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INTEREST: Airport Express; Virtual PC 7; Interbrand: Apple brand value jumps 24 percent on iPod; pPod guide to London's public Loos
by billing 25 Jul '04

25 Jul '04

...from: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/22/technology/circuits/22state.html Apple's Pocket-Size Base Station By DAVID POGUE Published: July 22, 2004 IN his weekly "60 Minutes" commentary a couple of years ago, the inimitable Andy Rooney groused about the number of cables in our lives. "Look behind the television set in your living room. It's a rat's nest of electrical cords," he said. "All different - no two the same. If Thomas Edison was so smart, how come he didn't come up with one cord that fits everything?" Of course, it wouldn't be very hard for Mr. Rooney to answer his own question. To find out why cords are designed to fit only specific connectors, all he'd have to do is plug his headphones into an electrical outlet, just once. A slightly less painful approach might be for Mr. Rooney to look into Apple, a company with an official corporate disgust for cables. Apple was the first computer company to offer built-in Wi-Fi wireless antennas (also known as 802.11 - or, as Apple more charmingly calls it, AirPort). Apple was also the first company to offer built-in Bluetooth, a short-range wireless technology designed to eliminate the cords between computers, printers and other gadgets. And when a cable can't be eliminated, Apple goes to ridiculous extremes to at least make it good-looking and color-coordinated. Last week, Apple introduced yet another way to eliminate wires from your life. It introduced the AirPort Express, a $130 something-or-other for both Windows PC's and Macs. There's no single pithy term or phrase for this invention; it has more tricks up its sleeve than David Blaine. Trick No. 1: the AirPort Express is a wireless base station. That is, if you connect it to a cable modem or D.S.L. box, your wirelessly equipped Mac or Windows PC can get onto the Internet and connect to other machines in the building, at high speed and with no waiting, from anywhere in the house - or at least within about 150 feet of the base station, even through walls. (Note for geeks: Like all of Apple's current wireless gear, the AirPort Express uses the 802.11g standard - which, in English, means that it works with both modern, superfast 802.11g laptops and the older, more common, slower 802.11b equipment. It also offers both WPA and WEP security, state-of-the-art password-protection systems that prevent desperados hiding in your bushes from getting onto your wireless network without your knowledge.) If you already have an AirPort wireless network, the Express can act as a wireless bridge that extends its range another 150 feet. That's a handy perk, but it would be even handier and perkier if it worked to extend the range of other base station brands. (Apple won't guarantee that it doesn't work, but it won't guarantee that it will, either.) The twist here is that the AirPort Express is literally pocket-size. It's a round-cornered white acrylic device that looks for all the world like the power adapter for one of Apple's laptops. In fact, Apple says that the Express is the world's smallest Wi-Fi base station. Asus makes one whose dimensions are slightly smaller, but only if you ignore its external power brick; that's cheating. Apple's device is entirely self-contained. Apple has even eliminated the power cord, instead opting for electrical outlet prongs that rotate cleanly into the body when not plugged in. Now, you might reasonably wonder why the size of a wireless base station is an advantage. Isn't that an irrelevant characteristic, like a muffler that's available in designer colors? After all, most people just plug into a base station behind the desk and forget about it. But having your own personal base station means that you can move it from place to place (like home or office) at will; the Express can even store and switch among five different network configurations. And if you take it with you when traveling, you can sign up for your hotel's $10-a-day high-speed in-room Internet access. Then, instead of remaining shackled to the desk, you can lie on the bed 10 feet away to do your e-mail. (All right, that's not a life-or-death business essential, but you've got to admit that it's cozy.) More practically, your traveling companions can hop online simultaneously, sharing the Internet signal and the $10 fee. (The AirPort Express can handle up to 10 people at once. That's one difference between this model and Apple's standard AirPort base station, which costs $200 and handles up to 50 connections at once.) Trick No. 2 is called AirTunes. The AirPort Express has, of all things, a sound-output jack that you can connect to a stereo system, self-powered speakers or even a TV. iTunes, Apple's free jukebox software for Mac or Windows, can then wirelessly broadcast your music (like MP3 files and songs you've bought from Apple's iTunes online store) to the sound system from your computer. In fact, if you've bought more than one AirPort Express (in Apple's dreams!) and plugged them into different sets of speakers around the house, you can use a little pop-up menu on the edge of the iTunes window to specify which one you want: Patio, Living Room, Bedroom or whatever. To pacify the record companies, iTunes encrypts the music before broadcasting it, so that the sneaks in the next apartment can't intercept it. And to pacify audiophiles, the software delivers the music to the speakers at full original quality (as it's stored on your computer). It sounds terrific. There are, however, some flies in all this ointment. First, you can only send the music to one set of speakers at a time. Rival wireless-stereo gizmos, like RCA's Wireless Lyra, can broadcast simultaneously to several sound systems (if you've bought a receiver for each one). Second, note that the connection between the AirPort Express and the stereo is not wireless. You have to supply your own cable to connect them. (Apple sells a $40 kit containing two beautiful white Monster cables for connecting to your stereo - one with standard RCA stereo connectors and one with a so-called Toslink, a digital connector capable of carrying five-channel surround sound.) But the point is that the AirPort Express needs a power outlet that's close to your stereo. Finally, it's a weird and heady experience to use, say, your computer upstairs as the control center for the stereo across the room, complete with playlists and real-time volume control. On the other hand, if you're downstairs with the stereo, you can't pause playback when the phone rings, see the name of the current song, or skip a truly awful song, without having to run upstairs to the computer. (This fine print, of course, applies to most wireless sound systems.) Trick No. 3: On the bottom of the