http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/blog158882.html I live and breathe technology news, it is what turns me on. Sad, but hey I am a news nerd, what can I say? http://www.daniweb.com/forums/dani-images/misc/dani/logo.gif http://www.daniweb.com http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2457.html Pop quiz: which is the most popular website in the US? For years the correct answer would have been Yahoo, despite everyone thinking it is Google. However, the latest comScore rankings, which list popularity in terms of the unique monthly visitor metric, has Google beating Yahoo for the first time ever. The confusion comes as a result of Google being way ahead of the competition in terms of search visibility, but when you start adding in other web real properties the statistics turn on their heads. In fairness, the actual scale of the Google lead is miniscule in Internet terms; a mere... Coffee House Thu, 15 May 2008 10:14:50 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2457.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2456.html PC Pro is reporting that Intel hopes that its Chinese manufacturing plant is back in production by next week, but following the earthquake disaster has to admit that the situation could best be described as being 'dynamic.' The chip packaging plant in Chengdu, some 60 miles away from the earthquake epicenter, was forced to close for the safety of its workers - none of whom were injured during the quake. With a seismic survey being carried out currently, workers could be back in place by the end of this week at the earliest. Something in the region of 60 percent of the world's laptops are... Tech Talk Thu, 15 May 2008 09:50:43 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2456.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2447.html According to Andrea Frome, a software engineer at Google Maps, the search giant has started to give Manhattan a makeover as far as its Street View is concerned at any rate. Manhattan was one of the first cities to get the Street View treatment when the service originally launched, and with dozens more added in the meantime, Google has decided to go back and revisit it to make things even better. Things such as the Street View maps being more recent for a start, so landmarks such as the New Museum in the Bowery now being pictured in its near complete state for example. Or how about sharper... Web Development Tue, 13 May 2008 18:52:36 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2447.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2433.html According to Cellular News Apple has decided it will, after all, settle in the case of two Canadian class-action lawsuits concerning the battery life of the iPod. It only covers old iPods, specifically those purchased before the 24th June 2004, and concerns those iPod owners whose devices have reduced battery life of less than five hours on a full charge for 1st and 2nd gen iPods, less than four hours for 3rd gen devices. However, if you do meet the requirements, and that Includes being a Canadian resident who purchased an iPod in Canada, then apparently Apple will pay you just under $45 in... Coffee House Sat, 10 May 2008 07:53:35 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2433.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2420.html An employee of the Northern Trust Bank in Naples, California apparently stole a number of bank owned computers which he then either sold to his co-workers, pawned or auctioned off on eBay. The 34 year old man pleaded to a felony fraud charge and sentencing has been deferred until it is determined how much of the $40,000 worth of theft is reimbursed to his now former employers as part of a good faith bargain. He could face less than 36 months imprisonment thanks to the plea, which is not bad considering that the charge actually carried up to 30 years if he had taken his chances with a... Coffee House Wed, 07 May 2008 08:52:28 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2420.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2417.html The Opera client used to be universally recognized as the alternative browser to Internet Explorer, and then along came Firefox and stole all the alternative browser thunder - and how. But the fat lady is still singing, and to prove it has released the Opera Dragonfly to debug web pages, widgets and web applications on any device. Available in Opera 9.5 beta 2 to start with, the alpha release of Dragonfly includes a JavaScript Debugger, DOM and CSS Inspectors, Error Console and Command Line. The full list of Dragonfly features is as follows: Debug pages whether they are on your computer... Web Development Tue, 06 May 2008 20:00:15 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2417.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2405.html Here's a good one, according to The Guardian newspaper in the UK, the incomes of each and every single Italian citizen were published for each and every other Italian citizen to see on the web. Rather than being some terrible data breach, or the work of some sinister hacker, it appears that it was the departing government which published the details. It seems, according to the Italian finance ministry at any rate, that this was done quite deliberately as part of a "crackdown on tax evasion." Although the move was not popular with critics of the government, although it does seem to have... Coffee House Sun, 04 May 2008 08:14:21 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2405.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2404.html Despite insisting that its proposed acquisition of Yahoo! "made sense for Microsoft, Yahoo! and the market as a whole" Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, has admitted defeat and withdrawn its proposal to purchase the Yahoo! business. "Yahoo! has not moved toward accepting our offer. After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo! do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal,” said Ballmer. Here is the text of the letter that Ballmer sent to Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang on the... IT Water Cooler Sun, 04 May 2008 07:55:54 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2404.