From The Editor
By Jeff Caruso, Site Editor
- All kinds of free stuff
- Our friends at PCWorld have compiled a long list of free software and services that can make your life a whole lot easier. And you can't beat the price. Check out the links below:
The 10 All-Time...
- Einstein 1 wasn't smart enough, so the government built a sequel
- Carolyn Duffy Marsan reports that the Department of Homeland Security has created a special intrusion-detection system and will deploy it widely this year.
The IDSs are called Einstein 2. The U.S....
- Cisco backdoor still open, and other Black Hat news #BlackHat
- In another memorable Black Hat security conference this week, vulnerabilities were found in products ranging from Cisco to Microsoft to Wi-Fi, and beyond.
Cisco backdoor still open
The...
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Android gains market share; Bill Gates no longer world's wealthiest Listen now!
- Intel invests in social media incubator Betaworks
- Intel invested an undisclosed amount in social media incubator Betaworks to gain insight into real-time user behavior on social networks, the chip maker said on Thursday.
- Easily type accented characters
- Long-time Mac users know that you can type diacritical characters--for example, â, é, ì, ü, and ñ--by first typing the diacritical (which usually requires the use of the Option key) and then typing the letter. For example, to get ä, you type Option-u and then type a.
- AT&T CEO's pay jumps 35% to $20.3 million in 2009
- AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson's stock awards fell 8% in 2009, but he earned a cash bonus of $5.85 million that helped increase his total compensation by 35%.
- iPhone to Add Multitasking, says Report
- Apple's iPhone will finally support multitasking for third-party apps as part of its iPhone OS 4.0 release, according to one of many rumors surfacing as interest in what's next for the iPhone mounts.
- RIM's future strong despite outages and outraged users
- A data service outage affecting some BlackBerry users nationally this week seems to have left them angry but not deeply concerned about the future of BlackBerry's parent, Research in Motion Ltd.
- Why the National Broadband Plan Should Include Public Wi-Fi
- As the FCC prepares to release its National Broadband Plan next week, I hope it will address expanding Wi-Fi as part of improving mobile data access. It appears no amount of repurposed radio spectrum is likely to meet the expanding wireless data demand for very long.
- Ethernet switch sales may have forced Brocade product exec out
- Senior Vice President Marc Randall left Brocade following disappointing first quarter sales of Ethernet switches.
- Security industry faces attacks it cannot stop
- At the RSA Conference in San Francisco last week, security vendors pitched their next-generation of security products, promising to protect customers from security threats in the cloud and on mobile devices. But what went largely unsaid was that the industry has failed to protect paying customers from some of today's most pernicious threats.
- NY set to replace IT consultants with state workers
- In a cost cutting move, New York's state legislature passed legislation could replace IT consultants by adding up to 500 workers to the state payroll.
- ZeuS botnet code keeps getting better… for criminals
- The latest version of ZeuS botnet toolkit includes a $10,000 module that can let attackers take complete control of a compromised PC.
- Apple's iPad pre-sale begins Friday
- Beginning on Friday, iPad buyers will finally be able to order the tablet-styled device -- or reserve one at an Apple store. Here's what you need to know before buying.
- Standard Life targets £350m efficiency gain with IT
- Standard Life has raised its cost cutting targets by nearly half, to £350 million (US$523 million) by 2012, as it reported strong progress on a technology and process overhaul.
- FCC launches broadband test site for consumers
- The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has added tools to the Broadband.gov Web site to help users measure their broadband speeds or report that they do not have broadband available.
- Will Verizon 4G Mean the End of 'All You Can Eat' Data?
- Verizon Wireless expects to have its first 4G smartphone out by the middle of next year, but the subtext is you may end up paying more for your wireless data.
- IDC: Datacentre management remains sloppy
- CIOs and IT directors expect spending on staff in their datacentres to dramatically outstrip the overall growth in IT expenditure this year, according to ComputerworldUK's sister analyst group IDC.
- Intel Core i7 980x Brings Six-Core Power to Desktops
- Intel unveiled its newest flagship processor for the desktop market, the Core i7 980x Extreme. The CPU pushes the envelope by including six physical cores, and hyperthreading technology to virtualize twelve cores--its almost like having twelve computers in one.
- Namco unveils new cross platform SDK
- On Thursday, Namco announced UniteSDK, its new propriety cross-platform technology. During a demonstration on Tuesday night at the Game Developers Conference, Namco revealed Macs, PCs, and mobile platforms like the iPhone will be able to play games simultaneously against each other. Namco also demonstrated Pool Pro Online 3 for iPhone, which was created using the UniteSDK. Pool Pro Online 3 is now available for $5 at the App Store.
