Poetro's blog: July 2007

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Microsoft photo standard comes into focus

Microsoft's alternative to the ubiquitous JPEG image format could soon become a standard, a major step in the company's ambitions to spread the technology and boost its Vista operating system.

In coming months, 16 national standards groups will formally vote on whether the Joint Photographic Experts Group, after which the JPEG file format is named, should make Microsoft's relatively new HD Photo format a standard. Getting to this stage is a good sign in Microsoft's view, and the company has hopes the format will be accepted as a standard called JPEG XR by mid-2008, said Robert Rossi, principal program manager at Microsoft for emerging image and video technology.

Source: news.com.com

Wii Want High-Def (How About You?)

Wouldn't it be nice if you could play Zelda: Twilight Princess in glorious 720 or 1080p instead of a blurry, jaggy 480? How about Metroid Prime 3? Super Mario Galaxy? Kitty Luv?

Okay, skip Kitty Luv. Or don't and mark your calendar. (Who names these things?) In any case, no one can really deny the fact that the Wii looks best when you're poised a half dozen feet away and paying as little attention to the visual trimmings as possible. Unless you're squinting or half-blind, close inspection of any Wii game reveals a lot of blah compared to the crisp organic fantasy-scapes in a game like Overlord (Xbox 360) or what I've seen so far of Factor 5's eye-boggling Lair (Playstation 3).

So how about a high-res version of the Wii?

I tease because I love, but seriously: Always provocative Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggests Wii-to-the-power-of-2 could in fact be zipping our way as early as 2009.

Source: blogs.pcworld.com

Mozilla Issues Fixes For Two Firefox Bugs

Mozilla releases Firefox version 2.0.0.6 right before it's expected to announce new security tools at this week's BlackHat security conference.

Still battling vulnerabilities that could allow the Firefox browser to pass dangerous data to third-party applications like Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla this week released Firefox 2.0.0.6 to fix the problem.

In mid-July, Mozilla released Firefox 2.0.0.5 with patches for several vulnerabilities, including the "highly critical" security bug that has been plaguing both Firefox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. On Monday, the open-source group shipped workarounds and patches for two related bugs.

The fixes come right before the opening of the BlackHat security conference in Las Vegas this week. Mozilla is expected to release additional security tools there.

Source: informationweek.com

Google Scores FCC Win

Federal regulators changed the rules on new wireless spectrum, requiring an open standard that could work with any device.

Breaking from a tradition in which phone companies like Verizon [...] and AT&T [...] typically acquired rights to new radio real estate and determined what phones could be used on the wireless networks, the Federal Communications Commission says winners of the upcoming 700 megahertz auction must provide a platform that is more open to devices and applications.

The move comes a week after Google said it would bid $4.6 billion on a scheduled air wave auction to distribute former analog UHF TV spectrum to emergency services groups and wireless service providers.

Source: thestreet.com

Windows Vista fixes leaked to Internet early

Hopefully all thing will be better in Vista and soon it might be comparable in speed with the elder Windows XP.

Microsoft’s upcoming Performance and Compatibility packs for Windows Vista have been leaked to the Internet two weeks before their expected release.

While it isn’t the Service Pack 1 release that Vista users were hoping for, it does take some steps to correct some of the mass-reported performance issues, and adds some extra functionality as well.

The biggest upgrade included in the "938979 Performance and Reliability Pack" is an improvement to performance when copying or moving directories containing large files.

Source: canada.com

Blu-Ray stimulated by adult film industry

Sony’s Betamax may be consigned to the history books but the electronics giant is making a play for market dominance with the high-definition Blu-Ray DVD format in a family-friendly way by making exclusive distribution deals with several Hollywood studios.

However, since 2006 adult film companies such as Digital Playground have been producing their content on Blu-Ray but in small quantities due to Sony’s efforts to block pornographic material being distributed on its format.

In the US, HD DVD is the dominant disc format in the adult entertainment industry but at a recent adult film conference in Japan filmmakers allegedly spoke of Sony’s technical support to all players in the film industry no matter what area they specialised in.

Source: siliconrepublic.com

FCC to Decide on Auction Rules Today

The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to vote this morning on the rules governing the January auction of valuable airwaves. These airwaves are coveted by phone, cable and Internet companies of all sizes because they are ideal for carrying wireless signals.

