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Chemical Industry: 3 Percent Output Growth in the 1st Half 2008FRANKFURT, Germany, July 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Irrespective of the strong euro and massively rising energy and raw material costs, the chemical industry recorded an output growth in the 1st half 2008.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am German Chemical Industry: More Robust and More CompetitiveFRANKFURT/MAIN, Germany, July 3 /PRNewswire/ -- - Higher Growth Than Competitors - Proximity to Central and Eastern Europe Pays off - Long-Term Growth Potential of 3 Percent - Emission Trading System (ETS) as Major Problem Over the last few years the chemical industry in Germany has worked for and achieved clear advantages in global competition, so the German chemical industry association (VCI) in a press conference in Frankfurt.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Critics Say Pentagon Admits Neutralization Works: Instead of Burning Chemical Weapons, Hot Water is Used to Separate and Eliminate ToxinsBy Matthew D. LaPlante, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul. 3--For years, the military has insisted that there is no safer way to destroy its chemical weapons than the incineration process used at the Deseret Chemical Depot.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Is Utah a Pawn in Pentagon Gambit?: Insiders Say State-to-State Chemical Agent Transport Isn't Really Being PlannedBy Matthew D. LaPlante, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Federal Board Rebuffs Opposition to Rail ApplicationBy Steve Tetreault By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON - The federal railroad board has said it will consider the Department of Energy's bid to build a nuclear waste rail line to Yucca Mountain, setting aside a Nevada protest that the application was incomplete.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am North Korean Leader Urges Local Self-Reliance - XinhuaText of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) PYONGYANG, July 3 (Xinhua) - Kim Jong Il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has urged local governments to improve self sufficiency, the official daily Nodong Sinmun reported.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am State Will Mark Site: Surveyers in 1752 Were Moravians Preparing to SettleBy Elizabeth DeOrnellas, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C. Jul. 3--The corner where U.S. 158 crosses Muddy Creek will soon have official recognition for its place in Clemmons history. The village has received permission from the N.C.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am NAACP Fights Mortgage Discrimination: On 'Day of Action,' Group Calls Attention to Anniversary of 1964 Civil Rights ActBy Cassandra Crockett, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul. 3--In an effort to combat unfair lending practices, the NAACP of Salt Lake City joined in a national "Day of Action" against mortgage discrimination Wednesday, the 44th anniversary of the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Authorities on Lookout for Drunken Boaters Over Holiday: Alcohol is Allowed, but Authorities on LookoutBy Chrystian Tejedor, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Jul. 3--The laws are clear: You can't be drunk while driving a boat or a car. Boaters, however, are allowed to drink on a vessel, while drivers are sent to jail if they have an open beer bottle in the car.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Planning Expert Joins U. Faculty: Nelson Says the Wasatch Front Presents Unique Challenges and Opportunities for Smarter GrowthBy Brandon Loomis, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul. 3--Utah now has an urban planning doctor to match the mounting growing pains of its sprawling metropolitan core. The University of Utah this week welcomed Arthur C.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Sony's Stan Glasgow talks TVs, Blu-ray (CNET)CNET - After navigating some rough seas, Sony's Electronics division has been starting to right the ship.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Firefox 3 Boosts Browser's Market Share Over 19% - InformationWeek
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:39 am YouTube Ordered to Give Complete User Logs to Viacom - DailyTech
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:18 am Sony pulls problematic PS3 software update after 1 hour - ZDNet
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:13 am Sony PS3 catching up to Wii in Japanese sales (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:12 am Microsoft Tries Annual Fee ... - InternetNews.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:06 am Mobile in Forest ExhibitionJapan's major cellular player AU KDDI recently launched an art meets innovation show in Harajuku called the Mobile Forest Exhibition. The exhibit showcases works by various artists offering their innovative...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:06 am Judge Protects YouTubes Source Code, Throws Users To The WolvesThe ongoing Google/YouTube-Viacom litigation has now officially spilled over to users with a court order requiring Google to turn over massive amounts of user data to Viacom. If the data is actually released,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:04 am Nokia, Telenor sign Internet services deal (Reuters)Reuters - The world's top cellphone maker Nokia said on Thursday it had signed a cooperation agreement with Norwegian telcom group Telenor for its "Ovi" Internet services platform.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:43 am Nokia, Telenor sign Internet services dealHELSINKI (Reuters) - The world's top cellphone maker Nokia said on Thursday it had signed a cooperation agreement with Norwegian telcom group Telenor for its "Ovi" Internet services...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:42 am Does Microsoft + Powerset Beat Google?What can the plan be with Microsoft's purchase of hot startup Powerset? The 3-year old company, founded by Dr Barney Pell, recently launched a semantic search experience for Wikipedia. It is doubtful...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:39 am iPhone 3G UK launch dateUberphones reports that O2 will officially launch the iPhone 3G in the UK at 7am July 11th.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:35 am Xeni kicks the tech tires on Virgin America.[Xeni Jardin]: Last week, the Boing Boing tv crew was in San Francisco shooting a few upcoming episodes, and our friends at Virgin America (BBtv is shown on the in-flight entertainment system) invited...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:16 am Xeni kicks the tech tires on Virgin America.[Xeni Jardin]: Last week, the Boing Boing tv crew was in San Francisco shooting a few upcoming episodes, and our friends at Virgin America (BBtv is shown on the in-flight entertainment system) invited us to come wander around behind security, and peek at the nuts and bolts that are the tech underpinnings of this airline. They're about to launch in-flight wireless internet soon, and they're holding a competition for open source games, the winners of which will be available for people to play in-flight (entries are still being accepted). Virgin America's head of in-flight entertainment, Charles Ogilvie, brought us on board a plane that was empty and at rest between flights. We poked around with the computers and displays (all Linux!) and we tried to IM our friends using the pilot's controls in the cockpit. This did not work so well. My favorite part of this shoot: driving a VA pickup truck around between the resting airplanes, and peeking into the giant abyss where your bags are shuffled around on giant conveyor belt systems, hopefully towards your plane and final destination. Link to Boing Boing tv post with discussion, downloadable video, and instructions on subscribing to the BBtv video podcast. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Disclaimers: BBtv is an in-flight entertainment partner with Virgin, but BBtv doesn't receive compensation for this. VA once asked Boing Boing to name a plane, and we did, but we weren't paid for this, either. VA has previously been a paid sponsor on Boing Boing the blog. This episode isn't an ad, and we weren't paid to produce it. All of us at BBtv sincerely thought this stuff was cool, and that Charles Ogilvie is a cool guy with interesting ideas, and we had a blast goofing around where the TSA folks generally do not permit one to goof. ) Source: Boing Boing | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:16 am Shocking Baby Launch Video Lands Teen Behind Bars - FOXNews
