By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews

Literally every day at Betanews, we get at least one security vendor "alert" of some type, warning us to be on the lookout for the latest malware. The message is always the same: Advise users to stay vigilant, to keep patching, to upgrade their antivirus to the latest editions. But the profiles of the malware typically look the same, too -- stuff you might click on by accident, links pretending to be from your "best friend" in an e-mail message, ads for products that look too good to be true.

For many of us, the situation is getting to be like the US' terror alert level, which has remained at "Yellow" since the fall of 2007. We starting to forget what "elevated" vigilance means. And maybe that's a problem, because lack of attention to advice about real threats could become as dangerous as lack of attention to any one of those miracle weight-loss links.

This isn't an ad, it's my opinion: Over the years, I've trusted the engineers at Sophos Labs to present down-to-earth analyses of possible security scares. This morning, I forwarded two recent reports from other well-known security vendors to Sophos' Chester Wisniewski, reports about malware that didn't fit the ordinary profile we tend to see from day to day.

The first report comes from ALWIL Software, publishers of Avast anti-virus, and it's been heavily circulated since it was first issued last February. It speaks of the horrors of receiving unsolicited malware by way of JavaScript elements embedded in the ads that appear on Web sites -- the sources of which, sometimes, innocent publishers have no control over.

"The malware usually spreads through Web infection placed on innocent, badly secured Web sites," reads last month's initial warning from the Czech Republic-based Avast's Jiri Sejtko. "The ad infiltration method is growing in popularity alongside with the Web site infections. Now we are facing probably the biggest ad poisoning ever made -- all important ad services are affected. It means that users might get infected just by reading their favorite newspaper or by doing search on famous Web indexers. User interaction is not needed in this attack -- infection begins just after poisoned ad is loaded by the browser -- it is not a type of social engineering."

A chart from the ALWIL security research team showing what it claims to be the number of detected instances of malware sent by advertising platforms over a six-day period.

ALWIL's research found the Fox Audience Network as among the ad platforms spreading the alleged infection, which the firm dubbed "JS:Prontexi." On Tuesday, a public relations effort by the firm dubbed the malware a "widespread campaign," leading to blanket coverage such as this story in Media Post on Tuesday, this story in the Danish BizReport earlier today, and this blog post on Photoxels, which contains the original press release in its entirety.

That press release stated as many as one in two online ads served worldwide was in danger of being infected by the malware the ALWIL team discovered. "JS:Prontexi highlights the lack of care shown by advertising services providers to actively screen the content they are distributing," Sejtko is quoted as saying.

Can this problem truly be this bad -- a malware component with a 50% worldwide Web reach?

"Infections on ad services are certainly of heightened concern," Sophos' Chet Wisniewski told Betanews earlier today, "yet this is almost a month old, and the miscreants who caused this incident have since moved on. To claim it as the biggest ad server compromise ever seems to me to be a bit of hyperbole." The moral of the story, according to the ALWIL press release: Pay attention to situations where you may think antivirus software like Avast is returning false positives...they may not be false. Again quoting Sejtko, "Consumers shouldn't immediately accuse their antivirus program of a false positive when a familiar site gets blocked. There can be a real danger."

The other "red alert" this week comes from McAfee Labs, as part of its new program of publishing "Consumer Threat Alerts." One of the first such alerts yesterday concerns a worldwide "Facebook password reset scam." Here, users worldwide are sent an ordinary e-mail -- no graphics, no text formatting, just an e-mail with an attachment: "Dear user of facebook [sic], Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed. You can find your new password in attached document. Thanks, Your Facebook."

As McAfee's threat alert from yesterday reads, "This threat is potentially very dangerous considering that there are over 400 million Facebook users who could fall for this scam. This is also the sixth most prevalent piece of malware targeting consumers in the last 24 hours, as tracked by McAfee Labs." Since this is also the type of phishing scam that we see here at Betanews every single day (sometimes every few hours), certainly this can't be the kind of malware delivery mechanism that people fall for, can it? Haven't people smelled this kind of scam long enough to spot it at a distance?

Surprise. As Wisniewski told us, this one deserves the red flag and the blaring klaxons.

"We are seeing very high volumes of this attack. Sophos detects the attachments as TROJ/Invo-Zip, which we talked about being involved in a similar MySpace attack this January. It then proceeds to infect you with Mal/FakeAV-BW (Fake Anti-virus). The same malware is also making the rounds as a fake delivery notification from DHL. The only thing unique is the extremely high volumes and the large user base that Facebook has that could be convinced to run the malware."

So to recap: A completely unsophisticated e-mail attachment, of the garden variety we've seen for the last 15 year, is seen by Sophos as being more dangerous and widespread than an embedded JavaScript that one security researcher says has the potential of appearing in half the world's online ads. The only way to ever find out the truth, is to ask the right questions of the right people.

Palm’s poor performance was no surprise today since it sent out a warning last month that sales were falling way short of expectations.

But it’s not the company’s weak performance in Q3 that people should worry about. Cash-strapped Palm (NSDQ: PALM) will be busy conducting a turnaround over the next few months as its competitors rush into the market with guns blazing. Already, Palm’s launch on Verizon Wireless took a back-seat to the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid as Verizon’s big device launch of the year. Closer to the end of the year, Palm will have to contend with Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) as it prepares to launch its flashy new operating system.

Release. | Webcast.

Palm’s poor performance was no surprise today since it sent out a warning last month that sales were falling way short of expectations.

But it’s not the company’s weak performance in Q3 that people should worry about. Cash-strapped Palm (NSDQ: PALM) will be busy conducting a turnaround over the next few months as its competitors rush into the market with guns blazing. Already, Palm’s launch on Verizon Wireless took a back-seat to the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid as Verizon’s big device launch of the year. Closer to the end of the year, Palm will have to contend with Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) as it prepares to launch its flashy new operating system.

