34353255
submission
hapworth writes:
Eugene Kaspersky, founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, has warned that one of the greatest cyber threats facing the world is the lack of effective online voting systems, claiming that unless young people can vote online they won't bother at all and the whole democratic system will collapse. Not everyone is buying that theory, however (and there's reason to suspect Kaspersky has a vested interest in online voting, which may need his firm's cybersecurity products). As producer James Lambie writes, "Ultimately, the digital native’s disenchantment with voting is based less on a lack of suitable technology and more on disillusionment with the craven and anemic political choices they are presented with."
30733871
submission
hapworth writes:
In light of outgoing ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom's admission that the board is mired in conflicts of interest, another ICANN insider has spoken up to say the ethical issues go way deeper than what Beckstrom pointed to. Beau Brendler, chairman of the North American Internet user advisory committee to ICANN (NARALO), lists ICANN's executive committee members and their individual conflicts, stating that the "public interest is not well served by a structure and executive leadership that's conflicted by the same industry it's supposed to oversee." Brendler says the truth about ICANN's "hundreds" of ethical conflicts has been buried for years and is only starting to come to light because of a "few rebellious voices."
30367551
submission
hapworth writes:
Google's engineering culture is "wasting profits," according to a new report published today that refers to $16 billion dollars worth of Google projects that are going nowhere. According to the analysis, it's not that the ideas — such as the Kansas City Fiber Project, driverless cars, and other engineering efforts — are bad. Rather, it's Google's poor execution that is killing the company and adding billions of dollars worth of projects to its "trash pile."
29897549
submission
hapworth writes:
Cary Sherman, CEO of the RIAA, is at it again. After posting a controversial op-ed in The New York Times saying Wikipedia and Google "misinformed" the public about SOPA and PIPA, Sherman said in an interview yesterday that he hopes the SOPA protests were a "one-time experience." He also said that Wikipedia and Google users were duped into thinking SOPA was a bad bill because they assume "if it comes from these sources, it must be true." In another hilarious comment, Sherman blames the Internet for making it impossible for Congress to get out its side of the story, and for not spreading information with the same "clarity and integrity" of broadcast journalists.
29648701
submission
hapworth writes:
IT professionals were recently outraged to hear that the Smithsonian acquired some code from MIT lecturer VA Shiva Ayyadurai who has convinced no less august pubs than Time Magazine and The Washington Post that he invented email. While objectors howl on forums and message boards, VA Shiva Ayyadurai spoke up today to defend his standing as email's creator, claiming he doesn't regret not patenting it because he doesn't believe in software patents.
24217246
submission
hapworth writes:
Analysis published today shows that Hewlett-Packard has shelled out over $80 million to get rid of three CEOs since 2005. The first CEO to take her expensive exit, Carly Fiorina, received over $42 million, once stocks, options, and pension are factored in. Mark Hurd, after just four years, received $12.2 million to take his exit; and now, after 11 months, Leo Apotheker will walk out with a reported $25.2 million in severance. With eBay's Meg Whitman in as the new CEO at HP, industry analyst Robert McGarvey writes today that "the HP gig could help Whitman replenish her personal coffers, depleted by the pumping of $119 million into a futile bid to become California's governor."
19887306
submission
hapworth writes:
Dr. Ziv Bar-Joseph, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon, may have found the key to faster computing in the form of fruit flies. While computer scientists have long struggled with determining optimal communications paths in digital environments, Bar-Joseph believes the answer can be found by studying the biological make-up of fruit flies: "Determining how to select a [Maximal Independent Set] is difficult and has been under scrutiny for many years. It turns out that fruit flies solve a similar problem. During brain development, a process called Sensory Organ Precursor [SOP] selection occurs," he says. "As in computer networks, some cells (SOP) in the brain will become local leaders (MIS) and convey information from the environment to neighboring cells."
