Olaf E. Roalkvam: News

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:55:57 GMT

Baker Panel Report Criticizes BP Safety . HOUSTON -- British oil company BP failed to emphasize safety at its U.S. refineries before the 2005 Texas City explosion that killed 15, according to a report released Tuesday by an independent panel led by former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III. By JOHN PORRETTO. [washingtonpost.com - Business News From The Washington Post]

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:49:06 GMT

Business Briefs. DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY DEAL The American communications technology firm Arris has agreed to buy the digital broadcast systems maker Tandberg Television of Norway for $1.2 billion, but Tandberg’s shares rose 17.4 percent on speculation of a rival bid. The cash-and-stock takeover, if successful, would create a leader in voice, data and video systems by combining Arris’s broadband know-how with Tandberg TV’s digital video, compression and interactive television technology. By . [NYT > Business]

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:46:46 GMT

Venezuela Ends Oil Negotiations. Venezuela will end negotiations with foreign oil companies over how it will take a majority control of their operations along the Orinoco River, the country’s oil minister, Rafael Ramírez, said on Monday. By DOW JONES/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. [NYT > Business]

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:43:52 GMT

AOL Agrees to Buy Online Ad Broker for $900 Million. AOL, which is trying to grab a bigger share of the global market in Internet advertising, said it had agreed to buy TradeDoubler. By ERIC PFANNER. [NYT > Business]

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:48:45 GMT

How Congress may block a troop 'surge'. The House has the power to trim funds for the Iraq war, but it's a politically risky move.

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:40:22 GMT

Porn makers tap into Internet social networking trend (AFP).

AFP - Porn makers at the world's largest sex trade show in Las Vegas on Wednesday were taking a page from Internet superstars such as YouTube by tapping into the power of social networking.

[Yahoo! News: Technology News]

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:38:15 GMT

U.S. warns about Canadian spy coins (AP).

AP - Money talks, but can it also follow your movements?

[Yahoo! News: Technology News]

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:35:56 GMT

120 test positive in poison probe. Some 120 people test positive for traces of the radioactive substance which killed ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:33:12 GMT

Afghan warlord 'aided Bin Laden'. An Afghan rebel leader says he helped Osama Bin Laden escape a 2001 US-led hunt in eastern Afghanistan. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:31:35 GMT

Bangladesh in state of emergency. Bangladesh's president declares a state of emergency and resigns as interim leader amid electoral chaos. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:30:13 GMT

Shock as UK rates rise to 5.25%. The Bank of England raises UK interest rates to 5.25% from 5% in an effort to get inflation back under control. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 20:32:10 GMT

2007 to be 'warmest on record'. The world is likely to experience the warmest year on record in 2007, the UK's Met Office forecasts. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 20:26:18 GMT

Online spending tops $100 billion.

(InfoWorld) - Driven by a strong rise in holiday spending, U.S. retail Web sites collected $102.1 billion in 2006, marking a 24 percent increase over last year, according to a report released Thursday.

Holiday shoppers spent $24.6 billion between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 2006, a rise of 26 percent over 2005, according to the report from comScore Networks. The numbers include consumer spending in all sectors except travel.

Spending jumped in the last two months of the year, pushing the total over $100 billion for the first time, said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore.

Without the need to visit brick-and-mortar shops in person, online shoppers spread their spending over a longer period. The Monday after Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the heaviest shopping days of the year for U.S. retailers, but in 2006 it was just another day. The $607.6 million spent on "Cyber Monday," Nov. 27, was surpassed on 11 other days before the end of the year.

By delaying their shopping until the last days before winter holidays, shoppers showed their growing trust in online retailers' ability to ship goods through the mail quickly, the report said. The top three days of online spending for the year were Dec. 13 ($666.9 million), Dec. 11 ($660.8 million) and Dec. 4 ($647.5 million).

By Ben_Ames@idg.com (Ben Ames). [InfoWorld: Top News]

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:14:09 GMT

Google Answer to Filling Jobs Is an Algorithm. Google, in typical eccentric fashion, has created an automated way to search for well-rounded candidates. By SAUL HANSELL. [NYT > Technology]

Editors advice: If you want to become a machine, join Google. If you still want to be yourself, stay away from Google!

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:24:35 GMT

German court opens insolvency proceedings against BenQ Mobile (AFP).

AFP - Insolvency proceedings have been opened against BenQ Mobile, the German mobile phone arm of Taiwanese electronics maker BenQ, a court in Munich has said.

[Yahoo! News: Technology News]

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:22:18 GMT

Emergency measures in Hong Kong after Web chaos (AFP).

AFP - Hong Kong telecom authorities have assumed emergency powers as firms faced Internet disruption on the first day back to work after an earthquake damaged regional undersea data cables.

