...reported on "Silicon.com" at http://hardware.silicon.com/storage/
0,39024649,39131285,00.htm:
Free iPods for students: The verdict
June 20 2005
by Jo Best
The university that gave all its first-year students an iPod has
evaluated the success of the pilot scheme - and come up with mixed
results.
US institution Duke University gave all its 1,650 freshmen the Apple
music player, as well as a voice recorder, in autumn 2004 to
"encourage creative uses of technology". One year on, the university
has found that over 600 students in both the autumn and spring terms
made use of the device.
Humanities students, particularly those studying music and foreign
languages, were the most forthcoming in their use of the iPods,
although the whole first class of engineering students had to use the
device in a project for their Computational Methods class.
Among the faculties that took part in the experiment were Spanish,
where students recorded themselves speaking the language for
evaluation on their music players, and electrical and computing
engineering, where students used the iPods to record pulse rates.
Mostly, however, the students used the devices to record or play back
lectures and tutorials.
Duke's report into the project said: "Initial planning for academic
iPod use focused on audio playback; however, digital recording
capabilities ultimately generated the highest level of student and
faculty interest."
The evaluation found that 60 per cent of the undergraduates involved
in the scheme used their iPod to record academic material, while 28
per cent used the device for storage.
[...]
--Class Action Suit Filed Against CardSystems, Visa and MasterCard for
Data Security Breach
(27 June 2005)
A California attorney has filed a class-action lawsuit against
CardSystems Solutions, Visa and MasterCard on behalf of California
residents and merchants who accept credit cards. The lawsuit alleges
the companies did not appropriately secure their systems and did not
inform people in a timely manner about a security breach that exposed
data on 40 million accounts. Apparently information on approximately
200,000 accounts was verifiably transferred out the payment processor's
computer system, but the credit card companies said they do not intend
to notify people of the problem unless the accounts are used
fraudulently. The lawsuit asks that the companies notify all people
whose data were exposed and provide special notification to the 200,000
whose data were stolen. The suit also asks that chargeback fees and
penalties to merchants be waived on transactions where the information
was used fraudulently.
http://news.com.com/2102-7350_3-5765383.html?tag=st.util.printhttp://www.techfirm.com/cardsystems.pdf
--Alleged Spammer First to be Tried Under Australia's Spam Law
(24/23 June 2005)
The Australian Communications Authority will try Wayne Mansfield,
managing director of Clarity 1, for allegedly sending at least 56
million spam messages since Australia's Spam Act took effect in April
2004. The ACA is also seeking an interim injunction against Clarity 1
to prevent it from sending out more unsolicited email until the court
hearing, which is scheduled for July 20. Mansfield maintains he has not
broken the law and is looking forward to proving his innocence in court.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/24/
australia_sues_alleged_spammer/print.html
http://internet.aca.gov.au/ACAINTER.65636%3ASTANDARD%3A%3Apc=PC_3000http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?NewsID=3912http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,15714808%5E15331%5E%
5Enbv%5E15306%2D15318,00.html
--Microsoft Suing German Company for Sending Spam
(22 June 2005)
Microsoft is suing an unnamed German company for allegedly inundating
Hotmail users with spam. The German company allegedly used
organizations in the US and the Ukraine to send the unsolicited
commercial email. The company's director denies any personal
wrongdoing; he says his partners are responsible for the spam and that
they are "out of control." Because Germany does not presently have any
laws against distributing spam, Microsoft is seeking an injunction in
an attempt to shut down the North Rhine Westphalia-based company under
German fair trade law.
http://www.scmagazine.com/news/index.cfm?
fuseaction=newsDetails&newsUID=71539896-5ee5-46b5-b9fe-
b72d83d68d83&newsType=News
http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2005/0,4814,102670,00.html
--Indian Police Need Formal Complaint Before They Can Arrest Alleged
Data Thief
(24/23 June 2005)
A man who reportedly sold data on 1,000 bank accounts of UK citizens to
an undercover reporter in India is still at large. The information was
reportedly stolen from call centers. Delhi police cannot arrest the
man, Karan Bahree, until they receive a formal complaint either from the
call centers where the data were stolen or from banks or individuals in
the UK affected by the theft. In a BBC interview, Mr. Bahree said he
gave a CD to the undercover reporter at the behest of another person and
did not know what the disk contained. UK organizations that outsource
customer services are liable for security problems that arise; the banks
affected in this case could be found to be in violation of the UK's Data
Protection Act.
http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2005/0,4814,102755,00.htmlhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8345423/http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/offshoring/print.htm?
