Google-backed tool detects Net filtering, blocking

WASHINGTON--Is your Internet provider interfering with your network traffic, and perhaps even running afoul of Net neutrality principles? Google and some like-minded folks believe they've come up with what amounts to an early warning system.

The idea behind the so-called Measurement Lab, or M-Lab, is that just about anyone interested in Internet regulation--including consumers, regulators, and content providers--could use more details about their network's performance. Google, the Democratic Party-affiliated New America Foundation, and the PlanetLab Consortium (a university-business consortium devoted to next-generation networks) announced M-Lab on Wednesday.

Outsourcing: Less money-saving, more time-saving

Despite the recession and the associated belt-tightening around enterprise IT budgets, cutting costs isn't front and center for many companies when it comes to outsourcing, according to one of India's largest services firms.

Suresh Vaswani, the joint CEO of IT business at Wipro, told silicon.com, saving money through better business processes is a high priority for enterprises.

"In yesterday's world, customers were happy if you gave them a 20 percent cost take-out. In today's world, if a customer wants a 20 percent cost take-out he can always reduce the salary of his people and people will be happy just to hold onto their jobs."

Yahoo drops its Briefcase

Yahoo plans to discontinue its Briefcase service, which allows people to store files online for free.

The service will be shut down on March 30, the company said on Wednesday. Yahoo is warning users to retrieve or delete their documents before that date.

Briefcase, which offered 30MB of online storage, was launched almost 10 years ago. However, "usage has been significantly declining over the years, as users outgrew the need for Yahoo Briefcase and turned to offerings with much more storage and enhanced sharing capabilities", the company said in a statement.

Google-backed tool detects Net filtering, blocking

WASHINGTON--Is your Internet provider interfering with your network traffic, and perhaps even running afoul of Net neutrality principles? Google and some like-minded folks believe they've come up with what amounts to an early warning system.

The idea behind the so-called Measurement Lab, or M-Lab, is that just about anyone interested in Internet regulation--including consumers, regulators, and content providers--could use more details about their network's performance. Google, the Democratic Party-affiliated New America Foundation, and the PlanetLab Consortium (a university-business consortium devoted to next-generation networks) announced M-Lab on Wednesday.

Google-backed tool detects Net filtering, blocking

WASHINGTON--Is your Internet provider interfering with your network traffic, and perhaps even running afoul of Net neutrality principles? Google and some like-minded folks believe they've come up with what amounts to an early warning system.

The idea behind the so-called Measurement Lab, or M-Lab, is that just about anyone interested in Internet regulation--including consumers, regulators, and content providers--could use more details about their network's performance. Google, the Democratic Party-affiliated New America Foundation, and the PlanetLab Consortium (a university-business consortium devoted to next-generation networks) announced M-Lab on Wednesday.

Outsourcing: Less money-saving, more time-saving

Despite the recession and the associated belt-tightening around enterprise IT budgets, cutting costs isn't front and center for many companies when it comes to outsourcing, according to one of India's largest services firms.

Suresh Vaswani, the joint CEO of IT business at Wipro, told silicon.com, saving money through better business processes is a high priority for enterprises.

"In yesterday's world, customers were happy if you gave them a 20 percent cost take-out. In today's world, if a customer wants a 20 percent cost take-out he can always reduce the salary of his people and people will be happy just to hold onto their jobs."

Google-backed tool detects Net filtering, blocking

WASHINGTON--Is your Internet provider interfering with your network traffic, and perhaps even running afoul of Net neutrality principles? Google and some like-minded folks believe they've come up with what amounts to an early warning system.

The idea behind the so-called Measurement Lab, or M-Lab, is that just about anyone interested in Internet regulation--including consumers, regulators, and content providers--could use more details about their network's performance. Google, the Democratic Party-affiliated New America Foundation, and the PlanetLab Consortium (a university-business consortium devoted to next-generation networks) announced M-Lab on Wednesday.

Google-backed tool detects Net filtering, blocking

WASHINGTON--Is your Internet provider interfering with your network traffic, and perhaps even running afoul of Net neutrality principles? Google and some like-minded folks believe they've come up with what amounts to an early warning system.

The idea behind the so-called Measurement Lab, or M-Lab, is that just about anyone interested in Internet regulation--including consumers, regulators, and content providers--could use more details about their network's performance. Google, the Democratic Party-affiliated New America Foundation, and the PlanetLab Consortium (a university-business consortium devoted to next-generation networks) announced M-Lab on Wednesday.

Google-backed tool detects Net filtering, blocking

WASHINGTON--Is your Internet provider interfering with your network traffic, and perhaps even running afoul of Net neutrality principles? Google and some like-minded folks believe they've come up with what amounts to an early warning system.

The idea behind the so-called Measurement Lab, or M-Lab, is that just about anyone interested in Internet regulation--including consumers, regulators, and content providers--could use more details about their network's performance. Google, the Democratic Party-affiliated New America Foundation, and the PlanetLab Consortium (a university-business consortium devoted to next-generation networks) announced M-Lab on Wednesday.

Google-backed tool detects Net filtering, blocking

WASHINGTON--Is your Internet provider interfering with your network traffic, and perhaps even running afoul of Net neutrality principles? Google and some like-minded folks believe they've come up with what amounts to an early warning system.

The idea behind the so-called Measurement Lab, or M-Lab, is that just about anyone interested in Internet regulation--including consumers, regulators, and content providers--could use more details about their network's performance. Google, the Democratic Party-affiliated New America Foundation, and the PlanetLab Consortium (a university-business consortium devoted to next-generation networks) announced M-Lab on Wednesday.

Outsourcing: Less money-saving, more time-saving

Despite the recession and the associated belt-tightening around enterprise IT budgets, cutting costs isn't front and center for many companies when it comes to outsourcing, according to one of India's largest services firms.

Suresh Vaswani, the joint CEO of IT business at Wipro, told silicon.com, saving money through better business processes is a high priority for enterprises.

"In yesterday's world, customers were happy if you gave them a 20 percent cost take-out. In today's world, if a customer wants a 20 percent cost take-out he can always reduce the salary of his people and people will be happy just to hold onto their jobs."

Outsourcing: Less money-saving, more time-saving

Despite the recession and the associated belt-tightening around enterprise IT budgets, cutting costs isn't front and center for many companies when it comes to outsourcing, according to one of India's largest services firms.

Suresh Vaswani, the joint CEO of IT business at Wipro, told silicon.com, saving money through better business processes is a high priority for enterprises.

"In yesterday's world, customers were happy if you gave them a 20 percent cost take-out. In today's world, if a customer wants a 20 percent cost take-out he can always reduce the salary of his people and people will be happy just to hold onto their jobs."

Outsourcing: Less money-saving, more time-saving

Despite the recession and the associated belt-tightening around enterprise IT budgets, cutting costs isn't front and center for many companies when it comes to outsourcing, according to one of India's largest services firms.

Suresh Vaswani, the joint CEO of IT business at Wipro, told silicon.com, saving money through better business processes is a high priority for enterprises.

