New Apple Magic Mouse with Multi touch!
dimanche 25 octobre 2009
vendredi 9 octobre 2009
Triple-X domain likely to be reality soon
The U.S. has pulled out of its agreement with ICANN, the international organization that makes decisions about the Internet -- and that greatly concerns one pro-family attorney.Final decisions by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers are determined by a 21-member board, 15 of whom have voting rights. Incorporated under the law of the State of California, ICANN must abide by the laws of the United States as it oversees the complex network of unique identifiers -- IP addresses and domain names -- that allow computers on the worldwide web to find one another.
But there have been complaints about the dominance of the U.S. over the Internet, resulting in Washington recently relinquishing some control over the way the network is run and ICANN ending its agreement with the U.S. government.
Pat Trueman, special counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, recalls the influence exerted by the U.S. over the creation of a particular domain name -- one which he believes would have resulted in pornography being far more widespread than it is now.
"There have been some [U.S.] values that had been imposed on the organization that runs the Internet," says Trueman. "For example, a few years back the Bush administration weighed in heavily to say that it would not allow a .xxx domain -- a pornography domain -- to be added to the Internet."
Trueman -- a former porn prosecutor with the Department of Justice -- now believes it is a foregone conclusion that the .xxx pornography domain will be approved eventually, making the case for pornographers that their material is a part of the standard of the Internet. That, says the pro-family attorney, does not bode well for those seeking legal constraints on smut.
"When you try to prosecute...an Internet pornography case [here in the United States], I believe that legally this will make things much more difficult for the prosecutor," he laments.
In addition, Trueman notes that pornography sites will not be required to move their domain from .com to .xxx, effectively providing them added exposure.
Microsoft Tries to Quell European Complaints
BRUSSELS — European antitrust regulators said Wednesday that they had tentatively accepted Microsoft’s concessions to settle two antitrust cases, which the company said left both organizations free to focus on the next generation of technology giants, including Google.
The European Union competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, said at a briefing Wednesday that concessions made by Microsoft to give European computer users a choice of Web browsers appeared to address many antitrust concerns. She said another case against the company could be settled this year.
In a telephone conference call with reporters, Microsoft’s chief lawyer, Brad Smith, did not mention Google by name. But he said clearing the decks in Brussels meant the company could turn its attention to the market for Internet search technologies and winning approval for its proposed merger with Yahoo. That deal would allow Microsoft to become a bigger player in online advertising, a market currently dominated by Google.
“It is very important for us to resolve competition law issues that have been on the agenda for more than a decade,” Mr. Smith said. “I don’t think that hurts, and it probably helps as we address some other issues.”
“There are still loose ends to tie up, but it looks like the battle with Microsoft is in the end game and there is a clear vacancy for antitrust poster child in Europe,” said Stephen Kinsella, an antitrust partner with the law firm Sidley Austin. “My money is on Google.”
Earlier, Ms. Kroes said she had “good grounds for thinking we are moving towards a very satisfactory resolution” of two cases, one concerning the way Microsoft bundles its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system, and the other involving the way other brands communicate with Microsoft products.
But a coalition of Microsoft’s competitors, the European Committee for Interoperable Systems, which has an outstanding complaint against Microsoft over failure to provide information necessary to achieve compatibility with its products, remained wary.
Thomas Vinje, the legal counsel for the organization, which represents companies like I.B.M., Nokia and Oracle, questioned whether consumers would have a “real and unbiased choice” of browsers and whether competing companies would be able to enforce the commitments made by Microsoft on interoperability.
Mr. Vinje said the commission still had “to ensure that Microsoft lives up to its part of the deal.”
Mr. Smith of Microsoft said, however, that the European Union should be able to drop the complaint by Mr. Vinje’s group without further action as part of the wide-ranging settlement.
Mr. Smith said that moving on from the European case would also allow regulators to concentrate on potential competition law issues raised by I.B.M., which is developing a new generation of powerful computers. He cited the merger of Oracle and Sun Microsystems as evidence of the emergence of potentially powerful new forces.
