There are going to be a million stories about this floating around the web. The link above will get you started.
AMD has subpoenad 40 PC vendors for their contact records with Intel, as well. There is an early analysis at The Inquirer here which points out that AMD will probably have a real struggle to convince/coerce these vendors to speak frankly about their relationship with Intel.
CNet's News.com's first take is here
This is early days. The suit was filed Monday, 27 June. It will take a long time to take shape, much less play out.
Jack
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Ruling won't slow file swapping, experts say | Tech News on ZDNet
Ruling won't slow file swapping, experts say | Tech News on ZDNet: "The Supreme Court may have dealt file-swapping companies a blow on Monday, but its decision is unlikely to put a damper on the illegal sharing of music and other media online anytime soon, industry experts say. "
Will the new decision stop you?
Joe
Will the new decision stop you?
Joe
Housekeeping
Sometimes things break for no apparent reason. That’s what happened to the template (design framework) for this blog. I don’t know why, but after determining that I couldn’t fix it from my end, I chose a template that works. I tried to pick one with simple type on a white background since this seems to be a group that values function over form. I hope you like it, but if you don’t just know that that change was one of necessity.
Hollywood Can Sue Over Movie, Music Piracy - Yahoo! News
The Supreme Court also said today that it is ok for Hollywood/RIAA to sue the makers of technology that enable people to share copyrighted material over the internet. The caveat is that the maker of the software has to advertise that it is their purpose. Probably no immediate affect, but I would think that the P2P people may start thinking about filters in their software.
Cable Firms Don't Have to Share Broadband - Yahoo! News
The Supreme Court came out with quite a few decisions today. This is just one of them. Do you think the cable company's should be forced to open their lines up for competitors?
Monday, June 27, 2005
The Solaris War
Just two weeks into Sun's release of Open Solaris, there is developing pressure to fork the code into two distributions. This is exactly what Sun wanted to prevent and, though there is no major schism yet, you can bet there's some hair-pulling going on among the Solaris development team.
Jack
Jack
Sunday, June 26, 2005
OnComputers Podcast
This is the On Computers podcast for 06-19-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
The Internet as We Know It Is Doomed
I have become increasingly concerned over the past several months with:
- the growing sophistication of malware and hacking such as the Tooso.B/Gleider32 trojan;
- the never-ending parade of security flaws in not just Microsoft but all operating systems on the Internet, as illustrated by last week's Javascript use of a feature for nepharious purposes;
- the relative lack of visible law enforcement activity compared to the fast growing, multinational Internet crime waves -- thus lowering deterrence;
- the complete ease at using armies of captured PCs (and servers) to launch global massive attacks for denial of service, spam, and hacking;
- the slowing responses of the heroic security professionals who have their fingers in the dikes but cannot seem to slow down let alone hold back the Internet crime floods;
- the broadening of security breeches to include heretofore generally secure router operating systems, including the Internet's directory naming services that resolve URL's into IP addresses.
So far, the public has not noticed that the battle is now being won by the black shirts. The good guys are on the defensive, defending technology that was designed to be open on purpose. But the OnComputers.info team has noted a growing number of companies that are looking to effectively disconnect from the Internet, except for a few services such as e-mail. These companies, whom I believe are trendsetters, have decided that the Internet as we know it is doomed to fall to the bad guys in black shirts. They are giving up on palliatives and pulling up the drawbridge.
When a few million households get hacked in a weekend and the nightly TV news brings everybody's attention to the war for control of the Internet, then individual consumers will also start disconnecting from the Internet -- some part-time and some full time. That event will pull down the market growth projections of a lot of technology companies who are banking on global, always-on, computing-on-demand as almost a no-risk business scenario. I no longer think that low-risk scenario is true.
A year ago, I thought only drug dealers, spies, pedophiles, and very knowledgeable, sophisticated PC consumers would want the next-generation PCs with strong hardware-enforced security, including encrypted files and hardware firewalls between applications and data. Given the rapid advances by the hacking black shirts, I now think that the technology, such as Intel's LaGrande Technology, will have a much broader consumer demand. And on the business side, virtually all large-business and the majority of medium-small business desktops and laptops will require the most secure environment that mass-market technology can deliver.
Too bad the Internet as we know it today is passing into history -- after only a decade. The next generation Internet will be a lot less open and unfettered. It remains to be seen whether technology alone can beat the criminals. I lean towards a whole lot more law enforcement attention put on Internet crime. I notice that the political sector is beginning to pay attention.
That's enough for today...but we'll be back on this topic as it evolves.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Why Libraries Lack Internet Capacity
The jist of the report is that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation did research which shows virtually every library in the U.S. has Internet access for patrons. This largesse is thanks to the munificence of Congress, and paid for by every telephone line subscriber with a monthly fee. Internet access at libraries is working great. That's the good news.
The bad news is that too many library patrons want access to the Internet. While over a third of U.S. households have broadband access at home, it is the poor, the immigrants, and the students who depend on the free Internet access at libraries.
It may be politically incorrect to make the following observation, but it needs to be said. Internet access is like any other scarce resource. When the price is free, demand will always exceed supply. In fact, I expect a lot more access time controls in libraries to the point that many will give up waiting around for the free services they cannot obtain.
If so many want Internet access and lack their own computers, what's going to happen? My crystal ball says Internet access demand is still on a hockey-stick-slope ascendancy. I think there's a business opportunity in Internet cafes located neard low-income and immigrant neighborhoods. After all, Internet cafes are used by the majority of users in rest-of-world places like China. For less than $5 an hour -- and there are few legal activities in the U.S. that cost less than $5 an hour -- Internet cafes can fill the demand that libraries cannot.
It will be interesting to see how Internet access supply and demand curves meet, and at what price. I'm not holding my breath expecting more seats in libraries.
-- Peter S. Kastner
The bad news is that too many library patrons want access to the Internet. While over a third of U.S. households have broadband access at home, it is the poor, the immigrants, and the students who depend on the free Internet access at libraries.
It may be politically incorrect to make the following observation, but it needs to be said. Internet access is like any other scarce resource. When the price is free, demand will always exceed supply. In fact, I expect a lot more access time controls in libraries to the point that many will give up waiting around for the free services they cannot obtain.
If so many want Internet access and lack their own computers, what's going to happen? My crystal ball says Internet access demand is still on a hockey-stick-slope ascendancy. I think there's a business opportunity in Internet cafes located neard low-income and immigrant neighborhoods. After all, Internet cafes are used by the majority of users in rest-of-world places like China. For less than $5 an hour -- and there are few legal activities in the U.S. that cost less than $5 an hour -- Internet cafes can fill the demand that libraries cannot.
It will be interesting to see how Internet access supply and demand curves meet, and at what price. I'm not holding my breath expecting more seats in libraries.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Business Week Update on Cell Processor
Business Week has a short article on IBM and partner's plans for capitalizing on the Cell processor.
