A security researcher claimed to have developed a rootkit for Cisco routers. The concern is that this could open the door for routers to be intercepted and tempered with at the supply-chain level.
Security researcher develops rootkit for Cisco
routers A
security researcher claimed to have developed a rootkit for Cisco routers. The concern is that this could open the
HP
has confirmed that the existence of an endless-reboot problem with certain
systems that are based on processors from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) after
the installation of Windows XP service
Via
Technologies is preparing its first high performance x86 chip targeted squarely
at the mainstream. Historically, Via
focused in niches like that of ultra-compact PCs, or small mobile devices
Dell
is pledging to reduce the energy consumption of its notebooks and desktops by
up to 25 percent. This is to happen
within two years, and will be achieved by more energy-efficient
Limited
trials of Windows XP on the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) is slated to begin next
month in "four or five" countries. The
general availability of Windows XP on OLPC's XO laptop will follow
Bill Gates has inadvertently confirmed that Microsoft is hard at work tweaking the next iteration of Windows - or Windows 7, to be more efficient where power and memory utilization is concerned.
SPOTLIGHT: VoIP in India 'On The Runway' If minor changes in regulation are made, VoIP in India
could "take off in a big way" says Express
Computer. According to Frost and Sullivan, sales of IP PBX systems grew by
65 percent in 2007 while Read more...
With budgets tightening and customer expectations rising,
the push from on high is for the best bang for the buck out of the call center,
says Customer Inter@ction Solutions. Executives selling
Nimbuzz has announced
an application to provide free calls, chat and more, pumping an all-in-one
solution for free mobile VoIP calling, conferencing calling,
Business Week
writes about IBM's focus on business transformation services: "BM, with
its legions of PhDs and closets full of patents, is not built to duke
it out with the likes of Dell. Palmisano's strategy promises a neat
escape. Instead of battling in cutthroat markets, he takes advantage of
all the low-cost technology by packaging it, augmenting it with
sophisticated hardware and software, and selling it to customers in a
slew of what he calls business transformation services. That way IBM
rides atop the commodity wave -- and avoids drowning in it."
If you're just looking for fun, please immediately watch Dylan's latest vid, Toys of Our Lives,
where Dylan's dolls engage in sick and hilarious romantic shenanigans.
Then why not see me "shake my thing" (am I saying that right?) on 6th
Street in Austin for DanceFlash - it was like a mini-Burning Man.
Do The VoIP Math. Do The VoIP Math.
Russell Shaw does the math and shows how VoIP is cheaper than a cell
phone only.I agree. Which is why I think the wireless companies need to
be in the VoIP business and fast.... [VoIP Watch]
So many new words, so little time.
Blog (web log), Vlog (video web log), Podcasting (including audio in
your RSS (really simple syndication) feed for download into an Apple
iPod or other MP3 player) and Mobcasting (mobile podcasting) an Andy Carvin
acronym which posits the use of smart phones to create podcasts -- are
all relatively new words that represent one extremely big idea --
unfettered plebeian access to the fifth estate.
Until a few years ago, governments (secular or non) had almost
complete control of information. That made (and continues to make)
information a form of currency -- like the military and other stores of
economic value. These "new words" are much more powerful than the
technologies they represent, they speak a new language of information
and, to be sure, currency.
The value you will place on this information is in direct
proportion to the use you have for it. Most people won't care about the
rantings of a technophile or a housewife lamenting her need for
appropriate child care -- or will they? Imagine a world where a group
of protesters use their cell phones to acquire and document their
experience with government forces and aggregate (and spin) that
audio/video experience on the web. How about a simple group of friends
witnessing a car accident or something worse.
We are at the dawn of a new era -- not the cliche version of
the phrase -- "new era" the home game! Imagine the power of an
individual when they are able to publish and internationally distribute
audio and video more efficiently than CNN or Fox News. That's not years
in the future ... it's already here. Want to believe? Check out some of
the websites like http://tv.oneworld.net or http://www.audiolink.com or http://www.audiolink.com and just play the tape .. err ... file to the end.
This is not a definitive list, just
a list of smart young blood in the mobile content sector. Notice that
except for one, none of them are CEOs (yet), but you’ll hear a lot
from and about them in the next few years (that was the criteria). Just
a way of recognizing the people in the second wave of mobile content
(in no particular order): » Greg Clayman, Vice President, Wireless Strategy and Operations, MTV Networks » Rio Caraeff, mobile head at Universal Music » Thomas Ryan, Senior VP, Mobile Development, EMI Music » Mark Levy, VP content at InfoSpace Mobile » Lucy Hood, VP, Content, News Corp » Shawn Conahan (end of page), CEO, Intercasting Corp » Adam Flick, Chief Marketing Officer, Airborne Entertainment » Robert Tercek, Chief Strategy Office, mForma » Manish Jha, Senior VP, ESPN Mobile » Russell Beattie, Yahoo Mobile
I
realize this is a US-centric list, and if you want to add to my list of
the people influencing our fast growing sector, post them in the comments below…
Telesym Podcast: the Future of VoWLAN. Telesym Podcast: the Future of VoWLAN.
