Archive for September 27th, 2007
If you’ve been depending on your Microsoft 
Excel software to do your number crunching for you, you might want to grab a calculator and review your spreadsheets before you send the document out the door. That’s because the latest version of Excel is housing bugs that are dead set on ruining your reports.Microsoft admitted to the embarrassing error in Excel 2007 — a major component of the Office 2007 productivity suite — on Tuesday. The issue involves calculating numbers around 65,535. The Excel team offered more details earlier this week, and assured customers a fix is in the works.
The first reported problem revolved around “77.1 x 850,” according to Microsoft. But the Excel team’s testing, along with additional reports from outsiders, soon revealed this was not the only instance where Excel 2007 would return a value of 100,000 instead of 65,535.
Click here to read the rest of this story on NewsFactor.
September 27th, 2007
NBC is taking the gloves off in a blow-by-blow match against Apple’s iTunes that has the digital media world on the edge of its seat. On Wednesday, the “Big Three” broadcaster announced plans to offer limited free downloads of some of its most popular television shows.Dubbed NBC Direct, the company’s latest digital media initiative gives consumers access to programs such as “Heroes” and “The Office” — with advertisements included — beginning in October.
For up to one week after the shows air on television, consumers running Windows can download and view them. Advertisements are embedded in the digital media files, and viewers will not be able to fast-forward through them. Seven days after the broadcasts air, the files expire.
Click here to read the rest of this story on NewsFactor.
September 27th, 2007
It’s another black eye for Sony. After closing its online music store in August, news comes that the entertainment giant is delaying the opening of its online community for the PlayStation 3.The online user community, known as “Home,” will let PS3 owners create their own avatars and explore a real-time virtual community, as if they are playing a detailed 3D game for PS3. The free community was supposed to launch this fall to allow PS3 users to interact, communicate, join online games, shop, share private content, and even build and show off their own personal spaces to others in real time. But Sony fell short of its goals once again.
Kazuo Hirai, the chief executive for Sony’s video game business, made the announcement Thursday at the Tokyo Game Show, a yearly event that displays new video game hardware and software. “We wanted to wait until we could offer what would be totally satisfying for consumers,” Hirai said in a keynote speech.
Click here to read the rest of this story on NewsFactor.
September 27th, 2007
For all the talk of flexible work arrangements to attract and retain employees, corporations are tapping into flex work arrangements of their own through temp-to-hire labor.
Though this try-before-you-buy concept is hardly new, Boston recruiters tasked with balancing skills shortages with an uncertain economy are compelled to re-examine the temp-to-hire trend.
“Companies want flexibility with long-term employment commitments these days,” said Ed Diamond, principal of Snelling Staffing Services’ Boston offices. “It makes sense to bring in somebody on a temp-to-perm basis. If it works out, the person more than makes up for the placement fee.”
It more than makes sense, according to Robert Lopes, president and CEO of Veritude, a Boston-based provider of talent acquisition and management services.
Click here to read the rest of this story on the Boston Business Journal.
September 27th, 2007
On Thursday, the free software world saw a first. The Software Freedom Law Center announced that it filed the first-ever U.S. copyright infringement lawsuit based on a violation of the GNU General Public License (GPL) on behalf of its clients.The plaintiffs are the two principal developers of BusyBox, a set of Unix utilities for embedded systems. BusyBox is open-source software licensed under GPL version 2. The defendant in the case is Monsoon Multimedia. The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan Federal District Court.
“We licensed BusyBox under the GPL to give users the freedom to access and modify its source code,” Erik Andersen, a developer of BusyBox and a named plaintiff, said in a statement. “If companies will not abide by the fair terms of our license, then we have no choice but to ask our attorneys to go to court to force them to do so.”
Click here to read the rest of this story on NewsFactor.
September 27th, 2007
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project that seeks to put computers in the hands of children in developing nations has announced a new twist: “Give 1, Get 1.”The two-week program is designed to persuade individuals from the United States and Canada to support the OLPC Foundation and its work by paying for two children’s laptop computers — one to give, one to get. The laptop that participants give will go to a child in a developing nation. They can use the one they get for themselves or they can give it away.
The goal of the Give 1 Get 1 program is to generate awareness of the educational value of the XO laptop, encourage the open-source software community to create content to support the XO laptop, and put more XO laptops into the hands of kids around the world. The two-week promotion runs from November 12 through November 26, 2007.
Click here to read the rest of this story on NewsFactor.
September 27th, 2007
Facebook could be likened to the prom queen of the social-networking community these days. Its suitors are Microsoft and Google, among others. Indeed, companies are standing in line, hoping for the chance to invest in the popular site.According to news reports, Microsoft and Google are both interested in snagging a stake in the company. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft might be willing to invest $300 million to $500 million for a 5 percent slice of the Facebook pie. Meanwhile, the New York Times is reporting that Google is interested as well.
Facebook’s valuation is more than $10 billion, according to news reports. A bidding battle between Google and Microsoft could drive that valuation even higher. Here’s the mystery: Facebook’s actual revenues have been held close to the vest. Pali Research provides some insight, estimating that Facebook generates somewhere between $60 million and $96 million in annual revenue, though without a significant profit.
Click here to read the rest of this story on NewsFactor.
September 27th, 2007
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