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Patents

Ogg Vorbis / Theora Language Removed From HTML5 Spec 395

Posted by Zonk from the nice-while-it-lasted dept.
Rudd-O writes "It's official. Ogg technology has been removed from the HTML5 spec, after Ian caved in the face of pressure from Apple and Nokia. Unless massive pressure is exerted on the HTML5 spec editing process, the Web authoring world will continue to endure our modern proprietary Tower of Babel. Note that HTML5 in no way required Ogg (as denoted by the word 'should' instead of 'must' in the earlier draft). Adding this to the fact that there are widely available patent-free implementations of Ogg technology, there is really no excuse for Apple and Nokia to say that they couldn't in good faith implement HTML5 as previously formulated."
Microsoft

MS Awarded "Best Campaigner Against OOXML" 190

Posted by kdawson from the pull-gun-aim-at-foot-pull-trigger dept.
HansF writes "Microsoft itself is the surprise winner of the FFII's Kayak Prize 2007, offered by the FFII in its call for rejection of Microsoft's OOXML standards proposal. The software monopolist is honored as 'Best Campaigner against OOXML Standardization.' FFII president Pieter Hintjens explains, 'We could never have done this by ourselves. By pushing so hard to get OOXML endorsed, even to the point of loading the standards boards in Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, and beyond, Microsoft showed to the world how poor their format is. Good standards just don't need that kind of pressure. All together, countries made over ten thousands technical comments, a new world record for an ISO vote. Microsoft made a heroic — and costly — effort to discredit their own proposal, and we're sincerely grateful to them.'" If Microsoft doesn't send a representative to claim their 2500-Euro prize at the FFII General Assembly in November, FFII will give the money to Peruvian earthquake relief.
Microsoft

Submission + - FFII awards Microsoft "Best Campaigner against (noooxml.org) 1

Submitted by HansF
HansF writes: Microsoft itself is the surprise winner of the FFII's "Kayak Prize 2007", offered by the FFII in its OOXML call for rejection of Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) standards proposal. The software monopolist is honored as "Best Campaigner against OOXML Standardization".
FFII president Pieter Hintjens explains, "we could never have done this by ourselves. By pushing so hard to get OOXML endorsed, even to the point of loading the standards boards in Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, and beyond, Microsoft showed to the world how poor their format is. Good standards just don't need that kind of pressure. All together, countries made over ten thousands technical comments, a new world record for an ISO vote. Microsoft made a heroic — and costly — effort to discredit their own proposal, and we're sincerely grateful to them."
Privacy

10,000 Cameras Ineffective At Deterring Crime 414

Posted by CowboyNeal from the clearly-we-need-more-cameras dept.
Mike writes "London has 10,000 crime-fighting CCTV cameras which cost £200 million but an analysis of the publicly funded spy network has cast serious doubt on its ability to help solve crime. In fact, four out of five of the boroughs with the most cameras have a record of solving crime that is below average. The study found that police are no more likely to catch offenders in areas with hundreds of cameras than in those with hardly any. Could this be an effective argument against the proliferation of cameras or will politicians simply ignore the facts and press ahead?"
Security

Colleges Wrestle With Thumb Drives 127

Posted by kdawson from the just-too-convenient dept.
Lucas123 writes "IT managers at colleges and universities are grappling with the problem of finding ways to better secure removable storage media in an environment that encourages information sharing. Draconian security mandates 'may be common in the corporate world, but "we don't have the flexibility to simply say all inbound traffic is locked down," said Jason Pufahl, information security team lead for IT services at the University of Connecticut.'"
Microsoft

Microsoft Launches OSS Site, Submits License For Approval 261

Posted by Zonk from the working-together-hand-in-hand dept.
prostoalex writes "Microsoft has launched a site dedicated to collaboration between Microsoft and open source community. The site helps developers, IT administrators, and IT buyers find out what Microsoft's product offerings are, and read articles about open source such as 'Open Source Provider Sees Sales Doubling After Moving Solutions to the Windows Platform.'" Relatedly, CNet has the news that the company has submitted its shared-sources license to the OSI for approval.
Communications

No iPhone For 64-Bit Windows 762

Posted by kdawson from the very-fine-print dept.
Mizled writes "After buying a new iPhone yesterday and bringing it home to sync and activate it, I found out that Windows 64-bit is not supported. Neither XP 64-bit nor Vista 64-bit works with the iPhone. I called the Apple support line and the rep said I needed to downgrade my computer from a 64-bit operating system. I also posted about my concerns on the Apple iPhone discussion forums, but my post was quickly removed."
Google

Google Desktop Now on Linux 293

Posted by samzenpus from the yes-it-does-run-linux dept.
mytrip writes "Google was set to launch late on Wednesday a beta version of Google Desktop search for Linux in a sign of encouragement by the search giant for Linux on the desktop. Google Desktop allows people to search the Web while also searching the full text of all the information on their computer, including Gmail and their Web search history. Because the index is stored locally on the computer, users can access Gmail and Web history while offline."
Google

