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BREAKING SURF
Dmitry Sklyarov Arrest: Adobe Backs Off
It's been an action-packed week since we reported on the arrest of Def Con 9 conference presenter Dmitry Sklyarov on charges of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by disclosing how Adobe's PDF and e-book encryption formats work. Dmitry case immediately become a cause celebre in the online technical community. At least three groups issued calls for boycott of Adobe, which reportedly instigated the arrest. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) first called for mass rallies in support of Dmitry, then canceled after Adobe agreed to a talk. The rallies took place anyway - and Adobe felt the heat. Eventually, the EFF and Adobe released a short statement in which Adobe agreed to back out of helping to prosecute Dmitry and recommended that he be released. This stunning 180-degree turnaround testifies to the considerable power of the geek community's public muscle. In a fascinating footnote, the president of Elcomsoft, Dmitry's employer, said the FBI has bought password-cracking software from them. You'll get most of the story to date at these sites.Boycott 1: http://www.boycottadobe.org/
Boycott 2: http://www.freesklyarov.org/
EFF boycott: http://www.eff.org/alerts/20010719_eff_sklyarov_alert.html
EFF archive: http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/
Statement: http://woozle.org/pipermail/seattle-sklyarov/2001-July/000136.html
Elcomsoft: http://www.theinquirer.net/19070104.htm
Dmitry Sklyarov Arrest: Repercussions and Backlash
Dmitry Sklyarov's arrest has had significant repercussions in the online community. Professor Dave Touretzky, famous for his Gallery of DeCSS Descramblers, has created the Gallery of Adobe Remedies, which directly challenges US anti-descrambling legislation (the DMCA) by openly presenting information that tells how to defeat Adobe access controls. The hypothesis is that "code is speech" and thus is fully protected by the First Amendment. Dave is looking for further contributions. Alan Cox, a major figure in the Linux programming world, has resigned from the Usenix standards organization, which has scheduled conferences in the US. He writes: "With the arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov it has become apparent that it is not safe for non US software engineers to visit the United States." He also urges organizers of programming conferences whose content could touch cryptography - which means just about every programming conference in existence - to move them outside the US.Gallery: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Adobe/Gallery/
Alan: http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=01/07/20/1228200
The Felton Music Watermarking Lawsuit Update
Here's a quick update on the legal status of the lawsuit by Edward Felton et al against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) - timely, in view of the current and similar Dmitry Sklyarov affair. As you may recall, the RIAA threatened Edward with a lawsuit after he and collaborators managed to decode a proposed music watermarking scheme and were about to present the results at an international security conference. Eventually, even though the RIAA backed off, Felton launched a preemptive lawsuit to resolve the issue and make sure that such a situation would never again rear its ugly head. The RIAA is swearing up and down that they will not prosecute Felton, but he's not buying it and is continuing with his counter-lawsuit. CNet has an update on the story and Cryptonome has the legal filings.CNet: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6616457.html
Cryptonome: http://cryptome.org/sue-bastards2.htm
"I send you this file in order to have your advice."
If you've received a file with an e-mail message that contained that sentence, you've seen the Sircam worm. This computer virus infects Outlook when users open the attached file. Sircam seems to select a random text document from a victim's hard drive, wraps it in worm code, and sends it off to a random address selected from the victim's Outlook e-mail directory. Again and again. While the hoopla surrounding the Melissa and ILOVEYOU viruses far exceeded that about Sircam, we had received only one copy of the first two but we're at some two dozen and counting copies of Sircam. Some reports say Sircam can fill all unused space on an infected machine's hard drive with random text. It may also delete files. ZDNet and Wired have details.ZDNet: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2792260,00.html
Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,45427,00.html
As the tech glitterati paid attention to the Webbies gala celebrations to honor the best and brightest Web sites, they put on brave faces. This year's shindig has a bittersweet taste; even the best can't seem to escape the dotcom carnage. The LA Times discovered that only 28 of the 71 previous Webby winners are still operating in a supposedly profit-making mode. Several are barely afloat, a few have gone bust, and others have been bought out or have suffered major layoffs. Even some of this year's winners are in financial difficulty. The Webby site bears no trace of this doom and gloom, but just proudly presents the 2001 Webby and People's Choice winners as well as links to the winners from previous years. This is a great excuse to do a grand tour of the good stuff on the Web, to work your way down the list from Activism (VolunteerMatch) to Weird (Peter Pan's Home Page - both a Webby and a People's Choice winner).
