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Transmeta promotes execs

Author: JT Smith

CNet has a very short item saying that chipmaker Transmeta has promoted Jim Chapman and Doug Laird from senior vice presidents to
executive vice presidents.

Category:

  • Open Source

Alternatives to Napster

Author: JT Smith

From the people at O’Reilly: “Now that Napster’s filters are in place, where are its millions of
users going to continue sharing files? O’Reilly Network’s in-house
audio specialist Steve McCannell has written about the most popular
file-sharing programs being used as an alternative to Napster, and I
thought you might be interested.” The
story’s at OpenP2P.com
.
“P.S. It’s not just MP3s. You can find programs, images, video,
documents, and just about any file type imaginable with these
file-sharing applications.”

Loki announces availability of Tribes 2 and Alpha Centauri

Author: JT Smith

From LinuxPR: Not one, but two, Linux games will ship next week from Loki Software, Inc.

Tribes 2 for Linux will be hot on the heals of the Windows release by Sierra On-Line,
and the long-awaited Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack by Firaxis will
also make its Linux debut.

What Gnutella has in common with human interaction

Author: JT Smith

From missingmatter.net: “Today I realized that interpersonal human networks and Gnutella share
much in common in the way of architecture. We’ve all seen it happen in real
life: ‘let me introduce you to this guy.’ Through a constantly-updated list
of contacts, humans pass requests on to each other; when a match is
found, the requester and the provider make a direct connection. A larger
number of first-order contacts (connections) increases the chance that a
proper match will be found in the least number of ‘degrees of separation’.”

National Semiconductor, Samurai use Linux to provide Internet access to Brazilians

Author: JT Smith

From PR Newswire: Responding to a challenge
from the Brazilian Government, National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: NSM),
the world’s leading provider of information appliance (IA) technology, and
Samurai, a leading IA design house, have developed a complete system solution
to make Internet access available and affordable for all Brazilians.
The system, the Samurai 2000 IA, is based upon National’s industry-leading
Geode(TM) technology. The Samurai 2000 IA is a ready-to-build system that can
be turned into simple Internet access devices with built-in modems, or thin
clients for the school and enterprise environments, in a server-based
computing model via local area network (LAN). Using a Samurai FlashCard as a
personal storage and identification device and with no fans, disk drive,
floppy drive, CD-ROM drive or other moving components, the Samurai 2000 IA,
running the open-source Linux operating system, is a turnkey solution that
drives the device cost and power consumption down dramatically while
delivering high performance, reliability and enriched multimedia applications
for Web surfing.

Eye Control Technologies launches NaturalPoint trackIR

Author: JT Smith

Eye Control Technologies, Inc. announced on March 30 the launch of their revolutionary
trackIR cursor control system. The $99.00 web cam sized device lets users control a computer’s cursor by simply
turning their head or pointing with their fingers. The sleek looking trackIR sits on top of a computer monitor, or clips to a
laptop screen and uses infrared light and an embedded processor to track users physical motion to determine precise
cursor movement.

Spirits are high at the company’s Corvallis, OR, headquarters, where staff have been inundated with calls and e-mail from
curious computer users. “The NaturalPoint trackIR will revolutionize the way you interact with your computer,” predicts
Eye Control Technologies President, Jim Richardson. “Our vision is to give users another cursor control option by
introducing them to the concept of using natural motion rather than constantly reaching for the mouse, which hurts
productivity and can cause carpel-tunnel syndrome.”

The trackIR is software designed to allow developers to create alternate applications for the device. ECT has open
sourced all of the object tracking code which makes it practical for users to take on projects such as developing Linux
device drivers and creating low cost motion capture animation software. The company?s website,
www.naturalpoint.com has a large developer’s section where you can download object tracking software and discuss
projects with ECT engineers and fellow developers.

Eye Control Technologies Communications Director, Mike Vial expects the trackIR to be a big hit with computer gaming
enthusiasts as well. “First person shooter and role playing games will take on a whole new level of realism and
excitement. Instead of reaching for a mouse to control things like field of view or targeting you can just turn your head to
look, or point with your finger to shoot.”

For more information on the NaturalPoint trackIR, visit www.naturalpoint.com.

About Eye Control Technologies, Inc.
Based in Corvallis, OR, Eye Control Technologies, Inc. specializes in providing innovative control solutions for computers,
video games, LCD projectors, and television set-top boxes. For more information, visit: www.eyecontrol.com or
www.naturalpoint.com.

MP3, the movie

Author: JT Smith

Anonymous Reader writes: “The movie opens on the premise that in the future MP3’s are illegal, all copies of Napster have been destroyed, and an MP3 task force has been created to seek out and arrest anyone caught with MP3 music on their computers.”

mp3newswire.net reviews the actual independent movie.

PDA price war looms on the horizon

Author: JT Smith

ZDNet UK reports that a PDA price war could be on the way because of the
slowing U.S. economy is hurting sales. “Palm Computing and Hewlett-Packard have
become the first to cut prices, reducing prices for their most popular
handhelds.”

Russian ‘hacker’ rebuffs U.S. request

Author: JT Smith

Wired: “Diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow tried to hire a Russian hacker to break into Russia’s Federal Security Service’s network, according to a report
published in the a Russian newspaper Wednesday.

The 20-year-old hacker, identified only as “Vers,” said he was asked to hack into the Federal Security Service’s network to copy, alter and delete files. Vers
claims that four officials at the U.S. Embassy offered him $10,000 for the job.”

Category:

  • Linux

MP3 format under pressure from MS and RealNetworks

Author: JT Smith

ZDNET.co.uk: “Microsoft and Seattle-based RealNetworks are working to subtly
wean consumers away from MP3 technology, encouraging them to
use proprietary software formats instead, the Journal said.

The technology companies, which have the music industry’s blessing,
are encouraging those who download music to use new proprietary
software formats that make the audio sound significantly better but
also make it harder to share copyright-protected songs, the paper
said.”