Al Gore's Current Media files for IPO

Youth-oriented cable network, which focuses on user-submitted news and documentary content, is aiming for a $100 million initial public offering.

Googlers: Old media's not dead, it just has to be Google-ized

NEW YORK--Just how much will Mountain View invade Madison Avenue?

Several hundred New Yorkers involved in advertising and marketing packed a room in Google's Chelsea offices here Monday night to find out. A panel of Google advertising employees, moderated by sponsor Mimeo Vice President Jeff Grill individually addressed the ...

See CNET at Macworld 2008, grill me Thursday

Please allow me to indulge in a little self-promotion on behalf of my employer, which issues me paychecks that keep me in beer and high-definition sports channels.

If you're on the show floor this week at Macworld, head over to booth No. 4810 in the West Hall of the ...

EMI gives music away to newspaper readers

The music industry is preoccupied with giveaways these days.

The latest example will come on Sunday, when New York Daily News subscribers will find an access code in their paper that they can use to retrieve three free songs from EMI Music.

Subscribers punch the code into the newspaper's

...

Hollywood Writers Might Write NAACP Awards Show

Looks like the NAACP Image Awards might be the only awards show the Hollywood writers write for.
Reps for the Writers Guild of America told the Associated Press that the organization will not likely stop striking to write for next month’s Grammy’s or the Oscar’s, but might for the NAACP event.
The AP reported:
The Guild said [...]

Oscar nominee reflects on making movie magic

ILM animator Scott Benza describes the years of work that went into an effort that earned him an Oscar nod for Transformers.
Oscar nods for ILM, Skywalker

Photos: Oscar nods for ILM, Skywalker

The 2007 Academy Award contenders are named, and Lucasfilm divisions Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound nab six technical nominations.

Google Translate bug mixes up Heath Ledger, Tom Cruise

UPDATE: Google representatives informed CNET News.com on Thursday that this "internal issue with Google Translate" has been fixed.

Gawker has unearthed a rather odd bug in the Google Translate software: its English-to-Spanish translator converts the name of the actor Heath Ledger, who died tragically on Tuesday, to the name
...

Google Translate bug mixes up Heath Ledger, Tom Cruise

UPDATE: Google representatives informed CNET News.com on Thursday that this "internal issue with Google Translate" has been fixed.

Gawker has unearthed a rather odd bug in the Google Translate software: its English-to-Spanish translator converts the name of the actor Heath Ledger, who died tragically on Tuesday, to the name
...

Be here Tuesday for live Macworld coverage

LIVE NOW: coverage of Steve Jobs Macworld Keynote

I've already started doing the dexterity exercises, with less than 24 hours to go before Macworld.

Once again, I'll be providing live blow-by-blow coverage of Apple CEO Steve Jobs' keynote at Macworld on Tuesday, starting at 9 a.m. PST. ...

Sprint & Verizon to ride the patent gravy train

Sprint Nextel and Verizon Communications both see an opportunity to make a buck on their IP telephony patents after successfully suing Vonage Holdings last year.

On Thursday, Sprint Nextel said in a U.S. District Court in Wichita, Kan., that it was suing four small phone companies. Sprint alleges that ...

School Daze II?

In the February issue of Vibe Magazine, Spike Lee said he wrote a script called School Daze II, but studio execs weren’t interested.
Lee said,
“It’s the same school, Mission College, but 20 years later. I was going to have Alicia Keys in it, Kanye West, and it was gong to deal with a lot of the [...]

Life after Google, with millions

A horde of nouveau riche have moved on from the company, trading on Google credentials to reach new heights in tech or attempting to save the world.

You, there. Step back from the Webcam

Corey Delaney, you're making us all look bad.

Last week, the Web became all too well acquainted with this Australian teenager and the sunglasses he refused to remove. On a Melbourne-area newscast, an anchor interviewed Delaney, 16, about the bacchanalia he'd hosted at his parents' house while they ...

Macworld leads tech out of the desert

Apple has the third week of January all to itself this year, and although it probably won't top last year's Macworld, the company will likely make everyone forget about the Consumer Electronics Show.

Trade shows are a necessary evil in the tech industry. Everyone claims to hate them, ...

Wikipedia planning to survey its members to figure out why they post

In the next several months Wikipedians, or the authors of the content found on Wikipedia will be the subject of a worldwide survey to find out about people's posting habits on the immensely popular online encyclopedia.

The Wikimedia foundation, which operates Wikipedia is employing Netherlands-based UNU-MERIT to conduct the ...

Just Hatin’

I haven’t made up my mind about this election yet, but some are truly convinced that Barack Obama is going to win. That’s the only explainable reason why some must be working so hard to tear this man down.
…
Are Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam still relevant or am I underestimating them?
This writer seems [...]

