Despite the age of these games, one website boasted that more than 2,000,000 games had been downloaded in just two months. Another site, World of Spectrum, claims 60,000 games are downloaded each day. Unfortunately, some websites are actively depriving programmers and companies of revenue by emulating more contemporary systems, such as the Playstation or Nintendo 64. The rule of thumb for anyone wanting to resurrect a virtual version of their old computers is first to establish whether it is legal to emulate a particular computer and then to check if a avourite game can be played without breaching copyright. If you can satisfy both those requirements then your PC can transport you back to the 1980s.
Glossary
breach, n - нарушение (закона) burgeon, v - распускаться, давать ростки deprive , v - лишать (чего-либо)
emulate, v – эмулировать (моделировать работу одной машины на другой) enforce, v - принуждать, навязывать
fire, n - запуск
heritage, n - наследство, наследие infringement, n - нарушение (закона, прав)
keen, a - сильно желающий, стремящийся к чему-либо obsolete, a - устарелый, вышедший из употребления revenues, n - доходы
state-of-art, n/a - современное состояние, современный swamp, v - засыпать, заваливать
valid, a - действительный, имеющий силу
waiver, n - формулятор предварительного выпуска программного изделия
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Vocabulary in context
Find the words in the text with the following definitions
1.to recall to mind, recollect:__________________________________________
2.real, rightly so called:______________________________________________
3.personally encountered or undergone:_________________________________
4.suited to personal comfort or to easy use:______________________________
5.to accept as true, valid or accurate :___________________________________
6.present or ready for immediate use:___________________________________
7.a mark to identify manufacture or quality or to designate ownership:_________
Reading comprehension questions
1.What models of computers were popular in Europe in the 1980s?
2.What are emulators? What do they provide?
3.What computer games can be played again through retrogaming?
4.What is considered to be an infringement of intellectual property rights?
5.What is the rule of thumb for a person wanting to resurrect a virtual version of his old computer?
Text 3 GRAPPLING WITH THE NEW POLITICS OF SOFTWARE
Is your software friend or foe? It` s getting harder and harder to tell. You paid for it and figure it's working for I you, helping you producedocuments, keeping you connected and entertaining you. But software is frequently a double agent. It tries to sell you things or keeps you from using competitors' programs. It acts as a copyright cop. And sometimes, it spies on you, exposing your secrets to corporations, advertisers or the government. "It’s a transparency problem that just gets worse," says Temple University law professor David Post. "Software defines the way we interact with the world, but we don't know what's going on behind the scenes."
Such are the new politics of software, with more blind alleys and hidden agendas than a cold-war novel. At best, the political nature of computer systems is quite explicit, as in
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the case of free and transparent Open Source software, which derives glory not from the program, but from the egalitarian impulses behind it. Other software wear their allegiance on their sleeves, like cryptographic software that protects privacy and allows users to explore the Web anonymously.
But all too often your software's motives quietly diverge from your own. Owners of the flagship programs of Microsoft or AUL (respectively, Windows XP and AOL Version 7.0) are subjected to constant entreaties to use or download products created or endorsed by those media giants. While software "sharing" systems like Napster subversively urge redistribution of intellectual property, these are being litigated out of existence in favor of systems approved by the major record labels.
And all sorts of “spyware” work behind the scene s to deprive people of their privacy, from bots that surreptitiously track Web activity for advertisers to the U.S. government's Carnivore program that has the ability to suck all your electronic activity—surfing to e- mails—into the hands of law enforcement.
Then there are the terrorists of the software world: viruses, which hijacked computer systems as never before in 2001 and show no signs of being under control anytime soon. But what's really shocking is that it's not only the traditional high-tech evildoers who want to plant intruders in our machines. The FBI reluctantly admitted the existence of Magic Lantern, a rogue program that penetrates computers to steal the password keystrokes that can defeat encryption.
Is there any way to rein in software's politics? Different schools of thought have different answers. In a recent paper for the Columbia Science and Technology Law Review, Microsoft's counsel Bradford Smith provides a breakdown: there are the "digital libertarians,” who view the world of tech as a self-organizing, self-healing system where everything works out—as long as govern ment keeps its hands off it. On the other end of the spectrum are "digital structuralists," who bemoan the takeover of the Net by commercial forces and think that only wise government intervention restores power to the people. Smith urges a middle path he calls “digital structuralism,’ which involves self-policing with a threat of regulation.
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The problem with all those approaches is that the key participants—the masses who must actually use the software—are still intimidated by the dazzling yet frustratingly dense technology. For users, the big news of 2001 was that Microsoft's new operating system promised fewer crashes. Nonetheless, as our digital life increasingly becomes the center of our real lives, attention must be paid. The best way to rein in the politics of software is for people to get political about software. Maybe in 2002we'll see that start to happen.
