talking

OSLO--The United States is asking for ideas about how to tackle global warming without raising expectations of breakthroughs in 2010 ahead of climate talks among the world's top emitters on Sunday in Washington.

A document obtained by Reuters on Friday listing U.S. questions to delegates from 16 other major economies shows the two-day talks will focus on the fate of U.N. climate talks, the non-binding Copenhagen Accord, and the Kyoto Protocol.

It does not answer key questions such as what the United States, the biggest emitter behind China, plans to do under any future U.N. plan. U.S. legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions is stalled in the U.S. Senate.

Instead it shows that major nations may have to go back to the drawing board after the Copenhagen summit failed to come up with a binding deal at the climax of two years of U.N. negotiations.

"The general focus of the meeting: what are the key issues that need to be addressed in order to have a successful outcome?" it asks of preparations for the next annual talks of environment ministers in Cancun, Mexico, November 29 through December 10.

"What is the outcome we are all seeking in Cancun? A set of decisions; a legally binding agreement; something else?" according to the document, signed by Michael Froman, deputy White House national security adviser, and U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern. … Read more

Windows' built-in fax tool often doesn't integrate seamlessly with Microsoft's Word, which is usually part of the Office productivity suite. That's where Fax 4 Word Addon 2.6.2 from Addins4Office can help. As its name suggests, it's a Word add-in that both streamlines and expands your capability to fax a wide range of documents to numerous recipients. You can send personalized documents to specific recipients, a capability that turns Windows' basic fax feature into an excellent direct-marketing tool.

Fax 4 Word installs a new toolbar on Word; its look depends on which edition of Office … Read more

TalkTalk will fight in court any attempt to have it disconnect one of its subscribers for unlawful file-sharing, the ISP said on Thursday, as the Digital Economy Act 2010 became law.

The bundle of legislation, previously known as the Digital Economy Bill, saw a final round of debate in the House of Lords on Thursday and then gained royal assent. The Lords briefly examined and approved only the amendments that were added in the House of Commons after the initial period of debate by peers.

In a blog post, TalkTalk regulatory chief Andrew Heaney pledged that the UK's biggest … Read more

Google has finally added one of the biggest omissions to the Web-based version of its Google Talk service: size limit-free, P2P file transfers.

The feature, which has been a part of the service's desktop software since mid-2006, went live on the Google Talk widgets inside of iGoogle and Orkut on Monday.

The endgame here--which Google says is coming, is to bring file-sharing into Gmail's integrated Google Talk. Imagine, if you will, a situation where you want to share a big file, and Gmail's attachment limit is just not cutting it. Your options are simple: you could hop … Read more

On Monday, Apple announced the availability of free iPhone Tech Talks 2009 videos for iPhone Developer Program members.

The presentations are given by Apple's Technology Evangelists and take a deep dive into app design and coding techniques. Presentation topics in the videos include: audio development, using video effectively, user interface design, Core Data, OpenGL ES, using Web content, testing and debugging apps, using location and maps, and push notification.

The free videos are available to iPhone developers via iTunes.

While Twitter seems to have the market sewn up when it comes to the public sharing of snippets of information, the competition is heating up for offering similar services inside a corporation.

Microsoft, for example, is testing OfficeTalk, a microblogging service that's a sort of Twitter for businesses, while Google has been using an inside-the-company version of its Google Buzz feature to allow co-workers to share information with one another.

"We've had it internally for Googlers for a really long time," Google's Brett Slatkin said last week at Microsoft's Mix10 event in Las Vegas. &… Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Legendary game developer Sid Meier took to the stage at the Game Developers Conference with a simple message to those who want to create the next best-selling title. The secret of making a great game, Meier said, is to get inside the player's head.

Psychology was never something Meier studied prior to getting into gaming. But as he explained to a crowd of developers at his keynote speech Friday, such a big part of game design ends up trying to figure out how the player will react to the things developers put in their games. Yet, as Meier … Read more

As a longtime fan of Meebo, the browser-based, cross-platform instant-messaging service that requires no software and costs no money, I've been waiting forever for an iPhone companion.

The wait is over. Meebo for iPhone is here, and it's perfect. I can't envision myself wanting or using any other IM app.

Meebo supports all the major networks--AIM, Facebook, Google Talk, ICQ, Windows Live, Yahoo--and dozens more you've probably never heard of. (Batanga? Decayenne? Outspark? Guess I'm not as social as I thought I was.)

If you're already a Meebo user, just sign in; the app … Read more

Innergie may have found a solution to the traveler's burden: carrying various power adapters for each device. The mCube90 is a universal power adapter and surge protector that can be used on airplanes, in cars, or at home. And it fits in the palm of your hand.

It's the result of a joint effort with Green Plug, a company that created technology which allows communication between devices and power sockets.

Green Plug's GreenTalk technology stops devices from drawing energy when fully charged. Innergie joined forces with Green Plug "because of the open systems power interface provides … Read more