firefox Users Monkey With the Web
I"m not this into it, but this is an interesting way for users to have the Web "their" way.
The Buzz Report: VoIP: what is it good for? - CNET.com
The Buzz Report: VoIP: what is it good for? - CNET.com: "There's buzz, and then there's buzz. Right now, Voice over IP is buzz."
Do you VoIP? You all know I do! :)
Joe
Do you VoIP? You all know I do! :)
Joe
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
FTC Urges ISPs to Crack Down on 'Spam Zombies'
The Federal Trade Commission is serious about making ISPs more responsible for curbing the flood of spam coming from compromised machines. They have issued no edicts, as of yet, though it seems a certaintly they will, eventually. Guidelines for ISPs would be a nice start.
Anyone who has dealt with a compromised machine knows well the problem. And at times it is almost impossible to convince an owner/user that the machine is infected/compromised/owned. It's like telling someone they have a social disease. They simply don't want to believe it and will often go into vehement denial.
I think that before ISPs will feel free to take such measures as cutting off infected machines until they are cleaned up, some protections for the providers will have to be put in place. Some certain percentage of those cut off will go into denial, and straight to an attorney, if the affected ISP is not legally on very firm ground. It will take legislation, and not just an edict from the FTC, to accomplish that. That makes any effective effort by the ISPs seem a remote possibility to me. In matters of technology, our lawmakers have proven themselves to be less than "on the ball".
Some ISPs now take agressive action against compromised machines, whether they are used in spamming or DoS attacks or what have you. But these are in the minority and will continue to be the exception until some legal protections and definitive listing of an ISP's responsibilities comes along.
And we as consumers of services might have to resign ourselves to some price increases for access to finance this. Personally, I'd pay some to [say] cut my spam load in half.
Jack
Anyone who has dealt with a compromised machine knows well the problem. And at times it is almost impossible to convince an owner/user that the machine is infected/compromised/owned. It's like telling someone they have a social disease. They simply don't want to believe it and will often go into vehement denial.
I think that before ISPs will feel free to take such measures as cutting off infected machines until they are cleaned up, some protections for the providers will have to be put in place. Some certain percentage of those cut off will go into denial, and straight to an attorney, if the affected ISP is not legally on very firm ground. It will take legislation, and not just an edict from the FTC, to accomplish that. That makes any effective effort by the ISPs seem a remote possibility to me. In matters of technology, our lawmakers have proven themselves to be less than "on the ball".
Some ISPs now take agressive action against compromised machines, whether they are used in spamming or DoS attacks or what have you. But these are in the minority and will continue to be the exception until some legal protections and definitive listing of an ISP's responsibilities comes along.
And we as consumers of services might have to resign ourselves to some price increases for access to finance this. Personally, I'd pay some to [say] cut my spam load in half.
Jack
Move Over Plasma TVs: Nano-Screens Are Coming
Technology Review has a good article on the emerging technology of carbon nanotube displays.
I mentioned NEDs (nano emissive displays) on the show, last Sunday and the promise Motorola sees in them to increase image quality at a much, much lower price than current flat panel displays. Other companies are researching in the same area, too, though Motorola seems ahead of the bunch, at least for now.
NEDs are not the only technology being researched as an alternative to LCD and plasma displays. There will be a horse race between the various approaches and there may be more than one type of display to come out ahead enough to be produced in quantity. These are early days. It's going to be interesting to watch.
Jack
I mentioned NEDs (nano emissive displays) on the show, last Sunday and the promise Motorola sees in them to increase image quality at a much, much lower price than current flat panel displays. Other companies are researching in the same area, too, though Motorola seems ahead of the bunch, at least for now.
NEDs are not the only technology being researched as an alternative to LCD and plasma displays. There will be a horse race between the various approaches and there may be more than one type of display to come out ahead enough to be produced in quantity. These are early days. It's going to be interesting to watch.
Jack
Microsoft: SP2 makes Windows 15 times safer | Tech News on ZDNet
Microsoft: SP2 makes Windows 15 times safer | Tech News on ZDNet: "Computers running Windows XP Service Pack 2 are 15 times less likely than those running XP or XP SP1 to be infected by some of the most dangerous forms of malware, according to a Microsoft security guru. "
Do you still think you don't need SP2? If so Please turn OFF your computer now to protect us from you!
Joe
Do you still think you don't need SP2? If so Please turn OFF your computer now to protect us from you!
Joe
Microsoft seeks protection from spyware firms
This CNet News.com article says that MS has appealed to the Congress for protection from "frivilous" lawsuits by the purveyors of adware and spyware. Such firms have threatened or actually filed suit against a number of organizations who make removal tools, as well as Ben Edelman (who was on the show, recently).
You know; No one complains if I uninstall software on my machine. Yet these firms complain about the companies that help me remove software by providing me with tools. Seems silly, but I know the legal bills can mount up fast and it seems the shadier the operation, the more willing they are to sue.
Jack
You know; No one complains if I uninstall software on my machine. Yet these firms complain about the companies that help me remove software by providing me with tools. Seems silly, but I know the legal bills can mount up fast and it seems the shadier the operation, the more willing they are to sue.
