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Volume 3 Number 11
• NW News • Feature • TechNews • Events • Careers • JobsNW |
TOOL BOX: The following news items are from The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2003.) This publication is distributed on line and is a free subscription service. HTTrack Website Copier 3.32-2 .With all the demands on internet use in a household, such as interruptions from other family members and so on, it may be useful to download entire websites in order to view them at a more convenient time. This application will allow users to do just that, as they will be able to effectively download an entire website to a local directory. The application arranges the original site's relative link-structure, and can also update an existing mirrored site, and resume interrupted downloads. This version of HTTrack is compatible with all systems running Windows 95 and higher. [KMG]
IN THE NEWS: The following news items are selected from NewsScan Daily an online publication distributed Monday through Friday. Readers are encouraged to subscribe to this free news summary.To subscribe or unsubscribe to the TEXT version of NewsScan Daily, send an e-mail message to NewsScan@NewsScan.com with 'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. To subscribe to the HTML version of NewsScan Daily, send mail to NewsScan-html@NewsScan.com, with the word 'subscribe' as the subject. SONY CHALLENGES APPLE WITH HARD-DRIVE MUSIC PLAYER. Sony Electronics will launch two hard-drive music players this fall in a direct challenge to Apple's popular iPod device and iTunes music store.The Sony players will come in 20GB and 40GB models, designed to work with Sony's Connect music download service. Sony's belated entry into the hotly contested digital music market surprised some analysts, who note that Sony historically has played a leadership role in the portable music player business: "The industry has been waiting for them to come out with jukebox devices," says IDC analyst Susan Kevorkian. Apple launched its iTunes music store and iPod devices in April 2003. (CNet News.com 30 Jun 2004) Read Full Story COMCAST SEES CONVERGENCE IN YOUR FUTURE. Stephen Burke, president of Comcast Cable, predicts: "The television industry is going to change more in the next five years than it has in the last 20." Comcast says it's now ready to roll out next-generation services that require abundant bandwidth and two-way communications. These include:video e-mail services; video-on-demand (VOD) programming that goes far beyond movies; an Internet portal-like screen that subscribers can call up on their PC, TV or phone to access voicemail, e-mail and faxes; and extensive offerings of high-definition local TV station broadcasts. "We have a vision for the company to not be a commodity provider," says Comcast CEO Brian Roberts.Read Full Story HOT CHIPS. Today's microchips are as much as five times as hot as a stovetop, because more and more transistors are packed into tinier spaces so that computing devices can run faster and faster. Cooling systems are now being built into computers and cell phones to conserve every ounce of power. IBM Microelectronics chief technology officer Bernie Meyerson says that the design of chips that consume less power represents "a seminal shift in the industry," and adds: "If all you do is make chips smaller, you will hit the power crisis. I'm optimistic that it is an opportunity to do more holistic design that takes into account everything... not just performance." (San Jose Mercury News 2 Jul 2004) Read Full Story. ONLINE MOVIES READY TO ROLL. RealNetworks and Starz Encore Group have launched an online movie subscription service called Starz! Ticket on Real Movies. The companies had planned an earlier unveiling, but said they decided to delay about a year until the market appeared more receptive. The biggest hurdle was waiting for a broader adoption of high-speed Internet connections, over which themovies can be downloaded in 30 minutes or less. The service costs $12.95 a month, giving viewers access to about 100 movies, which can be viewed an unlimited number of times as long as they're part of Starz's roster. Once the movie is deleted from the list, it's no longer accessible. Starz faces competition from Movielink, which charges on a per-download basis, and CinemaNow, which offers subscriptions or pay-per-movie options. (AP/Washington Post 14 Jun 2004) Read Full Story A KICK OF ADRENALINE FOR PUBLIC RADIO. The nonprofit Public Radio Exchange (PRX) in Cambridge, Mass., is a radio distribution service that, for a minimum $50 annual fee, lets a producer post audio material for audition and licensing. Other members can then listen free and possibly choose to acquire a feature or news piece for broadcast. Executive Director Jake Shapiro says the goal is to give public radio "a kick of adrenaline." PRX currently has more than 2,700 members, most of whom have chosen its free "Vox Pop" membership. "Of course, we'd prefer more paying members," says Shapiro. "We aim to become self-sustainable in three to five years." (Washington Post 5 Jul 2004) Read Full Story SEARCHING FOR ART WHEREVER KEYWORDS LEAD. In a new high-tech artwork created at Northwestern University in Chicago, a live TV news broadcast is displayed at the center of a wall-mounted array of nine computer monitors, and computer software is used to scan the broadcast's closed-caption stream and select keywords to find images on the Internet to illustrate the story. However, AI expert and MIT professor Marvin Minsky is critical of systems that try to retrieve relevant knowledge from text without understanding what the text actually means: "Although this system may entertain some people and even give them some new ideas, to my mind, nothing justifies the use of inadequate systems by labeling them as art." (New York Times 17 Jun 2004) Read Full Story. ISPs WIN MUSIC DOWNLOAD CASE. Canada's Supreme Court has ruled 9-0 that Internet service providers do not have to pay royalties to composers and artists for music downloaded by Web customers, since companies providing wide access to the Web are merely "intermediaries" who aren't bound by Canadian copyright legislation. At issue was an effort by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) to force Internet service providers to pay a tariff. SOCAN also wanted to extend Canadian copyright law beyond the country's borders and apply it to offshore Web sites that serve Canadians. Opposing the effort was the Canadian Association of Internet Service Providers. (The Australian 1 Jul 2004) Rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin U.Read Full Story STOLEN: ONE THIRD OF THE WORLD'S SOFTWARE. The Business Software Alliance, a trade group, says that 36% of all the PITCH YOUR TENT AND POWER UP. Iowa Thin Film Technologies has come up with a lightweight, durable fabric that incorporates a tissue-paper thin layer of specialized solar film, enabling it to double as a solar power generator. The fabric, which is suitable for making Army tents, can be used to run lighting or ventilation systems, field communications, GPS systems or laptop computers. Iowa Thin Film completed three tent prototypes for the Army last months and says the orders are already pouring in. But beyond the military applications, experts say the introduction of such lightweight, portable fabric to developing countries could have a far-reaching impact. "Application of these (solar) technologies in the long term is clearly more cost-effective than bringing power lines dozens and dozens of kilometers," says American Energy Society spokesman Brad Collins. (AP/USA Today 9 Jul 2004) Read Full Story.
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