Violin Memory on Tuesday introduced two new all-NAND flash arrays that double the capacity over their predecessors and offer up to 160TB of capacity in a rack with 10 million IOPS and an aggregate 40GBps performance — via redwolf.newsvine.com
GM subsidiary OnStar has reversed course on a planned change to its privacy policies that would have let it collect and share GPS tracking and other data from vehicles — even after their users stopped subscribing to OnStar service — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Google left Australia off its Asia-Pacific data centre build list, when it laid out plans this week to build three data centres in the region.
The search giant said it would build the new facilities and spend upwards of US$200 million in an effort to boost access speed and capacity for its online service offerings.
Google will build its first proprietary Asia-Pacific data centres in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong, but has left Australia out of the loop.
The company expects the data centres to be operational within one to two years from the start of construction. It has already bought land for the centres and begun advertising for Asia-Pacific data centre project managers — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The communications watchdog has told the business community to ensure customers can unsubscribe from their email lists or face spamming penalties.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) today issued a Sydney-based computer supplier Apus Corporation with a formal warning after it found that its unsubscribe facility failed on 24 occasions — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A controversial trade agreement targeting counterfeiters and copyright infringers is scheduled to be signed this Saturday in Tokyo, the Office of the US Trade Representative has announced.
Representatives of the US, Japan, Australia, Canada, the EU, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland will be at the signing ceremony for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Countries that have completed relevant domestic processes
will sign ACTA, the ministry said in a press release. The agreement, which would create international standards for protecting intellectual property, will be open for signature until 1 May 2013, the ministry said.
Public Knowledge, a digital rights group, said the latest version of ACTA contains more protections for consumers than previous versions. Still, the group urged US President Barack Obama’s administration to make it clear
that ACTA does not change US law, including provisions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act protecting ISPs and websites from copyright enforcement — via redwolf.newsvine.com
New Spotify subscribers can only sign up if they have a Facebook account, a move that suggests that the online streaming music service is fully embracing its new Facebook partnership.
Spotify has ditched its old business plan, but about 300 people at the consumer advocacy website GetSatisfaction don’t think that decision was a good one — via redwolf.newsvine.com
How do you combine an obsession with Zombie movies and data analysis of Google Maps?
Simple, you produce the map, above. It was created by Oxford University’s Internet Institute — and the guys behind the fantastic dataviz site, Floating sheep: Mark Graham, Taylor Shelton, Matthew Zook and Monica Stephens.
Using a keyword search for zombies
, it visualises the absolute concentrations of references within the Google Maps database — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Following on from its move to fast track the issue of whether Australians should have a statutory right to privacy, the Minister for Privacy and Freedom of Information Brendan O’Connor today released an issues paper to discuss proposed legislation on the topic.
The issues paper is in response to a 2008 Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) proposal that legislation be introduced to allow Australians to take legal action if they feel that their privacy has been seriously invaded. As it currently stands, Australians have no legal right to privacy, and cannot take legal action when their privacy is invaded.
Before mass adoption of devices such as smartphones and the use of social networks, privacy had been a relatively simple issue, with O’Connor stating in the paper he released today that serious invasions are infrequent. However, he said that advances have made the issue more complex, and that discussion is now warranted as to whether legislation that gives Australians the right to privacy is appropriate — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has forged ahead with plans to drop the current rate that mobile companies pay to connect calls between mobile networks, despite calls from Optus and Vodafone to maintain the status quo.
The ACCC regulates the price that telcos charge one another for fixed line and mobile calls that are made over each other’s networks, known as the domestic mobile terminating access service (MTAS). The charge is incurred against the telco of the user originating the call. It first became a declared service in 2004 and the price was set at 21 cents per minute, but has been reduced over time to the current rate of 9 cents per minute.