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:16 am Does Microsoft + Powerset Beat Google? - ReadWriteWeb
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:53 am Nintendo Wii outsells Sony's PS3 in Japan in JuneTOKYO (Reuters) - Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii game console outsold Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 for the seventh consecutive month in Japan in June, a game magazine publisher said.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:24 am Dial-up users don't want broadband - Inquirer
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:12 am PINs hacked from ATM transaction processing software - CrunchGear
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:01 am Win Primal Scream TicketsWE'VE teamed up with Primal Scream to offer Record readers the chance to win one of 10 pairs of tickets to the secret gig on Monday.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am Marie Digby Finds Gold Mine of Melodies in Pop HitsBy Regis Behe, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Jul. 3--In the age of instant fame via the Internet and reality television, Marie Digby is something of a throwback -- even though she's one of the most popular artists on YouTube.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am La Crosse Tribune, Wis., Steve Cahalan Column: Steve Cahalan: New Owner Plans Changes for Bead ShopBy Steve Cahalan, La Crosse Tribune, Wis. Jul. 3--Nicole Kapellas and her mother, Jeannine Kettner, have purchased the Gossamer Wings Bead Shop in the Jackson Plaza shopping center from Cheri Haug, who opened the store in 2002.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am Top Computer Products Cos. Post Decline in EmploymentBy Tolkoff, Sarah TECHNOLOGY: No.1 Western Digital bucks trend with 65 hires Buyouts and restructurings played out during the past year at Orange County's biggest makers of computer products.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am Big TechBy Tolkoff, Sarah Before Broadcom, FileNet, Western Digital, Aerospace Dominated, Gave Rise to Tech Before there was technology in Orange County, there was aerospace.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am Windows XP, Vista--and Windows 7? (PC World)PC World - Readers debate merits of XP and Vista, and speculate on Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am O2 introduces new Sierra Wireless USB Modem for wireless broadband in the United KingdomThe Compass 885 USB Modem from Sierra Wireless now available in the UK on the O2 network LONDON and VANCOUVER, July 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - O2 and Sierra Wireless...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am Diskeeper Helps Companies Reduce Their Carbon FootprintEAST GRINSTEAD, England, July 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Diskeeper Corporation has released its new white paper on how Diskeeper(R) 2008 can help companies reduce power...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am MTS and MySpace Russia Announce PartnershipMOSCOW, July 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS" - NYSE: MBT), the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS, and MySpace...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am Is YouTube Killing Video Originality?The promise of web video was that cheap cameras, easy editing software and free online distribution would open up new vistas of creativity. Instead were just seeing the same things, mostly parodies, over...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:59 am ISPs to Ban P2P With New European Telecom Package?An anonymous reader writes "ZeroPaid is reporting that ISPs could be turned into the copyright police through European legislation that received a number of "intellectual property" amendments. Many of these amendments can be found here. Judging by the amendments, ISPs could be mandated to block legitimate traffic in an effort to 'prevent' illegitimate traffic. To help stop this legislation, you can check out the action page. Additional coverage can be found on EDRI and Open Rights Group."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:57 am Chief Executive China Creates Ground-Breaking Executive Education in Partnership with Stanford University and Famous MIT ProfessorNew Forum and Conference Extend Chief Executive China's Role as the Best Source of Information for China's Top Executives BEIJING, July 3 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:51 am Combo Wants to be the Social Network Hub for Your iPhoneMany of the startups we come across are “beta” in name only - they’re feature complete, with thousands of users and only a few (if any) bugs. Combo, a new startup that is looking to...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:38 am The Scandinaivian Startup SceneI spent a day in Cophenhagen yesterday. Got up at before dawn (which is really early this time of year in Paris) and got home after sunset (which is really late this time of year in Paris). But it was...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:22 am Mozilla claims Guinness Record for downloads (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:19 am Mozilla claims Guinness Record for downloads(Reuters) - Mozilla, developer of open-source Web browser Firefox, said on Wednesday it set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:19 am Massively Me Working on Kiwi Heroes, A Socially Responsible Virtual World for ChildrenMassively Me, a stealth gaming company, has announced the upcoming launch of it’s MMOG for kids and young teenagers, Kiwi Heroes. Scheduled for release later this year, Kiwi Heroes will be a Flash-based...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:06 am Open SearchI am thinking hard about the impact of open search - the idea that a major search index becomes totally open to developers, an open API, etc. that allows search to become a true platform that people can...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:04 am VASCO to Release Q2 2008 Results on July 24, 2008OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. and ZURICH, Switzerland, July 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VASCO Data Security International Inc. (Nasdaq: VDSI) (Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Business school exam publisher tracking down Web cheatersSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Ball girl's incredible catch is an Internet hitSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am The road to the White House is now mappedSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Ducklings in a Bathtub
By popular request from weary BB thread commenters, "some ducklings in a bathtub" to look at.
