Thursday, December 22, 2005

France to Legalize File Sharing

"In the debate around the anti-piracy bill, the French Parliament voted yesterday into law an amendment to the DADVSI bill that allows free sharing of music and movies over the internet, considering the downloaded files as a private copy. This decision goes against the French government and the music industry's recommendations, who argue the deputies only wanted to show their independence from the government. The initial bill's detractors who pushed for this amendment want a tax for author rights to be paid by everyone on the ISP fees." The French government has vowed to fight this decision (babelfish link).

source:http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/22/1322228&tid=95&tid=141&tid=219&tid=17

# posted by dark master : 12/22/2005 09:47:00 AM  0 comments

Stem Cells to Treat Brain Injury in Children

"The first stem cell trial with widespread public health implications is set to begin in Houston. From the article: "Trauma is far and away the main cause of death and disability among children, and the main reason children die from trauma is brain injury...The clinical trial is the first to apply stem cells to treat traumatic brain injury. It does not involve embryonic stem cells.""

source:http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/22/0133224&tid=191&tid=99

# posted by dark master : 12/22/2005 09:47:00 AM  0 comments

Britain will be first country to monitor every car journey

From 2006 Britain will be the first country where every journey by every car will be monitored

Britain is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded. A new national surveillance system will hold the records for at least two years.

Using a network of cameras that can automatically read every passing number plate, the plan is to build a huge database of vehicle movements so that the police and security services can analyse any journey a driver has made over several years.

The network will incorporate thousands of existing CCTV cameras which are being converted to read number plates automatically night and day to provide 24/7 coverage of all motorways and main roads, as well as towns, cities, ports and petrol-station forecourts.

By next March a central database installed alongside the Police National Computer in Hendon, north London, will store the details of 35 million number-plate "reads" per day. These will include time, date and precise location, with camera sites monitored by global positioning satellites.

Already there are plans to extend the database by increasing the storage period to five years and by linking thousands of additional cameras so that details of up to 100 million number plates can be fed each day into the central databank.

Senior police officers have described the surveillance network as possibly the biggest advance in the technology of crime detection and prevention since the introduction of DNA fingerprinting.

But others concerned about civil liberties will be worried that the movements of millions of law-abiding people will soon be routinely recorded and kept on a central computer database for years.

The new national data centre of vehicle movements will form the basis of a sophisticated surveillance tool that lies at the heart of an operation designed to drive criminals off the road.

In the process, the data centre will provide unrivalled opportunities to gather intelligence data on the movements and associations of organised gangs and terrorist suspects whenever they use cars, vans or motorcycles.

The scheme is being orchestrated by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) and has the full backing of ministers who have sanctioned the spending of £24m this year on equipment.

More than 50 local authorities have signed agreements to allow the police to convert thousands of existing traffic cameras so they can read number plates automatically. The data will then be transmitted to Hendon via a secure police communications network.


Chief constables are also on the verge of brokering agreements with the Highways Agency, supermarkets and petrol station owners to incorporate their own CCTV cameras into the network. In addition to cross-checking each number plate against stolen and suspect vehicles held on the Police National Computer, the national data centre will also check whether each vehicle is lawfully licensed, insured and has a valid MoT test certificate.

"Every time you make a car journey already, you'll be on CCTV somewhere. The difference is that, in future, the car's index plates will be read as well," said Frank Whiteley, Chief Constable of Hertfordshire and chairman of the Acpo steering committee on automatic number plate recognition (ANPR).

"What the data centre should be able to tell you is where a vehicle was in the past and where it is now, whether it was or wasn't at a particular location, and the routes taken to and from those crime scenes. Particularly important are associated vehicles," Mr Whiteley said.

The term "associated vehicles" means analysing convoys of cars, vans or trucks to see who is driving alongside a vehicle that is already known to be of interest to the police. Criminals, for instance, will drive somewhere in a lawful vehicle, steal a car and then drive back in convoy to commit further crimes "You're not necessarily interested in the stolen vehicle. You're interested in what's moving with the stolen vehicle," Mr Whiteley explained.

According to a strategy document drawn up by Acpo, the national data centre in Hendon will be at the heart of a surveillance operation that should deny criminals the use of the roads.

"The intention is to create a comprehensive ANPR camera and reader infrastructure across the country to stop displacement of crime from area to area and to allow a comprehensive picture of vehicle movements to be captured," the Acpo strategy says.

