|
» us senator wants internet seizure rights
a new bill introduced to congress calls for a new government body to oversee the internet as well as provide emergency powers to a “director of cyberspace policy” as well as the president.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/15/bill_seeks_internet_seizure_rights/
» mobile data plans are wrong
the greatest competitive differentiation a mobile operator can give me today is an always on data plans across devices. right now i have an iphone, a blackberry, an ipad and a mac and i effectively have to manage different data plans for each device.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brett-king/mobile-data-plans-are-wro_b_612687.html?
» quantum internet may become a reality
if you still think your internet access is slow, then quantum internet may be right for you. and that is exactly what physicists at the max planck institute for quantum optics are trying to create.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/196394/quantum_internet_may_become_a_reality.html
» html5 unfit for web tv, says hulu
web-tv-streaming giant hulu claims that html5 isn't ready for coding and broadcasting video on the web.
the service - america's answer to the bbc's iplayer - released the latest version of its player built using adobe systems' actionscript, saying that html5 is not ready for prime time.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/14/html5_undready_hulu/
» open source can juice the video game market
video games, as a market, have always made the mac look open. closed platforms are the rule. digital rights management (drm) is considered a mandate.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/open-source-can-juice-the-video-game-market/6477
» wardriving police: password protect your wireless, or face a fine
internet users in germany, whose wireless networks are left password unprotected, can be fined up to 100 euros, according to a recent ruling by germany’s top criminal court.
the ruling is in response to a musician’s lawsuit against a user whose unprotected wireless network was used for downloading and sharing music over p2p.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/wardriving-police-password-protect-your-wireless-or-face-a-fine/6...
» win xp sp2 support to cease in two months
the many enterprise users still running xp desktops, often tied to proprietary software, have two months to upgrade to windows xp sp3 if they want security patches and support.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/14/winxp_sp2_support_cut_off_looms/
» 25% of homes have ditched landlines
according to a new study by the center for disease control, nearly 24.5 percent of all u.s. households now have at least one mobile phone and no landline telephones, representing a 1.8 percent increase compared to the first half of 2009.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/25-Of-Homes-Have-Ditched-Landlines-108405
» as data overtakes voice, mobile costs rise
... the amount of data in the form of texts, email, video and web surfing surpassed the total amount used for basic voice communication for the first time ever. and the rise of social networking means this trend will only pick up steam as time goes on. but ...
http://gigaom.com/2010/05/14/as-data-overtakes-voice-mobile-costs-rise/
» amd set to release low-cost six-core phenom iis
amd is poised to release its new six-core enthusiast-level processors at prices far below competing intel parts, and asustek, gigabyte, and msi are busily readying motherboards in anticipation of the launch.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/22/low_cost_amd_six_core_parts/
» nhs computers hit by voracious, data-stealing worm
"the logs show that there is a significant qakbot infection on the national health service (nhs) network in the uk," the symantec update states. "this threat has managed to infect over 1,100 separate computers that are spread across multiple subnets within the nhs. we have attempted to contact the affected parties and have no evidence to show that any customer or patient data has been stolen."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/23/nhs_worm_infection/
» facebook flirts with rfid
developers attending today's facebook conference, f8, are being issued with rfid badges integrated with their facebook profiles for clocking into site locations.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/22/facebook_rfid/
» at&t wifi network usage soars
at&t today reported that use of its more than 20,000 u.s. wifi hotspots surged to 53.1 million connections in the first quarter. this is nearly five times higher than the 10.7 million connections made in the first quarter last year.
