*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info

here it is.....

ShieldsUP!
The Internet's quickest, most popular, reliable and trusted, free Internet security checkup and information service. And now in its Port Authority Edition, it's also the most powerful and complete. Check your system here, and begin learning about using the Internet safely.


Go to the link, and scroll down to Shields Up,
and then test your software firewall,
file sharing and common ports.

http://www.grc.com/default.htm

 

Thnx ireland, needed that to teach a stubborn customer a lesson in network security.

 

looks like we have a problem,but ye get some help ! at least ye know what a newbie looks like..for a fast kill...

 

BIG TIME WRITER,COPY UP TO 21 DISKS AT ONE TIME.

Should the RIAA fear that 21-DVD Duplicator?

Hardware Roundup

By Maurice Le Wibble: Friday 15 September 2006, 13:05
CDR Info puts a 21-DVD duplicator to test, managing in the process to burn 500 DVDs with a failure rate of 1 out of 250. The Acard ARS-2033N is the model that is tested. The Acard brand is well known amongst hard core duplicators and you can easily see why. The test was carried out using a mix of NEC DVD writers and a DVD ROM drive as master. Controller was found to be quite stable, which given the number of drives being used is a feat in itself. The only complain was about the organisation of the menu from the front panel.

go here to read this article
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34409


Acard ARS-2033N 1-to-21 Duplicator

Most of us have at some stage had to burn a large batch of CD or DVD discs for a company presentation, product catalog or other similar job. While one, or even two drives, are more than enough to get the job done for small batches, if it's something that needs to be done frequently and it involves a large number of discs, then it becomes tedious and frankly, it's not worth the effort. There is a better solution, or should I say solutions, available from ACARD. ACARD offers an extensive range of duplicator configurations for any type of CD or DVD duplication job. The duplicator we'll be looking at in this review is their latest release, the ARS-2033N 1-to-21 Copy Controller, which can accommodate up to 21 burner devices at once.

ACARD Technology Corp., based in Taiwan, was founded on September 19, 1996. Since then, ACARD has been engaged in IC design, with its core technologies in the fields of IDE and SCSI, enjoying a high reputation as a leading global provider of storage solutions.

ACARD offers small, medium, and large scale corporations, a broad range of controller chips, SCSI/SATA/IDE RAID controllers, SCSI-to-IDE/SATA converters, CD/DVD duplicators, RAID subsystems, NAS, external storage for DVR, and CD/DVD recording software. ACARD's products are targeted at PC and Macintosh users, as well as OEM customers worldwide.

At the heart of the 1-to-21 Copy Controller is the ATP867 chip, which is a high performance PCI 64-bit 66MHz 4-channel IDE RAID controller, targeted for server class and high-level workstations. The built-in IDE engine, supporting Ultra DMA mode, can transfer data at a speed of up to 133MB per channel. The IDE channels can operate simultaneously, which is essential for a multi-tasking environment, while a PCI scatter/gather function reduces the interrupt handling and tremendously improves performance.

ATP867PCI 4-Channel UltraDMA133 IDE Controller Features

PCI interface

* 64-bit, 66MHz PCI bus with data rate up to 133 MB/s.
* PCI specification Rev 2.2 compliant.
* PCI Bus Power Management Interface Specification Ver 1.1 compliant.
* Scatter/Gather function compliant to Bus Master Programming Interface to IDE ATA controller Rev 1.0.
* Flash ROM interface For RAID setup utility and booting.


IDE interface

* Up to 4 independent IDE channels. Each IDE supports DMA133 speed.
* PIO mode 0,1,2,3,4 and Multiword DMA mode 0,1,2 to 16.6 MB/s.
* Ultra DMA mode 0,1,0+1,2,3,4,6 up to 133MB/s or higher speed.
* Support RAID0, RAID1, RAID10 function and JBOD.
* Built-in timer for Auto-rebuilding on RAID1 and above level.
* Simultaneous data written to both channels on RAID1 mode.
* Built-in interface for hot swap hard disk caddy.
* Enclosure services for fan, temperature, voltage, caddy insertion can be detected.