Flickr brings tagging to vintage images

Pilot project puts hundreds of public-domain pictures on photo-sharing site. In return, Library of Congress asks for tagging help.
Photos: Library of Congress uploads

'Scrabulous' debate may rewrite the rules of the game

"I'll go on a hunger strike!"

So said one adamant Facebook user in the wake of the news that game manufacturers Hasbro and Mattel were trying to do something about the wildly popular, unquestionably addictive online game known as Scrabulous.

The game, which rose to fame when its creators ...

Microsoft squashes talk of dual-boot XO laptop

Lesson learned: Just because something can run two operating systems doesn't mean it's a "dual-boot" system.

Microsoft put the kibosh on talk of a dual-boot XO laptop after OLPC chairman and founder Nick Negroponte told IDG News Service Wednesday that the two organizations are working on such a ...

Indie filmmakers, '3D is now open'

PARK CITY, Utah--After the Saturday night premiere of U2 3D here at the Sundance Film Festival, the film's director called upon the excited indie filmmaking audience to follow her lead in embracing new 3D technology.

"3D is now open," Catherine Owens said, adding that if she--a sculptor and multimedia ...

Resolutions Revisited: 6 tips

A year ago on ybpguide, we posted a great article about a free service that helps you achieve your New Year’s resolutions. Sometimes, it’s better to have a little help and make a little progress, then be alone and make none.
Many of us make New Year’s resolutions, but unfortunately a huge number break them within [...]

Photobucket launches mobile Web site

The image-sharing site, acquired by News Corp. last year, is finally making it possible for users to access their photos on their mobile phones.

Texas AG: MySpace safety plan is smoke and mirrors

The Lone Star State is the sole holdout in MySpace.com's comprehensive partnership with the rest of the country's attorneys general, and now Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has come out and explained why.

"We believe that social-networking sites, including MySpace.com, do not adequately protect young users," ...

Microsoft losing acquisition playmaker

Microsoft will need to find a new point person for its acquisitions strategy after confirming that Bruce Jaffe is moving on.

Bruce Jaffe, corporate vice president for corporate development at Microsoft

(Credit: Microsoft)

Jaffe will remain as vice president of corporate development until the end of February. Valleywag first reported ...

Arbor to acquire Ellacoya Networks

Consolidation in security keeps on coming, with Arbor Networks stepping up to the plate with plans to acquire Ellacoya Networks.

Arbor, which announced a definitive agreement to acquire Ellacoya on Thursday, is looking to boost its network security and service offerings to Internet service providers.

While the combined company will ...

The Good News is …

If you know any black male High School seniors who want to teach, they may be able to go to College for free. This is an effort of the “Call Me MISTER” program. “The mission of the Call Me MISTER (acronym for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models) National Initiative is to increase the [...]

MySpace agrees to social-networking safety plan

Attorneys general from every U.S. state except Texas reach an agreement with the social-networking site over how Web companies can work to protect children's safety.

MySpace to address Net safety at press conference

This story has been updated to confirm the content of the press conference.

MySpace.com has informed media that it will be making a "major announcement in regards to Internet safety" on Monday morning at a midtown New York hotel.

No other information was immediately provided except that MySpace's ...

OLPC, Microsoft working on dual-boot XO laptop

Apparently Nick Negroponte is willing to work with some huge powerful corporations whose interests compete with his own.

Negroponte told IDG News Service Wednesday that the OLPC project is working with Microsoft on a version of the XO laptop that would be capable of booting either Linux--the current OS--or Windows. ...

Microsoft eases access to Office binary formats for OOXML

Microsoft has made changes designed to make it easier to access the technical documentation for its older Office binary document formats and will sponsor an open-source project to map those binary formats to Open XML.

The moves are in response to requests from other participants in the standardization process that ...

pandora: better internet radio

i’ve always been a fan of listening to streaming radio over the internet. sometimes when you’re at work, you just don’t want to listen to the same mp3’s you’ve loaded on your corporate laptop over and over again. the daytime stations on the old radio are ‘o.k.’, but smooth jazz doesn’t exactly keep you awake. [...]

Attackers targeting Microsoft Office Excel

Software maker issues security advisory noting several versions of Office Excel contain vulnerabilities that attackers are targeting.

Report: MySpace issued subpoena in teen suicide case

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that social network MySpace was issued a subpoena in the investigation of a 13-year-old girl's 2006 suicide that involved harassment through a fabricated profile on the News Corp.-owned site. The article also said that "witnesses in the case" had additionally received subpoaenas....

Apple ships new Mac Pro, Xserve ahead of Macworld

Correction 5:30 p.m. PST: This blog initially mischaracterized the nature of the unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server Leopard that comes with a new Apple Xserve. It allows purchasers to connect an unlimited number of clients to that server.

Apple got a little business out of ...

