Scientologist wage war on a digital battle field
The Church of Scientology rarely sees a lot of respect from the press and general public. Critics – a group that scales from individual citizens all the way up to entire nations – label it as a cult and unscrupulous enterprise, preying on the minds and pocketbooks of its followers.
In the United States, however, the controversial religion has, for the most part, avoided outright attack; aside from the occasional tell-all website and snarky TV commentary, it enjoys considerable support from Hollywood and the its followers amongst the public.
That is, until now. What started with a simple video has now stretched deep into the digital domain, and if the critics are to be believed then the War on Scientology has just begun.
The video, which stars a crazed Tom Cruise, appeared on YouTube late last month. Intended for internal distribution and leaked by unknown sources, the Cruise video was created by the Church of Scientology to honor Cruise with its “Freedom Medal of Valor,” for his work in exposing a billion people to the Church’s beliefs.
In the eight-minute clip, Cruise explains his faith in a crazed fervor, interspersing brief statements with fidgeting, maniacal laughter, and wild hand motions. “We are the authorities on getting people off drugs...we can rehabilitate criminals’ way to happiness (sic) … we can bring peace and unite cultures,” he says in one part. “I won't hesitate to put ethics on someone else as I put it ruthlessly on myself … [Scientology is] rough and tumble, it’s wild and wooly.”
Understandably displeased, the Church of Scientology allegedly forced YouTube to remove the video, threatening to sue if it refused. Not wanting to start a fight with a group known for its penchant for lawsuits, YouTube caved and took the video offline.
Since then, the Cruise video has been parodied several times.
The move earned the ire of hackers and protestors, furious over for what they feel is the Church's suppression of free speech. Protestors claim the YouTube incident is merely the latest chapter in a long history of frivolous lawsuits and copyright/trademark disputes, designed specifically to suppress the proliferation of material that the Church finds embarrassing.
Online, hackers took their own revenge, with the Church’s web presence suffering a series of crippling attacks: its international website was temporarily taken down, and its U.K. website remained crippled for days. On a different front, computer guerillas “Google bombed” the Church of Scientology’s official website, bringing it to the top of search results for “dangerous cult.”
Back on YouTube, an activist group calling itself “Anonymous” posted its first online threat against Scientology two weeks ago, citing the Church’s alleged “campaigns of misinformation, suppression of dissent, and litigious nature.” Two more videos have been posted since, all of them featuring stock video of cities, clouds, and landscapes, with the group’s mysterious vendetta read by a computerized voice-over.
In Anonymous’ first video, titled “Message to Scientology” and speaking directly to the Church, the group pledges that it will “expel you from the Internet and systematically dismantle the Church of Scientology in its present form.”
Whoever Anonymous is – the group claims its members include “lawyers, parents, IT professionals, members of law enforcement, college students, veterinary technicians and more” – it appears serious; Anonymous acknowledges the Church as a serious opponent and notes that “we are prepared for a long, long campaign.” A later video warns Scientologists to beware of February 10th, a date on which Anonymous will launch several protests at Scientology facilities around the world, coordinated by groups on Facebook and YouTube.
Anonymous’ organizers claim they wish to stay incognito for ethical reasons. One protester, explaining the campaign to the The Guardian, stated that he “[didn’t] want them to get a foothold in the UK the same way as they have in other countries. [The Church of Scientology claims] to be a church and a religion but they charge people to attend their sessions and they are a registered trademark – that doesn't strike anyone as a religion. At the start this was a hacker operation but it is more than that now. Scientologists say it's just a bunch of hacker geeks but that's going to be proved wrong on February 10."
According to organizers, Anonymous started with a “youth movement” among online communities but is now drawing protesters from all walks of life. It distributes Leaflets throughout the United States, questioning the true nature of Scientology and its tactics.
The Church of Scientology is trying to both downplay the movement and fight back. It dismisses the protesters and hackers as a “pathetic” collection of “computer geeks.” Janet Laveau, a spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology in Britain, says that “we don't get into responding to such threats on the internet, particularly anonymous ones.”
