The Newspaper Shop -- Monday edition

[walktalker]

Microsoft judge: States' plan 'odd'
The federal judge considering what antitrust sanctions should apply against Microsoft expressed grave doubts Friday about the enforcement mechanism proposed by nine states. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly criticized as "odd" and "unusual" the states' proposal that would direct future complaints against Microsoft to a court-appointed ''special master,'' rather than the U.S. Justice Department. "Obviously I have some concerns about it, as to how it would work," Kollar-Kotelly said after bombarding a states' attorney with critical questions about the plan.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-917418.html

Intel chipsets, Celerons cut PC prices
A new chipset unveiled by Intel on Monday is ushering in sweeping changes in desktop PCs. The company announced two new versions of its 845 chipset, dubbed the 845G and the 845GL, that include built-in graphics and Universal Serial Bus 2.0, a high-speed connection for digital cameras and other devices. The combination of the new chipsets will allow manufacturers to deliver a slew of new PCs, ranging from better performing, low-price Celeron-based PCs, starting at $650, to high-end desktops approaching the $3,000 mark.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-917042.html

Cheap pen cracks 'copy-proof' CD
Technology buffs have cracked music publishing giant Sony Music's elaborate disc copy-protection technology with a decidedly low-tech method: scribbling around the rim of a disk with a felt-tip marker. Internet newsgroups have been circulating news of the discovery for the past week, and in typical newsgroup style, users have pilloried Sony for deploying "hi-tech" copy protection that can be defeated by paying a visit to a stationery store. "I wonder what type of copy protection will come next?" one posting on alt.music.prince read. "Maybe they'll ban markers."
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-917908.html

Benjamin worm targets Kazaa
The Kazaa file-swapping network has been hit by a virus, according to security experts. The Kazaa network is one of the most popular file-exchange networks, with more than 81 million copies of its client downloaded to date, according Sharman Networks, the company that developed the service. Security software firm Kaspersky Labs said the worm, called "Worm.Kazaa.Benjamin", is the first malicious program to spread through the Kazaa file exchange network, although Gnutella was hit by a proof-of-concept worm in February.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-917712.html

Patent Office tries to go paperless
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is drowning in paper, but plans to convert some of its paperwork to electronic form are meeting with resistance. At a hearing last week, the Patent Office heard comments about its proposal to eliminate certain paper record searches at its public facilities in Virginia. The proposal wouldn't eliminate the original documents. Those are stored by the Patent Office for 10 years, and by the Federal Records Center for 40 more years, before being turned over to the National Archives. What may be eliminated, however, are paper copies of the records that are made to help patent researchers.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-918359.html

"Star Wars" to play on Xbox, PlayStation
LucasArts said Monday that it would begin developing online games for Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation 2. The video game division of George Lucas' multimedia empire will begin producing the first of its "Star Wars Galaxies" online gaming series for the two consoles. LucasArts did not disclose a release date, but said it would produce the multiplayer games for the next two generations of the Xbox and PlayStation.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-917716.html

Paid content comes to Kazaa
Paid content will invade the Kazaa file-swapping network Monday in a major commercial test of a service that until now has lured millions of people with free music, video and other digital files. Along with finding search results that point to unfettered MP3s, Kazaa users will begin to see links to songs for sale from record labels and advertisements linked to keyword searches. The move is fraught with controversy as it is the first application of Altnet, a service from Kazaa partner Brilliant Digital Entertainment that came to light amid a Web privacy storm last month. Some Kazaa users reacted with outrage when they discovered that bits of Altnet had been quietly installed on their computers, creating a network to be manipulated by a little-known company whose ambitions were unknown.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-917348.html?tag=fd_lede

MSN fishing for disgruntled AOL users
Microsoft is launching a new campaign to pluck away the disaffected from America Online's 34 million-strong subscriber base. The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant will use an application called TrueSwitch, developed by New York-based Esaya, as the main weapon in what it considers its most aggressive attempt to date to close ground between AOL and its own MSN service. TrueSwitch automatically transfers all the information from someone's AOL mailbox, address book and calendar services into MSN Internet Access, Microsoft's ISP.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-918492.html?tag=fd_top

Google doodles with Dilbert
Zany office worker Dilbert is jumping from his cubicle to the home page of Google. Search engine Google said Monday that it is temporarily redesigning its logo for this week by featuring "doodles" of Dilbert, his pinecone-haired boss and his wacky co-workers on the Google home page. Dilbert fans can also purchase Dilbert coffee mugs for five days by clicking on the Google logo or by visiting the Comics.com Web site, according to Google. A Google spokeswoman said Google's doodles have no inherent goal behind them and that they reflect the company's "fun and spirited corporate culture."
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-918494.html?tag=fd_top

