Byte Into It – 15 Jul 09

Better Gmail 2 Updated for Gmail’s Label Enhancements – Better Gmail – Lifehacker

Firefox only: Google’s recent improvements to Gmail’s labels broke one of Better Gmail 2’s most-loved features: Folders4Gmail. Grab the newest version 0.8.3 of Better Gmail 2 to get back Folders4Gmail functionality as well as Hide Spam Count. Until Mozilla Add-ons approves the newest version of Better Gmail 2, check off “Let me install this experimental add-on” next to version 0.8.3 at Mozilla Add-ons.

Inside Gazelle, Microsoft Research’s “browser OS” – Ars Technica

It builds on the concept of multiprocess browsing but uses more fine-grained isolation to expand on the security advantages that are already delivered by existing multiprocess browsing models. But is it an operating system, Microsoft Research’s analogue to Google’s Chrome OS? Not quite.

Wang’s characterization of Gazelle as a “multi-principal operating system” for the Web has been widely misinterpreted by the press. Although Gazelle’s architecture is loosely modeled on the underlying concepts of operating system design, it is not actually an operating system, it’s not intended to replace Windows, and it won’t compete with Chrome OS. It is a browser prototype that runs on Windows Vista, is coded in C#, and has a conventional user interface that is built with .NET’s WinForms framework.

Multiprocess browsing, which is supported in Google’s Chrome Web browser and recent versions of Internet Explorer, uses separate operating system processes to isolate the rendering of individual pages. As we have recently discussed in our coverage of multiprocess browsing, this approach generally boosts security and stability. It prevents a rendering bug that affects a specific page or plugin from tanking the whole browser.

Multiprocess browsing is advantageous, but it does have some downsides. Processes tend to generate a lot of resource overhead, especially on Windows. In order to minimize the impact of using multiple processes, Chrome and IE try to use some number of processes that provides a good balance between resource efficiency and stability. For example, if you have multiple tabs open that show different pages from the same website, the browser might put them all into one process.

The Gazelle project casts aside that balance and aims to maximize security and stability by using more processes. Instead of just using a separate process for each site or tab, it will use separate processes for individual page content elements that originate from other domains. For example, if you have an iframe in a page, the iframe will be managed and rendered in its own process separate from the rest of the page.

How Much Does Google Like Twitter?

That’s 44 accounts by my count. Where are all those Jaiku accounts?

Still think they have no interest in the micro-messaging service? Of course they do. It just may cost them more than a billion dollars to satisfy their fixation. And Microsoft is starting to get a fixation too. Remember when the two had a bidding war over a stake in Facebook?

The Future is Now: Multi-touch Wall Comes to Cannes (Video)

Just in time for the 2009 Cannes Advertising Festival, Schematic, an interactive agency who helped come up with the futuristic advertising seen in Minority Report, is debuting their large multi-touch wall. It’s a 12-foot by 5-foot display

Best Party Trick Ever: Multi-Device Wireless Broadband from Sprint MiFi

It’s the length and width of a credit card. It’s the thickness of a couple nickels. It’ll let you and a few friends get an Internet connection just about anywhere with no wires whatsoever.

It’s a MiFi, Sprint’s new wireless broadband device – when do we see these things in Oz?

Weave Now Syncs Firefox Preferences, Auto-Logins – Weave – Lifehacker

Firefox 3.5: Weave, Mozilla’s add-on to synchronize bookmarks, passwords, and now preferences and automatic logins across Firefox browsers, updated to a 0.4 beta, just in time for the release of 3.5.

We’ve previously covered Weave’s major release, albeit still as an experimental product, and found ourselves intrigued at its plans to provide automatic web site logins. This release includes those automatic logins and OpenID support, for sites that support it, and can sync your browser preferences across systems, giving it a leg up on cross-browser solutions like Xmarks. This version of Weave also works with the Fennec mobile browser 1.0 beta 2, just released for (touchscreen) Windows Mobile and Maemo devices. The big missing feature is syncing for add-ons and their preferences, but you can get halfway there by creating your own add-on collection and using the Add-on Collector to keep it updated.

Mozilla Weave is a free download, works wherever Firefox 3.5 does.

Speed Up Firefox 3.5 Start-Up on Windows – Firefox 3.5 – Lifehacker

Firefox 3.5 pulls data from certain file locations for randomized security purposes. Sometimes, though, that can lead to annoying slow start-ups in Windows. You can speed things up by cleaning out certain folder locations.

For whatever reason, having too many temporary, history, or recent document files sitting in your Windows locations slows down Firefox 3.5’s data generation processes, as has been reported as a bug. The Mozilla Links blog recommends cleaning out these folders to move the browser’s work along:

C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\Local Settings\History
C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\My Recent Documents
C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\Temp\

On Vista or Windows 7 systems, simply replace “Documents and Settings” with “Users.” Setting up Firefox to automatically clean out your temporary files after browsing, as explained at the link below, helps prevent the accumulation from building again, but users who trade browsing time with Internet Explorer may have to occasionally work this manual method to wipe out those files.

Australian anti-censorship video trying to get on Qantas – Boing Boing

Itsumishi sez, “Remember that absurd Internet Filtering Scheme Stephen Conroy and the Australian Government has been continuing to push onto the Australian population? Well GetUp the amazing organisation that has been involved in a lot of great campaigns in Australia has created a very hilarious advertisement they’re hoping to get onto every Qantas flight in the country while for next sitting in Parliament. The idea is that most politicians will be flying at some time during this time and they’ll be a captive audience. Anyway, the ad is brilliant and they need donations to get it on air, please help!”

Creative Commons comes to Google Image Search – Boing Boing

Fred sez, “Image search on Google has just become a bit easier and a little less scary: Google officially launched the ability to filter search results using Creative Commons licenses inside their Image Search tool. Searches are also capable of returning content under other licenses, such as the GNU Free Documentation License, or images that are in the public domain.”

Universal/TuneCore deal opens major doors for indie artists – Ars Technica

Independent musicians who want to retain the rights to their own songs will now have the opportunity to do so while marketing their offerings through a major label—Universal Music Group. UMG announced a partnership today with TuneCore, a company that represents independent artists and allows them to sell their music directly to fans through major online stores. The deal will let artists essentially have their cake and eat it too by letting them call all the shots while having access to major opportunities.

Apple proposes HTTP streaming feature as IETF standard – Ars Technica

When Apple discussed the new features of the forthcoming iPhone OS 3.0, SVP of iPhone Software Engineering Scott Forstall said that the iPhone would be capable of streaming video and audio directly over HTTP. Apple also advertised HTTP streaming as a feature of QuickTime X, the update of its media architecture coming in Snow Leopard. What it failed to explain, at least publicly, is how this streaming would be accomplished. Fortunately, Apple submitted its proposed protocol last month to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in the hopes that it will become a ubiquitous standard.

Apple identified what it considers a few issues with standard streaming, which generally uses the Real Time Streaming Protocol originally developed by Netscape and Real in the late ’90s. The biggest issue with RTSP is that the protocol or its necessary ports may be blocked by routers or firewall settings, preventing a device from accessing the stream. As the standard protocol for the Web, though, HTTP is generally accessible. Furthermore, no special server is required other than a standard HTTP server, which is more widely supported in content distribution networks, and more expertise in optimizing HTTP delivery is generally available than for RTSP.

Cameras: a solution for multiple cameras in Mac OS X – Ars Technica

If you have multiple cameras and a Mac and are tired of having the same software launch for your different uses, Flexbits may have a solution for you. Cameras acts as a preference pane that lets you decide which app to launch for which device—very helpful for people who use point-and-shoots, DSLRs, and iPhones all on the same machine.

20 Totally Overused Words in Game Names – Video Game Features, PC Game Features

There are roughly a million officially recognized words in the English language, but these 20 crop up everywhere when it comes to naming video games. Is it due to a lack of originality or just a set of universal themes? Flip open your dictionaries and join us for a definitive look at the most overused words in game names.

Australias Net Will Filter MA15+ Games

I was feeling bad for Germans as there was a proposed banning for all violent games but Australia is about to take it much harder. To further complicate things, Australia does not have even have a R18+ rating. For video games, MA15+ is as high as it goes while movies and such has R18+ and X18+. Games will be required to modify the their content to meet the MA15+ guidelines in order for distribution.

So far, this has only applied to local stores selling physical copies of games, but a spokesman for Senator Conroy confirmed that under the filtering plan, it will be extended to the net and the filter will be set at the ISP level blocking all flash games, downloadable games and all web games that does not meet the MA15+ standards.

From our understanding, if a website hosts questionable content the Classification Board believes exceeds the MA15+ standard, it’ll be blocked. Same goes for MMOs and even worst, overseas online retailers. I wonder how this would effect sites such as eBay, GameStop and all the large distributors.

Businesses will get Windows 7 ‘by end of July’ – News – PC Authority

Windows 7 will be available to business users who have bought volume licenses with Software Assurance contracts, before the end of July, according to reports overseas.

A ZDnet.com report cites a tweet by Microsoft enthusiast “Deeper2K”, who posted a picture on the micro-blogging site of an official Microsoft mailing to its reseller partners, in Russian.

Next to the twitpic Deeper2K writes, “Yay! Windows 7 RTM will be available to SA customers by the end of July!”

According to the report, Deeper said that Microsoft will extend a special Windows 7 promotion, whereby users who purchase SA before 31 August will “have the rights to upgrade to Windows 7 on PCs they purchased starting on August 1, 2008”, with 15 per cent off. At the time of writing Microsoft Australia had not made any announcements regarding this.

For its part, Microsoft said last week that it is still on track to release its new operating system to manufacturing before the end of July.

Internet is broken says original designer – News – PC Authority

Lawrence (Larry) Roberts, who designed the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, or ARPANET, has said that the current system of packet data isn’t suitable for the uses to which the internet is being used currently. Rather than viewing data as packet it needs to be seen as a flow, and this will require fundamental retooling.

“The Internet is broken. I should know: I designed it,” he writes in the IEEE’s Spectrum.

“Directing traffic in terms of flows rather than individual packets improves the utilization of networks. By eliminating the excessive delays and random packet losses typical of traditional routers, flow management fills communication links with more data and protects voice and video streams. And it does all that without requiring changes to the time-tested TCP/IP protocol.”

Traditional routing technologies are unsuited to modern applications like VoIP or video transmission he says because the routing protocols were never designed to handle that kind of traffic

Byte Into It – 8 Jul 09

China backs down from web filter plan

In a rare reversal, China’s government has given in to domestic and international pressure and backed down from a rule that would have required personal computers sold in the country to have internet-filtering software.

Just hours before the rule was to have taken effect on Wednesday, the government said it would postpone the requirement for the “Green Dam Youth Escort” software. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said it made the decision partly because some PC makers were having difficulty meeting the deadline. It did not say whether the plan might be revived.

The change of course averted a possible scuffle with Washington. Senior US officials had protested against the plan after it was imposed abruptly in May, calling it a barrier to trade. Angry web users circulated online petitions condemning Green Dam, while industry groups warned the software might create computer security problems.

Joost, Meet The Competition. Magnify.Net Sees Growth In White Label Video Platform

Magnify.net. The video hosting and sharing platform, which launched in 2007, is rapidly growing its white label service and is expected to be cash-flow positive by the end of the year, according to co-founder Steve Rosenbaum.

Magnify has recently partnered with several sites to power their video aggregation platforms, including deals with Etsy, CarsonDaly.TV, and Bicycling.com. Magnify has also created white label video channels for Zappos, New York Magazine and The Weather Channel.

Bicycling.com recently decided to shift from Magnify’s competitor Brightcove to power its platform for original content. The cycling site is launching its Magnify-powered site in conjunction with its coverage of the Tour de France, which starts July 4th. It was attracted by Magnify’s social features, such as the ability to pull UGC videos from sites like YouTube and updates from Twitter. Bicycling.com online editor David L’Heureux plans to integrate Twitter streams onto the platform from cycling all-stars like Lance Armstrong. Magnify also allows the online magazine to aggregate a mix of videos and makes it easy for the site to offer readers external videos and internal media that is created by Bicycling.com.

How wide is the world’s digital divide, anyway? – Ars Technica

it’s worth taking a step back every once in a while to consider the global picture: much of the world has broadband penetration rates under 20 percent, and the largest single group of countries has penetration rates of between 0 and 5 percent.

The consultants at TeleGeography track broadband deployment in 127 countries and have released a chart that shows world broadband deployments by percentage of households that have service. Out of the 127, only 10 countries are above 80 percent—mostly small places like Hong Kong, Singapore, Denmark, and South Korea. Together, the ten countries in this bracket account for only two percent of the world population.

Fifty-three countries fall into the next two categories, with household penetration rates of between 20 and 80 percent (most are on the lower side of that range).
telegeography-world-broadband.png

But it’s the final two categories that are most enlightening. 64 countries—just over half of all countries tracked—have broadband penetration rates of under 20 percent (most are in the 0-5 percent category).

Eighty-eight more countries aren’t even tracked by TeleGeography, since they have essentially no home broadband deployment at all.

“Broadband represents the most extreme example in the gulf between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’,” said TeleGeography Executive Director John Dinsdale. “Less than 2 percent of African households have broadband compared with 68 percent of North American homes.”

How To Communicate Securely in Repressive Environments « iRevolution

Nonviolent resistance movements are typically driven by students, i.e., young people, who are increasingly born digital natives. With expanding access to mobile phones, social networking software and online platforms for user-generated content such as blogs, the immediate financial cost of speaking out against repressive regimes is virtually nil. So resistance movements are likely to make even more use of new communication technology and digital media in the future. In fact, they already are.

At the same time, however, the likelihood and consequences of getting caught are high, especially for those political activists without any background or training in digital security. Indeed, recent research by Digital Democracy research suggests that organizational hierarchies are being broken down as youth adopt new technologies. While this empowers them they are also put at risk since they don’t tend to be as consequence-conscious as their adult counterparts.

Bing Keeps Its Foot On The Gas, Adds Tweets To Results

Bing is something of a rarity for Microsoft these days: It’s a product that actually has good natural buzz. And for good reason too, it’s a solid product. For certain queries, it seems more useful than even, yes, Google. (And not just porn queries.) And Microsoft isn’t squandering away this opportunity, it’s keeping its foot on the gas, today attacking what is perceived to be Google’s weakness: Real-time search results.

While that’s a little misleading — Google actually does have plenty of data that gets into its system almost immediately — what everyone seems to mean by real-time results these days is Twitter results. And that’s exactly what Bing is adding. Kind of. As it notes on its blog:

Today we’re unveiling an initial foray into integrating more real time data into our search results, starting with some of the more prominent and prolific Twitterers from a variety of spheres.

But it’s important to note that Bing will not be crawling every tweet that runs through Twitter. Instead, it will focus on only those from people it deems important based on follower counts and volume of tweets. As they note:

We’re not indexing all of Twitter at this time… just a small set of prominent and prolific Twitterers to start. We picked a few thousand people to start, based primarily on their follower count and volume of tweets. We think this is an interesting first step toward using Twitter’s public API to surface Tweets in people search. We’d love to hear your feedback as we think through future possibilities in real time search.

Sarah Palin, via Twitter: God told me to sue the internet – Boing Boing

the point seems to be that a “higher calling” has directed her to file anti-defamation lawsuits against a number of news websites for having reported the news that she quit her post as governor of Alaska

Windows 7 testers have long path to upgrade | Beyond Binary – CNET News

the upgrade versions of the Windows operating system (the cheapest way to move to the final version) check for a previous paid version of Windows on the drive. That means, if a user did a clean installation of Windows 7 on their test system (as recommended by Microsoft), that same user will have to back up their data, reinstall their original operating system (XP or Vista), then install Windows 7, restore their data, and then reinstall their applications.

For testers who were running XP, that means doing a clean installation of Windows XP over their Windows 7 test build and then a clean installation of Windows 7 over that. Vista users have the option of reinstalling that operating system and then doing an in-place upgrade or a clean installation of Windows 7.

Testers looking to move from a test version of Windows 7 to the final product may find the move not only costly, but time consuming.
(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft says that, for what it’s worth, that’s roughly the same thing that was required for those moving from pre-release versions of Windows Vista to the final release.

Even so, it’s an unfortunate burden for those who have provided lots of feedback and indeed been some of the operating system’s biggest champions. Users were also pushed to do a fresh installation when moving from Windows 7 beta to the latest test version, although some users found ways around having to do this.

Robot invented to crawl through veins – News – PC Authority

Scientists from Israel’s Technion University have unveiled a tiny robot, made using Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology, purportedly able to crawl through a person’s veins in order to diagnose and potentially treat artery blockage and cancer.

The little robot – with a diameter of just one millimeter – has neither engine nor onboard controls, instead being propelled forward by a magnetic field wielded on it from outside the patient’s body.

Controlling the tiny bot externally means boffins have been able to shrink it to a previously impossibly tiny scale, allowing it to crawl its way through the typical human body’s veins and arteries using miniscule outstretched arms which grip the vessel walls. Yes, that made us shudder too.

Scientists reckon the mini bot can even withstand massive blood flow and is able to push forward regardless of the magnetic field actuation direction, doing away with any need for exact localisation and direction retrieval.As if getting under people’s skin wasn’t enough, Technion researchers say they’re also looking at putting the ant-like creature to work in urban water distribution systems, to look for any leaks that need plugging.

Google Maps | property | real estate | search | Australia

Google wants a bigger slice of the real-estate search business
An example of a property search in the US version of Google Maps.

An example of a property search in the US version of Google Maps.
Stephen Hutcheon
July 6, 2009

In a move that has raised eyebrows among established players in the classified real-estate business, Google Australia has unveiled a new tool on its mapping service that will directly link buyers and renters to available property.

The Google Maps feature, which launched today in Australia and New Zealand, will host free listings supplied by real-estate agents and publishers.

Although many existing publishers and real-estate agents offer map-based searching, the maps on Google’s new service will reflect real-time changes in search criteria and location.

The technology behind this enhancement was developed by engineers at Google’s Sydney office and is also being rolled out on the company’s existing property search service in the United States.

Google’s offering is open to all comers, potentially giving renters and buyers a much bigger choice.

But this development is likely to be viewed by existing publishers as a grab for their business at a time when margins are under pressure and paid listings are being affected by the prevailing economic climate.

The service is launching with listings provided by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia and homehound.com.au, the free property listing service owned by Michael Hannan’s Independent Print Media Group.

Decoding the HTML 5 video codec debate – Ars Technica

One of the harbingers of the open Web renaissance is HTML 5, the next major version of the W3C’s ubiquitous HTML standard. Although HTML 5 is still in the draft stage, several of its features have already been widely adopted by browsers like Safari, Chrome, and Firefox. Among the most compelling is the “video” element, which has the potential to free Web video from its plugin prison and make video content a native first-class citizen on the Web—if codec disagreements don’t stand in the way.

