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Wed, 29 Apr 09
HP Targets SMBs With Low-Cost Laptop Line
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66918.html
HP on Tuesday announced its new ProBook s-series, a new line of low-cost notebooks for business users. Aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, the laptops focus on security, reliability and ease of use. Users can select between Intel 4410 and AMD 4415 CPUs. For operating systems, buyers can opt for Windows Vista, downgradable to XP, or Novell Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 11. The line begins at under $600. There are three models in the ProBook s-series, two of which offer the option of Intel or AMD CPUs, and one docking station.
Wed, 29 Apr 09
The Tower of Techno-Babel: What Languages Do Devs Love Now?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66916.html
IT developers are moving toward higher-level languages that make their work simpler in order to keep up with business needs. That simplicity is found in lingos such as Java, C Sharp, Visual Basic and .Net. However, even those languages are sometimes not simple enough for the Web 2.0 world, spurring developers to also turn to dynamic languages such as PHP and Ruby, which can provide a faster return on development efforts. Simplicity equals speed in application development, and that speed is being driven by the move to Web 2.0.
Wed, 29 Apr 09
Brits Back Away From 'Big Brother' Data Storage Plan
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66917.html
The British government said Monday it wants communications companies to keep records of every phone call, email and Web site visit made in the country, but it has decided not to set up a national database of the information -- a proposal that had been condemned as a "Big Brother"-style invasion of privacy by civil liberties groups. The government said in October it was considering a central database of phone and Internet traffic as part of a high-tech strategy to fight terrorism and crime.
Wed, 29 Apr 09
Tailoring Enterprise Web Apps for the iPhone
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66911.html
In today's connected world, there is a great need to be able to access the latest information. With email and calendaring, this has already happened, mainly thanks to the introduction of push email in recent years. Now that screens have become bigger on phones and bandwidth broader, the time is right to start porting enterprise applications to the iPhone. Very often, these applications will be built as an extension to existing back and front office applications, or as applications with specific usage.
Wed, 29 Apr 09
Obama Pledges Big Bump in Sci-Tech R&D Spending
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66920.html
President Barack Obama promised a new era of science and technology for the nation, telling the National Academy of Sciences on Monday that he wants to devote more funds to research and development. America has fallen behind other countries in science, Obama said. "I believe it is not in our character, American character, to follow -- but to lead. And it is time for us to lead once again. I am here today to set this goal: We will devote more than 3 percent of our gross domestic product to research and development," Obama said.
Tue, 28 Apr 09
Facebook Lets Devs Swim in User Info Streams
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66913.html
Facebook announced Monday that it will allow more access for third-party developers, a move designed to open the door to potential revenue streams and help it hold off social network rivals like Twitter. "For the first time, we're opening the core Facebook product experience -- the stream -- with the new Facebook Open Stream API," wrote Ray C. He on the Facebook Developer's Blog. However, at least one privacy advocate fears the network may instead lift the lid on a Pandora's Box full of personal information abuse.
Tue, 28 Apr 09
IBM Supercomputer to Match Critical Thinking Wits With 'Jeopardy' Wonks
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66912.html
Having developed Deep Blue, the supercomputer that famously beat out world chess champion Gary Kasparov back in 1997, IBM is now working on a computer built to compete in the TV quiz show "Jeopardy." This will use a system based on Question Answering, a computer science approach that tries to build software systems that can provide accurate, useful answers to questions people ask using natural language. IBM researchers have been working for two years on the system, code-named "Watson."
Tue, 28 Apr 09
Is Five Nines Feasible for SMBs?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66901.html
The concept of five nines availability has its roots in server deployment. That standard demands that the IT department or the service provider hired by an enterprise deliver access to applications and data 99.999 percent of the time. Even with today's migration to cloud storage and SaaS product delivery, much can happen to extend downtime to more than the remaining 5.26 minutes of every year. Is that small window of downtime a pie in the sky for small and medium-sized businesses, whether or not they rely on cloud computing?
Tue, 28 Apr 09
An Open Letter to Apple and AT&T Boards of Directors
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66909.html
Right now there are potentially 1000s of ticking time bombs. ... All it will take is one 13-year-old (like the child who downloaded your 1 billionth application) who learns from his iPhone the way to quiet his 6-week-old sister is by shaking her as hard and as fast as he can and completely altering this child's life and his family. As you can see from many of the comments about your removal of the application, there is a considerable audience who still considers the concept of shaking a baby to be funny!
Tue, 28 Apr 09
Apple Shakes Baby, Kills Freedom of Speech
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66902.html
Apple was having a good month until last week. Sales were up explosively -- at least, for the iPhone and iPod -- but all of that good news was trashed when the company first allowed a questionable application onto the iPhone and then killed it without explanation. Already, the tone surrounding Apple appears to be changing. It often seems as though Google and Apple are in competition to see who can have the worst PR department.
Tue, 28 Apr 09
Jaunty Jackalope: Are Alarm Bells Ringing in Redmond?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66905.html
With the release of Ubuntu 9.04 last week, it's not too surprising that few other topics got much attention on the Linux blogs in the ensuing days. Yes, there was a rather intriguing discussion of porn and piracy over on DaniWeb and LXer; and yes, a moderately active conversation fired up the Slashdot community following Keir Thomas's post about "Good Enough Computing" on the PC World blogs. When it came right down to it, though, it seemed people mostly just wanted to talk about Ubuntu 9.04 -- Jaunty Jackalope, that is, the successor to Intrepid Ibex.
Tue, 28 Apr 09
Omni Group: Charting a Course From NeXT to the Modern Mac
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66903.html
In an industry where what-have-you-done-lately is the norm, you might be hard pressed to find someone who remembers NeXT, the company founded by Steve Jobs in the mid-1980s before his triumphant return to Apple. That's not the case at the Omni Group, though, where the management team can trace its roots to the pioneering concern that developed the foundation on which much of Apple's OS X operating system is built. Its experience with NeXT allowed the Seattle-based firm to transform itself from a band of consulting programmers into a software house that today produces 10 Mac apps.
Mon, 27 Apr 09
Can the Web Help Reboot Iraq's Economy?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66897.html
"Breakfast time ... Lots of helicopters ... Met the president of Iraq ... Amazing palace." Tweet by tweet, the trip to Baghdad by Jack Dorsey unfolded on the Twitter microblogging network he cofounded. One of his stops Wednesday: a discussion at the U.S. Embassy with executives from other Web powerhouses such as YouTube and Google on the possible high-tech horizons in a place that still can't guarantee round-the-clock electricity and whose Internet service is lumbering, at best.
Sun, 26 Apr 09
Will Windows 7 Avoid Vista's Smudge?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66863.html
Julie Larson-Green hopes you'll like Windows 7. If not, well, now you and a billion other people know whom to blame. Microsoft is counting on Larson-Green, its head of "Windows Experience," to deliver an operating system that delights the world's PC users as much as its last effort, Vista, disappointed them. She's in charge of a wide swath of the system, from the way buttons and menus work to getting the software out in January as scheduled. Given Microsoft's history, Larson-Green's plan seems downright revolutionary.
Sat, 25 Apr 09
Who's Running Facebook?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66900.html
Apparently, all that small type that recently appeared at the top of your Facebook page -- directly above the "What's On Your Mind?" status box -- was actually about something important. That may sum up the feelings of many of the social network's members after Facebook on Thursday announced the results of a community vote regarding site governance. The notices that ran for a week on members' pages had announced that the network was asking users to vote on new rules that would replace the former terms of service agreement.
Sat, 25 Apr 09
Pulitzers, Broadcasters and Digital Denial
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66885.html
Journalism has a glass jaw these days, threatening to shatter into a million pieces with the next right hook that lands courtesy of another layoff, another closing of a daily newspaper, another inane, biased utterance from a cable news host. But journalism could have landed its own body blows this week by showing it can handle the jump to hyperspace and the digital future. The punches missed their mark, thanks to the actions of those who handed out the Pulitzer Prizes and those who staged the annual National Association of Broadcasters/Radio-Television News Directors Association convention.
Sat, 25 Apr 09
The Dark Side of Crowdsourcing
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66891.html
Crowdsourcing may be killing a lot of jobs. True, it's still a nascent business strategy that works well only in certain scenarios, and it can't be lumped in with outsourcing as the cause of mass layoffs. As is the case with outsourcing, though, it can be particularly difficult to quantify crowdsourcing's negative impact. Lost jobs -- or, in the case of small businesses that compete with crowdsourcing, eroded income streams -- are an obvious starting point.
