Monday's Bits & Bytes |
"Publishers of online content have found it very difficult to earn a living from advertising revenue. The increasing popularity of ad-blocking software raises even more questions about the viability of "free" (ad-supported) content. This site is dedicated to the discussion of the future of free content."
Wow... this guy is GOOD.
"IBM says its award-winning one-gigabyte Microdrive™ offers the ruggedness and performance ideal for outer space or earthbound photographic missions. This, after NASA astronauts successfully stored and brought back digital images on IBM’s revolutionary one-inch hard disk drive during the recent Atlantis and Discovery shuttle missions.
"After withstanding a series of tests including high doses of radiation and durability in a weightless environment, the Microdrive easily stored hundreds of data-intensive digital images from NASA’s most important missions to the International Space Station. The pictures were captured with the Kodak Professional DCS 660 digital camera, providing six megapixel resolution for high-quality professional images."
We have taken the radio show offline temporarily. The show generates a fairly substantial load on the Web server, so it needs to move to a dedicated machine. Up to this point, Chris has been doing the radio show completely for free and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. We have reached a point where the show archive cannot continue on a free basis, it needs sponsorship. As soon as that sponsorship is in place, the show archive will return as it was before. In the meantime, keep your eyeballs glued to the Bits & Bytes page to avoid missing out on any of our latest musings.
Ideally, WHO, the station that broadcasts the Chris Pirillo Show, should offer to host our archive. We make frequent reference to them in our newsletters, brand their station in the rebroadcasts, brought them an audience they never had before, and don't ask for a dime of compensation in return. The Chris Pirillo Show is currently rated NUMBER ONE in its time slot and will likely continue to be; that doesn't even include online listeners. If this were to happen, we could have the show back online tomorrow.
Chris spoke with some people from WHO's parent company, Clear Channel, at this year's NAB. Supposedly, they are looking for talk radio content that will appeal to younger audiences. While our demographic survey shows Lockergnome readers to be spread fairly evenly across a broad range of ages, I believe the radio show delivers exactly the type of audience Clear Channel is looking for. Over the weekend, I attended two concerts, with more than 99% of both audiences under the age of 30. At both shows, I was amazed at the number of people who talked to me and said they listened to me on the radio.
Of course Clear Channel is the 800-pound gorilla of the radio industry. If they don't want you on the air, you might never be on the air. Salon.com has posted an article today that explains exactly why.
"It is said that death and taxes are inevitable. You can't stumble through life without facing both of them. That tired cliché should be expanded to include job interviews. Unless you're lucky enough to be so well heeled that you'll never have to hold down a job, you'll have to endure the interview ordeal. The alternative is starvation or debtor's prison.
"Don't mistakenly think that brilliance or talent means you're a shoo-in on interviews. I doubt if the richest geek on the planet -- Bill Gates -- could have turned in a great interview performance. Don't make any assumptions about interviews. Yes, some are easy. But many are tough, some grueling. Preparation is necessary even for the easiest interview. The more preparation and time you put into the process, the better you'll do. It's that basic."
Which reminds me to remind you to search for a new career through the Lockergnome Job search engine!
"Late last year, many wondered if Americans were losing interest in the Web. Nielsen NetRatings reported that home and work Net users decreased their surfing time by 15 percent between October and December. Then Media Metrix reported a 5 percent dip in the time spent online in November and December, even as the number of Net users grew. Just as the downward trend started, it reversed. Nielsen NetRatings then reported that surfers spent more time on the Web at home in March than any month ever.
"So what gives? Rather than signaling the demise or rise of the Web, these fluctuations may be a sign of the Net's arrival as a mature medium. In any media - TV, movies, magazines and, apparently, the Web - seasonal waffling comes with the territory."
It costs money to do things. The Chris Pirillo show CANNOT be streamed because it was sucking up too much of our server's bandwidth and bringing in absolutely ZERO in revenue. Hence, it ain't gonna be up for a while until we can: a) find a sponsor for it; b) put the show on someone else's server; AND c) find a sponsor for it. Sorry, but this time "take, take, take" doesn't work, work, work. I'm not upset over this situation only because I know that finding some company to help get this thing going again will be nothing short of impossible. Nobody wants to believe that the Internet can deliver an audience, and even if they do, they'd never believe that a site like Lockergnome could carry one.
It's just like Tom Campbell just wrote to me: "Those who profited and lost by the internet scream only because they foolishly tossed money into companies who ignored one of the basic tenants of business. You have to have a plan to make money. And investors finally woke up to the fact that a lot of them had no plan. A lot of the basic work on the internet was done by people who weren't looking to make a killing in the 1st place. Most of what works is still out there because someone was smart enough to work at it slowly and gradually. Those will continue to grow and I suspect they are or will be profitable because someone is smart enough to watch the pennies. I have noticed you are growing by bits and pieces rather than trying every little splash and dash you can think of just to be impressive."
"Google seems to have succeeded in optimizing the search engine for the archive. And some users are discovering that Google's more efficient search engine is turning up old, sometimes embarrassing, Usenet posts.
"Back in 1995, people might not have been thinking that their posts would be archived and searchable some day. And they were also less concerned about privacy.
"Virtually everyone who posted on Usenet back then used their real names and e-mail addresses. Now, many people post with nicknames and altered e-mail addresses."
I wonder if this means I'll be getting back newsgroup functionality in IE's Explorer bar search pane?
"I don't want this new medium to diminish until it is a repository only for junk information or that provided by giant media companies willing to operate at a loss, the logical outcome of people insisting it remain a free culture, blind to the high cost of good writing and reporting. I want -- let's face it -- to be able to be paid for what I do 10 years from now.
"Persuading surfers to pony up for something other than a writing desk of dubious provenance on eBay is the hot-button topic in the online media world, where advertising isn't paying the bills.
"It isn't just happening at financially troubled Salon, but in the bigger realm of digital newspapers, where among major papers, only the very specifically focused Wall Street Journal has been able to get away with charging for Web access."
And yes, Lockergnome will eventually have a "pay for" option as well. It takes money to remain afloat, unfortunately. The good news is: nothing will change. That is to say, the stuff you're getting for free now will continue to come free. Nice, eh?
"Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee Co. said it intends to roll-out wireless services initially to customers in Dallas, San Francisco and Seattle by late spring, denying allegations that it had been forced to delay its rollout plans to bring in-store broadband Internet access services via wireless devices. The well-known coffee chain was adamant that the wireless project had "never been put on hold."
"Citing a person close to the situation, InternetNews.com on Thursday incorrectly reported that Toronto-based Cyberplex, which had agreed to "help define and design its new high-speed, wireless network and content delivery system" for Starbucks had put things on hold due to "internal problems" within its firm. Cyberplex officials explained the delay referred to the company's planned media tour."
"The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has come under fire over the capabilities of a product designed to protect business from the effects of email viruses, such as the Love Bug and Anna Kournikova worm.
"Anti-virus vendors have said that software developed by the MoD's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) is neither innovative nor what the market needs. Dera has hit back by suggesting antivirus software on its own isn't enough to protect people from malicious code.
"As previously reported, Dera unveiled a product called ::Mail this week which works on the principle of displaying a pop-up box when a user sends an email, confirmed whether they intended to send it or not. The software is designed as an add-on to antivirus software."
"With the Remote Display Control application, you can display actions on a Pocket PC, including user input, remotely on the display of a desktop or laptop personal computer. This is a great tool for demonstrating the power of the Pocket PC to a large audience. It also allows developers to test their applications for the Pocket PC on a larger screen.
"Remote Display Control uses TCP/IP, and it can work with ActiveSync® connections via Ethernet or dial-up."
This thing is TOO COOL!
"This is the first known worm that spreads via Microsoft's MSN Messenger program. If MSN Messenger is not installed on the local system, the worm will fail to run properly.
"W32/Hello.worm arrives as HELLO.EXE, a Visual Basic 5 application, via MSN Messenger. When run, the worm creates a shortcut, with no name and no icon, into the WINDOWS STARTUP folder. If MSN Messenger is not found in the default directory the worm will crash, displaying the message: Run-time Error '91'. Object variable or With block variable not set.
"Otherwise, the worm will send the following message to users who are on the MSN Messenger contact list: i have a file for u. its real funny. HELLO.EXE is sent along with this message."
"Researchers have brought vision to three blind dogs by using gene therapy, marking the first time ever that blindness in a living organism has been reversed.
"The mongrels had a rare, inherited, genetic disease that causes nearly total blindness in puppies as well as human infants. There is no treatment now, but researchers at the University of Pennsylvania may be one step closer to a cure in humans with their study."
Sprocket definitely does NOT suffer from blindness.
Sunday's Bits & Bytes |
"We call it a disposable cell phone; Telespree calls it "Over-the-Counter Wireless". It lets you buy a handset for around $30 with some airtime included. No service contracts or credit checks to worry about. When you run out of calling time, remove the special battery. Buy a new one from your local grocery store or gas station and you're back in business. The battery, called AirClips, has enough power for the handset, but also includes airtime in pre-set increments. Telespree expects to provide airtime in increments of 30 to 120 minutes. Compared to current pre-paid wireless plans, Telespree seems like a bargain, especially since the handset costs so little."
From Bob @ Shell City:
Here's the problem. Netscape.com is no longer validating rss 0.91 files. You see, some rss parsers require the rss file to be validated before parsing it. So an rss file has an internal DTD (Document Type Definition) link, which goes back to where the DTD is posted on the internet. In the case of rss 0.91 (the standard for news syndication), the DTD was posted at Netscape.com. Thus, validating parsers would send a call to Netscape.com every time they attempted to validate an rss 0.91 file. Likewise whenever you pull up your rss file in IE, it asks Netscape.com whether it's valid.
But 4 days ago, Netscape.com removed its DTD and says it will not support it anymore. Try pulling up the Lockergnome rss file in IE, it'll give you an error (something about styles, but the real problem is that Netscape.com is not responding).
"Almost any time you read, hear, or view anything about Napster, music sharing, or mp3's you hear people talking about stealing music. The MPAA is starting to talk a lot about people stealing movies online. Book publishers are even talking about stealing books through online transfer. Well, I have good news for those who are worried about people stealing music or movies through file-sharing programs: no one is stealing anything. What they are doing is infringing."
"Chinese hackers might be planning an offensive against U.S. websites from the end of April until early May, the FBI's cybercrime unit warns.
The National Infrastructure Protection Center is advising network administrators to show extra diligence against potential Web page defacements and denial-of-service attacks from April 30 to May 7."
"Last week, the Sunday Times Rich List claimed that Wal-Mart Chairman Robson Walton had surpassed Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates as the most obscenely wealthy person in the known universe, but appears to have neglected to carry a two or somehow misplaced a decimal point in its calculations."
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp.'s rivals Thursday accused the company of continuing to flout U.S. antitrust laws by tying the latest version of its media player software into its new Windows XP operating system.
With the lower court's landmark antitrust case still under review by a federal appeals court, a group funded by Microsoft competitors likened the move to Microsoft's decision to weld its Internet Explorer browser into Windows 98, a step that touched off the antitrust charges against the company."
Saturday's Bits & Bytes |
"If I never had to reinstall an OS, I would have little objection. Unfortunately, the two most effective troubleshooting techniques for Microsoft OSs are still the 'two Rs' — reboot and reinstall. So suppose I buy a computer in December of 2001 that comes with a consumer version of Windows XP on it. In April 2002, I install a service pack that bluescreens the system (not an impossibility; I've seen NT service packs do it), so I must reinstall Windows XP from scratch. But when I try to activate the copy of Windows XP, it refuses to activate — because between December and April, I've added more memory, installed a new hard disk, and upgraded the processor. Microsoft's database thinks that I'm trying to put the software on a new computer, and demurs.
"At this point, Microsoft says, I'd call the company (a toll-free number) and talk to a human, who would unlock my copy of Windows XP presuming that I offer some bona fides. (Hold the hologram up to the NetMeeting camera?) Now, let's be generous and presume that the phone number is staffed 24 x 7 and that enough operators are available, so I don't wait more than a minute or two to get connected to the human. Still, I'm troubled."
