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Computer, Internet and more...
Online computer blog. Thought about computers, Internet and about much other.
http://gans-blogger.blogspot.com/
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Facebook checks in to location-based services with Places
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg late on Wednesday announced the company's latest creation, a foray into the world of location-based services called Facebook Places.
"This is going to be a really fun and interesting summer," said Zuckerberg at the start of the evening. "We've got a lot of new products coming out." The first of these new products -- Places -- is a smartphone-based service that takes on much of the functionality provided by existing services such as Foursquare and Yelp.
Michael Sharon, Facebook's product manager for Places, demonstrated the service's capabilities, most of which appear functionally identical to the features already popularized by Foursquare. Through an updated version of the iPhone app or by browsing to touch.facebook.com on a mobile browser, users will find a main menu that shows nearby friends and offers a list of nearby places to check into.
Choose a place from the list and tap the "check in" button to check in, or tap the plus symbol to add a new place, and users will see a security notice explaining that they're about to share their location. The service also includes the ability to tag friends who are in the same location and check them in at the same time because, as Sharon explained, not everyone has a smartphone that supports Places yet.
Privacy controls In light of recent concerns over Facebook user privacy, the company made a point of highlighting Places' security features. By default, check-ins are visible to friends only, though this setting is customizable to allow broader sharing or to restrict it down to just a few specific people.
Users will only be able to tag people who are on their friends lists, and then only when they first check into a place. This ostensibly limits the chances of mischief with the service, particularly because the only way to check a friend into a potentially embarrassing location will be to check oneself in as well.
Users will have the ability to remove themselves from any tag, just as with the existing photo sharing service. Additionally, users can choose to opt out of letting others tag them in Places.
Places will also include a reporting feature that will allow users to report location listings that are erroneous, offensive, or out of date. As of Thursday, Facebook will launch a read API that lets people read check-ins and find out more about a place. A write API and a search API are currently in beta in beta testing and will be rolled out to developers soon.
Facebook partners When Sharon finished his overview of the service, he invited representatives from several popular location-based services to the stage to describe their companies' new features that integrate with Facebook Places.
Scott Raymond, CEO of Gowalla; Holger Luedorf, Foursquare VP of mobile & partnerships; Eric Singley, director of mobile products at Yelp; and Keith Lee, CEO of Booyah stepped up to the podium to talk about how they perceive the new service. Unsurprisingly, all four sounded bullish on Places, though at times the tone seemed a bit desperate.
Holger Luedorf of Foursquare used his time at the podium to answer the question on everybody's mind: "This basically validates that we're onto something and that we're adding value," said Lueforf, focusing on the positive. "We're looking forward to working with the Facebook team."
08/19/2010 11:44 AM
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Google targeting Apple iPad with Chrome tablet?
Google Android was always going to be the heart of many Linux-based iPad like devices. That's not news. What is news is that Google and Verizon appear to be working together to create a Chrome operating system-based tablet.
According to a report from the Download Squad, HTC is building the Chrome OS tablet. The device will be sold in partnership with Verizon starting on November 26th. That date is already engraved in every retailer's heart as Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and usually the biggest shopping day of the year.
After those nuggets of news, everything else that's been written about the Google Chrome tablet has been pure speculation. Yet I can believe this core of the story. Google already worked with HTC to deliver one of the first Android smartphones: the currently developer-only Nexus one.
On the carrier side, everyone who pays any attention to telephone company business-buddy relationships knows that Verizon and Google have been working closely together since the announcement of their net neutrality plan. So sure, the business relationships to make a Chrome tablet a reality are in place.
Besides, I think Google wants to jump-start the Android/Chrome tablet market. The very first Android tablets, like the Augsen GenTouch78, have been less than impressive. Just the very hint that Google may be making an iPad competitor already has buzz going.
That last part may also be important in its own right. Lately, Apple and Google have been getting along like cats and dogs. I think Google would be very, very — one more time, with feeling — very happy to put a spanner in Apple's hopes for an iPad Christmas.
08/19/2010 11:42 AM
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Smartphone app would constantly monitor epilepsy patients
Engineers and medical experts have joined forces in Chicago to to create a small prototype device and complex software that can monitor brainwaves of people with epilepsy and then send them from a patient's smartphone to a monitoring center for analysis.
The team hopes that once the techology and software is developed, the data gathered could be used to warn epileptics in real-time that a seizure may be imminent, giving time to quickly stop driving or operating equipment. Data compiled from epileptic children could be interpreted by software in the child's smartphone, which would send a text message to a parent or guardian for help when needed.
"Making an emergency call for a patient in need is one of those huge unprecedented wins from this technology," said Sam Cinquegrani, CEO of Wave Technology Group. Wave software engineers are collaborating on the project with staffers at the University of Chicago Hospital's Pediatric Epilepsy Center.
Part of what inspired the project at Wave Technology is personal. Cinquegrani said he stuttered as a child, which some doctors said may be due to mild epilepsy. "I grew out of it and a lot of children do, but it made an impression," he said.
Cinquegrani said he met leaders in the univeristy hospital's epilepsy center a decade ago, which "gave me an opportunity to give back. We're excited about this because we can make a difference and give some quality of life back to children."
