[Medianews] Firms make messaging pictures much easier

[Monty Solomon]

Firms make messaging pictures much easier

By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff  |  March 19, 2005

Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless, the two biggest US cellphone 
companies, said yesterday they have interconnected their networks for 
subscribers to share digital pictures, a move analysts expect to 
rapidly accelerate the usage of camera phones.

Until now, wireless subscribers in the United States who wanted to 
transmit a picture from their phone to another person's phone have 
been able to do so only if the recipient uses the same service 
provider they do.

Now, the 50 million customers of Cingular can also send ''multimedia 
messages to Verizon's 44 million, and vice versa. Other carriers -- 
including Sprint Corp., Nextel Communications Inc., and T-Mobile USA 
Inc. -- are expected to follow suit soon.

Based on the explosive growth in text messaging after US wireless 
carriers allowed so-called intercarrier messaging starting in the 
summer of 2002, industry insiders expect the Cingular-Verizon pact to 
promote much heavier usage of picture-sharing services.

US text message traffic has soared to over 2.5 billion messages a 
month from about 300 million in 2002, according to iLoop Mobile, a 
San Jose, Calif., messaging technology company. For Verizon, text 
message traffic ''tripled overnight after intercarrier messaging was 
launched, spokeswoman J. Abra Degbor said.

...

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/03/19/firms_make_messaging_pictures_much_easier/



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[Medianews] Website rouses informants' fear, investigators' ire

[Monty Solomon]

Website rouses informants' fear, investigators' ire

By Kathleen Burge, Globe Staff  |  March 21, 2005

When a team of police, federal agents, and a drug-sniffing dog burst 
through the front door and scoured every corner of the house, the 
woman and her boyfriend figured they knew who had turned them in. So 
she struck back: In the shadowy realms of cyberspace, she publicly 
identified the informant who she suspected had ratted on her 
boyfriend, landing him in court on drug possession charges.

On a website launched seven months ago from the North Shore, the 
woman posted a note saying her alleged informant, a 27-year-old man 
from the Tewksbury area, was a ''narc who made a practice of 
snitching on others to minimize his own legal problems.

...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/03/21/website_rouses_informants_fear_investigators_ire/



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[Medianews] Is it Net assistance . . . or cyberstalking?

[Monty Solomon]

Is it Net assistance . . . or cyberstalking?

By Associated Press  |  March 21, 2005

A Cambridge start-up is offering a service it says gives a measure of 
control over the personal data the Internet disgorges, giving new 
meaning to a practice commonly termed ''ego surfing or ''Googling 
yourself.

The practice of typing your name into an Internet search engine and 
seeing what pops up is now common, but the results can be 
unpredictable. The Internet holds surprising amounts of personal 
information, and some of it may be outdated, inaccurate, or 
embarrassing.

ZoomInfo's computers have compiled individual Web profiles of 25 
million people, summarizing what the Web publicly says about each 
person. The service, launched today, allows Web surfers to search for 
their profile, then change it for free.

...

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/03/21/is_it_net_assistanceor_cyberstalking/
 



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[Medianews] Our telephonic primacy

[Monty Solomon]

Our telephonic primacy

By William F. S. Miles  |  March 21, 2005

''WE'RE NUMBER One!

Americans often make this jingoistic boast in bouts of competitive 
patriotism. But on what basis? When it comes to the standard 
international ranking of countries in terms of human development 
(life expectancy, literacy, and purchasing power, as compiled by the 
United Nations Development Program), the United States comes in a 
respectable, but hardly chest thumping, number 7 (bested by Belgium, 
for goodness sake!) Even when it comes to the kind of measure with 
which UN-suspicious free marketeers are more comfortable -- 
straightforward GDP per capita -- we're still outdone by the likes of 
Norway and, Lord help us, Luxembourg.

There is one incontrovertible standard by which we are first, though: 
international telephone ranking. I am not referring to cellphone use: 
In this respect we are laggards, trailing 34 other countries 
(including Estonia). I don't even mean the extent of regular 
landlines, where we are again 7th, squeaking ahead of those 
loquacious Icelanders.

No, the one measure by which we are literally Number 1 is our 
International Country Code. When you call home from overseas, you 
need merely hit (after dialing the international circuit) the number 
1.

Disappointed? Don't be. There is much we can learn about the world, 
and America's place in it, by examining the international telephone 
code chart.

...

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/03/21/our_telephonic_primacy/



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[Medianews] Flickr Selects EZ Prints to Provide Fulfillment of Photo Printing

[Monty Solomon]

 Flickr Selects EZ Prints to Provide Fulfillment of Photo Printing
 - Mar 10, 2005 06:00 AM (BusinessWire)

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 2005--EZ Prints, Inc., a
leader in high-quality photofinishing services, announced today that
it will provide high-quality digital photofinishing fulfillment
services to online photo sharing innovator, Flickr. Flickr, which is
still being beta tested, has become an instant hit among photo
enthusiasts who are drawn to the uniquely social aspects of the site.
By partnering with EZ Prints, Flickr customers will also have access
to an array of high-quality photographic products.


Flickr currently has over 360,000 members and is growing at
approximately 30 percent per month. The service allows people to share
photos with friends and family, and also gives users the option to add
select photos to one of Flickr's popular specialty groups, or to the
Flickr public photo collection, which currently houses over five
million searchable images from around the world. The new printing
options will be available when the service is officially launched
later in 2005.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=47550411



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[Medianews] News Corporation Completes Acquisition of Fox

[Monty Solomon]

 News Corporation Completes Acquisition of Fox
 - Mar 21, 2005 05:51 PM (BusinessWire)

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2005--News Corporation (NYSE:
NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) announced today that it has completed its
previously announced acquisition of Fox Entertainment Group, Inc.'s
Class A common stock (NYSE:FOX) that News Corporation did not already
own.


In a short-form merger of Fox Entertainment Group, Inc. with and
into News Corporation's wholly owned subsidiary, Fox Acquisition Corp,
that was effected earlier today, each share of Fox Class A common
stock, other than those owned by News Corporation or its subsidiaries,
was converted into 2.04 shares of News Corporation Class A common
stock, subject to the rights of stockholders to seek appraisal under
Delaware law.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=47820386


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[Medianews] Dish 942 review

[Monty Solomon]

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=39891


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[Medianews] Appeal Filed in Apple Trade Secrets Suit

[Monty Solomon]

  Appeal Filed in Apple Trade Secrets Suit
  - Mar 23, 2005 10:21 AM (AP Online)

By RACHEL KONRAD AP Technology Writer


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Online journalists who published secrets about 
Apple Computer Inc. filed an appeal Tuesday in a case that could have 
broad implications for the media.


A California judge ruled March 11 that three independent online 
reporters may have to provide the identities of their confidential 
sources and that they weren't protected by shield laws that usually 
protect journalists.


In December, Apple sued 25 unnamed individuals, called Does and 
believed to be Apple employees, who leaked specifications about a 
product code-named Asteroid to Monish Bhatia, Jason O'Grady and 
another person who writes under the pseudonym Kasper Jade. Their 
articles appeared in the online publications Apple Insider and 
PowerPage.


The Cupertino-based company said the leaks and the published 
documents violated nondisclosure agreements and California's Uniform 
Trade Secrets Act. Company attorneys demanded that the reporters 
identify their sources.


The reporters sought a protective order against the subpoenas, saying 
that identifying sources would create a chilling effect that could 
erode the media's ability to report in the public's interest.


But Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg ruled in 
Apple's favor earlier this month, saying that reporters who published 
stolen property weren't entitled to protections.


On Tuesday, attorneys representing the journalists filed an appeal, 
as expected. They argued that the judge's ruling violated the First 
Amendment and that Apple should first subpoena its own employees or 
use sophisticated computer forensics to determine the sources of the 
leak before subpoenaing the journalists.

...

  - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=47861832


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[Medianews] EFFector 18.9: Action Alert - Stop the Trademark Act from Diluting Free Speech!

[Monty Solomon]

EFFector  Vol. 18, No. 9  March 17, 2005  [EMAIL PROTECTED]

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

In the 325th Issue of EFFector:

 * Action Alert: Stop the Trademark Act from Diluting Free 
   Speech!
 * Counting Down to Grokster with EFF
 * Grokster Send-off Party - March 24
 * CopyNight.org: Meet-up for Copyfighters - March 29
 * EFF Advises US Army on Soldiers' Email Legacy 
 * CFP 2005: Panopticon - April 12-15
 * MiniLinks (14): Apple Tightens DRM Noose
 * Administrivia

...

http://www.eff.org/effector/18/09.php


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[Medianews] EFFector 18.7: Hearing Friday Could Determine the Future of Online Journalists' Rights

[Monty Solomon]

EFFector  Vol. 18, No. 7  March 3, 2005  [EMAIL PROTECTED]

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

In the 323rd Issue of EFFector:

 * Hearing Friday Could Determine the Future of Online 
   Journalists' Rights
 * Press Conference on Supreme Court File Sharing Case 
   Now Online
 * Keep RFIDs Out of California IDs
 * Support EFF - Bid on Freedom to Connect Pass on eBay!
 * CFP 2005: Panopticon - April 12-15
 * MiniLinks (14): European Commission Ignores Opposition 
   to Software Patents
 * Administrivia


...

http://www.eff.org/effector/18/07.php


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[Medianews] EFFector 18.8: Action Alert - Best E-voting Bill Reintroduced - Lend Your Support!

[Monty Solomon]

EFFector  Vol. 18, No. 8  March 11, 2005  [EMAIL PROTECTED]

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

In the 324th Issue of EFFector:

 
 * Action Alert: Best E-voting Bill Reintroduced - Lend
   Your Support!
 * EFF Giving and Activism Pages Improved
 * Court Crushes Online Journalists' Rights
 * WIPO Shutting Out Public Interest Organizations 
 * EFF to ITU: DRM Is Dangerous for Developing Countries
 * Slowly, Sunshine Creeping Into Texas E-voting Process
 * Grokster Send-off Party - You're Invited!
 * IP Attorneys: EFF Wants You
 * Staff Calendar: 03.16.05 - Fred von Lohmann speaks at
   IP and Creativity: Redefining the Issue, Washington,
   DC
 * MiniLinks (16): Discontent in the Cult of Mac
 * Administrivia


...

http://www.eff.org/effector/18/08.php



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[Medianews] EPIC Alert 12.06

[Monty Solomon]

 E P I C  A l e r t

Volume 12.06  March 24, 2005


 Published by the
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
 Washington, D.C.

  http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.06.html


Table of Contents


[1] EPIC Calls for Regulation of Choicepoint; Coalition Demands Action
[2] Madrid Summit Urges Democratic Response to Threats of Terrorism
[3] Google's Gmail Subject of EPIC West Testimony in California Senate
[4] Transportation Biometric ID Raises Privacy Concerns; Review Urged
[5] EPIC Introduces EPIC FOIA Notes, 2005 FOIA Gallery
[6] News in Brief
[7] EPIC Bookstore: J.J. Luna's How to Be Invisible
[8] Upcoming Conferences and Events

...

http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.06.html





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[Medianews] Amazon.com Knows, Predicts Shopping Habits

[Monty Solomon]

  Amazon.com Knows, Predicts Shopping Habits
  - Mar 25, 2005 09:17 PM (AP Online)

By ALLISON LINN AP Business Writer


SEATTLE (AP) -- Amazon.com Inc. has one potentially big advantage 
over its rival online retailers: It knows things about you that you 
may not know yourself.


Though plenty of companies have detailed systems for tracking 
customer habits, critics and boosters alike say Amazon is the 
trailblazer, having collected information longer and used it more 
proactively. It even received a patent recently on technology aimed 
at tracking information about the people for whom its customers buy 
gifts.


Amazon sees such data-gathering as the best way to keep customers 
happy and loyal, a relationship-building technique that analysts 
consider potentially crucial to besting other online competitors.

...

  - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=47926794


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[Medianews] Writer of Retracted Stories Faces Review

[Monty Solomon]

  Writer of Retracted Stories Faces Review
  - Mar 25, 2005 07:13 PM (AP Online)

By MARK JEWELL AP Business Writer


BOSTON (AP) -- A freelance journalist who authored two online news 
articles that Technology Review magazine retracted over questions of 
veracity is also facing review of stories she wrote for other 
publications.


The journalist, Michelle Delio, is a 37-year-old New York City 
freelance writer specializing in technology.


Delio said Friday that Technology Review's online version was correct 
in retracting the two stories because they were based on an anonymous 
source who misrepresented himself to her.


But she defended the rest of the work she has written over her 
15-year career as truthful.


WiredNews.com, for whom Delio has long been a contributor, published 
a note to readers citing this month's retractions by 
TechnologyReview.com and saying it had assigned a journalism 
professor to review articles written by Delio.


The online publication has not, however, removed any of the hundreds 
of stories Delio has written for it, said Wired News' managing editor 
Marty Cortinas.


Adam Penenberg, a New York University professor who also writes a 
media column for Wired News, was to do the review.

...

  - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=47925733



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[Medianews] Purloined Lives

[Monty Solomon]

Purloined Lives

By GARY RIVLIN
March 17, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO, March 16 - The phone lines are seldom quiet
for long at the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center.
But lately they have been ringing almost continually.

The calls come from people like Warren Lambert, who phoned
on Feb. 18, the same day he received a letter conveying
alarming news from ChoicePoint, a company that compiles
data on millions of citizens. It was only one of more than
140,000 such letters ChoicePoint has mailed in recent
weeks, informing people like Mr. Lambert that computer
files containing their names, addresses and Social Security
numbers, among other critical personal data, had been
inadvertently sold to several individuals, posing as
legitimate business customers.

Mr. Lambert, a 67-year-old retiree living in San Francisco,
called the identity theft hotline to ask not only what
immediate steps he should take but, more important, what
I'm going to be exposed to.

The immediate steps were clear, according to Jay Foley, who
with his wife, Linda, runs the ID theft counseling center
from their home in San Diego. Mr. Lambert needed to phone
the three major credit reporting agencies to find out if
any credit cards or other accounts had been opened in his
name - none had, so far - and then place a fraud alert on
his accounts, to warn potential creditors not to open
additional accounts in Mr. Lambert's name without fuller
verification.