- Consumer Reports: Apple still tops in computer tech support
- I have the greatest respect for the men and women behind Apple's tech support. Despite having one of the toughest jobs in the industry, they've always been extremely efficient and courteous in solving my own problems.
- When IT projects founder, emotions run high
- Dana B. Harris still remembers the loss he felt when his project was canned, and it's been 20 years now.
- Novothink debuts solar charging case for iPhone
- Sure, the App Store has plenty of ways to help survivalists fend off a zombie apocalypse, or figure out what plants are safe to eat--but without electricity, those useful guides quickly become very useless data on a dead paperweight. Thankfully, Novothink may have a solar-powered solution.
- John Cleese is your butler in Fable 3
- He's linked it to Ico and he's linked it to President Barack Obama, but what many GDC attendees didn't expect was for Peter Molyneux to link Fable III to former Pythonite John Cleese.
- Yes, Aragorn's Quest is coming, and yes, it's a Move title
- The oft-delayed Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest is coming out this fall for all the titles previously announced: Wii, DS, PlayStation 2, PSP. It's also coming out, however, on PS3... with Move motion controls.
- Google Bike Maps: A Cynical Cyclist Speaks Out
- Hooray for Google adding bicycling directions to Google Maps - too bad it isn't more useful. I'm not sure this is Google's fault, however, as many bike routes/lanes/paths are poorly documented and decisions regarding the "rideability" of a particular route are important data points that often require an on-the-ground investigation.
- Design firm accuses Mozilla of UI plagiarism
- A Canadian interface design firm accused Mozilla of stealing user interface (UI) elements for a development tool in the browser maker's Jetpack project, which aims to simplify add-on making.
- The Internet is nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
- The Italian edition of Wired magazine has nominated the Internet to be a contender for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
- iPhone apps usage shifts into high gear at night, on weekends
- Maybe iPhone users aren’t wasting countless hours at work fiddling with their smartphone apps after all.
- Pink Floyd and iTunes could split after court ruling
- It's "A Great Day For Freedom"--at least for the members of Pink Floyd. As BBC News reports, the band has emerged victorious in a legal battle with record label EMI, accompanied by a ruling that could soon lead to the band's entire discography getting pulled from iTunes.
- Microsoft tries to lure NetSuite users with new deal
- Microsoft is offering financial enticements to customers of on-demand ERP (enterprise resource planning) vendor NetSuite to switch over to Microsoft's Dynamics family of business applications.
- Khronos group unveils OpenGL 4.0 and 3.3
- The Khronos group has released versions 4.0 and 3.3 of the OpenGL spec, the latest version of the cross-platform, royalty-free 2D and 3D graphics API used on all major desktop operating systems, including Mac OS X. It also serves as the basis for OpenGL ES for smart phones and the upcoming WebGL standard for Web browsers.
- Green Day: Rock Band release date and bundles revealed
- Green Day: Rock Band will be rocking video game consoles on June 8, and come in two different bundles--neither of which will include any plastic instruments. Find out more about the game's release details inside.
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- Monkey Island 2: Special Edition coming this summer
- LucasArts chose the famous Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel to announce Monkey Island 2: Special Edition. A fitting choice of venue, but sadly, they had to skip the floorshow with the indoor rainstorm and floating raft.
- Telstra split talks continue
- Debate over the carve-up of Telstra continues after the Federal Opposition failed in a last-ditch bid to torpedo the legislation.
- Google tests new Blogger layout design tool
- Google will begin on Thursday a public test of a Blogger layout customization tool that the company says significantly broadens publishers' ability to modify the look of their blogs.
- First LTE phone from Verizon expected mid-2011
- Verizon Wireless plans to launch its first LTE-based wireless phone in mid-2011, three to six months after the carrier rolls out its new LTE network, according to a report.
- Sony's PlayStation Move: What You Need To Know
- Sony recently launched PlayStation Move, the company's highly anticipated motion control system that translates your real word movements into video game moves.
- Star Wars The Forced Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition
- To say Star Wars The Forced Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition has had a bumpy road to the Mac is a bit of an understatement. It was delayed, then Aspyr had a major staff shakeup, then delayed again, then people who made preorders were informed the game was out when it wasn’t, and finally it was released last week with no fanfare. It seems somehow fitting that now that it’s here on the Mac, the Ultimate Sith Edition is almost unplayable.
- MySpace Extends Social Network to Microsoft Outlook
- Now under new management, MySpace is looking to reinvent itself and rise like a Phoenix from the ashes. The once dominant social networking site fell from nearly 70 percent of the social networking market, to only 30 percent in less than a year, and was plummeting on the verge of extinction.
