Science & Technology World

Microsoft has announced plans to open up the format of the data files used by its e-mail program Outlook. The software giant said it would provide full documentation on the format so non-Microsoft developers can interrogate and use it. Microsoft said it was making the move because data portability was becoming increasingly important to customers and clients. No deadline was given for when the documentation effort will be complete. Microsoft already provides two ways to get at the data Outlook and Exchange servers store about e-mail messages, contacts and calendar entries in a format known as .pst. However, that information can only be accessed if Outlook is installed on a user's desktop or laptop computer. The documentation effort will provide full information about the .pst file format and remove the need to have Outlook installed to get at it. "This documentation is still in its early stages and work is ongoing," wrote Paul Lorimer, group manager, Microsoft Office Interoperability, in a blog post announcing the move. When the documents are complete, Microsoft said they would be released to make it possible for anyone to use the .pst format "on any platform and in any tool, without concerns about patents, and without the need to contact Microsoft in any way". Microsoft said it was already talking to key customers and industry experts to ensure the information it provides is useful. The move could see novel e-mail, contact and calendar clients that work on many different devices. Mr Lorimer said the move was taken as part of Microsoft's commitment to Interoperability Principles that it announced in 2008. Microsoft is not alone in pursuing a more open agenda for its products. Many firms now provide detailed interfaces to their data or software so others can find out how they work and put that information to their own ends. For instance, in September Google set up a Data Liberation Front - a team of engineers whose job it is to ensure that its users can get at their data and do what they want with it.

Facebook has announced that it will be giving friends and family the option to "memorialise" the profiles of members who have died. It follows some cases of members receiving updates about dead friends. If a user is reported as deceased, Facebook will remove sensitive information such as status updates and contacts. When reporting a death, users must offer " proof" by submitting either an obituary or news article. "When someone leaves us, they don't leave our memories or our social network," Max Kelly, head of security at the firm, wrote in the official Facebook blog. "To reflect that reality, we created the idea of " memorialised" profiles as a place where people can save and share their memories of those who've passed." Memorialised accounts will have new privacy settings so that only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in search. Contact information and status updates will be removed and the person will no longer appear in the newly-introduced Suggestions panel which, according to its blog it is designed "to remind people to take actions with friends who need help on Facebook". But there have been some some cases where people were 'reminded' about dead friends or relatives. "We understand how difficult it can be for people to be reminded of those who are no longer with them, which is why it's important when someone passes away that their friends or family contact Facebook to request that a profile be memorialised," Mr Kelly wrote in his blog. In separate news, Facebook has once again been targeted by cybercriminals. Security firm Websense has reported thousands of fake messages, purporting to come from Facebook Support, with a malicious payload. The fake message invites users to download a new password as part of ongoing security messages. If users click on it it will download a piece of software which could allow their machine to be taken over by malicious hackers. In one day, Websense has seen 90 ,000 such messages.

The US space agency will make another attempt to launch a prototype rocket designed to replace the ageing shuttle. Tuesday's launch of the Ares I-X had to be scrubbed due to bad weather, and the forecast for Wednesday is no better. There is just a 40 % chance of acceptable weather for today's launch attempt, according to Nasa. The slender, 100 m-tall Ares I-X vehicle will test technology crucial for the development of a manned craft that could return astronauts to the Moon. A combination of high wind speeds and clouds contributed to Nasa's decision to postpone the launch from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Tuesday. Overnight, the area was lashed by rain and there were four lightning strikes near the launch pad. Nasa is testing the launcher to ensure no issues arise as a result. The experimental craft has a four-hour launch window between 1200 and 1600 GMT (0800 and 1200 EDT) on 28 and 29 October. The craft is the first new launch vehicle that Nasa has designed and built in more than three decades. Prior to the scheduled take-off on Tuesday, a fabric cover designed to protect a probe on the nose of the craft whilst it was on the launch pad became tangled. It was finally released to a round of applause by the mission team. A ship that had sailed into the seas surrounding the launch site caused further delays. Finally, bad weather forced controllers to scrub the event. Winds at ground level were blowing above 20 knots, higher than allowed for launch, and clouds obscured the pad. The flight team was particularly concerned about the cloud coverage, partly because they needed clear skies to watch the flight but also because of a problem known as " triboelectrification". This phenomenon occurs when the rocket encounters water or ice droplets in the clouds. As these collide with the rocket they cause a static charge to build up on its skin, creating interference with radio signals. This is a problem for the 1- X team, which needs clear signals to gather data from 700 sensors wired throughout the vehicle, which are designed to collect flight data. In addition, the team needed to be able to send a signal to a detonator and explosives onboard the craft, which would be used to destroy it in case of an emergency. The slim-line rocket is a prototype of the Ares I craft, part of the Constellation programme intended to return the US to the Moon by 2020. However, a recent report has cast doubt on the future of the programme. The Augustine panel, which had been asked to review the US human spaceflight programme, published its report on 22 October. Although the panel supported the Ares I-X test flight, it questioned the need to develop the Ares I. In particular, the panel queried the cost and design of the craft as well as its development time.

