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Dueling solar cell technologies duke it out on cost

Near the beginning of the decade, several solar start-ups set out to disrupt the solar power industry by producing a new generation of thin-film solar cells that were vastly cheaper to make than the incumbent silicon cell technology.

Now, many of those thin-film solar companies are in a race for their survival, according to a report published today.

Lux Research did an analysis of the competing solar cell technologies and found that polycrystalline silicon, the material used for about 80 percent of solar cells, continues to have staying power as prices decline and efficiencies improve.

Meanwhile, solar panels made from … Read more

Take a video tour of CCleaner 3

CCleaner doesn't get major updates often, but this one's definitely worth upgrading to. The popular freeware now offers a drive wiper and "intelligent" browser cookie control, along with a faster scan and improvement tweaks to pre-existing features. Watch what's new in CCleaner 3 in this First Look video.

GOP senator proposes law targeting WikiLeaks 'cowards'

A Republican senator has proposed rewriting the Espionage Act to target WikiLeaks.

Sen. John Ensign of Nevada yesterday announced a bill that would make it illegal to identify informants working with the U.S. military, which WikiLeaks did earlier this year when releasing files from the war in Afghanistan.

In last week's Iraq war files release, WikiLeaks removed names, but the U.S. Defense Department said yesterday that information in the leaked documents could still identify dozens of people.

"My legislation will extend the legal protections for government informants, such as the Iraqis named in this latest document … Read more

Amazon wins fight to keep customer records private

In a victory for the free speech and privacy rights of Amazon.com customers, a federal judge ruled today that the company would not have to turn over detailed records on nearly 50 million purchases to North Carolina tax collectors.

The state had demanded sensitive information including names and addresses of North Carolina customers--and information about exactly what they had purchased between 2003 and 2010.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Washington state said that request went too far and "runs afoul of the First Amendment." She granted Amazon summary judgment.

The Tar Heel State's tax … Read more

First Look video: Trend Micro Titanium

A new name heralds some big changes for Trend Micro's Titanium suites. The overhaul to Titanium Maximum Security 2011 brings users a faster suite with a smaller system impact. There's a lot of top-shelf extras to like here, too, but is that enough to sell security on?

Check out our First Look video above for a quick take on the suite, or read our in-depth reviews for Maximum Security 2011 and its sibling suites, Titanium Internet Security 2011 and Titanium Antivirus+ 2011.

First Solar to create 600 U.S. jobs

Thin-film solar manufacturer First Solar announced Thursday it's building two new manufacturing plants to accommodate an expected influx of work.

One plant will be built in the U.S. and the other in Vietnam, but the company has not released any details on exactly where it plans to build them within those countries.

Both plants are scheduled to be completed by 2012 and to create jobs for 600 people apiece. Together the plants, once fully operational, are expected to produce 500 megawatts' worth of thin-film photovoltaic modules annually, according to First Solar.

The introduction of the new plants, coupled … Read more

Shooting games' future: More than run-and-gun?

The first-person shooter genre will morph into more than just a run-and-gun experience, according Guerrilla Games senior producer Steven Ter Heide.

Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Heide said he sees the first-person shooter genre "becoming broader." Instead of simply allowing gamers to work their way through missions through the same basic gameplay, he sees the market segment becoming more of an "action" genre in which the titles borrow concepts from other parts of the game industry to deliver more full-featured play.

"It'll expand, start borrowing things from other genres, like Borderlands did by bringing RPG [… Read more

Google finally announces Project 10^100 winners

Google has finally announced the winners of its Project 10^100 contest, which will award five different projects a total of $10 million.

The contest was first announced back in 2008 but has taken quite a long time to reach its conclusion, after Google changed the project to focus on "themes" rather than specific ideas. Sixteen themes were selected exactly a year ago, and the public was given an opportunity to vote on the themes most worthy of funding.

Organizations then submitted specific proposals for the five most popular ideas, and the list of winners follows below:

• The … Read more