In an article last month, we explored the challenges and opportunities associated with the HTML 5 video element. One of the most significant of these challenges is the lack of consensus around a standard media codec, a contentious issue that has rapidly escalated into a major controversy. The debate has now stalled without a clear resolution in sight.

The HTML 5 working group is split between supporters of Ogg Theora and H.264. Their inability to find a compromise that is acceptable to all stakeholders has compelled HTML 5 spec editor Ian Hickson to “admit defeat” and give up on the effort to define specific codecs and media formats in the standard itself. This is problematic because the lack of uniform codec availability will make it impossible for content creators to publish their videos in a single format that will be viewable through the HTML 5 video element in all browsers.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Microsoft offers free anti-virus

A trial version of Microsoft’s free anti-virus software has been launched in the US, China, Brazil, and Israel.

Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) promises to provide people with basic protection against viruses, trojans, rootkits and spyware.

The software giant has been criticised in the past for failing to include free security software with Windows.

Its first security package, Windows Live OneCare, failed to attract many customers and will be discontinued.

VirtualBox 3 brings 3D graphics support – Ars Technica

Sun announced this week the availability of VirtualBox 3, the latest version of its open source virtualization solution. The new version introduces experimental 3D graphics support and the ability to expose multiple CPUs to guest operating systems.

VirtualBox was originally developed by InnoTek, which was acquired by Sun last year. InnoTek launched an open source edition of VirtualBox in 2007, releasing most of the program’s code under the GPL. Alongside the open source version, the company has continued to sell a commercial version that has additional features, such as a built-in RDP server and full USB support. VirtualBox is cross-platform compatible and is available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.

Be patient with NBN investment returns: Hackett – Telco/ISP – Technology – News – iTnews.com.au

Economic contributors to the National Broadband Network should view their return on investment over a 50-year timeframe, Internode managing director Simon Hackett has said.

Speaking at the AFR broadband conference in Sydney, Hackett urged investors to expand their view from a “five-to-10 year dotcom return to a 50-year utility return”.

“The new network will have a 50 year plus lifespan,” Hackett said.

“People that think this is a 10 year investment aren’t thinking about the lifecycle [of this type of infrastructure]. In the utility context, a $43 billion investment is cheap.”

Hackett said his “cynical side” suggested the network would take ten years alone to be built. And he said the case study of ADSL in Australia showed that saturation of NBN connections could take just as long.

Vale Internode Unwired customers – Telco/ISP – Technology – News – iTnews.com.au

The ISP resold Unwired until August, 2006, after which it said customers would be supported.

The final day for Internode customers of the wireless internet service is 17 August.

“We’ve written to the few remaining Internode customers left on an Unwired tail circuit to inform them that we’ll be shutting the service down fully by August this year,” said Internode managing director Simon Hackett.

Internode offered those affected discounts on its ADSL and a $50 credit on its NodeMobile 3G services.

Hackett said Internode may again resell Unwired.

“We’ll be very happy to consider returning Unwired to the Internode service portfolio should [it] be successful with [its] long-mooted, wide-scale deployment of mobile WiMAX services,” he said.

Apple sued over iTunes pricing and “fraudulent” gift cards – Ars Technica

An Illinois couple has filed a class action suit against Apple for selling “fraudulent” iTunes gift cards. At issue is the language printed on some cards that reads, “Songs are 99¢,” and as we all all know, a variety of tracks on the iTunes Store are now sold for $1.29.

The couple alleges that such language constitutes deception and fraud on Apple’s part, and that the gift cards end up being “worth less than what was represented” because some songs after April 7 of this year cost more than the 99¢ price.

Mobile uploads to YouTube up 400% after iPhone 3GS launch – Ars Technica

Mobile uploads to YouTube have increased by 400 percent since last Friday’s release of the iPhone 3GS, Google announced today. The device is the first iPhone with video capabilities and is able to upload videos directly to MobileMe or YouTube, even over the 3G network. With the ability to send videos to the Internet almost immediately, it’s no surprise that users are taking the opportunity to upload videos on-the-spot from their iPhones.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Twitter to give bushfire alerts

Australia is to use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to give people early warning of bushfires.

Aussie firm sells Twitter followers – Strategy – Business – News – iTnews.com.au

Australian media marketing firm uSocial is offering a new paid service allowing organisations to buy Twitter followers to aid their marketing campaigns.

According to the firm, a single Twitter follower could be worth $0.10 a month. It is selling followers in various packages, starting at 1,000 for $87, which is delivered in seven days, and going all the way up to 100,000 followers at a cost of $3,479, delivered over a year.

USocial says it profiles Twitter users to ensure a good fit with their clients, then suggests they follow the Twitter feed of that client – the user then decides whether to follow or not.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Cash for Pirate Bay file-sharers

The new owners of file-sharing website The Pirate Bay say users will be paid for sharing files.

Global Gaming Factory (GGF) paid 60m kronor (£4.7m) to take over the site.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, GGF’s Hans Pandeya said that the only way to beat illegal file-sharing was to make something more attractive.

“We are going to set up a system where the file-sharer actually makes money,” he said.

According to Mr Pandeya, GGF’s chief executive, the business model for The Pirate Bay would be that it continued to be a file-sharing site. The only difference – at least in terms of content – would be that the files would be hosted legally, rather than stolen from copyright holders.

“We’re a listed company so everything we do has to be legal; content providers need to be paid and have their wishes and demands met,” he said.

Dell launches digital forensics service for police – Technology – News – iTnews.com.au

Dell, the world’s second-biggest maker of personal computers, launched a package of hardware, software and services on Tuesday designed to help police convict more criminals as digital evidence proliferates.

The company said its digital-forensics package would help police reduce backlogs that can be as long as two years as it would allow multiple analysts to work simultaneously on the same data while preserving an audit trail of evidence-handling.

The package, launched with partners including Intel, gives customers tools to build and host their own data centre, meaning they can have the convenience of so-called cloud computing while keeping control of it themselves.

Jammie Thomas challenges “monstrous” $1.92M P2P verdict – Ars Technica

It was only a matter of time: Jammie Thomas-Rasset has asked the federal judge overseeing her file-sharing lawsuit to toss the $1.92 million damage award, reduce it to the statutory minimum of $18,000, or grant her a new trial.

The motion, filed today in Minnesota federal court, is blunt. “The verdict in this case was shocking,” it begins. “For 24 songs, available for $1.29 on iTunes, the jury assessed statutory damages of $80,000 per song—a ratio of 1:62,015. For 24 albums, available for no more than $15 at the store, the jury assessed statutory damages of $80,000 per album—a ratio of 1:5,333. For a single mother’s noncommercial use of KaZaA, and upon neither finding nor evidence of actual injury to the plaintiffs, the judgment fines Jammie Thomas $1.92 million. Such a judgment is grossly excessive and, therefore, subject to remittitur as a matter of federal common law.”

These shocking ratios—1:62,015 and 1:5,333—appear throughout the filing, though they’re largely irrelevant. Thomas-Rasset wasn’t sued simply for violating the “reproduction right” found in the Copyright Act; she was also accused of violating the “distribution right” by putting the songs up on KaZaA for millions of others to download. How many people did so? No one knows—which is one sort of situation that statutory damages were created to address. The real ratios can never be known.

That doesn’t change the fact that the jury’s verdict was nuts—or, in the words of the filing, “excessive, shocking, and monstrous.” (Richard Marx, who wrote and performed one of the 24 songs at issue in the case, agreed.) Thomas-Rasset’s lawyers argue that the $1.92 million damage award is, on its face, an unconstitutional breach of the Due Process clause and should be thrown out or reduced to the $750 per song minimum.

Phone ringtones a “public performance”? EFF, AT&T say no – Ars Technica

It isn’t often that you find AT&T and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in agreement, but consensus has been reached on one matter: ASCAP’s demand that wireless companies pay it license fees for ringtones is, well, ridiculous.

On Wednesday EFF called the move “outlandish” and “a ploy to squeeze more money out of the mobile phone companies.” The advocacy group filed a friend of the court brief with the United States District Court for the Southern District New York this week, which is hearing the dispute between ASCAP, AT&T, and Verizon over whether the telcos have to pay the music licensing body royalties for wireless ringtones. Joining the amicus brief are Public Knowledge and the Center for Democracy and Technology. Meanwhile CTIA – The Wireless Association, to which the big telcos belong, has also filed an amicus brief in the case.

Prezi – The zooming presentation editor

Create a map of your ideas, images, videos, then show overview, zoom to details, amaze, convince, take the day.

Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3)

Amazon S3 provides a simple web services interface that can be used to store and retrieve any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web.

Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we’re already talking to partners about the project, and we’ll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Byte Into It – 1st Jul 09

Web filters to censor video games

Australia is the only developed country without an R18+ classification for games, meaning any titles that do not meet the MA15+ standard – such as those with excessive violence or sexual content – are simply banned from sale by the Classification Board, unless they are modified to remove the offending content.

So far, this has only applied to local bricks-and-mortar stores selling physical copies of games, but a spokesman for Senator Conroy confirmed that under the filtering plan, it will be extended to downloadable games, flash-based web games and sites which sell physical copies of games that do not meet the MA15+ standard.

This means that even Australians who are aged above 15 and want to obtain the adult-level games online will be unable to do so. . It will undoubtedly raise the ire of gamers, the average age of which is 30 in Australia, according to research commissioned by the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia.

Colin Jacobs, spokesman for the online users’ lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia, said the Government clearly went far beyond any mandate it had from the public to help parents deal with cyber-safety.

Pirate Bay founders launch beta of “The Video Bay” – Boing Boing

The developers behind the Pirate Bay team have been developing a video streaming site for the past two years, and they’ve just opened up an “extreme beta” version of the project (meaning, in their words, “Don’t expect anything to work at all”). Users can share video clips here without having to fear concerns they may be removed over copyright claims, as with the current dominant video-sharing service, YouTube.

Update: Boing Boing team member Dean Putney points out:

I highly discourage people from signing up on this site just yet. Not because of the content, but for a technical reason:

I just registered with a username and password that I don’t use very often, really just for beta sites like this that I’m just looking at. I’m very glad that I did. The site sent me an email response containing both my username and the password I just typed into the site. This is really bad news. Getting emails with passwords for sites in them, unless they’re temporary passwords, is bad for security. It also implies that they’re storing their passwords in plain text, which means that if anyone got a hold of their databases all of their users’ passwords and usernames are compromised. The Pirate Bay does some really great and interesting stuff, but I won’t use their site seriously until I can be reasonably sure that they’re hashing and salting my password. Obviously they’re still working on it, so hopefully this will be repaired soon.

Microsoft to charge Europeans double for Windows 7

European customers will pay up to twice as much for Windows 7 compared to U.S. users, even though the new operating system will ship without a browser in Europe, according to Microsoft.

When the company launches Windows 7 on Oct. 22, it will price Windows 7 Home Premium, likely the most popular of the three editions available at retail, at €119.99 in the European Union (EU) and charge £79.99 in the U.K., an EU member that has retained its own currency. Those prices are the equivalent to $168.66 and $132.14 U.S., respectively, at Saturday’s exchange rates.

U.S. consumers will pay only $119 for the same software after a two-week pre-order sales discount expires July 11. That means EU residents will pay 41% more, and U.K. consumers 10% more, than U.S. buyers for Home Premium Upgrade.

Official: Windows 7 Australian pricing announced, see how it compares to Vista – News – PC Authority

The good news is that the costs are pretty similar to buying Windows Vista. Windows 7 Ultimate’s RRP is $30 more (Upgrade) or $20 more (Full version) than the equivalent Vista product, but a full version of Windows 7 Home Premium works out $50 cheaper than Vista Home Premium.

Windows 7 pricing nitty gritty

Upgrade pricing:

* Home Premium $199
* Professional $399
* Ultimate $429

Full Version pricing

* Home Premium $299
* Professional $449
* Ultimate $469

Windows 7 Upgrade Promotion

If you buy a new computer with Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate any time between now and 31 January 2010, you can upgrade to Windows 7 for nothing, or for a small cost, thanks to a special Microsoft promotion.

The upgrade can be redeemed from October 22, when Windows 7 is released, until 28 February 2010.

Take care though: only certain PCs are eligible for the promotion.Check in-store stickers on PCs before you purchase and visiting www.windows.com/upgradeoffer to check if the system you are planning to buy . You can also asking in-store if a system is eligible for the Windows 7 Upgrade.

HTC Hero Android phone launches – News – PC Authority

HTC has launched a brand spanking Android handset overseas, in the G1-esque shape of the Hero.

However, although it picks up the love-it-or-hate-it angled bottom of its predecessor, it boasts a much more slimline body due to no slide out keyboard.

The phone comes packing a full 3.2-inch anti-fingerprint touchscreen, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera, AGPS, digital compass and that all important 3.5mm headset jack.

It is also features 512MB on-board memory (expandable up to 16GB via microSD) and a dedicated search button that will allow you to look for things thorough out your whole phone, including emails and on Twitter.

The Hero will also debut HTC’s new UI called HTC Sense, boasting intuitive features like the ability to view all your communication channels – Facebook, emails, texts, photos and phone calls – in one view.

HTML 5: Could it kill Flash and Silverlight? – LinuxWorld

HTML 5, a groundbreaking upgrade to the prominent Web presentation specification, could become a game-changer in Web application development, one that might even make obsolete such plug-in-based rich Internet application (RIA) technologies as Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, and Sun JavaFX.

HTML 5 technologies such as Canvas, for 2-D drawing on a Web page, are being promoted by heavyweights in the Internet space such as Apple, Google, and Mozilla. (Although Microsoft itself has given a thumbs-up to certain aspects of HTML 5, it has not backed Canvas.)

“HTML 5 features like Canvas, local storage, and Web Workers let us do more in the browser than ever before,” says Ben Galbraith, also co-founder of the Ajaxian Web site and co-director of developer tools at Mozilla. Local storage enables users to work in a browser when a connection drops and Web Workers makes “next generation” applications incredibly responsive by pushing long-running tasks to the background, he says.

Web applications will become more fun, says Ian Fette, project manager at Google for the Chrome browser: “They’re going to be faster and they’re just going to provide overall a better user experience and make the distinction between online apps and desktop apps blurred.”

Apple agrees to industry standard mobile phone charger – Technology – News – iTnews.com.au

10 mobile phone manufacturers and chip producers, including Apple, have signed up to an initiative to produce standard mobile phone chargers.

Companies signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will harmonise chargers in Europe on the basis of the micro-USB connector, in order to cut down on electronics manufacturing and waste.

Apple’s involvement in the scheme comes as a surprise. When plans for a standard mobile phone charger were announced at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona earlier this year, Apple was noticeably absent from the list revealed by the GSM Association (GSMA), the trade body that represents the mobile phone industry.

However, some companies that were on the initial list, such as 3, Orange, T-Mobile, AT&T and Vodafone, now appear to be absent.

Apart from Apple, the companies that have signed the MoU are LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Texas Instruments.

Linux first to support usb 3.0 – The Inquirer

USB 3.0 is supposed to be the next big thing for wires out the back of PCs and hardware manufactures are falling all over themselves to make stuff for them. However so far there has been no operating system that supports the new standard.

The Vole and Apple are not including the new standard in the Windows 7 or Snow Leopard operating systems. But it looks like Intel’s open sauce community is rushing to fill the gap.

Sarah Sharp, a self-styled “geekess” and Linux developer at Intel’s Open Source Technology Centre has been working on the Linux USB subsystem.

Writing in her bog, Sharp writes that the xHCI (USB 3.0) host controller driver and initial support for USB 3.0 devices is now publicly available on her kernel.org git tree.

She said that this means that Linux will be the first operating system with official USB 3.0 support and she is working with Keve Gabbert, who is the OSV bloke at Intel, to make sure that Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Red Hat pick up the xHCI driver.

Why social media is like punk – mUmBRELLA

Why social media is like punk

Melbourne-based PR consultant Gerry McCusker – author of the PR Disasters blog, presented at the International Association of Business Communicators conference in San Francisco last week.

His topic was Why Are CEOs Scared of Social Media? As part of the presentation he created this two minute presentation on the similarities of social media to punk rock

WARNING: Twittersblogs is Another Twitter Phishing Scam

A new week, and a new scam to attempt to steal our social networking passwords is underway. Today, the target is TwitterTwitterTwitter, and the scam involves fake Twitter blogs.

Over the past hour, hundreds of tweets have gone out with the message “omg!! is it true what they wrote about you in their twit blog?” and linking to a subdomain of the site twittersblogs.com. When clicked, the linked site looks exactly like Twitter’s homepage. However, if you provide it with your username and password, it tweets out the message, and hence, the scam spreads.

The Pirate Bay Goes Legit — InformationWeek

Swedish tech company Global Gaming Factory X said Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire controversial file sharing outfit The Pirate Bay for about $7.7 million.

Global Gaming said it would introduce legitimate business models to Pirate Bay’s Web site, which had become a haven for illegal file sharing. Pirate Bay’s Swedish founders in April were ordered jailed for one year and fined $3.6 million.

“We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site,” said Global Gaming CEO Hans Pandeya, in a statement.

Padeya said Pirate Bay draws enormous amounts of Internet traffic but added that it needs to adopt legitimate business models to stay in operation.

“The Pirate Bay site is among the top 100 most visited Internet sites in the world. However, in order to live on, The Pirate Bay requires a new business model, which satisfies that requirements and needs of all parties, content providers, broadband operators, end users, and the judiciary,” said Pandeya.

“Content creators and providers need to control their content and get paid for it. File sharers need faster downloads and better quality,” he added.

The deal could see The Pirate Bay evolve in a manner similar to that followed by Napster. A nexus for illegal peer-to-peer swapping several years ago, Napster was acquired by a string of legitimate vendors that instituted pay-to-play business models on the site.

Also Tuesday, Global Gaming said it agreed to acquire Peerialism, a Swedish company that specializes in the development of p2p file sharing technology. The move is not unrelated to Global Gaming’s buyout of The Pirate Bay.

“Peerialism has developed a new data distribution technology which now can be introduced on the best known file sharing site—The Pirate Bay,” said Peerialism CEO Johan Ljunberg, in a statement.

Byte Into It – 24 Jun 09

China carries on with censorship plan, as Google capitulates | Technology | guardian.co.uk

China has said it will continue with its plans to force every computer in the country to run a controversial filtering program that will further restrict the activities of web surfers.

Officials at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said they would be going ahead with plans to make the software – known as Green Dam – compulsory.

Despite claims that it had decided to shelve Green Dam – which is intended to prevent access to pornographic material – the government “will not back away” on its plans for the software, an official told China Daily.

