Ubuntu 6.10 Released

Canonical Launches New Ubuntu Release for Desktops and Servers

London - 26th October 2006 - Canonical Ltd, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, the world’s fastest growing Linux distribution, today announced its latest desktop and server version. Following months of development and user feedback, Ubuntu 6.10 offers a cleaner, sharper design, together with new and enhanced desktop applications and advances in security. Significantly faster boot up times and the best in leading edge free software technologies make the latest Ubuntu the first choice for many new and existing Linux users.

The fundamental freedoms of Ubuntu allow everyone, from home to enterprise users, to deploy Ubuntu without restriction. Ubuntu 6.10 is freely available and will be maintained for 18 months, with free security updates for all users. For deployments which require additional service guarantees, full telephone and online support on commercial terms is available globally from the professional support team at Canonical Ltd and service partners.

The desktop version introduces a host of new features, an improved interface and a wide variety of new applications and desktop tools making Ubuntu 6.10 flexible and user-friendly. Enhancements include:

Tomboy, an easy-to-use and efficient note-taking tool

F-Spot, a photo management tool that enables tagging, photo editing and automatic uploading to on-line web management sites such as Flickr

GNOME 2.16, which in addition to new features such as enhanced power management, makes the GNOME desktop more secure, faster and more stable

Upstart, a replacement start-up manager offering a cleaner design, eye-catching effects and a substantially faster boot time

The latest Firefox web browser, which offers inline spell check support in web forms, easy recovery of crashed sessions, built-in phishing detectors, enhanced search engine management with built in OpenSearch support, and better support for previewing and subscribing to web feeds

Proactive security features, preventing many common security vulnerabilities even before they are discovered

Evolution 2.8.0, which brings new features such as vertical message panes

"With Ubuntu 6.10, we've made improvements across the board, both on the desktop where they're a visible part of the user experience, and in the underlying infrastructure where they improve performance and reliability for servers and desktops. The result is a system which is easier to use, faster, and more robust than ever. A great release in its own right, it will also be a solid base on which to build the next generation of Ubuntu features," said Matt Zimmerman, Ubuntu CTO.

The Ubuntu server edition builds on the functionality from the previous release simplifying common Linux server deployment processes. It also includes a pre-release of the upcoming LTSP-5 (Linux Terminal Server Project). LTSP-5 offers clients a lower TCO (total cost of ownership), simpler installation and easier maintenance than typical IT deployments. With all data stored on the server, administrators have substantially eliminated the cost of updating individual workstations to ensure their security. Enhancements to LTSP-5 include:

Automatic network configuration with DHCP service for servers with two or more network cards attached – available with the alternate CD installer

Language and session selection from the LTSP log in manager – allowing a user to choose from any of the languages and desktop sessions installed on the server

Support for locally attached devices on thin clients – allowing users to access cameras, ipods or USB sticks on the thin client

Printing support - enabling printing on a local printer from the thin client

Full support for Etherboot

"LTSP-5 is the culmination of over one and a half years of collaboration between the LTSP project, the Ubuntu project, and the open source community to define the next generation of Linux thin client technology. This partnership between the thin client expertise of LTSP and the desktop technology of Ubuntu has enabled a richer thin client experience for users than ever before, while allowing both projects to benefit from each other's achievements," said Oliver Grawert, LTSP Project Manager at Ubuntu.

New versions of Kubuntu and Edubuntu are also being released. Kubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu which includes the KDE desktop environment. Kubuntu 6.10 includes KDE 3.5.5 which brings speed improvements, updates to the instant messenger and improved translations. Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu focused on the education market. Edubuntu 6.10 includes the LTSP enhancements described above, as well as an enhanced student control panel.

