What's the best way of keeping two computers -- a home PC and a work notebook -- synchronised? Here's one solution.

Like a lot of people, I have a desktop at home and another system (a notebook) provided by my company. I like my little corporate notebook, and I take it with me nearly everywhere, but at home I much prefer working on my home-built PC, with its sweet dual-monitor setup and blazing speed. The problem is that nothing about today's Windows computers makes dual-PC work easy.
That's not to say it can't be done. Over the past year, I've experimented with several tools that make the two-PC setup a workable option, to the point that I don't have to think about it much anymore -- it just works. At least for now. Here's what I've learned along the way.
Remote access: overrated
I've written before about the benefits of remote access software, such as GoToMyPC. I still use remote access from time to time, but not nearly as much as when I first wrote about it a year ago, because there's nothing like working on a computer directly. For a while, I left my notebook at work so that I didn't have to carry it back and forth. But even on my reasonably fast DSL connection at home, using my notebook at work via remote control for any length of time is frustrating -- the remote PC always seems to be a half-step behind me, and the choppiness of the interface almost makes me queasy. Remote control is fine for occasional work, but I've found it no good for intense, focused computer use. Besides, my work notebook weighs only about 1.1kg, and I take it home at the end of every workday.
When I do need remote access, these days I'm using the free version of LogMeIn, which is not only excellent value (you have to pay only if you want file transfer), but it's also the only remote control product I've used that can access both monitors on a two-monitor PC.
Synchronisation: the key to everything
As I mentioned earlier, when I'm at home I like to work on my own desktop computer instead of the notebook. The problem: my notebook holds all of my work files. Previously, when I wanted to work on my desktop, I would use LapLink to synchronise all of my files between the two PCs. Then when I was done working, I'd synchronise again so that the notebook had my latest work on it.
This was time-consuming and basically a real drag. But I've since discovered a live synchronisation utility called FolderShare that keeps the data files on my two computers in perfect lockstep (there's also a solid competitor, BeInSync). Now, every time I create or change a file on one computer, the changes are automatically sent over the Internet to the other PC. I am this close to not needing LapLink. But I still do, because of…
Outlook: the special case
If your business uses Microsoft Exchange as its email server and you have a generous IT department, you don't have to worry about synchronising your computers, because each time any one of them connects to the Exchange server, it will automatically read in the latest state of your email folders, along with your new mail. Any changes you make on one machine will be reflected on the others, as soon as they connect to your server.
However, if you have more email than your IT group will let you store on the Exchange server, you probably are saving folders in local PST files, which don't sync automatically over Exchange. Using a live sync program such as FolderShare for these files can get a bit tricky. If, by mistake, you end up running Outlook on two machines at the same time, you could find yourself trying to untangle a mess of PST versions that store different states of your email archives. And, unfortunately, some hard disk search utilities, such as Copernic Desktop Search, keep your Outlook folders open and change the last-used time stamp, which can make a mess of a sync plan.
To keep Outlook files synced, you can use a specialised tool, such as SynchPST. Unfortunately, SynchPST accesses files only using Windows' shared folders capability, so the computers you want to sync have to be on the same network -- it won't work over the open Internet. I also have reservations about the security of Windows folder sharing, although new tools such as Network Magic give you much better control than Windows does on its own.
So I'm still using LapLink to synchronise my email archive files, although not my main Exchange-based in-box -- that's handled automatically. It's awkward and time-consuming, so I do the notebook-to-PC sync only on Friday night when I settle in for the weekend. Of course, I do a PC-to-notebook sync again Sunday night before the working week starts. During the week, I manage all of my email on the notebook.
Skip work, play music
There are other ways to exploit the resources you have at your disposal with two computers. For example, if you have a large music or photo library on your home computer, you can access all of it from work using a service such as Orb, which basically turns your home PC into a media server for your remote devices, including your work computer and even your connected handhelds.
That is, in a nutshell, the two-computer installation I am using today. It's not simple or easy to use, and I always fear that if I go away on holiday I'll have forgotten all the quirks of my configuration when I come back. But, for now, I'm getting a lot of good use out of this setup. And it beats having all my eggs in one basket.

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/notebooks

City says ex-official viewed porn on its computers

Christine L. RomeroSouthwest Valley RepublicJun. 22, 2005 12:00 AM
As Goodyear continues its national search for a new deputy city manager, details about one who quit several months ago are rising to the surface.Goodyear has two deputy city managers positions and has had one post open since late February, when former Deputy City Manager Grant Anderson retired. New information obtained by the Southwest Valley Republic indicates that Anderson was placed on administrative leave for "possible misuse of city computer equipment" two days before he gave notice of his retirement.City Manager Stephen Cleveland said Goodyear conducted the investigation and found evidence that Anderson violated the city's Internet guidelines that forbids pornography. The policy also forbids using city equipment for chatrooms and ordering personal goods with a credit card.
Anderson said he never looked at pornography on his work computer. He said several people used the laptop, which they sometimes took on business trips. Anderson also said he believes pornography sites may have been linked to legitimate Web sites he was researching."I had already decided to retire," Anderson said. "This just heightened the speed of that retirement, which was going to happen rather rapidly anyway."The city, like many employers, conducts random checks of computer use."We offered him the opportunity to resign, and he chose to retire. That was acceptable," Cleveland said, later adding, "The degree of the violation indicates the action we take. At the end of the day, (Goodyear has a) zero-tolerance policy."Goodyear has asked other employees to resign in similar circumstances, he said.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0621swv-manager.html

Access your Home or Work Computer from anywhere. Share your files and control your computer. Just BeAnywhere!

