16999520
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
It's official. Dell will pay the US government $100 million to settle fraud charges. CEO Michael Dell will personally pay a $4 million fine. A federal judge approved the settlement after Michael Dell assured him the company will deliver on the reforms it promised. Dell was accused of pumping up its profits over five years by improperly using payments from Intel, in order to meet Wall Street targets.
16977618
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
A planned server outage turned into an unplanned glitch for the Internal Revenue Service, and it comes at a very bad time. The IRS planned the server outage for the holiday weekend....but today they couldn't get the system back into operation. This week is the deadline for filing 2009 tax returns for taxpayers who got extensions. So far it's not having a huge impact since the shutdown only involves the updated version of the e-filing system, and most programs used by large tax companies like H&R Block will default to the older version. There's no estimate on when the system will be back up.
16970900
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
While the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania has agreed to a $610,000 settlement in two lawsuits over secret photos taken on school-issued laptops, less than a third of that will go to the students. A total of $185,000 will be put in trust for the students. Their lawyer will receive $425,000.
16945056
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
It's a brother act that's really out of this world. If all goes according to plan, the only space sibling team will be hooking up in orbit. And not only are Scott and Mark Kelly brothers, they're identical twins. Scott took off Friday on a Russian Soyuz rocket to begin a five and a half month mission as the next commander of the International Space Station. Mark is the next commander of the space shuttle Endeavour, scheduled to lift off in February and hook up with the space station March 1st.
16734390
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
Move over Silicon Valley, here comes.....Buffalo? Where the weather might actually be a big advantage. The recent opening of Yahoo's state of the art data center, which uses the region's cooler climate and a high-tech "chicken coop" design to dramatically lower energy costs....is getting a lot of attention in the industry.
16717054
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
Imagine seeing the finest details of some of the finest Italian masterpieces....with just one click of your mouse. High-resolution images of classic paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, and Botticelli are now online with that opportunity. You can zoom in to the smallest details....even ones you wouldn't see when viewing the paintings in person at a museum. The images have a resolution of up to 28 billion pixels, which is about 3,000 times stronger than an average digital camera.
16680334
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
A compromise on net neutrality appears to be as likely as Google and China becoming BFF's. House Democrats have pulled the plug on efforts to work out a compromise between phone, cable, and internet companies. House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, who shelved the proposal in the face of Republican opposition, said "If Congress can't act, the FCC must", and called this development "a loss for consumers". Internet companies and public interest groups say the new regulations are needed to keep phone and cable companies from playing favorites with traffic....while those companies insist they need flexibility so high-bandwidth applications don't slow down their systems.
16659130
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
Decades ago, the breakthrough for the disabled was making buildings wheelchair accessible. Today, it's making their world Web accessible. Disabled groups are hailing new legislation Congress has sent to the president. Among other things, the measure will give the blind greater Internet access through smart phones, and require devices like iPhones and Blackberrys to be hearing aid compatible. "It breaks down barriers for all of us", says Mark Richert of the American Foundation for the bLIND.
16540768
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
They're getting tougher on towers on Long Island. The town of Hempstead, NY has imposed some of the toughest cell phone tower restrictions in the country. The ordinance prohibits wireless equipment within 1,500 feet of homes, schools, day care centers, and houses of worship, unless the company can prove absolute need. A spokesman for Verizon says "It's not unheard of for towns to have issues, but this is extreme".....and says this makes 95 percent of the town off limits to future antenna construction.
16453180
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
Here's one way to deal with spotty cell phone coverage....backstop the network on a satellite. AT&T is now selling its first satellite-enabled smart phone....which could be invaluable for boaters, forest rangers, and others who regularly leave regular cellular coverage areas. But the TerreStar Genus comes with a hefty price tag: $799.....and the data costs are as sky-high as the satellite....400 times more than a standard plan. It also has to have a clear view of the southern sky, which means it can only be used outdoors.
16411324
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
Move over Picasso....here comes "Charlie bit me"? 125 YouTube videos are now on display at Guggenheim museums around the world. The videos, chosen from more than 23,000 submissions, are part of an exhibit called "YouTube Play: A Biennial of Creative Video", featuring both well-known YouTube hits and barely-seen works by students. This group of videos will be narrowed down to about 20 entries, which will be featured at the Guggenheim in New York next month.
16249640
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
Twitter is going multimedia. The text-messaging site has a new look with a new push. There's a new pane making it easier for users to check out photos and videos....and in doing so, come back to the site more frequently and stay there longer, which of course means more advertising revenue. Twitter's co-founder Biz Stone says "We are still figuring out all the new possibilities". The new look is expected to roll out around the world over the next few days.
16174620
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
Get ready for "super Wi-Fi". If the FCC works out the last details of new spectrum rules, they'll open up the so-called "white spaces".... the vacant airwaves between broadcast TV channels....for wireless broadband connections. If the plan goes through, it will lead to Wi-Fi with longer range and stronger power. The stumbling blocks have included concerns about interference with TV signals and wireless microphones, but the FCC plans to vote next week on rules meant to resolve those issues.
16114994
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
A federal judge has ruled that the company holding a movie copyright can subpoena the names of people who are accused of illegally downloading and distributing the film. The judge ruled that courts have maintained that once people convey subscriber information to their Internet service providers, they no longer have an expectation of privacy.
16082016
submission
crimeandpunishment writes:
When it comes to our time online, socializing beats searching. According to new data from researchers at comScore Inc., Facebook has moved ahead of Google for the first time in Web users' minutes. In August, people spent more than 41 million minutes on Facebook....compared to just under 40 million for all of Google's sites combined.
