Twitter developer hints it may not be hot on Ruby on Rails after all
Can the recent plague of technical problems affecting text communications service Twitter be blamed on the language on which its platform was designed? Earlier, the company said no...but some within the company are hinting otherwise.
Two weeks ago, following the rapid spread of rumors that the Twitter service -- recently besieged with technical troubles -- may be abandoning the Ruby on Rails development platform in building a replacement platform for itself, the company's co-founder Biz Stone flat out refuted those rumors in a comment to BetaNews.
Apple releases OS X 10.5.3, users report problems
The update to Apple's operating system fixes a multitude of its security vulnerabilities, but some users are reporting issues with graphics and Adobe CS3 after upgrading.
Along with fixing issues with incorrect fonts, video and audio playback, and wireless network connectivity, at least two dozen security issues were patched.
New for Google's Android: StreetView, GlobalTime, Notifications
Members of Google's Android team leveraged Google's I/O conference this week as a launch platform for demos of new Android features, ranging from an application launcher called Notifications to a compass-based StreetView application.
The Android mobile development will probably become available in the second half of this year, said members of Google's Android team at the company's I/O conference in San Francisco this week, who gave a first-time demo of an Android prototype device.
Lenovo hardware must qualify for Olympics too
As the Beijing Olympics approach, the testing deadline draws nearer for a technology infrastructure which has been built exclusively for the games by Lenovo. So the company is staging a dress rehearsal.
Lenovo reports over 30,000 pieces of its equipment will be used (desktop and notebook systems, servers, monitors, etc.) during the 2008 Summer Olympics, with some 580 of its engineers working on site.
OpenOffice tests show it's progressively getting slower
An effort to effectively benchmark the relative speed of OpenOffice applications has turned up evidence that its applications have become slower with each new version.
Users wanting to break away from Microsoft Windows and Office have had little viable alternatives when looking for competing products. Many of those interested in something other than Microsoft Office have chosen the OpenOffice suite of software, which offers programs and services similar to Microsoft's software suite.
Adobe to unveil its second edition of PDF Print Engine
The PostScript era may at last have shuffled off its mortal coil, as the next generation of Adobe's printing workflow and reproduction system for PDF gets set to roll out to OEMs this summer.
At one time -- longer ago than it sometimes seems -- the software print engine of the modern world was based around PostScript, and Adobe was on top of the world as the champion of that format. The first editions of PDF were perceived as not so much an encapsulated PostScript but as an abbreviated alternative to it, mostly for ordinary text documents. But as that standard evolved into the format of choice for Web-based brochures and marketing literature, its capability to reproduce images and graphics eventually exceeded that of PostScript.
Comcast.net hacked, DNS servers changed
Visitors to Comcast's Internet portal were greeted with a cryptic message for several hours overnight Thursday.
Checks by BetaNews indicated that the problems as a result of the hack were continuing even into Thursday afternoon, including problems with accessing Web-based e-mail and the company's support forums.
EC task force recommends a 'plan of action' for IPv6
A recommendation to the European Parliament regarding implementation and support for IPv6 addresses clearly states that legislators should, pretty soon, most definitely, whenever they can, do something.
European and Japanese Internet policy experts are now in agreement that the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority will likely run out of possible octet-based IPv4 addresses to assign to prospective registrants as soon as 2010. A recommendation by a task force led by the European Commission (PDF available here) states that as of January 2008, only 16% of the span of IPv4 addresses will be available in the IANA pool.
Sony re-enters the glass tube business, with an innovative new speaker
Sony is a company well known for creating new and innovative products, and has done it again with a new transparent tube speaker that will be released in Japan for a hefty price tag.
During a press event at Sony headquarters in Tokyo, the company introduced an innovative speaker design that uses hard glass instead of paper and magnesium used in regular speaker designs.
South Africa to appeal Open XML's ratification as a standard
Letters have been sent to both the International Standards Organization and the International Electrotechnical Commission saying the standardization process was flawed.
South Africa is believed to be the first country to file a formal appeal with the world's two leading technology standards organizations, protesting the ratification of what had been called "Office Open XML" as ISO/IEC 29500, and contesting its validity as a standard. The South African Bureau of Standards argued in both cases the process was rushed, and too much information was needed to be analyzed in too short a time.
FCC now seems open to free Wi-Fi plan
In a variation of a plan it previously shot down, the Federal Communications Commission has proposed that the winner of a newly planned spectrum auction be required to offer free wireless Internet service.
The FCC's proposal essentially sounds similar to a suggestion made last year by M2Z Networks, the first company to suggest free wireless Internet nationwide. The free wireless network would be required to cover half of the country's citizens within four years, and 95 percent within a decade. FCC officials told the Wall Street Journal that content restrictions would be placed on use.
Early pictures reveal Acer's next sub-notebook
If sub-notebooks weren't so small, it would be getting very crowded in here. The second addition to the ultra-portable PC category in as many days comes from Acer and its "Aspire One."
Acer's low-cost sub-notebook lacks firm specifications thus far, but the screen looks to be 8.9" with 1024 x 768 resolution. Further information is expected to be revealed at the Computex trade show in Taipei next week. UMPC Portal suspects it is an Atom/Diamondville device like the 1.6 Ghz MSI Wind, and Digitimes expects it to carry a price tag under €200.
As Google Gears turns one, it lands its biggest customers yet
Google's Web services project has been renamed simply "Gears," and the company has announced that MySpace will use the technology in its e-mail platform.
"We want to make it clear that Gears isn't just a Google thing. We see Gears as a way for everyone to get involved with upgrading the web platform," software engineer Chris Prince said.
Via bets everything on new ultra-low-power, single-core CPUs
Just two days after announcing it has released an open source model for a new UMPC platform based on its own CPUs and motherboards, Via announced a new Nano processor based on its "Isaiah" architecture.
Via Technologies' low-power x86 Nano processor will be offered alongside its existing, venerable C7 while directly competing with Intel's Atom. The Nano processor family boasts at least four times the performance of the C7, while staying within the same power range and remaining pin-compatible.
VMware invests in an SMT provider in its battle against Microsoft
Public perception is half the battle, especially when the prize is a virtual one. Yesterday, VMware placed a big bet that it could be perceived as a full-service provider like Microsoft, by acquiring a systems management tool company called B-hive.
Last year, Microsoft officials admitted they didn't hold any expectations for their company to suddenly become perceived as the world leader in virtualization, even if they end up outshipping VMware or Citrix XenSource quantitatively by virtue of the availability of Hyper-V for Windows Server 2008. But it did intend to leverage its existing position not only as an operating system provider but as an indisputable competitor in systems management tools, as a way to offer customers at least a complete package.
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