NASA probe crashes into moon in hunt for water

In its search for water on the moon, NASA slammed not one, but two, spacecraft into a deep, dark crater on the lunar south pole this morning. NASA successfully nailed a target about 230,000 miles from Earth - twice. It was a precision operation.

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, separated into two sections last night. Four minutes later, the rest of the space probe shot through the miles-high plume of debris kicked up by the first impact, grabbed analysis of the matter, and then it too crashed into the lunar surface. Its empty rocket hull, weighing in at more than 2 tons, was the first of the two pieces to slam into the lunar surface at 7:31 a.m. EDT today. Effectively, it was a one-two punch designed to kick up what scientists believe is water ice hiding in the bottom of a permanently dark crater. NASA said it will issue a report on its initial analysis of the probe at10 a.m. EDT today.

With NASA still hopeful to one day create a viable human outpost on the moon , it would be helpful for anyone there to find water rather than haul it up from Earth. NASA had been promising live images of the impact and resulting debris plume but the live images on NASA TV disappeared moments before impact. The orbiter is expected to send its own analysis of the debris plume back to earth later this morning. The LCROSS spacecraft, which blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on June 18, went aloft with its companion satellite, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter . As the Atlas V rocket carrying lifted off, a NASA spokesman called it "NASA's first step in a lasting return to the moon." NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter , which has been in orbit around the moon since late June, was 50 kilometers above the moon's surface during this morning's impact. The LCROSS spacecraft heavily loaded with scientific gear. The instruments were selected to provide mission scientists with multiple views of the debris created by the hull's initial impact.

According to NASA, its payload consisted of two near-infrared spectrometers, a visible light spectrometer, two mid-infrared cameras, two near-infrared cameras, a visible camera and a visible radiometer. Before it crashed into the moon, LCROSS was transmitting data back to NASA mission control at 1.5 Mbps, NASA noted this morning.

Internet TV could boom in the next few years, study says

Internet-enabled TV sets could see wider adoption in the next few years as viewers get comfortable with the idea of running widgets on TV screens, according to a study released by Ernst & Young on Thursday. TV widgets are designed to pull selective content from the Internet to complement TV watching. Widgets - or mini-applications - are already being used in devices like mobile phones and computers to run light applications, and those applications could reach TV sets, the analyst firm said in the study.

For example, users can view weather information on TV or buy products advertised on TV from online stores. Web-connected TV shipments could total less than 500,000 in 2009, but top 6 million by 2013, E&Y said in the study, citing statistics from Parks Associates. Many consumers consider it an "appealing" idea to mesh TV with information from the Internet, according to the study. Widgets could also be the glue that brings together Internet and TV content. Many Web sites and technology companies are developing an ecosystem to bring content from the Internet and TV together.

Broadcast TV is already competing with the Web for viewership, and widgets could facilitate content searches through both mediums, giving more entertainment options to viewers. Myspace.com, for example, has developed a widget that blends TV with its social-networking offerings. Users don't need to rely on a browser to access MySpace content. TV watchers could exchange e-mail messages or browse photos on MySpace by activating a widget at the bottom of the TV screen. TVs and chips, for instance, are also being developed to build Web-enabled TVs. Sony, Samsung and LG have said select flat-panel high-definition TV models would be able to run widgets or download movies from online entertainment services like Netflix.

Intel is also working with companies like CBS and Cinemanow to bring widgets to TVs. Web-enabled TV has struggled over the past 15 years since Time Warner Cable launched the iTV service in Orlando, E&Y said. Intel last week announced the CE4100 media processor, which enables the use of Internet and multimedia applications on TVs, Intel said. Ever since, it has seen many iterations, with companies like AOL, BSkyB, RespondTV, Hewlett-Packard and Apple trying to bring the Internet to TV through devices like set-top boxes or adapters. Widgets for TV use also need to be adopted by television programming and cable operators. The success of widgets depends on applications that users will want to have on their TVs. For example, one-click access to on-demand content from online movie stores is well-suited for widgets. The operators will look to monetize widgets by developing an ad sales model around it, which could face some challenges, the study found.

Conflicting advertising could also appear on a TV screen and widget at the same time, which could affect ad sales models. For example, viewers could migrate their attention from TV shows to widgets, which could affect the ratings of a program.

