Well apparently the news here is that the Malaysian government dried up their funds on breeding cows that they can’t afford to hire a proper translator for their Ministry of Defence’s website.

The website for the Defence Ministry is supposed to be in Malays language, and had relied on the free online Google Translate for the English version of its official website, which resulted in the many mistakes found on the site.

“We have corrected the mistakes and translations are no longer done that way. “It is now done manually,” Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said here yesterday.

He admitted that the inaccurate translations had caused much embarrassment to the ministry. Yes, even their web developers aren’t good in English grammar.

It was recently reported in Malaysia’s local newspaper The Star that amusing translations of the staff dress code on the ministry’s official website were being shared on social networking websites.

The ministry’s website had published translations such as “clothes that poke eye”, a literal translation of Malay language “pakaian yang menjolok mata”, which in actual fact means revealing clothes or scantily clad in Malaysia’s national language.

Others included “collared shirts and tight Malay civet berbutang three”, which, in Malay, is “berkolar baju Melayu cekak musang berbutang tiga”. A very typical yet cute translation from Google Translate, as usual.

Another was the brief summary of the ministry’s history on the website, which read: “After the withdrawal of British army, the Malaysian Government take drastic measures to increase the level of any national security threat”.

The ministry took down its English translated version several hours after it went viral on Twitter and Facebook. In an immediate response, a ministry spokesman had said that a clarification had been posted on the website, saying that corrective action was being taken to ensure that the translations were accurate.

“We did not intend for the English translations to turn out that way,” said Dr Zahid during a visit to the National Service camp here.

However, a check on the website showed that the English translations were still unavailable at the time this article is written. So, anybody that’s fluent in both Bahasa Malaysia and English? There’s a job post for you in the Malaysian Government.

Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect and successor of Bill Gates in that role, is telling media that he is founding a new company.

So far, we only know that the company is called Cocomo. There is no office yet, but just the note that he is hiring and that he won’t be able to talk about the business “for some months”. Ozzie indicated that the team includes people he worked with before. Boston.com reported that former Microsoft executives Matt Pope is a co-founder of Cocomo, and Ransom Richardson, another former Microsoft executive, joined the company as well.

There is a first public job posting that seeks a lead UX designer, for both smartphone and tablet iOS and Android platforms. The candidate the company would consider will have “had a minimum of several years of experience designing, building and delivering mobile apps on platforms such as iPhone, iPad, and Android.” There are several notes that the individual will have to “understand and embrace the conceptual models, constraints and affordances of the mobile/social design environment”, which would include “Email & SMS, Facebook, Google+, Twitter”.

Ozzie left Microsoft in October 2010 and hinted that he may be looking at some opportunities to realize a “post-PC world”. Ozzie, recently updated his blog earlier this week with some tweaks, but no new posts. In six years, Ozzie only posted to his blog twice – when he announced his resignation from Microsoft in 2010 and when his previous company, Groove, was acquired by Microsoft in 2005.

Nikkei is reporting that Sony will be promoting current Executive Deputy President Kazuo “Kaz” Hirai to president as soon as April, while Howard Stringer is expected to remain chairman and CEO of the company. As you may recall, Sony started its search for a new president as far back as November 2010, and with Kaz’s two promotions last year (to Executive Deputy President in April and to Sony Computer Entertainment Chairman in September), it isn’t surprising that he’s the chosen one to pick up some of Sir Howard’s work.

In response, Bloomberg has received a brief statement from Sony clarifying that the board has not yet made a decision on this promotion, which isn’t really a denial of the plan considering the final board meeting has yet to take place.

It’ll be a while before we see the consequences of this promotion, and anything can happen between now and the board meeting as early as next month to seal the deal; but here’s hoping that under Kaz, Sony will go easy on all these new memory card formats while it further unifies its various groups within the corporation.

SOURCE via The Verge

Camera company Eastman Kodak is apparently preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Wall Street Journal reports that if the company fails in its efforts to sell off a ‘trove of digital patents’ it will file for Chapter 11 in the coming weeks.

According the WSJ sources, Kodak is currently negotiating with potential lenders for roughly $1 billion debtor-in possession financing that would keep it afloat during bankruptcy proceedings. The filing itself could happen as soon as this month or early next month.

Though Kodak has refused to comment on the report (stating that it doesn’t comment on rumors or speculation), the company’s shares have taken a nosedive following the news, falling more than 28 percent to 46 cents.