http://www.cable360.net/ct/news/thewire/40978.html
» google invites at&t, comcast, verizon to fiber party
we already knew that google's plan to deploy 1 gbps fiber to the home to a limited area was going to operate as a wholesale operation -- with open access allowing isps to come in and compete on top of the network (whenever it's finally built). part of the reason google's deploying the network is so they can show how open access and competition can help keep prices down, service quality up and carriers on their best behavior. the company this week reiterated their dedication to open access, inviting companies like comcast and at&t to offer service over the network when it's finally built
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Google-Invites-ATT-Comcast-Verizon-To-Fiber-Party-108043
» bell labs pushes dsl speeds to 300 mbps
alcatel-lucent, a company whose lineage is as old as the phone itself, says its research arm, bell labs, has been able to achieve downstream speeds of about 300 mbps (over a distance of 400 meters) or 100 mbps over a distance of one kilometer.
http://gigaom.com/2010/04/20/dsl-speed-300-mbps/
» scammers embrace mcafee fiasco to pitch fake av
early wednesday, mcafee released a flawed signature update that wrongly tagged a crucial system file in windows xp service pack 3 (sp3) as malware. after the software quarantined the "svchost.exe" file, thousands of pcs, most of them in businesses, crashed and rebooted repeatedly.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/042210-scammers-embrace-mcafee-fiasco-to.html
» asian carriers grab ipv4 addresses at record rate
the asia pacific network information centre (apnic), which doles out blocks of ipv4 and ipv6 address space to carriers in the region, allocated nearly 27 million ipv4 addresses to its members during the first quarter of 2010 more than any regional internet registry (rir) has ever issued in a single quarter.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/042210-asian-carriers-ipv4.html?hpg1=bn
» centurytel to buy qwest for $10.6b
telecommunications carrier centurytel has agreed to buy qwest communications international for around us$10.6 billion in stock. the merged company will operate around 17 million phone lines and serve 5 million broadband customers across 37 u.s. states.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/042210-centurytel-to-buy-qwest-for.html?hpg1=bn
» intel 32nm processor headed for production
intel says it plans to start production of processors based on its next-generation microarchitecture, codenamed sandy bridge, late this year.
the chipmaker released a few details of its upcoming 32-nanometer replacement for nehalem at the intel developer forum in beijing, which ends wednesday. in addition to discussing sandy bridge, intel unveiled a forthcoming system-on-chip, codenamed tunnel creek, featuring an intel atom processor core.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/processors/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224400257
» 5.8 million north american homes now have fiber
according to a new study commissioned by the fiber to the home council, as of march of this year, there's about 18.2 million homes passed with fiber to the home connections in north america. "homes passed" is sometimes a flaky term that doesn't always mean fiber is available, and the study indicates that about 17 million of those users can actually get fiber to the home. of those, the number of homes actually connected just passed roughly 5.8 million.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/58-Million-North-American-Homes-Now-Have-Fiber-107907
» dns trojan poses as iphone unlocking utility
an application that offers to unlock iphones is actually designed to hijack internet connections on compromised windows pcs, security watchers warn.
