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 05-21-2001The Inevitable Death of the WebJonathan Nee NetCompass News Editor China and US Hackers Conduct Net WarStable, judicious, conciliatory. What are "words that don't apply to U.S.-China relations" Alex? Relations between these two giants have certainly been better. First, there was the mid-air collision of a U.S. Navy spy plane with a Chinese jet fighter on April 1st. Then the U.S. decided to abate tensions by approving the biggest arms sale to Taiwan in a decade and asserting that U.S. military intervention is a viable option in defending Taiwan from China. It should come as no surprise that computer hackers from both nations have engaged in what some have dubbed a net war. Along with many corporate sites, at least six high-profile U.S. government web sites have been defaced by "hactivists" posting Chinese flags and nationalistic messages. Those sites include the Departments of Labor, Energy and Health and Human Services, the United Press International news agency, a White House historical association and the U.S. House of Representatives. The FBI's cybercrime unit, the National Infrastructure Protection Center, has issued warnings that Chinese hackers have publicly discussed increasing activity from April 30th to May 7th. The two days coincide with two major Chinsese holidays, International Workers Day and Youth Day. May 7th also marks the two-year anniversary of the accidental bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Bolstered by this and other governnment agency warnings about internet threats, the computer security industry has fueled the flames in an attempt to grow market share in infrastructure protection. Many internet activists believe this undermines the legitmate efforts of security consultants, creating a "boy who cried wolf" scenario. Although messages like "The Great Chinese Nation Hooray!!!!" and "USA Will Be With Responsibility for the Accident Total!!!" do not have Washington or IT analysts shaking in their boots, they do reveal potential weaknesses in both public and private computer systems. As long as businesses and goverernment agencies implement and maintain standard means of protection, such as firewalls, intrusion detection and regular vulnerability assessment, they should have little to fear. Apple to Open Retail StoresIn an effort to increase brand awareness and its share of the PC market, Apple Computers will open 25 retail outlets this year in high-end malls and high-end retail locations. The first two stores opened in Glendale, California, and McLean, Virginia, on Saturday. With 5 percent market share in personal computers, Apple CEO Steve Jobs sees the stores as an opportunity to win over consumers who would not normally consider a Mac. Many Mac owners are enthusiastic and say this move is long overdue. Likewise, many analysts offer cautious praise, citing Apple's keen sense of style as an asset in a retail endeavor. Nevertheless, a number of Mac owners and analysts share concerns about opening Mac-only retail stores in the current economy. Several Mac-only retailers, such as ComputerWare, have closed recently and after a poor performance by Gateway Country Stores, the prospect of Apple throwing its hat in the ring appears too risky. Gateway was forced to close nearly 40 stores due to over-expansion and the PC market in general has been hit hard by the slowing economy. While combined sales for PC's and notebooks in March were down 25 percent in revenue from a year earlier, Apple's sales were down 35 percent. Still, Apple's obsession with user-centered, aesthetically pleasing products should help the new stores win some converts and give consumers a better shopping experience than they might have a computer superstore. Retail stores that sell both PC's and Macs usually do not display Macs prominently and salespeople are generally unacquainted with the systems. Some stores even encourage salespeople to talk buyers looking for Macs into purchasing a PC instead. Apple has not been served very well by existing retail chains, so the company has taken matters into its own hands. Despite its critics and the current climate for PC sales, Apple has never been a company to shy away from risks. "Startup.com" Offers Inside Look at the Dot-com Boom and BustRemember when just about any Joe off the street could secure funding for an internet business? Well, that time has passed. But now you can relive that very recent history in a new documentary scheduled for release on May 11th. "Startup.com" studies the lives and stories behind the rise and fall of one web company, GovWorks.com. The film was shot over the course of 18 months and centers around two lifelong friends, their challenges in acquiring capital and their eventual struggle for power. GovWorks set out to improve efficiency in standard transactions and interactions between government and citizens. Although GovWorks went bust, the software developed by the company was acquired and is still in use in cities such as New York and Boston. "Startup.com" premiered this year at the Sundance Film Festival and early reviews suggest that it has all the captivating elements of any great fiction film. Conventional Supercomputers Obsolete?With a new technology for computer processors, it might be the case. A team of scientists from the University of Rochester have combined quantum mechanics and laser technology to produce a processor faster than any current supercomputer. Unlike traditional