"In yesterday's world, customers were happy if you gave them a 20 percent cost take-out. In today's world, if a customer wants a 20 percent cost take-out he can always reduce the salary of his people and people will be happy just to hold onto their jobs."

Google-backed tool detects Net filtering, blocking

WASHINGTON--Is your Internet provider interfering with your network traffic, and perhaps even running afoul of Net neutrality principles? Google and some like-minded folks believe they've come up with what amounts to an early warning system.

The idea behind the so-called Measurement Lab, or M-Lab, is that just about anyone interested in Internet regulation--including consumers, regulators, and content providers--could use more details about their network's performance. Google, the Democratic Party-affiliated New America Foundation, and the PlanetLab Consortium (a university-business consortium devoted to next-generation networks) announced M-Lab on Wednesday.

Google-backed tool detects Net filtering, blocking

WASHINGTON--Is your Internet provider interfering with your network traffic, and perhaps even running afoul of Net neutrality principles? Google and some like-minded folks believe they've come up with what amounts to an early warning system.

The idea behind the so-called Measurement Lab, or M-Lab, is that just about anyone interested in Internet regulation--including consumers, regulators, and content providers--could use more details about their network's performance. Google, the Democratic Party-affiliated New America Foundation, and the PlanetLab Consortium (a university-business consortium devoted to next-generation networks) announced M-Lab on Wednesday.

Yahoo drops its Briefcase

Yahoo plans to discontinue its Briefcase service, which allows people to store files online for free.

The service will be shut down on March 30, the company said on Wednesday. Yahoo is warning users to retrieve or delete their documents before that date.

Briefcase, which offered 30MB of online storage, was launched almost 10 years ago. However, "usage has been significantly declining over the years, as users outgrew the need for Yahoo Briefcase and turned to offerings with much more storage and enhanced sharing capabilities", the company said in a statement.

Google-backed tool detects Net filtering, blocking

WASHINGTON--Is your Internet provider interfering with your network traffic, and perhaps even running afoul of Net neutrality principles? Google and some like-minded folks believe they've come up with what amounts to an early warning system.

The idea behind the so-called Measurement Lab, or M-Lab, is that just about anyone interested in Internet regulation--including consumers, regulators, and content providers--could use more details about their network's performance. Google, the Democratic Party-affiliated New America Foundation, and the PlanetLab Consortium (a university-business consortium devoted to next-generation networks) announced M-Lab on Wednesday.

Yahoo drops its Briefcase

Yahoo plans to discontinue its Briefcase service, which allows people to store files online for free.

The service will be shut down on March 30, the company said on Wednesday. Yahoo is warning users to retrieve or delete their documents before that date.

Briefcase, which offered 30MB of online storage, was launched almost 10 years ago. However, "usage has been significantly declining over the years, as users outgrew the need for Yahoo Briefcase and turned to offerings with much more storage and enhanced sharing capabilities", the company said in a statement.

Outsourcing: Less money-saving, more time-saving

Despite the recession and the associated belt-tightening around enterprise IT budgets, cutting costs isn't front and center for many companies when it comes to outsourcing, according to one of India's largest services firms.

Suresh Vaswani, the joint CEO of IT business at Wipro, told silicon.com, saving money through better business processes is a high priority for enterprises.

"In yesterday's world, customers were happy if you gave them a 20 percent cost take-out. In today's world, if a customer wants a 20 percent cost take-out he can always reduce the salary of his people and people will be happy just to hold onto their jobs."

Yahoo drops its Briefcase

Yahoo plans to discontinue its Briefcase service, which allows people to store files online for free.

The service will be shut down on March 30, the company said on Wednesday. Yahoo is warning users to retrieve or delete their documents before that date.

Briefcase, which offered 30MB of online storage, was launched almost 10 years ago. However, "usage has been significantly declining over the years, as users outgrew the need for Yahoo Briefcase and turned to offerings with much more storage and enhanced sharing capabilities", the company said in a statement.

Outsourcing: Less money-saving, more time-saving

Despite the recession and the associated belt-tightening around enterprise IT budgets, cutting costs isn't front and center for many companies when it comes to outsourcing, according to one of India's largest services firms.

Suresh Vaswani, the joint CEO of IT business at Wipro, told silicon.com, saving money through better business processes is a high priority for enterprises.

"In yesterday's world, customers were happy if you gave them a 20 percent cost take-out. In today's world, if a customer wants a 20 percent cost take-out he can always reduce the salary of his people and people will be happy just to hold onto their jobs."

Yahoo drops its Briefcase

Yahoo plans to discontinue its Briefcase service, which allows people to store files online for free.

The service will be shut down on March 30, the company said on Wednesday. Yahoo is warning users to retrieve or delete their documents before that date.

Briefcase, which offered 30MB of online storage, was launched almost 10 years ago. However, "usage has been significantly declining over the years, as users outgrew the need for Yahoo Briefcase and turned to offerings with much more storage and enhanced sharing capabilities", the company said in a statement.

Yahoo drops its Briefcase

Yahoo plans to discontinue its Briefcase service, which allows people to store files online for free.

The service will be shut down on March 30, the company said on Wednesday. Yahoo is warning users to retrieve or delete their documents before that date.

Briefcase, which offered 30MB of online storage, was launched almost 10 years ago. However, "usage has been significantly declining over the years, as users outgrew the need for Yahoo Briefcase and turned to offerings with much more storage and enhanced sharing capabilities", the company said in a statement.

Yahoo drops its Briefcase

Yahoo plans to discontinue its Briefcase service, which allows people to store files online for free.

The service will be shut down on March 30, the company said on Wednesday. Yahoo is warning users to retrieve or delete their documents before that date.

Briefcase, which offered 30MB of online storage, was launched almost 10 years ago. However, "usage has been significantly declining over the years, as users outgrew the need for Yahoo Briefcase and turned to offerings with much more storage and enhanced sharing capabilities", the company said in a statement.

Outsourcing: Less money-saving, more time-saving

Despite the recession and the associated belt-tightening around enterprise IT budgets, cutting costs isn't front and center for many companies when it comes to outsourcing, according to one of India's largest services firms.

Suresh Vaswani, the joint CEO of IT business at Wipro, told silicon.com, saving money through better business processes is a high priority for enterprises.

"In yesterday's world, customers were happy if you gave them a 20 percent cost take-out. In today's world, if a customer wants a 20 percent cost take-out he can always reduce the salary of his people and people will be happy just to hold onto their jobs."

Yahoo drops its Briefcase

Yahoo plans to discontinue its Briefcase service, which allows people to store files online for free.

The service will be shut down on March 30, the company said on Wednesday. Yahoo is warning users to retrieve or delete their documents before that date.

Briefcase, which offered 30MB of online storage, was launched almost 10 years ago. However, "usage has been significantly declining over the years, as users outgrew the need for Yahoo Briefcase and turned to offerings with much more storage and enhanced sharing capabilities", the company said in a statement.

Yahoo drops its Briefcase

Yahoo plans to discontinue its Briefcase service, which allows people to store files online for free.

