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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Review: Inexpensive HP Photosmart M537 easy to use

(CNET.com) -- HP's Photosmart M537 is the archetypal budget camera. It's not particularly large or small, it doesn't look terribly shiny or sleek, and it doesn't have any notably unique features.

This is completely understandable; sub-$150 snapshot cameras don't normally have long zoom lenses, high-resolution sensors, or slim, fashionable bodies.

The M537's simple, unassuming design has few controls and is extremely easy to use.

Its chunky plastic body holds only a handful of large, easily pressed buttons on its back, arranged sparsely around the camera's screen. The camera's menu system is as simple as its interface and offers few shooting options. Once you take your pictures, though, you can use the comfortable directional pad to tap through the various in-camera editing features.

HP designed the M537 to be an affordable budget camera. Its 6-megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom lens, and 2.5-inch LCD all fit into the mold of an extremely cookie-cutter snapshot camera. Of course, for the price, that's not a terrible thing.

Like all HP Photosmart cameras, the M537 features a generous amount of onboard software features that help make up for the camera's unimpressive hardware. HP's Steady Photo antishake feature boosts ISO sensitivity to force a fast shutter speed in order to reduce blur in photos. It's not as effective as either mechanical or optical image stabilization, especially since higher ISOs bring with them noisier images, but it can help in certain situations.

An onboard red-eye removal function can edit the red dots out of flash-afflicted eyes without the machine-gun burst of flashes some red-eye reduction features use.

Finally, HP's Design Gallery offers a handful of in-camera editing and tweaking functions, though they're much more artistic than useful. It also has a movie mode, but it records only QVGA (320x240) clips at 24 frames per second (fps) compared to most cameras' 30 fps VGA movie modes. The M537 doesn't accept SDHC cards, either, so your choice of storage is limited to 2GB or smaller SD cards.

With no manual white balance, ISO sensitivity, or even exposure controls, the M537 offers few options beyond a small handful of scene presets. It automates the entire shooting process, so it functions as a true "point-and-shoot." This puts the M537 on very similar footing with Olympus' FE-series, another set of almost completely automated budget shooters.

The M537 showed sluggish results in our tests.

The camera took an arduously long 4.1 seconds to start up and capture its first image.

Shutter lag measured 1.1 seconds in our high-contrast test and a full 2 seconds in a low-contrast test, which mimic bright and dim shooting conditions, respectively.

The camera took 2 seconds between shots, a wait that jumped to 3.2 seconds with the onboard flash enabled.

Only its burst mode showed impressive results for a camera in its price range, yielding full-resolution JPEGs at an average rate of 2.1fps.

Photos from the M537 also fare poorly, with muddled color and softened details. As with many snapshot cameras, photos shot under incandescent light look very warm when using automatic white balance.

Unfortunately, the M537 has only automatic white balance; it lacks the manual and incandescent white-balance modes found on most other snapshot cameras.

This means that your indoor shots--assuming you have incandescent lights inside--will tend to have a funky yellow tint. Besides the color, image artifacts also tend to soften and obscure fine details. We also noticed fringing and oversharpening along the edges of some objects.

The HP Photosmart M537's myriad of onboard image manipulation features might appeal to artistic snapshooters, but its almost nonexistent exposure controls and disappointing performance and image quality make it a poor choice, even among budget cameras.

Consider instead the similarly automatic Olympus FE-230, a solid budget camera that stays in same price range as this HP.

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Voyager 2 discovers solar system is bent

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- New observations from NASA's long-running Voyager 2 spacecraft show the solar system is asymmetrical, likely from disturbances in the interstellar magnetic field, scientists reported Monday.

Voyager 2 sailed near the edge of the solar system this past summer following its twin, Voyager 1, in 2004.

The discovery came after the 30-year-old unmanned probe sailed near the edge of the solar system this past summer following its twin, Voyager 1, which reached that part of space in 2004.

Researchers have long suspected the solar system was bent, but never had direct evidence until now, said Voyager mission scientist Edward Stone of the California Institute of Technology.

Voyager 2 crossed a barrier in the solar system known as the termination shock in August, some 10 billion miles from where Voyager 1 passed through. The termination shock is the region where charged particles from the sun abruptly slow down as they collide with other particles and a magnetic field in interstellar gas.

Scientists believe the unevenness is caused by the interstellar magnetic field that is pitched at an angle to the plane of the Milky Way.

"The magnetic field is disturbing an otherwise spherical surface," Stone said at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

Although Voyager 2 was the second probe to zip past the termination shock, scientists were nonetheless excited about the milestone. Unlike its twin, Voyager 2 had a working instrument that made the first direct measurements of the speed and temperature of the solar wind.

The nuclear-powered Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977, are hurtling toward an uncharted region of space where the sun's influence wanes.

Voyager 1, the most distant of any manmade object, is traveling at 10 miles per second with its twin trailing close behind.

It will take about a decade before the probes reach the heliopause, marking the beginning of interstellar space and the end of our solar system.

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

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Review: Wii Zapper a great accessory for the price

(CNET.com) -- If you grew up with a Nintendo Entertainment System in your house, then you no doubt remember the Zapper, the gray (or bright orange) light gun that let you shoot at ducks, bull's-eyes, and banditos. After almost 20 years, Nintendo has brought the Zapper, at least in name, to the Nintendo Wii. It's available in stores today for just $20, and it includes a free game, Link's Crossbow Training.