BeAnywhere releases today it's Personal Edition, a remote control software that allows access to a computer and file transfer, from any other computer in the world through the Internet.
Lisbon, Portugal (PRWEB) June 15, 2005 -- With BeAnywhere you can access your Remote computer, download and upload files, use the programs on the remote PC, control the keyboard and mouse just as if you were sitting in front of it.BeAnywhere allows you to invite your friends or relatives anywhere in the world to “visit” your home computer, look at the family’s photo album, or download last weekend’s home movie. This remote desktop tool allows you to get that crucial file you forgot to bring to your important meeting, or finish comfortably in your home sofa that report you had on your office desktop.BeAnywhere’s setup and use has been simplified so that you don’t have to worry about port configuration, routers, IP addresses, or any other technical issues usually required for such programs. For instance, the use of the remote desktop tool that comes with Windows XP requires the previous knowledge of the remote computer’s IP Address. Since generally Internet Service Providers use dynamic IP addressing, you are given a different IP address every time you make a connection, forcing you to know your IP address constantly.With BeAnywhere all this becomes much easier. When you install BeAnywhere Server (which is installed in the computer that is going to receive remote connections) the setup wizard automatically configures the connection. All you need to do is define the user profile and access level (read only, or read and write, mouse and keyboard control etc.). BeAnywhere is designed for any kind of user, from the most basic computer user to the most advanced one, for people that rely on a simple and powerful tool to do the job.BeAnywhere offers a 30 day free trial for this remote desktop tool. The full services can be purchased from US$ 79,50/year, to US$ 7,95/month.For further information and the free trial download, please visit www.beanywhere.com.About Multiplicar Negocios Lda.Multiplicar Negocios is a European Company, specialized in software development.Our business model is based on developing our own technologies, while being faithful to the highest quality standards. The Company has developed a set of solutions that aim to deliver two primary goals: productivity increase and low cost, both for companies as well as for personal users.We aim to build solutions that, along side with simplicity in use, are also powerful working or leisure tools, delivering high tech quality to everyone, through the most adequate distribution mean available for this: The Internet.
Contact:Miguel Sabino00351219426882e-mail protected from spam bots

How much time you spent watching television?

A survey of global reading habits has come up with an amazing result — India has come out on top.
Researchers from the National Opinion Poll contacted 30,000 people in 30 countries and compared how much time they spent watching television as against reading. The West is starting to realise that India has become an intellectual powerhouse churning out hundreds of thousands of graduates, especially in the sciences — and this survey seems to confirm that somehow Indians and books go together. India came top of the global reading chart with 10.7 hours per week per head — 4.2 hours higher than the global average. In Britain, there is concern, as there is throughout the western world, that television is encouraging a generation of couch potatoes, brought up on American programming. Britons, for example, spend more time in front of the television and less time reading than other Europeans, the survey shows. The average person in the UK watches 18 hours of TV each week, which is worse than France, Spain, Germany and Italy. By contrast, Britons spend just 5.3 hours per week reading, which is less than their European counterparts. At 18 hours per week Britons watch 1.4 hours more TV per week than the global average. US trends are similar to the UK, with Americans spending 19 hours watching TV each week and only 5.7 hours reading. In France, people watch an average 17.3 hours per week compared with Spain at 15.9, Germany at 15.2 and Italy at 14.9. The NOP researchers asked people aged 13 and above in each country how long they spent per week watching TV, listening to the radio, reading and using a computer for non-work activities. Only people in Brazil, Taiwan, Japan and Korea read less than those in the UK. In Italy, people spend an average 5.6 hours per week reading compared with 5.7 per week in Germany, 5.8 in Spain and 6.9 in France. The research was carried out by market research group NOP World as part of its annual study of consumer attitudes, values and behaviours. NOP World spokesman Nick Chiarelli said increased non-work computer use was cutting the amount of time which people around the world spent doing other things. From the Indian perspective, Britain has been associated with books, scholarships and a land to which generations of Indians have proceeded for higher scholarships. But things are changing or have already changed in the UK — for the worse. Chiarelli said: “From a UK perspective, it is perhaps not surprising that we rank so high in terms of television. Watching TV has always been a popular leisure pastime in this country — but it is quite concerning how far we lag behind many other countries in terms of how much we read.” Chiarelli explained “There is a point of context. We are trying to represent urban, upscale India. We don’t interview rural populations or subsistence level populations, of which there will be quite a lot in India. Our view is that India stacks up very well, there is striving for self-improvement in India and reading is one way of doing that.” Chiarelli added that there had been substantial resources put into education in India. “And this is payback time.” As far as TV watching was concerned, “India comes fourth from bottom. The global average is 22 hours”.

http://www.presstrust.com/article436942.html

Power User Monday Tip of the Week: Stay Secure and Synchronized at the Office

Brought to you by: James
If you find yourself stuck at your work computer during breaks, you may be tempted to browse the internet, but I can name two things that are probably keeping you from enjoying your short browse. You're probably concerned about security, which keeps you from checking your email. And, you probably find it difficult to keep your news feeds and bookmarks in sync between your home and work computers. Don't worry, it's not as difficult (or insecure) as you think. The first thing that you'll probably want to do is pickup your email. To stay in sync and avoid installing any third-party applications, just access your email through a web-based interface (aka "webmail"). Your first priority when accessing webmail on a public or work computer is to confirm that the connection is secure. A secure connection will keep peering eyes away from your password and email activities. If the connection is secure, you will notice a small lock icon at some location in your browser. In safari, the lock icon is at the top-right of the browser window. In Firefox, the lock icon is in the address bar. If you are connecting to your webmail via a URL that has an "https://" header, chances are that it's secure. Generally, you can get secure access to your webmail through either your ISP or webhosting provider. If your ISP does not provide secure webmail access, and you don't have a webhosting provider, then ask someone for a Gmail account, or find another free webmail service with a secure login system. The next thing you'll probably want to do is check all of your favorite RSS or Atom feeds. To stay in sync and avoid installing any third-party applications, just access your feeds through a web-based interface (aka "online news aggregator") like NewsGator or Bloglines. After that, you'll probably want to browse through your favorite sites. To stay in sync and avoid installing any third-party applications, just access your bookmarks through a web-based interface (aka "social bookmarks manager") like de.lirio.us or del.icio.us. If you are paranoid enough to require complete anonymity while browsing at work, then look no further than The Cloak. With The Cloak, you can surf via an anonymous proxy (hiding your identity from the sites that you visit) and optionally encrypt your entire browsing experience. For an added ounce of security, use a browser with which you can easily delete the cookies, cache, and history. Firefox is one such browser. Safari v2 also offers a secure "Private Browsing" feature. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy staying secure and synchronized at the office!

