Volume 4, Issue 47        Atari Online News, Etc.       November 22, 2002   
                                                                           
                                                                              
                  Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2002
                            All Rights Reserved

                          Atari Online News, Etc.
                           A-ONE Online Magazine
                Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
                      Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
                       Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor


                       Atari Online News, Etc. Staff

                        Dana P. Jacobson  --  Editor
                   Joe Mirando  --  "People Are Talking"
                Michael Burkley  --  "Unabashed Atariophile"
                   Albert Dayes  --  "CC: Classic Chips"
                         Rob Mahlert  --  Web site
                Thomas J. Andrews  --  "Keeper of the Flame"


                           With Contributions by:

                                Kevin Savetz



      To subscribe to A-ONE, change e-mail addresses, or unsubscribe,
                log on to our website at: www.atarinews.org
                       and click on "Subscriptions".
      OR subscribe to A-ONE by sending a message to: dpj@atarinews.org
          and your address will be added to the distribution list.
      To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE
    Please make sure that you include the same address that you used to
                              subscribe from.

        To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
                              following sites:

                http://people.delphiforums.com/dpj/a-one.htm
                        http://www.icwhen.com/aone/
                           http://a1mag.atari.org
                               Now available:
                          http://www.atarinews.org


                 Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
                   http://forums.delphiforums.com/atari/



                                  =~=~=~=



A-ONE #0447                                                 11/22/02

   ~ Drying Up Spam Deluge! ~ People Are Talking!    ~ Voice Mouse Debuts!
   ~ AMBER Alert Launched!  ~ HiRes Magazine Online! ~ October Sales Strong
   ~ Global Jurisdiction?!  ~ Madster In Contempt?!  ~ Virtual Brain?
   ~ Atari800Win Plus Out!  ~ WinDom & Dfrm Now LGPL ~ Xbox Live Selling!

                  -* Feds Get New Snooping Powers *-
               -*  Microsoft Discloses Serious Flaw!  *-
           -* eBay Unveils Used Electronics Online Store *-



                                  =~=~=~=



->From the Editor's Keyboard              "Saying it like it is!"
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""


What a beast of a week it's been around here!  The weather, outside of one 
day, has been horrendous!  Last weekend was a bust for cleaning up leaves.  
I can't even see my lawn these days because of them.  Rain and a little snow 
last weekend, and the potential for the same this weekend.  I was hoping to 
be done with yard work until the spring, but that obviously isn't working 
out the way I planned.  And I didn't even procrastinate doing this work; the 
yard was clean for awhile!  I guess we'll have to wait and see!

On the plus side, I did take advantage of the lousy weather to get some 
holiday shopping done.  For me, this is a rare occasion because I'm usually 
a last-minute shopper, slopping through the snow to get it done.  Doing any 
holiday shopping before Thanksgiving is unheard of for me!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, it's almost upon us.  Finally, this year, I'll be 
doing the cooking rather than going to my in-laws for the holiday.  That 
means....leftovers!!  And no relatives dropping by!  I'm hoping to drive to 
Maine to see my father and brother over that weekend, so that should be fun. 
I'm hoping that you all - at least those who celebrate - have a terrific day 
of Thanksgiving.  It's one of my favorite holidays, for the food alone!  
When I was younger, there were many traditions that I enjoyed such as the 
annual Turkey Day football game between the two high school rivals, seeing 
all of my friends during the college break, family, etc.  Now it's more of 
my father calling me to rub it in because his high school alma mater beat my 
high school alma mater again!  Most of my friends are no longer around the 
area.  And, the family has splintered enough that it's difficult to get 
everyone together like we used to do.  So I guess the trip to Maine will fix 
some of those traditions at least.  I hope that many of you will be able to 
be with family on this holiday and be thankful for the opportunity.  
Tradition, especially family traditions, are extremely important.  Enjoy 
them while you can.

Until next time...



                                  =~=~=~=



                        WinDom and Dfrm Are Now LGPL


WinDom and Dfrm are now distributed under the conditions specified by 
the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENCE.

WinDom is a GEM C-library devoted to creating GEM applications. 

http://windom.free.fr/



                       Atari800Win Plus 3.1 Released


Version 3.1 of Atari800Win PLus has been released. The emulator is based 
on Atari800 kernel 1.2.4 (with the latest changes) and has lots of new 
features like network games support using Kaillera library, sector 
counter, emulation of XL/XE machines with memory capacity of range from 
16 KB to 1088 KB, large XEGS cartridges, MegaCart cartridges and 
switchable XEGS cartridges support, emulation of MultiJoy4 interface.

http://atariarea.nostalgia.pl/PLus/index_us.htm



                    Full Text of Hi-Res Magazine Online


The full text of Hi-Res Magazine is now online at the Classic Computer 
Magazine Archive.

http://www.atarimagazines.com

Hi-Res was a short-lived magazine, published from 1983 to 1984, 
dedicated to the Atari 8-Bit and Commodore 64 computers. The archive 
includes the full text of (all?) four issues. (The publisher recalls 
that six issues were published, but no one we consulted has seen issues 
beyond number four.  If anyone can verify the existence of issues 5 and 
6, please let me know.)