But Mr. Lambert also needed to understand that the privacy
breach meant he now had something similar to an incurable
virus - a chronic condition he would need to monitor for
the rest of his life.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/17/business/17private.html?ex=1268715600en=ed495f886c4621c7ei=5090



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[Medianews] F.C.C. Extends 'Truth in Billing' Guidelines to Cellphones

[Monty Solomon]

F.C.C. Extends 'Truth in Billing' Guidelines to Cellphones

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 11, 2005

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (AP) - Regulators voted Thursday to
extend truth in billing guidelines to cellphone bills in
hopes of promoting clearer, shorter statements devoid of
confusing add-on fees.

All five members of the Federal Communications Commission
gave their support to a measure requiring cellphone bills
to be brief, clear, nonmisleading and in plain language.
The guidelines already cover bills for traditional phone
service.

The F.C.C. said it was misleading to suggest that any fees
in addition to the base rate for cellphone service were
caused by taxes or government-mandated charges.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/11/business/11phone.html?ex=1268283600en=42d7faeec224862dei=5090


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[Medianews] Fwd: Announcing EEPI - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative

[Monty Solomon]

 - - - - -
  
   Announcing EEPI - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative

  Lauren Weinstein 

 [EMAIL PROTECTED]

   March 25, 2005


I'm pleased to announce EEPI ( http://www.eepi.org ),
a new initiative aimed at fostering cooperation in the 
areas of electronic entertainment and its many related 
issues, problems, and impacts.

I've teamed with 30+ year recording industry veteran 
Thane Tierney in this effort to find cooperative solutions 
to technical, legal, policy, and other issues relating to 
the vast and growing range of electronic technologies that 
are crucial to the entertainment industry, but that also 
impact other industries, interest groups, individuals, and 
society in major ways.

There are many interested parties, including record labels, film
studios, the RIAA, the MPAA, artists, consumers, intellectual
freedom advocates, broadcasters, manufacturers, legislators,
regulators, and a multitude of others.

The issues cover an enormous gamut from DVDs, CDs, and piracy 
issues to multimedia cell phones, from digital video recorders 
to Internet file sharing/P2P, from digital TV and the 
broadcast flag to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
and fair use controversies.

Working together, rather than fighting each other, perhaps
we can all find some broadly acceptable paths that will be of
benefit to everyone.

For more information, please see the EEPI Web site at:

   http://www.eepi.org


A moderated public discussion list and an EEPI announcement list 
are now available at the site.

Public participation is cordially invited.  Thank you very much.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein


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[Medianews] TSA Work Sloppy, but Not Illegal

[Monty Solomon]

TSA Work Sloppy, but Not Illegal

By Ryan Singel
02:00 AM Mar. 26, 2005 PT

Homeland Security officials failed to keep millions of airline 
passenger records secure and repeatedly made false denials of their 
involvement in data transfers to the media and Congress, but they did 
not violate federal law, according to a report released Friday.

The report (.pdf) by acting Department of Homeland Security Inspector 
General Richard Skinner found that the Transportation Security 
Administration was involved in 14 different data transfers totaling 
more than 20 million records in 2002 and 2003.

The report describes an array of data dumps from airlines to TSA 
contractors and paints a picture of an agency unable to keep track of 
its own operations, leading to false denials of data transfers to the 
media and inaccurate sworn testimony to the Senate.

However, the department did not violate the Privacy Act, which 
prohibits secret databases on Americans, since the agency used the 
records in bulk and did not look up individuals by name, according to 
the report.

Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways and American, Frontier, Continental 
and America West airlines -- along with three airline record 
processing firms, all secretly turned over data directly to the TSA 
and government contractors.

The data included names, addresses, dates of birth, itineraries and 
credit card numbers.

...

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,67031,00.html


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[Medianews] Cell Phone Songs Prompt Control Questions

[Monty Solomon]

  Cell Phone Songs Prompt Control Questions
  - Mar 27, 2005 04:25 PM (AP Online)

By BRUCE MEYERSON AP Business Writer


NEW YORK (AP) -- It's been the great Whodunit? of two big 
technology shows: Who put the gag in Motorola Corp.'s mouth just as 
it was going to unveil a new cell phone featuring the iTunes music 
download service from Apple Computer Inc.?


Motorola initially said it acted alone, then quickly pointed to 
Apple, citing the computer company's long practice of never unveiling 
new products until they're actually available to buy.


Many industry players, however, suspect that a wireless service 
provider intervened, essentially telling Motorola that, `I'll be 
darned if I'll sell your phones to my customers if it means they can 
buy songs through Apple and Motorola without giving me a piece of the 
pie.'


Or, some surmise, perhaps a wireless carrier who planned to offer the 
iTunes phone balked at the last minute?


This mystery, which played prominently this month at both the CeBit 
show in Germany where the phone was to be unveiled and then the CTIA 
Wireless show in New Orleans, drives right to the heart of an uneasy 
dynamic simmering in the cellular industry.


The rush is on to deliver music and video to mobile phones, with 
wireless providers and device makers jockeying for position to grab 
their share of the payday, all parties mindful of the surprising 
billions being spent on musical ringtones.


At the same time, the media companies who produce the entertainment, 
which also includes video games, are approaching cautiously, 
determined to avert any Napster-like, file-sharing bonanza among cell 
phone users.


In fact, Motorola also plays a role in a second drama involving these 
choppy uncharted waters.


Earlier this year, a class-action lawsuit was filed in three states 
involving a Motorola phone sold by Verizon Wireless. The v710 handset 
was equipped with a short-range wireless technology called Bluetooth 
and was configured to work with cordless headsets. Only one problem: 
Its file-transfer capabilities had been disabled.


The suit insinuates that Verizon Wireless is obliging subscribers to 
use its cell network if they wish, for example, to send a photo taken 
on a camera phone to a computer or another cell phone.


...

  - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=47934972



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[Medianews] Extras! Extras!

[Monty Solomon]

March 2005
Extras! Extras!

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT APPLE'S iPod is a terrific music player. But what 
you might not know is that it's much more than just a high-tech 
Walkman. There are quite a few things you can do with an iPod, things 
that have nothing to do with music.

If you got an iPod recently, you're probably not yet familiar with 
some of its talents. So here's a quick guide. Except where noted, 
this guide applies to two of the three main iPod models: the larger 
standard white ones and the smaller, colorful Minis. Most of these 
features don't apply to the stripped-down, low-priced iPod Shuffle, 
and some are available only with the latest iPod models.

...

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/report-200503.html






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[Medianews] Immersion Corp. v. Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.

[Monty Solomon]

$90 Million Judgment Against Sony
http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/sony/immsony32405jdg.html

Immersion Corp. v. Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.
Judgment

A U.S.-based technology company wins a $90 million judgment against 
Sony in its patent infringement lawsuit over the controller used in 
Sony PlayStation consoles.
(March 24, 2005)

http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/sony/immsony32405jdg.html

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[Medianews] 'Meet the Fockers' DVD

[Monty Solomon]

 The Highest-Grossing Live-Action Comedy of All Time 'Meet the
 Fockers' Arrives on DVD and Includes a New Extended Edition of
 the Film Featuring Over 15 Minutes of Outrageous Scenes Not Shown
 in Theaters
 - Mar 28, 2005 01:54 PM (PR Newswire)

DVD Packed With Hilarious Bonus Features Including Over 85 Bloopers and
Deleted Scenes Marches Down Store Aisles April 19, 2005 From Universal Studios
Home Entertainment


UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Meet the Fockers, the
highest-grossing live-action comedy of all time, makes its DVD and VHS debut
April 19, 2005 and includes a hilarious extended version of the film.  In
addition to an extra 15 minutes of sidesplitting laughter not included in the
theatrical version, the DVD is packed with bonus material including
65 bloopers and 10 more deleted scenes.  Meet the Fockers, the sequel to the
2000 comedy smash Meet the Parents, reunites Robert De Niro as ex-CIA
operative Jack Byrnes; Ben Stiller as his future son-in-law, male nurse Greg
Focker; Blythe Danner as Jack's wife; and Teri Polo as Greg's fiancee.  But
this time they're joined by Hollywood icons Dustin Hoffman and Barbra
Streisand as Greg's eccentric and overbearing parents Bernie and Roz Focker.
One of the most popular comedies ever, Meet the Fockers is ready to take its
place on the shelf of all-time classics.  The DVD is priced at $29.98 SRP; the
VHS is $23.98.


Meet the Bonus Features


The Meet the Fockers DVD is packed with bonus materials that will keep
viewers laughing long after the end credits roll, including:

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=47949229


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[Medianews] Divide grows on treatment of students in online breach

[Monty Solomon]

Divide grows on treatment of students in online breach

By Robert Weisman, Globe Staff  |  March 28, 2005

A small backlash has formed against the business schools of Harvard 
and some of the nation's other most prestigious universities for 
denying admission to more than 200 applicants who used a loophole 
devised by a computer hacker to peek at their admission files.

Last week, Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, dissenting from 
Harvard's stern reaction to the digital trespassing, said it had 
accepted at least a few of the electronic intruders.

For administrators at Harvard, MIT, Duke, and Carnegie Mellon, the 
attempts to view confidential data this month were the electronic 
equivalent of breaking and entering, wholly unworthy of the future 
captains of American commerce. But others see the online breaches as 
a victimless crime by overeager young people accustomed to copying 
and pasting links onto websites. The contrasting reactions may expose 
not only a generational divide in Internet etiquette but also 
increasingly divergent mores in the physical and virtual worlds at a 
time when free downloading of music and open-source software is 
commonplace.

...

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/03/28/divide_grows_on_treatment_of_students_in_online_breach/


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[Medianews] As Verizon hikes 411 cost, rival offers a free tryout

[Monty Solomon]

As Verizon hikes 411 cost, rival offers a free tryout

By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff  |  March 28, 2005

As Verizon prepares to nearly quadruple the price for calling 411 
Friday, to $1.25, a North Carolina company that sells a discount 
directory-assistance alternative plans a big promotion: free calls 
for everyone in Massachusetts for the day.

Starting Friday, barring a highly unlikely last-minute intervention 
by state regulators, Verizon is raising the price for calling 411 to 
$1.25 from 34 cents. Customers will, however, continue to get 10 free 
calls a month before they start paying the fee.

In response, 411Saver, a company based in Maggie Valley, N.C., plans 
to offer unlimited free directory assistance calls to Bay State 
residents between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday. It is setting up a 
special number for the day: 1-866-MASS-411 (1-866-627-7411).

...

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/03/28/as_verizon_hikes_411_cost_rival_offers_a_free_tryout/



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[Medianews] Sony in Dispute Over Digital Projectors

[Monty Solomon]

  Sony in Dispute Over Digital Projectors
  - Mar 29, 2005 01:20 AM (AP Online)

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) -- There's a showdown brewing at the local 
movie theater, but it's not playing on the screen. It's in the 
projection booth.


Sony Electronics Inc., a unit of Sony Corp., last week demonstrated a 
projection technology for digital cinema that displays images at 
twice the resolution of existing digital projectors.


Sony plans to begin shipping the system in July, setting up a race 
with Texas Instruments Inc., whose technology is at the heart of 
digital projectors already on the market.


The competition is emerging at the same time Hollywood is looking to 
work out a fair way to roll out digital cinema nationwide to replace 
the ubiquitous 35mm film projectors.


Critics question how well the eye can distinguish between the 2,000 
lines of resolution that current digital projectors have and the 
4,000 lines Sony's new projector promises (by comparison, 
high-definition TV sets show up to 1,080 lines). They also question 
whether color separation and contrast are any better with a higher 
line count.


Regardless, Landmark Theaters, owned by entrepreneur Mark Cuban, 
announced it would be the first to use the projectors, giving Sony a 
high-profile partner in the quality debate.

...

  - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=47961533


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[Medianews] Company backs off bounty for Mac OS X virus

[Monty Solomon]

Company backs off bounty for Mac OS X virus
DVForge cited legal concerns in dropping its $25k offer

News Story by Paul Roberts

MARCH 28, 2005 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - A company that offered $25,000 
for the first virus that automatically spreads among Apple Computer 
Inc. computers running the Mac OS X operating system canceled the 
virus-writing contest and retracted the offer of cash, citing 
concerns about legal liability.

DVForge Inc. said on Saturday that it wouldn't offer cash for a 
Macintosh virus after legal concerns were raised about the contest 
and in the wake of complaints from Apple security experts. The 
contest was announced Friday and was intended to raise awareness of 
what Jack Campbell, CEO of DVForge, considers fear-mongering by 
antivirus company Symantec Corp.

...

http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/macos/story/0,10801,100701,00.html


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[Medianews] Secondhand blues for eBay consignment sellers

[Monty Solomon]

Secondhand blues for eBay consignment sellers

By Declan McCullagh
Story last modified Wed Mar 30 04:00:00 PST 2005

When Debbie Gordon founded Snappy Auctions, she thought her time
would be focused on entrepreneurial tasks like selling franchises and
linking the online store's computers to those of shipping companies.

But last year she received an unexpected letter from the Tennessee
Auctioneer Commission. It ordered Gordon, an eBay consignment seller
in Nashville, to submit to mandatory training and licensing. In
addition, Snappy Auctions would be required to hire a
government-approved auctioneer who had completed a two-year
apprenticeship and possessed a qualifying education certificate.

...

http://news.com.com/2100-1038-5645746.html



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[Medianews] What's Next for Apple?

[Monty Solomon]

What's Next for Apple?

Steve Jobs won't ever tell you -- but we will. Here's what a trail of
intriguing evidence reveals about where the world's hottest company
is going.

By Paul Sloan, Paul Kaihla, April 2005 Issue

Steve Jobs was rocking back and forth in his chair at the head of his
conference room table -- and venting. It was January 2002, and the
target of his ire was the music business. The industry was reeling
from Internet piracy and, as Jobs saw it, doing nothing about it.
Even Jobs himself, a man accustomed to commanding people's attention,
had been largely ignored by music execs. Jobs railed to his audience,
a few Apple (AAPL) lieutenants and Paul Vidich, then a senior exec at
Warner Music, about the industry's total lack of imagination. Until
now, Jobs said, I've never had a living, breathing music executive
come to Apple.

Vidich sat quietly.

Why is it, Jobs continued, that the people who run the music
industry just don't get it?

Vidich could have taken this the way Jobs certainly meant it -- as an
insult. But as Vidich listened, he couldn't help thinking that he
agreed. Finally, he spoke up.

