Microsoft is pulling back from a system that disables programs on users’ computers if it suspects the software is pirated, opting instead for a gentler approach based on nagging alerts. Microsoft said Monday it will roll out the new version of Windows Genuine Advantage with the first service pack
for Windows Vista, due in the first quarter of 2008
Google is making changes to its European launch of Street View to
protect the privacy of those it photographs, may do the same for US version
Britain’s domestic intelligence agency is warning that cybercrime perpetrated by China is on the rise following hacking attacks against Rolls-Royce PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. MI5 recently sent letters to some 300 banks and accounting and legal firms warning that state organisations
of China were plying their networks for information. The UK government refused to confirm the letters
SixApart tonight announced the sale of journal/blogging service Livejournal to Russia-based SUP. Original LJ founder Brad Fitzpatrick has chimed in on the situation: This is pretty cool because — They’re ridiculously excited about LiveJournal, and have been for awhile (they previous purchased advertising rights in Russia, but ended up doing a bunch of Russia-specific LJ development as well). They want to throw a lot of resources at LiveJournal in terms of product development and engineers. ‘LiveJournal.com, Inc’ now stands alone again, focusing on nothing but LJ. Sounds like I’ll have more LJ influence (via new role as advisory board member) than I’ve had recently
— via Slashdot
Ageing may be as important to electronics as it is to good wine. A plastic transistor doubles its performance if simply left to sit at room temperature for a week. Cheap to mould, pentacene transistors are a promising candidate for organic electronics. However, when they are being built, molecules can misalign to form defects, which trap electrons and slow the transistors down
As if DRM needed more of a hint to get its coat and leave, Amazon is set to announce a promotional giveaway of one billion MP3s during next year’s Super Bowl. Billboard was first to note that this announcement signals an all-out offensive on DRM, which is made even more powerful by parallel pressures brought by Wal-Mart. In a bid for more of the digital download space, the brick-and-mortar retailer heavyweight has reportedly given an ultimatum to some of the largest record labels, including Warner Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment, to provide more of their respective music catalogues in MP3 format (that is, without DRM) next year
Scientists from Korea and the Czech Republic have discovered new drugs that can counteract the chemical overload caused by nerve gas. All of the experimental medications belong to a family of chemicals called oximes. Those molecules reactivate the enzyme that is damaged by the chemical weapons. Last year, the FDA approved the first combined atropine and oxime auto-injector for use by emergency personnel. Israel has been providing them to their citizens since the first Gulf War — via Slashdot
Jimmy Wales made an announcement yesterday night at a Wikipedia party in San Francisco: Creative Commons, Wikimedia and the FSF just agreed to make the current Wikipedia license compatible with Creative Commons (CC BY-SA). As Jimbo puts it, This is the party to celebrate the liberation of Wikipedia
— via Slashdot
As part of its ongoing effort to keep a clean index Google is soliciting the help of web browsers to let them know when we find malware in the index. Celebrated Google hacker Johnny Long thinks it’s a good idea, though he doesn’t think it’ll stop real hackers. Most in search of malware for offensive use know the good stuff — it ain’t distributed through public Web … It’s distributed through dark Web servers, peer-to-peer networks, IRC channels, torrents and the like. Google’s efforts will not affect how skilled hackers get access to malware
— via Slashdot
Long-time users of Perl for their public web sites, and having successfully used Ruby on Rails for internal websites, the BBC have fused the two by creating a Perl on Rails that has the advantages of rapid development that Rails brings, while performing well enough to be used for the Beeb’s high-traffic public websites. This is already powering one of their web sites, and is set to be used in the controversial iPlayer project as well — via Slashdot
This week, Deutsche Grammophon, the classical music recording giant that’s owned by Universal Music Group, launched its own DRM-free online music store
The Million Book Project, an international venture led by Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, Zhejiang University in China, the Indian Institute of Science in India and the Library at Alexandria in Egypt, has completed the digitisation of more than 1.5 million books, which are now available online
Micron Technology, maker of DRAM and flash memory, this week unveiled its plans to come out with solid-state drives. The drives function like regular hard drives, but instead of storing data on spinning disks, the data gets stored on NAND memory chips — the kind found in cameras and MP3 players
Via the Web 2.0 Journal, a worthy link to Yahoo! Architect and JSON inventor Douglas Crockford’s latest ideas to fix HTML. He’s categorically not a fan of HTML 5, which is still just an Editor’s Draft and not endorsed by W3C yet. Crock puts forward ten ideas that in his view would provide extensibility without complexity, adding that the simplification of HTML he is proposing would reduce the cost of training of web developers and incorporates the best practices of AJAX development. From the article: The problems with HTML will not be solved by making it bigger and more complicated. I think instead we should generalise what it does well, while excising features that are problematic. HTML can be made into a general application delivery format without disrupting its original role as a document format
— via Slashdot
The desire for greater control over how search engines index Web sites is driving an effort by publishers to revise a 13-year-old technology for restricting access
A massive SEO poisoning
attack was directed at Google in particular and resulted in tens of thousands of Web pages hosting exploits showing up on the first page of Google searches for thousands of common terms [PDF]. Sunbelt Software blogged about the attack on Monday after investigating it for months. By Wednesday Google had removed tens of thousands of malware-hosting pages from its index — via Slashdot
The ability to create flexible, transparent electronics could lead to a host of novel applications, such as e-paper and electronic car windshields. Now, scientists have constructed a transistor made of a network of nanotubes that may serve as an essential component in a trans-flex device. Such devices require two main components: light displays and current-controlling transistors. While scientists have found that OLEDs and LCDs work well as light displays, finding a truly transparent and flexible transistor material is still an open area. Usually, these transistors consist of metallic nanowires
HP and Crospon have developed a skin patch employing microneedles that barely penetrate the skin. The microneedles can replace conventional injections and deliver drugs through the skin without causing any pain. The skin patch technology also enables delivery of several drugs by one patch and the control of dosage and of administration time for each drug. It has the potential to be safer and more efficient than injections
A new version of Google Maps introduced this week includes a beta feature dubbed My Location that was designed to simulate the GPS experience on mobile phones and handheld devices that do not include GPS hardware, like Apple’s iPhone. Essentially, the My Location feature takes information broadcast from mobile towers near non-GPS equipped mobile phones to approximate the device’s current location on the map down to about ten city blocks. The My Location feature is currently available for most web-enabled mobile phones, including Java, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Nokia/Symbian devices — via Slashdot
Scientists conducting tests on two tasmanian devils have found one from Tasmania’s west coast resistant to the devil facial tumour disease. The facial tumour disease is found across about 60 per cent of the state, and has killed up to 90 per cent of some populations. The devil is now listed as an endangered species
RSS – Posts