http://www.vnunet.com/VNUNET.COM Latest updates (Generated on Saturday 17 May 2008 at 10:24:42)enCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKSat, 17 May 2008 10:24:42 GMT30http://www.vnunet.com/VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-17T10:24:42ZenCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://www.vnunet.com/images/rss/vnu_logo.gifhttp://www.vnunet.com/http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/11460f3/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216880/review-logitech-dinovo-mini"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/computeractive/review-images/logitech-dinovo-mini/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Paul Lester, <a href="http://www.computeractive.co.uk/">Computeract!ve</a>, Saturday 17 May 2008 at 10:00:00</small></p> <p><em>A stylish way to control your music and video</em></p> <p>Logitech made quite a fuss over its release last year of the Dinovo Edge keyboard, saying it was the most advanced keyboard in the world. It was admittedly an impressive keyboard, so how does the new Dinovo Mini fare in comparison? The Mini is a small keyboard that's compatible with Bluetooth 2 devices, so it would be suitable for use with modern phones and handheld computers, although Logitech appears to be aiming it more at users of media PCs and the Playstation 3. Also included with the keyboard is a replaceable battery and the USB adapter (handily, this can be stored inside the battery compartment when it's not in use). If you use the dongle provided, setup is simply a case of pressing the connect buttons on the keyboard and the adapter and waiting for the green all-systems-go light to appear. The supplied Setpoint software can adjust the sensitivity of the trackpad and configure the operation of the various shortcut keys, so it's worth spending a bit of time here to get it behaving as you would like. As well as the usual typing, you can switch the Dinovo Mini to a media-remote mode for music and video, lighting up the dedicated media keys to make them easier to find at a glance. There shouldn't be much of a problem here anyway, since an ambient light sensor, which measures light levels in the room, will fire up the backlight automatically when it gets dark. Of course keyboards, particularly mini-keyboards, are all about usability, and this is where the Dinovo Mini falls down. The keys are quite firm and require a fair amount of pressure, but the fact that they're so close together reduces potential typing speeds considerably, at least if you don't want to spend half your time correcting mistakes. The touch-sensitive pad is also rather small and doesn't really offer enough space to comfortably move the pointer around. The Dinovo Mini is easy to set up, and certainly looks stylish, but taking into account the price and its flaws as a keyboard it is more like a luxury purchase for music and video fans. Vista compatibility: Yes</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216880/review-logitech-dinovo-mini"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/11460f3/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Review: Logitech Dinovo Mini keyboard&link=http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216880/review-logitech-dinovo-mini" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Review: Logitech Dinovo Mini keyboard&link=http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216880/review-logitech-dinovo-mini" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div>Sat, 17 May 2008 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216880/review-logitech-dinovo-miniPaul LesterHardware Reviews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216880/review-logitech-dinovo-mini"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/computeractive/review-images/logitech-dinovo-mini/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Paul Lester, <a href="http://www.computeractive.co.uk/">Computeract!ve</a>, Saturday 17 May 2008 at 10:00:00</small></p><p><i> A stylish way to control your music and video </i></p><p>Logitech made quite a fuss over its release last year of the Dinovo Edge keyboard, saying it was the most advanced keyboard in the world. It was admittedly an impressive keyboard, so how does the new Dinovo Mini fare in comparison? The Mini is a small keyboard that's compatible with Bluetooth 2 devices, so it would be suitable for use with modern phones and handheld computers, although Logitech appears to be aiming it more at users of media PCs and the Playstation 3. Also included with the keyboard is a replaceable battery and the USB adapter (handily, this can be stored inside the battery compartment when it's not in use). If you use the dongle provided, setup is simply a case of pressing the connect buttons on the keyboard and the adapter and waiting for the green all-systems-go light to appear. The supplied Setpoint software can adjust the sensitivity of the trackpad and configure the operation of the various shortcut keys, so it’s worth spending a bit of time here to get it behaving as you would like. As well as the usual typing, you can switch the Dinovo Mini to a media-remote mode for music and video, lighting up the dedicated media keys to make them easier to find at a glance. There shouldn’t be much of a problem here anyway, since an ambient light sensor, which measures light levels in the room, will fire up the backlight automatically when it gets dark. Of course keyboards, particularly mini-keyboards, are all about usability, and this is where the Dinovo Mini falls down. The keys are quite firm and require a fair amount of pressure, but the fact that they're so close together reduces potential typing speeds considerably, at least if you don't want to spend half your time correcting mistakes. The touch-sensitive pad is also rather small and doesn’t really offer enough space to comfortably move the pointer around. The Dinovo Mini is easy to set up, and certainly looks stylish, but taking into account the price and its flaws as a keyboard it is more like a luxury purchase for music and video fans. Vista compatibility: Yes </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216880/review-logitech-dinovo-mini"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-17T10:00:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/113e4e0/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2171086/usbdeview"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/downloads/disk-management/usbdeview/medium.gif" /></a> <p><small>Chris Wiles, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Saturday 17 May 2008 at 00:00:00</small></p> <p><em>View connected USB devices</em></p> <p>This is the software publisher's description. You connect a couple of external USB hard drives, a firewire unit and your USB printer. However, disconnecting them is another matter. How do you know which device is installed, is assigned to a particular drive letter and more? USBDeview is a small utility that lists all USB devices that currently connected to your computer, as well as all USB devices that you previously used. For each USB device, extended information is displayed: Device name/description, device type, serial number (for mass storage devices), the date/time that device was added, VendorID, ProductID, and more. USBDeview also enables you to uninstall USB devices that you previously used, and disconnect USB devices that are currently connected to your computer. You can also use USBDeview on a remote computer, as long as you login to that computer with admin user.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2171086/usbdeview"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/113e4e0/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=USBDeview 1.20&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2171086/usbdeview" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=USBDeview 1.20&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2171086/usbdeview" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8554793653/f/7153/c/554/s/18080992/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8554793653/f/7153/c/554/s/18080992/a2.img" border="0"/></a>Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2171086/usbdeviewChris WilesDownload Reviews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2171086/usbdeview"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/downloads/disk-management/usbdeview/medium.gif"/></a><p><small>Chris Wiles, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Saturday 17 May 2008 at 00:00:00</small></p><p><i> View connected USB devices </i></p><p>This is the software publisher’s description. You connect a couple of external USB hard drives, a firewire unit and your USB printer. However, disconnecting them is another matter. How do you know which device is installed, is assigned to a particular drive letter and more? USBDeview is a small utility that lists all USB devices that currently connected to your computer, as well as all USB devices that you previously used. For each USB device, extended information is displayed: Device name/description, device type, serial number (for mass storage devices), the date/time that device was added, VendorID, ProductID, and more. USBDeview also enables you to uninstall USB devices that you previously used, and disconnect USB devices that are currently connected to your computer. You can also use USBDeview on a remote computer, as long as you login to that computer with admin user. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2171086/usbdeview"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-17T00:00:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/113e4df/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2185199/dopdf"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/downloads/office-applications/dopdf/medium.gif" /></a> <p><small>Chris Wiles, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Saturday 17 May 2008 at 00:00:00</small></p> <p><em>Create your own PDF documents</em></p> <p>This is the software publisher's description. Free PDF converter for both personal and commercial use. Using doPDF you can create searchable PDF files by selecting the "Print" command from virtually any application. With one click you can convert your Microsoft Excel, Word or PowerPoint documents or your emails and favourite web sites to PDF files. doPDF installs itself as a virtual printer driver so after a successful installation will appear in your Printers and Faxes list. To create PDF files, you just have to print your documents to the doPDF pdf converter. Open a document (with Microsoft Word, WordPad, NotePad or any other software), choose Print and select doPDF. It will ask you where to save the PDF file and when finished, the PDF file will be automatically opened in your default PDF viewer. Note that this free PDF tool does not use Ghostscript. The license will also enable you to produce PDFs for both personal and commercial use.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2185199/dopdf"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/113e4df/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=doPDF 6.0.260&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2185199/dopdf" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=doPDF 6.0.260&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2185199/dopdf" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div>Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2185199/dopdfChris WilesDownload Reviews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2185199/dopdf"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/downloads/office-applications/dopdf/medium.gif"/></a><p><small>Chris Wiles, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Saturday 17 May 2008 at 00:00:00</small></p><p><i> Create your own PDF documents </i></p><p>This is the software publisher's description. Free PDF converter for both personal and commercial use. Using doPDF you can create searchable PDF files by selecting the "Print" command from virtually any application. With one click you can convert your Microsoft Excel, Word or PowerPoint documents or your emails and favourite web sites to PDF files. doPDF installs itself as a virtual printer driver so after a successful installation will appear in your Printers and Faxes list. To create PDF files, you just have to print your documents to the doPDF pdf converter. Open a document (with Microsoft Word, WordPad, NotePad or any other software), choose Print and select doPDF. It will ask you where to save the PDF file and when finished, the PDF file will be automatically opened in your default PDF viewer. Note that this free PDF tool does not use Ghostscript. The license will also enable you to produce PDFs for both personal and commercial use. