The Newspaper Shop -- Wednesday edition

[walktalker]

Time to put your reading diet off -- it's news time !
Microsoft's new twist in error messages
The Web's once common "page not found" errors are themselves going missing, stripped from recent versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer in favor of a search tool provided by -- you guessed it -- Microsoft. The software behemoth quietly introduced the change two weeks ago, updating Internet Explorer's autosearch function to launch whenever someone types a misspelled or nonexistent domain name into the browser's address bar. Now an MSN Search page appears by default, rather than one of several standard error pages.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp01

SirCam worm shows no sign of stopping
Chalk one up for the bad guys. Almost seven weeks after it started spreading, the SirCam worm is still topping the watch lists of almost every antivirus company. Market analyst Computer Economics estimates that by the end of August, SirCam had infected 2.3 million computers and caused $1 billion in damages related to cleaning infected systems and to lost productivity. Although antivirus companies have released updates so that their scanning software can detect SirCam, the worm shows no sign of abating.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

NEC, Sony run batteries on methanol
Consumer electronics giants NEC and Sony assert that a battery technology they are separately developing will offer more power for portable devices. Both companies say they are working on fuel cells that can turn methanol directly into electricity and could have many times the capacity of current lithium-ion batteries. Although the basic physics is not new, both companies are turning to nanotechnology to overcome some of the issues that have thus far prevented fuel cells from becoming commercial products. The basic innovation is the use of forms of carbon called fullerenes, in which the atoms form geometric meshes that can be molded into different shapes.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Yahoo opens up e-book shop
Angling for lift in a market that has stubbornly refused to take off, Yahoo said Wednesday that it has signed deals with four major book publishers to sell e-books on its shopping channel. Penguin Putnam, Simon & Schuster, Random House and HarperCollins are marketing their books on Yahoo's new e-book site. Featured titles range from new books to classics such as William Thackeray's "Vanity Fair." E-books have been slow to catch on. Analysts cite numerous roadblocks hindering consumer adoption, chief among them the high cost of e-book reading devices and widespread satisfaction with current paperback and hardback technology.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Sony unleashes robotic puppies
Move over, Aibo. Make room in your robo-kennel for two playmates: Latte and Macaron, the new Sony robotic puppies unveiled Wednesday. This is the latest evolution of Sony's original Aibo robo-dog, which created a sensation and sold out in 20 minutes in Tokyo when it first went on sale for $2,500 in 1999. "The idea is to expand the appeal to a broader demographic," said Stuart Wallock, director of marketing and business planning at Sony's Entertainment Robot America unit. With Latte and Macaron, "we are working to appeal to another demographic--softer, trendier," he said. "In the U.S., we were working on a 25- to 35-year-old male demographic."
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Microsoft shows off research goodies
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Wednesday demonstrated technologies for transcribing spoken Chinese, making handheld computers aware of when they're being touched and moved, and adding emotion to computer slide shows. At an event recognizing the 10th anniversary of Microsoft Research, Gates indulged his fondness for technology, raising hopes for a world where computers will become more useful. "The message you'll get is one of incredible optimism," he said as he described Microsoft's vision for its research labs. Microsoft follows in the footsteps of more traditional computing companies such as Hewlett-Packard and IBM, which have long had basic research efforts and enjoy making a spectacle of their latest discoveries.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=mn_hd

