Kids Banned from Apple Store?

Sounds fishy... Emmaco designed the electronics for this store years ago....

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9420523?nclick_check=1

WiFi Concerns in Santa Fe

The ubiquity of WiFi and potential health effects is being debated again. Although all the health studies say no, my mother had some large power line distribution not far from her bedroom and ended up dying from brain cancer. Obviously 0.1 Watt WiFi is not much, but...

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080530-santa-fe-wireless-sensitives-fight-hotspot-plan.html

Billboards Looking Back At You Now

You didn't think Digital Signage was a one way operation anymore, did you?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/business/media/31billboard.html?_r=2&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

Yawn- Vista Replacement Two Years Off

Microsoft Touts Touch-Screen Feature for Windows

By ROBERT A. GUTH May 28, 2008; Page B3

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Microsoft Corp. offered a glimpse of the next version of its Windows operating system, demonstrating a touch-screen technology that could spawn a new class of personal computers in coming years.

But the demonstration, coming at least 20 months before the software is expected to be released, also highlights the perception that the current version of the Microsoft software, Windows Vista, isn't living up to the company's expectations.

The new technology, which Microsoft calls Multi-touch, allows a person to use fingers to manipulate software through a touch-sensitive display screen, similar to those used on Apple Inc.'s iPhone.

A key feature of the technology allows for multiple touches simultaneously; for instance, dragging five fingers across a screen would draw five separate lines. Microsoft Vice President Julie Larson-Green demonstrated the technology by using her fingers to draw a tree, land and a sun on a laptop from Dell Inc. "You are going to see this in all different sizes and shapes of computers," she said.

Microsoft executives said the touch technology would be well-suited for editing digital photos and navigating Internet-mapping services. They demonstrated the software Tuesday at the D: All Things Digital conference here. Ms. Larson-Green used her fingers to use an Internet mapping Web site to find a Starbucks near the conference site.

Details about the software, informally called Windows 7, have been sparse. Microsoft executives remained tight-lipped about other details, including exactly when it will go on sale. They would say only that their goal is to begin selling Windows 7 around three years after the launch of Windows Vista—or about January 2010.

In an interview, Microsoft Senior Vice President Steven Sinofsky said the company is on track to deliver the software then.

Any details that emerge about the next version of Windows are closely watched because the software generates Microsoft's largest single source of revenue and profit and because a host of PC makers and software companies depend on it for their products.

By showing a feature of the product now, Microsoft risks diverting attention from Windows Vista, which though it has sold well, has received lackluster reviews. Microsoft executives have repeatedly pointed to 2008 as an important year for corporate adoption of Vista, yet many businesses say they aren't ready to make the move.

Mr. Sinofsky expressed confidence that the development process he is following will assure that Windows 7 arrives on schedule with new features such as multi-touch intact.
Over the years, the complexity of Windows has grown, making the creation of new versions a monumental and risky endeavor.

Windows Vista, which went on sale in January 2007 after several delays, took five years to make, years longer than expected. Microsoft says that as of March 31, it had sold 140 million Vista licenses.

Microsoft and NBC Caught

NBC inadvertently uses broadcast flag to limit recording

May 26, 2008 8:00 AM
Broadcast Engineering News

The situation was revealed when a viewer was recording Raleigh’s HDTV channel WNCN-DT1 on his Microsoft Vista machine.

In 2005, the FCC lost its attempt to legislate the use of the broadcast flag, used to prevent the copy of broadcast programming. But don’t tell that to NBC or Microsoft.

Last week, both companies were caught in a controversy that demonstrated how difficult the issue continues to be and how, despite a court ruling against the FCC, the flag continues to be employed behind the scenes.

A proponent of copyright protection, NBC claims it made an “inadvertent mistake” when it was discovered that it used broadcast flag encryption to prevent digital recorders from recording episodes of the network’s “American Gladiators” and “Medium” primetime programs.

Microsoft, which has secretly implemented the copy protection technology in its Windows Media Center DVR, said it was following FCC rules when its system blocked users from recording television broadcasts with a flag.

“Microsoft included technologies in Windows based on rules set forth by the [Federal Communications Commission],” a Microsoft spokeswoman told CNETNews.com. “As part of these regulations, Windows Media Center fully adheres to the flags used by broadcasters and content owners to determine how their content is distributed and consumed.”

In fact, the “rules” Microsoft referred to are not rules at all, but an attempt at implementing them to govern the use of broadcast flags — special code that broadcasters can insert into the data stream of TV shows that are copyright protected.

The courts struck down the FCC’s proposal three years ago, saying it lacked the authority to tell electronics makers how to interpret the signals they receive. However, Microsoft and other manufacturers have retained the option of whether to honor the flags in their recording software, although they are under no legal obligation to do so.

The situation was revealed last week when consumer Justin Sanders was recording Raleigh’s HDTV channel WNCN-DT1 on his Microsoft Vista machine and a pop-up screen appeared, stating, “restrictions set by the broadcaster…prohibit recording of this program.”

Sanders took a screen grab to prove what had occurred and put it on the Internet.

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