
<?phpxml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" 
xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
>
<channel>
<title>Haaze.com / topnews1553 / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Mar 2011 07:10:58 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Space laser proposed to zap space junk]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=space-laser-proposed-to-zap-space-junk</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=space-laser-proposed-to-zap-space-junk</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Mar 2011 07:10:58 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>topnews1553</dc:creator>
<category>Social</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=space-laser-proposed-to-zap-space-junk</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Orbital Debris-Debris Collision Avoidance(Credit:Arxiv.org)What to do with all the space junk now in orbit around Earth Each year, that question grabs a headline or two before disappearing. But that doesn't mean the problem is getting any closer to resolution.  In fact, just the opposite: scientists warn that the risk of a collision between debris objects in low-Earth orbit and a space craft remains a real risk. In 2009, Hugh Lewis, a lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Southampton, predicted that the threat posed by space debris would climb by 50 percent in this decade. Perhaps the most high-profile incident occurred in February 2009 when an Iridium satellite smashed into a defunct Russian satellite above northern Siberia, creating an estimating 1,700 pieces of debris in the process. Also, last year the International Space Station had to fire its thrusters to dodge an old NASA satellite that's floating around up there.  All told, NASA estimates there are more than 500,000 pieces of debris in orbit around the Earth, traveling at speeds up to 17,500 mph. Now some scientists are proposing a solution: they say a medium-powered ground-based laser combined with a ground-based telescope could reduce the risk of collision by nudging potentially dangerous debris out of the way. In a recent paper, James Mason, a NASA contractor at the Universities Space Research Association in Moffett Field, Calif., and his colleagues argue that such a system is feasible. Although they say more study is required before actual implementation of a laser collision avoidance system, they report that lab simulations suggest that the idea would work in practice. Space Junk: Bad and Getting Worse  The idea would center around the deployment of a medium-powered laser of 5 to 10 kilowatts to essentially nudge debris off a potential collision course. &quot;Our simulation results suggest that such a system would be able to prevent a significant proportion of debris-debris conjunctions,&quot; they write, adding that the system could &quot;substantially perturb&quot; the orbits of debris fragments through the applications of photon pressure. As might be expected, the question of whether such an idea would do the trick remains a topic of debate. William Priedhorsky, of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, told Nature he thought the system would be ineffective when it came to pushing aside especially heavy objects. What's more, there are going to be lingering suspicions that any sort of space laser might get commandeered by the military to blind satellites sent into orbit by rival nations.  This isn't the first time that scientists have suggested Flash-Gordon-like solutions to getting rid of space junk. In December, the Russian space agency proffered an idea to build an orbital pod that would sweep away satellite debris. Details remain shrouded from the public but the Russians say they hope to have the craft ready to go no later than 2023.This story first appeared on CBSNews.com.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Sandboxing to come in Avast 6]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sandboxing-to-come-in-avast-6</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sandboxing-to-come-in-avast-6</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Feb 2011 08:10:25 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>topnews1553</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sandboxing-to-come-in-avast-6</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Free security suites have long been offering protection for Windows computers that has ranged from adequate to excellent. After using the Avast 6 beta for the past week, it looks like Avast 6 will land far closer to the high end of the spectrum thanks to its new WebRep browser add-on and sandbox environment, unique in the free antivirus marketplace.Avast 6 Free will come with a sandbox feature to isolate risky programs while they run.