Microsoft hits software pirates with 21 lawsuits
June 11, 2008
Software giant Microsoft has filed 21 lawsuits against alleged pirates spread across 14 American states. Its goal is to protect customers from the ‘risks’ of pirated and counterfeit software. It also mentions that software piracy has resulted in over $8 billion of economic loss in the US alone.
These alleged pirates aren’t the kind of people using BitTorrent downloads to cobble together a couple of Counter-Strike capable PCs out of their spare components. No, no, these are the worst kind of offenders – stores that are selling unlicensed copies of Microsoft software pre-installed on new machines. Very cheeky.
The practise, know as hard-disk loading by the unimaginative, saves sellers money because they are selling the same program multiple times. Buyers are then not provided with the relevant discs, manuals or serial keys and often don’t get the software updates and support they have paid for. Plus you’ll get a very annoying popup in the corner whinging at you because your computer is at risk and needs an update.
However, although it seems very clear cut when it comes to selling multiple copies of the same software on new PCs, but there’s more of a grey area with second hand devices. A Vancouver computer shop owner, Simpson, has been targeted by one of the lawsuits. “I sell used systems all the time,” he told one newspaper. “I just clean ‘em up and kick ‘em out the door. I’m not real sure what the deal is here.”
That’ll be something for the courts to decide.
HP hopes Voodoo magic will defeat MacBook Air mojo
June 11, 2008
While most of the computing world is dedicating itself to creating the smallest possible laptops from baked bean cans and bits of string, it’s easy to forget that there is still a market for full sized notebooks that look good and weigh next to nothing. Hewlett Packard hasn’t though; it has just launched the Voodoo Envy 133.
At 0.7-inches thick and sporting a 13.3" display, there obviously one target in mind: the MacBook air. The Envy has a price tag of $2099, which also puts it in the same ballpark as the Air, and it offers the same choice of 1.6 or 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo CPUs and 64GB SSD or 80GB HDDs.
Rahul Sood, chief technology officer of VoodooPC, was keen to point out that the Envy 133 is in fact slightly thinner than the MacBook Air, however despite being made of carbon fibre, the Air still has the edge in weight by 0.44 pounds. The Envy does manage to come in any colour you want, with laser etching too.
The spec sheet doesn’t mention how much RAM is in it, although it is bound to be upgradeable. It does run Vista though so my guess is it’d come with a base 2GB which you can expand. Voodoo also includes a very unique system called IOS which allows you to quickly boot into a free version of Linux when you just want to do a quick spot of web browsing.
On the contentious issue of Voodoo selling out to the man, Sood reassured Voodoo fans that if they had wanted to sell such a system as an independent company, it would have had to charge $5,000 for the machine.
No word yet on whether the Voodoo Envy 133 will make it across to foreign shores; niche hardware like this seldom does, least of all niche hardware made by Voodoo.
iPhone 3G unveiled at long last: some fears allayed, some hopes dashed
June 11, 2008
Unless you’ve spent the past few days buried under a ton of lead-lined concrete with no access to the internet or traditional news media, the chances are you’ll have heard of this little part in mobile phone history: the follow up to the iPhone.
Steve Jobs made the widely foreseen announcement during the Worldwide Developers Keynote. To put it simply, rumours were right – it is 3G and it does have GPS.
Now for some more details. Here’s how it compares to the old iPhone model: in terms of size and dimensions, it is basically identical. iPhone 3G is a couple of millimetres thicker and wider but nothing you’d really notice. It does weigh slightly less than its predecessor, but again, not so much that you’d ever notice.
Both 480 x 320 3.5" displays are completely identical, as are the storage sizes which still languish at 8 or 16GB options. The cameras are each identical too, however iPhone 3G’s GPS system allows for geo-tagging and other third-party application support.
Surprise, surprise, that enhanced 3G technology has given the expected battery life a hit as well. iPhone 3G will offer something in the region of five hours of internet use, five hours of 3G talk time, 24 hours of audio playback and 300 hours of standby time.
The single best piece of news is the price. Jobs wants everyone to have an iPhone in their pocket and by God he’s going to make the handsets cheap enough for you to question whether you can afford not to have it. An 8GB model is going to cost $199; 16GB will set you back $299 and is also available in white. Tough break for the iPod Touch really.
All in all, it s a worthy evolution of the iPhone, but it’s not exactly ‘doing an iPhone’ on the, err, iPhone. Some prominent features that many were demanding (and not unreasonably) are missing. First up, the camera. Still the same crappy two megapixel affair, which is just not enough for a serious cell phone snapper.
Over the air 3G downloads are also missing, which really seems to be a serious oversight. The chance to browse for and download the latest tracks without connecting to a computer would seem like the very first thing Apple would want everyone doing, but that’s not the case apparently and leaves a big opening for a competitor to get in ahead. Quite probably Nokia.
