By Mark Memmott

There's a storm brewing on the Web over e-mails that hackers got hold of in which some scientists at one of the world's leading research centers say things such as the need to "hide the decline" in data about temperatures. Skeptics who have doubts about whether humans are contributing to global warming are pouncing on the revelations.

As The Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital blog says, "this should get interesting."

The Guardian lays out much of the story here. It writes that:

Continue reading "Climate Skeptics Pounce On E-Mails Hackers Got From U.K. Scientists' Files" >

Slimming down. (David Silverman / Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

Internet icon AOL plans to cut about a third of its staff.

In an SEC filing made public today, the company says a proposed restructuring "if approved ... will include the reduction of approximately a third of the Company's current employee base, which will be conducted on a voluntary and involuntary basis."

The Dow Jones newswire says the company "told employees Thursday that it will ask for 2,500 volunteers to be laid off as part of a restructuring effort to reduce its workforce by one-third, according to a spokeswoman."

In the SEC filing, AOL adds that:

The goal of the Restructuring is to reduce ongoing annual operating costs by approximately $300 million. If the Restructuring is approved, the Company expects to incur restructuring charges of up to $200 million.

As the Associated Press notes "the job cuts still need approval from the new AOL board. Time Warner, the New York media conglomerate, said this week that it will spin AOL off to investors Dec. 9."

Bloomberg News points out that AOL's operating revenue fell 50% in the third quarter, "as advertising revenue slumped 18%."

A little help on security from the NSA. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

By Kevin Whitelaw

The National Security Agency has been working with Microsoft Corp. to help improve security measures for its new Windows 7 operating system, a senior NSA official said on Tuesday.

The confirmation of the NSA's role, which began during the development of the software, is a sign of the agency's deepening involvement with the private sector when it comes to building defenses against cyberattacks.

"Working in partnership with Microsoft and (the Department of Defense), NSA leveraged our unique expertise and operational knowledge of system threats and vulnerabilities to enhance Microsoft's operating system security guide without constraining the user's ability to perform their everyday tasks," Richard Schaeffer, the NSA's Information Assurance Director, told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a statement prepared for a hearing held this morning in Washington. "All this was done in coordination with the product release, not months or years later in the product cycle."

The partnership between the NSA and Microsoft is not new.

Continue reading "NSA Is Giving Microsoft Some Help On Windows 7 Security" >

On its way. (Bruce Weaver/AFP/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

The space shuttle Atlantis just took off on what's planned to be an 11-day mission.

We reported earlier on the "NASAtweetup" that brought about 100 Twitter fans to the Kennedy Space Center.

Atlantis is taking spare parts to the International Space Station and will be bringing home station flight engineer Nicole Stott.

Today's Tweeters (most of them, at least, gathered for a class photo). (http://twitpic.com/prble)

By Mark Memmott

The latest word from Florida is that the skies are clouding up -- which might mean the postponement of today's scheduled 2:28 p.m. ET liftoff of the shuttle Atlantis.

But no matter what, the Tweeters are tweeting.

As most fans of Twitter and NASA probably already know, about "110 lucky followers of NASA's Twitter feed" are at the Kennedy Space Center to chronicle the launch 140 characters (or fewer) at a time.

You can see what they're saying by going to Twitter and searching for #nasatweetup. Or, just click here.

So, what are folks saying? Here's a sampling:

lexigeek: The astronauts are now in the astrovan, a modified airstream caravan, with a helicopter escort. En route to our location.

FlyingPhotog: Astronauts just drove past us to the launchpad, stopped and waved from the famous AirStream van! http://bit.ly/F7KmY #nasatweetup

AeroLeaders2: Astronaut van just stopped bout 50 yards from us. Saw them inside, but couldn't get pic b/c cruddy iPhone camera (sorry). #nasatweetup

We'll pass on more tweets later.

As for the launch itself, NASA TV is webcasting here.

Update at 2:33 p.m. ET. This nicely sums up what many tweeters are saying:

bn9nasa: That was incredible. The roar of the liftoff engulfed my entire being. AMAZING. #nasatweetup

Update at 2:28 p.m. ET: The shuttle just blasted off.

Update at 2:17 p.m. ET. Everything looks good for a launch in about 10 minutes:

tim846: the remaining few people in the #NASATweetup tent are heading outside to watch the launch of STS-129!

Update at 1:38 p.m. ET: The tweeters have been visited by some dignitaries at their Space Center tent. Astronaut Scott Kelly is among them. Here's a tweet one of his comments:

terrymyers: The shuttle smells like anaseptic and garbage after a few days says Scott Kelly. :) #nasatweetup

Update at 1:15 p.m. ET: Many of the tweeters are extolling the virtues of SpaceFlightNow.com and its webcast of the news.

By Mark Memmott

It seems that Canadian Transport Minister John Baird has ... er, had ... a cat named Thatcher.

Tuesday night, as Canada.com reports, while "2,000 or so Conservatives in black-tie" were at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, the minister sent a short text to a friend who was there. The message:

"Thatcher has died."

Today, the BBC picks up the story from there: "Confusion spread. ... Calls to puzzled officials in both 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace followed." A top aide to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper "started preparing an official statement mourning the passing of the Iron Lady."

