jfruhlinger - Slashdot User

Submission + - SOPA Wouldn't Stop The Pirate Bay (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Friday January 13, 2012 @03:23PM

jfruhlinger writes: "The main justification of the much-hated proposed SOPA legislation is that it would shut down non-U.S. websites that are hosting copyright-infringing content. But here's an oddity: The Pirate Bay, the most famous copyright-infringing non-U.S. website in the world, has a .org address, and, under the definitions of the proposed law, wouldn't qualify as a foreign site. SOPA provisions wouldn't apply to it."

Submission + - Microsoft Getting Patent Fees From ChromeOS Too (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Thursday January 12, 2012 @05:24PM

jfruhlinger writes: "It's well known that Microsoft has been making plenty of money from Android by threatening vendors with patent suits, and that even Google won't fight back. Now it appears that Redmond is spreading its net further, convincing LG to pay patent protection money on ChromeOS sales."

Submission + - Pro-SOPA Comcast Uses SOPA-Incompatible DNSSEC (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Wednesday January 11, 2012 @05:03PM

jfruhlinger writes: "Since 2009, Comcast subscribers who have accidentally typed a non-existant URL into their web browser have not gotten a 404 error but rather been redirected to a "helpful" page with suggestions on the right URL, along with ads. That page has now vanished as the ISP has implemented DNSSEC, a set of security standards that, among other things, prevents the malicious redirection of DNS requests. But if SOPA passes, ISPs will be forced to redirect requests for blacklisted sites, which violates DNSSEC. And, oh yes, Comcast is an enthusiastic SOPA supporter."

Submission + - A Cheat Sheet To CES' Interesting Mobile News (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Wednesday January 11, 2012 @01:12PM

jfruhlinger writes: "Every year at CES, technophiles are overwhelmed by a wide array of shiny gadgets, most of which are oversold and end up flopping. Kevin Purdy cuts through the hype and presents the few areas of genuine interest for mobile tech at CES 2012, including Intel's Android phones and stirrings of interest in Windows Mobile."

Submission + - US Ejects Diplomat For Planning Cyberattacks (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Tuesday January 10, 2012 @10:22PM

jfruhlinger writes: "A Venezuelan consul in Miami has been ejected from the United States, and the reasons why are serious: she's been accused of participating in an Iranian plot to launch cyberattacks on U.S. nuclear plants. Diplomats have immunity from prosecution, which is probably the only reason she isn't in jail."

Submission + - Qualcomm Wants A Piece Of The PC Market (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Tuesday January 10, 2012 @06:18PM

jfruhlinger writes: "Much of Intel's story of the past few years has involved its so far fruitless attempts to break into the smartphone and tablet market. But as it keeps trying, it may find competition on its home turf: Qualcomm, which makes many of the ARM-based chips in those smartphones and tablets, wants to make PCs, too. The advent of Windows 8 for ARM and Android will make this possible."

Submission + - Data Hogs: The Monsters Carriers Created (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Monday January 09, 2012 @05:03PM

jfruhlinger writes: "A recent study claimed that the top 1 percent of mobile data users eat up 25 percent of the available bandwidth. But assuming it's true, who's at fault? Stats show that data usage has increased radically with each new model of the iPhone, and similar phenomenon are in place for Android phones — all of which are gleefully sold to the public by the same people who complain about 'data hogs.' Isn't this the equivalent of a car dealer that heavily promotes Cadillacs, then complains about poor fuel efficiency, then charges a ton for extra gasoline?"

Submission + - Michael Dell: Mobile Gadgets No Threat To PCs (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Monday January 09, 2012 @04:32PM

jfruhlinger writes: "In a pitch that might qualify as "no duh" news, Michael Dell, CEO of a company that makes lots of money from PCs and has tried and largely failed to break into the smartphone and tablet market, told an audience in India that smartphones and tablets don't threaten PC sales. It's a particularly important question in India, where many users buy smartphones rather than PCs because they're cheaper; Dell believes that such users will eventually switch to PCs for a fuller Internet experience."

Submission + - Hadoop vs. RDBMS: How Much (Less) Would You Pay? (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Friday January 06, 2012 @12:48PM

jfruhlinger writes: "Hadoop is a popular open source NoSQL data analysis framework that runs on commodity hardware. One of its main appeals, like most open source software, is its free-as-in-beer nature, but does it really save you money in practice? One attempt to crunch the numbers indicates significant savings, even if you're paying more for professional Hadoop wranglers than you would for an Oracle admin."

Submission + - Confessions Of An Internet Stalker (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Thursday January 05, 2012 @03:57PM

jfruhlinger writes: "You have someone's first name, last initial, and home city. How easy is it to find their home address, phone number, and pictures of them drunkenly partying on the Internet? Pretty easy, it turns out."

Submission + - Netflix Stock Surge Shows Wall Street's Madness (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Thursday January 05, 2012 @12:38PM

jfruhlinger writes: "Netlifx's stock has suffered over the past year as a result of the company's pricing changes and abortive attempt to split into separate DVD and streaming arms, but yesterday it surged more than 10 percent. Was there some new information about the company's fundamental strengths? No; the sudden increase in value came because some TV analyst mused that Yahoo might buy it. As if you needed more proof that short-term stock prices are based on very little."

Submission + - Windows, Nokia To Spend $100M on WP7 Marketing (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Wednesday January 04, 2012 @06:47PM

jfruhlinger writes: "One of the big turning points in the history of Android phones came in October of 2009, when Motorola and Verizon launched the Droid line of phones with a $100 million marketing blitz that took aim directly at the iPhone. Now Microsoft, Nokia, and AT&T are working together on a similarly pricey campaign to get the first wave of Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets into the national conversation in the United States. Will wall-to-wall advertising and better placement and incentives in AT&T stores finally make Windows Phone a realistic contender in the smartphone market?"

Submission + - FDA Approves Self-Sanitizing Keyboard (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Wednesday January 04, 2012 @05:07PM

jfruhlinger writes: "Deep down, most people ,now that the germiest thing they touch all day is the thing they're touching all day: their keyboard. But what, if anything, can be done about it? A couple of former MIcrosoft hardware guys have launched a keyboard that sterilizes itself via ultraviolet light. While the FDA has signed off on it, tests show that the UV only kills about two-thirds of the germs living in it, and that it still needs to be cleaned by hand."

Submission + - Asus Tablet Gets ICS - But Where Can You Buy It? (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Wednesday January 04, 2012 @10:24AM

jfruhlinger writes: "The Android tablet market got a little less fragmented this week when Asus announced that its Transformer Prime tablet, currently running Android 3.2, will get the upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich next week. But if you wanted to buy one, where would you find it? They're almost impossible for an ordinary consumer to track down — which is another problem the Android tablet market has, with hyped gadgets being MIA in the real marketplace."

Submission + - Red Hat Will Hire 1,000 New Employees In 2012 (itworld.com)

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jfruhlinger

on Tuesday January 03, 2012 @03:07PM

jfruhlinger writes: "According to Red Hat's CEO, the venerable Linux company will add 1,000 new employees this year, The surge in the company's business is almost entirely attributable to an increase in interest in cloud computing: Red Hat is becoming a major cloud infrastructure provider."

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