NewsTrust - Most Recent Stories

Google Computes News Quality

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

InformationWeek - By Thomas Claburn - Nov. 16 (News Report) - A recently filed patent application suggests that Google is taking steps to promote news produced by major media companies on Google News. Whenever a newspaper dies, Google turns up on the list of suspects. The evidence of Google's involvement tends to be sketchy. A close examination of the crime scene typically points to a different villain -- the classified revenue killer known as Craigslist, parasitic news sites that siphon potential visitors, declining subscription and ad revenue, management that can't adapt, or the hyper-competition created by the Internet's ability to collapse distance and divert attention. But Google nonetheless has been forced to defend itself. In May, Marissa Mayer, Google's VP of search products and user experience, testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet that Google is the hand that feeds media companies, channeling over one billion clicks every month to online publishers through Google Search and Google News. She suggested that Wikipedia, with its constantly updated articles, might offer a better model for journalism in the Internet age than a series of separate articles. And she proposed that online publishers might be failing their readers by presenting them with Web pages that lack engaging social features.

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History Reloaded: Changing The Past To Suit The Present

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

InformationWeek - By Thomas Claburn - Dec. 01 (News Report) - Once upon a time, it may have been that history was written by the winners. But in the information age, history is written by the persistent. Digital information is subject to constant revision, unless care is taken to document its state over time.

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Presidential Election Voting Machines Violate Copyrights, Suit Claims

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

InformationWeek - By Paul McDougall - Nov. 05 (News Report) - Artifex Software, of San Rafael, Calif., claims that PES systems infringe on its copyrighted Ghostscript PDF interpretation and printing software. Artifex claims PES is using Ghostscript in its electronic election systems even though Diebold and PES "have not been granted a license to modify, copy, or distribute any of Artifex's copyrighted works," Artifex claims in court papers filed late last month in U.S. District Court for Northern California.

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Cutting Through E-Voting Debate Semantics

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

InformationWeek - By Sara Peters - Oct. 27 (Special Report) - I did a story about e-voting a few years ago, and found it quite a vexing, exhausting process, because one had to viciously hack through a thicket of semantics to find out what e-voting proponents and e-voting opponents were really arguing about so vociferously. So I'll now attempt to save you (and your machete) the effort, and give you the gist of the semantic debate.

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To H-1B Or Not To H-1B?

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

InformationWeek - By Alice LaPlante - Oct. 23 (Opinion) - Countering claims that the United States is facing a critical shortage of skilled technologists, former IT professionals like Lovelace and Adler point to depressed wages and their inability to score even preliminary interviews as evidence that the market is already flooded. Yet at the same time, technology companies such asMicrosoft (NSDQ: MSFT), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), and Oracle (NSDQ: ORCL), asserting that their ability to function at full capacity is being hampered by the lack of qualified technologists, are furiously pressing Congress to allow more temporary high-tech workers into the country by raising the cap on how many H-1B temporary foreign worker visas are issued.

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Swiss Bank Abandons Lawsuit Against Wikileaks

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

InformationWeek - By Thomas Claburn - Mar. 06 (News Report) - the bank's actions roused media and cyberliberties groups to defend Wikileaks' rights under the First Amendment and brought renewed scrutiny to the documents the bank hoped to shield....Levy said that the bank's notice of dismissal warns of the possibility that the same lawsuit might be filed in a different court. Levy also said that the bank appears to have been motivated by fear of a legal counterstrike. A continuation of the suit in California could have put the bank at risk of a countersuit under California's anti-SLAPP statute, which protects people who have been sued for exercising their right to speak out about public issues. Wikileaks notes on its site that BJB's stock has dropped 20% since January.

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Microsoft Combined With Intel For A Vista Logo Disaster

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

InformationWeek - By Dave Methvin - Feb. 29 (News Report) - Earlier, I said Microsoft, OEMs, and retailers all deserved blame in the logo disaster, but these insider e-mails have changed my opinion on apportioning blame. Many OEMs and retailers tried to do the right thing, but were both ignored and double-crossed by Microsoft's final Vista logo program so that Intel would be happy and make more money.