"This development forms the basis of a 24/7 vehicle movement database that will revolutionise arrest, intelligence and crime investigation opportunities on a national basis," it says.

Mr Whiteley said MI5 will also use the database. "Clearly there are values for this in counter-terrorism," he said.

"The security services will use it for purposes that I frankly don't have access to. It's part of public protection. If the security services did not have access to this, we'd be negligent."



source:http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article334686.ece


# posted by dark master : 12/22/2005 09:45:00 AM  0 comments

MPAA Applauds Digital Content Security Act

The film industry applauded the Digital Transition Content Security Act, with MPAA Chairman Dan Glickman calling it a "very important piece of legislation that will promote more consumer choice as it protects copyright owners in the digital age." But not everyone is so enthusiastic.

Congress is leaving a special gift under the tree for Hollywood's film industry. Just before closing for the holidays, legislators introduced a new proposal designed to curb redistribution of movies.

The Digital Transition Content Security Act would embed anticopying technology into the next generation of digital video products. If it makes its way from Capitol Hill to the Oval Office and becomes law, the measure will outlaw the manufacture or sale of electronic devices that convert analog video signals into digital video signals, effective one year from its enactment. PC-based tuners and digital video recorders are listed among the devices.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr., a Wisconsin Republican, introduced the bill, which is backed by Democratic Rep. John Conyers. Sensenbrenner's goal is to protect analog content from theft, which has been made easier in the wake of the transition to digital technologies.

The Analog Hole

The analog hole, also known as the analog reconversion problem, is a fundamental vulnerability in copy prevention schemes, according to supporters of the bill.

The Motion Picture Association of America Latest News about Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) made the term popular during speeches and legislative advocacy in 2002. The MPAA seeks to close that hole, which refers to the conversion of protected digital content to analog, and its reconversion to digital, a process that wipes out all known digital rights management (DRM) technologies.

The film industry applauded the Digital Transition Content Security Act, with MPAA Chairman Dan Glickman calling it a "very important piece of legislation that will promote more consumer choice as it protects copyright owners in the digital age."

Digital Opposition

But not everyone supports the legislation. Advocacy groups like Public Knowledge and the Electronic Frontier Foundation Latest News about Electronic Frontier Foundation have spoken out against an earlier version of the bill.

Public Knowledge holds that the prohibitions would require redesign of a whole range of legal consumer devices, including DVD recorders, personal video recorders and camcorders that have video inputs. Moreover, the proposal would restrict lawful uses of analog content.

The main reason Public Knowledge is against analog hole protection stems from the principle that government-mandated DRM is a bad idea, Alex Curtis, government affairs manager for Public Knowledge, told TechNewsWorld.

Setting a Precedent

"We've recently won a case against the FCC about the broadcast flag, which is a little bit different than the analog hole," Curtis said. "The broadcast flag dealt with digital television, whereas the analog hole deals with the analog-out on all of your television devices. We won that case on the grounds that the FCC didn't have jurisdiction."

The concept with analog hole protection is the same, Curtis said, adding that the marketplace is the proper setting to determine digital rights management issues.

"The industry could see how different DRMs pan out in the market and give consumers the ability to pick and choose which DRMs are the right ones," Curtis said. Public Knowledge is not against copyright protection, he stressed, it is against government-mandated copyright protection.


source:http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/47939.html


# posted by dark master : 12/22/2005 09:44:00 AM  0 comments

Linux screensaver for Windows

Construct and package a Linux® LiveCD so that it will install using the standard Microsoft® Windows® install process and will operate as a standard Windows screensaver. Answering the most common concern about open source software, this article shows that, yes, Linux will run under Windows.

So why should you read this article? Why, indeed, should I write it? My motive is to help remove two obstacles to the wider adoption of free and open source software. Those obstacles are:

Most computer users are familiar with a Microsoft Windows environment and with the variety of screensavers available to prevent unauthorized access to the data on the computer when unattended.

There is sufficient free and open source software available nowadays to enable Linux to install and run as a Windows screensaver. This article shows you how to construct an appropriate CD or DVD, and in doing so, demonstrates that the "free" and "non-free" sides of the software Grand Canyon are not so far apart after all.

