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<channel>
	<title>Software, Internet, Networking, And Security Review</title>
	<link>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com</link>
	<description>Hacking blog, Computer Software, Information and Technology review, Networking,News</description>
	<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:06:57 +0000</pubDate>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha</generator>
	<language>en</language>

		<item>
		<title>How to resolve “bad super block: magic number wrong” in BSD</title>
		<link>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/09/12/p216/</link>
		<comments>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/09/12/p216/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:06:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lee De Black Raptor</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Internet Technology</category>
		<guid>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/09/12/p216/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	Sometimes, after upgrading your BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) operating system, your computer system booting process halts showing you an error message. Few main reasons for the booting error message can be file system corruption, superblock damage, inode corruption, and more. After the above error message appears, the data stored in your hard drive becomes inaccessible. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p>Sometimes, after upgrading your BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) operating system, your computer system booting process halts showing you an error message. Few main reasons for the booting error message can be file system corruption, superblock damage, inode corruption, and more. After the above error message appears, the data stored in your hard drive becomes inaccessible. To access your data after a booting error message appears, you will need to restore it from an updated backup. But if in case, you have not created any backup or the backup file(s) are unable to restore the required data, then you will need to use advanced BSD Data Recovery application, which can recover your lost data.</p>
	<p>Consider a practical scenario, where you successfully upgrade your system to Free BSD 4.7. However, after the upgradation is complete and you restart your system, your system becomes unbootable and the below error message appears:</p>
	<p>“bad super block: magic number wrong”</p>
	<p>Once the above error message appears, the data stored in your hard drive becomes inaccessible. Furthermore, the same error message appears each time you attempt to boot your system.</p>
	<p>Cause:</p>
	<p>The root cause for the occurrence of the above error message is the corruption or damage of superblock.</p>
	<p>Resolution:</p>
	<p>For complete resolution of the above error message and access your hard drive data, you will need to run fsck command. The command is primarily used to repair all the file corruption issues. In most situations, the above error message is resolved by using the fsck command. But, if the error message reappears, then you will need to use alternative superblock.</p>
	<p>However, if both the resolutions fail to perform and your hard drive data remains inaccessible, then you will need to use advanced BSD Data Recovery software to recover your lost data. Such BSD Recovery tools are designed by highly talented data recovery experts and are built with highly interactive user interface, which makes them self explanatory without any prior BSD Data Recovery experience. These applications use powerful scanning procedures to completely scan and recover the lost data from hard drive.</p>
	<p>Stellar Phoenix BSD Data Recovery software is a power packed BSD Recovery software. The read only tool is applicable for UFS1 and UFS2 file systems and for all the three BSD distributions viz. FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD. The software is designed for Windows 2003, XP, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95.
</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Discover The Secrets of Making The Most Money at Home Comfortable</title>
		<link>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/09/12/discover-the-secrets-of-making-the-most-money-at-home-comfortable/</link>
		<comments>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/09/12/discover-the-secrets-of-making-the-most-money-at-home-comfortable/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:05:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lee De Black Raptor</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Business</category>
	<category>Internet Technology</category>
		<guid>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/09/12/discover-the-secrets-of-making-the-most-money-at-home-comfortable/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	ALL ABOUT AFFILIATE MARKETING
	Educate yourself by learning as much as you can about it. Data Sites are limited in just giving pure product, data, prices, images and descriptions used to promote the products. You will follow this procedure:
The affiliate agrees to show a merchant&#8217;s goods on the website. A potential new customer looks at the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p>ALL ABOUT AFFILIATE MARKETING</p>
	<p>Educate yourself by learning as much as you can about it. Data Sites are limited in just giving pure product, data, prices, images and descriptions used to promote the products. You will follow this procedure:<br />
