Confirmed: Video Game Rentals Hurt Sales

A new report by Magid Associates confirms what many already know -- that video game rentals (as is the case with any type of rental) significantly hinder sales.

This is not a surprise but normal thing in the market. F.ex. if you're not able to sell 100 chocolates in box just produce 10 chocolates box. So either rental or selling only certain parts of games.

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Identity Thieves Hit 8.3 Million U.S. Residents in 2005

About 8.3 million U.S. residents -- nearly 4 percent of the nation's population -- were victims of identity theft in 2005, but few victims identified computer-related crime as the culprit, according to a U.S. Federal Trade Commission report released Tuesday.

"Whether you're from Malibu or Manhattan, Tacoma or Tallahassee, no one is immune to identity theft," Lydia Parnes, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. "The important thing is that people learn how to deter identity thieves, detect suspicious activity on their financial records, and defend against the crime, should it happen."

Seventeen percent of all ID theft victims said that their personal information was used to open at least one new account. The two most common types of accounts thieves opened were telephone service accounts, reported by 8 percent of victims; and credit card accounts, reported by 7 percent of victims.

The study was conducted through interviews using a random-digit-dialing sampling methodology. More than 4,900 telephone interviews were conducted between March 27 and June 11, 2006.

And what about you? Are you a victim of id theft? Have you reported such case to PD.? Maybe you've been forced to pay ransom?
Write your case.

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China, US, Germany, Spain and France – Top 5 Infected Countries

The botnets evolve every day as more users fail to protect themselves and their computers, helping the attackers expand their malicious attempts. Today, ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Agency, released a report concerning the botnets, revealing that China, US, Germany, Spain and France are the top 5 infected countries when it comes to this kind of threat installed on residents' computers. Moreover, the agency reports that approximately 6 million systems worldwide might represent important components of large botnets. According to the report, most users got themselves infected after they are assaulted by browser exploits, 65 percent of the consumers becoming victims of botnets attempts after this kind of attack.

"Currently, the most dangerous infection method is surfing to an infected webpage. Indications of a bot on your computer include e.g.: Slow Internet connection, strange browser behavior (home page change, new windows, unknown plug-ins), disabled anti-virus software; unknown autostart programs etc," ENISA noted in the report.

source: softpedia

Google has energy for new business

Google's core business is Internet search but that isn't keeping the company from exploring some other very different areas. On Tuesday, Google announced an ambitious plan to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal. The newly created initiative, known as RE < C, will focus initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and what Google referred to as "other potential breakthrough technologies."

As part of its capital planning process, Google said it anticipates investing hundreds of millions of dollars in breakthrough renewable energy projects which generate positive returns. Near term, Google said it plans to spend tens of millions of dollars next year on research and development and related investments in renewable energy.Makani Power, based in Alameda, CA, is developing high-altitude wind energy extraction technologies. According to the company, high-altitude wind energy has the potential to satisfy a significant portion of current global electricity needs. Google said it's on track to meet an internal goal it set last spring to be carbon neutral in 2007 and beyond. The company has extensive solar panel installations at its Mountain View, Calif. campus. But last year rival Microsoft announced it had installed the largest solar electric system in Silicon Valley at its facility, also in Mountain View. Google said RE < C signifies the effort to create renewable energy at a cost less than energy from coal, thus, R(enewable) E(nergy) < C(oal).

Source: internetnews

Google Gdrive online storage

Google may release an online storage and backup service in the coming months, adding to its suite of hosted services, which already includes a variety of communication and collaboration applications, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Rumors that Google is developing such a service, informally known as the "Gdrive," have been circulating for more than two years. It's not clear why it has taken Google so long to deliver Gdrive, considering its concept is far from new and online storage and backup services are available already from a variety of vendors.

Google hopes to differentiate the service from existing competing ones by making it easier to use, the Journal reported.

Source: InfoWorld