[Medianews] Amazon.com is going from peddler to producer.
http://www.variety.com/VR1117947477.html Amazon.com is going from peddler to producer. In its first feature-film venture, Amazon has optioned screen rights to Keith Donohue's bestselling novel The Stolen Child. Amazon will move to secure a filmmaker and then a studio partner to turn the fantasy into a live-action feature. Move marks the first foray of the world's biggest online retailer into content creation not limited to its Web site. Company isn't looking to co-finance the film but does bring an intriguing variable to the table: a pledge to use the clout of its site as a marketing tool for the theatrical and DVD launch. Novel by first-time writer Donohue combines literature and fantasy and covers issues of identity. A 7-year-old is kidnapped by forest-dwelling changelings, who replace him with a look-alike. Book tracks the changeling's attempt to meld into a family and the boy who roams the woods with a pack of feral children. Author's pic deal was made by UTA, which has guided Amazon into such recent showbiz ventures as Amazon Fishbowl With Bill Maher. Donohue already appeared on that show, part of an ongoing Amazon.com campaign to propel sales of the book. That enthusiasm led to the movie deal, said Laura Porco, Amazon director of merchandising. We are always trying to innovate, based on listening to customers and the things they're passionate about, she said. This was a book we passed around to our editorial and merchandising teams. Everybody was excited by Keith's voice and felt this could be a great movie. Amazon.com's clout is no guarantee of a hit movie. Lionsgate made Starbucks a partner in Akeelah and the Bee in exchange for a marketing campaign; the effort produced no discernible benefit for the film. Still, Joe Regal, whose Regal Literary made the book deal for Donohue with UTA, said the chance to try something new with an eager partner was persuasive. This is all a gamble, but if you're going to gamble, why not do something that nobody has done before? he said. We could have set an option deal with a studio, but Amazon just understood the book and moved quickly. Having a billion-dollar company with such marketing might behind you is appealing. If they cross-promote the DVD with the book, these are compelling things. Reply with a Thank you if you liked this post. _ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Medianews] NORAD closing down
Report: Military Closing Mountain Complex http://kevxml2a.infospace.com/info.ncbuy/apnws/story.htm?kcfg=apartsin=D8J4 SVT80qcat=USNewsran=8608passqi=0feed=apmore=1 The military is virtually closing the secretive defense complex carved into Cheyenne Mountain that for decades has monitored North American skies for threats, a newspaper reported. The Denver Post reported late Thursday that the North American Aerospace Defense Command operations center will be moved to nearby Peterson Air Force Base, which is home to the U.S. Northern Command created after the Sept. 11 attacks. NORAD, a joint U.S. and Canadian command, was set up in the 1960s to monitor the skies for threats like missiles, aircraft and space objects. Adm. Tim Keating, who commands both NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command, said the government's best intelligence leads us to believe a missile attack from China or Russia is very unlikely. That, along with the emergence of varied terrorist threats such as suicide bombers, is what recommends to us that we don't need to maintain Cheyenne Mountain in a 24/7 status. We can put it on `warm standby,' Keating told the newspaper. Keating was scheduled to make the announcement Friday. He said 230 surveillance crew members and an undetermined number of the support staff will make the move within two years. About 1,100 people work in the mountain, long a symbol of the Cold War. Buildings inside it are mounted on springs to absorb the shock from a nuclear blast, while the entrance is guarded by a vault-like door several feet thick. The complex includes banks of batteries and its own water supply. Excavation on the site began in 1961. Canadian crews stationed at Cheyenne Mountain will also make the move to Peterson, Keating said. Air Force Space Command, which monitors objects in space, is looking into moving its operations out of the mountain to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, which would leave the mountain virtually empty. Keating said he would like to keep the complex in usable shape, with the goal of being able to bring it online in an hour. Modernizing NORAD has cost more than $700 million since the Sept. 11 attacks, with the work still incomplete, according to a recent congressional probe, and operating the complex costs about $250 million a year. Gregory S. Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply with a Thank you if you liked this post. _ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Medianews] Rockot booster successfully returns to flight
Rockot booster successfully returns to flight http://spaceflightnow.com/rockot/kompsat2/ BY STEPHEN CLARK SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: July 28, 2006 A modified Russian military missile now sold commercially for space launches successfully completed the orbital delivery of a South Korean observation satellite today. The rocket was bouncing back from a bitter failure last year that left the booster grounded for almost 10 months. Blastoff from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome's complex 133 was at 0705 GMT (3:05 a.m. EDT), and the Rockot launch vehicle arrived in its targeted orbit less than an hour later. Officials confirmed the 1,764-pound KOMPSAT 2 payload separated from the rocket's Breeze-KM third stage, and the launch was declared a success. The Rockot's two lower stages are from the SS-19 ballistic missile, while the Breeze upper stage is designed to complete the task of placing satellites into orbit. Eurockot - a firm jointly owned by German and Russian companies - markets the Rockot vehicle to satellite operators. The launch marked the return to flight for the Rockot, whose second stage engine failed five minutes after liftoff during a flight last October. In that mission, a $170 million satellite to study Earth's polar ice caps was lost. An investigation found the second stage engine did not cut off at the appropriate time, but instead burned until it depleted its fuel tanks. This unstable shut down caused the rocket to veer out of control. Further