TYPE=story&AT=39131387-3800003026t-39000857cs
Let me say right off that if gory innards, techgeek terms like
SPECfp and SPECint, and looking at charts showing how fast a
Photoshop tranform happens are not of interest to you, stop reading
now. ::-)
For those of you brave enough to venture forward, here's one attempt
at comparing what difference may exist between the current Apple
Macintosh hardware heart and the upcoming Apple Macintosh hardware
heart (from that techie/geeky viewpoint ::-). Mostly it'll be just a
bunch of existing numbers and graphs but I've also tried to include
some of the sources from the manufacturers that explain the numbers
and graphs in words as well..... so that you have the numbers....
in.... words...... as well.....
(Disclaimers: Due to the nature of the tables, it'll be easier to
read if you change to a monospaced font. My apologies for any errors
found - please let me know. The following raw numbers do not define
the entire picture. How everything gets put together can have a
dramatic effect; the work done during a G4 or G5 clock cycle differs
from that done during a P4 cycle, etc. Nor does this comment on OS
concerns. Source links for this information are given at the end of
the message. All Intel CPUs listed below, except for the Celeron,
Celeron-M, and Pentium-M can support 64 bit addressing. ***Intel's
SSE2 is not available in the Celeron processor.)
Very rough guidelines based upon passed usage:
Desktops: G4, G5, PXE, PD, P4, Celeron
Laptops: G4, Pentium-M (couples the execution core of the Pentium III
with a Pentium 4 compatible bus interface - code name "Yonah"),
Celeron-M
Servers: G5, Itanium 2, Xeon
*FS Bus: Front side bus
Processor Name/Number | Clock Speed | L2 cache | FS Bus* | Dual
Core |
| (GHz) | (KByte) | (GHz)
| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
IBM/Motorola G4 | 1.25, 1.42, | 512 | .333
| |
| 1.33, 1.5, | |
| |
| 1.67 | |
| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
IBM/Motorola G5 | 1.8, 2.0, | 512 |.600, 1,
| |
| 2.3, 2.7 | |
1.15,1.35| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Intel PentiumXE 840 | 3.2 | 2x1000 | .8 |
yes |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Intel Pentium D 840, 830, | 2.8 - 3.2 | 2x1000 | .8 |
yes |
820 | | |
| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Intel P4 571, 570J°, 561, | 2.8 - 3.8 | 1000 | .8
| |
560J, 560, 551, 550J, 550,| | |
| |
541, 540J, 540, 531, 530J,| | |
| |
530, 521, 520J, 520 | | |
| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Intel P4 670, 660, 650, | 3.0 - 3.8 | 1000 | .8
| |
640, 630 | | |
| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Intel Celeron D 346, 341, | 2.5 - 3.06 | 256 | .533
| |
336, 331, 326 | | |
| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Intel Celeron*** | .95 - 2.8 | 128, 256 | up to .
4| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Intel Pentium M 770, 765, | 1.5 - 2.13 |1000 - 2000| .4, .533|
Yonah |
760, 758, 755, 753, 750, |Low voltage: | | |
coming |
745, 740, 738, 735, 733, | 1.3-1.5 | | |
2006? |
730, 725, 723, 718, 715, |Ultra low | |
| |
713 |voltage:1-1.2| |
| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Intel Celeron M 383, 373, | 1.2 - 1.5 |512 - 1000 | .4
| |
370, 360, 353, 350, 340, | Ultra low | |
| |
333, 330, 320, 310 | volt:.9-1.0 | |
| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Intel Itanium 2 | 1.0 - 1.6 |256 (1500- |
bandwidth| |
| | 9000 L3) |6.4GB/
sec| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Intel Xeon | 2.8 - 3.66 |1000 - 2000|
bandwidth| |
| | |6.4-14GB/
s| |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Floating Point and Integer Arithmetic:
--------------------------------------
Apple/IBM/Motorola AltiVec (Velocity Engine): 128-bit vector
registers that can represent sixteen 8-bit signed or unsigned chars,
eight 16-bit signed or unsigned shorts, four 32-bit ints or four 32-
bit floating point variables. supports a special RGB "pixel" data type
Intel SSE2: replacement for MMX and SSE. 128-bit vector registers
that can represent sixteen 8-bit signed or unsigned chars, eight 16-
bit signed or unsigned shorts, four 32-bit ints or four 32-bit
floating point variables.
