Entries from June 2007 ↓

Microsoft has claimed to be more secure thank linux and os x with it’s new operating system vista, which I have a hard time beliving considering most major companies are still suggesting that people stick with xp for now for support reasons. Even if vista is more secure than the other operating systems (which I don’t belive) there are still software and performance issues that need to be fixed.

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Source: Consumeraffairs.com

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has won one for the Google. Microsoft has agreed to make significant changes in the design of its desktop search feature in the Windows Vista operating system.

Google, based in California’s Silicon Valley, had complained that Vista’s search function — called “Instant Search” — put Google and other independent search providers at a competitive disadvantage.

Details of Microsoft’s agreement were outlined in a joint status report that was filed in federal district court regarding the company’s compliance with a 2002 antitrust Final Judgment.

“This agreement — while not perfect — is a positive step towards greater competition in the software industry. It will enhance the ability of consumers to select the desktop search tool of their choice,” Brown said.

Google argued that desktop search in Windows Vista is a “Microsoft Middleware Product” (MMP) and is therefore subject to the Final Judgment in the 2002 case. The state contended that Vista’s desktop search feature is functionality that did not exist in prior Windows operating systems and is therefore covered under the Final Judgment.

Under the proposed solution, Microsoft will provide users and “original equipment manufacturers,” such as HP or Dell, with greater flexibility to choose and access competing desktop search products. Microsoft has promised to deliver the required changes in a beta Service Pack 1 of Windows Vista, which Microsoft currently anticipates will be available by the end of the year.

Brown announced the agreement in conjunction with Microsoft, the United States Department of Justice and Plaintiffs in the New York Group (including New York, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin) and the California Group (including California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Utah, and the District of Columbia). The changes resolve complaints lodged against Microsoft under the California Group’s Final Judgment from November 2002

Since Apple Computers have officially changed their name to just Apple Inc. many changes have arisen to indicate that apple is indeed more than just a computer company. First thing was the appletv which is supposed to bridge the gap between computer and television, then it was the iPhone which apple claims will be a breakthrough internet device, ipod and cell phone, and finally they have released their flagship browser safari for windows pcs. All of these changes seem like a great innovative ideas but one has to wonder if apple is spreading itself a little thin with developing new products. So far the appletv has gotten mostly good reviews except that you are tied to itunes which can be a pain if you want to convert a DVD collection, next is the iPhone which to be honest after all the hype I really don’t know if it will be able to live up to the expectations, but we only have a few more days to wait and see, and safari for windows seems kind of cool, (even though the browser market for pc’s is saturated) except that apple had to patch it for security after one day of being released, which tells me apple is just a prone to security attacks as windows based computers. While I am excited about all these new “hobby” projects I am really hoping apple will shelve any new ideas until they get leopard ready for release and maybe even a new widescreen video ipod.

Source: USATODAY

It was a pro-copyright ruling that stunned nearly everyone dealing with the issue of online piracy.

In a decision reported late Friday by CNET News.com, a federal judge in Los Angeles found that a computer server’s RAM, or random-access memory, is a tangible document that can be stored and must be turned over in a lawsuit.

If allowed to stand, the groundbreaking ruling may mean that anyone defending themselves in a civil suit could be required to turn over information in their computer’s RAM hardware, which could force companies and individuals to store vast amounts of data, say technology experts. Roaming the Web anonymously was already nearly impossible. This ruling, which brings up serious privacy issues, could make it a lot harder.

“I think that people’s fears about a potential invasion of privacy are quite warranted,” said Ken Withers, director of judicial education at The Sedona Conference, an independent research group. “The fear is that we’re putting in the hands of private citizens and particularly well-financed corporations the same tools that heretofore were exclusively in the hands of criminal prosecutors, but without the sort of safeguards that criminal prosecutors have to meet, such as applying for search warrants.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian issued the decision while presiding over a court fight between the film industry and TorrentSpy, which is accused of copyright infringement in a lawsuit filed last year by the Motion Picture Association of America. Following her decision, Chooljian ordered TorrentSpy to begin logging user information and allowed the company to mask the Internet Protocol addresses belonging to visitors of the website. TorrentSpy must then turn the data over to the MPAA. The judge stayed the order pending an appeal, which the company filed on Tuesday. It’s not clear when the appeal will be heard.

The question now, of course, is whether Chooljian’s ruling with hold up legally or technically. From a legal standpoint, Withers said he feared the judge’s decision may mean a “tremendous expansion” of the scope of discovery in civil litigation. The trend in the courts lately has been to create what Withers called “weapons of mass discovery.” Discovery is the legal process by which lawyers obtain documents and other materials to help defend their case.

He also said that the judge’s order for a defendant (TorrentSpy) to create logs of user activity so they can be turned over to a plaintiff (MPAA) is unprecedented.

“There’s never been a requirement that (defendants) must create documents that they wouldn’t ordinarily maintain for the purpose of satisfying some (plaintiff’s) discovery requests,” said Withers.

