Microsoft Guns for Google with Engagement Mapping - A new reporting standard for digital campaign performance

Microsoft is continuously gunning for Google on the online advertising market. And in this context, the Redmond company is by no means standing still and waiting for Yahoo to say "I do" to its $44.6 billion marriage proposal. In its race to become the runner-up power house in the
online ad industry behind the Mountain View search giant, Microsoft has been tending to its own advertising back yard and has announced the introduction of Engagement Mapping.

According to the Redmond company, Engagement Mapping is designed to overhaul the process of managing and measuring the effectiveness of online campaigns. In terms of characterizing the success of online advertising campaigns when it comes down to connecting with customers, the generalized implemented system is based on the "last ad clicked" standard. Engagement Mapping is different in the sense that it does not reduce ad effectiveness measuring solely to the last item clicked, but takes into account additional variables, such as the online touchpoints and interactions associated with a specific user that ultimately lead to an eventual sale.

"The 'last ad clicked' is an outdated and flawed approach because it essentially ignores all prior interactions the consumer has with a marketer's message," said Brian McAndrews, senior vice president of the Advertiser & Publisher Solutions (APS) Division at Microsoft. "Our Engagement Mapping approach conveys how each ad exposure - whether display, rich media or search, seen multiple times on multiple sites and across many channels - influenced an eventual purchase. We believe it represents a quantum leap for advertisers and publishers who are seeking to maximize their online spends."

In this manner, the Redmond company is aiming to change the established and, by now, traditional methodology of advertising campaign reporting. Engagement Mapping means that sales, leads and traffic will no longer be connected exclusively with the last click or ad exposure. The introduction of the Engagement Mapping concept coincided with the unveiling of the Engagement ROI beta. Engagement ROI is set up as a reporting and optimization solution that delivers a complete perspective over the users' online behavior, taking into account the complex metrics of ad interaction.

Fedora Weekly Report: 18th - 24th February, 2008 - A new look for GDM will be available in Fedora 9

In the Fedora world, last week was somewhat quieter than we were used to. There are only a few security advisories and a small number of discussions and events. Let's take a look over the most important ones.

Max Spevack announced that the next North American FUDCon would
be held in Boston, MA. It will take place from June 19 to 21, at the same time - and in the same location - with the Red Hat Summit. There will be two large rooms, one for a Fedora hackfest and the other for a series of talks on Fedora.

Two new SIGs (Special Interest Group) have sprung up this week: Fedora Amateur Radio SIG, also known as Fedora-Hams - and Fedora Education SIG. The first one was initiated by Robert Jensen, because he noticed there were a lot of radio related programs in all the major distros, but none in Fedora. The Fedora Education SIG was created by Sebastian Dziallas for persons interested in education.

Francesco Ugolini proposed that a Fedora Spin with open source movie, sound and graphics programs should be created, as an alternative to the expensive commercial products. There were some persons who considered this a good idea, but Nicu Buculei said that the applications for such a Spin were not ready yet. For the moment, the idea hangs in the air, waiting for a good moment to materialize.

A new GDM is being prepared for Fedora 9, which will inherit all the changes done for the desktop, so the transition from the greeter to the default session runs pretty smooth. The "de-branding" of the desktop graphics will continue, avoiding the usage of logos and similar things that might be related to Fedora.

There are only three security advisories for Fedora 8 and 7. The one for Fedora 7 is moin-1.5.8-4.fc7 and the two for Fedora 8 are pcre-7.3-3.fc8 and moin-1.5.8-4.fc8.

AMD Gears Up to Transfer Production, Cut Down Costs - The company might sell its fabs, then outsource production to TSMC

World's second largest manufacturer of x86 processors has had a rough year, with failed launches and product delays all along its roadmap. Lack of sales, accumulated with loss of profit, has pushed the company
on the edge of bankruptcy. The company needs to rethink its policy in order to survive and deliver the next generation of processors.

According to a Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. analyst, the company may announce plans to transfer more production in the next two to three months to reduce costs. The company gained 13 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $6.96 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company analysts met last week Chief Financial Officer Robert Rivet. "AMD continues to be very focused on developing an asset light plan," said analyst Tim Luke right after the meeting. "Developing an asset light approach is of critical strategic importance to AMD given the strains on its balance sheet," he continued.

