U.S. government

The race to provide ultrafast broadband is on.

Dell is accusing five Japanese and Taiwanese companies of price-fixing on LCD panels. The computer maker filed suit Friday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against Sharp, Hitachi, Toshiba, Seiko Epson, and HannStar.

In its 61-page complaint, Dell said it filed suit "on behalf of itself and its affiliates to recover for antitrust and other harms arising from billions of dollars of purchases at artificially inflated prices, over several years, of thin-film transistor liquid-crystal display panels, or products containing TFT-LCD panels."

Intel rolled out a new range of Xeon processor chips Tuesday that are based on the chipmaker's 32nm logic technology featuring second-generation high-k metal gate transistors. Called the Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series, the new server and workstation devices promise to decrease energy consumption in data-center applications even as they boost processing speeds.

Google Inc.'s CEO said Wednesday the Internet search company is in active negotiations with the Chinese government and expects some resolution in its dispute with Beijing soon.

Speaking at a media conference in the Middle East, Eric Schmidt declined to provide specifics or predict how long the discussions would last, saying that the company has decided not to publicize details of the talks.

A recent wave of cyberattacks against Google and other U.S. companies reinforced a long-evident fact: America needs to strengthen its defenses against terrorists and rogue nations capable of waging war with a keyboard.

Last month, the Internet giant announced it had been the victim of "a highly sophisticated and targeted" series of attacks resulting in the theft of intellectual property. Perhaps more worrisome was this revelation by Google: More than 30 companies from the tech, financial and chemical industries also were hit.

Michael Hayden's may not be a household name, but it is a name closely aligned with the phrase "warrantless wiretapping." From 1999 to 2005, Hayden was director of the National Security Agency, where he oversaw the controversial "warrantless surveillance" program. President George W. Bush nominated him as CIA director in 2006 and he served in that position until early 2009.

Michael Hayden's may not be a household name, but it is a name closely aligned with the phrase "warrantless wiretapping." From 1999 to 2005, Hayden was director of the National Security Agency, where he oversaw the controversial "warrantless surveillance" program. President George W. Bush nominated him as CIA director in 2006 and he served in that position until early 2009.

India's top three outsourcing companies are ramping up hiring and increasing pay as global corporations, mainly from the U.S., send more work offshore to cut costs as they emerge from the downturn.

Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Wipro expanded their global workforces by an average of 5.1 percent last quarter, together adding 16,701 employees, company documents show -- an early sign that the Great Recession may ultimately benefit India as cost-conscious companies outsource more work, just as they did after the dot-com bust.

3QD friend Todd Shea arrived in Haiti from Pakistan a couple of days ago to assist in managing the relief effort. Today he has filed this report via Facebook:

UPDATE: Donations can be made for Todd's organization's work in Haiti here.
3QD friend Todd Shea arrived in Haiti from Pakistan a couple of days ago to assist in managing the relief effort. Today he has filed this report via Facebook: