Lucid Geek TechNews

Lucid Geek Reads TechNews

Open Your Eyes...

I am posting Articles with WebLinks of things that I have read.
I hope that you will read them too.

*I will try to update this page daily.

 

Obama tells Chinese students information should be free

By Sumner Lemon

November 16, 2009 02:27 AM ET

IDG News Service - U.S. President Barack Obama spoke out for unrestricted access to information on Monday during a question-and-answer session with Chinese university students in Shanghai.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9140918/Obama_tells_Chinese_students_information_should_be_free

 

November 15, 2009 3:00 PM PST

Hackers create tools for disaster relief

by Elinor Mills

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo may be tough competitors when it comes to Internet software and services, but they are putting their differences aside to build a developer community to tackle bigger picture problems like saving lives in emergencies.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10398073-245.html

 

October 26th, 2009

Survey: cloud interest grows triple-fold; cost may not be main factor

Posted by Joe McKendrick @ 3:00 am

Everyone figures that companies are buying into cloud to save money. A new survey says otherwise. But why are companies adopting cloud?

http://blogs.zdnet.com/service-oriented/?p=3207&tag=col2;topRated

 

Verizon to start forwarding RIAA copyright notices

14 November 2009 16:41 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz

Cnet, citing anonymous sources, is reporting that Verizon will begin forwarding RIAA copyright notices to users accused of downloading unauthorized video, gaming and music content.

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/20387.cfm

 

November 14, 2009 9:25 AM PST

Verizon sending antipiracy notices for Hollywood, too

by Greg Sandoval

Verizon Communications has agreed to forward copyright violation notices on behalf of Hollywood studios, including NBC Universal, multiple sources tell CNET.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10397708-261.html

 

IT admins: we don't need no stinkin' servers

Cloud says shops want clouds

By Timothy Prickett Morgan

Posted in Servers, 15th November 2009 06:02 GMT

Here's a newsflash. A company that rents server capacity for a living and who hosts such questionable customers as El Reg has commissioned a poll of IT shops and found that half of them wish they would never have to buy another server again.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/15/rackspace_no_more_servers/

 

Activists launch online copyright database

Copyright Watch will catalogue international laws

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco

V3.co.uk, 14 Nov 2009

A number of advocacy groups are teaming up for the launch of a new copyright database.

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2253180/activists-launch-online

 

November 16th, 2009

Rupert Murdoch's Google taunts are a bid to unite publishers - content will be king

Posted by Tom Foremski @ 12:31 am

Why has Rupert Murdoch and others at News Corp. spent so much time criticizing Google when there is a simple solution: post a robot.txt file that tells Google and others not to search and index their content?

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Foremski/?p=946

 

Microsoft issues first Windows 7 patches

New OS afflicted by half as many bugs this month as Vista, a third as many as XP

By Gregg Keizer

October 19, 2009 06:51 AM ET

Computerworld - Microsoft patched nine vulnerabilities in Windows 7 last week, five marked "critical," in a move that will require users upgrading to the new operating system to download a security update to keep their PCs secure.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9139527/Microsoft_issues_first_Windows_7_patches

 

Leaked Documents Reveal Anti-Piracy Cash Operation

Written by enigmax on November 15, 2009 

A source inside lawyers Davenport Lyons and their partner DigiProtect has leaked sensitive documents detailing how the companies generated profit from porn. They show how the pair extracted money from alleged file-sharers, how the revenue was split and how individuals were ranked to decide who to chase and who to leave alone.

http://torrentfreak.com/leaked-documents-reveal-anti-piracy-cash-operation-091115/

 

How can the storage industry prevent cloud bursts?

