The Newspaper Shop -- Wednesday edition

[walktalker]

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China scolded for Net censorship
Tough new Internet regulations in China and a self-censorship pledge taken by major Web portals represented a major setback for freedom of expression in China, a New York-based press watchdog said. The Committee to Protect Journalists blasted China for new rules announced Monday that threaten to fine or close down online publishers if they disobey an existing broad ban on content deemed politically unacceptable. It also slammed a voluntary pledge state media said was signed by 130 Internet companies in March to promote healthy competition, deal squarely with consumers, and observe the ban on a familiar list of touchy topics.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-944439.html

Linux to enter supercomputing top five
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California is to build the world's largest and most powerful Linux supercomputer, for use with national security projects. The supercomputing cluster will consist of 962 nodes running on 1,920 2.4GHz Intel Xeon processors, with a theoretical peak of 9.2 teraflops. Each node will have 4GB of DDR SDRAM memory and 120GB of hard disk space. The cluster, to be completed by Linux Networx this fall, will be the fastest Linux or Intel-based supercomputer, and one of the world's five fastest supercomputers.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-944388.html

Security filter: Yahoo edits e-mail
What does Yahoo Mail have against mocha? That's what users of the company's free e-mail service may be wondering if they try to send a message using the word "mocha" and discover that while in transit, "mocha" mysteriously changes to "espresso." To protect users from malicious code, Yahoo uses an automated filter to swap out a handful of words such as "mocha" that pertain to Web code known as JavaScript. The reason is that e-mail sent in a form known as "Web enhanced" can contain JavaScript instructions that can run programs on the recipient's PC.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-944320.html

Ballmer: MS sees the Linux challenge
The emergence of Linux as a serious competitor to Windows has forced Microsoft to change the way it approaches customers, according to Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer. At Monday's closing keynote speech to Fusion 2002, the company's annual symposium for its partners, Ballmer said that because of Linux, Microsoft is "going through a whole new world of thinking." There Microsoft has traditionally competed with companies such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, Novell and Oracle on the basis of "low price, high volume", Linux and other open-source software have changed the game through its even lower cost -- it is free.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-944342.html

Group proposes PC protection guarantees
Several U.S. government agencies have teamed with an international Internet security organization to support a set of benchmarks aimed at guaranteeing a minimum security standard for computers. The National Security Agency, the Defense Information Systems Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology are among the government organizations that have teamed up with the 170 members of the Center for Internet Security (CIS) that will announce their support Wednesday for a single benchmark to measure the security of Windows 2000 workstations.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-944335.html

New ATI chip brings 3D to life
ATI, once the leader in graphics chips, will launch its comeback bid this week with a new chip that experts say could put the company back in front in terms of performance. The Markham, Ontario-based company on Thursday will unveil the details of the Radeon 9700, a desktop graphics chip based on a new architecture that will provide greater realism when it comes to 3D images, according to sources. The fastest versions of the new chips will offer considerably higher performance than Nvidia's current GeForce4 roster, giving ATI the edge with gamers as well as PC makers, analysts said. And even after Nvidia -- which began to chip away at ATI's leading spot in graphics in 1999 -- comes out with its GeForce 5 in a few months, the competition between the two will remain close.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-944337.html

Online scammer to get time in slammer
In one of the toughest sentences for online auction fraud, a Virginia man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for defrauding hundreds of shoppers on eBay and Yahoo auction sites. Thomas Houser was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to one count of criminal mail fraud. More than 260 people lost nearly $100,000 in the scams after Houser "sold" electronics, paintball guns and other items through what was called the "Houser Family Store," collected the winning bids from auctions, then failed to deliver the goods. Houser, 25, of Fairfax, Va., avoided detection by moving from state to state, changing e-mail accounts and using a private mailbox, prosecutors said.
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-944494.html?tag=fd_top

