Miller's Choice is a weekly selection of the top news, features and commentary by Ziff Davis journalists. Edited by Michael J. Miller, Executive Vice President and Editorial Director of Ziff Davis Media as well as Editor-in-Chief of PC Magazine, this copyrighted material is offered with the understanding that any fair usage will give attribution to the source.
Week in Review for September 20 A plan to slow Internet spam ran into big issues this week. Microsoft has filed a patent application for its Sender ID process (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1646976,00.asp), and that application has accelerated concerns within the open source community (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1647374,00.asp). In part in response, AOL announced it will move away from Sender ID (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1646926,00.asp). There is some concern it will impact the sender-authentication process as a whole (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1647115,00.asp) . All I can do is hope this gets resolved soon, as the spam problem continues to plague users. Meanwhile, we saw new security threats. A new bug allows a specially formed JPEG graphics file (which can be read in all sorts of applications) to compromise Windows systems (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1645829,00.asp). And over on the open-source side, researchers discovered a flaw in several graphics code libraries that could lead to denial of service attacks (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1647326,00.asp) In business, Yahoo purchased Musicmatch (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1645710,00.asp) giving the Internet company a music store and jukebox to compete with Microsoft and Apple. And I recently talked with HP CEO Carly Fiorina about innovation, new product initiatives, consumer electronics, convergence, and tech support (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1644305,00.asp). Here are some more stories from the Ziff Davis publications and websites: _________PC Magazine______________________________ TOP ANTIVIRUS APPS SQUARE OFF http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1646781,00.asp The best antivirus apps distinguish themselves by adding features outside the ordinary. PC Magazine sees how new versions of McAfee VirusScan and Norton AntiVirus fare. LITTLE BIG DRIVES http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1639820,00.asp Storage and backup are no longer the realm of the IT administrator alone; with drive prices falling and capacities rising, the personal storage space is exploding. We take a look at 15 new drives terrific for storing your photos, music, video, data, and more. _________ExtremeTech______________________________ BUILD IT: A HOME LINUX SERVER http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1646688,00.asp ExtremeTech has a cheap recipe for a solid home server to make a big bit-bucket and a shared printer available to your home network. We show you how to repurpose an older system to take over home server duties for even less. 11 SMALL FORM FACTOR PCS http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1645973,00.asp Thinking about building a small form factor PC? They make great home-theater servers or LAN-party boxes, and they look really cool too. Our roundup helps you pick just the right system - - don't buy a cube without checking it out. _________eWEEK____________________________________ COMPUTER CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1646899,00.asp eWEEK's David Coursey offers seven guidelines to aid IT staffs called on to conduct a forsenic computer investigation. BEA'S WONG VOWS TO TAKE COMPANY TO 'NEXT LEVEL' http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1647009,00.asp The newly appointed executive vice president says BEA will continue to implement the Alchemy and Liquid Computing strategies, and that the new regime won't miss a beat with customers. _________Microsoft Watch__________________________ IS MICROSOFT POISED TO SUE OPENOFFICE LICENSEEES? http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1646481,00.asp Is Microsoft simply leaving its legal options open, or gearing up to sue OpenOffice users for alleged patent infringements? You could interpret the wording that details some of the terms of the sweeping Sun-Microsoft settlement either way. (Sun disclosed agreement particulars in an SEC filing last week.) But most folks seem to believe, at least for now, Microsoft has no intentions to pursue legal action against vendors or customers of open-source alternatives to its own Office suite. Get the details with Microsoft Watch. SEARCH IS TOP OF MIND FOR MICROSOFT RESEARCH http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1646967,00.asp Microsoft Research recently reorganized, and formed a number of new groups in both its Redmond and Beijing facilities. Both the U.S. and Asian research units have spawned new search-focused research units. We have more details on what kinds of projects the new Microsoft Research search teams are targeting. _________CIO Insight______________________________ HOMELAND SECURITY CIO ANSWERS TOUGH QUESTIONS http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1397,1643751,00.asp The Department of Homeland Security's CIO details the infrastructure hurdles overcome by the newest government agency, talks about information sharing challenges with the private sector and answers frankly about software procurement regulations. All with CIO Insight. _________Baseline_________________________________ EASTMAN KODAK: PICTURE IMPERFECT http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1397,1644929,00.asp Kodak bet that Ofoto would funnel huge quantities of digital images to its photo printing factories. But the online service has not turned a profit. Now, the snapshot pioneer has bigger plans: Establishing standards to swap and print digital images and use Kodak's digital printing services. Read about it with Baseline. _________1UP______________________________________ PROJECT: SNOWBLIND http://appsrv-2.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3134676 Hands-on: It's all about weapons in this shooter. Read the review with 1UP.com. _________Sync_____________________________________ BARGAIN BIN http://www.syncmag.com/article2/0,1759,1645230,00.asp At these prices, you can't afford not to buy! Sync's broke intern sifted through the crud to unearth six steals. _________Newsletter Information_________________________________ The e-mail address for your subscription is: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNSUBSCRIBE from Miller's Choice, click here: http://www.pcmag.com/unsubscribe_newsletter/0,4223,,00.asp?n=81&type=u&[EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE to Miller's Choice or other PCMag.com newsletters, click here: http://www.pcmag.com/newsletter_manage/ Copyright (c) 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Ziff Davis Media Inc., 28 East 28th Street, New York, NY 10016 Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Media is prohibited, except that journalists are free to use any of the summary descriptions above as long as they cite the author and source, and, in the case of online use, as long as they include the link back to the actual story. PC Magazine, ExtremeTech, eWEEK, CIO Insight, Baseline, Microsoft Watch, 1UP, Sync and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Ziff Davis Media.
