Part of Patriot Act ruled unconstitutional ... Apple aims to placate angry iPhone users ... Seattle man arrested for P-to-P ID theft

TOP STORY
_________________

Judge strikes down part of Patriot Act
Judge Victor Marrero, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled Thursday that the Patriot Act provision that allows the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain ISP and telecom subscribers' billing, calling and Web surfing records without court approval violates the U.S. Constitution.


NEWS UPDATES
___________________

Seattle man arrested for P-to-P ID theft

Google to boost universal search effort

U.S. DOJ questions net neutrality rules

Apple to offer early iPhone buyers $100 store credit

Microsoft readies five September security updates


UNIX TIP
___________________

Looking at soft partitions
By Sandra Henry-Stocker, ITworld.com

Soft partitions provide a way to squeeze more than seven partitions onto a single disk on a Solaris system. First introduced into Solaris as a patch for Solstice DiskSuite on Solaris 8 and then bundled into Solaris 9 as a feature of Solaris Volume Manager, soft partitions provide a way to make more flexible use of the increasingly large disks showing up on Solaris servers. Prior to soft partitions, the maximum of seven partitions often had sysadmins weighing tradeoffs when setting up their systems. Which file systems demand separate slices and which can share disk space without running into problems? With soft partitions, sysadmins can pretty much set up as many partitions on a disk as they care to configure. If you are looking at the soft partitioning on a Solaris server for the first time, you may find the information concerning the configuration of soft partitions a little hard to digest.


OPINION
___________________

Tinfoil hats, or unfortunate reality?
By Dan Blacharski, ITworld.com

Two things are happening that relate to privacy that are cause for concern. First, government intrusion of privacy is at an all-time high (warrantless wire-tapping, etc.), and second, RFID technology is advancing in many ways. There are vocal advocates who proclaim that humans should be "tagged." And according to the Wireless Weblog, there is one company that already requires employees to have microchips implanted in their arms as a condition of employment. Remind me to put that one on my list of places I would never want to work. This is no "feel-good" bill. It's a legitimate bill that should be passed immediately, not just in California but everywhere, because it takes pre-emptive action against the possibility of a grave injustice that could realistically happen.

Apple cuts iPhone price, offers iPod Touch ... HP announces new gaming PCs, iPaqs ... Microsoft releases more Windows Media Extenders

TODAY'S TOP STORY
_________________

Microsoft releases more Windows Media Extenders
Microsoft Corp. is increasing the range of video formats that PCs running its Windows software can pipe to televisions around the home, with support for a new range of Extenders for Windows Media Center devices from hardware manufacturers.


NEWS
___________________

Nokia, Intel beef up new security appliance

Intel gets ready for Penryn, may release Silverthorne early

IBM touts server with embedded virtualization

HP announces new gaming PCs, iPaqs

Wikipedia blocked in China yet again


WINDOWS TIP
___________________

Rebuilding the Outlook search index
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

If you're using Outlook 2007, and searching for a contact in the Outlook Contacts list, and coming up empty, try rebuilding the index on your machine. It worked for me. Here's how.


CAREER
___________________

Leading Reasons Why CIOs Get Fired
Every CIO should become familiar with the facts about why some contemporaries at other organizations get fired. Sometimes an enterprise simply hires the wrong person. Other times the CIO simply falls down on the job.


TODAY'S POLL
___________________

The first computer I ever owned...

* Ran Windows XP/Vista
* Ran Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000
* Ran Windows 3.x
* Ran DOS
* Ran OS X
* Ran the Classic Mac OS
* Was made by Commodore
* Was made by Atari
* Took up the better part of a room

http://www.itworld.com/itwhirled/#poll

Microsoft ties Windows Live services to Vista ... Apple puts Wi-Fi in iPod Touch ... Google slammed over YouTube deal in Thailand

In this issue:
* Microsoft ties Windows Live services to OS in updates
* Apple puts Wi-Fi in iPod Touch
* Press group slams Google over YouTube deal in Thailand
* Microsoft cuts Zune price as Apple ups ante for iPods
* Broadcom wins latest legal round against Qualcomm
* Debate rages over German government spyware plan
* NetApp hits Sun with patent-infringement lawsuit
* Huge furry creature wields weapon at airport, security uninterested


TOP STORY
_________________

Microsoft ties Windows Live services to OS in updates
Microsoft Corp. is using the same tactic for its online services that made its Internet Explorer browser ubiquitous among Internet users. With new beta technology it's releasing Wednesday, Microsoft is tying its Windows Live services directly to its Windows OS


NEWS UPDATES
___________________

Apple puts Wi-Fi in iPod Touch

Press group slams Google over YouTube deal in Thailand

Microsoft cuts Zune price as Apple ups ante for iPods

Broadcom wins latest legal round against Qualcomm

Debate rages over German government spyware plan

NetApp hits Sun with patent-infringement lawsuit

Motorola's goal: be boring

Cognos buys Applix for $339M ... Yahoo buys ad firm BlueLithium ... Intel releases quad-core Tigerton processor

In this issue:

* Cognos to pay $339 million for Applix
* Yahoo buys ad firm BlueLithium for $300 million
* Intel releases quad-core Tigerton processor
* Star student Cisco set to meet analysts
* Gateway to sell professional unit to MPC
* Serious flaw marks end of life for Bind 8 DNS server
* Dunes unveils SMB-ready virtual appliances
* Cisco brings out fast Wi-Fi 802.11n after all
* Oracle buys Bridgestream for employee role mapping
* A pack of pages
* The Software-as-a-Service Primer
* Huge furry creature wields weapon at airport, security uninterested


TODAY'S TOP STORY
_________________

Cognos to pay $339 million for Applix

Business performance software vendor Cognos Inc. has agreed to buy Applix Inc., a developer of performance analysis software, and plans to integrate the companies' products by early next year.


NEWS
___________________

Yahoo buys ad firm BlueLithium for $300 million

Intel releases quad-core Tigerton processor

Star student Cisco set to meet analysts

Gateway to sell professional unit to MPC

Serious flaw marks end of life for Bind 8 DNS server

Dunes unveils SMB-ready virtual appliances

Cisco brings out fast Wi-Fi 802.11n after all

Oracle buys Bridgestream for employee role mapping


OPINION
___________________

A pack of pages
By James Gaskin, ITworld.com

While talking to some Xerox people about their printers using Solid Ink technology, they kept telling me about PagePack. At first I thought that was a clever marketing term for a ream of paper, but it's really their way to help companies manage and monitor printing costs by charging by the produced page. That's all you pay: a price per page, and for paper, and the price includes all supplies and support. This program applies to only certain copiers and printers, so check the details.

