Pc News

[Rasputin]

A new game development platform from Microsoft allows anyone to create games for its Xbox 360 console, the company said today.

Typically, console games are designed by large studios that must pay high prices to buy development kits in order to write games for consoles. Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express is a new development kit that will be released in beta form in August. It will be available for free to anyone using a Windows XP PC. The kit is designed for game developer novices as well as studios, Microsoft said.

Users will have the option of joining a developers group for $99 per year in which they can share and test their games with other designers and access information that could help them speed up the development process.

School Days
More than ten universities, including the University of Southern California, Georgia Tech College of Computing, and Southern Methodist University Guildhall, will include the new platform in the curricula of their game development schools, according to Microsoft.

The software giant has also worked with games software development tool companies to ensure that their tools can be used within the new platform. Autodesk, a provider of 3-D authoring software, and GarageGames, a maker of games development software, both said that their technologies can be ported to the XNA Game Studio Express platform.

The XNA Game Studio Express development environment is based on Visual Studio Express and .NET, and allows developers to create games simultaneously for Xbox 360 and Windows XP.

Microsoft expects the final non-beta version of the development platform to become available by the end of the year. Another version of XNA Game Studio Express designed for professional game developers will become available in early 2007, the company said.

The Xbox 360 is the second version of the Xbox console, which started selling late last year.

[Rasputin]

Zimbra Deepens E-Mail Collaboration

Zimbra will emphasize more sophisticated e-mail collaboration features and native support for mobile devices today when the open-source groupware vendor unveils the latest version of its software at the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco.

Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) 4.0, a combination of messaging server and client software, includes Zimbra Documents, a new tool for creating, sharing, and publishing documents.

In previous versions of ZCS, the company offered e-mail, contact, and calendaring software, but now users will also be able to embed fully functional and editable documents and spreadsheets within their e-mails, Scott Dietzen, president and chief technology officer of Zimbra, said.

"People really like to live in the tools they're comfortable with," Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group, said. Zimbra is hoping to succeed where rival IBM failed in terms of encouraging users to "live and breathe" within its collaboration software, he added.

Three years old, Zimbra officially launched its first software in October and describes Microsoft's Exchange groupware as its primary competitor. The start-up also competes with IBM's Notes/Domino as well as a whole host of smaller vendors including other open-source firms Open-Xchange and Scalix.

Zimbra Documents makes use of the ALE (Ajax Linking and Embedding) technology the start-up debuted in April so that users can nest a number of documents within a single e-mail message and then invite their colleagues to edit the information. Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and Extensible Markup Language) is a combination of software development tools and standards that help Web applications try to match the speed and usability of their desktop counterparts.

Going Mobile
ZCS 4.0 also features Zimbra Mobile, technology providing native over-the-air synchronization between the groupware and a range of mobile devices including smartphones from Motorola, Nokia, and Palm. Zimbra has yet to offer native support for Research in Motion's popular BlackBerry device, currently relying on partners like Notify Technology for that capability, but hopes to make it available in future, Dietzen said.

Zimbra has around 200 paying customers ranging from small to mid-size businesses with 50 seats each for its software, to an unnamed ISP with users in the millions, according to Dietzen. Customers the start-up does publicly identify include Firefox Web browser creator Mozilla, Brazilian Internet service provider Orolix, and tax services provider H&R Block.

ZCS supports Microsoft's Outlook messaging software and runs on the two leading flavors of Linux--Red Hat and Suse--and Apple Computer's Mac OS X. Although ZCS also runs on Windows on the client side, Zimbra isn't seeing interest from its customers in supporting Microsoft's operating systems on the server side, Dietzen said. The start-up has a list of other operating systems it plans to support, notably the Debian distribution of Linux and Sun Microsystems' Solaris flavor of Unix, he added.

ZCS 4.0 Open Source Edition is free, while the commercially supported ZCS 4.0 Network Edition which includes features like disaster recovery costs $28 per mailbox per year. Zimbra offers ZCS as an on-premise or a hosted service.

Zimbra takes its name from "I Zimbra," the title of a song by U.S. rock band Talking Heads.

[Rasputin]

Hackers Hunt for Unpatched Windows PCs

Hackers are actively using exploit code to target a flaw in Microsoft's software that generated a special warning from the U.S. government last week.

The problem concerns a networking function called Windows Server services within the Windows OS, used for file sharing and printing.

Microsoft issued a patch, MS06-040, for the problem on August 8, which affected several Microsoft operating systems. Security experts warned then that exploit code had been detected and could be used more widely.

