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WD ships high-performance 4TB hard drive

Western Digital announced today that it's now shipping the 4TB WD Black (model WD4001FAEX) hard drive.

This drive is the highest-capacity hard drive on the market, and spins at 7,200rpm to offer fast data speeds. WD says the WD Black comes with 64MB of cache memory, and supports dual-stage actuator technology and the latest SATA 3 (6Gbps) standard. The drive's integrated dual processor is designed to deliver a high level of performance.

Like other hard drives from WD, the 4TB WB Black supports WE's IntelliSeek, StableTrac, and NoTouch technology. IntelliSeek calculates optimum seek speeds to lower … Read more

Obama may have talked Kim DotCom with New Zealand PM

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said today he took up some issues important to his country in a private conversation with President Barack Obama and one of the topics may have been about the MegaUpload case.

The impromptu discussion occurred today prior to a meeting at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia, according to several New Zealand publications. Key confirmed that he brought up the fighting in Gaza but when asked whether he and Obama talked about MegaUpload, the cloud-storage service accused by the United States of criminal copyright violations, Key said he couldn't discuss it.

New Zealand'… Read more

U.S. judge in MegaUpload case partially unseals search warrant

A federal judge has partially unsealed the warrant he issued that allowed MegaUpload's domain names to be seized.

The documents had been under seal since January, when the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia charged the company and managers, including founder Kim DotCom, with criminal copyright violations, money laundering, and wire fraud.

The search warrant offers very little new information about what kind of evidence the U.S. government possesses to support its case. But Ira Rothken, the Silicon Valley attorney who oversees MegaUpload's worldwide defense, says the document shows that U.S. officials misled … Read more

Google, Amazon, Starbucks face tax scrutiny in U.K.

If a firm can generate billions of dollars in sales and only pay minimal tax rates, is it fair?

Reuters reports that executives from Google, Amazon, and Starbucks will be queried today by the U.K.'s Public Accounts Committee.

The questions that will arise are whether these firms are conducting themselves fairly in light of the current economic climate, and whether the amount of tax paid in the U.K. by each company is acceptable when they make millions abroad -- or use legal maneuvering to pay as little as possible when the taxman comes knocking.

The Public Accounts … Read more

Kim DotCom: New Zealand will be home to new MegaUpload site

New Zealand appears to be embracing Kim DotCom and the service he's creating to replace MegaUpload.

DotCom announced on Twitter that his new cloud-storage service will use a New Zealand-based domain: Mega.co.nz. DotCom attempted to use a domain name from the West African country of Gabon, but that country's administration last week ordered that the domain, Me.ga, be suspended.

DotCom didn't waste time in finding a new domain name.

"New Zealand will be the home of our new website: Mega.co.nz," DotCom wrote, adding that the site will operate within the … Read more

U.S. government sanctions Iran for creating 'electronic curtain'

Iran is notorious for being a foe of the Internet, and the U.S. government has decided to do something about it.

The State Department announced today that it was sanctioning Iran for creating an "electronic curtain" that cuts off its citizens from the rest of the world.

The sanctions are against four individuals and five organizations that have been particularly oppressive when it comes to the freedom of information on the Internet.

According to a statement from State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, these groups have "engaged in censorship or other activities that prohibit, limit, or penalize … Read more

Digital storage basics, Part 1: Internal storage vs. memory

Editors' note: This post is part of an ongoing series. For the other parts, check out the related stories.

It's not the locker room type of storage we're talking about here. Instead it's something much more important and often underrated: the place where information is stored.

When it comes to computer storage, judging from many questions friends and readers send me, there's quite a bit of confusion among general users as to what it actually is. And it's not your fault; digital storage can be as messy as my desk. This is the reason for … Read more

MegaUpload redo is shut down even before debut

We won't find the MegaUpload-replacement service anytime soon at Me.ga.

Kim DotCom, founder of MegaUpload, the cloud storage service accused in an indictment by the United States of being a pirate site and criminal enterprise, said last week that he would launch a new cloud-storage service in January designed to protect it from U.S. law enforcement. DotCom and MegaUpload have denied any wrongdoing.

As part of its defenses, the new site would use the Gabon-based domain .ga instead of the .com domain, DotCom announced. Not so fast, said Blaise Louembe, Gabon's communications minister.

According to the … Read more

LED election results to light up Empire State Building

The top of the Empire State Building isn't just for King Kong anymore. CNN is getting together with New York's iconic tower to display today's election results from way up high.

A vertical LED meter on the spire will visually count up electoral votes for each candidate from more than a quarter mile above the street. Obama and Romney will each get two sides of the tower. Obama's tally will light up in blue while Romney's will light up in red.… Read more