|
|
Science: Premature birth of Earth |
8/29/2002 |
The Earth formed more quickly than we thought.
Scientists think it took shape about 30 million years after the birth of the Solar System.
The formation of the Moon must have occurred during the first 30 million years of the life of the Solar System
Until now, its core was thought to have arisen over the course of 60 million years.
The evidence comes from revised radioisotope dating of meteorites, the remnants of the stuff that made the planets.
The data also has implications for the genesis of the Moon.
The Moon was thought to have arisen after an impact between the burgeoning Earth and a planet at least as massive as Mars.
Full Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2219965.stm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
US Army tests portable translator |
8/29/2002 |
US soldiers on peacekeeping duties in the future could find that a portable translation device will be an essential part of their equipment.
Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a prototype of a speech translator that was road-tested by US Army chaplains in Croatia.
"This project shows how a relatively simple speech-to-speech translation system can be rapidly and successfully constructed using today's tools," said the team from Carnegie Mellon University in a research paper published recently.
The research was commissioned by the US Army, which is increasingly finding itself in peace-keeping roles where communication is key.
Full Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2219079.stm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Science: 'Meteorite' hits girl |
8/29/2002 |
The odds against being hit by a meteorite are billions to one - but a teenager in North Yorkshire may have had one land on her foot.
Siobhan Cowton, 14, was getting into the family car outside her Northallerton home at 1030 BST on Thursday when a stone fell on her from the sky.
Noticing it was "quite hot", she showed it to her father Niel.
The family now plan to have the stone analysed by scientists at Durham University.
"I saw it fall from above roof height," Siobhan told BBC News Online.
"It looked very unusual, with a bubbled surface and tiny indentations like volcanic lava.
Full Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/2218755.stm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Science: Can Airbags Save the World, Scientist Asks |
8/29/2002 |
Giant airbags could one day save the world from the disaster of a cosmic collision with a giant comet, according to a scientist in the United States.
Forget nuclear warheads to stop a crash with a comet that could have cataclysmic effects such as the one that is believed to have triggered the demise of the dinosaurs, Hermann Burchard of Oklahoma State University told New Scientist magazine.
Far better to send up a space ship equipped with a massive airbag that could be inflated to several miles wide and used to gently buffet the invading solar body away from a collision course with earth.
"It seems a safe, simple and realistic idea," Burchard told the magazine's latest edition.
However, he admitted there were still numerous details to be worked out including the material for the airbag which had to be light enough to cart into space yet strong enough to bounce the comet off its course to earth.
Source:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=sciencenews&StoryID=1383224 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AOL to Launch Next Version of Netscape Browser |
8/29/2002 |
America Online, the Internet unit of media behemoth AOL Time Warner Inc. said it plans to launch its new Netscape Web browser on Thursday, marking its latest effort to challenge the dominance of Microsoft Explorer as the standard tool for surfing the Internet.
The software, which has been in user tests since May, promises faster and easier navigation of the Web, although surveys show its market share has been dwarfed by Microsoft Corp.
Research firm WebSideStory issued a study that says that Netscape's global usage share has dropped to 3.4 percent, compared with 96 percent held by Microsoft Explorer, a turnaround from the mid-1990s when Netscape was dominant.
AOL bought Netscape in late 1998, months after it had struck a deal to use Explorer in its online service. The latest version of Netscape is aiming for mainstream users such as AOL's 34-million-plus user base rather than the tech-savvy developers that have gravitated toward Netscape.
The company has not yet decided to replace Explorer with Netscape in its new version of AOL set to be launched this fall, Netscape spokesman Marty Gordon said.
It is currently being tested in some versions of its service and launched a version of its discount Internet service CompuServe with Netscape technology. "We've been testing the browser and it's been gaining great momentum," he said. "We feel we have the wind in our sales. Netscape is alive as well."
Netscape's battle with Explorer has been an uphill one. "The browser war is in fact a massacre," said Geoff Johnston, vice president of product marketing for WebSideStory's StatMarket. The newest versions of Netscape have failed to win over users so far."
Full Article:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=search&StoryID=1384719 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intel to Start Selling Itanium 2 in September |
8/29/2002 |
Nowadays it is quite common to start shipping new products a quarter or even more after the announcement. There are several reasons why this happens, the main is to let the potential customers to learn a lot of theoretical information about the newcomer and to analyse all its possible pros and cons before making his choice. Intel announced their second 64-bit CPU, the Itanium 2 in the beginning of July, but decided to postpone the actual commercial launch until September.
The first company to start delivering servers based on those highly-anticipated processors will be Hewlett-Packard. They plan to launch a line of high-performance 4-way Itanium 2 servers based on their own ZX1 core-logic. The company is amazed with the Itanium 2 processors and there is no surprise at all, since Hewlett-Packard’s own developers have been working on this novelty for a number of years. Now the “child” is born, they can witness what it can offer and needless to say that they are delighted.
As always with brand-new architectures, there will be not a lot of Itanium 2 processors. Frankly speaking, the demand on such CPUs is not going to be massive from its first days, so, there is basically nothing to worry about.
As for other vendors, IBM, for example, are also going to unveil their own Itanium 2 based servers in the nearest future, while Dell is still considering its for and against.
Source:
http://xbitlabs.com/news/story.html?id=1030548781 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD Reveals Athlon XP 2700+ on the 7th October |
8/29/2002 |
According to some Taiwanese sources, AMD will officially reveal its Athlon XP 2700+ processor on the 7th of October. This CPU is the first to implement 333MHz system bus on Athlon platform. It is expected that the novelty will be based on the latest Thoroughbred core stepping 1, just like the current Athlon XP 2400+ and 2600+, and will work at 2.17GHz.
The new and faster processor bus will give substantial performance boost to Athlon XP CPUs. It is also quite clear that since PC2700 (DDR333) DDR SDRAM now becomes very popular among Socket A platforms, improved processors will also make use of increased memory bandwidth.
As it was reported earlier, VIA KT400, NVIDIA nForce2 and SiS746 series of chipsets will definitely support the up and coming AMD processors with 333MHz FSB. Some VIA KT333 powered mainboards will also allow users to install the new CPUs, however, not a lot of vendors guarantee this feature for their products.
Unfortunately, we have no information regarding pricing or availability of the actual devices to share with you.
Source:
http://xbitlabs.com/news/story.html?id=1030550861 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Science: Teens Get Hooked on Smoking Within Weeks- Study |
8/29/2002 |
Teens who tried cigarettes got hooked within weeks of starting -- a surprising result that contradicts the common wisdom that it takes years to become addicted, researchers said on Wednesday.
And it only took a few cigarettes a day to get them dependent on nicotine, the international team of researchers found.
"I expected that some kids would get hooked quickly, but I thought that the average kid would have to smoke for a few years to get hooked," Dr. Joseph DiFranza of the University of Massachusetts, whose study is published in the September issue of the journal Tobacco Control, said in a statement.
"I thought that kids who got hooked quickly would be the exception to the rule. As it turned out, the kids who did not get hooked quickly were the exception," he added.
"This study has overturned a lot of conventional wisdom."
It only took an average of three weeks for a teen-age girl to become addicted to tobacco, even if she smoked only occasionally, the study found. Half of all boys who got hooked were firmly addicted within six months.
"Some of the kids it was love at first sight. They had one cigarette and they knew it was something they were going to do for the rest of their lives," DiFranza said in a telephone interview.
Full Article:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=sciencenews&StoryID=1384212 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Science: Early Pot Smokers Become Addicts, U.S. Study Says |
8/29/2002 |
The younger someone is when first trying marijuana, the more likely he or she is to become dependent on illegal drugs later in life, U.S. government researchers said on Wednesday.
They found that 62 percent of adults aged 26 or older who first started using marijuana before they were 15 had also tried cocaine at some point.
More than 9 percent reported they had used heroin and more than half had used prescription drugs for recreational purposes.
Less than 1 percent of those who said they had never tried marijuana reported having tried cocaine or heroin and just 5 percent had abused prescription drugs, the report, by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, found.
"These findings are of grave concern because studies show smoking marijuana leads to changes in the brain similar to those caused by cocaine, heroin and alcohol," SAMHSA administrator Charles Curie said in a statement.
"Heavy marijuana abuse impairs the ability of young people to retain information during their peak learning years when their brains are still developing," Curie added.
Full Article:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=sciencenews&StoryID=1383987 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Toshiba, NEC Propose New DVD Format |
8/29/2002 |
Japanese electronics giants Toshiba Corp and NEC Corp said on Thursday they have proposed a cheaper type of high-capacity DVD incompatible with a format advanced by Sony Corp and others.
NEC and Toshiba said they submitted their format to the DVD Forum, an industry group of more than 230 companies that defines DVD format specifications and aims to promote DVD use.
The format would be incompatible with the Blu-ray standard for blue-laser DVDs unveiled in February by Sony, Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co and seven other electronics giants from Japan, South Korea and Europe.
Toshiba and NEC said their format for blue-laser DVDs, set to hit the market next year and able to store huge amounts of data due to blue light's short wavelength, was more compatible with existing red-laser DVDs and would smooth the transition from red to blue.
"Toshiba and NEC support this trend, with a format that provides a cost-effective upgrade path for media vendors, and a backward-compatible solution for the many customers who have built DVD libraries," the two companies said in a news release.
DVD equipment makers have already been hurt by a fragmentation of formats for red-laser DVD recorders, blamed for hindering the take-off of that market.
Toshiba, Japan's biggest chipmaker and a major player in DVD equipment, was one of the few Japanese electronics giants not to join the Blu-ray consortium.
The other members of the Blu-ray consortium are Japan's Hitachi Ltd, Pioneer Corp and Sharp Corp, South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Electronics Inc, Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands and France's Thomson Multimedia.
Full Article:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=1385099 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sony / Microsoft Cut Game Console Pricing in Europe |
8/29/2002 |
.S.-based Microsoft and Japan's Sony announced on Wednesday fresh price cuts for their video games consoles in Europe, adding fuel to an already contentious battle for market share.
Within an hour of each other, first Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), a unit of Sony Corp, and then Microsoft said they would cut the suggested retail price of their consoles to around 249 euros ($244.80), from 299 euros.
A Nintendo spokeswoman said the company had no plans now to change the price of GameCube in Europe, already lower at 199 euros. GameCube is the second-best selling console after PlayStation 2 and before Xbox.
"We expected Microsoft to wait for Sony," said Stuart Dinsey, managing editor of trade publication MCV Games Trade Weekly.
Sony, which has a sizeable lead in Europe's video game market with, by some industry estimates, a 65 percent share of all game console sales, is the only manufacturer with the clout to dictate market prices, analysts say.
"When you (Microsoft) are not the market leader, you have to stay competitive some way," Dinsey said in explaining its speedy response, the second cut since April in Europe.
Full Article:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=IHXNY1KJ5LDQOCRBAEZSFFA?type=technologynews&StoryID=1382597 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Direct X 9 Delayed |
8/28/2002 |
Microsoft and its partners, including ATI, had suggested [Direct X 9]would be introduced in early October, but now we hear it's postponed until the end of November.
But Beta 2 of the API jhas ust become available, even though the only hardware compatible with DirectX 9 is the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro.
Butl even ATI, the only company with a DX 9 part on the market is not allowed to ship DirectX 9 drivers and distribute its cards with DirectX 9. Even hardware reviewers are not able to obtain the fancy DX demos simply because of Microsoft's beta policy.
At its current stage DirectX is in Beta 2 but it's still unclear whether the next revision will still be a beta or final code.
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5168 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RIAA Website Hacked Again |
8/28/2002 |
The RIAA's official website has been hacked, and this time they did it right by defacing the site rather than DoS it, though it does look to be down right now. How long will it be before the RIAA realises that they have really pissed of the public?
Quote from the "news" article on RIAA.org:
RIAA against music sharing? Not anymore!
RIAA to sue music sharers? Not Anymore
With the legal file sharing service kazaa still online, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) today announced that it intends to offer the latest albums for download from riaa.org.
As you are probably aware, the RIAA has been pursuing a policy of preventing this activity in recent months
We have recently become aware that this approach is yielding only limited results and in some cases may in fact be harming sales and the artists' revenue stream.
The RIAA wishes to apologise for the heavy-handed manner in which the popular chinese site Listen4Ever was closed down, and would like to present the following items for free download as a token of its goodwill.
Of course the list is relatively small, but please be patient - we expect to offer over 300 next week. We also intend to offer pre-released movies in the coming months.
According to many people, the list of the MP3's that were on the site were actually on the RIAA's servers and many people were able to download them.
Mirror of the Hack / Full Article:
http://music.tinfoil.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=513&mode=thread&order=0&thold=-1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New worm hits KaZaA networks |
8/28/2002 |
Kaspersky Labs has reported the existence of a network worm called Duload, which is spreading across the KaZaA file-exchange network.
The worm is a Windows application written in Visual Basic. Two modifications exist:
Worm.P2P.Duload.a - 18432 bytes
Worm.P2P.Duload.b - 7680 bytes (compressed)
Opening the infected attachment results in Duload duplicating itself to the Windows system directory as "SystemConfig.exe". It modifies the registry so that this file loads each time Windows is started.
The worm makes a folder called Media in the Windows directory and copies itself there under 39 different names such as:
Pamela Anderson And Tommy Lee Home Video.exe
Alicia Silverstone Payboy Nude.exe
Kama Sutra Tetris.exe
Soldier Of Fortune 2 Mutiplayer Serial Hack.exe
The Sims Game Crack.exe
Warcraft 3 Battle.net Crack.exe
The worm then alters the registry to make the Media folder accessible to all other KaZaA network users.
One variant (Worm.P2P.Duload.a) also downloads several Trojan programs which allow remote management of infected computers.
Full Article:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/23/1030052966626.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Palm Lies About m130 Color Display, Gets Sued |
8/28/2002 |
"Palm Inc. has admitted it overstated the color display features of its new m130 handheld. Now it faces a consumer class-action lawsuit over the blunder.
The Milpitas, California-based maker of personal digital assistants apologized last week to customers, saying on its Web site that it had discovered the m130 supports about 58,621 color combinations -- not the "more than 65,000 colors" that the company had been advertising since the product came out in March.
"The company is working on a plan to compensate customers," Palm spokeswoman Marlene Somsak said Tuesday. Somsak refused to say whether refunds were being considered but said replacements are not part of the plan since the product is not defective.
In the meantime, she said, the company will "aggressively fight" the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in California Superior Court in Santa Clara County.
The suit accuses Palm of "unfair competition, and fraudulent, unfair, deceptive and false advertising." The law firm of Sheller, Ludwig & Badey, filed it on behalf of Yansu Ouyang of Castro Valley, Jonathan Lipner of Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, and any "similarly situated" m130 customers."
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/08/28/palm.lawsuit.ap/index.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD angered by changes in PC performance benchmarking |
8/28/2002 |
A widely used industry benchmark for PC performance was revised this year to favor Intel Corp.'s Pentium 4 processors, according to archrival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
An AMD spokesman today confirmed that the Sunnyvale, Calif., chipmaker examined the SysMark 2002 benchmark and concluded that tests had been dropped that favored AMD's Athlon XP processors. "We definitely believe SysMark 2002 is heavily biased toward Intel," the spokesman charged.
SysMark 2002 was developed by an industry consortium, BAPCo, Santa Clara, Calif., which includes Adaptec, Amdahl, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, and NEC among its members. AMD joined BAPCo in July with the avowed goal of eliminating in the draft of the SysMark 2003 benchmark the perceived unfair tests, the company spokesman said.
An AMD source said it is probably too late to change the SysMark 2002 benchmark. However, he said AMD wants to call attention to what it believes are tests that are prejudiced against the Athlon processor.
Full Article:
http://www.ebns.com/story/OEG20020827S0021 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hack Into a BMW With Bluetooth? |
8/28/2002 |
"Visteon and BMW are planning to introduce wireless voice-controlled in-car telephone Bluetooth modules as optional extras for all current BMW X5, BMW 3 Series and 5 Series cars from September 2002.
Visteon says the jointly developed voice-controlled system will allow BMW drivers the wireless and hands-free use of mobile phones.
"With this programme and by signing a development contract for further future technologies, BMW has documented the faith it has in Visteon," said Dr. Marlis Basili-Hartmann, Visteon's Global Account Manager for the BMW Group. "We are committed to underpinning our business relations with BMW both now and in the future by supplying innovative, high quality systems and technologies and also by offering excellent customer service."
