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Well, no, you can’t “disable” it, you can only select the behavior. And by changing the behavior you can “mitigate” the threat all the way down to a little number the horny one likes to call “zero”.

But Pete’s idea is good, too. Living a life of solitude might be good for you. What with your sex addiction. Whatever.

Right. Don’t email your friends. Become a hermit. Put the phone in a mason jar and bury it under your front porch.

The Apple Blog’s Bob Rudis, meanwhile, just causes the hoofed one to scratch his furry head.

As Alex Hutton points out, you can mitigate the threat by disabling the “home button double-tap” feature of your device.

Or, if you’re just lazy and don’t like to get a little dirt under your fingernails, you could just change the setting for Home Button to, uh, Home. Which, if the Macalope’s not mistaken, is the default setting. So, you may not even have to get up.

Again, the Macalope’s not arguing that this is a bug. It’s clearly a bug. It’s bad. It needs to be fixed.

One way to avoid such unauthorized access to e-mail messages or Web favorites would be not to add e-mail addresses or URLs to favorite address book entries.

InfoWorld’s Peter Sayer sagely notes:

Although, if you need to phone home, just hit Emergency Call and double tap the Home button and…

So, yes, it’s a bad bug and, yes, Apple needs to fix it post haste. Which, of course, is license for everyone to freak out.

For the umpteenth time, Apple has a real security problem and needs to better address the issue and this is just another thing that make the company look stupid. In and of itself, though, it may not be worth phoning home about.

As you may have heard, everyone’s favorite little phone that can has kind of a big bug that kinda sorta makes it, oh, seem like you might be protected when, in fact, your “hysterical” buddies poked holes in your entire pack of prophylactics with pins and didn’t tell you until after spring break.

“Some of that may be media exaggeration but there also is substance to the depiction. In general, European antitrust law focuses more heavily on monopolists’ effects on competing businesses rather than on consumers.”

That does not mean Microsoft’s pursuit of Yahoo is bound to come a cropper once Kroes’ team gets a chance to review any such deal. In an interview with my colleague Ina Fried on Tuesday, Ballmer was noncommittal: “I think regulators will look at that in all appropriate jurisdictions and I’m sure they’ll give us a fair shake in all appropriate jurisdictions.”

Considering Microsoft’s fractious history with the EU, can Microsoft’s CEO safely bet on this being a sure thing? I wouldn’t take that bet.

When Microsoft last week announced changes designed to guarantee better technological interoperability with rivals’ products, the EU responded tersely and, well, rather coldly. Ballmer extended an olive branch, hoping that the Europeans might interpret the move as a sign Microsoft was ready to be more open and yes, play by the rules. Kroes’ office was unmoved.

I can understand why Steve Ballmer may be wondering if he’ll ever catch a break from Neelie Kroes.

We’ll see.

“I can remember four times when, if you were na?ve, you could have thought everything was fixed. This didn’t seem to be the reality. They have to deliver and implement.”

“A single, but highly publicized case of divergence, has contributed to spread this perception. But if you look at the record, you will find that nothing could be further from the truth. Put simply, the EU and U.S. agree on what competition policy should be all about. We share a common fundamental vision of the role and limitations of public intervention. We both agree that the ultimate purpose of our respective intervention in the market-place should be to ensure that consumer welfare is not harmed.”

And no matter how much Ballmer coos about turning the page and being a good corporate citizen, the Old World’s regulatory mandarins still distrust Microsoft. Take a listen to the recording of Kroes’ news conference. At one point it sounds as if she’s talking about her experience with a used
car salesman.

By now, Brad Smith, who directs Microsoft’s legal strategy, probably could write a book on the differences between European and U.S. trustbusters. On the other side of the pond, the prime concern is to maintain viable competition and Europe’s antitrust focus cares more about any monopolistic effects on rival businesses, rather than on consumers.

