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<title>Haaze.com / nocarlberg / Published News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jan 2011 08:10:37 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft plugs three Windows holes, works on others]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-plugs-three-windows-holes-works-on-others</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-plugs-three-windows-holes-works-on-others</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jan 2011 08:10:37 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-plugs-three-windows-holes-works-on-others</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft ranks the order of importance for the latest security patches.(Credit:Microsoft)Microsoft today issued two bulletins fixing three holes in Windows, including one rated critical for Windows XP, Vista, andWindows 7 as part of Patch Tuesday. &quot;We are not aware of proof-of-concept code or of any active attacks seeking to exploit the vulnerabilities addressed in this month's release,&quot; the company wrote in a Microsoft Security Response Center blog post.  The critical vulnerability is addressed in Bulletin MS11-002. The bulletin fixes the critical hole and an &quot;important&quot; vulnerability, both in Microsoft Data Access Components, that could allow an attacker to take over the computer if a user merely viewed a malicious Web page.  The second bulletin, MS11-001, resolves an &quot;important&quot; vulnerability that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a legitimate Windows Backup Manager file that is located in the same network directory as a malicious library file. The user would have to visit an untrusted remote file system or WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning) share for the attack to be successful.  More details are in the security advisory for this month.  Meanwhile, Microsoft revised Security Advisory 2488013 related to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to add an additional workaround for a vulnerability that affects Internet Explorer and for which there have been reports of targeted attacks.  &quot;The most important vulnerability, known as &quot;css.css,&quot; affects all versions of Internet Explorer and is rated critical,&quot; said Wolfgang Kandek, chief technology officer at Qualys. &quot;The exploit code is public and targeted attacks have been observed.&quot;  Security experts said they were more interested in when Microsoft plans to patch existing zero-day holes than in the fixes that were released.  &quot;Instead of talking about the number of bulletins being patched today, everyone's mind is on the five vulnerabilities that are not being patched,&quot; said Andrew Storms, director of security operations for nCircle.  Microsoft has a list of the pending issues here. On that list is a bug in IE disclosed by Google security researcher Michal Zalewski for which he said an exploit had been leaked to the Web. He also publicly released a tool he said he had used to find the hole and others in major browsers. Microsoft says it is still assessing the issues Zalewski brought up. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Bing gets modest face-lift, task improvements]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-gets-modest-face-lift-task-improvements</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-gets-modest-face-lift-task-improvements</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=bing-gets-modest-face-lift-task-improvements</guid>
<description><![CDATA[SAN FRANCISCO--Microsoft is making Bing easier on the eyes, and hopefully easier to use.At the Bing Search Summit here at Microsoft's downtown San Francisco offices, the company unveiled a more visual way to search for things like music, events, movies, and images from its search results, as well as improvements to the things people are able to do from Bing's results page and the Bing mobile app. Satya Nadella, Microsoft's senior vice president of research and development, went into detail on how much effort the Bing team puts into making the search engine more aesthetically pleasing. That includes 400 &quot;unique visual experiences&quot; built into Bing, each of which gets served up based on the action.Those actions are broken down into the things people want to do when they search for things. In order of importance, that's music, clothing and shoes, consumer electronics, recipes, home furnishings, and movies that are no longer in theaters. Nadella said the Bing team then delves into what people do once they start searching for each of these items to figure out how it can serve up results in a more efficient manner. For something like movies that means you get show times, as well as rankings from places like IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.Microsoft has also cleaned up its image search, adding things like infinite scrolling, and something called smart tabs, which is a set of related image searches that sit on the top of the page. Clicking these begins another image search without taking you off the page:Bing&amp;39's enhanced image search.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)Another improvement to the results pages involves a partnership with Fansnap to help people get things like concert or game tickets. So say you're searching for an upcoming basketball game at a local stadium. Bing will now serve up a stadium map, and a listing of the tickets you can buy, straight from the results:Ticket sales inside of Bing search results.