"The Basics of Voice over Internet Protocol" By Frank M. Groom & Kevin M. Groom

OVERVIEW

Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), the transmission of person-to-person voice conversations over IP–based networks, is a topic of great interest within the telecommunications industry. With VoIP service, customers see an opportunity to significantly reduce their local and long-distance calling expenses, while long-distance carriers have seen an opportunity to possibly avoid sharing a large portion of their revenues with the local telephone companies for use of their access links to originate long-distance calls. Moreover, service providers and customers see an increasing appeal in the rich array of services that VoIP enables. Among these are a range of Web-like phone displays, information services, and data exchange.

The Basics of Voice over Internet Protocol examines the fundamentals of delivering VoIP service while exploring its potential in the communications market. VoIP is now becoming a mainstream service offered by RBOCs, CLECs, long-distance carriers, international carriers, and virtually any entrant to the transport business. Yet despite this, multiple standards for VoIP still exist, making the interworking of vendor products and the myriad alternative protocols—H.323, SIP, MGCP, etc.—a continuing issue. Further, the quality of VoIP telephone conversations is still under question, and the seeming significant initial costs of setup, including the change-out of phones and PBXs, as well as the addition of gateway and gatekeeper devices, may undermine the benefits to be had from implementing VoIP.

As the industry moves forward, the direction of the complete national network is toward an IP–based architecture, and voice traffic seems to be moving in this common direction. There are many challenges still to be addressed, but the benefits of VoIP continue to draw mounting levels interest, pushing this technology ever further into the mainstream of communications. The Basics of Voice over Internet Protocol analyzes this trend in depth while bringing readers up to date on the evolution of VoIP service.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Introduction
The Opportunity for Voice Traffic in IP Networks
Open Standards for VoIP

Chapter 2: Characteristics of Voice and IP Traffic
Public Telephone Network Service versus IP Networking
IP Voice Standards
Basics for Transmitting Voice in IP Packets
VoIP Overhead and Its Effects
The General VoIP Architecture Model
Voice Content Packetization
Voice Packet Transmission
Voice Packet Reception
Standards for VoIP Beyond H.323
Interconnecting VoIP Nets to the Public Telephone Network
Assigning IP Telephone Addresses – DHCP

Chapter 3: VoIP Models for Connection
Enterprise Connection over Public and Private Networks
Residential Connection over Networks
VoIP Terminals

Chapter 4: VoIP Using the H.323 Protocol
The ITU H.323 Protocol
Terminals
Gateways
Gatekeepers
The Operation of an H.323 Network
The H.323 Frame
H.323 Audio Coding and Compression
H.323 Call-Setup Signaling and Message Flow
Operation of Gateways and Gatekeepers in an H.323 Network
Real-Time Transfer Protocol

Chapter 5: SIP for Voice Transmission
SIP Messages
SIP Headers and the TCP/IP Packet
SIP Addressing and Operation
The Specifics of User Agents Using SIP Proxy Servers
The More Detailed Flow Using Proxy and Redirect Servers

Chapter 6: Gateways and Gatekeeper Protocols
Media Gateway Control Protocol – MGCP
The MGCP Commands
Media Gateway Control Protocol – MEGACO
Simple Gateway Control Protocol
Skinny Protocol – An Alternative to MGCP and MEGACO
Summary Comparison of the Protocols

Chapter 7: Transmitting Voice over a Public WAN and IP Network
IP Voice over Frame Relay – IP VoFR
IP Voice over ATM – IP VoATM

Chapter 8: Service-Provider VoIP Offerings
RBOC VoIP Services
CLEC VoIP Services
Long-Distance Carrier VoIP Services
Cable VoIP Services
Small Service-Provider VoIP Services

Chapter 9: Strategies for Vendors, Regulators, and Customers
The Federal Communications Commission
Interexchange Long-Distance Carriers
Regional Bell Operating Companies
Competitive Local-Exchange Carriers
Service Providers
Enterprise Businesses
Residential Customers
VoIP Hardware and Software Vendors

Chapter 10: Conclusion
Appendix: VoIP Terminals and Other Equipment
IP PBX Components and Prices
IP Phones and Prices
H.323 IP Phones and Prices
SIP–Only Phones
General List of IP Phones and Vendors
Cisco Systems Gateway and Module Component Costs
Avaya Gateway and Module Component Costs

FEATURES
· Provides the essential fundamentals of how VoIP functions
· Offers an encompassing overview of the evolution of VoIP services
· Analyzes current market conditions for VoIP and the drivers behind its movement into the mainstream of communications
· Explores the myriad challenges involved in implementing VoIP
· Discusses the various protocols available for VoIP delivery, fully explaining the functionality and benefits of each
· Examines the opportunities and benefits that VoIP presents to RBOCs, CLECs, long-distance carriers, and service providers
· Highlights current VoIP offerings from today's service providers and vendors
· Offers informed strategies on deploying and utilizing VoIP for long-distance carriers, RBOCs, CLECs, service providers, and enterprise businesses, residential customers, and hardware and software vendors
· Provides a comprehensive glossary that defines key terminology
· Presents easy-to-digest graphics, charts, and tables that illustrate important aspects of VoIP

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Frank M. Groom is a Professor at the Graduate Center for Information and Communication Science at Ball State University. His research is concentrated in the areas of high-bandwidth networking, distributed systems, and the storage of multimedia objects. Dr. Groom is the author of six books-among his best known are "The Future of ATM" and "The ATM Handbook". Dr. Groom received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in Information Systems and was formerly Senior Director of Information Systems for Ameritech.

Kevin M. Groom is a Senior Member of the Technical Staff for AT&T, where he is involved in provisioning the network that supports the operations support systems that provide information and functionality to the carrier's long-distance and metro networks. Mr. Groom has a B.A. in Telecommunications and an M.S. in Information and Communication Sciences from Ball State University. He is the co-author of "The Future of IP and Packet Networking" and has presented numerous talks on managing the metropolitan and national carrier networks at networking conferences.

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"最基础的网络电视" ，由霍华德j. gunn氏

概况
为了从基本的网络电视，是提高认识，在技术，经济和商业模式的分歧演变为提供丰富的媒体，如视频，音频和图形具体来说消费者电视服务，对私有ip数据网络的不久的将来。同样，它描述了另类的情形可能发展，在全球网络电视的部署和它如何能影响到消费者的行为。

网 络电视是唯一的宽带杀手级的应用有足够的需求和平均收入，每单位（每用户平均收益） ，以成本的理由，部署一个大规模的新的宽带运营商服务，万里无云。新的网路视讯功能的载体云构成的多重fttx计划，替代性的宽带无线计划，并希望新的投 资可以干的损失有线用户，而建立一个符合成本效益的替代网络，目前窄带sonet基础设施和昂贵的数据服务覆盖的今天。

在营销领 域，人们越来越需要成熟和完善授予专利权的权利，消费者采取行动，利率，价格性能曲线，并利润率。目前在互联网上的问题，网络的中立性，收费站收费，安 全，防火墙保护，入侵检测，垃圾邮件，病毒和特洛伊木马病毒的问题将很快加入了数字版权管理，数字资产管理，身份管理方面的问题，从流动的新的供应数字电 视的内容和点对点（ p2p ）通信。

最基础的网络电视将会把这些问题纳入轻及说明的其他情况可能发展后，初步部署网络电视。

目录

关于作者

对于出版商

附录：词汇的关键术语和缩略语

前言

导言：基本面的iptv

第一章：什么是iptv和为什么所有的小题大做？
l物流网络电视的基础设施概况
防治目前的数据基础设施
·商业现实

第二章：网络技术：提供服务的成本
现今开槽基建背景
防治目前的数据套印基础设施
l物流网络电视的宽带基础设施的替代
·实施数字视频，是不是为微弱心
·视频基础设施经济学

章之三：网络电视数据接入网络经济学
防治演变进入基础设施网络电视
·传统服务的定价，并采取率货量conceptsmarket定价的影响
·公用事业相对于竞争激烈的市场

