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Sun's appliance of science
Sun Microsystems Chief Executive Scott McNealy originally opposed the idea of setting up Sun Labs 10 years ago, but the group has created the very products that have allowed the company to keep its prized independence. "Scott was against it," said Sun Labs leader Jim Mitchell, a Sun vice president who has been involved with the lab since its creation 10 years ago. McNealy, with an aggressive capitalistic bent, feared the research arm would be "a hole you'd throw money into (without) getting anything out," Mitchell said. But the labs have promoted another McNealy philosophy: independence. Sun's reliance on inventing its own technology has exposed the company to the risks of isolationism -- in particular not being able to tap into the cash cow of Microsoft-Intel computers.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp01
Microsoft has a new message for Win XP
Consumers are just getting their first look at Windows XP, but that hasn't stopped Microsoft from preparing the first major update of the new operating system. Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan said that starting Oct. 25, Microsoft plans to make available an upgrade to Windows Messenger, the communications console delivering instant messaging, videoconferencing and Internet phone calling, among other features. Windows XP is already available on PCs, but the boxed version comes out Oct. 25. The enhanced version of Windows Messenger packs new features kept under wraps during XP's development, including the first clear ties to Microsoft's forthcoming .Net software-as-a-service strategy.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Security experts leery of government Net
Network-security professionals supported the Bush Administration's idea of a separate government Internet but stressed that security on such a network will be elusive. Actions as simple as a government employee connecting a nonsecured computer to the network or loading data from a diskette could compromise the entire system, experts said. "It still is a really good idea," said Bruce Schneier, president of network-protection company Counterpane Internet Security. "But you really have to physically separate the networks." On Wednesday, Richard Clarke, the newly appointed presidential advisor for cyberspace security, and the General Services Administration called for industry leaders to help develop blueprints for a secure and separate government Internet.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Future chip choice -- silicon or plastic?
They're neighbors on the periodic table of elements, but carbon and silicon are pretty much strangers in the worlds of physics and technology. Carbon is the main building block of life, while silicon is the foundation for semiconductors. But several promising research efforts are under way to combine the two realms, using organic polymers as material for the production of microelectronics, including transistors and displays. Organic polymers are molecules that contain a long string of carbon atoms and make versatile plastics. Organic polymers that conduct electricity have been around since the 1970s -- last year's Nobel Prize for chemistry, for instance, went to the researchers who discovered plastic conductors, organic materials that have some resistance to the flow of electricity.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
IBM, Citizen set Linux watch ticking
IBM is working with Citizen Watch in an effort to bring a wristwatch computer to market. The watchmaker and computer giant on Thursday unveiled the WatchPad, the first prototype to come out of their collaboration. IBM researchers have come out with prototypes on their own over the past year and a half. Besides telling time, the WatchPad comes with calendar-scheduling software, a pager-like application for sending and receiving short messages, and a Bluetooth chip for wireless communication with notebooks, handheld computers and cell phones.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Linux hits a grand slam at home
Linux, the open-source operating system invented by Finn Linus Torvalds, made its first big splash at home Thursday when it was embraced by Finland's leading broadband Internet provider, Sonera Entrum. Sonera, which provides high-speed Internet access for 500,000 private and 70,000 corporate subscribers, said it has replaced 60 different Unix and Windows NT servers from different companies with a single computer containing 500 virtual servers running Linux software installed by Red Hat and SuSE. Linux is free, open-source software, which means that all code is public and can be adapted by companies and individuals.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Napster trial twist: Labels 'smell bad' 
Record company attorneys seeking a quick end to their copyright suit against Napster on Wednesday instead found themselves fielding pointed questions from a federal judge over planned music subscription services. Prompted by arguments presented by Napster's legal team, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel grilled music industry lawyers about antitrust concerns related to MusicNet and Pressplay, joint ventures between two groups of major record labels to distribute their music online.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Security updates deliver a problem
A group of German hackers have exposed a new vulnerability in Symantec's LiveUpdate 1.4, which could be used to download and run hostile code from an unauthorized server. Symantec, which makes antivirus and security software, has confirmed that older versions of its virus definition software will allow the deployment of malware such as trojan application viruses, and the remote penetration of systems running LiveUpdate. The risk of unauthorized intrusion is lessened on systems running the latest version 1.6, but network degradation and outages could still be possible.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