However, the latest exploit code only affects users running Windows 2000 who have not applied the patch, Microsoft said. The impact so far from the malware, which the company calls "Win32/Graweg," has been low, the company said.

"We are not currently aware of widespread customer impact," Microsoft said Sunday.

The SANS Institute reported on Sunday other names given to the malware by security vendors. Symantec calls it "W32.Wargbot" while TrendMicro has named it "Worm****CBOT.JK and JL." McAfee goes by "IRC.Mocbot" and F-Secure refers to the malware as "IRCBOT-ST."

Remote Control
The malware is a "bot," a class of malicious code that allows a hacker to take remote control over a computer. The malware appears to be a version of one called "Mocbot," which first appeared in late 2005, according to Lurhq, a security company. Both SANS and Lurhq said two similar versions of the bot are circulating.

Once on an infected machine, the bot contacts remote servers in China over IRC, Lurhq said.

"Historically Chinese ISPs and government entities have been less-than-cooperative in taking action against malware hosted and controlled from within their networks," Lurhq said in an advisory.

The bot is capable of several malicious functions, Lurhq said. It can send messages through a user's AOL Instant Messenger account, an activity that could be used to trick other users into downloading the bot. It's also possible to use the bot to launch a distributed denial-of-service attack, Lurhq said.

The bot could also spread itself to other computers on a network, giving it worm-like characteristics. Microsoft, however, said the exploit code does not appear to be self-replicating at this point.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security highlighted the MS06-040 vulnerability a day after Microsoft issued a patch, saying it "could impact government systems, private industry, and critical infrastructure, as well as individual and home users."

Microsoft issued a total of 12 fixes this month on what's known as "Patch Tuesday."

[abadani69]

نشست چهارم آسيب شناسي اينترنت با عنوان "آسيب شناسي تاثير اينترنت در هدايت و تربيت ديني" توسط دفتر امور زنان سپاه برگزار ميشود.

از جمله عناوين اين نشست ،مقدمهاي از نقش اينترنت در دنياي امروز با عنوان موتور محركه موج سوم و همچنين ابزار قدرت رسانهاي است.

بررسي اين موضوع كه اينترنت پيام است يا خود پيام و اگر اينترنت خود پيام است ،پيام آن چيست و تاثير در تربيت نسل جديد كدام است ؟اينترنت يك چاقوي صرف نيست ،از ديگر عناوين اين نشست است.

عناوين ديگر اين نشست آسيبها و خطرات اينترنت در زندگي افراد اعم از دين دار يا بيدين (جنبههاي اعتيادي ،اتلاف وقت،تاثير منفي دراستحكام خانواده،انزوا و كاهش مهارتهاي اجتماعي ،از بين رفتن حرم شخصي، تاثيرات تربيتي شخصيتي،تربيت نهيليستي پست مدرن،عادت به بيتعهدي و عدم حساسيت) و نگاهي به فضاي كاربردي اينترنت در جهان و ايران است.

آسيبها و خطرات اينترنت در تربيت و هدايت ديني بيدين شامل تاثير اخلاقي، عادي شدن غير عاديترين امور ،ضد حيا،سدشكني روحي ،تحريك مداوم، عاديسازي گناه،تاثيرات رفتاري ،تاثيرات اعتقادي و نگاهي به روش تخريب اعتقادات ديني از ديگر عناوين مورد نظر در نشست آسيب شناسي تاثير اينترنت در هدايت و تربيت ديني است.

اين نشست با حضور و سخنراني دكتر موذن برگزار ميشود.

[abadani69]

"دل" ( ،(dellيكي از بزرگترين توليدكننده هاي رايانههاي شخصي (لپ تاپ) در جهان در نظر دارد باتري چهار ميليون لپ تاپهاي توليدي خود را جمعآوري كند چرا كه اين باتريها پس از گرم شدن منفجر ميشوند.

تاكنون ۶مورد انفجار و صدمه به ميز و وسايل شخصي افراد در آمريكا گزارش شده است كه خوشبختانه با صدمه جاني همراه نبوده است.

شركت "دل" از باتريهاي ساخت شركت سوني استفاده ميكرده است. گفته ميشود تمامي شركتهايي كه از اين باتريها استفاده كردهاند بايد به اقدامي مشابه دست بزنند.

يكي از خطرهايي كه توجه مردم را به خود جلب كرده، مساله انفجار باتري اين لپ تاپها در داخل هواپيما است.

اين باتريها حاوي ليتيم (ليتيوم) هستند و بسياري از افرادي كه سوار هواپيما ميشوند همراه خود وسايلي الكترونيكي دارند كه از اين باتريها استفاده ميكنند.