"When you install Internet Explorer 6.0 over Internet Explorer 5.01 or later, its uninstallation behavior varies depending on whether the Internet Explorer uninstallation information (used to restore the version of Internet Explorer prior to 5.01 or later) is present and whether the Internet Explorer 5.01 or later installation created minor version uninstallation information for previous versions of Internet Explorer.
"If uninstallation information is present when you install Internet Explorer 6.0, the uninstallation process restores your computer to the version of Internet Explorer that is contained in the uninstallation information. However, if Internet Explorer uninstallation information is not present when you install Internet Explorer 6.0 over a previous version of Internet Explorer, the uninstallation restores the previous versions of Internet Explorer."
That makes absolute sense. Absolutely.
On today's Chris Pirillo radio show, we had a couple of calls regarding Windows 98 shutdown lock ups. If disabling fast shutdown in MSCONFIG.EXE doesn't work, consider reviewing this MS Knowledge Base article.
"This problem can occur because: The computer could hang at the shutdown screen intermittently, because the Apmbatt.sys component is not responding to the system shutdown notification from the operating system and could enter an endless loop. -or- The computer could hang with a black screen because of the method in which IRQ holders for the video adapter are configured at boot time and disabled during shutdown by the Pci.vxd component. -or- The fast shutdown option modified by Msconfig.exe contains a code path in which the computer could reboot instead of properly shutting down or quitting to MS-DOS."
"AvantGo, Inc., the leading provider of mobile infrastructure software and services, reported record revenues for its first quarter ended March 31, 2001. Revenues for the quarter were $7.3 million, representing a 340% increase over revenues of $1.7 million for the same quarter last year, and an 11% increase over the fourth quarter of 2000. Gross margins increased to 80%, up from 77% in the fourth quarter of 2000."
"In order to further improve its operating margins, the Company also announced that it is reducing its workforce in April by approximately 50 people, or 15%. In the second quarter ending on June 30, 2001, the Company will incur one-time severance costs of approximately $400,000 and a non-cash restructuring charge of $2.5 million associated with the disposal of excess equipment and office space."
"Palm OS developers never say never. They're challenged by a crowd that often taunts "Can your Palm do this ..." and the latest gadget by TapSpring, LTD., HAT cker 101, will let your Palm V/x become more than a way to keep your appointments and contacts organized while also expanding its capabilities to become a barcode reader, tv remote, wireless garage/car door remote, and even connect to any PS2 keyboard."
"This small device fits over the top of the Palm V/x organizer like a hay and quickly adds capabilities to your Palm V/x that you might not have thought possible. Including bar code reading, tv remotes, wireless auto lock control, the ability to connect any PS2 based keyboard, and expected Q2 2001 a predecessor to this HAT cker 101 model with the added, cutting-edge ability to read/write Palm data to MMC (Multimedia Cards), a technology that is compatible with the Secure Digital expansion slot on the new m505 series."
This doesn't look like anything major but don't you wish Microsoft released bug fixes this fast? Here's the changelog.
"Is it me, or does it sound like they're moving aggressively toward more of a shareware approach to prevent piracy? (Maybe y'all have heard of this and I've just been out of it...) If they are, then it can only help us shareware authors in the way we manage licensing and such in my opinion. For people who hate it when software requires a new purchase for a different PC, this should vindicate such an approach.
"And if Microsoft is going this way, would it benefit us to start mimicking their terminology?"
"Emerging network TechTV wants to go mainstream, a difficult task for any start-up network, let alone one that solely covers technology. Problem is, Charter Communications may be the only cable operator determined to bring the channel to the masses
"The network, which launched as ZDTV covering computers in May 1998, renamed itself late last year and widened its coverage to include all technology in an effort to broaden its appeal. Earlier this month, it launched Tech Live, nine-and-a-half hours of live daily news about hot new technology products and technology’s impact on business, politics and the everyday consumer."
"IBM Corp. and Sony Electronics Inc. said Monday that they have completed the initial phase of a five-to-seven-year, US$20 million project that will put AOL Time Warner Inc. news division CNN's video archive online. First announced in April 1999, the project is the first implementation of a media-asset management system Sony and IBM jointly designed and are marketing to the media industry.
"The Sony-IBM system will digitize, store, and catalog more than 120,000 hours of archival tape, gathered during the past 21 years. The archive is intended primarily for CNN's internal use, but within the next several years the company hopes to add a consumer component to the archive, most likely through a pay-per-view-style plan."
"The software giant's Pocket PC has gained enough momentum since its introduction a year ago that analysts predict that it will seriously challenge the hold rival Palm Inc. and its partners have on the handheld market. And it's Microsoft Corp.'s enterprise users who are largely responsible.
"Analysts still expect Palm to maintain its lead for the foreseeable future; there are about 11 million units in the hands of consumer and business users today. But according to Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn., the Pocket PC has made significant inroads in corporations, which buy them by the carload."
"The Pocket PC, especially Compaq's iPaq, seems to be capturing the hearts and minds of business decision-makers," said Bob Egan, an analyst.
'"There's been excessive preoccupation with targeting and return on investment," Baker said. "But it turns out that what advertisers want online is the same thing they want offline: large audiences in clean environments where they can display their brands."
'He also fired a warning shot at agencies, noting that online giants such as Yahoo and AOL are increasingly making their own deals both with advertisers and other media properties. "This bus will leave the station with you or without you," Baker said.'
I've been trying to tell the industry this for YEARS...
'Have you heard of PassThisOn.com? If not, don't go there until you've read this first. If you have, you were probably forwarded to the site via an e-mail message from a "friend." And at first glance it does seem rather harmless. The material comes in two categories: "funny" and "sentimental," and ranges from the schmaltzy to the patently juvenile. Visitors are encouraged to recommend favorites to their friends. The site's creator, Sanford Wallace, boasted to Salon Magazine, "It's like a pyramid scheme, except nobody loses money."
'So why does this site exist? Well, consider that Sanford Wallace once proclaimed himself the "king" of spam. Now, he doesn't spam your e-mail inbox, he "spams" your browser instead.'