http://www.macmerc.com/articles

Asians Shun Computer Animation, One-Dimensional Characters, Predictable Plots

Asian animation has long exceeded the quality and imaginative scope of anything produced by American studios like Disney and Pixar, whose best films do not come close to matching the overseas competition (sorry, Shrek!). Defining the art of Asian animé and setting its standard is Japan's Hayao Miyazaki, a man who, with a nod to Tsui Hark, is regarded as the leading animation director of our time.In his seven feature films including "Princess Mononoke," "Spirited Away," and his new release, "Howl's Moving Castle," Miyazaki continually demonstrates a visual and thematic complexity unknown to American animation.For starters, Miyazaki relies most heavily on hand-drawn animation cells, not the CGI technology preferred stateside. (Recently, Miyazaki told The New York Times that he limits use of digital imagery to no more than 10 percent of each film.) Miyazaki's loyalty to flat, hand-drawn images imparts an appealingly old-fashioned quality to his films, one that reinforces the magical aspects of his movies and fills them with arresting, painterly images. Each Miyazaki picture is like a beautiful illustrated children's storybook brought to life, a textured, detailed universe that is inspired equally by real life and the director's imagination.Thematically, Miyazaki favors stories that revolve around plucky young heroines - the Princess Mononoke, "Spirited Away"'s Chihiro and "Howl's"'s Sophie - characters who find themselves in trouble and who must use courage and resourcefulness to work their way out. But the worlds these girls or young women inhabit are nowhere near as simple as those of, say, Pocahontas or Mulan or the Little Mermaid. Good and evil are never tidily defined and happiness is not guaranteed to the "good guys." A spell-casting evil witch in "Howl's" can be transformed by her own needs and by a simple act of kindness into someone a girl might like to have around. A heroic-seeming wizard can be tainted by vanity. A good-hearted, deserving character can offer love and find it will go unrequited.Throughout his stories, Miyazaki is less concerned with sanitizing life for children than he is with teaching them that fear and confusion and change are a part of it. An evil spell can turn a lovely young woman into an old hag, war can blot out the sun, the environment can be partly destroyed by humankind's predations, the man who seems like humanity's savior may lack the fortitude or power. While each of his stories arrives at a happy ending, the resolution is never as ringing as those familiar from American films.Miyazaki's familiar themes are brought to bear in "Howl's Moving Castle," his loose adaptation of the children's fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones. Stateside, there are two versions: the dubbed one reviewed here, which features a brilliant cast of A-list actors doing voice work, and a subtitled version."Howl's" is the story of a young milliner, Sophie (voiced by Emily Mortimer), who lives in a pretty village whose lanterned streets and cobblestone walks seem modeled on early 1900s England. Sophie, who has a lonely life working diligently in her family's shop, finds her existence unexpectedly altered by an encounter with the dashing young wizard Howl (Christian Bale). But this rapturous meeting ends and Sophie next finds herself victim of a curse: She is turned into an old woman (now voiced by Jean Simmons) by the jealous Witch of the Waste (Lauren Bacall). Sophie has no choice but to go in search of Howl, who resides in a literal moving castle, and try to get the spell undone. Her travels ultimately into the employ of the young wizard whose home is also residence to a fire demon called Calcifer (Billy Crystal) and a young boy called Markl (Josh Hutcherson).As Sophie adapts to her new life - groaning amusingly with the aches and pains of old age and keeping house for Howl - she learns more about her employer's magic and limitations. She figures out how to work the small colored dial beside the door - the one that changes the location outside the door if you give it a spin. Howl, meanwhile, proves a shape shifter and anti-war activist who, by changing himself into a blackbird, attempts to stop a war in which aerial combat and bombing raids wreak destruction.Miyazaki's story could have used an editor. It is essentially a love story that pivots on the bond between Sophie and Howl and the complications that get in the way of their union. But it is also a story about being fearless in the face of danger and being unafraid to be yourself, as Sophie is, no matter what the consequences. It is unfortunate that the vague nature of the military conflict that involves Howl is not always well integrated into the tale of Sophie's travails. Some of the war-related developments may leave you scratching your head.But any frustrations with the narrative are more than made up for by the film's visual components. End to end, "Howl's Moving Castle" is a feast of beautifully drawn and colored images that bring Miyazaki's endless imagination to life. The literal Howl's castle is an ambulatory scrap yard, a funny, inventive mishmash of spare parts and shapes with architectural antecedents that could include an old shoe, a grouper's mouth, assorted planks and window panes. The "castle" trundles across the countryside on four mechanized chicken legs fueled by the work of Calcifer. Elsewhere, Miyazaki's scarecrow is a pogo stick brought to life, a suited T-shaped character with a round turnip head and a helpful disposition to go with his bounce. Howl's secret escape, the landscape he knew as a boy, is a Monet painting brought to life, an oasis of green grass, wildflowers and blue water crowned by a heavenly sky and pillowy clouds. It is an environmentalist's dream, a paradise lost and found again, one that contrasts mightily with Miyazki's horrifying visions of war."Howl's Moving Castle" is the third highest grossing film in Japanese history (the other two are "Titanic" and Miyazaki's "Spirited Away"). For American audiences, adults and children about 7 and older, it is an experience well-rewarded and another example of why Asian animation sets the standard.

