Computer Updates and Site Info

Blank British passports stolen in raid - San Francisco Gate
Britain’s Foreign Office says thousands of blank British passports have been stolen in a raid on a delivery van. The ministry says the documents were snatched as they were being delivered from northern England to a Royal Air Force base near London

Hunt underway for thieves of cars used in India bombings - International Herald Tribune
MUMBAI, India : Police launched a massive manhunt in India’s financial capital Tuesday, believing that the serial blasts that rocked the western Indian city of Ahmadabad over the weekend, killing 45 people, were hatched in a Mumbai suburb. Four cars

Computer Forensics: Beyond the Magnifying Glass - TechNewsWorld
Recent advances in computer forensics technology are helping law enforcement officials enhance their investigations while allowing corporations to track their employees’ online habits. Live forensics, for instance — which lets users examine data

UPDATE 1-IBM to buy France’s Ilog for $340 mln - Reuters
PARIS, July 28 (Reuters) - U.S. computer services and software group International Business Machines (IBM.N: Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz ) has agreed to buy French software maker Ilog (ILOG.O: Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz ) for

Players Compete For National Scrabble Championship In Orlando - Tampa Bay Online
ORLANDO - The National Scrabble Championship continues in Orlando, where about 700 wordsmiths compete for the $25,000 top prize. Getting a lot of attention this weekend was 11-year-old Bradley Robbins, the youngest of the competitors. The Windham, N

N.J. lawmakers push for porn filters on computers - Miami Herald
TRENTON, N.J. Legislative leaders sought to install filters to block inappropriate material from being viewed on state computers two days after a veteran assemblyman’s computer was seized for containing child pornography. The leaders released a

Man Behind ‘Last Lecture’ Sensation Dies - AOL
PITTSBURGH (July 25) — Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose “last lecture” about facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, has died. He was 47. Pausch died early Friday at his home in

Phoenix police: College shooter was punched before he opened fire in - Chicago Tribune
PHOENIX (AP) _ The most seriously wounded of three people shot in a community-college computer lab had punched the gunman, an old enemy, in the face before he opened fire, police said Friday. Isaac Deshay Smith was sentenced to jail for attacking

Randy Pausch, 47, Dies; His Last Lecture Inspired Many to Live - The Ledger
Randy Pausch, the professor whose last lecture made him a Lou-Gehrig-like symbol of the beauty and briefness of life, died Friday at his home in Chesapeake, Va. He was 47, and had lived five months longer than the six months a doctor gave him

Randy Pausch, 47; computer professor’s ‘last lecture’ became Internet - Boston Globe
PITTSBURGH - Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose “last lecture” about facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, died yesterday. He was 47. Dr. Pausch died at his home in Chesapeake

Lawmakers: NJ legislator focus of child porn probe - Miami Herald
TRENTON, N.J. Authorities are investigating whether a veteran state lawmaker possessed child pornography on his office computer, two assemblymen who share an office with him said Thursday. State Sen. Raymond Lesniak and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan

GM Launches New Powertrain Testing To Cut Development Costs - CNN Money
PONTIAC, Mich. -(Dow Jones)- General Motors Corp. (GM), looking to slash the cost of developing new cars and trucks, will start testing more of its vehicles in high-tech computer labs instead of on the open road. The auto maker said Friday a new

Computer search disputed in LITH child pornography case - Northwest Herald
WOODSTOCK A 60-year-old Lake in the Hills man accused of having and distributing child pornography is arguing that police overstepped their bounds in searching his computer. Defense attorney Gary Johnson argued that police waited too long after

Hackers control the internet traffic - Times of India
Internet security researchers on Thursday warned that hackers have caught on to a “critical” flaw that lets them control traffic on the Internet. An elite squad of computer industry engineers that laboured in secret to solve the problem released a

Obituaries in the news - San Diego Union-Tribune
EL PASO, Texas Drug kingpin Jamiel Alexander Jimmy Chagra, accused of leading a 1979 conspiracy to assassinate the federal judge set to preside over his drug trial, has died. He was 63. Chagra, who was living in Mesa, Ariz., and had been

Port of Seattle fires 12 over sexual content found on computers - Seattle Times
The Port of Seattle has fired eight employees and four consultants for inappropriate computer use, including viewing sexually explicit photos, sexually oriented jokes and jokes about race, gender and national origin. Seven other employees received

‘Mongol’: International cast, crew illuminate young Genghis - Chicago Tribune
A grandly kitschy rendering of Genghis Khan’s early years, the ones revealing how a boy became a ruthless yet humane warrior, devoted family man and all-around good fellow, “Mongol” might as well be called “Braveheart in a Yurt.” Director Sergei

