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Facebook raises the curtain on its new U.K. engineering office

Facebook officially opened the doors to its London office today -- making it the social network's first international engineering center.

The social network was courted by the British government, which has been working to make the U.K. a place the tech industry can call home.

According to Reuters, the company's vice president of engineering, Mike Schroepfer, said that London is "rapidly emerging as a global technology hub" and a place that can both provide engineers as well as be a good place for engineers to relocate.

Facebook announced the opening of its U.K. engineering … Read more

The latest mess in Facebook's IPO

In today's show, Facebook shareholders are fuming, Windows Phones need updating and Prime subscribers are streaming:

Facebook and several banks have been slapped with a lawsuit, accused of hiding some details about revenue estimates days before the stock went public. The charge is this: Facebook spoke with select analysts about additional information on revenue expectations than what was disclosed in amended filings. Smaller investors are upset they were left out of the loop, and say they lost money because they didn't know the full picture. But even if Facebook did give extra info to analysts, it's not … Read more

SuVolta emerges with low-power chip technology

A semiconductor start-up has emerged from stealth mode with designs on making processors more power-efficient.

Silicon Valley-based SuVolta is launching today with its PowerShrink low-power platform. The company claims that PowerShrink helps to reduce chip power consumption by 50 percent or more without causing any deterioration in a device's performance.

To achieve such power efficiency, SuVolta addresses "electrical variation of the millions of transistors on a chip." As processors become smaller, transistors require different voltage levels to operate. Those different levels cause power leakage, lending to reduced power efficiency. With SuVolta's technology in place, chipmakers can … Read more

The 404 392: Where we get spifflicated

Today, we're joined by two ladies: Ace Reporter Caroline McCarthy again and "Allie" of Heavy & Flo fame. This makes the two remaining boys of The 404 very happy. On today's show, we've got sex offenders, speakeasies, 1920s Prohibition, and Ashton Kutcher. Excited? We are.

So what does "spifflicated" mean? It means we all got wasted. According to 404 historian Caroline McCarthy, most of the terms we use today to mean inebriated come from the 1920s era of Prohibition. "Spifflicated" happens to be our favorite.

While Justin Yu was out, we found a way to track him using this new iPhone app, which will tell you where the closest sex offenders live near you. With the help of the girls, we come up with some more useful apps like an "Is she underage?" app, or a "Please, just cut to the chase. How much money do you make?" app. We wish there was an app to tell when you're about to make a mistake late one night at a bar. Apple? Anyone?

We chat a bit about the Microsoft and Yahoo deal, but we think it's funnier to ask the eternal question, "Why Ashton Kutcher?" We have no idea why nearly 3 million people are following him on Twitter. I mean, give us a break. We know you lucked out, and you get to wake up to Demi Moore every morning, Ashton. You don't have to rub it in our faces.

Finally, a woman gets sued for $50,000 because she Twitters out, "Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon Realty thinks it's okay." Of course, we think this a whole load of bull, but we are perplexed as to why this company, Horizon Realty, has decided to unleash the Internet because of its fairly asinine move to "[s]ue first, then ask questions later." So far, we've collected these tweets about our new favorite company we love to hate:

Horizon Realty is why everyone has AIDS. Also, I hear Horizon Realty kills puppies, is pro-cancer, and steals cardboard boxes from the homeless. Oops- Add me to the lawsuit. @Horizon_Reality Horizon Realty just tweeted that my mouse has herpes. I am suing for libel ans asking at least $50K

Send in your favorite "Horizon Realty" tweet to The 404 at the usual: the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Also, leave a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Peace!

EPISODE 392 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video

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StumbleUpon's URL shortener Su.pr impresses [invites]

StumbleUpon's new link shortening site called Su.pr made its public (yet private) launch today. Similar to Bit.ly, it shortens URLs and lets users track where they end up, along with stats on who's clicked on them. It also brings along StumbleUpon's software-free toolbar which lets users hop to both recommended and random links.

However, the real appeal of Su.pr is that it gives each shortened URL the potential for greatness. URLs can be seeded not only to Twitter and Facebook, but also into StumbleUpon's content pool where they can be discovered and promoted … Read more

Intel adds crush of new mobile, server chips

Intel updated its processor list Monday with new Core 2 chips for Macbook Air-class laptops and a crush of Xeon processors for workstations and servers.

The number of new processor models is 20 in all.

As reported earlier, Intel has introduced new power-sipping low-voltage (LV) and ultra-low-voltage (ULV) processor models for laptops such as the Apple MacBook Air and Dell Adamo.

The new LV and ULV processor models include the 17-watt SL9600 (2.13GHz, $316) and 10-watt SU9600 (1.6GHz, $289). More power-hungry Intel mainstream mobile processors are typically rated at 25 watts or 35 watts.

And over a dozen … Read more

The 404 278: Where we stab ourselves to deaf with Knife Music

Today we get down and dirty with David Carnoy, Executive Editor and resident tech carnoysseur at CNET.com. As a self-published author (check out his book at KnifeMusicBook.com), he gives his unique take on the recent Amazon Kindle 2 announcement, iPhone eBook alternatives, and whether or not the Kindle can cordially coexist with tangible novels and newspapers.

We also ask him to stay for a few stories, including a study out of Europe that finally takes a logical stance on video game censorship. We also try to congratulate David on the recent birth of his twins, but get sidetracked … Read more

Pro PC surveillance for parents, employers

This snooping utility provides almost all the features essential for monitoring a PC, but we were especially impressed with its stealthiness. System Surveillance Pro logs keystrokes, IM chats, applications used, and Web sites visited, and can capture screenshots at user-defined periodic intervals.

The interface makes it easy to locate any log file you need to access. System Surveillance Pro can block Web sites via URLs or detected keywords, and includes a scheduler in case you don't need to monitor PC usage at all times. Like most respectable spying applications, it will send you e-mail reports so you can keep … Read more

Intel to bring out chip for lower-cost thin laptops

Intel will bring out a new Core-architecture processor for lower-cost ultra-thin laptops later this year, according to Intel sources at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The processors will distinguish themselves by targeting a price segment below pricey ultra-portables, which typically start at around $1,500 and range all the way up to $3,000--and higher in some cases. The processors will not compete with the Atom processor that powers Netbooks, which usually top out at $500.

In this sense, the new chips will be comparable to Advanced Micro Devices' recently announced Athlon Neo processor for ultra-thin laptops priced … Read more

Intel lists new processors for ultra-portables

Intel has listed new low-power processors for upcoming ultra-portables from Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Lenovo, among others.

The chipmaker also listed its first mobile quad-core processor, the QX9300, which runs at 2.53GHz and comes with 12MB of level-2 cache. The processor is priced at $1,038.

The 45-nanometer low-power processors will go into ultra-portable notebooks like the new ThinkPad X301 announced this week, and HP 2530p also rolled out on Monday. The next version of the MacBook Air is also rumored to be using one of these chips.

The SL9400 and SL9300 processors have a thermal envelope of 17 watts, … Read more