Microsoft takes on suspected pirates..really?

There is the news.Microsoft announced yesterday it was launching 55 separate lawsuits against suspected software pirates in 11 countries selling counterfeit Microsoft products via eBay and other auction websites. The suits were part of a big new push to eradicate piracy of the world's most popular software programs and buoy consumer confidence on the eve of a major new product launch. Microsoft is on the verge of releasing new versions of Windows, its operating system, and Office, its word-processing and office management software package.Five of the suits are directed at suspected software pirates in the UK. Fifteen are in the United States. Other countries affected include Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Australia and Argentina.Microsoft said it had worked with eBay to identify users allegedly abusing their account privileges to sell counterfeit software. Each had got a written warning before receiving a lawsuit.Microsoft raised the dangers of buying unauthorised code in its release. "Counterfeit software is defective and dangerous because counterfeiters tamper with the genuine software code, which leaves the door open to identity theft and other serious security breaches," said Matt Lundy, a senior company lawyer. "It is simply not worth putting your personal and confidential information at risk to save a few dollars on software; it can cost much more in the long run."In an analysis of counterfeit Windows XP operating system discs last June, Microsoft found 34 per cent of them could not be installed.

Pondering VOIP,maybe is good for me!

I have been thinking a lot lately about getting a VOIP phone service. For those not in the know VOIP allows people to make phone calls using their internet connection instead of the usual phone line which can work out to be far cheaper or free as instead of paying the full cost of the call, the call travels via the internet instead of phone lines. From a hardware perspective, the average user can start with an adapter for a standard telephone. Looking at my own ISP i would save considerable money on calls as all outgoing calls would be via the VOIP and i would keep my number and phone line for incoming calls. Over long distance or international the savings are even bigger and well worth looking into.

Good idea!! MySpace cracks down on unauthorized music uploads.WOW!

i want tell every myspacer about this:
MySpace.com has announced it will use so-called "audio fingerprinting" technology to identify unauthorized uploads and is threatening to permanently ban members who put copyrighted music files on the site.The popular social networking site, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., said on Monday that it will filter audio files uploaded by members through a music database by Gracenote Inc. of Emeryville, Calif.Gracenote's database contains about 55 million music tracks and eight million "audio waveform fingerprints," the company says. Gracenote was formerly known as the CD Data Base or CDDB.com.Myspace members can upload music, video and other media files to personal web pages hosted by the social networking site. The files can then be streamed over the internet through a media player built into the page."MySpace is staunchly committed to protecting artists' rights, whether those artists are on major labels or are independent acts," said Chris DeWolfe, MySpace chief executive and co-founder.The recording industry has targeted popular social networking sites such as MySpace and online video sharing sites like YouTube for allegedly allowing their members to upload copyrighted music.In some cases, recording labels have sued to prevent music from being used as a soundtrack for user-made videos posted online.YouTube, Inc. recently purged thousands of files over complaints of copyright infringement, Earlier this year, the company implemented a royalty tracking system to give copyright owners greater control over the content uploaded to the site.Google Inc. bought YouTube for $1.65 billion US earlier this month.

Study links genetic factors to cot deaths

Scientists believe they have found the clearest evidence yet of an underlying genetic cause for cot death, opening up the possibility that it may be treatable.Analysis of dozens of victims of sudden infant death syndrome (Sids) found they had abnormalities in the part of the brain that controls breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and arousal.The problems appear to affect the brainstem's ability to use and recycle serotonin, a chemical best known for regulating mood but which also helps control vital functions such as breathing. The babies who died of Sids were unable to properly sense high amounts of carbon dioxide and low levels of oxygen, leaving them vulnerable to suffocation. Last year, 300 babies died of Sids in Britain although that figure has fallen by 16% since 2004.The reduction is largely attributed to greater parental awareness, and in particular a shift towards placing babies to sleep on their backs instead of on their fronts, where they breathe in their own recycled breath. Most of the babies in the study had been placed on their fronts or sides but the study, which drew on three previous research linking Sids babies with impaired use of serotonin, suggested the deaths occurred because these babies were genetically ill-equipped to deal with this.Hannah Kinney, the lead author of the report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said: "These findings provide evidence that Sids is not a mystery but a disorder that we can investigate with scientific methods." The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths said the findings were important, but were unlikely to represent the only inherited risk factor for Sids.

IBM Sues Amazon Over E-Commerce Patents,WOW

Key aspects of Amazon.com Inc.'s retailing Web site are improperly built on technologies developed at IBM Corp., Big Blue alleged Monday in two lawsuits against Amazon. Amazon is accused of infringing on five IBM patents, including technologies that govern how the site recommends products to customers, serves up advertising and stores data. Some of the patents were first filed in the 1980s, including one titled "Ordering Items Using an Electronic Catalog." "Given that time frame, these are very fundamental inventions for e-commerce and how to do it on the network," said John Kelly III, IBM's senior vice president for intellectual property. "Much, if not all, of Amazon's business is built on top of this property." Hundreds of other companies have licensed the same patents, and IBM has tried to negotiate licensing deals with Amazon "over a dozen times since 2002," Kelly said. Amazon.com - which has bought a lot of hardware from Hewlett-Packard Co. over the years but not IBM - has allegedly refused every time. A call seeking comment from Seattle-based Amazon was not immediately returned Monday. Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM filed its two lawsuits in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas, one in Tyler and one in Lufkin. Texas has become a frequent site for patent cases because of a perception that certain districts there are more responsive to such claims. IBM shares were up $1.46, 1.6 percent, $91.94 on the New York Stock Exchange. Amazon shares were down 3 cents at $32.54 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. IBM is the world's leading patent holder, spending $6 billion a year in research and development and earning about $1 billion a year in royalties. Amazon's relationship with patents has been more heavily contested; the company's patent of the "one-click" checkout method in 1999 was famously derided as overly broad and obvious. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is re-examining that patent. IBM is not specifying the amount of damages it seeks. Kelly would not disclose how much other companies have paid to license these same patents, though he added: "We are not unreasonable people."

What a way to die

Oh dear, I just found out how I’m going to die and I’m afraid it won’t be pretty. I wonder if you can change your fate or destiny once you know what it’s going to be?You scored as Gunshot. Your death will be by gunshot, probably because you are some important person or whatever. Possibly a sniper, nice, quick, clean shot to the head. Just beautiful.Gunshot 67% Posion 60% Accident 60% Disease 47% Disappear 40% Stabbed 27% Suicide 27% Cut Throat 27% Drowning 27% Natural Causes 27% Bomb 20% Suffocated 7% Eaten 7% How Will You Die??created with QuizFarm.comI thought for sure that it would tell me I’d die of illness or disease. I mean I do have Crohn’s so that makes me susceptible to severe complications. Plus I work in a hospital, in the ER where all the germs hang out.Take the test if you dare and come back and tell me what your fate is.