Friday's Bits & Bytes |
"Your site may be bursting with functionality, but do your customers really care? A recent survey says maybe not. Information Resources Inc. (IRI) has released the results of a study that shows discrepancies between shoppers' true use of the Web for consumer packaged goods (CPG) and manufacturers' and retailers' perceptions.
"The study, 'CPG Online: What's Not Clicking for Manufacturers, Retailers, and Consumers,' focused on the effectiveness of three primary Internet activities of the CPG industry: brand Web sites; advertising, promotions and e-mail communications; and e-retailing.
"The survey found that basic Web sites satisfy the majority of consumer needs, which include company contact and product information. Consumers are also interested in online coupons and offers for free samples, but among the 75% of manufacturers with brand Web sites, only 20% provide coupons and 22% provide free samples. Consumers expressed low interest in elaborate Web site content such as lifestyle editorial, games and online chat."
"Microsoft Corp. has enlisted some technical firepower to combat customers who fail to make good on software license agreements, which limit users from sharing copies of a program.
"In the soon-to-be debuted Microsoft Office XP and its family of software products, which are set for release on May 31, intellectual property protection is built in.
"Executives representing the software giant's licensing technology and intellectual property divisions detailed a copy protection technology included in its upcoming software that prevents users from installing software on multiple computers. The presentation was made Wednesday at Microsoft's Mountain View campus during one of its 'Silicon Valley Speakers Series' events."
"Until your repair shop technician informs you that there's a $1,500 problem with your engine's CPU, you may not be aware that your vehicle just might have more computing power in it than your desktop.
"Microprocessors first earned their way under autos' hoods in the 1980s to control such unglamorous tasks as ignition timing and air-fuel mixing. The automotive applications of chips have been multiplying ever since. Darwin took a look at some of the latest and hottest technologies in the automotive market. Here's a sampling."
"A two-dimensional bar code system originally designed to help blind and partially sighted people access written material is now being developed for its other, and possibly greater, potentials, said developers Kosaido Co. Ltd., a major Japanese printing company, and software development house Original Design Inc.
"Using software, 800 written words can be converted into a two-dimensional bar code dubbed an "SP Code" by the developers. The bar code can hold data to enable reproduction as text or braille and, if scanned by companion "Speechio" readers, reproduction as words or sounds. The Speechio is an egg-shaped reader as big as an ostrich egg."
"These women -- roughly half in senior-level positions -- are making positive gains in the New Economy companies but still find that balancing personal and professional lives is complex.
"The upside: A majority, 73 percent, of survey respondents from WorldWIT said that working in the New Economy brings "an exhilarating sense of achievement, impact, satisfaction, and opportunity for creative freedom they didn't have before." With this positive personal valuation of their work and the level of achievement that women find in information technology, the survey concludes that women are willing to tolerate the not-so-positive aspects.
"The downsides: The survey revealed the difficulties of discrimination and stress. Almost one-third of the respondents did not think they were treated equally. But gender was not the sole factor in their view. Their status in the IT industry either as a single woman, working mother, or older woman contributed to their perceptions of discrimination. Some respondents excused discrimination and other inappropriate behaviors as a result of stress within their companies or because their colleagues and managers are young."
"Once upon a time, TV was limited to what you could pull off the airwaves. Then along came cable, offering more options and a clearer signal. But regular cable or, Regis help us, that old rabbit-ear antennae can't deliver the wide array of channels and services that digital cable and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) provide. A third option, C-Band satellite, is also available for the serious TV junkie--but only if you have the extra dollars and square footage for the jumbo satellite dish. Granted, some die-hard TV connoisseurs won't mind their backyards looking like the SETI program, but for most, C-Band isn't really an option.
"To make an informed choice between digital cable and DBS, you must first understand the differences between the two technologies and what those variations mean to the programming and services available."
Here's an open letter to Jeff Bezos:
"Let me first apologize for any undue familiarity in addressing you as Jeff. We've never met. However, in your analyst's calls, public interviews, and personal appearances you come across as a likable, personable guy (albeit one with a laugh that would amaze a hyena). So it seems you want people to be comfortable enough to think of you by your first name.
"That comfort, however, is a growing challenge. Your personal style is increasingly at odds with the actions of your company. Indeed, your company is apparently sliding into the same muck from which Microsoft is only now extricating itself after its legal and goodwill missteps.
"Basically, Amazon seems to be going down the slippery path of treating customers like assets and the press as the enemy. Let me offer a few examples of how what may be good business decisions individually can be dangerous in aggregate."
"You also have to factor in all the new things a PC is expected to do, along with the various devices we now hook up to it--a recipe for incompatibility headaches. Yet other problems are due to our being so tightly wired to the Web. Not only is our universe rampant with as many bad bugs as before, but the scope of the troubles is widening. Holes appear that can allow hackers to access your system remotely and run riot.
"To find out why today's software is still so buggy, we talked to companies like Corel, Lotus, Microsoft, Network Associates, and Symantec. These companies feel, first of all, that the computing world is more complex than ever. They argue that they can't possibly predict every single hardware and software incompatibility or test how users will put their machines through their paces. In addition, some of them insist that problems happen partly because of consumers' lust for new and better features."
"Two new DVD-RAM/R drives record DVDs you can play in regular DVD players, and offer high-capacity storage in both internal and external drive versions. Both LaCie and Panasonic have unveiled DVD-RAM/R drives at the National Association of Broadcasters convention, meeting this week in Las Vegas.
"Available June 1 priced around $699, the LaCie drive is an external DVD drive that supports both DVD-RAM (rewriteable) and DVD-R (writeable) media. The drive connects via USB or Firewire and has a 4.7GB storage capacity or 9.4GB with a two-sided DVD-RAM disc. Included software adds DVD-RW capabilities to the drive, according to LaCie executives.
"An internal drive, Panasonic's DVD-RAM/R drive uses the same technology, but as a system component. Like the LaCie drive, Panasonic's is scheduled to ship in June and be priced under $700, says Andy Marken, a spokesperson for the two companies. Panasonic provides the technology behind both its internal combination drive and the LaCie external drive."
