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Knight Capital trading debacle shows Wall Street frailties

Knight Capital

The high-speed trading arms race being waged on Wall Street has finally claimed its first major casualty. Knight Capital Group, a brokerage that handles nearly 11% of all stock trading in U.S. companies, is in danger of collapsing after a software glitch triggered millions of unintended orders. The New Jersey firm lost $440 million in less than an hour — nearly four times the company's profit last year.

 

A Closer Look at Windows 8's Browser: Internet Explorer 10

Windows 8

Internet Explorer 10 serves dual roles as the default Metro and desktop browser, and its HTML5 support breaks new ground for a Microsoft browser.

 

Ex-Microsoft Employee: Windows 8 A 'Catastrophe'

Windows 8

Valve head—and one-time Microsoft employee—Gabe Newell has branded Windows 8 "a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space" at videogame conference Casual Connect in Seattle. The Valve boss continued, saying that in the fallout from Windows 8, "we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people." Newell criticised Windows 8 while talking about the future of the gaming industry, and you can read everything he said at VentureBeat.

 

In a First, an Entire Organism Is Simulated by Software

Simulated Organism

The simulation, which runs on a cluster of 128 computers, models the complete life span of the cell at the molecular level, charting the interactions of 28 categories of molecules.

 

Microsoft Multiyear Contracts Gain as Companies Upgrade Software - Bloomberg

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) had a bigger gain in multiyear software deals than analysts predicted last quarter, a sign that businesses are flocking to the company’s programs as consumers delay purchases or opt for competitors.

 

Microsoft reports first loss as public company

Microsoft

Microsoft said Thursday that an accounting adjustment to reflect a weak online ad business led to its first quarterly loss in its 26 years as a public company. The software company had warned that it was taking a $6.2 billion charge because its 2007 purchase of online ad service aQuantive hasn't yielded the returns envisioned by management. The non-cash adjustment is something companies do when the value of their assets decline. Microsoft Corp. paid $6.3 billion for aQuantive, only to see rival Google Inc. expand its share of the online ad market.

 

Microsoft Cuts Undisclosed Number Of Ad, Marketing Jobs

Microsoft cut some advertising and marketing jobs on Wednesday, the company confirmed to the Wall Street Journal. "I can confirm that there were job eliminations today at Microsoft," a company spokeswoman told the WSJ via email.

 

Security flaws signal early death of Windows Gadgets

Microsoft is speeding up plans to kill off the Windows Gadget platform after receiving word that serious security vulnerabilities will be disclosed at the upcoming Black Hat security conference. According to a brief abstract from the Black Hat site, researchers Mickey Shkatov and Toby Kohlenberg plan to discuss weaknesses associated with Windows Sidebar and Gadgets and demonstrate "nastiness" that can be done on the platform.

 

Salesforce.com to Buy GoInstant

Salesforce.com is expected to buy start-up GoInstant for more than $70 million, as the big provider of online business software beefs up its customer-service offerings.

 

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean: 5 New Features We Can't Wait To Try

How sweet it is! Google has given developers a taste of " target="_hplink">Android 4.1 (codenamed "Jelly Bean"), the latest update to the company's OS for mobile devices.

 

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