Week of Sun, 2007-12-16 00:00 to Sat, 2007-12-22 23:59

A Superior Court judge in New Jersey quashed a bogus subpoena for the identity of an anonymous blogger Friday, protecting the free speech rights of a critic writing about a local government controversy.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) represented the anonymous blogger, known as "daTruthSquad," on a site hosted by Google's Blogspot service. After the blogger strongly criticized a malpractice lawsuit filed by the township of Manalapan against its former city attorney, the township subpoenaed Google for "daTruthSquad's" identity, as well as for any emails, blog drafts, and other information Google had about the blogger. In a hearing Friday, Superior Court Judge Terence Flynn quashed the subpoena, ruling that the blogger had a First Amendment to anonymous speech.

Software AG has acquired Jacada (Nasdaq: JCDA) for $26 million in a cash transaction. The asset deal expands Software AG’s application modernization portfolio with additional products for modernizing the user interface of mainframe and mid-range based applications. In addition, eight of Jacada’s R&D and support staff will join Software AG insuring continuous product development and customer support. Software AG will gain over 200 enterprise customers, mostly in the United States, as a result of the acquisition. The asset deal, effective as of January 1st, 2008, will be earnings accretive in 2008. This is Software AG’s third acquisition of 2007 following the acquisition of webMethods in June for $546 million and 80% of SPL Israel in March for $62 million.

Air Force space technicians successfully launched a United Launch Alliance Delta II booster Dec. 21 carrying the fifth modernized NAVSTAR Global Positioning System satellite into space. The NAVSTAR GPS was launched at 3:04 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 17A.

The satellite will join the constellation of on-orbit satellites providing global coverage and increased performance of the GPS services to users worldwide. The modernized series delivers increased signal power to receivers on the ground, two new military signals for improved accuracy, enhanced encryption and anti-jamming capabilities for the military, and a second civil signal to provide users with an open access signal on a different frequency.

Micron Technology, Inc., (NYSE: MU) reported results of operations for the company’s first quarter of fiscal 2008, which ended November 29, 2007. For the first quarter of fiscal 2008, the company incurred a net loss of $262 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, on net sales of $1.5 billion. These results compare to a net loss of $158 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, on net sales of $1.4 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) has entered into an agreement to acquire Solid Information Technology, a privately held company based in Cupertino, California, and Helsinki, Finland, that provides in-memory database software. Financial details were not disclosed.

The acquisition of Solid Information Technology supports IBM's global Information on Demand strategy by adding real-time data access capabilities to the company's broad portfolio of database and information management offerings. Solid Information Technology's software uses in-memory database technology to quickly retrieve data from a computer's memory (or RAM). Using this technology, businesses can access and store data at speeds up to ten times faster than using traditional disk-based database systems. Additionally, Solid Information Technology's database server can recover from system failure within milliseconds, providing nearly uninterrupted (99.999%) data availability. The software maximizes use of system resources while requiring almost no hands-on administration, resulting in much lower total cost of ownership.

You think the switch from typewriter to computer was a revolution? The next stage could see many of us interacting with computers inserted into our very clothes. A new project is exploring a range of applications where wearable technology could significantly improve productivity and even help save lives.

Assimilate, assimilate!” You trekkies out there will recognise the Borg mantra for the bloodcurdling ‘assimilation’ of humans by machines. On the other side of the sci-fi divide, many may recall Star Wars’ recently revived Darth Vader, the half-man, half-machine dark lord of intergalactic evil.

Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) and Electronic Clearing House Inc., (ECHO), (Nasdaq: ECHO) have signed a definitive agreement for Intuit to acquire ECHO. Under the terms of the agreement, Intuit will pay $17 per share in cash in exchange for each share of ECHO common stock, including shares issuable upon exercise of options. The total purchase price is approximately $131 million on a fully diluted basis.

In honor of the 52nd season of NORAD tracking Santa Claus on his annual journey around the world, the bi-national command tasked with providing aerospace security for North America announces that the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site www.noradsanta.org is live.

The program has grown immensely since it was first presented on the Internet in 1998. “In 2006, the Web site received a whopping 941 million hits from 210 countries and territories,” Perini said. In addition, the NTS Operations Center, occupied by 756 volunteers on Christmas Eve, answered nearly 65,000 phone calls and 96,000 emails from children around the world.

Fifty years after the Nobel-prize winning explanation of how superconductors work, a research team from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of Edinburgh and Cambridge University are suggesting another mechanism for the still-mysterious phenomenon.

