News for Wednesday

Good morning, Governor Schwarzenegger, Adolf is on line one for you. At least we've finally got a Kennedy in the state house. I guess our official Screen Savers election projection was wrong, but hey, we were first and that's what counts. Georgy Russell did get 1,904 votes and came in 33rd in a field of 135. Doesn't she deserve a cabinet post or something for that? Do you find it at all depressing that some guy named George B. Schwartzman got over 10,000 votes because his name looked like Schwarzenegger? Is it too late to emmigrate to Canada? Mrs. O'Leary's cow starts the Great Chicago Fire on this day in 1871. The DJIA begins in 1876. Ozzie marries Harriet in 1937. In today's technology news...

• A Princeton student discovers how to disable SunComm's audio CD copy protection as used by BMG. Just press the Shift key when you insert the CD guys. BMG says, we knew that.
• The Federal Do Not Call list is a go. Again.  
• Vonage Victory. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Minnesota can't regulate VoIP services as they do phone companies.
• Microsoft patents that little IM trick that shows when the other guy is typing.
• President Bush has a blog with its own RSS 1.0 and 2.0 feeds and this lovely election countdown clock, too. Someone on the campaign is paying attention.
• Apple announces Panther (Mac OS X 10.3) ship date: October 24. Upgrade will cost $129. -gulp- It also releases new versions of iCal and iSync.
• Nokia phones are bursting into flames.
• Chrysler puts Bluetooth into British car for safer hands free. Unless it bursts into flames, that is.
• HalfLife 2's source code leak could slow the game's release as key technologies are rewritten to prevent cheating.
• Disney's MovieBeam service puts 100 movies in a set top box. You get 10 new movies a week all for $7 a month and $2.50 to $4 per flick.
• Interesting article in yesterday's USA Today about how old line companies like Motorola, Kodak, and Xerox are trying to re-invent themselves for survival in the new era. QOTD: Can old dogs learn new tricks?
• California may have The Gubinator but the UK has Angle-Grinder Man, a masked super hero who cuts wheel clamps from cars in London.

News for Thursday

Good morning. It's day two of California held hostage. OK Arnold, where's my Hummer? Yale University was chartered on this day in 1701. The first two-way telephone conversation occurred in 1878. The first consumer use of home banking by computer occurred in 1980 in Knoxville, Tennessee. John Lennon was born on this day in 1940. Imagine.

1. SANS and Homeland Security have released their annual Top 20 Security Vulnerabilities list, for the first time tagging Outlook and P2P software as threats. The SANS recommendations include instructions on how to uninstall Outlook saying its "embedded automation features are at odds with the built-in security controls" which are "often disregarded by end users" anyway.
2. The US House of Representatives is taking the recommendations to heart. They voted yesterday to reduce security risks from P2P software on government computers. That should do the trick.
3. Eolas isn't waiting for Microsoft to redesign Internet Explorer. The company asked a judge yesterday to block further shipments of IE until Microsoft pays up. Web designers had better hurry up and fix their pages if they want them to work with IE, and that doesn't just mean ActiveX controls as I mistakenly reported Tuesday - it means Flash, Quicktime, Java and other embedded content. Apple has a great support page for web developers with Javascript code that will work for most content.
4. Intuit apologizes to customers in ads today, saying it won't use copy protection in future versions of TurboTax.
5. Download.com has delisted Spam Remedy v2.3 Pro due to suspicions that the program is actually spam in disguise. The Register reports that not only do the publishers use spam to promote the product, but that it may even be designed to act as a spam proxy on systems where it is installed.
6. The Napster 2.0 beta launches today as a paid service from Roxio using a model very similar to Apple's iTunes Music Store. Songs are 99¢ per track, $9.95 per album, with a whopping 500,000 songs available, all in WMA format. The service rolls out to the public October 29.
7. Meanwhile there's bad news for fans of unencumbered legal MP3 downloads. eMusic has been acquired and is dropping its all you can eat service.
8. On a brighter note, Berkeley based record label Magnatune uses file swapping as its business model. It's essentially shareware music and the artists get 50% of the gross. Their motto: "We are not evil."
9. An anonymous paper [PDF] published on an Australian web site says the techniques the RIAA may be using to snag file sharers could easily trap the wrong people. The paper cited issues with Gnutella, but the principle extends to all P2P networks: you can't trust what P2P applications tell you about users.
10. Federal law enforcement officers have arrested a disgruntled Phillies fan for hacking into computers to spam two Philadelphia sports reporters. He faces 471 years in prison and $117 million in fines for messages like "Corrupt Philly Media Keeps Phils in Cellar." Or it could have been their 37-44 road record.