The move follows a string of controversies over the plan, and after internet giant Google agreed to filter its search results in China to screen out pornographic or explicit material

Hands-on: Google Voice dialing up for launch – Ars Technica

The Google Voice service launched in March for closed testing with a limited audience that consisted of existing GrandCentral users. Google introduced a number of highly impressive features such as automatic message transcription and free SMS delivery. The transcription feature will convert voicemails to text and make them searchable. The service can also automatically forward voicemail transcripts directly to your preferred e-mail account.

There are signs that Google is preparing to open the service to a broader audience. Reports indicate that Google has recently obtained over one million new phone numbers from backbone operator Level 3. PC World speculates that the number grab could be a prelude to the full public launch of Google Voice, but it was unable to get official confirmation from the search giant. There are also reports that Google will offer number portability, enabling consumers to move their existing phone numbers to Google’s infrastructure.

Ars recently began testing Google Voice as part of the closed beta program. The service is remarkably powerful and easy to use. It has a number of killer features, such as support for switching between lines during the middle of a call and recording incoming calls by simply pressing a button. Recorded calls and voicemails can be heard directly in the browser through a streaming playback interface and can also be downloaded as MP3 files.

It also offers a simple scheduling system that can be used to control when calls will be routed to specific numbers

Fight over German filtering law sends MP into Pirate Party – Ars Technica

After seeing Swedish voters send the Pirate Party to the European Parliament, the German branch of the group has now gotten a seat in the lower house of that nation’s parliament, the Bundestag. But the seat didn’t come about through an electoral triumph; instead a member of the Social Democrats, Jörg Trauss, changed allegiances, claiming his decision was driven by his former party’s support for a mandatory Internet filtering scheme. But the situation is complicated by the fact that the filtering would target child porn, and Trauss is under investigation for possession of that material (he claims it was for investigative purposes).

The legislation in question would implement a scheme that’s somewhat similar to the one under consideration in Australia.

BBC NEWS | Technology | The rise of Hate 2.0

The number of hate and terrorist websites has increased by a third in the past year, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

The Los Angeles-based Jewish human rights organisation put the figure at more than 8,000 in its 2008 report Hate 2.0. It said the presence of such sites “demeans and threatens African Americans, Jews, immigrants, gays and virtually every religious denomination”.

And the number of so-called hate sites is growing fast, while the use of social networks to push controversial messages is also on the rise.

In May this year, Facebook became embroiled in a row after a number of Holocaust denial groups were set up on the site.

Critics said Facebook was propagating anti-Semitism, others said that free speech was a cornerstone of society and Facebook should keep its hands off.

At the time, Barry Schnitt, a spokesman for Facebook, said it should be “a place where controversial ideas can be discussed”.

“The bottom line is that, of course, we abhor Nazi ideals and find Holocaust denial repulsive and ignorant,” he said.

“However, we believe people have a right to discuss these ideas.”
Don Black
The Home Office says Don Black’s actions could “lead to inter-community violence in the UK”.

A few days later, the site had closed two of the groups, Holocaust is a Holohoax and Based on the facts… there was no Holocaust. It said they had breached the firm’s terms of service.

But there are still plenty of other Holocaust denial groups on Facebook

Telstra bumps Next G uplink to 5.8 Mbps – Telco/ISP – Technology – News – iTnews.com.au

Telstra has increased peak network uplink speeds on its Next G network to 5.8 Mbps, meaning customers will achieve at least 300 kbps up to 3 Mbps in real-use terms.

Customers in metropolitan and “selected” regional areas will achieve uplink speeds anywhere within that range.

Other areas will still receive a minimum 300 kbps but the upper limit will be 1 Mbps.

Telstra said existing users of Turbo 21 modems manufactured by Sierra Wireless can download a software upgrade for their devices from the Sierra website to take advantage of the speed increase.

The same software upgrade will be pushed out automatically to users “over the air” this weekend.

In addition, business customers using the Telstra Turbo 21 mobile broadband USBs can upgrade their device.

“Upgrades to selected other Telstra and BigPond devices will be available in coming weeks,” said executive director of Telstra product management, Ross Fielding.

Minchin claims there is no need for NBN – Telco/ISP – Technology – News – iTnews.com.au

Shadow Communications Minister Nick Minchin has seized on an ACMA report showing most Australians are satisfied with their ISP to claim the country does not need a National Broadband Network (NBN).

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) report, released today, concludes that most Australian households and businesses are generally satisfied with the level of service they receive from their Internet Service Provider (ISP), “with the great majority expressing reluctance to switch ISPs.”

Minchin said the study “raises serious questions about the Minister’s sweeping claims of fundamental market failure” in the telecommunications industry.

Questions over survey

The ACMA report is based on a number of sources.

The primary two surveys from which broadband satisfaction was measured was a Roy Morgan survey of 1396 fixed line customers and 241 mobile users that don’t use a fixed line services, plus a survey of 1800 small business users conducted by Sensis, a subsidiary of the country’s largest ISP, Telstra.

The annual Whirlpool broadband user survey, by contrast, includes the opinions of some 20,000 users.

In both 2007 and 2008, around 75 per cent of Whirlpool respondents said the customer service they get from their ISP is either “good” or “excellent”, 62 per cent were “very happy” with the reliability of the connection and 77 (2007) to 79 per cent (2008) would recommend their ISP to others.

But also in 2008, about one in three Whirlpool survey respondents said their ISP plan was too expensive.

The Whirlpool survey also showed that three in four respondents (75 per cent) favour a Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) National Broadband Network (2008), and 69 per cent would prefer the Federal Government to build it (2007).

Newlyweds Vodafone and 3 to compete on iPhone – Telco/ISP – Technology – News – iTnews.com.au

The newly-merged VHA has signed an agreement with Apple for its ‘3′ brand to sell the new iPhone 3G S.

Hutchison 3, which carries the iPhone in other regional markets such as Hong Kong, had until now avoided the iPhone market, leaving larger competitors Telstra, Optus and Vodafone to fight over the popular mobile device.

But according to a spokesperson for 3, the mobile carrier began conversations with Apple to carry the iPhone just prior to the merger with Vodafone being approved.

These discussions were taken over by VHA, who agreed it in the best interest of the merged entity to offer the iPhone under the 3 brand just as it does under the Vodafone brand.

No pricing or plan details are available as yet, but a spokesperson for 3 confirmed with iTnews that Vodafone and 3 will offer the iPhone under differentiated plans.

FTC to crack down on undisclosed “sponsored” blogging – Ars Technica

Do your favorite mom and pop blogs secretly accept cash or gifts in exchange for product mentions? They might, and the FTC wants to make sure they disclose their conflicts of interest with a new set of guidelines that it hopes to implement later this year.

Meet Melody: Movable Type’s open-source sibling | Webware – CNET

Community members of Six Apart’s Movable Type platform (MT) are launching a new blogging service on Tuesday. Dubbed “Melody,” it’s an open-source version of MT that community members are free to build on and change.

Unlike previous open-source efforts though, this one is the first to break off (or “fork”) from the main product, allowing for much faster and drastic changes. In many ways it’s an answer to WordPress, a competitor of Six Apart that began as an open source project and has benefited from rapid development because of it.

What’s New in Firefox 3.5?

Mike Beltzner gives a quick preview of what’s new and exciting in Firefox 3.5, coming soon from Mozilla

Lifehacker – Top 10 Firefox 3.5 Features – Firefox 3.5

Firefox 3.5 is a pretty substantial update to the popular open-source browser, and it’s just around the corner. See what features, fixes, and clever new tools are worth getting excited about in the next big release:
- Firefox 3.5 implements a restore feature for both tabs and windows from the History menu, which would (hopefully) also restore any text you’ve typed into them.
- Firefox 3.5’s history browser offers a convenient “Forget this site” option, erasing your browser’s memory of particular domains. It doesn’t cover subdomains, and your network traffic and Flash memory would still hold some details, but it’s a handy tweak however you cut it.
- Google Chrome and Safari somewhat stole the thunder out from under this feature, but it’s still a nice one: Grab a tab and drag it out a bit to create a new browser window from it. Drag windows into tabs again.
- Firefox 3’s AwesomeBar/address bar offers a speedy list of suggestions to complete whatever you’re typing,that list comes from your page history, bookmarks, and tags, and can be matched by URL or name. Special character filters in the next Firefox allow you to restrict matches to a particular category for instance.
- Firefox’s developers took a cue from the users and turned the session restore feature into more of a crash recovery tool, allowing users to select which tabs should come back. If you don’t know who’s the culprit, here’s a hint: It’s probably the one with Flash on it.
- Private Browsing mode,already in a number of competing browsers, has uses beyond the prurient. Beyond obvious situations, like gift buying and sensitive research, logging onto a friend’s browser for a quick email check or bill pay is made a lot more secure if you can get to the private mode.
-Firefox 3.5 introduces dynamic color profiles for each picture, meaning that whatever the graphic designer or photographer saw when they were doing their work, you’ll see it on their web page.
- Even if TraceMonkey (javascript engine) is ultimately outpaced by Chrome and/or Safari, its innovations push the whole browser market forward and give us all a bit less load time to complain about.
- Integrated geo-location, powered by Google’s Wi-Fi triangulation and simple IP address information, looks to know roughly where you are and help you when you’re looking for something local. You can disable it if you’d like, but, realistically, signing on from any IP address reveals a bit about where you are anyways.
- If you’re viewing a page coded in HTML 5 with video in an open-source format like Ogg Vorbis or Theora, Firefox 3.5 treats that video like it’s just part of the page, not a separate little island of Flash content. That means instant commenting on videos. It could also mean offering links from inside a tutorial video that offer more details on what’s being shown

Lifehacker – Microsoft’s Browser Comparison Chart Offends Anyone Who’s Ever Used Another Browser – Internet Explorer 8

This browser comparison chart pits IE8 against Firefox and Chrome and puts IE8 on top time after time, but in very dubious categories. Each row comes with its own ridiculous set of comments justifying the seemingly meaningless checkmarks

Web-Based Productivity Suite Zoho Now Integrated With Microsoft SharePoint

Zoho Suite, a web-based software suite comprised of document, project and invoicing management tools, has launched an add-on that allows Zoho Office to integrate with Microsoft SharePoint.

Zoho users can now create new documents and save them to SharePoint in MS Office formats, view existing documents within SharePoint using Zoho apps, and edit existing documents with Zoho Apps and save them back to SharePoint. The new add-on also provides collaborative editing functionality in Zoho with the integration with SharePoint. Zoho says the add-on costs $2/user/month on an yearly subscription or $3/user/month for monthly subscription

EFF kills another stupid internet patent – Boing Boing

EFF’s patent-busting project has put another notch in its belt: today they killed a truly outrageous patent on the use of subdomains for navigation and content management, as with jwz.livejournal.com. Can you believe that the patent office granted that patent in 2004, based on a 1999 application? Can you believe that the people who filed the patent claimed (with a straight face) that they didn’t know of any other prior art that made this invalid?

It’s hard to know whether to be happy for and grateful to the Electronic Frontier Foundation for killing this abomination, or pissed off with the patent office for creating it.

Obama’s USPTO choice supports patent reform – Ars Technica

Last Thursday, the Obama administration finally named its choice to head the Patent and Trademark Office: David J. Kappos, who is currently serving as IBM’s assistant general counsel. Kappos has a long history in the field of intellectual property law, and has been an advocate of patent reforms, having testified in favor of a reform bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Normally, a public record of that sort provides plenty of opportunities for people to identify problems with a candidate, but, so far at least, response to Kappos’ nomination has been generally positive.

Researchers conclude piracy not stifling content creation – Ars Technica

File-sharing, to the (very large) extent that it involves copyright infringement, has affected the music business. But, as a pair of academic researchers happily point out in a working paper they’ve posted online, copyright law was never meant to protect the music business in the first place—instead, it is intended to foster creative production in the arts, which happen to include music. As such, they argue it’s worth analyzing the deeper question of whether file sharing is putting a damper on music creation. Their conclusion is that this is a much more complicated question, but the answer seems to be “probably not.” The authors construct a bit of a causal chain between file sharing and the intent of copyright law to foster creative works. First, you’d need to know that file sharing was harming music sales, and that the music industry wasn’t finding alternative ways of generating income. Then you’d need to show that the loss of income provided a disincentive to musical creativity. They recognize that this calculus might seem a bit heartless, though: “It might seem curious to some of our readers that we do not consider the welfare of artists and entertainment companies in our calculus. Our approach, however, reflects the original intent of copyright protection, which was conceived not as a welfare program for authors but to encourage the creation of new works.”…If the first two links in the chain are tenuous, the last one pretty much gets demolished. There’s essentially no indication that the more challenging economics are slowing down creative content production. In the five years prior to 2007, film production is up 30 percent, album releases have doubled, and book releases are up by two-thirds.

The authors also cite statistics that suggest that finances aren’t (or at least, shouldn’t be) the primary motivator for creative musical works. Because of the structure of the music business, even a gold record doesn’t guarantee a windfall to artists, and the ratio of gold records to all records suggest that success is distributed by a system that most resembles a lottery. People clearly seem willing to put time into producing music even if it’s not paying off, as the authors note, “even among those who spent at least thirty hours a week on music-related activities, only 22 percent derived at least four-fifths of their income from music.”

Given that all the links in the causal chain are, at best, tenuous, the authors conclude that, while copyright infringement may be hurting the music business, that shouldn’t be taken as an indication that it’s affecting the theoretical basis of copyright law, the fostering of creative works.

Anti-Piracy Lawyers Lose License To Chase Pirates | TorrentFreak

Just days after Norway’s data protection department told ISPs they must delete all personal IP address-related data three weeks after collection, it’s now become safer than ever to be a file-sharer in Norway. The only law firm with a license to track pirates has just seen it expire and it won’t be renewed.

DX11 is AMD’s weapon – News – PC Authority

t certainly is interesting to see AMD putting most of its energy into DX11 leadership while Nvidia focuses maniacally on GP-GPU with its C for Cuda and Open CL. So even though NV will likely be behind ATI in DX11, ATI lags behind NV in the GP-GPU battle, which is not insignificant in the slightest.

The lines have been drawn and now it is left to the customer to ultimately decide who’s approach is right

Does Intel have a deal with Nokia? | Technology | guardian.co.uk

The speculation is that Nokia will use a next-generation Atom chip in some kind of device, possibly even a mobile phone

Flash Player 10 beta coming to most smartphones this fall | Crave – CNET

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen confirmed that Adobe will release a beta version of Flash Player 10 in October for a number of smartphone browsers, including Windows Mobile, Google Android, Palm WebOS, and Symbian.

Mobile stars of the show

A collection of mobile manufacturers unveiled their latest phones at the glamour-studded CommunicAsia 2009 event held last week in Singapore.

Some mobiles will bring real innovations to the handset market such as Sony Ericsson’s new gesture gaming phones that let you box or do yoga in front of them and LG’s GD900 Crystal that can recognise symbols and handwriting on its transparent alphanumeric keypad.

Other makers like Nokia and Samsung are ramping up the touch functions, screen resolution and speed of smartphones to ensure people who use their device primarily for work don’t miss out on iPhone-like features. Samsung’s new Jet is one new model that looks impressive in this category. Its screen resolution is four times higher than previous Samsung models and it has a new user interface that supports motion, customisable widgets, multitasking and simultaneous downloads.

iPhone In-App Purchases Already Leading To The Dreaded Two Words: Bait And Switch

the old practice of luring customers with a shiny price, only to reveal the real cost after (in this case, the download), could find its way to the App Store, thanks to in-app purchases.

Let me be clear: I think in-app purchases are potentially the most exciting thing about the new iPhone 3.0 SDK for developers. I believe it will mean a boatload of money for a great many of them as well as Apple, which takes its 30% cut. But where there is money to be made, there is money to be taken. And we’re likely to see a rise in apps that seem priced way too good to be true — because they are, until you download them.

Hands on review: iPhone OS 3.0 chock full of changes – Ars Technica

Sure, the iPhone 3G S is exciting—who doesn’t like new hardware?—but more important than the hardware itself is the software that runs on it. As a bonus for all iPhone users, iPhone OS 3.0 won’t just run on the new iPhone 3G S; it will run on iPhone 3Gs and even the original iPhone. There are elements to iPhone OS 3.0 that only run on the iPhone 3G S, however, and we will address those in our iPhone 3G S review. This part of the review, however, will focus on features that are generally available to all iPhone users (but focused mostly on the iPhone 3G, since that’s the device with the widest reach at the moment).

Review: iPhone 3GS lives up to its speedy claims – Ars Technica

this review will mostly focus on changes to the device that differentiate it from previous versions.

Byte Into It – 17 Jun 09

Telstra split is needed: ACCC

THE AUSTRALIAN Competition and Consumer Commission has told the Federal Government the structural separation of Telstra is essential to its planned $43 billion national broadband network.

But Telstra in its submission to the Government’s review of telecommunications regulation argues that no further separation of its operations is necessary as the new network, which will be wholesale only, would deliver structural separation.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy yesterday published more than 120 submissions, which he said supported the Government’s conviction that regulatory reform was “urgently required” in the sector.

Telstra’s submission is conciliatory in tone, restating its commitment to “engaging constructively” with the Government on the broadband project, which it described as a “vital investment for the nation, the telecommunications industry and Telstra”.

Locus Online Features: Cory Doctorow: Writing in the Age of Distraction

We know that our readers are distracted and sometimes even overwhelmed by the myriad distractions that lie one click away on the Internet, but of course writers face the same glorious problem: the delirious world of information and communication and community that lurks behind your screen, one alt-tab away from your word-processor.

PC Pro: News: BT wants BBC to pay-up for iPlayer

BT is tired of the BBC and other video sites getting a “free ride” on its networks.

Last week a row erupted between BT and the BBC, after it emerged that BT was choking iPlayer streams on some of its broadband packages, which the broadcaster said was hurting viewers’ ability to watch television online.

John Petter, managing director of BT Retail’s consumer business, has now accused the BBC of getting a “free ride”.

“We can’t give the content providers a completely free ride and continue to give customers the [service] they want at the price they expect,” he told the Financial Times, adding it wasn’t only the BBC that was the burden, but any sites offering streaming video.

The iiNet twenty: AFACT go after individual downloaders in court – News – PC Authority

According to a story at ITnews, iiNet has been called upon by the court to give up the account details of twenty unlucky downloaders. Perhaps twenty of the unluckiest downloaders you’re likely to hear about in the next few weeks. The iiNet twenty are going to be made an example of; originally AFACT (Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft) sought the records of 300-400 account holders.

Considering AFACT has half succeeded in their battle to order the names and details of any number of iiNet customers, let alone twenty – is still a very scary thought for privacy activists.

However, those twenty symbolic iiNet users shouldn’t feel alone. A recent Torrentfreak report suggested that Aussies downloaded as many as 6 million files in April across the auspicious P2P/Bittorent network, with most of those being directed through Bittorrent site, Mininova.

