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*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info
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Senior Member
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12. April 2007 @ 08:48 |
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janrocks, you mentioned we all know how to disable windows auto update which I do, what I dont know is how to disable the notifier bubble, can you explain please.
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 09:27 |
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Better pencil in June 1 on the calendar, Microsoft warns - Today, 07:04 AM
This has to do with the beta expiring. If you're still running the RC, you need to get a valid copy installed by June 1st.
Cori Hartje, director of Microsoft's antipiracy efforts, became the first company executive to note the impending deadline. "As a reminder to those that helped with Windows Vista beta testing, the beta installations are set to expire at the end of May 2007," said Hartje in a Q&A that Microsoft posted March 30 on its public relations Web site. "So customers need to decide if they want to move to Windows Vista or back to Windows XP if they have test versions of Windows Vista on their PCs."
Vista beta testers face looming OS expiration
Better pencil in June 1 on the calendar, Microsoft warns
April 11, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Microsoft Corp. has begun reminding millions of testers of Windows Vista's beta and release candidate (RC) previews that their trial runs end on June 1.
Cori Hartje, director of Microsoft's antipiracy efforts, became the first company executive to note the impending deadline. "As a reminder to those that helped with Windows Vista beta testing, the beta installations are set to expire at the end of May 2007," said Hartje in a Q&A that Microsoft posted March 30 on its public relations Web site. "So customers need to decide if they want to move to Windows Vista or back to Windows XP if they have test versions of Windows Vista on their PCs."
Details on how best to do that, however, are scant. Despite repeated requests to clarify the exact procedure beta and RC users need to take -- and whether Microsoft will provide either guidance or offer a discount to testers -- the company declined to spell out its plans.
What information the company has published is on last year's Customer Preview Program (CPP) site, which points to the June 1 expiration date and explains that once installed, the Vista previews don't allow for operating system rollbacks. "You cannot roll back to the previous operating system installation -- you will either have to acquire and install the final released edition of Windows Vista or reinstall a previous edition of Windows," the site reads.
Some hints, however, can be found on Microsoft's Vista support forums:
* Only a full version of Vista does the upgrade from Beta/RC to final. Multiple threads on the Vista forums note that it's not possible to do an in-place upgrade from Vista Beta or RC using a final, retail upgrade version of the operating system.
"You can't use an Upgrade edition to move from Beta/RC to final. Has to be a Full version," said a user identified as Richard Harper. That means Beta/RC users can't take advantage of the lower-priced upgrade Vista stock-keeping units (SKU) to retain their Vista settings and installed applications when migrating to the real deal. The price difference on Vista Ultimate is dramatic: $259 list for the upgrade edition, $399 for the full version. And that's important because ...
* $399 buys you in-place upgrade. If testers wondered why Microsoft gave them the most powerful, and expensive, Vista last year, this may be a clue: To do an in-place upgrade from a Vista preview to the final code requires not only a full edition, but a full edition of Ultimate.
"Just as in all past [Microsoft operating systems], downgrading isn't supported," said Dave B. Another user, Chad Harris, was more specific. "It has to be a Full version of Ultimate ... any other version (Home Premium, Business) is considered a downgrade to Ultimate and is not allowable."
* Revert to resume. To take advantage of lower-priced upgrade editions of Vista, or to move from the Beta/RC Ultimate SKU to a less-featured version, like Home Premium, testers must reinstall an earlier operating system -- likely Windows XP -- before upgrading from that to Vista final.
"So if I return my laptop to XP, then if I bought the upgrade version of Vista, it should work right?" asked NoSpinVette. Rick Rogers answered with a simple "Yes indeed." The reinstallation of XP, of course, deletes all data on the boot hard drive and so requires testers to backup data files and reinstall applications on the Vista-powered PC after the upgrade is completed.
Those hassles didn't sit well with some dedicated beta testers. "Do you mean to say that because I installed Vista RC2 over XP, I screwed myself out of upgrade pricing? If so, seems like MS is punishing beta testers," said a user labeled as "tom."
Others, however, brooked no whining. "You should've known better than to install a beta over your primary operating system/primary computer. Microsoft warned users not to do that," responded another poster identified as Michael.
The migration issue isn't trivial, if only because of the numbers involved. At one point in 2006, Microsoft boasted that 1.5 million users had downloaded Vista RC1 and said it expected an additional 1.5 million to download RC2.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/arti...&intsrc=hm_list
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 09:35 |
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23 Ways To Speed WinXP Without Defrag
Apr 12, 2007 - 7:02 AM -
Hmmm... some you all already know. Some of the others are well, not new but maybe forgotten about.
Since defragging the disk won't do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers' PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.
crn.com
To defrag, or not to defrag? If you're looking for ways to speed WinXP machines used by your customers, then the answer is Not.
Defragmenting, of course, is the process of reorganizing all data on a hard-disk drive so that each file is arranged into a single uninterrupted, or contiguous, location on the disk. Many system builders and technicians have been taught, and still believe, that defragmenting hard disk drives on a regular basis keeps PCs operating at peak performance. But that idea is behind the times.
While it was true that defragmenting helped older PCs, it no longer applies. Today we have 7200-RPM (rotations per minute) hard-disk drives with improved seek and latency times; many also contain an 8-MB cache buffer. Let's not forget Windows XP's ultra-efficient NTFS (NT File System). For PCs, servers, and workstations equipped with these innovations, defragmenting no longer makes much improvement, if any, to system performance.
This is even more of an issue with the new Serial ATA hard disk drives, which are soon to become the new standards utilized in the market. Examples of SATA drives include the Seagate Barracuda line and new 10,000-RPM IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) hard-disk drives, such as the Western Digital Raptor.
Still, defragmenting remains an important task. Why? For one, power consumption and heat can be directly related to a fragmented hard drive. When the computer's operating system requests data, if a file is not contiguous, then extra seeking on the disk may be required. But a more important consideration is disk failure. Should a hard drive fail, the likelihood of successfully recovering data from the dead or damaged drive improves significantly if the data is contiguous rather than randomly scattered about the drive platters.
The software companies that create defragmentation software would like you to believe that their software does improve system performance. But my own in-house testing refutes that, as do recent findings from Steve Gibson and other system testers.
So What Works?
Since defragging the disk won't do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers' PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.
1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.
2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.
3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.
4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.
The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.
Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.
Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.
5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.
6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.
7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.
8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.
9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.
