Some links for your enjoyment:
I caught a touch of food poisoning yesterday and I’m not still not totally right. While generally not a great experience, something about pulling over in the Tenderloin to hurl felt all too comfortable.
10 Reasons Enterprises Aren’t Ready to Trust the Cloud Gnip: Grand Central Station for the Social Web GPLv3 One Year Anniversary Edition 06/29/08 9 Reasons Why Application Developers Think Their CIO Is Clueless
In this week’s episode, Don chats with CNET’s Tom Merritt about why Apple and Google will be hated one day and whether or not the XM-Sirius merger should happen. After that, Don sits down with Microsoft’s marketing manager to discuss Office 2008 for
Mac and in his solo rant segment, Don tells you why he’s fed up with anti-piracy types. Listen now:
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EPISODE 8
TODAY’S LINKS: Check out Tom on Buzz Out Loud Click here for all the stories Don and Tom talked about this about Thanks to Microsoft!
Webware reader Amy wrote in to let us know one of her favorite
Firefox plug-ins shortText just got updated with a handy new feature. It will now automatically go through any page you’re on and seek out any TinyURLs, converting them to the actual URL so you can see where the page links to.
If you want to accomplish a similar feat, there’s also a bookmarklet called Embiggen, which will do the same thing without you having to install anything. The key difference between the two is that shortText packs in a bundle of other features like letting you write Twitter tweets that are well over the 140 character limit and link all your posts up to a centralized page where you can keep track of replies more easily than on Twitter.
Any TinyURLs on a Twitter post or elsewhere on the Web will automatically be converted with shortText.
(Credit:
Shorttext.com)
It seems that people would like a really low-cost Mac, although the Mac Mini doesn’t appear to have taken the Mac universe by storm. I wonder if OS X, the
iPhone operating system, could run a low-cost Mac akin to Asus’ Eee PC, and keep healthy profit margins intact if Apple decides to jump on board with Intel’s low-cost Atom processor. Then, if you want the full Mac experience, Apple can upsell you to the MacBook or iMac.
An entrepreneurial
Mac vendor has gone offline just hours after it was discovered selling Mac OS X Leopard desktops from a company not named Apple.
UPDATED 1:45pm PT: As noted below in the comments, Psystar’s site seems to be back up, although it’s still taking an awfully long time to load.
(Credit:
Psystar [via Ars Technica])
Windows is designed to work on any computer with a chip from Intel or AMD, and that’s both a blessing and a curse. On the plus side, you can build a pretty decent system for a couple hundred bucks, but the code base required to handle all the possible permutations of chips and peripherals devices makes Windows an extremely complex beast that grows larger and larger with each release.
MacRumors.com, along with many others, noted one of those too-good-to-be-true deals from a company called Psystar on Sunday night and Monday morning. Psystar, until just now, had been offering $554 “Open Mac” desktops on its Web site with Intel processors, 2GB of memory, a DVD drive, and a copy of Mac OS X Leopard.
The thing is, Apple’s software license for Leopard, and any version of Mac OS X, requires that the operating system only run on Apple hardware. Psytar acknowledged the OSx86 project was the inspiration for the Open Mac, and noted their systems require “minimal patching” to run Leopard, according to MacRumors. By the time I got in this morning Psystar’s Web site was offline, and the company is likely considering its legal options at this hour. A Google-cached copy may or may not be available here, it was loading very, very slowly when I tried it.
For years PC DIYers and companies like Dell have begged Apple to offer a copy of Mac OS X up for licensing on non-Apple hardware, but Apple hasn’t even entertained the idea, as far as we can tell. As much as the hardware industry might want another alternative to Windows, many of the reasons that Leopard is attractive might have a lot to do with the fact that it’s designed to work on a limited number of hardware configurations.
This bare-bones desktop may not look like much, but for a while, you could get it with Leopard preinstalled.
If you bought a Psystar desktop, you’re probably going to be stuck with a Leopard 10.5.2 system for life. As John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes, Psystar warns its customers that Leopard updates might force them to reinstall Mac OS X unless the updates are “not non-safe,” a truly cringe-worthy phrase.
SANTA CLARA, Calif–It’s early morning in California, and so far there are no reports of problems due to the much-anticipated
Conficker worm. In Asia, where it’s already evening, the worm hasn’t done any noticeable damage, according to McAfee’s Hong Kong-based security expert, Vu Nguyen.
I’m here at the headquarters of security company McAfee, where I spoke by phone with Nguyen and in person with McAfee spokesman (and former CNET News security reporter) Joris Evers.
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But tickets to space, assuming that the seats are available, will be increasingly expensive.
Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft, foreground, with Progress supply ship in background.
But plans to boost the station’s crew size from three to six in late May could mean a hiatus in tourist flights, at least in the near term. While one seat on a Soyuz flight scheduled for launch this fall apparently has opened up, it’s not yet clear whether the Russians will fill the slot with a professional cosmonaut or allow Space Adventures to book one of its clients who has gone through training as a backup.
Snow and soggy conditions at the primary landing site in Kazakhstan prompted Russian flight planners on Friday to order a 24-hour delay, from April 7 to 8, for the return to Earth of a Soyuz capsule carrying outgoing space station commander Mike Fincke, flight engineer Yury Lonchakov, and space tourist Charles Simonyi.
(Credit:
NASA TV)
“I am aware of the questions that have been raised regarding the ability of the Russian space industry to supply an increased number of Soyuz missions,” Anderson said. “Building rockets is a complicated business; it’s certainly challenging, but…I’m confident (that) by 2012, for example, the prospect of adding a fifth Soyuz is something that is reasonable.”
Undocking is planned for 11:55 p.m., with a 22-second deorbit rocket firing expected at 2:24 a.m. on April 8. The three modules making up the Soyuz spacecraft will separate just before atmospheric entry at 2:52 a.m., and the central crew module carrying Fincke, Lonchakov, and Simonyi will descend to a parachute-and-rocket-assisted touchdown at 3:15 a.m.
Simonyi’s visit was arranged through Space Adventures, a Vienna, Virginia-based company that has brokered seven space tourist flights using available seats on Russian Soyuz capsules, beginning in 2001 with U.S. businessman Dennis Tito.
The mission had been scheduled to conclude with a touchdown on April 7 northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, but the landing zone has been moved to a backup site about 180 miles to the southeast, where conditions may be more favorable. Touchdown now is targeted for 3:15 a.m. EDT on April 8.
“The price is going up,” Simonyi said. “Future seats that NASA has bought are even more expensive. This has to be put into perspective because other means of getting to space are even more expensive. So this one is actually quite cost-effective at the current state of technology.”
Lonchakov will have logged 178 days in space on this flight for a total time of 201 days over three missions. Simonyi’s total will be 13 days in space for this flight for a total of 27 including his first station visit in 2007.
“There is a possibility that one of Space Adventures’ clients could launch on Soyuz TMA-16, which is currently scheduled for launch this September 30,” Eric Anderson, CEO of Space Adventures, told reporters Friday. “We have learned from Roskosmos (the Russian space agency) that the third seat aboard Soyuz TMA-16 may not, in fact, be used by the cosmonaut from Kazakhstan, and if that seat is not used…Roskosmos is considering both the possibility of another spaceflight participant opportunity for Space Adventures or using the seat for a professional Russian cosmonaut.”
Even at the current list price, Simonyi said, the experience of flying in space is worth it for those who can afford the cost.
With a handshake, Expedition 18 commander Mike Fincke, right, transfers command to Expedition 19 commander Gennady Padalka. Crew, from left to right: Charles Simonyi, Michael Barratt, Padalka, Yury Lonchakov, Fincke, Koichi Wakata.
During a change-of-command ceremony Thursday, Fincke formally handed the station over to Padalka, saying “all systems are in order, and Yury and I can now take a little bit of a rest and get ready, along with Charles, to come back to the planet.”
But it’s not yet known whether the Russians can build enough Soyuz capsules and rockets to support expanded space station operations as well as tourist flights. Between the end of shuttle operations in 2010 and the debut of its replacement in 2015, the Soyuz flight rate will have to double to support six-person crew operations aboard the space station.
Fincke and Lonchakov were launched to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft October 12. Their replacements–Expedition 19 commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Michael Barratt, a NASA physician-astronaut–were launched March 26 aboard the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft. They were joined by Simonyi, a Hungarian-born U.S. software developer making his second privately funded trip to the space station.
Even so, Anderson expressed optimism that additional seats will open up occasionally, and he said the company is pressing ahead with plans for privately funded Soyuz missions, starting in 2012, that would include a Russian commander and two tourists per mission.
“Thank you very much, my best friend,” Padalka replied. “Expedition 19 is very happy to get (the) space station in great operational condition…We’re ready to work on behalf of all our space agencies and..all human beings.”
Esther Dyson, a respected high-tech journalist, entrepreneur, and Space Adventures investor, trained as Simonyi’s backup and attended his launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. But it’s not clear whether she could fly on such short notice or whether she could complete required training in time. There are no other known clients who are thought to have a realistic shot at the September flight.
