An Apple patent has recently surfaced for a dynamically changeable OLED keyboard. The keyboard would rely on OLEDs to provide the graphics on the key surfaces. The patent application also details how such a keyboard would be manufactured
Last month security researcher Benjamin Googins determined that Sears installed ComScore spyware without adequate disclosure. Sears said, yes we tell people about tracking their browsing. On 1 January spyware researcher Ben Edelman weighed in, noting that Sears’ notice occurs on page 10 of a 54-page privacy statement, and twits Sears because its installation identifies the software as VoiceFive
and later claims it’s coming from a company called TMRG, Inc
even though a packet sniffer confirms the software belongs to ComScore, adding “These confusing name-changes fit the trend among spyware vendors — via Slashdot
An antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple on 31 December charges the company with maintaining an illegal monopoly on the digital music market. The complaint takes issue with Apple’s refusal to support the Windows Media Audio format
HECToR, the largest supercomputer in the UK, is around five times more powerful than its predecessor, HPCx, which is also at the University of Edinburgh. It measures up well internationally, sitting at 17 in the top500.org list of the most powerful computers in the world
It is not just the average net user who is a fan of social network sites, so are hi-tech criminals. So say security professionals predicting what net criminals will turn to in 2008 to catch people out. The quasi-intimate nature of the sites makes people share information readily leaving them open to all kinds of other attacks, warn security firms. Detailed information gathered via the sites will also help tune spam runs or make phishing e-mail more convincing
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales will launch an open-source search project, dubbed Wikia Search, on 7 January 2008 and eventually hopes to challenge Google and other established players. The project will allow technology enthusiasts to help filter sites and rank search results, using a community model akin to that of Wikipedia. However, the company is a for-profit organisation
In Service Pack 3 for Office 2003, Microsoft disabled support for many older file formats. If you have old Word, Excel, 1-2-3, Quattro, or Corel Draw documents, watch out. They did this because the old formats are less secure
, which actually makes some sense, but only if you got the files from some untrustworthy source. Naturally, they did this by default, and then documented a mind-bogglingly complex workaround (KB 938810) rather than providing a user interface for adjusting it, or even a set of awkward Do you really want to do this?
dialoueg boxes to click through. And of course because these are, after all, old file formats… many users will encounter the problem only months or years after the software change, while groping around in dusty and now-inaccessible archives — via Slashdot
The newest Project of Mozilla labs is Weave. It allows the user to save their browser settings on Mozilla servers (favourites, sessions, passwords… etc) and be able to load it wherever they are
Scientists in Britain have come up with a solution for making electronic gadgets completely waterproof, using a type of coating that repels liquids. The technology has, up until now, been used for military gear, but the makers of Ion-Mask are already in discussion with three mobile phone manufacturers with a view to using the coating on their products — via Gizmodo
PC World has released their year in review statistics and 2007 was not kind to Microsoft. IE 6 users are equally likely to move to Firefox as they are to IE7 and no one wants Vista
For months, users of Adobe Creative Suite 3 have been wondering why some of the applications regularly connect to what looks like a private IP address but is actually a public domain address belonging to the web analytics company Omniture. Now allegations of user spying are getting louder, prompting Adobe Photoshop product manager John Nack to respond, though many remain unsatisfied with his explanation — via Slashdot
The Annals of Improbable Research, a scientific publication that hosts the annual Ig Nobel awards, has decided to offer its publication free online. According to the journal Web site, visitors can view HTML articles with low-res images or download low-res PDFs for free. High-resolution PDFs and traditional on-the-toilet-readable paper-and-ink
issues are still available for a subscription fee
The browser that helped kick-start the commercial web is to cease development because of lack of users. Netscape Navigator, now owned by AOL, will no longer be supported after 1 February 2008, the company has said. In the mid-1990s the browser was used by more than 90% of the web population, but numbers have slipped to just 0.6%. In particular, the browser has faced competition from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE), which is now used by nearly 80% of all web users
Complaints about online directory assistance sites that reveal extensive personal data have prompted Governor M Jodi Rell to start developing a legislative package to help. In a news release, Rell said Monday that she’s received complaints about online search engines that list not only names, addresses, and telephone numbers but also people’s ages, places of work, and other personal information. Rell said she plans to propose restrictions that would likely be in the form of an opt-out
registry that’s an electronic version of the state and federal Do Not Call
list, which blocks telemarketing calls to citizens whose phone numbers are on the list
Warner Music Group is making its music available for US downloads from Amazon in MP3 format without copy protection. Warner had been holding out against using the format because MP3 tracks are easier to share between users and may be freely burned onto CDs
A new book claims to have definitive evidence of a long-suspected technological crime — that Alexander Graham Bell stole ideas for the telephone from a rival, Elisha Gray. In The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell’s Secret, journalist Seth Shulman argues that Bell — aided by aggressive lawyers and a corrupt patent examiner — got an improper peek at patent documents Gray had filed, and that Bell was erroneously credited with filing first
It appears that Google’s Android, criticised by Microsoft as vaporware, has sprung to life. Prototype devices are circulating, software developers are experimenting with the SDK and PC-based Android emulator, and there are rumours of a show-stopping debut at February’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona. Numerous examples of the Android GUI are also starting to leak out — via Slashdot
Russia successfully launched a rocket on Tuesday carrying the last three satellites to complete a navigation system to rival America’s GPS. The military-run GLONASS mapping system works over most of Russia and is expected to cover the globe by the end of 2009, once all its 24 navigational satellites are operating
Google Reader Begins Sharing Private Data
One week ago Google Reader’s team decided to begin showing your private data to all your GMail contacts. No need to opt-in, no way to opt-out. Complaints haven’t been answered. Some users share their problems, including one family who says they won’t be able to enjoy this Christmas because of this feature
. You can check a summary of complaints or browse the whole thread in Google Groups — via Slashdot
Shareaza.com, the home of the hugely popular Shareaza multi-network sharing application, has been hijacked by scammers. Unsuspected visitors to the site will be completely unaware that they will be tricked into downloading something that isn’t Shareaza at all, but subscription-based malware infected software instead
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