That Dell thing is now a Dell/Sony/Apple thing...
http://techdirt.com/articles/20060824/1140224.shtml
Apple Gets Burned By Sony Batteries, Too
from the feeling-hot-hot-hot dept
Apparently Apple noticed all the fun Dell was having with this whole battery recall thing, so it's decided to get in on the act by recalling 1.8 million batteries for three of its laptops -- batteries that, like the Dell ones, have cells made by Sony. Apple's suggesting affected users should remove the batteries from their machines and use them on AC power, while they wait 4 to 6 weeks for a replacement. In the meantime, perhaps Apple users can enjoy a vacation -- just don't fly Qantas.
Sony puts price on battery problems
Multimillion dollar replacement costs may have effect on company's financials
By Martyn Williams, IDG News Service August 24, 2006
Sony Corp. has provided for the first time an estimate of what the recalls of its battery packs by PC makers could end up costing the Japanese company.
On Wednesday Apple Computer Inc. said it will join Dell Inc. in recalling the Sony-made battery packs in some of its products because of a risk that they will overheat and catch fire while being charged. Apple is recalling about 1.8 million batteries, while Dell is asking customers to return 4.1 million batteries.
Sony expects the Apple and Dell recalls to cost between ¥20 billion and ¥30 billion (US$172 million to $258 million). It said the figure represents the cost of replacement battery packs and any other related costs.
That could put a dent in Sony's full-year financial results. The company currently forecasts both its operating profit and its net profit to be ¥130 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007.
Sony said it anticipates "no further recalls of battery packs using these particular battery cells." [Clever use of a tautology. We've recalled them all therefore we don't think there are any more to recall. Bob]
Correcting the problems caused by top management?
http://blog.wired.com/cultofmac/#1545004
Thursday, 24 August 2006
Apple Looking to Hire a Business Ethicist
In the wake of sweatshop charges at iPod factories in China, Apple is advertising for a manager of a "Corporate Social Responsibility program."
Sometimes known as "business ethics," CSR often involves policing human rights at overseas suppliers or assembly plants.
In a job posting at Ethical Performance.com, Apple says the candidate will have a "strong desire to improve human rights and worker conditions."
The post calls for "experience in auditing practices and supplier management."
So much data, so little time...
University of California Launches Calisphere Digital Library
Filed under: US-California
The University of California has announced Calisphere, a digital library containing more than 150,000 digitized primary source materials about California. Calisphere is available at http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu.
... If you want to see all the topics and the entire index at once, there’s a huge page that’s great for browsing at http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/browse-a-z.html. Teachers shouldn’t miss the guide page at http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/for-teachers.html.
Lots of great material here, though I wish the details for the pictures weren’t buried under a couple of extra clicks. A real timesink.
...because we just love spending taxpayer money! (Why use the free software when we can pay Microsoft and then add in extra software we have to maintain?)
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/24/1831230&from=rss
Massachusetts to use ODF Through Microsoft Office
Posted by Zonk on Thursday August 24, @03:49PM from the they-have-a-cave-troll dept. Microsoft Software Politics
An anonymous reader writes "In a move sure to be unpopular with Sun and IBM, Mass. has decided to use the ODF plug-ins recently released for Microsoft Office rather than move to OpenOffice. Officials pointed to accessibility requirements as being one of the primary reasons for not moving away from Microsoft Office. Is this a victory or a defeat for the Open Document Format effort?"
This seems extremely dangerous to me. If I “disclose” that I have a solution for the problem I've been hired to work on, can they still get the patent? “Back in 1990 I had this idea for an online patent prior art search systems, I use it every day, but havent bothered to patent it yet...”
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/25/0212247&from=rss
Are NDA 'Prior Inventions' Clauses Safe to Sign?
Posted by Cliff on Friday August 25, @12:20AM from the contractual-time-bombs dept. Businesses Privacy
BenderMan asks: "I own a small consulting company. Today I was asked by yet another corporate customer to sign an NDA with the increasingly popular 'Prior Inventions' clause. The gist of it is they want you to provide a list of all your past and current inventions and/or ideas so they can define and protect the intellectual property that they have hired you to build. Like many of us that lay awake at night, whilst the hamster wheel spins new ideas, I've got a number of un-patented works in various stages of development. Given that mutual NDAs only provide one year of protection, I don't feel obligated, nor do I have sufficient time and energy, to fully and properly document my inventions for an NDA. While these clauses are written with good intentions, the reality is that these valuable ideas would be placed in the hands of people that could potentially profit with impunity (Have you priced patents lately?). Unfortunately many companies are not willing to strike this clause from their contracts. Does Slashdot agree that this is a concern, and how have you dealt with these situations?"