If you're interested in where Voice over IP over WLAN is heading in the
enterprise, listen to this interview with Telesym: I met over in
Bellevue, Wash., today with Telesym, a firm that extends an
enterprise-based phone exchange (PBX) system into laptops, handhelds,
and "scanners": bar-code devices used in retail and logistics by store
and floor personnel. I spoke with Mike Houston, Telesym's director of
Marketing, Ken Myer, senior VP of sales and marketing, and Jennifer
Gehrt, a founding partner at Communiqué Public Relations about
Telesym's position in the market, but more largely about the future of
VoWLAN. (Ken had to leave for a meeting, so I spoke primarily with Mike
in this podcast). You'll hear at the outset of the recording after my
introduction a conversation we had using Telesym technology: I was on a
USB headset connected to a Telesym client running under Mac OS X; Mike
was on a cellular phone. I had the recorder up to the headphone on the
headset; next time, I'll plug the recorder into the line out on the
laptop to better demonstrate the quality. The audio file is available
as an 8 MB MP3 download, a 6 MB MP3 compressed with ZIP, or your
podcast-capable news reader should already have identified it.... [Wi-Fi Networking News]
CLEC New Business Model CLECs search for new business models.
WASHINGTON - Recent months have been tough for competitive local
exchange carriers (CLECs), as their allies get gobbled up by
competitors and the government dismantles network-sharing regulations.
But CLECs say they will survive by adopting new business models and
focusing on customer relations. [InfoWorld: Top News]
Podcasting The Night Away. Forbes: Podcasting The Night Away. Forbes:
"For now, Podcasting is no threat to radio as we know it. But pay
attention to it. It may not always be called Podcasting, and it may not
always be free in the way it is now, but as we've seen with MP3s, these
things sometimes have a funny way of taking on a life of their own." [Adam Curry's Weblog]
ineen
is new P2P IM software with VoIP and Video that's easy and free to use.
The client was built using Xten's eyeBeam SDK and makes use of SIMPLE
for P2P IM and Presence. VoIP is supported by SIP and the Video media
is H.263[+]. You can use ineen to call over other networks as well,
including: Free World Dialup, SIPphone, & iptel.org.
Xten will be demonstrating ineen at VON next week.
As a kid, I would stare for hours at repetitious weather reports on TV.
Boring, you say? Not to me - I love weather. And since I've worked
here, I've wondered why Google doesn't do weather. It seemed like a
perfect 20% project
for me, so now I'm pleased to report that you can get
current conditions and a forecast
by typing [weather Chicago], or whatever your U.S. location is (zipcodes are also fair game). If you prefer, use
Google SMS
to send a text message to the U.S. five digit shortcode 46645 (GOOGL on
most mobile phones) followed by your meteorological query.
SODA SODA. A month
or so ago, I was reading a Gartner handout for a conference, and came
across an acronym they invented- SODA[1]. SODA (Service-Oriented
Development of Applications), as Gartner defines it, consists of the
following areas:... []
Yahoo Web Service API Yahoo Web Service API.
Yahoo joins the growing number of web sites exposing their API as Web
Services. Their API is available from Yahoo Developer Network.... []
bLOGical ::AgileCO:: CTO musing on
XoIP(Mobile,Wireless,Cable,Wireline VoIP)
SOA-WebServices and Security.
A recent Facebook "post" by voip pundit Jeff Pulver on "real time" social media got me thinking about what what be an extremely useful Facebook app- a Skype app that would set up either ad hoc or scheduled conference calls.
Skype already has a multiperson audio/video calling capability and a host of add ons to do things like whiteboarding, application sharing and many others. I know there is already a "Skype" application for Facebook but it is bordering on useless (which is close to the utility of most Facebook apps that I have seen but that is another discussion)
It is heartening to see the Skype response to the deafening roar from the anti Microsoft crowd saying Microsoft somehow caused the Skype outage:
It's not what you say. It's what they hear...We don't blame anyone but ourselves. The Microsoft Update patches were merely a catalyst - a trigger - for a series of events that led to the disruption of Skype, not the root cause of it. And Microsoft has been very helpful and supportive throughout.
