NEW NET Issues List for 12 Aug 2008

Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 12 August 2008, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 7:00 - 9:00 pm weekly gathering. This week's gathering is at the Stone Cellar Brewpub. It is located at 1004 S. Olde Oneida Street, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. They have food and beverages with a United Kingdom heritage and free wireless.

Top five items from this week's NEW NET issues list are:

1. Security geeks converge on Las Vegas http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/08/security-geeks.html The top item is actually six or eight items which focus on internet and computer security. Between the Black Hat conference and DefCon, there are a lot of alpha geeks focusing on security and privacy problems which do or can affect individuals, companies and countries.
2. Why laptops will kick desktops PCs to the curb http://tinyurl.com/6kktah Three important points to remember about the laptop vs. desktop battle:
1. To a certain extent, the laptop vs. desktop issue is a USA phenomenon, or at least something primarily of concern in the developed Western countries. In many other countries, and increasingly in the developed Western countries, the cell phone or other types of mobile converged devices are becoming the primary way to use the internet.
2. As web apps increase market share and become more polished, the importance of the desktop and its installed software applications will decrease.
3. Volume drives price and standardization in the computer hardware world, so laptop proliferation will continue to drive prices down and will lead to more standardization of components used to build laptops, further reducing two advantages of desktop PCs.
   
3. NVIDIA encourages new generation of visual computing startups http://tinyurl.com/6l5g5h For a subset of graphic-intensive computing, current graphics processing units (GPUs) are bringing supercomputing power to the desktop and to small businesses and startups in businesses such as film post-processing and medical imaging. This new type of affordable supercomputer will result in cool and valuable innovations because an individual or minimally-funded group of brilliant people are now able to solve problems with computing horsepower previously reserved for scientists and technologists who worked for large corporations or government agencies. Less-than-wealthy mavericks and malcontents can now push bits around at speeds they previously could only dream of!
4. Silverlight: On fighting the web itself http://blog.unto.net/open/on-fighting-the-web-itself/ Several technologies are struggling to become a defacto standard for the next major improvement of the everyday internet. Silverlight is one of those technologies. HTML is the basic building block of the web, which is what most people think of when someone says 'internet.' Because HTML was simple and an agreed-upon standard, it enabled the web to become a powerful and ubiquitous force used daily by many people and organizations around the world. Silverlight and/or its competitors now have "...the potential of changing how the web itself works."
5. The last choice for the week's top five tech items is a tie between two items. Well, it's not really a tie, but I don't know which of the two is more likely to lead to its logical conclusion: Jajah launches instant Chinese/English Voice Translation http://tinyurl.com/6fw368 Others have tried to provide easy translation from one language to another, but Jajah has a new twist on it. If Jajah proves successful during the Olympics and expands to other languages, it could generate a huge following among global travelers from the USA, international airport workers, hospital staff, emergency workers and other people who need an instant translation service. The second item has huge implications because of the company involved: Google offers free music search in China http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10008142-93.html If Google becomes a primary tool to obtain free music, that will have huge repercussions for Apple, Amazon, Walmart and the world-wide music industry.
   

The ‘net

1. Hughes Announces Fastest Consumer Satellite Internet Access Plan http://tinyurl.com/6qwh5g (CNN)
2. Silverlight: On Fighting the Web Itself http://blog.unto.net/open/on-fighting-the-web-itself/
3. Silverlight: Olympics Online, With a Hook http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/sports/olympics/10stream.html?ref=technology
4. Flash, HTML, Ajax: Which will win the Web app war? http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10011048-92.html
5. When TokBox talks browser-based video chat, Bain Capital and Sequoia listen http://tinyurl.com/6qxn2d (VentureBeat)
6. Jajah Launches Instant Chinese/English Voice Translation http://tinyurl.com/6fw368 (TechCrunch)
7. True meaning of Twitter http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/06/technology/true_meaning_of_twitter_lashinsky.fortune/
8. Ryanair travelers may lose bookings http://tinyurl.com/587p4l (Independent)
9. American ISP flashes phantom bandwidth cap http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/08/frontier_bandwidth_cap_that_isnt/

Security, Privacy & Digital Controls

1. Security Geeks Converge on Vegas http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/08/security-geeks.html
2. Wireless Awareness: Don't Be A Sheep http://tinyurl.com/5ql486 (WashingtonPost)
3. Net address bug worse than feared http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7546557.stm
4. Apple may nuke apps on your iPhone remotely http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9587
5. How to Prevent a Coffee Shop Wi-Fi Attack http://www.internetnews.com/commentary/article.php/3763426
6. Defcon: Return To Sender http://tinyurl.com/5z6vdt (Forbes)
7. Georgia accuses Russia of coordinated cyberattack http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10014150-83.html
8. Goodbye, Passwords. You Aren’t a Good Defense http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/technology/10digi.html

