The Newspaper Shop -- Friday edition

[walktalker]

From this moment forward, the paper will be published on morning or afternoon.

SuSE: SCO's Linux claims are 'curious'
SuSE Linux plans to continue honoring its commitments to UnitedLinux, despite allegations by SCO Group -- a fellow founding member of the alliance -- that Linux contains unauthorized intellectual property. Meanwhile, Linux sellers MandrakeSoft and Red Hat -- which are not members of the UnitedLinux group -- said they had not been contacted about the allegations and did not see them affecting business. SuSE's response came shortly after SCO on Wednesday announced it would stop selling its own Linux product, which is based on UnitedLinux's software, because of concerns about intellectual property.
http://news.com.com/2100-1016-1003571.html?tag=nl

Software support wanes for GameCube
Is three a crowd? Publishers of video game software are starting to talk as if that might be the case, with support waning for Nintendo in the three-way fight for survival in the lucrative game console business. Software executives interviewed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show here said they're reconsidering the number of titles they plan to produce for Nintendo's GameCube in the wake of declining sales for the console. Total GameCube sales for Nintendo's recently concluded fiscal year fell dramatically short of company estimates, and sales have been particularly off in Europe, traditionally a weak spot for Nintendo.
http://news.com.com/2100-1043-1003661.html?tag=nl

Recruiting is no game for Army
Forget the posters with a stern-faced Uncle Sam beckoning you. The Army has gone high-tech to recruit the next generations of soldiers. The Army kicked off a new kind of recruiting effort a year ago with the introduction of "America's Army," a free PC game meant to replicate various aspects of military life, from basic training to tactical firefights. The game has been a wild success, with more than 1.6 million registered players to date. The Army hopes to expand on that popularity with new additions to the game that emphasize "special ops" soldiers such as engineers and medics, roles ignored by commercial military-themed games that strictly focus on shooting.
http://news.com.com/2100-1043-1001678.html?tag=nl

Networking start-up plugs into cable
A networking gear start-up hopes to popularize a new, faster form of home networking that relies on existing cable TV connections. Coaxsys, a San Jose, Calif.-based company formed by a former networking guru at Intel, plans to start selling its Pure Speed products in the third quarter of this year. The hardware consists of a network hub that plugs into the home's cable TV line and network adapters that split the signal into a TV line and an Ethernet networking connection. The Pure Speed products are a high-speed alternative to home wireless networking gear, and another networking technology called powerline networking, which uses a home’s existing electrical wiring to deliver network connectivity.
http://news.com.com/2100-1046-1001714.html?tag=nl

Nokia pen to beam notes to phones
Nokia is developing a digital pen that will let people write or draw a note, transfer it to a cell phone and then distribute it via multimedia messaging. When used with a specially printed notepad, Nokia's Digital Pen SU-1B will let people write in digital ink and transfer the image to their mobile phones via a Bluetooth short-range wireless connection. The notepad contains paper that is otherwise ordinary except for printed command symbols that can be sensed by the pen.
http://news.com.com/2100-1039_3-1003721.html?tag=fd_top

Overture paid search pays off for Yahoo
Nearly one-fifth of Yahoo's overall first-quarter revenue grew out of its partnership with Overture Services, a provider of paid search listings, the Web portal disclosed in a securities filing Thursday. In a measure of the alliance's weight on Yahoo's earnings, the portal reported income of about $54 million from its partnership with Overture. That's 19 percent of the total revenue logged for the three months ended March 31 and more than double the roughly $23 million, or 12 percent of total revenue reported in the same period of 2002. Overture provides payments to Yahoo for displaying its advertiser-sponsored search listings atop results pages. Each time Web surfers visiting Yahoo click on one of the sponsored links, Overture collects a fee from the advertiser behind the link and shares that revenue with Yahoo.
http://news.com.com/2100-1024_3-1003552.html?tag=fd_top

Feds prime new antispam weapon
Federal and state law enforcement agencies pledged to take an aggressive new approach to fighting spam: identifying "open relay" mail servers that serve as conduits for massive quantities of junk e-mail. At an event in Dallas on Thursday, representatives of the agencies said they -- in tandem with officials from Australia, Canada and Japan -- had sent letters to operators of over 1,000 e-mail servers around the globe warning that an open relay "creates problems for consumers worldwide, for law enforcement and for your organization." "Spammers hunt these open relays down and hijack their resources," said Marc Groman, a staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission, which has created a Web site devoted to open relays.
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-1001868.html?tag=fd_top