BW depicts the departure of Apple from the PPC fold as a blow to IBM, which does not tally with my reading of the situation. Other than that, it's an informative piece, as far as it goes.
Jack
BW depicts the departure of Apple from the PPC fold as a blow to IBM, which does not tally with my reading of the situation. Other than that, it's an informative piece, as far as it goes.
Jack
Friday, June 24, 2005
Port spike may portend an attack, experts say | Tech News on ZDNet
Port spike may portend an attack, experts say | Tech News on ZDNet: "A surge in scanning on a port associated with a Windows flaw patched last week suggests that a mass worm attack may be imminent, experts said."
Are your Windows Updates all done?
Joe
Are your Windows Updates all done?
Joe
nVidia Ups the Graphics Ante
The nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX graphics processor takes a modest improvement in specs and delivers a whole lot more performance -- leaving rival ATI behind in the extreme-gaming benchmarks.
This version of nVidia's graphics processor benefits from a detailed performance profile of 1,300 games. In essence, nVidia spent its time tuning and preening the internal architecture to make operations more efficient and faster. Worth noticing is the hardware assist to video processing. In a couple of generations, I can see a nVidia offloading the weighty task of high-definition television (HDTV) encoding and decoding -- just as HDTV takes off.
If you live or die by frames-per-second -- and all gamers do -- then this this $600 graphics card is for you.
This version of nVidia's graphics processor benefits from a detailed performance profile of 1,300 games. In essence, nVidia spent its time tuning and preening the internal architecture to make operations more efficient and faster. Worth noticing is the hardware assist to video processing. In a couple of generations, I can see a nVidia offloading the weighty task of high-definition television (HDTV) encoding and decoding -- just as HDTV takes off.
If you live or die by frames-per-second -- and all gamers do -- then this this $600 graphics card is for you.
A Layman's Guide to How CPUs Work
This is a concise article describing how a modern microprocessor works.
If you never had the aptitude for the graduate-level electrical engineering version, this article will definitely spice up your cocktail party conversations because now you'll know how a 4-way set-associative cache works.
If you never had the aptitude for the graduate-level electrical engineering version, this article will definitely spice up your cocktail party conversations because now you'll know how a 4-way set-associative cache works.
Phishing With Javascript: Every Browser is Vulnerable
No fixes yet except for Opera. The Javascript "feature", available in Microsoft, Apple, and open source browsers, let's a hacker redirect a Java input field to the hacker's site. That would enable phishing attacks -- especially with domain name overrides.
I do not know whether this hack works with secure hypertext (SHTML).
All this is just another reminder to take a good look at the pages you enter your password or credit card number into.
I do not know whether this hack works with secure hypertext (SHTML).
All this is just another reminder to take a good look at the pages you enter your password or credit card number into.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Microsoft OS Critical Security Problem in SMB
eWeek reports Symantec is seeing a large increase in port scanning on TCP/IP port 445, which is involved in a critical fix released by Microsoft last week. Stmantec believes hackers may be planning a major attack against the majority of Microsoft users -- who have not yet applied the out-of-monthly-cycle patches.
It is probably a wise idea to lock down your machine with the Microsoft patches.
It is probably a wise idea to lock down your machine with the Microsoft patches.
Huge Churn in World's Supercomputer Market
For the first time since the Top 500 List was issued in 1993, all 500 computers listed could handle a teraflop, or a trillion calculations per second. Number 500 on the list can crunch 1.17 teraflops. No supercomputer on the 1997 Top 500 List would now qualify.
The rapid increase in compute power among the most powerful supercomputers means that 201 of the 500 computers listed on the last Top500 list in November 2004 have fallen out of the rankings.
IBM supercomputers rank No. 1 and No. 2 on the list -- and account for six of the top 10. The Power-based Blue Gene machines have gained a considerable reputation. IBM's Blue Gene/L, currently the world's fastest computer, is capable of handling 136.8 trillion calculations per second. It is located at Lawrence Livermore Labs in California doing nuclear weapons simulations.
IBM also dominates the low-end, with 193 systems running on low-cost Linux software and composed of hundreds or thousands of mass-market computer chips from Intel and AMD. The big winner is Intel, whose low-cost, mass-produced microprocessor sare now used in 333 of the top 500 supercomputers, up from 287 only a year ago.
HP fell to 26 percent, or 131 of the most powerful supercomputers ranked in the semi-annual Top 500 List, down from 170, or 34 percent, just six months ago.
The Peoples Republic of China now has 19 supercomputers on the Top 500 list, just behind Japan with 23 machines.
The rapid increase in compute power among the most powerful supercomputers means that 201 of the 500 computers listed on the last Top500 list in November 2004 have fallen out of the rankings.
IBM supercomputers rank No. 1 and No. 2 on the list -- and account for six of the top 10. The Power-based Blue Gene machines have gained a considerable reputation. IBM's Blue Gene/L, currently the world's fastest computer, is capable of handling 136.8 trillion calculations per second. It is located at Lawrence Livermore Labs in California doing nuclear weapons simulations.
IBM also dominates the low-end, with 193 systems running on low-cost Linux software and composed of hundreds or thousands of mass-market computer chips from Intel and AMD. The big winner is Intel, whose low-cost, mass-produced microprocessor sare now used in 333 of the top 500 supercomputers, up from 287 only a year ago.
HP fell to 26 percent, or 131 of the most powerful supercomputers ranked in the semi-annual Top 500 List, down from 170, or 34 percent, just six months ago.
The Peoples Republic of China now has 19 supercomputers on the Top 500 list, just behind Japan with 23 machines.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Javascript dialogue box flaw affects ALL browsers
A flaw allowing untrusted sites to harvest personal information, such as passwords, after you've left that site and gone to a trusted one, such as a bank site, affects all browsers except Opera v8.01 (just released). Secunia has a test on their web site to see if your browser is vulnerable.
The flaw has to do with how browsers handle javascript dialogue boxes. Everyone is working on a fix. Stay tuned.
Jack
The flaw has to do with how browsers handle javascript dialogue boxes. Everyone is working on a fix. Stay tuned.
Jack
The Rise and Fall of Installation Procedures
We don't often talk about installation woes any more, unless we're mentioning dependency problems in Linux. Once, though, it was a tremendous issue, affecting all users. It was also a tremendous PITA, if you know what I mean. When the Windows Registry made it's appearance, we all cheered. Well, most of us, anyway.
Here is a complete history of installation procedures, written succinctly and well. It is neither a short nor an easy read, but I found it particularly interesting and informative. If you have the inclination, go for it. I guarantee you will learn a lot.
Jack
Here is a complete history of installation procedures, written succinctly and well. It is neither a short nor an easy read, but I found it particularly interesting and informative. If you have the inclination, go for it. I guarantee you will learn a lot.
Jack
Another Mac mini Update-KVM
Click title for the KVM I got.
Well with a KVM that can do USB, the Mac worked. Only problem, hit scroll lock to change to a different PC, brings up shut down on the Mac. LOL. The KVM I got has push buttons so not a big deal. Otherwise, worked fine.
