publications

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is warning its customers that their personal data may have been exposed in a recent breach, an SFPUC spokesman told CNET today.

SFPUC noticed a few weeks ago that an unsecured server that was storing customer data also had some viruses on it, according to spokesman Tyrone Jue. It's unclear how the server got infected with the viruses, he said, adding that "it looked like someone had found an open port on the server and dumped a bunch of viruses on it."

A file on the server contained customer names, account … Read more

NEW YORK--The New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue turns 100 years old on Monday. As part of the centennial celebration, 500 people spent the night in the library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Friday finding clues as part of a scavenger hunt designed by game developer Jane McGonigal and collectively writing a 600-page book in a single night.

And even though no inanimate objects came to life when the doors were locked at 8 p.m., a lot was accomplished in a single night.

"We did it," McGonigal shouted as the sun rose over Manhattan … Read more

A few students in Atlanta Public Schools will soon be driven to school in a the nation's first hydraulic hybrid conversion of a traditional school bus.

Financed by a $50,000 grant from The Ford Motor Company Fund and converted by students at Georgia Institute of Technology, the bus will run on recycled biofuel.

There are more than 480,000 iconic yellow school buses in the United States, but this 16-passenger school bus is being painted green by students at Mary Lin Elementary School in Atlanta, Ga.

The students at Mary Lin have also organized a drive for used … Read more

Why, when so many have already begun evaluating and even executing on cloud strategies, are there still so many debates about what is and isn't "cloud"? When we've seen a growing number of stories about enterprises successfully consuming both public- and private-cloud infrastructure services, why are there still so many debates about whether one or the other is a smart thing to do?

The answer, I believe, stems from a growing division (or misunderstanding?) among technology and business decision makers about the very nature of cloud computing. I hesitate to go into cloud definitions, but I … Read more

There's already no love lost between Facebook and Google in the realm of social networking. And now Facebook has been caught trying to spread some additional ill will toward its would-be rival.

Public relations giant Burson-Marsteller confirmed to CNET this morning, rather ruefully, that Facebook hired it in what USA Today, which broke the initial story, has called a "whisper campaign" intended to stir up fears of Google violating users' privacy.

Earlier this week, USA Today reported that an as-yet-unnamed company had hired Burson-Marsteller to pitch prominent news outlets on the potential privacy and legal issues surrounding … Read more

Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said an initial public offering "is back on the table," according to an interview in The Wall Street Journal published today.

Stoppelman stopped short of saying when the user-generated reviews site would file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to start the process of going public, but he did say that his company is currently looking for a chief financial officer to help it achieve its goal, according to the Journal story.

In late 2009, Google was reportedly in talks to acquire Yelp for about $500 million, but the deal fell apart. … Read more

For anyone who listens to public radio, there may be no greater annoyance than the semi-regular pledge drives that seem to go on for weeks and constantly interrupt your favorite programs.

Of course, these stations have little choice but to conduct the pledge drives, but if you've already given money, it can be doubly frustrating to continue to have to listen to the pleas. Well, if you're from the San Francisco area, local NPR affiliate KQED may have just the solution.

Starting today, anyone who ponies up a donation of $45 will be given access to a special online stream … Read more

What would you put in the Declaration of Independence if it was being written today?

That's an exercise that you and 499 other people could try out if you're one of the lucky few that will be chosen to take part in game designer Jane McGonigal's 100th anniversary ode to the New York Public Library, "Find the Future."

On May 20, 500 hand-selected gamers will get to spend the night in the world-famous Stephen A. Schwarzman Building--otherwise known as the main branch of the city's library system--immersing themselves in some of the most special … Read more

A Facebook page called the Third Palestinian Intifada has been removed from the site following a request from the Israeli government.

Yuli Edelstein, Israel's minister of public diplomacy and diaspora affairs, sent a letter directly to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on March 23. In the letter, which has been posted on the Web site The Jerusalem Gift Shop, Edelstein asked the company to take down the page calling for a third intifada, translated by some as violent uprising, to begin against Israel on May 15.

Pointing to remarks and movie clips on the page calling for the killing of … Read more