May, 2008 Issue

You can't take it with you, at least when it comes to your social graph.

Imagine getting an e-mail from a friend or family member with the following subject line: "ITS IMPORTANT YOU GET BACK ME TODAY."

In a variation of a plan it previously shot down, the Federal Communications Commission has proposed that the winner of a newly planned spectrum auction be required to offer free wireless Internet service.

Visitors to Comcast's Internet portal were greeted with a cryptic message for several hours overnight Thursday.

China and the U.S. lead the world as the two biggest sources of Internet attack traffic, according to a report published by the content distribution company Akamai.

The U.S. government is looking into allegations that Chinese officials snagged a laptop left unattended by a top U.S. official there, copied the data and then used it to try to hack into U.S. government computers, according to a report by The Associated Press.

If you are interested in computer hacking, then 2600 is for you. They publish a quarterly magazine, have a weekly radio show on WBAI in New York City, and are holding a conference in July, also in New York City.

People will be able to sign up for flood alerts online as part of a £4.2m deal to bolster the UK's early warning system.

The PostScript era may at last have shuffled off its mortal coil, as the next generation of Adobe's printing workflow and reproduction system for PDF gets set to roll out to OEMs this summer.

Today, Yahoo is giving developers and end users an online "sneak peek" at BrowserPlus, an emerging cross-platform software platform aimed at expanding the kinds of content that run on Web browsers.

The next edition of Windows Server's pre-configured server operating system for small business hit the wires this morning, with both Standard and Premium packages, in 32- and 64-bit editions, available for preview.

Google's U.S. paid click-through rate posted a strong performance in the month of April, while Yahoo and Microsoft gave up ground, according to figures released late Wednesday by ComScore.

Revision3 has investigated the denial of service attack that kept it offline over the Memorial Day weekend and has concluded that anti-piracy group MediaDefender is to blame.

Mozilla is hoping to set a Guinness World Record for the most number of downloads of an application in a day, on the release of its Firefox 3 web browser.

Google has given an update on the progress of its Gears project, which had its first birthday on Wednesday.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his new COO Sheryl Sandberg fielded questions from Kara Swisher at the D6 conference. The pair stayed on message. Zuckerberg has learned to simply state the company goals in answer to almost any question. It shows focus and the savvy of a budding politician. Sandberg brought serious chops to the monetization and marketing discussion.

SAN FRANCISCO--Google showed off working prototypes Wednesday of new possibilities for its Gears project to goose Web browsers' abilities.

While some attendees grumbled that speakers were less than forthcoming, that could most certainly not be said for Rupert Murdoch, who was plenty outspoken in his evening chat.

At its Silicon Valley complex, it's famed for pampering staff with free food and more flavours of smoothie than there are colours in the rainbow, but Google employees closer to home can now feel smug as its London GooglePlex has been named best workplace in the UK.

Adobe Systems is offering two-day trials of three beta applications from its next Creative Suite package.

The IT security industry has come to a frank realisation that the current approach to preventing malware is simply not working. Is whitelisting, which is the reverse of our current approach, the answer?

A group representing Belgian newspaper publishers is demanding that Google pay it up to €49m — some £40m — in damages related to a lawsuit alleging the search giant linked to and cached their news stories in violation of copyright law.

On Tuesday, the Google Mini search appliance had three new features added, as well as support for six additional languages.

The VoIP company Truphone has launched a new service that will enable users to make internet calls over a standard GSM network.

An Indian company, Sobha Renaissance Information Technology (SRIT), has developed contextual search technology that can plug into any basic search engine, including those of Yahoo and Google.

Google will host this week its most important conference yet for external developers, whose applications and mashups the company considers key to its success.

CARLSBAD, Calif.--In an interesting but perhaps unsurprising move, Microsoft plans to add multitouch interface to Windows 7, CNET News.com has learned. The interface will be shown in just a few minutes as part of Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates' keynote at the D6 event here.

Chris DiBona's job--manager of Google's open-source programs--is a balancing act.

