Into Tech

Consider me to be in a state of shock. For nearly half a decade Diebold has always responded in the identical way to every single report of a problem or security vulnerability with its e-voting machines: attacking those who pointed out the problem and claiming it really wasn’t a problem at all. This has happened time and time again that I’m not even sure how to react when the company (renamed Premier to get away from the Diebold name stigma) has finally admitted that its machines have a flaw that drops votes. Oops. It’s warning 34 states that use the machines of the problem which was highlighted in the lawsuit Ohio filed against Premiere/Diebold. Not only that, but it’s admitting the flaw in the software has been in the software for the past decade.

So, uh, why was the company blaming anti-virus software just a couple months ago?

It should also make us question Premier/Diebold’s longstanding claim that independent outsiders should not be allowed to inspect its machines for problems. Of course, Diebold execs are already downplaying all of this, claiming that they were “confident” that this hadn’t actually impacted any elections, though they offer no proof of that. The company’s president admits he’s “distressed” that they were wrong in their previous analysis, but he fails to explain why the company is so against letting outsides inspect the machines to avoid such flaws. In the meantime, the company insists that the problem will be patched in time for the November election, and I’m sure we’re all confident that there won’t be any other problems with their machines, right?

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You may remember a story we had last year about a principal at a school so overreacting to some students creating a fake MySpace profile for him that he took them to court. It’s one thing to ask MySpace to take down such a profile or to discipline the students in school (both of which would likely backfire as well), but to take them to court seems extreme. And, apparently, the courts think so too. An appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that there was no defamation or intentional infliction of emotional distress in the case. Of course, the judge does also scold the kids for their “unacceptable” conduct. Luckily for the kids, “unacceptable” wasn’t against the law in this case.

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As if feminists didn’t have enough to be pissed about with videogames, where most women are portrayed as incredibly proportioned sex objects. Now they have to contend with the opposite. While many female characters come sheathed in the minimum amount clothing but with whopping swords of fire or twin guns blazing, this ‘damsel in distress’ comes armed with…cake.

Meet ‘Fat Princess’, a new downloadable game on PlayStation Network that has Web feminists up in bingo wings, arms. This is what it’s about:

Speed is of the essence, according to the new chief executive of Vodafone, as the mobile phone company battles with the growing impact of economic uncertainty in its core European markets.

Vittorio Colao, who took over from Arun Sarin following Vodafone’s annual meeting yesterday, said the company may also need to increase the number of cheap-rate deals it offers in order to attract and retain European customers who are feeling the pinch.

“I like speed,” he said, when asked to differentiate his management style from that of his predecessor. “I know that nothing excites our people, our staff and makes our customers proud of being with Vodafone like seeing things happen quickly.”

“I don’t think that economic challenges will necessarily slow us down,” he added.

The need for Vodafone to react quickly to a slowdown in its core European markets became obvious last week when its shares slumped 15% - their biggest ever one-day fall - after the company was forced to admit that revenue growth had stalled because of a dramatic slowdown in Spain.

Colao - who told shareholders yesterday that it was a “great privilege and great responsibility” to take over the helm - admitted that the company will have to “adjust our commercial policies” because of macroeconomic conditions, but refused to criticise the strategy followed by his Spanish managers who have helped increase Vodafone’s market share over the past few years.

“If having a strategy wrong means outgrowing the competition 11 quarters one after the other, then I would like to be wrong in many places,” he quipped.

Colao also stressed that the company will continue to look for opportunities in emerging markets to offset slowing growth in Europe. While Sarin took Vodafone into Turkey and India, Colao is trying to finalise a deal to buy out its partner in South African mobile operator Vodacom, which has operations in several other African countries.

That deal took a step closer yesterday as Vodacom announced it had secured a deal to bring on board a number of black investment groups - including Thebe Investments and Royal Bafokeng, one of South Africa’s richest tribal groups - as part of the country’s move to increase black economic empowerment. Vodafone would have to have added black investors to its deal and Vodacom’s move means any deal should progress more smoothly, with the new investors retaining their shareholdings.

At yesterday’s annual meeting, several shareholders alluded to the tough times that Sarin has suffered at the helm, including a boardroom spat over strategy with some of the “old guard” who worked closely with former boss Sir Christopher Gent.

Sarin, however, told the meeting: “There have been ups and downs in the last five years but frankly in a changing world, changing company, changing industry there would be ups and downs. There are always legacy interests that don’t want to change.”

Stress is a killer, apparently, which is why we want our Gizmodo readers to know that we’ll hunt down and cover just about any silly gadget that promises to pop that deadly stress bubble.

