Ask Jack | 01 October 2009
Bandwidth metering I'm trying to find a Windows utility that will add up the downloaded gigabytes on my BT service. Mick Apps JS: Have a look at the Best Free Download/Upload Meter page at Gizmo's Freeware . This has short reviews of six programs, and picks NetMeter as the best. A newer "donationware" program, iTraffic Monitor , is also worth a look. DU Meter 4.16 is a good commercial alternative at $24.95 (£15.63) a licence, but there is a 30-day trial version. Computing for students My daughter is about to head off to university, and I'm buying her a laptop to take with her. She will need Word, Excel and probably PowerPoint for her studies, along with web access and email. I'd like to spend less than £500, and preferably less than £400. Roderick Smith JS: It's always a good idea to check with university department staff to see if they want students to have access to any particular software, and to find out if they have any associated deals
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Ask Jack | 01 October 2009
Newsbytes | 1 october
Light Peaks ahead Intel has shown Light Peak, a high-speed (100Gbps) optical cable connection that could replace USB in the next decade. Climate at Google Earth Google Earth has opened a section on climate change for the UN's climate conference in Copenhagen in December. Music we drive by Autotrader.co.uk has listed the UK public's Top 10 driving tunes on We7's free music streaming service. Mamut's the one Mamut One has been introduced as a complete software-plus-services offering for small European businesses, based on Microsoft technologies.
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Newsbytes | 1 october
The government supports open source software in theory – but it isn’t backing up this up in its IT spending decisions
When Gordon Brown has more free time in the near future to wonder how Labour could have done more to enrich society then the words "open source" ought to figure prominently. Open source – the movement in which people all over the world collaborate to create software to run on computers, mobile phones and other devices – offers hope for the future of the world. Call it what you like: whether it's globalisation with a human face, socialism without the state or capitalism making peace with primeval communism, it doesn't matter. At the level of the nation state there may be powerful centrifugal forces breaking countries up into smaller, more nationalistic, units. But this is coinciding with even more powerful social forces, enabled by new technology, that are creating global networks such as Facebook, Twitter and the open source software (OSS) movement. Iran may be at odds with the rest of the world but lots of its programmers will be involved in OSS and networks because that is the way the world is going. Except in the UK, that is. A Labour government looking for "modern" ways of achieving its historical mission should be in the vanguard of open source, especially now it is expanding to produce hardware such as cars, mobile phones and water pumps collaboratively . At its highest level people give their services free for mutual benefit (see Wikipedia), but OSS also embraces paid employees in corporations such as IBM – as long as they make results available to others.
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The government supports open source software in theory – but it isn't backing up this up in its IT spending decisions
Microsoft explores free option with Security Essentials
The software company's head of consumer security discusses its free anti-virus service, Internet Explorer 8 and the decline of phishing Amy Barzdukas has one of the computer industry's more thankless tasks: she's general manager for Internet Explorer and consumer security at Microsoft. But it doesn't seem to have got her down. When we met in London, she was bright, smart, and utterly charming, though some of her answers had the polish that probably comes from giving them a bit too frequently. Microsoft security issues have been a constant topic for the past decade. Microsoft has greatly improved the security of its coding since the dark days of Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6, and most criminals have now changed their approach to social engineering, phishing and other indirect attacks. "The impetus today is really about financial gain," said Barzdukas, "and as we've moved to lock areas down, they've found it easier just to trick people." Whether there's any prospect of financial gain for Microsoft is another matter. Until this summer, Barzdukas offered home users a comprehensive security, tuning and backup service – Microsoft OneCare – but it seems not enough of them were willing to pay for it. Now she's launching the security part as a free service, which she codenamed Morro after a beach resort she stayed at in Brazil. "The [Morro] engine is the same as the one that drives Forefront and that drove OneCare, but our focus was to make a very lightweight and performant security solution that also has a level of quality backed by Microsoft's researchers around the world," she said. Mainstream appeal Forefront is the security service that Microsoft sells to businesses and Forefront/OneCare/Morro have been tested by most independent sites such as av-comparatives.org and Virus Bulletin . "So far, we've been doing extremely well," said Barzdukas. No doubt the specialist antivirus companies will claim that they do a better job, but Microsoft's engine seems to be competitive, and it's aimed at the people that the specialist companies have so far failed to reach. This is particularly the case in what Microsoft calls "developing nations". But Microsoft Security Essentials – a free product launched on Tuesday – could raise more political questions than technical ones. Will the European Commission's competition department try to stop Microsoft from defending its OS, because some other companies – mainly Symantec and McAfee – make a lot of money by charging for protection? Since Symantec and McAfee are well known for complaining to the EC, I asked Barzdukas if she thought the EC would try to block it.