Performance:
------------
SPECfp 2000 (Bigger is better):
- Dual 3.66 GHz Xeon EM64T: 28.6 (IBM xSeries 336: 2M L2 cache, 8 GHz
FS Bus)
- Dual 2GHz G5: 15.7
- Dual 3.06 GHz Xeon: 11.1
- Single 3 GHz P4: 8.07
SPECint 2000 (Bigger is better):
- Dual 2GHz G5: 17.2
- Dual 3.06 GHz Xeon: 16.7
- Single 3 GHz P4: 10.3
Adobe Photoshop 7.01 600 MB file: 45-filter function, 2 GB memory
(performance of a single P4 3GHz system is "1")
- Dual 2GHz G5: 2.2
- Single 1.8 GHz G5: 1.8
- Single 1.5 GHz G5: 1.5
- Dual 3.06 GHz Xeon: 1.1
BLAST DNA sequence matching (in millions of nucleotides per second -
higher is better):
WORD LENGTH
10 20 30 40
-----------------------------------------------------
Dual 2 GHz G5 | .2 2 2.9 3.1
Single 1.8 GHz G5 | .2 1.5 2.5 2.5
Single 1.6 GHz G5 | .2 1.2 2.1 2.3
Dual 3.06 GHz Xeon| .2 0.5 0.6 0.6
Single 3 GHz P4 | .2 0.5 0.5 0.4
HMMer genome matching sequencing (performance of a single P4 3GHz
system is "1")
- Dual 2GHz G5: 6.9
- Single 1.8 GHz G5: 4.8
- Single 1.5 GHz G5: 4.2
- Dual 3.06 GHz Xeon: 1.7
Links:
------
G4/G5:
http://www.apple.com/ibook/specs.htmlhttp://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.htmlhttp://www.apple.com/macmini/specs.htmlhttp://www.apple.com/imac/specs.htmlhttp://www.apple.com/powermac/specs.htmlhttp://www.apple.com/xserve/specs.htmlhttp://www.apple.com/lae/powermac/performance/
Intel:
http://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentiumXE/index.htmhttp://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentium_D/index.htmhttp://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentium4/index.htmhttp://www.intel.com/products/processor/celeron_D/index.htmhttp://www.intel.com/products/processor/celeron/index.htmhttp://www.intel.com/products/processor/pentiumm/index.htmhttp://developer.intel.com/design/Pentium4/prodbref/http://www.cpuid.org/PentiumM/index.phphttp://techreport.com/reviews/2003q3/pentiumm-1.4ghz/index.x?pg=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_Mhttp://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/
0,,30_118_11600_11613,00.html
AltiVec:
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/A/Al/AltiVec1.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AltiVechttp://www.tommesani.com/AltiVec.html
SSE2:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSE2http://www.tommesani.com/SSE2Intro.htmlhttp://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/S/SS/SSE22.htm
EM64T (Intel's 64 bit addressing technology):
http://www.answers.com/topic/em64thttp://www.best.de/download/marketing/AMD-Sun-Opteron_I.pd
Wayne
Just to clarify the article, the title is a bit misleading, and really should
read "Spyware Floods In Through
Any-Program-You-Use-To-Connect-To-The-Internet-With." It really underscores
that you shouldn't be downloading or executing anything off the Internet
unless you know where it came from (or are prepared to deal with the
consequences).
BitTorrent works by creating a torrent file that describes how a file(s) is
constructed. Users can download the torrent file, and when run with a torrent
program, it will contact other torrent programs on the Internet, looking for
the pieces. The torrent program will also share existing pieces that you've
collected, but only for the particular torrent file (it does NOT share out
your hard drive). Torrents work well in distributing information quickly as
multiple sources can give you several pieces simultaneously. You don't need
to obtain the file from a single source one piece at a time if you were
downloading it via HTTP or FTP.
In this case Direct Revenue is creating torrents of files that users want that
include their spyware program IN ADDITION TO the original file. They are not
co-opting the original file or infecting torrents that are not their own. In
fact there is some legality on their repackaging and distributing these torrents.
If you download a torrent distribution file for a Linux boot disk from
Knoppix.org then there is no way for Direct Revenue to add their spyware into
that torrent. If you download a torrent distribution file for the same Linux
boot disk from Direct Revenue then there is NO guarantee that you won't have
an unwelcome hitch-hiker added to your download. Even then, once their
spyware is downloaded to your machine you will need to execute it for the
spyware to sink its hooks into your system.
Frankly, anyone who obtains (for example) boot disk.ISO and an executable file
they don't why it's there, and decides to run the executable, deserves to be
thoroughly chastised with the same tone of voice reserved for people who cross
the street without looking both ways.
