Modern News

It’s too early to predict the economic damage of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. However, preliminary indications are encouraging. Mike McKee of Bloomberg TV reports that the impact could be relatively modest if the spill continues to drift away from the coast.

The fishing industry could take a hit, and there may be a sharp rise in seafood if Louisiana is heavily impacted. (About 80% of the Gulf’s output comes from Bayou State fishermen). Real estate and tourism could also be impacted. But the impact on global oil prices looks to be slight.

So we can go back to worrying about Greece and the Euro.

Continue Reading »

Microsoft and HTC signed a patent deal for mobile phones.

EDMOND, Wash. — April 27, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. and HTC Corp. have signed a patent agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for HTC’s mobile phones running the Android mobile platform. Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will receive royalties from HTC.

The agreement expands HTC’s long-standing business relationship with Microsoft.

“HTC and Microsoft have a long history of technical and commercial collaboration, and today’s agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercial arrangements that address intellectual property,” said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft. “We are pleased to continue our collaboration with HTC.”
(more…)

Continue Reading »

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A wayward prototype of Apple Inc’s next-generation iPhone has dominated the chatter in Silicon Valley over the past few days, and the company has moved to recover the device after it was apparently lost in a bar.
The unreleased iPhone unit later resurfaced on Gizmodo, a popular gadget website, which promptly splashed photos and details of it all over the Web and touched off a storm of publicity and speculation in the technology blogosphere.
(more…)

Continue Reading »

By William Maclean, Security Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors should urgently diversify the web of undersea cables that serve as the world’s information and banking arteries to address soaring demand and piracy concerns and reduce the risk of catastrophic outages.
So says a report by a multinational research project that calls for the building of global backup routes for the submarine network that carries almost all international communications, including financial transactions and Internet traffic.
The report’s main author, Karl Rauscher of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), an international professional body, told Reuters changes should be made “before we have to learn the hard way.”
(more…)

Continue Reading »

By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission unveiled revised antitrust rules on Tuesday allowing luxury brand owners to block online retailers without a bricks-and-mortar shop from distributing their products.
In a bid to counter criticism from online retailers such as eBay and Amazon as well as consumer groups that the provision could restrict user choice, the European Union competition watchdog said it would monitor developments.
“The Commission will be particularly attentive to concentrated markets to which price-discounters either online only or traditional may not have access,” the European Union executive said in statement.
(more…)

Continue Reading »

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The high-speed mobile version of Apple Inc’s iPad will hit store shelves on April 30, and international pricing for the tablet computer will be spelled out on May 10, the company said on Tuesday.
The popular touchscreen device has sold more than 500,000 units of its Wi-Fi model in the U.S. in the week after its April 3 launch. Demand is expected to remain high with the launch of the version that connects to AT&T’s third generation — or 3G — wireless network.
(more…)

Continue Reading »

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Twitter and Facebook are the bane of many bosses, but a new survey has found that employees at Microsoft Corp are the most social media-savvy in the world.
The survey, the first by sales and marketing contact database NetProspex, ranked the top 50 companies based on their social network membership, frequency of social media posts on Twitter and other blogs, and the friendliness or connectedness of a sample of employees for each organization.
(more…)

Continue Reading »

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A December cyberattack on Google Inc computers hit the company’s password system that millions of people worldwide use to access almost all of the company’s Web services, The New York Times said, citing a person with direct knowledge of the investigation.
The closely-guarded program is considered a crown jewel at Google, enabling users and employees to sign in with their password only once to operate various services including e-mail and business applications, the newspaper said in its April 20 edition.
Code-named Gaia for the Greek goddess of the earth, and still in use under the name Single Sign-On, the program was described publicly only once at a technical conference four years ago, the newspaper said.
(more…)

Continue Reading »

(Reuters) – Online retailer Amazon.com has filed a lawsuit in a federal court to block the North Carolina state government’s demand it disclose all transaction details, including names and addresses, involving state residents, court documents show.
In the complaint, Amazon said that North Carolina Department of Revenue (DOR) is demanding that the retailer turn over the name and address of virtually every North Carolina resident who has purchased anything from Amazon since 2003.
(more…)

Continue Reading »

By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A third of U.S. teenagers with cell phones send more than 100 texts a day as texting has exploded to become the most popular means of communication for young people, according to new research.
The study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which offers a glimpse into teen culture and communication, found that texting has risen dramatically even since 2008, eclipsing cell phone calls, instant messaging, social networks — and talking face-to-face.
(more…)

Continue Reading »