Read the full article here:


FEATURE
___________________

The Software-as-a-Service Primer
Rapid deployment, cost savings, and freeing up IT staff are just a few of the benefits of software as a service (SaaS), yet it is a trend that makes many CIOs nervous. As with Web 2.0 technologies and other Web-based applications, SaaS -- also known as Web-hosted or on-demand software -- takes control out of the IT department and puts it in the hands of an outside vendor.


ITWHIRLED
___________________

Huge furry creature wields weapon at airport, security uninterested

NASA is going to be shooting the original light saber prop from Star Wars into space! All well and good ... but did we really need Chewbacca to hand the thing over to NASA at Oakland Airport? Or a cordon of Stormtroopers to escort it in Houston?

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.


TODAY'S POLL
___________________

The first computer I ever owned...

* Ran Windows XP/Vista
* Ran Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000
* Ran Windows 3.x
* Ran DOS
* Ran OS X
* Ran the Classic Mac OS
* Was made by Commodore
* Was made by Atari
* Took up the better part of a room

Answer this poll

ISO members reject OOXML format ... Oracle to buy Netsure ... 'Stupid' vulnerabilities found in Oracle 11g

In this issue:

* ISO votes to reject Microsoft's OOXML as standard

* E-mail system attack caused no damage, DOD says

* Oracle to buy network intelligence company Netsure

* DRAM finally finds a home in mobile phones

* HITB: Expert finds 'stupid' vulnerabilities in Oracle 11g

* Free gift offers dupe users into giving personal data

* Second Life gold rush hits a few snags

* Poll: What was the first computer you ever owned?


TODAY'S TOP STORY
_________________

ISO votes to reject Microsoft's OOXML as standard

Microsoft Corp. has failed in its attempt to have its Office Open XML document format fast-tracked straight to the status of an international standard by the International Organization for Standardization.


NEWS
___________________

E-mail system attack caused no damage, DOD says

Oracle to buy network intelligence company Netsure

DRAM finally finds a home in mobile phones

HITB: Expert finds 'stupid' vulnerabilities in Oracle 11g

Free gift offers dupe users into giving personal data


OPINION
___________________

YouTube and advertising: Accepting the inevitable
By Dan Blacharski, ITworld.com

You wanna play, you gotta pay. YouTube has ads on videos now, a common-sense move that long-term is the only way for sites like these to survive. Fortunately for YouTube users, the “pay” end of the deal is that you have to give YouTube advertisers your eyeballs for a few seconds.


UNIX TIP
___________________

Using netgroups to share files
By Sandra Henry-Stocker, ITworld.com

Solaris and other SVR4 versions of Unix provide file sharing through
NFS and the /etc/dfs/dfstab file. The syntax of this particular file
permits you to restrict file system sharing to a limited number of
hosts or to share file systems with no restrictions whatsoever.
Restricting file systems to a select set of hosts is particularly
important if you are permitting the client hosts to access the file
systems read/write and even more important if root on the clients will
have the authority of root on your NFS server.

You can specify the hosts that are permitted to mount file systems by
stringing them together in a colon-separated format with the share
command, such as this command which can be issued on the command line
or included in the dfstab file for a more or less permanent setup:


PODCAST
___________________

ISO members reject OOXML format

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED
___________________

Teen trades hacked iPhone for sports car, more iPhones

Everybody knew that George Hotz, the 17-year-old who managed to unlock an Apple iPhone so it could be used with carriers other than AT&T would do well for himself, but did anyone guess he'd do so well, so quickly? He traded the unlocked iPhone for a $38,000 Nissan 350Z - and, in case he regretted giving up the phone, he got three more of them to boot.

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.


TODAY'S POLL
____________

The first computer I ever owned...

* Ran Windows XP/Vista
* Ran Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000
* Ran Windows 3.x
* Ran DOS
* Ran OS X
* Ran the Classic Mac OS
* Was made by Commodore
* Was made by Atari
* Took up the better part of a room

Answer this poll

Microsoft quietly delays Windows Server 2008 ... Sony gives up on Connect music store ... Sweden's OOXML vote declared invalid

In this issue:
* Sweden's OOXML vote declared invalid
* Microsoft sneaks Longhorn delay news in with SP1 details
* Sony throws in the towel on Connect music store
* Dell profit up 46 percent thanks to cheaper components
* French YouTube rival lands $34 million funding
* Secure wireless network brings Wisconsin cities together
* Using netgroups to share files
* Sun seeks developer help to make Solaris ubiquitous
* Thinking, typing and the mysterious case of the missing printouts


TODAY'S TOP STORY

Sweden's OOXML vote declared invalid
The Swedish Standards Institute has declared its recent vote in favor of Microsoft Corp.'s Office Open XML format invalid. It means that Sweden will probably abstain from an important upcoming international vote on whether to make the format a standard.


IN THE NEWS

* Microsoft sneaks Longhorn delay news in with SP1 details
* Sony throws in the towel on Connect music store
* Dell profit up 46 percent thanks to cheaper components
* French YouTube rival lands $34 million funding
* Secure wireless network brings Wisconsin cities together


UNIX TIP

Using netgroups to share files
By Sandra Henry-Stocker, ITworld.com

Solaris and other SVR4 versions of Unix provide file sharing through NFS and the /etc/dfs/dfstab file. The syntax of this particular file permits you to restrict file system sharing to a limited number of hosts or to share file systems with no restrictions whatsoever. Restricting file systems to a select set of hosts is particularly important if you are permitting the client hosts to access the file systems read/write and even more important if root on the clients will have the authority of root on your NFS server.

You can specify the hosts that are permitted to mount file systems by stringing them together in a colon-separated format with the share command, such as this command which can be issued on the command line or included in the dfstab file for a more or less permanent setup:


FEATURE

Sun seeks developer help to make Solaris ubiquitous
By China Martens

Sun Microsystems Inc. has ambitious plans for the commercial and open-source versions of its Solaris operating system, hoping to achieve for Solaris the kind of ubiquity already enjoyed by Java. To come close to reaching that goal, Sun needs to reach out more to developers and endeavor to overcome some long-held prejudices against the OS.