"Our collaboration with BMW clearly underlines the fact that Visteon chose the correct course of action in setting up a customer-facing organisation," said Dr. Wilfried Janke, Vice President and General Manager, German Customer Business Groups. "The staff at our Munich office ensures that the programme management runs efficiently, benefiting from direct communications with the customer."
Visteon's Bluetooth Interface Module with Visteon Voice Technology extends voice control from vehicle systems to consumer devices.
The so-called integration solution enables data and voice commands to be easily transferred, helping drivers manage their information, entertainment and communication. The hands-free system, featured mainly in telecommunications products until now, integrates the benefits of Bluetooth wireless technology with Visteon's Voice Technology and applies it to automotive applications."
Full Article:
http://techreview.com/offthewire/3001_2782002_2.asp |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sticky gecko toes have little hairs to thank |
8/28/2002 |
Tiny little hairs and not any kind of chemical glue help a gecko race up and down vertical surfaces as smooth as glass, researchers reported Monday.
The finding could help scientists invent better adhesives that will work virtually anywhere, the researchers at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, the University of California and Stanford University said.
"We have solved a centuries-old mystery of what makes a gecko's toes so sticky," Lewis and Clark's Kellar Autumn, a biologist, said in telephone interview.
Geckos and their ability to climb and hang virtually everywhere are hardly unknown to science, but biologists had not really understood how they did it.
At first it was assumed they had glue on their toes, but close examination with electron microscopes shows they have millions of tiny hairs called setae.
A seta is only about 100 micrometers long -- about the width of two human hairs. Each seta ends with 1,000 even tinier pads at the tip.
One seta can lift the weight of an ant. A million setae, which could easily fit onto the area of a dime, could lift a 45-pound child and a gecko using all of its setae at the same time could support 280 pounds, the researchers said.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/08/26/science.geckos.reut/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft: WinXP Update Could 'Bomb' Some Computers |
8/28/2002 |
In an attempt to reduce piracy of its software, Microsoft ( Nasdaq: MSFT - news) has announced protective changes to its Windows Product Activation (WPA) service, beginning with WinXP Service Pack 1.
As veteran Microsoft watchers have expected, SP1 will not install if either of what the company calls "two well-known pirated product keys" has ever been used to activate the system. Such systems will also be denied access to Microsoft's Windows Update feature.
According to Microsoft, "the product IDs generated from these product keys are (where X may be any numeric value):
XXXXX-640-0000356-23XXX
XXXXX-640-2001765-23XXX
Full Article:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=75&ncid=75&e=2&u=/nf/20020827/tc_nf/19188 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
nVIDIA / Epic to Host Unreal Tournament 2003 Competition |
8/28/2002 |
ATI grasped sponsorship of the QuakeCon big ID software network "shoot me in the head" event and exposed the Radeon 9700 Pro as the "official card" of this event. Apart from that, ATI also managed to become seated on the "right hand" of ID software when that little company showed its up and coming title, Doom 3.
And yes, Nvidia is about to hit back hard. Even though the Nvidia folk are not in official papers that we received two weeks before the event from the organizers, Graphzilla will be at stand 1240 and claims it will unveil the first ever European Unreal 2003 death match tournament.
This will be the first ever showcase of the game that EPIC shows to the European press – and other flown in from around the world -- so the attendees can play the games they want.
On the Geforce 4 TI 4600 – the fastest card on the Nvidia planet, right now.
The good thing is that regular visitors will be able to play in two separate tournaments on Thursday 29th and Friday 30th.
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5152 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dual-Channel Pentium 4 Chipsets to Come Q4 |
8/28/2002 |
As we have already told you numerous times, three leading chipset makers are going to unveil their dual-channel DDR SDRAM Pentium 4 core-logic devices by the fourth quarter this year. These days Intel, VIA and SiS are sampling their future products and for us it will be useful to summarise everything we know about them so far.
The first one to come is Intel`s Granite Bay also known at the E7205. It will support 533MHz system bus, AGP 8x and dual-channel PC1600/2100 DDR SDRAM memory. Intel decided not to implement PC2700 (DDR333) support this time, as peak bandwidth offered by dual-channel PC2100 is 4.2GB per second, exactly equals to 533MHz Quad-pumped Pentium 4 bus. The North Bridge (or MCH) feature ICH4 I/O controller, supporting USB 2.0 and other necessary features. It was reported that several mainboard manufacturers will release E7205 based products in October, targeting workstations and entry-level servers. It seems that E7205 will be a perfect companion to Intel`s up and coming Pentium 4 3.06GHz with HyperTransport technology enabled.
As a true, but not very lucky, player of this market, VIA also prepares its answer to Intel. It will be called P4X600 and it is going to have even more advanced features against the rival. The P4X600 offers 533MHz processor bus, AGP 8x, dual-channel PC2100 (DDR266) and PC2700 (DDR333) support. As all latest chipsets from the Taipei-based chipset-maker, it utilises VIA VT8235 South Bridge, bringing us USB 2.0 and ATA-133. Mainboards based on VIA P4X600 will appear in the fourth quarter this year.
Full Article:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/story.html?id=1030486010 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mozilla 1.1 Released |
8/27/2002 |
"What's New in Mozilla 1.1
Improved application and layout performance
Improved stability
Improved Web site compatibility
Improved CSS, DOM and HTML standards support
Distinct window icons for the different Mozilla applications (artwork contributed by Grayrest).
Mozilla can now trigger MS DUN when started without a connection.
Fullscreen mode for Mozilla on Linux (press F11).
Browser tabs now close left to right (they used to close right to left).
The tab bar now has a button for creating new tabs.
All Search entry points now use your default search engine.
Download Manager has been enabled as the default download view (with many improvements)
Autocomplete in the location bar has more intelligent completion.
The Linux File Picker has improved filtering and a new directory button.
File extensions more accurately handled in downloads and we save the correct files when saving complete Web pages
Drag and drop support has been greatly improved.
View selection source: Context clicking on a selection now lets you view the HTML source for the selected area.
Page info displays more page info with improved General and Media tab content.
New button in prefs for making Mozilla the system default browser on MS Windows
MathML is now enabled for Mozilla on Macintosh (it was already available on Windows and Linux).
Mozilla now takes advantage of Quartz rendering for users of Mac OS X 10.1.5
Better Bi-Di Arabic and Hebrew support including improved layout of Arabic pages on Linux and other platforms without their own Arabic shaping support.
We have new layout performance enhancements targeted at DHTML.
Mozilla now has support for the display of XBM images.
Image and plug-in blocking for Mail & News
Mozilla allows you to view HTML mail messages as plain text.
You can now quote the current message in a Mail compose window with Quote Original under the options menu.
The JavaScript Debugger has gone through a major development cycle. It now sports a palette of nine views which can be rearranged within the main window or docked in separate floating windows. It is also possible to create user-defined views and commands directly with JavaScript. More details are available in the FAQ, newsgroup, or IRC channel.
Chatzilla has improved tab completion and can now join channels with Japanese names."
Release Notes:
http://mozilla.org/releases/mozilla1.1/
Download:
Microsoft Windows (95,98,ME,NT,2000,XP)
MacOS 9.x
x86 Linux |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tom Pabst Comments on Van's Hardware / Kyle Bennet Situation |
8/27/2002 |
"Now Van Smith is a special customer. After all, it's all my fault that anyone is actually listening to him, because I had given him the largest forum in the hardware community, when I employed him as an editor of Tom's Hardware in April 2000. It didn't take long and I noticed that Van is a fanatic, who believes that Intel and Rambus are strongholds of the devil and that AMD, VIA and others are the holy saviors. There are several stories he wrote that I considered un-publishable and they are still in my drawer. These stories were so bluntly anti-Intel that Tom's Hardware would have lost all its credibility if I would have published them. Most of his other stories required massive editing work before they could go live. Finally, after I had dared to consider Pentium 4 a reasonably good processor late 2000, he got all upset with me and thankfully left us. A year later he started his own website with the highly original name 'vanshardware', in which he insulted me and my staff on multiple occasions, finally forcing me to remove all his former articles from Tom's Hardware, because I considered his name as well as his work a disgrace to my publication. In the process, my webmaster made several mistakes, because he wouldn't follow my orders, which lead to a series of annoying misunderstandings, but finally Tom's Hardware was wiped clean of Van Smith. On his website, he publishes several lies, the most upsetting one for me is that he claims involvement in the THG story that eventually lead to Intel's recall of the Pentium 3 1.13 GHz. Van Smith had NOTHING to do with this story, as not only my staff (and actually Kyle Bennett) can definitely state, but also all the people at Intel, who actually dealt with this issue."
Full Article:
http://www.tomshardware.com/blurb/02q3/020825/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
M3DZone going down... |
8/27/2002 |
After 4 years of hard work and updating my website everyday, 2 years ago I decided that it was time to join a bigger project. From that point on, we created the Techconnect Network, together with my buddy @dek.
Now, after some very, very long thoughts we have decided to shutdown M3DZone! I know you all think I'm nuts, but believe me, it is better this way. The site isn't what it used to be and it is time that we move on.
But don't worry! We have a little surprise coming up for all of you visitors really soon. Before we will shutdown our site (which will be within one week from now), we will give you the info on our new 'project' (hint, hint!!) ;)
Thanks for the 4 years of trust in us and our site and stay tuned for an update,
Kind regards,
Michiel (Viper) & Alan (@dek)
http://www.m3dzone.com/ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD Releases Athlon MP 2200+ |
8/27/2002 |
SUNNYVALE, CA -- August 27, 2002 --AMD today introduced the AMD Athlon™ MP processor 2200+, built on AMD’s state-of-the-art 0.13-micron copper process technology, to provide the high performance and reliability demanded by businesses for their servers and workstations. AMD’s 0.13-micron manufacturing technology allows processors to achieve higher performance while lowering power requirements, all on a smaller die size.
Today’s announcement marks the third and final member of the AMD Athlon processor family to transition to 0.13-micron copper process technology. AMD Athlon processors for mobile and desktop systems transitioned to this advanced technology earlier in 2002.
“Business users are demanding higher performance to increase productivity and our 0.13- micron copper process technology allows AMD to make that a reality,” said Ed Ellett, vice president of marketing for AMD’s Computation Products Group. “In addition, IT managers tell us they need longer product life cycles to get them through the tight IT budgets facing many enterprises today. With the AMD Athlon MP processor’s stable Socket A infrastructure, AMD can help lower total cost of ownership and protect a company’s technology investment.”
The AMD Athlon MP processor, AMD’s award-winning multiprocessor, delivers the ideal dual-processor platform for the server and workstation markets. For server customers, the new AMD Athlon MP processor 2200+ provides the reliability and stability they need for mission-critical email, exchange, file, print and networking applications. For workstation users, such as engineers, architects and designers, the AMD Athlon MP processor 2200+ excels on compute-intensive workstation applications, including digital content creation and computer-aided design.
“AMD Athlon MP processors provided the reliability and the compute-intense power that we needed to render a motion picture such as ‘Scooby Doo,’” said Mark Brown, vice president of technology for Rhythm & Hues. “We used systems powered by AMD Athlon MP processors to meet our intense deadlines, and they performed flawlessly.”
The AMD Athlon MP processor 2200+ is compatible with Microsoft® Windows® and Linux operating systems. With its QuantiSpeed™ architecture and Smart MP technology, the AMD Athlon MP processor 2200+ can integrate smoothly into existing infrastructures, providing the stability and manageability that IT managers require.
Performance of a system powered by AMD Athlon MP processors is enhanced by the AMD-760™ MPX chipset, which provides high-speed peripheral connections for increased productivity and is compatible with all AMD Athlon MP processors.
Availability
Systems featuring the AMD Athlon MP processor 2200+ are expected to be available immediately from more than 34 manufacturers worldwide.
Pricing
The AMD Athlon MP processor 2200+ is priced at $224 in 1,000-unit quantities. For additional information on pricing, please visit www.amd.com/pricing.
About the AMD Athlon™ MP Processor
The AMD Athlon™ MP processor is a seventh-generation x86 processor designed for high-performance multiprocessing servers and workstations.
AMD Athlon MP processors are used by leading corporations to increase productivity in areas such as oil and gas exploration, Web-hosting services and motion picture rendering. In addition, many of the world’s most prestigious universities use AMD Athlon MP processors in superclusters for compute-intensive research applications.
A key advantage of AMD’s multiprocessing platform is Smart MP technology, which greatly enhances overall platform performance by increasing data movement between the two CPUs, chipset and memory system. Smart MP technology features dual point-to-point, high-speed 266MHz system buses with Error Correcting Code (ECC) support designed to provide up to 2.1GB per second per CPU of bus bandwidth in a dual-processor system. Smart MP technology also has an optimized Modified Owner Exclusive Shared Invalid (MOESI) cache coherency protocol that manages data and memory traffic in a multiprocessing environment.
The AMD Athlon MP processor features the patented QuantiSpeed architecture, which includes a high performance full-speed cache with hardware data pre-fetch, a fully pipelined superscalar floating point engine, and an exclusive L2 Translation Look-aside Buffer (TLB). The processor also incorporates 3DNow!™ Professional technology, which has 51 new instructions that extend AMD’s 3DNow! technology, enabling smoother, richer and more lifelike images, more precise digital audio and an enriched Internet experience.
The AMD Athlon MP processor is compatible with AMD’s stable Socket A infrastructure, and supports DDR memory technology. It is manufactured using AMD’s 0.13-micron copper process technology in Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany.
Press Release:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoom/0,,51_104_543~41863,00.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Van's Hardware Calls It Quits |
8/26/2002 |
"Winding Down
Dear Readers,
We appreciate your support for making us one of the biggest and most influential websites in the world. Running the website is taking its toll. Expenses, threats, attacks, conflicts of interest and intimidating phone calls are making it impossible to carry the site forward.
We will not be updating the site any further. We might, however, eventually release COSBI here and let it go for others to mind.
We have met many beautiful people and appreciate your support. It is because of your encouragement that we have continued to write and publish. Thank you and we hope that you will keep in touch with us.
The Smith Family"
http://www.vanshardware.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ATI fears Nvidia will pre-launch the NV30 |
8/26/2002 |
"ATi is planning a grand jamboree at the ECTS show in London this week but is getting the heebie-jeebies about potential spoiling tactics from its biggest living nightmare, Nvidia Ink.
We are expecting to see some old and some new friends at the mysterious yet in some strange manner, military bash come Woden's Day.
The latest nightmare to haunt ATI executives' dreams is their suspicion that Nvidia might paper launch its NV30 graphics chip early – like on the 9th of September – just to throw dust in the face of the R300 technology.
NV30 only taped out on the 10th of August or thereabouts, so there's no conceivable way Nvidia could do much other than brief the world's press on its R300 killer.
But it's good to be out there napalming the opposition and Nvidia sure doesn't want ATI to have a straight run right the way through to Yuletide."
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5121
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intel Releases Pentium 4 2.8GHz Processor |
8/26/2002 |
"SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 26, 2002 - Intel Corporation today introduced new versions of the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor - the world's highest performance desktop microprocessor. At speeds now up to 2.8 GHz, the new processors allow consumers to enjoy a richer PC experience with broadband audio and video content, games, music, photos and movies. At the same time, systems based on the high-performance Pentium 4 processor are a valuable investment for a child's education. In business, high-performance PCs can help maximize productivity in multitasking environments.
"The latest Pentium 4 processors, when combined with Intel's newest chipsets and the latest operating systems, make computers higher performing and more capable," said Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of Intel's Desktop Platforms Group. "A consumer can scan photos three times faster and edit photos more than four times faster than they can with an older computer."
The Intel Pentium 4 processor is by far the leading microprocessor for consumers and business users worldwide. With a 512K Level 2 cache, a choice of 400 or 533 MHz system bus speeds, and manufactured on Intel's leading 0.13-micron process, the Pentium 4 processor continues to set new standards for high-performance PCs."
Press Release
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20020826comp.htm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intel Introduces Pentium 4 2.8GHz / Slashes Prices |
8/26/2002 |
Intel will officially announce the Pentium 4 2.8GHz Processor today.