Slashdot has a good discussion about this here:
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/16/1558229&tid=158&tid=172&tid…
--
Will_Christie(a)UManitoba.CA "You probably think Canada's leader
Instructional Software Coordinator is called the, uh... Grand Poobah!"
Academic Computing & Networking "No, it's the Governor-General."
University of Manitoba "WRONG! It's the Prime Minister."
622 Engineering "Technically Hank, it is
Ph: 204-474-9475 Fx: 204-474-7920 the Governor-General."
--Corner Gas
...from:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1828633,00.asp
Spyware Floods In Through BitTorrent
By Ryan Naraine
June 15, 2005
BitTorrent, the beloved file-sharing client and protocol that
provides a way around bandwidth bottlenecks, has become the newest
distribution vehicle for adware/spyware bundles.
[...]
"This is the marketing campaign to end all marketing campaigns," said
Boyd, the Microsoft Security MVP (most valuable professional) known
throughout the security industry by the "Paperghost" moniker.
In an e-mail interview with Ziff Davis Internet News, Boyd said rogue
files have popped up occasionally in BitTorrent land but those were
usually just random executables. "This is the first time I've seen a
definite money-making campaign with affiliates, distributors and some
pretty heavy-duty adware names," he added.
Boyd, widely known for chronicling spyware, hacking and malware
exploits, has published details of the BitTorrent distributions and
identified Direct Revenue and Marketing Metrix Group as the companies
responsible for the rigged files.
Boyd said he got the first inkling that BitTorrent was a major adware
distribution vehicle while searching for the source of Direct
Revenue's Aurora, an adware program that includes the prevalent
"nail.exe" component. Sifting through mountains of HijackThis logs
posted on security forums, Boyd said the answer was staring him in
the face. (HijackThis is a popular freeware spyware removal tool that
keeps detailed logs of Windows PC scans).
In the logs, he found that "nail.exe" and "aurora.exe" were always
listed alongside "btdownloadgui.exe," the user interface that
downloads/uploads when using BitTorrent.
"I checked hundreds of those logs, and more often than not,
[btdownloadgui.exe] was chugging away in the background. No wonder
none of the victims (or spyware experts) seemed to know what site
Aurora was coming from—there was no site. It would have never
occurred to the end users that it could have crept in by another
means altogether," he said.
Because BitTorrent strips digital files into tiny shreds and
reassembles them locally once a user completes a download, it has
emerged as the perfect place to bundle adware programs among the
bits, without the end user ever knowing.
A BitTorrent user downloading a movie clip only becomes aware of the
associated adware after the files are reassembled. At that stage,
when the user attempts to load the reassembled file, he or she is
greeted by an installation notice for an adware bundle distributed by
MMG (Marketing Metrix Group), a Canadian company that specializes in
P2P network marketing.
[...]
Direct Revenue admitted to using MMG to push Aurora distributions via
BitTorrent, but insisted that the actual adware installation was done
with adequate and up-front disclosure.
In an interview, Direct Revenue chief technology officer Daniel Doman
said MMG is "one of many affiliates" used to distribute Aurora. "They
[MMG] specialize in doing content distribution on peer-to-peer
channels, and we think they provide an easy mechanism for people like
us who want to monetize software or content."
Doman, a former director of engineering at DoubleClick Inc., said the
increased visibility of Aurora and the "nail.exe" component was not
the result of new installations, pointing out that Direct Revenue is
auto-updating its file-naming convention to address criticisms that
the adware program was hidden on purpose.
"We just recently launched a full awareness and campaign to the
entire user base, and the fact that those files are showing up in
logs shows that we're having success," he said. The campaign,
announced on May 17, includes the placement of an uninstall facility
within the add/remove panel on Windows for PCs that points users to
the previously hard-to-find MyPCTuneUp Web site for adware program
removal.
"We've taken pains to brand all of our windows so that the source and
prominence of the advertising we serve are extremely clear," Doman
said. So far, about 90 percent of Direct Revenue's user base has
received the branding updates, which happen without any user action.
Direct Revenue has been heavily criticized for forcing users to visit
the MyPCTuneUp site to complete the program removal, but Doman
defended that strategy, insisting the Web-based uninstall utility is
the most efficient way to make sure the removal is properly done.
He said the company was seeing increased traffic to the site since
the launch of the campaign, adding that the daily uninstall count was
"in the thousands."
Even so, he said, the thousands of daily uninstalls represent only a
fraction of a percentage of the entire user count and are not
materially affecting Direct Revenue's business.
Doman described Boyd's posts on VitalSecurity.org as "misleading" and
pointed out that the screenshots provided by the researcher "clearly
show full disclosure" before the Aurora program is installed.