هزينهجمعآوري اين باتريها براي شركت دل ، حدود ۲۰۰ميليون دلار ميباشد.

جالب توجه است كه اين بار اولي نيست كه باتري رايانه دل منفجر ميشود.

در سال ۲۰۰۱ميلادي هم در ژاپن يكي از رايانههاي دل منفجر شد كه منجر به جمعآوري ۲۸۴هزار لپ تاپ گرديد.

[Rasputin]

You're Not Mobile: Dell Replacement Laptop Batteries to Take Weeks to Arrive

Laptop owners seeking replacements for recalled batteries will receive priority if they use the Dell special site set up to handle the recall, the company said today. However, users of many Latitude, Inspiron, Precision, XPS, and mobile workstation models may still be stuck with only AC power for a few weeks.

Dell has been "cranking battery production over the last couple of weeks" with its battery suppliers in preparation for this massive recall, says spokesperson Gretchen Miller. If you determine via the Dell Battery Recall site or by calling the company at 866-342-0011 that you have a potentially defective battery, Dell will send a replacement along with postage-paid packaging to return the old one. But it may take weeks to get the new battery, or longer for certain out-of-production models.

In the meantime, you can safely use the laptop with the AC power cord. But since replacement batteries are not available in stores, only from the Dell Web site, the recall process is likely your fastest option, Miller says.

The current recall follows a much smaller one in December of 22,000 batteries. All the cited laptop models from the 2005 recall are once again affected, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's recall notices. With 24.9 million batteries shipped during the current recall time period, according to Dell, this week's recall involves about 1 out of every 6 of that figure, or 16.5 percent of the batteries shipped.

Batteries with the same type of cells that were used in the recalled batteries are also in Sony Vaio notebooks, according to David Yang, a Sony spokesman, but there have not been any reports of any overheating with the Sony laptops. Different batteries that use the same type of cells can still configure them differently and use different safety controls, he says. Other notebook batteries also use the same cells, but Yang could not yet say which ones.

Manufacturing Defect
Sony manufactured the affected batteries, which were shipped with Dell laptops and also sold as replacement models between April 1, 2004, and July 18, 2006. Metal particles that accumulate during the manufacturing process are breaking through the barrier separating the electrode from the diode within a battery cell, according to Yang. When they reach the diode, they can cause overheating.

The metal particles are "one of those unavoidables, no manufacturing process is 100 percent perfect," says Yang. Sony has since changed to process to use a thicker barrier.

The CPSC is actively investigating whether other devices using Sony batteries are also at risk, says CPSC spokeswoman Patty Davis. "We know that lithium-ion batteries pack a lot of energy in a small space," says Davis. "There's a potential for injury with a device that has so much energy."

Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in music players, cell phones, and a range of other devices. The agency is actively investigating whether other devices using Sony batteries are also at risk, Davis says.

When damaged or defective, the batteries can overheat slowly or quickly, in a "venting with flame" situation, says Isidor Buchmann, CEO of Cadex Electronics, a Canadian battery testing equipment manufacturer. He says the larger laptop batteries pose a greater risk, since they contain more energy, but the threat isn't particularly large.

"If you consider the number of laptops that are out there, it's actually very seldom that an accident happens," Buchmann says.

[Rasputin]

Tokyo Edge: HD Camcorders, Innovative GPS Unit

After an unusually long rainy season, the skies are now blue in Japan and summer has arrived. Everyone is looking forward to several weeks of unbroken sunshine and hot temperatures, but some people are already thinking about the fall and the back-to-school season. Not the kids, of course. I'm talking about the product planners at companies like Sony and Canon, who are busy preparing to put new camcorders on sale.

Television has already made the move to high definition, and home movies are on the way there. Consumer electronics companies are now pushing parents to splash out for HD camcorders to capture little Taro or Megumi running as fast as their legs can carry them to victory on the track. At least that's the image we're likely to see on TV commercials here soon.

In the next few months we're likely to see more and more HD camcorders, especially if Sony meets its goal of making half of all its camcorder sales HD models by the end of this year.

[Rasputin]

Digital World Insider: Tech Takes a Summer Break

My scientist dad used to work all the time, but when it came to family vacations, he would put aside the test tubes, 500-page reports, and legal pads, and make time for us. Of course, during the '70s and '80s, he didn't have a lot of options for engaging in business except maybe using the overpriced hotel telephone.

In a recent poll of 640 people by the Opinion Research Corporation, 43 percent of people surveyed said that they work while they're on vacation (in 1995, that number was 23 percent).

