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MIAMI–If you believe the blog chatter, Digg founder Kevin Rose is constantly dealing with a community that threatens mutiny at the drop of a hat, perpetual acquisition offers from everyone from Google to News Corp., and the aftermath of that thumbs-up BusinessWeek cover that made him one of Web 2.0’s most recognizable shaggy-haired poster boys. […]

WASHINGTON–A new Bush administration plan to capture and analyze traffic on all federal government networks in real time is generating privacy worries from congressional Democrats and Republicans alike.

At a hearing convened here Thursday by the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, politicians directed pointed questions to Department …
Original post by Anne Broache and software […]

Making a professional-sounding recording can be expensive, particularly for ensembles (like rock bands) who want to capture at least some semblance of a live performance. Sure, you can get an decent recording with a portable stereo recorder, or a couple of inexpensive mics panned left and right and plugged directly …
Original post by Matt Rosoff […]

Linkbunch is a redirection and shortening service for multiple Web links. The service takes as many links as you can throw at it and puts them together in a “bunch,” so when a user clicks your link they simply come to a link dump with Snap previews of each page. There’s also a simple option […]

(Credit: Afghan Wireless Communication Co.)

Hang up, or else. That’s the Taliban’s message to cell phone companies operating in Afghanistan, whom it suspects of collaborating with NATO to track down its forces.

The displaced theocrats have given the four mobile phone operators in Afghanistan three days to shut
…
Original post by Mark Rutherford and software by Elliott […]

(Credit: Afghan Wireless Communication Co.)

Hang up-or else, is the Taliban’s message to cell phone companies operating in Afghanistan, whom it suspects of collaborating with NATO to track down rebel forces.

The hairy-ones have given the four mobile phone operators in Afghanistan three days to shut down at night-
…
Original post by Mark Rutherford and software by […]

Apple has confirmed a security glitch that, in many situations, will let someone with physical access to a Macintosh computer gain access to the password of the active user account.

The vulnerability arises out of a programming error that stores the account password in the computer’s memory long after …
Original post by Declan McCullagh and software […]

The news for Sprint Nextel just keeps getting worse as the company struggles to rebuild its business and its reputation.
On Thursday the third largest wireless phone company in the U.S. announced a $29.5 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2007 and warned that the company would …
Original post by Marguerite Reardon and software by […]

Beginning January 1, new Department of Transportation rules about lithium and lithium-ion batteries in checked and carry-on baggage in airplanes supposedly went into effect. The announcement generated some fevered commentary at the time. This was in part because the rules were in the form of government writing commonly known as …
Original post by Gordon Haff […]

Over the past decade, video game popularity has grown at an exponential rate. Instead of being the niche market that only a select few cared about, the industry is now worth billions of dollars and has become mainstream.
But as that has happened, video game developers like EA and Take-Two Interactive have become far more […]

The head of Microsoft’s Windows Live Platform Services group offered late Wednesday an early description of services and tools that Microsoft will release at next week’s Mix08 Web conference.

Dave Treadwell is part of a team assembled by Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie and chartered with building a …
Original post by Martin LaMonica and software by […]

DUBLIN, Ireland — Necessity is the mother of invention, but coffee breaks help, too.

In an effort to encourage interaction among researchers, Pat Frain, director of NovaUCD, the incubation and technology transfer center at University College Dublin, had the café in the center’s complex start serving 1 euro cappuccinos….
Original post by Michael Kanellos and software by […]

IT Governance Institute study says 50 percent of U.S., European businesses implement IT governance practices, cites benefits. More businesses across the globe are stepping up their IT governance efforts, with North America and Europe leading the way, according to a study. The “IT Governance Global Status Report…
Original post by Gadgets, gizmos, and […]

Sprint Nextel upped the ante in the $99.99 all-you-can-eat rate plan battle Thursday by introducing a service that includes unlimited voice as well as unlimited data and slew of premium services.
The company announced the new plan called “Simply Everything,” which will give customers unlimited voice as well as …
Original post by Marguerite Reardon and software […]

AMD is leaning increasingly on IBM as it battles with Intel for next-generation microprocessor manufacturing leadership. And the payout to IBM is significant.

AMD fab
(Credit: AMD)
First some background. On Tuesday, AMD announced that IBM had successfully produced a working test chip using next-generation Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV)
lithography for …
Original post by Brooke Crothers and […]

(Credit: Google)
Google Sites was just launched and its target is clear: Microsoft Sharepoint. While it has an uphill battle - security and a lack of complex features that Sharepoint has, for example - its biggest problem is that it doesn’t connect with the content production tools that most people spend their (enterprise) content-producing lives […]

Wii’s lead over PlayStation 3 continues to widen in Japan, with 330,000 Wii consoles sold in four weeks, says Enterbrain. Nintendo’s Wii game console outsold Sony’s PlayStation 3 nearly 4-to-1 in Japan in February as Wii software titles dominated the best seller list, a game magazine publisher said….
Original post by Gadgets, gizmos, and […]

Music Copyright Society and distributor R2G call for site to immediately halt copyright violations and offer compensation. Two industry groups representing China’s local musicians and songwriters have filed a lawsuit against the country’s Web search leader, Baidu.com, accusing it of copyright violation. The move signaled that domestic…
Original post by Gadgets, gizmos, and […]

SpinVox, a U.K.-based voice-to-text specialist that in October introduced v-to-t support for “microblogging” networks such as Twitter, Jaiku, and Pownce, has now launched a plug-in for BlackBerry handsets.