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)Microsoft also detailed advances in its integration of Facebook as part of Bing search results. In the next month or so, Bing will feature Facebook likes underneath results, so that you can see which of your friends liked a result. Unlike previous efforts, which would just highlight items friends had liked, Paul Yiu, Bing's group program manager, said that Bing is now changing the rankings based on these annotations.That change in ranking has also been utilized to highlight people search results, so that if you're searching for someone, Bing can filter those results based on the network of people it knows you know. Yiu said this should go a long way toward helping users find the right person if they have a common name.Beside's Bing's search page, Microsoft demoed the new version of its Bing Maps product which uses Ajax instead of Silverlight, which is going out to users beginning today. Bing Maps' architect Blaise Aguera y Arcas explained that while the vast majority of the features have been able to be ported over to the new system, Silverlight will still be needed to use Bing's map applications tools for its computational tools. Bing Maps has also partnered with Everyscape to add in-line panoramas for business listings. In the same vein, the Bing mobile application can now let users make their own panoramas in a similar style to Occipital's 360 Panoramic app. These can then be uploaded to Microsoft's Photosynth site:Making a panorama in Bing&amp;39's iPhone app.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)That's not the only new trick to come to the Bing app though. Microsoft is also bringing along its Streetside technology, which lets users take a virtual, first-person walk around city streets:Microsoft&amp;39's Streetside is coming to its Bing mobile app.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)The Streetside view gets a special trick within the mobile app so that you can zoom out even further than you're able to on the desktop iteration. This, Aguera y Arcas explained, was to make it easier to get a broader look at a neighborhood you might be unfamiliar with and see its landmarks. Other additions to the mobile app include geo-fencing, real-time public transit schedules that will let users do a search for the next bus or train nearby or as part of a directions query, and a new visual search tool that makes use of your phone's camera. This identifies words and lets you tap them to begin a query:Bing&amp;39's mobile application is getting a new search tool that lets you pick out specific words from a photo. (Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)These features, as well as the ones being made to Bing's browser search are being rolled out over the new few weeks.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Cybercrooks create fake Amazon receipts]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cybercrooks-create-fake-amazon-receipts</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cybercrooks-create-fake-amazon-receipts</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 09 Dec 2010 08:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cybercrooks-create-fake-amazon-receipts</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The bad guys have created yet another online scam, this one involving fake Amazon receipts.Targeting Amazon and its retail partners, cybercriminals are using a phony Amazon receipt generator to print bogus receipts, and then are asking for refunds from the retailer, claiming that the items they ordered were never received.Reportedly discovered by security vendor GFI Software, this scam comes at an especially bad time, as online retailers are dealing with the onslaught of the holiday season.&quot;The free program available online allows scammers to create an HTML 'receipt' for phantom Amazon.com purchases,&quot; Christopher Boyd, senior threat researcher for GFI Software, said in a statement. &quot;By capturing a screenshot of the fake receipt, these cybercriminals are able to e-mail unsuspecting sellers claiming they are missing items. This type of fraud, perpetrated en masse, could result in massive losses for retailers, especially during the holiday shopping season.&quot;At first glance, the receipts are fairly convincing, according to Boyd. But upon closer inspection, some of the details are off. As a result, GFI advises online retailers to check their own records if they come across a receipt that doesn't look right. Retailers can also confirm with Amazon whether the purchase listed in the receipt was actually made.GFI said it has passed along the information and the receipt generator program to Amazon.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[The 404 723: Where we eat a bacon explosion (podcast)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-404-723-where-we-eat-a-bacon-explosion-podcast</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-404-723-where-we-eat-a-bacon-explosion-podcast</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-404-723-where-we-eat-a-bacon-explosion-podcast</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Verizon service to let home phones use cell minutes]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-service-to-let-home-phones-use-cell-minutes</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-service-to-let-home-phones-use-cell-minutes</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:10:36 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-service-to-let-home-phones-use-cell-minutes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Verizon is testing a new service that could eliminate the need for a dedicated landline account.Known as Home Phone Connect, the service would let Verizon Wireless subscribers make calls from their landline phones using Verizon's cellular network, allowing them to share minutes between their cell phones and home phones.Customers would be able to keep their