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ZeroPaid is reporting that ISPs could be turned into the copyright police through European legislation that received a number of "intellectual property" amendments. Many of these amendments can be found here. Judging by the amendments, ISPs could be mandated to block legitimate traffic in an effort to 'prevent' illegitimate traffic. To help stop this legislation, you can check out the action page. Additional coverage can be found on EDRI and Open Rights Group.
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9611/ISPs+to+Ban+P2P+with+New+European+Telecom+Package%3F

Cowards Anonymous writes "Apple's OS market share has increased by nearly 32% in the last year. The same survey found that Windows Vista and Linux also increased their shares by 8% and 18%, respectively, to end the month accounting for 16.14% and 0.88% of the online OS market. The full results from the survey can be found here. The results come as there is increasing speculation about the new version of Mac OS X (Snow Leopard) being targeted at businesses."
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1202211531

Internet Explorer has been a security punching bag for years, and rightfully so. IE 6 was maybe the least secure browser of all time. But Microsoft have been getting their act together on security, and the new beta of IE 8, due in August, will have a slew of new security features including protection against Type-1 cross-site scripting attacks, a better phishing filter and better security for ActiveX controls.
http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid14_gci1319861,00.html

When I was in school I found my recall was highly photographic and associative. I assume this is present to different degrees in most people.

When I recalled something in a book I would recall where on the page it was and what was around it. I'd recall how far I had to flip into the book roughly before i'd have to turn individual pages. Even the weight of the binding was memorable.

I found I could learn more from books that had heavy covers, and glossy pages for easy turing, layots that were generous not compact with lots of color and visual reminders.

Thus to me a pdf file of a book on the screen or a Kindle are just viscerally anti-cognative even though the information might be identical.

The visceral nature of a book in not replicated on laser printed and bound paper. It just does not flip right for me.

Cowards Anonymous writes "A court in the Netherlands has ruled against an interpretation of local copyright law that allowed for downloading of copyrighted materials. The Netherlands currently have a unique legal situation where downloading of copyrighted materials is allowed and only uploading is forbidden. The ruling was made in a case between the manufacturers of writeable media like CDs and the organisation that collects royalties levied on writeable media to compensate artists."
http://pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1262747976

CWmike writes "Juan-Carlos Perez reports that MySpace will open up its data portability project broadly, after launching it with a handpicked set of partners last month. Any Web site will be able to participate. MySpace expects to release the data APIs and publish documentation on its developer site on Thursday. The move is part of working with Google's OpenSocial initiative, which '[MySpace is doing] because every time we locked down a new JavaScript exploit we were sad, because we knew that legitimate application developers were getting hobbled as a result. For every ten spammers we blocked, we were blocking at least a few people trying to make a living by entertaining our users in a positive way. The OpenSocial platform gives us a chance to let MySpace users play again — this time in a safer, more structured, but at the same time more flexible way,' the MySpace Developer Platform sites says."
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=009104038

"Spair time?"

Seriously, this is ridiculous.

BadHaggis writes "Microsoft has vowed to support music licensing for music downloaded from MSN Music until 2011. No need to read the RTFA here's the email..

On April 22, Microsoft notified you that as of August 31st, 2008, we would be changing the level of support for music purchased from MSN Music, and while your existing purchased music would continue to play, you would no longer be able to authorize new PCs and devices to play that music.

After careful consideration, Microsoft has decided to continue to support the authorization of new computers and devices and delivery of new license keys for MSN Music customers through at least the end of 2011, after which we will evaluate how much this functionality is still being used and what steps should be taken next to support our customers. This means you will continue to be able to listen to your purchased music and transfer your music to new PCs and devices beyond the previously announced August 31, 2008 date.

Microsoft continues to recommend that you back up your music on CD or hard drive along with other important data.

