HiWEB-Interactive Show Log –
014– 060508
-Opening Comments
“Welcome to HiWEB-Interactive, bringing you information from the edge of technology”
*This is a summary
of recent news and technology highlights.
HiWEB-Interactive – Show #14 – From June 5th 2008
Airing weekly Thursdays at 8p (PST) – And available on LIVE.HIWEB.NET as well as archived
-Hot NewsTopics this week
(*Prepped 24 Hours Prior)
1 -
Verizon buys Alltel in $28.1 billion blockbuster
2 -Third-party
iPhone applications to arrive Monday
3 -Microsoft
warns Windows users about Safari security flaw
4 -Comcast
Hacked in BitTorrent Throttling Payback?
5 -
Microsoft mobile sites get updated, microsoft.com included
6 -AT&T
boosts wireless network speeds
Note HiWEB Presents The Crying Spell on June 7th , To be presented on
http://www.hiweb.net/tcs
- Saturday, June 7th at 9p (PST) Live Concert from Studio Seven in Seattle, WA.
- Also see
http://www.thecryingspell.com
*Youtube viewers make sure to see HiWEB.NET for the live streaming, also this entire show and other past shows.
<<<CUT FOR YOUTUBE POSTS>>> IE: Stop Recording/Start Recording
-Review of Hot Topics
(*Elaborate on Hot Topics)
*SEE PRINTED
NOTES…..
1 -Verizon
buys Alltel in $28.1 billion blockbuster -
Apparently tired of being the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier,
Verizon
Wireless has finalized a deal that will vault it past
AT&T
and net it millions of new wireless subscribers.
Verizon announced today that it has reached an agreement to purchase the
nation's fifth-largest wireless carrier, Alltel Wireless, for a total of $28.1
billion. After adding Alltel's 13 million customers to its ranks, Verizon will
have the most subscribers in the United States, with around 80 million.AT&T,
which has mostly held the lead for total wireless subscribers since
merging with Cingular
back in 2004, currently has an estimated 71 million subscribers. "This move will
create an enhanced platform of network coverage, spectrum and customer care to
better serve the growing needs of both Alltel and Verizon Wireless customers for
reliable basic and advanced broadband wireless services," says Verizon CEO
Lowell McAdam. A wireless carrier based in Little Rock, Ark., Alltel has a
network footprint in 34 different states, with most of its coverage concentrated
in southeastern, Midwestern and southwestern states. The carrier has received
consistently high grades for its call quality, and a
recent J.D. Power survey
listed Alltel and Verizon as the carriers with the best call quality in the
southeastern region of the United States.
Verizon says it hopes to complete its Alltel acquisition by year-end, although
the company notes that any final deal will still be subject to obtaining
regulatory approvals. Telecom analyst Jeff Kagan says the deal makes sense for
Verizon because Alltel's network will give it access to customers in more rural
areas where it previously had lacked solid coverage. "We have seen Verizon do
similar deals in the past including the acquisition of MCI, and one thing we
have learned is they don't like to overpay," he says. "Not that it matters much
anymore because they are all so big, but this deal would give Verizon Wireless
the No. 1 spot in the rankings."
Technologically, the two companies are a good fit for one another since Verizon
and Alltel both currently use the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
standard to deliver their 3G wireless services, and
bothplan
to eventually switch over to the
GSM-based
Long Term Evolution (LTE)
for their 4G networks.
Alltel has only been a privately held company since last November when the
carrier
completed
its
$27.5 billion sale
to an affiliate of TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners. The merger agreement had
been adopted by Alltel’s shareholders in August, with each shareholder receiving
$71.50 per share in cash in compensation.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/060408-verizon-alltel.html?hpg1=bn
<Change Slide>
2 -Third-party
iPhone applications to arrive Monday–The
era of officially sanctioned iPhone applications should kick off on
Monday.That's the same day Apple CEO Steve Jobs is expected to take the stage at
the Moscone Center to unveil the next-generation iPhone at the company's annual
Worldwide Developers' Conference.
A source at a software company that has been working on a native iPhone
application tells us the company is getting ready to launch that application on
Monday, which could also imply that Apple's App Store will be up and running
that day.
The App Store is going to be the only way to get official third-party iPhone
applications onto your device. Developers have been submitting their
applications to Apple for testing and verification since the
iPhone SDK became available,
and in exchange for hosting and distributing the applications Apple is taking 30
percent of the revenue generated by sales of that application.
