The Newspaper Shop -- Thursday edition

[walktalker]

TankGirl told me she would never kiss ever again ( a few months given or take, that's an eternity in male time ) So she's not getting any of the twenty first copies either muhahaha That'll teach her

She simply doesn't like people to have some fun on her, someone has to teach that mod life ins't that easy... right boys

Linux vendors stand behind UnitedLinux
Several Linux vendors have moved to standardize their customized operating environments on a single platform, the companies announced Thursday. As reported earlier, U.S. companies Caldera International and Turbolinux, Germany's SuSE Linux and Brazil's Conectiva said that by the end of this year they will shift their product lines to focus on a uniform Linux distribution called UnitedLinux. The move addresses concerns about the large number of Linux distributions, each of which must be taken into account by software developers.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-928518.html

Study: Net's software outlaws are thriving
Chances are, you're a software scofflaw. The Business Software Alliance, a trade group that represents the major software makers, says that more than half of all Web users have downloaded software they have not paid for. In a study of 1,026 Web users released Wednesday, the group found that 57 percent of respondents never or seldom pay for copyrighted works they download. And 12 percent admitted to pirating software.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-928581.html

TiVo promotion sparks complaints
Digital recording company TiVo is testing new promotional methods to assure TV networks that it won't tune out their ad-supported businesses, walking the fine line between its customers and entrenched media giants. In a move that came with little advance notice, TiVo subscribers in the United Kingdom last week found the BBC comedy "Dossa and Joe" automatically pushed onto their digital video recorders (DVRs) unless they had already programmed the device to record another show during the same time slot.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-929018.html

XScale tips the power to Pocket PCs
The next few weeks should see the launch of a new generation of more powerful Pocket PC handheld computers with longer battery life, as several manufacturers prepare the first devices based on Intel's XScale embedded processors. XScale Pocket PCs are on the way from manufacturers including Casio, Hitachi, Toshiba, Acer, HP and Fujitsu Siemens. The latter's Pocket Loox wireless handheld was originally expected to be the first XScale handheld, but in February the device was delayed to the end of July because of power management problems.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-929024.html

Con Edison charges up 'electric Ethernet'
New York businesses can now get Ethernet services through the city's electrical conduits, as Con Edison is moving into the tough business of providing the services in metro areas. The move is part of a bigger strategy by the energy company to diversify its networks used for high-speed Internet access in New York. The company began offering the service Wednesday through its telecom subsidiary, Con Edison Communications ( CEC). The service, dubbed PowerLan Ethernet, will provide a high-bandwidth, low-cost alternative to current networks. It will also give New York a backup network by providing the only alternative to Verizon Communications' conduits.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-928988.html

EPA rule promotes safe e-recycling
In an attempt to encourage recycling of PCs and televisions, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to ease rules regarding disposal of the products. Both types of devices generally contain CRT (cathode-ray tube) monitors, each containing up to 8 pounds of lead, which protects users of the products from radiation. When the monitors are thrown out, however, that lead may pose a pollution threat -- a danger that has drawn increasing scrutiny over the last several years.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-928815.html

MS sounds siren about Exchange hole
Microsoft on Wednesday issued a security alert about a newly discovered flaw in its Exchange 2000 e-mail software that could allow hackers to cripple e-mail servers. The vulnerability, which Microsoft classified as "critical," affects e-mail servers running Exchange 2000. Malformed messages created using RFC 821 and 822, versions of the SMTP format commonly used by e-mail programs, can cause the CPU of the server receiving the message to run at 100 percent as it attempts to read the message. The result would be a denial-of-service attack, with the affected server unable to do anything until it finishes processing the message.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-928091.html

The check's in the net
Internet consumers can get instant messaging, watch on-demand video and trade stocks as the market moves, but most still can't pay their bills in real time. Although a growing number of customers are using online banking for basic services, far fewer are turning to the Net for bill payment. Part of the problem is that banks can take days to process electronic payments, offering little advantage over sending checks by regular mail, while often charging fees for the service.
http://news.com.com/2009-1017-928032.html?tag=fd_lede

Computing gets bulletproof guarantee
Sure, your fancy new laptop has a glitzy screen and all the latest multimedia doodads. But can it stop a bullet? That's the promise Xybernaut, a specialist in "wearable" PCs, is making from the partnership it announced Thursday with Central Lakes, Mich.-based Second Chance Body Armor, the leading U.S. manufacturer of body armor for law enforcement and the military. Xybernaut's body-mounted computer systems will be integrated into Second Chance's high-tech body armor to give soldiers and police a safe and highly portable computing system.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-929031.html?tag=fd_top