The examples in this article correspond to three current IBM objectives:

Successor to OS/2

OS/2 is finally being withdrawn on December 23, 2005. According to the IBM Web site on OS/2 Warp migration (see Resources), there is no replacement product from IBM. IBM suggests that OS/2 customers consider Linux.

But which Linux? Without knowing what a client intends to do, it would be irresponsible to make a blanket recommendation. However, on December 25, 2005, the demand for GamesKnoppix St. Nicholas' Day will be large, and the delivery capability will be sufficient. And if you configure it as a screensaver, even the possibility of pressing the wrong key to start it is eliminated.


Figure 1. GamesKnoppix St. Nicholas' Day
GamesKnoppix St. Nicholas' Day

The base ISO is GamesKnoppix 3.7-0.1 (see Resources).



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Reinventing education

Reinventing education is a central focus for IBM's philanthropic efforts -- but even IBM is limited in what it can give. Organizations chartered with this task -- such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) -- use all their resources to that end. UNESCO has co-branded with the Organization for Free Software in Education and Teaching, a group of concerned French parents, resulting in a "UNESCO Linux" (look for the Freeduc-CD). The license model for it is clear -- they accept donations and they give it away for free.

Again, configuring the UNESCO Linux as a Windows screensaver eliminates fear, uncertainty, and doubt.


Figure 2. UNESCO Linux/Freeduc-CD
UNESCO Linux/Freeduc-CD

The base ISO is freeduc-cd 1.4.1 (see Resources).



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Enabling science

Enabling scientific research and progress is another pillar of IBM's philanthropic efforts -- without this particular effort, there might be no future IBMers (or future clients). But Big Blue cannot be everywhere. That's why there is Knosciences.

This Linux screensaver is from Nathalie Carrie and Arnaud Verhille, science teachers on Reunion Island, a French colony in the Indian Ocean. This screensaver comes equipped with 700MB of applications to help school children learn their math and physics. Verhille asks "Does anyone know where I can get a free Java," because he is concerned about encumbering his pupils with Sun®'s license conditions.


Figure 3. Knosciences
Knosciences

I use Knosciences 0.95 in this article (see Resources).



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Making it work: Nuts, bolts, and screws

Getting the ISO to run under another operating system requires an open source PC emulator, which includes an open source BIOS and an open source virtual graphics adapter (such as QEMU version 0.7.2). The emulator enables you to set up a virtual PC within a real one. To construct a screensaver, the best way is to configure it with a virtual CD-ROM drive, keyboard, screen, and mouse, but without any virtual disks or network adapter.

Remember, running in emulation is slow (or "slooooooooowwww," like running interpreted Java code). But since we're doing this under the auspices of a screensaver, modern PC hardware is sufficiently fast for the task.

Here are the steps to make this work.

Rebuilding QEMU

You need to rebuild QEMU -- I learned how by following instructions in a QEMU forum (see Resources). Get these packages:

Inno Setup can help you package things in a way that is familiar to Windows users. I used version 5.1.5.

For a program to run as a Windows screensaver, it needs a name like "Knosciences.scr" and it needs to be in directory C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\. It will start from the command line with a command like Knosciences.scr /s and its "current directory" will be C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\.

With the following alterations to file vl.c in QEMU, it responds appropriately to the /s switch and runs in full-screen mode. This implementation removes the virtual network card; if you take out the line specifying the net_if_type, you will have a screensaver that treats Windows as a NAT-router-firewall.


Listing 1. Modifications to QEMU to enable it to run as screensaver


   for(;;) {
       if (optind >= argc)
           break;
       r = argv[optind];
       if (r[0] != '-') {
           if ( 0 == strcmp(r,"/s") ) {
             /* Going to run as a Windows screen saver */
             full_screen = 1 ;
             bios_dir = "." ;
             ram_size=512*1024*1024 ;
             boot_device='d' ;
             hd_filename[cdrom_index] = "knosciences-0.95.iso" ;
             rtc_utc = 0;
             net_if_type = NET_IF_DUMMY;
             optind += 1 ;
           } else {
              hd_filename[0] = argv[optind++];
           }
       } else {
 ...
   }
   if ( full_screen == 1 )
   {
      putenv("SDL_VIDEODRIVER=windib") ;
   }

After building QEMU, rename the i386-softmmu version of the qemu.exe file to Knosciences.scr.

