Google founders to set up charitable foundation

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are planning to set up a charitable Google Foundation According to Reuters the pair want to extend the principles behind Google the company into Google the charity. The pair are likely to become billionaires when the forthcoming Google IPO takes place which is expected to be this year. 'We want to make the world a better place and so we're embarking on the Google Foundation and we're in the process of setting it up,' Page is reported as saying. ...more

Ofcom gives phone marketers the silent treatment

UK communications regulator Ofcom has warned call centres to stop causing people unnecessary anxiety at home with 'silent' calls. The regulatory body found that silent or abandoned calls made by call centres are causing significant anxiety and annoyance among recipients. The nuisance calls occur when automated calling systems, used for telemarketing and market research, generate more calls than the available call centre agents can deal with. ...more

New technology more likely to worsen identity theft

A reliance on technology to solve security problems is misguided, claims a British academic. She also says that not enough is being done to study the way in which real pieces of information about an individual could allow a criminal to steal their identity. In a lecture, 'Life-swapping in cyber suburbia - the problem of stolen identity and the Internet', at the BA Festival of Science in Dublin, Dr Finch of the University of East Anglia argues that far from solving the problems of identity theft, advances in technology will only make matters worse. ...more

Macromedia unveils a new Flash content delivery system

Ahead of its acquisition by Adobe, Macromedia has unveiled a new Flash content delivery system known simply as Flash Platform and released a preview of the next generation of the Flash Player, codenamed Maelstrom. Flash Platform comprises a universal client runtime, an openly published file format (SWF) specification, a programming model, time-tested development tools and dedicated server technology. As well as rich media, Flash Platform can be used for enterprise applications, communications, and mobile applications. ...more

NVIDIA gear up GeForce3 and Go!

NVIDIA has unleashed its GeForce3 GPU, along with two mobile graphics chips: the GeForce2 Go 100 and GeForce2 Go 200. The GPU boasts a programmable infiniteFX engine, which allows developers to create special effects and renders photorealistic objects and custom lighting effects. Also in the arsenal is High Resolution Anti-Aliasing (HRAA), which is nearly four times more powerful than its GeForce2 Ultra predecessor, and a high-definition video processor that will bring HDTV to the desktop. ...more