And then the Canadians found out that 84-year-old former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, a favorite of conservatives around the world, is still with us.

As Australia's ABC News says, "a brief message about a dead cat caused fur to fly."

According to the BBC, Thatcher (the cat) was a 16-year-old grey (of course) "tabby."

Baroness Thatcher and another former prime minister, John Major, on Wednesday. (Press Association via AP Images)

By Mark Memmott

Wired says fans of Amazon.com's "Kindle" e-reader may soon be experiencing some buyer's remorse. Photos and details about Barnes & Noble's "Nook" are leaking and Wired thinks "it is hot, both inside and out." The Nook could be on sale next week.

Gizmodo had the first photos. The Wall Street Journal says it's seen a print ad for the Nook and that it:

Will challenge readers from Amazon.com Inc. and Sony Corp. with a color touch-screen and $259 price.

All Tech Considered follows things ... all tech.

By Mark Memmott

The news that owners of T-Mobile's Sidekick phones may have lost the personal data they stored on the devices has been followed by the company's suspension of Sidekick sales. At T-Mobile's website, Sidekicks are said to be "temporarily out of stock."

As the AP writes:

The phones are made by a Microsoft Corp. subsidiary and sold by T-Mobile USA, which say many Sidekick owners' information is "almost certainly" gone after a failure of servers operated by Microsoft wiped the data out. The companies said they hoped to update customers on recovery efforts Monday.

The phones have been troubled by data outages for more than a week. Some users attempted to restart their phones by removing the battery, which erases data on the device. Normally, the data is then restored from servers, but with the server data gone, the device is left empty.

Because of that, customers are being advised not to let the battery completely run down either.

By Frank James

Bloggers who favorably review companies' products and receive benefits, like a free game console, for those reviews need to disclose to their readers such ties, the Federal Trade Commission has ruled.

Not doing so could result in such bloggers and companies running afoul of federal rules prohibiting deceptive marketing practices.

The FTC provides an example bloggers can judge their behavior against:

A college student who has earned a reputation as a video game expert maintains a personal weblog or "blog" where he posts entries about his gaming experiences. Readers of his blog frequently seek his opinions about video game hardware and software. As it has done in the past, the manufacturer of a newly released video game system sends the student a free copy of the system and asks him to write about it on his blog.

Continue reading "Blogger-Endorsers Must Disclose Their Freebies " >

Can tweeting be a crime? (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

Twitter played a star role in the protests after Iran's disputed presidential election in June.

Now, tweeting has lead to the arrest of two men who authorities say were aiding law-breakers during the protests around Pittsburgh during last month's G-20 summit of world leaders.

As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes:

The quick evolution of technology has changed the way Americans do almost everything, including how law enforcement combats crime, and consequently, how criminals elude law enforcement.

Those two concepts converged during the G-20 summit, when state police arrested two New York men for using Twitter to inform protesters in Pittsburgh about the movements of local officers.

They are accused of hindering apprehension, criminal use of communication facility and possessing instruments of crime. The charges raise questions about the use of technology in areas where the First Amendment and potential criminal activity converge.

Essentially, New Yorkers Elliot Madison and Michael Wallschlaeger are accused of monitoring police scanners and then using text messages and Twitter to tell protesters about where police were going. The men say they can't be prosecuted for relaying information that was being broadcast over public airwaves. Prosecutors say they were providing the information to assist in the commission of crimes.

By Mark Memmott

A blog called The Political Carnival is getting credit this afternoon for calling out the ridiculous "Should Obama be killed?" poll that showed up on Facebook over the weekend (and is now being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service).

GottaLaff, one of the blog's authors, pointed out the offensive post last evening. Today, says GottaLaff, the Secret Service tracked her down to say thanks for having posted a screen grab of the poll.

Facebook, the company, had nothing to do with the poll, according to spokesman Barry Schnitt. It's no longer on the site.

Twitter's Biz Stone at 140: The Twitter Conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. (Matt Sayles / AP Photo)

By Frank James

While a lot of companies are still having trouble raising money, Twitter isn't among them.

The company reportedly raised $100 million from a group of investment firms.

Twitter's CEO, Evan Williams, didn't give many details in his blog post. He wrote:

There's a lot of talk today about our financing. Yesterday we closed a significant round of funding with a group of investment firms that we're excited to publicly thank: Insight Venture Partners, T. Rowe Price, Institutional Venture Partners, Spark Capital, Benchmark Capital, and Morgan Stanley.

It was important to us that we find investment partners who share our vision for building a company of enduring value. Twitter's journey has just begun and we are committed to building the best product, technology, and company possible. I'm proud of the team we've built so far and I'm confident in the future we'll build together.

Continue reading "Twitter Raises Big Bucks From Investors For Its Expansion" >

By Frank James

For those who think the Segway isn't small enough, Honda might just have your device.

It's called the U3-X and most people think it looks like a space-age unicycle. And it's actually fairly striking in its ability to move not just forward and backwards but sideways and diagonally, too.

Top speed is 3.7 mph, which for most people would be a power walking pace. The device moves in whatever direction its user leans towards.

