John Lister

Facebook appears to be on the verge of suing Mark Zuckerberg because he likes the site too much. But this is no ordinary like -- and no ordinary Zuckerberg. The man in question is not the billionaire founder of Facebook, but rather an Israeli man ... who's trying an unusual tactic to highlight his side of a legal battle. He's an Israeli online businessman who was formerly known as Rotem Guez, but has now legally changed his name to Mark Zuckerberg (which is the exact same name of the CEO of Facebook). He's even taken out a passport in the new name. The dispute involves a company owned by the ... (view more)

Millions of users now running outdated versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) web browser will soon be forced by Microsoft to use newer versions of its proprietary browser. Older versions of Internet Explorer -- especially IE6, which was the ... default Internet Explorer that was bundled with Windows XP -- are extremely vulnerable to serious security threats and should not be used. Users who accept automatic updates of Windows, including its monthly security patches, will find their copy of Internet Explorer updated to a newer edition. Windows Vista or Windows 7 users will receive the ... (view more)

Microsoft has reassigned the man responsible for its mobile phone division during the past three years. Whether it's a snub for poor performance or a major change in the way the company serves desktop and mobile markets remains open to debate. Andy ... Lees, who was President of the Windows Phone division and oversaw all the company's work in the smartphone market has now been reassigned to work directly with Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer. His replacement, Terry Myerson, had been in charge of the division's engineering. Lees retains the title "President," while Myerson remains a corporate vice- ... (view more)

A Microsoft manager has revealed that the latest Windows Phone system already includes support for "contactless" smartphone payments in stores. However, there remain serious questions about the system's security status, which is still being worked ... on. Electronic Payments Make Transactions Quicker NFC is a form of wireless communication that works very much like Bluetooth and WiFi, but only over a much shorter distance (as little as a few centimeters). One of its primary uses could be to make electronic payments in stores without swiping a card. Although technically NFC payments are ... (view more)

A Georgia hospital was recently forced to turn ambulances away after their information systems were infected with a computer virus (malware). The problem meant staff were unable to process admissions quickly enough to cope with demand. A ... spokesperson for the Gwinnett Medical Center said that while a malicious software infection is rare, this one in particular was more severe than any before it. The virus affected the center's two facilities, located in Lawrenceville and Duluth. Hospital Admin Goes Back to the Pre-Computer Era The computer virus infection forced staff to take the details of ... (view more)

Windows 8 is said to include a new 'app store', where users can browse and install software for their PCs and mobile devices through Microsoft. The news is welcomed by many, as the apps will be under strict regulations. Microsoft, however, will ... retain the ability to delete or remove software programs ("apps") that it deems necessary. The ability to remotely delete software on whim, critics say, gives too much power to Microsoft. Microsoft Offers "Try Before You Buy" Software developers using Microsoft's new app store will be able to offer trial copies of their software ... (view more)

A leading tech analyst firm has predicted Windows 8 will fail to make a splash among ordinary consumers. The reasoning is that the most prominent new feature in Windows 8 is unlikely to be interesting enough to entice users to upgrade. The ... unflattering prediction comes from IDC, which has published a list of 10 predictions for 2012. The comments are only a matter of opinion and are thus largely speculative, however, they carry considerable weight with financial investors. Metro Interface Not Attractive To Most Users Writing about the new edition of Microsoft's operating system, IDC didn't say ... (view more)

A US Senator is demanding answers from a company accused of producing smartphone spyware . The firm, Carrier IQ, denies the accusation, and claims its software is designed solely for tracking service faults on the portable phones. The software ... appears to be installed without consumer knowledge or permission on millions of the handsets. It's usually installed in rootkit form , before the customer takes possession, and is difficult for ordinary users to discover or delete. Officially, the software is intended to track activity on the phone and report back to cellular networks. When faults are ... (view more)

Mozilla's Firefox is in the news this week and not for any positive reasons. The web browser slipped to third in the market behind Google's Chrome, and there's speculation a major financial backer of the browser may pull out. If so, that could be ... the end of the popular web browser. News on market share comes from Statcounter, which tracks visitors to about three million websites and collates this data to provide credible estimates of online usage. Google Chrome Usage Up 550% in 2 Years The company's figures for November show that Google's Chrome is used by 25.69 per cent of people worldwide ( ... (view more)

The controversial Wikileaks site has published documents that appear to show national governments using malicious software to carry out surveillance. The documents flesh out claims by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that private companies are ... profiting by selling the software to governments. Wikileaks has published a total of 287 files used by 160 commercial firms. It says this is only part of a larger collection that will be published, going forward. The most worrying aspect of the products detailed is that they are intentionally designed to bypass the type of security software available to ... (view more)