And they’re not afraid to hold up a big red stop sign. In 2001, U.S. regulators signed off on General Electric’s proposed merger with Honeywell International. The EU’s Competition Bureau, then run by Monti, nixed the deal. He said the combination would have reduced competition in the aerospace industry and resulted in higher prices for customers, particularly airlines.

Europe’s top regulator again stuck it to Microsoft–this time it was a $1.3 billion penalty for noncompliance with previous regulatory decisions. So far, Microsoft has paid more than $2 billion in fines to the EU. A billion here, a billion there–Everett Dirkson, where have you gone?

You have to wonder whether the EU also plans to erect a roadblock in the way of a Microsoft-Yahoo merger–that is, of course, assuming Microsoft ever clinches a deal. What’s clear is that Microsoft’s burden of proof is going to be substantially higher on the other side of the Atlantic than it will be in Washington. The perception that the EU and the U.S. have divergent philosophies when it comes to antitrust policy is close to the reality. I should hasten to add that not everyone shares that view. In fact, Kroes’ predecessor, Mario Monti, argues just the opposite:

“OLPC hasn’t done that well,” Chairman Bill Gates said in a January interview.

He added that the 50-person OLPC Foundation itself lacks the resources to tackle the software project. “Plus, we don’t have the skill set,” he said.

“We view it as a major opportunity for OLPC to expand and expand in a couple of ways,” OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte told CNET News.com in an interview Thursday. “One is to have a broader acceptance in the community and the other is to have more software and software developers available.”

Microsoft, meanwhile, said the first XO laptops with Windows that start rolling out in June will not be dual-boot machines. Microsoft executive James Utzschneider said the XO will help broaden the range of educational machines with Windows. Plus, he said, “There are just a lot of people that have fallen in love with that cute little laptop and they’ve said we want to see Windows on it.”

Negroponte is hoping the move to Windows won’t cost OLPC the things that made its product unique. The company is aiming to port the XO’s “Sugar” interface over to Windows.

“When I talk to people and tell them we can run Windows, they are very impressed,” he said. “You pass a sort of virility test.”

Negroponte said the ability to run Windows is a must-have in some countries. For example, he said, Uruguay made it a requirement in its recent solicitation. Even in other countries where Windows is not required, Negroponte said compatibility with the Microsoft operating system still helps give the laptop credibility.

Microsoft announced in December that it was working to see if it could get Windows XP up and running on the OLPC devices. To make it work, it needed to get the operating system to boot from an SD card and to create drivers to work with OLPC’s unique features, such as its touchpad and e-book reader mode.

“When I talk to people and tell them we can run Windows, they are very impressed. You pass a sort of virility test.” –Nicholas Negroponte, OLPC founder

“We are in discussion with several third parties,” Negroponte said. “I suspect we will have some conclusion next week or the week after.”

For his part, Negroponte said starting out with Linux was essential. “For us to launch the laptop, we had no choice but to use open source,” Negroponte said. “We needed the community. We needed to get (in) there at the OS level to build devices and drivers…to make our point, to make the laptop.”

“There’s no premeditated plan that one is going to dominate over the other,” he said. “Having both is a very powerful option.”

Microsoft and OLPC have both talked about the importance of getting laptops in the hands of children in developing countries, although they have not always talked in the fondest terms about one another’s efforts.

The One Laptop Per Child project and Microsoft announced Thursday that indeed the XO laptop will be available in both Linux and Windows varieties. The companies plan to sell a Windows-powered XO in five or six countries starting next month, with a broader release in August or September.

Meanwhile, speaking at a Linux conference in 2006, Negroponte said of working with Linux and AMD rather than Intel and Microsoft: “AMD is our partner, which means Intel is pissing on me. Bill Gates is not pleased either, but if I am annoying Microsoft and Intel then I figure I am doing something right.”

Meanwhile, Negroponte stressed that he is not giving up on Linux and ultimately aims to deliver machines that can boot into either operating system.

So, I guess this makes it Two Operating Systems Per Child.