I did have one strange problem with the new KVM. It has built in "beeps". My computers are in my bedroom. About 5 hours after I shut everything down, KVM started beeping and would not stop until I turned on a computer. lol. I think it may have been an oldish P3 I have leaking power through the KVM? Go figure. I pulled power to the p3 for now and all is well. So far.
Well with a KVM that can do USB, the Mac worked. Only problem, hit scroll lock to change to a different PC, brings up shut down on the Mac. LOL. The KVM I got has push buttons so not a big deal. Otherwise, worked fine.
I did have one strange problem with the new KVM. It has built in "beeps". My computers are in my bedroom. About 5 hours after I shut everything down, KVM started beeping and would not stop until I turned on a computer. lol. I think it may have been an oldish P3 I have leaking power through the KVM? Go figure. I pulled power to the p3 for now and all is well. So far.
Windows XP64 is a non standard OS, Canon says
Windows XP64 is a non standard OS, Canon says: "Now think very carefully if you wanna upgrade"
I have said this a few times, I will NOT upgrade to WindowsXP64 until it is more main stream. How about you?
Joe
I have said this a few times, I will NOT upgrade to WindowsXP64 until it is more main stream. How about you?
Joe
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Drive-By Download Sites Chauffeur Spyware
Drive-By Download Sites Chauffeur Spyware: "Increasingly, spyware is making its way onto users' systems through so-called drive-by-download sites using nefarious methods that circumvent disclosure."
I don't know how a web site like these could be shut down, it can be run on their own server someplace over seas. All we can do is watch out for them.
Joe
I don't know how a web site like these could be shut down, it can be run on their own server someplace over seas. All we can do is watch out for them.
Joe
Spyware Danger Meets Rootkit Stealth
Spyware Danger Meets Rootkit Stealth: "The makers of one common spyware program are borrowing techniques from another type of malicious program, known as 'rootkits,' to help evade detection on systems they infect, spyware experts say."
I for one would love to see laws stopping spyware. Now they are learning tricks from hackers.
Joe
I for one would love to see laws stopping spyware. Now they are learning tricks from hackers.
Joe
InformationWeek > Privacy > Government Collected Personal Data On Airline Passengers > June 20, 2005
InformationWeek > Privacy > Government Collected Personal Data On Airline Passengers > June 20, 2005: "WASHINGTON (AP)--The federal agency in charge of aviation security collected extensive personal information about airline passengers even though Congress forbade it and officials said they wouldn't do it, according to documents obtained Monday by The Associated Press. "
Are you on their list? I bet I am. :(
Joe
Are you on their list? I bet I am. :(
Joe
Inventor of integrated circuit dies
Jack Kilby has died. It's not possible to catalog the ways in which his invention of the integrated circuit has changed our world. I certainly would not be blogging here without it.
Jack
Jack
SiliconValleyWatcher.com: Scoop! Smile for the Google 3D mapping truck
SiliconValleyWatcher.com: Scoop! Smile for the Google 3D mapping truck Did you smile as Google came by your house in the truck taking pictures?
Joe
Joe
Security tools face increased attack | Tech News on ZDNet
Security tools face increased attack | Tech News on ZDNet: "As the pool of easily exploitable Windows security bugs dries up, hackers are looking for holes in security software to break into PCs, analysts said. "
Are you all up to date? Windows Updates had some last week!
Joe
Are you all up to date? Windows Updates had some last week!
Joe
Monday, June 20, 2005
Lost credit data improperly kept, company admits
Today we learn that CardSystems was not following MasterCard and Visa rules. All the good security procedures and rules in the world mean nothing if they are not followed.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
OnComputers Podcast
This is the On Computers podcast for 06-19-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Marketers seek to make cookies more palatable
Hmmm, do you think they will really talk us into trusting them when they have broken that trust so many times? Sometimes marketer do make me want to do something with my cookies-- like toss them.
Friday, June 17, 2005
UK Government Warns of Trojan Attacks
Listeners to the On Computers radio show learned two weeks ago that a massive trojan attack is underway. The rest of the world is waking up to this story. Prediction: this story will make the U.S. national TV nightly news within 2 weeks.
Windows XP64 is a non standard OS, Canon says
Joe and Gail have been saying it for a while; check whether your peripherals are supported before you upgrade to XP 64.
This article in The Inquirer has Canon stating they have no plans to offer drivers for their devices to work with XP 64. They it a "non standard" OS, but the correct interpretation of this is "we're waiting to see if it sells enough to warrant our attention", which is a wholly different thing.
This is going to be repeated over and over, for at least a while. It's too bad, too, because the increased performance XP 64 offers would benefit a lot of people. I can already hear the howls from those who bought without knowing to check ahead of time. I wonder if MS will offer free downgrades to those who can't afford to buy all new peripheral devices? Somehow, I think not.
Jack
This article in The Inquirer has Canon stating they have no plans to offer drivers for their devices to work with XP 64. They it a "non standard" OS, but the correct interpretation of this is "we're waiting to see if it sells enough to warrant our attention", which is a wholly different thing.
This is going to be repeated over and over, for at least a while. It's too bad, too, because the increased performance XP 64 offers would benefit a lot of people. I can already hear the howls from those who bought without knowing to check ahead of time. I wonder if MS will offer free downgrades to those who can't afford to buy all new peripheral devices? Somehow, I think not.
Jack
Wolfram Research Inc. Does the Right Thing
You have probably never heard of Wolfram Research, Inc. They're a software house which produces "Mathematica", a very complex and capable tool for performing and visualizing math operations. Mathematica is the standard in it's field, though there are both proprietary and FOSS competitors.
Mathematica is expensive, as this article by my friend, Waleed al-Shobakky, shows. In order to aid learning in the Arab regions of the world, Wolfram is making Mathematica available at incredibly low prices; something like ten bucks a pop for learning institiutions. That is about 1% of retail!
The article is a nice read about a company definitely into doing the right thing.
Before too long, we will have Waleed on the show to talk about computing in the developing world.
Jack
Mathematica is expensive, as this article by my friend, Waleed al-Shobakky, shows. In order to aid learning in the Arab regions of the world, Wolfram is making Mathematica available at incredibly low prices; something like ten bucks a pop for learning institiutions. That is about 1% of retail!
The article is a nice read about a company definitely into doing the right thing.
Before too long, we will have Waleed on the show to talk about computing in the developing world.
Jack
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Dell Says He’d Sell Apple’s Mac OS
I'll bet he would.
Microsoft has an incredible amount of power and control over OEMs and it would not surprise me if literally ALL of them would like out from under MS' thumb. On the other hand, MS has provided a revenue stream for OEMs that is without parallel, and they're not all likely to bite the hand that feeds them. Some really would like to offer an alternative to Windows in their product line and, frankly, desktop Linux has not stepped up as the logical candidate. OSX and [possibly] Sun's JDS (Java Desktop System, which is a Linux distro filled with Sun's special tweaks) are the only candidates and as far as I can see, having handled both very little, Mac OS X wins hands down.