Gizmodo has reported
that the newest iPhone--which is expected to connect to 3G cellular
networks--will be immediately available on Monday. Based on this latest
information,
the iPhone 2.0 software--which
enables the delivery of official applications through the App Store as well as
several other business-friendly features--should also be available for download
on Monday.That software is supposed to work with both the current version of the
iPhone and the widely expected 3G version that should make its debut this month,
so you won't have to buy a new iPhone to start using iPhone applications.But you
might want to buy a new one if you get lost on a regular basis. The same source
was able to confirm reports from earlier this week from
GigaOm
and
Wired
that the newest iPhone will have support for GPS technology, enabling the iPhone
to get a precise fix on your location. The combination of GPS and faster
networking speeds should allow for a whole range of location-aware applications
to proliferate on the iPhone, as they have on other competing phones.
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9958320-1.html
<Change Slide>
3 -Microsoft
warns Windows users about Safari security flaw
-
Over two weeks ago, Nitesh Dhanjani told Apple about three security issues in
the Safari browser, one of which the company agreed to fix, and two others which
it decided were more feature requests than vulnerabilities ("Safari Carpet Bomb"
and "Sandbox not Applied to Local Resources"). Safari Carpet Bomb, which affects
Safari both on Windows and Mac OS X, is the only one that Dhanjani detailed
thoroughly for two reasons: Apple said it was not critical enough to fix right
away, and the code to reproduce the problem was very easy to demonstrate.
The vulnerability is caused by the fact that the Safari browser cannot be
configured to obtain the user's permission before it downloads a resource. In
his example, Dhanjani shows how an unknown content type can be used to litter
Safari's default download folder (the desktop for Windows and ~/Downloads/ for
OS X). It is therefore possible to create a site that would make Safari
automatically download malware to the user's set download folder. Apple's
response to Dhanjani's inquiry is as follows:
The ability to have a preference to "Ask me before downloading anything" is a
good suggestion. We can file that as an enhancement request for the Safari team.
Please note that we are not treating this as a security issue, but a further
measure to raise the bar against unwanted downloads. This will require a review
with the Human Interface team. We want to set your expectations that this could
take quite a while, if it ever gets incorporated.
Microsoft does not agree with Apple in this case and on Friday released a
security advisory for the issue. However, the software giant added a new twist
to the threat: unpatched Windows or IE vulnerabilities could be potentially used
to automatically execute the malware downloaded to the user's computer.
Microsoft emphasized that it is unaware of any attacks attempting to exploit
what it calls a "blended threat," and also made sure not to disclose which
Windows or IE vulnerabilities could be used. The company did however note that
the latest versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, as well as Internet Explorer 6
and Internet Explorer 7, are affected.
Microsoft did, however, say that the vulnerability on its side is related to how
executables work from the Desktop, and that changing the default download
location for Safari from the Desktop on Windows is enough to avoid malware from
automatically executing. The company is still in the process of evaluating the
problem, and may end up releasing a patch. Apple has agreed to work with
Microsoft on the problem.
<Change Slide>
4-Comcast
Hacked in BitTorrent Throttling Payback?
It has become apparent during the last few hours that Comcast, everyone’s
favorite ISP (especially in the BitTorrent world) has been hacked. The message
on the homepage read: “KRYOGENIKS EBK and DEFIANT RoXed COMCAST.”
When you’re as large as Comcast, you can’t please all of the people, all of the
time. Although it has done so in other ways too, Comcast managed to annoy a
large portion of its customer base with its throttling activities, not to
mention its misleading statements and ’smokescreen’ attitude when it was
discovered to be squirming away from the truth. Maybe it’s this that motivated a
group of individuals to make the next move?
This morning many people will be celebrating as reports circulate that in the
last few hours Comcast has been the subject of a hacking which defaced its
homepage (mirror
here).
http://torrentfreak.com/images/comcasthacked.jpg
The hackers appear to have changed the Comcast DNS/WHOIS records which were
pointing at a non-Comcast address. Although back to normal now, for a while the
records displayed this data:
Administrative Contact:
Domain Registrations, Comcast
kryogenicsdefiant@gmail.com
Defiant still raping 2k8 ebk
69 dick tard lane
dildo
room
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103
US
4206661870 fax: 6664200187
Technical Contact:
Comcast Corporation kryogenicsdefiant@gmail.com
1500 Market
Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
US
215-320-8774 fax: 215-564-0132
Record expires on 24-Sep-2008.
Record created on 25-Sep-1997.