He acknowledged that a "grey area" exists in the timing of the
disclosure, but insisted that it was done in full compliance with
existing laws. "We require all our distributors to fully inform end
users about what is being installed. It's a clear opt-in procedure,"
he said.
"The user is downloading something through BitTorrent that is ad-
supported and [Boyd's screenshot] shows the disclosure that is
provided. The idea that somehow the download is surreptitious is
wrong. It's very apparent that if the BitTorrent user goes through
with the MMG download, they agree to install the ad-supported software."
Doman added: "The notion that the user has accidentally found all
this software on his machine is false. [MMG] is using a 'pull'
technology. Nothing is being snuck in the back door."
...from:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1829128,00.asp
Intel Research Merges Centrino With 802.11n
By Mark Hachman
June 17, 2005
Intel will present a paper Friday that will demonstrate its progress
toward integrating the current Wi-Fi technologies with the next-
generation 802.11n protocol. At the 2005 VLSI Symposium on Circuits
in Kyoto, Japan, Intel executives will present two papers, one on
integrating a 2.4/5-GHz WLAN as well as a second on a 90-nm filter
chain. Intel speakers will show off photographs of a prototype chip.
While the papers don't describe a landmark breakthrough, they do
provide proof that Intel can take an incremental next step and
integrate the 802.11n component into its existing Centrino chipset,
according to Manny Vara, a technology strategist with Intel.
[...]
...from:
http://www.reed-electronics.com/electronicnews/article/CA445702
802.11n: The Next WLAN Frontier
By Suzanne Deffree -- Electronic News, 8/19/2004
The wireless industry is raring to go with its next connectivity
technology, 802.11n. But before the 100Mbit/sec. minimum throughput
wireless LAN technology can see a standard, things could get ugly.
The successor to 802.11a/g aimed at consumer applications that
require very high throughput, like HDTV and streaming video, 802.11n
passed the proposal posting phase at the IEEE last week with an
expected 60-plus groups and individual companies laying out what they
hope will win the wireless organization's eventual approval. The odds
are heavily laid in the favor of two equally matched groups, TGn Sync
and WWiSE -- each of which recently sent out news releases cheering
themselves on and purposefully pitched their plans to the media.
TGn Sync, which stands for task group n synchronization, holds Intel,
Agere, Atheros, Sony and Philips among its ranks. While WWiSE,
standing for worldwide spectrum efficiency, includes such companies
as Broadcom, Conexant, Texas Instruments, Airgo and
STMicroelectronics. What both consortiums agree on is the use of
MIMO, multiple input multiple output antenna technology, to take
802.11n to its promised throughput. Where they mostly differ is on
channel bands. TGn looks to use 40MHz channels in the 5GHz spectrum,
the same one used by 802.11a, while WWiSE prefers 20MHz channels in
the 2.4GHz consistently used 802.11b/g spectrum, explains Phil Solis,
a senior analyst at ABI Research.
"It's not like one side is heavy against the other. The biggest
difference is that the WWiSE group wants to stay with 20MHz bands so
they don't tie up too many channels," he said. "Both groups will use
some form of MIMO technology, it's just that the WWiSE group wants to
be more conservative with the spectrum and use other methods to bring
the speeds up. The concern of WWiSE in using a 20MHz band is a
reasonable one, if you are going to be in the 2.4MHz space where
there are only three nonoverlapping channels. But in the 5MHz band in
the United States, there are 24 channels and none overlap with b and g."
Agere, for one, argues that use of TGn's channel plan could increase
802.11n's minimum 100Mbits actual throughput speed fivefold. The
company's personal end target: 500Mbits/sec.
"If I widen the channel to 40MHz, I can get 125Mbits of data through,
just with the wider channel. If I add MIMO to that, another
transmitter, then I go to 250Mbits," remarked Mary Cramer, strategic
marketing manager and Agere's business representative for the IEEE
task force n group. "I can realistically go up to four transmitters
and get 500Mbits. In this proposal we are asking for a mandatory two
transmitters -- because it's more realistic for power and cost -- and
to be capable of 40MHz channels, and that would make up 250Mbits for
an 802.11n device."
Conexant's rebuttal on behalf of WWiSE is that it's not just about
speed, but also about future spectrum availability and backward Wi-Fi
compatibility to 802.11b/g.
