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Today's Topics:
1. Microsoft's Xbox 360 now able to sniff out illegitimate
copies of games (Greg Williams)
2. Donald Trump to NBC: "You can't fire me, I quit" (Greg Williams)
3. More Nations Crave Independent Satellite Navigation Systems
(Greg Williams)
4. O&A Sponsors, Fans React To XM Suspension (Greg Williams)
5. Venezuelans protest opposition TV channel closure (Greg Williams)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 19 May 2007 02:59:38 -0400
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Microsoft's Xbox 360 now able to sniff out
illegitimate copies of games
To: medianews@twiar.org
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
Microsoft's Xbox 360 now able to sniff out illegitimate copies of games
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7339
More than a year has passed since the release of the Xbox 360 DVD-ROM
firmware hack to allow the play of backup games and bootleg copies.
Those with hacked firmware had the ability to play copied games, mostly
burned onto dual-layer DVD recordable discs, even online Xbox Live.
For a while, it seemed that such firmware modifications were
undetectable by Microsoft ? but that appears to have all changed with
the latest Xbox 360 system software released last week.
Word came from the Xbox 360 hacking community that the Spring Update may
have the ability to detect those who were playing copied games. More
specifically, the system software would be able to determine the
legitimacy of the disc in the DVD drive, not necessarily targeting any
specific method of modification.
As a pre-emptive measure, hackers released updated disc drive firmware
introducing various features, such as disc jitter, in an effort to
further the exploit. Such efforts, however, appear to be all for naught,
as report on Xbox-Scene indicates that Microsoft is now banning from
Xbox Live users with modified DVD-ROM drives, regardless of firmware
version.
The banning measures appear to have started alongside the release of the
Halo 3 beta, perhaps in what is best described as a crackdown on
Crackdown bootlegged copies that contained Halo 3 beta access. Just as
it did during the original Xbox days, Microsoft is permanently banning
modified consoles from connecting to Xbox Live, but not the user account.
Microsoft acknowledges its new initiative with an entry in its
Gamerscore Blog: ?As part of our commitment to our members, we do not
allow people that we have detected to have modified their console to
connect to Live. This is an important part of our efforts to try and
maintain a fair gaming environment for the large majority of gamers that
play by the rules. This topic is more important than ever given the
recent release of the Halo 3 beta.?
The blog continues, ?As a result, some consumers that try to login to
Live who we detect have illegally modified their console will get an
error code (Status Code: Z: 8015 - 190D) when trying to connect to the
service. These users will not have their account automatically banned
from LIVE, but they will no longer be able to access the service from
the console they modified. We have stated in the past that customers can
only enjoy access to the Xbox LIVE community through the use of a
genuine, unmodified, Xbox console and we will continue to enforce this
rule to ensure the integrity of our service, the protection of our
partners and the benefits of our users.?
--
Gregory S. Williams
gregwilliams(at)knology.net
k4hsm(at)knology.net
http://www.etskywarn.net
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.icebearnation.com
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 19 May 2007 03:29:38 -0400
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Donald Trump to NBC: "You can't fire me, I quit"
To: medianews@twiar.org
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Donald Trump to NBC: "You can't fire me, I quit"
Fri May 18, 2007 8:19PM EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1824687220070519?feedType=RSS&rpc=22
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Donald Trump, whose low-rated reality show "The
Apprentice" was left off the new prime-time schedule unveiled this week
by NBC, says the network can't fire him -- he quits.
The real estate mogul issued a statement on Friday saying he has
informed the U.S. television network he is "moving on from 'The
Apprentice' to a major new TV venture," though he declined to elaborate.
There was no immediate comment from NBC.
But his announcement appeared to end any lingering doubt that "The
Apprentice," which turned the self-styled tycoon into a television star
and popularized the catch phrase, "You're fired," would be banished from
NBC's airwaves next season.
The corporate-themed reality show, which aired in dozens of countries
around the world, featured young, aggressive entrepreneurs in a weekly
game of elimination as they competed for a real-life job in Trump's
business empire.
"The Apprentice" debuted as a hit in 2004, averaging nearly 21 million
viewers and ranking as the top-rated new U.S. TV show its first season.
But the series dropped steadily in the ratings in successive years,
losing nearly two-thirds of its original audience by the time it wrapped
up its sixth installment last month.
The show's future was cast into further doubt on Monday when the network
announced a 2007-08 programming lineup that made no mention of Trump.
But NBC executives refused then to absolutely rule out a reprieve once
rival networks ABC, CBS and Fox had laid out their schedules for next
season.
