NewScientist.com: “If you are puzzled when the German waiter asks you: “Was
möchten Sie?” all you have to do is to reach for your mobile
phone. Not only will the phone tell you that the waiter is asking
you what you want, it will even translate your order into German.

The system, called Verbmobil, can translate spoken English,
German, Japanese and Chinese almost instantaneously. It
operates over a standard mobile phone network – you just dial a
number. Verbmobil, the product of a $90-million research
programme, was demonstrated in Seattle last week.”

SecurityFocus.com: “A team of researchers from the University of California at Berkeley revealed two
weaknesses in Secure Shell (SSH) implementations Friday that allow an eavesdropper to learn the
exact length of a user’s password by observing the rhythm of their keystrokes.

By using advanced statistical techniques on timing information collected over the network,
researchers also found that the eavesdropper can learn significant information about what users
type in SSH sessions.”

Wired News: ”
Onions may be the secret ingredient in protecting the Pentagon’s classified information.

During an afternoon presentation at the Usenix Security conference on Thursday, a researcher at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory described a
technology known as “Onion Routing,” which preserves anonymity by wrapping the identity of users in onion-like layers. The Onion Routing solution, which follows much the same recipe as Zero
Knowledge’s Freedom software and cypherpunk-developed mixmaster remailers,
is to forward communications through a complicated network that bounces
Internet packets around like pinballs and hides the origin and destination from all
but the most determined eavesdroppers.”

News.com: “A federal appeals court on Friday delivered Microsoft a blow in its antitrust battle
with the government, denying a request that could have indefinitely delayed further
proceedings in the case.

The order, issued by the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, means that the
government can resume proceedings before a federal district judge while the Supreme Court
decides whether to take Microsoft’s request for appeal.”

LinuxToday offers new information on the recent Ch. 11 bankruptcy filing for Linux games publisher Loki Software. The bankruptcy filing came about immediately after fired Loki employee Mark Lance Colvin was awarded $247,000 by the California Labor Board for 19 months of mostly-unpaid wages, and for repayment nearly $100,000 he had loaned the company via his credit cards, helping Loki to meet payroll obligations for other employees. Loki founder Scott Draeker said the bankruptcy was needed because it would have been “unfair” to let one creditor “gut” the company.

AlterNet: “Considering how handily Microsoft lawyers have dealt with the government in
the past, that may not be Bill Gates’ biggest worry these days. Instead, he’s
probably looking over his shoulder at a program that is equal to (if not better than)
Windows, one that’s steadily eating away at Microsoft’s market share, is
constantly being upgraded, and is completely free: Linux.”

Easy Software Products today announced
the 1.1.10 release of the Common UNIX Printing System (“CUPS”), an
IPP/1.1-based printing system for UNIXCUPS 1.1.10 adds a new driver for Dymo label printers, a new ClassifyOverride
directive, a new BrowseProtocols directive, SLPv2 support, adds Asian language
support to the PDF filter, and fixes a number of small bugs. Binaries for several
platforms are available at:

http://www.cups.org

CUPS provides a portable printing layer for UNIX®-based operating systems. It
has been developed by Easy Software Products to promote a standard printing
solution for all UNIX vendors and users. CUPS provides the System V and
Berkeley command-line interfaces.

CUPS uses the Internet Printing Protocol (“IPP”) as the basis for managing print
jobs and queues. The Line Printer Daemon (“LPD”) Server Message Block
(“SMB”), and AppSocket (a.k.a. JetDirect) protocols are also supported with
reduced functionality. CUPS adds network printer browsing and PostScript Printer
Description (“PPD”) based printing options to support real-world printing under
UNIX.

CUPS also includes a customized version of GNU Ghostscript (currently based off
GNU Ghostscript 5.50) and an image file RIP that are used to support
non-PostScript printers. Sample drivers for HP and EPSON printers are included
that use these filters.

Drivers for thousands of printers are provided with our ESP Print Pro software,
available at:

http://www.easysw.com/printpro

CUPS is licensed under the GNU General Public License and GNU Library
General Public License. Please contact Easy Software Products for commercial
support and “binary distribution” rights.

The Register: “Intel has confirmed it will indeed announce the 2GHz Pentium 4 in just under two
weeks’ time – just ahead of massive price cuts throughout the rest of the desktop P4
line.

Company vice-president of microprocessor marketing Anand Chandrasekher
admitted the arrival of the 2GHz part in a piece over at CNET promoting Intel’s
upcoming Developer Forum. Chandrasekher said the 2GHz P4 will be launched on
Monday, 27 August, the first day of the Forum.”

ZDNet News: “Microsoft continues to take heat for its decision to exclude Java from
its products and strategy, particularly as evidence of the negative impact of the move on
enterprises and consumers continues to grow.

The latest criticism comes from one of Microsoft’s big partners, IBM, a Microsoft OEM but also
one of the biggest backers of Java.

Irving Wladawsky-Berger, IBM’s vice president of technology and strategy, said at its Solutions
technical developers conference here that he believes Microsoft should support Java and
doesn’t understand why they would not.”

Network World Fusion: “V-One is introducing software that secures
Internet connections between corporate sites
and remote devices, as long as the remote gear
has Java-enabled Web browsers.

Designed for use with Citrix, V-One’s
SmartGate software for PCs downloads a Java
applet that supports DES-3 encryption between
the remote equipment and centrally located
SmartGate servers protecting enterprises’
Internet connections. Java support is part of
version 4.2 of V-One’s SmartGate software.”