Jack
US family defiant in tinfoil house
You realize this is right in Gailla's and Koffeebeanz back yard, right? It all makes sense now.
Jack
Jack
Swedes show solution for VOIP emergency calls
This short article at The Register (with links) says it all. US VoIP providers have been saying the solution is incredibly difficult. Apparently a few Swedes have caught them out on this one.
Jack
Jack
Yahoo! Search - Web Search
Looks like Yahoo is taking a hint from Google. Just want to search the web, go here.
Aaron
Aaron
Apple's Jobs says company will support Podcasts - Boston.com - Technology - Business
Well, Apple is getting on the Podcast bandwagon. The next version of iTunes will support Podcasting natively.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Intel Inside Your Next Mac? Not Far Fetched.
The Wall Street Journal this morning reports Apple is well into negotiations to put its OS X operating system on Intel PC hardware to create a new line of Macintosh computers. Wow, that's a story worth a second cup of coffee.
Apple, which is at a worldwide PC marketshare run-rate of about 2% or less, has been at a huge disadvantage for years because its IBM-built PowerPC chips lack many of the applications that run natively on Intel's hardware instruction set.
My hypothetical reaction to a hypothetical move by Apple to source Intel chips for PCs, laptops, and servers:
Apple, which is at a worldwide PC marketshare run-rate of about 2% or less, has been at a huge disadvantage for years because its IBM-built PowerPC chips lack many of the applications that run natively on Intel's hardware instruction set.
My hypothetical reaction to a hypothetical move by Apple to source Intel chips for PCs, laptops, and servers:
- The iPod is a key catalyst to the so-called digital convergence that is going on around us at an accelerating pace. Apple is on the ascendancy. Therefore, it's time to goose up the PC side of the business. To look at the Intel architecture, up to now the "dark side" to Mac fanatics, makes good business sense for Apple.
- Apple's bastion of market strength is in the media professions. It is hard pressed to keep up, as a minor player, with the twice a year improvements of the two big graphics chip companies, ATI and nVidia. On an Intel platform, Apple could keep up with the product curve and share costs with other Intel-based PC makers. Intel-PC price-performance with the OS X operating sytem would help Apple keep its F500 customers.
- There may be something about IBM's ability to deliver on the company's PowerPC futures that Apple wants to avoid talking about. After all, Apple CEO Jobs promised a 3 GHz Mac G5 and has not been able to deliver. Moreover, IBM is very busy working on the 2006 Sony PlayStation 3, whose volumes will swamp the Apple chip purchases. Lastly, the PowerPC as a workstation chip is a torch only carried by Apple -- with acknowledgement to IBM's non-Intel workstation products. IBM's design focus on the PowerPC has primarily been on building killer RISC server chips. Apple's needs are no longer strategic to IBM, and perhaps even to IBM's semiconductor division.
- Meanwhile, Intel has capacity for sure, and its roadmap has enough working silicon proof points to have a low technology risk.
- The enormous global ecosystem built around the Intel PC business could provide immediate benefits to Apple's cost structure. Some of those costs savings, ala Dell, could be passed on to customers -- making Apple a better value.
- Intel is right in the middle of -- an industry driver in many case -- to the home digital revolution. On an Intel platform, Apple would be able to leverage a lot of R&D -- much of which is not open source. The strategic question is how can Apple leverage iPod and OS X into a greater home presence?
- With WINE and other Windows emulators that are readily available, it will be much easier for an OS X system on Intel to run non-Mac programs. That would make the Windows-to-OS X application migration a lot less painful for potential buyers. Apple has no doubt stumbled on the market research that says Microsoft customers are not happy campers, and that Apple is a brand these disaffected would consider.
- As Linux on the desktop (invariably on Intel) begins to gather some momentum, Apple could smother the Linux competition while being differentiated from the Wintel crowd in the commodity PC markets.
- By putting some hooks into Intel's new soft BIOS technology, Apple could restrict Intel OS X to Apple's PCs should it choose to continue to sell integrated hardware-software "platforms" (in the latest Intel jargon). Or it could sell OS X for $189 a box at retail like Microsoft does Windows XP and make good profits from Mac cloners.
An Intel-Apple deal could be done in weeks. It could be implemented in product prototypes this year with shipping products early next year. I see no technology hurdles. This deal would be a good example of creative destruction.
But let's leave the reader with another thought to ponder: if Microsoft's xBox 360 was indeed prototyped on Apple PowerPC G5's, what would Apple's home future look like if a Mac could have the gaming and home media services of an xBox? Pretty good, I'd think.
Peter S. Kastner
Sunday, May 22, 2005
To save a BLOG to it's own web page.
If you want to save a page from the BLOG you can just click on the time stamp at the bottom of the post.
- posted by AlaskaJoe @ 4:29 PM 0 comments. That will open the BLOG in a page by it self.
Joe
- posted by AlaskaJoe @ 4:29 PM 0 comments. That will open the BLOG in a page by it self.
Joe
OC Podcast
This is the On Computers podcast for 04-03-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
Danger Will Robinson? :-) InfoWorld on Robots
Ok, so I was a big Lost In Space fan. LOL. So, I found this interesting.
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