Instead of a light gun, the Wii Zapper is a simple gun-shaped plastic shell that houses the Wii remote and nunchuk attachment for use in certain shooting games. Simple, curved, and white, the Zapper fits perfectly with the Wii's aesthetic. Despite its vague gun shape -- it loosely resembles a Capone-era Thompson submachine gun) -- the Zapper's profile is nowhere near as menacing as the original Zapper's. Frankly, it looks more like an abstract sculpture than a gun, all rounded and white with nary a sharp angle to be seen.

Underneath the curved, matte-white shell is a simple and comfortable device with few moving parts and no electronics. The Wii remote slides into an indentation in the top of the Zapper and clicks in place securely. The nunchuk attachment slides into a smaller notch on the back of the Zapper and stays in place thanks to two small plastic pegs. Once both devices are locked into the Zapper, you can keep the cord between them wound up and hidden thanks to a compartment inside the handle. This cord-winding and tucking will keep your Zapper nice and neat, but inserting and removing the corded nunchuk is a pain--you'll probably want to invest another $20 in a dedicated nunchuk that will remain permanently housed in the Zapper.

With both the Wiimote and nunchuk in place, the Zapper feels a bit more solid and comfortable. Your front hand has access to the trigger that sets off the Wiimote's B button, while your back hand has total control over the nunchuk. Even though it doesn't look like a gun, the Zapper at least feels a bit like one. Hold it in both hands, point the "barrel" at the screen, and let the Wii pointer do the rest.

You could simply hold the Wiimote in one hand, the nunchuk in the other, and play any Wii game as you normally would. But it's all about the ergonomics. While the Zapper doesn't add any meaningful or unique features to the Wii's control system, it provides a near-ideal grip for shooting games -- the Zapper simply feels better than holding the remote and nunchuk normally. It doesn't offer quite the same experience as a genuine light gun, since you're still constrained by the Wiimote's sensors, but it still makes those games feel much more intuitive than the typical Zapper-less remote/nunchuk control scheme.

Or at least it does while you're aiming and shooting; moving around (with the nunchuk's thumbstick) adds something of an ambidextrous challenge to games that takes a bit of getting used to, and may be downright frustrating for some. Judging from the Zapper-centric games in the pipeline (Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, and Ghost Squad are all available now, and a retooled House of the Dead is on the slate for 2008), publishers are focusing on "rail shooters" -- games that have you automatically progressing through a level on a preset path. That lets you concentrate on aiming and blasting, not on moving around.

Even if you don't want those new titles, the Wii Zapper justifies its $20 price tag with its pack-in game, Link's Crossbow Training. This simple, Zelda-themed shooting gallery game would have easily been worth $20 alone, without the Zapper. It's not the largest or most complicated game for the Wii, but it offers enough fun and variety to satisfy both casual gamers and Nintendo fanboys. You play the ubiquitous elf Link, who got his hands on a crossbow after almost two decades of using a bow and arrow. Coincidentally enough, Link's crossbow looks very similar to the Wii Zapper.

You can run through nine levels, each with three separate stages, to test your marksmanship. Besides the typical shoot-the-bull's-eye on-rails experience, Link's Crossbow Training includes modes where you must fend off hordes of skeletons advancing upon you, shoot your way through a goblin camp, and even plink flying skulls out of the sky in a stage that feels more than a little like the original Duck Hunt's skeet-shooting mode. It's not a very deep game, but it's simple and fun -- a recipe for success on the Wii.

The Wii Zapper doesn't quite live up to its formidable pedigree and probably won't burn itself into gamers' memories like its predecessor. Still, the Zapper is a fun little gadget with a great pack-in game that justifies its scant price tag. It might not be a must-buy accessory/game for the Wii, but it'll give you more than enough fun for the Jackson you'll drop on it.

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'Exodus' to virtual worlds predicted

Will real pubs empty as people head for virtual watering holes?

The appeal of online virtual worlds such as Second Life is such that it may trigger an exodus of people seeking to "disappear from reality," an expert on large-scale online games has said.

Virtual worlds have seen huge growth since they became mainstream in the early years of this decade, developing out of Massive Multiplayer Role-Playing Games.

And the online economies in some match those of real world countries.

Their draw is such that they could have a profound effect on some parts of society, Edward Castronova, Associate Professor in the Department of Telecommunications at Indiana University, told BBC World Service's Digital Planet programme.

"My guess is that the impact on the real world really is going to involve folks disappearing from reality in a lot of places where we see them," he said.

Varying involvement

Dr Castronova, who has written a book on the subject entitled Exodus To The Virtual World, drew parallels to the 1600s when thousands of people left Britain for a new life in North America.

"That certainly changed North America - and that's usually what we focus on - but it certainly changed the UK as well," he said.

There will be a group of people who spend all their lives there, and the question for me is, how big is that group?

And he predicted that everyone will be involved in a virtual environment within ten years - although the level of that involvement will vary.

He said while some people will be colonists - "the virtual frontier opens up and off they go and disappear" - others will just use virtual worlds to get together with distant family and friends.

But he stressed there will be a group of people that spends all their lives there, and that the big question is the size of this group.

"We forget how many people there are, and we have to ask ourselves, how exciting is the game of life for most people out there?" he said.

Escape and refuge

The appeal, he said, is not for those in a good job, but for those working low-paid, low-skill jobs. "Would you rather be a Starbucks worker or a starship captain?" he asked.

Virtual worlds allow people to change their appearance from their real look

And he also highlighted the difference between seeing them as an "escape" and as a "refuge."

"If reality is a bad thing, and people are going into virtual worlds to reconnect, the word you would deploy is refuge," he said.

"A father of two spending 90 hours a week in a virtual world because he doesn't like his wife - I would say that's escapism, and it isn't anything you would say is good.