"20MHz channel width is consistent with the frequency plan used in
all our legacy 802.11 equipment sold to date," Jim Zyren, executive
director, wireless and residential gateway access products at
Conexant, said, adding that the use of 20MHz channels helps conserve
unlicensed spectrum. "We've all heard anecdotal evidence of crowded
spectrum and interference in the 2.4GHz unlicensed domain. As a group
we feel we have just scratched the surface in terms of global Wi-Fi
adoption. Now is the time to begin implementing spectrum conservation
measures. By making 20MHz channels a mandatory element of our
proposal, we'll ensure maximum utilization of the existing channels
before resorting to the use of wider channels."
The Curse of Ultra Wideband
Beyond MIMO and channel use, both groups agree that no one wants to
end up like ultra wideband technology. UWB, which is still awaiting
final ratification, has been tossed and twirled about IEEE for more
than a year now as the proposal parties can't seem to agree on common
ground.
"One of the other main group's technology is some what similar to
ours and in some ways it isn't," Agere's Cramer said, alluding to
WWiSE and its use of MIMO. "I don't think this is going to be like
UWB and the situation that has happened there, where the whole
standard is just locked up because people can't agree on it."
ABI Research noted in a recent report that had UWB come to market
quicker its superior speeds to wireless LAN may have made it more of
a contender for applications in the home. Having 802.11b/g already
staked out in the home gives it a significant advantage over UWB,
Solis said.
"Wi-Fi will continue to work its way into home entertainment
networking, and will become entrenched," the analyst said in the
report. "By the time UWB comes out -- or just a little later --
802.11n solutions will start to appear."
Both sides are hoping that UWB's IEEE curse will be avoided and
compromises will be made … just not anytime soon. With the next
meeting to discuss the proposals set for September, TGn and WWiSE
aren't expecting a first draft specification to come down the pike
until at mid-to-late 2005 and are eyeing a final spec in 2006.
That hasn't stopped anyone from starting to plan out their products,
though, with proper marketing. While both Agere and Atheros have
released consumer-oriented HDTV and video products based on ultra-
fast data transmission using principles of their group's proposal,
they have been careful not to promote them as "pre-n" technology.
"I think anyone who claims their product is pre-n, given that first
proposals haven't been made, would be really stepping out wide,"
Atheros Product Line Manger Sheung Li said. "What makes pre-n product
so premature now is that if you launch such a thing, then you can
only talk to such products from the same manufacturer and you don't
get any performance gains when talking to a, b or g equipment."
But product appearance on shelves before ratification has a strong
history in WLAN. 802.11n's predecessor 802.11g went down that path,
with technology out about six months before the IEEE had give its
green light to the 54Mbit specification.
"The market's perception has been shaped by the experience that we
went through collectively in the 802.11g space. The take-away
everyone got from 802.11g was that we are going to see products in
the market before the standard is finally ratified," Zyren said.
...other links of interest:
- updates following the 802.11n standard: http://wifinetnews.com/
archives/cat_80211n.html
- 2MHz-3G cellphone-UWB crosstalk: http://www.ultrawidebandplanet.com/
technology/article.php/2173501
- http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/mofaq/rcomms/uwbfaqs/#content
- Fat pipes from thin air?: http://www.networkmagazine.com/shared/
article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=8703372&classroom=
- Find you way around the RF spectrum: http://www.techworld.com/
features/index.cfm?featureID=212&printerfriendly=1
- The A to Z of wireless terms: http://www.techworld.com/features/
index.cfm?featureID=212&printerfriendly=1
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 09:48:16 -0400
Subject: SciTech WEBCASTs: June 16th and 23rd
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There are two exciting SciTech webcasts coming up, the latter with
Canadian content...
- Tiger/Tiger Server for HPC
- Storage for Research Computing: includes Dr. Jackie Vogel
from McGill talking about her Xsan implementation.
For more details, visit www.apple.com/science/webcasts.html
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Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server for High Performance Computing
Thursday, June 16, 2005
10 a.m. PT, 75 minutes
Presenters:
Matt Macinnis
Market Manager, Science and Technology Markets
Apple Computer
Ernest Prabhakar, Ph.D.
Product Manager, UNIX and Xgrid
Apple Computer
Mac OS X v10.4 �Tiger� and Mac OS X Server v10.4 �Tiger� provide the
ultimate platform for high performance cluster and grid computing. As
true 64-bit operating systems, Tiger and Tiger Server allow a single
process to directly address up to 16 exabytes of virtual memory. Both
client and server versions of the operating system include a
distributed resource management service, called Xgrid, that allows
you to rapidly assemble grids or clusters without complex
configuration steps. And with a refined kernel, an improved UNIX
environment and updated Linux compatibility, the latest versions of
Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server are unrivaled for stability,
performance, compatibility and ease-of-use in cluster environments.
