Sony Recalls Laptops

Today Sony announced that they would be recalling more than half a million Vaio laptops due to an overheating problem. The problem is that the shape of the computer can become distorted due to overheating caused by a flaw in the temperature control system. There have also been some reports of skin burns attributed to the heat buildup of the computers.

The recall includes 259,000 units in the U.S., 103,000 in Europe, 120,000 in Asia and 52,ooo in Japan. Also included in this recall are the F and C series Vaios that were introduced in January of this year. Sony recalled 400,000 Vaio's in 2008 due to overheating problems. Owners of the computers can either have Sony pick them up for repair or download a software update which should fix the problem.

Twitter Pressured By The FTC

The Federal Trade Commission has required Twitter to to create a security program which will be monitiored by the government for ten years. This was the first time that the FTC has used its enforcement powers against a social network. Twitter agreed to the terms in order to avoid a civil lawsuit from the FTC.

The safety of Twitter users private information was the chief concern of the FTC. David Vladek, head of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection said, "When a company promises consumers that their personal information is secure, it must live up to that promise."

Two security breaches of Twitter include the hacking of Barack Obama's account, which included fake offers for $500 worth of free gasoline, and Twitter employees personal e-mails were compromised at one point in time. The action taken by the FTC may lead to increased scrutiny of social networking site's ablility to protect user private information.

Russia Playing Catch Up

Russia is looking to copy the United States, specifically Silicon Valley in that they are currently working on creating a technology centered region within their country. The goal of Russia's international center for technology is to enable the country to be a stronger competitor in the technology industry by enticing engineers, programmers and venture capital investors to invest their time and effort into the country.

I think that if Russia is successful in implementing their plans and reaching their goals, the growth of transnational corporations will increase even faster because companies will be able to take advantage of lower parts and labor costs in Russia. The lower costs incurred in doing business in Russia may put pressure on Silicon Valley and other technology focused regions around the world to find ways to either lower their production costs and/or improve compensation and incentives for employees and businesses that could possibly choose to move part or all of their operations to Russia.