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2185199/dopdf"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-17T00:00:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/113e18d/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2170605/mozilla-firefox"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/downloads/browsers-and-browser-companions/mozilla-firefox/medium.gif" /></a> <p><small>Chris Wiles, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Saturday 17 May 2008 at 00:00:00</small></p> <p><em>Pre-release of Firefox 3</em></p> <p>Some users were disappointed with the release of Mozilla Firefox 2.0. After months of betas, release candidates and previews, the new features weren't as spectacular as people expected. However, there is only so much you can do to improve a web browser. With the forthcoming release of Mozilla Firefox 3.0, now planned for mid 2008, the web graphics rendering engine will receive a completely new upgrade. Dubbed ' Cairo', the new graphics rendering engine should improve the output across different platforms, as it's being developed as an open-standard (see http://wiki.mozilla.org/Cairo). Mozilla Firefox 3.0 will also be based around the forthcoming Gecko 1.9 rendering engine. With other improvements in the way that pages are 'painted' on screen, improved SVG support and CSS enhancements, the general improvements for Firefox 3.0 are based around the way it will render web pages through the browser. Note that further improvements and new features will be included within Firefox 3.0 as it is being developed. This is Release Candidate 1 and is code complete.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2170605/mozilla-firefox"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/113e18d/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Release Candidate 1&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2170605/mozilla-firefox" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Release Candidate 1&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2170605/mozilla-firefox" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8554793603/f/7153/c/554/s/18080141/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8554793603/f/7153/c/554/s/18080141/a2.img" border="0"/></a>Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2170605/mozilla-firefoxChris WilesDownload Reviews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2170605/mozilla-firefox"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/downloads/browsers-and-browser-companions/mozilla-firefox/medium.gif"/></a><p><small>Chris Wiles, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Saturday 17 May 2008 at 00:00:00</small></p><p><i> Pre-release of Firefox 3 </i></p><p>Some users were disappointed with the release of Mozilla Firefox 2.0. After months of betas, release candidates and previews, the new features weren’t as spectacular as people expected. However, there is only so much you can do to improve a web browser. With the forthcoming release of Mozilla Firefox 3.0, now planned for mid 2008, the web graphics rendering engine will receive a completely new upgrade. Dubbed ‘ Cairo’, the new graphics rendering engine should improve the output across different platforms, as it’s being developed as an open-standard (see http://wiki.mozilla.org/Cairo). Mozilla Firefox 3.0 will also be based around the forthcoming Gecko 1.9 rendering engine. With other improvements in the way that pages are ‘painted’ on screen, improved SVG support and CSS enhancements, the general improvements for Firefox 3.0 are based around the way it will render web pages through the browser. Note that further improvements and new features will be included within Firefox 3.0 as it is being developed. This is Release Candidate 1 and is code complete. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2170605/mozilla-firefox"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-17T00:00:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/11364aa/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216865/o2-hints-uk-arrival-3g-iphone"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/apple/iphone03/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 16:46:00</small></p> <p><em>Imminent announcement to be made with Apple</em></p> <p>IPhone fever is mounting after confirmation from Apple's exclusive mobile phone partner in the UK and Ireland that a joint announcement will be made "in the coming weeks". Speaking at the announcement of O2's first-quarter results, Matthew Key, chairman and chief executive of O2-owner Telef&oacute;nica Europe, refused to give an exact availability date for the 3G iPhone. "That's more of a question for Apple," he said. "But over the coming weeks we will do a joint announcement with Apple as Telef&oacute;nica Group." O2 has an exclusive multi-year contract with Apple to sell the iPhone in the UK and Ireland, and recently sold out of the current 8GB version after cutting the price in preparation for the arrival of the 3G version. O2 added 206,000 new contract customers over the first three months of the year, a "significant number" of whom are understood to have bought an iPhone. "This was driven by iPhone and strong 'traditional handset' connections, and excludes connections to the O2 UK mobile broadband offer launched in April," said Key. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs is widely expected to take the wraps off the much-hyped 3G iPhone during his keynote speech at the Worldwide Developers Conference on 9 June.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216865/o2-hints-uk-arrival-3g-iphone"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/11364aa/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=O2 hints at 3G iPhone 'in weeks'&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216865/o2-hints-uk-arrival-3g-iphone" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=O2 hints at 3G iPhone 'in weeks'&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216865/o2-hints-uk-arrival-3g-iphone" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div>Fri, 16 May 2008 16:46:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216865/o2-hints-uk-arrival-3g-iphoneGuy DixonNews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216865/o2-hints-uk-arrival-3g-iphone"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/apple/iphone03/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 16:46:00</small></p><p><i> Imminent announcement to be made with Apple </i></p><p>IPhone fever is mounting after confirmation from Apple's exclusive mobile phone partner in the UK and Ireland that a joint announcement will be made "in the coming weeks". Speaking at the announcement of O2's first-quarter results, Matthew Key, chairman and chief executive of O2-owner Telefónica Europe, refused to give an exact availability date for the 3G iPhone. "That's more of a question for Apple," he said. "But over the coming weeks we will do a joint announcement with Apple as Telefónica Group." O2 has an exclusive multi-year contract with Apple to sell the iPhone in the UK and Ireland, and recently sold out of the current 8GB version after cutting the price in preparation for the arrival of the 3G version. O2 added 206,000 new contract customers over the first three months of the year, a "significant number" of whom are understood to have bought an iPhone. "This was driven by iPhone and strong 'traditional handset' connections, and excludes connections to the O2 UK mobile broadband offer launched in April," said Key. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs is widely expected to take the wraps off the much-hyped 3G iPhone during his keynote speech at the Worldwide Developers Conference on 9 June. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216865/o2-hints-uk-arrival-3g-iphone"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T16:46:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/11364ab/story01.htm<p><small>Iain Thomson, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 16:18:00</small></p> <p><em>Robotic arm takes multiple pictures of the same scene</em></p> <p>Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a device that lets a standard digital camera take pictures with a resolution of 1-gigapixel (1,000-megapixels). The Gigapan is a robotic arm that takes multiple pictures of the same scene and blends them into a single image. The resulting picture can be expanded to show incredible detail. "Our goal is to bring the world closer together by making it possible for anybody to take these panoramas and show them to people across the world," Randy Sargent, chief architect of the project at Carnegie Mellon, told The Times. The robot takes a single picture and then takes 36 horizontal and 10 vertical overlapping shots. Software then merges the images to produce the final image, such as one of the South Bank in London. No date for the release off the device has yet been given but it is expected to retail for several hundred dollars.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216855/photography-masses"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/11364ab/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Boffins take gigapixel photos using ordinary camera&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216855/photography-masses" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Boffins take gigapixel photos using ordinary camera&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216855/photography-masses" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8554790905/f/7153/c/554/s/18048171/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8554790905/f/7153/c/554/s/18048171/a2.img" border="0"/></a>Fri, 16 May 2008 16:18:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216855/photography-massesIain ThomsonNews<p><small>Iain Thomson, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 16:18:00</small></p><p><i> Robotic arm takes multiple pictures of the same scene </i></p><p>Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a device that lets a standard digital camera take pictures with a resolution of 1-gigapixel (1,000-megapixels). The Gigapan is a robotic arm that takes multiple pictures of the same scene and blends them into a single image. The resulting picture can be expanded to show incredible detail. "Our goal is to bring the world closer together by making it possible for anybody to take these panoramas and show them to people across the world," Randy Sargent, chief architect of the project at Carnegie Mellon, told The Times. The robot takes a single picture and then takes 36 horizontal and 10 vertical overlapping shots. Software then merges the images to produce the final image, such as one of the South Bank in London. No date for the release off the device has yet been given but it is expected to retail for several hundred dollars. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216855/photography-masses"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T16:18:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1134980/story01.htm<p><small>Ian Williams, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 15:27:00</small></p> <p><em>Yoon-Woo Lee appointed vice chairman and chief executive</em></p> <p>Samsung Electronics has made a series of upper management changes starting with the appointment of Yoon-Woo Lee as vice chairman and chief executive. Lee replaces Jong-Yong Yun, who has been at the helm of Samsung since 1997 and who will now serve as the company's standing adviser. Lee joined Samsung SDI in 1968 and has worked for Samsung Electronics since 1977. He was president of Samsung's semiconductor business from 1996 to 2004 and vice chairman and corporate CTO from 2005 to 2007. "The latest measure reflects the company's determination to focus on developing future growth, and to find a new momentum to become a world leading company," Samsung Electronics said in a statement. "Vice chairman Lee has the leadership and the experience to take Samsung Electronics to the next level." Vice chairman Ki-Tae Lee will take over from Yoon-Woo Lee leading the external relations operations at Samsung, and Dr Chang-Gyu Hwang, president of Samsung's semiconductor business, will replace Ki-Tae Lee to lead the corporate technology operations. Samsung, which has been focusing on TV, semiconductor and mobile phones, believes that the new appointments will help it find "new growth engines amid fierce competition in the electronics industry".