spam messages direct potential victims to a domain called iphone-iphone.info that offers links to download a windows executable called blackra1n.exe. the application claims to offer an unlock utility but instead it changes default dns settings on infected windows pcs, hijacking internet connections in the process.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/15/iphone_unlocking_trojan_scam/
» 10 things the internet has ruined and five things it hasn't
for some people, the internet is the killer app--literally. from newspapers and the yellow pages to personal privacy and personal contact, the net has been accused of murdering, eviscerating, ruining, and obliterating more things than the amazing hulk. some claims are more true than others, but the net certainly has claimed its share of scalps.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/041510-10-things-the-internet-has.html?hpg1=bn
» spam volumes grew 6 percent last year, says google
despite security researchers' efforts to cut spam down to size, it just keeps growing back. the volume of unsolicited email in the first quarter was around 6 percent higher than a year earlier, according to google's e-mail filtering division postini.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/041510-spam-volumes-grew-6-percent.html?hpg1=bn
» ipad as virtual desktop? citrix says yes
citrix and wyse technology have already released software applications that extend windows desktops to the apple ipad.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/040510-ipad-citrix-virtualization.html?hpg1=bn
» verizon follows comcast lead on ipv6
verizon is testing ipv6 on its all-fiber fios network for a month. the trial involves a dozen verizon employees, who all live in northern virginia.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/040610-verizon-ipv6.html?hpg1=bn
» saying good bye - microsoft is dropping itanium
the current buzz is that microsofts windows 2008 server r2 will be the last version of the operating system that will support intels itanium.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/virtualization/?p=1841
» top 10 april fools' day fake news items for 2010
it's april fools' day and tech firms and other online destinations are putting their best practical jokes forward. this year we've spotted a secret plot to take over the world, a teen sensation gets carried away with his own ego, youtube tries a new video resolution, and one social network hands over total control to its users. pcworld also has its own bag of tricks with an exclusive report on how the speed of modern pcs is causing widespread injuries across the u.s. in another scoop, pcworld camera expert tim moynihan takes a first look at the aceshot xr7000 - the smallest dslr camera ever.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/193113/top_10_april_fools_day_fake_news_items_for_2010.html
» endpoint security gets complicated
users say protecting network endpoints is becoming more difficult as the type of endpoint devices -- desktops, laptops, smartphones -- grows, making security a complex moving target.
the problem is compounded by the range of what groups within corporations do on these devices, which translates into different levels of protection for classes of users on myriad devices.
deciding the appropriate device defense becomes the no. 1 job of endpoint security specialists, says jennifer jabbush, ciso of carolina advanced digital consultancy. depending on the device and the user's role, endpoints need to be locked down to a greater or lesser degree.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/040110-endpoint-security.html?hpg1=bn
» new application could make all software 'open source'
imagine controlling apple itunes from inside microsoft word without having to switch applications. that could be possible, according to researchers at the university of washington who are working on a project that could essentially make any proprietary software open source.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/033110-new-application-could-make-all.html?hpg1=bn
» html5 progresses despite challenges
featuring video capabilities and support for offline applications and the svg (scalable vector graphics) specification, html5 is set to move to a candidate recommendation phase in by the end of 2010. that phase would last two years before a final adoption could occur, said philippe le hegaret, a w3c interaction domain leader, during a press briefing at the w3c technical plenary/advisory committee meeting in santa clara, calif. w3c officials also provided updates on efforts in the mobile widget and ipv6 adoption spaces.
http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/html-5-progresses-despite-challenges-817
» microsoft says its contentious relationship with open source is changing
acknowledging the relationship between microsoft and the open source community has been contentious, a microsoft official thursday nonetheless emphasized the company's embrace of the open source paradigm, even if it was not necessarily for altruistic purposes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20100318/tc_infoworld/117121
» malware infected memory cards of 3,000 vodafone mobiles
malware-tainted memory cards may have ended up on as many as 3,000 htc magic phones, a greater number than first suspected, vodafone said friday.
the problem came to light earlier this month after an employee of panda security plugged a newly ordered phone into a windows computer, where it triggered an alert from the antivirus software.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100319/tc_pcworld/malwareinfectedmemorycardsof3000vodafonemobiles
» windows 7 xp mode loses hardware requirement
the barrier for using xp mode virtualization in windows 7 just got lower. unfortunately, for millions of windows 7 users, the barrier is still high enough to exclude them from leveraging the xp mode functionality.
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/191938/windows_7_xp_mode_loses_hardware_requirement.ht...
