Techie News Roundup

[KynloStephen66515]

Facebook response to IPO lawsuits to focus on Nasdaq

Facebook is expected to make its first public response as early as tomorrow to the wave of investor lawsuits regarding the company's lackluster IPO.

 The social-networking giant is planning to file a motion to consolidate all the shareholder lawsuits pending against it, providing inside perspective on the role that the Nasdaq stock exchange's performance had on the stock's trading activity, a personal familiar with the matter told The New York Times. The IPO's lead underwriters -- Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase -- are also expected to join the motion, the paper reported.

http://news.cnet.com...-to-focus-on-nasdaq/


Vizio launches Mac-like PCs starting at $898

Vizio, a company best known for making TVs, is officially throwing its hat into the PC arena.

The company is taking the wraps off three distinct lines of Windows computers: ultrabooks, mid-size laptops, and all-in-one desktops.

Vizio had previously announced its plans to jump into the PC market at the January Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but today's New York press event was the official coming-out party for the new systems.

http://reviews.cnet....ike-pcs-starting-at/


Facebook wants users' cell numbers in bid to bolster security

In the wake of a rash of password leaks, Facebook wants to educate its members about how to make their accounts more secure and is asking for users' cell phone numbers as part of that effort.

 The social network has begun adding a message at the top of every member's news feed that suggests they "Stay in control of your account by following these simple security tips." The message includes a link to Facebook's security page, where users are tutored on how to identify a scam and choose a unique password, and are asked to provide a cell phone number where replacement passwords can be sent.

http://news.cnet.com...to-bolster-security/


Cloud music is still the future for Apple, Amazon -- really

Given recent headlines about cloud music, you might be forgiven for thinking that the feature is huge with consumers.

 Word came Monday that Apple has finally caught up to Google and Amazon and begun to stream songs  from the company's cloud. The following day, CNET broke news that Amazon is very close to reaching agreements with the top four record companies that would let it run a licensed cloud music service. Music industry sources also told CNET that Google and the labels continue to discuss cloud licenses.

http://news.cnet.com...apple-amazon-really/


A 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro is coming soon, analysts say

If you want a MacBook Pro with a Retina Display, your current options are limited to a single 15-inch size. However that might not be the case in a few months time.

AppleInsider today relays a note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI, who suggests that Apple is about three months from running up production on a 13-inch model of its new, top of the line MacBook Pro.

http://news.cnet.com...g-soon-analysts-say/


Mysterious Microsoft media event coming June 18

Microsoft has sent e-mail invitations to reporters far and wide about a mysterious announcement in Los Angeles on June 18.


(Yeah, that's Monday. And this is Thursday. Four days from now.)

"You are invited to an exclusive Microsoft media event in Los Angeles, California on Monday, June 18th.  Doors open at 3:30 PM," reads the invitation from Microsoft's Waggener Edstrom PR agency.

http://news.cnet.com...vent-coming-june-18/


Can Intel's Thunderbolt go mainstream with help from Apple and Acer?

To some, Thunderbolt is just a port on the side of a MacBook, a mere check-box on a feature list.

 But to Intel, the high-speed communication technology is an ambitious attempt to do something that only happens every decade or so in the computing industry: rewrite the rules of how people plug stuff into their computers.

Thunderbolt arrived in 2011 with the potential to bring the flexibility of a tower computer to something as compact as an ultrabook. And it's got a bright future in premium and professional products, as events this week show.

http://news.cnet.com...from-apple-and-acer/


Microsoft reportedly in $1 billion deal for Yammer

Microsoft has agreed to acquire business software company Yammer for more than $1 billion, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

 The report did not indicate when the acquisition is expected to be announced or completed.

 Yammer representatives declined to comment. CNET has also contacted Microsoft for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

 San Francisco-based Yammer is sort of like Facebook for companies: employees can post, share, and discuss items. It's become an integral tool for many startups, but it's also big among larger businesses. More than 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies use Yammer. If Microsoft buys Yammer, it could help the tech titan modernize with social-enterprise tools.

http://news.cnet.com...osoft-reportedly-in-$1-billion-deal-for-yammer/


NeverSeconds blogger Martha Payne 'banned' from taking school dinner photos

A nine-year-old girl who became an internet hit after blogging about her school dinners claims she has been banned from taking photographs of her meals.

Martha Payne, from Argyll, began publishing photographs of her school canteen lunches on 30 April.

