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Web sites tend to rely on either analytics or audience measurement to determine traffic patterns, which can often lead to conflicting results. By merging the two methods, Omniture and ComScore hope to give customers a more unified and more accurate view.

“Since the rise of digital advertising, advertisers and publishers alike have sought ways to reconcile their Web analytics and panel-based measurement data to establish a unified measure of online audiences,” Omniture CEO Josh James said in a statement. “With this relationship, Omniture and ComScore will enable publishers who have rich, highly targeted audience segments to reliably demonstrate their value to advertisers and also help advertisers find these attractive consumer segments.”

Teasing out online traffic figures has been a constant challenge for both advertisers and publishers. The two companies’ goal is better analyze online audiences by teaming Omniture’s reliance on Web site analytics with ComScore’s approach of following patterns of Internet users.

ComScore’s new Media Metrix 360 system will play a leading role in the service. Launched in June, Media Metrix 360 already uses a hybrid approach, supplementing audience measurement with Web site analytics. The company had been criticized in the past for relying on too small a segment of the online audience to provide accurate data on traffic patterns.

Through this partnership, ComScore will also be working with Adobe Systems, which last week signed an agreement to acquire Omniture for $1.8 billion.

Omniture and ComScore, two Web-tracking powerhouses, are combining forces to launch a new system for measuring online audiences, the companies said Monday.

In an ideal world, Intel and Nvidia would thank each other, Kumar said. “Intel really ought to thank Nvidia. Of course, that same thing is true in reverse, and there’s no evidence of Huang ever thanking Intel, either (especially given that only some of Intel’s business derives from high-end gaming, but all of Nvidia’s business does).”

While CRT Capital Group analyst Ashok Kumar readily concedes that Nvidia’s graphics chip technology is far superior to Intel’s, he also issued a warning to Nvidia in a note released Monday: “Nvidia vs. Intel: an Emerging Grudge Match.”

A word to the wise: don’t hold your breath.

“(Nvidia CEO) Jen-sun Huang seems to believe that Nvidia’s graphics solutions are better than Intel’s because Intel simply doesn’t know how to do better,” Kumar said. “But there is another element that Huang seems to overlook–Intel has not, so far, been interested in the high-end 3D-gaming market, other than as a vehicle to sell their own high-end CPUs.”

An analyst at CRT Capital Group says Nvidia may be treading on dangerous ground with its recent blitz of Intel taunts.

But that could change. “If…Huang’s recent tirades have an effect on Intel, that effect may well be the exact opposite of what Huang wants–a huge, rich, motivated design powerhouse applying itself to the one and only marketplace in which Nvidia has shown an ability to compete.”

Essentially, Kumar believes that Intel, to date, has shown a benign neglect of high-end 3D graphics technology because Intel and Nvidia (and Advanced Micro Devices’ ATI Technologies) have had a successful, if uneasy, symbiotic relationship.

Two new virtual console games for download today representing both ends of time. A classic knight tale and a futuristic sports game make up this week’s offering.

King’s Knight (1986, NES, 500
Wii points): Battle your way through five stages of ruthless enemies as you try to free the princess from her capture.

Powerball (1991, Sega Genesis, 800 Wii points): Control one of eight futuristic teams in Powerball. The game is more like a combination of rugby and football played on a normal 100-yard field.

Now, in its own study released Wednesday, DisplayLink says that using multiple monitors simultaneously via USB consumes less power than using them via DVI. To plug multiple monitors into one system traditionally requires that you use a discrete graphics card solution with dual DVI ports. Right away that’s theoretically more power, since discrete solutions take more energy to run than integrated solutions. With DisplayLink, you’d simply be using the USB port to connect, so there would be no need for a dual DVI card and the integrated graphics would suffice.

Other findings include:

You can read a white paper on the study by going here and see a video demonstration here. If you’re not interested in more info, well, you probably stopped reading when your eyes started to glaze over during the second paragraph.

The discrete graphics solution, meanwhile, used considerably more power due to the necessary installation of dedicated hardware inside the computer. When driving a single display, the discrete card used, on average, an additional 34 Watts of power, or a 67 percent increase in power consumption–without the benefit of any additional displays. When the system was configured to drive four displays (which required the installation of a second card), the power consumption jumped to an average of 117 Watts, or an increase of 132 percent compared to the single-display configuration.