electron-powered processors that must engage computational tasks sequentially, the new processor can conduct countless tasks simultaneously, meaning it can perform work like database searches billions of times faster than its contemporaries. The Rochester team unveiled its machine at a laser science conference in Baltimore, Maryland, last week. Team leader and optics professor Ian Walmsley, compared a conventional supercomputer to a librarian searching for a book by inspecting the entire collection one volume at a time while the new machine, in effect, makes clones of the librarian and puts them all into the search at once. The Rochester team, ackowledging the Department of Defense as a funding source, said the new processor will also be able to break encryption codes billions of time faster than its contemporaries. EarthLink Escalates Broadband RaceSince the company's inception, EarthLink's goal has been to offer broadband internet service to the entire country. With the launch of satellite internet services, the Internet Service Provider seems to have accomplished that goal. Boasting download speeds of up to 400Kbps and upload speeds of up to 128Kbps, the service is available to anyone in the U.S. with an unobstructed view of the southern sky. The service will be a boon to customers living in areas that are not served by DSL or cable landlines. High-speed connections, however, come at a price. A 2-foot-by-3-foot satellite dish costs $649, plus installation fees of $250 and subscription fees of $70 per month. A dual-purpose dish capable of receiving both Internet transmission and digital TV signals costs an additional $30 for equipment and an additional $75 for professional installation, plus satellite TV subscription fees from DirecTV of $22 to $82 monthly. EarthLink expects to have the service available nationwide by the end of May. Total Site NewsKnowledge, Incorporated, of Westminster, Colorado, and the New York Stock Exchange have engaged Total Site's services in web design and programming. Total Site will develop a web site and shopping cart application for the NYSE's Continuing Education Program (CEP). The NYSE will make retired CEP content available to firms for internal broker training and in-house continuing education initiatives. China and US Hackers Conduct Net WarStable, judicious, conciliatory. What are "words that don't apply to U.S.-China relations" Alex? Relations between these two giants have certainly been better. First, there was the mid-air collision of a U.S. Navy spy plane with a Chinese jet fighter on April 1st. Then the U.S. decided to abate tensions by approving the biggest arms sale to Taiwan in a decade and asserting that U.S. military intervention is a viable option in defending Taiwan from China. It should come as no surprise that computer hackers from both nations have engaged in what some have dubbed a net war. Along with many corporate sites, at least six high-profile U.S. government web sites have been defaced by "hactivists" posting Chinese flags and nationalistic messages. Those sites include the Departments of Labor, Energy and Health and Human Services, the United Press International news agency, a White House historical association and the U.S. House of Representatives. The FBI's cybercrime unit, the National Infrastructure Protection Center, has issued warnings that Chinese hackers have publicly discussed increasing activity from April 30th to May 7th. The two days coincide with two major Chinsese holidays, International Workers Day and Youth Day. May 7th also marks the two-year anniversary of the accidental bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Bolstered by this and other governnment agency warnings about internet threats, the computer security industry has fueled the flames in an attempt to grow market share in infrastructure protection. Many internet activists believe this undermines the legitmate efforts of security consultants, creating a "boy who cried wolf" scenario. Although messages like "The Great Chinese Nation Hooray!!!!" and "USA Will Be With Responsibility for the Accident Total!!!" do not have Washington or IT analysts shaking in their boots, they do reveal potential weaknesses in both public and private computer systems. As long as businesses and goverernment agencies implement and maintain standard means of protection, such as firewalls, intrusion detection and regular vulnerability assessment, they should have little to fear. \ Total Site NewsThe Profit Planning Group of Boulder, Colorado, has engaged Total Site for consulting and programming services. Total Site will build a proprietary, password-protected client area containing resource materials for seminar attendees. The Profit Planning Group conducts studies, leads seminars and provides consulting services to increase business profitability. Apple to Open Retail StoresIn an effort to increase brand awareness and its share of the PC market, Apple Computers will open 25 retail outlets this year in high-end malls and high-end retail locations. The first two stores opened in Glendale, California, and McLean, Virginia, on Saturday. With 5 percent market share in personal computers, Apple CEO Steve Jobs sees the stores as an opportunity to win over consumers who would not normally consider a Mac. Many Mac owners are enthusiastic and say this move is long overdue. Likewise, many analysts offer cautious praise, citing Apple's keen sense of style as an asset in a retail endeavor. Nevertheless, a