Taking the Measure

In the Wall Street Journal, L. Gordon Crovitz expresses concern that the Obama administration doesn’t want the military monitoring private-sector networks or Internet traffic. He writes, “If cyber war is a new form of war, wouldn't most Americans adjust their expectations of reasonable privacy to permit the Pentagon to intrude to some degree on their communications, if this is necessary to prevent great harm and if rules protecting anonymity can be established?”

The Journal also notes that the Justice Department has extended its investigation into Oracle's proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems. Reports the Journal, “Daniel Wall, an attorney who represents Oracle, said in the statement that ‘o...Read More

Microsoft has a plan to encourage PC users to move to Windows 7 without discouraging them from buying new computers before the new OS becomes available in the fall, the Wall Street Journal reports. “As part of the plan, the Redmond, Wash., company said the main consumer version of the software would cost $10 less than past versions of Windows.” The Journal says, adding, “Microsoft also said any consumers who buy new PCs running its current Windows Vista operating system between Friday and Jan. 31 will receive free upgrades to Windows 7.”

• Also in the Journal, Jeffrey Ball comments that Energy Star, “The “US government's seal of approval for ...Read More

Computer makers including Apple are sealing batteries within their laptops, allowing higher capacity without adding heft. The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg tested “…two new Apple laptops…using my own harsh battery test, which I apply to all laptops I review. The results were excellent.” One machine, he says, operated for just under five hours, while the other ran for five hours and 21 minutes. He estimates that under normal conditions the machines would come close to meeting Apple’s claqim of seven-hour operation.

I would be more interested in how long they would operate after, say, 100 or 200 or 300 charge/discharge cycles, and Mossberg cautions, “I was unable to verify Apple’s claim that these sealed batteries can be fully r...Read More

Are we too connected? It seems that disappearing South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford just needed some offline time. The Wall Street Journal quotes his spokesman Joel Sawyer downplayed as saying, "We've been under the same state Constitution for over 100 years, and I'm fairly certain that for most of that time governors didn't have cellphones."

“Kodak to Take Kodachrome Away,” reports the Wall Street Journal, adding, “…Eastman Kodak Co. said Monday that because of plunging sales, it is ending production of the film it first introduced in 1935. The company said the final batch of the slide film, known for its rich colors and clarity, is being manufactured now in Mexico and that supplies should probably la...Read More

For Boston residents, this month is shaping up to be the gloomiest since 1903, according to measurements taken by the pyroheliometer at the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, according to the Boston Globe.

The Wall Street Journal today has a feature on Tim Cook, who has run Apple while Steve Jobs has been on medical leave. The Journal says that Cook “…has emerged as a star in his own right—and one that the company needs to make sure stays put.” The article quotes Gene Munster, an analyst for Piper Jaffray, as saying, &q...Read More

A look around the Web this morning finds that the urge to tax cell phone use is fading, we may need fewer patents, and girls are not much interested in computer science.

The IRS is backing away from plans to tax personal use of corporate cell phones, the Wall Street Journal reports, adding, “The request is a turnabout from last week, when the IRS proposed measures to improve enforcement of the law, which is now widely ignored by employers and employees. One option proposed by the IRS would have counted 25% of employee cell phone use as personal, and thus subject to tax as income.” The article quotes IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman as saying, "The passage of time, advances in technology and the nature of communication in the modern workplace have rendered this law obsolete."

A...Read More

I attended the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium last week, where I saw a variety of design and test products, ranging from RF-friendly EDA tools to high-volume production-test-worthy instruments. Of particular note was an emphasis on the 60-GHz ISM band for HD transmission within the home. Here are some highlights (click each link for details):

• Keithley upgrades RF vector signal analyzer, introduces upconverter.

• Design mingles with test as Agilent’s Solomon touts measurement focus.

• Noisecom, Rohde & Schwarz demo 60-GH...Read More

Open innovation involving collaboration among companies, universities, and organizations will become increasingly important in the wireless marketplace, said Petteri Alinikula, vice president of core technology research at Nokia, in his Monday evening keynote address to attendees of this week's International Microwave Symposium.