OPINION

Thinking, typing and the mysterious case of the missing printouts
By Sean McGrath, ITworld.com

Thinking and typing...thinking and typing...That is what I am doing right now. I'm doing both together...What worries me is that over time, the latter appears to have become a pre-requisite for the former to happen in my head. Case in point: in order to think this very topic through, I find myself having to type it...hmmmm.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Dell sees profits rise on lower component costs ... Microsoft quietly delays Windows Server 2008 ... Sony gives up on Connect music store

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

- Top ten interactive marketing trends
- Top 10 GNOME desktop tweaks
- Top 10 Quicken tricks
- Top 10 multimedia smartphones

See all the tens

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.


TODAY'S POLL

How green is your transportation?

I drive a big ole SUV
I drive a fairly fuel-efficient car
I drive a hybrid
I run my car on biodiesel
I take public transportation
I ride my bike
I walk

Answer this poll

Microsoft pressed partners to vote for OOXML ... AMD proposes speedier x86 instructions for multimedia ... EarthLink's deal with SF looks de

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Microsoft pressed partners in Sweden to vote for OOXML
News: AMD proposes speedier x86 instructions for multimedia
News: Current EarthLink deal with SF looks dead
News: Monster outlines antifraud measures
News: Vista SP1 due in Q1 2008, beta in September
Opinion: Network outages should spur integrators to stay in contact with customers
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Killer arm-wrestling robot recalled by human masters


NEWS UPDATES

Microsoft pressed partners in Sweden to vote for OOXML
Microsoft Sweden offered extra "marketing contributions" to its business partners to encourage them to vote for the adoption of Microsoft Corp.'s Office Open XML format as a standard at a meeting of Sweden's national standards body this week.

AMD proposes speedier x86 instructions for multimedia
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. wants developers to start thinking about how they can speed up their software using new instructions that will appear in the company's processors from 2009. The additions could simplify the way developers code the iterative calculations used to shade graphics, render photos or add spatial effects to audio.

Current EarthLink deal with SF looks dead
EarthLink Inc.'s current contract to build a municipal Wi-Fi network in San Francisco appears to be dead following a restructuring of the struggling Internet service provider.

Monster outlines antifraud measures
One week after hackers stole personal information from millions of people who had posted their resumes to the job-searching site Monster.com, the company has warned its users to be vigilant about online fraud because the breach was not an isolated incident.

Microsoft: Vista SP1 due in Q1 2008, beta in September
Microsoft Corp. has finally broken its silence on the timing of the release of the highly anticipated Windows Vista Service Pack 1, saying the software updates should be in final release in the first quarter of next year, with the company shipping off a beta next month to 10,000 to 15,000 testers.

LG unveils iPhone-like 3G handset
LG Electronics Inc.'s battle to beat the iPhone is far from over. The South Korean electronics company has unveiled its second iPhone-like handset and this one packs several important features the iPhone doesn't: 3G and high-speed cellular data networking.

HTC shows 3G version of Touch smartphone
Taiwan's High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) has taken the wraps off a thinner, faster version of its Touch smartphone.

Microsoft to buy enterprise chat provider Parlano
Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday it will acquire a Chicago-based provider of enterprise group chat software to bolster the messaging capabilities of its Office Communications Server and Office Communicator products.


OPINION

Network outages should spur integrators to stay in contact with customers
By Joel Shore, ITworld.com

You've to feel for the 20,000 people stranded recently at Los Angeles International Airport's Tom Bradley International Terminal and the 200 million more around the globe who lost access to Skype. Television and general-interest news organizations ascribed the woes to the ubiquitous "computer glitch." We, of course, know better. And usually the truth is a lot scarier.

Read the full article here.


PODCAST

Today's IT news audio update
Microsoft reveals Vista SP1 plans ... Monster.com warns users after privacy breach ... Microsoft buys corporate-messaging software company

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

Killer arm-wrestling robot recalled by human masters
An mechanical arm-wrestling game has been recalled from dozens of Japanese arcades because there have been complaints that it's breaking the arms of its human opponents. They've already acquired a taste for human blood, so the real question is: will the machines go quietly?

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.

Vista SP1 due in Q1 2008 .. Another iPhone unlocking video hits the Web ... SAP pushes for settlement talks with Oracle

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Microsoft: Vista SP1 due in Q1 2008, beta in September
News: SAP pushes for settlement talks with Oracle
News: Deutsche Telekom confirms iPhone talks
News: iPhone unlocking video hits Web
News: Acer head vows to step down if Gateway deal fails
News: EarthLink layoffs signal change in muni Wi-Fi
Storage Tip: Steps to long-term retention of digital information
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Stop, think before you "reply to all"


NEWS UPDATES

Microsoft: Vista SP1 due in Q1 2008, beta in September
Microsoft Corp. has finally broken its silence on the timing of the release of the highly anticipated Windows Vista Service Pack 1, saying the software updates should be in final release in the first quarter of next year, with the company shipping off a beta next month to 10,000 to 15,000 testers

SAP pushes for settlement talks with Oracle
SAP AG has asked a U.S. court to order settlement talks in its legal battle with Oracle Corp., arguing that Oracle exaggerated its claims against the German software maker. Oracle said it opposed such talks and accused SAP of trying to "make this case go away."

Deutsche Telekom confirms iPhone talks
Deutsche Telekom AG is in talks with Apple Inc. about selling the iPhone in Germany and expects the U.S. company to announce its German distribution partner soon, a senior executive said Wednesday in Berlin.

iPhone unlocking video hits Web
A video showing the founder of a Belfast, Northern Ireland company unlocking the iPhone hit the Web early Wednesday U.K. time as proof that software exists that can unlock Apple Inc.'s device for use with carriers other than AT&T Inc.

Acer head vows to step down if Gateway deal fails
Amid mounting criticism of the deal, the chairman and CEO of Acer Inc. has vowed to step down if the company's bid to join with Gateway Inc. does not succeed.

EarthLink layoffs signal change in muni Wi-Fi
EarthLink Inc.'s announcement that it will lay off 900 people is a blow to broadband competition, but some industry followers say it doesn't signal the end of municipal Wi-Fi.

Google in, Yahoo out for CNN.com text ads
Google Inc. has become the exclusive provider of pay-per-click text ads on CNN.com, one of the most visited news Web sites in the world, displacing rival Yahoo Inc.


STORAGE TIP

Steps to long-term retention of digital information
By David Hill, Mesabi Group

According to a recent survey from the SNIA's Data Management Forum, over half (53%) of the respondents stated that they have information that must be retained permanently, and 83% stated that they have information that must be retained over 50 years. Before you can put together your long term data archiving strategy, you must identify how long you need to keep your data.

Here's what you need to know...


