Following the rumors last month that MySpace was getting into the news aggregation game, MySpace News has now gone live. Built on technology developed by Newroo (which News Corp. acquired last year), MySpace news combines the aggregation functionality of Google News, with user voting similar to Digg.
From London's Times newspaper (which is also owned by News Corp.):
MySpace is going into the news business with a service that will scour the internet for news stories and let users vote on which ones receive the most exposure.
This approach blends elements of Google News and sites such as Digg and Netscape, which rely on readers to submit stories and determine their prominence.
Despite speculation to the contrary, MySpace News won't favor News Corp-owned content, and, according to the site's FAQs page, news outlets will be able to opt-out — presumably to avoid being sued, as has happened to Google News — and that sites that aren't currently featured (including blogs) can apply to be included.
As I've said previously, it's clear that with MySpace News (and previous efforts around video), News Corp. wants to make the social network a one-stop-shop, with no reason for users to go elsewhere.
MySpace is fast becoming a portal 2.0 in disguise.
Also from the Times:
It also marks the site’s ambitions to become a web portal like Yahoo!, providing its users with a front door to the internet.
MySpace Now Reports News As It Happens
Websites Ignoring Magic Cure Claims
ANDREW BRIDGES,
Many Web sites have ignored federal warnings against making unfounded health claims in promoting hormone products to treat menopause, the government said Thursday.
In letters to 34 Web sites, the Federal Trade Commission said in November 2005 it may be illegal for them to assert that their hormone products prevent or treat cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis or other health problems. The sites billed the products as natural alternatives to hormone replacement therapy.
Yet 19 of those sites still are selling the "natural" hormone creams and sprays by citing unsupported claims for the products' benefits, an FTC official told the Senate Special Committee on Aging.
Many of the other Web sites reviewed have modified or removed the objectionable claims, said Eileen Harrington, deputy director of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection.
She said the agency is following up with the companies that did not make such changes.
"We could have moved faster here and we should have," Harrington told Sen. Gordon Smith (news, bio, voting record) of Oregon. The committee's top Republican, Smith was the lone lawmaker present for most of the hearing.
Smith held the hearing to spur action by the FTC and Food and Drug Administration, and increase federal oversight. At issue are hormones that are custom mixed or compounded by specialized pharmacies according to a doctor's prescription.
"The FDA needs to step it up and so does the FTC," Smith told reporters.
The FDA has warned some Web sites that are selling hormone products, according to Dr. Steven Galson, the agency's drug chief.
Smith said his staff members recently bought a tub of progesterone cream from one of the 34 Web sites warned by the FTC in 2005. Advertising material from the site claims the cream increases bone mass density, prevents osteoporosis and decreases the risk of breast cancer.
"There are no studies that would support such a claim," said Dr. Jacques Rossouw, chief of the Women's Health Initiative branch in the National Institutes of Health's national heart, lung and blood institute.
Five years ago, an initiative study found that replacement hormones made by drug companies raised the risk of heart attacks, breast cancer and strokes. Research published this week offered the strongest evidence yet that the hormones can raise the risk of breast cancer and are tied to a slightly higher risk of ovarian cancer.
The 2002 findings led millions of women to the estrogen, progesterone and testosterone products sold by compounding pharmacies, which often promote their custom-made alternatives as safer and more natural.
"Hormones are hormones are hormones. The same risks apply to compounded ones as apply to FDA-approved ones," the FDA's Galson told The Associated Press before testifying. "Our position is these pharmacies are taking advantage of women, preying on their fears of menopause."
Loyd Allen, executive director of the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists, said compounding meets the needs of patients when off-the-shelf prescription drugs do not.
Classified Adverts Hitting All time low In US Newspapers
A sharp drop in classified advertising sales brought on by free Internet listings and a cooling real estate market helped push U.S. newspaper publishers' financial results lower in the first quarter.
Gannett Co. Inc., New York Times Co. and Journal Register Co. reported drops in revenue and profit on Thursday, while Tribune Co. and Media GeneralInc. both swung to losses from a year earlier.
"The theme here is severe, almost unprecedented declines in classified advertising, particularly real estate and auto," Benchmark Co. analyst Ed Atorino said.
The Times, Tribune and Media General posted results that beat analyst forecasts, according to Reuters Estimates, while Gannett and Journal Register narrowly missed expectations.
Newspaper shares fell in Thursday trading, with the Times taking the biggest drop at more than 2.5 percent.
Classified sales were hurt by tough economic conditions in some U.S. regions, as well as slowing home sales and winter storms, publishers said. But beyond that, the industry is still reeling from Web sites such as Craigslist.org that offer free classifieds.
Newspapers are making deals with the likes of Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) and Google Inc. to expand their Web advertising reach, and online sales are rising as a result. But that only accounts for 10 percent or less of total revenue.
"I don't think this is some kind of death knell," Atorino said. "The numbers were in line with some of the low expectations."
Online operations improved for most publishers. But the Times pulled back from its digital revenue growth forecast of 30 percent for 2007, citing a slower rise in ad sales.
The news comes as some Times shareholders try to get the company to eliminate a dual-class share structure that allows the Ochs-Sulzberger family to control the company's direction.
POOR WEATHER AND AUTO WOES
Gannett cited severe winter storms in parts of the United States for curtailing ad spending during the quarter as well as a weak real estate market.
"The housing cycle, and it is a cycle, will also pass, though we can't predict when," Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore told analysts on a conference call. "But when it does, we will be well positioned to capitalize on those better revenue results."
Net income fell to $210.6 million, or 90 cents a share, from $235.3 million, or 99 cents a share, last year. Revenue fell to $1.87 billion from $1.88 billion a year ago.
Pro forma ad revenue at Gannett's U.S. newspapers fell 4.8 percent, while at USA Today it fell 7.9 percent.
Journal Register cited difficult economic conditions in Michigan, where it publishes several papers, particularly as the auto industry based there overhauls its business. Ad revenue fell 6.9 percent to $86.4 million.
