August 23, 2004
HAI Home Automation Control for Windows Media Center
...MoreI've not used HAI's home automation products, so I can't vouch for eHomeUpgrade's claim they are "the best," but if you've already invested in their products and a Windows Media Center PC, you might be interested to know that HAI has announced a new bit of plug-in software for Media Center 2005 that will allow you to take control of your lighting, security, temperature, and what not via the regular interface or MCE remote. It's not free, though, which is sort of a bummer, especially since it is clearly something that is only useful for HAI users, and no price has yet been announced.
Hackers Revive iTunes Music Sharing
A Stanford University programmer has released new software that allows music to be swapped via Apple Computer's popular iTunes jukebox.
Like an older piece of software called "MyTunes," student David Blackman's new "OurTunes" allows a person to browse complete iTunes libraries on other computers and download songs, either in MP3 or the AAC format preferred by Apple. Songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store and wrapped in Apple's copy protection technology cannot be traded.
OurTunes works only among computers that share a network, however. That means that students or employees can swap songs on a local network but cannot use it to browse computers on the Internet, as happens with file-trading programs such as Kazaa. Still, the software is likely to ring an alarm at Apple and among record company executives, who have waged war against file swapping since Napster's heyday.
"I'm a Linux guy. I expect my software to be extensible," Blackman said in an instant-message interview. "I really think that this will encourage people to join their local iTunes communities, and that's a good thing."
An Apple representative declined to comment for this report...More
August 19, 2004
Trying to Take Technology to the Masses
Raj Reddy was fed up debating the problem of the digital divide between the rich and the poor and decided to do something about it.
Mr. Reddy, a pioneering researcher in artificial intelligence and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, plans to unveil at the end of this year his new project, called the PCtvt, a $250 wirelessly networked personal computer intended for the four billion people around the world who live on less than $2,000 a year.
He says his device can find a market in developing countries, particularly those with large populations of people who cannot read, because it can be controlled by a simple TV remote control and can function as a television, telephone and videophone.
Mr. Reddy is hoping his project - with backing from Microsoft and TriGem, the Korean computer maker, and in partnership with the Indian Institute of Science, the Indian Institute of Information Technology and researchers at the University of California, Berkeley - can prove that it is possible to bring information technology to impoverished communities without depending on philanthropy.
Because his low-cost computer doubles as a TV and a DVD player, Mr. Reddy believes that he will be able to use it as a vehicle to take computing and communications to populations that until now have been excluded from the digital world...More
August 18, 2004
The Next Social Revolution?
...MoreCryofan writes "In a recent interview, Howard Rheingold (author of Smart Mobs) discussed the possibility of a 'new economic system' born of 'unconscious cooperation' embodied by such technologies as Google links and Amazon lists, Wikipedia, wireless devices using unlicensed spectrum, Web logs, and open-source software. Rheingold speculates that 'the technology of the Internet, reputation systems, online communities, mobile devices...may make some new economic system possible....We had markets, then we had capitalism, and socialism was a reaction to industrial-era capitalism. There's been an assumption that since communism failed, capitalism is triumphant, therefore humans have stopped evolving new systems for economic production.' However, Rheingold is worried that established companies with business models that are threatened by these new technologies could 'quash such nascent innovations as file-sharing -- and potentially put the U.S. at risk of falling behind the rest of the world.'"
The Programmer Who Could Save Tivo
...MoreDamon Darlin from Business 2.0 writes "We just posted a story on Arthur Van Hoff, the programming legend who now works at TiVo. He was one of the Java geniuses at Sun (has almost as many patents as Bill Joy) and started Strangeberry, which Tivo bought in January. the story tells how his Strangeberry software will be given away to developers of web content. The next generation Tivos will then be able to recognize web content and direct it to the appropriate home device. This could be the stuff that saves tivo because none of the set top boxes will have this ability.
August 17, 2004
Hackers Take Aim at GOP
Online protests targeting GOP websites could turn out to be more than symbolic during this month's Republican National Convention, possibly blocking a critical communications tool for the party.
In the past, activists have been able to shut down the website of, say, the World Economic Forum for a few hours. But the impact of such a takedown was nebulous at best: It's hard to argue the organization really suffered from a few-hour lag in posting its press releases online.
In this year's presidential race, however, campaign websites have moved beyond the margins. During John Kerry's acceptance speech in Boston last month, for example, his website was visited by 50,000 people an hour, according to comScore Networks, the online traffic-measuring firm. That's a droplet compared to the millions who'll watch the convention on TV. But taking down a campaign website would nevertheless remove a critical tool for reaching the public -- and likely generate a slew of stories in the mainstream media about the crash.
So it's no surprise that hardened electronic activists are planning to jam up the servers of GeorgeWBush.com, GOP.com and related websites, once the Republican National Convention gets underway Aug. 29.
"We want to bombard (the Republican sites) with so much traffic that nobody can get in," said CrimethInc, a member of the so-called Black Hat Hackers Bloc. It's one of several groups planning to distribute software tools to reload Republican sites over and over again. These FloodNet programs are similar to hackers' distributed denial-of-service attacks, which overwhelm a server with thousands and thousands of simultaneous requests for information.