AirPort Express you'll find, of all things, a U.S.B. connector where you can plug in an inkjet printer, and then every computer on the network can send printouts to it wirelessly. It works like a charm, and offers further proof that Macs and PC's in the same household can all be friends. (This feature requires Mac OS X, Windows 2000 or Windows XP.) Now, as the usual crowd of Apple-grouches is certain to point out, you could buy each of the Express's features for less money. A regular 802.11g base station costs about $60 at www.buy.com. If your aim is to extend your existing network's range, you can buy a range extender from Linksys or D-Link for $80. The idea of streaming music from a PC wirelessly to a stereo isn't new, either; Linksys and many others sell wireless media adapters for another $80. But Apple is the first to combine all of these functions, effortlessly and elegantly, and the fact that the Express comes with supremely simple setup software, looks great and fits in your pocket or laptop carrying case is just Wi-Fi gravy. Apple reports having 80,000 AirPort Express pre-orders to fill, and stores are reporting at least a three-week wait to get one. Rack up a point for Apple in its mission to dominate the digital music world (and, not incidentally, to infiltrate the homes of Windows PC owners), and rack up one for Andy Rooney and the rest of us in the never-ending battle against household cable infestations. E-mail: Pogue(a)nytimes.com ====================== ...from: http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/07/22/virtualpc7/?lsrc=mcrss -0704 Microsoft: Virtual PC 7 coming this October By Peter Cohen pcohen(a)maccentral.com July 22, 2004 6:05 pm ET Microsoft Corp. on Thursday indicated that Virtual PC for Mac Version 7 will likely be released in October, though the schedule is entirely dependent on Microsoft's efforts to ship a new service pack for its Windows XP operating system. This is the first clarification the company has provided about Virtual PC 7's release schedule since confirming in May that its release would be delayed. Virtual PC enables Mac users to run various versions of Windows software applications and operating systems by emulating the characteristics of an actual hardware PC on their Macintosh. Previously sold by Connectix Corp., Virtual PC was acquired by Microsoft in February, 2003. Mac users have been anticipating Virtual PC 7's release as it will be the first version to support Power Mac G5 computers -- the emulation software needed to be extensively retooled to work with the IBM PowerPC 970 microprocessors that power the G5. Announcing Virtual PC 7's delay in May, Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (MacBU) indicated that the software would be released "in the second half of 2004." On Thursday, Microsoft offered further clarification in a statement sent to news media. "We are waiting for the release of Windows XP SP2 in order to offer the most recent, most secure version of Windows XP to our Virtual PC for Mac customers. Windows XP SP2 release has moved to August, which has impacted our schedule. Based on this, we anticipate that Virtual PC 7 with Win XP Professional and Home will release to manufacturing in September and be on store shelves by early October," read the statement. "Virtual PC 7 with Windows 2000 and the Standalone and Upgrade versions will be available a few months after this debut," said the company. "Should the Windows XP SP2 release date change the Virtual PC 7 availability date will change accordingly." ====================== ...reported by MacCentral from: http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/07/23/interbrand/?lsrc=mcrss -0704 Interbrand: Apple brand value jumps 24 percent on iPod By Peter Cohen pcohen(a)maccentral.com July 23, 2004 9:25 am ET Apple may be one of the most recognizable brands in the world, but what's that brand's actual value? Market brand consultancy Interbrand and business publication BusinessWeek have posted their fourth annual listing of 100 Best Global Brands, listed by dollar value. Apple is the biggest mover on this year's chart, up 24 percent in brand value. The consultancy attributes Apple's showing to strong sales of the iPod and high brand loyalty. Apple ranked 43rd overall, up from 50 last year. Interbrand indicates that Apple's brand value for 2004 totalled $6.851 billion, up from $5.554 billion, or a 24 percent annual rise. Overall, Apple ranks in the same vicinity as motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson, food company Heinz, fashion company Louis Vuitton, financial institution UBS and video game maker Nintendo. Coca-Cola, Microsoft Corp., IBM, GE, Intel, Disney, McDonald's, Nokia, Toyota and Marlboro made up the top ten list of best global brands. Interbrand calculates the global brand value of these companies as the net present value of the earnings that the brand is expected to generate from July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004. The 100 most valuable global brands were determined by whether they produced significant earnings in global markets and if there was sufficient marketing and financial data publicly available to prepare a reasonable valuation. ======================= ...from: http://www.nykris.com/template.php?id=64 pPod 21 July 2004 - Today NYKRIS launched pPod - the world’s first iPod based interactive audio service. pPod combines text, spoken word audio, and music to deliver a guide to London’s public loos – truly a convenience for iPod users on the move! Entertaining audio reviews and even accompanying sound tracks such as Handel’s ‘Water Music’ and ‘Cosmic Winds’ will help users to locate their nearest (and loveliest!) loos. Instructions To get pPod onto your iPod first download the NYKRIS_pPod.zip file by clicking the 'download pPod' link at the bottom of this screen Unzip file, then open 'Install.txt' for full installation instructions Please note: This service will only work on third-generation or higher iPods NYKRIS specialise in making engaging and easy to use interactive services across the web, interactive kiosks and mobile devices. Philip Read, NYKRIS' managing director said ‘We’re all aware that opportunities to deliver interactive services are developing all the time, with new types of PDA, mobile phone and MP3 player hitting the market every month. NYKRIS’ work is all about creating the best type of interactive experience no matter what sort of device we’re delivering to. Working on a service like this is an excellent opportunity for us to think about how interactive services might be developed for the iPod – a device that has so far been used primarily for portable audio.’ ‘We’re currently exploring other iPod based services that could be developed, including an interactive audio guide to gigs and clubs – something that we think could be particularly attractive to iPod fans.’ Philip Read, Managing Director