"But if it's a heavy-set girl from a small town who gets victimised just because her body isn't the 'right' kind of body, and she goes online to make friends because she can't get a fair shake in the real world, then I would say the virtual world is more of a refuge."Carbon footprints In pictures Justin Webb's blog

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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The last few years in the history of digital content are littered with examples of Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions that have been accused of being over complex and consumer unfriendly.

Western Digital sells a range of networked hard drives, which allows users to share files across both a local network of home computers and across the net.

But the firm has now blocked remote access to 30 different types of media files, including MP3s and MP4s, to users running its Anywhere Access program.

The company says it has done this as an anti-piracy effort, to prevent people from copying and sharing copyright files.

But the block makes no distinction between files which are user generated, such as home movies, and paid-for, DRM-protected content.

ZUNE - SHARE AND SHARE NOT ALIKE

When Microsoft introduced its Zune media player to rival the iPod it boasted a supposed killer feature - the ability to share songs wirelessly with friends.

Unfortunately, the Zune not only failed to support the Digital Rights Management system Microsoft had pioneered for its partners, it also restricted the sharing of a song to "three plays or three days, whichever comes first".

Users were able to share a song but a friend had a limited number of plays and time, in which to listen to it.

And the restriction applied to any kind of music file - even if it was a track recorded by the user himself.

Strangely, many of the songs offered to Zune users for download from Microsoft's online store could not be shared at all due to "rights restrictions".

Microsoft has now lifted the time restrictions for listening to shared tracks.

NOKIA - FREE MUSIC?

The world's largest mobile phone manufacturer has decided to tackle rampant music piracy by offering tracks for free to its customers.

The Comes With Music service will let owners of its premium handsets download as much music as they like to their phone or PC from the Universal catalogue.

There is no cost to download or a subscription fee. But there is a proviso - if users want to burn the music to a CD to play on a separate player, or in the car, they have to pay out.

Before Google bought YouTube its foray into the world of online video was championed by its own-brand video store. The Google Video store let people buy TV shows such as Star Trek and CSI, which were protected by digital rights management.

Unfortunately, when Google decided to shut down the store in favour of supporting YouTube it left customers who had bought content unable to continue to play their videos.

Google initially offered its customers credit through its own online payment service, called Checkout, but after complaints it changed its mind and offered users a straight refund.

The issue highlighted concerns that digital content bought by consumers that is protected by DRM may not always be accessible if the content producer and/or distributors removes its support for the format.

SONY - THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

In 2005 Sony took a new approach to protecting its CDs from copying by including software on the discs which automatically installed on a PC if the disc was played in a computer.

The software was designed to prevent copying but it also left PCs open to potential hacker and virus attacks.

Consumers were not told of the software on the discs and the discs themselves gave no indication of the copy protection software stored on them.

After the problems were highlighted Sony released a tool which would remove the program from users' computers - but it too had security issues.

Sony ultimately recalled the discs with the software installed and after a series of high-profile, class-action lawsuits paid out to consumers who had bought the CDs.

ITUNES - DRM HERE BUT NOT THERE

When Steve Jobs issued his open letter decrying DRM on music many observers felt that the tide was beginning to shift against DRM.

Apple's iTunes store now offers users MP3s of music, without copy restrictions, from the EMI back catalogue.

But Steve Jobs has said the move did not mean an end to DRM on videos it sells via iTunes.

"The music and video markets are not parallel. The video industry does not deliver 90% of its content DRM-free," he said.

CONSOLES - HI-DEF FUTURE?

The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are capable of producing high definition video, up to 1080p, or so-called Full HD resolutions.

If you buy the HD-DVD player add-on for the Xbox 360 you can playback movies in the highest resolution available today, assuming your TV can support it, while PS3s can play Blu-ray movies out of the box.

However, all Xbox 360 consoles sold in the first 18 months from launch, and the first few months in the case of the low-end PS3's availability, do not have a so-called HDMI port. This is a digital interface to output video and audio, which can encrypt the information being sent to the TV to prevent copying.

HDMI is part of a system which allows content producers to protect their material by placing a protection flag on it, called an Image Constraint Token. This means devices that do not have a HDMI port (or DVI port) will not be able to play the content at the fullest resolution.

Potentially, it means many Xbox 360 owners and some early PS3 enthusiasts would not be able to play their legally bought HD-DVD and Blu-ray movies in the best quality, despite the fact Microsoft and Sony are leading supporters of HD technology.

So far, no HD-DVD or Blu-ray titles released have used the protection flag, but the technology is there to be implemented and it could mean millions of console owners would only be able to play their films at a quarter of the potential resolution.

When Virgin launched its digital offering, including a subscription "music club", in 2004 Sir Richard Branson boasted: "With a strong music heritage behind us, as a record label and a retailer, Virgin has a huge advantage, and platform to launch a digital service that will become the ultimate destination to buy, stream, burn and enjoy the best the music world has to offer."

Like many online music stores, it came with DRM designed to prevent copyright theft and to enable users to rent their music.

But when the site shut down in September this year it left members of The Music Club unable to play their songs, because they could no longer renew their monthly fee.

For customers who had paid extra to transfer their music to an MP3 player this was doubly frustrating.

Carbon footprints In pictures Justin Webb's blog

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Trying to break the Google habit

Getting people to click on another search site is tricky

Google's dominance of the search market, which in the UK stands at 75%, is increasingly being challenged by rivals desperate to become popular with a generation of web users growing up with Google as their homepage.