But some activists are condemning the planned attacks, saying they violate the principles of free speech that protesters rely on for their demonstrations.
"If you feel that you must shut up someone through intimidation or false accusations or any other method -- you are not relying on the superiority of the truth," The Pull, co-founder of the online political action group Hacktivismo, wrote in an e-mail. "People can not condemn censorship and then embrace it."...More
VoIP Lined Up as Wave of Future
The Voice Over IP landscape has changed considerably in the last few years. The easy availability of broadband Latest News about Broadband access to the Internet, coupled with Herculean leaps in technology Relevant Products/Services from Intel Enterprise Solutions, makes VoIP service a viable alternative to traditional telephone and PBX offerings.
Today's VoIP services offer several features and options not possible a few years ago. The voice quality is also much better, largely due to the delivery speed differences in high-speed Internet access versus dial-up service. VoIP service providers now have cost-efficient plans tailored to the needs of businesses and residential users.
"The days of the traditional phone company are numbered. But local phone companies won't die out any time soon," Michael Ulicki, vice president and CTO Relevant Products/Services from IBM eServer xSeries Systems for Norlight Telecommunications, told TechNewsWorld.
"Most people still have dial-up Internet access. But the transition from Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) to VoIP is like the change from dial-up Internet access to broadband," he said.
VoIP connections started as a way for a business to trim calling costs between branch offices, Ulicki said. Now VoIP is not just a phone service. It is becoming feature rich as it merges with computer configurations...More
August 16, 2004
California Urged to Use Open Source, VoIP
The Governator may terminate California's reliance on proprietary software and traditional telephone systems, if a recently published state report is heeded.
A body of independent auditors and experts recommended last week that the state consider open-source software and voice over Internet Protocol telephony as two measures to cut costs. The suggested measures are a small part of the voluminous California Performance Review, released Aug. 2.
"If all of these recommendations are implemented, they have the potential to save more than $32 billion over the next five years," the directors of the group of appointees told California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in an letter introducing the report.
The savings from using the two technologies would make up a small fraction of that total. Moving to VoIP could reduce the state's phone bill by between $20 million and $75 million a year, the report said. While there were too many variables to estimate the savings from a switch to open-source software on California's systems, the report's authors did cite two state pilot projects that cut costs by $300,000 each by using the community-developed software.
The report said VoIP technology has competitive features that would benefit the state. Internet-based phone calling has built-in benefits such as integrated caller ID, flexibility and network management tools that provide real-time monitoring of bandwidth. Departments and agencies currently use a variety of digital and analog networks and technologies from different manufacturers. ...More
802.11n Standard Submitted for Approval
...MoreA new Wi-Fi standard that promises faster WLANS is one step closer to becoming reality:
The WWiSE (worldwide spectrum efficiency) group said it has developed technology for review by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11n task group, which is overseeing a next-generation Wi-Fi standard capable of sustaining data throughput exceeding 100Mbps. The proposal is based on MIMO-OFDM (multiple input, multiple output-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) technology, which achieves higher speeds by employing two antennas at each end of the signal (one for transmitting, one for receiving) instead of one at each terminus.
August 14, 2004
dDrive: Bluetooth Tooth (Blue Optional)
...MoreAll Book of Revelation and Book of Orwell and such aside, does anybody really want to install a bit of electronics in their jaw that only has 512MB of memory, Bluetooth-enabled or otherwise? The dDrive is a concept from industrial design firm Creganna that would be designed to store medical records, security clearances, etc., and while I don't have a huge problem with that in and of itself, I don't think I'll be giving up one of my teeth just for something that's going to be obsolete in a year. At least not just for storage - get a Bluetooth-enabled cellphone headset in there and we'll talk about it.
Decluttering Your Web Home With Dinosaurs
...MoreMicrosoft's achilles heel. It was a big eye opener to us when we realized that all the visual clutter, viruses and problems associated with our computer largely had to do with the fact that we were using Internet Explorer, the browser we caved into using years ago, when we switched from an Apple with Netscape.
Hackers and advertisers LOVE Internet Explorer because everyone uses it, so they write all their code to latch on and attach themselves to it. If you don't use IE, problem solved....or most of it.
We have been using Mozilla for 6 months now and the world is a different place. Our computer is clean, we have no pop-ups, and we have no fear of unwanted spyware or other people's bad cookies. Yesterday in the NY Times was a big article about this, In Search of a Browser That Banishes Clutter, which paints a dramatic picture of IE's eroding market share. We recommend checking out Mozilla, Firefox, Opera and Safari (Apple users only)
Community Blog Project
They may not look that excited, and there were more than are seen here, but I think the group that came to our first "Boro Bloggers Meet-up" last night left with their brains buzzing and some real energy for our project. Shoot, just the fact that we got 25 interested people to show up was enough for me, but the questions they asked and the comments they made were more than enough proof that they were thinking hard about the potentials here.
Jeff's natural enthusiasm didn't hurt, of course.
