TidBITS#724/01-Apr-04
=====================
News abounds this week, with stories ranging from Microsoft's
acquisition of AOL to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
standardizing on Macs, with Hormel's anti-spam campaign providing
a brief diversion. In the product world, Geoff Duncan reports on
CountDown G5, which lets G5s run Mac OS 9 software, Jeff Carlson
examines the iChat 2.2 public beta, Glenn Fleishman passes on
news of a wire-free laptop charging technology, and Adam looks
at a SubEthaEdit-enabled conferencing service. Lastly, Apple
announces a GarageBand add-on and we release our first business
ebook in the Take Control series.
Topics:
MailBITS/01-Apr-04
DealBITS Drawing: Autographed Spam
iChat AV 2.2 Public Beta Adds MSN Support
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Standardizes on Macs
CountDown G5 Enables Mac OS 9 Booting for Power Mac G5s
The Second Experiment Is Over
Please Take Your SEETS
Tes-La Charges Laptops Wirelessly
<http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-724.html>
<ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/issues/2003/TidBITS#724_01-Apr-04.etx>
Copyright 2004 TidBITS Electronic Publishing. All rights reserved.
Information: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Comments: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
---------------------------------------------------------------
This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by:
* READERS UNLIKE YOU! Help support TidBITS via our voluntary <------- NEW!
contribution program. No thanks this week to Scott Richter,
Davis Wolfgange Hawke, Linda Lightfoot, and Justin Champion!
<http://www.tidbits.com/about/support/contributors.html>
* Department of Homeland Security: We're Hiring Mac Geeks! <--------- NEW!
If you're a patriotic American and a die-hard Mac user, there
is a position for you protecting our country with the DHS.
Apply today! <http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/homeland.asp>
* Creative Commons: Because your mother always told you to share. <-- NEW!
Don't let the Content Cartel tell you how you're allowed to
distribute your music, art, writing, or photography. Get your
free Creative Commons license! <http://creativecommons.org/>
* RIAA: The Recording Industry Association of America <-------------- NEW!
Are your friends pirating music? Give us their names and we'll
give you free CDs from popular right-thinking artists. Help
keep America safe from digital pirates! <http://www.riaa.com/>
---------------------------------------------------------------
MailBITS/01-Apr-04
------------------
**<Bleep>ing GarageBand!** Apple Computer today announced the
availability of Bleeper, a free innovative Audio Units plug-in for
use with Apple's entry-level digital music program, GarageBand.
In a technological first for a plug-in designed for a music-
creation program, Bleeper integrates with Mac OS X's built-in
Speech Recognition technology to detect and "bleep" potentially
profane or obscene language in speech or singing in real time.
Bleeper can be applied either to existing audio tracks (to create
"radio mixes" of your GarageBand songs) or to vocals being
recorded in real time (so parents and teachers don't have to
worry about children creating potentially offensive material
with GarageBand). You can even apply Bleeper to instrumental
tracks, although the results can be a little unpredictable.
Bleeper itself is highly configurable, enabling music creators
to insert silence, a wide variety of substitution tones, or even
vanity noises whenever Bleeper detects a potentially offensive
word. In another first, Bleeper can be installed and configured
for all users by entering a Mac OS X administrator login: that
is, a parent or teacher can install Bleeper and _require_ that
GarageBand use it for all vocal tracks. Mac OS X users without
administrator privileges can configure Bleeper in their songs,
but not disable it. The English language version of Bleeper is
available now as a 4.1 MB download via Software Update; Apple
anticipates localized versions of Bleeper will be available in
coming weeks. [GD]
<http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07500>
**"Take Control of Your Island Nation" Released** -- Needless to
say, few of us actually have our own island nations, but with this
latest installment in our Take Control series of electronic books,
we're branching out into the rough-and-tumble world of business
self-help books like "First, Break All The Rules: What the World's
Greatest Managers Do Differently." Written by legendary business
consultant Michael Milkem, the hidden force behind NeXT's
acquisition of Apple Computer and the AOL/Time Warner merger,
"Take Control of Your Island Nation" draws comparisons between
orchestrating an overthrow of a corrupt banana republic government
and regaining authority in an out-of-control business. You'll
learn how to identify and cultivate powerful benefactors before
you need their help, how to amass (and conceal) the necessary
arsenal of business weapons, and how to time your entry into the
heart of the battle. Follow-through is everything, and once you're
in control, the ebook provides invaluable advice on managing
information sources, rewarding your supporters, and concentrating
your power base to repel counter-insurgency. Bonus Section! These
days, it's all about image, and although combat fatigues and
cigars won't help in you in the boardroom, our tips on appearance
will lend credence to your cause when the TV crews come calling.
