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Verizon facing 65,000 worker walkout

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:19:03 -0500

Fiber fracas

Mega American telco Verizon Communications is just three days from a possible union strike that would see the company lose 65,000 employees - about a third of its workforce.…

USAF Enlists Shrinks To Help Drone Pilots Cope

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:02:00 -0500

An anonymous reader writes "Flying drones from halfway-across the world used to be considered a cushy military job. But the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have become so dependent on the robo-planes that the Air Force has called in chaplains and psychiatrists to help these remote-control warriors cope. 'In a fighter jet, "when you come in at 500-600 miles per hour, drop a 500-pound bomb and then fly away, you don't see what happens," said Colonel Albert K. Aimar, who is commander of the 163d Reconnaissance Wing here and has a bachelor's degree in psychology. But when a Predator fires a missile, "you watch it all the way to impact, and I mean it's very vivid, it's right there and personal. So it does stay in people's minds for a long time."'"

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Google Translate now sports iPhone version

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:25:00 -0500

Two Google engineers have created an iPhone-specific version of the company's language translation site.

Net Shoppers Bullied Into "Verified By Visa" Program

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:13:00 -0500

bluefoxlucid writes "According to The Register, several banks are forcing users to opt-in to the Verified by Visa optional service by locking their cards if and when they encounter a Verified by Visa participating site and fail to opt-in. Register reader Steve says, 'This seems like a strange way to implement a voluntary system. On most of the retailers' websites there is no clue that you are about to be challenged by Verified by Visa until you attempt to complete the transaction. This means that you trigger the "fraud protection" unintentionally. And when you have located a retailer who doesn't require Verified by Visa to complete a purchase, you can't because your account is on hold.' Further, '[I]n some cases resetting the password is all too easy. Fraudsters know this and go after these credentials which, once obtained, make it harder for consumers to deny responsibility for a fraudulent transaction. Phishing scams posing as Verified by Visa sites have sprung up targeting these login credentials.'"

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Fingerprint Test Tells Much More Than Identity

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:30:00 -0500

Mike sends in the story of a new fingerprint technology with interesting potential for both crime detection and rights violations; there are also intriguing possibilities in fighting cancer. "Using a variation of mass spectrometry called 'desorption electrospray ionization' or 'Desi,' a fingerprint can identify what the person has been touching — drugs, explosives, or poisons, for example. Writing in the Friday issue of the journal Science, R. Graham Cooks, a professor of chemistry at Purdue University, and his colleagues describe how the technique could find a wider application in crime investigations. As it becomes cheaper and more widely available, the Desi technology has potential ethical implications, Cooks said. Instead of drug tests, a company could surreptitiously check for illegal drug use of its employees by analyzing computer keyboards after the employees have gone home, for instance."

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ZFS (and Snow Leopard) to Speed up Solid State Drive Performance?

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:28:22 -0500

Infoworld reports (via MacsimumNews) that Samsung has been working with developers to boost solid state drive (SSD) performance in operating systems. Samsung announced Wednesday that it has been in talks with Microsoft to boost performance in Window...

iPhone references application blacklist, purpose unknown

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:16:00 -0500

An iPhone framework points to an application blacklist on Apple's servers, but questions remain about the mechanism's purpose.

Moneydance 2008r2 finance software released

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:46:00 -0500

Moneydance 2008r2, an update to the personal finance management software, is now available.

Non-Compete Clauses Thrown Out In California

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:45:00 -0500

drfuchs writes "If you signed an employment agreement in California, any non-compete clause in it is null & (void*), says the state Supreme Court of California (ruling PDF). Better still, the San Francisco Chronicle opines that the US Federal courts are likely to fall in line with the decision in the way they interpret California law. (Most other states still have non-compete laws on the books and it's not clear this ruling will affect them.) Turns out it wasn't a high-tech case at all, but a CPA who had worked for the accounting firm Arthur Anderson (now disgraced due to their complicity in the Enron case)."

