Recent Computer News

On October 31, Openwave Systems announced that Openwave Mobile Browser Mercury Edition was elected as service for EZweb from KDDI. KDDI advances to make platform/software for mobile common to reduce the lead-time and the cost for development. Openwave Mobile Browser Mercury Edition is a product whose function was improved, and its speed to load and display became much faster. The speed of Mercury Edition to display contents was 25% faster than competitive products as a result of the benchmark test practiced by Openwave on March 2006. Moreover, Mercury Edition has new function such as scripting, Aiax compatibility, and wide screen and map&zoom for display mode. Since I have used a mobile phone made by KDDI for a long time and I love it very much, I really expect this development. I had often thought that I want more speed for the web service of my phone, but the problem will be solved if this system is practiced.

What Is "Net Neutrality"?

Net neutrality is a computer term that indicates a rule that every web site should be easy to be accessed equally without discrimination. Every broadband provider should not be allowed to use their market power to control activity, and they must not obstruct particular web sites or services. This issue has argued especially in the US, and some companies such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have worked on politicians to establish the influential law of net neutrality. This trend opposes to some broadband providers and hardware manufacturers. In addition, the strict enforcement on net neutrality means that every user must foot equally to support sites such as Google and Yahoo, which cause to increase investment in infrastructure to support high-powered applications. I like to watch movies online and download music, but it would become disadvantage for users who do not need such applications.

3 Good Web Sites

I introduce 3 web sites here:

Fox (20th Century Fox) is one of the major film studios in the U.S. There are many famous TV programs Fox produced; The Simpsons, 24 -TWENTY FOUR-, Beverly Hills 90210, and more! On the web page, we can get much information about movies and TV shows.

Yahoo! Music is a useful website for me when I check music news or interviews. Since this web site is worldwide, I often go not only to US page but also to Japanese page. We can play sample music, so I often use the useful function when I want to listen to music that I don’t know.

nin.com is the official web site for Nine Inch Nails, one of my favorite US rock bands. I often go there and check the news, and sometimes live photos are added with. The band members answered many kinds of questions from their fans on the Q&A page, and it is really interesting!

Computer Gifts I Would Buy for Family

What I want to buy for my brother is a new audio player. Recently, he said that his audio player was broken and he uses my old portable MD player. I suggested him to buy a good audio player because I know MD’s inconvenience. My MD player is little heavier because of the function that I don’t use usually, and it often needs to charge the battery. I also feel inconvenience of changing discs many times, and sometimes I took 3 or 4 discs when I went out. Now I use the audio player that can be connected to computer and write much information, and it is really nice for me. It is also easy to use, so probably my brother will soon get used to use it. Unfortunately, digital audio players are little expensive for him and he cannot afford to buy one now, but I want to buy it for him when I make enough money to do so.

What Is "Social Engineering"?

Social Engineering, also called Social Work, is to catch a person off guard and pump individual information. Originally, it is the term related to computer security, and its purpose is to get password and hack without attacking computers.

The examples often used are;

・ use a false name and pump password
・ look keyboard or display standing behind a person who manipulate computer
・ peep password on a paper

It is used not only to get password but also to steal credit card number, to make someone deposit money, or to pump address or telephone number pretending one of the friends or relatives.
When I was a junior high school student, the stranger asked me the address of my neighborhood. In addition, my mother got a phone from the company about unpaid money. Though I don’t know whether they were for such purposes (but I think the latter was for the second purpose above, maybe), I always pay attention to individual information.