News For Wednesday Aug 20, 2008 News For Wednesday Aug 20, 2008

Science & Technology Science & Technology

Atlanta newspaper cutting staff by 200 - Added 5 weeks ago

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is cutting its staff by nearly 200 jobs, or about 8 percent of its work force, and eliminating some targeted news sections. In a news release Wednesday, Publisher John Mellott said the...

Global Warming: Top 10, Again - Added 5 weeks ago

Earth scored another Top 10 finish in June _ climate wise. It was the eighth warmest June on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Wednesday. And the first six months of the year were...

Global Warming: Top 10, Again - Added 5 weeks ago

Earth scored another Top 10 finish in June _ climate wise. It was the eighth warmest June on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Wednesday. And the first six months of the year were...

Japan cautious in iPhone's bid for world dominance - Added 5 weeks ago

Kentaro Tohyama is proud of his new iPhone. He stood overnight in line to get it when the device became available in Japan for the first time. But the 29-year-old computer engineer isn't about to part with his...

NASA to workers: Go boldly (in cup) for science - Added 5 weeks ago

The No. 1 need right now for some of the builders of the nation's next spaceship: Lots of No. 1. Space program contractor Hamilton Sundstrand is seeking urine from workers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston as part...

Researchers look to air-condition computer chips - Added 5 weeks ago

Purdue University scientists have taken a page from air conditioner technology in their quest for a new way to cool down ever-more powerful computer chips. Their experimental system, which flushes a refrigerant through...

New Dish Network satellite launched successfully - Added 5 weeks ago

Sea Launch Co. has launched a new satellite for Dish Network Corp. A rocket carrying the EchoStar 11 satellite lifted off at 10:21 p.m. PDT Tuesday from Long Beach, Calif.-based Sea Launch Co.'s rocket platform...

Intel 2Q profit jump reflects healthy PC demand - Added 5 weeks ago

Worried that the ailing U.S. economy has spilled abroad and hurt global PC sales, investors had subdued expectations for Intel Corp. in the second quarter. Intel is the world's largest computer chip maker, and its...

CNBC: Korean carrier in talks to buy Sprint - Added 5 weeks ago

South Korea's SK Telecom Corp. is in talks to buy struggling U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp., business news channel CNBC reported Tuesday An agreement would be at best weeks away, CNBC said, citing people...

Astronauts take another spacewalk for tamer job - Added 5 weeks ago

The space station's two Russian astronauts stepped outside for the second time in less than a week Tuesday, taking a spacewalk that proved to be tame compared to last week's work with explosives. Although Sergei Volkov...

XBox 360 to stream Netflix movies - Added 5 weeks ago

Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 video game console will be able to stream thousands of movies over the Internet, thanks to a deal announced Monday with Netflix Inc. that highlights the way gaming devices are expanding into...

EU wants to cap costs on phone text messages - Added 5 weeks ago

Are mobile phone companies taking advantage of teenagers' addiction to chatting in text messages? The top telecommunications regulator for the European Union believes so, and said Tuesday that a limit should be placed...

Outraged Icahn refocuses on ousting Yahoo board - Added 5 weeks ago

Apparently abandoning hopes for a truce with Yahoo Inc., investor Carl Icahn sharpened his focus on replacing the Internet company's board Monday after his attempt to negotiate a deal with Microsoft Corp. was angrily...

Video-game news: Metallica's 'Guitar Hero' album - Added 5 weeks ago

Real news from the virtual world: _ RIDE THE LIGHTNING: Activision's "Guitar Hero World Tour" is one of this year's most eagerly anticipated games, but the company has big news for fans who can't wait for that:...

FTC enforces do-not-call rules, fines cos. $95,000 - Added 5 weeks ago

Two telemarketing companies that sell Dish Network Corp.'s satellite TV services have agreed to pay fines of $95,000 for ignoring the federal do-not-call list and hanging up on customers, federal regulators said...

YouTube, Viacom agree to mask viewer data - Added 5 weeks ago

In a nod to privacy complaints, Viacom Inc. won't be told the identities of individuals who watch video clips on the popular video-sharing site YouTube. Viacom and other copyright holders have agreed to let YouTube...

