ROM-DOS

. . .no joke, registering a name costs $1,000 plus an annual fee of $240.

Firm wants to rid Net of suffixes AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch technology company has breathed life into a project to rid the Internet of suffixes such as .com, and instead offer single names which can be countries, company names or fantasy words. Such a system, which enables countries, individuals and firms to have a Web address which consists of a single name, offers flexibility and is language and character independent. "The plan is to offer names in any character set," said Erik Seeboldt, managing director of Amsterdam-based UnifiedRoot. UnifiedRoot offers practically unlimited numbers of suffixes, unlike the short list of suffixes currently in use. Its offer is different from other "alternative root" providers such as New.net which offers to register names in front of a small range of new suffixes, such as .club and .law. "We've already had thousands of registrations in a single day," said Seeboldt after the official opening of his 100-strong company which has installed 13 Internet domain name system (DNS) root servers on four continents. Critics argue alternative root companies such as UnifiedRoot introduce ambiguity because they bring a new set of traffic rules to the Web which are, certainly in the beginning, only recognized by a limited number of computers around the world. "The existence of alternate roots, and the possibility of new ones, provides a useful competitive check on ICANN," said Jon Weinberg, a member of ICANNwatch which keeps a critical eye on ICANN. ICANN is overseen by the U.S. Department of Commerce and operates the root servers of the Internet which guide all Web traffic. The organization also determines which top-level domains are recognized by those root servers. At the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society earlier this month, many countries said they wanted to take part in the governance of ICANN. But the United States would not give up control. UnifiedRoot plans to take advantage of unhappiness about ICANN by offering geographic locations for free to countries, regions and cities.

Next-gen storage, online and offline I know we've all been hoping that the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD next-generation format wars will subside soon, and maybe they will, but two completely new high-density optical formats may muddy the waters a bit for some consumers. First up from the Inquirer is a short piece on a new Ricoh optical disc format that stores 200GB and may be on the market by 2008. (For reference, Blu-ray discs hold 25GB per layer, with two layers being the current max but four- or eight-layer discs possibly in the works for 2008. HD-DVD clocks in at 15GB/layer, with a three-layer disc currently in the works.) The Ricoh format uses eight lasers to read data, which means that drives will be expensive. However, it's possible that the drives may be able also to read Blu-ray and/or HD-DVD discs. Even more promising is a roughly DVD-sized, 300GB disc that will go on sale in 2006. The disc uses holographic memory technology, and was developed by Lucent spinoff InPhase Technologies. Hitachi/Maxwell will help manufacture and market the discs, so that means you should be able to get your hands on them. The drive uses a single laser to write the discs, so it might end up being relatively inexpensive. Neither of these two optical formats has anything like the industry backing of Blu-ray or HD-DVD, so at first they're going to be proprietary, niche items. In fact, I imagine that they'll start out somewhat like the Iomega Zip drive, but hopefully one or both formats will meet with a little more success. Finally, for those of you who're just too "Web 2.0" for plain old offline storage, here's a short round-up of three online storage startups that are offering networked storage for users. You can upload files (in at least one case up to 1GB) and access them from any Internet connection. The companies are developing APIs for accessing the storage, and they're all trying to come up with a good business model for this using value-added services of various types. Right now, the overall plan seems to be something like, "think GMail, but for any kind of file you like." Openomy, OmniDrive and AllMyData - Online Storage Just Got Interesting!

Upload Stats look good w/Firefox . . .but, "This one doesn't make since, it took much longer to get this". :::.. Download Stats ..::: Connection is:: 12751 Kbps about 12.8 Mbps (tested with 97 kB) Download Speed is:: 1557 kB/s Tested From:: https://testmy.net/ (server2) Test Time:: Sat Nov 26 2005 23:52:49 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time) Bottom Line:: 228X faster than 56K 1MB download in 0.66 sec Diagnosis: Validation Link:: https://testmy.net/stats/id-OWS6LZFYN Looks like Firefox is catching the test. . .I don't have Firefox, so I'm not sure if the settings can be adjusted to fix that. . .maybe, someone with Firefox can help.

hmmm, maybe you should try some of my performance tweaks. . . http://www.testmy.net/forum/index.php?topic=9452.0 you could also try clicking on Tools (or Control Panel) Internet Options > General and under Temporary Internet Files click [Delete Files] and see if that helps. and you can also check which sites you're allowing and disallowing in Privacy Tab in [sites].

Hi SuperDav2000, welcome to testmy.net. When you say "My upload speed has gotton worse." ~ what are you comparing that to? My upload speed right now is; :::.. Upload Stats ..::: Connection is:: 23 Kbps about 0 Mbps (tested with 97 kB) Upload Speed is:: 3 kB/s Tested From:: https://testmy.net/ (server1) Test Time:: Sat Nov 26 17:35:34 PST 2005 Bottom Line:: 0X faster than 56K 1MB upload in 341.33 sec Diagnosis: Looks Great : 15 % faster than the average for host (nocharge.com) Validation Link:: https://testmy.net/stats/id-WDAI4K369 It appears that your speed is only slightly lower ~ upper middle half. . . .try a few more tests and post your download speed, also. and we'll see what we can do to help.

H.G. Wells' alien invasion story "The War of the Worlds" was written in 1898. In 1951, American director Robert Wise made a movie that would later become one of the milestones in science fiction: "The Day the Earth Stood Still." The premise of the film is that other civilizations are watching each other and that if humans keeping warring among themselves, these advanced aliens will come to Earth to destroy us before we become a menace to them. A few years after this film was released, astronomer Frank Drake led the first research into non-terrestrial life forms, based on the idea that humans could actually "listen" to electromagnetic signals of a non-natural origin by using powerful radio receivers -- the radio telescopes. SETI, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence is divided into several sub-projects; SETI@Home is one of them. Launched in 1999, it is based on a very interesting concept called "distributed computing." By exploiting the often unused or underused computing power of a large number of computers connected to the Internet, the ability to analyze the signals detected by radio telescopes increases dramatically. This approach is definitely more effective than the sole use of a few supercomputers installed near the telescope antennas, because more computing power enables searches to cover a greater range of frequency with more sensitivity. It can cover a wide area of the universe in less time and helps be more precise in the analysis of the signals. Whoever wants to join the project can do it for free by downloading a simple piece of open source software called BOINC -- Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing -- from the project Web site. http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ A complete installation guide and lots of tips can be found on the user forum accessible via the official Web site, so that even newbies can sort these problems out. More than 250,000 users from 229 countries have joined SETI@Home so far, having installed the software on more than 546,000 machines, which attests its great success. As a token of appreciation, users can download and print out a "Certificate of Computation" attesting to their commitment. . .to our collective doom. j/k

. . .he who brags. . .will not endure ~ as teachers boy toy ~

Entertainment industry wants to tap into anti-terrorism directives http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051126-5629.html In December, the EU parliament is expected to vote to extend data retention requirements in the EU from 3 months to a maximum of one year in an effort to combat terrorism. Currently companies in the telecommunication and internet access industries are required to keep detailed data on communications for at least three months so that law enforcement can examine these records if they're needed. Call data must include the names, numbers, and address of the callers, start and end time of the call, and SIM card information in the case of mobile usage. ISPs must keep log-on and log-off times, IP addresses, email headers, sites visited, and billing information. Member states such as Britain would like to see this period extended to an entire year, and it looks as though passage of the directive is likely (curiously, the law has little support in the UK itself, but politicians hope to get it through the back door by making it EU law). However, in a move that is becoming increasingly common, an industry group representing content giants such as Sony BMG, Disney, Time Warner, and EMI, would like to see this data opened up for use in less serious situations, such as, oh, say, copyright infringement? The Creative and Media Business Alliance (CMBA) believes that it is fundamentally wrong to limit these tools to fighting terrorism. All of this may seem like an over-reaction, but opponents are quick to point out that the EU is also considering additional legislation that would greatly elevate copyright infringement to the level of a criminal offence in the EU. The Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive 2 (IPRED2) contains language that would criminalize all copyright infringement done for commercial gain, or even "attempting, aiding or abetting and inciting such infringement." Here again we meet the slippery slope of what constitutes aiding and abetting. Privacy advocates also say that giving this kind of access to commercial concerns as opposed to legitimate government security concerns is like asking for abuse. Armed with this kind of data, it would be very easy for companies to profile individuals, including the sites they visit, who they e-mail, and how much time they spend online.

Scientists, be on guard ... ET might be a malicious hacker http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,16559,1650296,00.html As if spotty teenagers releasing computer viruses on to the internet from darkened rooms were not enough of a headache. According to a scientific report, planet Earth's computers are wide open to a virus attack from Little Green Men. The concern is raised in the next issue of the journal Acta Astronautica by Richard Carrigan, a particle physicist at the US Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois. He believes scientists searching the heavens for signals from extra-terrestrial civilisations are putting Earth's security at risk, by distributing the jumble of signals they receive to computers all over the world. The search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (Seti) project, based at the University of California in Berkeley, uses land-based telescopes to scour the universe for electromagnetic waves. Just as stray radio and TV broadcasts are now zooming away from Earth at the speed of light, the Seti scientists hope to pick up stray signals, or even intentional interplanetary broadcasts, emitted from other civilisations. All signals picked up by Seti are broken up and sent across the internet to a vast band of volunteers who have signed up for a Seti screensaver, which allows their computers to crunch away at the signals, when they are not at their desks.

