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| | Slow day in the markets on Monday, but we’re going to see a lot of 4th quarter financials come out of tech stocks this week, and the viewing, I suspect, won’t be pretty. One piece of news that has come out today is Intel cutting some of its chip prices … |
 | Here we go again. The European Union (hello from Europe, everyone!) is once again complaining that Microsoft is abusing its market leadership position by continuing to put Internet Explorer into Windows. I can halfway see the point, but I don't think they're right. The way I explained it to my … |
 | The Bush administration was [URL="http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20090114/order_20090114.pdf"]ordered this week[/URL] to take a number of steps intended to help preserve email messages sent between 2003 and 2005 that had been thought to have been deleted -- but the way the court order was phrased offers a number of loopholes to avoid the intent … |
 | Under new a new law adopted in the UK, the British police are now permitted to access data stored on home computers without benefit of a search warrant. Worse yet, officers are allowed to hack into computers remotely without notifying its owner. Even though officials say these methods would only … |
| | Remember the [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3670.html"]Idaho elected official[/URL] a few weeks back who got in trouble for forwarding a message, comparing Michelle Obama to a black widow spider, to 26 people from his official email account? It gets better. The [I]Kuna-Melba News[/I], a weekly paper that covers western Ada County and eastern Canyon … |
| | A number of localities have tried to recreate the magic that resulted in locations such as Silicon Valley in California and Route 128 in Massachusetts. Now it's Idaho's turn. More than 100 Idaho business executives and politicians want to turn some 79,000 acres of land in Idaho, about 20 miles … |
| | Ah, yes, the wonderful Christmas tradition of watching Santa's travels around the world using a missile defense system. It's actually a very sweet story. "The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number," explains the NORAD … |
| | For many people, the first they heard of Saturday's plane crash at Denver International Airport was via a Twitter message from someone who'd been on the plane, which quickly made its way through the Internet: "Holy ****ing s*** I wasbjust in a plane crash!" (Despite what some overly dramatic news … |
| | Perhaps Idaho politicians and government workers just shouldn't be allowed near the Internet. Steve Rule, commissioner for Canyon County, was [URL="http://www.newwest.net/city/article/commissioner_sends_racist_email_using_official_account/C108/L108/#comments"]criticized[/URL] earlier this month for forwarding an email message, comparing Michelle Obama to a black widow spider, to 26 people, many of them at Canyon County government email accounts. To … |
| | A newly elected Idaho state legislator is considering drafting a bill to make anonymous blogging illegal. Ironically, the legislator in question is a retired newspaper editor. (Idaho has a "citizens legislature" that meets only three months a year; few of them are professional politicians.) Steve Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, was quoted … |
| | Forgive the guffaws of uncontrolled laughter from over here. I've just seen that the US Government - January Obama edition - is considering making IT security a matter for its specific attention and put someone in charge of Cybercrime. So why the laughter from the UK? Yes, I can understand … |
| | No matter which political camp in which you choose to pitch your tent, it's hard to deny that technology is at the heart of President-Elect Barack Obama new plans for the United States. As we learn more about what ideas he has in mind to strengthen the economy and gird … |
| | 'Internet for Everyone' sounds like a laudable goal. Very Mom and apple pie. Who could be against that? The problem is that the name of an organization doesn't necessarily accurately depict what it's trying to do, and what Internet for Everyone is actually trying to do is far from clear … |
| | Ever had some computer malware spit a bunch of porn onto your screen? Now imagine it happening in a roomful of schoolchildren. Now imagine it could send you to jail -- for forty years. That's what happened to Julie Amero, a substitute teacher in Norwich, Conn., in 2004. Using a … |
 | The United States holds many titles, some of them causes for joy while others are reason for shame. The latter category has long included 'King of Spam' being the country from which the majority of the spam on the planet originates. However, thanks to the [URL="http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs/daveyw/2008/11/20/spammers-are-in-a-world-of-hurt/"]closure of just one spam … |
| | I don't know the extent to which this story has crossed the shores to America, but our local friendly far-right political party the British National Party has had details of its members published on the Internet. I'm not going to rehearse their arguments for them - you know the sort … |
| | It's happened at last. Someone has come unstuck because of the contents of their blog. And, relief of reliefs, it's not me. I should explain. Among my activities as a journalist I offer media training - coaching for people who're about to talk to the press. Not how to spin … |
| | Barack Obama is the very definition of an Internet politico-geek, not least as I just invented the term. However, there is no denying that the President-Elect of the US has understood the power of the Internet, the power of social networking, better than any other political candidate for high office. … |