Top French Court Declares Internet Access ‘Basic Human Right’ – Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News – FOXNews.com

France’s highest court has inflicted an embarrassing blow to President Sarkozy by cutting the heart out of a law that was supposed to put France in the forefront of the fight against piracy on the internet.

The Constitutional Council declared access to the internet to be a basic human right, directly opposing the key points of Mr Sarkozy’s law, passed in April, which created the first internet police agency in the democratic world.

The strongly-worded decision means that Mr Sarkozy’s scheme has backfired and inadvertently boosted those who defend the free-for-all culture of the web.

Mr Sarkozy and Christine Albanel, his Culture Minister, forced the law through parliament despite misgivings from many of the President’s centre-right MPs. It was rejected in its first passage through Parliament.

The law innovated by creating an agency, known by its initials HADOPI, which would track abusers and cut off net access automatically to those who continued to download illicitly after two warnings.

The law was supported by the industry and many artists. They saw it as a model for the USA and Europe in the fight to keep earning a living from their music and film. Net libertarians saw it as the creation of a sinister Big Brother. Many called it technically unworkable. Some artists saw it as hostile to the young consumers who are their main customers.

AACS license finalized; managed copy coming to Blu-ray – Ars Technica

The managed copy feature is designed to allow an owner to make at least one full-resolution backup copy of AACS-protected content. It has been a mandatory part of the Blu-ray specification since 2005, and we were told that support was coming by the end of 2007. Of course, that was contingent on the finalized AACS licensing agreement, which was just published earlier this month. AACS licensees have until the end of this year to sign the agreement, and due to a number of factors support won’t likely be available until sometime early next year.

Among those issues is the fact that current Blu-ray hardware doesn’t support managed copy, and most likely can’t be enabled by a firmware upgrade, so it will mean at a minimum a hardware upgrade for users to take advantage of the feature. Also, capable Blu-ray devices will have to be able to connect to an authorization server to track whether a managed copy has been made, or if the number of copies made has reached the allowable limit. Those servers aren’t expected to be online until sometime in the first quarter of 2010. And finally, content providers have to encode a URL to the necessary authorization server when mastering the disc.

Virgin and Universal to roll out music service – News – PC Authority

Virgin and Universal Music have signed a new deal overseas to launch an unlimited music download service.

The new service will be offered as part of Virgin’s UK broadband service will allow unlimited downloads of Universal artists for a monthly fee as well as a second option for limited downloads at a lower price.

The companies vowed that the service will not use any DRM protection software and users will be able to keep the downloaded tracks for as long as they wish. However, Universal also said that it would work with Virgin to keep the downloaded songs from being redistributed to other users.

The move is a first between a major label and an ISP.

Adobe challenges Google Docs with launch of Acrobat.com – Ars Technica

Adobe has finally (well, sort of) taken the beta tag off of Acrobat.com, shedding more light on Adobe’s software as a service strategy first revealed with Photoshop Express. Along with online PDF creation tools, file sharing, online meeting and collaboration, Acrobat.com also includes Adobe’s Buzzword word processor for online and collaborative document creation. Adobe is also giving a first peek at the less-cleverly-named Tables spreadsheet app and Presentation… presentation app. The move seems like a shot across Google’s bow.

The collection of tools is aimed at replicating many of the functions for which most office workers use Microsoft Office. It also offers some services similar to Google Docs. Adobe describes the design focus behind Acrobat.com as being on ubiquity, collaboration, and user experience. Ubiquity is powered by (of course) the Internet, and collaboration comes from group document creation, editing, and sharing. Collaboration is also facilitated by ConnectNow, which includes and online meeting space as well as screen sharing facilities. The user experience is naturally fueled by Flash and AIR.

Though Adobe is launching Acrobat.com today, taking the beta tag off of the service itself, Buzzword still appears to be in beta status. And, while the previews for Tables and Presentation available from Adobe Labs are quite functional, and offer all the basic features one would expect from such apps, Adobe doesn’t seem ready to even label them as betas.

Google adding microblog indexing to its search results – Ars Technica

Though Twitter has its own search capabilities, Google will be soon offering a way to search it as well as and other microblogging services. A reference to “MicroBlogsearch” turned up recently in the Google In Your Language localization service, suggesting that Google plans to launch the feature soon.

Twitter’s own search system merely shows recent results containing the search terms, with the most recent first. Older results can be viewed by clicking on “Older,” and a small sidebar shows the top ten “trending topics,” but that’s about the extent of it. And of course it doesn’t have results from other micro-blogging platforms, such as Indenti.ca, Tumblr, or BrightKite.

Google’s system, on the other hand, would work more like its current Blog Search, sorting results by relevance using its constantly evolving algorithms. If a particular string of search terms has relevance to keywords in tweets or other micro-blogging messages, then Google will show them along with other results under the heading “Recent updates about….”

Opera Unite

Share your stuff with your friends over the Web without handing it over to anyone else — total privacy and complete control. We are changing the game. Explore Opera Unite services.
Opera Unite

Opera Unite gives developers access to powerful APIs to develop amazing Opera Unite services. We have detailed documentation to get your started at http://dev.opera.com/articles/unite/.
Opera Unite: a Web server on the Web browser

With Opera 10, we are introducing a new technology called Opera Unite, radically extending what you are able to do online. Opera Unite harnesses the power of today’s fast connections and hardware, allowing all of us to help define the future landscape of the Web, one computer at a time. Read about how Opera Unite is going to change the way we interact on the Web on labs.opera.com.
Take control of what you share online
Opera Unite allows you to easily share your data: photos, music, notes and other files. You can even run chat rooms and host entire Web sites with Opera Unite. It puts the power of a Web server in your browser, giving you greater privacy and flexibility than other online services.

Microsoft’s Browser Unbundling Puzzles Europe – PC World

Microsoft’s plan to dump Internet Explorer (IE) from Windows 7 for the European market is a move to discredit antitrust regulators by tying its proposal to a failed enforcement effort from 2005, a noted antitrust expert said today.

microsoft windows internet explorer legal”It’s sort of a puckish thing to do, when you think about it,” said William Page, co-author of The Microsoft Case: Antitrust, High Technology, and Consumer Welfare (University of Chicago Press, 2009). “Their solution is a little bit like Windows XP [and Vista] ‘N,’ which dramatizes that the EU essentially wants the same thing this time. But everyone knows that ‘N’ was a total flop.”

Windows XP N, and later, Windows Vista N, were special editions that omitted Windows Media Player, which Microsoft was forced to create for Europeans after losing an earlier antitrust case. By all accounts, Windows XP and Vista N have been major busts, with few copies sold and no computer makers installing them on new PCs.

Microsoft’s obvious attempt to tie its solution to the failed “N” editions of 2005 — it went so far as to say it will slap the letter “E” on the Windows 7 editions that omit IE — is probably one reason why the EU has turned a cold shoulder to the company’s plan, said Page.

“The Commission had suggested to Microsoft that consumers be provided with a choice of Web browsers,” EU regulators said today in a statement. “Instead Microsoft has apparently decided to supply retail consumers with a version of Windows without a Web browser at all. Rather than more choice, Microsoft seems to have chosen to provide less.”

Opera and Mozilla unimpressed by IE unbundling plans – Software – iTnews Australia

Browser makers have spoken out against Microsoft’s latest proposal to open up competition in the market by shipping copies of Windows 7 without Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) bundled in.

Opera’s chief technology officer, Hakon Wium Lie, said that he was “not impressed at all” by the latest proposal from Microsoft, which would let computer manufacturers choose which browser or browsers to include on new Windows 7 PCs.

“If this had happened in 1997 when the competition case was first being heard in the US, maybe it would have helped in creating a level playing field,” Lie said.

“But this is too little, too late. It won’t restore competition in the browser market.”

Lie added that, although IE8 would not be bundled into Windows 7 as standard by Microsoft, computer makers would choose the Microsoft browser anyway as this was the easy option.

“[Microsoft is] putting all the pieces into place for OEMs to put in IE8 anyway,” he said.

Instead of the Microsoft proposal to ship browser-free copies of Windows 7 in Europe, Lie supported the European Commission’s (EC’s) recommendation of a ‘ballot screen’.

This would present users with a choice of browsers when first starting up their new PC, along with an explanation of what each one offers.

Linux News from Linux Loop » Blog Archive » Firefox 3.5 Preview Shows New Hope For Open Media Standards

The preview release of Firefox 3.5 is showing some neat tricks relating to online video, but not the kind that comes in a little proprietary bubble of Flash.

For example, the new Firefox 3.5 will be able to smoothly resize videos on the fly within the page. The interesting part, though, is that these videos are in OGG format – in other words, entirely open. With such a mainstream browser showing off what can be done with open video formats, there is a good chance that flash will lose its dominant position, or at least have to share a little. I’m not one to say “death to Flash” just because it happens to be proprietary, but an open video standard would allow for so much innovation. Already numerous projects are attempting to unify our media-watching experience. Just imagine the sudden freedom to create an even better experience if all that media was available in open formats.

Flash has been essential to the rise of sites like YouTube, but it might be time for something more flexible to replace it.

Google’s Rich Snippets Starts the Semantic Snowball Effect | Digital Media Buzz

some things that were seen as being enabled by the Semantic Web in 2001 are already here without it. For many Americans, persistent mobile connection is a reality — e-mail and SMS-capable phones are ubiquitous, and Web-enabled phones are common. But the full power of machine-understood data, linked across the entire body of information in one global Web, with “agents” focused on personal service to humans, is only in its infancy. The Semantic Web vision is the other part of Web 3.0, which vertically integrates data from a diverse set of sources, according to the W3C’s Semantic Web group.

The challenges to the Semantic Web
The Web, as of July 2008, included one trillion distinct URLs, by Google’s count. The search giant is estimated to actually index less than 5 percent of those, still a matter of tens of billions of Web pages. The overwhelming majority of these pages are meant to be read and understood by humans. The content of the pages isn’t meant to be understood by computers. Search engines can index keywords, but without context.

Semantic Web experts have collected the toolkit of languages and metadata markup systems that will allow machines to understand key words and the relationships between them. Such metadata is already being used in many places. A microformat called hResume, for example, allows LinkedIn.com to tag appropriate resume fields of its public profiles so that the resume data can be understood and reused elsewhere.

Persuading websites to recode Web pages to Semantic Web specifications — or even to do so going forward — will take a powerful motivator.
Google may have provided such a motivator with its May 12 announcement of Rich Snippets. “Snippet” is the name Google uses for the short block of text appearing below a search result, giving more information about the Web page. Google announced in its Webmasters Central Blog (a bookmark for anyone interested in making his or her website more visible to the leading search engine) that it is now applying Google’s algorithms to “highlight structured data embedded in web pages.” Translation, content marked for the Semantic Web. The “rich snippets” will be based on the structured data.

This is a major event for a couple of reasons. First, Google is the poster child for machine learning, which in Web terms means teaching machines to scan plain-language Web pages and cull meaning from them. This is the other end of the spectrum from the Semantic Web vision of coding pages in a special way so they have meaning to machines. Google’s announcement, which explicitly discussed plans to extend support for structured data in new ways as well as to recognize metadata coding developed elsewhere on the Web, puts the company on a course for a synergy between machine learning and Semantic Web practices.

Yahoo searchmonkeyGoogle isn’t the first major search company to focus on structured data. Yahoo’s Search Monkey platform for Web developers supports a robust package of metadata formats, and urges developers to have at it. But the reality is that Google is the one people are paying attention to where it counts.

This brings us to the second reason this is a major step: self-interest. It’s important to harness the force that created those tens of billions of indexed Web pages in the first place. And Google’s announcement means money.

Ars toasts English language as Web 2.0 named millionth word – Ars Technica

The Global Language Monitor says that the one millionth word entered the English language today at 10:22am GMT. Setting aside the preposterous nature of the claim, let’s celebrate the language that brought us everything from “cloud computing” to “nincompoop.”

Ars Reviews the Palm Pre, part 1: the BlackBerry killer – Ars Technica

Most of the gadget press is obsessing over whether the Palm Pre is an iPhone killer, but they’re asking the wrong question. We’ve been testing one for the past few days, and it’s clear to us that the real target of Palm’s new phone is the BlackBerry. Here’s how Palm will use the webOS to tackle the enterprise market.

Cisco report: the exaflood will be televised – Ars Technica

More and more technology companies are adopting an Internet-scale variant on the “give away the razors, sell the blades” model to stimulate demand for their products, and they’re doing so in order to ride the one demand curve that’s set to keep going up despite any global slowdown: the demand for bandwidth. Cisco’s acquisition of video gadget maker PureDigital is a case in point, though the idea there is really more like “invest in razor development to stimulate global blade demand.” The networking infrastructure giant made it known at the time of the acquisition that this purchase was about one thing: boosting the amount of video traffic flowing over everyone’s pipes, so that it can sell newer, larger pipes to bandwidth providers.

Ultimate BIOS Guide: Every Setting Decrypted and Explained!

Power users routinely punch into the BIOS in order to fine tune their system, but it can be an intimidating place to go exploring if you’ve never before burrowed beneath the surface. Here is your go-to guide for everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the BIOS.

E3 2009: Who won? Who lost? Who wins a golden Ars? – Ars Technica

This was a big show filled with games, parties, lines, headaches, and, of course, celebrities. What rates as a Golden Ars? Here are our picks.

IGN: IGN’s Overall Best of E3 2009 Awards

These are the games that got the IGN editors talking last week and haven’t been able to shut up about since

Prototype review: One thing you can’t destroy is yourself – Ars Technica

It’s an interesting question to ask while playing: why did Prototype fail? Yes, it did fail, although for hours while playing I couldn’t quite put my finger on what exactly missed the mark. It’s a fun failure, in places, with a sense of power that feels almost unearned. The game begins with the worst cliche of this sort of game: you have all your powers straight up, and get to tear-ass around the city for a few minutes before the game shoves you back in time to explain how you got there. The problem—and this is a big problem for a superhero game—is that this approach makes you feel powerful, and then weak. Since you’ve already lost most of your humanity, what’s the point of feeling like a weak monster?

Sydney Morning Herald | Technology | Iran | Twitter | Tehran | Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | Mir Hossein Mousavi | protests | riots

An opposition activist spreads word of an upcoming protest in the streets of Tehran. Another posts pictures of clashes between demonstrators and police.

As Iran’s government cracks down on traditional media after the country’s disputed presidential election, tech-savvy Iranians have turned to the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Its use to organise and send pictures and messages to the outside world – in real time as events unfolded – was a powerful example of how such tools can overcome government attempts at censorship.

Cyberwar guide for Iran elections – Boing Boing

The purpose of this guide is to help you participate constructively in the Iranian election protests through Twitter.

1. Do NOT publicise proxy IP’s over twitter, and especially not using the #iranelection hashtag. Security forces are monitoring this hashtag, and the moment they identify a proxy IP they will block it in Iran. If you are creating new proxies for the Iranian bloggers, DM them to @stopAhmadi or @iran09 and they will distributed them discretely to bloggers in Iran.

2. Hashtags, the only two legitimate hashtags being used by bloggers in Iran are #iranelection and #gr88, other hashtag ideas run the risk of diluting the conversation.

3. Keep you bull$hit filter up! Security forces are now setting up twitter accounts to spread disinformation by posing as Iranian protesters. Please don’t retweet impetuosly, try to confirm information with reliable sources before retweeting. The legitimate sources are not hard to find and follow.

4. Help cover the bloggers: change your twitter settings so that your location is TEHRAN and your time zone is GMT +3.30. Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location and timezone searches. If we all become ‘Iranians’ it becomes much harder to find them.

5. Don’t blow their cover! If you discover a genuine source, please don’t publicise their name or location on a website. These bloggers are in REAL danger. Spread the word discretely through your own networks but don’t signpost them to the security forces. People are dying there, for real, please keep that in mind…

Twitter reschedules maintenance to avoid clobbering Iranian dissidents – Boing Boing

A critical network upgrade must be performed to ensure continued operation of Twitter. In coordination with Twitter, our network host had planned this upgrade for tonight. However, our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran. Tonight’s planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran).

Byte Into It – 10 Jun 09

Internet filter: $44.5m and no goal in sight – Technology – theage.com.au

The Rudd Government’s internet censorship policy will cost about $90,000 per blocked web address to implement and the Government has admitted it has not developed any criteria to determine whether trials of the scheme are a success.

The Opposition, Greens and online users’ lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia are concerned the lack of success criteria is a sign the policy itself has no clear goals and is instead being dictated by what the technology will allow.

Nine ISPs are trialling the web censorship plan, which will mandatorily block all content that has been “refused classification” by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Results of the trials are due to be published in July but, in response to a freedom of information request, the Government has admitted that “there are not success criteria as such”.

“This exposes a major shortcoming in the Government’s approach,” Opposition communications spokesman Nick Minchin said.

Greens senator Scott Ludlam said: “It sounds as though we’ll filter as many sites as the technology allows us to … that’s the reason I think people are so concerned about this in that it seems to be really open-ended.”

Palm Pre iTunes compatibility confirmed as a hack – Ars Technica

None other than “DVD” Jon Lech Johansen, most well known for defeating the CSS encryption used in commercial DVDs, has verified that Palm’s Pre smartphone is indeed emulating an iPod to enable automatic syncing of music, photos, and videos.

As it turns out, Johansen knows quite a bit about how iPods and iTunes work together. In addition to reverse engineering CSS, he also developed software called QTFairUse that could strip the FairPlay DRM from iTunes tracks. And, his current company, doubleTwist, makes software that can sync a variety of content among several devices, including iPods.

Here’s what’s wrong with the Palm Pre

Most of you already assume the phone is “good,” so I’ve gone ahead and collected a few excerpts of the more critical points. You know, the part of the review that goes something like, “Now, the Palm Pre isn’t perfect; we found a few problems with it. And they are…” That part.

• The Pre’s biggest disadvantage is its app store, the App Catalog. At launch, it has only about a dozen apps, compared with over 40,000 for the iPhone, and thousands each for the G1 and the modern BlackBerry models. Even worse, the Pre App Catalog isn’t finished. It’s immature, it’s labeled a beta, and Palm has yet to release the tools for making Pre apps available to more than a small group of developers.
• Battery life between charges is relatively weak. While it’s in line with competitors with a claimed five hours of talk time, and matches the iPhone’s claimed five hours of Web surfing time, it offers only half the iPhone’s 24 hours of continuous music playback and claims just five hours of video playback, versus seven for the iPhone.
• Another downside: the Pre’s autocorrect system, for instantly fixing mistyped words, is puny. Even with a physical keyboard, people make typos, and Palm only fixes about 2,500 common words, like “the.” By contrast, both the BlackBerry and iPhone have tens of thousands of autocorrections built in, including fixes for long, complex words.

Google releases Chrome preview for Mac OS X and Linux – Ars Technica

Google has announced the availability of the first official Chrome developer release for Linux and Mac OS X. The search giant says that the release is a preview intended for testing purposes only and that the software is still unsuitable for regular users.

