NEWS FROM WORLD: Technical News

Vodafone to sell China Mobile stake: report (AFP)
August 29, 2010

AFP - British mobile phone giant Vodafone is to sell its shares in China Mobile to raise more than four billion pounds (6.2 billion dollars, 4.9 billion euros), a newspaper reported on Sunday.

Which Countries Have the Safest Web Access?
August 29, 2010

A study from Internet security firm AVG finds 7 of the 10 safest countries in which to surf the Net are in Africa.

Africa - World Wide Web - Security - Services - Business and Economy

South Africa's Zuma under pressure as strike widens
August 29, 2010

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A powerful South African labor leader threatened on Sunday to withdraw support for President Jacob Zuma's African National Congress, ending a long- standing alliance strained by a nearly three-week-old strike.

China Plans To Mine the Yellow Sea Floor
August 29, 2010

eldavojohn writes "Details are limited but state media is reporting on $75 million being put into a new research facility in Qingdao, Shandong Province that will conduct research into mining the sea floor. From the article: 'Scientists believe sea beds at a depth of 4,000 to 6,000 meters hold abundant deposits of rare metals and methane hydrate, a solidified form of natural gas bound into ice that can serve as a new energy source.' The research center's first goal is to do surveying and exploration

New Hurricane Earl joins Danielle
August 29, 2010

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Earl grew to hurricane strength on a track toward the islands in the eastern Caribbean on Sunday while Hurricane Danielle weakened to a Category 1 storm, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Dell may have struck out with new tablet 'Streak' - News Chief

August 29, 2010

IBTimes

Dell may have struck out with new tablet 'Streak'
News Chief
Well, Dell made it out of the gate with one of the first Android-powered tablets and the result is a resounding thud. The Dell "Streak" offers a 5-inch screen, weighs about 8 ounces and has a 5-megapixel camera. ...
Dell Aero smartphone hits the US market but unlikely to be a hit International Business Times
Dell hybrid is a two-time loser Arizona Daily Star
HP,

Belgian sex abuse tapes amplify Catholic scandals
August 29, 2010

PARIS (Reuters) - Leaked tapes of Belgium's Cardinal Godfried Danneels urging a victim not to reveal he was sexually abused by a bishop are some of the most damaging documents to emerge in the scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Church.

Apple Event: Why iTV isn't a Game-Changer - PC World

August 29, 2010

New York Times (blog)

Apple Event: Why iTV isn't a Game-Changer
PC World
Analysis: The launch -- if it even occurs next week -- is only the first step of a long journey to replace cable. So now that we have a date for the next Apple event (next Wednesday, September 1) let's sum up what's going on over at Steve Jobs' house. ...
Apple Prepares Music-Themed Sept. 1 Event eWeek
Apple's shrunken 6th-gen iPod nano to retain 30-pin dock connector

Apple Event: Why iTV isn't a Game-Changer
August 29, 2010

Analysis: The launch -- if it even occurs next week -- is only the first step of a long journey to replace cable.

Apple - Macintosh - Apple II - IPhone - Companies

Indian E-voting Researcher Released on Bail
August 29, 2010

Indian voting machine researcher released after a week in police custody.

Detention - Politics - Campaigns and Elections - Electronic Democracy - India

Facebook Marketing Misses the Mark
August 29, 2010

A report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that older users are the fastest growing audience on Facebook, but Facebook ad targeting excludes seniors.

Facebook - Pew Internet - Social network - Online Communities - Twitter

Hong Kong march denounces bungled Philippine hostage rescue
August 29, 2010

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Tens of thousands marched in Hong Kong on Sunday to denounce the Philippines' bungled hostage rescue in which eight Hong Kong tourists were shot dead.

Bill Gates Enrolls His Kids In Khan Academy
August 29, 2010

theodp writes "At some schools, a teaching load of five courses every academic year is considered excessive. But Sal Khan, as an earlier Slashdot post noted, manages to deliver his mini-lectures an average of 70,000 times a day. BusinessWeek reports that Khan Academy has a new fan in Bill Gates, who's been singing and tweeting the praises of the free-as-in-beer website. 'This guy is amazing,' Gates wrote. 'It is awesome how much he has done with very little in the way of resources.' Gates and his

Newcomers and popular shows expected to shine at Emmys
August 29, 2010

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - New kids on the block "Glee" and "Modern Family" challenge three-time Emmy champion "30 Rock" on Sunday as the Primetime Emmy Awards take on a populist tone.