About Canonical and Ubuntu

Canonical, a global organisation headquartered in Europe, is committed to the development, distribution, and promotion of open source software products, and to providing tools and support to the open source community. Canonical is the sponsor company for Ubuntu, which since its launch in October 2004 has become one of the most highly regarded Linux distributions, with millions distributed and in use around the world. Ubuntu will always be free, and will not have restrictive licenses associated with it. With these goals in mind at all times, Ubuntu aims at being the most widely used of all Linux systems, and is the centre of a global open source software ecosystem.


Download Ubuntu from .
To learn about commercial support for Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Edubuntu, please see www.canonical.com/support. For more information visit www.canonical.com or www.ubuntu.com.

Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu and their associated logos are all registered trademarks of Canonical Ltd.

Microsoft to Support Open-Source Linux with Novell

11.02.06
By Natali T. Del Conte

Microsoft announced in a press conference on Thursday that the company has struck a deal with Novell Inc. to allow open-source Linux software to work compatibly with Windows.

The move is one of Microsoft's most significant endorsement of open-source programs.

"We're here to announce a set of agreements that will help bridge the divide between open-source and proprietary software," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer for Microsoft. "The impetus for this event really comes from our customers. We have customers that use a mix of technologies to manage their businesses and they demand interoperability."

Under the agreement, Novell will be the preferred Linux environment that will interoperate with Windows and Microsoft will distribute coupons for SuSE Linux Enterprise Server maintenance and support so that customers can benefit from the use of an interoperable version of Linux.

Jeffrey Jaffe, executive vice president and chief technology officer for Novell, said that the three key areas of the agreement are virtualization, Web-services management, and document-format compatibility.

"Customers will now be able to run virtualized Linux on Windows or virtualized Windows on Linux," Jaffe said. "Customers continually ask us how they can consolidate servers with multiple operating systems through virtualization. By working together, Novell and Microsoft enable customers to choose the operating system that best fits their application and business needs."

One of the more surprising elements of the agreement is that Microsoft will not unleash its patent lawyers quite so harshly on developers who want to write code for Novell's open-source apps.



Novell Announces PCs Preloaded with SUSE Linux
What's the Most Popular Linux Desktop?
"We've made two promises under this agreement," said Brad Smith, senior vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary, legal and corporate affairs for Microsoft. "One is a promise that we won't assert our patents against individual open-source developers. These are individuals that are contributing code, not creating it as part of their job, but acting in an individual non-commercial way. The second is for developers who are getting paid to create code that Novell then takes and inputs into its distribution that is then covered within the open-source agreement between us."

Ballmer said that Novell and Microsoft will collaborate on sales and marketing. Microsoft will purchase 70,000 coupons from Novell enabling a one-year subscription to SuSE. There was no discussion of how much consumers will pay for these coupons.

Despite the collaboration, Ballmer made it clear that Microsoft and Novell will remain competitors.

"As we cooperate, both companies will continue to do what we do best, which is to compete in the market," Ballmer said. "If you have a new application, I'm going to tell you the answer is Windows, Windows, Windows. Ron is going to tell you something different and that's fine. But we do want to collaborate in the right way as well."

Security Watch: Problematic Patches Plague Windows Users

Patch Problems




A number of reports—and our own experience—show that some users are having problems with some of the software updates issued by Microsoft last week.

A Microsoft blog entry from Security Program Manager Jamshed describes three sets of symptoms all amounting to the failure to install the MS06-056 update, which addressed an information disclosure bug in the .NET framework. Briefly:

The update fails because Windows Installer 3.1, which is required for all .NET updates, is not present. The answer is simply to install Windows Installer 3.1.
The update fails and returns an error code of 643 hex/1603 decimal. See the workaround in this knowledge base article.
The update fails and returns an error code of 1324 and a message that "The folder 'Program Files' contains an invalid character." See the workaround in this knowledge base article.
Jamshed stresses that only a very small number of users have experienced these problems, although he doesn't give the number. We have experienced problems with this update ourselves on a Windows 2003 Small Business Server R2, and we're not sure if our problems correspond to these symptoms.

A second set of update problems with MS06-061 (Vulnerabilities in Microsoft XML Core Services Could Allow Remote Code Execution) were reported by SANS's Internet Storm Center.