Pricewatch Figures for Pentium 4 Chips are:
546 - Pentium 4 2.8GHz
$249 Pentium 4 2.53GHz
$238 Pentium 4 2.4GHz 533MHz
$234 Pentium 4 2.4GHz 400MHz
$214 - Pentium 4 2.2GHz 400MHz
$217 Pentium 4 2.26GHz 533MHz
$217 Pentium 4 2.26GHz
$162 Pentium 4 2.0GHz Sock 478
$185 - Pentium 4 2.0GHz
$154 Pentium 4 1.9GHz Sock 478
$181 Pentium 4 1.9GHz
$148 - Pentium 4 1.8GHz Sock 478
$169 Pentium 4 1.8GHz
$132 - Pentium 4 1.7GHz Sock 478
$132 Pentium 4 1.7GHz
$117 - Pentium 4 1.6GHz Sock 478
$127 - Pentium 4 1.6GHz
$102 Pentium 4 1.5GHz Sock 478
$100 - Pentium 4 1.5GHz
$118 - Pentium 4 1.4GHz Sock 478
$125 - Pentium 4 1.4GHz
$150 - Pentium 4 1.3GHz
$150 - Pentium 4 1.3GHz |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dell to Shift All Graphics Cards Orders to Taiwanese Manufacturers |
8/25/2002 |
"These days average selling prices on computers decline a lot, as a result, profit margins of computer suppliers continually fall down. The only way to increase profitability without affecting the final price is to decrease components and workmanship cost. Since big Asia-based manufacturers offer more beneficial prices, a lot of system integrators now turn to them.
As I have read over AsiaBizTech, Dell Computer is rumoured to have shifted all its graphics cards manufacturing to Taiwan-based manufacturers because the prices they offer are more attractive compared to the costs provided by their former partner Sanmina-SCI. Apparently, MSI, ASUSTeK and Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co) are reported to become the graphics cards suppliers for Dell.
MSI has been manufacturing graphics cards for the number two computer supplier in the world beginning from June 2001 and it seems to proved the latter that Taiwanese computer-component manufacturers can not only offer attractive pricing, but also admissible quality. ASUS is a well-known OEM, who makes mainboards and some other devices for Hewlett-Packard, Dell and other big companies. Foxconn Electronics is said to be one of the major suppliers of Intel core-logic based mainboards both for Intel itself as well as some system integrators and component resellers.
The latter is a new player on the graphics market and I have no information whose GPUs the company will adopt for their graphics cards. Both ASUS and MSI use graphics processors from NVIDIA. Since these two are going to be the major graphics cards makers for the number two computer supplier in the world, it seems to me that Dell has decided not to use a lot of ATI powered cards in their PCs."
Source:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/story.html?id=1030224583 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anand Comments on Bapco AMD/Intel Issue |
8/25/2002 |
"I just thought I'd chime in here now that data seems to be leaking out about this.
Here's where things stand currently:
1) AMD went around to reviewers and distributed the PDF that you've seen posted in this thread. The data AMD produced is verifiable as I have done my own verification of the tests in house.
2) Here's the main problem: SYSMark 2001 ran a certain set of tasks but in the move to SYSMark 2002, a good deal of the tasks that AMD's Athlon was faster at were removed and replaced with tasks that the Pentium 4 was faster at. Both sets of tasks are perfectly valid tests of CPU performance (it's not like BAPCo just stuck in random tasks that don't do anything) but the point that must be made is that the changes were made seemingly without any user-level research to back them up. If there was some research that said "this is how most people use their systems" that caused BAPCo to change their methodology then this wouldn't have been a problem, but without that backing for their decision then it just seems as if BAPCo optimized the benchmark for the Pentium 4.
3) AMD's secondary complaint is that the benchmarks now use much larger datasets (e.g. Excel). This is more of a minor complaint since it penalizes the Athlon XP for having a smaller cache than Intel's Northwood. AMD would not have made the same complaint had their Hammer already been out since the larger datasets would mean that Hammer's on-die memory controller would give it the advantage.
4) I've been working with AMD on analyzing this information, it's very simple to obtain but requires a bit of effort to analyze. Even AMD today sent me an email saying that they had to order some special software in order to fully understand what's going on in the benchmark. It's too early to make any complete conclusions but what can be said is that SYSMark 2002 can no longer be used as a sole measurement of application performance.
It's pretty sad that it has come to this, but what I can envision happening (at least on AnandTech) is a larger set of office application benchmarks just as Modus and Rand have suggested in this thread. I would like to put together our own tests but it is definitely not an easy task; in light of these discoveries I will have to put much more thought into doing just that however.
The good news is that now that AMD is a part of BAPCo, SYSMark 2003 should become a much better and more balanced benchmark. Before, the only real input from a major CPU vendor was coming from Intel (I was always afraid that SYSMark 2003 would be released and it would show an incredibly unrealistic gain with HyperThreading enabled) but now with AMD involved things will hopefully become more balanced. According to AMD, BAPCo is infinitely more responsive to their needs now that they're a part of the organization and they should be having a formal meeting to discuss this issue very soon (if they haven't already).
I'll keep you posted on what's going on as soon as I get the info I need from AMD/BAPCo.
Take care,
Anand"
Source:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=855292 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Windows XP Service Pack 1 Info |
8/24/2002 |
One of the really annoying things about Windows XP, as reviewers found out soon enough, was that if you changed some elements of your hardware system you had to immediately re-activate XP to make it work.
Anyone fiddling with motherboards knows that occasionally things have to be swapped out multiple times.
Well, Microsoft is giving the hardware guys three days now to reactivate, rather than to do so immediately, it transpires from a document about the up and coming service pack.
"A period of grace," Microsoft rather patronisingly calls it, although really it's a period of disgrace that you have to do anything like this at all.
The document, on Microsoft's site, also confirms what Microsoft had hinted earlier, that is that SP 1 won't install at all on "either of two well-known" pirated product keys.
Microsoft also says that it's adding an encryption feature to unattended setups of XP with SP1, and adding a product key as well as an installation ID for activation. For phone installations, it says you'll be able to send a hash value of the product key.... The Internet one will send the longer ID key automatically.
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5112
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pentium 4 2.80GHz for sale. And reviewed |
8/24/2002 |
"The Japanese embargo on Intel's Pentium 4 2.80GHz chip appears to have expired because stores have started selling chips in Akihabara early, and so an enterprising journo bought parts and got his review up on the Web.
There are some pictures of the processors, the boxes, along with prices of the parts, listed as Ą64,870 ($542) for the 2.80GHz part, Ą49,770 ($416) for the 2.66GHz chip and Ą49,970 ($418) for the 2.60GHz CPU.
The article points out that while Intel already has the processors for sale, the first systems won't be available until the first or second week of September, and we understand retail chips here in Europe may not be available now until the end of September."
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5110 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
es review - Icemat mouse pad |
8/24/2002 |
"The Icemat is a high-quality product that is an ideal replacement for anyone's mouse pad. Its sheer performance is only rivaled by its beauty.
The Icemat offers more precise movement of the mouse which in turn leads to higher accuracy and precision in games and applications. If you are still using a cloth mouse pad I highly recommend replacing it with the Icemat."
Full Review:
http://www.electricsheep.us/reviews-icemat-1.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Colleges to Track Foreign Students |
8/24/2002 |
Beginning Jan. 31, universities and colleges must frequently transmit detailed information about their foreign enrollees to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The INS has created an IT system, known as Sevis (for Student and Exchange Visitor Information System), to capture and disseminate information about the students to federal authorities.
"The stakes are high," Barrows says. If colleges don't alert the INS about changes in a foreign student's life, that student could be deported. And the feds could stop funding research and education programs and scholarships for all students at the offending school. Wisconsin receives hundreds of millions of dollars annually from federal coffers, mostly for government-funded research.
To help it meet the federal requirements, Wisconsin will deploy a new program from PeopleSoft Inc. known as the Patriot Act Sevis Solution, named after the law enacted last year requiring more-detailed reporting on foreign students. PeopleSoft is giving the software free to its higher-education ERP customers. The software can capture data about the students housed in the ERP systems' human-capital management module. Regardless of how the information is entered, the new program will format it in a manner to be transmitted to the INS over the Internet. PeopleSoft says the data can be transmitted in real time, though because of the large number of foreign students, Wisconsin expects to collect the information and transmit it as a batch dispatch once a day.
Full Article:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=74&ncid=74&e=1&u=/cmp/20020824/tc_cmp/iwk20020823s0033 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Judge Throws Out Hyperlink Lawsuit |
8/24/2002 |
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that could have made the World Wide Web a pay-as-you-click toll road.
U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon rejected BT Group's claim that it owns the patent on hyperlinks — those single-click that make the Web what it is.
Filed earlier this year, the suit accused an Internet service provider, Prodigy Communications Corp., of infringing on BT's patent on hyperlinks.
McMahon rejected BT's claim that each Web server on the Internet is a central computer and thus the Internet falls within the patent's scope.
"The Internet is a network of computers intertwined with each other in order to allow users around the world to exchange information," she wrote. "The whole purpose of the Internet is for the sources of information to be in many places rather than centralized."
Her 27-page decision, filed Thursday in federal court in White Plains, N.Y., concluded that "no jury could find that Prodigy infringes on the patent."
Full Article:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=528&ncid=528&e=1&u=/ap/20020823/ap_on_hi_te/hyperlink_patent_2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jaguar OS X 10.2 Now Available |
8/24/2002 |
Referred to by its code name, Jaguar, Mac OS X v10.2 is a different breed of operating system. Jaguar combines the rock-solid reliability of UNIX with the ease of use of Macintosh. This version of Mac OS X is as innovative as the computers that run it. And whether you’re a Mac user who’s upgrading, a Windows user who’s looking at switching to the Mac or a UNIX user who loves the idea of using key applications like Microsoft Office on top of a state-of-the art BSD UNIX implementation, this is the OS for you.
Mac OS X v10.2 also features QuickTime 6, the next-generation multimedia standard with support for MPEG-4 video. Quartz Extreme, the hardware accelerated, fully composited graphics system, gives it souped-up 2D and 3D capabilities. Plus a significantly enhanced Finder with spring-loaded folders. Rendezvous, a revolutionary technology that lets you create an instant network of computers and peripheral devices. Not to mention a host of features and capabilities that will impress hardcore Unix users.
Official Page:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Meteorite 'changed Earth's history' |
8/24/2002 |
Scientists say they have found evidence that a gigantic meteorite, twice as big as the one which is believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs, collided with Earth billions of years ago.
Deposits of the rock were found in South Africa and Australia, said a report in the Science journal.
The 20-kilometre (12-mile) wide asteroid is believed to have hit the planet with such force that it would have caused tidal waves kilometres high and torn up the bottom of the ocean.
Researchers from Stanford University in California and Louisiana State University say the cataclysmic event happened about 3.4 billion years ago, before continents were formed and when only bacteria existed.
It is not known exactly where the giant meteorite hit as the scientists have not yet located a crater which would have been left by the impact.
Evolution altered
The report said the rock probably came from an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Full Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2211402.stm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD and Intel fight a new round of processor war in 2H |
8/23/2002 |
The processor price war in the second half may erupt early with AMD’s most recent release of its Athlon XP 2400+ and 2600+ processors on top of Intel’s scheduled launch of its new 2.8GHz Pentium 4 processor and its impending price cuts on September 1.
AMD on Wednesday officially introduced its latest processors, the Athlon XP 2400+ and 2600+, both manufactured on the high-end 0.13-micron process. Although AMD may still be comparatively slower than Intel in transferring production to 0.13-micron technology and in raising its products’ actual working speed, the two new processors nevertheless mark the company’s first step in pushing its processors’ speed up to 2GHz.
With processor speed standards for entry-level desktop PCs shooting above 2GHz in the second half, AMD’s rollout of its two high-end products is expected to help maintain its market competitiveness.
Still, the company is continuing to face fierce competition from Intel in both performance and prices. The chip giant reportedly plans to launch three faster P4 processors, running at clock speeds of 2.6GHz, 2.66GHz and 2.8GHz, respectively, in late August, and to slash prices for its 2.5GHz and 2.53GHz products from US$637 to US$243, making them even cheaper than the Athlon XP 2600+’s quote of US$297.
In the fourth quarter, Intel will push its processor speed further up to over 3GHz.
Full Article:
http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/Article.asp?datePublish=2002/08/22&pages=02&seq=3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
African nations ban biofood aid despite famine |
8/23/2002 |
Millions of Africans in dire need of food aid may go hungry because the leaders of several drought- and famine-wracked nations say they cannot accept genetically modified grain from the United States -- the very same product that Americans have been eating for years.
With world leaders gathering in Johannesburg for next week's World Summit on Sustainable Development, diplomats and aid agencies were stunned by recent decisions by the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe to reject shipments of donated genetically modified grain.
Malawi has also expressed strong reservations over the grain, and Mozambique, through whose ports much of the food aid will travel, has placed stringent and costly restrictions on any genetically modified shipments passing through its territory.
Full Article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/08/23/MN129529.DTL |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New ATI Design Wins Bad News for Nvidia - Analyst |
8/23/2002 |
Two new design wins for graphics chip maker ATI Technologies Inc. ATY.TO are a bad sign for competitor Nvidia Corp. NVDA.O , as the wins will eat at Nvidia's market share, an analyst said on Thursday.
On Thursday, ATI said its chips would power new computers from both Apple Computer Inc. AAPL.O and Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ.N The company also said it has shipped its new, widely-anticipated high-end graphics chip to retailers.
ATI said its Radeon 9000 Pro chip is now shipping as the standard graphics component in Apple's new Power Mac G4 line of computers, designed as advanced workstations with dual processors and advanced memory capacity.
ATI also said HP has selected the Radeon 9700 line for a series of computers under its Compaq Presario 8000 Series brand to be released later this year.
Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Tim Mahon, in a research note on Thursday afternoon, said the new deals displaced Nvidia from the standard configurations of both computer lines.
Mahon said the design wins represented market share gains for ATI against Nvidia and bode well for ATI's prospects.
A spokeswoman for Apple was not immediately available for comment, nor was a spokesman for Nvidia. A spokesman for HP had not seen ATI's release and could not immediately comment.
Full Article:
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=1362992 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unreal Tournament to go 64-bit |
8/23/2002 |
"When programmers of the extremely scary Unreal Tournament are furnished with a 64-bit machine with 64-bit Windows and a 64-bit compiler they'll design the game for that platform, it has emerged.
That has emerged from an online discussion at the INA Community site.
We presume that the game will be developed for AMD's ClawHammer processor rather than the McKinley, or for a 64-bit processor Via might get round to making.
While Intel made noises a few years back about a desktop Itanium machine, it could be a little while before that type of machine breaks into the wonderful world of gaming.
So we suppose that 64-bit UT2K3 will make its debut on the Hammer platform."
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5097
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Man sues Fax.com for $2 trillion in junk faxes |
8/23/2002 |
Unsolicited commercial faxes have been banned by federal law since 1991, and a Silicon Valley businessman says it's time for "blast fax" king Fax.com to pay up -- to the tune of $2.2 trillion.
In suits filed today in state and federal courts, software company owner Steve Kirsch and another plaintiff seek the damages provided by law, $500 for each unsolicited commercial fax over the last four years. If a judge certifies either suit as a nationwide class action on behalf of all recipients, the figure can be multiplied by 3 million, the number of faxes that the company boasts it sends each day, Kirsch said.
That comes to $2.2 trillion, even without invoking another section of the law that allows judges to triple damages for willful violations, Kirsch said.
Kirsch said he's gotten more than 100 unwanted faxes at his San Jose home during the last several months and many more at his company, from various advertisers but all traced to a Fax.com computer.
In addition to the cost and clutter, he said, there's the annoyance of being awakened at 3 a.m. by a beeping tone from an errant fax dialer.
"This is happening to tens of millions of people across America," Kirsch said. "The only way that this practice will stop is if enough people step forward and use the legal system to enforce their rights."
Full Article:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/08/22/MN244534.DTL |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft discloses EVEN MORE 'critical' security flaws |
8/23/2002 |
This is the fifth or sixth article we've done in the past 2 months where Microsoft "disclosed" critical flaws in their own software.
Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that "critical" security lapses in its Office software and Internet Explorer Web browser put tens of millions of users at risk of having their files read and altered by online attackers.
The world's No. 1 software maker said that an attacker, using e-mail or a Web page, could use Internet related parts of Office to run programs, alter data and wipe out the hard drive as well as view file and clipboard contents on a user's system.
Office is a software product that runs on Windows and is used to write documents and crunch numbers.
"Microsoft is committed to keeping customers' information safe, and is providing a patch that eliminates three vulnerabilities in Office Web Components," Microsoft Security Program Manager Christopher Budd said in an e-mail.