</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216840/samsung-shuffles-upper-management"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1134980/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Samsung Electronics reshuffles top brass&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216840/samsung-shuffles-upper-management" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Samsung Electronics reshuffles top brass&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216840/samsung-shuffles-upper-management" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div>Fri, 16 May 2008 15:27:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216840/samsung-shuffles-upper-managementIan WilliamsNews<p><small>Ian Williams, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 15:27:00</small></p><p><i> Yoon-Woo Lee appointed vice chairman and chief executive </i></p><p>Samsung Electronics has made a series of upper management changes starting with the appointment of Yoon-Woo Lee as vice chairman and chief executive. Lee replaces Jong-Yong Yun, who has been at the helm of Samsung since 1997 and who will now serve as the company's standing adviser. Lee joined Samsung SDI in 1968 and has worked for Samsung Electronics since 1977. He was president of Samsung's semiconductor business from 1996 to 2004 and vice chairman and corporate CTO from 2005 to 2007. "The latest measure reflects the company's determination to focus on developing future growth, and to find a new momentum to become a world leading company," Samsung Electronics said in a statement. "Vice chairman Lee has the leadership and the experience to take Samsung Electronics to the next level." Vice chairman Ki-Tae Lee will take over from Yoon-Woo Lee leading the external relations operations at Samsung, and Dr Chang-Gyu Hwang, president of Samsung's semiconductor business, will replace Ki-Tae Lee to lead the corporate technology operations. Samsung, which has been focusing on TV, semiconductor and mobile phones, believes that the new appointments will help it find "new growth engines amid fierce competition in the electronics industry". </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216840/samsung-shuffles-upper-management"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T15:27:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1133f05/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216838/asus-offer-linux-motherboards"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/linux/linux-penguin-01/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 15:02:00</small></p> <p><em>Taiwanese manufacturer will embed open source OS across entire range</em></p> <p>Asus is to fit its entire range of motherboards with the company's Express Gate version of Splashtop Linux. Splashtop boots from a Flash chip on the motherboard in a matter of seconds and is designed to run a small suite of applications including Firefox, Skype and instant messaging. The Linux-based software will be extended immediately to the new P5Q Deluxe, P5Q-WS, P5Q3 Deluxe and P5Q-E series motherboards, and Asus has pledged to produce a further million Splashtop motherboards per month. Part of Splashtop's appeal is that it complements rather than replaces Windows, offering users the option to run a choice of operating systems. Its low power consumption and Wi-Fi support also make it an attractive option for notebook manufacturers. Asus, a long-term Linux stalwart, is widely seen as a pioneer of cut-down systems running the open source operating and has enjoyed commercial success with its increasingly popular Eee PC. "In response to great user feedback our plan is to proliferate Express Gate across our entire motherboard product portfolio, starting with over one million motherboards per month," said Joe Hsieh, general manager of Asus' motherboard division. "Consumers want to turn their PCs on and off like any other appliance, and Express Gate has made that possible."</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216838/asus-offer-linux-motherboards"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1133f05/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Asus to offer Linux on all motherboards&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216838/asus-offer-linux-motherboards" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Asus to offer Linux on all motherboards&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216838/asus-offer-linux-motherboards" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8554788978/f/7153/c/554/s/18038533/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8554788978/f/7153/c/554/s/18038533/a2.img" border="0"/></a>Fri, 16 May 2008 15:02:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216838/asus-offer-linux-motherboardsGuy DixonNews<p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 15:02:00</small></p><p><i> Taiwanese manufacturer will embed open source OS across entire range </i></p><p>Asus is to fit its entire range of motherboards with the company's Express Gate version of Splashtop Linux. Splashtop boots from a Flash chip on the motherboard in a matter of seconds and is designed to run a small suite of applications including Firefox, Skype and instant messaging. The Linux-based software will be extended immediately to the new P5Q Deluxe, P5Q-WS, P5Q3 Deluxe and P5Q-E series motherboards, and Asus has pledged to produce a further million Splashtop motherboards per month. Part of Splashtop's appeal is that it complements rather than replaces Windows, offering users the option to run a choice of operating systems. Its low power consumption and Wi-Fi support also make it an attractive option for notebook manufacturers. Asus, a long-term Linux stalwart, is widely seen as a pioneer of cut-down systems running the open source operating and has enjoyed commercial success with its increasingly popular Eee PC. "In response to great user feedback our plan is to proliferate Express Gate across our entire motherboard product portfolio, starting with over one million motherboards per month," said Joe Hsieh, general manager of Asus' motherboard division. "Consumers want to turn their PCs on and off like any other appliance, and Express Gate has made that possible." </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216838/asus-offer-linux-motherboards"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T15:02:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1131cb5/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216832/olpc-ship-windows-xp"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/hardware/desktop/negroponte-laptop/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 13:30:00</small></p> <p><em>Microsoft teams up with One Laptop per Child project</em></p> <p>Microsoft has joined forces with the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project in a bid to provide inexpensive portable PCs to schoolchildren in developing countries. The announcement means that the XO notebook will run Windows as well as the OLPC's home grown Linux-based operating system. OLPC will be hoping that the partnership with Microsoft will help kick-start demand from education ministers for its XO laptop, which has thus far received orders for just 600,000 systems. The project has also struggled to drive down the price of its laptop to the highly publicised $100 mark; the current version is priced at $188. OLPC and Microsoft said in a joint statement that trials of laptops loaded with Windows will begin in "four to five" countries from next month, with a broader release in August or September. "Transforming education is a fundamental goal of Microsoft Unlimited Potential, our ambitious effort to bring sustained social and economic opportunity to people who do not currently enjoy the benefits of technology," said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft. "By supporting a wide variety of affordable computing solutions for education that includes OLPC's XO laptop, we aim to make technology more relevant, accessible and affordable for students everywhere."</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216832/olpc-ship-windows-xp"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1131cb5/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=OLPC to ship with Windows XP&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216832/olpc-ship-windows-xp" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=OLPC to ship with Windows XP&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216832/olpc-ship-windows-xp" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div>Fri, 16 May 2008 13:30:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216832/olpc-ship-windows-xpGuy DixonNews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216832/olpc-ship-windows-xp"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/hardware/desktop/negroponte-laptop/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 13:30:00</small></p><p><i> Microsoft teams up with One Laptop per Child project </i></p><p>Microsoft has joined forces with the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project in a bid to provide inexpensive portable PCs to schoolchildren in developing countries. The announcement means that the XO notebook will run Windows as well as the OLPC's home grown Linux-based operating system. OLPC will be hoping that the partnership with Microsoft will help kick-start demand from education ministers for its XO laptop, which has thus far received orders for just 600,000 systems. The project has also struggled to drive down the price of its laptop to the highly publicised $100 mark; the current version is priced at $188. OLPC and Microsoft said in a joint statement that trials of laptops loaded with Windows will begin in "four to five" countries from next month, with a broader release in August or September. "Transforming education is a fundamental goal of Microsoft Unlimited Potential, our ambitious effort to bring sustained social and economic opportunity to people who do not currently enjoy the benefits of technology," said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft. "By supporting a wide variety of affordable computing solutions for education that includes OLPC's XO laptop, we aim to make technology more relevant, accessible and affordable for students everywhere." </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216832/olpc-ship-windows-xp"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T13:30:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1131cb6/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216831/sims-gets-ikea-content"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/games/simulations/sims-open-business/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Ian Williams, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 13:26:00</small></p> <p><em>Virtual world gets Swedish wood</em></p> <p>Electronic Arts has struck a deal with Ikea to bring a range of flat-pack furniture to The Sims 2. The Sims 2 Ikea Home Stuff Pack will allow gamers to give their virtual home a makeover with new furniture and decor based on designs by Ikea. The add-on will provide sofas, beds, tables, a TV unit, shelving and more in a variety of colours and patterns, as well extras such as wall art, mirrors, lighting options and vases. "The Sims is thrilled to collaborate with Ikea for more customisation of your Sims' homes, adding fun and inspirational design options for the bedroom, living room and home office," said Rod Humble, head of The Sims Studio. "This new content will certainly contribute to players' ability to make their Sims' dream home. Home is central to the experience of your Sims and, with Ikea additions, it's sure to be the most inviting place in the neighbourhood." Products in the game will keep Ikea's unusual naming format, but it is unclear whether the furniture will have to be assembled by the virtual characters, perhaps as a mini-game. There are also concerns that Sims characters will become stressed when left with a handful of bits and pieces that they have no idea what to do with. "Players of The Sims have asked for Ikea by name and, if you look at the living spaces they design, it reflects the style of Ikea," said Steve Seabolt, vice president of global brand development for The Sims. Electronic Arts has already signed similar deals with Ford and H&amp;M to bring their products into The Sims world. Grand Theft Auto IV also tips its hat to Ikea, in a manner of speaking, with spoof ads about Scandinavian furniture stores. The Sims 2 Ikea Home Stuff Pack is due to hit shelves in the US on 23 June for $19.99 and will be available on 27 June in Europe for &euro;14.99.