POVCOMP 2004: Hall of Fame - esempi di grafica digitale spettacolari 31.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

POVCOMP 2004: Hall of Fame

Impressionante per realismo e senso estetico.

Microsoft: To secure IE, upgrade to XP | Tech News on ZDNet 31.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Microsoft: To secure IE, upgrade to XP | Tech News on ZDNet: "Microsoft currently commands about 94 percent of the worldwide operating system market measured by software shipments, according to IDC. (That number factors in revenue-producing copies of the open-source Linux operating system, but not free ones).

Of Microsoft's approximately 390 million operating system installations around the world, Windows XP Pro constitutes 26.1 percent, Windows XP Home 24.7 percent, IDC said.

The remaining 49.2 percent is composed of Windows 2000 Professional (17.5 percent), Windows 98 (14.9 percent), Windows ME (6.5 percent), Windows 95 (5.4 percent), and Windows NT Workstation (4.9 percent). That 49.2 percent of Windows users are left out in the cold when it comes to significant updates to IE and other software."

Integrazione di IE e Windows, cosa ne pensa il CERT 31.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Integration of Internet Explorer and Windows: Information From Answers.com: "There are a number of significant vulnerabilities in technologies relating to the IE domain/zone security model, local file system (Local Machine Zone) trust, the Dynamic HTML (DHTML) document object model (in particular, proprietary DHTML features), the HTML Help system, MIME type determination, the graphical user interface (GUI), and ActiveX. … IE is integrated into Windows to such an extent that vulnerabilities in IE frequently provide an attacker significant access to the operating system."

Anche il resto dell'articolo, tratto da Wikipedia, contiene spunti interessanti su come si può, almeno entro certi limiti, rimuovere IE da Windows XP e da altri Windows.

Microsoft conferma che IE è parte integrante di Windows 31.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Microsoft PressPass - Microsoft Asks Court to Dismiss Government Lawsuit: "First, as the June 23, 1998, Appeals Court decision made clear, Internet Explorer technologies are an integrated element of the Microsoft Windows operating system.
# Second, as the Appeals Court stated, the integration of these technologies into the operating system provides clear benefits to consumers and software developers."

"Clear benefits"? Nel senso che un browser che porta dritto al cuore del sistema operativo è un "beneficio"? ActiveX è un "beneficio"? Un dialer è un "beneficio"? Mah.

Microsoft Support Lifecycle - La terminologia Microsoft per il supporto dei vari sistemi operativi 31.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Microsoft Support Lifecycle: "Microsoft Support Lifecycle

Microsoft’s Support Lifecycle policy provides consistent and predictable guidelines for product support availability at the time of product release. The Support Lifecycle policy took effect October 15, 2002 and applies to most products currently available through retail purchase or volume licensing and most future release products. New enhancements for the Support Lifecycle took effect June 1, 2004."

Niente Internet Explorer 7 per Windows 2000, che ora va in Extended Service 31.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Slashdot | No IE7 For 2k, Now In Extended Service: "Looks like MS will not support IE7 on Windows 2000. 'It should be no surprise that we do not plan on releasing IE7 for Windows 2000... [S]ome of the security work in IE7 relies on operating system functionality in XPSP2 that is non-trivial to port back to Windows 2000.' While security fixes will still be available until 2010, I guess that means the only browsers with tabs for W2k will be Opera and Firefox."

Gli stadi iniziali dei vettori spaziali russi cadono dove capita... 31.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Slashdot | Kazakhstan's Spaceship Junkyard: "What happens to the booster stages of rockets? They fall back to earth, and in most cases into the oceans. But not in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, where the first stages fall over populated farmland. The locals have become rich dealing in the titanium-rich scrap metal as this article and this remarkable photo essay show. So far the only casualties seem to have been a few dead cows.'"

BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Machines' way with words 31.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

BBC NEWS: Machines' way with words: "Generally, the tests show that people are less persuaded by female voices than by male ones, though people are more likely to be antagonised by a male voice. On the up-side, male-voiced machines are perceived to have energy and authority."