http://www.webbyawards.com/main/webby_awards/winner_list.html
Fax Ads Force Hooters Bankruptcy
On the face of it, this story has nothing to do with the Net, but bear with us. Hooters is an American restaurant chain famous and infamous for attractive busty waitresses in tight tank-tops and short shorts. Its motto: "Delightfully Tacky, Yet Unrefined." Sam Nicholson received a few junk faxes advertising Hooters, which he found annoying. He was not alone. Before you could sing the Hooters jingle ("Hooters makes you happy"), Sam and 1,321 other fax ad recipients filed a class action lawsuit against Hooters, won a $12 million judgment, and forced the chain into bankruptcy - all this despite the fact that Hooters did not send the faxes. A marketing company, which has since gone out of business, sent them out. Now, the Net connection.... The lawsuit relied on a little-known Federal law that prohibits sending ads by fax without permission. A number of state laws already prohibit the sending of spam. A vocal lobby is agitating for a similar Federal law. See where this is going? If somebody were to send spam in your name and you have deep pockets, you may be driven out of business whether you'd approved of the spam or not. Good intentions do not a good law make. The NY Times has more (you need to register).Story: http://archives.nytimes.com/2001/07/22/national/22FAX.html
Hooters: http://www.hooters.com/
Internet Advertising That Works
Finding advertising tactics that work is important for the continued financial health of online publishers and Web sites. Independent studies carried out by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, DoubleClick, MSN, and CNet show conclusively that Internet advertising is highly effective at branding, for both well known and obscure products. There's a ton of invaluable data and information for publishers, marketers, and Web designers in this mother lode of research findings that should rejuvenate the commercial underpinnings of the Web. The press release summarizes the results while the research reports - a full white paper (28 pages) or summary (four pages), both PDFs - detail the findings and how the studies were carried out, and include useful tips for online publishers. In general, interstitial ads, rich media, and skyscraper and larger format ad spaces all increase the effectiveness of online advertising.Press release: http://www.iab.net/news/content/brand_research.html
Reports: http://www.iab.net/main/branding_resource.html
Like it or not, online porn is a commercial success, providing a product that many clearly want and will pay for. Now, providers of adult material ranging from mainstream purveyors such as Penthouse to small, X-rated businesses such as PK Entertainment, PocketFlesh, and Pocket-XXX are getting aroused about the prospects of bringing online erotica to wireless hand-helds. Equipment suppliers such as Palm could benefit from the beefed-up market for their products, but are leery of an association with salacious material, despite the incredible opportunity for fun product names - RosyPalm PDA, anyone? With the germ of the idea sprout concerns over access by children, as there is currently no filtering software available for PDAs. The LA Times reviews the issues and technology. The application seems like a commercial winner, which suggests it's going to be harder than ever to police what employees do in the confines of their cubicles. We don't even want to think about driving and viewing.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/columnists/techcol/la-000058970jul19.story?coll=la-business-technology_column
As Salon describes in its usual masterful and detailed way - and as we predicted - by using strong-arm legal tactics against Napster and others, the music industry has far from slain the dragon of file sharing but instead simply encouraged the proliferation of other systems that may be harder to stamp out. Scott Rosenberg vividly shows that as the music business has dimmed the Napster star, dozens of alternative Web sites are glowing brighter than ever in the file-sharing universe. Official alternatives blessed by the music industry have tricky copyright protection schemes that users often find annoying, awkward, and insulting. Official schemes are organized around record labels and may prove too mainstream and limited for users accustomed to wider choice. Salon echoes our feelings: "The industry's paralysis is a tragedy.... But it's clear that the record labels would rather sue than find a sensible rapprochement with the new world of digital distribution." Terrified of the digital future, the suits have achieved nothing by loosing their legal henchmen except to devalue the whole business. We think it's time for a complete rethink - shareholder revolt anyone?