Inno Setup

The following script for Inno Setup puts the screensaver and the ISO file into the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ directory:


Listing 2. Script for the installer


; Script generated by the Inno Setup Script Wizard.
; SEE THE DOCUMENTATION FOR DETAILS ON CREATING INNO SETUP SCRIPT FILES!
;

[Setup]
AppName=Knosciences Screen Saver
AppVerName=Knosciences Screen Saver
AppPublisher=OFSET
AppPublisherURL=http://www.ofset.org/
AppSupportURL=http://www.ofset.org/
AppUpdatesURL=http://www.ofset.org/
DefaultDirName={pf}\Knosciences
DefaultGroupName=Knosciences
Compression=lzma
SolidCompression=yes

[Files]
Source: "{src}\qemusaver\Knosciences.scr"; DestDir: "{sys}"; Flags: external
Source: "{src}\qemusaver\knosciences-0.95.iso"; DestDir: "{sys}"; Flags: external
Source: "{src}\qemu\SDL.dll"; DestDir: "{sys}"; Flags: external
Source: "{src}\qemu\bios.bin"; DestDir: "{sys}"; Flags: external
Source: "{src}\qemu\vgabios.bin"; DestDir: "{sys}"; Flags: external
Source: "{src}\qemu\vgabios-cirrus.bin"; DestDir: "{sys}"; Flags: external
Source: "{src}\qemu\qemu-doc.html"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: external
Source: "{src}\qemu\vl.c"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: external
Source: "{src}\qemu\LICENSE\LICENSE"; DestDir: "{app}\LICENSE\LICENSE";
                                                      Flags: external
Source: "{src}\qemu\LICENSE\README-SDL.txt"; DestDir: "{app}\LICENSE\README-SDL.txt";
                                                      Flags: external
; NOTE: Don't use "Flags: ignoreversion" on any shared system files

[Icons]
Name: "{group}\Knosciences Screen Saver"; Filename: "{sys}\Knosciences.scr"
Name: "{group}\{cm:UninstallProgram,Knosciences Screen Saver}"; Filename: "{uninstallexe}"

File structure for the CD

The following file structure is needed for the CD:


Listing 3. Bill-of-materials for the resulting CD


.
./autorun.bat
./autorun.inf
./autorun.pif
./qemu
./qemu/bios.bin
./qemu/linux_boot.bin
./qemu/qemu-doc.html
./qemu/qemu.exe
./qemu/qemu-img.exe
./qemu/qemu-knoppix.bat
./qemu/vl.c
./qemu/qemu-tech.html
./qemu/qemu-win.bat
./qemu/README-en.txt
./qemu/README-ja.txt
./qemu/SDL.dll
./qemu/vgabios.bin
./qemu/vgabios-cirrus.bin
./qemu/LICENSE
./qemu/LICENSE/LICENSE
./qemu/LICENSE/README-SDL.txt
./qemusaver
./qemusaver/qemusaver.iss
./qemusaver/Knosciences.scr
./qemusaver/knosciences-0.95.iso
./cdrom.ico
./SetupQemuSaver.exe
./Knosciences
./Knosciences/index.html
./Knosciences/knosciences-0.95.css
./Knosciences/knosciences-0.95.html
./Knosciences/labels.pl
./Knosciences/node1.html
./Knosciences/node10.html
./Knosciences/node100.html
./Knosciences/node101.html
  ..
./Knosciences/node97.html
./Knosciences/node98.html
./Knosciences/node99.html
./Knosciences/WARNINGS
./index.html

The autorun.bat file

The autorun.bat file (which is started when the CD is put in the reader/player) looks like this:


Listing 4. autorun.bat


@start SetupQemuSaver.exe
@start index.html
@cd qemu
@start /MIN qemu-knoppix
@exit

The qemu-knoppix.bat file

The qemu-knoppix.bat file (which starts the Knosciences demo as part of the autorun sequence) looks like this:


Listing 5. qemu-knoppix.bat


@echo off
REM KNOPPIX on Windows File System
REM Written by Japanese KNOPPIX TEAM 2004.08.17
REM Contact: knoppix@m.aist.go.jp
REM License GPL

REM If you get iso image of KNOPPIX, please use the following options.
REM Join the following two lines before running this bat file; it was split for space purposes.
qemu.exe -L . -m 128 -boot d -cdrom ../qemusaver/knosciences-0.95.iso -user-net -enable-audio
-localtime
REM                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
exit

Shell to create the ISO image

The following shell function will create the ISO image. You can also create the CD under Windows; there is no requirement for the CD to be bootable.


