Microsoft patents 'Page Up' and 'Page Down'

Microsoft has been granted a patent on 'Page Up' and 'Page Down' keystrokes.

The software giant applied for the patent in 2005, and was granted it on August 19, 2008. US patent number 7,415,666 describes "a method and system in a document viewer for scrolling a substantially exact increment in a document, such as one page, regardless of whether the zoom is such that some, all or one page is currently being viewed".

The patent's listed 'inventors' are Timothy Sellers, Heather Grantham and Joshua Dersch. However, Page Up and Page Down keyboard buttons have been in existence for at least quarter of a century, as evidenced by this image of a 1981 IBM PC keyboard.

IBM claims 'Quicksilver' flash sets data-speed record

IBM has said its 'Project Quicksilver' is setting new records for data-transfer speeds on solid-state technology, with its tests showing a disk-storage solution hitting one million input/outputs per second (IOPS). The research project, under way at IBM's Hursley Lab in Hampshire and the Almaden Research Center in California, uses flash solid-state drives (SSDs) coupled with scalable storage virtualization technology. IBM claims to have achieved

SaaS market will 'collapse' in two years

Lawson's CEO, Harry Debes, doesn't believe in software-as-a-service (SaaS).

In fact, the ERP (enterprise resource planning) software company's top executive has put a two-year expiry date on SaaS' head.

Apple iPhone ad banned

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an ad for the iPhone which promised users access to "all parts of the Internet" on their Apple device.

The TV advert featured an individual flicking through holiday-related web pages on an iPhone to a voiceover saying: "You never know which part of the Internet you'll need. The 'do you need sun cream' part? The 'what's the quickest way to the airport' part? The 'what about an ocean view room' part? Or the 'can you really afford this' part? Which is why all the parts of the Internet are on the iPhone."

Inventor sues Google, Verizon, others on voicemail

SAN FRANCISCO--Emboldened by settlements with Apple and AT&T, inventor Judah Klausner filed a voice mail patent lawsuit on Tuesday against Google, Verizon Communications, and others.

Patch issued for Ubuntu security flaw

Canonical is the latest Linux vendor to patch a vulnerability in the open-source operating system's kernel that could have left the door open for hackers to find their way into users' machines.

In an email sent overnight on Monday, the Linux vendor warned users to update all machines running recent versions of Ubuntu, ranging from 6.06, which was released back in mid-2006, to version 8.04, which came out earlier this year. The problem also applied to other versions of Ubuntu such as Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu.

Large Hadron Collider aces pre-launch testing

Pre-initiation testing of the Large Hadron Collider has now been completed, ahead of the particle accelerator's official launch on September 10.

The second and final test of the Large Hadron Collider's (LHC's) beam synchronization systems took place on Friday evening in a tunnel under the Franco-Swiss border, according to a Monday statement from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern). The successful test involved pushing "a few particles down the transfer line from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) accelerator to the LHC", then steering them "counterclockwise about 3km around the LHC", the statement said.

Olympics set the stage for Web tech fight

SEATTLE--As the world's best athletes competed in Beijing, the summer Olympic games set the stage for a battle between Microsoft and Adobe over the Internet's next big competition.

Actors paid to line up for iPhone launch in Poland

WARSAW--When Apple rolled out its iPhone in the United States, some fans paid big money to be among the first to get their hands on the device. In Poland, people are getting paid to line up.

Worker suspended over loss of data on all English prisoners

A staff member at PA Consulting Group has been suspended after the contractor lost details on all prisoners in England and Wales, along with those of tens of thousands of offenders.

The data was being held, unencrypted, on a memory stick for processing purposes, the Home Office said in a Friday statement, saying that precisely how that stick was lost is now the subject of an internal investigation. A Home Office spokesperson told ZDNet.co.uk that PA Consulting had been "appointed by the Home Office in June 2007 to provide application support for tracking prolific and other priority offenders through the criminal justice system".

Intel teases shape-shifting programmable matter

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--Mobile phones in future could be thumb-sized in pockets, and in practically an instant, be effortlessly transformed into PDA-sized devices to send e-mail.

In the final keynote of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) Thursday, Justin Rattner, Intel's chief technology officer, shed some light on work around programmable matter, as he teased the audience with what Intel believes would apply as technology in the next four decades.

Top five issues your IT staff wants to address but is afraid to tell you

What SaaS can teach us about customer service

Commentary--Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is one of the fastest growing segments of the IT industry, as analysts and customers alike have heralded the increasing success of the SaaS model for driving down operating costs and freeing businesses to focus on their core competencies. In addition, SaaS can also result in another key benefit not often recognized or leveraged: better customer service.