An estimated 3 million people in the U.S. have epilepsy, and 10% of the cases are so severe that patients could have several seizures a day, he explained. "Some people are in danger of dying from it," he added.
Since the new technology is designed to run on mobile devices, brain wave data could be gathered constantly to allow doctors to compute trends that would help in a patient's long-term care. Also, a compilation of data collected from many patients could be stored in a nationwide database where researchers could analyze it to come up with future treatments and cures, Cinquegrani said.
The prototype now in development includes a small 16-channel amplifier - smaller than a credit card -- that would be attached by wires to sensors on a patient's head. In the current design, a hat with a pocket sewn inside would be used to carry the amplifier.
The software would control the gathering of brain wave data by the amplifier and the ability to send it via Bluetooth to a smartphone carried by the patient, and from there to a typical cellular network for transfer to a monitoring center.
08/19/2010 11:41 AM
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Intel-McAfee deal baffles security analysts
Several security analysts today expressed surprise that Intel would purchase security tool maker McAfee, noting that at first glance the move makes little sense for a pure hardware firm.
Intel Thursday agreed to buy McAfee for $7.68 billion, which analysts are calling a premium price tag.
"I'm baffled," said Peter Firstbrook an analyst with Gartner in Stamford, Conn. "I don't see any synergy at all between McAfee and Intel."
At best, he added, the acquisition could be a good venture capital investment for Intel. "And they may get a little cross R&D benefit from the deal as well," he said,
In fact, analysts said, the deal could prove beneficial to McAfee rivals like Symantec, Sophos and Trend Micro, at least in the short term. Each can be expected to move quickly to try and take advantage of a distracted McAfee prior to the deal's closing and during the integration phase, they said. "McAfee is going to be a little bit distracted for sure. It's probably good news for Symantec," and the other vendors, said Firstbrook.
Intel president and CEO Paul Otellini, said this morning that the acquisition was driven by Intel's belief that security has become a fundamental component of online computing.
"With the rapid expansion of growth across a vast array of Internet-connected devices, more and more of the elements of our lives have moved online," he said in a statement, adding that McASfee will bring to his firm "incredibly talented people with a track record of delivering security innovations, products and services ... [that are used to make] the Internet safer and more secure."
Intel said that McAfee will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel reporting into the Software and Services Group.
Firstbrook predicted that efforts to integrate McAfee's security technology into Intel hardware platforms will likely be a time consuming process, and noted that it could have been achieved more chickly and cheaply by simply partnering with security companies.
"It's a different product, it's a different market, it's a different customer base," Firstbrook said. "Intel moves in terms of quarters and years. McAfee has to move daily in terms of responding to [security] threats. One operates much higher in the stack. The other is much lower in the stack."
McAfee's enterprise customers are likely a bit puzzled by the move, said Andrew Jacquith, an analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass.
"McAfee customers in many cases have reasons to be worried, and not just because of this deal," he said, noting that many users are already upset with McAfee over a flawed security update that crippled thousands of corporate PCs.
"In the wake of McAfee's DAT issue many customers were already looking for other suppliers," he said. Uncertainty over Intel's plans for McAfee "may accelerate that trend," he said.
Intel's purchase, though puzzling to the analyst community, is not the first time that a hardware company has purchased a security vendor.
For instance EMC purchased RSA in 2006, and IBM has gained security tools from Rational, Ounce Labs and WatchFire in recent years, Just this week, Hewlett-Packard said it had purchased Fortify, an application security vendor, for an undisclosed amount.
Pete Lindstrom, an analyst with Spire Security in Malvern, Pa., did say that the deal could help Intel diversify its business over the long term. "Intel is a big company flush with cash looking for ways to diversify. It's no secret Intel is interested in services, and McAfee has some interesting security services in the cloud," he said.
08/19/2010 11:37 AM
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Nook e-reader software ready for iPhone, iPod Touch
Barnes & Noble today released free Nook e-reader software for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, along with updates to Nook software for the iPad that provide content rating capability and more.
The bookseller also sells a Nook e-reader device, but it has always focused on making its collection of 1 million e-books available on other readers and computer platforms, a strategy that not all of its competitors have followed. The company said today that it plans to continue to add support more platforms and devices in the future, but it didn't provide further details.
Barnes & Noble said it designed the Nook iPhone software to take advantage of the iPhone 4's high-resolution Retina display by maximizing e-book cover art and text. The software does work with earlier models of the iPhone and the iPod Touch as well, however.
Nook software is unique in that it allows customers to share certain e-books with other Nook software users for up to 14 days. Nook software is available for desktops and Android smartphones, as well as iPads and now iPod Touch and iPhone devices.
The update to the earlier-released iPad app provides a feature called "Rate" that allows users to rank their books by scoring them on a scale of one to five stars.
08/18/2010 11:43 AM
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Nook e-reader software ready for iPhone, iPod Touch
Barnes & Noble today released free Nook e-reader software for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, along with updates to Nook software for the iPad that provide content rating capability and more.
