Companies team for ease of printing from cell phone

Companies team for easeof printing from cell phone
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Too busy to stop to print out a crucial e-mail, text message or picture snapped with a camera phone?
New software unveiled this week by Sony Ericsson and Hewlett-Packard Co. could make things easier by letting people beam important items directly to a Bluetooth-enabled printer.
Users of Sony Ericsson's P800 and P900 mobile phones can download HP's wireless printing software and use the phones' built-in Bluetooth transmitter to send items to a similarly equipped HP DeskJet printer.
Such printing "is a natural extension of what people want to do with digital information," said Gregg Patterson, vice president of HP's consumer imaging and printing unit.
HP has a similar arrangement for Nokia 6100 and 3600 series phones, as well as its other camera phones. Talks are under way with other major manufacturers of camera phones, but nothing has been announced.
'Satan' disrupts serviceat virtual church site
LONDON -- A virtual church has been forced to tighten security after a slew of abusive visitors, including one logged on as "Satan," ranted from the pulpit and swore in the aisles.
The Church of Fools said it has withdrawn the "shout" button, which lets visitors address everyone present, and added more wardens, who use a "smite" button to log out people who use abusive language.
The apse area, including pulpit, lectern and altar, has also been closed to visitors.
The online church, complete with a stained glass window, gothic arches, pews and a crypt, is sponsored by the Methodist Church and run by Ship of Fools, an online Christian magazine.
Visitors are represented by three-dimensional figures, or avatars, and are able to cross themselves, kneel to pray and throw their hands up in worship.
Most worship is personal and contemplative -- visitors can talk among themselves -- but there are regular sermons by visiting preachers, delivered in audio and text formats.
Wardens struggled to oversee 60,000 visits to the church during the first two days of its opening last week. The site, at www.shipoffools.com/church, has attracted between 5,000 and 10,000 visits a day since then.
Among the early visitors is a person who logged on as "Satan," entered the pulpit and started to blaspheme.
Church of Fools said most of the problems happened during the night in Britain, when people log on from the United States and Australia.
File-sharing software caseattracts bloggers' support
TOKYO -- A Japanese professor arrested on copyright charges of developing file-sharing technology is emerging as a celebrity and has received more than $62,000 toward his defense.
Word about a defense fund for Isamu Kaneko, a 33-year-old assistant professor at the prestigious University of Tokyo, spread mainly through "blogs," or Internet journals, which are rapidly attracting thousands of users in Japan.
Kaneko, a well-known figure here on a popular Internet bulletin board as "Mr. 47," was arrested last week for developing Winny software, which lets people swap movies and video games online.
If convicted, Kaneko faces up to three years in prison or a fine of $26,000. His lawyer, Toshimitsu Dan, says there are no laws in Japan that declare file-sharing software itself illegal.
Kaneko's defense fund is drawing people who'd met only through blogs, said Shunichi Arai, a software engineer who helped create the fund. Web pages are sprouting here, urging support for "Mr. 47" and updating news on his case.
About a million Japanese are thought to have used Winny, largely because of its reputation for anonymous file-sharing.
Vietnam tightens watchon users of the Internet
HANOI, Vietnam -- Vietnam has imposed harsh new policies to monitor Internet users after a crackdown on cyber-dissidents, the state-controlled press reported.
Many of the new requirements -- which went into effect in March and were publicized by Vietnamese papers last week -- involve Internet cafes where many Vietnamese use the Web.
Personal identification information must now be presented before logging on, and all Internet activity will be tracked, according to the An Ninh The Gioi (World Security) newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Ministry of Public Security.
The newspaper said Internet cafe owners must also document the time each user spends online and prevent users from bypassing government-imposed barriers designed to block access to sites deemed subversive or pornographic.
Failure to comply could result in fines of up to $3,200 or prosecution, according to the Official Gazette, where the decision was first published.
Vietnam's Communist government has cracked down on use of the Internet for political or religious dissent. Several cyber-dissidents have received lengthy sentences over the past two years.
Associated Press
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.