[YouTube, thanks #1134 ROSSINDETROIT] Source: Boing Boing | 3 Jul 2008 | 6:51 am Kittens in a BarrelWhen you are having a certain kind of day, revisiting this clip from The Mighty Boosh is wise advice. Kittens in a Barrel [YouTube, thanks Coop]. Source: Boing Boing | 3 Jul 2008 | 6:40 am News Flash: Adobe Aids Search - BusinessWeek
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 6:31 am New Laws Drive Wireless Headset Sales - BusinessWeek
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 6:31 am Lauren McLaughlin talks about her debut YA novel CYCLERSenses Five magazine has an interview with Lauren McLaughlin, a new young adult writer whose debut novel, Cycler, will be published in September. I've known Lauren for some years now and she inevitably says the smartest stuff about writing in any conversation around the table. I've enjoyed her short fiction and the films she wrote immensely, and can't wait to read this book.Link (Thanks, Matthew!) Source: Boing Boing | 3 Jul 2008 | 6:12 am Study says many dial-up users don't want broadband (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 5:34 am Report: Microsoft seeks help for another Yahoo bid (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 5:19 am Splash Media, LP's Subsidiary, Mortgage Media, LLC (MPTN), Announces Agreement With Mortgage Power Network (MPN) to Provide Bundled Training Product Offering to Mortgage IndustrySplash Media, LP Jeff Johnson, 972-392-6754 jjohnson@splashmedia.com Logo: http://www.splashmedia.com Splash Media, LP, a leading video publisher and innovator of online video training content and corporate communication, has finalized agreements with Mortgage Power Network (MPN) to create and distribute a collaborative video training offering to the mortgage industry via the newly formed Mortgage Professional Training Network (MPTN).Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Jul 2008 | 5:00 am BRIEF: 2 More Arrested in Quail Creek BurglariesBy The Oklahoman Jul. 2--Police made two more arrests Tuesday in connection with a string of burglaries in the Quail Creek neighborhood in northwest Oklahoma City.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Jul 2008 | 5:00 am Accela Mobile Office Application Available for Use With the Field- Ready Rugged Toughbook U1 UMPCMobile application allows government agencies to improve delivery and quality of service to their citizens; Toughbook(R) UMPC promotes reliable data access Media: RBJ Consulting Ron Jenkins, 972-473-3546 Ron@rbjconsult.com or Cohn & Wolfe for Panasonic Computer Solutions Company Mike Manning, 415-365-8526 Mike_Manning@nyc.cohnwolfe.com Toughbook-PRTeam@cohnwolfe.com Accela, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Jul 2008 | 5:00 am Tech Worker Shortage Causing ConcernBy David Pitt The Associated Press DES MOINES - Fewer college students are pursuing computer- related degrees at a time when demand is increasing and thousands of baby boomers are retiring from technical jobs.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Jul 2008 | 5:00 am 16-Channel I2C LED Blinker From Catalyst Semiconductor Provides Simple Solution for Flashing and "On/Off" LED ApplicationsCAT9552 Drives up to 16 LEDs in Parallel, With Programmable "On/ Off" and "Blink" Control Functions Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. Sherry Hill, 408-542-1080 sherry.hill@catsemi.com Logo: http://www.catsemi.com Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 3 Jul 2008 | 5:00 am IBM Develops Audio-masking Technology (PC World)PC World - IBM India has developed audio masking technology that could protect confidential information in audio recordings.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 4:50 am Agility Solidifies Presence in Northern Europe With Latest AcquisitionDanish CF Geologistics joins Agility's global network BASEL, Switzerland, July 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The leading global logistics provider Agility today announced its 100Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 4:20 am New Map IDs the Core of the Human Braingerald626 writes "An international team of researchers has created the first complete high-resolution map of how millions of neural fibers in the human cerebral cortex — the outer layer of the brain responsible for higher level thinking — connect and communicate. Their groundbreaking work identified a single network core, or hub, that may be key to the workings of both hemispheres of the brain. So basically our brain is a network connected to a hub. I wonder if I can get an upgrade to a GigE switch?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jul 2008 | 4:17 am CBaySystems Launches Kyps(TM), a Web-Based Practice Management and EMR SystemANNAPOLIS, Md., July 3 /PRNewswire/ -- CBaySystems, a holding company with a portfolio of investments in medical transcription, healthcare technology and healthcare...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 4:01 am Gear Gallery: New Ultralights, Easy Wireless Speakers and a Snappy DSLR : The Asus U2E is an update of last year's impressive U1F, correcting some early flaws with the model. Most notable is the addition of an optical drive to the system, which will certainly make the laptop more appealing to a broader range of buyers. Another big change: Out goes the FireWire port, in comes HDMI output, though we can't imagine who'll be plugging this into their A/V rig for entertainment purposes. Unfortunately, the U2E still has some troubling problems. Performance is uninspiring, and the machine is buggy, too. We encountered numerous odd crashes and Windows hiccups throughout our testing. The specs are decent (11.1-inch screen, 120-GB hard drive, 3 GB of RAM, Core 2 Duo, 2.9-pounds), but many competing machines (even the Air and the Lenovo IdeaPad U110) run circles around the U2E on every important benchmark. Still, if you feel the need to be surrounded by leather at all times (and you're fresh out of jeanless chaps) the choice is all but made for you. WIRED: Handsome. Fully loaded with connectivity options, including three USB ports. Weight on par with similar systems that don't include an optical drive. TIRED: Numerous software problems. Integrated BIOS/driver update system never completed successfully. Homegrown software works even worse than Vista; causes problems. Too-small keyboard. Too-small, too-stiff mouse buttons. Very loud fan and very quiet speakers. Standard battery is light (machine weighs just 2.9 pounds with it) but gives less than an hour of battery life. (Try the included, larger battery instead: 3.5 pounds total but offers over four hours of life.) $2,000 as tested, Asus
