The Newspaper Shop -- Tuesday edition

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News news news news news

Athlon XP debuts with new name, number
AMD is planning an event later Tuesday in San Francisco to announce the new products, twinned with an appearance by AMD Chief Executive Jerry Sanders. AMD issued a short notice that Sanders would be on hand to announce a new strategic initiative and "formally launch a new AMD product." It will call this new effort the True Performance Initiative. The new initiative will seek to educate consumers that megahertz is not the only measure of processor performance.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

StarOffice offers IT real choice
Sun Microsystems Inc.'s StarOffice might not be ready to totally displace Microsoft Corp.'s Office in the enterprise, but eWeek Labs' tests of the StarOffice 6 beta show the suite has the stuff to loosen Microsoft's iron grip on the office productivity market. StarOffice has the interface familiarity and file format compatibility that will enable it to peacefully coexist with Microsoft Office. And its cross-platform support and ingenious use of XML (Extensible Markup Language) will pay dividends in future, more wide-scale deployments. New features aside, the price of StarOffice — free — should be enough to give pause to sites weighing their software options in the context of Microsoft's potentially costly and entangling new licensing schemes.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/co...816213,00.html

Supreme Court denies Microsoft appeal
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Microsoft's request that it hear an appeal of the antitrust case against the software maker. The Redmond, Wash.-based company had appealed not on the merits of the case but because of comments that U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson had made to the media. "We're disappointed that our petition is not one of the few the Supreme Court chose to review this term," said Microsoft spokesman Vivek Varma. "We will continue to move forward with the case at the District (Court) level and comply with the court's order to work in good faith with the government to settle the case."
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Deal clears way for music subscription services
The recording industry has reached a landmark agreement with music publishers that removes the final obstacle to the launch of online music subscription services backed by the major labels. The Recording Industry Association of America and the National Music Publishers Association are expected to announce today that they've reached a deal that ends months of stalemate over how songwriters would be compensated whenever their music is distributed online.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/ne...usic100901.htm
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Waters still rough for online music
RealNetworks-backed MusicNet is giving a sneak peek at the digital music subscription service the music industry hopes will help replace online song-swapping services such as Napster and MusicCity. Strangely enough, it looks and feels much like those same file-trading services, which the record industry has spent two years in court trying to eradicate. But that could turn out to be a benefit, especially if they are to woo a generation of digital music aficionados weaned on Napster and its rivals.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=tp_pr

In stores soon -- floating product ads?
Shoppers may soon be able to see images of advertised products floating in mid-air as they browse in stores. Hungarian-U.S. firm Holomedia on Monday unveiled a new projection device that could make this a reality. "This innovative new media is based on American hardware and Hungarian software," said Csaba Rakosy, managing director of Holomedia, at a news conference. An appliance the size of a vending machine projects still or moving images about 40cm (16 inches) in size. The human eye perceives these images as floating in mid-air, offering what developers say is a very effective marketing tool.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Microsoft takes new tack on Java
Microsoft plans to make available this week a test version of a new tool intended to attract Java developers to the company's .Net Web services plan. The tool, Visual J#.Net, won't allow programmers to build standalone Java applications. Instead, it will let programmers use the Java language to write code that works only with Microsoft's forthcoming .Net plan, said Tony Goodhew, a product manager at Microsoft. In January, Microsoft announced its intention to build the tool, along with other tools to let programmers migrate older Java applications to .Net, the company's wide-ranging plan for moving business computing onto the Web.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Microsoft revises licensing plan
Customer complaints have forced Microsoft to revise the deadline for a controversial software-licensing plan. Microsoft said Monday that companies have until July 31, 2002, rather than Feb. 28, 2002, to enter Microsoft's controversial Software Assurance licensing program, which will eliminate some discounts and raise software prices for some of Microsoft's business customers. Microsoft also said customers will no longer be required to upgrade to Office XP to qualify for the Software Assurance plan, which is intended to move Microsoft's customers to a long-term licensing model.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Afghan attacks hurt India software firms
India's once-booming software sector, already screeching to a crawl because of the U.S. recession and the attacks on New York and Washington, may be hit again by the U.S.-led air strikes on Afghanistan. Analysts say a hesitancy to travel to India in the current situation could see key customers holding off from signing offshore services contracts. India's software sector serves about 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and derives more than 85 percent of its revenue from exports. These exports -- more than $6 billion last year -- account for 14 percent of India's total exports and 2 percent of gross domestic product.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Sony to invest in "Final Fantasy" maker
Sony will inject more than $124 million in capital into Square, one of Japan's top game software makers, in order to boost its position in the highly competitive industry. In exchange, Square will allocate newly issued shares to Sony's game-making unit, Sony Computer Entertainment. The deal, due to take effect Oct. 26, will make Sony the second-biggest shareholder in Square with an 18.6 percent stake. The Sony unit, maker of the PlayStation 2 video game player, currently has no stake in Square. By forming the capital alliance with Square--best known for its popular "Final Fantasy'' role-playing video game series--Sony will be able to extend its reach further into Square's game titles for its game console.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200...html?tag=cd_mh

More news later on...