It was supposed to run like clockwork. The launch of a new service that would give XBox Live users access to dozens of live Sky channels and on-demand TV shows. But Tuesday's 10 am launch didn't quite go according to plan. All some people logging on to the service could see was an error message. It was announced months ago that XBox Live and Sky were going to work together. The idea was to give users on- demand access to shows, as well as some live channels. Toby Doyle, 15 , from Cheltenham was one of those affected. He said: "I was really disappointed when I found out it wasn't working. "There's been lots of hype going on about it and I thought it'd all go well, so I was a bit shocked when it wasn't." Sky statement Sky has apologised and said: "The service has been suspended due to an unforeseen technical issue. "Sky Player engineers are hard at work to resolve the problem. We expect to have the full service available on Wednesday." Eighteen-year-old Liam from Dumfries said that wasn't good enough for him. "I'm quite annoyed. I think they could have done a bit more to let people know they are having problems," he said. This service isn't the only one to suffer problems. Nintendo's Wii has offered users the chance to watch the BBC's iPlayer for months but has also suffered technical problems since September. When the Sky Player service on XBox does get up and running users will be able to sign up to it on a month by month basis. Depending on what package users go for it costs anywhere from £15 to £50. Users also need good broadband speeds, around two meg, to make it work properly and it doesn' t come in HD quality. But, if you are willing to pay, you can see live Premier League football games, get Sky One on- demand and connect with online friends at the same time, using headsets to speak while you're watching.

People who persistently download illegal content will be cut off from the net, Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has announced. Speaking at a government-sponsored forum to debate copyright issues he said the UK would introduce a similar policy to France. It means persistent pirates will be sent two warning letters before facing disconnection from the network. The issue has divided the telecoms and media industries. Mr Mandelson said that cutting internet connections would be a "last resort". "I have no expectation of mass suspensions. People will receive two notifications and if it reaches the point [of cutting them off] they will have the opportunity to appeal," he told the audience at the C&binet Forum, a talking shop set up by government to debate the issues facing the creative industries. The pay-off for tough penalties against persistent file-sharers would be a more relaxed copyright regime, Mr Mandelson said. The details of it would need to be hammered out at European level but it would take account of the use of copyright material "at home and between friends", he said. It would mean that, for example, someone who has bought a CD would be able to copy it to their iPod or share it with family members without acting unlawfully. Mr Mandelson praised the UK's creative industries, which are worth around £16 bn and employs 2 million people. ILLEGAL FILE-SHARING File-sharing is not illegal. It only becomes illegal when users are sharing content, such as music, that is protected by copyrights The crackdown will be aimed at people who regularly use technologies, such as BitTorrent, and websites, such as The Pirate Bay, to find and download files There are plenty of legitimate services which use file-sharing technology such as some on-demand TV services But it has been eroded in recent years, he said, by new ways of accessing content. "I was shocked to learn that only one in 20 music tracks in the UK is downloaded legally. We cannot sit back and do nothing," said Mr Mandelson. The fact that young people now expect to download content for free was "morally as well as economically unsustainable," he added. But he emphasised that "legislation and enforcement can only ever be part of the solution". The long-term answer was for the industry to offer new and cheaper ways to download content, he said. In France the government has just approved a so-called three strikes policy. Under its system, those identified as illegally downloading content would initially be sent warning letters and, if they failed to comply, could be removed from the network for up to a year. UK internet service providers have argued that it is not their job to police the network while content providers are keen to get due recompense for artists. At the same forum, Jean-Bernard Levy, chief executive of Vivendi, a French content and internet service provider, called for a tough stance. He believes the UK will damage its economy if it does not follow France and clamp down on internet piracy. "At Vivendi, we are in the content business, we are in the telecom business and there is no internal debate," he told delegates at the C&binet forum. "The priority is not to grow traffic on the ISPs. The priority is that creators, people who develop content, should find a way [to be rewarded]."