Published 01-Apr-04, "Take Control of Your Island Nation" has
53 pages and costs $5. [ACE]
<http://www.tidbits.com/takecontrol/business/islandnation.html>
**Canned Spam Can Can Spam with CAN-SPAM** -- Hormel is expected
to announce today their campaign to can spam using their canned
Spam with the aid of the CAN-SPAM legislation. Starting today,
Hormel will print the phone number, email addresses, and other
information about unsolicited email senders on cans of Spam along
the lines of the "Have you seen me?" photographs published on
milk cartons. Canned Spam buyers who help to can spam by canning
spammers can receive cans of Spam as a reward. [GF]
<http://www.hormel.com/spam/>
<http://www.spam.com/>
DealBITS Drawing: Autographed Spam
----------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
This week we have a special one-day DealBITS drawing! In
conjunction with Hormel's anti-spam campaign, we're giving away
one can of Spam, the real stuff, a $2.95 value. And to make it a
real collector's item, I'll personally autograph the can, enabling
the lucky winner to prove that I sent them Spam (no complaining to
SpamCop or our ISPs, though, since if you enter the contest, this
Spam will definitely be solicited!).
Enter at the DealBITS page linked below, and be sure to read and
agree to the updated drawing rules on that page. As always, all
information gathered is covered by our comprehensive privacy
policy. Lastly, check your (electronic) spam filters, since
you must be able to receive email from my address to learn
if you've won.
<http://www.tidbits.com/dealbits/AdamSpam.html>
<http://www.tidbits.com/about/privacy.html>
iChat AV 2.2 Public Beta Adds MSN Support
-----------------------------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Apple today released a public beta of iChat AV 2.2, the
company's popular instant-messaging and audio/video conferencing
application. In addition to providing a handful of bug fixes, the
update incorporates support for Microsoft's MSN text messaging
network.
<http://www.apple.com/ichat/download/>
<http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/>
Previously, the MSN network was unavailable to iChat users because
iChat uses the AIM (AOL Instant Messaging) network, and the two
protocols are incompatible. Although AIM boasts over 100 million
users, many iChat users (myself included) found themselves unable
to communicate with friends and relatives whose companies use MSN
at work. The solution has been to run Microsoft's MSN Messenger
for Mac (available as a free download or bundled with Microsoft
Office X) in addition to iChat. Even other chat utilities such
as Fire, which can straddle multiple instant messaging protocols,
have not been able to offer a way to communicate directly between
AIM and MSN.
<http://www.aim.com/>
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.aspx?pid=msnmessenger>
<http://fire.sourceforge.net/>
The iChat AV 2.2 Public Beta bridges the gap by automatically
translating the protocols using an intermediary array of G5
Xserves housed at Apple's data centers. Apple claims that the
translation process doesn't affect performance of text messaging
or file transfers (which, like previous versions of iChat, are set
up as direct connections between the two computers participating
in the transfer).
**The Price of Compatibility** -- However, due to the volume of
instant messaging traffic, this new service isn't completely free.
In a deal worked out between Apple and Microsoft, chat sessions
between iChat and MSN clients will include "short, targeted, and
relevant" promotional messages within text chats; the text appears
in the same gray, sans-serif text used to display timestamps and
other system messages (such as "Direct Instant Message session
started").
The two companies promise that the messages won't be obtrusive,
and that users will find them useful - for example, providing
offers for $5 off the price of Microsoft Office when the message
is clicked. If the sponsored message system is successful,
according to insiders at each company, they might consider selling
subscriptions that would display specific information in the gray
promotional text, such as virus alerts, stock quotes, and news
headlines. (I should point out that similar functionality can
be had using third-party iChat utilities such as iChat Status
or Status Symbol, which use iChat's status message to display
this type of information.)