Release. | Webcast.

Sex.com is the most valuable domain name in the world (for obvious reasons). Right now it’s up for sale, and two of the prospective buyers might surprise you: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and a California meat company called BullWhip.

PETA published a letter requesting that Sex.com’s owners donate the domain name (valued at $18 million) so the organization can use it as a tool in its recent “vegetarians are sexy” ad campaign. PETA described a website where visitors could watch sexy ads, vote on the sexiest vegatarians (they include the above-pictured Alicia Silverstone as well as Pamela Anderson), and find out which veggies are aphrodesiacs.

In response, a BullWhip executive named Dick James sent out a press release praising meat-based diets and describing his plans for Sex.com. His lack of seriousness became clear when he got into that second point. He said, “Our plans are to have celebrities such as Angelina Jolie eating a hot dog or Eliza Dushku with two big slabs of Angus steak on her breasts. Britney Spears and Paris Hilton have also been contacted to fight in a tub of hamburger.”

Clearly he’s just mocking PETA, so comical as all this is, it’s just a PR stunt on the parts of both companies. PETA knows the owners of Sex.com are unlikely to donate the domain, and BullWhip is unlikely to make a serious offer. It’s as entertaining a PR fight as you’ll see, though.

We’ll leave you with the rejected, sexy PETA Super Bowl ad. It’s probably not quite safe-for-work.

Tags: animal rights, bullwhip, Domain Names, domains, peta, porn, pornography, sex, sex.com

This week, Donna Simpson announced her plan to be the fattest woman in the world. But are 'gainers' who purposefully overeat risking their health or liberating themselves?

There isn't much that Emma Allen doesn't know about dieting. She once gave up solid food for four months. It didn't work out. She tried the weight-loss programme NutriSystem, but needless to say, they didn't help either. She was even one of the first generation of Atkins devotees who were required, among other things, to test their own urine.

Yet while she was publicly attempting to shed the pounds, secretly, Emma liked being overweight. As a child she had fantasies of taking a pill that would make her fatter and fatter until she eventually just floated away.

She never told anyone, but when she got pregnant 18 years ago, everything changed. "It was like a religious epiphany," Emma says. "I remember having this incredible feeling that I could think about what was good for me, instead of calories. The possibility of thinking about food differently was a big turning point."

Over the next 10 years, Emma immersed herself in the world of size politics. She paid closer attention to the size liberation movement: a political movement that started in the 1970s and made size an axis of oppression. Groups such as Fat Underground and Fat Activists Together (FAT) fought for anti-discrimination legislation on the grounds of weight. Then three years ago she finally took the decision to do something she had always wanted to do. "I'd had these fantasies all my life and had been restraining them all my life. There came a time when I wanted to explore," she says. "I wanted to know more about what they were about. How would I feel about actually gaining weight, would I enjoy it?" In spring 2007, she took the plunge and gained 33lb, to reach a total weight of 17.5st.

Emma is a 49-year-old professor at a university in the north-west of England. She is also a "gainer" – sometimes known as a "feedee" – who overeats in an active attempt to put on weight. Although there are no statistics on the number of people doing this, gaining is more common than one might think. "They are everybody: every age, every country, every size; I mean, tiny, skinny people wanting to gain . . . it really is a case of, look around you, somebody is having these fantasy scenarios," says Emma.

This week Donna Simpson, a 42-year-old mother from New Jersey who weighs 43st, made headlines by revealing that her ongoing weight gain was part of her plan to become the fattest woman on earth. Pictured with an enigmatic smile and a burger in her hand, the press coverage showed varying degrees of restraint in highlighting the £400-a-week food shops, fast-food binges and unrepentant bid to hit 73st.

Gaining is often linked to feederism; a topic that occasionally pops up as freakshow fodder in magazines, chat shows or documentaries such as Fat Girls and Feeders: a 2003 Channel 4 documentary. This focused on the relationships between men and the overweight, vulnerable women they chose to fatten to immobility and beyond. Yet many women actively seek to gain weight of their own volition.

There are many websites and groups dedicated to gaining but Fantasy Feeder (FF to its members) is perhaps the most comprehensive. There are forums, stories and photographs that show unbuttoned blouses revealing pot bellies, wobbly tummies and impressive mounds of flesh cascading over waistbands. Large bosoms escape the confines of their bras, and rolls ripple beneath over-stretched T-shirts. Before and after pictures show the usual weight transformation journey, but in reverse. The poses are proud, matter-of-fact and often sexual.

There are lots of men on the site, but it is the images of female gainers that catch the eye. In our present landscape of body blandness, they stand out as controversial, bold and visually political. Fat is still, most definitely, a feminist issue for some female gainers."I think being a feminist has affected my relationship to my body and gaining in several ways," says Emma. "I started, very young, bucking the trends of beauty norms, like bra-wearing and shaving and makeup. I always thought that these practices were ridiculous; so that made it easier to go against the norm. Gaining is very liberating."

Others say they like making a statement with their weight because it challenges our stereotypical notions of beauty. Some, like Helen Gibson, a 40-year-old nurse from the Midlands, gain weight simply to please themselves. "It is my right to be fat; nothing about making a point." Yet even she concedes putting on weight after her marriage made her feel free: "Those three months were the most liberating of my life; I could feel the fat going back on. My tummy returned to its former glory – fat, soft and flabby, just how it should be."

Helen's husband knows she is a gainer, as do friends, who are well aware of how much she "adores being fat"; understandably, though, being an NHS employee, she cannot come out of the gaining closet completely. At the latest estimate, 57% of women were classified as being overweight, including 25% who were obese. Overall, obesity and related health issues now account for 9% of the NHS budget. As a nurse, says Helen, she cannot be seen to publicly advocate being overweight. For others, anonymity is the result of not wanting anyone to know, which might explain the profusion of headless pictures on the FF website.