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Apple challenges Reg to patent duel

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:29:40 -0500

New invention has familiar ring

Apple will fill in some long-awaited missing features from its iPod and iPhone mobile players, a patent application published this week suggests. There's just one problem: Much of Apple's "invention" was dreamed up by Reg readers several years ago - and one embodiment is already on the market.…

8 People Buy "I Am Rich" iPhone App For $1,000

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:02:00 -0500

FsG writes "In the first 24 hours that it was available, eight people bought a completely useless iPhone app for $1,000 a pop. This app does nothing except alert onlookers that you have a lot of money. The developer priced it at $999.99, which is the most you can charge on Apple's store. Apple has since yanked the app (without explanation as usual), while the inventive programmer walked away with $5,600."

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Stretchy 'bucky-gel' promises touchscreen video-stockings

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:01:46 -0500

Interactive nano-Spandex iPants for all

Japanese boffins have developed a material which they believe could be used to make stretchy, highly flexible electronic circuitry. It goes almost without saying that their elasto-conductor miracle sheet is based on fashionable carbon nanotubes.…

Senator slams DHS boss over border laptop searches

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:25:40 -0500

Hey, Chertoff, seize this

A US senator has accused the head of the Department of Homeland security of “blatant mischaracterization” over the searching of laptops at US borders.…

Published Blacklist Blocks Core Location Only?

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:23:05 -0500

DaringFireball.net clarifies that the published blacklist url likely only blocks malicious apps from accessing the iPhone's Core Location functions. Core Location allows applications to detect the user's location through GPS and Wi-Fi triangulation....

MacPractice adds e-prescription support

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:20:00 -0500

MacPractice, the medical practice management software, now supports e-prescriptions through the eRX NOW service.

Microsoft Tries a New Ad Agency

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:17:00 -0500

Diomidis Spinellis writes "An article in this week's Economist outlines Microsoft's marketing response to Vista's travails and Apple's hip Get a Mac campaign. Describing the recent Mojave Experiment as 'Microsoft at its worst,' the article's writer wonders whether hiring a new hot ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, to put together a $300m campaign can make Microsoft look cool. Can money buy you love?"

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Boris boots Transys off Oyster contract

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:04:04 -0500

Nothing to do with failures or cloning, definitely not...

Transport for London and London's mayor Boris Johnson have ended their contract with Transys, the group of companies which provide Oyster cards - the card ticketing system for the capital's buses, trams, some trains and tubes.…

Canon rolls out three new HD camcorders

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:55:00 -0500

Canon has introduced three new HD camcorders to its line, including one that records to internal memory and SDHC cards.

Nearly 50,000 IT Jobs Lost In Past Year

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:35:00 -0500

snydeq writes "Employment statistics from the US Department of Labor show what most IT people have already realized: IT jobs are getting harder to come by. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 13,000 jobs in the information industry were cut in July, bringing the total to 44,000 year over year. An additional 5,000 jobs were lost in telecom this past month. The statistics reinforce a recent survey of top CIOs who indicated that they will be reducing their IT staff over the coming year. According to a staffing research firm, some jobs have gone to outsourcers, while other jobs are simply going away, either due to cost-oriented automation efforts or due to increasing the remaining staff's workload."

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Fujitsu leaks netbook news

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:25:03 -0500

Amilo Mini coming to IFA, Berlin

Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC) has expanded its Amilo PC range with a netbook addition.…

Ahead of the Bell: Anadigics down after warning

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:14:58 -0500

Shares of Anadigics Inc. fell 27 percent in premarket trading Friday after the maker of chips for cell phones and other communications equipment warned demand is slack.

Emcore cuts loss despite manufacturing delays

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:11:59 -0500

Emcore Corp., a maker of components for communications gear and solar panels, nearly halved its loss for the latest quarter despite troubles in the solar-panel business.