E ci sono differenze fra i vari paesi. Il sessismo, volontario o involontario, non conosce frontiere :-)

Crazy Frog, la prima suoneria a diventare hit in classifica dischi 31.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Music | Crazy Frog hops to chart success

Con link al sito originale e all'autore della suoneria... Inquietante.

Arriva Palladium, grazie a Intel il DRM è sul chip 29.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Slashdot | Intel Adds DRM to New Chips: "'Microsoft and the entertainment industry's holy grail of controlling copyright through the motherboard has moved a step closer with Intel Corp. now embedding digital rights management within in its latest dual-core processor Pentium D and accompanying 945 chipset. Officially launched worldwide on the May 26, the new offerings come DRM -enabled and will, at least in theory, allow copyright holders to prevent unauthorized copying and distribution of copyrighted materials from the motherboard rather than through the operating system as is currently the case...' The Inquirer has the story as well."

Ricerche booleane possibili con Spotlight, problemi e limiti di Mail.app 29.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Mac users discover Tiger's hidden Booleans | The Register

Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger', analisi in dettaglio da The Register 29.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' in depth | The Register

Qualche trucco e tecnica.

Linux sui laptop, annuncio di HP e Ubuntu. Supporto per distro specifiche? 29.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Slashdot | The Future of Linux on Laptops: "CoolTechZone discusses the future of Linux on laptops after HP and Ubuntu's recent announcement. 'What would be even more exciting for Linux is if other OEMs, similar to HP, took the same approach by partnering with selected distributions of consumer friendly Linux and started offering an alternative not only in third world regions, but also in the United States."

Due anni di uso di OpenOffice a scuola: risparmi ed esperienze a Detroit 29.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Slashdot | 2-Year OpenOffice High School Case Study: "a 2-year OpenOffice case-study on a Detroit high school who switched from Windows NT and MS Office 97 to Linux and OpenOffice. The results? Better than expected. In 2003, the school, who saved over $100,000 in the process, converted 110 Windows NT machines to Linux with OpenOffice. After several surprising developments, including OpenOffice's ability to open old Word documents that even the new Word versions were having troubles with, the school now uses it almost exclusively, has classes on it's use, and encourages students to use it whenever possible."

Guerre stellari, voci di un pre-prequel? 29.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Slashdot | Another Star Wars Prequel?: "'George Lucas said he was finished with the Star Wars movies, but it seems George Lucas has an idea for another add-on to the Star Wars movie series: a prequel to The Phantom Menace. The story would follow the Jedi regaining control of the universe from the many Dark Lords some 88 years before Anakin Skywalker ever graced the universe. Yoda, who, according to Lucas, was instrumental in the effort, would apparently have a headlining role. However, Lucas, now age 60, says he won't be captaining such a ship if it ever happens.'"

E se Lucas non lo dirige, potrebbe anche essere un bel film.

Tecniche anti-phishing: un'immagine come skin per capire se un sito è autentico o no 29.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Già disponibile un'estensione per Mozilla.

Slashdot | Security Skins: Single Sign-On with Images: "'Berkeley researchers propose a Mozilla extension to stop phishing. They claim that users only need to remember one password and one image for their lifetime to securely log in to any number of sites. They also use uniquely generated visual hashes to 'skin' trusted windows and webpages, which is harder to spoof than the SSL lock icon. To verify that the skin is legit, the user has to compare two images, which is easier for novices than verifying a certificate.'"

Lingue affascinanti: il Nuuchahnulth in via di estinzione 29.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

BBC NEWS | Americas | Bid to save nearly-lost language: "It is spoken by only a handful of people but, after 5,000 years, a rare native American language is to get its own dictionary. Some 300 people, descendants of a Native American people in west Canada, still speak Nuuchahnulth. But almost no young people in the community on Vancouver Island know the ancient language...