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216831/sims-gets-ikea-content"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1131cb6/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=The Sims goes flat-pack with Ikea&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216831/sims-gets-ikea-content" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=The Sims goes flat-pack with Ikea&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216831/sims-gets-ikea-content" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8554788615/f/7153/c/554/s/18029750/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8554788615/f/7153/c/554/s/18029750/a2.img" border="0"/></a>Fri, 16 May 2008 13:26:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216831/sims-gets-ikea-contentIan WilliamsNews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216831/sims-gets-ikea-content"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/games/simulations/sims-open-business/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Ian Williams, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 13:26:00</small></p><p><i> Virtual world gets Swedish wood </i></p><p>Electronic Arts has struck a deal with Ikea to bring a range of flat-pack furniture to The Sims 2. The Sims 2 Ikea Home Stuff Pack will allow gamers to give their virtual home a makeover with new furniture and decor based on designs by Ikea. The add-on will provide sofas, beds, tables, a TV unit, shelving and more in a variety of colours and patterns, as well extras such as wall art, mirrors, lighting options and vases. "The Sims is thrilled to collaborate with Ikea for more customisation of your Sims' homes, adding fun and inspirational design options for the bedroom, living room and home office," said Rod Humble, head of The Sims Studio. "This new content will certainly contribute to players' ability to make their Sims' dream home. Home is central to the experience of your Sims and, with Ikea additions, it's sure to be the most inviting place in the neighbourhood." Products in the game will keep Ikea's unusual naming format, but it is unclear whether the furniture will have to be assembled by the virtual characters, perhaps as a mini-game. There are also concerns that Sims characters will become stressed when left with a handful of bits and pieces that they have no idea what to do with. "Players of The Sims have asked for Ikea by name and, if you look at the living spaces they design, it reflects the style of Ikea," said Steve Seabolt, vice president of global brand development for The Sims. Electronic Arts has already signed similar deals with Ford and H&M to bring their products into The Sims world. Grand Theft Auto IV also tips its hat to Ikea, in a manner of speaking, with spoof ads about Scandinavian furniture stores. The Sims 2 Ikea Home Stuff Pack is due to hit shelves in the US on 23 June for $19.99 and will be available on 27 June in Europe for €14.99. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216831/sims-gets-ikea-content"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T13:26:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1131786/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216830/survey-shows-manager-broken"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/people/stressed-worker/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Iain Thomson, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 13:15:00</small></p> <p><em>Sobbing in the server room</em></p> <p>A new survey suggests that few IT managers are fulfilling their childhood dreams in their current roles. IT staff were questioned at this year's Infosecurity show about what they perceived as their ideal professions when a child. Only six per cent said that they had always wanted to work with computers. The most popular choice was airline pilot (14 per cent) followed by astronaut (nine per cent) and football player (eight per cent). One respondent may have misunderstood the question as he said that he always wanted to be a seagull. Tom Newton, product manager at SmoothWall, which sponsored the survey, said: "IT has always suffered an image problem, and those that wish to swell our ranks would rather be programmers or engineers. "Today's network managers face a harder task than ever, so it comes as no surprise that at least one beleaguered soul would rather spread his wings and go nicking chips down the seafront."</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216830/survey-shows-manager-broken"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1131786/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=IT managers bemoan broken dreams&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216830/survey-shows-manager-broken" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=IT managers bemoan broken dreams&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216830/survey-shows-manager-broken" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div>Fri, 16 May 2008 13:15:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216830/survey-shows-manager-brokenIain ThomsonNews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216830/survey-shows-manager-broken"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/people/stressed-worker/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Iain Thomson, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 13:15:00</small></p><p><i> Sobbing in the server room </i></p><p>A new survey suggests that few IT managers are fulfilling their childhood dreams in their current roles. IT staff were questioned at this year's Infosecurity show about what they perceived as their ideal professions when a child. Only six per cent said that they had always wanted to work with computers. The most popular choice was airline pilot (14 per cent) followed by astronaut (nine per cent) and football player (eight per cent). One respondent may have misunderstood the question as he said that he always wanted to be a seagull. Tom Newton, product manager at SmoothWall, which sponsored the survey, said: "IT has always suffered an image problem, and those that wish to swell our ranks would rather be programmers or engineers. "Today's network managers face a harder task than ever, so it comes as no surprise that at least one beleaguered soul would rather spread his wings and go nicking chips down the seafront." </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216830/survey-shows-manager-broken"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T13:15:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1130a1e/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216825/gates-shows-touch-wall"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/computing/computing-07-02-08/gates-iod/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 12:46:00</small></p> <p><em>Microsoft chairman predicts interactive touch screens in homes and offices</em></p> <p>Microsoft chairman Bill Gates this week took the wraps off Touch Wall, a 6ft x 4ft prototype screen based on Microsoft's Surface multi-touch technology. Gates told attendees at the company's CEO Summit 2008 that affordable touch screens will adorn surfaces in homes and offices in the future. The Touch Wall differs from long established electromagnetic-based whiteboards in that it detects hand or stylus movements using a camera beneath the screen. "Our view is that all horizontal and vertical surfaces will eventually have an inexpensive screen-display capability and software that sees what you're doing so that it's completely interactive," said Gates. Touch Wall is still in the research and development phase, but Gates said that Microsoft is already working out how to integrate the technology into future versions of Office. "The Office group is thinking about what they can do in the next version that has built-in capabilities," said Gates. "The Windows group is also building it down at the operating-system level so that any piece of Windows software will be able to have this type of interaction."</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216825/gates-shows-touch-wall"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/1130a1e/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Gates builds out Touch Wall vision&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216825/gates-shows-touch-wall" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Gates builds out Touch Wall vision&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216825/gates-shows-touch-wall" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8545151293/f/7153/c/554/s/18024990/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8545151293/f/7153/c/554/s/18024990/a2.img" border="0"/></a>Fri, 16 May 2008 12:46:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216825/gates-shows-touch-wallGuy DixonNews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216825/gates-shows-touch-wall"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/computing/computing-07-02-08/gates-iod/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 12:46:00</small></p><p><i> Microsoft chairman predicts interactive touch screens in homes and offices </i></p><p>Microsoft chairman Bill Gates this week took the wraps off Touch Wall, a 6ft x 4ft prototype screen based on Microsoft's Surface multi-touch technology. Gates told attendees at the company's CEO Summit 2008 that affordable touch screens will adorn surfaces in homes and offices in the future. The Touch Wall differs from long established electromagnetic-based whiteboards in that it detects hand or stylus movements using a camera beneath the screen. "Our view is that all horizontal and vertical surfaces will eventually have an inexpensive screen-display capability and software that sees what you're doing so that it's completely interactive," said Gates. Touch Wall is still in the research and development phase, but Gates said that Microsoft is already working out how to integrate the technology into future versions of Office. "The Office group is thinking about what they can do in the next version that has built-in capabilities," said Gates. "The Windows group is also building it down at the operating-system level so that any piece of Windows software will be able to have this type of interaction." </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216825/gates-shows-touch-wall"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T12:46:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/11304bd/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216822/ps2-outselling-ps3"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/sony/sony-ps3/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 12:36:00</small></p> <p><em>Sony continues to lose money on next-gen console</em></p> <p>Sony's PlayStation 2 outsold the PlayStation 3 by four million units for the 12 months ending 31 March. The latest figures show sales of 9.24 million for Sony's next-generation PS3 system, compared to 13.73 million for its much older sibling. Despite a 156 per cent increase in sales over the previous year, Sony is estimated to be losing $150 on each PS3. Figures for the PlayStation Portable make much better reading. Sony racked up sales of 13.9 million units for the handheld console, making it the firm's best-selling machine. Positive sales figures for the PSP have been widely attributed to its newly added Wi-Fi functionality and web browser, and well received games titles such as God of War: Chains of Olympus. Sony announced a target sales figure of 15 million units for the PSP during the new financial year. The addition of GoTV capability and GPS functionality should boost the popularity of the PSP still further.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216822/ps2-outselling-ps3"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/11304bd/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=PlayStation 2 outselling PlayStation 3&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216822/ps2-outselling-ps3" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=PlayStation 2 outselling PlayStation 3&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216822/ps2-outselling-ps3" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div>Fri, 16 May 2008 12:36:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216822/ps2-outselling-ps3Guy DixonNews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216822/ps2-outselling-ps3"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/sony/sony-ps3/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 12:36:00</small></p><p><i> Sony continues to lose money on next-gen console </i></p><p>Sony's PlayStation 2 outsold the PlayStation 3 by four million units for the 12 months ending 31 March. The latest figures show sales of 9.24 million for Sony's next-generation PS3 system, compared to 13.73 million for its much older sibling. Despite a 156 per cent increase in sales over the previous year, Sony is estimated to be losing $150 on each PS3. Figures for the PlayStation Portable make much better reading. Sony racked up sales of 13.9 million units for the handheld console, making it the firm's best-selling machine. Positive sales figures for the PSP have been widely attributed to its newly added Wi-Fi functionality and web browser, and well received games titles such as God of War: Chains of Olympus. Sony announced a target sales figure of 15 million units for the PSP during the new financial year. The addition of GoTV capability and GPS functionality should boost the popularity of the PSP still further. