Japanese researchers think they have a way to pick and drop digital files from one computer to the other – Sony Computer Science Laboratories engineers say they've developed a pen that can move files from computer to computer, meaning you can switch files between machines without e-mail, removable discs, or shared servers. This might include handheld device owners picking up a file from their device, using the pen, and dropping it to the screen of another computer by putting the pen against the screen, making it easier for, say, colleagues to swap files on the job, or friends to swap Web links…
The federal government once thought a Saudi national at the University of Idaho used his computer skill to build a terrorism-fostering Web network. But Sami Omar al-Hussayen has been acquitted on three such charges, while his jury deadlocked on false statements and visa fraud and prompted the judge to declare a mistrial on those charges. The jury deliberated eight days before returning their verdicts. Al-Hussayen's attorney David Nevin said he was more tense than his client. "What he said to me was, 'Calm down, it's going to be okay,'" Nevin told the press. "But that's Sami. That's the way he's always been."…
Apparently, another kind of objectionable material prompted the Chicago Fire Department to cut dozens of its computers off from Internet access: porn and other "inappropriate" Websites. The move came when a machine seized from an O'Hare International Airport fire station turned up with such material, though the fire department told the Chicago Tribune it would be hard to pinpoint just who the guilty parties actually are…
Meanwhile, Quincy, Florida is bringing in its own Internet service, two years after city officials came up with the idea following low Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores in city schools. Then, the service required a long-distance call; today, NetQuincy – with money the city borrowed and pays back through Net service fees – has about 1,300 dialup Net customers and is finishing the first six miles of a planned 39-mile fiberoptic network…
Massachusetts has sued four out-of-state Web retailers – one in California, one in New York, one in New Jersey, and one in Illinois – for selling alcohol to underage buyers who took part in an undercover sting. Attorney General Tom Reilly said the four are also accused of selling in Massachusetts without a state license. Reilly also reportedly sent forth evidence alleging United Parcel Service, Federal Express, and DHL delivered the booze to the minors without requiring proof of age.
If you think people sell bizarre things online, try this one: a British man offering to sell his vote in the forthcoming local and European elections on eBay, starting at about $1.84, with the winning buyer offered the chance to pick who he would vote for in the London mayoral election, the London assembly election, and the European Parliament. The auction has since been pulled. "I think putting your vote up for sale," said an unnamed official of Britain's Department for Constitutional Affairs, "is against the spirit of democracy."