He said linguists found the language fascinating because of its complexity. 'Entire sentences can be built up into a single word,' Dr Stonham said. 'But there are also some concepts that can be encapsulated in a single syllable. A single sound describes the state of remaining in seclusion when the husband goes out to hunt, for example.'"

Nokia intros Linux wireless device 29.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Nokia intros Linux wireless device

Nokia announced the 770 Internet tablet, a Linux-native wireless device combining functions of a PDA,media player, and web browser.

The 770 weighs 230 grams and is 141 mm X 79 mm and 19 mm thick, a true handheld device. The matte-black unit has a removable and reversible silver cover which protects the 800X480 4.13"-wide color display.

Tutte le donne di Star Trek (Serie classica) 28.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Sixties City - Ladies of Star Trek - The Original Series

A conferma che quando pensi di essere un po' troppo fan, c'è sempre qualcuno che lo è di più.

Bilancio Microsoft 2005, aumentano le voci di utile... 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Microsoft halves R&D spending, posts record profits | The Register

...ma Office e Windows restano le voci fondamentali:

But as ever, the divisions responsible for the Windows desktop client and Microsoft Office, the latter Microsoft calls "Information Worker" - remain the breadwinners. The Office division cleared a cool $2bn profit in quarter for the first time on revenues of $2.77bn. Client recorded a net income of $2.53bn, up from $2.095bn in the same period last year, on revenues of $3.22bn, up from $3.059bn.

Come fare soldi con Skype 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Make money out of Skype: "Skype has announced today at the VON Europe show that it has launched an affiliates programme. So instead of getting enthusiasts to 'evangelize' to their friends and get them to sign up for free, web sites can now earn a 10 per cent commission on new memebers."

Ancora sul caso della "fuga" della prima puntata di Doctor Who 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Film | Revenge of the Sith leaked online: "the first episode of the latest Doctor Who series appeared on the internet on March 7, three weeks before the series started on BBC One.

The BBC did not provide details about the individual responsible for the leak who was sacked two weeks later, saying only that the person worked for a 'third-party company in Canada'."

La cattiva conversione in digitale uccide i cartoni animati (con esempi) 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Digital Noise Reduction: Where'd That Cartoon Go?: "As film is output to tape, DVNR's algorithms are designed to compare frames in the same scene and pick out unwanted noise such as grain, dirt and scratches. Once picked out, the system selectively replaces the unwanted parts of the image with parts from the previous and subsequent frames. The system's level of intensity is controllable thereby making it more or less sensitive to the noise on screen. Certain complications arise however when DVNR is used with animation. In animation, DVNR easily confuses the high contrasts and thin black lines commonly found in cartoons, and mistakes them for dirt"

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Music | Crazy Frog 'heading for top spot' 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Music | Crazy Frog 'heading for top spot': "A popular ringtone track is set to scoop the top spot in the UK singles chart, on course to beat Coldplay's comeback to number one on Sunday.

The Crazy Frog's Axel F is currently outselling the Brit-winning band's new single Speed of Sound, according to early retail reports....

HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo said Crazy Frog would be the first hit ringtone to cross over into the singles charts in this way.

"

IBM, Oracle, Red Hat e altri aiutano l'UE contro Microsoft 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Microsoft’s old enemies come out of the shadows: "Sun, Novell and industry association the CCIA, withdrew their support for the EC charges after Steve opened his chequebook and paid them millions to go away.

However it seems that another enemy has stepped into the breach. ECIS, the European Committee for Interoperable Systems, has members which include IBM, Nokia, Oracle, RealNetworks and Red Hat.

It has announced that it is helping the EU against Microsoft's attempt to reverse its antitrust conviction.

The European Court of First Instance has told the group that it is allowed to assist to the EC, which widens the role it had before."

