441 Topics
 | To everyone who thought the social networking revolution had started to falter, Bebo has 850 million reasons to disagree after AOL agreed to acquire them for $850 million in cash. Analyst eMarketer predicts that by 2011, $4.1 billion will be spent worldwide for social network advertising, and in 2008 alone … |
| | Remember those X-Ray Specs you could order as a kid from the newspaper classifieds that promised the ability to see through clothes to the undergarments below? I do, and I can report that they most certainly did not work - much to my disappointment as a 10 year old kid. …  |
| | Legendary guitar manufacturer Gibson [URL="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080312/tc_nm/activision_gibson_dc"]has warned[/URL] Guitar Hero developer Activision over an alleged patent infringement. It would seem that the crux of the matter is a 1999 patent by Gibson which deals with the technology used to simulate a musical performance. Gibson claims the Guitar Hero software and the Guitar … |
| | YouTube Product Manager Jim Patterson has [URL="http://www.youtube.com/blog"]announced[/URL] the availability of new YouTube Everywhere APIs. These enable more integration of YouTube content and community into other websites, desktop applications, mobile devices, even cameras, televisions and video games according to Patterson. "For partners and developers, YouTube has grown into much more than … |
| | Firefox 3.0 Beta 4 has been released and brings with it more than 900 additional enhancements [URL="http://developer.mozilla.org/devnews/index.php/2008/03/10/firefox-3-beta-4-now-available-for-download/"]according to Mozilla[/URL]. These are said to include improvements to stability and performance, memory usage and general usability. The latter including stuff like full page zooming and a new downloads manager. |
| | According to a [URL="http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/176220/ericsson-predicts-swift-end-for-wifi-hotspots.html"]PC Pro news story[/URL] the rapid growth of mobile broadband across Europe could make Wireless hotspots extinct. Mind you, it is an executive from a mobile telephone company that is making the prediction…  |
| | Do you remember the MPMan F10 which was launched way back in March 1998? Probably not, which is a shame as it was a hugely important, and rather huge, device in the overall scheme of things. The first MP3 player, 10 years old this month, is fondly remembered in detail … |
| | Google has opened a new research and development centre, based in Zurich (Switzerland), which is home to more than 300 engineers which makes it Google's largest engineering centre outside the U.S. and promises to be a hub for ongoing product innovation and development. Google has announced its intention to hire … |
| | Epson is making a play for the green printer market by launching a laser toner cartridge [URL="http://www.epson-europe.com/environment/collectandrecycle"]return and recycle programme[/URL] as part of a long term commitment to be more environmentally friendly in its dealings with customers regarding printing solutions. The new scheme, here in the UK at any rate, … |
| | Well, not as rich as you might think. Well, not as rich as Warren Buffet anyway. In fact, not even as rich as Carlos Slim Helu. The Boy God, co-founder of Microsoft, has lost the richest man on the planet crown, a position he held for the last 13 years … |
| | According to a story in, of all the unlikely places, the [URL="http://www.nzherald.co.nz"]New Zealand Herald[/URL] IBM is to start ditching Windows and introducing Red Hat Linux on a range of computers aimed at the Eastern European market. The newspaper reports that IBM is working with Red Hat software distributor VDEL of … |
| | Microsoft has today announced the immediate public availability of the beta version of [URL="http://workspace.officelive.com"]Microsoft Office Live Workspace[/URL] which allows users to access their Office documents from anywhere via a web-based interface, and share them with others the same way. This is part of the Microsoft strategy to provide a 'software …  |
| | Unified threat management specialists Fortinet has [URL="http://www.fortiguardcenter.com/reports/roundup_feb_2008.html"]announced[/URL] the most reported high-risk threats during the course of the last month, and it makes interesting reading. According to Fortinet it proves that birds of a feather do flock together as the most definable malware trend was most definitely the fact that the … |
| | [URL="http://www.avertlabs.com"]McAfee Avert Labs[/URL] has warned that the number of spammers which use the 'out of office' functionality of web-based email systems to distribute junk mail is on the increase. The particular technique in question, which involves spammers setting up web-based email accounts which are configured to auto-respond with spam instead … |
| | The [URL="https://www.blackhat.com/"]Black Hat[/URL] security conferences are always good for a crowd pleasing demonstration or two, and security researcher Adam Laurie was happy to oblige at the latest DC based event. In a 'look no hands' fashion, he was able to pull up account data including name, account number and expiration … |
| | Who could forget [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Lech_Johansen"]DVD Jon[/URL], the Linux guru who was co-author of DeCSS? This Linux application 'unlocked' DVDs with content otherwise protected by Content Scrambling System (CSS) encryption and landed DVD Jon in front of a judge. Which did not stop him from continuing his quest to free audiovisual content … |
| | So it would appear that the long and bloody war between the next-generation of high definition DVD formats is coming to a close, with word on the grapevine suggesting that the HD DVD commander-in-chief Toshiba is ready to surrender. While there will be the inevitable continuation of small skirmishes, mainly …  |
