The Newspaper Shop -- Wednesday edition

[walktalker]

Can Linux vendors unify efforts?
Several major Linux companies are poised to announce "significant developments," including a joint distribution effort by Caldera International, SuSE and Turbolinux, sources have confirmed. The Linux distributors are expected to make the announcement Thursday morning. A source close to one of the companies involved confirmed that a single standardized Linux distribution is to be created, based on distributions from Caldera, SuSE and Turbolinux. Such a combination, drawing on the strengths of the three different distributions, could help combat the dominant position that Red Hat enjoys in the market.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-927675.html

Xbox-PC connection coming soon?
An online survey conducted recently by a Microsoft partner indicates that the software giant is considering producing a kit that would let people use an Xbox video game console and a TV to access entertainment files stored on their PC. The survey, sent to registered Xbox owners, was conducted by Greenfield Online, a research firm that has worked extensively with Microsoft's MSN online service. It appears to focus on Freestyle, an extension to Microsoft's Windows XP operating system aimed at turning PCs into digital media jukeboxes, although the survey refers to the product as "NewPC."
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-927681.html

EU may grant cops more online powers
The European Union is on the verge of adopting an Internet bill that could give police forces greater power to keep records of personal communications such as phone calls or Web surfing, a key legislator said Wednesday. The bill is the final element of a package to modernize EU telecommunications law and aims to protect the confidentiality of electronic communication to boost confidence in e-commerce. But it also contains provisions to allow police access to phone, fax and e-mail records, something that governments view as a useful tool to fight crime and terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-927736.html
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52829,00.html

Ted Waitt: Defender of downloads
If he finds himself dining at Spago anytime soon, Gateway CEO Ted Waitt isn't likely to receive any bear hugs from the Hollywood moguls who favor this perennial Los Angeles hot spot. That's because Gateway's chief executive officer finds himself on the other side of a bitter digital divide from the entertainment industry over the issue of digital music downloads. Throw in an opportunity for a grandstanding politician or two, and you have the makings of a grand donnybrook.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-927533.html

Whose laws rule on the Wild Wild Web?
Former Yahoo CEO Tim Koogle could find himself cuffed if he sets foot on French soil. His alleged crime: Allowing the posting of Nazi collectibles on Yahoo's U.S.-based site -- an action Holocaust survivors say violates France's war crimes laws. In another case, Russian software programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was jailed after entering the United States last year. The charges related to providing software that could be used to crack e-books, an action that is not a crime in his homeland but that violates U.S. copyright law, federal authorities say. "That is the scariest prospect for people who are either posting or doing business on the Internet," said Mike Godwin, a policy fellow at the Center for Democracy and Technology.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-927370.html

Macromedia releases software upgrades
Software maker Macromedia on Wednesday began shipping new versions of several key products, including its market-leading Dreamweaver Web authoring package. As previously reported, the new MX versions of Dreamweaver, ColdFusion application server software and Fireworks animation software are part of a wide-reaching effort by Macromedia to more tightly integrate Web applications with content and allow for smoother presentation.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-927605.html?tag=fd_top

Documents reveal Carnivore deficiencies
A privacy watchdog group on Tuesday made public internal FBI documents that discuss failures of the agency's Carnivore online surveillance technology. The documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), detail at least one incident in which Carnivore inadvertently captured e-mail from people who were not under investigation, in apparent violation of federal wiretap laws. The FBI did not immediately return calls for comment. Carnivore, the FBI's Internet monitoring system that came into the public spotlight in July 2000, is used to monitor Internet traffic and communications through Internet service providers, once the technology's been installed on the ISP's system.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-927252.html?tag=fd_top

Instant messaging at work can open door to hackers
That instant message you send from work could put your company's computer network at risk. That's because popular free IM systems, such as AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger, lack basic security features needed to protect corporate networks. That wasn't a problem when the systems, geared to consumers, were used for chitchat. But this year, 54 million people will use consumer IM systems on the job, research firm IDC says. Security is kept lax so that they are easy to use.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/t...m-security.htm

