Facebook's inadvertent war on women continues. After saying it fixed a glitch locking scores od female user accounts yesterday, Facebook went on to tell more women this morning that they are banned for life as impersonators — of themselves. (Updated)
The virtual utopia controlled by Steve Jobs will expand greatly, bringing even more of the world under the thumb of the Apple CEO. That's the most promising—and dangerous—development to emerge from Apple's big products rollout today.
Facebook's new groups can help enhance your privacy, but they're also a ridiculously easy way to spam other users on the social network. It's only a matter of time before the bad guys figure this out and start wrecking inboxes.
Last night Google rolled out a bug that would be comical if it weren't so astounding and grating: Open your Gmail inbox, and old school ragtime music starts playing, and can't be stopped. The solution: Use less Google.
Google wants everyone talking about its unique defiance of China's authoritarian rulers. But Silicon Valley gossips increasingly see that spin as a cover-up for the real story: A humiliating security breach exposed cloud computing's dangers and imperils Google's growth.
Larry Ellison threw a fantastic tantrum against the mindless cult of "Cloud Computing," a fascination of "nitwit" Silicon Valley investors, as Ellison calls them. But the Oracle CEO was himself once a "nitwit." Just look:
Here's the stuff of conservative nightmares: The Obama administration wants to "mind map" America using computers, inspired by the Big Brother of Silicon Valley
Flickr deleted a controversial Barack Obama caricature; it nuked thousands of pictures over some comments about Obama. What sort of political expression is allowed on the Yahoo photo-sharing service? Unclear: Flickr decided a conversation on the topic was... not allowed.
Microsoft has discontinued licensing for Windows 3.x, the first version of the hated OS to come anywhere near rivaling a Mac. The 1990-era operating system was still in use as "embedded" software in cash registers and ticketing systems. Call me nostalgic, but I miss the limited functionality of those old systems. Now,…
You would think an online print-on-demand bookstore would be able to print books on demand. But you'd be wrong! A reader reports that he wasn't able to finish checking out a book on Lulu, a print-on-demand startup. (Red Hat founder Bob Young, shown here, was inspired to start the company after he ended up with boxes…
For years, Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne has maintained a loony crusade against Wall Street traders, claiming there was a conspiracy to sell his company's stock short. (He may well have been onto something — but then again, a stopped clock is right twice a day.) CIO reveals a far more serious problem affecting…
Pity the poor Microsoft employees in charge of protecting Windows from third-party apps with security holes. The only code they can fix is Microsoft's. But as John Markoff reports this morning, Microsoft's boldest move to protect Windows Vista users totally backfired:
Bakasoftware, a Russian operation, makes $5 million a year pushing its Antivirus XP program on Windows users. At least, that's the estimate based on internal files obtained by another Russian hacker. John Markoff's report explains scareware for NYT readers. Best part: When Bakasoftware's malware program launches…
CEO Steve Ballmer's hints at a Windows Web operating system have materialized as Windows Azure. More of a service than an operating system, Azure lets Windows developers write Web-based software that can use existing Microsoft Windows and Office technologies in conjunction with Windows Live websites. See a pattern? No…
Most old software gets remaindered to the bargain bins. Not Windows XP, however. In June, Dell wangled a deal with Microsoft to let it install the older operating system for customers who didn't want Vista. In June, the companies charged $50 extra. According to this order page, XP now costs an extra $99 — on top of…
PBS pundit Robert X. Cringely says he realized at last week's MIT Technology Review conference that cloud computing means, in short, "No database." Cringely sees it as the end of Oracle's dominance of information technology. I expect Oracle Cloud any day now. Here's a summary of Cringely's long article, plus the joke…
Fifteen million people are estimated to be eligible for a class-action lawsuit filed against Microsoft, because they bought "Vista Capable" PCs that can only be upgraded to the most Basic version of the new operating system. I have one — it lacks a graphics card powerful enough to run Vista's slick Aero interface. I'd…
Windows Cloud, outlined briefly by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at a conference in London this morning, is a separate project from Windows 7, the successor to Vista. Ballmer didn't say much, claiming he didn't want to spoil the official announcement. But he made it clear that sorry, no, Microsoft won't be moving to a…
A truism of PR: Get all the bad news out at once. Etelos, a startup Web-applications marketplace, fired its CEO, Jeff Garon, last week, but didn't bother to tell shareholders until Wednesday. Founder Danny Kolke, the company's CTO, has taken back control for now. But that's not all: A tipster tells us the company may…
The next version of Windows after Vista won't include Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery, and Windows Movie Maker. Instead, Microsoft will offer the Windows Live versions of these apps as optional downloads. Brian Hall, the general manager for Windows Vista, told CNET late Monday that "Microsoft made the decision…