Why the Recording Industry Loves Tech
As head of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), I've been the public face for an industry that's endured significant -- some would say tumultuous -- changes during the last few years. It seems widely assumed that we at the RIAA revel in our role in stamping out music pirates. True, it's a necessary part of the job, and also the right thing to do -- if you believe, as I do, that misusing someone's copyrighted property is wrong. But here's something that may surprise you: I'm every bit as passionate about music as you are. The reason we do what we do is not a love of litigation but rather a love of music. What other form of entertainment can move you the way music does? And what other form can move with you during every part of your day? Don't overlook these simple facts -- they're the reason that, contrary to the predictions of some doom-and-gloom naysayers, the record industry is poised to rebound. And what will the vehicle for this rebound be? Technology. Yes, technology.
http://www.business2.com/articles/ma...,48752,00.html

Wear down opposition
It is nearly 40 years since Ivan Sutherland, the man who invented computer graphics, unveiled his head-mounted display at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was an extremely heavy, clumsy and uncomfortable piece of technology, but it soon became known as the first computer you could actually wear. Forty years on, and Sutherland's display is inspiring a new generation of technological pioneers searching for ever smaller and lighter electronic devices that can be stored or worn on the body somewhat more discreetly.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/sto...955751,00.html

How Microsoft warded off rival
At least 90 percent of the world's personal computers run on Windows software. But Microsoft still wanted more. Last summer, Orlando Ayala, then in charge of worldwide sales at Microsoft, sent an e-mail message titled Microsoft Confidential to senior managers laying out a company strategy to dissuade governments across the globe from choosing cheaper alternatives to the ubiquitous Windows computer software systems. Ayala's message told executives that if a deal involving governments or large institutions looked doomed, they were authorized to draw from a special fund to offer the software at a steep discount or even free if necessary. Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, was sent a copy of the e-mail message.
http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-1001845.html?tag=cd_mh

Getting atoms to march one by one
As interest in nanotechnology peaks, government scientists are claiming a significant breakthrough with the ability to make atoms move one by one. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) outlined, in a recent issue of Applied Physics Letters, a new way of harnessing neutral atoms in a vacuum chamber by sending them past laser beams tuned to a frequency that particular atoms can easily absorb. With the laser energy absorbed, the atom's energy state drops, and the atom falls into the chamber. So far, that's nothing new -- the NIST scientists acknowledge that such a "magneto-electrical trap" has been devised before. But in their article, "Atoms on demand: Fast, deterministic production of single Cr atoms," the researchers claim to have advanced the technique by figuring out a way to monitor and regulate the number of atoms in the chamber at any given time, paving the way to work with atoms one at a time.
http://news.com.com/2100-1008_3-1001815.html?tag=cd_mh

Digital cop cams will be watching
IBM has developed a digital recording system for police squad cars that will capture sound and video from traffic stops and arrests. Designed to replace the videotape-based systems used by about 40 percent of police agencies in the United States, the new system can incorporate data from radar guns and information on location determined by a global positioning system. "The compelling piece is not about digitizing video, but about making it easier to manage the video," said Gary Crowell, principal consultant with IBM Global Services in its public safety and security division.
http://news.com.com/2100-1012_3-1001661.html?tag=cd_mh

Judge mulls DVD-copying case
The judge in a closely watched lawsuit challenging the legality of DVD-copying software said she was "substantially persuaded" by past court rulings that favored copyright holders, but closed a hearing Thursday without issuing a ruling in the case. Seven movie studios are seeking to prevent 321 Studios from selling its DVD X Copy and DVD Copy Plus programs, alleging that the products violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's prohibition on software that can be used to circumvent copyright protections. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, considering a summary judgment motion, said she had carefully read decisions in two similar cases; judges for Motion Picture Association of America v. 2600 and U.S. v. ElcomSoft said that intellectual property holders can pursue software developers who offer products that crack copyright protections.
http://news.com.com/2100-1025-1003541.html?tag=nl

