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KC News by Kahl Consultants. |
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Free! Latest KC News |
KC News 8/2000 | GEAR SPECIAL | Vol.2, No.8
KC News by Kahl Consultants.
Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands.
Visit http://www.kahl.net
===================
WORD OF THE MONTH
===================
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sought and received an injunction against Napster. A U.S. District Court Judge in San Francisco granted the recording industry a temporary injunction to pull the service. The judge said the recording industry had shown it would likely win a trial, while the defendants had failed to prove the software had substantial, non-infringing uses. The industry argued that the service is contributing to massive copyright violations as Napster users trade tens of thousands of songs every day. Naturally Napster appealed, and a federal appeals court granted a last-minute reprieve to Napster. So Napster is in business pending a further resolution of its case.
Other technologies such as Gnutella and Freenet are springing up that could provide safer havens for Napster users. These technologies also allow people to exchange video and multimedia files, so they could be even more of an irritant to the entertainment industry than Napster is. So far, Napster and others like it have been used primarily to download digital music. However, as the Net overcomes today's size and speed barriers, these technologies could be used to trade everything from full-length movies to computer operating systems--basically, anything that can take a digital form.
The Napster phenomenon bears profound social implications. Since capturing the public's attention, the technology has raised legal, educational and even moral questions while changing the very definition of commercial entertainment and how people use it.
Oddly enough, whether Napster wins or loses, analysts believe that the business will never become profitable.
See what the fuss is all about:
http://www.napster.com/
http://www.napigator.com/
http://gnutella.wego.com/
http://freenet.sourceforge.net/
http://www.scour.com/
http://www.audiofind.com/
==========
TECHNOTIP
==========
They go by names like ASK JEEVES, GOOGLE, and NORTHERN LIGHTS. And you
can find them all in a nice package right here:
http://www.kahl.net/top10
And be sure to bookmark our FAQs & Tips:
http://www.kahl.net/tools/tips.html
==================
SITES FOR SORE EYES
==================
P&P Poetry & Prose Site:
http://www.kahl.net/poetry/
30% Off For New RadiKahl GearStore Customers!
----------------------------------------------------
CAMPING GEAR SPECIAL!
New Customers at the RadiKahl Camping GearStore will receive 30% (up
to $20) off anything. So if you're in the market for tents, sleeping bags,
backpacks, or other gear, you have until July 31, 2000 to save bucks at:
http://www.kahl.net/camping
Enter the coupon code NW5J in the store checkout (when prompted). 30% will automatically be deducted from the product total. Remember, only NEW customers.
Shopping for Techie Gear?
---------------------------
If you shop for computer hardware or software or any electronics, some
of the best deals can be found online. We show you how to use comparison
shopping tools to get the best price.
START HERE:
http://www.kahl.net/shopping
======
KC TIPS
======
Kirk Bailey, a computer specialist whose job includes protecting medical records, issued a challenge to colleagues in the information security field last October: Spend two months looking into my background and tell me what you discover.
The only rule was that they couldn't break the law or bother his immediate family, and they used a variety of investigative techniques. But mostly they researched online, and as a result, we now know that Bailey was born by Caesarean section in 1951 and that he got a C in English at the University of Washington. They know what his house is worth and what his phone bills looked like.
"It was an enormous invasion on my comfort," he reported. "Here I can be sitting in my warm living room by the fireplace with my wife, and I think my privacy is protected, but in fact it's just a thin veneer and illusion."
The veneer is quickly growing much thinner. Just as the Internet shifts into high gear as a mass medium -- with millions of relatively unsophisticated users now employing the Web for purchases and recreation -- commercial interests are becoming adept at tracking and manipulating users. People who register to use Web sites, make purchases online or even just navigate from site to site may soon find that detailed information about themselves has been compiled by a company whose system can coordinate records of some 100 million Web visits with a database including names, addresses, telephone numbers and retail habits of some 90 percent of American households.
This is happening today. As Sun Microsystems chairman Scott McNealy derisively proclaimed more than a year ago, "You have zero privacy; get over it."