Out of sight, out of mind - but not out of harm's way

By Chris Mellor

Posted in Storage, 15th November 2009 08:02 GMT

Comment If you send your data to the cloud today you might be sure of a big surprise: it could vanish. SwissDisk users know this and T-Mobile Sidekick users know that Microsoft is quite capable of losing their data, too.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/15/trusting_cloud_storage/

 

Google Docs set for 'get rid of' Office moment

Only a year away. Says Google

By Cade Metz in San Francisco

Posted in Applications, 13th November 2009 23:10 GMT

By next year, Google says, its web-happy word processor will be so effective, most enterprises will be able to "get rid of [Microsoft] Office."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/13/google_on_docs_and_office/

 

Switzerland sues Google over privacy

15 November 2009 21:22 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz

Switzerland's federal data protection commissioner Hans Thur has announced plans to sue search engine giant Google over lack of privacy safeguards in the Street View mapping system.

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/20398.cfm

 

Programmers charged in Madoff case

Developers took payoff to cover up Ponzi scheme

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco

V3.co.uk, 14 Nov 2009

A pair of computer programmers have been charged by the US government for their roles in the infamous Bernie Madoff case.

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2253181/programmers-charged-madoff-case

 

Written by Ryan Lawler

Posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 5:41 PM PT

P2P: Villain Or Vilified? Bram Cohen’s Take

When BitTorrent co-founder Bram Cohen was introduced at NewTeeVee’s Video Rights Roundtable this morning, interviewer Schlomo Rabinowitz asked the crowd, “How many people in the audience hate this man?” — and a few people actually raised their hands.

http://newteevee.com/2009/11/11/p2p-villain-or-vilified-bram-cohens-take/

 

Updated Firefox 3.6 beta fixes 190 bugs

15 November 2009 23:04 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz

Mozilla has released the latest update of the Firefox 3.6 beta, fixing a large 190 bugs from the original release.

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/20403.cfm

 

New Flash vulnerability discovered

Web sites could be vulnerable to Flash attacks

David Neal

V3.co.uk, 13 Nov 2009

Researchers at Foreground security have discovered a way to attack browsers that handle Adobe's Flash objects.

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2253145/researchers-warn-flash-issue

 

HttpTorrents: Download Torrents Without BitTorrent

Written by Ernesto on November 14, 2009 

Launched in early 2009, KickassTorrents is one of the fastest growing torrent sites on the Internet. The site has already conquered the hearts of many BitTorrent fans thanks to its user-friendliness, and just recently it partnered with httpTorrents to offer the option to download files over http.

http://torrentfreak.com/httptorrents-download-torrents-without-bittorrent-091114/

 

Does Google Street View racially profile people?

p2pnet news view P2P | Advertising:- Has Google, with its Street View ’service’, inadvertently created a racial profiling system?

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/31157

 

November 11th, 2009

Why IT can't seem to deliver measurable productivity

Posted by Joe McKendrick @ 10:15 am

Are your investments in IT bearing measurable results? Or are the benefits more “feels-right” types of results? Perhaps IT can’t deliver measurable productivity because the measurements are wrong.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/service-oriented/?p=3329&tag=wrapper;col1

 

Microsoft admits Win 7 tool violated GPL

ImageMaster open sourced

By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco

Posted in Software, 13th November 2009 23:11 GMT

Microsoft will soon release a Windows 7 tool under the GPL, after admitting the product violated the terms of the popular open-source license.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/13/microsoft_gpl_violation_imagemaster_apology/

 

Suspicious wife posed as schoolgirl to trap paedophile husband, court hears

A suspicious wife posed as a schoolgirl online to catch her husband chatting to teenagers as he groomed them for internet sex, a court heard yesterday.

By Andy Bloxham

Published: 7:00AM GMT 13 Nov 2009

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6555468/Suspicious-wife-posed-as-schoolgirl-to-trap-paedophile-husband-court-hears.html

 

Taiwanese online hunk lures 20 women into bed

With his dad, who turns out to be him

By Lester Haines

Posted in Bootnotes, 16th November 2009 10:41 GMT

A Taiwanese man has been cuffed for allegedly posing online as a "youthful male model" and persuading up to 20 females to have sex with his father, the China Daily reports.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/16/taiwanese_hunk/

 

Ars Technica Holiday Gift Guide 2009

It's almost that time of year again—snow is falling, turkey day is fast approaching, and "50% OFF!" signs are being printed (because that seems to be happening before Christmas now). If you dread gift hunting for the early-adopter who has it all, the Ars Technica Holiday Gift Guide is here to help with almost 70 geektastic gifts that you gotta have.