For a while after the patches were released, some of the standard update facilities, including Microsoft Update and the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.0, did not indicate the need to install certain necessary parts of the update if you are running Microsoft XML Core Services 4.0 SP2. An earlier version of MBSA, 1.2.1, did not have this problem.


Jargon Watch:

MBSA (Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer) is a free vulnerability scanning and assessment tool meant for businesses to scan their networks and systems. It searches not just for patches that should be installed, but for misconfigurations and other risky behaviors. It forms the basis of many more complex and capable third-party tools. For more information, see the MBSA 2.0 page.


The problems have since been fixed by Microsoft and the tools properly indicate the files that need to be added. For more details, see knowledge base articles 924191 and 925672

TIP: Email Viruses

Experience Level: Beginner/Intermediate

There have been proliferations of email viruses in circulation recently, many of which have proved quite a nuisance to the home user and some of which have even made it into the national news. Many of these viruses are targeted at Microsoft’s Outlook email programs, although most email software packages can be affected.

Here are some general tips and "rules-of-thumb" though, that should help to prevent your computer becoming infected:

"Never download email attachments from people you don't know" - Most email viruses are spread by delivering an email "attachment" and it is the running of this that launches the email, infecting your computer. One thing to bear in mind with this rule is that often a user won’t know that they have become infected, and many email viruses now use the Microsoft Outlook program to identify all the people in your "Contacts" list and automatically forward the email (with the virus) onto those people. As a consequence, you may receive an unexpected email from someone you do know, but be very sure of any attachments before you decide to launch or save them. Microsoft Outlook’s "Preview Pane" feature can be used to automatically launch attachments, so we would normally not recommend using this feature unless comprehensive anti-virus protection is in place.


"Never download files with the extensions .pif, .vbs or .scr" - Often files with these extensions can hide viruses within them, and these tend to be the most common sources of viruses.


"Ensure adequate anti-virus software is installed on your PC" - Two of the most highly regarded anti-virus software packages are BitDefender AntiVirus 10 ~ & Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0.0.303 ~ . Whatever anti-virus software you install, it is important to ensure that they offer an "on-line update" service so that the software is kept regularly up-to-date, and that the software is fully compatible with your computer’s Operating System. Virus creators are constantly producing different viruses, and it is vital that your anti-virus software can keep up!

Also, A free AntiVirus Program for those who do not already own a commercial one such as Trend Micro's PC-Cillin, McAfee or Norton AntiVirus. Avast Home Edition includes full virus protection in an easy to use interface with free automatic updating. If you are currently using a commercial AntiVirus program do not install this but confirm that yours is updated. (e-mail registration is required)

Safely upgrading computer disk space

There is a time in any computers operational life span when the hard disk (the data storage device in side the computer base unit) starts to get full. Some people think about buying an upgraded computer, others bolt on more storage capacity with an external drive or back up their data to removable media before erasing it from the disk to create more space, others just remove the drive from the base unit and fit a bigger disk.



Powerful disk recovery software available with commercial disk software can often retrieve deleted data, most government organisations actually use special software that writes random data to every section of a hard disk a minimum of three times to ensure previous data has been fully overwritten.



Before disposing of an unwanted hard disk or PC consider what data was present on that disk. Did it contain bank account details, passwords, private letters or personal photographs that could be used to identify you. If it did, either keep the hard disk or use a commercial eraser program (that works to government approved levels) before selling it or donating it elsewhere.


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PC Pro want to know about your experience of Evesham Customer Service. Just Let PC Pro have your opinion in the UK's most influential IT satisfaction survey for a chance to win one of many superb prizes. The survey takes a few minutes of your time and can be found at

www.pcpro.co.uk/awards. The survey will be closing on the 9-10-06 and the results will be announced in time for Christmas.