The bookseller also sells a Nook e-reader device, but it has always focused on making its collection of 1 million e-books available on other readers and computer platforms, a strategy that not all of its competitors have followed. The company said today that it plans to continue to add support more platforms and devices in the future, but it didn't provide further details.
Barnes & Noble said it designed the Nook iPhone software to take advantage of the iPhone 4's high-resolution Retina display by maximizing e-book cover art and text. The software does work with earlier models of the iPhone and the iPod Touch as well, however.
Nook software is unique in that it allows customers to share certain e-books with other Nook software users for up to 14 days. Nook software is available for desktops and Android smartphones, as well as iPads and now iPod Touch and iPhone devices.
The update to the earlier-released iPad app provides a feature called "Rate" that allows users to rank their books by scoring them on a scale of one to five stars.
08/17/2010 11:43 AM
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Gateway releases 16-inch MC series laptops
Gateway on Monday released its first 16-inch laptops, the MC7801u and the MC7803u. With a 16:9 aspect ratio screen, 16-inch (and 18-inch) models are beginning to emerge. Unlike traditional 16:10 laptop displays, a 16:9 screen matches the ratio of movies and HD content. Similar to the redesigned MacBook, the display on Gateway's MC series laptops features a glossy glass overlay that runs edge to edge. The 16-inch screen features a 1366x768 resolution; you'll need to bump up to an 18-inch model for 1080p playback. The $950 MC7801u features a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T5800 CPU, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, 64-bit Vista Home Premium, and a 320GB hard drive. So what don't you get on this sub-$1,000 laptop? You miss out Intel's latest Centrino 2 platform, and the laptop relies on integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics. A second model in the 16-inch MC series, the $1,000 MC7803u, will feature a dedicated 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 graphics card. Providing the MC models with a distinctive look, a thin pleather strip runs down the middle of the lid. The lower-end MC7801u features a burgundy lid, and the higher-end MC7803u features a black lid. Other features include HDMI and VGA ports, backlit keyboard and multimedia controls, Webcam, DVD burner, Draft N Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 2.0 ports, and ExpressCard and media card slots. The Gateway MC7801u is being sold through Best Buy and is included in our holiday retail laptop roundup. Look for our review next week.
10/22/2008 01:17 AM
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UPDATE 1-Dell's China sales up 30 pct so far this year
Computer maker Dell (DELL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has seen 30 percent sales growth in China and Hong Kong so far this year, in line with recent years, although it faces near-term uncertainties, a senior executive said on Wednesday. "Honestly, how things will turn out next year is hard to say," Alex Yung, Dell China vice president, told Reuters before a presentation to reporters.
"We don't know what kind of policy the Chinese government will come up with. If they continue to encourage domestic consumption, we wouldn't be too worried," he said.
"And also if the Chinese banks are not pulled too far (into global financial turmoil), we wouldn't be too worried."
The company's 30 percent sales growth in China so far this year compares with 30 to 40 percent growth over the last five to six years, he added.
Dell, the second largest computer maker after Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said last month that slow demand had spread from the United States to Europe and Asia, and had not rebounded as expected after the summer lull. In August, it posted a steep drop in second-quarter profit, saying that companies were becoming more conservative in spending.
It has said it would realign its business to boost competitiveness, cut headcount, and invest in infrastructure and acquisitions.
Yung told reporters on Wednesday that the company was seeing a mixed performance in various sectors of the market in China, with a particularly major impact on demand from export-oriented small companies, which have been hurt by the global economic slowdown.
Continued
10/22/2008 01:15 AM
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Apple Unlikely To Sell Cheaper Computers
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs on Tuesday said the company is unlikely to start selling low-priced computers, despite the global economic slowdown, and has no plans to enter the emerging mini-notebook market or to build a variety of iPhone models.
Jobs made an unusual appearance at the teleconference the company holds with financial analysts after releasing quarterly earnings. Apple on Tuesday reported that profits rose to $1.14 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 27, as sales increased 27%, driven primarily by iPhone and Mac computer sales. The company also said that it had surpassed during the quarter its goal of selling 10 million iPhones this year.
In answering analysts' questions, Jobs said the company is prepared for the economic slowdown with a loyal customer base that's likely to delay purchases rather than turn to competitors, a successful product portfolio that offers strong value for the money, and $25 billion in the bank.
While Apple could get "buffeted around by the [economic] waves a bit," Jobs said he was confident the company would do well in the slowdown. "I think this economic downturn will present some extraordinary opportunities for companies with cash," he said.
Asked whether he would consider returning some of the cash to investors, Jobs dodged the question, but indicated that the company would prefer to invest the money in its business during the downturn. "It's not burning a hole in our pockets," Jobs said of the money stash. He also declined to say whether Apple would use the money for acquisitions.
As to selling cheaper computers to attract consumers with thinner wallets in a slow economy, Jobs said that wasn't a strategy the company would pursue, preferring instead to beat the competition on features within the high-end market.
"What we want to do is deliver an increasing level of value for customers," he said. "We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk, and our DNA won't let us do that."
One new market Apple would stay out of for the time being is for so-called "netbooks," defined as sub-$500 notebooks with displays 10 inches or smaller and running a full PC operating system. Most of the major PC makers are offering such machines as second or third computers for people looking to check e-mail or browse the Web on the road.