The affiliate agrees to show a merchant&#8217;s goods on the website. A potential new customer looks at the affiliate&#8217;s website. Pros and cons of affiliate marketing:<br />
Positively, payments are given for performance level. Hence, you do not need any marketing experience for a great amount of success depends upon your marketing technique. For example, if you refer a traveler to a particular traveling agency, you will get a commission.</p>
	<p>IS PROFITING A MIRACLE?</p>
	<p>The Profit Miracle is beneficial for experienced internet marketers but a challenge for the newbies. In the lightning rod effect, your niches start with low income for about a week, then the profits will blow up a week later. You are able to explore the faster and simpler way to make money online. A pay at-one-time special price for the system is $77. The income just shoots up, you literally cannot stop it from making money even if you try.</p>
	<p>Benefits derived from the system:<br />
You are able to use 50 of their best Free Traffic Campaigns. You only need to wait for the activity and coming results for it starts instantly as you copy results. Synthesize as your niche begins, combine your ideas with what the client&#8217;s need to create something new. It supplies you with a never-ending supply of campaigns that profit using artificial exciting techniques.</p>
	<p>Many internet marketers make money online by finding a niche which offers to show them some topics of interest that they can choose. Based on some successful niches, it is capable of creating extraordinary, original and unique articles. Then you can proceed and find another niche that you think will make money and set it up with just a few steps and clicks. Ask yourself these questions:Who are your target clients? Who are not your clients? Do you refuse a business outside your niche? What do clients consider you to stand for?</p>
	<p>What does Miracle Profit give you?<br />
This system offers actual and real profiting campaigns which are in high demand and high traffic niches. Do this by giving few incentives as offering free mini seminars or giving a copy of your newsletter. It is made possible in this modern age by combining technology and internet traffic. As you log in - you will be copying the campaign that will be using and continue using.</p>
	<p>Visit http://www.fast-profits-now.com to check out profit miracle.</p>
	<p>Visit http://www.substantial-success.com To Check Out The Latest Hot Money Making<br />
Products On The Market.
</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Xbox 360 - Fun Gaming Packed In A Box</title>
		<link>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/09/12/xbox-360-fun-gaming-packed-in-a-box/</link>
		<comments>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/09/12/xbox-360-fun-gaming-packed-in-a-box/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:03:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lee De Black Raptor</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Internet Technology</category>
	<category>News</category>
		<guid>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/09/12/xbox-360-fun-gaming-packed-in-a-box/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	Developed in November 2005, the Xbox 360 gaming console is Microsoft`s solid answer to Sony`s play station. Having already sold 20 million units worldwide, it is still proving to be popular among gaming freaks. Designed by the Hers Experimental Design Laboratory Inc. of Japan and Astro Studios of USA, the Xbox 360 is a fine [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p>Developed in November 2005, the Xbox 360 gaming console is Microsoft`s solid answer to Sony`s play station. Having already sold 20 million units worldwide, it is still proving to be popular among gaming freaks. Designed by the Hers Experimental Design Laboratory Inc. of Japan and Astro Studios of USA, the Xbox 360 is a fine product of its kind. It is available in two different types.</p>
	<p>One is the Xbox 360 and the other is the core system. The Xbox 360 pack houses an Ethernet connectivity cable, a headset, a HD AV cable, a media remote, removable hard drive and a wireless controller whereas the core system has an AV cable and a wired controller. Being the powerful machine that it is, it has all the capacities to compete with other major brand of gaming consoles.</p>
	<p>The Xbox 360 gaming console is a great improvisation over the original Xbox built in 2001. As mentioned above, for people who really want to own an Xbox 360, to have a chance to choose from its available models according to their budget, it is a good option. There is a basic core version available which comes with wired controller and composite AV cable but you surely can move on to buy the other peripherals, as and when your budget allows. But, if you are someone who can afford to buy the whole system at once, then you can be advised to go for the Xbox 360 pack. The Xbox 360 gaming console allows up to four wireless controllers to function on one console. This can provide the user with a real thrill of gaming with three other players concurrently.</p>
	<p>The uses of the Xbox 360 gaming console are multiple in nature. It can introduce you to a fine world of digital entertainment. Armed with the capacity of enhancing your music and movies, it can magnify its sound to soft or loud. If you attach it to your TV, you can take the advantage of its high definition TV resolution to the maximum. Games that can be absolutely relished on the Xbox 360 are: `Dead or Alive 4`, `King Kong`, `Call of Duty 2` and `Need for speed Most Wanted`. These games are really considered as must haves for those who own the gaming console.</p>