As any gainer will tell you, life outside the community can be harsh. There is still a huge amount of derision and discrimination towards the obese, so the decision to keep their gaining a secret isn't really a surprise. Lauren, a 20-year-old American gainer, says she does not want to offer more ammunition to people by explaining the predilection. "As a fat woman, I have experienced fat discrimination almost on a daily basis," she says. "It's usually not so glaring as an intolerant jerk screaming, 'Diet, fatty!' but smaller, more painful ways: going to parties and no one talks to me, being glared at while I'm eating in restaurants, the snickering in changing rooms in department stores."

For many non-gainers, the practice seems strange because of the health implications – both physical and psychological. Even organisations such as the US-based National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (Naafa) dismiss gaining on health grounds. Obesity experts say that being overweight can cause everything from heart problems and diabetes to high blood pressure and gall stones. The message is that fat and health don't mix. But Emma disagrees. She says that it would be more useful for people to consider the multimillion-pound diet industry and its "95% failure rate", and feels overweight people are instead blamed for all the world's ills. "I think people worry about health because it's the easiest place to hang fat hatred. The data actually suggests that it has to do with activity, and not size. People respond badly to anything that asks them to reconfigure their presumptions and preconceptions."

Psychologically, gaining is still a grey area. While one would assume purposefully overeating to gain weight is as much of a disorder as not eating, Susan Ringwood, chief executive of Beating Eating Disorders (Beat), says that isn't the case. "It isn't an eating disorder as such, because there is no morbid fear of fatness, or weight gain. In its extreme forms it is more likely to be a personality disorder that is organised around submission/domination and sexual fantasies."

Another theory, says psychotherapist Phillip Hodson, is that intentional weight gain for women could well be an avoidance tactic: they don't want to attract the unwanted attention of men, so they transform themselves into something deemed conventionally unattractive. Most women don't feel this way, but it could be true for a small minority. "I have come across cases where it's quite obvious that women deliberately become large, or remain large, for psychological reasons," he says. "These include trying to avoid attention and becoming sexually invisible. Some women use food to become so different from the stereotype and to avoid all that is involved in fitting that stereotype: from wolf whistles to being propositioned."

It's a thought, but it doesn't appear to mean anything to Emma or Helen who define weight gain in very sexual terms. Although Donna Simpson's press coverage glossed over the sexual aspect of gaining, for them, more fat means more sex appeal; the extra flesh that everyone else is attempting to shed fuels their desires.

Emma goes one step further to say that gaining is an intrinsic part of her sexual identity. She cannot gain at the moment because of MS and diabetes, but still calls herself a gainer.

For most of us, weight gain seems simple: a bit too much butter on your toast and one chocolate biscuit too many can mean the difference between zipping up your jeans or not. But the question of how to gain weight is quite a hot topic on Fantasy Feeder. There are "Eat Yourself Fat" tailormade diet plans to increase your weight, and the advice ranges from eating ice cream before bed to homemade milkshakes and lots more pasta.

While some favour junk food overload, others, like Emma, say that it is the very antithesis of what gaining is about. "For me, it's all about a kind of hedonism; it's about opening the doors and allowing in fleshy pleasures, whether it's food itself, or what happens to my body, or what happens to somebody else's body. I need a big variety, because what's appealing to me are contrasts of textures and tastes and aromas and colours . . . if I have to eat a big bowl of pasta, I'm not interested. I mean, I love pasta, but I'm not going to eat four servings of it."

Instead Emma maintains a healthy eating regime. "I know no one will believe this, but I eat lots of wholegrains, fruit and veg; probably a bit too much cheese, and chocolate – although I now only eat sugarfree candies. Fish, if it's fresh . . . of course. My diet isn't primarily McDonald's and KFC; in fact, it almost never is." Likewise, Helen's love of gaining is as much about the act of eating as the result. "It's the pleasure of food that is the biggest pleasure for me; followed by each extra roll of fat that comes with the amount that I eat," she says. "I adore how I look naked – and I have been known to spend far too much time admiring myself in the mirror."

The presence of online gaining communities has provided people with a support system. Many say it is like coming home. "This is our small part of the world where we are surrounded by people who say, 'You're not weird; it's perfectly fine to feel as you do, in fact, we think you're great because of it,'" says Lauren. "To virtually everyone, it is a liberating, wonderful feeling." Emma says that she is in the privileged position of "coming out" because she has little to lose: her partner will not leave her because of it, and she is unlikely to lose her job. Colleagues don't know, but she doesn't think they will be too surprised, given her outspoken views on fat issues.

As a moderator on the FF site, she comes across a lot of people who on the one hand are desperate to be fat, on the other, desperate to be thin. "Real desires need attention, not curing," she says. "Lots of people in the community want to understand why they have these fantasies and desires, and there's sometimes an undertone of; 'so that I can cure them'. Not always, but there are definitely people who feel that way."

Some, she says, are just as unhappy with their bodies as those trying to lose weight. "Most people who tell you that they're happy with their bodies are lying. There are people who are like, 'Yeah, I'm cool: fat is beautiful – I'm having weight loss surgery . . . certainly, there are women on FF who are dieting."

Being a gainer isn't as straightforward or easy as it might seem, she says. "One comes into contact with messages about weight loss, health and beauty, about, I don't know, 20 times a day. Every time you open your email, a magazine, every time you turn the television on . . . so any attempt to do anything different, takes incredible strength and courage – and we all fall down," including Emma. "Of course it gets me down! I often feel like all men – and women – believe that stereotype is beautiful, even though I know better," she says. "I hammer myself over not being that stereotype, but only when I'm having a bad time and am already vulnerable because of other things going on around me."