Glossary
allegiance, n - верность, преданность approach, n - подход
approve, v - одобрять bemoan, v - оплакивать
breakdown, n - классификация, анализ cop, n - полицейский
dazzling, a - ослепительный derive, v - получать, извлекать
diverge, v - расходиться, отклоняться encryption, n - шифрование
endorse, v - подтверждать, одобрять entreaty, n - просьба, мольба
foe, n - враг frequently, adv - часто
grapple with, v - бороться, пытаться преодолеть intimidate, v - пугать, запугивать
litigate, v - оспаривать, судиться с кем-либо participant, n - участник
rein, v - управлять, держать в узде rogue, n - жулик, мошенник
subversive, a - разрушительный, губительный surreptitious, a - тайный
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threat, n - угроза
to wear something on one’s sleeves, v - держать что-либо наготове, иметь про запас
Vocabulary in context
Find in the text the words with the following definitions
1.to cover or shield from injury and destruction:______________________________
2.to bring into existence:________________________________________________
3.natural or acquired competence in doing; skill:_____________________________
4.holding back; unwillingly:_____________________________________________
5.to bring back into existence:____________________________________________
6.to suggest beforehand:_______________________________________________
7.a mark with a conventional meaning, used to replace or supplement words:_______
Reading comprehension questions
1.Is your software friend or foe?
2.Are owners of the flagship programs of Microsoft or AOC subjected to constant entreaties to use or download products created by these media giants?
3.What sorts of “spyware” work goes behind the sce nes to deprive people of their privacy on the Net?
4.Is there any way to rein in software`s politics?
5.What is the best way for people to rein in the politics of software?
Text 4. |
THE SOFTWARE SAVIOR? |
With $200 million rollout of its XP operating system, Microsoft is showing once again that no one sells like Gates & Co. The software giant, which announced that earnings were down 42% from a year ago, needs XP to boost sales and anchor its all important move into Internet commerce and services.
Вut the stakes in this launch are even higher for computer and chip manufacturers and makers of peripherals that were reeling from a decline in PC sales even before Sept. 11
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and that have seen buyers virtually disappear since then. A huge chunk of the battered tech sector is counting on XP for a new breath of life.
It will not be easy. Unlike Windows 95, which came out at a time of peace and prosperity, Microsoft's newest operating system is landing in the middle of the slowest economy in a decade. The company's message is fighting for the attention of consumers districted by war, hijackings and anthrax. Consumers have lost their sense of urgency about new technology.
After selling 500 million PCs over the past 20 years, the computer industry is seeing sales decline for the first time ever. Before Sept. 11, research firm IDC was predicting unit shipments in 2001 would slide 6.3% from last year, to 45.3 million, and the terrorist attacks could push fall sales down further. Dell, Compaq and the rest of the PC companies have so far cut – or announced plans to cut - 46,00 0 jobs this year, or about 12% of the industry's payroll. Chipmakers have it worse. Their worldwide revenue is expected to plunge 20% to 30% this year.
Because the Windows system operates more than 90% of all PCs, new versions of the software have traditionally jump-started sales industry-wide by getting people into the marketplace. When Windows 95 came out, consumers lined up outside computer stores at midnight to get it; they wound up buying PCs, laptops and software like video games. In the first few months consumers bought more than 7 million copies, either as upgrades or installed on new computers. "Most of the past releases of Windows drove the market to the next level," says Kevin Winert, a marketing executive at Compaq. "We would love for that to happen again."
But industry analysts have their doubts. XP does have some new features, like one that gives household members their own passworded access to different versions of the same computer's desktop, and the new system delivers photos, music and videos. But XP`s main advantage over older Windows versions is improved reliability, some of it achieved by ditching the crash-prone Windows 95 and 98 code. "It's like an iceberg," says Mark Specker, an analyst at Soundview Technology Group. "All of its biggest improvements are below the surface."
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And that may make the features too understated to win over the 63% "of U.S. households that already have computers and need a compelling reason to trade up. "Regardless of how much money Microsoft spends to market it, this isn't a paradigm shift," says Bruce Kasrel, an analyst at Forrester Research, "and that's what it takes to get a really big boost in PC sales."
Yet some analysts say there is a real paradigm shift on the horizon: broadband Internet access, with which XP is very compatible. As consumers switch over to high-speed access over the next few years, they will start buying high-powered computers, digital cameras and music devices to take advantage of fast delivery of news and entertainment.
The $200 million Microsoft is spending worldwide on TV, print and online advertising, along with hundreds of millions more in cooperative ads with partners like Intel, should produce at least a sales boomlet. It isn't likely to reverse the tech slump, but in these dark days, it could provide what Microsoft's marketing campaign promises: a ray of light.