"That's a nascent category that, the best that we can tell, not a lot is being sold," Jobs said. "We'll wait to see how that nascent category evolves, and we've got some pretty interesting ideas if it does evolve."
In the meantime, Apple has the iPhone, which can browse the Web from anywhere on a cellular network and fit in your pocket, Jobs said. Asked whether he would consider making a variety of models, like other mobile phone makers do with their products, Jobs said Apple plans to stay with one iPhone and make it a strong platform for software that would differentiate the product from rivals'.
Read more
10/22/2008 01:12 AM
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Computer security systems vulnerable to new attacks
New York: A new category of computer attacks may compromise memory systems touted as foolproof, particularly in laptops, a recent study has found.
The study, by researchers at Princeton, found these attacks overcome "disc encryption," a broad set of security measures meant to protect information stored in a computer's permanent memory.
The researchers cracked widely-used technologies like Microsoft's BitLocker, Apple's FileVault and Linux's dm-crypt.
They described the attacks in a paper and video published on Thursday on the web.
The team said these attacks are likely to break through other disc encryption systems because these technologies have similar structural features.
The attack is particularly effective against computers that are turned on but are locked, such as laptops in "sleep" or hibernation mode.
One effective countermeasure is to turn a computer off entirely, though in some cases even this does not guarantee protection.
"We've broken disc encryption products exactly when they seem to be most important these days: laptops that contain sensitive corporate data or personal information about business customers," said Alex Halderman of Princeton's computer science department.
Halderman's Princeton collaborators included graduate students Nadia Heninger, William Clarkson, Joseph Calandrino, Ariel Feldman and Professor Edward Felten of the Centre for Information Technology Policy.
The findings demonstrate risks associated with recent high-profile thefts, including a Veterans Administration computer containing information on 26 million veterans and a University of California, Berkeley laptop that contained information on more than 98,000 graduate students and others, said Felten.
The team wrote programmes that gained access to essential encryption information automatically after cutting power to machines and rebooting them.
"This method is extremely resistant to countermeasures that defensive programmes on the original computer might try to take," Halderman said.
link
10/20/2008 08:25 AM
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Needy schools a priority in computer rollout
ALL secondary schools will be able to apply for commonwealth grants from March next year to boost their computer resources, but the most needy schools will be given priority.
Federal cabinet yesterday signed off on Labor's ambitious $1billion computer initiative, the first election pledge to be approved by the Rudd cabinet.
Deputy Prime Minister and federal Education Minister Julia Gillard said that under the program every secondary student in Years 9 to 12 would have access to computers and other information technology resources.
Ms Gillard said a million Australian students would benefit from the technology fund, the first step in the Rudd Government's education revolution.
"World-class ICT in schools will make a real and sustainable change in the way teaching and learning are delivered in classrooms across Australia," she said in a statement.
The fund will allow each school to apply for up to $1 million, depending on enrolments and existing technology. Funding can be used to buy computers, digital projectors, interactive whiteboards and other equipment.
"The Rudd Government will work with the school systems in every state and territory to identify schools that have the highest priority in terms of need, and assist them in making applications to the fund. Over four years, all secondary schools will have access to the fund," she said.
Ms Gillard said visits to secondary schools by Labor MPs since the election had revealed a desperate need for an increase in computer and internet access.
"Unfortunately, they found too many Australian schools don't have adequate internet access, some don't have internet access at all," Ms Gillard said after the cabinet meeting in Brisbane yesterday.
"Too many schools don't have enough computers for senior secondary students."
Ms Gillard said she was concerned that technology aids such as interactive whiteboards and digital projectors were missing from many schools.
"Today, cabinet has agreed that we will implement our $1billion fund to bring computers to Years 9 to 12 students in each Australian secondary school," she said.
An audit will be launched to establish existing resources in schools, and the Government will begin discussions with state and territory governments and independent and Catholic schools to ensure the rollout of funding.
"In the course of this financial year, there will be expenditure of $100 million in grants to schools to assist them with getting computers, internet access and other information technology aids," Ms Gillard said.
10/12/2008 08:44 AM
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Dell Will Sell Computers at Best Buy
DALLAS (AP) — Dell Inc. is venturing farther from its direct-to-consumer sales model and will start selling computers at Best Buy stores in January.
Analysts say Dell must expand its presence in stores because consumers increasingly see computers as an extension of their personality, and want to touch them before buying.
Dell built its business around selling personal computers directly to customers over the phone or Internet, but it has been cutting deals with retailers as growth of PC sales slowed and Dell's U.S. consumer revenue declined. It fell 26 percent for the six months ended Aug. 3, compared to the same period a year earlier.
The company lost its spot as the world's No. 1 computer maker to Hewlett-Packard Co. late last year, and HP has stretched its lead since then.
Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said Thursday that Best Buy Co. will sell Dell's XPS and Inspiron notebook and desktop computers at more than 900 stores.
Best Buy complements Dell's U.S. retail lineup. The company already sells modestly priced PCs in about 3,000 Wal-Mart stores and targets small-business owners with sales at 1,400 Staples Inc. stores.