Fingerprinting firms crack down on illicit file-sharing
So you just downloaded an MP3 version of the latest Jennifer Lopez single from Gnutella or one of the other free file-sharing networks. You’re not feeling too guilty, and in any case, no one will ever know, right? Don’t count on it. Lopez’s recording label, Epic Records, is owned by Sony Music Entertainment, and Sony is one of a number of media giants hiring the services of a new breed of content-tracking firms to combat digital piracy. These online private eyes are using the latest digital fingerprinting technology to scan public computer networks for unauthorized copies of music files, still images, movies and software. And they can watch as those illicit files spread from hard drive to hard drive — whether or not the files bear the invisible digital “watermarks” often used to identify their original owners.
http://www.techreview.com/articles/innovation30602.asp

Online pharmacy fined $88 million
A Los Angeles pharmacy and a pair of employees were fined $88 million by the state of California for being too lax in prescribing drugs over the Internet. California Gov. Gray Davis announced the fines on Tuesday and said in a statement that the pharmacy violated a year-old law that makes it illegal for Internet pharmacies to fill prescriptions for patients who aren't properly examined by a licensed physician. An 8-month-long investigation showed that Total Remedy and Prescription Center II filled more than 3,500 prescriptions over the Web that were written by doctors not licensed to practice medicine in California. Most of the prescriptions were for "lifestyle drugs" such as Propecia, a hair-loss treatment.
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-927213.html?tag=cd_mh

Hits on M&M Mars site reach outer limits
Traffic to the M&M Mars Web site skyrocketed earlier this month because of Internet surfers voting for the newest M&M candy color, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. MMS.com attracted 336,000 visitors who logged on at home during the week ended May 19, compared with 137,000 visitors the week prior, said Internet audience measurement service NetRatings. Purple took the top spot as the most popular color choice. Thirty percent of the total audience visiting the site voted for purple; 19 wanted aqua; and pink garnered 9 percent. The M&M site attracted a predominantly female audience with a 67-to-33 gender split.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-927413.html?tag=cd_mh

Sonicblue sings in harmony with Coke
Sonicblue and Coca-Cola would like to teach the world to sing--or at least to listen to songs on the companies' new digital audio player. The device maker and the soda company announced on Wednesday their first co-branded player, the $89.95 Coke Brand SP50C. The gadget can play back analog CDs and CDs with digital audio files stored on them. David Huffman, vice president of audio products at Sonicblue, said the companies struck the deal because both shoot for the same audience: teenagers.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-927817.html?tag=cd_mh

FBI Blunders on Terror E-Mails
Technicians threw out legitimate wiretap information from an investigation of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network after flaws were discovered in the FBI's e-mail surveillance system, bureau documents show. According to a March 2000 memo to FBI headquarters, the surveillance device, once known as Carnivore, not only picked up the e-mails of its target "but also picked up e-mails on non-covered targets.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52842,00.html

Whisper the Songs of Silence
Music generated on a computer is usually associated with the thumping beats of techno. But a quieter aesthetic is emerging. It's so subtle you can hardly hear it. "Lowercase sound" is the name given to a loose movement in electronic music that emphasizes very quiet sounds and the long, empty silences between them. Created largely by scientists, techies and experimental musicians, lowercase recordings are frequently based on the magnification of minute sounds through a computer, typically a Macintosh.
http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,52397,00.html

Web Revival for Old Mac Interface
System 6 was the Macintosh operating system circa 1989, the one that fits entirely on a single floppy disk. System 6 is instantly recognizable, with a simple, elegant, black-and-white interface. For some, System 6 is the finest computer operating system ever made -- the classic computer interface -- the one that made the Macintosh famous as "easy to use." It still has many fans who run it on ancient Macs that are often their main or only computer. Bremsstrahlung Recordings' new website is just like the System 6 of old.
http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,52495,00.html

