Microsoft files antitrust complaint against Google in Europe, showdown imminent

Bill Gates and Paul AllenMicrosoft, citing Google's tyrannical 95% share of the European search market, has lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission. It's not like Microsoft is breaking any ground here -- the European Commission has been investigating Google's alleged violation of European competition law since November 2010 -- but there's no doubt that the addition of Microsoft's gravitas will affect the proceedings.

Microsoft's complaint reads like a sincere and plaintive cry for help against the Google Overlord. Microsoft lists no less than six damning reasons why Google's behavior is anti-competitive -- from Windows Phone 7's incompatibility with YouTube, to its nefarious handling of Google Books -- and finishes with a wide-eyed plea to the European Commission to please find Google guilty.

For those of you that have been following Microsoft's own antitrust troubles over the last decade, don't worry: MS is quick to point out the irony in the situation. "There of course will be some who will point out the irony in today's filing. Having spent more than a decade wearing the shoe on the other foot with the European Commission, the filing of a formal antitrust complaint is not something we take lightly. This is the first time Microsoft Corporation has ever taken this step. More so than most, we recognize the importance of ensuring that competition laws remain balanced and that technology innovation moves forward."

It sounds like Microsoft, having well and truly gone through the wringer, wants Google to be held similarly accountable. That's fair enough, right?

Microsoft files antitrust complaint against Google in Europe, showdown imminent originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 05:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/31/microsoft-files-antitrust-complaint-against-google-in-europe-sh/

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Why Tech Tangles Are More Painful for Apple Users

Is Apple pain worse than PC pain? I don't know the answer, but it seems to me that a weird mix of personality, expectation and Apple's business model all conspire to create dreadful pain in Apple enthusiasts whenever something with an Apple product goes wrong.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/74746.html

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Tasty Planet is a fun flash game where you eat everything in sight

tastyplanet
So this professor comes up with a new toilet cleaner that works by "eating" the dirt; or so he thinks. That's how the plot starts for Tasty Planet. You play the role of the toilet cleaner, but you're not really a toilet cleaner after all -- you're a blob of gray goo that can eat anything that's smaller than yourself.

As you chomp away, you grow -- and as you grow, you can eat bigger and bigger stuff. The first level pits you against microscopic particles; by the time I stopped playing, I got all the way to eating cats and dogs. I know that sounds disturbing, but it's a really cute game, and there's no gore or anything like that.

Supposedly you keep growing and growing until you're able to eat whole planets (hence the name). The challenge factor comes when you realize you can't touch any critter larger than yourself - you'll get "bitten" and become smaller. In the beginning you're so small, that a single touch can kill you. Later on, you're big enough that touching larger animals doesn't kill you on the spot, but it does reduce your size. Each level is timed, so if you're not large enough by the time your clock runs out, you need to start again. As long as you don't touch the larger animals, you should be fine.

All in all, a fun, addictive little game. It's available for iOS, too.

Tasty Planet is a fun flash game where you eat everything in sight originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/08/tasty-planet-is-a-fun-flash-game-where-you-eat-everything-in-sight/

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Expedia adds to Google's EU antitrust woes, decision expected after Easter

Google's position as the dominant search engine doesn't come without a price. Smaller search sites have already tapped on the EU Commission's door to register their complaints about how they are ranked, and Microsoft has also let its feelings on the matter be known. Now, we can add the Redmond spin-off, Expedia, to that list of sore losers disgruntled firms. The travel search site claims it has specific details outlining how the search giant has violated European anti-competitive laws. A Google spokesperson issued a statement saying "We haven't seen the complaint yet, but we've been working to explain how our business works, cooperating with the European Commission since this investigation began." The EU Competition Commissioner says a decision will be made after Easter, at which point Mountain View will either be charged, or the investigation will be dropped. If only that were the end of its EU troubles.

Expedia adds to Google's EU antitrust woes, decision expected after Easter originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/TeEjdC8oFQI/

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This Week’s Hot Deals from TechBargains

CowBoom Coupon Code: 10% off All Apple iPads (IPad 2 WiFi 16GB $314.99, 3G $386) Motorola XOOM NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual-Core 32GB WiFi 10in Tablet (REFURB, Ice Cream Sandwich) $305.99 Lenovo IdeaPad A1 1GHz 7in 16GB Tablet w/ Android 2.3 & GPS $189.99 Free Shipping Asus Eee Pad Transformer 10.1in 16GB Tablet w/ Tegra 2 [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/04/01/this-weeks-hot-deals-from-techbargains-15/

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Engadget Mobile Podcast 132 - 03.31.2012

It was a relatively slow news week. So what? We'll make those lemons into podcast lemonade any day, and you, friend, are invited to our lemonade stand. We take credit cards.

