Microsoft Employee Volunteers For Computer Hardwiring

Technological advances will one day allow computers to be implanted in the human body -- and could help the blind see and the deaf hear -- Bill Gates said Friday. But the Microsoft chairman says he's not ready to be hardwired.
"One of the guys that works at Microsoft ... always says to me 'I'm ready, plug me in,"' Gates said at a Microsoft seminar in Singapore. "I don't feel quite the same way. I'm happy to have the computer over there and I'm over here."

He must be worried that the computer is running Windows...

Opinion Column by PC Magazine: RFID: Tagged, You're It!

Opinion Column by PC Magazine: RFID: Tagged, You're It!
By John C. Dvorak
Show me your RFID!
Joe

Pigs Will Fly When Sun Offers Windows OS

Tom Goguen, vice president of operating platform marketing for Sun, said last week that while Sun currently has no definite plan to strike a deal with Microsoft to sell Windows, the vendor will consider it if customers and partners think it's a good idea.
Don't we watch a wonderful industry? That Sun, once Microsoft's most vocal critic, no enemy, would sell Micsorodt Windows Server should customers want it is a true sign of how hard it is to make a buck in the high tech industry. Combined with Michael Dell's throwaway comment a couple of weeks ago that Dell would sell Apple's OS X -- if customers wanted it.

Makes me think I woke up in the twilight zone this morning. Must have been the dream about pigs flying. Hey, more unusual things have happened. I worked for a company, Arthur D. Little Inc., that once made a sow's ear into a silk purse.

Anyway, Dell and Sunn will sell the competitor's products because customer satisfaction -- the real thing, not the platitudes -- is what can make or break direct-selling tech companies today.

KVM-Mac update

Well, for the record it WAS the Pentium 3 causing my KVM to beep. I confirmed it. Shut everything down as before and waited. Sure enough after 4 hours the KVM went nuts again. I pulled power cord on the Pentium 3 and after 30 seconds the beeping stopped. Again, go figure. The Mac Mini? All is well. Haven't had much time for it but, It's working fine.
Gail, the new look is fine by me :-).

OnComputers Podcast

This is the On Computers podcast for 07-03-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

Swiping Back At Credit-Card Fraud

This article seems especially appropriate today since we were talking about companies eschewing the Internet due to security concerns on the show. This article sure paints a rosier picture than we did.

Microsoft about to buy into a BIG mistake

They're gonna buy Claria (the makers of Gator)?????

And I agree with the headline. But as one commenter posted, what better way to report to MS what software you have on your computer, as an anti-piracy measure, of course.
*Tongue firmly in cheek*

Perhaps another blogger has a better perspective on any positive business angle for Microsoft.
Any thoughts????

UPDATE:As I read through the article, there was a link to a previous show guest Ben Edelmen,
and his concerns with it, even more info at that link.
P.S. Well I tried to find the link to the show, and couldn't quickly, but I'm sure you heard it :)

U.S. to Retain Oversight of Web Traffic

From the article:

"A unilateral decision by the United States to indefinitely retain oversight of the Internet's main traffic-directing computers prompted concerns Friday that the global telecommunications network could eventually splinter."

Fasten your seatbelts and hang on tight!

Sizing the 2005 Worldwide Server Market

A lot of work went into this article at IT Jungle on estimating the installed base of servers. Software companies care a great deal about installed hardware bases. Here's the table of interest:


Worldwide Server Installed Base, Early 2004
X86-X64 Windows NT 2,000,000

X86-X64 Windows 2000 6,200,000

X86-X64 Windows 2003 1,300,000

X86-X64 Linux 2,500,000

X86-X64 NetWare 2,000,000

X86-X64 Unix 2,000,000

X86-X64 Other 500,000

X86 Intel Arch. Total 16,500,000

Sun RISC/Unix 960,000

HP RISC/Unix 240,000

IBM RISC/Unix 310,000

Other RISC/Unix 90,000

Risc/Unix Total 1,600,000

IBM AS/400/iSeries 450,000

IBM Mainframe 20,000

HP VMS 375,000

Other Architectures 150,000

Other Architecture 995,000

TOTAL 19,095,000
Source: IT Jungle

The $64,000,000 question is: are these numbers correct? The answer is "no". They are estimates, and only IBM has a better count. You have my permission to use the numbers above in your market forecast.

AMD's FX-57: High Performance, High Price

AMD's new Athlon 64 FX-57 microprocessor gets high marks from reviewers, including ExtremeTech and Tom's Hardware. It is arguably the fastest uniprocessor desktop chip you can buy today. But at well over $1,000 a pop, it is also well out of the mainstream on price. Middle-age gamers will scoff up the FX-57 and nVidia's new 7800 graphics cards to build killer gaming rigs at $3,000 to $5,000 each. A least, they'll be killer rigs for six months.