Her NeverSeconds blog got more than two million hits in just a few weeks.

She gave each meal a 'food-o-meter' and health rating, and counted the number of mouthfuls it took her to eat it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...lasgow-west-18454800


Nokia cuts another 10,000 jobs as losses deepen

globally and has warned that second-quarter losses from its mobile phone business will be larger than expected.

The cuts bring total planned job cuts at the Finnish group since Stephen Elop took over as chief executive in September 2010 to more than 40,000.

Nokia will also book additional restructuring charges of about 1bn euros (£811m; $1.3bn).

Nokia shares closed down 18% and have slumped about 70% since February 2011.

"These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia's long-term competitive strength," Mr Elop said in a statement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...ws/business-18438052


Diablo 3's real-cash auctions begin in the Americas

Activision Blizzard has launched the video game Diablo 3's real-money auction house for players in North and South America.

The facility allows users to buy and sell objects found in the title using real currency.

The publisher takes a cut of each transaction, securing a new source of profits.

It has warned that subscribers found guilty of using hacks or other attempts to cheat face a lifetime ban.

http://www.bbc.co.uk.../technology-18428332


AMD and ARM team up to improve PC security with Trustzone

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is to license technology from rival chip designer ARM Holdings.

The US firm plans to add an ARM-based processor to its computer chipsets alongside its own x86-based CPU (central processing unit) and GPU (graphics processing unit) technology.

The ARM-based core will be dedicated to offering security features to safeguard actions such as online payments.

Analysts say this could be the beginning of an important relationship.

Both firms compete against the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, Intel.
Safer computing

AMD made the announcement at its Fusion Developer Summit in Seattle.

The firm said it intended to incorporate an ARM Cortex-A5 CPU to its chips for what it terms "superthin" laptops from 2013, across chips for other mainstream computers in 2014, and beyond that into servers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk.../technology-18434285


Sweden Twitter campaign marred by 'Jew' comments

in Sweden has caused controversy after a woman controlling its Twitter account posted messages about Jews and Nazis.

The @Sweden account is run by a different Swedish citizen every week - this week, mother-of-two Sonja Abrahamsson has been in control.

She tweeted messages such as "What's the fuzz with Jews" before later apologising.

A spokeswoman for VisitSweden said the tweets would not be removed.

Marketing director Maria Ziv said that had she deemed the comments to be racist, then "we would have taken them down".

http://www.bbc.co.uk.../technology-18423780



Skout dating app suspends teen service after rape allegations

he location-based "flirt" and meet-up app Skout has suspended its service to teenagers after being linked to three sexual attacks.

The software uses phones' GPS chips to help members see who is nearby, allowing them to contact each other.

It had sought to operate two separate services: one limited to 13-17-year-olds, the other designed for older users.

However, the firm said its safety measures had proven to be insufficient.

http://www.bbc.co.uk.../technology-18423498


ATMs to operate without a card

withdraw money from cash machines using their smartphone has been unveiled.

Customers who use the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) or NatWest mobile banking app can now request cash, up to £100, via their smartphone.

They are given a six-digit code to enter into an ATM to release the cash.

A similar system has been developed by cash machine operator NCR. This requires users to scan a barcode to withdraw the money.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...ws/business-18409560


Apple blocks HTC's use of Google patents in US lawsuit

be able to use five patents it acquired from Google last year to sue Apple.

The iPhone maker had claimed that its rival had failed to acquire all necessary rights to the intellectual properties.

HTC said it would appeal.

One patent expert said the ruling could have major implications for other firms who regularly assigned patent rights to third parties.

http://www.bbc.co.uk.../technology-18410563


Researchers work on smart city search engine

Researchers at the University of Glasgow are working on an urban search engine that will interrogate sensors and answer questions such as: "How crowded is the city centre?"

Sensors attached to traffic lights, lamp-posts and other city landmarks are seen as key to creating smarter cities.

They will create a vast amount of data and the hope is that citizens will make use of it to improve city life.

The plan is to test the search engine in a real city by 2014.

The project is part of a European-funded initiative, known as Smart ("search engine for multimedia environment-generated content"), which aims to create a system for internet users to search and analyse data from sensors.

The search engine will answer queries by automatically identifying cameras, microphones and other sensors that can contribute to the question.

http://www.bbc.co.uk.../technology-18408123


Obama Signs Order for Full-Bore Broadband Expansion

President Barack Obama on Thursday signed an executive order intended to make broadband construction along federal roadways and properties in the United State more effective and up to 90 percent cheaper.

