Larry Sanger, a co-founder of Wikipedia, plans to launch a project called Digital Universe that will take advantage of public input for its content but rely on acknowledged experts to edit the submissions.
Material will be free, with copyrighted material available to subscribers for a fee. A number of institutions have already signed up for the […]

Recipe: Baked Maple, Honey Glazed Smoked Ham with Brussel Sprouts Almondine and Roasted Garlic Mashed Red Potatoes

Recipe: Crispy Magret Duck Breast With A Port Wine, Fresh Orange Juice, And Currant Jelly Barbeque Sauce.

Google has agreed to buy a 5 percent stake in America Online (AOL) from parent company Time Warner for $1 billion cash. The goal is dominance in the online advertising market. Microsoft competed with Google for the partnership agreement, which must still be approved by the Time Warner board. As part of the deal, Google […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has established and published biometric data specifications, required for federal ID cards slated for implementation in October 2006. The new specs cover fingerprints and facial image recognition. Comments on the draft specs will be accepted until January 13, 2006.
Federal Computer Week, 16 December 2005

According to a research study published in the journal Nature, Wikipedia compares favorably with the Encyclopedia Britannica in the accuracy of its information despite recent criticisms of its content and methods. The Nature study compared articles from both Web sites on a wide range of topics, asking field experts to review the accuracy of the […]

Visto Corporation of Redwood Shores, California, a start-up company dedicated to mobile e-mail, has sued Microsoft Corporation for infringement of three patents. The suit targets methods for handling information between servers and handheld devices. Microsoft bundles its Windows Mobile operating system with its Exchange e-mail server.
According to a Visto release, “This method of bundling software […]

A bill approved by a U.S. Senate panel would give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) increased policing power and the authority to share with foreign governments information about spammers and others suspected of illegal acts. Called the Undertaking Spam, Spyware, and Fraud Enforcement with Enforcers Beyond Borders Act of 2005, the proposal mimics legislation requested […]

Google, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems plan to fund the Reliable, Adaptive, and Distributed Systems Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, to focus on the design of more dependable computing systems. According to Berkeley researchers involved with the new lab, research results will be nonproprietary and freely licensed.
The three companies have pledged $500,000 each yearly […]

According to a recent Gartner study, laws on corporate governance and compliance, such as the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act, force businesses to spend more on information technology. The report predicts increases in IT budgets from 10 to 15 percent in 2006, up from roughly 5 percent in 2004. The survey included 326 audit, finance, and IT […]