PODCAST

Today's IT news audio update
Another iPhone unlocking video hits the Web ... Japan extends computer leak investigation ... US senator wants contract with Sun cancelled

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

Note to CEOs: Stop, think before you "reply to all"
Ben Baldanza, CEO of Spirit Airlines, got an e-mail from a couple who missed a concert when their flight was delayed; they wanted the price of their concert tickets and related expenses refunded. Baldanza sent a note to some airline employees sneering "we owe him nothing" -- but accidentally replied to the Spirit customers as well. Oops!

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.

Traders punish Acer for Gateway buy ... Unlocking iPhone could invite DMCA suit ... New LCD plant means cheaper big-screen TVs

HIGHLIGHTS
News: New LCD plant could mean cheaper big-screen TVs
News: Traders punish Acer for Gateway purchase
News: Unlocking the iPhone could invite DMCA suit
News: Japan military homes, destroyer raided over data leak
News: Gear6 offers huge RAM cache for network
Windows Tip: Building a supportable enterprise, part 4
Podcast: Today's IT News Audio Update
ITwhirled: CIA launches 'Facebook for spies'


NEWS UPDATES

New LCD plant could mean cheaper big-screen TVs
A new LCD (liquid crystal display) factory has opened in South Korea, with cheaper flat-panel televisions potentially on the way as a result.

Traders punish Acer for Gateway purchase
Shares of Acer Inc. opened down by their daily limit on the Taiwan Stock Exchange early Tuesday, as investors took a dim view of its decision to buy U.S. PC vendor Gateway Inc.

Unlocking the iPhone could invite DMCA suit
Hackers who unlock Apple Inc.'s iPhone from the AT&T Inc. network and share the method with 10 million of their closest Internet friends are inviting a lawsuit from the two companies, several intellectual property lawyers said Monday.

Japan military homes, destroyer raided over data leak
The homes of several serving members of Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) and a destroyer were raided as part of an investigation into a leak of sensitive military data from a computer, Japan's Kyodo News reported Tuesday.

Gear6 offers huge RAM cache for network
Gear6 has announced network-attached storage (NAS) boxes featuring a transparent RAM cache.


WINDOWS TIP

Building a supportable enterprise, part 4
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

By now you've probably learned at least one important thing about keeping your Windows infrastructure supportable, namely: leave well enough alone. Last time I touched on this topic, I highlighted the dangers of trying to "harden" your network by disabling so-called "unneeded" services. The result of doing this without a proper understanding of what Windows services actually do can lead to broken applications and other mysterious problems. Let's look at another common "hardening" technique that often has more downside than upside -- changing the Access Control Lists (ACLs) on your boot/system volume.

Read the full article here


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Acer to acquire Gateway ... Spyware discovery clouds German-China relations ... Intel updates vPro with new chip release

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

CIA launches 'Facebook for spies'
Social networking sites are used to help promote indie bands and teen romance, so why couldn't they also be used to help clandestine intelligence services? The CIA plans to launch a Facebook-style site for spies called A-Space, which they hope will encourage intelligence sharing within a community often marked by mutual suspicion.

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.

Acer to acquire Gateway ... German gov't PCs hacked ... Lawsuit fear delays iPhone unlocker

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Acer to acquire Gateway for $710 million
News: German gov't PCs hacked, China offers to investigate
News: Legal worries delay release of iPhone unlocking software
News: Intel improves desktop security with vPro upgrade
Opinion: Satellite phones and solar iPod chargers
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Israeli cabinet meetings now cell-phone-free zones


NEWS UPDATES

Acer to acquire Gateway for $710 million
Acer Inc. plans to acquire Gateway Inc. in a deal worth $710 million that Acer says will make it the world's third-largest PC vendor.

Related Reading:
- Lenovo's plan for Packard Bell hit by Acer-Gateway deal
- Gateway brand to expand after Acer purchase

German gov't PCs hacked, China offers to investigate
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao described reports of Chinese hackers breaking into German computers as a matter of "grave concern" and said Monday that his country will cooperate with Germany to resolve the matter.

Legal worries delay release of iPhone unlocking software
Fear of litigation has led to an indefinite delay in the planned Saturday release of software to unlock Apple Inc.'s iPhone.

Intel improves desktop security with vPro upgrade
Intel Corp. released an upgrade to its vPro bundle of automated PC management features on Monday, saying the new package delivers better IT security than the original product launched last year.


OPINION

Satellite phones and solar iPod chargers
By Steven Schwankert

You don't really learn about technology until you're removed from it to the point where you're at both extremes of the technological spectrum. Say, using plentiful Mongolian sunshine to charge your iPod.

During the course of a two-week scuba diving expedition to the landlocked Asian country's Lake Khosvgol, we learned about both ends of that spectrum. For the members of our team who work in Mongolia, satellite telephones and generators are part and parcel of their work. In all, we moved over a ton of equipment from places such as Hong Kong and Beijing to the lake shore and back, along with personal equipment from our participants' home countries, including Austria, the United States, and the U.K.

Read the full article here


PODCAST

Today's IT news audio update
Lawsuit fear delays release of iPhone unlock tool ... Palm denies report that Foleo is late ... China criticized over real name blog policy

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

Israeli cabinet meetings now cell-phone-free zones
If you've ever been frustrated by someone using a mobile phone during a movie, class, or business meeting, pity poor Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert whose cabinet ministers would pull out their cells and start chatting in the middle of a meeting -- or, worse, surreptitiously dial reporters so that they could listen in on meetings that were supposed to be secret. Now ministers must check their mobiles at the door before cabinet meetings begin.

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.

IBM may open source Jazz ... YouTube vows to protect video makers ... 10 fun things to do with Google Earth

HIGHLIGHTS
News: IBM may open source Jazz collaboration software
News: YouTube vows to protect video makers in InVideo ads
News: E.C. accuses Rambus of 'patent ambush'
News: Cogent: Cable was attacked with saw and gun
News: Spam fighters hit criminals' weak spot
Opinion: PDF and HTML: Splitting the difference
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: 10 fun things you can do with Google Earth


NEWS UPDATES

IBM may open source Jazz collaboration software
IBM Corp.'s Rational Software unit is considering putting parts of its Jazz collaboration framework into open source, according to an executive of the company.

YouTube vows to protect video makers in InVideo ads
Google Inc. has promised to give content makers control over advertisements overlaid on video clips they post to its YouTube video sharing Web site.

