schwit1 writes "Shares of Netflix soared more than 6% Monday on a report that Verizon Communications is considering buying the troubled movie renter. Verizon is reportedly evaluating whether a purchase of Netflix could provide an entry into the video delivery business, DealReporter said, citing a source close to the matter. The news comes as Netflix continues to struggle from a series of missteps earlier this year when it raised subscription prices and separated its DVD-by-mail service and streaming. Netflix's stock price plunged to a new 52-week low two weeks ago when the company warned it would fall to a loss in 2012 if it failed to boost its bruised customer base."
riverat1 writes "KTLA reports police in North Dakota arrested three men accused of cattle rustling with the help of a Predator B drone from nearby Grand Forks AFB. The sheriff of Nelson Country was chased off by three armed men when he went to serve a warrant, so he came back the next morning with reinforcements, including the drone, which, while circling 2 miles overhead, was able to determine the whereabouts of the men on their 3,000 acre spread and the fact that they were unarmed. A SWAT team quickly moved in and apprehended the men. Local police say they have used the Predator drones for at least two dozen surveillance flights since June. The FBI and DEA have used the drones for domestic investigations as well."
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that the Kindle Fire, Amazon's heavily promoted tablet, is less than a blazing success, with many of its early users packing the device up and firing it back to the retailer. A few of their many complaints: there is no external volume control. The off switch is easy to hit by accident. Web pages take a long time to load. There is no privacy on the device; a spouse or child who picks it up will instantly know everything you have been doing and the touch screen is frequently hesitant and sometimes downright balky. Amazon's response was: 'In less than two weeks, we're rolling out an over-the-air update to Kindle Fire.' The only problem with that is many of the complaints are hardware related and no amount of software can fix one of the early blunders: 'The fire is shipped in a box that advertised on the outside of the box exactly what it is. "Hello, you, thief, please come steal me!"' wrote one would-be customer who, as you might guess, had her Fire stolen and was left with the box. This was supposed to be an iPad killer, with its much lower price point, but Apple is tough to beat because most of its mistakes are software-based."
jfruhlinger writes "When HP announced it would release webOS as open source, it added a competitor to a narrow niche: there's already Tizen, the descendant of MeeGo, which is, like webOS, an open source Linux-based operating system for smartphones. Can they co-exist, or will one come out on top? One built-in advantage for webOS is that already has hardware, in the form of all those $99 TouchPad's being snapped up on eBay."
arcite writes "After twenty years of hard work, the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction website has recently gone live. It's an online database containing thousands of entries for all things Sci-fi, and a great place to read all about your favourite authors, characters, themes, and everything else."
esocid writes "Cory Doctorow has written a Guardian column, 'The pirates of YouTube,' about how multinational copyright-holding companies have laid false claim to public domain videos on YouTube. The videos are posted by the nonprofit FedFlix organization, which liberates public domain government-produced videos and makes them available to the world. These videos were produced at public expense and no one can claim to own them, but multinationals from CBS to Discovery Communications have done just that, getting YouTube to place ads on the video that deliver income to their coffers. What's more, their false copyright claims could lead to the suspension of FedFlix's YouTube account under Google's rules for its copyright policing system. This system, ContentID, sets out penalties for 'repeat offenders' who generate too many copyright claims — but offers no corresponding penalties for rightsholders who make too many false claims of ownership."
MrSeb writes "Some interesting legalese found in the recent publication of the Windows Store Application Developer Agreement could signify a very big win for the open source community. The section in question states that apps released under a license from the Open Source Initiative (GPL, Apache, etc.) can be distributed in the Windows Store. Further, it says that the OSI license will trump the Microsoft Standard Application License Terms, namely the the restriction on sharing applications. As for the reasoning behind this big about-turn, it could be down to Microsoft trying to soften the blow of its Android patent litigation — or maybe Redmond is just trying to differentiate itself from Apple, which famously restricts open source-licensed apps from being sold in its iOS and Mac App Stores."
tsu doh nimh writes "You may have never heard of youhavedownloaded.com, but if you recently grabbed movies, music or software from online file-trading networks, chances are decent that the site has heard of you. In fact, you may find that the titles you downloaded are now listed and publicly searchable at the site, indexed by your Internet address. So far, youhavedownloaded.com has recorded more than 50 million unique Internet addresses belonging to file-sharing users. The site is searchable by file name and by Internet address. When you visit, it automatically checks and lets you know if your Internet address is in the database."
nk497 writes "The hard disk shortage caused by the flooding in Thailand will cost Intel $1 billion in lost revenue, the company said. It had initially predicted revenue of $14.7bn this quarter, but that will now be $13.7bn, it said. 'Sales of personal computers are expected to be up sequentially in the fourth quarter,' Intel said. 'However, the worldwide PC supply chain is reducing inventories and microprocessor purchases as a result of hard disk drive supply shortages.'"