Called SpinVox Voicemail, the service identifies the caller, converts the caller’s voicemail into text or e-mail or both, and …
Original post by Richard Defendorf and software by Elliott […]

Software problems with a 28-mile pilot project send Homeland Security officials back to the drawing board–and cause a three-year delay in plans to seal off the southwestern border of the U.S. WASHINGTON–Technical problems have forced the Bush administration to retool a high-tech “virtual fence” along the U.S.-Mexico border and…
Original post by Gadgets, gizmos, and […]

Software problems with a 28-mile pilot project send Homeland Security officials back to the drawing board–and cause a three-year delay in plans to seal off the southwestern border of the U.S. WASHINGTON–Technical problems have forced the Bush administration to retool a high-tech “virtual fence” along the U.S.-Mexico border and…
Original post by Gadgets, gizmos, and […]

There are lots of things I don’t understand. They make me crazy. But don’t worry, it isn’t contagious.
What I don’t understand
How was Lou Gerstner able to reposition a zillion year-old company like IBM from big iron to services, while Jerry Yang doesn’t even know where to begin reinventing Yahoo!?
Why does my wife clean the […]

There are lots of things I don’t understand. They make me crazy. But don’t worry, it isn’t contagious.
What I don’t understand
How was Lou Gerstner able to reposition a zillion year-old company like IBM from big iron to services, while Jerry Yang doesn’t even know where to begin reinventing Yahoo!?
Why does my wife clean the […]

NetSuite on Thursday is expected to fill out its online development platform, part of its strategy to deliver industry-specific applications through partners.

The newly named NetSuite Business Operating System (NS-BOS) adds to the company’s existing hosted development platform, notably with an integrated code debugger called SuiteScript D-Bug, which will …
Original post by Martin LaMonica and software […]

NetSuite on Thursday is expected to fill out its online development platform, part of its strategy to deliver industry-specific applications through partners.

The newly named NetSuite Business Operating System (NS-BOS) adds to the company’s existing hosted development platform, notably with an integrated code debugger called SuiteScript D-Bug, which will …
Original post by Martin LaMonica and software […]

NetSuite on Thursday is expected to fill out its online development platform, part of its strategy to deliver industry-specific applications through partners.

The newly named NetSuite Business Operating System (NS-BOS) adds to the company’s existing hosted development platform, notably with an integrated code debugger called SuiteScript D-Bug, which will …
Original post by Martin LaMonica and software […]

Updated at 7:40 a.m. PT with Schmidt’s news conference comments.

ORLANDO, Fla.–Search giant Google launched Google Health and announced major industry partners on Thursday, aiming to be the Intuit for personal health care, where people can access all their health information in one spot.

Google Chief

…
Original post by Elinor Mills and software by Elliott Back

Updated at 10:40 a.m. PT with Schmidt’s news conference comments.

ORLANDO, Fla.–Search giant Google launched Google Health and announced major industry partners on Thursday, aiming to be the Intuit for personal health care, where people can access all their health information in one spot.

Google Chief

…
Original post by Elinor Mills and software by Elliott Back

The Bush administration’s plan to outfit the U.S.-Mexico border with a “virtual” fence consisting of sensors, cameras, and drone aircraft is running into technical snags.

Federal officials told a congressional committee on Wednesday that the first phase of the project–consisting of about 100 miles near Yuma and …
Original post by Anne Broache and software by Elliott […]

The Bush administration’s plan to outfit the U.S.-Mexico border with a “virtual” fence consisting of sensors, cameras, and drone aircraft is running into technical snags.

Federal officials told a congressional committee on Wednesday that the first phase of the project–consisting of about 100 miles near Yuma and …
Original post by Anne Broache and software by Elliott […]

Update at 11:50 a.m. PT to clarify judge ruling in subpoena case.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice seeking information about communications between a former top privacy official and Google, which eventually hired the official.

At the time Jane Horvath …
Original post by Elinor Mills and software by […]

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice seeking information about communications between a former top privacy official and Google, which eventually hired the official.

At the time Jane Horvath was named as the Justice Department’s chief privacy and civil-liberties officer in …
Original post by Elinor Mills and software […]

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice seeking information about communications between a former top privacy official and Google, which eventually hired the official.