E.C. accuses Rambus of 'patent ambush'
Six months after U.S. regulators capped royalties that vendors must pay to Rambus Inc., the European Union is taking a close look at the company's monopoly on the DRAM chip market.

Cogent: Cable was attacked with saw and gun
Guns, saws, and some very dim-witted thieves were all apparently involved in a network blackout that affected Internet users, primarily in the Northeastern U.S., earlier this week.

Spam fighters hit criminals' weak spot
For years, spam haters have relied on junk-mail filters and Internet blacklists, but lately, some are saying it's time for a change in tactics. And that means going after the Web sites where spammers sell their pharmaceuticals and watches and male enhancement products.

New phones deliver speedier HSDPA downloads
Samsung, LG, and Pantech have all unveiled this month their first phones that are compatible with 7.2M bps (bits per second) variants of HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) networks.


OPINION

PDF and HTML: Splitting the difference
By Sean McGrath, ITworld.com

I never thought I would hear myself saying this, but I think the world
needs another file format for storing images.

Like many people in this industry, I have often had to fight the file
format fight converting images endlessly from format A to format B and
back again to achieve some result or work around some application
limitation. More than once I have said to myself "It's only pixels darn
it! How many sensible ways can there possibly be to store these
things?". And now I find myself advocating the creation of another one?
What gives?

Read the full article here.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
European Commission accuses Rambus of patent ambush ... Via Technologies shows off 1-watt microprocessor ... South Korea upgrades cell phone networks to 7.2M bps

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

She's a 10

* Top 10 PDF tricks
* 10 fun things you can do with Google Earth
* Top 10 worst Mario games of all times
* Ten Must have Programs for Windows Mobile Smartphones

See all the tens

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.

Monster shuts down rogue server after breach ... Sony demos sugar-based bio battery ... Seagate to offer solid-state drives

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Monster shuts down rogue server after breach
News: Sony runs Walkman off sugar-based bio battery
News: Seagate to offer solid-state drives
News: Paying Skype users get a week's free service
News: YouTube fans rant, threaten to leave over new ads
Opinion: The annotation age
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Chinese couple tries to name baby "@"


NEWS UPDATES

Monster shuts down rogue server after breach
Monster Worldwide Inc., whose job-hunting sites suffered a massive data breach caused by hackers, has shut down a rogue server that had been used to gather personal details of job seekers.

Sony runs Walkman off sugar-based bio battery
A year ago it seemed Sony Corp. couldn't even get a laptop battery right. A massive recall of lithium-ion cells tainted its image and had the company scrambling, but on Thursday it reported a sweet breakthrough in bio battery technology.

Report: Seagate to offer solid-state drives
Seagate Technology LLC reportedly plans to add solid-state drives based on flash memory chips to its lineup of storage products.

Paying Skype users get a week's free service
Skype Ltd. is offering a week of free service to paying customers who may have been affected by the two-day outage of its Internet telephony service last week.

YouTube fans rant, threaten to leave over new ads
Most users responding to a YouTube blog post asking for feedback gave the idea a resounding thumbs down, and one even made a video to share his displeasure

Nokia offers Windows Live services on handsets
Microsoft Corp. has partnered with handset manufacturer Nokia Corp. to deliver some of its Windows Live services on wireless handsets in Europe and the Middle East.

AMD sales chief steps down
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. sales chief Henri Richard will leave the company in September, AMD said Wednesday. The announcement came shortly after AMD reported its third straight quarterly loss. But the company said that Richard left of his own accord and on amicable terms.


OPINION

The annotation age
By Shane Schick, ITBusiness.ca

A new feature on Google's news aggregator will allow those who are involved in a story to add their own comments to the articles. So, if you were quoted in a story and felt the media got it wrong (as we often do), you'd have a chance to set the record straight. But this is not a media story. It's an IT story, because it is a sign of what will soon become the preoccupation of technology professionals everywhere.

Read the full article here.


PODCAST

Today's IT news audio update
Henri Richard quits AMD ... Google testing in-video ads ... Intuit CEO to step down

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

Chinese couple tries to name baby "@"
Most residents of China share a relatively small pool of about 130 surnames, but pushes for individuality are underway. One couple even tried to name their child "@", evoking the new Internet age. It doesn't hurt that the pronunciation sounds like "love him" in Chinese.

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Apple signs iPhone deals for Europe ... Google Earth looks skyward ... YouTube launches in-video advertising

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Apple signs iPhone deals for Europe, report says
News: Google Earth gets starry-eyed
News: Sharp shows slender big-screen LCD TV prototype
News: YouTube launches in-video advertising
News: Turkish police make arrest in TJX data breach case
Windows Tip: Beyond the run box
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Cheating on your spouse? Don't use E-Z Pass


NEWS UPDATES

Apple signs iPhone deals for Europe, report says
Apple Inc. has signed its first deals with mobile phone operators to offer its iPhone in three of Europe's largest markets, ending a period of intense negotiations, according to a report in the Financial Times newspaper.

Google Earth gets starry-eyed
Google Inc. may just be the center of the universe now: A new add-on for its Earth satellite program, called Sky, lets users explore space and see photos of the precise star formation overhead based on their locale.

Sharp shows slender big-screen LCD TV prototype
Sharp Corp. unveiled a prototype TV on Wednesday that's packed with technologies that could appear soon in its products. The wall-mounted TV is just 2 centimeters thick and gets its signal via a high-speed wireless link, meaning the only cable required is for the power.

YouTube launches in-video advertising
Google Inc.'s YouTube division has launched what it hopes will be an unobtrusive way for companies to advertise on videos hosted at its popular Web site. The ads show up briefly as an overlay on the bottom 20% of the video, and people can click and watch the advertisement if they want to.

Turkish police make arrest in TJX data breach case
Police in Turkey have arrested a man allegedly trying to sell data hacked and stolen during the now infamous theft of customer records from U.S. retailer TJX.

Storm spam poses as site confirmation
The Storm malware, which first appeared in January of this year, is showing no signs of slowing down -- just this week reinventing itself as a website membership confirmation message.

Singapore Airlines puts a PC in every seat
To make flying more enjoyable for its passengers, Singapore Airlines Ltd. is adding bigger screens, more in-flight movies and a PC in every seat on its newest planes.


TIP

Windows Tip: Beyond the run box
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

I like to use the keyboard as much as possible and avoid using the mouse, but if I use my Run box for so many different purposes, my RunMRU key fills up with too many saved entries for me to make useful use of this feature. My main priority is for frequently-used UNC paths to be easily accessible from the Run box, so it would be nice if there was an alternative way for me to easily open Web site URLs by simply typing them.