Sat, 25 Apr 09
Billions of Bucks, a Billion Apps, Still 1 Carrier
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66890.html
There are lot of big numbers floating around the Apple-focused blogosphere this week, and some of them have to do with Apple's stellar financial performance for the last quarter. Other big numbers mark a milestone: Apple's 1 billionth iPhone and iPod touch app download. Oh, and one more thing: Apple appears to be quite happy with AT&T. Of course, Apple dominated not only the tech news world this week, but the business and financial worlds as well. The company in Cupertino posted excellent numbers.
Sat, 25 Apr 09
FAA Reluctant to Allow Unmanned Drones for US Patrols
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66896.html
Leaps in unmanned aircraft technology have military authorities clamoring to use more drones for everything from coastal patrols and border surveillance to tracking natural disasters. However, fears of midair collisions are slowing any broad expansion of their domestic use. FAA officials made it clear in a recent closed government conference that until the pilotless aircraft gain the high-tech ability to sense and avoid commercial aircraft and other airborne objects, the government is unlikely to allow them to operate much more freely in congested airspace.
Sat, 25 Apr 09
Black and White and Green All Over: Soy-Based Printer Toner
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66895.html
Every time you print out a page on a laser printer you're using toner made from petroleum-based products. Now there's a greener choice that shows promise: a toner product derived from soybean oil. While some customers might be wary, potential benefits are clear. It's easier to recycle paper printed with soy. Perhaps more important in a sour economy, soy toners can cost less than the standard alternative. Soybeans are a renewable resource whose price is likely to be more stable than that of oil.
Fri, 24 Apr 09
Top Cybersecurity Official Spurs White House to Take Lead
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66887.html
The woman who conducted a 60-day, top-to-bottom review of U.S. cybersecurity policy has said there needs to be more leadership on the issue from the very top -- the Obama White House. Melissa Hathaway, acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security councils, provided plenty of discussion material Wednesday for those attending the 2009 RSA Conference in San Francisco, one of the major annual gatherings of information security specialists in the world.
Fri, 24 Apr 09
Tech Support Forecast: Partly Cloudy
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66876.html
Moving a company into cloud computing changes a lot more than just where the servers happen to be located. For instance, tech support might move out the door as well. In some cases, tech support workers may still have their desks, but they will no longer be their company's go-to guys when a problem develops. Instead, they will have to talk to their own go-to guys at cloud central -- or perhaps be replaced by an engineer at the cloud service provider's location.
Fri, 24 Apr 09
First Linux Encounters: 'As Memorable as the First Girlfriend I Married'
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66878.html
When the average person recollects the "first time," it's not typically an encounter with an operating system that comes to mind. Of course, Linux geeks are by no means average, so it should come as no surprise that that's exactly what they were referring to in a recent conversation on the blogs. "The introduction was as memorable as the first girlfriend I married," blogger Robert Pogson told LinuxInsider. Would a Windows user ever make a statement like that? Not unless it's Bill Gates himself, we'd bet.
Fri, 24 Apr 09
DirecTV App: Convenient, Intuitive, Light on Power
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66865.html
I don't really know how to watch regular TV anymore. It's become difficult to take in any sort of home entertainment that won't pause at my will. What if I want to grab a snack, settle a spontaneous spasm of curiosity by looking something up on the Web, or just go do something else and finish this later? Thankfully, my attention span hasn't been battered to the point at which I can't enjoy a live show or movie at a theater, but I've caught myself reaching for the remote on more than one occasion.
Fri, 24 Apr 09
Cries of Condemnation Prompt Apple to Rethink Simulated Child Abuse App
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66882.html
Apple pulled a 99-cent iPhone game called "Baby Shaker" from its iTunes store Wednesday after its premise -- quiet a crying baby with a vigorous shake -- prompted outrage. According to screen shots posted on several Web sites, "Baby Shaker" displayed black-and-white line drawings of a baby. The iTunes description included the line, "See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!" Once the iPhone owner finishes shaking the device, the on-screen baby is depicted with large red X's over its eyes.
Thu, 23 Apr 09
Will Oprah Get the Creaky Crowd Tweeting?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66880.html
"HI TWITTERS. THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY." So read Oprah Winfrey's first tweet last Friday. Given Twitter's wild success, the addition of one more devotee ordinarily would not create much of an impact -- even a celebrity like Winfrey. However, Winfrey made her Twitter debut on her TV show -- another, albeit more established, cultural icon. Traffic to the microblogging site skyrocketed after the broadcast by a whopping 43 percent, according to the market tracker Hitwise.
Thu, 23 Apr 09
Congress Squeezes LimeWire for Straight Talk on P2P Security
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66879.html
The Congressional Oversight and Government Reform Committee has reopened hearings on possible privacy and security risks posed by using LimeWire and similar peer-to-peer file-sharing applications. The committee on Monday sent letters to Mark Gorton, chairman of The Lime Group, which owns LimeWire; U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holden Jr.; and Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Rep. Edolphus Towns, committee chairman, ordered Gorton and Leibowitz to provide answers to a series of questions by May 4.
Thu, 23 Apr 09
The Digital Book Drive's Left-Behinds
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66867.html
The older bits of the world's accumulated knowledge, bound together in volumes of printed books and magazines, are slowly disappearing. Out-of-print renditions often disappear forever. Libraries with limited shelf space often replace seldom-used titles with newer tomes. A far smaller portion of printed matter makes it to page-scanning processes for preservation in digital form. In the race to build a universal digital library, many important books and documents are being left behind.
Thu, 23 Apr 09
Email: Still the One for Developers
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66869.html
Email was born sometime between 1965 and 1970, depending on how you define its genesis, and by 1980 it was considered by many to be the killer app. It drove the proliferation of PCs in the workplace and allowed people all over the world to work together. SMS texting and tweeting can take some credit for email's slow decline. However, it remains the most widely used application -- just ask the U.S. government. Even in tech-savvy cities, texters and tweeters account for only about a tenth of electronic communications recipients.
Thu, 23 Apr 09
Second Life Moves Smutty Stuff to Virtual Pleasure Island
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66870.html
Second Life is getting a little less steamy for people who want to use the virtual world for a myriad of PG-rated experiences, such as taking classes, prototyping buildings or designing virtual goods. For those who don't, Second Life is moving adult-oriented content to a new, X-rated "continent" so they can continue to frolic as their hearts desire. Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, announced the changes Wednesday as part of a broader move to let users customize the site's content.
Thu, 23 Apr 09
Discoveries Fire Up Astronomers Looking for Earthy Worlds
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66872.html
In the search for Earth-like planets, astronomers zeroed in on two places that look awfully familiar to home. One is close to the right size. The other is in the right place. European researchers said they not only found the smallest exoplanet ever, called "Gliese 581 e," but realized that a neighboring planet discovered earlier, Gliese 581 d, was in the prime habitable zone for potential life. "The Holy Grail of current exoplanet research is the detection of a rocky, Earth-like planet in the 'habitable zone,'" said astrophysicist Michel Mayor.
Wed, 22 Apr 09
VMware Shoots for IT as a Service With Cloud OS
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66866.html
VMware is launching what it bills as the first operating system that has been developed specifically for cloud computing. Called "vSphere 4," the virtualization platform pools and then manages an enterprise's virtual infrastructure and computing resources in its data center. VMware has previewed some of this functionality in various products -- namely its Virtual Datacenter Operating System. However, the enhancements to vSphere 4 promise to dwarf the benefits that companies have realized with its earlier-gen products.
Wed, 22 Apr 09
Google Labs Invites Users to Tinker With New Tech
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66862.html
The innovations that many Google users take advantage of -- Google News and Google Reader being just two examples -- were home brewed in the company's Google Labs division. On Monday, the search giant pulled back the curtains on that research and development department, giving Google Labs a new outward-looking focus and allowing the public to comment on all that ongoing beta activity. Google did this while introducing two new search tools: Similar Images and Google News Timeline.