Steve, he said, that's why we're here. We need some help.

It's amazing to consider what has happened since that encounter at
Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. In three years Apple has
utterly changed the way people listen to music, and Jobs has become
the hero of the very people he was lambasting. Top acts are eager to
sell their music via the iTunes music store. The iPod music player
has become totemic; it's selling at a rate of about 40 per minute.
White buds sprout from so many ears that a sudden human evolutionary
adaptation seems to have taken place.

...

http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,1037197,00.html



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[Medianews] 'Survivor' coming to Boston / The CBS reality show will host its first-ever urban series in the fall

[Monty Solomon]

'Survivor' coming to Boston
The CBS reality show will host its first-ever urban series in the fall

By Boston.com  |  April 1, 2005

If you see Survivor host Jeff Probst sipping a cappuccino at Café
Pompei in the North End, you better get used to it. Seems he'll be
visiting town for a while.

The CBS bellwether reality show will unveil its first-ever urban
version of Survivor, and has selected Boston as its host city.
Taping will begin in late September, according to an anonymous source
from Mark Burnett Productions.

...

http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2005/04/01/survivor_coming_to_boston/




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[Medianews] And Pod Said, Let There Be Light

[Monty Solomon]

Friday, 01 Apr 2005

And Pod Said, Let There Be Light
Solar-powered iPod to debut next year

http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2005/04/01/



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[Medianews] Digeo Chooses Samsung to Make Set-Top Boxes

[Monty Solomon]

Digeo Chooses Samsung to Make Set-Top Boxes

By SAUL HANSELL
April 4, 2005

Digeo, a company that designs software for set-top boxes used with 
cable television systems, will announce today that it has selected 
Samsung, the Korean electronics giant, to make its next generation of 
boxes.

The deal is an effort by the two companies to break into a market 
that has been tightly controlled by Scientific Atlanta and Motorola, 
which both make boxes and other equipment used in cable systems.

In fact, Motorola made the first box that ran the Digeo system, which 
is currently used in some cable systems owned by Adelphia 
Communications and Charter Communications. Charter, like Digeo, is 
controlled by Paul G. Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft.

The cable box market is expected to expand as more people move to 
digital cable service, which requires sophisticated boxes.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/04/technology/04samsung.html?ex=1270267200en=e704cfb63e209879ei=5090




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[Medianews] Hybrid-Car Tinkerers Scoff at No-Plug-In Rule

[Monty Solomon]

Hybrid-Car Tinkerers Scoff at No-Plug-In Rule

By DANNY HAKIM
April 2, 2005

DETROIT, April 1 - Ron Gremban and Felix Kramer have modified a 
Toyota Prius so it can be plugged into a wall outlet.

This does not make Toyota happy. The company has spent millions of 
dollars persuading people that hybrid electric cars like the Prius 
never need to be plugged in and work just like normal cars. So has 
Honda, which even ran a commercial that showed a guy wandering around 
his Civic hybrid fruitlessly searching for a plug.

But the idea of making hybrid cars that have the option of being 
plugged in is supported by a diverse group of interests, from 
neoconservatives who support greater fuel efficiency to utilities 
salivating at the chance to supplant oil with electricity. If you 
were able to plug a hybrid in overnight, you could potentially use a 
lot less gas by cruising for long stretches on battery power only. 
But unlike purely electric cars, which take hours to charge and need 
frequent recharging, you would not have to plug in if you did not 
want to.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/02/business/02plug.html?ex=1270098000en=f6b28dab795ed73aei=5090


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[Medianews] Hitachi Achieves Storage Record for Disk Drives

[Monty Solomon]

Hitachi Achieves Storage Record for Disk Drives

By JOHN MARKOFF
April 4, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO, April 3 - Hitachi Global Storage Technologies plans to 
announce on Monday a record for storage density on a disk drive, 
attained by a novel approach that packs the tiny magnetic ones and 
zeros that are the basis for digital storage technology even closer 
together.

The technology, known as perpendicular recording because the tiny 
magnets that represent digits are placed upright, not end to end, has 
been anticipated by the magnetic storage industry for more than two 
decades.

Hitachi will report a storage density of 230 billion bits per square 
inch, an achievement that would make possible a desktop computer 
drive capable of storing a trillion bytes of information, roughly 
twice the capacity of today's disks. The Hitachi record surpasses a 
previous advance of 206 billion bits per inch announced by the 
Toshiba Corporation in December.

Until now, the industry has relied on constant improvements in 
traditional longitudinal recording systems that employ tiny 
magnetized regions laid out end to end in circular tracks. A magnetic 
1 is changed to a 0 when the polarity of the region is reversed.

Now, however, longitudinal recording is reaching fundamental limits, 
and so the storage industry is preparing to make the transition to 
perpendicular recording.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/04/technology/04hitachi.html?ex=1270267200en=1814d77419f77c94ei=5090


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[Medianews] The Powers Behind the Home-Video Throne

[Monty Solomon]

The Powers Behind the Home-Video Throne

By CHRISTIAN MOERK
April 3, 2005

WHEN Steven Spielberg directs a movie, he gets final cut. But the 
last word is more likely to come from Laurent Bouzereau.

Mr. Bouzereau, 43, is barely known to the world at large. But in the 
clannish, status-obsessed corridors of Hollywood, he has a growing 
reputation as Mr. Spielberg's personal DVD producer, one of perhaps a 
dozen players who have mastered the young art of turning the video 
edition of a film into a sui generis event.

The Paris-born Mr. Bouzereau brings his own crew to film sets and 
works from a script for the DVD documentary while a filmmaker shoots 
the feature movie around him, a practice that is gaining in 
popularity. He is currently producing the bonus features for the disc 
version of Mr. Spielberg's forthcoming War of the Worlds with Tom 
Cruise (set to open in June), and has served as the director's go-to 
guy in all DVD matters for the last 10 years. He has added touches of 
his own to many movies, including Schindler's List, for which he 
created the documentary Voices From the List, featuring interviews 
with Holocaust survivors.

Mr. Bouzereau agrees that a good DVD producer can persuade directors 
with a large appetite that less is more. You'll have 10 hours of 
extra material, he said. But not all of it needs to be told.

Where feature films are mostly put together by producers pitching 
scripts to studios, which then attach a director and stars, the DVD 
business only has one star: the original film's director. A 
director's involvement - which means access to the set, extra footage 
and even ideas for special features - can mean the difference between 
a passable DVD and a great one.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/movies/03moer.html?ex=1270184400en=f2f7c8f1675ffdd4ei=5090



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[Medianews] You are what you play / With 15 minutes and the right equipment (OK, an iPod), anyone can be a DJ

[Monty Solomon]

You are what you play
With 15 minutes and the right equipment (OK, an iPod), anyone can be a DJ

By Christopher Muther, Globe Staff  |  April 5, 2005

By the time the theme from ''Charles in Charge began playing, the 
puzzled looks and arched eyebrows had already begun to subside. After 
all, this was a crowd that had been unwittingly exposed to everything 
from the Electric Light Orchestra's ''Sweet Talkin' Woman to 
Fountains of Wayne's ''I Want an Alien for Christmas for the past 
two hours. It was going to take much more than the theme song from a 
1980s Scott Baio-Willie Aames sitcom to scare them away.

''That's the thing about a night like this, says the offending 
''Charles in Charge fan, Sarah Korval. ''You're not at the mercy of 
one DJ. You could hear 15 amazing minutes of music and then 15 
not-so-amazing minutes, but it's always changing.

Korval is the host of a first for Boston, a new night called ''So You 
Want to Be an .MP3J? The weekly gathering offers anyone with an iPod 
an opportunity to experience 15 minutes of fame -- or shame -- as a 
DJ. Every Wednesday night at Allston's Common Ground Bar and Grill, 
digital music aficionados can sign up, patch their iPod (or any other 
MP3 player with a headphone jack) into the club's sound system, and 
share their playlist with the room.

Think of it as the strongest form of musical democracy since the 
jukebox. Beginning with the gramophone, DJing has been a strictly 
autocratic operation. The DJ chooses music, the DJ mixes the music, 
and the DJ gives you a dirty look if you attempt to make a request. 
''So You Want to Be an .MP3J? allows any schlub to show that he can 
do better. Most of all, ''So You Want to Be an .MP3J? acknowledges 
how the iPod has revolutionized the way that people look at music.

...

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2005/04/05/you_are_what_you_play/


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[Medianews] Amazon.com Offers Harry Potter Fans Delivery of ``Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' on the Day It is Released

[Monty Solomon]

 Amazon.com Offers Harry Potter Fans Delivery of ``Harry Potter
 and the Half-Blood Prince'' on the Day It is Released
 - Apr 5, 2005 09:01 AM (BusinessWire)


SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 5, 2005--

   Amazon.com Teams with UPS and the United States Postal Service to
  Deliver the Sixth Harry Potter Book to Customers' Doorsteps on Its
 July 16 Release Date for the Same Price as Standard Shipping


Once again practicing a little wizardry of its own, Amazon.com
(www.amazon.com) has teamed with UPS and the United States Postal
Service to deliver Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth
book in J.K. Rowling's epic Harry Potter series, to excited fans
across the country Saturday, July 16 -- the first day the book is
available to the public.


For the same price as standard shipping, Amazon.com will be
delivering Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince via UPS and the
U.S. Postal Service so that it arrives on customers' doorsteps
Saturday, July 16.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48156813


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[Medianews] Krause v. Titleserv, Inc.

[Monty Solomon]

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals

Krause v. Titleserv, Inc. (03/21/05 - No. 03-9303)
In a copyright infringement dispute concerning a computer program, 
summary judgment in favor of defendant is affirmed where it was 
entitled to the affirmative defense provided in 17 U.S.C. section 
117(a)(1).
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/2nd/039303p.pdf 


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[Medianews] Verizon Brings VoiceWing Internet-Based Calling to Massachusetts for as Low as $19.95 a Month

[Monty Solomon]

 Verizon Brings VoiceWing Internet-Based Calling to Massachusetts
 for as Low as $19.95 a Month
 - Apr 6, 2005 09:00 AM (PR Newswire)

VoiceWing Costs Less Than Traditional Phone Service and Harnesses the 
Power of the Internet to Provide Unique Calling Features


BOSTON, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of Massachusetts now have a 
new low-cost, feature-rich option for telephone service with 
VoiceWing, an Internet-based calling service from Verizon. One 
VoiceWing calling plan just introduced today gives customers 500 
minutes of outbound local and domestic long-distance for just $19.95 
a month. An unlimited local and long-distance plan is also available 
for as low as $29.95 a month.


VoiceWing customers use a small telephone adapter provided by Verizon 
to connect their own telephones to their home high-speed Internet 
connections. The telephone adapter allows the VoiceWing customer to 
send and receive calls over the Internet instead of using a standard 
phone line. The service works with both DSL and cable modem broadband 
connections and allows subscribers to call anyone, anywhere, 
worldwide.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48188401


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[Medianews] Maine Joins Fight to Keep Pay Phones

[Monty Solomon]

 Maine Joins Fight to Keep Pay Phones
 - Apr 6, 2005 05:39 AM (AP Online)

By GLENN ADAMS Associated Press Writer


FAYETTE, Maine (AP) -- Along a hilly stretch of road in central 
Maine, there's no cell phone service for more than a mile.


Callers once used the pay phone outside the Fayette Country Store, 
but that ended when the phone company, despite objections, removed 
it. Customers who need to make toll calls now are told to drive a few 
miles to use a pay phone at the Readfield Post Office.


Around the state and country, similar scenes are playing out as 
telephone companies remove unprofitable pay phones. In Maine alone, 
the 8,200 pay phones available to the public in 1998 dropped to 4,500 
by 2003, according to state Rep. Herbert Adams.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48184373


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[Medianews] Sperm- not so Mobile

[Monty Solomon]

http://www.newcastle.edu.au/news/media-releases/2005/aitkenmobile.htm

Friday 18 February, 2005

Sperm- not so Mobile

A preliminary study at the University of Newcastle has identified 
that radio waves of a similar frequency to those associated with 
mobile phones can damage sperm DNA in mice.

Professor John Aitken and Dr Bruce King from the Faculty of Science 
and Information Technology conducted the preliminary study exposing 
mice to electromagnetic radiation at a frequency similar to what most 
people receive from their mobile phones.

Initial results found that there was more DNA damage in the exposed 
sperm than in sperm from the control groups.

Professor Aitken stresses, Clearly further research needs to be done 
before we are able to establish an impact of mobile phone use on 
sperm quality. These are very preliminary findings that will have to 
be substantiated in additional, more detailed, studies.

The study will be published in the International Journal of Andrology.


http://www.newcastle.edu.au/news/media-releases/2005/aitkenmobile.htm


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[Medianews] Mathematician untangles legendary problem

[Monty Solomon]

Mathematician untangles legendary problem

(Posted: 3/18/2005)
Paroma Basu

Karl Mahlburg, a young mathematician, has solved a crucial chunk of a 
puzzle that has haunted number theorists since the math legend 
Srinivasa Ramanujan scribbled his revolutionary notions into a 
tattered notebook.

In a nutshell, this [work] is the final chapter in one of the most 
famous subjects in the story of Ramanujan, says Ken Ono, Mahlburg's 
graduate advisor and an expert on Ramanujan's work. Ono is a Manasse 
Professor of Letters and Science in mathematics.

Mahlburg's achievement is a striking one,  agrees George Andrews, a 
mathematics professor at Penn State University who has also worked 
deeply with Ramanujan's ideas.

The father of modern number theory, Ramanujan died prematurely in 
1920 at the age of 32. The Indian mathematician's work is vast but he 
is particularly famous for noticing curious patterns in the way whole 
numbers can be broken down into sums of smaller numbers, or 
partitions. The number 4, for example, has five partitions because 
it can be expressed in five ways, including 4, 3+1, 2+2, 1+1+2, and 
1+1+1+1.

Ramanujan, who had little formal training in mathematics, made 
partition lists for the first 200 integers and observed a peculiar 
regularity. For any number that ends in 4 or 9, he found, the number 
of partitions is always divisible by 5. Similarly, starting at 5, the 
number of partitions for every seventh integer is a multiple of 7, 
and, starting with 6, the partitions for every 11th integer are a 
multiple of 11.