Well, where there's a script, there's usually a way.

Read the full article here.


PODCAST

Today's IT news audio update
RealNetworks, MTV combine for online music store ... Apple gains market share for computers ... Skype says last week's outage was a 'perfect storm'

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

Cheating on your spouse? Don't use E-Z Pass
Divorce attorney Lynne Gold-Bikin's client's ex-husband said that he went to Pennsylvania on business. But she got a court order to release the records of his RFID-based electronic toll pass, which revealed that he went to New Jersey for an assignation instead. E-Z Pass is "an easy way to show you took the off-ramp to adultery," according to another divorce lawyer.

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MTV, RealNetworks to merge music stores ... Skype details 'perfect storm' outage ... Google offers refunds for irked video customers

HIGHLIGHTS
News: MTV, RealNetworks said to merge digital music stores
News: Skype offers more details of 'perfect storm' outage
News: Google offers refunds for irked video customers
News: Toshiba to offer 320GB laptop drive from Q4
News: Adobe releases Moviestar beta for Flash Player 9
Unix Tip: Viewing device aliases on the command line
ITwhirled: Scientists: Movies raising a nation of science morons


NEWS UPDATES

MTV, RealNetworks said to merge digital music stores
MTV Networks and RealNetworks Inc. will merge their online digital music stores in the latest attempt to reduce Apple Inc.'s hold on the music download market, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday morning.

Skype offers more details of 'perfect storm' outage
The situation that prevented millions of people from accessing Skype Ltd.'s Internet telephony service late last week was a "perfect storm" and should not reoccur, the company said Tuesday.

Google offers refunds for irked video customers
Google Inc. has apologized for the way it shut down its video sales and rental service last week, leaving people unable to play videos they had paid for, and said it will refund their credit cards and allow them to watch their films for another six months.

Toshiba to offer 320GB laptop drive from Q4
Toshiba Corp. will start producing a 320G-byte hard-disk drive for laptop computers before the end of this year, the company said Tuesday.

Adobe releases Moviestar beta for Flash Player 9
Adobe Systems Inc.'s upgrade for its Flash Player, released on Tuesday, adds support for one of the latest video encoding standards as well as new audio support.

Tech's own data centers are their green showrooms
Two Silicon Valley companies are showcasing technology in their own facilities to demonstrate how energy-efficiency can help companies act green and save green.

Dell to offer networked SCSI array
Dell is set to launch its first networked serial-attached SCSI (SAS) drive array. It will offer up to 6TB of capacity to small and medium enterprise customers and be a SAS alternative to its EMC-supplied AX150i.

VOICECON: Microsoft, others scramble for spotlight
Microsoft Corp. has licensed its RT Audio Codec for IP (Internet Protocol) voice calls to major hardware vendors including Intel Corp., Texas Instruments Inc. and Polycom Inc., the company is set to announce Tuesday at the VoiceCon conference. It joins several vendors using the event as a showcase for IP telephony advancements.

New tool turns users into SOA programmers
Serena has said it will jump into the software-as-a-service (SAAS) market next month with a user-oriented development toolset aimed at promoting the idea of "enterprise mashups."


UNIX TIP

Viewing device aliases on the command line
By Sandra Henry Stocker

Ever wish you could take a look at the device aliases on a Solaris system without having to descend all the way down to the ok prompt? Well, you can. By issuing the proper version of the prtconf (print system configuration) command, you can include a list of device aliases in your prtconf output.

Read the full article here.



ITWHIRLED

Scientists: Movies raising a nation of science morons
Two physicists who teach undergraduates in Florida are concerned that implausible physics in sci-fi and action movies are giving young people entirely incorrect ideas about how the physical world works. Thus, they're fighting fire with fire, teaching a class that uses these same movies to illustrate good and bad science.

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Skype says crash followed Windows security update ... FCC schedules 700MHz auction ... Sony to upgrade digital camera line

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Skype says crash followed Windows security update

News: FCC schedules 700MHz auction on Jan. 16

News: Sony unveils upgrade to T-series thin camera range

News: Google Gadgets can be misused by phishers

News: Another Brocade exec faces backdating charge

Interview: Jimmy Wales talks on the future of Wikimedia

Podcast: Today's IT news audio update

ITwhirled: Crowds may provide alternative energy source


NEWS UPDATES

Skype says crash followed Windows security update
The widespread failure of Skype Ltd.'s Internet telephony service last week happened when millions of Windows users tried to log in to the system at the same time, after downloading a software update from Microsoft Corp. and rebooting their machines, Skype said Monday.

FCC schedules 700MHz auction on Jan. 16
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will begin its long-awaited auction of 700MHz radio spectrum on Jan. 16, 2008, the agency said Friday. The sale is expected to take in $10 billion or more in bids for what has been called "beachfront property."

Sony unveils upgrade to T-series thin camera range
Sony Corp. is upgrading its thin T-series digital still camera line with a new model that packs a larger display with a touch screen.

Researcher: Google Gadgets can be misused by phishers
The domain used to host small Google Gadget applications written by Web developers could be misused by phishers, a Web security researcher said Friday. Attackers could create a phishing site on the gmodules.com domain and then send that URL to victims. Because Google's gmodules.com domain is trusted by antiphishing filters, victims might then go to the phishing site without being warned by their browser's filtering software.

Another Brocade exec faces backdating charge
A third former Brocade Communications Systems Inc. executive faces federal charges related to stock options backdating, just 10 days after the firm's former CEO became first person in the U.S. convicted on backdating charges.


INTERVIEW

Jimmy Wales talks on the future of Wikimedia
The role Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, plays at the organization that supports the user generated and edited encyclopedia is changing as he shifts more of his time to activities in the wiki and open source communities, and shares time with his for-profit venture, Wikia Inc. In this interview, Wales discusses his changing role at Wikimedia, plans for the future, and other topics.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Skype declares outage over ... Sony to upgrade digital camera line ... Google sets up resource center on click fraud

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

Train passengers, concertgoers may provide alternative energy source
Our evil robot overlords in the Matrix movies used humans as batteries by keeping them in vats of goo. But if two MIT grad students have their way, we'll all be generating electricity by our mere presence in large numbers at the same place at the same time.

