Sci-Tech TodayTech News by Sci-Tech Today (http://www.sci-tech-today.com).Netflix Shipping Centers Slammed by Problems- August 14, 2008 Netflix Inc. said Thursday that major technical problems over the past three days have severely limited the number of DVDs it could send out. The unspecified problems affected all of the Los Gatos-based company's 55 shipping centers and marked the biggest disruption in service since Netflix launched its DVD-by-mail subscription business nine years ago. It was unclear when normal shipments from the online DVD rental leader would resume. Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said the company was able.http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61349 'Time Bomb' Takes Out Some VMWare Servers- August 14, 2008 VMware warned customers this week that it had discovered what amounted to a virtual bomb ticking down within the latest builds of ESX. Its ESX is a "bare-metal" hypervisor for enterprise applications that partitions physical servers into multiple virtual machines, each of which represents a complete system containing processors, memory, networking, storage and BIOS. VMware said the time bomb is from an errant snippet of code left over from test versions of the company's latest ESX update. It..http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61343 Dell's New Latitude Line Offers Game-Changing Features- August 14, 2008 Among the innovations in Dell's latest family of Latitude laptops is at least one "game-changing" feature, according to a technology analyst. Latitude ON is a new technology -- expected to be available by the end of the year -- that provides super-fast access to e-mail and Web browsing. It will be available on Dell's new ultramobile models, the E4200 and E4300. "They're looking to find a way to marry the benefits of laptop performance with the instant-on access and radically extended battery...http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61344 Yahoo's Fire Eagle Draws Fire from Privacy Advocates- August 14, 2008 Yahoo's recently launched Fire Eagle has privacy advocates burning up about the new open platform that allows users to show their location on the Web and also allows developers access to users' locations. Yahoo officials insisted control is in the hands of the users. Users may decide how much they want to expose about their location, including the country, state, city and even street address. "Location presents some unique challenges, and people inherently feel creepy when content is targeted.http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61345 Former Apple Exec Settles Backdating Suit for $2.2 Million- August 14, 2008 Apple's former general counsel, Nancy Heinen, settled a year-old civil suit Thursday involving backdating of stock options for key executives. Heinen agreed to $2.2 million in restitution, interest and fines and stipulated she would take no job in a publicly traded company for five years. The Securities and Exchange Commission also barred her from practicing security law for three years. Among the recipients of backdated options was Apple CEO Steve Jobs. What Happened Options with an earlier.http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61348 U.S. Internet Speeds Drop to 15th Worldwide- August 14, 2008 The U.S. may be winning world speed records in swimming at the Olympics, but not in average Internet speeds. According to a new report, the country that invented the Internet has now sunk to 15th worldwide in the percentage of the population subscribing to broadband. According to the recently released Second Annual Speed Matters report from the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the U.S. has "not made significant improvements in the speeds at which residents connect to the Internet" over.http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61328 EU Regulators Examine Cell-Phone Costs Abroad- August 14, 2008 Europe's mobile phone operators regularly charge users for more time than they actually use when it comes to expensive calls made away from home, European regulators said Wednesday. Users are billed more "by a significant margin" for calls they make abroad because many operators charge for each minute of a call instead of by the second, the European group of national telecoms agencies said in a report. That means people are paying for 24 percent more minutes than they make, and 19 percent...http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61307 Wounded Endangered Eagle Dies in Philippines- August 14, 2008 An endangered white-bellied sea eagle found bleeding from a gunshot wound in its wing has died despite attempts to save it, the second rare bird to be shot by hunters in the Philippines in a month, officials said Wednesday. Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said the wounded eagle was found Friday in a field beside the mountain village of Duale in western Bataan province, and village officials gave it first aid. Wildlife officer Mila Ramirez said the eagle died late Monday despite attempts by.http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61308 Prosecutors: Cyber Law Applies to MySpace Suicide Case- August 14, 2008 Federal prosecutors defended their use of a cyber crime statute in the case of a Missouri woman charged with using a MySpace hoax that allegedly led a 13-year-old girl to commit suicide. The prosecutors, rebutting a defense motion to dismiss the case, argued in court documents filed Tuesday that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is relevant to the case against Lori Drew. The statute used to indict the woman usually applies to Internet hackers who illegally access accounts to get information....http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61310 Gates Says Technology Will Transform Computer Use- August 14, 2008 Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said Tuesday that the dramatic growth of the Internet would eventually help eliminate "the last constraints we have" and spark a software-writing revolution. Gates, speaking at a forum to mark the 10th anniversary of the software giant's Asian research arm, added that technology currently being developed would transform the way people use computers, expanding their ability to interact with the machines. Increasing Internet connectivity will greatly broaden..http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61311 |