Google helps in search for aviator (AP)

The Mountain View-based company has emerged as a potentially useful resource for search-and-rescue teams because of its connections to the dozens of contractors that provide satellite imagery for its popular Google Earth software.

While most of the images used in Google Earth’s 3-D tours of the world are anywhere from six months to three years old, the company can request more recent pictures taken from space.

That’s what happened this week as search-and-rescue teams hunted for clues that might help them determine what happened to Fossett after he took off in a plane Monday from a Nevada airstrip without providing a flight plan.

Richard Branson, a British billionaire who has financed and participated in some of Fossett’s past adventures, said he and others were coordinating efforts with Google to see if any of the high-resolution pictures might include Fossett’s plane, a Bellanca Citabria Super Decathlon.

Google also helped obtain some of the satellite pictures that were used in an unsuccessful search earlier this year for acclaimed computer scientist Jim Gray after he disappeared on a yacht sailing from San Francisco. Google co-founder Sergey Brin is among the legion of young engineers who drew inspiration from Gray’s pioneering work on database software decades ago.

A Google spokeswoman declined to discuss why the company became involved in the Fossett search. Branson apparently has a good relationship with Google, having participated in a charity event hosted by company co-founder Larry Page earlier this year.

DigitalGlobe, which supplies much of Google Earth’s imagery, confirmed that Google called upon the Longmont, Colo.-based company for help Wednesday. Unfortunately, DigitalGlobe didn’t have any pictures available from the area where Fossett took off Monday, said company spokesman Chuck Herring. DigitalGlobe doesn’t expect to get any more images from that part of the country again until Saturday.

“We are partners with Google, so we always try to help out in any way we can,” Herring said.

Music videos go lo-fi as cash dries up (AP)

With the music industry in crisis from falling sales and file sharing, labels have less cash to subsidize elaborate videos that will mostly be seen in miniature on computers. The result has been a major shift in the art form, as artists increasingly embrace the YouTube aesthetic with cheap, stripped-down, low-production videos.

The shrinkage of the video will be obvious Sunday at the MTV Video Music Awards, where grandiose, ambitious videos will seem like an exotic species facing extinction.

“The business is changing radically. It does feel smaller, cheaper,” says veteran music video director Samuel Bayer, whose many clips include Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Blind Melon’s “No Rain” and Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” which won six awards at the 2005 VMAs.

Even Kanye West — one of the most video-conscious artists in music — experimented with a small, quirky clip for his new hit “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.” Instead of the flamboyant rapper, the video stars the bearded, disheveled, unmistakably white comedian Zach Galifianakis.

Pimping an orange tractor on a country farm, he lip-syncs: “Homey, this is my day.”

When MTV’s award show kicked off 24 years ago, the network was ushering in a new era where the video was king: a branding tool and an art form rolled into one. Today, the channel broadcasts mostly reality shows while YouTube, iTunes, and various other online destinations have become the dominant viewing platform for videos.

Directors are gradually adapting to the smaller-sized medium.

Chris Applebaum’s video for Rihanna’s “Umbrella” is nominated for five VMAs, including video of the year and best director. It’s a sleek, beautiful creation, and Applebaum was conscious of where it would be most watched.

“I had a lunch with Rihanna and Jay (label head Jay-Z) and we talked about the fact that most people are going to watch things on their laptop,” says Applebaum. “It’s important to be bold and simple and to find the elegance in simplicity.”

Bayer’s video for Justin Timberlake’s “What Goes Around … Comes Around” is nominated for numerous VMAs, including best video and best director. Starring Timberlake and Scarlett Johansson, the video has a distinctively cinematic feel, complete with a car chase and end credits.

In this way, “What Goes Around” feels old-school — like a rebellion against the new aesthetic. Instead, Bayer aimed for an experience more like Michael Jackson’s landmark 1983 “Thriller” video, directed by John Landis.

“I said, `We gotta go big,’” says Bayer. “`If I’m going up against an OK Go video with four guys on a treadmill that plays millions of times on YouTube, how can I do something that is the opposite of that?’”