Normally, you would buy the ARS-2033N already configured in a cabinet, through one of Acard's worldwide distributors. What we received, were the individual components that make up the entire 1-21 controller. This is a unit that can write simultaneously to 21 CD or DVD burners. That's a lot of drives and it makes quick work of most medium scale jobs.

We'll be taking a look at how to connect the various components together in the next page. The ARS-2033N 1-to21 as it came to our labs, comprises:

* 3 ARS-2033N controller boards
* 4 AEC-4430H SATA converters
* User manual
* IDE and SATA cables

ACARD also offers an AEC-4420P USB link which can connect the ARS-2033N to a host PC, making the ARS-2033N an external writer for the computer. This was not in our package, but it can be requested from ACARD separately. ACARD further provides its own recording software for use in this type of setup, called Ha! DVD Burner. Further details can be found on the ACARD website.
http://www.acard.com/

 

With the connection to PC is this what worries the RIAA? Does that make is so mass pirates can duplicate copyrighted (and their for CSS or similarly encrypted) by getting the unprotected data off a PC?

 

Movies File Share Top Ten Downloaders ('leechers')
BitTorrent, World-wide
Current simultaneous leechers as of September 16, 2006
Ranking Movie Number of Downloads
01 >>> Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (unchanged) 49,401
02 >>> Scary Movie 4 + 4 48,143
03 >>> RV - 2 48,094
04 >>> Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - 3 46,066
05 >>> Beerfest + 6 43,379
06 >>> Poseidon (new) 41,883
07 >>> Monster House + 8 42,218
08 >>> The Sentinal - 7 39,445
09 >>> The Benchwarmers - 5 40,080
10 >>> Final Destination 3 (new) 40,156

Movies File Share Top Ten Downloads
p2p, World-wide
Week ending September 16, 2006
Ranking Movie Number of Downloads
01 >>> Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (unchanged) 1,586,772
02 >>> Scary Movie 4 + 4 1,583,018
03 >>> Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (unchanged) 1,549,675
04 >>> The Sentinal + 6 1,525,211
05 >>> RV (unchanged) 1,524,326
06 >>> Inside Man + 9 1,516,944
07 >>> Beerfest + 8 1,511,018
08 >>> Poseidon (return) 1,474,722
09 >>> Silent Hill + 10 1,471,580
10 >>> The Benchwarmers - 4 1,461,626

Movies File Share Top Ten Downloads
p2p, USA
Week ending September 16, 2006
Ranking Movie Number of Downloads
01 >>> Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (unchanged) 957,096
02 >>> Scary Movie 4 + 4 942,272
03 >>> Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - 2 938,517
04 >>> RV + 6 932,040
05 >>> The Sentinal (unchanged) 918,972
06 >>> Inside Man + 9 918,247
07 >>> Beerfest (unchanged) 904,100
08 >>> Poseidon + 10 902,505
09 >>> The Shaggy Dog (new) 894,239
10 >>> The Benchwarmers - 3 858,194

(Saturday 16th September 2006)

 

Adobe .pdf back doors,be careful

p2pnet.net News:- UK security researcher David Kierznowski says legitimate features in Adobe PDF files can be used to open back doors for hack attacks.

Kierznowski, a penetration testing expert, has released proof-of-concept code and rigged PDF files, "to demonstrate how the Adobe Reader program could be used to launch attacks without any user action," says eWEEK.

But, "I do not really consider these attacks as vulnerabilities within Adobe," the story has him saying. "It is more exploiting features supported by the product that were never designed for this," Kierznowski stated.

