THE US GOVERNMENT GETS INVOLVED WITH TWITTER OPERATIONS, OPERA THINKS IT HAS
REINVENTED THE WEB, ALTHOUGH I AM NOT SURE THEY REALLY HAVE. AND DISNEY HAS AN
IDEA FOR BABY'S FIRST NETBOOK. ITS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE,
COMING TO YOU FROM SAN FRANCISCO THIS WEEK. IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
[*]
THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT HAS CONFIRMED THAT IT CONTACTED TWITTER THE SITE TO
DELAY REGULARLY-SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE, WHICH CREATED A SHORT OUTAGE. THE
ROUTINE OUTAGE WAS SCHEDULED TO HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT HERE IN THE
U.S., WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY IN IRAN. THE GOVERNMENT
DECIDED THAT THIS WOULD BE A BAD TIME FOR THE COUNTRY TO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO
TWITTER, GIVEN THE STATE OF THE GOVERNMENT AND THE TURMOIL OVER ITS RECENT
ELECTION. IRANIANS HAVE BEEN USING TWITTER TO ORGANIZE PROTESTS, LINK TO
PHOTOS, AND ALLOW THE WORLD TO FOLLOW THE STATE OF THINGS. OF COURSE FACEBOOK
IS BEING USED AS WELL. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT! IT SHOWS THE POWER OF SOCIAL
NETWORKS FOR BOTH NEWS DISSEMINATION AND FREE EXPRESSION AND IT SHOWS THAT THE
GOVERNMENT IS AWARE OF THOSE THINGS TOO. IT SURE MAKES THOSE TWEETS ABOUT WHAT
YOU ATE FOR BREAKFAST SEEM KIND OF SILLY, DOESN'T IT?
[*]
OPERA IS CLAIMING THAT IT HAS REINVENTED THE WEB...QUITE THE LOFTY CLAIM. I
MIGHT BE INCLINED TO AGREE WITH THEM IF I COULD WRAP MY HEAD AROUND THIS WHOLE
OPERA UNITE ANNOUNCEMENT. THE NEW BROWSER CLAIMS TO BE ABLE TO TURN ANY
COMPUTER INTO A SERVER, SHARING YOUR DIGITAL LIFE WITH ANYONE YOU WANT TO
SHARE IT WITH. THIS MEANS PICTURES, FILES, MUSIC, CHAT, WHATEVER FROM YOUR
BROWSER. AND THAT CONTENT COMES FROM YOUR DESKTOP OR HOME DRIVES. I AM NOT
SURE USERS WANT TO HOST THEIR OWN CONTENT LIKE THIS. DON'T WE LIKE THE IDEA OF
CLOUD COMPUTING? YOU CAN DECIDE FOR YOURSELF BY DOWNLOADING THE EARLY VERSION
FROM OPERA LABS AT LABS.OPERA.COM.
[*]
YOUR GMAIL MAY GET A LITTLE SAFER IF THE COMPANY FOLLOWS THROUGH ON A PLAN TO
ENCRYPT THE SERVICE 24/7. RIGHT NOW GOOGLE ONLY USES HTTPS FOR YOUR PASSWORDS
WHEN YOU SIGN IN. THIS IS AN ENCRYPTION PROTOCOL THAT TRANSFORMS YOUR
INFORMATION AS IT IS BEING SENT, WHERE IT HAS TO BE RE-ASSEMBLED BY A KEY WHEN
IT IS RECEIVED BY A SERVER. GOOGLE IS THINKING OF USING HTTPS FOR ALL EMAIL
MESSAGES, IN ADDITION TO THE SIGN-IN PROCESS. THIS COULD SLOW THE PROGRAM DOWN
THOUGH AND THEY WANT TO KNOW IF THE TRADE OFF IS WORTH IT. THE FULL-TIME USE
OF HTTPS IS IN TRIALS RIGHT NOW, ALTHOUGH YOU CAN OPT TO HAVE ALL OF YOUR
INFORMATION ENCRYPTED ALL THE TIME IN GOOGLE LABS IF IT HELPS YOU SLEEP AT
NIGHT. GOOGLE IS ALSO LOOKING INTO HOW THEY COULD APPLY THIS LAYER OF SECURITY
TO GOOGLE CALENDAR AND GOOGLE DOCS.
[*]
IN OTHER GOOGLE NEWS, THE COMPANY UPGRADED GOOGLE MAPS FOR ANDROID PHONES THIS
WEEK. IT NOW HAS PUBLIC TRANSIT INFO IN OVER 250 CITIES AND AN UPDATE FEATURE
IN LATITUDE THAT LETS YOU COMMUNICATE WITH THE FRIENDS YOU ARE TRACKING IN A
TWITTER-SLASH-IM KIND OF WAY. THERE IS ALSO VOICE SEARCH IN MAPS. THIS MEANS
YOU JUST OPEN THE PROGRAM AND SAY PROCTOLOGIST OR WHATEVER IT IS YOU ARE
LOOKING FOR AND GOOGLE MAPS WILL FIND THE CLOSEST ONE. THE COMPANY SAYS THAT
THE PROGRAM UNDERSTANDS ENGLISH IN AMERICAN, AUSTRALIAN, AND BRITISH ACCENTS.