According to Laveau, the surge of negative publicity actually created a “surge of interest” in the Scientology, which she hopes will bring many new converts, although it denies forcing YouTube to take down the Cruise video despite numerous reports to the contrary. “These selective and out-of-context excerpts … nevertheless resulted in people searching for and visiting Church of Scientology websites,” says Laveau. “Those wishing to find out the Church of Scientology's views and to gain context of the video have the right to search official Church websites."
In the United States, Scientologists hired an unnamed internet company to defend its sites from attacks and fight back against the hackers. The move was financed in part by a $10 million donation from actress Nancy Cartwright, who voices Bart Simpson.
The Church of Scientology has a long history of waging expensive legal battles to suppress public criticism. In 2005, the Church lost a 10-year battle in the Netherlands against a number of internet service providers as well as Dutch writer Karin Spaink, who posted numerous revealing documents online revealing alarming, secret teachings of the Church.
Invented in 1952, The Church of Scientology is the brainchild of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. Based around 18 central religious books, Scientology believes that humans came to earth via an all-powerful alien being named “Xenu,” who stacked them around volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Many accuse Hubbard of maintaining a religious façade for tax and legal purposes, and Hubbard once told Reader’s Digest that "if a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." Together, the religion’s exotic believes, questionable history, and penchant for secrecy has made for excellent fodder from the Church’s many critics.
Andreas Heldal-Lund, a Norwegian free speech advocate applauds the grassroots movement and says they've “won” the war against scientology. However, she denounces the internet attacks, stating that “one of the biggest arguments against Scientology is they are a threat to free speech and here they can say people are hitting back at their free speech. It ruins our argument.”
2/9/08
Video Sparks "Anonymous" War vs. Tom Cruise, Scientology
Creative's 32GB Zen PMP
Creative gets down and dirty with 32GB Zen pricing
Just a few days ago, Apple bumped the maximum capacity of its popular iPod touch portable media player (PMP) from 16GB to 32GB. The increase in capacity also resulted in a price increase from $399 to $499.
Creative may not have the same name recognition as Apple when it comes to PMPs, but the company is looking to attract customers on a different front: pricing. The company's 32GB Zen already undercut the 16GB iPod touch by $70, but Creative is taken even further steps to lower the price of its player.
Creative now lists the 32GB Zen at a low price of $299 representing a $30 price cut. That puts the 32GB Zen at the same price as an 8GB iPod touch.
On a feature-for-feature basis, however, the Zen would most likely be best compared with the iPod nano. Apple's popular iPod nano is priced at $149 for the 4GB model and $199 for the 8GB model. An additional $100 gets you four times the capacity with the Zen plus the addition of an FM tuner.
While we are unlikely to see any price cuts coming from Apple any time soon, it nice to see that other manufacturers are looking to pass the savings gathered from more streamlined NAND flash production onto the consumer.
Rival SanDisk is also looking to drive NAND flash pricing downwards with new 43nm NAND production and three-bit-per-cell technology.
IBM Shrinks Cell B.E. to 45nm Process
PlayStation 3 CPU soon smaller, cooler, cheaper
In the continuing effort to advance production of the Cell Broadband Engine, IBM revealed yesterday at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco plans to migrate the processor to the 45nm high-k process.
The Cell Broadband Engine chip currently found in the latest PlayStation 3 hardware is manufactured on IBM’s 65nm SOI process, which was quietly introduced into the market with the 40GB PS3. The power consumption drop from the original launch model, which used a 90nm Cell/B.E., to the 40GB model made users take notice of the shift in manufacturing process.
The further shrink of the Cell/B.E. to 45nm will reduce power consumption by another 40 percent and die size by 34 percent, helping to cut costs. Current analyst estimates put the cost of manufacture per PlayStation 3 console at around $400, close to the MSRP of the entry-level 40GB console.