Return to sender - Chicago Sun-Times
Every few seconds, the computer on my desk emits a pleasant three-note glissando chime — do-do-dooo — telling me another e-mail has arrived. Well, it was pleasant 20 minutes ago. Now, it’s getting annoying, as dozens, then scores, then hundreds of

Meehan due in court over child porn - MSN UK News
The former partner of Shannon Matthews’ mother is due to appear in court on charges of possessing child pornography. Craig Meehan, 22, will face Dewsbury Magistrates’ Court in West Yorkshire accused of possessing 140 indecent images of children which

Extent of Mendte’s snooping made tabloid tidbits a federal case - Philadelphia Inquirer
The feds were wary. The proposed investigation had a tabloid taste. It was early spring, and Paul Rosen, a lawyer for the disgraced former CBS3 anchor Alycia Lane, had just approached the FBI with sensational suspicions that someone at the station

Mayor visits city engineer in jail, gets codes - KESQ News
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An unusual jailhouse visit by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom yielded the access codes to the city’s computer network. City engineer Terry Childs had been accused of withholding the access codes and has been jailed since July 13

Markers hit by computer problems - BBC News
She had been told to expect 450 sets of scripts but received only eight from one school and 58 from another. Before markers can start work, they are supposed to go onto an ETS website to complete what is known as “script verification” - but this was

ACS Launches Computer-Aided Dispatch System to Improve Emergency - Biloxi Sun Herald
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (ACS) has successfully launched a new state-of-the-art “911″ dispatching and mobile data system for Oklahoma City Police and Fire Departments to improve each agency’s response during an emergency, and provides

Click photo for gallery - St. Petersburg Times
Biggest challenge: On the macro level, it’s critical for WellCare to keep generous reimbursements coming for its Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans in the face of growing pressure to rein in federal spending on the senior health program. More

Ruling over crime records database - Croydon Guardian
Police could be forced to remove thousands of criminal records from the national database after a landmark ruling on the holding of personal details. The Information Tribunal on Monday dismissed appeals from five police forces which were ordered to

Nissan opening new U.S. headquarters today - Detroit Free Press
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Nissan North America focused the design of its new $100-million headquarters on employee and energy efficiency, but it didn’t forget appearance matters in the auto industry. Rob Traynham, the Nissan executive who oversaw the

Lockheed Second-Quarter Net Climbs 13%; Forecast Increased - Bloomberg
July 22 (Bloomberg) — Lockheed Martin Corp. , the world’s largest defense company, said second-quarter earnings rose 13 percent on higher sales of computer services to the U.S. government and development work for a new NASA spacecraft. The company

Mistrial in Riverside County strangulation trial - San Francisco Gate
A Riverside County judge declared a mistrial after a jury said it could not reach a verdict in the murder trial of a homeless man accused of killing a former State Bar of California president. In its fourth day of deliberations, the jury was

Computer Backups and Cobian - PC World Blogs
I am often asked what is the best way to backup work and home computers. Today, just about everyone understands the importance of backups. If you don’t, consider this: 100% of hard drives will fail at some point. They are mechanical devices with

Lexmark quarterly profit rises, to close Mexico plant - Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Computer printer maker Lexmark International Inc (LXK.N: Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz ) on Tuesday reported an increase in quarterly profit on higher corporate sales and said it plans to close a factory in Mexico that

The potential fallout from Apple vs. Psystar - ZDNet Blogs
It s easy to think that when it comes to Apple vs. Psystar, that it s going to be a case of David vs. Goliath, only thing time Goliath pounds David into the ground like a nail. But this case could be a catalyst for questions being raised about

Cops return medical-marijuana files taken in raid but not the pot - Seattle Times
Seattle police returned hundreds of patient files and a computer hard drive to Martin Martinez Thursday evening, two days after they raided his University District storefront where he runs a collective and outreach group for medical-marijuana

Should the Geek Squad need private-investigator licenses? - CNN Money
(Fortune Small Business) — In order to keep his business AustinPCTech legal, Mike Rife may have to become a real-life Sherlock Holmes. He fears that a new Texas law will require his small PC repair company to obtain a private-eye license, or risk

Women defend their relationship turf better than men - Los Angeles Times
WHEN A flirtatious vamp or a sexy hunk tries to intrude on a committed relationship, men are more likely to tumble to temptation and women more likely to reinforce the emotional fortress to protect their relationship, according to studies reported in