Database last
updated on 28-May-2008 23:48:08 EDT.
Domain servers in listed order:
NS21.WORLDNIC.COM 205.178.190.11
NS22.WORLDNIC.COM 205.178.144.11
A Comcast employee said: “The servers are fine and are reachable if the DNS
server you are using is pointing to the correct place. As far as we can tell,
the hack was a one shot deal, not an ongoing event.”
There are reports that concerned users telephoning to inform Comcast were
summarily disconnected, with a level of panic centered round the security of the
Comcast email system with reports that the hackers were picking off Comcast
user’s usernames and passwords. As yet, this is unconfirmed.
Others claim they were treated politely by Comcast and told to use a temporary
site in the meantime, located at
http://beta.comcast.net/a/.
The Comcast forums also went down and then started diverting to
http://www6.comcast.net/a/.
There are rumors circulating that the group responsible for the hack previously
targeted
Justin Timberlake and Hilary Duff.
More on this story as we get it.
http://torrentfreak.com/comcast-hacked-in-bittorrent-throttling-packback-080529/
<Change Slide>
5 -Microsoft
mobile sites get updated, microsoft.com included
–
If you expect a
growth in sales
for your mobile operating system over the coming years, it follows that you make
sure your sites render well on mobile browsers. Microsoft this month updated its
Windows Mobile
website, launched the first beta version of the
Windows Live Mobile
homepage, and made the
microsoft.com domain
redirect to a mobile version when a mobile browser is detected.
The update to the Windows Mobile website (still not detected by some mobile
browsers) includes four features worthy of note: any contact's address in your
contacts list/address book can be located for you on a map and the directions
served up to you, you can now view Virtual Earth collections created by anyone,
a direct link to web search is available from the client, and you now have the
ability to check the latest weather conditions and a 4 day forecast.
Furthermore, UK users now get access to the Directions feature, and the map
traffic location has some noticeable improvements.
The Windows Live Mobile homepage is a completely different beast. The first beta
only offers three minor features: a "What’s new" summary section that shows
recent updates made by your friends (already available on
Windows Live Spaces
for non-mobile users for months), direct access to Live Search, and links to the
other mobile services: Windows Live Mail, Messenger, and Spaces.
<Change Slide>
6 -
AT&T boosts wireless network speeds-
The company announced on Wednesday that enhancements to its HSPA, or High Speed
Packet Access, third-generation cellular network will allow wireless laptop
users to upload and download content from the Internet faster than they can with
3G services from other carriers.The top three major wireless operators, AT&T,
Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel, have been touting the speeds and feeds of
their
3G wireless networks
for more than a year in an attempt to lure profitable business customers to
their wireless laptop services. These services, which cost about $60 a month,
are ideal for road warriors who need consistent high-speed wireless Internet
connectivity anywhere.Until now, they've
all offered similar speeds. Verizon and Sprint use a CDMA-based technology
called EV-DO. They advertise download speeds of about 600Kbps to 1.4Mbps and
upload speeds of between 500Kbps and 800Kbps. And until today, AT&T's 3G network
offered similar speeds.Now
AT&T claims it is offering downloads of
700Kbps to 1.7Mbps and uploads of 500Kbps to 1.2Mbps. The faster speeds are the
result of an ongoing network upgrade. AT&T uses a GSM-based technology called
HSPA. It has recently
finished upgrading 275 markets
to the latest version of the technology known as HSUPA, which provides faster
upload links.
The company had already deployed HSDPA, which provides faster download speeds.As
the company upgrades to the faster upload speeds it looks like it's also tweaked
its download performance. Last month, the head of wireless for AT&T said that
the company
will offer theoretical network download speeds of 20Mbps
as early as next year as it continues to upgrade and tweak its network. Of
course, the real world network performance is far less than this and users can
expect to get average download speeds between 4Mbps and 6.6Mbps.AT&T plans to
continue upgrading its network to reach 350 major markets by the end of the
year. Sprint and Verizon already serve these market, so AT&T still has some
catching up to do. But AT&T is already in most of the major cities. The company
also recently
started offering free Wi-Fi in its 17,000 Wi-Fi hot spots
as an added bonus to its cellular wireless laptop users.To take advantage of the
new fast speeds, customers will need HSUPA-equipped gear. AT&T currently offers
four LaptopConnect adapters in either USB, PC Card, or Express card form.
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9960084-1.html
<Change Slide>
- Viewer Questions
(*Troubleshooting, New Tech,
Etc.)
