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Google Sued For “Massive Copyright Infringement”
Posted by Devin Categories: Corporate News, Internet,
The Author’s Guild, a group of over 8,000 authors, has accused Google of “massive copyright infringement,” claiming that the search engine takes the works of the authors which have been licensed to particular public and university libraries and puts them in the public domain, therefore violating their copyrights. The New York-based non-profit organization says in the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan that, “By reproducing for itself a copy of those works that are not in the public domain, Google is engaging in massive copyright infringement. It has infringed, and continues to infringe, the electronic rights of the copyright holders of those works,”. So what’s Google’s response? “We regret that this group has chosen litigation to try to stop a program that will make books and the information within them more discoverable to the world,” the company said in a statement. Google also claims that authors and/or publishers can exclude their books if they don’t want their works included in the index.
Read More 
| USA Today
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Google Confirms Google WiFi Testing
Posted by Devin Categories: Internet, PC / Laptop, Wireless / WiFi,
Google confirmed Tuesday that it has begun a limited test of Google WiFi, it’s free wireless Internet service. A spokesman for Google, Nate Tyler, says the test is limited to a pizza parlor and a gym, both located in Silicon Valley. “Google WiFi is a community outreach program to offer free wireless access in areas near our headquarters,” Tyler said, “At this stage in development, we’re focused on collecting feedback from users. We’ll determine next steps as the product evolves.” Tyler also explained that the Google WiFi was created through the “20 percent time project” in which Google allows its engineers to spend 20% of their work time creating personal projects.
Read More | Reuters
Apple Makes Major .Mac Improvements
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Internet, PC / Laptop, Software,
Late last night Apple unleashed a slew of new features and improvements to their .Mac subscription service, including:
.Mac Groups: .Mac members can now easily create private, ad-free online communities that make it easy for family, friends and private groups to communicate, coordinate and share digital media. With .Mac Groups, members can send emails to the entire group using a single address; post files, pictures and movies with a common group iDisk; publish group web pages and post links to other sites; and keep up-to-date with the latest group events with a shared iCal calendar.
Backup 3: .Mac Backup has been redesigned from the ground up resulting in easier setup, quicker backups and the ability to seamlessly automate the process so users don’t have to remember to run a backup. New features include the ability to automatically back up iLife content, Home folder, iTunes purchased music, and other Mac essentials. Built-in Mac OS X “Tiger” Spotlight search capabilities make it easy to select specific files to backup, while incremental backups help to save time and media costs.
Increased Online Storage: .Mac members now have four times more online storage space than before to host their email messages, documents and digital media files. Storage for individual members has increased to 1GB of combined email and iDisk space, .Mac Family Pack customers now receive 2GB of combined storage. Members can utilize their storage any way they choose dedicating more or less storage space to email or their iDisk. Individuals or Family Pack members can optionally purchase an additional 1GB of storage for US$49.95 annually.
French and German Localization: In addition to English and Japanese, localized versions of the .Mac website are now available in French and German.
I will be diving into the .Mac groups later today, but I must say that for now, I am most excited about the storage increase to 1 GB from a measly 250 MB. Good job, Apple.
Read More | .Mac
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We recently got a peek at Interactive Television Networks (ITVN) service. The box hooks up to your television, and provides broadband television using a high-speed Internet connection. The service was surprisingly seamless when demoed, working just as smoothly as my cable provider. So far there are three packages: Gold, Adult, and Platinum which are priced at $29.95, $29.95, and $49.95, respectively. The network, which has been teased for its mostly pornographic offerings, is finally branching out with content that is more family friendly. The list of channels isn’t impressive since there’s no MTV, CNN and so forth. All stations proprietary channels from ITVN, including a few which are on demand. For example, their music video channel allows you to control which videos you want to watch. ITVN also told us that they have a few more channels to be released by the end of this year. One nice thing about the service is that it includes high definition content. The idea behind this is entertaining, but without the support of more well known networks it doesn’t yet have that mainstream feel which is ready for the public. After all, we can only watch so much Dean Martin.
Read More | ITVN
Need Disaster Help from FEMA? Hope You’re Using Internet Explorer…
Posted by Kristin Wenzel Categories: Internet, Misc. Tech,
FEMA’s online registration site for victims of Hurricane Katrina is browser specific, throwing another completely unneeded wrench into an already dismal situation for Katrina survivors. Users of other browsers are greeted by this cheerful message upon trying to login:
In order to use this site, you must have JavaScript Enabled and Internet Explorer version 6.
Download it from Microsoft or call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) to register.
Fantastic. Actually, wait, no. It’s not. It’s simple to fix and sheer laziness on the part of whoever threw the site up. It’s not acceptable, seeing as people may not have access or time to download and install a new browser, for one. Additionally, why make things harder for people who’ve already had it pretty darn hard (and that’s an understatement) to begin with, but that’s just the beginning. In an article from Ars Technica:
Something so minor has become a considerable problem for relief workers, who are attempting to setup as many kiosks as possible for refugees. Workers on the ground have told Ars Technica that they would prefer to avoid setting up Windows XP workstations because they take longer to setup, and even longer to properly patch and configure for use.