Wed, 22 Apr 09
Walking a Mile in Their Shoes: Vendor Security Questionnaires
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66852.html
"Vendor security questionnaire" -- three innocuous-sounding words that can leave security folks trembling. If you're in security -- no matter what company you're with -- there's a good chance you know exactly what I'm talking about, either because you've experienced firsthand the pain of trying to vet the information security controls of the multitude of third parties that your organization exchanges data with, or because you work for a company in the "channel," and you've gone through the process of being actively vetted by your customers.
Wed, 22 Apr 09
Mac Enterprise Apps and the Evolution of Open Source
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66848.html
It's no secret that Apple has dominated the headlines in computing over the last several years, earning new devotees through consumer-aimed offerings like the iPod, iTunes and the iPhone. Whether purposeful or not, gradually or suddenly, Macs have now roared into the business world, with the user-friendly, intuitive capabilities that appeal to home users demonstrating themselves to be very applicable within the enterprise. Macs also afford freedom and flexibility that's not available with a PC -- the ability to use nearly any operating system, be it OS X, Windows or even Linux.
Wed, 22 Apr 09
Can a Few Good Hackers Plug Holes in US' Swiss-Cheese Nets?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66853.html
Federal authorities aren't looking to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nation's networks. General Dynamics Information Technology put out an ad last month on behalf of the Homeland Security Department seeking someone who could "think like the bad guy." Applicants, it said, must understand hackers' tools and tactics and be able to analyze Internet traffic and identify vulnerabilities in the federal systems. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon will increase the number of cyberexperts it can train each year from 80 to 250 by 2011.
Wed, 22 Apr 09
Mayo Launches HealthVault-Powered Patient Records Site
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66856.html
The Mayo Clinic has combined its medical expertise with Microsoft's technology in a free Web site launching Tuesday that will let people store personal health and medical information. The "Mayo Clinic Health Manager," as the site is called, is one of many emerging services for so-called personal health records. The sites, from companies such as Microsoft and Google and major health insurers, are meant to give people an easy way to stash medical information and transfer it to a new clinic, hospital or specialist.
Wed, 22 Apr 09
S. Korean Blogger Acquitted of Spreading Financial Falsehoods
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66859.html
A popular South Korean blogger, who was initially touted as an economic prophet for his dire predictions on the global economy, was cleared Monday of spreading false information in a closely watched case that sparked heated debate over freedom of speech in cyberspace. Park Dae-sung, 30, an unemployed Seoul resident, was acquitted by the Seoul Central District Court. Presiding Judge Yoo Young-hyeon said he could not see that Park "had the intention to undermine public interest" or that he "realized the contents of the articles in question that he wrote were completely false."
Tue, 21 Apr 09
Obama Taps DC-Area Tech Leader as First US CTO
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66849.html
President Barack Obama has rounded out his panel of high-tech advisors, naming Aneesh Chopra, the state of Virginia's secretary of technology, as the chief technology officer of the U.S. While not having the heft of a cabinet-level appointment, the newly created position is still seen as pivotal to many of the Obama administration's initiatives. Obama said in his Saturday radio address that Chopra's focus will be on streamlining healthcare costs through better deployment of technology and on addressing cyber security issues. The position requires Senate approval.
Tue, 21 Apr 09
Twitter and the Future of Discourse, Part 2
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66837.html
In a bear market, nearly everyone is willing to put up with a little bull. Twitter is certainly full of it, in the form of mundane drivel, yet everyone seems to be touting it as the river of gold. "Twitter has a lot of pros, but something this effective and free has very little cons," Lon Safko, coauthor of John Wiley's upcoming The Social Media Bible, told TechNewsWorld. Still, given that Twitter is in large part a vast storehouse of pointless observations, can a company's message cut through the sewage and zero in on customers?
Tue, 21 Apr 09
The Death and Rebirth of Silicon Valley
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66841.html
I was in Malta last week at the IFA 2009 conference, which is partially intended to drive interest into Malta as a technology center. This is one of the locations where people believe a new Silicon Valley might be born, and that certainly focuses us on the fact that the current Silicon Valley isn't what it once was. A few weeks ago, I was at a lunch with a large group of folks who helped found the Silicon Valley, and we discussed what killed it. We'll talk about both things this week and close with the product of the week: a laptop that gives us a taste of things to come from HP.
Tue, 21 Apr 09
Now Software and the Mac/PC Office: Diversity in the Workplace
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66845.html
While it's always nice to be the first mover in a market, there's some satisfaction in grinding it out in a niche and watching a market move into your wheelhouse. That seems to be the case with Now Software. The Columbus, Ohio, maker of contact and calendar software is poised to take advantage of two burgeoning trends: information sharing and the increased presence of Macintosh computers on business networks. Although Apple personal computers come armed out of the box with calendar and contact applications in the form of iCal and Address Book, Now's approach has been different.
Tue, 21 Apr 09
College Police Target Linux User; Bloggers Up in Arms
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66843.html
Mention "Linux" and "police" in the same sentence, and you're pretty sure to get bloggers' attention. Mention them in such a way as to suggest that Linux was a motivating factor behind a police investigation, and you're likely to have a virtual riot on your hands. Sure enough, that's exactly what has been going on in the Linux blogosphere over the past few days following reports suggesting that a Boston College student is being investigated and has had his property seized at least in part because he uses "a black screen with white font which he uses prompt commands on."
Tue, 21 Apr 09
Mobile Digital TV to Premier in DC This Summer
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66847.html
Washington will be the first U.S. city to get free digital TV broadcasts for mobile devices like cell phones, laptop computers and in-car entertainment systems, broadcasters announced Monday. Broadcasts using new "mobile DTV" technology are expected to begin in late summer from five stations: local affiliates of CBS, NBC, PBS and Ion, and one independent station owned by Fox. The initial broadcasts will be identical to those beamed to TV sets, including the advertising.
Mon, 20 Apr 09
The BlackBerry App Store: It's a Small, Small World
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66824.html
I'm typing this in between perusing Facebook, trying to master a guitar-simulation game and listening to Internet radio on my smartphone. And no, I'm not using an iPhone. I'm using a BlackBerry Curve 8900 to try out the recently rolled out BlackBerry App World. Lately, any smartphone maker worth its salt is operating or about to launch an application store that corrals all kinds of free and paid software you can download straight to your handset. Apple started the trend with July's release of its App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Sun, 19 Apr 09
Video Games and the Summer Blockbuster Stigma
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66797.html
Video games based on blockbuster movies typically get panned, yet shamelessly benefit from the buzz of their film inspirations. However, the developers of this summer's movie games are more intent than ever on transforming gamers' groans into grins. "Movie games have a bad history," said Jeff Poffenbarger, senior producer at "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" game developer Raven Software. "There is a stigma to movie games, for a thousand different reasons. They come out and they don't live up to the hype people create."
Sat, 18 Apr 09
YouTube Builds New Pipes for TV Shows, Movies
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66838.html
YouTube's path from a loose, rowdy, anything-goes video destination to a more well-organized and advertiser-friendly Web site took a giant step Thursday with the addition of TV shows and movies, courtesy of new deals with Hollywood studios. That step could actually be considered a light-years leap for YouTube, which just two years ago was fending off legal actions from major entertainment conglomerates complaining of user uploads of copyrighted material. Now, the new "Shows" and "Movies" section of YouTube has analysts talking about boosted ad revenues.
Sat, 18 Apr 09
How Much Would You Pay for That Online News Story?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66829.html
Here's the scoop: Newspaper reporters are about to rake in the dough all across America. We're talking millions, easy. It's a shame this will only be happening in your neighborhood cineplex, because actors will be playing the reporters and the money will be heading straight for movie studios Dreamworks and Universal Pictures. You'll probably have to pay $10 or more for a ticket to either watch Russell Crowe play a rumpled print guy uncovering a dangerous conspiracy of some kind or another in "State of Play," or see Robert Downey Jr. in "The Soloist."
Sat, 18 Apr 09
Attention Greens and Geeks: Time for an Energy Revolution
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66825.html
Earth Day is fast approaching, yet despite the awareness this day brings, most people are powering their computers with electricity from coal-burning power plants, delivered by "dumb" networks. Change is long overdue, and it's not a difficult matter. The electricity grid's basic structure hasn't changed much since Thomas Edison came up with the idea back in 1882. That's a long time with little innovation, especially since electricity demands continue to rise. Some might argue that the grid didn't need changes and it's not wise to mess with a system already working.