number of Mac owners and analysts share concerns about opening Mac-only retail stores in the current economy. Several Mac-only retailers, such as ComputerWare, have closed recently and after a poor performance by Gateway Country Stores, the prospect of Apple throwing its hat in the ring appears too risky. Gateway was forced to close nearly 40 stores due to over-expansion and the PC market in general has been hit hard by the slowing economy. While combined sales for PC's and notebooks in March were down 25 percent in revenue from a year earlier, Apple's sales were down 35 percent. Still, Apple's obsession with user-centered, aesthetically pleasing products should help the new stores win some converts and give consumers a better shopping experience than they might have a computer superstore. Retail stores that sell both PC's and Macs usually do not display Macs prominently and salespeople are generally unacquainted with the systems. Some stores even encourage salespeople to talk buyers looking for Macs into purchasing a PC instead. Apple has not been served very well by existing retail chains, so the company has taken matters into its own hands. Despite its critics and the current climate for PC sales, Apple has never been a company to shy away from risks. \ "Startup.com" Offers Inside Look at the Dot-com Boom and BustRemember when just about any Joe off the street could secure funding for an internet business? Well, that time has passed. But now you can relive that very recent history in a new documentary scheduled for release on May 11th. "Startup.com" studies the lives and stories behind the rise and fall of one web company, GovWorks.com. The film was shot over the course of 18 months and centers around two lifelong friends, their challenges in acquiring capital and their eventual struggle for power. GovWorks set out to improve efficiency in standard transactions and interactions between government and citizens. Although GovWorks went bust, the software developed by the company was acquired and is still in use in cities such as New York and Boston. "Startup.com" premiered this year at the Sundance Film Festival and early reviews suggest that it has all the captivating elements of any great fiction film. \ Conventional Supercomputers Obsolete?With a new technology for computer processors, it might be the case. A team of scientists from the University of Rochester have combined quantum mechanics and laser technology to produce a processor faster than any current supercomputer. Unlike traditional electron-powered processors that must engage computational tasks sequentially, the new processor can conduct countless tasks simultaneously, meaning it can perform work like database searches billions of times faster than its contemporaries. The Rochester team unveiled its machine at a laser science conference in Baltimore, Maryland, last week. Team leader and optics professor Ian Walmsley, compared a conventional supercomputer to a librarian searching for a book by inspecting the entire collection one volume at a time while the new machine, in effect, makes clones of the librarian and puts them all into the search at once. The Rochester team, ackowledging the Department of Defense as a funding source, said the new processor will also be able to break encryption codes billions of time faster than its contemporaries. \ EarthLink Escalates Broadband RaceSince the company's inception, EarthLink's goal has been to offer broadband internet service to the entire country. With the launch of satellite internet services, the Internet Service Provider seems to have accomplished that goal. Boasting download speeds of up to 400Kbps and upload speeds of up to 128Kbps, the service is available to anyone in the U.S. with an unobstructed view of the southern sky. The service will be a boon to customers living in areas that are not served by DSL or cable landlines. High-speed connections, however, come at a price. A 2-foot-by-3-foot satellite dish costs $649, plus installation fees of $250 and subscription fees of $70 per month. A dual-purpose dish capable of receiving both Internet transmission and digital TV signals costs an additional $30 for equipment and an additional $75 for professional installation, plus satellite TV subscription fees from DirecTV of $22 to $82 monthly. EarthLink expects to have the service available nationwide by the end of May. \ Total Site NewsKnowledge, Incorporated, of Westminster, Colorado, and the New York Stock Exchange have engaged Total Site's services in web design and programming. Total Site will develop a web site and shopping cart application for the NYSE's Continuing Education Program (CEP). The NYSE will make retired CEP content available to firms for internal broker training and in-house continuing education initiatives. But it Just Got HereThe web is going the way of the dinosaur. At least, according to technology research firm, Forrester Research, \ Total Site NewsThe Profit Planning Group of Boulder, Colorado, has engaged Total Site for consulting and programming services. Total Site will build a proprietary, password-protected client area containing resource materials for seminar attendees. The Profit Planning Group conducts studies, leads seminars and provides consulting services to increase business profitability. \ But it Just Got HereThe web is going the way of the dinosaur. At least, according to technology research firm, Forrester Research, |
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