If we look around us, says Phillip Hodson, it is clear that regardless of increased pressures to be thin, we are getting fatter as a nation. "The natural figure of the hunter-gatherer has returned: good childbearing hips and a good abdomen," he says. "But I would be worried about people who are saying they want to get fat."

But Helen is not worried. At 16st she still only considers herself to be pleasantly plump. She has a picture in her head, she says, of what she will look like when she is fat. "I am a long way off that, although I am on my way," she says. "With each mouthful, calorie and year, I am on my way to achieving it."

Some names have been changed

• Women
• Obesity
• Health & wellbeing

• Viacom Summary Judgment Motion (pdf)
• Viacom Statement of Undisputed Facts (pdf)
• Google Summary Judgment Motion (pdf)

• Viacom claims that YouTube employees uploaded infringing content themselves, and discussed this over email -- though, the filings carefully provide only fragments of the emails, which could easily have been taken out of context. And, even on top of that nowhere does Viacom explain how YouTube employees could distinguish which content was actually infringing and which was put up for promotional purposes or what was fair use. This is a major weakness in Viacom's motion.
• Viacom's secondary arguments get weaker as you go down the list. It argues that because YouTube uses advertising to make money, that shows the company directly profits from infringement. That argument makes no sense -- because it would effectively wipe out any safe harbors for any commercial operation, which clearly was not the intent of Congress. Based on this argument, any ISP that hosts content from a paying customer loses its safe harbors. That's ridiculous on its face.
• Viacom argues that Google could have blocked uploads with fingerprinting technology it had licensed, but fails to note the massive weaknesses in those fingerprinting technologies (which we still see thanks to Google's bad automated takedowns). It tries to bolster this argument by saying that Google refused to use the fingerprinting on Viacom content unless Viacom agreed to license its content to YouTube. Perhaps there's more to it than this, but I think that's also taking Google statements out of context. The way the fingerprinting works is that Google would need copies of the content to be able to recognize them -- and the only way to do that is if Viacom licensed works to them.
• Then the arguments get really weak. Viacom says that Google isn't just a secondary infringer, but a direct infringer, due to the terms of service that say you're granting a license to YouTube, and because to work, YouTube converts uploaded video to Flash. This is a weird legal argument that has been rejected before.
• The crux of Viacom's argument rests on trying to break the DMCA safe harbors because Google and YouTube execs knew that there was a lot of infringing content on the site. But Viacom's argument breaks down entirely when you realize it doesn't explain how Google could ever make the actual determination of which videos are infringing. Viacom tries to get around this with some legal tap dancing, basically saying that it doesn't matter and Google just should have known what was infringing and what was not. But that makes no sense. Viacom is basically saying Google should have had a magic wand to figure out what's infringing and make it disappear. That's impossible. No law could possibly require Google to do the impossible. The fact that some of the videos Viacom sued over were uploaded by Viacom itself proves this point clearly.
• Viacom argues that because YouTube "licensed" its videos to Apple and Verizon Wireless phones, it shows that it's more than just a passive service provider. Again, this seems like a weak overall argument, as what YouTube was doing was licensing access to the videos in a more convenient format, not claiming control over the videos themselves.
• Viacom's lawyers also have a bit of fun at the fact that some old emails relevant to the case were deleted, even though it's not that ridiculous that not everyone keeps all their emails. The motion also mocks Google and YouTube execs for developing "serial amnesia" when presented with "evidence." But, again, Viacom was asking people to remember specific sentence fragments (potentially taken out of context) from years-old emails.
• The "big surprise" in the Google motion is that Viacom apparently tried to buy YouTube itself. While interesting as a historical nugget, I'm not really sure that really helps the case one way or the other. It doesn't change how Viacom may have viewed YouTube as a platform. The attempted purchase may just have been a way to try to co-opt it into a limited platform, like what happened with Napster.
• Google argues that it has gone above and beyond the DMCA's requirements in providing tools to help copyright holders. Viacom's counter argument, of course, is that those changes are more recent.
• For every claim made by Viacom that Google/YouTube execs made damning statements, it looks like Viacom's statements were even worse. For example: During these negotiations [to license content] Viacom deliberately allowed its content to remain on YouTube, in part because it thought that "having the content there was valuable in terms of helping the rating of our shows." Google effectively makes the case that Viacom knew the benefits of having its clips on YouTube, tried to negotiate with YouTube for a deal, and when Google came into the picture, basically Viacom just saw it as an easy money grab and massively upped its demands before suing. Google argues that the mass takedown and subsequent lawsuit was really just a negotiating ploy by Viacom to get an upper hand in the negotiations to squeeze more money out of Google.
• Amusingly, Viacom notes repeatedly in its own filings that YouTube didn't want to take down its videos because traffic to YouTube would suffer -- but Google counters by pointing out that it did take down all of Viacom's 100,000 takedown requests within hours and traffic to the site did not suffer and, despite Viacom's expectations to the contrary, traffic to Viacom's own sites did not soar. In other words, despite Viacom's over-inflated sense of how important Viacom's videos were to YouTube, the actual evidence suggests that Viacom was very, very wrong.
• Viacom tries to brush off the fact that it uploaded many videos itself, by saying (in a footnote) that most of those videos were clearly designated as being from Viacom. Google counters by pointing out that (a) this is not true and (b) Viacom repeatedly disguised who uploaded those videos on purpose -- even quoting Paramount's SVP of marketing saying that the clips "should definitely not be associated with the studio -- should appear as if a fan created and posted it." Among the users who uploaded Viacom clips on behalf of Viacom itself? MMysticalGirl8, Demansr, tesderiw, GossipGirl40, Snackboard and Keithhn On top of that, they registered with non Viacom email addresses, and even went to the local Kinkos to avoid uploading from Viacom directly. How Google was supposed to distinguish those clips from those uploaded by random users is not explained anywhere by Viacom, which is a hugely damning point against Viacom's case.
• Further damning to Viacom's case -- the fact that Viacom regularly had to backdown on its takedown notices after it was realized that the takedowns were incorrect. This is a point that we've made before and is driven home repeatedly in Google's filing. If Viacom itself can't get it right -- when it holds the copyrights and some of the videos were uploaded by itself -- how the hell is Google supposed to know which videos are legit and which are not?
• Even more amusing is the part that details how Viacom had incredibly complex and detailed rules with BayTSP (who monitored YouTube and sent the takedowns) over what should be taken down and what should be left up. Apparently, those rules changed every few days and the folks at BayTSP compared them to Crime and Punishment. Again, if Viacom required such a complex list of rules for its own partner, how could it expect Google to know what to do without knowing any of that information?
• Google also points out that many of the clips in question have serious questions over whether or not they could be considered fair use -- and those are questions for a court to determine. It is both unfair and outside the scope of the law to expect a third party like Google to be able to make that kind of decision on the fly.

