Here’s the “PR pitch of the day,” which came to our newspaper’s info@ e-mail address.

Guess how much time, rounded up to the nearest nanosecond, we’re going to spend compiling a list of “technology stories” that our reporters are working on, just so that Jackie can match them up with her clients?

If you guessed any positive integer, you overestimated.

Subj: Upcoming Tech Story

It’s Jackie with _________; how are you? I was just wondering what, if any, technology stories you’re currently working on. I have a few clients that I thought could be of interest to you, but I don’t want to waste your time with an irrelevant pitch.

I hope all is well and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Thanks,
Jackie

The U.S. Presidential elections are being fought in Main Street, on Wall Street — and on Broadband Avenue. YouTube, blogs, RSS feeds… those are all just as important as televised debates, robo-calls and TV advertisements.

Every four years, we see new technologies and new attention being given to the Internet. It’s easy to forget that despite the particular domains and file formats in Election 2008, this has been going on for better than a decade.

If you read (or re-read) Wayne Rash’s seminal book, “Politics on the Net: Wiring the Political Process,” published in 1997, you can see how far we’ve come. You’ll also see that much hasn’t really changed in the past few elections.

Sadly, Wayne’s book is out of print. You can still find used copies, or take it out of your local library.

Microsoft shipped Silverlight 2 today, sort of. While the company said that the software was “released” today, Monday, Oct. 13, it won’t be available for download until tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 14.

According to Microsoft, these are the highlights of Silverlight 2:

• .NET Framework support with a rich base class library. This is a compatible subset of the full .NET Framework.
• Powerful built-in controls. These include DataGrid, ListBox, Slider, ScrollViewer, Calendar controls and more.
• Advanced skinning and templating support. This makes it easy to customize the look and feel of an application.
• Deep zoom. This enables unparalleled interactivity and navigation of ultrahigh resolution imagery.
• Comprehensive networking support. Out-of-the-box support allows calling REST, WS*/SOAP, POX, RSS and standard HTTP services, enabling users to create applications that easily integrate with existing back-end systems.
• Expanded .NET Framework language support. Unlike other runtimes, Silverlight 2 supports a variety of programming languages, including Visual Basic, C#, JavaScript, IronPython and IronRuby, making it easier for developers already familiar with one of these languages to repurpose their existing skill sets.
• Advanced content protection. This now includes Silverlight DRM, powered by PlayReady, offering robust content protection for connected Silverlight experiences.
• Improved server scalability and expanded advertiser support. This includes new streaming and progressive download capabilities, superior search engine optimization techniques, and next-generation in-stream advertising support.
• Vibrant partner ecosystem. Visual Studio Industry Partners such as ComponentOne LLC, Infragistics Inc. and Telerik Inc. are providing products that further enhance developer capabilities when creating Silverlight applications using Visual Studio.
• Cross-platform and cross-browser support. This includes support for Mac, Windows and Linux in Firefox, Safari and Windows Internet Explorer.

One area where Microsoft is definitely breaking new ground is in its indirect support for an Eclipse project. Here’s what Microsoft says about tools:

Microsoft announced plans to support additional tools for developing Silverlight applications by providing funding to Soyatec, a France-based IT solutions provider and Eclipse Foundation member, to lead a project to integrate advanced Silverlight development capabilities into the Eclipse IDE. Soyatec plans to release the project under the Eclipse Public License Version 1.0 on SourceForge and submit it to the Eclipse Foundation as an open Eclipse project.

Microsoft also will release the Silverlight Control Pack and publish on MSDN the technical specification for the Silverlight Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) vocabulary. The SCP, which will augment the powerful built-in control set in Silverlight, will be released under the Microsoft Permissive License, an Open Source Initiative-approved license, and includes controls such as DockPanel, ViewBox, TreeView, Accordion and AutoComplete. The Silverlight XAML vocabulary specification, released under the Open Specification Promise (OSP), will better enable third-party ISVs to create products that can read and write XAML for Silverlight.

“The Silverlight Control Pack under the Microsoft Permissive License really addresses the needs of developers by enabling them to learn how advanced controls are authored directly from the high-quality Microsoft implementation,” said Miguel de Icaza, vice president, Engineering, Novell. “By using the OSP for the Silverlight vocabulary, they further solidify their commitment to interoperability. I am impressed with the progress Microsoft continues to make, and we are extremely satisfied with the support for Moonlight and the open source community.”

Beyond funding development in the free Eclipse IDE, Microsoft currently delivers state-of-the-art tools for Silverlight with Visual Studio 2008 and Expression Studio 2. In addition, support is now extended to Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition, which is a free download.

Today’s new phishing scam is an attempt to steal your Google AdWords account information and/or a credit-card number. I received two identical messages today, sent to email accounts that most definitely aren’t set up with Google AdWords.

One came from the spoofed address email hidden; JavaScript is required, and had the subject line “Please re-submit your payment information.” The other came from the spoofed address email hidden; JavaScript is required, and had the subject line, “Your ads in this account are not running.”

Beyond that, both messages were trying to get me to click on a link that looked a Google URL, but actually belonged to a non-Google server. Don’t be fooled! Don’t be scammed!

Here’s what the message said:

Hello,

Our attempt to charge your credit card for your
outstanding Google AdWords account balance was declined.
Your account is still open. However, your ads have been suspended. Once
we are able to charge your card and receive payment for your account
balance, we will re-activate your ads.

Please update your billing information, even if you plan to use the
same credit card. This will trigger our billing system to try charging
your card again. You do not need to contact us to reactivate your
account.

To update your primary payment information, please follow these steps:

1. Log in to your account at [hidden fake url]
2. Enter your primary payment information.
3. Click ‘Update’ when you have finished.

In the future, you may wish to use a backup credit card in order to
help ensure continuous delivery of your ads. You can add a backup
credit card by visiting your Billing Preferences page or visit the
AdWords Help Centre for more details:

Thank you for advertising with Google AdWords. We look forward to
providing you with the most effective advertising available.

The Google AdWords Team

Here’s a notice that I received from Netflix today:

Dear Alan,

As you may know, Blu-ray movies are more expensive than standard definition movies. As a result, we’re going to start charging $1 a month (plus applicable taxes), in addition to your monthly membership charge, for unlimited access to Blu-ray movies.

The additional charge for unlimited Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after November 5th, 2008 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details. If you wish to continue getting Blu-ray movies for $1 a month more, you don’t need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account at the Netflix website.

If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-638-3549.

-The Netflix Team

Let’s do the math, starting with a brand-new release, Iron Man. (Great movie.) I’m sure that Netflix can do better than Amazon.com’s pricing, but let’s use that as a guideline.

• Iron Man “Ultimate Two-Disc Edition” Blu-Ray: $25.95
• Iron Man “Two-Disc Special Collectors’ Edition” DVD: $24.99

There’s a about dollar difference, retail. Probably Netflix will pay a lot less. Given how many times Netflix is going to rent that disc, it hardly seems justified to pass that dollar cost along to the consumer.