Latest technology news, updates and reviews: November 2009

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

W3C Validation: It's Not Just About Rankings

In the world of search engine optimization, a perennial argument is whether Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) ranking factors look for clean code in a Web site. The W3C has developed two popular tools that check Web sites for errors: The W3C validation tool looks at HTML code, while the CSS validation tool checks the CSS Style Sheet. These free tools scan all of a site's code to make sure it is compliant with current Web standards. [*Correction - Nov. 12, 2009]

Not long ago, Matt Cutts, a Google software engineer, said -- not for the first time -- that W3C Validation does not affect search engine rankings.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen diagnosed with cancer

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, more than 25 years after he was treated for Hodgkin's disease, a spokesman at his company Vulcan Inc. told CNN on Monday.

Allen, 56, "received the diagnosis early this month and has begun chemotherapy," Vulcan CEO Jody Allen said in a memo to Vulcan employees. The memo was posted Monday evening on CNET's news site.

"Doctors say he has diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a relatively common form of lymphoma," Jody Allen, who is Paul Allen's sister, said in the memo. "This is tough news for Paul and the family. But for those who know Paul's story, you know he beat Hodgkin's a little more than 25 years ago, and he is optimistic he can beat this, too."

Back to Basics: 5 Things IT Could Do Better in 2010

Well, it's November again -- which means that it's just about time for this year's set of New Year's predictions. Every year around this time, everyone from antimalware companies to analyst firms line up to tell us about the top IT and security trends -- what they are and why we should care. This year, chances are they'll tell us all about cloud computing, virtualization and social networking and why these technologies are the new best (or worst) friends for security folks in 2010.

Now if you're sensing a bit of snarkiness here, you're right -- I find these lists a bit frustrating. That's not because of inaccuracies in the lists themselves (to the contrary, many of them are dead-on), but instead because they sometimes inappropriately drive how IT managers make budgeting decisions. Don't get me wrong, keeping abreast of the new areas is always valuable -- and I'm always fully on board with keeping us and our staff up to date and capable of reacting to new types of threats. But it's also important to keep in mind that what's new isn't always what's most critical. Where should you be investing budget dollars? At critical areas, not just what's new and shiny.

Online Maps: Everyman Offers New Directions

Mr. Hintz, a 62-year-old engineer who lives in Berkeley, Calif., has tweaked the locations of more than 200 business listings and points of interest in cities across the state, sliding an on-screen place marker down the block here, moving another one across the street there. Farther afield, he has mapped parts of Cambodia and Laos, where he likes to go on motorcycle trips.

Mr. Hintz said these acts of geo-volunteerism were motivated in part by self-interest: he wants to know where he’s going. But “it has this added attraction that it helps others,” he said.

FAQ: Recognizing phishing e-mails

If you have received an e-mail from the Internal Revenue Service or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, chances are it was a phishing attempt. If you received e-mail from your bank, PayPal, or Facebook urging you to immediately verify information or risk having your account suspended, it was undoubtedly phishing.

Phishing attacks have spiked this year, according to recent reports. The Anti-Phishing Working Group reports that there were more than 55,600 phishing attacks in the first half of 2009 alone. Phishing is particularly dangerous because once criminals get a victim's password for one Web site they can often use it to get into other accounts where people have re-used the password.

Man Who Steals Bus Posts Video On YouTube

A man steals bus from Vermont and even brings something very interesting to put out in the world in the form of a YouTube video to entertain and interest the residents. Brigham Young as well as John Deere have been involved in infamous acts coming from this state but everything seems stale with the recent contribution from Jacob Rehm in terms of something fascinating and extraordinary.

Rehm stands with accusation of illegally borrowing a tour bus worth $500,000 with some form of a greater spin coming across with the former employee of the particular bus company. The two made their appearance in Vermont District Court on Tuesday with some new court appearances with the recent allegations against them.

How to Manage Multiple Displays with ATI Catalyst Control Center

Recently I’ve switched to dual monitor setup to improve productivity, and additional LG Full HDTV for movies, I’ve three screens: 2 No.s of Dell 2209WA and third is a 42” Full HD LG LH70YR and I’ve connected all these three screens to the Palit ATI 4870 Dual Sonic graphics card using two DVI port for Dell Monitors and TV with RGB Analog, here I will tell you how to manage multiple screens with ATI Catalyst Control Center, But there is one catch you can only drive 2 screens at a time with 48xx series of cards, the current generation of cards like 5850 and 5870 could run upto 3-6 screens at a time, the procedure is same.

