News For Thursday Oct 9, 2008 News For Thursday Oct 9, 2008

Science  & Technology Science  & Technology

Tropical species also threatened by climate change - Added 6 weeks ago

If you can't stand global warming, get out of the tropics. While the most significant harm from climate change so far has been in the polar regions, tropical plants and animals may face an even greater threat, say...

IBM sells $3.9 billion in corporate bonds - Added 6 weeks ago

IBM Corp. sold $3.9 billion in bonds on Thursday, a sign that the stalwarts of the corporate world are still finding lenders. "The markets were open to us at this time, so we decided to enter," said IBM spokesman Doug...

Micron Tech cuts global work force by 15 percent - Added 6 weeks ago

Micron Technology Inc. will cut about 15 percent of its global work force as part of a restructuring of its computer memory chip operations, the company said Thursday. The bulk of the job losses will be in Boise, where...

Despite IBM profits, a tech gloom still looms - Added 6 weeks ago

Even after IBM Corp. surprised Wall Street with a healthy profit in the third quarter and a reaffirmation of its earnings outlook for the rest of the year, the broader technology sector dived again Thursday. There's...

Review: Tiny flash drives improve their security - Added 6 weeks ago

Flash memory drives, the size of your thumb, are dirt cheap and offer gigabytes of storage. It's tempting to fill one of them with important computer files, clip it to a key chain and hit the road. But what if you lose...

IBM 3Q profit a positive sign for tech sector - Added 6 weeks ago

Shares of IBM Corp. jumped Thursday after the technology company's surprise announcement that it was still plenty prosperous in the third quarter despite the worsening economic climate. The Armonk, N.Y.-based company...

Sony, Microsoft virtual communities to start - Added 6 weeks ago

Video game rivals Sony and Microsoft are going head-to-head in virtual worlds for their home consoles later this year. Both companies announced their services, which use graphic images that represent players called...

Microsoft tries for slice of Japan game market - Added 6 weeks ago

Microsoft Corp. will be releasing games developed by top Japanese designers for its Xbox 360 console, a senior executive said Thursday, the latest effort by the U.S. software maker to make inroads in a market where it...

Gene-testing startup's study responds to critics - Added 6 weeks ago

A Silicon Valley gene-testing startup is responding to criticism that the tests could spur bad health-care choices by teaming up for a broad study of how the results affect behavior. Navigenics Inc. charges customers...

Gene-testing startup's study responds to critics - Added 6 weeks ago

A Silicon Valley gene-testing startup is responding to criticism that the tests could spur bad health-care choices by teaming up for a broad study of how the results affect behavior. Navigenics Inc. charges customers...

40 laid off at software company as execs arrested - Added 6 weeks ago

Two former software executives grossly overstated their company's revenue to attract more than $50 million in private investment, prosecutors said Wednesday, adding that the fraud was uncovered late last month when a...

2nd dead dolphin from wayward pod found in NJ - Added 6 weeks ago

!!-- pobj:NY141-0702081308 -->A second dead dolphin has been found in a New Jersey river that has been home lately to a wayward pod of the animals. Teri Frady, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

Fake YouTube pages used to spread viruses - Added 6 weeks ago

Savvy Internet users know that downloading unsolicited computer programs is one of the most dangerous things you can do online. It puts you at great risk for a virus or another time bomb from a hacker. But even some...

Wario, Kirby, Sonic return in new adventures - Added 6 weeks ago

!!-- pobj:NY332-1006081242 -->!!-- pobj:NY333-1006081243 -->!!-- pobj:NY334-1006081242 -->For a self-effacing, portly little plumber, Mario may be the most ambitious guy in video games. It's not enough that he has the...

BlackBerry Storm has touch screen you can feel - Added 6 weeks ago

Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry, is taking on Apple Inc. with a touch-screen phone that puts a new twist on the technology. RIM is known for its e-mail-oriented phones with large keypads. With the new...

Google gets into video games _ with ads - Added 6 weeks ago

Google Inc., the leader in online search and advertising, is muscling in on video game territory _ though it won't exactly be in the form of a shoot 'em up game. Google announced Wednesday it is launching the beta...

Google gets into video games _ with ads - Added 6 weeks ago

Google Inc., the leader in online search and advertising, is muscling in on video game territory _ though it won't exactly be in the form of a shoot 'em up game. Google announced Wednesday it is launching the beta...