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Microsoft explores free option with Security Essentials
Should you report your new firm’s pirated software? | Wisdom of the crowd
While working on a project in your new job, you notice that the expensive software is licensed to somewhere completely different. What do you do? While working on a project in your new job – where you're still on probation – you notice that the expensive software is licensed to somewhere completely different. It's a pirated copy. Furthermore, you used to work at the company that made it, where piracy levels led to the last round of cost cuts that pushed you out of the door. You could report the company anonymously to the Federation Against Software Theft. The fines might put the company out of business, or reduce the number of people it can employ. Or you could turn a blind eye, which means your former co-workers aren't getting paid for their effort. What do you do? • In a recession, where specialised posts seem to be outsourced to countries with a cheaper labour force or just disappear altogether, I think that I would just suck it up, count my lucky stars I have a job and leave it there. Eradicator • I'd certainly raise it with management, taking the position that I assumed it was an innocent mistake, which is probably fairly plausible anyway. Of course, if they refused to do anything, then you're pretty scuppered because they'd know instantly who had subsequently shopped them … aramando • This is a contrived situation, but if we think of a more real-world example, say joining a company that has lots of pirate software … what do you do? It's easy to say that everyone should Judge Dredd the situation and report all pirate activity … no matter the consequences, but in the real world, this is normally overlooked. Suggest to management that the software needs to be legit, to reduce the risk of legal action. GoonerP3 • It is this apathetic mindset that gets us into this situation in the first place. Remember that a business is using this software to make money and therefore has an even greater obligation to respect the licence under which the software is procured. govtrust • Warn your employers that it's a risky business and sooner or later everyone gets caught.
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Should you report your new firm's pirated software? | Wisdom of the crowd
Technophile | Apple iPod nano reviewed
The third incarnation of Apple's iPod nano brings two features that at once put it on a par with two other groups of device: FM radio reception, which brings it up to date with pretty much every other mid-priced non-Apple digital music player for the past five years; and video recording, which puts it on a par with the Flip devices that are selling like hot cakes. It also ushers in one of the worst pieces of usability design I've ever seen on an Apple product. But we'll come to that. After Steve Jobs impossibly pulled the first iPod nano from his jeans' change pocket in 2005, the design has gone from long and thin (but only able to display photos) to short and squat (but video-playing enabled) and back to long and thin. The shape doesn't evolve so much as mutate. Happily, the new screen is far more scratch-resistant than the first generation. Like Joseph's coat, it comes in many colours; unlike it, prices range from £115 (8GB) to £135 (16GB). By now you know the routine for an iPod: cover art, "Genius" playlists that can be created on the fly from a single track (usually, I find, closely matching the artist and/or year), a couple of games, a fiddly screen lock. The new nano has also got "VoiceOver", which will tell you the name of the track playing in a Stephen Hawking-style disembodied voice. And rubbish earbuds. (Truly, it is time Apple improved this aspect of its product. The standard ones are shockingly bad.) And so to the new. The FM tuner is serviceable, as they are on all such devices: if you could buy headphone leads 2 metres long, you'd probably get a good signal. It does add the ability to pause the stationwhich is neat; I suspect it uses the video processing chip to compress the radio signal, so probably uses about 3.6MB for 10 minutes of storage. You're unlikely to run out of radio storage in a hurry)
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Technophile | Apple iPod nano reviewed
Breakfast briefing: Could the internet harbour artificial life?
• Can computers become self-aware? That's the hypothesis of a gang of researchers in Silicon Valley who wants to pool resources to find out if it is possible to create artificial life on the net . According to the New York Times, the scheme - called EvoGrid - is being modelled after the Seti@Home project which used spare computing cycles on people's PCs to try and analyse from space. • After strong reactions to the previews of Google Wave earlier this year, more than 100,000 people will get invites to the system on Wednesday . If you're able to give it a test run, tell us what you think in the comments. • If you're looking for something to do, may I recommend listening to the latest episode of the Guardian's Tech Weekly podcast ? With all the excitement about gaming over the past week - Tokyo Games Show, Halo ODST, Nintendo Wii price cuts - we thought we'd chat to the people behind some of the biggest titles in the industry: so Charles and I speak to those who work on the Guitar Hero franchise and forthcoming Fifa 10 . You can follow our links and commentary each day through Twitter ( @guardiantech , or our personal accounts ) or by watching our Delicious feed
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Breakfast briefing: Could the internet harbour artificial life?
