‘I’m a lover, not a fighter’ says Google to US government probes

California, June 11: Google doesn’t believe it needs to change its ways despite three separate US government inquiries into whether some of the internet search leader’s actions are thwarting competition.

“There is no reason to be upset or surprised with the scrutiny,” Dana Wagner, Google’s competition counsel, told reporters on Wednesday. “It comes with the territory.”

Earth-Venus smash-up possible in 3.5 bn years: Study

Paris, June 11: A force known as orbital chaos may cause our Solar System to go haywire, leading to possible collision between Earth and Venus or Mars, according to a study released Wednesday.

The good news is that the likelihood of such a smash-up is small, around one-in-2500.

And even if the planets did careen into one another, it would not happen before another 3.5 billion years.

Hackers wipe 100,000 websites from hosting company Vaserv

Washington, June 10: An English website hosting company may have lost the data for over 100,000 websites after hackers exploited a security vulnerability in software used to provide customers with hosting facilities.

According to Rus Foster, the company’s director, hackers managed to gain access to the root level of a key piece of software the company uses to provide its low-cost virtual website solutions.

“We were hit by a zero-day exploit” in HyperVM, a virtualization application made by LXLabs in Bangalore, India.

Google mentor Rajeev Motwani dies in drowning accident

Washington, June 08: A much-loved Stanford University professor from India who mentored and backed such sparkling Silicon Valley companies as Google and Rajeev Motwani, Stanford University professor from India & Google mentor, died in a freak drowning accident at his Bay area home on Friday. Paypal died in a freak drowning accident at his Bay area home on Friday, sending the tech community into gloom.

Machine Keeps Heart Beating Outside of Body

Carolina, June 05: Researchers at the North Carolina State University has developed a machine that can keep a heart beating outside the body. The potential medical benefit is huge, though for whatever reason I kept on thinking about Dr. Frankenstein:

“Researchers can obtain pig hearts from a pork processing facility and use the system to test their prototypes or practice new surgical procedures,” says Andrew Richards, a Ph. D. student in mechanical engineering at NC State who designed the heart machine.

Soon, ‘hands-free’ video games

London, May 24: The ultimate computer game that banishes handheld controls and allows players’ gestures to dictate the action on screen is to be launched by Microsoft.

The Microsoft Xbox 360 uses 3-D camera technology, and is aimed at challenging the dominance of the Nintendo Wii, reports The Times.

Allowing users to kick a virtual football, drive a car or practise dance moves with a computer-generated partner simply by monitoring an individual’s movements, the entertainment system will become a must-have for any child or even a youngster.

North Korea launches rocket

Tokyo, April 05: North Korea launched a rocket Sunday, a South Korean foreign ministry official told Yonhap news agency.

Pyongyang said it was putting a communications satellite into orbit, but Japan, South Korea and Washington believe the launch was a screen to test a long-range ballistic missile.

The launch occurred around 11.30 a.m. (0230 GMT) from North Korea’s base on its east coast, the official said.

—-Agencies

Shuttle, space station crews part after 8 days

Cape Canaveral, March 25: After eight days together, it’s time for the space shuttle and space station crews to say goodbye.

The hatches between the linked spacecraft will be sealed early Wednesday afternoon. Three hours later, Discovery will undock.

Discovery will be bringing back five months’ worth of science experiments from the space station. The blood, urine and saliva samples need to be kept cold for as long as possible, and will remain in the station freezer until the last possible moment.

Wages at IT multinationals start melting down

Banglore, February 27: Software multinationals in India have begun freezing wage increases, slashing salaries and postponing merit-based hikes, a study by Indian consulting firm Zinnov has found.

‘Though Bangalore stands highest in its average salary for multinational R and amp;D firms, followed by Pune and Chennai, the economic slump is causing undue pressure on them to retain compensation levels,’ Zinnov director for advisory services C.S. Chandramouli, told IANS after the survey was made public.