[Yahoo! News: Technology News]

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:19:08 GMT

What I might have said to Suze Orman.

On the flight back from NY I sat in the same row as TV celebrity Suze Orman. I was in a window seat, and she was in the other window seat, so I didn't get a chance to talk with her.

If I had had the chance, here's what I might have said...

First, of course, I've watched your show, and I admire your chutzpah, but I gotta say, I'm (obviously) a man and I don't think you treat men very well on your show. Myself, I do pretty well with finances. The only debt I have is a mortgage, for its tax benefits, I could afford to pay it off. I have always been a saver, haven't been in debt since my late 20s (I'm in my early 50s now) and I have health insurance, and home owner's insurance. I've never mooched off women. I'm pretty responsible, I even quit smoking and stayed quit. And I don't like the way you treat men on your show.

Yeah, after saying that, I would have been happy to sit next to this person for six-plus hours on a flight from NY to SF. Not. ";->"

So another thing I'm grateful for is that I wasn't seated next to Suze Orman.

PS: Speaking of smoking, I heard that Barak Obama is a smoker?

[Scripting News]

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:16:06 GMT

The unedited voice of a person.

People use blogs primarily to discuss one question -- what is a blog? The discussion will continue as long as there are blogs.

It's no different from other media, all they ever talk about is what they are. We got dinged by the NY Times because all bloggers talked about at the DNC was other bloggers. But what were they busy doing -- talking about other reporters, except when they were talking about bloggers -- talking about bloggers. ";->"

Nothing wrong with it.

In the early days we joked that they were watching us watch them watch us watch them. And so on.

In 2003, when I was beginning my stint as a fellow at Berkman Center, since I was going to be doing stuff with blogs, I felt it necessary to start by explaining what makes a blog a blog, and I concluded it wasn't so much the form, although most blogs seem to follow a similar form, nor was it the content, rather it was the voice.

If it was one voice, unedited, not determined by group-think -- then it was a blog, no matter what form it took. If it was the result of group-think, with lots of ass-covering and offense avoiding, then it's not. Things like spelling and grammatic errors were okay, in fact they helped convince one that it was unedited. (Dogma 2000 expressed this very concisely.)

Do comments make it a blog? Do the lack of comments make it not a blog? Well actually, my opinion is different from many, but it still is my opinion that it does not follow that a blog must have comments, in fact, to the extent that comments interfere with the natural expression of the unedited voice of an individual, comments may act to make something not a blog.

We already had mail lists before we had blogs. The whole notion that blogs should evolve to become mail lists seems to waste the blogs. Comments are very much mail-list-like things. A few voices can drown out all others. The cool thing about blogs is that while they may be quiet, and it may be hard to find what you're looking for, at least you can say what you think without being shouted down. This makes it possible for unpopular ideas to be expressed. And if you know history, the most important ideas often are the unpopular ones.

Me, I like diversity of opinion. I learn from the extremes. You think evolution is a liberal plot? Okay, I disagree, but I think you should have the right to say it, and further you should have a place to say it. You think global warming is a lie? Speak your mind brother. You thought the war in Iraq was a bad idea? Thank god you had a place you could say that. That's what's important about blogs, not that people can comment on your ideas. As long as they can start their own blog, there will be no shortage of places to comment. What there is always a shortage of, however, is courage to say the exceptional thing, to be an individual, to stand up for your beliefs, even if they aren't popular.

I sat next to Steven Levy the other night at dinner in NY. He volunteered that in his whole career he had never written a word that wasn't approved of by someone else, until he started a blog. I applaud him for crossing the line. I give him a lot of credit for writing without a safety net. It really is different. Comments wouldn't make the difference, what makes the difference is standing alone, with your ideas out there, with no one else to fault for those ideas. They are your responsibility, and yours alone.

For me, the big rush came when I started publishing DaveNet essays in late 1994. I would revise and edit, for an hour maybe more, before hitting the Send button. Once I did that, there was no turning back. The idea was out there, with my name on it. All the disclaimers (I called the essays "Amusing rants from Dave Winer's desktop") wouldn't help, if the ideas were bad, they were mine. But if they were good, they were mine too. That's what makes something blog-like, imho.

[Scripting News]

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:11:07 GMT

Young Turn to Web Sites Without Rules. While sites like YouTube and Myspace crack down on nudity and violence, new sites are treading into the realm of unfiltered live broadcasts. By BRAD STONE. [NYT > Technology]

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:25:57 GMT

Feds: NJ worker put 'bomb' in computers (AP).

AP - A computer administrator upset over the possibility of losing his job planted an electronic "bomb" in the systems of/> [Yahoo! News: Technology News]

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:20:49 GMT

The last post on the Google API.