Highlights include:

Atari, Inc.: The Early Years, An Unauthorized History
    http://www.atarimagazines.com/hi-res/v1n1/atarihistory.php

Video Game Guru - Activision's David Crane
    http://www.atarimagazines.com/hi-res/v1n2/davidcrane.php

Preview of the Commodore 264 Computer
    http://www.atarimagazines.com/hi-res/v1n4/the264.php

Club Med & Atari
    http://www.atarimagazines.com/hi-res/v1n3/clubmedatari.php

34 Atari and C64 Software Reviews
    http://www.atarimagazines.com/hi-res/index/showreviews.php

Enjoy!
Kevin Savetz



                                  =~=~=~=



                             PEOPLE ARE TALKING
                          compiled by Joe Mirando
                             joe@atarinews.org



Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Mother nature is being a bit cagey with her
choices lately. Warmer than normal, cooler than normal, fog, freezing
rain... whatever she feels like throwing at us. Strange days, indeed.

While the weather is so unpredictable, I'm stuck inside with my computer
and... my wife. The major difference between the two is that I can shut
off the computer. <grin>

While I'm inside and looking for something to do, I tend to let my mind
wander a bit. I find that it's like a little mini-vacation.

Yesterday I was thinking about the Jaguar. No, not the car. The Atari game
machine. I've never been a great video game player... my nieces and
nephews routinely beat me at any game they choose... but it's fun none
the less.

Anyway, the reason I was thinking about the Jag was two-fold. First,
Apple's latest operating system is codenamed "Jaguar". Second, they've
been showing Jaguar car commercials around here lately. I guess they're
expecting us to go out and buy each other Jags for Christmas.

What I find most annoying is not the fact that an operating system was
named after an animal, nor that a car could well cost more than many
people make in a year (although both of those things do annoy me). It's
the fact that, in both cases, people seem to have a basic problem in
simply pronouncing the name.

Steve Jobs likes to pronounce "Jaguar" as "Jag-Wire". The snooty voice on
the car commercial pronounces it "Jag-U-Are". While it's not the first
time that I've heard it pronounced either of those ways, it still annoys
me. Both of them are accepted, I guess, but is there really a need to
make things so complicated? Add to the mix the fact that I recently heard
someone pronounce it "Jag-U-Wire", and I'll probably strike the next
person who pronounces it in ANY fashion.

Hey, who says that I don't have the holiday spirit? <grin>

Speaking of the holidays, they're on their way. Stores are already
predicting a bad year for gift-buying. To tell the truth, I'm not sure
that that's such a bad thing. We've gotten so accustomed to judging
people and situations by the price of a gift instead of the VALUE of it,
that it's possible that we need to "re-set".

Last year, as a lark, I burned a couple of Christmas CDs for friends. Now
these weren't your run-of-the-mill holiday CDs. They (they contained the
same songs) were titled "Christmas Songs Your Mother Never Sang", and
contained... well, let's say 'less than traditional' songs. The songs
were carefully selected according to the tastes of the recipients.

Now, for those of you thinking about how terrible and twisted it is that I
would take a joyful holiday and turn it into nothing more than a reason
for comedy songs I say, "lighten up". The songs weren't obscene or
sacrilegious, and no animals were hurt during the making of the CDs. And
it brought smiles and warmth to many more people than just the two that I
gave them to for quite a bit longer than the average Christmas gift.

The CDs weren't expensive, and they weren't rare, or even "special". It
was the gift itself that was special. I'm kind of in a corner when it
comes to doing things that require creativity because I've got none. I'm
sure that almost all of the people reading this leave me in the dust when
it comes to creativity... including YOU.

It doesn't take much to give a special gift. It doesn't have to be a
traditional gift, it doesn't have to be expensive, and it doesn't have to
be "normal". It just takes a little bit of thought. So while the stock
market is bemoaning the loss of the Christmas rush, go out and buy some
blank CDs or some construction paper and glue, or whatever it is that you
need to make that special gift.

Enough of that. Let's get on with the news, hints, tips, and info
available from the UseNet.

From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================

Derryck Croker talks a bit about using a cable modem:

"I've come to the conclusion that a hardware router is the best solution
for me, and at about 60UKP isn't too expensive as it can be hidden as an
early Xmas present.

I'd still like to hear of a solution to the business of using a Mac's
Ethernet port under MagiCMac, I'm surprised that this apparently hadn't
been addressed a long time ago. I'd like to continue to use some Atari
Internet clients under MagiCMac, Emailer is still the easiest and neatest
mail and usenet client IMHO, although I'd be happy to use Okami.

Of course there's not really any competition to using the usual browsers
under the native OS for web browsing."

Djordje Vukovic tells Derryck:

"Note that, AFAIK, the NAT router has to have a sort of extended
capability in order for the FTP to work. I think that most, but not all
NAT implementations have this feature (this has something to do with the
network address being contained in the packets themselves when FTPing,
contrary to other TCP/IP traffic- or something like that).

It may be of interest that there seems to be some old and fairly simple
but probably sufficiently good routing/gateway stuff for the PCs, running
in plain DOS (don't know if it handles NAT). According to the docs, even
an old PC AT at 10 or 16 MHz, equipped with two network cards and running
DOS has sufficient capability to handle 10Mbit/s Ethernet routing without
bottlenecks. In this way one could provide himself with a router at no
cost at all."

Rod Smith tells Djordje:

"True. FTP isn't unique in this respect, either. Some NAT routers fail
with specific protocols. Most NAT implementations work fine with all
the common protocols, though, including FTP. Some gaming, multimedia,
and VPN protocols don't work well with many NAT implementations."