The statement from Trump's organization seemed to spell a definitive end
to the series.
"It looks like viewers will have to wait to see what Mr. Trump plans for
the future," the statement said. "But if Mr. Trump's past TV success is
any indication of the future, then one can anticipate that millions of
'Apprentice' fans will be migrating to his new venture."
Trump and NBC still remain in the beauty pageant business together. The
two announced in March a renewed deal to keep annual broadcasts of the
Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which Trump co-owns, on the General
Electric Co.-controlled network through 2010.
--
Gregory S. Williams
gregwilliams(at)knology.net
k4hsm(at)knology.net
http://www.etskywarn.net
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.icebearnation.com
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 19 May 2007 03:31:24 -0400
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] More Nations Crave Independent Satellite
Navigation Systems
To: medianews@twiar.org
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
More Nations Crave Independent Satellite Navigation Systems
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/070516_techwed_gps_rivals.html
By Ben Iannotta
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 16 May 2007
6:00 am ET
SUMMERLAND KEY, Fla. -- Europe is not the only focus of efforts to build
a rival to GPS, the U.S. constellation of navigation satellites. U.S.
control of the world's only fully functional satellite navigation system
is fueling efforts by China, Japan and India to develop alternatives to
GPS for regional coverage, and in China's case as a stepping stone to a
global system, U.S. satellite navigation experts said.
"There is a symbolic reason to deploy these systems. That is the idea
that they would like to be independent of any dependencies on U.S.
controlled assets," said Brad Parkinson, a retired U.S. Air Force
officer and one of the original architect's of the U.S. Global
Positioning System (GPS), corresponding by email.
Parkinson is among those who consider unfounded the fears expressed by
leaders of other countries in recent years that the United States would
deny commercial access to free GPS signals in a crisis, or as an
economic warfare tool. All strategy considerations aside, the collateral
effect would be to grind U.S. industry to a halt, Parkinson said.
U.S. government officials have labored to make that point around the
globe. "We're involved in two wars right now and the system has not been
disrupted or turned off," added Robert "Doc" Mirelson, the NASA
representative to the U.S. National Coordination Office, which is
pushing for any new systems to be compatible with GPS.
Nevertheless, other nations are trying to wean themselves from GPS, or
in some cases improve its accuracy by combining GPS signals with those
from new satellites. China, at least in the eyes of one U.S. official,
appears to be the closest to an operational alternative. It has deployed
a cluster of four navigation satellites over Asia, called Beidou, with
the four carrying designations 1a through 1d. Beidou means Big Dipper in
Chinese.
By contrast, Europe's proposed Galileo global constellation is years
behind schedule. Europe certainly will miss the promised date of 2008
for the start of operations, and no new firm date is in place, a
European Commission official said. In late 2005, Europe launched a
demonstration satellite called the Galileo In-orbit Validation Element.
"They [Chinese officials] have [four] satellites and Galileo has one. I
think there's a lot of debate out there over who's going to have the
system first," Mirelson said.
A wild card in the race is Russia, where President Vladimir Putin has
been pushing for completion of the country's Global Navigation Satellite
System, or Glonass, constellation to reduce dependence on GPS inside
Russia. In a March speech to his policymaking council, Putin bemoaned
the reliance on U.S. satellite technology: "It is true that we do not
yet have a choice in this matter. I hope that our navigation system will
start working in 2007," he said according to an English language Kremlin
transcript.
Glonass is not the only global proposal. Chinese officials have
described the Beidou satellites as an "experimental" regional system
meant to pave the way for an operational constellation called the
Compass Satellite Navigation System. China's Xinhua News Agency reports
that the long-term plan is to "gradually extend" Compass into a global
system for applications from commercial fishing to national security.
The most recent Beidou was launched Feb. 3 on a Long March 3A rocket as
a backup to the three primary satellites, according to Xinhua.
The Beidou launches have complicated China's relationship with European
officials in charge of developing Galileo. Until recently, Chinese and
European engineers had been collaborating on technical projects under an
agreement to support Galileo. European officials have put those joint
efforts on pause partly because of questions over China's Compass plan,
a European Commission official said. "There's going to be some other
system out there, and we want to make sure it's going to be compatible
with Galileo. We are asking for information from them," the official said.
In the United States, at least one member of Congress is concerned that
Europe, through its Galileo contacts with China, already might have
unwittingly helped China improve its military capabilities.
"I would oppose any cooperative efforts with dictatorships like China
because they inherently lead to technology transfers," said Rep. Dana
Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).
