Roy Mark

Recent reports that hackers — both foreign and domestic — are launching attacks on the nation’s power grid have prompted two U.S. lawmakers to introduce legislation that would increase federal authority to secure the electric grid.The Critical Electric Infrastructure Protection Act would direct the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and the FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory […]

Despite frantic maneuvering in Congress by Florida lawmakers, the scuttling of the space shuttle program began in earnest May 1 with NASA announcing the first layoffs for the program scheduled to end in 2010. The first cuts were felt by manufacturing members of the space shuttle team.“[May 1], we have a layoff of about 160 […]

President Obama nominated April 29 Mignon L. Clyburn, a member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission since 1998 and the daughter of House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn, to fill an open seat at the Federal Communications Commission. If approved by Congress, Clyburn will fill the seat of Democrat Jonathon Adelstein, who is leaving […]

Motorola’s first Android phone can’t get here fast enough for the struggling handset maker, which reported April 30 another disastrous quarter. Although there were glimmers of hope in Motorola’s first-quarter numbers-it managed to hang on to its No. 4 spot among handset makers and losses weren’t quite as bad as Wall Street anticipated-Motorola continues to […]

Congress agreed April 29 to continue to keep the space shuttle flying until 2011. Originally the shuttle program was scheduled for a 2010 retirement, but lawmakers approved the extension along with an additional $2.5 billion in operational funding as part of the House and Senate conference agreement on the $3.4 trillion budget resolution. A final […]

U.S. space officials are turning to Internet-based, network-centric capabilities to mitigate against future space collisions with orbiting debris. It can’t happen fast enough, a panel of experts told a House subcommittee April 28.Since the Russians successfully launched Sputnik 1 in 1957, more than 4,600 space missions have been conducted worldwide, leaving behind not only a […]

With download speeds topping 100M bps, Cablevision said April 28 it was launching the nation’s fastest downstream broadband connections throughout its New York metropolitan area market. The fiber-optic service, which delivers upstream speeds of up to 15M bps, will debut on May 11.Cablevision plans to charge $99.95 per month for the service, which allows customers […]

Apple’s shutdown demand to a noncommercial, public Internet wiki discussion on making iPods and iPhones compatible with media management software such as WinAmp and Songbird was a violation of the users’ First Amendment rights, according to an April 27 lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.The EFF is representing OdioWorks, which publishes and operates a […]

Within seconds of President Obama’s swearing-in ceremony, the new president’s media team wiped out the Bush administration’s Website and launched its own. The first post to the site was from Macon Phillips, Obama’s new media director. “Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov,” he wrote.Traffic to the site has soared since then, according to the latest numbers […]

Chip makers Qualcomm and Broadcom settled their bitter, long running patent feud April 23 with an agreement that pays Broadcom $891 million over a four-year period with a first payment of $200 million by June 30. According to the terms of the settlement, Qualcomm and Broadcom agreed to terminate all complaints and litigation against each […]

Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Charles Grassley of Iowa are continuing their quest to reform the H-1B visa program, on April 23 reintroducing legislation aimed at reducing fraud and abuse in the controversial program. The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act does not seek to dismantle the program or to change the numerical cap […]

Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia introduced legislation April 24 that would fast-track open-source electronic health records. The Health Information Technology Public Utility Act of 2009 aims to build upon the Department of Veterans Affairs’ use of open-source health records as well as the open-source exchange model of the Nationwide Health Information Network-Connect initiative.Rockefeller’s bill […]