Sat, 18 Apr 09
Cloud Implementation, Part 3: Training for the Task
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66832.html
One of the selling points for moving software into the cloud is that it is supposedly hassle-free: no hardware, no software and presumably no huge staff of IT employees. The latter is certainly true -- but that is not to say companies can stop investing in their IT human resources just because they have moved some or all of their applications to the cloud. On the contrary, one of the biggest hidden costs of cloud computing is the training costs that some companies have to undertake to realign capabilities.
Sat, 18 Apr 09
Cybercrime and Punishment: Sentencing Panel Discards Proxy Penalty
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66831.html
The U.S. government has dropped -- for now -- a plan to classify the use of "proxy" servers as evidence of sophistication in committing a crime. Proxy servers are computers that disguise the source of Internet traffic. They are commonly used for legitimate purposes, like evading Internet censors and working from home. However, they can also be used to hide from law enforcement. The U.S. Sentencing Commission was considering a change to federal sentencing guidelines that would have increased sentences by about 25 percent for people convicted of crimes in which proxies are used.
Sat, 18 Apr 09
The Shuffle's Mad Margins, AT&T's Separation Anxiety, and Visions of an $899 iMac
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66830.html
Conversation in the Apple-focused blogosphere is all over the map this week, but with Apple in the tech world's driver seat these days, wide-ranging activity is only to be expected. Out of dozens of news nuggets, here are three that create some interesting glimmers: iSuppli's teardown of Apple's diminutive iPod shuffle reveals a tidy profit margin; AT&T reportedly wants to keep its lock on the U.S. iPhone channel; and Apple is offering an $899 iMac -- but only to educational institutions.
Fri, 17 Apr 09
Study: Your Inbox Isn't the Only Thing Spammers Pollute
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66827.html
We know spammers are often the crooks behind online fraud, ID theft, data breaches and other acts of cybercrime. Now, however, we've learn that they're guilty of jacking up the planet's CO2 emission count as well. The average spam message generates 0.3 grams of CO2, according to a study conducted by consultant firm ICF International for security vendor McAfee, which has a vested interest in anti-spam products. Multiply that 0.3 grams by the approximately 62 trillion spam e-mails sent out in 2008, and that adds up to 17 million metric tons of CO2, or 0.2 percent of total global CO2 emissions.
Fri, 17 Apr 09
How to Build a Small-Business Web Site, Part 10: Minding Your Privacy Ps and Qs
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66820.html
At a time when identity theft is a common concern, protecting the personal information of anyone visiting your Web site is something that every business should be thinking about. While legislation may vary from state to state in terms of how much you're required to do to protect your customers' personal information, putting measures in place -- and letting your customers know you have done so -- is good for business, pure and simple. "Customers rate privacy and security very highly according to our research," said Carolyn Hodge, vice president of marketing for TRUSTe.
Fri, 17 Apr 09
Mac OS X vs. Windows: Does Soul Matter?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66819.html
Ask a Mac OS X fan or a Windows fan what the difference is between the two operating systems, and the short answer might be something like, "The difference is, the one I use doesn't stink." That response may underscore the emotional pull an operating system has with a particular sort of computer user, but it is not very helpful for getting at the heart of the matter. The long answer involves understanding the soul of each OS. A growing number computer users are finding favor with Mac OS X. What is it that makes up the real difference between OS X and Windows?
Fri, 17 Apr 09
War Stories and Winners From the World of FOSS
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66815.html
So often the conversation on the Linux blogs tends to focus on problems, and all the many issues -- both perceived and real -- that keep our favorite operating system from achieving the ubiquity it so clearly deserves. That's why we here at LinuxInsider were so glad to come across some upbeat articles lately about the good news in the FOSS world. Yes indeed, hard on the heels of the recent -- and bitter -- controversy regarding netbook market share came several cheerful conversations that highlight just how far Linux has come.
Fri, 17 Apr 09
Socializr Rolls Out Aggregation Tool for Perpetual Partiers
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66822.html
Socializr, the online invitations startup from Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams, now helps users manage their events from sites like Facebook, MySpace, Evite and Meetup. Event Connect lets users organize their social lives all in one place, without having to log in separately to their various accounts to check their calendars there. They simply attach those accounts to their Socializr one. "Our new stuff is useful to anyone who ever goes to any events or receives event invitations," said Abrams, who pioneered social networking with the launch of Friendster in 2002.
Thu, 16 Apr 09
Microsoft Serves Up Beta of Upcoming Exchange 2010
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66818.html
Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a public beta version of Microsoft Exchange 2010. This next version of Microsoft's email server will ship later this year, Microsoft said. The new Exchange version is built around a hybrid design that will form the infrastructure for a hosted email service at home or at the office. "This new version is classic Microsoft. It is a first version of a new architecture that builds in some archiving features with a basic feature set. I expect to see Microsoft push further down this road," Christopher Voce, an analyst with Forrester, told TechNewsWorld.
Thu, 16 Apr 09
The X2X Factor and the Future of Data Center Migration
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66809.html
Whether server, storage or virtual, migrations have never been easy. The difficulty has always been the downtime required to move physical or virtual workloads from one platform to another. Virtualization technology from VMware VMotion to Microsoft Hyper-V live migration has significantly helped because they can move live workloads between virtual infrastructures, greatly reducing the impact to production systems. However, that only covers the virtual landscape and specifically only migrations between like virtualization vendors.
Thu, 16 Apr 09
China Shoots 2nd GPS Satellite Into Orbit
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66812.html
China fired into orbit Wednesday its second satellite in a program to build an alternative to the global positioning system based on U.S. satellites. The geostationary satellite is one of a series being slung into space to form the Beidou, or "Compass," navigation system, the official Xinhua News Agency said, calling the system a "crucial part of the country's space infrastructure." The system is touted by China as an alternative to the U.S. satellite GPS network, the dominant positioning system.
Thu, 16 Apr 09
Microsoft Targets First Half of 2010 for Next Office Release
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66813.html
Microsoft's next version of its Office desktop programs will reach consumers next year, though not likely in conjunction with the Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft is set to announce Wednesday that Office 2010 will be finished and ready to send to manufacturers in the first half of next year. From there, it can take six weeks to four months or more for the programs to reach PC users, said Chris Capossela, a senior vice president in the Microsoft group that makes Office.
Wed, 15 Apr 09
Study on Facebook and Grades Becomes Learning Experience for Researcher
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66805.html
Ohio State University doctoral candidate Aryn Karpinski has conducted the kind of statistical study that guarantees headlines, 20-second mentions on network and local newscasts, and lots of comments on tech news Web sites and blogs. She knew she was writing about a media-friendly topic, but she still confesses to receiving a crash-course in sudden news exposure. The name of her study: "A Description of Facebook Use and Academic Performance Among Undergraduate and Graduate Students."
Wed, 15 Apr 09
The SaaS Security Squeeze
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66796.html
Multiple Software as a Service applications are becoming the delivery method of choice for organizations looking for ways to reduce their IT costs. Some 90 percent of organizations plan to either maintain or increase their SaaS use, according to a recent report by Gartner Research. This adoption rate is accelerating even in the current economic downturn. However, about 62 percent of the enterprises responding to the Gartner study said they worry about the security of data they send to destinations outside their firewalls.
Wed, 15 Apr 09
Google Polishes Up Android 1.5 Dev Kit
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66804.html
Application creators can get an early look at the software developer kit for Android 1.5, the next version of the mobile operating system, according to Google. Based on the "Cupcake" branch from the Android Open Source Project, the SDK has application programming interfaces for new features, including soft keyboards. Android phones with the new operating system could challenge the iPhone. Google has also changed the developer tools as well as the structure of the SDK so that it includes multiple versions of the Android platform.
Wed, 15 Apr 09
iPhone vs. Windows Phone: It's in the Way That You Use It
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66790.html
When an iPhone fan picks up a Windows phone, his or her first impression may go something like this: "It's difficult to find various features, it's kind of ugly, the hardware doesn't quite match the software, and it's generally user-unfriendly." Vice-versa, when a die-hard Windows Mobile user picks up an iPhone, he or she might think, "This is a locked-up, inflexible platform designed mainly to get you to buy more stuff from Apple, like movies, music and apps."