Dell Says Recall Won't Impact Its Brand in Japan

08.29.06
By Mayumi Negishi, Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters)—Dell Inc.'s recall of computers fitted with Sony Corp. batteries will not impact its brand in Japan, where two Dell computers are reported to have caught fire, the head of its local unit said on Tuesday.

"We're very bullish on how we've handled the recalls," Dell Japan President Jim Merritt told reporters. "I'm encouraged by the feedback from customers."

He declined to say how many recalls have taken place in Japan , saying only that "we've been very, very busy answering a lot of calls."

Earlier this month, the world's largest PC maker launched a recall of 4.1 million batteries for notebook computers, its biggest-ever recall, over concerns that the lithium-ion batteries made by Sony could overheat and catch fire.

It has not given a country-by-country breakdown of the recall figures.

Pictures of a Dell laptop bursting flames at a conference in Osaka appeared on a technology industry Internet site in June.

Japan 's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said this month it had received a report of a separate incident of a Dell computer battery catching fire last October.

In the April-June quarter, aggressive pricing and advertising helped Dell elbow out Fujitsu Ltd. to become the second-largest PC supplier in Japan after NEC Corp. with 16.1 percent market share, according to research firm IDC.

Despite the negative publicity, Texas-based Dell will be able to beat out NEC for the number one slot in Japan in one to two years if it continues to gain market share at its current pace, Merritt said.

"As dynamics in Japan continue to change, it is my belief that they will change in favor of Dell" and its direct-sales business model, he said.

Revenues in Japan from software and peripherals rose 30 percent in April-June from the same period last year, helped by strong sales of laser printers, which Dell began selling in Japan last year in competition with Japanese rivals Canon Inc. and Ricoh Co. Ltd.

Dell entered Japan 's office-use color printer market last month with prices at about half that of competitors' models.

After Dell's recall, Apple Computer Inc. announced it would recall 1.8 million lithium-ion notebook batteries, also made by Sony.

(Additional reporting by Sachi Izumi)

Copyright Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Hackers Hit AT&T System, Get Credit Card Info

08.30.06
By Chris Preimesberger

AT&T revealed late Aug. 29 that an undisclosed number of unauthorized persons had illegally hacked into one of its computer systems and accessed the personal data—including credit card information—of about 19,000 customers who had purchased DSL equipment through the company's online store.

The unauthorized electronic access took place over the weekend of Aug. 26-27 and was discovered within hours, a company spokesperson said. The store was shut down immediately and remains offline.

AT&T, based in San Antonio, also notified the major credit card companies whose customer accounts were involved.

Cyber-thieves steal $700,000 via ATM hacking. Click here to read more.

The company is also working with law enforcement to investigate the incident and pursue the perpetrators, the spokesperson said.

About 19,000 customers are being notified by e-mail, phone calls and letters, the spokesperson said.

For advice on how to secure your network and applications, as well as the latest security news, visit Ziff Davis Internet's Security IT Hub.

"We recognize that there is an active market for illegally obtained personal information. We are committed to both protecting our customers' privacy and to weeding out and punishing the violators," said Priscilla Hill-Ardoin, chief privacy officer for AT&T.

"We deeply regret this incident and we intend to pay for credit monitoring services for customers whose accounts have been impacted. We will work closely with law enforcement to bring these data thieves to account."

Customers who have been affected have been provided with a toll-free number to call for more information, the spokesperson said.

Dell exploding laptops alert

Amar Singh, Evening Standard
15 August 2006

MORE than four million laptops are at the centre of a global alert over batteries that can overheat and catch fire.

LAPTOP SHOCK: Dell has recalled millions of batteries after a laptop caught fire at a conference in Japan

Dell issued the biggest product recall in computer history after video footage showed a laptop bursting into flames during a conference in Osaka, Japan.

Similar incidents have been reported across the world. Dell said it had been told of six instances of batteries overheating, causing damage to furniture and belongings but no personal injuries.