Honda provides some more information about the device in a press release. An excerpt:

This new personal mobility device makes it possible to adjust speed and move, turn and stop in all directions when the rider leans the upper body to shift body weight. This was achieved through application of advanced technologies including Honda's balance control technology, which was developed through the robotics research of ASIMO, Honda's bipedal humanoid robot, and the world's first* omni-directional driving wheel system (Honda Omni Traction Drive System, or HOT Drive System), which enables movement in all directions, including not only forward and backward, but also directly to the right and left and diagonally. In addition, this compact size and one-wheel-drive personal mobility device was designed to be friendly to the user and people around it by making it easier for the rider to reach the ground from the footrest and placing the rider on roughly the same eye level as other people or pedestrians.

Honda is planning to showcase the U3-X at the 41st Tokyo Motor Show 2009 (sponsored by JAMA) which will begin on October 24, 2009 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.

Striving to propose the next-generation mobility which expands the joy and fun of mobility, Honda has been conducting robotics research since 1986, including ASIMO, walking assist devices and U3-X, at the Honda R&D Co., Ltd. Fundamental Technology Research Center in Wako, Saitama, Japan.

The device is still a concept so it isn't being mass produced yet. One serious drawback is that its lithium battery lasts for only an hour.

At that rate, a lot of people would wind up walking back home with their powerless U3-X's under their arms.

Also, it doesn't look like the most comfortable ride. Because a rider signals the direction she wants to go in by leaning in that direction, it looks like she has to sit fairly still or risk sending the device off into the wrong direction.

By Frank James

For everyone who loves the Internet, something important happened today whether you know it or not or care or not.

Federal Communications Commission Julius Genachowski explained Monday that his agency will create new rules meant to protect the openness of the Internet from the sometimes overbearing tactics of large telecommunications companies. (Harry Hamburg / AP Photo)

The U.S. government essentially said it will take steps to keep the large telecommunications companies that provide most of us with Internet access from putting a stranglehold on the World Wide Web.

Those companies have argued that they should be able to reduce or even stop the flow of really large files, like video and music, to keep their networks from being overwhelmed as ever more people send such wide-body files back and forth.

But critics suspect that the telephone and cable companies mostly want to thwart competition like streaming videos that can compete with their cable offerings for consumers' attention or voice over Internet services.

Critics warn that the companies threaten to kill the goose laying the golden eggs -- the Internet -- by stifling the very quality of openness that has made the Internet a miracle of innovation.

"In the words of Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the World Wide Web) the Internet is a "blank canvas" -- allowing anyone to contribute and to innovate without permission," said the U.S.' top policymaker on telecommunications issues, Julius Genachowski in a speech at the Brookings Institution think tank.

It was with that in mind that Genachowski said today he was beginning the process whereby his agency would create new rules to limit how far the providers of broadband Internet service can go in controlling the flow of data. It's an idea known by the soul-less term "net neutrality."

More from the FCC chair's his speech:

The rise of serious challenges to the free and open Internet puts us at a crossroads. We could see the Internet's doors shut to entrepreneurs, the spirit of innovation stifled, a full and free flow of information compromised. Or we could take steps to preserve Internet openness, helping ensure a future of opportunity, innovation, and a vibrant marketplace of ideas.

Continue reading "Internet To Be Protected From Firms That Would Stifle It: FCC Chair " >

They're quite a drain. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

The Golden State is often where efforts like this get started and then go nationwide, so it's worth noting this story in the Los Angeles Times:

Concerned that the growing popularity of big-screen televisions could make it harder for California to keep pace with electricity demand, state energy regulators are poised to crack down on energy-guzzling sets despite opposition from a powerful electronics trade group.

The first-in-the-nation TV efficiency standards would require electronics retailers to sell only energy-sipping models starting in 2011. Even tougher efficiency criteria would follow in 2013.

According to the Times: "Research shows that television viewing now accounts for about 2% of statewide electricity consumption, a percentage that is expected to steadily increase." Many manufacturers, the newspaper adds, say they already meet the stricter standards and that prices shouldn't have to go up.

By Mark Memmott

My contribution just published here. It's this:

Driving to USA TODAY in Arlington, I heard the first reports. From the office, we could see smoke rising from the Pentagon. Unreal.

If you've got a memory to share of where you were or what you were thinking on Sept. 11, 2001, there's an interesting collection rapidly building on Twitter. Just mark your entry with #on911 so that others can find it.

A sampling of what's already been posted:

-- glutenfreegirl: Mostly, I remember the quiet. The silence in the skies that afternoon, the way we all looked at each other, no words, understanding.

-- CarFan_5801: I was woken by phone call from son telling me the towers had collapsed. I watched the TV in shock and I knew it meant war.

-- yoherb: I woke up in a hotel room in LA and sat in the dark for hours watching the horror unfold. Pit in my stomach today.

-- safiyama: my husband went back home for lunch money and was late for work ...as he walked to tower2, he watched his office building fall...

-- j_wa: Remember gathering in the conference room to watch the news unfold. Then running home to hug my daughter. Still gives me chills.