XP hardware requirements, while not impressive by today’s standards, rule out using some donated hardware as well. Furthermore, legitimate copies of Windows also cost money, and relief workers are trying to stretch their dollars as far as they can go.
The last thing we really need in a disaster situation is the need for licensing copies of Windows at a high price, software that won’t work on the donated hardware, viruses, security problems, and people waiting for Windows to install (which, on my uber-slick hand-built PC, took three hours and then another hour and a half to patch and update everything). On donated hardware, probably not top-of-the-line brand new stuff like mine… I don’t even want to think of how long it could take.
Nice move, FEMA. Fix it. This is not acceptable.
Read More | ArsTechnica
4G Mobile Data Access Could Reach 1Gbps
Posted by Sparky Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Internet,
NTT DoCoMo has announced that their 4th generation wireless data technologies will reach speeds of 1Gbps while stationary, and 100Mbps while on the move. Speeds of this magnitude are faster than current wired broadband technologies, and paints a pretty picture for the future of mobile content. With technologies like HD video streams and next generation web content getting more and more bandwidth intensive, the consumer broadband revolution is just starting. If it can be driven by wireless technologies, then all the better. Wireless technologies have an advantage over solutions such as Verizon FIOS given that while they require similar amounts of back end infrastructure, they do not require actually running fiber or another medium to every single endpoint (your house, for instance).
Read More | New Scientist
Logitech Harmony 890 Universal Remote with RF Capabilities
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Home Entertainment, Internet, Peripherals,
Even more from Logitech, and this one is pretty sweet. Basically, the company took the Harmony 880, made it silver, and added RF capabilities. This means that it has that nice 880-styled color screen, rechargeable lithium ion battery, and backlit keys.
Logitech´s Harmony 890 Remote Control uses both radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) wireless signals to deliver complete control of your home-entertainment system that may be hidden behind cabinets or in separate rooms. With a wireless range of up to 100 feet, the Harmony 890 remote sends RF commands to a base station, which then blasts infrared signals to any components in that zone. With the Harmony 890 remote, you can create a system that involves multiple remotes and/or base stations to deliver control of all the entertainment zones throughout the home.
This one is not too shabby, although at $399 USD, the only place we might see these in action is on MTV Cribs.
Read More | Logitech Harmony 890 Product Page
Google may be about to release the GoogleOS. A screenshot has emerged claiming to be of the operating system and displaying hits of a GoogleSuite and advanced search technology. The GoogleSuite would be a word processor, and spreadsheet application - coupled with Gmail, Gtalk, and an internet browser most of the average users needs would be met. We don’t think that this is really going to happen and are of the mindset that the screenshot is a photoshopped fake - the UI is too primitive to be a reality, and Google seems better served by providing everything as a web application. The one way that Google could really be on to something here is if they can polish it up and make it into a LiveCD that a user could stick into any computer and run to have an instant copy of the GoogleOS without harming the hard drive. Assuming that the computer had a fast internet connection when the computer booted the user could log into their Gmail account and load all of their settings, preferences, and files. Then when you are done, eject the CD and walk away. Over at Gear Live we are not holding our breath but we certainly will watch this to see if it develops into something interesting.
—Update—
It looks like our guess about a LiveCD was not too far off. Gizmodo has provided additional information that it will be installed onto a USB keychain hard drive. While not a lot of details about this exist at the moment it’s looking like more and more of a possibility that this is real. While the new details emerging seem technically sound (and even quite advanced in some respects) hopefully Google will polish the UI a bit more before they would release a useful product like this onto the marketplace.
Read More | Grooan via Gizmodo
The Music Genome Project is behind this service. It used to be an invitation only service, similar to Gmail, and its features that sound pretty impressive. It uses an end-user rating system where you rate whether you like what is playing or not.
A new service allowing you to create your own radio station, shareable with friends, and made up with as many, custom-created and personalized music-channels as you like has made its public debut in the last few hours.
Basically, it’s like Yahoo! Launch, except extremely customizable and sharable. This cool service costs $36 for a year or $12 for 3 months.
Read More | Pandora via Lockergnome
Opera’s award winning browser (now in version 8.02) is free for one day to celebrate their 10th anniversary. From 12 AM Tuesday, August 30 to 12 AM Wednesday, August 31 2005 (PDT), you can send an email to registerme@opera.com to receive a free registration code for their professional quality and fully standards compliant browser - a $39 value. As a long time Opera fan I just have to say what a fantastic deal this is. Opera is the fastest, most stable browser I’ve ever used and with it’s consistent interface across Mac/Win/Linux/BSD/Solaris and great integrated feature set. Get your self on down to download.com and grab a copy - just do it before August is over or you will be out $39 for the pleasure.
Read More | Download.com
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