Hacker discloses data after demands unmet
An online gift certificate company said a hacker that blackmailed it for weeks after pilfering its customer information has apparently carried out threats of disclosing the data to its customers. Webcertificate.com customers reported getting an e-mail message that included their home and e-mail addresses. Webcertificate, a unit of electronic-payment company Ecount, was hacked Aug. 21, a representative said. Shortly afterward, the hacker, who also claimed to have stolen credit card numbers of 350,000 of the company's customers, contacted Philadelphia-based Ecount and tried to extort the company, said Matt Gillin, Ecount's chief executive. The caller demanded $45,000 in exchange for not disclosing the information.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200...html?tag=mn_hd
Stability is the novelty in Windows XP
Windows XP is exactly what it should be: a solid step forward for the millions of personal computer users worldwide now working with earlier versions of Windows, a step worth taking despite some clumsy and easily avoidable attempts by Microsoft to extend its massive hand into your pocketbook. Even some of the harshest critics of Microsoft, including my colleague Dan Gillmor, agree that Windows XP is much more reliable than its predecessors. There are many ways to protest Microsoft's actions, if you're so inclined. But depriving yourself of a PC that is less likely to crash shouldn't be one of them.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/op...t/ml101101.htm
Navy joins open-source effort
Linux fans will have a chance to make the Village People song a reality and get "In the Navy" under a research program announced Wednesday. The U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, which relies on Linux for many of its information-gathering activities, has linked with the Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) to study how the Navy might improve its use of open-source programs. A cooperative research and development agreement between the two organizations is designed both to produce a technical report and recommendations and to create links between the software industry and the Department of Defense. "This is an excellent opportunity for members of the open-source community to work with representatives of the Navy," OSSI chairman John Weathersby said in a statement.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=cd_mh
Groups wipe security details from sites
Qualms about publishing data that could be used to plot terror attacks have prompted a leading secrecy foe to scrub its Web site -- joining a trend well under way among U.S. government agencies. The Federation of American Scientists, a staunch advocate of government openness, said Thursday it had yanked about 200 of its estimated half-million Web pages since Sept. 11 terror attacks killed some 5,500 people in the United States. The federation's site contains one of the Web's biggest archives of national security-related material, including detailed rundowns on U.S. weapons systems, spy satellites and nuclear plants.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh
Employees dive headfirst into Web streams
Almost 56 percent of U.S. office workers watched or listened to some streaming Internet media in September, an all-time high, according a report released Thursday. Audience measurement service Nielsen/NetRatings said more than 21 million people either watched streaming video or listened to streaming audio in September, up 21 percent from 17 million in the same period last year. Last year's figure represented the previous all-time high of 51 percent of U.S. office workers tuning into streaming Internet media, according to Nielsen.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh
Pacemaker transmits data remotely
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a new type of pacemaker that is the first capable of sending information on a patient's heart via remote transmission. Biotronik's Home Monitoring System can help keep doctors informed about a patient's condition between office visits, the FDA said. Data from the pacemaker tells the doctor how the heart's electrical system is working and how hard the device has to work to help the heart function. The modified pacemaker includes a short-range radio frequency transmitter that sends data to a cell phone-like device that patients carry with them.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200...html?tag=cd_mh
TI chip to woo music lovers
Texas Instruments is trying to tap into a new market with a processor aimed at richer listening for music lovers and lower costs for manufacturers. The new digital signal processor (DSP) could help incorporate multiple channels to simulate concert-like sounds from audio systems, even in small rooms without additional speakers that would be needed otherwise, the company said Thursday. The chip, engineered at TI's center in Bangalore, India, was designed in about six months. It is called Malhar, a Hindi language term used in the naming of Indian classical music ragas.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200...html?tag=cd_mh
Microsoft backtracks on Xbox hard drive
Microsoft giveth. Microsoft taketh away. After quietly revealing earlier this year that it was boosting the capacity of the hard drive on its upcoming Xbox video game console from 8GB to 10GB, Microsoft has even more quietly reverted to the original figure. A Microsoft representative confirmed Wednesday that the console will ship next month with an 8GB hard drive but would not explain the change other than to say it was unrelated to manufacturing issues.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200...html?tag=ch_mh
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