...

http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/10833.html



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[Medianews] Controlling Spam: Challenges and Solutions

[Monty Solomon]

http://www.researchchannel.org/program/displayevent.asp?rid=2513 

Controlling Spam: Challenges and Solutions

It's obvious that spam has reached epidemic proportions-it
invades our organizations and personal accounts, and costs us money,
time, and opportunity. What is not obvious is how best an
organization can address this growing problem. Despite emerging
technology innovations, legislation, and tighter enforcement,
organizations are still struggling to stay ahead of the problem.
There is the danger that consumer interest (and trust) in e-mail will
wane, resulting in substantial lost business opportunities. A panel
of legal experts discuss the issues from three vantage-points: what's
currently being done to combat spam, how to avoid being perceived as
a spammer by your customers, and future plans for eliminating spam.

Series: Northwest eBusiness

Speaker:
Ted Klastorin, professor of operations management, UW Business School

Howard Schmidt, former White House cyber security advisor

Craig Spiezle, director of industry relations and business strategy, Microsoft

David Bateman, partner, Preston Gates  Ellis

David Wilson, advisory board, MBA certificate program in e-Business, University 
of Washington

Produced by:University of Washington, February 11, 2005

Runtime:00:57:07

http://www.researchchannel.org/program/displayevent.asp?rid=2513



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[Medianews] The Truth About Toothing

[Monty Solomon]

UPDATE: The Truth About Toothing
Jim Hanas
April 04, 2005
Toothy Toothing, aka Ste Curran (who says he was but part of
Toothy, the other part apparently being Simon Byron), admits to
duping Wired and the rest. In response to an email from me-and to the
slashdotting of my earlier post-the source of all the toothing tales
pointed me to this page, where he tells how it all began, explaining
how he and others invented toothing and its pied piper. There, he
writes:
http://www.hanasiana.com/archives/000324.html


What Ever Happened to Toothing?
http://www.hanasiana.com/archives/000323.html

UPDATE: The Anatomy of a Hoax
http://www.hanasiana.com/archives/000327.html


Toothing
http://www.thetriforce.com/newblog/?p=53

To Clarify An Analogy
http://www.thetriforce.com/newblog/?p=55



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[Medianews] Test Driving a Home Defibrillator

[Monty Solomon]

April 6, 2005
Test Driving a Home Defibrillator

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

When I had a heart attack seven years ago, I arrived, conscious and 
alert at a hospital emergency room, where the doctors and nurses 
proceeded to save my life. In many cases, the standard kind of heart 
attack I suffered doesn't kill instantly, and offers a decent chance 
of survival if the patient is cared for properly -- partly because 
the heart, while damaged, is still beating.

But there's another type of heart attack that comes on without 
warning, leaves the victim unconscious, and kills within minutes if 
emergency treatment isn't rendered on the spot. It's called sudden 
cardiac arrest. In sudden cardiac arrest the heart suddenly stops 
beating, and the patient will die unless it can be started again 
within a few minutes. According to the American Heart Association, 
hundreds of thousands of Americans die each year from such cardiac 
arrest. The main tool for saving these victims is a device called a 
heart defibrillator, which uses an electric shock to restart the 
heart's beating.

Cardiac arrest is reversible in most victims if it's treated within 
a few minutes with an electric shock to the heart to restore a normal 
heartbeat. This process is called defibrillation, the association 
explains on its Web site. A victim's chances of survival are reduced 
by seven to 10% with every minute that passes without defibrillation. 
Few attempts at resuscitation succeed after 10 minutes.

In cardiac-arrest cases, it's crucial to call 911 immediately so 
emergency medics can speed to the scene. They can use a defibrillator 
to shock the heart into beating again. But now, you can also buy a 
simple heart defibrillator meant for home use by average people 
without medical training. You can use the device to try to restart a 
stopped heart even before the medics arrive. It even helps you 
administer Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).

This week, my assistant Katie Boehret and I tested this new device, 
the HeartStart Home Defibrillator from Philips. The HeartStart was 
designed to be simple enough for anyone to use, regardless of age, 
technical skill or medical knowledge. It is clearly marked with 
directional drawings and language, and even has vocal prompts that 
guide the user through each step.

...

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20050406.html


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[Medianews] The Best Photo Organizers

[Monty Solomon]

March 30, 2005
The Best Photo Organizers

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

If you got a new digital camera for Christmas or Hanukkah, by now you 
probably have enough digital pictures loaded onto your computer to 
feel totally confused. The pictures are likely to be stored in files 
and folders with techie-sounding names, and there are so many by now 
that it's hard to find just the ones you're looking for.

The software that comes with digital cameras typically isn't very 
good, so it probably isn't much help. And any photo program that came 
bundled with your PC, if you can find it, is also very likely of 
inferior quality.

Luckily, there are some good photo-organizing programs on the market, 
which cost little or are even free. These programs differ from 
traditional photo-editing software like Adobe's Photoshop. They place 
less emphasis on tweaking and perfecting each picture, focusing 
instead on organizing your hundreds or thousands of photos and 
helping you share them with others. They do have basic editing tools, 
but they are mainly designed to help you manage your digital-photo 
collection.

Two of the best photo organizers have just been updated, and I have 
been testing them on my collection of more than 10,000 digital 
photos. One is Picasa 2, which runs only on Windows and is now a free 
offering from Google, which purchased Picasa last year. The other is 
Apple Computer's iPhoto 5, which runs only on the Macintosh. It comes 
free on every new Mac. Existing Mac owners can buy it as part of the 
excellent $79 iLife suite, which also includes programs for 
organizing and editing music and videos, and for authoring DVDs.

...

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20050330.html



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[Medianews] Deal may let Comcast grow in state / Firm expected to try to join its franchises with those of Adelphia

[Monty Solomon]

Deal may let Comcast grow in state
Firm expected to try to join its franchises with those of Adelphia

By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff  |  April 9, 2005

An $18 billion bid for bankrupt Adelphia Communications Corp. by the 
nation's two biggest cable companies will likely lead to Comcast 
Corp. adding at least 26 more local cable franchises to the 212 it 
now owns in Massachusetts, industry analysts said yesterday.

If they succeed in their bid for the nation's fifth-largest cable 
company, which serves 5 million subscribers, Comcast and Time Warner 
Inc. are likely to immediately execute a deal that trades Comcast's 
21 percent stake in Time Warner -- a legacy of 1990s cable dealmaking 
-- back to Time Warner. In exchange, Comcast would get about 2 
million current Adelphia or Time Warner customers to add to its 
current 21 million.

As a way to maximize operating efficiencies and advertising reach, 
Comcast is likely to focus heavily on expanding existing clusters of 
cable franchises. Adelphia's local operations -- including Cape Ann, 
the South Shore, and Martha's Vineyard -- would fit hand-in-glove 
with Comcast's existing megacluster in Greater Boston and southern 
New England, making their 124,000 customers almost certain candidates 
for a swap.

...

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/04/09/deal_may_let_comcast_grow_in_state/



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[Medianews] HDTV on Your Mac

[Monty Solomon]

HDTV on Your Mac

by Erica Sadun, author of Modding Mac OS X
03/29/2005

So the other night, I popped over to Target to pick up an antenna. 
You remember what those are, don't you? Those telescoping metallic 
things that connect to television sets? That predate cable? Rabbit 
ears? I was about to buy my first antenna in, what, something like 20 
years? I am such a cable-generation baby. I felt I was walking into a 
time warp (and not the good Rocky Horror kind, either) until I walked 
into the actual aisle.

It was the packaging that hit me first. Target had about a dozen or 
so antennas on sale, and every single one (and let me repeat that, 
just to be emphatic, Every Single One) had an HDTV digital-ready 
sticker on it. I hadn't walked back into the past--I had just entered 
the present. This was the world of Terrestrial HDTV: 
high-definition television broadcast over the airways. The GE 
Futura unit I picked up (got to laugh at the name, but it was only 
ten bucks) proclaimed that it was designed to receive the highest 
quality broadcast HDTV signal. You've just got to love that.

As a platform, Macintosh is a little late to the HDTV party. PC 
solutions (both Windows and Linux) are more abundant and better 
supported, but who wants to use a PC unless you have to? Sticking 
with Mac, you can either fork over the medium-to-big bucks to buy a 
turn-key solution, like ElGato's EyeTV 500 ($350 USD), or you can try 
to put together your own system using a decoder card, an antenna, 
some freeware software and a lot of love, elbow grease, and spit. 
Naturally, I chose the latter.

...

http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/03/29/hdtv.html


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[Medianews] Schedule HackTV with iCal

[Monty Solomon]

Schedule HackTV with iCal

by Erica Sadun
02/02/2005

There's never enough time in the day to watch all those great TV 
shows you want to see. Turning your computer into a personal video 
recorder, or PVR, has become all the rage. A Macintosh PVR can 
accomplish many things. At the most basic, it lets you time-shift 
your shows to watch them at a convenient hour-when you're ready to 
watch, not when network executives think you should be watching.

In addition, you might record a show for a friend, and then ftp it 
over, or perhaps send it in segments through e-mail to a Gmail 
account. You could even let your Mac record all the great shows you 
think you should watch and then just trash the results. Even if you 
didn't see the show, your Mac did-and it probably enjoyed it more 
than you would have anyway. No matter why you want to use your Mac to 
record TV, HackTV (with a little help from iCal) provides a free and 
simple automatic video recording solution.

This is the second article in a series about watching TV with Apple's 
(free) HackTV utility. In the first article, I showed readers how to 
connect their TVs and other video sources to their Macintoshes using 
FireWire and watch it with HackTV. Then I discussed how to record 
that video to disk. This article continues from there.

You're about to learn how to convert your Macintosh to a low-end but 
working PVR. You'll discover how to control HackTV through Apple's 
GUI scripting extensions for AppleScript (at least as much as Mac OS 
X will let you) and how to schedule your recordings with iCal. After 
mastering the skills in this article, you'll be able to walk away 
from your Mac and let it handle any recording tasks for you.

...

http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/digitalmedia/2005/02/02/hacktv.html


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[Medianews] Build an iTunes Remote Control

[Monty Solomon]

Build an iTunes Remote Control

by Matthew Russell
03/01/2005

Editor's note: AirPort Express is great for streaming music from your 
Mac, except when you have to change tracks from another room. There 
are commercial solutions available, but here's a great evening 
project using your web-enabled cell phone and the power of Mac OS X. 
This is actually an Apache web server tutorial disguised as an iTunes 
hack.

If you own an Airport Express, you know that it can be inconvenient 
to travel back and forth to iTunes in order to please the masses at 
parties. You might also find paying an additional 50 percent (of the 
price of your Express) to buy a remote control unacceptable. Not to 
worry, you can build your own remote control using your web-enabled 
cell phone and some of the magic built in to Mac OS X. The only 
catches are that it's free, has a range that reaches farther than 
you'll ever need, and is as customizable as you like. But wait a 
minute; those are good things!

...

http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/03/01/itunes_remote.html


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[Medianews] Can a New Disposable Battery Change Your Life? Parts of It, Maybe

[Monty Solomon]

Can a New Disposable Battery Change Your Life? Parts of It, Maybe

DAVID POGUE
April 7, 2005

THIS June, Panasonic will introduce Oxyride batteries: AA and AAA
disposable batteries that the company calls the most significant
developments in primary battery technology in 40 years. According to
Panasonic, these batteries last up to twice as long as premium
alkaline batteries like Duracell Ultra ($5 for four), yet cost the
same as regular alkalines ($4 for four).

Astounded yet? Then get this: Oxyride batteries are also supposed to
deliver more power. The result, the company says, is that
battery-operated toothbrushes spin faster, flashlights shine
brighter, camera flashes are quicker to recharge and music players
produce richer sound.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/07/technology/circuits/07pogue.html?ex=1270526400en=0534c85fe77c3718ei=5090




New Batteries: Twice the Life

New technology leaves traditional alkalines in the dust.

Rex Farrance
From the April 2005 issue of PC World magazine

Move over, alkalines: In PC World tests, new Panasonic Oxyride
disposable batteries delivered more than twice the performance of
high-end alkalines for the same price.

That's welcome news given the proliferation of high-drain
battery-powered devices these days, such as digital cameras, MP3
players, and portable game consoles. AA and AAA rechargeables are
still the most cost-effective way to power many such devices, but
lots of people use disposables anyway, perhaps because they forget to
charge the batteries they own or because they never buy rechargeables
in the first place.

...

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,119723,00.asp



Panasonic Oxyride Extreme Power
http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/batteries/oxyride.asp





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[Medianews] States Scramble To Protect Data / Dozens of Privacy Bills Introduced After Spate of Security Breaches

[Monty Solomon]

States Scramble To Protect Data
Dozens of Privacy Bills Introduced After Spate of Security Breaches

By Jonathan Krim
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 9, 2005; Page E01

Legislatures in more than two dozen states are considering ways to 
give consumers more control over personal information that is 
collected and sold by private firms, but many of the proposals are 
drawing fire from financial services companies.

Bills are on the table in 28 states responding to a series of 
high-profile security breaches at information brokers, banks and 
universities that so far this year have resulted in more than 1 
million Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, names and 
addresses falling into the hands of potential identity thieves.

In the most recent case, a medical group in San Jose announced 
yesterday that records on roughly 185,000 current and former patients 
may have been exposed after two of its computers were stolen.

The state activity is being closely tracked on Capitol Hill, where 
several House and Senate members have introduced or are preparing 
identity theft legislation.

Generally, the various state bills do not target how thieves are 
obtaining data, through hacking, fraud or other means. But consumer 
groups and privacy advocates, who are championing many of the 
initiatives, say they would help shield consumers from the havoc and 
damage that identity theft can cause.

One group of bills would allow consumers to freeze their credit 
reports so that sensitive data could not be given out to anyone 
without permission from the individual each time the data were 
requested.

Identity thieves often strike by obtaining a piece of private 
information, such as a Social Security number, and then using it to 
establish credit and make purchases.

Credit-freeze bills are moving through legislatures in about 20 
states. In some cases, any consumer could order a freeze at any time. 
In other states, only people whose data have been breached would have 
that option.