existing landline phones through the use of a base station that taps into Verizon's wireless network and then connects calls to the home phone handset, according to Network World. A battery backup would provide power to the base should the electricity go out. The service itself would cost an extra $9.99 a month for Verizon Wireless subscribers who pay at least $69.99 for their current family plans or an extra $19.99 a month for unlimited local and long distance calls. Subscribers will also be able to carry their existing home phone numbers to the new service.Currently available for testing to customers in New York and Connecticut, Home Phone Connect would offer virtually the same features available with a traditional landline account, including 911, 411, and 611 service as well as such options as call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID, international dialing, and three-way calling.Verizon Home Phone Connect comes on the heels of a similar service from T-Mobile USA called T-Mobile @home service. T-Mobile's service used a router equipped with a SIM card to let landline phone calls hop onto the cellular network. But the company cancelled its @home service last January with no explanation why.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[New Grand Cherokee goes anywhere, in comfort]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-grand-cherokee-goes-anywhere-in-comfort</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-grand-cherokee-goes-anywhere-in-comfort</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-grand-cherokee-goes-anywhere-in-comfort</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Wayne Cunningham/CNET)Jeep made great strides with the new Grand Cherokee, coming up with a premium SUV showing off very nice cabin trim and full-featured electronics. What really impressed us is the Grand Cherokee's comfortable on-road manners, and its ability to tackle very rugged terrain. We weren't quite as impressed with the power train, which lags behind other automakers' level of technology. And the cabin tech interface is a little rough. But features such as adaptive cruise control, blind-spot detection, and an available Wi-Fi hot spot show that Jeep is looking toward the future.Check out our 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 Limited review.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft to appease developers with major Windows Phone 7 update in February]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-to-appease-developers-with-major-windows-phone-7-update-in-february</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-to-appease-developers-with-major-windows-phone-7-update-in-february</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-to-appease-developers-with-major-windows-phone-7-update-in-february</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Updates are in the works for Microsoft&amp;'s Windows Phone 7 platform that may make it more enticing to mobile developers, according to Tom Warren at WinRumors.Sources tell Warren that the update, which is expected to be announced at the Mobile World Congress event in February, will offer developers more freedom with their apps by opening up greater multitasking support, in-app downloads and better customization for users. The news is buoyed by a Business Insider report from yesterday that also pointed to a February update that would relax app restrictions, based on the word of a mobile app company head.Microsoft was notoriously restrictive with the initial apps that hit Windows Phone 7. In conversations with developers, they mentioned that Microsoft paid extremely close attention to even minor aspects of their apps &amp;8212' like the exact pixel width of their app&amp;'s margins. Clearly, Microsoft wanted to convey that its platform&amp;'s apps were polished and iPhone-like from the start. Now that Windows Phone 7 is beyond the launch hump, Microsoft can afford to give developers more flexibility.Previous reports also pointed to Microsoft announcing a smaller Windows Phone 7 update in January at the Consumer Electronics Show. That update will apparently bring copy and paste functionality, as well as support for CDMA networks like Verizon and Sprint (which was delayed initially).It&amp;'s unclear how these two updates will coexist. They could potentially be one and the same &amp;8212' with Microsoft unveiling some aspects in January, and more in February. But I think it&amp;'s more likely that we&amp;'ll see the first update within the first few months of 2011, and the bigger update in the following months.Microsoft is also expected to announce a Silverlight update for Windows Phone 7 at the Mobile World Congress, and it&amp;'s apparently working on overhauling its mobile version of Internet Explorer.Next Story: What to watch for in cleantech in 2011: companies, IPOs and trends Previous Story: S&amp;038'P 500 index welcomes Netflix, boots the New York TimesPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: apps, CES, developers, mobile world congress, smartphones, updates, Windows Phone 7Companies: Microsoft          Tags: apps, CES, developers, mobile world congress, smartphones, updates, Windows Phone 7Companies: MicrosoftDevindra 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.