Another Year, Another Aibo
Hey bulldog. It's been three years since Sony introduced the first robot dog, Aibo. To mark that anniversary, Sony has introduced a new version of the Aibo Entertainment Robot, this one modeled on the tiny pugs that can usually be found wearing plaid sweaters in Manhattan's Gramercy Park. The artificial pup will cost $599 and can be ordered on the Internet starting June 3. The novelty of seeing a robot dog walking around and interacting with its surroundings has worn off in the years since the first Aibo arrived with its brilliant streamlined design. The new caramel-colored Aibo ERS-31L looks less like a Jetsons character that fell into a time warp and more like a mere toy. But, as far as being a new toy goes, Sony has brought several new features to the table.
http://www.forbes.com/home/2002/05/20/0520tentech.html

Webcasters say ruling on royalties could silence online music
Val Starr works out of her garage-turned-radio station in San Bruno, streaming about 60 channels of everything from classical to New Age to about 1. 6 million Internet listeners around the world. Starr puts in long hours hoping her venture, ChoiceRadio.com, will one day turn a profit. But Starr says she and thousands of other Webcasters could be forced offline if a government agency approves a controversial set of royalty rates that would stick ChoiceRadio with an extra $518,000 per year bill. On the flip side, recording stars like the Eagles' Don Henley believe Webcasters like Starr are waging a public sympathy campaign that grossly overstates the effects of the proposed rates.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl....DTL&type=tech

Suddenly, Sweet Harmony at Napster
The twists and turns for online music site Napster are getting as strange as those in a John LeCarre novel. After all hope appeared to be lost that Napster could be saved, media giant Bertelsmann announced on May 17 that it would buy all of the company's assets and reconfigure a new Napster while leaving virtually all of the outfit's senior team intact. The startling turn of events came just three days after CEO Konrad Hilbers and co-founder Shawn Fanning, along with other high-ranking execs, resigned their jobs to protest the refusal of Napster's board to approve Bertelsmann's buyout. Napster appeared to be headed for bankruptcy court. Now it has a new lease on life with an international entertainment giant.
http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...20517_1661.htm

Four years on, Microsoft case far from over
Saturday marked the four-year anniversary of Microsoft's antitrust case, which, legal experts say, could still go on for quite some time to come. And the longer the case drags on, they say, the more likely it is that Microsoft would escape largely unscathed from its legal tangle with federal and state trustbusters. Many of the company's court-affirmed violations occurred at least five years ago. With appeals, the process now under way could stretch on for two more years or longer, which could make any remedy essentially meaningless.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-917863.html?tag=cd_mh

Nano breakthrough charges science world
IBM researchers have created transistors out of carbon nanotubes that can outperform similar silicon transistors, a development that helps build the case that carbon may one day become a building block of computing. In an article to be published on Monday in the journal Applied Physics Letters, IBM researchers outline how transistors made of carbon nanotubes -- long, thin strands of carbon molecules -- delivered more than twice the amount of electrical current at a faster rate than cutting-edge transistors made from silicon and metal, the basis for chips today.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-917346.html?tag=cd_mh

Oracle lobbyist under ethics cloud
A lobbyist who helped Oracle land a multimillion-dollar software contract with the state of California, which state auditors now say was a waste of money, had a long history of ethical lapses, a Sacramento, Calif., newspaper reported Sunday. In the coming days, lawmakers are expected to question Ravi Mehta, the man who made Oracle's case to the state, The Sacramento Bee reported. The one-time Southern California prosecutor and chairman of the state's ethics commission in the mid-1990s has a well-known reputation for flouting ethical rules, the report said.
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-917326.html?tag=cd_mh

Wi-Fi in the Steel City
The city of Pittsburgh on Monday joined a growing number of cities offering Wi-Fi hot spots in outdoor areas like parks or business districts. The Steel City's project is run by 3 Rivers Connect, a nonprofit whose major source of funding is the state of Pennsylvania. Private wireless company Grok Technology is managing the network. The network, which became available for public use on Monday, is free to use for now. Organizers envision charging $20 a month for access once the network, covering a 4-square-mile area of downtown Pittsburgh, is built, according to Executive Director Ron Gdovic.
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-918439.html?tag=cd_mh

Net companies looking for World Cup goal
As sports events go, the soccer World Cup has no equal: It's a month-long tournament that draws the attention of hordes of fans from all over the world. The trick, as always for Internet companies, is to find a way to cash in on the frenzy. "Amazon has its Christmases. For us, this is 10 Christmases rolled into one," said Tom Jessiman, managing director of London-based specialist news site Sports.com, adding that a strong showing by one of the big European nations would help to ensure that its investment on the tournament pays off.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-918156.html?tag=cd_mh

Proving online subscriptions are for Real
RealNetworks is poised to reach 1 million subscribers for its RealOne SuperPass subscription service by year's end, according to an analyst report. In a report published Thursday, Robertson Stephens analyst Aleksandar Sasa Zorovic said RealNetworks is on track to reach the benchmark thanks to a number of factors, including the pending launch of international services, additional premium programming efforts, and broadband penetration increases. RealOne SuperPass, launched two months ago, lets people who pay between $9.95 and $19.95 per month to access premium content, including sports, news and entertainment.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-918081.html?tag=cd_mh