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer reminisced about 28 years of working together and addressed a number of topics, including Vista, Yahoo, Google, Windows 7, and search, in an interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at D6.

Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten says Microsoft is spending time on building out the infrastructure for the service and will skip over its regular bi-annual update.

Legitimate Web sites hosting Adobe Flash Player content may be compromised to embed JavaScript that redirects users to a Chinese malware server, says Symantec. Affected versions of Adobe Flash Player include 9.0.124 .0 (latest version) and 9.0.115.0.

Most computer users know they should backup the files on their computer, yet many don't. Why not? Leo Notenboom raised this question recently, see Why don't people back up? No computer techie can answer this question, which is why both Leo and I have to ask. We're computer nerds and, as such, backup is part of our DNA. A techie can't put themselves in the shoes of the millions of computer users that don't backup their computers. We're different.

In spite of all the bad press Windows Vista has had to endure, Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner stands firm on his belief that the operating system is surging ahead and doing better than its predecessor.

A Dutch company and its British partner have re-launched a long-range Wi-Fi technology that's claimed to do most of what WiMax promises, yet is here today and is a fraction of the cost.

Yahoo has filed suit against unnamed "lottery spammers" who tried to fool people into thinking that they won a prize from Yahoo so they'd share passwords, credit card numbers, or other sensitive information.

Just because Google so obviously loves the idea of cloud computing, don't think the company doesn't care about what happens at the other end of the network connection, too.

Viacom's $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information" over the Web, YouTube parent Google said in a legal response to the suit.

What began as paid Wiki hosting service JotSpot, was bought by Google in 2006 and re-launched a year and a half later as Google Sites. Finally, this service is open to the public, not just subscribers.

Plans are set to install the first computer center powered by solar energy in Sierra Leone.

Apple iPhone owners now have the ability to make low cost international phone calls using an existing Web-based "Virtual Mobile Network," whose proprietors hope there's a market out there for iPhone users on a budget.

Web sites that automatically customize themselves for each visitor so they come across as more appealing or simply less annoying can boost sales for online businesses by close to 20%, MIT research says.

A man who posted more than 80 videos of himself and others apparently committing crimes on Google's YouTube video-sharing website has been banned from uploading any more clips or images of himself.

China announced a restructuring plan for the country's fixed-line and mobile operators on Saturday, a final step towards the long-awaited release of 3G (third-generation) mobile licenses.

Despite a lack of pedigree, long-time game developer High Voltage Software have piqued the interest of dissatisfied Wii owners by showing an impressive-looking first-person Wii exclusive.

While speaking in Moscow, Microsoft CEO and Yahoo suitor Steve Ballmer said, "Yahoo was never the strategy we were pursuing, it was a way to accelerate our online advertising business...We will spend money on some acquisitions. You can do a whole lot of things with 50 billion dollars."

Several years ago while still working for Novell, I considered going to work for Microsoft in Europe. (Had I waited long enough, I could have worked for Microsoft while still at Novell, but that's another story, albeit one that is paying off well for Novell.) I thought I could help the company figure out open source and navigate the thorny issues that prevent it from embracing open source.

Mozilla has identified 10 high-priority bugs in Firefox 3.0, three of them pegged "critical," but won't decide until next week whether to release the browser anyway or restart the final stretch by issuing a second release candidate (RC2).

If you are a serious guitar-master wannabe and you want to focus on the tune of Brian May's guitar and don't want to hear Freddie Mercury's voice and Roger Tailor drumming in Queen songs, then this may be what you have been looking for.

Videos and games available for download online are to be given age classifications under a new plan from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

Microsoft Friday said it will update its popular Desktop Optimization Pack with additional virtualization software now that its acquisition of Kidaro has been finalized.

Egypt will host the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' 33rd International Public Meeting in November, after Kenya lost the bid on security grounds.

WiMax operator Freedom4 has bought a UK Wi-Fi roaming services provider called Bozii.

BT will soon offer all its business-hub users the chance to become Wi-Fi hotspots for their visitors and neighbours, the firm revealed on Wednesday.

