Archive | February, 2009
Browsers: More Important Than Ever. Also More Boring.
[Note: This item first appeared in Technologizer's T-Week newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.]
This piece was inspired by spending the past few days using the RC1 version of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8. But it’s really a sequel-of-sorts to a blog post I wrote for PC World back in March of last year, when the first beta of IE 8 appeared. That one was called Internet Explorer 8 and the Boring Era of Web Browsers, and the gist was that even though browsers mattered more than ever in this era where we spend so much of our lives on the Web, Microsoft and other browser companies seemed to be focusing on under-the-hood improvements (like better support for Web standards) and were short on strikingly new features that let folks use their browsers in new ways. (IE 8′s Accelerators and Web Slices, for instance, are its most significant new tools–and they’re just not that big a whoop.)
For-Pay Slacker Radio for Free
6. February 2009
The folks at Slacker, one of my favorite sources of Internet radio, have provided Technologizer with some one-month free trials of their premium Radio Plus service, which doesn’t have ads, lets you skip past an unlimited number of songs, and gives you unlimited ability to request songs. The one-month trial is worth $3.99, and you don’t need to supply a credit card to get it. If you’re interested, contact me via this form before 9am PT on Friday, February 13th and simply tell me you’re interested in free Slacker and give me your e-mail address. I’ll choose nine readers at random and set them up with the service.
5Words for February 6th, 2009
6. February 2009
Comments Off
It’s a slow news day…
Zune phone? Yes? Microsoft? No.
Facebook partners with Open ID.
Georgetown hates Apple Store design.
Maryland General Assembly bans Facebook.
Windows Live is for preschoolers.
Microsoft Bows to Critics, Will Change Windows 7 UAC
5. February 2009
Yesterday I wrote about the Windows 7 dust-up that involved a couple of security bloggers’ concern that malware could silently turn User Account Control off, and Microsoft’s seeming unwillingness to talk much about the issue other than to say it wasn’t really a problem. Today, Microsoft’s Jon DeVaan addressed the controversy on the Engineering Windows 7 blog. The gist of his 2100-word post: Microsoft appreciated the input, but UAC’s behavior wasn’t an issue, because malware could only fiddle with UAC settings after it had gotten on a PC, and Windows 7 is really good at warding off malware. And to change UAC’s default behavior to alert users when UAC settings changed would be inconsistent with the approach which Microsoft’s testing had shown that real people liked.
I make no claim to being a security expert (or even the intended audience for DeVaan’s post, which was aimed at developers). But like the rest of Microsoft’s response to this mini-firestorm to date, it was profoundly unsatisfying. No matter how strong Windows 7′s anti-malware protections are, some bad stuff is going to get on some PCs. Why not make it tough for it to perform one task which would unlock the ability for it to do further damage? Screwy but possibly appropriate metaphor: It’s like an apartment manager telling tenants that a presence of a burly doorman in the lobby meant that anyone found in the building changing the lock on a particular conso must be doing so with the owner’s permission.
That post went up at midnight. At 3pm, another one appeared–cosigned by DeVaan and Windows 7 honcho Steve Sinofsky. With reasonably good humor, it ate crow and said that Microsoft will change Windows 7′s behavior:
With this feedback and a lot more we are going to deliver two changes to the Release Candidate that we’ll all see. First, the UAC control panel will run in a high integrity process, which requires elevation. That was already in the works before this discussion and doing this prevents all the mechanics around SendKeys and the like from working. Second, changing the level of the UAC will also prompt for confirmation.
It’s startling that it took Microsoft so many false starts before they got this right: Even if Microsoft was right on some theoretical, technical level, the issue had snowballed into an argument the company simply couldn’t win, period. Nerds will be nerds, and nerds are often stubbon, prickly, and prone to falling victim to the hobgoblin of little minds. But good for Microsoft for (eventually) engaging in healthy, bloggy debate, and being willing to concede its mistakes and move on. Knowing when you’ve screwed up and being unafraid to admit it in public is very 2009.
More at Dwight Silverman’s TechBlog, Mary-Jo Foley’s All About Microsoft, and I Started Something by Long Zheng (one of the guys who raised the issue in the first place).
Report: Apple May Enter TV Business
5. February 2009
Visions of the “digital living room” having been dancing in the heads of industry leaders for over a decade, but no one solution has broken into the mainstream. Now, Apple may be preparing for a significant push based on the success of iTunes and the iPod. Or so predicts analyst Gene Munster of investment bank Piper Jaffray, which thinks that Apple will give it a shot by introducing its own brand of networked television.
Piper Jaffray’s report says that indications from Apple’s management, coupled with Apple’s DVR and TV-related patent filings and partnership with LG, have led it to conclude that Apple will introduce a connected television to the market in 2011.
