Top news items of note...
Pulled from Wired Online
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EBay Scam Uses IPods as Bait - If you find an offer on eBay for an iPod that's too good to be true, it probably is. EBay is swamped with supposed buyers clubs that promise cheap iPods. Beware: It's a classic pyramid scheme. By Leander Kahney.
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Apple Feels Eminem's Wrath - The rapper says he doesn't endorse products, but if he did he'd expect to be paid more than $10 million. Since Apple didn't pay him a dime when it used one of his songs in a commercial, Eminem sues.
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GarageBand Kicks Out the Jams - Apple's latest technology for the rest of us has inspired legions of amateurs to create music. That's good and bad. By Leander Kahney.
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Litigants Take Bite Out of Apple - Five class-action suits are filed against the maker of the popular iPod digital music player. The iPod's battery life isn't what Apple said it was, the litigants charge.
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Bull Session With Professor IPod Dr. Michael Bull is the world's leading expert on the societal impact of personal stereos. Bull wrote the definitive treatment on the Walkman, and now he's turned his attention to the iPod. A Q&A with Leander Kahney.
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New Spam Filters Cut the Noise - Two developers of open-source antispam software say their programs can block 99.97 percent of incoming spam -- better than what commercial products can do. By Amit Asaravala.
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Net Phone Calls Eyed for Taxation - At a congressional hearing about voice over Internet protocol, at least one senator voices an opinion that the newfangled technology should be subject to taxes. That didn't take long. Hope Cristol reports from Washington.
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New MyDoom Virus Packs a Wallop - The latest version of the pesky worm, this one apparently written by a new author, is wreaking havoc when it strikes. Fortunately, its reach is limited, at least compared with its predecessors. By Michelle Delio.
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The Complete Guide to Google - They named it after the biggest number they could imagine. But it wasn't big enough. On the eve of a very public stock offering, here's everything you ever wanted to know about Google. A Wired magazine special report.
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Stop the Cash Flow, Kill the Spam - Although spammers are using ever-more-sophisticated methods to flood your inbox, tracking the miscreants down isn't all that complicated. Just follow the money. By Kari L. Dean.
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False Domain Info May Mean Jail - Congress may pass a bill that would impose stiff penalties on people who don't give real names and addresses when registering domain names and go on to break a law. Kiss online anonymity goodbye, opponents say. By Ryan Singel.
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Music Labels Raid Kazaa Offices - The music industry raids offices of Kazaa's parent company, Sharman Networks, in Australia, looking for evidence to bolster its copyright infringment case.
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Foiling Laptop Data Thieves - A mobile computer loaded with valuable data is an attractive target for those who want the data stored there. More and more tech is designed to help protect those files and even to locate a stolen computer.
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Radio Takes Music From the Street - A pair of radio shows in two countries are painting urban soundscapes by tapping directly into the headphones of people on the street. By Leander Kahney.
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Adware Spreads Quickly on AOL IM - Got an instant message from your boss telling you to check out a link? Think twice before clicking. It's a link to a program that will display ads on your computer and spread to everyone else on your Buddy List. By Michelle Delio.
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Microsoft: Oops! We Did It Again - Six months after researchers warned Microsoft about critical security flaws in Windows, the software company alerts users to the problem and offers a patch on its website. One researcher calls the delay 'just totally unacceptable.'
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Reviewed by Fred Showker for the User Group Network News Service. (C) 2004, all rights reserved. Affiliate groups may freely republish this piece so long as they include the tag line: "From the User Group Network News Service at http://www.user-groups.net/ "
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