"The first back door (PDF), which eWEEK confirmed on a fully patched version of Adobe Reader, involves adding a malicious link to a PDF file," says the story. "Once the document is opened, the target's browser is automatically launched and loads the embedded link"and, "At this point, it is obvious that any malicious code [can] be launched," Kierznowski said.
(Saturday 16th September 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/9877?PHPSESSID=b711dfba7281793bb5e05f0de909a216

 

Plastic Batteries Coming Soon?
Posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday September 16, @12:23PM
from the polymer-power dept.
Power Hardware
Roland Piquepaille writes "Engineers at Brown University have built a prototype of a hybrid plastic battery that uses a conductive polymer. The system, which marries the power of a capacitor with the storage capacity of a battery, can store and deliver power efficiently. For example, during performance testing, 'it delivered more than 100 times the power of a standard alkaline battery.' Still, it's unlikely that such a device can appear on the market before several years."

go here to read the rest
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2006-07/06-022.html

 

Hardware Seagate Says 2.5TB Drives By 2009

Seagate plans to triple areal densities within two years

At the IDEMA DISKON show in Santa Clara, California, Seagate demonstrated a magnetic recording device with a whopping 421 Gbits per square inch density. To put that in perspective, the company recently announced 160GB 5400.3 2.5" perpendicular notebook drives that have an areal density of 135 Gbits per square inch. Toshiba, the current commercial density leaders, recently demonstrated 2.5" hard drives with areal densities of 188 Gbits per square inch.

Seagate CEO Bill Watkins claims "Breakthroughs in areal density are enabling the digital revolution and clearly indicate that hard drives can sustain their advantage to meet the world's insatiable demand for storage across a wide range of market segments."

According to the press release put out by Seagate, the company claims a 1.8" disk drive produced on the same 421 Gbits per square inch technology would result in a 275GB hard drive. 2.5" drives on the density would level out around 500GB, and fully fledged 3.5" hard drives would be able to house a density of 2.5 terabytes. Perhaps even more exciting is that Seagate "anticipates that solutions at these density levels could begin to emerge in 2009."

The leap to such densities would result in a three-fold increase of current areal densities. However, Seagate isn't alone in this race. Earlier this year Hitachi put out a press release claiming we would see 1TB holographic drives from the company before the end of the year. However, both companies use Komag as the primary supplier of their high density platters -- and it should not be a surprise if we see 1TB hard disk drives as well.
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4193

 

7-Zip (32-bit and 64-bit) 4.43
Posted by: Digital Dave on September 15, 2006 12:28 PM
Free and pretty damn good at compressing the hell out of things.

7-Zip is a file archiver with a high compression ratio. The program supports 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, LZH, CHM, GZIP, BZIP2, Z, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB formats. Compression ratio in the new 7z format is 30-50% better than ratio in ZIP format. It also compresses to ZIP 2-10% better than PKZip and WinZip. It has an additional powerful command line version and FAR Manager support.

License: Open Source
OS Support: Windows 2000/9x/XP

- Betanews.com - 32-bit
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/7Zip_32bit/951078804/1

- Betanews.com - 64-bit
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/7Zip_x64/951078804/2

 

Microsoft deliberately blocking disc burning software in Vista, claims Alcohol
Posted by: Digital Dave on September 14, 2006 11:49 PM
Really? Na... they can't be that stupid.

To their own frustration and to the frustration of their users, big CD/DVD burning companies Roxio, Alcohol and Ahead Software (makers of Nero) are facing a huge problem in getting their software packages to work with Vista.

According to Alcohol Soft, the maker of Alcohol 52% and 120%, Microsoft is blocking its ability to ensure compatibility:

- apcstart.com



Microsoft deliberately blocking disc burning software in Vista, claims Alcohol

* 14 September 2006



To their own frustration and to the frustration of their users, big CD/DVD burning companies Roxio, Alcohol and Ahead Software (makers of Nero) are facing a huge problem in getting their software packages to work with Vista.

According to Alcohol Soft, the maker of Alcohol 52% and 120%, Microsoft is blocking its ability to ensure compatibility:

They have actually placed a hard block on the device drivers for the time being, to stop the virtual drives from loading. It is more than likely in place to help them beta test Vista without having reports from beta users regarding virtual drives, which might complicate things. We are working with them at the moment to ensure there are no incompatibility problems in the future.

As a result, “As of this time Alcohol 120% will not work in Windows Vista Beta, although we do hope to support it once we get past the RC1 release and further,” Alcohol Soft says.

Roxio and Nero cannot be definite about the compatibility of their product either. Roxio says that

EMC Version 9 is Vista compatible, but Vista is a moving target, so we can’t assure 100% compatibility until after Vista is final and released. We may have to release an update at that time, but we are committed to doing so if necessary.