In the late `80s and through the `90s, budgets and ambition ran high. Mark Romanek’s 1995 video for Michael and Janet Jackson’s “Scream” is considered the most expensive ever, at an estimated $7 million. There have been many videos in the $2 million range, including Brett Ratner’s “Heartbreaker” for Mariah Carey, Hype Williams’ clip for Busta Rhymes’ “What’s It Gonna Be?!” and David Fincher’s “Express Yourself” for Madonna.

“What Goes Around” cost approximately $1 million, but Bayer thinks it could be one of the last big-budget videos.

“A comet hit the earth and the dinosaurs are dying,” says Bayer. “There’s a new age coming. I think those days are over with.”

Stavros Merjos, founder of HSI Productions and a longtime producer of videos for acts ranging from Britney Spears to Will Smith, doesn’t expect to ever see another $2 million video: “The record industry as a whole has shrunk. There’s not as much money to throw around.”

Merjos sees the effect particularly in hip-hop, where sales declines have been the steepest and extravagant videos by the likes of Notorious B.I.G., Dr. Dre, Diddy and Jay-Z used to be commonplace.

“You were expected to have a big video if you were a top-flight or a serious up-and-coming hip-hop artist,” says Merjos. “They’re not doing the size that they were doing in the heyday.”

Many artists and directors are now creating videos knowing they’ll have to compete for eyeballs on YouTube. OK Go’s famous treadmill-choreographed video for “Here It Goes Again” was perfectly suited for viral distribution, but the power pop band is far from alone in its reconsidered methods.

The Decemberists and Modest Mouse both asked fans to fill in the background to a video shot in front of a green screen. Jessica Simpson did a version of “A Public Affair” composed entirely of fans dancing and lip-syncing to the pop song.

Last year, Death Cab for Cutie sponsored professional videos for each of the 11 songs on their album “Plans.” For his album “The Information,” Beck personally created a video for every track. The silly, lo-fi videos — which ranged from puppet versions of the band to someone dancing in a bear mask and poncho — were posted on YouTube and many copies of the album included a bonus DVD.

And perhaps no one has taken more advantage of the freedom of the Internet than R. Kelly, whose absurd and expansive “Trapped in the Closet” series is ideal for the Web (though it has also run on cable TV).

None of the aforementioned videos will wow you with special effects or giant yacht parties, but they are all refreshingly unconventional.

“The new aesthetic is that it’s very low-budget, lo-fi, very do-it-yourself, not at all dedicated to the old style of music video which was always bigger and louder and more explosions and more money,” says Saul Austerlitz, author of “Money for Nothing: A History of the Music Video from the Beatles to the White Stripes.”

“This is more a punk-rock aesthetic,” he adds. “It’s very exciting.”

Applebaum wouldn’t disclose the budget for “Umbrella,” but said he voluntarily did the video for free. Like many music video directors, he’s increasingly making most of his income through commercial work.

With budgets slashed, being a music director doesn’t pay like it once did — which could threaten music videos’ status as a breeding ground for directing talent. Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Romanek and Fincher are just a handful of video directors who have gone on to become acclaimed filmmakers.

And for a languishing industry, turning the page on one of its most successful promotional tools would be a mistake, says producer Merjos.

“In the end, even if you spend a lot on it, a video is a cheap way to get a band out there,” says Merjos. “There have been groups that have built their whole record sales on videos, not touring.

“You’ve got to put a face on an act.”

Accusation of ID theft by file-sharing (AP)

Gregory Thomas Kopiloff used Limewire, Soulseek and other “peer-to-peer” file-sharing programs to troll other people’s computers for financial information, which he used to open credit cards for an online shopping spree, according to a four-count indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court on Thursday.

Kopiloff, arrested Wednesday, bought more than $73,000 worth of goods online, then resold those items at steep discounts and kept the proceeds, the indictment said.

Authorities allege he victimized at least 83 people.

Though people have been prosecuted for using networks to illegally share copyrighted music, movies and software, the Justice Department called this the first version of an equally — if not more — troubling matter.

