Bank secrecy is back in the news, this time as former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer handed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange two computer discs at a high-profile news conference on Monday. Tax evaders, nefarious bankers, shady politicians, unethical business leaders, cheating celebrities, organized crime bosses: It's all on the discs, Elmer claimed, including information about Julius Baer, his one-time Swiss bank employer. "We will treat this information like all other information we get," Assange told reporters. "Yes, there will be full revelation."
The white iPhone 4 may make its debut sometime before the next hardware revision after all, at least if the oft-reliable retail inventory systems are to be believed. Two separate stores—Best Buy and Vodafone—now show SKUs for white iPhones in their systems, with Best Buy's system showing a launch date in late February.
Engadget first noted yesterday that Vodafone Germany's inventory system had begun showing 16GB and 32GB versions of the white iPhone. That system didn't seem to show an expected launch date, but MacRumors' sources from Best Buy followed up Tuesday with their own shot of the Best Buy inventory screen. That one says the phones will be in stock on February 27, 2011—just a couple weeks after the Verizon iPhone is set to launch.
3. Feature: Making music in Linux and beyond
You can do a lot with free open-source software, also known as FOSS. Musicians with a yen for Linux are in luck; the array of choices for creating, editing, producing, and publishing music using nothing but FOSS software is staggering.
4. Facebook Drops Another 'P' Bomb
Facebook dropped a privacy bombshell on an unsuspecting user base before the start of the holiday weekend: Going forward, it will make a user's address and mobile phone number accessible as part of the User Graph object. That means that users' addresses and mobile numbers are now available to third party developers of such apps as, say, FarmVille. Facebook acknowledged it was dealing with "sensitive information" in the blog post making the announcement. For that reason, it created a special opt-in permission requirement.
5. Microsoft Gives Semi-Pros a Free Web Dev Toolbox
Microsoft on Thursday released WebMatrix, a free Web development tool that it claims lets website developers of all skill levels create, customize and publish websites to the Internet easily. It also announced an ecosystem of 40 open source application partners around WebMatrix. This is a revival of a previous project, also called "WebMatrix," that offered a free tool in 2002 to help Web developers get started with ASP.Net, Microsoft representative Jackie Lawrence told TechNewsWorld.
6. WebM vs. H.264: Google Bets Big on Itself
Google announced Tuesday that its Chrome browser will stop supporting the H.264 codec in a couple of months and will support its own WebM and Ogg Theora technologies instead. The announcement set off a firestorm. Some contended the move is a step backward for openness; others speculated that it might create a roadblock for adoption of the HTML5 standard; a few questioned whether or not the move would adversely impact adoption of the Chrome browser. A Microsoft evangelist posted a blog entry criticizing Google's move, but Mozilla and Opera expressed their support.
7. Broadcom Sees the Linuxy Light at Last
Good things come to those who wait, as the saying goes, and recently the Linux community had occasion to observe a vivid illustration close to home. Specifically, after years of ill repute as one of the primary wireless chipmakers that didn't support Linux, Broadcom on Monday showed the community some love. Following its release of a key compatible driver last fall, the company has now gone whole-hog and joined the Linux Foundation. Cause for celebration, if ever there was one!
5. Microsoft Gives Semi-Pros a Free Web Dev Toolbox
Microsoft on Thursday released WebMatrix, a free Web development tool that it claims lets website developers of all skill levels create, customize and publish websites to the Internet easily. It also announced an ecosystem of 40 open source application partners around WebMatrix. This is a revival of a previous project, also called "WebMatrix," that offered a free tool in 2002 to help Web developers get started with ASP.Net, Microsoft representative Jackie Lawrence told TechNewsWorld.
6. WebM vs. H.264: Google Bets Big on Itself
Google announced Tuesday that its Chrome browser will stop supporting the H.264 codec in a couple of months and will support its own WebM and Ogg Theora technologies instead. The announcement set off a firestorm. Some contended the move is a step backward for openness; others speculated that it might create a roadblock for adoption of the HTML5 standard; a few questioned whether or not the move would adversely impact adoption of the Chrome browser. A Microsoft evangelist posted a blog entry criticizing Google's move, but Mozilla and Opera expressed their support.
7. Broadcom Sees the Linuxy Light at Last
Good things come to those who wait, as the saying goes, and recently the Linux community had occasion to observe a vivid illustration close to home. Specifically, after years of ill repute as one of the primary wireless chipmakers that didn't support Linux, Broadcom on Monday showed the community some love. Following its release of a key compatible driver last fall, the company has now gone whole-hog and joined the Linux Foundation. Cause for celebration, if ever there was one!
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