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Google

Submission + - Google rules out Gmail and Drive apps for Windows 8 (v3.co.uk) 4

Submitted by girlmad
girlmad writes: Google has revealed it won't be developing any apps for Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8, so those wanting a dedicated app for Gmail or Drive on their Microsoft device will miss out.

Google Apps product management director Clay Bavor said that due to a lack of interest for the Microsoft systems, it is holding back on any work.

Bavor said Google is very careful about where it invests and will go where its users are — and they are not on Windows Phone or Windows 8. Ouch.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Windows 8 devices not exactly flying off the shelves (theinquirer.net) 1

Submitted by girlmad
girlmad writes: Doesn't sound like Microsoft’s Windows 8 has got off to a great start in the UK, with computer retailer Currys and PC World struggling to shift devices running the new software. The store on Oxford Street in London was yet to sell one device running Windows 8 by midday today. It seems that the hype created in the build-up to Microsoft's launch has already blown over.
Security

Submission + - HSBC taken down by Anonymous hacking group (theinquirer.net)

Submitted by girlmad
girlmad writes: Looks like HSBC is the latest victim of the Anonymous group of hackers. The bank's servers were hit by a denial of service attack Thursday night that took down a number of their websites. A Twitter account called Anonymous @Fawkessecurity has taken credit for the attack and has posted a statement to Pastebin saying the proof is all in their Tweets although doesn't give a reason for the attack.
Linux

Submission + - Linux turns 20 today (theinquirer.net)

Submitted by illiteratehack
illiteratehack writes: The kernel that is found running smartphones, desktops, laptops, servers and high performance clusters turns 20 years old today. The Inquirer looks back at the growing pains of what has undoubtedly become one of the most important contributions to the IT industry in the past 50 years. In just 20 years it has become hard not to find a system running Linux and that is something that the FOSS community should all be proud of.
IBM

Submission + - IBM says energy efficiency will be key to exascale (theinquirer.net)

Submitted by illiteratehack
illiteratehack writes: IBM's Dr Irving Wladawsky-Berger gave an insightful speech into just how Big Blue worked with Linux since 1999. He touched on many topics including Deep Blue and its younger brother Watson, and walked through how Linux is present in just about every major computing task going. However his comments about the challenge to hit exascale revolved around Linux. According to Dr Wladawsky-Berger, Linux has a massive role to play in keeping the power efficiency of any exascale cluster at reasonable levels.

The war on power management at the ultra high-end may trickle down to better power management for Linux running on laptops too.
Linux

Submission + - Linux FUD: The Greatest Hits (itworld.com)

Submitted by
jfruhlinger
jfruhlinger writes: "Linux is a cancer! SCO is unstoppable! The GPL consumes everything it touches! These and other bits of FUD have been thrown at Linux over the years, and it's a tribute to the ecosystem's survival that we can laugh about them now. Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin outlined history's greatest instances of Linux FUD in his LinuxCon keynote. (He also provided a list of "This is the year of the Linux desktop" quotes going back to 2005.)"
IBM

Submission + - Review of IBM's original personal computer dug up (v3.co.uk)

Submitted by illiteratehack
illiteratehack writes: V3 managed to dig up the original review of IBM's Personal Computer Model 5150, the machine that popularised personal computing. There's some great comments such as the article's author not being sure if IBM would sell the PC outside the US and the inclusion of a "very high quality 11.5-inch" display. TFA shows that while the PC may have changed a lot on the inside, the way it was reviewed hasn't changed much in 30 years.
IBM

Submission + - An original review of the first IBM PC from 1981 (v3.co.uk)

Submitted by girlmad
girlmad writes: This is an interesting find from the archives. Strange to hear that IBM wasn't sure about shipping the PC outside the US as it might not be successful and fun comparing the specs with today's machines.

Submission + - Skype decides to release iPad application (theinquirer.net)

Submitted by illiteratehack
illiteratehack writes: Skype, after initially removing its iPad application in order to "ensure the best possible Skype experience", the firm has decided the time was, in fact, right for Apple's iPad users to get their hands on a Skype client made specifically for the iPad.

Skype says that the large screen of the iPad 2 is perfect for video callsand claim there are a number of "iPad optimised features". Will Android tablets get the same level of optimisation?
AMD

Submission + - DirectX 11 benchmark launched (semiaccurate.com)

Submitted by s390
s390 writes: Enthusiasts, start your engines. The first DirectX 11 benchmark app has arrived and it’s "Heaven". Call it Russia's Unigine beats the competition to the punch. “Heaven” is the app that'll let you measure performance on DirectX 11-specific features such as Hardware Tesselation, SM 5.0, DirectCompute and it even brings along support for ATI’s Eyefinity tech. ... We'll just call it ATIMark for now.

Submission + - Best Buy freaking out over unionized geeks (semiaccurate.com)

Submitted by
LemmingOverlord
LemmingOverlord writes: "Couldn't let this one slip by us. I know unions are always hard to digest, but the idea that the Geek Squad at Best Buy are going "union"... priceless...

Found this on Semi accurate.com (http://www.semiaccurate.com/2009/09/09/best-buys-geek-squad-votes-union/)

"IT LOOKS LIKE the old saying, "management gets the union it deserves" is coming to pass at Best Buy, or at least beginning to in parts of its Geek Squad division. We hear that some of them just voted by an overwhelming margin to go union.

While unions range across the board in quality, the smaller ones in particular tend to do a lot to protect their members and keep abusive management at bay. Having several friends who worked at Best Buy's Geek Squad (GS) division, I can say that many of the stories floating around about long hours, low pay, and lack of training are nothing new. The company sorely needs a union.

In the Pacific Northwest, a group of Best Buy workers, specifically one chunk of the Geek Squad, apparently got so fed up with mistreatment that they just voted to go union. We hear that Best Buy's management, both locally and at headquarters, is absolutely livid over it. Their worst nightmare is that word about this vote will spread, prompting more locales to unionize.

Can you imagine how much management bonuses would have to fall in order to pay workers a fair wage and train them properly? The horror! If you look at how well it reacted the last time the notion was floated, it just shows that Best Buy's management cares — just not about its employees.

Friends on the inside tell us that Best Buy prefers to promote Geek Squad personnel from sales to technical because it finds it easier to teach a sales droid to follow a trouble-shooting flowchart — especially if it has lots of pictures and not too many big words — than to indoctrinate a seasoned, knowledgable technician to upsell bling and push expensive extended warrantees.

See why it is afraid of unions? Standards, training, fair wages, fair hours, and in general, being good to employees could wreak havoc on Best Buy top management's stock options for several quarters.

From what we understand, Best Buy management is desperately trying to keep a lid on this 'problem' and wants to keep it from 'snowballing'. One brave soul described management as "freaked out".

If you too are worried about whether management at Best Buy will have to wait another quarter to get that new V12 Mercedes, please don't spread the news. In fact, don't tell anyone how scared it is of unionization and how Geek Squad workers in the Northwest voted by more than 75% to unionize.

If this spreads, a little more of Best Buy's wealth might be distributed to the people who actually generate it. How anti-capitalist is that?S|A""
AMD

Submission + - GlobalFoundries parent ATIC buys Chartered Semi

Submitted by s390
s390 writes: Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Investment Company, LLC (ATIC), one of the parents of AMD's spinoff GlobalFoundries, is buying Chartered Semiconductor.

The $3.9 billion deal includes $1.9 billion in cash and represents a 14.2% premium over Chartered's recent 30-day average share price.

SemiAccurate tells how this deal will be good for both companies.

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