Even with the shift to 45nm, Sony may not immediately pass the cost savings onto the consumer. The PlayStation division finally turned a profit for the first time since the PS3 debut, a trend the company likely wishes to continue. In the long run, however, cheaper components pave the way for eventual price drops.
The upcoming 45nm Cell/B.E. benefits not only the PlayStation 3, as the chip in also used IBM Blade servers for industrial applications, such as medical imaging. Toshiba has also adapted the Cell/B.E. technology, which it calls the SpursEngine, for mobile graphical applications.
According to Ars Technica, IBM’s effort in shrinking the Cell/B.E. is done solely with Sony in mind. As the PlayStation 3 is the largest application of Cell/B.E. technology, IBM apparently tailored the smaller chip for cooler and cheaper consoles, rather than for increased performance and functionality. Such is hinted at an IBM document, stating, “To guarantee the proper operation of existing gaming software, the exact cycle-by-cycle machine behavior, including operating frequency, must be preserved.”
Such considerations for Sony by its partners are important for the console maker, as the company itself is getting out of the chip business. On April 1, Sony will be officially handing over control of Cell/B.E. manufacturing facilities to Toshiba. Sony also stated that it will cease R&D efforts on future 32nm chip processes, though it will remain active with Toshiba and IBM on future iterations of the Cell/B.E.
2/8/08
MacBook Air to Get Slim PC Competitors
Intel says competitors to Apple can use the CPU found in the MacBook Air; 45nm CPU refresh coming this Fall
When Apple unveiled the MacBook Air most every technophile stifled a lustful moan. However, the paltry specifications included in the Air leave something to be desired -- even to the most ardent of Steve Jobs protégés.
PC manufacturers expect to fill the gap. InformationWeek reports that two PC makers will release similarly size Windows systems using the miniaturized Core 2 Duo processor found in the svelte MacBook Air.
The low-voltage Core 2 Duo processor found in the MacBook Air is not present in any other computer to date. Some would claim Intel designed the processor specifically for Apple, though Intel roadmaps designate the ultra-low voltage processor as "publicly available" to any system integrator.
The low-voltage Core 2 Duo played a big part in the ability for Apple to make the Air so thin. The processor is built on
the older Intel Merom processor family, though the "mini" version is 60% smaller that other Merom processors.
The 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo certainly won't set any speed records. In fact, the 65nm processor first got its debut at 1.8 GHz in 2006. Similar performing 65nm Yonah processors at 1.8 GHz debuted almost a year before that.
Intel announced its 45nm processor line last month, just a week before the MacBook Air announcement. However, those interested in sacrificing performance for slim footprints won't have to wait long: Intel's corporate roadmap claims 45nm versions of Penryn, the current processor generation, will be available this fall.
Even if PC manufacturers incorporate the mini Merom processor in upcoming notebooks before this Fall, Apple will certainly opt for the 45nm processor in the next-generation MacBook Air.
Intel has not released the names of the PC manufacturers anticipating to release slim PCs based on the "mini" Merom processors.
Social Networking Sites Endanger Children Less Than IMs, Chat Rooms
Solicitation and harassment much more likely in chat rooms and over IM says study
Social networking sites have been under fire for poor security measures and screening of users leading to harassment and sexual solicitation of minors using sites like MySpace and Facebook.
The results from a study were announced today that was performed by child health researchers Michele Ybarra of Internet Solutions for Kids and Kimberly Mitchell of the University of New Hampshire Crimes Against Children Research Center. The goal of the study was to find where young teens and children were most likely to be the victims of unwanted sexual solicitation and harassment.
Many may think social networking sites are the most likely place for kids to be harassed online. DailyTech reported in December of 2007 that a family had sued MySpace after a teenage girl killed herself after being the victim of cyber bullying on the site. MySpace competitor Facebook was also the target of legal action last year when the New York Attorney General filed a subpoena against the site due to allegations of sexual solicitation of minors.