» comcast confirms 100 mbps is coming
comcast insiders earlier this year told broadband reports that as part of comcast's xfinity rebranding effort, the carrier was hoping to deliver a new 100 mbps tier to roughly 20% of their footprint before the end of the year.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Confirms-100-Mbps-Is-Coming-107430
» first wimax phone to debut next week?
the first wimax-capable smartphone is said to be slated for introduction next week by sprint nextel.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/17/sprint_wimax_htc_supersonic/
» microsoft slams nails in windows vista, xp sp2, 2000
microsoft will kill support for its unloved windows vista operating system a few months ahead of its windows xp sp2 and windows 2000 planned end-of-the-road-for-updates deadline.
at the same time microsoft will move windows server 2003 from mainstream support to the extended support phase, which means customers will have to pay for help from ms, with only security updates remaining free.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/26/microsoft_vista_xp_2000/
» emergency internet control bill gets a rewrite
sen. jay rockefeller alarmed technology and telecommunications firms last year when he announced a plan for the president to seize "emergency" control of the internet. now the west virginia democrat is trying again with a new version that aides hope will be seen as less extreme.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20000684-38.html
» america's broadband revolution: where we go from here
with the national broadband plan announced by the fcc this week, u.s. lawmakers now have an opportunity to do something that will truly and positively impact the lives and well-being of every american for decades to come.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-garfield/americas-broadband-revolu_b_502854.html?
» it's official: facebook rules the web
facebook ruled the web last week just squeaking past google to become the most popular online destination among united states users. for the week ending march 13, facebook claimed 7.07 percent of u.s. internet visits, while google was right behind the social network with 7.03 percent, according to metrics firm experian hitwise. compared to the same week in 2009, facebook visits grew by 185 percent, while google was comparatively stagnant with a mere 9 percent increase in visits.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/031610-its-official-facebook-rules-the.html?hpg1=bn
» usb 3.0: the new speed limit
developed by the usb implementers forum (usb-if), usb 3.0's superspeed specification promises a theoretical top speed of 5gbit/sec. versus usb 2.0's 480mbit/sec.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/190672/usb_30_the_new_speed_limit.html
» amd tries to draw intel into chip battle
advanced micro devices is offering prizes to drum up more interest ahead of this month's launch of its 12-core server chip, as rival intel also has server-chip launch plans.
amd will award prizes valued at us$8,189 to the person who best describes in an essay, video or blog post how to use 48 cores in a server, according to a blog entry by john fruehe, director of product marketing for servers and workstations products at amd. the prizes are a copy of windows server 2008 and four opteron 12-core processors running at 2.2 ghz, which adds up to 48 cores in a four-socket server.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100305/tc_pcworld/amdtriestodrawintelintochipbattle
» intel shows off 48 cores
intel demoed its experimental 48 core chip at cebit this morning as it (almost) nailed down the dates for its latest real world server chips.
the vendor has been touting the 48 core part around as part of its vision of massively parallel systems. it describes it as a single chip cloud.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/02/intel_cores_server/
» amd to ship first six-core desktop processor in q2
advanced micro devices on tuesday said its first six-core processor for desktops will ship in the second quarter of this year.
the processor will be called phenom ii x6, an amd spokesman said. the company displayed a working unit of the chip in a desktop at the cebit trade show being held in hanover, germany.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/030210-amd-to-ship-first-six-core.html?hpg1=bn
» intel: six-core, 32nm chips to launch early this year
intel yesterday announced that it is preparing six-core chips for high-end desktops and servers for release in the first half of 2010.
the six-core intel chips will be based on the company's latest westmere architecture and deliver faster performance and more power savings compared to earlier quad-core chips, intel said on a conference call. the chips will contain 1.17 billion transistors and include 12mb of cache, a company spokesman said.
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=3211900&
» nine out of 10 premium-priced pcs sold at us retail is a mac
windows 7 did little to slow the mac's sales trajectory during fourth quarter, according to npd. year over year, apple doubled us retail unit share -- from 5 percent to 10 percent -- for pcs selling between $500 and $1,000. more startling, apple increased its unit share from 79 percent to 90 percent in the market for "premium" pcs, meaning those selling for more than $1,000.
http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Nine-out-of-10-premiumpriced-PCs-sold-at-US-retail-is-a-Ma...