Wed, 15 Apr 09
Define, Divide and Conquer: 5 Tips for Writing a Scalable App
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66798.html
Before we can delve into making a scalable application, it's worth spending some time to define just what scalability is and isn't. Contrary to what many novice developers think, scalability is not primarily about performance. Performance is virtually unrelated to the aggregate scalability of an application. The gains from any number of architectural decisions can dwarf the contributions that performance can make to scalability. It's almost a certainty that making your application scalable will make it slower.
Wed, 15 Apr 09
Conficker Bites University of Utah PCs
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66800.html
University of Utah officials say a computer virus has infected more than 700 campus computers, including those at the school's three hospitals. University health sciences spokesperson Chris Nelson said the outbreak of the Conficker worm, which can slow computers and steal personal information, was first detected Thursday. By Friday, the virus had infiltrated computers at the hospitals, medical school, and colleges of nursing, pharmacy and health. Nelson says patient data and medical records have not been compromised.
Tue, 14 Apr 09
Twitter Birdie Chokes Down Worms
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66792.html
Two recent developments have all but guaranteed Twitter's successful crossover into the mainstream: First, the popular social networking site -- and its bluebird logo -- are included in a new Sprint national television ad campaign. Secondly, the network was the target of computer worm attacks apparently launched by a teenager over the Easter weekend. The latter security-related development buys the white-hot service the kind of publicity it would rather not have, especially as tech media chatter continues to focus on potential revenue-generation ideas in the works from Twitter's founders.
Tue, 14 Apr 09
Could Google Be the Most Dangerous Company in the World?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66759.html
Last week, I wrote about the 3rd Rebirth of Computing. This change will lead to the potential for Google to be vastly more powerful than any company in the history of the world. Given the historical patterns associated with companies that get even a fraction of this power, current trends are frightening. I'll focus on Google's increasingly troubling behavior this week and explore whether the company is trending to become the most dangerous company in the world -- a synonym for evil.
Tue, 14 Apr 09
Flames, Figures and FUD: What's the Score in the Netbook Arena?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66787.html
Visitors to the Linux blogosphere over the past few days may have emerged with singed hair and scorch marks, because a raging firestorm left few forums unscathed. It all began when Brandon LeBlanc of the Windows Team Blog posted a review of Windows on netbooks over the past year. His incendiary conclusions? First, he asserted that Windows had achieved a 96 percent share of the netbook market as of February; then, as if that wasn't enough, he went on to say that return rates on Linux netbooks are four times higher than for Windows machines.
Tue, 14 Apr 09
Group Logic: A Mac/PC Referee for the Enterprise
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66761.html
More than a few eyebrows were raised in surprise last year when a survey of global IT administrators and C-level executives revealed that 80 percent of them had Apple Macintosh computers connected to their enterprise networks. Not among the surprised, however, was T. Reid Lewis. Lewis is CEO and president of Group Logic, an Arlington, Va., firm that specializes in software to make PCs and Macs play nicely on enterprise networks. Lewis cofounded Group Logic in 1988. A lot has changed since those days.
Tue, 14 Apr 09
Twitter and the Future of Discourse, Part 1
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66783.html
The entire world, it seems, is all aflitter about Twitter. Everywhere you turn, from Bill O'Reilly trashing the world of tweets on The View to Rick Sanchez praising it on CNN, someone's got something to say about Twitter. Is there something to this tweet-fest or are we all drowning in a sea of self-fascination? "It has become fashionable to castigate Twitter, the microblogging service, as an expression of rampant narcissism," Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self Love: Narcissism Revisited," told TechNewsWorld.
Mon, 13 Apr 09
Cyber-Spy vs. Cyber-Spy
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66782.html
Ghost hackers infiltrating the computers of Tibetan exiles and the U.S. electric grid have pulled the curtain back on 21st-century espionage as nefarious as anything from the Cold War -- and far more difficult to stop. Nowadays, a hacker with a high-speed Internet connection, knowledge of computer security and some luck can pilfer information thought to be safely ensconced in a digital locker. The threat is growing, with countries -- including the U.S. -- pointing fingers at each other even as they ramp up their own cyber espionage.
Sun, 12 Apr 09
New Nintendo DSi Nails the Nifty Factor
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66771.html
When Nintendo introduced its portable DS system in 2004, many longtime fans were skeptical. Its innovations -- the dual screens, the stylus-based controls, the built-in microphone -- seemed gimmicky. How could this clunky slab ever replace the beloved Game Boy? Five years and 100 million units later, no one doubts that Nintendo knew what it was doing. The second version of the hardware, the slender DS Lite, has been particularly popular; in December, Nintendo sold 3 million in the United States, breaking the one-month sales record for any video-game console.
Sat, 11 Apr 09
Bluetooth SIG Brushes Up Version 3.0
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66785.html
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has confirmed that an update to the wireless technology will be unveiled later this month. "Bluetooth 3.0, aka 'Seattle,' will be unveiled at the All Hands Meeting in Tokyo," Bluetooth SIG spokesperson Starr Baker told TechNewsWorld. While it is expected to include higher speeds and throughput capacity by working with an 802.11 radio, it will likely be the harbinger of even more developments in the technology. The generation of devices after Bluetooth 3.0 could include low-energy technology with applications in medicine and sports.
Sat, 11 Apr 09
From Laid-Off Seattle Reporter to Accidental Web Entrepreneur
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66769.html
It's been another eventful week in the continuing original drama, "The Death of Journalism As We Knew It." In their opposing corners of the Web, the usual media analyst suspects digested the goings on of the AP, Google and the Dallas Morning News, and either wailed about, or hailed the approach of, the Death of Journalism. Tweeps, Facebookers and LinkedIn-ites linked and shared and overshared. None of this helps Kery Murakami get any closer to his goal: to once again be a working journalist in the city of Seattle.
Sat, 11 Apr 09
An Xserve Lift, an iTunes Shift and a Gift Card Grift
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66776.html
Most of Apple's core products have seen some sort of refresh since last September, and it appears there aren't a whole lot left to update any time soon. Most recently, Apple unleashed Intel's Nehalem processors in its Xserve server line, which doubled the performance ... so, that's cool, but definitely cool for a limited audience of professional business users. In a more consumer-oriented vein, the next-generation iPhone won't blow anyone away until probably June or so, and the Apple TV has been mostly ignored -- only Apple knows what kind of product timeline it's on.
Sat, 11 Apr 09
Cloud Implementation, Part 2: Cutting a Path to Customization
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66775.html
For some companies, the decision to move to the cloud is a no-brainer -- especially if they limit their planning to pure number crunching. Without a doubt, the savings for such a leap, both explicit and implicit, can be huge. Still, though, there are technical issues to consider, not the least of which become apparent when the planning process begins to focus on customization. Simply put, customization in the cloud is not an easy endeavor -- certainly not easy enough for the average line of business manager to tweak for his or her own use.
Sat, 11 Apr 09
The Networked Garden: MIT Undergrads Build Robo-Farmers
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66781.html
These gardeners would have green thumbs -- if they had thumbs. A class of undergraduates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has created a set of robots that can water, harvest and pollinate cherry tomato plants. The small, $3,000 robots, which move through the garden on a base similar to a Roomba vacuum, are networked to the plants. When the plants indicate they need water, the robots can sprinkle them from a water pump. When the plants have a ripe tomato, the machines use their arms to pluck the fruit.
Fri, 10 Apr 09
Conficker Twitch Leaves Security Sleuths With More Mysteries to Solve
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66773.html
On Tuesday, computers infected by the Conficker worm woke up and downloaded a new variant. Named "Worm.Downad.E" by Trend Micro, "Conficker.AQ" by antivirus vendor Eset and "Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Kido.o" by antivirus vendor Kaspersky Labs, this new variant has left many security threat researchers bewildered. One conundrum: They don't know why it has a kill switch that apparently kicks in on May 3. Also, the new variant has a mysterious dropped component. It will eventually delete that component, and researchers are still trying to figure out why.
Fri, 10 Apr 09
Enterprise Mobility: An Investment That Works Harder, Smarter
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66742.html
The enterprise demand for mobility has remained steady and even increased, despite budgets for mobility initiatives being cut during the current global economic downturn, according to a new Aberdeen Group study "More Mobility -- Less Budget: Enterprise Strategies in the Current Economic Downturn." The study measures how Best-in-Class companies -- those that are performing in the top 20 percent across multiple metrics -- are managing to maintain or increase their level of mobility support even while budgets are dwindling.
