John Lister

A prototype car offers self-driving technology with a twist: valet-style parking. The Nissan vehicle, which is codenamed NSC-2015, can also foil thieves by streaming live footage of a potential break-in. This new model was recently shown off by ... Nissan at a tech conference in Tokyo. Several companies are already working on driverless cars. However, in the few locations where their use is or will be allowed, laws say a driver must be inside the vehicle to take over in case of a malfunction. Nissan could circumvent these laws if the feature is used only on private land, such as driveways and ... (view more)

A woman whose business intentionally scammed computer users by means of bogus security software has been ordered to pay a $163 million fine. Kristy Ross was vice president of Innovative Marketing, a firm legally registered in Belize (likely for ... favorable tax purposes) but actually operating out of Ukraine. The company has been the subject of legal action by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the past four years. (Source: ftc.gov ) Bogus Security Scan Attracted Customers Innovative Marketing's business was actually a scareware scam: placing bogus website ads that pretended to scan a user's ... (view more)

Manufacturers of a three-dimensional printer have pulled the plug on a customer who planned to use the device to make a replica hand gun. The 3D printer works like a standard laser printer, but with two key differences. First, it uses a special ... "ink" made of plastic that becomes solid when heated. Second, it can print multiple layers on top of one another. Because the printer is driven by a computer, users can "print" almost any 3D shape using design software. 'Printed Gun' Info Tests Free Speech Limits A group called Defense Distributed wants to use the technology to make a point about ... (view more)

Tech analysts are questioning whether the new Windows Store will have enough software available when Windows 8 launches later this month. It could make it difficult to build momentum for such a big change in the way software is distributed. Windows ... 8 will introduce people to a new way to acquire and install software. Until now Windows users acquired software from developers and used an installation tool provided to them by that developer. Microsoft thinks there are a couple of problems with this process. Firstly, software developers don't always follow Microsoft's preferences for the ... (view more)

Iran's government has removed its block on Gmail in that nation, claiming it didn't mean to restrict access to the service. It now says the block was an unintended result of a deliberate effort to stop Iranians from viewing YouTube. These new claims ... contradict an earlier comment from an Iranian official who said last week: "Due to the repeated demands of the people, Google and Gmail will be filtered nationwide. They will remain filtered until further notice." Another government official now says: "Unfortunately, we do not yet have enough technical know-how to differentiate between these two ... (view more)

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has banned several companies from using spy software on computers they rent out. The banned software not only logged users' keystrokes but unobtrusively accessed the computers' webcams. PC Rental Agent is the ... software that appears to have been used in more than 400,000 "leasable" computers around the world, including those rented out by 1,617 rent-to-own stores in North America and Australia. (Source: ftc.gov ) The software is ostensibly designed to track down computers when rental customers disappear with the machines. However, the FTC has ... (view more)

Business groups are objecting to government proposals to restrict the way websites collect data about children. However, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reportedly prepared to disregard that opposition. Back in early August the commission ... announced its proposed changes, designed to bring old rules (written in the 1980s) up-to-date. Advertisers Forced Into Major Changes The new rules dramatically change how online advertising works. Under the new scheme, advertisers could no longer show children behavioral ads, which are selected based on the child's browsing history. In addition, for ... (view more)

Google's top executive in Brazil has been released pending a court date. Fabio Jose Silva Coelhoto was arrested because the company defied a court order to take down YouTube videos some say slander a mayoral candidate. The video clips reportedly ... suggest that a candidate in the city of Campo Grande has committed crimes. It's not clear at this point whether there is any truth to the allegations. However, local court actions suggests there is not. Judge Flavio Peren ruled last week that the videos breached Brazilian election law and must be removed. Peren also ruled that YouTube access should be ... (view more)

The Iranian government has blocked its citizens' access to Gmail and a secure version of Google. The move appears to be the first part of a larger plan to control exactly what Internet sites Iranians can access. An Iranian official who is part of a ... government group in charge of controlling Internet content says that "due to the repeated demands of the people, Google and Gmail will be filtered nationwide. They will remain filtered until further notice." (Source: com.au ) The official did not make clear exactly who made these demands. Insiders, however, note that many Iranian businesses use ... (view more)

Facebook has flatly denied that private messages sent between 'Friends' on that social network have appeared on users' public profile pages. Despite widespread reports of this problem in France, Facebook says the claims are a technical impossibility ... and may be the result of confusion. The claims were first reported by the French newspaper Metro, which wrote that "private messages dating from 2007, 2008 and 2009 now appear directly in user's timelines." However, Metro noted the "problem is not systematic." (Source: metrofrance.com ) Cheaters Exposed by Facebook Problem Following the reports, ... (view more)