The service will be shut down on March 30, the company said on Wednesday. Yahoo is warning users to retrieve or delete their documents before that date.

Briefcase, which offered 30MB of online storage, was launched almost 10 years ago. However, "usage has been significantly declining over the years, as users outgrew the need for Yahoo Briefcase and turned to offerings with much more storage and enhanced sharing capabilities", the company said in a statement.

Flaw exposes Chrome, Firefox to clickjacking

Security researchers have discovered a flaw affecting Google's Chrome browser that exposes it to clickjacking where an attacker hijacks a browser's functions by substituting a legitimate link with a link of the attacker's choice.

Google has acknowledged the flaw and is working towards a patch for Chrome versions 1.0.154.43 and earlier when running within Windows XP SP2 systems, according to SecNiche security researcher Aditya K Sood.

Gartner reveals the eight hottest mobile techs to watch

Analyst house Gartner has named the technologies it believes will play a significant role in shaping the mobile landscape over the next two years.

With the rise of Apple's iPhone, and other new entrants such as Google's Android OS platform, mobile user interfaces (UI) are emerging as a key battleground as ease of use becomes ever-more important.

Gartner predicts mobile makers will use UIs to differentiate handsets and platforms in an attempt to stand out from the competition meaning businesses should get ready to support them.

Gartner reveals the eight hottest mobile techs to watch

Analyst house Gartner has named the technologies it believes will play a significant role in shaping the mobile landscape over the next two years.

With the rise of Apple's iPhone, and other new entrants such as Google's Android OS platform, mobile user interfaces (UI) are emerging as a key battleground as ease of use becomes ever-more important.

Gartner predicts mobile makers will use UIs to differentiate handsets and platforms in an attempt to stand out from the competition meaning businesses should get ready to support them.

Gartner reveals the eight hottest mobile techs to watch

Analyst house Gartner has named the technologies it believes will play a significant role in shaping the mobile landscape over the next two years.

With the rise of Apple's iPhone, and other new entrants such as Google's Android OS platform, mobile user interfaces (UI) are emerging as a key battleground as ease of use becomes ever-more important.

Gartner predicts mobile makers will use UIs to differentiate handsets and platforms in an attempt to stand out from the competition meaning businesses should get ready to support them.

Acer plans Linux, SSD version of 10-inch netbook

Acer has confirmed it plans to release a Linux version of its 10-inch Aspire One netbook, even though its initial announcement of the upcoming machine said it would be Windows XP-only.

Flaw exposes Chrome, Firefox to clickjacking

Security researchers have discovered a flaw affecting Google's Chrome browser that exposes it to clickjacking where an attacker hijacks a browser's functions by substituting a legitimate link with a link of the attacker's choice.

Google has acknowledged the flaw and is working towards a patch for Chrome versions 1.0.154.43 and earlier when running within Windows XP SP2 systems, according to SecNiche security researcher Aditya K Sood.

Flaw exposes Chrome, Firefox to clickjacking

Security researchers have discovered a flaw affecting Google's Chrome browser that exposes it to clickjacking where an attacker hijacks a browser's functions by substituting a legitimate link with a link of the attacker's choice.

Google has acknowledged the flaw and is working towards a patch for Chrome versions 1.0.154.43 and earlier when running within Windows XP SP2 systems, according to SecNiche security researcher Aditya K Sood.

Acer plans Linux, SSD version of 10-inch netbook

Acer has confirmed it plans to release a Linux version of its 10-inch Aspire One netbook, even though its initial announcement of the upcoming machine said it would be Windows XP-only.

Gartner reveals the eight hottest mobile techs to watch

Analyst house Gartner has named the technologies it believes will play a significant role in shaping the mobile landscape over the next two years.

With the rise of Apple's iPhone, and other new entrants such as Google's Android OS platform, mobile user interfaces (UI) are emerging as a key battleground as ease of use becomes ever-more important.

Gartner predicts mobile makers will use UIs to differentiate handsets and platforms in an attempt to stand out from the competition meaning businesses should get ready to support them.

Gartner reveals the eight hottest mobile techs to watch

Analyst house Gartner has named the technologies it believes will play a significant role in shaping the mobile landscape over the next two years.

With the rise of Apple's iPhone, and other new entrants such as Google's Android OS platform, mobile user interfaces (UI) are emerging as a key battleground as ease of use becomes ever-more important.

Gartner predicts mobile makers will use UIs to differentiate handsets and platforms in an attempt to stand out from the competition meaning businesses should get ready to support them.

Gartner reveals the eight hottest mobile techs to watch

Analyst house Gartner has named the technologies it believes will play a significant role in shaping the mobile landscape over the next two years.

With the rise of Apple's iPhone, and other new entrants such as Google's Android OS platform, mobile user interfaces (UI) are emerging as a key battleground as ease of use becomes ever-more important.

Gartner predicts mobile makers will use UIs to differentiate handsets and platforms in an attempt to stand out from the competition meaning businesses should get ready to support them.

Acer plans Linux, SSD version of 10-inch netbook

Acer has confirmed it plans to release a Linux version of its 10-inch Aspire One netbook, even though its initial announcement of the upcoming machine said it would be Windows XP-only.

Acer plans Linux, SSD version of 10-inch netbook

Acer has confirmed it plans to release a Linux version of its 10-inch Aspire One netbook, even though its initial announcement of the upcoming machine said it would be Windows XP-only.

Acer plans Linux, SSD version of 10-inch netbook

Acer has confirmed it plans to release a Linux version of its 10-inch Aspire One netbook, even though its initial announcement of the upcoming machine said it would be Windows XP-only.

Acer plans Linux, SSD version of 10-inch netbook

Acer has confirmed it plans to release a Linux version of its 10-inch Aspire One netbook, even though its initial announcement of the upcoming machine said it would be Windows XP-only.

Cybercrime cost $1 trillion last year, study

Data theft and breaches from cybercrime may have cost businesses as much as $1 trillion globally in lost intellectual property and expenditures for repairing the damage last year, according to a new study from McAfee.

McAfee made the projection based on responses to a survey of more than 800 chief information officers in the United States, UK, Germany, Japan, China, India, Brazil and Dubai.

The respondents estimated that they lost data worth a total of $4.6 billion and spent about $600 million cleaning up after breaches, McAfee said.

Kyrgyzstan under cyberattack

Central Asian country Kyrgyzstan is under cyberattack, according to Information Warfare Monitor.

The attacks bear similarities to attacks launched by Russia against Estonia and Georgia.

Since last week Kyrgyzstan has been under a "massive denial of service attack", according to Information Warfare Monitor. Three out of four ISPs have been put out of action, while upstream providers in Russia and Kazakhstan have refused traffic due to the scale of the attacks.

Kyrgyzstan under cyberattack

Central Asian country Kyrgyzstan is under cyberattack, according to Information Warfare Monitor.

The attacks bear similarities to attacks launched by Russia against Estonia and Georgia.