Consumers are being urged to stop using the batteries immediately and to get in touch to obtain replacements. The company said today it was recalling 4.1m batteries for use in Latitude, Inspiron and Precision laptops. The batteries are also used by other companies including Apple, which said it was looking into the risk posed.

Dell blames the problem on the lithium-ion batteries made by Sony Energy Devices. This type of battery has been in use since the mid-Nineties and is often found in devices such as mobile phones and digital music players.

It is estimated the recall could cost Dell more than £ 157m without taking into account damage to the company's reputation.

Spokesman Ira Williams said: 'In rare cases, a short-circuit could cause the battery to overheat, causing a risk of smoke and fire. It happens in rare cases, but we opted to take this broad action immediately.'

Fears surrounding laptops emerged this month as pictures of some of the charred machines circulated on the internet. One man from Singapore told an Australian newspaper how his laptop caught fire as he was working late in his office.

'White smoke began to pour out of the machine, completely filling up the room, and there were flames coming up the sides of the laptop.'

The man said he grabbed the machine by its screen and carried it to a sink of water to douse the flames. But when he pulled it back out it began to smoulder again.

The recall involves 18% of Dell's 22m notebook computers sold between April 2004 and last month. This is the third recall of Dell notebook batteries in the past five years.

Last December it recalled 22,000 notebook computer batteries over similar fears. The company also recalled 284,000 batteries in 2001.

It comes as a major blow to Dell which has recently lost ground to its leading rival Hewlett-Packard.

Dell Announces SEC Investigation and Major Profit Drop

08.17.06

By Natali T. Del Conte
It really hasn't been Dell's week. First the company announced on Monday the biggest laptop battery recall in history and on Thursday announced that profits fell to half its value from this time last year. And to add insult to injury, Dell has admitted to being under investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a conference call with investors and media on Thursday, Dell executives admitted to their disappointment.

"We are not pleased with our performance," said Jim Schneider, chief financial officer for Dell. "We priced aggressively to grow the business with a resulting negative impact as a result."

Dell's net income last August was $1.02 billion. Thursday's announcement reported income of $502 million. In Q2, Dell generated $14.1 billion and had an operating income of $605 million. Shares of Dell dropped more than 5 percent on Thursday.

Schneider said the company learned in August of 2005 that they were under an informal investigation by the SEC for issues relating to past fiscal periods. As a result of the investigation, Dell found issues that raised more red flags and launched its own internal investigation of fiscal periods prior to 2006. Schneider said he does not believe that the investigation will impact financial standings in upcoming quarters.

Despite the bad news, Dell executives remain optimistic.

We Should Praise Dell Not Bury It
"We are clearly disappointed with our financial results," Kevin Rollins, chief executive officer for Dell. "For the next quarter, we'll continue to balance our revenue growth and profit without giving up share. In consumer, we're simplifying our pricing and promotion structure. We can do better, we know that."

Rollins said that the industry as a whole has suffered a slow-down and Dell's aggressive pricing backfired.

"This is happening at a time when the industry is growing modestly," Rollins said. "Historically, Dell has faired far better than our competitors during such periods. We just didn't have the elasticity because the markets were weak."

Dell also expressed hope about customer service investments and price promotion programs. In July, the company announced that it would significantly reduce all promotional and rebate programs within the next 12 to 18 months.

"We've been improving service and support and we're seeing clear signs of a successful turn around," Rollins said. "Call transfers have been reduced by 33 percent and satisfaction rates are up 20 percent for this year."

Additionally, Dell announced on Thursday that it would strengthen its relationship with AMD by offering AMD processors in more PCs and servers. "The addition of AMD will give us additional product breadth and visibility as we move into the third quarter," Rollins said.

"Our visibility on component and cost hasn't been very good," Rollins concluded. "We've got to do a better job of understanding cost in order to predict price and elasticity."

"While we gained share in the key markets worldwide and achieved record market share, we're not satisfied with our performance and we will do better," said chairman Michael Dell in his concluding remarks. "We're focused on improving our cost position and product leadership. We will exit this year with the most technically advanced product line in our history."