Many clocks tick as Israel, Palestinians open talks
August 29, 2010

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many clocks will be ticking during the next year when Washington hopes an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal can be hammered out.

Thousands flee as long-sleepy Sumatra volcano erupts
August 29, 2010

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Thousands of Indonesians were evacuated from the slopes of a volcano on Sunday after it erupted for the first time in more than 400 years, spewing out lava and sending smoke and dust 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) into the air.

$2bn space experiment seeks out 'anti-universe' - TG Daily

August 29, 2010

BBC News (blog)

$2bn space experiment seeks out 'anti-universe'
TG Daily
What's being described as one of the most complex space scientific instruments ever built is on its way to the International Space Station to seek out the 'dark universe'. The $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) has arrived at the Kennedy ...
$2 billion ISS experiment delivered for shuttle launch CNET
Space-Based Particle Detector Searches For Anti-Universe

Jet Packs, Finally On Sale
August 29, 2010

Bad_CRC1945 writes "The good news: Not one, but two companies are selling jet packs. The bad news: The tech has a long way to go. In the past, potential buyers have been stymied by two problems: Rocket belts aren't for sale, and even prototypes run on modern-day fuel (as opposed to whatever the Jetsons use) which means rocket belts can weigh upwards of 100 pounds, with only enough fuel to stay aloft for under a minute." That second problem's still with us, but the article hints that jet-fuel options

UN climate change panel to be warned over reports - Telegraph.co.uk

August 29, 2010

Malaysia Star

UN climate change panel to be warned over reports
Telegraph.co.uk
The United Nation's climate change organisation faces a warning over how it uses scientific facts in its influential reports, following the discovery of a series of embarrassing errors in its work. By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent Evidence given ...
Probe Seeks Climate-Panel Changes Wall Street Journal
UN hopes science review eases climate scepticism ABC Online

10 Useful Frameworks To Develop HTML-Based Webapps for Touch Devices
August 29, 2010

In the last two years the rapid growth and diffusion of touch devices. During this period several frameworks have been released to help web developers implement quickly applications for this kind of touch devices. Here is a collection of some useful frameworks to develop easily HTML-based webapps that will work on all popular smartphone and tablet touch platforms.

Create Facebook applications with CodeIgniter
August 29, 2010

Learn how to incorporate the Facebook SDK into the CodeIgniter framework, using the available functions to create applications.

Developing an Accessible Star Ratings Widget
August 29, 2010

You might think that most rating systems would be based on some markup proven to be semantic and "operational" across many User Agents — that is, that rating systems would be based on a specific set of HTML elements and attributes to which one applies behavior and style via JS and CSS. That would make sense, but it is far from the truth.

Introducing Yeti: The YUI Easy Testing Interface
August 29, 2010

Testing JavaScript is an important but often overlooked part of web development. One reason is because developing for the web means targeting more than one browser. Today, I’m excited to release Yeti 0.1.0, an experimental command-line tool designed to make cross-browser testing easier before you commit a line of code.

Researchers Cripple Pushdo Botnet
August 28, 2010

Trailrunner7 writes with this from ThreatPost: "Researchers have made a huge dent in the Pushdo botnet, virtually crippling the network, by working with hosting providers to take down about two thirds of the command-and-control servers involved in the botnet. Pushdo for years has been one of the major producers of spam and other malicious activity, and researchers have been monitoring the botnet and looking for ways to do some damage to it since at least 2007. Now, researchers at Last Line of Defense

XChat 2.8.9
August 28, 2010

XChat is a popular Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client. It has a choice of a tabbed document interface or tree interface, support for multiple servers and is highly configurable.

Generation Y prefer unrestricted office web access
August 28, 2010

The Generation Y prefer unrestricted access to the web within the working or office environment. It appeals to their inner communication abilities, and not just for social networking.

USA Today gets makeover for mobile world
August 28, 2010

In a major restructuring, the news-gathering organization will break up its news room and deemphasize print to focus on tablets, smartphones, and other digital platforms.

DOJ seeking more info on Google-ITA deal
August 28, 2010

The search giant is experiencing a delay in acquiring ITA, which provides software for plane fare comparison sites such as Orbitz.