Few Americans would be as openly dismissive as McNealy, but millions are inadvertently surrendering privacy. Until recently, most of the mass tracking done online was relatively anonymous. DoubleClick Inc. -- the largest Internet advertising agency -- has been collecting information about Web use for some time, and now has more than 100 million files charting Web use collected by online ID numbers. But by themselves, those ID numbers were relatively anonymous.
Things have changed. DoubleClick now owns Abacus Direct Group, a firm that maintains a database of names, addresses, telephone numbers and retail habits covering about 90 percent of all Americans. And now DoubleClick knows how to match the Abacus information with its Web-use database.
The details are a little technical, but boil down to this: DoubleClick knows your ID number. If it can get both a Web site where you have registered your name and other data to cooperate, it can match the ID with your identity. And then it's easy to tie that into the vast Abacus database (culled from records of credit card purchases, credit reports, mortgages and God knows what else) to get a detailed picture of who you are, what you do and where you visit on the Web.
The company calls this "personalization," and it does offer advantages. For instance, if DoubleClick knows I went to Phoenix for spring training last year (check out that Visa balance and my mileage plan on Southwest Airlines) and also knows that I have visited the Cub's Web site five times this month, it could figure that I might be interested in targeted advertising about special hotel rates in Mesa this spring. And indeed, I would be.
But what the company calls "personalization" is also known as "invasion." A variety of consumer groups and Internet privacy advocates are gearing up to challenge DoubleClick at the Federal Trade Commission meeting next month, charging that consumers have been duped into thinking their behavior is anonymous while DoubleClick has been figuring out how to break the code.
To add insult to injury, DoubleClick won't disclose which sites are cooperating by supplying the user registration information it matches with Web data. "The fact that DoubleClick is not disclosing the names of the companies who are feeding them consumer's names is a shameful hypocrisy," a privacy advocate said. "They are trying to protect the confidentiality of the violators of confidentiality."
A DoubleClick executive counters that users who don't want their data used will have a chance to opt out -- but if they do, it will probably be in the fine print, and nobody who's ever looked at the twisted legalese of an online privacy policy document will expect much real disclosure there.
McNealy's admonition may be cavalier -- "You have zero privacy; get
over it" -- but it's also a fair warning to keep in mind while you surf
and register online. Beyond that, consumers should consider adding their
voices to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (http://epic.org)
or others planning to take the protest to the FTC.
[Source: Howard Weaver, Sacramento Bee]
Anonymizer does a free PRIVACY ANALYSIS of your internet connection. The sites you visit, online advertisers, your ISP, and other people who use your computer can find out lots of things about you.
If you value your privacy try using The Anonymizer. It shields you from prying eyes and eliminates your trail of information. No installation is required. You can now surf anonymously FROM ANY COMPUTER regardless of where you are.
ANONYMIZER:
http://www.anonymizer.com/
=======
WinTips
=======
Is your machine running slower than it did a few months ago? You can always speed things up by using the WINDOWS MAINTENANCE WIZARD.
The Maintenance Wizard is a Windows 98 utility. It splices, it dices!
Not really, but what it can do is:
a) flush your folders with temporary files (including your browser
caches)
b) check the hard disk for errors (including bad sectors on the surface
of the disk)
c) defragment your hard drive thoroughly
Be warned! This program takes forever to get the job done. Fortunately you can schedule the maintenance and save yourself the wait. To schedule maintenance, follow these simple steps:
1) select Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Maintenance Wizard
2) Choose Express
3) Follow the prompts to set the time and frequency
4) Click OK!
Watch as the Task Scheduler icon appears in the Taskbar's system tray. Remember to leave your computer running at the scheduled time, and the system will do the rest.
Or you can run the Maintenance Wizard at any time by choosing Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Maintenance Wizard and selecting "Perform Maintenance Now".
An even better option is to invest $50 in a program called Norton System Works 2000. It does everything the Maintenance Wizard does and much more. And it does it faster and better! We recommend a processor speed of at least 200 Mhz and at least 64 MB RAM for Norton users.
