49124265
submission
bonch writes:
Google has backtracked on its previous position for net neutrality, arguing that citizens don't have the right to run home servers on its Kansas City broadband network. Defending a prohibition against home servers in its Google Fiber Terms of Service, Google argues that its policy is consistent with other broadband providers. Google plans to offer its own business class service in the future.
43221025
submission
bonch writes:
Google is being criticzed for sharing user information with third parties through Google Wallet. Unlike Apple's system in which iTunes is the merchant, Google's third-party developers are the merchants and receive user information, to the surprise of developers like Dan Nolan, who wrote a blog post about being sent email addresses, mailing address, and sometimes full names. Critics charge that consumers are mostly unaware of the sharing. In a statement, Google noted that the behavior was outlined in the Google Wallet Privacy Policy.
37753829
submission
bonch writes:
Nuclear fusion is close to emitting nearly as much energy as expended. Using a combination of magnetic fields and pre-heated lasers, special tubes called liners successfully fused nuclear fuels under test conditions. Computer simulations predict the possibility of high-gain fusion conditions, in which the fuel's energy output exceeds what was put in by more than a thousand times.
37753305
submission
bonch writes:
Google-owned Motorola is asking the International Trade Commission to ban every Apple device that uses iMessage, based on a patent issues in 2006 for "a system for providing continuity between messaging clients". Motorola also claims that banning Macs and iPhones won't have an impact on U.S. consumers. The ITC has yet to make a decision.
33280353
submission
bonch writes:
Prior to setting with Limewire earlier this month, the RIAA had pressed for a $72 trillion verdict, greater than the $60 trillion of combined wealth on Earth. The RIAA arrived at the figure by multiplying $150,000 for each download of 11,000 songs, a figure federal Judge Kimba Wood called "absurd". No word on how much of the money would have gone back to the artists.
33280099
submission
bonch writes:
Researches at Northwestern University have developed an inexpensive solar cell intended to solve the problems of current solar cell designs, such as high cost, low efficiency, and toxic production materials. Based on the Grätzel cell, the new cell uses millions of light-absorbing nanoparticles and delivers the highest conversion efficiency reported for a dye-sensitized solar cell.
33279901
submission
bonch writes:
Georgy Avanesov, creator of the infamous Bredolab botnet, has been given four years jail time in Armenia. Avanesov rented out access to the botnet to spammers and DDoS attackers, netting him $125,000 a month in revenue. Bredolab spread through malicious website scripts and phony email attachments and was thought to have infected 30 million computers. Dutch police arrested Avanesov in 2010, using the botnet's control servers to warn infected users.
33279855
submission
bonch writes:
Georgy Avanesov, creator of the infamous Bredolab botnet, has been given four years jail time in Armenia. Avanesov rented out access to the botnet to spammers and DDoS attackers, netting him $125,000 a month in revenue. Bredolab spread through malicious website scripts and phony email attachments and was thought to have infected 30 million computers. Dutch police arrested Avanesov in 2010, using the botnet's control servers to warn infected users.
33247481
submission
bonch writes:
Mozilla has announced Webmaker, a web development initiative aimed at teaching the average user the building blocks of the web. Users can join a "code party" and learn web development with provided authoring tools, and existing developers can volunteer to run their own events. To kick it off, Mozilla is announcing the Summer Code Party starting June 23.
33244955
submission
bonch writes:
As valuation doubts rise over Facebook, the SEC is calling for a review of the trouble surrounding Facebook's IPO launch, as stocks dropped another nine percent in early Tuesday trading. Since last week, the company has dropped more than $14 billion in market capitalization from its initial offering of $38-per-share. Many investors were upset to learn that Morgan Stanley cut revenue forecasts days before the IPO, which may have contributed to its poor performance.
33239945
submission
bonch writes:
Chrome was recently called the world's no.1 browser, but Microsoft is accusing the source, StatCounter, of using flawed methodology. When a user enters a search in Chrome, the browser preloads an invisible tab not shown to the user, and these were being counted by StatCounter. Net Applications, another usage tracking group, ignores these invisible tabs and reports IE at 54%, Firefox at 20.20%, and Chrome at 18.85%.
33239585
submission
bonch writes:
The MPAA used an undercover agent posing as a potential homebuyer to gain access to the home of a British couple charged with running a streaming links site. UK authorities decided not to pursue the case, but the MPAA continued, focusing on a Boston programmer who worked on the site, leading to an unprecedented legal maneuver whereby U.S. charges were dropped in exchange for testimony in a UK fraud case.
33239325
submission
bonch writes:
Europe's top antitrust regulator has issued an ultimatum, giving Google weeks to propose changes or face formal charges of antitrust abuse. Google is under investigation for allegedly promoting its services over competitors in search results. Google issued a statement disagreeing with the EU commission's conclusions, stating that 'innovation online has never been greater.'
33122173
submission
bonch writes:
Google has augmented its search engine with Knowledge Graph, which presents a set of facts related to a search query. For instance, searching for a historical figure would display biographical information from Wikipedia in a sidebar, or searching for a location could display maps and population data. Though it could mean less traffic for third-party sites, the feature is intended to turn Google's search engine into an answer engine.
33121729
submission
bonch writes:
Autoparts manufacturer Delphi has developed a diesel-like ignition engine running on gasoline, providing a potential 50 percent efficiency improvement over existing gas-powered engines. Engineers have long sought to run diesel-like engines on gasoline for its higher efficiency and low emissions. Delphi's engine, using a technique called gasoline-direct-injection compression ignition, could rival the performance of hybrid automobiles at a cheaper cost.
