Isis unveiled: HP has opened the source code of the webOS Web browser
14 Feb 2012 11:15pm GMT HP has published the source code of Isis, the webOS Web browser. The company has also released the code of the browser's underlying HTML rendering engine, which is based on QtWebKit. The code is available from GitHub and is distributed under the permissive Apache license. The webOS platform is built on top of Linux, but has a proprietary userspace stack. HP announced in December that it would open the platform's source code and continue developing it in collaboration...
Wasteful and unethical: why we hate crippled products
14 Feb 2012 11:06pm GMT In the world of consumer electronics, it's common for companies to create a range of products that are all variations on a theme, containing slightly faster processors or a bit more memory. These products serve two important functions for their producers: they put the price of entry within reach of more consumers, and they induce those with a bit more cash to take steps up the product ladder and purchase a more expensive version. However, a study that has just...
Too much time playing WoW isn't the real problem in your relationship
14 Feb 2012 9:06pm GMT Another Valentine's Day, another study hating on gaming habits. A new paper released by researchers at Brigham Young University today concludes that online role-playing games have a negative effect on marital satisfaction. However, the authors didn't prove that gaming has a particularly negative effect on relationships, only that it's just like any other leisure activity: doing too much of it without your spouse will make him or her feel angry and isolated. In...
Senate cybersecurity bill leaves Internet alone, exempts tech companies from oversight
14 Feb 2012 8:49pm GMT The Senate Homeland Security Committee has introduced the broad cybersecurity legislation promised late last year by Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV). But contrary to the fears of many—or perhaps because of them—the bill's scope is tightly restrained, excluding the vast majority of commercial systems and Internet infrastructure itself from coverage. In many ways, the 205-page Senate bill, called the Cyber Security Act of 2012, incorporates many of the...
Nortel Networks hackers had "access to everything" for years
14 Feb 2012 7:46pm GMT Nortel Networks suffered a security breach that for almost a decade gave attackers with Chinese IP addresses access to executive network accounts, technical papers, employee emails and other sensitive documents at the once-thriving telecommunications firm, The Wall Street Journal reported (subscription required). The publication, citing a former 19-year Nortel employee who oversaw the investigation into the hack, said Nortel did nothing to keep out the hackers except to...