第四章：受管制的基础设施
·背景，对基础设施和法规
l物流服务基础设施的今天
·为什么考虑制定一个新的网络电视的基础设施？
•该换机市场理念
· iptv的车辆进出问题-连接到电视机和个人电脑
回航布线及内英里
·网络电视-浸入问题-多重服务融合
·其他iptv的问题-居民消费质量和质量的经验
l物流关系的带宽，宽带和网络电视钻头

第五章：战略件现代宽带
现今叶活动正在进行
·新的iptv部署计划在美国
· mso产品目前开槽电视（非知识产权）的过程
·超级头部为此，网络电视替代mso产品整固
防治新叶lhe
·光纤接入的战略意义
·怎样的速度，并通过iptv骨干和接入需要得到吗？

第六章：通过iptv网络接入演进
·定点无线（ fpw ）接入
•该网站订户
·关键订户问题

第七章：宽带网络电视：更换市场问题
·独特的宽带接入市场风险
·技术采纳过程（塔）风险

第八章：网络电视如何让融合宽带
·政府参与
·消费市场
·服务为导向的架构，并安装了基地升级
防治演变国家海洋局环境
·内容供货，升级和宽带终端
·设施升级和风险
·广告这种商业模式

第九章：扶持tcp / ip的，以网络电视和网络电视
·使用tcp / ip的视频服务
·传输控制协议和网络电视媒体网关
·网络电视，有tcp / ip ，并演变到ipv6

第十章：网络网络电视和闭路电视
·商业上的理由，为数字
•该值的未来持双程互动式编程
·为什么数字电视
·多种数字电视格式的问题不会自动消失
·宽带和带宽的影响，对互联网

关于作者

霍 华德j. gunn氏，是营销总监和销售上的世界观和网络服务，在德克萨斯州的达拉斯。他亦是成员之一，美国门萨社会中，社会的产业龙头，以及gerson lehrman小组会议，并作为供应链总监，为国家的rfid学院。他也是一位代表西北相互金融网络，是全国证券交易6日和63辆领有牌照。

gunn先生执笔的原则，交通和网络设计，并有许多文章发表在商业和贸易报章杂志等。他最近的文章， "瞭望到我们的未来" ，是发表在国际电工委员会的年度审查的通信，第二卷。 58 。文章形式的基础上，为他的新megaportal服务合作伙伴与digistream技术公司，为确保内容，流富媒体，零售及娱乐和个人信息网络。在这 一新的网络电视和数字娱乐市场， digistream是第一个向市场投放100兆电子商贸零售业的高价值的内容和商业化的个人持双程互动megaportal等服务，为移动消费者，小型 企业和零售商。

gunn先生开始了他的通信和信息服务事业作为一项电话工匠和进步，通过管理职位的交通工程，设备工程，资本预算，会计，数据处理，信息技术及运营商服务 业务。在发病的互联网革命，他把自己的职业道路，对新的信息技术发展和产品营销。在这个高科技之途， gunn先生举行了关键的行政和一般岗位，在生产线管理，新产品营销，销售，服务为负责营销的副总裁，产品管理，与企业战略，在阿尔卡特公司和通用汽车公 司甘道夫技术，公司销售副总裁gte自动电动主任net技术在nec的美国，和副总统的销售和营销terabridge技术。

抓斗一本"的基本网络电视" ，由霍华德j. gunn氏

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The Basics of IPTV" by Howard J. Gunn

OVERVIEW
The purpose of The Basics of IPTV is to increase understanding of the technical, economic, and business model differences that are evolving for the delivery of rich media such as video, audio, and graphics—specifically consumer television services on private IP data networks of the near future. It likewise describes alternative scenarios that might develop during the global IPTV deployment and how it could affect consumer behavior.

IPTV is the only broadband killer application with enough demand and an average revenue per unit (ARPU) stream to cost justify the deployment of a massive new broadband carrier service cloud. The new IP video–enabled carrier cloud consists of multiple FTTX plans, alternative broadband wireless plans, and a hope that the new investment can stem the losses of wireline subscribers while creating a cost-effective replacement network for the current narrowband SONET infrastructure and costly data service overlays of today.

In the marketing realm, there is a growing need to both mature and refine franchise granting rights, consumer take-up rates, price performance curves, and profit margins. The current Internet problems of network neutrality, toll booth charging, security, firewall protection, intrusion detection, spam, viruses, and Trojan issues will soon be joined by digital rights management, digital asset management, and identity management concerns flowing from the new availability of digital TV content and peer-to-peer (P2P) communications.

The Basics of IPTV will bring these issues into the light and describe alternative scenarios that might develop after the initial deployment of IPTV.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Author

About the Publisher

Appendix: Glossary of Key Terms and Acronyms

Preface

Introduction: Fundamentals of IPTV

Chapter One: What is IPTV and Why All the Fuss?

· The IPTV Infrastructure Overview

· The Current Data Infrastructure

· Commercial Realities

Chapter Two: Network Technology: The Cost of Service Delivery

· Current Slotted Infrastructure Background

· The Current Data Overlay Infrastructure

· The IPTV Broadband Infrastructure Alternative

· Implementing Digital Video Is Not for the Faint Hearted

· Video Infrastructure Economics

Chapter Three: The IPTV Data Access Network Economics

· The evolving access infrastructure for IPTV

· Traditional Service Pricing and Take Rate Volume ConceptsMarket Pricing Implications

· Public Utility versus Competitive Markets

Chapter Four: The Regulated Infrastructure

· Background on the Infrastructure and Regulations

· The Service Infrastructure of Today

· Why Consider Developing a New IPTV Infrastructure?

· The Replacement Market Rationale

· IPTV Egress Issues – Connection to TVs and PCs

· Home Wiring and the Inside Mile

· IPTV – Ingress Issue - Multiple Service Convergence

· Other IPTV Issues – Consumer Quality and Quality of Experience

· The Relationship of Bandwidth, Broadband, and IPTV Bits

Chapter Five: The Strategic Pieces of Modern Broadband

· Current IP Activities under Way

· New IPTV Deployment Program in the U.S.

· MSO the Current Slotted TV (Non–IP) Processes

· Super Head End, the IPTV Alternative to MSO Consolidation

· The New IP LHE

· Fiber Access Strategic Implications

· How Fast Does the IPTV Backbone and Access Need to Be?

Chapter Six: The IPTV Network Access Evolution

· Fixed Point Wireless (FPW) Access

· The Subscriber Site

· Key Subscriber Issues

Chapter Seven: Broadband IPTV: Replacement Market Issues

· Unique Broadband Access Market Risks

· Technology Adoption Process (TAP) Risk

Chapter Eight: How IPTV Enables Converged Broadband

· Government Involvement

· Consumer Market

· Service-Oriented Architecture and Installed Base Upgrading

· The Evolving SOA Environment

· Content Availability, Upgrades, and Broadband Endpoints

· Facility Upgrades and Risks

· Advertising Business Model

Chapter Nine: Enabling TCP/IP to IPTV and Web TV

· Use of TCP/IP for Video Services

· Transmission Control Protocol and IPTV Media Gateway

· IPTV, TCP/IP, and the Evolution to IPv6

Chapter Ten: Networking Network TV and Closed Circuit TV

· Commercial Justification for Digital

· The Value of Future Two-Way Interactive Programming

· Why Digital TV

· Multiple DTV Format Issues Will Not Go Away

· Broadband and Bandwidth Impact on Internet

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Howard J. Gunn is director of marketing and sales at WorldView Network Services in Dallas, Texas. He is also a member of the American Mensa Society, the Society of Industrial Leaders, and the Gerson Lehrman Group Council and serves as the supply chain director for the National RFID Institute. He is also a representative of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and is NASD 6 and 63 licensed.

Mr. Gunn authored Principle of Traffic and Network Design and has had numerous articles published in business and trade press magazines. His most recent article, “Peering into our Future,” was published in the IEC's Annual Review of Communications, vol. 58. The article forms the basis for his new MegaPortal services partnership with Digistream Technologies LLC for securing content, streaming rich media, and retailing entertainment over a personal information network. In this new Web TV and digital entertainment market, Digistream is the first to market with 100 megabit e-commerce retailing of high-value content and commercialization of personal two-way interactive MegaPortal peering services for mobile consumers, small businesses, and retailers.