There were three community bloggers in the room, and all but one or two of the rest said they at least understood the concept of blogs. There were questions about promoting businesses, about libel, about access...it was all good stuff that really showed their interest. We had representatives from Kiwanis, the Women's Club, the Computer Club, and assorted other groups. Really a nice mix.
But I also realized, once again, that there is a long road to hoe for people just coming to this technology. I want Flemington to turn in to blogwikirssfurlville and be the most information literate, Internet savvy community in the country that becomes proof positive to the potential of these technologies. But, as in my previous post, that's going to take a while...More
August 13, 2004
Howard Rheingold's Latest Connection
The tech guru sees a "new economic system" in the unconscious cooperation embodied by Google links and Amazon lists
Howard Rheingold is on the hunt again. With his last book, Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, in 2001, the longtime observer of technology trends made a persuasive case that pervasive mobile communications, combined with always-on Internet connections, will produce new kinds of ad-hoc social groups. Now, he's starting to take the leap beyond smart mobs, trying to weave some threads out of such seemingly disparate developments as Web logs, open-source software development, and Google.
At the same time, Rheingold is worried that established companies could quash such nascent innovations as file-sharing -- and potentially put the U.S. at risk of falling behind the rest of the world. He recently spoke with Robert D. Hof, BusinessWeek's Silicon Valley bureau chief. Here are excerpts from their conversation:
Q: Where do you see the social revolution you've been talking about going next?
A: It's too early to say. The question is: What does it point toward? Some kind of collective action...in which the individuals aren't consciously cooperating. A market is a great example as a mechanism for determining price based on demand. People aren't saying, "I'm contributing to the market," [they say they're] just selling something. But it adds up.
Q: Can you give me some specific examples of what you mean, beyond the market?
A: Google is based on the emergent choices of people who link. Nobody is really thinking, "I'm now contributing to Google's page rank." What they're thinking is, "This link is something my readers would really be interested in." They're making an individual judgment that, in the aggregate, turns out to be a pretty good indicator of what's the best source.
Then there's open source [software]. Steve Weber, a political economist at UC Berkeley, sees open source as an economic means of production that turns the free-rider problem to its advantage. All the people who use the resource but don't contribute to it just build up a larger user base. And if a very tiny percentage of them do anything at all -- like report a bug -- then those free riders suddenly become an asset.
And maybe this isn't just in software production. There's [the idea of] "open spectrum," coined by [Yale law professor] Yochai Benkler. The dogma is that the two major means of organizing for economic production are the market and the firm. But Benkler uses open source as an example of peer-to-peer production, which he thinks may be pointing toward a third means of organizing for production.
Then you look at Amazon (AMZN) and its recommendation system, getting users to provide free reviews, users sharing choices with their friends, users who make lists of products. They get a lot of free advice that turns out to be very useful in the aggregate. There's also Wikipedia [the online encyclopedia written by volunteers]. It has 500,000 articles in 50 languages at virtually no cost, vs. Encyclopedia Britannica spending millions of dollars and they have 50,000 articles.
Q: What will all those trends produce ultimately?
A: All these could dramatically transform not only the way people do business, but economic production altogether. We had markets, then we had capitalism, and socialism was a reaction to industrial-era capitalism. There's been an assumption that since communism failed, capitalism is triumphant, therefore humans have stopped evolving new systems for economic production.
But I think we're seeing hints, with all of these examples, that the technology of the Internet, reputation systems, online communities, mobile devices -- these are all like those technologies...that made capitalism possible. These may make some new economic system possible.
Q: If so, it's a good bet not all companies will be happy with the changes.
A: New digital technologies are creating a crisis in the business models of the companies that depend on having a monopoly on distribution. Look at MP3 blogs: We're now seeing bands that are saying, "Please pirate my material. Here it is." They make money from that. They get bookings from that. They build an audience on that.
Q: Are there more such conflicts and opportunities to come?
A: Assigning frequencies to license holders...is an old-fashioned scheme...based on technologies of the 1920s. We now have technologies that make it possible to use the spectrum the way packets use the Internet. Instead of having a circuit-switched analog system in which you have to have an end-to-end connection, you just send your packets out with their addresses through this network and they find their way. It's much more efficient. It makes for millions more broadcasters in the Internet space. This is all pointing to a kind of voluntary sharing of your property...More
Open Source in California Government
...Morecatfoo writes "California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has recently posted the California Performance Review Report, a 2,500 page plan to overhaul state government and save $32 billion over the next five years. Part of the proposal: Open Source alternatives. Imagine that..."
Metal Rubber
...MoreA new material called "Metal Rubber" may find its way into gadgets of the future due to its unique ability to be stretched, heated, and generally abused while still conducting electricity - and still able to snap back into form when the bending and smacking is over. Apparently the vendor NanoSonic is being inundated with requests to use the material, which is currently being produced via a painstaking process that builds up the material one layer of molecules at a time.
August 12, 2004
In Search of a Browser That Banishes Clutter
For Katherine Sandlin, a barrage of pop-up ads was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back - in this case, her reliance on Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
Even before her home page could load, thumbnail-size advertisements would crowd the monitor urging her to apply for a credit card or find love online. So she asked around for other ways to browse the Web.