The Apple TV (not to be confused with Apple TV) could be an integrated all-in-one device that combines a Blu-ray/DVD player, music playback, cable box, and DVR to synchronize recorded programming with Macs, iPhones and iPods. It may include gaming features, according to the report.
Apple would be wise to capitalize on the ecosystem that it has created around iTunes, and its strong brand. Apple has already laid the groundwork to introduce an actual television with its Apple TV digital media receiver. Synchronization has been key to Apple’s success, and Apple has made Apple TV work well with iTunes.
Piper Jaffray noted that Apple TV sales were already growing substantially, and that Apple may sell as many as 6 million units this year.
Research analysts have a mediocre record at best when it comes to predicting what Apple will and won’t do. Still, an elegant, consolidated Apple media device would simplify the tangle of wires that many of us have in our living rooms with the added bonus of a wealth of content contained in its iTunes media library.
If the price is right, it sounds like it could be a winner to me. But the real question is whether it sounds that way to Apple.
Hi5 Pairs Games With Social Networking
5. February 2009
The social networking site Hi5, which pulls in 60 million unique visitors per month thanks to its success in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa, is launching a games channel with community features.
On description alone, this appears to follow in the footsteps of Facebook, as both sites allow friends to track high scores and challenge each other in a variety of games. The difference, a spokeswoman explained to me, is centralization.
Hi5′s game page — accessed through a tab on top of the screen — resembles popular flash game sites like Miniclip and AddictingGames. You’re presented with a smattering of colorful, simple flash games like “Eek!” (read: Whack-a-Mole) and Skee-Ball. But unlike Facebook’s game apps, which require users to “allow access” before playing, Hi5′s offerings are immediately available to all registered users. All games on the site share a common scoring and challenging system, because Hi5 builds it into each game.
Monetization efforts are more in your face on Hi5 than they are on Facebook, featured prominently at the end of each game. In time, Hi5 will add premium games and in-game content as another source of revenue. Region-specific games and crowdsourced translations are also in the pipeline, both of which fall in step with the site’s global popularity.
Hi5′s setup and features remind me of another social networking site, Kongregate, which is geared exclusively towards gamers. Users there get Xbox-style Achievements and dedicated chat rooms for each game, plus the usual global and game-specific high score lists. Given that Kongregate has been around for a while, I’d choose that if I were looking to build a new community of fellow flash gamers. Hi5 might work best the other way around; if you’re already using it, and you want to get your friends in on some gaming, it seems like good times.
The Fate of Google Earth: 5.0 and Beyond
5. February 2009
I’m not quite sure if I’m ready to declare Google Earth as Google’s most amazing product. But this seems safe to say: It’s the one with the most potential. Version 5.0, which Google unveiled on Monday with an usually high amount of hoopla (Al Gore! Jimmy Buffett!) is in many ways a spectacular piece of work. But as I’ve been exploring it, I’m as excited about its possibilities as its current version.
Here’s what’s new in 5.0:
Oceans. In previous versions of Earth, they were just a bunch of blue pixels. In 5.0, you can dive right in and learn about sea life, water sports, shipwrecks, and more, mostly through images, videos, brief informational tidbits, and links to external sites:
Mars. It’s the first planet other than our own to get the full Google Earth treatment–thanks in part to some wonderful NASA panoramic photos:
History. A new timeline slider lets you travel back in time by viewing imagery other than the latest stuff that Google has. In many cases this is not-particularly-different satellite photography from a few years back. But when it’s fascinating, it’s really fascinating. At the unveiling event, Al Gore used the feature to–inevitably–show us a glacier that was shrinking with alarming rapidity. And in at least a few cases, Google has added decades-old photos taken from airplanes. Here’s San Francisco’s China Basin in 1946 and 1987, not looking too different–and then again in 1987 (see if you can spot the new building that had arrived in the neighborhood by then!):
Touring. As you travel around Google Earth, you can record your wanderings and add a narration soundtrack, then save them as a file you can e-mail to other folks who have Google Earth.
All of Google Earth’s new features are impressive additions to a program that was already a knockout, but it’s easy to pick nits. Some are small: Tours would be cooler if you could easily share them with every other Google Earth user from right within the program. (There’s a “Share/Post” menu option, but when I choose it I get a mysterious message saying the feature has been temporarily disabled.)
Some are major: It’s a cinch to find anything on dry land in Google Earth, from the great pyramids to the Eiffel Tower to a coffee shop in your hometown. But its oceans still feel like uncharted territory: Google tells us that there’s stuff like the Titanic wreck and a 3D model of the Florida Keys’ Aquarius undersea lab in there, but you can’t just do a quick search to find them. (Google in Google Earth for “Titanic,” and it sends you to Titanic, Oklahoma.) You can find stuff underwater (and on land) by browsing through guides embedded in the program’s Layers feature, but it’s just not that quick or intuitive.