Since last week Kyrgyzstan has been under a "massive denial of service attack", according to Information Warfare Monitor. Three out of four ISPs have been put out of action, while upstream providers in Russia and Kazakhstan have refused traffic due to the scale of the attacks.

Kyrgyzstan under cyberattack

Central Asian country Kyrgyzstan is under cyberattack, according to Information Warfare Monitor.

The attacks bear similarities to attacks launched by Russia against Estonia and Georgia.

Since last week Kyrgyzstan has been under a "massive denial of service attack", according to Information Warfare Monitor. Three out of four ISPs have been put out of action, while upstream providers in Russia and Kazakhstan have refused traffic due to the scale of the attacks.

Cybercrime cost $1 trillion last year, study

Data theft and breaches from cybercrime may have cost businesses as much as $1 trillion globally in lost intellectual property and expenditures for repairing the damage last year, according to a new study from McAfee.

McAfee made the projection based on responses to a survey of more than 800 chief information officers in the United States, UK, Germany, Japan, China, India, Brazil and Dubai.

The respondents estimated that they lost data worth a total of $4.6 billion and spent about $600 million cleaning up after breaches, McAfee said.

Cybercrime cost $1 trillion last year, study

Data theft and breaches from cybercrime may have cost businesses as much as $1 trillion globally in lost intellectual property and expenditures for repairing the damage last year, according to a new study from McAfee.

McAfee made the projection based on responses to a survey of more than 800 chief information officers in the United States, UK, Germany, Japan, China, India, Brazil and Dubai.

The respondents estimated that they lost data worth a total of $4.6 billion and spent about $600 million cleaning up after breaches, McAfee said.

Kyrgyzstan under cyberattack

Central Asian country Kyrgyzstan is under cyberattack, according to Information Warfare Monitor.

The attacks bear similarities to attacks launched by Russia against Estonia and Georgia.

Since last week Kyrgyzstan has been under a "massive denial of service attack", according to Information Warfare Monitor. Three out of four ISPs have been put out of action, while upstream providers in Russia and Kazakhstan have refused traffic due to the scale of the attacks.

Gmail grows up with offline e-mail access

Significantly increasing the utility and competitiveness of its Web-based e-mail service, Google is enabling an experimental ability to read, write, and search Gmail messages even while not connected to the network.

Google believes almost religiously in cloud computing, the idea that computer applications and data live on the Internet rather than on PCs. But there are times when the network is inaccessible, and generally Web-based applications like today's Gmail effectively seize up under those circumstances.

Multicore chips leave software trailing, warns Gartner

Gartner sounded a warning on Wednesday about the impact on software of the rapid growth of multicore chips and the number of threads each processor can handle.

In a research note, the analysts argued that software is struggling to keep pace with the fast growth of multicore processors, first from two and four cores per processor, and now to eight and even 32 cores in high-end servers. With 32 processors per socket already shipping, four years from now machines could host 1,024 processors, Gartner said.

AT&T, Comcast expected to help RIAA fight piracy

AT&T and Comcast, two of the nation's largest Internet service providers, are expected to be among a group of ISPs that will cooperate with the music industry in battling illegal file sharing, three sources close to the companies told CNET News.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the lobbying group representing the four largest recording companies, said last month that it had enlisted the help of ISPs as part of a new antipiracy campaign. The RIAA has declined to identify which ISPs or how many.

Intel EU antitrust delay rejected

Intel has failed in its bid to delay European Commission antitrust procedures against the chipmaker.

The Commission's case followed complaints by AMD, which claimed Intel had offered financial incentives to PC manufacturers in an attempt to dissuade them from using AMD products. In October, Intel called on the Commission to acquire certain confidential AMD documents, arguing that Intel could not adequately respond to the charges without seeing them. It also asked for a 30-day delay in the case, so it could assess and respond to the documents. However, on Tuesday the European Court of First Instance rejected Intel's arguments.

Inside the BlackBerry app store

On Monday, Research in Motion opened up the submission process for its Application Storefront, through which third-party software for the BlackBerry can be sold to the public by its developers the handset maker's answer to the iPhone App Store and the Android Market. The online Application Storefront is planned to go live in March, and an on-device Application Center is also in the works.

ZDNet UK caught up with Mike Kirkup, RIM's head of developer relations, to discuss what the store means for RIM's developer community.

Torvalds abandons KDE for Gnome

Ticked off at the latest revamp of KDE, Linux progenitor Linus Torvalds has switched to Gnome. Apparently he thought KDE 4.0 was a "disaster" and "half-baked". Harsh words indeed.

In an interview with Computerworld, Torvalds said "break everything" probably wasn't the best idea.

Torvalds said, "I got the update through Fedora and there was a mismatch from KDE 3 to KDE 4.0. The desktop was not as functional and it was just a bad experience for me. I'll revisit it when I reinstall the next machine which tends to be every six to eight months."

Microsoft seeks to regain lost ground in mobile

Microsoft has made some stumbles in the mobile world, but a strategy shift made more than a year ago will soon pay dividends, the company's top Windows Mobile executive said in an interview with CNET News.

Andy Lees, the executive brought over from the server unit a year ago, said that Microsoft's efforts to make sure that its mobile software could run on a wide range of phones resulted in an operating system that failed to take advantage of advances in hardware.

Cloud computing security forecast: Clear skies

To critics, cloud computing can't be trusted because you aren't in control of the data outside your network.

But if that's the case, then how secure are the data and collocation centers that corporations contract with to host their data?

"It does come down to vetting the practices of the provider and making sure they meet the standards you want for your business," Phil Hochmuth, a senior analyst at Yankee Group, said Monday, the eve of Cloud Computing Innovation Day in Santa Clara, Calif.

How to ace that job interview

Nervous about your upcoming job interview? silicon.com's expert panel gives you all the advice you need. Q: I have an interview next week that could lead to promotion to a senior role in the IT department. How do I convince the panel I'm the best candidate for the role?Tessa Hood, personal brand consultant:
Hopefully, you can show at the interview how you have been challenged by difficult tasks, managed them efficiently and had great success in implementing them. It is very easy for a company to forget the efforts that individual people have made during their employment and if you can show the challenges you have met this will provide a strong argument for your willingness to do your best for the company.

EU may force rival browsers on Windows

The European Union is considering forcing Microsoft to distribute rival browsers as part of Windows, the software maker disclosed in a regulatory filing last week.

As part of its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission filed on Thursday, the software maker offered more details on the EU's statement last week that it believes Microsoft's inclusion of a browser in Windows violates antitrust law.

Microsoft said that the EU is considering forcing computer makers, known as original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, to offer multiple browsers with new Windows PCs.

EU may force rival browsers on Windows

The European Union is considering forcing Microsoft to distribute rival browsers as part of Windows, the software maker disclosed in a regulatory filing last week.

As part of its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission filed on Thursday, the software maker offered more details on the EU's statement last week that it believes Microsoft's inclusion of a browser in Windows violates antitrust law.

Microsoft said that the EU is considering forcing computer makers, known as original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, to offer multiple browsers with new Windows PCs.