http://salon.com/tech/col/rose/2001/07/20/napster_diaspora/index.html
The Kyoto Protocol on Limiting Climate Change
The US, under the Bush administration, is not interested in the current international agreement that seeks to cap emissions of greenhouse gases. The latest revision of the Kyoto Protocol, as the original agreement is known, has just been renegotiated by various nations during a conference in Bonn, Germany, in hopes of getting the only remaining superpower to go along. So far, the US administration is not going for it. CNN has highlights of what was just negotiated, a press release has the official announcement of the agreement, and you can also check out the original Kyoto Protocol.Conference: http://www.unfccc.int/cop6_2/
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/climate.change/
Press release: http://unfccc.int/press/prel2001/pressrel230701.pdf
Kyoto Protocol: http://www.unfccc.de/resource/convkp.html
AOL Invests $100 Million in Amazon
The headline says it all. AOL is buying a boatload of Amazon stock in order to integrate Amazon technology and content into its AOL shopping service. Amazon is still posting quarterly losses and the stock keeps dropping. This quarter, the company was down 47 cents per share from last year's 91 cents per share. Obviously, this bodes well for Amazon's survival.Story: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6650287.html
PR: http://www.iredge.com/iredge/iredge.asp?c=002239&f=2005&fn=AMZN_AOL7_23_01__621.htm
ONLINE CULTURE
Screensavers as Crimes against the State
David McOwen was a sysadmin at DeKalb Technical College in Georgia. To all appearances he carried out his duties with due diligence - until one day the university decided to charge him with hacking. Specifically, it accused him of installing SETI@Home software, which famously churns radio astronomy data during idle computer cycles in the hope of finding signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. The software is basically a screensaver that does useful work when nobody is using the machine. The school administration in its wisdom deemed this software a "hacking tool" and decided to charge McOwen with a crime that could result in 15 years in prison. The kicker is that somebody is alleging that the screensaver software caused losses of 59 cents per second of operation, facing McOwen with a fine of $415,000. Salon has this sad, sad story of administrative and legal cluelessness.Salon: http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/07/17/screensaver/index.html
SETI@Home: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
China Cracks Down on Web Cafes
This brief CNN article documents the latest crackdown in China on its thriving Internet cafe culture. The cafes make it easy for people to engage in anonymous netsurfing and possibly anonymous critical comments about the Chinese government. The article notes that 2,000 cafes have already been shut and at least another 6,000 have been told to suspend operations and make changes. You can appreciate the extent of the Chinese Net cafe culture when you learn that 56,800 cafes have already been inspected. Of course, this effort to control Net use is doomed in the long run, but the Chinese government does not yet seem to realize this.http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/07/20/china.internet.reut/index.html
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
A Czech-Made Battle of Britain Movie
"Tmavomodry Svet" (Dark Blue World) is a new Czech movie about Czech participation in 1940's Battle of Britain, by Oscar-winner Jan Sverak. The dialogue, naturally enough, is Czech. From what we can tell, the movie appears to be everything "Pearl Harbor" aspired to be but wasn't. "Dark Blue World" appears at least good and maybe great. The combat scenes are heavily computer enhanced and, if the 12-MB trailer is even a bit representative, absolutely awesome. We're directing you to a helpful unofficial English Web site since the official site is entirely Czech. The English site links to and includes everything the Czech site has, and adds a bit more. You gotta see the trailer, which can be described as "Spits (Spitfires) and Tits (breasts)". The movie is currently in release, very successfully, in the Czech Republic (and possibly elsewhere in Europe). It will make its North American debut at the Toronto Film Festival in September. North American distribution plans are still uncertain.http://sorry.vse.cz/~xuchj02/DarkBlue/index2.html
James Rossillo's independent short film "Kick", available online in streaming format, isn't a cinematic revelation, but it might represent the stirrings of revolution, and should make you think about the future of film and what role the Internet will play. Rossillo's story of one day in the life of an addicted prostitute was made on a budget that wouldn't cover much more than half a shoestring, with Rossillo acting as scriptwriter, producer, director, crew, and editor. The shortfalls can be glaring, especially in the sound department, but we have to applaud Rossillo's determination to take matters into his own hands. If new filmmakers are ever able to wriggle out of the full Nelson that Hollywood has clamped on the industry, chances are that the Internet will lubricate the move, and that's a good thing.