One software switch later, Ms. Sandlin is reveling in a pop-up-free existence and spreading the word about Firefox, a free Web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation that has a built-in pop-up blocker. Ms. Sandlin is so devoted to her browser that she has taped a note to her monitor warning guests not to click on the desktop shortcut to Internet Explorer. "Do not touch the blue 'E!' " the note says.
"I didn't want to fool with it anymore," said Ms. Sandlin, 51, an administrative assistant at Halifax Community College in Weldon, N.C. "I spent more time clicking pop-ups than I did surfing the Web."
The popularity of Web browsers other than Internet Explorer could still be defined as cult. In the United States, the five most popular browsers after Internet Explorer - AOL's Netscape, the Mozilla Foundation's Mozilla and Firefox, Opera Software's Opera and Apple's Safari - together have about 5 percent of the market. Internet Explorer has 94 percent, according to WebSide- Story, a Web analysis firm.
But for the first time since Microsoft's browser beat out Netscape to gain dominance, its market share is eroding as users like Ms. Sandlin shift to other browsers.
No one is forecasting the demise of Internet Explorer, but the most recent data from WebSideStory show that of visits to Web sites the firm tracks, the number made using Explorer declined 1.3 percent from early June to mid-July. At the same time, use of other browsers - Firefox and Opera in particular - rose.
The Mozilla Foundation, which evolved from the team that developed Netscape and a predecessor, Mosaic, says downloads of Mozilla and Firefox have doubled recently. Opera Software, a Norwegian company, says purchases of its ad-free browser have nearly tripled from June to July. (The company also offers a free version, which has an unobtrusive ad banner.)
"I've heard some commentary saying, whoop-de-doo, who cares?" said Geoff Johnston, a WebSideStory analyst. "But if you're Mozilla, it's huge news. You're very happy because that has been almost an impenetrable sort of fortress and this is the first sign of any kind of crack."...More
Friends With Benefits
Think of them as eBay crossed with Napster, then injected with Friendster DNA. The newest social networking services merge three powerful Web functions - auctioning, file-sharing, and friend-of-a-friend socializing - to build digital barter economies. Unlike first-gen social networks, these communities are about more than getting laid and getting paid. These "social swap nets" help like-minded members pool digital resources - music, movies, games, even hardcover books.
Mediachest and SongBuddy are two early examples. They're still small (and size matters when it comes to a well-stocked "sharing pool"), but their very existence points to a new era in networked transactions, one in which online exchanges become more useful.
Here's how they work: Members browse one another's collections online using filters such as friend groups, geographic location, or other affinities. This isn't file-swapping in the old outlaw Napster sense. They can access one another's stuff, but the original copy literally traded with others, rather than downloaded and duplicated via P2P. Getting hold of the goods is mostly a low tech affair. Members often mail or hand-deliver items...More
Look Inside for Message from ET
he question of whether we are alone in the universe is one of the biggest of the Big Questions of Existence. One way to settle the matter is to find some cosmic company. A direct approach to this problem is to scan the skies with radio telescopes in the hope of stumbling across a message from an alien civilisation.
It is a long shot of literally astronomical proportions, but that hasn't deterred a dedicated band of radio astronomers from trying.
Known as SETI - the search for extraterrestrial intelligence - this project has been running for 40 years. So far the silence has been deafening. There could be all sorts of reasons for this, including the obvious one that ET simply doesn't exist. But while the radio astronomers seek to beef up their efforts, it seems worth asking whether other approaches should be tried.
Put yourself in the situation of the aliens, out there somewhere in the galaxy. They surmise that Earth looks promising for the emergence of intelligent life one day, but they have no idea when. There would be little point in beaming radio messages in this direction for eons in the vague hope that one day radio technology would be developed here and someone would decide to tune in.
A better plan would be to leave a message for us to find when we are ready. The trouble with this set-and-forget strategy is the time factor. Life takes billions of years to evolve intelligence. Even if ETs figured there was animal life on Earth, they could be faced with a wait of tens of millions of years. That is a long time for an artefact to survive.
Putting the text inside a large metal object and plonking it on the Earth's surface is expensive in transportation costs, and risky. Our restless planet leaves nothing untouched for long. The artifact could easily end up buried or drowned or eroded to scrap.
The ideal solution would be to encode the message inside a large number of self-replicating, self-repairing microscopic machines programmed to multiply and adapt to changing conditions.
Fortunately such machines already exist: they are called living cells. The cells in our bodies, for example, contain genetic messages written by Mother Nature billions of years ago.
DNA, the molecule that contains the script of life, encodes its data in a four-letter alphabet. This would be an ideal medium for storing a cosmic calling card. In many organisms, humans included, genes make up only a tiny fraction of their DNA. Much of the rest seems to be biological gobbledygook, often called "junk DNA". There is plenty of room there for ET to etch a molecular message without damaging any vital genetic functions....More
"Good morning. You have 457 voice-mail messages. Press '1' to listen to them."
