The Newspaper Shop -- Wednesday edition

[walktalker]

New Pentium 4 to debut in 2003
Intel plans to come out with a new version of the Pentium 4 next year and to push a slate of initiatives to make computers and phones sleeker and smaller. The next version of the Pentium 4, code-named Prescott, will enhance desktop performance through hyper-threading, among other changes, Intel's Louis Burns, vice president of the Desktop Platforms Group, said at the four-day Intel Developer Forum here. Burns also demonstrated a 4GHz Pentium 4, which should come out sometime next year.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-846520.html

Microsoft to tweak antitrust pact
Microsoft and the government will make "clarifications" to their proposed antitrust settlement, the software giant said on Wednesday. Microsoft will outline changes to the settlement in a legal filing with U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly later in the day, company spokesman Jim Desler said.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-846602.html

Clinton calls for IT to fight terrorism
Addressing a gathering of over 1800 delegates from over 55 countries at the 2002 World Congress on Information Technology, former U.S. president Bill Clinton called for developed nations to use IT to bridge the digital divide, and use technology to make partners -- not terrorists -- of developing nations. "You can make a compelling argument for technology having created a more interdependent world, but so far we have failed to create a more integrated world," Clinton said.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-846191.html

Web tunes sound a security alarm
In a newly discerned computer security scenario, you could get an Internet worm for a song. More precisely, you could get a worm along with a song played on a number of popular Internet media players, including Microsoft's Windows Media Player or RealNetworks' RealPlayer. That's because the players provide the ability to embed Web addresses and scripts -- key ingredients in self-propagating, hostile code.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-846051.html

Critics squash bug-reporting plan
A draft protocol designed to lay down guidelines for a responsible method of reporting security bugs will let software vendors off the hook and stigmatize those who report bugs, say critics. The draft document, published earlier this month by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), is drawing criticism on several fronts, not least because one of the authors is Scott Culp, manager for Microsoft's security response center. It was Culp, who in his call for more responsible reporting, decried the information and example code released by some companies and independent security consultants as "information anarchy".
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-846217.html

Morpheus P2P goes to sleep
StreamCast Networks' Morpheus -- a file-swapping service that many have said would be impossible for courts to shut down -- shut out most of its users Tuesday, citing "technical problems." Computer users trying to log on to the service were greeted with a message telling them to upgrade their software to connect, although no newer version of the software was available. The outage immediately sparked a huge increase in traffic on alternative file-swapping services, such as Gnutella.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-845889.html

Watchdogs balk at eBay's privacy update
eBay is updating its privacy policy and user agreements, making it easier for the company to disclose members' personal information or to ban people from the site. The changes, which the online auction giant announced Monday, will go into effect March 19 for all consumers who register with the site after that date, and on April 19 for all other people. In statements to customers, eBay said the changes reflect the evolution of its Web site and are based in part on user feedback.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-846080.html

Web tool rivals work for harmony
Rival software makers this week are working together on Web services compatibility. In the two-day Web Services Interoperability Forum, starting Wednesday, about 30 software companies will test the compatibility of their toolkits that programmers use to build Web services. The effort, co-hosted by Microsoft and Iona Technologies, is an existing grassroots effort that has many of the same participants and is working toward the same goals as the newly launched industry consortium, called the Web Services Interoperability Organization.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-845835.html

Cell phone tracking raises privacy issues
The nation's cell phone service providers will soon know exactly where every one of their customers is, at all times, and privacy rights groups are asking what they plan to do with the information. All U.S. carriers are under Federal Communications Commission orders to make it possible for police to locate cell phones calling 911, something police can't do now. Carriers plan to use the same systems to sell services like helping stranded motorists even if they don't know their location, or finding the closest restaurant.
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-846744.html

Software "time bomber" goes to prison
The perpetrator of an unusual act of computer sabotage will begin serving a 41-month prison sentence May 1. Timothy Allen Lloyd, 39, was sentenced to prison Wednesday for concocting a computer "time bomb" that deleted programs on his former employer's computer network 20 days after he left high-tech measurement company Omega Engineering. Lloyd lost his job at Omega on July 10, 1996, after a 10-year stint with the company. On July 30, he activated a "time bomb" that destroyed Omega's manufacturing software programs.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-846784.html

Accused piracy leader pleads guilty
The accused leader of an Internet piracy group known as DrinkOrDie could face up to five years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. John Sankus, Jr., 28, who entered his plea in a Virginia federal court, will be sentenced May 17, federal prosecutors said. As part of the plea, Sankus agreed that he caused between $2.5 million and $5 million in damages by allowing the distribution of illegal software, games and movies over the Internet, the prosecutors said. In addition to possible prison time, he faces fines of up to $250,000.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-846672.html

Data-sharing gap puts agencies at risk
Members of Congress listened to testimony Tuesday on obstacles that government agencies face in sharing information with each other and with the private sector in the battle against terrorism.
At a hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement, chief information officers from federal agencies said turf wars and "stovepipes" of information created by incompatible computer programs are frustrating efforts to bolster homeland security.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-845824.html?tag=cd_mh

Hacker penetrates N.Y. Times' network
Adrian Lamo -- the curious hacker who has hit such high-profile companies as Yahoo, Microsoft and Excite@Home -- has struck again, this time gaining access to The New York Times' internal operations network. In an e-mail interview Wednesday with CNET News.com, Lamo described the attack, saying he viewed employee records -- including Social Security numbers -- and accessed the contact information for the paper's sources and columnists, including such well-known contributors as former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former Marine Col. Oliver North and hip-hop artist Queen Latifah.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-846215.html?tag=cd_mh

Apple picks up technical Grammy
Apple Computer will join the ranks of Perry Como and Joni Mitchell when the company picks up a Grammy on Wednesday evening. The company is being awarded a technical Grammy by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for its contributions to the music industry and recording field. The other recipient of the 2002 technical award is Robert Moog, an early developer of electronic instruments who created the synthesizer bearing his name. Past technical awards have gone to sound pioneer Ray Dolby, guitar designer Les Paul, and compact disc developers Sony and Philips Electronics, among others.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-846111.html?tag=cd_mh

Microsoft reveals PC game plan
Microsoft announced a slew of new PC games Wednesday, including sequels to the popular role-playing game "Asheron's Call" and strategy game "Age of Empires." The software giant revealed its PC game plans through next year as part of its International Games Festival, a media and promotional event in Las Vegas.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-846665.html?tag=cd_mh

More news later on

[Copyright Queen]

More news later on

All right. I'll just grab a coffee and donut while you round up some more news.