D.C. First in Line for Free Digital TV On the Go, but Technology Isn't Ready

D.C. First in Line for Free Digital TV On the Go, but Technology Isn't Ready

By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Washington area residents could soon get "American Idol" and "30 Rock" on the go through a pilot program to bring free mobile digital television to cellphones and other wireless devices.

But seeing "Oprah" on the commute home comes with a caveat: Currently, there are no commercial mobile devices capable of carrying digital television broadcasts.

That did not stop the nation's biggest broadcasters from announcing yesterday at a trade show in Las Vegas that they would roll out the service to more than two dozen television markets by the end of the year, beginning with the District.

Broadcasters said wireless devices will be available to Washington area residents to purchase when service launches late this summer; several vendors such as LG, Samsung and Dell yesterday displayed prototypes of cellphones, notebooks and automobile entertainment systems outfitted for the real-time programs.

Entire posting.

Windows 7 RC to Ship April 30, Sept possible full release

Windows 7 RC To Ship April 30

Microsoft is moving a step closer to releasing a final version of its new operating system.
By Paul McDougall InformationWeek

April 27, 2009 03:35 PM

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) plans to release a nearly final version of its Windows 7

"I would like to thank all of our beta testers for helping us get to this point," wrote LeBlanc, noting that the

software maker was receiving user feedback messages every 15 seconds at one point during the beta period. "Since then, the engineering team has been busy analyzing the feedback, fixing bugs, and working hard to improve the overall experience," LeBlanc said.

Complete article.

Experiencing an Open Source World

So, I decided it was time to experience running Linux and only open source software in everyday life and see what the good things were and the not so good.

I purchased a Dell Mini for $199 (amazing) and decided to go with Linux pre-installed.

So far so good, running Mozilla browser... nice.

BUT, first major issue. No streaming from NetFlix. Big time bummer!

Tried a NetBook (mini laptop) yet?

There are new processors coming out. Take a look at this article from CNET.

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Minilaptop CPU showdown: Atom vs. Neo vs. Nano

For a long time, Intel's Atom CPU ruled the minilaptop universe, powering Netbooks from Asus, Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, and others. After all, who wouldn't want an inexpensive processor capable of powering an almost-pocket-size laptop? Especially one perfectly suited of handling basic coffee shop chores such as Web surfing, e-mailing, or blogging.

But when you're on top, everyone else wants a piece of your action. Two new potential Atom-killers have launched recently, each looking to steal some market share from Intel with variations on the Netbook theme. The contenders, in brief, are:

Intel Atom
The smallest processor currently made by Intel, the Atom is found in a majority of Netbook-style laptops. The most common versions are the Atom N270 (1.6GHz) and Atom N280 (1.66GHz), and popular Atom-powered systems include the Asus Eee PC 1000HE and Acer Aspire One AOD150.

AMD Athlon Neo
Intended as a step up from Atom-style Netbook processors, AMD's Athlon Neo will be seen in ultrathin laptops such as the new HP Pavilion dv2. That particular system has a 1.6GHz Athlon Neo MV-40 CPU and a 12-inch display.

Via Nano
Chipmaker Via has replaced its older low-power CPU, the C7-M, with the new Nano, specifically designed for Netbooks. The 1.3GHz Nano U2350 was first seen in the Samsung NC20 Netbook.

So, how did laptops with these CPUs fare when pitted against each other? To start with, it's important to note that these are different Netbook-style systems from different vendors, so this is not an exact comparison--many other factors besides the CPU affect performance--but it's similar to the choices you'll face when shopping for a low-cost, low-power laptop.

As one might expect, there's no clear winner.

Complete article....

Twitter Worm, Happy Easter Weekend

Reported by Sophos security blog:

"The Easter weekend didn't pass peacefully for Twitter, as it was struck by a series of worm attacks taking advantage of cross-site scripting vulnerabilities in the popular micro-blogging site. Viewing an affected profile would infect your own Twitter account, and cause you to spread the hackers' bizarre messages to others. Find out more about the threat from Sophos.

(Cyber) Spies Penetrate U.S. Electrical Grid

Spies Penetrate U.S. Electrical Grid
National Security Officials Say System Is Under Attack From Russian And Chinese Cyber Spies

April 8, 2009

(CBS/ AP) The U.S. electrical grid is under attack from Russian and Chinese cyber spies who have inserted software that could disrupt the system, current and former national security officials tell the Wall Street Journal.

So far, these spies have not tried to damage the system, but the possibility remains likely should a war or national security crisis hit the United States, the officials said.

"The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid," a senior intelligence official told the newspaper. "So have the Russians."

In addition to electrical systems, nuclear power plants and financial networks; water and sewage systems are also at risk, officials said.

"There are intrusions, and they are growing. There were a lot last year," a former Homeland Security official told the newspaper.

The report follows a Pentagon announcement Tuesday which showed more than $100 million was spent in the last six months responding to and repairing damage from cyber attacks and other computer network problems, military leaders said.