Mr. Gunn began his communications and information services career as a telephone craftsman and progressed through management positions in traffic engineering, equipment engineering, capital budgeting, accounting, data processing, information technology, and carrier service operations. At the onset of the Internet revolution, he shifted his career path toward new information technology development and product marketing. In this high-tech path, Mr. Gunn held key executive and general positions in product line management, new product marketing, and sales, having served as the vice president of marketing, product management, and corporate strategy at Alcatel and GM Gandalf Technologies, vice president of sales at GTE Automatic Electric, director of net technologies at NEC America, and vice president of sales and marketing at Terabridge Technologies.

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End-User Abuse Of IT Systems Worse Than Attacks From Hackers

Darren Pauli
IT managers are more concerned about end-user abuse of IT systems than attacks from hackers and other threats, according to new research.

The 2007 State of Security Report, sponsored by security vendor Websense, surveyed 158 employees and 159 IT managers from Australian companies with more than 50 staff.

Managing end-user online activity is the most frustrating part of the IT manager role, according to the survey, which found 59 percent of surveyed companies do not block peer-to-peer file sharing, while 47 percent do not enforce Internet usage policies through filtering applications.

Budget constraints were the second highest concern reported by 48 percent of IT managers, followed by lax attention to security (25 percent) and ease of deployment (18 percent).

Most organizations (87 percent) deployed multiple URL filters, with phishing scams listed as the biggest threat (58 percent), followed by spyware (56 percent ) and instant messaging (51 percent).

Lost banking details (30 percent) and credit card numbers (20 percent) is considered worse than having company data stolen (17 percent), according to end-user responses.

Up to 117 (74 percent) of the non-IT staff surveyed thought they could be sacked for leaking secret company documents or viewing pornography, while 100 (63 percent) considered introducing spyware and viruses a dismissable offense.

IT managers were slightly more relaxed, according to the survey. Employees would be axed if they leaked sensitive documents according to 90 (56 percent) IT managers, letting viruses loose on company networks (52 percent), and downing pornography (34 percent).

IT managers and employees clashed over the time end-users wasted browsing the Internet for personal use. IT staff claimed non-IT users spend 1.5 hours a day visiting banking sites (46 percent), reading news (39 percent), accessing personal e-mail accounts (29 percent) and visiting jobs sites (18 percent).

However users argued the figure is closer to 45 minutes a day, and they spend about 85 minutes surfing the Web as part of their job.

Queensland end users may be Australia's most ardent workers, according to responses which showed they splurge 30 minutes of paid time a day browsing the Internet for personal reasons, compared to the equivalent NSW figure of 53 minutes.

However the figure falls short by more than an hour, according to their IT managers who estimated they waste more than 95 minutes a day on the Web.

More than a third (37 percent) of employees do not make up for time wasted on the Internet, while 28 percent work 15 minutes longer, and 17 percent put in an extra 30 minutes.

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Oracle Rejected BEA Systems' Proposed Purchase Price As "Impossibly High"

James Niccolai
Oracle has rejected BEA Systems' proposed purchase price of US$21 per share, calling it "impossibly high" for Oracle or any other company to pay.

In a letter to BEA's board dated October 25, Oracle again urged the company to accept its offer of US$17 per share, an amount that Oracle said it was "unwilling to increase."

"The US$21 per share price is a multiple of nearly eleven times BEA's last twelve months' reported maintenance revenues," wrote Oracle President Charles Phillips. "Nobody would seriously consider paying that kind of multiple for a software company with shrinking new license sales."

He noted that Oracle was the only company making an offer for BEA. "Apparently no other companies think that BEA is worth US$17 per share, let alone US$21 per share," Philips wrote.

Oracle again urged BEA to put its offer to a shareholder vote. Oracle's bid of US$17 per share values BEA at about US$6.7 billion. A price of US$21 per share would value it at US$8.3 billion.

Oracle said it had an obligation to its own shareholders to "exercise price discipline when evaluating acquisition opportunities." It reminded BEA of its deadline of Sunday evening to accept the offer, after which it will "move on" and consider other acquisitions.

Oracle made its surprise bid for BEA on October 12, hoping to strengthen its line of middleware products and grow its customer base. BEA, which had been under pressure from investor Carl Icahn to sell, quickly rejected the offer as too low, and came back with its suggested higher price. Oracle's offer "significantly undervalues BEA" and is not in the best interests of BEA's shareholders, it said.

BEA officials weren't available for comment on Oracle's latest letter.

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When Your Mobile Phone Sounds Like Your Sound System

Michael Dwyer

Monday is vinyl night at my house. Yeah, real old school.

It may have been some deep-seated ironic impulse that made my friend Richard kick off one recent evening with This is Tomorrow by Bryan Ferry.

It was as good a start as any. For the next few hours, cardboard record sleeves, red wine and informed commentary passed around the living room as the hi-fipopped and crackled like the shared fireplace of prehistoric times.

Then came the heresy."

Hey, check out my new ringtone," said Rich, whipping out his Sony Ericsson W880i mobile.

The cosy analog mood of the evening was suddenly split by the piercing shriek of an MP3 sound file tortured through a speaker the size of a mosquito.

The song was cool - Get it On, by Nick Cave's new band, Grinderman - but the difference between my record player and Richard's mobile digital apparatus was like a lullaby being severed by a dentist's drill.

Nobody's trying to turn back the clock. Vinyl is dead and the MP3 may be crushing the CD into shards of landfill. But can this shrill mobile system really be the future of music consumption?

That future is now, according to one mobile outlet I visited the next day. "Listen to how loud this one goes," the giddy sales assistant cooed, unleashing a screech that made my teeth ache. A 4GB memory card can handle 1000 songs, she exclaimed over the din. "Now, if you want a really loud one �" Louder. Smaller. More songs.

That's progress, as yesterday's mobile phone transforms into the portable music player of tomorrow.

But who's driving the revolution here? Not musicians, surely, and not music fans, either - at least not the kind who sip red wine and listen to old Bryan Ferry albums.

Any major shopping mall has the answer. At my closest, there are a staggering 14 mobile phone outlets, not including several electronics dealers and department stores with phone counters.

A larger-than-life poster of the Wolfmother guy stands sentry at the Vodafone shop, spruiking 500,000 songs for sale at vodafonelive (vodafone.com.au). The Telstra store promises discounted album downloads at $15 from bigpondmusic.com.

The Optus shop has its own free music magazine on the counter.

Inside are interviews with Avril Lavigne and the Doors, an SMS competition to win Good Charlotte tickets and invitations to browse 400,000 songs at the online MTV Music Store.

At the 3 counter, a salesgirl pulls an $1100 Nokia N95 from her pocket and shows me how to download Delta Goodrem's new video for $1.99 from Planet 3 Music Store (what, only 300,000 tracks?).

It's telling that Nokia, the world's biggest phone seller, now sees itself as a major player in the music marketplace. The company launched its online music store last month with a couple of million songs (it's all about quantity these days).

David Watkins, Nokia's regional director of multimedia business, is keen to confirm the marriage of music and mobile phone technology, if only as a detail in a larger push to complete mobile internet access."

I think everyone understands that digitalisation of music has completely changed the industry and the music business is looking at opportunities for its future," he says.

'WE BELIEVE people will use what they previously called their mobile phone (he prefers 'multimedia computer') as their preferred access medium to the internet. And if it's their preferred digital medium, then they are doing their digital music on it."

Purely at a gadget level, there's obvious appeal to phones such as Nokia's N series, Sony Ericsson's Walkman range and Apple's infamous iPhone, to be launched in Australia next year: it's a telephone, web browser and media player in one sexy gizmo.

But as music players, these merged devices currently all share the same problems: price, battery life and storage capacities all compare poorly to existing MP3 players.

Infinitely more complex are the issues concerning how the music finds its way into your gizmo. Today, the most common way is free and easy: "sideloading" CD tracks and MP3s you've acquired elsewhere using Bluetooth or a USB connection.

If you want to download direct to mobile, the best rule currently is don't. It's still mostly slow and expensive because of timed network costs and mobile broadband limitations. So buy it on your PC, then transfer. Mac users? Sorry, you're unwelcome at most of the online stores mentioned above.