MindTouch has developed a top 20 list of the most powerful voices in open-source, compiled using Twitter and other sources. It's a good example of how a research project can be transparent and in the process, help garner thought leadership for both the individual and the company.

MindTouch Vice President of Sales Mark Fidelman wrote a blog post yesterday, discussing the project and how they came to their findings.

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Our interest is in much the process as the results. This is the kind of approach that has a number of uses. It answers questions for the organization. It creates a center of intelligence for the open source community. And it serves as a useful resource for sales and marketing. It also helps show that real research can be done using a few simple tools.

Most of the people on the list will be of no surprise to veterans of the open-source world. Notables include Tim O'Reilly, Chris Messina and Jonathan Schwartz.

The results show the degree of amplification than the average active user. This is where you have to consider the "nuance" factor by defining what it means to be classified in such a manner. Fidelman explained the process in this way:

To create the list, Fidelman used Twitalyzer, KloutTwittercounter, ReTweetRank and Twitter.

They also used Google, Google Blog Search, and Google Trends.

That's a take on the process but what about the larger meaning for MindTouch. Fidelman had this to say in response to our questions:

Question:How does this project fit into your approach for building a company?
Answer:"We actually view it as building an industry. The Open source industry has a lot of innovative, influential leaders but until now decision makers haven't had a guide to know where to tune in.

Question:How is the process of doing the research useful?
Answer:It helps mindtouch and the industry learn where to find the open source broadcasters. If the industry needs to get the word out, these individuals should be targeted first.

Question: Can you provide 3 tips for people in the enterprise looking to develop information that positions the company as a thought leader?
Answer: It's about building a community around your personal brand. Matt Asay excels at this. He provides useful, relevant content that's actionable. If I were to characterize it Into three dimensions:

2. Build a community around your personal brand by reaching out and networking with other bloggers, industry analysts and consumers of open source software and hardware.

3 Develop and create useful content on a personal blog or third party blog. The more actionable and useful the better. This is a big area to cover and I'm probably not doing it justice in two sentences. He adds...Perhaps a guest post on this topic will help? :-)

Out of the information, Fidelman looked at the larger group and created a Twitter list. MindTouch, also did a little inclusive marketing by adding a badge that people can put on their site if they are on the list.

Thought leadership provides a host of important dimensions. Enterprise companies that approach the market with intelligence are usually the smartest of the group. Luckily, the tools have never been easier to use in helping filter out the information that matters most.

Based on a patent filing that was published by the USPTO today, Apple could soon enter the location-based social networking market. The patent, which was filed in September 2008, describes a scenario where a group of users with mobile devices like the iPhone come together at an event like a concert, wedding, political rally or trade show. Normally, you would have to collect personal information from all the attendees you meet and then transfer this data manually into your existing social network if you want to stay in touch with them. Apple's patent, however, describes a system where all of the devices in a specific location can automatically become part of a new social network based on their location. The patent filing refers to this service as iGroups.

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This could, for example, allow event organizers to provide attendees with additional content and services during the event and after it is over. The exchange of this information would be brokered by trusted devices at the event and information about the social network can be stored in the cloud and exchanged with other services.

As Apple notes in the patent ("Group Formation Using Anonymous Broadcast Information "), technologies like Bluetooth personal area networks allow modern cell phones to easily create ad hoc networks, but it is virtually impossible to recreate this network at a later time for users to continue their discussions or exchange additional content.

In a very detailed example, Apple's patent describes how iGroups could automatically detect that a group of users is in or around a specific location (in the example, this event is Apple WWDC 2008). The iGroups service could then invite all the attendees to join this group and create a permanent social network for everybody who was in attendance and opts in to the group.

This, of course, isn't Apple's first patent for a location-based service. As with all of Apple's patents, it remains to be seen if the company will actually release any product based on this filing. Given Apple's position in the mobile market, however, it wouldn't come as a surprise if the company decided to turn some of these patents into actual product.

When you want to get serious about stop motion animation, or try the tool that professionals prefer, it's time to step up to Dragon Stop Motion. Use Dragon with your high-end digital still camera, video camera or web-cam.

Dragon has all of the animation tools you expect, some that may surprise you, and all within a beautiful user interface you can't wait to touch.

• Added Canon EOS 550D (Digital Rebel T2i) support.
• Fixed Canon EOS 50D/7D/5D MkII auto-focus with digital lens.
• Fixed Canon EOS 7D lock-up with Depth-of-Field preview enabled.
• Fixed frame number mix-up when SHOOT pressed too quickly.
• Fixed error caused by pressing DELETE during capture.
• Application shows up in Snow Leopard OS X Server.