We were excited when the Google API came online, we waited for them to come up with a licensing plan that would allow developers to build Internet-scale applications using the API. Today, the wait is over, and it's not good news.

Google is deprecating the API, which means, for now, they will continue to implement their side of it, but they won't be issuing new keys, and presumably we should not wait for a business plan. This leaves the door open to others -- my recommendation would be to support the API as-is so that developers who have built on it can just change the name of the server and their software works. Google blinked in search. Who would have thought such an opportunity would present itself. Seems a perfect opening for Amazon or Yahoo.

Postscript: The discussion here has taken an interesting turn.

[Scripting News]

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:18:05 GMT

Two notes about TV shows.

My parents were here for the lasagna dinner on Sunday and for breakfast on Monday. My dad, as usual, is full of stories. Apparently he's been watching Dr. Phil, because he quotes him all the time. "What were you thinking?" is the punchline of many of his tales. It's often a good question.

For no special reason, I want to say that Deal or No Deal has become my favorite TV show. Ever since Howie Mandel made an appearance on Studio 60, I've been tuning in whenever I can. It's a very nice show. A little math and a lot of spunk.

[Scripting News]

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:27:40 GMT

More shoppers take online plunge; sales hit $670 million in record day (USATODAY.com). USATODAY.com - Online retail sales from Nov. 1 through Friday were up 25% over 2005, says Internet market research firm ComScore Networks. ComScore says last Wednesday was likely the biggest online shopping day of the year and, with nearly $670 million in sales, topped last year's No. 1 day by over $100 million. [Yahoo! News: Technology News]

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:25:01 GMT

Russians do in blogs what few can in media: argue (Reuters). Reuters - Free and open debate has become a rarity in Russia's media which is mostly controlled by the state or business moguls. [Yahoo! News: Technology News]

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:22:45 GMT

Universities vulnerable to ID thieves (AP).

AP - Universities have become attractive targets for hackers who are taking advantage of the openness of the schools' networks, their decentralized security and the personal information they keep on millions of young adults.

[Yahoo! News: Technology News]

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 18:30:50 GMT

Goodbye to the embargo.

I read on Frank Shaw's blog that Nick Denton thinks that embargoes will soon be a thing of the past. I think this is a good thing, even though I fully understand why big companies like Microsoft (Shaw's client) have attempted to orchestrate product rollouts in the past. It made more sense before there were blogs, when the number of news outlets was finite, and when most people were dependent on intermediaries to find out about new products. That hasn't been true for quite some time, and it will be less true in the future.

The embargo system led to an inbred information flow, and created opportunities for competitors that didn't have the ear of the big pubs, like the NY Times, Fortune, Business Week or the Wall Street Journal. How many of the ideas that made a difference in the last few years were rolled out in the orchestrate and embargo system? When you see a rollout that's been orchestrated does that make you more or less interested? For me, if 18 big publications got the story before me, I'm not interested at all. If Om and Mike got it before me, ditto. And in a world where everyone is a publication, you just can't play favorites, you have to find a way to spread the news on your own, without help from middlemen.

Luckily it's easy to do. No reason you can't cover your own rollout. It requires that you undestand your product, have an idea how people will see it. It means maybe you haven't been that secretive about it while you were creating it. Chris Anderson's list of transparency features, which we've been writing about here for years, apply to businesses too. So what if your competitors know where you're going. Stop worrying about them so much, think more about the users.

The embargo system is a throwback to the ivory tower development system. But I'm sure of this -- in the future, the users are the designers, so you can't hide your ideas from them, they already know them, if you're barking up the right tree, if your ideas are any good. So goodbye to embargoes, and good riddance.

[Scripting News]

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 18:25:27 GMT

Danish police arrest hundreds. Danish police arrest more than 300 demonstrators as a protest against a youth centre closure turns violent. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 12:51:30 GMT

Return Fraud Earns Retailers' Wrath . Are you a serial returner? By that I mean, do you routinely return items, especially holiday gifts? If so, be forewarned. Some retailers have resorted to using a computer database to track customer returns and catch fraudulent or excessive returns. Return fraud, which by the way includes bringing back used merchandise for a full refund, will cost retailers $3.5 billion this holiday season, according to a recent report by the National Retail Federation. For the year, the retail industry says it stands to lose $9.6 billion from fraudulent returns. Meanwhile, returns are expected to accelerate after Christmas. ... By Michelle Singletary. [washingtonpost.com - Business News From The Washington Post]

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 13:48:29 GMT

Fox, Viacom, CBS and NBC discuss YouTube rival: WSJ (Reuters).