But let's get real here. At best, about 15 per cent of music fans buy music online. Of these, about 80 per cent do so at Apple's iTunes site (6 million songs). Their phone options are limited to high-end models that play AAC files, Apple's proprietary MP3 variation.

But all of these numbers, compatibility irritations and market allegiances are shifting fast. The old music business - dominated by major labels and resistant to change for so long - is now awash with new corporate partnerships crucial to its survival in the new digital realm.

Somewhere in the vast grey zone between Bryan Ferry and your mobile phone are legions of middle men - telecommunications companies, internet service providers, digital distribution agencies, "technology solutions providers" - all forging secret handshakes over a multitude of copyright, technological and financial complexities.

From a music company point of view, the mobile future appears so volatile and unpredictable that one major label's digital operations manager opted not to answer questions for this story, even after they were emailed for scrutiny by the international office. "Don't want to affect the share price!" was the paranoid explanation.

Back in the real world, this "Wild West land grab" is simply no place for music consumers yet, according to English music biz veteran Stuart Knight. For 20 years he's worked for record companies, artist management and CD retail. Today he's a partner in Xtaster, a marketing company that uses a digital social network to monitor the musical tastes of Britain's youth.

"There's very little sound evidence to back up a lot of claims as to how the future of the music industry is going to develop in relation to mobile phones," he says.

"Mobile companies have spent billions acquiring and building and marketing high-speed 3G networks and, frankly, they've enjoyed mixed results. They've got to persuade folks to download tracks onto their phone and they've got to persuade them to get these phones in the first place."

Mr Knight believes it will take time before format and delivery methods are standardised and advises consumers to beware the echoes of the Beta mishap that burned VCR buyers in the '80s.

He also suspects that 99 cent music downloads will never make anybody's business viable unless they also have a stake in the gadgets that consumers need to play them. This, he says, is what record companies need to invest in if they are to survive.

"The reason Apple has cornered the market is because it makes the iPod," he says. "The hardware supplements the revenue (from iTunes). If you had to rely solely on the revenue that comes from the downloads, you'd be broke."

All this seems a long and bothersome way from the effortless magic that occurs between a simple music fan and an old Bryan Ferry record.

Martha Ladly sang backing vocals for Ferry in the early '80s, after she'd left Martha and the Muffins to work for Peter Gabriel's Real World Multimedia division. Today, she's a professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design where her specialty is interactive communication and mobile experience design.

"There's such a divide between the people who are making the devices, the people who are providing the service to the devices and the (artists) who are making stuff," she says. "The lack of communication in the industry is actually appalling.

"I think there are way better things to do with this new communication model than to serve broadband content. That's not what it's meant for. What they are doing is saying, 'How can we translate what already exists (i.e., music, video, internet) into this new medium?' They're not saying, 'OK, what does this do really well and how then do we create something that works?' "

And don't get her started on the sound quality issue.

"My phone is a Nokia with some ringtones designed by (Japanese artist) Toshio Iwai but, honestly, to hear the amazing things he's done on this little speaker . . . it drives me mad. It's not what it's meant to be. But I'm not certain people are interested in amazing sound any more."

Daniel Segal, from Ericsson Australia's new media division, confirms her suspicions. "Based on the demographic that tends to be taking up digital content, sound quality is not as important as it used to be," he says. "If you're a 14-year-old who has a mobile phone that can receive MP3s . . . that quality, in our research, is certainly sufficient."

Ironically, Mr Segal also has ample experience at the highest level of music production. As a former sound mastering engineer with a resume that includes Pete Townshend and Duran Duran, he admits he struggles with much of what he hears today.

"But Mr and Mrs Joe at home probably only spend $100 on their hi-fi anyway," he says. "It's probably not as good as your iPod plugged into a couple of Bose speakers."

Or your iPhone, or your Sony Ericsson W880i, or your Nokia N95 . . .

None of the kids I speak to outside my shopping mall can afford those kind of gadgets. But they are perfectly satisfied with the few MP3s that fit on their older, cheaper models. Leon, 17, transfers them from CDs or from his friends' phones. Sometimes he plugs it into speakers or headphones at home.

Harry and George, both 14, get songs illegally from the online file-sharing service LimeWire. "Why would you buy music?" Harry asks. "We got phones. We're not stupid." Nor are any of them interested in buying ringtones when they can sideload their own. "Five bucks for 20 seconds?" scoffs Mark. He's 17, and he's not stupid, either.

Most of these kids have iPods or MP3 players as well. Kate and Alessia, both in their early 20s, aren't interested in a phone and music player in one device because they know they'd be left with neither when the battery fails.

But ultimately, as the 14 dealers inside the mall know, they'll all buy whatever is made to look sexiest when the time to upgrade comes. That's the way it works with mobile phones, just as it did with CD players, cassette decks, Betamax video recorders, eight-track cartridge and stereo hi-fi systems.

Speaking of which, I had a drink with Richard the other night at a bar in Swanston Street with Roxy Music album covers on the wall and a DJ spinning Serge Gainsbourg records.

He laughed when I told him I was writing about his Grinderman ringtone. He'd just seen a vinyl copy of the album in the record shop window downstairs. "I'd buy it," he said, "if I had anything to play it on."

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AudioCodes' “Basic Hybrid” Gateways for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

Fortune 500 companies evaluated AudioCodes Media Gateways for the Microsoft Unified Communications Platform Lod, Israel in October 16, 2007. AudioCodes, a leading provider of Voice over IP (VoIP) technologies and Voice Network products, has strengthened its strategic relationship with Microsoft Corp. by introducing a “Basic Hybrid” Media Gateway.

This collaboration has enabled the integration of AudioCodes MediaPackTM and MediantTM Media Gateways with Microsoft unified communications technologies: Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.
Fortune 500 companies have evaluated AudioCodes Media Gateways as part of the public beta for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 recently released to market. This is in addition to a large number of customers who use the same Media Gateways in conjunction with unified messaging in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

“AudioCodes and Microsoft are committed to delivering a unified communications solution that natively operates with existing PBX systems and can directly connect to the PSTN,” stated Lior Aldema, Vice President of Marketing and Product Management at AudioCodes. “This collaboration enables our customers to protect and leverage on existing telephony investments while providing a basis for advancing to the next level of voice communications. AudioCodes Media Gateways enable the enterprise customer to fully utilize the simultaneous strength of both Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007, making use of the same flexible, field -proven, high-quality product.”

“Combining Microsoft’s unified communications software with AudioCodes MediaPack™ and Mediant™ Media Gateways offers customers a rich and integrated communications experience,” said Moz Hussain, director product management, Unified Communications Group, at Microsoft Corp. “Micr osoft’s alliance with AudioCodes provides customers new le vels of business value, helping to create efficient, high quality communication and collaboration experiences.”

AudioCodes offers a range of Media Gateways for the Microsoft unified communications technologies, which includes “Basic” gateways that are designed to interface with external Microsoft Mediation Server and “Basic Hybrid” gateways that integrate the Microsoft Mediation Server software internally.

In order to ease the installation and support of the AudioCodes media gateways in the Microsoft unified communications environment, AudioCodes has created a website landing page http://www.audiocodes.com/Content.aspx?voip=2757, which includes all the technical and marketing resources needed for channel partners and end customers.

The AudioCodes Mediant™ 1000 gateway is specially designed to support these capabilities, in addition to very high VoIP quality, independently tested and acknowledged by ETSI, and interface flexibility and modularity, supporting FXO, FXS, BRI and T1/E1 interfaces in the same box.

AudioCodes gateways are available through an extensive worldwide distribution network that offers local and global toll-free support lines. The distributors may be found by clicking on http://www.audiocodes.com/Content.aspx?voip=2943

About AudioCodes
AudioCodes (NASDAQ: AUDC) provides innovative, reliable and cost-effective Voice over IP (VoIP) technology, Voice Network Products, and Value Added Applications to Service Providers, Enterprises, OEMs, Network Equipment Providers and System Integrators worldwide. AudioCodes provides a diverse range of flexible, comprehensive media gateway, and media processing enabling technologies based on VoIPerfect™ – AudioCodes’ underlying, best-of-breed, core media architecture. The company is a market leader in VoIP equipment, focused on VoIP Media Gateway, Media Server, Session Border Controllers (SBC), Security Gateways and Value Added Application network products.