analysis showed the command to turn off the second stage engine was sent by an on-board computer, but a pressurization sequence on the Breeze third stage was not completed in time. Engineers believe the pressurization time was not loaded into the computer correctly, so the official cause of the accident was labeled as human error. Strict constraints have since been added to the pressurization timeline to ensure a similar event does not occur again. There are software changes to the flight program, which will now be more rigid, said Peter Freeborn, Eurockot's sales director. Verification (of) hardware and software was improved, as were the direct communication links to the Russian authorities so that we will have greater transparency. We hope to strengthen our lead in the Asian market with this launch, Freeborn said. We would particularly like to position ourselves for future satellites programs the Republic of Korea is currently planning. KOMPSAT 2 is setting off on a three-year mission to provide a wide variety of international customers with a new source of high resolution imagery of locations worldwide. In South Korea, the satellite is commonly called Arirang 2. It is the second member of South Korea's multipurpose satellite fleet operated by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute based about 90 miles south of the capital city of Seoul. The KOMPSAT series debuted with the launch of the first satellite in 1999, and similar craft are in the works for the future. A third satellite could be placed in orbit in 2009, and more are expected to follow in the next decade. Both satellites currently in space circle Earth in a 98-degree inclination Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of around 425 miles. This is our second mission within the KOMPSAT series, and we are very happy to have achieved the launch success for KOMPSAT 2 with Eurockot, said Dr. Hong-Yul Paik, president of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute in charge of the satellite. I want to extend our thanks to everyone involved in achieving this outstanding launch. KOMPSAT 2 carries a high resolution camera jointly developed by Israel's Electro-Optics Industries and Korean engineers. The imager can resolve objects as small as one meter in black-and-white, while color pictures taken by the camera will have a resolution of four meters. The detailed images will be used by South Korea in applications such as land management, crop and vegetation monitoring, ocean observations, and other environmental studies. Urban areas, disaster zones, and many other regions worldwide may also be a prime focus of the mission. The new satellite will also offer South Korea free and immediate access to imagery on par with current commercial remote sensing capabilities. The QuickBird satellite fielded by DigitalGlobe offers customers a black-and-white resolution of about 60 centimeters, and the company's two planned WorldView satellites will produce pictures with half-meter resolution. Spacecraft operated by GeoEye - formed by ORBIMAGE's acquisition of Space Imaging - are able to gather imagery with one-meter resolution. KOMPSAT 2's camera provides 45 times better resolution than earlier South Korean craft. With this increased resolution, pictures from the camera could be sharp enough to spy on strategic sites such as missile bases and nuclear plants inside North Korea, a senior director in charge of the mission told The Korea Times newspaper. Spot Image of France has acquired the rights to sell
[Medianews] E! Entertainment Television Apple Announce the Debut of Hit Programs on the iTunes Music Store
E! Entertainment Television Apple Announce the Debut of Hit Programs on the iTunes Music Store - Jul 27, 2006 08:30 AM (PR Newswire) Episodes of 'The Girls Next Door,' Season Two, 'The Soup,' 'The Simple Life: 'Til Death Do Us Part' 'Dr. 90210' Now Available on iTunes LOS ANGELES and CUPERTINO, Calif., July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- E! Entertainment and Apple(R) today announced that hit programs from E! Entertainment Television are now available for purchase and download on the iTunes(R) Music Store (www.itunes.com ). New weekly episodes of the second season of hit series The Girls Next Door, which debuts July 30 on E!, The Soup, E!'s irreverent look at the week's biggest, best and most bizarre moments and events in the world of pop culture, the new season of Dr. 90210, as well as all new episodes of The Simple Life: 'Til Death Do Us Part starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie will be available the day after broadcast for customers to purchase and download for just $1.99 per episode. ... - http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=60031243 Reply with a Thank you if you liked this post. _ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Medianews] Perfect Storm Brews for PC Buyers
Perfect Storm Brews for PC Buyers Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20060728/tc_pcworld/126593 Users should soon see the best bargains in years for a new desktop thanks to falling prices on the two most expensive components in a PC. A battle between the world's two biggest processor makers and oversupply in the LCD panel industry have sent prices tumbling. Users should see the mark downs showing up in stores any time. Over the next few months buyers can expect to continue to see PC bargains as the industry clears stock of older inventory, said Charles Smulders, managing vice president of Gartner's client computing group. He said the fourth quarter might also offer good buying opportunities as PC makers try to keep up sales prior to the launch of Windows Vista early next year. Longer term, price declines and performance improvements will return to a more normal rate, meaning users should take advantage of the current window of opportunity. AMD, Intel Cut Prices Intel and Advanced Micro Devices both halved prices on some desktop PC microprocessors this week, part of a price war between the two chip makers. The cuts included some top-end chips. For example, Intel pared its Intel Pentium D processor, the 960 that runs at 3.6 GHz, to $316, from $530, while AMD reduced the price of its dual-core Athlon 64 X2 5000+ to $301 from $696. Price competition is the latest weapon the two companies have turned to in their fight for microprocessor market share. AMD has gained on Intel over the past few quarters due to the launch of some advanced processors, but Intel has come back recently with new