Anyone who trolls eBay with regularity has probably gotten used to seeing the odd object up for sale now and again. But the Saturday story of a German pair offering their 8-month-old for purchase on the site may end up topping more than a few creepiest-ever-on-eBay lists.

Twenty-six countries have united to form a global cyber-security group: the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-Terrorism (Impact).

A member of an online piracy group has been convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and faces up to five years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

For the first time ever, the federal government has successfully won a jury verdict against someone accused of illegally downloading music, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Microsoft's Live Search Team is ending its book search efforts, according to a blog post Friday. Its Live Search Books and Live Search Academic sites will be discontinued next week, and books and academic publishings will show up in regular search results rather than separate sites.

Spammers will do just about anything to get their e-mail through corporate and desktop filters. According to MessageLabs, they're now using Google Docs, a perfectly legitimate way to publish to the Web. Only what they're publishing is the same old wares--this time, it's enhancement pills. This week I talked with Matt Sergeant, senior anti-spam technologist with MessageLabs, who told me how they they've tracking one Google Doc since May 8, 2008.

But some users say Microsoft tech support told them it's Symantec's fault

Eighteen months after its launch, Windows Vista is growing in popularity because of its low power requirements and good security, a senior UK manager for Microsoft has claimed.

Google co-founder Larry Page has said that he respects Yahoo's struggle to remain independent, and there is still a chance that an advertising deal between the two companies could work.

After years of closely guarding the formula for its search algorithms, Google Inc. is opening up a little.

What if you threw out your mouse and laid down a touch-sensitive flat-panel monitor on your desktop?

REDMOND, Wash.--You've heard of BYOB, now get ready for Bring Your Own Laptop.

Fat-pipe penetration in rural areas has outstripped that of urban areas for the first time, according to an Ofcom report.

Google co-founder Larry Page was in Washington Thursday trying to strum up support to open unused broadcast TV spectrum to wireless devices.

Chinese police in the northern city of Shenyang have detained a woman who posted a video filled with angry comments directed at victims of the devastating earthquake that rattled Sichuan province last week.

I can't say for certain that ISPs, online advertising networks, and other big Web companies are already tracking our Web use and sending us ads and other information based on conclusions they draw from our unique browsing history.

Microsoft is opening up Office to other file formats, slowly but steadily.

Microsoft still wants to be all things to more people in search, but, in the short term, the company would settle for just attracting people when they want to buy products.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is sticking to the company line of give-me-a-piece-of-Yahoo-but-not-the-whole-enchilada.

Dubai: Microsoft's service pack three (SP3) for Windows XP has drawn hundreds of complaints from users who claim the update is wreaking havoc on their computers.

In spite of plenty of programs for data recovery that are on market Disk Doctors Undelete® is a noteworthy piece of software.

Sen. Joe Lieberman wants YouTube and its rivals to delete any videos produced by al-Qaida, other Islamic terrorist groups, and any suspected sympathizers. But because there's no U.S. law requiring deletion--at least not yet--there's not much the onetime veep candidate can do except complain.

Google's top brass are meeting Monday to figure out a response to how Microsoft's new overtures toward Yahoo affect Google's potential ad deal with Yahoo.

Comcast is befriending another peer-to-peer software company in the hopes of finding a way to harness the power of P2P without choking its network.

Google will open its ad network so certified partners can serve advertisements and track ad data--a move designed to make it easier for advertisers to run campaigns across multiple companies' networks.

Electronic Arts announced Monday it is extending its tender offer for Take-Two Interactive Software to mid-June, marking its third extension in its hostile buyout attempt of its rival game maker.

Although better known for her other child, necessity is also the mother of negotiations.

A survey has found an overwhelming majority of developers writing applications for Windows are ignoring Vista in favour of XP or older versions of the Microsoft operating system.

The first release candidate of Firefox 3 was made available to developers on Friday, ahead of the browser's scheduled full release in June.

Software giant Microsoft has claimed user "complacency" is to blame for malware infections, and denied that its Vista operating system is less secure than Windows 2000.

