Google, Yahoo delay ad deal over DOJ investigation
Google and Yahoo will further delay their controversial search-advertising deal in the face of an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
CERN grid may boost drug and climate research
The computing grid built to carry data from the Large Hadron Collider to scientists around the world is also being used to speed the development of life-saving drugs and uncover the causes of climate change, people involved in the project said Friday.
Money meltdown, Ozzie's cloud, security worries
At least those of us who are fans of professional baseball have the playoffs to take our minds off the grim news this week (at least that's the case for fans of the teams that are winning). The U.S. financial system meltdown smacked world markets and set off a whole lot of worry, which tended to overshadow all the other news.
U.S. mobile users unplugging landlines
More than one-quarter of mobile-phone users in the U.S. have effectively stopped using their fixed-line phones for voice calls, according to a survey by research company J.D. Power and Associates.
Congress extends R&D tax credit as part of bailout
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to extend a research and development tax credit to U.S. businesses as part of its approval of a giant bailout of the U.S. mortgage industry.
Korea Telecom to build Rwanda national backbone
Korea Telecom (KT) has signed a US$40 million deal with Rwanda's government to construct a national backbone project expected to connect the country on a fiber-optic network.
Microsoft gives OEMs XP downgrade disks for 6 more months
Microsoft will provide hardware partners with media to let their customers downgrade from Windows Vista to Windows XP for six months longer than it originally planned, the company confirmed Friday.
TriCipher launches hosted identity federation service
Identity management vendor TriCipher this week rolled out a hosted service that lets companies pass-on the complexity of sharing identities with partners.
Microsoft denies hiring freeze
Microsoft denies that it has instituted a hiring freeze, despite an internal memo described by an employee indicating the move.
Microsoft discontinues mobile browser project
Microsoft this week stopped supporting Deepfish, its mobile browser research project that was an example of the company's software plus services strategy.
Clearwire CEO Wolff talks WiMAX strengths, killer enterprise apps
At the WiMAX World convention in Chicago this week, Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff discussed his company’s plans to deploy WiMAX in the United States, what benefits WiMAX services will have for enterprise users, and what is WiMAX’s niche in the mobile broadband market as a whole.
Uganda president urges ICT research, literacy
African governments should work toward ICT-literate societies by encouraging local content generation to address the needs of communities, according to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
Symantec tests a 'Net watchdog for kids
Symantec has developed a new online service to protect children from Internet dangers.
At ACU, students navigate college life via iPhone
A class of chatty college freshman sits in a large lecture hall at a small-town-Texas university, debating the merits of presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposed healthcare reforms. The conversation becomes heated at times, defensive voices rise and fall, eyes roll and heads shake. Though only half the class speaks up regularly, they'll all be asked to participate in the final exercise, a vote on which of the arguments presented by debate participants was most convincing.
Encrypted image backups open to new attack
Bitmaps stored inside encrypted backup files could be vulnerable to a sophisticated 'comparison' attack, a German security researcher has discovered.
World Bank releases $4 million for online content in Kenya
The World Bank has released US$4 million to support online content generation for the private sector and government services in Kenya.
Microsoft institutes hiring freeze
Microsoft has instituted a hiring freeze, likely spurred by the worsening economic conditions in the U.S., according to a source close to the company.
ITU credits Uganda with spearheading ICT revolution
On the occasion of the Uganda Communication Commission's 10th anniversary, the International Telecommunications Union has credited Uganda with spearheading Africa's communications revolution.
Give your old iPod touch a new case
Apple may have ushered in a new era for the iPod touch recently, but there are plenty of owners of the original iPod touch out there--plus, you can get a pretty good deal on a refurbished 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB original iPod touch at the Apple Store's refurbished section online.
Microsoft updates desktop management tools
MDOP 2008 R2 includes new application virtualization and asset management tools.
Gavin Michael: the Lloyds TSB global villager
When he isn't in his South Bank office with its views of the City across the River Thames, Gavin Michael can often be found on a plane between London and Sydney.
What CEOs want from their next IT leaders
The question of what CEOs want from CIOs has been asked for as long as chief information officers have existed. On the face of it, the granting of a C-level role would appear to ensure that information leaders are regarded as strategic authorities by their ultimate bosses. However, reports of what status the CIO has in the organization remain mixed. CIO magazine in the U.S. recently gathered together leading executives and academics to discuss the CIO-CEO relationship.
