8 February 2006 Technology News

• ndmmxiaomayi

  11 Mar 06, 21:08

  Police blotter: Ex-employee faces suit over file deletion
  
  "Police blotter" is a weekly report on the intersection of technology and the law.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  11 Mar 06, 21:09

  Police blotter: Ex-employee faces suit over file deletion
  
  "Police blotter" is a weekly report on the intersection of technology and the law.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  11 Mar 06, 21:15

  Mozilla revenue speculation erupts
  
  The Mozilla Corp., the commercial arm of the Mozilla Foundation, has said that despite the success of its online applications, it is focused on strong products, not big profits.
  
  Responding to online speculation around the company's actual earnings, Christopher Blizzard, a Mozilla Corp. board member, said in a blog this week that money is just a "tool" that allows the organization to direct its own development and "make a great product."
  
  "Money is one of the last things we worry about, and people shouldn't get hung up on the numbers, except to realize that it gives us options," he said.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  11 Mar 06, 21:17

  Feds bust fans for pirated Ryan Adams tunes
  
  A pair of apparent Ryan Adams fans ran afoul of a new law making it a crime to publish songs before their release to the general public when they made portions of the singer's latest album available on a Web site frequented by his fans, federal authorities said Thursday.
  
  Robert Thomas of Milwaukee and Jared Bowser of Jacksonville, Fla., were indicted under a provision of the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act (FECA) law that makes it a separate federal crime to pirate music and movies before they are released to the public, Memphis-based U.S. attorney Jim Vines and FBI special agent My Harrison said.
  
  The indictments are believed to be the first under the prerelease provision of the 2005 FECA law. The men are alleged to have posted portions of Adams' "Jacksonville City Nights" on a fan Web site about a month before its official release last September. Adams records for Lost Highway Records, whose Universal Music Group parent did not grant authority for the Internet distribution.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 02:00

  EU consultancy wants to help on Microsoft
  
  A consultancy retained by the European Commission in the Microsoft antitrust case believes it can help break an impasse to avoid a large fine against the firm, a source familiar with the situation said Monday.
  
  OTR Consultants of London has helped the Commission in the Microsoft case for several years, but its contract is nearing an end because of time limits imposed under Commission procurement rules, a second source said.
  
  Now OTR has suggested a new role for itself: it would help improve Microsoft technical documentation that the Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, says is inadequate.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 02:03

  Fujitsu announces quad-blade server
  
  Fujitsu will begin selling technology next quarter that lets four dual-processor blade servers be linked into a single machine with eight Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron chips.
  
  The new option, available in April or May, will be available with AMD's latest 2.6 GHz dual-core processors, said Richard McCormack, senior vice president of marketing for Fujitsu's Sunnyvale, Calif.-based U.S. subsidiary, Fujitsu Computer Systems. The company announced the product in conjunction with the CeBit trade show in Germany.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 02:08

  Ubuntu Linux leader proposes six-week delay
  
  New versions of Ubuntu Linux have been released at a steady six-month cadence, but project founder Mark Shuttleworth is considering a six-week delay to improve the reliability of an important new version.
  
  The next version, called Dapper Drake, is due in April. It's the first version that will have longer-term support commitments--three years for the desktop computer version and five years for servers, compared to 18 months for the current 5.10 "Breezy Badger" version.
  
  Getting those features right is important, Shuttleworth said in an e-mail on Friday. "We will live with Dapper for five years--so let's give it a few extra weeks now so that it can be a real asset to the Ubuntu project for the full duration of its lifespan," Shuttleworth said.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 02:13

  Potential Sun Grid customer: No thanks
  
  SAN FRANCISCO--At first blush, Greg Gianforte would seem to be the ideal candidate for Sun Microsystems' Grid service. But the chief executive of RightNow Technologies isn't interested.
  
  RightNow runs its own customer relationship management (CRM) software on its own computers at three company data centers. Customers pay to use the resource, making RightNow a prime example of the software-as-a-service business that Sun executives describe as "ground zero" for their Sun Grid project.
  
  In a meeting here with reporters on Friday, Gianforte said reliability and cost issues mean the company isn't interested in managed hosting services, including the $1-per-processor-per-hour Sun Grid.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 02:21

  Grid start-up Univa names new CEO
  
  Univa, a company trying to commercialize supercomputing software for pooling the resources of many computers, announced Monday that Michael Ellis is its new chief executive. He most recently was managing director of a consulting firm, Ellis Management Group, and before that was a senior vice president at i2 Technologies.
  
  Co-founder and former CEO Steve Tuecke now is chief technology officer. The Chicago-based start-up has a strategic partnership with IBM and raised $8 million in 2005.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 02:23

  Microsoft pauses work on Adobe rival
  
  Microsoft has temporarily halted development work on some aspects of its upcoming professional graphics application as it tries to bring companion tools and its next-generation Windows Vista operating system to market.
  