Tracking technology helps WTC cleanup
A small company that makes tracking technology is one of the unsung heroes of the recovery and cleanup efforts at Ground Zero that concluded on Thursday amid bagpipes and the ceremonial removal of the last steel column from the World Trade Center ruins. PowerLOC Technologies, a Toronto-based company that makes "L-Biz" tracking technology, has been credited with dramatically improving the recovery process by organizing the flow of cleanup operations. Using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and wireless devices, PowerLOC was able to coordinate and track the scores of dump trucks used in the recovery, track the dump loads for billing purposes, and prevent traffic jams.
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-929029.html?tag=fd_top

Schools to bone up on technology
Public schools in the United States will spend $9.5 billion on information technology by 2006, up almost 16 percent from this year, according to a new report. Computer hardware will account for just over a quarter of district technology budgets, according to the study from market researcher IDC. And increasingly, school systems are turning from desktops to notebooks in this category. "As the average cost of a portable computer slips below the key threshold of $1,000, more and more districts will go the mobile route to equip their students," said analyst Stephen Webber in a statement. Notebook computers and other portable devices are popular because they allow districts to try and give each child his or her own device.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-928645.html?tag=fd_top

Hacker breaks into electronics site
An online electronics store on Wednesday alerted the FBI, credit card companies and customers that someone claiming to be a well-known hacker has broken into its site and stolen customer information. TheNerds.net was trying to evaluate how many of its 100,000 customers were affected by the break-in, President David Kriegstein said. Scores of customers reported getting e-mail directly from the alleged hacker, and the company began directly notifying all customers that their credit card information, home address and phone numbers may have been stolen.
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-928085.html?tag=cd_mh

Consumer broadband prices keep rising
Consumers just keep paying more for high-speed Internet access, according to recent research. The average monthly price for cable broadband Internet service increased 4 percent to $44.95 at the end of March 2002 from $43.21 in December 2001, according to a study by La Jolla, Calif.-based market research firm ARS. DSL (digital subscriber line) Internet access ticked up 1.4 percent during the same time frame to $51.82 a month from $51.09. The increase built upon last year's price increases, which also reached record levels at the time.
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-928200.html?tag=cd_mh

For movie pirates, it's full speed ahead
Viant, a research company tracking Internet piracy, on Wednesday estimated that between 400,000 and 600,000 film copies are illegally downloaded daily on the Internet, up at least 20 percent from last year. A year ago, Viant had estimated that between 300,000 and 500,000 movies were being illegally transferred daily over Internet channels such as Usenet, IRC, Gnutella and FastTrack. The surge in activity this year reflected the unprecedented frenzy of illicit online trading centered on two of the summer's most anticipated releases, "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," it said.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-928426.html?tag=cd_mh

LCD shipments expected to pick up
Shipments of liquid-crystal displays will increase sooner than expected, a research firm said -- good news for a market struggling to meet demand, but a development that could lead to the types of price drops that have hurt the industry in the past. Austin, Texas-based DisplaySearch updated on Wednesday its projections from March on shipments and revenue for large LCDs -- those 10 inches and up. LCDs are commonly used in flat-panel monitors and notebook computers.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-928254.html?tag=cd_mh

Europe Passes Snoop Measure
The European Parliament passed a controversial measure Thursday that would allow countries to force telecommunication companies to keep detailed records of customers' data for snooping purposes. The Parliament passed the Communications Data Protection Directive, 351 to 133, despite an aggressive campaign by civil liberties groups who say the measure would enable police to spy on citizens. Parliament members who voted for the directive say police need to access transmission data for e-mail, phone calls, Internet use, faxes, and pager messages to deter terrorist attacks.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52882,00.html

Cloning Bill Bans Abortion Too?
Cloning and abortion -- separate issues altogether, right? Maybe not. There are those who believe that if cloning is outlawed, then abortion will be too. A hotly debated bill that would make cloning illegal also protects a human embryo from the moment of conception, and therefore flies in the face of Roe v. Wade, some experts say. They accuse conservative politicians of trying to chisel away at abortion rights through the back door with the bill (SB790), sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas).
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,52838,00.html