Computer Beats Pro At US Go Congress

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:52:00 -0500

Bob Hearn writes "I was in attendance at the US Go Congress match yesterday where history was made: the go program MoGo, running on an 800-core supercomputer, beat 8-dan professional go player Myungwan Kim in a 9-stone handicap game. Most in the audience were shocked at the computer's performance; it was naturally assumed that the computer would be slaughtered, as usual. Go is often seen as the last bastion of human superiority over computers in the domain of board games. But if Moore's law continues to hold up, today's result suggests that the days of human superiority may be numbered." Read below for more details in Bob's account of the match.

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Blood Ties game debuts

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:46:00 -0500

Blood Ties -- a game based on the Canadian television series -- is now available on the Mac.

Reporters ejected after Black Hat network attack

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:34:00 -0500

Three French reporters at the Black Hat security conference were ejected for hacking into the show's press network.

CERN: LHC to fire first proton-smash ray next month

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:31:36 -0500

Hadron headbanger machine chilled to ramming speed

Scientists operating from a hollowed-out lair deep beneath the Franco-Swiss border have announced that their enormous, unprecedentedly powerful 27-kilometre proton cannon will shortly be ready to open fire. To be precise, "first beam" is scheduled for 10 September.…

GPS tracking slapped on laptop recovery service

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:15:22 -0500

Absolute knows where your PC lives

Absolute Software has added GPS tracking to its laptop theft-recovery and asset-tracking service.…

Cogent cuts 2008 revenue, earnings forecasts

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:12:40 -0500

Cogent Communications Group Inc., which provides Internet services to business and other large enterprises, on Friday sharply reduced its projections for the year.

Wind farm wound down on air traffic fears

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:12:29 -0500

Nothing must interfere with Heathrow

The University of Reading is to scale back a planned wind farm just off the M4 because of fears it could interfere with air traffic control radar at Heathrow Airport.…

Cogent loss narrows exceeds Wall St. estimate

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:12:28 -0500

Internet service provider Cogent Communications Group Inc. said Friday it its loss narrowed in the second quarter as revenue grew 19 percent from a year ago.

Vista's Security Rendered Completely Useless

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:08:00 -0500

scribbles89 sends in a story that originally ran in SearchSecurity; it sounds like it could be a game-changer. "While this may seem like any standard security hole, other researchers say that the work is a major breakthrough and there is very little that Microsoft can do to fix the problems. These attacks work differently than other security exploits, as they aren't based on any new Windows vulnerabilities, but instead take advantage of the way Microsoft chose to guard Vista's fundamental architecture. According to Dino Dai Zovi..., 'the genius of this is that it's completely reusable. They have attacks that let them load chosen content to a chosen location with chosen permissions. That's completely game over.'" Update: 08/08 14:23 GMT by KD : Changed the link, as the story first linked had been lifted without attribution.

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Clone dog mistress denies she is 'sex in chains' McKinney

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:42:05 -0500

Reg proposes McKinnon/McKinney extradition deal

The miraculous rebirth of Booger the pit bull has been overshadowed by a row over the identity of the cloned dog’s owner.…

IBM Exec Bemoans Lack of Industry-Specific Linux Apps

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:58:00 -0500

Ian Lamont writes "Bob Sutor, IBM's vice president of open source and standards, used his keynote appearance at LinuxWorld to complain about the lack of industry-specific open source apps. Despite some encouraging signs in the educational field with Sakai, Sutor said that he was 'tired of waiting' for specialized applications to appear in other sectors, adding that the proliferation of different licenses — and changing legal requirements for using the same software over time — is holding some businesses back from using open source applications."

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Aussie cops reopen 7,000 DNA convictions

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:43:11 -0500

Melbourne police admit errors

Melbourne Police have withdrawn charges against a suspected double murderer, after they admitted that DNA evidence was wrong.…

Project Kangaroo gets more time to defend anti-trust claims

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:19:30 -0500

Probe into commercial iPlayer delayed

The Competition Commission said today that its anti-trust investigation into Project Kangaroo, the joint internet TV venture by BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4, will take longer than expected.…