AudioCodes has deployed tens of millions of media gateway and media server channels globally over the past ten years and is a key player in the emerging best-of-breed, IMS based, VoIP market. The Company is a VoIP technology leader focused on quality and interoperability, with a proven track record in product and network interoperability with industry leaders in the Service Provider and Enterprise space. AudioCodes is a certified member of the Microsoft MSPP program. AudioCodes Voice Network Products feature media gateway and media server platforms for packet-based applications in the converged, wireline, wireless, broadband access, cable, enhanced voice services, video, and Enterprise IP Telephony markets. AudioCodes’ headquarters are located in Israel with R&D in the U. S. Other AudioCodes’ offices are located in Europe, India, the Far East, and Latin America. For more information on AudioCodes, visit http://www.audiocodes.com.

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Microsoft Finally Agrees To Share Its Secrets

Microsoft has finally agreed to start sharing information with other software developers in compliance with a European Commission 2004 anti-monopoly ruling against it. It will now give third party program developers access to information that will allow them to make systems interoperable with Windows.

The commission said Microsoft would now "comply with its obligations".

The software giant was ruled to have shut out rivals from its Windows operating system to gain a larger share of the market for web servers.

It will also substantially cut the fees it charges for such data.

EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said she had secured the agreement following a phone call to Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft's move comes a month after it lost its appeal against the Commission's 2004 ruling.

The software giant had taken its appeal all the way to the European Court of First Instance, but it upheld the Commission's judgement that Microsoft had abused its dominant market position.

The court also upheld the Commission's record 497m euros (£343m; $690m) fine against the US company.

"I welcome that Microsoft has finally undertaken concrete steps to ensure full compliance with the 2004 decision," said Ms Kroes.

"It is regrettable that Microsoft has only complied after a considerable delay, two court decisions, and the imposition of daily penalty payments."

The European Commission said Microsoft will now charge a one-time fee of 10,000 euros to firms that want "complete and accurate" technical information on Windows software.

In addition, it will also allow the data to go to open source software developers.

Open source software allows users to read, alter and improve its code - in contrast to proprietary software where a company controls the source code.

Further, Microsoft will cut the price it charges for worldwide licenses and patents to less than 7% of previous levels.

"It is a victory day for the consumer... not the Commission," added Ms Kroes.

"The measures that the Commission has insisted upon will benefit computer users by bringing competition and innovation back to the server market."

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Nigerian Physics Undergraduate Mubarak Muhammad Abdullahi, Builds Helicopter

AFP

Mubarak Muhammad Abdullahi, a 24-year-old physics undergraduate in northern Nigeria, takes old cars and motorbikes to pieces in the back yard at home and builds his own helicopters from the parts.

"It took me eight months to build this one," he said, sweat pouring from his forehead as he filled the radiator of the banana yellow four-seater which he now parks in the grounds of his university.

The chopper, which has flown briefly on six occasions, is made from scrap aluminium that Abdullahi bought with the money he makes from computer and mobile phone repairs, and a donation from his father, who teaches at Kano's Bayero university.

It is powered by a second-hand 133 horsepower Honda Civic car engine and kitted out with seats from an old Toyota saloon car. Its other parts come from the carcass of a Boeing 747 which crashed near Kano some years ago.

For a four-seater it is a big aircraft, measuring twelve metres (39 feet) long, seven metres high by five wide. It has never attained an altitude of more than seven feet.

The cockpit consists of a push-button ignition, an accelerator lever between the seats which controls vertical thrust, a joystick that provides balance and bearing.

A small screen on the dashboard connects to a camera underneath the helicopter for ground vision, a set of six buttons adjusts the screen's brightness while a small transmitter is used for communication.

"You start it, allow it to run for a minute or two and you then shift the accelerator forward and the propeller on top begins to spin. The further you shift the accelerator the faster it goes and once you reach 300 rmp you press the joystick and it takes off," Abdullahi explained from the cockpit.

He said he learned the rudiments of flying a helicopter from the Internet and first got the idea of building one from the films he watches on television.

"I watched action movies a lot and I was fascinated by the way choppers fly. I decided it would be easier to build one than to build a car," he said pacing the premises of the security division of the university which he uses as hanger for his helicopter.

He hoped -- and still does hope -- that the Nigerian government and his wealthy compatriots would turn to him and stop placing orders with western manufacturers.

So far, however, government response to his chopper project has been underwhelming to say the least.

Although some government officials got very excited when they saw him conduct a demonstration flight in neighbouring Katsina state, Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has so far shown no interest in his aircraft.

"No one from the NCAA has come to see what I've done. We don't reward talent in this country," he lamented.

Abdullahi does admit that his first helicopter lacks "some basic facilities like devices for measuring atmospheric pressure, altitude, humidity and the like."

In a country with Nigeria's abysmal air safety record officials may be loath to gamble on one student's home-made helicopter.

But Abdullahi, undeterred, has started work on a new flying machine, which, he says, "will be a radical improvement on the first one in terms of sophistication and aesthetics."

Currently just a spindly metal frame in the back yard, the helicopter will be a two-seater and Abdullahi calculates it will be able to fly at an altitude of 15 feet for three hours at a stretch.

It will be powered by a brand new motor -- albeit Taiwan-manufactured and destined for the Jincheng motorbike so common on the streets of Kano.

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Australian Social Networkers Drop MySpace For Facebook

Julian Lee

MySpace, the website that redefined the meaning of friends in cyberspace, is showing signs of fatigue, with latest figures indicating that Australians - or at least hip ones - are deserting it for rival Facebook.

Although one in three Australians visiting social networking websites still go to MySpace, its market share has dropped by 5 percentage points. Facebook, meanwhile, has increased its share threefold in the 10 weeks to October 13, according to figures from Hitwise, the company that monitors internet traffic.

Visits to all social networking websites have more than doubled in that period.

The reason for MySpace's drop in share could lie in the survey's most startling finding - that mums and dads keen to ride on the social networking wave are turning to MySpace. "The people that tend to go there now are more like middle Australia," said Tessa Court, Hitwise's head of marketing.

"MySpace has become the default. If you want to get involved in social networking, then you go to MySpace."

Facebook is becoming increasingly trendy, Ms Court said. "It's where more of the thought leaders and influentials go."

Hitwise's analysis shows the desertion from MySpace to Facebook, as well as other websites, is more pronounced in Australia than in the US or Britain.

Launched in 2004, MySpace allowed younger internet users to express their individuality by creating profiles. They were then able to link to other sites and create a network of friends. It quickly became the most popular hangout for teenagers on the web, so much so that Rupert Murdoch stunned the media industry in 2005 when he paid $US580 million for the company as a way of reaching a group that advertisers had found hard to reach.

Rebekah Horne, general manager of MySpace, dismissed the results saying that more pages were read on MySpace than any other site in Australia and that rising membership figures - it now has 4.2 million members - proved it was just as popular as ever. "It's swings and roundabouts. It's probably going to go up next week."

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Microsoft "...Didn't Change Automatic Updates"

Gregg Keizer

Microsoft has denied that its software had arbitrarily changed Windows Vista's update settings, saying that users were responsible for the modifications that generated claims of unauthorized patch installs.

Reacting to reports that first surfaced last week, a program manager for Windows Update said today that an investigation had turned up no evidence the October 9 security fixes had switched settings in Vista's Automatic Updates (AU).

"From the customer logs that we received, we found that none of the updates released as part of the October security release have made any changes to users' AU settings," said Nate Clinton in a post to a company blog. "In fact, in the logs we reviewed, AU in all cases was set to 'install updates automatically' prior to the October security release."

Vista allows users to turn off AU entirely; tell the operating system to check for, but neither download or install, any fixes; instruct the mechanism to download files but not install them; or accept all patches without any additional approval.

The claims that AU settings had mysteriously reverted to the "install automatically" setting began to trickle into a message forum on the AeroXperience Web site soon after the release last Tuesday of six security updates. Several users said that AU downloaded and installed patches even though they had specifically instructed Vista not to do so.