Glossary
access, n - доступ anchor,v - акреплять boost, v - повышать chunk, n - кусок, часть
compatible, a - совместимый decline, n - падение, снижение, спад ditch, v - выбрасывать
launch, n - выпуск
predict, v - прогнозировать prosperity, n - процветание plunge, v - стремительно падать release, n - выпуск
reliability, n - надежность savior, n - спаситель stakes, n, pl - ставка
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shipment, n - погрузка, отгрузка, отправка
slump, n - кризис, резкий экономический спад
urgency, n - настоятельность, безотлагательность
understate, v - преуменьшать
Vocabulary in context
Find the words in the text with the following definitions
1.to give something in exchange for money:___________________________________
2.the act of making a product, a service, a job vacancy, an event, etc publicly known:_________________________________________________________________
3.to pass from view suddenly or gradually:_____________________________________
4.to draw one` s attention to a different object:__________________________________
5.money received from sale of goods or services:_______________________________
6.a person who buys goods or services for his/her own use and not for resale:__________________________________________________________________
7. superiority of position or condition:_________________________________________
Reading comprehension questions
1.What is the name of Microsoft new operating software system?
2.What are its features?
3.What was the situation in the tech sector of the USA in October 2001?
4.Why have consumers lost their sense of urgency about new technology?
5.Why can we say that Microsoft`s marketing campaign promises a ray of light in the tech slump?
Text 5 MICROSOFT TO OFFER LINUX SOFTWARE?
Microsoft, which denied that it had any plans to develop software for Linux, is facing a growing threat from the open source software standard as it gains share in the corporate server market used to manage networks and data. META Group predicted that Linux will be used on nearly half of new servers by 2007, up from its
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current share of 15 to 20 percent, making it difficult for Microsoft to ignore Linux as a platform for its database, Web hosting and e-mail server applications. "We believe that, beginning in late 2004, Microsoft (and its partners) will begin moving some of its proprietary application enablers (e.g., .Net components) to the Linux environment; this will gradually include the major Microsoft back-office products, such as SQL Server, IIS, and Exchange," META Group said.
In a further shift, META Group said that Microsoft would also re-price or separate its Windows server operating system "so that it can be favorably compared against 'free' Linux." "I'm unaware of any efforts at thistime to move any products onto Linux," said Peter Houston, senior director at Microsoft's server group, adding that there were no plans to detach or re-price its Windows server operating system. "We have made a bet on Windows, and we believe that customers are getting value from the bet we made," said Houston, "and we're going to continue doing what we've been doing for customers."
Linux advocates argue that Linux offers better security, flexibility and innovation because its underlying code, or blueprint, for programs remains open to evaluation and scrutiny. Microsoft, which has grown into the world's largest software maker by selling proprietary software that cannot be copied or modified freely, said it is not opposed to open-source software, and points out that its source code is available to approved partners and educational institutions on a limited basis. Microsoft faced a similar situation a decade ago when its nascent server software was competing head- to-head with market leader Sun Microsystems Inc., but Microsoft did not choose at the time to write software for Sun's proprietary version of Unix.
Now Linux, essentially a free version of Unix, is eating away at Sun's share of the business server market. Sun, a hardware and software maker, is now selling computers running Linux, a strategy that was also embraced by International Business Machines Corp. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft has toned down its criticism of Linux recently, after an internal strategy document said that some of its arguments against open source software has "backfired." Instead, Microsoft has
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stressed that its software is more affordable when considering the total cost of using Linux, including ongoing personnel and administration costs.
A recent Microsoft-sponsored study by researcher IDC concluded that servers based on Microsoft's Windows 2000 were cheaper to own and operate when used for networking, storing and sharing files, printing and security, while Linux servers were cheaper to operate when used for Web hosting. META Group's report also came to the same conclusion, saying that Linux's total costs of ownership were likely to be higher for mainstream server applications. "IT organizations must evaluate platform costs from a total-cost-of-ownership perspective," META Group's report said.
Glossary
afford, v - давать, предоставлять возможность argue, v - спорить, обсуждать, убеждать
backfire, v - неожиданно привести к обратным результатам blueprint, n - проект, план
cheap, a - дешевый compete, v - конкурировать
deny, v - отрицать, отказываться detach, v - разделять
effort, n - усилие, попытка embrace, v - включать, охватывать environment, n - конфигурация
evaluate, v - оценивать, определять количество gain, v - приобретать, получать
gradually, adv - постепенно make a bet, v - заключать пари
nascent, a - появляющийся, образующийся point out, v - указывать
predict, v - предсказывать proprietary, a - внутренний, частный
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