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Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft's contribution was TCP/IP (circleid.com) 1

Submitted by
RedZed
RedZed writes: "By Alec Saunders (CircleID): It was Microsoft's decision to include IP as a native component in Windows 95 that was the company's seminal contribution to today's computing world. The company didn't invent IP, didn't own any intellectual property in TCP/IP, nor did it profit directly from it. However, by ensuring a relatively bug-free implementation of IP on the dominant operating system platform, Microsoft forced an open, standard and routable networking protocol on the world. http://www.circleid.com/posts/84259_microsofts_contribution_tcp_ip/"
Patents

Rambus Wins Patent Case 146

Posted by Zonk from the this-is-what-you'd-call-an-akbar-level-trap dept.
Blowfishie writes "Rambus has won a major case they've been fighting since the late 90's. Rambus worked its technology into the standards for SDRAM and DDR data transfer, then waited for the major players (Hynix, Micron and Nanya) to be heavily committed before revealing that it had patents on the technology. 'At issue is whether the developer of a speedy new memory technology deserved to be paid for its inventions, or whether the company misled memory chip makers. "I think they (the jurors) misapprehended what the standards-setting organizations are about and the absolute need for good faith," said Jared Bobrow, an outside attorney for Micron. Wednesday's verdict comes after a judgment against Hynix in 2006 that resulted in a $133 million award to Rambus, Lavelle said, and potentially clears the way for Rambus to collect on that verdict.'"
Power

Submission + - 1 out of 100 US American Adults in Prison (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Lunatrik
Lunatrik writes: The New York Times in reporting that 1 out of every 100 American Adults are in prison, setting the stage for state budget woes and some hard decisions on how to handle both violent and nonviolent inmates. Taking this into account, is our legal system due for an overhaul? Alternatively, does our society simply need to get better at "rehabilitation"?
Sci-Fi

CERN Scientists Looking for the Force 284

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the yes-that-force dept.
An anonymous reader writes "National Geographic has a fascinating article on the God Particle, which can help explain the Standard Model and get us closer to explain the Grand Unified Theory. The obligatory Star Wars-angle summary is even better: 'CERN's scientists, the fine people who brought us the W and Z particles, anti-hydrogen atoms and hyperlinked porn web pages, are now hard at work building the Large Hadron Collider to discover something even cooler: the Force. Yes, that Force. Or like physicists call it, the Higgs boson, a particle that carries a field which interacts with every living or inert matter.'"
Announcements

Submission + - Pigs CAN fly! New Footage of Dukenukem Forever. (duke4.net)

Submitted by
extremrams
extremrams writes: "Today, George Broussard leader of 3DRealms, teased us with a new Screenshot of the upcoming Teaser Video, which will be released tomorrow. After all these years, we have finally something new to look at :) It looks like the 3DRealms is finally back with Duke, and we can get ready to kick some ass! Click here for a mirrored version of the screenshot."
Cellphones

Submission + - $83,000 Cellphone Bill Shocks Canadian Father

Submitted by
Lunatrik
Lunatrik writes: "Data Transfer costs are apparently worth more than gold in Canada, or at least that is what cellphone providers would have you believe. Having not read the fine print of his contract, a Canadian father provided his cellphone to his son to use in the field to browse the internet. Little did he (or his son) know, the "unlimited" $10 a month plan he had signed up for would end up costing him $83,000 in fee's at the end of the month. Kudos to the phone company, though, for reducing the charge to a mere C$3,400 out of "goodwill"..."
Google

Google Maps GPS Simulator 205

Posted by samzenpus from the google-where-you-are dept.
garbletext writes "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 10 city blocks. "It's not GPS, but it comes pretty close (approximately 1000m close, on average)," the Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant explained on its website. "We're still in beta, but we're excited to launch this feature and are constantly working to improve our coverage and accuracy." The My Location feature is currently available for most web-enabled mobile phones, including Java, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Nokia/Symbian devices."
PC Games (Games)

Deus Ex 3 Announced 138

Posted by Zonk from the machina-goes-without-saying dept.
Gamasutra has the news that Eidos is already hard at work on a Deus Ex 3 . The company announced this project along with a brand-new studio in Montreal, which will be developing the title. "According to [General Manager Stéphane D'Astous], Eidos Montreal currently has two groups -- a Q&A group that is responsible for testing all of the developer's games from anywhere in the world, and an in-house development team that D'Astous says has just passed proof of concept for Deus Ex 3. 'This game was very highly rated at its release in 2000, and we have this great huge mandate to do the third one, and everybody is very excited,' added D'Astous"
Security

Submission + - Federal Agent's Raid Homes for Modchips (physorg.com)

Submitted by Lunatrik
Lunatrik writes: Invoking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, Federal Custom's Agents have raided over 30 homes and businesses looking to confiscate so-called 'mod chips', or other devices that allow the playback of pirated video games. This raises an important question: Are legitimate backup copies of a piece of software you own illegal under the DMCA?
Security

Submission + - Unhacking a G-Mail account?

Submitted by
TokyoShoe
TokyoShoe writes: "I have recently had my G-Mail account hacked, most probably for no reasons beyond my own stupidity. That being said, I am trying to find ways to get this account back from out of the Hacker's hands. They have changed the password for the account, and G-Mail will not bring up my security questions to force a password reset until after 5 days of inactivity. This means as long as the Hacker keeps using my account, I can never get it back! I have filled out Security Submission forms for Gmail Tech Support, documenting my account's details and a request to help me reclaim it. The G-Mail discussion forums are repleat with stories of folks with hacked G-Mail accounts and how they have been waiting months to no avail, never getting even an answer from the Gmail Support Team. Are there any other methods of getting my account back, or better yet getting in touch with Gmail Tech Support?"

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