The researchers found that adding a display with a USB adapter incurred an average increase of only 4 watts per display, or a 7 percent increase in power consumption.

In its study, DisplayLink measured the power needed for a desktop PC to run one to four LCD monitors. Two identically configured systems were used–one equipped with DisplayLink-enabled USB-to-DVI adapters and software, and another with dual-DVI discrete graphics cards (the most common type of dedicated multidisplay board). Power consumption was measured at the entry of the computer power supply to gauge total system power usage under different system loads.

At Interop, an IT conference and Exposition in New York this week, DisplayLink is leaning on its study results to push the energy efficiency of using DisplayLink to connect multiple monitors via USB.

According to DisplayLink, a Microsoft Research study says that using two or more displays can increase productivity by as much as 50 percent. The company also notes that University of Utah researchers have shown that users of multiple displays make up to 33 percent fewer mistakes than those working on a single monitor.

The USB graphics solution used up to 80 percent less power to drive an extra display than a discrete graphics solution.
The discrete graphics solution consumed as much, if not more power, than an extra LCD monitor. This causes the overall system-power consumption to more than double if three or more displays are used, or an increase of 128 percent.
When three additional displays were connected to the system using USB adapters (for a total of four displays), the system used only 22 percent more power (a total of 62 Watts) than needed to drive a single display.
USB multidisplay technology works with notebooks and small form-factor PCs, where a discrete graphics solution is not possible, allowing multiple-display users to use more power-efficient notebook PCs in place of traditional desktop PCs.

DisplayLink’s message: get more done and save on energy, all through the magic of USB.

(Credit:
DisplayLink)

Now there’s something in it for me, either as a prospective job hunter or simply as someone keen on searching out pertinent data on a company. The social network that specialized in boring users to tears finally makes a move worthy of notice. Good job, guys. More of this and who knows? Maybe one day your CEO–quick, anybody know the name off hand?–will become as much a household name as The Zuckerface.

The site just doesn’t inspire or engage and I have no reason to visit other than to answer requests - usually from perfect strangers–to become “linked in.” But reading about the rollout of the beta version of LinkedIn’s business directory and I’m intrigued by the idea. To wit:

“Over 150,000 companies and organizations are indexed in the directory, working it into a Hoovers-esque database that ties into LinkedIn’s social features.

I’m one of the 20 million-plus members of LinkedIn but would be flummoxed for a good answer if you asked me why. The truth is that if I didn’t need to keep tabs on what’s new and groovy in the tech world, I very much doubt I’d bother.

Why? It’s as captivating as a sack of russet potatoes.

A LinkedIn Company Profiles page includes a number of basic statistics pulled from BusinessWeek’s database, such as company size and history. But for the most part, the rest of the business’ page consists of information from employees of that company who have LinkedIn profiles, like a list of “new hires” (LinkedIn members who have recently added a current affiliation with that company) and recent promotions, other businesses that have seen people hired from that company, and demographic tidbits like median age and education information.”

Leveraged buyout firms took the greatest hit, seeing the value of their transactions fall to $6 billion for 35 deals in the quarter–about half of the $11.5 billion for 28 deals a year ago, according to the report.

“Although Microsoft had few reservations in pushing forward the largest deal in its history, other big-ticket purchases were put on hold in the first few months of 2008,” according to the report.

“We would hang the decline in (billion-dollar) deals on the turmoil in the credit market, which has obviously knocked buyout shops from the market, as well as knocking the equity value of many companies into a tailspin,” according to the report.

But keep in mind, and rightly so, Microsoft’s initial blockbuster $44.6 billion buyout bid for Yahoo, accounts for nearly half of the technology M&A deals proposed in the quarter.

Companies looking to snap up other businesses, meanwhile, saw only a slight dip, of less than 3.4 percent, to $86 billion in the quarter, compared with a year ago.

When it comes to technology-related mergers and acquisitions in the first quarter, think “still waters run deep.”

“As the subprime mortgage crisis began ripping through financial institutions, the days of cheap and easy debt came to an abrupt end,” according to the report.

And the Microsoft-Yahoo proposed deal falls into that camp.

