MSN claims online record for Earth
MSN declared itself the new record holder for the biggest online entertainment audience, reporting more than 10 million streams Saturday for its coverage of Live Earth. MSN also claimed to have reached "the most simultaneous viewers of any online concert ever," but declined to specify a specific total. Streams do not equal viewers, just the number of requests made for a video feed. Spearheaded by environmentalist and former U.S. vice president Al Gore, Live Earth comprised concerts in Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hamburg, Johannesburg, London, Washington, New Jersey and Rio de Janeiro, spanning more than 22 hours and designed to raise awareness of global warming and other environmental issues. The previous record holder for live entertainment was coverage of the Live 8 concerts two years ago by AOL, which reported 5 million unique visitors, as opposed to streams. AOL also reported 175,000 simultaneous streams.

Google buys Postini for $625m
Google has entered the security market with the purchase of Postini for $625m in cash. Postini will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the search giant, and its products will be used on Google's existing services. The acquisition is particularly useful to Google as it rolls out more online applications, which in the future will also be available to offline users. Eric Schmidt, chief executive at Google, described the move as reinforcing the company's commitment to delivering hosted applications. "With the addition of Postini, our apps are not just simple and appealing to users, they can also streamline the complex information security mandates within these organisations," he said. Existing Postini customers will still get full product support, and Google has stated that it has no plans to change any current product lines. Google's dominance may seem unassailable in North America, but it's the search giant that is playing catch-up in Asia. Despite the popularity of Google's Web sites elsewhere in the world, it failed to attract the most visitors in any of the 10 Asian countries surveyed in May by comScore Networks. Yahoo fared far better, claiming the most popular sites in Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan, while Microsoft sites were the most popular in Australia, China, and New Zealand.

Mobile payments ‘to generate $22bn by 2011’
The value of mobile transactions will grow to nearly $22bn by 2011, according to new research. Juniper Research predicts that P2P fund transfers and mobile payments in the developing world, together with the commercialisation in 2009 of NFC (Near Field Communications) based mobile payments will generate transactions worth approximately $22bn by 2011. The report also indicates that SMS based Person2Person (P2P) fund transfers and payments will drive the developing world m-payment market. With adequate supply of contactless chip enabled devices, NFC and Felica, will enable over 52m mobile phone users to make physical payments 2011. Greater availability of NFC devices, for physical mobile payments, coupled with secure and easy-to-use applications, backed by the large credit card organisations and financial institutions, will create the foundation for a healthy alternative to cash and other mainstream payment applications, the report asserted. The technology is available now to enable secure and fast payments to be initiated on the mobile phone. The business model stills needs some work but there are positive signals emanating from the industry that will create considerable revenue for all parts of the ecosystem.

Sprint Drops Clients Over Excessive Inquiries
Sprint Nextel has taken the unusual step of disconnecting customers who call customer service excessively. The country's third-largest wireless provider, with more than 53 million subscribers, has sent letters to about 1,000 subscribers terminating their contracts. The number of inquiries you have made to us ... has led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs. The terminated subscribers called an average of 25 times a month, a rate 40 times higher than average customers. Sprint, which has been losing market share to the other carriers, has been trying to add more high-spending customers while keeping a lid on costs. The company also has been imposing stricter credit requirements on new customers. Like other carriers, Sprint disconnects customers who fail to pay their bills. But this marks the first time the Reston, Va., company has cut off subscribers because they call customer service too much. A large number of calls from these customers were related to billing issues. Some also requested information that Sprint isn't permitted to give out, such as details on other customers' accounts. The amount of time being spent to resolve the same issues again and again was affecting our ability to service other customers said Sprint has no plans to disconnect other customers, but she didn't rule out the possibility in the future.

Verizon kills copper
Verizon Communications is getting some complaints as it switches consumers to its FiOS fiber-optic service. Consumers say they weren't properly informed that installation of FiOS includes cutting the old copper wire system into the home. Verizon's new high-bandwidth fiber lines are fully capable of carrying not only calls but also Internet data and television with room to grow. But once the copper is pulled, it's difficult to switch back to the traditional phone system or less expensive Digital Subscriber Line service. And Verizon isn't required, in most instances, to lease fiber to rival phone companies, as it is with the copper infrastructure. Unlike copper-connected phone service, FiOS doesn't work during power outages once a backup battery goes out -- not even for emergency calls. Home-alarms and certain other devices work best with copper.