Nero is “currently working on” reliable compatibility but could not commit to anything more definite “at this stage”.

However, Vista RC1 users report that Deep Burner (shareware) and ImgBurn (donation-ware) are working.

APC gave Microsoft ten days to provide a response to Alcohol Soft’s claim, but at the time of publication, it still hadn’t responded since its initial acknowledgement of the enquiry.

RELATED STORIES

* No Nero for Windows Vista beta 2 yet
* Burn slower, or risk data loss: Microsoft
http://www.apcstart.com/site/tgaden...disc-burning-software-in-vista-claims-alcohol

 

FREE HAMACHI..........

Simple and sweet! With Hamachi you can organize two or more computers with an internet connection into their own virtual network for direct secure communication. LAN over the Internet. Zero-configuration VPN. Secure peer-to-peer. Access computers remotely. Use Windows File Sharing. Play LAN games. Run private Web or FTP servers. Communicate directly. Stay connected.....(free).....GO THERE!

http://www.hamachi.cc/

What it is
Hamachi is a zero-configuration virtual private networking (VPN) application.

In other words Hamachi is a program that allows you to arrange multiple computers into their own secure network just as if they were connected by a physical network cable.

Hamachi is fast, secure and simple. Its core version is also free.

What's in it for me?
Hamachi gives you LAN over the Internet.

Virtually any application that works over local/home networks can also be used over Hamachi networks.

Think - Windows File Sharing, iTunes, Remote Desktop, Remote Assistance or even gaming - all fully encrypted, authenticated and peer-to-peer.

Technology
Hamachi is a zero-configuration virtual private networking application with an open security architecture and NAT-to-NAT traversal capabilities.

Hamachi is the first application to mix seemingly unrelated networking technologies in one powerful package to deliver an unprecedented level of direct peer-to-peer connectivity. More ...

Security
Hamachi is secure. All Hamachi communications are encrypted and authenticated with industry-standard algorithms and protocols. Nobody will be able to see what two Hamachi peers are talking about. Not even us.

However what is equally important - Hamachi security architecture is completely open meaning that its detailed description is available to anyone interested for review and validation. More ...

Ease of Use
Great effort went into designing and polishing the Hamachi user interface. The result is sleek, simple and intuitive; yet still very functional. Everything you need, nothing you don't.

Hamachi software contains no spyware, bannerware or any other -ware unrelated to its purpose. And it never will.

 

NOTE THIS POST MIGHT HAVE TO BE PULLED......

quote cdfreaks

IfoEdit author offers software as a protest


Posted by Dan Bell on 18 September 2006 - 00:32 - Source: ifoedit

bcn_246 used our news submit to tell us: "Not sure if the staff will be willing to post this (might count as linking to warez) but it certainly surprised me. Derrow (author of numerous, mainly free, audio/video tools) seems to have found his own way of protesting against people stealing his code. Assuming what he claims is true I have some sympathy with him. It seems that now many bigger companies seem to feel it is their right to steal freeware code for their own commercial programs, probably on the assumption that the programmers don’t have the time or money to do anything about it. I wonder if either party will take any more action..."

"Video Vault uses my engine and code to process DVDs without my permission, so you can use this full version legally for free! (If you have purchased Video Vault before, then call your credit card company and aks for a charge back because you haven"t received a legal product. You can do this up to 3 month since your purchase.)
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13973


IfoEdit - The solution to DVD Copy 1:1
http://www.ifoedit.com/

 

@ireland
you know man, you simply amaze me. the information you provide is excellent. your humor is witty, sometimes obscene...but always spot on. This thread is my favorite for showing people the evils of DRM technology. thanks for being awesome!
xH

 

RIAA receives ANAL assistance




p2pnet.net News:- The multi-multi-(repetition deliberate)-billion-dollar movie and music industries are in a terrible bind.

Wicked file sharers, some of them 12 years of age and some no longer living, are ruining their businesses and sadly, many executives have been forced to register at drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinics because they can no longer afford the vast quantities of substances they've become accustomed to ingesting.