<http://www.ittpoi.com/>
<http://www.ifthensoft.com/>
There's good news for .Mac subscribers, however. Because the
protocol translation service is offered by Apple, people who have
paid for the full .Mac service (which costs $100 per year) can
opt to not see the sponsored messages. iChat checks that the
.Mac member name matches the one listed in the .Mac preference
pane in Mac OS X's System Preferences (and that it's an active
.Mac account) and automatically disables the messages; you can
go into iChat's preferences to turn the feature back on, if you
choose.
iChat AV 2.2 Public Beta requires Mac OS X 10.3.3 or later and
is available as a 6.3 MB download from Apple's Web site. The beta
is set to expire 01-Apr-05.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Standardizes on Macs
---------------------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cast your mind back to September of 1999, when we reported on a
highly publicized move by the U.S. Army to transition its primary
Web server from Windows NT to Power Macintosh G3s running WebSTAR
(then from StarNine Technologies, now owned by 4D). The reason
was simple: the Army's home page had been hacked and modified in
embarrassing ways, and even though the FBI arrested a teenager
in connection with the incident, the Army addressed the problem
in part by switching away from the insecure Windows NT.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05552>
Although 1999 seems an eternity ago, some things never change,
and today the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced
that it would be standardizing all of its computing functions on
Macs running Mac OS X. As with the Army's decision back in 1999,
the reason is security. Even though Microsoft continues to block
holes in Windows, we've seen an ever-increasing number of worm and
virus epidemics that have turned millions of Windows-based PCs
into zombie spam generators and resulted in many billions of
dollars of damage and cleanup costs.
Therein lies the difference since 1999. Although DHS remains
concerned about the security of its internal and external Web
sites, the real worry today is that the entire department could
be crippled by a virulent Windows worm or virus. The Army was
merely embarrassed by their Web site being modified, but a worm-
based attack on DHS computers could seriously compromise the
agency's ability to respond to a terrorist attack. DHS has been
particularly concerned about such attacks, issuing an alert in
March about a Windows program called Phatbot that brings peer-
to-peer networking concepts to malicious software.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A444-2004Mar17.html>
Needless to say, the announcement is good news for Apple Computer,
since it will entail the purchase of hundreds of thousands of
Macintosh systems. Apple stock rose $4.01 on the announcement
as Wall Street took account of the future earnings.
It's important to remain realistic about the effects of DHS
switching to Mac OS X. In the past, Macs have been largely free of
worms and viruses at least in part because Macs weren't generally
used in "interesting" places (interesting, that is, to the sort of
people who write malicious software). Targets don't get much more
prominent than DHS, and I fully expect to see more hacking effort
aimed against Macs in the near future. Apple is not unaware of
this possibility either, and has already started advertising for
additional security engineers, as evidenced by the job posting
below (Apple ID required for login).
<https://jobs.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Employment.woa/wa/
jobDescription?RequisitionID=2108056>
On the balance, though, I think this is a positive move.
Particularly with Microsoft's efforts to monopolize the ISP market
(see Glenn Fleishman's article later in this issue), announcements
like this are necessary for Apple to keep from being entirely
marginalized. Increased use in government, particularly in
situations with sensitive data, will also likely advance the Mac's
case in the business world, where the need for security is the one
of the few things that can divert an IT manager from choosing the
combination that Windows-based PCs have always provided so well:
low upfront costs and guaranteed support jobs.
CountDown G5 Enables Mac OS 9 Booting for Power Mac G5s
-------------------------------------------------------
by Geoff Duncan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The French start-up software company Freedom Technologies
today announced the immediate availability of CountDown G5,
a controversial firmware update which enables users to start
up Apple's Power Mac G5 systems using _either_ Mac OS 9 or
Mac OS X.
<http://www.freedom-tech.fr/products/countdowng5/>
<http://www.apple.com/powermac/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07241>
As shipped by Apple, Power Mac G5 systems can start up using only
Mac OS X (although they can run older software in the Classic
environment). But now, Mac OS 9 users can enjoy the performance
and raw power of the Power Mac G5 system if they do not want to
use Mac OS X, or are still among those users for whom Mac OS X
versions of needed software are not yet available. CountDown G5's
methods are not subtle, and using CountDown G5 to create a Mac
OS 9-bootable system could leave you with an unsupported hybrid
machine, jeopardize your warranty, or create unexpected problems
with future operating system updates. However, if you simply
_must_ have G5 power within Mac OS 9 - and if the Mac OS X Classic
environment doesn't cut the mustard - then CountDown G5 is your
only option.