News for Friday

It's time for news....

1. Sunncomm decides not to sue the Princeton student who revealed how to disable its CD copy protection scheme. The company was threatening litigation under the DMCA. Sunncomm CEO Peter Jacobs told The Daily Princetonian, "I don't want to be the people my parents warned me to stay away from."
2. Yesterday SANS Institute called Microsoft's Outlook and Outlook Express major security vulnerabilities, now a group of security experts are saying stay away from Internet Explorer.
3. Redmond's response? Microsoft says it's going to stop issuing weekly software patches, instead moving to monthly patches except in case of emergency. Ballmer says predictability is more important than... what... security? Good news for dial-up Windows users, patch size will be reduced 30-80% by only shipping the deltas instead of the entire file. About time.
4. Missouri's AG is the first to file anti-spam lawsuits under the state's new law. 35 states now have anti-spam laws. Notice how spam has dropped off?
5. Instant Messaging Planet says AOL is planning to insert streaming TV-like ads into AIM. Hey, that's our job.
6. New Scientist is reporting that a new game copy protection scheme from Macrovision degrades the gameplay slowly on pirated discs. The idea is to get the pirate hooked on the game before disabling it.

Moanday News

Happy Columbus Day. Now go back to Europe where you belong. It's Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Telecom World 2003 opens this week in Geneva. The first aerial photo was taken from a balloon on this day in 1860. The ultrasonic burglar alarm is patented in 1953. And in technology news today...

1. IBM goes on trial tomorrow for unsafe working conditions in early clean rooms.
2. Maxtor announces a new technology, perpendicular recording, that doubles the data capacity of hard drive media. Are you ready for terabyte drives?
3. Sharp debuts 3D laptop display that doesn't require funky glasses.
4. A weekend poll at InternetWeek shows that nearly two-thirds of respondents are dissatisfied with Widows *. 41% say they're thinking of switching.
5. Good news, guys. Samba 3 proves 2.5 times faster than Windows 2003 Server in independent tests.
6. Matrix Revolutions will debut first in IMAX, November 5. Will it be any better if it's bigger? Doesn't matter. We'll be there.
7. Mission: SPACE, EPCOT's new $100 million space ride, developed in partnership with HP, is so realistic that it's making riders nauseous. Bring back the inflatable seats!
8. Monkey brains can control robot arms. Woo hoo. This makes me want to join PETA.

*Errr. Make that Windows -- LL

Thursday's Fish Wrap

Hello, Canadians. Stand by for neeeeeeews. The Cubbies are out of it, Fox execs are crying in their beer, and the Chicago Sun-Times has found a new goat. If I were that fan who foiled Alou's foul catch in game six I'd move to Florida real quick. Illinois' governor is offering entry into the witness protection program. Jeb Bush offers a mansion on the Florida coast. The quadrennial National Monopoly Championships begin today in Chicago. It's not too late to study up. Bill Gates is the #1 seed. It's National Feral Cat Day. Have one for lunch today.

1. Today's the day for Apple's big music announcement. I'll post details here as soon as Patrick and Andrew Hahn get back from Moscone Center. UPDATE: As expected, Apple announced iTunes for Windows today, including the iTunes Music Store. Steve Jobs says, "This isn't some baby version of iTunes. It's the whole thing." Apple is aiming for 100,000,000 downloads within one year. Download your copy from Apple now.
2. A new Microsoft security bulletin warns of five, count 'em, five new critical flaws in Windows and Exchange Server. This is the first of Microsoft's monthly updates. Under its new regime, MS will hold onto critical updates and release them all at once every month. Jeff Jones, director of Microsoft Security told ZDNet "All of the five critical (vulnerabilities) are, of course, critical, so that means they are wormable." How reassuring.
3. The FCC is about to approve a rule that would require all PCs and other digital video devices to contain copy protection. The so-called "digital flag" rule would protect digital TV broadcasts from piracy. The proposed system would require every device used by a consumer who wants to watch digital programming to include a copy protection scheme to be approved by the MPAA. Even Microsoft is against this one.
4. Verisign says there's no technical problem with Site Finder, and it plans to revive the service but promises 30-60 day notice. The "benefits to users" outweigh the hassle to network admins. Yeah right.
5. Lame duck California Governor, Gray Davis, signed a pioneering online privacy bill into law yesterday. The law, the first in the nation, goes into effect July 1. It requires sites that collect personal information have a privacy policy and actually adhere to it. AOL fought the bill vigorously. Makes you wonder doesn't it?