offerings of its own. Since the processor is the most expensive component inside a PC, the mark downs should translate into value for desktop PC buyers in a combination of better prices and technology. LCD Prices Fall, Too A bonus for users is the falling price of LCD panels. Several huge companies churn out the screen part of a monitor or notebook, ensuring cutthroat competition and low prices almost all the time. But recently, flagging demand for desktop monitors and LCD TVs has caused inventories to rise and prices to drop. Many PC buyers even put off purchases last month in anticipation of the microprocessor fire sale. The stall in demand caused inventories to rise further, cutting into company profits. AU Optronics, one of the largest LCD panel makers in the world, blamed falling panel prices for its profit shortfall in the second quarter. It expects prices to continue to decline during the third quarter. A price rebound could come sometime in September, said Hui Hsiung, an executive vice president at AU, during its second quarter investors' conference early this week. The price of larger sized panels fell by around a fifth during the three months ended June 30, compared to the previous quarter, according to market researcher WitsView Technology. The company noted the price declines on most larger sized screens continued to decline or remained flat in July. Falling prices for panel makers should lead to more bargains for users looking for nice, sleek LCD monitors for their desktops. It's a buyers market for desktop PCs and monitors right now, and it should remain so for the next few months. Reply with a Thank you if you liked this post. _ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Medianews] Microsoft fails to quash Vista fears
Microsoft fails to quash Vista fears By Daisuke Wakabayashi and Eric Auchard Fri Jul 28, 5:12 AM ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060728/tc_nm/microsoft_tech_dc_2 REDMOND, Washington (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) on Thursday failed to quash fears that a new version of its Windows software system would be further delayed, stirring concerns that a new technology cycle tied to the upgrade could be put on hold. This uncertainty over when Microsoft and the rest of hi-tech would benefit from the surge in revenue growth that typically accompanies a major Windows upgrade led Microsoft's shares to close down 2 percent at $23.87 on the Nasdaq on Thursday. We will ship Windows Vista when it is available, Kevin Johnson, co-president of Microsoft's platforms and services unit, said at the company's annual financial analysts' meeting, adding that Microsoft would take the project milestone by milestone. Windows sits on more than 90 percent of the world's personal computers. Windows Vista, already five years in the making, has been postponed by Microsoft several times. Quality assurance delays have put off the consumer version of Windows until early 2007 -- after the crucial holiday shopping season. Vista is set to ship to corporate customers this November. Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund said the cautious comments represent a delayed confirmation of his thesis that Microsoft would not begin to see revenue from the general availability of Windows Vista until March or April 2007. When they hesitate, that's confirmation we were right, he said. Microsoft has consistently been this cautious in the past, an acknowledgment of its history of slipping a few months beyond initial targets for major software releases, Sherlund said. Greg Palmer, head of equity trading at Pacific Crest Securities, asked at the meeting: Explain why I'm paying 20 times for a stock that is growing at 10 with a whole lot of investments that are not really going anywhere. Technology stocks sold off, driving down the broader U.S. market, as further Windows delays could slowdown plans by businesses and consumers to upgrade computers and software. FOUR PILLARS OF GROWTH The new Microsoft is being built on four pillars, Microsoft's Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said in opening comments at the meeting. Upgrades to the company's two core products -- the Windows operating system and Office applications suite -- should act as engines to drive growth and buy it time to erect two new pillars -- its Internet and Xbox game businesses. Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said Microsoft was in high investment mode and very acquisitive over the past year, spending $649 million to acquire 23 companies. He said it acquired four companies in July. Microsoft last week forecast revenue for the fiscal year ending in June 2007 to grow 12 percent to 14 percent, to between $49.7 billion and $50.7 billion. Revenue from its Windows business is growing 8 percent to 10 percent, Johnson said on Thursday. Windows, nearly a third of Microsoft's total revenue, should generate between $14.3 billion and $14.5 billion in fiscal 2007, he said. Microsoft forecast another year of losses at its mobile phone, games and devices business before turning a profit in the business year ending June 30, 2008. Executives at the meeting said investments for the company's new Zune media player and another year of losses at its Xbox game unit would continue to weigh on the entertainment and devices unit's earnings this year. The division posted a loss last year. Fiscal 07 will be a loss. We think that turns to profit in 08, said Robbie Bach, president of the division. The entertainment and devices division encompasses much of Microsoft's consumer-oriented products, such as Windows-based smartphones, the Xbox 360 game console and its upcoming Zune media player, but has not been a consistent earnings driver. Reply with a Thank you if you liked this post. _ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Medianews] The security risk in Web 2.0