"This is going to come as a shock to children of the information age. Not only has the existence of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny been called into doubt, but is no longer the richest man in the world. Yes, it's that time of year again, when the London Times pays homage to the world's wealthiest in its Rich List. Bill's three-year place at the top of the list has been taken by the owner of the Asda and Walmart chains, Robson Walton. Supermarkets looked good in Europe, too, with the Albrecht brothers, founders of Aldi, reaching the world's top 10 with 21.3 billion euros.
"Old money is looking good – in fact the older the better – with the Duke of Westminster named as the UK's richest man. Good to know that Britain can still turn out a top-class toff, but self-made Formula One mogul Bernie Ecclestone has climbed to number three in the UK list. What the Guardian calls the 'technology elite' take a predictable tumble: 63 dotcom millionaires have dwindled to 26. Europe's third place is held by media mogul and wannabe prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, with a fortune that has grown by 5.4 billion euros over the last year. But second place – beaten only by the aforementioned grocers Albrecht – goes to French cosmetic maker Liliane Bettencourt (a spotcom, perhaps?). It's not until number 12 that we see the word "software" and then it only seems to be a sideline of Walter Haefner's car sales business."
"WindowFX adds special effects to Windows 2000 (and to a lesser extent Windows 98/ME). It can make windows transparent, provide alpha blended shadows, and make title bar text transparent or 3D. Version 1.2 introduces the 3D icon label text and is now hardware accelerated by the latest Nvidia Geforce, ATI Radeon, and Matrox G400 drivers on Windows 2000 and XP."
"Structu Rise has released Kleptomania 2.3, a Windows Me/98/95/NT4/2000 utility that uses optical character recognition (OCR) technology to let you capture text from anywhere on the screen, including folder trees, file lists, database reports, messages, dialog boxes, menus, status lines and other text that may not be clipboard-aware.
"Unlike ordinary copy or cut operations, Kleptomania lets you select text anywhere on the screen, including areas that you cannot highlight with your mouse, such as columns of data from a word processor or error messages from any Windows program. Kleptomania keeps track of all of your Windows fonts, even small serif fonts such as Times 8 and MS Serif 8, and can interpret text from all areas of your screen. The program can recognize underlined text (including web and e-mail addresses), as well as lines of text containing mixed fonts, font sizes, styles, and colors. Kleptomania can place the captured text onto the clipboard as plain text or Rich Text Format (RTF)."
"A hacker claims he or she has cracked the code and can remove the encryption on e-books in the RocketBook format, allowing the extraction of the content as plain text."
"The Smithsonian opens an exhibit on Saturday called "Star Wars: the Art of the Starfighter" at its Arts and Industries Building, half a block from Air and Space. It centers on the fantasy craft, built in Britain for the filming in 1997. A movie prop, it was never designed to fly or fight. Like similar imaginary vehicles, its shape was adjusted to illustrate episodes in the story.
"One design, an information panel explains, was based on auto hood ornaments of the 1950s."
"Hi, my name is Justin Osborn, and I'm a senior in the Magnet Program at Montgomery Blair High School. For the past three months, I've been working on a robot controlled by my Palm IIIe handheld.
I've been working with robotics for two years, mostly because our school entered the U.S. FIRST Robotics Competition. When I saw the Palm Pilot Robot Kit done by Greg Reshko at Carnegie Mellon, I became interested in making my own robot, but I figured I could do it without using expensive materials and sensors like the PPRK. This page will roughly tell you how to build what I built, but more importantly how to get started on your own personal robotics project."
"The Congress Online Project is a two-year program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and conducted jointly by the George Washington University and the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) to examine the use of Web sites and other forms of online communications by congressional offices. The goal of the project is to improve electronic communication between Members of Congress and the public.
"Over the next two years, we will conduct focus groups and survey research with constituents, members of the press corps, and interest groups to solicit their impressions and expectations of congressional online communications. We will also be spending considerable time with House and Senate Member office, committee, and leadership staff and technology specialists to discuss the ways they are using and would like to use the Internet to communicate with their constituents. In addition, we will conduct research with public sector, private sector, and international Internet pioneers to discover innovative practices that can be applied to Congress."
"Just about anyone who has ever used Windows has wanted to change something about the way it looks and functions—anything from the desktop wallpaper to well-hidden security features. The newer versions of Windows allow you to do a fair bit of fine-tuning with Control Panel gadgets, but there's a lot more you can do to customize Windows and make it look better, sound better, and even run better.
"If you're exceptionally well informed about Windows' inner workings and brave in the bargain, you can dive into the Windows Registry and other mysterious files to change things the hard way. But for the rest of us, there are some great tweaking tools that make it much easier to prod Windows into shape."
Guess who won?
"The Internet is widely regarded as primarily a content delivery system. Yet historically, connectivity has mattered much more than content. Even on the Internet, content is not as important as is often claimed, since it is e-mail that is still the true "killer app."
"The primacy of connectivity over content explains phenomena that have baffled wireless industry observers, such as the enthusiastic embrace of SMS (Short Message System) and the tepid reception of WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). Combined with statistics showing low cell phone usage, this also suggests that the 3G systems that are about to be introduced will serve primarily to stimulate more voice usage, not to provide Internet access.
"For the wired Internet, the secondary role of content will likely mean that the dangers of balkanization are smaller than is often feared. Further, symmetrical links to the house are likely to be in greater demand than is usually realized. The huge sums being invested by carriers in content are misdirected."
Sign up to test this software. Do it quickly -- or quickenly.
"In order to be considered for beta testing, we need to learn more about who you are and the resources at your disposal. Several of the questions we will be asking on this form are personal - information we need in order to accurately evaluate the test data you supply. Please note that this personal information is used only for beta test purposes and is not available to any parties, internal or external, not directly involved in our beta testing. For more information on our privacy policy, please refer to the privacy link below."
"Netscape SmartDownload is a browser plugin that allows users to pause and resume downloads from the Internet. It can be installed separately, or when installing Netscape's Communicator. If enabled, SmartDownload can handle downloads spawned by both Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer, possibly others. However, if SmartDownload was installed and subsequently "disabled," the system will still be vulnerable to attack.
