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 November 1 - - Threats, threats everywhere While the election heads into its final few days, the technology behind voting is getting a lot of attention. We have created a special report with a number of stories on e-voting, etc. (http://www.eweek.com/category2/0,1738,1624629,00.asp). But the rest of the technology world may have another things on its mind. Everywhere I looked this week, it seemed I was reading about some new threat. Just when it seemed like the Bagle set of viruses was done, here come some more - - with two new variants out opening backdoors to different computers (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1696931,00.asp). And more flaws were discovered in Internet Explorer this week (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1703707,00.asp). Unfortunately, the problems aren't limited to Windows. Last week Red Hat warned users to be on the lookout for e-mail posing as a security update, (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1682854,00.asp), while on the Macintosh side a new script threatens to steal passwords and install remote control software and security backdoors onto a user's machine (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1682846,00.asp). On the other hand, there was potentially good news about spam this week, with news that AOL had agreed to support the Sender ID e-mail protocol (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1682948,00.asp). This may restart industry efforts to come together to fight spam (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1684386,00.asp) - - an important step indeed. In product news, the coolest new products of the week were probably Apple's new U2 iPod (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1683681,00.asp) and PalmOne's new Treo 650 (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1682174,00.asp). But the most excitement may have been generated by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (http://opm.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3135875&did=3), which presents enough mayhem. And here's more from the Ziff Davis websites and publications: _________PC Magazine______________________________ FREEWARE GOES TO WORK http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1681547,00.asp While licensing costs of mainstream apps continue to soar, freeware competitors are flourishing and improving. So why buy? You can be productive and stick it to The Man. PC Magazine reviews 21 apps to replace Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access; and various graphics tools. THE ESSENTIAL BUYING GUIDE FOR THE BUSINESS TRAVELER http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1684006,00.asp Life on the road is never easy - - particularly when the tray table in front of you serves as your desk several times a week. If productivity is key while you're traveling, make sure you have the right tools. _________ExtremeTech______________________________ MGE VIPER GAMER ATX CASE http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1685182,00.asp The Viper, from MGE's "Extreme Gamer" division, is an attempt at a cool case with a bargain price-tag. Can a $90 case with a 500-watt power supply really deliver? ExtremeTech checks it out. FINALLY, AN AUDIGY 2 FOR GAMERS ON THE GO http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1684450,00.asp Sound Blaster finally takes its show on the road with an Audigy 2 specifically designed for laptop gamers. Could this be the best thing in mobile gaming since the 3D GPU? We think so, and we tell you why. _________eWEEK____________________________________ LEADING ISPS SUE MORE SPAMMERS http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1684889,00.asp AOL, EarthLink, Microsoft and Yahoo file seven spam lawsuits, the companies' second round this year using the federal CAN-SPAM law. New this time is "spim" for bogus chat and IM. Get the story with eWEEK. ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO FOR ORACLE'S PEOPLESOFT BUYOUT http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1683752,00.asp According to legal experts, now that the EU has given the official OK for Oracle's PeopleSoft bid, the only remaining hurdles are quite surmountable. _________Microsoft Watch__________________________ ARE YOU A PIRATE? MICROSOFT WANTS TO KNOW http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1684754,00.asp Usually, Web-based, opt-in programs (especially those with no tangible incentives) aren't overly popular. One would figure a program asking users to voluntarily verify that their software isn't counterfeit would be even less so. But in just over a month, more than 800,000 users have participated voluntarily in Microsoft's "Windows Genuine Advantage" anti-piracy pilot. What gives? Redmond officials claim that users are generally curious as to the counterfeit status of their software. Microsoft Watch checks it out. _________Baseline_________________________________ THE BASELINE 500 http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1397,1682125,00.asp Baseline set out to quantify not how well information systems work, but how well the people in an organization manage information. That's why these are rankings of groups of individuals, of corporations. Not technology by itself. _________CIO Insight______________________________ STORAGE MANAGEMENT: CLOSET SPACE http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1397,1666699,00.asp Using new tools and standards to better manage storage infrastructure can lead to more effective data analysis. CIO Insight tells you how. _________1UP______________________________________ GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS, THE REVIEW http://opm.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3135875&did=3 Is it the best game ever made? The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine reviews the conclusion to Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto trilogy. _________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. 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