The security risk in Web 2.0 By Joris Evers http://news.com.com/The+security+risk+in+Web+2.0/2100-1002_3-6099228.html Story last modified Fri Jul 28 05:18:59 PDT 2006 Web 2.0 is causing a splash as it stretches the boundaries of what Web sites can do. But in the rush to add features, security has become an afterthought, experts say. The buzz around the new technology echoes the '90s Internet boom--complete with pricey conferences, plenty of start-ups, and innovative companies like MySpace.com and Writely being snapped up for big bucks. And the sense of deja vu goes even further for some experts. Just as in the early days of desktop software, they say, the development momentum is all about features--and protections are being neglected. We're continuing to make the same mistakes by putting security last, said Billy Hoffman, lead engineer at Web security specialist SPI Dynamics. People are buying into this hype and throwing together ideas for Web applications, but they are not thinking about security, and they are not realizing how badly they are exposing their users. Yamanner, Samy and Spaceflash are among the higher-profile attacks that have surfaced online. The Yamanner worm targeted Yahoo Mail, harvesting e-mail addresses and forwarding itself to all contacts in a user's Yahoo address book. The Samy and Spaceflash worms both spread on MySpace, changing profiles on the hugely popular social-networking Web site. Web 2.0 lacks a precise definition; it's used mainly as a catch-all term to cover Web sites that are more than just plain, static pages. Web 2.0 sites are more interactive, allowing people to tag photos posted online, for example. Unlike their predecessors, they deliver an experience more akin to using a desktop application. One of the key enablers of the flashier Web sites is a programming technique known as AJAX, which stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. Google Maps, launched last year, was one of the first Web applications to showcase the benefits of AJAX development techniques to a broad audience, when it let people use a mouse to move a map image around the screen. But AJAX doesn't just help make Web pages and sites more interactive. It could also provide ways for hackers to hit a Web server and to exploit sites in attacks on visitors, experts said. Think of it like a house, said Hoffman, who will give a presentation on AJAX security at next week's Black Hat security event in Las Vegas. A traditional Web site is like a house with no windows and just a front door. An AJAX Web site is like a house with a ton of windows and a sliding door. You can put the biggest locks on your front and back doors, but I can still get in through a window. A Web site based on the new programming techniques has a greater attack surface because it has many more interactions with the browser and may run JavaScript on the client PC, he noted. JavaScript is a scripting programming language popular on Web sites. In contrast, old-fashioned Web sites typically accept information through forms. Cross-site scripting AJAX also increases the possibility of so-called cross-site scripting flaws, which occur when the site developer doesn't properly code pages, experts said. An attacker can exploit this type of vulnerability to hijack user accounts, launch information-stealing phishing scams or even download malicious code onto users' computers, experts have said. Big-name Web companies such as Microsoft, eBay, Yahoo and Google have all experienced cross-site scripting flaws on their Web sites. But cross-site scripting issues are only one risk. Other potential problems in AJAX code include race conditions, code correctness issues, object model violations, insecure randomness and poor error handling, said Brian Chess, chief scientist at Fortify Software, a maker of source-code analysis tools. Such errors could expose people's data, let one user control another user's session, allow malicious code to run, or enable other attacks, Fortify said. The company's researchers found examples of all of these errors in sample AJAX code in a December analysis of Foundations of Ajax, a how-to-book aimed at software developers. Since the code samples (in the book) are likely to be regarded as a best-practices guide, many software developers worldwide will learn insecure coding habits, Chess said. Ryan Asleson, one of the authors of Foundations of Ajax, said he had not heard of the alleged flaws in the sample code. However, he said, if those problems do exist, it is possible, because the code was kept as simple for a large audience. We never intended the code that's in there to actually be production-ready code, he noted. The key to preventing security issues is developer training and practices, Asleson said. I think it would be naive for anyone to say that there are no security problems, he said. There are a lot of things that developers can do that can open all
[Medianews] Real estate's Net turf war
Real estate's Net turf war By Declan McCullagh http://news.com.com/Real+estates+Net+turf+war/2100-1038_3-6099762.html SAN FRANCISCO--It's already happened to travel agents, car dealers, wine retailers and stock brokers. By matching buyers and sellers more efficiently, the Internet has whittled away at the influence of those middlemen. Not only have companies like eBay, Expedia and E*Trade Financial upset established industries, but they've delivered lower prices by axing once-lucrative fees and commissions. Now the nation's approximately 2 million real estate brokers, who have seen their incomes balloon as housing prices have climbed toward the sky in recent years, fear they're next in line for what academics like to call disintermediation. And the brokers don't like it one bit. At the Real Estate Connect conference here this week, brokers sought reassurances that their hefty commissions--the national average is around 6 percent, split between the buyer's agent and seller's agent--will not dwindle. The Internet has not put us out of business, said David Liniger, founder and chairman of Re/Max International, the largest real estate agency in the United States and Canada. It will not put us out of business. Liniger, who founded Re/Max in 1973 and became wealthy enough to try adventures like flying a balloon nonstop around the world, said the average annual income of a Re/Max agent was $112,000 as of 2002. Today, he said, the average income has climbed to $130,000. People not in the real estate business think we're overpaid--in reality we're not, Liniger told an audience of hundreds of real estate brokers. You think we're overpaid? Let's start investigating attorneys. Even that wasn't quite enough to reassure the skittish real estate agents who filled the ballroom of the Palace Hotel to hear presentations on topics like How to defend your commission and What will the real estate industry look like in five years? Billions of dollars are at stake; industry estimates put brokerage fees at $65.7 billion in 2005, a more than 50 percent increase from 2000 and far above the rate of inflation. In a metropolitan area where homes routinely sell for $700,000, a broker charging a standard