Meanwhile, Japan is working on the first of three spacecraft planned for
a regional navigation constellation called the Quazi-Zenith Satellite
System (QZSS). The first QZSS satellite is scheduled for launch in 2009
into a highly elliptical orbit.
In Parkinson's opinion, it is "very probable" that the Japanese and
Chinese will continue their programs. "In part this is because of the
world perception that the [Department of Defense] controlled system can
be easily disrupted," he said.
In India, space officials have two navigation projects in mind. They
plan to launch a system of geosynchronous satellites to improve the
accuracy of GPS signals for use at Indian airports and airspace.
Development of the GEO Augmented Navigation system appears to have U.S.
blessing. Raytheon, based in Waltham, Mass., is providing the ground
terminals.
In 2006, India also announced it would develop an Indian Regional
Navigation Satellite System by putting a seven-satellite constellation
in place by 2011.
In some ways the orbital architecture debates that are no doubt taking
place in China, India and Japan might mirror those that took place in
the United States in the 1970s.
"For regional deployment, geo-synchronous is a very reasonable
approach," Parkinson said. In fact, some U.S. officials had advocated
that as a test of U.S. navigation-satellite capabilities, he said.
Instead, U.S. officials decided to launch a first batch of six medium
Earth orbit satellites that would provide four to six hours of
"representative coverage," Parkinson said.
If other nations do succeed in setting up regional, and then global
systems, and those signals are made interchangeable with GPS signals,
that would a boon to satellite navigation customers, especially those in
canyon or mountainous terrain, Parkinson said.
"The extra satellites will greatly strengthen the geometry for these
impaired users," he said.
--
Gregory S. Williams
gregwilliams(at)knology.net
k4hsm(at)knology.net
http://www.etskywarn.net
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.icebearnation.com
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 19 May 2007 03:34:41 -0400
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] O&A Sponsors, Fans React To XM Suspension
To: medianews@twiar.org
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
O&A Sponsors, Fans React To XM Suspension
http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRWebSite/
By Keith Berman, Kevin Carter and Mike Boyle
Pro-Opie & Anthony support is coming from a very unusual place: their
advertisers. Under what passes for normal circumstances, you'd see
sponsors pull out of a show to distance themselves from something
negative the hosts said or did. In this case, it's the opposite, as a
couple of clients are actually dropping their advertising because XM
suspended O&A.
In a letter posted on his company's Web site, Nashville Coffee GM, Lou
Galli went off on XM: "It is apparent that XM Radio is beholden to
crybaby special interest groups who cannot separate humor from reality,"
he wrote, saying he's not only pulled his own ads, but also contacted
other O&A sponsors and encouraged them to do the same.
Galli added, "It is also unfortunate that XM Radio executives don't have
the guts to stand up for their on-air talent."
Adult company Adameve.com has plans to yank its spots as well, with this
note posted on the People Against Censorship (P.A.C.) Web site
(peopleagainstcensorship.org) from the company?s Libby Lynn:
?Just wanted to let you know that PAC is making a difference. Today, I
received several phone calls from P.A.C. members, asking us to stop
advertising on XM202 in light of the recent suspension of Opie &
Anthony. After meeting with our marketing team, Adameve.com has decided
to cancel our advertisements on XM202 until and unless Opie & Anthony
are allowed back on the air. Our ads should stop airing some time next
week, and we will be sending out an official press release on Monday,
5/21/07. As an adult company with a long history of fighting for our
First Amendment rights, freedom of speech issues are extremely important
to Adameve.com and our parent company, PHE. We are a proud member of the
Free Speech Coalition, and our founder, Phil Harvey, is a vocal and
politically active opponent of First Amendment violations.?
XM is also apparently feeling the heat from some subscribers. In a poll
conducted on the P.A.C.?s Web site, as of Friday morning (May 18) over
3,200 people claimed they've cancelled their XM subscriptions over the
O&A mess, with another group of more than 1,600 subscribers saying
they've put their subscriptions on hold until the show comes back.
In another letter posted on the P.A.C. Web site, Nashville Coffee?s
Galli wrote:
?Just want to let you know that we pulled our advertising from XM. It's
a shame. We just increased our sponsorship last week because it was
going so well. FYI -- I also cancelled my 12 XM Radio accounts. Guess we
will go back to listening to CDs.?
P.A.C. is the group behind a three-day XM suspension protest that has
been going on outside O&A?s CBS Radio studios in New York from 6 a.m.-9
a.m. since May 16 and is set to conclude Friday (May 18).
