Articles by Chris Maxcer

As Microsoft's saber-rattling patent infringement claims continue to resound throughout the open source world, Linux distributor Mandriva is the latest player to stand up to Microsoft and draw a line in the sand Last fall, Microsoft and Novell signed a multi-faceted patent-protection agreement, which was later followed by similar agreements with Li...

The world of high performance computing (HPC) is expanding every day, particularly in the fields of geosciences, molecular biology and medical diagnostics, where scientists are increasingly turning to supercomputers to crunch massive amounts of data via complex simulations and applications Graphics processing unit (GPU) solution provider Nvidia has...

Google's latest idea takes it off the information superhighway and onto the world's real-life streets with it's new RechargeIT initiative Promoted by its philanthropic arm, Google.org, the new initiative aims to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil and gasoline use, and stabilize the electrical grid by accelerating the development and adoption of plug-in ...

A London-based privacy advocacy group, Privacy International, has ranked the world's No. 1 search engine company worse in protecting customer privacy than any of nearly two dozen other major Internet-based companies "Throughout our research, we have found numerous deficiencies and hostilities in Google's approach to privacy that go well beyond thos...

Monster Worldwide, the parent company of leading online job recruiter Monster.com, shook up its management team Wednesday, and in the process has shed a little stock value Shares lost about a dollar over most of the Thursday, rebounding a little from a low of US$44.40....

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have issued new joint guidance for their field offices for the protection of wetlands and bodies of water that are protected under the Clean Water Act The new guidelines come in the wake of last year's Supreme Court decision over the identification of wetlands, streams a...

Microsoft has launched a music promotion effort designed to promote new music artists through its Zune, MSN and Xbox-focused electronic outlets. Dubbed "Ignition," Microsoft says the program will provide a steady stream of new music through online access to exclusive content, free song and video downloads, streaming videos, editorial features and artist playlists...

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has released the "last call" draft of version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPLv3). The near-final draft simultaneously paves for the way for the controversial Microsoft-Novell Suse Linux distribution pact while at the same time inhibits similar deals from occurring again in the future Under GPLv3, distribu...

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has announced the winners of is second largest contract to provide next-generation telecom services to federal agencies: AT&T, Level 3 Communications, Qwest Communications, Sprint Nextel and Verizon The five companies all have the right to compete for Networx Enterprise contracts from 135 federal agenc...

Microsoft has taken the touchscreen PC concept in a new direction, amping it up with a 30-inch screen, giving it five eyes and turning it horizontal to create a coffee table that can sense multiple touches at the same time Based on Windows Vista and called "Microsoft Surface," the new computer can also sense -- through the use of five cameras mount...

Public companies are required to note possible risk factors that investors need to be aware of, and one of the risk factors reported by Novell notes the uncertainty of the effects of the new and upcoming GNU General Public License (GPLv3), according to the company's annual U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K, released last week The la...

Recent press reports have indicated that a managed copy specification -- supported by the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) that provides the copy-prevention system on HD DVD and Blu-ray discs -- may be nearing reality Details, however, are few and far between. The AACS has acknowledged that it is talking over specifications with movie studios ...

A group of semiconductor firms have opted to extend their partnership to develop high-performance, energy-efficient chips down to the 32 nanometer scale Led by IBM, the alliance works under the concept of the Common Platform model that lets the group jointly develop semiconductor technology as well as manufacture it for a variety of purposes....

The super-popular MySpace social networking site has been buffeted by a storm of negative press over the actions of several state attorneys general and their recent requests for sex offender information The whole mess has unfolded like a bad soap opera -- and it must be particularly baffling for MySpace, because it has invested a significant amount...

As new open source document standards emerge, Microsoft continues to expand interoperability options for its Microsoft Office customers. Microsoft has launched an open source project with Chinese organizations to support interoperability with Microsoft Office and the Chinese UOF standard, the company announced Sunday Microsoft is working with Beiha...

Mozilla Labs, the division of Mozilla focused on developing new technology, is working on a new Firefox browser add-on that will let a mobile phone user collect interesting Web content, aggregate the content in Firefox and then access it via a mobile phone The project is called "Joey," named after a baby kangaroo....

Motorola announced a series of new phones Tuesday, and while all of them have interesting form factors and compelling features, only one -- the Razr 2 -- has the potential to compete with Apple's upcoming iPhone The reasons?...

In response to a Supreme Court ruling that found carbon dioxide qualifies as an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act, President Bush has called for changes designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2008 "Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) must take action under the Clean Air Act regarding greenh...

Microsoft's push to get the free and open source software (FOSS) world to license its technology has ignited a firestorm of criticism and speculation. The software behemoth's actions have perhaps also generated a strong dose of fear, uncertainty and doubt -- aka FUD -- in the minds of open source developers, providers and users Microsoft's latest l...

Little by little, Microsoft is opening the door to the room that holds its free and open source software (FOSS) strategy. The latest sliver of light, as noted in a Fortune magazine report, reveals the claim that FOSS violates 235 of Microsoft's patents As characterized by the Fortune article, Microsoft is looking to take on the FOSS world by requir...