Given that search is the number one web activity and intrinsic to the fabric of online life it is perhaps strange that most people are content to limit their information-seeking to just one search engine.

With few studies to prove that Google's results are significantly better than its rivals, search engines such as Ask are keen to persuade users to experiment with the alternatives.

But it is going to be hard to break the Google habit.

"There is nothing to stop people using other search engines," said Nate Elliot, analyst with research firm Jupiter.

"It isn't much trouble to go to another but people increasingly have Google on their browser window and even for those that type it in each time it has become a habitual thing,"

It wasn't always so. Mr Elliot remembers a time when searchers were a "far more fickle bunch", with search engines such as AltaVista and HotBot flavours of the month.

Google noise

Google's popularity was partly kick started by its clean, uncluttered homepage which won many admirers.

Now efforts to tie users to it with downloadable search toolbars and services such as Gmail and Google Earth are paying dividends, while partnerships with ISPs, portals and social networks are cementing its brand in consumers' minds.

AltaVista was one of the first popular search engines

"Google is seen as being innovative and they do a great job of portraying themselves as innovators. That could be a matter for debate but in the consumer's mind it isn't," he said.

With the search marketing spend in the UK netting a healthy 607m in 2006, being an also-ran in the race to beat Google can be profitable and, increasingly, rivals are realising that overtaking Google in the near future will be a mammoth task.

"It's not about overhauling Google but more about narrowing the gap. There is no point trying to be a flat-out copy. It is more a question of offering a different experience with tools that provide users with a better experience," said Mr Elliot.

Ask, which last year ditched its iconic butler Jeeves, has been working hard to differentiate itself with tools that allow users to get a miniaturised version of a site before they visit it as well as offering ways to refine search around related topics.

Ask has adopted guerrilla tactics to tackle the 800lb Google gorilla in its latest marketing campaign. In a series of TV ads it is represented as a revolutionary underground alternative.

"The Google brand is so ubiquitous that people stop listening to the messages of alternative engines. It is hard to fight through the noise that surrounds Google, especially in the media," said Jim Lanzone, chief executive of Ask.

"When it comes to information people shouldn't limit themselves to one option.

"It isn't really anti-Google. Google just happens to be the brand that people are unreasonably attached to and the issue is that people are not experimenting with other products. It is not about overthrowing the regime but more why you should also elect us," he said.

Meta-search

But while there are studies that show people think search in general is not as good as they would like, there is little evidence that they are looking to switch their loyalties from Google.

Ask is offering tools to tune search results

One alternative is the idea of meta-search - search engines that compile results from a variety of other search engines.

One such is WebFetch, the brainchild of InfoSpace, a company that has been powering the search engines of companies such as The Guardian, EMAP, the London Stock Exchange and Pipex for years.

WebFetch is InfoSpace's first foray into the consumer market and it compiles results from all the leading search engines, including Google, Ask, MSN and Yahoo.

It has limited ambitions - hoping to grab just 1% of the search market in the UK.

"We are not naive enough to think that we are going to take over but perhaps people are looking for something different," said Dominic Trigg, vice president of search and directories at InfoSpace.

Unlike Ask, WebFetch will not be relying on advertising campaigns. Instead Mr Trigg and his team have been given a year to build up the reputation of WebFetch, largely by word-of-mouth.

Its sister search engine in the US - DogPile - has won some admirers. It beat Ask, Google, Yahoo and MSN in a poll conducted by JD Power. The survey rated search engines on a set of criteria, including functionality, ease of use and results.

People-powered

The movement to persuade users away from the dominant search engines such as Google and Yahoo may be small but it is gathering momentum from those with more solid radical credentials.

At the end of last year, Jimmy Wales, founder of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia offered an alternative "people-powered" search engine.

His plan, still in its infancy, is to Wiki-fy the process of internet search, so that human beings decide openly how to rank and organise information, not the huge private servers of Google and Yahoo.

He labelled the project "Search Wikia" and has high ambitions for it to be "the search engine that changes everything". The plan follows criticism of the secrecy surrounding the algorithms of the leading search engines.

The battle to challenge Google could be underway.

Carbon footprints In pictures Justin Webb's blog

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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What search engines know about us

Google informs me of the sites I have visited most in the last week

As Google comes under scrutiny over its privacy policies in Europe, our technology editor looks at the information that search engines and web services firms record about us.

The websites I visit most frequently include the BBC News website, Wikipedia, Microsoft, Apple and Cnet, while Pirate Bay, the World Time Clock and RFID and wi-fi are among my most searched for terms in the last 30 days.

I know this because Google tells me so. As a Google account holder, and because I asked it to, the computer giant records how I use the internet whenever I am logged into its service.

The data is quite detailed: it shows that I do most of my search engine queries between 11am and noon, but also that I am still busy online through most evenings.

It tells me the products I have searched for, the news items, the video clips, the images and even the maps I have looked at.

If anyone were to look at this information, they would have a comprehensive idea of my lifestyle, my interests and potentially even my movements - Google records that I searched for the location of a hairdressers in Richmond last week.

Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN probably know a lot about me too. I am frequently logged into their services, and while I don't use their search engines, both firms know some personal details because I had to provide them when I registered.

And this is what worries some privacy experts. They want to ensure that this information remains private and is not abused in any way.

The simplest method used by websites to track behaviour is a cookie. These small files are stored on your computer each time you use the net and note the details of the computer that accesses a web page.

Each cookie contain an anonymous unique identifier related to the computer you are using.

As individuals and society we need to learn new ways to deal with wanting to be identifiable, wanting to be anonymous and wanting to be pseudonymous

Why do firms like Yahoo and Google collect this information?