If all goes well, Fincke, Lonchakov, and Simonyi will say farewell to Padalka, Barratt, and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata the evening of April 7, sealing hatches between the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft and the downward-facing port of the Russian Zarya module around 8:45 p.m.
(Credit:
NASA TV)
Assuming an on-time landing, Fincke will have logged 178 days in space, pushing his total time through two space station expeditions to 366 days, third on the list of most experienced U.S. astronauts behind Peggy Whitson (377 days) and Mike Foale (374 days).
Tito’s ticket reportedly cost $20 million. The price has since gone up to about $35 million, according to Simonyi. In a prelaunch telephone interview with CBS News, Simonyi said the future of commercial spaceflight is “certainly not my concern.” But, he added, “my feeling is (that) the commercial pressures will be toward resolving this and (having) more flights.”
Unfortunately, I ran into a few audio quality problems when testing the phone. There was quite a bit of static and echo, and a lot of my callers reported some crackling during calls. Of course, this may vary depending on the phone in your area, but this is what I discovered on the phone I received.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)
For the full shakedown of the Boulder, check out our review, plus take a look at the slide show.
Few times do I get a chance to dunk a cell phone in water, throw it around on the floor, and generally torture it like a 10-year-old brat. Indeed, a part of me delighted when I received the G’zOne Boulder in the mail, knowing that I would get paid to kick around a cell phone as much as I wanted.
The G'zOne Boulder is water-resistant.
As you might have guessed, the Verizon G’zOne Boulder is one tough handset, military-certified to resist water, dust, shock, vibration, and other environmental elements. However, unlike other rugged cell phones, the Boulder has a sporty racecar look that is not at all unappealing. I like the round external display, which is reminiscent of a stopwatch, and adds interest to its design. Also, unlike most phones that place durability at the forefront, the Boulder comes with a lot of features. It includes a 1.3-megapixel camera, EV-DO Rev. A, push-to-talk support, access to Verizon’s V Cast Video and V Cast Music with Rhapsody, a music player, and more. It even has a few cool outdoorsy features such as an electronic compass and a flash LED that can be used as a flashlight.
The Pirate Bay continues to come under siege.
Hollywood studios have long considered The Pirate Bay an outlaw organization. The site’s founders say they operate in accordance with Swedish law.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry brought a civil case against Tele2 Denmark after the ISP refused to filter the Web sites its customers visited.
Last week, a Swedish prosecutor charged four men connected to The Pirate Bay with conspiracy to violate copyright law.
The latest blow came on Monday when a Danish court ordered one of that country’s Internet service providers to block access to the BitTorrent search engine, according to Danish IT magazine Computerworld.
The Pirate Bay, based in Sweden, is one of the world’s most popular piracy tools. The company, founded by three Scandinavians, doesn’t host any copyright films or music. Instead, visitors use the site to find pirated material available on torrent files.
But there’s much more to the American political system than elections, something that’s difficult to augur in a media business that gorges on weekly poll numbers and campaign scandals. “We have this radical, exciting party and activism surrounding this ideal every fourth year and then we crash,” free-culture advocate Lawrence Lessig said in a speech Tuesday morning. “We depend too much, we lean too much, we rely too much on this one year, this fourth year. It blinds us to the fact that there’s something much more fundamentally missing.”
Good thing, because there are plenty of issues that need some attention.
There was a healthy dose of cynicism among audiences over whether anything could actually get done on such a feel-good issue, especially given the kind of telecom dollars flowing into Washington. But there was nevertheless a sense of urgency, given that Europe and Asia continue to leap ahead of the U.S. in terms of broadband speed and affordability.
“It’s like forming a new academic field,” Harvard law school professor and Personal Democracy Forum speaker Jonathan Zittrain told me. The early years of the relationship between politics and technology were all about defining the medium, he said. “Once the hard work recedes, you’re left actually figuring out what you want to do.”
NEW YORK–It’s time to stop waxing philosophical about how this thing called “new media” is shaping American elections and time to focus on the real tech issues, like broadband policy.
“The ‘96 telecom act is a dud. It didn’t work, it wasn’t enforced, and it didn’t take Internet into account in it,” Web pioneer Vint Cerf said in a panel Tuesday afternoon about the future of tech policy. “Broadband is important, it’s part of the country’s future, and we’ve got to fix it.”
That was a big topic of discussion on Tuesday, when the focus of the Personal Democracy Forum was consciously oriented toward ongoing policy rather than elections–an admirable decision on the part of organizers Andrew Rasiej and Micah Sifry. The conference’s big announcement was Internet for Everyone, a new initiative designed to ensure open Internet access as a “basic right” in the U.S.
