Technology

Senator Conroy’s internet filter has been the cause of much news and action from local residents and the world at large, most recently sparking attacks on government web sites. The filter itself seems mostly incomplete, and while it does filter bad web sites it can also block access to content that is otherwise legal — but it doesn’t block the worst material. The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) have teamed with the Inspire Foundation and both large search engines Google and Yahoo!, who have jointly released a statement to Senator Conroy regarding the internet filter

Within two weeks time, television viewers will be able to use the internet to make complaints about TV programmes. The online complaint form follows the review of the Commercial Code of Practice last year. From Monday March 1st, viewers will be able to use an electronic complaint form via the Free TV Australia web site, similar to the downloadable complaint form it currently accepts via fax and mail

Saying that, We need a bolder vision that starts to break down the barriers to free culture — that starts to break the vise grip the few and powerful have on ownership, Public Knowledge President and Co-Founder Gigi B Sohn announced a new five-part Copyright Reform Act

In this age of cell phones, text messages and computer keyboards, one Scottish school has returned to basics. It’s teaching youngsters the neglected art of writing with a fountain pen. There is no clacking of keyboards in most classrooms at the Mary Erskine and Stewart’s Melville Junior School, although there is a full range of facilities for computer lessons and technology isn’t being ignored. But the private school’s principal believes the old-fashioned pens have helped boost the academic performance and self-esteem of his 1,200 pupils

SSDs are still overpriced for most average consumers, but the companies responsible for making them are constantly searching for ways to make them larger (in terms of capacity), smaller (in terms of form factor) and cheaper (in terms of real dollars). Toshiba has their own line of solid state drives right now, but just as the company has innovated in the optical storage department, they’re also hoping to innovate in the world of NAND storage. A new partnership between the company and Tokyo’s Keio University has led to the creation of a new technology that could allow SSDs up to 1TB in size to be made with a footprint no larger than a postage stamp. That’s far, far smaller than even the 1.8″ drives that currently reside in the larger iPod units, and exponentially smaller than the 2.5″ SSDs that are shipping now for existing notebooks

One of the founders of the Pirate Bay is kicking off a venture that aims to help web sites generate cash. Called Flattr, the micropayments system revolves around members paying a fixed monthly fee. At the end of each month that cash will be divided among participating sites a Flattr member wants to reward

A former security researcher turned criminal hacker has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for hacking into financial institutions and stealing credit card account numbers. Max Ray Butler, who used the hacker pseudonym Iceman, was sentenced Friday morning in US District Court in Pittsburgh on charges of wire fraud and identity theft. In addition to his 13-year sentence, Butler will face five years of supervised release and must pay US$27.5 million in restitution to his victims, according to Assistant US Attorney Luke Dembosky, who prosecuted the case for the federal government. Dembosky believes the 13 year sentence is the longest-ever handed down for hacking charges

Solar cells could make fossil fuels virtually redundant if they were cheaper, but their use of rare elements and complex manufacturing processes makes them expensive. Now IBM Research has developed a prototype solar cell that solves both problems, using common, cheap elements and using an inexpensive manufacturing process

Most of us do not think twice about paying for something in a high street shop by keying in our pin. It is easy, fast and in most cases it works. But scratch a little under the surface and there are persistent reports of people who say they have been the subject of fraud of one kind or another on their credit or debit card. Now a team of computer scientists at Cambridge University has found a flaw in chip and pin so serious they think it shows that the whole system needs a re-write

Google has acquired Aardvark, a San Francisco start-up whose service melds internet search and social networking. Aardvark co-founder and top strategy manager Max Ventilla told Reuters his company had signed a deal to be acquired by Google recently, but would not comment on the price. A report on the technology blog TechCrunch said the deal was for $US50 million, citing a source briefed on the transaction

Google announced plans to build a high-speed fibre-optics network. The move is limited to small communities for now, but could eventually bring Internet prices down and transform the broadband industry