Ninite: Install Multiple Applications at Once

Recently, my computer required fixing, and by fixing, I mean reinstalling everything from the operating system on up. Installing all of the extra software that I use (Firefox, Pidgin, GIMP, Adobe Reader, Microsoft Security Essentials, Evernote, Notepad++, and so on) was time consuming and tedious. It seemed to take forever.

Next time, I will not be installing each tool individually. Through Twitter, I found Ninite, an online tool that allows you to select from more than 60 software packages and, based on those selections, creates a personalized installer for you. Download, click a few buttons, and all of the tools you selected will be installed at one time. No more download, click, click, wait, download, click, click, wait. Just download, click, click, walk away, and do something better with your time.

Windows 7 – Network Problems during upgrades

Many Windows users have reported network problems while moving from Vista to Windows 7 or even during an upgrade from Windows 7 Beta to the RC version. Networking issues range from missing network icons on the system tray to VPN connection problems and homegroup problems.

The Network icon on the system tray may sometimes be hidden within the list of taskbar icons. Expand the hidden taskbar icons and if you find the network icon, drag and place it on your taskbar.

Users have also reported that occasionally after a reboot or wake from sleep state, internet connectivity is lost, despite the icon status indicating that the system is still connected to the net or has limited connectivity. A manual intervention is required at this point to set the issue right, as the connectivity is not automatically detected.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Google to replace HTTP and make web twice as fast

Google's Chromium group has announced an effort to replace the traditional Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) web browser language with a new protocol that supposedly boosts Internet browsing by up to 55 percent. HTTP currently is the protocol used by all web servers and browsers, hence the "http" in front of web addresses. But, as noted by Ars Technica, HTTP becomes inefficient when transferring many small files on many modern websites.

By contrast, Google's cleverly named SPDY protocol can compress and handle the individual requests via one connection that's SSL-encrypted. That allows higher-priority files to slip through immediately without becoming backed up behind large files.

Scientists Build First Frequency Comb

Scientists at the University of Konstanz in Germany and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States have built the first optical frequency comb — a tool for precisely measuring different frequencies of visible light — that actually looks like a comb.

The "teeth" of the new frequency comb are separated enough that when viewed with a simple optical system — a grating and microscope — the human eye can see each of the approximately 50,000 teeth spanning the visible colour spectrum from red to blue. A frequency comb with such well-separated, visibly distinct teeth will be an important tool for a wide range of applications in astronomy, communications and many other areas.

Does 120hz or 240hz Really Make A Difference?

Carla Rowland wants to know how important the refresh rate is when shopping for an HDTV

A 120 or 240hz refresh rate can certainly improve the look of an LCD HDTV, especially when dealing with fast-moving content like sports or action movies. But the difference may not be all that significant.

It's worth remembering that there's no such thing as 120hz or 240hz content--just 24hz and 60hz, because film is shot at 24 frames per second (fps) and video at 60. One key advantage of that faster refresh rate is that it can show both types of content at their native speed, since both 24 and 60 divide evenly into 120 and 240. This results in better-looking film-originated content, although the difference is only occasionally noticeable.

Intel unveils supercomputer chip, NEC partnership

Intel on Monday disclosed a version of its Xeon processor line optimized for supercomputers and announced a partnership with NEC to develop future supercomputers.

At Supercomputing 2009 in Portland, Ore., Intel unveiled a future version of its "Nehalem-EX" processor optimized for supercomputers. The six-core chip will run at higher speeds than eight-core versions of the Nehalem-EX processors and will offer advantages for supercomputer specific tasks, Intel said in a statement. Intel also refers to supercomputing as high-performance computing, or HPC.

The chip architecture will offer greater memory speeds and capacity and will allow customers to build single computers or "nodes" with up to 256 such processors, according to Intel. This will be available next year, Intel said.

Intel said Monday that four out of every five supercomputers on the Top500 list published Monday are powered by Intel processors.

Hulu's backers bicker as Web video soars

Woo wee, did Hulu's fortunes flip-flop fast.