Photos: Ford navigation with Sirius Travel Link

Click here to see our photos

We previously blogged about Ford's partnership with Gracenote to get album cover art for its in-dash music server, but that's just part of this new navigation and entertainment center. Sirius Travel Link provides a range of data services integrated with the navigation

...

Doctors’ Bias

While none of us are strangers to the concepts of prejudice and bias, what do you do if it affects someone you count on with your life?
The Chicago Tribune just ran an article detailing that over a 13 year period and after 150,000 emergency room visits, doctor’s were more likely to prescribe pain medication to [...]

Linux users answer the call: Ubuntu wireless-adapter glitch resolved

Featured links from the CNET Blog Network

Linux users answer the call: Ubuntu wireless-adapter glitch resolved--The sage advice of Linux community members gets my Linksys wireless adapter working in Ubuntu 7.10 in just a few minutes.

On a new site, letters to China from well-wishers and discontents-- DearChina.org is a new site where people can cry out to the great Chinese "other" and ask it to be more sustainable. Its sentiment is admirable. "Not about criticism," according to the introductory blurb.

CES: AT&T's EDGE network reaches capacity and flails at CES --The EDGE Network at capacity at CES fell short.

Kodak looks to the future--Kodak, founded in 1880, was undoubtedly one of the oldest companies presenting at CES 2008. After weathering the transition from film to digital photography, they are making strides forward with digital cameras, printers, photo frames, and software.

Digg, CBS Interactive team up for political coverage

CBS Interactive announced Tuesday that its CBSNews.com property has teamed up with social news site Digg for online coverage of the 2008 election.

Through this partnership, the recognizable "Digg buttons" will be featured on CBSNews.com articles and videos that pertain to the election. In return, Digg's election-related ...

OLPC fires back at Intel, children learn nothing

Nick Negroponte, founder and chairman of the One Laptop Per Child project, came out swinging at Intel on Friday, one day after the chipmaker decided to leave the group.

The OLPC's goal of bringing low-cost technology to children in developing countries apparently conflicts with Intel's goal of running ...

AOL Radio re-posts security update

AOL Radio may need to turn up the volume to get its users to download the latest security update, or its listeners may tune them out.

AOL Radio re-posted its Unagi plug-in 2.6.2.6 on Friday, but it failed to stress that users running versions of AOL Radio prior to August ...

‘Legend?’ Maybe.

You should go see I Am Legend. Why? Well, it is a hard task to carry an entire movie (this one coming in at 100 min.) by yourself for at least three quarters of it. Tom Hanks did a fine job of it in Cast Away and Will impresses here.
Directed by Francis Lawrence (who has [...]

Fiery protest over Tata's Nano

An opposition group in India burns the $2,500 "people's car" in effigy, charging that Tata Motors usurped farmers' lands for a factory.

French electronica act to headline MySpace tour

No, it's not Daft Punk, but the robot-suit-clad techno heroes' influence is evident in the choices of artists for MySpace.com's second concert tour.

The tour, produced by concert powerhouse Live Nation, is slated to take place in March in a number of U.S. and Canadian cities.

...

Intel leaves the OLPC after dispute

Well, that was short: Intel has announced it is leaving the One Laptop Per Child project.

The news, first reported Thursday by The Wall Street Journal in an e-mail alert, comes just six months after Intel and OLPC founder Nick Negroponte agreed to settle their differences and join forces, united ...

CES 2008: Highlights of the day

The Consumer Electronics Show is on in full force in Las Vegas. Here are just some of Tuesday's highlights from the giant gadget show. For CNET's complete coverage, click here.

Green is in at CES--Lots of companies here are touting green design and environmental thinking, though in ...

Kicking in the door : An introduction of sorts

Well, you may not know me but I know you very well. You are the type that wants to see if there is anyone out there that can help you find yourself out in the cold vastness of cyberspace. You want to know if there is anyone else who thinks like you or acts like [...]

Three reasons why CES is a waste of time

Featured links from the CNET Blog Network

Looking for the ultimate visual experience at CES -- The chief technical officer of AMD looks for themes on the show floor.

Sony rolls onto US shores -- Sony have announced the arrival of the Rolly entertainment player on the US market.

Three reasons why CES is a waste of time -- Although some people think the Consumer Electronics Show is great, Don Reisinger offers a reality check and tells you why it's not everything you think it is.

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition - a second look -- Responding to a critique of my first look review.

Surprise! Barack Obama, Ron Paul win MySpace 'primaries'

Iowa what?

Amid the frenzied press coverage over Thursday's too-close-to-call caucuses in the Hawkeye State, 153,226 MySpace.com users have already cast their (unofficial) votes.

In a set of "virtual primaries" held on Tuesday and Wednesday, Republican Rep. Ron Paul and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama were declared the ...