• Added support for Canon 1D Mark IV.
• Fixed Nikon preview stills mode with RAW image capture.
• Fixed Nikon capture status after failed capture.
• Fixed Nikon occasional hang with RAW + JPG capture.
• Fixed hang on Mac when closing video/iSight connection.
• Added specific warnings about focus and mirror-up capture errors.
• Fixed Windows XP launch errors.

• Mac OS X 10.4.7 or later.
• QuickTime 7.2 or later.
• 1 GB RAM.

Youpi ! Metro 2033 est enfin sorti après plusieurs mois de teasing pouvant inspirer nos cheminots nationaux à se lancer dans des grèves post-apocalyptiques et surprise, les possesseurs de la version Xbox 360 du titre ont eu droit à un premier patch à peine la galette enfournée dans leur machine. ...

Muhammad Saleem is a social media consultant and a top-ranked community member on multiple social news sites. Follow him on Twitter for more social media insights.

There is no doubt that Twitter has been a runaway success. Add to their rapid growth the recently announced @anywhere platform, and plans for further international expansion, and it comes as no surprise that the company is not looking to sell — at least within the next 2 years.

While the site’s growth has certainly been impressive and it has reached the point of non-displacement, there are some interesting hidden truths about Twitter and its users. The following graphic takes a look at Twitter’s path to 10 billion tweets, what we have learned about its users and what they’ve been talking about along the way.

Click the Image for Full Size Version

Click the Image for Full Size Version

Tags: data, data visualization, infographic, stats, twitter, visualization

In announcement that many of the company’s observers regarded with surprise, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) CEO Steve Riggio is stepping down from that role and appointing William Lynch (image), who has been handling the company’s e-commerce business, in his place. Riggio will remain vice chairman and insists he will still be actively involved in the company. In addition to that change, B&N is also promoting COO Mitchell Klipper to CEO of the company’s retail group, which runs the retail business and the Barnes & Noble College Booksellers business. Lynch’s appointment is meant to highlight the shift in B&N’s business from retail bookstores to one that is increasingly focused on its e-readers and he’ll be charged with ensuring that the company’s Nook can better compete with other devices, especially as Apple’s iPad is being shipped in a matter of days.

In announcement that many of the company’s observers regarded with surprise, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) CEO Steve Riggio is stepping down from that role and appointing William Lynch (image), who has been handling the company’s e-commerce business, in his place. Riggio will remain vice chairman and insists he will still be actively involved in the company. In addition to that change, B&N is also promoting COO Mitchell Klipper to CEO of the company’s retail group, which runs the retail business and the Barnes & Noble College Booksellers business. Lynch’s appointment is meant to highlight the shift in B&N’s business from retail bookstores to one that is increasingly focused on its e-readers and he’ll be charged with ensuring that the company’s Nook can better compete with other devices, especially as Apple’s iPad is being shipped in a matter of days.

For years, Tim Westergren was on the front lines of a difficult royalty battle.  But instead of becoming a casualty, Pandora and other internet radio providers managed to forge a workable rate structure - at least one that kept the lights on.

But this is still one huge royalty bill, and Pandora is now one of the biggest contributors.  Just recently, Westergren disclosed top-line, 2009 revenues of $50 million, but royalty obligations to SoundExchange alone (a cost that does not include publishing) topped $28 million, according to Westergren.

For years, Tim Westergren was on the front lines of a difficult royalty battle.  But instead of becoming a casualty, Pandora and other internet radio providers managed to forge a workable rate structure - at least one that kept the lights on.

But this is still one huge royalty bill, and Pandora is now one of the biggest contributors.  Just recently, Westergren disclosed top-line, 2009 revenues of $50 million, but royalty obligations to SoundExchange alone (a cost that does not include publishing) topped $28 million, according to Westergren.

C’est le genre de gus qui doit bien rire et qui nous démontre qu’être dépendant des engins électroniques, parfois, ça peut nous rendre totalement impuissant.

Rappel des faits : plus d’une centaine de propriétaires d’automobiles d’Austin, au Texas, ont eu la mauvaise surprise de ne pas pouvoir utiliser leur bagnole nous racontent nos copains de Branchez-Vous.

La faute à un petit malin qui s’est introduit dans un système d’immobilisation de véhicules à distance baptisé Webteck Plus (utilisé contre les mauvais payeurs) et qui a réussi l’exploit de bloquer un nombre non-négligeable de véhicules.

Le petit malin a un nom : Omar Ramos-Lopez, 20 ans. C’est un ex-employé du Centre automobile du Texas qui avait été remercié par son employeur le mois dernier et cherchait un moyen efficace de se venger.

Ce coup est en tout cas une petite merveille puisque les proprio-paranos des bagnoles équipées du dispo ont été obligé de descendre de leur lit en pleine nuit pour enlever la batterie et ainsi éviter que leur véhicule ne klaxonne toute la nuit sans discontinuer.

Détail notable, c’est un vol d’identifiants qui a permis à l’auteur de réussir son coup… On ne le dira jamais assez, faites gaffe à vos mot de passe !

INQ

La grogne semble monter chez les possesseurs de PS3 s’étant lancé dans l’aventure Final Fantasy XIII. Et pour cause, certains de ces aventuriers en herbe ont eu la désagréable surprise de tomber sur des freezes assez gênants. La preuve par exemple ici, ici ou encore ici.

Si vous aussi vous avez rencontré ce type de problème (qui semble atterrir la plupart du temps sur des Playstation 3 60Go rétro-compatibles PS2), n’hésitez pas à nous tenir au jus…

Lire la suite..

