CyberLink MagicSports plays to busy sports fans

(InfoWorld) - CyberLink may have come up with the perfect software for busy sports fans around the world: an auto-editing program that turns sporting events into highlight shows as short as three minutes long.

So far, MagicSports 3.5 works with only three major sports -- soccer, baseball, and Sumo wrestling -- but those choices show the company was thinking globally when it began developing the software. This is the second version of the software, with the first pitched to baseball fans. The next version, MagicSports 4.0, due out around late May or early June, may include American football and tennis. The software engineering team in charge of the product has left it a mystery.

Baseball was a natural first target for the Taiwanese company because people on the island are crazy about the sport -- and a lot of them don't have time to stay up all night to watch national star and New York Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang play.

So the answer on this high-tech island was to develop a software smart enough to pull highlights out of a game by monitoring several aspects of the field.

"The scoreboard is really the key in baseball because there's so much information up there," says Brian Lin, a product manager at CyberLink.

The software can detect changes in the scoreboard to see when runs go up, when a hit is made, when a pitcher and batter go into a full count (three balls and two strikes), and other factors that might produce a highlight, such as crowd noise.

In soccer, MagicSports makes use of additional information, including activity near the goal. It can tell when there are a lot of players in front of the goal, and then gauges crowd noise to determine if it should clip the segment and put it in the highlight bin.

For Sumo wrestling fans, MagicSports is a godsend. The average match is three hours long, but much of that is pomp and ceremony tied to the long tradition of the sport. Once MagicSports removes all the excess fat, so to speak, the action of the entire match ends up only 20 minutes long.

The nicest feature for users is the amount of control they have over the editing process. Users can choose how much to condense the highlights of a game or match. A three-hour baseball game, for example, can be broken down to a 16-minute highlight film or a 3-minute clip. All commercials, of course, are removed. MagicSports also uses a four-star classification system to denote how important each individual highlight might be. Four stars means it's a must-see highlight.

Users can also go back and choose their own favorite moments of the game and create their own clip to share with friends. Does that raise any copyright issues? "We don't know," said Lin, but noted that a lot of users are already creating clips of their favorite sports moments and sharing them on the Internet at Web sites such as YouTube.

There are other conveniences built in. Have a backlog of old games you haven't had time to watch yet? No problem. Add them to your MagicSports library and the software will automatically sift through the games and create highlight films. You could watch a year of soccer highlights in a weekend.

Unfortunately, MagicSports doesn't work with TiVo, the popular TV show recorder, despite the fact Taiwan is one of the few places outside the United States where Tivos are sold. It would be a great feature.

The software only works on PCs right now, is Vista-capable and can be used on digital media centers designed around Intel's Viiv technology, as well as Microsoft's Media Center software and CyberLink's own PowerCinema.

Currently, MagicSports is sold only as a download at CyberLink's Web site. It costs $49.95, and the company has been allowing limited free upgrades. Users who bought MagicSports 3.0, for example, were allowed to upgrade to 3.5 for free. But the company isn't sure how many upgrades it will allow users and said it hasn't decided how long it will continue to offer such free downloads.

Serious sports fans might not want to wait.

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Red Hat chides Oracle over Linux

(InfoWorld) - Oracle's venture into the Linux market was called "a bit disingenuous" by a Red Hat executive speaking at the MySQL Conference & Expo in Santa Clara, Calif. on Tuesday.

The executive, Michael Evans, Red Hat vice president of corporate development, speculated that Oracle wants to contain open source.

In the midst of his presentation on the One Laptop Per Child initiative, Evans noted mainstream adoption of open source with companies like Oracle participating in the Linux space. Oracle, however, is "a bit disingenuous in their intentions, if you ask me," Evans said.

Oracle last year unveiled a program to support Red Hat Linux customers. Evans said Oracle's overall motives, in addition to desiring its own OS, also include a desire to contain the growth of open source and hurt the leading vendor in that marketplace -- Red Hat.

"They have a real desire to have their own operating system. They're very clear about that. But I also think there's a secondary motive to control and contain open source," in the database, middleware, and application spaces, Evans said in a follow-up interview at the conference.

"And if you can hurt the leading player in the market by doing that, you can try and show the world, stop investing in these open-source companies, etc," Evans said.

Oracle could not be immediately reached for a response to Evans's comments. But MySQL, an open-source database vendor, has had a good relationship with Oracle, said Marten Mickos, MySQL CEO. Oracle bought one of the companies providing a database engine for MySQL, InnoBase, and has abided by pledges to fix any bugs in the technology, Mickos said.