Obviously, technology is enabling this. Of those surveyed, 41 percent said that laptops were the number one tool for getting work done on vacation, followed by the cell phone. Personally, I think it sucks. Even if you spend just 30 minutes a day checking e-mail while vacationing (something I'm definitely guilty of), it becomes impossible to remove yourself from the stress and issues associated with your job. I'm all for technology--the ability to get information any time, anywhere--but sometimes I wish I could be a little less connected to it all.

-- Cathy Lu


Canadian Company Creates Electronic Bikini
Fashion only occasionally intersects with our work here at Digital World--digital gear is usually too bulky or too dorky to wear--but that doesn't seem to be the case with Ottawa-based Solestrom's shiny $190 bikini. The SmartSwim UV Meter Bikini's "smart fabric" is connected to an LCD display, which tells you if you've been out in the sun too long. Here's more about "smart" clothing.

-- Emru Townsend


Splash-Resistant Sanyo Cam Records to iPod
Sanyo has just unveiled the $399 CA6, the latest of the company's flash-based digital media camcorders. Its two most notable features are that it's splash-resistant--meaning it can withstand a little ocean spray, though you still can't get footage of your underwater dives--and that it can capture low-res, full-motion MPEG-4 video for iPods, PlayStation Portables, and other handheld media players. The CA6 goes on sale in August.

-- Emru Townsend


Short Takes
Get Your Run On: Back in May we told you about Apple and Nike's sport kit. It's now for sale online at the Apple Store. There are two components to the kit: a wireless sensor that goes in your shoe, and a receiver that attaches to your iPod's dock connector. Start moving and the sensor tracks your time, distance, pace, and calories burned, reporting that information back to you through your headphones. The kit costs only $29, but you might end up spending a lot more than that to ensure that you can use it. In order to work, the kit requires a special pair of Nike+ shoes, and it only works with an iPod Nano.

-- Cathy Lu


Take Pictures From Your Frisbee: Introducing a whole new way to watch Ultimate: Royal College of Art grad Adam Sutcliffe wondered what it would be like to see flight from a frisbee's point of view, so he built a camera to find out. The Catchu Camera is a solid-state video camera built into a frisbee that can record up to 20 minutes of broadcast-quality video (I presume that means PAL broadcast, 720x576 at 25 fps). That fin on the top is a vane that keeps the camera oriented in the direction of flight at all times. The Catchu Camera isn't available for sale yet, but Sutcliffe estimates that it will cost around $83.

-- Emru Townsend

[Rasputin]

Google Buys Company to Boost Photo Management

Google plans to strengthen its Picasa photo management software and service with the acquisition of Neven Vision, a Santa Monica, California, company specializing in mobile photo search.

Adrian Graham, Picasa product manager, announced the deal in an official Google blog posting today, saying that Neven Vision brings expertise on automatically obtaining information from a photo.

"It could be as simple as detecting whether or not a photo contains a person, or, one day, as complex as recognizing people, places, and objects. This technology just may make it a lot easier for you to organize and find the photos you care about," Graham wrote.

Image Recognition
A spokeswoman for Neven Vision confirmed the acquisition has been finalized, but declined to provide details about the deal. Google didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.

Neven Vision, which also has offices in Japan, Germany, and the U.K., has developed a suite of image-recognition and facial-analysis tools for mobile devices, according to the company's Web site, which has since been shut down. The tools can be used for marketing, e-commerce, search, security and biometric verification purposes.

Google recently retooled its Picasa photo management software, giving users the ability to publish albums to the Web and share them with other people, making Picasa more competitive with rival service Flickr, which is owned by Yahoo and is considered a pioneer in online photo sharing.

[Rasputin]

Movie Download Service Sued Over Spyware

The state of Washington has sued the owners of the Movieland.com, alleging that the company used spyware to strong-arm users into signing up for its paid movie download service.

Consumers who dowloaded Movieland.com's free three-day trial software would eventually be hit with frequent pop-up ads informing them that they were legally obliged to purchase the product, said Paula Selis, an assistant attorney general with the state. The tactics forced some consumers to give in and pay between $20 and $100 for the service, she said.

Washington State, and other organizations like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau have received thousands of consumer complaints about Movieland.com, dating back to the end of 2005, Selis added.

"We sued them because we were getting complaints from consumers who felt that they were being harassed and held over a barrel for payments that they didn't agree to make," she said.

Company, Two Officials Named
The suit was filed yesterday in King County Superior Court in Seattle. It charges Movieland.com's parent company, Digital Enterprises, of West Hills, California, with violating the state's antispyware and consumer protection laws. Two company officials are also named in the suit: Easton Herd, and Andrew Garroni, both of Los Angeles.