Steve Jobs reappeared publicly after 6 months out of public view following a liver transplant. (Paul Sakuma / AP Photo)

By Frank James

Steve Jobs, Apple Inc.'s chief executive officer, returned to the public eye today, his first such appearance in six months following his liver transplant surgery.

At the product-launch event, Jobs unveiled a number of new iPod-related products and features. But the most important unveiling was of Jobs himself, whose personality is more intertwined with his company's success than that of many a CEO.

Looking gaunt Jobs, 54, told those attending the San Francisco event that he received a liver from a young adult who died because of a car accident.

Reports say he urged those hearing him to become organ donors.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Jobs said:

"I wouldn't be here without such generosity," Mr. Jobs said. He also thanked the senior Apple executive team for running the company "very ably during a very difficult time."

Continue reading "Steve Jobs Returns To Hawk Apple Products After 6-Months Med Leave" >

Mayer-Schonberger wants us to remember to forget. (Princeton University Press)

By Mark Memmott

Would we all be better off if this blog post, this website and countless other digital ways of capturing our lives had expiration dates?

If we valued forgetting as much as remembering?

Maybe. At least that's what Viktor Mayer-Schonberger believes.

Mayer-Schonberger, director of the Information and Innovation Policy Research Center at the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, is the author of the new book Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age.

He writes that:

Forgetting plays a central role in human decision-making. It lets us act in time, cognizant of, but not shackled by, past events. Through perfect memory, we may lose a fundamental human capacity -- to live and act firmly in the present.

I came upon Mayer-Schonberger's thinking in Wired magazine. His premise intrigued me because I've always wanted to know what the world looked like thousands of years ago, what great historical figures sounded like -- and what life was like for my grandparents and other ancestors I never knew. Here was someone making the case that there might be a downside to my thinking.

We spoke by telephone -- Mayer-Schonberger was in Seattle. He was sympathetic to my thinking, but argued that it's not good if "whatever we do, whatever images are taken of us, will be around for decades to come" -- and available to use against us.

Part of our conversation follows below. As ironic as this is, in the interest of full disclosure I'll point out that this is a "digital" version of our discussion and it has been edited. I didn't change any of my questions or Mayer-Schonberger's answers that you'll hear, but I did leave much of the interview on the proverbial editing room floor. The first voice you'll hear is the professor's:

What do you think? Add your thoughts in the comments thread.

And for a view from the other side of the issue, check Wired's story on Microsoft researcher Gordon Bell's new book Total Recall. The magazine says that:

Since 2001, Bell has been compulsively scanning, capturing, and logging each and every bit of personal data he generates in his daily life.

By Frank James

Would you pay YouTube a nominal amount to rent a Hollywood movie like you do with iTunes?

YouTube, Google's ubiquitous site for watching user-generated videos, sure hopes the answer is yes.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, YouTube is in discussions with several movie studios to work out details of how the service would function. If it happens, it would be a major shift from YouTube's current concept of providing free content to the masses as the company searches for ways beyond advertising to make money off its tens of millions of users.

A WSJ excerpt:

Google Inc.'s YouTube is in discussions with major movie studios about streaming movies on a rental basis, a test of whether the online video giant can persuade its millions of users to pay for premium content.

For Hollywood, the move could represent a bold attempt to offset its dwindling DVD sales with online revenue.

YouTube is talking to Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., Sony Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. about charging for new titles on the existing YouTube site. In some cases, these titles might be available on the site on the same day that they come out on DVD.

Continue reading "YouTube In Talks To Stream New Movie Rentals, For A Price" >

By Frank James

Updated at 5:55 pm ET -- I just had success signing on to Gmail. Maybe everything's all right now.

----------------- original story below --------------

Trying to access Google Mail today? Good luck. The Gmail service is down for many (make that most) users, even at Google.

From the official Gmail blog:

We know many of you are having trouble accessing Gmail right now -- we are too, and we definitely feel your pain...

... Because this is impacting so many of you, we wanted to let you know we're currently looking into the issue and hope to have more info to share here shortly. If you have IMAP or POP set up already, you should be able to access your mail that way in the meantime. We're terribly sorry for the inconvenience and will get Gmail back up and running as soon as possible.

Continue reading "Gmail's Down And Out. Hope You Don't Need Your E-mail" >

By Frank James

Amazon's Kindle, the portable electronic reader that can wirelessly download books and newspapers, is about to get some competition from Sony which announced today that it will introduce its own wireless reader in time in December.

Sony's new Reader Daily Edition. (Image provided by Sony.)

The Sony Reader Daily Edition will have a suggested retail price of $399. That's $100 more than the Kindle which would seem, at first blush, to be a competitive problem. Not exactly the way to build a Kindle killer.

So Sony will have to pack more features into its new reader than Amazon if it wants to lure Kindle owners into switching or attract entirely new consumers to the digital reader category.

Here's one feature the new Sony has that the current Kindle doesn't -- a touch screen.

Full disclosure: I have a couple of older generation Sony Readers and enjoy reading books on them. Just finished Bob Dylan's "Chronicles" last night on my reader, matter of fact.