commission would need to be involved in only one deal a month to make $252,000 a year. Particularly worried were the many conference-goers who switched jobs to cash in on skyrocketing housing prices--and now face the prospect of smaller paychecks thanks to a combination of competition from discount Internet brokers, rising interest rates and a national housing downturn. The real estate industry needs to realize that the genie is out of the bottle, said Steve Ozonian, CEO of Help-U-Sell, which runs franchises that charge home sellers a flat fee instead of a percentage of the home's value. Other industries have strongly resisted disintermediation. It took the U.S. Supreme Court to open the door to buying from out-of-state wineries (opposed by local distributors). A federal appeals court had to affirm that Tennesseans have the right to buy funeral caskets from anyone they want. (Funeral homes liked their cartel.) Congress had to specify that Americans could shop around for contact lenses. (Optometrists and ophthalmologists lost hefty markups.) Yet the real estate industry has proven itself singularly resistant to change. The anxiety of a major purchase, coupled with uncertainties about details like individual neighborhoods and school districts, has helped to bring in a continuous stream of revenue for both buyers' and sellers' agents. A database debate turns political Even more important has been real estate brokers' stranglehold over their local Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, a database of homes up for sale. Unlike securities or commodities exchanges, an MLS is not regulated by state or federal authorities. In addition, local brokers tend to restrict full access to the database to members of a professional association such as the National Association of Realtors. That stranglehold has been the subject of a lawsuit filed last September by the U.S. Department of Justice, which charges that the National Association of Realtors' restrictive MLS policies unlawfully restrict competition. Internet start-ups take an even dimmer view of the MLS. They say that local brokers are wielding their databases as a weapon to squash competition and maintain hefty commissions, even if opening the MLS would benefit their customers who are trying to buy or sell homes. Justin McCarthy Credit: Declan McCullagh Justin McCarthy, Google's partner development manager for real estate (second from right), says the search company wants to work cooperatively with real estate brokers. Realtors want consumers to be dependent on realtors, not Web sites, for information, Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin, said during a House of Representatives hearing this week. You can find out more on the Internet
[Medianews] Microsoft recalls small-business product
Microsoft recalls small-business product By Ina Fried http://news.com.com/Microsoft+recalls+small-business+product/2100-1010_3-6099857.html Story last modified Fri Jul 28 12:34:36 PDT 2006 REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft said on Friday that it is recalling an update to its Small Business Server product because of a glitch found late in the manufacturing process. The company said it found a problem with Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 after the product was released to computer makers but before it was made broadly available. Small Business Server is a product that combines the Windows Server operating system with the Microsoft Exchange e-mail server and other software. The R2 release is an update to the original version that was finished in 2003. Recently, and during a regular audit as part of our software production process, Microsoft became aware of an issue with the final...software containing non-final versions of a few core components, Microsoft said in a statement provided to CNET News.com. Since Microsoft has only just released SBS 2003 R2 to our manufacturing partners (OEMs, system builders and distributors), and it is not yet generally available to customers, the scope of this concern for partners and customers is very limited. Microsoft said it was recalling and would reissue the software, and general availability of the product would see a minor delay. Our customers and partners are our first priority, and while a short delay in availability of SBS 2003 R2 is unfortunate, delivering the highest quality Small Business Server product to our customers and partners, is the right thing to do, Microsoft said. One analyst said that the fact that a glitch can show up so late in Microsoft's manufacturing process shows the challenges the software maker faces as its software becomes ever more complex. That challenge is heightened by the fact that the company no longer relies on burning all of its products to CDs and so it doesn't have the luxury of taking that time to find bugs. This isn't really a stellar advertisement for Microsoft's plan to roll out more and more complex software through automatic update, Directions on Microsoft analyst Rob Helm said. Helm said that while this glitch affected just a few people, a problem with something going out over Automatic Update could potentially affect millions of people. Microsoft said earlier this week that it would use the auto-updating utility to deliver Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP. Reply with a Thank you if you liked this post. _ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Medianews] Space Station Litter Policy
http://www.livescience.com/blogs/2006/07/28/space-station-litter-policy/ Space Station Litter Policy Author Leonard David Remember that tossing out the airlock from the International Space Station (ISS) of a Russian space suit? Also, there was that idea of hitting a golf ball from the space station - a decision that was blocked. Now there's a new jettison policy for the ISS, according to Nicholas Johnson, Program Manager and Chief Scientist of the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In the July issue of NASA's Orbital Debris Quarterly News, Johnson reports that during more than seven years of operations by the ISS, approximately three dozen pieces of debris were released and subsequently cataloged by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network (SSN). The individual mass of these objects ranged from less than 2 pounds to some 155 pounds (1 kilogram to 70 kilograms). Although some of these debris were separated from the ISS accidentally, some were intentionally cast-off, especially the larger items. Recently