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com Read our full Asus U2E review. Check Wired.com's latest Gadget Lab reviews, updated daily.  : By the numbers, Eos' 100T1RB Wireless Audio System is what any wire-entangled apartment needs. The relatively small system consists of a base station with an iPod/iPhone dock, an auxiliary out port and satellite speakers capable of wirelessly syncing to the base. Wireless setups like this often come with a host of connectivity headaches, but the 100T1RB was surprisingly simple. I literally plugged everything in, connected my iPod and cranked up my favorite playlist. Distributing the satellites throughout my apartment was a cinch too. With their removable power supplies, I had the option of plugging the speakers in the old fashioned way, or removing them and plugging the speakers directly into wall outlets. On the downside, the audio quality of the individual speakers could use some work. Both the base unit and the satellites are equipped with subwoofers, but overall the bass output isn't the stuff of earthquakes. Paired with some of the gain I received at higher volumes, it's safe to say that this isn't the end-all-be-all for multiroom audio. Still, in terms of price and ease, the 100T1RB is well-suited for the no-fuss multiroom novice. WIRED: Great for "quick and dirty" multiroom music. Speakers automatically sync with base unit out of box. Mini stereo input allows connectivity with virtually any MP3 player and most audio devices. Fantastic range -- even in multistory settings. Rejoice, iFanatics -- it charges devices while docked. Ships with remote and a ton of iPod dock adapters. TIRED: Rechargeable-battery-powered satellites would've been nice. Audio quality doesn't hold a candle to wireless systems from Bose. Altec. 2.1 stereo driver is great for music, but stunts home theater possibilities. Buttons on base station feel flimsy. $510 as tested, Eos Wireless
Read our full Eos 100T1RB Wireless Audio System review. Check Wired.com's latest Gadget Lab reviews, updated daily.  : What appeared to be cool about the little Sony Ericsson W350 proved itself to be an annoyance and a hassle to use. Not that it doesn't look good. Sleek and petite, this Walkman phone is slimmer and narrower than most candy-bar handsets. A small flip panel that houses the controls opens to reveal a keypad composed of glossy Chiclets and a squared-off oval navigation pad. Though pretty, these design touches are the most irritating features of the phone. The smooth keys are hard to press in isolation. The navpad leaves little room for easy navigation. And the flimsy flip panel takes great skill to open one-handedly, which makes it bad for efficient answering. The phone comes with what looks like a 512-MB microSD card. But wait -- it's Sony's own memory card, the incompatible Memory Stick M2. When was the last time you've seen any Memory Stick slots in a non-Sony notebook? Don't forget to lock the phone after every call, because when it's flipped shut, the phone defaults to Walkman mode, and a key in your pocket could start an impromptu jam session in a company meeting. On the bright side, when this phone comes out, it'll be cheap, around $30 with a two-year contract. WIRED: It's as tiny and as pretty as a music-box ballerina. Includes an FM radio (which will be cool until the HD-radio takeover next year). TIRED: The keys and navpad are unfit for grownup human use. The phone's clunky headphone connector has all the charm of a tumor. The awkward flip panel makes for clumsy, fumbling answers. $30 estimated with two-year contract, Sony Ericsson
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com Read our full Sony Ericsson W350 review. Check Wired.com's latest Gadget Lab reviews, updated daily.  : The Nokia E66 has what we in the lab have taken to calling the "mullet button" (actual name: switch mode). This feature allows your mobile to toggle between two separate screen modes. Keep the first one full of all your spreadsheets, work e-mail, TPS reports and other boring business stuff. When you leave the office, let your hair down a little and switch to the personal mode and start using all the applications that hamper productivity. The E66 has a lot in common with an N-series device, and is functionally almost identical to the N78, sporting 3G, WiFi, media player, FM radio and a 3.2-megapixel cam. But there is one overarching quality that puts it squarely in the business world: Like many jobs, it sounds great at first, but gets old real fast once you see past the shine. WIRED: A magnificent piece of hardware, with Vertu-level build quality. Nice form factor: thin enough to disappear in your pocket but large enough for a 2.5-inch screen. Upgraded processor runs S60 even more snappily than the N95 8 GB. Automatic screen orientation. Finger-friendly textured keys. Hard buttons for silent mode and Bluetooth on/off. TIRED: Mullet mode adds yet another level of menus under which to bury functions. Arrgh! Swanky metal backplate gets hand-scaldingly hot. Road warriors will scoff at the battery life: around three hours of talk time (con Bluetooth). Must pay extra for business applications -- document, spreadsheet editor, etc. Camera sucks in anything but perfect light. $500, Nokia
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com Read our full Nokia E66 review. Check Wired.com's latest Gadget Lab reviews, updated daily.  : When we first reviewed the Toshiba Portege R500 in July 2007, it was a breath of fresh air, an impossibly portable ultralight that stood out against a field of also-rans. But the machine hasn't received a significant update in that time, and it is now having its lunch eaten by all of the competition it previously trounced. Our model came with a larger hard drive, a faster CPU and more RAM than the model we tested last year. None of these mild improvements served to boost the R500 up to hang with its newfound contenders. The R500 is still the lightest full-featured laptop on the market, weighing just 2.4 pounds while still offering an optical drive. But the Portege makes a lot of sacrifices to reach such an anorexic state, the most obvious being build quality and components that feel shaky, to put it mildly. Nearly as problematic is the dreadful performance of the R500, about 23 percent slower than both the Sony Vaio TZ-150 and the MacBook Air ultralights. Still, if the durability and performance concerns don't turn you off, there's a bit to like here. With three USB ports, FireWire, VGA, SD card and ethernet ports, the machine is pretty full-featured, and its $2,149 price is competitive next to most other ultralights.