Contrary to the image these types of cases give social networking sites, the new study shows that young teens are much more likely to be harassed via instant messages or in chat rooms than on social networking sites.
Of the 1,600 kids between 10 and 15 years of age surveyed across the nation, 4% reported unwanted sexual solicitation and 9% reported being harassed on social networking sites. The study respondents reported 59% more solicitations were received over instant messengers and 19% more in chat rooms. Overall kids were 96% more likely to be harassed in instant messages than on a social networking site.
The study authors use this data to illustrate to parents that they need to be aware of what their children are doing online and not simply focus on social networking sites. The authors also point out that the vast majority of children using social networking, instant messages or chat rooms will never be the victims of harassment of unwanted solicitations.
Ybarra also says, “Young people experiencing problems online are often experiencing problems offline as well. We need to make sure that we are giving them the support and tools to healthfully navigate across all environments, both online and offline."
Update: NVIDIA to Acquire AGEIA
The physics battle heats up
FPS Labs is reporting that NVIDIA will soon announce its intention to acquire AGEIA. FPS Labs' Stu Grubbs has no financial terms for the deal, but notes that his confidential source expects the deal to become official sometime this week.
AMD batted around the idea of purchasing AGEIA in November 2007, but considering that the company is still recovering from its ATI acquisition, that idea was put to rest rather quickly. It should be interesting to see how AMD will respond to the news if the announcement comes this week -- especially considering that AMD has already declared GPU-based physics dead.
A successful acquisition of AGEIA would give NVIDIA the firepower to go up against Intel which purchased physics software developer Havok in September.
The last time that DailyTech covered AGEIA, its PhysX 100M mobile physics processor was sharing chassis space with dual GeForce 8700M GT graphics cards in Dell's $2,700 XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition notebook.
If NVIDIA has its way, NVIDIA GPUs and chipsets may have an even closer synergy with AGEIA hardware in the future.
Updated 2/4/2008
Just moments after this story went live, NVIDIA sent us the official PR announcing its acquisition of AGEIA (further details will come forth on Wednesday):
NVIDIA, the world leader in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the GPU, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire AGEIA Technologies, Inc., the industry leader in gaming physics technology. AGEIA's PhysX software is widely adopted with more than 140 PhysX-based games shipping or in development on Sony Playstation3, Microsoft XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii and Gaming PCs. AGEIA physics software is pervasive with over 10,000 registered and active users of the PhysX SDK.
“The AGEIA team is world class, and is passionate about the same thing we are—creating the most amazing and captivating game experiences,” stated Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO of NVIDIA. “By combining the teams that created the world’s most pervasive GPU and physics engine brands, we can now bring GeForce®-accelerated PhysX to hundreds of millions of gamers around the world.”
“NVIDIA is the perfect fit for us. They have the world’s best parallel computing technology and are the thought leaders in GPUs and gaming. We are united by a common culture based on a passion for innovating and driving the consumer experience,” said Manju Hegde, co-founder and CEO of AGEIA.
Pirate Bay’s Defiant Leadership Slapped with Conspiracy Charges
Site’s admins denounce accusations as idiotic
Making good on a promise tendered last week, the country of Sweden pressed charges against four ThePirateBay.org administrators, accusing them of conspiring to break Swedish copyright law.
According to prosecutor Håkan Roswall, the BitTorrent supersite commercially exploits copyright-protected works through ad revenues, of which it nets over $3 million annually. The four men charged include The Pirate Bay co-founder Peter “Brokep” Sunde, administrators Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij, and businessman/entrepreneur Carl Lundström, whose company once provided hosting for the site. Authorities specifically named 33 different copyrighted works, comprising of 20 songs, nine films and four computer games for which The Pirate Bay made torrents available illegally.
Roswall says that the four should be made to pay at least $188,000, which the indictment says is the minimum profit that The Pirate Bay made from its activities. If convicted, they could face up to two years in prison.
