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Happy Canada Day to our Canadian readers!
ISPs Exempt From Music Levies, Canada's Top Court Rules
Apple's Tiger Has A Powerful Nose
Commodore Challenges Apple Digital Music Dominance
Apple's Pod Of Gold
Dell Puts $100 Bounty On iPods
Apple's India Operations Chief Calls it Quits
Tiger, Longhorn Search For Desktop Answers
PC Mag: Gmail Review
PeopleSoft's Jesper Andersen to Speak at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference Today
PC Mag: Alert: New Internet Explorer Threat Defused by BHO Cop
Essential ActionScript 2.0 Released by O'Reilly
Mac Night Owl: The Tiger Report: Does Steve Want to Kill the Finder?
eWeek: Mississippi Launches Linux-Based Security[/url]

___

Happy Canada Day to our Canadian readers!

ISPs Exempt From Music Levies, Canada's Top Court Rules

CTV.ca News reports:

"In a ruling that's struck a sour note with songwriters, the Supreme Court has ruled that Canadian Internet service providers don't have to pay artists for the music stored on their servers.

"SOCAN, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada wanted the courts to compel ISPs to pay the annual levy as compensation for artists.

"....the ten-year legal battle over the issue has ended with the Supreme Court ruling against the levy.

"If the high court had gone the other way, ISPs argued, demands for music fees could soon be followed by similar levies on images, books, movies, software and all the other copyrighted material they serve up daily.

"In that event, the cost of Internet service would skyrocket.

"In a 9-0 decision, the court said that companies providing access to the Web are not bound by federal copyright legislation because they are merely 'intermediaries.'

"Reporting from Toronto, CTV's David Akin says the court ruling sends a clear message -- that ISPs can't be held responsible for the third-party content stored on their networks."

For the full report, visit here:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1088603700200_81?hub=SciTech






Apple's Tiger Has A Powerful Nose

Forbes' Arik Hesseldahl says:

" If it's possible to search the Internet with the kind of precision that search engines like Google and Teoma.com provide, why has it always been so difficult to accurately search for what's in our own hard drives?

"It almost makes you want to slap your head and say "duh!" And anyone else who was paying attention to this week's speech by Apple Computer Chief Executive Steve Jobs may be thinking the same thing.

"As part of his demonstration of several upcoming new features in Apple's forthcoming operating system (OS) upgrade, codenamed Tiger, Jobs unveiled a feature called Spotlight that acts like Google for hard drives, only a little bit more organized. It will be positioned directly in the upper-right hand corner of the screen."

For the full report, visit here:
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2004/06/30/cx_ah_0630tentech.html






Commodore Challenges Apple Digital Music Dominance

The Register's Tony Smith says:

"Watch out, Apple, another microcomputing pioneer from the 1970s is moving into the digital music business with a portable, hard drive-based music player.

"Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Commodore is back, this time with its an MP3 player. Dubbed the e-Vic, it's named after the old Vic-20 games machine. The connection: the e-Vic has a 20GB hard drive.

".....The player features MP3, WMA and WAV support, and sports a 128 x 64 pixel blue-backlit display. There's a sufficiently large RAM buffer to provide 28 minutes of no-skip audio, which can be tweaked through the built-in five EQ pre-sets or a user-defined EQ setting. In addition to playback, the unit will record voice memos and encode audio straight to MP3....

"The player hooks up to a host PC as a USB Mass Storage device, ensuring compatibility with Mac and Linux as well as Windows. "

For the full report, visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/30/cbm_vs_apple/






Apple's Pod Of Gold

The Herald Sun's Greg Thom says:

"If ever a single device has had an impact on the mindset of consumers way beyond its actual size, it is Apple's iPod.

"Barely larger than a deck of cards, the beautifully designed, deceptively simple digital audio player has redefined the notion of listening to music on the move.

"It is the Walkman of the 21st century.

" ....iPod is much more than just another hi-tech gadget. It is arguably the most desired object of its type on the planet. "

For the full report, visit here.






