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Comment Re:Never heard of rollbacks? (Score 2) 58

Apparently, yes, it is hard for them. Based on my experience, and that of others with this issue, they're currently only rolling back customers that call customer service. And you can only get in the rollback queue once you get the second-tier tech support involved. After that, it sounds like it's a manual process to revert each robot. From the first call, to the eventual rollback, it's likely to take a week or three. And that doesn't even address the users that got the downgrade... only to push back to the current version thanks to an auto-update.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft is Sued for Patent Violation over .NET

Submitted by
randomErr
randomErr writes: "As reported by Info World Microsoft was issued a cease and desist order on February 7 of this year by Vertical Computer Systems. The order was for patent infringement by the current implementations of the .NET framework. Both the .NET framework and Vertical Computer Systems' SiteFlash use XML to create component-based structures that are used to build and operate web sites. Vertical Computer Systems is requesting a full jury trial. If successful fought .NET technology implementations may completely change as we know it and Microsoft would have to pay out a hefty sum."

Feed RIM's Excuse For BlackBerry Outage Finally Emerges (techdirt.com)

From feed by techdirtfeed
Research In Motion has delivered an explanation of what caused the BlackBerry outage earlier this week -- sort of. It says an insufficiently tested software upgrade set off a series of errors at its network operations center, which processes all the emails for BlackBerry devices in North America, and then its "failover process", which is supposed to switch things to a backup system, didn't work properly. The company says that it has plenty of capacity and resources to deal with its volume of messages and growing user base, and that it will better test its upgrades in the future. However, that explanation -- and the long time it took to come out -- doesn't wash with some observers, who say there are enough holes in the story that it doesn't add up. In particular, RIM's contention that it was upgrading its software on a Tuesday night, rather than over a weekend, has raised some red flags. Then, if a scheduled upgrade was behind the problem, shouldn't that have been immediately obvious to the company and news spread quickly by its PR team? The real damage from this episode won't be the outage itself, but rather the fallout from how RIM deals with it. On that front, things already aren't looking so good.
AMD

Submission + - The Gigahertz Race is Back on

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "When CPU manufacturers ran up against the power wall in their designs, they announced that "the Gigahertz race is over; future products will run at slower clock speeds and gain performance through the use of multiple cores and other techniques that won't improve single-threaded application performance." Well, it seems that the gigahertz race is back on — This CNET story talks about how AMD has boosted the speed of their new Opterons to 3GHz. Of course, it the new chips also consume better than 20% more power than their last batch. The real question is: "What happens when they approach 4GHz this time?""

Feed Intuit to refund TurboTax-niks for taxing times onTax Day (theregister.com)

From feed by registerfeed
IRS offers escape hatch, after Intuit's monumental cock-up

Intuit is to refund TurboTax customers who tried to file their tax returns with the IRS on Tax Day using the company's e-filing system - and who got heart attacks instead. As world+dog knows by now, Intuit's servers buckled under the strain of customers trying to fulfil their American taxpayers' duty on April 17.

How the PS3 Hit $600 535

Posted by Zonk from the i-blame-mudflation dept.
Joystiq has up an interesting article today, gathering together information from a couple of places to discuss why the PlayStation 3 is so expensive. From the article: "Kutaragi was demoted after being passed over for the role of CEO and, when former Sony Pictures head Howard Stringer assumed the position, the relationship between the content and technology divisions of Sony became even more intimate. Stringer "quickly dubbed the PlayStation 3 as one of the company's 'champion' products." Kutaragi's desire to stratify the console market with Cell technology in effect wed Sony to the unpalatable prospect of charging an unprecedented price. Coupled with Sony's desire to not only push their own content on HD discs, but to control that medium with their proprietary Blu-ray format, the final price was escalated by two very advanced (and very expensive) pieces of Sony technology."