	<p>However, there is one minor disappointment in store for Xbox fans. Some games like `Madden NFL 06` and `NBA Live 06`, which run exceedingly well in the original Xbox, do not run that amazingly in the Xbox 360 version. The audio and video effects are not up to the mark when these games are played on the latest model. Microsoft needs to pay immediate attention to this concern, which might become a potential reason of a deal breaker in future days.</p>
	<p>Another very alluring advantage that the Xbox 360 gaming console has to offer is the `family settings` feature. This feature has become a favorite among parents who can now protect their children from unpleasant contacts. This control feature performs two functions in the gaming console. They are allow/restrict access to offline games/movies and access to online contact and content. All said and done, the Xbox 360 has everything in it to become a favorite of gaming freaks across age groups.</p>
	<p>You can have access to articles about video games in portuguese language from page Video_Games</p>
	<p><a href="http://www.articlealley.com/article_1080844_45.html">Source Here </a></p>
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		<title>Hide Folders 2009</title>
		<link>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/27/hide-folders-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/27/hide-folders-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:07:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lee De Black Raptor</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Software Review</category>
		<guid>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/27/hide-folders-2009/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	Windows XP and Windows Vista have pretty good file and folder security- but only if your drives and partitions are formatted using NTFS. FAT and FAT32 volumes do not provide the ability to lock down individual files or folders. Even if you use NTFS though, the ability of Windows to protect data is limited. If [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p>Windows XP and Windows Vista have pretty good file and folder security- but only if your drives and partitions are formatted using NTFS. FAT and FAT32 volumes do not provide the ability to lock down individual files or folders. Even if you use NTFS though, the ability of Windows to protect data is limited. If you are using the Home versions of XP or Vista your options for securing and protecting your data are even more limited. Hide Folders 2009 extends the abilities of the Windows operating system and enables you to protect data on your terms.<br />
Key Features of Hide Folders 2009:</p>
	<p>    * Hide files and folders from users and applications in Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista<br />
    * Four protection methods available: Hide, Lock, Hide &#038; Lock, Read Only<br />
    * Support for NTFS, FAT32 and FAT volumes<br />
    * Protect unlimited number of files and folders<br />
    * Enable trusted processes to access protected data.<br />
    * Removing Hide Folders 2009 folder from the system will not<br />
    * Command line support for main Hide Folders 2009 functions<br />
    * Manage Hide Folders 2009 functions with hot keys<br />
    * Runs in stealth mode- program does not show up in Task Manager </p>
	<p>Protection Modes:</p>
	<p>    * Hide: Hidden files or folders will not be visible to a user, but are still possible to access if you know the path to the object.<br />
    * Lock: The protected file or folder will be visible but not accessible.<br />
    * Hide &#038; Lock: The protected files or folders will not be visible to users nor will it be possible to access them.<br />
    * Read only: You can access the protected files and folders, but you cannot modify them. </p>
	<p>Stealth Mode and Trusted Processes:<br />
Stealth Mode: Hide Folders 2009 runs in stealth mode and covers its tracks. When Hide Folders application is not running, hidden files and folders remain hidden. Even if the Hide Folders 2009 application folder is removed, hidden data is still invisible. Hide Folders 2009 also clears links to protected data from Recent Documents, and the Recycle Bin.</p>
	<p>Trusted Processes: While data is hidden with Hide Folders 2009, some programs or functions may still need access. You can assign Trusted Processes that have unrestricted access to the protected files and folders.<br />
Getting Hide Folders 2009:<br />
Download the<a href="http://www.fsprolabs.com/download/distr/hf2009.zip"> free</a> evaluation version<br />
<a href="http://www.fspro.net/hide-folders/purchase.html">Purchase</a> Hide Folders 2009:</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Surviving Conficker Worm</title>
		<link>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/27/surviving-conficker-worm/</link>
		<comments>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/27/surviving-conficker-worm/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:05:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lee De Black Raptor</dc:creator>
		
	<category>System Security</category>
	<category>Internet Technology</category>
	<category>News</category>
		<guid>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/27/surviving-conficker-worm/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	Conflicker did not unleash a global attack like SQL Slammer- a worm that crippled the Internet in 30 minutes. But, it isn&#8217;t because it wasn&#8217;t capable per se.