(Credit:Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt)The security suite is available in three forms: Free Antivirus, which replicates the features available in the upcoming Avast 6 Free' Pro Antivirus, which offers a 30-day trial for checking out Avast's first level of paid security' and Internet Security, which ramps up the feature set to include more security tools.The biggest new feature is the AutoSandbox, which walls off suspicious programs, preventing them from potentially damaging your system while allowing them to run. Few details have been provided so far as to how the AutoSandbox works, however a response from an Avast employee on Avast's forums gave some indication of how it works. Avast's sandbox allows the program to run, while keeping track of which files are opened, created, or renamed, and what it reads and writes from the Registry. These permanent changes are virtualized, so when the process terminates itself, the system changes it made will evaporate.The AutoSandbox settings are accessible from the new Additional Protection option on the left nav. It defaults to asking the user whether a program should be sandboxed, although you can set it to automatically decide. There's a whitelist option for programs that you always want to exclude from the sandbox, and you can deactivate the feature entirely.Avast 6 will come with an optional browser plug-in for Internet Explorer andFirefox called WebRep, which is Avast's new Web site reputation service. It uses a combination of data from Avast's virus labs and user voting to determine a safety score for a site. Similar add-ons are a common tool available in most antivirus suites, so it's good to see Avast join them. Like its competitors, Avast appears to have ignored Google Chrome and its 10 percent market share when it comes to search result rating add-ons. However, Avast has promised that the Chrome add-on will be released soon.The browser add-ons install when installing Avast 6. If you don't want them, it's actually easier to remove them from within Avast instead of within the browser. Currently, removing the add-on using the browser's interface will cue Avast to re-install the add-on the next time the computer is rebooted.Other new features have been introduced in Avast 6 beta. The Troubleshooting section now comes with a &quot;restore factory settings&quot; option, there's a new sidebar gadget forWindows 7 and Vista, and you can set automatic actions in the boot-time scan. Two features that have filtered down to the free version are the Script Shield and site blocking. The Script Shield now works withInternet Explorer 8 and 9's protected mode. Meanwhile, the paid versions have gained some new features, such as SafeZone, a virtualization feature for secure online banking. The installer has shrunk for all versions by about 20 percent.Avast 6 Free also comes with the optional WebRep add-on, for rating search results and Web sites.(Credit:Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt)The initial build of the program was buggy and actually caused my computer to enter into a crash loop that I escaped by booting into Safe Mode and removing it. However, subsequent builds have proven to be far more stable. Note that if you do install the beta, you'll have to completely uninstall your current antivirus program, even if it's Avast 5. The company expects to have an upgrade mechanism in place by the time Avast 6 is ready for wide distribution.Other known problems in the beta include the fact that the SafeZone feature doesn't work yet and that the firewall in the paid versions contains a conflict with uTorrent.Performance benchmarks are not available because of the in-development nature of this release. It's simply changing too quickly for benchmarks to provide any useful information, given the time it takes to conduct them.Although the suite looks good and bodes well for the coming public release, this is a beta product and so it's not recommended for security duties on your primary or only computer. However, it's well worth exploring on secondary machines, and it's encouraging to see Avast not laying fallow after the gains made in version 5.The beta announcement thread on the Avast forums can be read here. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Apple's computer shipments surge 241 percent]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-computer-shipments-surge-241-percent</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-computer-shipments-surge-241-percent</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>topnews1553</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apples-computer-shipments-surge-241-percent</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Hewlett-Packard still reigns supreme in the PC market, but Apple has hurdled into the third spot, tied with Dell and just behind Acer, according to a report released today.According to market researcher Canalys, the worldwide PC industry grew 19 percent year over year in the fourth quarter with a total of 105.8 million devices shipped.The growth is impressive, but it should be noted that the figures Canalys released includetablets. The company calls the category &quot;pads&quot; in its report.&quot;Pads gave the market momentum in 2010, just as Netbooks did the year before,&quot; Canalys senior analyst Daryl Chiam said in a statement. &quot;We are encouraging vendors to plan for the future and not to remain stuck in the past.&quot;That momentum is apparent in Apple's year-over-year growth. The company shipped 11.5 million Macs and iPads worldwide in the fourth quarter, allowing it to capture 10.8 percent of the global PC market. A year earlier, Apple shipped 3.4 million Macs, garnering the company just 3.8 percent share. Apple's year-over-year growth last quarter was 241 percent.Even with the iPad's help, Apple couldn't supplant HP as the world's top PC maker in the fourth quarter. HP company shipped 18.7 million PC units during the period and owned 17.7 percent of the worldwide market. It was followed by Acer's 13.6 million unit sales and 12.8 percent market share. Acer saw its year-over-year shipments grow 8.8 percent in the fourth quarter, while HP saw 2.9 percent growth, Canalys said.Dell's shipments grew year over year by 10.6 percent, but the company's market share declined from 11.6 percent in 2009 to 10.8 percent in 2010. It shipped 11.4 million units during the fourth quarter.Canalys' decision to include tablet shipments in its research may irk some who believe they have no place in the company's data on desktops, Netbooks, notebooks, and server PCs. But the research firm believes that tablets legitimately belong there.