Michael Tatelman, a vice president for Dell's consumer business, said Best Buy gives his company access to a big audience of shoppers looking for machines for gaming, music and photography.
The computer maker, however, will miss the pre-Christmas sales traffic at Best Buy.
That suggests negotiations with Best Buy were difficult, said J.P. Gownder, a technology marketing analyst for Forrester Research Inc.
"Gosh, it would have been nice to have this available about a month ago so they could have taken advantage of Black Friday," he said, referring to the traditionally heavy retail traffic the day after Thanksgiving.
Tatelman responded that Dell wrapped up the Best Buy deal sooner than expected, and "We've got Wal-Mart and Staples available for the holiday season."
With the Best Buy agreement, Dell machines will be sold in nearly 10,000 stores around the world. Dell has deals with Bic Camera Inc. in Japan, Gome stores in China and Carrefour Group and Carphone Warehouse PLC in Europe.
For many years, Dell resisted selling computers in stores out of fear it would dilute the company's image of building affordably priced machines to the customer's specifications. The direct-sales approach was a success with business customers and seemed to work well with consumers, too.
But consumers now are more interested in style and computers that match their personality, a development that has helped HP and other brands that are readily available in stores, Gownder said.
"This is very overdue," he said. "Even if this cannibalizes some of (Dell's) direct sales, they'll be able to compete head-to-head for market share, because right now they're getting their lunch eaten by HP. Dell had to make this move. They're hemorrhaging in the consumer market."
Richard Shim, an analyst with IDC, said selling through retailers is risky because Dell must rely on store salespeople instead of its own. But he said there's a good chance Dell's offerings will stand out in shelves already crowded with machines from HP, Toshiba Corp., Apple Inc., Sony Corp. and others.
"They have the brand name, they're viewed as being a good value, and they can pass on the advantages of being as big as they are," he said.
Shim added that Dell must continue to produce innovative, attractive machines and change its marketing to appeal to consumers.
Dell has added colors and slimmer profiles to its Inspiron and XPS notebooks in a nod to consumer tastes. It has also beefed up high-performing machines to entice gamers.
Dell has also started to tweak its advertising, getting away from a longtime fixation on price.
New print ads feature Victoria's Secret model Karolina Kurkova. A television spot shows old machines exploding in slow motion, leaving only a new XPS One, and ends with the tagline, "Dell. Now available in beautiful."
From Best Buy's perspective, the deal with Dell adds another name to the chain's lineup of PCs.
Dave Morrish, a Best Buy senior vice president, said adding Dell would give its customers unprecedented choice in buying a computer.
Shares of Dell rose 64 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $24.95, and Best Buy shares gained 89 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $52.71.
10/07/2008 08:44 AM
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Officer Charged With Illegal Computer Use
MADISON - Town police on Tuesday arrested one of their own, charging him with illegally using police computers to track down information on various women, including his ex-wife and current and former girlfriends.
Officer Bernard Durgin Jr., a seven-year veteran of the Madison Police Department, was also suspended without pay on Tuesday by Chief Paul Jakubson for neglect of duty, conduct unbecoming an officer and other violations of department policy related to a separate incident.
Durgin already had been suspended with pay since early August, after a confrontation between New Haven police and a member of the Poor Boyz motorcycle club outside a bar. Durgin, according to police, was wearing the East Haven motorcycle club's colors and represented himself as an on-duty Madison police officer. Jakubson said Durgin had called in sick that day.
Officer Bernard Durgin Jr.
As a result of the investigation into the New Haven incident, Jakubson placed him on unpaid leave. Both the internal and criminal investigations into that incident are ongoing.
Durgin, a resident of East Haven, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
In the computer-use case, Durgin was released Tuesday on $75,000 bail for an appearance in Superior Court in New Haven Oct. 16, police said.
That charge involves Durgin's alleged efforts to obtain private and personal information about women he met while working part-time as a security guard at Yale-New Haven Hospital. According to the arrest affidavit, Durgin made 34 separate inquiries about 17 people between Feb. 17, 2006, and July 14, 2007, using the computer in his cruiser to access the networks police use to obtain information about suspects.
In most cases the people were women with whom he had no more than a passing acquaintance. He also used the system to find out about his current and past girlfriends, his ex-wife and her family, a former fiancée and her partners and family, police said.
Police spoke to the human resources department and the head of protective services at Yale-New Haven and interviewed several of the women.
Durgin's arrest on a felony charge of computer crime, which covers a wide range of possible activities, came about as the result of the investigation into the August incident. Durgin had called a fellow officer, investigators said, and asked if he would look up information on someone using his cruiser's computer.
The officer pretended his computer was not working. A week earlier, he said, "Durgin had told me that his fiancée left him for another guy and that [Durgin] was going to try and find out who that guy was," according to the arrest affidavit. Police began looking into other inquiries Durgin had made.
Police use various information systems, including the Connecticut On-Line Law Enforcement Communications Teleprocessing system, the National Crime Information Center and the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System. It is a clear violation of policy - and illegal - for police to use those systems for personal reasons.