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Dell to restate earnings ... Three indicted on software piracy ... Skype problems continue

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Skype problems may continue throughout the day
News: Dell to restate results after finding manipulation
News: Three indicted on software piracy charges
News: Nokia asks U.S. to ban import of Qualcomm products
News: PC and software sales boost HPs revenue, profit
Unix Tip: Redirecting standard error in Perl
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Top 10 science moments in 'The Simpsons'


NEWS UPDATES

Skype problems may continue throughout the day
Skype Ltd. is still trying to restore service to millions of its customers almost 24 hours after they began to experience problems logging in to the VOIP service.

Dell to restate results after finding manipulation
Dell Inc. will restate its earnings for fiscal years 2003 through 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 after an internal audit found that certain employees had changed corporate account balances in order to meet quarterly financial targets, the company said Thursday.

Three indicted on software piracy charges
Three Florida men were indicted Thursday on charges related to selling millions of dollars worth of counterfeit software through several Web sites, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Nokia asks U.S. to ban import of Qualcomm products
Nokia Corp. wants the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban the import of Qualcomm Inc. chipsets that allegedly infringe on five patents held by the Finnish handset maker.

PC and software sales boost HPs revenue, profit
Hewlett-Packard Co.'s PC business and software sales from its Mercury Interactive acquisition helped produce net profit of $1.8 billion, for a 29 percent increase, with a 16 percent boost in revenue in the fiscal third quarter, according to financial results released Thursday.

Solaris on z mainframes next on the agenda for IBM, Sun
As IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. laid out a new agreement to have more IBM x86 servers and blades run on Solaris, the two companies were already looking ahead to another partnership, which could see IBM mainframes support the Sun operating system.


UNIX TIP

Redirecting standard error in Perl
By Sandra Henry-Stocker, ITworld.com

There are numerous ways to redirect standard error in a Perl script. You can redirect the output from one particular command, you can combine standard error with standard out so that the two are handled together or you can send all standard error to the bit bucket. None of these techniques depends on what the person running the script does. Instead, they can all be set up in your Perl scripts. Let's take a look at how this works.

Read the full article here.


PODCAST

Today's IT News Audio Update
Skype outage appaears to be over ... Dell to restate earnings .... IBM to put Sun's Solaris on more servers

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

She's a 10

* Top ten easiest-to-implement green technologies that already exist
* Ten greatest legal battles in technology
* Top 10 science moments in 'The Simpsons'

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.

New tool exposes self-edits in Wikipedia ... Sun, IBM ink OS agreement ... Bug hits Skype network

HIGHLIGHTS

News: New tool exposes self-edits in Wikipedia
News: Sun, IBM ink OS agreement
News: Diebold fails to sell e-voting subsidiary
News: Bug hits Skype Internet telephone network
News: iPod woes could leave executives singing prison blues
Opinion: The rush of tools to the hand
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Google mistakes own blog for spam, deletes it


NEWS UPDATES

New tool exposes self-edits in Wikipedia
A word of caution about editing entries "anonymously" in Wikipedia: a tool has been developed that can show who made the changes.

Sun, IBM ink OS agreement
Longtime rivals IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. have signed an agreement related to operating systems technologies, the two companies said Wednesday.

Diebold fails to sell e-voting subsidiary
Diebold Inc. has been unable to sell its electronic voting subsidiary, and has slashed its full-year revenue expectations for Diebold Election Systems due to controversy surrounding e-voting security, the company said Thursday.

Bug hits Skype Internet telephone network
A software bug has affected Skype Ltd.'s peer-to-peer network, preventing users in some parts of the world from logging on to its widely used VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service.

iPod woes could leave executives singing prison blues
Nine executives at Inventec Appliances Corp. could face jail time for failing to reveal plans by Apple Inc. to reduce iPod orders to the company in a timely manner.

NSA spying program argued at court hearing
A U.S. appeals court agreed on Wednesday to weigh a government motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the National Security Agency (NSA) monitored phone lines and e-mails without a warrant, but judges asked a government lawyer tough questions over the issue.


OPINION

The rush of tools to the hand
By Sean McGrath, ITworld.com

I think there is a universal law that goes something like this:

The degree to which information technology can
truly help problem X is inversely proportional
to the enthusiasm with which the average young
software developer approaches the problem.

Maybe "universal law" is a bit high here? How about "rule of thumb"? Yes, that's better. Example? Personal productivity. "How hard can it be?", says the typical enthusiastic young software developer. "You have meetings, calendar appointments, notes, TODO lists, contact list, task lists, expense recording...Just a whole bunch of lists really. How hard can it be to get a computer application to manage that sort of thing?"

Read the full article here.


PODCAST

Today's IT news audio update
U.S. court to consider dismissal of wiretapping suit ... Xandros licenses messaging protocols from Microsoft ... SingTel to get stake in Taiwan's Far EasTone

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

Google mistakes own blog for spam, deletes it
Readers of Google's Custom Search Blog were handed a bit of a surprise last week when the Web site was temporarily removed from the blogosphere. The problem? Google had mistakenly identified its own blog as a spammer's site and deleted it.

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Citrix to acquire XenSource for $500M ... Yahoo replaces Google as top portal

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Citrix to acquire XenSource for $500M
News: Researchers use ionic wind to keep chips cool
News: VMware the bright spot on a gray Wall Street day
News: Vulnerability uncovered within Yahoo Messenger
News: Novell doesn't want to be the next SCO
Windows Tip: Annotating web content
Podcast: Today's IT news update
ITwhirled: Bloggers eye union membership


NEWS UPDATES

Citrix to acquire XenSource for $500M
Citrix Systems Inc. plans to acquire virtualization vendor XenSource Inc. for approximately $500 million to enable the application delivery software vendor to enter both the server and desktop virtualization markets.

Researchers use ionic wind to keep chips cool
Researchers at Purdue University have demonstrated an ionic wind engine that promises to reduce the heat generated by semiconductors at a substantially faster rate than is possible with traditional cooling technologies.

VMware the bright spot on a gray Wall Street day
VMware Inc.'s initial public offering of stock was a happy side note to a tough day on Wall Street Tuesday.

Vulnerability uncovered within Yahoo Messenger
A new vulnerability in Yahoo Inc.'s instant messenger program can potentially cause unwanted code to run on a PC, according to security researchers.

Novell doesn't want to be the next SCO
Now that it has scored a major win for Linux in its legal battle with The SCO Group Inc., Novell Inc. has no interest in becoming like the company it just defeated and won't mount any copyright-infringement claims over Unix, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Ask a penguin to see which way Linux wind blows
The nonprofit Linux Foundation has unveiled the Linux Weather Forecast, a Web site aimed at giving people a better sense of the status of specific Linux kernel projects.