At the simplest level, the firms track our web usage so they can optimise our experience in the future.

Cookies store preferences, such as language settings, and can also tell websites the preceding website we were looking at and site we go to next.

Yahoo, Google and Microsoft also use web beacons, a tiny electronic image on a web page, which helps them analyse a user's behaviour online.

These firms make money online by targeting advertising to users when a search is performed or alongside their web products.

For advertisers, the attraction of the online space is being able to talk directly to customers whom they know are interested in their products or product area.

But who else gets to see or use this personal information? Is my web history, or information about which adverts I look at, being handed over to third parties?

'Never transfer'

According to Google, May is a very popular month for my searches

"We will never transfer to third parties, including advertisers, any personally identifiable information about our users - that includes IP addresses and account details."

Yahoo and MSN's privacy policies also say they do not disclose personal information to third parties without user consent.

Search engines are able to serve up targeted adverts to users not because they know who each user is by name, but because search engines and web services are engineered to interpret what information we are seeking online.

Personal information

Yahoo combines non-identifiable personal data from account holders, with the web history from using Yahoo websites and services to create a detailed, yet anonymous, profile of a user. That data is then used to serve targeted adverts.

Google does not utilise a user's web surface history to target adverts unless the user has signed up to its personalised web search system.

And it only stores personal information when it has asked a user's opinion.

Mr Fleischer says: "It should always be an opt in if the service proposes to collect sensitive personal information, such as health information.

"If it is doing something routine, then an opt out is fine, such as downloading cookies to a machine."

Mr Fleischer explains: "If you are a user of personalised search - which is an opt-in service - we could take into account your web browsing history from the past to provide more relevant search results.

"The advertisers would be bidding against those more relevant search results."

So does it matter if that information about us is anonymised?

Mr Fleischer believes that it is inevitable that more and more data will exist about us in cyberspace but does not think that will mean our right to privacy is compromised.

"More and more of these services will offer choice about how to use them.

"I am speculating here, but I would expect that people will be able to say how they want to use services, whether in an identifiable capacity or under a pseudonym.

"There are all kinds of different levels of transparency you can choose to represent different parts of your lives. Over time people will become much more sophisticated about how they use all this online data about themselves."

He adds: "We are in a transition generation right now. As individuals and society we need to learn new ways to deal with wanting to be identifiable, wanting to be anonymous and if we want to be pseudonymous.

"Technology companies will build tools for people to do this. It will become a very natural part of our lives within five years."

Carbon footprints In pictures Justin Webb's blog

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Ask rolls out search privacy tool

The AskEraser will feature prominently on the site

Search engine Ask has launched a feature that it hopes will prove a selling point for consumers concerned about their online privacy.

AskEraser allows users to immediately delete search queries stored on Ask's servers, in contrast to rivals such as Google which stores data for 18 months.

How personal data is used is becoming more of an issue as people live more of their lives via search engines.

Some are concerned about possible deals between search engines and ad firms.

In America consumer advocacy groups have expressed doubts about a proposed merger between Google and ad-serving company DoubleClick, which is currently being reviewed by US regulators.

Privacy issues

Jumping on the privacy bandwagon, Ask is offering users the chance to take charge of what happens with their search history.

An AskEraser link will feature prominently on the Ask.com homepage and, when enabled by the user, will delete all future search queries and associated cookie information from its servers.

The information it destroys includes IP address, user ID and session ID along with the complete text of a query.

Jim Lanzone hopes the tool will lure users concerned about privacy

"For people who worry about their online privacy, AskEraser now gives them control of their search information," said Jim Lanzone, chief executive of Ask.com.

But some critics have pointed out that it doesn't entirely erase all information as search queries relating to advertisements supplied by Google will continue to be passed to the search rival.

Other search engines are attempting to quell concerns about privacy and most operate polices which mean search histories are deleted between a year and 18 months after they were made.

But some consumers are getting twitchy about how their data is shared, following some high-profile cases.

In August 2006 AOL was forced to apologise after it released the search queries of more than 650,000 of its US subscribers to help in academic research.

Although users' names were not associated with the search terms, fears were raised that the queries contained personally identifiable data. It was not clear which researchers were given the data and how they intended to use it.

And just last week Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of social networking site Facebook, had to make changes to a new advertising system after more than 50,000 users complained about it.

Called Beacon, the system is designed to track web shopping on partner sites outside Facebook with the intention of providing targeted adverts to the social network based on purchases.

After complaints the site was invading privacy, Facebook changed Beacon from an opt-out system to opt in.

Mr Zuckerberg has said users can now switch off Beacon completely.

"Paying with privacy"

Despite these cases not everyone is convinced that privacy is a big enough winner for users to desert their favoured search engine for Ask.

"The press loves to run stories about the hidden privacy concerns caused by data collected online, but consumers have taken an "out of sigh, out of mind" approach," commented technology blog TechCrunch.

"We're finding that people are willing to pay for the best free products with their privacy," it added.

Surveys conducted in the US seem to bear this out. While a majority of Americans say they are concerned about their online privacy, only a tiny percentage are actually prepared to take steps to protect it.

Yahoo believes that its current privacy policy is sufficient.

"Search log data is anonymised within 13 months of collection except where users request otherwise or where Yahoo! is required to retain the information to comply with legal obligations.," the firm said in a statement.

"We believe the 13 month-policy is the appropriate timeline to honour our commitment to our users' privacy while preserving our ability to defend against fraudulent activity and continue to improve our services," it read.

Google said it had no plans to implement such a tool.