Napster killer takes on DVD copying
When Hollywood studios go into court Thursday to argue that DVD-copying software is illegal, they'll stand alongside a lawyer who has quietly had as much influence on the Net as any well-known code-slinger. Movie studio attorney Russ Frackman is the same lawyer who has represented the recording industry against Napster and a host of other file-swapping services. Over the course of four years, he and his legal team have made a deep mark on Net culture and history, stopping in their tracks some of the all-time fastest-growing and most-popular online services.
http://news.com.com/2100-1025-1001670.html?tag=nl

Search Results Clogged by Blogs
Commercial websites believe scoring high placements in search-engine results is so crucial for generating traffic that many are willing to pay top dollar to sponsor keywords or hire "positioning" consultants to secure a good ranking. Then there are bloggers. With no deliberate effort, many dedicated weblog publishers are finding their blogs rank high on search results for topics that, oftentimes, they claim to know practically nothing about. Bloggers attribute prominent placement to the frequency with which they publish new material and the fact that other sites often link to their blogs. These are two factors most search engines take into account when determining rankings.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58838,00.html

Open-Source Crowd Irked by SCO
If the Linux community presented a Miss Congeniality award, SCO would certainly not be wearing the crown. Linux developers and distributors are infuriated and perplexed by recent legal action and threats aimed at the entire development community by the SCO Group, formerly known as Caldera International. SCO claims its intellectual property has been illegally included in all distributions of the Linux operating system. In a press release issued late Wednesday and in letters sent to "1,500 top international businesses" SCO (SCOX) issued a warning that all commercial users and distributors of Linux could be held liable for breach of copyright for using Linux.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58843,00.html

For Rent: The Segway Scooter
Want to ride a Segway Human Transporter, the new self-balancing electric scooter that went on sale in March, but can't bring yourself to shell out $5,000? Then you can rent one, if you go to Spokane, Washington state's second-largest city, and meet with Larry Lambeth, who started renting the scooter to the public last Saturday. "The response has been incredible," said Lambeth, a longtime entrepreneur who bought 10 Segway Human Transporters with a partner and started his company, Fun Transport, which aims to rent them out to people looking for easy, cheap transportation.
http://www.wired.com/news/gizmos/0,1452,58859,00.html

Tech Hitch Botched Space Landing
Russian officials blamed a technical hitch on Thursday for a botched space landing that saw a U.S.-Russian crew lose contact on re-entry and come down hundreds of miles off target in the vast Kazakh steppe. Yuri Grigoriyev, deputy head of rocket-builder Energia, said a technical failure in the capsule's descent control panel had caused the hard, so-called ballistic landing. "The crew did nothing wrong. A piece of electronic equipment malfunctioned slightly," Grigoriyev told Reuters after talks with U.S. space officials. "This is just the preliminary conclusion of the (commission) investigating what caused the "hard" landing on a ballistic trajectory. The commission's work is not yet over."
http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,58858,00.html

Algorithm tweaks could boost Google's speed
The search engine Google could soon be cataloguing the world wide web up to five times faster, thanks to new software tweaks developed by Stanford University computer scientists. Such a turbo boost should allow web searches to be tailored for particular topics and, in future, personalised for every user. At the heart of Google's software is the PageRank algorithm. It ranks how important a web page is by counting the number of links that lead to it, with links from a page that itself receives a lot of links weighing more heavily. Its fast, high-quality results have made Google the world's most popular search engine. Ranking the more than three billion web sites now online can currently take days with PageRank. An individually customised ranking "would now take 5000 computers five days to do. It's not feasible," says Stanford researcher Sepandar Kamvar.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993735

Hehe

[Ramona_A_Stone]

from: Why the Recording Industry Loves Tech

Since portability is a compelling feature for music fans, these new ways of distributing music can bring added value to all sorts of new consumer electronics. As I prepare to leave my post this year, I'm proud that part of my legacy will be the role I played in trying to appropriate existing free technologies and slapping price tags on them.

--Hilary Rosen

[JackSpratts]

"The judge in a closely watched lawsuit challenging the legality of DVD-copying software said she was 'substantially persuaded' by past court rulings that favored copyright holders."

this isn't good.

- js.

[multi]

will file sharing have to go underground ?
will verisign hold the internet for ransom?
thanks for the news WT....