TIRED:Terrible screen quality, one of the dimmest on the market and hard to read if you're not looking straight on. Pitiful performance under Vista. Lack of sturdiness is outright scary. Only 1 GB of RAM. $2,150 as tested, Toshiba
Read our full Toshiba R500 review. Check Wired.com's latest Gadget Lab reviews, updated daily.  : With its buttonless face and black monolithic look, the all-touchscreen Instinct is immediately familiar: It's virtually the same weight and size as the iPhone, only about two-tenths of an inch narrower. Most of the expected specs are here: 3G, GPS, 2-megapixel camera (with video recording), and full e-mail and web browsing features. Of course, the real reason for the iPhone's success is its operating system, and here the Instinct is still playing catch-up. While everything is intuitive and pretty zippy, it's still not quite as polished as Apple's version. As well, the narrower body trims nearly a half inch off the iPhone's screen size, which really cramps page size. Even typing on the Instinct can be rocky: I made so many mistakes in notes and web URLs that typing slowed to a painful crawl even by iPhone's slow standards. The Instinct won't woo the Apple faithful from upgrading to the iPhone 3G, but it's definitely good enough to rank as a solid second-tier player in the smartphone space. WIRED: Turn-by-turn GPS navigation is very responsive, generally accurate and updates quickly. Easily customizable home screen. Painless e-mail setup works well with numerous hosts. Decent multimedia options (included with $99 all-you-can-eat service plan) include copious TV options. Works with any screen-tapping implement (not just your finger). TIRED: No WiFi. Clearly cellphone-quality photos. No internal storage: 2-GB microSD card included (upgradeable to 8 GB). Can't edit attachments. Web browser needs a serious reworking. Includes a stylus ... but provides no slot to stow it. $130 (with two-year contract), Samsung
Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com Read our full Samsung Instinct review. Check Wired.com's latest Gadget Lab reviews, updated daily.  : The diminutive D60 is a fistful of photo-tech fun as the beneficiary of a bucketful of Nikon D300 trickle down like a speedier EXPEED image processor, a vibration-reducing zoom lens, Active D-Lighting and a dust-reduction system with a particle-purging vent. From the moment you flip on the power, the D60 is ready to shoot. Its 10-megapixel photos were punchy, sharp and pleasing. Not a big jump in sharpness from the D40x, but noticeable, especially at higher ISO settings where the new EXPEED image processor's noise reduction algorithm really kicks in. The simple user interface takes cues from Nikon's point-and-shoots and a variety of in-camera editing and touch-up features pretty much eliminate the need to use any post-production software. The D60 comes up a little short in frame rate. At just three frames per second in continuous shooting mode, you may be disappointed by its stop-action sports performance. Also, its three-point auto-focus system is one-third of its closest competitor, Canon's Rebel XSi. All in all the D60 is a straight outta the box, shoot-your-ever-smiling-face-off winner. However, if you harbor any ambition of getting more creative with your image making, then you may find that you outgrow this camera faster than you'd expected. WIRED: Brightest, sharpest LCD in category. Stop-motion movies. Active D-Lighting fixes shots during processing. In-camera RAW conversion. Fast start-up to shoot. TIRED: Compact styling means the controls are a bit cramped for big hands. Only three-point auto-focus system. Manual shooting a bit ungainly. Just three frames per second in continuous shooting mode. $700 as tested, Nikon
Read our full Nikon D60 review. Check Wired.com's latest Gadget Lab reviews, updated daily. Source: Wired: Gadgets | 3 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Hedge fund scammer surrenders in Massachusetts (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 2:21 am Synthetic Molecules Emulate Enzyme BehaviorFiReaNGeL writes "Ohio State University chemists have created a synthetic catalyst that can fold its molecular structure into a specific shape for a specific job, similar to natural catalysts. In tests, the chemists caused the catalysts to twist one way or the other, either to form one chemical product or its mirror image. They confirmed the shape of the molecules at each step using techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Being able to quickly produce a catalyst of a particular shape would be a boon for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jul 2008 | 2:11 am Immune to Critics, Secret-Spilling Wikileaks Plans to Save Journalism From ItselfWhen online troublemaker Julian Assange co-founded Wikileaks, the net's premiere document-leaking site last year, some were skeptical that the service would produce anything of interest. Now, after 18 months of publishing government, industry and military secrets that have sparked international scandals, led to takedown threats and briefly gotten the site banned in the United States, Assange says Wikileaks is just getting started changing the world. "In every negotiation, in every planning meeting and in every workplace dispute, a perception is slowly forming that the public interest may have a silent advocate in the room," Assange writes. Launched in January 2007, Wikileaks was conceived as a safe place for whistle-blowers to reveal their secrets to the world. Today, nobody doubts that the site has had an enormous impact -- much of it good. But critics charge that Wikileaks' hands-off policy of publishing nearly everything that comes its way has turned the site into a free-for-all. The U.S. military has decried Wikileaks as "irresponsible" for publishing classified information, and even critics of government secrecy have railed against the site's publication of secrets that have no obvious news value, and potentially harm some individuals' privacy. "That is a threat to the fabric of our society, which is based on the rule of law, and they are saying there is no law," says Steven Aftergood, head of the Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy Project. The site started off with a bang. It's first disclosure -- published even before its official launch -- was a suppressed report on the looting of the African nation of Kenya by former president Daniel Arap Moi, a leak that led to an upset in Kenya's presidential election. Then in November 2007, Wikileaks published never-before-seen operating manuals for the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, revealing that the United States had a policy for hiding some detainees from the International Red Cross, and used dogs to intimidate prisoners. The same month, the site published lists of U.S. munitions in Iraq, including stores of banned chemical weapons. Documents leaked from the Swiss bank Julius Baer in January strongly hinted that some customers were engaged in widespread money laundering. In February, the site published the Pentagon's 2005 rules of engagement for troops in Iraq, revealing that troops were authorized to pursue former officials in Saddam Hussein's government, as well as terrorists, into neighboring Iran and Syria. The document was classified "secret", meaning that in the eyes of the military, its release could be expected to cause "serious damage" to U.S. national security. The world's governments and press have taken notice. The New York Times reported on the rules of engagement leak, and the Iranian government held a press conference to warn the United States about crossing its border. The Washington Post reported on the Guantanamo documents, forcing the Pentagon to respond. More controversially, the site has begun posting confidential documents from the secretive and litigious Church of Scientology, and from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Those leaks demonstrate that the site has veered from its mission to expose the secrets of repressive governments, says Aftergood, treading instead on the dangerous ground of religious persecution. "They are close to