Windows 7 beta deadline extended

Microsoft announced Friday night that computer enthusiasts will have a while longer to get their hands on the beta version of Windows 7.

In a blog posting, Microsoft said that the test version of the operating system will be available for download through February 10. Previously, Microsoft had said that the OS would only be open through late this month.

Remembering the '1984' Super Bowl Mac ad

The fact that the Los Angeles Raiders humiliated the Washington Redskins in a 38-to-9 victory is a mere afterthought. Super Bowl XVIII's lasting legacy has been a single advertisement sandwiched somewhere in the third quarter: Apple Computer's iconic "1984" commercial.

It began, in a clear nod to George Orwell's novel of the same name, with tense strains of music, the image of figures marching through a tube across a dank industrial complex, and the start of a bizarre monologue: "Today we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives."

The Macintosh at 50

Over the past 25 years, the ideas behind the original Macintosh have become industry standard. Any 2009 computer user could sit down at an original Macintosh and use it to write and format a letter; the same can't be said of a PC from 1984.

A:\> is no longer an interface, it's an emoticon. Someone grinning in a clown hat. Meanwhile, the Mac ideals of simplicity, elegance, intuition and clarity have won the day.

But it isn't all purity of vision today's Macs have absorbed things such as command lines, feature bloat and even run a version of Unix under the hood. The hardware has become functionally identical to that of PCs. What the Mac at 50 will look like if the idea of individual computers is even still current will be what most computers will look like. We asked around the office and the internet to find out what people thought.

Security market soars after Mumbai attacks

INDIA--India's IT sector has stepped up surveillance measures and introduced integrated security products as safety concerns rise across the country.

Earlier this month, Nasscom (India's trade body and chamber of commerce for the IT-business process outsourcing industry) sent out invites for the India Leadership Forum 2009, to be held in Mumbai in February. A note at the end of the invite said: "At Nasscom, we understand the security concerns that you might have following the unfortunate incident at Mumbai. In all our conferences, we ensure that the security measures are stringent and foolproof to the best of our ability."

New Jobs health hoax targets Wired

It is a hoax, Wired reported Thursday - an article that looks like a story on Wired.com and that claims Apple CEO Steve Jobs has had a heart attack.

"A widely-circulated URL which points to an image that purports to be a wired.com story about Steve Jobs health is a hack job," Wired.com said. "We won't provide the URL here but the Twitterverse quickly surmised that the item was not correct." It appears to have first been reported by Mashable.

Online customer service could be more important than offline

Commentary--While many companies bend over backwards to set up systems that provide exemplary service to their customers in the real world, they are often at a loss as to how to manage customer relationships in an online world.

Sony warns of $2.9 billion loss

The operating loss will be Sony's first in 14 years, underscoring deepening troubles for a company that has fallen behind Apple's iPod in portable music and Nintendo in videogames, and is losing money on flat TVs.

Cisco patches Security Manager flaw

Cisco has released an out-of-cycle patch for a vulnerability in its Security Manager product.

The flaw lies in the way Security Manager which configures firewalls, VPN and intrusion prevention systems (IPS) interacts with Cisco IPS Event Viewer (IEV). When IEV is launched, it opens several remotely available TCP ports on the Cisco Security Manager server and client. These ports could allow a cybercriminal to gain root access to the IEV database and server, and modify, add or delete devices that the Event Viewer recognizes.

Obama, Satyam won't spell outsourcing doom

INDIA--Newly sworn-in U.S. President Barack Obama may not be a fan of outsourcing, but the Indian IT market has little to fear as the industry becomes a business need in the globalized world, say experts.

Inaugurated Tuesday as the 44th President of the United States, Obama had said during his campaign that if elected, he will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that outsource jobs and reward those that create jobs in America. The recent Satyam accounting scam, too, has scarred the Indian IT, potentially shaking market confidence.

Obama, Satyam won't spell outsourcing doom

INDIA--Newly sworn-in U.S. President Barack Obama may not be a fan of outsourcing, but the Indian IT market has little to fear as the industry becomes a business need in the globalized world, say experts.

Inaugurated Tuesday as the 44th President of the United States, Obama had said during his campaign that if elected, he will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that outsource jobs and reward those that create jobs in America. The recent Satyam accounting scam, too, has scarred the Indian IT, potentially shaking market confidence.

Obama, Satyam won't spell outsourcing doom

INDIA--Newly sworn-in U.S. President Barack Obama may not be a fan of outsourcing, but the Indian IT market has little to fear as the industry becomes a business need in the globalized world, say experts.

Inaugurated Tuesday as the 44th President of the United States, Obama had said during his campaign that if elected, he will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that outsource jobs and reward those that create jobs in America. The recent Satyam accounting scam, too, has scarred the Indian IT, potentially shaking market confidence.

Stopping corporate IT break-ins

Shutting the door to IT systems after staff leave the business and allowing workers to safely log in from home can be major headaches for business.

In an identity-management guide published on Tuesday, the Corporate IT Forum (TiF) recommends using automation to smooth over some of the difficulties in keeping track of who is accessing what.

According to the guide, companies should approach identity management by asking the following questions for each member of staff: "Who are you?"; "What is your business here?"; and "What IT elements and data do you need?"

Ericsson to lay off 5,000 workers

The telecoms infrastructure firm Ericsson is to lay off 5,000 workers, after its results for the fourth quarter of 2008 showed a 31 percent year-on-year drop in profits.

The results came out on Wednesday, with profits in the fourth quarter of 2008 totaling 3.9bn Swedish kronor (341m) down from SEK 5.6bn in the corresponding quarter of 2007. Ericsson blamed the drop on restructuring charges and a "dramatic drop in the contribution" from Sony Ericsson, which is Ericsson's handset-manufacturing joint venture with Sony.

Stopping corporate IT break-ins

Shutting the door to IT systems after staff leave the business and allowing workers to safely log in from home can be major headaches for business.

In an identity-management guide published on Tuesday, the Corporate IT Forum (TiF) recommends using automation to smooth over some of the difficulties in keeping track of who is accessing what.

According to the guide, companies should approach identity management by asking the following questions for each member of staff: "Who are you?"; "What is your business here?"; and "What IT elements and data do you need?"

Obama, Satyam won't spell outsourcing doom

INDIA--Newly sworn-in U.S. President Barack Obama may not be a fan of outsourcing, but the Indian IT market has little to fear as the industry becomes a business need in the globalized world, say experts.

Inaugurated Tuesday as the 44th President of the United States, Obama had said during his campaign that if elected, he will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that outsource jobs and reward those that create jobs in America. The recent Satyam accounting scam, too, has scarred the Indian IT, potentially shaking market confidence.

Stopping corporate IT break-ins

Shutting the door to IT systems after staff leave the business and allowing workers to safely log in from home can be major headaches for business.

In an identity-management guide published on Tuesday, the Corporate IT Forum (TiF) recommends using automation to smooth over some of the difficulties in keeping track of who is accessing what.

According to the guide, companies should approach identity management by asking the following questions for each member of staff: "Who are you?"; "What is your business here?"; and "What IT elements and data do you need?"

