The News Bonanza -- Friday edition

[walktalker]

I'm back !!

Spat over MS 'flaw' gets heated
A security company's assertion that a feature in Microsoft's latest software tools has a flaw morphed on Friday into an argument over whether the giant is doing enough to secure its code. The crux of the debate is now focused on whether the feature -- a software switch known as the 'GS flag' that turns on additional security -- has sacrificed protection for performance, said Crispin Cowan, chief scientist at WireX Communications -- a maker of secure Linux applications -- and the co-founder of open-source security site Sardonix.org.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-839039.html

Lindows moves to head off Microsoft
Lindows, a start-up developing software that would let many Windows programs run on Linux computers, this week released legal papers designed to head off Microsoft's efforts to thwart the product. In December, Microsoft asked a federal judge to bar the company from using the Lindows name, which it claimed could confuse consumers. The suit set back Lindows' software release schedule but also has given the start-up publicity as the latest chapter in the long-running competition between Microsoft and Linux fans.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-839197.html

Ultrawideband: Rescuers left in the lurch?
Firefighters and law enforcement agencies are likely the losers from this week's Federal Communications Commission decision allowing the sale of products based on ultrawideband, a superfast wireless signal. When the FCC on Thursday decided to make ultrawideband (UWB) available commercially, it set a limit on how powerful the signal can be. The FCC explained the limitations were to help allay fears that UWB's powerful signals would interfere with military operations or broadcasts from television and radio stations.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-839310.html

FCC mulls easing DSL clamps
Federal regulators Thursday launched what will likely be a fierce debate over what rules should govern high-speed Internet service across traditional telephone lines, a proceeding that could affect the speed of its materialization across the United States. The agency tentatively proposed that broadband service such as digital subscriber line be classified as an information service, which could subject it to fewer regulations and thus, some argue, faster implementation.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-838464.html

Meeting of the minds in next-gen Internet
Two high-profile movements to harness the power of the global network of computers will start pooling their resources next week as academia's "grid" computing initiative meets the Web services trend that's sweeping business computing. Ultimately, cooperation between the two groups could mean improvements in areas as diverse as genetics research and credit card billing.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-839036.html

Is Comcast e-mail back after breakdown?
Comcast, one of the nation's largest cable companies, said Friday that its e-mail systems were up and running again after a 24-hour outage, but some customers disagreed. Customers were still reporting scattered e-mail outages Friday afternoon, hours after the cable company said its e-mail systems had been repaired. Reports of outages came from areas including Kentucky and New Jersey. A representative for the company said Friday she was unaware of any current e-mail outages.
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-837775.html

Apple slams door on Windows themes
There are some big differences between Mac OS X and Windows XP, and apparently Apple Computer doesn't want any blurring of the lines between the two. The Mac maker has asked Web site ThemeXP to stop offering for download two "desktop themes" that let computer owners customize the look of Windows XP so that it resembles the Mac OS X. Desktop themes are small programs that allow people to personalize their wallpaper, icons, windows and so on to reflect their particular passion -- be it a certain pop star, the entire Milky Way or an operating system.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-838943.html

Sending old PCs up the river
Inmates at a new federal prison in California will soon be able to join the high-tech economy via the burgeoning field of electronics recycling. The U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater, Calif., which is set to open this quarter, will employ approximately 350 prisoners in the handling of PCs, monitors and related devices that have reached the end of their useful lives in government agencies and private enterprise, according to Larry Novicky, general manager of recycled electronics products and services group Unicor. Unicor is the trade name of Federal Prison Industries, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-838011.html

'Star Trek' Tech Gets Limited Approval
Federal regulators gave a tentative go-ahead yesterday for a new wireless technology that would make it possible for home machines to "talk" to one another, for federal agents to locate hidden or lost people behind walls, and for cars to stop automatically before hitting a pedestrian. Start-up companies, the Department of Commerce and analysts hailed the Federal Communications Commission's decision as a victory for consumers and the industry.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2002Feb14.html

Net snooping laws 'too costly'
Extensive snooping laws could put internet service providers out of business, an expert has warned. Tim Snape, an influential member of the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA), said the law would drive up costs. He was speaking at ISPCON, a conference for the internet industry held in London this week. Mr Snape, who runs a small internet service in West Dorset, believes laws requiring ISPs to keep traffic information on all their users for up to seven years will prove far too costly for many smaller firms.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci...00/1820199.stm

Microsoft to cast .Net in ad campaign
Microsoft will begin translating its complex .Net strategy into business-friendly terms with a $200 million ad campaign that launches Monday. With the campaign, dubbed "One Degree of Separation," the software maker will be pitching its .Net products and services -- designed to bring business computing onto the Web -- as a means by which companies can eliminate time and technology barriers between customers, partners and employees. The ads will appear in 10 countries in Europe and the Americas, Microsoft said Friday.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-838605.html?tag=cd_mh