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216822/ps2-outselling-ps3"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T12:36:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/11304bf/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216821/einstein-letter-sells-170"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/people/albert-einstein/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 12:27:00</small></p> <p><em>Nobel physicist dismisses bible as 'childish'</em></p> <p>A letter written by Albert Einstein, in which the renowned physicist described religious beliefs as "childish superstitions", has been sold at auction to a private collector for a record breaking &pound;170,000. Hopeful bidders packed the room at Bloomsbury Auctions in Mayfair, which installed an additional 11 phone lines to cater for demand from international buyers. Bids rapidly soared beyond the guide price of &pound;6,000 to &pound;8,000. The letter was written to philosopher Eric Gutkind in January 1954 a year before Einstein's death. The Nobel physicist described God as the "product of human weakness" and the Bible as "childish". "The word 'God' is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, [and] the Bible a collection of honourable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish," said Einstein in the letter. Einstein also dismissed the notion that the Jews are God's chosen people. " As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them." Bloomsbury Auctions spokesman Richard Caton said that the auction house was "100 per cent certain" of the letter's authenticity. Einstein was born into a Jewish family in Germany in 1879 and started questioning conventional religion at the age of 12 after going through a devout phase in his early years.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216821/einstein-letter-sells-170"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/11304bf/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Einstein letter sells for £170,000&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216821/einstein-letter-sells-170" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Einstein letter sells for £170,000&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216821/einstein-letter-sells-170" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8545151152/f/7153/c/554/s/18023615/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8545151152/f/7153/c/554/s/18023615/a2.img" border="0"/></a>Fri, 16 May 2008 12:27:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216821/einstein-letter-sells-170Guy DixonNews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216821/einstein-letter-sells-170"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/people/albert-einstein/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 12:27:00</small></p><p><i> Nobel physicist dismisses bible as 'childish' </i></p><p>A letter written by Albert Einstein, in which the renowned physicist described religious beliefs as "childish superstitions", has been sold at auction to a private collector for a record breaking £170,000. Hopeful bidders packed the room at Bloomsbury Auctions in Mayfair, which installed an additional 11 phone lines to cater for demand from international buyers. Bids rapidly soared beyond the guide price of £6,000 to £8,000. The letter was written to philosopher Eric Gutkind in January 1954 a year before Einstein's death. The Nobel physicist described God as the "product of human weakness" and the Bible as "childish". "The word 'God' is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, [and] the Bible a collection of honourable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish," said Einstein in the letter. Einstein also dismissed the notion that the Jews are God's chosen people. " As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them." Bloomsbury Auctions spokesman Richard Caton said that the auction house was "100 per cent certain" of the letter's authenticity. Einstein was born into a Jewish family in Germany in 1879 and started questioning conventional religion at the age of 12 after going through a devout phase in his early years. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216821/einstein-letter-sells-170"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T12:27:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112ff56/story01.htm<p><small>Ian Williams, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 12:13:00</small></p> <p><em>Engineers boost power output by more than 50 per cent</em></p> <p>A group of engineers at MIT has developed a new type of membrane for one type of fuel cell which they claim could improve power output by more than 50 per cent. The new material is considerably less expensive than its conventional industrial counterpart, and could help fuel cells to find a much broader market, particularly in portable electronics. "Our goal is to replace traditional fuel-cell membranes with these cost-effective, highly tuneable and better-performing materials," said Paula T. Hammond, Bayer Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT, and leader of the research team. The team focused on direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) in which the methanol is directly used as the fuel. Reforming of alcohol down to hydrogen is not required. Such a fuel cell is attractive because the only waste products are water and carbon dioxide, the latter produced in small quantities. Also, because methanol is a liquid, it is safer and easier to store and transport than hydrogen gas. However, DMFCs on the market have limitations as the material currently used for the electrolyte, known as Nafion, is expensive. Furthermore Nafion is permeable to methanol allowing some of the fuel to seep across the centre of the fuel cell, thereby wasting fuel and lowering the efficiency of the cell. Using a relatively new technique known as layer-by-layer assembly, the MIT researchers created an alternative to Nafion which is two orders of magnitude less permeable to methanol but compares favourably to Nafion in proton conductivity. To test their creation, the engineers coated a Nafion membrane with the new film and incorporated the whole into a direct methanol fuel cell. The result was an increase in power output of more than 50 per cent. The team is now exploring whether the new film could be used by itself, completely replacing Nafion. Hammond noted that the new material also has potential for use in other electrochemical systems such as batteries, and that the team has begun exploring the new material's potential use in photovoltaics.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216820/boffins-develop-material-fuel-cells"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112ff56/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=MIT boffins claim fuel cell breakthrough&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216820/boffins-develop-material-fuel-cells" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=MIT boffins claim fuel cell breakthrough&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216820/boffins-develop-material-fuel-cells" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div>Fri, 16 May 2008 12:13:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216820/boffins-develop-material-fuel-cellsIan WilliamsNews<p><small>Ian Williams, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 12:13:00</small></p><p><i> Engineers boost power output by more than 50 per cent </i></p><p>A group of engineers at MIT has developed a new type of membrane for one type of fuel cell which they claim could improve power output by more than 50 per cent. The new material is considerably less expensive than its conventional industrial counterpart, and could help fuel cells to find a much broader market, particularly in portable electronics. "Our goal is to replace traditional fuel-cell membranes with these cost-effective, highly tuneable and better-performing materials," said Paula T. Hammond, Bayer Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT, and leader of the research team. The team focused on direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) in which the methanol is directly used as the fuel. Reforming of alcohol down to hydrogen is not required. Such a fuel cell is attractive because the only waste products are water and carbon dioxide, the latter produced in small quantities. Also, because methanol is a liquid, it is safer and easier to store and transport than hydrogen gas. However, DMFCs on the market have limitations as the material currently used for the electrolyte, known as Nafion, is expensive. Furthermore Nafion is permeable to methanol allowing some of the fuel to seep across the centre of the fuel cell, thereby wasting fuel and lowering the efficiency of the cell. Using a relatively new technique known as layer-by-layer assembly, the MIT researchers created an alternative to Nafion which is two orders of magnitude less permeable to methanol but compares favourably to Nafion in proton conductivity. To test their creation, the engineers coated a Nafion membrane with the new film and incorporated the whole into a direct methanol fuel cell. The result was an increase in power output of more than 50 per cent. The team is now exploring whether the new film could be used by itself, completely replacing Nafion. Hammond noted that the new material also has potential for use in other electrochemical systems such as batteries, and that the team has begun exploring the new material's potential use in photovoltaics. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216820/boffins-develop-material-fuel-cells"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T12:13:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112ff58/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/personal-computer-world/hardware/2216814/review-steelseries-sp"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/hardware/steel-series/steel-series-sp/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Emil Larsen, <a href="http://www.pcw.co.uk/">Personal Computer World</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 12:05:00</small></p> <p><em>A mat designed for laser mice</em></p> <p>Laser and optical mice are usually sold as being able to work on all surfaces, but since shiny tabletops can cause inaccurate movement there's still a market for mouse mats. It's difficult to overlook the Steelseries SP, in part due to its massive 41cm diagonal measurement. It comprises two layers, the bottom being rubber to grip to a desk and the top being a hard transparent plastic. The latter is textured but mice glide across it with minimal friction. The build quality is top-notch and it includes a two-year warranty anyway. It looks good, is pleasing to touch and offers great precision for gamers and design addicts alike.