The highly competitive search engine market, which is dominated by Google, means rivals are increasingly searching for applications that differentiate them.

According to internet measurement firm comScore, Ask accounted for 4.7% of US searches during October. Google took the lion's share with 58.5%, with Yahoo accounting for 22.9% and Microsoft for 9.7%.Carbon footprints In pictures Justin Webb's blog

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Give me rice, but give me a laptop too

The XO laptop is being field tested in Nigeria

Criticism of plans to get technology into the developing world is misplaced, says Bill Thompson.

We often follow stories as they develop, coming back to them from time to time to see if early promises have been kept or bold predictions have been borne out.

It's been nearly three years since Nicholas Negroponte came onto the show to talk about his plan for a low-cost laptop for the developing world.

He wanted to build it for under $100 and sell millions to governments who would then give them away to schoolchildren.

Later he set up the One Laptop Per Child project to do this, and we've come back to the $100 laptop many times, and in December 2005 we saw the prototype launched at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia.

'Radical rethinking'

We have watched as the prototype turned into the XO-1, a radical rethinking of what a laptop should be, with a brand-new user interface, a low-power chip from AMD, the Linux operating system and a low-energy high contrast screen.

And earlier this year we heard schoolchildren in Nigeria tell BBC reporter Jonathan Fildes how excited they were to have their own computers, what they planned to use them for and how good they were.

Perhaps Dvorak's just afraid that a Nigerian schoolchild, empowered by the technology entrusted to them, will take him to task for his patronising attitude, or perhaps even turn out to be a better journalist.

Not every promise was fulfilled, of course.

The computers cost around $180 to make, and instead of millions there are only a few hundred thousand being built in the first year, largely because governments have gone back on the promises they made to buy them in large numbers.

Even the Nigerian government has yet to decide whether to commit funds to the project, and is watching the trial at Abuja's Galadima primary school with interest.

To make things worse Intel and Microsoft seem to have done everything they could to undermine the project, offering cut-price hardware and discount operating systems in an attempt to keep this remarkable machine, with its Linux operating system and AMD processor, at bay.

Now US journalist John Dvorak has weighed into the debate, dismissing the laptop as a 'little green computer' that changes nothing, and arguing that sending food aid to Africa is a better way to solve the continent's problems.

Dvorak is so wrong that it pains me.

He misrepresents both the laptop's capabilities and the plans for how it will be used.

'Demeans people'

And he demeans the people who will receive the computers, asking his readers if they will feel "better about the world's problems, knowing that some poor tribesman's child has a laptop", apparently contrasting a "tribesman" with a real person like himself, safe in his Western affluence.

Dvorak is a controversial, opinionated and immensely influential technology writer, based in the US but read around the world thanks to the same internet that he dismisses as unsuitable for those living in poverty.

His comments matter because he may influence those with the power to change people's lives, especially in governments considering investing in the XO-1, yet he chooses to use his platform to criticise a self-penned parody of the computer and its planned uses.

There are sensible criticisms to be made of OLPC and its work, but Dvorak simply misrepresents their position when he dismisses the whole project as arguing: "let's give these kids these little green computers. That will do it! That will solve the poverty problem and everything else, for that matter."

At WSIS in 2005 I talked to OLPC's chief technology officer, Mary Lou Jepsen. She led innovations in the screen design, energy consumption and user interface that have resulted in a computer to transform the relationship of the world's poorest children to the networked economy.

'Hold back'

The point is not that computers or internet access are as important as clean water, good healthcare, effective education and safe housing.

It is that access to computers and the network can make it simpler and easier to deliver those other things, just as access to electric light can vastly improve the quality of people's lives.

No one starting a business in the rich world would do so without relying on computers and the internet, so why should we hold back those in the poorer countries?

Dvorak seems to have fallen for the Intel and Microsoft line that something they aren't involved with could not possibly be all that good.

The XO-1 is powerful, effective and designed to be used by those with little experience of new technology, and even those who are less than fully literate.

Yes, there will be problems. The computers need to be properly integrated into the educational curriculum; power supplies and stable network connections have to be provided; some will be stolen, some will break, some will not get to the people who need them. But that is not a reason to stop.

A century ago campaigners for a working wage were adamant that just having enough to live on was not enough, that there should be space for culture and enjoyment in life, and in 1912 strikers at a textile factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts are said to have rallied around the slogan "We want bread, but we want roses, too!".

Well, we need to give the poor of today's world rice, and housing, and water, and healthcare, but they need the laptops and all that they symbolise too.

Those who argue otherwise, like John Dvorak, would condemn the poor countries to another century of want and dependency by depriving them of access to the technology that has already transformed life for the rich and privileged.

Perhaps he's just afraid that a Nigerian schoolchild, empowered by the technology entrusted to them, will take him to task for his patronising attitude, or perhaps even turn out to be a better journalist.

It wouldn't be hard.

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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New solar systems

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Widespread anxiety about the damaging effects of burning fossil fuels, coupled with a genuine fear that oil and gas will become scarce before the century ends are fueling a renewed interest in renewable energy and, in particular, solar power solutions.

The PS10 solar tower plant sits at Sanlucar la Mayor outside Seville, Spain. The solar tower plant, the first commercial solar tower in the world, can provide electricity for up to 6,000 homes.

Not since the 1970's, when the energy crisis forced oil prices through the roof, have solar power solutions been so warmly received.

Most people associate solar power with shiny black panels of what are called photovoltaic cells (PV's) which nestle on rooftops trapping the heat from the sun and converting it into electricity.

But sightings of solar panels on suburban streets remain rare, not least because of the prohibitive cost of purchase and installation.

