death

Iran may have committed cyber-attack on BBC

Just days after watchdog group Reporters Without Borders named Iran as one of the "Enemies of the Internet," the BBC is now claiming to be the victim of a cyber-attack possibly perpetrated by the Iranian authorities.

The news source says that two of its satellite feeds into Iran were jammed earlier this month coinciding with a denial-of-service attack in which some parts of the BBC's e-mail and Internet services were unavailable. The director-general of the BBC Mark Thompson will be giving a speech to the Royal Television Society shortly, in which he plans to explain how the … Read more

Saudi blogger's tweets could cost him his life

Saudi Arabian blogger Hamza Kashgari tweeted last week about an imaginary conversation with the Prophet Mohammad, writing he "loved the rebel in you" and that he "loved some aspects of you, hated others."

Little did Kashgari know that these tweets could culminate in his possible death sentence.

Shortly after his tweets, tens of thousands of angry commenters denounced Kashgari and demanded his punishment.

"The only choice is for Kashgari to be killed and crucified in order to be a lesson to other secularists," commented an online reader of al-Madina newspaper Abu Abdulrahman, according to … Read more

Gamers ignore corpse in Internet cafe

Gaming requires a peculiar concentration. It also sometimes attracts peculiar people.

Or is it that gaming makes people peculiar?

I drift into this difficult philosophical territory in memory of Chen Rong-Yu, a 23-year-old gamer in New Taipei, Taiwan. He died while gaming in an Internet cafe.

And, well, according to news agency AFP, no one realized for up to 9 hours.

AFP has it that the young gentleman was identified as mortified by a waitress who must have wondered why he'd been sitting there motionless.

In truth, there is no way of knowing just how long he had actually … Read more

What IE6's slow death says about us

Usage of Internet Explorer 6 has dropped below 1 percent. Microsoft and security pros everywhere are happy about IE6's demise.

Microsoft has some shtick about the whole IE6 death meme, but it's worth asking why this decrepit browser lasted as long as it did. In many respects, IE6's slow death--it was like watching paint dry--says a lot about the enterprise, which is one reason the browser stuck around as long as it did.

Here are some thoughts on the meaning behind IE6's end:

Corporations moved at a glacial pace. Yes Virginia, you still can get a … Read more

Some life-affirming thoughts for a tech new year

Viewing the tech world, as I do, largely from the fringes, I sometimes wonder just how seriously it takes itself.

Make a joke about Apple and invective will descend on you. Make a joke about Google+ and expect to be told to "eat a large bowl of raw d***"-- oh, and to be followed by a lot more people on Google+.

The new year will, no doubt, see more intensity surrounding tech companies, tech products, and tech personalities.

Some people will work beyond their physical and mental capacities. Some people will believe that killing Google, Apple, Facebook … Read more

The death of Steve Jobs, 1955-2011 (roundup)

Apple's longtime leader, who died this week at the age of 56, leaves behind a vibrant legacy of pioneering efforts in the fields of high tech and entertainment, from the Mac to Pixar to the iPad.

Apple co-founder and chairman Steve Jobs dies The technology pioneer who also co-founded the Oscar-winning animation house Pixar and computer maker NeXT, has passed away. (Posted in Apple by CNET News staff) October 5, 2011 4:41 p.m. PT

An Apple without Steve Jobs Apple now faces a future without its co-founder and icon. Where does the company go from here? (Posted in Apple Talk by Josh Lowensohn) October 6, 2011 4:00 a.m. PT

With Pixar, Steve Jobs changed the film industry forever Until the Apple founder came along and rescued LucasFilms' fledgling computer graphics division, animation in Hollywood was a dying art. Now, people expect great computer-animated films. (Posted in Apple by Daniel Terdiman) October 6, 2011 2:07 p.m. PT

How Steve Jobs reshaped the tech industry The brilliant, irascible impresario championed the transition from minicomputers and beige IBM boxes to the Macintosh, the iPhone, and the concept that technology should be fun to use. (Posted in Apple by Declan McCullagh) October 5, 2011 5:10 p.m. PT

The 404 919: Where we say farewell to someone insanely great (podcast)

Today's episode of The 404 Podcast runs a little shorter than usual, but we spend the show talking about Steve Jobs and how he directly affected each of our careers in technology.

We'll also talk about former Gizmodo Editor Brian Lam's heartfelt letter of regret regarding the lost iPhone 4 and his interactions with the former Apple CEO, and show a few ways that New York is commemorating Steve Jobs.

The 404 Digest for Episode 919

CNET's full coverage of the passing of Steve Jobs. Statement from the President on the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve testing Photo Booth filters in 2005. Former Gizmodo Editor Brian Lam remembers Steve Jobs.

Episode 919 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Apple stock trading up following Jobs' death

Wall Street doesn't appear to be all that worried about Apple's future following the announcement of Steve Jobs' death.

Early trading on the Nasdaq today shows Apple's shares as of this writing to be up as much as 4 percent, to around $384. The company's shares started the day down in the $374-$375 range following yesterday's closing price of $378.25, but have quickly made their way back, seeming to indicate that Wall Street has faith in Apple, even though its iconic co-founder has died.

Apple announced last night that Jobs had died after … Read more

Erstwhile enemy Sculley: Jobs was 'greatest CEO'

Steve Jobs and John Sculley got off to a rough start, with Jobs luring the former PepsiCo executive to Apple and Sculley eventually ousting Jobs from the company. But Sculley has a very different view today, a day after Jobs' death.

"His legacy is far more than being the greatest CEO ever," Sculley told The Wall Street Journal. "A world leader is dead, but the lessons his leadership taught us live on."

Sculley, who has criticized himself for failing to recognize the potential of Apple's HyperCard software, called Jobs a "brilliant genius who transformed … Read more

Steve Wozniak remembers Steve Jobs, early Apple

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak sat down with "The Early Show" on CBS this morning to talk about his friend, Steve Jobs.

"When I heard the news, my mind just went blank, like I'd been clobbered with a hammer," Wozniak said on the show, which airs on CBS, the company that owns CNET. "I didn't expect it more than anyone else. Over night, a lot of the memories [came back]: things that we did together, how important they were, the way that Steve thought, and he talked, and his leadership from the early days, … Read more