"They lived up to the promise," Mickos said. 

In discussing One Laptop Per Child, Evans said the $100 device runs open-source software, is targeted at the developing world, and is expected to ship later this year.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has criticized the project, Evans said. "It's a very scary concept to a lot of people," to have 50 million to 100 million children using open-source software, said Evans.

Mickos, meanwhile, noted improvements planned for MySQL's database platform. These include clustering enhancements for online addition and subtraction of nodes as well as scalability features and specifically row-based replication. The company's monitoring and advisory service will be bolstered with the ability to assist with replication and scaling issues.

MySQL at the conference launched MECA (MySQL Enterprise Connection Alliance), a partner program intended to make it easier for resellers, hardware and software vendors, and IT service providers to provide database-related solutions to MySQL users.

MECA members receive special access and discounts to MySQL software subscriptions and support, joint marketing and sales opportunities, MySQL said. Some companies joining MECA include Hewlett-Packard, Red Hat, and Sun.

Also at the conference, CodeGear, the developer tools arm of Borland Software, said it has partnered with MySQL to integrate the MySQL database with the CodeGear Delphi IDE line, including Delphi for PHP, Delphi 2007 for Win32 products, and Delphi for .Net.

Developers will be able to build database-driven Web applications for PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) and Windows, CodeGear said.

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CollabNet acquires SourceForge from VA Software

(InfoWorld) - CollabNet has acquired SourceForge Enterprise Edition (SFEE) from VA Software, adding to its range of collaborative software development tools.

Its products already include Subversion, a code repository, and CollabNet Enterprise Edition, a software development tool for distributed project teams. SFEE is another source code repository and collaborative software development environment.

Such Web-based development tools are increasingly popular with the geographically dispersed development teams common in many open source software projects, which often bring together enthusiasts with common interests but living in different time zones.

Between SFEE and its own tools, CollabNet will support 300 enterprise clients and 1.1 million individual users worldwide, it said. By combining the research and development teams for the two products, CollabNet hopes to fend off competition in the software development tools market from IBM.

VA offered SFEE as a free download for small groups of developers, making money on technical support or on software licenses for groups of 20 users or more. CollabNet has a similar business model.

The deal does not include SourceForge.net, a hosting service for open source software projects operated by VA subsidiary Open Source Technology Group (OSTG). SourceForge.net is home to many well-known applications, including Audacity, a cross-platform audio editing tool and eMule, a peer-to-peer file sharing client.

CollabNet will acquire the SFEE code, and will take on some VA employees involved with the product. In return, VA gains an equity stake in CollabNet. The companies gave no further financial details of the deal.

Verizon BlackBerry 8830 in May: Global service plan on way as well

Verizon Wireless and BlackBerry say this morning what we've been hearing for some time: that the  BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphone will be available on May 14 through Verizon Wireless' business sales channels and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores on May 28.

Along with the business launch, May 14 will also see the initial availablility of Verizon's Global BlackBerry service. BlackBerry and Verizon describe this as an an "always-on, always connected" wireless e-mail solution that provides quick, easy access to e-mail, contacts, calendar, organizer and the Web while on-the-go.

The service will offer business users  wireless e-mail and the convenience of one local number for domestic and international use in Australia, Europe, parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North America, as well as the ability to to place and receive voice calls from more than 150 countries and send and receive e-mails in the United States, Canada and more than 60 countries.

Global BlackBerry service customers will eceive the Global Support Pack, which includes a SIM card, a user reference guide and details on accessing the Global Help Desk for 24-hour customer support, seven days a week. Customers will also receive a calling card for free support calls while traveling outside of the U.S. from any landline phone to technical support if the BlackBerry 8830 is lost, broken or stolen.

The phone itself will cost $299.99, which is $100 off the list price with a 24-month service agreementThe BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphone will be available in May for $299.99 after a $100 rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. Voice and data plans signed up at the time of purchase knock the price down another $100.

Customers signing up for Global BlackBerry service will get unlimited e-mail in the United States, Canada and more than 60 countries worldwide for $64.99 monthly access with a qualifying voice plan, or for $69.99 monthly access without a voice plan.

BlackBerry and Verizon say that customers can also add a "Pay As You Go" data feature to any qualifying voice plan for an additional $20 per Megabyte. Customers wanting to use the BlackBerry 8830 for e-mail solely in the U.S. may opt for an unlimited e-mail plan beginning at $49.99 monthly access.