Storage-networking company sues rival
McData, a company that makes storage-data networking gear, sued its rival Brocade Communications for alleged violation of its patents, McData said Thursday. McData accuses Brocade of infringing on its patent No. 6,233,236, which covers aspects of measuring traffic within a switch, the company said. The technology relates to eliminating bottlenecks that can slow data transfer within the switch.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-838271.html?tag=cd_mh

Amazon fulfills wedding-registry vow
The Beatles maintained that all you need is love. Yet newlyweds these days require matching linens as well, so Amazon.com has unveiled a new wedding registry. Couples planning their wedding can register at Amazon.com's wedding site, where they can select from kitchenware, electronics, tools and other products the company carries. It was once predicted that wedding registries would become an e-commerce gold mine.
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-838298.html?tag=cd_mh

U.K. probes wireless link to cancer cases
A London council is spending thousands of pounds on scientific tests in an attempt to see whether mobile phone masts could have caused a cluster of cancer cases. Residents of Carnarvon Road, a street near Epping Forest in northeast London, successfully urged councilors to pay for checks on mobile masts near their homes. An expert team from the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) will monitor emission levels at several points in the area -- a move that the council hopes will help to dispel the fears of local residents.
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-838846.html?tag=cd_mh

Patent ruling hangs over Net music, video
SightSound Technologies, a digital media company, has won an important ruling on a set of patents that could give it substantial reach over the business of selling music and video online. The 6-year-old company has been in court since 1998, suing Bertelsmann division CDNow for violating patents filed in the late 1980s. This week's preliminary ruling is the first major step forward, upholding SightSound's contention that it holds broad rights to one of the most common ways of selling music and video online.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-837901.html

NASCAR speeds onto RealOne
RealNetworks is pumping more horsepower into its Web subscription services, as the Internet media and software pioneer clinches a deal to provide exclusive video and audio content from NASCAR car racing. The Seattle-based company said Thursday that NASCAR will take a place alongside baseball and basketball as part of exclusive sports programming for its RealOne service, which pipes entertainment, sports and news content to subscribers for a monthly fee.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-838747.html?tag=cd_mh

Holocaust site open to broadband users
A Steven Spielberg-backed foundation launched a Web site Thursday designed as a high-speed gateway into its vast catalog of testimonies from Holocaust survivors. The site for the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation features snippets of survivor and witness testimonies and information about the organization's digital library. Access to the testimonies, however, is only available to people using high-speed connections and Apple Computer's QuickTime media player. The site also promotes the foundation's initiatives and educational resources including CD-ROMs and film documentaries.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-838074.html?tag=cd_mh

Digital matchmakers share the love
Digital yentas such as Matchmaker, Match.com and Yahoo Personals' ClubConnect are all the rage these days among singles searching for sweethearts. Timed to coincide with Valentine's Day is newcomer Romantic Planet, which plans to launch Thursday. The shock of Sept. 11, the bust of the dot-com bubble, and the economic doldrums in general have marked a radical change in many people's priorities. No longer married to their jobs, former dot-commers are looking to marry each other. Engagements are up. Comfort food is in. And more people are pointing and clicking their way to love.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-837330.html?tag=cd_mh

Georgia targets violent video games
State lawmakers this week introduced a bill that would make it a crime in Georgia to provide games that depict graphic violence to minors. The bill, dubbed the "Violent Video Game Protection Act," would make it a criminal misdemeanor if a person "sells, rents, or otherwise provides for use for a charge" any video games to those under the age of 18 that depict "decapitation, bloodshedding, dismemberment, and grotesque cruelty." The bill's authors said improvements in technology and increasing access to such games necessitate stricter regulation.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-838722.html?tag=cd_mh

Piracy costs game industry $1.9 billion
The U.S. video game industry lost at least $1.9 billion to global piracy last year, half of which came from Korea and China, an industry trade group said Thursday. The Washington-based Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) said its estimate was included in a report that the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) will file with the United States Trade Representative on Friday. The group is asking for U.S. trade officials to take action against 50 countries that the IIPA alleges do not do enough to stop software piracy, including the unauthorized copying of video and PC games, a fast growing market.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-838300.html?tag=cd_mh

More news later on

[TankGirl]

Originally posted by walktalker
I'm back !!

You sure know how to make a girl happy!

- tg

[ab-NORM-al]

many thanks WT!!!

[goldie]

Originally posted by walktalker
I'm back !!

More news later on

He's baaaaaaaaaack!