The biggest debate has been over whether the FCC will require about one-third of those airwaves to be used to build a nationwide network that will work with any wireless device, as Chairman Kevin Martin has proposed. He seems to have gotten majority support for that plan, which has the potential to bring big change to the wireless industry. But Google and a number of other tech companies and public interest groups, including Public Knowledge, Free Press and the Open Internet Coalition have been pushing for stronger rules that would also require the network to be open to all software, applications and third-party companies. Martin has said he doesn't support the extra open-access requirements.

AT&T has said it can live with Martin's proposal that will open the network up to all devices. Verizon Wireless opposes the idea.

Source: blog.washingtonpost.com

Monday, July 30, 2007

Eddie Murphy's Not So Spicy Engagement

A month ago, Eddie Murphy was not only single, but the father of five children.

Now, he's the father of six and headed for yet another trip down the aisle: The Shrek star popped the question to his girlfriend of 10 months, movie producer Tracey Edmonds, last week.

"Tracey and Eddie were engaged last Wednesday," Edmonds' personal assistant told E! News. "Tracey and Eddie are both very much in love and are excited about spending the rest of their lives together."

Source: eonline.com

YouTube anti-piracy tool due sometime in the fall

Google’s YouTube is set to have video fingerprinting software tested and enabled sometime in the fall according to statements made in court on Friday. The statements were made during the initial hearing of the Viacom trial against YouTube owner Google. Viacom sued Google in March over copyright infringement seeking $1 billion in damages. According to Associated Press wire reports, Google said they were working “very intensely” on a video recognition technology, which is said to add another layer of protection for copyright holders such as Viacom.

Viacom, known as the father to such shows as South Park, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Reno 911, each from Comedy Central, as well as MTV, MTV2, Nickelodeon, CMTV, and several other stations and programming, ordered the removal of any video on YouTube that contained footage, images, and likenesses of any of their shows. It was a popular pastime in several offices to surf to YouTube and watch the Daily Show each day after it aired the night before. Clips were often posted almost instantly. Then earlier this year Viacom issued a removal order under the DMCA that caused the removal of several hundred thousand videos from the popular website. The backlash was that the removal order caused is still being seen today.

Viacom, and by proxy YouTube, faced a storm of negative press when some of the removed clips had nothing to do with copyrighted material. Likewise, those that could have been flagged as infringing on copyright, according to The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), used the content under fair use and were not subject to removal. All the while, Viacom sued Google for $1 billion because they fail to prevent the uploading of the copy written works to their website. Google maintains that they are doing nothing wrong, and are complying with the DMCA by removing the offending material as soon as they are asked.

Source: tech.monstersandcritics.com

The Wireless World Up for Grabs

The biggest drawback for many iPhone enthusiasts has been that, to use it, you must switch to AT&T’s mobile phone service. Every network has its weak spots, and if your home sits in one of AT&T’s, no iPhone for you.

Apple was certainly intent on changing the market, but mobile phones aren’t truly mobile, as Randall Stross wrote in The New York Times last week. To get in the race, then, Apple had to pick a single network horse.

The Federal Communications Commission could change that, and much more, with an anxiously awaited decision that is expected on Tuesday, The Washington Post reports today. At stake is $15 billion worth of airwaves that will be suddenly become available when the nation fully converts to high-definition television broadcasting. That’s supposed to happen by February 19, 2009.

Source: thelede.blogs.nytimes.com

Northwest Airlines pilots stay home; 200 flights dropped

Northwest Airlines' cancellations continued Sunday, with more than 200 flights dropped as pilots stayed home, saying they were pushed to the limit of hours they are allowed to fly each month.

The airline blamed the pilots, who in turn blamed the airline for failing to address staff shortfalls

Northwest, which emerged from bankruptcy reorganization in May, canceled 514 flights Friday through Sunday evening.

Northwest canceled more than 2,000 flights in June, many of them toward the end of the month.

Source: archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com

Google vs Jimmy Wales & Open Source Search

Jimmy Wales, the founder of not-for profit Wikipedia and for-profit, San Mateo, Calif.-based Wikia is part of a growing number of people who are discomforted by the growing control Google over search. And he is doing something about it. His company, Wikia, last week bought the distributed crawler Grub from LookSmart and plans to make it available in open source. Not that Looksmart wasn’t really using it anyway, not to mention the ad business they got from Wikia.

His bet: like Linux became a migraine for the monopolist of the last generation, open source search tools will keep companies like Google honest. It is not an easy task, for it is impossible to get away from Google that is firmly embedded into our digital lives.

“Search is part of the fundamental infrastructure of the Internet. And, it is currently broken,” Wales said back in December 2006, when Wikia launched Search Wikia effort. “Why is it broken? It is broken for the same reason that proprietary software is always broken: lack of freedom, lack of community, lack of accountability, lack of transparency.”