And some aren’t really nits at all. Of all the features in 5.0, the one that really speaks to me is the introduction of history. Right now, it’s there in a pretty basic form: For instance, when you slide the view back in time, place markers don’t change, so Google Earth still indicates where buildings are even if they don’t yet exist. But what if all Google Earth data was tied to a timeline? Google Earth community members could start uploading and positioning millions of historical photos and videos that could make Google Earth into something that’s not only the fanciest atlas the planet has ever known, but also an extraordinary visual history of the world. (This idea is so obvious that I’d be startled if it’s not on Google’s to-do list right now.)
Like I say, this program’s potential is vast. With most software, trying to imagine what it might be like twenty years from now is either pointless or depressing. (If Microsoft World is extant in 2029, I can’t imagine it’ll be radically different or better than it is now…unless it incorporates flawless voice recognition as its primary means of input.) With Google Earth, however, there’s so much obviously neat stuff left to do that I have no doubt Google could spend a couple of decades on this idea without exhausting its possibilities. Googe Earth 5.0 is pretty darn nifty, but if the program continues to improve at the same clip it has so far, Google Earth 50 could have a profound impact on how the world understands itself. Here’s hoping that this is one Google project that never, ever goes on the chopping block…
More Cardinal Rules of E-Mail
5. February 2009
In last week’s installment of TechBite, I showed you how to stop sending e-mail that no one is going to bother to read. This week I have a bunch more tips that you can use–pay attention now–the very next time you send me a message.
Parking Ticket Scam Leads to Malware
5. February 2009
Give these hackers some credit: this malware scam takes an offline world incovenience — the parking ticket — and turns it into a way to dupe users into installing malware on their computers.
These fake parking tickets have begun appearing on cars around Grand Forks, North Dakota, which directed users to a website.
The yellow flier reads:
PARKING VIOLATION This vehicle is in violation of standard parking regulations. To view pictures with information about your parking preferences, go to [website redacted]
Once on the website, pictures of cars in the area are shown, with the license plate information removed of course (oh, what nice hackers, eh?). In order to “find” your vehicle, the site asks the user to download a toolbar.
A trojan horse is installed by the toolbar, which directs information to childhe.com. That domain has already been fingered as malicious by several antivirus companies, including Symantec.
From here the user would get several fake infection warnings, which then would prompt for the install of even more malware. You got to give these folks credit: this is probably the most ingenious scam I’ve seen yet when it comes to virus and malware trickery.
Google Calendar Gets Offline Access, Too
5. February 2009
Lifehacker is reporting that Google is beginning to roll out offline capabilities for Google Calendar, hot on the heels of last week’s introduction of similar features for Gmail. The Calendar offline tools are apparently only available in the Google Apps version of the service, and not everyone seems to be getting them yet–by which I mean that they haven’t shown up in my Google Apps Calendar. I’ll be happy when they do…
5Words for February 5th, 2009
5. February 2009
What’s transpiring this fine morning?
Hey, Woz is gainfully employed!
Fake parking tickets install malware.
Lenovo struggles, dumps American CEO.
GoDaddy’s cheesy ads work, alas.
Bill Gates bugs conference attendees.
The new Macbook’s running late.
Microsoft joins celebrity gossip race.
Facebookers compile “25 Things” lists.
Attention, Analog TV Holdouts: You Have Until June 12th
4. February 2009
I’m kind of tired of the whole subject, but just in case you haven’t heard and care: The House has passed the bill that delays the digital-TV transition from February 17th to June 12th. If you’ve got any analog TVs bumping around the house that aren’t connected to a digital source, you’ve got slightly under four additional months to (A) buy a converter, (B) supply them with a digital-ready set-top box, or (C) buy a snazzy new TV.
That is all.
No, wait–part of the reason behind the delay is the mess that is the government’s $40 coupon program for converter boxes–too many people who need the coupons don’t have them. My buddies at consumer electronics info site Retrevo aim to help with a Good Neighbor Coupon Exchange Program. They’re serving as an intermediary to put people with extra coupons in touch with folks who can use them. And they’re also offering a 20-page survival guide for the whole transition.
OK, now that is all. For now, at least…
Online Video Watching Reaches Record Levels
4. February 2009
A comScore Video Metrix report, released today, confirms what we all knew already: People are watching more and more online video. In fact, U.S. Internet users viewed 14.3 billion videos in December alone.
Google’s Web properties (including YouTube) received the greatest number of hits, accounting for 41% of the online video market. Fox Interactive was the (distant) runner up with a 3.1% share of the market, trailed by Yahoo, Viacom Digital, and Hulu. The average U.S. Internet user watched an average of 96 videos in December, and 78.5% of U.S. Internet users watch online video, according to the comScore report.