Hmm -- it seems like Skype has gone tits up. The client is in a continual "Skype (connecting)" state and has been for an hour or so. From the Skype status page:
UPDATED 14:02 GMT: Some of you may be having problems logging into Skype. Our engineering team has determined that it’s a software issue. We expect this to be resolved within 12 to 24 hours. Meanwhile, you can simply leave your Skype client running and as soon as the issue is resolved, you will be logged in. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Last year I commented (well maybe I whined?) about the lack of progress in the real time conferencing on the Internet front.
I hadn't really been paying much attention but lately I have been looking into the add-ins available for Skype. It seems that Skype's ubiquity (and availability of a usable API) has spawned a host of tools for the small ad hoc meeter including a couple of whiteboards, application sharing tools, and file sharing tools. With Skypes multi way audio/video conferencing functionality it looks like it might be starting to fulfil the promise of NetMeeting.
I haven't had a chance to use any of these add-ins though. Has anybody tried them? Which ones? Do they support Skype's multiparty functions?
In 1999 (I think that that is the timing) I was invited to go to Phoenix (on their dime) to visit a company (visitalk.com) with grand plans to build a "internet phone directory" mostly aimed at NetMeeting users. At the time I had some standing in the NetMeeting world being one of two Microsoft NetMeeting MVPs (the other was Robert Scoble of Scobleizer fame). I wasn't totally sure why I was invited (maybe it was a job interview?) but I found out they had grand expansion plans, somewhat vague business plans, and apparently $50 million dollars that they were burning through at a furious rate.
But the site www.visitalk.com stayed. To this day at least 7 years after bankruptcy it continues to operate -- apparently able to take payments for the internet service that I doubt still operates.
I have been involved with NetMeeting for so long that I have turned grey in the process. And NetMeeting has gotten old and grey in the process as well. Microsoft's decision to retire NetMeeting (after basically abandoning development in 1999) is no doubt the right decision. What surprises me is that there is no other product out there with the promise that NetMeeting once had (at least for me). What I expected from NetMeeting when it first came out was that it would evolve into a product that supported:
ad hoc multiparty audio/video meetings (or at least multiparty audio) over the Internet without the need for a separate server (except perhaps for location and presence information)
multiparty data sharing could happen during the meeting (application sharing, whiteboard sharing, file sharing seemed like a good basic set)
No product today supports this functionality set and it seems none have plans to do so. Msn Messenger supports one to one audio/video, and one to one data sharing. Skype supports serverless multiparty audio/video (currently just in beta I think). GoogleTalk supports very little despite a recent release and some misplaced hype.
What is the problem here? Does nobody else recognize the need? Or are there still some barriers that I am not aware of?
I recognize that along the way there were various technological and infrastructure barriers in the way:
individual bandwidth restrictions were a problem -there is a lot of personal bandwidth connectivity in at least most of the western world -- not much dialup anymore
computing power to process and mix audio/video in the past has been a problem -- today many machines have more than ample computer power
internet gateways were a block on some types of interaction -- but UPnP functionality in modern gateway devices has largely eliminated that problem
Is there some barrier still left that I am not seeing? Why hasn't this technology developed beyond 1999?
Of thisthere can be no doubt. It really isn't "news" though. It essentially has been in a state of limbo since 1999 -- when the last update for NetMeeting was released by Microsoft (and the revelation that there will be no NetMeeting in Vista is no suprise). Shortly thereafter Microsoft chose to break up the NetMeeting development team and go in another direction. The machinations following that decision (at least for Microsoft software users) have been somewhat painful.
Pity though -- neither NetMeeting nor anything that followed have delivered on the initial promise (and what interested me in NetMeeting in the first place) - the ability to do real-time multiparty audio conversations with "shared space" data sharing over the internet.
Festoon looks like a product that has a chance to catch on. It seems simple, straightforward to use, apparently supports multiparty audio/video (and one to many with up to 200 viewers), and has an application and desktop sharing feature. It will piggyback on the Skype or GoogleTalk calling and presence functions. I really haven't seen it in action and don't know whether it is practical (especially from a bandwidth usage point of view) but seems to offer everything that I long ago wished NetMeeting had.
It seems to have a shortcoming that was also obvious in NetMeeting though (though there at least a pull through of other Microsoft product purchase was potentially possible)-- there seems to be no obvious way to make money.