. . .try here <+> http://nrupdates.qj.net/

If you have ever wondered who's online and what they're viewing Click here <+> Who's Online . . .now can someone explain [user] Guest [Action] Viewing an XML feed. and how that's done?

Browser developers agree on common security features http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051123-5619.html In a historic agreement, the makers of Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Konqueror have agreed on a common set of security features that will be implemented into future versions of their respective browsers. The developers of the four applications had been in discussion for some time over ways in which they could make browsing safer by making it more obvious to users when a site is trying to pull a fast one on them. First and foremost would be support for improved "high assurance" certificates. The more-stringent certificates would be issued to e-commerce sites, banks, and other sites that are often spoofed by phishers. When a site with the new certificates is loaded, the address bar of the browser will turn green to indicate that the site is trustworthy, similar to how IE 7 beta turns its address bar red when a suspected phishing URL is loaded. In addition, IE 7 will display a lock icon in the address bar when a secure page is loaded. Pop-up windows will continue to be supported, but how they display will change. The most noticeable difference for surfers is that pop-ups will begin appearing with the address bar visible, so that users will be able to determine where the pop-up came from. It will also prevent pop-ups that mimic system messages from being displayed.

Kazaa owners given ten days to conform or die http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051124-5622.html The popular file-sharing service Kazaa has been put on notice. Sharman Networks, the Australian company that purchased the Kazaa network and software in 2002, has been told by an Australian judge that they have until December 5 to either filter copyrighted music from its system or shut down their operations entirely. This ultimatum is a clear follow-up to the previous judgement, handed down by the Australian courts in September, that Kazaa had essentially authorized users to violate copyright. Sharman Networks had appealed this judgement, but it looks like the Australian court is serious about enforcing its desires. Kazaa is not the only peer-to-peer file sharing service that has come under legal attack in recent years. Grokster and eDonkey shut down last month under the financial strain of lawsuits. Recently the creator and operator of BitTorrent entered an agreement with the MPAA to remove links to torrents of copyrighted works from the BitTorrent website and search engine. Lawsuits against individuals charged with running BitTorrent and Direct Connect servers have been ongoing. The real question is this: have all the legal actions against P2P networks and users been effective in reducing piracy? Have P2P users grown weary of the constant dance from one network to another? Or will new P2P applications, perhaps more decentralized and less vulnerable to legal action, continue to gain in popularity?

. . .are you using Windows Firewall or any firewall? go to exceptions (in firewall) and allow Kaspersky AV.

. . .did you get a year supply of batteries with that? ~ lol

Bush Rejects Timetable For Withdrawal Of Turkeys From Oven WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. President George W. Bush rejected calls for a timetable in the withdrawal of Thanksgiving Turkeys from the White House oven on Thursday, vowing "we will continue to cook our turkeys" until tenderness is achieved.

Thanksgiving Day Dropped; "Hate Day" Probable Replacement

Google Introduces Google Middle Earth Google Mapping Program Towers Above The Rest Following in the Elven footsteps of Google Earth, "the globe that fits inside your PC", comes Google Middle Earth, the new lord of the satellite imagery-based mapping products. Google Middle Earth is a free, full-featured download that lets you explore the topographical majesty of the lands of Gondor, Rohan, and Mordor. Google Middle Earth's impressive geographic mapping software is definitely the one product to rule them all. With Google Middle Earth, you can measure the real distances from Hobbiton to Rohan, or from Osgiliath to Rivendell. And you don't need to be a Dunedain Ranger to track your way home from the Watch-tower of Amon Sul. Mark your favorite areas, like the Black Gate, Isengard, or the Dark Tower. Zoom in on Minas Tirith or Helm's Deep. See more of Isuldur's land than you could from the top of the Tower of Ecthelion. Want to see how really big Fangorn Forest is? Ever wondered where Dwimorberg was located? Curious to know how long the Brandywine River is? Google Middle Earth combines high-resolution satellite photos of actual Middle Earth locations, allowing you to measure and judge actual distances! And it doesn't take a wizard to search and find locations like The Shire or Minas Morgul. With regularly updated satellite imaging allowing the user to view real changes to the world of man, Google Middle Earth definitely deserves to wear the Crown of King Elessar.