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Good Beat, But Can't Dance to All
One day before Napster heads back into federal court to fight for its life, the recording industry announced Tuesday that new subscription services will give consumers a large catalogue of popular music. The five major music labels have focused on shutting down file-trading companies while developing viable online business models. The Recording Industry Association of America and the National Music Publishers Association signed a deal that would provide digital music companies legal access to the likes of Britney Spears, Everclear and Sugar Ray. While the catalog of available music will be large, many other popular recording artists will be left out.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,47401,00.html

Cyberwar Foundering on Feuds?
Some government agency workers charged with protecting critical computer systems are increasingly becoming entangled in counterproductive, time-wasting power plays, according to sources inside and outside of the agencies. Political power plays aren't news, but the struggle between the FBI-led National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) and the newly formed Homeland Security Office has many doubting that either agency will be able to perform at peak levels over the next few months. The NIPC, established in February 1998, was assigned to protect U.S. critical systems against terrorism and other attacks, duties that have now also been assigned to the Homeland Security Office (HSO), formed in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47403,00.html

New Weapons for a New War
America's war against the Taliban and al-Qaida will allow U.S. forces to test newly developed weapons never used on a battlefield before. Following is a review of many of the weapons that have been introduced since the 1991 Gulf War -- and systems currently being designed that could be introduced over the next few years.
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47395,00.html

Digital Free-Lancers Win Again
In the second computer-age victory this year for free-lance journalists who contend they were cheated by big media companies, the Supreme Court turned down an appeal Tuesday from National Geographic over reprinted photos. The court, without comment, refused to take up a lower court ruling that the magazine should have paid free-lance photographers for pictures compiled on a compact disc. The pictures first appeared in the print version of the magazine, and were used again in the computer format. Justices ruled in a separate case in June that journalists have online rights to their work.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,47422,00.html

Euro Stirs Y2K-Like Concerns
Introducing a new currency may not be the kind of event to inspire Hollywood blockbusters, but security experts and intelligence agencies warn that the arrival of the euro in January 2002 has the potential for at least a B-grade disaster movie. Denial-of-service attacks, rampant viruses, terrorist atrocities, cyber-fraud and money-laundering are just some of the sinister scenarios that euro program managers are having to factor in to their contingency plans for the currency changeover. No one has mentioned a plague of locusts -– for the moment.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,47252,00.html

U.S. Will Have Favors to Return
It's a basic rule of foreign policy: Nations will act in their own interest. So as President Bush tries to marshal global support for his campaign against terror, he's finding that many countries will, somewhere along the road, want something in return. For some, it's economic help; for others, diplomatic favors. For still others, the price for cooperation may be Washington's overlooking behavior it has earlier criticized, such as human rights violations. Will the price ultimately be too high? That depends on the results.
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47417,00.html

Rival Services Are Pitched on XP
Most computer makers are taking advantage of Microsoft Corp.'s antitrust woes to place a variety of rival products and services on the opening screen of the software giant's new Windows XP operating system. Flouting Microsoft's desire for an uncluttered desktop screen, the companies are getting cash upfront for some of the icons and fees from others, including AOL Time Warner Inc., when they generate subscribers. "It's certainly an opportunity for [PC makers] and their partners to make money," NPD Intelect analyst Stephen Baker said.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-0...iness%2Dmanual

Creation of new state of matter gets Nobel Physics Prize
The creation of a new state of matter has won two Americans and a German the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics. Their feat, producing a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), was achieved in 1995 - over 70 years after Albert Einstein had extended calculations by Satyendra Nath Bose to predict its existence. In explaining BECs, the prize citation draws an analogy with light. Compared to ordinary light, a laser beam is composed of photons that all have the same energy and oscillate together. "To cause matter also to behave in this controlled way has long been a challenge for researchers," reads the citation. "This year's Nobel Laureates have succeeded - they have caused atoms to 'sing in unison'."
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991400

