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Microsoft

+ - 275 Forbes Names Microsoft's Steve Ballmer names worst CEO

Submitted by _0x783czar
_0x783czar writes "Microsoft haters gleefully have latched on to the latest scoop that a Forbes columnist has named Steve Ballmer the worst CEO. It seems that the article has leveled some strong accusations of irresponsible and ineffective business practices; claiming that Microsoft has not progressed over the last 12 years of Ballmer's leadership.

http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/14/microsoft-steve-ballmer-worst-ceo/

(full disclosure: I'm not a Microsoft fan myself and tend to agree with this piece.)"
Politics

+ - 145 3D-Printing gets boost from Obama and DOD->

Submitted by
jcho5
jcho5 writes "Surprising, even politicians can see where the tech winds blow. In this case, additive manufacturing --aka 3d-printing.

With the economy in the dumps, the US needs all the jobs it can get. A hobbling manufacturing sector makes 3d-printing a promising sight. Under Obama's National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), a new Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute is soon to be born

The Brains at DoD, DoE and NASA don't want to see another technology pass us by. Long live innovation!"
Link to Original Source
Science

+ - 158 photovoltaic powered retinal prosthetic ->

Submitted by slew
slew writes "Although it hasn't been tested on humans yet, stanford researchers have created a new type of retinal prosthetic that is photovoltaic powered. The gist is that external googles convert an image into infrared light and that light conveys both the image and the power for the retinal implant which means no batteries, or bulky induction coils are required for the retinal implant. This should allow for higher resolution implant (the experimental device has 176 pixels where in contrast the currently available retinal implant from SecondSight is about 60 pixels and requires a bulky inductive antenna). Might be a while till we get to a bionic eye, but this should be quite a help for the sight challenged among us."
Link to Original Source

+ - 194 Biggest Kickstarter Project Ever Surpasses $10 Million; Cuts Off Funding->

Submitted by
TheGift73
TheGift73 writes "We keep hearing that these new business models and platforms really can't handle "big" projects. While part of the charm and power of these platforms is that they can fund smaller "long tail" projects that might never otherwise see the light of day, there's no reason that they can't do bigger projects as well. A few weeks ago, we told you about the Kickstarter campaign for the Pebble e-watch, which was the fastest growing Kickstarter project ever, surpassing $1 million in just 28 hours, and hitting $4.5 million by the time we got our post out."
Link to Original Source
Hardware

+ - 327 An 8,000 Ton Giant Made the Jet Age Possible

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes "Tim Heffernan writes that when "The Fifty," as it’s known in company circles, broke down three years ago, there was talk of retiring it for good. Instead, Alcoa decided to overhaul their 50,000-ton, 6-story high forging press, now scheduled to resume service early this year. "What sets the Fifty apart is its extraordinary scale," writes Heffernan. "Its 14 major structural components, cast in ductile iron, weigh as much as 250 tons each; those yard-thick steel bolts are also 78 feet long; all told, the machine weighs 16 million pounds, and when activated its eight main hydraulic cylinders deliver up to 50,000 tons of compressive force." The Fifty could bench-press the battleship Iowa, with 860 tons to spare but it's the Fifty's amazing precision—its tolerances are measured in thousandths of an inch—that gives it such far-reaching utility. Every manned US military aircraft now flying uses parts forged by the Fifty as does every commercial aircraft made by Airbus and Boeing making the Jet Age possible. "On a plane, a pound of weight saved is a pound of thrust gained—or a pound of lift, or a pound of cargo," writes Heffernan. "Without the ultra-strong, ultra-light components that only forging can produce, they’d all be pushing much smaller envelopes." The now-forgotten Heavy Press Program (PDF), inaugurated in 1950 and completed in 1957, resulted in four presses (including the Fifty) and six extruders—giant toothpaste tubes squeezing out long, complex metal structures such as wing ribs and missile bodies. "Today, America lacks the ability to make anything like the Heavy Press Program machines," concludes Heffernan adding that "The Fifty" will be supplying bulkheads through 2034 for the Joint Strike Fighter. "Big machines are the product of big visions, and they make big visions real. How about a Heavy Fusion Program?""
Digital

+ - 174 Photographers, you're being replaced by software->

Submitted by Mrs. Grundy
Mrs. Grundy writes "CGI software, even open-source software like Blender, continues to improve in quality, speed and easy-of-use. Photographer Mark Meyer wonders how long it will be before large segments of the photography industry are replaced by software and become the latest casualty to fall to outsourcing. Some imagery once the domain of photographers has already moved to CGI. Is any segment of the photography market safe? Will we soon accept digital renderings in places where we used to expect photographs?"
Link to Original Source
Power