Doom III Has a Story to Tell
John Carmack's Doom, the revolutionary first-person shooter game, changed the way people played video games. Now, Carmack's working on the second sequel. He even tapped pal Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails to compose the creepy soundtrack that brings the game to life. Fans got a sneak peak of the game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Wired News radio got the opportunity to talk with Carmack and Reznor about the game and the role of storytelling in the first-person shooter genre.
http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,52835,00.html

Sound and Fury of HyperMacbeth
A new treatment of Macbeth on the Internet probably won't impress Shakespeare purists. In fact, codpieces, ghosts and daggers are unmistakably absent from HyperMacbeth, the latest Net artwork by Italian new media artist dlsan. In an attempt to "render Macbeth into a new medium," in the spirit of experimentation and by way of tribute to the Bard, dlsan's HyperMacbeth combines looping electronic music and garish graphic strips with dislocated mouthfuls of text from Shakespeare's play. Adding insult to injury for those who like their Shakespeare as close to the original as possible, dlsan not only hacks Shakespeare's hallowed speeches into pieces, but presents them simultaneously on the screen in Italian and English.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52761,00.html

A World at Your Fingertips
Imagine strolling along the waterfront with the city skyline behind you. Stopping at a "global interactive tourist node," you peer at a couple sharing a drink in front of the Eiffel Tower, or someone waving hello from in front of the Sydney Opera House. The Worldview project, an exclusive venture of Pletts Haque, a British architectural interaction design firm, plans to open real-time windows around the world. Bringing together three familiar concepts -- Japanese "puri-kura" photo booths, webcams and the holiday snapshot -- the project consists of establishing installations at landmark locations around the world, using city skylines as the common backdrop.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52580,00.html

Nasa says Mars assault is on
We are doing precisely what we need to do to send humans to Mars, Dr James Garvin, Nasa's senior Mars scientist, told BBC News Online. Dr Garvin is a researcher with an impressive track record in exploring the Red Planet and he is excited and inspired by the discovery of vast underground reservoirs on Mars. Scientists have discovered there is so much ice beneath the surface in the polar regions of Mars that if it were to melt it would deluge the planet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci...00/2013863.stm

Porn 'Mousetrapper' Ordered To Pay Back Over $1.8 Mil
A federal court has ordered a Pennsylvania man to pay back more than $1.8 million he may have garnered by luring unsuspecting Web surfers to pornography-related Web sites and then trapping them in barrages of pop-up advertising. John Zuccarini, who usually gives an address in Andalusia, Pa., and who is already one of the Internet's most notorious cybersquatters, was ordered to permanently refrain from diverting or obstructing consumers and to give up $1,897,166 in revenue from the advertising affiliate programs that had paid him for the hits generated by his Web-page mousetraps.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176786.html

Totally awesome software?
In an era of cheap, portable computers and universal connectivity, the image of two people working over the same keyboard seems about as quaint as an RCA vacuum tube. For a growing number of programmers, however, it's the latest thing: "pair programming," a cornerstone tactic in an emerging grass-roots software development methodology sweeping the industry. The name used to describe that methodology varies. Some call it "agile programming." Most call it "extreme programming," or "XP" for short. Whatever the name, the methodology's tenets boil down to an intriguing mix of age-old developer wisdom, newfangled coding tactics and a sugary-sweet layer of marketing-speak.
http://salon.com/tech/feature/2002/0...ing/index.html

European Mission Planned in Search of Earth-Like Planets
Astronomers announced Monday that the European Space Agency had committed to launching the Eddington satellite, which would search for Earth-like planets, by 2008. With four telescopes, Eddington would gaze at different regions of the sky for intervals of about two months each, observing more 200,000 stars, measuring changes in light of one part of one million, and thus allowing astronomers to learn more about what stars are like inside.
http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...sa_020528.html

More news later on

[theknife]

Do you download and then burn music CDs?
I don't spend a lot of time doing it, but I have done--just from a research standpoint.

Gateway CEO Ted Waitt



uh, sure, Ted...me too - just from a research standpoint...