This is the second blow for Eastman Kodak this year. Earlier this week, the company was warned that it would be delisted from the NYSE if its price-per-share remains below the minimum price-per-share requirement of $1 for the next six months. According to Bloomberg, this means Kodak’s stock must have a closing price of at least $1/share on the last trading day of any calendar month during the six-month period. Additionally, the company must maintain that average over the previous 30 trading days or on the last day of the six months. The company was put on notice following 30 consecutive days below the minimum price-per-share requirement.

Eastman Kodak was founded by George Eastman in 1892 in Rochester, New York. Eastman is credited with bringing photography to the masses through the use of roll film. In 1975, a Kodak engineer by the name of Steven Sasson invented the digital camera.

SOURCE via Wall Street Journal

St. Clair Intellectual Properties, a company with a history of suing mobile phone vendors over patents, has expanded a patent infringement lawsuit that has targeted Apple, RIM and HTC to LG, Motorola Mobility and Samsung.

St. Clair alleges that the Android smartphones and tablets made by LG, Motorola Mobility and Samsung violate six of its patents:

5,630,163: Computer having a single bus supporting multiple bus architectures operating with different bus parameters
5,710,929: Multi-state power management for computer systems
5,758,175: Multi-mode power switching for computer systems
5,892,959: Computer activity monitor providing idle thread and other event sensitive clock and power control
6,079,025: System and method of computer operating mode control for power consumption reduction
5,822,610: Mappable functions from single chip/multi-chip processors for computers

The filed patent infringement lawsuits are expansions of a first wave that was filed in November of 2010. St. Clair also sued Apple, RIM and in a camera related patent in 2009. The company has been rather successful with its patent suits and won $25 million in a suit against Sony Electronics and Sony Corporation of America in 2003. In 2004, the company was awarded $34.7 million in a dispute with Canon USA. There was no information on the 2010 suits against Apple, RIM and HTC.

As it is frequently the case, St. Clair has not been the original inventor of any of the patents in question. However, it has been in possession of all patents mentioned in its latest patent infringement suits since June of 2000.

What do you do when Hollywood and the government team up to enforce censorship on the internet with the likes of SOPA and Protect-IP? Launch another government-free internet, of course. A group of hackers plans to launch a separate internet using amateur satellites and $130 ground stations.

During the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin back in August — an annual hacker conference sponsored by the German Chaos Computer Club — a team of German hackers revealed plans to launch their own communication satellites into space in order to create a separate, “uncensorable” network called the Hackerspace Global Grid (HGG).

“The first goal is an uncensorable Internet in space. Let’s take the Internet out of the control of terrestrial entities,” said activist Nick Farr.

According to the report, the team will start by launching three prototype ground stations in the first half of 2012, and then launch at least one satellite into low orbit to communicate specifically with those stations. “It’s kind of a reverse GPS,” explained Armin Bauer, an HGG participant. “GPS uses satellites to calculate where we are, and this tells us where the satellites are. We would use GPS coordinates but also improve on them by using fixed sites in precisely-known locations.”

The group stated that the ground stations will cost around $130 USD each to establish, but the satellite itself will require a substantial amount of financial backing, as it will need to hitch a ride with a rocket rather than float up into the cold void via a balloon-based solution. Additional reports claim that the satellite will likely be based on work done to develop low-cost satellites by the Amateur Radio Satellite (AMSAT) association in England and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.

Given the new Internet would eventually rely on an array of low orbit amateur satellites, there’s speculation that the overall network stability would be spotty at best, as these satellites typically orbit every ninety minutes. That means there will be times when they won’t be visible to tracking devices.

“That’s not to say they can’t be used for communications but obviously only for the relatively brief periods that they are in your view,” explains one professor. “It’s difficult to see how such satellites could be used as a viable communications grid other than in bursts, even if there were a significant number in your constellation.”

News of the possible pirate internet arise as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill makes its way through the Senate. Along with the PROTECT IP act, the duo gives content owners the right to take down websites they believe are infringing on their copyright. That includes mere links to content that possibly infringes on a copyright, and if that link isn’t removed as requested, then the copyright owner can have the website’s advertising and transaction revenue severed. Even more, the domain name itself – whether it’s local or overseas — could even be thrown on a blacklist, leaving the site inaccessible.

Last week Farr said that SOPA is a perfect example of why the group desires a separate network. In addition to launching their satellite and three prototype ground stations, the team will expand the network by distributing working models of the prototype ground station to those attending the next Chaos Communication Congress in 2012. The stations will also be sold on a non-profit basis.

“We’re aiming for 100 euros (£84) per ground station,” Bauer added. “That is the amount people tell us they would be willing to spend.”