According to a first quarter M&A spending report released Friday by The 451 Group, proposed technology deals totaled $92 billion in the three-month period for 778 deals, down a notch from $100 billion in the same period a year ago for 1,059 transactions.

Chew on this stat: 11 proposed deals worth $1 billion or more logged in during the quarter–down by nearly half from a year ago.

Kaminsky said he will release more details in time for Black Hat 2008, to be held August 7 and 8 in Las Vegas.

Dan Kaminsky at DefCon in 2006

DNS servers translate a popular name such as CNET.com into its numeric IP address. There are 13 principal servers and many subservers located throughout the world to speed the process of IP resolution. Usually a DNS look-up query is assigned a random translation ID, but Kaminsky observed that when a vulnerable DNS server is able to perform recursive DNS queries, it was possible to guess the transaction ID and redirect the result.

DNS queries currently offer a transaction ID that is one of 65,000 possible values. The ID is supposed to be there on every legitimate response. But Kaminsky and others noticed that some weren’t particularly random. What has been discovered is that 65,000 is just not enough, said Kaminsky.

What he did next is remarkable: he waited. Instead of selling the vulnerability to a company like TippingPoint through its program Zero Day Initiative, wherein the company would then handle the vendor contact and resolution, Kaminsky took the responsible step of contacting the most affected vendors himself. He discussed with them how best to address the flaw that resides at the most fundamental level of how the DNS currently works.

The IP protocol has a system for sending small messages and there are various headers. He said think of the source port in this case as a return address on an envelope; it’s extra data in addition to the message you are sending. He said you can sign your name on the letter itself. You can also sign your name on the envelope as well. The patch does something similar with the translation IDs.

Together, Kaminsky and the vendors set a date of July 8 in which they would collectively announce and roll out the patches. In the meantime, additional steps were taken, such as notifying US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) and CERTs in other nations, to minimize the possibility of criminals using the July 8 announcement to cause DNS havoc.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Kaminsky refused to provide details about the flaw, preferring to give additional vendors and administrators affected at least 30 days to create or implement the patches.

(Credit:
Declan McCullagh / CNET News)

But within the conference call, during the question-and-answer session, some details and clarifications emerged.

On Tuesday, security researcher Dan Kaminsky of IO Active calmly explained in a conference call with security reporters how he first stumbled upon a pervasive flaw deep within the Domain Name System (DNS), a series of servers used to translate common Internet names to IP addresses. Kaminsky said he wasn’t even looking for a security vulnerability. What he found, however, could explain how criminal hackers have been able to redirect DNS queries recently.

Every query has a transaction ID between 0 and 65,000, and the reply must contain the transaction ID. Thus, it may be possible to guess these transaction ID values in advance and insert a malicious server as the authoritative DNS server for a popular bank or e-commerce site.

In the meantime he’s set a high standard for responsible vulnerability disclosure.

After applying the patch, Kaminsky said, the transaction ID would now contain the correct transaction ID plus the correct source port, a random identifier located at a different layer in the IP packet. He said when discussing remediation of the flaw the only place they could go for additional randomness within the current infrastructure was the source port. This would increase the size of the translation ID from, say, 16 bits to 32 bits, he said.

Keep track of BitTorrent downloads in Facebook with Morrent. You can even upload new torrents from wherever you are.

While the same results could be had by accessing your home machine using a remote access service like LogMeIn, I dig the fact that Morrent makes whatever you’ve downloaded, or are in the progress of downloading, available for others to see (privacy nuts can turn this option off too). This can turn your Facebook network into a great way to see which files are hot without relying on a third-party torrent-tracking service.

(Via TorrentFreak and Lifehacker)

So much for Scrabulous being an end-all diversion on Facebook. Try Morrent instead, a simple tie-in to the popular BitTorrent software uTorrent that runs right in Facebook (read: sans software) and lets you monitor your torrent downloads and uploads from wherever.

Aimed mainly at folks who want to check up on their downloads at work or away from their primary machines, Morrent is more than just a convenient status window–it doubles as a remote control. You can pause and re-prioritize downloads. You can also start downloading new torrents by uploading them back to your home machine.

Note: As always, we do not encourage illegal downloading of files transferred via BitTorrent technology.