Lawmakers scrutinize Yahoo-Google ad partnership - Added 5 weeks ago

Congress waded into the escalating fight over the future of Yahoo Inc. on Tuesday, demanding to know whether the Internet company's advertising partnership with Google Inc., intended to keep Yahoo out of the clutches of...

Criminal probe ended, Apple CEO still has hurdles - Added 5 weeks ago

A criminal probe of Apple Inc.'s co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs over stock options tampering is now over, but the potential legal shadow over him and the company isn't going away just yet. Although Jobs is not being...

NASA to workers: Go boldly (in cup) for science - Added 5 weeks ago

The No. 1 need right now for some of the builders of the nation's next spaceship: Lots of No. 1. Space program contractor Hamilton Sundstrand is seeking urine from workers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston as part...

EU wants to cap costs on phone text messages - Added 5 weeks ago

Are mobile phone companies taking advantage of teenagers' addiction to chatting in text messages? The top telecommunications regulator for the European Union believes so, and said Tuesday that a limit should be placed...

AOL launches 2 niche sites to grow ad potential - Added 5 weeks ago

AOL on Tuesday launched new sites on personal finance and photography as part of its bid to grow advertising opportunities by serving niche audiences. The new WalletPop expands on an existing site of the same name by...

Outraged Icahn refocuses on ousting Yahoo board - Added 5 weeks ago

Apparently abandoning hopes for a truce with Yahoo Inc., investor Carl Icahn sharpened his focus on replacing the Internet company's board Monday after his attempt to negotiate a deal with Microsoft Corp. was angrily...

Report: US behind in doubling science grads - Added 5 weeks ago

A high-profile push by business groups to double the number of U.S. bachelor's degrees awarded in science, math and engineering by 2015 is falling way behind target, a new report says. In 2005, 15 prominent business...

Video-game news: Metallica's 'Guitar Hero' album - Added 5 weeks ago

Real news from the virtual world: _ RIDE THE LIGHTNING: Activision's "Guitar Hero World Tour" is one of this year's most eagerly anticipated games, but the company has big news for fans who can't wait for that:...

Cancer forces Tasmanian devils to breed earlier - Added 5 weeks ago

The little devils just can't wait. Faced with an epidemic of cancer that cuts their lives short, Tasmanian devils have begun breeding at younger ages, according to researchers at the University of Tasmania in Australia....

Chicago Tribune editor, LA Times publisher resign - Added 5 weeks ago

Chicago Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski and Los Angeles Times publisher David Hiller resigned Monday as parent company Tribune Co. cuts staff and shrinks its papers nationwide to save money. Tribune Co. is cutting...

Yahoo's current board versus Icahn's challengers - Added 5 weeks ago

Carl Icahn moved ahead with his attempt to overthrow Yahoo Inc.'s board of directors by submitting his final list of candidates Monday. The nominees remain the same as those he first provided in May, except the list has...

eBay beats Tiffany in court case over trademarks - Added 5 weeks ago

EBay Inc. scored an important victory in court Monday, as a federal judge said companies such as jeweler Tiffany & Co. are responsible for policing their trademarks online, not auction platforms like eBay. Tiffany...

XBox 360 to stream Netflix movies - Added 5 weeks ago

Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 video game console will be able to stream thousands of movies over the Internet, thanks to a deal announced Monday with Netflix Inc. that highlights the way gaming devices are expanding into...

Apple sells 1 million iPhones in first 3 days - Added 5 weeks ago

Apple Inc. said Monday it sold 1 million iPhones in the first three days its newest model was on the market. "IPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend," said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, in a statement. ...

Outraged Icahn refocuses on ousting Yahoo board - Added 5 weeks ago

Apparently abandoning hopes for a truce with Yahoo Inc., investor Carl Icahn sharpened his focus on replacing the Internet company's board Monday after his attempt to negotiate a deal with Microsoft Corp. was angrily...

Palm launches new Treo on Sprint network - Added 5 weeks ago

Palm Inc., which has been struggling to maintain its position in the hot market for "smart" phones, introduced a new Treo model Monday with Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities. The Treo 800w is the first major new model from...

Tensions escalating in battle for Yahoo's board - Added 5 weeks ago

After more than five months of sparring, the battle for control of Yahoo Inc. has turned into a bare-knuckles brawl with a whiff of desperation hanging over all the key combatants. The showdown intensified late...