After much speculation about a possible hire early in the morning, Yahoo has officially appointed former PayPal president Scott Thompson as the new Chief Executive Officer. The new appointment will become effective as of January 9, 2012 as current CEO Tim Morse shifts back into his former Chief Financial Officer position. Yahoo said Thompson will also serve on the company’s Board of Directors starting on January 9 as well.

“Scott brings to Yahoo! a proven record of building on a solid foundation of existing assets and resources to reignite innovation and drive growth, precisely the formula we need at Yahoo!,” said Roy Bostock, Chairman of the Yahoo! Board. “His deep understanding of online businesses combined with his team building and operational capabilities will restore the energy, focus, and momentum necessary to grow the core business and deliver increased value for our shareholders. The search committee and the entire Board concluded that he is the right leader to return the core business to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation.”

Early Wednesday morning an internal eBay memo distributed by CEO John Donahoe was leaked, revealing the CEO and company’s “shock” over Thompson’s move to Yahoo. Donahoe noted that he’d known about the negotiations for some time, but Thompson finally made his decision known on Tuesday. Donahoe said that he will personally serve as the interim role as PayPal’s President until someone is hired on to fill the position.

“Scott informed me Tuesday afternoon, saying that despite his passion for PayPal, this was an opportunity he felt he had to take. I know I speak for everyone in wishing Scott the best,” Donahoe stated in the letter. “And while I’m sure Scott’s decision is a shock to many of you, as it was to me, there is one thing I am certain of: PayPal has an enormous opportunity in front of it and we will not slow down. We will not miss a beat. And we will continue driving the incredible momentum that each of you has helped to create.”

Prior to serving as President of eBay’s PayPal division, Thompson filled the roles of PayPal’s Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, and also as Executive Vice President of technology solutions at Inovant prior to joining eBay. Thompson was also Chief Information Officer of Barclays Global Investors, where he implemented a new strategic technology platform and global infrastructure. In addition, he worked with Coopers and Lybrand, delivering information technology solutions to leading financial services clients.

According to Bostock, Thompson’s primary focus as the new CEO will be on the core business. “As CEO and director, he will work closely with the Board as we continue the strategic review process to identify the best approaches for the Company and its shareholders,” he added. “As part of this process, Yahoo! is considering a wide range of opportunities for the Company’s business, as well as specific investments or dispositions of assets.”

The full official announcement from Yahoo can be read right here.

According to a presentation given at the 28th Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin, Germany, 440,783 such “stealth” messages were sent by federal police authorities as well as the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, Germany’s equivalent of the FBI, in 2010. According to Heise Online, Germany’s customs have picked up silent SMS as a tracking method, which is likely to result in a substantial increase in the use the technology. The customs alone sent 227,587 silent SMS in the first half of 2011.

German authorities apparently use silent SMS to create a movement profile of suspects or locate their position. SMS pings are received by a cellphone, but the user will not be notified of it. However, the cellphone carrier will record the data in a log, which can be requested by the government. While the data do not provide information about the phone, they do deliver location data via the cell towers that were used when the silent SMS was sent.

SOURCE via f-secure

During the holiday week (by which we mean the seven days between the secularized celebrations of a Christian holy day timed to replace a pagan winter festival and the beginning of a new year in the Gregorian calendar) the iTunes App Store and the Android Market combined to reach a record-breaking 1.2 billion downloads according to analytics firm Flurry. The sudden surge in downloads is no shock considering the impressive number of activations on Christmas day, but a 60 percent jump over the week of December 4th through December 17th is still quite a feat. Check out the source for a few more details.

SOURCE via MSNBC

In our digital age, going without Internet is like going without air. And you wouldn’t want to do business or vacation anywhere without air, right? That’s the new challenge for hotels, who recognize that serving Wi-Fi is major feature – perhaps even the most important amenity.

The new problem for many hotels is that more people than ever are using that Wi-Fi, partially thanks to the iPad and other tablets. The New York Times spoke with David W. Garrison, the chief executive of iBAHN, a provider of systems for the hotel and meetings industries, who said that the iPad consumes four times as much data as does the average smartphone. This leads to a strain on hotel networks never before felt.

“The iPad is the fastest-selling device in consumer electronics history, and because of it the demand placed on any public place Wi-Fi system has gone up exponentially in the last year and a half,” said Garrison.

Garrison believes that the iPad is the “final nail in the coffin” for totally free Wi-Fi services, and that the hotels that are still offering free Wi-Fi are now considering a tiered service.

“It’s about managing that bandwidth,” Garrison added. “We’re not saying that free Internet as you know it today is dead. We’re saying that a hotel owner will have to decide what free should be. I could have a free option, for a limited level of service, but charge for higher levels of demand.”