HP ousts workers for e-mail abuse
Computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard has suspended approximately 150 employees in Britain and Ireland and dismissed two for inappropriate use of company e-mail, the company said Wednesday. It would not say in detail what they did wrong, but the move comes as firms are widely cracking down on employees' use of e-mail to distribute pornography and tasteless jokes. The fate of the suspended full-time employees will be determined following a company investigation, a spokeswoman said. HP said approximately 60 permanent employees and 90 contract staff have been suspended.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-944412.html?tag=fd_top

Why free downloads help, not hurt
Ms. Rosen, to be fair, stressed that she was only interested in presenting RIAA's side of the issue, and was kind enough to send me a fair amount of statistics and documentation, including a number of focus group studies RIAA had run on the matter. However, the problem with focus groups is the same problem anthropologists have when studying peoples in the field: the moment the anthropologist's presence is known, everything changes. Hundreds of scientific studies have shown that any experimental group wants to please the examiner. For focus groups, this is particularly true. Coffee and donuts are the least of the payoffs. The NARAS people were a bit more pushy. They told me downloads were "destroying sales," "ruining the music industry," and "costing you money". Who gets hurt by free downloads?
http://news.com.com/2010-1078-944488.html?tag=fd_nc_1

Switch on for state snooping
From August net service providers in the UK will be obliged to carry out surveillance of some customers' web habits on behalf of the police. Controversial laws passed in 2000 oblige large communications companies to install technology that allows one in 10,000 of their customers to be watched. The information gathered about what people look at on the web, the content of e-mail messages and their phone conversations will be passed to the police or a government monitoring station. The demands have been criticised by experts who say the law conflicts with basic guarantees of privacy and that the government is not doing enough to help pay for the installation of the surveillance systems.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci...00/2124551.stm

Jobs Pulls Out All the Geek Stops
There's an interesting thing happening at Macworld this year. Apple is visibly morphing into a "geekier than Microsoft" computer company. Apple is now the biggest supplier of Unix-based operating systems in the world -- "bigger than Sun, bigger than Linux" -- Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced during his Macworld keynote speech on Wednesday. Apple's unique mixture of hard-core geek chic and artsy cuteness was fully on display at Job's announcement-packed presentation, which previewed brand new software and hardware and interesting upgrades to Apple's OS X operating system and applications.
http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,53923,00.html

Meet the Nigerian E-Mail Grifters
She's a widow, he's a high-ranking government official. They have fallen on hard times and urgently request your assistance to get a large sum of money out of Nigeria. They will reward you handsomely for your help. Chances are you've seen something like that in your e-mail box. Perhaps in a bored moment you've wondered who sends them and why they bother; after all, no one could be gullible enough to buy into such an obvious con game. But sources close to some of the so-called Nigerian e-mail scam's perpetrators insist that those overwrought messages fuel a thriving industry, employing thousands of people around the world who successfully manage to extract money from a multitude of Internet pen pals.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,53818,00.html

Strange, artificial Blood
Blood substitution has a colorful past, dating back at least as far as the mid-1600s, when English physicians injected sheep's blood into wounded soldiers in a vain and horrific attempt to save their lives. Animal-to-human transfusions were quickly banned because of the fatal immune reactions they triggered. But through the 19th century, doctors experimented with a variety of blood substitutes, including water, oil, and milk. At the same time, studies in human-to-human transfer continued sporadically, saving a life for the first time in Philadelphia in 1795. The success record remained spotty, with most recipients dying either of their injuries or from reactions to the foreign blood. Not surprisingly, the procedure was considered a dangerous last resort until the early 20th century, when the discovery and cataloging of the various blood types made it possible to match donors and recipients with reasonable - though by no means total - safety.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.08/blood.html

GM Food Lives On in Your Gut
Research commissioned by Britain's Food Standards Agency has shown that DNA material from genetically modified crops can find its way into human gut bacteria. Researchers at the University of Newcastle in the north of England said in a report on Wednesday they gave seven volunteers, who had had their lower bowel removed, a single meal of a burger and milkshake containing gene-spliced soya. Samples of intestinal bacteria were taken and for three of the seven, an herbicide-resistance gene from the GM soya was detected at a very low level.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,53914,00.html

