Islanders seek climate summit help

KILU, Papua New Guinea (AP) -- Squealing pigs lit out for the bush and Filomena Taroa herded the grandkids to higher ground last week when the sea rolled in deeper than anyone had ever seen.

Residents fish on the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, near Kimbe Bay.

What was happening? "I don't know," the sturdy, barefoot grandmother told a visitor. "I'd never experienced it before."

As scientists warn of rising seas from global warming, more and more reports are coming in from villages like this one on Papua New Guinea's New Britain island of flooding from unprecedented high tides. It's happening not only to low-lying atolls, but to shorelines from Alaska to India.

This week, by boat, bus and jetliner, a handful of villagers are converging on Bali, Indonesia, to seek help from the more than 180 nations gathered at the U.N. climate conference. The coastal dwellers' plight -- once theoretical -- appears all too real in 2007, and is spreading and worsening.

Scientists project that seas expanding from warmth and from the runoff of melting land ice may displace millions of coastal inhabitants worldwide in this century if heat-trapping industrial emissions are not sharply curtailed.

A Europe-based research group, the Global Governance Project, will propose at the two-week Bali meeting that an international fund be established to resettle "climate refugees."

Summarizing the islanders' plight, Ursula Rakova said: "We don't have vehicles, an airport. We're merely victims of what is happening with the industrialized nations emitting `greenhouse gases."'

The sands of Rakova's islands, the Carteret atoll northeast of Bougainville island, have been giving way to the sea for 20 years. The saltwater has ruined their taro gardens, a food staple, and has contaminated their wells and flooded homesteads. The remote islands now suffer from chronic hunger.

The national government has appropriated $800,000 to resettle a few Carteret families on Bougainville, out of 3,000 islanders.

"That's not enough," Rakova told The Associated Press in Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby. "The islands are getting smaller. Basically, everybody will have to leave."

In a landmark series of reports this year, the U.N. climate-science network reported seas rose by a global average of about 0.12 inches annually from 1993 to 2003, as compared with about 0.08 inches annually for the period 1961-2003.

But a 2006 study by Australian oceanographers found the rise was much higher, almost one inch every year, in parts of the western Pacific and Indian oceans.

"It turns out the ocean sloshes around," said the University of Tasmania's Nathaniel Bindoff, a lead author on oceans in the U.N. reports. "It's moving, and so on a regional basis the ocean's movement is causing sea-level variations -- ups and downs."

Regional temperatures and atmospheric conditions, currents, undersea and shoreline topography are all factors contributing to sea levels. On some atolls, which are the above-water remnants of ancient volcanoes, the coral underpinnings are subsiding and adding to the sinking effect.

The oceanic "sloshing" is steadily taking land from such western Pacific island nations as Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands. In Papua New Guinea, reports have trickled in this year of fast-encroaching tides on shorelines of the northern island province of Manus, the mainland peninsular village of Malasiga and the Duke of York Islands off New Britain.

International media attention paid to the Carteret Islands, the best-known case, seems to have drawn out others, said Papua New Guinea's senior climatologist, Kasis Inape.

"Most of the low-lying islands and atolls are in the same situation," Inape said in Port Moresby.

Here in Kilu on the Bismarck Sea, on a brilliant blue bay ringed by smoldering volcanoes, swaying coconut palms and thin-walled homes on stilts, the invading waves last year forced some villagers to move their houses inland 20 or more yards -- taking along their pigs, chickens and fears of worse to come.

It did, on November 25, when the highest waters yet sent them scurrying.

"We think the sea is rising," said 20-year-old villager Joe Balele. "We don't know why."

The scene is repeated on shores across the Pacific, most tragically on tiny island territories with no "inland" to turn to.

Preparing to head to Bali to present her people's case on Tuesday at the U.N. climate conference, Rakova searched for words to explain what was happening back home.

"Our people have been there 300 or 400 years," she said. "We'll be moving away from the islands we were born in and grew up in. We'll have to give up our identity."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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A quick tour around Windows Vista

Vista makes a lot of changes to the familiar Windows display

The new version of the venerable Windows operating system has been more than five years in development and much hangs on its success.

Below is a brief tour of Vista's new looks and a guide to some of the key features in the software.

Installing the upgrade

Gone are the flat Windows panes in favour of a 3D display called Aero. The flexibility of this will be familiar to anyone who has played a recent PC game. In this inteface the separate panes for each program you have running can be displayed in different ways and at different angles. They can even be stacked or staggered.

As the interface is hardware driven if users do not have a decent graphics card they may not see all the improvements. To get the most out of it Microsoft recommends a graphics card that works with DirectX9 and has a minimum 128MB of graphics memory.

Without this graphical ability, Windows Vista will look very like Windows XP does now.

Graphic effects

For instance, Windows no longer need to be solid and the edges of each pane can be made translucent to give a better idea of what lurks behind the program you are working on.

Other changes to the main interface include live thumbnails for each application on the main desktop taskbar. Hover over minimized applications and the thumbnails will pop up giving you an idea of what is happening with that program.

A case in point is the instant search tool found in Vista. Searching in Windows XP is an exercise in frustration and the only way to do it better was to download and install an add-on program.

With Vista the search tools are constantly running, logging what you are doing and what you are doing it with. The result is that, as you type in search terms, Vista starts populating a list of what you might be looking for.

Not only can you search for files you can look for applications too. No longer do you have to remember where something is on a menu, the search tool will take you there. It is an acknowledgement of how important searching has become.

The search tool can be refined to only look for applications, specific file types or just on the net.

Side swipe

As its name implies this is a section of the main desktop that can be populated with a variety of small, helpful applications. In the sidebar Vista users will be able to have weather watching programs running, keep live "to do" lists or keep an eye on any feeds they want to monitor.

Microsoft expects that many amateur coders will produce extras for the sidebar just as people have produced widgets for Mac OS X and extra programs for Google's personalised web pages.

Other changes are more subtle but could make it less of a chore to navigate around the Windows operating system.

A good example of this is the refinements Microsoft has made to Windows Explorer that many people use as their main way to navigate around their computer.

Opening up a location, such as where you store your pictures, will make Explorer populate the top taskbar with common menu choices. The options you are presented with are tuned for what you are dealing with.

It might help speed up many common tasks and means you don't have to play around with menus to navigate your way to what can be elusive.

Drive time

Before now, moving around Windows has often been a case of navigating down one directory tree and up another to move things around or get things done.

Vista changes this with the help of another context specific taskbar. Along this taskbar are listed all the hard drive locations you had to navigate past in order to reach your destination.

Clicking on the arrows on this bar opens up a list of other directories that hang off the same place.

Vista's security features

One of the many features that Microsoft is trumpeting in Vista is the improvements it makes to the security of your computer.

Over the last few years the forerunner to Vista, Windows XP, has been updated with a lot of add-ons and updates that try to make it less prone to being compromised.

Vista continues this trend and comes ready fitted with a few security programs including anti-spyware and a firewall.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, which ships with Vista, will also have on-board an anti-phishing system that tries to warn people when they stray on to a fake site and are about to unwittingly share confidential information with the bad guys.

I've just bought a new laptop which included a free upgrade to Vista, but I'm not sure whether I should upgrade just yet

Reports from beta testers suggest that Vista will also do a more comprehensive job of warning users when they are about to do something potentially dangerous.

Dissidents out Day in pictures Going Awol

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Reality-check or rip off? People spending millions on virtual gifts

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- You don't wrap these presents in a box. You can't wear them, play with them or show them off, at least not in the real world.

Facebook says its users have purchased 24 million of the $1 virtual gifts which are becoming must-have items.

Even so, virtual gifts -- computer-generated items given and displayed online -- are quickly becoming must-haves. And increasingly, people are willing to pay cold, hard, real-life cash to purchase them for friends, family and co-workers.

"For the person who gets the gift, it is like a badge of honor," says Dave Coffey, who tracks online trends for Sapient, a Florida-based marketing company.

Coffey's gotten into the act himself, buying a few $1 gifts on Facebook, a social networking Web site. He purchased a pair of virtual shoes for his wife for her birthday, a can of "whoop-ass" for a friend who got a new job, and a virtual beer to pay a bet he lost to his boss.

They are nothing more than cutesy icons posted in a "gifts" section on a person's profile page, the smiley faces of the 21st century. And like that 1970s icon, they have mass appeal.