Microsoft and OLPC aren’t saying which countries they will start selling the Windows-based XO model in first, although a press release quotes an official in Colombia, so I’d bet that will be one of the first.

A week ago, I wrote about mobile workstations from Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo that were on display at Siggraph 2008, but I left out one major competitor on the mobile workstation front: Dell. (Thanks, CNET commenter dman1000, for pointing out the oversight.) The manufacturer recently announced two new Precision mobile workstations and a “next-generation 17-inch mobile workstation concept.”

(Credit:
Dell)

The company is also talking up a 17-inch mobile workstation concept that (assuming it comes to market) should dish up some hearty competition for the Lenovo and HP models I wrote up last week. The as-yet-unnamed Precision promises support for up to 16GB of memory, RAID capability with up to 1TB of storage, and graphics with a 1GB frame buffer. It will also feature an edge-to-edge glass RGB LED display, with a broad color gamut.

Being a concept, the 17-inch workstation lacks both a release date and pricing, though a video on Dell’s workstation site promises fall 2008.

The 15.4-inch Dell Precision M4400 will incorporate an Intel Extreme Edition processor and midrange Nvdia Quadro FX 770M graphics with 512MB of VRAM. The 14.1-inch Precision M2400, meanwhile, offers Core 2 Duo processors and an entry-level Nvidia Quadro FX 370M graphics card with 256MB of VRAM. Both systems support up to 8GB of memory and 7,200rpm hard drives in capacities up to 320GB. Both models are currently available on Dell’s site; the Precision M4400 starts at $1,569 and the Precision M2400 starts at $1,449.

During an interview at the D6 conference, Yang said:

As I have said before, Microhoo has always been about the money, and less about a shared strategy and cultural fit. Yahoo’s board thought that Yahoo was worth $37 per share, and Microsoft wasn’t going to negotiate against itself, with no other buyers in sight.

I understand the situation people are feeling, but at the same time we did not walk away from that proposal, Microsoft did. We are willing to do a deal under the right terms. It wasn’t clear to me they wanted to finish the deal. I can’t go revisit and take or not take it. I understand our obligation to stockholders from conversations with a number of them. The focus for us is how do we recognize more value for the company soon and position Yahoo to be much more successful in the long term. If there is a way to do it, we’ll talk about other alternatives, but we aren’t going to do something short term.

Not so fast. As Yahoo’s quarterly earnings come up on July 22 (see Kara Swisher’s take on the upcoming financial results) and the shareholder meeting on August 1, Carl Icahn and Steve Ballmer are teaming up to remake Yahoo’s board of directors and shelve Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang. In a letter to Yahoo shareholders, Icahn said:

In the statement, Yahoo invited Microsoft to make a proposal immediately and for Icahn to reveal his plan for Yahoo beyond teeing up Microsoft to make a deal. I doubt Jerry Yang and company are going to receive any kind of proposal until the shuffle at the upcoming shareholder meeting takes place.

Now the fate of Yahoo is clearly in the hands of shareholders. They can give Icahn a few seats on the board but not enough control to force massive changes or they can hand over the company to him and Microsoft, knowing that a transaction for $33 to $35 per share for the search business or the entire company will be consummated over the next six months.

Microsoft issued a letter today confirming Icahn’s remarks about Microsoft’s renewed interest in a transaction with Yahoo:

Steve (Ballmer) made it clear to me that if a new board were elected, he would be interested in discussing a major transaction with Yahoo, such as either a transaction to purchase the ‘Search’ function, with large financial guarantees or, in the alternative, purchasing the whole company.”

On June 27, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said he didn’t think that his company and Yahoo would make a deal, adding that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will find “plenty of other opportunities.

Yang has some regrets that Microsoft walked away from negotiations in May. He may prefer an independent Yahoo, but reality is setting in, and now he is probably wishing he and his board had played less difficult to get.

Update: Yahoo issued a testy statement regarding the Icahn-Ballmer “apparent effort to force Yahoo! into selling to Microsoft its Search business at a price to be determined in a future ‘negotiation’ between Mr. Icahn’s directors and Microsoft’s management.”