Continue reading "Sony, Eying Amazon's Kindle, Unveils New Wireless E-Reader" >

By Mark Memmott

"Why should anybody let it go?" model Liskula Cohen told ABC-TV's Good Morning America today when asked why she went to court to learn the identity of an abusive blogger instead of just ignoring the hateful words.

New York State's Supreme Court Judge Joan Madden ruled this week that Google had to give Cohen information that would identify the person who wrote in a blog that the model is, among other things, "psychotic," and used defamatory words to portray her as being sexually promiscuous. The person, who turned out to be a woman Cohen knows, had used Blogger.com, a Google product, to produce the blog.

At CNET News' Technically Incorrect blog, Chris Matyszczyk wonders "just what implications (the decision) might create for those who choose to blog anonymously and call people rather rude things."

Marketing Pilgrim Andy Beal says that:

With this ruling -- and if other judges follow suit -- it will make it easier for businesses battling reputation issues. It's one thing to stand-up and face legitimate criticisms of your business, but at least now there's an option for exposing those that have less than genuine intentions.

For more on the case, see this court document.

By Mark Memmott

European Commission investigators have heard reports from Britain, France, Holland and Sweden about iPhones and iPods that "suddenly caught fire," and are now looking into whether there's a problem with Apple's ubiquitous machines. American Public Radio's Marketplace filed this report today:

The Daily Mail reports an 11-year-old girl from Liverpool says her iPod Touch started making a hissing noise. Her father, "threw the music player out of his back door and 'within 30 seconds there was a pop, a big puff of smoke and it went 10ft in the air.' "

The dad, according to Macworld.com, says he refused Apple's request that he not talk about what happened. Apple disputes that claim.

As Marketplace's Stephen Beard adds, Apple says these have been "isolated incidents."

Apple Insider notes that this isn't the first time such reports have surfaced -- and that they're still rare and represent just a fraction of the hundreds of millions of iPods sold around the world.

By Mark Memmott

Smartphone fans take note: Microsoft and Nokia confirmed today that they're going after BlackBerry.

As Reuters says:

The alliance between the world's largest software company and cellphone maker means the latest versions of Microsoft's Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and messaging, will be available on a range of Nokia handheld devices, which make up 45% of the smartphone market.

According to the BBC, "the tie-up is specifically designed to take on Blackberry, the current leader in the smartphone sector."

CNET News, which broke the story yesterday, says "the partnership means that a mobile version of Office will show up on Nokia cell phones. In the past, the only phones with mobile versions of Office have been those running Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system."

At CNBC's Tech Check, Jim Goldman says that "this would have been a bigger deal for Microsoft had it scored Windows Mobile on Nokia's handsets, but you gotta start somewhere and this is an important first step."

The blackberries we used to associate with breakfast. (Larry Crowe / AP)

By Mark Memmott

OK, I have to admit this New York Times story hit home with me because I get up at 4:45 a.m. each day and am usually on the Web before 5 (the only thing slowing me down is feeding the dogs).

"Breakfast can wait," the Times' headline reads. "The day's first stop is online."

As the story says:

Weekday mornings have long been frenetic, disjointed affairs. Now families that used to fight over the shower or the newspaper tussle over access to the lone household computer -- or about whether they should be using gadgets at all, instead of communicating with one another. ...

The surge of early risers is reflected in online and wireless traffic patterns. Internet companies that used to watch traffic levels rise only when people booted up at work now see the uptick much earlier.

Let's see how Two-Way readers live their lives.

Obsessed with all things tech? Wondering why someone wouldn't jump right on a computer, iPod or BlackBerry after getting out of bed? Check out All Tech Considered.

By Mark Memmott

Twitter was hit by a denial-of-service attack this morning. And though its status page says the site's up and running again, we're finding it difficult to sign on.

Update at 2:10 p.m. ET: We were just able to log in with no problem.

Soon to be a thing of the past? (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

No more free Wi-Fi at the local beanery?

You might want to switch to decaf before you read this story in today's Wall Street Journal:

Amid the economic downturn, there are fewer places in New York to plug in computers. As idle workers fill coffee-shop tables -- nursing a single cup, if that, and surfing the Web for hours -- and as shop owners struggle to stay in business, a decade-old love affair between coffee shops and laptop-wielding customers is fading. In some places, customers just get cold looks, but in a growing number of small coffee shops, firm restrictions on laptop use have been imposed and electric outlets have been locked. The laptop backlash may predate the recession, but the recession clearly has accelerated it.

One place, says the Journal, bans laptops during the mid-day hours unless you're "eating and typing at the same time."

Scout says this will never happen in Vancouver. Gawker wonders where all the bloggers will go.

How about a little crowd-sourcing? Have you seen this happening in your town? Tell us in the comments thread.

U.S. Marine Corporal Jason Swoyer writes an email in May 2004 at the Al Asad Airbase in Iraq. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

By Frank James

The Marine Corps has banned its leathernecks from using social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter on its computers, citing security risks.