Tribune, which swung to a loss on special charges, said ad revenue fell 6 percent, with classified ad revenue down 14 percent. Especially hard hit were South Florida and Orlando, with real estate down 15 percent, help-wanted down 14 percent and auto revenue down 16 percent.
"Tribune's first-quarter results were largely in line with our expectations and highlight continued newspaper softness," Morgan Stanley analyst Lisa Monaco wrote in a note to clients.
Tribune is going private in an $8.2 billion deal involving Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell.
Ad revenue at the New York Times media group fell 4 percent during the quarter. Residential real estate ads dropped 8 percent due to a decline in local and national markets.
Media General, which publishes the Tampa Tribune, also saw poorer results in Florida, though its Richmond Times Dispatch paper in Virginia saw a 2.8 percent increase in revenue on higher average rates and real estate linage.
Overall Media General classified sales fell 13.8 percent.
Gannett shares fell 71 cents, or 1.2 percent, to close at $57.60 on the New York Stock Exchange. Journal Register shares dipped 7 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $5.84. Media General shed 57 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $38.52. New York Times dropped 66 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $23.90. Tribune declined 21 cents to $32.48.
Sphere: Related ContentYahoo Sued For Giving User Information To Chinese Government
The wife of a Yahoo user jailed in China for promoting democracy online is suing the Internet search engine company for helping Chinese officials track him down and convict him.
A suit filed in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday by the wife of Wang Xiaoning accuses Yahoo of "aiding and abetting" torture and human rights violations by linking her husband and others to email and online comments.
Yahoo was referred to 10 times in the Chinese court verdict on September 12, 2003 that declared Wang guilty of "incitement to subvert state power" and sentenced him to a decade in prison.
"I feel very angry," Wang's wife, Yu Ling, said after a news conference on Thursday announcing the filing of the suit.
"Yahoo betrayed my husband for their business interests. They literally destroyed my family. All my husband did was express his political views."
The suit filed under the auspices of the US Alien Tort Statute and the Torture Victim Protection Act names Chinese Internet search engine Alibaba as a defendant along with Yahoo's operations in China and Hong Kong.
The suit calls on the court to order Yahoo to stop cooperating with requests by China to identify Internet users and to pressure the government there to release Wang and others imprisoned as the result of such shared information.
Wang is also demanding cash damages to be determined at trial, according to her lead attorney, Morton Sklar of the World Organization for Human Rights.
Sphere: Related ContentNASA - Delaying Shuttle Launch Till June 8
Following the damage on the insulating foam on the external fuel tank damage during a freak hailstorm in February that left over 2600 divots, NASA will delay the launch of space shuttle Atlantis at least until June 8 so that its hail-damaged fuel tank can be repaired. Some can be repaired simply by sanding the area and others can be filled by pouring liquid foam into the dents.
Around half the divots are in clusters that require the wholesale removal of the damaged insulation and then new foam sprayed onto the tank, a job normally done by robots in a New Orleans plant rather than by technicians at Kennedy Space Center.
"What we're doing is letting the work drive the schedule, not the other way around," said Wayne Hale, manager of NASA's shuttle program.
Current progress means the repairs could be completed and the shuttle rolled out to the launch pad by May 6, but the launch window runs from June 8 to July 18. NASA officials had previously hoped to launch Atlantis in May.
The delay means astronaut Sunita Williams' stay on the space station will extend to eight months, setting a new US record in the process. "It really doesn't matter, I have lots to do up here," Williams said. If the Atlantis launch is further delayed into July, NASA will consider bringing her back on that flight rather than have her wait for the following shuttle mission as currently planned.
MacOS Gradually Climbing The Corporate Ladder
However, with the switch to Intel chips and the advent of better solutions for Windows compatibility that come with it, this might be starting to change. That's the premise of a pair of articles from MacNewsWorld and PC Magazine discussing the slow migration of Macs into other business segments. According to the pieces, there are a few things driving the increase in business Mac spending:
* More companies are using web-based applications for their day-to-day tasks, and rely less on proprietary software
* The OS has become dramatically more reliable since the OS 9 days, meaning less downtime
* The apparently constant need to battle viruses and malware on the Windows platform (for the record, I don't think this is as big a deal as it's commonly portrayed, so save your e-mails)
* The ability of Macs to now run actual Windows applications through Parallels, Boot Camp, VMWare, or other virtualization technologies
* An increase in Mac ownership among college students, leading to more familiarity with the platform for new entrants into the job-seeking world
There's also another issue that isn't mentioned in either piece. With the release of Windows Vista, IT departments are faced with a choice they haven't had to make for five years: do we upgrade our PCs, or do we switch? Okay, most are going to choose to upgrade, but the prospect of at least adding a Mac here or there is a lot easier to contemplate in 2007 than it was six years ago, when Windows XP and Mac OS X v10.1 were duking it out.
Let's be honest: things aren't going to be like they were in the early '80s when people bought Apple IIs just to run VisiCalc, but with a new platform and a new push, Apple might at least improve its foothold on the corporate world.
Intel Corp. unveil its new quad-core processor
Intel Corp. on Monday plans to formally unveil its new quad-core processor for high-performance desktops that runs at the speed of its fastest dual-core chip. But the release of the Core 2 Extreme QX6800 processor not only means higher performance for multi-core processor, but also an increase of Extreme-series chips pricing: the novelty costs $1199, up $200 from the previous levels.
The new Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 functions at 2.93GHz and contains 8MB of L2 cache. The new processor is drop-in compatible with LGA775 infrastructure that supports chips with four processing engines as well as 1066MHz processor system bus and can provide 130W of power to the central processing units. The new model is made just like the previous QX6700: by installing two dual-core “
Earlier Intel’s Extreme lineup of chips featured two Core 2-based processors: the Core 2 Extreme X6800, which operated at 2.93GHz, but had two processing engines, as well as Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700, which had four cores, but worked at 2.66GHz clock-speed. The new Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 combines both high clock-speed and four processing cores. However, if previous high-end models were sold for $999 in 1000-unit quantities, the model QX6800 will be available for $1199 in business quantities.