The Web's deepest stockpile of full-length TV shows and feature films is seeing some very public infighting over its future. The disagreements are over how Hulu should generate revenue and even how to sell ads, according to a report in Mediaweek.

Things were going so well. Since Hulu's October 2007 launch, the Web video site founded by NBC Universal and News Corp., has grown its audience, generated big ad revenue, and been bathed in positive press.

Google launches Go programming language

Google has released an experimental programming language to the open source community.

Go is an attempt by the web giant to mix the dynamic, web-friendly attributes of scripting languages like Python with the performance and security benefits of compiled languages like C++.

The move follows similar attempts to gain a foothold in the world of core IT infrastructure, which include the creation of the Android mobile operating system (OS), the Chrome PC browser and the as yet unreleased Chrome OS.

Work on Go actually started two years ago, but it was only last year that it was assigned a dedicated full-time development team.

Weighing Social Media's Risks

"Enterprise 2.0" is my term for the use of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, social networking software and microblogs like Twitter within companies. It's becoming clear that Enterprise 2.0 brings real advantages in productivity, agility, innovation and satisfaction, but it also seems risky to many people.

Concerns around Enterprise 2.0 fall into two broad categories: fears that people won't use the newly available ESSPs [emergent social software platforms], and fears that they will. The latter, which stem from the lack of upfront control common to ESSPs, tend to crop up first. When first exposed to these technologies, business decision makers voice concerns about what happens when direct control is surrendered and many people can freely contribute to information platforms. The scenario of broad participation in these platforms behind the firewall gives rise to a consistent set of worrying questions:

Web 2.0 Expo: The Power Of Less

The Web 2.0 Expo New York returns to the Javits Convention Center on Nov 16- 19 with a show focused on the power of less.

The Expo's "Power of Less" theme isn't merely a concession to the reality of tight budgets and lingering economic uncertainty. It also recognizes that realignment presents opportunities and that Web companies benefit from focus.

"A lot of companies are being forced to make do with less right now," said Jennifer Pahlka, Web 2.0 Expo general manager and co-chair. "We realized when the economy started collapsing that we might be in unique position to help companies embrace it rather than fear it."

IBM's new service jumps on cloud computing bandwagon

IBM launched a new cloud computing service on Monday, aiming to take on companies such as Amazon.com Inc, Google Inc, Microsoft Corp and Salesforce.com Inc.

Cloud computing allows companies to run software and store information in remote, large-scale data centers that can be accessed over the Internet. That means users can cut back on hardware, as well as space and electricity.

International Business Machines Corp said it was launching a service called "Smart Analytics Cloud," its biggest cloud computing service yet and that it would first be adopted internally.

Posiflex Acquires Protocol Solutions

Posiflex Technologies, a professional POS (point of sales) hardware solution provider, has acquired a majority stake in Bengaluru(INDIA)-based Protocol Solutions—one of their leading distributors in India. With this, Protocol Solutions will now be called Posiflex India.

This strategic move will help shorten the lead time of delivery, increase brand awareness and expand market share. Posiflex will not only acquire the existing channel resource, but also give access to the Indian software development industry to bundle with their hardware. It is expected to offer low TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) solution from India to global channels eventually.

Genius Launches Latest EasyPen Graphic Tablets

Genius launched its latest range of Graphic Tabletsthe 4 x 5.5 EasyPen i405 and the 6 x 8 MousePen i608. The new offerings are perfect to express oneself on the computer.

As a company, it is our constant endeavor to offer best of the products in terms of technology, quality and user-friendliness. These two products enable one to showcase his creativity in a simple, easy and fun way, commented Sandeep Ramani, Country Manager, OBM Sales Division, KYE Systems.

Are Apple's App Store policies ruining everything?

There's been much ado lately about Apple's App Store policies stifling development and hurting coders. The main problems seem to be the long acceptance process and Apple's self-appointed right to deny an application that isn't in its best interests.

The concerns presented by Facebook app developer Joe Hewitt are real, but I simply cannot agree with his statement that "the review process needs to be eliminated completely." If this were a perfect world where you could trust anyone, I might buy into it. But in the world we live in, there are very good reasons why Apple has a team of 40 or so employees to test and vet every application that appears in the store.