'(www.verso.com) announced the rollout of a "carrier-grade applications filter" that can block so-called bandwidth drains such as Skype, P2P messaging, streaming media, and instant messaging. '
This could prove nasty for Ebay in its Skype purchase as well as other IM and P2P products
It seems that the rumours have been true. Ebay is buying Skype. Various reports have put the purchase price around $4.1 billion. The question is why and why so much?
Various reasons have been bandied about - is there some synergy? Live auctions? Communications between buyers and sellers? Or is Ebay just spending some money to get into the VoIP game?
And why so much for a company with marginal technology and a tired strategy (give away your product in the hope that somehow you will find a way to make money)? The whole VoIP computer to computer thing has been tried before even with selling "extras" like connecting to real phones -- all with miserable failure.
It seems like a pre bubble strategy in a post bubble world.
So Google has introduced a new instant messenger program/service (along the lines of a greatly simplified MSN Messenger). It has direct links to the Gmail system (much like Messenger's Hotmail links) and has basic IM and voice features. I don't really see anything compelling about it though.
"Microsoft planning VoIP softphone? Here’s why it makes sense by ZDNet's Russell Shaw -- I don't have any knowledge that they are, but I am beginning to think it could happen.The Seattle Times reports that during a morning keynote today at WinHEC (Windows Hardware Engineering Conference), someone named Mr. Gates will show a Longhorn-prototype laptop with an auxiliary display screen built on the cover that would:"Display a few lines [...]"
Microsoft has been building some form of "Softphone"(a software program capable of making an telephone like audio call -- I assume is the working definition?) into all its products since Windows 95 so the predication is pretty safe in the broad sense.
There are a number of problems with "Softphone"s though, one is that to connect them to POTS phones(a requirement for a long time in the forseeable future) requires hardware and infrastructure -- which costs. No one so far has found a business model that allows this to happen in the general market (Skype maybe but the jury is still out). Microsoft and partners and a number of others have played with in this area for years with no result. A second(perhaps reason why no viable business model has developed) is that the reliability and quality of the calls (at least over the general internet) has generally relegated such calling to hobby or toy status (again Skype seems to be breaking that mold slightly).
I had a chance to participate in an audio/video call last night using the new Msn Messenger(7.0 released 2 days ago). Though I used be quite active in this area (using NetMeeting mind you) I haven't actually used this kind of technology for a long time. I don't know whether the new Messenger is that much better than the previous version in this regard but I was pleasantly surprised at both the quality of the connection (both ends were broadband) and the ease of connection (I am behind a UPnP enabled NAT).
If this keeps up I may have to stop using my standard statement with respect to internet based VOIP:
"The internet is a very hostile place for real time audio/video calling"
Microsoft to buy Groove Networks -- and Ray Ozzie to become Microsoft CTO?
This sounds too weird to be true but seems legitimate. Other news outlets are reporting the same news. The Groove website and Microsoft website have the same story.
What will become of Gates in all this? Will Bill retire even more or is this a sign of more control -- the reports indicate that Ozzie will report to Gates? Ballmer -- where does he fit in all this?
"PressPass: You will be one of three Microsoft chief technology officers, along with Craig Mundie and David Vaskevitch, What do you think you bring to the role of CTO, Ray? "
Three CTOs -- isn't that stretching the meaning of "chief" a little?
It seems that Microsoft is finally doing something about the Msn/Windows Messenger confusion (who would think to have two similar products with the same name except Microsoft -- for all their supposed marketing prowess they seem to make some really bonehead moves).
More audio/video confusion in Messenger? It seems that the Logitech webcam feature will be expanded soon in Msn Messenger 7.0 to include audio and cause yet more confusion.
Running it on my system however detected a "Spyware" threat -- RealVNC(which I legitmately run for controlling remote servers). I suppose it is a potential threat(if it were running a server) as it could allow remote control of your computer. Strangely enough though similar programs from Microsoft (Remote Desktop, NetMeeting) were not detected or mentioned even though they would offer the same threat level. I don't know if any of the commercial programs allowing remote control would show up as "threats" either.
I guess there is a thin line between potential threats and legitimate programs in some cases. I wonder where and how Microsoft draws that line? Based on commercial interest perhaps?
"Istanbul will replace Windows Messenger as the preferred client for Live Communications Server, though Windows Messenger will continue to be included within the Windows operating system, Microsoft officials said. " [link]
More confusion from the folks that brought you NetMeeting, Msn Messenger, Windows Messenger et al.
It seems the QoS Packet Scheduler is installed and selected by default for network interfaces in both XP, XP SP1 and XP SP2. In some systems it seems to cause strange things to happen with NetMeeting (and MSN/Windows Messenger) audio/video. Symptoms like not transmitting audio/video or causing poor reception of audio/video have been reported. I don't know the exact cause (pre SP2 systems problems seemed to be related to use of Intel NICs) but in systems not on a network with a server managing QoS, disabling the QoS Packet Scheduler seems to be the best action(with no side effects).