Bookmark our FAQ Tips site, with WinTips, WebTips, ImageTips, Shopping
Tips and more:
http://www.kahl.net/tools/tips.html
====================
Keyboard Shortcut Du Jour
====================
They are easy to learn and use. Iif you don't know them yet it's high time to start using them!!!
FUNCTION
KEY COMBINATION
-------------
------------------------
Copy
CTRL+C
Cut
CTRL+X
Paste
CTRL+V
Undo
CTRL+Z (we call this the "oops" command)
Bold
CTRL+B
Underline
CTRL+U
Italic
CTRL+I
Bookmark the entire WINDOWS TIP list:
http://www.kahl.net/tools/wintips.html
=======================
AOTM (Acronym of the Month)
=======================
URLs are a standard way of SPECIFYING A LOCATION of an object, typically a web page, on the Internet.
Examples:
http://www.kahl.net/index.html
http://www.somebloodydomainname.com/subdirectory/image.gif
http://www.w3.org/default.html#Introduction
ftp://spy:secret-@-ftp.acme.com/pub/topsecret/weapon.tgz
mailto:fred-@-doc.ic.ac.uk
news:alt.hypertext
telnet://dra.com
The part BEFORE the first colon specifies the access scheme or PROTOCOL.
Common schemes include:
ftp
http (World-Wide Web)
gopher
news
telnet
mailto (e-mail).
The part AFTER the colon is interpreted according to the access scheme. Two slashes after the colon introduce a HOSTNAME or sitename.
For an HTTP or FTP URL the next part is a PATHNAME which is usually related to the pathname of a file on the server. The file can contain any type of data but only certain types are interpreted directly by most browsers. These include HTML and images in gif or jpeg format. A pathname may be an absolute pathname or a relative pathname.
Any questions?
Handy Acronym Links (or HAL):
BABEL : A Glossary of Computer Oriented Abbreviations and Acronyms
http://www.access.digex.net:80/~ikind/babel.html
Acronym Finder: Look up 119,400+ acronyms/abbreviations &
their meanings
http://www.AcronymFinder.com
================
!!Hoax & Virus Alert!!
================
If you receive a message or warning DO NOT FORWARD IT!!
VERIFY IT FIRST! Use our hoax and virus website here:
http://www.kahl.net/hoax
-----------------------
THE GIFT OF GAB
-----------------------
GO TO GLOBALCOM for your telecommunication needs. Say you're in the
USA... you'll get
4.9 cents in-state and 6.9 cent per minute interstate calls FROM ANY
PHONE with our VoiceNet offer!
We find the BEST DEALS for you. SAY BYE TO EXPENSIVE CALLS! Check out
this great
offer AND MANY MORE!
http://www.kahl.net/global
=======
NetTips
=======
BOOKFACE:
http://www.Bookface.com
SODAPLAY:
http://sodaplay.com/
And that's about it. Now TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER and TURN ON MOTHER NATURE.
Cheers,
Alex
Kahl Consultants
http://www.kahl.net
THE PLUG
========
How has your small business or organization been performing lately?
Do you have enough clients? Do you want enhance your presence on the net?
Some of our latest clients include:
RUSSIAN RIVER REALTY
http://www.russianriverrealty.com/
Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands. Kahl Consultants are always at your service at http://www.kahl.net
If you got this far you obviously enjoyed KC News. Pass it on!
Please forward it to a handful of your friends. Remember, the best
things in life are free.
THE PUNCH LINE
==============
9. He's won the Publisher's Clearinghouse sweepstakes three years in a row.
8. When asked for his phone number, he gives it in hexadecimal.
7. Seems strangely calm whenever the office LAN goes down.
6. Somehow gets HBO on his PC at work.
5. Mumbled, "Oh, puh-leeez" 95 times during the movie "The Net".
4. Deposits to his checking account made in millions of half-cent increments.
3. Video dating profile lists "public-key encryption" among favorite passtimes.
2. When his computer starts up, you hear, "Good Morning, Mr. President".
1. You hear him murmur, "Let's see you use that Visa card now, my friend."
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