(Credit:
Morrent)

The Compact Disc was introduced in 1983, and three years later CD sales outstripped LPs, but since CDs sold for $15 to $17, twice the price of an LP at the time, a lot of buyers resisted the changeover from analog to digital. Some preferred the sound of vinyl over the cold, hard shriek of first generation digital, and early CD players were many times more expensive than a good turntable. Sony’s first CD player, the CDP-101, sold for close to $1,000 in 1983, which would probably be over $2,000 in 2008 dollars. But the music retailers, seduced by the CD’s greater profits cut space devoted to vinyl, accelerating the transition from analog to digital. If there was no vinyl to buy, you had to get the CD. We didn’t have the internet back then, so free wasn’t an option.

Have a great April Fool’s Day!

I wish.

The six decade old LP format has finally regained its position as the music format of choice.

Today’s vinyl surge is fueled by a greater awareness of sound quality by music fans and artists, who have grown tired of hearing the power of their music thwarted by low-bit digital. After all, the iTunes version isn’t actually cheaper to buy than vinyl, and the fans are aware of the new reality: if it costs the same, why not buy the best sounding version? Some vinyl fans get the best of both formats and transfer the vinyl’s music to digital for their iPods.

It was bound to happen. After years of decline and the steadily rising tide of iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, et al–CD numbers are now in free fall–and the LP has finally regained its position as the world’s most popular physical music format! Boosted by sales of Radiohead’s “In Rainbows,” and Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” LP sales edged past the CD a few weeks ago. Elvis Costello’s upcoming release, “Momofuku,” will only be offered as a hi-fi LP or low-fi download. The CD is on its way out.

(Credit:
Steve Guttenberg)

Typed to the tune of Thom Yorke’s “Atoms for Peace.” Blame him.

For the moment, “You make believe that you are still in charge,” as Thom Yorke sings in “The Clock.” But eventually the charade will end. Customers are in control. Or should be. That’s how grown-up industries act.

The customer was having some issues getting single sign-on to work with Alfresco. My sales engineer logically asked, “What directory are you authenticating against? Active Directory? eDirectory?” The answer was, “None of the above. We developed our own authentication system.”

Open source lends itself to true interoperability much better than proprietary software does, if for no other reason than the reality that most software does not involve a vendor. It involves a customer solving its own itch. Open source fits nicely into this, the way software is actually developed and used in the real world.

With all the talk about interoperability rumbling around, I thought a quick sanity check would be in order. Vendors are fond of talking about interoperability, but myopia-challenged as we are, we tend to forget that most software is not developed by vendors. It’s developed by so-called “customers.”

Unfortunately for proprietary vendors, open source is setting the agenda here, as can be evidenced by Microsoft slowly ceding control (Shared Source Initiative, anyone?) of its code back to the customers who really should own it. They pay for it, after all.

But I’ve been surprised by the diversity of companies who do precisely this. I’ve been less surprised to see IT people from all sizes of companies actively getting involved with their support issues because they can with open source. They may call with a support issue but it’s no longer the passive “I broke, you fix” (or, really, “You broke, you fix when it’s convenient for you”) relationship that proprietary software demands. Instead, they’re investigating their issues before calling so that the support process is easier.

Bravo to Microsoft for making much of its interoperability with Novell! Unfortunately, this hardly resolves even a rounding error’s worth of the industry’s need to interoperate with enterprise-developed software.

I was meeting with an Alfresco customer recently in London. The customer is a top-10 financial services company with a small army of developers. In this, it is atypical of many enterprises, but I’ve heard similar stories from an increasing number of enterprises that view IT as a strategic differentiator.

For that, open source is a critical requirement. Open source, unencumbered by silly patents, closed APIs, and such. Open source because, quite frankly, the enterprise is often not going to want to be bothered by or with a vendor during the integration process. A real-life case study may help to convince those incapable of seeing past their proprietary noses.

Enter open source. Because this Alfresco customer has absolute rights to view and modify our source code, it is actively working with us to integrate its authentication system with the Alfresco content collaboration/management system. It’s a great partnership. Where it is using community-developed open-source software (Apache, Linux, etc.), it is simply making the changes on its own with the assistance of members of that community.

commentary

No, not everyone wants to modify source code. Nor do they need to do so. This is a benefit that some exercise directly, while others benefit as surrogates.