I notice via Scobleizer that Zane Thomas is now somehow connected to Web Train. I will have to check it out. Looks like(at first blush anway) a Webex, LiveMeeting type tool. I am not sure what differentiates it in that field.
It seems like this type of tool/service is the wave of the future as NetMeeting disappears into the sunset.
Brian Sullivan: NetMeeting NetMeeting, Instant Messaging and VOIP
New Book Analyzes Economics of Cyber Security Cyber Security: Economic Strategies and Public Policy Alternatives, provides the first systematic analysis of the economics of protecting cyberspace.
Too Much or Too Little Weight Gain Poses Risks to Pregnant Mothers, Babies Women who gain more or less than recommended amounts of weight during pregnancy are likely to increase the risk of problems for both themselves and their child, according to a new report by the RTI International-University of North Carolina Evidence-based Practice Center.
State Budget Cuts Impacting Efforts to Curb Smoking Budget cuts to tobacco control programs significantly reduce their effectiveness, according to a new report by researchers at the University of Wisconsin and RTI International.
Four Ways to Fight Corruption On April 4, specialists from UNC-Chapel Hill and RTI International will present a multi-disciplinary approach to fighting corruption at an all-day forum held at the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education.
Preterm Births Have Long-Term Health Risks, May Be Offset by Improved Medical Care The results of a Norwegian study that found very preterm babies have long-term health risks must be understood in light of the many medical advancements made since the data were collected, suggests an editorial by researchers at RTI International and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nation's First Comprehensive Analysis of Major Studies and Models on Long-Term Care Financing Now Available The first comprehensive review and analysis of research on long-term care financing for America's elderly is now available, the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC) announced today. This major undertaking, conducted by RTI International for NIC, involved compiling and analyzing all major studies and projection modeling to date on the issue.
Annual Report The 2007 Annual Report is now available. Learn how RTI has applied its research and technical expertise for nearly 50 years to solve problems and generate information that drives decisions, policies, and practices around the globe.
The Big IeDEA: Gathering HIV/AIDS Data to Answer New Questions RTI leads the International Epidemiological Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) project for the Central Africa region. IeDEA aims to gather and harmonize HIV/AIDS data from nine world regions to answer priority questions about HIV/AIDS.
Early Grade Reading Assessment Diagnoses the Literacy Deficit The earlier children learn to read, the greater chance they will have to succeed in school. RTIs oral-based Early Grade Reading Assessment measures student literacy at a younger age than conventional paper-and-pencil tests are designed for, allowing quick detection of and compensation for learning barriers.
Developing Alternative Energy Sources As part of our efforts to sustain a safe and healthy environment, RTI is developing innovative technologies for the production and use of clean energy alternatives, including hydrogen purification and carbon dioxide reduction processes.
About RTI RTI's mission, history, and other pertinent information.
Job Openings Presenting a searchable jobs database for interested candidates.
RTI International RTI International offers innovative research and technical solutions to governments and businesses worldwide in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, education and training, surveys and statistics, advanced technology, democratic governance, economic and social development, energy, and the environment.
Articles from The O'Reilly Network The O'Reilly Network is a comprehensive Open Source information and
resources center. The site includes a fresh, continually updated
feature section, news and forums providing an active meeting place
for advanced and beginnning Open Source developers and
administrators.
National Customer Service Week National Customer Service Week will be observed Oct. 4-8 and that gives customer service departments at telecoms an opportunity to show just how committed they are to taking care of their customers. This article by guest author, David Saxby, will...
All About Careers Are you searching for a job or career? There are some excellent articles on About that could help you in your search for a career. Here are some that I think are excellent.....read more...
Telecom Events for October Planning to attend a telecom event next month? Here is a listing of telecom events for the month of October. Check to see if there is one in near you....
Telephone service in Florida The BellSouth telephone network in Florida has been designed to withstand an extensive onslaught from severe weather. In the areas struck by hurricane Frances, many offices have been switched to generator or battery power because of extensive electical outages. When...
Last Atlas 2 Rocket Carries Satellite Into Space The evening of August 31st marked the end of an era as the last Atlas 2 rocket was launched into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Atlas 2 carried a U.S. reconnaissance satellite into orbit. Check...
The Internet Turns 35 Computer Scientists in a lab at UCLA linked two large computers with a 15 foot gray cable. They wanted to test a new way of moving data over networks. That was September 2, 1969. Soon this small network was linked...
