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Submission + - Proof that social networking in businesses can actually save money (citeworld.com)

Submitted by mattydread23
mattydread23 writes: There's a lot of hype about social networking in businesses, and little proof that it actually helps the business. So this real-world IT story by Todd Weiss was interesting: Nationwide Insurance was using a bunch of tools from IBM, Xerox, and others. It switched to Yammer with a SharePoint back-end in 2012, and immediately saw helpdesk calls drop from "thousands" to less than 40 a month. It also saved $1.5 million a year in licence costs.

Submission + - YouTube expands Paid Channels to more partners and countries

Submitted by rtoz
rtoz writes: YouTube has announced that it is expanding its paid channels pilot to the eligible partners that have at least 10,000 subscribers to their current free channel.

Thousands of YouTube creators will now be able to launch paid channels, which charge a monthly subscription fee of $0.99 or more.

The paid channel initiative began in May as a pilot program with a few dozen accounts, including popular brands like Sesame Street and the Professional Golf Association. Now any eligible video creator will be able to set up a new paid channel and charge a fee for access to their content. Creators can set their own subscription rates, though YouTube has final authority to determine pricing.

YouTube had listed these requirements as eligibility criteria for the creating paid channel.

Right now, this paid Channel option is available in 10 Countries.

YouTube viewers can now discover and subscribe to paid channels from YouTube’s mobile website.

Paid channels will continue to have a 14-day free trial, to give the potential viewers the opportunity to explore the content before making paid subscription.

Submission + - Microsoft criticises iWork (technet.com)

Submitted by Camembert
Camembert writes: Perhaps predictably, Microsoft criticises Apple's free iWork software for the new iPads on the official blog. There are several arguments, some of which sound like sour grapes, including "that Microsoft understands better than others how people work", and that iWork does not get that much traction anyway. It still provides interesting reading for discussion.

Submission + - Chinese Views on US- Navy New DDG 1000 Zumwalt Class - Multimission Destroyer

Submitted by Richard Parker
Richard Parker writes: Seen a Huge Buzz on DDG 1000 Zumwalt Class — Multimission Destroyer of US Navy with primary function to counter the anti-access/area-denial capabilities of China, mean while inside China “"I can send several dozen small fishing boats loaded with explosives, floating and wobbling in the water, toward the Zumwalt, place the explosives onto its hull and blow many holes in the hull “ said Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong of the PLA Navy during an interview with national broadcaster China Central Television. Are Zumwalt class Destroyers are such bad? What does Chinese Officials and Professors think about the technology used. I personally feel it has amazing Features Design is huge plus points for this Multi Mission Destroyer

Submission + - Kogan Intentionally Violating the GPL (xda-developers.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I would like to bring to the attention of the community, and seek your help with respect to, Australian online reseller Kogan, who I recently discovered are knowingly and intentionally infringing on the copyrights of many by copying and commercially distributing GPL'd software on a variety of Android devices and refusing to comply with their licenses, by not providing the source-code to product owners. The software in question includes both the Linux kernel and U-Boot, but most likely other software too.

I have of course contacted Kogan support and was responded to by a staff member; who I believe is their job to illegally dismiss and mislead customers who make legitimate legal requests for GPL'd source-code and the such. I have thus far endured a lengthy exchange from August 24th, 2013, up until my most recent message to Kogan support member Arun, on October 21st, 2013. I suspect it is Arun's job to dismiss GPL requests and the such because during this two month period, a friend of mine also purchased a different Kogan branded Android product and subsequently requested the source code; only to receive near identical responses from none other than Arun.

Submission + - Gov't Contractor Uses Copyright, Fear Of Hackers To Get Restraining Order Agains (techdirt.com)

Submitted by Garabito
Garabito writes: A recent copyright infringement (+ "threat to national security") lawsuit filed by a government contractor against its former employee highlights two terms the government frequently fears: open source and hacking.