Game characters get smarter _ and less predictable - Added 5 weeks ago

In the upcoming video game "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed," the evil Stormtroopers are smart enough to keep players guessing. Throw something at the white-armored troopers, and they may toss a grenade back. Or they...

Microsoft cuts Xbox price by $50, plans 60GB model - Added 5 weeks ago

Microsoft Corp. is trimming the price of its Xbox 360 video game console to make way for a new model with a bigger hard drive. Starting Sunday, Microsoft's mid-range Xbox 360 console with a 20-gigabyte hard drive will...

Yellow submarine: Unmanned sub studies ocean - Added 5 weeks ago

Far out in the Atlantic, a little yellow submarine is trying to slip from current to current, gliding across the ocean beneath the waves. The unmanned sub is nearing the halfway mark in its effort to travel from New...

Software problems bug Apple's launch of new iPhone - Added 5 weeks ago

The launch of Apple Inc.'s much-anticipated new iPhone turned into an information-technology meltdown on Friday, as customers were unable to get their phones working. "It's such grief and aggravation," said Frederick...

FCC chief hopes Comcast sanction serves as warning - Added 5 weeks ago

A recommendation to punish Comcast Corp. for blocking subscribers' Internet traffic should serve as a warning to other service providers, the nation's top telecommunications regulator said Friday. Federal...

Fmr HP exec pleads guilty in trade secrets case - Added 5 weeks ago

An executive who worked at IBM Corp. for nearly a decade pleaded guilty Friday to stealing trade secrets about the company's pricing and trying to pass them off to his superiors at rival Hewlett-Packard Co. when he took...

AMD slashes $880M from value of division - Added 5 weeks ago

Struggling to climb back to profitability, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. suffered another setback Friday when the chip maker disclosed that two businesses it acquired in a pricey acquisition were underperforming. AMD...

Correction: Touch Screens story - Added 5 weeks ago

In a July 10 story about touch screens, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Synaptics Inc. supplies touchpads for Apple's laptops. Synaptics supplies components to Apple, but not laptop touchpads. A...

Mars bake test hastened after oven short circuit - Added 5 weeks ago

Will the Mars lander's next baking test of soil and ice be its last? Scientists worry that it could be, thanks to an electrical glitch that threatens the $420 million quest to find the chemical ingredients for life...

Lightning claims 5 young lives in a week - Added 5 weeks ago

Five young lives have been ended by lightning in less than a week, a deadly reminder of one of summer's leading hazards. "Typically, July marks the peak in lightning activity. It's also the time when people are...

EU to rule on roaming price caps for mobile data - Added 5 weeks ago

European regulators are nearing a decision on whether to impose price caps on text messaging and mobile Internet use while traveling. Any caps would be similar to one the EU imposed last summer on crossborder voice...

Remote weather stations give farmers timely advice - Added 5 weeks ago

For apple growers like Abby Jacobson, making or losing money depends as much on what they don't do as what they do. So when data from Michigan State University's high-tech weather monitoring network helped her decide...

Murdoch's News Corp. unlikely to be in Yahoo deal - Added 5 weeks ago

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said his media conglomerate is "very unlikely" to be a part of any deal for Yahoo Inc., scuttling talk that Microsoft Corp. was making headway in enlisting the media mogul as part of a...

Asia underground market awaits iPhone - Added 5 weeks ago

As Apple Inc. rolled out its newest iPhone on Friday, dealers and buyers were anticipating the popular device in Asia's thriving underground marketplace in as little as a few days. The iPhones are nothing new to Asia,...

Astronauts handle explosives on daring spacewalk - Added 5 weeks ago

In a daring spacewalk, two space station astronauts cut into the insulation of their descent capsule Thursday and removed an explosive bolt that could have blown off their hands with firecracker force. Spacewalkers...

Schmidt: Independent Yahoo better for competition - Added 5 weeks ago

Google Inc. backs Yahoo in its effort to stave off an unsolicited takeover by Microsoft Corp. because an independent Yahoo will increase competition in the Internet search and advertising markets, Google Chief Executive...

Cuomo: AT&T and AOL block child porn newsgroups - Added 5 weeks ago

Two more Internet access providers have agreed to eliminate certain newsgroups that contain child pornography and purge their servers of child pornography Web sites in an agreement with state Attorney General Andrew...