European officials have been informally market-testing the offer — first made by Microsoft in July — that would give European computer users a choice of Web browsers.
Since then, Microsoft has offered more tweaks to its software so that users of new and existing Windows-based computers in Europe already loaded with Internet Explorer would get a so-called ballot screen that would let them download other browsers and turn off Microsoft’s default Explorer.
Users of existing Windows-based computers with Internet Explorer in Europe would receive an update prompting them to choose from among competing browsers, European officials said.
Ms. Kroes said she would spend the next month holding formal testing of the Microsoft offer with consumers and clients. She said she intended to reach a so-called commitment decision on the browser case enforceable with fines if Microsoft wavered in its compliance.
The European Union competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, said at a briefing Wednesday that concessions made by Microsoft to give European computer users a choice of Web browsers appeared to address many antitrust concerns. She said another case against the company could be settled this year.In a telephone conference call with reporters, Microsoft’s chief lawyer, Brad Smith, did not mention Google by name. But he said clearing the decks in Brussels meant the company could turn its attention to the market for Internet search technologies and winning approval for its proposed merger with Yahoo. That deal would allow Microsoft to become a bigger player in online advertising, a market currently dominated by Google.
“It is very important for us to resolve competition law issues that have been on the agenda for more than a decade,” Mr. Smith said. “I don’t think that hurts, and it probably helps as we address some other issues.”
“There are still loose ends to tie up, but it looks like the battle with Microsoft is in the end game and there is a clear vacancy for antitrust poster child in Europe,” said Stephen Kinsella, an antitrust partner with the law firm Sidley Austin. “My money is on Google.”
Earlier, Ms. Kroes said she had “good grounds for thinking we are moving towards a very satisfactory resolution” of two cases, one concerning the way Microsoft bundles its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system, and the other involving the way other brands communicate with Microsoft products.
But a coalition of Microsoft’s competitors, the European Committee for Interoperable Systems, which has an outstanding complaint against Microsoft over failure to provide information necessary to achieve compatibility with its products, remained wary.
Thomas Vinje, the legal counsel for the organization, which represents companies like I.B.M., Nokia and Oracle, questioned whether consumers would have a “real and unbiased choice” of browsers and whether competing companies would be able to enforce the commitments made by Microsoft on interoperability.
Mr. Vinje said the commission still had “to ensure that Microsoft lives up to its part of the deal.”
Mr. Smith of Microsoft said, however, that the European Union should be able to drop the complaint by Mr. Vinje’s group without further action as part of the wide-ranging settlement.
Mr. Smith said that moving on from the European case would also allow regulators to concentrate on potential competition law issues raised by I.B.M., which is developing a new generation of powerful computers. He cited the merger of Oracle and Sun Microsystems as evidence of the emergence of potentially powerful new forces.
European officials have been informally market-testing the offer — first made by Microsoft in July — that would give European computer users a choice of Web browsers.
Since then, Microsoft has offered more tweaks to its software so that users of new and existing Windows-based computers in Europe already loaded with Internet Explorer would get a so-called ballot screen that would let them download other browsers and turn off Microsoft’s default Explorer.
Users of existing Windows-based computers with Internet Explorer in Europe would receive an update prompting them to choose from among competing browsers, European officials said.
Ms. Kroes said she would spend the next month holding formal testing of the Microsoft offer with consumers and clients. She said she intended to reach a so-called commitment decision on the browser case enforceable with fines if Microsoft wavered in its compliance.
dimanche 4 octobre 2009
L'outil antispam Captcha sert à la numérisation de livres anciens
Une nouvelle vie pour un outil qui fête ses huit ans...
Captcha, ce sont ces petites lettres que vous retrouvez au moment de vous inscrire sur un site, ou de publier un commentaire, et qui assurent que vous êtes humain et non un bête robot. Les lettres sont déformées de sorte qu'il faut (parfois avec de l'imagination) réfléchir pour les reproduire dans la case prévue à cet usage.