When Google launched Chrome last year, the browser was available only on Windows. Development on the Linux and Mac OS X ports began shortly after the initial Windows release and has progressed at a steady pace. The Chrome team aims to build ports that feel native and conform well with the underlying platform, but also retain some of the browser’s unique characteristics, such as the distinctive angled tab skyline. This approach to cross-platform software development is very challenging, especially on Linux where the inherent diversity and modularity of the platform makes it difficult to translate many elements of the original Chrome vision.

Google: sandboxing for Chrome on Mac OS X a piece of cake – Ars Technica

Google engineers have found that implementing Chrome’s signature sandboxed processes is easy under Mac OS X thanks to its built in sandbox facility. Compared to the built-from-scratch approach used in Windows, it was apparently child’s play.

Windows 7 arrives on October 22 (Updated) – Ars Technica

Those waiting anxiously for the next version of Windows now have a date to anticipate. Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 7 will be launched on October 22, 2009. This date, which is referred to as General Availability (GA), is in line with Microsoft’s previous statement saying that it would have Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 ready by the holidays.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Will Bing boom or be a big bust?

In the last few weeks we have had Wolfram Alpha offering a way to search structured data and provide results in a form suitable for further computation. We have had Google Squared promising a simple way of pulling organised data from websites into a spreadsheet style format.

Finally, a new controller-free interface for the Xbox 360 games console from Microsoft that – the company hopes – will open up gaming to the millions who are intimidated by the complexity of current controllers.

And now, after years of effort, billions of dollars worth of investment and several failed attempts, Microsoft has launched Bing, a search engine that it thinks has a chance of unseating Google and which it would like us to think of as a “decision engine”.

In the end, Bing could of course succeed not by offering a better search than Google but by making money for more people. Google’s targeted advertising programmes, Adwords and Adsense, are the key to the company’s success and have fuelled its growth, and if Microsoft can find ways to generate advertising income for others then it may raise Bing’s profile enough to take some of Google’s mindshare.

As long as Microsoft has income from software sales to subsidise its search technology then it can afford to offer advertisers better deals than Google, which needs the money they provide. The success of Windows 7 and the Azure cloud computing platform could end up mattering as much to Google as it does to Microsoft.

Quick Peak? Bing’s Reign As #2 Search Engine Lasted One Day.

On
June 4, Bing had over 15% of the U.S. search share market, according to
the data. On the same day, Yahoo had just over 10%. The following day,
Yahoo had almost 11% while Bing had fallen below 10%. And yesterday,
Bing had fallen to 6.68% while Yahoo rose again to 11.33%. Meanwhile,
the same data suggests that while Google took a big dip during Bing’s
reign, it too has now started moving back upwards as Bing declines. Not
that Google was in any real danger — on June 4 (the day of Bing’s #2
position), Google had fallen to 72% of searches in the U.S. Now it’s
just about back up to 80%.

Is Twitter Really That Big?

Purewire was able to pull together profile data from 7 million user profiles and this is what it found:

First, many Twitter users “have abandoned their accounts shortly after creating them, and a significant percentage are not showing signs of account activity”.

* 40 percent of Twitter users have not tweeted since their first day on Twitter (i.e., the account was most likely created and subsequently forgotten about).

* Approximately 25 percent of Twitter users are not following
anyone, while two-thirds are following less than 10 people (i.e., the
account was created but is not actually being used regularly).

Second, the data shows that “Twitter is used more as a mass medium for receiving information, rather than as a way to interact with others. Proof is shown by evaluating the followers and friends of Twitter users”.

* More than 1/3 of Twitter users have not posted a single tweet, and almost 80 percent of the users have less than 10 tweets (i.e., while Twitter is billed as a great collaboration tool, a large number of users are there to consume content, not distribute it).

* Approximately 30 percent of Twitter users do not have any
followers, and 80 percent of Twitter users have less than 10 followers
(i.e., for many users, their posts are not being widely tracked or
read).

* 50 percent of Twitter users are following more people than they
have as followers, and another 30 percent of Twitter users are following
the same number of people that are following them (i.e. users are
aggressively trying to attract followers by hoping they will “follow
back” but have been unsuccessful).

Kindle competition heats up as Google floats e-book plans – Ars Technica

Late last week, Plastic Logic demonstrated a touch-screen reader designed to compete with the Kindle DX. Then, over the weekend, Google pitched its upcoming book content store to publishers at BookExpo America. It’s looking like the e-book market is on the verge of getting very crowded.

HTML 5 and Web video: freeing rich media from plugin prison – Ars Technica

DailyMotion and Google are both experimenting with the HTML 5 video element and have strongly endorsed standards-based solutions for deploying video on the Web. Ars takes a close look at the state of open video and explores both the benefits and challenges of liberating rich media from the proprietary plugin prison.

Hands-on: much to like in Hulu Desktop – Ars Technica

Hulu has introduced Hulu Desktop as part of its new Hulu Labs. The client allows Mac and Windows users to browse their favorite TV shows and movies on the desktop using an Apple or Windows Media Center remote.

Adobe launches Flash Catalyst tool for rapid UI design – Ars Technica

Adobe has launched the beta release of Flash Catalyst, a new authoring tool that aims to accelerate the development of rich user interfaces with Flash. According to Adobe, the new authoring tool is a response to growing demand for more polished enterprise applications.

Tomboy note app gains Web sync, showcases power of open Web – Ars Technica

The open source Tomboy notetaking application is coming to the Web. A new project called Snowy aims to build a Web service that will enable Tomboy cloud synchronization and allow users to seamlessly access and edit their notes through a Web browser. Distributed under the AGPL, Snowy is a compelling example of how the open Web can empower users.

Wine 1.1.23 Released

Support for registering MIME types with the Linux desktop. – FBO mode is now the default for Direct3D. – Support for COM proxy delegation. – Improved support for the Mingw cross-compile. – Proper fullscreen mode for the virtual desktop. and “Wine is not an emulator”

The top four Linux netbook trends – Computerworld Blogs

1) Moblin 2.0, Intel’s, and now the Linux Foundation’s, entry in the netbook Linux operating system race seems to be the early winner. Canonical, with Ubuntu Netbook Remix; Linpus, Novell; Red Flag; and Xandros all announced they will deliver Moblin versions of their distributions for Intel’s Atom architecture.
2) Google continues to play coy with Android Linux on the desktop, but the netbooks are already on their way.
3) The ARM processors seem to be lagging behind the Intel Atom family. That said, Asus, Compal, Foxconn, HTC (High Tech Computer), Inventec, Toshiba, and Wistron all showed off Snapdragon-powered devices at the show. What I see as the ARM/Snapdragon problem is that it’s largely waiting on Android
4) Proprietary media playback on Linux desktops will stop being a problem for most users. RealNetworks is really serious about being the media-player for Linux desktops. The company, which has long provided a proprietary and open-source media player, Helix, for Linux announced a host of partnerships.

Why Linux is ready for the desktop today | Tech News on ZDNet

Until recently commercial desktop Linux deployments had mostly been limited to single task applications, such as cash registers or transactional workstations. But Linux offerings are now mature enough and ideal for a wide range of workers. In fact, power users all the way down to users who perform such basic tasks as word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, email and web browsing are benefiting from a Linux operating system. In addition, due to the current economic environment, enterprises are required to rationalize the cost of their server and desktop software and thus they are reevaluating their use of costly proprietary software. As customers seek fully functional operating systems and applications at a fraction of the price of Windows or Mac, Linux has become a truly attractive alternative:
Open source applications reach maturity
Linux preloads on PCs increase
Netbook and Thin Client growth leads to Linux surge
Security issues plague Windows
Computing heads for the clouds

Driving the Linux drivers – Computerworld Blogs

To make sure that Linux supports hardware, Greg Kroah-Hartman, a Linux kernel developer and an engineer at Novell, started a project, the LDP (Linux Driver Project), for open-source developers to create hardware drivers for free for companies. You don’t even have to reveal your precious proprietary secrets to the world. The programmers will keep those secret.

It’s been a very successful project. Last year, at the Linux Foundation conference, Kroah-Hartman said, “LDP) is alive and well, with over 300 developers wanting to participate, many drivers already written and accepted into the Linux kernel tree, and many more being currently developed. The main problem is a lack of projects. It turns out that there really isn’t much hardware that Linux doesn’t already support. Almost all new hardware produced is coming with a Linux driver already written by the company, or by the community with help from the company.”

To be honest, device drivers, on any platform, are always moving
targets. And, while you can get basic functionality from almost any
device, getting the fancier stuff can be a real challenge.

In particular, all-in-one units that combine multiple functions into
a single box, remain problem children. Getting any single function to
work isn’t a problem, co-coordinating all of them, that’s not so easy.
In no small part, that’s because what people want isn’t just a working
fax/printer/scanner, they want the front-end software that lets you
manage all that functionality.

That’s a problem, which will only be solved when hardware companies start writing more programs for Linux desktop users. With the rise of Linux netbooks, though, this issue too will be addressed.

EFF to track terms of service changes … so you don’t have to | NetworkWorld.com Community

Most Internet users read Web site terms of service agreements about as often than they peruse car owner’s manuals, which is to say only when it smells like something is burning.

Yet ToS changes happen all the time, those changes are often important, and, they can cause a stink, as Facebook and its faithful learned recently when the company proposed alterations to its terms that were perceived as Facebook helping itself to the pictures and writings of members. Much complaining and backpedaling ensued before order was restored.

In an effort that may actually accelerate such flare-ups in the future, the Electronic Frontier Foundation today announced that it has begun tracking ToS changes and making those findings available on a special Web site. At www.TOSBack.org, you can see a real-time feed of changes and updates to more than three dozen polices from the Internet’s most popular online services. Clicking on an update brings you to a side-by-side before-and-after comparison, highlighting what has been removed from the policy and what has been added

Bullshit about newspapers’ future, dissected – Boing Boing

What will these media executives do when that reality hits them? When these debt-burdened chains, stripped of journalistic talent by a decade of profiteering, their web traffic reduced by 60 percent by their paid-content follies, their pockets emptied by the cost of the proprietary paywall systems offered by Journalism Online LLC and other opportunistic vendors, what will they do?…

They don’t get it. They don’t want to get it. And in many cases, they’re literally paid not to get it.

America’s journalism infrastructure – from corporate giants to non-profit foundations like the American Press Institute and the Newspaper Association of America – is funded by dying companies. So when you hear about efforts to save newspapers (and, by extension, journalism), understand that answers that don’t return the possibility of double-digit profits and perpetual top-down control aren’t even considered answers. They’re not even considered.

They’ll do anything to survive… so long as it doesn’t involve change.

Bad Science versus the piracy scare story – Boing Boing

But what about all these other figures in the media coverage? Lots of it revolved around the figure of 4.73 billion items downloaded each year, worth £120 billion. This means each downloaded item, software, movie, mp3, ebook, is worth about £25. Now before we go anywhere, this already seems rather high. I am not an economist, and I don’t know about their methods, but to me, for example, an appropriate comparator for someone who downloads a film to watch it once might be the rental value, not the sale value. And someone downloading a £1,000 professional 3D animation software package to fiddle about with at home may not use it more than three times. I’m just saying.

In any case, that’s £175 a week or £8,750 a year potentially not being spent by millions of people. Is this really lost revenue for the economy, as reported in the press? Plenty will have been schoolkids, or students, and even if not, that’s still about a third of the average UK wage. Before tax. Oh but the figures were wrong: it was actually 473 million items and £12 billion (so the item value was still £25) but the wrong figures were in the original executive summary, and the press release. They changed them quietly, after the errors were pointed out by a BBC journalist. I can find no public correction.

MPAA Says Making Even “One Copy” of a DVD is Illegal

Last September Real Networks launched RealDVD to allow users to make backup copies of purchased DVDs for private use. The MPAA immediately dubbed it “StealDVD” and filed a lawsuit to ban the sale of RealDVD.

It’s essentially arguing that the price of a DVD is predicated on the “notion of certain use rights associated with certain price points.”

“When a consumer can voluntarily expand the rights that come with one of those services — in essence open the door to multiple copies of a work not licensed for that — that eliminates any monetization models except one: selling full use rights to the work at one fixed price,” says the Copyright Alliance on the MPAA’s behalf.

In other words, it only charges $9.99 per DVD, for example, because it assumes it lasts for a finite period of time, becoming inoperable due to wear and tear I suppose.

If you want a DVD you can make copies of then the “price point” must be higher to reflect “expanded use rights.”

The pirates will always win, says Carphone Warehouse’s Dunstone | Business | guardian.co.uk

Trying to stop people sharing copyrighted material over the internet is a game of cat and mouse in which the pirates will always win and calls for internet service providers to halt illegal file sharing are “naive”, according to the boss of Carphone Warehouse.

Instead, Charles Dunstone said, the solution is education about the benefits of respecting copyright coupled with services that allow consumers “to get content easily and cheaply”.

How Pirates Shook European Politics | TorrentFreak

With 7.1 percent of the vote, the Swedish Pirate Party has shocked its critics and secured a seat in the European Parliament. The Pirates received more votes from those under 30 than any other party in the European elections yesterday, and this was celebrated with pints of rum and loads of pirate chants.

pirate partyLate Sunday night, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt congratulated the Pirate Party on their unprecedented win at the European elections.

The Pirate Party is seen a serious competitor in Swedish politics now, a fact underscored by the Prime Minister who said that his own party will formulate a clear policy regarding net integrity and copyright issues in preparation for the Swedish national elections in September 2010.

Stockholm court: Pirate Bay judge wasn’t biased! – Ars Technica

Soon after The Pirate Bay trial ended in a guilty verdict, the site admins objected to alleged “bias” in district judge Tomas Norström. Turns out that Norström was a member of two different copyright organizations, one of which received some of its money from global music trade group IFPI. A court of appeals agreed to look into the matter, even assigning the review to a different section of judges that usually does not deal with copyright questions to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest.

As part of the appeal, the Stockholm District Court has now weighed in, defending its judge, according to newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (read an English summary).

Norström, it says, wasn’t biased at all, but simply a member of organizations in which he learned more about copyright and kept abreast of new developments. It certainly was not Norström’s only way of keeping up to date on copyright, and such professional memberships should not be used as evidence of bias.

Norström belongs to the Swedish Copyright Association along with Henrik Pontén, Peter Danowsky, and Monique Wadsted—all lawyers who represented the recording industry in the Pirate Bay trial. Norström also sits on the board of the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property, an advocacy group that pushes stricter copyright laws.

The appeals court will rule on the issue of judicial bias soon, but either way, the case will continue. If Norström is found to be biased, the case will likely have to be retried; if not, the Pirate Bay defendants have already signaled their desire to appeal the verdict.

Snow Leopard hitting shelves in September for $29 – Ars Technica

Apple announced that Snow Leopard will be shipped in September and will cost $29. The five-license Family Pack will cost $49. Those purchasing new Macs between June 8 and December 26, 2009 will be able to get Snow Leopard for $9.95.

For those looking to upgrade to the latest version of Mac OS X and iLife at the same time, the Mac Box Set with Snow Leopard, iLife ‘09, and iWork ‘09 will cost $169, with a Family Pack priced at $229.

Apple is packaging Snow Leopard as an “upgrade” for Leopard users, which explains the $29 price (previous versions of Mac OS X have retailed for $129). Snow Leopard includes a rewritten Finder; performance improvements to Mail, Time Machine, and Safari 4; and a new version of QuickTime called “QuickTime X” with a redesigned player. Snow Leopard will also take better advantage of 64-bit CPUs, with full 64-bit support built in to Mail, iChat, Safari, and the Finder. There’s also full support for Microsoft Exchange built in.

Apple’s notebook nomenclature gets shake up: see what’s new – Ars Technica

You may have heard that the 13″ MacBook got some feature improvements as well as a name change today at the WWDC keynote. What was once the 13″ unibody MacBook is now the 13″ unibody MacBook Pro, leaving the MacBook line void of any kind of aluminum enclosure. The white polycarbonate MacBook that saw a speed bump last week is the lone non-Pro, non-Air MacBook

Gizmodo – iPhone 3GS Complete Feature Guide – apple iphone 3gs

As expected, the new Apple iPhone 3GS is out. Here you have a comprehensive guide to the iPhone 3GS’ new features:

iPhone 3GS: The Key Australian Details | Lifehacker Australia

The 3GS will be released in Australia on June 26, which is a week after the US release. The upgraded 3.0 iPhone software will be available to download on June 17; iPod Touch owners will have to pay $14.95. (For anyone who’s already paid once on their Touch, that sounds like a rip-off, frankly.)

How much will you pay for the device? In typical iPhone fashion, no-one’s saying, though it seems reasonable to assume that Telstra, Optus and Vodafone will all be coming to the party once again, and that “buy outright” deals will be thin on the ground. (Optus has put out a press release confirming it well sell the phone, but offers no details.)

As for the iPhone’s new enhanced features: APC is reporting that tethering will work on all three carriers, but as that’s based on a single slide, you might want to wait for more solid confirmation before actually slapping down money if that feature matters for you. It’s widely presumed that MMS will work.

40 Mac Freewares and Open Source Software for Web Designers | Desizn Tech

. In this article we have complied 40 best freeware and open source software for web designers.

This is first part of the freeware and open source software complication. The second part will have essential free windows software for web designers. Please note that GIMP, Pixelmator, Transmit or Cyberduck and popular software are excluded intentionally because there have been numerous posts about them.

Lifehacker – Synchronize Nearly Any Storage Device with iTunes – iTunes

Palm’s Pre smartphone has received fairly positive press coverage for claiming to sync “seamlessly” with iTunes. The Boy Genius Report blog points out that free software can do pretty much the same thing with any removable drive.

Acer to offer Google’s Android OS on netbooks

Small new netbook computers from Acer will come with Google’s Android operating system if buyers desire, instead of Windows from Microsoft.

The move by Acer, the world’s third-largest PC maker, could raise Android’s chances of becoming a widely used alternative to Windows on mobile computers.

Because Android, originally designed for mobile phones, is freely distributed by Google, netbooks running the software would cost less, Acer executive Jim Wong said Tuesday at Computex, a huge computer show in Taiwan.

Microsoft Silverlight versus Google Wave: Why Karma Matters by Sridhar Vembu, Zoho

Inevitable comparisons are made between the hugely enthusiastic developer response (including from us at Zoho) to Google Wave yesterday with the relatively tepid reponse to Microsoft’s new search engine Bing. The real interesting contrast to us, as independent software developers, is the way developers responded to Silverlight as opposed to the reaction yesterday to Google Wave. Both Silverlight and Wave are aimed at taking the internet experience to the next level. To be perfectly honest, Silverlight is a great piece of technology. Google Wave, as yet, is not much more than a concept and an announcement…

The Complete Google Analytics Power User Guide

Google Analytics can be a powerful tool. It can also be incredibly intimidating for new users. This guide is a compilation of VKI’s Google Analytics: Power User series, presenting an overview of several key features and uses of Google analytics—some basic, some advanced—and how you can use these features to analyze, interpret, and optimize your websites traffic.