Andreas Schou brought this restraining order granted by an Idaho judge to many people's attention. It's an ultra-rare "no notice" restraining order that resulted from a wholly ex parte process involving only the plaintiff, government contractor Battelle Energy Alliance. The restraining order allowed Battelle to seize its former employee's computer, as well as prevent him from releasing the allegedly copied software as open source.

  What this looks like is a government contractor hoping to shut down a competitor by deploying two "chilling" favorites: copyright infringement and "threats to national security." It also hurts itself by falling for government FUD — "open source is dangerous" and "hackers are bad" — both of which contributed to the general level of failure contained in its complaint.

Submission + - First new top-level domains added to the root zone (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: The Internet – or at least its namespace – just got bigger. Four new top-level domains have been added to the Internet's root zone. The four new gTLDs all use non-Latin scripts: "web " in Arabic, "online" in Cyrillic, "sale" in Cyrillic, and "game" in Chinese. In total, the generic top-level domain process run by ICANN will result in expansion of top-level domains from 22 to up to 1400.

Submission + - Dolphins' Hunting Technique Inspires New Radar Device (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by minty3
minty3 writes: The twin inverted pulse radar (TWIPR) made by a team from the University of Southampton in England uses the same technique dolphins do to capture prey. Like dolphins, the device sends out two pulses in quick succession to cancel out background noise.

Submission + - Lenovo and BlackBerry sign NDA .. (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by codeusirae
codeusirae writes: Lenovo and BlackBerry have reportedly signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that lets the Chinese concern send in the accountants in order to gain an understanding of whether the beleaguered phone-maker is worthy of an acquisition.

The Wall Street Journal reports (paywalled) that the NDA covers all aspects of BlackBerry's operations because Lenovo is interested in buying the whole company.

Submission + - How Edward Snowden Changed the Face of Cyber-Security (ibtimes.co.uk) 1

Submitted by DavidGilbert99
DavidGilbert99 writes: Snowden has changed the face of cyber-security according to one of the most renowned experts in global cyber-security. As well as opening the public's eyes to what our government's are doing, Jarno Limnell says Snowden has weakened the security situation in Western countries, accelerated the global cyber-arms race, helped groups like Al Quaida avoid detection and even sent the Kremlin back to the days of the typewriter. However, ultimately, Limnell says Snowden's stated goal of not wanting any secrets will fail, as governments want to double down on security and will keep the most important things truly secret.

Submission + - Black Death Predated "Small World" Effect, Say Network Theorists (medium.com) 1

Submitted by KentuckyFC
KentuckyFC writes: Epidemiologists know that modern diseases can spread almost simultaneously in different parts of the planet because an individual who becomes infected in Hong Kong, for example, can infect friends in New York the following day. This is known as the small world effect. It is the same property that allows any individual to link to another individual anywhere in the world in just a few steps. But in the 14th century, the Black Death spread in a very different way, moving slowly across Europe at a rate of about 2 kilometres a day. Now network theorists have simulated this spread and say it is only possible if the number of long distances travellers in those days was vanishingly small. In other words, people in medieval society were linked almost exclusively to others nearby and so did not form a small world network. That raises an interesting question. If society in 14th century Europe was not a small world but today's society is, when did the change occur? The researchers say the finger of blame points to the invention of railways and steamships which allowed large numbers of people, and the diseases they carried, to travel long distances for the first time.

Submission + - Onlive Set To Relaunch and New Branding Released

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In an email sent to users who applied for their ambassador program, Onlive teases of a "major update" coming to the service that will bring about big changes. The email also includes a peak at Onlive's new logo and branding. Follow the link for the full email transcript and images:

http://onlivehq.com/2013/10/18/onlive-set-relaunch-soon/
http://onlivehq.com/2013/10/18/onlive-rebranding-images-released/

Submission + - Scientology's fraud conviction upheld in France (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: France's top appeals court has upheld a fraud conviction and fines totaling hundreds of thousands of euros against the Church of Scientology, for taking advantage of vulnerable followers.

France regards Scientology as a cult, not a religion, and had prosecuted individual Scientologists before, but the 2009 trial marked the first time the organisation as a whole had been convicted.

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