...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38498-2005Apr8.html


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[Medianews] Reporters get credit for simple ID switch

[Monty Solomon]

Sneaky ID thieves always one step ahead in schemes
By Tom Mashberg/ Exclusive
Sunday, April 10, 2005 - Updated: 12:18 PM EST
First of three parts
Peter Kochansky knew he hadn't bought a Porsche, but there it
was among his bills - a luxury car loan in his name for $40,000.
That wasn't the half of it. As Kochansky, a lawyer from
Somerville, soon learned, a notorious identity thief was racing
around the country, running up credit charges and emptying bank
accounts, all in Kochansky's name.
The thief, Shawn Pelley, now in federal prison, always seemed a
step ahead. When Kochansky canceled his credit cards, Pelley stole
$7,000 from a Fleet account Kochansky shared with his wife, even
though Pelley had no PIN number.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=77741


Reporters get credit for simple ID switch
By Thomas Caywood and Tom Mashberg
Monday, April 11, 2005 - Updated: 03:50 AM EST
Second in a three-part series on identity fraud.
Identity theft ain't rocket science. Trust us.
To test the retail credit industry's claims of tough new ID
fraud protections, two Herald reporters swapped Social Security
numbers and set out to steal each other's identities.
Despite our lack of criminal expertise, within hours we had a
$10,000 credit line at one store and a $1,300 account at another.
The experiment began at Dana Ross Studios in the South End,
where $60 buys a convincing-looking ``Massachusetts identification
card'' - complete with digital signature, holograms and a faux
magnetic strip along the back.
No questions asked. Cash only. We walked out with two fake IDs
in 10 minutes. The cards showed one reporter's face and the other's
name, Social Security number, address and age.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=77875


Tricks of the trade from prolific prowler
By Tom Mashberg
Sunday, April 10, 2005 - Updated: 11:31 AM EST
Shawn Pelley didn't like who he was, so he became almost anyone else.
Starting in 2001, the crafty Cape Cod native used ID theft to
take individuals, banks and retailers for $550,000. Loot and phony
identities in hand, he led a flamboyant lifestyle and rubbed elbows
with hotshots from L.A. to South Beach.
Pelley, 29, finally was run to ground by U.S. marshals and is
serving a 60-month sentence at a federal prison in Pennsylvania. But
the skinny, 6-foot high school dropout ran up immense debts in the
names of dozens of victims, many of them Massachusetts lawyers.
U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan called Pelley ``the most
active identity theft perpetrator the major crimes unit has
prosecuted.''
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=77743


Scams turn victims' lives upside down
By Tom Mashberg
Monday, April 11, 2005 - Updated: 09:27 AM EST
State Rep. Paul C. Casey is a man of the people - the people
victimized by identity theft.
In 2003, he was one of a half-dozen Paul Caseys across New
England defrauded by con artists who used his common name to pilfer
gift cards and heaps of merchandise from area retailers.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=77874


`You don't understand what it's like'
By Thomas Caywood
Monday, April 11, 2005 - Updated: 03:49 AM EST
Paul K. Casey of Foxboro is the kind of guy who keeps only one or two
credit cards and faithfully pays them off each month.
So he knew something was fishy when he got a letter from Sears
about the credit application he supposedly filled out at the chain's
outlet in Kingston.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=77873


Victim: Unsnarling fraud `a second full-time job'
By Tom Mashberg
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Karen Leonard was an Army sergeant in two war zones, then braved the
bar exam, but none of it matches having an identity thief run up huge
bills in her name.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=77745


Good Samaritan father, teen daughter targeted
By Tom Mashberg
Sunday, April 10, 2005 - Updated: 11:26 AM EST
Not only did crooks steal Bill Loesch's identity, they did the same
to his 12-year-old daughter.
 Five years ago, Loesch, a protestant minister and Codman Square
health activist, rented apartments on the first and third floors of
his Dorchester three-decker to tenants he thought he could trust.
 Instead, he said, one of them ``would get home before me, steal
my mail, get credit cards in my name by using my Social Security
number and then go on big buying sprees. And this was a woman!''
 When the bills came in, the thief would intercept them and rip
them up. Years went by before Loesch, 63, realized he'd been ripped
off.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=77744


Tough to recover once you're hacked
By Tom Mashberg
Sunday, April 10, 2005 - Updated: 11:25 AM EST
The pet sitter did it.
It took a while, but Sandra Pochapin of Southboro figured out 
how she became an ID fraud victim: The 

[Medianews] A Mac Mini Powered Lexus

[Monty Solomon]

A Mac Mini Powered Lexus
http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/19.html

Mac Mini Powered Lexus Update
http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/284.html



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[Medianews] President Bush's iPod

[Monty Solomon]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/11/politics/11letter.html

(Earlier today the headline was Tunes for the Freewheelin' George Bush)

White House Letter

President Bush's iPod

By ELISABETH BUMILLER
April 11, 2005

WASHINGTON

Between his return on Friday from Pope John Paul II's funeral in Rome 
and his meeting today with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, 
President Bush spent an hour and a half on Saturday on an 18-mile 
mountain bike ride at his Texas ranch. With him, as usual, was his 
indispensable new exercise toy: an iPod music player loaded with 
country and popular rock tunes aimed at getting the presidential 
heart rate up to a chest-pounding 170 beats per minute.

Which brings up the inevitable question. What, exactly, is on the 
First iPod? In an era of celebrity playlists - Tom Brady, the New 
England Patriots quarterback, recently posted his on the iTunes 
online music store - what does the presidential selection of 
downloaded songs tell us about Mr. Bush?

First, Mr. Bush's iPod is heavy on traditional country singers like 
George Jones, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney. He has selections by 
Van Morrison, whose Brown Eyed Girl is a Bush favorite, and by John 
Fogerty, most predictably Centerfield, which was played at Texas 
Rangers games when Mr. Bush was an owner and is still played at 
ballparks all over America. (Oh, put me in coach, I'm ready to play 
today.)

The president also has an eclectic mix of songs downloaded into his 
iPod from Mark McKinnon, a biking buddy and his chief media 
strategist during the 2004 campaign. Among them are Circle Back by 
John Hiatt, (You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care by Joni Mitchell 
and My Sharona, the 1979 song by the Knack that Joe Levy, a deputy 
managing editor at Rolling Stone in charge of music coverage, 
cheerfully branded suggestive if not outright filthy in an 
interview last week.

Mr. Bush has had his Apple iPod since July, when he received it from 
his twin daughters as a birthday gift. He has some 250 songs on it, a 
paltry number compared to the 10,000 selections it can hold. Mr. 
Bush, as leader of the free world, does not take the time to download 
the music himself; that task falls to his personal aide, Blake 
Gottesman, who buys individual songs and albums, including Mr. 
Jones's and Mr. Jackson's greatest hits, from the iTunes music store.

Mr. Bush uses his iPod chiefly during bike workouts to help him pump 
up his heartbeat, which he monitors with a wrist strap. The strap 
also keeps track of calories expended for the intensely 
weight-focused president, who has recently lost eight pounds after 
eating a lot of doughnuts during the 2004 campaign. Mr. Bush burned 
1,300 calories on his bike ride on Saturday, Mr. McKinnon reported.

As for an analysis of Mr. Bush's playlist, Mr. Levy of Rolling Stone 
started out with this: One thing that's interesting is that the 
president likes artists who don't like him.

Mr. Levy was referring to Mr. Fogerty, who was part of the anti-Bush 
Vote for Change concert tour across the United States last fall. 
Mr. McKinnon, who once wrote songs for Kris Kristofferson's music 
publishing company, responded in an e-mail message that if any 
president limited his music selection to pro-establishment musicians, 
it would be a pretty slim collection.

Nonetheless, Mr. McKinnon said that Mr. Bush had not gone so far as 
to include on his playlist Fortunate Son, the angry anti-Vietnam 
war song about who has to go to war that Mr. Fogerty sang when he was 
with Creedence Clearwater Revival. (I ain't no senator's son ... 
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand.) As the son of a two-term 
congressman and a United States Senate candidate, Mr. Bush won a 
coveted spot with the Texas Air National Guard to avoid combat in 
Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Mr. Levy sized up the rest of the playlist of the 
58-year-old president. What we're talking about is a lot of great 
artists from the 60's and 70's and more modern artists who sound like 
great artists from the 60's and 70's, he said. This is basically 
boomer rock 'n' roll and more recent music out of Nashville made for 
boomers. It's safe, it's reliable, it's loving. What I mean to say 
is, it's feel-good music. The Sex Pistols it's not.

Mr. Jones, Mr. Levy said, was nonetheless an interesting choice. 
George Jones is the greatest living singer in country music and a 
recovering alcoholic who often sings about heartbreak and drinking, 
he said. It tells you that the president knows a thing or two about 
country music and is serious about his love of country music.

The songs by Mr. Jackson indicate that the president has a little 
bit of a taste for hard core and honky-tonk, Mr. Levy said, adding 
that both Mr. Jackson and Mr. Jones are not about cute and pop, and 
they're not getting by on their looks. And while Mr. Chesney is 
about cute and pop and gets by on his looks, Mr. Levy said, he's 
also all about serious country music.

Mr. McKinnon, who has downloaded 

[Medianews] AFL-CIO Paywatch Website

[Monty Solomon]

 AFL-CIO Unveils 'Jaw-Dropping' Case Studies of CEO Pay and Rigged
 Deals in New Executive Paywatch Website
 - Apr 11, 2005 05:45 PM (PR Newswire)

Launches Campaign to Curb Runaway CEO Pay

WASHINGTON, April 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Excessive CEO pay enriches 
corporate executives at the expense of working families' retirement 
savings, according to the new Executive Paywatch website, 
http://www.paywatch.org/ , unveiled by the AFL-CIO today. As part of a 
growing movement to reform executive pay, the website provides case 
studies on companies that rewarded CEOs with huge pay packages last 
year. It gives visitors tools to pressure companies to reform out of 
control CEO pay.

According to the New York Times, average CEO pay increased 12 percent 
in 2004 while the pay of average workers increased just 3.6 percent. 
Last year, the average CEO of a major corporation received $9.84 
million in total compensation.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48296688


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[Medianews] News Cos. Support Reporters in Apple Case

[Monty Solomon]

 News Cos. Support Reporters in Apple Case
 - Apr 11, 2005 06:11 PM (AP Online)

By RACHEL KONRAD AP Technology Writer


SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- More than a half-dozen news organizations 
are supporting three online journalists who published articles about 
a top-secret technology product that Apple Computer Inc. says was 
protected by trade secret laws.


In December, Apple sued 25 unnamed individuals _ presumed to be Apple 
employees _ who allegedly leaked confidential product information to 
three people who run Web sites widely read by Apple enthusiasts. The 
Cupertino-based company said the leaks violated nondisclosure 
agreements and California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act.


Apple then demanded that the online reporters' Internet providers 
identify the leakers by turning over e-mail records. The online 
reporters sought to block the subpoenas, saying that identifying 
sources would create a chilling effect that could erode the media's 
ability to report in the public's interest.


Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg ruled in 
Apple's favor last month, saying that reporters who publish stolen 
property aren't entitled to protections. The online reporters then 
appealed.


Now the mainstream media has weighed in: eight of California's 
largest newspapers and The Associated Press submitted a court brief 
Thursday asking that the online publishers be allowed to keep their 
sources confidential.

...

  - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48297214


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[Medianews] Buzztracker

[Monty Solomon]

http://www.buzztracker.org/about/

BUZZTRACKING

Buzztracker is software that visualizes frequencies and relationships 
between locations in the Google world news directory.

Buzztracker tries to show you how interconnected the world is: big 
events in one area ripple to other areas across the globe. 
Connections between cities thousands of miles apart become apparent 
at a glance.

Buzztracker currently only tracks English-language news sources.

...

http://www.buzztracker.org/about/


http://www.buzztracker.org/


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[Medianews] In Britain, Apple's iTunes Fans Have Reason to Be Confused

[Monty Solomon]

In Britain, Apple's iTunes Fans Have Reason to Be Confused

By VICTORIA YOUNG
April 11, 2005

LONDON, April 10 - People who want to use Apple's popular iTunes
service in Britain must go to the Web page www.itunes.com/uk, not
www.itunes.co.uk.

The minor difference may make very little difference to music lovers,
but to Apple Computer and Benjamin Cohen, a 22-year-old British
entrepreneur, it is a difference worth fighting over in court.

Mr. Cohen, who lives and works in Hackney in East London, is the
founder of CyberBritain, an Internet company that registered
www.itunes.co.uk in November 2000, two months before Apple introduced
its iTunes music store. Last November, Apple offered to buy the
domain. When the two sides could not agree on a price, Apple appealed
to Nominet, the British registry for Internet names, and was
eventually awarded the domain. (Apple declined to comment on the
case.)

Mr. Cohen, who was ordered to surrender the domain by April 13, says
he plans to take the case to the High Court for judicial review. In a
flurry of recent newspaper, radio and television interviews, he has
presented himself as a technology-age David, a small businessman with
the chutzpah to battle the giant. But Nominet ruled that, by trying
to capitalize on the iTunes domain, Mr. Cohen was the party engaging
in an abusive behavior, commonly known as cybersquatting.

Mr. Cohen first became known in the British media as the teenage
millionaire when, at the age of 16, his first company, a listings Web
site called SoJewish.com, was valued at £5 million ($9.4 million). At
18, after he started hunt4porn.com, Europe's first and largest adult
search engine. Mr. Cohen, who describes himself as a clean-living
Jewish boy from a typically neurotic Jewish family, sold the site
for £25,000 in 2001. I didn't want to be known as a porn baron, he
said.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/11/technology/11apple.html?ex=1270872000en=1ba9e8f972e2f810ei=5090


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[Medianews] Review: Dragon Burn 4 / One stop CD and DVD burning tool for Mac OS X

[Monty Solomon]

Dragon Burn 4
One stop CD and DVD burning tool for Mac OS X
By John Virata

http://www.hdtvbuyer.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=31047


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[Medianews] Piercing the peer-to-peer myths: An examination of the Canadian experience

[Monty Solomon]

Piercing the peer-to-peer myths: An examination of the Canadian experience
by Michael Geist

Abstract

Canada is in the midst of a contentious copyright reform with 
advocates for stronger copyright protection maintaining that the 
Internet has led to widespread infringement that has harmed the 
economic interests of Canadian artists. The Canadian Recording 
Industry Association (CRIA) has emerged as the leading proponent of 
copyright reform, claiming that peer-to-peer file sharing has led to 
billions in lost sales in Canada.