In addition, Microsoft reported vulnerabilities in the three latest versions of its dominant Internet Explorer browser software that allows infiltrators to read files.
Microsoft urged users to fix the glitches by downloading software patches from Microsoft's TechNet Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/technet).
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/08/23/microsoft.security.reut/index.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apple Launches Max OS X 10.2 "Jaguar" Today |
8/23/2002 |
Mac OS X v10.2 Jaguar takes the world’s most advanced operating system and ups the ante with major performance enhancements and great new features.
With an interface that brings graphics capabilities beyond anything ever seen in a desktop operating system, plus enhanced networking and security, Jaguar is a must-have for Mac OS X users.
All across the nation, Apple dealers and resellers are gearing up for the launch of Mac OS X v10.2 Jaguar. Some begin Friday night, Aug 23, at 10:20 pm. Others take place that weekend, and in the weeks to come — ask your local dealer. You’ll find Jaguar introduction events at
Full Article:
http://www.apple.com/events/instore/ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Typing With Your Eyes |
8/22/2002 |
When it comes to entering computer data without a keyboard, the eyes have it.
Replacing a keyboard or mouse, eye-scanning cameras mounted on computers have become necessary tools for people without limbs or those affected with paralysis. The camera tracks the movement of the eye, allowing users to "type" on a virtual keyboard as they look at the screen.
And now, researchers from the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University say they have developed software that replaces the standard QWERTY keyboard layout with one that is nearly twice as efficient, more accurate and easier on the eyes.
A report on the software appears in Wednesday's edition of the journal Nature.
Called Dasher, the prototype program taps into the natural gaze of the eye and makes predictable words and phrases simpler to write, said David MacKay, project coordinator and physics professor from Cambridge University.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/08/21/eye.writing/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wildlife Park to Clone extinct Mammoth |
8/22/2002 |
In an eerie recreation of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster movie "Jurassic Park", scientists are planning to clone an extinct animal to be the central attraction of a wildlife park.
The Times of London reports that Japanese scientists are planning to use tissue from the legs and testicles of a dead mammoth to clone the extinct creature and display it at an Ice Age wildlife park in Siberia.
Mammoths became extinct about 10,000 years ago, but using a technique that involves impregnating an Indian elephant -- its closest genetic relative -- with mammoth sperm and then repeating the procedure with its offspring could produce a creature that is 88 percent mammoth in 50 years, the report said.
An alternative technique would involve cloning the mammoth from DNA found in the soft tissue, but although methods of extraction have improved, complete strands of DNA from mammoths are still hard to come by.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/08/21/clone.mammoth/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cloned animals 'safe to eat' |
8/22/2002 |
An influential committee of scientists in the USA has declared that eating food made from cloned animals appears to be safe.
However, it says that products made from genetically-modified animals could pose a risk to human health.
It also believes that animals created both by cloning and genetic modification raise significant concerns over environmental risks and animal welfare.
The committee was set up by the National Academy of Sciences in response to a request from the US government.
The government's regulatory body, the Food and Drug Administration, is currently debating whether it should allow the sale of GM meat and milk.
Its decision is anticipated by the end of the year, and the committee's report will be influential in deciding whether it approves these products for market or rejects them.
Full Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2207697.stm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar Review |
8/22/2002 |
Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar integrates some interesting technologies from Apple, but that may not be the most compelling reason for users to want this upgrade. Apple's own Mac OS X applications have enough changes to give users reason to stop and take notice of this latest update.
One of the most interesting technologies to come out of Apple's Cupertino headquarters in the past year is Rendezvous, a zero configuration networking standard. Rendezvous will recognize peripherals such as printers on your local network with no configuration needed from the end user. However, people upgrading to Jaguar won't see the real benefits of Rendezvous until third-party manufacturers release devices enabled for the technology.
What users will notice about Jaguar are the enhancements made to its existing applications, which not only add functionality, but also speed in launching and using them. It is these enhancements most people will find appealing when using Jaguar.
Startup and the Finder
The Jaguar installation CD gives users a choice of installing over an existing Mac OS X system; Archive and Install, which will save all of your personal documents and preferences with the new Jaguar system; and Erase and Install. I have used all three methods with no problems to report on any of them. As a rule when upgrading to a new operating system, I always backup my files and do a completely fresh install.
The "Happy Mac" that users have become accustomed to seeing at startup has been replaced by a light grey screen with a dark grey Apple logo in the center. Mac OS X 10.2 starts with a speed that will give you a good idea of what's to come when you reach the Finder.
Full Review:
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0208/21.jaguar.php |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wireless Web Comes to Starbucks Shops |
8/22/2002 |
As if the caffeine wasn't enough to get customers going, Starbucks Corp. on Wednesday launched coffee drinkers into cyberspace with high-speed wireless Internet access at some 1,200 cafes.
Chairman Howard Schultz told Reuters everything computing was going mobile and Starbucks, based in the high-tech coffee-loving city of Seattle, wanted to be part of that trend. He added, of course, he expected customers to buy more coffee while using the system.
"People use Starbucks not only as a place to get coffee, but as an extension of their porch, an extension of their office," Schultz said.
Full Article:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=search&StoryID=1357809 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Internet to reach South Pole |
8/22/2002 |
The internet is coming to the South Pole following a decision to lay a fibre-optic cable nearly two thousand kilometres across the polar ice.
It will be one of the most dramatic and challenging engineering tasks ever carried out in Antarctica. It will take years to design and construct, but when finished it will revolutionise communications with the South Pole.
The South Pole is the only permanently inhabited place on Earth that cannot see geosynchronous communication satellites, a fact that severely restricts communication with the base.
The American National Science Foundation has just issued a request for industry to bid to build the trans-Antarctic fibre optic link. It is planned to be in use in 2009.
Present satellite communication with the base is unsatisfactory. It involves using aging satellites that have drifted away from their geostationary orbits into ones that can, for a part of the day at least, be just visible from the South Pole base.
Full Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2207259.stm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft XBox Ditches nVIDIA for Cheaper Chip |
8/22/2002 |
A partner of software giant Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday unveiled a new video chip for the Xbox video game console in a move aimed at reducing the machine's cost.
Campbell, California-based Focus Enhancements Inc. said it has developed a new chip for the console, which made its debut in the United States last November, that processes video for television.
"The chip going into the Xbox is designed to give Microsoft a competitive advantage," Tom Hamilton, the executive vice president of Focus, told Reuters.
Xbox's rivals in the lucrative video game player market are Sony's Playstation 2 and Nintendo's GameCube.
Hamilton said Focus's chip is "several dollars cheaper" than what Microsoft is using now to convert video from the console's graphics chip to a format suitable for TV sets.
Full Article:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=25KK0NTG0MTYWCRBAEKSFFA?type=technologynews&StoryID=1358134
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Samsung Electro Wins Intel Circuit Board Deal |
8/22/2002 |
South Korea's Samsung Electro-Mechanics 09150.KS has won a $500-million deal to sell cutting edge circuit boards to Intel Cop by 2005, as the electronic parts maker increasingly emerges as a global player.
The new boards allow closer connection with semiconductors through direct lead welding, a vital element for CPUs which require faster data processing.
Semiconductors, which are to be used in the new circuit board, don't need to have centipede leg-shaped connections.
"The amount and the price of our products will vary year by year, reflecting changes in market conditions," Samsung spokesman Kim Myung-hyun said on Thursday. "But the contract is worth about $500 million."
Some analysts said the deal with Intel would put Samsung Electro-Mechanics ahead of its rivals in a foray into the fast-growing market for next-generation printed circuit boards (PCBs) for semiconductors.
Full Article:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=25KK0NTG0MTYWCRBAEKSFFA?type=technologynews&StoryID=1358363 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 2 Released |
8/21/2002 |
OFFXP: Overview of the Office XP Service Pack 2
The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Office XP Professional
Microsoft Office XP Professional with FrontPage
Microsoft Office XP Standard
SUMMARY
Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 2 (SP-2) provides the latest updates to Office XP. Office XP SP-2 contains significant security enhancements and improvements in stability and performance. Some of the fixes that are included with Office XP SP-2 were released earlier as separate updates. This service pack combines the updates into one integrated package and includes a number of other changes that are designed to improve the reliability and performance of your Office XP programs.
This article describes how to download and install the Office XP SP-2. For additional information about the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q307841 OFFXP: How to Obtain the Latest Office XP Service Pack
Full Support Page / Download:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q325671 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD Releases Athlon XP 2600+ and 2400+ |
8/21/2002 |
AMD (NYSE: AMD) today celebrates the third anniversary of the award-winning AMD Athlon™ processor by announcing the world’s highest-performing processor for desktop PCs, the AMD Athlon XP processor 2600+. AMD also introduced the AMD Athlon XP processor 2400+.
“The introduction of the highest-performing PC processor in the world is a victory for application performance and a resounding defeat for the ‘megahertz myth,’ ” said Ed Ellett, vice president of marketing for AMD’s Computation Products Group. “As the performance leader, the AMD Athlon XP processor 2600+ reigns as the superior choice and delivers outstanding application performance for richer, high-powered digital computing.”
Since its debut three years ago, the AMD Athlon processor has achieved widespread industry acclaim as its architectural superiority continues to deliver award-winning performance. The processor and systems based on it have won more than 100 awards worldwide, including PC Magazine’s Reader's Choice Award, Product of the Year 2001/2002; Microprocessor Report's Analyst's Choice Award for Best PC Processor in 2001; and Maximum PC's CPU of the Year in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
“Microprocessor cognoscenti have long understood the folly of using megahertz as a proxy for performance,” observed Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight 64. “Processors used in today’s high-end servers run at approximately one gigahertz, but outperform the fastest desktop PC designs. Even within the PC processor segment, differing approaches to chip design make simple megahertz-based performance comparisons somewhat ambiguous. This problem will only get worse over time. PC buyers should rethink their purchasing criteria, and focus on how fast their applications run, rather than on the PC processor’s megahertz rating.”
The AMD Athlon XP processors 2600+ and 2400+ feature QuantiSpeed™ architecture, which delivers performance advantages versus competitive PC processors on a broad array of real-world applications, including digital media, office productivity and 3D gaming.
Availability
AMD has begun shipping samples of the AMD Athlon XP processors 2600+ and 2400+ to major computer manufacturers worldwide with expected system availability in September.
Pricing
The AMD Athlon XP processors 2600+ and 2400+ are priced at $297 and $193, respectively, in 1,000-unit quantities. For pricing on other AMD processors, please visit: http://www.amd.com/pricing.
Full Press Release:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoom/0,,51_104_543~41677,00.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz on Pricewatch |
8/21/2002 |
Expensive, but oh so nice.
Intel
Info...
Microprocessors PC
8/20, 2:43 PM
Pentium 4 Socket 478 2.8GHZ 533FSB 512k Retail Box Includes heatsink fan and 3yr warranty 2.8GHZ 533FSB 512k Pre, FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. ETA 8/26/02 3YEAR WARRANTY
(Part - 120716)
$ 535 $7.8 Flat Fee $542.80 Monarchcomputer.com
Info...
800-611-0875
770-939-8886 -- P.O.'s accepted
GA
Intel
Info...
Microprocessors PC
8/17, 1:4 AM
Pentium® 4 2.8GHz 533MHz FSB 512K Cache - Northwood B P4 - Socket 478 INCLUDES 60 Day Dealer Warranty - .13 micron - OEM - 2.8 GHz
(Part - RT1610)
$ 578 PREORDER. ETA 08/26. SHIPS FREE UPS $578.00 RunTime Computer
Info...
866-722-7800
734-737-0731
MI
Intel
Info...
Microprocessors PC
8/19, 12:08 AM
ONLINE ORDER ONLY -
PENTIUM 4 2.8GHZ 533FSB SOCKET 478 WITH FAN HEATSINK 3YEAR WARRANTY BX80532PE2800D - Pre, FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. ETA 8/26/02 $ 580 FREE GROUND $580.00 buymstar.com
Info...
800-753-2395
714-784-1060
CA
Intel
Info...
Microprocessors PC
8/20, 3:24 PM
Pentium 4 2.8GHZ (2800MHZ)(533MHZ Bus)512K cache - Socket 478 Retail Box INCLUDES - Heat Sink and Fan, 3 Year Warranty BX80532PE2800D
(Part - INP4-533-280BOX)
$ 577 $8.75 Flat Fee $585.75 Spartan Technologies, Inc.
Info...
888-393-0340
847-364-9900- School, Govt & Corporate P.O.'s accepted
IL
Intel
Info...
Microprocessors PC
8/19, 12:32 PM
Pentium 4 Socket 478 2.8GHZ 533FSB 512k Retail Box Includes heatsink fan and 3yr warranty BX80532PE2800D
(Part - INP4-533-280BOX)
$ 579 $8.75 Flat Fee Preorder ETA 8/26 $587.75 PC Progress
Info...
888-727-7647
847-593-7450- School, Govt & Corporate P.O.'s accepted
IL
Intel
Info...
Microprocessors PC
8/17, 1:4 AM
Pentium® 4 2.8GHz 533MHz FSB 512K Cache - Northwood B P4 - Socket 478 FULL RETAIL BOX INCLUDES 3 YEAR MFG WARRANTY, FAN/HEATSINK - .13 micron - Retail Box - 2.8 GHz
(Part - RT1612)
$ 588 PREORDER. ETA 08/26. SHIPS FREE UPS $588.00 RunTime Computer
Info...
866-722-7800
734-737-0731
MI
Source:
http://www.pricewatch.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD Athlon XP with 333MHz Bus: Not So Much Waiting Left |
8/20/2002 |
“The shift of AMD Athlon XP processors to 333MHz bus is more than possible”, this is what the core logic makers say. If I used to doubt that the Socket A infrastructure was ready for the processor bus frequency increase by Athlon XP family, then now I have to give up all concerns as the facts are undeniable.
First, the leading Socket chipset maker, owning 70% of this market, VIA, claims that “the new KT400 chipset supports all existing and upcoming frequencies of the processor bus”. This way, we can state that the new Athlon XP processors with 333MHz bus will be able to work with the new VIA KT400 based mainboards without any problems. Also VIA confirms that the already released KT333 based boards support 166MHz FSB, as we read over at The Inquirer.
Second, at the recently held investor conference call NVIDIA president confirmed that the new Socket A nForce2 chipset supported 333MHz bus. This way, all the mainboards based on it, which are due in September will be able to work with the new Athlon XP with 333Mhz bus, if they ever come to the market.
In conclusion I would like to say that Athlon XP processors with 333MHz bus are already sampling.
Full Article:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/story.html?id=1029815830 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Company Fights Spam with Copyright, Trademark Law |
8/20/2002 |
California company said on Monday it plans to fight Internet e-mail spam using a new system that relies on U.S. copyright and trademark law.
Palo Alto, California-based Habeas Inc. provides a system that allows people to easily differentiate between acceptable e-mail and spam, said Chief Executive Anne P. Mitchell.
"We're letting you separate the wheat from the chafe," Mitchell said.
Habeas is a Latin term used in legal proceedings that means "evidence" or "to show proof."
But where the Habeas system is truly unique is in its enforcement mechanisms that provides a way to prosecute spammers in the absence of laws that prohibit spamming, she said.
"It's frustrating because Congress is never going to pass any meaningful spam law," Mitchell said.
Most laws on the books call for unsolicited e-mails to specify that they are advertisements in the subject line or prohibit disguising the information of the sender, neither of which will effectively curtail spam, she said.
"There are very few laws that prohibit spamming, largely because it's hard to define what spam is," she added.
The Habeas system does not block spam, but makes it easy for people to separate the wanted e-mail from unwanted e-mail or prioritize wanted e-mail. It also gives people a way to report spammers so they will be blocked in the future.
Full Article:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=51KSNX3D51QQ4CRBAEKSFEY?type=internetnews&StoryID=1348066 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dell to sell PCs through channel |
8/20/2002 |
Dell, the company that distributors and dealers love to hate, is to start selling its PCs through the channel, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Ever since it started in the 1980s, Dell has cut out the middlemen and sold its machines directly, but the move will have serious repercussions for companies like HP/Compaq and IBM.
Apparently Dell will introduce a white box PC to the US channel this week, and introduce a raft of other incentives including dealer incentives, channel Web sites and the other usual distribution box of tricks.
It has an advantage over HP because its costs are so much lower, and it will no doubt be knocking on the doors of the disties and dealers who have gone through the mill after the recent takeover of Compaq.
The move will also allow it to compete more successfully against the White Box Corporation, which sells more PCs worldwide than Dell.