10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or Spybot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.
11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.
12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.
13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer %96 only its responsiveness.
14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.
15.) Visit Microsoft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.
16.) Update the customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.
17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.
18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.
19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.
20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's free.
21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.
22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.
23.) At least once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.
Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers' computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.
http://www.crn.com/white-box/59201471
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 09:49 |
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Apr 12, 2007 - 6:43 AM - by Digital Dave
This might not sound like much but some of the new standards (a.k.a. cool stuff you will soon be seeing) are actually pretty cool.
The revision also specifies something called 'NCQ unload enhancement.' This technology is useful for notebook hard drives that lack drop sensors.
Basically, if a live notebook suddenly finds itself in a non-ideal mid-air situation, thanks to sensors built into the notebook, the SATA controller lets the drive know that it's about to get its butt kicked. And to kindly do something about it.
apcmag.com
New SATA standard unveiled: PATA turns in grave, emits small whimper
* 11th April 2007
* Nathan Davis
* Gadgets, Mobility, PC Hardware
SATA-IO, the organisation behind SATA standards, recently popped the lid on a new revision -- 2.6 -- of the standards.
The press release didn't say much, so we went to the source and asked the tough questions as only a tech journo can, such as when the SATA cable will include power.
We were put in touch with Knut Grimsrud, SATA-IO's president, and Frank Chu who, we're told, is Hitachi's and SATA-IO's "CabCon Work Group Chair."
Micro SATA: Now with keyrings.Micro SATA: Now with keyrings.It turns out the new revision of the SATA standard introduces some interesting new tech, among a few new connectors.
For starters, those ridiculously tiny 1.8-inch iPod hard drives can finally lay claim to their own SATA connector, called Micro SATA.
In fact, it turns out it's also compatible with desktop SATA cables. "The signal segment of the new micro SATA connector for 1.8-inch HDD is completely compatible with standard desktop cable," Grimsrud and Chu told me.
Apparently a SATA cable was designed specifically for these 1.8-inch hard drives because "the traditional SATA connector is a bit too large to fit the narrow side" of the minuscule devices.
Mini SATA: orange is the new blackMini SATA: orange is the new blackAccording to Knut-Chu, another new connection, titled 'Slimline,' was designed "for the optical swap bay used in laptops," so this means slimline SATA optical drives can now easily make their way into notebooks and small form factor systems.
If it's another area where PATA's going to die off, that's good enough for us.
The revision also specifies something called 'NCQ unload enhancement.' This technology is useful for notebook hard drives that lack drop sensors.
Basically, if a live notebook suddenly finds itself in a non-ideal mid-air situation, thanks to sensors built into the notebook, the SATA controller lets the drive know that it's about to get its butt kicked. And to kindly do something about it.
The organisation also designed a third connector, called Mini SATA, and it features both internal and external connectors.
Mini SATA: kinda cute in a non-descript grey plastic kind of wayMini SATA: kinda cute in a non-descript grey plastic kind of wayIt's basically a quad-lane connector -- smaller than its older brother -- which is designed for high-bandwidth, where one SATA cable, or lane, just isn't fast enough.
So, how about that single SATA data and power cable -- will we ever see one? Well, nothing is set in stone, but "developing a solution for this has not been ruled out," Grimsrud and Chu promised. Meh.
http://apcmag.com/5832/pata_closer_to_being_dumped
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12. April 2007 @ 09:56 |
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DRM, lock-ins, and piracy: all red herrings for a music industry in trouble
By Eric Bangeman | Published: April 12, 2007 - 10:51AM CT
A British media research company has peered into the music industry's crystal ball, and the outlook for the next couple of years isn't so hot. Global music sales will drop to $23 billion in 2009, just over half of 1997's $45 billion and down 16 percent from 2006. The biggest reason for the steep decline is a drop in CD sales, which Enders Analysis believes will not be fully offset by digital sales in the next five years.
Is piracy to blame? Is DRM the solution? Enders Analysis says no, instead laying the blame for the industry's sliding sales at the feet of the record labels. "As we analyze the industry's core challenges... we consistently find that the industry has lost the ability to influence and control its future," reads the report's executive summary. "Worse, the industry has often appeared caught short, and its reactions accordingly wrong-footed."
Where did the industry go wrong? At the height of the rush to DRM, the record labels decided to put their money behind expensive and ultimately unattractive subscription services at a time when Napster 1.0's popularity was it its peak. The industry favored an approach where consumers would be locked into monthly subscription deals that control how you used content.
Yet the writing was already on the wall, courtesy of P2P. Users prefer to pick and choose their favorite songs from among the sea of (sometimes free) content. It wasn't until 2003 that the iTunes Music Store opened, marking the music industry's first serious attempt at an online distribution model consumers would like. Yet by this time the industry had spent the previous years trying to fight the direction that the market was heading, which is a bit like trying to change the flow of a river. It can be done, but it's rarely easy and rarely worth it.
Speaking of Apple, Enders Analysis has some harsh words for the iPod-iTunes ecosystem. The report's authors believe that Apple's dominance of the digital music industry is hurting the market's evolution. Apple's insistence on a single, fixed price for all content hurts potential long-tail sales of older, back-catalog music. In addition, they're not impressed with the iPod-iTunes cycle, saying that Apple's reliance on iPod sales and resulting music pricing model may be squeezing both other players and music-only stores out of the market.
Of course, the recent move by EMI to liberate its catalog from the shackles of DRM will change the iTunes-iPod equation, as any player capable of playing AAC files will be able to play non-DRMed tracks purchased at the iTunes Store.
Recorded music sales
Source: Enders Analysis
The biggest problem facing the music industry, according to Enders, is one that we've pointed out here at Ars: the decline of the album. The easy availability of digital music makes it possible for music fans to cherry-pick their favorite songs. In high school, I bought Abacab (yes, I'm old) in LP form by Genesis primarily because of the title track and "Dodo/Lurker." 26 years later, I would have just snagged those two tracks from the iTunes Store.
As you can see from the chart above, legal downloads are expected to continue their growth, but not at a rate that will be able to make up for the decline in CD sales. Although sales of a single track online arguably cost less for the record company due to the lack of physical distribution costs, the fact that music fans are picking their favorite songs from albums instead of buying the whole disc eats away at the advantages of digital distribution from a revenue standpoint.