We talked about bloggers in 2004, we talked about YouTube in 2006, and the 2008 version of the conversation (social media) has already worn out its welcome. Instead, as the sentiment of the Personal Democracy Forum conference here overwhelmingly indicated, it’s time to redirect the tech-politics spotlight to what really matters.
We’ve already learned the basic lessons about the digital campaign trail. Ask nicely for small donations (thanks, Barack Obama). Pay attention to niche communities of political junkies on the Web (thanks, Howard Dean). And whatever you do, don’t say anything stupid when there’s a camera around, which more or less means don’t say anything stupid ever (thanks, George Allen).
Lessig was talking about the need to keep an eye on government corruption all the time, not just when there’s an election around the corner, but his argument stands when it comes to the rest of the conference: Too much of the talk about technology and politics is still focused on how to win an election using Facebook and YouTube. But as the conference indicated, that’s going away as the American political system matures into its 21st-century incarnation and more serious topics bubble to the surface.
Enough said.
“The ‘96 telecom act is a dud. It didn’t work, it wasn’t enforced, and it didn’t take Internet into account in it. Broadband is important, it’s part of the country’s future, and we’ve got to fix it.” –Web pioneer Vint Cerf
“We need to bring affordable, truly high-speed broadband connections to everybody regardless of where that is,” FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said to an audience at the conference. “The government has to make it a higher priority than it is today.” He cited reasons including healthcare cost management, education reform, public safety, and energy policy.
But just as difficult as bringing tech issues to the forefront in Washington is bringing them to the millions of Americans who still haven’t heard about Net neutrality or the broadband spectrum. It’s an issue that just doesn’t look quite as good on a cable news ticker as presidential candidates’ gaffes caught on YouTube, but it’s important–and relevant.
Americans should know that they can only use their iPhone on the AT&T carrier because of “a conscious policy decision that allows Steve Jobs to do that,” Silver suggested as an example of a newsworthy item that could clue the public into the importance of broadband and telecom policy.
I asked Larry Lessig to name the most overlooked tech policy issue facing America, and he said it’s the management of the broadband spectrum. And at a cocktail party Monday night for Right Is Wrong, the new book from Huffington Post co-founder and Personal Democracy Forum speaker Arianna Huffington, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark explained in a conversation that while there are more pressing issues facing the country than anything “tech,” that access to broadband technology nevertheless demands attention.
And it’s clear that the message is getting out about the issues that matter, finally. A discussion on Tuesday afternoon debated the ambiguous definition of piracy, whether to nationalize telecommunications, and whether the U.S. should declare Internet access to be a civil right. A panel about the use of live video streaming in campaigns, on the other hand, devolved into a talk about what happens when the births of babies are broadcast on the Web.
“Use the bully pulpit to be able to explain to some 90 percent or more of Americans that the media that they consume every day is all transforming to a digital platform,” Josh Silver, director of Free Press, said in the same panel when asked what he’d do first to change tech policy if he were elected president. “It’s all gadgets and terabytes and widgets and they don’t’ get it. (Explain) how it connects to their lives.”
Microsoft wants more students using its software tools and it thinks it has hit on the right business model.
Included in those initial 10 countries are the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France, and Germany.
In addition to giving away its Visual Studio tools, Microsoft is also providing no-charge access to its Expression Web design tools and its XNA studio for developing
Xbox 360 software. Microsoft already provides discounted academic versions of its software, as well as a free “express” version of Visual Studio. Students can also get free copies of Windows Server and the developer version of the SQL Server database.
“You can go build software applications,” said Joe Wilson, Microsoft’s senior director of academic initiatives. “You can go build Web sites. You can do a really cool Facebook application…There are a lot of possibilities that comes with this small list of products.
Clearly, Microsoft has a couple of goals here. One is to get more students who have enough design or science aptitude to enter the software field. The other is to get them using Microsoft’s tools early.
“I expect that to happen,” Wilson said. “Maybe it’s hundreds or thousands of companies.”
“That next generation and future generations of technologists, they are vital to any industry leader like us,” Wilson said. Wilson said his goal is to be able five years from now to spot businesses that got their start because a student used Microsoft’s tools for free.
Bill Gates is set to discuss DreamSpark Tuesday in a speech to students at Stanford University.
It’s going to give away its software.
Starting this week, college students in 10 countries will be able to get Microsoft’s Visual Studio and several other programs for free as part of an effort dubbed DreamSpark. Over the next year, Microsoft plans to offer the program worldwide for college and high school students.