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Yahoo!

Yahoo May Re-Consider Google Alliance, Rebuff Microsoft 273

Posted by Zonk from the now-the-rubberband-is-on-the-other-claw dept.
anastasd writes "Reuters is reporting that Yahoo might consider a business alliance with Google as a way to top a $44.6 billion takeover proposal by Microsoft. 'Yahoo management is considering revisiting talks it held with Google several months ago on an alliance as an alternative to Microsoft's bid, that source said. At $31 a share, Yahoo believes the bid undervalues the company, two sources said. A second source close to Yahoo said it had received a procession of preliminary contacts by media, technology, telephone and financial companies. But the source said they were unaware whether any alternative bid was in the offing.'"
Security

One-Third of Employees Violate Company IT Policies 320

Posted by Zonk from the yeah-but-they-were-all-bad dept.
BaCa writes with a link indicating that a survey of white collar US workers shows that something like a third of all employees break IT policies. Of those, almost a sixth actually used P2P technologies from their work PCs. Overall, the survey indicates workers aren't overly concerned about any kind of security: "The telephone survey found that 65% of white-collar professionals are either not very concerned or not concerned at all about their privacy when using a workplace computer. A surprising 63% are not very concerned or are not concerned at all about the security of their information while at work. Additionally, most employees have the misconception that these behaviors pose little to no risk to their companies."
PC Games (Games)

Hellgate London Beta Signups Begin 52

Posted by Zonk from the little-fps-with-your-arr-pee-gee dept.
Via Eurogamer comes the news that Beta signups for Hellgate: London have begun. Folks looking forward to the unique blend of FPS/RPG/MMOG can sign up at the official site. From Eurogamer's blurb: "If you're one of the lucky ones pulled out of the gruesome sorting hat, you'll have a chance to get to grips with the ambitious multiplayer part of the game. You might remember that there are two tiers for this; one is a limited and free version, the other asks for a monthly subscription of [about $14] in return for bundles of exciting bits and pieces - player housing, extensive guild options, enormous raid encounters, loads of items to collect, and more. It forms an integral part of the package developer Flagship Studios will be offering when the full game launches on 2nd November."
Programming

GCC Compiler Finally Supplanted by PCC? 546

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the all-good-things-must-end dept.
Sunnz writes "The leaner, lighter, faster, and most importantly, BSD Licensed, Compiler PCC has been imported into OpenBSD's CVS and NetBSD's pkgsrc. The compiler is based on the original Portable C Compiler by S. C. Johnson, written in the late 70's. Even though much of the compiler has been rewritten, some of the basics still remain. It is currently not bug-free, but it compiles on x86 platform, and work is being done on it to take on GCC's job."
Wireless Networking

Broadcasters Oppose Wireless Net Service 146

Posted by kdawson from the may-look-like-white-space-to-you dept.
kaufmanmoore writes "The AP reports that the National Association of Broadcasters is launching ads to target lawmakers over a push by a consortium of technology companies including Google, Intel, HP, and MSFT who want to use unused and unlicensed TV spectrum (the so-called 'white space') for wireless broadband. Broadcasters are airing concerns about the devices creating interference with broadcast television. In a statement, NAB chairman Alan Frank takes a swipe at technology companies: 'While our friends at Intel, Google and Microsoft may find system errors, computer glitches and dropped calls tolerable, broadcasters do not.'"
Security

Storm Worm More Powerful Than Top Supercomputers 390

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the spamalot dept.
Stony Stevenson writes to mention that some security researchers are claiming that the Storm Worm has grown so massive that it could rival the world's top supercomputers in terms of raw power. "Sergeant said researchers at MessageLabs see about 2 million different computers in the botnet sending out spam on any given day, and he adds that he estimates the botnet generally is operating at about 10 percent of capacity. 'We've seen spikes where the owner is experimenting with something and those spikes are usually five to 10 times what we normally see,' he said, noting he suspects the botnet could be as large as 50 million computers. 'That means they can turn on the taps whenever they want to.'"

Feed Techdirt: If You Want To Stop Your Husband From Using The Internet, Chopping Off His Hand (techdirt.com)

From feed by techdirtfeed
We've certainly heard of family members growing frustrated over the amount of time a spouse or a child was spending on the internet, but you have to admit that it's on the fairly extreme side of the spectrum of responses to deal with this by chopping off the person's hand. However, according to some news reports, that's exactly what one woman in China did to her husband after she felt he wasn't paying enough attention to her. As he sat at the computer in an internet cafe she chopped off his hand. Oddly (and somewhat unbelievably) the guy claims he only noticed when the pointer on the screen stopped moving and he felt a numbness in his hand that had been on the mouse (and then he noticed the blood). It's not clear how he didn't notice his hand being chopped off -- or even how it was chopped off. So, perhaps the story is simply urban legend, but there appear to be a fair number of news organizations reporting that same story. We're hoping that at least one bothered to fact check to find out that it really happened.

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