http://www.ctnow.com/movies/reviews/hce-howlsrev.artjun17,0,6912703.story?coll=hce-headlines-entertainment

Computer pioneer spills his secrets... Steve Jobs speaks to graduating Stanford students

By Mary F. AlbertStaff WriterPublished: Sunday, June 12, 2005 9:50 PM PDTE-mail this story Print this page
PALO ALTO — The core of Apple Computer leadership revealed the secrets to his success Sunday to graduating Stanford students and their families.By highlighting the challenges he faced in founding the company that revolutionized personal computers, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs emphasized certain fundamentals to the almost 5,000 undergraduate, master's and doctoral students at the university's 114th commencement ceremony."Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick," said Jobs, who has struggled with a pancreatic tumor and the "public failure" of getting fired from Apple in the company's early history.

Despite these setbacks, Jobs went on to found NeXT Software Inc. and Pixar Animation Studios, which produced the Academy award-winning films "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo."The key, he said, was pursuing his passion for innovation. "The only way to be truly satisfied," he concluded, is to find and pursue what makes you happy.For this reason, he advised the next generation of Stanford professionals to "keep looking and don't settle."
On a campus renowned for its computer science and technology departments, Jobs was a welcome choice for keynote speaker, agreed several graduating students."A lot of years the speaker is controversial," senior Amy Halvorsen said before taking her seat. "But this year it seems like everyone is excited."As Jobs took his seat on the podium, several graduates shouted, "Hire me, Steve! Hire me!"
Eron Umberg, who majored in human biology, said she even considered dressing up as an iPod for the occasion."I am very excited," said Umberg, who opted for a shimmering wig with horns on top instead. "Stanford is a pretty Apple-friendly place."Stanford officials selected Jobs — a "pioneer and visionary" — because the university has been "characterized for its willingness to be bold," said university President John L. Hennessy, who thanked Jobs for his personal address.
On Sunday, the university conferred about 1,900 bachelor's, 2,000 master's, and 900 doctoral degrees.E-mail: malbert@examiner.com

Is "your" computer at work private?

Many jobs require computer use. Is "your" computer at work private? A workplace privacy expert, Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., weighs in:Q.: Can my boss monitor e-mails I write at work?Real-time monitoring of e-mail without your consent is illegal and violates federal wiretap law, according to Kerr. Otherwise, "your boss can conduct monitoring but only monitoring that is reasonable," Kerr said. "Reasonable" is typically defined by the employer's written policy or code of conduct, he added.Q: It's a free country. I can view what I want online — right?It may be a free country but your freedoms can be restricted at work, Kerr said. Your e-mail or Web use may violate your employer's policy. Bosses might check e-mail for a variety of reasons: to see if you are sending company secrets to a competitor, to see if you are wasting time and to see if you are productive, Kerr said. Inappropriate or excessive Internet use could signal a problem employee, Kerr said.Q: I'm an adult — if I want to view porn or go to gambling Web sites at work, and no one objects, what's the big deal? For that matter, why can't I Christmas shop online or visit other G-rated Web sites?This problem is diminishing as more and more people have Internet access at home, Kerr noted. But at work, employers worry that porn images might constitute a hostile work environment, he said. "It's a sexual harassment concern," Kerr said. As for G- rated fare, like shopping or game Web sites, rules vary workplace to workplace. In the end, bosses rule.Q: I don't like the feeling that my manager is watching me. Can I avoid this?Many workplaces limit surveillance to situations where a complaint is lodged, Kerr said. Otherwise, the possibility that you are being checked exists and is unavoidable. Ask your bosses if they read your e-mail or track Web use; or refer to your workplace policy manual or code of conduct. "In the case of private employers, they have a lot of power," Kerr said.— Nan Connolly
Bauer investigation continues
Investigators are continuing to follow leads in the case of the Boise rec-league soccer coach accused of molesting several boys since the mid-1990s, Ada County sheriff's Lt. Patrick Calley said Monday.Michael Patrick Bauer, 37, was arrested at his Meridian home Wednesday after a check of his work computer turned up child pornography, sheriff's officials said. Forensic tests on the computer pointed to a pattern of abuse, and Sheriff Gary Raney said Bauer may have had several victims.Bauer is currently charged with one count of possession of sexually exploitive material and is being held in the Ada County Jail on a $1 million bond.

Internet inventors reflect on creationTwo researchers never envisioned consequences of work

By Bambi Francisco, MarketWatchLast Update: 12:10 PM ET June 13, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- In 1973, two scientists began working on a design to bring together disparate networks that would allow computers to communicate with one another.

