John Lister

People whose computers are infected with the ' DNS Changer ' virus will lose access to the Internet on Monday, July 9, 2012, unless they take steps to remedy the situation. Right now the Federal Bureau of Investigation is wrapping up an operation ... designed to help such victims maintain their online connections. DNS Changer is named after the domain name system that helps translate website addresses (such as www.infopackets.com ) into a string of numbers known as an IP address, which is the way computers actually identify the machine where a particular website is physically stored. 'DNS Changer ... (view more)

Google has announced it will finally close its original video hosting service, Google Video, and will keep both YouTube and its video search site running. The decision, along with the closure of four other services, is part of Google's ongoing ... program to ditch ideas that didn't work out. The search giant says it has abandoned more than thirty programs since fall, 2011. Google Video was first unveiled in 2005. It was originally designed to host videos for users who didn't have their own web servers or couldn't cope with the traffic, if a lot of people watched their clips. After buying the ... (view more)

Several major websites were briefly knocked offline this past weekend by a quirk in the calendar: a 'leap second' -- the rare additional tick added worldwide to clocks that fixes a natural flaw in our time-keeping systems. The 'leap second' is used ... around the world on computerized time systems because a year on our clocks is slightly shorter than the actual the time it takes the Earth to go once around the sun. Nowadays, we take most of our time signals from an atomic clock, which measures the vibrations of atoms in a metal called cesium so accurately that a one second error is nearly as ... (view more)

Microsoft will permit upgrades to Windows 8 Pro from any previous version of Windows for just $40. However, it's a limited-time offer and the price is good only for those downloading the new software from Microsoft's official site. Those who don't ... want to download the upgrade will be able to buy an upgrade DVD from stores for $69.99. There are only two versions of Windows 8 that can be bought outright: the basic Windows 8 and the more advanced Windows 8 Pro. Naturally, the 'Pro' version has features not found in the basic edition, including enhanced security. It's also better equipped for ... (view more)

British researchers are working on an alternative to Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation that will function when GPS fails. They say the GPS satellite system might not last forever, and could be damaged by a freak space incident or even a ... military conflict. The new system comes from BAE systems, a defense company in the United Kingdom. BAE has for some time been trying to find alternatives to GPS, which works by comparing a device's location to multiple satellites in space. Solar Flare Could Destroy GPS Satellites While GPS functions well for now, it is vulnerable to satellite ... (view more)

A series of security breaches has exposed the credit card details of Wyndham hotel customers. As a result, the company must face the ire of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Hackers apparently breached the hotel chain's secured data networks on ... three separate occasions, starting in April 2008. The first attack was the largest and gave the hackers access to hotel guest data stored on the system. Because the data wasn't encrypted, the attackers were able to utilize information associated with an estimated 500,000 credit cards, which they relayed to a Russian-based site. Wyndam came under ... (view more)

A European court has upheld a $1 billion fine on Microsoft, originally imposed four years ago. The penalty was punishment for Microsoft refusing to share vital information with rival software developers. Microsoft's financial problems with the ... European Union date back to 2004, when it was fined 497 million euros for abusing its market position. That case was based on the conflict of interests arising from Microsoft producing both an operating system (Windows) and individual applications (such as Word and other Office products). Microsoft Accused of Hiding Information At the time, officials ... (view more)

Online travel agency Orbitz is reportedly offering more expensive hotels to Mac users than to people using a PC. The agency has made this adjustment intentionally, based on research showing that Mac users regularly pay more for Internet hotels ... bookings. According to reports, Orbitz examined data from past bookings and found that the average price PC users pay through the site for a night in a hotel is about $100. However, Mac users pay an average of $20 to $30 extra for the same bookings. Mac Users More Likely to Spend Big The data showed a consistent pattern: Mac users are 40 per cent more ... (view more)

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has joined a campaign to fight the extradition of a British man facing trial in the United States for online piracy offenses. Richard O'Dwyer, accused of criminal behavior related to a site that linked to pirated TV ... shows, says he did not breach the law. US officials want to formally charge O'Dwyer with copyright infringement and other charges. If convicted in the US, he would face a maximum term of five years. In his own country, however, the equivalent crimes can be punished by a sentence of no more than six months. The charges stem from a website named TVShack ... (view more)

Google is funding a project designed to promote languages in danger of falling into disuse. The search giant is producing a series of tools, including specialist social network tools, designed to revive interest in the languages. The Endangered ... Language Project springs from the fact that about half of the 6,000 human languages spoken today are "on the verge of extinction," with few native speakers left alive. Researchers predict there will be no one able to speak these languages by the year 2100, unless special efforts are made to preserve them. (Source: endangeredlanguages.com ) Expansion of ... (view more)