Apple tablet rumours send blogosphere into frenzy
The speculation that Apple is developing a touchscreen computer has once again stepped up another gear, following detailed internet rumours that have sent the company's fans into a frenzy. A report from the iLounge blog - which has a fairly good record at getting details of forthcoming Apple launches - says that the machine will boast a 10.7" screen, use the iPhone operating system and come in 3G and non 3G versions . That detail has been enough to get the gadget blogs talking, with speculation focused on where exactly Steve Jobs and friends are going to find a capacitive touchscreen of that size. Rumours of such a device are hardly new in themselves: it is believed that Apple has worked on a number of prototypes over the years, but never come up with something that it thought could turn into a viable product. But with a constant stream of reports appearing to back up the idea that a project is in the works, it seems that Apple has had a change of heart - largely thought to be due to the success of the iPhone, which helped bring multitouch technology to the masses and has proved a hit with more than 20m sold worldwide. Despite the interest in the company's plans for the future, though, it is not smooth sailing for Apple at the moment. While plenty of fans hope that a larger touchscreen machine could help boost the fortunes of tablet computers - which have been tried many times in the past, but failed to take off - the Californian technology company is also taking plenty of jabs from critics. Locked in an ongoing battle with handset rival Palm - which is caught in a cat-and-mouse game in which it tries to make its Pre handset compatible with iTunes - the volume of voices lashing out at Apple's dominance and control has increased recently. The company is being investigated by the US communications regulator over its dealings with Google , as well as allegations of anti-competitive hiring practices. And yesterday saw the return of another one of the thorns in the company's side: San Francisco startup DoubleTwist , which has developed software that allows other manufacturers access to iTunes. Three months after the startup cheekily placed an advert on the side of the company's flagship shop in California, it launched another campaign - this time spoofing Apple's famous 1984 commercial. Apple iPod iPhone Steve Jobs Computing Gadgets Bobbie Johnson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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Apple tablet rumours send blogosphere into frenzy
Apple tablet rumours send blogosphere into frenzy
The speculation that Apple is developing a touchscreen computer has once again stepped up another gear, following detailed internet rumours that have sent the company's fans into a frenzy. A report from the iLounge blog - which has a fairly good record at getting details of forthcoming Apple launches - says that the machine will boast a 10.7" screen, use the iPhone operating system and come in 3G and non 3G versions . That detail has been enough to get the gadget blogs talking, with speculation focused on where exactly Steve Jobs and friends are going to find a capacitive touchscreen of that size. Rumours of such a device are hardly new in themselves: it is believed that Apple has worked on a number of prototypes over the years, but never come up with something that it thought could turn into a viable product. But with a constant stream of reports appearing to back up the idea that a project is in the works, it seems that Apple has had a change of heart - largely thought to be due to the success of the iPhone, which helped bring multitouch technology to the masses and has proved a hit with more than 20m sold worldwide. Despite the interest in the company's plans for the future, though, it is not smooth sailing for Apple at the moment. While plenty of fans hope that a larger touchscreen machine could help boost the fortunes of tablet computers - which have been tried many times in the past, but failed to take off - the Californian technology company is also taking plenty of jabs from critics. Locked in an ongoing battle with handset rival Palm - which is caught in a cat-and-mouse game in which it tries to make its Pre handset compatible with iTunes - the volume of voices lashing out at Apple's dominance and control has increased recently. The company is being investigated by the US communications regulator over its dealings with Google , as well as allegations of anti-competitive hiring practices. And yesterday saw the return of another one of the thorns in the company's side: San Francisco startup DoubleTwist , which has developed software that allows other manufacturers access to iTunes.
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Apple tablet rumours send blogosphere into frenzy
The anti-virus software that’s modelled on ants
Digital insects could swarm to clear your PC of bugs, worms and viruses For most people, the reaction to discovering that your computer has a bug is to throw your hands in the air, swear and call a friend. That might be about to change, now that US researchers have discovered a fresh approach to computer security that takes real-life bugs as its inspiration. Their idea? Hordes of "digital ants" that find and destroy viruses and computer worms on your PC. The team – from Wake Forest University in North Carolina – has studied angry ant swarms, which converge on an enemy and then overwhelm it. By copying this behaviour ("swarm intelligence") the researchers think they can create vast numbers of virtual insects to patrol your computer. Each of the 3,000 digital ants would be primed to search for a different threat. If they find one, the rest of the ants help eliminate deadly viruses before they can do any damage. It may seem peculiar to look to insects for guidance – but the technology industry has been using the natural world in this way for years, in a discipline known as biomimetics. Countless inventors have looked to the world around them for ideas, with the best known example probably being Velcro, devised in the 40s by a Swiss engineer who took his inspiration from the way burdock seeds hooked on to his clothes. More recently architects have studied the air-cooling system in termite mounds to help design energy-efficient buildings, while engineers in Leeds built a cane that uses bat-like echo-location to help blind people find their way. While copying the behaviour of animals, rather than their physical abilities, is a newer development, animal attributes have long informed fields such as artificial intelligence, computing and robotics. Alex Parfitt, a senior scientist at defence company BAE Systems, has worked on a number of biomimicry projects – including camera lenses based on the eyes of flies and lightweight materials that take their cue from the hollow bones of birds. He suggests hubris often leads us to believe that we can come up with new solutions to problems that are more efficient than nature – despite the fact that it has taken millions of years of evolution to get us where we are today. "There are potentially so many ideas that you can take from nature," he says. "We don't have to copy the biological system totally – just take the bits that are of interest to us." Software Programming Computing Bobbie Johnson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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The anti-virus software that's modelled on ants