FCC pushes for broadband over power lines

Posted: Fri, 04 Aug 2006 12:26:00 GMT
Author: sdy284


c|net - "WASHINGTON--Federal regulators renewed on Thursday their push for a wider rollout of what has been hailed as a viable "third pipe" for the many areas where broadband choices have been limited to DSL or cable modems. If broadband over power lines, or BPL, takes off, then more Americans, particularly in rural and underserved areas, will be able to plug into high-speed Internet access, and markets dominated by cable and DSL (digital subscriber line) should be forced to lower consumers bills, members of the Federal Communications Commission said at their monthly meeting here."

AMD Agrees to Buy ATI in $5.4 Billion Deal

By Mark Hachman

On Monday, AMD agreed to acquire graphics powerhouse ATI Technologies in a surprise $5.4 billion deal that will radically alter the landscape of the PC component industry.

ATI will become "the ATI business division," within AMD, and its chief executive and president, Dave Orton, will become an executive vice president reporting to both AMD president and chief operating officer Dirk Meyer and AMD's chief executive, Hector Ruiz. The deal, if agreed to by shareholders, will total $4.2 billion in cash and 57 million shares of AMD common stock, which the company is valuing at $18.26 per share.


The combination would create a company with an estimated $7.3 billion in sales. ATI said it has received an opinion from its financial advisers that the transaction from a financial point of view is fair to its shareholders. Meanwhile, AMD said it expects that the transaction will be slightly accretive to earnings in 2007, and "meaningfully accretive" in 2008. Shareholders from both companies must still approve the transaction, which would then most likely be finalized during the fourth quarter of 2006, AMD said.

In a statement released ahead of a conference call with reporters scheduled for 8 AM EDT, AMD said that in 2007 the two companies would deliver "customer-centric platforms," specifically in the commercial and mobile computing segments and the growing consumer-electronic's market.

"ATI shares our passion and complements our strengths: technology leadership and customer-centric innovation," AMD's Ruiz said in a statement. "Bringing these two great companies together will allow us to transcend what we have accomplished as individual businesses and reinvent our industry as the technology leader and partner of choice. We believe AMD and ATI will drive growth and innovation for the entire industry, enabling our partners to create differentiated solutions and empowering our customers to choose what is best for them."

The deal will combine ATI's established core logic and graphics expertise with AMD's microprocessors. Both ATI and AMD trail Intel in their respective segments, although the graphics market can be assessed in different ways; while Intel still holds a significant lead over ATI and rival Nvidia in total graphics chips shipped, Intel's edge disappears if integrated graphics/core logic chips are factored out of the equation. What the future will hold, however, is still somewhat vague.

"In 2008 and beyond, AMD aims to move beyond current technological configurations to transform processing technologies, with silicon-specific platforms that integrate microprocessors and graphics processors to address the growing need for general-purpose, media-centric, data-centric and graphic-centric performance," AMD said in a statement.



AMD: Intel's Playing Right Into Our Hands
AMD Drops Q2 Sales Forecast
ATI, Nvidia Support AMD With New Chipsets
The deal was not expected, primarily because AMD had always positioned itself as a vendor that allowed its customers a choice of components. Intel's Centrino platform combines a processor, chipset, and communications chip.

That would seem to indicate that either ATI or AMD will see to develop communications processors, or else put a number of communications chip companies in play. AMD has traditionally encouraged its OEM vendors to buy components from both Atheros and Broadcom.

AMD has also historically struggled with debt as it struggled to build new fabs to compete with Intel, which has traditionally held more than five times the market share of AMD in the PC microprocessor space, and has sold core logic and communications chips to boot.

However, AMD said it will fund the acquisition through a combination of cash and new debt. AMD obtained a $2.5 billion term loan commitment from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc., which, together with combined existing cash, cash equivalents, and short term investments balances of approximately $3.0 billion, provides full funding for the transaction, AMD said.