TripSubmit.com Launches Free Social Bookmarking Submittal Tool for Travelers

(InfoWorld) - Samy Kamkar was really just trying to impress girls. Instead he made Web hacking history.

Kamkar created what is considered the first Web 2.0 worm -- a virulent bug that could not be blocked by a firewall, and which ultimately forced the owners of MySpace.com to temporarily shut down the site. The Samy worm was just the more prominent of a new generation of Web attacks that some security experts fear may slow down the fast-evolving collaborative model of Internet development known as Web 2.0.

The Samy worm popped up in late 2005. Kamkar says he discovered it while looking for a way to get around the Web site's content posting restrictions and add code that would jazz up the look of his MySpace profile. By taking advantage of a bug in the way the Web site code was written, he was essentially able to control the browser of anyone who visited his profile.

"A Chipolte burrito bol and a few clicks," after discovering the vulnerability Kamkar managed to create the fastest-spreading Web-based worm of all time. Within 20 hours, the worm had spread to nearly 1 million MySpace.com users, forcing them to select Kamkar as their "hero," in their profile page. News Corp. was eventually forced to shutter MySpace in order to fix the problem, and Kamkar eventually got three years probation in Los Angeles Superior court.

Unlike the MyDoom and Sobig worms of years past, which clobbered systems and caused days of technical problems for system administrators, Kamkar's worm didn't do anything to harm MySpace users' computers. And once MySpace fixed the problem, it was fixed globally.

To security experts like Robert Hansen, the CEO of Web security consultancy Sectheory.com, the Samy worm is an example of the kind unexpected consequences that can arise when Web site operators let users become contributors to their Web properties.

Hansen, and a group of like-minded white-hat researchers, believe that we're only beginning to see what can go wrong when the security of the new generation of collaborative, Web 2.0 applications gets tested.

They believe that without a radical change to the way that browsers interact with the Web, the Web 2.0 security problem will only get worse.

From the start, desktops and Web servers were simply not designed to work together in a secure fashion. And as Web 2.0 pushes these machines to do more and more exciting things that lie far from their academic, electronic publishing roots, the strain is beginning to show, according to Hansen, who also maintains a Web site that serves as a discussion forum for the latest Web attacks.

"This is really just fundamentally about how browsers work," he said. Google Desktop, in particular, is of concern to Hansen because with this type of service, vulnerabilities in the Web can ultimately affect the desktop. "If you allow a Web site to have access to your drive -- to modify, to change things, to integrate, or whatever -- you're relying on that Web site to be secure."

This is a problem faced by sites like MySpace and eBay every day, but if Google Inc.'s vision of rich desktop and Web integration becomes a reality, the security of Web 2.0 could be come a more pressing issue for corporate users as well. "Historically, Google has not been very good at understanding these issues," Hansen said.

And though some researchers disagree with Hansen, and say that Google has done an admirable job in keeping its site free of flaws, to a large extent, the real Web security problem lies outside of the control of Web sites like Google.

"There is no browser security model," said Alex Stamos, a founding partner of security consultancy Information Security Partners. "The problem is that Google is playing by the rules that Netscape laid down a decade ago."

Stamos calls the Web 2.0 model of sharing little user-generated programs, sometimes called widgets "completely insane," from a security perspective.

There are two major types of Web attacks that have security researchers concerned right now: Cross site scripting attacks, and cross site request forgeries.

There are different varieties of cross site scripting attacks, but the result is always the same: The attacker figures out a way to make unauthorized code run within a victim's browser.

Web sites that allow users to post their own content use filtering software to keep users from posting unsafe code to their MySpace profiles or eBay auctions. But in the case of the Samy worm, Kamkar found a way to sneak his JavaScript past the MySpace.com filters.

In a second type cross site scripting attack, the Web site is tricked into running JavaScript code that is included in the URL (uniform resource locator) for a Web page. Normally Web designers make it impossible for these attacks to work, but a programming mistakes can open the door to an attack.

The Web 2.0 model of integrating partner- and customer-generated components into your Web site means that administrators now have to worry not only about the security of their own Web sites, but the security of those interconnected pieces, said Seth Bromberger, information security manager with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in San Francisco. "Now you've got multiple gates to defend," he said.

Bromberger is concerned that many Web-based services are being built before their security risks are fully understood. For example, the full risks of cross site request forgery attacks on local networks are only just now being examined, he said.

In a cross site request forgery attack, the criminal finds a way to trick a Web site into thinking that it's sending and receiving data from a user who has been logged onto the site. These kind of attacks could be used to give an attacker unfettered access to any Web site that has not yet logged the victim off.