Dell Puts $100 Bounty On iPods

CNET News.com's John G. Spooner reports:

"Dell wants your old iPod and is willing to pay to get it.

"The Round Rock, Texas, PC maker on Wednesday unveiled an offer that grants music player customers a $100 rebate on a 15GB Digital Jukebox when they send it an Apple Computer iPod music player to be recycled.

"The rebate, available only on the 15GB Dell Digital Jukebox, is designed to woo would-be repeat iPod buyers and also to raise the profile of the Dell DJ versus the iPod. Apple's iPod, now in its third year, is the leading portable music player.....

"Dell claims that lower price and longer-lasting batteries are two things that distinguish the Digital Jukebox from the iPod."

For the full report, visit here.







Apple's India Operations Chief Calls it Quits

The ChannelTimes Staff report:

"After a stint of over two and half years, Apple India managing director Mahendran Balachandran has resigned from his post

"Sources revealed that the Tektronix veteran had left the organization two months back and currently the India operations are being handled by the finance director, Narendra Telang.

"This development is seen as a blow to the company as Apple was beginning to gain a strong footing in the price-sensitive Indian market with its iPods and iMacs product range.

"Last year, Apple widened its base with its increased focus on the education and retail segment. It set up its only Apple retail center in Bangalore, which has on display digital cameras, camcorders, iPods and so on."

For the full report, visit here.






Tiger, Longhorn Search For Desktop Answers

CNET News.com's Ina Fried reports:

"Microsoft and Apple Computer are searching for the same thing with their next operating systems: a better way to find stuff on an increasingly cluttered hard drive.

"The software makers have made scouring for information a top priority. In large part, that's because hard drives have continued to grow, stretching the limits of old ways of accessing information, such as looking through folders....

"Apple promises that Tiger, the next version of Mac OS X, will be able to track down information that can't be found by hand using a search engine feature called "Spotlight." The technology, shown off at Apple's developer conference this week, is planned for the first half of next year. Microsoft, too, is planning to make search tools a centerpiece of Longhorn, its next update of Windows, which is not expected to debut until 2006 at the earliest.....

"One thing Apple has on its side is timing, as Tiger is scheduled to arrive a year before Longhorn. But it's unclear how much of a financial or market edge that will be for Apple. "

For the full report, visit here.






PC Mag: Gmail Review

"As it did with Internet searching, Google is looking to raise the bar in the Web e-mail category with its Gmail service. It's a fine service for anyone, and is particularly attractive for power users who require lots of storage and deal with a large volume of e-mail. We just hope this initial "test" phase is successful and the company rolls it out as a permanent offering."

Read more at:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1618669,00.asp






PeopleSoft's Jesper Andersen to Speak at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference Today

WHO: PeopleSoft Group Vice President and General Manager, Tools &
Technology, Jesper Andersen

WHAT: "Safari in the Enterprise"

Today, PeopleSoft announced plans to certify Apple Safari, the
fastest browser on the Macintosh, for PeopleSoft
EnterpriseOne solutions. Having previously certified
PeopleSoft Enterprise applications on the Safari web browser,
the addition of PeopleSoft EnterpriseOne certification marks
the enterprise applications industry's largest commitment to
the Macintosh platform. At Apple Computer's premier developer
event, PeopleSoft's Jesper Andersen will discuss how
PeopleSoft and Apple have teamed to provide PeopleSoft
customers with increased platform choice and the highest
performance application environment for Mac OS X users.

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is the
definitive annual Apple event for developers and technologists
from around the world. The conference features in-depth
sessions on technical topics of interest to commercial
hardware and software developers, in-house developers, IT
managers, database developers, system administrators, content
creators, web developers, scientists, consultants, systems
integrators, and more.

WHEN: Thursday, July 1, 2004 - 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. (PDT)

WHERE: Moscone Center West
747 Howard Street
San Francisco, Calif. 94103

For more information on Apple WWDC, visit:
http://www.apple.com/wwdc

PeopleSoft is the world's second largest provider of enterprise application software with 12,200 customers in more than 25 industries and 150 countries. For more information, visit:
http://www.peoplesoft.com






PC Mag: Alert: New Internet Explorer Threat Defused by BHO Cop

"An insidious new threat appeared online recently which attempts to steal your online banking passwords while you enter them in Internet Explorer.