“The performance and technology leadership we are delivering with our enthusiast quad-core processor lineup is a direct result of the reliability provided by Intel’s manufacturing and engineering strength. This translates to user benefits such as better gameplay with more intelligent computer-generated opponents and less wait time for demanding high-definition media editing,” said Eric Kim, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s digital home group.
The release of the twelfth quad-core microprocessor was generally unexpected by the industry, as there were no “leaks” about the chip in the media. However, the introduction still seems to be a logical one, as Intel said earlier this year that it had no plans to introduce enthusiast-oriented processors with two processing engines any more.
Sphere: Related ContentNew Xbox 360 Firmwire Enhance Messaging & Downloads
An update to the Xbox 360 firmware next month will include integration with MSN Messenger and a handful of new Xbox Live features, according to Microsoft blogger Larry Hryb.
In his latest blog post, Hryb mentions that for the first time, users will be able to join in any online Xbox Live Arcade games their friends are currently playing. In addition, Xbox 360 users will be able to chat with MSN Messenger users through a new universal messaging applet.
The other main updates apply to Xbox Live Marketplace downloads. Users will be able to watch videos progressively while they're still downloading, and a new download option will automatically queue all free Xbox Live Arcade demos to the download manager. Also, a new option will turn the console off after all pending downloads are finished.
One other update will add the name of the achievement and the associated gamerscore value whenever the "achievement unlocked" notice pops up on the screen. There will also be several other minor performance tweaks.
The update is scheduled to be available some time next month.
Sandisk Player To Download Songs From Yahoo's Service
Sansa Connect lets users listen to typical MP3 songs, but also has a built-in Wi-Fi wireless communication connection, allowing users to download songs from Yahoo's service without first linking to a personal computer.
The agreement, whose terms were not disclosed, pairs the Sansa Connect with both free and subscription-based services from Yahoo's Yahoo Music service.
The device, first introduced in January, is now available for sale in the United States, according to Sandisk, which says it is the No. 2 seller in the U.S. of MP3 players, behind Apple Inc.
Hoping to lure shoppers looking for an alternative to Apple's ubiquitous iPod, Sandisk has won over many consumers with its sleek Sansa line of digital players. But like rival consumer electronics makers Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. <005930.ks> and Sony Corp. <6758.t>, the company has found it hard to gain ground against the iPod.
Apple has sold more than 70 million iPods since the product's introduction in October 2001, and the devices now command more than a 70 percent share of the U.S. market for MP3 players, as they are also known.
Sandisk's new device, which was among several announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, comes as Sandisk's profit and shares are under pressure from steep declines in flash memory prices for gadgets like cell phones and digital cameras.
The device is expected to sell for about $250 and will be available in Canada in the latter part of 2007.
Why Attack Microsoft
Why is it that very few large IT players are immune from antitrust attack? Are they simply unable to comport themselves with the law? Or is this regulatory trend indicative of governmental lack of faith in the very engine that has created sustained economic growth and innovation in the IT sector: the free market?
One thing never seems to change: Microsoft is always enduring some antitrust challenge--even when it is working with other industry players to create better products. Take, for example, Microsoft's recent agreement with Novell to make Windows server software interoperate better with the Linux server products of Novell.
Last month, oblivious to this agreement, the European Commission issued another statement of objections alleging that Microsoft engaged in bad faith to thwart interoperability in the server market. The Commission's proposed remedy would require Microsoft to make its valuable intellectual property available to its competitors--for free.
While it is difficult to understand the European Commission's pursuit of Microsoft in a highly competitive server market, the Microsoft-Novell agreement was also attacked by the open-source community's Free Software Foundation. The FSF objects to any cooperation between proprietary vendors and open-source vendors, and it vowed to prevent similar deals via its update of the General Public License.
At first glance, the FSF and the Commission attacks on Microsoft appear to be unrelated. But the common thread is this: the attacks are based on a lack of faith that consumer demand will lead a market to where consumers want it to be. It is based on a faulty assumption that a company can use its intellectual property to harm competition rather than fuel it.
The FSF's assault on the Microsoft--Novell deal demonstrates its open hostility to Microsoft's--or any other company's--use of its intellectual-property rights to protect its innovations and inventions. This position is directly contrary to a central premise of free-market economics: IP protections will encourage investment and result in a wider breadth and depth of innovation.
But the inexplicable actions of the European Commission would take us in the same direction as the FSF. The Directorate General for Competition is the regulatory enforcement agent of Europe. Clear European law provides explicit protection to intellectual property through the Parliament's "Software Directive" and many published court decisions.
Yet the Commission alleges that Microsoft has established "unreasonable" prices for its protocol licensing of its server technology in Europe. The Commission characterizes Microsoft's proprietary server software protocols, which is protected by patent, copyright and trade secret law, as containing "virtually no innovation."
The Commission then remarkably concludes that everyone in the industry, nonetheless, "needs" Microsoft's protocols, and that Microsoft should provide them "royalty-free." What the Commission demands in the end is that Microsoft make its intellectual property available to its competitors for free.
Attempting to "outlaw" the Microsoft-Novell deal through changes to the GPL or trying to force Microsoft to disclose its software protocols through regulation and litigation both suffer from the same erroneous foundational assumption--that there is something wrong with the operation and functioning of the free market in general, and that IP protections that underlie the free market.
Microsoft and Novell recognized the basic fact that the consumer is truly in charge of software markets--not regulators, nor free-software advocates like the FSF. The impetus for their groundbreaking agreement was consumer demand. Enterprise customers operating Windows and Linux software wanted better performance.
Both companies realized that the fortunes of both would improve through the agreement. Market forces provide the driving incentive for real solutions. Those wishing to "control" markets should take note.
TSMC's 45nm Technology Chip Out In September
In a highly competitive foundry market, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) and other smaller rivals are developing new technology and making cutting-edge chips for new products.
"Customers expect both performance and reliability from TSMC, a fact that has guided the development of our 45nm process every step of the way," TSMC Chief Executive Officer Rick Tsai said in a statement.