In this webcast, you�ll learn about the technical underpinnings of
Apple�s latest operating system and how new features and updates will
benefit users of Mac OS X-based clusters and grids.
More details: http://seminars.apple.com/seminarsonline/tigerforhpc/
apple/
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Cost-Effective Storage Deployments for Research Computing
Thursday, June 23, 2005
10 a.m. PT, 75 minutes
Guest speakers:
Alex Grossman
Senior Director, Server and Storage Hardware
Apple Computer
Jackie Vogel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology and CIHR New Investigator
McGill University
M. Michael Barmada, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Human Genetics
University of Pittsburgh
Ryan Klein
SAN Architect
QLogic Corporation
In today�s research environment, IT organizations are faced with
finding cost-effective, scalable and flexible storage solutions to
accommodate the relentless growth and complexity of scientific data.
At the same time, scientists want faster and better access to their
data as well as ways to collaborate easily with peers across
academia, industry and government.
In this webcast, you�ll learn how to achieve better data
accessibility and faster storage retrieval in a more cost-effective
way with industry-leading solutions from Apple. You�ll also hear
examples of successful storage deployments in research environments
and why Mac technology was chosen.
More details: http://seminars.apple.com/seminarsonline/
researchstorage/apple/
###
...from:
http://www.macworld.com/2005/06/features/intelchips/index.php/?
lsrc=mwweek-0613
June 13, 2005
Macworld
Inside Intel’s offerings
What chips might appear in Macs next year?
By Jon L. Jacobi
[It will be a year before Intel-built chips start appearing in Apple
hardware. But it's not too early to start getting familiar with the
processors currently available from Intel.]
When it comes to sipping daintily from the AC and running cooler,
Intel chips are unmatched by anything IBM has to offer. And that’s a
handy characteristic to have for a CPU that’s wedged within the
narrow confines of a notebook.
But before we get into the nitty-gritty of what the Santa Clara,
Calif.-based chip giant’s products will do for you, what they won’t
offer is a giant leap in performance on the desktop. Apple’s current
G5 is a powerful chip—despite running at slower clock speeds than the
processors powering Wintel machines. Slower clocked x86-compatible
Athlon 64s from über Intel-rival AMD’s regularly benchmark as fast or
faster than Intel’s offerings. (Notebook performance is another
matter as you’ll gather when you read about the Pentium M below.)
The Wintel world is cluttered with far more products than the Mac
universe and Intel offers a bewilderingly large array of CPUs that
vary in cache size, speed, and features. A lot can change in a year,
but with a recent flurry of new technology releases from Intel, the
first MacIntels should feature one of the following processors—or
something very close to them.
Pentium 4
Designed for: Desktops and desktop replacement laptops
The best known of Intel’s processors, the P4 was designed to achieve
high clock speeds, but it generally does less per clock cycle than
competing CPUs. The latest P4s run as fast as 3.8GHz with 1MB or 2MB
of cache and an 800MHz front-side bus. They’re also 64-bit courtesy
of Intel’s EM64T—a version of the x86-64 64-bit instructions
developed by AMD for its Intel-compatible Athlon 64 CPUs. EM64T P4’s
perform both 32-bit and 64-bit instructions with equal facility, and,
if Apple systems employing them are anything like the PC-side of
things, they should support at least 64GB of directly addressable
memory.
Some P4 models also feature Hyper-Threading, which creates two
virtual CPUs to improve performance when running simultaneous tasks—
like applying a Photoshop filter while you’re browsing the Web.
Pentium D
Designed for: Desktops and performance laptops
The Pentium D evolved out of the P4 and, like the G5 and most Intel
CPUs, is manufactured using a state-of-the-art 90-nanometer process.
The “D” stands for Dual-core which means two execution cores—the
heart of a CPU that actually processes the instructions—on the same
chip. It’s essentially the same concept as a dual-processor G5,
except that the CPUs and support logic are found on a single piece of
silicon. With two cores, Pentium D CPUs are especially adept at multi-
tasking and all three models (2.8GHz, 3.0GHz, and 3.2GHz) feature the
EM64T instruction set, 1MB of cache per core, and an 800MHz front-
side bus.
Pentium 4 Extreme Edition
Designed for: Gaming and performance desktops
The newest version of the P4 EE is actually a Pentium D with Hyper-
Threading enabled, meaning two physical processor cores split via
Hyper-Threading for a total of four virtual CPUs. This latest
flagship EE shouldn’t be confused with older EE models, which are
single-core P4’s with HT and either a 2MB cache (3.73GHz, 1066MHz
front-side bus, 90-nanometer model) or dual 512KB L2 and 2MB L3
caches (3.2Ghz/3.46GHz, 800MHz/1066MHz front-side bus, 130-nanometer
models).