In a review published today in Nature, researchers David Pines, Philippe Monthoux and Gilbert Lonzarich posit that superconductivity in certain materials can be achieved absent the interaction of electrons with vibrational motion of a material’s structure.

Microsoft Corporation, Google, Inc. and Yahoo! have entered into settlements with the U.S. to resolve claims that they promoted illegal gambling, United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced today. The total amount of the three settlements is $31.5 million in value to the United States.

The Microsoft settlement, totaling $21 million, consists of $4.5 million to the United States and a $7.5 million contribution to the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) to establish a fund to assist ICMEC with its national and international mission. Additionally, Microsoft Corporation agrees to provide a $9 million online, public service advertising campaign to inform and educate a target audience comprised of college level or younger people that online gambling enterprises are illegal under U.S. law. The educational advertising campaign is to run for three years, beginning in early 2008. This settlement, based on illegal conduct (which Microsoft Corporation neither contests nor admits), resolves claims that between 1997 and June 2007, Microsoft received payments from on-line gambling businesses for advertising on-line gambling.

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) released its third study of the online shopping activity of U.K., French and German consumers this Christmas season. This study tracks the number of visits to online retail sites each week since the start of the season on October 29, as well as the fastest growing online retail properties in November, using data collected from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service.

Cylinder head details

The basic cylinder head design of the LS9 is similar to the L92-type head found on the LS3 V-8, but it is cast with a premium A356T6 alloy that is better at handling the heat generated by the supercharged engine – particularly in the bridge area of the cylinder head, between the intake and exhaust valves.

Oiling system: The LS9 uses a dry-sump oiling system that is similar in design to the LS7’s system, but features a higher-capacity pump to ensure adequate oil pressure at the higher cornering loads the ZR1 is capable of achieving. An oil-pan mounted oil cooler is integrated, too, along with piston-cooling oil squirters located in the cylinder block. The expanded performance envelope of the Corvette ZR1 required changes to the dry sump system also used in the Z06. System capacity is increased and scavenge performance improved to meet the demands of Chevrolet's highest-performance sportscar.

It is, indeed, the ultimate small-block engine for the ultimate Corvette.

GM Powertain is targeting 100 horsepower per liter for the LS9, or 620 horsepower (462 kW), and approximately 595 lb.-ft. of torque (807 Nm); final SAE-certified power levels will be available in early March 2008.

The enabler of the LS9’s performance is a new, large positive-displacement Roots-type supercharger – with a unique four-lobe design – developed for the engine by Eaton. It is teamed with an integrated charge cooling system that reduces inlet air temperature for maximum performance. The LS9 represents the first of several new, supercharged small-block engines that will be introduced in GM vehicles in the near future, each using superchargers of similar design.

NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N); the initial public offering of 6,200,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $26.00 per share. NetSuite and certain selling stockholders have also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 930,000 shares to cover over-allotments. NetSuite's common stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "N" on Thursday, December 20, 2007.

NASA has awarded a contract for Orion Project integration services to Barrios Technology Ltd. of Houston. The small business contract has a potential value of $49 million with options. Work on the contract will be performed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, with additional work possible at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Barrios will provide critical products and services supporting the Constellation Program's Orion Project, which is developing new spacecraft to transport people to the International Space Station, the moon and beyond. Barrios will support the project's business management, configuration and data management, requirements analysis and integration, and engineering and technical services.

Integrated circuits are the "brain" in computers, cell phones, DVD players, iPhones, personal digital assistants, automobiles' navigation systems and anti-lock brakes, and many other electronic devices.

A team of UCLA scientists has now demonstrated substantial improvements in integrated circuits, achieved not by costly improvements in manufacturing but by improved computer-aided design software based on better mathematical algorithms.

Work is underway on the first composite component for the UK’s Taranis UAS (Unmanned Air System) technology demonstrator programme. Taranis is the largest Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle ever commissioned in the United Kingdom.

The composite part now being layed-up by BAE Systems is the aft section of the engine main air intake duct. The duct is being manufactured using state-of-the-art fibre placement technology within the Special Engineering Composite Facility (SECF) at BAE Systems at Samlesbury, UK.

Intel Corporation has released a software initiator package to drive the development of Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) solutions for the Linux operating system. FCoE is a proposed specification that will allow Fibre Channel SAN traffic to run over Ethernet. By consolidating LAN and SAN traffic onto a single fabric, FCoE will simplify network infrastructure in the datacenter.

