John Lister

It seems the world's most popular social networking site was just moments away from acquiring another -- and few of us ever knew about it. A Facebook executive has revealed that a planned takeover of Twitter only fell apart because of a disagreement ... over stock valuations. Despite the rather miserable economy, Facebook is still looking to buy out other firms and says it could make a billion dollars a year from advertising. Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist who put up some of the money behind Facebook, discussed the deal in a Business Week interview. (Thiel was discussing the business aspects ... (view more)

Microsoft could lose more than $800 million dollars a year in the British market if the country's government sticks to plans to use more open source software. New guidelines say public services should avoid being locked into proprietary products. ... The changes don't mean Windows will be ditched overnight (as is happening in Vietnam ), but instead policy will be that open source software should be used wherever it presents a better value. This could include both Linux-based operating systems and open source applications such as the Microsoft Office-like Open Office. Larger organizations may also ... (view more)

Windows 7 beta testers are disputing whether or not Microsoft's is taking notice of their feedback. The dispute follows a blog post by Steven Sinofsky, the man in charge of engineering Windows 7 . He notes that in one week in January Microsoft ... received data through Windows 7's automatic feedback system every 15 seconds. According to Sinofsky, it's impossible to keep everyone happy. That's partly because there are only so many changes Microsoft can make to the system and still finish it, and partly because in many cases testers often have opposing views about a feature. (Source: msdn.com ) Ina ... (view more)

A new report finds that British politicians are not doing enough to harness the two-way communications offered by the Internet. While most use emails and have a website, few have their own personal blogs or social networking pages. The survey, ... carried out by research group the Hansard Society, questioned 168 of the 646 members of the British parliament, selected as a representative sample. Only 8% of those questioned did not have a website. However, the proportion who engaged in other forms of online communication was generally inversely proportional to the level of interactivity involved. ... (view more)

Internet radio site Last.fm has denied reports that it told the record industry which of its members had listened to a leaked U2 album. The site claims the entire story, published by Techcrunch, was made up. Last week the record industry became ... extremely concerned after U2's forthcoming album appeared on several torrent file sharing sites. While there is no way any users could have acquired the album through Last.fm, the site's statistics suggest that more than 8,000 users have played the unreleased album on their machines. Employees 'Up In Arms' Late on Friday night the tech blogging site ... (view more)

Microsoft has revealed that Windows 7 will include better mobile broadband connection, more and clearer fonts, and improved handwriting recognition. But most analysts are more interested in several updates which will contain absolutely nothing new. ... Starting on Tuesday, Microsoft is releasing up to five updates to the current beta edition of the system. The updates do not contain any new features or fix any problems: that won't come until the next test edition. These updates simply replace files with near-identical copies and are designed to ensure that the Windows Update delivery system is ... (view more)

Several incidents this week have reawakened questions over Apple's policy of screening submissions to its iPhone App store -- including the recent rejection of a highly-anticipated South Park app. There have been repeated claims of inconsistency ... ever since the launch of the store, the only official way to distribute applications for use on the iPhone and iPod touch. An official South Park app, which would have featured streaming clips from the show, was first submitted for review in October. It was finally rejected this week because the content is "potentially offensive". Even if you agree ... (view more)

Casino operators have warned that a new card-counting program for the iPhone could earn sneaky players a felony violation. That's because using electronic devices in such a way is barred nationwide. The application, which costs $3.99, helps players ... take advantage of the fact that used cards aren't always replaced in the deck before each hand of blackjack. Keeping track of the cards which have already played can give players a better chance of predicting which cards will come up in future hands, letting them place higher or lower bets accordingly. Card counting such as this isn't illegal in ... (view more)

Web users in New Zealand are today blacking out their profiles on social networking sites to highlight objections to a new copyright law that orders Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to disconnect any user or websites merely suspected of copyright ... infringements . The photo blackout, which has extended to sites including Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, is just the first step in a week of protests. It will climax next Monday when websites are asked to take down their content for a day to demonstrate what life without Internet access would be like. The protests are organized by the Creative ... (view more)

Microsoft is launching its own dedicated retail stores in hopes the move will allow them more scope for hands-on demonstrations of products. David Porter, a former executive from Wal-Mart and DreamWorks, has been hired to oversee the project. Porter ... will not only be in charge of the design and operation of stores, but must find suitable locations for the 'small number' of stores which Microsoft plans to open at first. The firm says "The purpose of opening these stores is to create deeper engagement with consumers and continue to learn firsthand about what they want and how they buy." (Source ... (view more)