On Aug. 5 about 12:30 a.m., on a night when he had called in sick for the midnight to 8 a.m. shift, Durgin showed up outside a Temple Street bar in New Haven after an altercation between a suspect and New Haven police, according to Jakubson, who referred to the incident in a suspension letter given to Durgin Tuesday. Durgin reportedly showed his badge and told officers at the scene he was on the job with Madison police. Instead of assisting the other officers, Durgin interceded "on behalf of a convicted felon who had been violently resisting arrest," the chief wrote.
Durgin's actions "caused the investigating officer in the incident to relate deep concern about the display of motorcycle gang `colors'" by Madison police, Jakubson wrote.
10/10/2007 01:04 PM
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At Microsoft, seeking the next billion computer usersBill Gates and Steve Ballmer got Microsoft its first billion customers.
Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer got Microsoft its first billion customers. It's Will Poole's job to get the next billion.
Poole, who co-leads Microsoft's emerging-markets push, is chartered with enabling the company's goal of allowing 1 billion more people to access computing technology by 2015.
The company has a number of efforts under way in the area, from the Starter Editions of Windows XP and Vista, to shared computers for classrooms, to research into turning a cell phone into a low-cost computer by connecting it with a large display. Poole said the last effort, which has garnered a fair bit of interest, is moving from the drawing board to reality.
"We've got it in development in China right now," he said during a recent meeting with CNET News.com reporters and editors. "We've got a manufacturing partner signed on with us and our group in Beijing is working quite hard on it. It'll be in trials I think within a year, and we'll see how people respond to it."
In the meeting, Poole talked about Microsoft's approach, as well as some of the challenges, which stretch well beyond the fact that many people can't afford the latest technology. In actuality, relevance and accessibility are bigger hurdles for the world's poor, Poole said.
When I started looking at this about five years ago, I thought that affordability was the biggest challenge. It turns out that affordability is actually the third on the list of issues. The first one turns out to be relevance.
Q: How can Microsoft reach people who historically have not been users of its technology?
Poole: Let me begin by clarifying the difference between emerging markets and emerging segments. An emerging market is what people typically think about--such as Brazil, Russia, India and China. The other includes very large developing economies. Of course there are many people in those countries who do not have very good access to technology. At the same time, we look more broadly at a concept called emerging segments...people who do not have access to technology in whatever market they're in.
So what do you do to reach those people? There are obviously people who can't afford technology here in the United States, as well as in our neighboring countries and in emerging markets.
Poole: There are three primary areas where we can help people realize social and economic opportunity through technology. Transforming education is one. The second one is looking at fostering local innovation, and the third one is enabling jobs and opportunities.
When I travel around the world I see the power of the PC to bring people new opportunities--either to have skills that they can apply to get better jobs to earn more money, or to take a disadvantaged person who simply could not get a job at all because of a handicap.
What are some of the technologies that you guys are working on that can really help beyond the economic issues that are in play?
Poole: You bring up a very good point. When I started looking at this about five years ago, I thought that affordability was the biggest challenge. It turns out that affordability is actually the third on the list of issues. The first one turns out to be relevance. That means bringing a product to market that really meets the needs of somebody in an emerging segment--be it in rural India or in urban China or down the street, here in San Francisco. Are we building a technology that is relevant to the specific needs and problems that they have?
The second thing is to look at whether the technology is accessible to them. Can they find a place to buy it? Can they get support? Can they get broadband connectivity to bring them into the world of the Web? And then the third thing is affordability.
So, for example, in Asia we focus a lot on education because that's a very high priority there. In Latin America, we focus a little bit more on the jobs and opportunities and helping people get better jobs through the use of software technology. So there's a variety of different technologies we'll bring to the market, depending on the specific needs of local people.
I've seen a lot of interesting demos from across the company of some different approaches. One of those is called MultiPoint, where it's basically an entire classroom using one computer. Can you talk a little about how that works?
Poole: MultiPoint came from Microsoft Research India. They had sent people out to see what kids were doing with PCs in schools. What they found was that kids tended to be gathered around a PC and (watching) one person do their thing and then they took turns every five minutes or so. It was really not very engaging. So they developed this technology called Microsoft MultiPoint, which enables an application to be built that lets multiple mice be used with a different cursor for each kid. So one kid can be solving a math problem in one part of the screen while another one is solving a math problem on another part of the screen.
They basically can be time-sharing the screen and working collaboratively. What we found is that not only do they get to be more engaged with what they do on the PC...but they help each other. That's turned out to be something that's very beneficial from an education perspective. The kids are engaged and collaborating to solve a problem.
A lot of people think that for much of the world the first computing device that people use won't be a PC. It'll be some sort of mobile device. Obviously, that's an area that Microsoft has spent some time on, but it's a little bit further from its comfort area. What are you doing in the mobile space as far as non-PC devices?
Poole: Well, we certainly agree that the first computing device which will be used by many people around the world will be a phone. You see this happening in emerging segments all around the planet today. Mobile phones are really just taking off as the prices come down and the access is going up. We think that there are some interesting things to do to help make the mobile phone become a better device.