http://www.cdpproductions.com/kick/
Farmer Brown Ain't What He Seems
Lactophiliac. Now there's a word you don't run into every day. By the same token, this is a one-shot wonder of a site, which is rare in and of itself. The audio's kind of catchy and the video is well done, but before browsing, you'll probably want to be sure the children are playing outdoors, as the subject matter involves a cow being relentlessly pursued by a farmer who's really into BDSM. For some, the video will be humorous. Others will find it udderly offensive. More than a few of you may find it a fascinating glimpse into the distorted minds of animators and musicians with far too much time on their hands. In any event, you've been warned.http://riddleme.com/html/cow.html
This is the first site we've ever seen that has a toggle to turn off the chicken. JoeCartoon is a site you may have been to before. Remember the frog in a blender that went around a few years back? This is that same site, only with new and improved sick animation, including a Flash game where you get extra points for shooting leaping dolphins or a film clip in which a gerbil becomes your chief nemesis. Basically, you can go there to test the limits of your own sadism, which tends to be much safer than testing the limits of someone else's. If you like Spike and Mike, you'll like this. If when you hear the word "cartoon" or "comic" your first thought is Family Circus, you're probably not going to like this.
http://www.joecartoon.com/
Pirelli Multimedia Award Entries
"People must become aware of the importance that research and technology have in the civil and economic development of our society." With this in mind, Pirelli, the Italian multinational, gives out an annual award to promote what they call "Scientific Culture". The award is given to any multimedia work - this includes Web sites - which promotes an understanding of science and technology. According to Pirelli's FAQ, the award explicitly recognizes that in order to wisely exercise our democratic rights we must understand our choices, which frequently must be based on an understanding of science and technology. The company is awarding 80,000 Euros worth of prizes this year. Entries on the themes of education and the environment can be submitted until Dec. 31, 2001.http://www.pirelliaward.com/
Zap2it.Com's TV, Movie, and Net News
Kirsten Dunst talks about the blue screen dramas of working on the new movie "Spiderman", Mark Wahlberg stars opposite Thandie Newton in the Cary Grant role in the remake of the classic movie "The Truth about Charlie" and, if you're tossing up about whether to go to the gym or slack off at home, you get a synopsis of what's on TV tonight. Zap2it.com shovels classic entertainment news fast and furious and, if the gym doesn't push your buttons and the TV's broken, you can watch a couple of trailers and exercise those eyes here instead. There's nothing worse than a lazy eye.http://www.zap2it.com/index
TheBiggerPixel is basically a portal for stock photography sites. It appears to be divided up into 14 categories and another handful of subcategories, but the subcategories unfortunately aren't links. They're just words indicative of what one might find in the category. Linked subcategorization would add value to the site by making it far less time-consuming to read through every site description to see what sorts of photos were contained therein. In addition, once you've clicked to your choice of photographer's page, it's sometimes difficult to find the pricing structure. It would be tremendously useful if TheBiggerPixel included that in the description of the site, too. It's a good idea. With some tweaking on the execution, it could become invaluable.
http://www.thebiggerpixel.com/
BOOKS & E-ZINES
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Items our staff likes and you might too. Click on the image or title to order at a hefty discount from our affiliate Amazon.com, and send a few pennies our way as well.
