ny times

North Korea's army of online game hackers

From the "I guess this makes sense" files, the New York Times reports that North Korea has unleashed a squad of hackers to infiltrate South Korean gaming sites. The two countries have technically been at war for almost 60 years, and cyber-attacks are the modern-day equivalent to a slap in the face.

The police in Seoul said Thursday that four South Koreans and a Korean-Chinese had been arrested on charges of drawing on that army to organize a hacking squad of 30 young video gaming experts.

Working from Northern China, the police said, the squad created software that … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 927: Get out of my floveal

Firefox is trying a new blank tab feature that gives you some links but leaves the focused middle area blank to go easy on the floveal area of your eye. We also are very excited about mind control peripherals for your computer. And Natali says pinche again. Which is always good.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 927

YouTube to block UK music videos http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7933565.stm

Firefox, too, revamping new-tab behavior http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10191921-2.html

Amazon testing HD VOD on TiVo? http://i.gizmodo.com/5166326/amazon-hd-video-on-demand-now-beta-testing-on-select-tivo-devices

Venezuelan cell … Read more

Video: Why do some want to see the NY Times fail?

Do too many people want to see the NY Times fail? I think so and I want it to stop.

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Challenging Windows with Ubuntu (NY Times)

The NY Times is running a great piece titled "A Software Populist Who Doesn't Do Windows " detailing the vision behind the Ubuntu Linux OS and Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu.

Canonical, based in London, has more than 200 full-time employees, but its total work force stretches well beyond that, through an army of volunteers. The company paid for close to 60 volunteers to attend its developer event, considering them important contributors to the operating system. An additional 1,000 work on the Debian project and make their software available to Canonical, while 5,000 spread information about … Read more

Don't move!? or the science of inaction

If you're a frequent reader of this blog, you might have noticed that I'm an avid soccer fan who doesn't let an opportunity pass to draw analogies between the "beautiful game" and the other big game: business. As such I was riveted by Clive Thompson's "Goalkeeper Science" piece in last week's New York Times Magazine's "Year in Ideas" issue. Based on research examining the behavior of soccer goalkeepers facing penalty kicks, Thompson concludes that "inaction may be the biggest form of action" (Jerry Brown).

The study, … Read more

Daily Tidbits: Netvibes gets facelift, NY Times enlists help from celebrities

Personalized home page provider, Netvibes announced Monday that users are now able to arrange widgets on their home page in a variety of new ways to improve their page's design, instead of using the current, simple arrangement options. Each widget also features a new view mode, which allows them to decide how each is displayed. Users can choose among a carousel view, ticker display, magazine layout, or a headline view.

The NYTimes.com announced Tuesday that it has started a new marketing campaign to increase the popularity of its site. According to the company, it has added a new page … Read more

The Digital Home Video: What will really happen to newspapers

Want to know what will really happen to newspapers? I'll tell you in my latest video. Oh, and sorry for the extra title screen -- forgot to take it out.

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And as always, drop me a line or follow me on Twitter!

E-mail is as addictive as gambling

Just when you finally came to terms with your e-mail addiction, blogs came along, then IM, then Twitter, and now we are all zombies. As it turns out, e-mail is a dangerous distraction.

In a study last year, Dr. Thomas Jackson of Loughborough University, England, found that it takes an average of 64 seconds to recover your train of thought after interruption by e-mail. So people who check their e-mail every five minutes waste 8 1/2 hours a week figuring out what they were doing moments before.

I would suspect that Twitter and random IMs must double the wasted … Read more

E-Mail Etiquette for Public Figures

Over on the NY Times, David Pogue explains how he deals with the deluge of daily emails he receives.

Here are the questions he answers: A) How many wackos do you hear from in a day? B) How do you handle said wackos? C) Do you use elaborate file/folder systems? D) How much of your day is spent on replying to e-mails? E) How do you determine who gets a reply? F) How often do you check e-mail? G) What advice would you give to a public figure about what to watch out for if you publish your e-mail … Read more