OpenOffice, il suo formato diventa uno standard 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

PI: OpenOffice? Un formato �standard: "Il formato dei documenti definito nella specifica Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) 1.0, lo stesso implementato nell'imminente OpenOffice 2.0, �divenuto ieri uno standard ufficiale dell'OASIS."

In arrivio il motore di ricerca per BitTorrent 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Slashdot | Bram Cohen to Release BitTorrent Search Engine: "Within two weeks, a BitTorrent search engine will be available at BitTorrent.com. From the Wired News article: 'Bram Cohen and a small cadre of developers and entrepreneurs are in the final stage of launching an advertising-supported search engine dedicated to cataloging and indexing the thousands of movies, music tracks, software programs and other files for download over Cohen's popular BitTorrent protocol."

Google permette di avere una mappa del crimine USA in tempo reale o quasi 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Slashdot | Google Map Hack & Chicago Crime Data: "...He's merged Google map data with Chicago crime data to present a once a day updated crime map of the entire city, including some really nice summarized data. Adrian calls the project Chicagocrime.org. How long till we have real time crime data showing up on Google's map? Pull open HousingMaps next to Chicagocrime.org and figure out if that low rent apartment is truly worth it."

fantaleggi d'Italia, il codice informatico per la pubblica amministrazione 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Rai.it: "l mondo digitale ha la sua 'costituzione'

P.a. digitale, i punti salienti del Codice

Dal gennaio prossimo le pubbliche amministrazioni dovranno adeguarsi alle nuove regole

I nuovi diritti dei cittadini
- i cittadini e le imprese hanno diritto di usare le moderne tecnologie informatiche per tutti i rapporti con qualsiasi amministrazione dello stato. Non sara' piu' possibile quindi per un'amministrazione o per un gestore di pubblico servizio obbligare i cittadini a recarsi agli sportelli per presentare documenti cartacei, per firmare fisicamente domande o istanze, per fornire chiarimenti: per tutto questo deve essere sempre e dovunque disponibile un canale digitale sicuro, certificato e con piena validita' giuridica che permetta di dialogare con la pubblica amministrazione dal proprio computer..."

E sarà tre volte Natale.

Qui il comunicato stampa del nuovo parto del ministro Stanca. Datato Novembre 2004?

William Shatner: Captain of the Starship 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

William Shatner: Captain of the Starship: "...check out this other Shatner LP, an ultra-rare two-record set recorded live in 1978. It's a recording of an appearance at some kind of a Star Trek convention just before the first Star Trek movie came out (probably the lowest point in Shatner's career). Half of it consists of Shatner answering questions from the audience (where was the bathroom on the Enterprise?) and recalling inane stories from his career. On the other half, he performs dramatic poetry interpretations, including 'Earthbound', 'The Flight of Man' and a reading from H.G. Wells' 'War of the Worlds'.

On the artwork for Transformed Man, Shatner appeared as Captain Kirk, in his full starfleet uniform. Here, however, licensing restrictions prevented Imperial House records from using any actual Trek material. Notice how Shatner is the captain of the 'Starship', not the 'Enterprise', and how his shirt, while similar to the one he wore on TV, lacks the official Star Trek insignia. If you look closely you might also notice that the space rifle he's wielding is actually an upside-down camera tripod -- talk about your low-budget photo shoots!"

La MPAA incolpa BitTorrent per la distribuzione di Episodio III in Rete 25.5.05 0 commenti Aggiungi un commento

Slashdot | MPAA Blames BitTorrent for Star Wars Distribution: "'Slyck News reports on the MPAA's press release (.doc) blaming the BitTorrent protocol for the leak of Episode III. MPAA President and CEO Dan Glickman: 'There is no better example of how theft dims the magic of the movies for everyone than this report today regarding BitTorrent providing users with illegal copies of Revenge of the Sith. The unfortunate fact is this type of theft happens on a regular basis on peer to peer networks all over the world.''"

Primo: non è furto, è violazione di copyright. Secondo, da quando si incolpano gli strumenti invece delle persone che li usano?