If Apple does open up OS X, and I think they should, everything changes. However; they've shown no indication they will and Apple higher-ups have stated flatly that it would not happen.
Disclaimer; I use Linux for most of my desktop work and all of my mobile computing. However; I do realize it is not yet quite ready for the average user. That day is coming soon, though. When that happens, there really will be an alternative for everyone who wishes it.
Jack
Microsoft has an incredible amount of power and control over OEMs and it would not surprise me if literally ALL of them would like out from under MS' thumb. On the other hand, MS has provided a revenue stream for OEMs that is without parallel, and they're not all likely to bite the hand that feeds them. Some really would like to offer an alternative to Windows in their product line and, frankly, desktop Linux has not stepped up as the logical candidate. OSX and [possibly] Sun's JDS (Java Desktop System, which is a Linux distro filled with Sun's special tweaks) are the only candidates and as far as I can see, having handled both very little, Mac OS X wins hands down.
If Apple does open up OS X, and I think they should, everything changes. However; they've shown no indication they will and Apple higher-ups have stated flatly that it would not happen.
Disclaimer; I use Linux for most of my desktop work and all of my mobile computing. However; I do realize it is not yet quite ready for the average user. That day is coming soon, though. When that happens, there really will be an alternative for everyone who wishes it.
Jack
Blast from the past!
This is absolutely hysterical! Its a podcast from 1987 courtesy of a time warp. They rave about 286s and MicroChannelArchitecture, as I listen they're joking about US Robotics making 9600 modems haha.
Changing UARTs etc, etc
If ANY of the above reminds you of the "good ol days" you will thoroughly enjoy the trip down memory lane.
--MissM/Jane
raving about 3.5" drives now
(They fit in your shirt pocket) lol
Changing UARTs etc, etc
If ANY of the above reminds you of the "good ol days" you will thoroughly enjoy the trip down memory lane.
--MissM/Jane
raving about 3.5" drives now
(They fit in your shirt pocket) lol
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Hack can upgrade XP Home to XP Pro Lite | The Register
Hack can upgrade XP Home to XP Pro Lite | The Register: "Users can get access to certain functions only avalaible in Windows XP Professional, such as Remote Desktop, User management and enhanced security features." Try this at your own risk! You MUST slipstream SP2 onto the CD before you install this Hacked version or you can't upgrade to SP2. Google AutoStreamer to slipstream the easy way.
Joe
Joe
Pharming casts shadow over rising ecommerce sales
This article in The Register references Verisign studies which highlight threats to ecommerce and the Internet infrastructure. It's worth a read, as are the reports it links to.
Jack
Jack
Brian Jones on Microsoft's Office XML Formats
Over at the Microsoft Developers Network blog pages, Brian Jones explains the implementation of XML in the formats used in the next version of Microsoft Office. He even marks the difference between Open Office's XML format and Microsoft's. Not too much detail, but it clears up many of the misconceptions I've heard floating about.
Jack
Jack
SANS - Internet Storm Center - Cooperative Cyber Threat Monitor And Alert System - Current Infosec News and Analysis
I found this a comprehensive "executive summary" of MS updates.
Just in case.
OT: related to RSS feeds, it looks to me like the RSS feed has changed. I was curious if feedburner had warned "us", or not, cause this is the 3rd or 4th site, I've found affected by it. I'm trying to figure out what happened, cause I depend on my RSS!! *stomp* :)
-MissM/Jane
Just in case.
OT: related to RSS feeds, it looks to me like the RSS feed has changed. I was curious if feedburner had warned "us", or not, cause this is the 3rd or 4th site, I've found affected by it. I'm trying to figure out what happened, cause I depend on my RSS!! *stomp* :)
-MissM/Jane
Tips: How to Migrate to a New PC
A good article on approaches to moving your digital life from one machine to another. The free Microsoft settings transfer tool does just that -- you don't get your apps moved, just the non-executable files. I have had mixed results with Alohabob's product: failed a couple of years ago but worked the last time I tried it. PC Relocator is another product I have used successfully.
Free Wireless WiFi/VoIP Router Trade-In Deal
If you have an old 802.11b 11 Mbps wireless router and were thinking about switching to voice over IP (VoIP), then Linksys and Vonage have a great deal for the next six weeks.
Buy a Linksys wireless VoIP router at retail for $130 and get it all back when you submit the old router with a rebate coupon.
Buy a Linksys wireless VoIP router at retail for $130 and get it all back when you submit the old router with a rebate coupon.
IDC Q1 2005 Server Market Puts Unix and Windows in Dead Heat
IDC and Gartner are both placing Windows servers at about the same revenue as Unix servers -- but there are ten times as many x86 and x64 servers sold on a volume basis. On a units basis, Microsoft gets a license on about 7 out of every 10 servers sold.
I was not surprised by these market reports. My field research says it continues to be an absolutely brutal market, with fierce price competition on even deals under $5,000.
-- Peter S. Kastner
I was not surprised by these market reports. My field research says it continues to be an absolutely brutal market, with fierce price competition on even deals under $5,000.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Microsoft under fire for censoring China blogs
By Chinese law, Microsoft has to censor local blogs, excising phrases like "Taiwan independence" and "Mao Zedong" from blog headlines. Civil rights advocates are apoplectic -- at Microsoft.
Let's please give Microsoft a break. They need to abide by local law in order to stay in a key global market. No one is being directly hurt by the censorship, unlike, say, what happened in Tianamen Square. Lastly, the censorship just won't work. Spammers seem to be able to get through a lot of filtering in order to sell V1agra and C1al1s, right? The bloggers will just switch to codewords, acronyms, and other techniques that easily bypass automated censor filters.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Let's please give Microsoft a break. They need to abide by local law in order to stay in a key global market. No one is being directly hurt by the censorship, unlike, say, what happened in Tianamen Square. Lastly, the censorship just won't work. Spammers seem to be able to get through a lot of filtering in order to sell V1agra and C1al1s, right? The bloggers will just switch to codewords, acronyms, and other techniques that easily bypass automated censor filters.
-- Peter S. Kastner
HP Splits Off PCs From Imaging Division
HP today announced that it has appointed R. Todd Bradley to serve as executive vice president of its Personal Systems Group (PSG), which includes the company's notebook and desktop PCs, handhelds, monitors, workstations and related support services. Bradley, 46, most recently spent four years at palmOne, Inc., three as president and chief executive officer. His appointment re-establishes PSG as a standalone business, following its combination in January 2005 with the Imaging and Printing Group (IPG). Vyomesh (V.J) Joshi, who had served as executive vice president of the combined Imaging and Personal Systems Group, will resume his former role as executive vice president of IPG.