Since they were introduced in February, Facebook says its users have purchased more than 24 million of these dollar items, which are sold in limited editions to generate more interest.

Elsewhere online, including virtual world sites such as Second Life, Utherverse and Stardoll, people can give gift certificates so their friends' avatars, or online personalities, can shop at "malls" on the sites.

Just like the real world, appearance matters in the virtual world. Gifts of digital clothing, accessories, makeup and even digital furnishings for an avatar's virtual home are especially popular. A pair of virtual boots, for instance, might cost $2 or $3 in a world where one could pay $20 or $30 for an intricately designed "skin," an avatar's outer layer.

Jeff Roberts, a New Yorker who is one of about 11 million Second Life "residents," has given SL gift certificates, worth real money, to friends and co-workers.

Their avatars "come back from 'stores' with all sorts of clothing, bling, and new hair styles," says Roberts, who heads a commercial radio station in Second Life, known as the Virtual World Radio Network (VWRN).

The ease of giving a virtual gift is definitely part of the attraction, he says.

"A few clicks and it's done. No worries about FedEx or the post office getting it there on time," Roberts says.

Kel Kelly, a businesswoman in suburban Boston, Massachusetts, figures she's spent just under $100 on virtual gifts on Facebook. The presents are hip -- things like icons of champagne bottles that clients can post on their pages.

"Anyone can send an e-mail that says 'Congratulations on your recent partnership' or whatever," says Kelly, a marketing executive and college lecturer. "It's just a really cool way to stand out."

In a sense, these gifts are supplanting electronic cards, online greetings that are waning in popularity, according to Internet watchers. People are becoming more willing to pay for something you can't touch or hold in your hand.

While $1 is the going rate on Facebook, Kelly says she'd be willing to spend as much as $5 to $10 on a really unique, funny virtual gift.

"A buck is like, 'Eh, it's only a buck,"' she says. "They're getting you addicted to the experience by giving it to you on the cheap. Then I think prices will rise."

The novelty is driving the market for virtual gifts and goods. So is the frenzy to gain status on social networking and virtual world sites, says Robbie Blinkoff, an anthropologist who studies online trends.

"There's a lot of money to be made," says Blinkoff, managing director of Context-Based Research Group in Baltimore, Maryland.

In the first two weeks of November alone, the company that created Second Life says there were almost 3 million digital objects sold on its site, though it's not possible to tell which of those were given as gifts.

Even so, Blinkoff predicts that the limitations of virtual gifts also will become more apparent. Simply put, "giving takes work," he says.

"If you're sending virtual gifts and the person is two blocks away, it's kind of like e-mailing the person in the cubicle next to you," he adds.

Others call virtual gifts a waste of money -- a way of "pouring millions down the virtual drain," says Michael Bugeja, the director of Iowa State University's journalism school. He's been a vocal critic of the resources universities and students are dedicating to virtual worlds. This holiday season, he's challenging people to give money they planned to spend on virtual gifts to charity instead.

"That would send a message appropriate for the season that is far more humanitarian than a new avatar outfit or Facebook icon," Bugeja says.

Still, some think people are too quick to downplay the value virtual gifts and goods can have.

"It's easy to get caught up in thinking that it's not real because it's digital. But we have plenty of digital items that have value," says Jeska Dzwigalski, who works in community and product development for Linden Lab, the creators of Second Life. "Have you ever bought a song on iTunes? Have you ever paid for software?"

Steve Auerbach, a dad in the Los Angeles, California area, says he's realized that the virtual world isn't something to fear. Nor is the idea of giving virtual gifts, which his 10-year-old daughter does on Stardoll, a virtual world for girls.

"So much of our world is intangible now. (Giving a virtual gift) is still about the act of giving and receiving," says Auerbach, who figures that his daughter spends $30 a month on Stardoll items for herself and others.

"I'd rather she paint or play a classical instrument," he says of her online hobby. "But that's a tough sell these days."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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'Kill switch' dropped from Vista

Vista was launched at the start of the year

Microsoft is to withdraw an anti-piracy tool from Windows Vista, which disables the operating system when invoked, following customer complaints.

The so-called "kill switch" is designed to prevent users with illegal copies of Vista from using certain features.

But the tool has suffered from glitches since it was introduced with many Windows users claiming that legal copies of Vista had been disabled.

Microsoft says its efforts have seen Vista piracy at half the level of XP.

In a statement released by the company, Microsoft Corporate Vice President Mike Sievert, said: "Users whose systems are identified as counterfeit will be presented with clear and recurring notices about the status of their system and how to get genuine.

'Take action'

"They won't lose access to functionality or features, but it will be very clear to them that their copy of Window Vista is not genuine and they need to take action."

Microsoft has described the new approach as a "change of tactics".

The change will take effect with the release of Service Pack 1, a major update to Windows Vista.

Mr Sievert added: "It's worth re-emphasising that our fundamental strategy has not changed.

"All copies of Windows Vista still require activation and the system will continue to validate from time to time to verify that systems are activated properly."

Microsoft said it had pursued legal action against more than 1,000 dealers of counterfeit Microsoft products in the last year and taken down more than 50,000 "illegal and improper" online software auctions.Dissidents out In pictures Going Awol

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Politics 'stifling $100 laptop'

XO Laptop in Nigeria A lack of "big thinking" by politicians has stifled a scheme to distribute laptops to children in the developing world, a spokesman has said.

Walter Bender of One Laptop per Child (OLPC) said politicians were unwilling to commit because "change equals risk".

But, he said, there needed to be a "dramatic change" because education in many countries was "failing" children.

In an interview with the BBC, Nigeria's education minister questioned the need for laptops in poorly equipped schools.

Dr Igwe Aja-Nwachuku said: "What is the sense of introducing One Laptop per Child when they don't have seats to sit down and learn; when they don't have uniforms to go to school in, where they don't have facilities?"

"We are more interested in laying a very solid foundation for quality education which will be efficient, effective, accessible and affordable."

The previous government of Nigeria had committed to buying one million laptops.

Dr Aja-Nwachuku said he was now assessing OLPC alongside other schemes from Microsoft and Intel.

"We are asking whether this is the most critical thing to drive education."

But speaking separately to BBC News, Professor Bender said: "We think that change has to be dramatic."

"You've got to be big, you've got to be bold. And what has happened is that there has been an effort to say 'don't take any risks - just do something small, something incremental'."

"It feels safe but by definition what you are ensuring is that nothing happens."

Winds of change

OLPC was started in 2002 by Nicholas Negroponte, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

It aims to put thousands of low-cost laptops, known as the XO, in the hands of children around the world.

The machines are planned to cost $100 and have been especially designed for use in remote and harsh environments where there is little access to electricity or the internet.

But getting the project off the ground has proved difficult.

Professor Negroponte has had high profile run-ins with major technology firms.

He told an audience at a Linux event: "if I am annoying Microsoft and Intel then I figure I am doing something right."

Microsoft head Bill Gates had questioned the XOs design, particularly the lack of hard drive and its "tiny screen".

But recently, the firm announced that it was working on a version of Windows XP that would run on the pared down machines.

The price will come down as the numbers go up. It will take time but it will happen

"We are spending a non-trivial amount of money," Microsoft's Will Poole told Reuters.

Earlier this year, Professor Negroponte also accused Intel of selling its own cut-price laptop - the Classmate - below cost price to drive him out of markets. He said that Intel "should be ashamed of itself" and said its tactics had hurt his mission "enormously".

Within weeks it was announced that Intel had joined the board of OLPC amid speculation that the firm was unhappy about the XO using a processor from its main rival AMD.

'Small thinking'

Although these episodes now appear to be behind OLPC, Professor Bender said there was still an "aggressive" effort to undermine the charity.

"There is still a concerted misinformation campaign out there," he said.

Mr Bender said he would not speculate on who was behind the alleged campaign.

"Wherever it is coming from, it exists," he told BBC News.

But he said the main problem for OLPC was dealing with conservative politicians.

"Change equals risk especially for politicians. And we are certainly advocating change because the [education] system is failing these children," he said.

"It has not been that processor versus that processor or that operating system versus that operating system - it's been small thinking versus big thinking. That's really the issue," he said.