How close is that to being a product? You take the phone that people are already getting, hook it up to the TV they already have and you've got a computer. The phones that we use today in the U.S. certainly are capable of that from a technology perspective. How close is that?
Poole: Well, it's still got a ways to go. We've got it in development in China right now. We've got a manufacturing partner signed on with us, and our group in Beijing is working quite hard on it. It'll be in trials I think within a year and we'll see how people respond to it. It's a new concept in the sense of trying to bring together PC and phone technology in a lower-cost device. It's not something that you're going to see a businessperson in a developed market using while walking down the street. We're trying to really target the needs of a broader population and so we're very excited about the opportunity there, but time will tell.
Obviously, Microsoft is not the only company looking at how to get computing devices into the hands of more people across the globe. The project that's gotten the most attention is the One Laptop Per Child project. What do you make of a program the group is launching in which people in the U.S. can buy one of the laptops for their own use, and then a second computer would go overseas?
Poole: It's an interesting way to get people involved in this challenge that we all see, which is how do you effectively apply technology to education. I'll be very interested to see how it comes out as well.
How important is it that that first device people use be running a Microsoft operating system versus Linux or another operating system?
Poole: Interestingly enough, we don't see that as much of a battle. The battle is around nonconsumption or around buying a new two-wheeled motor vehicle as opposed to buying a PC for the home...Clearly, we have an interest in having our software used and we think that the value that we offer is very deeply desired--particularly as people get into more of the business world...But our primary goal is around just getting technology to be adopted.
10/10/2007 01:02 PM
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With a little bit of care, you can maximize the battery life
Your New Notebook
Be sure to fully charge your portable when you plug it in for the first time, and then run Software Update to ensure you have the latest software. Apple periodically releases updates that may improve battery performance.
Standard Maintenance
For proper maintenance of a lithium-based laptop battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her MacBook Pro on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge. This keeps the battery juices flowing. If on the other hand, you use a desktop computer at work, and save a notebook for infrequent travel, Apple recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month. Need a reminder? Add an event to your desktop’s iCal.
Long Term Storage
If you don’t plan on using your notebook for more than six months, Apple recommends that you remove and store the notebook battery with a 50% charge. If you store a battery when it’s fully discharged, it could fall into a deep discharge state, which renders it incapable of holding any charge. Conversely, if you store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may experience some loss of battery capacity, meaning it will have a shorter life. Be sure to store the ejected battery at the proper temperature. (See “Notebook Temperate Zone.”)
Optimal Setting
You can choose to use your Apple notebook in a way that maximizes its battery life.
Energy: The Energy Saver control panel offers several settings that determine power levels for your PowerBook. Your portable knows when it’s plugged in, and runs accordingly. When on battery power, it will dim the screen and use other components sparingly. If you change this setting to maximize performance, your battery will drain more quickly.
Brightness: Dim the screen to the lowest comfortable level to achieve maximum laptop battery life. For instance, when watching a DVD on an airplane, you may not need full brightness if all the lights are off.
AirPort Wireless: AirPort consumes power, even if you are not using its features to connect to a network. You can turn it off in its control panel to save power.
Bluetooth Wireless: Likewise, you can turn off Bluetooth to maximize your battery life, as it also consumes power when not in use.
Applications and peripherals: Disconnect peripherals and quit applications not in use. Eject CDs and DVDs if not currently accessing them.
08/25/2007 03:32 AM
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IBM 73P4485 72W Slim AC/DC Combo Adapter
IBM 73P4485 72W Slim AC/DC Combo Adapter
This is a Brand New IBM/Lenovo Boxed Original Product
Lighten your load when you travel with our new thinner 72W AC/DC Combo Adapter. Get more access to power for your ThinkPad notebook with this AC/DC adapter. Enjoy the convenience of having one power adapter for the office, home or travel. Maintain your power while traveling in your car, or on the plane (where supported) with the DC connector so your system keeps working as long as you do. And, when you arrive, plug into the AC wall outlet at your destination.
Features and Benefits:
• New slim design is 40 percent thinner than our previous model to take up less room when you travel
• AC/DC power means one adapter for office or travel
• 72W output to work with most ThinkPad systems
This option is not compatible with G and Z Series ThinkPad
IBM 73P4485 72W Slim AC/DC Combo Adapter
06/17/2007 03:28 AM
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Yahoo buys RightMedia
As answer to Googles assumption of Doubleclick strengthens now also on-line portal Yahoo in things marketing technology.
On-line portal Yahoo took over the indicator market place RightMedia. So far the enterprise held already 20 per cent of the portions. The “New York Time” numbers the purchase sum on 680 million dollar. With the Deal Yahoo wants to offer competitor Google slogan, to which recently Doubleclick for 3.1 billion dollar in cash bought.
RightMedia operates the indicator market place RMX Direct. Publisher and indicator customers know there indicator places according to an auction principle en and ersteigern. Doubleclick had recently announced to want to develop a similar system.
05/03/2007 08:59 AM
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MySpace increases internationality
On-line contact stock exchange aims with a new Spanish test version at potenzielle new user in Latin America off.
