(About 917 words)

Tech News
By Sue Crane, Vice President & Editor, Big Bear Computer Club, California
www.bbcc.org
sue.crane@charter.net

Microsoft Previews IE7

Internet Explorer’s program manager, Eric Lawrence, recently posted a blog that said IT7 plans to support the Transport Layer Security protocol by default.  He also explained how IE7 will behave differently from earlier versions when it encounters potential security problems.  From an HTTPS page, users will be forced to access insecure content via the information bar, since only the secure content will be rendered by default.  IE7 is also rumored to have tabbed browsing similar to competitor Firefox.

A Computer for Every Kid

A $100 laptop?  A global effort is underway to make it happen by next year.  It was a pipe dream only a few months ago but soon will be reality.  An ambitious effort from MIT Media Labs to put a $100 portable in the hands of every child in the world is picking up big corporate partners, top engineering talent, and interest from several countries.  One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), a nonprofit venture, is expected to start distributing machines late next year and to produce 100 to 200 million in 2007.

AMD plans 4-core Opterons by 2007

Advanced Micro Devices put a quad-core server processor on its road map and promised to upgrade its software investments, as it outlined its general technology direction for the next couple of years.  The new processor will incorporate four cores connected together by a new version of the Hypertransport Interconnect technology, and will support DDR3 (double data rate 3) memory.  The 2006 dual-core chips will also introduce AMD’s Pacifica virtualization technology and its Presidio security technology into AMD-based systems.  AMD’s goal for 2006 is to improve its standing within the business PC market, both in desktops and notebooks.

Phishers use Phony IRS Tax Refund to Scam Consumers

A spam e-mail message has been sent around the world telling people they are eligible for a $571.94 tax refund from the IRS.  The e-mail offers a link to a fraudulent IRS Web site, but the link actually goes through a legitimate Government Web site.  The link in the phishing e-mail goes to a forged IRS Web site that asks for a Social Security number, tax returning filing code and credit card details including security codes and PIN.  The government is aware of the issue and is working to fix it.

New TIVO Product Promotes Targeted Ads

After introducing a generation of television viewers to the joys of skipping over ads, TIVO plans to launch a new service to let its subscribers seek out the advertisements they’ve cut loose from their TV viewing.  Digital video recorder (DVR) maker TiVo is positioning the new service, scheduled for a mid-2006 launch, as a way for subscribers to find targeted as in categories that interest them. The opt-in technology will let TiVo subscribers use keyword searches to look for information on specific products or services.  The ad service will be free for subscribers; pricing for advertisers is still being determined.

Microsoft Considers Making Desktop Apps Free – With Advertising

Although no specific plans have been made, executives within Microsoft are examining whether it makes sense to release ad-supported versions of products such as Works, Money, or even the Windows operating system itself.  Microsoft officials confirmed the authenticity of the paper, dated winter 2005, but declined to comment on its contents.  But Chief Technology Officer Ray Ozzie and Chairman Bill Gates outlined some of the opportunities and the challenges Microsoft faces in a series of October memos.  In the blunter of the two memos, Ozzie said Microsoft had an obligation to act on the shift to ad-supported software.  ..”It’s clear that if we fail to do so, our business as we know it is at risk,” Ozzie wrote.  “We must respond quickly and decisively.”  The company’s exploration of ad-supported software extends even to Windows, it’s most important product.  An ad-supported version of the operating system could make some sense, Microsoft researchers argue, noting that the product reportedly earns $9 per year per user.

A New Kind of Music Label

40 years ago Jac Holzman changed music distribution with the release of The Doors’ album on his independent Elektra music label.  He’s introducing a similar change with Cordless Recordings – the first all-digital music label operated by a major record company, the Warner Music Group, which is launching on the Web and on digital music services such as iTunes and RealNetworks’ Rhapsody.  Music from the label’s first six bands is being sold only online in 3-song “clusters” instead of albums.  The bands will be promoted on blogs and sites like MySpace.  Artists get to keep ownership of the master recordings they release under Cordless.  If they want to release their music elsewhere after a short contract is up, they are free to do so. The Cordless Recordings labels is an experiment for Warner Music, which has increased its focus on digital distribution, and a bet that inexpensive Internet distribution and marketing may give labels a cost-effective way to nurture new bands.  On the label side, it’s an attempt to reach out to a music-consuming world that is deserting radio and record stores for iTunes and MySpace.

There is no restriction against any non-profit group using this article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given the author.  The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization of which this group is a member, brings this article to you.