Reuters - News Corp.'s Fox, Viacom Inc., CBS Corp.. and NBC Universal are in talks about creating a video Web site to compete with Google Inc.'s YouTube, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

[Yahoo! News: Technology News]

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 15:04:17 GMT

Security hole found in Windows Media Player.

(InfoWorld) - Users are being advised to disable a certain type of file in Microsoft's Windows Media Player software following the discovery of a new security hole in the software.

The flaw, which affects Windows Media Player versions 9 and 10, could allow a malicious hacker to run unauthorized software on a victim's PC or cause a denial of service attack, according to security company FrSIRT, which rated the problem critical in an advisory Thursday.

The flaw is due to a buffer overflow error that can occur when Windows Media Player is used to run ".asx" media files, according to a warning from eEye Digital Security .

Such files open automatically in a Web browser, meaning a hacker would need only to post an infected .asx file in a Web page and then try to lure users to visit the page, eEye Digital said. An infected file could also be sent via email, in which case users would need to be persuaded to open it.

Microsoft said an initial investigation revealed that the "proof of concept" code could allow an attacker to execute code on a user's machine. It said it was unaware of any attempts to exploit the vulnerability, and it was unclear Friday morning if the proof of concept code it referred to was in the hands of hackers.

Users can protect against the vulnerability in Internet Explorer by preventing it from opening .asx files automatically. Turning off Active Scripting would also greatly reduce, but not eliminate, the risk, Microsoft said. FrSIRT also recommended that users upgrade to Windows Media Player 11 , which it said is not affected.

Microsoft was still determining Friday whether it needed to issue an "out of cycle" security fix for the problem or patch it with its next monthly software update.

The flaw was originally reported on Nov. 22, when it was identified only as a denial-of-service issue.

Some discussion boards described the problem as a "zero-day exploit," although it was unclear if that was the case. Zero-day exploits occur when exploit code is released on the same day that a flaw is uncovered, giving users no time to protect themselves.

It's been another busy week for Microsoft's security teams. On Tuesday the company warned of an unpatched vulnerability in Word that had been the subject of what it called "limited attacks." And on Thursday it said it was readying several patches for Visual Studio and Windows that it plans to release next week.

The patches currently due for next week do not address the problems with Word and Windows Media Player.

By James_Niccolai@idg.com (James Niccolai). [InfoWorld: Top News]

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 17:20:04 GMT

In Iraq, Reaction to Report Runs From Relief to Anger. Reaction varied among Iraqi politicians, who expressed appreciation, anger and ambivalence at sections of the report. By EDWARD WONG and ABDUL RAZZAQ AL-SAIEDI. [NYT > Home Page]

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 17:10:39 GMT

Islamist warning for Somali force. The powerful Islamists in Somalia warn they will fight peacekeepers, after the UN backs a peace force. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 17:09:10 GMT

Six hurt as tornado hits London. Buildings are wrecked and people are hit by flying debris as a tornado sweeps through several streets. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 17:06:55 GMT

Fairways and Greens, and a Flag in the Gallery. If Tiger Woods shepherded golf to a new place in the United States, Lorena Ochoa might one day be his equivalent in Mexico, a country of over 103 million still learning the intricacies of the sport. By DAMON HACK. [NYT > Sports]

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 14:12:29 GMT

Microsoft warns of new Word attack.

(InfoWorld) - There's now one more reason to be careful about opening Microsoft Office attachments.

Microsoft warned Tuesday of a new, unpatched memory corruption error in its word-processing software, and said that it was investigating reports of "limited" attacks that exploit the problem.

The bug can be exploited by adding a string of characters in a Word file that can corrupt the PC's memory and allow the attacker to run unauthorized software on the system, Microsoft wrote in a security advisory .

The bug affects many versions of the software, including Word 2000, 2002, and 2003, the Word Viewer 2003 and several versions of Microsoft Works.

It is rated 'critical' by the FrSIRT Web site, which compiles a list of software vulnerabilities.

As automatic security updates have become commonplace, attackers have focused more on developing attacks that leverage this kind of unpatched hole in the software, sometimes called 0day attacks. This trend has forced Microsoft to produce a growing number of software updates in recent months.

In particular, hackers turned their attention to Microsoft's Office products, which some researchers consider to be a more fruitful source of bugs than the Windows operating system.

"Cyber criminals know that 0days are very vulnerable and can be used to make lots of money," said Cesar Cerrudo, chief executive officer of security research firm Argeniss, in Parana, Argentina. These vulnerabilities can be exploited to install spyware or dangerous Trojan horse programs, or to add the victim's computer to a network of compromised PCs, called a botnet, which can then be used to send out spam or attack other systems, he said.

Microsoft's next set of security updates is due to be released on December 12.

By Robert_McMillan@idg.com (Robert McMillan). [InfoWorld: Top News]