Michael Schwingen adds:

"http://www.fli4l.de/  has a popular, free solution - since it is
Linux-based, you will need at least a 386, but 486 to 586 machines can be
had for free nowadays, so that should not be a problem."

Jonathan Adams asks a monitor question:

"I have a Sony Multiscan 100sx monitor. Will it work with all video modes
on an Atari ST?"

Edward Baiz tells Michael:

"I would think it would be possible if you used a piece of ST
hardware called a Video Key and a video converter. I have used
this setup to hook my STe up to my Compaq monitor."

Steve Sweet adds:

"If they do fail then its unlikely to cause any damage so you've nothing
to lose by trying."

Charles Stanley posts this about Papyrus:

"After extensive explorations, I have to conclude that Papyrus is finally
dead as the Dodo. After all the promises..... "

Derryck Croker asks Charles:

"The web page explains that there are problems taking credit card orders
ATM, is that cause to give up hope?"

Steve Sweet adds:

"That alone is not reason to declare it dead, although its been receiving
CPR for some while now as we've discussed before."

Charles tells Derryck and Steve:

"That must be a different web page than those I saw. One says that Rom-
Logicware has, if remember aright, ceased trading; another - I forget
which - has their remaining stuff for sale, but Papyrus is not on their
list. I was shocked and saddened.

If I have misunderstood, please correct me energetically and I will
apologise without restraint. Indeed, I am sorry I posted in the first
place."

Derryck tells Charles:

"Ah, I see - I'd assumed that you'd gone to R.O.M's home page itself and
garnered this. It's still the same info that was there (re the credit card
info) a couple of months ago. They never kept it updated very often
anyway.

I don't have any insider info about this situation at all, if you come to
any conclusion I'd be glad to hear it! Post away..."

Ulli Ramps tells Charles:

"First, R.O.M. logicware is fine and growing, we didn't have any problems
in general, but in detail - only with the English version:

As I already told on our homepage, the highest court of Germany decided
to place the credit card companies in duty for all business between the
dealer and the customer - which of course is horribly silly.

As a result, the main credit card companies (VISA, Mastercard, ...)
found this as silly and stupid as we do and quit every contract with
long distance dealers in Germany, like we are.

What made us freeze our English language business somewhat, because
there is no clever way to get our money, any longer ...
"Freezing" means, that we didn't force the translation files for Papyrus
9, but they are nearly through, only some days for the finishing - but
if it would be ready for release, this would increase the problems,
because what to do then? How to sell?

This funny farm decision of our highest court has stopped our foreign
language business for months, now. And still does. Great, huh?

The situation's still there, but some in-between-financial-companies
promise to find a way to take the risk and to allow companies like us to
take credit card orders, again.
We nerve them somewhat daily, to give us new credit card contracts, so I
expect us to be able to take orders again, in some weeks.

We have to be able, because there will be an English version quite soon
for sure:
We will release an Apple Macintosh native version of Papyrus (for MacOS
9.x and X) within the very next weeks, hopefully before Xmas, and of
course we really would like to sell it outside of Germany, as well,
somehow ..."

Well folks, that's it for this week. There weren't a lot of messages on
the UseNet... Everyone was probably out brainstorming about what kind of
special gift to give someone for Christmas. <grin>

Tune in again next week, same time, same station, and be ready to listen
to what they are saying when...

PEOPLE ARE TALKING



                                  =~=~=~=



->In This Week's Gaming Section  - October Games Sales Strong!
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""    GameBoy To Play On TV!
                                   'Law & Order' A Hit!
                                   And more!


        
                                  =~=~=~=



->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News   -  The Latest Gaming News!
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



              October Game Sales Strong, 'Vice City' Dominates


Video game software sales were up sharply in October, financial analysts
said on Monday, as the hotly-anticipated criminal adventure game "Grand
Theft Auto: Vice City" made a smash-hit debut.

Software sales were up 73 percent in October and are up 31 percent for the
year, Gerard Klauer Mattison analyst Edward Williams said in a research
note issued on Monday, citing data released by market research service
NPDFunworld last week.

The top story of the month, though, was Take-Two Interactive Software
Inc.'s "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," which sold 1.4 million units between
its Oct. 29 launch and Nov. 2, at an average price of $48 each, generating
more than $68 million in projected revenue.

"Vice City," widely expected by analysts to be the best-selling game of
2002 and perhaps one of the top sellers of all time, is the follow-on to
"Grand Theft Auto 3," which was the best-selling game of 2001 and has sold
more than 7 million units to date.

In late October, the chief executive of specialty games retailer
Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. said at an investment conference that
the game had sold "closer to a million than half a million" units in its
first day.

In comparison, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, in a research note
last week, said the No. 2 game for the month, Electronic Arts Inc.'s "NBA
Live 2003," sold just over 260,000 units, generating just north of $13
million.

"The strong October retail sell through increases our confidence that we
will see significant increases in monthly retail sales figures for the
balance of the year, as most publishers gear up for the holiday season
with strong product releases," Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said
in a research note last Friday.

Pachter noted that 12 games sold more than 100,000 units in October, and he
said he expected more than 30 games to top that mark in November and more
than 100 to do so in December.