Einstein would have used a Mac. Lennon, too.
August 28, 2010

In a vintage video clip, Apple's iconic CEO, Steve Jobs, kicks off the company's spectacular comeback by introducing the Think Different campaign. And he does it in shorts and sandals.

Weekend head scratcher: the multi-tenant debate
August 28, 2010

Multi-tenancy, single tenancy...the technical debate rages. But are we concentrating too much on the TCO argument and not seeing clearly into the future?

Apple's iPad order shipping times improve to 24 hours - Apple Insider

August 28, 2010

Broadband Analyst UK (blog)

Apple's iPad order shipping times improve to 24 hours
Apple Insider
By AppleInsider Staff After struggling to meet consumer demand for the iPad since it launched in April, estimated shipping times for new online orders have improved to within 24 hours, suggesting any production problems have been resolved. ...
Apple iPad 3G Tester Review - Is It Worth Paying An Additional $130 For 3G ... UK Today News
iPad paves the way for

Yahoo's head of social platforms leaves for eBay
August 28, 2010

Less than a week after Communications Products Head Jason Titus bid Yahoo good-bye, the company's VP for social platforms, Neal Sample, follows suit.

Woman puts cat in bin, Web strikes back
August 28, 2010

After the members of 4Chan expose a British woman who put a cat in a trash bin for 15 hours, the Web excoriates her so much that she has to go into hiding.

'Anti-Facebook' project nears launch
August 28, 2010

Can Diaspora, an open-source social networking project developed by NYU students, justify the hype it's received? Maybe, but it'll be tough.

Tragedy: Waiting for the laughter to start
August 28, 2010

Usually I ignore idiotic comment but sometimes the idiocy is so apropos that the petty response is the right response - here because the writer is normally sane but produced a stunning indictment...

Kokoro shows off its latest android Actroid F
August 28, 2010

Tokyo entertainment firm Kokoro shows off its latest fembot, Actroid F, in a PR video. The lifelike android is slated to go on sale to work as a receptionist or hospital worker.

Top-rated reviews of the week (photos)
August 28, 2010

Here are a few of CNET Reviews' favorite items from the past week, including the 2011 Audi A8, the newest Amazon Kindle, and the Nikon Coolpix S6000.

Canon recrafting supertelephoto lens lineup
August 28, 2010

A major lens overhaul yields two new supertelephoto lenses and two prototypes. The SLR powerhouse clearly wants to keep pro shooters from defecting to Nikon.

Facebook for iPhone Scores 100 Million Monthly Users - PC World

August 28, 2010

IntoMobile (blog)

Facebook for iPhone Scores 100 Million Monthly Users
PC World
The Facebook application for iPhone now has over 100 million active monthly users, according to the latest reports. Tech focused site Redmond Pie points to a recent post on the Facebook Developer Blog which reveals more than 150 million people actively ...
Facebook Places just too much information? Here's how to opt out Reuters
Location-sharing perks fall a bit short Seattle

Personal Computer Security: Using Uncommon Sense
August 27, 2010

There's a lot of people out there that want your personal and financial information for unethical reasons. Learn how to protect yourself.

PowerPage Podcast Episode 142
August 27, 2010

We review the torrent of rumors leading up to Apple's September 1 event, including: the fourth-generation iPod touch, iOS 4.1 and how a new Apple TV could be a huge game changer

Dell sees 3Par as doorway to cloud projects - BusinessWeek

August 28, 2010

Moneycontrol.com

Dell sees 3Par as doorway to cloud projects
BusinessWeek
Dell believes an acquisition of high-end storage vendor 3Par would help it gain a foothold in large enterprises moving toward cloud computing, but it doesn't think Hewlett-Packard would necessarily steal away customers if it buys 3Par ...
Dell, HP bidding war for 3Par heats up Reuters
HP and Dell bid up 3Par price San Francisco Chronicle
Takeover battle heats up; 3Par dumps

iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G
August 27, 2010

Could iOS 4.1 finally make iOS 4 on the iPhone 3G usable?

'A relentless barrage of abuse'
August 28, 2010

Groups who work with the victims of cyber-stalking say efforts to tackle the problem are being delayed because Internet Service Providers will not take action.