Building a nationwide broadband network will strengthen the U.S. economy and put more Americans back to work, the president said.

The White House also announced the establishment of U.S. Ignite, a public-private partnership aimed at creating a new wave of services that will bring together software developers and engineers from government and industry with representatives from communities, schools, hospitals and other institutions.

"We are creating and transmitting data at a rate of 8 trillion bits a second, and the road is just not large enough," W. Hord Tipton, executive director of (ISC)2 and former CIO of the U.S. Department of the Interior, told TechNewsWorld.

http://www.technewsw...Expansion-75385.html


Sony Charges Into Smartphone Scene With Xperia Ion

Sony (NYSE: SNE) has launched its first Xperia smartphone since buying out Ericsson in February. The Xperia Ion is a 4G LTE device that will be available from AT&T (NYSE: T) June 24 for US$100 with a two-year agreement.

http://www.technewsw...peria-Ion-75384.html


Linus, GNOME 3, and Much Ado About Desktop Interfaces

If ever there was a week to make a person believe in the cosmic forces of fate, this might be it.

To wit: Linus Torvalds -- always a topic of interest here in the Linux blogosphere -- has been a particularly "hot topic" in recent weeks thanks to his critical comments earlier this month about GNOME 3.

Quick snapshot: "The whole gnome3 approach of 'by default we don't give you even the most basic tools to fix things, but you can hack around things with unofficial extensions' seems to be a total UX failure," he wrote in a post on Google+.

http://www.technewsw...nterfaces-75377.html


The New MacBook Pro Aims for the Heart, Not the Head

With a heavy heart, I have decided not to the buy the gorgeous new MacBook Pro with Retina Display. I lust after the idea of 2,880 by 1,800 pixels gloriously showing off my awesome photos of the Grand Tetons, Half Dome and small children running from the cold droplets of a sprinkler system under a hot summer sun.

These photos are the closest I can come to replicating the cool swirling zebras running on fresh green African grass that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is using to tout its newest MacBook Pro.

http://www.technewsw...-the-Head-75376.html

[KynloStephen66515]

The 2nd link looks broken, but still works...Before anybody else notices that

[mouser]

Thanks for the Tech News! 

[Renegade]

Regarding the little girl's blog... Anytime you need to stop taking pictures, there's something to hide.

Nice round up~!

[IainB]

Council reverses ban on school dinner blog
I've written an emailed letter of complaint to Argyll and Bute Council at their website complaints page:
http://www.argyll-bu...ments-and-complaints

[TaoPhoenix]

Regarding the little girl's blog... Anytime you need to stop taking pictures, there's something to hide.

Nice round up~!

-Renegade (June 15, 2012, 08:25 AM)

Let's play the next round of our game Renegade!

Let's see what the cards/game pieces are.
1. Are school lunches "licensed" to students (??!) so that students don't even get all rights to the meal, just a "license to eat it" but not the right to take pictures? So is that a patent violation on the cooking process to make the lunch, or a copyright violation since there should only be one instance of the lunch on the student's tray? What happens if that license is revoked?
2. Free Speech: in the process of taking down the blog, they prevented her from posting her scientific data on how many bites it took to chew the lunch! That could be the basis for a nutritional science fair project!
3. Won't Someone Think of the Children? In this case, no.

[TaoPhoenix]

Meanwhile, Facebook wants Users cell phone numbers to bolster security, hmm? Aren't cell phone numbers one of the most private pieces of info below the really top tier stuff? Phone books are dead - if you want someone's number you use any of the other 10 ways to communicate to *ask for it*.

Do I really want a company that specializes in selling private data to have my cell phone number?!

[IainB]

...Do I really want a company that specializes in selling private data to have my cell phone number?!

-TaoPhoenix (June 15, 2012, 10:19 AM)

Of course you do.

"Facebook is your Friend."

Yeah, right.

[IainB]

Council reverses ban on school dinner blog
I've written an emailed letter of complaint to Argyll and Bute Council at their website complaints page:
http://www.argyll-bu...ments-and-complaints

-IainB (June 15, 2012, 09:48 AM)

Looks like @VEG's NeverSeconds blog is back on the air.
As reported at techdirt - here.