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Maximum Linux Security (Second Edition)
Moon Lander: How We Developed the Apollo Lunar Module
Personal History
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in AmericaSerious News for Serious Tech Nerds
Corante is a newsletter for people who need the latest technology news every day. Readers can visit the Web site or subscribe to a daily mailing. The editors scan the business and technology press and select the most important stories in categories like E-Business, Personal Technology, and Law and Policy. Typically, you can browse about 24 stories a day. Don't expect cutesy, lightweight selections. This is the hard stuff. The Web site is well designed, with few frills and lots of meat.http://www.corante.com/
The National Review is one of the better and more serious conservative-leaning magazines in America. It's long been known for its classy and attitudinal writing as much as for its political slant. Given that history, the article in the URL below reads like it's real, and is highly convincing. It's a superb parody, however. Readers can learn a lot from it, but nothing at all about the alleged subject matter. It's true art.
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-weiznerprint061201.html
SURFING SCIENCE
The amount of information assaulting the old noodle at the National Headache Foundation Web site is enough to give you - well, a headache. But pop an aspirin and relax; we'll make it easy on you. Go directly to Educational Resources and read "The Complete Guide to Headache". Back at the Educational Resources opening page, go to Headache Measurement Tools to take some tests to help you quantify your experience. Return to the site home page, and click on the Migraine Mentors at Work link. From that site's Tips section, download the Headache Diary PDF file. It will arm you fully to consult a physician without sounding like a an idiot. When you're feeling better, go back and check out the message board for inside advice from sufferers, then take your time sifting through the rest of the resource material - slowly, calmly.http://www.headaches.org/
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) site has resources for everyone, from the member of the public who's concerned about a friend who might be depressed to a researcher looking for a grant. It has collected information on such hot topics as youth violence and provides education on common concerns such as anxiety disorders and depression. Many of the booklets, fact sheets, and summaries are available in HTML or PDF format, for those who want to look at the booklet exactly as it was printed. Be sure you scroll down on the opening page; if you're like this reviewer, you may not realize there are secrets you would otherwise miss.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/
Affecting more than 100 million people worldwide, asthma has become one of the globe's most prevalent chronic diseases. Understandably, the Web is overflowing with information on the subject, sometimes making the choice of where to start investigating a bit overwhelming. If you're among the confused, surf on over to MyAsthma, a simple, clean site brimming with good info. Here you'll find everything from feature articles covering topics like occupational asthma and understanding your medications to practical advice, such as tips on how best to avoid attacks while traveling. You can also read testimonials from other asthma sufferers and view an unmoderated message board. The site requires free registration.
http://www.myasthma.com/
Yours don't stink, but everyone else's do. Both medical conditions and eating habits can lead to excessive flatulence. Some of us have better control than others, but sometimes, control just isn't possible. It's a serious problem, especially in confined spaces. Under-Tec offers a serious answer - undergarments with activated charcoal filters that can scrub your personal pollution. The idea seems feasible, and those references that could be checked do check. Under-Tec odor-capturing garments could be the best things that ever happened to you. The Under-Tec web site, while sales oriented, links to many intriguing sites.
http://www.under-tec.com/
SOFTWARE
Microsoft wants hackers to work on Windows CE, the lightweight version of its operating system, which powers PDAs. To this end, the company has released the source code of the operating system. The source code is released under the Microsoft "Shared Source" license, which is significantly different from the more familiar Open Source licenses. The code can be obtained through the use of something called the Platform Builder development tool, software which helps to develop applications for Windows CE. Platform Builder costs $31.Source: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/embedded/ce/tools/source/default.asp
License: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/embedded/ce/tools/source/license.asp
Platform Builder: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/embedded/ce/tools/
One of the early criticisms leveled against Linux distributions was that they were hard to use for beginners who may have been reared on GUI-oriented systems. One of the goals of the GNOME project has been to create standards for a Linux GUI, a standard look and feel for a Linux windowing environment. The project is quite mature these days but, according to this study, still could improve. This thorough report examines the GNOME GUI in detail and provides no less than 32 recommendations for how it could be improved. A must-read for anybody who designs applications using the GNOME libraries.
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/ut1_report/report_main.html