WHAT IS AN AMERICAN ACCENT?
[*]
IF YOU UPGRADE TO WINDOWS 7, YOU MAY BE A KIND OF STUCK WITH IT. I'M NOT
SAYING THATS A BAD THING BUT INA FRIED FROM CNET NEWS REPORTS THAT MICROSOFT
MAY ONLY ALLOW LIMITED RIGHTS FOR GOING BACK TO XP ONCE YOU HAVE UPGRADED TO
WINDOWS 7. THE LIMITATIONS COULD STIPULATE THAT YOU CAN ONLY GO BACK TO
WINDOWS XP WITHIN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS THAT WINDOWS 7 IS AVAILABLE. AFTER 6
MONTHS, ONLY USERS OF WINDOWS 7 PROFESSIONAL AND WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE WILL BE
ABLE TO GO BACK TO THE SAME VERSION OF VISTA. I KNOW THAT SOUNDS CONFUSING AND
THAT IS WHY IT WOULD BE A BAD IDEA IF IT IS TRUE. INA POINTS OUT THAT BUSINESS
USERS WILL NEED LONGER THAN 6 MONTHS TO TEST THE NEW OPERATING SYSTEMS BEFORE
THEY DEPLOY IT IN OFFICES. MICROSOFT HAS NOT CONFIRMED OR DENIED ANY OF THESE
STIPULATIONS.
[*]
IN OTHER MICROSOFT NEWS, THE COMPANY IS GETTING OFF OF ITS SOAPBOX. LITERALLY.
SOAPBOX WAS THE VIDEO PORTAL THAT MICROSOFT INTENDED TO COMPETE WITH YOUTUBE.
BUT TIMES ARE TOUGH, THE SITE NEVER REALLY TOOK OFF, SO THEY ARE NOT GOING TO
THROW AWAY ANY MORE RESOURCES. THIS IS THE SAME FATE THAT MICROSOFT MONEY IS
SUFFERING.
[*]
DELL LAUNCHED INKSAVE, WHICH IS KIND OF LIKE NETFLIX FOR PRINTER INK. YOU JUST
SEND IN YOUR EMPTY CARTRIDGE, AND DELL SENDS YOU A NEW OR REFILLED ONE.
FORTUNATELY WHEN YOU BUY A DELL PRINTER, YOU GET TWO CARTRIDGES SO YOU CAN RE-
FILL THE ONE WHILE YOU USE THE OTHER. OF COURSE THIS ISN'T FREE. YOU WILL BE
AUTO-BILLED FOR THE NEW INK. DELL ALSO PROVIDES THE ENVELOPES. YOU CAN SIGN UP
FOR THIS PROGRAM AT MYDELLINKSAVE.COM.
[*]
THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION WANTS TO REPEAL A 10 YEAR OLD TAX LAW FOR CELL
PHONES. THE LAW REQUIRES COMPANIES TO PARSE OUT HOW OFTEN EMPLOYEES USE THEIR
CELL PHONES FOR WORK AND HOW OFTEN THEY USE THEM FOR PERSONAL USE. IT ALSO
REQUIRES WORKERS TO PAY TAX ON PERSONAL USE OF YOUR WORK CELL PHONE. BUT WHO
REALLY DOES THIS? THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION WANTS THIS LAW GONE, TREASURY
SECRETARY TIMOTHY GEITHNER WANTS IT GONE, THE IRS WANTS IT GONE, AND I WOULD
WAGER SO DO YOU.
[*]
HERE IS AN IDEA FOR BABY'S FIRST NETBOOK: THE DISNEY ASUS NETPAL. THIS IS FOR
KIDS 6 AND OLDER. THEY HAVE 9-INCH SCREENS, WEIGH LESS THAN 3 POUNDS, AND COST
$350. YOU CAN GET A PRINCESS PINK VERSION OR A MAGIC BLUE VERSION, ALTHOUGH I
WON'T MAKE ANY GENDER-APPROPRIATE COLOR ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT WHICH ONES ARE FOR
BOYS AND WHICH ONES ARE FOR GIRLS. THEY WILL HAVE A "GADGET TRAY" WHICH IS A
SCREEN WITH A DISNEY BROWSER, EMAIL, AND RADIO DISNEY. OF COURSE MOM AND DAD
CAN GET ON THEIR FIRST AND SET ALL THE APPROPRIATE PARENTAL CONTROLS.
[*]
THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. I WILL SEE YOU TOMORROW WITH MORE. THANK
YOU FOR WATCHING. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNETTV AND YOU JUST BEEN LOADED.