an official ISS Jettison Policy was developed to ensure that decisions to deliberately release objects in the future were based upon a complete evaluation of the benefits and risks to the ISS, other resident space objects, and people on the Earth. Johnson says the policy identifies four categories of items which might be considered for release: (1) items that pose a safety issue for return on-board a visiting vehicle, (2) items that negatively impact ISS utilization, return, or on-orbit stowage manifests, (3) items that represent a space walk timeline savings, and (4) items that are designed for jettison. Some of the principal issues to be addressed during this evaluation process, Johnson adds, are the potential for the object to recontact the ISS within the first two days after jettison; the potential of the object to breakup prior to reentry; the ability of the SSN to track the object; and the risk to people on Earth from components which might survive reentry. Gregory S. Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply with a Thank you if you liked this post. _ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Medianews] Kazaa Settles Charges, Promises A Legal Format
After Settling, Kazaa Promises A Legal Format By SARAH MCBRIDE Wall Street Journal July 28, 2006; Page A9 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115400080714018951.html?mod=home_whats_news_us Sharman Networks Ltd.'s Kazaa, a file-sharing service that helped introduce millions to online music theft, has agreed to settle litigation with the entertainment industry for more than $115 million. The settlement represents the waning of the era of Internet businesses facilitating unauthorized music downloading. The practice of file-sharing itself, however, will likely continue as users turn to grass-roots services like FrostWire that are created by fun-seekers who don't rely on advertising or other commercial support. But when profit is removed from the equation, it's a real win for the entertainment business, said Eric Garland, president of BigChampagne LLC, a service that tracks file-sharing. Napster, created in 1999, was the first file-sharing service that became popular for illegally downloading music. After it was shut down, Kazaa, StreamCast Networks Inc.'s Morpheus, and Grokster took off. After lawsuits from the record industry, Napster shut down and the name now belongs to a legitimate music download service. Grokster was purchased last year by Mashboxx, which expects to launch a legitimate file-sharing music service later this year. Kazaa was created by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom in 2000, both based at the time in Holland, along with a team of Estonian programmers. The pair avoided travel to the U.S. since 2001 because they feared being served legal papers, a worry that ends with the settlement. Under the terms of the settlement, Kazaa agreed to introduce filtering systems to ensure that people can no longer use Kazaa to pilfer copyrighted music and movie files. Sharman, based in the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, also said it would work with the entertainment companies to sell licensed content. A large portion of the settlement will be paid by Messrs. Friis and Zennstrom, who sold the service to Australia's Sharman Networks in early 2002. The total settlement involves payment of $115 million to record companies, plus a smaller undisclosed amount to movie companies. The specific contributions by the two Kazaa founders couldn't be determined. After the Kazaa sale to Sharman, Mr. Friis and Mr. Zennstrom founded Internet phone service Skype, which is based on the same underlying technology as Kazaa. Last year, they sold Skype to eBay Inc. for about $2.6 billion in cash and stock. Legal file-sharing will increasingly benefit from the entertainment industry's eagerness to adopt new technologies and efforts to encourage erstwhile thieves to start paying for their products. Bittorrent.com, iMesh.com, Mashboxx.com and PeerImpact.com are among the file-sharing services that have recently struck deals with movie studios and record labels to distribute their products for fees. The technology underlying peer-to-peer distribution cuts back on the bandwidth that companies need to distribute large files such as movies, making it cheaper to use than traditional download methods. But legal file-sharing services are fighting an uphill battle. At any given time this month, some nine million people were on peer-to-peer networks globally, most of them illegitimate, according to BigChampagne. The settlement yesterday ends global litigation against Kazaa dating back to 2001. Kazaa was a defendant in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v. Grokster Ltd. case decided last summer by the Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously that file-sharing companies may be liable for copyright infringement if their products encourage consumers to illegally swap songs and movies. The high court sent the case back to lower courts to decide whether the defendants had induced illegal activity. Last year, Grokster agreed to settle that case for $50 million and promised to go legitimate. That leaves just StreamCast's Morpheus as the sole remaining defendant in the case pending in federal court in Los Angeles. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson, who is overseeing hearings in the case, commented that so far the evidence is overwhelming in favor of the plaintiffs. People familiar with the matter say his comments encouraged StreamCast to return to the negotiating table for a settlement. A spokesman for StreamCast declined to comment. George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a Thank you if you liked this post. _ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Medianews] Sony's 'Talladega Nights' Comedy Is a Product-Plug Rally