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Marriott E-Health Record System Spots Medical Mishaps -- Electronic Health Record

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

InformationWeek - By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee - Jan. 28 (Special Report) - The Web-based personal health record system combines medical and personal data in an effort to lower medical costs and errors, and get patients to take more responsibility for their health. As health care costs have soared annually in recent years, more employers are providing electronic tools to encourage workers to keep better tabs on their health issues in hopes of reining in costs. This month, Marriott joined a growing legion of companies providing electronic personal health records to their employees. But unlike some of the personal health records offerings being rolled out by other employers, the system deployed at Marriott also taps into a sophisticated clinical rules engine that looks to avert potential medical mistakes or gaps in care that could lead to serious complications and costs.

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How Hollywood, Congress, And DRM Are Beating Up The American Economy

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:21:20 -0700

InformationWeek - By Cory Doctorow - Jun. 14 (Opinion) - The United States traded its manufacturing sector's health for its entertainment industry, hoping that Police Academy sequels could take the place of the rust belt. The United States bet wrong. America needs new, realistic trade policies, columnist Cory Doctorow says.

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Why Progress Toward Electronic Health Records Is Worse Than You Think

Sat, 26 May 2007 00:00:00 -0700

InformationWeek - May. 26 (News) - Though use of E-records is growing, the hardest trick--data sharing--has barely begun. And in at least one high-profile case, it's lost ground.

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Google Targets Microsoft With Launch Of Business Applications

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:09:42 -0800

InformationWeek - By Paul McDougall - Feb. 22 (News Report) - Having won over millions of consumers with its online search and productivity tools, Google is now looking to displace Microsoft as the desktop application provider of choice in corporate America by offering a range of low-cost, zero maintenance software that office workers can access through the Internet. Google Apps Premier Edition, to be unveiled Thursday, features online e-mail, calendaring, messaging, and talk applications, as well as a word processor and a spreadsheet. The launch follows Google's introduction of a similar suite aimed at consumers last August. The new Premier Edition, however, offers enhancements aimed squarely at corporate environments.

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U.S. Accredits Two E-Voting Test Labs

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 14:49:21 -0800

InformationWeek - By K.C. Jones - Feb. 21 (News Report) - The federal government voted Wednesday to accredited iBeta Quality Assurance and Sys Test Labs to test electronic voting systems. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission's approval of the two companies marks the first time the federal government has accredited e-voting test labs and had a hand in certifying voting equipment. Volunteers with the National Association of State Election Directors used to accredit companies. Thirty-nine states required the accreditation, according to EAC, which predicts those states will now require federal certification.

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NewsTrust Aims To Go Deeper Than Digg

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:59:18 -0800

InformationWeek - By Thomas Claburn - Jan. 04 (News Report) - The site is looking to judge news articles online by quality, rather than simple popularity, with a more finely grained evaluation of news stories than one gets from the gladiatorial thumbs-up, thumbs-down votes by which stories live and die on Digg. NewsTrust, in essence, aims to counter the fascination of the inclusive crowd -- picture Britney Spears on a Linux-based iPod sold by Microsoft -- with the wisdom of the vetted crowd.

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New Congress Likely To Support Net Neutrality

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 18:55:58 -0800

InformationWeek - By K.C. Jones - Nov. 17 (News Report) - Internet neutrality proponents believe that the recent change in Congress is likely to boost their efforts to push legislation that would prohibit tiered access to the Internet.

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Apple Recalls 1.8 Million Notebook Batteries, Will Provide Free Replacements

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:15:58 -0700

InformationWeek - By Edward F. Moltzen - Aug. 24 (News Report) - Apple said Thursday that it will provide free replacements of PowerPC-based notebook batteries affected by its recall with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The Apple recall, announced Thursday by the CPSC, involves 1.8 million lithium-ion batteries for iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 laptops sold between October 2003 and August 2006. The batteries cost about $130 each, according to the commission.

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