Source: gigaom.com

X-48B flight a milestone for program

Looking like something out of a Batman movie, a small, unmanned experimental aircraft is taking to the skies over the Antelope Valley.

Continuing the tradition of X planes that dates back to 1947 at Edwards Air Force Base, Boeing Phantom Works is flight-testing a 21-foot-wide airplane called the X-48B. The aircraft is being used to try out a design concept called "blended-wing body" or "BWB" that could provide more lift, greater range and as much as 30percent greater fuel economy - a valuable element for military tankers and transports.

Unlike the traditional design in which a tubelike fuselage is fitted with wings, the blended-wing body merges the fuselage with the wing. The result is a cross between a conventional aircraft and a flying wing such as the B-2 stealth bomber.

Source: dailynews.com

"Yeah!" singer cancels his wedding with Foster

Hours before the wedding was to take place, actor and R&B singer Usher and his pregnant fiancée Tameka Foster have changed their minds to tie the knot. While the Grammy winner did not give reason behind the refusal, his publicist in a last-minute statement confirmed that wedding bells would not be ringing.

"It was announced today that the wedding ceremony for Usher Raymond, IV and Tameka Foster was canceled," said publicist Patti Webster. "No additional information will be given regarding the circumstances of the cancellation, but we hope the privacy of this matter will be respected."

Foster, 37, and Usher, 28, were due to wed at music mogul Antonio “LA” Reid’s Hamptons estate in New York on Saturday (July 28). Between 70 and 100 guests were expected to attend the ceremony. A fellow R&B crooner Robin Thicke was reportedly scheduled to perform at the reception.

Last month, the multiplatinum singer announced that he and his longtime girlfriend are expecting a baby in the fall of 2007. "We are extremely excited at this point in our lives planning our wedding and the joy that comes with expecting our first child together," the couple said at the time.

Source: themoneytimes.com

Latest Potter breaks records around world

The latest Harry Potter book continues to break records around the world while in the UK, Waterstones sales were more than double those of the previous volume of the boy wizard's adventures.

In the first seven days since 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' unleashed a new wave of wizard mania, Waterstones sold 460,000 copies across its 311 branches in the UK. That is more than double the sales of the previous book, 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,' the publisher Bloomsbury said this morning.

At bookshops and supermarkets across the UK, a total of 2,652,656 copies of the latest book were sold in the first 24 hours, Bloomsbury said - up 32% from the first day total for the previous book in July 2005. In Germany, 398,271 copies were sold.

Source: business.guardian.co.uk

Friday, July 27, 2007

Sprint embraces Google, hints at an open network

Sprint and Google announced today that they would work together to create custom applications for Sprint's cellphone customers. The deal's significant for a couple of reasons: It marks the first time Google will provide several of its apps to cell customers. Though you can already get Google's search engine through a standard wireless browser (and you can get a Gmail Java program on most cellphones), this deal would let people use the chat application Google Talk and other data services Google is creating on Sprint's WiMAX service, which provides long-range, fast wireless Internet connections.

The program also marks a willingness among cell networks to open up their operations to Internet firms. I've been writing a great deal about Google and eBay's efforts to persuade the FCC to adopt a "wireless Carterfone" rule, which would require that carriers let customers run any application on their phones. On Wednesday, Verizon said it would support letting customers use any device or program they choose on the 700 MHz radio band, which the FCC will put up for auction next year. Now Sprint is saying something similar.

Source: machinist.salon.com

Intel says EU made errors in antitrust charges

The European Union's top antitrust regulator made errors of fact in its charge sheet against Intel (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the chipmaker's general counsel said on Friday. The European Commission has alleged Intel tried to use its huge market share to push smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) out of the central processing unit (CPU) business.

It sent the company a statement of objections, or SO, in a move that could lead to fines of as much as 10 percent of Intel's annual turnover.

"I can tell you that having read the SO there are factual assumptions which have been made which we think the Commission has simply gotten wrong -- not intentionally," general counsel Bruce Sewell told Reuters from California.

Sewell said there were assumptions about pricing and manufacturing costs "which the Commission has simply misunderstood".

The Commission had in some areas indicated it lacked an adequate record to go on and therefore made assumptions, he said.

Source: reuters.com

Some stories and specially in books can give high emotions to people

that can rise tears. Harry Potter's stories are not that full of

emotions, but when a long, and good story ends it can burst out in

crying.

Author

JK Rowling admits that she felt “terrible” for the first two days after

completing the seventh and final Harry Potter book. After that, it all

got a bit easier.