"SmartDownload parses all URLs that the web browser accesses. As part of the parsing, it copies the file requested using an unbounded string operation to a buffer on the stack, allowing a classic overwrite of the saved instruction pointer, and potential execution of malicious code.
"Because SmartDownload installs plugins for all browsers it supports by default (which includes both Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer), most users who have SmartDownload on their system are vulnerable to this condition. Because SmartDownload parses all outgoing requests, the condition can be exploited very easily, and does not always require the user to click or actively request a link."
"Stardock has put PocketBlinds on the fast track towards a 1.0 release. PocketBlinds is a program that allows users to skin Windows CE v3 or later (PocketPC). The new version improves support for all the major PocketPC processors. PocketBlinds, which will be released as freeware, will concentrate on skinning just the titlebar. But it skins the title bar with the free form skin format allowing skin authors and users to put buttons anywhere on the title bar. It also supports plug-ins so that users can put almost anything into the PocketPC title bar."
This is the article of the week.
"Microsoft has no way of knowing what KIND of hardware is in your machine. The identification value is a HASH. A PRODUCT OF OPERATIONS PERFORMED ON SEVERAL PIECES OF HARDWARE. It's a totally unique number BASED from your hardware. It doesn't scan hardware and send it WITHOUT permission. That would take too long, and, consequently, is PROTECTED under law already. We know that hardware is unique, so by HASHING the unique hardware ID's against a unique PID, we have a totally unique identification number to track how many times a specific PID has been used on different configurations."
Neato.
"On the surface, wearable scanning displays have more in common with bicycle helmets than with the computer monitors and televisions they may replace. The Nomad, for example, is mounted at the front of a molded plastic headpiece; its box of optical, electrical and mechanical components has a single window that can slide over either eye. The components are linked to a computer that can be worn on a belt.
"The Microvision displays do not use a screen, although they work somewhat like a television set. Just as a cathode-ray tube in a television or monitor scans a beam of electrons onto the front face of the tube, the tiny projector inside a head-mounted display beams light through the pupil and onto the nerve cells in the retina."
Pretty interesting.
"We just know that many of you were secretly thinking about using Microsoft's new Passport service. For those of you who don't follow our favorite monopolist, Passport is Microsoft's online wallet service, to which you're supposed to sign in once and shop online feeling all secure forever after. Except, perhaps, in Maryland, where the local version of the UCITA law, which Microsoft itself worked to pass, conflicts with Passport's terms of use so heavily that Maryland residents are apparently not eligible to use Passport."
This is THE perfect phone. I gotta have it. It's not yet widely available, but expect it to be in early June according to Motorola. I've sent some e-mails their way, and maybe we can get an interview out of them...?
"Sexy phones usually come at a price, so it isn't shocking that the V60c, Motorola's answer to Nokia's 8800 series phones, costs big bucks. This follow-up to the V8160 is cased in a rugged aluminum housing, has nice features and an external LCD, and matches up well against other stylishly elite phones. Truth be told, we didn't want to return it after our two-week loan period expired. But that still doesn't make it a bargain."
Thursday's Bits & Bytes |
A 15-year-old boy from Connecticut in the United States is to be charged with hacking into the government computer networks that monitor the positions of US Air Force aircraft around the world. Safety wasn't compromised, but grey hairs sprouted abundantly.
"Officials at Sony's UK offices confirmed on Thursday that the company is to release an official version of Linux to run on the PlayStation2. However, it will only be compatible with Japanese versions of the console at this stage.
According to Sony, the move is in response to consumer pressure, which has included online petitions. Users will receive a hard drive with built-in 10Mbit Ethernet socket that will plug into the console's PCMCIA slot, a mouse and a keyboard, as well as a PS2-compatible version of the popularopen source operating system. The PS2 Linux Kit will cost the equivalent of around £140 and will go on sale in June 2001."
"Napster Inc., the besieged online song-swapping service, lost about 20% of its users after it started deterring searches for hit songs from major record companies, ccording to research by Jupiter Media Metrix."
"Even so, Napster remains one of the most popular destinations on the Internet."
"The survey by Jupiter, a technology research and consulting firm, also found a sharp increase in activity at two other sites offering file-sharing software, BearShare and Aimster."
"Analyst Dannielle Romano of Jupiter said that despite the drop 18% of U.S. Internet users visited Napster's Web site or used its music-sharing system in March. 'That's still huge,' she said."
"What if you could take all the haters and the perverts and the spammers and stick them on their own private Internet? That way, they could do whatever they want without bothering the rest of us, and we wouldn't have to spend our money or time regulating them. If it sounds too simple, it probably is. But Clyde Wayne Crews, the new director of technology studies at the Cato Institute, the libertarian think-tank, thinks it's something worth considering."
"Consolidated High School District 230 of Orland Park, Illinois, is a pioneer in the deployment of handheld computers to students. Nearly 1,700 students and 65 teachers are participating in the program, each equipped with PalmTM handheld computers and a variety of useful software programs, providing an anytime/anywhere learning environment unparalleled in the country.
To enable students to easily print their assignments directly from their handhelds, the school district has chosen to implement Bachmann Software's PrintBoy Deluxe utility, the leading printing application for the Palm OS® platform."
"PalmLounge Tokyo Bureau chief Francis A. Boisvert sends some photos of the new Handera 330 PDA that was announced Monday in San Francisco by HandEra (formerly TRGPro). "It's of the prototype unit I saw in Tokyo last week. Following are the specifications:"
"Unfortunately, I cannot agree with any me users that find this OS to be anything other than a creation for the mindless users of multimedia and internet pounding with pretty graphics and nice sounds. I am a simple source code writer that longs for the authority over my storage devices that I used to have with any of the other windows operating systems. I received a [Windows ME] box from well meaning family and friends (who used my old system to haggle the price down) and cannot wait to format the hard drive and return to my little dual booting Lilo system and continue writing applications in both of the happy OS du jour environments. It was good to hear that someone was getting some enjoyment out of ME. Next time I beat my head against it, I will think of you."