Hackers face backlash
New anti-hacking laws are being proposed in the US to prevent terrorism, and UK security experts are calling for similar measures to be adopted globally. The US attorney general John Ashcroft has proposed that the offence of hacking should be covered by the US Anti-Terrorism Act. This could lead to penalties of life imprisonment for hacking offences, and broader powers for law enforcement agencies. Civil liberties groups are concerned the proposals will infringe personal freedom, but Aled Miles, vice president and managing director for northern Europe at security firm Symantec, said such regulations are needed to combat the threat of online terrorism, which is already taking place. For the measures to be really effective, the deterrents should be enforced on a global basis, he added.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t26...kpt=zdnn_nbs_h

Videophones deliver war's images
To CNN viewers, the air war over Afghanistan looks like a series of primitive green flashes that light up an inky night sky. Crude as they are, the images are made possible by a new technology — a lunch-box-sized "videophone" that streams low-bandwidth video over a portable satellite telephone. The footage is captured by a lone cameraman on a mountaintop 40 miles north of Kabul. Other television reporters at Afghan rebel camps and in neighboring Uzbekistan — basically anywhere they can lug about 20 pounds of equipment — are using videophones to do characteristically jittery standup reports. While the images appear primitive, they are a big improvement over voice-only live reports from far-flung correspondents during previous conflicts, which were typically accompanied visually by simple maps.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/t...phone.htm#more

Jedi Knights achieve official recognition as a religion
Jedi Knights have gained official recognition as a religion in the UK Census 2001. Coming very near the bottom of an official list of religions put out by the Statistics Office, Jedi Knight is known by the code 896. Heathen comes in at 897. Followed by Atheist at 898 and lastly None with 899. It's not exactly a ringing endorsement though since the 800s come after every other religion, no matter how obscure, and 700 is used for all "other religions". We reported in April about a worldwide attempt to get Jedi Knight accepted as a religion. It started out a daft idea but thanks to email and the Internet soon a whole army of budding Luke Skywalkers had joined in.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/22113.html

'Missile traces' in plane wreckage
Crash investigators trying to find out what sent a Russian airliner plunging into the Black Sea last week have found fresh evidence that a Ukrainian missile was to blame. A member of the Russian inquiry team said fragments had been found in the plane wreckage which were "very similar" to parts of an S-200 missile - the type being test-fired by Ukraine at the time. The US has said there is "every indication" a stray missile downed the plane during the Ukrainian firing exercise, but Ukraine has repeatedly rejected the allegation. The Tu-154 plane came down about 250km (156 miles) from land with the loss of all 78 crew and passengers. It was on a flight from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk in Siberia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/wor...00/1588642.stm

High-tech gadgets sniff out threats
Unseen, a terrorist dumps a mystery chemical into the reservoir that supplies drinking water to a large city. He doesn’t notice a suitcase-sized device in the water, which alerts officials and gives them options to counteract the poison. The device is just a prototype right now, but defense officials and scientists are scrambling to finish its development and invent other high-tech gadgets to protect Americans from biological and chemical attacks. The gagjets range from flying machines that would monitor the air to new chemical suits that could protect soldiers from lethal agents on the battlefield.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/639847.asp

Can video games change the world ?
Of course they can, but the game industry rarely comes close to achieving that with the games they give us. It's time to raise the bar like music and film have done over the years. Games are expected to be *the* entertainment force of the 21st century. That means they could have just as much impact on our culture, our society, as music, books and film. According to a "Wall Street Journal" report -- and this was from two years ago -- Americans have named videogames their favorite form of entertainment. In 2001, their primacy is unquestioned. The release of the PS2 was a cultural event on par with "The Phantom Menace" or "Harry Potter". Now, we've got the XBox.
http://www.myvideogames.com/features/feature69.asp

The Science Behind the Song Stuck in Your Head
Warning: This article could be hazardous to your sanity. It contains discussions of songs so diabolically annoying that merely reading their titles -- "It's a Small World," "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," "My Sharona" -- can cause them to get stuck in your head. Proceed at your own risk. For years, humans have been tortured by Stuck Tune Syndrome, in which a seemingly innocuous piece of music lodges in the brain and won't leave. So far, no reliable cure exists, but a University of Cincinnati professor hopes to change that. James Kellaris has embarked on a study to figure out why songs sometimes commandeer people's thoughts.
http://www.latimes.com/features/life...020oct07.story

More news later on