Spaz – open source, cross platform Twitter client – Desktop and mobile versions

* No ads

* Cross-platform: available on all AIR-compatible platforms: Windows, OS X, and Linux

* Open source software using a New BSD-style license (source available at Spaz Google Code project site)

* Written in pure Javascript, XHTML and CSS. Utilizes the powerful jQuery Javascript framework

* Built-in global search powered by Summize

* Short URL creation tool with support for multiple services (is.gd, bit.ly, snurl.com, and more)

* In-line short URL decoding

* Markdown syntax support

* Multiple themes and support for user-created themes

* User-defined CSS overrides

* Event sounds using the Tokyo Train Station soundset by Dominik Dimaano

* Directory listings of users you’re following, and your followers.

* Debugging and development tools and debug logging

Daily Motion using Ogg and other cool open video news – Silvia Pfeiffer

“1. YouTube are experimenting with the HTML5 video tag. The demo only works in HTML5 video capable browsers, such as Firefox 3.5, Safari, Opera, and the new Chrome…

2. The Chrome 3 browser now supports the HTML5 video tag. The linked release only supports MPEG encoded video, but that’s a big step forward.

3. More importantly even, recently committed code adds Ogg Theora/Vorbis support to Google Chrome 3’s video tag!

4. And then the biggest news: Dailymotion, one of the largest social video networks, has re-encoded all their videos to Ogg Theora/Vorbis and have launched an openvideo platform…”

Introducing Android scripting environment – Google

The Android Scripting Environment (ASE) brings scripting languages to Android by allowing you to edit and execute scripts and interactive interpreters directly on the Android device. These scripts have access to many of the APIs available to full-fledged Android applications, but with a greatly simplified interface that makes it easy to:

* Handle intents

* Start activities

* Make phone calls

* Send text messages

* Scan bar codes

* Poll location and sensor data

* Use text-to-speech (TTS)

Scripts can be run interactively in a terminal, started as a long running service, or started via Locale. Python, Lua and BeanShell are currently supported, and we’re planning to add Ruby and JavaScript support, as well.

Melbourne Uni startup websites

Agents of Change – a group which supports Melbourne Uni students who want to turn their ideas into startup businesses, has a blog which pointed out three new websites by students aimed at the Melbourne community.

MelbinNoir

is a free, user-centred directory that provides information about Jazz artists, events and venues around Melbourne.

UpUrAlley

is a site with sections for rental listings, job openings, business directories, upcoming events, restaurant reviews, and more so that you can use UpUrAlley in the way that makes life easier for you. And your neighbour can use it in the way that makes life easier for him or her. And then, if you’d like, you can use it to easily make your neighbour a part of your life.

Chockrocks

will satisfy all of your Melbourne chocolate needs, with everything from chocolate recipes to reviews of local chocolate producers to insight into its rich history. Compiled for fellow Melburnians and visitors to Melbourne, this collection of all things cacao-related is sure to hit the spot.

(sidenote/disclaimer – these websites were built by students in Sarah’s class at Melbourne Uni. Yay!)

Fanboys – showing at ACMI until 21 June

A movie about tragic Star Wars geeks – written by fans, for fans. Sarah gives it 5 wookie growls out of 5.

Byte Into It – 3rd Jun 09

Official Google Blog: Went Walkabout. Brought back Google Wave.

Here’s how it works: In Google Wave you create a wave and add people to it. Everyone on your wave can use richly formatted text, photos, gadgets, and even feeds from other sources on the web. They can insert a reply or edit the wave directly. It’s concurrent rich-text editing, where you see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing in your wave. That means Google Wave is just as well suited for quick messages as for persistent content — it allows for both collaboration and communication. You can also use “playback” to rewind the wave and see how it evolved.

MacBook Pro firmware and iWork ‘09 get some update love – Ars Technica

The iWork update brings the software to version 9.0.2 and claims to improve
reliability when saving iWork applications and when playing
presentations more than once per session. Though we can’t say we know
anyone who has tried to play a Keynote presentation more than once in a
single session, the update is still recommended for all iWork ‘09 users.

More interesting is the MacBook Pro Firmware Update 1.3, which is
recommended for users of 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros of apparently any
kind (Apple did not specify which models). According to the
description, this update “adjusts fan behavior” when the machines are
under high workloads.

Windows 7 alluring, but XP is the migration X factor – Network World

The equation corporate IT pros will have to figure out is how long it will take to get all their XP desktops to Windows 7 before XP support runs out or before application vendors quit producing XP versions of upgrades or new software, which some predict could come as early as 2012.Gartner predicts that more than half of the corporate Windows user-base is skipping Vista and aiming at Windows 7.
While that means XP users won’t have to tangle with Vista in name, it doesn’t mean they will avoid the application compatibility issues that gave Vista a black eye right out of the blocks in November 2006. Windows 7 is built on the Vista code base.

“If you are on XP, Windows 7 isn’t going to solve a lot of Vista’s migration problems,” says Brett Waldman, a research analyst for IDC. “Going from Vista to Windows 7 should be a much easier transition than XP to 7.

Hands-on: much to like in Hulu Desktop – Ars Technica

Hulu dropped a surprise on TV fans Thursday by introducing public beta of Hulu Desktop—desktop software for the Mac and Windows that works with the popular TV streaming site. The software finally removes Hulu from the Web browser in an official, Hulu-approved way and puts it into a very media-center-like format for browsing and watching your favorite shows. Though Hulu Desktop still keeps Hulu’s offerings largely on the computer, it offers some flexibility in the watching experience.

To Bing or not to Bing? Hands on with Microsoft’s new search – Ars Technica

Microsoft has unveiled Bing, the rebranding of its Live Search service. Ars takes Microsoft’s latest attempt to grab search market share for a spin and discovers much to like—and some frustration.

Landmark study: DRM truly does make pirates out of us all – Ars Technica

do anticircumvention laws really prevent real people in the real world from doing real things with their content? Or are the complaints largely dreamed up by copyleft activists who would like nothing more than to see the term “intellectual property” disappear into the tentacled maw of Cthulhu?

According to the first empirical study of its kind in the UK, by Cambridge law professor Patricia Akester, it’s the former. DRM is so rage-inducing, even to ordinary, legal users of content, that it can even drive the blind to download illegal electronic Bibles.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Big drop in global server sales

Sales of servers worldwide fell almost 25% in the first three months of 2009, against the same period a year earlier, according to market research firm IDC.

Global sales were $9.9 bn (£6.14 bn), IDC said, the lowest figure since the firm started monitoring the computer server market 12 years ago.

Dell was the vendor hardest hit, with server revenue falling 31.2%.

Novell sees 25 per cent growth in Linux sales – Software – iTnews Australia

Novell has reported a year-on-year fall in second-quarter revenue, but a small rise in profit as a result of a 25 per cent growth in Linux product sales.

The software provider achieved revenue of US$216m (A$271m), down from US$236m in the same period last year. Net income was up to US$16m from US$6m in 2008.

Sales from the firm’s Linux Platform Products group were up 25 per cen

Topsy: a search-engine whose results come from highly trafficked Twitter links – Boing Boing

Topsy, a new site that lets you search through what people are saying about things. Topsy sees the Internet as a stream of conversations between people. It ranks each search result based on how much people are talking about it, and the influence of the people discussing it.

Wikipedia bans Church of Scientology • The Register

In an unprecedented effort to crack down on self-serving edits, the Wikipedia supreme court has banned contributions from all IP addresses owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and its associates.

Closing out the longest-running court case in Wikiland history, the site’s Arbitration Committee voted 10 to 0 (with one abstention) in favor of the move, which takes effect immediately.

Microsoft loses NZ Windows government deal !!!

Microsoft has failed to renew a key government-wide purchasing deal for Windows, opening the door to greater use of open-source software – Microsoft could not give the purchasers what they wanted either in features, roadmap, or price

Asus and Microsoft join forces against Linux – Software – iTnews Australia

Microsoft and Asus have launched a marketing campaign to encourage netbook users to use Windows rather than Linux.

The campaign has kicked off with a web page entitled “It’s better with Windows” showing adverts for Windows and suggesting it is a better choice for use with Asus’ range of netbooks.

Asus confirmed to vnunet.com that the campaign was legitimate, saying: “As a hardware vendor we have to provide both operation systems for our consumers.”

However, some will see this as a thinly veiled attempt by Microsoft to protect its share in the growing netbook market. While the company is claiming that the vast majority of netbooks is shipping Windows nevertheless it appears worried by Linux.

The Bing Features Australia Won’t Be Getting | Lifehacker Australia

Microsoft’s uber-hyped new search engine Bing doesn’t go live down under until June 3, but we already know that many of the features being promoted won’t be available at launch in Australia, if ever.

We’re going to hold off on commenting in detail on Bing until there’s an actual product to test, but in its launch announcement Microsoft and NineMSN have already made it clear that several of its most-hyped aspects won’t feature in the Australian version when it first rolls out:

Over the next 12 months, additional localised features for Bing will be released into the Australian market. These features include Hot Spots, Categorised Search and Vertical Search Categories covering local, travel, health and shopping.

There’s no mention whatsoever of the Bing Cashback program for Aussies, so it seems safe to assume no money will be dribbling in that direction any time soon either.

Lifehacker – SugarSync Offers 2GB of Free Windows/Mac/Mobile Syncing – File Syncing

Windows/Mac/mobile: SugarSync, a previously paid-only syncing service that got quite a few shout-outs in our feature-by-feature online storage chart, now offers a free 2GB plan that keeps documents synced across Windows, Mac, and mobile platforms.

If you’re familiar with Dropbox, our readers’ favorite file syncing tool, you’re going to think SugarSync’s offerings are pretty familiar—2GB of free space, multi-system, cross-platform syncing, file explorer integration, web access with sharing and photo gallery powers, etc. There are, however, a few key differences, positive and negative, that set SugarSync apart:

* SugarSync lets you add folders anywhere on your system to be synchronized, while Dropbox sticks to a single-bin-for-everything mindset (although there’s a symbolic link work-around for that)
* SugarSync’s free accounts limit you to syncing two computers, while Dropbox seems unlimited.
* SugarSync has working clients for iPhones, BlackBerries, and Windows Mobile phones—some of which we’ve heard is on the way for Dropbox, but not released yet.

Other than that (and a lack of a Linux client), SugarSync seems like a pretty nifty way to keep files synchronized across systems, especially if you’re a frequent mobile net user. The free plan software is free to download; better transfer speeds and more options start at $4.99 per month.

Microsoft “Project Natal” invents a better Wii – Boing Boing

Microsoft had a killer day today, revealing all sorts of updates to the Xbox 360, including full retail game downloads, 1080p live streaming of movies and TVs, and most notably “Project Natal”, an attempt to beat the Nintendo Wii at its own game by creating a virtual reality interface that doesn’t use control hardware at all, but instead does real-time motion capture using an array of cameras.

Open Source:
Spaz:
New open source, cross platform Twitter client, Spaz. Works on any platform that supports Adobe Air and includes inbuilt search powered by Summize, which is the service Twitter acquired to power it’s own search functionality.
http://funkatron.com/spaz

News from Silvia Pfeiffer regarding open video:
“# YouTube are experimenting with the HTML5 video tag. The demo only works in HTML5 video capable browsers, such as Firefox 3.5, Safari, Opera, and the new Chrome, which leads me straight to the next news.
# The Google Chrome 3 browser now supports the HTML5 video tag. The linked release only supports MPEG encoded video, but that’s a big step forward.
# More importantly even, recently committed code adds Ogg Theora/Vorbis support to Google Chrome 3’s video tag! This is based on using ffmpeg at this stage, which needs some further work to e.g. gain Ogg Kate support. But this is great news for open media!”
From:
http://blog.gingertech.net/2009/06/02/dailymotion-using-ogg-and-oth…

Microsoft Silverlight versus Google Wave: Why Karma Matters
http://blogs.zoho.com/general/microsoft-silverlight-vs-google-wave-…

Melbourne community websites:

melbourne.dreamwidth.org – A Melbourne community maintained by Sarah.

http://lygon.upuralley.com/ – A Craig’s list for Australia, but at the micro level. It’s starting out focusing on the Lygon St precinct. Listings, recommendations and comments for living, working and playing in Lygon Street.

http://melbinnoir.com.au – Listings for the Melbourne music scene, including music reviews. Initial focus on jazz gigs and venues. Browse by genre, suburb or price range. Answer the question, what’s on tonight.

http://chocrocks.wordpress.com/ – For Melbourne chocolate lovers – reviews, recipes and search for “chocolatiers by suburb”.

EnhanceTV ATOM AWARDS 2009 – Home

the place where you will find all the information you need to know about the ATOM Awards…and more!

Byte Into It – 27 May 09

Microsoft announces Windows 7 specs for netbooks – News – PC Authority

According to a Sydney Morning Herald report (and various other sources), Microsoft have just announced the hardware specs for the upcoming Windows 7 Starter edition, although it’s not exactly what we we’re hoping for.
With a little careful reading between the lines, the specs read more like a set of draconian restrictions, especially when it comes to memory, which sets a 1GB base. But, why stop at 1GB? Surely Microsoft must of realised that the relative cheapness of memory makes it easier than ever to provide 2GB on board – so why not support it?
The report specifies that hardware manufacturers must build all future netbooks with the following in mind:

* 10.2 inch display (down from 12.1 inches for XP)
* 250GB hard drive, or 64GB solid state (up from 160GB/32GB for XP)
* 2GHz single core processor
* 1GB of RAM

However, if Microsoft are keen not to repeat their old Vista mistakes, they’ll want to take a close look at how smoothly Windows 7 runs on netbooks, under a variety of settings. True, most netbook users won’t be playing games or designing homes in Autocad 3D, but that won’t stop enterprising consumers from purchasing their netbook as a cure-all for much of their personal computing needs

Side by side: UI changes from Windows 7 beta to Windows 7 RC – Ars Technica

This is not an official list of changes; nor is it a list of every single change. It focuses on visible differences, as opposed to bug fixes or under-the-hood improvements. This post is about tracking every noticeable “tangible” change. Here’s a simple example. As you can see below, Build 7000 takes up more space than build 7100. The difference isn’t really a huge one, given the size of the operating system, but it is still worth noting: 0.8GB. This change was measured on the same laptop with two separate partitions, using the 64-bit flavor.

Service Pack 2 for Vista and Server 2008 finally arrives – Ars Technica

Microsoft has finally given the public Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 (final build is 6.0.6002.18005). You can download the installer from the Microsoft Download Center: 32-bit (348.3MB), 64-bit (577.4MB), and IA64 (450.4MB). There’s also an ISO image (1376.8MB) that contains these installers. The installers will work on English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish versions of either Vista or Server 2008. Other language versions will arrive later. SP2’s main requirement (assuming no incompatible drivers are detected) is that SP1 is already installed.SP2 includes Windows Search 4.0. SP2 improves Windows Media Center (WMC) in the area of content protection for TV. (whatever that means)…and more…

Public Beta 1 of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 – Ars Technica

Microsoft gave MSDN subscribers Beta 1 downloads of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0. As promised, the releases are now available to the general public via the Microsoft Download Center. For reference, you may also want to check out the Visual Studio 2010 Product Overview (1.02MB) five-page PDF document.

Zune HD is official, heading your way this Fall

The specs go like this: 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display, built-in HD Radio receiver, HD output (utilizing a new dock — not on-board), and… not much more right now. Microsoft is doing away with the famed squircle in favor a full multitouch device, and they seemed to indicate that some new touch-friendly apps and games would be headed our way, though they were fairly mum when it came to details. The device will boast an IE-based, customized browser, but little else was said in the way of software.

Details are also scarce concerning storage capacities, CPU performance, and other crucial numbers, but it seems like they’ve got more in store come E3… and that’s the next big piece of news. Zune integration is coming to the Xbox and Xbox Live, as the Zune marketplace will step in to replace the current Live video resources, expanding the library and offering all kinds of new perks, like Zune’s first foray into international waters

Nokia starts roll-out of Apple App Store rival – Mobility – iTnews Australia

Nokia has begun rolling out its online software and content store, Ovi Store, as it aims to follow the success of Apple’s App Store.
Nokia said the store was opened to users of a few of its phone models in Australia and Singapore before being rolled out globally later in the week.
Customers can access the store by typing store.ovi.com into their Nokia device browser.
The Australian store offers users the chance to buy applications for their Nokia phone using their existing carrier relationships with Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and Crazy John’s.
However, analysts say firms will likely struggle to match the success of Apple’s store when creating their own stores, hampered by technical issues, a lack of applications and increased competition.

Scientists invent memory storage good for a billion years – Hardware – iTnews Australia

The device is an iron nanoparticle, 1/50,000 the width of a human hair, enclosed in a hollow carbon nanotube.
The iron can be shuttled back and forth within the tube as an effective way to store data.
The team says it is achievable to build storage devices capable of carrying a terabyte of information per square inch, making it more effective than current techniques.
However, the data will also be almost incorruptible and should remain available for a billion years or more.

Lifehacker – Google Chrome 2 Brings New Features and Serious Speed – Google Chrome
Apart from the speed and stability increases, Chrome users can also expect:
Improved New Tab Page: The most requested feature from users was the ability to remove thumbnails from the New Tab page. Now you can finally hide that embarrassing gossip blog from the Most Visited section.
Full Screen Mode: If you’ve ever given a presentation or watched a large video using Google Chrome, you might have wished you could use every last pixel on your screen for the content. Now you can hide the title bar and the rest of the browser window by hitting F11 or selecting the option in the Tools menu.
Form Autofill: Filling out your information in forms over and over again can be tedious. Form autofill helps by showing information you’ve previously entered into the same form fields automatically. If at any point you want to clear out your information, that’s easy to do from the Tools menu. Windows Only…still…

ASUS Eee Keyboard to launch by end of June

The dream of owning a keyboard embedded with a full-blown PC running XP on an Atom N270 processor and 5-inch, 800 x 480 pixel touchscreen display/trackpad is nearly upon us. A dream, quite honestly, nobody had prior to seeing the reveal of the 2-pound Eee Keyboard prototype at CES in January. Engadget Chinese has it on authority that this oddball all-in-one will ship in June with specs that should include a 32GB SSD, 802.11n, Bluetooth, HDMI-out, stereo speakers and mic

Conroy mulls review of ACMA blacklist – Internet – iTnews Australia

Senator Conroy has revealed the Government is considering appointing a panel to conduct a regular audit of ACMA’s blacklist of banned web sites.
Speaking at the Senate Estimates hearing yesterday, the Communications Minister agreed that the ACMA blacklist process requires greater transparency.
“The government is considering options for greater transparency and accountability in respect of the black list,” he said.
“We are considering options which could include a regular review of the list by a panel of eminent persons or a parliamentary committee or a review of all URLs by the classification board.”

