HBO next to open its shows to the Web
Though it may be a bit late for it to enter the download market, Time Warner's HBO will begin a controlled launch of HBO Broadband tomorrow, a free add-on to HBO on Demand.
The service will be made available initially to Time Warner Cable/Roadrunner high speed Internet customers in the Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wisconsin areas. There is no timeline yet for a national rollout.
NASA to explore strange, new virtual worlds
The Learning Technologies Project Office of NASA is actively considering hopping on the video game bandwagon by releasing its own massively multiplayer online game.
NASA has apparently gotten wind of the fact that young people are intensely interested in MMORPG games, and is now actively pursuing the possibility of developing or at least hosting its own game in an effort to renew students' interest in what it calls the "STEM" subjects: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
RIAA Web site apparently hacked over the weekend
An old-style SQL injection hack is the suspected culprit in a malicious attack on the RIAA's Web site. During the weekend, its framework was still going, though its content had been erased.
For well over a decade, malicious users have known how to pass unchecked SQL queries through Web forms, in what is called a SQL injection attack. With unsecured databases, it's an almost ridiculously simple hack, not really displaying any real skill or prowess on the part of the malicious user. But last weekend, one hack was notable particularly for its target.
Will Sun's MySQL purchase drive down database prices?
Some enterprise database users and industry analysts with whom BetaNews spoke today believe yesterday's announcement of Sun Microsystems' intent to purchase open source database producer MySQL could have an across-the-board effect on the entire database market, impacting IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle.
But based on what we learned today, it doesn't look as though the pricing impact will show up vividly any time soon.
Local online advertising to become big business in next decade
A host of research firms are saying that local ads are the next big thing, with the latest being Jupiter Research saying it will be a $9 billion business by 2012.
Jupiter is certainly not the first to address the market; others have made their predictions as well. While some are not as optimistic, a few even say that the market could potentially grow larger than that.
UK concerned over Facebook's profile deactivation methods
British officials are set to question Facebook over its data retention methods after a user complained that personal information remained on its severs after he deactivated his account.
Facebook's current system still retains some data even after an account is deleted. So far, it has defended the practice claiming that it is in full compliance with UK privacy laws.
Wireless transmitters in VHF, UHF 'white spaces' will be tested again
Despite an admittedly poor showing from the first prototype for a wireless networking device supposedly capable of harmlessly transmitting alongside VHF and UHF TV channels, the FCC said today it's giving the device another go.
The US Federal Communications Commission announced yesterday it is proceeding with plans to conduct a second round of tests on a controversial new technology that leverages unused or under-utilized frequencies in the VHF and UHF TV spectra for low-power wireless networking devices.
Steve Jobs criticizes Microsoft on Zune, says Blu-ray won
The Apple CEO was blunt that he believes the Zune is a failure, and that Blu-ray may have won the format war, but has probably lost the HD content battle.
His comments came as part of an interview with CNBC's Jim Goldman on Tuesday. While Jobs is not necessarily known for his subtlety, his statements are about the most direct on either topic so far.
New Microsoft CIO has a full and diverse resume
The new public face of Microsoft's enterprise information policies has a long and very accomplished history, plus what appears to be a personal need to make his mark on the world. That may be exactly what Microsoft needs after the last guy.
Last year, Microsoft made a decision that it wanted its Chief Information Officer to have a public-facing role, this time as the representative of the concept of "best practices" that's part of its sales pitch to enterprises. So it moved former CIO Ron Markezich from his old role as "chief beta tester," as it was then described, to a new role called Vice President of Managed Solutions. Then it effectively promoted someone it had hired seemingly by accident to also serve in a role called CIO, to be the one and only CIO.
Data loss could affect 650,000 store credit card users
Credit card company GE Money said a computer tape has disappeared which contained personal information of consumers who hold JC Penney credit cards.
In addition to JC Penney, as many as 100 other companies could be affected. GE supplies credit cards to some of the nation's biggest retailers, including Wal-Mart, IKEA, Lowe's, Lord & Taylor, and online payment service PayPal, among others.
AOL tests open source Jabber for instant messenging
A lot of AIM and ICQ instant messaging users have likely never even heard of "Jabber" yet. But they'll probably be Jabbering away in the not too distant future, after the bugs get worked out by a new AOL/ICQ test launch.
If you're an instant messaging user (and who isn't, these days?), you'll soon be able to talk to your AIM/ICQ contacts using an open standards technology loosely referred to as Jabber, assuming that a new AOL/ICQ test launch that started this week shows enough success.
Could video games help boost the music industry?
Rock Band, the music simulator for Xbox 360 and PS3 was reported by MTV yesterday to have sold 2.5 million song downloads since the game went on sale on November 20, 2007.
On the game's official site, MTV announced it had "gone double platinum."
AMD comes to grips with the ATI merger fallout
Investors and consumers were warned the bad news would come, and it came as predicted. AMD took a stunning charge of $1.6 billion in one quarter, to account for value from the ATI merger it now realizes may not materialize.
The term is "goodwill," and it's used in evaluating the potential value that a merged entity brings to the acquiring company, over and above its tangible assets and the present value of its current contracts. At the time AMD and ATI merged in July 2006, AMD's financial team estimated the total value of the merger at $5.4 billion. $3.2 million of that was projected to be goodwill, how much more valuable AMD is as a company just for having ATI as a division.
Sprint Nextel to cut workforce, close underperforming stores
In response to an increasingly difficult retail environment, Sprint Nextel says about 4,000 employees will be laid off and about one out of every eight retail stores will close.
Expecting a slowdown in both revenue and subscriber growth in 2008 amid an economic downturn, the move could be seen as a preemptive strike in order to keep the carrier profitable.
Wii continues video game dominance in December
The Wii continued to lead video game console sales in December, but the Xbox 360 wasn't far behind. Also, the PS3 showed significant improvement.
Data from NPD showed that overall software sales increased 36 percent over last year. Hardware sales gains were a little more modest at 17 percent, however that is still a significant gain considering consumers pulled back on holiday spending.
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