Sales target

Originally, the laptops were to be sold to governments in lots of one million for $100 apiece.

Over time, however, the project has dropped the minimum number of machines that can be ordered, leading some to speculate that governments were not buying into the scheme.

The project also recently launched an initiative to allow citizens of North America to buy two machines at a time; one for themselves and one for a child in a developing country.

But Mr Bender said the shift was because of a better understanding of how to distribute smaller numbers cheaply and effectively, rather than a lack of orders.

"Part of it was our understanding of how the supply chain was going to work and having enough flexibility in the supply chain to make it work with a small number," he said.

"The big numbers were really about how you get this thing started not how you make it work in the long term.

"That was always going to be about supporting any good idea that comes along. And we've been able to get it started without the big top down numbers so we are off and running."

Developing tool

Since the scheme was first announced in 2002 there have been reports of several countries signing up to it.

Both Nigeria and Libya were reported to have ordered more than one million laptops.

Tests of the XO are going on around the world

Other countries including Thailand and Pakistan had also placed orders, according to reports.

But recently, OLPC revealed it had just taken its first order for 100,000 of the machines, placed by the government of Uruguay.

"Uruguay is first then it will be Peru, Mexico, Ethiopia then we are going to be doing stuff in Haiti, Rwanda and Mongolia," said Mr Bender.

In addition, he said, OLPC had done a deal with Birmingham, Alabama, in the US, to provide the laptop for schools in the city.

"The numbers of countries where we have trials set up is also increasing," he said.

Tests were also going on in the Solomon Islands, Nepal and India, a country that had previously shunned the scheme.

The Indian Ministry of Education had previously dismissed the laptop as "pedagogically suspect", whilst the Education Secretary Sudeep Banerjee said the country needed "classrooms and teachers more urgently than fancy tools".

Tipping point

The first machines will cost almost double the $100 originally planned.

The high price has been blamed on the increasing cost of the raw materials for the components inside the XO. Each machine currently costs $188.

The laptops have been designed to cope with harsh conditions

The manufacturer of the laptop - Quanta - recently revealed it had started mass production of the machines, after a number of delays.

Previously, OLPC had said it needed three million orders to make production feasible.

Professor Negroponte said it was an important milestone that had been reached despite "all the naysayers".

"We're not turning back - we have passed the point of no return," said Mr Bender. "It is happening."No refuge Ice scream Roma ruin

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The writing is on the wall for ads

Many newspapers have dropped a paywall in favour of adverts

Like it or loathe it, adverts are going to be helping to support the online world for a long time to come, says Bill Thompson.

While most of the licence-fee supported sites provided to the UK population remain free of ads, the BBC has started treating the web in the same way as it does the TV channels it broadcasts around the world by trying to generate revenue from them.

So far it seems to be going well. Speaking at a recent media conference in London John Smith, chief executive of the corporation's commercial arm BBC Worldwide, said that it had underestimated the amount of money they could make online, and its target of getting 10% of total revenue from internet activity was too low.

Although the BBC is thinking about offering a subscription model too, asking people outside the UK to pay for access to an ad-free version of the site, the team at Worldwide seem to believe advertising is the best and simplest approach.

They are not alone.

The Corbis photo library has just announced plans to let bloggers use its photos for free as long as they allow them to carry ads, while YouTube continues to roll out its 'invideo' service, overlaying ads on selected videos.

...we must face up to the irony that our favourite websites may well be being paid for by the poor

In the media world, newspapers such as The New York Times, The Financial Times and probably the Wall Street Journal are bringing down their paywalls and turning to adverts to pay the rent, while Microsoft is experimenting with an ad-supported version of its Works software.

The growth of the internet, and the availability of content, services and even software, would seem to depend on the continuing stream of advertising revenue that flows across the network, much of it passing through Google's rainbow-coloured hands on its way, letting them continue to grow richer 'one nickel at a time', as journalist John Battelle puts it.

This growing reliance on advertising over other forms of income carries with it the same dangers as any other dependency on a single source of revenue in business.

While it is unlikely that Google, Microsoft or Yahoo will vanish, changes to their business models could threaten the deals which currently keep many sites alive.

But the real problem is that the flow of funds into the advertising networks could diminish, especially if there is an economic downturn.

Microsoft is considering an ad-supported version of Works

Blogger and journalism teacher Jeff Jarvis believes that changes in the advertising model and a move from paid ads to other forms of communication are likely to mean that "there won't be enough to support us in media in the manner to which we've become accustomed".

He goes on to reflect that: "It's hard to imagine what other business models will come along to fund us", especially when charging for content seems to be unacceptable to readers, viewers and users.

There is another, deeper question to ask here, one concerning the audience.

Partly, I suspect, because I grew up in the days before there was any online advertising at all I don't click on ads very often, except occasionally when I'm doing a very specific product search and a relevant ad appears.

Of course clicking isn't the only way for a website to make money out of the adverts that appear, of course. Television adverts have been rather successful without any immediate way of generating a viewer response because they raise awareness of brands, products and services, and this also works online.

The impression generated isn't always positive. I'm certainly aware of the Experian credit agency because it has wallpapered my Facebook profile to the extent that I now resent its mere existence. However, other brands may do better out of the banner ads that fill this and other social-networking sites.

Net ads, like the lottery, help to subsidise the online world

My own blog has generated a whopping $70 of income from Google ads in the last two years, so I'm aware of the importance of this to small businesses.

In a fascinating post on her blog sociologist danah boyd (sic) reflects on some recent research from a study carried out by AOL into US web behaviour that indicated that the few people who do click on ads are far from typical.

The survey found that around 0.2% of web users are 'heavy clickers' and they are older, mostly female and predominantly from the Midwest. They like to click on competitions and sweepstakes.

danah, in her best academic style, suspects that 'heavy ad clickers in social network sites and other social media are more likely to trend lower in both economic and social capital than the average user', which translates into 'poor, isolated working class people click more ads'.

A lot more research is needed here, but we must face up to the irony that our favourite websites may well be being paid for by the poor, rather like the way many of the middle class's favourite cultural institutions are supported by the predominantly working class purchasers of tickets for the National Lottery.

Back to battle Ice scream Roma ruin

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Net users 'want film downloads'

What are people doing online?

Net users in the UK have rated the ability to download DVD-quality films quickly as the service they most want from next-generation broadband.

In a survey conducted by Broadbandchoices.co.uk, users put it ahead of video calls, High Definition video downloads and home surveillance.

Some 18% said they downloaded films although it was the online activity they devoted the least time to.

Some 61% rated "downloading DVD quality films in five minutes" as the most interesting application for future broadband services.

The survey was intended to get a feel from what consumers may want from next-generation broadband in the light of recent questions about how and when the UK should move to super-fast services.

However, there was uncertainty over how whether people would be prepared to pay extra for such services, with 60% responding either no or don't know.

The services people rated the most exciting drivers of next-generation broadband were the ones they spent the least time on currently.

"From our results it does appear a little contradictory that respondents rated 'watching TV' or downloading films as being the least amount of time spent on the internet in a week and yet when asked which future service would be of most interest rated them as the most popular," said Michael Phillips, product director at BroadbandChoices.co.uk.

"It could be that current services are not at a high enough standard to warrant utilising video services. If speeds were improved, consumers are more likely to use broadband to watch TV and/or download films," said Mr Phillips.

Gaming

Regulator Ofcom is in the middle of a consultation on the issue future net services while MPs hosted a Westminster eForum on the issue two weeks ago, which was followed up by a broadband summit, hosted by minister for competitiveness Stephen Timms.

The issue hinges on whether the UK is falling behind the rest of the world, where fibre networks capable of delivering speeds of up to 100Mbps are starting to become commonplace.

In South Korea, one of the world's most advanced nations when it comes to super-fast broadband, some 90% percent of homes can get connections between 50 and 100Mbps.

The biggest driver there is gaming where some 43% percent have a presence in the online gaming world.

In the UK, it is hoped that video, and particularly high-definition video, will drive services.

Current issues

Virgin Media has pledged to upgrade its cable network - which reaches more than 50% of the population - by the end of next year while BT is considering the option of rolling out a limited fibre network.

BT and Ofcom have stated in recent weeks that there is no clear demand for more bandwidth from consumers.