But there are other ways of capturing the power of the sun which may provide a considerable chunk of our energy needs in the years ahead. Research is increasingly focusing on 'concentrated solar power' systems -- CSP for short.

CSP systems focus direct solar radiation through optical devices onto an area where a receiver is located -- much like burning a hole in a piece of paper with a magnifying glass. This solar radiation is then converted into electricity.

In practice, the CPS system comprises of four elements - a solar field, solar collector elements, a solar receiver and a balance of plant (the remaining systems required to operate a power plant).

A range of concepts literally aimed capturing the sun's energy are currently in operation or being tested.

Parabolic troughs have been in operation since the mid-1980's. Some of the most notable are the nine power plants built in the Californian desert. Still in operation today, they create 354 MW of energy in total and remain the world's largest collection of concentrating solar power plants.

In Europe, a number of solar projects are being rolled out. Germany leads the way with over 10 solar power plants. Located in the Tabernas Desert in southern Spain, however, is the Platforma Solar de Almeria -- a solar power research facility where new solar technologies are being tested.

One of the concepts being trialed is the 'central tower' configuration which utilizes a collection of heliostats -- mirrors which automatically track sunlight -- which act as solar collectors. The heliostats then concentrate the solar radiation onto a central receiver located at the top of a tower.

Europe's first commercial concentrated solar power plant was officially opened in Seville, Spain in March 2007. The new Planta Solar 10 (PS10) is the first commercial solar thermoelectric power plant in the world.

624 large heliostats focus the sun's rays on to a single solar receiver 115 meters high. With temperatures reaching up to 250 degrees Celsius, the solar receiver then turns water into steam, which in turn powers a turbine.

It has a peak capacity of 11 MW which is enough to generate 23 million kWh of electricity per year. That's enough to power 6,000 homes and save 18,000 tons of carbon emissions every year.

A second tower, the PS20, is currently under construction and will produce around a peak of around 20 MW of electricity.

Using troughs, dishes and towers aren't always necessary when creating solar energy. Other more rudimentary methods, first conceived over a quarter of a century ago, are once more the subject of serious consideration.

Once such idea is the 'Energy Tower'. If the project ever becomes financially viable it will create some of the tallest structures on earth, dwarfing even the new 800 meter Burj Dubai tower in the United Arab Emirates.

Originally patented as the 'Water Spray Down Draft Energy Tower' by Dr Philip Carlson in 1975, the project has, since 1982, been researched and promoted by Professor Dan Zaslavsky from Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

The 'Energy Tower' produces electricity by pumping water up to the top of a chimney and then spraying it inside. As a consequence the hot air at the top of the chimney makes the water evaporate, thus cooling the air and making it denser. This cooler air then falls down the chimney shaft causing a downdraft which is used to power turbines.

Dr Rami Guetta, Project Manager of Sharav Sluices Ltd -- the company founded by Professor Zaslavsky to promote the system -- told CNN that there has been a lot of interest from Australia and the United States, although no contracts have been signed yet.

"We need about 18 months to three years to do a feasibility study, to work out the financial costs and to assess the output of the tower in an accurate way," he told CNN.

Depending on the site -- which must be in a hot, dry climate and relatively near to water sources -- the tower's height would range from at a minimum of 600 meters to a sky-scraping 1200 meters.

"It is a project that would work in about 40 countries," Dr Guetta said. "But generally speaking, the project would work 15-20 degrees north or south of the equator. But you can supply other countries by long distance power lines."

A similar idea, the solar updraft tower, also borrows from a project of yesteryear. The Solar Tower -- proposed by both Australian based firm EnviroMission and a U.S. company SolarMission Technologies -- is a direct descendant of a 1982 Spanish prototype.

The construction of a 190 meter tower surrounded by collectors (clear plastic canopy which traps warm air) in Manzanares, Ciudad Real, Spain was the brainchild of German engineer Jorg Schlaich. The plant successfully operated for seven years until 1989 and generated 50 kW of power.

Like the 'Energy Tower', the Solar Tower, uses air to drive turbines and requires a hot climate to be feasible. But instead of creating descending cold air it uses hot air from the collectors and diverts that up the chimney.

In order for the plan to be viable the towers need to rise to around 1000 meters, which, according to EnviroMission, would generate up to 200 MW of power for 200,000 homes.

Critics of the solar tower project claim that the collectors take up too much land (up to 3 kilometers in circumference) and that it is too expensive to implement.

EnviroMission which was formed in 2001 are still hopeful that the project will get the green light in the future.

And with newly-elected Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd finally committing Australia to the Kyoto Protocol, their chances have received a boost.

Source from: edition.cnn.com

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Review: Sony LocationFree TV no match for Slingbox

(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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Yahoo Japan, eBay team up

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Yahoo Japan Corp. and eBay Inc. said Tuesday they have agreed to team up in online auctions, planning services for next year that will make it easier for consumers to buy things via the Internet from the U.S. and Japan.

Yahoo said by March, Japanese will be able to bid for items up for sale on eBay through the Yahoo auction site in Japan. By the middle of next year, similarly, a site will be set up that will allow Americans to buy Yahoo Japan auction items through the eBay site.

The move will mark a return to Japan of eBay, which pulled out of the market in 2002, never able to compete against the domination of Yahoo here.

The deal will facilitate "cross-border trading" and invigorate the online auction market, Yahoo said in a statement. In online auctions, consumers put up items they want to sell and get offers through the Internet from prospective buyers.

Americans using eBay will be able to more easily buy Japanese goods popular abroad, such as "manga" comic books, CDs, and products that feature Japanese animation characters and other mascots, it said.