Mais à quoi va ressembler Windows Phone 7 quand on l’aura en main dans la vraie vie, scrogneugneu ? En attendant la fin de l’année, il faudra faire avec les quelques vidéos de prise en main, comme celle d’Engadget lors des journées MIX10...

Pas de surprise, ce Windows Phone 7 est plein de bonnes idées et son interface minimaliste façon Zune HD (et pour cause !) sied assez bien à tous ceux qui sont fatigués de l’interface iPhone.

• vu sur Engadget

Mais à quoi va ressembler Windows Phone 7 quand on l’aura en main dans la vraie vie, scrogneugneu ? En attendant la fin de l’année, il faudra faire avec les quelques vidéos de prise en main, comme celle d’Engadget lors des journées MIX10...

Pas de surprise, ce Windows Phone 7 est plein de bonnes idées et son interface minimaliste façon Zune HD (et pour cause !) sied assez bien à tous ceux qui sont fatigués de l’interface iPhone.

• vu sur Engadget

Réal :

Tourné à

Ed m'avait parlé d'un groupe qui lui avait changé la vie, "The Rest". Et après une seule et unique écoute, je m'avoue vaincu, et convaincu, ce groupe joue avec mes tripes. Originaires de Toronto, le groupe ne s'était alors jamais exporté en Europe. Et en mai, alors que j'étais pour quelques temps à New York, l'occasion était trop belle. Surtout qu'il y avait cet endroit, qui m'avait toujours fasciné, et qui nous tendait les bras : Coney Island. Sorte de parc d'attractions en périphérie de la grosse pomme et au bord de l'eau, lieu dévasté par le temps, où la nature a repris ses droits, et le lierre grimpé le long des poutres en bois des rollercoasters d'antan.

Les The Rest sont des gens timides, touchants et qui aiment faire de la route. Mine de rien, ce sont 1400 kilomètres qu'ils ont dû avaler pour nous rendre visite à New York. Leur motivation était bien palpable. Un certain trac aussi s'est ajouté à la fatigue de s'être levé à l'aube. Alors, oui, on les trouvera peut-être hésitants, mais j'aime cette fragilité, ces regards perdus et heureux à la fois. Au loin, un groupe de pécheurs sur la digue. Population locale sûrement peu partante à l'idée de nous voir débarquer sur leur terrain de jeu, et faire fuir la poiscaille peureuse. The Rest n'ont pas hésité, n'ont pas voulu aller parler aux pêcheurs avant pour les prévenir. On verra bien, allons-y. Ils avaient tout compris. — Nat

http://www.myspace.com/therestband

Réal :

Tourné à

La dernière fois que j'au vu Suckers jouer, la salle était pleine, et la scène jonchée d'instruments ; guitares, trompettes, trombones, batterie et claviers. Leurs chansons sont riches et mélodieuses, empreintes d'une magnifique plénitude.

Mais ce jour-là, ils avaient pour seuls instruments leurs voix et leurs mains. Le public, excepté quelques employés un peu surpris, était composé des statues exposées dans les galeries grecques et romaines du Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nous n'avions qu'une heure pour tourner, mais l'écho de Suckers a résonné longtemps après qu'on ait capturé cet instant, et quitté les lieux. — Adam (translated by Nora)

http://www.myspace.com/suckers

Réal :

Tourné à

C'est Clumsy qui m'avait parlé de Darwin Deez, quelques mois avant que je parte à Montréal. Elle m'avait fait écouter "Bad Day" alors qu'on sirotait un diabolo menthe dans le 20e. Génie de mesquinerie, de pop acidulée et de bruitages chelous, "Bad Day" c'est la chanson qu'on n'a jamais écrit pour cet ex qui nous a largué par texto ou cette amie qui nous a piqué le job de nos rêves.

Par chance, Darwin Deez passait à Montréal quelques jours avant Halloween, et Philippe et moi les avons amenés au Pick Up, où Beaver fait les meilleurs burgers végétariens du monde. Ils ont improvisé en tapant sur les tables, secouant des boîtes de pâte, de semoule... Ils se regardaient dans les yeux en se marrant, jouaient et chantaient avec une énergie incroyable.

Ne les ratez surtout pas en concert (ils passent à Paris le 20 avril), c'est un vrai spectacle — que je ne raconterai pas pour ne pas vous gâcher la surprise. — Nora

http://www.myspace.com/darwindeez

Demander à un fan d'écrire une chronique sur l'album de « son » dernier groupe, c'est un peu comme demander à un Italien de dire qu'il n'aime pas les pâtes. Même si c'est le cas, il ne vous l'avouera jamais. A moins qu'on ne vienne vous envoyer un mail avec comme objet « Défi ». Sur ce coup-là, j'ai l'impression de m'être faite avoir. Faut que je perde l'esprit de compétition musicale, moi. Ou pas...

Arid, groupe gantois, révélé en 1999 avec Little things of Venom, nous revient avec son quatrième opus, deux ans après un All things come in to waves qui m'avait laissée totalement accro.

Je vous plante le contexte : samedi 27 février, je cours ventre à terre chez mon disquaire préféré, limite second chez-moi depuis près de quinze ans. L'album est là ! Le pire, c'est je sais pertinemment bien que je ne saurai pas l'écouter avant le lendemain pour cause de planning chargé. Ouais, tu parles ! Lorsque je rentre enfin dans mon « Home Sweet Home », il est trois heures du mat' et je ne résiste pas. Résultat : le soleil pointe à l'horizon et je l'ai déjà passé trois fois. C'est vous dire.