Sincerely,

MSN Music team"
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080618-microsoft-does-180-will-continue-to-support-msn-music-drm.html

MaxPlank writes "With less than 20 days now until activation of the Large Hadron Collider, this interview with Physicist Michio Kaku explores the riches of knowledge that we hope the LHC will produce. He dispels the notion of runaway mini black holes, discusses the hopeful discovery of "sparticles" and makes a great case as to why this grand experiment should capture the public's imagination. As a side note, there is a handy countdown clock at http://www.lhcountdown.com/?p=1"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk8Vr00EBHA

An Intel executive has suggested in a blog post that WiMAX could lead to massive savings on broadband Internet, mobile voice, and mobile data service prices. His post lists a WiMAX-based package of services, including home broadband, mobile voice and broadband, home phone service (including international) and even video phone service for $50 to $100 total. It sounds great, but unfortunately for Intel and consumers, it's unlikely to happen anytime soon, thanks to factors ranging from costly WiMAX buildouts to the telcos' lucrative business models based on existing wired and 2.5G/3G infrastructures. There are also questions about WiMAX's actual range following a messy Australian rollout, although the vendor there claims the Australian service provider under-provisioned the network.
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/06/18/reality-check-intels-50-100-wimax-bundle

InfoWorld's Tom Yager offers insight on how digital TV is rapidly heading toward the kind of lockdown that entertainment and broadcast lobbies desire for the Internet. Standards such as HDMI and HDCP are acting in concert to strip your equipment of its functionality, displaying 'incompatibility' messages when plugged into older HDMI-enabled devices, shutting down analog outputs when active, and requiring balky handshake credentials that force many consumers to reboot their TVs to recover permission to watch them. Even broadcast flagging, which has been overturned by the Court of Appeals, is still on the de-facto table, as the entertainment lobby retains the power to bully technology companies into baking broadcast flagging into their wares. Sure, digital TV has far fewer points of origin than the Internet and is therefore easier to control, but, as Yager writes, 'Internet rights restrictions come through your telecommunications equipment' — and it is likely through that equipment that the entertainment and broadcast lobbies will chip away at your rights on the Web.
http://weblog.infoworld.com/yager/archives/2008/06/ahead_of_the_cu_7.html

The newest pdate to the Nintendo Wii's Menu, version 3.3, contains code specifically designed to find and kill the popular Twilight Hack used by homebrewers to play unauthorized code on the Wii. The update also prevents the Freeloader software used to play imported games on the Wii. However, it does not seem to affect the Homebrew Channel in Wiis that already have it installed. The updated code is currently being researched in order to find what code has been changed. So far it has been confirmed that Nintendo included specific instructions to target the Twilight Hack. Work is also being done to update the Twilight Hack in order to bypass this new code.
http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/06/16/wii-menu-update-3-3-kills-twilight-hack/

An anonymous reader writes "It's becoming increasingly dangerous to post blogs in some parts of the world. Various governments continue to step up efforts to crack down on bloggers who expose public corruption and human right violations, according to a research study released earlier this month. Documented arrests of citizen bloggers — those not associated with official news organizations — tripled from 2006 to 2007, according to the World Information Access 2008 Report compiled by the University Of Washington. Iran, China and Egypt accounting for more than half of all the arrests since 2003, according to the report. Philip Howard, an assistant professor at the university and lead author or the report, also noted that because not all regimes report arrests of bloggers, so the numbers are likely to be higher than the 65 arrests from 2003 to the beginning of 2008 cited in the report."

Brad Lucier writes "NPR has the scoop: When a Pennsylvania driver gets a new driver license, the Pennsylvania Department of Transport takes a high-definition photo, and does not inform the driver. Representative Sam Rohrer, a Berks County Republican, says they are, "In fact not just getting a photograph as people think they are geting, but in fact are getting a unique, face-mapping photograph taken. That is significant. That is highly problematic." Rohrer says he's concerned that when the driver's license pictures are taken, PennDOT is "...capturing what are termed unique faceprints, a form of biometrics that includes such things as DNA, eye scans, fingerprints, anything that is clearly, uniquely, individually indefinable." Chuck Ardo, a spokesman for Governor Rendell's administration, though, says when Pennsylvanians sit down for their license photos, by implication, they are giving the state permission to use that photo for identification. "It shouldn't be a concern to anybody who is legitimately trying to apply for a driver's license.""
http://publicbroadcasting.net/wpsu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1301428&sectionID=1

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has introduced its first-ever embedded OS for portable devices that use GPS (global positioning system) and maps to get people where they want to go. Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 is aimed at companies building handheld electronic navigation devices and includes several features to make them Web-friendly, such as easy connections to online services and the Internet, as well as links to mobile phones via Bluetooth, and to Windows-based PCs. The aim of the new OS is to spread the popularity of portable navigation devices (PND) by adding or enhancing new features such as Internet connectivity and services. PNDs are among the hottest electronic devices this year."
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;47654588;fp;16;fpid;1