Category: TechNews Bytes

A British study this week revealed that online legal music downloads are spreading and growing at an incredible rate, moreso than illegal music downloads, which came as a shocker to researchers, and might be evidence that legal music downloads are actually filling the niche needed in the music market for the first time. Music industry lawyers have long decried legal downloads as a fluff option that won’t stop the “plague” of illegal downloads, and that only lawsuits are the way to resolve the problem, but perhaps now a little more evidence on the side of “give people a better option and they’ll take it” has accumulated.

Personally I think that legal music downloads are the way to go, and had this service appeared earlier and the music industry not fought tooth and nail to make them either go away altogether or prohibitively expensive, they wouldn’t be in the mess they’re in right now, with fans alienated and music buyers jaded and having to pay armies of lawyers, but I used to think they’d eventually smarten up. They haven’t yet, and while I can only hope this study might lend some strength to the argument, I doubt they will. Until the day they do, the rest of us can take joy in knowing that legal music downloads are popular among our peers, and probably going to grow and become more competitive in the future, which can only mean good things for you and I, the consumer.

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,121924,tk,dn072205X,00.asp ]

PCWorld did an experiment, a very good one, I might add. They went from website to website, taking 12 popular and frequently visited and used websites, and looked about for their “contact us” link or form, and then submitted a question. They then timed how long it took for that site to get back to them with a personalized reply specific to their question. Sites like Amazon, Google, MSN, eBay, and Craigslist were all subject to the litmus test, and to say that the results were surprising is an understatement. The results weren’t particularly flattering, and reveal that getting real help and attention when shopping or doing business on the web is still a long ways away from calling over a salesperson in a brick-and-mortar store, and that companies have a long way to go before they can claim to have effective and responsive online customer service and support.

Regardless, the results are in, and now you know who you’re on your own with and who you’re not-especially when some sites, like Amazon, for example, go to great lengths to hide their customer service telephone number from shoppers, and do everything in their power to make you surf a FAQ or set of help pages before even being able to consider contacting them. I’ve been on both sides of this equation before-you want to give people the tools to help themselves, and you want the signal-to-noise of the questions that get through to be pretty high, but often that means treading carefully on the line between good customer service and good customer education, and to these companies’ credit, it’s not an easy line to walk.

Here’s the results.

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,121869,tk,dn072105X,00.asp ]

Looks like the new Windows operating system, up to this point referred to as “Longhorn,” its codename used by Microsoft developers, has been given an official marketing name. The new OS, due out sometime in 2006, will be dubbed and sold as Microsoft Windows Vista.

Not sure how I really feel about that, I mean, I had become so used to two-letter acronyms that identified the OS, you know, “2k” for Windows 2000, “ME” for Windows Millennium, “XP” for Windows XP, and so on. I know, I know, I’m nitpicking, but hey-marketing is a big part of it! Anyway, the new OS finally has a name and we can stop calling it “Longhorn,” which is fine by me.

You can read the press release here:
[ http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/22/technology/microsoft_vista/index.htm?cnn=yes ]

And see the newly unveiled Windows Vista website here:
[ http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.mspx ]

This could turn out to be an interesting case, although I’m sure it’ll probably just die quickly as all parties probably just want the commotion to end, but a Florida man was arrested under a little-known and little used statute forbidding people from accessing other peoples’ wireless networks without their permission.

It would have been one thing if the guy had broken the network’s WEP key and broken into the guy’s network, but this was an open, unencrypted network where the SSID was being broadcast all over the cul-de-sac. It’s raised some serious questions about the legality of using someone’s network when it’s wide open like that, and whether ignorance of how to secure a network is protected by the law; most technology analysts don’t believe so-if you decide to buy a wireless router and set up a wireless home network, it’s your responsibility to either leave it open and know what you’re doing, or learn how to close it and secure it properly. Unfortunately, wireless routers don’t come with security instructions. Read more:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,121747,tk,dn070805X,00.asp ]

If you haven’t been paying attention, yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decided that file sharing services and companies that have been operating and encouraging their users to illegally share and download copyrighted material over their networks can be sued by the music and movie industry for “damages” caused by the users on their networks. The high court came to this decision 9 to 0; or unanimously.