A la première écoute, je n'ai évidemment pas pu m'empêcher, comme bon nombre de fans, de rapprocher Something brighter du son de Keane. De la même façon, Lock and chain aurait tout aussi bien pu être chanté par le regretté Jeff Buckley. D'autres bonnes surprises ne demandent qu'à être découvertes : si Custom gold et son entraînante rythmique donnant envie de taper du pied, la mélodie de All that's here is all that's left devrait rentrer sans problème en tête tant musique et voix sont en harmonie l'une avec l'autre.

La seule inquiétude, c'est que si Come on, premier single, est un très bon morceau, il ne reflète pas forcément l'esprit musical général de l'album. Un novice d'Arid qui entendrait le morceau risquerait donc d'être fort surpris de découvrir les autres pistes dès la première écoute.

La plus belle surprise est sans aucun conteste la plage qui clôture l'album, petit bijou musical comme je les aime : on commence léger, juste le synthé et la voix de Jasper Steverlinck et puis la mélodie va crescendo, rejointe d'abord par la batterie de Steven Van Havere et ensuite par la guitare de David Du Pré. Fan-tas-ti-que. Sincèrement, à la première écoute, j'en ai chialé de bonheur. Parce que c'était beau. Et parce que c'était déjà fini. Car là réside une des faiblesses de cet album : comme son prédécesseur, il est VRAIMENT trop court. Mais bon, c'est vrai qu'à tout bien considérer, je préfère passer trente-neuf minutes de bonheur que de me dire que la moitié des chansons est tout juste bonne à jeter

Donc finalement, l'émancipation (forcée ?) du groupe par rapport à sa maison de disque après la sortie du second album et la prise en main de sa propre musique lui réussit plutôt bien. Les choses s'étaient déjà amorcées lors du précédent album et se confirment ici. Mieux encore, il me semble que le groupe a évolué mélodiquement encore un peu plus. Il y a fort à parier que le soutien de Luc Weytjens, producteur-claviériste-ingénieur du son qui a par le passé travaillé avec Zap Mama et K's Choice, a dû jouer dans cette évolution. Le fait que le groupe ait passé pas mal de temps en pré-production en investissant un centre culturel pour préparer les chansons avant l'enregistrement studio doit également avoir eu une incidence.

Au final, le titre a beau vouloir dire « Sous les lumières de la rue froide » (qui perd sacrément de son charme lorsqu'il est traduit), l'album m'a laissée tout sauf froide. Quand à l'écoute d'un morceau, tu sens un frisson te parcourir l'échine et atteindre le bout de tes doigts, tu sais que ça touche le cÅ“ur. Oui, j'aime la voix de Jasper qui jamais ne m'a déçue. Oui, j'aime entendre les riffs de guitare de David et oui, j'aime taper des mains sur les cuisses au son de la batterie de Steven. Alors oui, j'aime musicalement ces trois-là et je suis fan d'Arid. Et tant pis si ça ne plait pas. Que celui qui n'a lui-même jamais été séduit de la sorte par un groupe me jette Under the cold street lights à la figure. Amen.

Una de las frases míticas de Star Trek es la que a menudo le dice el señor Spock al capitán Kirk cuando se encuentran con una forma de vida alienígena en los viajes del Enterprise, que dice poco más o menos «es vida, Jim, pero no como la conocemos».

Pero parece que no hace falta saltar al hiperespacio para encontrarnos sorpresas.

Ya conocíamos la existencia de bichos tan raros como los extremófilos, que viven en ambientes que acabarían en cuestión de segundos con otros seres vivos, pero a finales de noviembre de 2009 un equipo de la NASA que había perforado un hueco de 200 metros de profundidad en la Barrera de hielo de Ross en la Antártida se encontró con una enorme sorpresa al capturar en vídeo un anfípodo de la familia de los lisianásidos:

NASA | Surprise Shrimp Under Antarctic Ice [2:14, sin sonido]

Para entendernos, es como una especie de gamba de unos 7,5 centímetros de longitud que vive en un lugar al que no llega la luz del Sol y donde los biólogos pensaban que como mucho podía haber vida bacteriana.

Y por si fuera poco también sacaron un tentáculo que creen que puede haber pertenecido a una medusa de unos 30 centímetros de longitud.

Es posible que ambas criaturas hubieran llegado hasta allí desde el mar abierto, pero este se encuentra a más de 20 kilómetros del punto en el que se realizó la perforación, que por otra parte sólo tenía unos veinte centímetros de ancho, con lo que las posibilidades de acertar ya no con una sino con dos criaturas que se hubieran pegado todo este viaje parecen cuando menos reducidas.

Este hallazgo no quiere decir ni con mucho que vaya a ser más fácil encontrar vida más allá de nuestro planeta, pero sí podría hacer replantearse algunas ideas acerca de dónde podríamos encontrar vida, en especial de cara a futuras misiones a las lunas heladas de Júpiter.

(AP y NASA vía Gizmodo).

# Enlace Permanente

It’s been anticipated for a while now; Verizon just officially released information on the specifics of what Verizon Droid owners will have to look forward to in the upcoming Android 2.1 update.

The update will be performed over-the-air and will bump up the Droid to the more current version of the Android mobile operating system. New features will include pinch-to-zoom multitouch support in the browser, Gallery, and Google Maps, the Weather and News widgets made popular on the Nexus One, voice-to-text entry, a new 3D Gallery layout for photos, and even a nice surprise that most people thought wouldn’t make it to the Droid: Live Wallpapers.

You can download the full informational PDF here.

Engadget reports that leaked internal documentation reveals the Android 2.1 update will begin rolling out tomorrow, Thursday March 18, in batches of 250,000 customers at a time. In other words, Droid owners should not have long to wait to start enjoying some of the niceties their Nexus One counterparts have made them jealous over in the past few months.

If you’re a Droid owner, what are you most excited about in Android 2.1?

Tags: android, android 2.1, droid, Google, live wallpaper, nexus one, verizon