Pentium M
Designed for: Laptops
Some think that the 32-bit Pentium M is what Apple was really after
from Intel in the short term. The Pentium M isn’t based on the P4
core; it’s a separate animal that does a lot more work per clock
cycle. Available in clock speeds from 1.5- to 2.13GHz, it easily
outperforms the G4 found in Apple’s fastest notebooks and offers
wonderfully parsimonious power consumption. Pentium M notebooks
regularly last more than five hours on a single battery charge—
something iBook and Powerbook users can currently only dream of.
Celeron
Designed for: budget desktops, laptops
Celerons are the lower-priced, 32-bit-only cousins of the Pentium
that generally suffer a slower front-side bus, less cache or some
other performance-inhibiting characteristic. They cost only a little
less than low-end Pentium models but you never know what might make
an appearance in a budget MacIntel.
First, a history refresher from:
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,115979,00.asp
Sasser Infections Hit Hard
Colleges and financial firms, including American Express, are
cleaning up after the worm.
Paul Roberts, IDG News Service
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Security experts are continuing to issue warnings about the Sasser
Internet worm as organizations struggle to clean up the damage caused
by infected hosts.
American Express joined a number of U.S. universities in reporting
infections from the Sasser worm this week. Meanwhile, the SANS
Institute's Internet Storm Center (ISC) maintained a yellow warning
Tuesday despite expectations earlier in the day that the Sasser
outbreak would wind down Monday, according to interviews.
Sasser exploits a recently disclosed hole in a component of
Microsoft's Windows operating system called the Local Security
Authority Subsystem Service, or LSASS. Microsoft released a software
patch, MS04-011, on April 13. [...]
....then, the current update on this story:
Sasser Worm Trial Set to Begin on July 5
(1 June/31 May 2005)
The trial of Sven Jaschan, who has been accused of creating the Sasser
worm, is scheduled to begin July 5 in Germany. Jaschan has reportedly
confessed to authoring both Sasser and NetSky. He faces charges of
computer sabotage and disruption of business. Jaschan will be tried
in juvenile court because he was a minor when the alleged offenses took
place.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/31/sasser_trial_date_set/print.htmlhttp://software.silicon.com/malware/print.htm?
TYPE=story&AT=39130878-3800003100t-40000041c
....on a related note:
--Microsoft Removes Malicious Code from MSN Korea Web Site
(3 June 2005)
Microsoft has removed malicious code from its MSN web site in Korea,
www.msn.co.kr. The company that hosts the site had neglected to apply
necessary patches; a vulnerability allowed the placement of the Trojan
horse code.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/06/02/ms.hack.ap/index.htmlhttp://news.zdnet.com/2102-1009_22-5731460.html?tag=printthis
================================
--CitiFinancial Blames UPS for Tape Loss
(7/6 June 2005)
Citigroup Inc. subsidiary CitiFinancial says a box of computer tapes
being transported by United Parcel Service has been lost. The missing
tapes hold unencrypted data, including names and Social Security
numbers, for approximately 3.9 million customers. The company has sent
letters to all affected customers, warning them to pay special attention
to their accounts for suspicious activity. CitiFinancial videos show
the UPS driver failing to observe the agreed upon "special security
procedures." The tapes were sent in early May; there have been no
reports of unauthorized account activity. CitiFinancial has been
planning to switch to encrypted data sent electronically in July of this
year. The Secret Service is investigating.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/06/
AR2005060601682_pf.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/07/business/07data.html?pagewanted=printhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050606/bs_nm/
financial_citigroup_tapes_dc&printer=1
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jun/06intel.html
[...]
“We are thrilled to have the world’s most innovative personal
computer company as a customer,” said Paul Otellini, president and
CEO of Intel. “Apple helped found the PC industry and throughout the
years has been known for fresh ideas and new approaches. We look
forward to providing advanced chip technologies, and to collaborating
on new initiatives, to help Apple continue to deliver innovative
products for years to come.”
“We plan to create future versions of Microsoft Office for the Mac
that support both PowerPC and Intel processors,” said Roz Ho, general
manager of Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit. “We have a strong
relationship with Apple and will work closely with them to continue
our long tradition of making great applications for a great platform.”
“We think this is a really smart move on Apple’s part and plan to
create future versions of our Creative Suite for Macintosh that
support both PowerPC and Intel processors,” said Bruce Chizen, CEO of
Adobe.
[...]