The changing landscape has forced the Big Four labels to get creative with their revenue streams. One example is Universal's decision to sign a licensing deal with YouTube not long after suing it for copyright infringement. Under the terms of the deal, Universal will receive a chunk of the advertising revenues generated by YouTube, while YouTube gets the masters from Universal's music video library to work from.
Licensing deals will increasingly become a more important part of the revenue landscape for the record companies, but it's not likely to close the revenue gap. Unfortunately for the record labels, it looks like the glory days of the mid-90s have vanished forever, and no amount of lawsuits, DRM, or licensing deals will be able to turn back the clock.
DRM-lock-ins-and-piracy-all-red-herrings-for-a-music-industry-in-trouble.html" target="_blank">http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...in-trouble.html
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12. April 2007 @ 10:04 |
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AMD's New DRM
Posted by kdawson on Thursday April 12, @10:33AM
from the for-your-eyes-only dept.
AMD Censorship
DefectiveByDesign writes "Remember how AMD said they'd make use of ATI's GPU technology to make better technology? Well, not all change is progress. InfoWorld's Tom Yager reports that AMD plans to block access to the framebuffer in hardware to help enforce DRM schemes, such as allowing more restricted playback of Sony Blu-ray disks. They can pry my Print Screen key from my cold, dead fingers."
Content in lockdown
An unbreakable link between media and its delivery end point is near
I?m increasingly aghast at the erosion of the traditional freedom we?ve enjoyed to do whatever we please with our personal computers -- but intrigued by the science behind it.
My latest revelation came during a recent visit to AMD for a day of briefings, mostly about the Barcelona quad-core Opteron and the Torrenza direct-connect coprocessor interface. During that visit, I got the briefest of updates on ATI?s new GPU (graphics processing unit) technology. It will ship with software that plays movies on Blu-ray discs. The AMD rep spelled it out in words that would have been undiplomatic coming from me: He said that the new chips will ?block unauthorized access to the frame buffer.? In short, that means an unauthorized party can?t save the contents of the display to a file on disk unless the content owner approves it.
There is a short list of parties who will be unauthorized to access your frame buffer: You. There is a long list of parties who are authorized to access your frame buffer, and that list includes Microsoft, Apple, AMD, Intel, ATI, NVidia, Sony Pictures, Paramount, HBO, CBS, Macrovision, and all other content owners and enablers that want your machine to themselves whenever you?re watching, listening to, reading, or shooting monsters with their products.
Video, audio, and software will all drive a similar road, that being a single, unmodifiable path from the original encoded, licensed source to rendering, and on to delivery (display, headphones, portable device, printer, or memory for execution of software). This bit of progress seems to have little relevance to IT until you expand the meaning of the word ?content? to encompass that which you create that is consumed by human eyes and ears.
As people working the IT side of business, academia, and government, we know all too well that personal and customer information, trade secrets, and other varieties of confidential data can be intercepted using tricks similar to those that are used to swipe movies and music. IT content needs that direct path from source media to delivery, too, so that possession of encoded media -- say, a Blu-ray disc -- is critical to viewing, listening, or executing.
For example, right now there is no unbreakable way to arrange that a PDF or other sort of viewable document can?t be copied or at least stored as a snapshot of the display. The audio portion of a classified presentation can be recorded as easily as hooking an analog or digital recorder into the headphone output. HTML would be a much more viable means of rendering rich content if it could be protected. Rich document and multimedia rendering engines would know if they were talking to delivery devices that were specifically matched with physically secure equipment. If a renderer couldn?t verify that a display or headset that it trusts was the sole source of delivery, nothing would appear or be heard.
It?s easy to write off entertainment content owners and distributors as a money-grubbing cartel; for the most part, they are. But the technical work they do to protect what they own matters, even that work which we find distasteful given needless extremes of use such as pay-per-single-view. They?ve got the money to drive the science of data and content protection. If they perfect that unbreakable link between the media and the delivery end point, if there?s never another DVD image splattered all over the Internet, then IT will be able to make a promise that, to date, it couldn?t: Nobody can view or copy your data without authorization.
Tom Yager is chief technologist of the InfoWorld Test Center.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/28/14OPcurve_1.html
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12. April 2007 @ 10:08
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Member
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12. April 2007 @ 10:40 |
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i guess the following years will be full of surprises and counter-surprises. it's inherent of human nature. What?!!! Are you saying I can't??? Watch me!!!!
technology is a wonderful thing. i'm sure resistance to big brother will ensue and eventually succeed.
Chuck
"Men are slower to recognize blessings than misfortunes." Titus Livius (59BC-17AD)
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janrocks
Suspended permanently
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12. April 2007 @ 11:22 |
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Killing that annoying bubble popper "auto updates is turned off"..
Google run at startup policy XP
The annoying little B... is called wnscntfy.exe or something like it.. look in OoO.. memory hole... wassit called?.. the system monitor thing.
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 11:27 |
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RIAA goes after new family
p2pnet.net news:- Recording Industry vs The People is reporting another example of serious RIAA blundering that's been underway in Tucson, Arizona, since last year.
Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG's RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) tried to sue another computer illiterate victim.
Acting for Loud Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment,BMG Music, UMG Recordings and Arista Records, they RIAA claimed Roberto Sanchez was an illegal online distributor of copyrighted music.
It's the RIAA's tried and tested way of causing as much grief as it can to families before turning to its real targets, the children.
"In February, 2005, Sanchez was contacted by Plaintiffs' settlement representatives demanding pre-litigation settlement," says a court document filed by Sanchez's lawyer, Edwin Eloy Aguilar of the Karp Heurlin Weiss, going on:
"Sanchez informed the settlement representative, through counsel, that Sanchez did not ever download or make available for distribution any songs, and accordingly refused to settle."
The RIAA, "acted maliciously and oppressively in that Plaintiffs, even after having been advised of the facts and circumstances of this case, have continued to demand that Sanchez pay money for damages related to acts that he never committed," says the document.
Having failed to make a case against Sanchez, they went after his daughter.
Last November, the RIAA decided to try to change things, "not to drop the father as a defendant, but to add the daughter," says Recording Industry vs The People, continuing, "on April 10th of this year, they sought to withdraw their motion and drop the case entirely against the father, without prejudice, indicating an intention to bring a separate suit against the daughter."
"Unbeknownst to them, however, the day before the Court had granted their motion for leave to amend to add the daughter.
