Number 259 - December 2004

TECH NEWS
By Sue Crane, Vice President / Editor, Big Bear Computer Club, California
Finally, Software with the updates included! Microsoft last month started the process of swapping out all of the boxed copies of Windows XP with the updated version, with a triangle in the upper corner touting SP2 and its security enhancements. Over the next month, Microsoft hopes to swap out the bulk of all boxed copies worldwide. OfficeMax is offering a free 128MB flash drive and anti-spyware to customers buying an XP upgrade.    The Visible Light Communications Consortium, a group of 15 IT manufacturers is proposing using light emitting diodes--which will increasingly become common for ordinary light fixtures and outdoor equipment like traffic lights--to transmit data traffic by up to 10 meters at high speeds. With the technology, a person trapped in a building could hold up a cell phone to a ceiling light, and rescuers would be able to pinpoint his or her exact location. Similarly, cars could exchange information through headlights and taillights, and car computer systems could tell drivers if there were major stalls ahead.    The Federal Communications Commission is beginning a new consumer-education campaign to support the nationwide switch from analog to digital TV. Announcing a new Web site to answer questions about digital TV, The Consumer Electronics Association estimates that about 10% of U.S. households currently have digital sets. For those who don't have cable or satellite TV a converter box will be available to receive and decode digital signals at a cost about $200 each. http://www.dtv.gov/    You probably know that high quality, low cost digital scanning, copying and printing technologies have been used to counterfeit currency, but did you know that the government is fighting back? When you put a document under the glass of your new photocopier or scanner and push the button, it makes a high resolution copy - unless the document is one of the new style twenty or fifty dollar bills. If you do that, you just might see a message pop up informing you that you should visit the Treasury website to become more educated on counterfeit laws    Schools and libraries nationwide have suddenly stopped receiving any new grants from a federal program that is wrestling with new rules on how it spends $2.25 billion each year to provide high-speed Internet and telephone service. The moratorium at the E-Rate program www.fcc.gov/ learnnet/ began two months ago, with no notice, and may last for months, causing significant hardships at schools and libraries.    The FTC is launching an aggressive new strategy to prosecute "spyware" perpetrators, and last week filed a civil lawsuit against former spam-king Sanford Wallace and his companies, Seismic Entertainment Productions and SmartBot. Wallace, who was once dubbed "Spamford" for his earlier misdeeds, operates the PassItOn.com Web site, which requires visitors to click through multiple pop-up windows in order to exit.    Philips' Motiva technology allows patients to use their home televisions to communicate with their	care providers over a broadband connection http://news.com.com/ Broadband+A+life-saving+ technology/ 2009-1034_3-5261361.html?tag=nl. The pilot program has enrolled 60 patients. The test is designed to gauge how well patients and health care providers use the interactive system when communicating and sharing medical information. Install a chip inside your body, and when something goes wrong, it automatically pings your doctor. Or even simpler, your complete medical makeup and history can be burned into a chip and implanted in your body. The tiny chips, which are embedded under the skin with a syringe, are programmed with a code similar to the UPC codes on retail goods, which releases patient-specific information on such issues as allergies and prior treatments when scanned    A directory of cell phone numbers will be published soon, opening the door for solicitors to call cell phones using up your minutes. The FTC has set up a National Do Not Call Registry for cell phones. You must call FROM the number you wish to register. The number is 1-888-382-1222, OR you can go to https://www.donotcall.gov/ Register/ Reg.aspx to register your cell phones on line.    Microsoft will count new multicore processors as single units when they debut next year. This announcement puts an end to confusion about Microsoft's policy regarding multicore processors, in which two or more processors are etched onto a single chip. Many of Microsoft's competitors are currently charging more for software that runs on servers equipped with dual or multicore chips. Intel's dual-core Xeon is due in 2006. Also watch for a competing chip from AMD.    The FBI says your unsecured 802.11 network could be used in the commission of a cybercrime. If you don\rquote t want the FBI to come knocking at your door, take steps to secure your wireless network against intruders.    Helen Greiner www.robonexus.com/ertconf.htm #KEYNOTES (scroll down to "Welcome to the Era of Mass Market Robotics"), co-founder of iRobot, said her company had sold 1 million of its Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners--a milestone that drew applause at the RoboNexus International Conference & Exposition http://dw.com.com/ redir?destUrl= http://www.robonexus.com &siteId= 3&oId= 2100-1041-5421503& ontId= 1040&lop =nl_ex. The use of robots to perform household tasks such as lawn-mowing, vacuuming, guard duty and other chores is slated to increase sevenfold by 2007, according to the U.N.'s latest World Robotics Survey.    A federal appeals court struck a blow against Printer manufacturers who want to use Digital Copyright to protect their share of the lucrative printer cartridges market. Judge Gilbert Merritt stated in his summary, "We should make clear that in the future companies like Lexmark cannot use the DMCA in conjunction with copyright law to create monopolies of manufactured goods."    There is no restriction against any non-profit group using this article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given the author. The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization of which this group is a member, brings this article to you.
Number 259 - December 2004