Spam tops 90 per cent of all email – Internet – iTnews Australia

Spam levels rose by five per cent last month to reach over 90 per cent of all email, according to the latest figures from cloud-based security vendor MessageLabs.
The firm’s monthly Intelligence Report found that spammers are increasingly sending unsolicited emails from webmail accounts hosted by legitimate providers.
The rise has been driven in part by an increase in messages containing a subject line and link to social network profile pages created by automated Captcha-breaking tools, the report said.
“As spam levels continue to increase, we are seeing existing attack techniques combine and morph into one,” said Paul Wood, senior analyst at MessageLabs.
“In 2008 Captcha-breaking, social networking spam and the use of webmail for spamming all became popular tactics. Today, the bad guys are using the three together as a triple threat to heighten the effectiveness of their spamming.”
The report also found that users in Europe tend to receive a steady stream of spam throughout the day, while those in the US witness a peak between 9am and 10am.

Facebook and Twitter hunt for revenue – Software – iTnews Australia

Facebook and Twitter have helped make social networking a household word. Now they need to make money.
Efforts to monetize the popular Internet services are increasingly a priority within the two companies, with Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone outlining several initiatives at the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York.
And analysts and investors, in search of the next Google-like hit, are paying close attention to the breakneck speed at which Facebook and Twitter are adding new users.
While the popularity of the two social media firms has yet to translate into the kind of revenue-generating machine that Google Inc developed with its search advertising business, some say Facebook and Twitter have become so central to the Internet experience that they are inherently valuable.
“Both are new ways of communicating. And when you have a new way of communicating … you benefit people enough so that there is going to be value there,” said Tim Draper, managing director of venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, noting that he regretted not having invested in either firm.
In April, Twitter’s website attracted 17 million unique visitors in the United States, up sharply from 9.3 million the month before. Facebook grew to 200 million active users in April, less than a year after hitting 100 million users.
Facebook sees advertising as its primary money-making strategy, said Zuckerberg, noting that the company could eventually offer ads not just on its own website, but on other sites that interact with Facebook.
Stone said Twitter was less interested in generating revenue through advertising than it was in offering premium features for commercial users of Twitter.

Vodafone and 3 make last ditch appeal to ACCC – Telecommunications – iTnews Australia

Vodafone and 3 have promised not to raise prices for two years of competition regulator ACCC allows the two mobile operators to merge.
A merged VHA, the two companies said, will maintain all existing mobile voice and data plans on offer from Vodafone and 3 for the next two years, even as it offers new deals to the market.
The offer is a last ditch ploy to convince the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to approve the merger, which has been approved by Hutchison shareholders.
The ACCC’s preliminary view on the merger, published some six weeks ago, was that “the proposed merger raises competition concerns in the short to medium term.”

Russians clone Macs again – Hardware – iTnews Australia

Historically the Soviet Union used a lot of Apple clones, machines manufactured in Bulgaria.
When the Berlin Wall fell, so did the Bulgarian economy and its light manufacturing industry. The cloned Apple Macs disappeared.
But the Russian Mac clone is back courtesy of RussianMac.
According to the company’s website, RussianMac builds Mac clones that come with a full version of Mac OS X Leopard pre-installed. The company claims the system is advanced enough to fool Apple into sending it automatic software updates.
The computers are sold at 30-50 per cent of the price of a real Mac, the company said, but come with three to five year warranties and feature components from the likes of Intel, Asus and Gigabyte.
RussianMac claims that it does not violate the terms of Apple’s licence agreement because it has bought the software legitimately from Apple

Ain’t no money in Mac cloning: Psystar files for bankruptcy – Ars Technica

Mac clone maker Psystar, after having been embroiled in a lawsuit with Apple since last July, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court’s Southern District of Florida. The filing gives Psystar a temporary stay in its legal proceedings with Apple, though it certainly calls into question the viability of the company’s business plan.

Psystar began selling a Mac clone called “OpenMac,” which the company quickly renamed “Open Computer,” in April of 2008. After a couple months of nary a peep from Apple legal, a lawsuit was filed against Psystar in July. Since then, Psystar has attempted to countersue Apple for limiting installation of Mac OS X to Apple’s own hardware. The filing for bankruptcy protection comes not long after the company was ordered to provide detailed financial information to Apple as part of the evidence discovery process.

Gizmodo – What’s Cooking for Apple WWDC ‘09 – Wwdc 2009

Apple’s WWDC 2009 is almost here. On the menu: Definitely Snow Leopard and a even-stronger-than-before focus on the iPhone OS, as the sessions schedule and the promotion materials show. What else?

Mostly Lisa, Mostly Photography, Always Geeky » Entry » 5 iPhone Photography Apps to make your Shots Spectacular

So many people whine about the iPhone’s camera quality and say that it can’t take good pictures. It’s definitely a greater challenge to get a good exposure on an iPhone vs a 5D MkII, but it’s not impossible.  If you are up for the challenge, here are 5 apps that will help you take smashing iPhone pictures:

Mac Hacks: 17 AppleScripts To Make Your Life Easier | Developer’s Toolbox | Smashing Magazine

Whether it’s opening a file in Photoshop to change the format or adding an iCal to-do item based on an email you received, these little tasks can be streamlined. That’s the purpose of AppleScripts.
AppleScript is a scripting language developed by Apple to help people automate their work processes on the Mac operating system. It accomplishes this by exposing every element of the system’s applications as an object in an extremely simple, English-like language. AppleScript is to the Mac OS as JavaScript is to browsers.
Quite a few AppleScripts are available on the Web, ready for you to use, so you don’t even need to look at their code. This article presents you with 17 of the most useful ones.

Hackintosh Mini 9 on Flickr – Photo Sharing!

Much info to be found here:

Is the New iTunes Sirius App a Sign of Things to Come? — Seeking Alpha

Up until now, speculation has been that Sirius XM would wait until early June to introduce its new iPhone and iPod application. Sirius XM Radio, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is the holding company for two satellite radio services (SDARS) operating in the United States and Canada, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio.

One of the newest and most popular Sirius XM Radio channels is Doctor Radio which can be heard 24 hours a day/7 days a week on Sirius and XM.
An alert Satwaves reader has sent in this link which links to Apple’s iTunes store. The application is described as:
‘Reach MD Medical Radio delivers world class medical content directly from Reach MD, the leader in medical education and information for medical professionals. All of the programming is broadcast on their exclusive Sirius XM channel 160…”
The application offers listeners the ability to listen to a live stream of EXCLUSIVE content (a point Satwaves has been driving for weeks now) and access to over 5000 podcasts as well.
What is most interesting is that this application seems to not be part of a single Sirius XM application, but rather as exclusive content to Apple!

Slashdot | Apple Plans $1 Billion iDataCenter

Apple is planning a major East Coast data center to boost the capacity of its online operations, and may invest more than $1 billion in building and operating the huge server farm. That’s nearly twice what Google and Microsoft typically invest in their massive cloud computing centers. The scope of the project raises interesting questions about Apple’s plans, and has politicians in North Carolina jumping through hoops to pass incentives to win the project. The proposed NC incentives build on a package for Google that later proved controversial.

Lifehacker – Wolfram Alpha Google Adds Computational Answers to Google Results – Wolfram Alpha

You’ve heard all about it, you’ve probably given it a spin, and maybe added it as a search plugin. But wouldn’t it be nice if you could get Wolfram Alpha’s “computational knowledge” at the same time as Google results? This Firefox extension makes it so.

It’s an experimental extension, which means you’ll have to click and agree that you understand the unofficial nature of Wolfram Alpha Google. Once you do, you’ll start seeing Wolfram Alpha results pasted JavaScript-style into the right-hand side of your Google search results page—well, maybe. The Wolfram results’ appearance was somewhat hit and miss when I tested it out on a clean Firefox install. Sometimes signing out and refreshing would have them show up; other times, being signed in and slightly resizing the window seemed to voodoo-activate the Wolfram results. It might be server load or connection issue, so don’t expect to get perfect paste-ins from the get-go.

Lifehacker – JetPack Could Revolutionize Firefox’s Extensibility—in Time – Firefox JetPack

Mozilla introduced a new Firefox project, called JetPack, that could revolutionize the extensibility of Firefox. Currently available as a Firefox extension, JetPack allows users to extend their browser using regular HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. So far JetPack seems to us sort of like a hybrid between a normal extension and Greasemonkey user scripts; using new JetPack functionality requires a page refresh and not a browser restart (like Greasemonkey), but JetPack can add elements to the user chrome (like extensions). It’s a tool that’ll probably interest developers most for the time being, but JetPack’s functionality could be the future of Firefox extensions down the road. [JetPack via Mozilla Labs]

Android apps coming to Ubuntu – Boing Boing

Canonical, the folks who maintain the Ubuntu flavor of the GNU/Linux operating system, have demoed code that lets you run apps from Android phones and devices (like Google’s G1) on your desktop. Google’s Linux-based Android platform is attracting a lot of attention. The new version significantly improves the platform’s reliability and could make it look a lot more appealing to carriers and handset makers. The availability of an experimental x86 port has caused some people to speculate that Android might have a place in the netbook market.

Ubuntu AppStore in the workings ?

Everybody’s up creating an AppStore of some kind. After Apple brought out the concept, Nokia, Microsoft and even Sun (really !) are hurrying up putting together their ones.
Many Open Source supporters have noted again and again, that Linux repositories are pretty much the equivalent of an AppStore. Interestingly enough, many Mac users noted the same thing, equaling Ubuntu’s Add/Remove program to the iPhone AppStore.
Still, there’s some ground to fill, as AppStore has some end user features that Linux equivalents lack.It seems that times are finally mature for Ubuntu to re-do their package manager frontend.

Well, their four (4!) frontends, since Ubuntu currently uses a mixture of Synaptics, Add/Remove applications, UpdateManager and gDebi to full fill its software needs. A Launchpad blueprint dated 2005 (!) has been finally taken in consideration and the related wiki page has been given some love during the past months.

Moblin netbook Linux preview – Computerworld Blogs

Intel wants to compete with its long-time partner Microsoft in the operating system business. To do that, Intel wants broad support from the Linux community. Intel doesn’t want Moblin to be ‘Intel Moblin,’ the company wants it to be Linux’s Moblin with support from everyone.
Thus, what we have is a Linux desktop that’s built on top of a Fedora Linux framework; uses GNOME for its desktop and applications, and will rely on Novell/SUSE to get customized versions of the desktop pre-installed on the Taiwanese OEM (original equipment manufacturers) netbooks. Its main competition: Windows 7, but Google Android also looms as a desktop Linux challenger.
How does Moblin stack up? Well, the look is great, and it’s not quite like any other desktop I’ve ever seen. The closest thing I’ve seen to it in recent memory is gOS, which puts Google applications on top of an Ubuntu Linux base.

Hands-on: Intel brings rich UI to Moblin Linux platform – Ars Technica

a real hands-on look at the new version.

Red Hat Sues Switzerland Over Microsoft Monopoly – News – eWeekEurope.co.uk

Linux vendor Red Hat, and 17 other vendors, have protested a Swiss government contract given to Microsoft without any public bidding. The move exposes a wider Microsoft monopoly that European governments accept, despite their lip service for open source, according to commentators.
The Red Hat group has asked a Swiss federal court to overturn a three-year contract issued to Microsoft by the Swiss Federal Bureau for Building and Logistics, to provide Windows desktops and applications, with support and maintenance, for 14 million Swiss Franc (£8 million) each year. The contract, for “standardised workstations”, was issued with no public bidding process, Red Hat’s legal team reports in a blog – because the Swiss agency asserted there was no sufficient alternative to Microsoft products.
Red Hat and others have made the obvious response that there are plenty of alternatives to Microsoft, and the current situation makes them more attractive than ever, according to a report issued this week by Freeform Dynamics.

Best Linux distros for power users, gamers, newbies and more | News | TechRadar UK

What kind of user are you? Take a step back and ask yourself what you need from a Linux distribution.
Before you embark on a distro adventure, it’s worth giving some thought to the kind of Linux user you are.
The answer isn’t as obvious as you might think, and which distribution you do choose will have an effect on that distribution’s future, and indirectly, that of Linux.
You might have a preference for open source-only distributions, for example, or you may prefer proprietary drivers and codecs to be pre-installed. If you’re choosing a Linux distribution for another person, or for a group of people, that decision is going to be even more important.
A typical group of office workers are unlikely to have used Linux before, and your choice is going to affect their perception of the operating system. Those first impressions count.

Byte Into It – 20 May 09

Microsoft Trying To Kill Off The Golden Windows 7 Goose | NetworkWorld.com Community

It should be obvious but here are the reasons Microsoft shouldn’t even consider a price increase for Windows 7:
Vista upgraders and purchasers would like the product they already paid for.
This won’t help seduce XP users.
Not going to help the battle against Linux.
Remember the bad economy?
Why should we pay (reward) Microsoft to fix your own problems.

Yes! The 50% small business tax break applies to IT purchases – News – PC Authority

Thinking about buying a shiny new server or a pile of PCs for your small business? Perhaps you’ve been considering rolling out smartphones to your sales team? Or maybe it’s time to upgrade your ageing network infrastructure? If so, now could be just the time to make that substantial IT investment in order to take advantage of the federal government’s new and improved tax break for small businesses.

What is the new tax break?

In the recent budget, the government raised the Small Business and General Business Tax Break from 30 percent to a whopping 50 percent. “The increased Tax Break provides small businesses with an even greater incentive to invest in new capital items,” says the media release issued jointly by the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, and the Minister for Small Business, Dr Craig Emerson

BBC NEWS | Technology | Microsoft patents ‘magic wand’

Newly released patent applications from Microsoft have sparked speculation that it is to unveil a Wii remote rival at the E3 expo in Los Angeles.

An application was filed in 2007 for a motion controller, dubbed Magic Wand, that interacts with “a collection of sensors”.

Microsoft says it will not “comment on speculation” about a possible launch.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Wiping data ‘hits flu prediction’

Forcing Google to delete user data after six months could dent its ability to predict pandemics such as swine flu, said the search giant’s co-founder.

Larry Page said he thought more debate was needed around the issue of storing user data.

The European Commission wants data ditched after six months but Mr Page said there were benefits to users.

“More dialogue is needed [with regulators],” he told UK journalists at a Google event in Hertfordshire.

Get a life, turn off the computer and become human again says Google CEO – News – PC Authority

In a world of chat rooms, fan forums and instant knowledge at the click of a single button, Schmidt warned students from the University of Pennsylvania that they shouldn’t trade human connections for keyboards and motherboards.

“Nothing beats holding the hand of your grandchild as he walks his first steps,” Schmidt told his audience. Although convincing graduates – aged mostly in their early twenties, some of which would be happy to spend hours couped up in a dark room somewhere drinking caffeinated beverages and playing first person shooters – to trade the virtual life for the one outside, may prove be a little tricky

BBC NEWS | Technology | Wolfram ’search engine’ goes live

A web tool hailed as a significant rival to search giant Google has gone live to the public.

Wolfram Alpha is called a computation knowledge engine rather than a search engine and wants to change the way people use online data.

It aims to give people direct answers to queries rather than send them to other sites where they may find what they are seeking.

The system is the brainchild of British-born physicist Stephen Wolfram.

Wolfram Alpha was unveiled in late April and since then has been publicly demonstrated and some people have had a chance to run queries through it.

Typically the results it returns are annotated pages of data rather than a simple list of other sites that might help resolve a user’s query.

For example, if asked about the weather in Manchester it would present a graph of average temperatures, rainfall and other salient data.

The computational horsepower behind the main site works out answers to question as they are put by grabbing data from databases and consulting feeds of relevant information.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Pirated pop keeps stars popular

File-sharing sites help make popular acts more popular, finds a study.

The research, by industry body PRS for Music, showed the most pirated pop songs tend to be those at the top of the music charts.

There was little evidence that file-sharing sites helped unsigned and new bands find an audience, it found.

It suggests file-sharing sites are becoming an alternative broadcast network comparable to radio stations as a way of hearing music.

The ‘high’ tech toilet that wants your credit card number – News – PC Authority

Budget airline Ryanair wants to commission Boeing to add the card machines to its toilet cubicles, in order to make passengers pay up when nature calls

With all the amazing technological changes happening to the airline industry these days, we can’t help wonder what will be next.

Sure, the geek friendly Qantas A380 has those awesome high-tech seats with USB and in-flight SMS functionality, and more airlines are getting into the entertainment groove with some incredible video on demand (VOD) services listing hundreds of your favourite flicks and TV shows on large LCD 10″ monitors.

Indeed, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner , with its incredible long-haul fuel capacity, is due to make its maiden test flight soon, making the future of high tech air travel appear rather rosy. Better still, American Airlines now boast speedy on-board internet.

But there’s one high-tech airline addition we’re not so sure about – it’s a credit card operated toilet.

Sophos planning to supply anti-virus in Klingon – News – PC Authority

Security firm Sophos seems to be preparing to launch a version of its software security suite for users who prefer to speak Klingon..

A web page under construction on the Sophos site shows the prospective download page. It appears that the software is ready to go and will be released in July.

“Use Sophos’ Klingon Anti-Virus to quickly perform an on-demand scan and find viruses, spyware, adware, zero-day threats, Betazoid sub-ether porn diallers and Tribbles that your existing protection might have missed,” the site reads.

Apple may be paving the way for iPhone background processes – Ars Technica

The limitation of one third-party app running at a time has been a major criticism of Apple’s iPhone OS, though Apple has contended that the limitation is necessary for adequate battery life. However, the company may be devising a system to allow iPhone apps to run in the background, if recent rumors are true.

There are two possible methods Apple is supposedly exploring to enable background processes, according to Silicon Alley Insider. One method, supported by a rumor circulated at Macworld Expo earlier this year, would be a way for a user to choose one or two apps that would be blessed with background running status. Silicon Alley Insider’s source indicates there is some evidence of this feature in the latest iPhone OS 3.0 beta.

Mac OS X 10.5.7 update boosting netbook battery life – Ars Technica

A number of non-Apple netbook users that have installed Mac OS X on their systems are reporting that the recent update to 10.5.7 for Leopard has brought significant improvements to the diminutive mobile computers. “A bunch of people running a hackintoshed Dell Mini 9 or MSI Wind are reporting an extra hour of battery life with 10.5.7 over 10.5.6,” a developer told Ars.

This is corroborated by a user at MSI Wind forums, who says he is seeing a full five hours from a six-cell battery with the update—a 33 percent improvement over the 3:45 he was able to get out of 10.5.6. “I can verify this to be true,” he wrote. I’ve fully charged and used it till it went dead twice now.”