Apparently, it takes a long time to “appall” these guys... Did they think the Vietnamese were barbarians, too ignorant to understand the technology? Fortunately, this would never happen with US firms... Right? (See next article)
http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=8142
U.S., U.K. Firms Sold Wiretapping Equipment To Vietnam
2006-08-24 16:42:00 Posted By: Intellpuke
Reporters Without Borders has learned that a British company, Silver Bullet, and a U.S. company, Verint Systems (a subsidiary of Comverse Technology), sold equipment for intercepting mobile phone calls to the Vietnamese intelligence services. The source of this information, the U.K.-based Jane's Defence Weekly, said a subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries acted as intermediary in some of the sales.
"We are appalled to learn that our phone calls with Vietnamese cyber-dissidents have been monitored with equipment provided by European and U.S. companies," said the Paris-based press freedom organization. "Coming a year after it emerged that Yahoo! cooperates with the Chinese police, this new case reinforces our conviction that telecommunications companies must be forced to respect certain rules of ethical conduct. In particular, they should be banned from selling surveillance equipment to repressive governments."
The sales were revealed by Robert Karniol in an article headlined "Vietnamese army enhances mobile phone monitoring" in the October 31, 2005, issue of Jane's Defence Weekly (JDW). He said the London-based Silver Bullet had recently sold two P-GSM stations (portable mobile phone listening devices) to Vietnam for $250,000 each. Elta (a subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries) and Aikap Group, another Israeli company, acted as intermediaries in this transaction.
Them barbarians learns quick.
Vietnam's Communist Party gets help from Intel
Intel will set up a lab in Vietnam for testing and developing open-source software
By Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service August 25, 2006
The Vietnamese Communist Party's decision to move its computer systems to open-source software got a boost on Friday from Intel, the world's largest chip maker.
Under terms of a memorandum of understanding signed on Friday, Intel will help the Communist Party's Central Committee for Science and Education (CCSE) set up a laboratory, called OpenLab, for testing and developing open-source software. Over the next three years, the lab will oversee the installation of open-source software on 27,000 PCs running Intel processors, the chip maker said.
The Communist Party's decision to use open-source software matches a wider Vietnamese government effort. In 2004, the government announced plans to promote the use of open-source software in a bid to reduce its IT costs and promote the development of the local software industry.
The Communist Party is counting on open-source software to improve office automation and efficiency across different party organizations. It also hopes to benefit from improved security and reliability, the chip maker said. An Intel spokeswoman in Vietnam was not immediately available to comment further on the deal.
Intel is investing heavily in Vietnam, which has emerged as a low-cost alternative to manufacturing in China. In February, Intel announced plans to build a $300 million test and assembly plant in Ho Chi Minh City. When completed, the Ho Chi Minh City site will be Intel's seventh test and assembly plant, joining the ranks of similar facilities in China, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Costa Rica.
The Ho Chi Minh City plant is expected to eventually employ 1,200 workers.
Tools & Techniques
http://www.searchengineguide.com/searchbrief/senews/008281.html
Protecting the Privacy of Search
Posted by Jennifer August 24, 2006
On the heels of AOLs blundering decision to share search histories of its users with the world, search engine privacy has become a fairly hot topic. After all, search queries often reveal the deepest secrets and fears of the searcher...things that many searchers would prefer not be shared with the general public. With that in mind, Search Engine Journal's Loren Baker has put together "Six Ways to Keep Your Search History Private."
Cause for action! I like it, therefore I'll sue!
Unable to unplug, tech addicts may sue: academic
Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:08 PM ET By Wojtek Dabrowski
TORONTO (Reuters) - Keeping employees on electronic leashes such as laptops, BlackBerries and other devices that keep them constantly connected to the office could soon lead to lawsuits by those who grow addicted to the technology, a U.S. academic warns.
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012241.html
August 24, 2006
DOJ Criminal Law Enforcement Data on Criminal Prosecutions
Posting from David Burnham and Susan B. Long, co-directors
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: "Very timely criminal enforcement data from the Justice Department document that federal criminal prosecutions in May were up from the previous month in all of the following categories: white collar crime (up 8.5%), immigration (up 15.3%), illegal drugs (up 8.9%) and weapons (up 9.7%). However, only immigration is up from a year ago (up 4.8% from May 2005); the other enforcement areas all show declines in prosecutions from the previous year...the reports on the latest trends," are available online here.
Could be real useful...
http://digg.com/software/Open_Source_Designing_a_book_with_LyX
Open Source: Designing a book with LyX
3monkeys submitted by 3monkeys 17 hours 40 minutes ago (via http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/08/15/1859251&from=rss )
If you've ever considered writing a book, you may have looked at the layout capabilities of OpenOffice.org Writer, AbiWord, KWrite, or other word processing programs. While these tools can produce adequate results for many types of documents, it's also worth considering LyX, an open source (GPL) desktop publishing application.
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