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INTEREST: Duke U gives students iPods, HP/Apple iPods
by billing 19 Jul '04

19 Jul '04

...from: http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/07/19/duke/index.php? redirect=1090243274000 Duke to give incoming freshmen iPods By Peter Cohen pcohen(a)maccentral.com July 19, 2004 11:20 am ET On Monday Apple introduced its fourth generation iPod, a 20GB or 40GB model featuring the same kind of "Click Wheel" interface as found on the iPod mini. During an interview with MacCentral, Greg Joswiak, vice president of Hardware Product Marketing at Apple, explained that Duke University would be offering iPods to incoming freshmen. New details about the program have come to light. On August 19, 2004, Duke University will be distributing more than 1,600 20GB iPods to all incoming freshman during their orientation as part of an effort to "creative uses of technology in education and campus life," according to a statement. Another 150 are slated for other academic and support needs, and all of them become the property of their recipients. Computer ownership isn't mandatory for incoming freshmen, so Duke will enable those students to hook up their iPods to computers at labs around campus. The iPods will be preloaded with content related to Duke campus life, including freshman orientation information and the academic calendar. What's more, a special Duke Web site modeled on Apple's own iTunes site will offer course content for download, including language lessons, music, recorded lectures and audio books. Duke students will also be able to purchase music through the site. This is a pilot program between Duke University and Apple, which will be evaluated after a year. It's being paid for by Duke using strategic planning funds that have been set aside for one-time purposes, rather than with funds that might otherwise have been used for other operational programs. Duke Vice President for Information Technology Tracy Futhey said the University is hoping that the iPod program will motivate students and faculty alike to use iPods as educational tools. "We think the power and flexibility of these devices offer some real advantages over other media used to distribute educational content such as CD-ROMs and DVDs," said Futhey. ================= ...from: http://www.macminute.com/2004/07/19/hpipod HP iPod to be released in September July 19, 2004 - 10:53 EDT HP and Apple announced today that the HP-branded iPod will be available in September. "HP has chosen iPod and iTunes as the best products to integrate in to our digital entertainment strategy," said HP CEO Carly Fiorina. "We decided to wait for this amazing new fourth generation iPod, as it will offer our customers an even better experience. HP's version of the new iPod will be available in September." In early January, HP said that it would begin selling a branded version of Apple's iPod and bundling iTunes with its desktops and notebooks as part of a new partnership with Apple =================

