Google Best Company to Work For, Fortune Says | Amit Khajuria

Looking for a job? Fortune this week revealed its list of the 100 best companies to work for, giving you plenty of options to set your sights on, some of which are harder to get your foot into the door than others. Coming out on top of Fortune's list of bodacious work places is Google, which moved up three places from its previous fourth place rank.

"Employees rave about their mission, the culture, and the famous perks of the Plex: bocce courts, a bowling alley, eyebrow shaping (for a fee) in the New York office," Fortune said. "Then there's the food: some 25 cafes company-wide, all gratis."

In other words, if you like to eat and play -- and who doesn't? -- Google is the go-to company, according to Fortune. It also helps in the job security department that Google, as a company, is doing well. Revenue, profits, and share price are all up compared to last year.

As you might expect, several tech companies made the list, including NetApp (No. 6), Zappos.com (No. 11), Qualcomm (No. 23), Adobe (No. 41), Intel (No. 46), Microsoft (No. 76), Cisco (No. 90), and GoDaddy.com (No.93), to name just a handful. You can view the full list here.

Image Credit: blogs.ubc.ca

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Computer Programmer Faces 10 Years in Prison for Alleged Source Code Theft | Amit Khajuria

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a computer programmer for allegedly stealing proprietary software code from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY). Bo Zhang, the man accused of stealing the source code, worked at the bank as a contract employee assigned to work on further developing a specific portion of the Government-Wide Accounting and Reporting Program (GWA), software which is owned by the Department of Treasury to track government spending.

"As today’s case demonstrates, our cyber infrastructure is vulnerable not only to cybercriminals and hackers, but also alleged thieves like Bo Zhang who used his position as a contract employee to steal government intellectual property. Fighting cyber crime is one of the top priorities of this office and we will aggressively pursue anyone who puts our computer security at risk," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

According to the complaint. Zhang admitted to copying the GWA source code onto an FRBNY-owned external hard drive, and then connected the external HDD to his private office computer, his home computer, and his laptop. He used the code in connection with a private business he ran training individuals in computer programming. FBI Assistant Director in Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk said his intentions were "immaterial."

"Stealing it and copying it threatened the security of vitally important source code," Fedarcyk said.

If convicted, Zhang, 32 years old, faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison, a maximum term of three years of supervised release, and a fine of whichever is greatest: $250,000, twice the pecuniary gain derived from the offense, or twice the gross pecuniary loss to the victims.

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Sapphire's Overclocked Radeon HD 7950 Card Tipped Online | Amit Khajuria

AMD is expected to launch its Radeon HD 7950 graphics card in a little less than two weeks from now on January 31, 2012, for around $400 to $450, if the Internet rumors prove true. In the meantime, Sapphire apparently has an overclocked version in the works, with several official looking picture having been leaked to the Web.

Guru3D forum member "asder00" posted nearly half a dozen photos of Sapphire's overclocked card, and they appear to be legitimate press photos, including two that show the retail box. Unfortunately, eye candy is the only treat we're given; no word on specs, price, or release date for this particular model.

To help with the speculation, Turkish website Donanimhaber.com posted rumored specifications of the HD 7950. According to Donanimhaber, there will be two versions available, one with 1.5GB of onboard memory and one with 3GB. The stock clocked GPU will run at 800MHz and the memory at up to 1250MHz.

Image Credit: guru3d (asder00)

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SOPA And PIPA Shelved Indefinitely | Amit Khajuria

Remember when your mom said whining never helped anything? Turns out she was wrong! Ever since the day the 'Net went dark, politicians -- ranging from Congressmen topresidential candidates to European Internet czars -- have been tripping over themselves backing away from the political hot potato. This morning, even more heartening events occurred: the lead sponsors behind the bills announced that both PIPA and SOPA have been shelved indefinitely.

Now, that doesn't quite mean they're dead -- SOPA and PIPA may just be sleeping until the collective herd forgets about the uproar -- but it definitely puts a damper on their odds of passage. Even if SOPA and PIPA die on the political vine due to widespread opposition and upcoming elections, don't expect this to be the end of things. IP theft is still a real issue and one that the government and big business alike take seriously, as evidenced by the closing line in an announcement released by the MPAA this morning:

"It is incumbent that (SOPA/PIPA critics) now sincerely work with all of us to achieve a meaningful solution to this critically important goal."

(Of course, he also took time to signal the shelving as a hammer-blow to the knee of America's interests. "As a consequence of failing to act, there will continue to be a safe haven for foreign thieves; American jobs will continue to be lost; and consumers will continue to be exposed to fraudulent and dangerous products peddled by foreign criminals.")

The sponsors of both bills still hope to reach a political tenable compromise with the 'Net in upcoming days: if we hear of SOPA stirring from its new-found slumber, we'll let you know.

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James Bond Never Wore Wi-Fi Enabled Cufflinks, But You Can | Amit Khajuria

James Bond is a badass because he's always prepared for whatever situation arises. The guy's had gadgets for everything, from exploding keychains to to a stun-gun cigarette, along with just about anything you can imagine. That is, unless you imagine USB cufflinks that double as a Wi-Fi hotspot dongle in a pinch. Unlike most of James Bonds' gadgets, Wi-Fi cufflinks actually exist.

Kudos to our friends at Engadget for turning us on to these things. Playing the part of Q, Brookstone has available polished silver oval Wi-Fi and 2GB USB combination cufflinks that allow you keep data on your person and remedy a bad router in a pinch. Just plug one of your cufflinks into a PC wired directly to the modem and you have an instant high-speed hotspot to work with.

Unfortunately, these things run $250, which borders on the ridiculous, especially since they don't triple as an explosive device. Ah well, file this one under 'cool, but not worth price.'

Image Credit: Brookstone

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