The report in the Journal does not say whether Dell will extend the scheme worldwide, but we'd think it very likely.
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5035 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Region DVD Encoding Crumbling? |
8/19/2002 |
American film studios are rapidly learning what computer software makers found out long ago: people will always find a way to get around almost any systems put in place to restrict the copying or distributing of digital products.
Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs) can store digital copies of films, and a great deal of time and money has been spent trying to devise a way to ensure their use can be controlled. A key part of this is the Region Coding system, which is designed to stop European film buffs buying DVDs in America.
This is now on the point of being abandoned because so many DVD manufacturers have deliberately undermined the system.
The attraction of buying DVDs on the other side of the Atlantic is clear: not only are they usually considerably cheaper, but more importantly films are available on DVD in America up to a year before they appear on disc in Europe, and often before they have even been released in the cinema here.
Full Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/2000/dot_life/2197548.stm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NY Legislation To Ban Cell Phones In Theatres? |
8/19/2002 |
As much as New Yorkers love to talk, they appear to be inclined to support legislation that prohibits people from using their cell phones in public.
In what would be the first such ban in any U.S. city, New York City Councilman Philip Reed recently proposed legislation that prohibits the use of mobile phones in "places of public performance," such as movie theaters, art galleries and libraries. The bill makes an exception for emergency phone calls, but punishes people who infringe on the law with a $50 fine.
Reed's bill is gaining momentum and has a good chance of passing.
"It's a slam dunk," Reed said. "This is going to be a law."
Reed said that only one of 25 city council members he has pitched his bill to wouldn't support it. Even Council Speaker Gifford Miller is on board in support of the bill.
"This isn't a matter of Big Brother watching you on your cell phone," said Miller's spokeswoman, Lupe Todd. "It is a quality-of-life issue."
Full Article:
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,54608,00.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AGP Cinematic Rendering Issues |
8/19/2002 |
As you can see, pretty much every card we tested, regardless of chipset or motherboard, turned in an abysmal performance. The benchmark's 720x480 32-bit test images, which are about 1.3MB each, would only download at about 8 frames per second in most cases.
To put these results into perspective, a single frame rendered at 1600x1200 with 32 bits of color weighs in at about 7.5MB. Double that to 64-bit color, and it's 15MB per frame. And a single image at 1600x1200 in 128-bit color is over 30MB. That means even if you can render high-quality images at 30 frames per second, you won't be able to get them out of the graphics card at anything near that rate.
At least, not until graphics card drivers—and perhaps chipset drivers and whatever else—improve dramatically at AGP downloads. Right now, even the very latest graphics cards aren't ready to do much more than play games and put pretty pictures onscreen. If graphics companies really want to replace CPUs for professional rendering, they've got a bit more work to do.
Full Article:
http://www.tech-report.com/etc/2002q3/agp-download/index.x?pg=1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Going Up? Private Group Begins Work on Space Elevator |
8/19/2002 |
The world's space programs are vertically challenged. What's needed is a revolutionary low-cost way to move payloads and people into Earth orbit and then outward to the asteroids, Mars and beyond.
Now an upstart company of enterprising engineers and investment strategists want to tackle the ultimate high-rise project for the 21st century: the space elevator. They are on the ground floor of putting calculations to paper and wrestling with the toughest challenges
The message from the First International Space Elevator Conference, held here August 12-13, is that the concept is an idea whose time has come…well almost. World-class specialists in diverse fields -- from materials science, bridge building, and aerospace technology to law, business, and financing -- contend the project is on the up-and-up.
This is a vertical railroad," said Brad Edwards, co-founder Seattle-based HighLift Systems, a privately held, Seattle-based firm established this year. "The space elevator has long been the stuff of science fiction. We're turning a concept into a reality," he told SPACE.com.
Edwards is a driving force behind the space elevator project. The work has been spurred into being by funding through the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.
When you hear the details, it's clear no small thinking is allowed. Yet the proposed structure is steeped in simple physics.
At the heart of the space elevator is a ribbon that stretches some 62,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) from Earth to space. This high-wire act would be anchored to an offshore sea platform floating near the equatorial line in the Pacific Ocean. At the other end, high above Earth, the elevator is tipped by a counter weight.
Full Article:
http://space.com/businesstechnology/technology/elevator_update_020819.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Music labels sue ISPs over China-based site |
8/19/2002 |
The world's largest record companies sued major Internet service and network providers Friday, alleging their routing systems allow users to access the China-based Listen4ever.com Web site and unlawfully copy musical recordings.
The copyright infringement suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, seeks a court order requiring the defendants to block Internet communications that travel through their systems to and from the Listen4ever site. The suit says the plaintiffs have not been able to determine who owns the Web site.
Plaintiffs in the suit include such major labels as UMG Recordings, a unit of Vivendi Universal Sony Music Entertainment, a unit of Sony Corp ; The RCA Records Label, a unit of Bertelsmann AG's BMG; and Warner Brothers Records, a unit of AOL Time Warner. (AOL Time Warner is the parent company of CNN.)
Defendants in the suit are AT&T Broadband Corp., a unit of AT&T; Cable & Wireless USA, a unit of Cable & Wireless , Sprint Corp Advanced Network Services and UUNET Technologies, a unit of WorldCom.
The suit alleges that the Listen4ever site enables Internet users to download music from a centralized location containing thosands of files. This allows them to make unlawful copies of as many recordings as they choose.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/industry/08/19/music.copyright.reut/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Radeon 9700 Pro benchmarks look good |
8/19/2002 |
The R300 has transmuted into the 9700 Pro and ATI has just lifted the curtain on what it hopes is its Nvidia-slayer.
I believe the Radeon 9700 Pro is the fastest card that money can buy at the beginning of September.
This is a First Look but from here in Wien, the heart of the old Austro-Hungarian empire, I was able to grab a few performance numbers and will follow it up with a detailed test later on.
Full Article w/ Chart:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5023 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
KT 400 will support faster AMD front side bus |
8/19/2002 |
So we asked Via whether its KT400 will support such an FSB and we got a straight reply that "The KT400 supports all existing and future AMD Athlon processor FSB speeds".
So if, rather when, AMD decides to go-go for an FSB higher than the current 266 bus, Via will support it.
According to other sources, even the KT333 or the widely accepted KT333CE will have support for this speed meaning that users with these boards will be able to use all the benefits of Athlons with a 333 MHz. As we noted elsewhere, the cunning plan seems to be that AMD will eventually offer all XPs it will still carry with that bus.
It also means that if you buy a KT400 or an Nvidia based Nforce 2, board, life will be, as the saying goes, "just a bowl of cherries".
Which led me to remember, if my memory serves me well, that the good old Alpha EV6 bus of blessed memory is physically capable of supporting a 400MHz front side bus. Not that AMD cares about that any more, of course.
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5015 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
VisionTek Closes Its Doors |
8/19/2002 |
While VisionTek experienced some problems earlier this year with financial debt, it was thought that all was going well for this U.S. based company from Northern Illinois. We have come to find out this weekend that all is far from well at one of our fave VidCard builders. It seems as though VisionTek is in utter financial shambles and a trustee has been appointed to come in and liquidate all the assets of the company.
Bankruptcy no. Foreclosure yes. It is understood that the trustee is there in order to recoup as much money from the current VisionTek assets in order to pay back dept to the bank(s) with interest in this matter. So what is seems will happen is that VisionTek will simply cease to exist.
VisionTek was currently in motion to move it’s manufacturing to either China or Taiwan in order to cut costs associated with its products. VisionTek has also been currently diversifying their product lines to include non-VidCard related items. All seemed to be looking up for VisionTek. While this information does come from a very credible source even the information they had was a bit slim, but it was not ruled out that improper business practices was something that put the last nail in the coffin.
With VisionTek simply vanishing, this leaves a huge gap for NVIDIA to fill. VisionTek was the number one retailer of NVIDIA based VidCards in North America. Hercules has moved to ATi products, Creative is gone for NVIDIA as well with the purchase of 3dLabs, and Elsa's (which is now bankrupt) top-end VidCards were built by VisionTek anyway.
PNY is still here in the USA, but I simply think they lack the production capabilities or market savvy to deliver for NVIDIA even though they already have penetration into the larger retail channels. The smaller guys like Gainward, eVGA, MSI, Leadtek, and even possibly such companies as Prolink, ABIT, or Inno3D have a shot to help get cards to market for NVIDIA. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out, but it would seem that PNY would be best positioned to immediately take the NVIDIA North American Sales Crown.
Full Article:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MzM5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ATi Radeon 9700 Pro Shipments |
8/18/2002 |
So, together with the official announcement ATI set up the date for the mass supplies of its new RADEON 9700 PRO to start. This is August 19. At launch I honestly doubted that this is a credible statement, and it seems to me I was right. According to our sources, they will be able to start selling ATI RADEON 9700 PRO in time only in the Asian region and only in limited quantities.
As for the USA and European markets, it will be pretty complicated to find RADEON 9700 based graphics cards there at first. It is not for nothing that some on-line hardware stores claim they will have RADEON 9700 PRO available only in mid September. The sources say that ATI will ship new cards to its USA distributors between August 27 and September 3. Moreover, the first supplies will be pretty small. The first supply of RADEON 9700 PRO to the USA is expected to contain only 3,000 pieces.
At the same time RADEON 9700 PRO should be available in much bigger quantities in the Asian region, but despite that we will not claim their broad availability anyway.
Unfortunately, there is no info about the reasons that might have caused this delay. Maybe the chip yields are lower than anticipated, and maybe inspired by the delayed launching of NV30, ATI intended to start selling its RADEON 9700 PRO as early as possible but failed to catch up with the plans of its own marketing people.
Full Article:
http://xbitlabs.com/news/story.html?id=1029642738 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How to Cool Down Hammer CPUs? |
8/18/2002 |
There are two versions of this cooler differing from one another by the heatsink material and the fan shape. As a result, their specs look as follows:
Dimensions: 78x74x58mm or 78x67x55mm;
Thermal resistance: 0.27C/W or 0.32C/W;
Weight: 274g or 266g;
Heatsink material: Aluminum A1070 or Aluminum 6063;
Heatsink size: 75x67x36mm or 75x68x36mm;
Fan size: 70x70x15mm;
Fan rotation speed: 4,000rpm;
One ball bearing and one slide bearing;
Voltage: 12V;
Noise: 36dB.
I would like to stress the highly original cooler retention mechanism. The package includes a metal plate, which should be fixed to the reverse side of the mainboard PCB right under the CPU. The plastic frame located on the front side of the mainboard is fastened to this plate with two screws. The cooler is then fastened to the frame with a traditional metal clip, like the one used in Socket A coolers.
Full Article:
http://xbitlabs.com/news/story.html?id=1029655142 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD: the end of PR ratings? |
8/18/2002 |
"But on page 16 of this PDF is a list of "model number" mappings for the Athlon family, and the last one in the list is the 2200+, functionally equivalent to 1800MHz.
A little footnote there says that "at any frequency above 1800MHz, the model number should be omitted from the same string".
Some may recall that one of these documents earlier in the year said what name strings should be inserted for the "model numbers".
So is there no 2400+? Or is the PR rating being changed or dropped? Or is it just a mistake?"
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5014
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bangkok Software Pirates Back |
8/17/2002 |
Bangkok's pirates are back.
Driven out in a crackdown earlier this year, traders selling pirated music, software and X-rated movies have returned to Pantip Plaza, a chaotic, packed shopping center in downtown Bangkok.
Dozens of Thai teenagers gather around a table at one stall, flipping through a book of photocopied covers of compact discs.
A female customer in her mid-30s points to a CD featuring around 100 songs from 10 albums by Thai and foreign pop icons. A few minutes later the shopkeeper rushes back with the compact disc she requested sealed in a plastic bag.
The price -- 100 baht ($2.32), a fifth of what customers would pay for a legal hit CD album.
Software owners are complaining that trade in pirated CDs and DVDs, everything from the latest Microsoft Windows system to Hollywood movies, is booming again in Pantip Plaza and on roadside stalls after authorities halted aggressive raids in February.
Full Article:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=1341878 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Military Computers Easily Cracked, Experts Say |
8/17/2002 |
Tens of thousands of U.S. military and government computers containing sensitive information are easily accessible over the Internet, a computer security firm that cracked the networks said on Friday.
Military encryption techniques, correspondence between generals, recruits' Social Security and credit-card numbers and other sensitive information is often stored on Internet-connected computers that use easily guessed passwords or in some cases no passwords at all, said an official at San Diego security firm ForensicTec Solutions Inc.
"We were kind of shocked at the security measures, or lack thereof," said ForensicTec President Brett O'Keefe.
Full Article:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=1340741 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FBI warns about wireless warchalking |
8/17/2002 |
Well-meaning wireless activists have caught the attention of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
One of its agents has issued a warning about the popular practice of using chalk marks to show the location of wireless networks.
The marks, or "warchalks", are cropping up in cities and suburbs across the world.
The FBI is now telling companies that, if they see the chalk marks outside their offices, they should check the security of wireless networks and ensure they remain closed to outsiders.
Full Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2197252.stm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New fault could generate giant waves |
8/17/2002 |
A geological fault discovered beneath the sea near Japan poses the threat of generating giant waves, a new study reports.
Such waves, called tsunami, could pose a threat to densely populated coastal cities in southwestern Japan.
Researchers led by Jin-Oh Park of the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center in Yokohama discovered the fault using a seismic reflection profile, developed by measuring vibrations from the surface that are reflected back by deep rock formations.
Their findings are reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/08/16/new.fault.ap/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Catching crooks with e-mail evidence |
8/17/2002 |
Not since the glory days of letter-writing, before the advent of the telephone, have people committed so much revealing stuff to written form as they do in the age of computers.
All those e-mail messages and electronic files are a treasure trove of evidence for law enforcement officers, whether they are targeting terrorists, crooked CEOs or local drug dealers.
The challenge for police and prosecutors is learning how to dig up and preserve these electronic gems.
"Any agent can come in and look through papers, but not every agent can do a thorough computer search," said David Green, deputy chief of the Justice Department's computer crime section, which helps train federal and state investigators.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/08/16/email.evidence.ap/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NASA plans to read terrorist's minds at airports |
8/17/2002 |
Airport security screeners may soon try to read the minds of travelers to identify terrorists.
Officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have told Northwest Airlines security specialists that the agency is developing brain-monitoring devices in cooperation with a commercial firm, which it did not identify.
Space technology would be adapted to receive and analyze brain-wave and heartbeat patterns, then feed that data into computerized programs "to detect passengers who potentially might pose a threat," according to briefing documents obtained by The Washington Times.
NASA wants to use "noninvasive neuro-electric sensors," imbedded in gates, to collect tiny electric signals that all brains and hearts transmit. Computers would apply statistical algorithms to correlate physiologic patterns with computerized data on travel routines, criminal background and credit information from "hundreds to thousands of data sources," NASA documents say.
Full Article:
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020817-704732.htm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Russia accuses FBI agent of hacking |
8/17/2002 |
Russia has accused an FBI agent who nabbed two Russian hackers of downloading evidence against the pair from a server based in Russia without authorization.
The charges come nearly two years after FBI investigators lured two Chelyabinsk, Russia, residents suspected of hacking to Seattle with false offers of jobs with a fictitious security firm. The FBI fooled the suspects into accessing their overseas computers from the United States, and then used the same passwords to download large files that were subsequently used for evidence.
A directorate from Russia's Federal Security Service on Thursday alleged that FBI Special Agent Michael Schuler, who was in charge of the Seattle investigation, illegally accessed Russian Internet servers to gather evidence. Special Agent Marty D. Prewett, who also led aspects of the investigation, has not been mentioned in the case.
Calling the case "a matter of principle," the Russian agency said in the statement that "if FBI agents used hackers' methods against hackers, they might also use them on other occasions," according to a report by Radio Free Europe.
Full Article:
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-950719.html?tag=fd_top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Windows 98, Me, NT4, 2000 and XP SSL Flawed |
8/16/2002 |
Microsoft Corp. said yesterday that the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) flaw recently uncovered by an independent researcher is in multiple versions of the Windows operating system, not its Internet Explorer Web browser.
Company officials added that the flaw isn't in Microsoft's CryptoAPI application program interface (CAPI) either, which would have left a number of applications and Windows services vulnerable, not just Internet Explorer.