"With our 45nm solution ready and production to be started in September, TSMC provides next-generation technology at the earliest possible time."
TSMC has been driving process technology to advanced 90-, 65- and 45-nanometre as next-generation electronics devices such as cellphones and game consoles require more powerful processors.
The smaller circuitry allows the design of more powerful chips for more complex devices, and the squeezing of more circuits onto a single chip also increases chip yield per wafer, boosting efficiency.
In Taipei, TSMC shares lost 0.43 percent to end at T$69.00 on Monday, against the main TAIEX's <.TWII> 0.65 percent advance. UMC shares rose 0.52 percent to T$19.40.
(US$1=T$33.0)
GETEX 2007 Highlights Expanded Line-up of Didactic Technology for Expanding Regional Education Market
“GETEX 2007’s Technology & Didactic Material segment has been considerably expanded to keep abreast of market needs. Successful didactic technology implementations ease the transition to an education philosophy where instructors become facilitators and conduits for knowledge, helping learners acquire knowledge with while varying the pace of learning to suit their capacity,” said Anselm Godinho, Managing Director, IC&E.
“Didactic technology’s true potential lies in its customizability. By placing control in the hands of the student, it allows autonomy where learning is accomplished in ways that best suit the learner. The influx of world class education institutes in the Middle East have led to an exploration of contemporary paradigms of knowledge dissemination, resulting in a willingness to invest in effective ICT tools for training and learning,” he added.
In its third year of showing, the Gulf Education and Training Equipment & Technology Segment has emerged as a definitive forum for public and private sector buyers from the education and corporate training sectors to source the latest in learning technologies and didactic material. The 2006 edition of GETEX’s didactic technology segment hosted a UNESCO delegation exploring potential investment into learning delivery systems for the Iraqi and Jordanian education sectors, and also saw sustained interest from Qatari and Saudi Arabian representatives.
Supporting the changeover from teacher-centered to student-centered environment GETEX’s didactic segment is hosting exhibitors form all over the world that are showcasing modern teaching aids, ICT-driven rich content, collaborative environments and interactive learning tools.
It will also host its Corporate Training & Human Resource Development that debuted last year, and reprise its traditional role as convergence point for high quality universities and students looking for tailored academic options. GETEX’s Concurrent Conferences, which gained tremendous support from the regional Academic & Corporate Training fraternity last year, are also returning in expanded format.
Speech Encoding Technology to Make Call Quality Sound like Real Voice
NTT DoCoMo, Inc. developed a speech coding technology that provides high-quality telephone calls with significantly fewer arithmetic operations than that required in the existing technique in collaboration with DoCoMo Communications Laboratories USA, Inc. and unveiled it at Wireless Technology Park 2007 held on April 4 and 5 at the Pacifico Yokohama convention center in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. DoCoMo's hTc Z PDA handset was used to demonstrate the technology. It enables the transmission of voice in a bandwidth ranging from 50 Hz to 16 kHz at a bitrate of 38-48 kbps. The main feature of the technology is its small calculation amount. Specifically, the number arithmetic operations required to compress or uncompress voice signals is "about half that of existing methods," says Kei Kikuiri of Research Laboratories, NTT DoCoMo. Thus, the technology is well-suited for devices with low processing power, such as mobile phones.
Based on one of the characteristics of human auditory perception, i.e. "distortion in loud sounds is relatively imperceptible," the latest technology employs a common technique to reduce data amount itself in which the coding resolution is limited to the minimum in the frequency range of louder voices while smaller voices are coded with higher resolution. The company explains that it has also used its proprietary technique to reduce operations.
Identifying 9/11 Remains With DNA Technology
New DNA technology developed by a Virginia laboratory to help identify years-old remains of Sept. 11 victims is working for all but the smallest slivers of bones, a scientist says.
But identifying a Sept. 11 victim still takes weeks of painstaking review and often depends on factors like the quality of DNA samples originally provided by families from items like toothbrushes, a city spokeswoman said Saturday.
"The last thing we want to do is submit an ID to someone and have it not turn out to be an ID," said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the city medical examiner's office.
The city announced earlier this week that remains of five victims, including a city firefighter, had been identified.
But more than 1,100 victims still do not have identifiable remains.
Last fall, Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch told victims' families that a new procedure for extracting DNA from remains would likely lead to new identifications.
That procedure, which extracts calcium from bone over a period of about a week, has yielded purer DNA samples than previous tests of bones badly damaged by extreme heat and time, said Mike Cariola, vice president for forensic operations at Lorton, Va.-based Bode Technology Group.
Scientists Considering Genetically Engineered Spider Silk.
Stronger than steel and more elastic than rubber, spider silk would be an ideal material for a large variety of medical and technical applications if it could be mass produced.
Now a team led by Thomas Scheibel at the Technical University of Munich has successfully used genetic engineering to produce one of the spider silk proteins of the European garden spider.
While purifying the protein by dialysis, the researchers observed the separation of two different fluid phases -- one phase consisted of protein dimers, the second consisted of oligomers, multiple protein units linked together.
After the addition of potassium phosphate, a natural initiator of silk aggregation, the liquid could be pulled into threads.
"It is clearly not a structural change in the protein but rather the degree of oligomerization that is crucial for thread formation," said Scheibel. "Our insights form a foundation for the establishment of an effective spinning process for the production (of) genetically engineered spider silk."
The study is reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie.
Ten tips for better IT/business relations
A technologist who was setting up a computer system for a law firm started by asking the attorneys exactly what they wanted the system to do.
One said, "I want to be able to ask the computer how much money I'm owed by clients, how much I have billed and how much I have in the bank."
"Okay," the techie replied. "We'll set the system up with financial reporting software that will generate a report for you every day."
"No, no," the lawyer said. "I want to ask the computer."
"Okay. We'll set up the report so you can type in a query and get exactly the information you need."
"You don't understand," the lawyer insisted. "I want to be able to walk into my office and say, 'Computer! How much money do I have in the bank?' And the computer will tell me.
