Good, Bad, and Ugly
Reader reaction to Reuters news
…retrain all journalists?
North Korea hacker threat grows as cyber unit grows: defector
Lockheed’s cyber cops sift through hacker evidence
Hackers hit Sony sites raising more security issues
Sony defends response time to hacker breach
Could you please help retrain all journalists around the globe in the correct terminology for computer criminals?
The whole notion that a “hacker” is a bad person was created by your very own news industry and not by anyone else, so could you please rectify this?
No one else is in a position to fix the mistake that the news industry has created.
Cars or cams?
Google says mistakenly got wireless data
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc said its fleet of cars responsible for photographing streets around the world have for several years accidentally collected personal information — which a security expert said could include email messages and passwords — sent by consumers over wireless networks.
A Google spokesperson said the Street View cars have been collecting the information since 2006 in more than 30 countries.
Your article is in extreme error. Google uses street view cams (cameras attached to poles or buildings). The writer took his info and used his misreading of 100′s of cams as cars and wrote fleet of cars! Emily Litella is alive and well! “Never mind!”
Andrew W.
Our story was correct. These are actual cars that roam the streets and collect all sorts of data, including, yes, camera visuals: GBU Editor
A worker makes final touches at the stand of Google where cars used for “Google View” are on display at the CeBIT exhibition centre in Hanover, Germany, March 1, 2010. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Sharing stories
When is the ability to email articles going to be re-enabled? It’s been down for quite some time.
T.F.
Indeed it has. It was disabled more than a month ago because of spam attacks.
We have a fix, and expect to deploy it soon: GBU Editor
Offending the hackers?
Microsoft releases biggest patch on record
It said six of the patches were high priority and should be deployed immediately. The patches — which update software to write over glitches — are designed to protect users from hackers or malicious software downloaded from the Internet.
The word you are looking for is “crackers” NOT “hackers”. There is a huge difference, and it is quite offensive to use the incorrect term.
Please modify your article to reflect the correct usage, and any articles that you may publish in the future.
Man in Scary Mask
As someone who loves words, I’m unhappy when they get hijacked and given a new meaning for no good reason. However, I’m afraid trying to preserve the original meaning of hacker is just a lost cause.
To quote the Associated Press Stylebook, which is recognized by most U.S. media: “In common usage, the word has evolved to mean one who uses computer skills to unlawfully penetrate proprietary computer systems.” GBU Editor
Sure, hackers have the knowledge to do some hugely constructive things, but the very fact that all they do is create mischief in order to show off their vainglory, designates them as being very obviously psychologically unstable. They are too pathetically antisocial for any positively creative work. That is WHY no one has yet, or will, ever bother trying to harness this ability.
Treble without a cause?
Microsoft launches new phone software
The market for phones is set to treble or quadruple in the next few years, Ballmer said, and Microsoft is ready to challenge other phone makers for market share.
The following quote: “The market for phones is set to treble or quadruple in the next few years, Ballmer said, and Microsoft is ready to challenge other phone makers for market share.” was on your site today.
While I do have trouble getting decent bass on my cellphone, the treble is quite good.
T.A.
Ballmer used the word correctly. You may wish to check a dictionary:
Cases of computers?
North Korea army behind South web attack – report The agency said 438 cases of personal computers have been reported destroyed by malicious software used in the attacks.
How many computers in a case?
How many computers were destroyed?
Why can’t you provide news items in English?
Michael S.
I agree, that sentence was seriously in need of editing: GBU Editor
The wrong tube…
Air France crash focus on speed; search hopes fade
An aviation expert, who declined to be named, said the plane’s airspeed sensors, called pilot tubes, work on air pressure and might provide incorrect readings if they get obstructed by objects such as ice.
They are called “pitot” tubes not “pilot” tubes.
Barry
For your video report, the correct pronounciation of ‘pitot tube’ is ‘pee toe’
Flymatt
We got an amazing amount of feedback on these tubes. Yes, we used pilot instead of pitot in one story, and yes, we mispronounced the word in a video report: GBU Editor
The wrong result
U.S. House passes DTV delay, ensuring passage
WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill to delay the nationwide switch to digital television signals by about four months, the final step that virtually ensures final passage.
All other news agencies I’m reading say that this vote did NOT pass. Reuters is reporting that it DID pass.
Jon S.
I’m So Confused, now
Portable water?
Astronauts work on space station water recycler
“We want to get this system running as soon as possible so we can process urine and verify that we have good portable water coming out the other side,” said station flight engineer Sandra Magnus during an in-flight interview.
Should portable not be potable? As in… drinkable?
James W.
Of course. We corrected: GBU Editor
Following a space-to-Earth news conference on November 21, 2008 members of the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Endeavour crew posed for a group portrait on the orbital outpost. Astronaut Donald Pettit appears at photo center. Just below Pettit is astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshin-Piper. Clockwise from her position are astronauts Shane Kimbrough, Steve Bowen, Eric Boe, Chris Ferguson and Michael Fincke, along with cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov, and astronauts Sandra Magnus and Gregory Chamitoff in this photo released by NASA November 22, 2008. REUTERS/NASA
The wrong Berry
Wouldn’t it be nice if you had the right picture of the phone in your article? Nice article, BTW.
P.T.
Yes, it would have been nice. This photo was not a good choice to illustrate this story, and if we did have to use it, the caption should have made clear what readers were seeing: GBU Editor
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Resident Mediafile Expert
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