white

Say hello to the white PS Vita

Following in the footsteps of a colorful PSP lineup, Sony has announced a white PlayStation Vita set to be released in Japan on June 28.

The white Vita (PCH-1100 AB02) will sell at the same price as the original black base model, contains identical innards, and comes in Wi-Fi-only or 3G/Wi-Fi configurations. … Read more

FBI: We need wiretap-ready Web sites - now

The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance.

In meetings with industry representatives, the White House, and U.S. senators, senior FBI officials argue the dramatic shift in communication from the telephone system to the Internet has made it far more difficult for agents to wiretap Americans suspected of illegal activities, CNET has learned.

The FBI general counsel's office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and … Read more

Nokia demos indoor-location tracking with 'white space' tech

Nokia and several other technology companies are showing off some innovative uses for unlicensed "white space" technology in a trial in the United Kingdom.

For the past 10 months, the handset maker has been working to demonstrate applications for the white-space spectrum in trial alongside 17 other technology companies and TV broadcasters, including the BBC, BSkyb, BT, Microsoft, Virgin Media, and Samsung.

"White space" refers to unused wireless spectrum that sits between broadcast TV channels and was originally used as a buffer to mitigate interference. For the most part, white-space spectrum is unused. But in some … Read more

How CISPA would affect you (faq)

It took a debate that stretched to nearly seven hours, and votes on over a dozen amendments, but the U.S. House of Representatives finally approved the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act on April 26.

Passions flared on both sides before the final vote on CISPA, which cleared the House by a comfortable margin of 248 to 168.

CISPA would "waive every single privacy law ever enacted in the name of cybersecurity," Rep. Jared Polis, a Colorado Democrat and onetime Web entrepreneur, said during the debate. "Allowing the military and NSA to spy on Americans on … Read more

White House takes aim at CISPA with formal veto threat

The White House today escalated its opposition to a cybersecurity-related surveillance bill with a formal veto threat.

In a new statement, the White House's Office of Management and Budget said that the CISPA bill endangered Americans' privacy and inappropriately shielded private companies from liability.

The statement suggests that CISPA -- also known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act -- goes too far by giving the National Security Agency too much power:

H.R. 3523 effectively treats domestic cybersecurity as an intelligence activity and thus, significantly departs from longstanding efforts to treat the Internet and cyberspace as civilian … Read more

White House Web page shows you where your tax dollars go

Wondering what Uncle Sam does with your hard-earned tax dollars? The White House's Taxpayer Receipt page has been updated for 2011 to help answer that question.

To get started you'll need to enter the social security tax, medicare tax, and income tax that you paid for 2011. If that information isn't handy, you can estimate by choosing from a range of households and incomes, such as single with no children, married with one child, or married with two children.

In return, the site displays how much you doled out in tax dollars to the Fed for last … Read more

White House questions CISPA cybersecurity bill

The White House today expressed concerns about a controversial cybersecurity bill that would authorize Internet companies to divulge confidential customer records and communications.

Opposition from the Obama administration -- which stopped short of a veto threat -- could imperil the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, which is scheduled for a House of Representatives floor vote next week. CISPA is intended to improve computer security by allowing companies and government agencies to share sensitive information.

In a statement provided to The Hill newspaper, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said:

While information sharing legislation is an essential component of comprehensive … Read more

How to balance the white space in the redesigned Google+

If you use your browser in a small window, you may have not noticed the extra white space that the Google+ redesign introduced. Maximize your browser window, and you'll see that the layout of Google+ is justified to the left and a whole lot of white space exists to the right.

Apparently, the design was intentional to allow flexibility for future use, but for those of you who dislike the imbalanced layout, there's a solution.

Whitespace Remover for Google Plus is a Chrome and Firefox extension that centers the layout so all the white space isn't on … Read more

Google+ face-lift triggers jibes over extra white space

What would you do with the extra white space now gracing the pages of Google+?

That's a question many users of the social network have been answering with the usual sarcastic spin we always love to see on the Internet.

Launching yesterday, the latest face-lift for Google+ added a slew of changes, including a new left-side navigation bar and new ways to interact with the people in your circles.

But the one change that's put people into full mocking mode is the new and extra-sized white space. Click on any virtually any Google+ page, and a good 40 … Read more