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FYI: iPod and iPod mini Update: iTunes 4.5, one click shuffle play, support for Lossless Encoder
by billing 19 Jul '04

19 Jul '04

Get iPod and iPod mini Update iPod Updater 2004-07-15 supports all models of iPod and iPod mini, including the new Click Wheel iPod. This update includes the latest available software for each model of iPod or iPod mini. Download and install the iPod Updater 2004-07-15 then connect your iPod or iPod mini to yor computer. The iPod Updater will automatically determine if an update is required. New for Click Wheel iPods ▪ Shuffle songs with one click ▪ Create multiple On-The-Go playlists ▪ Delete songs from On-The-Go playlists ▪ Select reading playback speed for audiobooks ▪ Hear the clicker user interface sound through headphones ▪ Charge via USB 2.0 connection ▪ Enjoy improved playback performance Updates for iPod with a Dock connector and iPod mini ▪ Compatibility with iTunes 4.5 or later and the iTunes Music Store ▪ Improved playback performance ▪ Support for the Apple Lossless Encoder, to enable compressed music encoding at high quality Updates for iPod without a Dock connector ▪ Compatibility with iTunes 4.5 or later and the iTunes Music Store ▪ Improved playback performance http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/

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INTEREST: Microsoft Windows Mozilla/Firefox/Thunderbird security issue
by billing 12 Jul '04

12 Jul '04

...from: http://www.mozilla.org/security/shell.html What Mozilla users should know about the shell: protocol security issue On July 7 a security vulnerability affecting browsers for the Windows operating system was reported to mozilla.org by Keith McCanless, and was subsequently posted to Full Disclosure, a public security mailing list. On the same day, the Mozilla security team confirmed the report of this security issue affecting the Mozilla Application Suite, Firefox, and Thunderbird and discussed and developed the fix at Bugzilla bug 250180. We have confirmed that the bug affects only users of Microsoft's Windows operating system. The issue does not affect Linux or Macintosh users. On July 8th, the Mozilla team released a configuration change which resolves this problem by explicitly disabling the use of the shell: external protocol handler. The fix is available in two forms. The first is a small download which will make this configuration adjustment for the user. The second fix is to install the newest full release of each of these products. Instructions on administering these changes can be found below. How to update Mozilla, Firefox and Thunderbird users on Microsoft Windows operating systems should update in one of the following ways. • To install the security patch for Mozilla or Firefox, follow these instructions: 1. Click Install Patch. 2. In the Software Installation window, click the "Install Now" button. 3. Exit and restart your Mozilla or Firefox browser. • To verify the fix in your Firefox or Mozilla application, be sure to restart the browser and then follow these steps: 1. Type about:config into the address field and hit Enter. 2. In the Filter toolbar, type shell. 3. Look for the preference listing network.protocol-handler.external.shell. 4. If you see the preference listed with the value of false then your application has been patched. • To install the security patch for Thunderbird, follow these instructions: 1. Right-click the Patch and choose save link as. 2. Save the file, shellblock.xpi, to your Desktop. 3. In Thunderbird, go to the Tools menu and select the Extensions item. 4. In the resulting Extensions window, click the "Install" button. 5. Use Windows file picker to select the shellblock.xpi file from your Desktop and click OK to dismiss the file picker. 6. Click OK on the Software Installation window. 7. Exit and restart Thunderbird. • To download and install new Mozilla releases releases, follow the instructions below: 1. Download Mozilla 1.7.1 to your Desktop and double-click the mozilla-win32-1.7.1-installer.exe icon. 2. Follow the instructions in the Mozilla Install wizard. 1. Download Firefox 0.9.2 and to your Desktop and double-click the FirefoxSetup-0.9.2.exe icon. 2. Follow the instructions in the Firefox Install wizard. 1. Download Thunderbird 0.7.2 to your Desktop and double-click the ThunderbirdSetup-0.7.2.exe icon. 2. Follow the instructions in the Thunderbird Install wizard. We value our users' safety and security and will continue to make all efforts to release secure products and respond quickly when security vulnerabilities are identified in our software. Future versions of Mozilla Firefox will include automatic update notifications, which will make it even easier for users to be alerted to security fixes. The Mozilla Security Team would like to thank Keith McCanless for the original bug report and test case, and apologize for incorrectly omitting mention of his report in the initial version of this document.