Think about it. In the traditional software sales model, the idea is to impress the customer in the beginning, make the sale and collect the big check. While the customer is certainly valued, this is really a model that benefits the software company. Conversely, SaaS is a recurring revenue model where vendors gain maximum value by retaining customers over the long term. With the widespread adoption of SaaS products, vendors are adjusting their compensation models and salespeople are seeing smaller, but more regular, commission payouts. As such, each transaction and interaction with the customer is critical and SaaS providers must work continuously to earn the customers business.

Intel unveils Nehalem 'turbo mode'

Intel unveiled on Tuesday a new aspect of its upcoming microprocessor architecture, which promises better power management and efficiency.

Speaking in the afternoon keynote on day one of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, Pat Gelsinger, Intel's senior vice president and general manager of the digital enterprise group, showcased Nehalem EX for the expandable server market, consisting of eight-core processors on a single die. He then announced a power-gate feature incorporating a "turbo mode"--a "previously undiscussed" element--for the Nehalem family of processors.

American Airlines kicks off in-flight Internet service

CHICAGO--American Airlines began offering Internet access on long-haul domestic flights on Wednesday, making American the first U.S. airline to offer full in-flight broadband.

Android security team appeals to bug hunters

The security team behind Google's mobile platform, Android, has tried to raise its profile among security researchers by appealing for their vigilance in monitoring the platform.

In an email to the popular Full Disclosure mailing list, the Android security team said that as flaws in the system were inevitable, Google would require help from the security research community both in finding and disclosing those vulnerabilities.

"As you may expect, building and maintaining a secure mobile platform is a difficult task," wrote an Android security-team member. "While we have found and fixed many of our own bugs as well as flaws in other open-source projects, we realize that the discovery of additional security issues in a system this large and complex is inevitable."

Overheated iPod nano blamed for three fires

TOKYO--Japan's trade ministry said on Tuesday that three fires had been caused by overheating Apple iPod nanos, which it said could be due to a battery defect.

IBM: The mainframe is back

The mainframe is finding its way into emerging markets and is still holding strong globally, according to an IBM executive.

Richard Pape, mainframe systems executive at IBM Asia-Pacific, told ZDNet Asia in an email interview that the company is witnessing a resurgence in the mainframe. "We saw a range of all-new mainframe clients this year across the world, particularly in emerging markets [such as China and India]," he said.

During the release of its second-quarter results last month, IBM reported a 32 percent year-on-year increase in revenue from the System z mainframe server products.

Torvalds: No picnic to become major Linux coder

Linux project lead Linus Torvalds has said it is not easy to become a major contributor to the Linux kernel.

In an email interview with ZDNet.co.uk on Friday, Torvalds said that, while it is relatively easy for coders and organizations to contribute small patches, the contribution of large patches, developed in isolation, could lead to both new and established contributors becoming frustrated.

"It's definitely not easy to become a 'big contributor'," wrote Torvalds. "For one thing, the kernel is quite complex and big, and it inevitably simply takes time to learn all the rules not just for the code, but for how the whole development environment works. Similarly, for a new developer, it will take time before people start recognizing the name and start trusting the developer to do the right things."

IBM Australia faces strike action

IBM's Australian operation is facing the possibility of strike action among its workforce after a secret ballot opened yesterday for employees in a Baulkham Hills facility.

A section of under 100 employees who work in the "Flightdeck" at Baulkam Hills want a collective agreement granting them better pay and work conditions. So-called "Flightdeck" due to the rows of computers and big screens, which looks like a flight deck.

According to statements published by the Australian Services Union (ASU), after IBM Flightdeck employee meetings in June, the 46 Flightdeck employees in the union voted to apply for a protected action ballot with the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) which would decide whether to take legal industrial action.

BlackBerry rumor mill takes a page from Apple

If you thought iPhone nano rumors were hard to avoid, consider the myriad BlackBerry incarnations haunting cyberspace.

First up is the BlackBerry KickStart. Leaked images of this frankly ugly flip phone surfaced back in April--as seen here.

Why anyone would want a flip BlackBerry beats me, after all flipping phones are so retro it's untrue. Even RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie suggested a clam BlackBerry would be an incongruous beast--telling silicon.com back in May, "While you're asking if there's going to be a touch device, why not ask if there's going to be a flip? Has there ever been a successful flip smart phone?" We're still waiting for an answer to that one but we suspect it's a no.

William Shatner signs off on video autographs

LOS ANGELES--William Shatner sat in a drab office staring at a TV monitor displaying a message he was supposed to read to a fan while signing an autograph, but "Star Trek's" Captain Kirk wasn't very happy.

FBI, Dutch police crack the Shadow botnet

In a joint operation, the FBI and the Dutch High Tech Crime Unit have cracked the Shadow botnet--thought to contain 100,000 PCs.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the botnet: a 19-year-old Dutch man who sold the software; and his Brazilian buyer.