Bradley has a reputation as a cost-cutter and supply-chain builder at PalmOne. He has lots of material to work with in the HP PSG. I wish him well. HP investors will expect PC margins to at least double. That's doable, but a feat that HP has not achieved yet.
VJ Joshi can now return to running the $25 billion imaging division. Carly Fiorina's decision to merge PSG and ISG in January, which occurred about the time the HP board decided enough was enough, asked Joshi to merge two, $25 billion divisions and increase profits in global, highly competitive markets. There's a difference between challenging managers and throwing them under the bus. Joshi looks none the worse for being run over by the bus.
-- Peter S. Kastner
FCC Solves VoIP E911 Problem With Sticker
The FCC issued rules on June 3rd that require VoIP telephones have a warning sticker attached. The FCC definition of a VoIPadapter includes Internet-connected PCs, laptops and handheld devices with "soft phones," which are software-based VoIP phones. Thus, your wireless Bluetooth headset may have to have an orange warning label hanging from it. Future wireless services such as Wimax will also have to solve the E911 problem.
Expect "fees" to increase.
Expect "fees" to increase.
AOL, Comcast, T-Mobile Users Lead Denial of Service Attacks
Internet "zombie" attacks that attempt to knock computer systems offline are more likely to come from users of America Online than any other source, according to a report released by a security company on Tuesday. AOL and other large Internet service providers serve as launching pads for most "denial of service" attacks, according to Prolexic Technologies, which helps companies fend off such attacks. Other top sources of such attacks include T-Mobile's German-based service; Wanadoo, a French Internet provider; and Comcast Corp.
The report, by Denial of Service (DDoS) software company Prolexic Technologies, shows the major ISPs' customers are the source of the bulk of "zombie" PC clients that do the attacking in DDoS attacks. The top 5 U.S. ISPs on the Prolexic "bad ISP" list are AOL, Comcast, Bellsouth, Verizon and Ameritech. I hope the Baby Bell networks are more securley managed than their customers!
The implications are clear: social and political pressure will be applied on the miscreant ISPs to force their subscribers to practice safe computing. If not, the likely effects of a coordinated DDoS attack on government, military, and commercial/economic interests of the U.S. are nothing short of terrorism. However, recent DDoS attacks are nothing more than extortion against online sites, which should not be condoned either.
-- Peter S. Kastner
The report, by Denial of Service (DDoS) software company Prolexic Technologies, shows the major ISPs' customers are the source of the bulk of "zombie" PC clients that do the attacking in DDoS attacks. The top 5 U.S. ISPs on the Prolexic "bad ISP" list are AOL, Comcast, Bellsouth, Verizon and Ameritech. I hope the Baby Bell networks are more securley managed than their customers!
The implications are clear: social and political pressure will be applied on the miscreant ISPs to force their subscribers to practice safe computing. If not, the likely effects of a coordinated DDoS attack on government, military, and commercial/economic interests of the U.S. are nothing short of terrorism. However, recent DDoS attacks are nothing more than extortion against online sites, which should not be condoned either.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Do Google Ads Help Fund Spyware?
Do Google Ads Help Fund Spyware?: "Google's sponsored-link ads may have helped turn the world's best-known search engine into a financial powerhouse, but they also are coming under attack for contributing to spyware practices that undermine trust on the Web. "
When you're on top, everyone takes shots at you. The latest criticisms of the United States' biggest media company: that Adwords funds spyware. Well-known anti-spyware researcher Ben Edelman leveled the charges in a detailed report, focusing in on IBIS and Ask Jeeves as delivering spyware-ridden toolbars using Google's targeted classified ads. Is there substance to the charges? Read our story, follow the links for more information, and decide for yourself.
Joe
When you're on top, everyone takes shots at you. The latest criticisms of the United States' biggest media company: that Adwords funds spyware. Well-known anti-spyware researcher Ben Edelman leveled the charges in a detailed report, focusing in on IBIS and Ask Jeeves as delivering spyware-ridden toolbars using Google's targeted classified ads. Is there substance to the charges? Read our story, follow the links for more information, and decide for yourself.
Joe
The slow road to Windows XP
Is your business still running Windows 2000. If so you are not alone.
One of the reasons is that companies are keeping older equipment. In some cases companies have paid for Windows XP licenses and haven't upgraded. In other cases, companies are happy with the operating system and office apps that they have bought and paid for and see little reason for spending more money to upgrade.
I love this quote from the ariticle: "It seems to be taking longer each time" for customers to upgrade, said Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft.
I personally think the combination of needing higher powered hardware, and the slow economic recovery have made companies reluctant to spend the money and labor resources needed to upgrade. But thats just my guess. Read the article and see what you think.
One of the reasons is that companies are keeping older equipment. In some cases companies have paid for Windows XP licenses and haven't upgraded. In other cases, companies are happy with the operating system and office apps that they have bought and paid for and see little reason for spending more money to upgrade.
I love this quote from the ariticle: "It seems to be taking longer each time" for customers to upgrade, said Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft.
I personally think the combination of needing higher powered hardware, and the slow economic recovery have made companies reluctant to spend the money and labor resources needed to upgrade. But thats just my guess. Read the article and see what you think.
Adobe flaw puts PCs at risk | Tech News on ZDNet
Adobe flaw puts PCs at risk | Tech News on ZDNet
A flaw in several of Adobe Systems' popular graphics design applications could expose users to hacker attacks, the software maker has warned.
Check your Adobe for updates.
And remember tomorrow is Windows updates day!
Joe
A flaw in several of Adobe Systems' popular graphics design applications could expose users to hacker attacks, the software maker has warned.
Check your Adobe for updates.
And remember tomorrow is Windows updates day!
Joe
Adobe flaw puts PCs at risk | Tech News on ZDNet
Adobe flaw puts PCs at risk | Tech News on ZDNet
A flaw in several of Adobe Systems' popular graphics design applications could expose users to hacker attacks, the software maker has warned.
Check your Adobe for updates.
And remember tomorrow is Windows updates day!
Joe
A flaw in several of Adobe Systems' popular graphics design applications could expose users to hacker attacks, the software maker has warned.
Check your Adobe for updates.
And remember tomorrow is Windows updates day!
Joe
Monday, June 13, 2005
A diehard Pc guy gets a MAC mini-UPDATE
OK, Started using a 3 button mouse (TY JOE lol). Made life much easier. Actually heard the OC show on it for a bit yesterday. (MP3 feed). Got Firefox as default Browser, Safari is OK but, I already sort of know Firefox. Next is get it hooked up to my KVM switch. I have a feeling it's my USB to PS/2 adapter. Getting another one. I'll See. Updates when I can.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
OnComputers Podcast
This is the On Computers podcast for 06-12-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Toshiba's Smaller, Lighter Hard Drives
At 0.3" (.9 cm) thick and weighing 2.1 ounces, Toshiba's latest 1.8" 60 GB hard drives will allow for even thinner and lighter iPods and other digital accessories. These micro-marvels are reaching the critical form factor where they will fit into a pretty impressive cell phone.
