20532774
submission
Lucas123 writes:
When cloud storage providers shut down, as four have done in the past year, users are left wondering how they'll get their data back and whether they'll be able to migrate it directly to a new service provider. More importantly, analysts say, what guarantees they have that the data stored offsite will be deleted after the shutdown. Currently, there is no direct way to migrate data to another provider, and there are no government rules or regulations specific to data managed by cloud storage providers.
20170024
submission
Lucas123 writes:
At SNW in Santa Clara this past week, a diverse group of techies shared insights into their industries, such as the DVR market. TiVo's senior director of IT, Richard Rothschild, for instance, explained how those set-top boxes track everything you watch for advertising and marketing and then combine the information with supermarket membership card data to determine how effective ad campaigns are. Oh, and TiVo's planning to integrate its box with your flatscreen, so not more set-top device. And Steve Wozniak attacked the American education system, saying students should be graded on a single, long-term project rather than a short learning/testing cycle. "In school, intelligence is a measurement," he said. "If you have the same answer as everyone else in math or science, you're intelligent."
19969784
submission
Lucas123 writes:
Intel today launched a line of consumer solid state drives (SSDs) that replaces the industry's best selling X25-M line. The new 320 series SSD doubles the top capacity over the X25-M drives to 600GB, doubles sequential write speeds, and drops the price as much as 30% or $100 on some models. Intel also revealed its consumer SSDs have been outselling its enterprise-class SSDs in data centers, so it plans to drop its series of single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash SSDs and create a new series of SSDs based on multi-level cell (MLC) NAND for servers and storage arrays. Unlike its last SSD launch, which saw Intel use Marvell's controller, the company said it stuck with its own processing technology with this series.
19005164
submission
Julie188 writes:
Microsoft's Supreme Court fight against i4i has ironically become a new rallying point for the tech industry to fight software patents, now that Bilski didn't do the trick. Red Hat, Verizon, and Hewlett-Packard have jumped in to provide support to Microsoft in the dispute and to generally argue (again) that the courts need to do something to fix the broken patent system since Congress hasn't done so. The group combined forces to file an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday. This follows a similar declaration in favor of Microsoft's position by The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge and the Apache Software Foundation earlier this week. [PDF of full amicus brief.]
18679716
submission
CWmike writes:
Students at Hong Kong's Chinese University may be onto a type of memory media that could be a truly secure way to store data — text, images, music, and video. It takes up almost no space, can be encrypted, and is so gross that it's unlikely many people would attempt to steal it. That is, if the thief would even consider searching a refrigerator for massive data storage inside E. Coli. The bacteria can successfully and securely be used for biostorage, the storage of data in living things. AFP reports that the U.S. national archives take up more than 500 miles of shelves, but one gram of bacteria used for storing data could hold the same amount of information as 450 hard drives with 2 TB each of storage capacity. 'This means you will be able to keep large datasets for the long term in a box of bacteria in the refrigerator,' said student instructor Aldrin Yim about the biostorage project. Allen Yu, another student instructor, told Discovery News, 'Bacteria can't be hacked. All kinds of computers are vulnerable to electrical failures or data theft. But bacteria are immune from cyber attacks. You can safeguard the information.'
18597974
submission
CWmike writes:
Google's Android upgrades are both a blessing and a curse. While each upgrade opens the door to exciting new features and functions for a phone, the updates don't arrive instantly — and the wait to receive them can often be long and filled with uncertainty or disappointment. Google's Android 2.2 upgrade, or Froyo, has brought this angst to the fore. Announced last June, Froyo has slowly made its way onto handsets around the world. Some phones got the software within a matter of days. Others, however, waited weeks or months, while others yet (cough, cough, Galaxy S) are still waiting for their turns. Then, of course, there are the phones that have been given the dreaded 'no upgrade' stamp. So who can you trust to provide timely Android upgrades, and whose track record is less than impressive? JR Raphael set out to find that answer (Shortcut... see chart.). Next, JR analyzed how the four major U.S. carriers performed when it came to Android upgrades in 2010 (see chart), looking specifically at how upgrades to Android 2.2 rolled out to eligible phones before the end of 2010, within six months of the software's release. Where's your upgrade? Check the list.
17844930
submission
Lucas123 writes:
Today's Xboxes and eReaders were built on 40 years of technology innovation for holiday toys and games, harkening back to the days of wood-panelled controller consoles, like the Atari 2600, and two-dimensional displays like the one in Pong, the first electronic tennis game that sold tens of millions of units in the mid-1970s. Remarkably, some of the most popular gadgets began as nothing more than a training exercise for engineers. While many of the coolest holiday tech toys sold like hotcakes, the industry didn't always get it right, like The Kitchen Computer, which sold for $10,600. What did you get for that? An electronic recipe book. Not surprisingly, Neiman-Marcus sold not one.
17568228
submission
CWmike writes:
When Congress created the H-1B visa program 20 years ago this month, it sent the American IT industry into uncharted territory from which it has yet to emerge. Over the years, supporters have included Microsoft's Bill Gates and former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who in 2009 told Congress that the annual visa cap of 85,000 is 'too small to meet the need' and that protecting U.S. IT workers from global competition creates a 'privileged elite.' Groups like the Economic Policy Institute have begged to differ. In a report released last month by researcher Ron Hira, he argues that the H-1B along with the L-1 visa allow employers to bypass U.S. workers. Computerworld's special report on the 20th anniversary of the H-1B includes first-person accounts from five IT workers who have been directly affected by the H-1B program and visual and interactive tools to help you analyze H-1B visa data.
