service

Mon
21
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

Your Printer May Be Spying On You

In yet another case where government appears to be above the law, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has issued a report warning that your printer may be spying on you. Some color laser manufacturers are encoding each page with identifying ... information -- secret code that could be used to identify the printer and, potentially, the person who used it. Without your knowledge or consent, an act you assume is private could become public. What's worse is that there are no laws to prevent abuse. There's little to stop the Secret Service from using printer codes to secretly trace the origin of ... (view more)

Fri
18
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

DVD Rentals Coming To Xbox 360

Netflix and Microsoft have struck a deal to allow Xbox 360 owners to legally stream movies to their TV sets. The service, which launches this fall, will be free with any subscription to the Netflix rental-by-mail service. Although a couple of ... dedicated media streaming boxes already carry licensed Netflix content, this is the first time a games console has had the ability. Netflix already lets subscribers on all but its cheapest subscription package watch unlimited movies on-demand through their PC. However, copy protection means PC users can only stream movies to their television sets at a ... (view more)

Wed
02
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

T-Mobile Wants You to Give Up Your Landline for $10/month

T-Mobile recently announced a new home phone plan that will eliminate the age-old attachment we have to landlines. The new T-Mobile@Home plan will use a wireless router to send and receive calls: "calls are transmitted from a handset to the Internet ... through the T-Mobile router; then, the call is completed through the use of voice-over-Internet-protocol technology." (Source: enews20.com ) Many cell-phone users prefer to retain their home phone and use their cells merely for convenience. Some also feel safer knowing that they have a fail-safe phone line at home, that won't have the problems of ... (view more)

Tue
01
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

Google Website Tracker Has Ironic Flaw

A new Google tool to track the comparative popularity of websites has a notable hitch: it doesn't measure Google itself. The service also doesn't cover sites owned by Google, such as YouTube or Blogger. Google Trends for Websites is an extension of ... the existing service which measures the phrases people are looking for most often and how popularity changes over time. The new service tracks websites, making it a competitor to established trackers such as Alexa.com. Any user can get a graph showing traffic over time, while registered users can get further details such as estimated numbers and a ... (view more)

Wed
25
Jun
Dennis Faas's picture

City Wide Wi-Fi for Philadelphia Residents

In a strange but visionary move, the city of Philadelphia re-started a plan to offer free out-of-doors wireless access throughout the city. The project was initially planned for 2005, but stopped production last week after complaints of signal ... weaknesses. The original project, run by EarthLink, also suffered from "cost overruns, spotty coverage, rapidly rising expenses, and unenthusiastic acceptance by paying subscribers." At that time 6,000 of the city's 1.4 million citizens had registered for the service. (Source: wirelessphiladephia.org ) The current project consists of wireless ... (view more)

Thu
15
May
Dennis Faas's picture

Microsoft-Google Battle Goes Galactic

Microsoft is launching an online service giving users access to images from space telescopes. It could mean yet another battle with Google, which has its own service, Google Sky. Bill Gates says the WorldWide Telescope project should be online by ... the end of the month. The free service is based on Microsoft's Visual Experience Engine, the same technology which runs the Microsoft Virtual Earth mapping software. By combining this software with thousands of images taken from space cameras, the service effectively acts as an interactive telescope. Where appropriate there will also be links to ... (view more)

Thu
24
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Sony Plans for Movie Downloads, Again

Rumors emerged earlier this week that Sony would begin offering a video download service for the Playstation 3 (PS3). The company is also reportedly in talks with the major studios and television networks, providing the third incarnation of the ... service after the abysmal failures of Movielink (sold to Blockbuster) and Sony Connect (recently discontinued). Has Sony already squandered its chances? Its main competitor, Microsoft's Xbox 360, already delivers movie and television shows with its Xbox Live service. Then there are the other set-top boxes such as Apple TV and Tivo. (Source: slashdot. ... (view more)

Tue
15
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Google Offers Free Server Space To Developers

Google has given 10,000 developers free access to its servers to test and run new applications. The Google App Engine is a service by which developers can write their own applications; in effect, online programs. It's the same system Google uses for ... its own online services, including a calendar and a photo gallery. It's considered a challenge to similar services from Amazon, which rents out server space. Servers are the computers that physically store and run online programs and web pages. Many individuals and small firms find it cheaper to rent server space rather than buy and maintain their ... (view more)

Mon
14
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Flickr Flashes New Video Feature In Challenge To YouTube

The image-hosting site Flickr has launched an online video page that appears to be a natural rival to YouTube. However, most analysts think the move has come too late. It's an extension of the search engine wars: Flickr is owned by Yahoo, while ... Google owns YouTube. Though Yahoo already has a video hosting service, it's only available to media outlets and professionals. The new Flickr service will allow anyone to view videos, but only 'pro' members can upload footage. This will cost $24.95 a year, and even then clips will be limited to 90 seconds. That's in sharp contrast to YouTube, which ... (view more)

Thu
10
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

EU Approves Cell Phones for In-Flight Use

On Monday, regulators released plans to allow in-flight cell phone use across all 27 nations in the European Union once a flight has reached an altitude of 10,000 feet. The service will be provided for Global System for Mobile communications ... (G.S.M.) handsets only, a standard that is used by 90% of wireless users in Europe. A device called 'On Air', created by Airbus, will be used to create a small cellular network on board an aircraft and then send signals via satellite to cell towers on the ground. (Source: nytimes.com ) Despite the government's good intentions, various problems remain or ... (view more)

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