Imagine showing up for work and discovering you've got 457 voice-mail messages. Almost all of them are telemarketing junk -- but somewhere in the mess, there's probably a few important voice-mails from actual co-workers. How long would it take you to listen to them? That may soon become a reality for many people, because of "voice over IP" phone numbers. Why? Well, as you probably know, VOIP routes phone calls over the Internet as packets of data, instead of using normal phone switches. That means VOIP phone companies can offer steep discounts on long distance. Indeed, that's why many corporations are turning to VOIP -- to cut costs! Even better, because the phone number is entirely, VOIP can do some cool tricks: Your number can be directed to any VOIP number in the world, so it can travel with you....More
Sombrero-Wearing Webcam
...MoreGod, I really hope this is a trend. Not the part where O'Rite Technologies' Webcam 352 looks like Kenny from South Park - I couldn't care less about that - but the fact that the defining feature of the webcam is that it comes with little outfits to dress it up. Specifically, as reviewed by I4U, a little Mexican get-up complete with sombrero.
This is it, folks. We have seen the future, and it is tiny sombreros for consumer electronics. I could not be more proud of the electronics industry than I am today. I am seriously misting a little here.
August 11, 2004
RSS Feeds of Keyword-Tagged Photos
...MoreFlickr "tags" are user-created keywords that describe their photos. If two or more users hit on (or agree upon) the same tags, all photos with a common tag are grouped together. That's pretty cool -- a kind of Wiki-style serindipitous metadata thing. What's cooler is that every tag automatically gets an RSS feed, so that you can watch all the photos tagged with "cuba" or "outdoor" or "red" in your RSS reader, getting alerts every time a new one comes along. Here's the 100 most popular tags in Flickr -- click each for a link to its RSS feeds (bigger words in the list represent more-popular tags). (Disclosure: I'm an advisor to Ludicorp, the company that makes Flickr).
Open-Media.org
...MoreSo here's today's architectual design. It's for an effort we're calling Open-Media.org which would enable folks to access the HUGE repositories of public domain and Creative Commons content - that's out there.
And to help build our own huge repository of CC content.
First we'll start off with upload sites - which will enable folks to start getting their stuff into the 'archives'. Then we'll provide Jukeboxes and Image Albums (much like what's in the gutter of my blog) that have built into them these huge repositories.
Sharp Releases 3D Flat Panel
...MoreSharp has finally released its 3D flat-panel LCD monitor, a 15-inch version creatively dubbed the "LL-151-3D." Sharp, Sony, and other display manufacturers worked to develop a standard for the 3D monitors, though, which means that investing in the $1,500 unit means it should continue to work with future products for a while. While the technology is intended primarily for gamers, Sharp hopes to also sell units to scientists and bathtub chemists who have a need to view molecular structures and the like in 3D.
August 09, 2004
Taiwanese Firms To Launch a 2 Terabyte Memory Card
...MoreKrafty Koder writes "The Register is reporting that a consortium of Taiwanese firms are to launch a 2 Terabyte memory card at the Taipei International Electronics Show (Taitronics) on the 8th of October, with mass production expected to start next year. The card will measure 3.2 x 2.4 x 0.1cm according to this DigiTimes.com report" The reports say that this is supposed to be a "new type" of card, so the details are still quite sketchy. Offical unveiling will happen in early October.
Microsoft Tests Web-based Messenger
icrosoft is testing a new version of its MSN Messenger that can be used over the Web without having to install software, the world's largest software maker said Friday.
The new service is the latest attempt by Microsoft to extend its reach in the market for messaging services, used to send instant text messages between users logged on to different computers and devices.
MSN Web Messenger, offered by Microsoft's MSN Internet division, is being tested while being prepared for a wider launch by the end of the year, a Microsoft spokeswoman said. Both the test and final version are expected to be free. ...More
July 22, 2004
Macromedia Unveils Web Publishing Suit
Macromedia Monday launched a software suite for designing, building, managing, and updating Web and intranet sites that it promises can break the Web creation bottlenecks typical in enterprises.
Called Web Publishing System (WPS), the new content creation and management suite includes tools for non-technical business types, for advanced Web designers, and for company IT departments. It can also be scaled up to thousands of users, said Macromedia executives, and pays special attention to bringing content creators into the management mix.
WPS consists of Studio MX 2004, Macromedia's Web design and development package that includes Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks; the new Contribute Publishing, a server-based component for managing access and changes made to corporate Web sites; and Contribute 3, which also updated Monday.
The latter is the cornerstone of the new suite, said Lawson Hancock, the product manager for Contribute 3, and is a way for companies to free high-salaried Web or IT staff from the drudgery of site maintenance.
"Contribute works in a simple browse-as-publish metaphor," Hancock said. "You navigate to site you want to update, click Edit, make your changes, and when you're done, it's published. Any user who understands a browser and say, Microsoft Word can publish content to an existing Web site."...More
Open-Source Newspaper
A small California newspaper has undertaken a first-of-its-kind experiment in participatory journalism in which nearly all the content published in a regularly updated online edition and a weekly print edition is submitted by community members. It's all free.