At the time Jane Horvath was named as the Justice Department’s chief privacy and civil-liberties officer in …
Original post by Elinor Mills and software […]

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice seeking information about communications between a former top privacy official and Google, which eventually hired the official.
At the time Jane Horvath was named as the DOJ’s chief privacy and civil liberties officer in February 2006, …
Original post by Elinor Mills and […]

The existing bandwidth between Asia and North America is crowded. Following FCC approval of a U.S.-China link last month, Google and five other companies have announced a Japan-U.S. link to be completed in early 2010.
The $300 million fiber-optic cable will stretch approximately 10,000 km under …
Original post by Graham Webster and software by Elliott Back

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/microsoft/Microsoft_s_unwitting_court_testimony_No_one_wants_Windows’;
I’m reading through the unsealed court documents, including internal Microsoft emails [PDF, 158 pages], from the federal lawsuit over the “Windows Vista Capable” program. […]

Google is finally launching the wiki it’s been promising since the company acquired Jotspot, 14 months ago (see Dan Farber: JotSpot reincarnated as Google Sites). The service, now called Google Sites, will be rolled out to Google Apps users starting tonight. Oddly, nowhere in the press materials does Google use the word, “wiki.”

Call it […]

Business social-networking site LinkedIn unveiled a redesigned homepage with a number of updates on Wednesday night. It’s the latest step in an ongoing initiative to prove that LinkedIn is more than a glorified address book by encouraging more professional interaction among users.

A look at the new LinkedIn.
(Credit: LinkedIn)
The newly revamped home page, with its […]

MIAMI–The Future of Web Apps conference here hasn’t even started yet, but I’m already sensing a major theme of the weekend: social media really is a whole lot bigger than Silicon Valley.
I was sitting in the lobby of my hotel, writing a couple of blog posts because there’s no in-room Wi-Fi (gotta make some sacrifices […]

MySpace is packing its bags for Kuwait.
The social network, a division of News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media, will be holding a music and comedy event on March 10 for U.S. Armed Forces troops stationed in the small Middle Eastern country. Called “Operation MySpace,” the concert will feature pop acts The Pussycat Dolls and Jessica Simpson, […]

Today is the tenth anniversary of the official death of Apple’s Newton, the world’s first PDA (personal digital assistant). There were pocket computers before the Newton, but the Newton was the first device to target PDA functionality so specifically.

Peter’s MessagePad 2100
(Credit: Peter N. Glaskowsky)

The …
Original post by Peter Glaskowsky and software by Elliott Back

Today is the tenth anniversary of the official death of Apple’s Newton, the world’s first PDA (personal digital assistant). There were pocket computers before the Newton, but the Newton was the first device to target PDA functionality so specifically.

Peter’s MessagePad 2100
(Credit: Peter N. Glaskowsky)

The …
Original post by Peter Glaskowsky and software by Elliott Back

Tough-as-nails Neelie Kroes, the European Union’s head antitrust cop, issued a stern warning to any company planning to blow off the regulatory agency and European antitrust laws.

“If you flee the rules, you will be caught. And it will cost you dearly,” warned Kroes during in press conference Wednesday, …
Original post by Dawn Kawamoto and software […]

Tough as nails Neelie Kroes, the European Union’s head antitrust cop, issued a stern warning to any company planning to blow off the regulatory agency and European antitrust laws.

“If you flee the rules, you will be caught. And it will cost you dearly,” warned Kroes during in press conference Wednesday, …
Original post by Dawn Kawamoto […]

Picnik, one of my personal favorites for editing photos online launched a new array of advanced editing tools a few hours ago. You can read about some of them from our earlier post, or the official announcement over at the company’s blog. The biggest news is that many of the ones that previously required a […]

A view of space from Microsoft's Worldwide Telescope
(Credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft on Wednesday gave TED conference-goers–an audience typically filled with stars like Goldie Hawn or Forest Whitaker–a close-up of real celestial bodies with its new virtual telescope.
Microsoft demonstrated long-awaited software called Worldwide Telescope to an audience at …
Original post by Stefanie Olsen and software by Elliott Back

Yahoo stated the obvious in its annual report on Wednesday by saying Microsoft’s bid to buy the company is distracting executives and employees.

“The review and consideration of the Microsoft proposal…have been, and may continue to be, a significant distraction for our management and employees,” Yahoo said in …
Original post by Greg Sandoval and software by […]

The Alps, one of the bands that Slicethepie members can buy shares in.
(Credit: Slicethepie.com)

A lot of people have talked about selling shares in bands as a means to help finance promising musicians and a means to do away with record labels. In Great Britain, a company called
…
Original post by Greg Sandoval and software by […]

The European Union gave its official blessing to the union of Acer and Packard Bell Wednesday.

After reviewing the $48.5 million acquisition of Packard Bell by Taiwan-based Acer, the European Commission (the executive branch of the EU) ruled that the two companies as a combined entity would pose no …
Original post by Erica Ogg and software […]

Deal is latest in Japan’s LCD panel and flat TV industry as companies look to share hefty investment bills and hedge against risk of oversupply. Japanese camera and office equipment maker Canon said it will pay $403 million for a quarter stake in Hitachi’s LCD panel business to…
Original post by Gadgets, gizmos, and […]