The Newspaper Shop -- wednesday edition

[walktalker]

Lot of news ahead... I've warned you
Despite Troubles, There's Still Hope For Napster
Usage is down and 90% of the songs people were downloading are being blocked, but Napster CEO Hank Barry says reports of the embattled song swap service's demise are greatly exaggerated. "There is a perception that Napster has been shut down, but that's just not true," he says. "We're still seeing a million simultaneous users per day, which is awesome." Napster, with over 80 million registered users, was seeing some 250,000 daily downloads of its software, a number that's fallen to 150,000 a day.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166050.html

Dell: Linux too technical for the desktop
Dell Computer says Linux is set to make significant headway into the market for graphics workstations, but also says the dream of a desktop competitor to Windows remains just that -- a dream. The initial optimism over Linux as a client desktop environment has given way to more sedate projections, even as Linux continues to make extraordinary progress on servers
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...764208,00.html

DoS attack disables Net security watchdog
Unknown attackers inundated the Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center with data Tuesday and Wednesday, cutting off the public's access to the organization largely responsible for warning others on the Internet about computer-security threats. The attack began around 9 a.m. PDT Tuesday and continued to stall traffic to the organization's Web site Wednesday.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...083371,00.html

Spy agency taps into undersea cable
For decades, the National Security Agency did most of its spying by plucking information out of thin air. With a global network of listening stations and satellites, the NSA eavesdropped on phone conversations in Saddam Hussein's bunker, snatched Soviet missile-launch secrets and once caught Brezhnev in his limousine chatting about his mistress. The NSA's task was relatively simple then because most international phone-and-data traffic moved via satellites or microwave towers.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...764372,00.html

Unclear signals for cell phone safety
It's National Wireless Safety Week, which has researchers, academics, analysts and lobbyists arguing more vehemently about the potential dangers of wireless phones. Sponsored by the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), the wireless industry's trade group and lobbying organization, National Wireless Safety Week is intended to raise awareness about the safety benefits of owning a mobile phone. Not entirely altruistic, the wireless industry hopes its safety message will generate new sales and ward off unwanted legislation.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...083350,00.html

U.S.'s Defenseless Department
When the U.S. government created the National Infrastructure Protection Center in February 1998 to thwart "cyber criminals," officials couldn't stop talking about how the feds were finally fighting back against the hacker menace. Former Attorney General Janet Reno said at the time that the new agency would "pursue criminals who attack or employ global networks" -- and that without the NIPC, "the nation will be at peril."
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,44019,00.html

U.S. Wooing Student Hackers
The United States knows full well where the best computer hackers are and they're out to get them. With money. The U.S. government will provide $8.6 million in scholarship money to 200 students who agree to work for the government as computer security professionals after they earn their degree. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Scholarship for Service program was established to encourage students to enter the information security field and help government security efforts.
http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,44021,00.html

A Double Helix With Mars Rising
Hey baby, what's your genotype? It could happen. Each of us has a "genotype" and a "phenotype." Actually we have several. Genotype simply means our genetic makeup. Phenotype is the physical manifestation of genes, behavior and environment. Researchers gathered Monday at the Biotech & Infotech Summit to describe how they think genotyping and phenotyping will affect consumers and drug discovery.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,44009,00.html

Defending the High Cost of Drugs
The pharmaceutical industry is in a state of crisis and asks that consumers please cut down on usage. The industry will be undergoing rolling drugouts, marking the 28th such interruption in the past three months. Consumers are urged to conserve, and if possible split their pills in half. For example, diabetics could eat less so they'll require less insulin. Such was the facetious plea of Dr. J. Leighton Read, CEO of Aviron, in his presentation at the Biotech & Infotech Summit here on Tuesday.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,44036,00.html

New Net rates may turn off users
Higher prices from AOL Time Warner and rivals offering Internet access could cut into online usage at a time when the U.S. market is nearing saturation, according to Net analysts. On Tuesday, AOL Time Warner's America Online unit raised its monthly fee for U.S. members by roughly $2 to $23.90, its first price increase in more than three years. Industry watchers say competitors such as EarthLink won't be far behind in trying to boost rates.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...083324,00.html