"They do it that way on Star Trek all the time."
True story.
This example may be extreme, but it does illustrate a common disconnect in the workplace: Business professionals (suits) and technology professionals (geeks) failing to communicate clearly. It’s a phenomenon we’ve dubbed the “Geek Gap.”
There’s no sure-fire prescription for getting technologists and business folks to come together. As a general rule however, the more each side learns about the other, appreciates the thought and talent that goes into that work, and respects all who contribute to the health of the organization, the closer you’ll come to bridging the gap. With those objectives in mind, we offer these 10 tips—five for geeks from suits, and five for suits from geeks.
Tips for Geeks from Suits
1. Learn something about business. Take some basic business courses. Understanding the concepts that underlie management decisions, and what effects IT decisions can have on the bottom line, can give geeks a sense of ownership in the company’s success
2. Focus on the project as a whole, not just the technology. Tech workers tend to be fascinated with technology, often to the exclusion of other aspects of the total job. Organizations are far stronger when everyone looks at the project as a whole.
3. Don’t expect suits to know as much about technology as you do. Geeks live and breathe technology. Suits do not. Sometimes, techies can be downright evangelical about their favorite software. Suits just want it to work so they can get the job done. While suits need to know some computer basics, keep in mind that they are also focusing on a completely different knowledge set for their own jobs.
4. Try to use plain language, and not “geek speak.” Geeky terminologies may be perfectly understandable to your co-workers, but do remember that suits don’t speak geek. They value your opinion and knowledge. It’s important that suits understand what geeks say, so keep it basic, simple to understand and clear.
5. Be involved in more meetings, not fewer. It can be very easy to hide from meetings behind the technology you manage. Problems and questions involving technology often arise in business meetings, and having a knowledgeable geek there can mean the difference between a smooth-running project and one riddled with false starts and unmet deadlines.
6. Learn something about technology. One of the biggest frustrations for tech workers is dealing with business colleagues who resist learning computer basics. Suits don’t need to become computer wizards, but knowing some essential IT skills is necessary in the modern business world. Suits who take computer courses gain a greater understanding of how technology works, and what it can and can't do. Even a beginner course in programming can help business people better understand computer work and give them more respect for their techie colleagues. .
7. Technology should always be part of the business plan. Don’t leave the technology aspects out of a project until the end. Bring the geeks in on the business development meetings early and keep them informed thoughout the stages of the project. Keeping the technology in mind as the project grows will smooth many of the processes, saving time and money, and raising the chances of success.
8. Build some flexibility into schedules and budgets. Building and working on technological products is as much art as engineering. Allow some flexibility in the calendar and the spending to give your techies the opportunity to build a good product. Otherwise, you may wind up with something on time and on budget, but not on the mark. Geeks would rather get it right before a system goes into production. It’s easier and less expensive than fixing a buggy system already in use.
9. Try to use plain language, not buzzwords. Like any specialized workers, suits have their own words that make their job easier. Whether “incentivizing” the buyer, “gaining traction” with products or putting the “paradigm shift” spin on “restructuring,” geeks understand that language can be powerful. However, keep in mind geeks don’t want to be sold on an idea. Limit the motivational talk.. Sometimes, it’s not a “challenge” or a “hurdle.” It might just be a problem to fix, and we can work together much better if we both use plain language.
10. Talk to us directly. Many companies designate one employee as a liaison between the technology department and other business areas. Having a liaison is great, but making this person the only conduit for information to and from the tech department is a mistake and will create bottlenecks. Feel free to approach whoever can get the information you need..
That’s It?
No advice we could offer in a short article amounts to the final solution to an intricate and ingrained problem like the Geek Gap. However, anything you can do to get geeks and suits talking to one another can help your organization span the Geek Gap, often with dramatic results.
Scottish Scientists Unveil 'Spray-on' Diagnostic Computer
SCOTTISH scientists have developed a computer the size of a matchstick head, thousands of which can be sprayed onto patients to give a comprehensive analysis of their condition.
Speckled computing - some of the most advanced computing technology in the world - is currently being researched and developed by a group of Scottish experts.
The individual appliances, or 'specks', will form networks that can be programmed like ordinary computers.
Spraying them directly onto a person creates the ability to carry out different tests at the same time, for example muscle movement and pulse rate. This allows a complete picture of the patient's condition to be built up quickly.
The computing innovation, being developed by scientists at Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews and Strathclyde universities, will be displayed at the Edinburgh International Science Festival next Friday as part of a talk by Damal Arvind, leading speckled computing professor and director of the Scottish consortium.
Arvind said: "This is the new class of computing: devices which can sense and process the data they receive. They also have a radio so they can network and there's a battery in there as well, so they are entirely self-powered.
"You can do lots of interesting things with this technology. We are seeing this kind of technology in the Nintendo Wii and this is a very, very primitive form of what we will be demonstrating on Friday."
As part of the science festival event Arvind will show larger prototypes of the specks and how they work through a video link-up. He hopes to demonstrate how everyday objects can be 'speckled', paving the way for the technology to be used in anything from developing healthcare to animation or intelligent toys for children.
"This talk will stop people from thinking about computers simply in terms of laptops and desktops in the home," said Arvind.
Plans for a new centre for speckled computing in Scotland are in the pipeline - all the more reason for festival goers to be enthusiastic, Arvind believes. "This is something that is happening not very far away from them," he said. "We have arts festivals in Edinburgh getting lots of exposure, so now it's time people got excited about science."
Arvind will be speaking at the National Museum of Scotland at 6pm on Friday.
Sphere: Related ContentThe Revision Of Microsoft Windows Vista
Initially I had a ton of problems with drivers – specifically my sound drivers causing my system to hang and crash. Creative Labs, who makes my old sound card – a Sound Blaster Audigy 2, just came out with a driver last week. Too bad I’ve already tossed the card in the trash can. It took them 5 months to get their drivers out. That being said, Intel and ATI (Now AMD) both had drivers out, as did Realtek, day 1 that worked flawlessly.