This all began with the May 10 airing of a bit on O&A's XM show that
centered on a character named ?Homeless Charlie,? who declared his
desire to sexually assault secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, first
lady Laura Bush and Queen Elizabeth. The duo has since apologized for
the incident and XM issued a statement denouncing it.
XM might not have taken action at all if it hadn't been for Opie and
Anthony?s May 14 comments on their XM show about the bit and the
reaction it caused, which included this exchange: Opie: "You do work for
a company, they do pay you, so you have to obey their dumb regulations."
Anthony responded: "If people don't like it, you get poor ratings and
you lose the show."
XM Satellite Radio announced a 30-day suspension for O&A on May 15
following those comments and said that by the duo uttering them they
?put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the
matter. The management of XM Radio decided to suspend Opie and Anthony
to make clear that our on-air talent must take seriously the
responsibility that creative freedom requires of them.?
XM was not immediately available to comment on the advertiser
cancellations and the validity of the poll numbers from the P.A.C.'s Web
poll.
--
Gregory S. Williams
gregwilliams(at)knology.net
k4hsm(at)knology.net
http://www.etskywarn.net
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.icebearnation.com
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 19 May 2007 20:55:12 -0400
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Venezuelans protest opposition TV channel closure
To: medianews@twiar.org
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Venezuelans protest opposition TV channel closure
Sat May 19, 2007 4:45PM EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1923370120070519?feedType=RSS&rpc=22
By Christian Oliver
CARACAS (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of protesters on Saturday
denounced President Hugo Chavez's plans to close an opposition
television channel, accusing their leader of maiming Venezuelan
democracy as he forges a socialist state.
Chavez says RCTV, the country's oldest private broadcaster, supported a
bungled coup against him in 2002. He has had a long-running battle with
opposition television stations, calling them "horsemen of the apocalypse."
"Let us defend democracy, let us defend freedom, let us defend free
independent media such as RCTV," RCTV's managing director, Marcel
Garnier, told demonstrators in Caracas.
"Or we will allow the president to topple the country over the precipice
of totalitarianism where not even his own supporters can express their
opinions," he said as the crowd waved flags, applauded and blew whistles.
Chavez has vowed not to renew RCTV's broadcast license when it expires
on May 27. It will be replaced by a state channel showing programs that
promote the values of Chavez's self-styled leftist revolution. He
accuses RCTV's saucy soap operas of spreading immorality.
Analysts have identified a critical media as one of the principal
safeguards against the president building a Cuban-style state in the
OPEC nation.
Chavez, re-elected by a landslide last year, still enjoys support of
about 60 percent of the public on the back of massive social spending.
But a leading pollster has also found a majority of Venezuelans oppose
the closure of RCTV.
BELOVED SOAP OPERAS
Datanalisis found almost 70 percent of Venezuelans would rather RCTV
kept broadcasting, but worried more about the loss of their favorite
soap operas than free speech.
RCTV has been showing a nostalgic collection of clips from comedies,
soap operas and Christmas specials that have been part of life in the
Caribbean country since it started transmission in 1953.
"It is like losing a close relative," said Renaldo Gonzalez, a student
at the protest, whose family members have worked at RCTV as actors,
producers and directors.
During the 2002 coup against Chavez, which was led by business and
military leaders, opposition channels showed cartoons and films while
massive crowds of Chavez's supporters mobilized for a counterattack.
Since then, Chavez has accused private television channels of
manipulating the news.
But on Saturday, while opposition channel Globovision showed tens of
thousands of protesters swelling the streets, Venezuelan state
television showed empty roads and groups of five or 10 protesters
walking to the march.
Housewife Maria Tintero said she was marching to support RCTV because
"it tells the truth. The state channels never say what is going on in
the country, about how much insecurity and poverty there is."
She disagreed that it was fair to shut a channel that supported a coup
against an elected leader.
"The first coup, that was Chavez," she said, referring to the
president's unsuccessful coup attempt in 1992.
Granier told the crowd that the loss of RCTV could foreshadow a
dangerous reversal of Latin American democracy.
"The president has to choose between the democratic path Venezuelans
want, or he can follow the terrible path where Fidel Castro, Adolf
Hitler and Joseph Stalin showed the way," he said.
--
Gregory S. Williams
gregwilliams(at)knology.net
k4hsm(at)knology.net
http://www.etskywarn.net
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.icebearnation.com
------------------------------
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End of Medianews Digest, Vol 268, Issue 1
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