BSA Claims 35% of Software is Pirated 617

Posted by Zonk from the that's-a-lot-of-eyepatches dept.
hdtv writes "Business Software Alliance says 35% of packaged software installed on PCs globally is pirated, and estimates the losses at $34 bln. From the article: 'The countries with the highest piracy rates were Vietnam (90%), Zimbabwe (90%), Indonesia (87%), China (86%), and Pakistan (86%). The countries with the lowest piracy rates were the United States (21%), New Zealand (23%), Austria (26%), and Finland (26%).' TechDirt analysis debunks some of the myths: 'The BSA claims that all of these "lost sales" represent real harm to the economy. It's the same bogus argument they've trotted out before, which is easily debunked. Much of that unauthorized software is being used to make firms much more productive than they would be otherwise -- probably benefiting the overall economy quite a bit.'"

A DNA Database For All U.S. Workers? 625

Posted by Zonk from the he-has-the-best-ideas dept.
fragmer writes "New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested a plan on Wednesday that would establish a DNA or fingerprint database to track and verify all legal U.S. workers. The mayor said DNA and fingerprint technology could be used to create a worker ID database that will 'uniquely identify the person' applying for a job, ensuring that cards are not illegally transferred or forged. Bloomberg compared his proposed federal identification database to the Social Security card, insisting that such a system would not violate citizens' privacy and was not a civil liberties issue."

Comment Re:Stop giving the US gov't ideas (Score 1) 822

by isd_glory (#15358463) Attached to: UK Government Wants Private Encryption Keys
Actually, yeah, it seems like they're taking it from the American political playbook...

We would like to violate your privacy because:
- It's for your own protection!
- It will help protect the children!
- We need it to prevent acts of terrorism!

The only good news is that it will take more than just rolling these all together into one law to nullify the 4th Amendment.

UK Government Wants Private Encryption Keys 822

Posted by Zonk from the my-keys-not-yours dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Businesses and individuals in Britain may soon have to give their encryption keys to the police or face imprisonment. The UK government has said it will bring in the new powers to address a rise in the use of encryption by criminals and terrorists." From the article: "Some security experts are concerned that the plan could criminalise innocent people and drive businesses out of the UK. But the Home Office, which has just launched a consultation process, says the powers contained in Part 3 are needed to combat an increased use of encryption by criminals, paedophiles, and terrorists. 'The use of encryption is... proliferating,' Liam Byrne, Home Office minister of state told Parliament last week. 'Encryption products are more widely available and are integrated as security features in standard operating systems, so the Government has concluded that it is now right to implement the provisions of Part 3 of RIPA... which is not presently in force.'"

Reporter Phone Records Being Used to Find Leaks 971

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the not-so-confidential-informant dept.
jackbird writes "Brian Ross, Chief Investigative Correspondent for ABC news says a confidential source informed him that reporter's phone records are being used by the administration to track down leaks. Apparently reporters for the New York Times, ABC News, and the Washington Post are being scrutinized. The fact that ABC News journalists are even seriously wondering about whether the warning is connected to the NSA's domestic surveillance activities indicates just how anxious many people in Washington have become."

Can Ordinary PC Users Ditch Windows for Linux? 1483

Posted by Zonk from the do-or-do-not-there-is-no-try dept.
Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Mark Golden, a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires, tried to switch from Windows to Linux, and found it too complex for his liking. He writes: 'For me, though, using the Linux systems didn't make sense. I often send documents and spreadsheets between my home PC and the one at work, which uses Microsoft Office. And the files are sometimes complex. Meanwhile, for both personal and professional computer use, I want access to all multimedia functions. While solutions may exist to almost every problem I encountered, I was willing to invest only a limited amount of time as a system administrator. Claims by some Linux publishers that anybody can easily switch to Linux from Windows seem totally oversold.'"

Colbert New Comic-in-Chief 939

Posted by Zonk from the that's-the-word dept.
scottzak writes "Hail to the Chief! Stephen Colbert addressed the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday (attended by the President, the elite of Washington politics, and the White House Press Corps) and told the truth. Jaws dropped. Eyes popped. The live audience gasped. Scalia laughed his ass off. You want to see a brilliant comic display some real courage? Look no further. Enjoy the reaction shots, and Colbert's audition for Press Secretary job." The BBC covers the act just prior to Mr. Colbert's, where the President and a look-alike took turns making fun of his speaking skills.

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