by Larry Magid
reposted from San Jose Mercury News

Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos wants it both ways: He wants to change the way we read without making us feel that we have to change the way we read. The manifestation of this lofty goal is the Kindle - the company’s first electronic book reader. After testing the device, I found much to like but plenty of room for improvement. At $399, I also think it’s overpriced. The Kindle is hardly a new idea. There have been plenty of attempts in this category, including one called the Rocket eBook reader and, most recently, the Sony reader. But none of those has done much to wean people away from paper books.

But Amazon has something none of the other players can match - the world’s largest online bookstore and a powerful position with the publishing community. Its library of 90,000 e-books includes almost all the bestsellers. And, unlike typical e-book pricing, Amazon is selling electronic books at a very reasonable price - $9.99 for most new books and as little as $3 for older titles. I was on the verge of spending $18 for “Boom,” Tom Brokaw’s new book about the ’60s but am instead reading an electronic version that I bought for $9.99. (more…)

A major data breach in the United Kingdom could expose the personal data of more than 25 million people - nearly half the country’s population. The data relates to details about families with children, including names, dates of birth, addresses, bank account information and insurance records.The information was contained on two computer discs which were lost when they were sent to an audit office by means of an internal mail service, reportedly by a junior employee of the British Revenue and Customs Office.

The loss was disclosed to the House of Commons on Monday by British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling - who leads Britain’s equivalent of the Treasury Department - who said the discs were sent via ordinary mail between government departments.

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U.K. Uproar Over Data Loss - MP3Podcast

Larry Magid talks to British technology safety expert John Carr about the snafu at the British equivalent of the Internal Revenue Service.
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Members of Parliament, according to the Times of London, “gasped as they heard the scale of the catastrophic breach of security guidelines.”

The Times says Darling, who admitted that the tax agency made the same mistake several times in the past six months, said he was informed of the security breach on Nov. 10th and four days later asked police to investigate.

The chairman of the tax agency, Paul Gray, resigned Tuesday as a result of the security snafu, which has also generated criticism of Darling in his leadership of the Treasury.

“Let us be clear about the scale of this catastrophic mistake,” George Osbourne, a prominent member of the Opposition who serves as Shadow Chancellor, told The Times. “His department has compromised the security and safety of every family in the land.”

Authorities say there is no evidence that the missing discs have fallen into hands of criminals.

Considering the percentage of the British population affected, this is an enormous data breach and, because it involves children, it’s particularly worrisome.

“This is a source of great worry on a number of different levels,” said John Carr, a British technology safety expert, in an interview with CBS News. “If the names, addresses, ages, dates of birth of all 15 million children were to get into the hands of sex offenders, for example, then who knows how they would exploit that data.”

They would certainly have a list of targets and know quite a lot about them.

Carr also worries about the banking system. “The British banking industry is almost in meltdown, because the discs also got the details of the bank accounts of all the families as well.”

This is, said Carr, “the third breach from our equivalent of your I.R.S., so there are all kinds of questions being asked about how they are handling sensitive data.”

The government, said Carr, “delayed the announcement for four days in order to give the British banking industry time to prepare for a deluge of telephone calls and inquiries from members of the public.”

One concern about losing a database with both names of family members and banking data is that family member names are often used as passwords by individuals (although, for security reasons, that is never a good idea). Carr said that the banking industry has issued a security alert recommending people immediately change any passwords associated with family member names.

Barclays Bank UK has set up a customer hotline to advise depositors about security precautions and has posted on its website a notice asking for “our customers’ understanding if this involves us asking more questions than normal to identify that a customer is who they say that they are.”

The bank’s website further reassures customers “that there is no evidence that the data is in the hands of fraudsters. A British banking industry safety website, banksafeonline.org.uk, advises depositors to be “vigilant and follow existing security advice to help you spot and stop ID fraud being committed using your details. This includes always checking your statements, opening post and checking bills, and if you spot an unfamiliar transaction you should contact your bank, building society or service provider immediately.”