+ - 146 Solyndra for sale: Company's high-tech plant, gear to be sold->

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes "For sale: manufacturing and office facility with 411,618 square feet, state of the art electrical, air, and power distribution systems — and a troubled past. As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, Solyndra is reportedly very close to landing a buyer for its mammoth, high-tech production plant in Fremont, Calif. The listing agent recently gave Fox News a tour of what the new owners will get for their multi-million dollar investment. Now the once-bustling offices, conference rooms, and cubicles are eerily quiet as the facility is "decommissioned," according to Greg Matter with Jones Lang LaSalle realty. One wonders about the conversations held, and emails written, in the corner office formerly occupied by CEO Brian Harrison."
Link to Original Source
Chrome

+ - 222 Windows RT Browser Restrictions Draw Antitrust Attention->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Last week we heard complaints from Mozilla that Windows RT would restrict users' choice in web browsers, unfairly favoring Internet Explorer over alternative like Firefox and Chrome. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the situation is now on the Senate Judiciary Committee's radar, and they will look into claims that Microsoft is engaging in anti-competitive behavior. That said, it could be a difficult case to make, since the Windows RT is destined for ARM-based tablets, and Apple currently dominates that market. 'When it comes to proving abuse of monopoly power, an important question is determining the market in which a monopolist has power — the relevant market, in antitrust legal terms. In the DOJ case, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's findings of fact concluded Microsoft had a monopoly in the market for "Intel-compatible PC operating systems." Windows on ARM doesn't run on x86 chips, so by Jackson's standards, Windows RT hasn't been judged to be part of Microsoft's monopoly.' Microsoft addressed some of these issues in a blog post in February."
Link to Original Source
Government

+ - 141 Why Voting Machines Still Suck-> 2

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes "Deep End's Paul Venezia decries the government's lack of attention to e-voting technology, despite ongoing flaws and clear indications that the government makes 'extremely good use of technology when it suits them — such as spying on their own citizenry or developing missiles that can travel hundreds of miles and hit a shoebox. ... Lapses persist everywhere, from systems that can be compromised by someone with an eighth-grade education and $26 to voting machines that helpfully hack themselves.' Venezia writes. 'Years continue to go by without any sort of controls, regulations, or reliable testing of electronic voting systems that are used by millions of Americans to cast their ballots. State governments have a much firmer grasp on how to interface with car computer systems to fail an inspection if ODB-II error codes are logged than they do with electronic voting.'"
Link to Original Source
Privacy

+ - 173 Kickstarter leaves project ideas exposed->

Submitted by
netbuzz
netbuzz writes "“Crowd-funding” startup Kickstarter is taking a public-relations hit today after it was reported that some 70,000 not-yet-public project ideas were left exposed on the company’s Web site for more than two weeks. Kickstarter insists that no financial information was compromised and that only a few dozen of the projects were actually accessed. “Obviously our users' data is incredibly important to us,” the company said in a blog post. “Even though limited information was made accessible through this bug, it is completely unacceptable.”"
Link to Original Source
Science

+ - 139 UK to give peer-reviewed science libel protection->

Submitted by
scibri
scibri writes "England is finally getting around to updating its nototiously plaintiff-friendly libel laws, which have been extensively criticised for stifling scientific debate in the past few years, such as in the case of Simon Singh. The government introduced a defamation bill last week that would extend explicit protection to to statements in scientific or academic journals — providing the work was properly peer reviewed. The protection would also extend to reports of academic and scientific conferences.

The proposed legislation is popular among the UK's researchers and journalists, but a similar law on whistleblower protection has had mixed reviews in the US."
Link to Original Source

+ - 179 Publishers SAGE & OUP win copyright case against Georgia State University->

Submitted by McGruber
McGruber writes "The Atlanta Journal Constitution (http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/judge-rules-largely-for-1437124.html) is reporting that a federal judge has ruled in favor of Georgia State University on 69 of 74 copyright claims filed by Cambridge University Press (http://www.cambridge.org/), Oxford University Press(http://www.oup.com/) and SAGE Publications (http://www.sagepub.com/) .

In a 350-page ruling, Senior US District Judge Orinda Evans found that "fair use protected a Georgia State University professor's decision to allow students to access an excerpt online through the university's Electronic Reserves System."

While the 69 of the 74 claims were rejected, the judge also found that five violations did occur "when the publisher lost money because a professor had provided free electronic access to selected chapters in textbooks." SAGE Publications (http://www.sagepub.com/) prevailed on four of these five claims, while Oxford University Press (http://www.oup.com/) won the fifth claim. Cambridge University Press (http://www.cambridge.org/) lost all its claims."
Link to Original Source

+ - 230 Finland: Open WiFi Owner Not Liable for Infringement->

Submitted by mjrauhal
mjrauhal writes "In Finland, the operator of an open WiFi access point was found not guilty for copyright infringement allegedly committed over said access point. The operation of such access points would have become legally risky were this decided otherwise. Appeal by the Finnish Anti-Piracy Centre is still possible for this district court ruling."
Link to Original Source
The Military