See The Crying Spell Presented on http://www.hiweb.net/tcs - Saturday, June 7th
at 9p (PST) Live Concert from Studio Seven in Seattle, WA. - Also see
http://www.thecryingspell.com
-----Commercial
(IE: Brought to you
byMusician’s Friend/HiWEB)
“This show is being brought to you by many affiliates including Musician’s
Friend, see Musician’s Friend via this Link for some of the best deals around on
Musical Equipment.
Also
see HiWEB.NET at shop.hiweb.net for great more deals from many show sponsors.”
Type ‘shop
musicians friend’via
http://www.kqzyfj.com/email-2779780-10499485
-New
Technology to keep an Eye On
(Auto
Tech, Alt. Fuel, Environment, Hacking, High Tech, etc…)
1 -
Gas Prices Taking Effect: 11 Billion Fewer Miles Driven This March -It
seems like high gas prices are finally having an affect on the US. For a while,
people got by on the hope that prices were just in a spike, but with
oil prices soaring above even the most
cynical forecasts, it looks like
expensive gas, and changed driving habits, are here to stay.The Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA) just released their March, 2008 numbers, and they
show a huge decline of 4.3% over last
March. 4.3% might not seem like a whole lot, but just by looking at the above
graph, you can see that any drop would be in huge contrast to the trend over the
last 25 years.2008 marks the first
time since 1979 that there has been a drop in miles travelled in over the month
of March.
This drop corresponds to 11 billion less
miles traveled, according to FHWA.
Over the first quarter of 2008,
greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector have also dropped 9
million metric tons compared to past years, something that no amount of
political posturing has yet to accomplish.As
we come up on the most heavily travelled summer months and a national average
price for unleaded gasoline about to pass the magic $4.00 mark, it will be
interesting to see if this trend continues. When more data comes out, we’ll
be sure to cover it. In the meantime, you can check out these breakdowns of
miles travelled in both city and rural areas over the last 3 years…
<Change Slide>
2 –$8-a-gallon
gas -
Eight reasons higher prices will do us a world of good -
Shouldn't we be technologically advanced enough here in the 21st Century to quit
siphoning off the pus of the Earth? Regardless whether you believe global
warming is threatening the planet's future, you must admit crude is passé.
Americans should be celebrating rather than shuddering over the arrival of
$4-a-gallon gasoline. We lived on cheap gas too long, failed to innovate and now
face the consequences of competing for a finite resource amid fast-expanding
global demand.A further price rise as in Europe to $8 a gallon -- or $200 and
more to fill a large SUV's tank -- would be a catalyst for economic, political
and social change of profound national and global impact. We could face an
economic squeeze, but it would be the pain before the gain.The U.S. economy
absorbed a tripling in gas prices in the last six years without falling into
recession, at least through March. Ravenous demand from China and India could
see prices further double in the next few years -- and jumpstart the overdue
process of weaning ourselves off fossil fuels.
1.
RIP for the internal-combustion engine
2.
Economic stimulus
3.
Wither the Middle East's clout
4.
Deflating oil potentates
5.
Mass-transit development
6.
An antidote to sprawl
7.
Restoration of financial discipline
8.
Easing global tensions
<Change Slide>
3 -
NANO VENT-SKIN: CO2 Filtering Solar Micro-turbines -There’s
nothing like a towering wind turbine to inspire NIMBY sentiment from neighbors
and city councils alike. Enter a striking new alternative energy concept by
Mexican-born Agustin Otegui, who works with economies of a much smaller scale.
He has conceived of a next-gen
Nano Vent-Skin
that sheathes structures in a shimmering solar weave studded with micro-turbines.
The concept takes advantage of a
structure’s maximum available surface space, and its modular composition allows
it to retrofit our old buildings instead of pouring resources into new ones.
Plus, the stunning superstructure incorporates micro-organisms to
soak up C02.In
the past we’ve covered approaches to alternative energy that seek to
synthesize solar with wind.