Hosts: Myriam Joire (tnkgrl), Brad Molen, Joseph Volpe
Guest: Andrew Munchbach
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Tycho - Coastal Brake (Ghostly International)

00:01:48 - RIM announces Q4 2012 earnings, Jim Balsillie resigns from board, company plans to refocus on enterprise
00:04:30 - RIM CEO Thorsten Heins reportedly 'clearing house,' laying off numerous executives
00:10:00 - RIM sticking with consumer goods, just 'refocusing' on enterprise
00:18:55 - Android 4.0.4 rolls out to HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus and GSM Nexus S
00:40:47 - Samsung ships five million Galaxy Notes in just five months
00:54:04 - Conversion kit lets you push your RAZR to the Maxx for $110
00:55:30 - LG Lucid becomes official on Verizon, can be yours March 29th for $80
01:02:05 - Nano-SIM standard vote postponed while RIM accuses Apple of cheating
01:05:55 - T-Mobile's next MyTouch: Huawei Ascend G312 QWERTY hands-on
01:17:05 - Nokia Lumia 900 to hit AT&T on April 8th with $100 price tag in tow (video)
01:18:55 - AT&T confirms HTC Titan II to join Lumia 900 on April 8th for $200 (video)
01:33:37 - Samsung Galaxy S ICS-like 'value pack' upgrade officially released in Korea

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Engadget Mobile Podcast 132 - 03.31.2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/31/engadget-mobile-podcast-132-03-31-2012/

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Razer confirms plans to release left-handed Naga gaming mouse

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It promised that it would do so if it received enough Likes on Facebook, and now Razer has confirmed that it is indeed proceeding with plans to release a left-handed version of its Naga gaming mouse. That comes after it received the required 10,000 Likes in less than a week -- a full three weeks ahead of its April 21st deadline. Unfortunately, there's no indication of a release date just yet, but you can rest assured that the MMO-focused mouse will be otherwise identical to its right-handed counterpart. The complete specs can be found in the press release after the break.

Continue reading Razer confirms plans to release left-handed Naga gaming mouse

Razer confirms plans to release left-handed Naga gaming mouse originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 02:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/31/razer-confirms-plans-to-release-left-handed-naga-gaming-mouse/

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Gargantuan SQL injection infects 3.8 million URLs, installs rogue antivirus

LizaMoon SQL injection rogue AV
Over the last few days, a mass SQL injection attack has been quickly gathering speed. Just three days ago only 28,000 URLs were affected, but at the time of writing, there could be up to 3.8 million infected URLs.

Websense
has a complete write up the attack, dubbed 'LizaMoon,' but here's the basic gist: it looks like someone is exploiting a vulnerabilty (or vulnerabilities) in hundreds of thousands of websites running on Microsoft SQL Server 2003 and 2005. It's not yet known whether this is a vulnerability in SQL Server, or simply a case of outdated, unmaintained, and easily-exploitable CMSes.

The attack takes the form of an SQL injection, which then inserts a link to a JavaScript file hosted on the attacker's server. This is repeated over and over until every Web page in the SQL database has been infected -- and considering 3.8 million URLs have been infected, you can see that this is a very easy, and automated, attack.

Fortunately, the JavaScript isn't particularly malicious: it pops up a rogue AV program called Windows Stability Center, but that's it. Better yet, the rogue antivirus is already recognized by a bunch of real antivirus suites, including Avast, Panda and Microsoft Security Essentials.

The real problem with SQL injection attacks is that there's nothing we surfers can do about them. There will always be old and unmaintained websites, and thus SQL injections will remain one of the easiest and most lucrative tools of hackers and spammers alike. All you can do is keep your antivirus and anti-malware software up to date, and pray.

Gargantuan SQL injection infects 3.8 million URLs, installs rogue antivirus originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/massive-sql-injection-infects-3-8-million-urls-installs-rogue-a/

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Google Maps 8-bit version for NES: April Fools arrives a day early in Mountain View

Image

Well, it appears that April Fools is in full effect -- at least if you ask Google. Today the company introduced its "latest" build of Google Maps, dubbed Google Maps 8-bit version, tailored specifically for the Nintendo Entertainment System. According to Google, this Dragon Quest spoof version of Maps will come in the form of a special NES cartridge that can connect to the internet via dial-up. This apparently allows most of the heavy lifting to get done on Google's servers, where the maps are rendered to 8-bit form "in real-time." Better yet, it even supports voice search. Naturally, there's no word on a release date, but you can currently check out the "beta" by visiting Google Maps in your browser and selecting "Start Your Quest." That said, that company warns that "your system may not meet the minimum requirements for 8-bit computations" -- something tells us it'll still be less resource-intensive than Crysis, though. We've checked it out and found some goodies, including an alien at Area 51, so let us know what you come across during your journey in the comments.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Google Maps 8-bit version for NES: April Fools arrives a day early in Mountain View

Google Maps 8-bit version for NES: April Fools arrives a day early in Mountain View originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/31/google-maps-8-bit-version-for-nes-april-fools/

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Pocket Predator – Wicked Pocket Sized Slingshots

Remember when you were a kid and made your own slingshot with a forked branch, a big rubberband and some pebbles? It looks like William Hays of PocketPredator.com never grew out of that phase. He took his love of slingshots and has elevated it to the nth degree. William makes these wrist rockets out of a [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/03/29/pocket-predator-wicked-pocket-sized-slingshots/

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