A spate of recent news stories have revealed that a wide variety of lobby groups have financial ties to broadband carriers and trade associations, accusing them of faking grassroots opposition to strong net neutrality rules. The recent coverage from news organizations has overwhelmingly targeted a lack of funding transparency in …
After a spate of news stories about alleged “astroturf” advocacy in a contentious U.S. net neutrality debate, the IDG News Service looked into the funding transparency of several think tanks and advocacy groups involved in the issue. Several disclose limited or no information about their funding, we found. Astroturfing is …
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) this week outlined the Republican tech agenda for the next Congress, and took a position that puts him at odds with some in his own party. Hatch, in a speech at the corporate offices of Overstock.com in Salt Lake City, called for raising the cap on …
The cries for help from frazzled Mac owners whose Wi-Fi connections went haywire after upgrading to OS X Yosemite are being met by Apple with stone-faced silence. Affected users have been filing a steady stream of complaints about the problem in discussion forums, blogs and social media sites since Apple …
More than any time in the past decade, wireless customers are reaping the benefits of a carrier price war over smartphones and tablets, as well as monthly data service contracts. The news isn’t as good for the major wireless carriers, based on earnings reports earlier this week from Verizon Wireless …
After a spate of news stories about alleged “astroturf” advocacy in a contentious U.S. net neutrality debate, the IDG News Service looked into the funding transparency of several think tanks and advocacy groups involved in the issue. Several disclose limited or no information about their funding. Astroturfing is commonly defined …
A spate of recent news stories have revealed that a wide variety of lobby groups have financial ties to broadband carriers and trade associations, accusing them of faking grassroots opposition to strong net neutrality rules. The recent coverage from news organizations has overwhelmingly targeted a lack of funding transparency in …
The contentious debate about net neutrality in the U.S. has sparked controversy over a lack of funding transparency for advocacy groups and think tanks, which critics say subverts the political process. News stories from a handful of publications in recent months have accused some think tanks and advocacy groups of …
The Securities and Exchange Commission today sanctioned a Florida-based auditor for violating federal laws and regulations requiring lead audit partners to periodically rotate off their audit engagements with a publicly traded company in order to preserve the integrity of the financial reporting process. The lead partner primarily responsible for the …
A week after its release, Apple’s OS X Yosemite powered 13% of all Macs in the U.S. and Canada, about the same uptake pace as seen by its predecessor, Mavericks. Yosemite debuted Oct. 16. Seven days later, Yosemite’s share of all Macs in North America stood at 12.8%, ad network …
By now, you’ve likely heard about Inbox, Google’s bold new plan to reinvent email with a smarter, more context-sensitive interface that treats messaging like just another to-do list. But Google’s not the only one trying to reinvent how people get things done. With the introduction of smartphones and cloud computing …
A scientist at Worcester Polytechnic Institute is working on a way to change metal 3D printing that could revolutionize the way products are customized. Diran Apelian, a professor of mechanical engineering at WPI, is researching the use of so-called semi-solid metals, instead of powdered metals, in additive manufacturing. His work …
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced insider trading charges against a New Jersey man who generated nearly $700,000 in illicit profits trading in the securities of two pharmaceutical companies that were about to be acquired. The SEC charged his source of nonpublic information earlier this month. The SEC alleges …
Researchers have taken a step forward in developing batteries that can store 10 times more energy than existing lithium-ion batteries. The scientists have been experimenting with a “garnet ceramic” material called LLZO that could hasten the release of batteries based on lithium-air chemistry. Lithium-air batteries have been in development for …
What Windows diehards will love and hate about Windows 10 The buzz of Microsoft’s leap to Windows 10 may be dimming, but the big, 640-million-user question remains: If you skipped Windows 8 because the initial two-face kludge left you cold, should you think about upgrading to Windows 10? Or has …
A teardown of Apple’s iPad Air 2 turned up a surprise: an NFC module. According to iFixit, the NXP 65V10 NFC Controller is the same one that Apple uses for Apple Pay in its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The same chip also appears inside Apple’s iPad Mini 3, …
Days after the launch of Apple Pay, Rite Aid has stopped accepting the payment system at 4,600 stores across the United States. The company, which is one of the biggest drug store chains in the country, said it is currently not accepting Apple Pay or the competing Google Wallet. Posts …
Researchers at the University of Amsterdam are using neural networks to help a statistical machine translation systems learn what all human translators know — that the best translation of a word often depends on the context. Machine translation systems such as Google Translate or those at iTranslate4.eu guess how to …
A Chinese company has developed the country’s first homegrown servers, built entirely out of domestic technologies including a processor from local chip maker Loongson Technology. China’s Dawning Information Industry, also known as Sugon, has developed a series of four servers using the Loongson 3B processor, the country’s state-run Xinhua News …
McDonald’s this week told financial analysts of its plans to install self-ordering kiosks and mobile ordering at its restaurants. It isn’t the only food chain doing this. The company that owns Chili’s Grill & Bar also said this week it will complete a tablet ordering system rollout next month at …
Honda is enhancing its smart car technology with a system that can detect pedestrians and nearby vehicles. Honda Sensing can automatically detect cars and pedestrians, warn the driver of possible danger and apply brakes when necessary, the automaker said Friday. The system emits a variety of warnings and corrective action …
A cyberespionage group has been using advanced spear-phishing techniques to steal email log-in credentials from the employees of military agencies, embassies, defense contractors and international media outlets that use Office 365’s Outlook Web App. The group behind the attack campaign has been operating since at least 2007 according to researchers …
Adobe Systems said Thursday it is now encrypting data it collects about certain e-books after facing criticism earlier this month for not protecting the data. The Digital Reader blog reported on Oct. 6 that Adobe’s Digital Editions 4 software, used for downloading and reading e-books, sent detailed logs to Adobe …
The launch this week of Apple Pay is giving many people their first taste of NFC payment technology, which allows them to buy things in a store by bringing an iPhone 6 close to a compatible terminal. But the NFC standard also allows payments to be made directly between smartphones. …
Days after the launch of Apple Pay, Rite Aid has stopped accepting the payment system at 4,600 stores across the United States. The company, which is one of the biggest drug store chains in the country, said it is currently not accepting Apple Pay or the competing Google Wallet. Posts …
The blame game between Oracle and the state of Oregon is going into overtime, even before their dueling lawsuits over the disastrous Cover Oregon health insurance exchange website make it into court. Cover Oregon went live on Oct. 1 last year, and like the federal Healthcare.gov site that’s a centerpiece …