Fri, 10 Apr 09
Lilliputian Linux, and Do We Need More Critics?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66765.html
Good things come in small packages, as they say, and that's perhaps never been more true than it is today, thanks to the emergence of increasingly diminutive devices equipped with Linux. Perhaps most notable of late is the $99 Marvell SheevaPlug, a wall-wart-sized device that runs Linux on a 1.2-GHz CPU with 512 MB of RAM and 512 MB of flash -- and with power consumption of just 5 watts. The SheevaPlug was introduced back in February, but enthusiasm on the Linux blogs just goes on and on.
Fri, 10 Apr 09
'Wolfenstein 3D Classic': Quick and Dirty iPhone Fun
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66748.html
The first-person shooter game genre has done relatively well for itself in the nearly two decades it's been around. From "Doom" to "Duke Nukem 3D" to "Half Life" to "Crysis," it seems that any action-oriented game that involves shooting at mutants, aliens or other ugly entities falls into either the FPS category or its close cousin, the third-person shooter. Unlike those eggheaded strategy games that require constant consultations with phonebook-sized manuals, there's almost no learning curve for an FPS. What button is shoot? What button is move? OK, go play now.
Fri, 10 Apr 09
Facebook Nation Tops 200 Million
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66768.html
In less than eight months, Facebook has doubled its user base by signing up 100 million people from around the world, officially hitting 200 million on Wednesday. Its population is now higher than Brazil's and Japan's. The ubiquitous online hangout, available only to college students when it opened in 2004, has been growing rapidly since opening up to anyone who wants to sign up. But how long can that continue? After a meteoric rise, News Corp.-owned MySpace has petered off and now has roughly 130 million active users, according to comScore.
Thu, 9 Apr 09
Cyber-Hackers Could Cripple US Power Grid Network
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66762.html
A report that foreign hackers have repeatedly penetrated the U.S. power grid computer network has delivered a loud wake-up call. Cyber-spies from countries including China and Russia have breached the electrical infrastructure's computer network and left software tools behind that would have allowed them to control or destroy infrastructure components, according to the report. The breaches also involved water, sewage and other infrastructure systems.
Thu, 9 Apr 09
The Next Generation of Business Networks
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66750.html
The wide area network is central to the IT strategy of any multilocation business. Employees expect the WAN to be available when they need it, much like any other utility in the business. WANs have historically been built on "best effort" circuit or packet-switched IP networks. This strategy is effective when the WAN is required for email and file-sharing. However, with the growing need to add VoIP and video, and delay-sensitive and "chatty" applications, traditional WAN technologies are falling short of meeting customer needs.
Thu, 9 Apr 09
Would a 2nd Sandbox Unify the Fragmented Linux Mobile Market?
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66754.html
The Linux desktop has traditionally been a very fragmented and niche market, and the mobile Linux space is no different. While choice can be a good thing, fragmentation can be a strong detractor against any one platform gaining traction. What fragmentation means to developers is one, that they have to make some tough choices about which Linux variants to support, and two, that they have to absorb a lot of extra porting and maintenance overhead. As for Linux users, they want to know they can select from a sizable palette of applications.
Thu, 9 Apr 09
The New, New Economy
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66753.html
I almost couldn't have imagined it. I give myself a little leeway, but after years of writing and talking about "new, new things" it didn't really dawn on me that at some point we'd be talking about a new, new economy -- but we are. I was speaking with Brian Zanghi, CEO of Kadient, the other day, and our minds happened to convene on the idea that we are not so much in a bad economy, though it is all that and more. We are in a new economy, however; one that is more resource-constrained and where demand is slack.
Thu, 9 Apr 09
Shouting Protesters Confront Authors Guild on Kindle Restrictions
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66756.html
A group representing the blind and other people with disabilities protested limitations to the new read-aloud feature on Amazon.com's latest Kindle electronic reader Tuesday, arguing that the restrictions unfairly limit their access to e-books. The feature is still available for all books on the new Kindle, which was unveiled in February. However, the Authors Guild has expressed concern that the feature will hurt sales of audio books, so Amazon plans to give publishers and authors the ability to silence the text-to-speech function for their books.
Wed, 8 Apr 09
GM's Latest Concept: A Segway Built for 2
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66751.html
A funny thing happened to visitors to the New York Auto Show on Tuesday -- they got to see a concept electric car created jointly by two companies: Segway and General Motors. The prototype vehicle, named "Project PUMA," is an electrically powered two-seater with two wheels that can travel up to 35 miles between recharges. It basically consists of two Segway PTs in a chassis with a transparent shield covering the top and front, and an electric drive and batteries from GM.
Wed, 8 Apr 09
The Groundbreaking Potential of Codeless Ajax
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66740.html
In the beginning, Tim Berners-Lee created HTTP and the Web. And the Web was without commerce, and void. And darkness was upon the face of retailers. And the spirit of commerce, Jeff Bezos, moved upon the face of the Web. And Bezos said, "Let there be electronic shopping carts, and one-click buying." And there were sales. And the computer gods saw the sales, and saw that it was good. It's hard to imagine the Web without the electronic shopping cart. It was a seminal advance that transformed the Web from an information resource into a business platform.
Wed, 8 Apr 09
The Stack: Encouraging Adoption Through Ease of Use
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66743.html
I wonder if Levi Strauss would have made billions selling his blue jeans if he had said that the zipper was "sold separately." I wonder if cell phones would be as ubiquitous as they are today if everyone had to learn to speak binary in order to communicate using them. I wonder how many people would drive cars if they had to produce their own fuel. I wonder. The sad truth is that this is how most of the open source world works. If you want to install one program, you're often expected to find all its prerequisites and get them installed first.
Wed, 8 Apr 09
The 10 Building Blocks of SaaS CRM Integration
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66741.html
Software as a Service CRM implementations require more than just SaaS to succeed. SaaS customer relationship management must be integrated with other applications and data sources. The goal of SaaS CRM integration is an integrated view of customer data, which unlocks its inherent value and increases productivity. Achieving that integrated view requires careful planning. With SaaS CRM, the data to be integrated includes data from on-premises applications, other SaaS applications, and data from nontraditional data sources.
Tue, 7 Apr 09
Dell Gives Healthcare IT a Booster Shot
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66739.html
Dell on Monday made a slew of announcements that considerably beefed up its offerings for the healthcare IT industry. These include a mobile clinical computing solution, virtualized systems, cloud-leveraging solutions and partnerships with several other vendors. The computer maker is also teaming up with retailer Sam's Club. Dell has been in the healthcare IT business for about 10 years, and the announcements are aimed at enhancing its offerings, company spokesperson Cathie Hargett told TechNewsWorld.
Tue, 7 Apr 09
The Developer's Cloud Conundrum
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66731.html
Does cloud computing cause a dilemma for application developers? Does it present problems that devs would not face in building software for earth-bound applications? Developers face common problems regardless of where their program's data is stored. However, the cloud environment presents a set of drawbacks that cloud application developers sometimes ignore to the detriment of users, according to Javier Soltero, CEO of Hyperic. His company provides monitoring and management software for all types of Web applications, whether cloud-hosted or on-premise.
Tue, 7 Apr 09
T-Mobile Invites Android Into the Home
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66738.html
While potential customers and the technology press await T-Mobile's G2 smartphone later this year, the wireless carrier is reportedly already knee-deep into the development of the next level of devices powered by the open source Android operating system. The company will roll out a home phone and a tablet/netbook computer sometime in 2010, according to the report, which cites confidential documents generated by a T-Mobile partner. The home phone is expected to include docking stations and the ability to send and receive data while recharging its battery.
Tue, 7 Apr 09
3rd Rebirth of Computing: The End of PCs and Game Consoles
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66725.html
The gaming market has been broken for a long time, and the Conficker worm is a reminder that the PC concept is also becoming unmanageable. Developers want one platform to develop to; they don't want three consoles, two portable gaming systems, lots of phones and a PC. Users want something vastly less complex and really would like to go back to a time when they only worried about the price and where the on switch was. Well, Onlive may start a wave to fix gaming and showcase the future of computing by applying the power of the private cloud to the problems.