But on the technical side, Dean McCarron, principle analyst at Mercury Research, said the judge erred by defining volatile computer memory as “electronically stored information.”

RAM is a computer’s ephemeral and temporary memory that helps it access data quickly. Think of RAM as the yellow post-it notes that people keep to remind themselves of tasks. Once completed, the note is tossed out. Data in a computer’s hard drive is stored permanently and is more like filing documents away in a cabinet.

“RAM is the working storage of a computer and designed to be impermanent,” McCarron said. “Potentially your RAM is being modified up to several billions of times a second. The judge’s order simply reveals to me a lack of technical understanding.”

A “tap” can be installed in a server, McCarron offered. But that means keeping a running log of IP addresses and other information. A tap would also require a company to store enormous amounts of data, an expensive process, he said.

But lawyers who represent copyright holders cheered Chooljian’s decision.

“Unfortunately for TorrentSpy, Judge Chooljian’s decision may herald the end of an era,” Richard Charnley, a Los Angeles-based attorney, said in a statement. “The process, if affirmed, will expose TorrentSpy’s viewer-users and, in turn, will allow the MPAA to close another avenue of intellectual property abuse.”

Lauren Nguyen, an MPAA attorney, maintains that because TorrentSpy is allowed to redact IP addresses, nobody’s privacy is in jeopardy. “The user privacy argument is simply a red herring,” Nguyen said. She also said that the judge “broke no new ground in the case.” The courts have long considered computer RAM as “electronically stored information,” she said.

To understand the significance of the decision, one must consider that many websites promise to keep users’ information private. Some, like TorrentSpy, do this by switching off their servers’ logging function, which typically records visitors’ IP addresses as well as their activity on the site.

While protecting its users’ privacy, TorrentSpy also makes it easier for those who download pirated material to work in the shadows, MPAA’s attorneys argued. The MPAA has estimated that the illegal downloading of copyright movies costs the six largest U.S. studios more than $2 billion annually.

To prove that TorrentSpy was making it easier to share files, the studios told Chooljian that it was necessary that they obtain records of user activity. They convinced her that the only way to do this was to obtain the data from RAM.

Ultimately, pulling user information off a server’s RAM might be a bigger privacy problem than it’s worth, said one file sharer, who asked to remain anonymous.

“To imagine my information being disseminated without my written or verbal consent is unnerving,” she said. “Then again, if I’m doing something I know is illegal, can I protest?”

PURCHASE YOUR NETGEAR EVA8000 DIGITAL ENTERTAINER HERE!!!

Everyone is racing towards being the champion of the new “Digital Home” craze going on right now, with more media becoming digital including pictures, music and now even movies, companies are trying to find a stable yet easy way to bridge the gap between the Pc and TV. The two products that have the best chance right now seems to be the Netgear Eva8000 or the AppleTV, both of which have unique features but the real question is which one to choose? I think apple could have run away with the market on the appletv just like they did with the ipod, but the problem with this is that you are tied to itunes for all of your media which means every file you want to stream has to be in your itunes library which if you have kind of movies that are not mp4 you are out of lucky, and who wants to spend the time to convert a entire DVD collection? That is what leads me to the Netgear Eva8000, which does not have as good an interface as the appletv but can play just about any kind of file you throw at it without the need for any type of conversion at all. Here are some pros and cons of each unit.

Netgear Eva8000
Pros: Extensive format support for a wide variety of audio and video files, including high-def content; streams purchased iTunes songs from Windows PCs; lightning-fast onscreen user interface; streams YouTube videos, public Flickr photo galleries, and Internet radio straight to your TV; can schedule TV shows and stream recorded content from PCs with TV tuners; excellent connectivity options provides compatibility with all TVs and stereo systems.

Cons: No 802.11n Wi-Fi, and wireless performance was not flawless; protected iTunes songs take 15 seconds to load; interface isn’t quite as simple as Apple TV’s; would occasionally freeze up and require unplugging and plugging back in; large compared to Apple TV; no built-in hard drive.

AppleTv
Pros: Sleek external design and elegant user interface; simple, streamlined setup; streams music and video files purchased from the iTunes Store; capable of HD video output; includes state-of-the-art 802.11n wireless networking while maintaining backwards compatibility with older Wi-Fi and wired networks; smooth, hiccup-free streaming.

Cons: Only streams iTunes content–leaving it up to you to get your videos into iTunes; current crop of iTunes movies and TV shows look much worse on a big-screen TV; no HD content on iTunes Store; no support for surround sound audio tracks; can’t connect to older non-wide-screen TVs; small 40GB hard drive has only 33GB of usable disk space; oversimplified remote can’t control other devices; no ability to purchase iTunes Store content directly through Apple TV; no A/V cables included; no Internet radio support.

While I do believe that both units have great features I also believe that they both have room to improve.