              Nintendo Plans Device For GameBoy to Play on TV


Japan's Nintendo Co Ltd said on Tuesday it would launch a device to allow
games used in its GameBoy series to be played on a TV screen via its
GameCube home video console.

With the new product, which will increase the selection of games that can
be played on GameCube, Nintendo hopes to recover some lost ground in its
mainstay home game console market where arch rival Sony Corp maintains a dominant lead on the strength of its
PlayStation 2 system.

Nintendo, known for its hit "Mario" and "Pokemon" games, said the new
device can be connected to the base of GameCube to allow game software for
the existing GameBoy, GameBoy Color and GameBoy Advance systems to be
played on TV screens.

The new player, which is flat with a square surface equal to that of the
GameCube, will hit store shelves next March in Japan and May in the United
States, followed by releases in Europe and Australia, the company said.

The device will sell for 5,000 yen ($41.32) in Japan.

The price tags for other markets have not been decided, a company spokesman
said, adding that Nintendo expects gamers will load up on hardware ahead of
the new product's release.

"We wanted to send a message to game lovers about what they will be able to
do with the GameCube console in the future," he said.

"In that way, we aim to shore up sales of GameCube hardware during the
upcoming Christmas shopping season."

He said there is big demand for a device that allows GameBoy users to play
the games on their home TVs, pointing to the sales of 6.9 million units of
a similar device in the past.

In 1994, Nintendo released a product that enabled GameBoy games to be
played on TVs via the Super Family Computer.

"Given technological advancements and the number of GameBoy games, we
expect the sales of the new device to exceed the past record," the
spokesman said.

But some analysts see little chance that the new product will accelerate
GameCube's sales.

"The device would provide existing GameBoy holders with more options and a
comfortable environment to play games, but it would not boost GameCube
sales dramatically nor snatch players from Sony's PlayStation 2," said
Takeshi Tajima, analyst at BNP Paribas.

Nintendo is locked in a fierce three-way battle with leader Sony and
laggard Microsoft Corp for dominance in the home game console market.

Nintendo's GameCube debuted in September 2001 and had sold a total of 1.59
million units by the end of September in Japan.

That's well behind Sony's PlayStation 2 with accumulated sales to the end
of September of more than 10 million units since its debut in March 2000.

But the GameCube is beating Microsoft's Xbox, which had sold only 278,860
in Japan by September since its delayed launch in February 2002.

Facing sagging demand for its GameCube hardware and software in addition
to a loss on its hefty foreign-currency assets, the Kyoto-based Nintendo
in October slashed its estimate for first-half recurring profit -- pre-tax
and excluding extraordinary items -- by 77 percent.

It also trimmed its shipment target for the GameCube console for this
business year to 10 million units from 12 million.

As part of its effort to boost drooping GameCube sales in Japan, Nintendo
plans to release a silver-colored GameCube console on December 1, followed
by a wireless controller for the GameCube on December 5.



                    Strong Demand for Xbox Online Gaming


Software giant Microsoft Corp. said on Friday that nearly all of its online
gaming systems have sold out in about one week on retail shelves, totaling
some 150,000 "Xbox Live" kits.

Xbox Live is an online gaming service launched last week by Microsoft, a
key component in the Redmond, Washington, company's $2 billion strategy to
make its video game console the center of a networked home entertainment
system.

"Virtually every Xbox Live Starter Kit at retail locations across the
United States and Canada has sold out in less than one week," the company
said in a statement. "(The kits) will be replenished throughout the holiday
season."

The $50 kit includes a one-year subscription to the service, demonstrations
of two games and a voice communication kit that will allow game players to
talk to each other through the company's global network.

Microsoft also reported related strength in sales of Xbox Live-enabled
games, while Xbox hardware sales have experienced an 18 percent
week-over-week increase in the first week of Xbox Live Starter Kit
availability.

Sony Corp., the leader in the game console market, in August launched its
competing online adapter, a $40 unit that attaches to the back of its
PlayStation 2 machine.

Analysts have said Microsoft's pre-launch estimate of 100,000 Xbox Live
users was conservative as the same number of people had already expressed
interest in joining test programs for the system.



              'Law & Order' CD-ROM Deserves Favorable Verdict


The new computer game based on television's popular "Law & Order" program
gives PC owners the chance to play both detective and prosecuting attorney
in the case of a murdered investment adviser.

"Law & Order: Dead on the Money" ($30, Windows) unfolds like an original
episode of the hit TV show, with interesting characters, sharp dialogue and
some nice twists and turns -- some of which involve insider trading on Wall
Street.

Legacy Interactive has created the mystery story and courtroom drama using
features typically found in an adventure game, such as video clips, scenes
to explore and plenty of personal interaction with the characters.

The "puzzles" involve finding a password to a computer, the combination to
a safe, and the right pieces of evidence to get people to spill their guts.

The story opens with the discovery of a woman's body in New York's Central
Park. Detective Lennie Briscoe is called to investigate and players assume
the role of Briscoe's partner.

The game uses virtual characters, sometimes known as cyberpuppets. But the
computer-generated humans have a convincing array of expressions: you can
see the perps twitch nervously when Briscoe and his partner ask the right
questions.

And there's nothing virtual about the voices. Jerry Orbach, who plays
Briscoe on the show, does the voice-over for his character, as do the
actors who play Briscoe's supervisor and the assistant district attorney.

