The software titan hires top scientists and mathematicians in its quest for search algorithms that will allow Microsoft to compete directly with Google. [CNET News.com]
PowerBook Shown On Microsoft .NET Homepage
diskiller writes “It seems Microsoft is using a Titanium Powerbook on their .Net website! I wonder if they know that it is an apple laptop? This reminds me of the dell debacle earlier, when a powerbook was shown on a dell advertising page…” Sure enough, it’s a 15″ PowerBook right there at the top…irony thy name is Microsof [MacSlash]
Date Set for Cross Sector Spam Summit
How to Make a Sonic Purée From Pop Snippets
A new interactive program retrieves Internet song files, slices off audio snippets and blends them into sonic collages. [New York Times: Technology]
N.A.G is the app and on first pass it seems like it will be a lot of fun to use. You search for artists or songs and then it creates sonic landscapes based on your query. Jam on!
ISP helps members sell Net to neighbors
Independent broadband provider Speakeasy is allowing subscribers to resell their Internet access via wireless set-ups–turning their homes into Wi-Fi hot spots.
The new service puts a semiofficial stamp on a practice that has long been used in tech-savvy households around the country. Wireless 802.11, or Wi-Fi, technology allows computer users to set up a network “hot spot” that gives people within its range of about 300 feet the ability to tap into a central Net connection.
Lawmakers debate antispam plan
The Bush administration urges Congress to enact a new law criminalizing pornographic and fraudulent spam. Lawmakers spar on whether an “opt in” or “opt out” approach is better. [CNET News.com]
Microsoft wants more remote control
The software giant expands distribution of its MSN TV Internet service that gives people access to the Web and e-mail through their TV sets. [CNET News.com]
.Net:… 3 Years Later
Ashcrow writes “EWeek has posted an article on Microsoft’s .NET initiative. It’s been three years since we were first introduced to .NET and virtually none of the promised advantages have come true. [Slashdot]
PDA security carelessness
The PDA Usage Survey 2003 found that PDA owners commonly download the entire contents of their personal and business lives onto their handheld computers. Many leave the information unencrypted and without password protection, the survey found.
Sensitive information commonly stored unprotected on PDAs includes corporate information, bank accounts, credit cards, social security numbers, inland revenue information, business and personal names and addresses. [The Register]
Study: Gamers Not Reclusive Nerds
According to a Pew Internet Project survey, not all college-age gamers are nerdy antisocial guys. Women also like to play games, video games generally don’t interfere with students’ studying and games were found to be a highly social activity. [Wired News]
Approaching the SPAM Barrier
It is with this in mind that I bring to your attention the fact that we–as a society–are beginning to approach the SPAM Barrier. That is, according to BrightMail, very soon better than half of all email will be SPAM. That means that, given any random piece of email, there is a greater probability of it being SPAM than it being anything else.
Just checked my POPFile log and noticed I am pretty close myself… 4,960 ( 48.34%) of my messages are currently marked as Spam.
AvantGo 5 is finally outta beta…
If you use AvantGo on a Palm, you might have noticed that it is finally out of beta… assuming of course you had the beta installed. You might want to install it now that things are official. I’ve been “testing” things for quite a while and I have been very pleased with how things work on my Tungsten C. Performance is good, online browsing works well and hi-resolution is supported as well as the 5-way button.
Unfortunately for Mac users, AG seems to only be available as an .exe file, but installing the Palm parts on a connected device will allow you to use it just fine. I’ve zipped what you need here. Things should go from beta to gold after a wireless sync. At least they did for me…
Last.fm: Music to Listeners’ Ears
An Internet radio station out of London is experimenting with a technique that automatically tailors the music it plays to individual listeners’ tastes. Some say the approach, which uses collaborative filtering, could prove revolutionary. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]
Seems very cool, but currently is not letting me sign up… can’t figure out if it is a mac thing or if they are just over-run with requests.
A new lease on life
Rented software services look poised for a revival, attracting customers with a promise to save them tons of money and headaches. [CNET News.com]
Back to Work
Good to be back after a nice long weekend… Feeling refreshed after some sun and fun.
Should be an interesting week, full of many potential changes at work. I can’t quite go into the details yet – at least not officially…
The TVBrick
We’re incredulous that this is actually legal: a box from Nextedi called the TVBrick Home Server that hooks up to your television and then via a home network streams the channels onto the Internet so that “family members” in other countries can watch their favorite TV shows from back home. The manufacturer says that since a password is required for access to the streams, and since sharing television programming “within the same family” is legal in Europe and Japan, everything is on the up and up. Anyone know for sure if this is true? Read [Via Gen Kanai]… [Gizmodo]
First email client with built in POPFile
The Courier Email client has code in the latest version to automatically find the X-POPFile-Link decode the link and add a “Reclassify…” menu item.
If you use Windows and enable POPFile within your email client, this could be a very nice alternative to Outlook…
Bloggers Gain Libel Protection
An appeals court decides small-time online publishers can’t be held responsible for libel if they just republish information. The ruling is a victory for free speech advocates and bloggers. By Xeni Jardin. [Wired News]
Comcast sets deadline for AT&T switch
AT&T Broadband subscribers swallowed in last year’s billion-dollar takeover by Comcast must drop their familiar attbi.com addresses or face lost e-mail. [CNET News.com]
RCN Offers Home Networking Package
In growing trend, broadband operator RCN offers home networking package: They’ll install adapters and allow multiple computers on the network, while providing tech support for the basic networking function (but not file sharing or printing, wisely of them)…. [802.11b Networking News]