» apache terminates 'outdated' web server
the apache software foundation has released http sever 1.3.42, saying this is the final release of the 1.3 branch, and there will be no more updates except for critical security fixes.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/04/apache_retires_web_server/
» who knew? 99% of available bittorrent files violate copyright
princeton professor ed felten over at the freedom to tinker blog explores a survey his students recently completed on bittorrent file availability that found, not surprisingly, that a significant majority of the content available violates copyrights. again, this is what's available, not necessarily what's being actively downloaded, the survey taking a random, 1021-file sample of files available via the trackerless variant of bittorrent, using the mainline dht. of that data, just ten of the files, or approximately 1% were likely to be non-infringing
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Who-Knew-99-Of-Available-BitTorrent-Files-Violate-Copyright-10668...
» google joins the 'kill-ie6' campaign
google has announced that google docs will drop support for microsoft's nearly nine-year-old internet explorer 6 (ie6) browser starting on march 1.
http://www.itworld.com/internet/94823/google-joins-kill-ie6-campaign
» at&t to invest $2b in mobile network
at&t said thursday that it will invest an additional $2 billion in its network in 2010 to make sure it keeps up with the growing demand from new smartphones and other 3g data devices, such as the apple ipad, on its network.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/29/att.network.boost/index.html
» facebook: a tempting danger zone for businesses
a new study from security research firm sophos finds that malware and spam attacks delivered through social networks rose significantly in 2009, and facebook is perceived as the most dangerous social net of them all. at the same time, however, many businesses see social networking as a prime marketing tool that they're hesitant to ignore.
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Facebook-A-Tempting-Danger-Zone-for-Businesses-69253.html
» iphone os 3.1.3 released; jailbreakers beware
its hundredths decimal place indicates that this update isnt that significant and its most likely been completed for a while but apple was holding it until after the ipad announcement.
be warned though: its certain to break your iphones unlock and/or jailbreak, so keep that in mind too
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=5933
» facebook re-write takes php to an enterprise past
facebook's re-written php to transform the dynamic language for fast performance on web-scale server farms without adding additional hardware.
the site's engineers have announced hiphop, which turns the popular and dynamic php code into highly optimized but static c++ and then compiles it using the gnu c++ compiler, g++. the change has been released to the community under the php license
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/02/facebook_hiphop_unveiled/
» google dreaming up chrome os tablets
google has conceptual images for what a chrome os-based tablet computer user interface might look like at its open source chromium projects site.
the images actually went up a couple of days before apple made its big ipad splash last week. meanwhile, apple ceo steve jobs has followed up that announcement with some tough talk regarding google and its efforts to horn in on apple's iphone business with android, so google's tablet efforts are sure to get jobs' attention as well.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/020210-google-chromeos-tablet.html?hpg1=bn
» conficker worm cripples a u.k. police department
the conficker worm is alive and well and has shut down the police network in manchester,united kingdom, for the past three days.
after one year, conficker infects 7 million computers.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/020210-conficker-worm-police-networks.html?hpg1=bn
» web sites must support ipv6 by 2012, expert warns
corporations and government agencies must ipv6-enable their public-facing web sites in the next 24 months or risk upsetting a growing number of visitors with lower-grade connectivity.
https://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/012110-ipv6-warning.html
» at&t adds 2.7m wireless customers, beating verizon
maybe at&t's new slogan should be "more books in more places." the phone company added a near-record 2.7 million wireless customers in the last quarter, defying expectations with the help of new e-reading devices.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9DGRAF00.htm?
» apple lets 3g voip onto iphone
apple is now allowing voip-over-3g apps, after a change to the new beta version 3.2 of its iphone sdk, released yesterday in concert with the announcement of cupertino's long-awaited ipad.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/28/voip_over_3g_for_iphone/
» adobe sounds off on ipad's flash slap
apple claims that its just-announced ipad "lets you see web pages as they were meant to be seen," but adobe's group manager for flash marketing isn't buying it.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/28/adobe_disses_ipad/
|