Following in the footsteps of past community journalism projects that sought to give individuals a voice in local news, as well as the growing trend in news-like blogs, The Northwest Voice is giving residents of Bakersfield's northwest neighborhoods near-total control of content. An editor is on hand largely to ensure that articles, letters and photographs submitted through the publication's Web-based content-management system adhere to a minimal set of standards, and to choose the best submissions for inclusion in the print edition.
What's different about the Northwest Voice is that we're taking the explicit approach of asking people in the community to be the writers and photographers," said the Voice's publisher, Mary Lou Fulton. The people say what's important to them "rather than having a handful of journalists make those judgments on behalf of the community."...More
July 16, 2004
Google to Launch Audio and Vidoe Search
Google is planning to launch a new feature to allow users to scour the Internet for audio and video clips, The Post has learned.
The company has yet to announce plans for the new service, but Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page made no secret of it during talks with investors and media executives at an annual retreat hosted by investment bank Allen & Co. in Sun Valley, Idaho.
A Google spokeswoman said she couldn't confirm the plan...More
Google Acquires Picasa, Improves Blogging Tools
clandestine writes "It appears that our lovable search engine has again expanded its horizons - the internet wasn't enough; now you can search and organize your own pictures. I don't know about you, but I use Google for nearly everything; heck, I found links about their acquisition of Picasa through Google News! Any slashdotters going to benefit from this tech, or already do? And yes, the addition of Picasa to their arsenal is a couple of days old, but they just started linking them on the homepage today."...More
Inventive Wireless Providers Go Rural
Rising from the rows of grapes on Michael Spak's gently sloping vineyard hard by Route 15 is an embryonic symbol of 21st-century rural America: a glass-encased camera with a wireless high-speed link to the Internet.
Whether he's 200 yards away, in the den of his sumptuous, Southern-style home, or on a business trip halfway around the world, Spak can survey his field on a computer. With the click of a mouse, the security consultant pans the vines for deer, insects or leaves that need pruning.
Until recently, Spak did not have a good high-speed option: Cable does not reach his area, the phone company wanted too much money to bring in DSL, and satellite service was spotty.
But improved wireless technology has allowed several thousand mostly small Internet providers across the USA to cheaply deliver broadband to remote areas via antennas on hilltops, barns and homes. They typically feed off a fixed broadband line to a central antenna site or base station...More
Driving Force in Video Editing
Michael Oh wanted to show off the power and versatility of Apple Computer's hardware, so he packed a high-end, $25,000 video-editing system into the trunk of his $35,000 Lexus.
Parked on the Macworld Conference & Expo show floor, the Lexus is capable of editing movie-quality footage from the passenger seat.
"It's has the same capabilities as a satellite news van, basically," said Oh, who owns local Apple consultancy Tech Superpowers. "But it's in the back of a Lexus."
The Lexus' mobile editing deck features an Apple server with 14 hard drives and 3.5 terabytes of storage in the trunk.
It is connected to a pair of 15-inch, flat-screen monitors arranged in front of the passenger seat, which also has a keyboard, mouse and jog wheel.
The car is wired with a super-fast gigabit ethernet network wired under the dash, and an Airport Extreme Wi-Fi base station under the interior dome light.
"It can be used to find open networks on the road," said Tech Superpowers service manager Mike Baker...More
USB Host and Hard Drive Power Outlet
One of Toshiko Sakai's designs for ComCom, from a suite of 22 integrated electronic gadgets, is this wall-mount triple socket, with USB port, power (ungrounded, for shame!), and a built-in hard disk for storing home media and sharing them with other items in the product line. So an un-portable iPod, basically, albeit one with 110 volts of alternating current. The entire product line is featured in a recent Wallpaper magazine....More
Scanning a Paperless Horizon
Mythology can be hours of fun for the whole family. Remember the one about the guy who flew too close to the sun with his waxen wings? Or the one about the loving couple that Zeus changed into intertwined trees? How about the one about the lady who tried to dry off her little dog by sticking him in the microwave?
But myths don't begin life as myths; in the beginning, people actually believe them. As recently as a few decades ago, for example, you could still hear predictions that computers would one day create a paperless office. Of course, that turned out to be total bunk; the amount of paper consumed in the e-mail age has exploded.
We may never eliminate our file cabinets completely, but it's too soon to give up on that dream altogether. New scanners from Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu and Xerox/Visioneer can scan stacks of paper, unattended, with marching-band precision - both sides at once, in fact - and convert them into PDF files on your computer, ready for searching, sorting or sending.
(PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It's also known as an Adobe Acrobat format, which you may have encountered in the form of CD-based user manuals or downloadable white papers. Like a photograph, a PDF file maintains the original paper document's fonts, page layout and even pictures, yet you can search for text inside it and copy text out of it. And, of course, you can print it. Maybe Adobe ought to adopt a slogan like "PDF files: The Official Format of the Paperless-Office Myth.")...More
July 15, 2004
AOL, Yahoo And MSN To Integrate Messaging
America Online Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are teaming up to link their separate instant messaging services for use in the workplace, the first major step by the industry leaders to enable computer users to communicate with one another no matter which of the three systems they use.
n an announcement planned for today, the triumvirate will outline a new partnership aimed at spurring greater use of instant messaging at work by tearing down the electronic walls that keep the respective networks separate. To use the new system, companies will have to license new Microsoft network software that will serve as the hub connecting messaging systems operated separately by AOL, Microsoft's MSN division and Yahoo.
