October 10, 2003

Napster 2.0 Launched

TechTV gave the following summary comments concerning the relaunch of Napster.

Summary: Napster 2.0's official launch on Oct. 29 will further broaden the digital-audio field for the PC audience. The combination of a music store, extra premium features, a sweet interface, community features, and its recognizable name should spell success for a grown-up Napster.

Gene Munster, senior research analyst with US Bancorp Piper Jaffray, thinks so too.

"If you look at the brand, the Napster brand dwarfs all others," Munster said. "So I think this is a situation where the dark horse is going to actually win."

I've tried the new Napster and I like it a lot. But I hate the name because of the history of piracy. 12-year-old girls get sued and the Napster dudez make out. Grrrr.

Posted at 03:43 PM in Music, Web/Tech | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 09, 2003

Excuses, Excuses

CNet is reporting that Developers gripe about IE standards inaction

Complaints over Microsoft's CSS support come amid broader criticisms that improvements in browser technology have slowed to a glacial pace since the software giant crushed credible competition in the market--an outcome that some view as ironic given Microsoft's cries during the antitrust trial that court-mandated restraints on its ability to bundle applications would stifle innovation.

"While it is true that our implementation is not fully, 100 percent W3C-compliant, our development investments are driven by our customer requirements and not necessarily by standards," said Greg Sullivan, a lead product manager with the Windows client group.

Now, I write software for a living. I also am a customer of (very expensive) software. We have and our vendors have what is known as bug-tracking software. This is how we know if there is a disconnect between the customer's requirements and our tools. Even open-source projects such as Mozilla have bug-tracking software. The blogging software I am using now has bug-tracking software. And not only that, but all of the above allow relatively unrestricted access to enter bugs into the system. There is no guarantee that they will be fixed, but at least someone will notice any trends.

This is not so for Microsoft. Try finding anywhere you can submit a bug without paying out money. I don't need support. I just want to submit a bug report. So, Mr. Sullivan's quote is completely bogus. Microsoft cannot know what their customers want. But, I can hazard a good guess. When IE 6.0 on Windows XP renders blogger.com correctly, but IE 6.0 on Windows 2000 does not because of buggy CSS support, that's a bug.

Posted at 09:46 AM in Web/Tech | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1)

October 07, 2003

Description of IE Changes Due to Eolas Lawsuit

The following web page outlines the changes Microsoft is making to get around the Eolas patent suit.

For old Active X controls, Microsoft outputs the following dialog box:
SS_ActiveContentPrompt.jpg

The good news is that this can be blocked, so all those annoying Flash ads that haven't changed will not output a dialog box. If it is blocked then it will look like this:
SS_ActiveContentNotification.jpg

Now for the recoding of the objects that will get around the lawsuit. The first technique is to code class parameters inline rather than from foreign web sites. This is — to put it bluntly — awful. Web pages could be terribly bloated. Here's an example HTML:

<OBJECT ID="myCtrl" WIDTH=50 HEIGHT=50
    CLASSID="CLSID:37C9CF72-E47F-445d-9228-AD1CA6398442">
    <PARAM 
        NAME="inline-data" 
        VALUE="DATA:application/x-oleobject;BASE64,j43aWGqdGxCvwEIQ"
        REFTYPE="BASE64" />
</OBJECT>

The next technique uses dynamic HTML. This, in my opinion, will become real popular. In this techique, a separate Javascript file is created that dynamically inserts the class instantiation into the web page. The web page looks like this:

<HTML>
    <HEAD>
        <SCRIPT SRC="sample.js"></SCRIPT>
    </HEAD>
    <BODY>
        <SCRIPT>
        ReplaceContent();
        </SCRIPT>
    </BODY>
</HTML>

sample.js looks like this:

function ReplaceContent(){
    document.write('<OBJECT CLASSID="CLSID:6BF52A52-394A-11d3-B153-00C04F79FAA6">');
    document.write('<PARAM NAME="URL" VALUE="http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/');
    document.write('samples/author/dhtml/media/drums.wav"/></OBJECT>');
}

As you can see everything is remote and this doesn't bloat the web pages. What should prove to be interesting is that cross-platform dynamic HTML is not a universal skill. Early attempts at coding this stuff could fail to work in Netscape/Mozilla.

This didn't produce the death of Flash ads like I hoped for, but it could block some of them as they are being recoded.

Posted at 05:45 PM in Web/Tech | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

October 03, 2003

VeriSign calls halt to .com detours

VeriSign calls halt to .com detours

VeriSign, the administrator of the .com and .net domains, made plans to shut down its new Site Finder service Friday, after the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ordered the company to undo controversial changes.
Victory!

