Tech News » Can Yahoo Escape the Valley of the Dulls?

Carol Bartz has been fired from her role as CEO of Yahoo, but the company itself remains face-to-face with an identity crisis. Its collection of Web properties is large and in some cases well-loved, but the pieces rarely fit together as well as those of rivals like Google. Meanwhile, AT&T mulls its options, Groupon thinks long and hard about its IPO, and a judge adds a new chapter to the Oracle-SAP feud. When the end of her stint as Yahoo...

Tech News » Scan: A Neat Way to Solve the Mysteries of QR Codes

Even if you don't know what they are, you probably see a few QR codes every time you leave home. They're those pixelated boxes that look like overgrown bar codes, and with the right reader -- typically a smartphone app -- they can take to you websites, send you messages, or just clue you in on your surroundings. There are lots of QR readers for iPhone out there, but one of the better of the bunch is called "Scan." Scan, an app from QR Code City,...

Tech News » Linux and the Giant Breach

"Cause for concern? Yes, but there's no reason to believe that kernel sources were compromised; such a change would be easily detected with diff," said Hyperlogos blogger Martin Espinoza. "I'd sure like someone to show me a 100 percent secure, internet-connected computer... ." Security scares are so commonplace in the tech industry today that it's virtually impossible to keep track of them all. Security scares in the Linux world, however, are...

Tech News » Passion Is the Thin Line Between Success and Failure

Passion is infectious. Passion drives folks like Jobs and Gates to ensure the product is successful. Passion overwhelms the desire to overfocus on containing budgets, and it guarantees that enough resources are provided to make success almost a foregone conclusion. Ballmer is clearly not a tech toy or PC guy; it isn't even clear if anyone at Yahoo, let alone Bartz, really knows what Yahoo's product is. Carol Bartz got fired last week -- the Yahoo...

Security » Can an Anti-Child Porn Bill Go Too Far?

As written, the bill H.R. 1981 aims to stamp out child pornography with new penalties and enforcement powers. So how can anyone in their right mind oppose it? Civil liberties and privacy rights groups, however, say the bill's provisions go much too far in tracking and storing information about all Internet users. They also say child porn traders will respond to the law by simply using public WiFi networks. H.R. 1981, a U.S. federal bill which...

Mobile Tech » AT&T Plans Mango Feast

Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system barely has a toehold in the smartphone market, but AT&T is moving to change that with the announcement of three new handsets running the latest WinPho version, dubbed "Mango," as well as upgrades to Mango for existing WinPho devices. That might just keep Windows Phone on the radar until Nokia unleashes its expected slew of new products. AT&T (NYSE: T) announced on Monday that it would add three...