Global workforce, Gen Y driving social networking adoption, users say

Microsoft users say their global workforce and the arrival of Gen Y employees are making strong demands that IT can no longer ignore for new collaboration and social networking tools. Bryant was part of a customer panel at a Microsoft event in San Francisco Tuesday to promote Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange 2010. "It is the way to attract and retain the next generation of workers who are very comfortable in that mode of collaboration and communication," she said. Where IT pros do their social networking "If you don't pull those solutions into the enterprise and embrace them they are going to happen anyway," said Diane Bryant, global CIO at Intel. Intel is taking a strong stance in embracing social networking with an environment that integrates with its deployment of Microsoft's Office suite.

Eric Craig, manager of IT for Continental Airlines, said social networking is also sweeping his organization. "It has exploded in a way we have not anticipated," he said. Bryant said the way to deal with social networking tools is to be proactive. "We have had our meetings with HR and legal to get over the hurdles," she said. The social networking tide started with some http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/022008-virtual-call-centers.html ">1,000 reservation agents  working from home. "The unanticipated benefit of some of those social networking tools was the ability to communicate real-time chat to all these at-home workers. The theme emerging is that connectivity and collaboration will be a mainstay," said Nick Smither, CIO of Ford Motor Co. "Right now, business needs it," Smither said. "We do business in 100 markets globally and increasingly we are more dependent on people around the world to contribute to our success long term …that is a business driver." Smither said Ford also is seeing a push from users who crave the flexibility they get from access to an always-on connection. "Today's Generation Y coming out of school and entering the workforce, have an expectation around connectivity all the time, always on, whether at home, traveling or in the office," Smither said. "There is a focus on more sophisticated tools in the collaboration space to enable the flexibility to work anywhere." He did not go into detail around specific applications that Ford is making available to its users, but he did say Microsoft SharePoint Server is at the heart of virtual communities that provide collaboration tools for developers, designers and sales. Once that program became popular, there were other business units that said they wanted to work at home, too, and work at odd hours and have families and all those other things that people like." Ford is also being driven in the direction of social networking adoption. The company is building out its collaborative tool set as part of its One Ford global strategy that includes Exchange 2010 on the technology side.

During the event, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer acknowledged that social networking is largely a consumer phenomenon, but said companies are quickly seeing the potential. "It is not whether [adoption of social networking tools] will happen in corporations, it's when will it happen," Ballmer said. The company already processes 1.35 billion e-mails a year for its 201,000 employees. Follow John on Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnfontana

Lotus goes after Microsoft's 'ridiculous and fabricated' figures

Lotus Software GM Bob Picciano has grown tired of the "hot wind" blowing out of Redmond carrying claims that Exchange is displacing Notes and is singling out CEO Steve Ballmer and COO Kevin Turner as the main culprits spreading "ridiculous and fabricated" information. They are still utilizing capabilities from other aspects of the Lotus portfolio," said Picciano. Exchange alternatives: Front ends and back endsA look at Exchange 2010 "Microsoft is making claims in the marketplace around 4.7 million people have exchanged e-mail from Notes to Exchange and that is just a ridiculous fabricated figure," said Picciano, who took the reins at Lotus in 2008. "Every time they sell a [client access license] they count that as a competitive migration." "People need to recognize that Kevin Turner and Steve Ballmer have blown a lot of hot wind from Washington and there is not much substance or truth to what they are espousing in the marketplace," Picciano said. "They were so bold as to say there are entire countries that have migrated off of Notes and that is utterly ridiculous." Picciano says all the talk has "got me pretty worked up that they would be so bold to make such erroneous statements and not be challenged." The Lotus Software GM says many of the reference companies cited by Microsoft when it made its "4.7 million people" comment in July "are still licensing Lotus Notes technology and still utilizing e-mail and applications from Lotus. At Microsoft's annual meeting this summer for financial analysts, Turner heaped on more numbers during his presentation at the event. "We've taken out almost 13 million Lotus Notes [seats] the past three years. … Now, the thing that I would tell you is there's still 15 — we count — there's still 15 million out there." He cited SharePoint Server as the "fastest-growing, hottest product in the history of Microsoft," and pegged it as a catalyst in the fight against IBM. Picciano said the counter was last week's news that U.S. Bank was replacing Microsoft's SharePoint platform by standardizing on the Notes 8.5 client and would roll out Lotus Connections social networking tools, the Sametime real-time platform and Lotus Quickr, which is IBM's alternative to SharePoint.