The site further states that “If you are the innocent victim of banking fraud as a result of this incident, as a UK customer, you are protected by The Banking Code, which means you should not suffer any financial loss as a consequence.”

Of all life’s challenges, I’m beginning to think that shopping for electronic gadgets is right up there with brain surgery and rocket science. I’m tempted to suggest that high schools and colleges offer it as one of their life skills classes. But I’m not sure it would do any good because by the time the kid graduated, everything would have changed. Buying a new flat panel high-definition TV is a good example and something that many people will be doing between now and Dec. 24. I’m not sure I can even list all the basic criteria but the ones that come to mind include screen size, audio quality, resolution, cabinet thickness, density of black images on screen and of course whether you want an LCD, plasma, rear screen or even front screen projection system.

One thing I can say about hi-def TVs is that if you spend enough time looking at them side by side, you will see some differences and be tempted to spend more to get more. But if you compare about any hi-def TV to the standard-def TV you already have, you’ll be delighted - even if you buy a low-end set.

Anyone buying a new DVD player is also in for a challenge. Do you get a high-end version of standard DVD or opt for a high-definition DVD? If you’re thinking of high-def, you have to make a nearly religious commitment to support either BluRay or HD-DVD. Whichever you choose, you’ll only be able to watch hi-def DVDs from studios that support that standard, which is why I’m still not ready to recommend either camp.

Digital cameras are a little easier to comprehend but there are still a ton of options to consider, including whether to go with a pocket-size model or a larger camera with a bigger optical zoom.

There was a time when you could make that decision based on price - little cameras had littler price tags - but that’s no longer necessarily true. Kodak’s EasyShare Z1812 IS, for example, costs only $279. And it comes with all sorts of bells and whistles, including a 12-X optical zoom and image stabilization (which is a very good idea if you’re using a large zoom lens). You can pay that amount for pocket-size cameras with small lenses. That isn’t to say you should opt for a larger camera - there’s a lot to be said about ultraportability - but that buying choices are a bit harder than they used to be.

There is no magic bullet when it comes to shopping for electronics but there are plenty of resources. The usual Web sites like Shopping.com, Yahoo Shopping and megastores like Amazon.com can often get you good prices and decent service.

But don’t overlook the advantage of brick and mortar. If I’m not sure what I’m looking for, I still appreciate the opportunity to kick the tires on merchandise. If it’s a relatively big-ticket item, I’m inclined to visit specialty stores, big box stores and surf online to be sure I know what’s out there.

And if someone at one of those stores gives me great help, advice and service, I try to reward that with my dollars and not exploit their good work by buying elsewhere, even if it saves me a few bucks. But if I can find something online for a lot less than I find it in a local store, I’ll print out that offer and show it to the local merchant to see how closely they can match it. Local merchants pay local taxes and hire local people. All other things being reasonably equal, that’s a good thing to support.

Still, there is something to be said for using the Web for comparison shopping, detailed descriptions of items and both professional and end-user reviews that you won’t get while browsing at a local brick and mortar store.

Once I know what I’m looking for, I typically search through Google Products (www.froogle.com) to find the best prices. But I don’t necessarily pick the lowest price. Shipping rates, return policies and customer feedback about that merchant are important to consider.

If I’m tempted to buy from a merchant I’m not familiar with - especially one with low-ball pricing - I always do some further digging, including using Google to look for the merchant’s name followed by the word “scam” or “review.”

Starting today, there is a new tool in the gadget shopper’s tool kit. Retrevo.com is launching a product comparison site that uses what the company calls a value map to help consumers narrow in on products and merchants. Calling itself a matchmaking service for people and electronics, the service gives you a range of relevant criteria to help you choose a product and a place to buy it.

They only work with merchants that have been vetted by Yahoo Shopping or Shopping.com, so you shouldn’t encounter any scammers. The company focuses on 40 categories of consumer electronics. The value map gives you an graphical way to compare products based on price and perceived value. The service uses information from across the Web including professional reviews and user feedback sites.