"This is a very significant announcement," said Nate Root, a senior analyst with Forrester Research. "The value here is for corporations. Corporations will now have the ability to span the instant messaging landscape."...More
Is This The Next iPod?
Depending on who you want to believe, it just might be. ThinkSecret is reporting that "reliable sources" have confirmed a new full-sized iPod design that is smaller, sleeker, and colored -- not unlike the iPod mini. Although these pictures are speculative, it's expected that the new models of iPod -- the top end of which will use a 60GB hard drive -- will be offered in purple, orange, and yellow, and possibly the existing iPod mini colors as well (it would be classy if they were to offer a white model in the new form factor, as well)....MoreHigh-resolution comparison shot with the iPod mini, links, and more inside.
1.6TB Drive
When you're giving the pros and cons of a 1.6TB (terabyte) hard disk array, like the LaCie Bigger Disk Extreme, and the only con is "bulky," then you're probably doing pretty good by my estimation. As a follow up to previous Bigger Disk external storage drives, there's no question the 1.6TB version is impressive, smashing together four 400GB drives into a single array that requires no special drivers to be used in Windows XP or Mac OSX. And it looks sufficiently swanky, too, if aluminum doesn't grate on you....More
Why Mac OS X is Better
Unnsse Khan wrote me yesterday and asked the question, "Why are Macs better than PCs?" I thought about it for a while and decided that I'd write my reply as a public blog entry. After all, I've been a poster boy for Macs for a while. Almost every serious programmer I know and respect now uses one—and many of them asked me that question before they took the jump and bought a PowerBook. Boy, if I had a kick back for every Mac I've helped sell... well, I'd be living in a penthouse suite instead of an apartment. But it doesn't matter. I like working on my platform. And I don't mind telling people why.
At the risk of descending into unadulterated advocacy in written form, here goes...More
July 12, 2004
Sony Says New PlayStation to Be on Display at E3
Sony Corp. expects to show off its latest PlayStation at the E3 trade show next May, it said on Monday, increasing pressure on Microsoft Corp. to take the wraps off its Xbox successor at that time.
Sony's game-business head Ken Kutaragi said it planned to unveil a playable version of the new console at next year's E3, the annual video-game trade show scheduled to take place from May 18 to 20 in Los Angeles.
"There has been some talk that development is not going well, but we expect to have a playable version at E3. We are pushing ahead with that schedule in mind," Kutaragi told a meeting of developers, suppliers and media.
Kutaragi did not mention a launch date for the new console, dubbed "PS3" by some Web Sites, but company officials said it may follow a similar timetable to market as its predecessor, the PlayStation 2 (PS2), which went on sale in Japan almost a year after it was first displayed...More
VoIP Hackers Gut Caller ID
Hackers have discovered that implementation quirks in Voice over IP make it easy to spoof Caller ID, and to unmask blocked numbers. They can make their phone calls appear to be from any number they want, and even pierce the veil of Caller ID blocking to unmask an anonymous phoner's unlisted number.
At root, the issue is one of what happens to a nugget of authentication data when it leaves the tightly-regulated realm of traditional telephony, and passes into the unregulated domain of the Internet.
On the old-fashioned phone network, Caller ID works this way: your local phone company or cell phone carrier sends your "Calling Party Number" (CPN) with every call, like a return address on an envelope. Transmitted along with your CPN is a privacy flag that tells the telephone switch at the receiving end of the call whether or not to share your number with the recipient: if you have blocking on your line, the phone company you're dialing into knows your number, but won't share it with the person you're calling.
This arrangement relies on telephone equipment at both ends of the call being trusted: the phone switch providing you with dial tone promises not to lie about your number to other switches, and the switch on the receiving end promises not to reveal your number if you've asked that it be blocked. In the U.S. that trust is backed by FCC regulations that dictate precisely how telephone carriers handle CPNs, Caller ID and blocking. Most subscribers have come to take Caller ID for granted, and some financial institutions even use Caller ID to authenticate customers over the phone...More
July 09, 2004
Bluetooth Luggage Tag Concept
There are a variety of great gadget ideas in IDFuel's first "Bonfire" gadget contest, including the winner, the "Bluebird" Bluetooth luggage tag. Besides lighting up when the bag tag's owner presses the mated dongle, the Bluebird could also signal your cell phone when your luggage is nearby -- as in nearby on the airline conveyer belt. In addition, your contact information could be stored on the tag, so if your luggage were to be lost, airline Bluetooth readers could be used to get in touch with you. There are even more great ideas detailed for the Bluebird, as well as other runners-up in the competition....More
Open-Source Wi-Fi Links Remote Communities
European wireless and open-source specialists have embarked on an international tour to spread the benefits of the technology to developing countries from Tajikistan to Ghana.
The team, known as Informal, claims its wireless roadshow is an attempt to empower non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the developing world to own, operate and grow their own Internet infrastructure using wireless technology such as mesh networking. The aim is to allow remote communities in developing countries without traditional telecoms infrastructure to communicate more effectively.