It also doesn’t allow for VoIP functions like Skype over 3G. That’s basically because Apple is still pandering to the demands of the networks and not to the requests of consumers. You can still use it with Wi-Fi, but we’re left waiting for the crucial evolution that will take VoIP into the mainstream of mobile telephony.
Another missing feature that has been niggling away since the first model – the lack of Flash support. Unfortunately it is still out. Yep, the most popular piece of online video delivery software is left unsupported. Not very impressive.
Last and probably least, the Bluetooth functionality is still pretty weak, eliminating the chance to listen to your music wirelessly with stereo Bluetooth. Oh, and voice dialling. And MMS messaging. They are still absent. But that’s it I think.
Now for the more pleasant surprises. The iPhone software has been upgraded to 2.0 as suspected and this brings with it the Applications Store, which should see the fruits of software developers labour with the recently launched iPhone SDK coming to a head. Without doubt, there are a million and one exciting things that it’s going to bring with it, but right now it’s the games that are grabbing attention.
If successfully implemented – a difficult task given the device’s complete dependency on the touchscreen display – then we could be looking at a challenger to the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. Monkey Ball has already been confirmed for the handset and Spore is due to arrive as soon as Will Wright manages to finish it, possibly around 2028. But we’re mostly looking forward to how existing games tie into it.
Will we be browsing the World of Warcraft auction house from our handsets or checking guild chat forums on the move? Or maybe even harvesting for resources while away from the main PC? The possibilities are endless – we just need someone to implement them.
Finally, my personal biggest gripe with the previous model was the recessed headphone socket which made it difficult to find compatible headphones that weren’t made by Apple. Now the problem is fixed and the headphone socket is recessed no more. Hooray!
So all in all, it hasn’t been the most groundbreaking of all iPhone announcements and we knew about the vast majority of the new features before Jobs even took to the stage. However, the price is great for anyone who has been put off by the cost before and the strategy is bound to serve Apple well in the coming months. It seems likely that Apple will continue to roll out further minor evolutions over the coming year, so if you were let down by the small amounts of storage or weak camera, rest assured that the company probably has them pencilled in for not far into the future.
The iPhone 3G rolls out on July 11th.
Police arrest six former OiNK users
June 3, 2008
Six former OiNK users have been arrested by British Police over the past fortnight in connection with the to the now defunct P2P music sharing site. They are believed (although it is unconfirmed by official channels) to be being questions on suspicion of “Conspiracy to Defraud the Music Industry”.
Three arrests were made on Friday 23rd May, followed by three more on Wednesday 28th May. Five of those arrested were male and aged between 19 and 33. The other was 28-year-old woman.
OiNK was closed down by a combination of British and Dutch Police forces in October last year. The site administrator, Allan Ellis, was arrested at the time and later released on bail. A message posted on the site after its closure warned that the police would be seeking out its users’ identities.
Clearly, despite the wave of youth knife-crime sweeping across the UK, the best use for police resources is to pander to the music industry demands and victimise former users of a closed file-sharing community. Glad we’re all agreed then.
In these latest arrests, suspects were taken to their local police station for questioning and required to provide DNA samples and fingerprints. There’s no way these hardened BitTorrent thugs will have any chance of getting away with that sort of thing again. The miracles of modern DNA testing will see to that!
via TorrentFreak
HP and Microsoft sign Live Search deal for 2009
June 3, 2008
Microsoft has signed a deal with Hewlett-Packard to embed a Live Search toolbar on all new consumer PCs in North America from next year. This isn’t the first of its kind – Google and Dell are in a similar arrangement right now, but Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft’s platform and services division, is keen to acknowledge that this “is the most significant distribution deal for Live Search that Microsoft has ever done."
He did not disclose the terms of the agreement but you can bet the ears of anti-trust investigators just pricked up a notch.
Live Search will also be set up as the default search engine on the accompanying browser. Microsoft no doubt hopes this to help drive a larger number of users to using Live Search and to help raise its market share in the raging search engine wars, since that whole Yahoo! deal appears to have dies on its arse. It will probably also lead to Microsoft handling a large number of searches for the word ‘Google’.
Fortunately though, Live Search isn’t the only technology to benefit from the arrangement. The Search Bar will be built with the Silverlight plugin, so that will at least increase the uptake of the new software and should help drive its actual usage.
Finally, the toolbar will also be used to house buttons that will guide users to various HP services, such as Snapfish and customer service. So far from being an intrusive means of forcing new users to choose Microsoft services over better rival ones, it’s just another piece of bloatware that should be removed with all the rest. Glad that’s sorted.
via Reuters
Google plays catch up for a change: Google Earth now available to browsers
June 1, 2008
Google has announced the release of the Google Earth API and browser plug-in. Essentially it’s offering the same functionality as Google Maps, but with added 3D functionality and real Earth photography.