Symantec Admits to 'One Enormous Mistake' with Veritas Buy

Symantec CEO John Thompson admitted the company booted the PR on the recent Veritas acquisition. "We didn't say 'why,'" Thompson said in an interactive discussion.

Give the man credit for admitting a mistake. Perhaps Wall Street will back off and see if the integration of these two companies into the 4th largest software company in the world can be pulled off with more aplomb than the acquisition.

Cingular CIO: Consolidating 50 Million Users Is Not Fun

Think you have a headache at the end of a long day? Try integrating Cingular with AT&T Wireless. First, you have to deal with 2,500 terabytes of data. Then consolidating 1,040 overlapping applications. All while keeping the company going 24x7. Sorta like changing an engine on a 747 while in the air. God bless!

Tips and Tricks for Windows XP

Nifty PC Magazine article with all sorts of tings you can/should do in Windows XP. Bookmark this link.

Desktops are not Dead

PC World notes a raft of new desktops from Gateway, HP, and Dell. These are the machines whill will drive sales in the key third quarter back-to-school season. My tip, based on following the PC market for four years, is to wait for specials beginning in the last week of July. The best deals are gone by late August.

Three of things I have noted:

• Gateway and HP are starting to ship Microsoft's Windows XP Media Edition 2005 (MC) on every desktop, even inexpensive ones. My presumption is that Microsoft cut the price of the MC OS, which used to be $5 less than XP Pro and $40 more than XP Home. The MC OS does not require a TV tuner. It will manage audio on low-end boxes. In my experience, MC is about useless without the Microsoft remote tuner and IR blaster ket ($40). I have had fun with a wireless mouse and keyboard.
• The new machines are using the BTX form factor. This requires a new motherboard layout, placing the (hot) CPU close to the cool intake air. Over all, air flow is less obstructed. With the PC majors now driving BTX components in volume, I expect hobbyists will have more options soon to build their own BTX desktop.
• Add-on memory pricing has quietly fallen to bargain levels. Two 256 MB paired sticks of name-brand DDR 400 memory for under $40! If you are a power user running XP, now is the time to upgrade to 1 GB of memory. You will be pleased.

Off Brand Printer Cartridges: You Get What You Pay For

PC Magazines unscientific testing shows off-brand ink jet cartridges and paper lead to less than optimal results on photo prints. The best photos were with the printer manufacturer's ink cartridge and photo paper.

Apple Introduces Macintosh

Due to a space/time continuum disruption, this post from Byte in 1984 on the original Mac is just being posted.

Seriously, look at the specs. The degree of fundamental technology change in a couple of decades is off the charts. We sometimes forget that in the heat of the day's battle.

More OC Blog News

Once again I'm taking some time for blog maintenance, and I wanted to let you know what was going on. I added our logo to the "About" section of this new template. Some minor tweaks were made to our Feedburner (podcast) news feed. And I did a little research about the new iTunes after a listener sent us technical information. At this time Feedburner does not easily support the iTunes directory, but according to the news updates at the Feedburner site they are working on it and will update their service soon. As soon as that happens, we will add whatever iTunes features we can. In the meantime hang in there with us, please.

Thanks as always to our listeners, readers, and to the fantastic blogging team, without which I would have no blog to maintain.

**AD-SERVING COOKIE OPT-OUT**

**AD-SERVING COOKIE OPT-OUT**: "**AD-SERVING COOKIE OPT-OUT**"
You can Op_Out from DoubleClick's Spyware cookies.
Joe

XP Starter under the gun

Here is an interesting analysis of Windows XP Starter Edition. Will it be too stripped down for most users in emerging markets or will it be a big hit?

New tax for broadband customers?

I'm not sure how I feel about this, but it is clear that affordable broadband will not come to rural america without government intervention. This is clear now that providers are rolling out high-speed fiber optics to areas already served by decent and affordable level of broadband.

I laughed out loud at the comment quoted below:

"But Randolph May, a senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a market-oriented think tank, said policy-makers should be cautious before making any changes. Broadband access, he said, is getting cheaper and more widely available.

'It's not clear that any subsidies are needed,' May said. 'But if policy-makers want to provide some subsidies, they should be, in my view, carefully targeted to low-income people that really need them."

The speaker just doen't get it. Free enterprise is not working to bring affordable broadband to vast numbers of people in rural areas. This is not only a low income issue, though that is part of it. It is an affordable access problem. Arguably, if I can afford $25 a month for broadband when dial-up is only $10 per month, then I'm not really poor -- $15 a month is a lot of food when those are your choices.