Reading, writing and video games?
John Seely Brown has had an epiphany. In the past year and a half, the knowledge expert and chief scientist of Xerox said he's gained a new respect -- indeed an awe -- for screen language. And what is screen language? It's simply the vernacular of digital culture, the way technology is increasingly put in the service of human imagination in sophisticated ways. For the shorthand version, just think of any teenager's natural affinity for instant messaging, video games, movies, open source, and eBay. How can that affinity be tapped, and how can those abilities be understood and applied to lifelong learning?
http://news.com.com/2009-1023-917284.html?tag=cd_mh

The Push to Expose Quacks Online
The Federation of State Medical Boards has heartily endorsed the trend. "We suggest that malpractice information ought to be part of a physician's profile," federation spokesman Dale L. Austin said. "Patients should have as much information about prospective doctors as possible in order to make informed decisions." Although most states reveal information about malpractice judgments and arbitration awards against physicians, only 10 disclose out-of-court settlements. As a consequence, patients have no way of knowing whether their doctors have left behind a trail of unhappy clients and botched surgeries.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,52605,00.html

Help Build the Web of Knowledge
Altruistic programmers and word-nerds with an urge to connect the historical dots are needed to help build a website that will blend the best of old and new technology. "Knowledge Web" is the pet project of James Burke, an Oxford-educated historian whose fascination with technology resulted in Connections, a television series that explored the strange links between technological breakthroughs and historical events.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52594,00.html

Radio ID Tags: Beyond Bar Codes
An emerging technology could usurp the ubiquitous bar code's quarter-century of quiet domination. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, which consist of silicon chips and an antenna that can transmit data to a wireless receiver, could one day be used to track everything from soda cans to cereal boxes.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,52343,00.html

Tagging Books to Prevent Theft
For reference librarians, scanning endless bar codes is as tedious a daily task as dealing with stolen, lost or overdue library books. Now, a wafer-thin, microchip-based tag the size of a postage stamp could ease their workloads. Librarians can affix materials with security tags that contain microchips and an antenna that transmits information to a wireless reader using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. The technology could one day become as ubiquitous as the bar code.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,52493,00.html

IBM chips bulk up on carbon nanotubes
IBM researchers have created transistors out of carbon nanotubes that can outperform similar silicon transistors, a development that helps build the case that carbon may one day become a building block of computing. In an article to be published on Monday in the journal Applied Physics Letters, IBM researchers outline how transistors made of carbon nanotubes -- long, thin strands of carbon molecules -- delivered more than twice the amount of electrical current at a faster rate than cutting-edge transistors made from silicon and metal, the basis for chips today.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-917412.html

China sets date for the Moon
China says it is planning to establish a base on the Moon to exploit its mineral resources. Beijing has not yet put a human into space, but scientists say they expect to do so within three years and they have outlined an ambitious programme for the future. A chief scientist with China's Moon exploration programme, Ouyang Ziyuan, said that the country was planning to launch its first mission to the Moon in 2010.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci...00/1997747.stm

When Backyards Were Laboratories
Economics may be the dismal science, but these days the news about chemistry, physics and biology is fairly dismal as well. At the end of April, the National Science Foundation released its biannual report on the state of science and to no one's surprise, public understanding and attitudes have been found wanting. A bare majority of Americans, for instance, know that it takes the Earth a year to orbit the Sun, according to a survey conducted for the report. More than half think that the dinosaurs and the earliest humans coexisted, and that lasers work with sound waves.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/19/we...ew/19FOUN.html

Probability of alien life rises
The latest attempt to work out how much alien life is out there suggests there may be a lot more than most people thought. According to a new statistical analysis based on how quickly life got going on Earth, life will start on at least a third of Earth-like planets within a billion years of them developing suitable conditions. And with recent discoveries that planets are common around Sun-like stars, there's probably no shortage of prospective homes.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992283

A Bad, Sad Hollywood Ending?
Forget about Bill Gates, folks. The biggest enemy of free software may be Senator Ernest F. Hollings. Legislation introduced in March, 2002, by the South Carolina Democrat to require that copyright-protection software be embedded in PCs, handheld computers, CD players -- and anything else that can play, record, or manipulate data -- could make open-source software such as the Linux operating system illegal. Initially, the Hollings bill provoked a huge outcry mainly from consumer groups, plus makers of PCs and electronics gear. Now that the measure's full implications have sunk in, the usually vocal open-source community is starting to react as well.
http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...20515_8741.htm

More news later on

[cornflakeboyee]

[walktalker]

Nothing like a little BUMP :rab:

[TankGirl]

Excellent newspaper, Mr. WT!

- tg

Best greetings to Rosette!