Following a review that commenced in June, the competition watchdog has today announced its draft determination: the cost will be dropped from 9 cents per minute to 6 cents per minute from 1 January 2012, and will drop again on 1 January 2014 to 3.6 cents per minute — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Dave Winer wrote a timely piece this morning about how Facebook is scaring him since the new API allows applications to post status items to your Facebook timeline without a users intervention. It is an extension of Facebook Instant and they call it frictionless sharing. The privacy concern here is that because you no longer have to explicitly opt-in to share an item, you may accidentally share a page or an event that you did not intend others to see.
The advice is to log out of Facebook. But logging out of Facebook only de-authorises your browser from the web application, a number of cookies (including your account number) are still sent along to all requests to facebook.com. Even if you are logged out, Facebook still knows and can track every page you visit. The only solution is to delete every Facebook cookie in your browser, or to use a separate browser for Facebook interactions — via redwolf.newsvine.com
If you get arrested in California, the photos, e-mails and other personal data on your mobile phone soon could be a bit safer from prying police eyes soon. A bill passed by the state legislature would require law-enforcement officers to obtain a warrant before searching the mobile phone of a person placed under arrest.
If signed by the governor, the bill would override a January ruling by the California Supreme Court. According to California Senator Mark Leno, who sponsored the legislation, this ruling had legalised the warrantless search of mobile phones during an arrest, regardless of whether the information on the phone is relevant to the arrest or if criminal charges are ever filed
.
The new California law unanimously passed in the state Assembly. Governor Jerry Brown has until 9 October to sign it into law, according to a spokesman from the governor’s office.
Under this legislation, California law enforcement officers would have to first obtain a search warrant when there is probable cause to believe a suspect’s portable electronic device contains evidence of a crime
The BBC director-general has warned that British journalism is facing a dangerous period
because of attempts by police to force news organisations to hand over confidential sources.
Mark Thompson was speaking the week after Scotland Yard dropped its attempt to obtain a production order, which would have compelled the Guardian to disclose the source of a story revealing that a mobile phone belonging to Milly Dowler was hacked by the News of the World.
In a speech in Taiwan on Sunday morning, Thompson said the affair was part of a disturbing trend
for police forces in many parts of the UK routinely to demand that journalists disclose sources and hand over journalistic materials
.
He added: At the BBC, we receive an ever-growing number of demands for untransmitted news rushes which the police seem to regard as having no more privilege or protection attached to them than CCTV pictures.
The police asked broadcasters to pass them footage of rioters in the summer, a request which most of them said they were happy to comply with providing the police obtained court orders requiring them to do so — via redwolf.newsvine.com
If what you want from your random text generation is a healthy dose of Samuel L Jackson, then Slipsum is the source for you
Ready for conspiracy theories? Folks emailing information about the Wall Street protests on Monday using Yahoo discovered their emails failed, and received a message from Yahoo claiming suspicious activity
. Does that sound suspicious?
ThinkProgress.org has perhaps the best coverage, including a YouTube video of users trying to send emails that mention the OccupyWallSt.org
web site. That seemed to be the magic phrase to get your email blocked.
Yahoo spokespeople claim it was a glitch, a mistake, unintentional, and they don’t know how their spam filters became so sensitive. Via Twitter, Yahoo announced the blockage was now fixed, but there may be residual delays
. There will certainly be some residual questions. But remember, censorship requires a government entity squelching speech, not an email provider — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The Italian government is preparing an anti-piracy law that could ban Internet users from access after one alleged infringement, a lawyer and an analyst warned.
ISPs would be required to use filters against services that infringe copyright, trademark or patents under terms of the draft law. The proposed changes to Italy’s e-commerce directive were drafted in July by members of parliament belonging to the Il Popolo della Libertà (PdL) party of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. After analysing the proposed amendments, Paolo Brini, spokesperson for ScambioEtico, a grassroots movement committed to copyright reform, concluded the Italian government is in fact proposing a one strike
out Internet law.