	The fact is that crippling the Internet is not a smart business model. It is like showing your hand in poker. Right now there are somewhere between 3 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p>Conflicker did not unleash a global attack like SQL Slammer- a worm that crippled the Internet in 30 minutes. But, it isn&#8217;t because it wasn&#8217;t capable per se.</p>
	<p>The fact is that crippling the Internet is not a smart business model. It is like showing your hand in poker. Right now there are somewhere between 3 million and 15 million computers compromised by Conficker. Both numbers are big, but the larger point is the range in the estimates. Give or take 12 million PC&#8217;s, nobody really knows how big the threat is. There are 12 million PC&#8217;s that might be infected, or maybe not.</p>
	<p>To unleash the global Conficker army in some sort of massive April Fool&#8217;s Day prank that grinds the Internet to a halt just for the sake of doing so might have entertainment value, but it doesn&#8217;t generate revenue. What it would do is to help identify the compromised machines, enabling them to be cleaned and patched, and help wipe out the threat. The Conficker creators have a business interest in flying under the radar so they can live to fight- and profit- another day.</p>
	<p>So- nothing really happened on April 1st. Does that mean that we can just forget Conficker ever existed and move on? Absolutely not. The fact that nothing visible occurred from Conficker on April 1st means that there are still millions of PC&#8217;s- somewhere between 3 million and 15 million- compromised with Conficker. They can send out spam. They can host malware. They can be used in a botnet denial-of-service attack. They are a mercenary army of malicious PC&#8217;s for hire.<br />
<a id="more-212"></a><br />
What should you do?</p>
	<p>   1. Check your system to see if it is infected<br />
   2. Make sure your PC has the MS08-067 patch applied<br />
   3. Ensure you have security software installed on your PC and keep it up to date<br />
   4. Read this site on a daily basis to stay informed <img src='http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/wp-images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':-)' class='wp-smiley' /> .
</p>
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		<title>Software Review : Panda&#8217;s New SaaS Enabled Endpoint Security Product for Small Businesses</title>
		<link>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/24/software-review-pandas-new-saas-enabled-endpoint-security-product-for-small-businesses/</link>
		<comments>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/24/software-review-pandas-new-saas-enabled-endpoint-security-product-for-small-businesses/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:55:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lee De Black Raptor</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Software Review</category>
		<guid>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/24/software-review-pandas-new-saas-enabled-endpoint-security-product-for-small-businesses/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	Small businesses want to take their company to the next level, increasing their customer base while also increasing revenues. But every small business also has to make sure that computers in their organization are secure. For a small business this is a tough task as some either don&#8217;t have a full-time IT resource, or the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p>Small businesses want to take their company to the next level, increasing their customer base while also increasing revenues. But every small business also has to make sure that computers in their organization are secure. For a small business this is a tough task as some either don&#8217;t have a full-time IT resource, or the resources they do have are stretched extremely thin. That&#8217;s without mentioning the high cost of consultants. This has led to organizations looking for ways to become more efficient, not only with their budget, but also with the IT resources they have. This is where SaaS offerings come in. Investing in Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions has enabled small businesses to reduce their administrative, hardware, and power consumption costs. </p>
	<p>Security vendor Panda, has recently announced a new SaaS security solution targeted at small businesses, Panda Managed Office Protection (PMOP). The product is an endpoint security solution, offering the typical antivirus and firewall protection for desktops, laptops, and even servers in your organization. The SaaS part of the solution is the management infrastructure, as you don&#8217;t have to worry about installing servers to manage the database, reporting, or administrative functions. The management infrastructure and administrative interface is all in the cloud.</p>
	<p>The PMOP endpoint protection agent will run on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2003, Windows 2008, and even Windows Embedded Point of Sale (WePOS). The support matrix mentions support for VMWare virtualization, but no mention of Virtual PC or Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V support. With the growing popularity of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, support for Hyper-V virtualization must come very soon.<br />
<a id="more-211"></a><br />
Installation<br />