Many sites protect against this type of attack by automatically logging visitors off after a few minutes of inactivity, but if the attacker could trick a victim into visiting his malicious site just minutes after logging into, say Bank of America's Web site, the bad guy could theoretically clean out the victim's bank account.

Cross site request forgery attacks are hard to pull off in any widespread fashion, but in a targeted hit, they are effective against a remarkably large number of Web sites, according to Jeremiah Grossman, chief technology officer with WhiteHat Security Inc. "Cross site request forgeries are going to be the biggest struggle over the next 10 years," he said.

Web bugs are still extremely common, but the Web site operators have only just recently started to work at rooting them out in a concerted way.

"Oddly, there isn't that much research in terms of, 'How do you build a Web site in practice and what are the best practices that would allow a company to protect themselves," said Michael Barrett, chief information security officer eBay Inc.'s PayPal division. "If there is an emerging set of best practices I'd argue that not many practitioners know what they are."

Barrett thinks that the Web security standards like the WS* specifications go some distance toward solving the Web security problem, but he agrees that many of the basic Web standards, like JavaScript and HTTP need to be rethought. "We need to re-evaluate those standards and potentially rewrite some of them to make this stuff safer," he said. "If enough companies stand up and say there's a problem here, then the industry will start to move."

 

TripSubmit.com Launches Free Social Bookmarking Submittal Tool for Travelers

Free tool allows travelers to easily submit their favorite travel web site, blog, feed, article, photos or videos to the Top 20 Social Bookmarking Sites and Feed Readers for travelers. (PRWeb Apr 20, 2007) Post Comment:Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/TG92ZS1UaGlyLVByb2YtQ3Jhcy1NYWduLVplcm8=

Car Calendar, weekend of April 28

THIS WEEKEND
Saturday, April 28: Auto Product Recycling Event,  9 a.m. to 1 p.m., MWWD Operations Center, 5571 Topaz Way (Corner Kearny Villa Road at Topaz Way), San Diego 92123; sponsored by the city of San Diego and the California Integrated Waste Management Board. San Diego residents only. Proof of residency required. No business waste accepted. Items accepted include used motor oil, oil filters, auto batteries and antifreeze. Information: (858) 694-7000.

Saturday, April 28: Cbad Cars show,  7 to 9:30 a.m., HRE Wheels, 2611 Commerce Way, Suite D, Vista, 92081. Mustangs and cobras.

Sunday, April 29: Motor Cars on Main Street, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Isabella and Orange avenues, Coronado. Limited to 300 pre-1973 rods, customs, classics and trucks. Free to view; $20 to show before April 22, $25 after. Sponsored by the El Cordova Garage and Ron Baker Chevrolet-Isuzu. Information: www.CoronadoMainStreet.com.

April 29: Heartbeat Classic Chevys Car Show,  9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Bates Nut Farm, 15954 Woods Valley Road, Valley Center. The show is open to any pre-1973 American-made vehicle and is part of the farm’s annual Spring Antiques and Collectibles Craft Market. Show registration by April 20, $25; $30 thereafter. Awards in 50 categories, dash plaques, raffle and more. Proceeds to benefit the Marine Corps League/Injured Marine Fund. Information: www.heartbeatclassicchevys.com.

Through May 27: Law Enforcement Vehicles,  10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,  San Diego Automotive Museum, Balboa Park. The special display includes 13 cars, two motorcycles, memorabilia and classic media, including original episodes of “Car 54 Where Are You?” and “CHiPS.” The latest technology in police lights also will be featured. 
  Vehicles on view include a vintage paddy wagon, cruisers from the Oceanside Police Department, a military police vehicle and a 1951 Studebaker police car used in several movies.
   Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors (65 and over), $6 active duty military with ID, $5 students with ID, $4 children ages 6-15. The museum is free to all San Diego County residents and military with ID on the fourth Tuesday of each month.
   Information: www.sdautomuseum.org or (619) 231-2886.

UPCOMING
May 1: Chicken Pie Diner and Filling Station Cruise Night, 5:30 to 8 p.m., Tuesdays through October, 1020 W. San Marcos Blvd., San Marcos (in Old California Restaurant Row). Welcome to the second Chicken Pie Diner cruise night, also with raffles, Favorite of Show award, music and, of course, food. Information: (760) 591-9393.