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FYI: Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac controls Windows
by billing 09 Jul '04

09 Jul '04

...from: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/otherproducts/otherproducts.aspx? pid=remotedesktopclient Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac allows you to connect from your Macintosh computer to a Windows-based computer and work with programs and files on that computer. With Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac, you can: • Access everything available for Microsoft® Windows® from your Macintosh desktop. • Copy and paste information between Macintosh and Windows programs. • Print from Windows programs to the printers connected to your Macintosh. • Use Windows terminal servers to provide groups of Macintosh users in the workplace with access to Windows-only programs. To connect to a Windows-based computer, you need network access and permissions to connect to the computer, and the computer must be running Terminal Services or Remote Desktop Services. The following Windows products support Remote Desktop connections: • Windows XP Professional • Windows Server 2003 • Windows 2000 Server • Windows 2000 Advanced Server • Windows 2000 Datacenter Server • Windows NT® Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Download at: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=download&location=/mac/ DOWNLOAD/MISC/RDC.xml&secid=80&ssid=9&flgnosysreq=True Last Updated: May 05, 2004

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INTEREST: Macintosh World Wide Developer keynote (Tiger, etc.) and some slides previewing Tiger
by billing 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

If you've not yet seen it, the keynote (by Steve Jobs) from the World Wide Developer Conference last week can be viewed at: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/wwdc04/ Items talked about include Tiger (OS X 10.4) due next year. Also, some slide of what Tiger will look like can be viewed at: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1619860,00.asp

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INTEREST: US Army-NASA, UCLA build 1566 and 512 processor supercomputers
by billing 06 Jul '04