+ - 273 UK In Danger From Electromagnetic Bomb, Says Defence Secretary->

Submitted by
judgecorp
judgecorp writes "Britain must build defences against an EMP bomb, the UK Secretary of Defence Phillip Hammond told a conference today. Electromagnetic Pulse devices mimic the result of a solar flare or a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere, creating a storm of electromagnetic radiation, which can break mobile networks and satellite systems. Any preparation for olar storms must also consider the possibility of deliberate electromagnetic events, warns Hammond."
Link to Original Source
Censorship

+ - 294 Report Highlights 10 Sites Unfairly Blocked by UK Mobile Internet Censorship ->

Submitted by
Mark.JUK
Mark.JUK writes "The Open Rights Group (ORG), which works to raise awareness of digital rights and civil liberties issues, has published a new report that examines the impact of internet censorship on UK mobile networks and lists an example of 10 legitimate websites that often get unfairly blocked by adult content filters (over-blocking). The study is important because similar measures could soon be forced upon fixed line broadband ISP subscribers by the government. Some of the allegedly unfair blocks include censorship of the 'Tor' system, a privacy tool used by activists and campaigners across the globe, and the website of French ‘digital rights’ advocacy group 'La Quadrature du Net'."
Link to Original Source
Security

+ - 197 Global Payments Breach Led to Prepaid Card Fraud-> 1

Submitted by tsu doh nimh
tsu doh nimh writes "Global Payments, the Atlanta-based credit card processor that disclosed a major breach of its systems last month, has said that less than 1.5 million card numbers were stolen, and that customer names and addresses weren't included in the purloined data. But security reporter Brian Krebs carries a piece today highlighting how thieves were still able to use the data to clone debit cards, which were then used in shopping sprees in and around the Las Vegas area recently."
Link to Original Source
Science

+ - 193 Restoring sight with wireless implants->

Submitted by ananyo
ananyo writes "The development of retinal implants has been dogged by problems of unwieldiness since the first implantable stimulator for vision restoration was developed in 1968. Now researchers have come up with a solution that overcomes many of the problems by the use of special glasses that fire infrared signals into the eye and onto an implanted array of silicon photodiodes. The system, tested in rats, simplifies what needs to be implanted and both transmits visual data and power directly to the implants, eliminating the need for any bulky external power source (abstract)."
Link to Original Source
Politics

+ - 185 German Pirate Party wins parliament seats in North Rhine-Westphalia->

Submitted by SgtChaireBourne
SgtChaireBourne writes "The German Pirate Party won 18 parliament seats in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia yesterday. Or in other words, about 7.5% of the total votes. This is the fourth win and follows Berlin (8.9%), Saarland (7.4%), and Schleswig-Holstein (8.2%). Rick Falkvinge has an analysis of the win."
Link to Original Source
Apple

+ - 232 Steve Wozniak Calls For Open Apple-> 1

Submitted by aesoteric
aesoteric writes "Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has voiced a renewed desire to see the company open its architecture to the masses, allowing savvy users to expand and add to their products at will. However, Wozniak qualified his desire for a more open Apple by arguing that openness should not impinge on the quality of the products themselves. He also sees any change of heart on openness as a challenge when Apple continues to rake in huge cash with its current model."
Link to Original Source
Australia

+ - 209 GAME Australia now also in Administration->

Submitted by
Fluffeh
Fluffeh writes "This morning the Australian Division of GAME saw an email from their Marketing Manager confirming that the 95 store chain has gone into voluntary administration. PriceWaterhouseCoopers partner Kate Warwick said "Initially we will continue to trade all stores, operating these on as close to a ‘business as usual’ mode as possible whilst we get a clearer understanding of the current state of the business and actively pursue options to secure its future." in a statement today. It also seems that GAME is having a bit of a fire sale, with many titles including quite a few new releases now in a $5-$74 bargain bin. Ms. Warwick also noted that the company’s customers hold various claims against the company under loyalty cards, gift cards and vouchers. Ms. Warwick said “We are working on schemes aimed at giving customers some return on these claims if they are used to make additional purchases.”"
Link to Original Source

+ - 190 Tablet Newspaper c1994->

Submitted by
djl4570
djl4570 writes "Paleofuture has an interesting video of a tablet computer envisioned by an Information Design lab founded by Knight Ridder in 1992 to bring the newspaper into the electronic age. This video is an interesting look at early tablet concepts in light of Apple and Samsung litigating over Tablet related IP. The video looks like a promotional video for internal use or to woo investors. It is surprisingly prescient for an era when we were running Mosaic or a beta version of Netscape and that many of us were using third party software such as Trumpet for a SLIP connection.
Of course this video does not foresee paradigm changes such as the massive expansion of the Internet which gave us sites such as Drudge, the explosion of blogs or the corresponding erosion of trust in the main stream media."
Link to Original Source

"The way of the world is to praise dead saints and prosecute live ones." -- Nathaniel Howe

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