Next Dimension in Baby Watching
Expectant mothers should soon be able to get a sneak preview of their unborn baby with an ultrasound exam that comes with an added feature -- it can screen the fetus in four dimensions. The fourth dimension -- as outlined by General Electric Medical Systems, the creator of the system -- is the element of time. Clinicians and parents will be able to watch, in real time, live-action images of the fetus as it kicks and fidgets in the womb.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,53731,00.html

X-Ray, Ultrasound, MRI ... Oh My
No modern medical facility today can be found without X-ray, ultrasound or MRI machines. Each technology generates images and information for diagnosis, therapy and prevention. Each technology is also getting a boost from new discoveries being announced this week. Together, they bring online new tools to fight aneurysms, strokes, osteoporosis and breast cancer. The announcements will be part of the 44th annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, Sunday through Thursday in Montreal.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,53800,00.html

Getting a Pixel Fix on the Enemy
Our culture thrives on simultaneously preserving data over eons and cramming it through a pipeline in a blink. Now two mathematicians working for the U.S. Navy have developed an algorithm that promises to do a bit with both, aiding experts who need to see the world through the eyes of old artistic masters and killer robots alike. The Office of Naval Research is funding the work of Guillermo Sapiro, of the University of Minnesota, and Andrea Bertozzi, of Duke University. The Navy is motivated to dispel the "fog of war" -- making sure visual intelligence is complete and in a form suitable to the human eye, as well as available in real-time.
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,53796,00.html

Study Says: Ignore That CC Field
When it comes to sending e-mails, the personal touch is best because the more people the message is copied to, the less likely the recipients will reply. E-mailing individuals separately, instead of in groups, is much more effective, according to scientists at the Technion technology institute in Haifa, Israel. Barron and his colleagues suspected that people did not respond as well to automatic e-mails because they would assume that other recipients probably would. To test their theory they set up a Yahoo account for a fictitious student and sent an e-mail to 240 people at Technion asking for information.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,53917,00.html

Cabbie, You Advertising to Me?
Video screens in the back of taxicabs might seem old hat -- Las Vegas, London and Singapore all have them -- but a Canadian company's cabs are the first enhanced with a GPS system. Embedded in the headrest of the cab's front passenger seat, thin touch screens offer taxi riders streaming MP3 audio, events listings and, soon, wireless news delivery. GPS provides accurate maps so customers can watch as their cab weaves through the city streets. And what advertisers provide, using GPS, is location-sensitive advertising: As the cabs cruise past participating businesses, promotions for their services pop up on the computer screen.
http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,53795,00.html

Small TV stations reel under order to go digital
Duhamel Broadcasting Enterprises has provided a nice income to the Duhamel family since World War II. First a radio company, it entered the television age with KOTA in Rapid City, S.D. The station beams ABC shows and local news to the No. 175 TV market: 88,000 viewers spread over an area the size of a triangle from Washington, D.C., to Boston to Buffalo, N.Y. So company President Bill Duhamel was stunned when the federal government ordered all TV stations — even in tiny markets such as his — to buy the towers, transmitters and other gear needed to join the long-awaited and fitful national march from analog to digital television (DTV).
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/t...digital-tv.htm

Secret U.S. Biopharms Growing Experimental Drugs
Experimental plants engineered to produce pharmaceuticals are being grown at over 300 secret locations nationwide, a new report has revealed. Biotechnology firms are conducting experiments with corn, soy, rice and tobacco that are genetically manipulated to produce drugs designed to act as vaccines, contraceptives, induce abortions, generate growth hormones, create blood clots, produce industrial enzymes and propagate allergenic enzymes. The experimental application of biotechnology in which plants are genetically engineered to produce pharmaceutical proteins and chemicals they do not produce naturally has been termed "biopharming."
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2002/2002-07-16-05.asp

