thomson reuters
Latest
Hackers reportedly selling leaked terrorism watchlist
An eerily detailed database containing a list of suspected and convicted criminals and terrorists is reportedly being sold online for 10 bitcoin (about $6,600) and 3.5 bitcoin ($2,300.)
iPad apps: news and magazines
Apple's done a pretty good job convincing the old media that the iPad will save their industry, so we've taken our time trying out the launch titles in the App Store -- it's plain to see that different publishers have radically different ideas about how you're supposed to buy and consume their content, and everything from pricing to UI is currently up in the air. But while the apps we've seen so far are definitely intriguing, we haven't seen any silver bullets yet -- and to be perfectly honest, in several cases we wondered why an app was preferable to an iPad-optimized web site, or even (gasp) a paper subscription. Let's run down the launch lineup, shall we? Update: We added in NPR and Zinio by popular request, check 'em out below!
Reuters opening new Second Life island?
Seriously. This gets weirder. Thomson Reuters, you may recall, yesterday announced the closure of their Second Life bureau, which actually closed up shop five months ago. Technically that was actually their second announcement, having already announced it elsewhere some months ago. Now the old island is still there, and nobody's turned the lights off yet, but what's really odd is that Thomson Reuters appears to be in the throes of preparing a new Thomson Reuters island in Linden Lab's virtual environment. Actually, the island was (until just recently) Thomson Scientific island. It's just recently been renamed to Thomson Reuters, and the Thomson Scientific trappings have been replaced throughout with Thomson Reuters branding and advertising -- though most of the Scientific division's structures and facilities are still there, like the drug laboratory.
Reuters late to announce Second Life bureau closure
The Thomson Reuters news service (still mostly colloquially known just as Reuters) has announced the closing of their Second Life bureau ... making it official, five months after its actual closure and making it perhaps the last news service to report on its own departure. Reuters did not replace it's last dedicated reporter (Eric Krangel) when he departed for Silicon Alley Insider back in October. In December, there was more fuss when Linden Lab charged the island fees to a credit card that it had twice promised that it had expunged from its billing system.
Linden Lab misuses Reuters employee credit card
What's worse than having a service provider slap a fat charge on your credit card that's not supposed to be there? It's having it happen a second time, after they've assured you that your credit-card details have been expunged from their records. News agency Thomson Reuters employee, Evan Maloney, is in just that position in his evocatively titled email to the public regapi list "Linden can't be trusted with your credit card information". Maloney's been slapped with the US$500 fee for the Reuters Second Life surname not once, but twice. Last time it took many weeks to sort out -- Maloney isn't eligible for customer support, not being a premium account -- so trying to reach someone at Linden Lab via the mailing list seems to be his primary support option for getting things fixed.
Reuters reporter to withdraw from Second Life
Eric Krangel, whom most Second Life users will more readily recognize as the personable and approachable Eric Reuters and primary representative of the Thomson Reuters news service in Second Life for so long, is finally moving on. Krangel will be taking up a writing position with Silicon Alley Insider, ending his long stint that saw him replace Adam Pasick (aka Adam Reuters) as the front-man for Thomson Reuters in Linden Lab's virtual environment. In many ways it seems like the end of an era. Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.
RIM launching $150 million VC fund for mobile apps
Following the lead of Google and Apple in providing a hefty chunk of some sort of funding up front for app developers, RIM is teaming up with RBC and Thomson Reuters to provide a $150 million fund to invest in "mobile applications and services." Interestingly, RIM isn't limiting those apps and services just to the BlackBerry, and instead the fund is designed to "advance the industry." The fund will be open to companies from all over the world, and sounds like it'll be open to pretty much any type of mobile application or service developer that plans on kicking ass in its respective field. We're curious as to how BlackBerry slanted the fund will end up being, but hey, it's their money, so we really couldn't complain either way.