Also, some products are cheaper online abroad than in Japan, and consumers will be able to compare prices for the best deals.

News of the agreement, initially reported in the business daily The Nikkei, sent shares of Yahoo Japan climbing Tuesday morning. By midday, the stock was up 3.9 percent at 56,040 yen ($509).

Yahoo Japan, a unit of Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo Inc., has more than 15 million auction items listed on any given day, while eBay, based in San Jose, Calif., the world's biggest online auction site, boasts 248 million registered users.

The online auction markets in both countries are growing, Yahoo said. In Japan, it's up about 27 percent from a year ago to an estimated 4 trillion yen ($36.4 billion), and in the U.S., it's up 21 percent to more than 19 trillion yen ($172.7 billion).

Although Japanese already can shop online on overseas sites, and vice versa, the agreement will make it easier by bridging language and other barriers.

Macquarie analyst Nathan Ramler said the deal is positive for both sides.

"Now there is going to be a formal channel by which you can sell products from one market into another," he told Dow Jones Newswires.

The tie-up may be expanded, both sides said.

Lorrie Norrington, head of eBay's international operations, said the deal may be expanded in the future to other businesses. Besides the online auction, eBay owns the PayPal online payment service and Skype, an online telephone service.

Yahoo Japan President Masahiro Inoue said the companies may pursue a capital tie-up, although Tuesday's deal doesn't involve such mutual investments.

The 2002 withdrawal from Japan was a rare defeat for eBay, which entered the Japanese market in 2000. But it had just 25,000 items listed for sale. At that time, eBay said it hoped to return to the world's second-largest retail market when the timing was right.

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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Gibson unveils self-tuning guitar

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Musicians of the world are getting a new kind of artistic freedom with technology that eliminates the challenging chore of tuning.

The guitar's technology can recognize pitch and tighten the strings accordingly.

Robotics technology developed by German company Tronical Gmbh in partnership with Gibson Guitar Corp. enables Gibson's newest Les Paul model to tune itself in about two seconds.

For users who purchase the add-on technology, the guitar recognizes pitch. Then, its processor directs motors on its six tuning pegs to tighten or loosen the strings accordingly. Tronical has offered its "Powertune System" online and through retailers in Germany since March, according to the company's Web site.

The Gibson Les Paul guitar model with Blue Silverburst finish goes on sale globally this Friday.

Nashville, Tennessee, guitar maker Gibson and Tronical said Powertune is the world's first self-tuning technology, and Gibson says it is particularly useful for beginners, who tend to find tuning a headache.

Musician Ichiro Tanaka, who tuned and played a sample guitar at Gibson's Tokyo office Monday, said the technology is handy for professionals too. If they use special tuning for just part of a concert, as he often does, it means they don't have to lug around an extra guitar with the second tuning ready.

"It's more than just convenience," said Tanaka, of Japan. "It's a feature I really appreciate."

The Les Paul Silverburst model is to cost about $2,780 in Japan and $2,499 in the U.S., with self-tuning offered for $900 extra.

Powertune is also listed online for about $800, and Tronical says it can be installed on many different models of electric guitars without leaving a mark.

Gibson guitars with the technology come preset with six types of tuning to play different kinds of music. They also can remember a player's additional original tuning styles, by listening with a microphone to the sounds of the strings.

To set the instrument to a particular tuning, the user pulls a knob, turns it to the desired style, indicated with a blue light, and then pushes the knob back in. An electric signal travels up the strings to the motors on the tuning pegs. The system is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

Gibson hopes to sell 4,000 of the first limited-edition "robot guitars" worldwide, with 10 percent of those sales expected in Japan, said Yasuhiko Iwanade, president of Gibson Guitar Corp. Japan.

"Robots are very popular in Japan. So this is something that matches the developments here these days. It's a technology that Japanese can understand," he said.

Gibson has a history of innovating with guitars that fits well with robotics technology, Iwanade said.

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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Manhunt 2 wins UK ban appeal

Manhunt 2 was banned in the UK in June

The developer of Manhunt 2 has won its appeal to force the British Board of Film Classification to look again at its ban on the game's release.

The game has twice been rejected by the BBFC for certification, effectively banning the game for sale in the UK.

Developers Rockstar contested the ban at the Video Appeals Committee, which ruled in the firm's favour.

The game could now go on sale, if the BBFC, which is "considering the judgement", takes no further action.

In a statement, Rockstar said: "We are committed to making great interactive entertainment, while also marketing our products responsibly and supporting an effective rating system.

"We are pleased that the decision of the VAC has recognised that Manhunt 2 is well within the bounds established by other 18+ rated entertainment."

David Cooke, director of the BBFC said, said the body "exercised great vigilance and care in ensuring that all violent games which are submitted to us are correctly classified".

He said the body had twice rejected the game "for its focus on varied and cumulative killings".

He added: "We recognse that rejection is a very serious step, in which the desire of publishers to market their games, and that of gamers to buy them, must be balanced against the public interest, including the full range of possible harm risks to vulnerable individuals and to any children who may be wrongly exposed to such games.

"Such balancing judgements are inevitably complex and multi-faceted, and are made only after very careful consideration of the contents of a work."

He said the BBFC had played Manhunt 2 for "well over 30 hours prior to our decision".

Next Big Thing Day in pictures Taming Timbuktu

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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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.

Next Big Thing Day in pictures Taming Timbuktu

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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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.Next Big Thing Day in pictures Taming Timbuktu

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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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."Next Big Thing Day in pictures Taming Timbuktu

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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