Students hope to whisper their way to a world record The residents of Sellery Hall at UW-Madison will attempt to get into the Guinness Book of World Records by conducting the largest game of "telephone" ever recorded. In this game, also known as "Chinese Whispers", one person whispers a message...
Baby Bells Ask Court to End Freeze on Access Fees Last week the Federal Communications Commission gave a six-month extension to AT&T and other carriers on the discounted access fees they pay to use other carriers networks. In response to that Verizon, Qwest, and other carriers have petitioned the D.C....
AT&T Offers VoIP Service AT&T is moving ahead with its VoIP service called CallVantage. The service will send telephone calls over the Internet instead of using the telephone network. This is in keeping with their decision to stop selling residential telephone service. AT&T is...
Cingular Will Drop the AT&T Wireless Name Cingular will stop using the AT&T brand six months after its purchase of AT&T Wireless is complete. The agreement between AT&T Corp, AT&T Wireless and Cingular was announced Monday and will give Cingular time to transition after the purchase and...
Sprint Receives Telecom Contract From Loomis Fargo Sprint, Corp. has signed a multi-year contract with cash handler Loomis, Fargo & Co. Under the agreement Sprint would supply Loomis Fargo with a wide range of telecom services including wireless voice and data service and a data network to...
FCC Chief Says Telecommunications Laws Are Outdated During his comments at a Progress and Freedom Foundation conference FCC Chairman Michael Powell stated the current telecommunications laws are broken and new ones are needed. He specifically spoke about VoIP and the fact the 1934 and 1996 Telecommunications Acts...
Request for Suggestions and Recommendations What do you want to see on the Telecom pages? Over the next few months, I will be adding lots of new content and would like input from readers as to what they would like to see. Your suggestions and...
Executive Summary--VoIP Here's an interesting Executive Summary from CIO.com on VoIP. This summary gives a description of VoIP along with future trends, ROI, hot questions and more....
National Customer Service Week National Customer Service Week will be observed Oct. 4-8 and that gives customer service departments at telecoms an opportunity to show just how committed they are to taking care of their customers. Guest author, David Saxby gives ways to observe...
About Telecom Get the latest headlines from the About.com Telecom GuideSite.
Reader Submitted Tips for Aperture One of the fun things about running the "Inside Aperture" site is receiving reader contributions. Every now and then a clever new technique shows up in our aperture@oreilly.com mailbox, many of which I try. But why should I get to have all the fun? So, this week I'm sharing a handful of reader-submitted techniques. My guess is that you'll find one or two particularly useful.
Creating Applications with Amazon EC2 and S3 Cloud computing has become the new hot thing (Web 3.0?) Amazon was one of the first vendors to offer a cloud development environment, the Elastic Compute Cloud, or EC2. They followed it up with a storage capability called S3. This tutorial will show you how to set up and get started developing applications on EC2 and S3.
Review: Marantz PMD620 Handheld WAV Recorder With an exotic OLED display, baby-simple controls, good sound, and an attractive price, the Marantz PMD620 aims to stand out in the crowded world of portable digital audio recorders. How well does it perform? Mark Nelson frails a gourd banjo to find out.
Does Enterprise Development Have to Be Painful? (Part Two) After several years away from anything resembling enterprise software, chromatic accepted a challenge from SAP Labs to try their new software development platform. What lessons have they learned from dynamic languages and frameworks? Has developing big serious software truly become more agile? In this second of three articles, chromatic uses SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment to build a bare-bones application from the data model to the UI.
Layout Tool Disguised as Aperture's Book Making Function Aperture 2.1 includes a more versatile book-making tool than we saw in earlier versions. So powerful in fact, that calling it a book making tool is really selling it short. It's actually a flexible layout application with some very useful output options. In this podcast, Derrick Story talks with Joe Schorr and tries to uncover all the hidden gems buried in Aperture 2.1.
Meet The Hardy Heron: What's New in Ubuntu 8.04 Ubuntu 8.04 (code named Hardy Heron) is out, and Brian DeLacey not only has the scoop on the new features, but a look at some of the players who made it happen, places it's in use, and what machines it's running on.
Screencasting from Your Desktop with ScreenFlow ScreenFlow grabs audio and video from the computer and external sources, provides a timeline for editing these recordings, and offers a range of effects aimed specifically at creating on-screen software presentations. This screencasting studio is easy to use and affordable. And if you have a Mac running Leopard with ScreenFlow loaded up, you're suddenly in the educational movie making business. Jochen Wolters reviews this application and provides plenty of video samples.