A sad day for technology, and while usually I have a little faith in the Supreme Court to make decisions central to the people and the advance of the people’s goodwill, in this case I find that this is likely just another example of people making decisions about technology and the law without any knowledge of technology. I fear that this will stifle communications and collaboration technology and put so much fear into technology companies that as soon as their technology is discovered to have a remote, possible use that could run contrary to our Draconian copyright laws, the lawyers of the entertainment industry will descend and rip those companies to shreds. The only technology that’ll be allowed will be that approved by the industry; but that doesn’t mean we won’t see good technology (think iTunes, for example), it just means we’ll see a slowdown of innovation and more companies looking over their shoulder than looking at how they can improve their product or service their customers.

Regardless, that’s just my opinion; you can read more details of the decision and come up with your own! Wired has the scoop:

[ http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,68007,00.html?tw=newsletter_topstories_html ]

On Sunday I woke up feeling lost, confused, betrayed, alone-and then I realized what happened. I checked my email and saw it there, first brought to me by the Wall Street Journal, and then later corroborated by other established media outlets, that Apple was making the grand switch to Intel chips to drive it’s Macintosh computer lineup. Now before you start cheering about being able to have MacOS on your home-built PC, know that while they might be using Intel’s chips, that doesn’t mean that the software will support x86 architecture.

At first, I thought the rumors were just rumors. I didn’t even mention or report them a while ago because the Apple moving to x86 rumors happen every year or so; so I wasn’t fooled, and neither was my man Leander Kahney, content editor for Wired News, as he says clearly:
[ http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/index.blog?entry_id=1111006 ]

I, for one, completely agreed with him. I thought it was the nail in the coffin and dismissed the rumors outright. But we were both wrong. Apple is indeed making the huge switch. I’m skeptical; every time Apple makes a huge architecture shift like this, they lose developers, customers, and support. But there is hope, and time will tell whether things will pan out for Apple and this grand endeavor. Read all about it:

[ http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/06/technology/06apple.html? ]

It’s all true. And Leander, my trusty source of excellent Apple related commentary, points out why Apple is doing this and what hope there is for Apple; and I can tell that he, along with the rest of the Apple community (including myself) is meeting this new announcement with some skepticism about the future of Apple and it’s hardware development and lineup:
[ http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/index.blog?entry_id=1125226 ]

Just what we all needed, the absolutely new Netscape 8 comes out, vulnerabilities are noticed out of the gate to which Netscape quickly and quietly patches to 8.1, and then Microsoft gets word of and publishes that Netscape-which allows a user to switch between the Firefox and Internet Explorer engines to view pages-breaks Internet Explorer in the process.

Why am I not surprised?

Seriously-Netscape has a proud, long tradition of breaking stuff, and in my frank opinion the last decent browser they produced was the Netscape Communicator 4.x series. Netscape 6 and up tended to be bloated, over-featured, slow, and buggy applications that were the dread of many IT professionals who were forced to deal with them. Regardless, getting back to point, the folks at AOL (who bought Netscape) have managed to put together a browser that breaks the XML rendering capabilities of Internet Explorer, which will render some websites completely unviewable in Internet Explorer as long as Netscape 8 is installed. Now normally I’m all about browser competition, as it can only mean more features and more functionality for users, but AOL’s official statement is absolutely wonderful:

“This issue affects a very small number of users who visit sites that require that advanced technology.”

That’s customer service for you. What? Problem? Well, it only affects people who USE that, duh! Meanwhile an official fix IS on the way. The new Netscape life cycle is off to an amusing, if not predictable, start.

