Govt is 'undermining' privacy

The government has been urged to exercise more restraint over the use of data collection and electronic surveillance powers amid fears it is "undermining" the right to individual privacy and liberty, reports Computing.co.uk.

A hard-hitting report from the Lords Constitution Committee also recommended the expansion of the powers and remit of the information commissioner to advise on new proposals and monitor the use of existing powers.

The committee demanded rapid compliance with the European Court of Human Rights ruling that the indiscriminate storage of DNA data seized by police from those not convicted of any crime is a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The future of Microsoft's long running Flight Simulator series has been cast into doubt, after the software maker laid-off the entire development team, says the BBC.

Microsoft says it is "committed" to the series, despite shutting the Aces studio when it cut 5 000 jobs.

But third party developers say Microsoft needs to outline its plans for the game in more detail.

Google Australia engineers have created a Flash map to keep track of the deadly bushfires ravaging south-eastern Australia and help reduce the traffic burden to official sites coordinating emergency services, reports CNet.

The fires, which have reportedly claimed more than 100 lives, are being tracked in real-time with information provided by the State of Victoria's Country Fire Authority via an RSS feed.

The numbers on the map markers indicate the number of fires at that location and the colours represent the current containment status of that site (green represents safe, yellow for controlled, orange for contained, and red for going).

It's been over a year since the Amazon Kindle e-book reader was introduced. The electronic-ink-based device, which in many ways has transformed the e-book category, has spent much of that time in high-demand, says PC World.

For example, The Kindle was on backorder and sold out during the holidays. Today, the Kindle remains on backorder at Amazon's site, by three to five weeks.

Rumour has it that the second-generation Kindle will be introduced at an Amazon event in New York today. Images purported to be of the Kindle 2 recently surfaced on The Boy Genius Report.