Security researcher Mike Benham reported that Internet Explorer had a security flaw that could undermine the security provided by SSL, a standard for securing online transactions and e-commerce (see story). The flaw opens a vulnerability called a man-in-the-middle attack, where the attacker can hijack an SSL session and decrypt messages that could contain credit card or Social Security numbers.
Microsoft said it's working on patches for Windows 98, Me, NT4, 2000 and XP. It wouldn't say when the patches would be available.
"This SSL flaw has been described as an [Internet Explorer] problem, but it is a Windows issue. It's in the crypto of the operating system, so we have to patch the OS," said Scott Culp, manager of the Microsoft Security Response Center. "IE is a consumer of those crypto services."
He described it as an "implementation problem in the way SSL certificates are processed, where information is not available in the certificate or it is available in two places and there is a conflict."
Full Article:
http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/holes/story/0,10801,73507,00.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apple gives break to multi-Mac homes |
8/16/2002 |
Aiming to reward those households with more than one Mac, Apple Computer will introduce a family plan for licensing OS X.
Under the plan, which will coincide with next week's release of Mac OS X version 10.2 (also known as Jaguar), consumers can buy a $199 a copy of the operating system and install it on up to five Macs in a single household.
"We've been getting feedback over the last while that more and more families are adding second and third Macs," said Mac OS X marketing director Ken Bereskin.
Some Mac owners have been miffed by Apple's decision not to widely offer an inexpensive upgrade version of Jaguar to Mac OS X owners. Only customers who bought a Mac or Mac OS X since Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2) was announced on July 17 are eligible for a free upgrade, as long as they pay $20 for shipping and handling. All other Mac OS X owners have to pay $129 to graduate to Jaguar. Mac OS X was released just 18 months earlier than its upgrade, and, according to some users, Jaguar is not a radical departure from the original operating system.
Bereskin said the family licensing program had been in the works for some time and was not the result of customer complaints. Apple already has volume pricing plans for businesses and schools, as well as a program that lets those customers buy a three-year subscription covering all new versions of the OS during that time.
Full Article:
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-949996.html?tag=fd_top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
VIA Apollo KT400 Chipset Launches at QuakeCon 2002 |
8/16/2002 |
QuakeCon 2002: Mesquite, Texas, 16 August 2002 - VIA Technologies, Inc., a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today launched the VIA Apollo KT400, the next generation chipset for the AMD Athlon™ XP processor, at QuakeCon 2002, the world's greatest multi-player gaming event. Optimized for the needs of gamers, enthusiasts and professionals requiring the fastest system performance and the very latest I/O and connectivity features, the VIA Apollo KT400 is a no compromise solution aimed at making AMD Athlon™ XP processor based systems more powerful than ever before.
The continued evolution of VIA's market leading memory controller technology enables the AMD Athlon XP processor to do more work clock for clock than with rival chipset platforms, while 2.1GB/s of AGP 8X bandwidth allows the VIA Apollo KT400 to be paired with the most powerful new graphics processors to create systems that take the end user experience onto a new plane.
"Simply stated, the VIA Apollo KT400 is the most capable performance chipset ever designed for Socket A compatible motherboards," commented Ted Lee, Vice President of Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "Gamers, enthusiasts and professionals have an enduring appetite for more system performance and we are confident that the launch of the KT400 will consolidate our leadership in this important segment."
Full Press Release:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/Digital%20Library/pr_kt400.jsp
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Taiwan LCD Makers in Pricey War with Korean Rivals |
8/16/2002 |
Taiwan's ambitious computer flat panel screen makers are gaining on world-leading Korean rivals, but hurdles ahead will force the island's major players to consider merging before they can vie for the top spot.
Taiwan screen makers will be hard pressed to turn increasing market share into dominance on dim market conditions that have blocked funding for Taiwan's producers, as well as fatter profit margins and better technology at Korean firms, analysts said.
"Raising capital is increasingly difficult. If the recovery is worse than expected and prices continue to fall, they probably will start to think about further consolidation next year," said James Huang, technology analyst at National Securities.
The Market Intelligence Center (MIC) said Taiwan producers could claim 38.2 percent of the global market this year, up from 28.3 percent in 2001.
Full Article:
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=1337747 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Radeon 9700 3D Mark 2001 Benchmarks |
8/16/2002 |
3DMark Score 17421 3D marks
Game 1 Car Chase - Low Detail 228.8 FPS
Game 1 Car Chase - High Detail 85.9 FPS
Game 2 Dragothic - Low Detail 325.1 FPS
Game 2 Dragothic - High Detail 171.7 FPS
Game 3 Lobby - Low Detail 227.9 FPS
Game 3 Lobby - High Detail 101.9 FPS
Game 4 Nature 120.6 FPS
Fill Rate (Single-Texturing) 2013.3 MTexels/s
Fill Rate (Multi-Texturing) 2848.8 MTexels/s
High Polygon Count (1 light) 79.1 MTriangels/s
High Polygon Count (8 lights) 16.9 MTriangels/s
Environment Bump Mapping 212.1 FPS
DOT3 Bump Mapping 258.1 FPS
Vertex Shader 219.5 FPS
Pixel Shader 235.0 FPS
Advanced Pixel Shader 216.1 FPS
Point Sprite 42.0 MSprites/s
Find the goodness here:
http://service.madonion.com/compare?2k1=4202539 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Study: Apes lack gene for speech |
8/16/2002 |
A couple of changes in one gene about 200,000 years ago may be the reason apes still pound the ground -- and humans can recite poetry to communicate.
Scientists identified a gene last year called FOXP2, the first to be directly linked to language ability. Researchers then studied the gene and the protein it produces in humans, as well as in gorillas, chimps, orangutans and mice.
They discovered a slight amino acid change in the human protein, which was not found in any of the other animals. That change may be a big reason humans developed the face and jaw structures, which make the profound capabilities of speech and language possible.
Just how important is language to what makes us human?
"It is perhaps the most important feature," said Wolfgang Enard, who detailed these findings in the online edition of the British journal Nature. "It makes culture possible. This ability to transfer knowledge has had the most impact on civilization," said Enard, who worked with Svante Paabo and others at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/08/15/coolsc.speech/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ News |
8/16/2002 |
"Fresh off the Rumor Mill Hotline is news that the AMD 2800+ part that is shipping soon will in fact be a 333 DDR FSB part. There are independent people in Taiwan that have had units for testing so we will more than likely see a 333 DDR AMD 2800+ part if all goes well, although nothing has been announced yet. There has been no confirmed launch date for the 2800+ CPU’s either, but we do know, given the time frame, it should be right around the corner. These rumors have been circulating for a while, but the news we got today makes it seem that it could very well be a reality if everything goes well."
Source:
http://www.hardocp.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intel Itanic and AMD Hammer contrasted |
8/16/2002 |
Our reader who ran Open SSL benchmarks has sparked quite a lot of interest with his story.
So much so that someone has kindly sent us similar results for the Intel Itanium, which can be compared and contrasted with the AMD platform.
Here's the benchmarks the reader claims to have obtained at Linuxworld and which we published in a separate story.
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=4983 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ActiveBuddy's Patent Win Riles IM Bot Developers |
8/16/2002 |
New York-based ActiveBuddy has won a crucial patent covering instant messaging bot-making technology, but hobbyists and amateur developers aren't buying the company's claim that it invented the technology.
ActiveBuddy was granted Patent No. 6,430,602 which covers the method and system for interactively responding to instant messaging requests and the company said it would move swiftly to enforce the patent, a move that is sure to create a brouhaha in the bot developer space.
ActiveBuddy founder Tim Kay, who is listed as an inventor in the patent claim, told internetnews.com the clinching of the patent validates the company's business model of creating interactive agents (bots) that respond to IM queries.
"We invented interactive agents. Anybody using his or her own tools (to make bots) is obviously using our technology without paying us to license the server, for example. We are a startup company and we have to protect out future. That's basically why we secured this patent," Kay said.
Full Article:
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/1446781 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sun makes licensing peace offering to OpenOffice.org |
8/16/2002 |
Sun yesterday unveiled licensing relaxations designed to placate critics and boost contributions to OpenOffice.org, the open source office suite project. Sun, no stranger to abuse from the open source community over its licensing terms and conditions, has come under fire because contributors to OpenOffice.org had to sign an agreement giving Sun rights to their work.
But now Sun's playing friendly. The new Joint Copyright Agreement (JCA) and Public Documentation License (PDL) change this in two ways. The JCA covers source code and related material, and is an assignment rather than a licence, allowing developers to share copyright ownership with Sun when they contribute code. The developer keeps ownership, but all source code is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) and the Sun Industry Standards Source License (SISSL).
The PDL covers documents and files, and allows documents to be modified, with all contributors being credited.
The moves should go some way towards muting criticism from the OpenOffice.org community that Sun was treating members as free labour and nothing else, and taking them at face value, Sun seems to be trying to demonstrate that it does want the legal right to use the contributions, but is no longer demanding total control. It is prepared to share.
Full Article:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/26672.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD to intro AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 2600+ on 21st |
8/15/2002 |
A shocked silence greeted the INQUIRER this morning when we asked AMD UK to either confirm or deny it was introducing its 2400+ and 2600+ Athlon XPs on the 21st of August next.
Whole seconds later, AMD said it never commented on unannounced products.
System integrators close to AMD in Taipei suggest that the 2600+ has a raw MHz speed of 2.133GHz, while the 2400+ clocks 2GHz.
But, nevertheless, neither of these chipolatas has a 333MHz front side bus (FSB), although we do know for a fact that the little gnomes in the back room are tapping away at such a system as we write this.
In fact, leprechauns close to those gnomes say that AMD will eventually migrate the 333MHz FSB to all of them thar Athlon XPs eventually.
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=4967 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro in Stores |
8/15/2002 |
"Just wanted to let you now that the 900pro just arrived to most best buy store's tonight and that the pre-orders for the 9700 are due to arrive 9/3/02 with a cancel date of 9/13.02 also this coming Sunday ad will feature alien ware pc's loaded with ATi 9700 cards available to order. If the 9700 arrive at the warehouse on 9/3 they should be in the store's by the end of that week. Or they could end up being rerouted to the store's from ATi I’ll keep an eye out and let you know"
Source:
http://www.hardocp.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pinpointing workers by their mobile phones |
8/15/2002 |
The movie "Enemy of the State" featured high tech bugs, small enough to fit into the sole of a shoe.
But in the real world you may not need such sophisticated devices to pin down a target -- at least not if they're carrying a mobile phone.
If Watson's Water want to know where employee Thomas Chui is, they contact his mobile phone. It is no problem if he doesn't pick up, as Chui's phone is linked to a computer that tracks his movements.
As he roams around Hong Kong, dispatchers from his company can see his position on a map. The information is delivered in real time and while not as accurate as the GPS tracking technology, it is accurate within 200 meters.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/08/14/mobile.pinpoint/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Creating a lifeline online for college students |
8/15/2002 |
A child goes off to college, and with that child goes the dreams of his parents. For Phil Satow, those dreams were shattered in 1998 when his son Jed committed suicide while a sophomore at the University of Arizona.
"If I can prevent even one parent from having to suffer the way my wife and I did," Satow told Hotwired, "then it would be a wonderful thing to avoid that pain."
Jed Satow lives on through the Jed Foundation, and the first result of that is Ulifeline.org, a new mental health resource for colleges and troubled students.
When fall terms begin this month and next, at least 17 colleges and universities will offer the confidential service.
Satow makes it clear that Ulifeline.org is not a suicide prevention hotline, nor is it a provider of mental health services. The Web site is simply a place for students and parents to get information that might help a someone who is feeling suicidal make the choice for life.
"It provides information for parents who are sending their kids to college and who have had certain high school issues, emotional issues they've had to deal with," Satow said.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/08/13/hln.wired.ulifeline/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Scientists create 'endurance' mouse |
8/15/2002 |
Mighty Mouse lives, and the "new age" version is downright buff.
Researchers say they have created a transgenic mouse with muscles like a marathoner, capable of enduring rigorous exercise for extended periods of time.
While so far the research has only been conducted on mice, scientists say they expect the techniques they've developed to treat the mouse muscle will also work on humans. Doctors say the discovery may one day lead to new treatments for people who are bedridden or have degenerative muscle disease, and could prove to be a wonder drug for endurance athletes like long distance runners or cross country skiers.
Bruce Spiegelman and colleagues at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute identified a biochemical called PGC-1 that operates as a molecular switch, converting so-called "fast-twitch" muscle, which is strong but tires quickly, into high-endurance "slow-twitch" muscle.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/08/14/mouse.endurance/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WinBond to Manufacture DDR 400 |
8/15/2002 |
"Well, Samsung will no longer be the only company manufacturing and promoting actively the new DDR400 memory. Very soon one more large company is going to join Samsung. I am talking about Winbond, which expressed its vital desire to start manufacturing 400MHz DDR memory last week. Also Winbond announced that they are going to introduce 0.13micron manufacturing technology in all their fabs by the end of Q3 2002.
At present Winbond manufactures DDR333 memory and partners with Infineon Technologies AG. According to their agreement, a certain part of the chips later on manufactured by Winbond with 0.11micron technology should come out under Infineon’s brand name. However, the company is not going to give up the production of its own goods. The intention to tackle DDR400 is just another proof of the point. "
Source:
http://xbitlabs.com/news/story.html?id=1029214460 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Biotech Crops Allegedly Mishandled |
8/15/2002 |
Biotechnology companies have failed to take proper precautions to prevent genetically modified corn from contaminating other crops growing nearby, federal regulators alleged for the first time.
The allegations, lodged against two companies with experimental plots in Hawaii, came amid growing criticism concerning how genetically modified crops are grown and regulated in the United States.
The Environmental Protection Agency accused Pioneer Hi-Bred International of planting genetically modified corn too close to other crops and at an unapproved location.
Another company, the Mycogen Seeds unit of Dow AgroSciences LLC, is accused of failing to plant trees around its experimental plot to create a windbreak to inhibit the spread of pollen. The EPA also says the company planted the wrong kind of unmodified corn as a buffer zone around the experimental crop.
Both companies are experimenting with corn altered using a bacterium's genetic material. The modification allows the corn to produce its own pesticide against the rootworm pest, reducing reliance on chemical sprays.
Each company had to agree to rigorous pollen containment regulations before getting government approval to plant outdoors. Neither company's modified corn has been approved for human consumption.
Full Article:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=528&ncid=528&e=5&u=/ap/20020814/ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Theorizes Google Page Ranking |
8/15/2002 |
"Foreword
If you're like many, Google has become your primary search engine, either directly or indirectly via a business relationship with another site (for example, Yahoo uses Google to search the web). For me, Google has become my home page: Virtually every session begins with a Google search. Maybe I'm looking for some good documentation for Netscape Navigator 4.7's obsolete and incomplete DOM, or a site showing the biggest skyscrapers. Whatever it is, Google usually quickly gets me to my destination. Before I raise the ire of the hordes of fanatical Google fans, I should start this paper off by saying that I am a tremendous fan of Google, and I have yet to see any search engine which has it beat, but that doesn't mean that Google can't be made better. I am also concerned that Google's ranking technology is masked in a tight lipped aura: This is a classic security by obscurity, and while I do believe that there is some merit to that in certain circumstances, the easy cause/effect analysis of Google renders such obscurity transparent to those that want to manipulate Google rankings for their own gain."
http://www.yafla.com/~dforbes/google/ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD Hammer FAQ v1.0 |
8/14/2002 |
We post our first FAQ for AMD's upcoming Hammer 64 bit CPU.
Q. What is AMD's Hammer processor architecture?
A: Hammer is AMD's 8th generation CPU architecture which adds x86-64 bit instructions, but maintains backwards compatibility with 32 bit programs.
Q: What is x86-64? Where can I find more information on it?
A: x86-64 is a 64 bit extension to the x86 architecture that supports legacy 16-bit and 32-bit applications and operating systems without any need for modification. x86-64.org has a multitude of information on the extension.
Q: How does Hammer provide both x86-64 and x86 support?
A: The x86-64 architecture has a legacy mode in which it supports binary compatibility with existing operating systems and applications, and a new mode in which it supports both the new features for recompiled code as well as binary compatibility with existing applications. The architecture also adds a new instruction-pointer relative-addressing mode, uniform byteregister addressing, and a fast interrupt-prioritizing mechanism.
Full FAQ:
http://www.amdzone.com/articleview.cfm?ArticleID=1195 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sony unmoved by Microsoft's X-Box |
8/14/2002 |
SONY COULDN'T CARE LESS if Microsoft cut the price of X-Box in half, says the Computer Entertainment Inc.'s president, Ken Kutaragi.