Apple hires former OLPC security head to harden Mac OS X – Ars Technica

Despite its assertion that Macs don’t suffer from the viruses and malware that Windows does in a number of its “Get a Mac” ads, Apple has been criticized for not taking security seriously enough. This is particularly because Leopard does not implement (or implement fully) the same security measures as Windows Vista. Lest you think Apple is hoping that its relatively small market share will keep it safe forever, though, the company has hired former director of security architecture at One Laptop per Child, Ivan Krstić, to handle core security for its operating systems.

Krstić, who is an unabashed devotee of Linux and Python, created the Bitfrost security platform for the OLPC project. The system works by effectively running each application in its own sandboxed virtual machine. Each VM is equipped only with the hardware and network access approved either by a central authority server (such as in a school) or expressly permitted by the user. The system also includes an anti-theft mechanism that prevents a laptop from working once it has been reported stolen or otherwise can’t check in with a central “leasing” server.

WWDC ‘09 keynote penciled in for June 8 with Phil Schiller – Ars Technica

Apple has announced the date and speaker of this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. As expected, it will be taking place on June 8—the first day of the week-long conference—and it will be led once again by Apple’s VP of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller. The presentation will be at 10am Pacific Time.

The headliner for the WWDC ‘09 keynote will, of course, be Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. At WWDC ‘08, Apple previewed Snow Leopard to developers for the first time, and Apple senior VP of Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet confirmed that developers would be receiving a final Developer Preview release of the software this time around “so they can see the incredible progress we’ve made on Snow Leopard and work with us as we move toward its final release.”

Also expected for the WWDC ‘09 keynote will be a status update on iPhone OS 3.0, which was previewed to the world in March. At that time, Apple fans are hoping that Apple will give details about an updated iPhone and possibly even a recently-rumored media pad. But don’t go thinking you’ll be able to squeeze your way into this year’s keynote now—WWDC ‘09 is already sold out.

Twitter to launch business tools by year-end – Internet – iTnews Australia

Twitter plans to introduce tools and services by year-end to help businesses serve their customers, and may charge fees for such services, co-founder Biz Stone said.

“We’re looking at who’s using Twitter and for what,” Stone told the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York via videolink from San Francisco. “Are there any commercial usages that are making a lot of sense?”

Twitter, a two-year-old, venture capital-backed company that lets people send 140-character messages, or Tweets, has enjoyed explosive growth in recent months.

Visitors to Twitter jumped 83 percent in April from the previous month, to reach 17 million, according to comScore data.

Twitter is searching for ways to make money from its popularity. Stone said “phase one” of that effort was spent collecting intelligence on how people use the service.

The second phase will see Twitter launching tools and services on top of free micro-blogging, aimed at companies that wish to use Twitter to message customers.

It will be “simple stuff” such as lightweight analytics, Stone said. He reiterated the company’s commitment to keeping the service free for everyone but added:

“If there is a way we can go above and beyond, and they (companies) can improve bottom line by offering services we can offer for a fee, (we) will do that.”

Byte Into It – 22 Apr 09

Ubuntu Releasing A Cloudy ‘Jaunty Jackalope’ — Ubuntu Linux — InformationWeek

The release (announced Monday and available for download on Thursday, April 23) has added little surprises since the final beta test last week. Die-hard Linux fans and even curious looky-loos have been anticipating version 9.04 or “Jaunty Jackalope” for months. Available in desktop and server versions, the software is expected to be a viable alternative to basic Windows XP PCs, especially in the category of compact laptops, called netbooks. Ubuntu’s handlers boast that Jaunty Jackalope’s desktop improvements will give users more time between charges along with immediate access after hibernation. Included in the bundle are the OpenOffice.org 3.0 productivity suite and support for Skype. Adobe Flash Improved switching between Wi-Fi and 3G environments also has been broadened to support more wireless devices and 3G cards.

The server version’s biggest addition is its connection with Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC). The feature makes Jaunty Jackalope the first commercially supported distribution to let companies build cloud environments on an intranet or connect with an external cloud provider like Amazon. The release is compatible with Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth said. http://www.ubuntu.com/

VMware vows to overhaul data center with “cloud operating system” – Network World

Seven months after VMware began teasing the industry with previews of the “Virtual Datacenter Operating System,” VMware on Tuesday dropped that moniker and is now calling vSphere a “cloud operating system” to take advantage of growing interest in cloud computing and the idea of the private cloud.

In pushing the private cloud, VMware is hoping IT shops will build highly virtualized, fault-tolerant, self-service data centers that resemble those of cloud providers such as Amazon and Google, but which exist solely within the firewall for the benefit of an enterprise’s own users. VMware said it will eventually release an upgrade letting IT shops connect their private clouds to cloud services offered commercially by the likes of Terremark, Savvis and SunGard.

Palm’s webOS lives up to hype, early developers say – Network World

For the mobile enterprise, Palm’s webOS and companion Mojo software development kit offer a dramatically simpler way to build sophisticated mobile applications that are highly integrated with Web-based content and services, according to several developers working with these tools since early this year.

“It’s a completely new way of thinking about an OS on mobile devices,” says Christian Sepulveda, vice president of business development at Pivotal Labs. The San Francisco software development shop is building its own webOS application as well as several for third parties. The potential power of webOS lies in three capabilities that Palm has brought together into a coherent whole. First, mobile applications are written entirely in JavaScript, HTML and Cascading Style Sheets, which are technologies that an army of Web developers has been using for years. Second, webOS was designed from the outset to run multiple applications at once and, these developers say, to minimize the well-known potential problems that arise when doing so. Third, the application model is designed in turn to fully exploit both these features, creating, these developers say, a simpler, far more intuitive user experience.

Windows 7 release candidate to tip up in two weeks – News – PC Authority

Yet another leak has sprung regarding Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 7 release, this time with the firm’s partner programme web site noting the release candidate will be good to go before May 5th, just two weeks from now.

The page, reading: “Partners: If you have a subscription to MSDN or TechNet, you can download Windows 7 RC now, otherwise, you can download Windows 7 RC starting May 5, 2009,” came to the beady eyed attention of Tech enthusiast site Neowin on Saturday afternoon.

Windows 7 will have hobbled ‘Starter Edition’ – News – PC Authority

Software giant Microsoft is going to have starter version of Windows which it will sell on low-spec PCs and laptops jolly cheap.

Although the Vole has not said what it considers jolly cheap, the biggest downside is that the OS will be crippled so that it can only run three applications at the same time.

The big idea is that the Vole will help keep the price of the hardware down, but will force users who want to use it to pay for an upgrade for more usable to software.

To be fair, it would not make much sense to run more than three applications at the same time on a netbook, but it depends how the OS will count the three applications.

Apple preparing to release new Snow Leopard beta build – Ars Technica

The Snow Leopard beta process has been underway for a while now. In recent months, Apple has been releasing new test builds of the upcoming OS roughly four to six weeks apart. The schedule now appears to be changing a bit; Apple is preparing to release a new beta build of Snow Leopard at some point this week, according to AppleInsider, although it’s unclear exactly how significant the new build will be.

Slashdot | RIAA Brief Attacks Free Software Foundation

“The RIAA has requested permission to file a response to the amicus curiae brief filed by the Free Software Foundation in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the Boston case against a Boston University grad student accused of having downloaded some song files when in his teens. In their proposed response, the RIAA lawyers personally attacked The Free Software Foundation, Ray Beckerman (NewYorkCountryLawyer), and NYCL’s blog, ‘Recording Industry vs. The People’. The 9-page response (PDF) — 4 pages longer than the document to which it was responding — termed the FSF an organization ‘dedicated to eliminating restrictions on copying, redistribution, and modifying computer programs’, and accused the FSF of having an ‘open and virulent bias against copyrights’ and ‘blatant bias’ against the record companies. They called ‘Recording Industry vs. The People’ an ‘anti-recording industry web site’ and stated that NYCL ‘is currently subject to a pending sanctions motion for his conduct in representing a defendant’ (without disclosing that plaintiffs’ lawyers were ’subject to a pending motion for Rule 11 sanctions for their conduct in representing plaintiffs’ in that very case).”

BBC NEWS | Business | UK ‘has the worst copyright laws’

UK copyright laws “needlessly criminalise” music fans and need to be updated, a consumer watchdog says.

UK laws that make it a copyright violation to copy a CD that you own onto a computer or iPod should be changed, says Consumer Focus.

The call came after global umbrella group Consumers International put the UK in last place in a survey of 16 countries’ copyright laws.

Consumer Focus said the UK had to catch up with the rest of the world.

“UK copyright law is the oldest, but also the most out of date,” said Ed Mayo, chief executive of Consumer Focus.

Optus joins ISP net filter trials – Internet – iTnews Australia

Optus has won a place in the second round of the Federal Government’s controversial internet filtering trials, whilst Telstra will now also conduct non consumer-facing technical tests of filtering technology.

The news is an about-face on Senator Conroy’s decision to shun Optus from the first round in favour of six other ISPs.

It appears to add considerable weight to the technology pilot, which previously counted Primus as the largest participating ISP.

“The participation of Optus will help ensure the Government obtains robust results from the pilot which will inform the evidence-based development of our ISP filtering policy,” Senator Conroy said.

Concern as Microsoft fails to patch PowerPoint flaw – Security – iTnews Australia

Security experts are expressing concern at Microsoft’s failure to patch a flaw in PowerPoint that is already being exploited by malware writers.

The flaw is being used in attacks at the moment and many were expecting a patch at the last Patch Tuesday but to date there has been no sign of the fix.

“This PowerPoint exploit is in the wild right now,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

“It comes in the form of a presentation showing naked Japanese girls bathing in rockpools, or as an IQ test, to lure the user in. We’re hoping Microsoft will patch this soon.”

He said that so far the exploit was being used in a targeted fashion but there was serious concern that it would be spammed out as part of a botnet recruitment drive.

Analysts weigh up costs of Telstra split – Telecommunications – iTnews Australia

Macquarie Research estimates functional separation would cost Telstra five per cent in product margins and a 33 per cent hit to its share price, but the forced sale of its HFC network is a greater risk to the carrier.

In a research note released yesterday, the financial analyst group weighed up the costs Telstra shareholders would wear should the various scenarios tabled in the Federal Government’s upcoming regulatory review come into effect.

Macquarie estimated functional separation would cost Telstra shareholders between six and 33 cents per share – the lower figure representing a scenario in which regulatory changes are made without a National Broadband Network (NBN) being completed by the Government, the latter including the competitive effect of an NBN.

Even without an NBN, Macquarie said, the “implementation costs” of functional separation – the setting up of two new divisions, new systems and new brands – would be significant.

Competing with an NBN, meanwhile, would result in Telstra earning five per cent lower margins on its fixed line products, “stemming from greater equivalence of inputs for access seekers versus Telstra’s retail division, as well as the impact of having to provide additional wholesale services that would bring fresh competition to the market place.”

VMware takes virtualisation to the next level – Software – iTnews Australia

VMware has officially launched the next version of its virtualisation platform, adding storage and network virtualisation features designed to turn corporate data centres into a single giant resource the company dubs “the software mainframe”.

However, the company is also targeting smaller companies, a market it has been perceived as neglecting, with affordable entry-level editions of the new platform.

Due to ship before the end of this quarter, vSphere 4 is the successor to VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3) and proclaimed by the company as “the first cloud operating system”.

But VMware was also keen to point out it allows customers to build their own “internal cloud” based on infrastructure that they have already invested in.

“We are turning IT into a service, whether it is offered by an external service provider or offered internally,” said Paul Harrapin, managing director of VMware Australia, at the launch today.

Activists rally troops against proposed EU ‘Net regulations – Ars Technica

According to press reports, the EU’s attempt to overhaul the Internet market within its member states has now set the EU’s Parliament and said states on a “collision course.” We’ve been reporting on the proposed telecom reforms package for several years now (most recently here), in part because its a massive overhaul and modernization of network policy, and in part because the unwieldy structure of the European political system has frequently allowed various interest groups and member states to insert their own take on issues into the package. The latest hold up arose over the handling of copyright infringers, but it has given various advocates of other issues the opportunity to mobilize against other features of the reform package.

If it’s hard to follow what’s going on, that’s hardly surprising. The reforms package has been making its way through the European Parliament, a legislative body, under the direction of members of the European Commission, which is the executive branch. Commissioner Viviane Reding of Luxembourg, the Telecoms Commissioner, has had primary responsibility for the text. But, to actually be implemented, the reforms also need to be approved by the European Council, which is comprised of the individual union members’ heads of state. Getting everyone on board for a single document has proven challenging.

Those challenges have been made greater by the fact that the proposed legislation takes different approaches to handling differences in the laws of member states, depending on the subject. So, for example, it demands interoperability among the networks of different EU countries, regardless of local laws. In contrast, when it comes to issues of network management and net neutrality, member states are permitted to set their own standards; nevertheless, the legislation states that companies throughout the EU are required to disclose any limits they place on traffic to their customers.

Confused yet?

Big Content seeks injunction as Pirate Bay appeals verdict – Ars Technica

The Pirate Bay verdict is in, but the site operators aren’t in jail, haven’t paid any fines, and continue to run the site. They have also filed their promised appeal in the case, ensuring that the whole episode will drag on for quite some time. That’s just fine with The Pirate Bay’s administrators, though, who today speculated that the case will take another two to three years to wrap up. In the meantime, “The site will live on!”

The fact that the site lives on is a little weird, given the guilty verdict, the 30 million kronor fine, and the year of jail time for all defendants. What’s missing from the collection of penalties? An injunction shutting down The Pirate Bay.

A spokesperson for the Motion Picture Association said after the verdict, “We now look to the Swedish authorities to end this criminal enterprise,” but that apparently won’t happen without another win in court. John Kennedy, head of international music trade group IFPI, told the New York Times last week that his group “planned to file additional litigation to try to get The Pirate Bay shut down.”

Study: pirates biggest music buyers. Labels: yeah, right – Ars Technica

Those who download illegal copies of music over P2P networks are the biggest consumers of legal music options, according to a new study by the BI Norwegian School of Management. Researchers examined the music downloading habits of more than 1,900 Internet users over the age of 15, and found that illegal music connoisseurs are significantly more likely to purchase music than the average, non-P2P-loving user.

Unsurprisingly, BI found that those between 15 and 20 are more likely to buy music via paid download than on a physical CD, though most still purchased at least one CD in the last six months. However, when it comes to P2P, it seems that those who wave the pirate flag are the most click-happy on services like the iTunes Store and Amazon MP3. BI said that those who said they download illegal music for “free” bought ten times as much legal music as those who never download music illegally. “The most surprising is that the proportion of paid download is so high,” the Google-translated Audun Molde from the Norwegian School of Management told Aftenposten.

Record label EMI doesn’t quite buy into BI’s stats, though. EMI’s Bjørn Rogstad told Aftenposten that the results make it seem like free downloads stimulate pay downloads, but there’s no way to know for sure. “There is one thing we are not going away, and it is the consumption of music increases, while revenue declines. It can not be explained in any way other than that the illegal downloading is over the legal sale of music,” Rogstad said.

Rogstad’s dismissal of the findings don’t take into account that the online music model has dramatically changed how consumers buy music. Instead of selling a huge volume of full albums—the physical media model—the record labels are now selling a huge volume of individual, cherry-picked tracks. It’s no secret that the old album format is in dire straits thanks to online music, which is a large part of why overall music revenue is going down.

BI’s report corroborates data that the Canadian branch of the RIAA, the Canadian Record Industry Association, released in 2006. At that time, the organization acknowledged that P2P users do indeed buy more music than the industry wants to admit, and that P2P isn’t the primary reason why other people aren’t buying music. 73 percent of of respondents to the CRIA’s survey said that they bought music after they downloaded it illegally, while the primary reason from the non-P2P camp for not buying music was attributed to plain old apathy.

Digging up dirt: Facebook spies for hire – web – Technology – theage.com.au

Large companies and government departments are employing a new Sydney-based company to dig up dirt on staff by spying on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube posts.

SR7 specialises in “online risk and reputation management” and claims to be the only company in Australia that actively monitors social networking sites on behalf of companies.

It was formed about eight months ago in response to the growing trend for people to take conversations they would have traditionally had with mates at the pub on to their social network profiles.

Few people realise these seemingly private sites are still public spaces. If controversial posts leak to the media, it can lead to brands suffering immense damage to their reputations.

SR7 director James Griffin said business was booming following recent public relations disasters sparked by the stupid social network behaviour of a few rogue employees. The firm’s clients included “a number of blue-chip companies in a variety of industries” and “government departments and agencies”.

This week, two Domino’s employees were sacked and arrested after they published videos of themselves on the web fouling up customers’ food. Late last year, three scantily clad Californian teens were fired from their jobs at KFC for publishing photos of themselves on MySpace bathing in a KFC basin.

But these are extreme cases, and there are scores of other instances where staff have been disciplined for seemingly innocuous posts, such as announcing in their Facebook status that they are tired of work.

David Vaile, executive director of UNSW’s Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, believes SR7 may be acting unethically and said he suspected companies were using dirt gathered from social networking sites as an excuse to fire people due to the challenging economic climate.

He said the practice could backfire when the economy turns around as people would refuse to work for or trust companies that spied on staff.

The Internet Kill Switch – Network World

A bill, currently in draft, which is sponsored by Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), is a great example of how watching political sausage making will cause you to lose all respect for those cranking the handle.

Is your ATM card safe anymore? Hackers crack PIN data covertly without skimming – News – PC Authority

Hackers have apparently found a way to decipher the PIN code data from millions of ATM cards without the need for external skimming devices at the ATM

Is your ATM card safe anymore? Hackers crack PIN data covertly without skimming – News – PC Authority

According to this Wired story, the code breakers are here and they’re actively seeking more efficient ways of pulling the PINs from customer accounts without their knowledge.

Until now, it was believed that after you had entered your PIN, the code would be transmitted to the bank, completely encrypted and invisible to third parties. It was once assumed to be impossible to grab PIN data in the system, but a number of academic reports, including one from Israel have shown it is not only possible, but actively happening in various hacker circles.

In simple terms, the hack has been made possible due to a breakdown in the security process, where certain contractors have different systems in place for the data process that’s transmitted from the ATM (or merchant) to the branch. In between, the PIN data must flow through a series of hardware security modules, known as HSMs and according to Wired’s report, it’s across these HSMs that the hack on encrypted PIN data is occurring.

One of the more troubling aspects of this emerging threat, is that unlike credit card transactions, it’s very hard for the customer to prove the fraudulent activity has taken place. If cash is removed from a customer’s account using a secure PIN (that has been compromised covertly), it becomes very hard for the customer to prove they are not at fault, due to the lack of evidence.

Although it’s not clear how this impacts the Australian banking industry, it’s clear that this won’t be the last time we’ll be hearing about PIN fraud.