Radical solutions eyed in Net identity theft battle
For $39.95, a thief can buy someone's Social Security number on the Internet, use it within minutes to get a credit card, then start buying big-ticket items like cars and jewelry. About 1,400 times a day — or nearly once a minute — someone's identity is stolen. "It's risk-free," James Huse Jr., the Social Security Administration's inspector general, told a House subcommittee Tuesday after a demonstration of the ease of Internet fraud. "Why wouldn't criminals do this?"
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/t...-solutions.htm

Boobs and rubes
A blond in a G-string has got herself contorted 15 feet above this city with her ass bent so far back behind her, she can fit her head straight through. On the ground below her, several hundred young men, all members of a multibillion-dollar media industry, hoot and cheer at her porn pole gymnastics. Welcome to the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the annual showcase for the latest in computer and video gaming. And if you're wondering what a stripper's sticky business on a steel pole has to do with video games, well, then you haven't been paying attention to just how big -- and sleazy -- a boy-toy party the computer gaming industry has become.
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/20...001/index.html

VAT = Violent Arcade-game Tax?
Germany has a somewhat unenviable reputation as the most trigger-happy nation in Europe when it comes to censorship of violent games, with many having to be edited for release in the country or getting banned altogether. Unreal Tournament, for example, had all of its human characters replaced by robots who "bleed" oil, while many other games are "listed", meaning that they can't be advertised normally and must be kept under the counter by stores wanting to sell them.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/50/19154.html

Mixed messages: new way for faster communications
Our current level of technology is the result of many brilliant inventions and discoveries, but it is our ability to transmit information, and the speed with which we do it that is becoming the defining factor in further progress. Engineers from Purdue University have discovered that a device commonly used to untangle signals sent over fibre optic lines might ultimately be used to make the Internet faster and more powerful.
http://www.beyond2000.com/news/May_01/story_1148.html

Students swap beer for the Net
Students have swapped beer for the Net, with up to fifteen per cent claiming Internet addiction is hurting their studies. A survey, carried out on students at Rutgers University in New Jersey, found first years were most likely to see their work suffer due to uncontrollable Net use.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/19147.html

Aimster to appeal against AOL domain decision
Aimster is to appeal against the National Arbitration Forum's decision that it has to hand over its aimster.com, aimstertv.com and aimstertv.net domains because they allegedly infringe on AOL's Instant Messenger trademark.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/19155.html

More news later on (if any)

[TankGirl]

Big thanks WT!

After being for a while in the newspaper business myself, I have come to trust your excellent selections and value the work you put into them. They are real time-savers for us news junkies... have a good day WT sweetie & enjoy your well-earned rest!

- tg

[Periwinkle Shadow]

Originally posted by walktalker


Boobs and rubes
A blond in a G-string has got herself contorted 15 feet above this city with her ass bent so far back behind her, she can fit her head straight through. On the ground below her, several hundred young men, all members of a multibillion-dollar media industry, hoot and cheer at her porn pole gymnastics. Welcome to the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the annual showcase for the latest in computer and video gaming. And if you're wondering what a stripper's sticky business on a steel pole has to do with video games, well, then you haven't been paying attention to just how big -- and sleazy -- a boy-toy party the computer gaming industry has become.
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/20...001/index.html

um...

[Sinner]

Well Done WT

Not Tech news....but Good News...

Congress Approves WWII Memorial
NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, May 23, 2001

WASHINGTON (UPI) - Congress on Tuesday approved legislation to speed construction of the $160 million World War II Memorial proposed for the National Mall.
The House approved the bill, introduced by Rep. Bob Stump, R-Ariz., by voice vote after the Senate unanimously approved the same measure Monday night.

The amendment was sponsored in the Senate by Alaska Republican Ted Stevens. It makes technical changes to a bill, also introduced by Stump, that passed the House last week. The National Capitol Planning Board had exerted technical jurisdiction over the project slated for the National Mall. Delays have resulted from controversies.

"This legislation will remove these obstacles and require the construction process to promptly go forward," said Stevens, a World War II veteran. "For many of us, this marks the 55th year since we returned home from World War II. We want this memorial finished while a significant number of our comrades in arms are alive. We want to be there when this memorial is opened."

The legislation calls for construction to begin "expeditiously at the dedicated Rainbow Pool site in the District of Columbia." It could begin within two months of President Bush's expected signing of the bill. The structure is scheduled for completion by about 2004, according to the National Park Service.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International.