But unlike last month, when a Windows newsletter revealed that Microsoft had updated users' PCs contrary to their instructions, the newest charges were limited to AeroXperience members. No similar reports, for example, were posted to the Windows Update support newsgroup hosted by Microsoft. During September's brouhaha, that newsgroup was thick with messages about the stealth updating.

Certain that AU had not run amok and changed its own settings, Clinton fingered users for the altered state of AU. "I want to stress that the Windows Update client does not change AU settings without users' consent. However, AU settings can be set or changed in the following scenarios," he said, and then listed five; all require the user to take action or accept one option from several offered.

"During the installation of Windows Vista, the user chooses one of the first two recommended options in the 'Out of Box Experience' and elects to get updates automatically from Windows," Clinton said was one possibility. Another: "The user chooses to opt in to Microsoft Update during the installation or the first run experience of another Microsoft application such as Office 2007."

Earlier, a Microsoft spokeswoman had been more blunt. "It may be more a case of someone clicking to change their AU settings but not realizing /remembering doing so."

Users on AeroXperience writing to the forum after Microsoft wrapped up its investigation accepted Clinton's explanation. "The disparity between the Windows Update control panel applet and the OOBE [Out of Box Experience] update settings page (when first running Windows Vista) seems to be what's causing the confusion," said a member identified as Bryant.

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Will Ubuntu Ever Overshadow Microsoft?

Anthony Doesburg
If the battle between computer operating systems was won or lost on the basis of which has the cutest name, Ubuntu would surely reign supreme.

Ubuntu is a version of Linux, the open-source OS that is chipping away at Microsoft's domination of the software market.

Chipping delicately, it has to be said. According to market analyst IDC, Microsoft's various Windows versions have more than 95 per cent of the market for desktop and laptop PCs, followed by a resurgent Mac OS with about 2.5 per cent, then Linux, which also has many flavours, with about 1 per cent.

But those rankings are based on sales - the amount of cash paid for each OS. Since Linux is generally free, its share of the market is therefore under-reported.

But back to the name game. Ubuntu is an African word without an exact English translation that conveys the idea of common humanity, of oneness.

Its appropriation by a Linux software distributor might appear a little unseemly but the person responsible can lay good claim to it. He is Mark Shuttleworth, a South African based in London who began the Ubuntu project (its slogan is "Linux for human beings") three years ago.

Shuttleworth and his company Canonical aim to make Linux available to mainstream computer users. In the face of Microsoft's hold on the market, which ensures that most PCs sold throughout the world have Windows pre-installed, it's an uphill battle.

But Canonical is making progress. It has come to an arrangement with PC maker Dell for Ubuntu to be offered as an option on some desktop and laptop computers. Initially, it just applied to machines sold in the United States but, since August, Dell customers in Britain and Europe have also been able to get Ubuntu. It comes with about a $65 discount over PCs with Windows.

Canonical is keen to strike a similar deal for a version of the software to run on server PCs, the machines that do the backroom work in many organisations.

Linux proponents have been trying to turn computer users on to the free operating system for years but Microsoft's advantage is Windows' support of a wider range of peripheral devices - the printers, DVD drives, webcams and numerous other accessories that computer users rely on.

Linux also lacks the range of software Windows enjoys, although there are free versions of many commonly used applications, such as OpenOffice, a near-equivalent of Microsoft Office.

Nor can Linux users count on the same readily-available help if things go wrong with their computer as Windows users can. Of course, the Linux camp responds that less does go wrong with a PC running Ubuntu or one of the many other OS versions. Shuttleworth maintains that Ubuntu is making progress on all those fronts. "I don't think there is going to be a big-bang event when the world suddenly shifts from one [computer] platform to another but I do think Linux is coming into its own as a viable, reliable desktop platform," he says in an interview on the Dell website.

Don Christie, a director of Wellington software company Catalyst IT and president of the New Zealand Open Source Society, says his expectation of a computer operating system is that it should "just work out of the box" and that's his experience of Ubuntu, which is widely used throughout his company.

Christie says small businesses that shy away from Linux are missing out on significant software licensing cost savings. Microsoft might argue that the price of software is just 10 per cent of a computer's cost, but Christie says for small outfits whose lifeblood is their cash flow, that's far from trivial.

Shuttleworth's Linux advocacy involves more commitment than the usual open-source cheerleading.

He personally finances Canonical and can afford to, having sold his internet security company, Thawte, for US$565 million ($740 million) in 1999.

With some of the money he went into space, hitching a ride with a Russian mission to the International Space Station. He has also flown as far as Dunedin, in January last year, for an Australasian Linux conference, also attended by Christie.

"One of the things about him is he fully understands the open-source model because he built a billion-dollar business around it," Christie says. That model relies on the input of a volunteer community of software developers.

In Ubuntu's case, input is invited not only on the software but in the naming of successive versions.

It's common for software to be given a code name while still in development: Vista, the current version of Windows, was for years referred to as Longhorn; its predecessor, XP, was known as Whistler.

For cuteness, though, Ubuntu is miles ahead. The present release is called Feisty Fawn; the next release is Gutsy Gibbon. Hardy Heron is already in the works and suggestions for the release after that include Itchy Iguana. Beat that, Microsoft.

* Anthony Doesburg is an Auckland-based technology journalist

Opening up

* Ubuntu is a version of the Linux computer operating system.

* The market for operating systems is still dominated by Microsoft's Windows.

* However, Ubuntu is now an option on some Dell computers.

* The company behind Ubuntu, Canonical, is keen to see it used on server computers.

* Canonical is financed by South African IT multi-millionaire Mark Shuttleworth.

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10 Most Embarrassing Situations In The History Of Technology

David Haskin

We've all had excruciatingly embarrassing moments. We say something loud and inappropriate at a party and the room abruptly falls silent and stares. Or we misbutton our shirt and it takes half a day to figure out why everybody's giving us funny looks. That sort of thing.

For most of us, these mortifying moments pass quickly. But when they occur in the relentlessly interconnected world of technology, they spread through the Internet like a bad cold that won't go away.

Here are our nominations (in no particular order) for the 10 most mortifying moments in technology history. These aren't bad business decisions or introductions of lousy products.

Rather, they're incidents in which deep, red-faced embarrassment by specific individuals and companies was -- or should have been -- the order of the day. These are the moments when the technology world stops and stares.

Let the Nominations Begin
Let's start our list with mortifying Microsoft moments. Oh, where to begin? There was the time Bill Gates obfuscated so severely at the DOJ vs. Microsoft antitrust trial that he made the judge laugh, and the time Gates, while demonstrating Windows Media Center, couldn't get a remote control to work while Conan O'Brien provided running commentary.

Or how about the photo of a very young Bill draped moony-eyed over a monitor? (Catch the embarrassing moments of two other well-known Silicon Valley figures on the same page.)

For our money, though, here are the three best Microsoft mortifiers:

Bill Gates Gets a BSOD

Windows 95 provided a much spiffier interface than its predecessor, Windows 3.1, but it was neither very feature-rich nor very stable. Microsoft promised that Windows 98 would be much more solid.

However, we should have gotten a clue about what the future of this operating system held when Gates' presentation at Comdex Spring in 1998 went seriously awry, ending in a very public BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).

Monkey Boy Runs Amok
Bill Gates might be the visionary behind Microsoft, but CEO Steve Ballmer has long been the suit behind the vision. So what got into this billionaire that made him dance around like, well, a monkey boy when coming on stage at a 2001 employee gathering?

Was he trying show he's more fun than Steve Jobs? Was it job stress? Had he joined a cult? We may never know.

Vista Has Trouble With (Peach) Speech Recognition

Bill Gates once predicted that speech recognition would someday equal the use of keyboards as a leading input technique. It seems, however, that we have a ways to go.

The technology has rarely been put in a worse light than in a nightmarish 2006 presentation of Windows Vista's speech-recognition capabilities, in which nearly every word spoken by a Microsoft executive came out wrong on-screen.

Although Gates and Co. seem to have had more than their share of embarrassing missteps, we'll stop picking on Microsoft now. To be perfectly fair, many other companies have had disastrous demos as well -- including the ultrahip Apple and its leader Steve Jobs. And demos are just the beginning -- there are plenty of other highly awkward moments in technology, as the rest of our list shows.