&quot;Any argument that a pad is not a PC is simply out of sync,&quot; Chiam said. &quot;With screen sizes of 7 inches or above, ample processing power, and a growing number of applications, pads offer a computing experience comparable to Netbooks. They compete for the same customers and will happily coexist.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[FCC makes Net neutrality rules official]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=fcc-makes-net-neutrality-rules-official</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=fcc-makes-net-neutrality-rules-official</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>topnews1553</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=fcc-makes-net-neutrality-rules-official</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Federal Communications Commission today officially adopted controversial Net neutrality rules, but the fight is far from over as the FCC's authority to create and enforce these rules may still be in question.With the support of the Democratic FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski, and two other Democratic commissioners, Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn, the agency passed the rules in a 3-to-2 vote. The two Republican commissioners, Robert McDowell and Meredith Attwell Baker, voted against the rules.While Democrats and Republicans on the commission differ on the need for these rules, all four seem to agree that the commission's legal authority for enforcing them is still uncertain. McDowell and Baker said that the FCC's loss earlier this year in a federal court case against Comcast for violating Net neutrality principles sends a clear message that the courts do not believe the FCC has the legal authority to apply such rules--and therefore the rules should not be enacted, because the FCC will find itself in court defending its authority. Meanwhile, the Democrats on the commission, who reluctantly voted in favor for the new rules, said the FCC should still consider reclassifying broadband traffic to ensure it has the authority to enforce new rules.Genachowski did not address the question of legal authority in his comments. This summer he had proposed a &quot;third way&quot; that would reclassify broadband traffic so that some aspects of broadband would comply with old rules used to regulate the telephone network. This proposal was largely panned by critics. And in recent months, Genachowski has backed away from talk of reclassifying broadband traffic.The new Net neutrality rules adopted Tuesday essentially create two classes of service subject to different rules: one that applies to fixed broadband networks and one for wireless networks. The FCC says this is necessary because wireless networks are technologically different from fixed broadband networks.The first rule requires both wireless and wireline providers to be transparent in how they manage and operate their networks. The second Net neutrality rule prohibits the blocking of traffic on the Internet. The rule applies to both fixed wireline broadband network operators as well as to wireless providers. But the stipulations for each type of network are slightly different.For fixed broadband networks, operators cannot block any lawful content, services, applications, or devices on their network. Wireless providers area also prohibited from blocking Web sites, but the rule is slightly more lenient when it comes to blocking applications and services. The rule only prohibits these companies from blocking access to applications that specifically compete with a carrier's telephony voice or video services. In each case, the blocking rule also allows fixed and wireless broadband providers to reasonably manage their networks. And finally, the last rule applies only to fixed broadband providers. It prohibits fixed wireline broadband providers from unreasonably discriminating against traffic on their network. Fast lane, slow lane While he voted in favor of the new rules, Commissioner Copps said he is not entirely happy with the final outcome. In particular, he is concerned that broadband providers will force Internet companies to &quot;pay for prioritization.&quot; This would create a fast lane on the public Internet for services that pay to have their traffic prioritized above other traffic, while all other Internet traffic travels in the slow lane. But Copps acknowledged that the &quot;no unreasonable discrimination rule&quot; should protect consumers against such abuses.Copps also noted concern over the fact that wireless and fixed broadband services will be treated differently.&quot;The Internet is the Internet no matter how you access it,&quot; he said.Still, he said that a no vote would delay any action at least another two years, which is not in the best interest of consumers.McDowell, who voted against the rules, has been one of the most vocal opponents of Net neutrality regulation. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, McDowell called the Net neutrality rules unnecessary.