Sony's 'Talladega Nights' Comedy Is a Product-Plug Rally By KATE KELLY and BRIAN STEINBERG Wall Street Journal July 28, 2006; Page A9 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115404723983119898.html?mod=hps_us_editors_picks Over two long days last summer, marketing executives paraded through a trailer at a Chicago racetrack, the site of the USG Sheetrock 400. There, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing was pitching its top sponsors on a tempting proposition: the chance to lock down high-profile product placements in a feature film about Nascar racing in the works at Sony Corp.: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Sarah Nettinga, managing director of film, television and music entertainment for Nascar, had pored over the movie script and identified every page with a potential promotional opportunity. In Chicago, she approached the organization's existing sponsors, including Sprint Nextel Corp., Goodyear Tire Rubber Co., Coca-Cola Co. and Unilever, on the cross-promotional possibilities within the movie, ranging from logos on the racers' suits to the burgers and pizza served at one character's dinner table. Sony says it didn't make advertisers any promises, but Ms. Nettinga's offer indicated the company was remarkably open to suggestions. It was literally, 'The producers pitched the story, and do you have any thoughts on where you would like to fit in?' she recalls. Her role became so important to the making of the movie that it garnered her an executive-producer credit. Nascar also offered the filmmakers wide-ranging advice on the cars and racing, but it doesn't share in any profits. The resulting film, a comedy starring Will Ferrell that opens in U.S. theaters next Friday, is one of the most in-your-face efforts ever to cross-promote consumer brands in a movie, and vice versa. Just as Nascar itself blankets every inch of its cars, drivers and racetracks with ads and logos, so does Talladega Nights. There are 10 promotional partners whose brands make a prominent appearance in the film -- not necessarily more, but definitely more obvious, than the product placements in a typical movie these days. And in a bow to an unusual request from a key sponsor, Mr. Ferrell appears as Ricky Bobby, at times fumbling with his cellphone in the shower and in bed, in three Sprint television commercials and five promotional videos for cellphone users. We requested the commercials with Will in them, says Sprint spokeswoman Angie Read. Having him in a national commercial, she says, is huge. Sprint says it didn't pay Mr. Ferrell for his appearance in the spots, but it did make a charitable donation on his behalf. It's all part of the effort to sell Talladega Nights, made at a cost of $73 million, to a mass audience and bring burgers, cellphones and sports drinks along for the ride. At a time when audiences are tuning out traditional ad campaigns and online marketing is intensifying competition between brands, the spirited I'll-plug-your-product-you-plug-mine behind Talladega Nights could be the pace car for a new wave of cross-promotional vehicles. Our job is always to find a unique way to make sure that the public is listening to our message, says Valerie Van Galder, president of marketing for Sony Pictures Entertainment. At this point, it's anything you can do to cut through the clutter. Mr. Ferrell's Sprint spots are but one aspect of the promotional juggernaut. As Ricky Bobby, Mr. Ferrell wears a racing suit festooned with more than half a dozen brands, including Wonder Bread, Goodyear and Coke's Powerade. His archnemesis, a French racer named Jean Girard, is backed by Perrier. Meanwhile, plugs for Talladega Nights are starting to multiply on products and in stores. Grocery stores are now stocking shelves with Talladega and Nascar branded hot dogs. Displays at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from Unilever's Country Crock spread plug the movie, too. Nascar's online store is peddling Talladega merchandise, including a free poster with orders of caps, T-shirts and other Nascar gear. The blitz comes as movie audiences have grown weary of -- if not offended by -- the current of logos and branded products that runs through many movies. Helping power the stream is the common fear among movie stars that hawking consumer goods in the U.S. is bad for their image -- a theme that was the basis for the popular 2003 film Lost in Translation, about a disaffected American actor in Tokyo to film commercials for a Japanese liquor. Mr. Ferrell entered the ad blizzard with his eyes open. He decided it was OK to appear in the Sprint spot in the context of his bumbling character, says Jimmy Miller, the actor's manager. As long as [the ads] were the kind of comedy Will likes to do, it was easy, he says. Marketers who worked on Talladega say Nascar's unapologetic embrace of advertising in real life -- where cars, racetracks and drivers' suits are wall-to-wall logos --
[Medianews] FCC To Debate BPL Deregulation Decision
FCC To Debate BPL Deregulation Decision TelecomWeb The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) next week may decide on whether to deregulate broadband over power line (BPL) offerings as information services, based on a seven-month-old petition from the United Power Line Council (UPLC) and its United Telecom Council (UTC) affiliate. The UPLC/UTC request to the commission for a declaratory ruling in effect asks that BPL-based Internet-access service be given the same light-touch treatment the regulator has allowed for cable modems and telco-oriented digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband offerings. The December 2005 petition tentatively has been placed on the agenda of the FCC's Aug. 3 open meeting for consideration and a vote. The utility-industry group, which has supported cable-modem and DSL classification as deregulated information services, says parity for BPL-enabled Internet access would be consistent with the commission's previous determinations on the other services. UPLC and UTC also maintain the move - allowable under the auspices of the Communications Act of 1934 - also would promote broadband access and competition by BPL by providing regulatory clarity and certainty, which is important for the still-nascent commercial deployment of BPL and which already is enjoyed by cable-modem and DSL providers. The petition urges the FCC to classify BPL-enabled broadband service as an interstate information service because it shares all the relevant similarities with other broadband services, including cable modem and DSL. BPL-enabled broadband service is an integrated finished service that combines computer processing with transport capabilities, like cable modem and DSL services, the petition says. BPL is also an interstate service, in the sense that the traffic is routed over the Internet, like cable modem and DSL services. UPLC and UTC suggest the BPL business would need the pricing, marketing and deployment flexibility of the information-services classification to provide a meaningful intermodal rivalry in the high-speed access business currently dominated by cable modems