Internet

Google's popular service Gmail let down some users recently (and worried many others) when users reported missing emails. After investigating the situation, Google has reported that about 60 users have been affected by the problem. This represents ... an extremely small proportion of Gmail users -- a group in the tens of millions. (Source: thestreet.com ) Google spokesperson Courtney Hohne issued an emailed statement apologizing for the problem. "Once we found out about this issue, we worked day and night to confirm that only a few accounts were affected and to do whatever we could to restore as ... (view more)

YouTube has agreed to discuss copyright issues with a Japanese group, the company said last week. The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) had sent a letter to YouTube earlier this month requesting stricter ... copyright policies. The letter was sent on behalf of the JASRAC and 22 other Japanese entertainment industry associations, including the Motion Picture Producers' Association of Japan, Yahoo! Japan and all of the major commercial television broadcasters. (Source: pcadvisor.co.uk ) The reply, which was signed by YouTube CEO Chad Hurley and CTO Steven Chen, ... (view more)

The major television networks must be sick and tired of seeing their content streaming for free on YouTube. Viacom, Fox, CBS, and NBC have been in talks to jointly develop a YouTube competitor that would let the networks keep the advertising ... proceeds. But is such an arrangement possible? Perhaps. On one hand, the major networks have shown an interest in online content streaming. Many have their own portals that show the network's content with commercials. Developing a joint service would enable the networks to combine their expertise and create a central location for television network media ... (view more)

Google has dedicated a substantial amount of time revamping the comment sections on their popular YouTube website. Google will modify certain sections to address those concerned with the apparent lack of restriction, and conversely, lack of freedom ... in regards to their online media database. The changes will be a compromise that intends to appease both parties. When Google initially purchased YouTube.com, many users felt that corporate ownership would lead to restrictions placed upon their extensive video library. The company has countered these concerns by placing importance on user comments ... (view more)

It's been a while since we reported a big hire or promotion by one of our favorite major software or hardware companies. Back in the earlier months of 2006, it seemed like good 'ol Microsoft was moving people from one position to the next -- as if ... playing a game of boardroom magical chairs. As the Christmas season has set into gear, however, most companies have remained mum: until now. Dell has recently announced that former Wells Fargo employee, Sona Chawla, has been appointed head of online sales and support. Chawla will be working directly under Dell's senior vice president, John Hamlin. ... (view more)

You never know when a good news story might develop. But you do know that you have your trusty camera phone on hand if it does -- and so do Reuters and Yahoo. The two companies have teamed up to offer "You Witness News," a news service that allows ... people to submit their photos and videos, which may end up being published. Selected content will be featured on Reuters.com and Yahoo! News. Reuters also hopes to use some material in print beginning next year. (Source: dailytech.com ) The partnership attempts to capitalize on an increasingly popular form of news, known as "citizen journalism." The ... (view more)

It started with just Novell and Microsoft. If you haven't been reading along, the two companies recently joined forces in order to root out the many programming issues lying between Linux and Microsoft Windows. And although that relationship has had ... some rocky moments (mostly as a result of MS' patent infringement allegations), Novell is bridging out once, again. This time it's joining forces with Red Hat and Mozilla programmers in an attempt to avoid problematic technical boundaries between Firefox and Linux. Some Red Hat programmers have gone so far as to refer to the stability of Linux as ... (view more)

BitTorrent has secured a series of high-profiled agreements that will likely transform their company into a household name. The budding online video distributors are looking to make a major impact by signing deals with Paramount, MTV and 20th ... Century Fox, among other lesser known studios. BitTorrent is a peer-assisted digital content delivery service that enables registered users to publish and download content from a list of popular movies, music, games and other entertainment media. (Source: topix.net ) The company has already acquired the rights to distribute content from Warner Bros. ... (view more)

Yahoo's Senior Vice President Brad Garlinghouse caused a bit of a stir recently when he posted an internal memo calling for dramatic company change. The memo, entitled "The Peanut Butter Manifesto," outlined the company's numerous problems. When ... discussing Yahoo's lack of focus, Garlinghouse chose a very appropriate analogy: "I've heard our strategy described as spreading peanut butter across the myriad opportunities that continue to evolve in the online world. The result: a thin layer of investment spread across everything we do and thus we focus on nothing in particular. I hate peanut ... (view more)

If you've ever tried to learn some programming or Photoshop on your own, you know that you've spent many an hour googling what it is you're trying to do. But now comes tutorialicious, an online tutorial aggregator that groups together the best ... programming, design and Photoshop tutorials on the web. With tutorialicious, you can isolate just one type of tutorial category (e.g. AJAX) by clicking its link to filter the view, or you can view all of them grouped together. There is also a link to submit a tutorial, so if you know of any (or if you have written any!), you can contribute them to the ... (view more)