The day I joshed with Steve Ballmer
It's been a strange old week here at CIO Towers. Regular readers of this site (and even some irregular ones) will know that this reporter considers himself merely a recorder of the shifting sands of the technology sector and its implications for business. Lacking the gonzo tendencies of a Hunter S. Thompson, Norman Mailer or Tom Wolfe I have been content to be an anonymous, invisible hack, perched on a stool somewhere filing my daily copy. However, on Wednesday and by a curious twist of fate, I found myself quite close to a news event.
Western Digital's home NAS array
While RAID 5 isn't exactly the Holy Grail of desktop NAS, it is a very attractive option that combines the speed of striped RAID 0 and sufficient data protection without a humongous loss of storage capacity (as with RAID 1) in the trade. That's what makes Western Digital's ShareSpace NAS array an attractive option. Still you'll need to dig a little deeper to ferret out all that makes up ShareSpace and whether or not it's right for you.
Craigslist founder: Web can still help gov't better connect
The U.S. is at a historic crossroads during which residents can make government more responsive and transparent through innovative uses of the Internet, Craigslist's founder said Friday.
StoryMill 3.1
Some tasks seem impossible in their scale. Climbing Everest. Running a marathon. Writing a novel. Thanks to Mariner Software's StoryMill 3.1, aspiring authors need not be intimidated any longer. In breaking up this daunting task by focusing on scenes--the individual building blocks of fiction--and providing a framework for capturing all of a writer's research, ideas, and pages in a single document, StoryMill's hybrid word processor/database approach gives today's newbie novelist a significant leg up. Just add talent, dedication, and insight into the human spirit.
First look: More CS4 app previews
"Big" doesn't quite cut it when it comes to describing the size and scope of Adobe's Creative Suite 4 updates. With CS4, Adobe is updating its entire roster of high-end applications for print, Web, and video pros--13 apps in all, not to mention 14 integrated technologies and seven services. It's a massive undertaking on Adobe's part--and chronicling all these changes is almost as demanding.
Save Benjis for iPhone
In any economy, comparison-shopping is merely prudent. In a tough economy, it's a must. In an era of US$4-a-gallon gas, driving from store-to-store is stupid. In an age of information, there is no shortage of data to sort.
The IT worker's Wall Street meltdown worry list
The only thing that seems clear today is that the U.S. is in a recession and possibly a bad one. No one is certain what will happen next. Events are changing almost by the hour. How much help will a federal bailout deliver to the nation's financial system, which has been hard-hit by the downturn? Will more financial institutions collapse, and how far down will the stock market go? Will you have a job?
Telkom SA rolls out WCDMA, appoints Huawei
Telkom South Africa has signaled its intention to compete in cellular service provision and the small- and medium-business sector with the rollout of W-CDMA from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
Orange to rate environmental impact of mobile phones
Network operator Orange will rate the environmental impact of the fixed-line and mobile phones it sells, it said Friday.
Stripper tips and Coca-Cola spermicide highlight wacky Ig Nobel awards at Harvard
Lap dancer ovulation, the mental state of plants, and the question of whether Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide highlighted the annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University Thursday.
Two African mobile providers look to grow with mergers
Battle lines have been drawn in the fight to acquire African telecom service providers as mobile operators MTN and Zain seek to expand across the continent.
SonicWall launches UTM security box
SonicWall is adding a branch-office box to its NSA family of unified threat management appliances for sites where it might not otherwise be cost-effective to install one.
IBM to open data center in Scotland in January
IBM plans to open a new data center by early next year in Scotland intended for medium-size businesses, the company said Friday.
Rwanda set to grant third mobile operator license
The Rwandan government is set to grant a 15-year fixed and mobile service operator license to a third company in a bid to liberalize the country's telecom market, currently dominated by two players.
Nigerian Senate to probe lending to Transcorp
The Nigerian Senate has formally disclosed its decision to probe the lending of 75 billion naira (US$637 million) to Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) by a consortium of banks a few weeks after it bought a majority stake in Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL), the national telecom operator.
Two Europeans charged in U.S. over DDoS attacks
Two European men have been indicted for allegedly orchestrating cyberattacks against two Web sites, a continuation of the first successful U.S. investigation ever into distributed denial-of-service attacks, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Researcher finds evidence of massive site compromise
Several criminal gangs have acquired administrative log-in credentials for more than 200,000 Web sites -- including the one used by the U.S. Postal Service -- and have used the compromised domains to attack unsuspecting users' PCs with a notorious hacker exploit kit, a researcher said today.
Nintendo's DSi 'probably' hitting US in 2009 says Iwata
With less than a month to go until Nintendo's new DSi hits the shelves of Japanese retailers, gamers in the rest of the world are wondering when they might see the revised DS. Nintendo hasn't given a clear answer to that question but indications are that it won't be going on sale outside of Japan anytime soon.