First time accepted submitter crow writes "Two episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s, thought to have been destroyed in the 1970s, have been found. Both were in the hands of a private collector who didn't know what he had. Like most episodes of the time, these were half-hour shows, part of a four-part story, and portions of both stories are still missing."
First time accepted submitter Virtucon writes "German physicists say they've built a heat engine measuring only a few micrometers across which works as well as a normal-sized version — although it sputters, they admit. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems say that the engine does basically work, meaning there's nothing, in principle, to prevent the construction of highly efficient, small heat engines."
In the past five years, more than 100 drug tunnels between Mexico and the U.S. have been discovered. This is double the number found over the previous 15 years. Not only are they growing in number, but the tunnels are becoming much more sophisticated, including electric rail systems, hydraulic elevators, and secret entrances (one opened via a fake water tap). From the article: "When architect Felipe de Jesus Corona built Mexico's most powerful drug lord a 200-foot-long tunnel under the U.S.-Mexican border with a hydraulic lift entrance opened by a fake water tap, the kingpin was impressed. The architect 'made me one f---ing cool tunnel' Joaquin 'Shorty' Guzman said, according to court testimony that helped sentence Corona to 18 years in prison in 2006. Built below a pool table in his lawyer's home, the tunnel was among the first of an increasingly sophisticated drug transport system used by Guzman's Sinaloa cartel. U.S. customs agents seized more than 2,000 pounds of cocaine which had allegedly been smuggled along the underground route."
smitty777 writes "FastCo has an intriguing article on the vast control of our media by the mega corporations. In the article, Cliff Kuang disputes such claims by the the Frugal Dad that the revenue for the Big Six was over $275.9 billion, and that these companies are in cahoots to control our viewing. Just how much do these companies control?"
LinuxScribe writes "According Linux Mint founder Clement Lefebvre, the popular Linux Mint distribution has changed the Amazon.com affiliate code for the Banshee music player so that Mint, not Canonical or the GNOME Foundation, will receive the revenue from MP3 sales through Banshee. Though a trivial amount of money ($3.41 in November 2011), Linux Mint's actions still raise the question: how should revenue be shared between upstream and downstream FLOSS projects?"
K7DAN writes "North Korea warned South Korea on Sunday of 'unexpected consequences' if Seoul displays Christmas lights near the tense border, and vowed to retaliate for what it called 'psychological warfare.' From the article: 'The tree-shaped, 30 metre-high steel structure on Aegibong hill - some 3km (2 miles) from the border - was illuminated by thousands of small light bulbs last year. It could be seen from the North's major city of Kaesong across the border, according to media reports. Pyongyang has previously accused Seoul of using the tree to spread the Christian message to people inside the secular state.'"
LightSquared believes a government official selectively leaked results from tests of its proposed mobile broadband network to set public opinion against the...
With 2012 right around the corner, here is a look at some predictions for what's in store for mobile devices in the coming year.
The free app for Android and iOS creates digital magazines with text and video, but it runs slowly unless the sync settings are correct.
Making good on an announcement made earlier this year, Microsoft has installed a version of Apache Hadoop on its Azure cloud service. The company now offers a...
Amazon is already promising a software update, but can an over-the-air refresh address all of the biggest gripes about the hot tablet?
Google says it has pulled several fraudulent apps from the Android Market that were able to ring up charges on wireless bills without user consent.
Love pinball and Kinect games? Put yourself in the classic game--with a modern twist.
AT&T has asked a judge to put on hold the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit to block its merger with T-Mobile USA while the two companies decide whether to move forward with the deal.
The U.S. Department of Justice and AT&T Monday filed a joint motion to halt proceedings in the U.S. agency's lawsuit to block the telecom giant's US$39...
Samsung enters the Ultrabook race with two models, with one sporting an optical drive.
Now too big to be built on 32-bit Windows, the popular browser forces Mozilla developers to look for alternatives.
Holiday bargains are still out there for PCs, desktops, and tablets. Here is a list of ten deals worth checking out.
Google plans to announce in the coming month or so several customer wins for Google Apps that exceed 100,000 users, according to Google Enterprise Vice President...
With gift-giving holidays fast approaching, shopping inertia turns into anxiety and online shoppers rush to get their presents into the shipping channel.