| | Stem cell stocks have been trading higher this week on reports President-elect Barack Obama will allow federal funding of stem-cell research. According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, "Mr. Obama could also lift restrictions placed by President George W. Bush on the type of stem-cell research that can be funded … |
| | The Pirate Bay is a website which claims to be the biggest BitTorrent tracker on the planet. So big, it seems, that it is even considering pitching for an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. Certainly, putting politics and legal arguments aside for a moment, there is no … |
| | We all knew it was going to happen, and that there was nothing we could do to stop it. In fact, it was only a matter of time until the polls had closed and Barack Obama had officially become the President-elect of the United States of America. It is not … |
| | I almost thought it was April 1st, but no it is actually just a couple of days before the election of the new President of the United States. Which probably accounts for why EA has apparently decided to develop a download content pack for the Mercenaries 2 game which will … |
| | I'm sure this will come as a total shock to you, but a [URL="http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2008/10/20/daily54.html"]recent survey[/URL] by IT consulting firm Robert Half Technology has identified what causes CIOs the most stress. Too much work. Really? To discover this fun fact, researchers interviewed the CIOs of over 1,400 medium- to large businesses … |
| | According to the [URL="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4969312.ece"]Sunday Times[/URL] today, anyone in the UK who wants to buy a mobile phone will need to produce a valid passport as a form of ID soon. The story is wrapped around the planned introduction of a national database to help combat crime and terrorism. The proposed … |
| | Sarah Palin is always keen to talk about open and transparent government, indeed it was one of the main focal points of her campaign when she ran for the office of Governor in Alaska. Of course, she continues to talk the transparency talk now that the campaign has ramped up … |
| | I'd like to start today's blog with a big hello to the British Government. I say a big hello although they won't be watching everything I type just yet, that's going to be a little later. They're trying to pass laws over here that mean they'll be allowed to monitor … |
| | The group [URL="http://www.stopinternetpredators.org/"]Stop Internet Predators[/URL], claiming that the Street View 360-degree technology can be used by pedophiles to help stalk their victims, is recommending that municipalities "[b]an Street View from your neighborhoods until it is safeguarded to ensure children's safety and privacy." How Google is supposed to do that, the …  |
| | Last Saturday, Republican vice presidential nominee and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin held a rally in Los Angeles in the Home Depot Center, and the California Democratic Party rented a giant electronic billboard during the event, and solicited questions from people, via texting, to display during the presentation (exhorting submitters to … |
| | The initial model for looking at Twitter was horizontal -- see everything that all the people you follow are thinking about. Now the model has been turned on its head 90 degrees -- see everything that anyone says, whether you follow them or not, that has to do with a … |
| | Effective Wednesday, October 1, each business in Nevada must encrypt customers’ personal information when it is transmitted outside the business’ secure network, such as when it's transmitted over wifi. Initially passed in October 2007, it was said to have been the [URL="http://www.privsecblog.com/archives/state-legislation-some-state-data-encryption-requirements-more-effective-than-others.html"]first law[/URL] of this type. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts … |
| | Evoking [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3059.html"]Internet ads[/URL] that some people wondered might be a clue to Republican presidential nominee John McCain's vice presidential pick, the campaign is now reportedly running ads claiming that McCain has won tonight's debate -- not only before the debate had occurred, but before the candidate had even announced he … |
| | ...with the idea that the world is coming crashing down around our shoulders, particularly with IT stocks falling and banks making tech staff redundant, let's have a think about one particular story. The EU is going to try to get [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7637215.stm"]broadband to every house[/URL] on the continent from which I …  |
| | Buddhist writer Scoop Nisker used to close out his news reports on a San Francisco radio station by saying, "If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own." Now, if you don't like political advertising, you can go out and make some of your own. … |
| | We were all treated this week to a lovely example of why it's a good idea to use standard email for government business (or corporate business, for that matter). First, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin mentioned that [URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/09/AR2008090903044.html"]she used Yahoo Mail[/URL] for some of her email, which is a … |