"With consumer demand for upgrading the UK's broadband infrastructure being unclear there may even be some advantage in the UK holding back on broadband development in the short term and instead keep track on broadband progress in other countries to help us learn from their experiences," said Mr Phillips.

There are many who think the most important job is to sort out current broadband speeds, where there is a huge disparity between advertised speeds and the speeds people are actually getting.

A report from consumer group Which earlier in the year found that some customers on so-called 8Mbps packages actually get less than 1Mbps.

Ofcom's own speeds tests found that the average customer got 39% of their promised speed.

Factors that affect the speed users get include the distance they are from the exchange and the quality of wiring within their home.

"We need transparency from providers on the kind of speeds customers can actually expect to get, rather than flashy advertising and ever increasing top speeds and this needs to be carried forward with the future of broadband," said Mr Phillips.No refuge Ice scream Roma ruin

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Why do we need faster broadband?

Super-fast broadband is a must for gamers

A lot of what has been written about broadband has focused on obsession with speed.

But for most consumers the size of the pipe or the bandwidth is carries is of little importance as long as they can get done all the things they need to get done.

Without the obvious need for more bandwidth it is hard for companies such as BT to justify committing to a multi-billion spend on new networks.

Yet for the services to happen the capacity needs to be there. This chicken and egg dilemma is perhaps the biggest facing the industry as it considers its next move in the broadband sphere.

Ofcom has been proactive in the debate and is currently in the middle of a consultation on the issue but even it admits there is no obvious killer app.

"We are struggling to see new commercial applications. The same old applications are popping up that did when broadband was being talked about- such as video-conferencing and telemedicine," said Clive Carter, principal of strategy and market developments at Ofcom.

Video networking

HD isn't just for wildlife documentaries

Most pundits agree that a new age is dawning where using your broadband connection for a bit of web surfing and sending the odd e-mail has ended in favour of video-dominated applications

Services such as YouTube have proved that consumers want to watch video online and this has gathered pace with offering such as the BBC iPlayer and Channel 4's catch-up service allowing viewers to access on-demand TV.

According to Nielsen Online, some 21 million Britons (63% of those online) visited TV, video and movies sites in September 2007, which is a rise of 28% from the same time last year with the time they spent on these sites up 91%.

"Britons are displaying an increasingly significant appetite for supplementing their viewing habits online," said Nielsen Online analyst Alex Burmeister.

"Whether it's additional content related to a particular TV programme or actually watching episodes or videos through their computer, we are starting to see a significant spread of entertainment consumption form the so-called lean back method of a TV to the lean forward method of the PC," he said.

In a 100Mbps world, pundits expect that the social networking sites that are currently proving so popular with users and virtual worlds such as Second Life will have HD 2-way video conferencing included as standard.

Downloading increase

Is there evidence of pent-up demand for faster services?

"No-one is screaming for 50Mbps now aside from a few geeks who won't really do anything useful with it but at the same time it is remarkable people's ability to use capacity," said Tim Johnson, chief analyst at broadband research firm Point Topic.

For many the case for fast networks is one of "build it and they will come".

UK internet service provider PlusNet has noticed a marked increase in the amount of downloading its users are doing - up to 6.4 gigabytes per month from 5 gigabytes this time last year.

When it upgraded customers to a 8Mbps connection - which is the service 70% of its users now have - it saw a 25% increase in usage.

"Every time we've seen an increase in speed, applications have come along to swallow it up," said Neil Armstrong, product director at PlusNet.

Some of the answers to how consumers will may use future capacity lie in what others are already doing with it. South Korea is often held up as the most technically advanced nation in the world when it comes to broadband. Households in the cities enjoy between 50Mbps and 100Mbps on average.

Much of the demand for bandwidth in South Korea comes from gamers, where video games seem to be a national pastime. It is not just bandwidth that gamers need, it is speed of response, or latency but as a general rule the faster the download speeds, the faster the upload speeds and that is a must for online gaming.

In the UK the gaming market is also growing and for some, such as professional gamer Michael O'Dell, there is a belief that gaming is about to go mass market.

According to a survey conducted by Broadbandchoices.co.uk, nearly half of the online population (48%) play online games. Despite this only 19% said they wanted high definition gaming services from next-generation broadband.

But for Mr O'Dell, who heads up Team Dignitas - a group of professional gamers competing for some serious prize-money - super-fast broadband speed is not a luxury but a necessity if his team wants to compete on the global stage.

Most of his players languish on 2Mbps connections and some are of poor quality making it harder for them to practice.

"It is difficult for people to play competitively online due to their connections. It is well-known in the gaming world that the Swedes have the best connections in Europe, with many getting a 100Mbps for 14 a month. No-one in the UK can get that," he said.

It is in great contrast to the public gaming tournaments they attend, such as the recent i32 event hosted at Newbury racecourse, where speeds of up to 100Mbps are easily attainable thanks to the use of so-called local area networks.

At these LAN parties, conditions for gaming are perfect, said Mr O'Dell.

"We have a super high-speed network which allows up to a thousand people to play without any performance issues. That is the ideal situation," he said.

While gaming is likely to play a role in hoovering up next-generation capacity, few think it will be the killer application for the mass market.

It seems likely that the real bandwidth basher will come from a service yet to be thought of and one that may only come about when the extra capacity is there to serve it.No refuge Ice scream Roma ruin

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Games violence study is launched

All games in the UK are regulated

The government is asking for evidence for a new study of the effect of violent computer games on children.

Psychologist Tanya Byron will head the study, which will also examine how to protect children from online material.

The review is due to be launched by Dr Byron - together with Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Culture Secretary James Purnell - at a school in east London.

The games industry's association Elspa said it would co-operate - but it was too often blamed for society's ills.

Paul Jackson, of Elspa (the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association), said the body had already met with Dr Byron and would work with the government on the review.

We are very responsible and keen to ensure that our products are only played by those who they are designed for

But he said the industry was "too often blamed for everything from obesity to youth violence".

He said: "It is just not true and it's not appropriate."

He added: "We feel quite positively about this review. It's clear the review is about making sure parents are properly informed about what their youngsters are playing and what they are accessing on the internet."

Dr Byron told BBC News 24: "The study will be about what industry is doing already to protect children and what more could be done to ensure they have a positive experience on the internet and with games."

Speaking at the launch of the review at a school in Barking, Essex, she said: "Video gaming and the internet themselves are a very positive and important part of children's and young children's growing up and learning and development. But it is also about saying where are the risks?"

The review is expected to last six months.

'Singled out'

Veteran developer David Braben, of Frontier games, asked why games were being singled out.

"A review might be useful but it should not just look at one media, especially when media are intersecting," he said.

He added: "Historically there has always been in government a Luddite sentiment - whatever the new industry is tends to take the blame of the latest ailment of society.

"We do tend to be the people who get the blame first at the moment. And that is a tragedy - because this industry is one of the most interesting media."

Philip Oliver, chief executive of Blitz games, said more education was needed for parents.

"They aren't paying attention to the certificates. That is partly because they don't understand them and have a distorted image of games - that either they are harmless or totally evil."

The review is launched a day after the British Board of Film Classification refused a certificate for Manhunt 2 for a second time.

Mr Oliver said the decision was proof "the system is working".

According to Elspa, only 2% of games released in the UK receive an 18 certificate and the average age of a gamer is 28.

'Higher standards'

Mr Jackson said: "We are a very important British industry. We are very responsible and keen to ensure that our products are only played by those who they are designed for."

Margaret Robertson, a video games consultant and former editor of Edge magazine, said the industry felt it was doing as much as it could.

"The games industry is holding itself to higher standards than the film industry. This is a solved problem.

"Allowing that, everyone is united in not wanting material for older gamers to get into the hands of children."

She added: "This report may start finding some wider ways to do that."Back to battle Ice scream Roma ruin

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Industry reacts to games review

Leading figures in the games industry give their views on the review.

DAVID BRABEN, FOUNDER FRONTIER GAMES

Unifying the two would be helpful. Creating a review that is just one narrow part of the entertainment industry is a mistake.

Perhaps 18 certificate games should not be sold in retail that is available to children

Historically there has always been in government a Luddite sentiment - whatever the new industry trends to take the blame of the latest ailment of society. This is an industry which often does not answer back.