Toshiba's perpendicular recording technology, which will dramatically increase disk platter density, is expected later this year.
Toshiba's perpendicular recording technology, which will dramatically increase disk platter density, is expected later this year.
Nokia and Intel Push WiMax
Another data point confirming that WiMax will be one of the next big things. WiMax is neighborhood wireless broadband. It has much greater range than WiFi and orders of magnitude more bandwidth than GPRS (used for Internet cellphones). WiMax is likely the key catalyst to always-on connectivity -- real always-on connectivity.
Friday, June 10, 2005
and heeerrrrrreeeeeee we go!
Flurry of Bulletins Due on MS Patch Tuesday
I guess this makes up for last month's lack of updates.
Google tweaks! It seems the possibilities are endless. I keep up by subscribing to the rss feed of Google labs.
Video of Sony Revolution, courtesy of Geek News Central.
It seems to be a huge file, sorry for those of you on dialup... Its a 3 minute long video that you'll have to watch at least, twice! lol
This concludes the flurry of posts for today, hopefully ;)
See you Sunday!
-Jane
I guess this makes up for last month's lack of updates.
Google tweaks! It seems the possibilities are endless. I keep up by subscribing to the rss feed of Google labs.
Video of Sony Revolution, courtesy of Geek News Central.
It seems to be a huge file, sorry for those of you on dialup... Its a 3 minute long video that you'll have to watch at least, twice! lol
This concludes the flurry of posts for today, hopefully ;)
See you Sunday!
-Jane
$30 off Office Depot
In last Sunday flyer from Office Depot was a KDS 19" LCD Monitor for $249.99 after rebates. With this coupon you get another $30 off. You need to click the link and print it out the page, then take it into your local Office Depot.
Here is the link for the monitor.
$30 off any purchase of $150 or more. This coupon is good until June 30, 2005
I got one after rebates and coupon for $210.99
Joe
Here is the link for the monitor.
$30 off any purchase of $150 or more. This coupon is good until June 30, 2005
I got one after rebates and coupon for $210.99
Joe
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Now You Can Tivo on Your PocketPC PDA
Tivo recorder customers will be able to download saved TV to a personal digital accessory (PDA) running Media Player in Microsoft's PocketPC OS. This means PDA owners can treat TV just like music lovers treat an iPod -- as an on-the-go adjunct to the normal couch listening/viewing location.
Snapstream's Beyond TV has had for three years the ability to store TV shows on a PDA -- even the ability to stream via wireless. However, Tivo does not require a PC to use the new service.
Snapstream's Beyond TV has had for three years the ability to store TV shows on a PDA -- even the ability to stream via wireless. However, Tivo does not require a PC to use the new service.
Oracle Buys Times Ten
A smart move by Oracle.
Times Ten is a relational database that works best when everything is in memory. It goes like a bat out of hell. With 64-bit server processors now ubiquitous, and memory prices (and densities) allowing for multi-gigabyte real memory sizes, the Times Ten approach makes sense in an increasing number of applications.
I expect Oracle to rework the Times Ten code into its core products to support faster online transaction processing for real-time operational support systems (i.e., supply chain) and for use in business intelligence/analytics (e.g., datamarts).
More announcement information here.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Times Ten is a relational database that works best when everything is in memory. It goes like a bat out of hell. With 64-bit server processors now ubiquitous, and memory prices (and densities) allowing for multi-gigabyte real memory sizes, the Times Ten approach makes sense in an increasing number of applications.
I expect Oracle to rework the Times Ten code into its core products to support faster online transaction processing for real-time operational support systems (i.e., supply chain) and for use in business intelligence/analytics (e.g., datamarts).
More announcement information here.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Upward Forecast: World Chip Sales Up 6% in 2005
Previous projections were for flat sales this year. The latest SIA forecast is for US$226 billion in global semiconductor revenues, up a healthy 6%. Chip companies, which have suffered a boom or bust existence, will be happy with this news.
ATI: Are Intel Notebooks Hurting ATI?
Intel upped its revenue forecast for Q2 Thursday to at least the high end of its previous forecast, and maybe more. Laptop chips, including Intel's Centrino platform, are selling better than expected.
In the past two weeks we have reported two facts that may relate to Intel's announcement. First, the global switch from desktops to laptops is accelerating. Even the U.S. is reported to have crossed over the 50% laptop threshold, while Europe and Asia have even higher percentages of laptops. Second, ATI forecast a Q2 well below analyst consensus expectations.
ATI sells laptop graphics chips in competition with Intel's integrated laptop graphics. However, the average selling price for a laptop chip is considerably lower than for desktop products, which retail for $50 to $500. (Laptop graphics boards are not sold at retail). Thus, my conclusion is simply that ATI may be seeing market shifts that hurt its revenue opportunities. If so, nVidia should see similar problems -- although NVDA's products cover a broader area than ATIs.
-- Peter S. Kastner
In the past two weeks we have reported two facts that may relate to Intel's announcement. First, the global switch from desktops to laptops is accelerating. Even the U.S. is reported to have crossed over the 50% laptop threshold, while Europe and Asia have even higher percentages of laptops. Second, ATI forecast a Q2 well below analyst consensus expectations.
ATI sells laptop graphics chips in competition with Intel's integrated laptop graphics. However, the average selling price for a laptop chip is considerably lower than for desktop products, which retail for $50 to $500. (Laptop graphics boards are not sold at retail). Thus, my conclusion is simply that ATI may be seeing market shifts that hurt its revenue opportunities. If so, nVidia should see similar problems -- although NVDA's products cover a broader area than ATIs.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Microsoft Grants Indonesian Pirates Amnsety
The software pirates in this case are the government of Indonesia, a sovereign nation. Microsoft could not get the government to pay for all the stolen software, so it is settling for a token payment and a promise for the government to come clean and actually buy Microsoft products going forward.
Software piracy is estimated at $38 billion a year. That represents more than 5% of the U.S. balance of payments deficit.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Software piracy is estimated at $38 billion a year. That represents more than 5% of the U.S. balance of payments deficit.
-- Peter S. Kastner
The End is (Really) in Sight for Analog TVs
The Federal Communications voted 4-0 to require televisions with screens from 25 inches to 36 inches be digital-ready by March 1. That is four months earlier than the commission decreed in 2002. The commission also proposed moving the deadline for all small TVs — those 13 inches to 24 inches — to the end of 2006, rather than mid-2007, as had been set. That proposal, which also applies to DVD players and other devices that can receive a TV signal, will be voted after a period of public comment.
TV manufacturers will have to ship more than 50% of their volume as digital-ready TVs by next year. That will also push the industry to deliver HD-DVD and HD-Disk recorders. It will also mean the PC industry needs more choices in PC HD-TV tuners beyond ATI's product.
This is a good move for the industry, as a faster transition will push volumes up faster -- and reduce costs faster as well. Moreover, having lots of analog spectrum available in 2007 will make next-generation wireless (e.g., WiMax) easier to deliver and public services, desperate for more cell-phone capacity during 9/11, may find their wishes fulfillable.