The first half of the game focuses on the police investigation. At the
murder scene, the player must scour the area, looking for clues to the
identity of the victim. You'll need a good computer monitor to see some of
the tiny pieces of paper that must be picked up. Items that seem
significant must be stored in a case file, where they can be sent to the
crime lab or the research department to get more information.

When someone needs to be interviewed, the player selects from three
questions -- an aspect of the game that isn't particularly challenging.
Many of the questions are obviously not relevant to the investigation, and
if you miss the opportunity to ask a key question the first time, the game
gives you other chances.

The controls for the game are very easy to use. To send things to the lab,
just click on the casebook to open it, find the lab form, drag a picture of
the evidence into a box and click "submit." Your cell phone rings when the
results are ready. If you need to go somewhere, click on the map icon and
select the location -- but be careful because some locales are below the
screen and you need to scroll down.

If you identify the perpetrator and include all the key evidence into your
arrest warrant, you'll move on to the trial part of the game and assume the
role of prosecuting attorney.

You'll also have to do some gumshoe work because the judge has thrown out a
key piece of evidence, so you must snoop around for additional information.

At trial time, you select the order in which the prosecution witnesses are
presented and the questions to be asked. You can also object to a defense
question if it's out of line, although the game gives you only a few
seconds to do so -- something that is unlike in a real-life trial.

Players unfamiliar with court procedure can do a little research in the
assistant D.A.'s office to find explanations of the different reasons for
objecting as well as other rules. Those are important to know. Near the end
of the game, the defense tries to exclude a piece of testimony. If you
don't select the correct counter-argument (you have a 1 in 3 chance of
being right if you simply guess), you lose the case and the bad guy goes
free.

Fortunately, you can save the game at any point and try a different path.

Aside from the need to object almost immediately if the defense lawyer asks
a bad question, I have a few other objections to the game's design.

You can't dawdle in your investigations. For reasons that are not
explained, "Law & Order" gives you a time limit for finding all the right
clues and zeroing in on the suspect. In real life, the statute of
limitations for murder is a lot longer than one week.

There are times when the cursor takes on a life of its own, rapidly
skimming past the point on the screen where you're trying to click. It's
the most maddening element of the game.

Ultimately, with its twists and timing geared to the fast pace of TV drama,
"Law and Order: Dead on the Money" is guilty of simulating a television
drama better than a real-life murder mystery. But fans of the show and
people who like whodunit games will find that this CD-ROM acquits itself
well.



                                  =~=~=~=



                           A-ONE's Headline News
                   The Latest in Computer Technology News
                       Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson



                 eBay Unveils Used Electronics Online Store


Web auction site eBay Inc. launched a new online store on Monday designed
to make it easier for companies and consumers to buy used electronic
equipment, a bid to capitalize on tight budgets for spending on technology.

eBay also said it would offer free shipping on electronics in order to spur
consumer sales ahead of the crucial holiday season, a move that tightens a
high-stakes promotional competition with rival Amazon.com Inc.

Dubbed eBay Electronics (http://www.ebayelectronics.com), the new online
store has already been up and running as a test site, with 700,000 new,
refurbished, or used products for sale daily. The site is generating the
equivalent of $2.2 billion in annualized sales, according to the Web
auctioneer.

While eBay Electronics carries hot-selling consumer items such as digital
cameras, video games and flat panel displays, it also sells
enterprise-grade equipment as companies hurt by the tech spending downturn
sell off their equipment, often to other companies looking to save on
investment.

"We definitely have had more business buying activity on eBay over the last
year, said Todd Lutwak, director of eBay Electronics, "the best ideas from
eBay really bubble up from the community."

In addition to the formal launch of eBay Electronics at the Comdex trade
show in Las Vegas, eBay is also introducing free shipping on electronics in
order to spur consumer sales ahead of the year-end holiday season.

Free shipping has already helped boost sales at eBay rival Amazon.com Inc.
which cut shipping prices this year in response to customer demand for more
affordable online deals.

The promotional shipping offer gathers sellers on eBay willing to ship
items for free and features them on a separate section of eBay's online
auction store.

About half of the electronics good sold are used, while the other half are
a combination of new and refurbished goods, San Jose, California-based
eBay, said.

One video game is sold every second, 3 digital cameras are sold every
minute, 27 switches and routers are sold every hour and 1,800 laptop
computers are sold every day at the Web store, eBay said.



                    AOL Puts AMBER Alert Service Online


AMBER Alerts designed to quickly spread the word about missing and
kidnapped children are finding their way onto the displays of PCs, pagers,
and cell phones of anyone who signs up for the free service through America
Online.

The program is officially called America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency
Response, and was named after murdered nine-year-old Amber Hagerman of
Texas. Law enforcement transmits AMBER Alerts to television, cable, and
radio stations using the Emergency Broadcast System. There are currently
74 states, counties, and cities with AMBER Alert plans in place.

AOL announced the inaugural online implementation of AMBER Alerts in
October, and launched the service Thursday. The online service will send
the timely information to anyone, AOL customer or not. More than 70,000
people have already registered since AOL began accepting sign-ups in
October.

"The goal is to reach as many people online as possible, anywhere and
anytime," says Nicholas Graham, AOL spokesperson. "The more eyes made
available to law enforcement, the greater the possibility of saving a
child, and that is the goal."

