Roboneill decommissioned
It is with a measure of sadness that we announce the reprogramming of Roboneill, Computerworld’s editorial android. He took the paper to places where few dared to go, and we’re not talking about the corporate bogs down in the basement either. Details of his battery removal ceremony will be available at a later stage. Can touch this
Robot Touchscreen Analysis from MOTO Development Group on Vimeo. This is fascinating stuff — and ups the ante for reviewers looking to provide an opinion on how well the human-machine interface of a device works. — MOTO Labs tests smartphone touchscreens on iPhone, Google Nexus One, Motorola Droid, Palm Pre, and Blackberry Storm 2 Fries with that?
Telecom’s Floridian SuperCommuter, Paul Hamburger, will step down from his position as Director Mobile in July this year, a move that hasn’t been explained by the incumbent. Is Hamburger’s departure due to the XT failures, or an Air Miles overload? Was it because his contract ran out and there was simply no more work left to do? All those questions and more are left unanswered. Hamburger is a telco luminary from T-Mobile in the UK and C&W and his departure from Telecom must be something of a blow and it’s not clear who will fill his shoes at the Mobile Business Unit from July. It’ll have to be a brave soul though, given how much hammering XT has taken. — Another XT exec leaves Telecom RedACTA
That Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is curious stuff. Apparently, we have to take part in the negotiations to introduce what appears to be US-style Digital Millennium Copyright Act legislation in New Zealand, without the civil rights safeguards our American cousins enjoy. The reason for the participation is to provide, err, certainty for exporters through harmonised intellectual property standards. It won’t affect you and I and we don’t need to worry about having our MP3 players and phones searched by Customs under ACTA. They can do this already, so ACTA isn’t needed to provide these powers, ditto for rights holders wanting to cut off people’s internet connections. Listening to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, this is nothing to be concerned about. Listening to InternetNZ and intellectual property lawyers however, we should be more than a little concerned about ACTA. Either way, make sure you tell Commerce Minister Simon Power what you think of ACTA and intellectual property enforcement ahead of the Wellington negotiation round next month. The email for submissions is trademarks@med.govt.nz — ACTA: harmless or horror? — New version of secret ACTA copyright treaty leaked — ACTA Wellington agenda and venue leaked — Clare Curran: Govt lip service to transparency on ACTA? Danger ads
Advertising on the internet has been a controversial proposition from day one, and the latest developments as relayed to us by a FryUp reader doesn’t help. Yahoo’s yieldmanager.com and Fox’s filmserve.com are apparently serving up ads poisoned with Javascript malware, according to anti-virus vendor Avast. Of course, Avast has a vested interest in talking about these things to sell its products, but the reader in question confirmed that his organisation has seen several poison ads been served up – and, from New Zealand websites too. What’s more, Google’s Doubleclick is on Avast’s list of compromised domains. The malware in question, named JS:Prontexi by Avast, doesn’t require the user to do anything like clicking on the ads. It infects as the ad is loaded by the web browser. Internet publishers around the world, take note of this and work on your security. This could kill your business otherwise. — Ads poisoning – JS: Prontexi