NeverSeconds is a blog by a 9-year old primary school student, Martha Payne, photographing and blogging about the school lunches she's served daily...
...
...just as in the case with The Oatmeal v. Funnyjunk, this Streisand Effect is being used to turn an attempt at censorship into a way to raise money for charity. Martha put up a crowdfunding page to try to raise £7,000 for a charity and it's already made over £48,000.

Actually, right now it stands at £85,429.63:
- as reported on the NeverSeconds blog - here.
But it's still counting - now:

£88,163.03 raised of £7,000.00 target

- as per the JustGiving donations site - here.

[Renegade]

Regarding the little girl's blog... Anytime you need to stop taking pictures, there's something to hide.

Nice round up~!

-Renegade (June 15, 2012, 08:25 AM)

Let's play the next round of our game Renegade!

Let's see what the cards/game pieces are.
1. Are school lunches "licensed" to students (??!) so that students don't even get all rights to the meal, just a "license to eat it" but not the right to take pictures? So is that a patent violation on the cooking process to make the lunch, or a copyright violation since there should only be one instance of the lunch on the student's tray? What happens if that license is revoked?
2. Free Speech: in the process of taking down the blog, they prevented her from posting her scientific data on how many bites it took to chew the lunch! That could be the basis for a nutritional science fair project!
3. Won't Someone Think of the Children? In this case, no.

-TaoPhoenix (June 15, 2012, 10:16 AM)

Hahahaha~!

Yes~! Let the slaughter-rantfest begin~!

1. Copyright. And Patent. The end product is copyrighted by the cafeteria. It is not copyright by the cooks because it's a work for hire. It is also patented because they're likely using GMOs owned by Monsanto or Synergenta or some other bio-weapons manufacturer. Also, sharing food could be construed as a licensing infringement... If the license is revoked, the little girl's shit and piss must be returned.

2. Free speech does not apply. She has no right to her lunches, because they are owned entirely through patent and copyright rights. This little girl is a criminal. She has libeled the cafeteria, the staff, hamburgers in general, human hair (which also infringes of patents of other corporations that stand to lose immense amounts thanks to this horrible little wench (patents on human genes)), and god only knows what else! So not merely is she cupable for criminal offenses, but she's also libel for untold civil damages. No punishment can be too severe!

3. We are thinking of the children~! It is offensive to think that we are not~! The children MUST BE STOPPED! They have caused enough panic, terror and mayhem to last a thousand generations! We must eliminate all the children NOW before it's too late~! Perhaps if we adopted policies like USAID where they forcibly sterilize women in Uzbekistan (one of many sources, Wikipedia general entry, this goes on in many places), then we could finally rest assured that there will be no more children to terrorize teachers, cafeteria staff, and most importantly, cafeteria owners whose profits suffer because of them! The soft-kill from toxic food isn't fast enough to solve this epidemic problem. Faster solutions are needed yesterday! ACT NOW! Kill the children for our futures~!

[rgdot]

Sort of techie news,  a cautionary tale of sorts 

SWAT team throws flashbangs, raids wrong home due to open WiFi network

But the family in the home was released without any charges as police realized their mistake. Turns out the home had an open WiFi router, and the threats had been made by someone outside the house. Whoops.

http://arstechnica.c...o-open-wifi-network/

[Renegade]

Sort of techie news,  a cautionary tale of sorts 

SWAT team throws flashbangs, raids wrong home due to open WiFi network

But the family in the home was released without any charges as police realized their mistake. Turns out the home had an open WiFi router, and the threats had been made by someone outside the house. Whoops.

http://arstechnica.c...o-open-wifi-network/

-rgdot (June 28, 2012, 08:30 PM)

Sigh...

It's really hard to get behind the police when they pull crap like that. I have no faith in the police anymore. And my dad was a cop. They've gone from being peace officers to being thugs.

Quite frankly, the people responsible for breaking into that house and assaulting those people (what is a flashbang otherwise?) should be criminally charged or face severe discipline for complete incompetence. There's simply too much incompetence and malice in law enforcement now.

Like seriously? An open network? Justification? Huh?

Cripes... I should take my laptop or tablet or phone and run around the neighbourhood to see how many "victims" there are there... I bet it wouldn't take 15 minutes to find one.

Simply being a technotard isn't a crime and doesn't warrant grenades being thrown into your house.

This stuff just sets me off... I should just shut up because it happens all the time... non-stop...