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Why Is Quora Mass Creating Twitter Accounts On Mechanical&nbsp'Turk]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=why-is-quora-mass-creating-twitter-accounts-on-mechanicalnbspturk</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=why-is-quora-mass-creating-twitter-accounts-on-mechanicalnbspturk</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=why-is-quora-mass-creating-twitter-accounts-on-mechanicalnbspturk</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Amazon&amp;'s Mechanical Turk is, among other things, a great place to get cheap labor to perform simple tasks that help black hat SEO efforts and general social network spamming. The problem is growing so large that it&amp;'s becoming a serious pollution issue, and we&amp;'ve begun real research to try to track the big guys who are behind it. And we&amp;'re using new search engine Blekko, which is transparent about page ranking, to understand how search engines deal with all this stuff.During our research we found something very peculiar &amp;8211' Quora is using Mechanical Turk to mass create Twitter accounts: &amp;''Given a name, username, password, and email address, create a new Twitter account,&amp;'' says the posting. You&amp;'ll be paid 15 cents, and as of today there were 1,483 opportunities still available.Say what That sounds bad. Is Quora creating fake Twitter accounts to drive links, traffic and SEO to their siteNo, actually. So Twitter should hold off before banning them. I spoke with Quora CEO Adam D&amp;'Angelo earlier today and there&amp;'s a perfectly reasonable, albeit fascinating, reason they&amp;'re doing this.&amp;''Quora is looking at using Twitter as an alternative for topic RSS feeds,&amp;'' he said. There&amp;'s currently no way to mass create Twitter accounts via their API, so it&amp;'s either employees doing this manually or an outsource job at $0.15 per account.So nothing evil&amp;'s going on here, and actually the steady replacement of RSS by Twitter is certainly a good thing for Twitter at least. Now we&amp;'re just looking forward to being able to track some Quora topics on Twitter as well as email. No word from Quora, though, on when this might launch.CrunchBase InformationQuoraInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Matchmaking site focuses on musical taste - Springwise]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=matchmaking-site-focuses-on-musical-taste---springwise</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=matchmaking-site-focuses-on-musical-taste---springwise</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Entertainment</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=matchmaking-site-focuses-on-musical-taste---springwise</guid>
<description><![CDATA[If literary tastes can be used as a basis for matchmaking, it stands to reason that musical tastes could be equally instructive in that respect. Enter Tastebuds, a UK-based matchmaking site that creates instant connections based on shared musical passions.Users of Last.fm can connect directly into Tastebuds using their account and associated preferences on that site. All others simply enter at least three of their favourite bands or artists into Tastebuds and indicate what type of match they''re looking for, and in what country. From there they''re shown the photos and basic stats of potential candidates, with the option to refine their search by age, location or musical artist. They can then zoom in on any potential matches that interest them and add those that look promising to their favourites' when that happens, the potential match receives an email telling them so. The rest is up to the users in question. Using Tastebuds is completely free.Hundreds of people are signing up with Tastebuds each week, the company says, and it''s not hard to see why. Given the endless forms and often unilluminating personality tests favoured by many traditional dating companies, cutting right to the chase online a4&quot; whether via musical tastes, literary tastes or another relevant dimension a4&quot; is a lot more efficient and makes much more sense for those whose social lives are increasingly lived on social networks. Tastebuds currently accepts users from anywhere on the globe, but this is an area where a local touch could go a long way. One to bring to musically minded lonelyhearts in your part of the world... Website: www.tastebuds.fmContact: hello@tastebuds.fmSpotted by: Julian Keenaghan<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Four Facebook Alternative&nbsp'Alternatives]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=four-facebook-alternativenbspalternatives</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=four-facebook-alternativenbspalternatives</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=four-facebook-alternativenbspalternatives</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Now that Diaspora, which is building an open-source distributed social network, has launched in private alpha, I figured it&amp;'d be a good idea to remind you that there are several alternatives to that particular Facebook alternative, some of which have been around longer and in more advanced stages of development.Note that there may be more initiatives that I haven&amp;'t heard of or simply didn&amp;'t or forgot to mention, so this is by no means an exhaustive list. Also, all of these deserve a full review, so I refrained from making quick-and-dirty comparisons between all of them.OneSocialWeb (previous coverage, CrunchBase profile) An initiative of Vodafone Group Research and Development, OneSocialWeb is being built on a foundation and uses a host of open source technologies &amp;8211' it&amp;'s primarily based on XMPP.The initiators of OneSocialWeb say they were inspired by the visionaries behind other open Web standardization initiatives such as activitystrea.ms, portablecontacts, OAuth, OpenSocial, FOAF, XRDS, OpenID and others.Tagline: free open decentralized social networking platformUseful links: OSW roadmap, developer downloads and the code.Video: The Appleseed Project Still in active development, Appleseed aims to create an open source, fully distributed and decentralized social networking