"Defendants thereafter filed an answer and counterclaims to the amended complaint, counterclaiming for (a) a declaratory judgment of non-infringement and (b) money damages for prima facie tort under Arizona law."
In another case, "In what's become standard operating procedure, having failed to terrorize Cathy and Barry Merchant into 'settling' out of court, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has begun harassing their family".
"It's now demanding access to the household computer, saying it's going after anyone associated with the Merchants who's, 'directly or indirectly responsible for the illegal uploading, downloading and distribution of the Record companies' copyrighted works using Mr. Merchant's AOL internet account'."
And in yet another similar case, having accused Kylee Andersen's mother, Tanya, of being an illicit online music distributor, the Big 4 music cartel wanted to go after 10-year-old Kylee. Face-to-face.
"Was the idea to try to get information from her so they could use it against her mother?" - p2pnet wondered. "Or are they going to claim Kylee herself is another of those "massive online distributors of copyrighted music" who are, according to the multi-billion-dollar Big 4, "devastating" the corporate music industry?
"After all, Kylee was seven when the RIAA first zeroed in on her mother, who's disabled and who gets by on a pension. And as every online criminal and thief knows, seven is the perfect age to start as an illegal music distributor."
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
Recording Industry vs The People - R.I.P. PlayStation 3 20GB is officially no more, April 11, 2007
failed to terrorize - RIAA ramps up attack on family, April 10, 2007
p2pnet - RIAA vs Kylee hits the mainstream, Marech 28, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/11951
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 11:36 |
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FredBun
Quote:
janrocks
Killing that annoying bubble popper "auto updates is turned off"..
Google run at startup policy XP
The annoying little B... is called wnscntfy.exe or something like it.. look in OoO.. memory hole... wassit called?.. the system monitor thing.
get and install
Tweak UI
This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.
Version 2.10 requires Windows XP Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003.
AFTER INSTALL OPEN TWEAK UI AND
click on taskbar and start menu,uncheck enable ballone tips
here
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downl...ppowertoys.mspx
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12. April 2007 @ 11:39
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 11:57 |
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European ISPs: "Aiding and abetting" copyright violations could land our CEOs in jail
By Nate Anderson | Published: April 12, 2007 - 01:56PM CT
European legislation that would criminalize commercial copyright violations has now made its way through the various and sundry committees of the European Parliament and is ready for a vote by the full parliament within the next two weeks. If adopted, IPRED2 would mark a major shift in EU intellectual property law, which has previously treated copyright violation as a civil offense with corresponding civil penalties (normally fines and injunctions). If passed, dirty pirates could be thrown in the brig.
Which wouldn't be that big of a deal if this were just about easily-defined "dirty pirates." The problem here is twofold. One issue is that many copyright cases involved legitimate businesses, not pirates cranking out bootleg DVDs to sell on street corners. Should executives of firms like Google or YouTube be thrown in jail if some new service of theirs is found to be infringing someone else's copyright? Many EU lawyers argue "no." These sorts of cases arise all the time in the course of business, and have generally been handled by civil proceedings.
The other issue is that the law also criminalizes "aiding or abetting and inciting such infringements," and this language is ambiguous enough to worry plenty of watchdog groups. We reported last month that ISPs are concerned that they could be liable for "abetting" infringement by allowing users to run P2P applications or access web sites like AllofMP3.com. The terms could be construed in a wide variety of ways, and content holders will surely push for the broadest possible interpretation.
Resistance to IPRED2 has been varied. The two branches of the Dutch States-General issued objections (Word document) last year, arguing that the EU lacked the authority to pass such a law and that civil penalties would work better.
"The two Houses take the view that violations of intellectual property rights cannot be treated as such a serious violation of the policy field to be protected that the harmonized deployment of criminal law measures must be considered essential in the battle against these violations," says the report. The wording is a bit awkward, but the idea comes through loud and clear: this simply isn't necessary.
The UK's Law Society issued its own set of objections (PDF) to IPRED2 and made some of the same points. "We are concerned that the introduction of broad criminal sanctions might upset the balance that exists between the use of civil and criminal proceedings," said the group. They urged that criminal penalties be reserved for counterfeiting and piracy only.
The EFF's European branch has also waded into the fray, launching a CopyCrime web site and encouraging users to sign its petition.
Fortunately, the bill was amended by JURI, the powerful European Parliament legal committee, during proceedings last month, and many of the objections put forward by these groups have already been addressed. For instance, the bill now would exclude "acts carried out by private users for personal and not for profits purposes" and fair use exceptions to national laws are required. The phrase "in the context of counterfeiting and piracy" was even included in Article 1 of the bill, as the Law Society hoped.
Still, some activists are worried about the broader application of criminal penalties to copyright law and have continued to call for amendments to the bill. These could be added up until the vote is actually taken, which is expected before the end of April.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...os-in-jail.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 12:02 |
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Judges: online comments by minors protected under Constitution
By Jacqui Cheng | Published: April 12, 2007 - 11:15AM CT
High school students are allowed to practice free speech online and are protected, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled this week. A three-judge panel ruled on Monday that even if the speech is laden with expletives, what a student says against school policy or against the state is protected under both the US Constitution and the Indiana State Constitution.Related Stories
* MySpace prank gone bad leads to misuse of school resources, multiple lawsuits
The student, only named as A.B. in court documents, was originally sentenced to probation for six counts of harassment based off of comments she made on a MySpace page. The comments were posted to a fake profile created by another student posing as the principal of the school, and they were focused mostly around A.B.'s dislike of the high school's policies and principal. She clearly indicated in her comments that she was aware that the profile was not real and that she was "pretty sure" she knew who created it. The principal, Shawn Gobert, testified that he never received any of the messages directly and only observed them as he was reading through the fake profile page.
Although A.B. ultimately made six separate comments on the profile expressing her distaste, one comment became the main focus of the case against her:
Hey you piece of greencastle sh*t.
What the f*ck do you think of me [now] that you can['t] control me? Huh?
Ha ha ha guess what I'll wear my f*cking piercings all day long and to
school and you can['t] do sh*t about it! Ha ha f*cking ha! Stupid bastard!
Oh, and kudos to whomever made this ([I'm] pretty sure I know who).
Get a background.
While the comments come off as typical of an angry teenager, the juvenile court decided that A.B. was a "delinquent child" and sentenced her to nine months of probation.