With the new release, web developers will be able to embed Google Earth into their sites, insert lines and markers into the 3D environment, import 3D models (clearly a recipe for disaster), and even overlay content over different planets, stars, and galaxies by toggling Sky mode.
Google’s Earth and Maps blog writes “Our goal is to open up the entire core of Google Earth to developers in the hopes that you’ll build the next great geo-based 3D application, and change (yet again) how we view the world.”
And it’ll certainly be interesting to see what creative ventures emerge from the new concept. There are still a few kinks to iron out though – it currently only works for Windows users running Internet Explorer or Firefox and as getting up close and personal with the 3D environment is not exactly the most jaw-dropping graphical experience.
Still, it is extremely early days and it’ll be worth keeping a look our for its application in future web sites. You can get the plugin and various other information / downloads here.
Denver man claims “visual confirmation” of alien encounter, seeks to form Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission
June 1, 2008
A Denver man is pushing city officials to create an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission following the discovery of a video tape that he claims shows an authentic, living, breathing, creature from outer space.
The footage, shot through an infra-red camera, allegedly shows “an extraterrestrial’s head popping up outside of a window at night, looking in the window”. The organism is believed to be around 4 feet tall and can be seen blinking.
Appearing before city officials this month, Jeff Peckman urged them to discuss his proposed ET initiative and promised to show the video –an excerpt from a documentary by Colorado filmmaker Stan Romanek – as proof.
‘‘As impressive as it is, it’s still one tiny portion in the context of a vast amount of peripheral evidence,’’ he added. ‘‘It’s really the final visual confirmation of what you already know to be true having seen all the other evidence.’’
Peckman also revealed that an instructor at the Colorado Film School in Denver has checked the video ‘‘very carefully’’ and acknowledged that it is indeed authentic. There is absolutely no doubt in his mind that this is most certainly a video.
Naturally, with a discovery of this magnitude threatening to derail everything we thought we knew about science, people are going to want to see it with their own eyes. Peckman isn’t quite ready to just unleash it on the skeptical public though - he’s going to tease it out in a series of controlled viewings.
First city officials and members of the press will be allowed to watch it at a closed session where no filming will be allowed. Later in a public meeting in Colorado Springs. Some time after that it’ll be made publically available. Assuming it hasn’t already been laughed to death, it’ll probably hit YouTube. And laugh.
Hopefully in his meeting with city officials, Peckman will explain how it is that an alien race, having conquered the massive complexity of interstellar travel, has turned up to our planet only to root around in someone’s back garden like a sex prowler…
via UPI
Legitimate internet TV network hit by denial of service attack from anti-piracy company
June 1, 2008
Online media company Revision3 suffered a severe Denial of Service (DoS) attack last weekend, which brought down the everything from the main site to the RSS server, and even its internal corporate email. Although DoS attacks far from uncommon in the modern internet era, the question on everyone’s mind (after hours of solving the problem, natch) was this: who would want to bring down Revision3?
After some digging, Revision3’s engineers found the answer. It attacked by a subsidiary of public company, Artistdirect, called MediaDefender. MediaDefender’s purpose in life is to “stop the spread of illegally traded copyrighted material over the internet and peer-to-peer networks.”
Which of course begs the question why it had pointed its beady eyes at Revision3 - a perfectly legitimate internet TV network. One that LEGALLY trades in its own copyrighted material over the internet, including popular shows such as Diggnation. Not exactly the Pirate Bay, really.
For a full account of what transpired that fateful weekend, it is well worth checking Revision3’s lengthy blog post about it. Here’s the skinny though: MediaDefender became interested in Revision3 because of its use of BitTorrent technology. BitTorrent is of course, often used for internet piracy (but by no means exclusively). Revision3, like an increasing number of other companies, uses it to distribute its larger files legally and cheaply.
MediaDefender apparently wasn’t interested in that and found a back door into Revision3’s network, “allowing their networking experts to exploit its capabilities for their own personal profit.” Revision3 engineers spotted the unauthorised use of its tracking server and locked them out, which in turn initiated a flood of SYN packets attempting to reconnect to the files. And then everything went arse over tit.
Mediadefender - which has had clients including Sony and Universal Music and works by targeting peer-to-peer networks, propagating fake files and launching denial of service attacks against distributors - has since tried to explain its actions.
"Our systems were targeting a tracker not even knowing it was Revision3’s tracker," Randy Saaf, Media Defender’s CEO, said in a recent interview. "They were using the tracker as the tracker for their legitimate content. It had been open for years."
And so MediaDefender’s actions are exposed as a classic example of why any kind of vigilantism is very bad idea. Sure enough, an innocent organisation trying to perform legitimate business got caught in the crossfire. This time it was ‘just’ an intenret TV site; but the question is really, what if it was something like a hospital or an airport that was targeted?
Whether MediaDefender’s actions were unlawful is now being assessed. The FBI is investigating.