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2387.html According to The Register gamers who are desperate to get hold of the latest entry in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and let's face it that has to be just about every hardcore gamer who did not get a copy today, are the latest target of drive-by spyware scammers. Spam email is being distributed which promises the chance of winning not only a copy of GTA IV, but also a brand spanking new PlayStation 3 to play it on. There is, of course, no such competition and no such prize. There is, however, a whole bunch of spyware included that can grab your valuable data once your PC is compromised by... Coffee House Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:51:22 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2387.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2377.html According to some online reports it seems that those of us who suffer from seasonal allergies, which we politely refer to as hayfever over here in the UK, might have more than just pollen and plants to blame for our runny noses, watering eyes and itchy skin. One medical evaluation site seems to be suggesting that the use of modern technology could act as a trigger for these allergic events. The use of cell phones, and myriad other wireless technologies, has without doubt brought with it a medical debate concerning the dangers of exposure to radiation and microwaves resulting in skin rashes,... Coffee House Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:29:22 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2377.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2370.html According to a story running in The Register Sun Microsystems is said to have paid "a bit north of $5m" for the technology assets of Montalvo Systems, a chip start-up outfit which is best known for its work on a low-power x86 processor. The Register says it has seen a notice supporting the purchase which will become a part of the Sun business unit, although it also suggests that any interest in the x86 IP is nothing more than a red herring and the real interest lies in asymmetrical core design. This is an area where Montalvo has plenty of experience, and it would make sense for Sun to be... IT Water Cooler Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:11:18 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2370.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2354.html According to Fujitsu Siemens Computers the days of simply upgrading to faster processors in order to squeeze extra performance out of legacy applications are rapidly coming to an end. In a press release distributed today the company warns that the increasing use of multi-core processors, and the simple replacement of single core processors in general, is just simply not enough when it comes to delivering the expected benefit concerning improved efficiency running companies' key business applications. There is no doubting that many IT departments are, indeed, shifting focus from older... Software Development Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:29:44 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2354.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2349.html One of the best known soccer clubs in the world is tackling the phishing threat and has placed a penalty on the head of those who might try to con their fans on the web. As the annual InfoSecurity Europe show kicks off, so Manchester United has launched the implementation of Extended Validation (EV) Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificates on the Man U website in order to provide premier league protection for online fans. The official Online Manchester United Megastore, as you might expect from such a high profile commercial sporting success, is more than just a fanboy website. It is where... Tech Talk Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:59:39 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2349.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2338.html Following on from the RSA security conference the other week, where PayPal published a paper which included comment from chief information security officer Michael Barrett that suggested 'unsafe' web browsers would be banned, the eBay owned payments company has now appeared to backtrack somewhat. Online media channels, and in particular the blogosphere, have been vibrating madly with comment on the potential for the browser ban. Which is not altogether surprising when you consider that in the paper Mr Barrett not only said that it is "critical to warn users about unsafe browsers" but also to... Web Development Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:25:38 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2338.html http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2332.html Scientists from the University of Glasgow in Scotland have developed a nanotech switch, the size of a molecule, which could herald the 500,000 GB iPod. The scientists reckon that the breakthrough means an iPod could increase its capacity by no less than 150,000 times the current storage capability. Professor Lee Cronin and Dr Malcolm Kadodwala say that the 500,000 GB capacity will be possible on a single square inch, compare that to the current maximum for such a space of just 3.3 GB and you'll understand why people are getting excited. If, as the Glasgow team believe, it means that the... Tech Talk Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:23:00 CDT newsguy http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2332.html