The success of open-source software and Internet services should convince you that open innovation is valuable in wireless, he told the audience.

Device are evolving, Alinikula said, with power consumption down and computing power up, and device size has decreased two orders of magnitude in a 20-year period. Mobile phones are no longer only tools for businessmen. Development has been accelerating, giving us multipurpose small devices that include GPS capability, cameras integrated storage.

B...Read More

In weekend tech news from around the Web, a Massachusetts congressman touts energy legislation, Slate listens to the oldest oldie and compares Android with Windows 7, and the Guardian questions losses attributed to net pirates. Today, the Wall Street Journal says China will require all PCs shipped in the country to include software that blocks some Websites.

US Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Malden, MA) in the Boston Globe touts the Waxman-Markey bill, calling it “…the most sweeping energy legislation Congress has considered in a generation. The plan would end America's dangerous dependence on foreign oil, increase the amount of clean energy we produce, make our buildings, homes, cars, and trucks more efficient, and cut the harm...Read More

A tour of tech news and commentary around the Web this morning finds an economics professor at Harvard giving the nod to Silicon Valley over Detroit. Also, Jobs is ready to return to Apple, Sony and Microsoft have Nintendo-like plans, and the UK looks to restrict net pirates’ bandwidth.

In “The problem with bailouts” in the Boston Globe, Edward L. Glaeser compares the economies of San Jose and Detroit: “Despite California's political mismanagement, San Jose has a superb base of tech-savvy entrepreneurs and a terrific climate. Silicon Valley will rise again, but the prognosis for Detroit is less rosy. Overdependence on one not very competitive industry, a shortage of...Read More

Breaking news from the Wall Street Journal: “Intel agreed to acquire Wind River Systems, a maker of software for embedded devices, for $11.50 a share in cash, or about $884 million.”

Why go to Mars, and why now? “It’s been 40 years since Apollo astronauts took humanity’s first baby step into the cosmos. Now it’s time to take the next one,” says IEEE Spectrum by way of introducing a six-part special report on reaching the red planet. The report touches on technology as well as business aspects (“Why now is the right time to build your space portfolio”). Interesting speculation: China could land people on Mars before the US does.

Adobe Systems wants to get into the smart-phone market, says the ...Read More

Until yesterday I had remained oblivious about the new killer app: electronic cigarettes. Although I recognize that e-cigarettes could create a good market for LEDs and associated components, the whole concept doesn’t appeal to me.

Today, William Saletan writing in Slate tells me I’m off base. Regarding efforts to restrict the devices, he says, “Let's be blunt about what's going on here. We tolerated smoking until science proved it was harmful to nonsmokers. As momentum grew, the war on smoking became cultural, with disapproval and ostracism of anyone who lit up. Electronic cigarettes have removed the war's scientific basis, but our cultural revulsion persists. Therefore, so d...Read More

Around the Web today are reports of controversy in the awarding of $7 billion to extend broadband, research into high-tech clothing, and possible good news for engineers in Massachusetts.

Before the US government spends $7 billion to extend broadband service, it needs maps to help determine where the money should be spent, reports the Wall Street Journal. But that presents a problem, the Journal says, explaining that “…the biggest US provider of broadband coverage maps, Connected Nation Inc., is backed by big telecommunications companies like Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., and AT&T Inc. that potentially stand to benefit from how the Obama administration doles out the money…Critics complain it uses unverifiable confi...Read More

If the headline “Buy an S.U.V., Save the Planet,” over an article by Eric A. Morris of Freakonomics, sounds too good to be true—that’s because it is. It won’t help to trade your 46-mpg Prius for a 14-mpg Land Rover Range Rover Sport. If, however, you already have a 14-mpg Range Rover Sport, he suggests you exchange it for a 24-mpg 2009 Toyota RAV4 2WD—a move that will save you almost three gallons per 100 miles. ...Read More