Listing 6. Constructing the ISO image


function remaster_mkisofs
{
mkdir -p ${wrkdir}/new_iso
mkisofs -pad -l -r -J -v -V "Knosciences" -hide-rr-moved -publisher "OFSET http://www.ofset.org/" -p "http://www.ofset.org/" -volset "Knosciences 0.95 for Windows (knosciences 0.95 with QEMU 0.7.2)" -o ${wrkdir}/new_iso/freeduc.iso ${wrkdir}/files

}

That's really all it takes to install Linux from a LiveCD to run as a screensaver on a Windows machine. Have fun with it!



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Resources

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About the author

Chris Ward

Chris Ward joined IBM from Cambridge University, England, in 1982. He has watched hard disks come and go. He has watched OS/2 come and go. He has seen both Windows and Linux come, and neither has gone yet. He has written about BlueGene/L for the IBM Journal of Research and Development. And he will invent and create anything for any commercial client of IBM or any charity or school supported by IBM's On Demand Community. Contact Chris at tjcw@uk.ibm.com.




source:http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-scrnsave/


# posted by dark master : 12/22/2005 09:42:00 AM  0 comments

The Men Who Came To Dinner, and What They Said About Email

The three programmers spend their days developing what each hopes will be the world's best email program -- and trying to beat the pants off each other. They spent an evening last week at my dinner table, talking about it all.

Email is one of the liveliest niches in tech right now. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo all view it as a key to winning new customers and making money off current ones. And so they are innovating with new email programs and services all the time.

Since all three companies' email teams are in my neck of the woods, I thought it would be fun to have the heads of each team come over one night for dinner and conversation. The three companies were good sports and agreed, in part because I said I wasn't interested in a shouting match.

As it happened, Google's Paul Buchheit, 29 years old; Kevin Doerr, 39, of Microsoft (no relation to the venture capitalist) and Ethan Diamond, 34, of Yahoo were all on their best behavior. Whatever they may say about their competitors at work, at my table they were gracious and complimentary. Gentle teasing was about as far as they would go.

The evening began with even the Microsoft and Yahoo delegates agreeing that much of the current excitement in the email world can be traced back to last year's debut of Mr. Buchheit's Gmail. The program had a fast user interface with a fresh new look, along with a then-remarkable gigabyte of free storage.

Mr. Buchheit said he started working on Gmail after observing that other email programs were getting worse, not better. Microsoft's Mr. Doerr said that at his company, Gmail was a thunderbolt. "You guys woke us up," he told Mr. Buchheit. Yahoo's Mr. Diamond, then at a startup with its own hot, new email program, said Gmail was the final impetus that Yahoo needed to buy his company.

Mr. Buchheit responded with a victory lap. "We were trying to make the email experience better for our users," he said. "We ended up making it better for yours, too."

The evening wasn't all a Gmail love-in, though. The Microsoft and Yahoo representatives said their many millions of users might not accept some of Gmail's departures from email norms, such as the way the program groups messages into "conversations." The two men also razzed Mr. Buchheit a bit, saying that it had been easy for Google to promise a lot of storage to its users because it carefully controlled how many users Gmail would have by requiring an invitation to get an account.

Indeed, more than 18 months after its unveiling, Gmail is still a beta, or "test" product. But so are the new email versions the Microsoft and Yahoo programmers are working on. And no one is saying when any of the beta periods will be over.

Whatever early lead Gmail may have had in creating a next-generation email program, both Microsoft and Yahoo have more than caught up. I wondered out loud to Mr. Buchheit if Gmail, the pioneer, might now be falling behind. "There is a lot more we want to build," he responded.

I asked each to say what in his product he was most proud of. Mr. Diamond noted that in Yahoo's mail program, users can see their entire inbox in a single screen, rather than having to page through it screenload after screenload. It was a hard feature to add, he said. The other two men nodded their heads in agreement; neither has yet matched it.

Mr. Buchheit said what he most liked about Gmail is the ease and fluidity with which it lets him work with his messages.