The Mac App Store serves a different customer than its better-known iOS sibling, but it's doing well enough to get rivals' attention.
Some lucky shoppers were able to buy the Verizon Galaxy Nexus ahead of the phone's official release.
Competition in the smartphone sector will remain cutthroat in 2012, as vendors will improve performance using LTE, high-resolution screens and quad-core...
The European Union plans to distribute new software to help human rights activists and dissidents in authoritarian regimes circumvent censorship.
SAP has abruptly put the brakes on a planned upgrade to its massive community network portal, which was set to be rolled out this month.
Analysis: Microsoft move to extend the kill-switch, vendor-meddling, customer-paternalization policies of mobile devices to desktop software is a win for weaselware.
Modern Warfare 3 racks up $1 billion in sales in less time than James Cameron's megabucks 3D film.
Intel warned on Monday that fourth-quarter revenue will be lower than anticipated due to a hard-drive shortage. The chip maker now anticipates quarterly revenue...
European Union member states will be forced to digitize all their government data it was revealed on Monday.
Amazon promises to update the Kindle Fire's software before Christmas in answer to early customers' complaints, but not everything can be patched.
The so-called framebusting mechanism implemented in browsers to help websites prevent clickjacking attacks doesn't live up to expectations, Google reports.
Bulgarian authorities have arrested three men on charges of being part of an international cybercriminal gang that targeted U.S. bank customers.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has begun to mail refund checks to computer owners who purchased so-called scareware from vendors who allegedly used deceptive ads.
Nokia Siemens Networks is selling its fixed-line broadband access business to Adtran, the latest in a series of sell-offs, the company said on Monday.
Taking a cue from rivals such as Salesforce.com, SAP on Monday announced a partnership under which it will resell and support social media analytics software from NetBase.
Indonesia's telecommunications regulator, Badan Regulasi Telekomunikasi Indonesia (BRTI), has renewed its demand that Research In Motion locate a server in the...
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) broke ground Friday on the third and final phase of its "Fab 15" chip factory, with the newest phase geared to make...
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) said Monday it began shipments of its first 4TB, 3.5-inch hard drive, targeted at the PC market, three months...
Using concepts from IT and networking, a Japanese consortium plans to develop large-scale energy grids that will handle power the way the Internet handles data...
Revolutionary a year ago, dual-core mobile processors are now standard; next, chipmakers say, quad-core processors will support mobile multitasking comparable to the performance of a desktop computer.
Web activists, senators question the broad action of "In Our Sites" in confiscating a broad range of Internet sites in the name of security and copyright protection.
Is the pending amendment to the Video Privacy Protection Act a blow to your privacy, or the first step to easily sharing video streaming?
The government threatened to cut off access to social networks during last summer's protests, but an evaluation shows the Internet communications was used more for good than harm.
New HTML parser and revamped address bar precede acceleration planned for Opera 12, likely to appear early in 2012.
Some stock analysts are scaling back their estimates for iPad sales, partly due to the bargain-priced Amazon Kindle Fire and in anticipation of an updated Apple tablet.
Microsoft is supposedly seeking a TV exec to help create original TV content for its game console and make traditional cable TV increasingly irrelevant.
The first of three new Asian datacenters is expected to begin operation in 2013.
The feature Google+ users will probably appreciate most is the ability they now have to post photos they receive in Gmail directly to Google+ without having to download the image, then upload it to Google+.
Although technically inferior to the iPad, Amazon's tablet entry has a different aim and is "strategically misunderstood" but a sales success anyway, Morgan Stanley analyst reports.
At one time, the conventional wisdom was that you'd buy the latest tower Mac if you were a media pro or serious number cruncher and leave the iMac for "regular" users who simply wanted a capable and reasonably affordable computer -- but those days have mostly passed.
On one consultant's wish list: End users should try finding solutions to their problems the same way IT does -- by looking it up on Google -- rather than calling the help desk.
After many feared the tablet would be delayed until next year, reports now quote Asus as saying it will ship December 19 -- and that would be good news for consumers eager to snap up the Android tablet in time for the holidays.
Accidental cell phone calls can tarnish your dignity and add to emergency response costs.
More than 26 million transactions are logged in the biggest US mobile payment app, now expanding globally.
Forecasters expect Apple to sell 3.8 million iMacs, while Lenovo sales could surpass 4 million all-in-one PCs in 2012.
Verizon is the first -- but perhaps not the sole -- carrier to decline Google's service as the jockeying for mobile real estate accelerates.