"If two aerospace start-ups have their way, people will soon be listening to satellite broadcast radio while they drive.
"Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio Holdings plan to charge people subscription fees of about $10 per month for satellite radio when they begin offering their competing services later this year. The rival companies will both offer 50 channels of music and about 50 channels of news, talk, and sports radio 24 hours a day throughout the U.S.
"Todd Goodnight, alliance manager for receiver marketing at Sirius Satellite, says he hopes consumer frustration with commercial radio broadcasts will prime the pump for satellite services in radio, just as it did for satellite TV."
This registry tip is for power users only.
"We often get this request from readers who use cobranded versions of Internet Explorer 5--how do you remove the branding indicators? For instance, if your ISP provides your browser, you may see a logo associated with the ISP instead of the usual spinning globe. You may also see the name of the company in the title bar. Here's how to remove both of these annoyances. Note: Messing with the Registry can cause all kinds of strange weirdness on your PC. If you don't know what you're doing, it's best to live with these inconveniences.
"If you decide to edit the Registry, make sure to back up your system.dat and user.dat files in your Windows folder, preferably to a floppy or to another folder on your hard drive. Launch the Registry Editor by selecting Start, Run. Type: regedit in the Run dialog box that appears. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Toolbar. In the right pane, select BrandBitmap and SmBrandBitmap. Delete these entries.
"To get rid of the name in the title bar, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Main \ WindowTitle. Select the name in the right pane and delete the entry. Exit the Registry Editor and restart your computer."
"Congress shouldn't rush to impose costly privacy regulations on Internet companies before the private sector gets a chance to satisfy consumers' privacy concerns on its own, according to a panel of conservative public policy scholars. The recent discussion was hosted by the Progress & Freedom Foundation, drawing a representative from the Federal Trade Commission.
"'I believe the private sector is far more capable for solving [privacy] problems and can probably do a far better job than government,' says Orson Swindle, an FTC commissioner. 'The industry is paying attention and they're doing things about it.'
"Swindle says he disagreed with the FTC's decision last year recommending Congress take action to protect privacy online. In the two previous years, the commission had recommended against government intervention."
"Although governments hardly stand at the forefront of Internet innovation, their use of the Net to deliver services has experienced something like a quiet explosion over the past five years.
"During that time, more than 500 electronic-government initiatives have been launched around the world--up from three in 1996. In many cases, the early results have been promising. A few years ago, for example, obtaining an import or export license in Singapore required applicants to fill out 21 different forms and then wait 15 to 20 days for 23 government agencies to process the request. But since the government launched TradeNet, applicants have had to submit only one online form, and they receive a license as soon as 15 seconds later.
"To gain a better understanding of e-government's potential, we examined major initiatives around the world and undertook a significant amount of research. We found that the real value of e-government derives less from simply placing public services online than from the ability to force an agency to rethink, reorganize and streamline their delivery before doing so, much as the redesign of core processes in the 1980s transformed many businesses. And it isn't just the Internet-savvy industrialized nations that can benefit; e-government programs can introduce world-class technology players to developing economies."
"One of the things most people don't think about is how some of the money that has vanished from the Nasdaq went to buy free stuff for Internet users. Free DSL, free e-mail, free content, free contests, free music--all paid for with someone else's dollars in hopes a shower of cash would someday fall from the sky and into the pockets of greedy venture capitalists.
"NEWS FLASH: You didn't deserve all that free stuff--neither did I--and now it's going the way of all good things. Users are being asked to pony up for things that used to be free.
"All these $4.95 and $9.95 monthly fees are starting to get to me--sorta like being pecked to death by a duck. They add up quickly and I don't like them. I also don't like having to decide what's worth paying for and what isn't--especially when I used to not have to pay at all.
"Still, the party is over, and it's time to chip in and bail out the host. He's the one who got busted for buying the party stuff with a rubber check. Still, he's a nice enough guy and we ought to help him out. The party was fun while it lasted."
"I think you're really exaggerating about the requirements for Win2K. I've been running Win2K for about 7 months on a home-made system with an 400 MHz AMD K6-2 processor and 128 MB of 100 MHz SDRAM.
"Win2K is running flawlessly, and is sure a lot faster in running everything than any other version of Windows since 3.11. The only slow thing in Win2K is booting. If you can stand a 55 seconds boot time (compared to 14 seconds on WinMe on the same system) then Win2K is the best money can get."
"It's a myth that the Internet is not regulated, says the head of the Federal Communications Commission. But the government has focused--appropriately--on infrastructure, and should keep its hands off content, Michael Powell, FCC chair, told the National Association of Broadcasters meeting here this week.
"'The telephone you use to dial in is regulated, the terms of negotiation between the ISP and the carrier is regulated, and the backbone is regulated,' he said in a keynote address. 'What isn't regulated is content, and I think that's the thing that should always remain unregulated.'
"However, as Internet use grows, 'it's going to be a place where pornography is rampant and people's money is stolen,' Powell noted. And as people grow more dependent on it, they will cry out when they're unhappy with its development, Powell said."
"A bright future for the dot.com industry has been forecast by a leading market analyst who predicts investment of over USD5 trillion in the coming years.
"In a major survey of e-business, IDC argues that current market assumptions are wrong and that the dot.com crash is irrelevant. But it does highlight problems such as mobile access difficulties in the US and problems some e-business companies have accepting payments over the Web.
"The eWorld 2001 Survey was conducted through 27 countries polling the three major subsections of the e-business: CIO/IT managers, business executives and consumers.
"Its results challenge the accuracy of current Internet market assumptions and say the dot.com stock crash has made people lose sight of the fundamental reasons companies invest in e-business strategies."
"While workers often consider telecommuting a welcome convenience, the federal Environmental Protection Agency plans to extend that benefit to the environment by offering financial incentives. A pilot program announced this week offers a financial incentive to companies that let employees work at home at least one day a week."
"Reducing the amount of time workers spend in traffic is a tangible way that each and every one of us can help to improve our environment," says Christie Todd Whitman, EPA Administrator. "It's good for our communities and good for our quality of life."
