Tuesday, October 10

Netscape 6 Preview Release 3 appears to be very nearly final code for the Netscape 6 final release.

In a recent debate Hilary Clinton and Rick Lazio denounced a bill that would tax email, even though the bill doesn't exist and is a variation of the modem tax myth that has been around for ages.

CERT is changing their rules for announcing security vulnerabilities. In most cases vendors will be given 45 days to respond to a problem, after which it will be disclosed to the public.

Time Warner is being criticized for the heavy-handed terms it gave Texas ISPs in exchange for access to its cable lines.

The European Union is expected to give conditional approval to the AOL-Time Warner merger.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has chosen a new Advanced Encryption Standard. Rijndael (pronounced Rhine doll) beat out a series of competing encryption protocols on the basis of security and efficiency. One requirement for the standard was that it run on smart cards with minimal computational ability.

CNET reports that many people aren't aware that their employers can read email sent through web-based email services if they log on while at work.

Wireless

The Peugeot Citroen claims to be the first wireless Web-enabled car.

ZDNet reviews Research In Motion's $499 wireless email appliance.

Yahoo! is unveiling Yahoo! by Phone to allow telephone access to mail and news.

Lynn Burke reviews speech recognition software for Wired.

CNET's "WAP Up Your Site" tells you how to make your web site ready for WAP-enabled cell phones.

The November Wired's Jargon Watch defines WAPATHY as "the general lack of interest in the much-hyped Wireless Application Protocol designed for delivering limited web content over cell phone networks."

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Friday, October 13 (ooooh, skerry!)

CNET looks at low-cost DSL, from free beer DSL to roll your own DSL.

On24 visits the rumors that EarthLink will buy Napster. [Apologies in advance for the RealAudio format, but it's the only format On24 offers. - Leslie]

Meanwhile, file-sharing service Scour files for bankruptcy protection so it can re-organize its finances.

A bug in Buy.com's product return system exposed customers' personal information, but not credit card data.

Microsoft fixed a bug in its WebTV software that allowed an attacker to crash a Windows computer running WebTV software by sending a certain type of information. The WebTV set top boxes were not affected by the bug.

Wireless

Samsung's SCHM100 is an MP3-playing cell phone with a remote control/microphone, 32 MB memory and voice recording.

Japanese DoMoCo has demoed a wrist-watch cell phone with a unique interface: you hold it next to your ear to talk, with your finger in your ear to listen. The vibrations travel from the phone through your wrist and into your ear.

An older ZDNet article looks at Stinger, the Microsoft cell phone.

The latest issue of Peter Neumann's RISKS Digest is online.

Click-a-Deal is an attempt to bring opt-in advertising to cell phones.

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