University: Stem-cell study used falsified data - Added 6 weeks ago

The University of Minnesota has concluded that falsified data were used in a 2001 article published by one of its researchers on adult stem cells. The school is asking that the article be retracted. The conclusion...

Future of flagship Mars mission up in the air - Added 6 weeks ago

Will NASA's flagship mission to Mars fly next year? The space agency could decide as early as Friday whether to cancel, delay or proceed with plans to launch a nuclear-powered, SUV-size rover to the red planet. NASA...

Google gets into video games _ with ads - Added 6 weeks ago

Google Inc., the leader in online search and advertising, is muscling in on video game territory _ though it won't exactly be in the form of a shoot 'em up game. Google was set to announce Wednesday it is launching the...

YouTube flips switch on new sales channel - Added 6 weeks ago

Online video leader YouTube has opened up its version of a home shopping network in its latest effort to wring more revenue from its massive audience and justify the $1.76 billion that Google Inc. paid for the site two...

Summary: AMD spins off chip factories - Added 6 weeks ago

AMD'S SPLIT: Advanced Micro Devices Inc. will now focus on designing chips and spin off a new venture focused on making them. Chip-making factories are massively expensive, and AMD can't afford to compete...

Fabless future: Struggling AMD spins off factories - Added 6 weeks ago

For years, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s scrappy image was best summed up by an insult that founder Jerry Sanders lobbed against rivals: "Real men have fabs." Sanders meant that while many chip companies design...

MySpace, HP in deal to encourage photo printing - Added 6 weeks ago

Among all the profiles on MySpace, the social networking site's users have uploaded almost 4 billion photos. Now through an agreement with Hewlett-Packard Co., MySpace hopes people will increasingly print these images...

Web ad sales dipped from previous quarter - Added 6 weeks ago

U.S. Internet advertising revenue dipped slightly in the second quarter from the previous three-month period, which likely is a ripple effect from the bad economy given that prior to 2008 the market had seen several...

`Mail Goggles' might prevent e-mail regrets - Added 6 weeks ago

Here's the scenario: It's Friday night, and what began as an innocent happy-hour margarita morphed into a few pitchers. After all, those tacos were salty. Bidding friends adieu, you jump in a cab, head home and decide...

Ads to the rescue as distraction from root canals - Added 6 weeks ago

Talk about your captive audience. Advertising is coming to the dentist's chair in the form of personal video goggles that patients wear while getting their cleaning or root canal. The company behind InChairTV figures...

New Google tool reveals marine protected areas - Added 6 weeks ago

Conservationists working with Google Inc. have unveiled a tool that lets people view protected marine areas with the click of a mouse _ a bid to harness the Internet's top search engine to raise awareness of endangered...

Asustek's low-priced Eee PC helps boost revenue - Added 6 weeks ago

A low-price laptop product line is helping Taiwan's Asustek Computer Inc. generate record revenue despite signs of slowing global growth, a senior company executive said Tuesday. Chief Executive Jerry Shen said the...

Robot suit for rent in Japan to help people walk - Added 6 weeks ago

A robotic suit that reads brain signals and helps people with mobility problems will be available to rent in Japan for $2,200 a month starting Friday _ an invention that may have far-reaching benefits for the disabled...

Penguins ride air force jet to South Atlantic - Added 6 weeks ago

More than 370 penguins that mysteriously washed up on Brazil's equatorial beaches were flown south on a huge air force cargo plane and released closer to the frigid waters they call home, animal advocates said Monday. ...

Deadlines set for designating polar bear habitat - Added 6 weeks ago

The federal government will designate "critical habitat" for polar bears off Alaska's coast, a decision that could add restrictions to future offshore petroleum exploration or drilling. Federal law prohibits agencies...

Penguins ride air force jet to South Atlantic - Added 6 weeks ago

More than 370 penguins that mysteriously washed up on Brazil's equatorial beaches were flown south on a huge air force cargo plane and released closer to the frigid waters they call home, animal advocates said Monday. ...

Small asteroid headed for light show over Africa - Added 6 weeks ago

A small asteroid was headed for a fiery but harmless dive into Earth's atmosphere early Tuesday morning over Africa, astronomers said in a first of its kind advance warning. Harvard scientists announced late Monday...