He said PNC Bank and Continental Tire are joining U.S. Bank in getting rid of Microsoft's Exchange, Office and SharePoint. On Tuesday, Picciano threw out his own numbers saying a total to 15,421 companies have picked IBM over Microsoft since 2008 in the worldwide integrated collaborative environment market as defined by IDC. In addition, Picciano says customers are expanding their investment in Lotus software and he cited as examples Accenture, BASF, Chrysler, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Continental AG, Finishline, General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, Gruppo Amadori, KBC Bank, Nationwide, Novartis, Phillips Electronics and PNC Bank. In January, Picciano said more than 12,000 new companies in 2008 bought their first Notes/Domino licenses. People understand what Kevin's motivation is and the prancing around in front of partners and talking about this. And he said half of the Fortune global 100 are Notes/Domino users. "It's important to put [Microsoft's claims] into perspective and call it what it is, a bunch of fabrication," Picciano said. "Kevin is feeling that he is under a bit of pressure. It's duplicitous and overshadows the real truth." Follow John on Twitter.

Lawmakers want trusted airline passenger program revived

Lawmakers called upon the Transportation Security Administration and private sector companies to quickly re-establish a nationwide registered traveler program to help frequent travelers get through airport security checkpoints faster. Both lawmakers and vendors said the TSA had not done enough to support the registered traveler program and in fact distanced itself from the effort over the past year. The calls came after the abrupt closure earlier this year of Verified identity Pass Inc. (VIP), the largest provider of registered traveler services, and the subsequent shutting of services by two other vendors that offered the same service. The TSA, meanwhile, insisted that the program did little to improve security.

At a hearing on the future of the registered traveler program Wednesday, members of a House subcommittee on Homeland Security urged the TSA and private vendors to work together to quickly restore the service. The agency said that just because members of such programs had been pre-screened didn't eliminate the need for them to go through airport security checks like everyone else. The hearing came on the same day an investment banking firm, Henry Inc., said it had signed a letter of intent to buy VIP's assets and relaunch the service by the end of the year." U.S. Rep. At the same time, private sector companies need to find a model "that can support a security benefit, but which does not rely on one," she said. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), the subcommittee chairwoman, expressed hope that the TSA would make a "good faith effort" to explore a security benefit, or an additional layer of security vetting, for the registered traveler program. Even if passengers must still go through a security screeening, these companies can still offer the convenience of getting their customers through the process quicker, such as using a separate member-only line at security checkpoints.

Since 2005, the TSA has piloted several iterations of the program with private sector companies. The registered traveler program was established under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA). It authorizes the TSA to implement trusted passenger programs to speed up the security screening of passengers who have submitted to comprehensive background and security checks. The biggest of them was VIP, which offered a registered traveler service called "Clear" at 21 major airports. The announcement raised immediate concerns about the data that VIP had collected as part of its Clear service, including Social Security and credit card number and home address. The company, which had signed up more than 200,000 subscribers, stopped service in June saying it had run out of money. The company had also collected fingerprints, iris scans and digital images of customers' faces.

Soon after Clear stopped its service, rivals Fast Lane Option Corp . (Flo) and Vigilant Solutions also shut down their services. Many who had paid a $199 annual fee were unable to get refunds. During the hearing, U.S. Rep. Going forward, the TSA needs to take the lead in supporting the program, Thompson and others said. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said it is Congress' intent that such "a quick closing of business" does not happen again. "The traveling public deserves better," Thompson said.

Much of the reason the program is in disarray is because the TSA failed to support the effort, witnesses said. Despite the mandate from Congress, the TSA has not fully implemented the use of biometrics as a primary form of identification, Fischer said, nor has it used background screening to vet those using the RT lanes as it was supposed to. While the registered traveler program at one time was expected to provide add an additional layer of security at airports, today it is little more than a convenience for travelers willing to pay for it, they said. "To date, while the private sector has invested over $250 million and upheld its side of the partnership, the TSA has not," said Fred Fischer, managing partner at Flo Corp. Though the TSA at one point collected $28 per passenger to do a so-called Security Threat Assessment (STA) of passengers who had signed up for registered traveler programs, not one applicant was ever vetted using a criminal history records check, he claimed. John Sammon, an assistant administrator at the TSA, said that based on the pilot programs and the agency's own insight, registered traveler programs do not offer any additional security.

As a result, the promised security benefits of the registered traveler program have yet to be realized, he said. He said the TSA stopped doing security threat analysis for registered traveler programs because there was little value to be gained. "The prospect of a terrorist not identified on a watch list raised questions about the viability of a registered traveler program," he said. Going forward, the TSA will work with private vendors to identify programs that will support registered travelers programs, he said. After an evaluation of the pilot programs, the TSA concluded that registered traveler programs "do not provide any additional levels of security," he said. However, from a security standpoint, such passengers will still be subject to the same security checks as other ticketed passengers, he said.