To achieve that goal the company is using its existing AOL Alerts service,
which traditionally provides users with news, sports, and stock information
updates, he says.

AOL is operating the service in conjunction with the National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children and federal, state, and local law enforcement
authorities, Graham says.

"We're doing this as a coordinated campaign; we wanted interested people
to understand this is a serious issue," he says. AMBER Alerts are credited
with saving 36 lives so far.

AOL hopes to add to that number by delivering alerts to a much wider
audience, Graham says. In addition to its nearly 27 million online members,
AOL is offering the service to registered users of its free AOL Instant
Messenger service, as well as to anyone on the Internet with an e-mail
address, a text-based pager, or a cell phone.

Sign-up is free through AOL's site. Registered AOL or AIM users can plug
in their screen name for alerts broadcast through the instant messaging
(news - web sites) service. Other users must sign up for a free screen name
to get e-mail or text-based wireless messaging, Graham says.

During the sign-up process, users enter their zip codes so that AOL can
target the messages geographically. The company encourages users to provide
both their home and work zip codes.

Users who sign up for the alerts can expect to see them appearing shortly
after local law enforcement issues them to the Emergency Broadcast System,
he says. The messages are typically concise, offering information such as
the child's name and description, details about the alleged kidnapper, and
facts about the suspect's vehicle.



          Voice Mouse Turns Silent Computer Screens into 'Talkies'


Seventy-odd years after Mickey -- the world's first mouse with a voice --
made his debut in "Steamboat Willie," an Israeli-American technology firm
has introduced the world's first "voice mouse." The new hands-free
navigation tool promises to turn the last silent screens on the planet,
computer monitors, into "talkies" that respond to the spoken word.

Designed to enhance the accessibility of the most important communications
tool in a generation, the personal computer, the Commodio QPointer
HandsFree enables users to voice-navigate the Internet, write and send
e-mail, create and edit documents, and navigate the entire Windows
environment. Users "touch any object on a computer screen by voice,
similarly to the way a person uses a mouse," said Commodio president Ramy
Metzger.

Powered by a Microsoft speech recognition engine and Commodio's proprietary
technology, the QPointer allows users to point at screen objects by saying
the names of words or toolbar buttons.

With the cursor in position, users voice mouse commands, such as
"double-click," or "right-click." Individuals with limited use of arms or
hands can operate a computer using the QPointer -- and they represent a
growing market Commodio wants to accommodate, chief technology officer
Leonid Brailovsky told NewsFactor.

"We found that there exists an accessibility gap. New populations, such as
disabled and senior people, are entering the circle of computer users, and
there are no adequate means for them to access the computer," Brailovsky
explained.

"It is difficult or impossible for them to use the standard pointing
devices, like mouse, touch pad or trackball," he added. "These problems
become even more severe with the development of new computing environments
-- like mobile environments."

The QPointer voice mouse has found an enthusiastic audience among disabled
persons because it "gives a simple and intuitive solution to the problem
of computer access for these populations," Brailovsky said.

Voice-activated mouse commands take no more time than finger-driven points
and clicks, Brailovsky told NewsFactor. "It takes almost the same time to
point by voice mouse or by hand, even for a nondisabled person," he said.
"A person having hand motion impairments, repetitive strain injury or poor
vision will have a clear advantage."

Never a firm to disregard a potential technology market, Microsoft has
been developing assistive technologies for more than a decade, explained
Gary Moulton, manager of assistive technology vendor relations for the
Microsoft Accessible Technologies Group. "The QPointer HandsFree is a key
example of a technology that will empower people with disabilities to
realize their full potential," he told NewsFactor.

"Getting millions of new customers in the disabled population is not only
good business," Brailovsky commented, "it is also the law."



                      Microsoft Creating Virtual Brain


Researchers at Microsoft's Media Presence Lab are developing a "virtual
brain," a PC-based database that holds a record of an individual's complete
life experience. Called MyLifeBits, the project aims to make this database
of human memories searchable in the manner of a conventional search engine.

"By 2047, almost all information will be in cyberspace -- including all
knowledge and creative works," said one of the project's leaders, Gordon
Bell. "The most significant benefit will be a breakthrough in our ability
to remotely communicate with one another using all our senses."

To enable this remote communication, Bell's group is developing a
technology that he refers to as telepresence. "Telepresence technology
provides for both space and time shifting by allowing a user to communicate
with other users via text, graphics, voice, video and shared program
operation."

The core of the MyLifeBits project is an online PC-based system that holds
everything that can be digitally stored about an individual. Microsoft
researchers refer to it as a sort of "virtual shoebox" that holds all of a
person's e-mail, home movies, meeting details and other memorabilia.

Unlike a real shoebox, say the researchers, MyLifeBits would allow a user
to input a keyword like "pet" to see and hear all material relating to a
childhood pet.

In effect, MyLifeBits would allow a user to run a Google search on his or
her life. The database would be searchable in many ways, including by date,
allowing a businessperson to find all communications associated with a
given meeting, for instance.

MyLifeBits also would be capable of creating personal narratives by
cross-referencing chronological material related to two or more people in
an individual's life.

"It sounds like weblogging run amuck," Aberdeen Group analyst Dana Gardner
told NewsFactor, explaining that the current trend toward Internet
self-expression sometimes veers toward the obsessive.