More than 30 years later, Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn -- whose work gave us the Internet -- are enjoying the fruits of their early labor. They were in San Francisco last week to receive the 2004 A.M. Turing Award, the computer field's equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
"Of course we could see it all... We knew the PC would be invented in about 10 years... the breakup of the Bell system would occur," quipped Kahn, in an interview with MarketWatch, when asked if he ever imagined that the system that he worked on would become the platform upon which millions would communicate and billions of dollars of wealth would be created.
"It's all happening exactly the way we planned," echoed Cerf.
See the interview with Cerf and Kahn
In all seriousness, the men say that they couldn't have imagined the ease with which people can access billions of pieces of information, not to mention create it.
The Web has enabled people to publish a "Niagara [Falls] of information," said Cerf, with a hint of incredulity about what consumers are doing upon this network he pioneered.
The Web has become a "social revolution," said Kahn.
Indeed, both men are in awe of the blogging revolution. Blogs "force critical thinking," said Cerf, who said one of the more interesting aspects of the blog revolution is that there are no deadlines.
Both men also spoke of the unintended consequences of the Internet, like spam and viruses. These are "things we never thought would happen," said Kahn.
Asked which of the leading Internet companies -- Google (GOOG: news, chart, profile) , eBay (EBAY: news, chart, profile) or Yahoo -- is the most innovative, the two men chose two different companies.
"So far Google has shown the most innovation," said Cerf, who said that Google was his home page. "I'd point out that eBay has transformed the landscape," said Kahn. "They've got a strong contingency of folks that rely on it."
The commercialized Internet is quite a leap from three decades ago when the two young men were, as they describe, simply working on a research experiment.
"We were just trying to work on an engineering problem, trying to get PCs to interconnect," said Cerf. "Little by little over time, because that was a success, we saw inroads... Energy groups started considering it," said Kahn.
The TCP/IP backbone protocol that the two men worked on became the standard because it was supported by the research lab of the U.S. Department of Defense.
"We had most of the leading researchers working with us," said Kahn. Additionally, the system was tested before it became a standard. A lot of companies agree on standardizing a technology today before they implement it, said Cerf.
The problem is that often it's only after the technology is implemented that you discover it doesn't work, Cerf added.
Asked what they thought to be the most innovative developments in the last 10 years, Kahn said it was broadband access and wireless networks. Cerf pointed to voice-over-Internet technologies and wireless.
Sound off: Will Google hit $300 before it reports in mid-July? Bambi.Francisco@dowjones.com or go to Bambi.blogs.com

Developers get taste of Intel-based Macs

By Ina Fried, Special to ZDNet

After announcing the big shift on Monday, Apple Computer has offered developers an early chance to get their bearings, with labs of Intel-based Macs up and running at its Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco. The labs were open until 9 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday and until midnight on Tuesday.
And though Apple won't start selling Intel-based Macs to customers until sometime next year, the Mac maker is leasing test machines to developers for US$999 starting this month.
Fetch Software president Jim Matthews said his company has been through past transitions, including the mid-'90s shift from Motorola's 68000 family of chips to PowerPC processors and the more recent move from OS 9 to OS X. Matthews said he appreciates the advance notice Apple is giving developers this time around.
"Apple is giving us plenty of time and hardware we can test on, which wasn't the case the last time," Matthews said.
For developers, the amount of work needed to make their code ready for next year's arrival of Intel-based Macs varies considerably. For Mac programs that are fairly new, written after the arrival of Mac OS X in Apple's Cocoa environment, the changes can be made in a matter of hours, or even less in some cases.
"We've already ported our app to Intel," said Wil Shipley, CEO of Delicious Monster Software. "All we had to do was click one button. It took about 40 seconds. It ran perfectly on the sneak-preview Intel Macs here at WWDC."
But for others, the changes will be more complex. For those whose applications were developed prior to Mac OS X and then "carbonised" to run natively in OS X, the work is somewhat more involved. If developers have used Apple's Xcode tools, it is still only a matter of weeks, at most, Apple said. But, if developers used tools from Metrowerks, they must first bring their code over to Apple's tools and then begin the work of tweaking the software for Intel's chips.
Microsoft is among those in that last camp. Both Virtual PC and Office for Mac were developed in Carbon, using tools from Metrowerks. Microsoft said it doesn't know how much work it has ahead of itself.
"That's one of the main things our developers are looking at," said Scott Erickson, group product manager for Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit. Microsoft has already said it will make future versions of Office run natively on Intel chips, but it has yet to detail plans for Virtual PC, software that allows Windows programs to run on a Mac.
Developers seem generally upbeat, though. Bare Bones Software has had a team of workers testing code on the Intel machines Apple has made available. CEO Rich Siegel said the early testing largely confirms the belief that the effort needed won't be extraordinary.
"Our initial analysis and prediction of a smooth transition still appears to be accurate, even after a few days of review and analysis," Siegel said in an e-mail interview. "There are some adjustments to be made, but nothing particularly daunting."
One community where there are signs of discontent is the high-end computing market Apple has garnered with Mac OS X. There has been much discussion in recent days on Apple's mailing lists for scientific and technical computing issues about the work those developers face. Many have written optimisations and code that specifically targets the PowerPC's AltiVec instructions.
Though Apple believes that there is not that much work for most developers, Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller said the company is trying to be careful not to trivialise the work that needs to be done.
He notes that the work required to take OS 9 applications and make them run natively in OS X, a process known as Carbonisation, ended up being tougher than Apple had thought. "That turned out to be more work than we all expected" Schiller said in an interview Monday. "This is not near the (same) effort."
For smaller companies that may not want to invest the time or the US$1,000 to rent the Intel system, a company called Advenio has a service in which it will do the necessary porting work. As an indication of the relative time involved, the company is charging a flat US$100 fee to create a universal binary of a Cocoa application; the fee for porting a Carbonised program starts at US$500 and depends on the amount of work involved.
Fetch Software's Matthews said he is not too worried about the time needed to move applications over to the Intel chips, especially as compared with past transitions. "I think this is probably going to be the least traumatic switch for our software."
Of more concern, though, is what customers do during an uncertain time for the Mac, as Apple tries to continue selling PowerPC-based Macs while laying plans for a day when such machines will be entirely supplanted by Intel machines. "It's going to be fine as long as customers don't freak out, as long as customers don't stop buying Macs," Matthews said.

Treadmill system lets office-bound work out while they work

By STEVE KARNOWSKITHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Sitting at their desks is about the last thing workers would do in Dr. James Levine's office of the future.
Instead of being sedentary in front of their computers, they'd stand. But instead of standing still, they'd walk on a treadmill. And instead of meeting around a conference table, they'd talk business while walking laps on a track.

