Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/22/wyoming-wholly-commits-to-google-apps-adds-more-flare-to-state/

Milestone-maker may not be the first words that come to mind when you think ‘Wyoming,’ but consider this: the state lays claim to the first ever national park (Yellowstone), the first national monument (Devil’s Tower), and to being first for women’s suffrage. Not content to rest on its laurels, Wyoming Governor Matt Mead put on his early adopter hat and marched all ten thousand civil servant soldiers into the Google cloud. It’s a major first for both parties, and might even help Google ease the federal government’s earlier MS-favoring snub. By switching solely to Google Apps for Government, Mead says the move will save his great territory significant coin, not to mention getting everybody under the Gmail umbrella like Los Angeles did back in 2009. Unintended consequence of the move? The inefficiency of, oh, about nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine workers whiling away their days on Gchat. Check below for official video of the address.

Continue reading Wyoming wholly commits to Google apps, adds more flair to state’s firsts

Wyoming wholly commits to Google apps, adds more flair to state’s firsts originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/22/compromised-account-leads-to-massive-bitcoin-sell-off-eff-recon/

Bitcoin, for those not aware, is a completely digital currency — one where exchanges between individuals are largely anonymous and secured through cryptography, and one that has seen its hype-meter go off the charts in recent months. That, inevitably, has had some people waiting for a fall, and it took a big one this week. While things have since bounced back, the value of the currency on the so-called Mt. Gox exchange dropped from around $17.50 to just one cent in a matter of moments during the early hours of June 20th — a drop that’s since been attributed to a compromised account. Thanks to a daily withdrawal limit, however, that apparently only resulted in $1,000 actually being stolen, and a claims process has now been set up for those affected.

While not directly related to the sell off, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (or EFF) also dealt a bit of a blow to the upstart currency this week, when it announced that it would no longer be accepting Bitcoin donations. According to the organization, that’s both because it doesn’t “fully understand the complex legal issues involved with creating a new currency system,” and because it doesn’t want its acceptance of Bitcoins misconstrued as an endorsement of Bitcoin. Head on past the break for an account of the aforementioned plunge as it happened.

[Thanks, Zigmar; image: Wikipedia]

Continue reading Compromised account leads to massive Bitcoin sell off, EFF reconsiders use of currency

Compromised account leads to massive Bitcoin sell off, EFF reconsiders use of currency originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 06:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/01/microsoft-turns-to-crowdsourcing-service-to-swat-away-patent-tro/

We’ve seen the havoc that patent trolls can wreak on tech companies and Microsoft clearly wants no part of it. That’s why Ballmer & Co. have joined forces with Article One Partners — a New York-based research firm that crowdsources scientific expertise to figure out whether or not patented ideas or inventions are as innovative as they claim, based on prior art. By subscribing to Article One’s new Litigation Avoidance service, Redmond hopes “to reduce risk and reduce potential litigation cost” brought by nonpracticing entities (NPEs) — companies that collect thousands of patents, in the hopes that one may lay a golden egg. No word on how much the service will actually cost, but we’re guessing it’ll be worth at least a few legal headaches. Full presser after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft turns to crowdsourcing service to swat away patent trolls

Microsoft turns to crowdsourcing service to swat away patent trolls originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 05:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/13/microsoft-details-kinect-sdk-for-windows-pc-promises-robust-sk/

Sure, a lack of first-party tools never kept you from bending the Kinect to your diabolical whim, but Microsoft’s taking some time out at MIX 11 to talk about the official Kinect SDK for Windows and show off a few demos. Mind you, all of that’s going to happen on stage over the course of the next hour, so we don’t have many details for you right now, but Redmond says devs will have access to not only the basic color and infrared depth cameras, but “robust skeletal tracking” of two simultaneous individuals as well, and perhaps most excitingly, full access to the Kinect’s array of four microphones for noise canceling and voice recognition complete with API support. Hate to say it, Kinect hackers, but the bar’s about to be bumped up. Keep it locked right here and we’ll let you know if the Microsofties reveal anything else fun!

Update: Yep, we’re getting some Kinect SDK details now — Microsoft says you’ll be able to write Kinect apps for PC in Visual Basic, C#, and C++, and they’re showing off basic coding now… with just a few minutes of work in Visual Studio, they had a program that could draw lines using the wave of a hand.

Update 2: Okay, we just saw some straight-up Minority Report fun here — a guided astronomical tour of the universe controlled by Kinect, and a motorized lounge chair! Connection permitting, we’ll have video up soon.

Microsoft details Kinect SDK for Windows PC, promises ‘robust skeletal tracking’ (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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