L'antispam au secours des livres
Conçu voilà huit ans pour empêcher les ravages du spam dans les boîtes à courriel, Captcha est actuellement en cours d'évolution et servira prochainement à transcrire les journaux et manuscrits aux lettres passablement... déformées. Sa sécurité n'est pas de 100 %, et l'on rapporte çà et là des systèmes de robots qui en sont venus à bout, mais dans l'ensemble, ça freine bien.
Captcha, ce sont ces petites lettres que vous retrouvez au moment de vous inscrire sur un site, ou de publier un commentaire, et qui assurent que vous êtes humain et non un bête robot. Les lettres sont déformées de sorte qu'il faut (parfois avec de l'imagination) réfléchir pour les reproduire dans la case prévue à cet usage.
L'antispam au secours des livres
Conçu voilà huit ans pour empêcher les ravages du spam dans les boîtes à courriel, Captcha est actuellement en cours d'évolution et servira prochainement à transcrire les journaux et manuscrits aux lettres passablement... déformées. Sa sécurité n'est pas de 100 %, et l'on rapporte çà et là des systèmes de robots qui en sont venus à bout, mais dans l'ensemble, ça freine bien.
Le système, pensé par Luis von Ahn, à l'origine du modèle Captcha, et qui supervise la numérisation de livres dans 70 universités, a ainsi proposé d'ouvrir son système à qui veut s'inscrire et permettra alors d'aider à la numérisation. En effet, les personnes vont scruter le mot affiché, proposer leur version et par recoupement, Captcha relaiera à un ordinateur le mot mystère. Cela aiderait alors à la numérisation de 160 livres par jour.
reCAPTCHA, version reloaded !
Le nouveau système, modestement baptisé reCAPTCHA servira pour des livres publiés avant 1900 et serait doté d'une efficacité de 80 % de réussite. En passant par une phase de reconnaissance optique de caractère (OCR), on s'appuiera ensuite sur la base de données de référence pour décoder le mot qui pose problème.
« Environ 60 millions de Captcha sont utilisés à travers le monde chaque jour - chacun prenant environ 10 secondes. Par personne, cela ne représente pas grand-chose, mais bout à bout, ces puzzles impliquent 150.00 heures de travail », explique von Ahn.
Encore à perfectionner
Si la numérisation et la reconnaissance tendant de toute manière à être perfectionnées, elles semblent tout de même plus attentives que les opérations de numérisation de masse. Du côté de Google, quand on ne numérise pas à la main, on se sert d'un logiciel de détection maison, ainsi que sur la reconnaissance humaine. Mais on refuse de dire si reCaptcha pourrait devenir un partenaire...
source >>>>> ici
dimanche 12 avril 2009
Un PC à moins de 100 euros
Voici une information qui pourra nous intéresser en ces temps de crise. Un vrai PC à moins de 100 euros. 99 pour être plus juste.
Certes, ceci n'a aucun rapport avec l'Alsace mais avec un pouvoir d'achat en berne, crise oblige, il est bon de savoir qu'un PC à moins de 100 euros existe.
99 euros est le prix annoncé. Faisons d'abord un tour de la machine qui est une unité centrale sans écran, ni clavier et souris. La machine trouvera sa place pour un remplacement suite à une panne qui vous oblige au changement de toute urgence et à moindres frais. L'unité, baptisée
PRIMO, est vendue par Abaco Computers. Elle est équipée d'un processeur Intel de 1,6 Ghz, de 512 MB de Ram, et il n'y a pas de disque dur ; une mémoire Flash de 4GB recevra vos documents. Côté connectique : une prise Ethernet, une sortie pour l'écran, un slot PCI de libre (pour recevoir une carte Wi-Fi par exemple), 2 USB et les sorties audio.Enfin, la machine est équipée d'un système Linux.
Si votre porte-monnaie est prêt à quelques largesses, la "bête" demandant une plus belle parure, le PRIMO pourra se vêtir au gré de vos envies. Par exemple : un disque dur de 80 GB à 28 euros ou encore une carte Wi-Fi à 18 euros. Mais, de base, la machine suffit amplement pour des applications bureautiques et surfer sur Internet.