Yet Gardner also sees the value of MyLifeBits, especially as a time capsule
for future historians.

He noted that there is currently an overcapacity problem in network fiber,
storage and processing capability. "We need to find the application that
will utilize the infrastructure that's available, and this sounds like a
way of doing that," he said.

Microsoft researcher Bell is himself the guinea pig for the prototype
system. He is uploading a massive amount of personal memorabilia, from his
trips to Alaska to his biking excursions in France. All of his e-mail is
stored on the system, as is his passport, all of his work documents, and
recordings of all of his phone calls.

Each of his myriad media files is tagged with a verbal or written
identifier, allowing them to be cross-linked to other files. His spoken
tags are converted into text files to make them searchable.

Bell said he believes that in the future, this process will be
streamlined. "We can optimistically assume that by 2010, speech input and
output will be ubiquitous and available for every system that has
electronics," he said.

One of the project's chief logistical hurdles involves developing a
cost-effective system with the memory capacity of the human mind.

The Microsoft researchers forecast that within five years, a 1,000 GB hard
drive will cost less than $300. While this would provide enough capacity
to store up to four hours of video per day for a year, it is still not
enough to store all of an individual's experiences.

Ensuring the security of MyLifeBits is also a crucial concern, especially
given the sensitive nature of the data to be archived. Because the system
would be online, making it "hack proof" would be critical before MyLifeBits
could become viable in the mass market.

Microsoft representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Jim Gemmell, one of the project's other leaders, described some of the
problems with creating this vast archive. "Indexing and retrieval of
photographs and video clips can be a headache," he said.

However, Gemmell added, "When it gets too frustrating to find something,
you can always watch some of some classic movies you've captured from
DVDs."



                        Feds Get New Snooping Powers


A secret U.S. federal appeals court has granted law enforcement officials
expanded domestic spying powers, allowing them to conduct a broad range of
electronic surveillance including Internet monitoring and keystroke logging
to track terrorism suspects.

The decision, released earlier this week, overturned a previous ruling by
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) last May. That decision
rejected the U.S. government's efforts to expand its domestic snooping
authority.

The move marks a decisive victory for law enforcement officials. It has,
however, sparked concern among civil libertarian groups that fear the new
powers will infringe on citizens' rights.

The appeals court ruling essentially tears down barriers for federal law
enforcement officials conducting surveillance operations. The agencies are
now empowered to listen in on phone calls, read e-mail, and conduct secret
searches.

Attorney General John Ashcroft hailed the decision, saying that it is a
"victory for liberty, safety and the security of the American people."

However, Ann Beeson, litigation director of the Technology and Liberty
Program of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has a very different
reaction.

The ACLU is "deeply disappointed with the decision," Beeson said in a
statement. The organization also suggests the secret appeals court "exists
only to rubber-stamp government applications for intrusive surveillance
warrants."

The decision was the first ever made by the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court of Review since it was created under law in 1978 in a
flurry of post-Watergate reforms.

The ACLU said it is thinking about seeking an appeal of the decision to the
U.S. Supreme Court, but added that only the government could directly
appeal its rulings.

Meanwhile, Ashcroft said he is directing a series of actions in light of
the decision. Among those expanded investigations is a proposal for a
computer system that will allow agents to submit surveillance applications
from the field in real time directly to FBI headquarters and to the
Department of Justice for approval.

That plan follows a U.S. Department of Defense project involving a new
computer system that will sort through commercial and private databases and
other information in search of patterns that might indicate terrorist
activities. That effort is part of the Information Awareness Office within
the DOD's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.



                     Madster Said Violating Court Order


The recording industry filed a contempt motion against Madster, claiming
the file sharing service is disregarding a court order to stop the swapping
of copyrighted songs and files on its Web site.

U.S. District Judge Marvin Aspen in Chicago ordered Madster to disable
access to copyrighted materials on its site under terms of a preliminary
injunction issued Oct. 31. The judge found evidence that the swapping of
songs on Albany, N.Y.-based Madster, like Napster before it, violated
copyright law.

The Recording Industry Association of America, a trade group for recording
companies, filed a motion late Wednesday asking Aspen to find Madster in
contempt of that order and to appoint a "compliance officer" who could shut
the service down, if necessary.

The Madster site continued to advertise $4.95 a month memberships Thursday.
Madster founder Johnny Deep said he would decline comment until filing his
response to the motion, which he expected to do on Friday.

Madster started out as a free service called Aimster, but was forced to
change its name as part of a settlement agreement with America Online,
whose instant-messaging service is called AIM.

It was just the beginning of Madster's legal struggles. Multiple lawsuits
involving Madster were consolidated in Chicago, although that litigation
was put on hold in March after bankruptcy filings were made by Deep and two
companies involved in the service's operations.

A bankruptcy judge in Albany lifted the stay for the limited purpose of
allowing plaintiffs to seek the preliminary injunction motion.



                  Peer-to-Peer Lawsuit Faces Legal Hurdle


In a case that tests global jurisdiction issues, a U.S. federal judge is
set to consider Monday whether entertainment companies can sue in U.S.
courts the off-shore distributor of the Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing
software.

The company behind the popular P-to-P software, Sharman Networks, is
incorporated in the island nation of Vanuatu, operates out of Australia,
and distributes the software from servers located outside of the U.S.