Building the 500GB DVD
A team from the Institute of Optics and Optical Technologies at the Technical University of Berlin has developed a technique that allows up to 500GB of data to be stored on a single HD-DVD or Blu-ray disc. The Microholas technique works by using the whole disc as a storage medium, building five clear layers that all reflect light at different wavelengths. Conventional discs store information pitted on the surface, allowing around a tenth as much capacity. Micro-holographic recording can be used on recordable discs and the reader can transfer at 50Mbps. The team hopes to be able to store one terabyte on the discs by 2010 and have a reader capable of 200Mbps by the end of 2010. "The implementation of micro-holography for digital data storage on a disk has the potential to become a major breakthrough in realising terabyte optical storage," said the team. "The main advantage is that it takes bit-oriented storage to the third dimension. By using holographic multiplexing, tracks can be overlapped in the same volume. Very high storage densities of more than 100 bits/µm2 can be achieved in this way." Microholas has cost around €2m and has taken three years to complete. The project involved researchers from Hungary, Germany, Italy and France.

IM users to get etiquette lessons
Business people can now find out whether they should be talking to their boss using instant messaging (IM), or when the best time is to phone customers, with the help of some 21st century etiquette lessons. The Finishing Academy - which specialises in business and social etiquette - has produced the Business and Communications Etiquette Guide in association with Microsoft, which looks at getting the best out of communications at work. With IM predicted to surge in popularity over the next few years and web conferencing and text messaging becoming more common, the guide is touted as a way to select the most effective communication methods. Penny Edge, managing director of The Finishing Academy in Cheshire, said business and communications etiquette is evolving as technology and social acceptance change but many of the same old principals should remain. Edge explained etiquette is about using communications methods people are comfortable with. She said: "It's really respecting the people you're dealing with." The guide suggests the way we communicate with people evolves as we develop relationships with them, with different communication methods coming into play. Key points from the guide include only using IM for short requests which require immediate response and using email when later discussion is needed. The guide also suggests one shouldn't forget the phone as it is the best way to build rapport with contacts and deal with delicate issues. It offers a warning about using humour and sarcasm, as they could be inappropriate in some business situations if you don't know the person well. The final pearl of wisdom is to make sure people know what the best way to contact you is - for instance, making sure your IM status always says 'available' when you're at your desk and willing to chat.

DC Comics hopes to snag online comic market
DC Comics, which publishes a heap of comics like Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman, is looking to entice some online talent. The site, introduced today and dubbed Zuda Comics, lets people bung in eight panel comic cartoons. Those will be reviewed by editors at the firm, given awards, and also a contract to produce the online comic for a year. The comics don't have to be about super heroes and the like, however. Cartoonists can submit whatever they see fit. Naturally, DC Comics is seeking to expand its online business. There's little to stop a talented cartoonist going it alone in these wibble webble days. Many have already.

Game world gets ready for E3 show
The video game world is gearing up for the E3 Expo - one of the biggest events in the gaming calendar. Although smaller than in previous years the three-day event will be a showcase of the latest and greatest in the gaming world. The focus in 2007 has shifted from hardware to games and attendees will expect to see previews and launches of some keenly-awaited titles. But, despite the revamp, some wonder if E3 is being eclipsed by other events. In 2006 the E3 show attracted more than 60,000 visitors to the LA conference centre where more than 400 companies showed their wares. In 2007 the event, which runs from 11-13 July, has moved to Santa Monica. Exhibitors are spread around a series of venues and the show has become invitation-only. It is now aimed at the industry's professionals rather than the game-playing public. A separate event for the public, called the Entertainment for All Expo, will take place from 18-21 October in LA. In 2006 the big announcements at the show were about hardware - in particular Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii as these next generation consoles had yet to launch. However, in 2007 with all three next generation consoles now on shop shelves the focus has switched to games. In particular, this year industry watchers are looking for titles that harness the raw computer power of the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

