Stanford Car Wins DARPA Robot Race
This year's DARPA Grand Challenge robot race across the Mojave Desert had a much more successful ending than last year's event: entrants actually completed the race.
The contest was sponsored by the Department of Defense in an effort to investigate methods of further roboticizing the army and cut down on human casualties. Everyday consumer vehicles were outfitted with computers to completely automate the driving process.
Symantec Talking to EU About Microsoft
Symantec last week said that it would complain to the European Union about Microsoft's planned security products for enterprise customers, press reports indicated.
According to Symantec, the company was "asked" by the EU to provide information on its role in the security industry, however the company said it had not yet filed a formal complaint.
ISP Dispute Over - For Now
UPDATED Can't we all just get along? Cogent and Level 3 Communications customers may be asking that question after a spat between the two Internet backbone companies earlier this week resulted in portions of the Net becoming unavailable to customers of the other carrier for several days.
The disagreement was serious enough that it has caused members of Congress to call for changes in the Telecom Act to prevent future blackouts.
Apple, Samsung May Face Inquiry
The chairman of the South Korean Fair Trade Commission said on a local radio talk show in Korea on Friday that it might consider investigating Samsung and Apple over collusion charges. The probe would focus on allegations that Samsung gave Apple a favorable deal on flash memory chips in order to push out competitors, the Korean wire service Yonhap News Agency said.
Samsung's Korean rivals had originally accused the electronics manufacturer of collusion with Apple in a story printed in the Korea Times on September 9. To its defense, Samsung vehemently denied those allegations, saying it had offered Apple no such deal.
Report: AOL-MSN Talks Restarted
Once fierce rivals Microsoft and America Online are again at the bargaining table, according to a report Friday in the Wall Street Journal. Sources familiar with the discussions say the main topic revolves around use of the MSN search engine to power searches on AOL.com.
While a report of talks in mid-September indicated an agreement could have also included a merger of the two companies' ad sales units, the WSJ remained vague on any additional topics that were discussed.
VeriSign Purchases Weblogs.com
In the second major blogging-related acquisition in as many days, VeriSign on Friday said it purchased Weblogs.com, a service that alerts users when Web logs are updated.
The Web site was one of the original "ping servers" and was developed by Dave Winer, most known for his work in creating RSS and Web logging tools.
MS Patch Tuesday to Bring Nine Fixes
Microsoft plans to fix several holes in the security of Windows during its monthly "Patch Tuesday" release next week, including at least one deemed "critical." Eight of the patches will deal with problems in the operating system, and one will fix a flaw in the company's Exchange Server.
While Microsoft is never specific as to what it will be patching ahead of the actual release, eWeek is reporting that at least one fix with deal with code execution vulnerabilities within Internet Explorer.
Google Goes to Washington
Google has announced that it plans to step up efforts to lobby in Washington, but it says that it would be working on behalf of the technology industry in general rather than in its own best interest.
The search giant will open up an office in the nation's capital, and the first member of its lobbying team will be Alan Davidson, a veteran technology lobbyist and Director at the Center for Democracy and Technology.
Windows, Windows Everywhere
These days, Microsoft is no longer content with just being on your computer screen. The largest software company in the world has repositioned Windows to not only become the operating system for home computers, but also for other devices that we use everyday.
"These embedded devices serve a single purpose," Mike Hall, technical product manager for Windows Embedded, told BetaNews. "Things like ATM machines, a point-of-sale system in a retail store, or a traffic control system."
Sat Radio, Record Industry Could Clash
The increasingly litigious record industry could be ready to take on the burgeoning satellite radio market next over what it sees as potential copyright infringement by XM and Sirius.
Press reports indicate that the RIAA is upset over recording capabilities being built into the newest portable players from the two services. XM has offered its MyFi player with such capabilities since last year, and Sirius plans to bring out a similar player by the holiday season. The Sirius model relies solely on recorded programming to operate.
AIM Service Shows When U R There
AOL wants to make its AIM instant messaging service presence more ubiquitous on the Web, and it has joined forces with several popular social networking sites to make that happen.
Through these partnerships, consumers will be able to show their online status on Web sites, as well as give other AIM users one-click access to communicate with them.
Record Labels Target 14 Year-Old Girl
UPDATED A 14 year-old girl is in the middle of a dispute with the record labels that could have broad implications for future cases involving minors downloading illicit music files from peer-to-peer services.
An effort is underway by EMI, Warner, Universal and Sony BMG to force the courts to appoint an official legal guardian for Brittany Chan so they can move forward with their lawsuit against her.
Shareholders Approve MCI-Verizon Deal
MCI said on Thursday that its merger with Verizon had received the approval of 64.2 percent of its outstanding shares and 88.2 percent of votes cast. The company said it planned to get the votes certified as soon as possible.
From the results, it appears that talks of Qwest possibly trying to influence the vote either were false, or fell mostly on deaf ears.
MS to Ship Malware Protection Utility
Microsoft introduced on Thursday a new program that will help to combat viruses, malware and spyware in the corporate environment, as well as provide stronger protection for current and emerging threats.
Called Microsoft Client Protection, the new service could be seen as new competition for McAfee and Symantec, who have otherwise worked closely with the company in recent years to combat the increasing tide of security threats.
Two Microsoft FAT Patents Rejected
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected Microsoft's patent application for its File Allocation Table (FAT) file system technology on Tuesday, however the Redmond company has put on a brave face and told BetaNews that it expects to ultimately be victorious.
In June of last year, the USPTO agreed to review the patent after questions arose surrounding its validity. A group known as the Public Patent Foundation disputed Microsoft's claims to FAT in April 2004, saying it had become ubiquitous as a format and found in many devices.
Ed's Bio
Ed Oswald is a freelance journalist from the Reading, PA area. Although he has written across a variety of subjects, Ed’s passion and focus has been on technology and gadgets. His work regularly appears on tech news sites BetaNews, PCWorld, and Technologizer, and has been syndicated to eWeek, Time’s Techland blog, VentureBeat and the New York Times.
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