Each day, computer users inadvertently share hundreds of thousands of sensitive files through such programs, from banking statements and medical records to tax returns and legal documents, according to Robert Boback, chief executive of Tiversa Inc., a Pennsylvania firm that monitors file-sharing.

Typically the mistakes occur when a user downloads file-sharing software and accidentally allows it to share all files on a computer, rather than just music files, for example.

“If you are running file-sharing software, you are giving criminals the keys to your computer,” said assistant U.S. attorney Kathryn Warma. “Criminals are getting access to incredibly valuable information.”

Boback, who was scheduled to speak at a U.S. attorney’s office news conference on Kopiloff’s case Thursday, testified before a congressional committee on the issue in July. He noted that among the files his company uncovered was a confidential document addressed to Rep. Henry Waxman, the committee’s chairman, concerning a pharmaceutical company’s drug trials.

According to the indictment, Kopiloff began using Limewire and Soulseek — free file-sharing programs available on the Internet — about 2 1/2 years ago to search for people who had inadvertently allowed access to their sensitive files. He searched their computers for federal income tax returns, student financial aid applications and credit reports, it said.

Kopiloff also obtained some sensitive information the old-fashioned way, from associates who would steal mail or go “Dumpster diving” for discarded financial records, the indictment said, adding that he would open credit accounts and then go shopping online, having items such as an iPod, earphones and a hard drive shipped to a UPS store, hotels or post office boxes in Western Washington.

Kopiloff is charged with mail fraud, accessing a protected computer, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. He was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon. It was not immediately known if he had obtained a lawyer.

Google to boost universal search effort (InfoWorld)

Speaking at Citigroup's Annual Global Technology Conference on Thursday, Sundar Pichai, director of product management at Google, said users of the company's search engine will see an increase in the frequency of search results that include various types of links, like Web pages, video clips, images, news articles, and maps.

"We're still at the nascent stages. Going forward, we'll be more aggressive in terms of when we trigger this," Pichai said during a question-and-answer session with a Citigroup analyst and audience members.

, aims to provide a more cohesive search experience for users so that they don't necessarily have to go to the company's image search engine to obtain photo results, for example.

In addition to boosting universal search, Google needs to do better in helping users formulate and refine queries as well as improving its personalized search service, which takes into account users' past queries to tailor search results accordingly. The personalized search offering, which is an opt-in service that requires users to have a free Google account, will incorporate more data to improve the way it tailors search results, Pichai said.

Meanwhile, Nicholas Fox, group business product manager of ads quality at Google, said the company is considering breaking its long tradition of running only text ads in its search result pages.

Moving slowly and cautiously, Google officials are discussing scenarios in which image or video ads may prove more useful than the traditional pay-per-click text ad, Fox said, also speaking during the Citigroup conference.

The ultimate consideration in doing this would be if it improves the user experience, Fox said. "We don't want to show things that are garish or flashy or cause users to become blind to the ads," he said.

Apple seeks to calm irate early iPhone buyers (Reuters)

On Wednesday, Apple slashed the price of its $600 iPhone model to $400, saying it wanted to make the combination phone, music player and Web browser more affordable.

"Even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone, and even though the technology road is bumpy, we need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price," Jobs said in a letter posted on Apple's Web site.

The offer applies to people who bought iPhones at Apple or AT&T Inc stores but did not qualify for rebates or other compensation, Jobs said. AT&T is the exclusive service provider for the iPhone in the United States.

Apple shares fell for a second day on concerns about iPhone profit margins because of the price cut and rebates.

Apple has not disclosed how many iPhones it has sold since its launch in late June, but has said it sold 270,000 iPhones in the first two days and expects to sell 1 million units by the end of September.

Although Apple faces potential costs of tens of millions of dollars if most qualifying customers take the company up on the offer, that will still be a drop in the bucket compared to the $818 million in net profit it made last quarter.

"From a Wall Street perspective it will be mostly ignored, people will say, 'Hey, Apple did a goodwill gesture, they are taking good care of their customers," said Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research.