Rowling finished writing the book on 11th January this year, and

announced it to the world by scrawling it on a bust in her hotel room

at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh on February 1.

And now that the Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows has been

released, Rowling opens up about her emotions after completing the

series that has captured the world for about a decade.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Thursday, July 26, 2007

What it took to hack the iPhone

The iPhone vulnerability that could let hackers steal data or commandeer the device also exists in the desktop edition of Apple's Mac OS X operating system, the exploit's researchers said Tuesday.

Charles Miller, one of the three researchers from Baltimore-based Independent Security Evaluators (ISE) who found the bug and wrote proof-of-concept exploits, confirmed that the vulnerability in the iPhone version of Safari is also present in the desktop version of the browser. Safari is included with all Mac OS X installations.

The Windows version of Safari is also vulnerable. "[But] it may or may not be exploitable there," Miller said.

Source: computerworld.com.au

Sony profit more than triples on digicam, yen

Sony said on Thursday its quarterly profit more than tripled after strong digital camera sales and a softer yen far outstripped losses at its game unit.

Sony, in the final year of a three-year turnaround plan led by Chief Executive Howard Stringer, has seen its PlayStation 3 game console outsold by Nintendo's Wii since the two machines were launched late last year.

But Sony's Cyber-shot digital cameras were in strong demand. The electronics and entertainment conglomerate also benefited from a weaker yen and a firmer stock market, which has boosted earnings at its financial division.

Source: news.com.com

Jessica Alba's phone break-up

Jessica Alba has split from boyfriend Cash Warren.

The Hollywood beauty reportedly called time on the couple's two-and-a-half year romance during an emotional telephone conversation, in which she told the movie producer she "didn't love him anymore".

After delivering the heart-breaking news last weekend, Jessica, 26, allegedly sent an aide to the Los Angeles home the couple shared to help Cash, 28, pack up his belongings and make sure he moved out.

Source: people.monstersandcritics.com

Digg signs advertising deal with Microsoft

Digg has signed a new advertising deal with a new advertising partner - Microsoft. The three year deal means that Microsoft will exclusively provide the display advertising and keyword targeted adverts on the Digg site.

Digg aggregates content from all over the internet, from tiny blogs to huge internet portals. Anything that is of interest to the community there will receive positive votes and will be promoted up the rankings. The variety of content that can be browsed through, coupled with the ability to vote for content you like, makes for an addictive user experience - leading to the site attracting 17 million unique users a month.

This is not an insignificant portion of the available ad audience. Microsoft is trying to gain market share in online advertising, and is especially keen to take revenue away from the market leader Google. And this many new users will only be a positive step for Microsoft.

Source: bigmouthmedia.com

Tags: Advertising | Digg | Microsoft | PARTNER

Lohan declares her innocence

Lindsay Lohan says she is innocent of driving under the influence and cocaine possession.

The actress was arrested early Tuesday in Santa Monica for investigation of felony cocaine possession and misdemeanour driving under the influence and with a suspended licence, less than two weeks after completing her second trip to rehab.

"I am innocent ... did not do drugs, they're not mine. I was almost hit by my assistant Tarin's mum I appreciate everyone giving me my privacy," the 21-year-old actress wrote in an email to Access Hollywood host Billy Bush, the show reported on its website Tuesday night.

Source: smh.com.au

FCC Leans Toward One-Third Plan for Open Access

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's plan to bring open access to one-third of the 700 MHz spectrum band, which will hit the auction block next January, appears to have the necessary support of two out of four commissioners. The plan is also backed by AT&T, which initially opposed any open access. It falls short of Google's request for total open access.

During a congressional hearing Tuesday before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, members of the Federal Communications Commission Latest News about Federal Communications Commission (FCC) came out in favor of a plan that would bring open access to one-third of the airwaves set for auction in January.

The 700 MHz band spectrum used by broadcast television stations will be available to the highest bidder once the switch to digital broadcasts takes place in February 2009. The FCC will auction off those soon-to-be-vacant airwaves in January 2008.

It was the first public indication of how the commissioners viewed the proposal put forth by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin two weeks ago.

Source: technewsworld.com

'Hundred-Dollar Laptop' Is Revolutionary, Amazing

One Laptop Per Child's XO (commonly referred to as the "$100 laptop") is designed to change the world by bringing computing resources to children in the developing world.

But the many innovations in the XO may also end up changing the world of technology.

When you first see the XO, the thought that immediately jumps to mind is "kid's toy."

Source: foxnews.com

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