Mr. Doerr noted the powerful desktop-like features of his Microsoft product, such as the on-the-fly spell checking of messages as they are typed.

The men reported similar pressures: cranky users of Web browsers with tiny market shares demanding that their browsers be supported, while not appreciating how much work is involved. And the struggle to find a way to innovate with a product -- but not so much that existing customers will be alienated.

At one point, Mr. Doerr wondered when the new Yahoo mail program would have the whimsical touch of other Yahoo products. "It's not Yahoo yet," he said to Mr. Diamond. "It's not fun."

The latter concurred, replying, in effect, "Just you wait."

While all three talked about the pressure of having to present the product to the big boss, Mr. Diamond had the best such story. He told of nervously showing his software to Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, who at the time was pacing around the room gripping a golf club. Mr. Diamond said that all the while he kept thinking of a similar scene in "The Untouchables," but one involving a baseball bat and, in the end, considerably more violence.

When the end of the evening came, everyone seemed sated with good food and pleasant company, to the point where there was talk about gathering again in a year to look back on the email events of 2006.

Who knows? Maybe the three products will be out of beta by then. And maybe a glove or two will come off as a result.


source:http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113513060952028080-FphgngKufzazqjmsp2vkGNe7SVU_20060120.html?mod=blogs


# posted by dark master : 12/22/2005 09:41:00 AM  0 comments

Juniper Sues LR Message Boarders

Juniper Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: JNPR - message board) is taking a handful of Light Reading message board users to court, according to recent court filings.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., company filed a lawsuit in the California Superior Court of Santa Clara on December 14 claiming that it had been defamed and libeled by up to 10 persons unknown. These persons, referred to as "Does 1-10" in the court complaint (as in "John Doe," or anonymous), are being accused by Juniper of posting harmful statements about the company and its executives on Light Reading's message boards.

Only two anonymous message board users are identified in the complaint. One goes by the name "infranet_rulz" and the other by "exJuniper981." Juniper admits in the complaint that it doesn't yet know the names of any of the folks it's suing, but it will update its complaint with the courts as it gets details.

Whether or not Juniper can identify the users will come down to the courts, and whether there is enough information to go on. In certain cases, Internet companies have been asked by courts to release information about registered message board users.

According to Light Reading Inc.'s published Terms of Use: "When requested, Light Reading will cooperate fully with law enforcement agencies in any investigation of alleged illegal activity on the Internet."

Though public companies are often targets of rampant criticism and off-the-wall statements on Internet message boards, Juniper doesn't name any other message board provider in its suit. Indeed, the company appears to have homed in on Light Reading because of its notoriety in telecom circles.

"Light Reading is a popular source of information to individuals employed in the computer networking and security industry in which Juniper operates," the company says in its complaint.

One thing a lawsuit mentioning a media company won't do, experts say, is lessen the amount of attention such message board posts are likely to generate. "It seems sure to backfire if the intention was to silence their critics," says Jeff Ferrell, professor of criminal justice at TCU.

Ferrell also notes that, from outside a company, there's no easy way of knowing all the agendas involved in a decision to sue. Lawsuits of this type "will say as much about the company suing as it does about the message board users," he says.

On the other hand, Mike Lynn, a partner at Lynn Tillotson & Pinker says the threat the companies feel from message board posters is real. "As individuals involved in commercial speech become so powerful that they can move stocks and affect the value of companies, you'll see more of these lawsuits," he says.

Lynn, however, says proving that a company was hurt by message board posts is a tricky thing. His firm defended Visa in a case in which a plaintiff sought $670 million for Internet defamation in which an Internet firm claimed that posts on a Yahoo message board caused its stock to drop.

That company, Zixit, first sued "John Doe" and subpoenaed Yahoo for the user information, which it got. But even after the message poster was revealed, the jury in that case awarded nothing to the plaintiff.

So what messages have Juniper so upset? The complaint cites several messages, most of which allege that Juniper is bribing lawyers and spying on its employees.

The company's complaint cites an April 20 message that stated, "the man at the helm seems to be paying (off) attorneys all over the bay area to cover up the scandal which resulted in the terminations of many at the top including the VP of HR. 1) Board of director 2) CFO 3) GM 4) VP of engineering 5) VP of HR and more."

Another message cited in the complaint came a day later. According to the complaint, it said the "top management" at Juniper bribes attorneys, and that "the man at the top should join his buddy Bernie [Ebers (sic)]... "

Another message singled out in the complaint says: "This is a very unethical company."