So hardware is good. So far every game I’ve thrown at the system works great too. So far I’ve played Quake 4, Fear, Civilizations IV, and Never Winter Nights 2. Sound, video – it’s all good.
Programming on the other hand is not so good. Windows Vista shipped with a new version of IIS – IIS 7. With IIS 5.1 (Windows XP) I never had a problem running PHP or ASP applications. With IIS 7 both were problematic and took a lot of research to fix issues, and ultimately I removed IIS all together and installed XAMPP instead. Seems "Enable this feature" isn't enough to get it to work on Vista.
Next problem is Windows Explorer, gone is the good old days when explorer would remember how it was setup. Now Windows Explorer thinks every directory I have is full of photos just because there is 1 JPG out of 100 Word Docs. I am serious, each time I look at my documents (renamed to just Documents) I get a random view of the directory. When I click to view the details, I always get the columns Name, Date Taken, Tags, Size and Rating. I have to manually go in, each time, and add Date Modified and File Type. This is a huge waste of my time. Every time I look at a web project I have to do this.
What about if I delete a folder, then try to make a new folder with the same name? Error every time! The source and destination file names are the same.
System Crash Handling
Another example is if there is a crash. What does this box do? "Windows has recovered from an unexpected shutdown” When I click "Check for solution" it just closes. How about saying - No solution found? Apparently it got lost looking for my solution.
File Sharing
File sharing, if you use the pre-set shared folder works perfect. However if you are like me and have a music collection or photos on a RAID or other drive, watch out, you are going to need to make a ton of changes to permissions and firewall settings just to get it to work. It took me about 6 hours of messing with it just to get my shares to work correctly.
User Account Control
This in and of itself is great. A great feature pulled straight from the folks in the Linux camp. For me, it is a nagging monkey on my back. If you are a basic Windows user – good for you, use UAC and love it. For me it has been turned off.
Consistency
Next problem I have is the consistency throughout Vista. It doesn’t exist. Some pages are the new style, some are like Windows XP, and some are even like Windows 2000.
For example:
Windows Calendar
While by itself it is an OK application. It is definitely a great addition to the system – especially with the reminders! However I have one big beef with this one. What happened to my SAVE button on the appointments? Windows ALWAYS has a save and close option on each box… but not on Calendar – it’s been removed and replaced with a Mac type functionality where it auto saves. It really doesn’t make me feel like my changes are being retained. I don’t understand how this completely inconsistent functionality made it past beta.
That’s it for problems for me.
Some of the things that are really rocking in Vista include:
Windows Calendar
This is a MUCH needed application in XP. The application is clean and just works. If you’ve used Outlooks calendar it is very similar to that. It will even open up when you set a reminder. Very nice.
Flip 3D
This is another feature barrowed from Linux. Although Microsoft has done a great job implementing this, original it is not. It is a nice update from Alt-Tab of old.
Areo Theme
The new Windows theme is nice and clean. Fonts are clean, sharp and easy to read. Just like if you turn on Clear Type in Windows XP. You can even change the theme to be any color you want.
Things that are just eh…
Windows Media Player 11
Eh. Vista comes with WMP11 – but I have a Zune, so I get to use the bastard child of media players - the Zune software. WMP11 is nothing new from the one on Windows XP.
Windows Mail
This is just a skin update to the crappy Outlook Express. Personally I’ve already moved on to Thunderbird 2.
Window Photo Gallery
This is another just ok application. It is definitely no Picasa (http://picasa.google.com).
Windows Movie Maker
WMM is just a visual update to the application that shipped with XP. Not much new at all.
The wrap up
The bottom line is that Windows Vista is not worth the update. Personally I will continue to use, and will revisit this review after Service Pack 1 in the fall. Windows Vista feels like just a visual update to Windows XP and that is all. Not to dis the engineers who worked their butts off on this project because I know they really worked hard. But the final polish is missing.
Just like most things Microsoft, version 1 of a product is not worth getting. I would wait until Service Pack 1 launches in the fall.
XXX Factor Determines Winner In Next-Gen DVD War
In the battle over next generation DVDs, pornography could prove to be the XXX factor that helps determine a winner.
Thirty years ago, VHS toppled Betamax in part because of the adult film industry, and now some see blue movies playing a key role again as backers of HD-DVD and Blu-ray maneuver to make their formats the standard.
The stakes are high. As prices of high-definition televisions and DVD players fall, backers of the rival — and incompatible — formats are looking to tap a home and rental DVD market approaching $25 billion.
Yet so far, neither next-generation format has been able to land a knock-out blow.
James McQuivey, a principal analyst at technology research firm Forrester, said in the VHS-versus-Betamax war, porn provided a significant boost for the winning format.
He also noted the adult entertainment industry has often paved the way with new uses of technology — such as streaming video on the Internet — and said porn could help tip the scales in the current DVD format battle.
"If the porn industry wanted to break the logjam of HD-DVD and Blu-ray, it could," McQuivey said. "If they said 'We are going to go with HD-DVD' you would see a few million homes immediately go out and buy HD-DVD players. They have that power."
It is a potential weapon that one side, at least, has ignored. Instead, Blu-ray backer Sony Corp. blocked manufacturers from producing porn DVDs in that format — a move that some say has pushed adult film studios into the camp of HD-DVD camp led by Toshiba Corp.
Steven Hirsch, founder of Vivid Entertainment Group, said Walt Disney Co. also refuses to use DVD makers — known as replicators — that press porn titles.
This makes finding a Blu-ray replicator willing to alienate Sony and Disney almost impossible for porn studios because the format requires costly new equipment and there are only a handful of replicators able to make such DVDs.
That isn't a problem for HD-DVD because that technology is based on previous-generation standards, which makes it far simpler and cheaper for companies to hire replicators to press their DVDs.
Hirsch said that Vivid — home to adult film stars such as Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick and Briana Banks — found a willing manufacturer to press "Debbie Does Dallas ... Again," which the company plans to issue in April.