Here's an snippet from the message announcing the ban:

THESE INTERNET SITES IN GENERAL ARE A PROVEN HAVEN FOR MALICIOUS ACTORS AND CONTENT AND ARE PARTICULARLY HIGH RISK DUE TO INFORMATION EXPOSURE, USER GENERATED CONTENT AND TARGETING BY ADVERSARIES. THE VERY NATURE OF SNS CREATES A LARGER ATTACK AND EXPLOITATION WINDOW, EXPOSES UNNECESSARY INFORMATION TO ADVERSARIES AND PROVIDES AN EASY CONDUIT FOR INFORMATION LEAKAGE THAT PUTS OPSEC, COMSEC, PERSONNEL AND THE MCEN AT AN ELEVATED RISK OF COMPROMISE. EXAMPLES OF INTERNET SNS SITES INCLUDE FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, AND TWITTER.

OPSEC is operational security, COMSEC is communications security and MCEN stands for the Marine Corps Enterprise Network.

Continue reading "Marines Ban Social Networking On USMC Computers" >

Google's CEO Eric Schmidt at the annual Allen & Co.'s media summit in Sun Valley, Idaho, Thursday, July 9, 2009. (Nati Harnik / AP Photo )

By Frank James

Looks like it's game on between Google and Apple Inc. with the announcement today that Google CEO Eric Schmidt is leaving Apple's board of directors.

Schmidt, an Apple board member since 2006, has apparently had to increasingly recuse himself during board meetings because of all the inroads Google has made and continues to make into Apple's business lines, like the mobile phone business and computer operating systems.

With the future looking as though Schmidt would have to excuse himself and leave the meeting room even more going forward, it was thought best that he just leave the board entirely.

A snippet from Apple's press release:

"Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple's core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric's effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple's Board."

Continue reading "Google's Eric Schmidt Leaves Apple Board" >

Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos holds the new Kindle DX electronic reader during a news conference in New York on May 6. ( Kyodo via AP Images © 2009)

By Frank James

It was only a matter of time before a lawsuit against Amazon by Kindle reader owners whose copies of George Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm" were electronically removed from his device was filed. It happened Thursday.

A high schooler who lost not just his digitized Orwell book but his notes, and an adult Kindle owner, have sued the on-line company.

As has been widely reported, Amazon sold a version of "1984" which it later learned wasn't an authorized version. So it wirelessly reached into the devices and zapped the illicit versions, sending them down the memory hole, as it were.

It was, of course, a delicious irony since "1984" is a cautionary tale about the intrusiveness of the totalitarian state, represented by the figure Big Brother.

Not wanting to be seen as the web's version of that infamous character, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos apologized for the remote-controlled deletions, calling them "stupid."

But saying sorry doesn't mean you won't be sued.

Continue reading "Amazon Kindles Lawsuit For Deleting Orwell From E-Readers" >

By Frank James

Velcro, Tang (for those too young to remember, that was an orange-flavored drink) and miniaturized computer circuits are all breakthroughs spun-off from the space program. Here's one we're hoping stays in space.

The Associated Press reports that Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata who spent 4-1/2 months aboard the International Space Station wore some high-tech briefs for a month to determine if the Japanese-engineered undies really would be odor-free, as designed.

An AP excerpt:

"I haven't talked about this underwear to my crew members," Wakata said in an interview with The Associated Press, drawing a big laugh from his six shuttle colleagues. "But I wore them for about a month, and my station crew members never complained for about a month, so I think the experiment went fine."

The underwear, called J-Wear, is a new type of anti-bacterial, water-absorbent, odor-eliminating clothing designed for space missions. The line includes shirts, pants and socks as well. Wakata tested all of them during his mission; he had four pairs of the silver-coated underwear, a cross between briefs and boxers.

Continue reading "Space-Age Undies That Can Be Worn For A Month? No Thanks" >

Finally coming together. (Mark Lennihan / AP © 2009)

By Mark Memmott

Saying that they plan to "improve the Web search experience for users and advertisers and deliver sustained innovation to the industry," Microsoft and Yahoo have confirmed that they're teaming up to challenge Google.

As the Associated Press says, the deal caps "a convoluted cat-and-mouse game that dragged on for years." It adds that:

The 10-year deal announced Wednesday gives Microsoft access to the Internet's second-largest search engine audience, adding a potentially potent weapon to the software maker's Internet arsenal as it girds for an all-out assault against online search and advertising leader Google Inc.

The extended reach will allow Microsoft to introduce its recently upgraded search engine, called Bing, to more people.

CNET News notes that:

Though less expansive than the all-out acquisition Microsoft proposed last year--and even than some of the search partnerships once discussed, the deal allows the companies to share resources and combine scale. Even together, the two companies have only about 30 percent of the search market compared to Google, which has more than twice that amount.

Yahoo says there's going to be a conference call about the deal at 8:30 a.m. ET. The two companies have a webpage where they're touting the deal.

Update at 9:15 a.m. ET. Here's how Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz began the conference call:

Update at 8:57 a.m. ET: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer just said it's possible that competitors -- think Google -- will try to mount a regulatory challenge. But the companies' lawyers are confident they can counter any such effort, he said.

Update at 8:44 a.m. ET: According to Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, the companies expect it will take regulators a little while to review the deal -- meaning it won't be "closed" until early next year.

Update at 8:42 a.m. ET. The companies' conference call continues:

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer just said that the agreement immediately creates "a strong No. 2 player in search advertising."