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/personal-computer-world/hardware/2216814/review-steelseries-sp"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112ff58/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Review: Steelseries SP mouse mat&link=http://www.vnunet.com/personal-computer-world/hardware/2216814/review-steelseries-sp" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Review: Steelseries SP mouse mat&link=http://www.vnunet.com/personal-computer-world/hardware/2216814/review-steelseries-sp" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8545151093/f/7153/c/554/s/18022232/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8545151093/f/7153/c/554/s/18022232/a2.img" border="0"/></a>Fri, 16 May 2008 12:05:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/personal-computer-world/hardware/2216814/review-steelseries-spEmil LarsenHardware Reviews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/personal-computer-world/hardware/2216814/review-steelseries-sp"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/hardware/steel-series/steel-series-sp/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Emil Larsen, <a href="http://www.pcw.co.uk/">Personal Computer World</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 12:05:00</small></p><p><i> A mat designed for laser mice </i></p><p>Laser and optical mice are usually sold as being able to work on all surfaces, but since shiny tabletops can cause inaccurate movement there’s still a market for mouse mats. It’s difficult to overlook the Steelseries SP, in part due to its massive 41cm diagonal measurement. It comprises two layers, the bottom being rubber to grip to a desk and the top being a hard transparent plastic. The latter is textured but mice glide across it with minimal friction. The build quality is top-notch and it includes a two-year warranty anyway. It looks good, is pleasing to touch and offers great precision for gamers and design addicts alike. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/personal-computer-world/hardware/2216814/review-steelseries-sp"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T12:05:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112f24f/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216806/opensuse-joins-google-summer-code"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/google/google-logo/medium.gif" /></a> <p><small>Ian Williams, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 11:34:00</small></p> <p><em>Novell-sponsored open source project gets 10 slots</em></p> <p>The Novell sponsored openSuse project has announced that it has 10 projects being funded through Google's Summer of Code 2008. The annual event offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source projects. Google aims to inspire young developers to begin participating in open source development and to help open source projects identify and bring in new developers. "I am very pleased that Google has chosen to provide us with 10 slots in the Summer of Code programme," said Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier, community manager at openSuse. "It is a great programme that allows community projects to develop new features or applications and, more important, to provide a way for new contributors to learn how to work with open source projects. "We not only get valuable code, but we are able to work closely with the next generation of contributors." Brockmeier claimed that interest was high as the openSuse project received more than 50 applications for its 10 allocated slots, and is confident that the students will be valuable contributors in the long run. Google Summer of Code has funded more than 1,500 students and 2,000 mentors from 90 countries over the past three years. This year the project is funding 1,125 students with 175 open source projects. The projects funded by Google are as follows: LTSP GUI Management for openSuse by Jan Weber (mentored by Jigish Gohil) Interactive Crash Analysis by Nikolay Derkach (mentored by Jan Blunck) Face-Based Authentication by Rohan Anil (mentored by Alex Lau Chun Yin) Grub4ext4: Enable ext4 File System as Boot Partition by PengTao (mentored by Coly Li) New Approach for RPM Packages Creation by Andrei Oprisan (mentored by Stanislav Brabec) Libzypp Download Failover by Gerard Farr&agrave;s i Ballabriga (mentored by Peter Poeml) Gnome Build Service Client for openSuse by Mario &#272;ani&#263; (mentored by Rodrigo Moya) Integration of OpenID Consumer to Build Service by Hameedullah Khan (mentored by Cornelius Schumacher) Migration Assistant Reloaded by Peter Libi&#269; (mentored by Pavol Rusnak) Build Service-Eclipse Integration by Long Hong (mentored by Michal Marek)</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216806/opensuse-joins-google-summer-code"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112f24f/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=OpenSuse joins Google Summer of Code&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216806/opensuse-joins-google-summer-code" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=OpenSuse joins Google Summer of Code&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216806/opensuse-joins-google-summer-code" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div>Fri, 16 May 2008 11:34:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216806/opensuse-joins-google-summer-codeIan WilliamsNews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216806/opensuse-joins-google-summer-code"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/google/google-logo/medium.gif"/></a><p><small>Ian Williams, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 11:34:00</small></p><p><i> Novell-sponsored open source project gets 10 slots </i></p><p>The Novell sponsored openSuse project has announced that it has 10 projects being funded through Google's Summer of Code 2008. The annual event offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source projects. Google aims to inspire young developers to begin participating in open source development and to help open source projects identify and bring in new developers. "I am very pleased that Google has chosen to provide us with 10 slots in the Summer of Code programme," said Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier, community manager at openSuse. "It is a great programme that allows community projects to develop new features or applications and, more important, to provide a way for new contributors to learn how to work with open source projects. "We not only get valuable code, but we are able to work closely with the next generation of contributors." Brockmeier claimed that interest was high as the openSuse project received more than 50 applications for its 10 allocated slots, and is confident that the students will be valuable contributors in the long run. Google Summer of Code has funded more than 1,500 students and 2,000 mentors from 90 countries over the past three years. This year the project is funding 1,125 students with 175 open source projects. The projects funded by Google are as follows: LTSP GUI Management for openSuse by Jan Weber (mentored by Jigish Gohil) Interactive Crash Analysis by Nikolay Derkach (mentored by Jan Blunck) Face-Based Authentication by Rohan Anil (mentored by Alex Lau Chun Yin) Grub4ext4: Enable ext4 File System as Boot Partition by PengTao (mentored by Coly Li) New Approach for RPM Packages Creation by Andrei Oprisan (mentored by Stanislav Brabec) Libzypp Download Failover by Gerard Farràs i Ballabriga (mentored by Peter Poeml) Gnome Build Service Client for openSuse by Mario Đanić (mentored by Rodrigo Moya) Integration of OpenID Consumer to Build Service by Hameedullah Khan (mentored by Cornelius Schumacher) Migration Assistant Reloaded by Peter Libič (mentored by Pavol Rusnak) Build Service-Eclipse Integration by Long Hong (mentored by Michal Marek) </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216806/opensuse-joins-google-summer-code"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T11:34:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112eca1/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/software/2216805/desktop-security-stick-4000748"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/itweek/becrypt-trusted-client/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Daniel Robinson, <a href="http://www.itweek.co.uk/">IT Week</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 11:25:00</small></p> <p><em>BeCrypt's Trusted Client is a complete user environment on a USB memory stick</em></p> <p>BeCrypt's Trusted Client is a complete user environment on a USB memory stick, designed to let mobile workers connect securely with corporate resources using any PC with an internet connection, and also edit office documents. Available since January, Trusted Client 2.1 is a customised version of Linux that is supplied on and boots from a USB Flash drive. It locks out any local drives on the target system, enabling the user to work securely from any unmanaged PC. It leaves no data behind afterwards. Version 2.1 is designed to work more flexibly as a thin client, and also supports dual-factor authentication using hardware such as smartcards. It works with common SSL VPN appliances to create a secure tunnel back to the corporate LAN for access to web-based applications and server-based remote desktop sessions. We tested the Trusted Client on a Dell Precision M2300 mobile workstation, and found it booted much faster than Windows does from the system's own hard drive. A few seconds after pushing the power button we were faced with a prompt for username and password, and once we had correctly entered these, it was just another few seconds before the Gnome desktop was displayed. The desktop is quite spartan, holding little more than links to the FireFox browser and a Remote Desktop Client for a Terminal Services session. With our test laptop hooked up to the IT Week Labs network, we were easily able to connect to a session on a system running Windows Server 2003, and found the experience exactly as you would if accessing from a desktop PC or a thin client terminal. We were also able to connect using Wi-Fi with the Dell laptop, but the wireless adapter was not recognised on a second laptop we tried, so potential buyers should check it is compatible with their company systems. For offline productivity, workers can create and edit documents using the OpenOffice.org suite, which is also installed on the Trusted Client's USB drive. Documents saved to the Home folder on the desktop are stored on the USB drive, and so are not lost when the user's session ends.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/software/2216805/desktop-security-stick-4000748"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112eca1/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Review: desktop security on a stick&link=http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/software/2216805/desktop-security-stick-4000748" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Review: desktop security on a stick&link=http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/software/2216805/desktop-security-stick-4000748" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8545150840/f/7153/c/554/s/18017441/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8545150840/f/7153/c/554/s/18017441/a2.img" border="0"/></a>Fri, 16 May 2008 11:25:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/itweek/software/2216805/desktop-security-stick-4000748Daniel RobinsonSoftware Reviews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/software/2216805/desktop-security-stick-4000748"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/itweek/becrypt-trusted-client/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Daniel Robinson, <a href="http://www.itweek.co.uk/">IT Week</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 11:25:00</small></p><p><i> BeCrypt’s Trusted Client is a complete user environment on a USB memory stick </i></p><p>BeCrypt’s Trusted Client is a complete user environment on a USB memory stick, designed to let mobile workers connect securely with corporate resources using any PC with an internet connection, and also edit office documents. Available since January, Trusted Client 2.1 is a customised version of Linux that is supplied on and boots from a USB Flash drive. It locks out any local drives on the target system, enabling the user to work securely from any unmanaged PC. It leaves no data behind afterwards. Version 2.1 is designed to work more flexibly as a thin client, and also supports dual-factor authentication using hardware such as smartcards. It works with common SSL VPN appliances to create a secure tunnel back to the corporate LAN for access to web-based applications and server-based remote desktop sessions. We tested the Trusted Client on a Dell Precision M2300 mobile workstation, and found it booted much faster than Windows does from the system’s own hard drive. A few seconds after pushing the power button we were faced with a prompt for username and password, and once we had correctly entered these, it was just another few seconds before the Gnome desktop was displayed. The desktop is quite spartan, holding little more than links to the FireFox browser and a Remote Desktop Client for a Terminal Services session. With our test laptop hooked up to the IT Week Labs network, we were easily able to connect to a session on a system running Windows Server 2003, and found the experience exactly as you would if accessing from a desktop PC or a thin client terminal. We were also able to connect using Wi-Fi with the Dell laptop, but the wireless adapter was not recognised on a second laptop we tried, so potential buyers should check it is compatible with their company systems. For offline productivity, workers can create and edit documents using the OpenOffice.org suite, which is also installed on the Trusted Client’s USB drive. Documents saved to the Home folder on the desktop are stored on the USB drive, and so are not lost when the user’s session ends. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/software/2216805/desktop-security-stick-4000748"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T11:25:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112e0de/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216800/yahoo-icahn-battle-heats"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/microsoft/microsoft-yahoo/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Shaun Nichols in California, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 10:46:00</small></p> <p><em>Investor accused of 'significant misunderstanding' in Microsoft saga</em></p> <p>Yahoo's board has hit back at attempts by investment mogul Carl Icahn to force a takeover of the firm by Microsoft. Icahn sent an open letter on 15 May to Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock threatening to oust the board and replace it with a group prepared to negotiate a deal with Microsoft. "It is clear to me that the board of directors of Yahoo has acted irrationally and lost the faith of shareholders and Microsoft," Icahn wrote. "It is quite obvious that Microsoft's bid of $33 per share is a superior alternative to Yahoo's prospects on a standalone basis. "During the past week, a number of shareholders have asked me to lead a proxy fight to attempt to remove the current board and establish a new board which would attempt to negotiate a successful merger with Microsoft, something that in my opinion the current board has completely botched." Bostock issued a response to Icahn in an open letter of his own, explaining Yahoo's side in the Microsoft acquisition saga and chastising Icahn over his threat. "Unfortunately your letter reflects a significant misunderstanding of the facts about the Microsoft proposal and the diligence with which our board evaluated and responded to that proposal," Bostock wrote. "Conversely, we do not believe it is in the best interests of Yahoo stockholders to allow you and your hand-picked nominees to take control of Yahoo for the express purpose of trying to force a sale of Yahoo to a formerly interested buyer who has publicly stated that they have moved on." The Yahoo board also attempted to dismiss any claims that it was not acting entirely in the interests of the shareholders. Since the beginning of the saga in April, analysts have speculated that Yahoo veterans such as chief executive Jerry Yang would fight the deal out of disdain for the corporate culture at Microsoft. "In short, Yahoo's board was at every point in this process prepared to enter into a transaction with Microsoft that would maximise stockholder value, and included certainty of value and closing," wrote Bostock. "What Yahoo's independent board refused to do was to allow control of this company to be acquired for less than its full value."</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216800/yahoo-icahn-battle-heats"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112e0de/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Yahoo board fights back at Icahn&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216800/yahoo-icahn-battle-heats" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Yahoo board fights back at Icahn&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216800/yahoo-icahn-battle-heats" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div>Fri, 16 May 2008 10:46:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216800/yahoo-icahn-battle-heatsShaun Nichols in CaliforniaNews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216800/yahoo-icahn-battle-heats"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/microsoft/microsoft-yahoo/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Shaun Nichols in California, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 10:46:00</small></p><p><i> Investor accused of 'significant misunderstanding' in Microsoft saga </i></p><p>Yahoo's board has hit back at attempts by investment mogul Carl Icahn to force a takeover of the firm by Microsoft. Icahn sent an open letter on 15 May to Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock threatening to oust the board and replace it with a group prepared to negotiate a deal with Microsoft. "It is clear to me that the board of directors of Yahoo has acted irrationally and lost the faith of shareholders and Microsoft," Icahn wrote. "It is quite obvious that Microsoft's bid of $33 per share is a superior alternative to Yahoo's prospects on a standalone basis. "During the past week, a number of shareholders have asked me to lead a proxy fight to attempt to remove the current board and establish a new board which would attempt to negotiate a successful merger with Microsoft, something that in my opinion the current board has completely botched." Bostock issued a response to Icahn in an open letter of his own, explaining Yahoo's side in the Microsoft acquisition saga and chastising Icahn over his threat. "Unfortunately your letter reflects a significant misunderstanding of the facts about the Microsoft proposal and the diligence with which our board evaluated and responded to that proposal," Bostock wrote. "Conversely, we do not believe it is in the best interests of Yahoo stockholders to allow you and your hand-picked nominees to take control of Yahoo for the express purpose of trying to force a sale of Yahoo to a formerly interested buyer who has publicly stated that they have moved on." The Yahoo board also attempted to dismiss any claims that it was not acting entirely in the interests of the shareholders. Since the beginning of the saga in April, analysts have speculated that Yahoo veterans such as chief executive Jerry Yang would fight the deal out of disdain for the corporate culture at Microsoft. "In short, Yahoo's board was at every point in this process prepared to enter into a transaction with Microsoft that would maximise stockholder value, and included certainty of value and closing," wrote Bostock. "What Yahoo's independent board refused to do was to allow control of this company to be acquired for less than its full value." </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216800/yahoo-icahn-battle-heats"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T10:46:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112dae8/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216797/developers-favour-xp-vista"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/microsoft/microsoft-vista-box/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 10:32:00</small></p> <p><em>Latest Microsoft OS fails to woo community</em></p> <p>Software developers are still writing applications for Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Linux in preference to Windows Vista more than 16 months after its worldwide release. A survey by Evans Data questioned 380 US software developers and found that just eight per cent are developing applications for Vista. Almost half the respondents are focusing development efforts on Windows XP, while more than one in 10 are still writing applications for Windows 2003. Linux was the preferred development platform for a further nine per cent of those questioned. John Andrews, president of Evans Data, claimed that developers are taking a wait and see approach following Vista's mixed reception. "The general theme has been a slower uptake in the user market so most people at the corporate enterprise and commercial world are staying with XP," he said. Andrews also pointed to the rapid growth in popularity of the Mac platform among US software developers. "Although unlikely to displace Windows volume, Mac OS experienced 50 per cent growth as a primary development platform and 380 per cent growth as a targeted platform during the period," he said. Next year, however, should see a more positive response from developers to Windows Vista. The survey found that one in four intends to focus on Microsoft's latest OS in 2009.</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216797/developers-favour-xp-vista"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112dae8/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Developers favour XP over Vista&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216797/developers-favour-xp-vista" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Developers favour XP over Vista&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216797/developers-favour-xp-vista" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8545150636/f/7153/c/554/s/18012904/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8545150636/f/7153/c/554/s/18012904/a2.img" border="0"/></a>Fri, 16 May 2008 10:32:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216797/developers-favour-xp-vistaGuy DixonNews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216797/developers-favour-xp-vista"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/microsoft/microsoft-vista-box/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Guy Dixon, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 10:32:00</small></p><p><i> Latest Microsoft OS fails to woo community </i></p><p>Software developers are still writing applications for Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Linux in preference to Windows Vista more than 16 months after its worldwide release. A survey by Evans Data questioned 380 US software developers and found that just eight per cent are developing applications for Vista. Almost half the respondents are focusing development efforts on Windows XP, while more than one in 10 are still writing applications for Windows 2003. Linux was the preferred development platform for a further nine per cent of those questioned. John Andrews, president of Evans Data, claimed that developers are taking a wait and see approach following Vista's mixed reception. "The general theme has been a slower uptake in the user market so most people at the corporate enterprise and commercial world are staying with XP," he said. Andrews also pointed to the rapid growth in popularity of the Mac platform among US software developers. "Although unlikely to displace Windows volume, Mac OS experienced 50 per cent growth as a primary development platform and 380 per cent growth as a targeted platform during the period," he said. Next year, however, should see a more positive response from developers to Windows Vista. The survey found that one in four intends to focus on Microsoft's latest OS in 2009. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216797/developers-favour-xp-vista"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T10:32:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112c9e3/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216793/woman-charged-myspace-suicide"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/internet/myspace-usa/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Clement James and Iain Thomson, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 10:23:00</small></p> <p><em>Lori Drew indicted on federal charges</em></p> <p>A US woman was indicted on Thursday on federal charges of fraudulently using a MySpace account to pose as a teenaged boy. Prosecutors allege that her actions ultimately caused a 13 year-old girl to commit suicide. Lori Drew, 49, of O'Fallon, Missouri, was indicted on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorisation to obtain information. Drew is accused of inflicting emotional distress on the girl who, because of juvenile privacy rules, is referred to in the case as 'MTM'. The woman is alleged, along with others, to have registered as a member of MySpace under the name 'Josh Evans'. Drew and her co-conspirators then used the account to contact MTM and begin what the girl believed was an online romance with a 16 year-old boy. After approximately four weeks of flirtatious communications between 'Josh Evans' and MTM, Drew and her co-conspirators broke off the relationship. Within an hour, MTM had hanged herself in her room. She died the next day. By these actions, Drew and her co-conspirators violated MySpace's terms of service that prohibit users from using fraudulent registration information, using accounts to obtain personal information about juvenile members, and using MySpace communication services to harass, abuse or harm other members. "This adult woman allegedly used the internet to target a young teenaged girl with horrendous ramifications," said US Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien. "After a thorough investigation, we have charged Drew with criminally accessing MySpace and violating rules established to protect young, vulnerable people. "Any adult who uses the internet or a social gathering website to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenaged girl, needs to realise that their actions can have serious consequences." The conspiracy count carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison. Each count of accessing protected computers, each of which alleges that the access was for the purpose of intentionally inflicting emotional distress on MTM, carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Drew will be summoned to appear for an arraignment in a US District Court in Los Angeles in June. Rebecca Lonergan, a law professor at the University of Southern California, and former federal prosecutor, said: "We are in uncharted waters here. This case is unprecedented, and it is also a very aggressive charging decision." Drew has denied the charges through her lawyer, claiming that she knew of the MySpace account's existence but did not send any messages....