By Jon Stokes | Last updated November 15, 2009 11:30 PM CT

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/11/holiday-gift-guide-2009.ars

 

Page last updated at 03:36 GMT, Monday, 16 November 2009

Warning for online money mules

Police chiefs are urging people looking for work during the recession to be alert to online scams that trick them into laundering money.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8361657.stm

 

Fake Verizon 'balance-checker' is a Trojan

By Robert McMillan

November 13, 2009 07:56 PM ET

IDG News Service - Cyber-criminals have started preying on Verizon Wireless customers, sending out spam e-mail messages that say their accounts are over the limit and offering them a "balance checker" program to review their payments.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9140842/Fake_Verizon_balance_checker_is_a_Trojan

 

November 14, 2009 6:34 PM PST

Man allegedly steals bus, posts video on YouTube

by Chris Matyszczyk

Vermont is an interesting place with some very interesting residents. Brigham Young and John Deere are both said to hail from this mountainous state.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10397875-71.html

 

November 13, 2009 5:10 PM PST

Running a contest on Facebook? That'll cost you

by Caroline McCarthy

For Madison Avenue, Facebook just got a little less free.

Last week, the massive social network announced that brands, advertisers, and marketers that want to run contests or sweepstakes on its platform have to go through an approval process first.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10397757-36.html

 

November 15, 2009 9:35 PM PST

IBM launches private business analytics cloud

by Larry Dignan

IBM on Monday is expected to unveil Blue Insight, a massive business analytics cloud that will hold more than a petabyte of data. This internal cloud computing environment will be the basis for future external services.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10398165-92.html

 

November 15th, 2009

Traveling over the holidays? Using free Google Wi-Fi will benefit Climate Savers

Posted by Heather Clancy @ 1:42 pm

Well, if you are obsessive, er committed, enough to need Wi-Fi while you are traveling during the year-end holiday rush that starts with Thanksgiving, Google and Climate Savers Computing Initiative have worked up a way for you to support green IT.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/green/?p=8687

 

November 15th, 2009

Is it OK to use OEM Windows on your own PC? Don't ask Microsoft

Posted by Ed Bott @ 3:00 pm

If Microsoft expects its customers to take license agreements seriously, it has a responsibility to communicate the terms of those agreements to its customers clearly and unambiguously. As I noted earlier this month, Microsoft does a generally poor job of explaining its complicated rules for how Windows licensing works.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1561

 

Nov

15

2009

The reports of P2P’s death remain greatly exaggerated

Written by BruceLidl

It is not often that one gets to see justice, of a sort anyway, happen so quickly.

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/87240/the-reports-of-p2ps-death-remain-greatly-exaggerated/

 

Acer Aspire One D250 with Android

The first netbook with Google's OS

By Tony Smith

14th November 2009 09:02 GMT

Review Installing a second operating system on a PC is nothing new. Plenty of manufacturers have done so before, building a slimline Linux distro into their machines to provide a much more rapid start-up than Windows can manage: full access to the internet within seconds of pressing on power key.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/11/14/review_netbook_acer_aspire_one_d250_android/

 

Laying down tracks on the go with an iPhone and a browser

Multitrack studios first went digital, and now they're going portable. Budding musicians can now lay down overdubs on their smartphones and on the Web, even without springing for GarageBand or ProTools. Ars looks at a pair of the most innovative approaches to recording music on the go and collaborating with others.

By Nate Anderson | Last updated November 15, 2009 10:00 PM CT

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/11/overdubs-on-your-iphoneand-on-the-web.ars

 

Setback for malicious prosecution lawsuit against RIAA

A lawsuit accusing the RIAA and record labels for malicious prosecution was dealt a blow with a judge's ruling that the labels had a reasonable basis for their original legal action.

By Eric Bangeman | Last updated November 16, 2009 6:11 AM CT

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/11/setback-for-malicious-prosecution-lawsuit-against-riaa.ars

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