(From the nytimes.com) E-books of the latest generation are so brand new that publishers can’t agree on what to call them. In the spring Hachette Book Group called its version, by David Baldacci, an “enriched” book. Penguin Group released an “amplified” version of a novel by Ken Follett last week. And on Thursday Simon & Schuster will come out with one of its own, an “enhanced” e-book version of “Nixonland” by Rick Perlstein. (more…)

(From the nytimes.com) Facebook, the social network created in the dormitories of Harvard six years ago, said on Wednesday that it now had 500 million members. The company has grown at a meteoric pace, doubling in size from a year ago and pushing international competitors aside. (more…)

(From the wsj.com) Amazon.com Inc. said it reached a milestone, selling more e-books than hardbacks over the past three months. But publishers said it is still too early to gauge for the entire industry whether the growth of e-books is cannibalizing sales of paperback books, a huge and crucial market. In a statement Monday, Amazon’s chief executive, Jeff Bezos, also countered the perception that sales of the company’s Kindle e-reading device had suffered due to competition from other devices, such as Apple Inc.’s iPad. (more…)

(From the latimes.com) Facebook users that keep seeing messages from friends saying they’re “never gonna drink Coca-Cola again” should steer clear, security firm Sophos is reporting. Although the messages are slightly different at times, most of the fake Facebook updates are identical: “I am part of the 98.0% of people that are NEVER gonna drink Coca Cola again after this HORRIFIC video,” a typical message reads. It’s followed by a video link. (more…)

(From the nytimes.com) Did Apple make a lemon? On Monday, Consumer Reports, America’s trusted source of product reviews, said it would not recommend the iPhone 4 because of a hardware flaw with its antenna that sometimes resulted in dropped calls. The independent consumer magazine also cast doubt on Apple’s recent explanation that a software bug had caused the widely reported problem. Apple did not return requests for comment. (more…)

Nixle® is now being used by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to send free geographically-specific e-mails and text messages directly to the public. Messages include arrests, neighborhood-specific alerts and advisories, traffic incidents, road closures, wanted persons, missing persons, crime trends, and more. “With the Nixle instant notification system, the Sheriff’s Department can communicate accurate, timely, and reliable information directly to the public via your cell phones and email,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. “Nixle is a great success story of a public-private partnership that enhances public safety at no cost to taxpayers,” he added. (more…)

(From the nytimes.com) Sergey Brin, a Google founder, takes issue with people who say Google has failed to gain a foothold in social networking. Google has had successes, he often says, especially with Orkut, the dominant service in Brazil and India. (more…)

(From the nytimes.com) A price war is brewing in the growing market for electronic reading devices. Barnes & Noble, the national bookseller, announced Monday that it was dropping the price of its six-month-old Nook e-reader to $199 from $259 and introducing a new version of the device, which connects to the Internet only over Wi-Fi networks, for $149. (more…)

(From the wsj.com) The exposure of prominent iPad users’ email addresses and device IDs has underscored how security is becoming a bigger concern for mobile devices. Consumers are snapping up gadgets like high-powered cellphones and Apple Inc.’s tablet computer, and the cellphone industry is counting on them to drive its growth. Meanwhile, the list of holes computer researchers are finding in the devices and their software is growing. (more…)

(From the wsj.com) AT&T Inc., reaching out to iPad users Sunday to explain why their email addresses were released last week, blamed the incident on “computer hackers” who “maliciously exploited” an attempt by the carrier to speed the process of logging in to its website. (more…)

(From the wsj.com) AT&T Inc. acknowledged Wednesday that a security hole in its website had exposed iPad users’ email addresses, a breach that highlights how corporations still have problems protecting private information. A small group of computer experts that calls itself Goatse Security claimed responsibility for the intrusion, saying the group had exploited an opening in AT&T’s website to find numbers that identify iPads connected to AT&T’s mobile network. (more…)

(From Science Daily) Researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have unveiled a new class of reverse-osmosis membranes for desalination that resist the clogging which typically occurs when seawater, brackish water and waste water are purified. The highly permeable, surface-structured membrane can easily be incorporated into today’s commercial production system, the researchers say, and could help to significantly reduce desalination operating costs. (more…)

(From the economist.com) One tablet per modelTHE iPad, Apple’s latest gadget, seems to have lived up to its maker’s lofty expectations: 2m of them have been sold in two months, with more presumably to follow after the device’s debut outside America on May 28th. But will the iPad’s success trigger explosive growth for other sorts of “tablet” computers, a category that had previously been seen a sideshow, much as the iPhone did for smart-phones? (more…)

The City of Santa Clarita’s Emergency Communications Team and the Santa Clarita Amateur Radio Club members will participate in the annual and internationally recognized American Radio Relay League Field Day on June 26 and June 27, 2010.  This year’s theme is “Explore the World”, an International two-day, around-the-clock emergency communications field exercise.  (more…)

(From the nytimes.com) Beginning on Sunday, the Kindle e-reader will be sold in Target stores nationwide, the company announced on Wednesday. It will be the first brick-and-mortar store to sell the Kindle, which had been available only through the Amazon Web site. Mark Schindele, a senior vice president for Target, said in a statement that the discount chain’s customers had an “overwhelmingly positive” response to the Kindle during a test run at 104 stores. (more…)

Facebook drew back the curtain Wednesday on new privacy settings designed to keep users’ personal information more secure, but consumer advocates say the social networking site’s update will still leave some information vulnerable. Because that data remain at risk, users should take caution with the information they post on Facebook, these advocates say. (more…)

(From Science Daily) NASA, which pioneered the technology used for the satellite-aided search and rescue capability that has saved more than 27,000 lives worldwide since its inception nearly three decades ago, has developed new technology that will more quickly identify the locations of people in distress and reduce the risk of rescuers. (more…)

(From Science Daily) Radio frequency identification, RFID, could be used in the immediate aftermath of a major earthquake to save lives, according to new research published in the International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development. (more…)