The Newspaper Shop -- Tuesday edition

[walktalker]

Hard-drive makers want to pick up speed
Compaq Computer, IBM and the biggest hard drive manufacturers have begun a program to revamp high-end disk drives with the same technology being brought to lower-end models. For years, there have been two competing standards for plugging disk drives into computers: the ATA technique used in PCs and the faster but more expensive SCSI method used in servers. To ensure ATA keeps pace with ever-faster computers, a consortium has begun work on a new standard called Serial ATA. Now SCSI is receiving the same makeover, a new consortium with many of the same members announced Monday.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp01

Excite@Home could pull the plug Friday
Bankrupt cable Internet access provider Excite@Home said Tuesday that it could cease providing service to its 4.1 million U.S. customers on Friday if it cannot renegotiate agreements with the cable companies that carry its service. Representatives of Redwood City, Calif.-based Excite@Home will appear in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco on Friday, where a judge will decide whether to have the service blocked if current negotiations fail, spokeswoman Stephanie Xavier said.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Lawyers battle over $1B Microsoft offer
Lawyers representing more than 100 civil cases pending against Microsoft defended the legitimacy of a controversial settlement in federal court Tuesday. Microsoft and plaintiff attorneys cut the deal last week, agreeing to set up a private foundation to aid needy schools and donate an estimated $1 billion in cash, software, services and training over five years. Microsoft also would provide Windows licenses for refurbished computers donated to the schools.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Google votes to put surfers in charge
The arms race between search engines and traffic-hungry Web sites may be headed to a new level. Battles have seesawed for years between search engines intent on providing relevant, unbiased listings and companies seeking top placement in results, no matter what. Now Google is engaged in a controversial experiment aimed at giving its users a say in ranking the sites -- a move that could help the company cement its lead in the competitive Web-search market, or could potentially weaken its position.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

MS to European probe: We're not coming
Microsoft on Tuesday said it has decided to forgo a December hearing with European regulators on allegations it abused its dominant power in PC operating systems. "We've asked them to withdraw the request" for a hearing that has been set before the European Commission for Dec. 20 and 21, Microsoft Associate General Counsel John Frank said in a telephone interview. Frank, based in Paris, said the company "would welcome an opportunity to meet with (the European Commission) to discuss whether there is an amicable way to resolve this." Frank said the company recognized it might be some time before such talks began.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Get set for Sun's interactive TV program
Sun Microsystems unveiled on Tuesday a new line of products aimed at cable and interactive TV providers looking to offer services such as video on demand. Sun is working with interactive TV companies such as Agency.com, Kasenna, N2 Broadband, Strategy & Technology and VideoPropulsion to tailor the new Sun Media Appliance line to meet the needs of cable TV operators. The cable TV industry has been grappling for years with technology standards that can make interactive TV services work on new digital cable systems.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Yahoo's digging for dollars
Yahoo will soon begin imposing fees on another of its free services, partly influenced by its desire to find new sources of revenue. Next month, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company will begin charging a fee for the use of its online payment service, PayDirect. The company will charge 30 cents plus 2.5 percent of the cost of each transaction made using the service. The new fees, which will begin Dec. 17, are comparable to those charged by other online payment services including PayPal and eBay-backed Billpoint.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Linux app brings Xbox online
A relatively complex and limited method of playing Xbox games online has been devised. A group of software developers has created a Linux-based application that they claim lets Xbox users play system-link games over the Internet. The so-called Xbox Gateway program works like an Ethernet bridge by splitting up Xbox game data packets and delivering them to the right players. It requires each player to have an Xbox, a PC with a broadband connection, and system-link games such as Halo and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Storage industry split over connections
A divide within the storage industry over how to connect storage systems to the rest of the network is growing -- and leaving customers with a growing sense of unease. On one side of the schism is Fibre Channel, an expensive and complicated but functioning and improving networking standard promoted by market leader Brocade Communications Systems. On the other side of the divide is iSCSI, a young technology that promises simpler networks and lower costs because it's based on the much more common Internet Protocol (IP).
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=tp_pr