Red Hat version 5.3 released

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 became globally available on Wednesday, with the new enterprise OS featuring virtualization improvements, support for Intel's Core i7 architecture and inclusion of the Open Java Development Kit from Sun.

When interviewed in October 2008, Red Hat global chief executive Jim Whitehurst said virtualization was one of the company's key priorities. "Virtualization should be part of the operating system, not a separate layer," he said at the time.

Ericsson to lay off 5,000 workers

The telecoms infrastructure firm Ericsson is to lay off 5,000 workers, after its results for the fourth quarter of 2008 showed a 31 percent year-on-year drop in profits.

The results came out on Wednesday, with profits in the fourth quarter of 2008 totaling 3.9bn Swedish kronor (341m) down from SEK 5.6bn in the corresponding quarter of 2007. Ericsson blamed the drop on restructuring charges and a "dramatic drop in the contribution" from Sony Ericsson, which is Ericsson's handset-manufacturing joint venture with Sony.

Ericsson to lay off 5,000 workers

The telecoms infrastructure firm Ericsson is to lay off 5,000 workers, after its results for the fourth quarter of 2008 showed a 31 percent year-on-year drop in profits.

The results came out on Wednesday, with profits in the fourth quarter of 2008 totaling 3.9bn Swedish kronor (341m) down from SEK 5.6bn in the corresponding quarter of 2007. Ericsson blamed the drop on restructuring charges and a "dramatic drop in the contribution" from Sony Ericsson, which is Ericsson's handset-manufacturing joint venture with Sony.

Ericsson to lay off 5,000 workers

The telecoms infrastructure firm Ericsson is to lay off 5,000 workers, after its results for the fourth quarter of 2008 showed a 31 percent year-on-year drop in profits.

The results came out on Wednesday, with profits in the fourth quarter of 2008 totaling 3.9bn Swedish kronor (341m) down from SEK 5.6bn in the corresponding quarter of 2007. Ericsson blamed the drop on restructuring charges and a "dramatic drop in the contribution" from Sony Ericsson, which is Ericsson's handset-manufacturing joint venture with Sony.

Red Hat version 5.3 released

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 became globally available on Wednesday, with the new enterprise OS featuring virtualization improvements, support for Intel's Core i7 architecture and inclusion of the Open Java Development Kit from Sun.

When interviewed in October 2008, Red Hat global chief executive Jim Whitehurst said virtualization was one of the company's key priorities. "Virtualization should be part of the operating system, not a separate layer," he said at the time.

Bush leaves behind a mixed technology legacy

news analysis Months after being sworn in as president, George W. Bush sat down with reporters and his wife, Laura, for a technology-themed event: a relaunch of the Whitehouse.gov Web site, which previously had been rather dilapidated.

Bush and his aides proudly demonstrated the new features, including photo essays, better access for the disabled, and a kids' area with details about the First Pets. The president said the Web site would let Washington become "more accessible" and let Americans "participate in the process."

Fake reviews prompt Belkin apology

Fake positive reviews of Belkin products were actively solicited by one of its employees, the company admitted on Sunday.

Belkin, a networking and peripheral manufacturer, apologized for the worker's actions, which sought to artificially boost Belkin's status on Amazon while denigrating existing bad reviews.

On Friday, The Daily Background website revealed how someone, apparently Belkin business-development representative Mark Bayard, had used the Mechanical Turk service to ask users to write positive reviews of a Belkin product at a rate of 65 US cents (45p) per review. The requests made it clear that writers need have no experience of, nor even own, the product in question. Mechanical Turk is an online clearing-house for small jobs that cannot be done by machine, such as writing product descriptions. It is, coincidentally, run by Amazon.

Intel cuts prices by up to 48 percent

Intel on Monday cut the prices of many of its mainstream processors, with some of the cuts lopping off as much as 48 percent.

The prices of five different versions of the Intel Core 2 Quad processor were cut by as much as 40 percent, with the 3GHz Q9850 dropping from $530 (380) to $316. Meanwhile the 2.33GHz Q8200 dropped in price by 16 percent, from $193 to $163.

The Pentium Dual Core processor line also saw price cuts, with the 2.5GHz E5200 chipset having a cut of 24 percent from $84 to $64.

IBM accused of mainframe monopoly

A complaint alleging that IBM has abused its position in the European mainframe market was filed with the European Commission on Tuesday.

The complaint from T3, a small US supplier of mainframes, said IBM has "a history of abusing its monopoly power in the mainframe industry", according to a statement from T3.

IBM is accused of engaging in a range of anti-competitive actions, including "preventing the sales of competing mainframe hardware products by tying the sale of its operating system to its mainframe hardware". IBM is further accused of "withholding patent licenses and certain intellectual property to the detriment of mainframe customers".

Melbourne school considers thin for 4,500+ PCs

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) this week said that the first half of 2009 would see the university evaluate whether to commit to a thin client solution for thousands of university workstations.

"We'd have about 4,500 PCs in what we call student laboratories," executive director of IT services Allan Morris told ZDNet.com.au. "Many of those would be candidates for thin client." Other PCs which would come into consideration were those in the libraries.

Novelist hired for 'Doom 4'

The original Doom didn't have much in the way of story. Players took control of a space marine on one of the moons of Mars, where scientists have accidentally opened up a portal to Hell. The bulk of the game consisted of running around shooting all the demons that came through that portal.

Novelist hired for 'Doom 4'

The original Doom didn't have much in the way of story. Players took control of a space marine on one of the moons of Mars, where scientists have accidentally opened up a portal to Hell. The bulk of the game consisted of running around shooting all the demons that came through that portal.

Novelist hired for 'Doom 4'

The original Doom didn't have much in the way of story. Players took control of a space marine on one of the moons of Mars, where scientists have accidentally opened up a portal to Hell. The bulk of the game consisted of running around shooting all the demons that came through that portal.

Novelist hired for 'Doom 4'

The original Doom didn't have much in the way of story. Players took control of a space marine on one of the moons of Mars, where scientists have accidentally opened up a portal to Hell. The bulk of the game consisted of running around shooting all the demons that came through that portal.

Novelist hired for 'Doom 4'

The original Doom didn't have much in the way of story. Players took control of a space marine on one of the moons of Mars, where scientists have accidentally opened up a portal to Hell. The bulk of the game consisted of running around shooting all the demons that came through that portal.

Novelist hired for 'Doom 4'

The original Doom didn't have much in the way of story. Players took control of a space marine on one of the moons of Mars, where scientists have accidentally opened up a portal to Hell. The bulk of the game consisted of running around shooting all the demons that came through that portal.

'Zork' returns to the gaming world

When it comes to old school adventure games, it doesn't get much older than Zork, the Infocom franchise that started as a series of text-based adventures on the Tandy Color Computer, Apple II, Commodore 64, and all manner of personal computers.

'Zork' returns to the gaming world

When it comes to old school adventure games, it doesn't get much older than Zork, the Infocom franchise that started as a series of text-based adventures on the Tandy Color Computer, Apple II, Commodore 64, and all manner of personal computers.