XML a cornerstone of new graphics model
After more than a year of revisions, the World Wide Web Consortium on Wednesday recommended specifications for graphics and animation that backers say could give popular Web technologies a run for their money. The W3C recommended SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), advancing it from "candidate recommendation" status where it has spent the last 13 months having its tires kicked by the Web graphics world. The specification, first proposed in January 1999, is designed to make lightweight images that can fit any screen -- from cell phone displays to large monitors.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Sonicblue unveils ReplayTV recorders
Sonicblue jumped into the market for digital video recorders Wednesday, unveiling four high-end boxes it will sell under the ReplayTV brand. Sonicblue acquired the digital video recording pioneer on Aug. 2 after announcing the deal in February. Digital video recorders (DVRs) allow consumers to record TV shows onto a hard drive instead of onto videotape. As reported earlier by CNET News.com, the four boxes vary in price and capacity from $699 for 40 hours of recording to $1,999 for 320 hours. Unlike its competitors, Sonicblue will not charge a monthly service fee. The new boxes include broadband access and allow consumers to send TV shows via home networking to other ReplayTV boxes.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Spam limits, privacy on White House agenda
After months of silence, the Bush administration will weigh in "shortly" on a range of high-tech issues ranging from junk e-mail to online privacy, a senior administration official said Wednesday. Nancy Victory, who heads the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), said the Bush administration has been working on an inclusive policy and would announce its position on several high-tech issues, including proposed limits to the junk e-mail known as spam. "We've been trying to craft an omnibus and comprehensive policy, and I think spam would fit into that. But I think we will probably have an announcement on that shortly," Victory said at a breakfast meeting with reporters.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Korean company seeks Windows XP halt
Daum Communications, South Korea's largest Internet portal, said Wednesday it had filed a complaint against Microsoft over the upcoming release of its new Windows XP operating system. "We filed a complaint against Microsoft with the Korea Fair Trade Commission this morning," said a spokeswoman for Daum. In the complaint, Daum said Microsoft's bundling of a variety of application software -- including instant messaging, Internet phone service and digital photo editing -- to Windows XP constitutes an unfair business practice. Windows XP, the latest version of Microsoft's flagship product, is scheduled for retail release Oct. 25.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Trend Micro wins patent for Java virus scan
Trend Micro said Wednesday it had won a U.S. patent for software technology to detect malicious code in Java computer programs, a step the antivirus software company said gave it an edge in wireless security. Viruses written to cripple computers or inconvenience users usually travel via floppy disks, e-mail and over networks. But Trend Micro said the risk of viruses spreading in the form of Java applets had increased because these mini-programs are downloaded over the Internet to add features to Web sites. As Java also becomes available on mobile phones, especially in Japan where more than 6 million people use NTT DoCoMo advanced Net-access I-mode phones, wireless carriers have admitted that there is a need for greater security.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=ch_mh

U.S. launching Net tax-payment service
The U.S. Treasury Department said Wednesday that it is launching a service that will let individuals and businesses pay federal taxes online. Taxpayers will be able to access the service beginning Thursday through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS-Online) Web site. The service will give people round-the-clock access to their tax information, as well as allowing them to document transactions and view payment history. "In the past, businesses and some individuals could make electronic payments over EFTPS using special-purpose heavy client tools," said Gary Grippo, the Treasury Department's chief architect of e-commerce. "Beginning tomorrow, businesses and individuals will be able to make payments anytime over the Internet using a Web browser."
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200...html?tag=cd_pr

A billboard in the palm of your hand
Technology executive Eric Engstom recently tried to sell a room filled with skeptics on his company GitWit, a maker of cell phones for teenagers. Maybe, he said, a certain musician could supplement a record release by having her image embossed on the phone itself. That would mean some extra money for everybody involved. Although there are many skeptics, wireless advertising is getting the attention of major companies such as Pepsico, Coca-Cola, Nike, Finlandia, Intel and Sun Microsystems, among others. This, in turn, feeds into the desire of wireless network operators to generate as much revenue as possible from their operations to pay for costly equipment upgrades as wireless technology matures.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200...html?tag=cd_pr

Police trace gangs' trails online
Gang members are using the Internet to discuss crimes in private chat rooms and offer wannabes a chance to enlist by posting membership applications online. Police nationwide are taking notice. In the last few years, the number of gang-related Web sites has grown to tens of thousands, with about 20 percent to 30 percent run by actual gang members, said Detective Chuck Zeglin of the Los Angeles Police Department's career criminal apprehension section. "We recently found one site for a Crip gang back East that was trying to recruit," Zeglin said.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Tech giants warn consumers of fraud
A group of U.S. tech companies started a campaign Wednesday to protect consumers from unwittingly buying products intended for foreign markets that may not work in the United States. Fueled by the Internet, the so-called gray market frequently results in a quick profit for distributors who buy and resell under false pretenses. But the practice can leave consumers without access to tech support, with an invalid warranty or even with a counterfeit gadget. The Anti-Gray Market Alliance plans to warn consumers about the dangers of buying such products and how to avoid getting duped. The effort may prompt more lawsuits against distributors who resell them, said Marie Myers, director of Compaq Computer's Cross-Border Program Office.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200...html?tag=cd_mh

More news later on