Tue, 7 Apr 09
Intelligence Chiefs Itching to Buy Advanced Snoop Satellites
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66735.html
The national intelligence director and defense secretary are asking the Obama administration to approve a new top-secret spy satellite program that could cost more than $10 billion, according to government, military and industry officials. The program calls for building two sophisticated satellites equal to or better than the huge, high-resolution secret satellites now in orbit. At the same time, the government would also commit to spend enough money on commercial satellite imagery to pay for the construction and launch of two new commercial satellites.
Tue, 7 Apr 09
Japanese Robot May Do Moonwalk by 2020
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66734.html
Japan hopes to have a two-legged robot walk on the moon by around 2020, with a joint mission involving astronauts and robots to follow, according to a plan laid out Friday by a government group. Specifics of the plan, including what new technologies will be required and the size of the project's budget, are to be decided within the next two years, according to Japan's Strategic Headquarters for Space Development, a Cabinet-level working group. Development of a lunar robot is part of a broad framework outlined by the group.
Mon, 6 Apr 09
Cell Phone Keypads: Goodbye 1-2-3, Hello A-B-C
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66723.html
Goodbye, numeric cell phone keypads. You're going the way of the rotary dial. Touchscreens and QWERTY keyboards will take over from here, thank you. At North America's largest cell phone trade show, held last week in Las Vegas, there were few new phones for the U.S. market that had a numerical keypad instead of an alphabetic keyboard. Touchscreens also were out in force. These changes are a recognition of the popularity of text messaging and wireless Internet use.
Sun, 5 Apr 09
IE8: A Valiant Effort but Not Amazing Enough to Switch
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66710.html
I procrastinated for nearly two weeks before installing Microsoft's new Web browser. I'd been happy using rival products like Firefox and Chrome at work and Flock at home, and habits are hard to break, even though version eight of Internet Explorer, or IE8, has several promising features. In essence, all browsers have gotten so good at delivering the basics that I find little reason to change. The frills are what sets each browser apart, but getting unique offerings in one means giving up features in another.
Sat, 4 Apr 09
Robo-Scientist 'Adam' Performs Landmark Solo Experiment
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66727.html
There may not be a white lab coat big enough for Adam, the newest and most expensive member of the scientific department at Aberystwyth University in Wales, UK. Adam, a $1 million robot-computer amalgam about the size of a large pickup truck, carried out genetic experiments on yeast and reached groundbreaking conclusions without human help, according to a report in the journal Science. That is, the robo-scientist set a hypothesis, carried out experiments, studied the results, and modified its original hypothesis based on what it had found.
Sat, 4 Apr 09
Battle for News Eyeballs: AOL Scrapes the Bottom of the Barrel
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66715.html
No need to dial up the Drudge Report, pick up a copy of the National Enquirer at the grocery store checkout line or watch the top stories on the 11 p.m. newscast of an if-it-bleeds-it-leads TV market. You get all that and much, much less at AOL.com. At 9:30 p.m. PT on April Fools' Day, for example, the joke apparently was on the readers of AOL.com. The part of the page where your eyes usually focus first had a picture of President Obama meeting Queen Elizabeth with the headline, "Obama Gives Queen a Gift: Do You Think She'll Really Use It?"
Sat, 4 Apr 09
'Sexting': Zooming Out to See the Bigger Picture
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66717.html
This week, a federal judge blocked a prosecutor from filing child pornography charges against three teenage girls in northeastern Pennsylvania over risque cell phone pictures they took of themselves. This respite from the bizarre "sexting" scandal allows time for a national dialogue on an issue that goes deeper than simple changes in technology. "Sexting" is short for "sex texting," or the practice of sending racy pictures via text message. Twenty percent of teens admit to distributing nude photos of themselves, according to a recent survey.
Sat, 4 Apr 09
Cloud Implementation, Part 1: Planning for Success
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66718.html
As with any new technology, there are special considerations that must be taken into account when deciding how or whether to implement a cloud-based application. These are early days for cloud computing, which means the planning process must move off auto-pilot. Here are some of the things companies planning for a cloud implementation should consider: the choice of a developer; hidden costs; risks; tech challenges; and testing requirements.
Sat, 4 Apr 09
Verizon: LiMo No Longer Has 'Preferred' Status
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66695.html
Verizon Wireless considers Linux-based software a possible long-term contender for use on its phones, but doesn't view it as a "preferred" solution, the carrier's head said. LiMo software, a version of Linux created by a consortium of companies, would be the preferred software platform for its phones starting this year, but Chief Executive Lowell McAdam denied Wednesday that LiMo would have any special status. "We will not be in a position where we shun one operating system in favor [of] another operating system," McAdam told reporters at a trade show in Las Vegas.
Sat, 4 Apr 09
Signs of Hope for Skypers, Shufflers and App Pack Rats Alike
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66716.html
Skype for the iPhone appears to have captured the imaginations of Apple bloggers this week. Meanwhile, iPod shuffle sales surprisingly surged, and news of iPhone 3.0 OS software features continued to trickle in. Ever since the iPhone emerged, Skype fans have been wondering when they'd get a chance to use their favorite VoIP service for Internet-based Skype phone calls. The iPhone has been capable of VoIP services for some time, and other VoIP apps exist, but the emergence of a network as popular as Skype is noteworthy.
Fri, 3 Apr 09
Palm Hands Out a Few More Pre Morsels
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66712.html
Aiming to rev up momentum behind its yet-to-be-released Pre smartphone, Palm has offered a few more details about the handset and the software running on it, webOS. Palm will open up its Mojo software development kit for webOS to more developers later this year. The Pre smartphone will also tap cloud computing capabilities. In addition, an emulator from third-party developer MotionApps will be available to let users run old Palm apps on the Pre.
Fri, 3 Apr 09
Twitter Tweaks Search Engine to Corral Tweets
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66709.html
The founders of the social network Twitter -- having already conquered the technology press/mainstream media and experienced the kind of rapid growth that one usually associates with viruses or kudzu -- are hard at work on new features that may lead to the true holy grail of Web 2.0 companies: money. In an April 1 blog post titled "The Discovery Engine is Coming," cofounder Biz Stone details his company's latest efforts to get users to stay on Twitter longer by tweaking its search engine.
Fri, 3 Apr 09
How to Build a Small-Business Web Site, Part 9: Security and Transaction Processing
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66701.html
It's all well and good to have a business site that encourages online purchasing and open dialog. However, with every interaction comes the associated risks and requirements in terms of payment processing and security. So, it's important to do your homework when it comes to securing your Web site. "It's not terribly difficult to set up and maintain a secure site, provided you do some due diligence up front," said Alfred Huger, vice president of development for Symantec.
Fri, 3 Apr 09
On Netbooks and Redmond, Death and Taxes
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66704.html
So, April has arrived, and along with it the countdown to that widely dreaded annual certainty, Tax Day. Yes, April 15 is a date few Americans look forward to, yet it's another kind of tax entirely that figured prominently on the Linux blogs in recent days. The topic there is known as the "Microsoft Tax," and bloggers far and wide debated whether it's something Linux users must pay. The conversation was sparked by recent comments from Microsoft's own Steve Ballmer, who suggested that Mac users pay an "Apple Tax."
Fri, 3 Apr 09
Search App for iPhone Lessens Rolodex Frustration
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66674.html
How many phone numbers do you know by heart anymore? I think I've got about two committed to memory, not counting my own or 9-1-1. My iPhone, on the other hand, is stuffed with phone numbers, street addresses, email addresses, alternate emails, notes, companies, birthdays and phonetic pronunciations of first names. If you sync your iPhone to a cloud service like MobileMe or Google, you might have an email address for almost everyone with whom you've ever exchanged a message.
Fri, 3 Apr 09
No Shortage of Online Buffoonery for April Fools' Day
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66703.html
While the potentially dangerous Conficker worm was being tracked throughout April Fools' Day, more harmless hoaxes were being fired out across the Internet. Everyone from Google to The Guardian was rolling out prank Web sites Wednesday. It's become an April 1 tradition on the Web to showcase absurd technological breakthroughs and silly pseudo-innovations. New media mockery was everywhere. "Gmail Autopilot." It alleges that it will help you weed through your in-box by replying to emails with automated responses, tailored to your preference for emoticons.