- No Camera on Apple's iPad, After All?
- Apple's latest iPad software development kit nixes references to video calling and chatting, creating uncertainty about the chances of a camera coming to the iPad.
- Pirate Bay appeals looks set to start in September
- The case against the four people involved in the running of Pirate Bay is heading back to court at the end of September. The appeals trial is tentatively scheduled to start on Sep 28., the Svea Court of Appeals said on Wednesday.
- Hands On: Google Reader Play - A Beta Browsing Tool
- Google launched an experimental Web browsing tool called Google Reader Play Wednesday that allows you to browse content associated with a Google Reader news feed. Google Reader is a Web-based content aggregator that assembles RSS news feeds for online or offline reading. To use Google Reader Play you do not need a Google Reader account, but if you do Google will be able to personalize the experience with your RSS preferences.
- NASA, cosmos community turn up volume on International Space Station
- While detractors say the ISS is a costly lab that may never see a great return on investment, building the ISS has cost NASA $48.5 billion, the leaders of the ISS agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the United States met in Tokyo, Japan recently to reaffirm its value.
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- OnLive gaming service to launch in June
- We've talked about the glory and promises of OnLive in the past--it's the online gaming system that promises to let you play your favorite games whenever, wherever, and on whatever device you want. Now the gaming revolution has a street date, too: June 17, 2010.
- Work Smarter With Online Collaboration Tools
- Budget constraints and limited technical support make it critical for most small and medium-size companies to work as efficiently as possible. An important first step in getting more and better work from relatively few people is to enable them to work together in real time, no matter how distant they actually may be.
- Nikon Coolpix S360 12-Megapixel Camera
- Online photography store Adorama is offering a factory-refurbished Nikon Coolpix S360 digital camera in black for just $129.95 with free shipping. The 12-megapixel camera features a 7X optical zoom, four-way image stabilization, a 2.7-inch LCD, and in-camera editing features. It has nifty features such as a Sport Continuous Mode for high-speed image capture, and a Smart Portrait System that includes face-priority autofocus, Smile Mode, Blink Proof, and in-camera Red-Eye Fix.
- My Book 2TB Hard Drive
- Dell.com has a 2TB My Book Mirror Edition external hard drive on sale for $159.99 with free shipping after coupon. The drive is already on sale for a decent price--$173.99--but with coupon code FSDH6Z?TM9?SV6 the price drops. This 2TB external hard drive uses RAID 1 (or "mirroring" mode) to save a backup copy of your backed up data--excellent if you need multiple backups (because you're paranoid), or if you use your external hard drive as your primary drive, and need to back up said primary drive.
- Banish Seven Bad Tech Habits
- You floss daily, rotate your tires regularly, file your taxes on time, and exercise at least twice a week. In other words, you have lots of good habits. But when it comes to technology, well, we need to talk. You know all the icons cluttering your desktop, and the passwords you keep in Notepad, and the half-baked backup you make once a month? Those are the results of bad habits--and they're not the only ones.
- Unlocked RIM BlackBerry 8800 Smartphone
- Newegg.com has an unlocked RIM BlackBerry 8800 for $159.99 with $2.99 standard shipping. The sturdy smartphone is 4.5 by 2.6 by 0.6 inches and weighs 4.7 ounces. It doesn't have a camera, but it does feature music and video players and a 2.5-inch, 320-by-240-resolution display. Though it's not one of the newest smartphones, we noted in our review that it's a great e-mail device (it can support up to ten accounts) and features built-in GPS functionality and Bluetooth support. It does not have Wi-Fi.
- Prototype $200 Tablet Runs Android, Chromium OS, Linux
- $200 tablet PCs have been something of a pipe dream. There was the Crunchpad, which was supposed to be $200, but that didn't last very long, coming out as the $400 Joo Joo. If what Freescale showed off at Mobile World Congress becomes reality, though, the dream may finally come true.
- Salesforce.com outage has customers tweeting
- Salesforce.com customers were abuzz on Twitter Thursday morning as the result of what they described as a North American outage.
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- Government considers free filters for small ISPs
- Small Internet Service Providers (ISPs) need not spend a cent to meet the national Internet filtering requirements in a move under consideration by the Federal Government.
- Apple iPod Shuffle 4 GB
- Spring break is just around the corner, so what better companion to take on your swimsuit workouts than an Apple iPod Shuffle? Amazon has the 4GB 3rd Generation Silver iPod Shuffle for $55.99 with free shipping. The 3rd Generation iPod Shuffle features a sexy design, voice navigation (unlike previous iPod Shuffles, this Shuffle will tell you what playlists and tracks are on your device), and headphones with a built-in remote.