"We support these kinds of activities because we believe that the benefits of the Internet should be available globally," said Informal lead team member Simon Crab...More
Transparent Desktop Opens Door
Collaborating with co-workers in the same office is painful enough, but it's nigh impossible over a network.
For a couple of decades, researchers have tried to blend shared workspaces -- systems that allow two or more people to work on the same document -- with Internet video-conferencing systems, with little success.
Now researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have designed a new system that cleverly blends a video-conference feed with a transparent image of a computer desktop into one full-screen window.
Called Facetop, the system simultaneously transmits a video feed of users along with a shared, transparent image of the desktop. It allows two colleagues to work on the same document, Web page or graphic, while communicating face to face.
The system also tracks the position of the users' fingertips, which can control a cursor. As well as operating the shared desktop -- opening and closing files or selecting text, for instance -- the collaborators can use natural pointing gestures to communicate ideas about the document.
Developed by David Stotts, an associate professor of computer science, and graduate student Jason Smith, Facetop was conceived for collaborative tasks like programming or editing text. But the researchers say it has obvious uses in other areas such as medical imaging or remote teaching...More
July 07, 2004
EFF Publishes Patent Hit List
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is spoiling for a fight, and on Wednesday it named the top 10 patents it wants killed, or at least redefined.
The EFF said all 10 patents are in some way illegitimate and are being used to limit free expression.
As part of its Patent Busting Project, the EFF in mid-June began soliciting the public for submissions of patents that were both potentially invalid and used to stifle online innovation. The organization received nearly 200 suggestions, 10 of which it will now formally ask the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to re-examine.
"These patent owners have been threatening people that just can't defend themselves," said Jason Schultz, staff attorney at the EFF. "They're trying to claim ownership over some fundamental part of software of the Internet that people use every day, and they're threatening small companies or individuals that can't afford lawyers."
The owners of the 10 patents include some of the biggest names in media and entertainment, as well as some smaller firms and one individual. In each case, Schultz said, the EFF believes the owner has far overstepped its rights under the patents...More
June 29, 2004
BBC Opening Up Archive to Public
The BBC has submitted its Charter Renewal documents to the UK Government, outlining its plans for the next ten years. It's a long and comprehensive document, and most excitingly, it describes a free and open Creative Archive intended to provide Britons with access to the material in the BBC's vaults for free viewing, remixing and reuse....MoreImagine being able to view and listen -- and even download and own -- extracts from the world's largest television and radio archive.
53% of internet users download content for their own compilations 55. For the first time, the BBC will open up its treasure chest of programmes to the public who own it and make its contents available to individuals and to families for learning, for creativity and for pleasure. Two-thirds of current and prospective broadband users say they are interested in the Creative Archive service.
The BBC Creative Archive will establish a pool of high-quality content which can be legally drawn on by collectors, enthusiasts, artists, musicians, students, teachers and many others, who can search and use this material non-commercially. And where exciting new works and products are made using this material, we will showcase them on BBC services.
Initially we will release factual material, beginning with extracts from natural history programmes. As demand grows, we are committed to extending the Creative Archive across all areas of our output.
Apple Previews Mac OS X Server 'Tiger'
Apple® today previewed Mac OS® X Server version 10.4 "Tiger," the next major release of Apple's award-winning, UNIX-based server operating system that makes it easy to deploy popular open source solutions for Mac®, Windows and Linux clients. The fifth major release of Mac OS X Server, Tiger Server continues Apple's blazing pace of innovation to deliver over 200 new features including native support for 64-bit applications, ideal for high performance computing; Weblog Server that makes hosting a weblog as simple as checking a box; iChat Server to deploy private, encrypted communications within an organization; and migration tools to make it easy to upgrade from legacy Windows servers to Mac OS X Server.
"With more than 200 new features, Tiger Server is the best release of Mac OS X Server ever," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Tiger Server combines over 100 of the best solutions from the open source world with Apple's legendary ease-of-use to create the easiest way to deploy powerful open source server solutions."
For the first time, Tiger Server can natively run 64-bit processes for database, engineering and scientific applications to take advantage of the increased performance unleashed when accessing massive amounts of memory while still running side-by-side with existing 32-bit applications. Combined with Apple's Xserve® G5 server hardware, Tiger Server offers an affordable, easy-to-manage solution for high performance computing...More
Microsoft Open to Open Source
Microsoft Corp. says it is looking to turn over more of its programs to open-source software developers, playing a greater role in a process that the Redmond company has criticized strongly at times in the past.
Money-makers like the company's Windows operating system and Office productivity suite aren't on the table -- or anywhere near it.
But the company has so far released two software-development tools to the open-source community, and it wants to continue the practice, a Microsoft platform manager told an industry group this week.
"There's more of that on the way," said Microsoft's Stephen Walli, who oversaw the process of releasing those tools under open-source licenses. "And it's not just about developer tools. There's other things that we can be looking at when you actually look at the breadth of source code that we have, the breadth of software that we have that isn't actually core (to Microsoft's) revenue stream."...More