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,121023,tk,dn052705X,00.asp ]

Admittedly these guys broke the law and should be prosceuted for it, but I have to admit a bit of sympathy for them. The teenage hackers responsible for the break-ins at LexisNexis and the theft of hundreds of thousands of social security numbers and other personally identifiable information confess their tactics and admit that, contrary to the assertions of federal authorities, they had no intention to sell the information or defraud the individuals whose information they obtained, they simply wanted bragging rights (common in the hacking and cracking community) and they wanted to see if they could do it.

Regardless, it’s very possible they’re just saying this now that they’re caught and wrapped up in a federal investigation, and they had ever nefarious intention when they actually had the information, or that the power and ability to get the information could have very well been enough lure to do something else illegal with the information, but regardless, I would definitely feel more than sympathetic for a few guys who were talented and curious beyond the limits of the law. But now that they are caught and being investigated and possibly facing criminal charges, they’re cooperating with authorities and showing them the methods they used to breach the security of data warehouses as tightly controlled as LexisNexis.

Wired news naturally has the much longer scoop, with incredible detail. Read all about it:
[ http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,67629,00.html ]

Remember that nonsense drummed up around the release of MacOS 10.4 where the horrible technology distributer TigerDirect [ http://www.tigerdirect.com/ ] filed suit against Apple over the use of the word “Tiger?” Yeah, we thought it was ridiculous, too, which is why we’re only making mention of it now: I mean, if TigerDirect actually had a case, they would have filed suit months ago, when the codename was originally published and not have waited for the week of the OS release, this making their case obviously a PR stunt. If TigerDirect put as much money and effort into resolving their complaints with the Better Business Bureau and their disgruntled customers, or into fixing their horribly tarnished image as a hack, late-night-infomercial, sells cruddy PCs at exorbitant prices image as they do into publicity stunts like this, then maybe they’d get some actual business.

But don’t just take my word for it, I got the scoop from MacBlog:
[ http://macblog.org/archives/2005/05/19/apple_vs_tigerdirect.php ]

And AppleInsider has the whole story:
[ http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1076 ]

Now that we’ve had our hands on Mac OS 10.4 “Tiger” for a while, it’s about time for the comprehensive reviews to start trickling in, and who has our first but the reliable folks at PCWorld? 4.5/5 stars, they give it, a must have for Mac owners, and well worth the upgrade, they conclude, but that’s not all they say-some in depth analysis of the new features, how some of the new features like Spotlight, iChat AV, RSS integration into Safari, and Dashboard will all change your Mac for the better, and a few oft overlooked features in the new OS that make a difference, like the addition of Automator (which is designed as kind of an AppleScript for the common man-which should help streamline your often repeated tasks) and stricter yet more comprehensive OS-based parental controls; something that Apple has long outdone Microsoft on.

Read the full review:
[ http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,120646,tk,prx,00.asp ]

This is one heck of a week for Apple! First, Amazon leaks the specs for their new G5 desktops and Apple releases the things the next day, and Friday the 29th of April is the big release of MacOS 10.4, “Tiger,” Apple’s most recent revision to the Macintosh Operating System.

But should you upgrade? Are those new G5’s worth a look at the Apple Store? What’s so special about all of this stuff and why does Apple keep selling new OSes every year when Microsoft can make Windows XP and hang tough with it for years? Well, let’s take a look at those questions, shall we?

Don’t worry Apple, I know you guys have been in the habit of suing websites who give out classified information, so I assure you all ahead of time, no juicy bits here that other people either don’t know or just aren’t my personal opinion. And that’s what you all want anyway, right? Anyway-read all about it:

[ http://www.pleasanttingle.net/story/2005/4/28/1148/89609 ]

While we’re at it, the rumors are flying again as to whether Apple will release OS X for x86 architecture (meaning everyday PCs). The rumor is likely untrue, and even if it were true, it would be a nightmare for Apple regardless of what people think about it (oh but it’ll make it so much cheaper! It’ll open up a whole new market! Apple just hates its customers! ::stamp::) and there’s a million reasons why, but let’s look at a few from a piece I put together a while ago:

[ http://www.pleasanttingle.net/story/2003/6/30/104241/123 ]