Viewers are trending toward short sessions, indicating that they’re not treating the Web like their TV. The average duration videos were watched for was just 3.2 minutes. Hulu users were an exception, spending 10.1 minutes per session.
Furthermore, the most popular YouTube videos of all time are music videos, comedy, and viral shorts. Far fewer people are catching entire television episodes and movies on the Web; although, video downloads and purchases were not tabulated in the report.
NBC hit pay dirt when it placed clips of SNL’s Tina Fey doubling as Sarah Palin online during the presidential election, and plenty of entire TV shows are online, complete with advertising. So there is a financial incentive for old line media to embrace the Web. But both TV companies and TV viewers still seem to be getting their heads around Net video.
When I watched episodes of Star Trek on CBS’s classic television Web site last year, I was bombarded with surveys about the advertisements that I saw. That was very blatant market research. It will be interesting to see how the studios adapt to the Web, and if they can figure out how to turn all those online viewing sessions into the money they’ll need to pay for more content.
Yahoo Aims to Make Web Research Easier With Search Pad
4. February 2009
Comments Off
Confession time: I do almost all of my Web searching these days at one site, and its name isn’t Yahoo. But I’m intrigued by Yahoo’s Search Pad, a new feature that’s entering testing today. It looks a bit like the soon-to-be-defunct Google Notebook and other existing services, except Search Pad is designed to be smart enough to notice you’re engaging in Web research, whereupon it offers to help you collate sites, snippets of info, and notes.
Only certain Yahoo users are seeing the feature so far, not including me. So most of what I know about it, I know from this video produced by Yahoo:
I’m instinctively skeptical about software and services that think they’re smart enough to figure out what you’re doing and help–call it the “Clippy thinks I’m writing a letter” syndrome–and I’m not clear on whether Search Pad can be invoked manually. (Seems like it should: When I’m researching something on the Web, I’m usually keenly aware that I’m researching something on the Web.) But the video has whetted my appetite sufficiently that I’ll check back to see when Search Pad shows up for me…
The Wii’s Where It’s At, EA Realizes
4. February 2009
Just imagine the thought process when Electronic Arts told investors about its 2009 plans: Wii sold twice as many consoles as either of its competitors last year. Better make more games for the Wii. Got to tell investors that the Wii will be a “major focus” from here on.
And so it went during EA Chief Executive John Riccitiello’s conference call to investors, as reported by GameDaily. “We have a spectacular slate for FY:10, which will be supported by a Wii-focused advertising campaign,” he said. “We’re starting FY:10 strong … and it gets better each quarter.”
It better. EA hasn’t been ignoring the Wii, per se, but focusing on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 isn’t the best business plan when everyone and their mothers (literally) were out buying Nintendo’s console for Christmas. Despite being a critical darling last holiday season with new IP like Dead Space and Mirror’s Edge, the publisher posted a $641 million loss last quarter and decided to lay off 10 percent of its workforce. Today, the company said it would push that number to 11 percent, or 1,100 employees.
Riccitiello said the company will push its EA Sports line above all this year, with games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour, EA Sports Active and EA Sports Tennis. There’s also a sequel to Boom Blox in the pipeline, more takes on the My Sims and Harry Potter franchises and ports of existing franchises like Dead Space.
Sadly, there’s no mention of new IP in there aside from the two new sports ventures. True, now isn’t the time to take big risks, but I’d at least like the Wii Motion Plus to come into play in the form of a new action game, with the kind of buzz that EA usually reserves for its Xbox 360 and PS3 titles. The Wii could really use a few third-party blockbusters, and I don’t think the franchises and ports Riccitiello mentioned are going to cut it.
AT&T Eyes Verizon Wireless Assets
4. February 2009
On one hand, AT&T is fighting paying its employees more. On the other, its hoping to snag up assets that Verizon Wireless must divest as part of its merger agreement with Alltel Wireless.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that AT&T is likely to be able to snag a majority of those assets as it appears to be the bidder in the strongest position. A cable provider is also apparently in the running, although the paper does not specify which one.
Among these assets are 2.1 million subscribers including spectrum and infrastructure to support those customers across 22 states. Transferring those customers to AT&T would likely push the carrier above 80 million once this quarter’s subscriber additions are figured in.
Interest groups are none to happy about it, arguing that it essentially is transferring customers from one mega-carrier to another. Public Knowledge has argued that the Obama Administration should pressure Verizon to sell these assets to smaller carriers.
No sale would be final upon winning of the bids–the DOJ would still have to sign off on the sales.
Now on Technologizer...
History Needs Piracy |
7 PC Building Tips |
My Favorite PC, the iPad |
The First Microprocessor |
|
6. February 2009
8 Comments