The Newspaper Shop -- Thursday edition - P2P-Zone

walktalker · 19-12-02, 02:40 PM

Is $200 the magic number for PCs?
Welcome to the dawning of the age of the $200 personal computer. While big-name PC makers like Hewlett-Packard and Gateway offer desktops priced as low as $399, without a monitor, smaller manufacturers are finding an audience by offering less-expensive machines, starting as low as $199. The PCs don't have Windows preinstalled but rely on software from several companies, including Lindows, that use the open-source Linux operating system, which can be used as an alternative to Microsoft's Windows. Dropping Windows is part of the reason why manufacturers can sell the PCs so cheaply.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-978355.html

Music file flaws could threaten traders
A security firm on Wednesday warned that people using Windows XP or popular music player WinAmp could fall prey to a vulnerability, enabling a modified music file to take control of a person's PC. Flaws in both pieces of software could introduce malicious MP3 or Windows Media files -- which sound identical to unmodified music -- into the file-swapping systems, said George Kurtz, CEO of Foundstone. "These particular vulnerabilities are definitely attack vectors for any people or entity that is looking to go after those that are taking part in file-swapping activities," he said. The music industry and Hollywood are eyeing such hacking tactics as a way to stop file swappers from trading copyrighted music in the future.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-978403.html

Microsoft has its year in court
Microsoft used 2002 to turn the tide in its nearly 5-year-old antitrust battle with the Justice Department and 18 states. The Redmond, Wash.-based company started the year with its nemesis -- the Justice Department -- as an unlikely ally, the result of a settlement reached in November 2001. But Microsoft spent most of 2002 convincing U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that the deal was in the public interest and that stiffer remedies requested by nine nonsettling states were not necessary. The objecting states spent more than two months in court offering testimony and evidence supporting their call for a stiff remedy. The states argued that a stinging June 2001 Court of Appeals ruling against Microsoft warranted changes to the company's software. Among other things, the states asked that Microsoft be compelled to offer a second version of Windows with so-called middleware removed, and to give away the source code, or blueprint, to its Internet Explorer browser software.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-978170.html

Cable firms, TV makers in digital TV deal
Television makers and cable operators have reached a deal that would allow digital signals to pass seamlessly over their equipment, clearing a cumbersome hurdle in the transition to digital television, people familiar with the situation said Wednesday. The two industries were expected to announce the deal Thursday, ensuring that the roughly 70 million homes that subscribe to cable will be able to enjoy the crisp pictures and advanced features digital signals offer, the sources said. Originally designed to be complete by 2007, the digital switch has yet to take off due to the high cost of new digital televisions, limited programming and disputes over how consumers can record their favorite shows without bootlegging them over the Internet.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-978409.html?tag=fd_top

Marriott hotels to offer Wi-Fi access
Marriott International said Wednesday it was rolling out high-speed wireless Internet access in 400 hotels, the lodging industry's largest such deployment. Marriott, which manages 2,500 hotels worldwide, already offers in-room high-speed connections to the Internet in 400 hotels. It now plans in those locations to add wireless Web access using the popular Wi-Fi standard in public areas and meeting rooms, a spokesman said. The service will be supported by STSN, a privately held company specializing in hotel high-speed Internet in which Marriott has a financial stake. Intel Communications Fund, affiliated with the chipmaker and Wi-Fi booster Intel, is also an investor and increased its stake to help fund the hotel roll-out, STSN said.
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-978411.html?tag=fd_top

Rat-Brained Robot
Rat neuron cells on silicon are the brains behind a new robot — a breakthrough that may lead to better computer chips. Steve Potter’s brand new robot would probably never make it to the second round of Battlebots. The size of a coffee mug, the cylindrical robot slides across a round meter-sized playpen on an apparently chaotic path. But this robot is a thinker, not a fighter, and it does its thinking with a network of neurons — culled from rat embryos — that resides a few feet away on an electrode-activated silicon chip. The device, which Potter calls a hybrot, is in essence a rat-controlled robot, and marks the first instance in which cultured neurons have been used to control a robotic mechanism.
http://www.technologyreview.com/arti...eron121802.asp

Goodbye silicon, hello plastic
In the futuristic movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise pointed at a transparent screen to quickly zero in on a criminal record. A display like that might not be far off if work in plastic electronics progresses as it has recently. Earlier this month, a Xerox researcher reported stabilizing a form of a promising new class of plastic called polythiophene, which could eventually replace silicon circuits and find its way into flexible, plastic displays used in laptops, televisions, and handheld computers. Researchers say that polythiophene has a much higher level of conductivity than previous polymer materials.
http://www.herring.com/columns/2002/...rat121802.html

