Analysis: Is Black Friday truly good for an ailing US economy?
As the final figures for last Black Friday's and Cyber Monday's sales show positive gains, is this really proof that the US economy isn't as lumbering as the housing market and credit crunch would indicate?
With the price of fuel tremendously higher than anticipated last year, and with inflation starting to creep back into the picture as a result; and with the US housing market in a state of free-fall and the credit markets in a state of crisis, you'd think there shouldn't be a lot of frivolity, gaiety, and merriment in the holiday mood. As it turned out, though, retail spending both offline and online have risen nicely.
US Coast Guard rallies around Web services architecture
Service-oriented architectures keep rolling into more environments. Now, they're headed toward the US Coast Guard.
NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - Although the numbers of anti-terrorist products available to government agencies keep on rising, interoperability remains very problematic. But operations and management services company Serco believes it's found an answer for the US Coast Guard through a new "unified build" software environment based on Web services.
DHS to offer liability protection for anti-terrorist tech vendors
First passed in 2002, the US Safety Act regulates what kinds of anti-terrorist technology can be sold to the government. Now, vendors gaining DHS certification are also eligible for legal liability protection -- and quite a number of them are applying.
NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - Businesses wanting to sell their anti-terrorist technology to the US government need to get special certification first. The wait for this certification can be 120 days or more. But now there's a reward for patience: Vendors will now receive legal liability protections if their products make it through the process, said Bruce Davidson of the US Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), delivering an update this week on the U.S. Safety Act.
z4 re-sues Microsoft over patents
Just days after having its $140 million plus judgment against Microsoft upheld by the courts, patent holding company z4 sued Microsoft again over what it saw as insufficient progress in complying with the terms of the ruling.
Z4 says that Microsoft products continue to infringe on its rights to certain patents surrounding software activation. Microsoft has yet to comment on this latest salvo by the small Michigan company.
Microsoft: Firefox users in danger due to more frequent updates
The author of a controversial white paper comparing Firefox' security integrity with IE's has released an update, which now makes an even more contentious claim than the original.
Because Microsoft releases Web browsers less frequently and supports older editions for longer periods, claims Microsoft Security Strategy Director Jeff Jones in his latest report, Internet Explorer 7 users are less susceptible to security vulnerabilities than users of Firefox, whose updates come more frequently and whose older versions are disavowed sooner.
NEC device is said to translate Japanese on the fly
New allies argue for DOJ to lay off Microsoft
Microsoft has found allies willing to argue against further antitrust oversight, though these new allies have attracted their own share of scrutiny.
Financial transaction processing giant Visa and paper products producer Weyerhaeuser filed amicus briefs on behalf of Microsoft earlier this month, asking a federal court to allow the US Justice Dept.'s oversight period over Microsoft's business activities to lapse.
Zander cedes top spot at Motorola
Amid criticism over the company's shortcomings and a much weaker position in the mobile phone market, Motorola CEO Ed Zander will step down at the end of the year.
The change would take effect on January 1, according to a statement from the company. Zander would be replaced by current president and chief operating officer Greg Brown, who joined the company in 2003. He would stay as chairman until the shareholder meeting in March of next year, and serve in an advisory role through January 2009.
FEMA considers new software to fill 'gaps' in disaster plans
As it reorganizes, adds new regional planners, and tries to become more nimble, the DHS's FEMA agency is also using a new emergency response methodology in meetings with state and local governments.
NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - Still in the throes of a major reorganization, the US Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS)'s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is now starting to use a methodology called the "Gap Analysis Tool" as an aid to emergency response planning, and there is some possibility that the tool will eventually be turned into a software application.
PS3 outsells Wii in Japan during November
For the four weeks ending November 25, the PlayStation 3 outsold Nintendo's Wii by around 15 percent in Japan, but it still has quite a bit more catching up to do.
November marks the first month the PS3 has had higher sales than the Wii, largely due to a price cut that was announced November 2. The cheaper $399 40GB model has brought the struggling console back to life in a battle with Nintendo and Microsoft's Xbox 360. Even sales in the United States are up, with PS3 purchases tripling over Thanksgiving week.
University of Oregon takes a stand against RIAA
Microsoft previews parallel processing for .NET Framework
With the multicore era already well upon us, the opportunities for multithreading are only now being recognized. Yesterday, Microsoft offered developers a taste of true parallelism with an experimental library for .NET.
Already, perhaps the most game-changing addition Microsoft has made to its .NET Framework is the addition of Language Integrated Query (LINQ), a long-sought provision that enables records or tables of data to be addressed within a single variable, all-at-once. If you're not a developer already, it's difficult to see how much of a breakthrough this really is.
Facebook caves to pressure, MoveOn over Beacon
Despite criticism, Facebook will not end its Beacon service, but will rather make some changes to appease vocal critics such as the liberal activist group MoveOn.org.
MoveOn had led the criticism against the project, where e-commerce partners send certain aspects of customers activities on its sites to their Facebook profiles, calling it an invasion of privacy.
CEO Schmidt confirms Google will bid in FCC 700 MHz auction
A rapid change in climate precipitated perhaps by Verizon Wireless' unprecedented move on Monday, brings the perennial fence-sitter back in the ballgame for wireless spectrum.
"We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are," stated Google CEO Eric Schmidt this morning, confirming reports that the company is prepared to not only meet the $4.6 billion minimum bid price it helped set for the so-called "C-block" -- the jewel in the US Federal Communications Commission's 700 MHz auction next January -- but will apparently make this bid from its own pockets alone.
US Patent Office sides with TiVo in DVR dispute
The DVR maker was handed a major victory Thursday after the USPTO upheld its patents to time-shifting technology that has become a staple of the TiVo service.
While not completely ending its court battle with EchoStar, it essentially would prevent the satellite company from using claims of patent invalidity in its ongoing appeal.
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