- Atos Origin signs up consultants expecting market growth
- Musical chairs in the consultancy market
- MySpace Revamps for Revival
- As Google takes on the social networking world with Buzz, and Facebook and Twitter bring out location-sharing ala Foursquare, does anybody remember the social networking site that started it all? MySpace has had a tough year -- with employee cuts and CEO resignations -- but the company's new co-presidents are seeking to turn the site around with a new look, a new mantra ("Discover and be discovered"), and believers.
- NZ Internet filter goes live
- New Zealand’s opt-in Internet content filter has gone live today with a least two confirmed participating ISPs. The government-run and operated scheme was quietly turned on early last month as a soft launch.
- When Four Cores Aren't Enough
- Intel has announced its latest Extreme Edition processor, the Core i7-980X. Like the recently released 2010 Clarkdale lineup, the i7-980X (previously code-named Gulftown) brings Intel's turbo boost and hyperthreading technologies to the 32nm process. The i7-980X is also Intel's first processor with six physical cores, offering increased system performance in applications optimized to take advantage of them.
- Icon software aids desktop makeovers
- The need to customize our workspace--to enliven it and make it our own--extends well beyond colorless cubicles and dreary desks; we also feel compelled to customize our digital workspaces. Mac users have been creating custom desktop and application icons for over two decades now, often with the help of third-party utilities. It's a trend that shows no sign of slowing, especially since we're now making use of such icons for other purposes, such as Websites, favicons, and social networking.
- Lammer Context Menu Adds Kick to Your Right-Click
- Windows Explorer's right-click context menu is a useful, if somewhat anemic, tool--unless you use freebie Lammer Context Menu, that is. This nifty little utility powers up the context menu by adding several useful new functions to it.
- KRCS offers up to £100 off a Mac when recycling any computer
- Apple Premium Reseller KRCS is offering up to £100 off a Mac when they recycle any computer in a deal that runs until April.
- iPhone, Android, BlackBerry hurt Windows phone
- Apple, Google and RIM are growing their shares of the US smartphone operating system market, while Microsoft and Palm decline. The comScore data for the three-month average ending this January also shows Motorola maintaining its lead as top mobile handset manufacturer.
- Online banking fraud surges by 14 percent
- Online banking fraud surged by 14 percent in 2009, says the UK Cards Association.
- Parallels Desktop 5 reigns in benchmark comparison tests
- Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac beat the competition and Parallels Desktop 4 in a recent independent comparison test published by MacTech magazine.
- Celebrities caused 2009 Twitter crime wave
- Criminals started targeting Twitter in earnest during a key period in early 2009, and security company Barracuda Labs has worked out why. During the same few weeks a key list of a-list celebrities joined the site.
- Cisco shows off Internet super-router
- Hyped as the router that would ‘change forever the face of the Internet', Cisco has launched its new CRS-3 system as the box it predicts will stream video into the Net's darkest recesses.
- Online banking fraud losses rise to nearly £60 million
- Online banking fraud losses increased by 14 percent to £59.7 million last year, according to the latest figures from The UK Cards Association.
- HMRC IT delays leave 35 million unprocessed tax cases
- HM Revenue & Customs has queued 35 million tax cases for manual processing, directly as a result of severe delays to a new IT system rollout.
- EU Parliament rejects ACTA in 663 to 13 vote for openness
- The EU Parliament has voted 663 to 13 against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), arguing that it contradicts agreed EU laws on counterfeiting and piracy online.
- High-speed broadband: VDSL vs Fibre
- Many operators are improving DSL broadband by deploying VDSL (Very High Bitrate DSL), which is cheaper to deploy than fibre as carriers can use existing copper infrastructure.
- Tighter security coming for .org names
- The Public Interest Registry will add an extra layer of security known as DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) to the .org domain in June -- a move that will protect millions of non-profit organizations and their donors from hacking attacks known as cache poisoning.
- Virgin Media to trial fiber broadband over telegraph poles
- Virgin Media will use telegraph poles to extend the reach of FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) in a test in the U.K. village of Woolhampton, it said on Thursday.
- IT spending 'not on the rebound'
- The "vast majority" of IT budgets will not grow this year, said analyst house Ovum.
- IE zero-day exploit code goes public
- An Israeli researcher has published exploit code for an Internet Explorer zero-day vulnerability that Microsoft had just disclosed on Tuesday.