According to reports at eWEEK, the Trojan horse program installs itself via a rogue pop-up window and monitors text you enter into forms on Web pages, including when you enter your username and password into log-on forms at online banks.

Once installed, the program acts as a Browser Helper Object (BHO) where it can snatch data from your online Web surfing sessions and send it anywhere it wants."

Read more at:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,,1618617,00.asp






Essential ActionScript 2.0 Released by O'Reilly

Author Colin Moock--one of the most universally respected developers in the Flash community--wants readers of the new "Essential ActionScript 2.0" (O'Reilly, US $39.95) to reap the rewards of using object-oriented programming (OOP), what he terms, "one of the most important revolutions in programming history." In this, his latest book, he aims to deliver everything programmers need to maximize their productivity in ActionScript 2.0.

Moock succeeds without question, says Gary Grossman of Macromedia, Flash architect and creator of ActionScript. According to Grossman, "This book delivers a complete education in harnessing the power of ActionScript 2.0, coupled with the best practices for doing so. Colin illustrates not just how to write ActionScript but how to write great ActionScript."

Introduced in Flash MX 2004 and Flash MX Professional 2004, ActionScript 2.0 offers a formal object-oriented programming syntax and methodology for creating Flash applications. ActionScript 2.0's new OOP-based development techniques make applications more natural to plan and conceptualize; more stable; more reusable across projects; easier to maintain, change, expand upon, and test; and much more. In short, they enhance the entire development process.

"Essential ActionScript 2.0" covers not only ActionScript syntax but also object-oriented design and object-oriented programming. Experienced developers will learn how ActionScript 2.0 differs from ActionScript 1.0, how to upgrade legacy code to the new version, and how to make the most of ActionScript 2.0 and its OOP features. Seasoned Flash developers and programmers coming from other languages will enjoy the sheer depth of Moock's coverage and expertise in this book. Novice programmers will appreciate the frequent, low-jargon explanations that are often glossed over by advanced programming books.

Readers can expect:
-An overview of the language, including the fundamentals of object-oriented concepts, syntax, and usage. (Those who are new to OOP will learn the basics and how to apply their understanding; those who are familiar with OOP will leverage their prior experience to learn about Flash-based OOP.)
-The skills and know-how to structure entire applications with ActionScript 2.0, including best practices and techniques for building more scalable, extensible, stable applications. -Ways to apply proven and widely accepted object-oriented programming strategies, known as design patterns, to Flash (with coverage of key topics such as event broadcasting and user interface management).

With this essential guide, developers and programmers at all levels of experience will be able to use the extraordinarily powerful language and its methodologies with confidence and skill to produce movies, animation, and applications on the web.

Chapter 2, "Object-Oriented ActionScript," is available online at:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/0596006527/chapter/index.html

For more information about the book, including table of contents, index, author bio, and samples, see:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/0596006527/

Essential ActionScript 2.0
Colin Moock
ISBN 0-596-00652-7,
502 pages,
$39.95 US, $57.95 CA

1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000

For more information, visit:
http://www.oreilly.com






Mac Night Owl: The Tiger Report: Does Steve Want to Kill the Finder?

No, this is not just another conspiracy theory.

Here's the URL for today's commentary:

http://www.macnightowl.com/index.htm#finder






eWeek: Mississippi Launches Linux-Based Security

"The state of Mississippi has launched a Linux-based, mobile public safety system that links police, fire and emergency services to a single DB2 database.

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., announced the successful initial deployment of the public safety system, Mississippi ASP (Automated System Project)-a mobile data infrastructure that's based on IBM eServer hardware and IBM DB2 and Novell SUSE Linux software-at a press conference at the University of Southern Mississippi."

Read more at:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1618673,00.asp



***



Charles W. Moore


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