Submission + - DreamHost blocks Google Bot on Shared Hosting - Ho

Submitted by jsbi
jsbi writes: DreamHost is supposedly touted as one of the Best web hosting providers by some of it's users[including a few people I know personally of]. But it now seems that it is requiring users to edit the .htaccess file to block GoogleBot from indexing their pages. Are you wondering what the GoogleBot is all about — well it is the Google web crawler that indexes web pages for them to appear on a Google search. It seems that the explanation given by DreamHost is that GoogleBot is a "high memory usage and load on the server" and blocking it seems only the way out. The company has already dispatched off email's to most of it's customers, asking them to make their content unsearchable for spiders and crawlers. I guess the entire move by DreamHost is rather so STUPID!! Instead of them to upgrade its systems to make them more powerful, stable and able to support the crawl process of Googlebot — they ask you shut it down completely. http://jsbi.blogspot.com/2007/05/dreamhost-blocks- google-bot-on-shared.html
Amiga

Submission + - Celebrate Commodore Computer 30th Anniversary

Submitted by
JoeCommodore
JoeCommodore writes: "This year's East Coast Vintage Computer Festival (June 9th and 10th at the InfoAge Learning Center in Wall Township, New Jersey) will mark the 30th anniversary of Commodore's entry into the computer market in 1977 with the PET computer. Part of the festivities includes a panel discussion with many luminaries of the company.

The story of how it happened and how it evolved is truly legendary in the industry. Above all, the 30th birthday of Commodore's computer division is worth celebrating! This panel discussion (on June 9th) features Chuck Peddle (creator of the 6502 Microprocessor and the PET computer), Bil Herd (designer of later Commodore 8-bit computers from the Plus/4 to the Commodore 128 & LCD), Bob Russell (software engineer — partly responsible for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64), and Dave Haynie (hardware engineer who worked on the Plus/4 series to the Amiga and end of the original Commodore in 1993). The discussion will include an audience Q&A session followed by autograph signings and maybe a few surprises.

Whether you love or hate Commodore they did have a big impact on the industry, the company may not always have been the best managed but they did produce some notably low cost and innovative computers. MOS Technologies (later bought by Commodore) created the low-cost 6502 Processor which helped make personal and hobby computing accessible to many of us either directly or indirectly."
Patents

USPTO Examiner Rejected 1-Click Claims As "Obvious" 195

Posted by kdawson from the well-duh dept.
theodp writes "Faced with a duly unimpressed USPTO examiner who rejected its new 1-Click patent claims as 'obvious' and 'old and well known,' Amazon has taken the unusual step of requesting an Oral Appeal to plead its case. And in what might be interpreted by some as an old-fashioned stalling tactic, the e-tailer has also canceled and refiled its 1-Click claims in a continuation application. As it touted the novelty of 1-Click to Congress last spring, Amazon kept the examiner's rejection under its hat, insisting that 'still no [1-Click] prior art has surfaced.' The Judiciary Committee hearing this testimony included Rick Boucher (VA) and Howard Berman (CA), both recipients of campaign contributions from a PAC funded by 1-Click inventor Jeff Bezos, other Amazon execs, and their families."
Google

Google Shareholders Reject Censorship Proposal 163

Posted by CowboyNeal from the keeping-it-real dept.
prostoalex writes "At the annual shareholder meeting, Google put forth for voting a proposal for the company not to engage in self-censorship, resist by all legal means the demands to censor information, inform the user in case their information was provided to the government, and generally not to store sensitive user data in the countries with below average free speech policies. As this proposal, if passed, would effectively mean the end of Google's China operations, the shareholders rejected the document at the recommendation of the Board of Directors."
Music

Submission + - "Top 10 Nerdcore rappers of all time" list

Submitted by
Nerdcore For Life!
Nerdcore For Life! writes: "A website called Hipsterplease.com just posted a great list of the Top 10 Nerdcore Rappers of all time. The site's got pics, bios and links to mp3s and videos of the featured "geeksta" rappers. It's a perfect primer on the world of Nerdcore Hip-Hop and is based on the compiled opinions and suggestions of scores of nerdcore rappers and fans. http://www.hipsterplease.com/2007/04/top-10-nerdco re-artists-of-all-time.html"

Want To Work At Google? 458

Posted by Zonk from the bread-and-circuses dept.
ramboando writes "In an article on the ZDNet site 'chief culture officer' and HR boss Stacy Savides Sullivan describes the kind of traits that she's looking for in potential Google employees. If you're thinking about applying, she also goes over what kind of questions one might be asked in an interview, Google's 'happiness survey' and the best perks that makes employees tick and stay with the company (Google ski-trips or paid paternity leave, anyone?). 'I think one of the hardest things to do is ensure that we are hiring people who possess the kind of traits that we're looking for in a Google-y employee. Google-y is defined as somebody who is fairly flexible, adaptable and not focusing on titles and hierarchy, and just gets stuff done. So, we put a lot of focus in our hiring processes when we are interviewing to try to determine first and foremost does the person have the skill set and experience potential to do the job from a background standpoint in addition to academics and credentials.'"

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