Speedy Net video codec done, but late
The technical design of a compression technology that promises to stream video over the Internet at DVD-worthy speeds has been completed, according to the international standards team developing it. But the widely anticipated standard, known as Recommendation H.264 of the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union (ITU), won't be ready for public consumption until March -- three months behind schedule. The standard was developed by the Joint Video Team (JVT), a joint effort between the Video Coding Experts Group within the ITU and the Moving Pictures Experts Group, a working group of the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC). MPEG, responsible for the MPEG-4 audio-visual standard among others, just met in Awajishima, Japan.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-978383.html?tag=cd_mh

Yahoo charges for AP archive access
Yahoo has begun selling articles from the Associated Press' archive on its news site, the latest step by the Web portal to diversify its revenue. An agreement will allow Yahoo to sell AP articles dating back to Jan. 1, 1998. The articles, priced at $1.50 each, will reside as search results on Yahoo News below the site's free standard-search results. This does not mean Yahoo will charge for all AP content. The wire service will continue to offer headlines, photos, roundups and multimedia clips free of charge on Yahoo for the first 15 days after publication before moving them to the paid archive. Financial details of the agreement were not released. The deal, announced Tuesday, underscores Yahoo's ongoing attempt to charge visitors for certain premium services on its site.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-978285.html?tag=cd_mh

TankGirl · 19-12-02, 05:19 PM

Thanks for the interesting news, WT sweetie!

- tg

JackSpratts · 19-12-02, 08:29 PM

Yahoo charges for AP archive access

like the avg person is going to pay a buck and a half to read an old article or put it in a school report, especially when dozens may need to be sited.

when clips cost more than the newspapers they come in (the times charges $2.99 per story) you know something very funny is happening with the business plan. my guess is the lawyers are behind it, "establishing value" for the benefit of future piracy suits.

we need more access, not less, and someone will come along to provide it IF people get away from the habit of using portals, like the ones that seem to always make these kinds of anti-competitive deals.

- js.