Apple joins critics of Microsoft deal
Apple Computer on Tuesday joined a chorus of critics attacking a proposed settlement that would let Microsoft give schools up to $1 billion in free software, training and services. Lawyers representing the Redmond, Wash.-based company and the consolidated private antitrust cases defended the agreement before U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz during a daylong hearing at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore. If Motz approves the deal, Microsoft would set up a foundation through which it would give away software over a five-year period, including one million Windows licenses for refurbished computers.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Net porn law heads to high court
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will consider whether it should reinstate a controversial online porn law. The high court will hear arguments related to the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), a law that was passed three years ago but never took effect. COPA would make it illegal for companies to sell sexually explicit material to minors and would impose steep prison sentences and fines on violators. A federal appeals court had blocked the law on grounds that it would suppress Internet speech and outlaw sites covering health, books, art and other areas. The Justice Department appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court earlier this year in an attempt to revive the law.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=mn_hd

OpenTV wins interactive TV deal in Japan
OpenTV will develop interactive TV services with Japan's major cable TV operator, beating out key rivals and gaining entry into the Japanese market. OpenTV, which provides interactive TV software and services, said Tuesday that it will work with Jupiter Telecommunication's J-COM Broadband unit, a high-speed cable provider with more than 1 million digital subscribers. They will work together to develop on-demand news, weather, shopping and other services. OpenTV President Marty Leamy said that OpenTV was bidding for the deal alongside competitors Liberate Technologies, Microsoft and Canal Plus Technologies, a unit of French media giant Vivendi Universal.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Worm hits home for the holidays
A computer worm that was spreading at an alarming rate has begun to slow, according to security experts. Known as as BadTrans.B, the worm installs hacking software on infected computers. It hit home e-mail users hard last weekend, but the damage to corporate consumers was less than previously anticipated. "We have captured upward of 13,000 of these (infected messages) since we first started seeing them, but for the most part I think corporate users are going to be just fine," said John Harrington, with e-mail screening service MessageLabs. "It is probably going to affect home users more than anyone else because they tend not to update their (virus protection) as often as corporate users."
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Five Most Thankless Tech Jobs
A year ago, when we posted the "Five Crappiest Tech Jobs" list as compiled by Forbes ASAP, most of the positions mentioned were for low-level lackeys at marginal dot-coms. Twelve months later they're mostly out of work, prompting the obvious conclusion that any tech job that still exists can hardly be described as undesirable. How bad is it out there? This week a recruiting firm specializing in information technology spammed the Web with a "Dear Hiring Manager" e-mail, advertising Web developers, software programmers, quality-assurance engineers and even a chief information officer with more than 16 years of experience.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/200...2techjobs.html

Torvalds: Linux still suffering growing pains
Linus Torvalds, creator of the core code that drives the Linux open-source operating system, acknowledged in an e-mail message this week that Linux isn't yet fully mature, which can make development difficult. Torvalds was commenting on the recent release of version 2.5.0 of the kernel, or heart, of Linux, which on Monday had to be replaced because of a file-system bug. The 2.5 kernel is only for software developers working on future versions of Linux. Current retail versions of Linux use variations on the 2.4 kernel.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=ch_mh

Safeway in U.K. scraps online shopping
British supermarket group Safeway said Tuesday that it is scrapping its online shopping service, joining other retailers that have thrown in the towel in the fight for Internet shoppers. Safeway said it is investing heavily in revamping its store portfolio and does not want to divert cash elsewhere. It had been testing online shopping in eight stores. Market leader Tesco dominates online grocery shopping in the United Kingdom. It says it has a two-year lead over rivals with sales of about $335 million (237 million pounds) last year.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Nextel proposes airwave swap
Nextel Communications, the nation's fifth-largest wireless telephone company, is proposing to swap airwaves with the U.S. government so its service does not interfere with police and fire departments' radio communications. In a proposal submitted last week to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Reston, Va.-based Nextel said it would give up its right to certain airwaves that interfere with public safety communications in return for rights to airwaves elsewhere. Nextel and the FCC could not be immediately reached for comment.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Russian programmer gets April court date
A federal judge in California on Monday set a hearing for April 15 to schedule a trial date for a Russian software programmer charged with violating a new U.S. copyright law. Dmitry Sklyarov, who turns 27 on Dec. 18, probably won't face trial until June or later, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Sullivan. The trial schedule was pushed back by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte in San Jose, Calif., to allow time for defense attorneys to have evidence translated from Russian into English, Sullivan said. In the meantime, hearings were set for April 1 and March 4 for attorneys to discuss motions in the case.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=ch_mh

More news later on

[VWguy]

WHEEEEEEE! I get the first copy!!!!

[TankGirl]

Ok ok... I'll settle for the second copy!

Thanks WT! IMHO your p2p news service is the best on the planet, period.

- tg