  The application--called Expression Graphic Designer--was first released in test form in June last year, and is based on Expression, the tool Microsoft acquired with its 2003 purchase of Hong Kong company Creature House. But despite being widely seen as a rival for Adobe Systems' Photoshop and Illustrator products, Microsoft does not see the product as a standalone offering.
  
  "At the moment, there's no great reason for us to release it as a standalone product," Wayne Smith, the company's senior product manager for Europe, the Middle East and African professional designer markets, said last week.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 02:28

  IBM turns inside out for partners
  
  IBM will give qualified business partners access to its researchers, part of a broader push to stimulate revenue through closer collaboration with partners.
  
  The computing giant announced the research initiative on Monday at its annual PartnerWorld conference in Las Vegas.
  
  The company is also scheduled to formally unveil a new organization within IBM, called Technology Collaboration Solutions. The unit is tasked with licensing IBM's intellectual capital and co-developing products with clients. In one instance, IBM partnered with the Mayo Clinic to design a line of electronic medical devices.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 02:34

  AMD slips to 'sell' on rumors of price war
  
  A Wall Street analyst downgraded Advanced Micro Devices to "sell" from "buy" Monday, citing reports from Intel supply chain representatives that the chip giant was preparing to launch a price war.
  
  AMD, as well as Intel, also received lowered earnings and revenue forecasts, as a result of concerns over a price war, according to analyst Eric Ross in a ThinkEquity research report.
  
  While price wars between Intel and AMD are not uncommon, this move would come as AMD is riding the wave of strong market growth with its Opteron chips and Intel, which issued a first-quarter warning earlier this month, is feeling the pain of a slight market share loss and weaker chip demand.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 02:49

  SAP spruces up its supply chain software
  
  SAP plans to launch a new version of its supply-chain management suite in June.
  
  The most significant new features in the suite are found in the service-parts management component. This is largely aimed at business sectors, such as small-scale manufacturing and distribution, that put a premium on getting the right components in the right place on a "just-in-time" basis.
  
  The new software, MySAP Supply Chain Management version 5.0, was unveiled late last week at the CeBit trade show in Hannover, Germany. The company said this latest version can efficiently manage even low-value components and should help businesses evolve traditional, linear supply chains into more flexible and dynamic networks of supply chain partners. A lack of flexibility has been a particular criticism of SAP manufacturing software in the past.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 02:56

  Windows Live parental controls due this summer
  
  Microsoft expects to release a first version of new, no cost parental control software for Windows XP by the end of June, the company said Monday.
  
  As reported earlier, Windows Live Family Safety Settings software is designed to help keep Web content that parents deem inappropriate from reaching their children. A preview version of the tool is currently available to testers.
  
  The first version of the new software will let people filter online content and get activity reports on Web sites that were visited by others, Microsoft representatives said.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 03:14

  Prosecutor: Debit card crime ring busted
  
  Law enforcement officials in New Jersey have arrested 14 people in connection with a crime spree that has forced banks across the nation to replace hundreds of thousands of debit cards.
  
  The suspects, all U.S. citizens, are accused of using stolen credit and debit card information to produce counterfeit cards that were used to make fraudulent purchases and withdrawals from card-holder accounts, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said. Most of the arrests were made during the past two weeks.
  
  Some of the stolen credit card information came from the office-supply chain OfficeMax as well as North Carolina's State Employees' Credit Union and other businesses, DeFazio told CNET News.com on Monday. "We had cooperation from the security people from many victimized businesses," he said.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  15 Mar 06, 03:24

  McAfee names new president, COO
  
  McAfee has promoted two executives to fill the roles of president and chief operating officer, replacing Gene Hodges, who held both those positions and left in January to head Websense.
  
  McAfee, based in Santa Clara, Calif., said on Monday that it promoted Kevin Weiss, executive vice president of worldwide sales and services, to the position of president. Eric Brown, McAfee's chief financial officer, also takes on the additional responsibilities of chief operating officer, the company said in a statement.
  
  Weiss and Brown both report to George Samenuk, McAfee's chairman and chief executive officer.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  16 Mar 06, 02:06

  Java hardware start-up Azul sues Sun
  
  Azul Systems, a company selling hardware to run Java programs, has sued Sun Microsystems over a dispute about fees and royalties.
  
  The Mountain View, Calif., start-up filed for declaratory relief Wednesday "to protect the interests of the company in the face of unfounded allegations from Sun Microsystems." Azul says the larger company threatened to sue if it didn't pay an "exorbitant" amount, giving Sun part ownership.
  
