tburton - Slashdot User

Electronic Firms Support End of Conflict Minerals-> 0

Submitted by tburton on Friday November 20 2009, @11:53AM

tburton writes "The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday released the Conflict Minerals Trade Act (HR 4128) to try and end the international trade of Tungsten, Tantalum and Coltan. Minerals accused of fueling violent rape and murder in eastern Congo. Since the very same minerals power the most popular consumer electronics from HP, Verizon, Nokia, RIM and Intel, the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) has quickly signed a statement of support. Advocacy groups are hopeful these commitments prove to be meaningful as consumers begin to question the end result of the supply chains powering their favorite gadget."
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Cellphones fueling extreme violence in the Congo? 0

Submitted by

StopTheRape

on Thursday July 23 2009, @02:11PM

StopTheRape writes "A series of recent reports have linked the primary minerals inside cell phones (and many other CE) to mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The thirst for tungsten, tantalum, tin and gold is giving resources to multiple armed groups that have killed over 5 million people in recent years. Advocacy group the Enough Project has been running a YouTube contest to raise awareness on the issue. Voting on the finalist has just begun. Add your vote and sign the pledge letting manufacturers know they need to clean up supply chains. At the very least, go check out the great videos on cell phones that the contestants have created."

Technology Cold War-> 0

Submitted by

tburton

on Monday November 19 2007, @12:45PM

tburton writes "Google's almost simultaneous announcement of its open platforms in both the mobile and social network spaces was no coincidence. From 100 year old telephone companies to web start ups the message from Mountain View is very clear — be open or be prepared to be opened. If you like, it is the technology version of the Cold War — Google promoting open competition, the carriers protecting their controlled networks."
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HDTV-> 0

Submitted by

tburton

on Wednesday November 07 2007, @09:24AM

tburton writes "The race for bragging rights for the most HDTV has reached absurd levels with Verizon claiming its FiOS service will offer 150 HD channels. Pity you have to wait till this time next year. Comes as Comcast claims to have 400 HDTV "choices" and Directv says it will have 100 channels by the holiday season. Is it real HDTV and who to believe?"
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iPhone new international data plan-> 0

Submitted by

tburton

on Friday November 02 2007, @11:45AM

tburton writes "Need to convince the boss why you need an iPhone? International travelers looking to make a business case for the iPhone, here's your silver bullet: AT&T are about to announce a comprehensive international data plan for the iPhone that will have you watching YouTube and browsing Google maps in over 29 countries and here are the details."
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A new & cheap way to future proof a home netwo-> 0

Submitted by

tburton

on Wednesday October 31 2007, @12:26PM

tburton writes "In the cavernous halls of the Georgia World Congress Center at last weeks TelcoTV trade show there was a small stand getting a lot of buzz and corridor talk. Irish photonics company Firecomms was drawing a lot of attention with their working display of polymer optical fiber (commonly known as POF) for home networking.The fiber is made by Mitsubishi and is already widely deployed in cars and aircraft where its immunity to any electrical noise makes it the cable of choice. The plastic fiber can be bent whichever ways, is very durable and its string like diameter makes it ideal for apartments where it can be neatly tucked under carpet or along the baseboard"
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Vonage, Gobe7 have major security holes-> 0

Submitted by

tburton

on Thursday October 25 2007, @12:26PM

tburton writes "VoIP Security firm Sipera has claimed Vonage, Globe7 and Grandstream users are vulnerable to identity theft, eavesdropping and other exploits from hackers. The Texas-based security lab said among other threats, unwitting VoIP users face eavesdropping, spam, spoofing and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. Vonage is the largest pure play VoIP operator in the U.S. with more than 2.5 million customers. Globe7 is London based, and claims to be the top global VoIP operator. Grandstream operates mostly in the North American market."
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Viacom opens up entire Daily Show archive-> 0

Submitted by

tburton

on Thursday October 18 2007, @02:39PM

tburton writes "Viacom has put online the entire eight year archive of its top rating comedy series, Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in a move which will be closely watched by all the major networks, advertisers, telcos and the burgeoning new media video industry. What does it mean?"
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