Freescale Semiconductor has launched a new low-cost processor, the i.MX515, that’s designed to capability what Freescale hopes will be new lines of Linux-based netbooks retailing for less than $200. There are lots of interesting angles to Freescale’s efforts — the lower price point, the te…

So 2009 is here at final, and not a moment too soon! Finally we can put another Holiday Season behind us and get back to work. Some of us, of course, are still recovering from the seasonal merriment; others are still pondering gifts they received. To wit: On Digg, Rekzai earned more than 3,3…

High-tech job seekers should take heart. Despite the daily onslaught of grim profitable news, the need for skilled knowledge technology staff remains regular, according to the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report, released earlier that month. Twelve percent of chief info …

It’s dawn at a Los Angeles apartment overlooking the Hollywood Hills. Laura Sweet, a graphic designer in her early 40s, sits at a computer and begins to surf the Net. She searches intently, unearthing such weird treasures for sale as necklaces for trees and tattoo-covered pigs. As usual, she…

Given the many options out there, someone in the market for a portable computer may have a tough date deciding whether to go with an ultra-small netbook or a small-but-not-THAT-small notebook computer. whether you want a netbook, you’ve got another choice ahead of you: Would you like that wi…

I recently carried out a personal quest for a netbook computer. Relying on a bit of insider snobbery since I write about computer technology nearly daily, I was not expecting a big problem in making a choice. It’s not that I really needed another computer. My domestic office is well-stocked …

Universities and government agencies, even a few private corporations, are going all “mad scientist” on us in the realm of virtual worlds. But why are they experimenting there and why are so many drawn to virtual worlds like a dying man to a priest? “As a new part of the real world, virtual …

Universities and government agencies are conducting all kinds of research, both scientific and sociological, in virtual worlds — but is that merely a newfangled boondoggle or is the research really real? “My general perspective is that virtual worlds are at least as real as many parts of th…

As 2008 draws to a shut, the instance for dreaming of White Christmases, sugar plum fairies and Ubuntu-loaded netbooks is by for another year. Here’s hoping everyone got their heart’s desire! Now it’s moment to move on and turn our thoughts to the promise of the upcoming year. It’s a moment …

Novell has canceled its 2009 BrainShare, the annual conference that that year drew 5,500 to the Salt Palace conference Center in Salt Lake City. The Waltham, Mass.-based company, whose largest operation is in Provo, Utah, with about 1,200 employees, said many of its customers were saying pro…