Is access affordable at $25 or $50 a month? Well much more so than $100 to $150 a month (which would be my real cost for satellite service or a 192 kbps dsl line). But am I "low-income"? Not by any true meaning of that word. I just can't with any reason justify spending $150 a month for marginal broadband. That's more than I spend for satellite radio, satellite tv, phone service including wireless and dial-up connectivity put together.

Maybe it is time to give free enterprise a governmental kick in the tushie before the digital divide grows yet deeper and broader.

Google Earth - Products

Google Earth - Products: "For anyone who has ever dreamed of flying...' - NY Times
The idea is simple. It�s a globe that sits inside your PC. You point and zoom to anyplace on the planet that you want to explore. Satellite images and local facts zoom into view. Tap into Google search to show local points of interest and facts. Zoom to a specific address to check out an apartment or hotel. View driving directions and even fly along your route. We invite you to try it now."
Here in Anchorage we have something like this, You can see a pictures of my house. (If you know where to look.)
Joe

Wired News: All Eyes on Upcoming Comet Crash

Wired News: All Eyes on Upcoming Comet Crash: "Professional and amateur astronomers will team up this weekend to give the world a look at the upcoming crash between comet Tempel 1 and a washing machine-size projectile launched by NASA."
Remember to look for the crash Tuesday night at 11:52PM Pacific Time, I'll be on my way to Fort Worth.
Joe

Microsoft warns of unpatched IE flaw | Tech News on ZDNet

Microsoft warns of unpatched IE flaw | Tech News on ZDNet: "Microsoft has issued a security advisory for Internet Explorer, after a research firm published a working exploit to demonstrate how attackers could take advantage of the flaw. "
A patch for the flaw is not available. As an interim measure, the software giant advises people to set their Internet and local intranet security zone settings to "high" before running ActiveX controls.
Check your settings.
Joe

Beware of Fake Microsoft Security Alerts

A new wave of spam that disguises itself as a Microsoft security bulletin contains a link to malicious software that gives attackers complete access to the infected machine, security researchers are reporting.

The e-mail, which began circulating late Tuesday, identifies itself as Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-039, and offers a link to what it claims is a patch against the Sober Zafi and Mytob worms.

Google Blog: Cover the earth

The latest from google. Its pretty cool, but apparently resource intensive (vsmon is the only process on my computer which uses more memory, but google earth uses many more GDI resources than vsmon[10 vs 1,913], with minimal CPU usage). It loads slowly here, but I can't tell if that's the system or the internet.

Its a ~10GB download and there's a warning that older computers may not run it. and no apple version.
MAKEzine blog has a video of syncing it w/a gps (which requires the pro version, and I'm not sure how much that is), as one example of the usefullness. I am curious, but haven't explored yet (cost being the main consideration) ... what I can do w/my mapping software, and my gps logs. Cause I have a usb gps receiver with the laptop as a display for it (as I know many of y'all do too, cause you got it while we were at fry's lol ). Any takers? If so and you aren't a poster here, email tipster@oncomputers.info and we'll post them here, if permission is given. :)


P.S. I'm gonna try to post a picture of my task manager window, to show the system usage for google earth. We'll see how this goes. :) It seems to work in preview! and boy, oh boy do I appreciate preview.

[Update: I fixed the makezine blog url, doh!]

Microsoft Update

(free subscription required) Yesterday was Tuesday, but it was not patch Tuesday so I was a little surprised when I received an automatic update from Microsoft. This article explains what it is all about.

UConn Finds Rootkit in Hacked Server

In an admirable disclosure, the University of Conneticut has announced they found a rootkit on one of their servers. The machine in question contained personal information on approximately 72,000 faculty and students. Though UConn believes the data was not accessed, they have chosen the responsible course of notifying all involved.

The machine was apparently compromised nearly two years ago in an automated attack and UConn has no evidence the rootkit installed then has been used. Never the less, they've chosen to take the safe course and notify all concerned there is a risk, however small, their data was stolen.

The eWeek.com story linked to above has explanations of what exactly a rootkit is and links to various detection and removal tools, as well. It's worth a read.

Jack

By the bye; I applaud your choice of template, Gail. I like the way the site looks even better now.

AMD sues Intel alleging antitrust violations

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

OnComputers Podcast

This is the On Computers podcast for 06-19-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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 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.

OnComputers Podcast

This is the On Computers podcast for 06-12-2005. If you prefer, you can download the same file here via ftp.

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.

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.

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

$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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

• 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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