Boeing rolls out 787 Dreamliner
Boeing yesterday rolled out its "technologically advanced and environmentally progressive" 787 Dreamliner - heralded as "the world's first mostly composite commercial airplane". Roughly 15,000 invitees made their way to Boeing's final assembly facility in Everett, Washington, to get a first look at the new "green" aircraft, designed to use "20 per cent less fuel per passenger than similarly sized airplanes, produce fewer carbon emissions, and...have quieter takeoffs and landings. The Dreamliner's green credentials are based on various technological advances, Boeing claims. Its "unmatched fuel efficiency", ("20% less fuel for comparable missions than today's similarly sized airplane"), is achieved partly by advances in engine technology, which contribute an eight per cent saving. Composite materials - representing "as much as 50 percent of the primary structure" - and structural innovations also do their bit. For example, Boeing cites a "one-piece fuselage section" which eliminates "1,500 aluminum sheets and 40,000 - 50,000 fasteners". The airline business seems to have warmed to the Dreamliner and its "hug-the-planet" specs. Boeing has 677 advance orders for the 787 from 47 airlines. This adds up to "more than $110bn at current list prices", prompting Boeing to declare the aircraft "the most successful commercial airplane launch in history". The 787-8 Dreamliner will carry 210 - 250 passengers on routes of 7,650 to 8,200 nautical miles, while the 787-9 Dreamliner will carry 250 - 290 passengers on routes of 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles. A third 787 family member, the 787-3 Dreamliner, will accommodate 290 - 330 passengers and be optimized for routes of 2,500 to 3,050 nautical miles.

European broadband networks reaching the limit
High-bandwidth apps forcing infrastructure upgrades sooner rather than later. Surging demand for bandwidth across Europe will stretch existing service provider infrastructures to breaking point, industry experts warned today. Video content, high-bandwidth applications and convergence are driving broadband bandwidth requirements in Europe. DSL uses existing copper access networks to deliver broadband and is well entrenched in Europe, lengthening the useful life of existing copper infrastructures, according to the report. DSL technologies mean that the bandwidth requirements in the near future can be met to a certain extent, while high capital investment and local network characteristics pose restraints to a full fiber-to-the-home deployment across all countries. DSL is the preferred technology to deliver broadband and other related services in Europe. Local network conditions have been favourable to the deployment of this technology to deliver sufficient bandwidth to cope with user and application demands. However, with the advent of high-definition video and other entertainment applications over broadband, this will not be the case for much longer. Multiple high-definition video streaming to the home and other converged applications can easily outgrow the bandwidth capacity of DSL-based networks. As a result, service providers will need to start looking at deploying fibre deeper into the network, even to the home or building, to meet future bandwidth requirements. Several technologies are available to meet the delivery of bandwidth demand, of which fibre in the local loop, and in particular fibre-to-the-home, is future-proof.

Time to blacklist blacklists
Blacklists have their place for detecting and identifying malicious content and activity, with the whole signature-based malware detection industry effectively being built around the concept that blacklists are reliable mechanisms. The only problem is that they aren't. They certainly are an important element of security models, but the last couple of decades of security research has shown that they quickly become ineffective in the face of a rapidly evolving threat. Early in the life of antivirus tools, simple signature based detection was enough. An internal blacklist could identify all known pieces of malware because they did not evolve or spread very rapidly. When polymorphic malware began to exhibit better software development, the need for heuristic detection engines became more urgent. Most antimalware software now has a combination of blacklisting and heuristics in use to assist in identifying malicious activity (when they aren't busy deleting critical system files or being compromised by their own analysis engines). Having an exhaustive blacklist helps companies claim that they detect many tens of thousands of viruses and malware, when in reality it may be many different versions of a few key pieces of malware, just different enough from previous versions to require a brand new blacklist signature. Moving on to blacklists of known spam-generating IPs and malware-serving sites, we start to see significant problems emerge with this particular approach to protection. Many mail server administrators will have encountered at least one period where they have found their IP on an RBL (Real Time Block List) alongside IPs that have seen to be spewing spam across networks (or they could have just had AOL mailing list subscribers who find it easier to report as spam than unsubscribe from something they manually subscribed to). With the use of dynamic IP addresses and virtual hosts, many have found that if they have a bad network neighbour, they can be hit with the same blocking (we've had it happen a few times) from indiscriminate RBL maintainers. Even important registries are not immune from arbitrary blockage and ongoing annoyance from poorly developed RBLs. The problem of misidentification becomes even worse when blacklists of websites that are hosting malware and phishing attacks are maintained. Microsoft, Mozilla, Opera, McAfee, and Google are just some of the large bodies that have invested significant resources to the creation, maintenance, and use of website blacklists to warn users of potential malicious activity on websites (and in some cases prevent access). Anyone who spends even just a little bit of time involved with researching and observing the patterns and pace of website attacks, hacks and defacements will know that websites are essentially fragile entities and it doesn't take much for a well-trusted site to become a malware-spewing nightmare. Like trying to use DRM to restrict the spread of copyright infringement, using blacklists / blocklists to limit access to sites will only stop the honest, and the casual attacker (extremely casual attacker) from getting people to see their site.

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