However, the Court of Appeals disagreed. "A.B. asserts that her message, made in a public forum and criticizing Gobert, a state actor, in implementing a school policy proscribing decorative piercings is a legitimate communication envisioned within the bounds of protected political speech," wrote the judges. "A.B. openly criticizes Gobert's imposed school policy on decorative body piercings and forcefully indicates her displeasure with it. While we have little regard for A.B.'s use of vulgar epithets, we conclude that her overall message constitutes political speech."
The ruling goes on: "The State failed to produce any evidence that A.B.'s expression inflicted particularized harm analogous to torturous injury on readily identifiable private interests as required to rebut A.B.'s claim of political speech. [...] Therefore, we hold that A.B.'s conviction for harassment contravened her right to speak, as guaranteed by the Indiana Constitution."
The judges' decision sets a precedent for other minors who may avoid posting their opinions online for fear of being smacked down by the state. Such a decision, however, does not seem like it would apply to other MySpace-principal harassment cases, such as that of a Pennsylvania principal who continues to have new fake profiles created about him that accuse him of sleeping with students, engaging in domestic violence, and doing drugs. However, as long as the comments are not directly threatening and/or libelous, it appears as if teenagers can expect some degree of Constitutional protection online after all.
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/72/295688#2989989
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12. April 2007 @ 12:03
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Senior Member
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12. April 2007 @ 14:53 |
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Ireland, when you say requires service pack one, does that mean one or above, cause I have ser pack2.
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 16:39 |
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Quote:
AACS Cracked Again
Posted by kdawson on Thursday April 12, @01:09PM
from the persistence dept.
Encryption Movies Entertainment
EmTeedee sends us to a blog post for a summary of the latest results in cracking AACS, from the Doom9 forums (as the earlier cracks have been) ? after the DVD Security Group said it had patched the previous flaws. From the DLTV blog: "This time the target was the Xbox 360 HD DVD add on. Geremia on Doom9 forums has started a thread on how he has obtained the Volume ID without AACS authentication. With the aid of others like Arnezami they have managed to patch the Xbox 360 HD DVD add on... It appears that XT5 has released [an] application that allows the Volume ID to be read without the need to rewrite the firmware. This would mean that anyone could simply plug in the HD DVD drive and obtain the Volume ID from any HD DVD without the hassle of flashing it."
link to doom9
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=124294
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 17:44 |
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Quote:
FredBun
Ireland, when you say requires service pack one, does that mean one or above, cause I have ser pack2.
install the program TWEAK UI ye will be ok with sp-2
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 20:17 |
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New Bug Reported In Windows Help Files
Posted by l33tdawg on Friday, April 13, 2007 - 02:03 AM (Reads: 7)
Source: Information Week
Another Microsoft vulnerability has been disclosed, along with proof-of-concept code. The so-called heap-overflow vulnerability affects Windows help files in multiple versions of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows NT, and Windows 2000. Researchers at Security Focus reported that the Help File viewer is prone to a heap-overflow vulnerability because it fails to perform boundary checks before copying user-supplied data into insufficiently sized memory buffers. The problem arises when the application handles a malformed or malicious Windows Help File. "A successful attack may facilitate arbitrary code execution in the context of a vulnerable user who opens a malicious file," wrote a Security Focus researcher in an advisory. "Failed exploit attempts will likely result in denial-of-service conditions."
New Bug Reported In Windows Help Files
Microsoft is investigating a possible heap-overflow vulnerability that was recently disclosed, along with proof-of-concept code.
By Sharon Gaudin
InformationWeek
Apr 12, 2007 03:20 PM
Another Microsoft vulnerability has been disclosed, along with proof-of-concept code.
The so-called heap-overflow vulnerability affects Windows help files in multiple versions of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows NT, and Windows 2000. Researchers at Security Focus reported that the Help File viewer is prone to a heap-overflow vulnerability because it fails to perform boundary checks before copying user-supplied data into insufficiently sized memory buffers.
The problem arises when the application handles a malformed or malicious Windows Help File.
"A successful attack may facilitate arbitrary code execution in the context of a vulnerable user who opens a malicious file," wrote a Security Focus researcher in an advisory. "Failed exploit attempts will likely result in denial-of-service conditions."
A Microsoft spokesman e-mailed a response to InformationWeek and said the company is investigating new public reports of a possible vulnerability in the Microsoft Help subsystem. The company's initial investigation found that the possible vulnerability would require an attacker to use a .hlp file. Microsoft considers them unsafe file types and recommends people use the same caution with .hlp files as they do with .exe, since both file types are executables.
Hon Lau, a member of the Security Response Team at Symantec, wrote in a blog entry on Thursday that researchers there have not seen the vulnerability being actively exploited. Lau said Symantec analyzed a sample of the proof-of-concept code and released the Bloodhound.Exploit.135 to detect threats that exploit the vulnerability.
Mati Aharoni, lead penetration tester with Israeli IT security education firm See Security Technologies, is credited with discovering the bug.
Microsoft advised that any customers who think they've been affected by the vulnerability contact the company through this Web site.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/show...cleID=199000619
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 20:23 |
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Liberty, equality, interoperability? iTunes, Zune lock-ins may come to an end in France
By Nate Anderson | Published: April 12, 2007 - 05:39PM CT
The French DADVSI intellectual property law that stirred up such controversy when it was being drafted last year eventually passed in August 2006. One of the stipulations of the final version was that DRM schemes be made interoperable, and an independent body was to be set up by the French government to supervise the process. That group, the Autorité de régulation des mesures techniques (ARMT), was officially created (French) last week.
The ARMT was given six members; pictures of them, along with an opening speech, are available from the French government. The six will serve for six years each, and they are supposed to be fully independent. That is, they cannot have ties to the companies or industries that they will be working with.
Nicolas Jondet, a French graduate student now at the University of Edinburgh, has just posted a lengthy English discussion of the group and their work. The ARMT will be good for consumers, he argues, but it will not suddenly eliminate DRM. It will require interoperability, but the necessary information can only be requested by a company that has a legitimate interoperability problem?Microsoft, for instance, which cannot play iTunes files on the Zune.
Consumers will not be able to file interoperability requests, and they will not have access to the information that the DRM companies provide to the ARMT. Thus, the group will not suddenly make it simple for consumers to remove DRM shackles from their media, but it should get easier to transfer tunes from one DRM format to another.