becoming the oppressors that they claim to oppose," Aftergood says. "People ought to be free to practice their religious beliefs no matter how peculiar they are, in privacy and without harassment, and the Wikileaks folks seem not to understand that." "They think all secrecy is an evil to be opposed and that is just a juvenile point of view," he adds. Other Wikileaks documents sometimes seem to lack any news value at all. For instance, Wikileaks critics questioned why a site intended to bring sunshine to non-democratic countries published an earlier version of the movie script for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Others questioned Wikileaks' decision to publish a tax bill for Wesley Snipes that included his Social Security number. Wikileaks also published a classified operating manual for the U.S. military's guided bombs known as the Joint Direct Attack Munitions or JDAM that included information on its known weaknesses. No news organizations picked up on the manual, but Wikileaks' watchers certainly took notice of its publication. Aftergood, for one, found it irresponsible. "Are there military technologies that warrant protection against disclosure? My view is, and the Federation of American Scientists' view is, obviously yes, and there are things we withhold even though they are technically unclassified," Aftergood says. "I think they display atrocious editorial judgment." Assange, one of the site's original creators, is an Australian-born hacker and writer with a social conscience, who now lives in East Africa. Among other achievements, he co-invented Rubberhose deniable encryption, which would let a dissident being tortured reveal one key to unlock a hard drive, while not giving away that there was a second or third password-locked folder of information. The coder bristles at the criticism of Wikileaks standards. The JDAM document, he says, is a perfect example of a leak that's entirely consistent with Wikileaks' ethic, which owes no allegiance to any government or group. "Many countries face the risk of being attacked by JDAM guide bombs should they not toe U.S. foreign policy lines, so its specific capabilities are of intense interest to a knowledgeable audience," Assange says. "If governments do not like morally outraged soldiers leaking the specifications to their weapons systems, perhaps they should be more selective about who they kill with them." "Similarly if rebel groups like the FARC would like sources to stop providing us with their internal documents, they would be will advised to release their hostages," he says. In February a military spokesman lambasted Wikileaks' release of the Iraq rules of engagement in a statement to The New York Times, saying "the deliberate release of what Wikileaks believes to be a classified document is irresponsible and, if valid, could put U.S. military personnel at risk." The Pentagon isn't the only group with no love of Wikileaks. In January, Wikileaks published secret banking documents from the Cayman Islands branch of the Swiss private bank Julius Baer, despite not being certain of their veracity. The documents allegedly show the bank knew about, and even aided, money laundering. The bank sued Wikileaks in a federal court in California, briefly convincing a judge to order Wikileaks' domain registrar to de-list the site from web. Predictably, the censorship attempt backfired as netizens posted the IP address of Wikileaks, whose servers were unaffected. Press groups, the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, among others, filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the case, which brought more attention to Wikileaks than any of its previous -- and more spectacular -- document leaks. The judge in the case soon reversed himself, and Julius Baer, which declined to comment on Wikileaks, dropped the suit, realizing that the attempt to censor brought more attention to the documents than if they had just ignored it. Wikileaks's core strength -- its distributed and seemingly phantom-like presence on the net -- has yet to be tested legally or technically. The domain name owner lives in Kenya and purposefully doesn't know much about Wikileaks. The site, which looks to be hosted from a server-based Sweden, has multiple mirrors around the world. One of Wikileaks' advisers, security expert Ben Laurie, doesn't even know who runs the site -- other than Assange -- or where the servers are. That secrecy lets Wikileaks stay online even when one of its domain names is shut down. Similarly, it has thwarted efforts by the Church of Scientology to have a document removed using U.S. copyright law. Wikileaks' assertion of freedom from the world's laws is reminiscent of the early days of net rhetoric -- much of which has fallen away as governments learn to use laws and filters to impose at least some national standards on the net. For instance, in 2000, France succeeded in forcing Yahoo to ban Nazi paraphernalia auctions. And repressive regimes like China have used sophisticated tools and economic clout to censor the net. If Assange is unflustered by criticism of Wikileaks, he acknowledges that one of its founding ideas has not panned out. As conceived, Wikileaks would employ an army of volunteers to collaboratively evaluate the documents it leaks -- that's the "wiki" in Wikileaks. But despite the site's growing reputation and its emergence as a cause celebre on the net, nobody's shown much interest in poring over pages of documents that reveal the world's secret workings. Instead that work of vetting and analyzing documents has fallen to academics, journalists and Wikileaks' own staff, including Assange. Now Wikileaks is planning to drop the wiki model entirely. In the future, it plans to pre-release selected documents to investigative journalists, then publish them once a story appears. That gives the favored reporters time to analyze and verify documents without fear of being scooped. Assange is even toying with the idea of making his site a subscription service that pre-releases secret documents to paying reporters. The reporters would have the option of writing about a given leak, or passing on it and getting another, if the reporter doesn't find it useful. The change is partly due to economics, he says. Academics and journalists are among the few who have time to spend poring over documents. It's also partly because people online seem more inclined to comment on something that's already been analyzed, than analyze it themselves, says Assange. That change pleases Aftergood. "Working reporters can use all the help and sources they can get, and Wikileaks does have a track record of getting their hands on documents that other people haven't," Aftergood says. "It also has the potential to introduce another layer of editorial judgment and I believe in editorial judgment on matters of confidentiality." Assange says he's no enemy of the editorial process -- he is, in fact, a big fan of journalism. Indeed, he points to the ever-present news of layoffs at newspapers, and the lack of institutional support or funding for investigative journalism, as the reason Wikileaks needs to exist. With Wikileaks' help, journalists can change the world, he says. "It is time journalists and publishers starting actually engaging in 'fearless journalism' rather than simply placing the words on their mastheads," Assange says. "It is time activists serious about their mission used every technical and legal ploy they can to further it." Quoting Filipino political thinker Walden Bello, Assange says "it is time for less civil society and more civil disobedience." "Imagine a world where companies and government must keep the public, or their employees, or both, happy with their plans and behavior," Assange says. "That is the world we are striving to create." While the wiki-portion of Wikileaks has proven a flop, from a purely economic standpoint, Wikileaks works, even if the wiki part did not, according to Assange. "Based on the last 12 months, we catalyzed one mainstream press report or re-report per $40 of funding, which in turn has lead to concrete changes across the world that affect the lives of millions." 
Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Jul 2008 | 1:00 am Will the Real Hans Reiser Lawyer Please Stand Up?Linux guru and convicted murderer Hans Reiser swaps his attorneys. But has he unswapped them? Is he mentally competent? The court may have to decide.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Jul 2008 | 1:00 am Solar Power From Home Curtainskaliann writes "With the push for more sustainable energy, easy DIY kits for alternative energy sources are likely to become quite popular in the coming years. We may see some big improvements in our ability to 'green up' if these photovoltaic curtains become widely available."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jul 2008 | 12:27 am Sony Confirms Pulling PS3 Firmware Update (TechWeb)TechWeb - InformationWeek - The company released firmware 2.40 Tuesday, and reports of problems started flowing in soon after on the official PlayStation 3 message board.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 12:01 am How-To Wiki: How to Treat Beach WoundsWaterproof sunscreen? Check. Sunglasses? Check. Beach towel? Check. Vinegar? ... Eh? Below that perfect blue azure surface lurk all sorts of prickly critters just waiting to penetrate your flesh. Here's our guide on how to treat the most common beach wounds.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Jul 2008 | 12:00 am Judge Orders YouTube to Give All User Histories to ViacomGoogle must turn over records of everyone who has watched YouTube videos to Viacom, which is suing the internet giant for copyright infringement. A rights group says the order violates the law and invades users' privacy.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Jul 2008 | 11:16 pm FTC Recruiting Identity Theft Victimscoondoggie writes "In an effort to buttress its enforcement and better understand the scourge that is identity theft, the Federal Trade Commission said today its plans to conduct a wide-ranging study of victims of the crime. The FTC is looking for people harmed by the crime and said the survey will examine the remedies available to victims under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act). Among other things, the FACT Act gave consumers the right to place fraud alerts on their credit files if they are, or suspect they may become, victims of identity theft; block information on their credit reports that resulted from identity theft; and obtain copies of their credit reports free of charge."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 2 Jul 2008 | 11:13 pm Relief for Torbay as Facebook rave is called offA beach rave party advertised on a social networking site was cancelled as organisers urged people not to go to Torquay after a police chief said last night the event would not be allowed to go ahead...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 2 Jul 2008 | 11:12 pm The search for the intelligent mainstream gamerAsi Burak has quite the task ahead of him. The Israeli-born, Pennsylvania-based game developer is trying to court mainstream audiences into buying his titles. His first effort, PeaceMaker - an astonishingly...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 2 Jul 2008 | 11:12 pm Letters and blogsDetails on a Platte · Ashley Bateup [says]: "Over 35% of consumers pay by postal order - this in itself says something about the consumer and their wish to remain anonymous"(Popup billing finds...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 2 Jul 2008 | 11:12 pm Treasury calls for yet another report into free dataThe thinking behind the Free Our Data campaign has now reached the inner sanctums of the Treasury - where the argument that the wider economy would benefit from making government-collected raw data free...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 2 Jul 2008 | 11:12 pm Game review: Guitar Hero: AerosmithBasically a revamped version of Guitar Hero 3 based on Aerosmith with a bulging but bizarre tracklist of 40-plus songs. It looks and sounds great with flashy virtual stadia and an instinctive strumming,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 2 Jul 2008 | 11:12 pm Game review: Battlefield: Bad CompanyEarly instalments of this modern warfare simulator achieved legendary status online on the PC, but now Battlefield has reached the next-gen consoles and acquired a single-player game to boot. Admittedly...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 2 Jul 2008 | 11:12 pm YouChoose: Technology videos we loveVot! Hitler kicked off Xbox Live? A terrific series of video mashups starts with a scene from Downfall, about Hitler's last days, and subtitles it with different scenarios. Here, Hitler is kicked off Xbox...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 2 Jul 2008 | 11:12 pm Phone booth with faux saloon doors
I really like this fun street art spotted by Torontoist. Phone booth with saloon doors (via Wooster Collective) Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jul 2008 | 11:06 pm Array of medical manikins Over at Boing Boing Gadgets, Joel spotted this delightfully odd collection of various medical training manikins. Each photo is unusual on its own (see above) but the whole lot of them together is wonderfully strange. Medical manikins (Oobject) Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jul 2008 | 10:31 pm First Images of Solar System's Invisible FrontierFiReaNGeL writes an unexpected side-effect from NASA's STEREO spacecraft has allowed scientists to see a much more well defined picture of the boundary of our solar system. "The twin STEREO spacecraft were launched in 2006 into Earth's orbit about the sun to obtain stereo pictures of the sun's surface and to measure magnetic fields and ion fluxes associated with solar explosions. Between June and October 2007, however, the suprathermal electron sensor in the IMPACT (In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients) suite of instruments on board each STEREO spacecraft detected neutral atoms originating from the same spot in the sky: the shock front and the heliosheath beyond, where the sun plunges through the interstellar medium."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 2 Jul 2008 | 10:11 pm Italians choosing pasta over pizzaNational Geographic has a series of interesting articles about the global food crisis. Basically, the high cost of food is changing behaviors around the world, from Japanese bars to the slums of Nairobi. According to the latest story, Italians are eating far less pizza and choosing pasta instead due to the rising cost of olive oil, mozzarella, and wheat flour. Pasta eating is on the rise. From National Geographic:In fact, the number of Italians who say their favorite food is pizza has dropped from 14.1 percent to 8.7 percent in the past two years, according to a survey from GPF Research Institute, a private opinion poll company....Pizza too expensive (National Geographic) Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jul 2008 | 9:53 pm Researchers Modify T-Cells, Make Them HIV ResistantDieNadel writes to share that naturally occurring proteins called "zinc fingers" are being used in a new approach to AIDS treatment. Using modified T-Cells with the zinc fingers, researchers at the Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown a reduction in viral load in mice. "'By inducing mutations in the CCR5 gene using zinc finger proteins, we've reduced the expression of CCR5 surface proteins on T cells, which is necessary for the AIDS virus to enter these immune system cells,' explains first author Elena Perez, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Penn. 