06 Jul '04

...from: http://www.colsa.com/cover_page/news_front/news_details/news_details.htm COLSA Corporation of Huntsville, AL and Apple Computer Corporation of Cupertino, CA jointly announce the acquisition of one of the largest and most powerful computers in the world. COLSA has contracted with Apple to deliver for COLSA’s government customer, the Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), the components for a supercluster computer system with more than 3000 processors. The system will consist of 1566 dual-processor, rack-mountable Xserve G5 units. These units employ Apple’s new 2.0 GHz G5 CPU, one of the most powerful processors in the new generation of 64-bit computer chips. COLSA will build, install, test, and operate the Apple Computer component supercluster computer system for its Army customer. The new system will be delivered to COLSA’s Hypersonic Missile Technology facility located at its newly renovated Research & Operations Center in Huntsville in June. The supercluster will be employed to model the complex aero-thermodynamics of hypersonic flight, including applications related to missile interceptors and scramjet engine performance. At its peak, the new supercluster has a performance capability of greater than 25 TFlop/s, meaning that it is capable of calculating more than 25 trillion floating point operations per second. A floating point operation, or Flop, represents an arithmetical operation on a pair of numbers and is a standard performance measure for scientific computing. On the basis of this performance capability the system would rank as the one of the most powerful computer on the planet as measured by the TOP500 List (on the net at www.top500.org). On today’s TOP500 listing, the new supercluster would be second only to Japan’s 40 Tflop/s, $350 million dollar Earth Simulator computer. At approximately $5 million dollars for 25 Tflop/s, the system will set a new price-performance standard for high-end scientific computing. The Xserve G5 supercluster system is expected to be on-line and in production for work by COLSA’s Research, Development and Engineering Center (RDEC) customer of the Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM), located at Redstone Arsenal, AL by late Fall of this year. This acquisition is the second phase of a multi year COLSA program to create a center of excellence in Huntsville for computational modeling and simulation. Through the continued efforts of Senator Richard Shelby, (R.), AL, a long term supporter of bringing this advanced capability to Huntsville, the new system will benefit both the U.S. Army and NASA for the National Aerospace Initiative and their research and development objectives. ============================= ...from: http://www.thinksecret.com/news/ucla.html UCLA Plasma Physics to create 256 Xserve G5 cluster July 5, 2004 - By Andrew Feder, Contributing Editor According to officials, UCLA's Plasma Physics Group recently purchased some 256 Xserve G5s and is in the process of building a Virginia Tech-style parallel super computing cluster. The cluster will employ 256 Dual G5 Xserves running Mac OS X Server to form a 512-processor parallel supercomputing cluster. The cluster is being deployed for Plasma Physicist Warren Mori by a team at UCLA Academic Technology Services led by IT Infrastructure manager Bill Labate. The cluster's estimated cost is close to $1 million, which was largely funded by a grant to Mori from the National Science Foundation. Mori proposed the cluster in October 2003, at which point many platforms were evaluated. Xserves running Mac OS X Server proved to be the most cost-effective, straightforward and appropriate choice for the application, plasma physics research. Officials with the "Dawson Project," as it is known, told Think Secret that the cluster is currently under construction and that the Xserves are arriving in groups. The team has been installing the Xserves for the last few weeks, and expects the cluster to be up in running in another couple of weeks as the remainder of the servers arrive. The Dawson team has received some, if not all of its Xserves (pictured below) despite heavy demand and shipping delays on the dual servers. As Think Secret recently reported, Apple is on the verge of quelling the harsh backlog on dual Xserve orders. UCLA Physics is no newcomer to parallel computing with Macs. In 2002 a group working with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory created a parallel computing cluster using 33 dual-processor 1GHz Xserves to achieve over 217 Gigaflops. The cluster used Pooch and MacMPI X, a development of AppleSeed, an ongoing project begun by physics researchers at UCLA in 1998. Earlier this month, the COLSA Corporation announced the building of "Mach 5," a Mac OS-based supercomputer cluster which is expected to be one of the fastest in the world. The cluster is to be made up of 1566 dual-processor Xserve G5 1U rackmounted servers and is expected to perform at over 25 Tflops/seconds. Mach 5 will be used by the US Army, at a cost of $5.8 million, to model the complex aero-thermodynamics of hypersonic flight. Mach 5 is expected to rank as one of the most powerful supercomputers on the planet, according to the June 2004 Top 500 supercomputers list. Mach 5 will rank second to Japan's $350 million Earth Simulator. Although the Plasma Physics Group's cluster pales in comparison to Virginia Tech and COLSA's, it is another step in the right direction for Apple as it vies for market share in the higher education arena. We are beginning to see, albeit slowly, the introduction of Mac OS-based servers into industry, government, and higher education as Apple makes inroads in these deeply sought after markets.

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INTEREST: Gartner Research report: How to Stop the Destructive Overuse of E-Mail; iPods pose security risk for enterprises, Gartner says
by billing 06 Jul '04