One admin’s missing password leaves San Francisco in a lockdown state - Beta News
A former San Francisco city computer network administrator remains in a Bay Area jail after pleading not guilty to four charges of computer tampering. Meanwhile, the city’s computer network is in limbo. Prior to his arrest, Terry Childs, 43, of

E3: Is the future of video gaming all in the family? - Daily Telegraph
“We promise to keep the world smiling.” That was the pledge made at this year’s E3 games conference in Los Angeles by none other than Nintendo. Here comes everybody: Sony’s LittleBigPlanet No small task, I am sure you will agree, but one to which

Technology Gets Personal - Wall Street Journal
In 1957, Disneyland opened the Monsanto House of the Future, a supposed housewife paradise where, among other things, a computer predicted what a family wanted for dinner and then proceeded to prepare a meal so expert that it would make June Cleaver

British teens free after Ghanaian drug sentence - San Francisco Gate
Two British teenage girls left prison Thursday after serving nine-month sentences for trying to smuggle cocaine out of Ghana in laptop computer bags, prison officers and the girls’ lawyers said. Lawyer Sabine Zanker said the two were in good spirits

Russia: Get computer-savvy or get out, Medvedev tells staff - Guardian Unlimited
The Russian president has warned that government officials who cannot use a computer could soon be out of a job. “They either should learn or, as they say, goodbye,” Dmitry Medvedev said yesterday in a meeting with officials in Petrozavodsk, north

Computer guy takes city system hostage - Australian IT
A DISGRUNTLED computer engineer has been sitting in a prison cell for four days after locking out everyone but himself from a city computer system. Terry Childs is accused of tampering with San Francisco’s new computer network to give himself

Purdue researchers develop method to cool computer chips with same - Newsday
Purdue University scientists have taken a page from air conditioner technology in their quest for a new way to cool down ever-more powerful computer chips. Their experimental system, which flushes a refrigerant through tiny channels cut into chips

PC shipments grew faster than expected in 2Q - Miami Herald
SEATTLE Computer shipments rose faster than expected in the second quarter, fueled by exceptional demand in emerging markets and a decline in prices in the U.S. and Western Europe, a research group said Wednesday. Worldwide shipments increased 16

Cops: IT Worker Holds S.F. Passwords Captive - CBS 11 News
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) A city computer engineer accused of tampering with San Francisco’s new computer network to give himself exclusive access was ordered held on $5 million bail. City officials accused Department of Technology employee Terry

Former Fresno County Sheriff’s Sergeant Sentenced to 14 Years in - Forbes
WASHINGTON, July 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Ronald B. Vaughn Jr., 42, a former sergeant for the Fresno County, Calif., Sheriff’s Department was sentenced to serve 168 months in federal prison for child exploitation offenses, Acting Assistant

Engineer accused of network tampering - MSNBC
SAN FRANCISCO - A city computer engineer accused of tampering with San Francisco’s new computer network to give himself exclusive access was ordered held on $5 million bail. City officials accused Department of Technology employee Terry Childs of

The iPhone Makeover - Slate
Conventional wisdom in the computer industry holds that Apple lost the PC market to Microsoft not for technological reasons but for ideological ones. Apple was closed while Windows was open. In the 1980s and ’90s, Apple made beautiful, innovative

Computer-watching monkeys in attention-grabbing test - Xinhua News Agency
BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhuanet) — Tiny changes in a messenger brain chemical acetylcholine can greatly affect powers of attention, according to a paper released by Nature as quoted by media Thursday. Alex Thiele and other researchers at New castle

Mart testing tech services offering with Dell - Guardian Unlimited
NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc , as part of a pilot program, is opening “Solution Stations” in a small number of its Dallas-area stores to offer technology services, like home theater installation and computer repair. In a

PC shipments grew faster than expected in 2Q - Boston Globe
SEATTLE Computer shipments rose faster than expected in the second quarter, fueled by exceptional demand in emerging markets and a decline in prices in the U.S. and Western Europe, two research groups said Wednesday. Worldwide shipments increased

Intel 2Q profit jump reflects healthy PC demand - Forbes
Worried that the ailing U.S. economy has spilled abroad and hurt global PC sales, investors had subdued expectations for Intel Corp. in the second quarter. Intel is the world’s largest computer chip maker, and its fortunes rise and fall with swings

Death row convicts online - MSN UK News
Death row convicts in California are reaching out to the world after being allowed personal web pages. Among those sharing their thoughts from inside San Quentin prison are Randy Kraft, who murdered 16 young men and is now looking for pen pals, and