A computer is a machine for manipulating data according to a list of instructions known as a program.

Computers are extremely versatile. In fact, they are universal information-processing machines. According to the Church–Turing thesis, a computer with a certain minimum threshold capability is in principle capable of performing the tasks of any other computer, from those of a personal digital assistant to a supercomputer, as long as time and memory capacity are not considerations. Therefore, the same computer designs may be adapted for tasks ranging from processing company payrolls to controlling unmanned spaceflights. Due to technological advancement, modern electronic computers are exponentially more capable than those of preceding generations (a phenomenon partially described by Moore's Law).

Computers take numerous physical forms. Early electronic computers were the size of a large room, and such enormous computing facilities still exist for specialized scientific computation — supercomputers — and for the transaction processing requirements of large companies, generally called mainframes. Smaller computers for individual use, called personal computers, and their portable equivalent, the laptop computer, are ubiquitous information-processing and communication tools and are perhaps what most non-experts think of as "a computer". However, the most common form of computer in use today is the embedded computer, small computers used to control another device. Embedded computers control machines from fighter aircraft to digital cameras.

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EBay, Skype Settle IP Suits With Joltid, Sans Index Ventures
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:38:53 -0500
eBay Nov. 6 settled lawsuits with Joltid Limited and Joost N.V. in a $1.9 billion deal that gives Skype ownership over all software previously licensed from Joltid and paves the way for a group of investors to acquire the majority of the company. Joltid and Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, who had earlier tried to buy Skype back from eBay, will join the investor group, contributing Joltid software and making a significant capital investment in exchange for a 14 percent stake in Skype. Silver Lake and fellow investors Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will grab 56 percent of Skype, with eBay retaining the remaining 30 percent. - The future of VOIP service Skype looks bright again for its 481 million-plus users. eBay Nov. 6 said it has settled lawsuits with Joltid Limited and Joost N.V. in a $1.9 billion deal that gives Skype ownership over all software previously licensed from Joltid and paves the way for ...
Lawmakers Finish Draft Universal Service Fund Reform
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:17:03 -0500
New legislation would allow Universal Service Fund to be used for broadband deployment, expanding the USF from its traditional use as fund to subsidize phone service in under-served and rural areas and Internet connections in schools and libraries. - Reps. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Lee Terry (R-NE) released their draft discussion bill for reforming the USF (Universal Service Fund) Nov. 6. The proposed legislation would broaden the base of contributions into the USF and controlling distributions from the fund and allow the use of the USF for br...
Aruba, Motorola Settle Patent Dispute
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:44:26 -0500
Wireless LAN vendor Aruba agrees to a one-time payment of $19.8 million to Motorola and its subsidiares, Symbol Technologies and Wireless Valley Communications. The out-of-court settlement also calls for a cross-licensing agreement for wireless local area network communication technologies between Aruba and Motorola. - Aruba Networks and Motorola said Nov. 6 they have settled a two-year-old dispute over patents owned by both companies. The settlement involves Aruba paying Motorola $19.8 million and both parties agreeing to a cross-licensing agreement. The dispute dates back to August 2007 and involves patent...
Microsoft Will Be Challenged By Google, Opera, Mozilla on EU Settlement
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:11:11 -0500
Microsoft and the European Commission may be close to a deal on packaging Internet Explorer 8 with Windows 7, with Redmond agreeing to offer users an automatic ballot screen from which they can choose a rival browser. Such an agreement would alleviate the Commissions antitrust concerns, but Google, Opera and Mozilla plan on asking the regulatory body for as-yet-unannounced changes to the agreement. - Microsoft may not quite be out of the woods yet with regard to its antitrust dealings with the European Commission, the regulatory body that investigates possible violations of European Union antitrust rules. Although Redmond and the regulatory body seem close to a deal over the integration of ...
IBM Building Zero-Emission Data Centers
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:01:25 -0500
IBM is working to deliver technology that could lead to zero-emission data centers, said an IBM researcher at a USENIX conference. - BALTIMORE -- IBM is working to deliver technology that could lead to zero-emission data centers, said an IBM researcher at a USENIX conference here. At the USENIX Large Installation System Administration (LISA) 2009 conference here, Bruno Michel, manager of Advanced Thermal Packaging at IBM's Zuric...
T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon Prepare for Holiday Flurry
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:32:08 -0500
The first week of November has been busy for phone manufacturers and carriers as they gear up, quite literally, for Nov. 27, the official first day of the holiday shopping season. The Android-based Motorola Cliq arrived on the T-Mobile network this week, while the Samsung Moment, also with Android, arrived in Sprint Nextel stores. The Chocolate Touch, the first of the Chocolate line with a touch-screen, is now available from Verizon Wireless. Rounding out the week, Verizon debuted the Motorola Droid and the HTC Droid Eris on Nov. 6. Weve compiled many of these models and their features to help you kick-start your comparison shopping. - ...

