Ofcom must conduct the spectrum auction as soon as possible, says Vaizey

Communications minister Ed Vaizey has instructed Ofcom to hold the spectrum auction for the 800MHz and 2.6GHz radio bands as soon as possible, an auction that is key to government plans for universal broadband rollout. In a statement on the Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) web site, Vaizey said: "we require Ofcom to co-ordinate a combined auction of 2.6GHz and 800MHz spectrum as soon as possible, so that operators can deliver widespread high-speed mobile broadband."

Via Computing.co.uk

Details of 100m Facebook users collected and published

Personal details of 100m Facebook users have been collected and published on the net by a security consultant. Ron Bowles used a piece of code to scan Facebook profiles, collecting data not hidden by the user's privacy settings. The list, which has been shared as a downloadable file, contains the URL of every searchable Facebook user's profile, their name and unique ID.

Via BBC News

Google Piling Up Social Network Arsenal to Challenge Facebook

The Google gaming and social network story is really boiling over. In the last month, Digg's Kevin Rose tweeted that Google has a social network in the works, an assertion backed up Quora's Adam D'Angelo and possibly by this document. In mid-July, TechCrunch said Google had invested $100 million in social gaming platform Zynga and was striking a deal with that sensational startup. Now the Wall Street Journal reports that Google is in "talks with several makers of popular online games as it seeks to develop a broader social networking service that could compete with Facebook."

Via eWeek

'Check-in' craze moves beyond location

Despite the press, geolocation service Foursquare is still pretty small. But it's proven influential in another way: the phenomenon of "checking in" has spread beyond telling people where you are, and a handful of services now focus on letting you "check in" to what you're doing--whether it's attending a concert or reading one of those ubiquitous Stieg Larsson novels.

Via CNET

Researchers use Twitter tweets to measure moods

Using millions of Twitter messages, or tweets, from the popular social networking site, researchers at Northeastern University in Boston have created a Twitter Mood Map to measure the moods of the nation. People are happiest in the morning and in the evening, with happiness peaking on Sunday morning and dipping Thursday night, they found. Twitter users appeared most gloomy at mid-afternoon, shifting to better moods in the evening.

Via Reuters

Marsupial DNA Redraws Family Tree

The kangaroo’s twisted marsupial family tree is now in order thanks to — you guessed it — jumping genes. Genetic evidence shows that a South American ancestor gave rise to all Australian marsupials, and that the South American opossums were the earliest group to branch off from the other six marsupial clans. Distinctive for raising their live-born young in protective pouches, marsupials all trace back to a common ancestor that split off from the rest of the mammals about 130 million years ago. But fossil and genetic evidence conflict about which marsupial species evolved first, and where.

Via Wired