Criminal banned from posting clips of himself on YouTube

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

Extreme IT: IT at weather stations helping farmers in Kenya

Rebecca Wanjiku, IDG News Service

At a time when Kenya's subsistence farmers are suffering from low yields, farmer Beth Wanjiku Njiiri says she expects a good harvest and underscores the importance of timely, accurate weather information, which allows her to plant before the onset of the rains. ...continue reading 'Extreme IT: IT at weather stations helping farmers in Kenya'

China limits entertainment sites during mourning

The Chinese government has limited access to online entertainment content during a three-day period of national mourning beginning Monday. ...continue reading 'China limits entertainment sites during mourning'

Facebook partners with AGs for kids' safety

Facebook is following in the footsteps of its rival MySpace by reaching an online safety agreement with the attorneys general of 49 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. ...continue reading 'Facebook partners with AGs for kids' safety'

Report sheds light on failure to sell safety spectrum

Lease payments sought by public-safety agencies on an adjoining block of spectrum were not the only factor in the failure of a portion of wireless spectrum to sell in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's recent 700MHz spectrum auction, the FCC's inspector general said Friday. ...continue reading 'Report sheds light on failure to sell safety spectrum'

British police use Facebook to gather evidence

The Greater Manchester Police force has created a Facebook application to collect leads for investigations, marking the first use of the social networking site by U.K. law enforcement. ...continue reading 'British police use Facebook to gather evidence'

Samsung committed to torch relay despite protests

Samsung Electronics says it remains committed to its sponsorship of the Olympic torch relay despite large protests in London on Sunday that dogged the progress of the torch through the city. ...continue reading 'Samsung committed to torch relay despite protests'

Scientists link laptops to detect earthquakes

The Quake-Catcher Network (QCN) harnesses seismic data from sensors on Internet-connected laptops in different locations to help capture earthquakes. When the laptop isn't being used, special software on laptops collects sensor data, which along with the laptop's location, is sent over the Internet to an earthquake data repository where the data is analyzed. ...continue reading 'Scientists link laptops to detect earthquakes'

Pro baseball Web video woes continue

Major League Baseball's MLB.TV online broadcasting service encountered serious technical difficulties for the second straight day on Tuesday, as affected paying subscribers fumed about missing games. ...continue reading 'Pro baseball Web video woes continue'

IBM fine-tunes model for disaster management

IBM's research laboratories in the U.S. and India have fine-tuned technology to help model and manage natural disasters such as wildfires, floods, and diseases. ...continue reading 'IBM fine-tunes model for disaster management'

NTT DoCoMo takes a step towards bio-sensing cell phones

Researchers in Japan have demonstrated one part of an envisaged molecular level system that might one day enable cell phones to keep a regular watch on their owners' health. ...continue reading 'NTT DoCoMo takes a step towards bio-sensing cell phones'

BBC says its Web site is unblocked in China

The BBC says its English-language Web site now appears fully available to Internet users in China after years of being blocked. ...continue reading 'BBC says its Web site is unblocked in China'

Google News, YouTube blocked in China amid Tibet riots

Beijing appears to have taken a page out of Myanmar's playbook by blocking some Internet access amid rioting in Tibet that has already seen as many as 80 people killed, according to the Tibetan government in exile. ...continue reading 'Google News, YouTube blocked in China amid Tibet riots'

IT News Podcast for 3/17/08

BMC buys BladeLogic ... YouTube blocked in China ... Spam King pleads guilty

Heart device hack a shocker

It didn't take much to hack into the heart monitoring device and get it to administer a 137-volt shock: an oscilloscope, a PC, a wireless radio with a couple of antennas and some free software. ...continue reading 'Heart device hack a shocker'

CDT launches health privacy initiative

Privacy needs to be a higher priority as the U.S. government and other groups push for adoption of health IT as a way to improve the country's health-care system, said the Center for Democracy and Technology, which has launched a health privacy initiative. ...continue reading 'CDT launches health privacy initiative'

Scientists seek to create "robo-turtle"

Most sea turtles who lose three flippers simply can't survive in their watery environment. But Texas conservationists have managed to nurse one such critter back from the brink. Now they want to equip it with a cyborg flipper that will presumably allow it to swim normally -- and hunt down and destroy the motorboat that took its biological limbs. ...read more

Google will test a new online medical record service with a hospital group in Cleveland, Ohio, allowing patients to control who gets to see their health information. The two organizations hope the trial will lead to the creation of a national system for sharing electronic medical records. ...continue reading 'Google to manage health records for Cleveland Clinic'

Groups call for passage of health IT legislation

The U.S. Congress needs to pass health-care IT legislation before private companies develop multiple systems that don't talk to each other, two advocacy groups said Tuesday. ...continue reading 'Groups call for passage of health IT legislation'

NY AG pushes e-safety bill, Facebook, MySpace back it

New York's attorney general and state legislative leaders presented a bill on Tuesday aimed at protecting people from sexual predators on the Internet, as Facebook, MySpace and Yahoo backed the effort. ...continue reading 'NY AG pushes e-safety bill, Facebook, MySpace back it'