Off The Shelves: Technology

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 18:11:15 GMT

Today seems to be the day for articles on Spam. The first is about new legislation and the next three are about spam filters.

Spam Sent by Fraud Is Made a Felony Under Virginia Law. In the toughest move to date against unsolicited commercial e-mail, Virginia enacted a law imposing harsh new felony penalties, including prison time. By Saul Hansell. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 18:06:08 GMT

SpamSubtract PRO. Easily the most complicated product we tested, SpamSubtract PRO is also the most flexible, and it supports the greatest number of mail clients. [Fresh Reviews from PC Magazine]

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 18:05:37 GMT

Goodbye Spam. Like ChoiceMail, NexGen's Goodbye Spam fights junk mail without complex analytics, using only a whitelist and a blacklist to filter your e-mail in-box, and it helps you build these lists by mailing challenge messages to unknown senders. [Fresh Reviews from PC Magazine]

Tue, 25 Mar 2003 19:52:16 GMT

WSJ on warblogs of journos, military enlistees (and shutdown of kevinsites.net). Today's Wall Street Journal features an article on war, weblogs, disinformation -- and the suspension of kevinsites.net.

THE DAY ALLIED FORCES began their invasion of Iraq, a Navy lieutenant based in the Gulf posted some news on his personal Web site: "Saddam fired a couple of those Scuds that he doesn't have at me." On another personal Web site someone claiming to be a Baghdad resident wrote that "there are more Ba'ath people in the streets and they have more weapons." Kevin Mickey, a Navy lieutenant commander at Camp Patriot, Kuwait, noted on his site that "we had a minor dust storm yesterday" and said the camp's missile alarms were going off repeatedly.
On top of the 500 reporters traveling with the military and the three cable-TV news channels beaming 24-hour coverage there's a new element in this war: unfiltered eyewitness accounts online.
Soldiers and citizens in the war zone are publishing in real time on their own Web sites. Families are posting on the Web the e-mails sent home by relatives in the service. And free-lance reporters -- not subject to restrictions by the Pentagon or large media outlets -- are writing online for a new world-wide audience. In all, the glut of information from the Gulf -- from the important to the trivial -- is creating a dizzying panoply of detail, as well as half-truths.

Link to WSJ story via Yahoo, Discuss [Boing Boing Blog]

Sat, 22 Mar 2003 17:01:35 GMT

CyberJournalist.net: Iraq Conflict Coverage Weblog
http://www.cyberjournalist.net/features/iraqcoverage.html

Includes blogs from "embedded" journalists (even MTV has a correspondent there!), news sites' complete coverage pages, interactive graphics and stories, and more. Among the recent additions: a 3-D map of Iraq, and Jerusalem Post's audio reports from the field.

From Marylaine's Neat New Stuff on the Net

Wed, 19 Mar 2003 20:47:31 GMT

Another warning about a problem with Microsoft Windows

Windows flaw opens PCs to attack. A vulnerability that affects all versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system could allow attackers to run programs on a victim's PC. [CNET News.com]

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 17:34:17 GMT

Gator Be Gone!.

Here's a little tip for Internet Explorer users if you're tired of Gator and its attempts to install itself on your PC.

"Hopefully by now you have removed that password manager/form filler Gator since it's gotten a bad reputation as spyware. As an added precaution to keep the software from installing unwanted files on your system, also consider adding Gator to your list of restricted sites. To do this, click on Tools, Internet Options, Security tab, and the Restricted Sites icon. Click on Sites and type 'gator.com' without the quotes into the 'Add this Web Site to the zone', then click on Add and OK." [Neat Net Tricks, 3/15/2003]

[The Shifted Librarian]

Wed, 12 Mar 2003 18:32:38 GMT

President Signed "Do Not Call" Registry Bill. H.R. 395, The Do-Not-Call Implementation Act, 117 Stat. 557; 2 pages, "To authorize the Federal Trade Commission to collect fees... [beSpacific]

Tue, 11 Mar 2003 19:34:44 GMT

The Secret Guide to Computers - Toc. The Secret Guide to Computers - Toc A lot of detail about computers explained in very simple, direct language. 3/11/2003 [Library Techlog]

Thu, 20 Feb 2003 16:45:02 GMT

Credit card database hacked. A computer hacker gains access to more than 5 million Visa and Mastercard credit card accounts in the US. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

Fri, 14 Feb 2003 19:53:14 GMT

Laura Bush Foundation School Library Grants.

The Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries supports the education of children "by providing funds to update, extend, and diversify the book collections of America's school libraries. In doing so, the Foundation will provide students increased opportunity to learn to read, become better readers, and advance academically." Grants are available up to $5,000 to school libraries for updating, extending, and diversifying their book collections. "Any school may apply, but priority for grants will be given to those schools in which 75-100% of the school population receives free or reduced lunch." Deadline is 5 p.m. (EST) February 28.