19-12-02, 02:40 PM	#1
walktalker The local newspaper man Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Montreal Posts: 2,036	The Newspaper Shop -- Thursday edition Is $200 the magic number for PCs? Welcome to the dawning of the age of the $200 personal computer. While big-name PC makers like Hewlett-Packard and Gateway offer desktops priced as low as $399, without a monitor, smaller manufacturers are finding an audience by offering less-expensive machines, starting as low as $199. The PCs don't have Windows preinstalled but rely on software from several companies, including Lindows, that use the open-source Linux operating system, which can be used as an alternative to Microsoft's Windows. Dropping Windows is part of the reason why manufacturers can sell the PCs so cheaply. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-978355.html Music file flaws could threaten traders A security firm on Wednesday warned that people using Windows XP or popular music player WinAmp could fall prey to a vulnerability, enabling a modified music file to take control of a person's PC. Flaws in both pieces of software could introduce malicious MP3 or Windows Media files -- which sound identical to unmodified music -- into the file-swapping systems, said George Kurtz, CEO of Foundstone. "These particular vulnerabilities are definitely attack vectors for any people or entity that is looking to go after those that are taking part in file-swapping activities," he said. The music industry and Hollywood are eyeing such hacking tactics as a way to stop file swappers from trading copyrighted music in the future. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-978403.html Microsoft has its year in court Microsoft used 2002 to turn the tide in its nearly 5-year-old antitrust battle with the Justice Department and 18 states. The Redmond, Wash.-based company started the year with its nemesis -- the Justice Department -- as an unlikely ally, the result of a settlement reached in November 2001. But Microsoft spent most of 2002 convincing U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that the deal was in the public interest and that stiffer remedies requested by nine nonsettling states were not necessary. The objecting states spent more than two months in court offering testimony and evidence supporting their call for a stiff remedy. The states argued that a stinging June 2001 Court of Appeals ruling against Microsoft warranted changes to the company's software. Among other things, the states asked that Microsoft be compelled to offer a second version of Windows with so-called middleware removed, and to give away the source code, or blueprint, to its Internet Explorer browser software. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-978170.html Cable firms, TV makers in digital TV deal Television makers and cable operators have reached a deal that would allow digital signals to pass seamlessly over their equipment, clearing a cumbersome hurdle in the transition to digital television, people familiar with the situation said Wednesday. The two industries were expected to announce the deal Thursday, ensuring that the roughly 70 million homes that subscribe to cable will be able to enjoy the crisp pictures and advanced features digital signals offer, the sources said. Originally designed to be complete by 2007, the digital switch has yet to take off due to the high cost of new digital televisions, limited programming and disputes over how consumers can record their favorite shows without bootlegging them over the Internet. http://news.com.com/2100-1040-978409.html?tag=fd_top Marriott hotels to offer Wi-Fi access Marriott International said Wednesday it was rolling out high-speed wireless Internet access in 400 hotels, the lodging industry's largest such deployment. Marriott, which manages 2,500 hotels worldwide, already offers in-room high-speed connections to the Internet in 400 hotels. It now plans in those locations to add wireless Web access using the popular Wi-Fi standard in public areas and meeting rooms, a spokesman said. The service will be supported by STSN, a privately held company specializing in hotel high-speed Internet in which Marriott has a financial stake. Intel Communications Fund, affiliated with the chipmaker and Wi-Fi booster Intel, is also an investor and increased its stake to help fund the hotel roll-out, STSN said. http://news.com.com/2100-1033-978411.html?tag=fd_top Rat-Brained Robot Rat neuron cells on silicon are the brains behind a new robot — a breakthrough that may lead to better computer chips. Steve Potter’s brand new robot would probably never make it to the second round of Battlebots. The size of a coffee mug, the cylindrical robot slides across a round meter-sized playpen on an apparently chaotic path. But this robot is a thinker, not a fighter, and it does its thinking with a network of neurons — culled from rat embryos — that resides a few feet away on an electrode-activated silicon chip. The device, which Potter calls a hybrot, is in essence a rat-controlled robot, and marks the first instance in which cultured neurons have been used to control a robotic mechanism. http://www.technologyreview.com/arti...eron121802.asp Goodbye silicon, hello plastic In the futuristic movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise pointed at a transparent screen to quickly zero in on a criminal record. A display like that might not be far off if work in plastic electronics progresses as it has recently. Earlier this month, a Xerox researcher reported stabilizing a form of a promising new class of plastic called polythiophene, which could eventually replace silicon circuits and find its way into flexible, plastic displays used in laptops, televisions, and handheld computers. Researchers say that polythiophene has a much higher level of conductivity than previous polymer materials. http://www.herring.com/columns/2002/...rat121802.html Speedy Net video codec done, but late The technical design of a compression technology that promises to stream video over the Internet at DVD-worthy speeds has been completed, according to the international standards team developing it. But the widely anticipated standard, known as Recommendation H.264 of the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union (ITU), won't be ready for public consumption until March -- three months behind schedule. The standard was developed by the Joint Video Team (JVT), a joint effort between the Video Coding Experts Group within the ITU and the Moving Pictures Experts Group, a working group of the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC). MPEG, responsible for the MPEG-4 audio-visual standard among others, just met in Awajishima, Japan. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-978383.html?tag=cd_mh Yahoo charges for AP archive access Yahoo has begun selling articles from the Associated Press' archive on its news site, the latest step by the Web portal to diversify its revenue. An agreement will allow Yahoo to sell AP articles dating back to Jan. 1, 1998. The articles, priced at $1.50 each, will reside as search results on Yahoo News below the site's free standard-search results. This does not mean Yahoo will charge for all AP content. The wire service will continue to offer headlines, photos, roundups and multimedia clips free of charge on Yahoo for the first 15 days after publication before moving them to the paid archive. Financial details of the agreement were not released. The deal, announced Tuesday, underscores Yahoo's ongoing attempt to charge visitors for certain premium services on its site. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-978285.html?tag=cd_mh __________________ This post was sponsored by Netcoco, who wants cookies, cookies, cookies and, you guessed it, more cookies

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19-12-02, 05:19 PM	#2
TankGirl Madame Comrade Join Date: May 2000 Location: Area 25 Posts: 5,587	Thanks for the interesting news, WT sweetie! - tg

19-12-02, 08:29 PM	#3
JackSpratts Join Date: May 2001 Location: New England Posts: 10,017	Yahoo charges for AP archive access like the avg person is going to pay a buck and a half to read an old article or put it in a school report, especially when dozens may need to be sited. when clips cost more than the newspapers they come in (the times charges $2.99 per story) you know something very funny is happening with the business plan. my guess is the lawyers are behind it, "establishing value" for the benefit of future piracy suits. we need more access, not less, and someone will come along to provide it IF people get away from the habit of using portals, like the ones that seem to always make these kinds of anti-competitive deals. - js.