Apple has a policy to refund the difference to customers who bought a product within 14 days of a price drop.

Web sites and forums were quickly inundated with messages from irate iPhone buyers, some of whom felt that they had been punished for their early support. Jobs said he had received hundreds of e-mails from upset customers.

"Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these," Jobs said.

Darren Chervitz, a money manager with Jacob Internet Fund, said he was concerned about the underlying damage the rapid price cut may have caused to Apple's most loyal fan base.

"You cannot do that without doing damage to your brand and to future launches," Chervitz said. "The early adopters are a big part of Apple's fan base. They want to cultivate it and not think they bought too early."

His fund holds a small position in Apple after paring back over the past year.

Jobs' full statement can be read at Apple shares fell 1.3 percent to $135.01 on Nasdaq.

(Additional reporting by Eric Auchard)

Microsoft enters virtual machine-management (InfoWorld)

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007, which has been in the works for about a year and a half, has been released to manufacturing and will be generally available in October as part of Microsoft's System Server Management Center suite of products, the company said.

The new product is built on the same architecture as other products in the enterprise version of the suite — which include Data Protection Manager, Operations Manager, and Configuration Manager — and is aimed specifically at managing virtual machines in a data center that runs Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2, the current version of Microsoft's server virtualization technology, said Patrick O'Rourke, group manager, Windows Infrastructure. "Customers now can use the same tools to manage both virtual and physical assets [on the network]," he said.

Microsoft also has changed the licensing model for its for its System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise, making it available for $860 per host server — which means the actual server that hosts any instances of virtual software — plus two years of Microsoft's Software Assurance plan. Previously, System Center software was licensed per device being managed in the data center, O'Rourke said. The new licensing should make managing virtualized environments with Microsoft's software more cost-effective for customers, he said.

Microsoft has been developing and fine-tuning its virtualization strategy over the past several years to keep up with virtualization leader VMWare and others, as well as to serve the needs of large customers who increasingly are using virtualization in their data centers. However, the company's strategy has predictably hit some road bumps.

Microsoft is developing next-generation virtualization technology, code-named Viridian, that takes advantage of virtualization-optimized processors from Intel and AMD and will help keep the company up to speed with competitors. However, though Viridian will be a component of Windows Server 2008, it won't be available until six months after that new OS is released. And because Microsoft recently pushed back the release of Windows Server 2008 to the first quarter of next year, Viridian's release is nearly a year away. The company also decided earlier this year to pull out some originally planned features of Viridian due to timing concerns.

In the meantime, customers can use a combination of Microsoft's stand-alone Virtual Server and its System Center products to install and manage both virtual and physical machines in the data center. Microsoft also is planning a mid-market version of Virtual Machine Manager, called Workgroup edition, for release in January. The software will cost $499 per host server.

Microsoft also plans to extend the capabilities of the next version of Virtual Machine Manager so that it not only supports Windows Server virtualization technologies but also third-party virtualization from VMware and XenSource Inc., O'Rourke said. A beta of that software is expected to be available around the same time as Windows Server 2008, and Microsoft plans to update its roadmap then as well.

Britain to review video game, Web laws for young (Reuters)

Britain already has extensive rules covering broadcasters and the video industry, but said it needed to keep pace with developments on the Web and may need to bring in new regulation.

Regulation of video content in Britain became compulsory in 1984. Still, a number of games have been withdrawn by retailers in recent years after complaints about the level of violence shown. Some studies have suggested a link between video game violence and aggressive behavior in children.

The review, which is backed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, will look at how well children are protected from harmful and inappropriate material on the Internet and video games.

The government said it appointed clinical psychologist Tanya Byron, who has written books on child care and made television programs on parenting, to lead the six-month review.

Culture Secretary James Purnell said he wanted children to enjoy new media without their childhood being harmed.

The review, which will not cover television content, will also look at how advertisers may need to face new rules and consider the impact of user-generated content on the Internet.

(Reporting by Gavin Haycock)

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