Microsoft announced on Sunday afternoon that it has issued another proposal to Yahoo, calling for a transaction that would not involve the acquisition of all of Yahoo's assets.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin says that anti-Semitism forced his family to emigrate to the United States in 1979 when he was a child.

Microsoft has released three critical patches and one update with a "moderate" rating as part of its monthly "Patch Tuesday" cycle.

Yahoo is letting outside websites use information from its own catalogue of geographic information, thus allowing programmers to employ Yahoo data and services in their own applications.

Owners of some AMD-based computers are finding that the move to Windows XP Service Pack 3 has sent their systems into an endless reboot cycle.

Google has added a new element to its search interface that will let others' websites use geographically linked information.

CBS has agreed to acquire CNET Networks in a deal valued at $1.8 billion, the companies said Thursday.

When you're talking about billions and billions of search queries, each potentially with some keyword-based ads alongside, every few hundredths of a percent of market share is important in the search market.

BURLINGAME, Calif.--Think of it as crowdsourced cartography.

Google is aiming to make an impact in the mobile sector by focusing on web-based applications, super-fast search and location-based services.

The social-networking site MySpace has won a $234 million antispam judgment, according to the Associated Press.

Windows XP users who install the operating system's third service pack will not be able to roll back their versions of Internet Explorer, Microsoft's deployment manager for Internet Explorer 8 has warned.

A Unix developer has discovered and fixed a filesystem bug in Berkeley Software Distribution, a widely used, open-source, Unix-like operating system, discovering in the process that the bug was at least 25 years' old.

Skype has abandoned its efforts to avoid complying with an open-source licence that requires it to provide source code with Linux-based VoIP phones.

Software giant Microsoft is to appeal a fine of €899m (£709m) imposed by the European Commission in February.

Yahoo has acquired Inquisitor in a move to improve how search results appear on Apple computers.

Sun has backtracked on previous plans to release important backup features for its MySQL database under a proprietary licence, following widespread criticism from the open-source community.

Microsoft will launch Worldwide Telescope, a tool for exploring images of the night sky, by the end of May, free to anyone who wants to use it, Microsoft's chairman said Friday.

There will be WiMax coverage across the UK within the next two years, the managing director of Intel Capital EMEA has claimed.

The first beta-test version of the OpenOffice.org 3.0 productivity suite was released on Wednesday, adding significant features such as improved Mac OS X support and support for the OpenDocument 1.2 standard.

Over on Silicon Alley Insider this afternoon, there's a piece about RealNetworks' announcement Thursday that it plans to spin off its games unit.

TorrentSpy intends to appeal a court decision that requires the now defunct search engine to pay $111 million in damages to the six largest film studios, according to the company's attorney.

Consumers are being warned that they may get an ad instead of a music or video file on several file-sharing sites in what security firm McAfee says is the most significant malware outbreak in three years.

Sun officially started its JavaOne developer conference in San Francisco on Tuesday with a series of keynote presentations designed to showcase JavaFX, the company's new rich internet-application technology, due to be launched to developers this summer.

First-week sales of the video game Grand Theft Auto IV made a killing, knocking off records, and blowing away analyst expectations.

Microsoft on Tuesday said it is resuming two major Windows updates that had been halted because of a conflict with one of its own software products.

Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang is reportedly still open to negotiations with Microsoft, if the software giant is prepared to improve its takeover offer.

Microsoft just wasn't willing to pay enough for Yahoo to make the deal worthwhile, the company said Saturday.

Apparently Yahoo wasn't just bluffing with its plan for an ad deal with rival Google.

Yahoo could announce a deal within a week to carry Google search ads, potentially including a nonexclusive arrangement to allay antitrust concerns, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Yahoo has released its Windows Vista beta of its instant-messaging software, adding support for voice chat and cell phone text messages that were missing from the preview version that's been out since December.

Adobe Systems is discussing potential standardization of its Digital Negative (DNG) format for digital images, a company executive has said.