The ARMT is also supposed to ensure that DRM does not prevent consumers from making legitimate uses of their works, but this is unlikely to pave the way for legalization of DVD ripping, for instance. That's because the group will apply a test that takes into consideration the effects that any decision has on the marketplace and on the ability of the content owners to profit from their content.
Although the group's power is limited, it does have teeth; it can impose large fines on any company that does not comply. Now that Apple is selling non-DRMed files from EMI and Steve Jobs has gone on record saying that he would prefer a DRM-free world, the company appears to be less concerned about measures such as France's, especially as the technical information that companies like Apple provide will remain (supposedly) private.
How times change. Last year, Apple was calling an early version of the bill "state-sponsored piracy" and there was talk of the company pulling out of France altogether. No longer; which means that iTunes Store media goodness may soon be available to all.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...-in-france.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2007 @ 20:26 |
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FTC: Games better regulated than music, movies
By Jeremy Reimer | Published: April 12, 2007 - 04:56PM CT
The video game industry is often accused of marketing overly violent games to children. But how does the industry stack up when compared to other mainstream media, such as movies and music? A new study (PDF format) released by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) attempts to answer this question, and the results?while mixed?look pretty good for the gaming industry.
The report looks at the structure and operations of each industry's self-regulation programs, such as the ESRB for video games. It also examines how much each industry intentionally markets its "adult" or "mature" products to children. Its most dramatic study involves a "mystery" child shopper who entered a random selection of stores and attempted to purchase movies, music, and video games that had ratings prohibiting retailers from selling said items directly to children.
All three industries were found to be in compliance "for the most part" with self-imposed regulations prohibiting advertising adult products on television shows and magazines aimed at the teenage and younger markets. However, the FTC had harsher criticisms for Internet advertising, which it called "an increasingly important medium that reaches millions of children each day." While the report cited many examples of movies, music, and games advertised on youth-oriented sites, it noted that of all three industries, only gaming has rules that restrict such advertising. The gaming industry's rules state that ads for adult games cannot appear on sites where more than 45 percent of visitors are under 17. The report supports strengthening these regulations, and suggests that the movie and music industries should adopt them as well.
As far as the "mystery shopper" test goes, the report indicates that the video game industry has made the most progress in enforcing the existing rules at retail. The rate at which underage shoppers could buy M-rated games dropped nearly in half from to 40 percent from the previous report, which was issued in the year 2000. This figure is just three percent higher than the number of kids who could get into R-rated movies, and far less than the 70-80 percent who were able to successfully purchase R-rated DVDs and music CDs with explicit content.
Organizations such as the Entertainment Software Association are pleased with the FTC's results, calling them a vindication for their industry. "We're pleased that the FTC has acknowledged what we in the industry have long-known: the best way to help parents are industry-led, self-regulatory efforts that can provide them information they need," said Carolyn Rauch, senior vice president of the ESA.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...sic-movies.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. April 2007 @ 08:23 |
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RyanVM's Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack 2.1.9
Apr 13, 2007 - 7:49 AM - by Digital Dave
If you have an XP disk and nLite, grab this baby and make a new install disk. It's SO worth the 1/2 hour of work.
This pack is designed to bring a Windows XP CD with SP2 integrated fully up to date with all of the latest hotfixes released by Microsoft since SP2's release.
Major Geeks.com Post and Download
RyanVM's Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack 2.1.9
Author: Ryan VanderMeulen
Date: 2007-04-12
Size: 45.9 Mb
License: Freeware
This pack is designed to bring a Windows XP CD with SP2 integrated fully up to date with all of the latest hotfixes released by Microsoft since SP2's release. It accomplishes this task via direct integration, where files on the CD are directly overwritten by the updated files. This method has numerous advantages over other integration techniques:
- Since the files are being directly overwritten on the CD, there is no period of vulnerability between when the files are copied to the hard drive and the hotfixes are run. This guarantees maximum stability and security.
- All necessary registry entries needed by Windows Update, QFECheck, and Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer are imported during Windows setup, meaning that the integration is transparent to Windows.
- Security Catalogs necessary for Windows File Protection to recognize the updated files as digitally signed are installed, once again ensuring maximum transparency to Windows.
- Since the updated files are being directly overwritten on the CD, this pack has the minimum possible amount of overhead associated with integrating hotfixes in comparison to other methods - both in space used on the CD and in Windows installation time.
- This pack works regardless of whether or not the Windows installation is unattended.
NOTE: This file is compressed in 7-Zip format. If your compression program does not support .7z extensions, you can
DOWNLOAD HERE
http://www.majorgeeks.com/RyanVMs_Window...Pack_d5085.html
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. April 2007 @ 08:30 |
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Adobe Flash Player (IE, AOL) 9.0.45.0
Author: Macromedia Inc
Date: 2007-04-13
Size: 1.1 Mb
License: Freeware
Adobe Flash Player (formerly Macromedia Flash Player) lets you view the best animation and entertainment on the Web. It displays Web application front-ends, high-impact Web site user interfaces, interactive online advertising, and short-form to long-form animation. Since it is free of the design restrictions of more traditional Web display options, you can use it to clearly and exactly express your brand and company identity.
DOWNLOAD HERE
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Adobe_Flash_Player_IE_AOL_d5163.html
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Moderator
1 product review
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13. April 2007 @ 13:02 |
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF9BjB7Bzr0
Effective immediately, MSNBC will no longer simulcast the "Imus in the Morning" radio program. This decision comes as a result of an ongoing review process, which initially included the announcement of a suspension. It also takes into account many conversations with our own employees. What matters to us most is that the men and women of NBC Universal have confidence in the values we have set for this company. This is the only decision that makes that possible. Once again, we apologize to the women of the Rutgers basketball team and to our viewers. We deeply regret the pain this incident has caused.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036713/
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. April 2007 @ 13:02 |
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Warner unhappy with new, DRM-free AnywhereCD
DRM-free-anywherecd.html" target="_blank">http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...anywherecd.html
By Jacqui Cheng | Published: April 13, 2007 - 11:47AM CT
Michael Robertson, founder of MP3.com, has launched a new music download service that sells DRM-free albums, but Warner Music Group is not happy about it. The service, AnywhereCD, sells music in MP3 format with no copy protection, but customers must buy full albums?no cherry-picking of individual tracks as customers do on iTunes.
"Last year I decided it was time to revisit selling music in the MP3 format," Robertson wrote on his personal web site. "I reached out to many labels and all were polite and open to meetings. My message was to use the MP3 format to boost sales by offering a new buying option for online music fans."