What browser battle? They're more alike than different

A panel discussion among browser executives shed a little light on the philosophical differences between four major browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera), but more than anything showed how these products are moving in the same direction.

Securing the Windows 7 beta

Despite the fact that security programs are often some of the toughest code to make work with a new operating system, Windows 7 already has several companies ready with products aimed at keeping it safe from attackers.

By comparison, only one antivirus firm--McAfee--had its security software commercially ready by the time Microsoft launched Vista for businesses in November 2006.

That said, it stands to reason, given that Microsoft was making far more dramatic changes to the operating system's underlying architecture in Vista than it is in Windows 7.

NASA hacker pleads to Bush for pardon

Self-confessed NASA hacker Gary McKinnon is appealing to outgoing president George W Bush to halt McKinnon's extradition from Britain to the United States.

McKinnon's legal team has requested that UK foreign secretary David Miliband press for a pardon from Bush, McKinnon's solicitor Karen Todner announced at a press conference on Thursday. "We have asked David Miliband to seek consent to ask for a pardon," said Todner.

The solicitor added that McKinnon's defense team had already applied for a pardon from Bush, but had been rejected on the grounds that McKinnon was not a US citizen.

Utilities back 'climate friendly' energy technologies

The industry association of U.S. electric utilities on Wednesday published what its members say are the most promising technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The primary purpose of the paper, put out by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), was to establish the industry's position on U.S. climate change legislation, which many people expect could be passed in the next few years.

In the Edison Electric Institute's "points of agreement," its members agreed on a target of reducing greenhouse gas concentrations by 80 percent compared to current levels by 2050.

Cobol moves into Amazon's cloud

Micro Focus is extending its Enterprise Cloud Services to support Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), allowing businesses to shift their existing Cobol applications to Amazon's infrastructure.

The move, announced on Tuesday, follows Micro Focus's launch in October of support for Microsoft's Azure Services Platform. Azure and EC2 are both cloud services platforms, which let companies run their applications on remote servers something advocates say can be substantially less expensive than maintaining the servers locally. Another example of a cloud services platform is Google's App Engine.

HP intensifies the mainframe battle

TOKYO--Escalating cost, inability to support business agility and the limited availability of modern software, are some of the key factors driving mainframe customers to migrate from the age-old platform, according to Hewlett-Packard executives.

Herbert Zwenger, Asia-Pacific and Japan vice president and general manager of business critical systems, said mainframe customers spent a large portion of their data center budget in licensing, supporting and maintaining a mainframe environment.

Key to recession success: A great brand

As we are all too aware, we are in a recession. So how are you going to cushion yourself against the potential fallout of a deep downturn?

One way is to invest time and effort in developing an effective personal brand. This will highlight your skills and experience, and positively differentiate you from your colleagues and competitors.

Like it or not we all have a personal brand, and we are continuously broadcasting it through how we appear and act. Once you start to think of yourself as a product, it is a natural progression to think of how you package and market yourself - remember, each one of us is as marketable as any famous brand, and every brand has its values.

Potential 'big badass botnet' spreading fast

The 'Downadup' worm is spreading quickly and now infects more than 3.5 million PCs, according to the security company F-Secure.

In a blog post on Wednesday, F-Secure put the total number of infected machines at an estimated 3,521,230 a rise of more than a million machines over the previous day's tally. The security firm bases its estimates on information it has gleaned by tapping into infected machines.

Downadup, which also goes by the name of Conficker, exploits a vulnerability outlined in MS08-067, a Windows Server service flaw that was patched in October. It executes a dictionary attack in order to try cracking user passwords, in the process locking user accounts out of the Active Directory domain. It emerged a week ago that Downadup can also infect USB sticks, thereby propagating on the client side.

Autodesk to cut 750 jobs, lowers earnings outlook

Autodesk announced on Thursday plans to cut about 10 percent of its workforce--or about 750 employees--as it lowered its fourth-quarter earnings outlook.

The drafting and design software maker now expects to post between $475 million and $500 million in revenue when it reports results on February 26. In its previous forecast in November, the company said it expected to bring in $525 million to $550 million in the quarter.

Autodesk also lowered its non-GAAP earnings outlook to 18 cents to 24 cents, excluding special charges, down from its previous forecast of 28 cents to 34 cents.

How to keep your data secure

Commentary--How do you define Data Leakage Protection? Safend's Edy Almer answers questions about planning and executing a data leakage prevention strategy.
Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) encompasses the tools that prevent accidental data leakage, including device and port control, encryption (both hard-drive and removable media encryption) and content inspection.

Gartner CIO advice: The good, the bad and the plain odd

It seems CIOs are being told what to do in the New Year by every analyst, industry watcher and publication (ours included). Gartner recently joined the throng with its annual recommendations - with mixed results.

One of Gartner's best ideas is for CIOs to set aside time to get hands-on with newer technologies such as e-book readers, Google Chrome and HD teleconferencing or building mini-cloud applications.

Being familiar with the latest tech - even if some of it sounds consumer-focused - is wise because CIOs can then make the best choices for what their business uses.

USB 3.0 arriving with speed to burn

Intel demonstrated a working version of USB 3.0 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week. Here's why it will make eSATA and FireWire obsolete.

When USB 3.0 is expected to hit the market in early 2010, it will have been 10 years since the now ubiquitous USB 2.0 was introduced (April 2000). The current USB 2.0 specification runs at a theoretical maximum speed of 480Mbps, and can supply power.

According to the USB Implementers Forum, there were 2 billion USB 2.0 devices shipped in 2006 (one for every three people in the world), and the install base was 6 billion (almost one for every person in the world). In November 2007, the USB Implementers forum announced the USB 3.0 specifications, and Intel officially demonstrated the technology at CES 2009.

Layoffs loom for Malaysian electronics sector

Kuala Limpur--The move by Western Digital, the world's second-largest hard-disk maker, to close its manufacturing facility in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak may portend the start of more layoffs in the country's electronics and electrical (E&E) sector.

Western Digital last month stunned state authorities and its 1,500 employees when it announced it would cease the Sarawak operations and lay off all its workers by March this year. Western Digital also has large manufacturing facilities in the West Malaysian states of Selangor, Penang and Johor.

Mashups changing the face of copyright laws

User-generated mashups are changing the face of copyright laws, which have to evolve to catch up with the Internet generation, said Mary Wong, an expert on intellectual property (IP).

The professor of law at the U.S.-based Franklin Pierce Law Center, said in an interview with ZDNet Asia, copyright laws are clear on protecting stolen IP such as videos and music, but enforcement reaches a murkier area when it comes to user-generated content such as mashups, which are not a direct copy of original material.

Obama's new BlackBerry: The NSA's secure PDA?

Bill Clinton sent only two e-mail messages as president and has yet to pick up the habit. George W. Bush ceased using e-mail in January 2001 but has said he's looking forward to e-mailing "my buddies" after leaving Washington, D.C.