**How CountDown G5 Works** -- CountDown G5 updates the Power Mac
G5 firmware to allow the machine to start up using Mac OS 9 as
well as Mac OS X - following the update, the Power Mac G5 will
recognize bootable Mac OS 9.2.2 volumes as viable startup volumes,
as well as volumes with Mac OS X 10.2.7 or newer installed.
CountDown G5's method of updating the Power Mac G5's firmware
is exactly the same as that which Apple would use if a flaw or
incompatibility necessitated a change (such as the firmware
updates issued for early iMacs, without which installing
Mac OS X 10.2 or higher can render a machine inoperable).
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06973>
Despite all the new subsystems and processor technologies in the
Power Mac G5s, Freedom Technologies learned that the systems'
firmware packages aren't terribly different from firmware shipped
in Mac OS 9-compatible machines. Using careful black-box reverse
engineering, they were able to determine which portions of the
Power Mac G5 firmware needed to be changed to provide Mac OS 9
compatibility, and exactly what those changes should be. Although
Apple did not perform extensive compatibility testing of the Power
Mac G5 hardware from Mac OS 9 - since they anticipated all access
would be moderated by Mac OS X - Freedom Technologies engineers
reported discovering no significant problems accessing all the
Power Mac's features from Mac OS 9, in part because many of the
new technologies (including FireWire 800 and USB 2.0) are based
on open standards for which complete technical specifications
are available. According to CountDown G5's lead developer, in
the handful of instances where incompatibilities were found,
working around them was only a small portion of the engineering
effort.
When started up from Mac OS 9, however, Power Mac G5 systems do
not take advantage of the G5 processor's native 64-bit mode:
Apple would need to rewrite Mac OS 9 for 64-bit compatibility,
and it goes without saying that Apple is expending virtually no
development resources on Mac OS 9 these days. Similarly, Freedom
Technologies cannot guarantee any particular driver or peripheral
will work with G5 systems booting Mac OS 9, since they have no
control over how third party vendors developed their software
drivers. CountDown's release notes cover cases of known
incompatibilities (currently a handful of USB printers and
digital cameras).
<http://www.freedom-tech.fr/products/countdowng5/release-notes.html>
**T Minus 10** -- CountDown G5 installs from its own CD-ROM: users
insert the disk, restart while pressing C, and respond to the
prompts once the system starts up. The installer is emphatic
about confirming that the user understands the nature of the
CountDown G5 product and is certain they wish to install it:
you cannot mindlessly click through the CountDown G5 installer
or walk through quickly by pressing Return. Default buttons and
the nature of dialogs change, and users must successfully answer
a quiz (as well as input a serial number) to install the product.
The reason for these extreme precautions is simple: once you
install CountDown G5, there's no going back. Freedom Technologies
cannot legally provide Apple's default firmware as an uninstall
option, and Apple itself provides no way to re-install the
firmware which ships on Power Mac G5 systems. Installing CountDown
G5 is a one-way ticket, and users would be well-advised to do it
only when plugged into a UPS: if the power were to fail during the
two-minute installation process, there may be no way to recover
the Power Mac G5 without replacing the motherboard.
Users should also note that installing CountDown G5 in all
likelihood voids Apple's warranty, although Apple has not yet
made a formal statement on the subject. Similarly, warranties
of third-party hardware products may not apply to CountDown
G5-enabled systems. In particular, Macintosh peripherals developed
with only Mac OS X in mind are extremely unlikely to work under
Mac OS 9, even on G5 systems running CountDown G5, since no
Mac OS 9 drivers will be available for those devices. Examples
include third-party mice and input devices, scanners, and
printers, although some devices (such as external hard drives)
which are Mac OS 9-compatible should work without a hitch.
**Lift Off!** CountDown G5 1.0 is presently available _only_ for
Apple's Power Mac G5 systems and will refuse to install on any
other Apple hardware. Freedom Technologies says they're looking
into producing versions of CountDown for modern iMacs as well
as Apple's high-end laptops, but their focus is on Apple's
professional Power Mac G5 users. Freedom Technologies will
have to update CountDown for any new Power Mac G5 systems Apple
releases, as well as for any firmware revisions Apple slips
into its production cycle. Freedom Technologies offers a tiny
application (a 240K download) which reveals whether CountDown
is compatible with the firmware in a particular Power Mac G5
system.