Update at 8:39 a.m. ET: As she continues to make the case for the deal, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz just declared that it creates "a significant competitive alternative in search."

Update at 8:36 a.m. ET: On the conference call, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz just called the deal a "game changer," and said it was "obvious to us that working with another great technology company would help us share the investment expense" of expanding the search business.

Update at 8:32 a.m. ET: According to the AP, "in return for turning over the keys to its search engine, Yahoo will get to keep 88% of the revenue from all search ad sales on its site for the first five years of the deal, and have the right to sell ads on some Microsoft sites."

By Mark Memmott

New York's "iPod Doctor" gets his NPR moment in the sun today with this Morning Edition report from Margot Adler:

As Margo notes, tough economic times mean more folks want to get iPods, BlackBerrys, MP3 players and other gadgets repaired -- if they can be -- rather than replaced. And that means more business for Demetrios Leontaris -- the iPod Doctor -- and others like him.

Want to see the doc in action? Fortune did a story and video report last year:

By Laura Conaway

The video game industry is down -- game sales fell in May for the third straight month, by $863 million, or 23 percent from the year before. But one particular segment of the industry is growing, in one very particular demographic.

Nintendo Wii has found an audience in retirement homes. Chris Bodenner of the Atlantic writes that Wii makes it easy to take up gaming. For older adults who might be feeling nostalgic for 1970s-era arcades, Wii offers a chance for everyone to gather around the digital campfire and ... bowl. Bodenner writes:

One elder-care company, Erickson Communities, recently coordinated a series of Wii Bowling matches among several of its retirement homes. For seniors whose glory days on the baseball diamond or tennis court are far behind them, even simulated sports can bring back fond memories. And what better way to get to the grandkids to visit than by offering video games? In fact, as game consoles and the Internet increasingly merge, loved ones will be able to play games with one another from across the globe.

Wii is also credited with helping people rehab injuries and prepping surgeons for their work, reports NPR's health blog. And then, says NPR's Monkey See, there's the unrelenting horror of Grey's Anatomy on Wii.

Bonus: Study finds gaming makes elders smarter

There's Spam, and there's spam. And then, of course, there's bacon. cobalt123/Flickr

By Laura Conaway

From Ars Technica: "12 percent of e-mail users have actually tried to buy stuff from spam."

Italics preserved to convey the shock of the authors. Details from the survey about America's junk mail habits, after the jump.

Continue reading "Spam Works. But Only Because You Click It." >

Twitter's "Fail Whale," now with new applications. Twitter.

By Laura Conaway

Evan Williams, a co-creator of Twitter, has confirmed that the online service was hacked in May. The attack was first reported in PC World, and apparently involved breaking into Williams' e-mail first.

Williams now says it's true that someone with the nom de screen of Hacker Coll broke into celebrity Twitter accounts like Britney Spears' and Ashton Kutcher's. Hacker Coll claimed to have gotten into Williams' personal account and that of Williams' wife. Williams says things didn't get quite that far, but neither does the experience sound like a barrel of fun:

"It was a good lesson for us that we are being targeted because we work for Twitter. We have taken extra steps to increase our security, but we know we can never be entirely comfortable with what we share via email."

You can say that again. TechCrunch has screengrabs of the carnage. The hacker claims to be releasing piles of Twitter's internal documents.

Maybe not exactly like this. Robotic Technology, Inc.

By Laura Conaway

I hope we're not interrupting anyone's breakfast, but here it is: "Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies."

It's all about biofuels. Seriously. Fox reports that a Pentagon contractor is working on a steam-powered robot that would gobble up

"whatever organic material it can find -- grass, wood, old furniture, even dead bodies."

The robot would be called Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot, EATR for short. The military hopes the fully developed EATR would be able to roam around on its own for years at a time, performing roles like ambulance service or gunship. A project like this raises certain questions, of course, like what happens if it munches its way through the body of someone you know. For now, we'll leave those questions to you, in the comments.

These Chinese soldiers took a break today in Urumqi, where violence has flared between two ethnic groups. Goh Chai Hin/AFP/Getty Images

 

By Mark Memmott

As the day gets started in the U.S., the Associated Press reports there's word from China that Communist Party leaders say the government "will execute those behind riot deaths in Xinjiang."

Ethnic clashes in Urumqi between Han Chinese and Muslim Uighurs have left more than 150 people dead. There were more people in the streets there today, but tensions seemed to have eased somewhat, as NPR's Anthony Kuhn reported on Morning Edition:

Also on Morning Edition, co-host Renee Montagne talked with professor Linda Benson of Oakland University in Michigan, who studies China's ethnic minorities. Benson says the Uighurs are a "very distinct people" in China who live in a part of that country that has long been contested:

Related headed from BBC News: "Troops Flood Into China Riot City".

Another story breaking this morning comes from Italy, where President Barack Obama and other world leaders have gathered for the annual Group of 8 summit. On their agenda: How best to boost the global economy; climate change; and the threats posed by the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.

