When New York Times’ tech columnist David Pogue created a series of “How-to” guides for the Mac in 2002, the title he chose for the O’Reilly publications bare a not-so-subtle truth. Pogue dubbed his series ”The Missing Manual” since the Apple Computer products that you, a family member or a colleague, may have plunked down close to four figures to [...]
“Amazon has spent more than 15 years tackling the challenges of database scalability, performance and cost-effectiveness using distributed systems and NoSQL technology,” explains Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon. “Amazon DynamoDB is the result of everything we’ve learned from building large-scale, non-relational databases for Amazon.com and building highly scalable and reliable cloud computing services at AWS.” “With [...]
A tankless water heater that looks like a PC gaming or computer console but streams hot water to your bath, shower, laundry and kitchen continuously; a new breed of hybrid electric and gas appliances that help homes cut energy consumption to the quick; a stellar lineup of eco-friendly heating and cooling products that has earned [...]
A new era in television begins this holiday season where your entertainment becomes instantly searchable, easily discoverable and enjoyable in extraordinary new ways from a single device — Xbox 360. Microsoft has announced plans to roll out the next generation of TV entertainment on Xbox LIVE, the online entertainment service for Xbox 360. Nearly 40 [...]
Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, Tacoma MayorMarilyn Strickland, Tacoma School Board President Kurt Miller, Tacoma Urban League CEO (and City Councilwoman) Victoria Woodards, Tacoma Housing Authority Executive Director Michael Mirra and Comcast Washington Senior Vice President Len Rozek have introduced a best-in-class broadband inclusion program for the state of Washington. At a technology center in Hillside Terrace, a Tacoma Housing Authority neighborhood in the Hilltop area [...]
Microsoft unveiled the new Windows 8 OS yesterday at its annual Build Conference, but you can get the early preview right here. You can install this Developer version on a 32-bit or a 64-bit x86 machines and activation is not required, but don’t assume there won’t be many changes to come. A landscape view [...]
by Larry Sivitz, Seattle24x7, Managing Editor What has always struck me about Steve Jobs is his willingness to defy the popular convention of product design. Jobs has constantly resisted the notion of design by committee, by focus group, or by consumer tracking study that overload product features and complicate ease-of-use. Instead, by bucking the “wisdom [...]
by Larry Sivitz, Seattle24x7, Editor in Chief The process of link building for search engine optimization and traffic building is time-intensive, but just how long should it take for targeted link building actions to take hold? Planning is essential and, based on your roadmap, your speed and mileage may vary. Link building involves multiple “channels” [...]
Call for Entries: A Social Innovation Fast Pitch Event (SIFP), the first of its kind in Seattle to combine nonprofit and for-profit organizations in a single event competition, could net your social business idea up to $150K in grants and investments. But you’ll need to act fast! Applications are due between now and August 22nd. [...]
Descending from the hallowed heights of Beacon Hill into the valley of South Lake Union, the company that brought to market what was arguably the first successful eReader in modern electronic tablet making, “kindled” from the fires of eBook innovation, will once again rekindle the imagination of its Amazon fan base, even those who dare [...]
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Jan 29 2012
Techspresso: Washington state AG and Facebook Target “Clickjackers,” Real Scores $120M for Patents, Mozy Rolls Out Stash
If you use Facebook, the world’s top social networking site, you may have “liked” an Internet scheme without even knowing it – and unwittingly helped spread the scam to your Facebook friends. Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna and Facebook have announced the latest step in an ongoing fight against spammers and scammers: a lawsuit against the co-owners of Adscend Media, LLC, an ad network that is alleged to develop and encourage others to spread spam through misleading and deceptive tactics, including the one known as “clickjacking.”
“We don’t ‘like’ schemes that illegally trick Facebook users into giving up personal information or paying for unwanted subscription services through spam,” McKenna said during a news conference at Facebook’s Seattle Office. “We applaud Facebook for devoting significant technical and legal resources to finding and stopping scams as soon as possible – and often before they even start. We’re proud to join forces in order to protect Washington consumers.” [24x7]
RealNetworks Sells Patents to Intel in $120M Deal; Stock Soars
Seattle’s RealNetworks has traded its intellectual property to help shore up its balance sheet. The Seattle company has entered a $120 million deal with Intel to sell off a number of patents and patent applications, including its video codec software.
In the exchange RealNetworks will give up about 190 patents and 170 patent applications as well as its video codec software. RealNetworks’ stock was up 32 percent Thursday morning, trading around $9.74 per share.
The sale gives RealNetworks a significant amount of new capital to invest in new products and businesses. The company said it does not expect the deal to have any material impact on its businesses. RealNetworks said it is keeping certain rights to continue to use the patents in current and future products.
“Selling these patents to Intel unlocks some of the substantial and unrealized value of RealNetworks assets,” said Thomas Nielsen, RealNetworks president and CEO. “It represents an extraordinary opportunity for us to generate additional capital to boost investments in new businesses and markets while still protecting our existing business.”
The move signals a further transition for RealNetworks, one of the pioneers of digital information such as music and movies on the internet. But the company has struggled as it has made the transition from creating content to focusing on technologies for distributing and managing media among different types of devices. The deal gives Intel a cache of patents during a time when tech companies are increasingly bolstering their patent holdings to guard against patent-infringement lawsuits or to seek legal action against tech rivals. [24x7]
Mozy Offers a Cozy Pantry for Family File Storage
Where can your family put away their files after they “clear the table?” iCloud? Box.net? Seattle-based Mozy, a unit of storage giant EMC, is recommending a different file-storage alternative — its own — code-named Stash.
Stash is a file synchronization feature that provides Mozy users a simple way to keep their most active data up to date across each of the computers they regularly use and complements the Mozy online backup feature. As soon as users place a file in their local Stash folder it quickly becomes available online. No need to wait for a backup or hit an upload button.
Stash works together with Mozy online backup to make all your files available to you from anywhere—even those you don’t keep in your Stash. So when you forget to put a file in your Stash, Mozy online backup ensures that you can still access it through the Mozy web site or the Mozy app for Android, iPhone, and iPad devices.
“Mozy has always protected our customers’ data against catastrophic loss,” said Russ Stockdale, general manager of Mozy. “With Stash, Mozy customers will see a huge increase in the value they get from protecting their data with Mozy. Stash makes it easy to move from your computer at the office to your computer at home to your smartphone or tablet without having to email files to yourself, or mess around with USB drives.”
The new Stash service is available to Mozy Home customers using the 2 GB free, 50 GB or 125 GB plan. [24x7]