<http://www.freedom-tech.fr/support/downloads/countdown-tester.dmg>
CountDown G5 1.0 is available immediately to citizens of E.U.
member states for 50 euros; U.S. citizens must pay an additional
technology export duty which will bring the total cost to between
$95 and $110, depending on currency values and the status of
technology trade agreements. CountDown G5 is available only
on serialized CD-ROM; there is no downloadable version.
<http://www.freedom-tech.fr/store/>
The Second Experiment Is Over
-----------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Almost 10 years ago, I wrote an article for TidBITS called "The
Experiment Is Over" about the end of the governmentally funded,
usage-restricted Internet backbone. The Internet's experimental
age, during which the government and research institutions built,
connected, and paid for the Internet, was replaced by the
commercial age, in which large-scale businesses charged for
infrastructure and feeds.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=01501>
Today, we're seeing the end of the second experiment: multiple
companies offering Internet service to individuals. Early this
morning, an announcement reported that Microsoft was successful
in a purchase deal to buy AOL's entire operations, confirming a
rumor that the companies were in talks about an acquisition.
Separately, the company also managed to buy the now-profitable
EarthLink, which Microsoft had courted several years back, as
well as several other major ISPs. Microsoft already owns a
portion of the cable ISP Road Runner, and provides Internet
service to about nine million subscribers via MSN.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1173902,00.html>
<http://news.com.com/2100-1033-252490.html?legacy=cnet>
In the short term, it seems likely that the cost of Internet
access will drop, as Microsoft applies economies of scale after
merging the operations of these large ISPs. That, however, will
bring into question the survival of the remaining small, regional
ISPs that make up the remainder of the market after Microsoft's 69
percent share, which is of course backed by Microsoft's marketing
muscle and infinitely deep pockets. MSN, for instance, reported
its first profitable quarter in the third quarter of 2003 after
eight years of red ink.
The U.S. Justice Department, drained of staff and funding by
previous unsuccessful battles with Microsoft, has already pledged
to not fight the effort. A spokesperson said, "With so many
independent ISPs competing Microsoft throughout the United
States, we see no antitrust concerns with Microsoft's recent
acquisitions." The European Union, which recently found Microsoft
guilty of antitrust violations, is said to be watching Microsoft's
actions in the U.S. ISP space carefully. Finally, the U.S. Federal
Trade Commission issued a statement saying that "it's in the best
interests of consumers to have a single entity that can better
fight spam centrally."
<http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3330201>
In the longer term, we expect costs to rise, probably not
directly, but through service bundles, much the way cable
companies package channels in such a way that you end up paying
for far more channels than you'd ever watch. More concerning,
though, is the increased vulnerability of an Internet that's
in effect run by Microsoft. Biological monocultures are prone to
population crashes due to pests, disease, or environmental change,
and the same is proving equally true in the computer world. With
reduced variability in operating systems and operating practices
among large ISPs, much larger portions of the Internet could be
affected by malicious code aimed at Microsoft-specific software
or systems.
Please Take Your SEETS
----------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
If you've ever been a part of a decentralized working group,
you're undoubtedly aware of the utility of shared conference
calls; I've spent many an hour on conference calls for a variety
of projects. But one of the major problems with conference calls
is that someone always has to take notes, which is tricky to do
while participating in the discussion. The notes are also only as
good as the notetaker was attentive, and in my experience, there's
a wide range of notetaking skills (and desire) among my peers.
I'm looking forward to trying a new service that promises to
solve this problem entirely, though. Called SEETS, for SubEthaEdit
Transcription Service, the idea is simple. You use a particular
telephone conferencing service and as part of the cost, a trained
notetaker listens in on your call and takes notes on the
discussion. But, as you probably guessed from the name, the cool
part is that the notetaker takes the notes in a shared SubEthaEdit
document that anyone on the call can join. (For those that haven't
seen it, SubEthaEdit, formerly known as Hydra, is a free, real-
time, collaborative text editor from a group of German computer
science students calling themselves TheCodingMonkeys.)