The company is looking forward to selling millions of Playstation2s worldwide in the run-up to Christmas and is unconcerned about competition from Microsoft according to Kutatagi, quoted in the Wall Street Journal.
Sony has shipped just over 30 million PlayStation2s since 2000 and Kutaragi reckons the number of games and the established reputation the console enjoys mean he's on target to sell 20 million consoles in the year to March.
And, he says the price-cutting game is over, claiming Sony isn't in the business of chasing maket share. "If they cut the price [of the Xbox] to half, I don't care," Kutaragi said.
At the end of June, upstart Microsoft reckoned it had shipped 3.9 million X-Boxes.
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=4960
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Pictures Reveal 100,000 Galaxies |
8/14/2002 |
Billed by astronomers as a "joyride to infinity," a photograph of a relatively small patch of sky in the Southern Hemisphere peers through a galaxy to reveal more than 100,000 distant galaxies.
The picture, anchored by a stunning spiral galaxy called NGC 300 that is front and center, was taken with the European Southern Observatory's 2.2-meter (7.2-foot) telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. Created with archived data, the image was released to the public last week. The raw data behind it is available to astronomers for new discoveries as part of an online "virtual observatory" program.
The remarkable array of galaxies is only revealed in close-ups of the picture, which also show countless foreground stars associated with NGC 300. While NGC 300 is just 7 million light-years away, the mean distance of the background galaxies is 8 billion light-years.
Mischa Schirmer, an astronomer at the University of Bonn, produced the photograph from data that was gathered in 1999 and 2000 by Wolfgang Gieren and his colleagues in Chile for a different research project.
"A single image showing 100,000 galaxies is indeed a little unusual," Schirmer told SPACE.com. "In order to achieve it, one needs very long exposure times, good atmospheric conditions and a wide field of view."
Full Article:
http://space.com/scienceastronomy/eso_images_020813.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Telescope Camera Targets Fast-Spinning Hearts of Distant Galaxies |
8/14/2002 |
Astronomy is not usually described as "fast paced." Photographing the depths of the universe is usually a business of very long exposures lasting hours or even days.
But a new high-speed camera in the Canary Islands, dubbed ULTRACAM, is poised to change all that by taking up to 1,000 color photographs per second.
ULTRACAM is actually a cluster of large and sensitive digital cameras, jointly developed by scientists at the universities of Sheffield and Southampton in the United Kingdom, and Great Britain's Royal Observatory. Mounted on the biggest optical telescope in Europe, the 4.2-meter William Herschel Telescope on the island of La Palma, ULTRACAM will take aim at the fastest-moving events in the universe.
Full Article:
http://space.com/businesstechnology/technology/ultracam_020814.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ATi Radeon 9700 Availiability Update |
8/14/2002 |
A rumor from the HardOCP Forums:
"Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I am the president of a computer company in Pennsylvania and we are expected to ship the ATI 9700 cards around the 26th. So it looks as if ATI is gonna hold true to their release date. I don't know if this info will help out or not, but I got word of all this last night, so I figured I would share it with all of you guys. But, of course, I'm sure no one wants this card, right?
~Kurt"
Source:
http://www.hardforums.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dodging pop-ups with Mozilla |
8/14/2002 |
Mozilla 1.0, the open-source technology behind the latest Netscape browser, is garnering favor for helping to block irksome pop-up advertisements. But don't expect to see that feature in the coming full release of Netscape 7.0.
Mozilla 1.0, launched in early June as the first public version of the Netscape-inspired open-source browser, lets Web surfers easily zap unsolicited windows known as pop-up ads, which are widely used by mainstream sites including America Online and its subsidiary Netscape Communications. Though heralded by Mozilla users, a group that includes many Web developers, the tool didn't make the cut for the preview version of Netscape 7.0 and won't appear in its upcoming launch, according to the company.
That arrangement, analysts say, is blatant self-protection.
"Netscape is a commercial offering--it's not in its interest to offer a browser that could kill pop-up ads," said Michael Gartenberg, research director with Jupiter Research. "That's the equivalent of one of the broadcast networks coming out with a digital video recorder that can skip commercials."
Full Article:
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-949572.html?tag=fd_lede |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dell unhooks Windows from desktops |
8/14/2002 |
Dell Computer is making Windows optional for some of its business desktops.
The PC maker next month will introduce n-Series corporate desktop and workstations that ship without Microsoft's Windows, or any other operating system, pre-installed.
The new desktops appear to be a slick interpretation of Microsoft's new licensing terms and a way to navigate customer demand for PCs without an OS installed. The Microsoft licensing terms, which were put in place on Aug. 1, specify that PC makers must ship PCs with an operating system. The new policy exists to prevent piracy and to better track OS shipments.
With the n-Series, Dell will include a copy of a free operating system--FreeDOS--inside the cardboard box. However, the OS will not be pre-installed, so customers will not have to worry about reconfiguring their machines should they want to use a different product.
Businesses will be able to order n-Series computers, which will be part of the Optiplex line and the Precision workstation line, directly from Dell beginning Sept. 1.
The demand for PCs without OSes, while limited, is often fueled by their convenience, especially for companies that want to experiment with Linux. Many large companies pre-buy Windows through licensing programs and thus have to erase all the software that comes on factory-shipped PCs and reinstall their own. Buying a PC without an OS saves a step and prevents inadvertent dual purchasing.
Full Article:
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-949671.html?tag=fd_top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hacking Las Vegas |
8/14/2002 |
try to control my breathing as I stroll through Logan International Airport. Terminal C is buzzing and chaotic, an over-air-conditioned hive of college students escaping Boston for a long weekend. I am dressed like everyone else: baggy jeans, baseball hat, scuffed sneakers. But in my mind, I have as much chance of blending in as a radioactive circus clown. There's enough money hidden under my clothes to buy a two-bedroom condo. And to top it off, there's $100,000 worth of yellow plastic casino chips jammed into the backpack slung over my right shoulder.
My anxiety increases as I reach the security checkpoint. I want to turn and run, but the security guard is staring at me, and I have no choice: I show him my ticket. America West, flight 69, Boston to Vegas. The Friday night Neon Express.
He gestures with his head, and I drop my backpack onto the conveyor belt. I know the chips will show up on the X-ray machine, but even if the guard makes me open the backpack, he won't realize how much money the yellow hunks of plastic represent.
The $100 bills are another matter. This is an airport; they can drag me to a windowless room in the basement and handcuff me to a chair. They can confiscate my stash, call in the DEA, FBI, and IRS. It will be up to me to prove that I'm not a drug dealer. To customs agents, $100 bills smell like cocaine.
In reality, I'm a writer, with six pulpy thrillers under my belt, but today I'm on the scent of a real life story even more high-octane than any of my fictional jaunts. I'm ferrying money for Kevin Lewis, one of the best card counters alive. He's taking me back to his glory days when he ran a card team that hit Vegas for millions.
Full Article:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/vegas.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD, Intel play desktop cat and mouse game |
8/14/2002 |
Chip giant Intel could be set to shred its latest roadmaps and pre-emptively strike back at AMD by introducing its Pentium 4 2.6 and Pentium 4 2.80GHz processors earlier than expected.
We think Intel will introduce its 2.5GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.66GHz, and 2.80GHz chips on the 26th of August now. It could be earlier, but that's our current bet.
Maybe some naughty magazine will breach the famous Intel embargo and force Chipzilla's paw? It could be the 19th even...
AMD appears to have imposed a blackout on its plans as it tries to figure out when it will go-go with 333MHz front side bus chips and its 2400+ and 2600+ Athlon processors.
Intel appears to be mulling over whether to release its faster processors earlier than expected. The latest roadmaps the INQUIRER has seen have a 2.80GHz P4 slated for September 1st, along with a big cut in prices on desktops, mobile chips and server chips too.
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=4951
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IRC: EnterTheGame Hacker Arrested by the FBI |
8/13/2002 |
(Lexington, KY) - August 13, 2002 - EnterTheGame(ETG), is pleased to announce the first phase in its on-going investigations regarding the attacks the past couple months is over. On Friday August 9th XBN`Phocus was raided by the FBI and is no longer a threat to ETG, Our Users, or any other gaming organization. This brings to a close the 6 month investigation and close co-operation where ETG worked daily with the authorities to help bring this to a successful conclusion. The Agents involved have been a tremendous help and have put a lot of time and effort into tracking him and his colleagues down thus far and we are quite appreciative of it.
Phocus was responsible for hundreds of attacks on ETG and thousands against the gaming community members and other gaming organizations. With the successful raid and apprehension of Phocus, it brings the close of one phase off the investigation and the opening of many new ones.
This puts Phocus in a phase to where more information from his computers will be analyzed to help build a stronger and more concrete case upon him, jurisdiction will be decided upon, and he will then be arrested and prosecuted for his crimes. Dave Sherman, the President of ETG, commented on this, "Despite some of the rumors people have been circulating, Phocus was not arrested and put in jail. When he was raided it was discovered he was only a minor. So at this point all of his computers were confiscated and the FBI is building the case to handle its unique circumstances. I don't see this as an overall problem however, as in many of our past cases where the person was the juvenile, they were tried as adults and received adult sentencing. Also in Phocus' case one of the odd things was, it's the only case where the person didn't even reveal his true identity even to his best friends on-line. Normally we can get a better beat and information on them, but he was pretty smart when it came to that. For over 4 years the name he's been telling friends, location, even the pictures he gave were all fake. Collin Gregory Fortino isn't even close to his name, the pictures he gave out of himself and his SUV were all fake ripped off of other websites. In fact he's not even 17-18 like he said, he's only around 14-15. Regardless of age however, these were adult crimes and they do deserve an adult punishment."
Full Article:
http://www.enterthegame.com/press-8-13-2002.htm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intel Readies 90-nanometer Process |
8/13/2002 |
Intel Corporation today unveiled several technology breakthroughs that the company has integrated into its new 90-nanometer (nm) process, the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing process in the industry. Intel already has used this process to build record-breaking silicon structures and memory chips. Intel will put this process into volume manufacturing next year using 300 mm wafers.
This new 90 nm (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter) process combines higher-performance, lower-power transistors, strained silicon, high-speed copper interconnects and a new low-k dielectric material. This is the first time all of these technologies will be integrated into a single manufacturing process.
“While some are slowly transitioning production to 130 nm (0.13 micron) process on 200 mm wafers, we are moving ahead with the most advanced 90 nm technology exclusively on 300 mm wafers,” said Dr. Sunlin Chou, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group. “This combination will allow Intel to make better products and reduce manufacturing costs.”
Full Article:
http://www.intel.com/research/silicon/micron.htm?iid=Homepage+Update_020813& |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Phlux.co.uk Back From the Dead |
8/13/2002 |
I'm just letting you all know that after a long spell of downtime (3 weeks!) due to a coplicated and messy host buy-out, phlux.co.uk has returned. We'll be back up to speed with all the best news, reviews and modding articles within the next couple of days.
Regards,
Jake 'nih' Dean
Head on over to Phlux.co.uk and check it out. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New AOL for Mac OS X arrives |
8/13/2002 |
Today America Online is launching a new version of AOL for Mac OS X. The company says it's totally redesigned to look and feel like a true Mac application and offers some features not found on the Windows version.
"This is a new step for AOL," Jeff Kimball of America Online told MacCentral. "AOL for Mac OS X is designed to be native, natural and comfortable for Mac OS X users. This is a first step in this direction, but not the last. Simplicity and ease of use are two of the similarities between AOL and Apple."
The new AOL for Mac OS X was developed based on consumer feedback by AOL members who wanted an online service designed for how they use the Internet today and that was a seamless part of the design, functionality and navigation of the Mac OS X operating system, he added. A new design also brings the true look and feel of Apple to AOL with a visual appearance based on the Aqua style guide.
Full Article:
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0208/12.aol.php |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intel to Announce New Chip Technology - WSJ |
8/13/2002 |
Intel Corp plans to unveil new technology for making computer chips on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The move is part of the company's previously announced $12.5 billion investment over two years on manufacturing technology, and the company expects the process to yield the world's smallest transistors in large-scale production.
In its announcement, Intel was expected to describe some key elements of its 90-nanometer production process, a proprietary recipe that includes the materials, equipment and sequence of manufacturing steps needed to create chips of the new microscopic dimensions, the Journal said.
Full Article:
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=1320585
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft to Launch Xbox Live on Nov. 15 |
8/13/2002 |
Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday said it will launch "Xbox Live," the online gaming service for its video game console, in North America on Nov. 15, the Xbox game machine's one-year anniversary.
The service will require a $49.95 starter kit, which includes 12-months' access, a game and a headset kit for voice communications with other players.
At least six online-enabled games will be available for the console at launch, with about 16 by the end of the year, Xbox spokesman David Hufford told Reuters.
He said initial tests of the underlying network for the service will begin with about 10,000 people at the end of this month, though he said the network will be able to handle far in excess of the usage it will actually get in the early going.
Full Article:
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=1320392 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft Explorer May Have More Flaws |
8/13/2002 |
Microsoft is investigating claims that its popular Internet Explorer software has a loophole that lets attackers pose as legitimate Web site operators, potentially giving them access to computer users' names, passwords and credit card numbers.
Although Microsoft said it's too soon to judge the severity of the problem — and even whether the flaw exists — some programmers and consultants said it could threaten the security of everything from online banking to Web-based commerce.
The problem is "fairly serious," said Elias Levy, a member of software security company Symantec Corp.'s security response team. He said that the complexity involved makes the probability of widespread attacks unlikely.
Attackers taking advantage of the loophole could trick computer users into thinking they are visiting legitimate Web sites, and could convince them to divulge personal information.
Mike Benham, a San Francisco programmer who discovered the problem, posted his findings Aug. 5 on a popular security-alert Web site.
Full Article:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=528&ncid=528&e=1&u=/ap/20020812/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_security_flaw_2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Flaw discovered in PGP encryption software |
8/13/2002 |
Snoopers on the Internet could decode sensitive e-mail messages simply by tricking recipients into hitting the reply button, computer security researchers warned Monday.
The flaw affects software using Pretty Good Privacy, the most popular tool for scrambling e-mail.
Researchers at Columbia University and Counterpane Internet Security Inc. found that someone intercepting an encrypted message could descramble it by repackaging the message and passing it on to the recipient.
The message would appear as gibberish, possibly prompting the recipient to request a resend.
If the recipient includes the original text with that request -- as many people have their configured their software to do automatically when they reply -- the interceptor could then read the original message.
Bruce Schneier, Counterpane's chief technology officer, said most people would never dream that security can be compromised simply by returning gibberish.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/08/12/encryption.flaw.ap/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD Slashes Prices |
8/13/2002 |
Overnight the prices of all of the AMD Athlon XP Processors have dropped considerably. The new prices are as follows:
$154 Athlon XP 2200
$129 Athlon XP 2100
$103 Athlon XP 2000
$90 Athlon XP 1900
$76 Athlon XP 1800
$68 Athlon XP 1700
$60 Athlon XP 1600
$60 Athlon XP 1500
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One Handed Keyboard |
8/12/2002 |
John McKown, an inventor in Scottsdale, Ariz., believed those obstacles could be overcome by abandoning long-standing ideas about how people input data and how computers receive it. He has won a patent for a wearable, one-handed keyboard that lets users type as they pace around an office, walk down the street, lean back in an airplane seat or are passing time standing around (in line at the driver's license office, perhaps).
In fact, even though his patent is named "Stealthy Keyboard," it is somewhat imprecise to call it that since it lacks the traditional "board." Rather, it fits inside a cupped palm, hooks around the thumb and forefinger, and is operated by using the fingertips and the mid-section of fingers to press the keys.
Mr. McKown is 55, an unassuming and soft-spoken former electrical engineer who worked many years at Motorola before retiring early. He traces his experiments with keyboards to his earlier interests.
"I was educated as a biophysicist, and that involves a lot of physiology," he explained last week, just a few days after his patent was issued. "I came to appreciate a lot about the body. The hand is a marvel of nature. It's unacceptable not to have a good, one-handed keyboard. The hand is obviously capable. You don't need two hands to type, or to be restricted to a table
Full Article (Free Registration Required):
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/12/technology/12PATE.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AMD's Market Share Growing Smaller |
8/12/2002 |
According to the latest research carried out by the Mercury Research Group, Intel’s share in the PC CPU market has got 2% higher last quarter. And compared to the last years Q2 this increase is equal to the good 6%.