AOL To Unveil Yet Another Plan To Save Itself

By Kenneth Li, Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters)—Investors in Time Warner Inc., whose shares touched a two-year low in mid-July, are seeking signs of a turnaround on August 2, when the world's largest media company is set to introduce its fourth plan in five years to save its online unit AOL.

AOL is widely expected to announce that it will give its e-mail and Web services away for free, hoping to win back customers who had switched to other free services from rivals like Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.

The new strategy, which will be discussed at a Time Warner board meeting in New York on Thursday, aims to boost online advertising sales, but analysts say it is a risky move as its subscription business currently accounts for 80 percent of AOL's revenue.

AOL is still expected to continue to charge for dial-up Internet access, but it will no longer advertise the service.


"I think a lot is riding on August 2," said Larry Haverty, a portfolio manager at Gamco Investors, which owned 14.1 million shares of Time Warner as of March 31. "People like us have been patient with strategy. From what I've heard, I'm comfortable.

"But seeing is believing," Haverty added.

Once the reigning king of online services, AOL has lost about 30 percent of its subscribers since 2003. The 2001 merger of AOL and Time Warner has been blamed for destroying some $200 billion in market value.

Free services are now viewed by some investors as the only hope of survival for AOL in a world dominated by faster-moving companies, including News Corp.'s MySpace.com.

"They should have done what they contemplated two years ago to aggressively develop AOL as a web service," said Morris Mark at Mark Asset Management, which owns 1.22 million Time Warner shares as of March 31. "Its position is so much more powerful than the advertising revenue that they're generating.

Time Warner's enterprise value trades at 7.6 times its expected 2007 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, compared to News Corp.'s 11.9 multiple and Walt Disney Co.'s 9.81 multiple.

TOO LATE?

Gamco's Haverty hopes Time Warner's online advertising sales will rise at least 30 percent, when the company posts its second quarter results on Aug 2.

That would put AOL roughly on par with Yahoo, but still lag Google's 77 percent advertising growth in the second quarter.

AOL strategists may be emboldened to act aggressively after a 26 percent growth in online ad sales in the first quarter.

But a Wall Street Journal report earlier this month cited unnamed sources as saying Time Warner could lose up to $1 billion through 2009 from its plan to offer free services.

Time Warner on July 11 dismissed the report and called the newspaper's assessment "incomplete" and laden with "largely erroneous financial information."

Six days later, its stock had slipped to a two-year low.

"Time Warner's stock chart is like the flatline EKG of a dead person for the last three years," Joan Lappin, chairman of Gramercy Capital Management, wrote in Forbes.com, calling for Chief Executive Richard Parson's resignation.

Lappin, whose firm no longer holds media stocks, was a longtime media analyst who has watched the company since the late 1960s, when it was just a magazine publisher.

The sentiment on Time Warner's stock, however, appears to be improving judging by activity in the stock options market.

There are already more than 200,000 outstanding calls that give holders the right to buy Time Warner shares at $17.50 and $20 by mid-January 2007. The stock closed at $16.27 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

"The high open interest is a sign that players have been positioning in these options, and placing relatively cheap bets that Time Warner will rise between now and the end of the year," said Frederic Ruffy, an analyst at Optionetics, a California-based options education firm.

Haverty said he hopes the stock gets a 10 to 15 percent boost when the dust settles.

Copyright Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Anti-Spam Tip: Don't unsubscribe to spam emails

Often spam emails will contain an "unsubscribe" link or button. Unfortunately, if the email is really spam and not something you explicitly signed up for, using this "unsubscribe" link is in fact likely to increase the amount of spam you receive.

Anybody who tries to unsubscribe in this way is just letting the spammer know that his or her email address is valid. The spammer can then confidently send you even more spam, with the happy knowledge that your account is active and that you actually read your email. If someone is unscrupulous enough to send you unsolicited advertising material in the first place, it is quite unlikely that he/she/it will honour a request to stop sending it.