Judge orders RealNetworks to pull copying software - Added 6 weeks ago

RealNetworks Inc. said Monday it had temporarily stopped distributing its DVD copying software, RealDVD, at a federal judge's request in a copyright case brought by Hollywood studios. "We temporarily suspended...

SAP says business turmoil hurting its revenue - Added 6 weeks ago

Shares of SAP AG plunged Monday after the business software maker said it saw a sudden drop in business at the end of September as global financial turmoil escalated. "The market developments of the past several weeks...

Sector Snap: Internet stocks slide with market - Added 6 weeks ago

Shares of major Web companies dropped sharply Monday amid a massive market sell-off that sent the Dow skidding below 10,000 for the first time in four years. Shares of Google Inc., the leading Web search and...

Summary: eBay to cut work force by 10 percent - Added 6 weeks ago

THE LAYOFFS: EBay Inc. is eliminating 1,600 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force. The online auction site operator will cut 1,000 full-time employees and let several hundred temporary and part-time workers go. It...

Ask.com hopes to make search faster, more relevant - Added 6 weeks ago

Assuming your company's name isn't a verb synonymous with looking things up online, how do you get Web surfers to not just try your search engine, but also frequent it? For Oakland, Calif.-based Ask.com, part of the...

EBay buys Bill Me Later for $945 million - Added 6 weeks ago

EBay Inc. did a little shopping of its own on Monday, saying it would pay $1.34 billion for online payments site Bill Me Later and two Danish classified ad Web sites. Separately, eBay said it would cut 10 percent of...

Scientists: 1 in 4 mammals faces extinction - Added 6 weeks ago

Conservationists have taken the first detailed look at the world's mammals in more than a decade, and the news isn't good. "Our results paint a bleak picture of the global status of mammals worldwide," the team led by...

Recordings aim to capture calls of the wild West - Added 6 weeks ago

Rattlesnakes aren't to be trifled with, but if you're trying to collect the sound of every creature in the West that slithers, hops, flies or flops, distance isn't a luxury you can afford. "You get yourself in some...

Fraud plagues prepaid calling card market - Added 6 weeks ago

!!-- pobj:WAYAK301-0907061017 -->Rosalba Posada can tick off a list of problems she has encountered trying to use prepaid calling cards to stay in touch with family back in Colombia. There were the cards that didn't...

Venus flytraps caught in shrinking natural habitat - Added 6 weeks ago

Laura Gadd pauses at the edge of a pristine savanna, delicately lifting her feet to avoid trampling any venus flytraps hidden underfoot. Buried below wisps of wire grass, a few of the plants advertise their presence...

Beaches once thick with birds quiet thanks to Ike - Added 7 weeks ago

One of North America's renowned bird migration and bird watching areas is strangely silent. Blame Hurricane Ike. "We had red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, a bunch of migrating birds," recalled Ernest Stone, 75, leaning...

CNN hands over info on author of Steve Jobs rumor - Added 7 weeks ago

A CNN-owned Web site called iReport.com, which publishes reports written by ordinary citizens, said Friday it will give the Securities and Exchange Commission information about the author of an item that claimed Apple...

Google agrees to brief delay of Yahoo ad deal - Added 7 weeks ago

Google Inc. agreed to delay the start of a Web advertising partnership with rival Yahoo Inc., giving U.S. antitrust regulators more time to review the deal. Under a plan announced in June, Google would provide...

Ex-McAfee executive clear of illegal option dating - Added 7 weeks ago

A jury on Friday acquitted the former top lawyer at computer-security software maker McAfee Inc. of illegally tampering with his stock option grants to boost his pay package. Kent Roberts, who served as McAfee's...

RIM CEO: AT&T still testing delayed BlackBerry - Added 7 weeks ago

A delayed top-of-the-line BlackBerry phone from Research in Motion Ltd. is still undergoing testing by AT&T Inc., and RIM's co-CEO implied that the carrier wants to avoid the chorus of complaints about performance...

Labor report indicates squeeze on tech sector - Added 7 weeks ago

The economic slowdown has started to squeeze the technology sector. So far this has not led to wide-scale job cuts, but a slowing demand for computers and other electronics may already be weighing on some payrolls. ...