It won’t give you instant gratification - you have to work to narrow down your criteria. You still might want to do some additional research to be sure you’re getting the best value for your money, but its certainly a good place to start.

Macintosh users are often characterized as both cool and independent. A few years ago Apple ran commercials with the tag line “think different.” More recently, the company’s humorous “I’m a Mac / I’m a PC” commercials have juxtaposed a relaxed, lovable Mac character with a frumpy corporate PC guy in an ill-fitting suit. The commercials, and indeed marketplace numbers, make it look like only two choices exist. You can be one of the 8 percent or so of PC users who opt for the Mac “alternative” or be part of the larger herd of Windows PCs. Either way, you’re buying into a company that dictates what your computer experience will be like.

Macs may be cool, but the Mac ecosystem is pretty much controlled by Apple, which decides what machines to build, when to revise the operating system, how much to charge and all other terms of what it means to own a Mac.

Microsoft has plenty of its own faults, including Vista - an operating system no one seems to want. But at least Windows users have a bit of freedom when it comes to hardware. Microsoft partners with multiple PC makers while anyone who wants a Mac has to buy it from Apple.

But when it comes to the real guts of the machine - the software that makes it work - Microsoft Windows users have only two choices: They can get Vista or, as many people do, they can demand a “downgrade” and get the older Windows XP.

But there is an alternative to the Apple/Microsoft duopoly that may soon be ready for prime time.

It’s the open-source Linux operating system, which has been around since 1991 but has scratched only the surface as a desktop operating system with less than 1 percent market share in the United States. That’s not to say it’s obscure. Linux is extremely popular in the server world. Many Web sites, including Google, are powered by Linux. And it’s embedded in plenty of consumer devices ranging from the Motorola Razr to the TiVo personal video recorder. As a desktop operating system, it’s becoming popular in many parts of the world. But in the United States, it’s used mostly by techies who don’t mind having to download and install it themselves.

That may soon change.

Dell, earlier this year, introduced both desktop and notebook machines that run Linux (details at www.dell.com/linux), and Hewlett-Packard offers it on some business machines. Lenovo, which took over the IBM PC brand, already offers it in China and will soon introduce Linux notebooks in the United States.

Last week, Linux got a potential shot in the arm when Everex announced that it will offer a $200 Linux PC through Wal-Mart. The new Everex gPC will feature the gOS operating system based on the Ubuntu distribution of Linux. There are many alternate Linux “distributions,” which are basically versions of the operating system that share the core code but vary when it comes to user interface and bundled software.

While Ubuntu has a pretty straightforward “windows-like” interface, gOS takes user friendliness a step further with an icon-based desktop that even Mac users might find attractive and intuitive. Like many other Linux distributions, it also comes with plenty of free software, including the Open Office productivity suite which offers similar features to Microsoft Office. It also has the Mozilla Firefox browser and the free Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail client.

The machine is mainly positioned to get people on the Web, according to an Everex spokesman. He envisions people using it to access Gmail, Google Docs and Spreadsheets and other online applications. The ‘g’ in gOS doesn’t stand for Google but for green, a reflection of the machine’s relatively energy efficient low-end hardware, including a VIA C7-D processor, an 80 gigabyte hard drive and only 512 megabytes of memory. Buying a Windows Vista machine with 512MB would be like driving a Buick with two cylinders, but Linux is lean enough to work fine with that little memory and a low-powered CPU.

There are now two inexpensive Linux notebook PCs. Asus last week introduced the $399 ultralight Eee PC that runs Linux and comes with 512MB of RAM and a 4GB solid state storage drive. The other new Linux laptop is the One Laptop Per Child device that’s designed to be sold to governments in the developing world for less than $200 for use by school children. Starting Nov. 12, North America folks can “give 1 get 1″ for $399. You get one of these machines for yourself and buy another one for a kid in a developing country. For details go to laptopgiving.org.

Now that’s cool.