Posted at 05:56 PM in Web/Tech | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

September 29, 2003

A Good Match

CNet is reporting that

Musicmatch on Monday announced its entry into the digital song-selling business, and sources say PC maker Dell will be one of the first companies to promote the new download service to consumers.

As previously reported, the Internet music software company's service, which will provide a new online rival to Apple Computer's iTunes and to BuyMusic, uses the popular Musicmatch Jukebox software and is distributing music in Microsoft's Windows Media format.

I am a subscriber to PressPlay and I also stream using MusicMatch. So, I tried out the new MusicMatch and even this early it looks like we have a winner. The integration is good with their streaming music service. What is best about this is that you can easily explore artists and genres. PressPlay's interface is a whole lot clunkier. BuyMusic.com? Forget it. This looks like the best (legal) solution for Windows users, so far.

Posted at 05:34 PM in Music, Web/Tech | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

September 25, 2003

Can you hear me now?

Wired News is commenting that 'Push-to-Talk' Spreading Fast

If you think drivers yammering on their cell phones are annoying, wait until another wireless service already popular among business users becomes even more prevalent in public: instant, two-way walkie-talkie chatter.

The radio technology frequently used by police officers, truckers, taxi drivers and IT managers is coming to many cell phones near you. All the major wireless carriers, which plan this year to join leader Nextel Communications in rolling out nationwide cell-phone walkie-talkie -- or "push-to-talk" -- service, have said the feature is not just for businesses. It's for everyone, from men radioing their wives from the bread aisle of the supermarket to teens arranging meetings with friends in the schoolyard. At least one company, fastmobile of Chicago, sells software to let people instantly connect with friends around the world.

Maybe there is something to this. I remember the CB craze in the late '70s. Maybe there might be a resurgance of two-way radio now that you can reach all the way around the world.

See ya on the flip side. This is the supernova, KXV-0821, goin' 10-7.

Posted at 04:53 PM in Web/Tech | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

September 19, 2003

Passing Messages Between Disciplines

In today's Science Marc Mézard discusses the interaction between Computer Science and Computational Physics.

Problems in computer science, such as error correction in information transfer and "satisfiability" in optimization, show phase transitions familiar from solid-state physics. In his Perspective, Mézard explains how recent advances in these three fields originate in similar "message passing" procedures. The exchange of elaborate messages between different variables and constraints, used in the study of phase transitions in physical systems, helps to make error correction and satisfiability codes more efficient.
The author is in the Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques, CNRS, and Université de Paris Sud, 91405 Orsay, France. E-mail: mezard@lptms.u-psud.fr

The following diagram from the article shows how message passing help solves the error correction problem.

1685-1-med.gif

The circles represent the bits transmitted through the channel. The squares are the parity check constraints; for instance, constraint C1 requires that the sum of bits B1, B2, B3, and B5 should be even. Along each edge of this graph two messages are exchanged, one in each direction. These messages give the "belief" of the sending node on the state of the bit. This retrieves the actual value quickly for low density error correcting codes that are not too close to the Shannon limit. This also can be used to solve N-Satisfiability problems again when they are not too close to the Shannon limit.

By studying spin glasses, it has been discovered that these algorithms do not do well when the solutions are not clustered. The belief messages are limited to local areas. So, the algorithm has been modified to pass not just a beliefs but a whole survey of beliefs to get around the local problem. This has allowed this algorithm to be used for noisier channels and more difficult optimization problems.

Posted at 02:07 PM in Science, Web/Tech | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

September 18, 2003

Microsoft Throwing Its Weight Behind Web Search

Microsoft wants to get into the search business. Let me translate Micro-speak into English.

"The decision to build or buy came down to our ability to innovate," said Kirk Koenigsbauer, strategy manager at Microsoft's MSN Internet portal.

"Our ability to innovate is predicated on our ability to own the platform," he added, a clear sign that Microsoft thinks it can only beat Google if it owns the technology.

The ability to have monopoly power depends on owning the technology.
"Search engines are doing a good job but not a perfect job," said Koenigsbauer, adding most search results today "don't deliver the results people are looking for."

Search results tailored to individual users based on a history of their interests and searches is one area that Microsoft is looking at, Koenigsbauer said.

We are going to build spy-ware into Windows. You really aren't very happy with Google, are you? You should feel guilty for being satisfied.


Posted at 01:26 PM in Web/Tech | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

September 17, 2003

Does Eolas Lawsuit Mean the Death of Flash Ads?

This was buried in a NY Times article entitled:Setback for Microsoft Ripples Through the World Wide Web

The consortium organized a four-hour meeting on Aug. 19 at the San Francisco offices of Macromedia, a producer of software for showing animations on the Web. Those invited were the leading producers of multimedia Internet and Java applications, including Real Networkscoei, Sun Microsystemscoei, Apple Computercoei and Adobecoei, as well as Macromediacoei.