Worse, almost, the cartels may soon be forced to cut off a number of friendly politicians around the world, but mainly in North America and China, who've been getting by on industry financial assistance programs.

Clearly, this can't be allowed to continue, but Customer Control measures are taking longer to take hold than originally expected.

Until they do, however, the entertainment cartels may be able to draw some small comfort from the fact they're not alone, as this confidential document posted by p2pnet reader RV indicates:

Confidential memo to ANAL members
From: American Newspaper Alliance (ANAL)
RIAA-ANAL Relations Director

To: ANAL members.

Please be informed that we have formed an RIAA-ANAL coalition to jointly advance our mutual interest in stopping piracy. As you all know, ANAL papers have given RIAA free publicity for years. Now they are helping us with their legal expertise.

I have been named RIAA-ANAL Relations Director.

We are already seeing the benefits of the ANAL-RIAA coalition.

With the help of RIAA, we have made a comprehensive study about the problem of browsing of ANAL papers without buying.

This is the problem. At a time when we are loosing sales as a result of competition from the Internet we must stop all piracy against ANAL members, who lose billions because people just browse ANAL papers at newspaper stands and stores without actually buying.

We have estimated that the number of browses of ANAL papers without actually buying the paper about 10 billion per year, in the USA alone. Considering each browsing equals a lost sale, we are loosing $5 billion in yearly sales.

The RIAA has recommended that ANAL classify the browsing of a newspaper without actually buying it an act of piracy and a crime, just as listening to a CD without buying it is a serious crime punishable with jail time.

Clearly we must act. Here are some of the RIAA suggestions we will be considering:

a. Filming people browsing ANAL papers and then sending them letters with a threat of a lawsuit and a settlement offer. The criminal can settle with us for $5,000. The cost of just answering lawsuit costs over $5,000 and the defendant may risk going to jail and appearing on our front pages as a criminal (this part is our idea), so people will tend to settle. RIAA's similar program, RIAA tells us, is even more profitable than the sale of CDs.

b. Suing the owners of the businesses that sell ANAL papers and allow readers to browse for free. These businesses, by placing ANAL papers where people can just grab them for browsing, is inducing infringement, reading without buying. The US supreme Court has already decided that inducement is infringement.

c. Lobby to make reading without buying a crime punishable with jail time. After all, if you can go 5 years to jail for copying a DVD, why not the same for stealing from ANAL members, when ANAL is the most powerful lobby, more powerful than the music and movie cartels, above all at election time, when politicians need us most.

d. Since some ANAL members operate newspapers abroad, we must also lobby so that by treaty, other nations are forced to comply with the new American laws, if they want low interest armament loans and want to import their cheap products into America. Our trade officials at Washington have much experience on this, so there should be no problem. Also if any regime abroad opposes this, our newspapers abroad, with the help of CIA will take care of them.

If you have any suggestion or questions about this program. please contact me, your director of RIAA-ANAL Relations. [Name witheld.]

==========================

UPDATE: It's hard to believe the above is being taken seriously. But on the other hand, maybe not.

Anyhow, it's a take-off mocking the RIAA.

Cheers! Jon


http://p2pnet.net/story/9881?PHPSESSID=ec2e13d16a0f99312079a08153a5b30f

 

Are you a 'flaming jackass'?

p2pnet.net News:- "No one wants to believe that the book he's brought home is only partly his, and subject to the terms of a license set out on the flyleaf. You'd be a flaming jackass if you showed up at a con and insisted that your book may not be read aloud, nor photocopied in part and marked up for a writers' workshop, nor made the subject of a piece of fan-fiction."

So says Cory Doctorow in a Locus Magazine article. There's a lot more, and by way of example, below are a number of tasty excerpts:

The theory is that if the Internet can't be controlled, then copyright is dead. The thing is, the Internet is a machine for copying things cheaply, quickly, and with as little control as possible, while copyright is the right to control who gets to make copies, so these two abstractions seem destined for a fatal collision, right?

Wrong.