| | [I]You have no friends named "palin".[/I] Sob. I had been so proud, the day after Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose her as his running mate, to be her friend on Facebook. I hadn't even done it cold, either; a friend of mine had recommended to me that I friend … |
| | In Part I of our look at the proposed economic policies of John McCain and Barack Obama, we found that each candidate brings his parties economic idealism to the table, whether that's a good or a bad thing. McCain will be a no-taxes, free-trading, domestic drilling supply sider right out … |
| | No sooner had the echoes of “Sarah *who*?” faded than the blogosphere was on the job, showing that even for an unknown person from a remote area, there was plenty of readily accessible information available – and not only perhaps doing a better job of vetting than the McCain campaign … |
| | There’s an old joke that the definition of a successful politician is a person who can stand on a fence and make voters believe it’s a platform. That’s a tall order, however, for presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama – especially when it comes to their economic policies (and …  |
 | The November election brings with it the promise of changes, new beginnings, and hope for those who've endured the past 8 years with less than an enthusiastic attitude. The choice of President and Vice President means far less to most of us than the people they choose for Cabinet positions. … |
| | If you were one of the just seven people in the first half of the year who went to the Washington State Department of Transportation web page using free wifi from the rest areas along its highways, you're out of luck -- the state dropped the little-used service as of … |
| | As I watch the founders of [URL="http://www.geek-pac.org/blog/"]GeekPAC[/URL], a political action group aimed at defending the information rights of U.S. citizens, get themselves up and running I can't help but wonder what other tech-oriented groups would benefit from a similar group. Would IT workers? What would they lobby for? Sick of … |
| | Why prebuying Google sponsored ads might be a bad idea. Google "lieberman mccain." Or, click [URL="http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=lieberman%20mccain&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8"]here[/URL]. The result, at least as of this writing? Sponsored Link Lieberman & McCain JohnMcCain.com/lieberman Senator Lieberman Joins McCain's Team. Learn Why You Should Join! Clicking the link takes one to "Citizens for McCain," an … |
| | When one thinks about high-tech states, one typically thinks of places such as California and Massachusetts. But....Alabama? The Southern state was the only state government on CIO Magazine’s top 100 institutions for excellence in information technology. According to CIO, the state provides more than 130 e-government applications through the [URL="http://www.alabama.gov/portal/index.jsp"]state's … |
| | Word has reached us in the UK that there is some sort of election happening in the US. In fact it has been happening for an incredibly long time, with one of the candidates in particular making more premature victory speeches (although not to Americans, I mean, they're only the … |
| | A website purporting to encourage improved broadband Internet access in the U.S. runs the risk of undercutting its argument by playing games with statistics. [URL="http://www.speedmatters.org/"]www.speedmatters.org[/URL], a project of the Communications Workers of America, has released its second survey of broadband Internet speeds in the U.S., noting that there has been … |
| | Both the Democratic and Republican national conventions -- scheduled for next week and the following week, respectively -- will feature major roles for bloggers, giving them the same access as traditional press. Hundreds of bloggers are slated to attend the Democratic convention in Denver -- 500 alone paid $100 for … |
| | Ever wondered how the U.S. diplomatic corps keeps track of all of its quickly changing information? Turns out, the same way all the rest of us do -- through Wikipedia. The diplomatic wikipedia, [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplopedia"]Diplopedia[/URL], is not available to the public, though examples of pages are included in a [URL="http://www.epa.gov/oei/proceedings/2007/proceedings07/johnson.pdf"]publicly available … |
| | The state of Maine has found an innovative way to find funding to supports its technology industry – the state issued $50 million in bonds and just awarded $30 million in grants, with the remaining $20 million to be allocated this fall. Funding for the Maine Technology Asset Fund was … |
| | It's been a long-running joke that Republicans don't understand technology, what with United States Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) trying to describe the Internet as a [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes"]"series of tubes"[/URL] and President George W. Bush referring to [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internets"]"the Internets."[/URL] However, a new generation of Republicans is not only learning to use technologies … |
| | If you sent out a Twitter or email message after Tuesday's Southern California earthquake, you had a lot of company. As is typical in technology-heavy California, the moderate earthquake generated a following seismic [URL="http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/07/29/picture-internet-told-me-there-was-earthquake"]wave of Internet messages[/URL] of people checking in with each other. In fact, [URL="http://www.emsc-csem.org/Doc/EMSC_DOCS/EMSC_RT_activities_2007.pdf"]one study[/URL] indicates that … |
The End.