Mobile Computing & Communicating

1. The Top Five Reasons Not to Upgrade to the New iPhone 3G http://tinyurl.com/66n4jc (ThomasHawk)
2. Most iPhone Apps Are Failing To Leverage The Network Effect http://tinyurl.com/6pb9d6 (TechCrunch)
3. Jobs on iPhone apps: $30 million in 30 days http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10013232-37.html
4. Smartphone Parade: One Size Doesn't Fit All http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/smartphone_parade.php

Open Source

1. Mozilla Announces Snowl Messaging Project http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20080807/tc_zd/230627
2. IBM To Linux Desktop Developers: 'Stop Copying Windows' http://tinyurl.com/5reuag (InformationWeek)
3. Record your desktop with Linux tools http://www.linux.com/feature/141593
4. Michelle Murrain lives the open source lifestyle http://www.linux.com/feature/143264
5. ssh-xfer: Quickly grabbing files over an existing SSH connection http://www.linux.com/feature/143892
6. Tiny, 6-chip ‘open’ computer runs Linux http://www.deviceguru.com/2008/08/06/tiny-6-chip-open-computer-runs-linux/

SkyNet

1. Google offers free music search in China http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10008142-93.html
2. Surfing Google may be harmful to your security http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/09/google_gadget_threats/
3. Meet Google's Golden Girl: Marissa Mayer http://tinyurl.com/5fbwm5 (FoxBusiness)

General Technology

1. Windows broken at Black Hat http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2387
2. Intel's Nehalem chips to get 'Core i7' branding http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10012740-64.html
3. A2B electric bike is a smooth, green ride http://blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/2008/08/a2b-electric-bi.html
4. Why laptops will kick desktop PCs to the curb http://tinyurl.com/6kktah (Ars technica)
5. Microsoft To Sell Money Plus Online Only http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10011676-56.html
6. AMD to Nvidia: Two chips are better than one http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10013992-64.html

Leisure & Entertainment

1. How To Watch The Beijing Olympics LIVE On The Web http://tinyurl.com/66z66s (AlleyInsider)
2. Steve Jobs and Calvin in a cartoon http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/38765/102/
3. Libraries step into the age of iPod http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080807/wr_nm/column_pluggedin_dc
4. Let video games read your mind with headset http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2008-08-04-epoc-headset_N.htm

Economy and Technology

1. The Idea Factory http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/08/10/the_idea_factory/
2. Open source technology is hungry for new college grads http://www.linux.com/feature/143415
3. Google Regretting Billion Dollar AOL Investment http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20080808/tc_zd/230713
4. What will tomorrow’s newspaper look like? http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20080811/NEWS/548650470/1077/

Civilian Aerospace

1. SpaceX blames rocket failure on bad timing http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26061972/
2. The Stealth Rocketeers http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/08/1256356.aspx
3. Spaceport America promoter touts industry, growth possibilities http://www.alamogordonews.com/news/ci_10119964
4. Rocket-building student interns see their "Future" lifting off http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_10080870

Supercomputing & GPUs

1. Nvidia encourages new generation of visual computing startups http://tinyurl.com/6l5g5h (VentureBeat)
2. Larrabee, CUDA and the quest for the free lunch http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/38750/113/
3. AMD ditches Close-To-Metal, focuses on DX11 and OpenCL http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/38764/140/
4. The Secret Lives of Supercomputers, Part 2 http://www.technewsworld.com/story/must-read/64082.html?welcome=1218323950
5. Open Source and the Poor Man's Supercomputer http://ostatic.com/170836-blog/open-source-and-the-poor-mans-supercomputer
6. NFS Enters a Parallel Universe http://www.enterprisestorageforum.com/ipstorage/features/article.php/3763911
7. NCAR plus CUDA equal faster weather simulation, community benefits http://tinyurl.com/6o3l3d (InsideHPC)
8. Georgia Tech Receives Grant to Study Visual Analytics http://tinyurl.com/56tsjf (InsideHPC)
9. AMD Plans Upgrades for Stream SDK http://www.hpcwire.com/offthewire/AMD_Plans_Upgrades_for_Stream_SDK.html

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