AnywhereCD currently offers a fairly wide selection of music with a number of big names, such as Green Day, They Might Be Giants, Rolling Stones, Faith Hill, Metallica, and more. Although Robertson claims that albums start at $9.95, I could not find any at that price during my browsing of the store?most albums I found ranged from $12.95 to $19.95 apiece. These album prices are anywhere from slightly to significantly higher than full abums purchased from the iTunes Store (which are often priced at $9.99), but the extra value apparently comes from the "confidence of knowing you own all the digital tracks forever and they will play everywhere."
The bit rate of the MP3 files purchased through the service are encoded at 192kbps "or better," indicating that there may be inconsistencies in bit rates across different albums. AnywhereCD's help page justifies the decision to go with 192kbps, saying that "Your dog might be able to hear the subtleties and nuances but our blind taste tests reveal that very few people, if any, are really able to distinguish between our very high quality MP3s and the original CDs."
The new service launched just a couple of weeks after EMI's announcement that they were going to start selling almost their entire catalog online without copy protection, starting with the iTunes Store. Despite EMI's statement its DRM-free music won't be exclusive to iTunes, AnywhereCD doesn't appear to offer any music from EMI on its store just yet.
Warner still loves its DRM
Warner Music Group immediately demanded that AnywhereCD stop selling the label's albums the same day that AnywhereCD launched, saying that selling the music without copy protection was in "flagrant" violation with their agreement. "Accordingly, we have sent them a notice of termination and they are required to immediately remove all of our content from their site," the music label said in a statement given to Reuters.
Indeed, Robertson wrote on his web site that only "some labels were receptive" to his DRM-free approach, although it appears as if he moved forward with the business plan without ensuring that they were all on board. Some of the biggest artists whose music is being sold through AnywhereCD are those from Warner, including that of Madonna and Prince. If Robertson is forced to remove them, the site will likely end up losing a fair chunk of its widespread appeal.
Warner's reaction shows just how far out on a limb EMI has gone against the opinion of the rest of the music industry, and other labels will still need to be convinced that EMI made the right decision before diving into DRM-free waters.
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Moderator
1 product review
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13. April 2007 @ 13:15 |
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By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer Thu Apr 12, 7:49 PM ET
NEW YORK - Don Imus' racist remarks got him fired by CBS on Thursday, the finale to a stunning fall for one of the nation's most prominent broadcasters.
ADVERTISEMENT
Imus was initially suspended for two weeks after he called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" on the air last week. But outrage kept growing and advertisers kept bolting from his CBS radio show and its MSNBC simulcast, which was canceled Wednesday.
"There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society," CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves said in announcing the decision. "That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision."
Imus, 66, had a long history of inflammatory remarks. But something struck a raw nerve when he targeted the Rutgers team ? which includes a class valedictorian, a future lawyer and a musical prodigy ? after they lost in the
NCAA championship game.
A spokeswoman for the team said it did not have an immediate comment on Imus' firing. But Imus was scheduled to meet with the team Thursday evening at the governor's mansion in Trenton, N.J.
He was fired in the middle of a two-day radio fundraiser for children's charities. CBS announced that Imus' wife, Deirdre, and his longtime newsman, Charles McCord, will host Friday's show.
The cantankerous Imus, once named one of the 25 Most Influential People in America by Time magazine and a member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame, was one of radio's original shock jocks. His career took flight in the 1970s and with a cocaine- and vodka-fueled outrageous humor. After sobering up, he settled into a mix of highbrow talk about politics and culture, with locker room humor sprinkled in.
He issued repeated apologies as protests intensified. But it wasn't enough as everyone from
Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) to
Oprah Winfrey joined the criticism.
The Rev.
Al Sharpton and
Jesse Jackson met with Moonves on Thursday to demand Imus' removal.
Jackson called the firing "a victory for public decency. No one should use the public airwaves to transmit racial or sexual degradation."
Said Sharpton: "He says he wants to be forgiven. I hope he continues in that process. But we cannot afford a precedent established that the airways can commercialize and mainstream sexism and racism."
In a memo to staff members, Moonves said the firing "is about a lot more than Imus."
"He has flourished in a culture that permits a certain level of objectionable expression that hurts and demeans a wide range of people," Moonves said. "In taking him off the air, I believe we take an important and necessary step not just in solving a unique problem, but in changing that culture, which extends far beyond the walls of our company."
It's also likely to trigger a wider debate about expression and forgiveness. Some of Imus' fans have pointed to inflammatory statements made by Sharpton and Jackson in the past, or in the lyrics of popular music.
Losing Imus will be a financial hit to CBS Radio, which also suffered when Howard Stern departed for satellite radio. The program earns about $15 million in annual revenue for CBS, which owns Imus' home radio station WFAN-AM and manages Westwood One, the company that syndicates the show nationally. One potential replacement: the sports show "Mike & the Mad Dog," which airs afternoons on WFAN.
The radiothon had raised more than $1.3 million Thursday before Imus learned that he had lost his job. The annual event has raised more than $40 million since 1990.
"This may be our last radiothon, so we need to raise about $100 million," Imus cracked at the start of the event.
Volunteers were getting about 200 more pledges per hour than they did last year, with most callers expressing support for Imus, said phone bank supervisor Tony Gonzalez. The event benefited Tomorrows Children's Fund, the CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch.
Imus, whose suspension was supposed to start next week, was in the awkward situation of broadcasting Thursday's radio program from the MSNBC studios in New Jersey, even though NBC News said the night before that MSNBC would no longer simulcast his program on television.
He didn't attack MSNBC (a unit of NBC Universal, owned by General Electric Co.) for its decision ? "I understand the pressure they were under," he said ? but complained the network was doing some unethical things during the broadcast. He didn't elaborate.
Sponsors that pulled out of Imus' show included American Express Co., Sprint Nextel Corp., Staples Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and General Motors Corp. Imus made a point Thursday to thank one sponsor, Bigelow Tea, for sticking by him.
The list of his potential guests began to shrink, too.
Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham said the magazine's staffers would no longer appear on Imus' show. Meacham, Jonathan Alter, Evan Thomas, Howard Fineman and Michael Isikoff from Newsweek have been frequent guests.
Imus has complained bitterly about a lack of support from one black politician, Harold Ford Jr., even though he strongly backed Ford's campaign for Senate in Tennessee last year. Ford, now head of the Democratic Leadership Council, said Thursday he'll leave it to others to decide Imus' future.