  Sun spokeswoman Stephanie Hess said the company hadn't seen the lawsuit and declined further comment.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  16 Mar 06, 02:07

  Microsoft files piracy suits
  
  Microsoft has filed lawsuits against eight individuals who allegedly sold pirated copies of its software on eBay, the company said Wednesday. Microsoft, which monitors auction sites for potential violators, said it learned of seven of the individuals after customers submitted queries to its Genuine Advantage program. The program is designed to test the authenticity of Microsoft software.
  
  Complaints regarding some of the defendants were also submitted to Microsoft's antipiracy hotline. The eight defendants are located in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York and Washington.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  16 Mar 06, 02:08

  U.K. probes costly tech failure for submarines
  
  The British government has again been forced to admit that failures in a computer-aided design program have contributed to the delay of the manufacturing of three nuclear submarines and to the project coming in about $1.57 billion over budget.
  
  Adam Ingram, a minister for the U.K. Ministry of Defence, said on Monday that the CAD system chosen to design the submarines was not up to scratch, after Parliament member Mike Hancock quizzed him over why there had been delays.
  
  "The increase in costs and delay to the delivery of stem primarily from problems that arose from the application of CAD techniques," Ingram said in a statement. "Due to the complexity of the program, the benefits that CAD was envisaged to provide were more difficult to realize than either (the defense department) or the contractor had assumed."
• ndmmxiaomayi

  16 Mar 06, 02:11

  Gateway lowers 2005 reported net after charges
  
  Gateway, the No. 3 U.S. personal computer maker, on Tuesday lowered its previously reported 2005 net income by 87 percent to $6.2 million because of legal and tax charges.
  
  The company said it took a charge of $16.7 million against 2005 earnings after it settled patent litigation with competitor Hewlett-Packard earlier this month. Gateway reported 2005 net income of $49.5 million on Feb. 2.
  
  Gateway, of Irvine, Calif., also said it increased tax reserves by $26.6 million. Gateway said it decided on the increase based on the outcome of a tax lawsuit involving another company, which it didn't identify.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  16 Mar 06, 02:14

  Tribble on Apple's security troubles
  
  Apple Computer has been notoriously tight-lipped about security. But lately there have been some breaks in the company's traditional silence.
  
  On Monday, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company released the second set of Mac OS X security fixes in two weeks.
  
  Typically, Apple publishes its concise security alert on its Web site and Mac users will find the update when their computer checks for updates. That happens automatically every week on default Mac OS X installations.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  16 Mar 06, 02:16

  Debate heats up over Net neutrality
  
  SAN JOSE, Calif.--Speculation that the two biggest phone companies in the country, AT&T and Verizon Communications, are planning to create a tiered Internet system that would require big bandwidth hogs like Google or Yahoo to pay more for their access has become a hot-button issue in the tech industry.
  
  Increasingly, it's also an issue on Capitol Hill, where some lawmakers are developing rules to maintain so-called Net neutrality--also called network neutrality--and prevent the emergence of a tiered system.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  16 Mar 06, 02:17

  40 lanes and a Roomba
  
  AUSTIN, Texas—It's almost two in the morning and I'm standing in the middle of Austin's Sixth Street, hoping that I'm not going to get hit by a car.
  
  On the other hand, I am hoping--as are 15 or so other people standing nearby--that one of the cars that keep rushing by will crush the tricked-out Roomba robot vacuum cleaner that Make Magazine associate editor Phillip Torrone and EYEBEAM research-and-development fellow Limor Fried are sending back and forth across the street and through traffic.
  
  This is Roomba Frogger, a modern, geek version of the famous 1981 video game "Frogger," in which players had to get a frog across a street without it getting crushed by a car or truck.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  16 Mar 06, 02:18

  Motorola CEO: Razr technical glitch solved
  
  Motorola, the world's second-largest mobile phone maker, said on Wednesday it had solved a technical glitch in its hot-selling Razr cell phone that had stopped shipments for three to four days.
  
  "We caught it and fixed it," Chief Executive Edward Zander told reporters. "There were three or four days where we stopped shipments and went in and fixed it."
  
  The problem came from a second-source firm that had only recently started to supply Motorola with components for the ultra slim Razr, he said.
• ndmmxiaomayi

  16 Mar 06, 02:18

  Another year of vote-counting anxiety?
  
  Before the 2000 presidential election, practically nobody would have predicted that in a country of tens of millions of voters, a major election could turn on just a few hundred votes.
  
  Thus, ahead of election day that year, any potential for inaccuracies or irregularities in vote counting did not loom large as a real issue.
  
  Of course, as we now know, every singe vote in that election truly mattered. Who can forget the hanging and dimpled chads, the uncertainty for weeks as to who won the election, and the multiple lawsuits all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court? And quite ironically, the very U.S. Supreme Court that had supported states rights took away the Florida Supreme Court results in favor of Al Gore and effectively resolved the election in favor of George W. Bush, even though history tells us that Gore nationally received over 500,000 votes more than did Bush.