FBI Analysis: We Don't Compute
FBI director Robert Mueller on Wednesday described an organization that is "years behind where it should be in terms of having the technological infrastructure." Changing that, he said, involves "not just getting the computers on board, the hard drives; it means everybody from top to bottom becoming facile with the computer, understanding the computer and understanding how technology can assist us to do our job better." This news of increased federal communications monitoring comes on the heels of yet another embarrassment for the FBI -- the release on Tuesday of an internal memo from March 2000 that shows that the bureau's much-maligned Carnivore surveillance system had been inadvertently used to spy on targets without proper authorization.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52853,00.html

Embrace the Jacuzzi for the Cure
The "Booby Jacuzzi" may sound like an exotic spa treatment but it's actually the nickname given to a new treatment for those with breast cancer. At first glance, the nickname could appear to make light of a very serious problem -- 40,600 people died in the United States from breast cancer in 2001 alone. But backers of the treatment are convinced it can reduce the numbers. The treatment, currently being tested at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, uses heat to zap cancerous tumors.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,52721,00.html

Fuming Over World Cup's Foam Ball
Starting Friday, several billion fans will turn their attention to Japan and Korea for soccer's World Cup, and every set of eyes will be locked on the technological marvel at the center of the action. It's a bundle of tech materials, engineered and tested to ensure top performance. It's a work of art, with an abstract design meant to celebrate the technological achievements of Korea and Japan. It's the Fevernova, the official ball of the World Cup. There's just one problem. The players hate it.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52828,00.html

Groups: Bush Wrong on Divide
The Bush administration is wrong to declare that the digital divide is narrowing and should focus on expanding Internet access for the poor and less educated in their homes, leading consumer groups said Thursday. They contend the administration is misinterpreting a recent study on the topic by looking at Internet access at work and in schools, rather than concentrating in homes where most families use the Internet and the gap is greatest.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52865,00.html

The War in All its Online Glory
The war in Afghanistan is going online. A drab tent under the Afghan sun hides a high-tech war room that soon will become the nerve center of the campaign: Inside, tables are lined with soldiers bent over laptops. They look up at computer maps of Afghanistan projected on large screens illuminating the dim interior. All are logged onto the Tactical Web Page, a secret, secure website being used in combat for the first time, through which American commanders at Bagram air base and in the United States can direct the fight in Afghanistan.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,52861,00.html

Clear Channel's Big Radio Ways Are Getting a Lot of Static These Days
Radio used to be a simpler business. Back when, small companies -- mom and pops, almost literally -- dominated the field. There were a few big companies in the game, but until 1996 no single broadcaster could own more than 40 stations nationwide, or more than four in one city. Radio was most assuredly "local" -- usually undercapitalized, sometimes idiosyncratic, typically owned by people who lived in and presumably cared about the community. For decades, the federal government liked it that way; under vaguely defined notions like "serving the public interest" and "preserving diverse voices," official Washington kept radio small and decentralized. Much of that changed with an act of Congress.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2002May28.html

Seismologists turn snoops
Sound waves can also foil nefarious subterranean exploits, explained Richard Miller, a geoscientist for the Kansas Geological Survey in Lawrence. Seismometers that are capable of detecting a broad range of sound frequencies near the Earth's surface can detect the subtlest sounds. Miller and colleagues have used such seismometers to locate the echoes of small tunnels 35-65 feet deep near the Mexico-US border that are associated with the smuggling of drugs and people. The same technique could be used to listen for the construction of underground weapons stores and terrorist havens, Miller suggested. US policy-makers have taken notice of this potential.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020527/020527-8.html

Software shows uniqueness of handwriting
A new study using handwriting recognition software claims to show that everyone's handwriting is unique and that using such evidence in court is therefore scientifically justifiable. Handwriting experts have had a tough time in US courts since a 1993 supreme court decision that attempted to clamp down on junk science. According to the ruling, expert testimony can only be admitted if it is based on scientific methods published in peer review journals. But now, Sargur Srihari and colleagues at the State University of New York at Buffalo have used computer software to show that handwriting samples collected from a representative sample of 1500 people were all unique.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992349

More news later on ( much later on for TG )

[TankGirl]

Thanks for the first copy, WT! Stolen news are even better than the paid ones!

- tg

[walktalker]

Originally posted by TankGirl
Thanks for the first copy, WT! Stolen news are even better than the paid ones!

- tg

Funnier too I took the twenty first papers off the shelves before you came and placed a twenty first one with leaking indelible black ink on the top
...and did I tell you that this special ink stinks ?