But the cost and difficulty of doing so for the sequel to the 1978 adult film classic "Debbie Does Dallas" clouds whether more adult films in Blu-ray will follow, said Hirsch, who declined to provide details on who is pressing the movie.
"We have been able to find a replication facility to do our title but it wasn't easy and it has deterred us for the most part from releasing titles on Blu-ray," Hirsch said. "That can be potentially problematic for Blu-ray."
Studios like Vivid say they have been shooting films in high-definition for years to build up a library, but so far the number of titles is only a trickle as the industry weighs the advantages of each format.
HD-DVD machines are cheaper but Blu-ray has backing of a majority of the mainstream studios and an advantage in that the format is compatible with the PlayStation 3, the latest version of Sony's popular series of video game consoles.
The founder of adult studio Digital Playground — whose films include "Island Fever 3" and "Pirates" — believes Blu-ray backers are erring in not embracing porn as they fight over billions of dollars in royalties.
"The reason they should want to work with us is that they are in a war with HD-DVD and in a war you would want as many people in your corner," said Joone, the Digital Playground founder who goes by one name.
Joone said in an ideal world Digital Playground would offer films in both formats. Instead, he sees Sony and other Blu-ray backers pushing the adult entertainment industry toward HD-DVD, whose supporters he said have welcomed porn producers.
"In general we need to have one format because it cuts down the confusion in the marketplace for the consumer," Joone said. "HD-DVD has helped us tremendously to get titles out."
Sphere: Related ContentGabage-Powered Portable Refinery
Tyler Hamilton
An energy-from-waste project led by researchers at Purdue University is giving new meaning to the term "military power." Scientists from the university's department of agricultural and biological engineering have developed a portable machine that turns a variety of food waste and inorganic trash into electricity, reducing the amount of diesel fuel and garbage that soldiers in the field must carry with them.
Despite being small enough to transport in a 20-foot shipping container, the "tactical refinery" is three technologies in one: a bioreactor that uses enzymes and micro-organisms to turn food waste into ethanol; a gasification unit that turns plastics, paper, and other residual waste into methane and low-grade propane; and a modified diesel engine that can burn gas, ethanol, and diesel fuel in variable proportions. The engine powers a generator that produces electricity on site. "What's unique is the way the system is integrated," says Michael Ladisch, lead researcher on the project.
Diesel fuel is required for the first several hours to get the machine up and running from a cold start. Eventually garbage, such as food waste from a mess tent, is fed into the system. The resulting ethanol and gas gradually displace the diesel fuel, which is reduced to a minimum drip. The main by-product of the machine is a benign ash that needs to be removed every few days.
Two prototypes will be shipped overseas later this year for a six-month demonstration. The hope is that the system can be shrunk down by another 60 percent, making it small enough to fit on a Humvee trailer. Its developers also hope that one day it will be practical to use it in civilian settings, such as in humanitarian- and disaster-relief zones or simply as a supplementary power system for places that generate large amounts of organic and inorganic waste.
"This is the way to go, from a sustainability perspective," says Kartik Chandran, an assistant professor of earth and environmental engineering at Columbia University. Chandran says that systems such as the one designed by Purdue are not only ideal for military applications but also make sense in poor countries that often lack electricity. "The biggest challenge is in separating the fuel after it's been produced and then cleaning it up so you don't mess up your combustion system."
The Purdue project initially studied the typical waste streams that soldiers produce in the field to select the best energy-conversion technologies. A biocatalytic process was chosen to deal with the food portion of the waste. The trick was to get the pH balance and temperature right for the mixture of enzymes and microorganisms the researchers selected. For plastics, wood, and other nonfood waste that can't be broken down in a bioreactor, a gasifier was developed that exposes the material to extreme heat in a low-oxygen environment.
"We were lucky," says Ladisch, pointing out the complex mathematical modeling that was required to make sure all parts hummed in harmony. "We turned the key and it actually started up. That's never happened in my career before."
Sphere: Related Content100 Miles Per Gallon Car In Conception
NICK BUNKLEY
The race is on to develop a commercially viable car that can travel 100 miles on a gallon of gasoline.
The same group that awarded $10 million to a team that built the first private spacecraft to leave the earth’s atmosphere is expected to announce today the rules for its automotive competition.
The group, the X Prize Foundation, says that the automotive contest, expected to carry a prize of more than $10 million, could have a significant effect on the automobile industry by speeding up efforts to use alternative fuels and reduce consumption. The average fuel economy of vehicles sold in the United States has remained nearly stagnant — around 20 miles a gallon — for decades.
“The industry is stuck, and we think a prize is perfect to disrupt that dynamic,” said Mark Goodstein, executive director of the Automotive X Prize. “Failure is frowned upon in this industry, and that doesn’t make for big advances. It makes for incrementalism.”
Even before it began publicizing a draft of the rules for the competition, the foundation had fielded inquiries from more than 1,000 potential contestants and institutions willing to participate. Many major automakers have also expressed interest in monitoring the contest, including some that are considering competing themselves.
Ideally, Mr. Goodstein said, some of the top teams would see their designs purchased and used in some form by automakers.
A General Motors spokeswoman, Susan Garavaglia, said the company had not determined its level of participation in the contest but would pay close attention to it.
“G.M. is always looking for new innovative technology to improve fuel economy and performance and reduce emissions of our vehicles,” Ms. Garavaglia said. “The key is whether or not it can be provided to the customer in a way that’s affordable to them and in a way that we can make it in a high-volume application.”
Indeed, the organizers want to ensure that vehicles entered in the contest, which will compete in races in 2009 to determine the winner, are commercially viable. Entries must be production-ready, unlike many of the fantastical concept cars that are presented at auto shows. Each team must prepare a business plan for building at least 10,000 of the vehicles at a cost comparable to that of cars available now.
In fact, several cars have been built that could travel more than 100 miles on a gallon, but they were expensive and were used only for demonstration.
“Building a one-off that can go 100 miles per gallon, I think any of the automakers could do that,” said James A. Croce, chief executive of NextEnergy, a nonprofit organization in Detroit that promotes alternative energy. “It’s mass-producing them that’s the problem.”