"Nearly half of the independent software vendors (ISVs) surveyed by the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) said they currently deliver products in the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, and more than one-third (39 percent) of those who don't have Web-enabled products will have a product in the next year.
"Potential new business appears to be the motivating factor in the move to SaaS, the survey found. A whopping 89 percent of companies with current SaaS offerings cite new customers as the target market. Sixty-one percent said SaaS will open up new market segments. Of those companies planning to offer Web-enabled software within the year, 67 percents say attracting new customers is the reason."
"Every morning, I get a few emails in my inbox that irritate me to no end. Are these emails spam? Probably. The problem is, I can't tell. I've never learned to speak or read Chinese, so I'll never really know.
"When I open up Outlook in the morning, it's the same routine, whether I'm at home or at work. There are two or three emails in my inbox that come across as complete gibberish. When I highlight the messages to delete them, my hard drive whirs for a couple of seconds, and then Windows asks me if I want to install a 3.9 MB file for Chinese-language support. I always deny the installation, so I never even get to see the email in the proper display format. These emails go right in the trash, and they never get opened. It's a shame that someone out there thinks I'm a marketing target who speaks Chinese. I don't know where these folks get their information."
"A moment of silence, please, for all of the recently departed Web sites and once free services that now charge a fee.
"Kozmo.com's come and gone. Raise a glass in remembrance to wine.wsj.com. Xdrive.com's 25 megabytes of free online storage is no more; it'll cost you $4.95 from now on. And starting next month, you'll have to drop a couple of dimes (just how many hasn't been announced yet) to retrieve e-mail, stock quotes and news from the formerly free 'Yahoo! by Phone.'
"A couple of weeks ago, I asked readers what they'd be willing to pay for, as financially strapped Web sites shift from free to fee-based service. While many of you offered up eclectic lists of your favorite sites worthy of a fee, some of you said you'll never pay up. Below is a sampling of your thoughts, edited for length and clarity."
"Airports may be snarled, delays may be commonplace, and the air-traffic control system may be overtaxed, but one area of the travel industry is flying high: online reservations. E-travel is one of the few businesses thriving on the Web. Most airline sites have seen their online bookings double in the past year, while Web travel agents such as Travelocity (TVLY ) and Expedia (EXPE ) exceeded earnings expectations for the first quarter -- never mind the economic downturn. Forrester Research predicts that the percentage of airline tickets booked online will swell from 4% today to 12% by 2003, turning a $12 billion industry into a $30 billion industry in four years.
"Small wonder a huge battle is brewing over the June launch of Orbitz, the e-travel site jointly owned by American, United, Northwest, Delta, and Continental Airlines. Despite an outcry from consumer groups and from other e-travel sites, the Transportation Dept. has given Orbitz the green light to launch, with the caveat that trustbusters issue a review of the site's operations in December, 2001."
"E-mail is the single biggest success story of the Net. As the dot-coms crash around it and executives spared from the fall close their eyes very tightly every night and pray that people will start clicking on ads and buying things on the Net, e-mail shows no signs of losing popularity.
"Except, perhaps, with paranoid managers worried that one of their team will be the next Claire Swires or that they will accidentally send an e-mail saying 'Our boss smells' to the, er, boss. And judging by research from Gartner they may well have cause to worry, with the average worker spending nearly an hour a day absorbed in e-mail.
To make up for lost time, Gartner suggests managers train employees to use e-mail 'more efficiently' and to refrain from unnecessary replies such as 'Glad to be of help.' This somewhat ignores the nature of e-mail and why it has been such a huge hit across the globe. E-mail is not particularly efficient because it is a form of communication and some people will write long, boring and unnecessary messages, others will write terse business-like to-the-point missives, some will write inconsequential rubbish while yet others will send mail that puts a smile on your face for the next week and a half."
"Schools like the University of Minnesota, the University of Toronto and Rensselaer Polytechnic are offering classes to study various aspects of the World Wide Web. Isn’t this a bit like the Woodstock generation enrolling in Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll 101?
"Once upon a time, long before every dorm room had a PC and high-speed Internet access, earning a college degree was an honor and a privilege, not an expected right of passage from teenagehood to adulthood that everyone was expected to experience. Now, teen-agers across the country use the Internet to: file college applications; join listservs of other kids who were admitted to the same school; buy old lunchboxes on eBay; hack into places they shouldn’t go; build Web pages about their cheerleading squads; and just generally Instant Message everyone in creation.
"So now parents can pay 30-grand a year for some old people born before the Web existed (a.k.a. professors) to certify their knowledge with an illustrious college degree."
"Sure. I think that we users who have been so used to the word 'free' whenever we log on to the Internet had better get ready to buck up.
"Did somebody say Napster? The latest shakedown of the "dot-bombs" has reduced competition on the 'Net and most of the survivors will be charging consumers wherever and whenever they can. It will probably cost a few pennies to listen to a Rod Philips broadcast of an Oilers-Leaf game while you are on vacation in Hawaii. Like Major Leauge Baseball, the NHL, NBA, CFL and NFL can't be far behind in terms of thinking about alternate revenues for their sports.
"There's more. Have you signed up with a Microsoft Passport user account? Many people have and guess what? This will become your Internet "credit card" very soon, if not already. Naturally, any charges you ring up on your Passport account will be billed directly to your credit card or withdrawn automatically from your bank account."
Here's yet another foreign language music video that crawls inside your head and makes you go "wagawoo??" If you're offended by occasional images of a hand with middle finger extended, you should skip this one. Otherwise, it's just a talking plane and some spinning Harry Potter heads. After that it gets weird.
"Two pending browser upgrades -- one from Microsoft Corp. and one from Mozilla.org -- have fallen behind schedule. Mozilla.org.'s Mozilla 1.0 browser, which until last week was expected to go gold in May, is now expected sometime in the third calendar quarter of this year. The push back in the Mozilla schedule was noted by MozillaQuest Magazine this week.
"At the same time, Microsoft's next version of its MSN Explorer consumer browser, which Microsoft had said it planned to make publicly available last week, now won't be available until some time in early May, a Microsoft spokesman confirmed."