Antivirus company Kaspersky Lab has been aiding the Dutch unit in taking down the botnet by helping affected PC owners remove the malware from their machines.

Victims of the Shadow botnet who were contacted by the Dutch police were directed to a Kaspersky page containing instructions on how to fix their machines, as well as a website giving details on how to file a complaint with the police.

Security researcher demands money from Sun, Nokia

A Polish security researcher has claimed to have found multiple flaws in mobile Java, but is demanding 20,000 ($29,790) in return for full details of the vulnerabilities.

Adam Gowdiak, founder and chief executive of Security Explorations, has written on his website that he has created two proof-of-concept codes--stretching to over 14,000 lines--to attack vulnerabilities "affecting the implementation of mobile Java [J2ME] used by Sun and Nokia in their products". He has published the first few pages of his 178-page report, but will only reveal the rest if Nokia or Sun pay him almost $30,000.

Bill Gates: Software innovation poses privacy challenge

As software gets more powerful, privacy issues pose "an interesting software challenge", said Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.

Recounting a short history of software development, Gates said innovations in natural interaction technology are making technology more pervasive. "When interaction gets more natural, computers can be everywhere to listen to you," he said, adding that "society will have to have more explicit rules" governing privacy boundaries around software as technology develops.

VMware bug causes worldwide disruption

Update at 8:35 a.m. PT on Wednesday: Since ZDNet UK published this article, a patch for the flaw has been posted to VMware's Web site.

VMware virtual machines on all hosts with the company's latest hypervisor, ESX 3.5 Update 2, in enterprise configurations have found that it will not power on after being turned off.

The hypervisor refuses to start when the date is August 12, with customers around the world discovering the problem as midnight was passed in their time zones. A flaw in the VMware licensing code is responsible, according to Martin Niemar, group manager of virtual-infrastructure product marketing at VMware.

HSBC could order 200,000 iPhones

Global banking giant HSBC is considering ditching the BlackBerry and adopting Apple's iPhone as its standard staff mobile device, a move that could result in an order for some 200,000 iPhones.

"We are actually reviewing iPhones from a HSBC Group perspective ... and when I say that, I mean globally," HSBC's Australia and New Zealand chief information officer Brenton Hush told ZDNet.com.au yesterday.

Mozilla launches Snowl messaging prototype

Mozilla has launched a prototype messaging Firefox extension that it says could eventually enable users to keep track of all of their electronic communications, including email, RSS, social networks and web discussions.

"Snowl" enables users to priorities messages by importance and have a search-based interface for message retrieval, according to Mozilla developer Myk Melez.

"Could the web browser help you follow and participate in online discussions?" wrote Melez in a blog post on Wednesday. "Snowl is an experiment to answer that question."

Material bends, stretches and conducts electricity?

CHICAGO--In the latest twist on electronics, Japanese scientists said on Thursday they have developed a rubbery material that conducts electricity, a finding that could be used to make devices that bend and stretch.

Six steps to an effective data governance program

In the past few years, dozens of high-profile incidents involving data mismanagement have gained international attention. Caught off guard by these failures, the organizations impacted by them have struggled with eroded brand confidence and lost business, as well as legal liability. As a result, data governance has taken on increasing importance as organizations attempt to provide greater transparency to their shareholders and the investment community while at the same time working to more effectively manage and control mountains of data that reside within different parts of the organization.

New Nissan technology deters drivers from danger

YOKOSUKA, Japan--Nissan previewed on Wednesday new safety technology that goes beyond a warning beep if drivers veer into the path of danger, and actively tries to pull the car in the direction of safety.

New Google box for offices can search 10 million files

SAN FRANCISCO--Google said on Tuesday it is an offering an upgraded version of the hardware appliance its sells to companies and government organizations for Google-style Web search of office documents.

IOC puts Beijing Games highlights on YouTube

BEIJING--Clips and highlights of Olympic events are to be made available on the video-sharing site YouTube, owned by Google, under an agreement with the International Olympic Committee, the IOC said in a statement.

Spammers using Google Sites to bypass filters

Spammers have added Google Sites to the arsenal of online tools used to get around junk-email filters, according to a study published on Tuesday by messaging security firm MessageLabs.

Spammers had already been making use of Google Docs, Google Page Creator and Google Calendar as spam-hosting facilities, but Google Sites is a recent addition, according to the MessageLabs Intelligence Report for July 2008. Junk emailers are using the tool to automatically create web pages with names composed of a string of random numbers and letters, resulting in an address that is more difficult for signature-based anti-spam tools to block, MessageLabs said.

Thailand halts 'Grand Theft Auto' sales after murder

BANGKOK--A Thai video game distributor halted sales of Grand Theft Auto on Monday after a teenager confessed to robbing and murdering a taxi driver while trying to recreate a scene from the controversial game.