But if the Automotive X Prize works as intended, that problem could be resolved much faster than the industry might on its own.
“This is not a question of curing cancer,” Mr. Goodstein said. “The technologies to build superefficient vehicles exist. It’s just a matter of convincing manufacturers to build them.”
Software Filters Spam And Junk Using Human Eyes
Topix LLC is soliciting editors to oversee the forums covering every U.S. town and city. One or more volunteers from each of 32,500 localities will be in charge of marking the best messages and news items and perhaps writing their own articles on community happenings.
The idea is to tap the power of citizen journalists - everyday Internet users who may write a quick message on a corner traffic accident or complain about delays in garbage collection. Some of that is happening in the forums now, but those posts get buried among the more mundane writeups.
That's where the volunteer editors will come in. After undergoing an application process and screening by Topix staff, editors will be able to handpick their favorite items and move them to a blog-like section. All the other posts will remain elsewhere on the site, should someone really want to sift through them.
"We have 35,000 posts a day," said Rich Skrenta, Topix' co-founder and chief executive. "Let's find the best of them here and let that person promote that to the news stream for the rest of us."
He acknowledged user-generated news "is not fact-checked (or) edited and tends to be raw, in the words of the people posting it, but it comes in great quantity and it's very current."
Software will still try to identify the most relevant news items for areas without a volunteer editor.
Topix began as an aggregation site for news stories and represents one of several efforts aimed at helping people assemble news items from a variety of sources online rather than rely on a single media outlet, as was the case with the printed newspaper or a TV network's evening news.
It currently collects news from 50,000 traditional news sites and blogs. Readers can browse through them by topic as well as by their city or ZIP code.
About a year ago, Topix began to allow visitors to post comments as well, and Skrenta said that feature has become a large traffic driver and has led to postings of original news - not just commentary of news reported elsewhere.
That led Topix to begin thinking about ways to highlight the best, he said.
Rival sites like Digg and Time Warner Inc.'s Netscape let readers vote on what they like best, and news items receiving the most votes rise to the top. But Skrenta said that approach works primarily for national sites - there aren't enough readers in most communities to make that approach worthwhile.
Topix is a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company 75 percent controlled by Gannett Co., McClatchy Co. and Tribune Co.
Sphere: Related ContentPress A Botton To Change The Colour Of Your Sunglasses
Sunglasses which change colour at the touch of a button could go on sale within a year.
A small switch on the frame will allow the user to turn the lenses red, green or blue.
The technology uses "smart" plastics that change colour when an electric current flows through them.
Power is supplied by a tiny watch battery.
Scientists at the University of Washington in Seattle have so far only produced a prototype pair of lab goggles which switch between transparent and light or dark blue.
They expect a full-scale version of the "chameleon" glasses to go on sale within one to two years.
The team's leader, Chunye Xu, said: "Through polymer chemistry, we've developed lenses that aren't like anything else on the market.
"This could be the fashion statement of the future."
There are also practical advantages to having a choice of colours.
Yellow lenses, for instance, are said to enhance contrasts and improve depth perception, while a rosy colour brightens low-light scenes.
If a protective coating is applied, the lenses could also block UV radiation as effectively as traditional sunglasses.
Sphere: Related ContentMicrosoft Windows OS Patches Released Faster Than Usual
The flaw, which will be patched on Tuesday, was originally disclosed to Microsoft in December, but it was not publicly reported until Wednesday of last week. The bug lies in the way Windows processes .ani Animated Cursor files, which are used to create cartoon-like cursors in Windows.
Since the first attacks based on this flaw were reported, security experts say that more than 100 Web sites are now serving up malicious Web pages that take advantage of the bug, and a new worm , has begun spreading in China, according to by Symantec Corp.
On Saturday, hackers posted sample code that could be used to exploit the flaw, and shortly after that, Microsoft decided to rush out the emergency patch instead of waiting for its next regularly scheduled set of security updates, due April 10.
"Over this weekend attacks against this vulnerability have increased somewhat," Microsoft Program Manager Christopher Budd wrote Sunday on the company's Security Response Center blog. "Additionally, we are aware of public disclosure of proof-of-concept code. In light of these points, and based on customer feedback, we have been working around the clock to test this update and are currently planning to release the security update that addresses this issue on Tuesday."
Such early patches are not unprecedented. Microsoft released similar "out-of-cycle" fixes in January and September last year.
For those who cannot wait until Tuesday, two unofficial patches for the problem are now available: The first is from eEye Digital Security Inc., the second was released on Sunday by a volunteer group called the Zeroday Emergency Response Team.
Microsoft's patch has been in the works since security vendor Determina Inc. brought the flaw to Microsoft's attention late last year, Budd wrote. "We've been working on our investigation and a security update since then."
Google Increasing Gmail Storage To Infinity Plus One Soon
Greg Tomkins, an engineer at Google, is credited with coming up with the "infinity plus one" idea. "I was out in the yard when my kids ran up to me yelling at each other. My son said to my daughter, 'I hate you to infinity.' She replied, 'I hate you to infinity plus one.' And right then I knew I had the solution to competing with unlimited storage," said Tomkins.
He continued saying that his son's idea about putting "dragons and Pokémon" on the Gmail pages didn't go over as well with management.
Tomkins also said that they would be using new RAID technologies which allow them to store copies of e-mail in parallel universes. This means that if their servers crash they will be able to recover your data from another universe where they haven't.
"Once your Yahoo e-mail box is full, you'll be able to transfer it to Gmail and add one more message," said Tomkins. "Those Yahoos will have a hard time beating that."
When contacted about the Google announcement, a Yahoo representative said, "We will be making an announcement shortly about our million-trillion-billion infinity storage," and added, "Neener, neener, neener."
Not to be left out of the storage bonanza, a Hotmail representative said that while they "can't offer unlimited storage, they can delete all your e-mail at random intervals in conjunction with their Live OneCare service, to make sure you never run out of space."
Sphere: Related ContentTop 10 Must- Buy eBooks!!!!