This article examines CRIA's claims by conducting an analysis of 
industry figures. It concludes that loss claims have been greatly 
exaggerated and challenges the contention that recent sales declines 
are primarily attributable to file-sharing activities. Moreover, the 
article assesses the financial impact of declining sales on Canadian 
artists, concluding that revenue collected through a private copying 
levy system already adequately compensates Canadian artists for the 
private copying that occurs on peer-to-peer networks.

...

http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_4/geist/




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[Medianews] Computer-aided music distribution: The future of selection, retrieval and transmission

[Monty Solomon]

Computer-aided music distribution: The future of selection, retrieval 
and transmission
by Nancy Bogucki Duncan and Mark A. Fox


Abstract

The Internet has made music more widely available and increased the 
convenience with which we can listen to music. We increasingly 
recognize that recorded music can take the form of digital files. The 
Internet and related technologies for music delivery have been made 
viable by advances in compression, data storage, and transmission 
technologies. To provide greater value to consumers, music labels 
need to make greater use of retrieval and selection technologies.


Contents

Introduction
The product of music
Why do we choose to experience music in different ways?
Technology and the provision of value to consumers
Conclusions

...

http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_4/duncan/


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[Medianews] Boost to provide familiar ring

[Monty Solomon]

Boost to provide familiar ring

By Eric Convey/ Inspecting Gadgets
Monday, April 11, 2005 - Updated: 09:26 AM EST

In the mobile telephone market, there's probably no major company 
more clearly aligned with a specific segment than Nextel 
Communications with business customers.
When's the last time you saw a 14-year-old using his Nextel's 
walkie-talkie mode to check in with a buddy?
Nextel has done a lot of things well, but the company is not 
broadly associated with the consumer market. That could all change, 
though, with a new-to-Boston service called Boost.
Boost is Nextel's bid to reach not just individual consumers, 
but those who use pre-paid phones. That generally means those who are 
young and have not established extensive credit histories.
That means the telltale walkie-talkie beep-beep could soon be 
coming to a shopping mall near you.
At the core of Boost is a $100 mobile phone, the i285.

...

http://business.bostonherald.com/technologyNews/view.bg?articleid=77845



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[Medianews] Apple to Ship Mac OS X 'Tiger' on April 29

[Monty Solomon]

 Apple to Ship Mac OS X 'Tiger' on April 29
 - Apr 12, 2005 08:30 AM (PR Newswire)

More Than 200 New Features  Innovations


CUPERTINO, Calif., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today
announced that Mac OS(R) X version 10.4 Tiger will go on sale
Friday, April 29, beginning at 6:00 p.m. during special events at Apple's
retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. Tiger has more than 200 new
features and innovations including Spotlight(TM), a revolutionary desktop
search technology that lets users instantly find anything stored on their
Mac(R), including documents, emails, contacts and images; and Dashboard, a new
way to instantly access important information like weather forecasts and stock
quotes, using a dazzling new class of applications called widgets.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48306480


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[Medianews] Apple Announces Mac OS X Server 'Tiger'

[Monty Solomon]

 Apple Announces Mac OS X Server 'Tiger'
 - Apr 12, 2005 08:31 AM (PR Newswire)

Shipping April 29 With Support for 64-bit Applications, iChat Server, Weblog
Server  Xgrid


CUPERTINO, Calif., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today
announced that Mac OS(R) X Server version 10.4 Tiger will be available on
Friday, April 29, at the same time as the Mac OS X version 10.4 Tiger
desktop version. The next major release of Apple's award-winning, UNIX-based
server operating system, Tiger Server integrates over 100 leading open source
projects and standards-based software applications with easy-to-use management
tools that make it easy to deploy for Mac(R), Windows and Linux clients. Tiger
Server has over 200 new features including native support for 64-bit
applications, ideal for high performance computing; iChat Server to deploy
secure instant messaging within an organization; Weblog Server that makes it
simple to publish and share weblogs (blogs); and Xgrid(TM) to make it easy to
turn a group of Macs into a virtual supercomputer.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48306443


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[Medianews] HP Introduces Spring Lineup of Digital Music Offerings

[Monty Solomon]

 HP Introduces Spring Lineup of Digital Music Offerings
 - Apr 12, 2005 07:45 AM (BusinessWire)

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 12, 2005--HP (NYSE:HPQ)
(Nasdaq:HPQ) today announced two additions to its Apple iPod from HP
line of digital music players. The new iPod products allow consumers
to carry and enjoy an extensive music and photo library wherever they
go.


The Apple iPod from HP is available in two sizes -- 30 gigabytes
(GB),(1) which holds up to 7,500 songs,(2) and 60 GB, which holds up
to 15,000 songs.(2) In addition to a music library, the new players
can each store up to 25,000 digital photos and can display them on a
vivid, high-resolution color display.


Consumers can use an optional audio-visual cable accessory to
share slideshows on big screen televisions and projectors.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48304731


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[Medianews] Comcast Digital Voice - Boston and Hartford

[Monty Solomon]

 Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts Unveils Boston and
 Hartford Comcast Digital Voice Rollout Plans
 - Apr 13, 2005 10:35 AM (PR Newswire)

BOSTON, April 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Comcast Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer Brian L. Roberts today announced that Boston and Hartford,
CT are two of the next markets to launch Comcast Digital Voice.  Roberts
unveiled the company's plan to begin rolling out the service next month during
a speech before the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.  Boston and Hartford
are two of the 20 markets where the product will be available this year.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48337586


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[Medianews] OnStar Debuts 'Out of the Blue' 30-Minute Documercial

[Monty Solomon]

 OnStar Debuts 'Out of the Blue' 30-Minute Documercial
 - Apr 13, 2005 12:00 PM (PR Newswire)

John Tesh, OnStar Subscriber, narrates real-life stories campaign


DETROIT, April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- OnStar by General Motors, which is 
known for their real stories advertising campaign, has launched 
their second 30- minute documercial that will air in 48 local markets 
beginning in April. OnStar has over 3 million subscribers in both the 
US and Canada.


OnStar's Out of the Blue documercial is narrated by John Tesh, 
award- winning entertainer and broadcaster and also an OnStar 
subscriber. Out of the Blue provides viewers a thorough explanation 
of OnStar and its core safety, security and peace of mind services 
using emotionally compelling subscriber stories.


Since the real stories ad campaign launched in November 2002, 
OnStar has achieved 100% total brand awareness among new car 
intenders, and the campaign has created a higher opinion of GM 
products equipped with OnStar.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48340333


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[Medianews] Concerns over ID theft mount / LexisNexis breach widens; GM credit accounts at risk

[Monty Solomon]

Concerns over ID theft mount
LexisNexis breach widens; GM credit accounts at risk

By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff  |  April 13, 2005

Identity theft concerns mounted yesterday as LexisNexis said a 
security breach at one of its subsidiaries may have been 10 times 
more severe than an earlier estimate, and GM MasterCard rushed to 
replace the credit cards of customers affected by a breach at an 
unidentified national retailer.

GM MasterCard sent letters to customers late last week telling them 
that ''a national retailer's computer system has had a security 
breach and your credit card account number may be among those that 
were compromised. A copy of the letter was provided to the Globe by 
one local GM MasterCard customer.

Officials at General Motors had no immediate comment and referred 
questions to Household Bank, which issues the GM card. Household Bank 
could not be reached for comment.

The GM MasterCard letter said the company had not been informed of 
the merchant involved and probably would not be informed. ''Due to 
the serious nature of this situation, the letter said, GM MasterCard 
was advising customers to have their credit cards replaced as soon as 
possible.

LexisNexis, a provider of legal and business news, said yesterday 
that a review of data search activity at its Accurint subsidiary over 
the past two years has indicated that 59 times unauthorized persons 
had gained access to such personal-identifying information as Social 
Security numbers or driver's license numbers.

Last month the Dayton, Ohio, company had said it was notifying 30,000 
individuals whose personal information may have been improperly 
acquired. Yesterday, the company increased that number to 310,000. Of 
the 310,000 individuals, 6,078 reside in Massachusetts.

...

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/04/13/concerns_over_id_theft_mount/




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[Medianews] Tougher laws, penalties will help protect us

[Monty Solomon]

Tougher laws, penalties will help protect us
By Tom Mashberg/ Identity Fraud
Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - Updated: Apr. 13, 2005 12:31 AM EST
 Last of a three-part series on identity fraud.
 After just four days as a data entry clerk at a members' club in 
Philadelphia, Stephanie Mobley knew scores of Social Security 
numbers. She used the data, Massachusetts officials allege, to commit 
12 counts of identity theft against a half-dozen Bay Staters.
 But if Mobley is found guilty, she faces no more than 30 months 
in prison. Now, officials want to toughen the penalties for identity 
theft to deter and punish one of the state's fastest-growing crimes.
http://www.bostonherald.com/identityFraud/view.bg?articleid=78050



Life's been hell and thief still has her SS number!
By Tom Mashberg/ Identity Fraud
Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - Updated: 03:54 PM EST
 The woman who stole Cathy Caverly's identity has a lot of nerve.
 She still lives near Caverly's longtime residence in Stoughton.
 She never paid restitution - despite promising to do so as a 
condition of her probation.
 She called a credit card firm to complain after Caverly shut off 
a card she was using illegally.
 And now, Caverly has been forced to take on the disruptive and 
difficult task of getting a new Social Security because the thief 
knows her old one. 
http://www.bostonherald.com/identityFraud/view.bg?articleid=78049



LexisNexis cyber goof exposed data on 310,000: Initial number doubled
By Tom Mashberg and Jennifer Rosinski/ Identity Fraud
Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - Updated: 12:53 PM EST
 Sensitive information on 10,000 Bay Staters was compromised 
during a security breach at a nationwide data broker - more than 
twice the number initially reported - the company said yesterday.
 LexisNexis announced that nationally, 310,000 people were 
affected by the breach, 280,000 more than was reported in March.
http://www.bostonherald.com/identityFraud/view.bg?articleid=78230



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[Medianews] Apple Reports Second Quarter Results

[Monty Solomon]

 Apple Reports Second Quarter Results
 - Apr 13, 2005 04:30 PM (PR Newswire)

Revenue Increases 70 Percent and Net Income Increases Over 500 Percent
Year-Over-Year


CUPERTINO, Calif., April 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today
announced financial results for its fiscal 2005 second quarter ended March 26,
2005. For the quarter, the Company posted a net profit of $290 million, or
$.34 per diluted share. These results compare to a net profit of $46 million,
or $.06 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue for the quarter
was $3.24 billion, up 70 percent from the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was
29.8 percent, up from 27.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International
sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter's revenue.


Apple shipped 1,070,000 Macintosh(R) units and 5,311,000 iPods during the
quarter, representing a 43 percent increase in CPU units and a 558 percent
increase in iPods over the year-ago quarter.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48348244


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[Medianews] Polo Ralph Lauren Customers' Data Stolen

[Monty Solomon]

  Polo Ralph Lauren Customers' Data Stolen
  - Apr 14, 2005 12:16 PM (AP Online)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Data apparently stolen from the popular clothing 
retailer Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. is forcing banks and credit card 
issuers to notify thousands of consumers that their credit-card 
information may have been exposed.


HSBC North America, a division of London-based HSBC Holdings PLC, has 
begun notifying holders of the HSBC-issued, General Motors-branded 
MasterCard that criminals may have obtained access to their credit 
card information and that the cards should be replaced.


HSBC spokesman Stephen E. Cohen said Thursday that we began doing it 
last week, and we are continuing.


He said that about 180,000 GM-branded card holders are affected.


Neither Cohen nor spokesmen for MasterCard International would 
identify the retailer by name.


The security breach was reported in Thursday's editions of The Wall 
Street Journal, which quoted people with knowledge of the matter as 
saying the data was stolen at Polo Ralph Lauren.

...

  - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48369666


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[Medianews] Verizon Wireless International Roaming

[Monty Solomon]

 Pack the Bags (and the Phone): Verizon Wireless Customers Can Use
 Their Phones in Popular Destinations Around the Globe
 - Apr 14, 2005 08:30 AM (PR Newswire)

No Need to Purchase a New Phone for Travel to Bermuda, Canada, Dominican
Republic, Israel, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea and Venezuela


BEDMINSTER, N.J., April 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless customers
heading North or South of the border as well as to seven other international
destinations can pack up their existing tri-mode or digital wireless phones
and take comfort in knowing they can always phone home.  Verizon Wireless'
International Roaming allows customers traveling to Bermuda, Canada, Dominican
Republic, Israel, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea and Venezuela to
make calls and receive calls with the same Verizon Wireless handset they carry
in the United States.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48362613


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[Medianews] Review: Multifunction Inkjet Printers

[Monty Solomon]

Multifunction Inkjet Printers:
Are You Ready for a Printer that Does More?
http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/200504082/


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[Medianews] Riding iTrike With iTunes

[Monty Solomon]

Riding My iTrike With iTunes
John Patrick
April 14, 2005

Summary:
How John Patrick has modified his stock Harley with an extra wheel 
and an MP3 player to take his tunes on the road.

http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/20050414/


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[Medianews] The iPod Out Loud: Testing Speaker Attachments

[Monty Solomon]

April 13, 2005
The iPod Out Loud: Testing Speaker Attachments

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

Many people who use Apple iPods have grown so attached to the digital 
music players that they want to listen to them at home as well as on 
the go. So it makes sense that many different accessories are 
designed to make it simple to use an iPod at home.

Some of these accessories allow the iPod to play its music using your 
current sound system. These include special plugs and cords that 
connect the iPod to your stereo, devices for streaming music over 
your home network, and tuners that broadcast the iPod's music over 
your home speakers using an unused radio station.

But the most straightforward way to play your iPod's music out loud 
is by using a set of speakers made especially to work with the iPod. 
These come in many shapes and sizes, but basically consist of a small 
set of speakers and a docking cradle for your player so you can use 
its navigation buttons to select music.

This week, my assistant Katie Boehret and I tested four of these iPod 
speakers from Bose, Altec Lansing, Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO) 
and Harmon Multimedia that ranged in price from about $150 to $300. 
Each device worked without requiring much set-up, and they all charge 
the iPod while it isn't being used. Two come with remote controls. We 
tested each with three different iPods: the iPod Photo, iPod mini and 
a relatively new 20-gigabyte monochrome iPod.