"I don't want to be viewed as piling on right now because Don Imus is a good friend and a decent man," Ford said. "However, he did a reprehensible thing."
Imus' troubles have also affected his wife, whose book "Green This!" came out this week. Her promotional tour has been called off "because of the enormous pressure that Deirdre and her family are under," said Simon & Schuster publicist Victoria Meyer.
People are buying it, though: An original printing of 45,000 was increased to 55,000.
Imus still has a lot of support among radio managers across the country, many of whom grew up listening to him, said Tom Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio.
Rutgers' team, meanwhile, appeared Thursday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" with their coach, C. Vivian Stringer.
At the end of their appearance, Winfrey said: "I want to borrow a line from Maya Angelou, who is a personal mentor of mine and I know you all also feel the same way about her. And she has said this many times, and I say this to you, on behalf of myself and every woman that I know, you make me proud to spell my name W-O-M-A-N."
___
Quote:
Associated Press correspondents Rebecca Santana, Karen Matthews, Warren Levinson, Seth Sutel, Tara Burghart, Colleen Long and Hillel Italie contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070412/ap_en_tv/imus_protests
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. April 2007 @ 13:20 |
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Democrats hire RIAA spinster
p2pnet.net news:- Jenni Engebretsen, a misinformation director with Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG's RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), has been appointed deputy ceo for public affairs for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.
The RIAA is currently engaged in using university and college administrations to terrorise students into paying extortion money to avoid being sued by the RIAA.
Thirty-six University of Nebraska-Lincoln students were on the RIAA hit list. But the university system automatically changes a campus computer's IP address every time that computer is turned on, which stymied the RIAA.
Could the RIAA track them down some other way? "Probably not," the Omaha World-Herald had university cio, Walter Weir, stating, going on, "If they can't give us any more information, I don't know how in the heck anyone can find 'em."
RIAA spinster Engebretsen, "criticized the university for failing to keep computer records that would have made it easy to track down the UNL offenders," said the story, quoting her as declaring:
"One would think universities would understand the need to retain these records."
Engebretsen's appointment isn't surprising. According to the Democratic National Committee press release, "Before joining the RIAA, Engebretsen spent eight years working in Democratic politics, most recently as a Regional Communications Director for the Kerry-Edwards for President campaign, where she was responsible for developing campaign communications strategy for top-targeted states including Florida and New Hampshire."
No wonder the campaign went down the tubes.
"During the 2004 presidential cycle, she also served as Deputy Communications Director for the Democratic National Convention in Boston and as Press Secretary for the Edwards for President campaign during the primaries," says the statement.
Interestingly, she's a graduate of Chicago's Northwestern University, the site for the first conference devoted to "discussing what the hell the RIAA is doing with its indiscriminate litigation," as Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow summed it up.
Doctorow has a list of the largest donors to the DNC for the past two election cycles on Boing Boing and, "If you know these people, you can contact them and urge them not to contribute to the DNCC," he suggests, going on:
Engebretsen's PR approach, "is centered around stonewalling and avoiding difficult press calls. I sought comment on this post from the DNC and from Jenni Engebretsen. Neither responded in time for initial publication."
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
paying extortion money - Responses to RIAA sophistry, April 12, 2007
RIAA hit list - RIAA student attack foiled, March 20, 2007
Omaha World-Herald - UNL proves safe haven for music pirates, March 16, 2007
summed it up - 'Sue 'em all' conference report, November 6, 2005
Boing Boing - DNC appoints RIAA shill to run Public Affairs for convention, April 12, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/11953
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 13. April 2007 @ 13:21
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. April 2007 @ 13:24 |
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Killing online freedom of speech
p2pnet.net news view:- A plan by Tim O'Reilly and Jimmy Wales to regulate the Net with a Code of Conduct has sparked outrage among supporters of free speech.
Kathy Sierra, a friend of O'Reilly, blogged about death threats she'd received, prompting Net publisher O'Reilly (left) and the Wikipedia's Wales to launch a campaign to clean up the Net.
Will O'Reilly, Wales and Sierra want a kind of seal of approval site owners who agree with their ideas will be able/expected to display?
Observes Brian Whitaker in The Guardian, a group of Saudis formed OCSAB promoting rules for "ethical" blogging. The rules were as follows, he says:
1 - That the blog does not touch on Islam improperly in any way or shape, which thereby rules out blogs that call to secularism and liberalism.
2 - Seeing as how the community is for Saudi bloggers, naturally then, the blog must be run by a Saudi.
3 - Since we exert much effort on maintaining an elevated level of blogging, the language in use must be Arabic. An exception: Blogs with a non-Arabic speaking audience are excluded, only on the condition that they call to Islam or reflect a pleasant image of Saudi Arabia.
4 - That the blog specifies a certain direction for it to follow, be it Islamic, scientific, technical, medical, social etc. We apologise for not accepting purely personal blogs (ie diary-like blogs).
Whitaker goes on:
Apart from OCSAB's claim to be "the official" organisation for Saudi bloggers, the talk of "ethics" raised alarm in the kingdom's blogging community. Some suspected it might be a cyber-vigilante group, perhaps even the internet equivalent of the dreaded mutawa, or Saudi religious police.
One astonished female Saudi blogger exclaimed: "Boys, boys, boys, when will you ever learn? ... You cannot regulate the Saudi blogosphere. You cannot 'refine' it nor 'filter' it or whatever else I read that you wish to do to it. Now get your filthy hands off blogging ... go ahead and pour your crap out to conventional media, that's what it's there for, anyway."
He sums it up thus:
No matter what rules or codes of practice Jimmy Wales, Tim O'Reilly and others try to establish, the blogosphere is always going to be an undisciplined place. But we should have faith in the people who read blogs: they are not stupid, and the more blogs they read the more they will learn to sift the treasures from the trash.
And that says it all.
The online community is vocal, but that's OK because that's what freedom of speech is all about.
And anyway, a kind of unspoken, voluntary Code of Conduct already exists because for the most part, members of the Net community are responsible people.
No matter how well intended, a formal Code of Conduct would be the thin end of a very nasty wedge.
JN
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
Code of Conduct - Online Code of Conduct, April 10, 2007
death threats - Death Threats vs Freedom of Speech, April 12, 2007
The Guardian - Blog and be damned, April 12, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/11954
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