While, of course, there can be no assurance of a future transaction, we will be prepared to enter into discussions immediately after Yahoo’s shareholder meeting, if a new board is elected.

Well, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve assembled this list of our favorite long-haul MP3 players, all of which are capable of a week’s worth of casual usage without a recharge.

(Credit:
CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)

Check out our list of six long-haul MP3 players.

Has the daily ritual of recharging all your portable devices become so loathsome that adding one more power-thirsty gadget might make you snap? Or maybe your extreme, jet-setting lifestyle requires a portable music player that can run for more than 40 hours without a recharge?

Because the bidders in the auction are anonymous, it’s difficult to know who is bidding on it. But many analysts believe that Google and Verizon Wireless are the two most likely bidders in the auction. Google CEO Eric Schmidt had said publicly the company was willing to put up at least the minimum reserve price for the spectrum.

Skype, which makes software that allows people to make free and low-cost phone calls over the Internet, issued a statement praising the FCC for putting in the open access. Currently, most U.S. operators do not allow Skype to be used on handsets that operate on their networks.

Some experts have speculated that Google may want the spectrum to build its own wireless network to compete with traditional players such as AT&T and Verizon. Others think that Google wants to build a wireless network that it can lease to other operators. But I’m more inclined to believe that Google may not really want the spectrum at all.

Traditional wireless companies like AT&T are bidding on spectrum. The auction has also attracted several wireless newcomers such as Google, TV satellite provider EchoStar Communications, cable operator Cablevision Systems, and wireless chipmaker Qualcomm.

The reserve price on a valuable sliver of spectrum was reached in the Federal Communications Commission’s 700MHz auction on Thursday, triggering rules that would make the spectrum accessible to any device or software application.

The “C” block is one of five blocks of spectrum in the 700MHz frequency that is being auctioned off. The spectrum is being turned back into the government auction by broadcast television operators who will switch their broadcasts to digital from analog in February 2009. The spectrum is considered valuable because it can travel long distances and penetrate obstacles like walls.

The auction could last for weeks or possibly months, depending on how long the bidding goes on. The auction was expected to generate at least $10 billion. As of Thursday morning, the total bids came to $12.79 billion for all five spectrum blocks.

There’s a good chance the company bid on the spectrum to make sure it reached the $4.6 billion threshold to trigger the open access requirements. And now that those requirements have been met, the company may bow out of the race.

Regardless of whether Google stays in the auction or not, now that the minimum has been reached, the company that eventually wins the spectrum license will have to make their network open to any devices and applications, which is exactly what Google wanted from the beginning.

Now that the open access rule has been triggered, it will be interesting to see what happens next in the auction. Earlier in the week, there was speculation that the “C” block might not reach the reserve price. After intense early bidding, the price seemed to languish. Even though there is no way to tell who is bidding, if the bidding slows again or if someone drops out, it might be an indication that Google was simply trying to pump up the price.

Today, U.S. wireless operators have tight control over which devices can be used on their networks and which applications can be used on those handsets. Google and other companies, such as Skype, have complained that this is too restrictive.

Verizon, which has traditionally been the most strict operator in the U.S. about what it lets on its network, recently said it would allow non-certified devices on its network.

After the 17th round in the auction, a bidder for eight licenses in the “C” block of the 700MHz spectrum auction surpassed the minimum reserve price of $4.64 billion, which had been set by the FCC before the auction began. The current bid is now at $4.71 billion. The minimum bid for round 21 is $5.18 billion, according to the FCC’s Web site.

But there is also a chance that Google has the winning bid. And if it does, the company may end up with the spectrum anyway.

“The FCC got it right in putting this spectrum to work for consumers’ best interests,” Christopher Libertelli, senior director of government and regulatory affairs for Skype, said in a statement. “We look forward to the day when this spectrum is made available to the broader market, so that Skype users can have their conversations whenever and wherever they would like.”

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