Fallout 3 named Ultimate Game Of The Year

Fallout 3 has been voted as the best game of the year at top gaming awards 'Golden Joysticks'.

Action game series 'Call of Duty' bagged three awards including multiplayer game of the year and Nintendo game of the year for World At War, while Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was given 'one to watch' award.

Also, musical game 'Guitar Hero: World Tour' was recognized for best soundtrack of the year.

The results were based on the voting done by U.K gamers.

However only games released between May 2008 and May 2009 were listed for the awards.

What's next for Wi-Fi?

The recent formal approval of the IEEE 802.11n wireless standard marks not the end but the start of a wave of Wi-Fi innovation. In the next three to five years, the Wi-Fi experience will be very different from today.

The huge 11n performance jump -- to 300Mbps data rate and roughly 100M to 150Mbps throughput -- will become the basis for unwiring work and life to a much greater extent than ever before. You can picture it as a fast-growing archipelago of wireless connectivity, with access points becoming more prevalent, interlinked in meshed clusters, and able to cooperate far more closely with smarter Wi-Fi clients. Here we've focused on eight ways Wi-Fi will change for the better, enabling improved signal quality, more reliable connections, optimized bandwidth, increased battery life and stronger security.

Guarding against database anti-forensics

Database hacking has gone mainstream and is becoming harder to detect because of the increasingly sophisticated anti-forensic procedures hackers use to cover their tracks.

Knowing forensics inside and out, as well as the tricks hackers use to foil forensics, is essential for professionals responsible for protecting the integrity of corporate data.

Databases contain a high percentage of confidential data, yet many organizations lack the budget and management buy-in to implement protections. According to studies, 60% of organizations have experienced a breach in the past 12 months, 80% expect database attacks to increase and 40% on average fail security audits.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Google Chrome OS To Launch Within A Week

Google’s Chrome OS project, first announced in July, will become available for download within a week, we’ve heard from a reliable source. Google previously said to expect an early version of the OS in the fall.

What can we expect? Driver support will likely be a weak point. We’ve heard at various times that Google has a legion of engineers working on the not so glamorous task of building hardware drivers. And we’ve also heard conflicting rumors that Google is mostly relying on hardware manufacturers to create those drivers. Whatever the truth, and it’s likely in between, having a robust set of functioning drivers is extremely important to Chrome OS’s success. People will want to download this to whatever computer they use and have it just work.

Genpact bags 5 year BPO contract from Unitech Wireless

BPO firm Genpact has bagged a five-year back office services contract from telecom operator Unitech Wireless. As per the deal, Genpact will deploy customer service solutions for Unitech Wireless in North India through its operations center in Jaipur.

"This is a significant win for us and we are delighted to collaborate with a company that is focused on becoming a preferred telecom service provider. Our deep understanding of enterprise-wide business processes and operational excellence are strengths we will apply to serving Unitech Wireless," said Genpact President and CEO Pramod Bhasin. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

Firefox is celebrating 5 years of its birth

Firefox is celebrating 5 years of its birth. So it has been 5 years with the launch Firefox 1.0 with the most significant social as well as technological gifts being asserted through openness as well as accessible way has meant for everyone.
sPhoto by Christopher Blizzard

The Internet is one of the most interesting sources about being able to download into the fresh browsing experience. This has been a very interesting process since the launch of the first few days of the introduction of Firefox.

The number of users for Firefox has even exceeded higher to 330 millions across the world. This has also gone up to the Internet in the form of worldwide Firefox choice for this huge number of users.

Samsung with its Blue Earth Model

The latest Blue Earth model from Samsung is a full touch facilitated as well as eco-friendly model that brings in many differing new facilities. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has brought forth some of the greatest benefits of ideal launches in regards to mobile phone facilitation with a full touch on-screen facility. This is quite the right way to bring on the showcasing of the latest features coming in terms of a one-touch mobile phone.

The Mobile World Congress 2009 will be showcasing this in Barcelona with the new Blue Earth edge coming to be released among highly anticipating people. The eco-friendly model is generating particular sparks of curiosity with its great design and sleekness. This is all about advanced media factors that are working to make this a popular vote among many.

Running a contest on Facebook? That'll cost you

For Madison Avenue, Facebook just got a little less free.