A woman works out while she works on Dr. James Levine's brainchild, a workstation that combines a computer, desk and treadmill. The "ultimate office makeover" offers an alternative to being sedentary in front of a computer, according to the Mayo Clinic obesity doctor, who also uses a treadmill on the job.
That's exactly how Levine, a Mayo Clinic obesity researcher, and several of his colleagues have been working for the past five weeks or so.
"I hate going to the gym, which may be partly why I'm so interested in this," he said, keeping up a 1-mph pace on his treadmill while checking e-mail and fielding questions from a reporter.
That speed is slow enough to avoid breaking a sweat but fast enough to burn an extra 100 calories per hour, or 1,000 a day, given his average 10-hour workdays, Levine said. And it helps the 41-year-old endocrinologist keep his 5-foot-8 1/2-inch frame at 158 pounds.
"We're talking more than 50 pounds of weight loss a year, if I were to keep my diet the same," he said.
Levine is a leading researcher of NEAT -- short for "non-exercise activity thermogenesis" -- the calories people burn during everyday activities such as standing, walking or even fidgeting.
A recently published study he led showed that thin people are on their feet an average of 152 more minutes a day than couch potatoes. Levine was brainstorming ways to address that 2 1/2- hour NEAT deficit a few months ago when he had the idea for the "ultimate office makeover."
"The response has to be appropriate for the magnitude of the problem," he said. "And so we really thought, 'Is there a completely different way of working?' "

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Within four weeks, his team developed an alternative to the traditional cubicle -- workstations that combine a computer, desk and treadmill into one unit. It was a refinement of a desk Levine created for himself about six months ago.
He and his team also put a carpeted track around the perimeter of their new 5,000-square-foot space. They made walls out of magnetic marker boards so they can stand up while developing project ideas.
And they used black tape to mark a hockey net on the wall behind Levine's treadmill so they can fire lightweight plastic pucks at the goal while talking to him.
"It's great fun, and it creates a whole positivity," he said while touring the walking track. "Partly because it's so new, but partly because it's nice to be moving."
The makeover was relatively cheap. Levine says the 10 workstations cost about $1,000 each -- about half the cost of a cubicle -- and remodeling the space cost about $5.50 per square foot.
Those who don't feel like standing can always pull up a tall stool to work on their computers, he said, but the environment "sends you this message of 'Walking is the norm. Being upright is the norm.' "
Yes, there's peer pressure, he said, but isn't it better than peer pressure to bring doughnuts to work? "Coercion to help you get healthier and happier, that isn't so bad."
Staying fit doesn't appear to be a major concern yet for Chinmay Manohar, a 24-year-old research assistant in Levine's office. A runner and a hiker, he's a trim 5-feet-8 and 130 pounds.
But he's found Levine's setup keeps him more alert and focused. When he's soldering electronic gizmos, he stands at a raised workbench. When he's computer programming, he walks on a treadmill. Somehow, typing isn't a problem.
"It took me only a day or two to actually get acquainted with the system. Also, it keeps me fit."
Levine has heard from people like Lois Yurow in Westfield, N.J., who wanted to know where she could get a workstation like his after she saw a newspaper photo of him walking on it.
"I looked at it and said, 'I want one of those things!' " she said.
Although the treadmill-workstations aren't commercially available yet, Mayo Clinic's technology licensing people are working on that.
Yurow, 42, is at her home-office desk about six hours straight each day -- with breaks to fill her water glass or throw in a load of laundry -- until her children come home from school. She also puts in another hour at night after her children have settled down.
"It would be great if there were something set up that would let me be standing up all the time ... and let me get my work done," she said.

Make Money Online and Live Life to the Fullest

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China launches laptop computer-based network campus scheme

China Education and Research Network (CERNET) has launched the "New Network Campus" program, which is based on the wide use of laptop computers in the prestigious Qinghua University.
According to a 3-year-plan, CERNET will build wireless campus networks in 100, 200 and 500 institutions of higher learning in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
In the meantime, CERNET will work with computer giants Lenovo, IBM, HP, DELL and SAMSUNG to supply cheaper brand-name laptops to students. The computers may be cheaper by several thousand yuan (1 US dollar equals 8.27 yuan) than the market prices.
CERNET will provide 50,000 laptops to students this year and 300,000 more in 2006, according to the plan.
With the scheme in operation, college students may enjoy network teaching platform, IP phone call, IPTV and other special services. Students will be able to work in dorm rooms, classrooms, dining halls and libraries and surf the Internet from anywhere on campus using the wireless network.
Source: Xinhua

Computer theft at newspaper an 'inside job'

By Shaun SmillieThe Mail & Guardian newspaper has lost new computer equipment valued at about R1-million in a “bizarre” robbery.Police and employees of the newspaper believe it could be an inside job. According to police Constable Sefako Xaba, the robbery occurred between 1am and 2am on Sunday at the Mail & Guardian’s (M&G) premises in Milpark, Johannesburg. “The security guards told us that about 10 men armed with either AK-47s or R-5s (assault rifles) tied them up. It was a quick job. The suspects appeared to know where everything was and where to find it,” Xaba said.The robbers stole brand-new Apple Mac computers, PCs, photocopiers and fax machines, M&G chief operating officer Hoosain Karjieker said.

The security guard at the gate was apparently overpowered by three of the robbers, locked in a bathroom and bound with his own shoelaces and a cord.Three other security personnel in the M&G building were also tied up. “They only took the new stuff, which we’ve only had for about eight weeks. They didn’t go into the offices or the advertising areas,” said Karjieker.The security guards were able to raise the alarm, after one of them apparently found a pair of scissors and was able to cut himself loose. The robbers apparently loaded the equipment into a vehicle and fled. “It is really bizarre – it must have been an inside job. They just targeted the M&G; there are also other businesses in the complex,” said Karjieker. M&G editor Ferial Hafferjee said the staff hoped to have everything up and running on Monday. “It is mainly the production side of the paper that has been affected. None of the journalists’ laptops appear to have been stolen,” said Hafferjee.According to Karjieker, the company would only be able to assess the full extent of the damage on Monday when staff arrived at work. The robbery is the latest in a series of misfortunes to befall the M&G in recent months. The paper is moving to new premises in August.