The idea that copyright confers the exclusive right to control copying, performance, adaptation, and general use of a creative work is a polite fiction that has been mostly harmless throughout its brief history, but which has been laid bare by the Internet, and the disjoint is showing.

And ------>

go here to read the total article
(Monday 18th September 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/9887?PHPSESSID=fb50c393a3777c5843e86b642bd3dde7

 

Site reveals Indian motorcycle launch date

T-minus 317 days and counting

By Tony Dennis: Monday 18 September 2006, 10:02
IF OUR maths prove correct, the recently revived Indian Motorcycle company will launch its first new models on August 1st 2007.

The INQ has calculated the date from the web site which says there's just 317 days to go before lift-off.

The company announced back in July that it has acquired manufacturing space in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. Then, last week it revealed that it had raised $30 million to finance its operations.

So the INQ thought it had better sign up pronto to make sure it had its name down to acquire one of the company's famous Indian Chief V-twin machines.

While signing up for email alerts, the INQ spotted the site's ticker. Which was great news since, officially the launch date is only given as Q3-Q4 2007.

Now we know better.

And it's nice to know that we Brits have been able to help out America's second most famous motorcycle company. Indian Motorcycle's executive chairman is one Stephen Julius who claims to be Anglo-Italian.

The only cloud on the horizon is the chance that India will take the company to the WTO. After all, if Champagne has to come from the correct region of France then surely Indian motorcycles have to be made in India? µ

[lame excuse for running bike pic]


http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34450

 

Microsoft tells web site owners to take down FairUse4WM

9/17/2006 8:18:59 PM, by Jeremy Reimer

Last month, Ars reported that Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) digital rights management protection had been cracked, and a program called FairUse4WM had been written that would strip DRM data from purchased audio files. Microsoft was aware of the workaround, but did not seem too concerned, merely stating that "we designed the Windows Media DRM system to be renewable, so that if such events occur the system can be refreshed to address them." Now it seems that the company has gone a little further than that, sending out cease and desist orders to web sites hosting the FairUse4WM program. According to the owner of the web site BG4G, the orders came in via e-mail.

The notices are of a standard boilerplate format, claiming that the sites are "offering unlicensed copies of, or is engaged in other unauthorized activities relating to copyrighted works published by Microsoft." The copyrighted works are Windows Media Player 10 and 11, and the unauthorized activities are listed as "offering 'Cracks' or 'Product Keys', intended to circumvent technical measures that control access to Microsoft's copyrighted works and that protect Microsoft's copyrights in those works."

The "Demand for Immediate Takedown" e-mail comes from a James Young, "Internet Investigator," who claims to be acting on behalf of Microsoft Corporation. The interesting thing about the e-mail is that it makes no mention of the DMCA, which is the one law that would make FairUse4WM (which does not contain any copyrighted code, portions of Windows Media Player, nor any copyrighted music files themselves) illegal. The DMCA contains provisions against programs that attempt to circumvent copy protection. It also provides a "safe harbor" for Internet Service Providers and web hosts that take down files in a certain amount of time (usually 10 to 14 days) after a warning letter has been received.

The DMCA is a US invention and applies only in the United States, but many companies have attempted to use it outside their country's borders. The notice advising web sites to take down the FairUse4WM program came from the domain Microsoft-Antipiracy.com, which according to DNS records belongs to Microsoft but is actually administered by the ISP Nildram Ltd, which is based in the UK (the web site itself redirects to a page on microsoft.com).

Microsoft has not commented on the takedown notices, but they would be consistent with the sorts of notices given to web sites hosting cracks for other media-related copy protection. In the case of FairUse4WM, the problem may be somewhat more urgent from Microsoft's perspective, as the subscription-based model used by many DRMed WMA online music stores allows downloading an unlimited number of songs, but they can only be listened to for as long as the subscription is active.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060917-7761.html

 

Pirate Party falls short of Swedish election goals, blames faulty procedures

9/18/2006 1:25:07 PM, by Anders Bylund

Sweden's Pirate Party was optimistic about its chances leading up to yesterday's general election, but the results are in and it doesn't look good for the upstart political movement. Under current election procedures, you need at least 4 percent of the national votes or 12 percent in any one electoral district to qualify for a parliamentary seat, and the Pirate Party came up short with only 0.6 percent of the national vote.