May 2: Chicken Pie Diner Cruise Night, 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesdays through October, 14727 Pomerado Rd., Poway (in the Target shopping center). Welcome to the 16th year of the diner’s cruise night, with raffles, Favorite of Show award, music and food. Information: (858) 748-2445.

May 10-12: Vintage Thunderbird Club International, Southwest Region Convention, Holiday Inn Mission Valley, 3805 Murphy Canyon Road. The convention is open to all Thunderbird owners with cars from years 1955 through 2005, but anyone with an interest in Thunderbirds will be welcome. About 50 cars will be on view for the show, which starts at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 12. Family registration fee, $35. Free to view. Information: Ken Harkema, (619) 462-6478 or eamkensklassics@cox.net.

May 12, 2007: Auto Product Recycling Event, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Mira Mesa High School, 10510 Reagan Rd., (south lot on Reagan Road.), San Diego 92126; sponsored by the city of San Diego and the California Integrated Waste Management Board. San Diego residents only. Proof of residency required. No business waste accepted. Items accepted include used motor oil, oil filters, auto batteries and antifreeze. Information: (858) 694-7000.

May 19: 4th annual Corvette Dreamin’ car show,  10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Ventura Cove, Mission Bay (near the Bahia Hotel). Hosted by Corvettes of San Diego and sponsored by Bob Stall Chevrolet, more than 150 cars are expected to compete in People’s Choice and Concours classes. Other activities include vendors, raffle, music and food, serviced by Kiwanis Club of Poway. Contributions will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of San Diego. Information: www.corvettesofsandiego.com or Craig, (951) 676-8969.

May 20: 30th annual Plastic Fantastic Corvette Show, 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Spanish Landing on Harbor Boulevard. Hosted by North County Corvette Club, supporting the Challenged Athletes Foundation. There will be People’s Choice and Concours classes, vendors, raffle prizes, DJ and food by the Boy Scouts. Information: www.NCOCC.com or Sandy at (760) 739-8564.

May 20: “Curves Are for Cars” 2nd annual Scoliosis Car Show,  9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Dave and Buster’s parking lot, Mission Valley, 2931 Camino Del Rio N. Open to all cars and motorcycles; registration by May 5, $15; $20 thereafter; dash plaques for the first 50 to register. Free to view. Proceeds benefit Scoliosis Association of San Diego. Information: www.sdscoliosis.com.

May 20: Dubs in the Sun 2007, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Brengle Terrace Park, Vista. The show is open to all air-cooled VWs; sponsored by California Pacific / J-Bugs and hosted by the San Diego Air Cooled Syndicate, San Diego Thing Club and San Diego chapter of VVWOA. Registration: $15. Free to view. Also featured will be trophies, food and raffle; $20 swap spaces available. Information: www.sdacs.com.

May 20: Southern California Flat Track Motorcycle Racing,  Perris Raceway, off state Route 74 west of Perris. Practice begins at 9 a.m. Upcoming races: June 3, June 16 and July 14. Information: www.perrisflattrack.com or (951) 657-7441.

May 22: Electric Vehicle Association of San Diego monthly meeting,  7 p.m., San Diego Regional Transportation Center, 4001 El Cajon Boulevard (at Interstate 15). Free. Meetings are held the fourth Tuesday of the month, January through November. Information www.evaosd.com.

May 26: American Heritage Car Show, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Escondido History Center, Grape Day Park, 321 N. Broadway, Escondido. The show is open to pre-1974, American-made classics, muscle cars and hot rods. The show also will honor Escondido racing legend Ted Cyr. Also featured will be music, awards, raffle, vendors, pancake breakfast, tours of the history center and new-vehicle displays by sponsors Mercedes-Benz of Escondido and Toyota of Escondido. Show registration, $25, by May 16 includes a T-shirt and dash plaque. Proceeds will benefit the history center. Free to view. Information: (760) 743-4382 or www.escondidohistory.org.

June 3: 15th annual Buicks at Bates Nut Farm, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., 15954 Woods Valley Rd., Valley Center. Presented by the Buick Grand National Racing Association, the show highlights Buicks but is open to all vehicles. Pre-registration, $20; day of show, $25.  Information: Steve Hurst, (714) 772-6201 or Pat Fierro, (858)-273-5325.
 
CRUISE NIGHTS
Monday Night Car Club, 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, VFW Hall, 12650 Lindo Lane, next to Lindo Lake Park, Lakeside. Information: http://www.mncc.cc/.

East County Cruisers, 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Tyler’s Taste of Texas Barbecue, 576 N. Second St., El Cajon. Information: (619) 312-0129 or http://www.eastcountycruisers.com/.