| | Yesterday was, so am I told, [URL="http://www.saferinternet.org"]Safer Internet Day 2008[/URL]. A global initiative driven by the likes of the Virtual Global Taskforce (a network of law enforcement agencies around the planet that work to protect kids online and make the Internet a safer place) and the Child Exploitation and Online … |
| | According to HP an incredible 92% of top IT decision makers in Europe do not feel that their organisation is exploiting the competitive advantages offered by information management. In fact, respondents who took part in the 2008 Pressure Point Index survey were pretty dissatisfied overall with both the quality and … |
| | [URL="http://www.azingo.com"]Azingo[/URL], a specialist Mobile Linux outfit which used to go by the name of Celunite, has announced what it claims to be the industry's first Mobile Linux platform based on LiMO Foundation software in the form of a comprehensive suite of open software and services designed to help deliver web … |
| | Although there has been no great fuss made, no pin badges sold and no banners waved, Monday 4th February is for all intents and purposes the day IPv6 grows up. Because from that day, IPv6 IP addresses will be able to be directly translated into domain names and vice versa, … |
| | It has been a long time coming, but a virus writer has finally been arrested by the Japanese authorities. According to security specialists [URL="http://www.sophos.com"]Sophos[/URL] law enforcement agencies in Kyoto, Japan, have arrested three men who stand accused of plotting to infect users of a popular P2P file-sharing network with a … |
| | The [URL="http://www.w3.org"]W3C HTML Working Group[/URL] has published the first [URL="http://www.w3.org/html/wg/html5/"]public draft[/URL] of HTML 5, itself being the first real upgrade to the language of the web for more than 10 years. Don't get too excited though, as the final specification for the language is not expected to get approval until … |
| | That is what we could be asking by 2012, and be answered with a resounding cry of to the job centre looking for new employment if Fujitsu Siemens Computers is correct with its prediction. FSC today suggested that within just four years unmanned data centres will not only be fully …  |
| | It doesn’t really matter where you live in the world, the chances are that your country has been hit by some high profile data loss scandal during the course of the last year or so. Everything from retail operations such as TJ Maxx losing the odd 40 million or so … |
| | Microsoft and the US Army Sniper School have teamed up for a forthcoming Halo 3 tournament, and players will get a chance to participate in some US Army based pre-match training sessions. The special training videos provided by the army are to include sniper school training, heavy weapons training and …  |
| | A posting at [URL="http://seclists.org/dailydave/2008/q1/0000.html"]Daily Dave[/URL], which is part of the [URL="http://insecure.org/"]Insecure.org[/URL] security website, by the founder of a Moscow based security vendor called [URL="http://www.gleg.net"]Gleg[/URL], would suggest that it's not a very good start to the new year for RealPlayer 11 users. Gleg Ltd chief technology officer Evgeny Legerov made a … |
| | A press release landed on my computer today, claiming that [URL="http://www.samsung.com"]Samsung[/URL] has launched the world's toughest cellphone. The Samsung Solid, so the release assures me, has "strengths that make it stand out from other mobiles" which include built in anti-shock and water and dust resistance. The release goes on to … |
| | In an interview with Australian publication [URL="http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1891124482;pp;1;fp;16;fpid;1"]Computerworld[/URL] and ahead of his appearance as a keynote speaker at the Australian Linux Conference 2008, renowned security expert Bruce Schneier has compared Linux to Star Wars and suggests fanboys feel the force a bit more. Schneier will give a presentation entitled "Reconceptualising Security" … |
| | According to the Managing Your Organisation’s E-mail and Messaging survey, the results of which were announced today by network management developer [URL="http://www.ipswitch.com"]Ipswitch Inc.[/URL], the feeling that you are drowning in spam happens for a reason: you are. The survey revealed that 20% of those responding reported more than a 100% … |
| | There has been much debate over the last week as to how the forthcoming Windows Server 2008 release from Microsoft will embrace Linux, specifically with regard to the interoperability between Windows and Linux as evidenced by Release Candidate 1 code. The two sides of the story seem to be either: … |
| | Microsoft has today announced the availability of Service Pack 1 for the 2007 Office system product range, and you don't have to wait the 3-6 months which Microsoft says it will take to appear in the automatic updates either. In actual fact you can download it right now from [URL="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads"]OfficeOnline[/URL]. … |
| | [URL="http://www.truphone.com"]Truphone[/URL] has announced the first free telephone application for Facebook users. The Call Me application does not require a Truphone account, l nor a special phone, just a Facebook account. It works by enabling the user to choose a number on which they want to take inbound calls, and the … |
| | Want a sneaky peek at Ubuntu 8.04? Then you are in luck as the [URL="http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/hardy/alpha1"]Hardy Heron Tribe 1 Alpha[/URL] pre-release has just been made [URL="http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/hardy/alpha-1/"]available for download[/URL]. This will, in time, morph into 8.04 and is the first in a series of milestone CD images that is slated for distribution … |
