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Submission + - Skype to Feature Giant Ads (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "Microsoft is inserting a new "feature" into Skype calls. Giant ads. They are actually calling them "Conversation ads" because they hope the ads (as large as the picture of the person that you are talking to) will 'spark additional topics of conversation that are relevant to Skype users and highlight unique and local brand experiences.' The ads, of course, are tailored to each individual user and the opt-out process is less than easy."
The Courts

Submission + - Could Selling Your Computer One Day Be a Criminal Offense? (zeropaid.com)

Submitted by Dangerous_Minds
Dangerous_Minds writes: The Atlantic is reporting that the Supreme Court will decide later this year whether or not re-selling a product that is manufactured outside the US could be a violation of copyright law. Apparently, a lower court ruled that this would be a violation of copyright law due to the wording of first-sale doctrine. Demand Progress is not happy about this saying that sites like Craigslist and eBay will be undermined should the Supreme Court agree with the lower court ruling. ZeroPaid is wondering: if the Supreme Court agrees with the lower courts ruling and the TPP is later ratified, could that mean that selling things like your personal computer one day be a criminal offense?
The Internet

Submission + - UN Takeover of Internet Must be Stopped, US Warns (cnet.com) 1

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "In a rare show of bipartisan agreement, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle warned this morning that a United Nations summit in December will lead to a virtual takeover of the Internet if proposals from China, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are adopted. Called the World Conference on International Telecommunications, the summit would consider proposals including "[using] international mandates to charge certain Web destinations on a 'per-click' basis to fund the build-out of broadband infrastructure across the globe" and allowing ""governments to monitor and restrict content or impose economic costs upon international data flows." Concerns regarding the possible proposals were both aired at a congressional hearing this morning and drafted in a congressional resolution (pdf)."
Government

Submission + - Comptroller Accuses HP of Overcharging NYC $163m on 911 System (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "New York City comptroller John Liu has accused HP of overcharging New York City $163 million on upgrades to its 911 system. According to a statement put out by Liu, an audit of the project revealed that HP did not perform up to spec on the contract between April 2005 and April 2008 and did not bill the city correctly for time and materials on its portion of the contract to upgrade the 911 system. According to Liu's reading, the contract was supposed to cost no more than $378 million over five years, but the in January the city projected it would have already spent $307 by mid-April and had to award Northrop-Grumman an additional $286m to do a second part of the original contract, ballooning the cost to $632m, and Liu's office is now estimating that cost overruns beyond this could be as high as an additional $362m. NYC's deputy mayor for operations was quoted defending the contract."
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows 8 Release Preview now available to download (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
MrSeb
MrSeb writes: "Microsoft has announced the immediate availability of Windows 8 Release Preview. Unfortunately there isn’t a Consumer Preview > Release Preview upgrade path — you’ll have to format and perform a clean installation. After downloading the ISO, simply burn Windows 8 RP onto a USB stick or DVD, reboot, and follow the (exceedingly quick and easy) installer. Alternatively, if you don’t want to format a partition, ExtremeTech has a guide on virtualizing Windows 8 with VirtualBox. After a lot of fluster on the Building Windows 8 blog, the Release Preview is actually surprisingly similar to the Consumer Preview. Despite being promised a new, flat, Desktop/Explorer UI, Aero is still the default theme in Windows 8 RP. The tutorial that will introduce new users to the brave new Start buttonless Windows 8 world is also missing. Major features that did make the cut are improved multi-monitor support — it’s now easier to hit the hot corners on a multi-monitor setup, and Metro apps can be moved between displays — and the Metro version of IE10 now has a built-in Flash plug-in. There will be no further pre-releases of Windows 8: the next build will be the RTM."
Hardware

Submission + - Gigabyte pushes Core i7 3770K to 7.032GHz (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Manufacturer Gigabyte set a new world record by overclocking an Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770K processor to 7.032GHz using liquid nitrogen for cooling. It's not the fastest a chip has ever been pushed, that crown goes to the AMD FX-8150 Bulldozer processor, which reached 8.429GHz, but it's the fastest Core-i7 out there.

Gigabyte also claims another world record. In the process of overclocking the Core i7, they managed to push 16GB of G.Skill Trident X DDR3 memory split across 4 slots to 3.28GHz. Both processor and memory speeds were achieved hooked up to Gigabyte’s own GA-Z77X-UD3H motherboard.
NASA

Submission + - NASA tool shows where forest is being cut down (mongabay.com)

Submitted by terrancem
terrancem writes: A new tool developed by NASA and other researchers shows where forest is being chopped down on a quarterly basis. The global forest disturbance alert system (GloF-DAS) is based on comparison of MODIS global vegetation index images at the exact same time period each year in consecutive years. GloF-DAS could help users detect deforestation shortly after it occurs, offering the potential to take measures to investigate clearing before it expands.
Medicine

Submission + - Man Possibly Killed by Airbag Fumes (dailyrecord.co.uk)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "A Scottish engineer's life was saved by his airbag during a six-car pileup. However, he might have been killed by that same airbag. The airbag was pierced by a shard of the car's window glass, he inhaled some of the chemicals within it, and immediately began suffering chest and breathing problems (along with skin irritation). He was admitted to a hospital a few weeks later, where he died."
Science

Submission + - Greenhouse gas level nearing 'significant' level (www.cbc.ca) 1

Submitted by BergZ
BergZ writes: The world's air has reached what scientists call a troubling new milestone for carbon dioxide, the main global warming pollutant.
Monitoring stations across the Arctic this spring are measuring more than 400 parts per million of the heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere. The number isn't quite a surprise, because it's been rising at an accelerating pace. Years ago, it passed the 350 ppm mark that many scientists say is the highest safe level for carbon dioxide. It now stands globally at 395.
Botnet

Submission + - White House Announces Initiative to Fight Botnets (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "ISPs and financial-services companies would share data about computers made into botnets under a pilot program announced today by the Obama administration. From the article: "the voluntary principles include coordinating across sectors and addressing the problem globally." The White House is also backing a bill proposed by Joe Lieberman that would put the Department of Homeland Security in charge of cybersecurity of vital systems such as power grids and transportation networks."
The Internet

Submission + - Dot-Word Bidders in Last Minute Dash (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "Dot-word bidders are in a last-minute dash for domain names as the organization has revealed its timetable for the controversial new TLDs. The organization will close its TLD Application System (TAS) at a minute before midnight tonight (23.59 GMT, 19.59 ET, 16.59 Pacific). The TAS was originally supposed to close on April 12 but the deadline was extended twice because of a security bug. The winners for domains will be selected (intially) by a "widely derided mechanism" of "digital archery" in which every bidder will be assigned a date and time and then be asked to login to a secure website and hit a submit button as close to that time as possible."
Blackberry

Submission + - RIM May Need to Write Off $1 Billion in Inventory (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by
benfrog
benfrog writes: "Blackberry maker Research in Motion may need to write off more than $1 billion in inventory, according to Bloomberg. The potential "writedown" comes after RIM took a $485 million pretax charge to write down the value of its PlayBook inventory in December. RIM has said it aims to save $1 billion in operating costs this fiscal year by cutting its number of manufacturing sites and is “reviewing its organizational efficiency” across the company, which may lead to job cuts of 2,000-3,000. Its shares have tumbled 75 percent over the past year and are down 90 percent from their all-time high."

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