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Tuesday, February 12, 2002

Chicago Tribune | Sippy cup comes under attack
That modest conveyor of liquids, protector of carpets, friend to parents of small children, is suddenly under attack.
A sippy cup, as virtually every modern parent knows, is a plastic cup equipped with a tight lid and a protruding bill-shaped spout. Children can toss it, drop it and turn it upside down, but they can't spill its contents. That's thanks to a valve in the lid that releases liquid only when a child puts his lips around the bill and sucks.
The sippy cup is the toddler's equivalent of the cellphone, essential equipment for the kid on the go. Many parents view it as the most extraordinary invention since the disposable diaper. But in products made for children, popularity often fosters worry. Now, it's the sippy cup's turn.
10:14:42 PM

CERT warns of flaws in SNMP | Computerworld News & Features Story
There are numerous, hard-to-fix vulnerabilities in products that use the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the CERT Coordination Center warned in an advisory released today.
The flaws, which exist in hundreds of software and hardware products from scores of vendors, can be exploited by malicious hackers to launch denial-of-service attacks or gain unauthorized access to systems.
10:12:55 PM

Run Streaming. A look at the unReal world of open-source netcasting.

Last night I sat on the roof while wearing my winter headphones (the warm and beautiful Sony MDR-CD780s) and tuning down a long list of faraway radio signals. I started with KFJC, KPIG, RadioParadise and SmoothJazz, which are headquartered in California, where I live. Then I went to WUNC out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and WCPE from nearby Raleigh. Then I moved across the waters to Radio FG from Paris, URGent ("De Gentse Studentenradio"), Beiruit Nights and a bunch of other stuff from who knows where: Radio Free Klezmer, Radiostorm Hip-Hop/R&B, BassDrive, Chemlab, Cyberspace Sonata, KI EuroDance and other stuff from Digitally Imported Radio, Factory188 and FlareSOUND. Plus I found lots more that I didn't bother copying down but most of which you can find in Google's directory.

[Linux Journal]
8:32:08 AM

eBay revamping its auction-listing form. Tired of the company's unwieldy listing forms? eBay hopes to take some of the pain out of posting an auction with its latest update. [CNET News.com]
8:29:22 AM

Lessig plans digital rights organization. Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig is kicking off a project he hopes can serve as neutral ground in the digital rights debates.
Dubbed the Copyright Commons, Lessig's project aims to spur sharing and use of works ranging from software code to music in a way that he and other critics say has been stifled by copyright laws. Drawing on the experience of open-source software programming, the group hopes to create new digital licenses that will cut out painful legal wrangling and rights disputes.
At its simplest level, the new license system would let people who stumble across a piece of music, art or software online know quickly how it can be used. In much the same way that an MP3 file might have the song name and artist encoded in the file itself, a work using the Commons license would include information on where the song could be used, in what form, and who needed to be paid as a result.
[CNET News.com]

8:29:05 AM

Microsoft plugs six browser holes. The company releases a patch to fix six new security problems in Internet Explorer, including a two-month-old bug the company wouldn't previously acknowledge. [CNET News.com]

The patch from Microsoft is here.

8:26:40 AM

PayPal reschedules IPO. The online payments company gets more bad news as Louisiana asks the company to cease offering its service to the state's residents until PayPal receives a license. [CNET News.com]

In a letter sent last week, Louisiana asked the online payments company to cease offering its service to the state's residents until PayPal receives a license from the state, the company said in a regulatory document filed Monday. Although Louisiana residents account for a small fraction of the money sent through PayPal, the state's move could presage other governmental attempts to regulate PayPal's service.
"We will comply promptly and suspend the ability of Louisiana residents to make payments through our service, but we reserve the right to contest the order through the appropriate administrative process," PayPal said in its regulatory filing.

The article says that several states are investigating whether PayPal is running an illegal bank. If so, fines are huge. PayPal says the IPO will launch on Friday.

8:21:28 AM

Why This Link Patent Case Is Weak. Even if British Telecom proves its 1989 patent for linking on the Web is legit, critics say it's too late, and that programmers would just use another technique. By Michelle Delio. [Wired News]

"Assuming for a moment that they have a valid case, then BT made a huge error in allowing that patent to sit unclaimed for so long," said patent attorney Vincent Jerham. "Had the company piped up when those first Web pages were published and informed people that it owned hyperlink technology, then businesses and Web publishers could have chosen to use hyperlinks or not. Showing up now, more than a decade after the party started, has effectively killed any chance of collecting prior-usage fees."

8:17:23 AM