Cajon Classic Cruise,  5 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, East Main Street at Prescott Promenade, El Cajon. Information: www.downtownelcajon.com.

Classic Malt Shop, 6 to 9 p.m. Fridays, 3615 Midway Drive, Loma Portal. Cars from the ’50s and older. Information: (619) 226-1600.

Fallbrook Rods & Relics, 7 to 9 a.m. Saturdays, Sunrize Cafe, River Village, state Route 76 and Mission Road, Bonsall. Information: (760) 723-4020.

Great Autos of Yesteryear, 6:30 p.m. second Wednesday of the month, Old Mill Cafe, North Park. Gay-friendly club for owners and those who appreciate vintage autos. Information: (619) 660-0210.

Mission Valley Corvettes and Cobras, 8 a.m., every first Saturday of the month, Starbucks, 2245 Fenton Parkway, San Diego (in the Fenton Plaza-Costco-IKEA shopping center just off Friar’s Road, west of Qualcomm Stadium).

Casa de Oro Cafe, 5 p.m., every second and fourth Saturdays, 9809 Campo Rd., Spring Valley. Information: (619) 460-4830.

Siggy’s Car Cruise, 3 to 6 p.m. second Saturday of the month, 26820 Jefferson Ave., Murrieta. Free entry; trophies awarded. Information: (951) 244-3202.

Clairemont Neighborhood Cruisers, 5 to 8 p.m. every fourth Saturday, Woodies Chili Dogs, 4250-D Clairemont Mesa Blvd. (in Clairemont Town Square). Information: (858) 270 6412.

Dalton’s Roadhouse, noon to 4 p.m., every first Sunday, 775 Center Drive, San Marcos.

Coco’s Restaurant, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., every third Sunday, 16759 Bernardo Center Drive, Rancho Bernardo.

RADIO
“You Auto Know,” hosted by Dave Stall, 1-3 p.m. Saturdays, KCEO-AM 1000; listen online at http://www.kceoradio.com/. Call-in: (800) 292-5236.

“Click & Clack,” Tom and Ray Magliozzi, 10-11 a.m. Saturdays KPBS-FM 89.5; repeated 1-2 p.m. Sundays.

“The Car Show,” with Art Gould and John Retsek, 9-10 a.m. Saturdays, KPFK-FM 90.7 or listen online at http://www.kpfk.org/. Call-in: (818) 985-5736.

“RPM Today,” hosted by Dave Stall, 1 to 3 p.m. Sundays on ESPN radio. Locl, regional and national motorsports. Call-in: (866) ESPN-800 or e-mail: rpm@espnradio800.com.

ONGOING
Miramar Speed Circuit, 8123 Miralani Drive, off Miramar Road. Indoor kart racing with Sodi karts and 6.5-horsepower Honda engines on a 1,500-foot asphalt track. For adults at least 54 inches tall. Junior classes use slightly depowered engines, for children at least 48 inches tall.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight Friday, 9 a.m. to midnight Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Pricing: Adult and youth races $23; members $18. Information: (858) 586-7500 or http://www.miramarspeedcircuit.com/.

K1 Speed Karting, 6212 Corte Del Abeto, Carlsbad (off Palomar Airport Road near Legoland). Italian electric Pro Karts with roll hoop, racing harness and a reverse gear on a 2,000-foot-long asphalt track; helmets and other gear are provided. Corporate groups encouraged.
Arrive and drive: $25 for nonmembers; lunch-hour special: $20 nonmembers, Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Hours: Monday: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Information: http://www.k1speed.com/.

Horseless Carriage Foundation Library, 8186 Center St., La Mesa. For automobile research and restoration. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Information: http://www.hcfi.org/, (619) 464-0301 or e-mail hcfi@aol.com.

San Diego Automotive Museum, Balboa Park; open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; last admission at 4:30 p.m. Admission: $7; seniors and active military with ID $6; ages 6 to 15 $3; younger than 6 free. Automobiles, motorcycles and memorabilia take visitors through automotive history. The core collection includes more than 80 vehicles. Speakers are available for a fee at the museum or at your facility. Programs last about 30 minutes. Information: Kenn Colclasure, (619) 231-2886 or http://www.sdautomuseum.org/.

Simpson’s Garden Town Nursery and Auto Barns, 13925 state Route 94, Jamul; 8:30 a.m. to 4:50 p.m. Wednesday through Monday, closed Tuesday. More than 70 restored or customized cars and trucks in two barns, ranging from Model As and Ts, through the ’30s and ’40s to muscle cars of the ’60s and ’70s. The nursery grounds include more classics and travel trailers. Free. Information: (619) 669-1977 or http://www.simpsonsnursery.com/.