</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216793/woman-charged-myspace-suicide"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112c9e3/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Woman charged over MySpace suicide&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216793/woman-charged-myspace-suicide" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Woman charged over MySpace suicide&link=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216793/woman-charged-myspace-suicide" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div>Fri, 16 May 2008 10:23:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216793/woman-charged-myspace-suicideClement JamesNews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216793/woman-charged-myspace-suicide"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/internet/myspace-usa/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Clement James, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 10:23:00</small></p><p><i> Lori Drew indicted on federal charges </i></p><p>A US woman was indicted on Thursday on federal charges of fraudulently using a MySpace account to pose as a teenaged boy. Prosecutors allege that her actions ultimately caused a 13 year-old girl to commit suicide. Lori Drew, 49, of O'Fallon, Missouri, was indicted on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorisation to obtain information. Drew is accused of inflicting emotional distress on the girl who, because of juvenile privacy rules, is referred to in the case as 'MTM'. The woman is alleged, along with others, to have registered as a member of MySpace under the name 'Josh Evans'. Drew and her co-conspirators then used the account to contact MTM and begin what the girl believed was an online romance with a 16 year-old boy. After approximately four weeks of flirtatious communications between 'Josh Evans' and MTM, Drew and her co-conspirators broke off the relationship. Within an hour, MTM had hanged herself in her room. She died the next day. By these actions, Drew and her co-conspirators violated MySpace's terms of service that prohibit users from using fraudulent registration information, using accounts to obtain personal information about juvenile members, and using MySpace communication services to harass, abuse or harm other members. "This adult woman allegedly used the internet to target a young teenaged girl with horrendous ramifications," said US Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien. "After a thorough investigation, we have charged Drew with criminally accessing MySpace and violating rules established to protect young, vulnerable people. "Any adult who uses the internet or a social gathering website to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenaged girl, needs to realise that their actions can have serious consequences." The conspiracy count carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in fe deral prison. Each count of accessing protected computers, each of which alleges that the access was for the purpose of intentionally inflicting emotional distress on MTM, carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Drew will be summoned to appear for an arraignment in a US District Court in Los Angeles in June. </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216793/woman-charged-myspace-suicide"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T10:23:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112c42b/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216789/review-ricoh-aficio-gx2500"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/pcw/ricoh/ricoh-aficio-gx2500/medium.jpg" /></a> <p><small>Andrew Zarkesh, <a href="http://www.computeractive.co.uk/">Computeract!ve</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 10:00:00</small></p> <p><em>A colour ink printer that thinks it's a colour laser</em></p> <p>The Gelsprinter range of colour inkjets are intended to be a viable alternative to a colour laser printer at a fraction of the cost. This is possible, Ricoh says, because of several new technologies, from the type of ink to the speed at which the paper is handled. We were unconvinced about some of these innovations, particularly on discovering that one of them was having separate ink tanks for each colour - something we've seen in plenty of printers. The printer uses gels rather than liquid ink, which should allow it to produce colour images as cheaply as a colour laser printer does, but with the vibrant photo-realistic colours of an inkjet printer. A colour cartridge for the GX2500, which can print around 1,000 pages, costs &pound;30, whereas a typical laser toner cartridge offering 4,000 pages costs on average around &pound;80. This works out at 3p per page for the Aficio compared with 2p for a laser printer (both the GX2500 and a laser require four cartridges to print in colour). We found that colour images and photos were printed very quickly - an A5-sized photo came out in 20 seconds - and its quality was good, if not quite up to the standards of most colour photo printers we have seen. A so-called Level Colour feature is designed to reduce the amount of colour ink used to print images while maintaining the quality of mono text. However, when we printed a document containing images and text with it enabled, the quality of the text was significantly reduced. Ironically, given the company's claims of economy, a complete set of replacement cartridges costs a ridiculous &pound;120, which is beyond most home users' budgets. It's possible that cartridge prices may drop as more manufacturers start making them but as it stands that's a hefty outlay. The printer also takes up an area of of 43x43cm, and it weighs a hefty 13kg, both of which are too large for most home users. Unfortunately, while the GX2500 is a good-quality printer, its shortcomings are impossible to overlook, making it impractical for most home users. Vista compatibility: Yes</p> <p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216789/review-ricoh-aficio-gx2500"><em>Read the full article</em></a></small></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112c42b/mf.gif' border='0'/> <div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Review: Ricoh Aficio GX2500 inkjet printer&link=http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216789/review-ricoh-aficio-gx2500" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Review: Ricoh Aficio GX2500 inkjet printer&link=http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216789/review-ricoh-aficio-gx2500" target="_blank"><img src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8540545368/f/7153/c/554/s/18007083/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/8540545368/f/7153/c/554/s/18007083/a2.img" border="0"/></a>Fri, 16 May 2008 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216789/review-ricoh-aficio-gx2500Andrew ZarkeshHardware Reviews<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216789/review-ricoh-aficio-gx2500"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/pcw/ricoh/ricoh-aficio-gx2500/medium.jpg"/></a><p><small>Andrew Zarkesh, <a href="http://www.computeractive.co.uk/">Computeract!ve</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 10:00:00</small></p><p><i> A colour ink printer that thinks it's a colour laser </i></p><p>The Gelsprinter range of colour inkjets are intended to be a viable alternative to a colour laser printer at a fraction of the cost. This is possible, Ricoh says, because of several new technologies, from the type of ink to the speed at which the paper is handled. We were unconvinced about some of these innovations, particularly on discovering that one of them was having separate ink tanks for each colour – something we've seen in plenty of printers. The printer uses gels rather than liquid ink, which should allow it to produce colour images as cheaply as a colour laser printer does, but with the vibrant photo-realistic colours of an inkjet printer. A colour cartridge for the GX2500, which can print around 1,000 pages, costs £30, whereas a typical laser toner cartridge offering 4,000 pages costs on average around £80. This works out at 3p per page for the Aficio compared with 2p for a laser printer (both the GX2500 and a laser require four cartridges to print in colour). We found that colour images and photos were printed very quickly – an A5-sized photo came out in 20 seconds – and its quality was good, if not quite up to the standards of most colour photo printers we have seen. A so-called Level Colour feature is designed to reduce the amount of colour ink used to print images while maintaining the quality of mono text. However, when we printed a document containing images and text with it enabled, the quality of the text was significantly reduced. Ironically, given the company's claims of economy, a complete set of replacement cartridges costs a ridiculous £120, which is beyond most home users' budgets. It's possible that cartridge prices may drop as more manufacturers start making them but as it stands that's a hefty outlay. The printer also takes up an area of of 43x43cm, and it weighs a hefty 13kg, both of which are too large for most home users. Unfortunately, while the GX2500 is a good-quality printer, its shortcomings are impossible to overlook, making it impractical for most home users. Vista compatibility: Yes </p><p><small>&gt;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/hardware/2216789/review-ricoh-aficio-gx2500"><i>Read the full article</i></a></small></p>VNU Business Publications LTD, London UK2008-05-16T10:00:00ZCopyright © 1994-2008 VNU Business Publications LTD, London UKhttp://feeds.vnunet.com/c/554/f/7153/s/112c425/story01.htm<a href="http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2216791/verizon-chooses-linux-google"><img style="border:px solid black;float:right;" align="right" src="http://ivory.vnunet.com/images/open-source/linux-penguin/medium.gif" /></a> <p><small>Iain Thomson, <a href="http://www.vnunet.com/">vnunet.com</a>, Friday 16 May 2008 at 10:00:00</small></p> <p><em>Android loses out to LiMo Foundation</em></p> <p>Verizon Wireless has announced that it will concentrate future operating system design on the LiMo Foundation rather than Google's Android platform. The US telco has been given a seat on the board of the LiMo Foundation, and will become a core member of the consortium which includes Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung and Vodafone. The LiMo Foundation will develop a Linux-based mobile phone platform that is pledged to be totally open. "Verizon Wireless is demonstrating itself as a champion of openness in mobile innovation by joining the board of the LiMo Foundation," said Morgan Gillis, executive director of the Foundation. "Major wireless service providers from across North America, Asia and Europe are now engaged in committed collaboration through LiMo. "This offers further concrete evidence that LiMo is positioned at the heart of the rapidly emerging, industry-wide trend to secure the benefits of openness and choice in technology." The news will come as a blow to Google, whose Android platform has failed to get many supporters despite initial interest. Analysts claim that Android now faces being squeezed out of a mobile market