- HSBC: Data theft incident broader than first thought
- HSBC said Thursday about 15,000 accounts of its Swiss private banking unit were compromised after an employee allegedly stole data, some of which ended up in the hands of French tax authorities.
- Opera's Mini 5 browser comes to Android
- Opera has released a beta version of its Mini 5 Web browser for Android-based smartphones, the company said on Thursday.
- Sony working on a 3D camera for consumers
- Sony is developing a 3D camera that will give consumers the ability to create their own 3D content, the head of Sony's digital imaging business unit said Thursday.
- Meet PlayStation Move, Sony's PS3 Motion Controller
- Sony's upcoming motion controller finally has a name--the PlayStation Move -- and it looks like a pair of aircraft traffic wands with glowing blue and pink bulbs on the ends. The company announced the name during the 2010 Games Developer Conference before proceeding to demonstrate several games and inviting attendees to give the technology a spin for themselves.
- Motorola to put Bing search on Android phones
- Motorola will start loading Microsoft's search and map services onto its Android smartphones in China, bringing more non-Google services to the phones amid a row between Google and China.
- BP refines £4.7bn operational efficiency plan
- Oil giant BP is aiming to remove a total of $7 billion (£4.7 billion) from annual operational costs, aided by a huge overhaul of IT, processes and project management.
- GamePro at GDC: What we learned today
- Panels and appointments at the Game Developers Conference are loaded with all kinds of information about video games. Some of it's social, some of it's technical, and a whole lot of it can go over the average gamer's head. GamePro breaks some of it down for you here.
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- NHS IT in crisis as doctors demand halt to electronic records
- The British Medical Association has called for an immediate halt to the multibillion pound rollout of electronic records for NHS patients.
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- MoD extends £3.5B battlefield satellite communications deal
- The Ministry of Defence has extended a deal with EADS, to use a fourth satellite that will provide communications and data to troops in the field. The total value of the deal is now £3.5 billion (US$5.2 billion).
- Court reaffirms i4i's patent win against Microsoft
- The U.S. Federal Court of Appeals has once again upheld a jury's verdict that Microsoft willfully infringed on patents awarded to i4i.
- Sony motion controller is named the 'Move'
- Sony's SVP of Marketing and PlayStation Network manager Peter Dille took the stage at Sony's GDC press conference to introduce the world to Sony's new motion controller -- the Sony Move.
- Google's Big New Cloud Play: Should Microsoft Be Afraid?
- Late last week, Google made another aggressive move to stay ahead of Microsoft in the online productivity tools space by acquiring DocVerse, a startup founded by two former Microsoft employees, known for tools that let users collaborate on Microsoft Office files on the Web.
- White House announces game development challenge
- First Lady Michell Obama's new Apps for Healthy Kids game challenge was unveiled at quite possibility the first Game Developers Conference attended by White House officials. Sadly, the First Lady herself wasn't present.
- Biometrics: What, Where and Why
- Biometrics encompasses a variety of methods for ensuring identity based on physical or behavioral traits. Conventional identifying traits include fingerprints, face topology, iris structure, hand geometry, vein structure, voice, signature and keystroke recognition. Emerging technologies analyze characteristics such as gait, odor, and ear shape. Rather than being used in isolation, biometrics systems are increasingly becoming multimodal, an approach that serves both to increase security and overcome failure-to-enroll problems.
- 8 weird but cool Android apps
- So you told your boss that you bought your Android smartphone so that you could track your business calls, be more effective when traveling for your company, have easy access to Gmail and keep your organization's Twitter feed current. But we know what's really going on -- you got that smartphone because it was cool and because you wanted to play with all the apps. (And possibly because it wasn't Apple or AT&T.)
- Pennsylvania fires CISO over RSA talk
- Pennsylvania's chief information security officer, Robert Maley, has been fired, apparently for talking publicly at the RSA security conference last week about a recent incident involving the Commonwealths online driving exam scheduling system.
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- GPS Study: Walmart Top US Destination; Md. Drivers Use It Most
- New Global Positioning System (GPS) data released today by GPS-navigation provider TeleNav offers a number of insights into the behaviors--and preferences--of U.S. drivers.
- Bing Gains Again -- Should Google Worry?
- Microsoft's Bing search engine may still be a bit player in the lucrative online search business dominated by Google, but it's slowly and steadily gaining users. And it appears that Bing's share is coming at the expense of both Google and Yahoo, the latter of which recently teamed up with Microsoft to be more competitive in online search.
- Poor Bill Gates: Mexican telecom tycoon grabs Richest Man title
- Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is no longer the world's richest man according to the annual Forbes magazine list released Tuesday, but it's not like he's going to have to go crawling back for his old job either.
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