Fri, 3 Apr 09
Concerned Scientists Demand Space Junk Sweep-Up
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66706.html
Researchers concerned about an increasing amount of debris orbiting the earth are calling for the active removal of space junk, saying it will ensure a safe environment around the planet. More than 300 scientists and other experts who met for four days at the European Space Agency said Thursday that sharing information is a crucial first step in preventing collisions and predicting with more accuracy where derelict satellites may fall to earth. "We need to share more data," said Thomas Schildknecht of the Aeronautical Institute of the University of Bern.
Thu, 2 Apr 09
Yahoo Launches New Mobile Uber-App
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66698.html
Yahoo on Wednesday rolled out its new Yahoo Mobile service for smartphones. The company also announced Yahoo Messenger for the iPhone, which will be launched soon. Yahoo Mobile for the Web is available as a service on the mobile Web, accessible by cell phones with Web browsers. It can also be downloaded as an application running natively on the iPhone. The mobile service can be accessed on more than 300 devices equipped with mobile browsers, Yahoo said. These include smartphones from Nokia, Research In Motion, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola, as well as Windows Mobile devices.
Thu, 2 Apr 09
HP Interviews Android for Netbook Position
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66700.html
HP has confirmed it is considering Google's Android operating system for use in upcoming netbook computers. However, the company has not set a timeline for deciding whether to offer Android exclusively or as one of several OS options for its products, if at all, according to Marlene Somsak, an HP spokesperson. "We are studying Android. We want to assess its capabilities," she told LinuxInsider. If HP decides in favor of using Android, it could well become the first major PC vendor to use Google's OS, currently deployed in smartphones.
Thu, 2 Apr 09
A New Approach for Protecting Data All the Way Down the Line
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66683.html
Think of it as the seamy underside of the bad economy: Harsh market conditions, corporate cost-cutting and a downsized, disgruntled workforce create the perfect storm for systematic and sophisticated attacks by underworld enterprises on data systems in respected companies worldwide. So here's what we have today: record data breaches, heists of increasing intensity and scale, and a network of expert hackers buying and selling attack vectors and system vulnerability information. It's not uncommon to read of tens of millions of dollars being siphoned from payment networks.
Thu, 2 Apr 09
Open Sourcing Healthcare One Patient at a Time
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66688.html
Open source healthcare IT solutions are just beginning to become acceptable alternatives to proprietary software systems. As is happening in other fields, open source medical projects are getting noticed as cost-saving alternatives to proprietary vendors. The battle for supremacy between the two marketing strategies may gain national political attention as President Obama's administration drives toward the creation of a national electronic health records network built on standards for interoperability and affordability.
Thu, 2 Apr 09
Conficker's Big Day Arrives With No Shock or Awe
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66692.html
Even if it's not an April Fools' joke, the latest moves by the dreaded Conficker worm are by no means an Internet Armageddon, either. The worm's alarming outbreak entered a new phase Wednesday as clocks around the world ticked into the first day of April, the day it was scheduled to change programming. However, security experts appeared correct in their predictions that the day was likely to come and go without any major disruptions, even though the worm has infected anywhere from 3 million to 12 million PCs running Microsoft's Windows operating system.
Thu, 2 Apr 09
Microsoft Closes Book on Encarta
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66693.html
Microsoft's digital encyclopedia, Encarta, might have pushed its printed competitors off the shelves in some homes. Now Encarta itself has fallen victim to changes in technology, made all but obsolete by the likes of Web search and Wikipedia. Microsoft said it will shut down the online version of Encarta in October and will discontinue sales of the PC software by June. Encarta was first sold to computer users as a CD-ROM-based encyclopedia in 1993.
Thu, 2 Apr 09
You Think It, Your Robot Does It
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66691.html
Opening a car trunk or controlling a home air conditioner could become just a wish away with Honda's new technology that connects thoughts inside a brain with robotics. Honda has developed a way to read patterns of electric currents on a person's scalp as well as changes in cerebral blood flow when a person thinks about four simple movements -- moving the right hand, moving the left hand, running and eating. Honda succeeded in analyzing such thought patterns, and then relaying them as wireless commands for Asimo, its human-shaped robot.
Thu, 2 Apr 09
Wales Shuts Window on Wikia
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66694.html
The dream of bringing the same collaborative approach to the search engine that Wikipedia brought to the online encyclopedia will have to wait. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said he is pulling the plug on the experiment, Wikia Search. In a blog post Tuesday, Wales said the search engine "has not been enjoying the kind of success that we had hoped." The idea was to let anyone help decide which Web sites appeared for different search queries -- a far cry from the approach of search companies like Google and Yahoo.
Wed, 1 Apr 09
Conficker Fears Create Fertile Ground for Other Scammers
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66685.html
You Googled "Conficker," and you read the stories about the computer worm that's vexing security researchers around the world. Your fears about your own PC soon hit critical mass, so you then Google "how to detect/remove Conficker." What you get is the latest example of social engineering from Internet criminals and Web hucksters; in attempting to run away from one bit of nasty malware, you could head right into the arms of another. Clicking on one of the top links for a "free" Conficker removal tool could actually lead to a series of screens requiring you to pay $39.95 for the actual tool.
Wed, 1 Apr 09
Wrestling With the Woes of WAN Application Delivery
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66671.html
Small- to medium-sized enterprises require that inventory, customer relationship management, sales and accounting applications be available beyond the LAN via the Internet. Local employees, telecommuters, business partners and customers must have unhindered access to critical applications or a company risks adversely affecting productivity and profitability. When applications are deployed over the WAN, performance often degrades, causing user productivity to suffer.
Wed, 1 Apr 09
Putting Apple Displays Under the Microscope
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66664.html
Apple gets a lot of criticism for the seemingly high retail prices of its Macs. While the PC and Mac pundits alike can spec out competing solutions and argue over value in terms of software and operating systems, what about displays? Computer monitors don't ship with an operating system and free productivity software -- displays are about as pure a hardware play as you can get these days. So who's buying Apple displays, and why would someone buy an pricey Apple display, anyway?
Wed, 1 Apr 09
Handcent SMS: Straight Up or With a Twist
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66643.html
I had an idea the other day: I wondered whether there was a text-messaging application available for Android that offered a soft keyboard similar to the iPhone's. I checked out the Android Market and found that Handcent's SMS app had the highest rating of the messaging apps, so I decided to try it. With a little polishing, this could be a five-star app. As it stands, other than a few quirks, it does exactly what I was looking for.
Wed, 1 Apr 09
Crew Climbs Into Module to Simulate a Long, Lonely Flight to Mars
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66680.html
An international team of researchers entered a claustrophobic metal module in northern Moscow Tuesday to spend three months in windowless isolation intended to simulate the stress and fatigue of space flight to Mars. While a real mission to Mars could be at least 20 years away, Russian and European space officials say the experiment will help make it closer. The all-male crew of four Russians, a German and a Frenchman were carefully selected by Russian and European Space Agency experts from 6,000 volunteers, officials said.
Wed, 1 Apr 09
Deadbeats Beware: New Netbook Modem Has Remote Kill Switch
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66676.html
As wireless carriers begin to subsidize computers that come with wireless Internet access, they're faced with a quandary: What do they do if the buyer stops paying his bills? The company can cut off the computer's wireless access, but the carrier would still be out a couple of hundred dollars. The buyer would be left with a computer that's fully usable except for cellular broadband. LM Ericsson, the Swedish company that makes many of the modems that go into laptops, announced Tuesday that its new modem will deal with this issue.
Wed, 1 Apr 09
American Airlines to Boost Sky Surfing Access
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66679.html
American Airlines plans to expand Internet access to about half its fleet of aircraft over the next two years as it attempts to raise revenue and improve customer service.
The company said Tuesday it will install flying WiFi hotspots on about 300 planes used in the continental U.S. and charge up to $12.95 for browsing the Web, sending email or connecting with corporate VPN sites. American has been testing in-flight Internet service for several months on 15 planes.
Wed, 1 Apr 09
EU Losing Patience With Web's 'Wild West' Privacy Practices
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66677.html
EU officials warned social networking and search engine sites such as Facebook and Google on Monday to better protect consumer rights amid growing concern that users are being lured to hand over too much personal data. Meglena Kuneva, the European Union's commissioner in charge of consumer rights, is to issue "a clear signal" to Internet site operators to work within regulators to better protect users when she meets with them later this week, her spokesperson Helen Kearns said.
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