Barack Obama, though, is a serious e-mail addict. "I'm still clinging to my BlackBerry," he said in a recent interview with CNBC. "They're going to pry it out of my hands."

How the Wii saved Christmas

The video-game industry-tracking NPD Group is preparing to release its US retail sales data for December, but one analyst is already calling the month yet another big win for Nintendo.

In a sales preview note to investors, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich predicted the NPD numbers would show that software sales for the month would total $2.7 billion. That would not only match last December's record-high monthly take, but it would also reflect a 14 percent year-over-year growth for the industry. Furthermore, Divnich said that half of those game sales were attributable to Nintendo's market-expanding one-two punch, the Wii and DS.

Developers expect SaaS boom

More than half of software developers worldwide expect to work on internet-hosted applications during 2009, confirming the success of software-as-a-service, according to a survey from Evans Data.

The survey, published on Monday, found that an average of nearly 52 percent of respondents planned to work on SaaS projects in 2009, with adoption expectations highest in the Asia-Pacific region.

North American developers had the highest current adoption of SaaS, at 30 percent. European developers were currently engaged in fewer SaaS projects than in the US or Asia, but 53 percent of European developers said they expected to work on internet-hosted software sometime this year.

Intel unveils tablet Classmate PC design

Intel has revealed the design for a tablet version of its Classmate PC, a low-powered netbook designed for use in primary schools.

The tablet-format Classmate, which was unveiled on Friday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (see Special Report), will let manufacturers build Classmate PCs that can be used either as a standard clamshell laptop or with a 180 swivel of the display as a touchscreen tablet. As with most netbooks, it will run on Intel's Atom processor.

Is OpenOffice.org a 'dying horse'?

In his blog entry posted in October last year, OpenOffice.org contributor Michael Meeks included data and statistics. that he said underscored "a slow disengagement by Sun" and a "spectacular lack of growth" in the OpenOffice developer community.

Coining it a "dying horse" and "profoundly sick project", Meeks called for Sun to distant itself from OpenOffice and reduce its ownership of the codebase.

While contacted, Sun was unable to respond by press time.

Ballmer takes on Google, the economy and Windows 7

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer arrived at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with his usual optimism, but he also brings a clear sense of reality: the tech industry is in for some rough times.

"The fact of the matter is, this is not a downturn, this is a bit of a reset. Those are quite different and we're trying to really suss through what we think that means for us," Ballmer said in an interview with CNET News.com's Ina Fried on Thursday, a day after delivering the keynote address at the conference (Check out ZDNet's Special Report.

Microsoft: Windows 7 means business

Windows 7 is going into public beta, Microsoft head Steve Ballmer announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas late on Wednesday.

The first beta version of the successor to Windows Vista is immediately available as a downloadable disk image to MSDN, TechBeta and TechNet subscribers, while the general public will get to test drive the new operating system from Friday 9 January.

Get smart about skills today for tomorrow's jobs

Commentary - Over the next five years, the United States is expected to help lead the way in the development of smart systems that will address some of the world's most pressing issues.

Microsoft server worm can spread via USB

A Microsoft worm that is currently attacking business systems is also a USB worm, security vendor F-Secure has warned.

The worm, which F-Secure calls Downadup, attacks the vulnerability outlined in MS08-067, a Windows Server service flaw that was patched in October.

The worm launches a dictionary attack to attempt to crack user passwords, and uses server-side polymorphism and modification to the Access Control Lists (ACL) "to make network disinfection particularly difficult", F-Secure said in a blog post on Tuesday.

AOL Australia suffers email failure

Australian AOL users suffered an email holiday last month as a Primus billing glitch locked them out of their AOL.com email accounts.

The problem started in late December, according to a statement put out by the company, after Primus Telecom, which bought AOL|7 in 2004, carried out an upgrade of its billing system. The upgrade "threw a few people off the side", a spokesperson for the company said.

ZDNet.com.au readers first flagged the problem in early December, expressing frustration at what they said was a lack of information coming from AOL on the issue.

Satyam chairman resigns amid accounting scandal

Satyam Computer Services announced Wednesday its founder and chairman, B. Ramalinga Raju, has resigned, following an admission that he inflated its financial performance.

Satyam, one of India's six largest IT outsourcing companies, counts such Fortune 500 companies as Sony among its customers.

The company said it received a letter from its chairman on Wednesday, outlining some of the accounting irregularities and his resignation.

MacHeads: The movie

Prominent sex blogger and renowned Apple fangirl Violet Blue declares passionately that she'd never sleep with a Windows user. Dozens of Mac fanboys and girls drink and dance together at an Apple-centric party, jubilant that, for another year, Apple still exists. Girls hug their iMacs before tentatively handing them over to be repaired, while another caresses her Cinema Display, gently offering up a kiss to her Mac Pro's tower.

HP says latest netbook is business-ready

HP on Monday launched the Mini 2140, a netbook the company says is suitable for use in business.

Powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processer, the HP Mini 2140 has a 10.1-inch display. The keyboard is 92 percent the size of a full-size PC keyboard, and the whole machine weighs from 2.6 pounds.

Worm surge exploits Microsoft vulnerability

Business systems are being attacked by a worm exploiting a known Microsoft vulnerability, IT security experts have warned.

Both US-CERT and security organization F-Secure have issued warnings, urging IT professionals to apply the Microsoft patch.

The malware attacks the vulnerability outlined in MS08-067, a Windows Server service flaw that was patched in October. The worm launches a dictionary attack to attempt to crack user passwords, and uses server-side polymorphism and modification to the Access Control Lists (ACL) "to make network disinfection particularly difficult", F-Secure said in a blog post.

Freescale and ARM promise $200 netbooks

Chipset manufacturer Freescale on Monday unveiled an ARM-based blueprint for cheap, low-cost subnotebooks.

At the heart of the reference design is the i.MX515 processor, which uses ARM's Cortex-A8 chipset architecture. The design also incorporates a new power management integrated circuit from Freescale, as well as Adobe Flash Lite and the netbook version of Canonical's Ubuntu Linux distribution.

According to Freescale, this combination makes it possible for manufacturers to build netbooks with retail prices under $200 (137) and battery lives of eight hours.

China gives jail time to Windows counterfeiters

Eleven counterfeiters have been given jail sentences of between one-and-a-half and six-and-a-half years by a Chinese court after being found guilty of producing fake Microsoft software.

The "ringleaders of the world's largest software-counterfeiting syndicate", as Microsoft described them in a statement on Wednesday, were sentenced on New Year's Eve. According to Microsoft, theirs were the longest sentences given for this type of crime in China's history.

Linux pioneer moves from Red Hat to Intel

Just as we were all closing down before Christmas, Linux kernel developer Alan Cox announced he is moving from Red Hat to Intel this month.

The move is important. According to most accounts, Cox was second only to Linus Torvalds in the early Linux days, working on the kernel from version 0.11, and sorting out the networking. In the last ten years, he's helped Red Hat establish Linux as a commercial operating system, and become an advocate in debates on patents, privacy and civil liberties.