Four districts gave the party more than a 1 percent share, but none of those tallies exceeded 2 percent. Just days before the election, Pirate Party press releases said that the party was "stronger than ever," that the party had more members than three of the largest alternative parties combined, and that it should snag at least a 5 percent national share. As vote counts roll in today, 4,810 votes cast for the party (links to material in Swedish) placed it firmly on a benchwarmer's seat, behind one of the parties it dissed last week, and below the total of 12,577 blank votes cast. The 822 districts counted at the time of writing was enough for Prime Minister Göran Persson to tender his resignation. More on that later.

It's unfortunate to see the party fall short of its goals, and party leaders are placing some of the blame on unfair procedures. "We have received reports of voters who were told that blank ballots will become invalid if anything is written on them," says Pirate Party leader Rickard Falkvinge. "We saw reports of election officials who moved ballots for all non-parliament parties to a spot outside the polling place. Unfortunately, overall reports point to obvious problems with democratic election procedures." Writing in your own candidate or party on a blank ballot does not, in fact, invalidate the vote. Sour grapes or legitimate complaints? I'm sure there will be formal complaints and official investigations to settle that question.

In the bigger picture, Sweden is in for some changes. The moderately leftist Social Democratic Party has ruled the country alone or in coalitions continuously since 1994, and only 9 years since 1930 have seen a right-wing Prime Minister. The right-wing coalition swept the board this time, and the Social Democrats turned in their weakest election in decades. Election turnout came in a 80.13 percent, up 0.95 percentage points from four years ago, and leaving the "record-setting" 60.7 percent of the 2004 US general election in the dust. Continuing an age-old tradition, variations of the Donald Duck Party got 10 votes.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060918-7768.html

 

Four formats on a single disc?

9/18/2006 12:17:31 PM, by Nate Anderson

Does riding the DVD/HD DVD/Blu-ray Roller Coaster of Consumer Confusion make you queasy? Supporting three formats is giving the movie studios indigestion, but so far they haven't found the right antacid. It costs time and money to produce discs in multiple formats, and it takes a valuable shelf space at retail. Surely there must be a better solution than selling three kinds of discs and three kinds of players?

Talk of a hybrid player that could handle both new high-def formats set the tech world buzzing when the chipset was demonstrated early this year, but hardware based on it has yet to materialize. The other approach, making hybrid discs, has so far produced only HD DVD/DVD hybrids. While HD DVD and traditional DVD share enough in common to make the manufacturing processes similar, Blu-ray requires an expensive technology upgrade.

The basic problem is that the different technologies use different types of lasers and store data at different depths. Traditional DVDs use a 780nm red laser, while Blu-ray and HD DVD both use a blue laser at 405nm. DVD and HD DVD share the same data depth, though, at 0.6mm, while Blu-ray's pits are only 0.1mm from the surface.

A recent patent unearthed by New Scientist suggests that Warner has seen the hybrid future and could one day produce discs featuring all three formats, plus CD.

The patent, which lists several top Warner execs as the inventors, describes how "a dual disc may also be formed with two high-capacity data layers, one conforming to the HD DVD format and the other conforming to the BD [Blu-ray disc] format." Warner engineers have figured out a way to use semireflective coatings to allow the two layers to coexist on a single side, using HD DVD's greater depth to position it beneath the Blu-ray data layer.

The patent then describes an implementation in which both sides of the disc contains data layers, which means that we could see discs with CD and DVD layers on one side, HD DVD and Blu-ray on the other. The downside to this approach is that each format gets only one layer, reducing its total capacity. Discs are not especially expensive to produce, so it may make financial sense for studios to begin shipping two-disc movies that contain all three formats. While this would simplify things for consumers and would free up valuable shelf space, it would also make it hard to offer different price points for DVD and high-definition formats. It might well make more sense for studios to release DVD editions in one box, high-definition versions (Blu-ray on one side, HD DVD on the other) in another.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060918-7766.html