Last week, the massive social network announced that brands, advertisers, and marketers that want to run contests or sweepstakes on its platform have to go through an approval process first.

Getting that approval could be a new revenue stream for Facebook: according to multiple sources in the marketing industry, they're being told that running a promotion in a Facebook application or "fan page" requires buying ad space too.

It's pricey. The minimum ad buy is $10,000 for 30 days, using Facebook's self-service advertising system, according to documents seen by CNET, or $30,000 for 30 days of Facebook home page ads. Priority in the approval process will be scaled, based on how much advertising space has been purchased. It's a move that one marketing industry professional called, in perhaps a bit of hyperbole, "a little Death Star-ish."

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Microsoft launches Bing UK

The website, which is designed to challenge Google's dominance of the online search market, was launched in the United States in May. Until now, UK web users have only been able to access a US version of Bing, but the roll-out of a localised site will help Microsoft deliver more relevant search results.

"This is a serious, long-term commitment from Microsoft to put a differentiated search product in to the market place," said Ashley Highfield, managing director of Microsoft's consumer and online divisions in the UK. "We have not just used the US version of Bing. We've had a UK team focusing on what will work particularly well over here".

World not ending in 2012, says NASA

Contrary to what you may read on the Internet, the world is not going to end in 2012. A rogue planet named Nibiru is not on a collision course with Earth. And a solar flare won't toast the planet.

It's all fiction, though the makers of the film "2012" may lead you to think otherwise.

"I don't have anything against the movie. It's the way it's been marketed and the way it exploits people's fears," NASA scientist David Morrison at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., told Discovery News.

L&T Sells 2.3 Per Cent Stake In Satyam

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has divested 2.72 crore equity shares (2.3 per cent) in Mahindra Satyam, which was formerly known as Satyam Computer Services, at Rs 112.50 per share for around Rs 306 crore. This forms a third of its total holding of 6.9 per cent stake in Mahindra Satyam, which was bought by Nomura Mauritius, as per The Times of India. Mahindra Satyam is part of the $6.3 billion Mahindra group whose interests span financial services, automotive products, trade, retail and logistics, information technology and infrastructure development.

Eye Robot

The human eye possesses 130 million light-sensitive rods and cones that convert light into chemical impulses, which travel at a rate of a billion signals per second to the brain.

Yet for all its complexity and acuity, the human eye is highly unreliable -- especially when it comes to repetitive work, such as counting the number of sesame seeds on a hamburger bun for hours at a time.

Those tasks have instead been handed over to robot and vision systems, which have grown more sophisticated, easier to use and more affordable, reaching a broader range of operations.

Nikon's Projector Cam Shines Through Exorbitant Price Tag

When Nikon released the S1000pj, we were stoked about having a projector grafted to a traditional digital camera. When we put it to the test, the camera did a decent job but was definitely, ahem, outshone by its luminous counterpart.

Many of the camera's features — like the 11.044mm image sensor, 2.7-inch screen and 24mm wide-angle — look good on paper and proved decent in our trials. Shooting on auto mode, we consistently got clean, well-exposed pictures. Noise was never a problem when we kept the ISO below 800, but if we cranked it up any higher, images became a lost cause. Why? While the camera is capable of resolutions up to 12.1 megapixels, at ISO 3200 and 6400, the highest resolution you can get is a measly 3 megapixels.

NASA begins countdown for space shuttle launch

The countdown clocks at NASA are ticking toward a Monday launch of space shuttle Atlantis.

Officials said Friday everything is going well at the launch pad. Even the forecast is good, with 90% odds of fine flying weather.

Atlantis is loaded with spare parts for the International Space Station. The shuttle will carry up six astronauts and return with seven. The seventh, Nicole Stott, has been living on the station since the end of August.

Liftoff is set for 2:28 p.m. ET. The flight could be delayed until Tuesday if an unmanned rocket with a communication satellite does not blast off Saturday as planned and is rescheduled for Sunday.

Xbox and Facebook break new social gaming ground

The new support Microsoft’s Xbox has added for Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm indicates a new horizon for socially integrated game consoles.

These socially integrated game consoles, in fact, make you that much more social. Hopefully they will make you more social in a good way.

