Facebook has removed two Holocaust denial groups claiming they violated Facebook's Terms of Service by promoting hate. The two groups in question, "Holocaust is a Holohoax" and "Based on the facts...there was no Holocaust," were removed from the site because messages from members posted on the group's Walls were found to be promoting hate speech.
Thinking of buying an ultraportable laptop or a netbook soon? Check out this list of upcoming portables before you open your wallet.
The natural-language search engine Wolfram Alpha is expected to launch May 18 and more details about the site are emerging. Most notably, Stephen Wolfram, Wolfram Alpha's creator and the brain behind the computational software Mathematica, says his site is not the next Google killer, but an add-on for your Web searches.
Facebook just can't seem to stay out of trouble. The social networking site has landed in hot water again, this time for refusing to shut down Holocaust denial groups.
Forget all those rumors about Apple, Google, Microsoft or anyone else buying Twitter: The company's bosses say Twitter is not for sale. On Wednesday Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams were on ABC's The View as part of Twitter's current media campaign that has also included appearances on Oprah and The Colbert Report. Responding to a question from Barbara Walters about the rumors surrounding an imminent purchase of Twitter by a larger tech company, Stone responded with an unequivocal, "No. We are not for sale."
Developers got an unexpected surprise yesterday after Apple released a new beta of the iPhone OS 3.0 and a second version of iTunes 8.2. This release comes just eight days after Apple released 3.0 beta 4 and the first public version of iTunes 8.2. Apple's typical release schedule for new 3.0 beta versions has been about two weeks. If beta 5's availability signals a faster release schedule, then a near-final version of iPhone OS 3.0 may be just around the corner. That would make sense since it's barely over a month until Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco where 3.0 is expected to make its debut.
What happens when two super-hyped tech companies collide in the rumor mill? You get a Tweetintosh. That's right folks, the rumor mongers are saying that Apple is in late stage talks to acquire Twitter for as much as $700 million. The Mac maker is reportedly hoping to have a deal in place with Twitter by June 8 in time for Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Francisco.
If you were burned during the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war, hold off on using all those red HD DVD discs as a wall covering. Warner has introduced a new Web site called Red2Blu that lets you trade in HD DVD movies for Blu-ray discs-for a price.
General Electric Global Research says it has figured out a way to put up to 500GB of data on a regular-sized DVD disc under laboratory conditions. GE says its breakthrough was achieved by writing 3-dimensional patterns that represent data onto a disc made of highly reflective material. The disc then acts as a mirror that makes it possible for a laser to pick up the entire piece of data. GE's process doesn't just put information onto the surface of the disc--as DVDs and CDs do--but etches the micro-holographic patterns below the surface of the disc as well.
Mozilla this week put out its first beta release of Fennec, the mobile version of its Mozilla Firefox web browser.
Apple unveiled <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/161255/live_update_iphone_software_30.html">iPhone OS 3.0</a> which boasts over <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/161433/our_iphone_30_scorecard.html">100 new features</a>. Unfortunately, we will have to wait until the summer to get our hands on the new iPhone operating system. To tide you over until then, take a look at 10 iPhone 3.0 features that look the most promising.
AT&T is doubling the download capacity of its HSPA 3G network just before a new iPhone device is expected to launch. The new speeds take AT&T's capacity from 3.6 Mbps to 7.2 Mbps for 3G devices. Called HSPA+, the tweaked network is currently in two test markets and will roll out across the country later this year, according to Telephony Online.
Mozilla has given US$100,000 to improve and develop Ogg Theora, an open source video codec being developed by the Xiph.org Foundation. Wikimedia will disburs funds over a six-month period. Although not the best-known video format, Ogg already has some major support from web developers. Theora will be built into Firefox 3.1, which is currently in Beta 2, as well as into Norway's homegrown browser Opera. Theora is also the video format of choice for all Wikimedia Foundation projects.
We've all heard about the netbook phenomenon. They're small, low on power, ultra-cheap, super portable and the fastest growing segment of the computer industry.
Steve Jobs may [[artid:919734384|not be coming to MacWorld Expo]]in San Francisco next week, but that hasn't stopped the Apple rumor-rama from charging ahead at full speed.