Of course, Juniper critics can be found at other Internet message boards that aren't, as yet, mentioned in Juniper's complaint. "Arrogance coupled with timidity is a deadly combination in business. So, in short JNPR's problem is Kriens," said one Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO - message board) message board post taking aim at Juniper's CEO Scott Kriens.

Juniper's complaint says the still nameless defendents must be stopped because these statements could lead to a "material decline" in Juniper's "profits and could cause permanent harm to Plaintiff's good reputation."

Executives at Light Reading had no comment on the lawsuit.

A Juniper spokeswoman says the company can't comment on pending litigation.

Juniper shares were trading up 0.08 (0.36%) to $22.12 in morning trading on Wednesday.


source:http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=85996


# posted by dark master : 12/22/2005 09:38:00 AM  0 comments

Cross Site Scripting Discovered in Google

"Yair Amit posted a message early this morning to The Web Security Mailing List outlining a Cross Site Scripting flaw in Google that allows an attacker to carry out Phishing Attacks."

source:http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/21/1443236&tid=217

# posted by dark master : 12/22/2005 09:36:00 AM  0 comments

Seagate says to buy Maxtor for $1.9 bln in stock

"Reuters reports that Seagate Technology would buy rival computer disk-drive maker Maxtor Corp. for $1.9 billion. Seagate is already world's largest hard drive manufacturer and Maxtor is the third largest after Seagate and Western Digital."

source:http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/21/1311235&tid=198&tid=187&tid=98

# posted by dark master : 12/22/2005 09:34:00 AM  0 comments

First Look - New Standard Keyboard




Keyboard

New Standard Keyboards (NSK) of Santa Maria, California will introduce a new line of patented USB-interface computer keyboards at CES, which have just 53-keys and offer several advances over standard keyboard designs for businesses, home users, gamers and assistive technology users.

The New Standard Keyboard departs from traditional 101-key designs, but still retains the full functionality of a standard keyboard. The keyboard places all 53 keys within easy reach of the home position. The approach offers an alternative for media PCs, assistive living users and swift business data entry where the clutter of a typical QWERTY keyboard is not needed.

The NSK also takes up much less desk space, measuring just 12.5-inches wide x 5 inches deep x 1-inch thick.

Two models will be offered. The NSK535S has a silver casing with black keys and white letters. The NSK535R features “rainbow” keys, which have been color-coded to correspond to specific computer functions. The keyboard supports USB-equipped PC running any version of Windows. When used with MS Office applications, it also types additional characters directly from the keys. These include Euro and Yen symbols, superscript and subscript numerals, Spanish ordinals and several combining accents.

The keyboard is the invention of John Parkinson, an electrical engineer with a degree in psychology and background in industrial psychology and ergonomics. Parkinson set up training programs in a typewriter factory prior to developing the New Standard Keyboard. He holds patents for the product in the USA and UK, with others pending.

The NSK can be learned at a glance and differs from other attempts at alphabetical-based designs because it is also efficient for high speed typing.

Parkinson believes the New Standard Keyboard has several functional and ergonomic advantages over standard QWERTY keyboards, which will make it a desired accessory for new system buyers and those wishing to upgrade their keyboard. The advantages include:

  • Keys are aligned with natural movements of fingers to insure proper posture when typing
  • Alphabetical letters are easier to find and keys are color-coded on the NSK535R to aid hunt & peck typists
  • All keys can be easily reached from the home position
  • Shift keys are centralized and shift characters can be typed one-handed for assisted applications and handicapped
  • Editing keys are integrated
  • The keyboard has a smaller footprint, which allows the mouse to be placed right next to the typing keys
  • There are only half as many keys to learn

NSK has also addressed the poor tactile feel common on many laptop and desktop keyboards. The keyboard uses a short-travel key (2mm) that has its snap point very early in the travel distance to produce a positive click action with minimal finger movement while still providing a soft feel. The approach is much more responsive for gaming applications, according to Parkinson.

The New Standard Keyboard will be sold to distributors and resellers and has a suggested retail price of $69.95. It will ship in February, 2006.



source:http://www.thetechzone.com/?m=show&id=469


# posted by dark master : 12/22/2005 09:31:00 AM  0 comments

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