But there's another thing worrying summit organizers: The threat of aftershocks in the city where the summit is being held. L'Aquila was hit by a devastating earthquake on April 6. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli filed this report for Morning Edition:

As for other stories making headlines this morning:

-- CNET News -- "Google Plans Chrome-Based Wed Operating System": "That Google operating system rumor is coming true -- and it's based on Google's browser, Chrome. The company announced Google Chrome OS on its blog Tuesday night, saying lower-end PCs called Netbooks from unnamed manufacturers will include it in the second half of 2010. Linux will run under the covers of the open-source project, but the applications will run on the Web itself. In other words, Google's cloud-computing ambitions just got a lot bigger."

Related -- From the Google blog post: "We're announcing a new project that's a natural extension of Google Chrome -- the Google Chrome Operating System. It's our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be."

-- PC World -- "Cyber Attack Hits South Korean Website;" Follows Attacks In U.S.: "A number of South Korean government Web sites were inaccessible on Wednesday, apparently taken offline by a large cyber-attack that had earlier hit U.S. government sites. The website for South Korea's president, the Blue House, and those for the National Assembly and Ministry of National Defense were all offline at Wednesday lunchtime. Also inaccessible was the home page of the Grand National Party and the Chosun Ilbo national newspaper. ... On Tuesday security researchers in the U.S. said a botnet comprising of about 50,000 compromised PCs was responsible for a cyber-attack that had hit U.S. sites including the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Transportation, Department of the Treasury and other sites."

-- The Financial Times -- "U.S. Brokers Mediation Over Honduras Coup": Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced Tuesday "that all sides in the dispute over Honduras' recent coup had agreed to mediation, a development Washington hopes will help reduce tensions between Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president, and the country's new de facto government. Speaking after a meeting with Mr Zelaya, (Clinton) said that Oscar Arias, the president of Costa Rica, had agreed to serve as a mediator and that Roberto Micheletti, Honduras's acting president, had also accepted the move."

Related report on Morning Edition: Analyst Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue talked about the situation in Honduras.

-- Reuters -- Indonesian President Appears Set To Win Second Term: "President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono looked set to win a second term on Wednesday as provisional election results showed there would be no need for a run-off vote, opening the way for a period of quickening reform. ... The election, only the second direct vote for a president in Indonesia, will determine the pace of reform over the next five years and cement the country's transition to democracy. ... The world's most-populous Muslim nation is hardly problem-free: corruption is widespread, infrastructure is in dire need of an overhaul and millions live in poverty."

Eric Sheptock. Katie Hayes/NPR

 

By Mark Memmott

On this evening's All Things Considered, NPR's Pam Fessler reports about Eric Sheptock of Washington, D.C., -- a man who's been homeless off-and-on for the past 15 years and is now using a blog, Twitter, Facebook to advocate for people in his situation.

He is, as Pam's story shows, an adept user of the Web to get his message out. Here's a taste of her report:

We asked Pam to pass along the web addresses of some blogs done by and/or for the homeless. She points to:

-- Sheptock's On The Clock. (He's on Twitter here and Facebook here).

-- LA's Homeless Blog.

-- The Homeless Guy.

-- The Girls Guide to Homelessness.

-- This report from ABC7 in San Francisco about a teenage girl's "blog about homelessness."

Click here to find an NPR station hear you that broadcasts ATC.

Scott Forstall of iPhone Software talks about "Push Technology" today. Paul Sakuma/AP

By Mark Memmott

Among the big stories out of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference today:

-- The price on an 8-gigabyte iPhone has been cut to $99 from $199.

-- The 16G model goes for $199 and the 32G retails for $299.

-- CEO Steve Jobs, who's been out on an extended medical leave, did not appear.

All Tech Considered is live-blogging the conference here.

By Mark Memmott

Don't drop your iPhones in excitement, folks.

The San Jose Mercury News is among several media outlets reporting that there's talk that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will make an appearance at Monday's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Jobs, 54, has been on medical leave since January, battling a hormone imbalance and complications from pancreatic surgery.

By Mark Memmott

Looking to get its message out in a bid to offset Taliban and al-Qaida propaganda and reach a wider audience without the "filter" of the news media, the U.S. military in Afghanistan has launched webpages on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Already, the USForces twitter page has been used by officials to announced the death of a U.S. soldier (from non-combat injuries) and to post such news as the killing of four militants by Afghan and coalition forces in Wardak Province. Col. Gregory Julian, public affairs officer for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, has a Twitter page of his own as well.

There's similar news at the USFOR Facebook page, along with reports about rebuilding projects and messages from friends and relatives of U.S. personnel serving in Afghanistan.

And then there's the U.S. Forces-Afghanistan YouTube page. It's new and hasn't gotten a lot of traffic yet. Among the handful of videos there, the most popular so far is Drug bust, Afghanistan-style, with about 150 views so far:

Julian tells the Associated Press that the military recognizes that "there's an entire audience segment that seeks its news from alternative means outside traditional news sources, and we want to make sure we're engaging them as well."

By Mark Memmott

From our friends at Weekend Edition, some Twitter tips and related thoughts from NPR senior news analyst Dan Schorr as Weekend Edition host Liane Hansen seeks his advice:

Dan's Twitter page is here. Click here for Liane's and here for Weekend Edition's.

(My Twitter page is here, and The Two-Way's is here.)