[nsls.info]

Wed, 15 Jan 2003 21:49:44 GMT

Supreme Court nixes copyright challenge. The U.S. Supreme Court says Congress can extend the duration of copyrights, a decision that deals a grave blow to the movement against more expansive legal protections of artistic works. [CNET News.com]

Tue, 14 Jan 2003 01:22:51 GMT

PC Mag: "One of the big stories to come out of this year's CES is the approaching availability of 802.11g, which promises 54-Mbps wireless connectivity." [Scripting News]

Mon, 13 Jan 2003 20:49:31 GMT

Sobig virus sows few PC problems. While the new mass-mailing computer worm has become the No. 2 most active virus, Sobig still isn't that much of a danger, say antivirus experts. [CNET News.com]

Wed, 08 Jan 2003 16:48:00 GMT

Apple releases its own Web browser. Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs unveils a new Web browser and says software innovation has placed his company at the forefront of digital entertainment in the home. [CNET News.com]

Mon, 30 Dec 2002 18:57:53 GMT

Anyone Get a CD for Christmas?

"If you did you might want to check the box. Apparently a company called Bandlink is selling a technology to CD manufacturers which causes CDs to 'phone-home' when played in a personal computer. Unfortunately the story on Slashdot.org isn't specific about which manufacturers are doing this. Even worse is the fact that, other than a small logo on the CD cover, there is no notification to the consumer. I have heard of click-thru agreements allowing this kind of thing, but no notification at all? This just screams 'Class-Action' suit." [Lockergnome's Bits and Bytes]

I wonder what the company will make of one of these CDs being circulated by a library and the resulting "phone-homes?"

[The Shifted Librarian]

Tue, 17 Dec 2002 19:32:15 GMT

Vatican Library Goes Virtual.

Vatican Library Goes Virtual:

"No Longer for Scholars' Eyes Only. With the help of Hewlett-Packard, the Catholic Church makes historic documents accessible on the Web that only academics and church officials shared before. By Chloe Veltman. [Wired News]"

[Chi Lib Rocks!]

Mon, 16 Dec 2002 19:10:02 GMT

It's that time of the year - The New York Times has posted its 2nd Annual Year in Ideas review of the year that was 2002. It's a fascinating read, littered with technology highlights we'll look back on fondly some day.

[The Shifted Librarian]

Mon, 16 Dec 2002 19:00:01 GMT

Why every computer should have anti-virus software installed and frequently updated.

More Viruses than Ever.

E-mail Viruses Double in 2002

"E-mail viruses are now twice as prevalent as they were in 2001, with one e-mail in every 200 containing a virus.

Virus-scanning company MessageLabs said it stopped 9.3 million viruses in 2 billion e-mails this year, which equated to one virus in every 215 e-mails. That compares with 1.8 million viruses stopped in 718 million e-mails in 2001, or one virus in every 398 e-mails.

According to the company, which measured results up to the end of the second week of December, the most active virus this year was Klez.H, with 4.9 million copies stopped by MessageLabs. Yaha.E came second with 1.1 million copies, then it was Bugbear.A with 842,333, Klez.E with 380,937 and SirCam.A with 309,832. These figures represent only the numbers stopped by MessageLabs for its corporate customers. The actual numbers of these viruses are much higher.

Although Klez was the most active virus, Bugbear was the most dramatic outbreak of the year, infecting one in every 87 e-mails at its height in October. Its dual-mode attack saw it accounting for 30 percent of all reports of viruses to antivirus company Sophos in the last month--well ahead of former top-spot incumbent Klez, which by then only accounted for around 8 percent of all reports." [News.com]

This is another article I want to distribute to SLS members. We're taking some steps to try and cut down on the number of viruses that go out through our mailing lists, but your best defense is a good offense. If your library isn't using anti-virus software, please get some and install it ASAP. We'll be doing an article in the SLS Newsletter about this soon.

[The Shifted Librarian]

Tue, 26 Nov 2002 15:20:46 GMT

eBay scam

What’s real, what’s a scam? eBay users wondering

Some verification notices legit; ‘torrent’ of scams blamed on site glitch

EBay.com users are being peppered by e-mails saying there has been a security problem at the Web site, and requesting new account and password information. The problem: Some of the e-mails are legitimate, some are scams and it’s hard to tell the difference. And a recent programming glitch at eBay may actually have made life easier for the con artists. One week ago, the site accidentally revealed auction participants’ e-mail addresses for about a six-hour stretch — a gold mine for both spammers and
scammers.

From MSNBC

Tue, 19 Nov 2002 21:59:44 GMT

Time to make a wish list

Comdex: Get the gear you need. What's new on the show floor? CNET Reviews and Computer Shopper reporters scour the show for the newest and greatest tech products. [CNET News.com]

Mon, 18 Nov 2002 20:27:37 GMT

Gates' address accentuates the positive. As has become standard in recently, Microsoft's chairman uses his Comdex keynote address to offer a rebuttal to the notion that the tech industry's best days are behind it. [CNET News.com]

Wed, 13 Nov 2002 15:51:28 GMT

A New Way to get a computer virus - Be careful

Greeting card virus licensed to spread. If a computer user carelessly clicks an "I agree" button and downloads an infectious program, is that program a virus? That's the question raised by a sneaky new e-mail. [CNET News.com]