17410178
submission
MojoKid writes:
OCZ recently launched their new RevoDrive X2 PCIe-based SSD product, which is essentially the second coming of OCZ's first gen RevoDrive. This time around the product appears to offer bragging rights in terms of performance levels, but at a price point decidedly more aligned with traditional SATA-based SSD solutions. Versus other, significantly more expensive PCI Express SSD cards on the market, the RevoDrive X2 delivered impressive performance when tested against the likes of Fusion-io's ioXtreme product. What's perhaps more impressive is that the RevoDrive X2 drops in at a cost of around $2.57 per GB for at 240GB card. This is on par or lower than a single standard SATA-based SSD with a similar capacity. You can also boot from RevoDrive X2 as well, which can't be said for Fusion-io cards currently.
17147472
submission
CWmike writes:
When Apple CEO Steve Jobs this week introduced a slimmer version of the MacBook Air, an ultra-portable laptop without a traditional hard disk drive, he said it represents 'the future of notebooks.' Several industry observers agree 'Flash had to get to the point where it is cost effective,' said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at market research firm In-Stat. 'Now we're down to that point.' While solid state drives are still an order of magnitude more expensive than consumer hard disk drives, lower-capacity 64GB SSDs can be had for an affordable $100 or so, and 64GB is plenty of capacity for most users, according to McGregor.
16889900
submission
jcatcw writes:
Motorola introduced the new Droid Pro smartphone this week. It's a bit different from the Droids we've come to expect from Motorola. At a glance, the phone looks almost like a cousin of the BlackBerry, thanks to its smaller screen and built-in QWERTY keypad, but it's pretty evenly matched with the Droid 2, Droid X, and Droid Incredible in terms of sheer computing power. Check out the chart for a side-by-side comparison
16887654
submission
CWmike writes:
In a paper published Wednesday (PDF), Scott Charney, who heads Microsoft's trustworthy computing group, spelled out a concept of 'collective defense' that he said was modeled after public health measures like vaccinations and quarantines. The aim: To block botnet-infected computers from connecting to the Internet. Under the proposal, PCs would be issued a 'health certificate' that showed whether the system was fully patched, that it was running security software and a firewall, and that it was malware-free. Machines with deficiencies would require patching or an antivirus update, while bot-infected PCs might be barred from the Internet. 'Just as when an individual who is not vaccinated puts others' health at risk, computers that are not protected or have been compromised with a bot put others at risk and pose a greater threat to society,' Charney argued in a post to a company blog. 'We need to improve and maintain the health of consumer devices connected to the Internet in order to avoid greater societal risk.'
16885854
submission
eldavojohn writes:
A letter from Representative Edward Markey outlines Ken Cuccinelli's (Virginia Attorney General) latest civil investigative demand targeting 39 people instead of just Michael Mann. You may recall that the original investigation was quashed by a judge but the latest request demands records from people seemingly unrelated to Mann including an Indian glaciologist. Cuccinelli seems to be confused about the names of some of his own targets, demanding data from either Dr. Vincent GrEy or Dr. Vincent GrAy. The Bad Astronomer calls Cuccinelli out in a similar manner and lists Cuccinelli's doubts about Mann's papers saying 'Specifically, but without limitation, some of the conclusions of the papers demonstrate a complete lack of rigor regarding the statistical analysis of the alleged data, meaning that the result reported lacked statistical significance without a specific statement to that effect.' Mann responded by saying, 'I find it extremely disturbing that Mr. Cuccinelli has sought to continue to abuse his power as the attorney general of Virginia in this way, in the process smearing the University of Virginia and me and other climate scientists. The people of Virginia need to be extremely disturbed that he is using their tax dollars to pursue this partisan witch hunt.' The school that hosted the research announces the new investigation and the Union of Concerned Scientists accuses him of harrassing scientists.
16815928
story
richi writes
"There's no doubt that botnets are a major threat to the safety and stability of the internet — not to mention the cleanliness of your inbox. After years of failure to act, could we finally be seeing ISPs waking up to their responsibilities? While ISPs can't prevent users getting infected with bots, they are in a superb position to detect the signs of infection. Contractually, the ISP would be reasonably justified in cutting off a user from the internet, as bot infection would be contrary to the terms of the ISP's acceptable-use policy."
16807624
story
theodp writes
"A day after Google debuted its new Google TV website, the USPTO issued U.S. Patent No. 7,806,329 to the search giant for its Targeted Video Advertising invention. Among other things, the patent proposes having viewers take 5-10 minutes to 'fill out a consumer survey and perhaps to provide additional information such as a mailing address survey before starting the program' to avoid having to watch 10 minutes of commercials. 'As another alternative,' the patent continues, 'the broadcaster may offer the users an option to pay $2 (such as through a micro-payment system, such as GBuy) to exchange for skipping all commercials.' More from the patent: 'The system may allow a user to skip all of the promotions that they want to skip, but may also require the user to fully watch at least four promotions before the program will continue. Likewise, the system may require the user to follow activities that generate a certain amount of advertising revenue or advertising points (e.g., that may correspond directly or indirectly to advertising revenues) before the program will continue.'"