The company's Chief Executive Officer Hector Ruiz claimed that the company is currently evaluating the possible solutions to diminish its spendings at the semiconductor plans (or fabs), since they cost the company about $3 billion to build and equip for production. Ruiz refused to disclose Advanced Micro Devices' next steps, because unveiling the "asset smart strategy" would allow its rivals on the processor market (such as Intel) to undermine his plans regarding the company.

However, the analysts who attended the meeting drew the conclusion that the chip manufacturer might even sell its semiconductor facilities or even outsource all its production to other companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

"We are looking at ways to lighten our capital load on our balance sheet through partnerships like the one we have with IBM," said AMD spokesman Drew Prairie. "We are looking to do similar relationships to that but in the manufacturing sector," Prairie said.

Cold-Boot: HDD Encryption Cracking Crash-Course - The safest computer is formatted, smashed with an ax and buried in cement

Hard-disk drive encryption has been widely promoted as the safest way to keep your data away from prying eyes. The advent of Windows Vista and its BitLocker functionality in the Ultimate flavor has made
the whole process simple, but Princeton University researchers have proven again that the user is wrong.

The latest reports from the Princeton specialists show that both Windows Vista's BitLocker, the Mac's FileVault encryption systems can be knelt down in an instant. All that a hacker needs is physical access to the targeted machine and an air spray to go along with a more sophisticated operating kit.

As long as the computer is powered on, the encryption keys are stored in the RAM memory for facile access. The Princeton researchers have started the cracking process from exactly the same spot: they took advantage of the fact that data is not immediately stored after the computer is shut down, but it gets lost piece by piece as the DRAM transistors return to their default state.

"Virtually everybody, including experts, will tell you that DRAM contents are lost when you turn off the power. But this isn't so," wrote researcher Ed Felten on its blog. On the contrary, the data stored in the DRAM cells can be fetched a few minutes after the computer has been switched off, but the data can be preserved for longer periods by cooling down the DRAM chips. For instance, an air spray would do the trick, cooling the chips as low as -50 degrees Celsius.

Using especially tailored software, the attacker could fetch the password directly from its previous location. "Most disk-encryption systems can be defeated if the computer is stolen or accessed while it is in sleep mode or in a password-protected screen saver," Felten wrote. Vista's BitLocker "is also sometimes vulnerable even when the computer is completely off."

The attack may seem too complicated to succeed, but think of the James Bond movies, where janitorial staff would switch to super-agent mode as soon as the last light in the company has been turned off. "The most effective way for users to protect themselves is to fully shut down their computers several minutes before any situation in which the computers' physical security could be compromised," claimed the researchers.

New Windows XP SP3 RC2 Build 3311 Available - Direct Download Link - An evolution from Build 3300

Enlarge picture
Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 was released following the RTM of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 1 in the first week of February. Microsoft failed to diverge from the strategy of synchronized development milestones for the two service packs and the latest Windows server platform, with the only difference being in the nature of the builds. While Vista SP1 and XP SP3 had been virtually joined at
the hip throughout their development in 2007, the service packs diverged in February. Vista SP1 moved from RC1 Refresh 2 directly into RTM, while XP SP3 evolved from RC1 Refresh 2 to Release Candidate 2 with no release to manufacturing date in sight.

As the initial build of XP SP3 RC2 was released only to a selected pool of 15,000 Microsoft testers, the company subsequently opened up the Release Candidate 2 testing process to all XP users on February 19, 2008. XP SP3 RC2 was dropped via Windows Update, accessible via a registry script designed to permit copies of XP SP2 to detect the third and last service pack for XP on the WU servers.

Windows XP SP3 RC2 Build 3311

One small detail that Microsoft neglected to make public was the direct download link of XP SP3 RC2. This is now available, and users will not have to integrate the RC2 build via Windows Update. The XP SP3 RC2 bits are up for grabs via this link and it will offer Build 3311. The initial XP SP3 RC2 version offered through Windows Update was Build 3300, and this means that Microsoft has pushed onward with the service pack compared with the release of last week, which essentially delivered only the Windows XP SP3 Release Candidate 2.exe registry script. The official release notes for XP SP3 RC2 remain unchanged.

Download Windows XP SP3 Release Candidate 2 (RC2) via this link.