Adepte du tournevis ?
Ah ! On ne vous a pas dit le plus important : la machine est à assemblée soi-même. Ce qui se révélera un sérieux problème pour les novices. À moins d'avoir un neveu Geek et spécialiste du tournevis cruciforme, la bonne nouvelle s'arrêtera là. Mais cette information pourrait donner des idées aux nombreux clubs informatiques d'Alsace. Assembler son propre PC et s'en servir est un formidable apprentissage.
Parla italiano ?
Enfin pour terminer, le PC est disponible sur Internet. Il faudra décrypter le bon de commande, le site étant en langue italienne. Le bon de commande rempli, on verra s'afficher un tarif de livraison à 24 euros. On est donc loin des 99 euros annoncés avec 123 euros, mais trouver une machine à ce prix-là reste une première.
Retrouvez l'offre en suivant ce lien : abacocomputers.com
vendredi 10 avril 2009
Microsoft downsizes Live Labs, asks researchers to do more product work
April 10, 2009 (IDG News Service) Microsoft Corp. is downsizing its Internet-focused Live Labs research group by reassigning about half of the operation's employees to work within product groups at the company.
The goal of the restructuring move is to increase the likelihood that Microsoft's investments in research will actually translate into shipping products, company spokeswoman Stacy Drake said yesterday. Moving the Live Labs researchers into product groups will allow them to contribute directly to development projects, Drake said.
In addition, she acknowledged that "economic conditions do play a role" in the changes. Microsoft said in January that it planned to lay off up to 5,000 workers over the next 18 months because of the recession and a drop-off in profits, although the cuts are expected to be partially offset by the addition of 2,000 to 3,000 new employees in different positions.
Drake wouldn't say how many people have been working in the Live Labs group. The employees who remain there will focus broadly on research related to Web user experiences, including navigation, exploration, information discovery and retrieval, and approaches for organizing data, she said.
Live Labs was launched in early 2006 as a partnership between the software vendor's MSN and Microsoft Research units under the direction of Gary Flake, who will continue to lead what remains of the group. Flake came to Microsoft from Yahoo Inc., where he ran that company's research labs.
Researchers at Live Labs developed and launched Photosynth, a technology that can stitch together hundreds of photographs into a single 3-D image that viewers can navigate around. They also developed Seadragon, another photo application that lets users zoom in and out when viewing large images online; an iPhone version of that application, called Seadragon Mobile, was released in December.
Perhaps in anticipation of the organizational changes, a high-profile member of the Live Labs team left Microsoft recently. Don Lindsay, formerly a Live Labs design director, appears to have taken a job as vice president of user experience at BlackBerry developer Research In Motion Ltd., according to his LinkedIn profile and a story posted by the MocoNews Web site. Lindsay worked at Apple Inc. before joining Microsoft.
Microsoft often promotes the importance of its research efforts. "Research is really critical to the company," Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, said in February at the vendor's annual TechFest event, where its researchers show off their latest inventions.
Companies that cut research spending in response to short-term pressures, or that never do pure research, don't tend to thrive for very long, Mundie added. "My belief is the company would struggle to survive and prosper if we didn't have research investments," he said.
The goal of the restructuring move is to increase the likelihood that Microsoft's investments in research will actually translate into shipping products, company spokeswoman Stacy Drake said yesterday. Moving the Live Labs researchers into product groups will allow them to contribute directly to development projects, Drake said.
In addition, she acknowledged that "economic conditions do play a role" in the changes. Microsoft said in January that it planned to lay off up to 5,000 workers over the next 18 months because of the recession and a drop-off in profits, although the cuts are expected to be partially offset by the addition of 2,000 to 3,000 new employees in different positions.
Drake wouldn't say how many people have been working in the Live Labs group. The employees who remain there will focus broadly on research related to Web user experiences, including navigation, exploration, information discovery and retrieval, and approaches for organizing data, she said.
Live Labs was launched in early 2006 as a partnership between the software vendor's MSN and Microsoft Research units under the direction of Gary Flake, who will continue to lead what remains of the group. Flake came to Microsoft from Yahoo Inc., where he ran that company's research labs.