Occasionally game ratings are seen as aspirational - I've seen games with 18 ratings that do not deserve it. If you look at comparison with film, the industry is dealing with similar issues.

We don't have real enforcement of ratings. Perhaps 18 certificate games should not be sold in retail that is available to children. Just like Adult Only games in the US.

It's a disgrace that there are games designed for 18 year olds being played by eight year olds. There is an expectation of "it's only a game".

It's as much an education issue as anything else and it applies equally to films.

"We do tend to be the people who get the blame first at the moment. And that is a tragedy - because this industry is one of the most interesting media.

PHILIP OLIVER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE BLITZ GAMES

Is the industry doing the right thing? I firmly believe we are.

Everything is clearly labelled. All the games have certificates on them.

I feel the breakdown in the games industry, as it is in every other media, is with parent's understanding.

They aren't paying attention to the certificates. That is partly because they don't understand them and have a distorted image of games - that either they are harmless or totally evil.

The games industry makes titles for older gamers because that is where the market is. They are not aimed at children

We need to educate parents - and if that is what this government review does, then I am very happy about that.

Only a small percentage of games are rated 15 or over and the average age of a gamer is 28 years old.

The games industry makes titles for older gamers because that is where the market is. They are not aimed at children.

If the movie industry didn't make titles for 18 audiences, you wouldn't have Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan and Reservoir Dogs.

There are games that don't need to be made, such as Manhunt 2. That title was banned, which shows the system is working.

MARGARET ROBERTSON, FORMER EDITOR OF EDGE MAGAZINE

There is need for a review but probably not for more legislation. From within the games industry this problem is well mapped.

The games industry is holding itself to higher standards than the film industry. This is a solved problem

The UK games industry feels, quite justifiably, they are doing as much as they reasonably can so shop that games are for all and not just for children and therefore some of them have adult themes and are not suitable for younger players.

The combination of the BBFC and the Pegi European ratings and the size of these ratings on boxes - typically larger than certificates on DVDs - is an indication of that seriousness.

Staff at most game shops are trained but again and again what we hear is that there is still a problem of getting parents to understand that a game may not be suitable for their children.

It's hard to see what more could be done. The games industry is holding itself to higher standards than the film industry. This is a solved problem.

Allowing that, everyone is united in not wanting material for older gamers to get into the hands of children.

This report may start finding some wider ways to do that.

PAUL JACKSON, CHAIRMAN OF ELSPA

The video games industry is a very responsible industry and we are very tightly regulated. We are keen to work with government in any way we can.

I think the video games industry is this year's whipping boy

We are a successful industry. The average age of gamers today is about 28 so we reserve the right to make content for all our consumers.

The key for us is to make sure parents understand age ratings. There is no difference between an 18-rated film and an 18-rated game.

I think the video games industry is this year's whipping boy. too often we are blamed for everything from obesity to youth violence it is just not true and it's not appropriate.

We are a very important British industry and we are very responsible keen to ensure that our products are only played by those who they are designed for.Back to battle Ice scream Roma ruin

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Games content 'concerns parents'

Many games are designed for children

More than three quarters of parents are concerned about the content of video games played by their children, according to a survey.

Almost half of the 4,000 parents surveyed said that one hour of gaming each day should be the limit.

Some 43% of the surveyed parents said they were not aware of ratings systems for games to determine suitability.

The results are likely to provoke unease in the UK industry as it awaits the conclusions of the Byron Review.

Dr Tanya Byron is conducting a review of the internet and video games and their impact on children in the UK.

She will publish her findings in 2008 and recently closed her submissions for evidence. One of her areas of focus will be the ratings systems in the UK - which currently involves a pan-European system and a UK-only rating from the British Board of Film Classification.

The games industry has gone to great lengths to stress the educational and social aspects of gaming, while emphasising that games are regulated and appeal to all ages, with mature titles for mature gamers.

A spokesperson for Elspa, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association, said videogame playing was "part of a balanced mix of leisure activities for all ages".

Elspa added: "We welcome the opportunity to highlight the range of devises such as age content suitability ratings and parental controls that support parents in exercising their responsibilities."

The association said it was committed to educating parents "around sensible and appropriate game play". It has established a website - www.askaboutgames.com - to help parents become better informed about games.

The survey was carried across the UK, France, Italy and Germany on behalf of Microsoft.

Games writer and consultant Margaret Robertson said the findings around ratings were not a surprise.

"This is a well-known issue in the UK that while the ratings system is quite good, both parental awareness and understanding of it is quite poor.

"The industry has tried a number of initiatives and game specific retailers tend to be fairly responsible about trying to enforce these things."

The survey found that more than half of children played games on consoles, 32% on PCs, 9% played games online and 4% played on a mobile phone.

It also revealed that for the majority of children, playing games was a solitary activity.

Sixty four percent of children played games alone, less than 1 in 10 children play video games with family members and 12% played with friends, the survey found.

The online space is a growing sector of the games industry but the survey found only 5% played mainly online.

Parents saw themselves as the key decision makers for which games should be played by their children, rather than regulators or the video games industry, according to the survey.

"There should be parental concern about some games," said Margaret Robertson.

"The survey shows that there is parental curiosity about content and a desire for the ability to have more control and insight into what their children are doing.

"There are games that not suitable, games which are sinister, dark and thought-provoking; parents instincts to be concerned are right.

"There are games that should be out of the hands of the children. The industry needs to be telling people that and giving them the information they need."Red faces Day in pictures In pictures

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Astronauts arrive for Thursday launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- Seven astronauts arrived for the start of countdown to Thursday's space shuttle launch as NASA wrapped up repairs on Atlantis' fuel tank.

Damage was discovered Friday to the insulating foam on the shuttle's 15-story external tank. NASA doesn't know how or when the gouges to the foam occurred, but the damage is considered minor.

New patches of foam have been applied. It will take 16 hours for the foam to harden properly, in plenty of time for liftoff late Thursday afternoon, said NASA test director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.

Now that it's repaired, the foam should pose no threat to Atlantis during launch, said Blackwell-Thompson. Falling foam was disastrous in the case of Columbia in 2003, and has been a recurring problem.

Countdown clocks were set to begin ticking Monday evening. Packed safely aboard Atlantis was the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory headed for delivery to the international space station.

Good launch weather was forecast.

"We hope it stays like this all week long," commander Stephen Frick said, standing next to his crewmates beneath a brilliantly blue sky.

French astronaut Leopold Eyharts will move into the space station for a few months and help get the Columbus science lab running.

"As I will be probably gone for a while, I would like to wish you all merry Christmas and a happy new year," Eyharts said. "See you in 2008."

This will be NASA's fourth shuttle flight of the year, all to the space station. So far, each of this year's countdowns has resulted in an on-time launch.

Ever since Discovery left a month ago, the three crew members on the space station have been working practically nonstop. They looked pleased Monday as they wrapped up preparations for the arrival of Atlantis and the Columbus lab.

"If they launch this week, then I'll be home by Christmas," said astronaut Daniel Tani, who flew up aboard Discovery in October. He will be replaced by Eyharts and return to Earth on Atlantis.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source from: edition.cnn.com

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5-year-old chimp beats college kids in computer game

NEW YORK (AP) -- Think you're smarter than a fifth-grader? How about a 5-year-old chimp? Japanese researchers pitted young chimps against human adults in tests of short-term memory, and overall, the chimps won.

A chimpanzee named Ayumu performs a memory test.

That challenges the belief of many people, including many scientists, that "humans are superior to chimpanzees in all cognitive functions," said researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University.

"No one can imagine that chimpanzees -- young chimpanzees at the age of 5 -- have a better performance in a memory task than humans," he said in a statement.

Matsuzawa, a pioneer in studying the mental abilities of chimps, said even he was surprised. He and colleague Sana Inoue report the results in Tuesday's issue of the journal Current Biology.

One memory test included three 5-year-old chimps who'd been taught the order of Arabic numerals 1 through 9, and a dozen human volunteers.

They saw nine numbers displayed on a computer screen. When they touched the first number, the other eight turned into white squares. The test was to touch all these squares in the order of the numbers that used to be there.

Results showed that the chimps, while no more accurate than the people, could do this faster.

One chimp, Ayumu, did the best. Researchers included him and nine college students in a second test.

This time, five numbers flashed on the screen only briefly before they were replaced by white squares. The challenge, again, was to touch these squares in the proper sequence.