Meet the Beating Heart Stress Relief Pillow. Yes, it’s weird, but cute looking. I’m guessing the tattooed ‘tough guy’ in the photo is meant to make it OK for us guys to squeeze beating heart-shaped pillows too.

This is what the official marketing spiel reads like:

It appears some Scottish politicians are putting forth a bill that could put people in jail for up to 10 years for sending a text or email with “sexual content.” The goal of the bill is to discourage sexual harassment over email or text messaging — but it appears to be worded quite broadly. The bill defines the crime as “committed if someone sends an unsolicited text message to someone else which a court finds was designed to give the sender sexual gratification or to humiliate, distress or alarm the receiver.” How the court determines what gives the sender “sexual gratification” isn’t entirely clear. Does a flirty email count? You can also run afoul of the law by “causing a person to see or hear an indecent communication.” Forgot that NSFW tag? You might be in trouble. While you can understand the desire to cut down on harassing messages, this law seems problematic as worded.

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Cable & Wireless received a boost in its bid to persuade Thus to come to the table and start takeover talks, with news yesterday that its Glasgow-based rival has lost a flagship deal with BSkyB.

The loss of the multimillion-pound contract to BT comes ahead of C&W’s self-imposed deadline of Monday, by which time, it has said, it will make a formal offer for Thus or walk away, having seen its initial, tentative approach rebuffed in May.

BT’s three-year contract to provide Sky customers with home phone services is worth between £200m and £300m in revenue, but Thus stressed yesterday it had not expected to retain the deal and that its loss “will have minimal impact” on profits and cashflow. Coming just days before the C&W decision, however, news that Thus has lost such a high-profile long-term client is a blow to the reputation of the company and chief executive, Bill Allan.

C&W approached Thus in May with an offer of 165p a share, valuing it at £300m. The board said this undervalued it. Since then, however, several Thus shareholders are understood to have approached C&W to say they would like a cash return on their investment in the business, which in nine years as a public company has never made a profit or paid a dividend.

C&W’s initial approach has been seen by many in the City as a low-ball bid. An indication of an offer at 175p to 185p would likely force the Thus board to the table. At those sorts of levels, Thus would be valued at between £320m and £340m.

Philip Rogerson, Thus chairman, has been in no rush to enter talks because of a letter he received from his opposite number at C&W, Richard Lapthorne. In the June 4 letter, Lapthorne said he was willing to seek agreement with the Thus board within a “narrow price band”. The board of Thus has taken this to mean C&W is unwilling to significantly raise its offer.

C&W is reviewing its options ahead of Monday’s deadline but advisers say it has no appetite to go hostile and take an offer direct to shareholders. A protracted takeover battle would distract management from the main focus of working on a possible demerger of C&W’s international assets from the rest of the business.

Instead, C&W remains hopeful that Thus shareholders will pressurise its management team to the table - the loss of the Sky deal may provide further impetus.

Under its deal, BT will provide Sky with a wholesale voice service for its 1.1 million Sky Talk customers. Sky’s customers will move to the BT platform over the next few months.

Delia Bushell, Sky’s director of broadband and telephony, said: “In the last year alone, over 740,000 new customers have joined Sky Talk for great value calls. This deal with BT will maintain our quality of service and ensure we enjoy increasing cost efficiencies as we continue to grow the service.”

Brian Fitzpatrick, managing director of BT wholesale markets, said: “In the highly competitive communications industry, providers are looking for ways to improve cost efficiencies. Our announcement with Sky is further evidence that BT Wholesale is the ideal partner to realise value as quickly as possible.”

From his carefully distressed jeans to his casual-cool navy
striped T-shirt, he is every bit the trendy Tokyoite.

From his carefully distressed jeans to his casual-cool navy
striped T-shirt, he is every bit the trendy Tokyoite.

The brown paper bag has been the staple method of calming down over-excited members of the public and loved ones for centuries. However, technology – as always - thinks it can do a better job.

This is the Stress Eraser and for £160 it claims it can transform you from a gibbering wreck into a serene and balanced human each day. Described as a “portable biofeedback device”, it has a pulse sensor for your finger to confirm that you really are having a panic attack.

The screen displays Breath Waves that you should synchronise your breathing with in order to get it back under control. The company says it can be used in stressful situations throughout the day, in bed and you can even programme it to remind you to use it at regular intervals.

£160 is a lot to pay for what is essentially a less embarrassing paper bag.-Martin Lynch

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