Gartner predicts strong interest in software as service
Software as a service is forecast by Gartner to grow at 22.1 percent until 2011 for the aggregate enterprise application software markets -- more than double the 9 percent growth rate expected in the market as a whole.

Hosting customers say no to shared servers
Hosting providers offering virtual servers could be barking up the wrong tree, according to Rackspace. Virtualization is not yet ready for the big time, and is unlikely to save its users money, the hosting company claimed.


WINDOWS TIP

Annotating web content
By Mitch Tulloch, MTIT Enterprises

It's easy to annotate a Word doc with Ink, but what if I need to annotate a Web page? For example, say there's a long Microsoft Knowledge Base article I need to read through and annotate -- how I can I annotate a Web page? I've been doing it the hard way until I discovered this trick.

Read the full article here.


PODCAST

Today's IT news audio update
VMware stock rises sharply on debut ... Yahoo replaces Google as top portal ... Nokia offers to replace 46 million batteries


ITWHIRLED

Bloggers eye union membership
A cadre of left-leaning (and, somewhat bafflingly, self-employed) bloggers is seeking to form or join a union. "You're constantly scanning for news. Your arm and neck and shoulder are wearing out because you're constantly using a mouse," says one, justifying the push for unionization. Keep your eyes peeled for pajama-clad persons forming picket lines of one in front of their own homes.

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.

VMware sets IPO price at $29 ... Oracle announces 11g pricing ... Nokia says 46 million batteries may overheat

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Nokia says 46 million batteries may overheat
News: Oracle to charge for four 11g database add-ons
News: Microsoft trumps Google on free e-mail storage limit
News: VMware IPO price set at $29 per share
News: Microsoft reorganizes around aQuantive acquisition
Interview: Jimmy Wales talks on the future of Wikimedia
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Sweaty man electrocuted by PC


NEWS UPDATES

Nokia says 46 million batteries may overheat
Nokia Corp. is offering to replace 46 million batteries made by another
company for use in its mobile phones because of a risk of overheating,
Nokia said on Tuesday.

Oracle to charge for four 11g database add-ons
Oracle Corp. has issued details on pricing for its new 11g enterprise
database, with the vendor making some of the most talked-about features
available as extra-cost add-ons.

Microsoft trumps Google on free e-mail storage limit
Microsoft Corp. is increasing the storage limit for its Web-based e-mail
service, surpassing competitor Google Inc.'s limit but far short of
Yahoo Inc.'s unlimited storage.

VMware IPO price set at $29 per share
VMware Inc. set the price for its Tuesday initial public offering at
US$29 per share, the top end of the range of starting prices that the
software virtualization company had forecast.

Microsoft reorganizes around aQuantive acquisition
Microsoft Corp. has appointed the former CEO of aQuantive Inc. to head
up a new division devoted to serving advertisers and publishers, moves
that are part of the company's close of its acquisition of the digital
media and advertising services firm.

Microsoft questions FCC's 'white spaces' decision
The FCC on July 31 said a wireless prototype submitted by Microsoft and
other members of the White Spaces Coalition interfered with cable
television channels and therefore would not be licensed for use. But
Microsoft claims that the device was malfunctioning when the FCC tested
it.


INTERVIEW

Jimmy Wales talks on the future of Wikimedia
The role Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, plays at the organization
that supports the user generated and edited encyclopedia is changing as
he shifts more of his time to activities in the wiki and open source
communities, and shares time with his for-profit venture, Wikia Inc. In
this interview, Wales discusses his changing role at Wikimedia, plans
for the future, and other topics.


PODCAST

IT news audio update
VMware sets IPO price at $29 ... Critics sound warnings over German
antihacker law ... Oracle to announce 11g pricing today

More podcasts


ITWHIRLED

Sweaty man electrocuted by PC
Hint for PC users: if you think your computer is too hot, maybe removing
the case and exposing the electronic innards and dangerous power source
isn't the best idea. But if you simply must do so, perhaps you shouldn't
keep your sweaty, naked flesh too close to said innards.

Subscribe to the ITwhirled alert - weird tech news direct to your inbox.

SCO down but not out in Linux case ... XenSource updates virtualization software

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Qwest names new telecom veteran CEO
News: SCO says it's down but not out in Linux case
News: XenSource new release closes gap with VMware
News: AT&T wiretapping case headed for hearing
News: Microsoft loses key US OpenXML vote
Interview: Jimmy Wales talks on the future of Wikimedia
Podcast: IT news audio update
ITwhirled: Second Life prepares for its first bank run


NEWS UPDATES

Qwest names new telecom veteran CEO
Qwest Communications International Inc. has named telecommunications industry veteran Edward Mueller chairman and CEO, replacing the retiring Richard Notebaert.

SCO says it's down but not out in Linux case
A U.S. district court judge ruled Friday that SCO does not own the copyrights to the Unix operating system, undermining its cases against both Novell and IBM Corp. The ruling was seen by many as the death-knell in SCO's legal fight, but the SCO said it may not be done fighting yet.

XenSource new release closes gap with VMware
An upgraded version of the XenSource Inc. virtualization hypervisor out Monday closes the features gap with market leader VMware Inc., but a wide market share gap between the two companies remains, an industry analyst says.

AT&T wiretapping case headed for hearing
A federal appeals court will hear arguments next Wednesday on whether to stop a class-action privacy suit that is based on allegations that the government and AT&T Inc. have been working together in an illegal wiretapping program.

Microsoft loses key US OpenXML vote
The executive committee of the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) fell one vote shy of the nine required to approve Microsoft's Open XML standard. It voted 8 to 7 in favor of approval with one abstention, the group announced Thursday.

Spam surge sways stock market
Last week saw the Internet's biggest-ever spam surge in a single day, and also offered a lesson on why "pump and dump" stock-market spam campaigns have become so prevalent, according to Postini.


INTERVIEW

Jimmy Wales talks on the future of Wikimedia
The role Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, plays at the organization that supports the user generated and edited encyclopedia is changing as he shifts more of his time to activities in the wiki and open source communities, and shares time with his for-profit venture, Wikia Inc. In this interview, Wales discusses his changing role at Wikimedia, plans for the future, and other topics.


PODCAST

SCO down but not out in Linux case ... XenSource updates virtualization software ... ISPs complain about BBC media player


ITWHIRLED

Second Life prepares for its first bank run
Want to put some money in a bank that promises no-strings 43 percent
interest? What if the "bank" is in what's essentially a MMORP, where
there's no equivalent to the FDIC? What could possibly go wrong?