Garroni and Herd's companies operated a number of video download services, including Moviepass.tv and Popcorn.net, the Washington Attorney General's office said.

Though the company's free trial software does advise users that they will be obliged to purchase a monthly license if they do not cancel, this notice does not sufficiently explain what will happen if the software is installed, Selis said.

Movieland.com's Web site offers downloads saying, "No Spyware," "Virus Free," and "No Extra Charge."

The company did not return a call seeking comment for this story.

Movieland.com is the second company to be sued under Washington's 2005 Computer Spyware Act. In January the Attorney General's office sued Secure Computer of White Plains, New York, alleging that its Spyware Cleaner software failed to work as advertised. That litigation is ongoing, Selis said.

[Rasputin]

Consumer Watch: Cell Phone Fees That Sneak Up on You

used to think that the hardest part about owning a cell phone was settling on a rate plan: How many anytime minutes? How many prime-time minutes? National or local? Should my husband and I get a family plan? But lately I'm thinking that the bigger challenge involves figuring out how to keep track of all the ways carriers and their partners are trying to milk me for additional dough.

Wireless carriers have jargon for this topic: ARPU (or just RPU), pronounced "ahr-pooh." The acronym stands for Average Revenue Per User (or Revenue Per User), and carriers are forever trying to raise it--that is, to squeeze more money out of us hapless users. Increasingly they're doing it through new services offered on their high-speed data networks and the sophisticated handsets built for them.

Data Is Gold
For customers, the huge expansion in data services means that we'll be seeing a growing number of applications and services for everything from entertainment and companionship to shopping and GPS navigation aids. Some of these offerings will be ad supported, some will be subscription based, some will be pay-as-you-go, and some will be hybrids (some content may even be free, but with charges for premium features).

Where fees apply, they are usually indicated. (Be sure to note, however, whether it's a one-time fee or a monthly subscription.) For example, play a demo of the game Bejeweled on a Cingular phone (as I did on my husband's Motorola handset, in the name of research), and you'll be asked whether you want to pay a few bucks to get the full version.

Fair enough, but apart from the way many small charges--for games, ring tones, ring-back tones, music, and so on--can mount up, you might find additional charges that contribute to an unexpectedly big bill at the end of the month.

Bucks for Bytes
Whatever you do that involves sending data, the biggest hidden expense can be charges for use of the network itself, normally the amount of data you both send and receive (measured in kilobytes or megabytes). You constantly run into the disclaimer "carrier charges may apply," but you rarely see how much bandwidth you're using and what it costs if you aren't on an all-you-can-eat data plan.

Sometimes you get clues about impending charges: After I downloaded a game demo on my husband's phone, a message appeared saying that I'd used 46,000 bytes of his data plan's allotment.

But such on-the-fly notification is atypical. Listen to a snippet of a song in the Sprint Music Store, for example, and even if you don't buy it, you'll be charged for the data if you don't have a Vision data plan.

I should mention here that in researching this column, I was reminded of another cell phone pet peeve of mine, which is just how difficult it can be to determine cell phone service costs in general. Carriers often make you go through the motions of choosing a handset and signing up for service before they'll provide detailed information on what they'll be charging you.

Money for Messages
Messaging--instant, text, picture, you name it--can be another stealth budget buster. That's because, regardless of your data plan, most carriers charge separately for messaging.

On Verizon Wireless, for example, you pay 10 cents per message sent or received. Again, heavy users of messaging services can save money by purchasing bundles: Verizon offers a $10-a-month messaging plan that covers unlimited messages to fellow Verizon customers, plus 500 messages to non-Verizon phone numbers; $15 and $20 plans cover 1000 and 2500 out-of-network messages, respectively.

The cost of text messaging may come as a shock if you're accustomed to using AOL, MSN, or Yahoo instant messaging services on the desktop, where they're lumped in with all of your other Internet traffic and there's no economic incentive to keep conversations short.

On a cell phone, carriers typically limit text messages to a relatively terse 160 characters. But the bigger issue is that every message you send, regardless of how long or short it is, racks up a charge--typing and sending "OK" costs the same amount as transmitting a long sentence--so it's to your advantage to keep your conversations brief and the number of messages you send to a minimum. (The exception to this rule is Sprint, which includes unlimited AIM, MSN, and Yahoo instant messages for Vision subscribers.)