software suite. When it&amp;'s done, its website reads, users will be able to &amp;''pick an Appleseed compatible site, sign up, connect with friends, send messages, share photos and videos and join discussions. And if you decide you don&amp;'t like the site you&amp;'re on, you&amp;'ll be able sign up for another Appleseed compatible site and immediately reconnect with everyone in your network. Tagline: The First Open Source + Distributed Social Networking PlatformUseful links: discussion forum, beta test site, source code and &amp;8211' haha &amp;8211' Facebook group.Video:  Elgg (CrunchBase profile) Elgg provides a free to download and use open-source social networking engine that provides a framework on which to build all kinds of social environments, from social networks to an enterprise-ready internal collaborative or communication platform. Elgg runs on a combination of the Apache web server, MySQL database system and PHP.Tagline: a powerful open source social networking engineUseful links: download, plugin directory, community.Insoshi(previous coverage, CrunchBase profile) An open-source social networking platform written in Ruby on Rails.Useful links: source code (freely available under the MIT license), example site, wiki.Also check out our ancient post: 34 More Ways to Build Your Own Social Network.(Image via Flickr / opensourceway)CrunchBase InformationOneSocialWebElgg.orgInsoshiInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[App for shoppers rates how brands address forced &amp' child labour - Springwise]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=app-for-shoppers-rates-how-brands-address-forced-amp-child-labour---springwise</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=app-for-shoppers-rates-how-brands-address-forced-amp-child-labour---springwise</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Retail</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=app-for-shoppers-rates-how-brands-address-forced-amp-child-labour---springwise</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This is the fourth in a series of posts on traceability. Written by Springwise, and supported by IBM. Check out our previous posts on milk tracking by a Swedish dairy, a registration service for product recalls and supermarkets offering increased food traceability, or read more about building a smarter planet._________While traceability often deals with consumer-centric issues like toy recalls and contaminated peanut butter, a new product tracking app aims to protect not consumers, but manufacturers. Specifically, the children and adults who make the products we buy.Launched in time for the holiday shopping season, Free2Work''s iPhone app hopes to educate consumers about forced and child labour. It gives ratings for products like Hasbroa4a4s Beyblades, Pillow Pets, Applea4a4s iPad and other popular items. Manufacturers are assigned grades based on their policies, implementation, employee empowerment, response to child labor and transparency. Free2Work was developed by the Not for Sale Campaign and the International Rights Forum. Bama Athreya, Executive Director of the International Labor Rights Forum, explains: a4AA broad range of certification programs exist that claim to protect worker rights. The volume and variety of these systems and product labels can be confusing to consumers. Free2Work helps to reduce the confusion and demonstrate to consumers how each program differs.a4 The app''s current list of brands and products is limited, and a barcode scanner for easy access to information would be more user-friendly. And, since each companya4a4s rating can only be based on publicly available information, the scorecards might not be accurate. Still, it''s a first step to increased transparency about child and forced labour, helping consumers make informed shopping decisions that could pressure brands into ensuring that their factories and those of their suppliers are entirely free of forced labour.Website: www.free2work.org a4&quot; www.notforsalecampaign.orgContact: support@free2work.org a4&quot; info@notforsalecampaign.orgSpotted by: Katherine Noyes<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft sells 1 million Kinect motion controllers in 10 days]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-sells-1-million-kinect-motion-controllers-in-10-days</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-sells-1-million-kinect-motion-controllers-in-10-days</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-sells-1-million-kinect-motion-controllers-in-10-days</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It&amp;'s now safe to say that motion-controlled gaming isn&amp;'t just a fad.Microsoft said it has sold 1 million units of its newest motion-control system for the XBox 360, the Kinect, in just under two weeks and is on track to sell 5 million controllers by the end of the year.The system records a person&amp;'s movements and allows them to control games using their bodies. The Kinect controller also features a microphone array that can detect what someone is saying from pretty much anywhere in the room.The controller allows XBox 360 users to control the console with their voice alone. For example, they can say a4AXbox ESPNa4 to bring up the ESPN channel on their Xbox 360 dashboard.The Kinect device allows Xbox 360 owners to start video chats with other Kinect users, as well as voice chats with Windows Live users.That&amp;'s not where the fun ends, though. And a number of intrepid hackers managed to crack into the device and open up its software to other developers. The effort was undertaken at the urging of New York-based Adafruit Industries, which offered a $2,000 bounty for an open-source hack. Hackers have already produced a functioning