Puffy and the Cryptonauts: What's New in OpenBSD 4.3 Another release of OpenBSD is imminent, which can mean only one thing... Federico Biancuzzi must be out with his virtual microphone interviewing all the major players to put together a roundup of what's new and interesting in OpenBSD 4.3. Read how a nasty little bug in DHCP was caught and fixed, and all the new features you can expect on May 1st.
Digital Media Insider Podcast 24: 200 Digital Audio Blogs To celebrate his 200th blog entry, O'Reilly Digital Audio Editor David Battino shares the sounds behind the stories. Hear how a bad pianist inspired the first computer music program, the surprising benefits of high-resolution distortion, and sneaky uses of voice recorders.
John Paul Caponigro on the State of Printing Photographer and fine art printing expert John Paul Caponigro sits down with Derrick Story at Photoshop World 08 in Orlando to provide an inside look at the Epson Print Academy, the changing world of photography, and even a few remarks about his favorite printing papers.
Hi-Res YouTube Hacks Don't settle for cruddy looking, dismal sounding YouTube video. Follow our insider tips and you can upload, watch, and share movies that look and sound dramatically better. We even explain how to make the ultimate poster frame or "money shot."
"Subject to Change" Authors on Product Development Designing products and services that resonate with customers takes more than just a few stock demographics reports. By studying practices of successful companies, you can apply the same techniques to your own endeavors. In this podcast, Derrick Story interviews three of the four authors of "Subject to Change," who provide insights about how prosperous businesses can--and should--use customer experiences to inform and shape the product development process, from start to finish.
Spotlight on FOSS: An Interview with Mark Shuttleworth Ubuntu is about to release Hardy Heron, the newest Long Term Support version of this popular Linux distribution. To mark the occasion, we're launching a new video interview series, Spotlight on FOSS, and leading off by chatting by Mark Shuttleworth himself!
Sal Soghoian on Extending Aperture with AppleScript Apple automation guru, Sal Soghoian talks about the scriptability of Aperture in this podcast interview with Derrick Story. Sal points to the "Aperture-InDesign Integration Demo" as a powerful example of how AppleScript can extend Aperture's capabilities.
O'Reilly Network O'Reilly Network For internal layout use only.
Air Car Coming to U.S. by 2010: How would you like to be getting 868 miles on a single fill-up? A startup funded by Indian car company Tata Motors plans on bringing a car powered by compressed air to the U.S. automobile market sometime in 2009 or 2010. They company, named Zero Pollution Motors, has developed a car that runs entirely on compressed air for around-town driving, and uses minimal amounts of gasoline at highway speeds. [CNET News.com]
Smart Car Sales Driven by Novelty Not Gas Milage: The two-seater Smart Car gets surprisingly poor gas milage, and initial sales appear to be based foremost on the novelty of owning such a cute little car. Looks like people are buying it for a 2nd (or 3rd? or 4th?) car for short hops around town or to pull behind their RV. Considering it's size, the Bear asks why oh why does it not get significantly better milage than other "normal" subcompacts? Reading the comments at end of the article confirms others are wondering exactly the same thing. [Wired]
Word Processing on iWork 08: The Bear has made the transition to the clean Blank Page of Apple's "Pages" word processor. It's purity and simplicity is enchanting, and yet it's a talented container for all other media, including spreadsheet tables, drawings, bitmap images, movies and audio. "Pages feels right." [Various and Sundry via MyAppleMenu]
Texas Startup Says It Has Batteries Beat: The patent application from EEStor of Austin Texas claims "technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries," and if so, they're onto something big. Many in the industry view their claims with great cynicism... but that has not dissuaded Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers from investing $3 million in the little company. [Yahoo News]
500 Miles on a Few Minutes Charge: Finally it looks like the all-electric vehicle is just around the corner. The Toronto Ontario Zenn Motor Company has teamed up with EEStor, developer of a novel energy storage product. The 100lb capacitor can be fully charged in just a few minutes, and delivers up to 500 miles of electric power travel between charges.