&quot;On this winter solstice, we will witness jaw-dropping interventionist chutzpah as the FCC bypasses branches of our government in the dogged pursuit of needless and harmful regulation,&quot; McDowell wrote. &quot;The darkest day of the year may end up marking the beginning of a long winter's night for Internet freedom.&quot;During the FCC meeting he explained his opinion, citing four reasons why he did not vote for the regulation:Nothing is broken with the current system.The FCC doesn't have the legal authority to enforces these rules.The rules will cause harm to the economy by stifling investment. Existing laws and government structures provide ample consumer protections in the event of systemic market failure.The FCC has been working on developing these official rules of the road for the Internet for more than a year. In September 2009, Genachowski suggested adding to the original Internet Openness principles adopted by the commission under former Chairman Michael Powell. The debate over whether to have such rules and what these rules should include has become a highly politicized issue attracting the attention of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. In a statement released the night before the vote, Genachowski said that the rules that are now codified as official FCC regulation offer consumers, entrepreneurs, and Internet companies the protection they need, while also promoting investment in new technologies. &quot;On one end of the spectrum, there are those who say government should do nothing at all,&quot; he said. &quot;On the other end of the spectrum are those who would adopt a set of detailed and rigid regulations. I reject both extremes in favor of a strong and sensible framework--one that protects Internet freedom and openness and promotes robust innovation and investment.&quot;Genachowski went on to say that the new rules will be good for business, because they will help stimulate investment and jobs.&quot;We're adopting a framework that will increase certainty for businesses, investors, and entrepreneurs,&quot; he said. &quot;We're taking an approach that will help foster a cycle of massive investment, innovation and consumer demand both at the edge and in the core of our broadband networks.&quot;Net neutrality supporters say the regulation doesn't go far enough. They believe that FCC sided too heavily with big phone companies and cable operators in drafting the new rules. And they believe that the new rules do not provide enough protection for consumers.Harold Feld, legal director for Public Knowledge, one of the groups leading the Net neutrality battle, said that FCC's rules are an &quot;incremental step&quot; when it could have been more.&quot;It's a step forward, but hardly more than an incremental step beyond the Internet Policy Statement adopted by the previous Republican FCC,&quot; Feld said in a blog post. &quot;After such an enormous build up and tumultuous process, it is unsurprising that supporters of an open Internet are bitterly disappointed--particularly given the uncertainty over how the rules will be enforced.&quot;est <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

<item>
<title><![CDATA[Netflix finally lands on the Boxee Box]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=netflix-finally-lands-on-the-boxee-box</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=netflix-finally-lands-on-the-boxee-box</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>topnews1553</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=netflix-finally-lands-on-the-boxee-box</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Support for Netflix streaming video has finally made its way to Boxee&amp;'s set-top box, the company announced today in a blog post.Netflix support was the most common user request for the Boxee Box, the company said, and for good reason. The feature wasn&amp;'t available when the Box started shipping in November &amp;8212' at the time Boxee said that it would be available by the end of 2010. Obviously, it missed that deadline, and it also missed another deadline it set for the end of January when support for Vudu video rentals was added.With Netflix and Vudu support, the Boxee Box now has a bigger selection of streaming video content than when it launched &amp;8212' but it may be too little too late to make it a viable competitor against Roku&amp;'s streaming boxes, the Apple TV, or even Google TV. Boxee actually had Netflix support up and running during the Consumer Electronics Show early last month, but the company apparently had a tough time ironing out the bugs.Even though Boxee first announced the Box &amp;8212' which is built by D-Link &amp;8212' in December of 2009, it didn&amp;'t make its way to users until almost a year later. Hardware issues, including a switch from Nvidiaa4a4s Tegra chip to Intela4a4s Atom, likely led to the delayed release.To get access to the Netflix feature on the Boxee Box, you&amp;'ll either need to manually update via the Settings menu, or wait for the automatic update to land within the next 24 hours.Next Story: Will the iPhone Mini only stream media That&amp;'s crazy talk Previous Story: Kleiner Perkins adds Facebook to its social lineupPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Boxee Box, set-top box, streaming video, videoCompanies: Boxee, NetflixPeople: Avner Ronen          Tags: Boxee Box, set-top box, streaming video, videoCompanies: Boxee, NetflixPeople: Avner RonenDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
</item>

</channel>
</rss>