I say that I hope socially integrated game consoles will make gamers more interactive in a good way because the new network integration for Xbox is making gamers more social in a different way. We are coursing through uncharted waters here, and there is a lot of social experimentation that will arise as a result.

What kind of experimentation, you may ask? There are a few ways in which socially integrated networks and game consoles could play out, and this could end up making us dually social and isolated in a very unique manner. The question is; will social networking integration on Xbox 360 and other gaming consoles make us more connected or less connected with our friends?

Bing teams up with Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram Alpha aims to answer questions directly, rather than display a list of links like a search engine.

The "computational knowledge engine" is the brainchild of British-born physicist Stephen Wolfram.

It will be used to bolster Bing's results in areas such as nutrition, health and mathematics.

The partnership will initially be rolled out in the US.

Bing has been gradually grabbing market share from other search engines since its launch in May.

Figures from Experian Hitwise suggest its market share in the US rose from 8.96% in September to 9.57% in October.

The figures put it well behind market leader Google which has 70.6% of the market.

BBC iPlayer launches Wii channel

Only consoles with a broadband connection in the UK will be able to run the channel.

To get the service, Wii owners will be able to download it from the console's online shop for free.

The BBC iPlayer has been on the Wii since April 2008 but many console owners reported problems with the original interface.

The iPlayer is also available on Sony's PlayStation 3 console.

The BBC is not the only broadcaster to experience difficulties with bringing its catch-up service to games consoles.

Sky launched the Sky Player on the Xbox 360 in October but Microsoft temporarily suspended the service almost straightaway due to "unprecedented levels of simultaneous demand".

Computer programmers accused of aiding Madoff scam

Two former employees for Bernard Madoff programmed an old IBM computer to generate false records that concealed the crooked financier's massive Ponzi scheme and were given hush money when they threatened to stop lying, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Madoff gave orders to pay the pair "whatever they wanted to keep them happy," a criminal complaint said.

The complaint relies heavily on inside information provided by Madoff's chief financial officer, Frank DiPascali, who is cooperating after pleading guilty in August.

The computer programmers, Jerome O'Hara, of Malverne, N.Y., and George Perez, of East Brunswick, N.J., were arrested at dawn Friday at their homes on charges including conspiracy and falsifying records.

Logitech to Acquire LifeSize Communications

Logitech International, Company in PC video communication, announced that it has agreed to acquire privately held LifeSize Communications of Austin, Texas for $405 million in cash. LifeSize high definition (HD) video communication solutions company, with more than 9,000 video conferencing customers across 80 countries in large enterprises, small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) and public healthcare, education and government organizations.

Speaking about the acquisition, Craig Malloy, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, LifeSize, Logitech and LifeSize plan to pursue existing and new relationships with unified communications, collaboration and VoIP industry partners and competitors to drive the development of an open eco-system for interoperable video communication. We believe that together with Logitech, we can realize that vision for all enterprises private and public and small and medium businesses. Our combined proven innovation can accelerate mainstream adoption of video communication by anyone, anywhere.

A full house at RHA Casino Night Boat Cruise

RHA kicked off another successful annual “Casino Night Boat Cruise” on Friday night. It began for many dealers at 10:30pm, when we helped load the boat with tables, chips, and other random necessities for the festivities of the night. After setting up and distributing chips into each individual cup, we went to our stations and got a refresher on how to deal our respective game. There were tables for poker (texas hold-em), blackjack, and roulette.

Guests were brought on board at midnight and had a while to sit, eat, and enjoy themselves before exploring the lower deck where the gambling was to take place. As guests started flooding on to the casino floor, chips began to pass and cards distributed. I was a dealer for roulette, and at first not many wanted to gamble at my table. After watching others play and win however, more and more people began to put down their bets. It was fun for me because I got so excited when people won, and I got to give them more chips! After what seemed to be the world’s shortest hour, it was time to switch dealers, so I could have a chance to gamble as well. Within about half an hour, I had lost all of my chips, but I had a great time testing my luck.

Craigslist founder joins Wikimedia advisory board

The nonprofit group that runs online encyclopedia Wikipedia said Friday that it named Craig Newmark, the founder of Web classifieds site Craigslist, to its advisory board.

The Wikimedia Foundation said it chose Newmark as an adviser because of his work as an innovator and evangelist and his understanding of Web-based communities.