Reducing the weight of battery storage and shortening the recharge time is a formula for success, if Zenn can actually deliver. They plan to do so later this year, or early 2008. [TameBear Radio]
Is Everyone Buying A Mac?: Steve Borsch thinks so, and writes about what he's seeing, including this telling bit from his daughter: "My 18 year old daughter works at a local Apple Store and we talk often about how busy the place is all the time... She's indicated that this back-to-school season is 'awesome' with sales." Especially worth reading the comments (following the story) from switchers who agree their new Macs make their work more productive, fun and hassle-free. [Connect the Dots via MyAppleMenu]
Portable power from trash: There are reportedly 90 sites throughout the US where garbage is burned to produce heat and electricity. The heat is used to dry burnable biomass, and the process burns relatively cleanly (meeting California's emissions standards.) Now a "portable" system produced by AgriPower can be moved to the source of the biomass, and will burn anything from nuts to old tires. [CNET News.com]
Aluminum Alloy Extracts Hydrogen From Water On Demand: While cleaning some lab equipment, a Purdue University engineer inadvertently stumbles upon a new method for producing hydrogen from water. The hydrogen is generated on demand, so you only produce as much as you need, when you need it. It's possible the technique could be used to replace gasoline in cars. [What's Next In Science & Technology]
How Apple TV Changes the Economics Of TV: Not only will niche content change the economics of television, but long before that happens many viewers will drop their cable TV service and instead use Apple TV to buy their TV shows and movies a la carte from iTunes -- all for less than the cost of their monthly cable bill. [Micropersuasion via MyAppleMenu]
Apple TV Surprises and Impressions: Yes, Apple TV works just fine with your normal old 480i "squarish" non-widescreen television, which is what many people have -- provided it has component (vs. composite) input jacks. An update at end of the article will help you figure out the difference. [Rogue Amoeba via Micropersuasion]
High Hopes for Pond Scum: Solix Biofuels is betting on commercial algae production. Their algae feeds on CO2 and produces oil, lots of oil. The company hopes to give soy some competition in the emerging market for renewable biofuels. [Popular Mechanics via The Speculist]
Apple of Our Eye - Macs Save Money: According to this viewpoint, there's been a distinct sea change in the way people think about Apple Inc. in the last few weeks. People have been saying the strangest things about Apple and Macintosh computers; everything is topsy-turvy. Pundits aren't trotting out the old conventional wisdoms any more. They're saying odd stuff, like Macs are good for business; Macs can save money; and that Apple's stock -- at $90 a share -- is a bargain.
As a long-time Mac user, The Bear was convinced many years ago of the benefits of Macintosh computers -- especially regarding price. You see, my time is valuable. Therefore when I pay a bit more for a Mac (and mind you it's never been a lot more), the time I save in wasted days not spent in useless troubleshooting has always been a huge benefit. Macs just work, period. My current laptop has been in service for over six years, and it just works.
And as for Apple's stock price, well, as an Apple shareholder I can tell you the increase in share price over the past several years has more than paid for all the Apple toys I care to buy. [Wired News]
Why Apple's 'Consumer' Macs Are Enterprise-Worthy: If the IT decision-makers can get over their prejudice against equipment that's traditionally been aimed at consumers, Apple's lineup is ready and waiting for deployment. The low-end models compare favorably with most of the middle-to-upper model PCs. And with cameras built-in to all models, teleconferencing is now available on every desktop. [Computer World via MyAppleMenu]
Time To Get A Mac: When the Windows diehards like Chris Pirillo all begin "upgrading" from Windows Vista to Windows XP, the writing is on the wall. Thomas Hawk advises all his Windows power users to make the switch, and admits that he "should have done it years ago". Now a satisfied Mac user, Hawk has no regrets. [Digital Connection via MyAppleMenu]
iPods Set to Usurp CDs: The Beatles settlement clears the way for Apple to begin selling iPods loaded with music. As the cost of flash drives continues to fall, a low-cost shuffle loaded with tunes begins to compete head-to-head with CDs. [Wired News]
Windows Defections: Scott Lowe speculates about why, when Vista is now available, the Windows power users -- experts who have championed the Windows platform for years --are switching to Mac OS X. [Scott Lowe via MyAppleMenu]
Broadband Passes Halfway Mark in U.S.: Residential high-speed (broadband) internet access is expected to hit about 55 percent by end of 2007. That's 60 million U.S. households. [CNET News]
Buzzoo.net: Here's one to watch - a news links site started by three Goshen College grads seeks to aggregate the top aggregators. They started with reddit, digg, slashdot and del.icio.us; now they're drawing from the top news on google, netscape, dzone, gigaom, techcrunch, arstechnica, cnn, shoutwire, yahoo, boingboing, furl, and more. See what floats to the top on all your favorite news aggregators, by visiting just one site: Buzzoo. [TameBear Radio]
Cheap Solar Poised to Undercut Oil and Gas by Half: Within five years, solar power will be cheap enough to compete with carbon-generated electricity, says Anil Sethi, CEO of Swiss startup Flisom. The company is developing a solar film production process that they expect will drive the cost of solar panels (currently around $3-$4 per watt) down to less than $1 per watt within four years. [Telegraph]
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