The increase in Intel’s market share is explained in the first place by the fact that Santa-Clara giant is little by little winning back the positions lost to AMD a while ago. Taking into account Microsoft X-Box consoles, Intel now owns 82.8% of the processor market. And according to the results of Q1 2002 Intel’s share is 80.8%. Compared with what they managed to achieve last year (77.1%) this is quite impressive.
Starting from the beginning of this year, AMD lost 2.6% of the market and now owns only 15.6%. Two other plays, VIA and Transmeta, managed to slightly increase their market share since the beginning of 2002, although their share is still pretty small and doesn’t exceed 2%.
If we disregard the shipments of Intel processors for Microsoft X-Box console, Intel’s and AMD’s shares will now make 81.7% and 16.5% respectively.
All in all, Mercury Research specialists point out a significantly increased demand for budget CPUs. However, similar situation can be observed in other markets as well. The users appear more eager to buy Value graphics cards, low-cost monitors and other equipment.
Despite this fact AMD is losing the market. And this is exactly the company, which has been long offering budget processors with better performance than the alternative solutions from Intel can boast. It might be the considerable price reduction for the slower Pentium 4 CPUs, which has taken place since the beginning of the year, as well as the transition of the Celeron family to NetBurst architecture. Also Intel managed to outpace AMD quite a lot in the high-performance CPU sector. As a result, we see that if at first AMD used to win Intel’s markets, now the things are returning to their natural course.
Full Article:
http://xbitlabs.com/news/story.html?id=1029123349 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nvidia finds itself the underdog, overnight |
8/12/2002 |
The first ATI reviews will appear this month and ATI scheduled its cards for September in retail, but even now we are already know that the R300 appears to beat the Nvidiamonster's latest hands down.
When Nvidia CEO Jen Hsin said that the company hadn't yet taped out the NV30, its monstrosity which is expected to be an ATI killer, massive attacks of panic hit shareholders and we saw the NVDA ticker showing few signs of overclocking.
Knowing the Nvidia cycle as we do, be aware, however, that the company could meet its timeframes even now since, we know that NV30 should be out in November. Historically, Nvidia needs 90 to 100 days from tape out until production, and we assume that the chip could be taped out any day. We wouldn't even be surprised if Nvidia was throwing smoke and dust into the face of ATI with its statements. It wouldn't be the first time. Nor the last.
Jen Hsin avoided answering difficult questions at his recent conference call with the greatest of ease, like the master of the flying trapezoids he undoubtedly is, but he carefully and deliberately said that the NV30 chip is not taped out. The shares immediately fell by 30 per cent.
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=4901 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
KT 400 starts arriving |
8/12/2002 |
THE KT 400 chipset is about to roll out in volume in the next few weeks.
DFI, for example, has just today announced its DFI AD77 Infinity and AD77 Pro – supporting Serial ATA, AGP 8X and DDR 400, the memory type that dare not speak its name.
You cannot find much information on this chipset either on the Via or the Via Arena site as it's not officially introduced as yet.
There are many puzzles and contradictions about this chipset. Many sites claimed this chipset won't support DDR 400, the memory type that dare not speak its name, and they are partly right as DDR 400 will work on these boards but won't be officially supported.
We understand samples of DDR 400, the memory type that dare not speak its name, will be available at the end of August. When shall we see its like in retail stores, however?
Full Article:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=4910 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nuclear Research Supercomputer 'Q' To Get Bigger, Faster |
8/12/2002 |
A newly constructed simulation facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is putting US$93 million and 30 teraOps –- 30 trillion floating point operations per second –- to work for nuclear and other research. The Nicholas C. Metropolis Center for Modeling and Simulation, named for a senior fellow of the national laboratory who died in 1999, houses "Q," one of the world's largest and fastest supercomputers.
Q's peak performance of 30 teraOps is equivalent to every person on the planet performing 5,000 calculations in one second. The Metropolis Center and Q, part of the National Nuclear Security Administrations trib-lab coalition between Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories, will have the ability to expand up to 100 teraOps, researchers said.
Housed inside the Metropolis Center, which is surrounded by a grounding ring and includes a "signal reference grid" to reduce electrical noise, Q eventually will have 33 terabytes of memory –- equivalent to 55,000 CDs. The computer can do in one day what would take a current high-end PC 60 years to accomplish.
Los Alamos officials said the present computer room for Q is 43,500 square feet. As requirements for the total $215 million supercomputer system grow beyond 30 teraOps, the building is designed to grow with additional mechanical and electrical equipment, such as a chiller, cooling towers, air-conditioning units, substations, power conditioners and transformers.
Full Article:
http://newsfactor.com/perl/story/18969.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Script Kiddies Losing Their Touch? |
8/12/2002 |
"Script kiddies," those computer whiz kids behind such email viruses and worms as the "Love Bug" or "Anna Kournikova," are becoming a harmless relic of the past.
It has been 18 months since the Anna Kournikova virus, considered by many experts to be the last major computer virus authored by a precocious code writer, inflicted widespread damage on the corporate world. Script kiddies may be past their prime.
"They're just not the threat they once were," said Mark Toshack, a virus analyst for British security firm MessageLabs.
Computer worms and viruses are still a hazard for computer users as last year's Code Red and this year's Klez worms showed. But advances to anti-virus software and a more vigilant public have largely defeated the best the young virus writers can throw at the computing community.
And now, after a period of relative calm, security specialists are starting to exult in their apparent triumph.
Full Article:
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=AERUWJV4I1RSYCRBAEOCFEY?type=technologynews&StoryID=1318130 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AOL Version for Mac Uses Netscape Technology |
8/12/2002 |
America Online on Monday unveiled a new version of its service for Mac users that integrates browser technology from AOL's Netscape unit instead of rival Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer.
AOL, the struggling online business of AOL Time Warner Inc., has been testing the Netscape browser technology, called Gecko, in some of its services such as CompuServe.
Analysts have said it may be a move toward using it soon in its AOL service, used by 35 million subscribers, perhaps recharging the browser wars with rival Microsoft, which took the dominant position from Netscape several years ago.
"This one also uses Gecko and it looks like it's quite stable. It's certainly a way for them to kick the tires (for other versions)," said Jupiter Research analyst David Card.
Full Article:
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=1317611 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How Al-Qaida Site Was Hijacked |
8/11/2002 |
A Maryland hacker used simple Web tools like whois and traceroute -- as well as online translation software and an anti-cybersquatting service -- to take over the domain name of al-Qaida's website. And he's ready to do it again.
Jon Messner, the Internet entrepreneur who perpetrated the recent domain hijacking, used SnapName's Snapback service to obtain ownership of the domain www.alneda.com.
Since at least March 2001, al-Qaida has been using Al Neda ("The Call") as its official Internet headquarters.
The switch in ownership was made on July 16, as al-Qaida leaders were transferring its registration from a server farm in Malaysia to a new host in India.
"It was a slippery bastard, but I've got it now," Messner laughs. "I own alneda.com."
Al Neda contained editorials by major al-Qaida leaders, some of them explicit calls for action and justification of terrorist activities. There was a message board, containing relatively innocuous messages believed to be coded signals.
Full Article:
http://wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,54455,00.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Napster Assets Up for Auction |
8/11/2002 |
The assets of file-sharing service Napster Inc. went up for auction Friday with an asking price of $25 million and a deadline only eight business days away.
Trenwith Securities, a Costa Mesa-based securities firm, was hired by Napster's creditors to help generate interest between now and the Aug. 21 bid deadline. Trenwith has been pitching to everyone from venture capitalists, music retailers and media firms to major record labels that drove Napster into bankruptcy this year.
But those interested will have to outbid German publishing giant Bertelsmann, which has promised to bid an additional $9 million at the auction to be held Aug. 27, bringing the total value of its bid to more than $100 million. Bertelsmann advanced Napster, which boasted some 60 million users at its zenith, more than $85 million in loans and is funding the Redwood City, Calif.-based firm's operations during its bankruptcy reorganization.
The creditors committee named by the bankruptcy judge, however, is hoping it can do better with Trenwith's help.
Full Article:
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/main.html?FRONTID=TECHNOLOGY&STORYID=APIS7LB8OF00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Internet fleecing scams thrive in Nigeria |
8/11/2002 |
It begins innocently enough. A letter or an e-mail comes addressed to you from a Nigerian claiming to be the son of a former military head of state, and heir to millions of dollars stashed in secret accounts across the world.
They say you're one of the lucky few selected to receive a certain percentage of it. But there's a catch.
Shahla Ghasemi and her husband, a doctor, lost nearly $400,000 after they were contacted by a man posing as a Nigerian government contractor. What made her believe the initial information was that the man knew exactly who the Ghasemis were.
"Someone in Nigeria left the money for your husband in his will. I said if someone doesn't know us, how can he leave the money for us?" she said.
But after a few more questions, Ghasemi was convinced the letter was legitimate. Their share of the money was $27 million dollars, and all they had to do was send a lawyer's fee of $7,500.
The Ghasemis complied. But there were further requests for more money, and close to half a million dollars in transactions later, the Ghasemis were broke.
In letters, phone calls and especially e-mails, con artists pose as sons of former military dictators laying claims to millions of dollars in offshore accounts. Others still say they're chiefs of villages with exclusive access to oil and diamond concessions.
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/08/11/nigeria.scam/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dell not allowed to have OS-less PCs Says Microsoft |
8/11/2002 |
"UPDATES
1. Effective 8/26 - New Microsoft contract rules stipulate that we can no longer offer the "NO OS" option to our customers beyond September 1st. As such all customers currently purchasing a "NO OS" option on either OptiPlex, Precison or Latitude for the express purpose of loading a non-MS OS will have the following options:
1. Purchase a Microsoft OS with each OptiPlex, Precision or Latitude system.
2. For OptiPlex and Precision - purchase one of the new "nSeries" products (offered for GX260, WS340 & WS530 - details in the attached FAQ) that are being created to address a different OS support requirement other than a current standard Microsoft OS.
We must have all "No OS" orders shipped out of the factory by September 1st. The "No OS" legend code and SKUs will be I-coded on 8/19 and D-coded on August 26th to ensure shipment of orders prior to September 1st. FYI - this effects all of our competitors as well."
Source:
http://www.icrontic.com/#5169 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Houston Chronicle Fires Journalist For Writing a Blog |
8/10/2002 |
Serves him right ;)
"But thanks to America's constipated journalism "ethics", Olafson's talents have earned him the sack.
He's become the first professional journalist to be sacked for running a blog, a move that earns his editor at the Houston Chronicle, a minor place alongside spam pioneers Cantor and Spiegel in Net infamy.
Olafson worked for the Chronicle for sixteen years, covering the Brazoria County beat. He also ran a warmly-regarded pseudonymous blog, the Brazosport News, under the name Banjo Jones.
The two proved incompatible for Olafson's boss, Houston Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen, who told him to "take the fucking site down", and then dismissed him.
The alternative Houston weekly that broke the story spun the tale as one of Olafson using his blog to rat on local politicians."
Full Article:
http://www.theregus.com/content/6/25932.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Learning 'The Rules' of cyber romance |
8/10/2002 |
This is for all of you cyber pimps ;)
"You've used it for shopping, playing solitaire, checking your horoscope, booking a hotel room and diagnosing that mysterious rash.
So why can't you find Mr. Right in cyberspace?
Maybe it's because you are breaking "The Rules."
Seven years after urging millions of women to adopt a play-hard-to-get, 1950s-style strategy to catch and marry a man, the authors of "The Rules" have come up with some new female strictures for the world of online dating.
For when it comes to online dating, men, according to Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider "are having a ball. They are laughing all the way to the bank."
"The women are so forward, men are having a party. You cannot believe the excuses these men are coming up with to juggle four or five women at a time," Fein told Reuters."
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/08/10/cyberdating.rules.reut/index.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Future in Gear - PC World |
8/10/2002 |
You're always the first of your buddies to buy a cool new handheld or ultralight notebook. In fact, you're kind of a show-off about it. Friends and colleagues call you for advice on the best wireless home network or the pros and cons of DSL versus cable service. Your Blackberry is practically an appendage, and you're waiting impatiently for the first tablet PCs to ship (November, around $2,000).
Sound familiar? If so, then get comfortable, because in the following pages we offer a very first look at the prototype products that any tech head worth his or her salt needs to know about. For PC Magazine editors who scouted out the coolest prototypes and spoke with their creators, this was a coveted assignment. We chose an eclectic group of products, so you'll be up on technologies that reach far beyond the personal computing gadgets you rely on every day.
We give you the scoop on a methanol fuel cell that can power a notebook for a whole day, a 100GB holographic video storage device, a portable electronic ink display for your cell phone, a haptic hand that med students use to practice procedures, a handheld DNA detector to help doctors make instant diagnoses, a car with wireless connectivity, and more.
Full Article:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,429441,00.asp |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rover Revealed: Secret Mars Robot Test to be Webcast |
8/10/2002 |
A top-secret Mars rover test will be exposed Aug. 19 when NASA allows a film crew from San Francisco's Exploratorium to do a live webcast of a prototype robot poking around the desert somewhere in the American West. The Exploratorium is an interactive museum that also conducts astronomy webcasts from around the world.
While the crew members know where they are headed, the site remains a secret to the public and even to most NASA scientists and engineers, officials involved in the project told SPACE.com.
The secrecy keeps potential onlookers away, but more important it allows truly blind tests of remote operation systems. Scientists back at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have no specific knowledge of the test location's Mars-like terrain, so they are forced to operate the rover in conditions that simulate running a robot around the Red Planet.
Full Article:
http://space.com/businesstechnology/technology/mars_rover_020809.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MS 'Software Choice' scheme a clever fraud |
8/10/2002 |
Microsoft's new "Software Choice" campaign is all for your right to choose... as long as you choose Microsoft. It's too bad that Intel and the U.S. Government couldn't see through the rhetoric.
Microsoft is worried about Peruvian Congressman Edgar Villanueva's proposal for his nation's government agencies to standardize on Free Software for their own internal use. But Villanueva makes an important point: everybody has to deal with the government. If a government uses proprietary software, its citizens will probably have to use the same software to communicate with it. A government web site that only supports Internet Explorer would lock citizens into that Microsoft product. In contrast, a government site using open standards and avoiding patented software would allow citizens to choose between many different kinds of software to access the site. Free Software, also called Open Source, is itself a kind of open standard - its source code is its own reference. Developers of proprietary software can use that reference to create interoperating programs, without infringing on the actual Open Source code. Thus, when a government uses Open Source, it assures its citizens a choice to purchase both proprietary and Open Source software for communicating with their government. The people's choice will be based on factors like functionality, quality, and convenience, rather than on customer lock-in.
Full Article:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/26616.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Open source's new weapon: The law? |
8/10/2002 |
Open-source software advocates will unfurl a legislative proposal next week to prohibit the state of California from buying software from Microsoft or any other company that doesn't open its source code and licensing policies.
Named the "Digital Software Security Act," the proposal essentially would make California the "Live Free or Die" state when it comes to software. If enacted as written, state agencies would be able to buy software only from companies that do not place restrictions on use or access to source code. The agencies would also be given the freedom to "make and distribute copies of the software."
"The legislative intent is that for software to be acceptable to the state, it is not enough that it is technically capable of fulfilling a task, but that the contractual condition for purchase and/or licensing must satisfy a series of requirements regarding the license," the proposal states.
Full Article:
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-949241.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dell No Longer Selling Systems w/o Microsoft OS |
8/10/2002 |
UPDATES
1. Effective 8/26 - New Microsoft contract rules stipulate that we can no longer offer the "NO OS" option to our customers beyond September 1st. As such all customers currently purchasing a "NO OS" option on either OptiPlex, Precison or Latitude for the express purpose of loading a non-MS OS will have the following options:
1. Purchase a Microsoft OS with each OptiPlex, Precision or Latitude system.
2. For OptiPlex and Precision - purchase one of the new "nSeries" products (offered for GX260, WS340 & WS530 - details in the attached FAQ) that are being created to address a different OS support requirement other than a current standard Microsoft OS.
We must have all "No OS" orders shipped out of the factory by September 1st. The "No OS" legend code and SKUs will be I-coded on 8/19 and D-coded on August 26th to ensure shipment of orders prior to September 1st. FYI - this effects all of our competitors as well.
Full Slashdot Article:
http://slashdot.org/articles/02/08/10/1420208.shtml?tid=109 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |