Rogue admin waits for verdict

San Francisco's rogue sysadmin Terry Childs, who refused to reveal passwords when he was sacked, could learn his fate later today, reports The Register.

The jury has started deliberating on whether Childs is guilty of locking the city out of its own network. He faces up to five years in prison if found guilty.

Childs refused to hand over passwords when he was sacked in 2008. His defence is that this was an employment dispute that got out of hand.

Tests are taking place in the UK of new speed cameras that combine number plate recognition and satellite technology, writes The BBC.

The SpikeSpike devices, from US firm PIPS Technology, are among the latest examples of average speed cameras.

They work out how fast a vehicle is going after capturing an image of its licence plate at two locations.

Privacy watchdogs from 10 countries wrote a letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt complaining about Google's approach to releasing Web applications, such as Google Buzz, which began a privacy furore when the company introduced it in February, says eWeek.

Data protection leaders in Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the UK said in the 19 April letter that Google Buzz "betrayed a disappointing disregard for fundamental privacy norms and laws”.

They allege Google released Buzz in beta form, which they said is no way to ensure that new services comply with privacy principles.

Like previous generations, today's teens seem to be constantly on the phone. But now they're doing a lot more texting than talking, reveals CNet.

One-third of teens in the US text more than 100 times a day, according to a study released Tuesday by Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Based on a survey and focus groups conducted with teenagers between 12 and 17, Pew found that text messaging is by far the most common way that kids communicate with each other, more than chatting on the phone, e-mailing, using social-networking sites, or talking face-to-face.