About.com Computing Center

Microsoft Lays off 800 People

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:18:16 +0000

Microsoft is laying off another 800 people, adding to the 5,000 the company has already let go this year.

The Techflash blog first reported the news.

The affected people are based around the world and work in various groups and will be notified on Wednesday, Microsoft said.

Microsoft Lays off 800 People originally appeared on About.com Computing Center on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 17:18:16.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

T-Mobile USA Restores Voice, Data Services After Disruption

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:17:32 +0000

T-Mobile USA has restored voice and data services to users after an eight-hour outage that affected nearly 1.7 million subscribers. "T-Mobile confirms it has fully restored voice and text/picture messaging services for customers affected by intermittent service disruptions on Tuesday," the company said in a statement posted on Wednesday at 1:25 a.m., Eastern time.

T-Mobile USA Restores Voice, Data Services After Disruption originally appeared on About.com Computing Center on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 17:17:32.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Barnes & Noble Sued over E-Reader

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:15:53 +0000

Back on October 19th, a company called Spring Design introduced an e-reader called Alex. It had two significant features in common with Barnes & Noble's Nook, which was introduced a day later: Both sport a large monochrome e-ink screen and a smaller touch-sensitive color display below, and both run Google's Android OS.

Spring Design is now saying that the similarity is too close for comfort, and that it's suing Barnes & Noble.

Barnes & Noble Sued over E-Reader originally appeared on About.com Computing Center on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 17:15:53.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Verizon Cranks Up Droid Hype Machine

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:14:54 +0000

Verizon Wireless will open many of its 2,000 retail stores early on Friday for first day sales of the Droid smartphone, adding to the marketing hype already begun for the Android 2.0 device from Motorola Inc.

Some stores will open at 7 a.m. and others at 8 a.m. A list of stores is available on Verizon's Web site although the site doesn't say which will open earlier and advises calling the store in advance to be sure. The QWERTY keyboard slider device sells for $200 after a rebate and a new two-year contract.

Verizon Cranks Up Droid Hype Machine originally appeared on About.com Computing Center on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 17:14:54.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Twitter Warns of New Phishing Attack

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:07:16 +0000

Twitter warned users Tuesday of a new phishing scam on the social networking site.

It's the latest in a series of scams that have plagued the site over the past year, designed to trick victims into giving up their user names and passwords.

"We've seen a few phishing attempts today, if you've received a strange DM and it takes you to a Twitter login page, don't do it!," Twitter wrote on its Spam message page.

Twitter Warns of New Phishing Attack originally appeared on About.com Computing Center on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 17:07:16.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Ultimate Showdown: Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:04:06 +0000

It's the best of times if you're a lover of operating systems, with the nearly simultaneous release of Apple's Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" (available right now) and Microsoft's Windows 7 (available Oct. 22). This leads to the inevitable debate: Which is the better operating system, Windows 7 or Snow Leopard?

Ultimate Showdown: Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7 originally appeared on About.com Computing Center on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 17:04:06.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

ComScore: Google Gains More Ground Than Bing in September

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:22:31 +0000

Despite the big marketing and advertising push Microsoft has given Bing, the new search engine failed to gain much ground among users in September, while Google increased its dominance, according to comScore.

Bing's share of U.S. search queries rose slightly from 9.3 percent in August to 9.4 percent last month, while Google, out alone in first place, increased its share from 64.6 percent to 64.9 percent, comScore said on Wednesday.

ComScore: Google Gains More Ground Than Bing in September originally appeared on About.com Computing Center on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 17:22:31.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Will Barnes & Noble E-reader Push Kindle Prices Lower?

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:21:33 +0000

Now that Barnes & Noble is reportedly launching its very own E-reader, will prices on Amazon.com's competing Kindle keep tumbling on further?

Based on recent historical trends in the still emerging e-reader market, that would only stand to reason.

Will Barnes & Noble E-reader Push Kindle Prices Lower? originally appeared on About.com Computing Center on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 17:21:33.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

With Botnets Everywhere, DDoS Attacks Get Cheaper

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:17:39 +0000

Cyber-crime just doesn't pay like it used to.

Security researchers say the cost of criminal services such as distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attacks has dropped in recent months. The reason? Market economics. "The barriers to entry in that marketplace are so low you have people basically flooding the market," said Jose Nazario, a security researcher with Arbor Networks. "The way you differentiate yourself is on price."

With Botnets Everywhere, DDoS Attacks Get Cheaper originally appeared on About.com Computing Center on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 17:17:39.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Online Test Helps You Self-diagnose H1N1 Flu

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:16:41 +0000

Feeling sick? Wondering if it's the H1N1 flu or just a regular old go-away-don't-come-near-me, flu?

Face it, your doctor may not be able to squeeze you right in. But you may be able to figure it out using a Web-based self-assessment tool developed by researchers at Emory University in Atlanta. The tool is now available on several national Web sites, including flu.gov , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Microsoft's H1N1 Response Center .

Online Test Helps You Self-diagnose H1N1 Flu originally appeared on About.com Computing Center on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 17:16:41.

Permalink | Comment | Email this