Citizens could be disconnected from the Internet if a provider is notified of an alleged copyright, trademark or patent infringement on the Web, Brini said. ISPs would have to blacklist citizens who are only suspected of infringements and providers might be compelled to install filters to sniff out copyright, trademark or patent abuse, he said. Furthermore, ISPs that do not comply with the filter requirement could be held liable under civil laws — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has lost a court case against Google over claims advertising on the internet search giant’s main website could be confused with search results.
The case centred around sponsored links by online trading company Trading Post. One such case involved the Newcastle car dealer Kloster Ford. According to the judgement, a search of “Kloster Ford” back in 2005 gave “sponsored link” results that would direct customers to the Trading Post website.
The competition watchdog alleged that because the headline of the link often referred to just the business name alone — for example, Kloster Ford — and then redirected to the Trading Post website, which had no affiliation with the real Kloster Ford, Google and Trading Post were engaged in deceptive conduct.
The ACCC also alleged that Google was misleading consumers by not making it clear that sponsored links were advertisements.
In the Federal Court in Sydney today, however, Justice John Nicholas found that while the Trading Post had been misleading in its conduct regarding the advertisements, Google was not engaged in deceptive conduct as it had merely been the messenger between the advertiser and the consumer — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Microsoft has terminated its relationship with one of the members of its partner network after allegations that the party in question was using Microsoft’s name to scare users to hand over credit card details and gain access to their computers.
Graham Cluley wrote on Sophos’ Naked Security blog that India-based Comantra cold-called users in the UK, Australia and Canada under the guise of being a Microsoft representative, claiming that a customer’s computer was infected by viruses. The company did have Gold status as a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, but the status does not convey any ability to act on Microsoft’s behalf — via redwolf.newsvine.com
I recently read an account of John McElborough’s talk at Brighton SEO 2011, wherein he advocated some ethically questionable SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) tactics involving creating a private network of fake blogs.
I don’t know John or his work, but this entire side of internet marketing and promotion makes me sad — and a bit angry. I fully acknowledge the value of, and need for, actual SEO; I just think that in many cases, the tactics employed under that title would better be described as Search Engine Manipulation or even Abuse.
I periodically check my blog’s referrers, and there are a huge number of sites out there containing duplicate content and links, some of them extremely convincing when viewed in isolation. It’s sleazy, it’s pathetic, and it damages the internet for everyone.
I’m asked sometimes for advice on building an internet presence, and I usually have to fumble for an answer — because I haven’t pursued any particular strategy beyond the glaringly obvious: create original, relevant content repeatedly — via redwolf.newsvine.com
When Kirsten Deane started to teach her daughter Sophie to read, it was harder than it needed to be.
It wasn’t so much that Sophie, 10, has Down syndrome and a hearing impairment that makes speech quite difficult for her. Ms Dean found there was a lack of technology to assist.
When I started a reading program with her five years ago, I was making up books for her using photos of our family and then matching them with symbols — a whole way of reinforcing literacy,
Kirsten Deane said.
I spent a lot of time printing out photos, laminating them and having them bound.
But technology, like tablets and smart phones, now offer an easier alternative to making these books.
Having a tablet would have made it extraordinarily easier,
Ms Deane said.
If I’d been teaching her now, I would’ve done it on the iPad for her and it could have included me reading to her as well
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
Two Chinese telecommunications giants have reportedly teamed up to build a new subsea cable between Australia and New Zealand, estimated to be worth US$100 million.
Axin, the Australasian agent and representative of China Communications Service Corp, wants to build a 2300km cable between Auckland and Sydney, and has tapped Huawei Marine Networks Co to help build the link.
The direct link between the two countries would mean that companies seeking to only transfer information between the two countries would not have to share capacity on international subsea cables that redirect overseas, such as the Southern Cross cable or the planned Pacific Fibre cable that both iiNet and Vodafone NZ plan to use for international traffic.
Its capacity will probably be smaller than the existing Southern Cross Cable and the prospective Pacific Fibre cable — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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