Researchers at Live Labs developed and launched Photosynth, a technology that can stitch together hundreds of photographs into a single 3-D image that viewers can navigate around. They also developed Seadragon, another photo application that lets users zoom in and out when viewing large images online; an iPhone version of that application, called Seadragon Mobile, was released in December.
Perhaps in anticipation of the organizational changes, a high-profile member of the Live Labs team left Microsoft recently. Don Lindsay, formerly a Live Labs design director, appears to have taken a job as vice president of user experience at BlackBerry developer Research In Motion Ltd., according to his LinkedIn profile and a story posted by the MocoNews Web site. Lindsay worked at Apple Inc. before joining Microsoft.
Microsoft often promotes the importance of its research efforts. "Research is really critical to the company," Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, said in February at the vendor's annual TechFest event, where its researchers show off their latest inventions.
Companies that cut research spending in response to short-term pressures, or that never do pure research, don't tend to thrive for very long, Mundie added. "My belief is the company would struggle to survive and prosper if we didn't have research investments," he said.
K95 waterproof USB drive
Moscow’s Man Works Design a new waterproof USB drive K95. K95 comes in shape of submarine and it is available in 1GB and 2GB, you can choose one for you from White, Green, Red Black colors. Still no words on pricing and availability.
Microsoft's 'Apple tax' claims are 'stupid,' counters analyst Microsoft's 'Apple tax' claims are 'stupid,' counters analyst
Macs 'far less taxing' to use day in, day out, argues analyst who covers Apple
By Gregg Keizer
April 10, 2009 (Computerworld) Microsoft Corp.'s claim that customers pay a $3,400 "Apple tax" when they buy Macs rather than Windows-based PCs is "silly" and "stupid," an analyst who follows Apple Inc. said today.
"You can make a reasonable case that Apple PCs are somewhat more expensive in a hardware-for-hardware comparison," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst at Technology Business Research Inc. "But the comparisons Microsoft makes were just silly."
In a repeat from a late 2008 public relations campaign, Microsoft yesterday said that Macs cost more than PCs, again dubbing the difference an "Apple tax." In a post to a company blog, Microsoft spokesman Brandon LeBlanc talked up the idea of a "'hidden tax' of owning a Mac."
Citing a Microsoft-sponsored paper written by analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates Inc., LeBlanc claimed that over a five-year span, a family of four -- who currently run a pair of Windows XP-equipped machine -- would pay an additional $3,367 if they switched to Macs rather than continue to buy within the Windows PC ecosystem.
LeBlanc also argued that buyers get a better value when they choose PCs. "It is human nature to focus on the upfront price," he said, and referred to the Apple-bashing television ads that Microsoft has been running. "The harder thing to capture is the overall cost and the value. Cost is getting something cheaper. Value is a function of getting more of what you want, regardless of what you spend. And you're a lot more likely to find that with a Windows PC."
Gottheil strongly disagreed with Microsoft's conclusion. "Why do they think this is an effective comparison?" Gottheil asked. "They add MobileMe to the Mac, but that's a pure added-value service, and not necessary for the Apple experience in any way. Nor do they mention that there are plenty of free alternatives for the Mac [to MobileMe], just as there are for Windows." Kay's PC-to-Mac comparison listed an annual Family Pack subscription to Apple's sync and storage service; at $149 per year, the five-year total added $745 to the Macs' total cost, or about 22% of the "tax."
"And taking a Mac Pro as the desktop? That is just stupid. It's not a reasonable kind of comparison with what consumers buy," Gottheil said.
Kay used the most expensive Apple desktop system, the Mac Pro -- which starts at $2,499 and is targeted at professionals, such as video editors and graphics artists -- rather than the lower-priced iMac in his comparison. Kay's paper didn't explain why the Mac Pro was selected, although he did note that the $1,199 iMac, a 20-in. model that now sports 2GB of memory and a 320GB hard drive, was a choice in what he called "midrange" desktops.
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