Movie studios, BitTorrent sign anti-piracy pact http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=industryNews&storyID=2005-11-23T184436Z_01_HAR367441_RTRIDST_0_INDUSTRY-MEDIA-BITTORRENT-DC.XML LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood's major movie studios and Internet technology provider BitTorrent Inc. have signed a pact to help stem piracy of films on the Web, but the move was deemed by both as an "early experiment." Under the deal announced on Tuesday, BitTorrent founder Bram Cohen agreed to remove links on his Web site that direct users to illegal copies of films that can be downloaded. But because the BitTorrent software already is widely used to pirate movies, television shows and music, the agreement was seen more as a symbol of change in the industry than a deal that would have a major, immediate impact on curbing piracy. The BitTorrent software allows large data files that contain movies, TV shows or music to be broken into small pieces, shared among a wide group of users, quickly distributed via the Internet and reassembled at the downloading computer. Using BitTorrent software to copy and redistributeunlicensed content infringes artists' copyrights. Late last month, a court in Hong Kong convicted a man of trying to illegally distribute movies with the software.

Fake CIA, FBI E-Mails Power Sober Worm http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/fake_cia_fbi_em.html Several new versions of the "Sober" e-mail worm have been mass-spammed to millions of e-mail boxes of the last 72 hours, posing as messages from the FBI and the CIA warning recipients that their Internet address has been implicated in illegal activity online. The messages obviously were not sent by either agency, but any recipient who clicks on the attachment carried in the e-mail may indeed soon find their computers involved a variety of illegal activities at the hands of the virus authors. Both the CIA and the FBI have posted warnings about this latest worm on their Web sites. FBI spokesperson Cathy Milhoan said the agency has been swamped with calls from people who received the e-mails because the message includes the actual phone number for the FBI headquarters in Washington. She said FBI operators have had their hands full routing calls and complaints to its Internet Crime Complaint Center in West Virginia, which received more than 4,000 complaints about the worm on Monday alone. The ICC typically receives 18,000 complaints each month. Finnish anti-virus firm F-Secure calls the latest Sober outbreak the largest e-mail worm epidemic so far this year. UK-based e-mail security company MessageLabs said it has intercepted more than 2.7 million copies of Sober and its variants, noting that "the size of the attack indicates that this is a major offensive, certainly one of the largest in the last few months." The Sober worm uses its own e-mail engine to blast copies of itself out to all of the addresses found on an infected computer. Sober kills a long list of security applications that may be running, including anti-virus and firewall software, and prevents the victim from visiting a long list of security-related Web sites. Finally, it opens a backdoor on the infected machine, allowing attackers to upload whatever software they want.

Things You Can Only Say On Thanksgiving 1. Talk about a huge breast! 2. Tying the legs together keeps the inside moist. 3. It's Cool Whip time! 4. If I don't undo my pants, I'll burst! 5. That's one terrific spread! 6. I'm in the mood for a little dark meat. 7. Are you ready for seconds yet? 8. It's a little dry, do you still want to eat it? 9. Just wait your turn, you'll get some! 10. Don't play with your meat. 11. Just spread the legs open and stuff it in. 12. Do you think you'll be able to handle all these people at once? 13. I didn't expect everyone to come at once! 14. You still have a little bit on your chin. 15. How long will it take after you stick it in? 16. You'll know it's ready when it pops up. 17. Wow, I didn't think I could handle all of that! 18. That's the biggest one I've ever seen!

Dell to try AMD http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051121-5604.html First it was discovered that Dell is selling AMD processors online. Then Dell made public noises about rolling out AMD servers. Now, the other shoe has dropped: Forbes is reporting that Dell will indeed sell a broad range of AMD systems. The Taiwanese manufacturing houses that Dell will be using to make AMD systems have spilled the beans that Dell has told them they intend to start shipping computers with AMD inside. Given the specialties of the companies mentioned in the very brief report, it looks like Dell is going the full monty by offering notebooks, desktops, and servers. AFX News Limited Taiwan's Hon Hai, Asustek, Quanta seek AMD-based deals with Dell - report http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/afx/2005/11/20/afx2347168.html TAIPEI (AFX) - Dell Inc has informed its Taiwan contract makers of plans to develop devices based on Advanced Micro Devices Inc's microprocessors, and these suppliers are awaiting orders for global shipment, the Economic Daily News reported, citing industry sources. These suppliers are ready developing and arranging the logistics of such devices for shipment to Dell, it added.