Using your camera-enabled cell phone to send pictures is even more expensive: Cingular and Verizon both charge 25 cents per picture message sent or received (plus data charges if you're not on an all-you-can-eat plan). With Sprint, if you don't have a Power Vision plan, you must pay $5 a month for access to its Picture Mail service, plus 2 cents per KB for each photo you upload. Consequently, sending a typical 50KB image would cost $1 on top of the $5 fee. That's a lot more than the U.S. Postal Service charges for a picture postcard.

In fairness, your photo will get where it's going much faster, and the temptation to bombard friends with images probably isn't as strong as the urge to continue responding to text messages.

High Tab for Texting
Photograph: Mark MatchoWhat's insidious about text messaging is the way it's being used to power services (and more income for carriers). American Idol voting is just the tip of the iceberg: PayPal, for example, now lets you initiate payments via text messaging.

SMS.ac, a popular teen community site, invites you to sign up for a dizzying variety of message services. You can receive messages from people who want to meet you based on the profile that you create when you sign up via the Web. You can get news alerts. You can arrange for calendar reminders. You can obtain photos. You pay SMS.ac only for the messages it sends you, but they cost up to 50 cents apiece, and the charges show up on your phone bill. If you become popular on the site, you could incur big charges without realizing it until your bill comes. And you have to send text messages to stop the messages--so you pay to stop paying.

SMS.ac is clearly mindful of the potential for overenthusiastic customers to rack up big bills. Among other things, it published a Mobile Consumer Bill of Rights on its Web site, which includes a clause stating that "mobile consumers have the right to know exact costs for all products and services prior to purchase." But the fact remains that you don't always have all this information at your fingertips when you're on your handset.

Subscription Fees
Subscription services are another source of swollen monthly cell phone bills. Amp'd Mobile, the teen-oriented cell phone service, now offers its customers the ability to buy movie tickets from their cell phones--after they sign up for a $2-a-month subscription. But you'll still pay the usual convenience fee for buying tickets online. Do you really want to pay $24 a year just to use a feature that's widely available on an Internet-connected PC?

Most real-time navigation services catering to GPS-enabled cell phones will also be available exclusively via subscription, with monthly fees in the vicinity of $10. But downloading map and routing information may result in additional charges.

Your best defense as a smart cell phone shopper: Ask carrier sales reps for pricing details that will help you determine the true costs of any services that interest you, and ask if there's any way to track your bandwidth and message usage between monthly bills. Cingular, for instance, shows data usage as well as voice usage on customers' account pages.

Look into alternative services and workarounds. For example, on many PDA-phone hybrids you can avoid instant messaging fees by using Intellisync Verichat, a universal IM client that circumvents messaging fees, at a cost of $25 a year. And instead of downloading songs from a carrier's music service, get a phone equipped with a memory card slot so you can play tunes you've ripped on your PC.

Don't give your cell service easy access to your wallet. Say pooh to ARPU.

[Raiden]

Dude this shit is getting scaryyyy

[soniq]

i'd like to post a useful link for all you pc problems, it's a forum that specializes in tech support:

go to www.techguy.org and join the forums, they are very kind and helpful and they helped me out alot.

[Rasputin]

AOL Security Tools Raise Adware Questions

Just days after posting details of searches made by hundreds of thousands of subscribers, AOL is in hot water again with consumer advocates. This time the issue is with the company's Active Virus Shield anti-virus software, released last week.



At issue is the software's licensing agreement, which authorizes AOL to gather and share data on how the software is being used and permits AOL and its affiliates to send e-mail to users. "If you go through the installation, just as any normal user would, there is not the slightest hint of any advertising functionality or data gathering of any kind," said Eric Howes, director of malware research at anti-spyware vendor Sunbelt Software.

Active Virus Shield uses Kaspersky Lab's well-regarded anti-virus software, and comes with an optional security toolbar that blocks pop-up ads and manages passwords. The software is available for free to anyone who wishes to download it.

Concerns
Although security experts, including Howes, say that Active Virus Shield does not behave in a malicious fashion or serve up unwanted ads, some are concerned that the product's end user license agreement (EULA) would allow AOL to send spam or serve up adware at some point in the future. "If it actually does any of the things stated in the EULA, we would actually flag it as spyware," said Christina Olson, a project manager with Stopbadware.org.

The Active Virus Shield agreement gives AOL much broader rights to collect information and then to share that information with third parties than typical EULAs, observers said.

A prohibition against blocking ads also caught Olson's attention. "If you have any ad-blocking software up, you're basically violating their EULA, which is ridiculous," she said.

AOL in the News Recently
AOL's licensing problems come at a sensitive time for the company. Earlier this month the Internet service provider weathered a public relations disaster after an AOL researcher inadvertently exposed data on about 19 million Web searches performed by 658,000 users.