For this article, I installed PMOP in the lab running on Windows Vista Ultimate. Setup was a breeze. Panda offers two options for the deployment of endpoint agents: either users can do the install, or through a silent distribution method that does not require user intervention. As is the trend these days, installation of PMOP will uninstall several competitive solutions if present on the machine. This is essential, as uninstalling security technologies is a big hassle. </p>
	<p>Management<br />
Management of PMOP is very simple with all administrative functions being performed from Panda&#8217;s secure Web site. From there, you can create groupings for machines in your organization. Note that at least in this version there is no integration with Active Directory whatsoever which means that you can&#8217;t take advantage of any groups of machines you may already have in AD. In addition, you can create multiple protection profiles, each with distinct settings for antivirus, firewall, updates, and scans. You can also designate who has access to the administrative Web site. Currently, there are three administrative roles: Total Control, Security Admin, and Monitoring.</p>
	<p>One area that may be of interest to service providers is the ability to manage small business deployments of PMOP. Although PMOP is very easy to use, those organizations who really don&#8217;t want to worry about managing endpoint security can delegate this responsibility to a trusted third party. This is a great investment on Panda&#8217;s part, as it allows customers to continue to work with their chosen security partner if they so desire.</p>
	<p>On the agent side, there are not many functions for an end-user to perform other than launching scans (quick, full or custom). From previous work doing endpoint security planning, this is important as many organizations want to take all decision-making and customization out of the hands of the end user. </p>
	<p>A very nice touch that has been enabled by Panda is direct access to their malware encyclopedia. When malware is found, the agent will link you directly to get more information about the piece of malware. This is nice and helps avoid having to go and perform a search.</p>
	<p>Protection<br />
PMOP doesn&#8217;t provide anything breakthrough as regards protection, but it does provide the basics. This includes antivirus, firewall, and some light intrusion prevention. The endpoint security agent provides protection against threats coming in via e-mail (SMTP, POP3, MAPI), instant messaging, as well as Web and FTP. As a practice, customers looking for better information on malware detection rates and efficacy are best served by looking at the organizations that specialize in that function such as Virus Bulletin, West Coast Labs, ICSA Labs, and AV-Comparatives. From my review of Panda&#8217;s results in several tests, more work needs to be done on Panda&#8217;s part to improve their numbers here.</p>
	<p>Reporting<br />
The PMOP site provides a few reports, including executive, status and detection reports. These basic reports provide visibility into the threats, computers, and issues in the organization. If you&#8217;re organization is looking for detailed reports and the ability to drill down and get more information, PMOP is not for you. PMOP is really targeted at organizations who don&#8217;t want to spend time fiddling around with security settings and reporting. Just the basics - and for many small businesses, that is all they need.</p>
	<p>An area that really stands out from a reporting/management perspective is the central quarantine repository. Machines can be configured to send quarantined files to the Web site, where an admin can triage as needed. This is a nice feature, and even one that some higher-end products do not have. This really helps in putting the decision-making of triaging quarantined items in the hands of someone who knows what they&#8217;re doing rather than the standard end user.</p>
	<p>One gap that I would like to see Panda provide fill is providing more capabilities around is the time it takes to get an event from a machine to when you see it on the Web site. By default, it takes 12 hours, and cannot be configured to anything less than 12. That is a long time. I&#8217;m sure Panda will get feedback that it needs to be more configurable than that. At minimum, it would be great to have a way to force all machines in an organization to send their data up to the cloud.</p>
	<p>Conclusion<br />
All-in-all, the Panda Managed Office Protection (PMOP) is a good offering for small businesses looking to reduce their hardware, IT resource, and power costs. All of the typical server management infrastructure is in the cloud. If you really don&#8217;t want to worry about endpoint security, then having your trusted security partner manage this for you is a huge value-add that Panda has enabled in this solution. If you&#8217;re looking for advanced protection and customization of a security solution, then this product is not for you. But if you&#8217;re looking for a simple endpoint security offering that will help you focus on what matters most to your small business, then PMOP will provide the ease of use you&#8217;re looking for.</p>
	<p>Current pricing of PMOP is as follows:<br />
1 year: $74.11 per license<br />
2 years: $111.17 per license<br />
3 years: $148.23 per license</p>
	<p>You can buy it <a href="https://shop.pandasecurity.com/cgi-bin/pp?id=B1MOPOESD&#038;track=63619&#038;sitepanda=empresas">here</a>.
