Robert Scoble, Microsoft’s alpha blogger, is leaving the software giant for startup PodTech.net. In an interview with Microsoft Watch, Scoble said this about his soon-to-be former employer: “Another surprise? That every bad decision that I thought was bad had a logical explanation behind it. I didn’t always agree with the decisions, but there was always… Read More: Scoble circumstances »
It seems that virus writers have created a Trojan that, in addition to harvesting data, deletes illicit files such as warez and porn from infected machines. Called “Erazer-A” (how appropriate!), the malware spreads across P2P networks, where it poses as useful program files. If executed, it scours folders used for P2P applications and erases matching… Read More: Is this a virus or what? »
Tech blogs are fizzing with rage at the fine print in Microsoft’s new Windows licensing policy. The software behemoth recently made a change to its license agreement saying that a new motherboard is equal to a new computer, hence a new Windows OEM license must be purchased if a motherboard is changed or upgraded. Here… Read More: Upgraded motherboard = new computer, says Microsoft »
Somehow, after reading about Steve Johnson’s six-hour ordeal with the iPod, I lost my entire faith in technology’s promise to rescue mankind from all its miseries. If an alleged Internet critic with a respectable organisation like Chicago Tribune can struggle with an idiot-proof product, what hope does the hapless man in the street have? But… Read More: Make it idiot-proof, and someone will make a better idiot »
In case you’ve downloaded Google Desktop 3 beta, here’s an article at ZDNet about a newly-added feature that may pose “serious privacy implications“. Apparently, the new version allows users to search for files across multiple computers, by storing copies of the user’s documents on Google’s servers. So if the servers are compromised by hackers, there… Read More: Privacy concerns over Google Desktop »
The Sony DRM debacle, apparently, is not an isolated case. In 2004, the company launched an e-book reader called Librie in Japan that also failed to take off. The reason? While Librie won plaudits for design, its high price and draconian antipiracy technology (users could only “rent” books from Sony for 60 days before the… Read More: Copy protection gone awry »