IBM Exec Inflates Resume

Jeff Papows' tenure as head of IBM's Lotus Development division was successful from a business standpoint, but in 1999 it emerged that he had falsified his resume and made some less-than-truthful claims to co-workers through the years. Instead of being a Marine captain and a heroic jet fighter pilot, he was a lieutenant air-traffic controller. Rather than a Ph.D. from a prestigious university, he had a degree from a correspondence school. And it turns out he wasn't really an orphan after all.

With an upper lip apparently made of steel, Papows refused to be publicly embarrassed, claiming that the errors were the result of water cooler talk that took on a life of its own. Nor was IBM particularly mortified, allowing Papows to stay on the job until he resigned in 2000 to lead an Internet start-up.

iPhone Bills Kill Trees

If the iPhone had been introduced a few thousand years ago, it would have been carried into the capital city on a palanquin and those en route would have prostrated themselves until it passed.

Fortunately for those who rebel against that sort of pomp, there were also a few embarrassing moments for Apple, such as when the company eliminated its 4GB model and cut the price of the 8GB model by US$200 just two months after the devices had launched. Even ardent fanboys and girls used language that was so surprisingly sharp that Apple agreed to give early adopters a US$100 store credit.

But the most embarrassing iPhone moment came at the expense of the device's U. cellular carrier, AT&T. The company's extraordinarily detailed billing process resulted in some users receiving bills this August that ran dozens or even hundreds of pages long, as captured in blogger Justine Ezarik's video of her unwrapping a 300-page phone bill. (It came in a box.)

Without actually admitting embarrassment, AT&T said it would start sending out more svelte bills to iPhone users.

Kid Cracks Porn Filter

It goes without saying that it's a good thing to protect our children from pornography and other unsavory elements available on the Internet. So who could blame the Australian government for a project that would provide a so-called porn filter to parents?

The problem was that the software, released in August of this year, cost US$84 million -- and that a 16-year-old Melbourne boy, Tom Wood by name, cracked the filter in about 30 minutes. Young Tom's assessment: "It's a horrible waste of money."

A federal official responded by saying that the government knew all along that some kid would come along and crack the scheme and that "the vendor is investigating the matter as a priority."

Sony Hacks Its Customers' PCs

Cynics will tell you that the recording industry is paranoid and slow to enter the digital age. The industry insists it is merely trying to ensure its artists are fairly compensated.

But Sony BMG came down squarely on the side of paranoia in 2005 when, in the name of copy protection, it placed invasive rootkit software on an estimated 15 million music CDs by more than 100 artists. When a CD owner put one of these CDs in a PC drive, the software was automatically installed on the computer without the user's knowledge. Perhaps this system provided copy protection, but it also opened the user's computer to various types of spyware, malware and other nuisances.

A number of users and states sued the bejabbers out of Sony, which paid out big bucks to settle the matter. Apparently Sony wasn't too embarrassed, though -- it recently pulled the same stunt again, this time placing rootkits on USB drives it was selling.

Tech Reporter Reveals Too Much

Many of us have had nightmares about being out in public without our clothes on. So you can only feel for somebody when that really happens, as it did in a virtual sort of way to TechTV reporter Cat Schwartz in 2003.

The gist of the story is that Schwartz had a photographer take provocative pictures of her. The pictures were taken while she was topless, but she cropped the images to be more modest and posted them online.

The problem was that she didn't realize how Photoshop, or possibly the camera itself, included the original image as a viewable preview of the cropped image. Not surprisingly, this mistake spread around the Web rapidly, giving Cat Schwartz an additional 15 minutes of fame, or at least of mortification.

NSA Offspring Cripples the Internet

Let's take a trip down memory lane, back to 1988. This was a time when widespread security threats were starting to become known, but we hadn't yet reached our current hypervigilant state. That's also when a Cornell student, Robert Morris, Jr., released what many believe was the first major worm to be spread via the Internet. He claimed it was a relatively innocent exercise.

The so-called Morris worm brought down a big chunk of the Internet. Of course, in those days the Internet was a relatively small network, largely limited to academics and the military establishment, so the worm didn't do nearly as much damage as it would today. Still, it caused, by some estimates, US$15 million in damage. Morris apologized for releasing the worm, was convicted and received probation.

Now the truly embarrassing part: Morris' father, Robert Sr., was a well-known, highly regarded security expert who worked for the National Security Agency. However, while Dad was undoubtedly mortified at the time, he surely must be proud of his progeny, who is now a professor at MIT.

Just About Everybody Shines Up Their Wikipedia Write-ups

What do Microsoft, the Vatican, the FBI, Al Jazeera, Exxon Mobil and Amnesty International have in common? They -- and many other organizations with household names -- have been busted for altering Wikipedia entries that don't flatter them.

This practice came to light earlier this year thanks to a program called WikiScanner. Developed by CalTech grad student Virgil Griffith, WikiScanner can discern the origins of edits made to the user-editable online encyclopedia. And, sure enough, what his program found was that many people and organizations edit Wikipedia to suit their own needs. With this one, there's plenty of mortification to go around.

A good starting list of who changed what is at MaltaStar.com. Wired also keeps an ongoing, user-contributed list of edits. And you can always try WikiScanner yourself.

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MySpace Takes After Facebook To Open Its Platform To Developers.

Heather Havenstein

Following in the footsteps of Facebook, one of its toughest competitors, MySpace announced Wednesday plans to open its platform for developers to build applications on top of the popular social networking site.

Facebook, which opened its API to developers in April, has seen 100,000 developers deliver 6,000 applications on the site since then.

Chris DeWolfe, co-founder and CEO of MySpace, announced during the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco Wednesday that within the next few months, MySpace will be opening its platform to all developers.

"We are going to create a sandbox for two million beta users and our developers," DeWolfe said. "The idea there is to make sure the applications are safe and secure and pass a certain level of value to get on the site. We expect the majority of these applications will make it onto MySpace."

Within the next few weeks, it will develop a catalogue of all the widgets that developers already have built on MySpace, he added. Up until now, widgets developed for MySpace have directed users back to the site of the developer who built them. Going forward, MySpace will provide a control page for developers to "essentially own," DeWolfe added.

"MySpace can help them sell advertising on that page," he said. "The developers will own all the inventory on that page."

When asked if MySpace plans to follow the lead of Facebook in allowing users to port their data to other applications, DeWolfe first said "the more deals where we can port at least portions of the MySpace profile if that is what the user wants, that is great."

When pressed to affirm that MySpace at some point in the future would allow users to port their data to other applications even without MySpace striking a deal with that company, DeWolfe said, "The answer is pretty simple. It is yes as long as it is safe and secure for the users."

Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of MySpace parent News, joined DeWolfe on the stage at the conference. For his part, he dismissed Facebook as "a utility," noting that MySpace instead connects users from different cultures and interests from all over the world.

"It is not just looking up friends," he noted.

According to Internet measurement company Comscore, MySpace had 55 million unique visitors in August (the last month for which data was available), with Facebook pulling in 14 million unique visitors during the same time.

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Microsoft's Popfly With Facebook Interface Released

Elizabeth Montalbano
Microsoft's Popfly technology for building mashups is now available in a public beta that allows users to publish applications built on it directly to the popular Facebook social-networking site.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to announce the beta during his talk at the Web 2.0 conference Thursday in San Francisco.

Popfly, which is built on Microsoft's Silverlight cross-platform browser technology, is an online tool that allows people to create Web sites and mashups that can be shared on the Web without having to write any code or have programming experience. The technology is available free and runs on the Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers.

Besides integration with Facebook, the ability to create mini Web-based applications, called Gadgets, that can run on Windows Live and the Sidebar tool in the Vista OS is also new functionality that wasn't in Popfly's alpha version. Microsoft also has simplified Popfly's user interface to make it easier and more intuitive for people to use.

Popfly is part of Microsoft's strategy to keep up with the latest technology to create Web-based applications. The company hopes to proliferate the use of Silverlight, which it introduced in April as a competitor to Adobe Systems' popular Flash technology. Silverlight is a modified version of Windows Presentation Foundation, the graphics framework found in Windows Vista, that provides a tool and an online player so video, audio and other types of interactive media can be offered on Web sites.