It’s an exciting area to watch as technology improves and processes are
streamlined, and Ostegui’s concept charts some innovative new territory.The Nano
Vent-Skin is a
zero-emission
material that takes a tri-partite approach towards energy efficiency. First, it
soaks up sunlight via a
photovoltaic
layer, and transfers energy via nano-wires to storage units at the end of each
panel. Second, its tiny turbines employ “polarized organisms” to create chemical
reactions, generating power each time the turbine makes contact with the
structure. Third, the organisms present in the inner skin of each turbine soak
up C02.At the core of the technology is an elaborate system of
bio-engineered
micro organisms which “have not been
genetically altered;
they work as a trained colony where each member has a specific task in this
symbiotic process.” Ostegui even has plans for the system to be self-healing:
“Every panel has a sensor on each corner with a material reservoir. When one of
the
turbines
has a failure or breaks, a signal is sent through the nano-wires to the central
system and building material (microorganisms) is sent through the central tube
in order to regenerate this area with a self assembly process.”Ostegui’s
NVS may reside at the far end of future-forward thinking for now, but it
presents some exciting concepts that may surface as science and technology work
together to converge our existing energy systems.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/06/04/agustin-otegui-nano-vent-skin/
<Change Slide>
4
-Super
Efficient Floating Wind Turbines from Magenn -
Wind turbines at ground level produce at a rate of 20-25%, but when placed at
altitudes from 600-1000 feet, energy output can double.
Ottawa-based
Magenn Power
is in the prototype stages of the world’s first floating wind turbine.
The Magenn Air Rotor System
or MARS is a stationary blimp kept afloat with helium and tethered into place on
an electrical grid. Centrifugal blades on
the MARS can generate up to several megawatts of clean, renewable energy at a
price well below our current grounded wind turbines. While we’ve been
intrigued by other forms of
lofty renewable energy systems,
MARS stands out for its seemingly low-impact presence and highly mobile
capabilities. Eventually the company hopes to use MARS in remote locations for
camping or cabins, in developing countries with little rural access to
electricity, and for emergency disaster relief. For now, Magenn is focused on
viability and testing the prototype.http://www.magenn.com/
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/06/04/floating-wind-turbines/
<Change Slide>
-Tech Tip / Demo
How to optimize or reset Internet Explorer 7 back to defaults
In Internet Explorer 7 some people are starting to have minor problems that crop
up every now and again. Some of these may be menu issues, some may be features
that no longer work. One quick way to resolve a lot of IE 7 problems is to reset
it to the default settings. To do this follow these steps:
This will solve quite a few issues with IE 7, but it will also remove any
Add-ins that you’ve installed. So be ready to reinstall them and remember that
the last one you installed might have been the cause of your problem.
How to optimize or reset Internet Explorer 7
Method 1: Clear cached data in Internet Explorer 7
|
1. |
Open Internet Explorer 7. |
|
2. |
Click Tools, and then click Delete Browsing History. |
|
3. |
In Delete Browsing History, click Delete All. |
|
4. |
Click to select the Also delete files and settings stored by add-ons
check box, and then click OK. |
Method 2: Reset security settings for Internet Explorer 7
|
1. |
Open Internet Explorer 7. |
|
2. |
Click Tools, and then click Internet Options. |
|
3. |
Click the Security tab. |
|
4. |
Click Reset all zones to default level, and then click OK. |
Method 3: Run Internet Explorer 7 in "No Add-Ons" mode (*See Link for detail…)
Option 1: Reset Internet Explorer 7
Option 2: Use the Manage Add-ons tool to determine which add-on is causing the
issue
Method 4: Reset Internet Explorer 7 settings
|
1. |
Open Internet Explorer 7. |
|
2. |
Click Tools, and then click Internet Options. |
|
3. |
Click the Advanced tab. |
|
4. |
Under Reset Internet Explorer Settings, click Reset. |
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936213
-General Talk/Discussions
1-Viewers see giveaway link on HiWEB.NET for more details. Next Giveaway Tonight – Remember the eligibility requirements. Subscribe to Youtube, Register and Comment on Blog –*Andthen stay Tuned for Hot Giveaways
2- Future segments will include music production segments, hardware reviews and demos
HiWEB Presents The Crying Spell on June 7th , To be presented on
http://www.hiweb.net/tcs
- Saturday, June 7th at 9p (PST) Live Concert from Studio Seven in Seattle, WA.
- Also see
http://www.thecryingspell.com
3- We are currently engaging SME to produce custom segments away from live show –
4- Viewers can send show Tips / Recommendations to live@hiweb.net
5- HiWEB-Interactive Past Shows on
http://www.hiweb.net/pastshows.html (past shows)
-Closing Comments
This was HiWEB-Interactive – Show #14
Remember tune in anytime at live.hiweb.net and Thursdays at 8p (PST) for the HiWEB-Interactive Tech Show
“Thank You for participating in HiWEB-Interactive, we look forward to bringing you more information from the edge of technology” Until next time have Fun with your technology – GottaJiboo!