On-line contact stock exchange MySpace expands its offer internationally. The “Financial Time Germany” reports. A recently started test version in Spanish language is to address those approximately 150 million Internet user in Latin America. In Brazil MySpace wants besides a local version of the Website to start, said Peter Levinsohn, Chef of the digital business with the MySpace nut/mother news corporation, the FTD. Also in China MySpace started recently a test version, which is operated under license by a Chinese enterprise.
05/03/2007 08:57 AM
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Universal goods baskets for Shopping market places are considered as future of the E-Commerce
 Shop.com had itself patented its solution now.
The E-Commerce-market place Shop.com had itself patented its goods basket solution OneCart. The technology makes it for the customers possible to buy with different dealers with a only one virtual Warenkorb. In this way consumers must complete only once the order process, all the same like many dealers them products orders.
Universal goods baskets for on-line market places apply with many Branchenenxperten as future of the E-Commerce. Also large portals already recognized that: Yahoo and Amazon have themselves already portions of the so far still privately led enterprise secured.
05/03/2007 08:54 AM
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eBay customer connection wants to strengthen
On-line auction house wants to worry about its best customers strengthened and to double the expenditures for customer connection in the next years.
Small gifts receive the friendship: In the future eBay Top customers can count and - Powerseller on still more gratitude on the part of on-line auction house. “eBay in the next years more than” eBay Marketingchef Harald Eisenächer opposite the technical periodical OnetoOne and quit special effort around Top customers by particularly aufwändige Mailings or Vorabinfos over new features will double, said its expenditures for the customer connection. A service Hotline particularly for the best customers was already furnished. Also the salesmen are to profit to Eisenächer according to of the action: Power Seller are recompenced in the future with smaller gifts instead of with a Einheitsmail.
05/03/2007 08:53 AM
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A half million mobi Domains counted
Years after their introduction the Internet address for mobile telephones its 500.000ste Domain books one and a half.
On-line contents for user of mobile terminals grow: In October 2006 the Domain Provider introduced dotMobi an Internet address, which was particularly for the announcement by contents aligned on mobile telephones - now the consortium announces the registration of the 500.000sten.mobi Domain. Travel offerers took up the Domain for mobile telephones as first, meanwhile also many enterprises from the ranges messages and maintenance mobile content provided and with the special address provided. To date the.mobi Domains is common in 104 countries.
05/03/2007 08:51 AM
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Bertelsmann markets Google Earth competitor
“3D globe” is to become the European answer to Googles geo's application and leave to the user more liberties.
Attack on Google Earth: On behalf of Bertelsmann the software producer bit management developed a European alternative to the prominent geo application. “3D globe” is according to data of Bertelsmann comparable map material to supply with like Google Earth and the user additionally to more liberty with the organization of the operator surface leave. So data bases and search functions can integrate user and be able pictures, clay/tone, video and other information to a region to be indicated. “3D globe” should be able to be used also in the Internet and with a One Click start to serve be particularly simple.
With the introduction on the market of the software Bertelsmann starts also the marketing; Customers for combinations are to be lured with lower prices than with Google Earth.
04/29/2007 01:17 AM
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Google negotiates with DirecTV
The Suchmaschinen Primus Google is to negotiate with DirecTV about the marketing of advertising places, means current rumors. Meanwhile competitor Yahoo already locked his negotiations with Viacom.
After its marketing co-operation with the satellite network operator Dish expands Google its television commitment: How in the Web log „venture Beat is to be read “, the Suchmaschinenprimus negotiates at present also with DirecTV, the largest satellite network operator of the USA. The discussions could drag on however longer than with Dish, since DirectTV must regulate its owner conditions at present, after Corp end past yearly announced news to want to sell its portions at Liberty. With Google and DirecTV employer speaker refused any statement.
Meanwhile Yahoo with the television station Viacom came into the business. The Internet portal, which in February in the USA its Internet Werbebuchungstool Panama launchte, markets immediately search word announcements on 33 web pages of the transmitter, among them MTV.com and VH1.com.
04/17/2007 05:13 AM
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IBM wants to create 3-D-Internet-Standard
After lab of parts of its developer code for the 3D-Welt Second Life put lime trees openly, the technology company IBM works on a general standard for virtual worlds.
In co-operation with the 3D-Welt “Second Life” wants to make the technology company IBM virtual worlds the mass medium. So that this succeeds, the reverse-feed industry needs in the opinion of IBM however a success model similarly the computer language HTML used at present in the Internet. “Virtual worlds do not have a chance to become a mass medium if there are, said no open standards” Herbert Kircher, development boss of IBM Germany, opposite the “Financial Time Germany”. The vision of the future of IBM is it that Web users surfen instead of linear in the Internet to, virtually business entered can, in order to buy books, refrigerators or entertainment electronics there.
04/17/2007 05:11 AM
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2,5 million.eu Domains
The.eu Domain is European-wide the third-most popular Domain, says the European commission.
Enterprises and private users let one year after the introduction register more than 2.5 million addresses with.eu ending. That communicated the European Union commission. Under the European land identifications are only the.de Domain (10.8 million registrations) and the.uk Domain. At the point stands further the ending .com particularly used in the USA, which counts nearly 65 million Internet addresses.
04/17/2007 05:10 AM
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