-- Peter S. Kastner
TV manufacturers will have to ship more than 50% of their volume as digital-ready TVs by next year. That will also push the industry to deliver HD-DVD and HD-Disk recorders. It will also mean the PC industry needs more choices in PC HD-TV tuners beyond ATI's product.
This is a good move for the industry, as a faster transition will push volumes up faster -- and reduce costs faster as well. Moreover, having lots of analog spectrum available in 2007 will make next-generation wireless (e.g., WiMax) easier to deliver and public services, desperate for more cell-phone capacity during 9/11, may find their wishes fulfillable.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Win32.Glieder.AG aks Trojan.Tooso.B is One Mean Virus to Watch
Tooso.B is a trojan that is well worth being worried about. We discussed it on last week's show, which is archived here. The virus -- technically it is a trojan -- is injected into machines in multiple file downloads. It changes the payload file names, moves them around, and disables many antivirus and spyware removal programs.
NOD32, an AV product we endorse and resell to help cover the costs of On Computers Live!, is able to detect the Gleider/Tooso.B trojan. Symantec's enterprise anti-virus client detected the trojan after it was self-installed on one of my machines, but Symantec's trojan tool does not successfully do the job of removal. Computer Associates and McAfee are not in this hunt yet.
Here's the problem: once infected, we know of no tool that will remove this trojan short of wiping the hard drive and reinstalling Windows, a fate equivalent to a technology death sentence for most readers. As there appear to be many variants of this trojan, manual removal instructions will be worthless if you should be looking for differently names payload files.
Co-host Jack Imsdahl writes "According to F-Prot, whom I have contacted, the code for the trojan is likely to have been injected in two parts, thus foiling scanners, or at the least making their job harder. And, it apparently uses it's "call home" feature to rename files randomly. This is educated conjecture and F-Prot is not confident enough to publish this, yet. Removal is one thing, prevention another. I believe that some of the "unknown code, possibly malicious" warnings NOD has recently given me are from just such a trojan. I think it can be prevented with much more surety than it can be removed."
Since Gleider/Tooso.B can "call home", download files, and execute them in an environment with AV security turned off, readers should be very cautious in preventing infection. We are aware of problems out there, but the press has not yet picked up on the threat.
Recommendations
NOD32, an AV product we endorse and resell to help cover the costs of On Computers Live!, is able to detect the Gleider/Tooso.B trojan. Symantec's enterprise anti-virus client detected the trojan after it was self-installed on one of my machines, but Symantec's trojan tool does not successfully do the job of removal. Computer Associates and McAfee are not in this hunt yet.
Here's the problem: once infected, we know of no tool that will remove this trojan short of wiping the hard drive and reinstalling Windows, a fate equivalent to a technology death sentence for most readers. As there appear to be many variants of this trojan, manual removal instructions will be worthless if you should be looking for differently names payload files.
Co-host Jack Imsdahl writes "According to F-Prot, whom I have contacted, the code for the trojan is likely to have been injected in two parts, thus foiling scanners, or at the least making their job harder. And, it apparently uses it's "call home" feature to rename files randomly. This is educated conjecture and F-Prot is not confident enough to publish this, yet. Removal is one thing, prevention another. I believe that some of the "unknown code, possibly malicious" warnings NOD has recently given me are from just such a trojan. I think it can be prevented with much more surety than it can be removed."
Since Gleider/Tooso.B can "call home", download files, and execute them in an environment with AV security turned off, readers should be very cautious in preventing infection. We are aware of problems out there, but the press has not yet picked up on the threat.
Recommendations
- turn off system restore feature in Windows
- scan your hard drive frequently with the latest virus definitions
- use a top-notch firewall. I dropped Microsoft's SP2 firewall for a free copy of ZoneAlarm to monitor network traffic, looking for the port to block to prevent the trojan from phoning home.
- Visit your anti-virus supplier's web site frequently looking for updates to Gleider/Tooso.B removal tools
Be careful out there!
-- Peter S. Kastner and Jack Imsdahl
Best PC to Build for $1,500
Extremetech's review and guidance on building a best-bang-for $1,500 PC. It is truly amazing what you can build for that money, which admittedly is more than most consumers spend these days.
Toshiba Pushes Ahead on HD DVD production
Unfortunately for consumers, there is no compromise yet between the incompatible standards of Toshiba and Sony. By announcing production plans for HD-DVD-R next year, Toshiba is ensuring that the format battle continues on.
Seagate's Disk Roadmap is Exciting
After 3 years of piddling, 40%/year density improvement, the next 12 months will include a number of improvements that I think are worth noting:
- Arial density gets to 250 Gigabits per square inch. This will be done with perpendicular read-write on the media platters.
- Laptop drives will see 160 GB in 2.5" disks, which is one time to market since so many users are switching to laptops. Seagate is also targeting automobile uses, so better impact resistance is being built in.
- Desktop drives will soon see an industry high-end of 500 GB.
- Drive-level encryption will make it harder to do anything with stolen or lost laptops, a growing corporate (and government!) security concern.
Is Linux adoption slowing or stopped?
This article at The Register posits Linux adoption is slowing or has stopped. The trend could be temporary or long-term. No one knows for sure.
Jack
Jack
Can Microsoft Beat Linux or Vice Versa?
This past week two economics researchers at The Harvard School of
Business released research that predicts neither Windows nor Linux can
drive the other out of business. They used sophisticated modelling to do
this and even included scenarios where Microsoft did not play fair, in
anti-trust terms. Their prediction is that both will share the market in
relative parity for as far out as they can model.
Well, Duh!
While I am sure wild-eyed zealots in either camp wish their side would
win decisively, I don't share that wish and never have I thought it
would happen, regardless of my personal sympathies.
First off; the world needs competition to spur progress. In the absence
of real choice, things tend to coast along. Witness Microsoft's Internet
Explorer web browser. When it was the only readily available choice,
Microsoft let it's development lag, with the exception of some
functional and security patches. Mozilla and Firefox (along with some
other minor players, such as Apple's Safari) arose and began to capture
market share in significant numbers and Microsoft felt forced to revamp
IE and push development of a new version.
Second; While Linux, in my opinion, is easier to secure well, and by
some accounts has had fewer serious security vulnerabilities, Microsoft
has initiated their "Trustworthy Computing" program(s) with some very
real and meaningful successes. There is no doubt MS has the ability to
turn out more secure products and only someone unreasonably prejudiced
can say they aren't "getting it". I would be willing to bet that with
the debut of Longhorn (if it ever gets here) we will see all but the
most minor security issues between the two rendered almost moot. And
that in the mean, MS will make great progress on existing operating
systemss and applications via service packs and updates.
Make no mistake about it; security will eventually be a real selling
point for Microsoft. I know that seems far-fetched, but it will
eventually be true. MS is a huge company and so has great internal
inertia. It is taking them a lot of time to turn their focus to security
at the level it needs to be. But they will do it and do it well, now
that it has become a priority.