06 Jul '04

...from: http://www.umanitoba.ca/ist/gartner/intraweb/research/121200/121276/ 121276.html How to Stop the Destructive Overuse of E-Mail 8 June 2004 Nikos Drakos Maurene Caplan Grey Excessive dependence on e-mail threatens to destroy valuable organizational knowledge. Attention to human factors, usability and flexibility is key to shifting e-mail traffic to appropriate systems. E-mail has become end users' tool of choice for ad hoc communication and carrying out more-complex coordination, collaboration and management activities. Aside from its negative effect on productivity, unchecked e-mail growth will endanger valuable organizational knowledge. To attract users to more-natural, activity-specific alternatives, enterprises must give special attention to human factors, usability and flexibility concerns — especially where alternatives to e-mail are already in place but underused. In the long term, excessive reliance on e-mail is likely to be symptomatic of inflexible business processes. Analysis The ease of use, ubiquity and flexibility of e-mail have made it the most-popular tool for person-to-person communication. But even a casual examination of a typical inbox reveals usage patterns that go far beyond simple communication. E-mail is used for activity coordination and management tasks (for example, scheduling meetings or tracking progress), group discussions and decision making, finding people or distributing information. Furthermore, these e-mail-based collaboration, coordination and discovery patterns typically are present across the spectrum of business processes. [...] Short-Term Remedies for Excessive Dependence on E-Mail Many enterprises have already deployed tools that provide explicit support for common communication, coordination and collaboration patterns — for example, virtual meetings, shared spaces, discussion forums and project management. Such support may be available through specific collaboration products, or as part of a broader intranet or portal deployment. Short-term remedies for excessive e-mail dependence are underused. There are many reasons why users rely too much on e-mail instead of various, more-specific alternatives — but there are just as many tactics and strategies to reverse this overreliance. The first reason for users' aversion to alternative communication and coordination tools is that they're often unaware of such tools and have received inadequate end-user training. This is the place to start remediation. Enterprises are increasingly developing e-mail productivity training programs, which include technologies and usage standards (see "Making E-Mail More Productive"). Any such program should include specific guidelines about when to use e-mail as opposed to alternatives such as instant messaging, Web conferencing or another enterprise communication infrastructure. Training can be delivered via various channels: • Just-in-time training — for example, short videos that can be included as part of the desktop software image • Lists of top-10 e-mail usage standards, distributed to employees on laminated cards • E-mail productivity management training Next, there are important human issues to consider, such as cultivating trust, recognizing and satisfying privacy concerns, and encouraging participation. The last item — encouraging participation — usually requires an enterprise to rethink employee incentives and rewards to overcome natural information-hoarding tendencies, as well as a natural aversion to discipline. Without active leadership, encouragement and appropriate responses to human issues, users will continue to prefer the almost-private world of e-mail. E-mail gives users control over who they trade information with and how, as opposed to other forums or applications in which users lose control of their contributions on submission. This is especially problematic in cases where the rules of engagement (that is, who can access a contribution or what they can do with it) are unclear or not enforced. Trust is a belief system. Enterprises should support communication mechanisms that take an individual's "trust levels" into consideration (see "Choose the Right Communication Channel to Build Trust"). A third reason for users' aversion to alternative communication and coordination tools is the poor usability and inflexibility of alternate e-mail tools. [...] E-mail traffic growth can be one of the obvious symptoms of inflexible or inappropriate business processes that force employees to broadcast or cascade messages to increasingly larger numbers of co-workers. Such bursts of e-mail traffic can be a force for good, however, as long as they're used to identify and rectify a broken process or exploit a new opportunity. Unfortunately, too many enterprises treat only the symptoms (in some extreme cases, they ban the use of e-mail) and fail to recognize the fundamental causes of and appropriate responses to problems. ============================= iPods pose security risk for enterprises, Gartner says By Laura Rohde, IDG News Service July 06, 2004 9:20 am ET The iPod may be popular, but also poses such a major security risk for businesses, that enterprises should seriously consider banning the iPod and other portable storage devices, according to a study by research firm Gartner Inc. The devices, using a Universal Serial Bus (USB) or FireWire (IEEE 1394), present risks to businesses on several fronts: from introducing malicious code into a corporate network, to being used to steal corporate data, the Stamford, Conn.-based research company said in its report "How to Tackle the Threat From Portable Storage Devices," published Friday. The report pointed to a variety of devices, including pocket-sized portable FireWire hard drives, like those from LaCie Group SA or Toshiba Corp., or USB hard drives or keychain drives, such as the DiskOnKey from M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Ltd. Gartner also named disk-based MP3 players, like Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod, as a security risk as well as digital cameras with smart media cards, memory sticks and compact flash. Gartner advised companies to forbid employees and external contractors with direct access to corporate networks from using these privately owned devices with corporate PCs. Companies should also consider a "desktop lockdown policy," disabling universal plug and play functions after installing desired drivers, to permit the use of only authorized devices. The report conceded that the devices themselves can be quite useful within corporations, making it "unpractical and counterproductive" to introduce an outright ban. Companies should take a multipronged approach to portable storage devices, Gartner said, including using personal firewalls to limit what can be done on USB ports. The use of products for selectively controlling ports and encrypting data should also be considered, the company said. Additionally, digital rights management technology should also be used by enterprises that want to protect intellectual property, Gartner said.