Iron mystery of Universe's most distant object
The most distant object ever to be studied confirms that the Universe's expansion is accelerating. But its iron-rich nature poses new questions for astronomers. The object, more than 13.5 billion light years from Earth, was observed using the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton Spacecraft. The previous record was held by Hubble Space Telescope astronomers. The HST team imaged a galaxy 13.0 billion light years away while another galaxy was moving in front of it, like a gravitational magnifying glass. The new object - a young quasar called APM 08279+5255 - was also seen through a gravitational lens.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992562

How Miniature Radiation Detectors Will Keep Astronauts Safe in Deep Space
There's no doubt that space travel is a risky business. Even in low Earth orbit, today's astronauts face potential mechanical failure and the mental strain of isolation. However, the future of space exploration lies beyond Earth's protective magnetosphere, where an even bigger threat lurks in the form of heavy ion radiation. In just one day of interstellar space travel, for example, an astronaut will face radiation levels equal to a year's worth of incidental radiation on Earth. This radiation can cause DNA to mutate and cells to die. To battle this invisible threat, NASA and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded $11 million to seven United States' universities this winter for the development of nano-scale biomedical technologies that detect, diagnose, and battle radiation exposure, cancer, and other diseases at the cellular level.
http://www.space.com/businesstechnol...ts_020717.html

"Crash-tester" breaks gadgets with precision
A machine for "crash-testing" mobile phones, handheld computers and other portable electronic devices has been constructed by researchers in Singapore. By hurling expensive equipment at high speed into different surfaces, the researchers hope to understand which components most often break when dropped. In the long term, they believe this could help manufacturers design and build more robust electronic gadgets. In tests conducted so far, with over 100 different models of mobile phone, the researchers found that battery connections and liquid crystal displays were most prone to suffer damage on impact.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992563

Quantum entanglement stronger than suspected
Pairs of photons linked by the weird quantum effect of entanglement can pass through sheets of metal without the entanglement being destroyed. The finding means the quantum linking of particles is far more robust than scientists thought and could help them develop new ways of making quantum computers. Scientists think quantum computers could be hugely powerful because of their ability to perform many calculations at once, instead of doing one after another like regular computers. When photons are entangled, the physical properties of one are intimately linked to the other. Measuring the properties of one will instantly tell you the properties of the other.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992564

Genetic algorithm tunes up public speakers
A new voice processing system could help you "evolve" your voice so that it sounds the way you want it to when you speak through a microphone. The technology could turn weak and weedy voices into the expressive and clear ones needed for effective public speaking. For some, having the right voice can make the difference between success and failure. Britain's ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously had voice training to lower the pitch of her voice, making her sound more authoritative. If you want to command respect, having a strong, authoritative voice helps, says Yuji Sato at Hosei University in Tokyo. So to help people develop it, he's devised a voice processing system that makes people sound more "joyful, calm or manly" - even the women.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992560

More news later on

[TankGirl]

A great newspaper again!

- tg

Now WT please don't disturb me while I am digesting the news.

[TankGirl]

Originally posted by walktalker
Switch on for state snooping
From August net service providers in the UK will be obliged to carry out surveillance of some customers' web habits on behalf of the police. Controversial laws passed in 2000 oblige large communications companies to install technology that allows one in 10,000 of their customers to be watched. The information gathered about what people look at on the web, the content of e-mail messages and their phone conversations will be passed to the police or a government monitoring station. The demands have been criticised by experts who say the law conflicts with basic guarantees of privacy and that the government is not doing enough to help pay for the installation of the surveillance systems.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci...00/2124551.stm[/b]

"In theory, an interception capability would deliver all the data," said Mr Perry [from London Internet Exchange]. "It's the internet equivalent of a telephone tap."

The government is hoping that its work on automatic surveillance will become a European standard and be widely adopted.

It took 18 years longer than Orwell predicted but there you go, Brits. Say hi and be nice to the Big Brother.

- tg