IBM Builds Most Powerful Privately Owned Computer as Showcase

(Bloomberg) -- International Business Machines Corp., the world's largest maker of mainframe servers, has built itself the most powerful privately owned supercomputer to attract customers in science, weather forecasting and financial services.
The Watson Blue Gene computer system, with an average processing speed of 91.29 teraflops, is about three times faster and one-ninth the cost of the ``Earth Simulator'' built by NEC Corp. and once the world's fastest computer, said David Turek, IBM's vice president for Deep Computing.
IBM will use the Watson Blue Gene and smaller supercomputers to spur mainframe sales, which fell 16 percent in the first quarter. Blue Gene computers are faster and smaller than competing machines and can add computing power as needed, said Stacey Quandt, an analyst for researcher Robert Frances Group. All eight sold so far went to universities and government agencies.
``It will help IBM generate sales'' by showing customers what's possible, Quandt said. ``It's not just theory. This is a real world application.''
Shares of Armonk, New York-based IBM declined 16 cents to $74.77 on June 10 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have fallen 24 percent this year.
IBM, which spent $5.67 billion on research last year, will use the machine for a variety of its own studies, such as how applications work at high speed, Turek said. IBM consultants will be able to make the machine available to customers who need large amount of computing power.
Supercomputers
NEC's Earth computer, which cost about $350 million and is used to predict environmental change, was the world's fastest machine when it was unveiled in 2002, capable of 36 teraflops. One teraflop equals 1 trillion mathematical operations a second.
IBM last year unveiled a faster computer that was built for the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to simulate nuclear explosions. By the end of this summer, that Blue Gene machine will be capable of more than 300 teraflops, Turek said.
The Watson Blue Gene machine, which is installed at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, would cost about $40 million, Turek said.
``We've built a system that's faster by a factor of three and much cheaper over what was the state of art,'' Turek said.
The computer can be used for researching drugs, weather, global risk management in financial markets and supply-chain management. IBM has sold Blue Gene systems to institutes including Scotland's University of Edinburgh and Japan's Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
IBM is selling smaller versions of the machines with fewer teraflops for as little as $2 million. IBM also rents a Blue Gene machine for $10,000 a week.
The machine IBM built for itself occupies the space of 20 refrigerators, about half that of competing systems, Quandt said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Peter J. Brennan in Los Angeles at pbrennan3@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: June 13, 2005 00:01 EDT

Mercury Computer Systems Introduces Open Inventor from Mercury Cluster Edition for Massive Volume 3D Data Management and Visualization

Mercury Computer Systems Introduces Open Inventor from Mercury Cluster Edition for Massive Volume 3D Data Management and VisualizationMonday
June 13, 2:00 am ET
Optimized 3D Graphics Software Delivers Scalable, Collaborative, and Cost Efficient Solution for Large Display Walls and Data Intensive Management
MADRID, Spain, June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRCY - News) announced the introduction of its cluster edition for Open Inventor® from Mercury at the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) Conference and Exhibition. The Open Inventor from Mercury Cluster Edition is a technology breakthrough that enables application developers to overcome limitations of display hardware cost effectively. This optimized software solution enables transparent scalability of Open Inventor from Mercury and VolumeViz(TM) LDM (large data management) for increased resolution, quality, and performance in applications that display large volumes of data. These applications, which include oil exploration and production, and scientific 3D visualization, are typically run on high- performance visualization computer systems with multiple Internet-networked graphics machines, also called graphics clusters.

"A key advantage of our Open Inventor from Mercury Cluster Edition is the ability to manage and dynamically analyze massive volumes of data, and propose 3D representations that are appropriate to the geophysics people," said Jean Bernard Cazeaux, vice president of Geosciences and 3DViz Technology, Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. "Data sets can be extremely large and complex, such as when derived from seismic acquisition, making the interpretation of results all the more challenging."
The Open Inventor from Mercury Cluster Edition also offers users great flexibility to interactively navigate within several hundred gigabytes of volume data. From data analysis and interpretation to decision making, this powerful technology can dramatically impact collaboration workflow in geosciences, material sciences analysis, product design and simulation, visual simulation and much more. The Open Inventor from Mercury Cluster Edition and VolumeViz LDM offer the most consistent coverage of high-performance visualization platforms including graphics clusters, multi-pipe SMP machines, and video compositing systems.
"I believe the combination of our software cluster technology with high- end visualization systems significantly accelerates the decision-making process," Mr. Cazeaux added.
Based on a distributed scene graph, the Open Inventor from Mercury Cluster Edition allows an application to run unchanged on a master computer, with its scene graph optimally distributed to slave cluster nodes. It manages the parallelized rendering of portions of the total image to calculate and display. Leveraging its out-of-core capabilities, VolumeViz LDM transforms Open Inventor from Mercury into an optimal middleware for the management and visualization of very large volume data.
The high level of data synchronization, caching, and management enable Open Inventor from Mercury Cluster Edition to provide unparalleled transparency for the best possible load balancing and scalability with any available combination of CPU, GPU, channels, memory, storage, and network resources. It is designed for seamless adaptation to legacy Open Inventor from Mercury and/or VolumeViz LDM applications; no additional effort is required for user interface integration deployment on arbitrary configurations.
The Open Inventor from Mercury Cluster Edition and VolumeViz LDM are available on Linux systems, including AMD Opteron64, and Intel Xeon EMT64. Mercury plans to release the Windows version for both 32- and 64-bit architecture during the last quarter of calendar year 2005.
Mercury will demonstrate the Open Inventor from Mercury Cluster Edition at its EAGE booth and at the American Association of Petroleum Geologist (AAPG) Conferences in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 19-23. All demonstrations will include large seismic and reservoir data on a 12-screen high resolution display (approximately 16 million pixels) driven by a compact/high-density visualization cluster from Mercury.
About Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.
Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRCY - News) is the leading provider of high-performance embedded, real-time digital signal and image processing solutions. Mercury's solutions play a critical role in a wide range of applications, transforming sensor data to information for analysis and interpretation. In military reconnaissance and surveillance platforms the Company's systems process real-time radar, sonar, and signals intelligence data. Mercury's systems are also used in state-of-the-art medical diagnostic imaging devices including MRI, PET, and digital X-ray, and in semiconductor imaging applications including photomask generation and wafer inspection. Mercury provides advanced 3D image processing and visualization software and optimized systems to diverse end markets including life sciences, geosciences, and simulation. The Company also provides radio frequency (RF) products for enhanced communications capabilities in military and commercial applications.
Based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Mercury serves customers in North America, Europe and Asia through its direct sales force and a network of subsidiaries and distributors. Visit Mercury on the web at http://www.mc.com/ and http://www.mc.com/tgs.
Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to the Open Inventor from Mercury Cluster Edition. You can identify these statements by our use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, competition, changes in technology, delays in completing engineering and manufacturing programs, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, shortages in components, production delays, and market acceptance of the Company's products. These risks and uncertainties also include such additional risk factors as are discussed in the Company's recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made.
Contacts:
Laurent Coureau, Marketing Manager, 3D Viz Group
Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.
lcoureau@mc.com
TEL: +33 556 13 40 02
Kathy Donahue, Public Relations Manager
Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.
kdonahue@mc.com
TEL: 978-967-1126
Open Inventor is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. Mercury Computer Systems SA is source licensee of Open Inventor. VolumeViz LDM is a trademark of Mercury Computer Systems SA. Product and company names mentioned may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
Source: Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.