When the numbers were displayed for about seven-tenths of a second, Ayumu and the college students were both able to do this correctly about 80 percent of the time.

But when the numbers were displayed for just four-tenths or two-tenths of a second, the chimp was the champ. The briefer of those times is too short to allow a look around the screen, and in those tests Ayumu still scored about 80 percent, while humans plunged to 40 percent.

That indicates Ayumu was better at taking in the whole pattern of numbers at a glance, the researchers wrote.

"It's amazing what this chimpanzee is able to do," said Elizabeth Lonsdorf, director of the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. The center studies the mental abilities of apes, but Lonsdorf didn't participate in the new study.

She admired Ayumu's performance when the numbers flashed only briefly on the screen.

"I just watched the video of that and I can tell you right now, there's no way I can do it," she said. "It's unbelievable. I can't even get the first two (squares)."

What's going on here? Even with six months of training, three students failed to catch up to the three young chimps, Matsuzawa said in an e-mail.

He thinks two factors gave his chimps the edge. For one thing, he believes human ancestors gave up much of this skill over evolutionary time to make room in the brain for gaining language abilities.

The other factor is the youth of Ayumu and his peers. The memory for images that's needed for the tests resembles a skill found in children, but which dissipates with age. In fact, the young chimps performed better than older chimps in the new study. (Ayumu's mom did even worse than the college students).

So the next logical step, Lonsdorf said, is to fix up Ayumu with some real competition on these tests: little kids.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source from: edition.cnn.com

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Review: New Sony LocationFree TV only a slight improvement

(CNET.com) -- In some ways, you've got to feel a little sympathetic for Sony. The company effectively invented the placeshifting concept -- the ability to stream TV programming from your living room to another device via the Internet -- in 2004, only to see it co-opted by smaller upstart Sling Media a year later. The latter company's Slingbox series of products have become the industry leader, popular enough for the start-up to be purchased by Dish Network parent EchoStar for a cool $380 million.

But Sony has stayed in the game, releasing follow-up products that have attempted to challenge Sling's dominance. The latest such device is the LF-V30, the first LocationFree TV product to be released since the products were transferred under the rubric of Sony's PC-centric VAIO division. The LF-V30 ($250 list) adds compatibility for HD component video and has full pass-through inputs and outputs for two separate video sources. But otherwise, there's no big improvement over last year's LF-B20.

As a result, the LF-V30's flaws are even more glaring in comparison to the comparable Slingbox models, the Slingbox Pro and the Slingbox Solo. Sony's setup process still ranges from mildly to excessively frustrating -- especially if you go wireless -- and the viewing software and control options get the job done, but just don't offer the same degree of ease and intuitive design found on the Sling counterpart. As such, the LocationFree LF-V30 is really only commendable over a Slingbox to those who will use its two distinguishing features: the ability to stream video to a PSP, and the ability to connect to a Wi-Fi network.

About the size of a hardcover book, the all-black LocationFree TV LF-V30 could be mistaken for a somewhat fat wireless router -- understandable, because that's pretty much what it is. Like Sony's PlayStation game consoles, it can be mounted horizontally or vertically (a snap-on plastic base is included). The front face of the minimalist black box has a smattering of green status LEDs, along with a power switch, a setup mode button (for use during the initial configuration), and a reset switch.

As always, though, the back panel is where the action is. There are two A/V inputs. The first includes S-Video (in addition to composite) and stereo audio inputs, along with a duplicate set of pass-through outputs. The second is composite and component, the latter of which can handle high-def signals. There's also an Ethernet port for a wired network connection; the wireless antenna is internal. Last but not least, there are two infrared (IR) blaster ports -- although the Base Station ships with only one single-headed blaster.

Setting up the LF-V30 is a two-step process: you need to get it connected to your network (which involves installing the included software on a PC), and you need to connect the AV cables to the video source (or sources). For the networking setup, you're offered two wireless options: using the LF-V30 as a wireless client or using it as a wireless access point.

Client mode means the LF-V30 can wirelessly connect only to your wireless router -- which is great if you don't have an Ethernet connection near your TV. Access point mode, on the other hand, lets you use the LF-V30 as a point of entry to your network for any other Wi-Fi device (laptop, handheld, PSP, DS, what have you) -- but to do so, it requires a wired connection to the router. In other words, the wireless functionality is an either/or proposition -- connect wirelessly to your router, or to your PC/PSP, but not both simultaneously. That doesn't make the LF-V30 different from any other access point or router you'd buy -- just don't buy it expecting it to work as a wireless bridge.

Because of those advanced wireless capabilities, the LF-V30's networking hookup is more challenging than that of the Slingbox. Sony says the LF-V30 quick start guide is improved over last year's LF-B20 model, but the average user will still find it to be something of a challenge. (Another caveat: if you intend to use the LF-V30 in client mode, you'll need to run a wired networking connection during setup -- unless you're using the Vista-optimized setup software instead.)

During the process, you'll need to install the included LocationFree Player software, which includes a setup wizard. The software wizard is a bit easier to follow than the quick-start guide, but it requires you to enter a Web browser at one point to adjust some settings on the LF-V30 -- similar to the browser-based interfaces found on most wireless routers. If you slow down and follow the printed and software instructions step by step, you just might make it through. By comparison, if you have a UPnP router, the setup options on the Slingbox are a lot smoother and user-friendly.

During the setup process, you'll also need to connect the LF-V30 to a video source or two. Doing so is no more difficult than hooking up a VCR or a DVD recorder. We appreciated the pass-through outputs, which let the LF-V30 sit innocuously in the chain between our cable box and the AV receiver, without the need for splitters or monopolizing precious S-Video and component outputs.

The most likely video source for the LF-V30 is a cable or satellite set-top box, which will let you watch the full range of your live TV options. You choose the make and model of your set-top box or other video source from an onscreen list so the V30 can send the right codes via the IR blaster, which you need to string to the front of said box.

Here, Sony has included two very cool options. The system can autodetect the brand of your set-top box if you point and "shoot" your remote into a small IR receiver on the LF-V30's front panel when instructed to do so (it correctly determined that we had a Scientific Atlanta box). And, if you have a brand that's not in the database, you can have the LF-V30 "learn" the main commands from any remote and map them to corresponding keys on the onscreen remote on your PC.

Once you've got the software installed and everything connected, you should be able to view your cable/satellite box from your PC. You'll get a video window with basic controls, with the standalone onscreen remote on the side. If everything's gone according to plan, you'll have the same control over your set-top box whether you're in the next room or logging on from any broadband access point in the world.

On a home network, you'll get higher speeds (in excess of 3Mbps) and a resulting better picture quality; the result can look quite good even when the window is maximized for full-screen viewing. When viewing over the Internet -- which is to say, when you log in from any place outside of your home network -- you'll be restricted by the upstream bandwidth of your broadband connection, so the visual fidelity takes a hit. But we still got a reasonably watchable picture, especially if we didn't blow it up to full screen. (Note that the LF-V30 can accept high-def (720p/1080i) video, but it downconverts it for streaming.)

On the Windows viewing software, Sony has made a few notable improvements. The onscreen software "remote" had all of the important keys for our DVR (including the all-important "list" function), and the template can now be updated, so you can add more customized keys for anything that's missing. Sony also says that remote "skins" are available -- so the onscreen remote mirrors the familiar look and feel of your device's remote -- but we couldn't seem to get that function to work.

Prefer to watch your TV shows on a device other than your PC? LocationFree products are theoretically supported on Macs and Windows Mobile devices, but there are a variety of caveats. For the Mac, you'll need to invest in viewing software from Taxan (aka IO-Data) to do so; we didn't have a copy on hand, so we didn't test it. But according to the company's Web site, the client isn't even verified to work with the LF-V30.

Likewise, Access (the company that owns the rights to the Palm OS) offers the NetFront LocationFree Player for Pocket PC ($20) -- but compatibility is limited to Windows Mobile 5.0 and 2003 Second Edition devices, and the company has "no plan to support Windows Mobile 6." On the brighter side, any PSP with the latest firmware is ready to go: you'll just need to pair the PSP with the LF-V30 first (follow the onscreen instructions on the PSP to do so). Once it's paired up, you should be able to access and control the LF-V30 from the PSP just as easily as you would on a PC or a Mac. Both the PC and PSP viewing clients have multiple aspect-ratio options, so you can stretch, squash, and zoom the picture to fit the squarish confines of a standard 4:3 monitor or a wider 16:9 viewing space, as found on a PSP.