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FYI: Increase Your Internet Explorer Browsing and Outlook E-Mail Safety
by billing 05 Jul '04

05 Jul '04

If you are using Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Outlook/Express), Microsoft has the following recommendations: ....from: http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/settings.mspx Increase Your Browsing and E-Mail Safety 4 Steps to Help Ward Off Hackers and Attackers Updated: June 11, 2004 If your computer is part of a managed network, contact your system administrator before making any changes. Malicious hackers and virus writers can take advantage of low security settings in your e-mail and Web browsing software to infect your computer. They can do this by sending you a malicious e-mail message or by enticing you to visit a malicious Web site. By increasing your security settings in Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Outlook Express, you can help limit your chances of being attacked. There are four things you can do right now to increase your security. 1. Set Internet Explorer security level to High 2. Add Web sites you consider safe to Trusted Sites 3. Use plain text to read the e-mail messages you receive 4. Block pop-up windows in your browser ...more details at: http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/settings.mspx

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INTEREST: Dutch Parliament Withdraws Support for Software Patents
by billing 05 Jul '04

05 Jul '04

...from: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040702085542832 Dutch Parliament Withdraws Support for Software Patents Friday, July 02 2004 @ 08:55 AM EDT The Dutch parliament is making news. It has just withdrawn its vote for the Directive on Software Patents. It's a proof-of-concept vote, you might say, the first time such a move has been taken in the history of the EU, demonstrating that other countries are free to do the same, as we reported on June 22. Here is part of the FFI press release. Today, July the 1st, the Dutch Parliament has decided to direct Minister Brinkhorst and Secretary of State van Gennip (Economic Affairs) to withdraw the Dutch vote in support of the Council of Ministers' text for the Directive on Software Patents. This is the first time in the history of the EU that such a course of action has been undertaken. The idea of allowing patents on software has been strongly criticized among SMEs (small medium enterprises), scientists and consumer organisations. They inhibit investments in Research and Development and contribute to higher prices. Commentators also fear the rise of a "lawyers paradise" in Europe such as is found in the USA, where programmers are constantly threatened by lawsuits. This act represents an incisive criticism of the European Council of Ministers' attempts to introduce broad patentability of software. Minister Brinkhorst, acting on behalf of the Netherlands, endorsed the Council's current proposal, which not only reiterated the terms of the Council's strongly criticized first proposal, but went even further, directly rebuffing the clear stance assumed by the EU Parliament, which voted to add numerous amendments which made clear how the category of logical algorithms would be treated. The European Parliament's version asserted that patents would only be allowed for industrial inventions (e.g. washing machines) and would not be made possible for pure software. All these adaptations were removed in the Council of Ministers' controversial version. Earlier, Brinkhorst described the Council proposal to the Dutch Parliament as a compromise with the EP. In recent legislative debates,Van Gennip was forced to admit that this was incorrect information, and attributed it to "an error in the word processor." The Dutch Parliament apparently didn't buy this explanation and today she rendered an historic and groundbreaking decision, calling upon Minister Brinkhorst and van Gennip to withdraw the Netherland's supporting vote in the European Council and convert it to an abstention. This measure is possible because at the present moment there is only a "political agreement" and the "formal vote" can only take place after the contested text has been translated into the 20 European Languages. An emergency brake move in the procedure such as this has never been exercised before. With this decision, the Dutch Parliament demonstrates the active interest her public holds in the debate over software patents, and the recognition and appreciation for the adaptations introduced by the European Parliament. Dieter Van Uytvanck, spokesman of FFII Netherlands, stresses the importance of this decision: "This political signal reaches much further than just The Netherlands. We hope that other European countries that also have their doubts about the proposal of the Council will also withdraw their support, so that the current proposal no longer has a majority. The historic precedent is there now."

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