| | Nick Breese is a researcher with New Zealand based security outfit [URL="http://security-assessment.com/"]Security-Assessment.com[/URL] and found himself giving a presentation at the Kiwicon hacker conference in Wellington earlier this week. His presentation looked at the use of the PlayStation 3 games console to crack passwords, and Breese concluded that when compared to … |
| | The new version of the [URL="http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl-3.0.html"]GNU Affero General Public License[/URL] has been published by the Free Software Foundation, based upon the existing GNU GPLv3 license but with one important difference: support for on-demand software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications. By publishing this license, the FSF aims to foster user and development communities around … |
| | Matthew Finnie is Chief Technology Officer at [URL="http://www.interoute.com/"]Interoute[/URL], the company which owns and operates the most densely connected voice and data network in Europe with more than 54,000 kilometres of lit fibre. So when he voices his concern that the Internet is facing some kind of meltdown, caused by the … |
| | The security experts at [URL="http://www.avertlabs.com"]McAfee's Avert labs[/URL] have been consulting the Tarot card, rubbing their crystal balls and generally predicting what levels of IT doom and gloom we can expect to be experiencing during the course of 2008. Unsurprisingly, they expect to see an increase in web exploits and those … |
| | At simultaneous launch events held in both London and New York today, [URL="http://www.bebo.com"]Bebo[/URL] announced its Open Media vision for social media and entertainment to provide media companies totally free access to its community of some 40 million users. In return, those 40 million members of the social networking community who, … |
| | [URL="http://www.playstation.com/"]Sony Computer Entertainment[/URL] Europe has announced the availability of the latest system software for the PlayStation 3, finally taking it into V2.00 territory. To be honest it isn't that great a leap forward, although there is one nice new feature: the ability to turn a PS3 system on and off … |
| | Research commissioned by Internet security software makers [URL="http://www.avguk.com/stop-cybertheft"]AVG[/URL] has revealed that one in three people in the UK have experienced some kind of cyber theft over the Internet. What's more, it is also one of the UK's most feared crimes, outranking burglary, assault and robbery according to the independent study … |
| | Microsoft is announcing the availability of its new [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver"]Windows Home Server[/URL] product today. The WHS solution is targeted directly at a family audience, helping them to protect, connect and share digital media and documents. The stay-at-home server delivers the same type of benefits that the corporate and academic server technology … |
| | The last few days have been interesting ones for those of us who have nothing better to do than follow online gossip and trends. Especially so when you consider that the big gossip in the world of search has been how some rather well known sites have seen their PageRank …  |
| | Remember when SCO used to be known as a big fish in the Unix OS pond, well respected and pretty much a pillar in this particular vendor community? No, neither do I. The image of a company that sought to claim IBM had somehow inappropriately contributed to Linux development, a … |
| | If the Asian networking out of the box specialists [URL="http://www.norhtec.com/"]NorhTec[/URL] are to be believed the answer is very low indeed: how does $85 (£41) sound? Remarkably that is how much the new NorhTec MicroClient JrSX is set to cost, making it what must be the lowest priced Linux powered thin … |
| | Some major corporations, including [URL="http://www.intel.com"]Intel[/URL] and [URL="http://www.deloitte.com"]Deloitte & Touche[/URL], are apparently spearheading a 'no email Friday' concept in order to crack down on non-essential messages, boost productivity and encourage better face-to-face communications between employees. It appears that some companies are even using the carrot and stick approach, well stick mainly, …  |
| | Yahoo! has complained to the [URL="http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/mergers/cases/index/m94.html#m_4731"]European Commission[/URL] that Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of Doubleclick, the online advertising business, could reduce competition and ultimately push up pricing for European customers. The fear, naturally enough considering that Google has always been in the advertising business just as much as it has the …  |
| | [URL="http://www.kva.se/KVA_Root/index_eng.asp?br=ie"]The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences[/URL] has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2007 to Albert Fert from France and Peter Grünberg from Germany for their discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance. Working independently, the two discovered the Giant Magnetoresistance effect in 1988, although it wasn't until 1997 that the first … |
| | [URL="http://www.mcafee.com"]McAfee Inc[/URL]. has today released the results of new research which found that nearly one in four people in Europe are putting themselves at increased risk of online fraud or identity theft simply because of poor password habits. The research, of 3500 consumers in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain …  |
| | According to John Wolfe, Director of Internet Enforcement with the [URL="http://www.bsa.org"]Business Software Alliance[/URL] online auction sites have sold £4 million ($8 million) worth pirated software in just six months. The BSA has managed to prevent 36,000 illegal products from getting sold in the same period, but it does look like … |
The End.