Even if you stick with Windows, installing a player is something of an annoyance. The included software has a license, of course, but you can use that only on one machine. Each additional Windows PC will require another license (software key) at a cost of $30. So, if you want to view your home TV programming on more than one computer -- say, your personal laptop and your work PC -- you're going to have to shell out more money. (Sony VAIO owners, at least, get a freebie; the LocationFree software comes preinstalled on those PCs as of summer 2007.)

Compare that software rigmarole to the Slingbox experience. Sling offers freely downloadable Windows and Mac versions, so you can install the viewing client on as many computers as you want for no additional charge. (Only one can log on at any given time, but it's still a huge advantage.)

As long as you have the Slingbox serial number and password, you can effectively download and install the software and watch your home TV from any computer in the world, without being bogged down paying additional fees. And while Sling also charges for its mobile software clients, each of them -- for Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian smartphones -- are updated much more frequently, and the downloads and customer support documents are all in one convenient place: Sling's Web site. Likewise, if you have a problem with any of them, you deal with Sling's customer service -- not a third party.

It's also worth mentioning some of the caveats that apply to all of these so-called placeshifting devices, including the Slingbox. Most importantly, the LF-V30 will monopolize whatever device -- or devices -- to which it's attached. That's no problem if the cable box in question is sitting in an empty house, and you're out on the road; it's a big problem if a family member is at home watching TV, and you decide to remotely change the channel.

Secondly, the LocationFree TV products are only as good as the products they're connected to. Linking it to a TiVo/DVR gives you a lot more freedom to play back any programs you've already recorded, while a standard cable or satellite box provides access only to live TV -- not very useful if nothing's on. Finally, the video quality is largely determined by the upstream broadband connection at the source; if your bandwidth isn't in the sweet spot (say, 350Kbps to 500Kbps), you'll get a lot of herky-jerky video.

In the final analysis, the LocationFree LF-V30 is an incremental improvement over the preceding LF-B20 model. If wireless connectivity is a must, or you're a heavy PSP user, the LF-V30 is the box for you. But everyone else will be better served by a Slingbox, which offers easier setup and installation, a better software client, and solid support for far more devices, including Macs and Palm, Windows Mobile, and Symbian smartphones.

Source from: edition.cnn.com

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Getting more from Moore's Law

For more than 40 years the silicon industry has delivered ever faster, cheaper chips.

The advances have underpinned everything from the rise of mobile phones to digital photography and portable music players.

Chip-makers have been able to deliver many of these advances by shrinking the components on a chip.

By making these building blocks, such as transistors, smaller they have become faster and firms have been able to pack more of them into the same area.

But according to many industry insiders this miniaturisation cannot continue forever.

"The consensus in the industry is that we can do that shrink for about another ten years and then after that we have to figure out new ways to bring higher capability to our chips," said Professor Stanley Williams of Hewlett Packard.

Even Gordon Moore, the founder of Intel and the man that gave his name to the law that dictates the industry's progression, admits that it can only go on for a few more years.

"Moore's Law should continue for at least another decade," he recently told the BBC News website. "That's about as far as I can see."

Tiny tubes

As a result, researchers around the world are engaged in efforts to allow the industry to continue delivering the advances that computer users have come to expect.

Key areas include advanced fabrication techniques, building new components and finding new materials to augment silicon.

Already new materials are creeping into modern chips.

To overcome this, companies have replaced the gate dielectrics, previously made from silicon dioxide, with an oxide based on the metal hafnium.

The material's development and integration into working components has been described by Dr Moore as "the biggest change in transistor technology" since the late 1960s.

But IBM researchers are working on materials that they believe offer even bigger advances.

"Carbon nanotubes are a step beyond [hafnium]," explained Dr Phaedon Avouris of the company.

'Superior' design

"They are a more drastic change but still preserve the basic architecture of field effect transistors."

Dr Avouris believes they can be used to replace a critical element of the chip, known as the channel.

Today this is commonly made of silicon and is the area of the transistor through which electrons flow.

Chip makers are constantly battling to make the channel length in transistors smaller and smaller, to increase the performance of the devices.

Carbon nanotube's small size and "superior" electrical properties should be able to deliver this, said Dr Avouris.

Crucially, he also believes the molecules can be integrated with traditional silicon manufacturing processes, meaning the technology would more likely be accepted by an industry that has spent billions perfecting manufacturing techniques.

The team have already shown off working transistors and are currently working on optimising their production and integration into working devices.

Tiny improvement

Professor Williams, at Hewlett Packard is also working on technology that could be incorporated into the future generations of chips.

Nano chip developer Multi-core chips Multi-core 'myth'

"Now we have this type of device we have a broader palette with which to paint our circuits," said Professor Williams.

Professor Williams and his team have shown that by putting two of these devices together - a configuration called a crossbar latch - it could do the job of a transistor.

"A cross bar latch has the type of functionality you want from a transistor but it's working with very different physics," he explained.

Crucially, these devices can also be made much smaller than a transistor.

"And as they get smaller they get better," he said.

Professor Williams and his team are currently making prototype hybrid circuits - built of memristors and transistors - in a fabrication plant in North America.

"We want to keep the functional equivalent of Moore's Law going for many decades into the future," said Professor Williams.Down but not out Day in pictures Sex trade

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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End of innocence for Mac fans

Regular columnist Bill Thompson thinks it is about time that schools did more than teach word processing.

Apple users will have to watch more carefully what they are doing

It's nothing to do with how frequently he showers or changes his socks, and only indirectly related to how freely he should accept sweets from strangers.

The problem is with his computer, as only six months after he moved from using a virus-prone Windows PC to a Macintosh computer the first serious threat to Mac users has been observed "in the wild".

It's a Trojan Horse, a piece of code that pretends to do one thing but actually compromises your computer.

This one spreads through online video sites, taking advantage of the fact that there are many different ways to display video, each requiring slightly different software to encode and decode moving images.

That puts my son right in the middle of the vulnerable population because he likes to watch video clips via sites like YouTube and Flixster.

Although Quicktime, the Apple media player that comes bundles with every Mac, makes a good shot of dealing with most common formats, if it can't figure out what to do with a particular file type it can go online to find the right "codec".

The Trojan sits behind an online video and when you try to play it you get a message from Quicktime telling you to get a new codec, and if you follow the link you'll be sent to a site that hosts the malicious software.

Click "ok" and enter your systems adminstrator's password and it will be installed on your computer with full system access after which you are, to use the jargon, "pwned", or scuppered.

And you don't even get to see the video you were after.

Of course this Trojan relies on social engineering to spread, and it does not mark a breakdown in Mac OS security or anything like that.

These sorts of programs have been around on Unix systems for years, and there were Mac Trojans back in 2004, all relying on people's willingness to click on boxes without thinking when they believe they are being offered something they want.

But it does mean I'm going to have to reinforce my son's understanding of computer security, make him more suspicious and ensure that he appreciates the vulnerability of every computer.

I'll be sad to see his innocence go, but perhaps it is an inevitable part of growing up, like losing belief in Santa Claus or parental infallibility.

Despite the growing importance of computers and the internet in school I don't expect that this real threat to home computer users will make it into the school newsletter or be announced in assembly as part of the general school concern for pupil safety.

And this highlights a real failing in the education system, one that betrays a lack of the sort of joined-up thinking that the government is trying to achieve elsewhere.

There is a fair amount of skills-based IT training taking place, so that students leave school knowing how to write a letter, make a spreadsheet and create a presentation, even if their skills tend to be oriented around Microsoft Office instead of being more general.

The trojan claims to help users watch pornographic video clips

Next week I'm going into a local school to help with a citizenship day about the media, and I've been sent a list of topics that they are going to cover.

New media, online journalism, citizen journalism and user-generated content don't feature, because the focus is on newspapers, radio and TV.

Most of these students will have computers at home and all will use the internet at school, but the move online has all happened so fast that it is simply not present in the curriculum.

There is some attention given to internet safety, but that largely focuses on stranger danger and not malicious software, and even then it does not attempt to teach basic principles.