Ballmer also is expected to talk about the adoption of version 1.0 of Silverlight in his keynote. More than 50 organizations are now part of the Silverlight Partner Initiative and more than 40 Silverlight applications are now available, according to the company. Microsoft also has made Silverlight 1.0 available in 10 languages, and has redesigned the Silverlight community site.

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Solo Games Getting Multiplayer Features

Scott Hillis

Video game developers, eager to please all consumers, are increasingly including features that let gamers play with or against their friends.

With Microsoft trying to convince people to plunk down their subscription fees for its Xbox Live service, and Sony eyeing the sale of movies and music over its fledgling network, developers are under more pressure than ever to include some sort of online component.

The best-known example may be Microsoft's "Halo 3", but last week also saw the release of "The Orange Box" - a collection of "Half-Life 2" content from Electronic Arts that includes a long-awaited multiplayer-only title called "Team Fortress 2". The week before that had the launch of "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars" from Activision.

Yet for all the balanced play and refinement of a "Halo 3" or "Warhawk", sometimes you just want to dig in and work on a game by yourself.

Several recent and upcoming titles illustrate that solo gaming is still going strong.

Later this month, owners of Sony's PlayStation 3 can get their hands on "Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction", the latest addition to one of Sony's most popular franchises.

Although some past titles starring the furry protagonist and his robotic sidekick let gamers play against each other, usage data showed something unexpected: only three per cent of players bothered to try out that part of the game.

"It's something that can appeal to anybody and a lot of people just don't enjoy multiplayer," Brian Allgeier, lead designer on the series, said of the decision to focus on the single-player story.

"People think too much in terms of bullet points on the box - the game's gotta have this or this," Allgeier said.

The new "Ratchet" game should take some 14 hours to finish on normal difficulty, and includes about 45 minutes of lush, movie-quality scenes that spell out the storyline.

"It's very tempting for game developers to want to add to complexity, but we wanted to focus on fun," Allgeier said. "We feel the series has really matured and we are doing what we always wanted to do."

In the case of "Ratchet" multiplayer was scrapped because gamers just don't want it. In other cases, developers don't have the funds or time to do it properly.

A great example of a game that could easily have featured multiplayer but didn't was "BioShock", the highly acclaimed shooter from Take-Two.

What was unusual was that critics barely mentioned the absence of multiplayer, a testament to how well the focused investment in the story paid off.

Contrast that with "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay", an Xbox game from 2004. Reviewers gushed over the solo mode but dinged it for not offering multiplayer.

"We realised early on that it's really hard to do a great single-player game and a great multiplayer game in the same box," said "BioShock" creator Ken Levine. "Being able to focus on single player, we didn't have to make any compromises."

Other games that might appeal to your anti-social side include "Folklore", a strangely dark game published by Sony for the PS3 in which you explore various fantasy realms while trying to solve a mystery.

And last month saw the debut of "Heavenly Sword", an action game in which you play a young woman fighting back hordes of enemies with a holy blade.

There is no death match in sight for either game.

"The irony is that 'BioShock' is the first game we did that didn't do multiplayer and it's by far by far the best-selling," Levine said.

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18-Years-Old Hacks The Orange County 911 System And Dispatched SWAT Team

Robert McMillan

A Washington State teenager is facing 18 years in prison on charges that he used his PC to access Orange County, California's 911 emergency response system and convinced the sheriff's department into storming an area couple's home with a heavily armed SWAT team.

Randall Ellis, 19, is not only facing charges of unauthorized computer access, but he's also facing assault charges by proxy, meaning that authorities want Ellis to be convicted as if he, and not the SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) team, pointed weapons at the victims.

The incident took place late in the evening of March 29, when Ellis allegedly used his computer to call the Orange County 911 dispatch and, during the course of a 38-minute telephone conversation, convinced dispatchers that he had murdered someone on the premises and was about to do it again.

Within minutes, fire, police and a helicopter team had been dispatched to the home of the couple, whom authorities declined to identify.

"They surrounded the home, inside were a husband and wife and their two toddlers," said Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman with the Orange County District Attorney's office. "The husband heard rustling outside of his home and believed it to be a prowler. he took a knife and went into the backyard. Instead of finding a prowler he found a SWAT team pointing assault rifles at him."

"It really easily could have escalated into an innocent person being killed," she added. "We're lucky that they didn't shoot him."

Emami characterized Ellis as a "computer hacker," but declined to explain exactly how the attack was carried out. "One of the reasons that we're not disclosing exactly how he did it is because we don't want to teach other computer hackers how to do it," she said.

Still, it's not clear that Ellis's alleged hack involved anything more complicated than tricking the 911 system into thinking he was calling from the couple's number. County officials said that he did not exploit a technical flaw in the 911 system's software.

The technique that Ellis used "doesn't require any special skills," said Jim Amormino, [cq] a spokesman with the Orange County Sheriff's Department. "The way he did it: I am not computer savvy, but I can do it."

The March 29 incident cost the county an estimated US$18,000, Amormino said.

Low-cost calling card services such as SpoofCard have been available for years, allowing customers to make it appear that their calls are coming from any number they wish.

In June, four people were charged in Texas with operating a chat line where they taught people how to make false 911 calls, sending emergency response teams to targeted victims, a practice known as "swatting." In a June 12 swatting incident, a swatter called up Cleburne, Texas's 911 dispatch using a commercially available spoof card and Skype and then "stated that he had shot and killed members of the family, that he was holding hostages, that he was using hallucinogenic drugs, that he was armed with an AK-47, and he demanded US$50,00 and transportation across the U.S. border to Mexico," according to court filings.

Authorities said that Ellis had made nearly 200 fake 911 calls to dispatch systems in California, Arizona, Washington and Pennsylvania.

He is set to be arraigned next week.

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The Upcoming Shooter Title Soldier Of Fortune "Pay Back" Censored.

Asher Moses

Australia's draconian classification regime for video games has taken yet another scalp, with local retailers banned from selling the upcoming shooter title Soldier of Fortune: Pay Back.

The highly anticipated game, which was to be released on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, was refused classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification for being too violent.

Aside from Singapore, which is reviewing its classification system, Australia is understood to be the only country in the western world that does not have an R18+ rating for games.

As a result, games that do not meet the MA15+ standard - such as those with excessive violence or sexual content - are simply banned from sale.

This is despite recent figures from the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA) showing the average Australian gamer is 28, and over 50 per cent of gamers are over the age of 18.

Blitz: The League, BMX XXX, Manhunt, Reservoir Dogs and 50 Cent: Bullet Proof are just a few recent titles the OFLC has prohibited.

The latest to be banned was Blitz in January because, according to former chief censor Des Clark, it "contains drug use related to incentives or rewards".

In its board report on Soldier of Fortune: Pay Back, dated October 16, the OFLC said frequent high impact violence made the game unsuitable for those aged under 18 years.

"Successfully shooting an opponent results in the depiction of blood spray," the board said.

"When the enemy is shot from close range, the blood spray is substantial, especially when a high-caliber weapon is used, and blood splatters onto the ground and walls in the environment.

"The player may target various limbs of the opponents and this can result in the limb being dismembered.

"Large amounts of blood spray forth from the stump with the opponent sometimes remaining alive before eventually dying from the wounds."

The OFLC made its decision despite acknowledging the game included a violence setting, which when set to "off" reduced blood and dismemberment depictions.

The IEAA has long campaigned against what it says is a draconian and illogical game censorship regime. There has long been an R18+ classification for movies and the IEAA says both movies and games should have a common rating system.

But when asked to comment on the Soldier of Fortune decision, IEAA CEO Chris Hanlon refused to comment, saying he had not yet seen the OFLC board's report. The game's publisher, Activision, also declined to comment.

In Australia, significant changes to classification policy must be agreed on unanimously by the Australian, State and Territory censorship ministers, who are usually the attorneys-general.

Over the last few years, the IEAA has attended censorship ministers meetings to put forward its case and demonstrate parental locking technology. The technology is a feature of the latest games consoles and PC operating systems, allowing parents to control the level of content consumed by their kids.

But despite the IEAA's pleadings the attorneys-general have given no indication they intend to continue discussing the games classification system this year.

The Federal Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, was being sought for comment.

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