demonstration of Kinect being used for multi-touch gestures. You know,the kind you see in futuristic movies like Minority Report.Compare that to the Nintendo Wii and the Sony Move, both of which are hand-held controllers developed exclusively for games. They are game controllers in the truest sense and do little to help navigate the media experience on either console outside of point-and-click actions.So far it seems like the best bits of Kinect have shown up outside of the actual gaming component. The controller launched with a number of games like Dance Central, which teaches players how to dance and gives them scores on how well they match up with professional dancers. But the launch titles were quite lukewarm, and Kinect isn&amp;'t quite as good as it should be, according to VentureBeat&amp;'s gaming guru Dean Takahashi.What isn&amp;'t immediately clear is what is driving the sales. Are buyers attracted to the device&amp;'s power outside of the context of games, or do they plan to use it primarily for games About 40 percent of all time spent using the Xbox 360 is spent on activities outside of video games, said Dennis Durkin, chief operating officer of Microsoft. So that almost guarantees that at least some consumers picking up the device are doing so to turn their XBox 360 into a voice-controlled media center.Consumers can pick up the new controller for $150 by itself, or as part of a bundle with a new XBox 360 for $300. The company didn&amp;'t specify how many XBox 360 consoles it sold as part of the Kinect bundle.Next Story: Nissan to deliver only five Leafs this year, more delays look imminent Previous Story: E-recruiter RealMatch scores $4.7M in funding and a Monster CEOPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Kinect, Microsoft Kinect, motion controller, Nintendo Wii, Sony MoveCompanies: Microsoft, nintendo, SonyPeople: Dennis Durkin          Tags: Kinect, Microsoft Kinect, motion controller, Nintendo Wii, Sony MoveCompanies: Microsoft, nintendo, SonyPeople: Dennis DurkinVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Another Symbian blow: Nokia sells off business side of Qt development framework]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=another-symbian-blow-nokia-sells-off-business-side-of-qt-development-framework</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=another-symbian-blow-nokia-sells-off-business-side-of-qt-development-framework</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>nocarlberg</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=another-symbian-blow-nokia-sells-off-business-side-of-qt-development-framework</guid>
<description><![CDATA[If you need more proof that Nokia is looking to rid itself of the Symbian mobile operating system, here it is: The company announced today that it will sell parts of its Qt development framework, which was initially billed as a way to easily create apps for Symbian and other platforms, to Digia, a Finnish software company. Digia buys the software licensing and professional service business from Nokia. Nokia will still be in charge of developing the framework. Through the proposed acquisition, around 3500 desktop and embedded customer companies from various industries are targeted to be transferred to Digia, the Wall Street Journal reports.The transaction is expected to close by the end of March. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Nokia will continue to invest in future development of Qt, and Digia will be responsible for commercial licensing and services business. Considering the moves Nokia has been making lately it will be only a matter of time until the company will sell the rest of Qt.Just a couple of months ago Qt (pronounced cute) was a crucial part of software development for Nokia phones. Software developers could use the Qt framework to develop applications simultaneously for multiple operating systems, including Nokiaa4a4s Symbian and Meego operating systems. In addition Qt was considered easier and faster to use than previous software development tools for Symbian. Nokia was also planning to make Qt to support Googles smartphone operating system Android.In addition to smartphone operating systems, Qt is a great tool for developers to create applications on a wide variety of web-based platforms.Nokia bought Qt from the Norwegian company Trolltech in 2008 for $153 million. The first Nokia-made Qt APIs were launched last September.After Nokiaa4a4s decision to start using Windows Phone 7 as its primary smartphone OS, a move which killed off MeeGo&amp;'s future and pointed to the end of Symbian, Qt is no longer that important to Nokia.Digia plans to employ 19 persons from Nokia&amp;'s technical consulting services team and global Qt Commercial sales and marketing teams. The company will also open offices in the United States and Norway.The existing commercial customers represent a broad range of industries. There are customers in consumer electronics, finance, aviation, energy, defence and media.Digia plans to emphasize Qt in the desktop and embedded environments and to examine new support models and functionality requests. Digia will provide commercial customers with improvements in support and functionality for older platforms that were not on the Nokia development roadmap.Next Story: Tesla&amp;'s Model S update: pricing and deliveries Previous Story: On the GreenBeat: PlugShare app finds car chargers, Suntech beats First Solar in panel productionPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: meego, OS, Qt, smartphones, Symbian, Windows Phone 7Companies: Digia, nokia          Tags: meego, OS, Qt, smartphones, Symbian, Windows Phone 7Companies: Digia, nokia 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>
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