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Over the weekend, rumors surfaced that Skype's founders, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, were attempting to buy the VoIP service back from eBay. It turns out that, yes, eBay is intent on getting rid of Skype, but it won't be sold right back to its founders. Instead, the online auction giant will spin off the VoIP service via an IPO some time in 2010.
When eBay first purchased Skype from Zennström and Friis in September 2005, we were skeptical of the synergies eBay hoped to realize...
Via Ars Technica - 7 months 18 days ago -
It's hard to underestimate the power of modern data-mining techniques, which can sift through massive databases and identify unexpected correlations, providing new insights and the raw material for further research. For example, the availability of extensive data from hospitals enabled an analysis that suggests that local privacy laws may hinder the adoption of electronic medical records. But these studies rely on the existence of the raw data in electronic form; even when data's...
Via Ars Technica - 7 months 18 days ago -
Internet data caps generated controversy in the US last week as Time Warner Cable expanded its low caps to more cities and one Congressman pledged to introduce a bill limiting the practice. But capped Internet (or, as it's known in countries like Canada and Australia, "Internet") access is a worldwide issue, even in the UK's competitive DSL market. One UK website now suggests that 25 percent of Internet users there have received warnings about "excessive use."
ISPreview.co.uk offers...
Via Ars Technica - 7 months 18 days ago -
Just as Nigerian 419 scams have adapted to the Internet age, so have Ponzi schemes. Also known as pyramid schemes, these types of scams have flourished online—particularly on YouTube, where the Better Business Bureau says there are almost 23,000 (and growing) Ponzi scheme videos. Because of the apparent growth in this type of scam, the BBB last week put out a warning telling consumers to avoid the temptation, and to learn how to recognize the warning signs.
Like Nigerian scams,...
Via Ars Technica - 7 months 18 days ago -
While the Nintendo Wii may be selling in huge numbers every month, players wanting more precision out of their controls have been waiting for the Wii MotionPlus, the add-on peripheral for the Wiimote that will give true 1:1 control of games. Today Nintendo has announced the release date and price of the peripheral: on June 8 you can buy the add-on for $20 alone, or with Wii Sports Resort for $49.99 on July 26. The new price of a fully decked out controller with the Wiimote, Nunhuck, and...
Via Ars Technica - 7 months 18 days ago -
The European Commission has "opened an infringement proceeding" against the UK over Phorm's ad-serving technology. In a statement this morning, Commission Viviane Reding called out Phorm and the UK, saying, "European privacy rules are crystal clear: a person's information can only be used with their prior consent. We cannot give up this basic principle, and have all our exchanges monitored, surveyed and stored in exchange for a promise of 'more relevant' advertising! I will not shy away from...
Via Ars Technica - 7 months 18 days ago -
While Xbox 360 systems may be known more for the dreaded "red ring of death" than any other hardware failure, one gaming blog has been tracking the rise of the "E74" error, an issue that causes the console to crash and show a multi-language kill screen. You'll also get a single red section on your system's power button. Microsoft is aware of the problem, and has since amended it's three-year warranty to cover the error.
Click here to read the rest of this...Via Ars Technica - 7 months 18 days ago -
Google Update, a small program that the search giant uses to deploy new versions of its software to end-users on Windows, is now open for public scrutiny. Google has released the source code of the program, which is codenamed Omaha, under the open source Apache Software License.
Pushing patches to a large user population is a non-trivial technical problem. It's especially hard to make an updater that isn't disruptive or irritating. Google's updater operates silently in the...
Via Ars Technica - 7 months 18 days ago -
The US government has now adopted a policy of fostering the adoption of electronic medical records (EMR). The policy is intended to increase the efficiency of the US healthcare system, thereby lowering costs and reducing the incidence of preventable errors. At the same time, through its The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rules, the government has set minimum standards for the security of those records. These two goals—privacy and security of these...Via Ars Technica - 7 months 18 days ago
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As of February's passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the US is now committed to spending almost $800 billion to stimulate our stalled economy over the next few years. Apart from job creation, one of the goals of the stimulus package (as it's commonly called) is to boost long-term American competitiveness by rebuilding the now-depleted fund of basic research capital that the Cold War era produced, the dot-com era spent, and the post-9/11 security state finished...
Via Ars Technica - 7 months 18 days ago