US intelligence to embrace Semantic Web for surveillance

According to the New Scientist, the US authorities may be looking into how they can combine personal data from social networks with data harvested from comms networks to help them with their intelligence work. A research paper delivered at the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) WWW2006 conference in Edinburgh last month on how to detect conflicts of interest between people based on their participation in social networks was part-funded by a body known as the Advanced Research Development Activity (ARDA). It turns out that ARDA, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service early this year, has the specific remit of funding research to help 'solve some of the most critical problems facing the US intelligence community' with money from the coffers of the National Security Agency (NSA). ...more

Sony unwraps two new Cyber-shot cameras

Sony has taken the wraps off two new Cyber-shot digital cameras, the ultra-slim T33 and the 7.2 megapixel P200. The T33 [pictured] comprises a 5. ...more

Apple on course for 450+ million iTunes in 2005

Apple is currently selling some 5.5 million downloads every week, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has calculated, and on track to sell 474 million in 2005 alone. Last week Apple announced that it has sold 200 million songs through its iTunes Music Store in the 20 months since its launch. ...more

US Patent Office to re-examine JPEG patent

The US Patents and Trademark Office is to re-examine the validity of the patent underpinning the JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) image format, which is widely used to share computer images throughout the world. The request for a re-examination came from the pressure group the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT). The US Patent No. ...more

Microsoft Mac team alive, well and blogging

Microsoft's Mac software division has set up a blog designed to provide 'a broad range of voices and perspectives' on its work. Developers, testers, user assistance, product managers, usability engineers, product marketers and the general manager at the Mac Business Unit (MacBU) will contribute to the blog on an unspecified variety of topics, 'some technical, some not'. Early posts include Nadyne Mielke on being a Mac girl at Microsoft - 'it's kinds strange' - and a programmer known only as ExCntx on loving bugs so much that he/she is going to miss the recently discontinued Virtual PC. ...more