and DSL. The FCC just recently issued statistics on the extent of those two technologies' domestic penetration. The petition also points out that the U.S. Supreme Court in theBrand Xcase in June 2005 upheld the FCC's authority to classify cable-modem offerings as information services, paving the way a short time after for the commission to give telco broadband and DSL the same treatment. The emerging BPL business previously has had to fight regulatory battles mostly over RF interference charges; for the most part, it's emerged victorious. In the current FCC proceeding, BPL essentially gets support from utility allies, would-be BPL provider First Communications and the Telecommunications Industry Association. UPLC and UTC also have had to counter opposing arguments - many from various state and national cable-TV operator associations - as well as rebuffing suggestions that conditions be placed on the reclassification surrounding cross, universal-service and access charges. --- Duane Whittingham (N9SSN) - Producer Tom and Darryl Radio Shows Saturday Morning Confusion Heard on C-Band Analog Satellite (W0KIE) - Telstar 6 Ch 1 - 6.2/6.8 WTND-LP Macomb 106.3, WQNA FM, WBCQ 7415 kHz the Internet. Heard Fridays 9pm ET, Sundays 12am ET and Tuesdays 2am ET (Folk) An Independent Freeform Eclectic Radio Show. http://www.tomanddarryl.org http://www.wtnd.us Reply with a Thank you if you liked this post. _ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Medianews] Astronaut's death now reported as possible suicide
Astronaut Brady's Death Stuns Area BY JOHN CHAPPELL: STAFF WRITER http://www.thepilot.com/stories/20060727/news/local/072806Brady.html Astronaut Charles E. Brady, formerly of Robbins, is dead at 54. His home town is in mourning over the loss of one of its most illustrious sons: an Eagle Scout, an athlete, a doctor, a Blue Angel, and a space traveler. A huge mural depicting Brady and the Space Shuttle Columbia overlooks the railroad across from the Old Elise Depot and the town hall. Now the town is puzzled and saddened by reports of the circumstances of his death. According to Chuck McCarty, a dispatcher with the Sheriff's Office in San Juan County, Wash., Brady died of apparently self-inflicted wounds. Sheriff's deputies had responded to a call from a home on Orcas Island Sunday afternoon, July 23. When they arrived at the scene, they spoke to a woman, Susan Oseth, and a 3- or 4-year-old girl. Jon Zerby, undersheriff of San Juan County, said Brady and Oseth lived together on Orcas Island. Zerby said Brady was divorced. Found After Search A deputy reported that Oseth told him Brady had left on foot and gone to a wooded part of the island. The Island is big, 58 square miles, according to Deputy Ray Clever, senior officer on the scene. The call had come in for a verbal dispute, but [there were indications of] something more unusual, Clever said. That was a huge area to cover. Seeking to render Brady aid, the deputies called for backup and began a search. After a time, the officers discovered Brady's body in a wooded area. A paramedic pronounced him dead at the scene, and the body was taken to nearby Snohomish County for an autopsy. Neither the woman nor the child were physically harmed in the incident, according to the deputies. Orcas Island is off the coast near Bellingham, Wash. Brady and his former wife, Cathy, had previously maintained a home on Ben Ure Island, Oak Harbor, Wash. Funeral arrangements are being handled privately. Brady was celebrated for his many accomplishments. His space flight 10 years ago remains the longest such mission to date. Brady and six other astronauts orbited the earth 271 times and broke the shuttle endurance record by eight hours. That mission included studies sponsored by 10 nations and five space agencies, and the crew included a Frenchman, a Canadian, a Spaniard and an Italian. Brady was one of three mission specialists who conducted a number of experiments -- mostly on themselves -- in the orbiter's Life and Microgravity Spacelab. Brady would later describe that flight as a sort of test bed for the international space station. He came back with a vivid memory of having seen rain forest devastation and damaged river systems, and a determination to do what he could to protect the earth. He didn't set out to go to space, but to follow in the footsteps of his father, a small town doctor. His father, the late Charles Eldon Brady Sr., was a family doctor with his practice in Robbins. An Eagle Scout, Brady graduated from North Moore High School in 1969, studied pre-medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his medical degree at Duke University in 1975. From Duke, he went to the University of Tennessee Hospital in Knoxville for his internship, then entered practice with a focus on sports medicine, serving as team physician for Iowa State University in Ames. He continued in sports medicine and family practice for the next seven years, working as a team physician at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and East Carolina University, then joined the Navy. As a Navy doctor, Brady trained to be a flight surgeon at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute at Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. In June 1986, he reported to Carrier Air Wing Two on board the aircraft carrier USS Ranger and was assigned to the attack wing including Attack Squadron 145 and Aviation Electronic Countermeasures Squadron 131. Two years later, Brady joined the Blue Angels, the famous Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron. He served with them through 1990, and was serving in Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 129 when tapped by NASA for the astronaut program. Brady reported to Johnson Space Center in August 1992. In addition to his Columbia flight, Brady worked on technical issues for the Astronaut Office Mission Development Branch; flight software testing in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL); was astronaut representative to the Human Research Policy and Procedures Committee; deputy chief for Space Shuttle astronaut training; and chief for Space Station astronaut training in the Mission Operations Division. He logged more than 405 hours in space before returning to Navy duty as a surgeon. Born August 12, 1951, in Pinehurst, Brady always considered Robbins his hometown. Brady enjoyed canoeing, kayaking, tennis, biking, and was an amateur radio operator. After the death of his father, Brady's mother, Ann Maness