J.A. Cooley Museum, 4233 Park Blvd., North Park (off El Cajon Boulevard). The museum specializes in early years of automotive history and features some 24 cars in original condition, including an 1895 Benz, a 1903 curved-dash Oldsmobile, 1907 International, 1910 Hudson, 1910 Russell, 1913 Oakland, 1904 DeDion, 1936 Cord and three early Cadillacs.
Admission: $2 to $5. Hours: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Guided tours for three or more people are available. Information: (619) 296-3112.

Motor Transport Museum, 31949 state Route 94, Campo (about a mile from the railroad museum). Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. This old-truck museum is loaded with weather-worn hulks of sleeper-cab tractors, heavy equipment, light trucks and more dating to 1912. The main building contains about a dozen restored trucks, including a Diamond T, Federal, Mack and Autocar.
Admission is free, donations accepted. Take Interstate 8 to Buckman Springs Road, south to state Route 94, turn left and go a half-mile to the museum, on the right.
Information: (619) 478-2492 or (619) 233-9707.

The San Diego Collection, 7215 El Cajon Blvd. Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday; closed Mondays; free admission. About 25 vehicles on view (some are for sale).
Information: (619) 667-3136; Web site: http://www.thesandiegocollection.com/.

Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd. (at Fairfax), Los Angeles. The museum has more than 150 vehicles - motorcycles, race cars, hot rods, customs and trucks - on view.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays.
Admission: $10; seniors and students with ID $5; ages 5 to 12 $3. Parking: $6.
Information: (323) 930-CARS or http://www.petersen.org/.

NHRA Motorsports Museum, 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona. Presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California. The museum is open year-round, Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas). About 60 cars are on view. An array of photographs and memorabilia chronicle more than 50 years of U.S. motor sports.
Admission: NHRA members free; nonmembers $5, seniors 60 and older and juniors 6 to 15 $3, younger than 5 free.
Information: (909) 622-2133 and www.nhra.com/museum.

 

 

Kiev documentary fest crowds down

(InfoWorld) - Sun is introducing a new platform for streaming on-demand video over IP networks to put movies into the hands of customers more efficiently than cable, DVDs-by-mail, or the corner video store.

"We do believe the most natural way for people to enjoy video is to download it from a server," said Andy Bechtolsheim, cofounder of Sun and designer of the Sun Streaming System.

The Sun Streaming System uses four Sun Fire x4100 servers, one x4500 storage/server, and a new product, the Sun Fire x4950 streaming server, all based on server technology developed by Kealia, which Sun acquired in 2004. Bechtolsheim also founded Kealia after leaving Sun. The acquisition brought him back to the company.

Sun Streaming, with a suite of Sun software to manage the system, delivers 160,000 video streams, or 40,000 high-definition TV streams, simultaneously at 2Mbps, said Bechtolsheim.

Fifteen of these systems, at about 5,000 titles per system, theoretically could stream the entire library, all at once, of 75,000 DVD titles from Netflix, which distributes DVD rentals by mail.

The Sun Streaming System, to be unveiled Wednesday at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, addresses the consumer lament as sung by Bruce Springsteen in his hit, "57 Channels (and Nothin' On)."

"There's really no reason that middle-class Americans, when they watch three or four hours of TV a day, shouldn't be able to watch whatever they want when they want to watch it," said Sandeep Agrawal, group marketing manager for the Sun Systems Group.

The Sun system delivers second-generation video on demand at a capital cost of $50 per stream, about half the cost of first-generation video servers, said Eve Griliches, telecom program manager at the research firm IDC.

First-generation video servers are offered by companies like SeaChange International, C-COR, Kasenna, and Arroyo Video Solutions, which was acquired by Cisco in 2006. But they are proprietary systems whose vendor lock-in makes it difficult for network operators to upgrade with other equipment, Griliches said. Sun's second-generation system uses open standards.

IDC forecasts the video server market to grow to $2 billion by 2011, from just $350 million in 2006, she said.

Initially, Sun will sell its system to networking companies that will be able to serve telephone companies offering IPTV service to their customers. Sun announced partnerships with Nortel and Electronic Data Systems to use the Sun platform.

Sun will initially target phone companies because there is still an ample supply of network capacity built up from the dot-com era. Cable networks, by contrast, are not as equipped to deliver this much content, said Bechtolsheim.

