Carnival of Tech News - Guidelines

Introducing the new Blog Carnival - Carnival of Tech News. The carnival will feature new blog posts on current technology, computer and Internet related news issues. The carnival will be issued each week on this blog.

Submission Guidelines

The posts/articles should be related to current events in the category selected. The news issue should be analyzed, not just copy-pasted from BBC news, or other source. Sub par posts will not be featured, and the number of entries from one blog to a single issue is one only - though exception may be made.

Categories

• Internet


• Computers


• Science


• Technology

The submission page can be accessed here.

Wi-Fi with Solar Power

Solis Energy has produced solar power solutions that can uninterruptedly power products such as Wi-Fi routers. The system is designed for emergency use as a backup communications route, or for municipal Wi-Fi networks.

Many solar power products get little use, because of their high cost, but Solis Energy promises cost effective solutions. In areas where power grid is not close, their solar systems can generate the power necessary for small applications for a lower cost than connecting to the power grid.

TorrentSpy Shuts Down for US Residents

According to cnet news, TorrentSpy, one of the largest BitTorrent trackers has been shut down in the USA. This is what they say about it themselves:

TorrentSpy's decision to stop accepting U.S. visitors was not compelled by any court. Rather, it arises out of an uncertain legal climate in the United States regarding user privacy and the apparent tension between U.S. and European Union Internet privacy laws.

I'm not so concerned about TorrentSpy shutting down, but at the same time they are under a judge's order to hand over user data from their servers. That should not happen. Hopefully their appeal is approved.

3D Image of a Cell

Endeavour Crew Enters Space Station

The space shuttle Endeavour will conduct 3 planned space walks, and installation of the International Space Station S5 Truss, of the Integrated Truss Structure. It will also have a SPACEHAB module carrying 5,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station, and carry the second "Teacher in Space" onboard.

When Endeavour was launched on August 8th 2007, 9 pieces of foam insulator fell from the Shuttle's fuel tank. Three hit Endeavour, but are believed to be too small to cause serious damage. However, during inspection on approach to the ISS, a "gouge" was discovered on the underbelly of the Shuttle. The Mission has been altered to include taking pictures of the damage whilst docked at the ISS and sending to Houston for help in possible repairing.

4 TB Storage for Home and Business Users

Lets see what Wikipedia has to say about the TeraStation:
"The TeraStation is a Network-attached storage device using a PowerPC or ARM architecture processor similar to the LinkStation. It uses 4 internal Hard drives mounted in a RAID array[16]. It comes in a grey or black Cube shaped box depending on the model."

And,
"Additionally, because the Apache HTTP Server software is already installed for the purpose of providing the Buffalo configuration screens, the device is easily converted to be a lightweight web server (with the Buffalo content deleted) and then can serve any content of the operator's choice."

Microsoft Counters OpenOffice and Google Docs with Free Works

Microsoft is going to release the new version of it's Works office software free in a few months time. The software will be ad supported. This is probably due to the increasing number of free competitors, among them OpenOffice and Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

It will be interesting to see whether this will have any effect on the number of people who are turning to web-based office systems. I believe it will only be seen as an OpenOffice alternative by companies, which might believe more in it being supported, what with a Microsoft product and all.

Somehow I find the idea of installing an ad driven program on my computer much more repulsive than using a web-based system, even if the latter had ads also. Interestingly Google Docs does not seem to have any ads...

Better Cell Phone Cameras in Sight

One reason I've avoided buying a cell phone that can take photos is the low quality of the camera. There's no optical zoom, and even the models that have a few megapixels don't really have good image quality. Focusing on the right target is difficult, and often impossible in close-ups.

Fortunately that all may change soon. According to CNN, a new technology that uses mirrors to increase th focal length without increasing the size on the lens. This can decrease the size of the lens to one seventh. The technology borrows from similar design in telescopes, and might be in cell phone cameras in two years time if all goes well.

Teachers Demand YouTube Closure; PPC Demands PS3 Destruction

Calls for YouTube Closure by Teachers

Teachers have called for websites like YouTube to close because of teacher and pupil bullying according to BBC News. A motion claims videos of pupils and teachers being attacked have been posted on YouTube. "Nobody should be subjected to such humiliation anywhere, let alone in their place of work."

This shows how little privacy can there be in the world, when most have a cell phone capable of taking photos and video. I don't see a change in this development any time soon, unless there are some serious legal changes. And they would have to apply in most of the world for them to affect anything. Maybe this is just something we have to get used to.

Parallel Processing Corporation Files Suit Against Sony

PPC claims Sony has breached their parallel processing patent 5,056,000 "Synchronized parallel processing with shared memory". They seek damages and attorney fees with interests, and call for "the impounding and destruction" of Play Station 3 products.

I doubt the suit will hold, but at least they get some publicity...

Vulnerabilities in Vista, Leopard, and iPhone

Here's the news:

Intel Accused of Anti-Competitive Action

European Commission regulators accuse Intel of 'market abuse' in EU based on initial findings. Intel has allegedly tried to exclude AMD from the market by offering incentives to drop product with AMD technology, and by selling its products under production costs. Fines of up to 10% of annual turnover are possible in Intel is found guilty.

Interesting to see how this will develop.

Update: Intels response to these clams is that all their practices have been "lawful, pro-competitive, and beneficial to consumers".

iPlayer Launched

It seems BBC have launched their iPlayer. iPlayer has been the source of much controversy in the blogging world, since it only runs on Windows. The BCCs claims that they will release versions for Mac OS X and Linux later.

I really hope they will do that, but it would have been interesting to see the reactions if they had done this the other way around: released a version for Mac OS X or Linux first. Just think about the publicity that would have earned them... It would have been very effective marketing. They could have released a Windows version very soon afterwards.

Malaysia Cracks Down on Bloggers

According to BBC news, they threaten to use their anti-terror laws against bloggers who insult either the king, or Islam. This is after 11 years of avoiding online censorship altogether.

Developments like this are why I support privacy software and anonymous browsing. One of Internet's most important uses is in my opinion free speech in places it is otherwise difficult. I'll continue to support Tor and Freenet.

Search Sites Care About Privacy?

After Google began to improve its ranking as the worst web site with respect to privacy, other search engines quickly followed.

Yahoo! only cut a few months from Google's expiration times to get ahead. Microsoft, on the other hand, joined hands with Ask in calling for a standard in privacy policies. Ask went even further with their own policy, announcing a tool that will let users have almost complete control over what data is gathered about them (AskEraser press release).

Wow, I wouldn't have believed this would happen, had someone predicted it a few months ago. I wish other web industries would follow, but this is a start, certainly.

ManHunt 2 banned?

Just read a story that says the new ManHunt 2 video game will be banned from the UK. I really wonder what they think that'll accomplish. That kind of advertisement will not only make the kids want the game, but make the players take it more seriously.

I'd have agreed with a 18-certificate, but I have to disagree with a ban. That's censorship - I don't want to know what it leads to...