<http://www.seets.com/>
<http://www.codingmonkeys.de/subethaedit/>
I've found that watching someone take notes on a discussion in
SubEthaEdit helps focus the discussion, since there's a visible
record of what's been said (preventing unnecessary backtracking
and allowing latecomers to catch up quickly) and what's coming
up (if an agenda has been set in advance). And even if one person
is taking most of the notes, it's easy to make small changes to
account for important points that person might have missed or may
not realized were significant.
SEETS notetakers are trained not just to transcribe a discussion,
but to reflect the structure of the call, appropriately labeling
each point with the name of the person who made it. And although
most people probably won't want to add to the notes all that much,
an occasional addition or terminology correction will help the
notetaker improve the accuracy of the notes.
Although it would seem that the SEETS notetaking service would
add significantly to the cost of the conference call, it's in
line with the national average at 25 cents per minute per person
(though admittedly higher than the cut-rate conferencing services,
which are down around 8 cents per minute). Two factors make this
price possible: the reliance on inexpensive Voice-over-IP (VoIP)
technology for the actual call, and the use of highly skilled but
relatively low-paid workers in India for the actual notetaking
service. And of course, even if 25 cents per minute sounds
expensive, if SEETS lets everyone on a business call stay focused
and not spend time afterwards fleshing out the notes, it's easily
worth the cost.
In fact, that's a final benefit of SEETS - everyone can save their
own copy of the notes at the end of the call. No more waiting for
someone else to finish them up and send them out in email to find
out what your action items are.
I won't pretend that SEETS is ideal for every conference call.
For one, SEETS supports only English at the moment, though the
company may offer additional languages in the future. There are
also undoubtedly topics that are simply too sensitive to allow an
outsider to listen in. But for those routine conference calls that
consume an hour of your life, using SEETS can at least let you
focus on the topic at hand and not worry that the discussions
will be forgotten as soon as everyone hangs up.
Tes-La Charges Laptops Wirelessly
---------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Building on the success of short-range induction charging, such
as is used in the MobileWise wire-free electric power technology,
Posicharge, Inc. has introduced the latest advance to wireless
networking technology: the Tes-La passive energy charging system.
When a Wi-Fi hotspot adds Tes-La coils to their wireless gateways,
your laptop pulls voltage from the air using a system similar to
that which allows drivers to debit charge accounts as they zip
through special toll gates.
<http://www.mobilewise.com/>
<http://www.tes-la.us/>
A laptop requires a special antenna-like adaptor that replaces the
power adapter that comes with the machine. Although power can be
transmitted over thousands of feet, its strength dissipates as you
move away from the Tes-La coils. It's highly recommended that you
wear a grounding strap or constantly touch metal while using the
Tes-La system to avoid static discharge (Posicharge offers a pair
of grounding straps designed to look like fashionable wrist
apparel instead of cheap Velcro straps).
What's fascinating about Tes-La is that it's not a dumb system:
it uses a power delivery protocol called TCP/EP, or TCP over
Electrical Power. TCP/EP can be metered by measuring the outgoing
amperage contained in each packet. A laptop negotiates its power
needs through the protocol. For example, when you first connect
the battery is quick-charged to about 70 percent of capacity; then
the amperage is throttled back to a slow trickle to top off the
remaining capacity. Another advantage to this approach is area-
wide power consumption: the system doles out power based on the
number of users in the vicinity, averaging the outgoing power
among multiple users.
<http://www.tes-la.us/technology/>
However, the Tes-La system is not without its flaws. Sending power
through the air has been a dream of the modern age since the
1920s, but the dangers associated with it can't be understated.
One of Posicharge's competitors, Noside Connections, alleges
that if one were to place a dog in the direct path of a Tes-La
transmitter, the animal would be fried in a manner of minutes
(Noside assured us that the example is theoretical, and that
no animals have been tested in this manner).
Posicharge, in response, notes that the Tes-La system is designed
to step down its power when it senses interruptions, and that dogs
are rarely found in the cafes and other public establishments in
which Wi-Fi is traditionally offered.
Tes-La should be available in the United States once the FCC, FDA,
FAA, USDA, NSA, DHS, and other governmental agencies provide their
approval.
$$
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