Los Angeles District Court Judge Stephen Wilson is slated to decide if the
entertainment companies may sue Sharman Networks for allowing the illegal
trading of their copyrighted works over the company's P-to-P network in
U.S. courts.

Sharman Networks is arguing that it has no substantial contacts in the
U.S. and therefore the companies lack jurisdiction to take it to court
here.

The hearing is part of a larger case brought by a handful of movie and
music companies against P-to-P networks Kazaa, Morpheus, and Grokster. The
entertainment companies are seeking a summary judgment against the
defendants, claiming that they knowingly allow copyright-protected works
to be traded on their networks, dubbing them "candy stores of
infringement."

A hearing to consider the summary judgment is scheduled for December 2.

The entertainment powerhouses have already succeeded in a similar bid
against P-to-P renegade Napster, which was knocked offline last year.
However, unlike Napster, the new generation of P-to-P networks argue that
they have no central servers and therefore cannot be shutdown.

Meanwhile, the judge's consideration of whether Kazaa can be sued in the
U.S. could help set a precedent concerning global jurisdictional issues.

The hearing is slated for 1:30 p.m. PST Monday at the U.S. District Court
for the Central District of California in Los Angeles.




                    Microsoft Discloses Flaw in Windows


Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday disclosed a security flaw of "critical"
severity in most versions of its popular Windows operating system.

In its 65th security bulletin of the year, Microsoft urged users of Windows
2000, Millennium, 98 and NT 4.0 to download a software patch from the
company's security Web site. Microsoft's newest version, Windows XP, does
not have the problem.

Attackers could exploit a vulnerability in the software that underlies many
database functions and take over the user's computer.

The security bulletin is the first to be issued in a simpler format, which
Microsoft adopted due to complaints that its bulletins were overly detailed
and confusing. The technically detailed bulletins were geared more for
developers or system administrators, rather than everyday users, Steve
Lipner, Microsoft's security assurance director, wrote in an e-mail to
customers.

Microsoft will continue to issue more technical versions for those who want
them, Lipner wrote.

The company also added a new category of "important" to how it rates the
severity of the security flaws. The most urgent flaws are termed
"critical;" the second-most urgent are "important;" the next level is
"moderate" and the last is "low."



                    Cloudmark Aims To Dry Up Spam Deluge


Cloudmark, best-known for SpamNet, a community approach to sniffing out
junk E-mail, this week released an enterprise spam hunter/killer engine
that identifies unwanted messages by their structure--or spam DNA--rather
than by their domains or keywords.

Authority, as the engine is dubbed, blocks spam at the gateway, preventing
it from entering a company's network and eating up precious employee
productivity.

"Spam's an incredible waste of [enterprise] resources," Cloudmark CEO Karl
Jacob says. "It saps employee productivity to the tune of billions of lost
dollars. We call it the silent productivity killer."

Authority approaches spam detection in an entirely different way than other
anti-spam products, Jacob says. It predicts whether a message is spam by
examining its structure and looking for the kind of mutations--composition
tricks, essentially--that spammers commonly employ in order to outwit more
mundane spam defenses.

"The basic idea is that E-mail messages have structure, just as human DNA
does," Jacob says. "DNA can be mutated, and so can E-mail messages."
Spammers, he says, commonly mutate traditional message structures, which
is what Authority looks for. "Rather than analyze words, we look at the
packaging of the message," he says.

Cloudmark relied on its experience with SpamNet, a peer-to-peer network of
more than 200,000 users who report spam to a central database, to identify
probable spam structures. "These spam 'genes' are derived from years of
looking at millions of messages," Jacob says.

Some spammers encode the body of the message in binary, which the receiving
E-mail client--not knowing any better--happily decodes. Traditional
anti-spam software lets such messages through, because it sees only the
binary numbers, not offensive words.

Another technique that spammers use to make messages stand out or attract
attention, Jacob says, is to use repetitive characters, such as multiple
spaces between words or exclamation points. If a message's subject line
contains a character such as an exclamation point that makes up more than
a third of the total characters in the line, it's probably spam.

Authority looks for these characteristics--Jacob estimates that there are
only about 150 such spammer "genes"--then assigns a confidence level to
each message to let IT managers decide which to block, which to detain,
and which to pass along to employees.

While other systems require new hardware--gateways equipped with spam
defenses, for instance--and chew up company IT time spent tweaking software
or constantly updating the filtering rules, Authority runs on the gateway's
hardware and software and doesn't require a connection to an outside
service.

"Does it work? In our beta tests at several corporations with over 10,000
users, we saw 90% effectiveness [in identifying spam], and only about 1 in
100,000 false positives," Jacob says.

Authority is available in versions for Unix and Linux servers immediately,
at a cost of $10 per mailbox per year, with a Windows edition set for
release by year's end.




                                =~=~=~=


Atari Online News, Etc. is a weekly publication covering the entire
Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise noted
at the beginning of any article, to Atari user groups and not for
profit publications only under the following terms: articles must
remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of
each article reprinted. Other reprints granted upon approval of
request. Send requests to: dpj@atarinews.org

No issue of Atari Online News, Etc. may be included on any commercial
media, nor uploaded or transmitted to any commercial online service or
internet site, in whole or in part, by any agent or means, without
the expressed consent or permission from the Publisher or Editor of
Atari Online News, Etc.

Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do
not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of the publishers. All
material herein is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing.
