Vacation Slide Show Comes to TV Sets Thanks to Microsoft
Having friends over to view slides of family vacations and extreme trips could take on new meaning with the introduction of Microsoft's TV Photo Viewer.
The new software allows users to store digital images on a 3.5-inch floppy disk and display them on a TV set.
The system bypasses audience limitations of displaying digital photos on a computer monitor by allowing a whole roomful of friends to view photos. The system allows for 40 images per floppy disk.
The unit is about the size of a hardcover book and comes with a batteries-included remote control.
Demand Increases for Satellite Phones
As the United States pursues terrorist networks in remote regions of the Middle East, demand is growing for hand-held satellite phones--giving an ailing industry a needed boost.
Soldiers, intelligence agents and reporters are spreading across the globe, and businesses are building emergency communications networks in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
The two biggest sellers of the devices said demand for their products has increased in the last two weeks.
Iridium isn't offering numbers, but Globalstar, its main competitor, said sales have quadrupled since the attacks. Heavy phone usage is breathing new life into Globalstar, which in August announced plans to lay off half its workers to avert bankruptcy.
Iridium Satellite, a privately held company based in Leesburg, Va., said that even before the surge in demand, it expected to turn a profit next year because it paid only $25 million for a network that cost $5 billion to build.
Napster Reaches Agreement on Free Distribution
Edging closer to legitimacy, Napster Inc. on Monday reached a tentative settlement of a lawsuit filed by music publishers and struck a deal on distributing songs for a fee.
Under the settlement with the National Music Publishers' Association, Napster will pay $26 million for past unauthorized use of music. It also sets up terms under which songwriters and music publishers can license music to Napster's upcoming fee-based service.
The deal is the largest yet for Napster, which previously signed deals contingent on the launch of a fee-based service that compensates artists for their work.
The settlement is now subject to approval by a judge, the board of directors of the NMPA and individual publishers.
Survey Shows Residents Want Tighter Encryption Control
A new survey suggests that 72 percent of U.S. citizens believe that anti-encryption laws would help prevent any future terrorist attacks against the country.
Of the U.S. citizens surveyed, 54 percent supported anti-encryption laws to aid the surveillance capabilities of law enforcement agencies in the interests of national security. Princeton Survey Research Associates conducted the survey.
The recent terrorist attacks have renewed the debate on encryption and privacy issues in the United States. Despite the survey's findings that the U.S. public may be in favor of tighter encryption laws, another study released this week by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center claimed that 70 percent remain opposed to giving away their right to privacy in telephone
and e-mail communications. However, 55 percent of U.S. citizens questioned in the Pew survey did express the view that some civil liberties would have to be curbed in order to prevent future terrorism.
Trademark Holder Wins Cyber Panty War
In a U.S. district court last week, lingerie company Victoria's Secret won four domain names and damages of $120,000 from Internet company Victoria 's Cyber Secret, according to the Associated Press.
The domain names victoriassexsecret.com, victoriassexysecret.com, victoriasexsecret.com and victoriasexysecret.com were all registered by Victoria's Cyber Secret. The company said it planned to use them for porn sites starring Playboy model Victoria Silvstedt, although Silvstedt said she had not given the company authorization to do so.
In March 2000, a National Arbitration Forum tribunal ordered that the domain names be transferred to Victoria's Secret because they infringed on trademarks owned by the lingerie company since 1982. Victoria's Cyber Secret failed to comply with this ruling, so Victoria's Secret took the matter to U.S. courts.
Guidelines Released for Disabled Web Surfers
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the U.S.-based body that sets standards for Web design, has released new draft guidelines for designing browsers, multimedia players and other Web software that will be more accessible to people with disabilities.
The guidelines, named the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, complement a pair of existing W3C guidelines on making Web content accessible.
These are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0 Recommendation, which explains to authors how to create accessible Web content, and the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 1.0 Recommendation, which explains to software developers how to design tools that are accessible to authors with disabilities.
The guidelines detail the problems that should be considered when designers take disabled Web access into account. These problems are given three levels of priority. Priority three problems would be usable by a disabled person if the problems were remedied. Priority two problems make it very difficult for a disabled person to access the Web. Priority one problems prevent a disabled person from using the feature altogether.
Interest in bin Laden Shows With Searches; Sex Drops out of Top 10
Osama bin Laden displaced Pamela Anderson in cyberspace last week, and people looking for information about the American flag outnumbered those curious about Britney Spears.
For the first time in the short history of the Internet, popular search engines report that "sex" dropped off their lists of top 10 search terms in the days following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
"Popular search terms last week turned almost exclusively to disaster-related information," said David Emanuel, spokesman for the popular search engine AltaVista, which tracks top search terms. Almost all perennial favorites like Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys were knocked off the list.
Sex, a longtime favorite usually in the top 10, dropped to No. 17, Emanuel said.
Instead of entertainment and assorted fluff that has for years attracted the bulk of all Internet traffic, it was news, news and more news that people were looking for on AltaVista.
CNN, News, World Trade Center, BBC and Pentagon were the top search terms on the site last week.
The search engine Google, which tracks shifting preferences by measuring the top gaining and declining queries each week, saw the same basic pattern.
Topics related to sports, television and computers dropped in popularity on Google. Its top search words were CNN, World Trade Center, Osama bin Laden, Taliban, American flag, FBI, Pentagon, American Airlines and American Red Cross.