Third; If price were such a factor, MS would already be out of business.
The truth is that there are MS shops who love Windows and it's related
applications and feel they are getting a bargain when paying the license
fees. And Windows support is reasonably priced, if one shops, where
currently and for the foreseeable future, Linux support is only
available at a premium.
The same goes for the freedom to view and modify source code. While some
shops do take advantage of this, most do not. It is important to a much
smaller segment of IT departments than is generally stated. At the same
time, this freedom is very, very important to some shops. It is simply
that the numbers have been overstated, judging by my experience alone.
Fourth; Microsoft innovates much less than they claim, but does have
some truly innovative products on the market now, and in the pipeline.
The One Note collaborative application is really a compelling product.
The coming WinFS and the "Metro" (code name) document formatting and
storage system will be another stunning success. Microsoft is
ridiculously good at application integration, too, and there are many IT
operations that depend on that integration and will not give it up.
Fifth and finally; Conversion from one system to the other is fraught
with problems and even danger. It costs real money, as well. I've done
it and know that most shops could do it, given the will. But there are
an awful lot of shops who simply have not the will to change at such a
fundamental level. Many of these shops will employ Linux in a subsidiary
role, but will not make the conversion to any significant degree.
I hope that dismisses another tempest in a teacup.
Jack
Business released research that predicts neither Windows nor Linux can
drive the other out of business. They used sophisticated modelling to do
this and even included scenarios where Microsoft did not play fair, in
anti-trust terms. Their prediction is that both will share the market in
relative parity for as far out as they can model.
Well, Duh!
While I am sure wild-eyed zealots in either camp wish their side would
win decisively, I don't share that wish and never have I thought it
would happen, regardless of my personal sympathies.
First off; the world needs competition to spur progress. In the absence
of real choice, things tend to coast along. Witness Microsoft's Internet
Explorer web browser. When it was the only readily available choice,
Microsoft let it's development lag, with the exception of some
functional and security patches. Mozilla and Firefox (along with some
other minor players, such as Apple's Safari) arose and began to capture
market share in significant numbers and Microsoft felt forced to revamp
IE and push development of a new version.
Second; While Linux, in my opinion, is easier to secure well, and by
some accounts has had fewer serious security vulnerabilities, Microsoft
has initiated their "Trustworthy Computing" program(s) with some very
real and meaningful successes. There is no doubt MS has the ability to
turn out more secure products and only someone unreasonably prejudiced
can say they aren't "getting it". I would be willing to bet that with
the debut of Longhorn (if it ever gets here) we will see all but the
most minor security issues between the two rendered almost moot. And
that in the mean, MS will make great progress on existing operating
systemss and applications via service packs and updates.
Make no mistake about it; security will eventually be a real selling
point for Microsoft. I know that seems far-fetched, but it will
eventually be true. MS is a huge company and so has great internal
inertia. It is taking them a lot of time to turn their focus to security
at the level it needs to be. But they will do it and do it well, now
that it has become a priority.
Third; If price were such a factor, MS would already be out of business.
The truth is that there are MS shops who love Windows and it's related
applications and feel they are getting a bargain when paying the license
fees. And Windows support is reasonably priced, if one shops, where
currently and for the foreseeable future, Linux support is only
available at a premium.
The same goes for the freedom to view and modify source code. While some
shops do take advantage of this, most do not. It is important to a much
smaller segment of IT departments than is generally stated. At the same
time, this freedom is very, very important to some shops. It is simply
that the numbers have been overstated, judging by my experience alone.
Fourth; Microsoft innovates much less than they claim, but does have
some truly innovative products on the market now, and in the pipeline.
The One Note collaborative application is really a compelling product.
The coming WinFS and the "Metro" (code name) document formatting and
storage system will be another stunning success. Microsoft is
ridiculously good at application integration, too, and there are many IT
operations that depend on that integration and will not give it up.
Fifth and finally; Conversion from one system to the other is fraught
with problems and even danger. It costs real money, as well. I've done
it and know that most shops could do it, given the will. But there are
an awful lot of shops who simply have not the will to change at such a
fundamental level. Many of these shops will employ Linux in a subsidiary
role, but will not make the conversion to any significant degree.
I hope that dismisses another tempest in a teacup.
Jack
HP's PC business being shopped around?
This article in The Inquirer is stated to be rumor and speculation. Still, the PC business is only marginally profitable for HP and if they divested themselves of it their balance sheet, driven by the imaging and printing business, would look better.
Acer is said to be interested, as are a few others.
Jack
Acer is said to be interested, as are a few others.
Jack
Microsoft security guru: Jot down your passwords | CNET News.com
Microsoft security guru: Jot down your passwords | CNET News.com: "Companies should not ban employees from writing down their passwords because such bans force people to use the same weak term on many systems, according to a Microsoft security guru."
Haven't we heard this before? Is it something new we are being told?
Joe
Haven't we heard this before? Is it something new we are being told?
Joe
Microsoft loses Excel patent case | The Register
Microsoft loses Excel patent case | The Register: "Microsoft has been found guilty of patent infringement and ordered to pay a Guatamalan inventor Carlos Armando Amado almost $9m in damages." Good for Amado! Micorsoft lost this one! :(
Joe
Joe
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Wired News: Skype Takes VOIP Upscale
Wired News: Skype Takes VOIP Upscale: "The company that makes the Skype software that lets internet users call one another for free anywhere in the world is launching two premium services, as the number of downloads topped 100 million on Friday"
Do you Skype? I do!
Joe
Do you Skype? I do!
Joe
Wired News: Fly the Wi-Fi Friendly Skies
Wired News: Fly the Wi-Fi Friendly Skies: "NEW YORK -- United Airlines, the world's second-largest carrier, received regulatory approval Monday to install wireless internet access to its fleet in a partnership with Verizon Communications. "
Would you pay $30 for an entire flight or $10 for a half-hour.
Joe
Would you pay $30 for an entire flight or $10 for a half-hour.
Joe
ATI Revenue Fall Off Cliff
Wow, ATI expects Q3 revenues to come in at $530 million, down from the guidance of $560-$600M. Since ATI has competitive products with arch-rival nVidia, is this a tip-off that this quarter's PC sales will be a big disappointment? That's the most likely conclusion I come to. There is not enough momentum in other forces such as Intel's new embedded graphics GMA 950 to cause such a big drop in orders that ATI management fully expected.
ATI's stock got pounded, which is no surprise. Maybe Wall Street knows something we do not.
-- Peter S. Kastner
ATI's stock got pounded, which is no surprise. Maybe Wall Street knows something we do not.
-- Peter S. Kastner
Bellsouth Joins WiMax wireless broad-bandwagon
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.
Yes, you may be able to junk your slow DSL -- or, God forbid, dial-up lines -- for a wireless neighborhood connection.
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
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