'This approach stops the AIDS virus from entering the T cells because it now has an introduced error into the CCR5 gene.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 2 Jul 2008 | 9:26 pm Intel Says to Prepare For "Thousands of Cores"Impy the Impiuos Imp writes to tell us that in a recent statement Intel has revealed their plans for the future and it goes well beyond the traditional processor model. Suggesting developers start thinking about tens, hundreds, or even thousand or cores, it seems Intel is pushing for a massive evolution in the way processing is handled. "Now, however, Intel is increasingly 'discussing how to scale performance to core counts that we aren't yet shipping...Dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of cores are not unusual design points around which the conversations meander,' [Anwar Ghuloum, a principal engineer with Intel's Microprocessor Technology Lab] said. He says that the more radical programming path to tap into many processing cores 'presents the 'opportunity' for a major refactoring of their code base, including changes in languages, libraries, and engineering methodologies and conventions they've adhered to for (often) most of the their software's existence.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 2 Jul 2008 | 8:42 pm Discovery of a "Flat" Atom Hailed as Quantum Computing Breakthroughmsw writes to tell us that nanoelectronics researchers have discovered a new molecule that could act as a state-manipulable atom due to its unique shape and properties. "Imagine a tiny arsenic atom embedded in a tiny strip of silicon atoms. An electric current is applied. Something strange arises on the surface -- an exotic molecule. On one end is the spherical submerged arsenic atom; on the other end is an "artificial" flat atom, seemingly 2D, created as an artifact. The pair form an exotic molecule, which has a shared electron, which can be manipulated to be at either end, or in an intermediate quantum state."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 2 Jul 2008 | 8:00 pm Amazon's EC2 Having Problems With Spam and Malwarejamie pointed out a story about the recent problems Amazon's EC2 service has been having with malware and spam. "EC2 space is now actively blocked by Outblaze, and has been listed by Spamhaus in their PBL list [...] However as Seth Breidbart noted in the comments, 'note that Amazon will terminate the instance. That means that the spammer just creates another instance, which gets a new IP address, and continues spamming.' True enough - as described, instance termination simply isn't good enough."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 2 Jul 2008 | 7:14 pm Install Django and Build Your First AppDjango, meet Webmonkey. Webmonkey, meet Django. Django brings a web framework that allows you to easily and quickly build a professional-looking website. Webmonkey brings the tutorials to show you how to build your first one. Now that everyone is acquainted, let's build a blog and blog this party.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Jul 2008 | 7:00 pm Vidgame for blind and sighted playersAudioOdyssey is a prototype for a Wii remote game that enables visually impaired people and sighted people to play together. Developed by students at MIT and the Singapore-MIT Gambit game lab, it's a music-based DJ simulaton game that requires the players to make crowd-pleasing dance tracks. The next rev will enable online play. From MIT News Office:AudioOdyssey (MIT) Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jul 2008 | 6:55 pm U.S. Satellites Snooping on Iraqi ArmyU.S. spy satellites are watching, to make sure Iraqi troops are where they say they'll be. But that doesn't mean American forces don't trust their new Iraqi counterparts, a military source swears.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Jul 2008 | 6:55 pm 5 Vulnerable Nodes in the Global Energy NetworkNational-security simulations show that a small disruption in oil supply -- caused by an accident or terrorist attack -- could cause oil prices to spike past $250, sending the world economy into crisis. Here are five key nodes in the energy infrastructure that could be in danger.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Jul 2008 | 6:33 pm Funeral tunesA large cemetery and crematorium in Adelaide, Australia reports that Frank Sinatra's "My Way" has become the most-played funeral song. Second on the charts is "Wonderful World" sung by Louis Armstrong. Only two traditional Christian hymns are in the top 10. From the Associated Press:"Some of the more unusual songs we hear actually work very well within the service because they represent the person's character," Centennial Park chief executive Bryan Elliott said.Funeral songs (Yahoo!) Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jul 2008 | 6:15 pm Preview: A Hilariously Gross Take on 'Grimm' Fairy TalesAmerican McGee's new episodic game dispatches a disgusting, disgruntled gnome to befoul the world and take classic stories back to their dark roots.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Jul 2008 | 5:56 pm Historical scenes in Etch A Sketch
Great Moments in History sets the historical scenes using an Etch A Sketch. At left, the fall of the Berlin Wall. At right, the Hindenburg disaster. Great Moments In History (via Neatorama) Previously on BB: • Etch-A-Sketch art by George Vlosich III • Serial-mouse-driven Etch-a-Sketch Source: Boing Boing | 2 Jul 2008 | 5:40 pm 'South Park' Reveals 'Major Boobage' MagicIn a new series of "making of" videos, the show's creative team offers a peek at the methods used to pull off a hilarious tribute to Heavy Metal.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Jul 2008 | 5:35 pm Most Awesomely Bad Military AcronymsThe U.S military comes up with an acronym for everything. Some of them are cute. Some are obtuse. Some are a mouthful. And some are just ... bad. Awesomely bad. Think "PAST-A!" (Pedagogically Adaptive Scenarios for Training - Automated!) "IBOM" (Ionizing Brownout Mitigation System) and "FEAST" (Framework for Enabling Adaptive Scenario Generation for Training).
Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Jul 2008 | 5:00 pm
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Storytelling is the foundation of any good novel and I think it's actually a very rare talent. Plenty of writers get by on killer premises and witty style. But effective storytelling is all about structure. It's very mechanical, almost architectural. When you can marry that structure to a framework of ideas, then the novel can transcend pure entertainment. The trick, in my opinion, is to weave these ideas invisibly into the story so that they are discovered, unraveled by the reader. My goal is to seduce my reader into a compelling narrative that whittles away at some preconceived idea and leaves them with an uncomfortable but somehow intriguing gap in their sense of the world. I want them to close the book and have a head full of questions. I'm not interested in merely diverting them for a while or helping them fall asleep. Nor do I want that from the books I read. I want to be unsettled, challenged. I want to close a book and say “I never thought of that before.”
A recent graduate of MIT's Comparative Media Studies program, (Alicia) Verlager, who is blind, helped with the development of the game.