	March
	Newsletter
	Issue 52

Included in this months issue:

Microsoft founders lead tributes to 'father of the PC'

Normal Human Being™ reviews the iPad

Apple iPad hits shops in America

Apple's latest product, the iPad tablet computer, has gone on sale in America.

The first generation model has wi-fi but not 3G connectivity, and unlike other tablet devices, it is not yet available outside the US.

The New York Apple store in Manhattan opened its doors to a 500-strong crowd at 0900 EST (1400 BST).

Queues for the new iPad were considerably smaller than the crowds which gathered for the launch of the iPhone in 2007, according to reports.

However people had travelled to the US from around the world to purchase a device.

'Huge hit for some'

Apple took pre-orders online but some early adopters began queuing outside stores the day before its release.

The company's co-founder Steve Wozniak joined a queue outside an Apple store in California on Friday evening.

Taken from BBC Technology News

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Microsoft founders lead tributes to 'father of the PC'

The "father of the personal computer" who kick-started the careers of Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen has died at the age of 68.

Dr Henry Edward Roberts was the inventor of the Altair 8800, a machine that sparked the home computer era. Gates and Allen contacted Dr Roberts after seeing the machine on the front cover of a magazine and offered to write software for it. The program was known as Altair-Basic, the foundation of Microsoft's business. "Ed was willing to take a chance on us - two young guys interested in computers long before they were commonplace - and we have always been grateful to him," the Microsoft founders said in a statement.

Taken from BBC Technology News

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The Day the Web Turned Day-Glo

Bill Thompson is pleased to see the punk ethic alive and well online

Anyone with a few minutes to spare online might enjoy visiting Chatroulette - the finest expression of punk mentality from the emerging internet generation that I've yet come across.

It's not hard to play, as there are only three rules. You have to be aged 16 or over. You're asked to "please stay clothed". And you can alert the management by clicking F2 "if you don't like what you see".

Click 'New Game' to start a game, give the service access to to your camera and microphone and you begin a video conversation with a random stranger. That's it.

Facebook meeting on safety with Ceop due in Washington

Facebook executives are due to meet the head of a British child protection agency in Washington to discuss safety measures on the social networking site. It has been criticised by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) centre for not installing "panic buttons" on every page.

Ceop's director Jim Gamble said the matter was urgent after the murder of a teenager by a man she met on the site. Facebook has said it takes the issue seriously and welcomed the meeting. It said it would announce any changes to its plans following the meeting. 'Urgency' It had previously said it would not install a "panic button" on its main pages for users to report suspected paedophiles, but would develop its existing system.

The company said it would install links to organisations including Ceop on its reporting pages but Mr Gamble said he could not understand why Facebook would not agree to adopt the button on every page as it was a free way to "help save some children". "If you're going to operate a business that encourages people to frequent your public place so that you can advertise to them, then let's look after them while they're there."

Nuclear synthi-jetfuel plants wanted for US Afghan bases

In a potentially controversial move, US military tech chiefs have decided to investigate the idea of using mobile nuclear reactors to provide power and synthetic jet fuel at forward bases overseas.

In a request for information issued yesterday, Pentagon scientists say they would like to hear proposals for "deployable nuclear reactor technologies for the generation of electrical power and military logistic fuels (JP-8) in forward land based and maritime military operations".

JP-8 is standard US forces jet fuel, regarded as relatively easy to synthesise from commonly available ingredients compared to the other main military fuel, diesel.

By Lewis Page

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iPad security broken in less than 24 hours

Apple's iPad has already been jailbroken, using a variation of the iPhone method and demonstrating just how much the two devices have in common. The hack was completed in less than 24 hours. In theory it enables the owner to install everything from Wi-Fi scanners to pornography - applications Apple disapproves of - though for the moment it just allows a remote terminal connection. The hack potentially even allows Palm OS applications to run on the iPad, thanks to jailbreaking. But amidst all this excitement over the hack, it seems few iPad customers are rushing out to buy newspaper subscriptions. PaidContent reports that the newspaper and magazine subscriptions through which the iPad was supposed to change the world, are curiously absent from the lists of most popular paid applications. That could be bad news for the media, but we suspect it's attributable to the early adopters being used to getting stuff for free, so we'll withhold judgement until Cupertino ships a few more pads.

By Bill Ray

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Facebook claimants vow to continue legal action (and lose Boat Race)

The two Americans who were awarded millions of dollars after claiming they had come up with the idea for Facebook say their legal battle isn't over.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss studied at Harvard University alongside Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, where they started a site called ConnectU.

In 2008 a protracted legal battle between the two sides ended with the payment of an undisclosed sum.

Facebook said that that it now considers "the matter concluded".

The Winklevoss twins spoke to the BBC on the eve of the Boat Race, in which they will both row for Oxford.

Cameron Winklevoss refused to confirm the extent of the 2008 settlement - thought to be $65m - but said: "I think it is safe to say the chapter is not closed on the matter."

By Rory Cellan-Jones

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Normal Human Being™ reviews the iPad

The iPad has inspired yet another high-powered business type to make a mobile-device purchase. Of a netbook. As you may have heard, Apple's iPad went on sale last Saturday in the US. Since - and even before - that momentous event, boundless bloviatory bytes dissecting Cupertino's "magical and revolutionary" device have engorged the interwebs, with pundits and pundit-wannabes weighing in with both pros and cons (but mostly pros).

Over at The New York Times, however, David Pogue made the reasonable observation that while a tech type might see the iPad one way, a Normal Human Being™ might look past its lack of Flash support, lack of multitasking, lack of a removable battery, lack of a camera, lack of standard USB ports, lack of an SD card slot, and any other lack you might want to mention.An NHB might look at the iPad and see it for what it is, not what it isn't.Pogue's unarguable observation presented me with a problem. After covering Apple products and various chippery for over 20 years, my NHB status is highly questionable. While I'm certainly capable of conjuring an in-depth review of most any electronic whizbangery, my observations are filtered through a fine-meshed sieve of preconceptions. My conclusions may be either chowderheaded or keen, but they're certainly not those of an NHB.So I did what any red-blooded American male might do: I asked my wife for help.

By Rik Myslewski

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Anger about 'stitch-up' over Digital Economy Bill

Ministers have been accused of a "stitch-up" to pass laws cracking down on digital piracy before the election.

MPs voiced anger at the digital economy bill - aimed at supporting artists' copyright and tackle illegal file-sharing - being rushed into law.Former minister Tom Watson had argued it would be a "catastrophic disaster" if the bill was passed as constituted.

However, the bill was approved by MPs by a majority of 142 votes and it passed through the Lords on Thursday.The legislation was one of more than 10 bills being considered by parliamentarians in the "wash-up period" - the remaining time before the legislature is dissolved.Parliament was prorogued late on Thursday afternoon, meaning any bills that had not been passed would fail to become law.

'Repercussions'

Under the terms of the Digital Economy Bill, internet service providers will be obliged to send letters to any of their subscribers linked to alleged infringements.Copyright holders will be able to apply for a court order to gain access to the names and addresses of serious infringers and take action against them while ISPs would be able to suspend accounts of offenders.