Report: Apple to use Intel's Silverthorne chip in 2008

After holding off on the release of a faster iPhone because of concerns about battery life, is Apple really prepared to take a step backward with Intel's Silverthorne chip?

AppleInsider reported Friday that Apple has decided to use Intel's upcoming low-power Silverthorne chip in "not one but multiple ...

Manufacturing a challenge for OLED TVs, Sony confirms

LAS VEGAS--Why do the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs from Sony measure only 11 inches across? Because large OLEDs are really tough to make.

While praising the OLED format during a press conference here with a few reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show on Monday morning, Sony executives acknowledged that ...

Merry Christmas, YBP!

For those who recongize it, Christmas celebrates not just the birth of Christ, the Word made flesh, but the awakening in each of us to oneness, love, and hope. Gone are fear, doubt, lack and limitation. Here and now, there is peace.
So maybe that’s why during this season we look here and there for ways to [...]

Linux: Built-in apps get an A, wireless support an F

Featured links from the CNET Blog Network

Ubuntu Linux: Built-in apps get an "A", wireless support an "F" -- The "Gutsy Gibbon" version of Linux, aka 7.10, has all the applications most Windows users will need, but its spotty support for wireless adapters limits your networking options.

The Gizmo Report: the SPOT Satellite Messenger -- Glaskowsky reviews the SPOT Satellite Messenger, a new low-cost personal locating device.

First Look: NOD32 antivirus version 3 -- Running NOD32 antivirus through some paces.

Do Webkinz change the way we look at pets? -- There is a huge trend in pets as expression of an owner's image, as epitomized by the trend in pet fashions now available. Does our identification with online animal avatars like Webkinz feed in to this trend and influence us to create animal "familiars?"

Ideeli: it's Woot.com meets 'The Devil Wears Prada'

If you read that chick-lit classic Bergdorf Blondes (I'm proud to admit that I did), you'll probably recall the scene in which the shopaholic female protagonists hold a military-style planning session in advance of the legendary Chanel sample sale--a chance for them to snag the high-end designer goods ...

Intel spins out telecom portion of optical-networking group

Intel continues to move further and further away from its communications experiments as it refocuses on the things it does best.

The company agreed to sell the telecommunications portion of its Optical Platform Division to Emcore, a chipmaker for the telecom industry, for $85 million. This includes a bunch of ...

Clinton: Time to digitize all Americans' medical records

At the start of a new drive in New Hampshire ahead of Tuesday's primary, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton addresses hundreds of supporters in a Nashua airplane hangar.

(Credit: Anne Broache/CNET News.com)

NASHUA, N.H.--In a new push to win over New Hampshire voters on Friday, ...

Holiday Movie Recommendations…oh yeah, and Merry Christmas

..and Happy Kwanzaa.
Just to give you one last list for this holiday season, I wanted to share my all-time favorite Christmas movies. Usually this time off gives you a chance to relax and catch up on some good flicks.
My holiday recommendations:

It’s a Wonderful Life
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Christmas Story
Christmas Vacation

If you get a chance, also [...]

'NBC Nightly News' to broadcast from CES

Brian Williams will be doing his show live from the show floor on Monday. It's part of an effort to draw attention to the newscast's revamped Web site.

MySpace Brazil launches, entering the Orkut jungle

MySpace.com announced Friday that it has launched a localized site in Brazil, making it the site's 20th regional edition and the first one to be entirely in Portuguese. To spearhead the new MySpace site, the News Corp.-owned social network has hired Emerson Calegaretti as general director of ...

Apple releases dozens of Tiger, Leopard security updates

It's download time again for Mac OS X users, as 31 new security-related fixes for both Tiger and Leopard were made available by Apple Monday afternoon.

The security patches are mostly geared for users of Mac OS X 10.4, known as Tiger, but there's a bunch as ...

Stereo Bluetooth headset cuts the cord for $57.99

(Credit: Plantronics)

In the perfect utopia that exists only inside my head, all cell phones and MP3 players incorporate A2DP, also known as stereo Bluetooth. As a result, they're all compatible with stereo Bluetooth headsets like the Plantronics Voyager 855, which CNET rated 8/10, and which Newegg currently has on sale for $57.99, shipped. ...

My Holiday Playlist

Alright, to continue with that holiday party planning, you are going to need a holiday party playlist.
You can put one together for the get together, give a HOT Christmas mix as a gift, or just to play at the house on Christmas. Here are some suggestions. (WARNING: although I do have the largest [...]

RIM seeks patent for angled BlackBerry keyboard

BlackBerry nation might get turned on its side if RIM ever brings the angled keyboard described in a recent patent application to the market.

Google: Don't give up on OpenSocial

When Google unveiled its OpenSocial developer initiative at the end of October, observers hailed it as the future of the social Web.

But is the search king already too late to the party?

It's been over six weeks, and OpenSocial--which uses open-source code to allow any participating social

...