Do you speak computer?Hispanics get helpful boost into English-dominated digital world

By John KeilmanTribune staff reporterPublished June 13, 2005
In a darkened community room at the Des Plaines Public Library, Hector Marino tells his students to fire up Microsoft Paint on their borrowed laptop computers. It's the perfect way, he says in Spanish, to get some practice with el raton.That means "the mouse," one of many translations Marino uses to make the world of computing, which is dominated by English, more comprehensible for his Spanish-speaking students. The desktop is el escritorio. E-mail, he says, is correo electronico. And to get from one Web page to another, he tells them: haz un clic."It's a challenge for them. But we try to make it easy," Marino said. "We use the very basics. They don't need to create PowerPoint presentations. They need basic things--to save, erase, copy and paste. We're trying to teach them the essentials."A growing number of Spanish speaking people are interested in joining the digital realm, hoping to stay in touch with overseas relatives, get ahead at work and keep up with what their kids are learning. That's testing the ingenuity of computer instructors trying to teach a subject whose technical terms can be hard to grasp even without a language barrier."It's double the effort," said Mauricio Blanco, who teaches at the computer center of Onward Neighborhood House in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. "All the software, all the programs are in English."The latest federal statistics show that only 1 in 3 Hispanics uses the Internet, the lowest rate of any ethnic group covered by the report. The percentage is slowly climbing, but Andy Carvin of the Digital Divide Network, an advocacy group based in Newton, Mass., said the gap remains a problem."The issue of the `digital divide' is based on whether all people have equal opportunities to improve their quality of life," he said. "A lot of people may think of the Internet as a place to check the latest sports scores. But for a lot of people, it's a lifeline to get training for job prospects, help their kids' education or stay connected with their family."The first step toward reaping online benefits is figuring out the essentials of working with a computer. While it's possible to customize the machines with a Spanish-language interface, the vast majority of computers sold in stores or available in public places use English menus and commands.That's why organizations like the Poder Learning Center pair computer instruction with English lessons. The Pilsen-based adult education group doesn't hand out Spanish-English cheat sheets or translate the vocabulary of computing as students learn to navigate Windows."When we introduce the technology, we introduce it in English," executive director Daniel Loftus said. "Eventually, you'll need to know those computer terms in English, so let's just attack this head-on."The West Chicago Public Library in DuPage County sticks with the bilingual approach with its computer classes for Spanish speakers. Librarian Jennifer Winter said that, language aside, the main problem for her students--many of whom are middle age or older--is getting comfortable with a machine that, to the uninitiated, can seem as impenetrable as Esperanto."For anyone who didn't grow up in the computer culture, I think it's equally confusing in any language," she said. "People who are 25 or so, who have had computers in school since the day they started, it's not even a hurdle for them."Indeed, gaining insight into their kids' technology is a big reason Hispanic parents have crowded computer classes at Maine West High School in Des Plaines over the last five years.An English-speaking teacher usually leads the 15- to 20-person classes, with an aide serving as interpreter. Sheila Rudden-Shorey, a social worker at the school, said the classes attract parents who want to understand what their children are doing at school."Most of them realize that it's the way of the future," she said. "You can see homework assignments, e-mail teachers. They see their children as young as five and six being exposed to it. That's a big motivation."Spanish-speaking parents in Chicago can also take classes through the public schools, learning everything from how to navigate the desktop to the finer points of video editing."When they come out of it, they're going to know a lot more than most of the people in school buildings," said Jesus Esquivel, who designed the program at the Bilingual Parent Resource Center in Pilsen.He said that in the fall, the school system plans to expand the program to other languages, including Polish, Chinese and Arabic.Hector Marino has become an old hand at leading computer classes in Spanish. He estimates he has taught 1,000 students since 2000, when the Des Plaines Library began offering the courses, and he recently conducted a workshop for 20 other libraries interested in setting up similar programs.In one recent class, a warm-up with Microsoft Paint led to exercises with PowerPoint and Web surfing. Most of the seven students had little trouble following along--one woman even began checking flights to Mexico on a travel Web site as Marino tutored others on the mechanics of cutting and pasting.