</p>
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		<title>Software Review : TR10: Intelligent Software Assistant</title>
		<link>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/24/software-review-tr10-intelligent-software-assistant/</link>
		<comments>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/24/software-review-tr10-intelligent-software-assistant/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:51:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lee De Black Raptor</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Software Review</category>
		<guid>http://blackraptor.blogsome.com/2009/04/24/software-review-tr10-intelligent-software-assistant/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[	Search is the gateway to the Internet for most people; for many of us, it has become second nature to distill a task into a set of keywords that will lead to the required tools and information. But Adam Cheyer, cofounder of Silicon Valley startup Siri, envisions a new way for people to interact with [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<p>Search is the gateway to the Internet for most people; for many of us, it has become second nature to distill a task into a set of keywords that will lead to the required tools and information. But Adam Cheyer, cofounder of Silicon Valley startup Siri, envisions a new way for people to interact with the services available on the Internet: a &#8220;do engine&#8221; rather than a search engine. Siri is working on virtual personal-assistant software, which would help users complete tasks rather than just collect information. </p>
	<p>Cheyer, Siri&#8217;s vice president of engineering, says that the software takes the user&#8217;s context into account, making it highly useful and flexible. &#8220;In order to get a system that can act and reason, you need to get a system that can interact and understand,&#8221; he says. </p>
	<p>Siri traces its origins to a military-funded artificial-intelligence project called CALO, for &#8220;cognitive assistant that learns and organizes,&#8221; that is based at the research institute SRI International. The project&#8217;s leaders&#8211;including Cheyer&#8211;combined traditionally isolated approaches to artificial intelligence to try to create a personal-assistant program that improves by interacting with its user. Cheyer, while still at SRI, took a team of engineers aside and built a sample consumer version; colleagues finally persuaded him to start a company based on the prototype. Siri licenses its core technology from SRI.<br />
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Mindful of the sometimes spectacular failure of previous attempts to create a virtual personal assistant, Siri&#8217;s founders have set their sights conservatively. The initial version, to be released this year, will be aimed at mobile users and will perform only specific types of functions, such as helping make reservations at restaurants, check flight status, or plan weekend activities. Users can type or speak commands in casual sentences, and the software deciphers their intent from the context. Siri is connected to multiple online services, so a quick interaction with it can accomplish several small tasks that would normally require visits to a number of websites. For example, a user can ask Siri to find a midpriced Chinese restaurant in a specific part of town and make a reservation there.</p>
	<p>Recent improvements in computer processor power have been essential in bringing this level of sophistication to a consumer product, Cheyer says. Many of CALO&#8217;s abilities still can&#8217;t be crammed into such products. But the growing power of mobile phones and the increasing speed of networks make it possible to handle some of the processing at Siri&#8217;s headquarters and pipe the results back to users, allowing the software to take on tasks that just couldn&#8217;t be done before.</p>
	<p>&#8220;Search does what search does very well, and that&#8217;s not going anywhere anytime soon,&#8221; says Dag Kittlaus, Siri&#8217;s cofounder and CEO. &#8220;[But] we believe that in five years, everyone&#8217;s going to have a virtual assistant to which they delegate a lot of the menial tasks.&#8221;</p>
	<p>While the software will be intelligent and useful, the company has no aspiration to make it seem human. &#8220;We think that we can create an incredible experience that will help you be more efficient in your life, in solving problems and the tasks that you do,&#8221; Cheyer says. But Siri is always going to be just a tool, not a rival to human intelligence: &#8220;We&#8217;re very practical minded.&#8221;</p>
	<p><strong>Weekend Plans</strong><br />
Siri cofounder Tom Gruber volunteered Adam Cheyer to participate in a conversation with the software (shown above). Gruber explains the artificial-intelligence tasks behind its responses.</p>
	<p>1. &#8220;The user can ask a broad question like this because Siri has information that gives clues about what the user intends. For example, the software might store data about the user&#8217;s location, schedule, and past activities. Siri can deal with open-ended questions within specific areas, such as entertainment or travel.&#8221; </p>
	<p>2. &#8220;Siri pulls information relevant to the user&#8217;s question from a variety of Web services and tools. In this case, it checks the weather, event listings, and directories of local attractions and uses machine learning to select certain options based on the user&#8217;s past preferences. Siri can connect to various Web applications and then integrate the results into a single response.&#8221; </p>
	<p>3. &#8220;Siri interprets this reply in the context of the existing conversation, using it to refine the user&#8217;s request.&#8221; </p>
	<p>4. &#8220;The software offers specific suggestions based on the user&#8217;s personal preferences and its ability to categorize. Because Siri is task-oriented, rather than a search engine, it offers to buy tickets that the user selects.&#8221; </p>
	<p>5. &#8220;By now, the conversation has narrowed enough that all the user has to do is click on his choice.&#8221;</p>
	<p>6. &#8220;Siri compiles information about the event, such as band members, directions, and prices, and structures it  in a logical way. It also handles the task of finding out what&#8217;s available and getting the tickets.&#8221;
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