The FCoE software package is now available for download at www.Open-FCoE.org and can be modified according to the terms of the GPLv2 license. As part of the package, Intel has included a target simulator, so Linux developers can test and modify the FCoE software stack. Open-FCoE.org is open to all FCoE developers for source code download, code contribution and feedback.

Nanosolar Inc. and Beck Energy have won a highly competitive public selection process for a solar power plant located on a former landfill owned by one of the largest waste management companies in Eastern Germany.

The project will employ the Nanosolar Utility Panel™ in combination with systems technology and services from Beck Energy. The initial size of the plant is 1MW, an amount sufficient to power approximately 400 homes. The Nanosolar Utility Panel™ is Nanosolar's first product as part of its award-winning PowerSheet™ product line – recently named the Top Innovation of the Year 2007 by Popular Science Magazine – and the company's solution for building solar power plants on free fields at the outskirts of towns and cities.

In an effort to shed greater light on growing trends involving security threats around the world, Cisco® announced the release of its first annual report on the global state of security. The report spotlights the risks and challenges that businesses, government organizations and consumers increasingly face and offers suggestions on guarding against them.

The 2007 Cisco Annual Security Report, released in conjunction with the launch of the company's updated Cisco Security Center site (www.cisco.com/security), provides a concise summary of the past year's major issues. It offers predictions for security threats in 2008 and recommendations from Cisco security practitioners, such as Chief Security Officer John Stewart and Vice President of Customer Assurance and Security Programs Dave Goddard. While many end-of-year industry reports focus on content security threats (viruses, worms, trojans, spam and phishing), the Cisco report broadens the discussion to a set of seven risk management categories, many of which extend well beyond isolated content security issues. The categories are vulnerability, physical, legal, trust, identity, human and geopolitical, and together they encompass security requirements that involve anti-malware protection, data-leakage protection, enterprise risk management, disaster planning, and more.

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) reported financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Nov. 30, 2007.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007, Adobe achieved record revenue of $911.2 million, compared to $682.2 million reported for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006 and $851.7 million reported in the third quarter of fiscal 2007. This represents 34 percent year-over-year revenue growth. Adobe’s fourth quarter revenue target range was $860 to $890 million.

In a significant victory for the major Hollywood studios, a federal judge in Los Angeles has terminated an ongoing lawsuit against the operators of TorrentSpy.com in favor of all six of the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) member companies. TorrentSpy, one of the world’s most notorious pirate websites, blatantly contributes to, profits from and induces massive infringement of copyrighted content

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.

The new version, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers.

Honda R&D Co., Ltd. plans to build a product development facility dedicated to the Acura brand within the new R&D center being constructed in Sakura, Tochigi prefecture, in addition to the originally-planned multiple test courses. The new R&D center is scheduled to become operational in 2009.

Based on a belief that strengthening advanced technology R&D capabilities in Japan will become increasingly important in order for Honda to continue to grow and advance globally, Honda R&D launched a new organizational structure in April 2006, separating the product development functions for the Honda and Acura brands. With the addition of a dedicated development facility for the Acura brand, Honda R&D will further strengthen product development capabilities which clearly define the unique characteristics of each brand and accelerate development of products that offer new value for the customer.

The Air Force marked the 104th anniversary of powered flight Dec. 17 by completing the first transcontinental flight of an aircraft using a blend of regular aviation and synthetic fuel.

A C-17 Globemaster III using the synthetic fuel blend lifted off shortly before dawn at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., and arrived in the early afternoon at McGuire AFB, N.J., where it was greeted by Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne, New Jersey Rep. Jim Saxton, and a number of officials from both the airline and energy industries.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a policy statement that allows the Commission to issue conditioned licenses for hydrokinetic energy projects under appropriate circumstances.

The policy statement covers projects that use currents, waves and tides to generate renewable electric energy. It allows FERC to issue licenses for new hydrokinetic projects even though certain authorizations required from other entities are outstanding. Licenses issued under these circumstances would include conditions precluding the licensee from starting construction until it has obtained all necessary authorizations.

The Federal Trade Commission today told the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security that identity theft remains one of the highest priorities for the Commission, and that the agency is playing a lead role in preventing identity theft and helping those who are victimized.