Wed, 23 Oct 2002 15:45:29 GMT

Assault on Net servers fails. A distributed denial-of-service attack hits the computers that serve as the address books for the Internet, but the effort appears to have little real effect. [CNET News.com]

Sat, 19 Oct 2002 15:33:36 GMT

An Excellent Explanation Of How Current Copyright Issues Are Negatively Affecting Libraries

Limitations and Exceptions to Copyright and Neighbouring Rights in the Digital Environment: An International Library Perspective

"There are many supporters of strong intellectual property rights today. Media companies and their trade associations view ever increased rights for copyright owners as the best way to maximize their potential revenue. It is somewhat harder, however, to find equally prominent defenders of the other half of the copyright balance, namely the needs of the public to have reasonable legitimate access to copyright material. This can be attributed to some degree to the fact that many advocates of stronger rights for copyright owners have a financial interest in such an outcome. The wider public interest in being able to access this material is more diffuse and usually has no direct economic motive and so is less likely to attract professional advocates. The library sector, however, is proud to view itself as a custodian of the public interest in this regard.

Libraries are major purchasers of copyright protected works, both analogue and digital, and make such works available for patrons to browse, read and use. Librarians and information professionals do, where possible and to the best of their ability, protect against copyright abuse of library material in collections....

It should not be forgotten that copyright is a monopoly right. Without exceptions, copyright owners would have a complete monopoly over learning, and thus control access to knowledge in the digital age....

Technological copyright protection measures are a significant issue for the world’s library and education communities, because they can override and effectively eliminate any copyright exceptions. This is because such technological measures do not distinguish between uses which are not authorised by the copyright owner but are permitted by law, on the one hand, and those uses which are not authorised by the owner and also infringing. For example, the same copy-control mechanism, which prevents a person from making infringing copies of a copyright work, may also prevent a student or a visually impaired person from making legitimate fair use/fair dealing copies....

In addition to intellectual property laws and the increasing use of digital rights management technology, contractual licensing also shapes the digital environment and is being used to limit user rights. ‘Unlike paper materials, digital information generally is not purchased by consumers or the library; rather it is licensed by the library from information providers....

However, there is a growing problem that such agreements are being used as ‘unilateral legislation’; that is, license agreements frequently override copyright exceptions and set a level of usage that is more restrictive than the law allows. Licenses can involve a wide range of terms and conditions, but, unlike copyright law, licensors are not statutorily obliged to consider the public interest in accessing information when setting such terms and conditions. As most digital information is distributed by license, public policy considerations such as fair use, fair dealing or exceptions to the author’s rights are likely to become null and void. It is therefore essential that limitations and exceptions are carefully considered in the digital realm to protect access to information.

Some examples of the types of restrictions that license agreements often impose include:

restrictions on users printing or downloading or emailing copies of (parts of) the material;
restrictions on the number, location, and organizational affiliation of users;
restrictions on libraries performing inter-library loan/document supply;
restrictions on libraries copying the work for preservation purposes;
restrictions on the use of a work beyond a certain date;
restrictions on libraries networking the work across the premises of the library;
restrictions on lending or otherwise disposing of a digital work.
restrictions on the right to quote, analyze and even to index a work

Most copying of print-based material in libraries is for educational, research or private study purposes or for preservation. The reasons usually given for copying are because users are unable to read the material in the library (material is in demand or reference only) or because the user wishes to read it at a more convenient time (time shifting). Despite rights owner concerns about loss of sales there is no evidence that copying reasonable amounts from copyright protected works displaces sales. Those who copy would not necessarily buy a work if prevented from copying it. There is no reason to believe that this pattern will not also be true of copying from digital works.

IFLA believes, therefore, that not only must traditional copyright exceptions be preserved both in the print (analogue) environment but also in the digital environment, and that this must be addressed at the same time as the issues of the increasing use of copyright protection technologies and contractual license agreements. It is of little use for national legislatures to guarantee fair use rights if these rights are promptly overridden by non-negotiated click-through licence agreements or technological protection systems in almost every case....

For works in digital format, without incurring a further payment or seeking permission, all legitimate users of a library should be able to:

browse publicly available copyright material;
read, listen to, or view lawfully acquired publicly marketed copyright material privately, on site or remotely; (including material which has to be adapted for those with a learning disability or translated into a different language)
copy, or have copied for them by library and information staff a reasonable proportion of a digital work in copyright for personal, educational or research use.

Libraries are, in effect, catalysts for the sale of information in all of its formats. Therefore, any legal or contractual restraints put on lending would be to the disadvantage of rights holders as well as to the libraries themselves. Unfortunately a precedent has been set with the European Union when lending was made a restricted act under copyright even though it is not an international requirement.

IFLA believes that the lending of published materials by libraries should not be restricted by legislation and that contractual provisions, for example within licensing agreements, should not override reasonable lending of electronic resources by library and information staff." [IFLANET]

From The Shifted Librarian

Off The Shelves: Technology

An *Excellent* Explanation Of How Current Copyright Issues Are Negatively Affecting Libraries

An Excellent Explanation Of How Current Copyright Issues Are Negatively Affecting Libraries