Microsoft proposed three possible design tweaks to its browsing software to ensure compliance with the court ruling. These include having personal computer users approve a "click to proceed'' box to run multimedia programs from the browser and modifications that other software companies and Web page designers can make. All would require some adjustments from companies, executives say, but should not affect ordinary PC users significantly.

If the customer had to click on a Flash ad, it would mean the death of them. The reason why there are Flash ads is to animate (and make noises) without the customer's consent. If we want to run a Flash application, one click is not much of a hassle. Combine this with the pop-up block on the Google toolbar (yeah!), and we might gain control of our desktop again.

Posted at 02:57 PM in Web/Tech | | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

September 14, 2003

Memory Lane

Apple LogoBack in 1982, I purchased an Apple ][+ computer. I had put off purchasing a computer for almost five years, passing on Heath Kits and TRS-80s and Commodore Pets. This machine had 48K of memory and a floppy drive on it. My high school had an Apple II (non-plus) that had a cassette interface where we loaded the non-Microsoft BASIC. I found the following ad for an Apple I ad (transcribed from here). SCO should take note of Apple's attitude towards the price of software.

Apple Introduces the First Low Cost Microcomputer System with a Video Terminal and 8K Bytes of RAM on a Single PC Card

The Apple Computer. A truly complete microcomputer system on a single PC board. Based on the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, the Apple also has a built-in video terminal and sockets for 8K bytes of on-board RAM memory. With the addition of a keyboard and video monitor, you'll have an extremely powerful computer system that can be used for anything from developing programs to playing games or running BASIC.

Combining the computer, video terminal and dynamic memory on a single board has resulted in a large reduction in chip count, which means more reliability and lowered cost. Since the Apple comes fully assembled, tested & burned-in and has a complete power supply on-board, initial setup is essentially "hassle free" and you can be running within minutes. At $666.66 (including 4K bytes RAM!) it opens many new possibilities for users and systems manufacturers.

You Don't Need an Expensive Teletype

Using the built-in video terminal and keyboard interface, you avoid all the expense, noise and maintenance associated with a teletype. And the Apple video terminal is six times faster than a teletype, which means more throughput and less waiting. The Apple connects directly to a video monitor (or home TV with an inexpensive RF modulator) and displays 960 easy to read characters in 24 rows of 40 characters per line with automatic scrolling. The video display section contains its own 1K bytes of memory, so all the RAM memory is available for user programs. And the Keyboard Interface lests you use almost any ASCII-encoded keyboard.

The Apple Computer makes it possible for many people with limited budgets to step up to a video terminal as an I/O device for their computer.

No More Switches, No More Lights

Compared to switches and LED's a, a video terminal can display vast amounts of information simultaneously. The Apple video terminal can display the contents of 192 memory locations at once on the screen. And the firmware in PROMS enables you to enter, display and debug programs (all in hex) from the keyboard, rendering a front panel unnecessary. The firmware also allows your programs to print characters on the display, and since you'll be looking at letters and numbers instead of just LED's the door is open to all kinds of alphanumeric software (i.e., Games and BASIC).

8K Bytes RAM in 16 Chips!

The Apple Computer uses the new 16-pin 4K dynamic memory chips. They are faster and take 1/4 the space and power of even lower power 2102's (the memory chip that everyone else uses). That means 8K bytes in sixteen chips. It also means no more 28 amp power supplies.

The system is fully expandable to 65K via an edge connector which carries both the address and data busses, power supplies and all timing signals. All dynamic memory refreshing for both on and off-board memory is done automatically. Also, the Apple Computer can be upgraded to use the 16K chips when they become available. That's 32K bytes on-board RAM in 16 IC's -- the equivalent of 256 2102's!

A Little Cassette Board That Works!

Unlike many other cassette boards on the marketplace, ours works every time. It plugs directly into the upright connector on the main board and stands only 2" tall. And since it is very fast (1500 bits per second), you can read or write 4K bytes in about 20 seconds. All timing is done in software which results in crystal-controlled accuracy and uniformity from unit to unit.

Unlike some other cassette interfaces which require an expensive tape recorder, the Apple Cassette Interface works reliably with almost any audio-grade cassette recorder.

Software:

A tape of APPLE BASIC is included free with the Cassette Interface. Apple Basic features immediate error messages and fast execution, and lets you program in a higher level language immediately and without added cost. Also available now are a dis-assembler and many games, with many software packages, (including a macro assembler) in the works. And since our philosophy is to provide software for our machines free or at minimal cost, you won't be continually paying for access to this growing software library.

Posted at 02:53 PM in Web/Tech | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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