After being contacted by IDG News, AOL said it now plans to alter the licensing agreement. "We are updating the EULA to address any concerns," said Andrew Weinstein, a company spokesman. "We are reserving the right solely to send periodic marketing e-mails that users will have the choice to opt out of."

Adding to AOL's troubles is the fact Active Virus Shield's security toolbar is based on a product with a questionable reputation. An earlier version of this software, known as the Softomate toolbar, is flagged as adware by Kaspersky's own anti-virus products.

"We don't use the earlier code because it was used by a malware provider," Weinstein said. "That's why Kaspersky looks for it."

Similar to Sony Rootkit Issue?
While AOL's toolbar is not considered to be adware, observers say that AOL, which prides itself as a fierce opponent of adware and spyware, could have based its own toolbar on a better product. "I don't understand how a legitimate company like AOL provides software that can be classified as rogue," said Aviv Raff, a security researcher based in Israel.

After examining AOL's toolbar, Raff discovered a flaw in the software that would allow hackers to change the toolbar's configuration options. While the flaw does not in itself present a security risk, it could be used in combination with other types of malicious software to do things like pop up bogus search results, he said.

"The problem is similar to the Sony rootkit issue," Raff said referring to Sony BMG Music Entertainment's notorious copy protection software, which was found to be the source of security issues late last year. "A big company chose an external company's software and rebranded it as their own, later to discover it might be bad after all," he said.

[Rasputin]

Practical Tips for Avoiding Tech Travel Hell

Call it the tech-savvy traveler's nightmare: When you arrive at the airport for your flight, you're told that, for security reasons, you must check your usual carry-on bag--including all of the sensitive electronics it contains.

Even if you weren't one of the thousands of travelers hit by this nightmare-turned-reality during the most recent terrorism scare (initially, passengers departing from or passing through the United Kingdom had to check all of their electronics items), you probably wondered how you'd handle that situation.

I travel with what amounts to my own electronics store--a laptop, a portable hard drive, a digital SLR camera with a couple of lenses, a smartphone, a digital audio player, and a slew of memory cards. And as a frequent traveler, I subscribe to the carry-on creed: The very thought of checking baggage containing electronics sends shivers of panic down my spine.

How to Cope?
I called several makers of electronics gear to get their tips on how travelers can best deal with today's travel challenges. The answers I got were sometimes expected and sometimes surprising.

These tips are intended as a guideline, so you can prepare yourself for the unexpected with worst-case travel scenarios in mind. When possible, you should continue to carry your electronics on board with you. If your laptop falls out of the overhead bin, at least you'll know what happened--and who to blame.

Protect Your Electronics
No matter how well you pack, checking electronics equipment always carries some risk. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) can rifle through bags at will, and when the TSA's baggage handlers do so, they do not necessarily repack things the way they found them. Other issues include such mundane considerations as theft, baggage loss, and delays--things that plagued the airline industry long before modern terrorism took to the skies.

For the latest domestic travel advisories, check the TSA Web site. It provides recommendations on what to bring and what to leave at home. And don't forget to check with your airline before leaving for the airport to find out whether its baggage rules have changed.

Here are some other tips:

Be prepared for anything. "The one thing I'd say is to always pack with the expectation that you may have to check something at the last minute," suggests Steve Heiner, longtime photographer and senior technical manager at Nikon. Heiner's suggestion applies to many devices besides cameras.
Pack modularly. Ideally, your sensitive devices should be in a padded bag that can fit inside your carry-on suitcase. Says Heiner, "I typically carry a small shoulder camera bag that I put my iPod and cell phone in, and a larger backpack bag that I can put the camera bag into. Sometimes I have a bag loosely packed that I'm already checking, so that if I need to, I can drop my camera bag into. It adds an extra level of shock protection, so I don't have to worry about damage."
Pack your chargers and accessories separately from the rest of your electronics gear. When jumbled together, chargers, spare batteries, cables, and the like can form an unidentifiable mass on an X-ray screen, whether they're in carry-on or checked baggage. By segregating them in their own, soft-sided tote you can easily remove them from a larger carry-on bag before going through security. (Brookstone, for example, sells several kinds of lightweight, collapsible bags.) Then if anything raises a red flag for the screeners, they'll only have to search the smaller bag and not every crevice of your carry-on luggage.
Prior to travel, make sure that you've charged the battery on any electronic device--digital camera, laptop, cell phone, or hard drive--in your luggage. That way, you can turn your device on for security if asked to do so. If you couldn't charge a device in advance, have its AC adapter on hand. 5. Pack your devices in the center of your suitcase, with enough items surrounding them to keep them from moving around. Avoid using soft-sided duffel bags; a suitcase with a well-formed, shaped shell provides better protection against impacts. Wrap each device in bubble wrap (if available) or clothing to cushion it, or use a foam-padded case. If you have multiple devices, make sure to pack them so that they won't knock into each other in flight--you might consider taping them together to avoid this.
If you're traveling with a digital camera--a digital SLR or a point-and-shoot--consider using a case with protective foam sides and inserts to help protect it. Lowepro and Tamron sell a range of cases for consumer and pro cameras. ""Even the small camera bags that hold the camera, an extra battery, and a lens--or a belt pouch--should provide an adequate amount of protection," says Heiner. If you want something that takes up less precious real estate in your bag, look into foam-padded Velcro wraps. If packed well, a digital camera should be able to withstand a journey in the baggage hold. "Our SLRs are designed with the expectation that they need to be fairly tough," says Nikon's Heiner. All bets are off "if they run [your bag] over with the luggage truck, though." Heiner suggests sticking smaller items inside a roll of tube socks for an extra layer of protection. "I've even been known to wrap my camera gear in my laundry on my return trip," he says. If you're serious about safeguarding your gear while you travel, consider looking at the unusually robust cases from Pelican (which would work for other electronics, too) or from Lightware.
Before traveling with a laptop, back up critical data and leave it at home. While on the road, use an online backup service, a flash memory drive, or an optical disc to back up newer data; and take a copy of your data or presentation with you. If you must check your notebook, says Liem Nguyen, a Gateway spokesperson, place it inside a neoprene sleeve and pack it in the middle of the suitcase to help dampen the effect of any impact. Erin Davern of Dell adds that users should fully shut down the laptop (rather than leave it in hibernate or standby mode) and remove the battery--which is how Dell ships its systems from the factory. If you don't have a neoprene sleeve or something similar on hand, wrap the system and its battery in soft clothing or bubble wrap.
Before traveling with your cell phone, back up your contacts from the phone's memory to your SIM card and use a SIM card backup device to create a copy of that SIM card (check eBay or Froogle for sources). If you must check your phone while traveling, remove the SIM card from the device and slip it into your wallet. This way, you'll have your contacts not only on the phone itself, but also on the SIM in your possession and on a backup SIM card at home. Not surprisingly, cell phone vendors such as Nokia say that today's phones should be able to withstand a trip in your checked baggage.
When you're buying a hard drive--whether it's a stand-alone, portable hard drive; a pocket-size 1-inch hard drive; or even a notebook PC--look for one that is designed with shock protection in mind. For example, Seagate Technology's 1-inch and 2.5-inch hard drives park the drive's head off to the side, away from the disk media itself, to minimize damage due to collisions between your luggage and something else; the company says that it has tested the drives to withstand a 3-foot vertical drop onto a concrete surface. When traveling, "try to keep the hard drive wrapped in soft clothing, such as a sweater, or in bubble wrap, and don't pack it next to any hard surfaces. You don't want it rattling around--it needs to be held firmly in place--and you don't want it near hard surfaces, like the side of the suitcase, where an impact would be directly translated to the hard drive," says Peter Radsliff, Seagate's executive director for consumer marketing. Use a protective, padded carry-case if you can to help absorb any jolts from travel. If your drive doesn't work the next time you boot it up, don't panic: Chances are that the data is still safe on the hard drive's platters and can be recovered--for a price. Recovery is easier, Radsliff says, because the damage caused by an impact during travel is typically mechanical.
Additional Things to Consider
If you use a baggage lock, make sure that it's a TSA-approved one (available at any number of luggage shops or online at Amazon.com and many other online stores).

If you're concerned about the monetary value of the devices you're traveling with, look into traveler's insurance. Some credit card companies, for example, provide baggage insurance (program details and requirements vary). Often, personal electronics are covered under a homeowner's or renter's insurance policy; but terms vary, so check with your carrier (and others) for details.

Also, consider sending your valuables on ahead of you. For fast, trackable services, you can use standard overnight or two-day carriers like FedEx and UPS. This option can get costly, however, and it requires you to plan ahead and do without your electronics until you are reunited with them.

Services like Luggage Forward resemble the package carriers in many respects, but the baggage doesn't travel on commercial airlines and is not subject to the same TSA security examination that your checked baggage is. This means that bags shipped domestically will arrive at your destination exactly as you packed them (international shipments are subject to customs searches). Luggage Forward even provides a reusable laptop box ($30 for first use, plus transportation to your destination).