The tiny amount of money available to teach media literacy has had no noticeable impact on how young people think about the world, and schools continue to ignore the reality of how computers, mobile phones and the internet feature in their students' daily lives.

It would be nice to think that my son would come home from school to tell me that there was nasty Mac Trojan in the wild because his teachers realised that it might be important to him.

It would be just as nice if he was encouraged to use social network sites to share his insights into the underlying causes of the First World War or MySpace to post his pop art inspired paintings.

But at the moment the pressure for that sort of activity seems to come only from informed and engaged parents, disadvantaging those whose parents have neither the understanding nor inclination to explain new technologies to them.

The Victorians recognised the commercial benefits of general literacy, and created an education system to deliver it to all. The time is ripe for media literacy to be given the same treatment.

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Review: Lenovo delivers a solid, small business laptop

(CNET.com) -- When we set out to round up a handful of laptops that cost less than $1,000, we knew we had to include Lenovo. The small-business-focused Lenovo 3000 line has long been one of the best deals going if you want to buy a laptop built on the latest Intel processors and platforms.

Our 14.1-inch Lenovo 3000 N200 review unit, which cost just $948, lived up to our expectations when it passed most of the other $1,000 systems on our benchmarks.

Its primary competition, performance-wise, came from a Sony VAIO CR120 built on many of the same components, which kept pace with the Lenovo on all but one of our tests.

But the slickly designed Sony incorporates a number of media-friendly features destined to appeal to entertainment-minded home users. The chunky N200, on the other hand, delivers a fingerprint reader and a suite of support utilities designed to help business users maintain their systems, making it an excellent choice for small businesses on a tight budget or home users looking for a no-nonsense productivity machine.

The Lenovo 3000 N200 doesn't feel quite as tank-like as its ThinkPad cousins, but its case (silver on the outside, dark gray on the inside) features sturdy metal hinges and an overall solid construction. Contributing to the sturdy feel is the N200's 1.4-inch thickness, which pushes the definition of thin-and-light. Thickness aside, its size is similar to the 14.1-inch Sony VAIO CR120.

As with all Lenovo laptops, the Lenovo 3000 N200 features a roomy, comfortable keyboard reminiscent of the board found on higher-end ThinkPads. Its touch pad is passable, and the mouse buttons provide satisfying tactile feedback. Three volume controls above the keyboard constitute the extent of the N200's media controls, not surprising given that Lenovo targets small business with the N200 and the rest of the Lenovo 3000 line (the company's ThinkPad brand is marketed to larger enterprises by including features such as shock-mounted hard drives and high-level data security, among others). Next to the volume control is a button to summon the useful Lenovo Care system-management and help utility (more on that below). A fingerprint reader below the keyboard frees you from typing in passwords. We like that the N200 includes handy port labels along both sides of the keyboard deck to help you immediately find where to plug in peripherals.

The Lenovo 3000 N200 can be configured with either a 14.1-inch or 15.4-inch wide-aspect display. Our test unit featured the 14.1-inch wide screen with a sharp 1,280x800 native resolution. Though not as expansive as the larger size, this 14.1-inch screen provides adequate room for working in spreadsheets and documents as well as watching the occasional movie. While buyers can opt for an antiglare finish on other versions of the N200, our review unit included a video-friendly glossy finish; fortunately, we had no trouble with annoying reflections in our typical office environment.

Because the Lenovo 3000 line is aimed at small-business users who aren't likely to have an IT department or loaner systems at their disposal, the company preloads the N200 with a helpful suite of utilities called Lenovo Care. Based on the company's robust ThinkVantage suite for ThinkPads, Lenovo Care helps users quickly access support information, set up network access, schedule backups and system maintenance, and configure data security.

As indicated in the chart above, the Lenovo 3000 N200 includes a good selection of ports and connections. As might be expected from a primarily business-oriented laptop, the N200's speakers emit tinny, soft sound. We were happy to see that the N200's low price includes a Bluetooth radio -- a rarity among sub-$1,000 laptops.

Our Lenovo 3000 N200 test unit -- stocked with 2GB of RAM, integrated Intel GMA X3100 graphics, and a 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo T7100 processor -- cost $984 on Lenovo's site. That CPU is the entry level for the current generation of Core 2 Duo processors, but it was enough to keep the N200 at the top of our group of systems in its price range on CNET Labs' benchmarks. Though the nearly identically configured Sony VAIO CR120 ($1,000) kept pace for some of the tests, its single gigabyte of RAM was no match for the Lenovo on our Photoshop module. In our small sampling of inexpensive laptops -- which includes the Sony as well as a Fujitsu LifeBook A6110 ($999), Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437 ($899), and Gateway M-1618 ($899) -- the Lenovo 3000 N200 is the performance king.

The Lenovo 3000 N200's six-cell standard battery lasted just over 2 hours on our DVD battery drain test -- about the same as the VAIO CR120. That isn't too impressive for a 14.1-inch laptop, but it is longer than the battery life posted by other similarly priced systems. Our DVD battery drain test is especially grueling, so you can expect even longer life from casual Web surfing and office use.

The Lenovo 3000 N200 comes backed by a yearlong warranty, which is standard for budget-minded laptops. Reasonably priced warranty extension options include an upgrade to three years for $150 or three years of on-site repairs for $219.

Toll-free, 24-7 phone support lasts for the length of your warranty. In addition to the Lenovo Care suite mentioned above, the company's support Web site includes the expected troubleshooting topics, driver downloads, and user guides. The site lacks interactive features such as customer forums or the chance to chat in real time with a technician.

Source from: edition.cnn.com

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Agency reverses endangered species rulings

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday reversed seven rulings that denied endangered species increased protection, after an investigation found the actions were tainted by political pressure from a former senior Interior Department official.

In a letter to Rep. Nick Rahall, D-West Virginia., the agency acknowledged that the actions had been "inappropriately influenced" and that "revising the seven identified decisions is supported by scientific evidence and the proper legal standards." The reversal affects the protection for species including the white-tailed prairie dog, the Preble's meadow jumping mouse and the Canada lynx.

The rulings came under scrutiny last spring after an Interior Department inspector general concluded that agency scientists were being pressured to alter their findings on endangered species by Julie MacDonald, then a deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service.

MacDonald resigned her position last May.

Rahall in a statement said that MacDonald, who was a civil engineer, "should never have been allowed near the endangered species program." He called MacDonald's involvement in species protection cases over her three-year tenure as an example of "this administration's penchant for torpedoing science."

Acting Fish and Wildlife Director Kenneth Stansell wrote Rahall that the cases were reviewed "after questions were raised about the integrity of scientific information used and whether the decisions were made consistent with the appropriate legal standards."

He did not refer to MacDonald specifically.

Francesca Grifo of the Union of Concerned Scientists said the acknowledgment of seven instances of wrongdoing "does not begin to plumb the depths of what's wrong" at the wildlife agency and its implementation of the Endangered Species Act.

There are at least 30 cases "where we have evidence of interference" over the last seven years, maintained Grifo, director of the group's scientific integrity program.

Problems were found in seven of the eight cases, taken up for review after MacDonald's resignation.

The wildlife agency said it will reconsider a petition to list as endangered the white-tailed prairie dog. The petition had been denied, but the agency said after its investigation "the Service believes this decision should be reconsidered."

It also said it will examine the continued listing of the Preble's meadow jumping mouse, as well as a separate ruling that had been made concerning the mouse's critical habitat. The agency decision to take the mouse from under the protection of the Endangered Species Act was questioned after MacDonald's involvement became known.

Four other cases being reconsidered involved declarations of critical habitat for the Canada lynx, the Hawaiian picture-wing fly, the Arroyo toad, and the California red-legged frog.

The agency said it did not find any scientific evidence to warrant changes in another questioned critical habitat decision involving the Southwestern willow flycatcher, saying it was "scientifically supportable."

MacDonald resigned in May after the Interior Department's inspector general rebuked her for pressuring wildfire agency scientists to alter their findings about endangered species and leaking information about species decisions to industry officials. The IG found that she had broken federal rules by those actions.

In her three years on the job, MacDonald also was heavily involved in delisting the Sacramento splittail, a fish found only in California's Central Valley where she owned an 80-acre farm on which the fish live.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source from: edition.cnn.com

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