IFPI chairman John Kennedy says The Pirate Bay is primarily interested in “making money, not music” and that the site turned Sweden, which is “normally the most law abiding of EU countries,” into a copyright charlatan, with “intellectual property laws on par with Russia.”
Despite the accusations, The Pirate Bay seems unfazed. “In case we lose the pending trial (yeah right) there will still not be any changes to the site. The Pirate Bay will keep operating just as always. We've been here for years and we will be here many more,” writes an unnamed administrator on the site’s official blog, before pointing out that Swedish police could have “saved a hell of a lot of trees” by posting the 4,620 pages of legal documents against Sunde and friends – available for approximately $1000 USD – in a PDF torrent on the site.
The Pirate Bay says that it hosts close to a million torrents, which point to files on users’ computers that are distributed across the BitTorrent network. The site maintains that it does not host nor trade in infringing material, an accusation that Sunde dismissed as “idiotic” in an interview with Reuters conducted earlier last January.
BBC’s dot.life blogger Darren Waters believes The Pirate Bay – as opposed to other torrent supersites – was targeted because of its openly defiant attitude and historic resilience to legal threats; the site keeps an online graveyard of sorts littered with takedown notices and administrators’ sarcastic responses. The Pirate Bay’s adversaries include almost every major copyright organization on the planet, as well as numerous artists, software developers, and filmmakers.
Thus far – with one exception, due to a police raid in May 2006 that knocked the site offline for a few days – The Pirate Bay continues to operate unrestricted.
Yahoo Chairman Resigns, Microsoft Bid Offering Heats Up
Yahoo Chairman Terry Semel resigns, Gates looks to solidify his online empire with the acquisition of Yahoo
Only days ago, the news broke that Yahoo was in troubled waters and sinking fast. The Internet giant, which ranks number 2 in terms of search engine traffic and number 1 in terms of total traffic to properties, posted a declining net profit for the fourth straight quarter. Worse yet, it announced that it would be cutting 1,000 jobs, or almost 7 percent of its workforce. CEO Jerry Yang stated that the company was facing "strong headwinds" and had to be prepared to make big changes.
Now, an opportunity has come knocking on Yahoo's door, which holds the promise of transforming the online business world. Microsoft Corp. made an unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo and its holdings this morning. The offer is one half in Microsoft common stock, and the other half in cash.
The move promises a sweet payoff for share holders, who would see their stocks soar 62% from Thursday levels, up to a $31 per share payout.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer was among Microsoft's big guns to be pushing the move. He enthused that the move is the "next major milestone" for Microsoft. He continued, "We are very, very confident this is the right path for Microsoft and for Yahoo."
Ballmer informed the media that Microsoft has been in talks with Yahoo, preparing the offer, for nearly 18 months now. He gave Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang a personal call on Thursday night to announce the bid in person.
A Microsoft-Yahoo team would shake up the online community by creating a legitimate competitor to Google, which current stands far above the competition in terms of search engine Traffic. Traffic research site comScore indicates that Yahoo has 22.9% of the search engine market and Microsoft owns a 9.8% share. Together, their 32.7% share, would pose a challenge to Google's 58.4% share of the U.S. search engine market.
Microsoft revealed that it had first had broached the possibility to Yahoo executives a year ago, but was rebuffed by Yahoo's board of directors and CEO. With today's resignation of Semel, the balance of Yahoo's board could lead to a different outcome. Semel was strongly opposed to the merger last year.
A year after Microsoft's offering, Yahoo is much worse for wear and promises to evaluate Microsoft's proposal "carefully and promptly." As UBS analyst Benjamin Schachte puts it, "Last year, Yahoo told investors it needed more time to get on the right track. But you only get a certain amount of time to turn things around."
Steve Ballmer stated, "We have great respect for Yahoo, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market."
Google spokesman Matt Furman declined to comment, stating, "It would be premature to comment at this point."