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology

Va. man sentenced for running $5M Ponzi scheme
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:20:10 -0800
A Virginia man will spend more than seven years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that bilked more than $5 million from more than 30 investors.
Stocks zigzag as dollar slides on jobs report
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:16:21 -0800
Stocks fluctuated in a tight range Friday as investors found some positives for the market in a surprisingly weak jobs report.
Construction co. settles bridge collapse lawsuits
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:16:25 -0800
Attorneys say a construction company that was working on the Minneapolis bridge when it collapsed in 2007 have settled lawsuits filed by victims.

NYT > Technology

EBay Settles Suit Over Skype Sale
By BRAD STONE Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:49:21 -0000
The founders of Skype will drop their lawsuits against the company and a consortium of buyers who bid to purchase Skype. In exchange, the founders will get a 14 percent share in the new Skype.
Chinese Agencies Struggle Over Video Game
By MICHAEL WINES Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:36:56 -0000
Two Chinese government agencies are facing off over the right to regulate the popular online game.
Adding a Sixth Sense to Your Cellphone
By Vikas Bajaj Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:16:17 -0000
A camera-based device developed by an M.I.T. researcher turns walls into computer interfaces and allows users to issue commands through gestures. The technology is aimed at cellphone users.

CNN.com - Technology

Google releases Dashboard tool
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:06:23 -0500
Ever wonder what information Google knows about you? With a click or two, now you can find out.
Google tries its hand at customer service
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:14:25 -0500
If you rely on a compelling service that happens to be free, what level of customer support are you entitled to receive?
Life-logging camera may help fight memory loss
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:08:53 -0500
A small, wearable camera that captures images automatically could change the way memory loss patients, in particular those with Alzheimer's, are treated, experts say.

NPR Topics: Technology

Students Build Living Microbial Machines
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:00:00 -0500
At the 2009 International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, undergraduates from all over the world unveiled the living machines they'd created with snippets of DNA, from bacteria that change color when they detect pollutants to ones that secrete non-toxic superglue.
Building A Better Lightbulb
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:00:00 -0500
The U.S. Department of Energy is offering $10 million to the first individual or company to develop an energy-efficient LED replacement for the standard 60-watt incandescent bulb. DOE lighting program manager James Brodrick discusses the L Prize, and what makes a better bulb.
How Do You Find A Job? Ask The Algorithm
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 -0500
The state of New York is looking for ways to reduce the time the unemployed spend looking for jobs, and it's turning to a mathematical formula for help. Using an algorithm developed by a Boston technology company, the program directs resumes to the employers most likely to make a hire.

BBC News | Technology | UK Edition

Play.com hit by ordering glitch
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:32:29 -0000
Customers of online shop Play.com contact the BBC to report problems with its ordering system.
Gadget problems divide the sexes
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:14:25 -0000
A technology helpline claims that there are significant differences between the types of calls it receives from men and women.
Early origins for uncanny valley
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:55:53 -0000
Human suspicion of realistic robots and avatars may have earlier origins than previously thought.

Reuters Video: Technology

EA turns Dante's Inferno into game
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:53:01 -0500
Nov 6 - The fourteenth century literary masterpiece by Italian poet Dante Alighieri has been reinterpreted as a graphic slasher video game which will come out in 2010.
Japan's high-tech cemeteries
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:48:01 -0500
Nov 5 - Japan, known for cutting-edge technology as well as ancestor worship, is merging the two with the latest in the funereal: card-activated crypts.
Detroit sees green future
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:54:35 -0500
Nov 3 - For decades Detroit has been known for building big gas-guzzling SUVs but these days it looks as though the country's automakers, both big and small, see green in their future.

AP Top Technology News At 1:42 p.m. EST

New `Call of Duty' could set entertainment record
By BARBARA ORTUTAY Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:02:03 -0000
NEW YORK (AP) -- This holiday season's biggest entertainment blockbuster likely will be a sequel to a popular franchise, with jarring depictions of war and an intricate story of good versus evil. It could easily rake in more than last year's record $155 million opening weekend for "The Dark Knight."...
Deja vu: Wal-Mart, Amazon, Target in DVD price war
By MICHELLE CHAPMAN Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:41:37 -0000
NEW YORK (AP) -- First it was books. Now it's DVDs....
EBay settles lawsuit filed by Skype founders
By RACHEL METZ Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:42:41 -0000
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- EBay Inc. has settled a legal skirmish with the founders of Skype that threatened to complicate eBay's plans to sell most of the Internet phone service to a group of investors for $2 billion....

CNET News.com

Sorry, kids: No social networking on the Xbox 360
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:38:30 -0800
Those children under 18 who are members of Xbox Live won't be able to access Facebook, Twitter, or Last.fm when the Xbox Live update is released later this year.
How low can online scammers go?
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:15:21 -0800
In the world of the cynical online phishing scam ploy, is pretending to be a Marine stationed in Afghanistan a new low?
Photos: Emerging devices at AT&T Labs
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:10:00 -0800
AT&T Labs in San Francisco opens its doors to show off its Emerging Devices division, as well as some research projects around location-based services, social networking, and medical devices of the future.

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