John Lister

Google says it was "mortified" at word that its staff have been using misrepresentation to win business in Africa. Employees of the US search firm have been accused of using a Kenyan company's business listings to contact customers and pitch a ... competing service. The victimized firm is known as "Mocality," a company that tries to help businesses of all size benefit from the Internet. Mocality is paid to index details of Kenyan companies, creating an online directory of more than 170,000 firms. Last year, the company began receiving phone calls from companies asking about ... (view more)

Online battles between Saudi and Israeli hackers have moved from credit card hacks to the shutting down of whole websites. The online 'war' began early this month, when a hacker claiming to be from Saudi Arabia published stolen Israeli credit card ... details . The actual location of the hacker, who used the code-name xOmar 0 (and variations, such as OxOmar), remains in dispute, with some experts claiming he is in Mexico. Assertions about the number of compromised credit card accounts also vary from 15,000 to 400,000. Political Leaders Speak Out The credit card attack had political ramifications ... (view more)

The number of computers sent to stores at the end of 2011 appears to have taken a surprising dip, leaving the industry anxious about the expected release of Windows 8 later in 2012 . Manufacturers' US shipments dropped 6.71 per cent during the last ... quarter of 2011, while the global figure fell just a little: about 1,600 fewer computers in a sea of more than 90 million units. At this stage, it appears the total shipments for the year will rise, compared with 2010, but by the smallest margin since 2001. (Source: betanews.com ) Big Sales Increases Year-to-Year the Norm It's worth noting that a ... (view more)

A military and security intelligence firm that fell victim to a hacking attack has suffered another embarrassment, even while analysis reveals that hundreds of military and political officials had their digital details exposed by hackers. As ... reported last month , hackers struck Stratfor (or "Strategic Forecasting"), a Texas-based security consulting and analysis firm. They captured details of some 4,000 clients, cheekily using the stolen credit card information to make charitable donations. Stratfor customers recently received an email apparently sent by CEO, George Friedman, asking ... (view more)

A new app for Apple's iPad will allow users to run Windows applications, including Microsoft Office. The Windows applications are available via OnLive, an online digital media distribution service. The Windows environment and applications don't run ... on the user's own iPad; instead, they are available through streaming services from OnLive's cloud computing platform , which is a form of centralized computing . Though the iPad user doesn't have a physical keyboard and mouse, they are able to use genuine Windows 7 controls specially designed by Microsoft for tablet computers accessing the Windows ... (view more)

Twitter has accused Google of fixing its search results to boost to its own social networking service, Google+. Twitter says the move produces results that don't accurately reflect the latest news. The dispute involves search engines (like Google) ... that once merely scanned and indexed static web pages, but now factor in a variety of sources, including online networking posts. In the past, Google included Twitter posts in its main search results, including messages that had been re-tweeted (reposted) frequently. Unlike Google's main results list, this "Real-time search" would regularly refresh ... (view more)

The Swedish government has formally recognized a church based on the belief that people have the right to copy digital data. The Church of Kopimism claims that information is holy, with an inherent value, and the act of copying information, known as ... "kopyacting" is a religious activity that increases the value of information by passing it to more people. The group even claims keystrokes CTRL + C and CTRL + V as religious symbols, the common key combination used for copying and pasting data using a computer keyboard. Cynical observers, however, suggest the Church of Kopimism exists not to ... (view more)

Microsoft has announced it will include two single-button options in Windows 8 to help users cope with a serious computer crash. Both will reinstall Windows, including one option that allows users to retain some data. The buttons will be accessible ... within normal Windows operations. But if problems with Windows 8 become serious enough that a user can't get into the operating system, the two new system recovery buttons will also be available in Windows RE (recovery environment). The recovery environment is a standalone menu that PCs can load even when they aren't able to boot the full Windows ... (view more)

German automaker Volkswagen has agreed to ease the pressures on some of their employees by not forwarding emails to their BlackBerry handsets outside of work hours. The change toward a better work-and-life balance was negotiated by trade unions, but ... will not affect non-unionized workers or those working in countries other than Germany. Under the agreement, Volkswagen will reconfigure its email servers, which currently make sure all emails go straight to staff on the phones, even if they aren't currently logged in to a work-provided PC. The switch will mean that email messages will be sent out ... (view more)

The National Football League (NFL) has signed a deal that allows US viewers to watch the Super Bowl live on the Internet and smartphones, as well as on TV. It's considered the biggest test yet of the potential for audiences beyond traditional ... television sets. Under the deal, the game will be broadcast on NBC television as scheduled, but will also stream live on the NFL's own website, as well as on NBCSports.com. The service will be restricted to viewers in the United States. It will work in the same way as an existing arrangement by which NBC shows regular-season games online. The new ... (view more)