Testifying for the Commission, Joel Winston, Associate Director of the FTC’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, described the agency’s multi-faceted efforts to combat identity theft, including law enforcement, business and consumer education, and participation in the President’s Identity Theft Task Force. With respect to law enforcement, the Commission has brought 14 cases since 2001 against businesses that failed to implement reasonable security measures to protect sensitive consumer data. In each case, according to Mr. Winston, the alleged security vulnerabilities were multiple and systemic, and in most cases, readily-available and inexpensive measures were available to prevent them.

More than $3 Billion Lost

Phishing attacks in the United States soared in 2007 as $3.2 billion was lost to these attacks, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. The survey found that 3.6 million adults lost money in phishing attacks in the 12 months ending in August 2007, as compared with the 2.3 million who did so the year before.

According to a survey of more than 4,500 online U.S. adults in August 2007 (which was representative of the online U.S. adult population) the attacks were more successful in 2007 than they were in the previous two years. Of consumers who received phishing e-mails in 2007, 3.3 percent say they lost money because of the attack, compared with 2.3 percent who lost money in 2006, and 2.9 percent who did so in 2005, according to similar Gartner surveys during those years.

iRobot Corp. (Nasdaq: IRBT) has been awarded the xBot contract, a $286 million Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract from the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (PEO STRI), on behalf of the Robotic Systems Joint Project Office at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Under the terms of the contract, the Army could order up to 3,000 military robots, spare parts, training and repair services over the next five years.

In December, NASA will begin testing core components of a rocket engine from the Apollo era. Data from the tests will help NASA build the next generation engine that will power the nation's new Ares launch vehicles on voyages that will send humans to the moon.

NASA will test the engine's powerpack, a gas generator and turbopumps that perform the rocket engine's major pumping and combustion work. These components originally delivered propellants to the Apollo-era J-2 engine that fueled the second stage of the Saturn V rockets.

General Motors Corp. and the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT KGP) plan to carry out joint research in the areas of Electronics, Controls and Software (ECS). The partners also announced that a new educational curriculum would be jointly developed leading to a post-graduate degree in these fields.

The lab will be co-managed by GM’s India Science Lab (ISL) in Bangalore and IIT KGP’s Sponsored Research & Industrial Consultancy Unit. Research done at the new Collaborative Research Lab (CRL) will be shared within GM’s global research and development network.

The Electronic Payments Association has formed a Mobile Banking Work Group under the leadership of its Internet Council to develop an ACH payment platform strategy for mobile banking. The group’s participants will include representatives from across the industry, which will be recruited from NACHA’s councils.

The Mobile Banking Work Group leadership will focus on four primary objectives in the initial phase of this project:

Primary Function: Air dominance, multi-role fighter
Contractor: Lockheed-Martin, Boeing
Power Plant: Two Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines with afterburners and two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles.
Thrust: 35,000-pound class (each engine)
Wingspan: 44 feet, 6 inches (13.6 meters)
Length: 62 feet, 1 inch (18.9 meters)

The F-22 Raptor is the Air Force's newest fighter aircraft. Its combination of stealth, supercruise, maneuverability, and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability, represents an exponential leap in warfighting capabilities. The Raptor performs both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions allowing full realization of operational concepts vital to the 21st century Air Force.

F-22 Raptors here reached Full Operational Capability Dec. 12, according to Gen. John D.W. Corley, Air Combat Command commander.

The announcement officially makes Langley's F-22 squadrons combat-ready.

FOC for the F-22 means the aircraft are now ready for global engagement, said Lt. Col. Mark Hansen, Air Combat Command F-22 integration officer.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has granted "Critical Decision 2" (CD-2) status to the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II). This decision approves the facility's performance baseline based on preliminary design, signifying a major step forward in the process to make this state-of-the-art research complex a reality. CD-1, siting the facility at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory and approving its cost range, was announced in July 2007. NSLS-II will be a medium-energy storage ring with a unique design that will deliver world-leading brightness and flux and exceptional beam stability.

Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) has acquired San Diego-based SoftMax Inc. SoftMax brings leading-edge, multi-microphone noise suppression and echo cancellation expertise to Qualcomm, broadening the audio and voice capabilities of the Company's product portfolio for integration into devices such as mobile handsets, Bluetooth® headsets, VoIP phones and notebook PCs.

SoftMax's voice algorithms for signal separation, echo cancellation and signal processing have enabled some of the latest wireless devices on the market to separate a speaker's voice from various background noises. The result is a dramatic improvement in voice quality, providing significant differentiation for the end product. These technology benefits have led to several key partnerships and implementations with industry-leading handset and Bluetooth headset OEMs using dual-microphone designs. SoftMax's technology also delivers a number of additional advantages, including lower power consumption, easy implementation and minimal processing power and memory requirements.

The Intel® Z-P140 PATA Solid State Drive (SSD) is an ultra-small, complete storage solution for mobile, digital entertainment, and embedded applications, offering low-power, high performance, and durability.

Using the industry standard PATA interface, the Intel® Z-P140 PATA SSD offers the capacity and features to accelerate computing trends towards greater mobility.
Specifically designed for small form factor requirements, the Intel® Z-P140 PATA SSD is small and lighter than a coin, the ideal solution to meet the next generation of ultramobile

Product Features
.. Capacities
— 2 GB (extensible to 8 GB using Intel SD54B
NAND Flash Memory components)
— 4 GB (extensible to 16 GB using Intel SD58B NAND Flash Memory components)
.. PATA Compatibility
— ATA-5 compatible
— PIO Mode 0-4 supported
— DMA Mode 0-2 supported
— UDMA Mode 0-4 supported
.. Performance (SLC components)
— Sustained Sequential Read Bandwidth:
40 MB/s (TYP)

The Intel® Z-P140 PATA Solid-State Drive (SSD) is smaller than a penny and weighing less than a drop of water, these 2 Gigabyte (GB) and 4GB ultra-small devices are fast, low-power and rugged.

SSDs use flash memory to store operating systems and computing data, emulating hard drives. The Intel Z-P140 PATA SSD has an industry standard parallel-ATA (PATA) interface and is optimized to enhance Intel-based computers, and will be an optional part of Intel's Menlow platform for mobile Internet devices debuting in 2008.

In the first quarter of 2008, Ribbit will open its service to consumers featuring the first innovations from its developer community. Also in the first quarter, the company will sell commercial and enterprise packages to developers selling services that utilize the Ribbit platform. Both the consumer and the enterprise markets will be key areas of focus for Ribbit as it continues to engage the developer community. One market in particular -- small-to-medium size businesses -- holds special promise.

Ribbit, unveiled a new platform for developing telephony services and a new business model for serving the new global telephony market. In addition, the company formally announced a diverse team of technologists, business leaders and a community of third-party developers that it has recruited over the past two years to execute on its mission.

High-resolution animations, life-size presentation screens and virtual cars that come to life with a click of a mouse: No, this isn’t Walt Disney or Pixar studios but rather is the state of the business inside Ford Design studios.

Faster, sharper and with higher quality, the latest digital design tools are being utilized by Ford designers to further accelerate future product development – and reduce costs.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have unveiled important details about a class of catalysts that could help improve the performance of fuel cells. With the goal of producing “clean” hydrogen for fuel cell reactions in mind, the researchers determined why two next-generation catalysts including gold, cerium, titanium, and oxygen nanomaterials exhibit very high activity. Their results will be published online in the December 14, 2007, edition of the journal Science.

Construction has started on a pilot facility in Hawaii to grow marine algae and produce vegetable oil for conversion into biofuel.

Algae hold great promise because they grow very rapidly, are rich in vegetable oil and can be cultivated in ponds of seawater, minimising the use of fertile land and fresh water.

Royal Dutch Shell plc and HR Biopetroleum have formed a joint venture company, called Cellana, to develop this project, with Shell taking the majority share. Construction of the demonstration facility on the Kona coast of Hawaii Island will begin immediately. The site, leased from the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), is near existing commercial algae enterprises, primarily serving the pharmaceutical and nutrition industries.

Over the past several years the U.S. Army has invested billions of dollars in computer software, hardware and equipment to keep up with the world's ever-changing technology.

With the military's growing need for internet access comes an equal need to keep military networks, servers and systems safe from viruses, hackers and other underlying dangers that could hinder the safety and well-being of U.S. Soldiers and civilian employees.

The Herkules supercomputer is not only powerful, but also kind to the environment. It consumes considerably less electricity than similar supercomputers. In terms of energy efficiency, it occupies a leading position worldwide.

Herkules, the new number-cruncher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM in Kaiserslautern, is not only one of the fastest supercomputers in Germany, but also one of the most efficient. It handles processor-intensive tasks in areas such as simulated reality or computer-assisted engineering, processes seismic data for the oil industry, and calculates costs for automotive, engineering and textile companies.