Complete posting.

RIM Unveils New App World For BlackBerry

RIM Unveils New App World For BlackBerry

By Roger Cheng

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Complete posting from The Wall Street Journal online.

LAS VEGAS (Dow Jones)--Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) launched its App World for BlackBerry smartphones Wednesday as it looks to tap a market for mobile programs made lucrative by Apple Inc. (AAPL) and the iPhone.

RIM is getting into an increasingly crowded room filled with high-profile companies looking to turn a profit off mobile storefronts. It's part of a larger push by the Canadian company to appeal to more consumers - media programs figure prominently at launch. If successful, the company could open the door to a new revenue stream.

App World will feature a front-page carousel that will allow users to browse a certain number of featured applications, which will vary from week to week. It also will include a keyword search capability and allow users to review and recommend applications to other users.

Research in Motion said it expects about 1,000 applications to be posted by partners on BlackBerry App World this week, including applications from CC Media Holdings Inc.'s (CCMO) Clear Channel, Gameloft SA (GFT.FR), Viacom Inc.'s (VIAB) MTV Networks, the New York Times Co. (NYT) and Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM).

The platform will support both free and purchased applications.

Blackberry users can download the storefront from RIM's Web site. Among the popular applications available are business to business programs for customer management, social-networking programs such as MySpace and Facebook, and instant messaging programs. The company hopes to merge the features from these programs with the "push" and "always on" reputation Blackberry has earned with the corporate work force.

MySpace is owned by News Corp. (NWSA), which also owns Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of this newswire.

In order to buy paid applications, a Blackberry subscriber needs to set up an account with PayPal, which will handle the financial transaction. Co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie said RIM is working with carriers to make it possible for users to pay for the apps through their monthly cellphone bill.

"We are doing integrated carrier billing strategies, so you'll see them," Balsillie said in an interview. "Different carriers have different billing strategies, so it's quite frankly a bunch of work."

He added that carrier involvement and "harmony" has been a priority for RIM.
Media figure prominently in App World, and music in particular was a major part of RIM President and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis' keynote address earlier Wednesday. He talked about Shazam, Slacker, Pandora and Napster, as well as support for Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) media and Apple's iTunes. Live streaming television for Blackberrys is another program that will be available for the launch.

"It's a long-term revenue thing, but the most important thing is to catalyze the developer community and developer environment," said Balsillie, adding that it will help drive sales of Blackberrys.

Tuesday, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) unveiled its Windows Marketplace for Mobile, its version of an application storefront.

The application stores will be featured at the CTIA Wireless industry trade show, which kicks off later Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Shares of Research in Motion traded recently at $45.43, up $2.33, or 5.4%.
-By Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2020; roger.cheng@dowjones.com
(Sara Silver and Kerry Grace contributed to this story.)

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090401-710874.html

All quiet on the Conficker front. Now what?

All quiet on the Conficker front. Now what?

by Elinor Mills Font
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10209143-83.html

As expected, the Conficker worm failed to cause the digital pandemonium that some may have feared.

So, can we all just go back to playing on Facebook and watching the game now?

Not really. Just because the worm failed to create much of a stir on the day it was set to activate, April 1, doesn't mean it won't wake up and act later.

"The (malicious) hackers can tell their worm to do something any day of the year; they're just as likely to do it tomorrow or next Wednesday or in August," said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with Sophos.

Then why the April 1 message in the code?

Cluley says he doesn't know. "This was such an invisible change inside the code. It was inconsequential to the infected computer that maybe (the creators) didn't think there would be such a frenzy," he said.

Today, as on any day, PC users should make sure their systems are patched and running the latest security software. People should patch their systems to close the hole in Windows it exploits and update their anti-virus software. The major anti-virus vendors all have free Conficker removal tools.

The worm also can spread via network shares and removable storage devices like USB thumb drives. So users are advised to use strong passwords when sharing files on a network and to download a patch Microsoft released to address the Autorun feature problem in Windows that makes using removable storage risky.

Oh, and be careful about searching for Conficker removal software on Google. Scammers have managed to get fake security sites among the top searches, Cluley said. Bogus sites are designed to steal your credit card information and could install malware on your computer instead of a legitimate security program.

So, what is the intention behind the worm, anyway? Why all the fuss?

Like many other worms, it's likely the Conficker worm is designed to create a botnet that could be used to send spam, launch denial-of-service attacks to shut down Web sites or steal data from infected computers.

David Perry, global director of security education at Trend Micro, said he suspects that the worm creators will slice up the botnet and sell it to spammers via underground forums, like they did with the Storm worm.

"The funny thing is that everyone has these expectations that come to them from science fiction viruses. In the movies they blow up the terminal, tip over an oil tanker and bring aliens out of the sky," said Perry. "In reality, the kind of thing a botnet does is much less visible. It's a lot more insidious of them to steal your bank password than to blow up your computer."

Hear more about what happened and didn't and why on this CNET podcast.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10209143-83.html