...

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20050413.html


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[Medianews] Court Orders EchoStar to Carry Channel

[Monty Solomon]

 Court Orders EchoStar to Carry Channel
 - Apr 14, 2005 08:39 PM (AP Online)

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A federal judge has ordered satellite television provider 
EchoStar Communications Corp. to begin carrying a music video channel owned by 
Universal Music Group that is the subject of a lawsuit between the two 
companies.


The ruling, issued late Tuesday by a U.S. District Court judge in New York, 
requires EchoStar to begin carrying UMG's International Music Feed channel as 
soon as possible.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48385507


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[Medianews] HP Completes Acquisition of Snapfish

[Monty Solomon]

 HP Completes Acquisition of Leading Online Photo Service Snapfish
 - Apr 15, 2005 07:45 AM (BusinessWire)

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 2005--HP (NYSE:HPQ)
(Nasdaq:HPQ) today announced the completion of its acquisition of
Snapfish, a leading online photo service.


Effective today, Snapfish has joined HP's Consumer Imaging and
Printing business led by Larry Lesley, senior vice president.


Both current and new Snapfish customers will continue to
experience easy access to high-quality photo products and services
when visiting www.snapfish.com . These include free online photo
sharing, photo storage and management, free editing tools and
software, online print ordering, wireless imaging services for camera
phone and color handset users, and more than 70 personalized photo
products -- from calendars to hardbound photo albums to dog leashes.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48391045


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[Medianews] Battle Against Spam Shifts to Containment

[Monty Solomon]

  Battle Against Spam Shifts to Containment
  - Apr 15, 2005 12:15 PM (AP Online)

By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer


NEW YORK (AP) -- There's a new strategy in the spam battle: Call it 
containment. Filters for blocking junk e-mail from inboxes have 
improved to the point that doing much more will needlessly kill 
legitimate e-mail, said Carl Hutzler, America Online Inc.'s anti-spam 
coordinator. So e-mail gatekeepers are shifting gears.


Now they're getting more aggressive at keeping spam from leaving 
their systems in the first place.


EarthLink Inc., for instance, is phasing in a requirement that 
customers' mail programs submit passwords before it will send out 
their e-mail.


Like most Internet providers, EarthLink previously made sure only 
that a computer was associated with a legitimate account. Now that 
viruses can co-opt computers and use them to send spam, that's no 
longer secure enough.


So Earthlink sent out new software, made automated tools available 
for download and walked customers through manually changing their 
mail settings when they called tech support for other reasons. A year 
into the initiative, EarthLink has 80 percent of its customers 
converted.

...

  - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48398343


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[Medianews] Tufts warns alumni on breach / Computer attack exposed names, numbers to theft

[Monty Solomon]

Tufts warns alumni on breach
Computer attack exposed names, numbers to theft

By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff  |  April 12, 2005

For the second time in a month, a Boston-area college is warning 
thousands of alumni that their personal information may have been 
stolen from a computer system used for fund-raising.

Tufts University last week began sending letters to 106,000 alumni, 
warning of ''abnormal activity on a computer that contained names, 
addresses, phone numbers, and, in some cases, Social Security and 
credit card numbers.

...

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/04/12/tufts_warns_alumni_on_breach/



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[Medianews] Tiger: New Features

[Monty Solomon]

Tiger Features I'd like to talk about
Dan Wood
13 Apr 2005
Anybody reading this weblog is probably aware that Mac OS X 10.4 
Tiger due out very soon. As a developer, I've been able to use the 
prerelease versions of the OS, but I'm also unable to talk about it. 
Now that Apple has released a big list of new features, I thought I 
would highlight the items from their list that I would express my 
enthusiasm for, if I could:

http://weblog.karelia.com/MacOSX/_Tiger__Features_I_.html



Mac OS X Tiger New Features
200+ New Features
The smarter we make it, the easier it gets.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/newfeatures/newfeatures.html



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[Medianews] Music moguls trumped by Steve Jobs?

[Monty Solomon]

Music moguls trumped by Steve Jobs?

By John Borland
Story last modified Fri Apr 15 04:00:00 PDT 2005

When Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs walked into the suites of top 
record label executives in 2002, iTunes software in hand, he was 
welcomed as a trailblazer to a digital music future.

Now, nearly two years after Apple's iTunes launch, record executives 
have become worried that they have inadvertently ceded too much power 
over their industry to this charismatic computer executive.

Frustrated at what they see as Jobs' intransigence on song pricing 
and other issues, some record executives are now turning their hopes 
toward other partners, particularly mobile phone carriers eager to 
get into the business of selling music. They see this new focus as a 
way to broaden the digital music business, and lessen Apple's 
dominance over their market in the process.

...

http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5671705.html




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[Medianews] Court rules common law protects recordings made before U.S. copyright law

[Monty Solomon]

Court rules common law protects recordings made before U.S. copyright law

By MICHAEL GORMLEY Associated Press Writer

(AP) - ALBANY, New York-New York's highest court ruled Tuesday that 
common law protects a record company's copyright on recordings made 
prior to 1972 - a decision that could have industrywide ramifications 
for everything from Bach to the Beatles.

That lawsuit involved Franklin, Tennessee-based Naxos of America 
Inc., which restored and marketed 1930s classical records made in 
England by another company, The Gramaphone Co. Limited, after the 
50-year British copyright had expired.

...

http://news.lp.findlaw.com/ap/o/51/04-05-2005/8075001404a79506.html



CAPITOL RECORDS, INC. V. NAXOS OF AMERICA, INC.
April 5, 2005
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data/ny/cases/app/30opn05.pdf

The Record Companies' Lawyer
http://pview.findlaw.com/view/1659381_1

The Respondent's Lawyer
http://pview.findlaw.com/view/3283296_1

The Basics Of Copyright Law
http://library.findlaw.com/2000/Nov/1/127856.html

Media  Entertainment Law For Corporate Counsel
http://corporate.findlaw.com/industry/media/index.html


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[Medianews] Apple Unveils Final Cut Studio

[Monty Solomon]

 Apple Unveils Final Cut Studio
 - Apr 17, 2005 03:30 PM (PR Newswire)

Major Upgrades of Final Cut Pro, Motion and DVD Studio Pro;
  Introducing Soundtrack Pro


LAS VEGAS, April 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NAB -- Apple(R) today 
unveiled Final Cut(R) Studio, the ultimate HD video production suite 
that features Final Cut Pro(R) 5, a major upgrade to the Emmy 
award-winning editing software for DV, SD, HD and film. Final Cut 
Studio also includes state-of-the- art tools that complement Final 
Cut Pro 5 such as Soundtrack(R) Pro, a revolutionary new audio 
editing and sound design application that makes video projects sound 
as good as they look; Motion 2, the world's first real-time motion 
graphics application with GPU accelerated 32-bit float rendering; and 
DVD Studio Pro(R) 4, the first commercially available DVD authoring 
software that burns high definition DVDs to the latest HD DVD 
specification.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48420219


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[Medianews] Apple Introduces Soundtrack Pro

[Monty Solomon]

 Apple Introduces Soundtrack Pro
 - Apr 17, 2005 03:33 PM (PR Newswire)

Revolutionary New Audio Editing and Sound Design Application


LAS VEGAS, April 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NAB -- Apple(R) today
introduced Soundtrack(R) Pro, a revolutionary new application that gives audio
and video professionals the easiest and most flexible way to create, control
and fix audio. Soundtrack Pro features an innovative waveform editor with
flexible Action Layers that allow users to instantly re-order, bypass or
change any edit, effect or process. Intelligent Find-and-Fix features quickly
identify and repair common audio problems such as background noise, pops,
clicks and hum. With full multitrack editing and mixing, over 50 professional
effect plug-ins from Apple's award-winning Logic Pro 7, and more than 1,000
professional quality sound effects, Soundtrack Pro provides the most
intuitive, yet precise way to create stunning audio.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48420253


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[Medianews] Apple Announces Shake 4

[Monty Solomon]

 Apple Announces Shake 4
 - Apr 17, 2005 03:34 PM (PR Newswire)

Biggest Shake Upgrade Ever Delivers 3D Compositing and Optical Flow
Technologies


LAS VEGAS, April 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NAB -- Apple(R) today 
announced Shake(R) 4, a major upgrade to the industry's leading 
compositing software used by independent artists and visual effects 
facilities to create the world's most celebrated visual effects for 
film and television. Shake 4 features 3D multi-plane compositing, 
cutting-edge optical flow image processing and unprecedented 
integration with Final Cut Pro 5.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48420269


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[Medianews] Apple Continues to Lead the Industry in the Adoption of HD Video at NAB

[Monty Solomon]

 Apple Continues to Lead the Industry in the Adoption of HD Video
 at NAB
 - Apr 17, 2005 03:36 PM (PR Newswire)

LAS VEGAS, April 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NAB -- Apple(R) 
continues to lead the industry in the adoption of high definition 
video by demonstrating a complete HD video production and playback 
platform at NAB (booth #1902) this week. Apple will showcase Mac OS X 
version 10.4 Tiger and QuickTime(R) 7, which includes support for 
the H.264 codec, along with Final Cut(R) Studio, the ultimate HD 
video production suite.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48420276



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[Medianews] The Real Threat to the Music Download Market

[Monty Solomon]

Michael Geist
April 2005

Appeared in the Toronto Star, April 18, 2005

THE REAL THREAT TO THE MUSIC DOWNLOAD MARKET

The Canadian Recording Industry Association's (CRIA) legal campaign 
against music file sharing heads back to court later this week.  A 
three judge panel will hear an appeal of last spring's decision that 
denied a request for identifying information on 29 alleged file 
sharers due to insufficient evidence, privacy concerns, and doubts 
about proof of infringement under Canadian copyright law.  CRIA is 
likely to use the hearing to again argue that peer-to-peer file 
sharing is hurting Canadian artists and the industry, which at long 
last is seeking to develop fee-based alternatives such as Apple 
iTunes, Napster, and Puretracks.

Despite all the rhetoric, there remains much doubt about whether 
peer-to-peer is really responsible for declining sales.  The 
industry's own numbers suggest otherwise since the popularity of 
DVDs, changes in the retail distribution of music, and reduced retail 
pricing on CDs have all played significant roles in the industry's 
self-proclaimed woes (which themselves are not so woeful with sales 
increasing by more than 10 percent in the six months following the 
federal court decision last year).

Moreover, there is little doubt that Canadian artists' royalty losses 
have been offset by the private copying levy system.  The Canadian 
Private Copying Collective has collected approximately $120 million 
over the past five years with much of that revenue earmarked for 
Canadian artists.

While CRIA has argued that the private copying levy was not intended 
to cover music downloading those claims ring hollow in light of 
recent statements and collection practices.  Last month, the industry 
acknowledged to the U.S. Supreme Court that users have the right to 
copy their CDs in order to listen to the same songs on devices such 
as the Apple iPod.  Given that $30 million was collected from 
Canadians last year, it must surely have been paid for something 
other than activities already permitted under the law.

In fact, the real threat to fee-based alternatives in Canada does not 
come from the peer-to-peer systems.  Rather, Canada's copyright 
collectives are poised to kill the nascent industry by demanding the 
creation of a new iTunes tariff that would require music download 
services to surrender at least 40 percent of their revenues to the 
collectives.

...

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/resc/html_bkup/april182005.html



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[Medianews] InPhase Technologies Achieves Benchmark in Digital Recording Media Density; New Holographic Technique Enables Terabyte Disc Recording

[Monty Solomon]

 InPhase Technologies Achieves Benchmark in Digital Recording
 Media Density; New Holographic Technique Enables Terabyte Disc
 Recording
 - Apr 18, 2005 05:00 AM (BusinessWire)

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2005--InPhase Technologies

-- Holographic Data Storage Leader Demonstrates 200 Gigabits Per
Square Inch Density Using Patented Polytopic Multiplexing
Technique

-- ATP Grant Enables Breakthrough


InPhase Technologies, the leader in holographic data storage,
announced today that it has successfully demonstrated a data density
of 200 gigabits per square inch, significantly higher than any other
optical format. InPhase achieved this breakthrough by using its
patented polytopic recording method, which will be implemented in all
generations of the Tapestry drive family. The first generation drive,
targeted at a 300 gigabytes (GB) capacity on a single disk, will be
available in 2006. This will be followed a family of products ranging
to 1.6 terabyte (TB) capacity in 2009.


Holographic storage delivers high capacity by recording data
throughout the volume of the recording material, and not just on the
surface. A data page of approximately 1 million bits is recorded in
one exposure of the laser. Each data page is located at a unique
address within the material and several hundred pages of data, each
with their own unique address, are recorded in the same location of
the medium. A collection of data pages is referred to as a book. This
new recording technique enables more holograms to be stored in the
same volume of material by overlapping not only pages, but also books
of data. This dramatically increases the storage density.


This new recording method is implemented in conjunction with an
optical architecture developed by InPhase, which uses optical lenses
with a high numerical aperture (NA). The combination of the new
recording method and high NA lenses results in a smaller page size
that provides a 10X increase in achievable data density. This also
increases the data transfer rate, and InPhase has demonstrated a
transfer rate of 27 megabytes (MB) per second at density.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48424504


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[Medianews] Verizon Wireless Ringback Tones: The Newest Stage for Universal Music Group Artists

[Monty Solomon]

 Verizon Wireless Ringback Tones: The Newest Stage for Universal
 Music Group Artists
 - Apr 18, 2005 08:31 AM (PR Newswire)

Verizon Wireless Customers Can Express Their Individuality With a Choice of
Popular Universal Music Group Artists


BEDMINSTER, N.J., April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, the 
nation's leading wireless service provider, announced it has entered 
into an agreement with Universal Music Group, the world's leading 
music company, to bring new Ringback Tones from the company's 
extensive catalog of chart-topping artists to Verizon Wireless 
Ringback Tone customers. With an extensive collection of 500 hot 
Ringback Tones, Universal Music Group is the newest resource for 
Verizon Wireless customers looking for the perfect Ringback Tone to 
replace the standard ring callers hear while they wait for their call 
to be answered. Verizon Wireless became the first national carrier to 
offer Ringback Tones when it introduced the service in Southern 
California and Sacramento last year.