Newmark founded Craigslist as an e-mail list of San Francisco events in 1995. It now includes classifieds sites around the world. He currently works as a customer service representative for the site.

Verizon sending antipiracy notices for Hollywood, too

Verizon Communications has agreed to forward copyright violation notices on behalf of Hollywood studios, including NBC Universal, multiple sources tell CNET.

The news comes after Verizon began issuing the same type of copyright letters on Thursday--as part of a test--on behalf of the music industry.

In addition to its deals with the Recording Industry Association of America and NBC Universal, Verizon has similar partnerships with an undisclosed number of other film studios and copyright owners, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations. It is unclear when Verizon began issuing the letters for NBC Universal.

Official Gmail Blog: More extra storage for less

When Gmail launched five years ago, it came with a gigabyte of storage space. A gigabyte doesn't seem like very much any more, and now every Gmail account comes with more than seven gigs of space (and growing). Still, some people manage to use up all of this (that's a lot of email...), so for over two years we've offered the option to purchase even more storage. This extra storage acts as an overflow that you only start using when you reach the limit of your free storage, and is shared for use between Gmail and Picasa Web Albums. Picasa has always come with a gigabyte of free storage to share photos, but people need even more storage as they start taking more pictures and moving full resolution backups of their photo collection into the cloud.

While storage costs have been dropping naturally, we've also been working hard to improve our infrastructure to reduce costs even further. Today, we're dramatically lowering our prices to make extra storage more affordable. You can now buy 20 GB for only $5 a year, twice as much storage for a quarter of the old price, and enough space for more than 10,000 full resolution pictures taken with a five megapixel camera. And if you need more than 20 GB, you can purchase up to 16 terabytes!

The software that can save you big bucks? You've already got it

Businesses that want to use green IT to save big bucks need to look beyond the server room and start getting creative with their business software.

Companies should stop thinking that green IT ends with ramping up server utilisation or replacing desktop PCs with thin clients, Warren Wilson, senior analyst with Ovum, told the Green IT Expo in London this week.

According to Wilson, the corporate world needs to put a greater focus on how technology can help cut the vast majority of carbon emissions that aren't produced by IT.

"Tools such as virtualisation and power management, those are relatively well understood. What has not been appreciated is the potential of enterprise software to bring about energy conservation outside of the IT arena," he said.

Twitter: Time’s ‘Person’ of the Year?

It was “You” once. So, why not Twitter?

Once upon a time Time magazine picked a “Man of the Year” to ensure a guaranteed big story in the often lackluster holiday season. That honor became a “Person of the Year” in 1981, when a man won anyway. Anyway, it was a long overdue fix since Time had in 1975 named “American Women” as its “Man of the Year,” there apparently being not a solo woman with sufficient gravitas on the planet that year.

Some may argue that things really went off the rails in 1982, when “The Computer” got the nod. Since then a fair amount of non-persons have won: The Endangered Earth (1988), The Peacemakers (1993), The Whistleblowers (2002), The Good Samaritans (2005) and, of course, You, in 2006, whenTime wrote “It’s about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people’s network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace.”

What Do You Hate About Backing Up Your Data?

Backup is one of those things that we rarely think about until it is far too late. It’s usually a task that’s somewhere buried on your to-do list. It may even be a high priority task on your list, but somehow weeks and months pass and still, no backup. Could it be because too much pain is associated with the process? Or maybe it’s just being a bit lazy? Or more likely, we are all too busy and just don’t make the time.

Here, we take a look at some of the painful aspects of backing up our PCs and laptops and how we can easily overcome that pain to make sure we don’t end up losing our valuable data.

Dell Unveils Zino HD Mini PC - Inspiron 400

Dell has officially released their Zino HD Mini PCs which can really make your desktop look more spacious, the small form factor and power that can run your HDTVs with the HD capable inbuilt graphics or optional ATI Graphics card makes it a strong contender for the Media Center PCs, and as its a DELL you can also customize it by adding more HDD space, more powerful processor and dedicated ATI graphics, the base model starts at $229 with 1.6 GHz AMD Athlon, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Microsoft Vista and no Wi-Fi.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Monday, November 16, 2009

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Saturday, November 14, 2009

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