"Quite frankly, they don't have enough bandwidth," he said. The aggregate bandwidth on a cable is limited to the capacity of coaxial cable, and a lot of the channels on a cable system are designated for broadcast channels.

"It would require an order of magnitude upgrade to cable networks to provide the same on-demand capacity as this system offers," Bechtolsheim said.

But IPTV also has limitations, said IDC's Griliches; routers that are not easily scalable, as well as Ethernet switches and other network servers, could slow traffic between the Sun platform and the TV set.

Those technology problems will eventually be addressed, however, and Griliches sees video on-demand competition from cable companies Internet companies like Google and Yahoo as well as TV networks that are expected to allow more of their programming to be streamed from their Web sites.

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Kiev documentary fest crowds down

Web Exclusive: Audiences lose 'Contact' with event -- Maybe the audiences were out on the Kiev streets, where an ongoing round-off between opposing Ukrainian political factions continues. At least, attendance from general public and students alike at the city's "Contact" documentary fest that closed April 20, looked distinctly down

“DA”, Curtain Call Theatre, 04/25/07

Curtain Call’s `Da’ an offbeat journey

By MICHAEL ECK
Special to the Times Union

COLONIE … “There’s only room for one of you in my mind,” Charlie Tynan says to himself,
actually a version of himself years younger.

“If I let you out, he’ll come back like a yo-yo.”

“He” is Charlie’s father, Da; and no, Charlie’s not crazy.

In Hugh Leonard’s “Da,” currently in production at Curtain Call Theatre, the ghosts of Charlie’s past are manifest. He converses with them, they converse back. They sit at the table beside him.

But Leonard never hides the fact that this is a stage gimmick. The conversations are clearly happening in Charlie’s quite sane mind. “Da” is a memory play that just happens to occur on multiple planes at once.

Phil Rice is directing the show for Curtain Call and he does a journeyman job of it. If the play misses a certain lyricism and grace (particularly in the early behind-a-scrim appearances of John Noble’s title character), it makes up for it with sturdy storytelling.

Once he’s let out from behind the scrim, for example, Noble … pun intended … comes alive.

The play actually takes place on the day of Da’s funeral, with Charlie in his adoptive parents’ Irish home sorting through the remaining detritus of their lives.

His mother (Barbara Richards), dead years before, also visits, as does the aforementioned Charlie of the past (Chris Cook).

But the play really hinges on the character dubbed Charlie (now), and James Keil does an excellent job in that role.

Keil is a studied actor, but his efforts result in a natural performance that manages to be full of sorrow, ennui, disgust and surprise all at once.

The journey through “Da” does not end with any warm, fuzzy realizations. And Charlie’s contempt for his Da, a simple, some might say simple-minded, gardener, is hardly lessened by the trip.

But Keil doesn’t pine for redemption. He plays the character as written and when he exits the family home one last time he knows his old memories will walk with him.

Curtain Call has made a habit, amid its seat-filling farces and popular mysteries, of staging off-beat family dramas, and “Da” fits that bill well.

Cook virtually repeats his character from Albany Civic Theater’s recent “Cripple of Inishmaan,” but he seems less cloying here. Phil Sheehan … who is often too measured for my tastes … is perfect as the tightly wound Drumm.

Aaron Holbritter, Maureen Neff and Judie Bouchard complete the cast in supporting roles.

Again about the scrim. Dee Mulford’s scenic design, especially after Michael Blau’s excellent work on “Rabbit Hole,” is a disappointment, but that’s no reason to pass on an interesting production of such a rarely seen contemporary classic.

Michael Eck, a freelance writer from Albany, is a frequent contributor to the Times Union.

“Da”
Performance reviewed: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Curtain Call Theatre, 210 Old Loudon Road, Latham
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes; one intermission
Continues: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 2 p.m. Sunday. Through May 19
Tickets: $20
Info: 877-7529
Web site: http://www.curtaincalltheatre.com

TiE Software: Web 2.0 and the Enterprise

TiE Software: Web 2.0 and the Enterprise

Relaxing before we start: Jeff Nolan, Charlene Li, Ross Mayfield

TiE Software: Web 2.0 and the Enterprise

Prashant Shah from Hummer Winblad introducing the panel.

TiE Software: Web 2.0 and the Enterprise

Jeff Nolan, Charlene Li, Ross Mayfield - all mic'ed up

TiE Software: Web 2.0 and the Enterprise

It was an extremely interesting and participative audience.

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