With an entire catalog of popular music choices, Universal Music 
Group makes it easy for Verizon Wireless customers to select the 
Ringback Tone that best fits their personal style. By browsing 
through categories such as Rap, Hip-Hop, Soundtracks, 
Metal/Alternative, RB/Soul, 80's, Classic Rock, Pop/Rock, Country, 
Club Hits, 70's, Oldies, 60's and Holiday, customers can set up their 
Ringback Tones to include a standard Ringback Tone (including the 
Verizon Wireless standard Ringback Tone), or choose different 
Ringback Tones for each caller based on the Caller ID, Group List or 
the time of day.


Universal Music Group fans will find it easy to choose the perfect 
Ringback Tone by simply visiting the Ringback Tones Web site at 
http://www.verizonwireless.com/getitnow/ringbacktones where they can 
register, browse and preview the latest Ringback Tones from the 
biggest names in the music industry today. Customers can also sign up 
to receive a TXT Alert whenever their selected artists release new 
Ringback Tones by visiting the My Alerts section of the site and 
selecting TXT notifications. Standard text messaging rates apply to 
TXT Alerts.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48430368


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[Medianews] Adobe to Acquire Macromedia

[Monty Solomon]

Adobe to Acquire Macromedia

Combined Company to Deliver Industry-Defining Technology Platform for 
Rich, Interactive Content

SAN JOSE, Calif. - April 18, 2005 - Adobe Systems Incorporated 
(Nasdaq: ADBE) today announced a definitive agreement to acquire 
Macromedia (Nasdaq: MACR) in an all-stock transaction valued at 
approximately $3.4 billion.

The combination of Adobe and Macromedia will provide customers a more 
powerful set of solutions for creating, managing and delivering 
compelling content and experiences across multiple operating systems, 
devices and media. Together, the two companies will meet a wider set 
of customer needs and have a significantly greater opportunity to 
grow into new markets, particularly in the mobile and enterprise 
segments.

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200504/041805AdobeAcquiresMacromedia.html
 


http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/pdfs/200504/041805AdobeAcquiresMacromedia.pdf


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[Medianews] Verizon FiOS TV Will Offer a New Customer Experience, Seidenberg Says

[Monty Solomon]

 Verizon FiOS TV Will Offer a New Customer Experience, Seidenberg
 Says
 - Apr 18, 2005 12:48 PM (PR Newswire)

Calls on Broadcasters to Support Verizon's Franchise Reform


LAS VEGAS, April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers will have a compelling 
alternative to cable television when Verizon enters the video market 
later this year with FiOS TV, Ivan Seidenberg, the chairman and CEO 
of Verizon, told the National Association of Broadcasters today.


FiOS will change the competitive landscape in the video marketplace, 
both now and in the future. From Day One, we'll offer a new 
technology, a new business model and a new customer experience, 
Seidenberg said.


Speaking at the NAB's national convention, Seidenberg called on 
broadcasters to help break down the biggest barrier to Verizon's 
entry into video: the requirement that Verizon obtain a second 
franchise from local authorities, in addition to the one the company 
already has, to carry video on its fiber networks.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48437638


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[Medianews] Verizon Wireless International Long Distance Value Plan

[Monty Solomon]

 Verizon Wireless Makes It More Affordable to Stay Connected
 Around the World for Business or for Fun
 - Apr 18, 2005 04:58 PM (PR Newswire)

International Long Distance Value Plan Offers Rates Starting at $.09 per
Minute


BEDMINSTER, N.J., April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless, owner and
operator of the nation's most reliable wireless network, is making it easier
for customers to keep in touch with family and friends around the globe.
Starting today, customers can take advantage of Verizon Wireless' new
International Long Distance Value Plan for an affordable way to connect with
people around the world, including Asia, Central America, Europe, South
America, the Caribbean and other North American countries.


Eligible Verizon Wireless customers with America's Choice(SM) or North
America's Choice calling plans can add the International Long Distance Value
Plan for $3.99 per month and receive lower-than-ever international calling
rates that start at $.09 per minute plus airtime on calls from anywhere on the
America's Choice network.*   Calling internationally from a Verizon Wireless
phone has never been more affordable.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48447944


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[Medianews] Wireless Community Supports DVB-H Open Standard, Encourages Competition and Innovation for Burgeoning Digital TV Market

[Monty Solomon]

 Wireless Community Supports DVB-H Open Standard, Encourages
 Competition and Innovation for Burgeoning Digital TV Market
 - Apr 18, 2005 01:22 PM (PR Newswire)

Crown Castle Mobile Media, DiBcom, Freescale, Intel, Microtune, Nokia, O2,
  S-Communications, Silicon  Software Systems Ltd (S3), Texas Instruments,
 TTPCom, and UDcast Publicly Promote and Drive DVB-H to Mobile Phones


LAS VEGAS, April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- A number of players in the wireless
industry today announced support for DVB-H (digital video broadcast --
handheld), an open industry standard for the delivery of mobile broadcast
digital TV (DTV) for the U.S., European and Asian marketplaces.  DVB-H is
experiencing broad support across the wireless ecosystem, including partners
and competitors alike, who are working together to foster competition and
innovation for the growing digital TV market.  Such companies include wireless
operators such as O2; multicast network operators such as Crown Castle Mobile
Media (NYSE:CCI); wireless infrastructure providers such as UDcast; handset
manufacturers such as Nokia (NYSE:NOK); software stack providers such as
Silicon  Software Systems Ltd (S3); and semiconductor providers such as
DiBcom, Freescale (NYSE:FSL), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Microtune(R), Inc.
(Nasdaq: TUNE), S-Communications, Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE:TXN)
(TI) and TTPCom.  Each company listed, plus many others worldwide, is putting
support behind DVB-H in efforts to provide an open environment for mobile
operators and broadcasters to reach the largely un-tapped but promising
digital mobile TV market.


DVB-H is an open, non-proprietary standard that will foster growth
throughout the wireless market, allowing mobile DTV handsets and services to
reach the mass market faster and at a lower cost to consumers.  Additionally,
DVB-H delivers an improved end user experience over current video streaming
services that utilize cellular networks and reduce network capacity for voice
services.  Broadcast digital TV for mobile phones is a large opportunity for
operators, broadcasters, handset manufacturers and silicon providers as it
opens up new opportunities and provides additional users and revenue-
generating services for digital TV services.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48439463


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[Medianews] Markey targets credit ID theft: Wants to put security freeze power in consumers' hands

[Monty Solomon]

Markey targets credit ID theft: Wants to put security freeze power in 
consumers' hands
By Thomas Caywood and Tom Mashberg
Monday, April 18, 2005 - Updated: 12:06 PM EST

Stunned by the ease with which identity thieves are obtaining credit 
cards in other people's names, a Bay State congressman is weighing 
federal legislation that would permit U.S. consumers to clap a 
padlock on their credit files.

http://news.bostonherald.com/politics/view.bg?articleid=79018



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[Medianews] Congress renews interest in identity theft

[Monty Solomon]

Congress renews interest in identity theft
By Associated Press
Friday, April 15, 2005 - Updated: 12:17 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- Responding to outrage from consumers whose personal 
information has been stolen from companies, Congress is primed to 
pass new laws to try to prevent break-ins and to require businesses 
to confess to customers when private data is taken.

The government's new interest in requiring such embarrassing 
disclosures reverses years of efforts by the FBI and U.S. prosecutors 
to shield corporations that have been victims of hackers from bad 
publicity by keeping such crimes out of headlines.

But now, consumers want to know if their private information has 
been stolen.

The Senate is considering at least two proposals to crack down 
on companies suffering breaches of private customer information. The 
Federal Trade Commission's chairwoman has endorsed the idea and the 
Senate Judiciary Committee's chairman hinted this week that a new law 
might be inevitable.

...

http://business.bostonherald.com/technologyNews/view.bg?articleid=78688


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[Medianews] Re: Credit Information Stolen From DSW Stores

[Monty Solomon]

  DSW Data Theft Larger Than Predicted
  - Apr 18, 2005 10:34 PM (AP Online)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Thieves who accessed a DSW Shoe Warehouse 
database obtained 1.4 million credit card numbers and the names on 
those accounts _ 10 times more than investigators estimated last 
month.


DSW Shoe Warehouse said Monday that it has contact information for 
about half of those people and started sending letters notifying them 
of the thefts, which happened at 108 stores in 25 states between 
November and February. A list of the stores is available on the 
company's Web site.


The stolen information did not include home addresses or personal 
identification numbers, the Columbus, Ohio-based company said in a 
statement.


The company, a subsidiary of Retail Ventures Inc., announced the 
thefts last month after notifying federal authorities and credit card 
companies. At the time, the Secret Service said only that information 
involving more than 100,000 people had been compromised.


Besides the credit card numbers, the thieves obtained driver's 
license numbers and checking account numbers from 96,000 transactions 
involving checks, the company said. Customer names, addresses and 
Social Security numbers were not stolen, DSW said.

...

  - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48453610


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[Medianews] Verizon Wireless Makes 'IN' About More Than Calling

[Monty Solomon]

 Verizon Wireless Makes 'IN' About More Than Calling
 - Apr 19, 2005 09:15 AM (PR Newswire)

IN Messaging Lets Verizon Wireless Customers Send and Receive Unlimited Mobile
 to Mobile TXT, PIX and FLIX Messages


BEDMINSTER, N.J., April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting today, wireless
customers have another reason to Join IN -- Verizon Wireless, the nation's
leading wireless service provider, is expanding its popular IN Calling plans
to include IN Messaging, the company's newest offering that gives Verizon
Wireless customers free unlimited mobile-to-mobile TXT, PIX and FLIX Messages
with more than 43 million Verizon Wireless customers.   Customers with Verizon
Wireless IN Calling plans receive unlimited free mobile-to-mobile voice calls
to other customers on the Verizon Wireless national network.


For only $5 additional a month, customers with TXT, PIX or FLIX
Messaging-capable phones can sign up for IN Messaging and immediately begin
sending and receiving unlimited mobile-to-mobile messaging to other Verizon
Wireless customers.  IN Messaging from Verizon Wireless gives customers the
choice of how to keep in touch with other Verizon Wireless customers by
offering the flexibility to select either calling or messaging.  IN Messaging
customers who want to add additional services to their phones can get
unlimited browsing with Verizon Wireless' Mobile Web 2.0(SM) news and
information service for just $4.99 monthly access or add the V CAST VPak for
$15.00 monthly access, plus applicable airtime.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48463592


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[Medianews] America Online Launches Major Campaign against Phishing

[Monty Solomon]

 America Online Launches Major Campaign against Phishing
 - Apr 20, 2005 08:00 AM (BusinessWire)

DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2005--America Online Inc.:


--  Round-the-Clock Blocking of Suspected Scam/Identity Theft
Sites Supplements Other Anti-Phishing Tools, Ongoing Member
Education Campaign

--  AOL Partners with Online Security Company Cyota to Help
Identify Web Sites That Attempt to Steal Passwords, Financial
Information


America Online today announced a major new initiative to combat
phishing -- the practice of using fraudulent e-mail and fake web
sites to solicit sensitive personal information from users. As part of
that campaign, America Online has partnered with Cyota, Inc., the
leading anti-fraud and online security solution provider for financial
institutions, to help identify and block access to suspected phishing
sites through a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week monitoring process. AOL is
also working internally and with other partners to identify and block
phishing sites.


This effort supplements the other steps AOL has taken to help
protect its members against phishing, including spam blocking,
cooperation with law enforcement, member education, and tools like
AOL(R) Money Alerts, AOL(R) Passcode, and AOL(R) Official Mail.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48490983


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[Medianews] Cingular Wireless Posts Solid First-Quarter Results:

[Monty Solomon]

 Cingular Wireless Posts Solid First-Quarter Results:
 - Apr 20, 2005 06:00 AM (PR Newswire)

 -- Net subscriber additions of more than 1.4 million

 -- 50.4 million subscribers at quarter's end

 -- Gross subscriber additions of 4.8 million

 -- Monthly subscriber churn of 2.2 percent overall and 1.9 percent in
postpaid

 -- 210 basis-point sequential improvement in normalized OIBDA margin

 -- Continued progress in GSM conversion, with 84 percent of minutes now
on Cingular's GSM network

 -- Integration initiatives continue on schedule


ATLANTA, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest
wireless provider, today posted solid first-quarter results driven by
continued strong subscriber growth, improved churn and sequential margins, and
strength in data and enterprise services.


Cingular delivered net subscriber additions of more than 1.4 million and
ended the first quarter with 50.4 million subscribers.


Gross additions were nearly 4.8 million while churn was 2.2 percent -- a
sequential improvement of 20 basis points.  In addition, OIBDA margin --
normalized to exclude direct merger integration costs --increased to 25.5
percent, which is a sequential improvement of 210 basis points.  (Pro forma
results reflect the acquisition of ATT Wireless, plus related acquisitions
and dispositions, as if they had occurred on January 1, 2003.)

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48492342


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[Medianews] VeriSign Reports First Quarter 2005 Results

[Monty Solomon]

 VeriSign Reports First Quarter 2005 Results
 - Apr 20, 2005 04:10 PM (PR Newswire)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VeriSign, Inc.
(Nasdaq: VRSN), the leading provider of intelligent infrastructure services
for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today reported its results
for the first quarter ended March 31, 2005.


VeriSign reported revenue of $401 million for the first quarter of 2005, a
75 percent increase compared to the same period of 2004.  On a GAAP basis,
VeriSign reported net income of $49 million for the first quarter 2005 and
earnings per share of $0.19 per fully-diluted share.  This compares with net
income of $9 million and earnings per share of $.04 per fully-diluted share
for the same period of 2004.


On a non-GAAP, after tax basis, using a 30% effective tax rate on non-GAAP
pre-tax income of $95 million, earnings per share for the first quarter was
$0.25 per fully-diluted share, as compared to non-GAAP pre-tax income of $50
million and earnings per fully-diluted share of $0.14 for the same period in
2004. These non-GAAP results exclude the following items, which are included
under GAAP:  amortization of intangible assets related to acquisitions, the
net gain or loss on the sale of investments or the impairment of investments,
restructuring and other recoveries/charges, and stock-based compensation
charges related to acquisitions.  A table reconciling the non-GAAP to GAAP
numbers reported above is appended to this release.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48510821


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